After missing his start on Sunday, Reds ace Johnny Cueto underwent an MRI on the injured joint today (as FOX’s Jon Morosi tweeted he would earlier this morning), but agent Bryce Dixon said after the fact that the test revealed no tears or structural damage (Twitter link via C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer). The news is a sigh of relief for all parties involved, as a serious arm injury for Cueto would hurt his standing as one of the top free agents on the upcoming open market, whereas an injury would hurt the Reds’ chance of righting the ship and potentially eliminate their best trade chip should they sell off veteran pieces this summer.
Here’s more from the NL Central…
- Another NL Central hurler got somewhat worse news than Cueto, as Cardinals left-hander Marco Gonzales has been diagnosed with a shoulder impingement that will sideline him for three weeks, writes Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Gonzales will receive an anti-inflammatory injection in the coming days and has otherwise been prescribed rest to allow the injury to heal. Gonzales will need to alter his workouts and preparation tactics, Goold notes, as they may have had a part in the injury. Gonzales and the training staff will look for areas of weakness in the shoulder that can be improved — a similar endeavor to the one undertaken by Michael Wacha last summer (though the two have different shoulder injuries).
- Kyle Schwarber’s name doesn’t get bandied about as much as other promising young Cubs bats such as Kris Bryant, Addison Russell and Javier Baez, but VP of scouting and player development Jason McLeod feels that Schwarber has a chance to impact the team in 2015, if necessary (via MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat). Selected fourth overall in last year’s draft, Schwarber entered the year as a consensus Top 100 prospect (Baseball America ranked him as highly as 19th), and he’s demolished Double-A pitching this year, batting .305/.440/.595 with 10 homers in 166 plate appearances. Said McLeod of the catcher/outfielder: “If there was a need for [Schwarber] to come up here and help this team win later this year, I think he could do it.” Of course, I should note that while I listed Schwarber as a catcher (in at least a part-time capacity), the belief of many scouts is that the lefty slugger will have to move off the position for defensive purposes. The Cubs have continued to give him reps behind the plate in an attempt to maximize the value of his bat.
- Also within Muskat’s piece, McLeod notes that the team feels that Baez is athletic enough to play in the outfield, though there are no plans to move him there in the works. He also likens righty Yoervis Medina, acquired in the Welington Castillo trade, to Pedro Strop before Strop gained the consistency he’s shown with the Cubs over the past two seasons.
Cueto to the Dodgers lets go!!!
For a four month Rental ,Dodgers would be giving up a Greater Value than , one really Good Prospects t and two more Good Players,to get Cole( Hollywood ) Hamels.
Cubs should move Schwarber to Left Field…that would maximize his bat the most…by letting him only focus on hitting…..
A catcher who can hit is much more valuable than another corner outfielder with slightly better numbers.
Makes total sense. The downside though is health.
Always is with catchers, but if you can develop him correctly it’ll be worth it.
Most scout’s think his bat will be ready by next season and his glove needs years and would be ready by 2017 maybe 2016 if he takes giant leaps behind the dish this year. It takes a lot to train a catcher how to handle the staff only, traditionally years. Calling Schwarber up this year puts him on the Buster Posey path and Kyle is no Posey behind the plate.
I’d say he is closer to a Brian McCann type of catcher. Idk though if the Cubs should try and force him into becoming a catcher. They have a ton of young bats at every other position with impact potential, and catcher is the one position I think you should always go defense over offense. I’d try and acquire a catcher in the same ilk as Carlos Perez if I was running the show in Chicago. Schwarber doesn’t seem like he’ll ever be an impact defender.
He already is a catcher… the Cubs would have to force him into becoming something else. The problem with that is the likely positions (1B, RF, LF) are more or less spoken for. LF would be the only option, but that would mean Bryant stays at third and one of Russell/Baez/Castro is traded. Schwarber hasn’t played anywhere but catcher or DH so far in 2015 after playing the majority of 2014 in LF.
The trade for Montero tells me the Cubs believe Schwarber can make it to the big leagues as a catcher. Miggy is signed through 2017, which gives the Cubs three full seasons to see if Schwarber can develop enough to handle the job at the big league level.
I agree with what you’re saying, but I’m saying going with an offensive catcher likely isn’t the best decision. They have prospects at every other position that can have impact level bats. I think it would be smartest for them to have a defensive prospect behind the plate.
I don’t disagree, but the Cubs knew what they had and what they were getting when they drafted him #4 overall. Schwarber is pushing the issue in the same way Bryant did with a bat that is MLB-ready.
I think it’s too early to say that he can’t become a solid defensive catcher and the Cubs should take the time to evaluate that. If he doesn’t pan out, maybe he’s part of one of the big trades for a starting pitcher. If he does pan out, the Cubs will have a lineup core of five or six guys that can put up a ton of runs at a time when not a lot of runs are being scored.
No matter what, it’s a great time to be a Cubs fan. The system is loaded with assets and ownership has shown with the Lester signing that they’re willing to spend money now that the team’s foundation is set.
reds dodge a HUGE bullet!
We need to trade a few players and start fresh. Also fire Price and make Larkin Manager. Time for changes. Dammit tired of losing. Let’s go Reds make a move now. Trade Chapman, Cueto, Bruce, Phillips And release the waste Bailey
Schwarber bat is ridiculous. Compare him to Kris Bryant at same levels. He just needs a place to play. His bat would be an immediate upgrade in LF right now, just not sure they could live with the defense.
I just don’t get why they are messing around with Baez right now and leaving him in the minor leagues. He is good enough to play right now in the majors and I think that if you bring him up you can put him at 2B, move Russell to SS or 3B and have Castro play the other position. Bryant has shown he athletic enough to play one of the corner outfield positions and I think honestly he is an above average corner outfielder with the arm that he has from 3B. The Cubs right now are really just treading water and not winning games convincingly. They could use the spark that free-swinging Baez brings to the table.