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Twins To Resume Play Tuesday

By Anthony Franco | April 19, 2021 at 8:54pm CDT

APRIL 19, 8:54pm: The A’s announced that they’ll play a doubleheader against the Twins on Tuesday.

7:56pm: The Twins’ latest tests came back negative, tweets Rosenthal, who adds that they’re on track to resume play Tuesday.

APRIL 18, 7:34PM: The Twins’ latest round of COVID-19 testing came back negative, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports (via Twitter). If tomorrow’s tests are also negative, the team will depart for Oakland with the intention of playing the Tuesday doubleheader.

1:37PM: Major League Baseball has confirmed the postponement of tomorrow’s game. A Tuesday doubleheader has been tentatively scheduled.

1:29PM: Athletics manager Bob Melvin told reporters this afternoon it is his understanding tomorrow’s game between the Twins and Athletics will be postponed (via Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press). The hope is the two teams will be able to return to action on Tuesday, with a doubleheader to make up Monday’s game a possibility.

The Twins’ past two games against the Angels were postponed due to the spread of a COVID-19 variant among the Minnesota clubhouse. To date, three Minnesota players (including Andrelton Simmons and Kyle Garlick) and a staff member have tested positive. The Twins are continuing to monitor for further viral spread.

Minnesota and Oakland were originally scheduled for a three-game series from April 19-21. Both teams have a scheduled off day on Thursday.

MLBTR Poll: Boston’s Hot Start

By Connor Byrne | April 19, 2021 at 7:35pm CDT

After ending the shortened 2020 season with a 24-36 record and a last-place finish in the American League East, the Red Sox were not a popular playoff pick entering the current campaign. Sure, the team reunited with World Series-winning manager Alex Cora, but its offseason was otherwise a fairly low-key one. The big-market Red Sox’s largest free-agent guarantee went to utility player Enrique Hernandez, who signed a two-year, $14MM guarantee, and they didn’t make any blockbuster acquisitions on the trade market. They also knew they would spend a sizable chunk of 2021 without left-handed ace Chris Sale, who isn’t quite 13 full months removed from Tommy John surgery.

With a forgettable 2020 and an understated winter in their rear-view mirror, the Red Sox began this season poorly with a three-game sweep at the hands of the lowly Orioles. At that very early point, it looked as if Boston might be in for another lean year, though the team has since done a 180. The Red Sox climbed out of their hole with a stunning nine straight victories, and while they have lost three of five since then, they’re still an impressive 11-6, atop the American League and 2 1/2 games up in the AL East. They earned their latest victory Monday in an 11-4 drubbing of the White Sox and ace Lucas Giolito, whom they chased in the second inning after pummeling him for eight runs over one-plus frame.

The Red Sox have been a well-rounded outfit during their sizzling start, as their offense and pitching have combined to give the club the AL’s top run differential (plus-28). As of this writing, the Red Sox are second in the majors in wRC+ and third in runs scored, owing largely to their three best hitters (J.D. Martinez, Rafael Devers and Xander Bogaerts) and solid complementary performances from Alex Verdugo, Christian Vazquez and Christian Arroyo. Meanwhile, Nathan Eovaldi has carried their Sale-less rotation, and their bullpen has received great work from the likes of Matt Barnes, Matt Andriese, Phillips Valdez and Rule 5 pick Garrett Whitlock, among others. Between its starters and relievers, Boston owns a respectable 3.70 ERA/3.89 SIERA.

The rest of the AL East hasn’t looked nearly as sharp as the Red Sox to this point. The Rays, the defending division champions and pennant winners, are in second at 8-8. The injury-riddled Blue Jays are 7-9, as are the Orioles, though Toronto is far more likely than Baltimore to threaten Boston over a 162-game schedule. And then there’s the last-place Yankees, who have done seemingly nothing right during a surprising 5-10 start.

In most cases, it’s much too soon to crown a club or write one off, but the Red Sox have looked like the class of their division thus far. Do you think they’re good enough to hang in the AL race the rest of the way?

(Poll link for app users)

Phillies Place 3 On Injured List

By Connor Byrne | April 19, 2021 at 5:13pm CDT

5:13pm: No Phillies players are known to have tested positive for COVID, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets.

3:27pm: The Phillies announced that they have placed a pair of left-handers – Jose Alvarado and Matt Moore – as well as infielder Ronald Torreyes on the COVID-19 injured list for undisclosed reasons. The club recalled lefties Damon Jones and Cristopher Sanchez to fill in for Alvarado and Moore, while infielder Nick Maton is up for Torreyes. It’s unknown how much time Alvarado, Moore and Torreyes will miss.

Alvarado, an offseason pickup from Tampa Bay, has been a key part of the Phillies’ bullpen so far. Through 5 2/3 innings, the 25-year-old has averaged a career-high 99.5 mph on his fastball and held hitters to one run on four hits and two walks, also adding 10 strikeouts.

Moore hasn’t fared nearly as well as Alvarez. The 31-year-old returned from a one-year stint in Japan in free agency on a $3MM guarantee, and while he did claim a spot in the Phillies’ rotation, his first three starts have been a disaster. Eleven innings into his season, Moore has yielded 12 earned runs on 17 hits, including four homers, and 12 walks (15 strikeouts).

Torreyes has garnered the least playing time of the three, having appeared in three games and totaled five plate appearances so far.

In other Phillies news, the team announced that first base coach Paco Figueroa and and coaching assistant Bobby Meacham have entered COVID protocols. Infield coach Juan Castro will take over for Figueroa during his absence, while Triple-A LeHigh Valley manager Gary Jones will handle third base duties. Meacham had been filling in since third base coach Dusty Wathan went into COVID protocols last week.

Giants Select Trevor Gott

By Connor Byrne | April 19, 2021 at 4:59pm CDT

The Giants have selected the contract of right-hander Trevor Gott, Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group was among those to report. The club also recalled left-hander Sam Selman and optioned outfielder Steven Duggar and catcher Chadwick Tromp. With hurlers Jake McGee and Logan Webb on the COVID list, the Giants won’t have to make a corresponding 40-man move to clear room for Gott.

Gott and Selman will give the Giants’ bullpen a pair of fresh arms after their relievers totaled 11 2/3 innings over the weekend in the team’s three-game series against the Marlins. The 28-year-old Gott was a regular in San Francisco’s bullpen in each of the previous two seasons, but the club designated him for assignment in February and then retained him after he cleared waivers.

In 2019, his first season with the Giants, Gott threw 52 2/3 innings of 4.44 ERA ball, but he finished with a more palatable 3.73 SIERA and posted above-average strikeout and walk percentages of 26.6 and 7.9, respectively. Gott wasn’t able to build on the positives last season, though, as he yielded 13 earned runs on 13 hits (including seven homers) across 11 2/3 frames. He also ended the year with as many walks as strikeouts (eight).

Starling Marte Suffers Fractured Rib

By Mark Polishuk | April 19, 2021 at 3:51pm CDT

APRIL 19: Marte suffered a non-displaced fracture in the 12th rib on his left side, the Marlins announced. He’ll go five to seven days without baseball activities, and then the Marlins will re-evaluate him. In the meantime, he’ll head to the IL.

APRIL 18: Marlins outfielder Starling Marte left today’s game in the middle of a ninth-inning plate appearance due to what appeared to be an injury to his side or oblique area. After the first two pitches of the at-bat, Marte grabbed at his side, and was taken out of the game after being observed by manager Don Mattingly and a team trainer.

Speaking to The Miami Herald’s Jordan McPherson and other reporters after the game, Mattingly said that Marte wanted to keep playing, but the skipper opted to be cautious.

“He’s a big part of what we do. He’s that cog in the offense, defense, on the bases….That’s the reason to pull him out of the game,” Mattingly said. “You don’t want to lose this guy for six weeks. It could be a couple weeks. It could be 10 days. It could be five days. We want it to be the minimum.”

While Marte will undergo further testing to determine the extent of the injury, Mattingly comments seem to indicate that the center fielder will miss at least some time, and likely make a trip to the 10-day injured list. If the injury is indeed oblique-related, it would be the third such injury of Marte’s career, though the first two IL stints (in 2012 and 2018) didn’t keep Marte out of action for too long.

Nonetheless, any setback is an unfortunate interruption to Marte’s superb start, as he had a .310/.414/.483 slash line and two home runs over his first 70 PA of the season. Magneuris Sierra is the most probable candidate to step into center field duty if Marte does have to miss an extended amount of time, and Miami could also call up Lewis Brinson or Monte Harrison from the alternate training site.

Reds Activate Sonny Gray, Outright Cam Bedrosian

By Anthony Franco | April 19, 2021 at 3:26pm CDT

APRIL 19: The Reds have outrighted Bedrosian to their alternate site, Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer tweets. He’ll remain in the organization.

APRIL 17: The Reds are activating right-hander Sonny Gray from the injured list to start this afternoon’s game against the Indians. In a corresponding move, reliever Cam Bedrosian has been designated for assignment (via C. Trent Rosecrans of the Athletic).

Gray has long been expected to make his return at some point this week. A back injury has kept the right-hander out of action in the early going. His return should be a boon to the Reds, since Gray pitched to a 3.70 ERA/3.83 SIERA over 11 starts last season. Given the lack of a minor-league setting to build back his arm strength, though, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Reds be particularly cautious with his workload over his first few starts.

The return of Gray bumps the 29-year-old Bedrosian from the roster. Formerly a productive reliever with the Angels, the righty has gotten off to a disastrous start in 2021. Over 5.2 innings across six games, Bedrosian has coughed up seven runs on ten hits (including a pair of homers) with six walks and seven strikeouts.

NL Notes: Castellanos, Pirates, Reynolds, Nationals

By Mark Polishuk and TC Zencka | April 19, 2021 at 2:40pm CDT

Major League Baseball denied Nick Castellanos’ appeal of his two-game suspension, so the Cincinnati outfielder will serve his suspension when the Reds play the Diamondbacks on Tuesday and Wednesday. Castellanos was suspended for his part in a bench-clearing incident between the Reds and Cardinals earlier this month, when Castellanos scored a run and then flexed over Cards pitcher Jake Woodford, who was covering the plate. Castellanos was on base in the first place due to a hit-by-pitch that drew a heated response from the slugger, and his reaction to Woodford at home plate led to both benches emptying.

Castellanos was the only player issued a suspension, which was a little surprising given the number of players involved in the fracas. Fines were issued to Castellanos and five other players (Jesse Winker, Eugenio Suarez, Jordan Hicks, Yadier Molina, and Nolan Arenado).

Ronald Acuna Jr. Day-To-Day After Suffering Mild Abdominal Strain

By Mark Polishuk | April 19, 2021 at 1:35pm CDT

TODAY: Acuna is day-to-day after an MRI “revealed a mild abdominal strain,” the Braves announced via Twitter.

APRIL 18: 9:50PM: Acuna has an abdominal strain, according to MLB.com’s Mark Bowman (Twitter link). A decision about an injured list placement will come tomorrow.

7:48PM: Braves superstar Ronald Acuna Jr. left tonight’s game against the Cubs in the fourth inning “due to pain in his lower abdominal muscles,” the team announced.

Acuna drew a walk to begin the fourth inning, and then “appeared to tweak something” (as per MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian) while diving back to the bag on a pickoff attempt. After advancing to second base on a Freddie Freeman walk, Acuna was visited by the Braves trainer but remained in the game, and later had to dive across the plate to score on a Travis d’Arnaud fly ball. For the bottom of the fourth, Ehire Adrianza took Acuna’s spot in right field and Johan Camargo entered the game to take over for Adrianza at second base.

More will be known about Acuna’s status after he undergoes tests, but needless to say, both Atlanta fans and the entire baseball world at large are holding their breath that the injury is a minor one. After establishing himself as one of the sport’s best players in his first three MLB seasons, Acuna is already drawing NL MVP buzz after hitting an extraordinary .419/.486/.887 with seven home runs over his first 72 plate appearances.

Should Acuna have to miss any time, he’ll join fellow outfielders Cristian Pache and Ender Inciarte on the injured list. The shorthanded Braves still have Marcell Ozuna in left field, but might have to rely on some combination of Guillermo Heredia, Adrianza, Camargo, or Austin Riley to handle the other two outfield positions in the interim. Atlanta does have several experienced options at its alternate training site (including Phil Ervin, Abraham Almonte, and Terrance Gore), as well as top prospect Drew Waters.

COVID Notes: 4/19/21

By Mark Polishuk | April 19, 2021 at 1:34pm CDT

The latest on coronavirus-related situations around baseball…

The Astros plan to reinstate Alex Bregman, Yordan Alvarez, Martin Maldonado, and Robel Garcia from the COVID-19 list prior to tomorrow’s game against the Rockies, Mark Berman of FOX 26 reports (Twitter link). It isn’t yet guaranteed that any of the four will be activated from the COVID-IL, as Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle writes that “there are still some hurdles to clear once they’re in Colorado concerning intake testing.” Jose Altuve is the one player remaining on Houston’s COVID list, and Berman says the second baseman isn’t yet ready to return, though Altuve and the other four players were all cleared for individual workouts yesterday.

Latest On Cubs, Javier Baez

By Anthony Franco | April 19, 2021 at 12:52pm CDT

TODAY: The Cubs’ offer was slightly lower than Olney’s figure, according to MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link), sitting somewhere between $160MM to $170MM.

APRIL 18: The status of extension talks between the Cubs and each of Javier Báez, Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo has been one of the biggest stories surrounding the team over the past couple years. There were some public discussions between the Cubs and Báez during the 2019-20 offseason, and Buster Olney of ESPN now sheds light on those discussions.

The Cubs offered Báez an extension “in the range of $180MM” after the 2019 season, Olney reports. Of course, the two-time All-Star declined that proposal and the sides haven’t yet managed to come to terms on a multi-year deal. The Cubs and Báez ultimately settled on a $10MM salary to avoid arbitration in 2020 (prior to proration) and agreed on an $11.65MM deal for 2021 this past offseason.

There are plenty of obstacles standing in the way of Báez securing such a lofty deal at this point. Revenue losses due to the intervening COVID-19 pandemic affected plenty of teams’ willingness to spend this past winter, the Cubs chief among them. Chicago opened 2021 with an estimated payroll just shy of $148MM, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts, far below their $203MM outlay in the season before the pandemic. Shedding salary was no doubt a factor in the decision to trade Yu Darvish to the Padres in a deal with very little recent precedent.

Even more significantly, though, Báez’s personal production has cratered since that offseason. At the time of the reported offer, the star shortstop was coming off a two-year run in which he’d hit .286/.321/.544 (123 wRC+) while playing high-end defense. He’d earned All-Star selections in both 2018 and 2019 and finished as the National League MVP runner-up in the first of those years. It’s easy to see why the Cubs felt comfortable investing in Báez long-term and why the player was willing to bet on himself continuing to perform at an elite level.

That’s not what’s happened, at least to this point. Over the past two years, Báez is hitting just .201/.241/.376 in 291 plate appearances. Controlling the strike zone has never been his calling card, but Báez’s 2.7% walk rate and 34.4% strikeout rate in that time are untenable figures. The 28-year-old has continued to play a strong shortstop, but his 63 wRC+ is fourth-worst among the 190 players to take at least 200 plate appearances over the last two years.

There had been some hope Báez could rebound from his 2020 struggles in a longer, more normal season. His bottom line results have indeed been better (albeit still below-average) thanks to the four home runs he’s popped. But Báez’s underlying process metrics are equally or more concerning. His 44.6% strikeout rate is up twelve points relative to last season, while his walks have fallen even further.

Most concerning, Báez has made contact on less than half his swings (48.7%) in this season’s early going. For reference, he connected on a little more than two-thirds of his cuts during his peak years, and even made contact at a 64.2% clip last year. Only Sam Hilliard has a lower contact rate among the 259 players with 30+ plate appearances, with every other hitter in the league putting the bat on the ball at least 54.9% of the time.

There’s plenty of time for Báez to right the ship, but he’ll need to make significantly more contact in the coming months if he’s to secure a massive deal from the Cubs or any other team. The two sides remain in contact, with Báez reiterating in February he hopes to work out an extension with Chicago rather than go elsewhere in free agency.

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