Notes

AL Notes: Story, Brantley, Rays

By Nick Deeds | April 2, 2023 at 1:21pm CDT

Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters, including Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic, today that Trevor Story is doing well in his rehab, and providing an update about his progress. Story has begun regularly fielding groundballs in the infield dating back to camp this spring, and will begin throwing in two weeks. He’ll advance to hitting next month, sixteen weeks after his elbow surgery. That’s great news for Boston fans, as it means Story is still on track to make his season debut sometime around the middle of the season. As things stand, the Red Sox are relying on Enrique Hernandez, Christian Arroyo and Yu Chang for middle infield duties, with offseason acquisition Adalberto Mondesi joining Story on the IL.

The return of Story would potentially relieve Hernandez of his duties as an everyday shortstop, allowing him to bounce between second base and center field as he did during his past two seasons in Boston. 2023 is the second year of Story’s six-year, $140MM deal with the Red Sox. In his first year in Boston, Story slashed just .238/.303/.434 (100 wRC+) in 94 games, though he did post an elite defensive season by Outs Above Average, which gave him a +10 mark for his work at second base. While that sort of production didn’t quite match the expectations associated with the contract he signed, a steady presence like that would be a huge boon to the Red Sox in the second half, given the uncertainty of their middle infield situation.

NL Notes: Giants, Hendricks, Lewis

By Nick Deeds | April 2, 2023 at 9:41am CDT

Giants manager Gabe Kapler recently discussed the club’s current catching situation following San Francisco’s signing of Gary Sanchez on a minor league deal, telling reporters (including Maria Guardado of MLB.com) that the club views the Sanchez signing as “a good opportunity for us to add some depth on a guy that we feel like has a chance to make a contribution at the Major League level at some point.”

If Sanchez is going to contribute to the major league Giants this season, it will likely come before May 1, when he will have the opportunity to opt out of his deal with the club if he hasn’t already been added to the team’s active roster. Still, that outcome certainly seems to be within the realm of possibility. Though the Giants opened the season with three catchers on their roster, the Giants have previously indicated that their current catching situation may not stick deep into the season.

Rule 5 pick Blake Sabol’s positional versatility will hold less value when outfielders Austin Slater and Mitch Haniger are ready to return from the injured list. Meanwhile Joey Bart, who the Giants selected with the second overall pick of the 2018 draft, has struggled all throughout his MLB career to this point. He’s posted a wRC+ of just 84 in 133 big league games, with a whopping 38% strikeout rate. Kapler noted Bart could still be significant part of the club’s future in spite of his past struggles saying “it’s absolutely the best outcome” if the 26 year-old is able to establish himself as the Giants’ everyday catcher going forward. However, with Bart dealing with back tightness to open the season and the club’s fluid catching situation, it’s an open question whether or not he’ll be able to do that early in this season.

All that potentially opens the door for Sanchez, a bat-first catcher who Kapler notes has been improving on defense in recent years and could complement the glove-first Roberto Perez nicely in a potential catching tandem, should the Giants indeed shift to a roster that features only two catchers later this season.

Cardinals Notes: Contreras, Nootbaar, Gallegos, Wainwright

By Nick Deeds | April 2, 2023 at 8:03am CDT

Cardinals manager Oli Marmol provided a litany of injury updates yesterday to reporters, including Lynn Worthy of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Among those was an update on catcher Willson Contreras, who took a 103 mph sinker from Cardinals flamethrower Jordan Hicks off his knee in the season’s opener on Thursday and had to be helped off the field. Both x-rays and an MRI came back negative, and Contreras said he could return to the lineup as soon as today after briefly catching warm-up pitches for Jack Flaherty between innings on Saturday.

Contreras, 31 in May, was the Cardinals’ biggest addition of the offseason on a five-year, $87.5MM deal. Prior to signing with St. Louis, Contreras was the everyday catcher for the division rival Cubs since his debut during the 2016 season, posting a 118 wRC+ in seven seasons and racking up three All Star appearances. One of those All Star selections came during the 2022 campaign, which was the best of Contreras’s career: in 113 games, Contreras posted a career low 21.1% strikeout rate and career highs in both wRC+ and fWAR despite a career-low BABIP of just .270.

In signing Contreras, the Cardinals appear to have found their replacement not only to Yadier Molina behind the plate, but also to the thump Albert Pujols provided their lineup in 2022. Given his importance to the club, it’s surely a relief for St. Louis that Contreras’s leg injury is not particularly serious. Andrew Knizner started behind the plate in Saturday’s game, with Taylor Motter and Brendan Donovan among the possible options to catch on an emergency basis while Contreras was unavailable.

NL East Notes: Verlander, Wright, Keuchel, Plawecki

By Mark Polishuk | April 1, 2023 at 7:34pm CDT

Justin Verlander’s tenure with the Mets got off to an unfortunate start when the veteran righty was placed on the 15-day injured list due to a teres major strain. The injury was described as “low-grade” in the Mets’ initial release, and a source tells SNY TV’s Andy Martino that Verlander’s strain is “very minor.” More will officially be known when Verlander undergoes a follow-up MRI next week, but it does seem like the ace might be able to be activated from the IL when first eligible. That could mean a home start against the Padres on April 11 or 12, or just out of added precaution, the Mets might wait to activate Verlander until April 14 when the team visits Oakland.

Braves Notes: Rotation, Soroka, Shewmake, Grissom

By Anthony Franco | March 31, 2023 at 11:19pm CDT

Braves ace Max Fried strained his hamstring during his Opening Day start, and manager Brian Snitker has already indicated the southpaw is likely to land on the 15-day injured list. Atlanta hasn’t made that transaction yet — IL stints can be backdated as many as three days — and the rotation plans for next week remain uncertain. Mark Bowman of MLB.com unsurprisingly tweets that right-handers Ian Anderson and Bryce Elder are under consideration to take the ball next Wednesday against the Cardinals in what would’ve been Fried’s spot.

Anderson and Elder entered Spring Training as the presumptive favorites for the fifth starter job behind Fried, Spencer Strider, Charlie Morton and Kyle Wright. Neither ended up securing the job out of camp, as prospects Jared Shuster and Dylan Dodd jumped them on the depth chart. Both Elder and Anderson were optioned out; Shuster and Dodd each were penciled into the season-opening rotation when Wright started the year on the IL.

With Fried likely to join him, the Atlanta front office could have to choose between Anderson and Elder to fill in. The latter got the Opening Day start for Triple-A Gwinnett today, allowing four runs in six innings. He’d be lined up on standard rest for Wednesday’s outing if the Braves wanted to go in that direction.

Dodd, meanwhile, is listed as the probable starter for Tuesday’s matchup in St. Louis. That’ll be his major league debut, and the Braves will have to make a roster move before then. Atlanta has yet to select the southpaw onto the 40-man roster, preserving some flexibility in that regard until he’s tabbed to take the mound. The Braves’ 40-man is at capacity and the club doesn’t have any obvious candidates for a move to the 60-day injured list, so they could be faced with a DFA decision early next week.

Deeper on the rotation depth chart, Michael Soroka is slated to take the ball for Gwinnett on Tuesday in what’ll be his season debut. The righty was optioned after getting a late start in camp thanks to a hamstring issue. Soroka hasn’t thrown a major league pitch since 2020 because of a pair of Achilles ruptures. His 2022 campaign consisted of 25 innings between High-A and Triple-A.

Soroka tells Gabriel Burns of the Atlanta Journal Constitution he’s likely “to be limited to about three or four innings (per outing) for a little bit.” He’ll work both in the rotation and out of the bullpen with Gwinnett as he and the club explore ways to gradually build his workload. Soroka indicated he’d be open to pitching in relief to get back to the MLB level if the team felt that the best course of action. He noted the club doesn’t currently feel low-leverage bullpen work is the best way to get him back to pre-injury form. Soroka started 37 games between 2018-20, throwing 214 innings of 2.86 ERA ball before his 23rd birthday.

That minor league experimentation isn’t limited to the pitching staff. Atlanta is using Braden Shewmake at second base in Gwinnett, as Burns writes in a separate piece for the Journal Constitution. The former first-round pick has only started nine games at the keystone — all last season — in his minor league career. The rest of his innings have come at shortstop, where he was competing for the MLB job this spring. Both Shewmake and Vaughn Grissom lost out to veteran Orlando Arcia in the camp battle, leading the two younger players to be sent to Gwinnett.

Grissom will get the majority of the shortstop reps there. Shewmake is regarded by evaluators as the superior defender of the two, while Grissom has a higher offensive ceiling. The Braves seem comfortable with Shewmake’s glove at shortstop as is, reasoning that giving the tougher reps to Grissom will hopefully lead to him taking a step forward. Whether the 22-year-old is up to the task defensively was a storyline of the offseason once it became clear the Braves would look internally for Dansby Swanson’s replacement.

Central Notes: Senzel, Stephenson, Nevin

By Darragh McDonald | March 31, 2023 at 5:06pm CDT

Reds outfielder Nick Senzel is starting the 2023 season on the injured list as offseason toe surgery delayed his start to Spring Training. It was expected that he would be taking over the regular center field job in Cincinnati once healthy but he might transition into more of a utility role. Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports that the club is preparing him to serve in such a role and he could play third base and the corner outfield positions during his rehab.

Senzel, 28 in June, has a very small amount of third base experience in the big leagues, 32 innings over the past two seasons. He has a slightly largely tally of 49 innings at second base but then over 2,000 innings in center field. Switching things up while also trying to get ready for the season will be a challenge, but it’s understandable why the club would want him to try. He’s hit just .240/.303/.360 in his career so far for a wRC+ of 74. That production isn’t great for a lineup regular but would be more palatable for a multi-positional role player.

2023 is seen by some as a make-or-break year for Senzel, as he’s now into his arbitration years and is making a $1.95MM salary. Despite his tepid production so far, he’s continued to get chances based on the fact that he was once one of the top prospects in the league. Baseball America had him in the top 10 of all MLB prospects in three straight years beginning in 2017. He could be retained via arbitration through 2025, though he’ll have to show the club he’s worth the continued investment. Taking a step forward at the plate would be great but he may also add more defensive versatility this year.

More notes from the central divisions…

The Pirates have informed reporters, including Justice delos Santos of MLB.com, that right-hander Robert Stephenson is beginning a rehab assignment tonight with Triple-A Indianapolis. The righty had been slowed by some arm discomfort this spring and was placed on the 15-day injured list yesterday, with the club describing his ailment as elbow inflammation. Stephenson had a lopsided season in 2022, posting a 6.04 ERA with the Rockies but a 3.38 mark after the Bucs claimed him off waivers. His strikeout rate went from 18.8% with Colorado to 36% with Pittsburgh. The Pirates were bullish enough to give him a $1.75MM salary for 2023, his last arbitration year before he’s slated for free agency. IL placements on Opening Day can be backdated to March 27, meaning Stephenson could be activated April 11 if all goes well between now and then.
The Tigers announced that infielder Tyler Nevin is beginning a rehab assignment today. Acquired from the Orioles in an offseason trade, Nevin suffered an oblique strain three weeks ago and was placed on the injured list yesterday. He hit just .197/.299/.261 with the O’s last year but had a strong .291/.382/.479 line in Triple-A. Prior to the injury, he was in the mix for a third base job alongside Nick Maton and Ryan Kreidler, and the club also recently acquired Zach McKinstry. Nevin still has an option and could potentially stick in Triple-A Toledo when his rehab is done. With his IL placement backdated to March 27, he’ll be eligible to be reinstated on April 6.

Astros Notes: Baker, Brantley, McCullers

By Anthony Franco | March 30, 2023 at 9:51pm CDT

Dusty Baker enters his fourth season as Astros manager. Fresh off the first World Series title of his illustrious career, the 73-year-old skipper discussed his future with Bob Nightengale of USA Today. He was noncommittal about the possibility of continuing beyond this season.

“I don’t know man. I just don’t know. You got to go home some day,” Baker told Nightengale. While that’s a rather equivocal stance, it seems it’s the approach Baker has taken throughout his tenure there. He’s signed a series of one-year contracts with the organization — even this past offseason on the heels of a championship — noting that the shorter term won’t “force (him) to come or go.” Baker said he has no plans of announcing his retirement in advance, preferring to wait until he’s absolutely sure he wants to step away before making that call.

The Astros went 230-154 in Baker’s first three seasons at the helm. They’ve advanced at least as far as the AL Championship Series in all three years, culminating in the second World Series in franchise history last season. Baker has obviously had the fortune of overseeing excellent rosters, yet the organization couldn’t have hoped for more when tabbing him in the wake of the revelation of the sign-stealing scandal.

Turning to this year’s roster, general manager Dana Brown offered a couple injury updates prior to the club’s loss to the White Sox this evening. The Astros placed Michael Brantley on the 10-day injured list as he rehabs from last year’s season-ending shoulder procedure.

Brown provided some specificity on the timetable, telling reporters that Brantley would miss at least three weeks of game action (relayed by Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle). The veteran outfielder didn’t make an appearance this spring as Houston slowly brought him along. Once healthy, he’s expected to share left field/designated hitter reps with Yordan Alvarez.

Brown also provided an update on starter Lance McCullers Jr., who’s opening the season on the 15-day IL due to an elbow strain. The GM said McCullers is now pain-free, indicating some optimism about his status (via Mark Berman of Fox 26). There doesn’t seem to be a firm timetable for his return, though the righty was playing catch during Spring Training. While McCullers slowly builds toward game shape, Houston opens the year with a front five of Framber Valdez, Cristian Javier, Luis Garcia, José Urquidy and rookie Hunter Brown.

White Sox Notes: Hendriks, Right Field, Colas, Garcia

By Steve Adams and Anthony Franco | March 29, 2023 at 10:41pm CDT

The White Sox will open the season without closer Liam Hendriks, who announced in January that he’d begun undergoing treatment following a non-Hodgkins lymphoma diagnosis. The team hasn’t provided much in the way of updates since that time, but general manager Rick Hahn tells reporters on the eve of Opening Day that Hendriks is making good progress in his battle (Twitter link via Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times). While the Sox aren’t placing a formal timeline on his return, Hahn noted that the Sox have deliberately avoided placing Hendriks on the 60-day injured list thus far.

That’s certainly not a guarantee that Hendriks will return within the season’s first two months, but the fact that the Sox are leaving themselves open to the possibility is encouraging. Hendriks will still open the season on the 15-day injured list, and if the White Sox need a 40-man roster spot at any time prior to his activation, he can be transferred to the 60-day IL without penalty. (The 60-day term is retroactive to the original IL placement and does not reset when a player is moved from the 15-day to the 60-day.)

AL East Notes: Lukes, Hamilton, Mondesi

By Darragh McDonald | March 29, 2023 at 11:07am CDT

Blue Jays manager John Schneider informed reporters, including Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet, than outfielder Nathan Lukes has made the club’s Opening Day roster.

Lukes, 28, will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game. A 2015 seventh-rounder, Lukes has spent eight years in the minors, going from Cleveland to Tampa Bay in the 2016 trade that sent Brandon Guyer the other way. He reached Triple-A by 2019, then saw the minor leagues get cancelled by the pandemic in 2020. He spent another year at Durham in 2021 but wasn’t given a roster spot and reached minor league free agency after that season.

Lukes signed a minor league deal with the Jays last year and impressed them enough that they added him to their 40-man roster in November. He’s never been a top prospect because he doesn’t really have a standout tool, but he does seem to do a bit of everything with some success. For the Bisons last year, he hit 11 home runs and stole 20 bases, walking in 9.7% of his plate appearances while limiting strikeouts to an 18.4% clip. His .285/.364/.425 batting line amounted to a wRC+ of 111, and he spent time at all three outfield positions.

The Blue Jays previously had a very right-handed heavy lineup but have addressed that imbalance this winter. Righties Teoscar Hernandez and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. were traded while lefties Daulton Varsho and Kevin Kiermaier were brought aboard. That puts a bit less importance on the left-handed bat of Lukes, though he does give the club a true fourth outfielder, perhaps allowing Whit Merrifield and Cavan Biggio to stay on the infield more often that not.

Some other notes from around the AL East…

The Yankees have reassigned right-hander Ian Hamilton, who was in camp on a minor league deal, to Triple-A. Per Joel Sherman of The New York Post (Twitter links), Hamilton has the ability to opt out of his deal and return to free agency, but agreed to move his opt-out date to April 5. Hamilton had a nice spring, tossing nine scoreless innings while striking out six batters and walking three. It seems the club doesn’t have room for him on Opening Day, but their bullpen depth is a concern. Tommy Kahnle and Lou Trivino suffered injuries during spring and will be starting the season on the injured list. Since starters Carlos Rodon, Frankie Montas and Luis Severino are also starting the season on the IL, the weakened rotation will put extra pressure on the bullpen. Hamilton will stick with the organization for at least one extra week to see if his services are needed, but he could wind up back on the open market after that. He spent most of last year at Triple-A in the Twins’ organization, posting a 1.88 ERA with a 32.1% strikeout rate, 7.1% walk rate and 51.6% ground ball rate.
The Red Sox will need to find a roster spot for outfielder Raimel Tapia, who is going to make the club’s Opening Day roster. There’s still nothing official but Julian McWilliams of The Boston Globe reports that the corresponding move for Tapia could be infielder Adalberto Mondesi going on the 60-day injured list. Mondesi, 27, has shown tremendous talent in his career but is also frequently injured. He only played 15 games last year before being diagnosed with a torn ACL in late April that required surgery. Mondesi was expected to miss some of the start of the season but a trip to the 60-day IL would prevent him from returning until late May. The Sox picked him up from the Royals in a January trade sending lefty Josh Taylor to Kansas City. At the time, the hope was that he could help provide some middle infield cover in the wake of Trevor Story’s elbow surgery. Mondesi is in his final season of club control before reaching free agency for the first time.

A’s Notes: Allen, Diaz, Noda, Oller, Sears

By Anthony Franco | March 27, 2023 at 11:48pm CDT

The A’s are planning to open the season with a platoon arrangement at shortstop, manager Mark Kotsay said over the weekend (link via Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle). Aledmys Díaz will get the bulk of the reps, taking playing time against right-handed pitching. Nick Allen will work on the short side of the platoon, with the right-handed hitting Díaz moving to another infield position against southpaws.

Allen picked up 57 starts at shortstop and 35 games at second base last season. The defensive specialist rated highly with the glove at both positions. Longstanding questions about his offensive impact continued during his rookie season, however. The 24-year-old hit only .207/.256/.291 in his first 326 big league plate appearances. Allen made a decent amount of contact but rarely hit the ball with any kind of authority, at least against right-handed pitching. He mustered only a .179/.232/.226 line with one home run in 232 plate appearances without the platoon advantage. Allen connected on a trio of longballs with a .276/.315/.448 slash in 96 trips to the dish against southpaws.

Despite those glaring small-sample splits, it’s a little surprising a rebuilding Oakland club plans to limit Allen’s exposure against right-handed pitching. He’d need to take a significant step forward against northpaws if he’s to emerge as a potential bottom-of-the-lineup regular down the line. Nevertheless, the A’s are set to give the majority of the playing time to Díaz, who signed a two-year free agent deal over the winter. The seven-year MLB veteran has been a solid hitter against left and right-handed pitching alike in his career, though he’s never played particularly good defense at shortstop.

Díaz has rated as a solid gloveman at second and third base, where he figures to take some reps against left-handed pitching. Tony Kemp and Jace Peterson both hit from the left side and have struggled against southpaws in their careers. That’s also true of first base/corner outfield option Seth Brown.

Rule 5 draftee Ryan Noda also hits from the left side and will factor into the infield at first base. The club recently informed the former 15th-round pick he’s made the Opening Day roster, Kawahara tweets. Noda, who turns 27 on Thursday, will get an MLB crack after six seasons in the minors. He spent the 2022 campaign with the Dodgers’ top affiliate in Oklahoma City, hitting .259/.395/.474 with 25 home runs and a huge 16% walk rate over 574 trips to the plate. The Cincinnati product struck out in 25 of 52 at-bats this spring, but that wasn’t enough for the Oakland front office to look past his strong offensive track record against minor league pitching.

The A’s will have to carry Noda on the MLB roster or injured list for the entire season in order to permanently obtain his contractual rights. If Oakland decided to take him off the roster, they’d have to make him available on waivers and then offer him back to L.A. if he goes unclaimed.

Another question facing the coaching staff and front office this week is how to align the starting rotation. Paul Blackburn was already known to be headed to the injured list and Kotsay indicated over the weekend that Drew Rucinski would join him. The A’s have tabbed left-hander Kyle Muller as the Opening Day starter, with Ken Waldichuk, James Kaprielian and Shintaro Fujinami also in the rotation. The fifth spot is still up for grabs between Adam Oller and JP Sears, though Kotsay said tonight that both pitchers will be on the season-opening active roster (via Kawahara).

One of that duo will move to long relief, with Oller seeming the likelier bet. He’s come out of the bullpen for three of his six outings this spring, while Sears has started four of five appearances. Both pitchers made their big league debuts in 2022, with Sears having a better first crack. Oller surrendered a 6.30 ERA in 74 1/3 innings; Sears pitched to a 3.86 mark over 70 frames, albeit with a modest 17.7% strikeout percentage.

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