The Mariners announced that center fielder Kyle Lewis has begun a rehab assignment in Triple-A tonight, his first competitive assignment since he tore his meniscus last May. Foreshadowing what may come when the 2020 AL Rookie of the Year makes it back to the majors, the 26-year-old Lewis swatted a home run on his first swing back in minor league game action. Equally encouraging for M’s fans is manager Scott Servais’s assessment, who according to MLB.com’s Daniel Kramer notes the team can be “a little bit more aggressive than we’d normally be” in promoting Lewis.
Cutting a 20-day rehab assignment short would be a bold move for a player who played in just 36 games last season, but clearly speaks to the team’s confidence in Lewis’s recovery. For what it’s worth, the Mariners aren’t exactly hurting for offense at the moment, as they rank third in the AL in runs scored. The high-upside outfield trio of Jesse Winker, Julio Rodriguez, and Jarred Kelenic, as well as a mishmash of DH options, have yet to really get it going however, and seem likely to cede time to the right-handed Lewis in the coming weeks.
Some additional injury updates from around the league…
- Mets reliever Trevor May is headed to the 10-day IL with triceps inflammation in his throwing arm, per Tim Healey of Newsday Sports. The typically reliable right-hander is off to a rough start in the 2022 season, allowing sixteen batters to reach base and half of them to score across eight appearances. The Mets currently sit atop the NL win column with an 18-8 record but if there’s one nit to pick with the team’s outstanding play so far it’s the bullpen, who have been a bottom-half unit in terms of run prevention this season. A return to health and vintage form from May will go a long way to shoring up the bullpen and taking pressure off the team’s lineup and rotation, both of which rank as top-5 groups in the sport. Right-hander Adonis Medina, who was acquired from the Pirates in early April, has been recalled to fill the bullpen vacancy.
- The Rangers meanwhile welcomed back right-handed starter Jon Gray from the IL today after he sprained in his knee in his previous start. Gray, one of several splashy signings made by Texas this offseason, has yet to get into a groove with his new club. The 30-year-old has already been placed on the IL twice during the young season, and was pulled after 60 pitches in tonight’s match against the Phillies. A rough first inning ballooned his ERA up to 7.50 on the season, but a quiet pair of ensuing innings is what the Rangers and their beleaguered pitching staff will be looking for more of moving forward. Right-handed reliever Albert Abreu, acquired from the Yankees in April’s Jose Trevino trade, heads to the IL in Gray’s stead with a sprained ankle. Abreu has managed a solid 3.57 ERA on the year, albeit with a worrying 11 walks in just over seven innings of action.
- The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly rolled out a cavalcade of positive health updates on ailing Giants players today. Notably, injured infielders Evan Longoria and Tommy La Stella will join recovering outfielder LaMonte Wade Jr. on a rehab assignment in Triple-A. Outfielders Joc Pederson and Mike Yastrzemski are nearing full-time returns as well after a right adductor strain and positive COVID test interrupted their respective seasons. Right-handed starter Anthony DeSclafani has also made progress in his recovery from the right ankle inflammation that recently landed him on the IL. Healthy returns from the listed players would be a boon for the club, who currently have several regulars out for COVID-related reasons. Despite sporting an IL that is more recognizable than the starting lineup, the Giants haven’t missed a beat from last season. The team is currently a half game out of first in the NL West, behind the Dodgers and Padres, with a top-3 bullpen and offense that only figures to get deeper in the next few days.
Seattle or Giants should trade for Duvall. Apparently, he is a good hitter.
Duvall can’t hit, though in The Godfather he orchestrated many hits. But he never lifted a bat in The Natural. In fact he really pissed me off in that one.
But he was a great clean-up hitter in Second Hand Lions.
May was decidedly frustrated after last night’s game, moreso than I’ve seen any player in quite some time. He said he had no faith in his ability to do his job because he had no energy in his arm and knew he couldn’t throw his best pitches. It’s odd that triceps inflammation is the only thing found in todays imaging.
May (or any player, for that matter) should’ve said something prior to coming into the game if he knew he didn’t have his stuff (for whatever reason). That’s a very selfish move when the team is trying to win a ballgame.
When the bullpen coach gets the call, you warm up. Players don’t dictate when they play.
Lewis was out for a full year for a meniscus tear? Several have returned from full ACL reconstruction in 3/4 of that time…. Wow, that’s absurd.
He had other long term issues with the knee that stalled his recovery from what I understand. These same issues might rule him out from being a CF in the future.
Okay, that makes sense, thanks. The way it reads it appears as though it was the recovery from that.
No one returns from ACL in 3 months. Knee injuries are brutal, and breaking a mental block in rehab can be difficult.
I never said 3 months. I said 3/4 of a year… that’s 8 months. And that’s Acuna, Locastro, and a few others.
8 months would be 2/3 of a year. 9 months is 3/4 of a year. But to be transparent, it took some focused brain power for me to think through that, lol!
Lewis jacked a HR in his first AB back. that thing never came down, I think it’s still going. Seattle can use him.
That HR after seeing 2 pitches in his first Rehab game?? 464 ft!! Absolute bomb! If the FO plan to have him play in RF and DH Kelenic will hope he can get a platoon share. If JK is still struggling this much come June 1 he might be following Jo Adell back down to the minors.
Kelenic should go to AAA now!! If could ruin him to keep him here batting under .200
Poor kid….we are all rooting for him. He is so toast right now mentally. The abs are hard to watch. He is so overmatched.
The Giants have a top 3 offense? what? Yes, they have a top 3 bullpen. The Giants are tied with two other teams for 3rd in runs scored, but in AVG, OBP, SLG, and OPS they rank 11th thru 16th.
Actually, while the Giants haven’t score the most overall runs, they currently lead the NL in runs/game. You can certainly argue that their league-average OPS might indicate that their run production is not sustainable, but in the end, all that really matters is who scores the most runs, isn’t it?
I think the giants have a magical element of clutch. It seems they always come up with runners on base and drive the guys in!! Last night doesn’t really exemplify this but still, a large part of scoring runs is having runs to score
guynamedchris — What’s more, the Giants have done it with a list of injured and Covid players that would be a disaster for any other club. There will always be nay-sayers.
I think the writer meant to add an “an”. It should read: “…with a top-3 bullpen and an offense that only figures to get deeper…”
Not sure why this double posted.
Might as well send Rodriguez down for some seasoning. They’ll get another year of control and no one will be able to whine that they are manipulating the system. The kid is not ready for the big leagues yet.
I would say the same thing about Kelenic, but at this point I think getting him for another year would be more of a punishment than a reward.
Julio’s slash line for the last 15 games. .286/.344/..393 with 8 runs/9RBI/and 7 SB. He is just finding himself. There is no need to send him down, especially with Haniger out for a little bit again. Kelenic should go down, His bat is a black hole in the lineup and they can’t afford to keep trotting him out, he needs consistent AB’s in Tacoma to figure it out.
But most of that production was against the Royals, so that should factored in.
False
Kelenic should definitely go down. He is making zero improvement.
You clearly have zero idea of what to you’re talking about.
He is ready. He is slowly gaining traction, getting up to speed. He is ready right now!
“cavalcade of positive health updates on ailing Giants players today” well since TonyGwynnSD19/DubsDynasty/LeftySpecialist (please IP Ban whoever this guy is) isn’t in the comments yet, I’ll say… LOL Padres!
Longoria needs to return some of his pay back to Giants while on the IL. He knew he was injured before the lockout and chose to wait until after the new CBA (so the Giants would have to pay). When Longoria does finally return full-time he needs to immediately contribute and put up big offensive numbers. If not, DFA him.
Not sure about Longoria returning any money, nor whether he needs to contribute immediately. But, this is the final year of the contract. And if he’s not contributing come July, I think he could get released. Especially if someone more productive is available, say from a deadline trade, or maybe like Luciano.
This weeks Pavlovic interview on Giants Talk is with Zaidi. Talks about the Ramos demotion. They want the prospects to dominate AAA before getting a regular MLB gig. I’m guessing will be waiting for Luciano
Like I said, Longoria isn’t going to be DFA’d anytime soon. I wasn’t talking near future. Luciano may be playing well enough at AAA in July or August to call him up and release Longoria. That is if Longoria is non-productive.
He is in High A. Never say never but it would be a quick rise.
Anyhow, Longo will go ok. He was good last year.
Considering he went on the IL late last year for the finger, I’m guessing the Giants knew about it.
Pederson pitch-hit in last night’s game, which was surprising since he’s supposedly still on the IL.
I’ll be interested to watch how Servais manages Lewis, Haniger, Julio, Kelenic et al in the outfield. Lot of rotation, days off, DHing I’m sure.
So, how long does Kelenic hit below .200 before he’s finally labeled a bust? All this hype for the guy, and now its a month into his second season and he can’t even hit above .150.
I don’t know. Maybe when he isn’t 3 years out of high-school. And 22 years old. Took Riley from the Braves 3 years before figuring things out. All the while there fan base wanted him gone. Sure he has a very long leash before labeling him a bust.
He definitely needs to spend a full year at AAA
100% Kelenic will go go down when KLew is ready. He is the least valuable position player we have right now. It’s not even close. Same position as KLew.