Here are a few things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world today:
1. Steele to undergo MRI:
The Cubs placed southpaw Justin Steele on the injured list yesterday with a diagnosis of left elbow tendinitis. The news was immediately concerning for fans in Chicago given that Steele, who has established himself as a front-of-the-rotation arm with a 3.10 ERA and a 3.14 FIP from 2022 to ’24, has been shelved with elbow issues on multiple other occasions in recent years. Fortunately, each of those stints on the IL ended up being relatively close to the minimum 15 days, and Steele suggested yesterday that he could once again return fairly quickly. Still, the Cubs are scheduled to send Steele for an MRI today to ensure there isn’t a more serious issue at hand, and his timeline for return won’t be certain until those results come in. Veteran swingman Colin Rea and young southpaw Jordan Wicks appear to be the top options to fill in for Steele in the club’s rotation while he’s out of commission, though a plentiful slate of off-days in April means they’ll rarely need a fifth starter this month anyhow.
2. Will the Mariners search for infield help?
The Mariners’ lineup has been compromised with injuries in recent days, with right fielder Victor Robles and second baseman Ryan Bliss both ticketed for extended absences. Luke Raley slid from first base to the outfield to help cover for the loss of Robles, and Dylan Moore is settling in as the club’s third baseman alongside J.P. Crawford at shortstop to keep the left side of the infield relatively settled. The right side of the infield is in complete flux, however, with Jorge Polanco parked at DH as he battles knee soreness.
That leaves first base to a combination of Rowdy Tellez and Donovan Solano, while second base appears poised to be manned by utility men Miles Mastrobuoni and Leo Rivas. Neither Mastrobuoni nor Rivas appear likely to be contributors on offense with career wRC+ marks of 60 and 86 respectively. Tellez and Solano both have track records of success in the majors, by contrast, but Solano is just 2-for-18 with a 33.3% strikeout rate in a part time role this year while Tellez is 1-for-23 after a big spring showing. With the right side of the infield in such dire straits, could the club look for an external addition or perhaps tap into the farm for a different option?
3. Pitchers’ duel in Atlanta:
The Braves and Phillies are wrapping up a three-game set in Atlanta today, which will serve as the rubber match after the Braves took the first game while the Phillies emerged victorious yesterday. On the mound will be Phillies southpaw Jesus Luzardo, who was limited to just 66 2/3 lackluster innings for the Marlins last year by injuries but has looked fantastic in two starts for the Phillies this year (1.50 ERA, 19-to-4 K/BB). Atlanta counters with righty Spencer Schwellenbach. He looked terrific in his rookie season last year, with a 3.35 ERA in 21 starts, and has dominated in both of his starts so far this season with 14 scoreless innings and 14 strikeouts against just one walk. The two impressive hurlers will square off at 7:15pm local time this evening.
4. Priester makes Brewers debut:
The Brewers engineered a rare April trade of consequence to restock and injury-ravaged rotation, shipping prospect Yophery Rodriguez and their Competitive Balance draft pick (No. 33 overall) to the Red Sox in exchange for former top prospect Quinn Priester. The 24-year-old Priester was a first-round pick by the Pirates in 2019 whom MLB.com ranked as a top-100 prospect from 2021-23. His stock took a hit last year, and he was flipped to Boston at the deadline in exchange for infield prospect Nick Yorke (another former first-rounder whose stock had slipped a bit).
Priester has had some big league exposure so far but hasn’t found success in 99 2/3 innings (6.23 ERA). The Brewers have a knack for coaxing new levels out of pitchers, however, evidenced by success stories like Tobias Myers, Trevor Megill and Joel Payamps in Milwaukee. They’ll hope to add Priester’s name to that list. The 6’3″ righty is controllable for another six seasons, making him a potential long-term cog. Brewers fans will get their first look today when Priester takes on Rockies righty Ryan Feltner at Coors Field in Denver.
Mariners and Reds seem to have the same affliction: frontofficeignoringoffenseitis.
A terrible affliction that doesn’t help good young pitching.
They also would matchup well for another trade.
Mariners should have signed at least one big bat to bolster the offense. It’s so mind-blowing to me how cheap these two owners are. 150 million dollars for payroll shouldn’t be such a hurdle, especially when the window for contention is wide open for both.
Seattle’s owners are among the 2/3 of owners who worship at the alter of the almighty dollar. Net revenue is their god. They have no incentive to sell their cash cow. The fans won’t leave so it’s a standoff. (Especially the casual fans who won’t stay away)
To the complaining fans…go pick a team from the 1/3 that spend. Perpetually complaining changes nothing. Your stress will decrease if you switch to a team that actually spends.
I’ve been saying for months U can’t field a serious World Series contender if your overall payroll is only 150M…. Salaries have continued to escalate year to year so it takes at least 180-200M to field an all around solid roster. With arb salaries climbing especially on starting pitchers whatever money U have will get eaten up there! Either U increase the budget significantly or be honest with the fans that your goal is the bottom line not winning!
Is today’s game in Fenway the biggest starting pitcher mismatch, on paper anyway? Buehler vs Bassitt
A 4-game sweep would be so embarrassing :O(
Totally agree. Bassitt might actually throw a no-hitter (tongue firmly placed in cheek).
I was going amend the list to include:
5. Red Sox look for elixir to wake up their ***ing bats!!
swan – It’s quite telling when Gausman has ZERO strikeouts April 4th against the Mets, and then 10 strikeouts last night against the Sox. Clearly their hitting approach is not working, not last year and not this year. And not having Hamilton bunt over Campbell in the 8th and 11th was inexcusable.
I’m still not too worried about the offense overall though, I believe guys like Casas and Duran and Devers and Campbell and Abreu will hit …. even Story I think will have his hot streaks. But for the other guys, they need to stop swinging from their heels at every pitch.
Well we had Easton Lucas out-duel Garrett Crochet in game 2, so maybe you have a chance…
Lucas looked really solid. TOR has a nice group of starters right now.
swan – Yes they are 6-deep and I think Francis is the best of them. If Scherzer can stay healthy that’s an amazing rotation.
@MLBTR … No mention of Reds transactions with Benson and Marte being recalled ?????
And McLain to the dl
Thank god they didn’t mention Marte. Then we’d be subjected to 200 comments from people crying about PEDs.
Would it be less expensive for Mariners’ fans to hire the Sinaloa Cartel to kidnap their mid inflied depth (Dylan Moore, Leo Rivas, Miles Mastrobuoni) and forcing the team to trade Bryan Woo to Baltimore for some help?
Or would it have been less expensive to just f***ing pay Christian Walker?
They have to start thinking outside the box
Problem is, Hancock looks anything like a fifth starter; the 1-5 strong rotation can’t handle one injury, so trading one arm for a needed bat sets up a domino effect. Is Turnbull still available- and why? Maybe a Miller & Solano for Mountcastle & Wells deal would work…
Whichever of Hancock/Miller/Woo would get the biggest return.
I see your point about having a healthy rotation, but I think banking on one is a fool’s errand. My philosophical difference on your 5th starter problem is it doesn’t really matter if you lose the game 2-1 or 5-1. They need bats.
They’re already thin on pitching and you think they should trade a starter?
Runs allowed matter just as much as runs scored. The offense isn’t going to score just one run every night.
They arguably need both pitching and hitting.
Seattle would have to get back a way better package than that for Bryce Miller. Not even close.
Thinking outside the box costs money. The box costs money. The Mariner ownership doesn’t spend money…
Seatdump would be better off with more regular, solid players at each position instead of betting it all on versatility.
Rowdy Tellez is the embodiment of Seattle’s state of affairs. He was a cheap signing, and they’re getting what they paid for. I don’t even think if they replaced him with Freddie Freeman it would make much difference. Dipoto will have a busy schedule at the deadline trading off the flotsam and jetsam of this roster. We know ownership won’t greenlight buying if by some miracle they’re in the hunt in July, so he’ll be tasked with doing what he does best.
Wow the Mariners really are going to burn the salary arb years of their pitchers without making a run at anything.
My favorite part of Cubs baseball is the April proclamations of a championship team, then reality, injuries, no roster depth, farm system failure and finally disappointment settles in for the rest of the season.
Not really worried about Steele as I’ve seen this movie before. At least not worried until the MRI comes back. Heck you can probably say any pitcher in baseball this time of year has tendonitis. After pitching for a month in high 80’s temps and then coming north and being forced to pitch in meat freezer temperatures I’m surprised they all don’t have it some degree.