Tommy Pham came up limping after grounding out in the second inning of tonight’s Padres game in Los Angeles, per AJ Cassavell of MLB.com (via Twitter). Pham stopped running about halfway down the baseline, clearly uncomfortable. Pham’s reaction, while muted, also suggested that he knew something was off as he reached for his ankle. An Achilles injury is the fear, but the injury appears to be left calf tightness, per Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune (via Twitter). As for tonight, Jorge Mateo took over in left for Pham. Elsewhere…
- Johnny Cueto is likely to miss a third start before returning from the injured list, per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter). Cueto was placed on the injured list ten days ago with a grade 1 lat strain. The expectation at the time was that he would miss two starts, so it sounds like he’ll miss that target. That said, there was no indication that the injury was any more severe than originally diagnosed. Cueto should still be able to return shortly. In the meantime, Logan Webb will get at least one more turn in the rotation. Complicating matters in a good way for the Giants, Webb went seven scoreless against the Marlins today.
- Also in San Francisco, Wilmer Flores missed today’s ballgame because he was under the weather, but after receiving fluids he’s on the mend. Mike Yastrzemski, meanwhile, was taken out of the game because of left oblique tightness, per the Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly (via Twitter). Because of their short bench, don’t be surprised if Yaz lands on the injured list tomorrow, but the team gave no indication one way or the other.
- Blue Jays fans may finally get the chance to see offseason acquisition George Springer this week. Per Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sports.net.ca (via Twitter), manager Charlie Montoyo said, ““I’m optimistic that Springer’s got a good chance on Tuesday.” Springer’s return still hinges on his a final check-up, but the club hopes the 31-year-old will be in the lineup to face Max Scherzer in Dunedin on Tuesday.
Pham hurt. Here comes the Preller blame-fest
Good call Brewer but for some reason I won’t see them LOL.
Thoughts and prayers to all those affected by injuries, hopefully it will be a speedy recovery.
I wouldn’t blame Preller, but Pham is always injured.
Blame him for trading for the guy and then tendering him a contract last offseason
What does him straining a calf have to do with Preller?
And he stinks
Pham was just a throw-in in the Cronenworth trade anyhow
Hopefully Springer coming back will have a positive affect on Bo Bichette. Seems like ol Bo has forgotten how to apply the bat to the ball.
agreed. bo’s derby swinging at everything.
Papa Bichette keeps telling him about walking uphill both ways to the ballpark and how much better the Blake Street Bombers were, so he’s probably putting pressure on Little Bo. Dante Jr cracked under the pressure and didn’t even make it, after being a 1st round draft pick, so there’s a lot of pressure when it comes to being a good Bichette.
Before I took Bo in my fantasy draft, I could have made a mistake by not considering that Dante at times, was a piece of work.
Not sure how much help Springer is gonna be after not playing in a month. If he had minor league ball to at least shake the rust off against for a couple of games that would have helped. But expecting him to be productive after so long away from action is probably expecting a lot.
kingken67:
Typical minor league rehab stints were 3 games.. Having Springer back, even without an MiLB rehab, is still a boost for the Jays. Better to have him with a little rust than not at all.
“Mike Yastrzemski, meanwhile, was taken out of the game because of left oblique tightness, per the Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly (via Twitter). Because of their short bench, don’t be surprised if Yaz lands on the injured list tomorrow, but the team gave no indication one way or the other.”
BUMMER!
They’ve found ways to win without Yaz at his best, Solano and Cueto injured, and the Brandon’s hitting under .200. Kapler’s lineup management and the depth that Farhan and Harris have built for him has really seemed to work so far.
While things could clearly be quite a bit worse for the Giants; they really haven’t faced very good competition.
The Padres and Mariners are the only opponents above .500. They lost the series to the Mariners and when they faced the Padres, the entire world watched in horror when we all thought Tatis’ arm flew off. The other series were against the Marlins (twice), Phillies, Rockies, and Reds.
We’ll find out by the end of May if this team is any good or not. By then they will have added 6 more games against the Padres, 7 against the Dodgers, and 4 in Cincy (though that’s a team that hasn’t pitched well).
If they go a game above or below .500 against those opponents and are still playing competently against the other teams; then I’ll be a believer. Until then, what we’re seeing is one of the oldest rosters in baseball come down with a whole lot of muscle injuries over the last week.
Giants have faced 3 teams that, when they entered the series, were over .500.
Phillies, Reds, and Padres. They beat all of those teams in the respective series. They’ve lost to the Mariners and Marlins, both series involved a late game bullpen meltdown in which the giants lead 6-2 vs the Mariners in the 8th and 5-3 vs the Marlins in the 9th.
In fact, Giants schedule will be getting softer in May, as they’ll be playing the Pirates, Diamondbacks, Rangers, and Rockies, despite playing Padres and Dodgers (whom they’re accustomed to playing year in and year out) Their record will likely be very inflated heading into the All Star Break and it might cause them to be buyers and make a run at the WC.
Sadler:
Really trying to find that dark cloud behind the silver lining, aren’t you?
No team in MLB is a one man show, and the Padres are still a formidable team without Tatis. They have the best pitching numbers in MLB with a 144 ERA+ ( the Giants are 2nd in the NL, and 3rd in MLB, at 131).
The Reds were the hottest team in baseball until they faced the Giants. The Marlins were a playoff team in 2020, and have a lot of young talent. The Phillies are 2nd in the very tough NL East.
Plus, the Giants have the 4th best run differential in he NL, and the 8th best in MLB. I’m fairly happy with how they have performed, especially considering the bats of most of the starting 9 have not hit anywhere close to what should be reasonably expected.
@tad
There are 140 games left to play.
They have been pitching well, playing good defense and getting timely home runs.
But there are 140 games left to play.
They have the 2nd (or 3rd) oldest roster in baseball and in the last week their entire starting infield has missed games because of injury and now they may have lost some time for their starting right fielder.
And there are 140 games left to play.
I’ll reserve judgement until I’ve seen a bigger sample. Even 100-loss teams can find a 14-8 stretch somewhere.
sadler:
The Giants have 140 games left to play.
You’re making assumptions that they’re not as good as their record, all based on who they’ve played. Not a good yardstick. Are the Dodgers not good because 10 of their games were against the Rockies and Nat’s, and that they happened to catch the A’s during their slow start? I’m saying they’ve played well, based on their superior pitching so far, which is supported by actual stats.
The Giants have 140 games left to play.
And, as I pointed out already, they aren’t hitting as well as their track record indicates they should. This year their team OPS+ is 93, 19th in MLB. Last season their team OPS+ was 116 ranking them 5th in all MLB. The timing of their HRs isn’t a factor when they’re tied for 2nd in MLB
Team age is an even worse yardstick. First of all, the delta, between older and younger teams, is not great, and older teams are both good and bad, as are younger teams. It’s not about age, it’s about talent. TX and Bal are among the 4 youngest teams per batting age. Det, Pit, and Col are among the 6 youngest teams per pitching age. The WS Champion Nat’s were the 7th oldest team per batting age and the 3rd oldest per pitching age. The average age of Dodgers’ pitchers is only 0.7 years younger than the Giants’.
The Giants have 140 games left to play.
While their pitching will probably regress some, their hitting should progress back to where it should be. Plus, Zaidi has provided them with some depth, more so than in previous years. And you’ve offered nothing beyond their age, and who their competition is, over which they have no control.
I’m not predicting a WS title, or even a playoff spot, but to diminish what they’ve accomplished so far, especially after the gut-punch loss in the season opener, is just mean spirited. I for one will enjoy it while I can.
Sadler:
Plus, it’s interesting that you pass judgement that they aren’t that good, based on who they’ve played, and then say you’ll reserve judgement until more games are played.
@tad
I never once said “they weren’t any good”; nor did I imply anything of the sort. In fact, I specifically said “They have been pitching well, playing good defense and getting timely home runs.”
However, there is now an entire poll about whether the Giants 14-8 record is actually representative of the team as a whole moving forward; so clearly I am not the only one that thinks this initial success doesn’t truly represent a 103-win team.
mlbtraderumors.com/2021/04/mlbtr-poll-do-you-belie…
Poor Wilmer! Little guy is dehydrated. I hope he doesn’t start to cry again.
Posting anonymous messages on the internet make you feel like a big tough guy?
“It’s far too early to speculate”… right after speculating what the worst case scenario might be.
Giants getting derailed by injuries currently. Time to bring up Ramos if Yaz hits the IL.
Baumgarners 7 inning no no is a great example of how poorly mlb is being managed.
Yea if the person pitches the full 7 this year it should count
Agreed. If he gets credit for a complete game shutout (which he did), then why not a no hitter? Because it’s not 9 innings? Then either give him credit for the no-hitter, or don’t give him credit for the CG/SHO. What a stupid rule.
Drop the 7-inning doubleheaders
Does anyone recall a white sox prospect Mike Yastrzemski late 80s early 90s. I tried to find but i swear i had a baseball card.
This guy:
baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=yas…
The earlier Mike Yastrzemski was the current Mike Yastrzemski’s dad. He was Carl’s son and sadly died in 2004 at the age of 43.
Thank you. Started to think i was nuts. I typed in last name in bbref and only Giants mike and carl showed up
@Lee Mazzilli
Players that didn’t play in the major leagues won’t appear in the auto-complete portion of the search bar but if you actually go through with the search, you’ll see that they separate the results into tabs and he can be found there under “Minor League Players”.
Like this:
baseball-reference.com/search/search.fcgi?search=y…