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Braves Claim Kevin Chapman From Astros

By Steve Adams | March 13, 2017 at 2:22pm CDT

The Braves announced on Monday that they’ve claimed left-handed reliever Kevin Chapman off waivers from the Astros. Houston reportedly placed the 29-year-old Chapman on waivers over the weekend. Atlanta had an open spot on its 40-man roster, so no corresponding move is necessary.

Chapman is out of minor league options, so the Braves will need to either carry him on their roster to start the season or once again expose him to waivers if they hope to send him to the minor leagues. The former fourth-round pick has a career 4.09 ERA with 7.9 K/9, 5.1 BB/9 and a 43.1 percent ground-ball rate in 55 big league innings.

While Chapman saw quite a bit of time in the Majors in 2013-14, he’s logged just 13 1/3 combined innings with the Astros over the past two seasons as they’ve relied heavily on Tony Sipp as the primary (and in many cases only) left-handed option in manager A.J. Hinch’s bullpen.

Chapman struggled in Triple-A this past season (4.87 ERA in 61 innings) but does have a strong track record at that level, where he’s worked to a collective 3.67 ERA and racked up 262 strikeouts in 208 2/3 innings (11.3 K/9). He’s also struggled with his control throughout his minor league tenure, however, as evidenced by a career 4.7 BB/9 rate in the minors (4.9 in Triple-A). Chapman doesn’t dominate opposing lefties and permits them to reach too often via walk, but he’s also prevented them from hitting for any sort of power against him. In total, same-handed opponents have batted .263/.354/.325 against Chapman in the Majors. He’ll give the Braves an additional lefty option for the bullpen and compete with the likes of Ian Krol, Paco Rodriguez and non-roster invitee Eric O’Flaherty for a spot at the end of camp.

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East Notes: Red Sox, Braves, Mets

By Connor Byrne | March 12, 2017 at 9:23am CDT

It didn’t surprise Clay Buchholz that the Red Sox traded him during the offseason, the right-hander told reporters – including Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald – on Sunday (Twitter links). Buchholz is now with the Phillies, though he expected Boston to send him to the White Sox as part of the Chris Sale deal. “This is probably good for me, getting out of Boston in general,” said Buchholz, who had been a member of the Red Sox since they selected him in the first round of the 2005 draft. “It stinks to say that but seems like more people remember bad things that happened rather than good things.” Buchholz had his down moments in Boston, including a rough 2016, but posted respectable numbers in 1,167 2/3 innings with the Sox (3.96 ERA, 6.93 K/9, 3.21 BB/9, 47.8 percent ground-ball rate) and had arguably his best season in 2013 as part of a World Series-winning club.

More from the East Coast:

  • The Braves have attempted to reel in free agent outfielder Angel Pagan, but it’s “highly unlikely” he’ll end up in Atlanta because he’s “seeking far more” than they’re willing to offer, according to Mark Bowman of MLB.com. Pagan wants a major league contract, unsurprisingly, but Atlanta’s among a group of teams that have offered him a minors pact. Judging by Bowman’s report, the Braves aren’t going to budge.
  • While the Mets’ Sandy Alderson is both the oldest general manager in the majors (69) and in a contract year, it sounds as if he aims to continue with the organization beyond the 2017 campaign. “I haven’t thought about how much longer I want to do it,” he told Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. “But I’d like to do it a little longer.” The Mets had endured four straight non-playoff seasons before hiring Alderson in October 2010, but they’ve gradually turned around their fortunes on the longtime executive’s watch. New York is coming off back-to-back playoff seasons, including a 2015 World Series berth, for just the second time in franchise history.
  • Red Sox reliever Tyler Thornburg’s lack of shoulder strength partially boils down to miscommunication, writes Silverman. After they acquired him from the Brewers, the Red Sox, who have their own shoulder maintenance program, sent Thornburg a list of exercises to perform daily. He misunderstood the directions, however. “I kind of figured that this is a list of the exercises they incorporated, I didn’t think this is what they do all in one day,” said Thornburg. “I thought, ‘here’s a list of exercises, learn them, pick five or six of them,’ because that was pretty much what we did in Milwaukee.” Teammate and fellow reliever Joe Kelly also had a difficult time adjusting to the program when the Red Sox acquired him in 2014, but he’s now on board with it. “It’s something that I didn’t buy into all the way when I first did it because it’s something new, something new you’re doing and you’re getting sore and fatigued, it’s something you probably don’t want to do,” Kelly stated. “It’s something I stuck with, and I tried it and ultimately it just felt great. It’s one of the things you’ve kind of got to get results first in order to believe.”
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NL East Notes: Scherzer, Lugo, Braves, Marlins

By Steve Adams | March 11, 2017 at 1:57pm CDT

Ken Rosenthal looks at the durability of Nationals ace Max Scherzer, who has had just one arm-related DL stint in his career (shoulder soreness in 2009) and leads all Major League pitchers in innings pitched across the past three seasons. Rosenthal spoke to Scherzer himself, former D-backs GM Josh Byrnes, former Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski (now in Boston) and Nationals GM Mike Rizzo (Arizona’s scouting director when the D-backs drafted Scherzer) about the two-time Cy Young winner. Byrnes said Scherzer deserves credit for being “very developmentally minded” as a prospect. “He wanted to find out what he needed to do to be the best version of himself, not take what was the quickest path to the big leagues,” said Byrnes. Rizzo noted that many perceived it as an overdraft when the Diamondbacks plucked him out of Missouri at No. 11 overall in 2006 and lauded Scherzer’s arm action, pitching IQ and demeanor on the mound. Scherzer offered some interesting insight on the toll that increasing workloads can take on a developing arm as well, making for a very interesting read.

Elsewhere in the NL East…

  • The Mets are “strongly” considering right-hander Seth Lugo for a relief role if he doesn’t claim the final spot in the rotation, tweets Mike Puma of the New York Post. While there’s been some thought that either Lugo or Robert Gsellman could head back to Triple-A to continue to work as a starter, but Puma notes that the bullpen is New York’s most pressing concern at the moment. The 27-year-old Lugo made his MLB debut last season and showed quite well, tossing 64 innings with a 2.67 ERA, 6.3 K/9, 3.0 BB/9 and a 42.8 percent ground-ball rate in 17 appearances — nine of which came out of the ’pen.
  • Left-hander Eric O’Flaherty has rediscovered some of the sink on his fastball in Spring Training and, with righties Chaz Roe and Blaine Boyer struggling, has emerged as a legitimate option to break camp with the Braves, writes MLB.com’s Mark Bowman. “He’s throwing some good breaking balls and his fastball has a little more life than it did,” manager Brian Snitker tells Bowman. “We just need to stay with him. I think he feels good, so that’s just a good thing to just keep him out there. I think he’s feeling healthy for the first time in a while.”
  • Looking to the bench competition that is ongoing in Atlanta, Bowman tweets that the only two locks for bench spots at this moment are backup catcher Kurt Suzuki and utilityman Jace Peterson. The Braves are said to be eyeing a right-handed-hitting fourth outfielder that can handle center and have several other candidates in camp vying for bench roles (as can be seen on their depth chart at Roster Resource).
  • Though the Marlins have a notoriously weak farm system, Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald spoke to a number of rival scouts and evaluators about which Miami farmhands could potentially make a Major League impact in 2017. The three most common responses for Spencer were right-hander Dillon Peters, infielder J.T. Riddle and right-hander Drew Steckenrider. Though small in stature, Peters has racked up impressive performances in the minors over the past two seasons and reached Double-A as a 23-year-old last year. Riddle, a glove-first infielder, could help the team’s bench/defense despite a light bat. And Steckenrider scrapped starting after Tommy John surgery and returned with a 100 mph heater out of the ’pen. Of course, as Spencer notes, with the Marlins’ deep bullpen, it could take awhile for him to be a big league factor.
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Latest On Angel Pagan

By Steve Adams | March 10, 2017 at 3:47pm CDT

4:09pm: Pagan had an agreement with the Orioles, but a failed physical blew things up, Heyman reports. It isn’t clear just when that occurred or what the issue was.

The deal with Baltimore was a major league deal, Heyman suggests. Pagan’s agent, Greg Genske, also says that other teams have offered MLB roster spots, per the report. Indeed, Atlanta is potentially interested in such an arrangement, though it’s not clear at what price tag.

This new report seems to change the story on Pagan. It now appears that opportunity and/or money are the main sticking points. The veteran has “been seeking close to $5MM” in contract talks, according to Heyman.

3:47pm: The Pirates and the Braves are among the “many” teams that have made offers to outfielder Angel Pagan, tweets Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports. (Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle first reported that the Braves had made an offer.) However, the 35-year-old Pagan has reportedly been holding out for a Major League offer, and it doesn’t seem that any team has made that type of proposal to this point, as Heyman adds that the outfielder has yet to find a suitable opportunity.

Pagan isn’t exactly missing out on Spring Training entirely, as he’s playing for Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic, so he’ll be somewhat up to speed if he does ink a deal with a club at some point this month. Earlier this week, Pagan told reporters that he feels that his 2016 play has earned him a spot somewhere. It’s hard to argue that, based on Pagan’s 2016 season. While he may no longer be much of an option in center field, he did bat .277/.331/.418 with 12 home runs and 15 steals last season, and his defense in left field as passable in the eyes of Ultimate Zone Rating and Defensive Runs Saved.

Both Atlanta and Pittsburgh were among the speculative landing spots I listed for Pagan last week, as either one makes sense on paper. The Braves don’t have a true fourth outfielder, as their current backup options in center field include Jace Peterson, Chase d’Arnaud and perhaps non-roster invitee Lane Adams. The Pirates, meanwhile, are currently set to utilize Adam Frazier as an infielder/outfielder off the bench but lack a pure fourth outfield option themselves.

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Heyman’s Latest: Maddon, Braves, Rockies, Hammel, Kenley, Napoli, Lucroy

By Steve Adams | March 9, 2017 at 3:54pm CDT

The Cubs’ World Series victory triggered an escalator clause in manager Joe Maddon’s five-year, $25MM contract, reports Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports. Maddon’s annual salary will now be bumped from $5MM to $6MM in the final three years of the deal, though the skipper claims to ESPN Chicago’s Jesse Rogers that he wasn’t even aware of the clause. “I’ve never seen a paycheck,” Maddon tells Rogers.

Here are some highlights from Heyman’s latest lengthy Inside Baseball column…

  • The Braves are in the market for a right-handed-hitting outfielder that can handle center field. Currently, Atlanta lacks a clear-cut fourth outfielder and is set to deploy two left-handed-hitting starters in Ender Inciarte and Nick Markakis.
  • Rockies right-handers Jason Motte and Chad Qualls, each of whom disappointed in the first season of their respective two-year contracts last year, are both available in trade, per Heyman. Motte hasn’t enjoyed a strong season since 2012 and has undergone Tommy John in the interim (making the two-year deal all the more surprising). He’s owed $5MM in 2017. As for Qualls, the 38-year-old is more affordable at $3.25MM this season, but he’s also considerably older and coming off a worse year.
  • Jason Hammel and the Mariners were discussing a one-year deal in the $10MM range before he switched agents this offseason. Following the change in representation, Hammel shifted course and took a larger guarantee but a lower annual value, inking a two-year deal worth $16MM with the Royals. Seattle, in turn, picked up Drew Smyly and Yovani Gallardo via the trade market.
  • The Marlins’ offer to Kenley Jansen this winter was, perhaps unsurprisingly, extremely backloaded, Heyman reports. The deal would’ve paid Jansen something in the vicinity of $7MM in year one, $9MM in year two, $11MM in year three and $25MM in each of the final two years. That’d obviously be an advantageous structure for owner Jeffrey Loria, who is looking to sell the team.
  • The Padres and Tigers are both still looking to add to their roster, with San Diego focusing on shortstop options while Detroit pokes around the market for center field help. Heyman notes that the Friars would prefer a shortstop who is controlled beyond the 2017 season. Currently, the only MLB-ready, in-house option that fits that bill is Luis Sardinas.
  • The Twins were willing to pay Mike Napoli $11MM on a one-year deal or $16MM on a two-year pact, but Napoli instead is headed back to the Rangers on a one-year, $8.5MM deal with an option for the 2017 season that would allow him to match the $16MM total he could’ve made over two years in Minnesota. The slugger tells Heyman that he’s already made a lot of money in his career and instead prioritized winning.
  • The Rangers are still hoping to talk extension with Jonathan Lucroy and Yu Darvish. Lucroy tells Heyman that he “would absolutely love to stay” in Texas, adding that he likes the culture, the coaches and his teammates. The former Brewers backstop conceded that he at one point regretted signing his initial contract — a five-year deal with a club option that will end up paying him a total of $15.5MM over the six years — though it sounds like those days are behind him. (And, obviously, he’s poised to do quite well for himself in the very near future.) As for Darvish, Heyman notes that his agents may well try to use Stephen Strasburg’s seven-year, $175MM contract as a comp in negotiations, but the Rangers aren’t willing to push it that far to retain Darvish.
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Latest On Angel Pagan

By Jeff Todd | March 8, 2017 at 1:52pm CDT

We’ve heard mostly crickets on the market for veteran outfielder Angel Pagan, who turned in a strong bounceback year in 2016 (.277/.331/.418 with 12 home runs and 15 stolen bases) but remains unsigned with camp well underway. MLBTR’s Steve Adams recently looked at the possible landing spots for the 35-year-old Pagan, who has been linked at least loosely to teams such as the Nationals, Blue Jays, and (quite a ways back) Orioles.

Here’s the latest on his situation:

  • On hand to face his old Giants club as a member of team Puerto Rico, Pagan spoke with reporters including MLB.com’s Chris Haft (links to Twitter). He says that he has only been offered minor-league deals, which obviously haven’t held appeal. “I just don’t feel I need to be fighting for a job,” he said. “If a team wants me to help a team win, they know I can help them win.” Pagan added that he’s healthy and certainly suggested he’s still hoping to find a place to play in 2017. “They’ll see it in the [World] Baseball Classic,” he said.

Earlier Updates

  • The Braves have made Pagan an offer, per Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter), but it was of the minor-league variety. Understandably, Pagan is looking for a MLB roster spot, according to the report. While that’s not surprising, given his solid work last year and long history as a semi-regular player, it remains to be seen whether such an opportunity will arise.
  • For the time being, at least, Pagan seems willing to wait and see whether he does find a 40-man spot. His agent Greg Genske tells Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter links) that Pagan is currently focused on preparing to play in the World Baseball Classic with Puerto Rico. It’ll certainly be interesting to see how he performs, and whether or not that may have some impact on the interest level around the league.
  • That said, Genske notes that Pagan “has received several offers from clubs during the off-season and since start of spring training.” To date, the agent adds, he “has not yet found the right fit.” Whether that’s his way of saying that MLB offers haven’t been forthcoming, or whether Pagan is heavily weighing other factors (money, role, location, etc.), isn’t immediately clear. All told, though, it seems reasonable to expect that some organization will find enough of a need — whether due to injury or reevaluation of internal options — to offer Pagan at least a reserve/platoon job with some amount of guaranteed money.
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Reds Claim Christian Walker, Designate Jumbo Diaz For Assignment

By Steve Adams | March 6, 2017 at 12:36pm CDT

The Reds have claimed first baseman Christian Walker off waivers from the Braves and designated right-hander Jumbo Diaz for assignment in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster, tweets Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Atlanta had just picked up Walker off waivers a couple of weeks ago, but they clearly weren’t able to succeed in passing him through waivers themselves.

Walker, 26 later this month, was long viewed as a potential first base/DH option in the Orioles organization, but both of those spots are blocked in the long-term by Chris Davis and Mark Trumbo. Beyond that, Walker had seen himself leapfrogged by fellow first base/DH prospect Trey Mancini within the Orioles’ ranks.

[Related: Updated Cincinnati Reds Depth Chart]

Walker saw brief cups of coffee with Baltimore in both 2014 and 2015, hitting just .148/.258/.296 in a minuscule sample of 31 plate appearances. And while the former fourth-round pick (2012) has turned in solid overall numbers across parts of three Triple-A campaigns, he’s never exactly exhibited any sort of mastery over upper-level minor league pitching. In 1332 plate appearances with Baltimore’s Triple-A affiliate in Norfolk, Walker has a .260/.324/.429 batting line to go along with 42 homers and 72 doubles.

While he’s been primarily a first baseman in his pro career, Walker did spend some time in left field last year (90 games), so he could be an option as a bench bat with Cincinnati. The Reds do have a left-handed-hitting right fielder in Scott Schebler, so Cincinnati could potentially utilize some sort of platoon if the team is comfortable with Walker’s relative lack of corner outfield experience. In that sense, he could be competing with non-roster invitee Ryan Raburn for a roster spot. Additionally, he has a minor league option remaining, so the Reds could simply send him to Louisville to open the season, where he’d serve as a depth option.

As for Diaz, the 33-year-old posted what looked on the surface to be a solid 3.14 ERA in 43 innings with the Reds last year, but his peripheral numbers painted a less optimistic picture. Diaz posted career-worst marks in K/9 (7.7), BB/9 (4.0), swinging-strike rate (10.4 percent) and average fastball velocity (95.9 mph). He also benefited greatly from a .239 average on balls in play and an 80.4 percent strand rate — both of which seem likely to regress in 2017 and beyond.

Of course, those velocity and swinging-strike rate marks are still better than the league average, so perhaps there’s hope yet that Diaz could rebound and again work as a serviceable middle-relief option. In 138 frames at the Major League level, Diaz sports a 3.65 ERA with a 144-to-51 K/BB ratio and a 43.7 percent ground-ball rate. Given his age and the current juncture of Spring Training, Diaz could certainly clear waivers and remain with the Reds in a non-roster capacity.

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Quick Hits: Girardi, Naquin, Feldman, Biddle, Free Agents

By Mark Polishuk | March 5, 2017 at 10:59pm CDT

Here’s the latest from around the big leagues as we move into the new week…

  • Joe Girardi is entering his last year under contract with the Yankees, though the manager tells FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal that he isn’t worrying about his future.  Girardi said he’ll continue to manage as long as his family still wants him to remain in the job.  The Yankees usually wait until a season is over to evaluate managers (and general managers, as Brian Cashman is also in the last year of his deal), though Hank Steinbrenner recently gave Girardi a vote of confidence.  Cashman praised Girardi’s ability to work with young players, which could bode well for him remaining to oversee an increasingly-youthful New York roster.  “There has never been a question about his ability to manage. The only time (managers lose their jobs) is if they wind up having missteps with their roster in terms of leadership, and they might not be the right voice anymore,” Cashman said.  “You get a sense of that from your players.  It happened toward the end with [Joe] Torre.  It hasn’t happened at this stage with [Girardi].”
  • Indians outfielder Tyler Naquin left Sunday’s game after fouling a ball off his right foot.  The injury is officially being called a bruise for now, according to MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian and other reporters.  Naquin underwent x-rays after the game and the results will be revealed on Monday.  The former first-rounder made a big impact for the Tribe in his rookie season, batting .296/.372/.514 with 14 homers over 365 PA.  Naquin was slated for the majority of playing time in center field for Cleveland this season, with right-handed batters Brandon Guyer, Abraham Almonte and Austin Jackson all competing for a backup or even a platoon role spelling Naquin against left-handed pitching.
  • Scott Feldman’s history as a starter, reliever and swingman makes him a valuable asset for the Reds, who are in a very fluid situation with their young pitching staff, Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer writes.  Feldman looks like he’ll at least begin the season in the rotation, though that could change once Homer Bailey returns from the DL or if the Reds want to take a longer look at one of their young arms.  Feldman is comfortable in his role, though he admits that still having to prove his value as a starting pitcher “definitely makes you play with a little bit of a chip on your shoulder.”
  • Former Phillies first-rounder Jesse Biddle is looking to revive his career with the Braves, though he tells Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer that he has no hard feelings towards his old club for trading him to the Pirates in February 2016.  Once a fixture of top-100 prospect lists, Biddle ran into some struggles as he reached the upper minors, and his career was halted entirely when he underwent Tommy John surgery in October 2015.  Atlanta claimed Biddle off waivers from Pittsburgh last March and the southpaw was finally back on the mound on Saturday, facing (ironically) the Phils in Spring Training action.
  • Looking ahead to the 2018-19 free agent class, Joel Sherman of the New York Post updates his list of the top 10 free agents slated to hit the open market during that potentially historically-good winter.  Manny Machado tops the list, followed by Bryce Harper, Clayton Kershaw (who has an opt-out in his Dodgers contract), Josh Donaldson and Zach Britton rounding out the top five.
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Minor MLB Transactions: 3/5/17

By Mark Polishuk | March 5, 2017 at 7:07pm CDT

Here are the latest minor moves from around baseball…

  • The Braves signed right-hander David Hale to a minor league deal earlier this winter, and the righty made his spring debut for Atlanta yesterday (hat tip to reader Paul Tate for his e-mail about the under-the-radar move).  Hale was originally drafted his hometown Braves in 2009 and he posted a solid 3.30 ERA in 87 1/3 IP during his 2014 rookie season, pitching mostly out of the bullpen.  He struggled after a January 2015 trade to the Rockies, however, and Hale pitched in just two big league games in 2016 before being claimed off waivers by the Orioles and eventually outrighted off their 40-man roster in August.  Hale discussed his recent history and his return to the Braves earlier this week in a radio interview on Macon 93.1 FM’s Bill Shanks Show (audio link).
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Injury Notes: BoSox, Mets, Angels, Rox, Tigers, Braves

By Connor Byrne | March 4, 2017 at 6:10pm CDT

There was fear this week that Red Sox left-hander David Price would need elbow surgery, but those worries were put to rest Friday. It turns out that elbow experts Dr. James Andrews and Dr. Neal ElAttrache diagnosed Price with a mild flexor strain and some bone spurs, industry sources told Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe. That Price dodged a more serious injury surprised the doctors, the ace revealed. “They said it multiple times; we expected this to be a lot worse than what it really is,” said Price, who added that Andrews and ElAttrache informed him he has an “extremely unique” elbow. “It’s found a way to kind of heal itself,” he continued. “It’s pretty neat, bionic elbow.” Although Price avoided a season-ending issue, he’s still likely to begin the campaign on the disabled list and miss a to-be-determined amount of starts, according to Abraham. How much time Price misses will largely be up to him, though, as the doctors want the 31-year-old to map out his own recovery program. “I’ll know when I feel good enough to go out there and throw a baseball,” declared Price.

More pitcher-related injury updates:

  • Mets right-hander Jacob deGrom took the mound Saturday for the first time since last September, when he underwent elbow surgery, and dazzled in two scoreless innings, reports Dan Martin of the New York Post. DeGrom’s average fastball velocity fell from 94.9 mph in 2015 to 93.4 mph last year, but it clocked in between 96 and 97 mph at times Saturday. “When I saw the 97, I looked at (pitching coach) Dan (Warthen) and said, ‘That’s a little special,’” said manager Terry Collins. Naturally, deGrom also came away encouraged. “Last year, it was all I had to get to 92 [mph],” deGrom noted. “It has to do with repeating my mechanics. Last year, I flew open all the time and my arm was dragging.”
  • Unlike deGrom, Angels lefty Tyler Skaggs endured a rather poor spring debut Saturday, relays Pedro Moura of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter links). In his first outing since undergoing a major injury scare last September, the onetime Tommy John surgery recipient recorded only two outs against four walks. More alarmingly, Skaggs saw his fastball dip from 89 to 92 mph at the beginning of the inning to 86 to 88 mph by the end of it.
  • Southpaw Chris Rusin is attempting to claim the last spot in the Rockies’ rotation this spring, but those efforts will go on hold for an “extended period,” writes Barry M. Bloom of MLB.com. Rusin hurt his right side in his outing Friday, causing him to leave the game, and will “be out for a while,” manager Bud Black said.
  • Tigers righty reliever Adam Ravenelle departed the team’s game Saturday with elbow discomfort and will undergo an MRI, skipper Brad Ausmus announced (via Evan Woodbery of MLive.com). Ravenelle, a non-roster invitee whom Baseball America ranks as Detroit’s eighth-best prospect, underwent ulnar nerve surgery in his elbow in 2012, per Woodbery. More recently, the 24-year-old combined for 67 1/3 innings at three different levels last season. The plurality of his work came at Triple-A Toledo, where he put up a 4.85 ERA to go with 6.98 K/9 against 4.85 BB/9 in 29 2/3 frames.
  • Braves Rule 5 pick Armando Rivero has been dealing with shoulder soreness, though manager Brian Snitker said Saturday that there’s no sign of structural damage, tweets Mark Bowman of MLB.com. Braves doctors cleared the righty, previously with the Cubs, to continue throwing and vying for a job with Atlanta. Rivero, 29, pitched to a 2.13 ERA and recorded a sky-high 13.97 K/9 against a bloated 4.66 BB/9 in 67 2/3 innings with the Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate in 2016.
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