Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey told reporters, including Dan Hayes of The Athletic, that right-handed prospect Jordan Balazovic will miss the start of Spring Training due to a broken jaw stemming from “an altercation away from the field.” A source with the team indicated to Hayes that Balazovic suffered the injury following a verbal altercation last Saturday, though Balazovic did not retaliate physically. Balazovic underwent surgery and is currently unavailable, though he could begin to play catch in seven to 10 days.
Balazovic came into the 2022 season viewed as a consensus top 100 prospect but struggled mightily with injuries and ineffectiveness last year. He was out until May 1 last year with a knee injury and then struggled to a 7.68 ERA in 72 2/3 minor league innings last year while pitching almost exclusively at the Triple-A level. Now it appears his 2023 is off to a rocky start of its own. Fortunately for Minnesota, the club has an impressive amount of starting pitching depth, with Pablo Lopez, Tyler Mahle, Sonny Gray, Joe Ryan, Kenta Maeda, and Bailey Ober all capable big league starters even with Chris Paddack set to spend most of the 2023 season on the injured list.
Elsewhere around the AL…
- Sticking with the Twins, center fielder Byron Buxton and first baseman Alex Kirilloff are both in places the club is comfortable with health-wise at this point in the spring, according to Hayes. Buxton is fully recovered from last year’s knee surgery and is playing without limitations, while Kirilloff, Falvey notes, is behind most other hitters as the organization plans on taking things slowly with him following his second wrist surgery, which Hayes notes was particularly intensive. Both figure to be part of the Twins Opening Day lineup if healthy, though the Twins acquired Michael A. Taylor earlier this offseason in part as insurance in center if Buxton continues to struggle to stay healthy, while rumors of the clubs interest in a veteran, right-handed complement to Kirilloff at first base have percolated throughout the offseason.
- Yankees infielder DJ LeMahieu talked with reporters this morning, including Erik Boland of Newsday Sports and Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. LeMahieu noted that he is at “100 percent” as he enters camp this spring, able to play with no limitations. In addition, LeMahieu says he’s excited to play in a utility role for the Yankees this season. With Anthony Rizzo at first base and Gleyber Torres at second, while Oswald Peraza, Oswaldo Cabrera, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa all expected to mix and match at shortstop and with Josh Donaldson at third base, at least until top prospect Anthony Volpe is ready to contribute, LeMahieu figures to pick up playing time at each of first base, second base, and third base this season. LeMahieu played second base almost exclusively prior to signing with the Yankees ahead of the 2019 season, but since then has moved around the infield more often, racking up 872 innings of work at first base and 1,171 innings at third base in a Yankees uniform.
- While Orioles left-hander John Means won’t factor into the Baltimore Opening Day rotation, he certainly seems to be on the right track to have an impact on the club at some point this season. Orioles manager Brandon Hyde told reporters, including Roch Kubatko of MASN, that means will begin throwing off a half mound sometime in the coming week. Means has had the look of a solid mid-rotation starter since taking on a full-time role in 2019, pitching to a 3.72 ERA (124 ERA+) in 353 1/3 innings over that time while earning an All Star appearance and finishing second in AL Rookie of the Year voting for his 2019 season, where he posted a 3.60 ERA (131 ERA+) in 155 innings of work. Whenever Means is ready to return, he’ll be a welcome addition to a rotation that saw Kyle Gibson replace outgoing veteran righty Jordan Lyles and added lefty Cole Irvin in a trade with Oakland this offseason.
Wow!
“Until Anthony Volpe is ready to contribute” I think he gets called up this year, but I feel like he’s going to never be called up at this point.
He’s still pretty young. No need to mess with his development right on the doorstep.
How does a fella break his jaw from a “verbal altercation”? Dropping disses so hard his jaw cracked from the weight of it?
Came to inquire the same, but the guess is that it was verbal from his end and someone punched him for his comments; i.e. Jacked in the jaw for jaw-jackin.’
My Drill Instructor referred to it as having “an alligator mouth and a hummingbird a$$”
I’m rooting for Bux to play 140+ games. If he does, he’ll probably hit 40 bombs, win a gold glove and shut up a ton of haters.
If I was a Twins fan, his proneness to injury would drive me crazy. But this guy is a freaking stud ball player with some ridiculous skill and I for one enjoy watching him play. The way his batspeed and quick hands developed into that serious power is more impressive than he gets credit for, imo. I often find myself shaking my head at fans burying him for getting nicked up too often. I always think to myself; “easy for you to say!”
Not everybody is going to be Cal Ripken; and that doesn’t make him any less of a ball player, a man, or any less impressive or fun to watch.
“Stud ballplayers” aren’t fragile. That’s a contradiction in terms.
“Fragile” is quite the label for the guy; a label that I guarantee you’d never say to his face.
LOL! Wanna bet?
Nope! I wanna mute.
Talking about fragile.
Buxton won’t play 100 games and it would be irresponsible for the Twins to expect he could. It’s not for lack of trying, but Buxton is just a freak of athleticism and his muscles are just too strong for his frame.
Buxton’s an 8 year veteran who’ll be playing at age 29 this year and he’s played more than 92 games just once, 6 years ago in the 2017 season. Last year, he played significantly hurt nearly the entire year and still couldn’t get to 100 games.
He’s a very good player, but it’s not like he’s MVP caliber, largely due to his low on base skills. A solid 6 WAR full season guy, if he ever did play a full season, which he won’t.
Martras your post is a reasonable position to have from a fans perspective. Absolutely nothing wrong with anything you said. When it gets taken further into some sort of perceived “character issue” or that he is soft; those comments are lame, full of hyperbole and poor assumption.
I love watching the guy play, and I hope he can find a way to stay healthier than he has. But you’re probably right; he most likely will not. There are some guys that claim that there is no such thing as injury prone….I am not one of those guys. When he’s played 8 seasons and only one in which he had 400+ abs; it’s not rocket science, man. It’s a trend. A factual trend.
Balazovic had to go to a hospital for surgery – is there a police report of any kind? Has MLB looked into it at all?
That isn’t MLB’s job.
There are personal conduct clauses in pro sports. The Twins, if not the league, will at least want to know if there’s a police report about it.
The athletic article about it just says “there are no legal issues stemming from the incident” which makes it sound to me like no police report.
As a Sox fan I hope I’m wrong but am I the only one who sees DJL winning comeback player of the year in 23?
Wrong. Sale and Paxton tied in a unanimous vote.
If I can figure out the math.
Did you go to MIT? It will take such a brain to figure out votes for them to tie. I guess is you vote for one, I’ll vote for the other and we close the polls…
My dad went to MIT and he taught me how to multiply when I was 6 because I asked him. I figured out calculating batting averages on the slide rule when I was about 10. But I’m a very average smart person, not MIT material probably. So your plan sounds fine to me.
I appreciate the sentiment but I don’t think he dipped that far down or missed enough time to qualify.
Having 541 PA alongside a .357 OBP kind of disqualifies him for the award.
He comes back to approach winning the batting title again and he’s the main reason for a change in the Yankees’ HR or bust mentality and he could. Yes it was the juiced ball year but in 19 when the team needed just a base runner to win or continue a rally, you knew he was succeeding.
If DJ is at “100%” and can stay reasonably healthy, he could contribute meaningfully. He’s not going to be the 2019 version, but he can still play. This is his contract year, and I have to think it will be his last year with the Yankees, assuming the prospects advance.
Contract year? Didn’t he sign after 20 that lengthy but team friendly AAV deal?
He’s not a free agent until 2027.
I think if he’s healthy DJL should be an every-day player. Yankees need his bat in that lineup. Which position? Bench Donaldson and have DJ play third.
Funny thing is Donaldson can turn it around too. While he can be a head case, he was a great clutch hitter who played a solid third base. Is there anything left in his tank?
I assume you mean he was a great clutch hitter in the past, because he was anything but clutch with the Yankees. His strikeouts in the playoffs were killers.
The Yankees have added Brad Wilkerson to the coaching staff. Maybe he can help Donaldson regain something at the plate. My concern is that Donaldson was overmatched against fastballs last year, so his bat speed might be a thing of the past. Another thing is that he takes pride in his knowledge of hitting. That came across in a segment on the MLB Network when he discussed the science of hitting with their crew. I wonder if he’s humble enough to take advice from coaches who never hit like he used to. I hope so, because the Yankees’ success this year hinges a lot on how he performs — unless they let him go and give third base to DJ or IKF.
It seemed like Donaldson was really heating up until the “Jackie Robinson” incident regarding Tim Anderson, Josh Donaldson totally faded away after that. I really do think it had a big impact on his psyche.
Tough to say if he has much left. His advanced metrics seemed to indicate he had really poor luck with the the Twins, but after a couple uninspired seasons in a row, I wouldn’t take the bet on a big rebound.
LET’S GO O’S!!!!
Isn’t Volpe already on the Hall of Fame ballot?
Jeez.
Not yet. He has to be retired for five years. Sweihart might be on the ballot though in a couple of years …
Oswaldo Cabrera is going to be better than him
Volpe and Nick Johnson, are both HOF eligible after this season. Along with Jesus Montero. On a serious note, I do believe Volpe will indeed live up to the hype. Hopefully Dominguez too.
Wondering if, with 2024 being Means’ last season under contract, if the O’s will tread lightly bringing him back just to dangle him as trade bait.
On the fence. With spin rates MYSTERIOUSLY back up in 22, kinda curious to see if Means’ rate jumps and helps with his effectiveness. The sticky stuff, or version there of, seems to be back!
Agree. Exhibit A: James Karinchak.
Hair today, gone tomorrow.
And the award for the world’s longest sentence goes to… Nick “Mister” Deeds for
“With Anthony Rizzo at first base and Gleyber Torres at second, while Oswald Peraza, Oswaldo Cabrera, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa all expected to mix and match at shortstop and with Josh Donaldson at third base, at least until top prospect Anthony Volpe is ready to contribute, LeMahieu figures to pick up playing time at each of first base, second base, and third base this season.”
For heaven’s sake, get an editor. At least put the thing about Volpe in parentheses. Plus it’s not even grammatically correct, you need “are” between “Falefa” and “all.”
How many times are you going to say “and” in a sentence? Look at how much better this works:
With Anthony Rizzo at first base, Gleyber Torres at second, Josh Donaldson at third, while Oswald Peraza, Oswaldo Cabrera, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa are all expected to mix and match at shortstop (at least until top prospect Anthony Volpe is ready to contribute), LeMahieu figures to pick up playing time at each of first, second, and third base this season.
Dude I know it’s Sunday , but you have way too much time on your hands. Take your wife out to dinner or something instead of giving grammar lessons to a free baseball news site.
Besides it should be Benbenben. Only a nOOb capitalizes in the miDDle of a wORd.
And on the seventh day gOd took some time off to criticize grammar, even though, it didn’t, exist, yet.
Nice try bozo, it’s a username on a website. Not an actual written article that someone is being paid to write.
And here are more mistakes:
“Nice try bozo, it’s a username on a website. Not an actual written article that someone is being paid to write.”
You omitted a comma that you should’ve inserted between “Nice try” and “bozo,” because “bozo” is a form of direct address.
Then you created a run-on sentence with a comma splice. “Nice try, bozo” and “it’s a username on a website” should’ve been separate sentences.
Then you followed that with a sentence fragment. “Not an actual written article that someone is being paid to write” is not a complete sentence.
In fact, that fragment belonged with “It’s a username,” so the two statements should’ve been combined in a single sentence:
“It’s a username on a website, not an actual written article that someone is being paid to write.”
Of course, your best choice by far would’ve been to forgo playing the pedant on a baseball website. Had you not chosen to kvetch about the writing of a blog reporter on a deadline, you’d have avoided embarrassing yourself by exposing your own errors.
Lmao at this dingleberry “Poster formerly unknown as” critiquing how someone comments on an internet article. Get a life, look how long a post you made. The bozo here is you, and the embarrassed one here is also you. Not Ben.
Lmao Poster, you actually picked apart a comment on the internet grammatically as a way of rebuttal? This must be some kind of joke.
This is an article written by a professional. Do you see how that is not the same as a comment I wrote? I’m not being paid to write this. Nick is. There are editors who could be catching these syntactical issues too.
By the way, you don’t need a comma in the sentence “nice try bozo.” Check it in Grammarly, if you don’t believe mem.
Ben, I needn’t consult Grammarly to know a rule that we all learned in grade school. You absolutely need to insert a comma there. Otherwise, your sentence is about something called a “try bozo.”
But, to placate you, here’s the relevant instruction from your preferred website:
“Commas with direct address
“When addressing another person by name, set off the name with commas.
“Mom, I can’t find my shoes!
“Cleo, there’s someone on the phone for you.
“Hello, Chester.”
grammarly.com/blog/comma/
You keep opining that because the bloggers here are being paid, your complaints are justified. I doubt they’re being paid lavishly. And, more to the point, that seems an awfully crass attitude, that money should determine whether or not a person is owed any appreciation for their efforts.
I’ve no doubt that the medical professionals who saved my life were paid well for their care, but I’ll forever be grateful to them, nonetheless. And the first responders who sacrificed their lives to save strangers in the World Trade Center were paid professionals, but their heroic martyrdom still deserves honor.
Obviously, this is very important to you, this constant carping about the writing on this site. I’ve only responded to you because: (a) it’s unreasonable for one to presume to correct other people’s writing when one’s own “corrections” are sometimes erroneous; (b) my own reflex is to defend persons being needlessly attacked, when the polite thing to do would be to discreetly offer those corrections in private messages to the authors; and (c) this is a baseball website and, in my opinion, not the place for a person with a pedantic compulsion to exercise that impulse in the absence of any comments about the subject at hand, which is baseball.
But there’s obviously no percentage in belaboring the issue any further. It’s clear that you’re not going to get it. And, to be perfectly honest, I actually feel guilty about probably hurting your feelings, which is a fault I’d do better to avoid. So, good luck with your life, Ben (see: had I not put a comma there, I’d have wished you luck with some entity called a “life Ben,” whatever that might be).
In parting, allow me to recommend “Better English” by Norman Lewis.
Adios.
“And, more to the point, that seems an awfully crass attitude,”
“And, to be perfectly honest, I actually feel guilty about probably hurting your feelings, which is a fault I’d do better to avoid.”
No comma needed after “and,” though you obviously don’t know these things.
“the polite thing to do would be to discreetly offer those corrections in private messages to the authors”
Show me where I can do this. There is no way. No one responds to emails/contact us form submissions about this stuff. Believe me, I’ve tried.
Check the Chicago Manual of Style 5.203 for beginning a sentence with a conjunction. Note that commas are not used after the conjunction. You’re in no position to argue about punctuation.
An ignorant SOB doesn’t care about English, what a shocker.
No one who is also commenting on an internet article is in any position to criticize another person for also commenting on the same article.
I appreciate what BenBenBen is doing. The article was not well-written and his corrections are very good. Regardless of the site being free or not–so much sports coverage online is free and is held to high journalistic standards, including ESPN–MLBTR writers need to do a better job.
Actually, his corrections are not very good, Taurus Johns. What’s more, it’s somewhat ironic that there are grammatical errors in your own comment.
In fact, I’m led to wonder if you’re BenBenBen posting under a second screen ID.
Ok tinfoil hat man, if you want to keep nitpicking what commenters say when they critique writers who are actually being paid for what they do, you do you. It’s making you look awful.
Ben . . . Ben . . . Ben . . .
Oh brother. Everyone loves the guy that goes around correcting spelling and grammar errors. I’m a Pakistani woman, and English is only my third language, but I completely understood what the OP was talking about. Lighten up.
“Look at how much better this works:
“With Anthony Rizzo at first base, Gleyber Torres at second, Josh Donaldson at third, while Oswald Peraza, Oswaldo Cabrera, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa are all expected to mix and match at shortstop (at least until top prospect Anthony Volpe is ready to contribute), LeMahieu figures to pick up playing time at each of first, second, and third base this season.”
Actually, that’s a poorly constructed sentence. Your pointless concern with the repetition of “and” apparently prompted your use of “while,” when “and” would have been the better choice.
Compare the flow of this sentence:
“With Anthony Rizzo at first base, Gleyber Torres at second, Josh Donaldson at third, and Oswald Peraza, Oswaldo Cabrera and Isiah Kiner-Falefa all expected to mix and match at shortstop (at least until top prospect Anthony Volpe is ready to contribute), LeMahieu figures to pick up playing time at first, second and third base this season.”
Also, given that Peraza is viewed as the better defender at shortstop and hit very well against major-league pitching in his 18 games last year, it’s highly possible that Volpe will end up at second base, while Peraza will be the starting shortstop. Therefore, the parenthetical reference to Volpe could’ve been dispensed with or discussed in a subsequent sentence.
“With Anthony Rizzo at first base, Gleyber Torres at second, Josh Donaldson at third, and Oswald Peraza, Oswaldo Cabrera and Isiah Kiner-Falefa all expected to mix and match at shortstop, LeMahieu figures to pick up playing time at first, second and third base this season. It remains to be seen how the call-up of top prospect Anthony Volpe might alter the equation.”
How is “while” not valid? Three players are set at their positions, while another three are rotating at short. See? It’s perfect.
Using “and” a lot is repetitive, creates run-ons easily, and it’s certainly not pointless to argue against.
I compared your first sentence to mine but I had to take some penicillin halfway through because of how unwieldy and long it was, sticking its largesse into my brain. You don’t appreciate variegation much, I can tell. You just want to use “and” over and over again, not recognizing how you can make it less bland.
BenBenBen . . .
“Largesse” is synonymous with “generosity.” But thank you for the unintended compliment.
Yes, your overbearing generosity of the word “and.”
If DJ is healthy he’s a big key to the Yankees offense. I expect he will eventually be the everyday third baseman,
and Volpe or Peraza will be the utility man and the other playing SS.
They expect us to believe DJL is ‘excited’ to play a utility role? Come on.
He was originally signed to be a utility player in 2019. Gregorius was at short, Urshela was at third, Torres was at second, and Voit was at first base. DJ played 74 games at second, 51 at third, and 35 at first base.
“The Yankees plan to use LeMahieu as a versatile player around the infield. They will use him at second base, first base and third base.”
— Jack Curry (@JackCurryYES) January 11, 2019
If healthy, DJ reminds me of Paul Molitor. A very versatile, and productive player that any team would covet. I’m not saying he’s a Hall of Famer like Molitor, but still an excellent guy to have on your team. I pray he will be healthy this season, and help our Yankees win a much overdue World Series Championship.