Rockies first baseman Daniel Murphy is ahead of schedule in his rehab and is expected to be activated in the near future, manager Bud Black said Tuesday in an appearance on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (Twitter link, with audio). While Black said that Murphy was unlikely to be activated for tonight’s game, the skipper called Murphy’s return “imminent,” assuming one final evaluation of his fractured finger checks out. “Probably not. We’re probably going to give him the day,” Black said when asked about potentially activating Murphy on Tuesday. “He had three days in [Triple-A] Albuquerque. We figure we’ll get him back in Denver, reevaluate the finger and then make a decision tomorrow or the next day what direction we’re going to go with Daniel.” Black added that Murphy didn’t feel any pain or discomfort in his rehab games or after the fact.
A couple more health-related notes on key players…
- First baseman Matt Olson could be back with the Athletics by mid-May, manager Bob Melvin told reporters Monday evening (Twitter link via John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle). The 25-year-old has been out since mid-March after fracturing his hamate bone on a swing during Oakland’s two-game set against the Mariners in Tokyo. Kendrys Morales and Mark Canha have stepped in as the Athletics’ two first base options in lieu of Olson. Morales, acquired just prior to the league-wide Opening Day, hasn’t provided anything at the plate to this point, batting just .179/.277/.250 in 65 plate appearances this year. Canha’s .242/.422/.455 slash has been terrific, though history shows that his right-handed bat is best deployed in platoon situations. Neither player can match Olson’s defensive prowess, either; Olson won a Gold Glove at first base last year and posted a sensational mark of +14 Defensive Runs Saved.
- Rays outfielder Austin Meadows won’t require surgery to repair his sprained thumb, manager Kevin Cash revealed last night (link via Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times). Meadows will have his thumb immobilized for the next 10 days, per Cash, who put a timeline of roughly three weeks on Meadows’ return. “Good thing is he can keep his legs in shape, he can keep his throwing arm in shape,” said Cash of the injury. Meadows, 23, is off to a ridiculous .351/.422/.676 start to the season and has belted 11 extra-base hits (six homers, four doubles, one triple) in his 83 plate appearances.
Goodbye Morales. You have been awful at the plate and a reason for the A’s slow start. What happened to all that power? A’s management should never have done that trade even though it only cost them $2 million. It was a waste.
A’s free agents have been horrible, should have went in house until the injured players came back.
Wasn’t much in house to start the season, especially after Martini went down with injury, and Fowler still not being ready. Canha and Profar could have platooned at first, but Barreto has been a dumpster fire in Triple A.
It’s a different story now, but it is still early in the MILB season so the sample size is pretty small. Seth Brown (1B) is destroying the ball, Mark Payton (LF) is destroying the ball, Jorge Mateo (IF) has been fantastic in the lead off spot for Vegas, Corban Joseph (2B) looks like he’s enjoying early season success and Skye Bolt (OF) is breaking out and has hit 2 grand slams in the last week.
So we’ll see in probably a month how players are doing before I expect changes.
Sean Murphy has been hitting great too. I hope the A’s will call him up soon. Hundley hasn’t been good, but it’s nice to see Phegley improved offensively showing pop finally.
I don’t want to give up hope with Barreto, but his future with the A’s is looking very bleak.
Problem is he hasn’t shown he can put it together. We can ser he can hit for average, but then he strikes out in 40% of his plate appearances. He can walk, but then he struggles to make contact. He can hit for power but then he just doesn’t swing.
He is also positionally challenged. He isn’t going to play short because Semien AND Mateo are playing well. He isn’t going to play second because if Profar continues to struggle Pinder is hitting well. He isn’t going to play left field because Payton, Brown and Bolt are hitting well and Bolt is a premium defender and he sure isn’t playing center better than Laureano.
He’s stuck because he can’t find consistency.
I hope the Rockies don’t get stubborn with Murphy like they did with Desmond. Ryan McMahon is playing great at first right now and Garrett Hampson is not playing great at second right now. I really hope they put Murphy at second where he has been relatively successful in the past instead of putting him at first and moving McMahon to second. I know some people don’t believe this with the rise of “super utility guys,” but most guys hit better when they can concentrate on hitting and they don’t have to think about fielding different positions.
I don’t want to see Daniel Murphy playing second base at this point in his career. Ryan McMahon is much better suited to play second base, and should play a better defense up the middle than Murphy. Moving Hampson to a utility role, shifting McMahon back to second, and putting Murphy at first makes the most sense. I can’t wait to see Murphy’s bat in the lineup, and hope the Rockies can stay on the roll they are on.
It just depends on the payer. Tony Phillips was a better hitter when he changed it up at different positions. Magglio Ordonez couldn’t hit at all when he was a DH.
Austin Meadows is a big loss. The team has been lethargic since he is out of the lineup. Come back soon. I hope the Rays coaches let our starting pitching pitch more innings when they have their best stuff going.
The Rays currently lead all of MLB in just about every meaningful pitching statistic including ERA, FIP, xFIP, SIERA, K%, K-BB%, ERA-, FIP-, xFIP-, and most importantly, win%. However they’ve handled the pitching staff so far has worked better than expected and they should continue doing the same thing that’s worked.
They easily could have been better and more rested if they let the SPs go further. They way Snell and Glassnow have been pitching it is selfdefeating taking them out early.
I don’t think they’ve been too bad on that, but have gotten into overusing their bullpen a little.
why don’t players stop sliding headfirst into every base?
Meadows hurt his thumb sliding feet first into the base, not head first.
I’d rest Murphy longer. No need to rush back someone from that injury. Meadows also. I’d give him extra days off begin rehab when he has to and take as much time in rehab as possible. Rays need one more bat. I’m not sure if he’d have been the bat they needed but Martinez from the Cardinals would fit nicely. Stanek/Castillo, Robertson/Wendle and the injured Lefty from Around for Martinez and Reyes. Maybe a couple pieces on either side.
Not sure where the Rays would play Martinez. He is limited to DH/1B only and the Rays already have Choi, Garcia and Diaz for those spots who are all younger and have been outhitting Martinez this year. Once you also include Lowe, who is raking in AAA, and Martinez’s lack of defensive ability doesn’t really fit with this current Rays team.