While the image of father and son playing catch is a core part of baseball lore, it doesn’t always happen quite that way. Indians starter Carlos Carrasco penned an interesting post at the Player’s Tribune detailing how he got started in the game as a youngster — urged on by his mother. Carrasco traces his path — including a pizza binge driven by his still-developing English language skills — on the way to becoming a top-quality big leaguer with a nice contract. The culmination isn’t just his on-field success, though; it’s about his own young family and recent achievement of U.S. citizenship.
That story is well worth a full read. Here’s more out of the American League Central:
- Tigers skipper Brad Ausmus strongly suggested today that the club will go with its existing options in center field, as MLB.com’s Jason Beck reports on Twitter. While we’ve heard ongoing suggestions that Detroit is still looking at alternatives, Ausmus says he’s “90-something percent sure” an outside addition won’t be made that alters the regular duties up the middle.
- In other Tigers news, slugger J.D. Martinez projected optimism in discussing his sprained right foot, as Beck reports (links to Twitter). While he’s being tested “to rule out other things,” Martinez says he believes it’s nothing more than a ligament sprain. Assuming that is indeed the case, there’s still the question of a recovery timeline, though it seems likely that’ll be dictated by how Martinez feels. Progress is slow, he says, but “it’s going in the right direction” and he is now able to put weight on the injured foot.
- White Sox GM Rick Hahn discussed the team’s newly minted extension with shortstop Tim Anderson, as MLB.com’s Scott Merkin reports. He emphasized “the cost certainty and the added control” achieved in the unusually early agreement, noting that doubling down with long-term deals for Chris Sale and Adam Eaton functioned to enhance the value of those players when they were dealt in December. Of course, the hope now is that Anderson will be a core player for a contending team in Chicago. If he can build off of a promising 2016 season, the Sox can perhaps check an important box at a reasonable cost for years to come. “[C]ertainly if you have a number of players outperforming what they’re paid, it makes more free money available to go out and augment the roster,” said Hahn. “That’s certainly the intent.”
jdgoat
The players tribune link takes me to an Andrew mccutchen article, not carrasco
strostro
dear Jeff Todd, the link to the Carrasco story is incorrect. it’s for McCutchen
Jeff Todd
Actually, I think it’s correct … for some reason it seemingly redirects to that Cutch article if you haven’t registered. (At least, it did for me, though I thought it was just a mis-click on my part.)
glassml
Link works. Thanks for sharing “The American Dream” great article.
jdgoat
Ya it is great. I love the players tribune, it’s such a good idea
stymeedone
Hopefully, if JD starts on the DL, it won’t be for long. As for CF, currently Romine is looking like the clear choice. He has always been a punch and judy hitter, until this spring! All of a sudden, everything is for extra bases. Right now he is making there decision to tender him look like a very wise choice. If they fall out of the race, they can look to play Collins, but if they are really looking to win one for MR I, Romine is looking like the way to go.