Cain was certainly struggling last year, as he had a batting line of .179/.231/.234 at the time he was cut loose by the Brewers. But his defensive grades were still good and he had been roughly average at the plate the year before. It seems a few teams thought he still had something left in the tank. Cain says the Dodgers were in touch, as were players on the Phillies and Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals. However, Cain decided to defer to his three young boys.

“I left it in the hands of my boys,” Cain said to McCullough. “I said, ‘Hey, do you guys want Daddy to continue to play ball? Or are you ready for Daddy to be done and go home?’ And they said, ‘Dad, we want you to go home.’ And I said, ‘OK, then.’ So I’ve been done. I just haven’t announced it, I guess.” As mentioned, the details of the upcoming ceremony are still being hashed out, but Cain says they are tentatively targeting the month of May. Once the paperwork is filed, it will officially bring to a close a career that was bookended by time with Milwaukee but had its greatest highlights in Kansas City.

The Brewers selected Cain in the 17th round of the 2004 draft. He worked his way up through the minors and cracked the big leagues in 2010, getting into 43 games that year. Prior to the 2011 campaign, the rebuilding Royals sent Zack Greinke and Yuniesky Betancourt to the Brewers in exchange for Alcides Escobar, Jeremy Jeffress, Jake Odorizzi and Cain.

His first year with his new club was primarily spent in the minors and then Cain was hurt for much of 2012. In 2013, he started to show signs of becoming a viable major leaguer, as he got into 115 games, stole 14 bases and provided excellent defense. He took another step forward in 2014, hitting .301 on the year and swiping 28 bags. He helped the club to the World Series that year, winning ALCS MVP along the way.

The Royals lost that World Series but were back the next year, thanks in no small part to Cain. He hit 16 home runs in 2015, effectively doubling his career tally at that time, as he had just 17 coming into the year. He also stole another 28 bases, continued to be great in the field and hit .307. He made the All-Star game that year, the first of two selections for him, and the Royals eventually emerged victorious in that year’s World Series.

Cain would play another couple of seasons in Kansas City before reaching free agency. He returned to the Brewers on a five-year, $80MM deal going into 2018. He continued to be an excellent player in the first few years of that contract, providing his typical blend of speed and defense, along with a few home runs. He was selected to the All-Star game again in 2018 and won a Gold Glove award in 2019.

Cain played five games in 2020 before deciding to opt out due to the pandemic. He was then hampered by injuries in 2021, getting into just 78 games. He struggled out of the gate in 2022 and was ultimately let go by the Brewers. As mentioned up top, Cain seemed to have some chances to continue his playing career but ultimately decided to be with his family instead.

Cain goes into the history books with 1,220 hits, including 225 doubles, 24 triples and 87 home runs. He scored 626 runs, drove 454 of them in and stole 190 bases. He was a two-time All-Star, a Gold Glove winner and a World Series champion. We at MLB Trade Rumors salute him on a fine career and wish him all the best in retirement.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Cain now has the right to explore other opportunities, but it remains to be seen whether he plans to continue his career. Shortly after his DFA, Cain met with reporters and reflected on his career (Twitter link with video from Adam McCalvy of MLB.com). The 36-year-old expressed pride about recently eclipsing ten years of MLB service time, and he noted he’s “put (his) body through a lot over the years” and is “ready to rest for sure.” He struck a similar tone in a chat with former Royals beat reporter Jeffrey Flanagan yesterday, saying he “must admit it is very nice being home” (Twitter link).

If this is the end of Cain’s playing days, he’ll step away as one of the better outfielders of his generation. A former 17th-round pick, Cain overcame his low draft status to reach the majors with the Brewers by 2010. Milwaukee flipped him to the Royals the following offseason, packaging him with Jake Odorizzi, Alcides Escobar and Jeremy Jeffress to land Zack Greinke.

The blockbuster played a huge role in the course of MLB history during the 2010’s. Cain and Escobar became key members of back-to-back pennant winners in 2014-15, while Odorizzi was eventually flipped to the Rays in the James Shields/Wade Davis swap. Cain played in Kansas City from 2011-17, settling in as the club’s primary center fielder by 2012. He hit .289/.342/.421 while playing excellent defense and swiping 120 bases over that stretch. He earned his first career All-Star selection in 2015 and finished in third place in AL MVP voting after posting a .307/.361/.477 line that year.

After that run in Royal blue, Cain hit free agency for the first time. He inked a five-year, $80MM guarantee to return to the Brewers in January 2018. That came within days of Milwaukee’s acquisition of Christian Yelich, and the pair of marquee pickups helped kick off a stretch of at least four straight playoff appearances. Yelich wound up being the more impactful add, claiming an MVP award during his first season in Wisconsin, but Cain was a high-end player in his own right in 2018.

That year, Cain hit .308/.395/.417 and stole 30 bases. He earned his second All-Star nod and finished seventh in NL MVP balloting. He only posted a .260/.325/.372 line during the second season of that deal, but he picked up a long-awaited Gold Glove award for his work in center. After sitting out most of the 2020 campaign due to COVID concerns, Cain returned in a more limited role last year. He played at a roughly league average level through 78 games, but he scuffled this season. Milwaukee’s DFA came after Cain posted a .179/.231/.234 line through 156 plate appearances.

Cain’s contract stays on Milwaukee’s books for this year. The club will owe him what remains of his $18MM salary for the final season of his deal. Were he to sign anywhere else, another club would only pay the prorated portion of the $700K league minimum for any time he spends in the major leagues.

While Cain has hinted at retirement on multiple occasions in recent weeks, he’s not made any formal announcement about his future. If he decides he’s interested in continuing his career, his defense and respected clubhouse presence would certainly at least get him minor league opportunities. If Cain is finished playing, he’ll step away a career .283/.343/.407 hitter through parts of 13 big league seasons. FanGraphs has valued his career around 30 wins above replacement, while Baseball Reference has him at about 38 wins. By the end of this season, Cain will have banked a little more than $100MM in earnings between his arbitration salaries and contract with Milwaukee.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Cain is one of the most respected players in the game, evidenced here by the Brewers’ willingness to wait until he reached 10 years of service time before the DFA. Cain’s second tour of duty with the Brewers was absolutely a success, despite this season’s struggles. The veteran center fielder was in the last year of the five-year contract he signed with the Brewers when he left Kansas City as a free agent. It’s not clear at this time what the future holds for Cain, but from his comments here, it did not sound like he would be quick to find another club.

This 10-year veteran owns a career .283/.343/.407 line through 4,758 career plate appearances with the Brewers and Royals. He was a key figure at the heart of the Royals’ World-Series-winning team back in 2015, a year in which he finished third in MVP voting. He is a two-time All-Star and a Gold Glove award winner. Though the Gold Glove that he won in 2019 was his only such award, he has long been considered a premier defender in center field.

This season, however, has not been Cain’s finest. He slashed just .179/.231/.234 over 156 plate appearances. This comes on the heels of a .257/.329/.401 effort in 2021 spelled the end for Cain in Milwaukee. Nonetheless, he has been a gigantic figure for this team over the Brewers’ run since 2018 when he joined the Brewers as a free agent on the same day that they traded for Christian Yelich. The two outfielders remade the Brewers into an NL Central contender.

Davis, 30, joins the club for this first look this season. The former Blue Jays and Yankees outfielder has hit .297/.408/.426 across 179 plate appearances in Triple-A this season. For his big league career, Davis owns a .171/.272/.248 slash line in 259 plate appearances spread out from 2018 to 2021 in Toronto and New York.

After a messy May, the Phillies have surged with an 11-2 record thus far in June, bringing their season record above .500 to 32-31. Despite the recent hot stretch, the Phillies remain eight and a half games back of the first place Mets in their division and three and a half games back of the last NL wild card spot. A closer-by-committee approach figures to help the team stay in their groove, with Seranthony Dominguez and Brad Hand representing steadier options than Knebel thus far.

Some other Wednesday items from the Senior Circuit…

• After optioning Mickey Moniak on Tuesday, the Phillies appear set to roll with a platoon of Matt Vierling and Odúbel Herrera in center field. The Athletic’s Matt Gelb speculates how the team may upgrade that arrangement given the feeble production from the first two players thus far, plus the questions that have plagued Herrera dating back to his 2019 suspension. Gelb lists Michael A. Taylor, Ramón Laureano, and Victor Robles as realistic trade targets for the club should they seek to plug a defense-first option between corner outfielders Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos. The center field platoon’s production will be worth monitoring through the summer, as the Phillies have holes in the infield and bullpen as well but may not possess enough financial or prospect capital to address all three areas.
• One center fielder who isn’t an option for the Phillies, or perhaps for any team much longer, is Lorenzo Cain. Speaking with Andy McCullough of The Athletic, the 36-year-old Brewer acknowledged the likelihood that this season may very well be his last in the major leagues. The two-time All-Star remains a strong defensive player and as affable a clubhouse personality as any, but admits to difficulties in elevating his offense at the ten-year mark of his career. To that end, a .168/.223/.226 showing through 41 games has already begun to cost him some playing time this season. For now though, President of Baseball Operations David Stearns remains in Cain’s corner, citing Cain’s defense and contributions to four straight years of playoff baseball in Milwaukee as reasons to exhibit patience.
• Nationals manager Dave Martinez has an update on another 2015 World Series champ, stating that Opening Day shortstop Alcides Escobar will return in a utility role when he completes his current rehab assignment. 22-year-old Luis García will be given some leash at the position after his hot start to the year at the Triple-A (.899 OPS in 42 games) and Major League (.829 OPS in 13 games) levels. Neither player profiles as a defensively elite shortstop at this point in their careers, so Escobar’s current OPS of .552 figures to cut into the playing time of other slow-starting veterans’ around the infield (Maikel Franco, .669 OPS; Cesar Hernandez, .646 OPS) over the youngster looking to establish himself.

To fill the two open roster spots, Lorenzo Cain is being activated off the 10-day injured list and Pablo Reyes was called up from Triple-A.  Cain was expected to return from the IL today, following an absence of almost two months while recovering from a hamstring strain.

The most important news is that Yelich is feeling relatively good following his positive test, though the former NL MVP will now be sidelined for the third time this season.  Yelich had two earlier IL placements due to back problems, costing him close to five weeks’ worth of action.  This nagging back issue has bothered Yelich for a few years, contributing to his below-average performance since the start of the 2020 season.  After his last 522 plate appearances, Yelich has hit .221/.370/.397 — a far cry from his .327/.415/.631 slash line over 1231 PA in 2018-19.

The Brewers are known to be looking for hitting help prior to the trade deadline, and losing Yelich will only add to the team’s search.  Peterson has also been a good addition to the roster over 50 games 161 PA this season, hitting .244/.373/.397 (good for a 109 OPS+ and 113 wRC+) after signing a minor league deal with Milwaukee this past winter.

It isn’t known what Cain will be able to provide after his second IL trip of the season, and the veteran has mostly been an offensive non-factor since the start of the 2019 season.  Cain has hit only .256/.327/.369 over his last 762 PA, as he has been hampered by multiple injuries and also elected to sit out much of the 2020 season.

A few more injury updates from around the majors:

• Rays right-hander Chris Archer is hopeful he’ll return from forearm tightness in early July, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times relays. Archer reunited with the Rays on a one-year, $6.5MM contract in free agency, but he made just two appearances and combined for 4 1/3 innings before suffering this injury. Archer, previously with the Pirates, missed all of 2020 after undergoing thoracic outlet surgery.
• It appears the Twins will go without outfielder Kyle Garlick for the foreseeable future, as they announced that he’s going to the IL with a sports hernia. Minnesota is already without fellow outfielders Byron Buxton, Max Kepler, Luis Arraez and Jake Cave, who have all been on the shelf since May. The Twins recalled outfielder Gilberto Celestino to replace Garlick, who’s off to a .232/.280/.465 start with five home runs in 107 PA.
• Phillies shortstop Didi Gregorius will begin a Triple-A rehab assignment on Wednesday, Todd Zolecki of MLB.com tweets. Gregorius has been out for almost a month with a right hip impingement, having not taken the field since May 12. Between the injury and his .229/.266/.364 line in 128 PA, it’s been a less-than-ideal campaign for Gregorius, whom the Phillies re-signed to a two-year, $28MM contract in the winter.
• The Astros have placed reliever Joe Smith on the IL with an ominous-sounding issue – right elbow soreness (via Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle). Houston recalled righty Brandon Bielak to take over for Smith, who has put up an uncharacteristically high ERA (6.23) in 17 1/3 innings. While Smith has only walked 4.8 percent of hitters, his second-lowest strikeout rate (18.1), a 23.1 percent home run-to-fly ball rate and a .414 batting average on balls in play against have worked against him.

There is no timetable for Cain’s eventual return, per MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy (via Twitter). Cain have managed a relatively punchless .223/.322/.350 across 118 plate appearances in 31 games this season. The veteran has continued to take his walks (11.9 percent walk rate) and put the bat on the ball (20.3 percent strikeout rate). The former Royal has always been above-average at avoiding strikeouts, but the better-than-average patience in a new skill developed – and, thus far, maintained – in Milwaukee.

Taylor has been a frequent guest star on the Brewers in 2021 with 84 big league plate appearances to just 20 at Triple-A. In the Majors, he is hitting .203/.298/.365 with three home runs. He is starting tonight’s ballgame in centerfield and batting sixth.

Cain’s injury could have an impact beyond Taylor, however. As recently covered by the Athletic’s Will Sammon, Avisail Garcia finds himself on pace for 550 plate appearances, a threshold that, if passed, would turn a team option for 2022 into a mutual option. When the Brewers signed Jackie Bradley Jr. this winter, the odds were against Garcia, but the presumptive starting trio of Cain, Bradley, and Christian Yelich have all struggled to stay healthy, providing Garcia with plenty of opportunity in the grass.

That’s significant because it provides Garcia with a little more agency in his future. The 30-year-old is having himself a fine season at the plate, slashing .244/.312/.452 with 10 home runs through 186 plate appearance – good for a 109 wRC+.

Hiura has gotten the lion’s share of playing time at first base this year for Milwaukee, which has also utilized Daniel Vogelbach at the position. Vogelbach and McKinney will now split time there. Manager Craig Counsell expressed optimism that Hiura “can be our primary first baseman,” though he admitted the Brewers “need more offense” from that spot, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel relays.

4:03pm: Brewers outfielders Christian Yelich and Lorenzo Cain will return from the 10-day injured list Monday as the first-place club begins a series against the Phillies, Robert Murray of FanSided reports.

This will be the first action since April 11 for Yelich, who has been down with a back ailment. The Brewers were optimistic Yelich wouldn’t be out for long, evidenced by the fact that they didn’t place him on the IL until April 17 (retroactive to the 14th). Now that the former MVP is coming back from a three-week absence, he’ll try to build on the highly  productive .333/.459/.367 line he logged in 37 plate appearances to start the season. However, the two-time 30-plus-home run hitter hasn’t left the yard yet in 2021.

The Brewers received very strong numbers from the left field combination of Tyrone Taylor and Billy McKinney during Yelich’s absence. The same hasn’t been true in center, where Jackie Bradley Jr. has struggled in his first year with the Brewers. Bradley divided his time between center and right to open the year, but he has played the former spot almost every day since Cain went on the IL on April 14 with a strained left quad. As is the case with Bradley, Cain has come out of the gates slowly in 2021. He batted an underwhelming .154/.214/.423 in 28 PA prior to his trip to the IL.

• Padres right fielder Wil Myers left their game Tuesday with right knee inflammation and was not in their starting lineup Wednesday. Myers has been dealing with patellar tenonitis, but it’s not believed he’ll miss much time or require surgery, according to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Even though Myers has had to play through discomfort, it hasn’t had an obvious effect on his production. On the heels of a massive rebound in 2020, he has begun this year with a torrid .341/.438/.659 line and three home runs in 48 plate appearances.
• Mets reliever Dellin Betances, on the 10-day IL since April 8 with a right shoulder impingement, is still a ways from returning. Betances hasn’t begun throwing, and he won’t travel with the Mets for their April 16-22 road trip, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports. Injuries have been a constant problem over the past few years for Betances, a four-time All-Star who has thrown only 13 1/3 innings dating back to his final season with the Yankees in 2019. The Mets had high hopes for a Betances bounce-back effort when they signed him to a $10.5MM guarantee during the ensuing winter, but he yielded 10 earned runs in 11 2/3 innings in 2020. So far this year, Betances has made one appearance and thrown one inning, in which he allowed an earned run and a walk.
• The Brewers have placed center fielder Lorenzo Cain on the 10-day IL with a strained left quad and recalled outfielder Tyrone Taylor, the team announced. There’s no word on how much time Cain will miss, but he strained his other quad during the spring and was limited to seven exhibition games as a result. The 35-year-old has gotten off to a slow start this season with a .154/.214/.423 line in 28 plate appearances.

• Reds right-hander Sonny Gray will make his 2021 debut Friday or Saturday, manager David Bell told C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic and other reporters. The Reds have gone without Gray because of a back injury, depriving them of one of their best starters. Their Gray-less rotation has received quality work across a combined six starts from Wade Miley, Jeff Hoffman and Tyler Mahle. On the other hand, ace Luis Castillo has been surprisingly inconsistent.
• Cubs righty Kyle Hendricks wasn’t feeling well heading into Tuesday’s start, so the Cubs made him a late scratch against Milwaukee and gave the ball to Alec Mills instead. The team said it scratched Hendricks “out of an abundance of caution,” which is understandable when considering the Cubs’ current health situation. They’ve sent four players to the COVID list this week, and coaches Craig Driver and Chris Young have tested positive for the virus in recent days. [UPDATE: Manager told Gordon Wittenmyer of NBC Sports Chicago and other reporters that Hendricks tested negative. An IL placement is a possibility, though.]
  
• Lefty Kwang Hyun Kim will join the Cardinals’ rotation on Saturday in his first appearance of 2021, while righty Daniel Ponce de Leon will move to their bullpen, per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Kim, who began dealing with back problems last month, was an eminently valuable part of the Cardinals’ pitching staff as a rookie in 2020. Across eight appearances (seven starts) and 39 innings, Kim notched a miserly 1.62 ERA. Some of his other numbers weren’t nearly as impressive (examples: 7.8 K-BB percentage, 5.00 SIERA), but he helped his cause by tamping down hard contact and keeping the ball on the ground at a 50 percent clip.
• Brewers center fielder Lorenzo Cain exited their game versus Chicago with “left quad discomfort,” Adam McCalvy of MLB.com tweets. The Brewers shifted Jackie Bradley Jr. to center and brought in Billy McKinney to handle left when Cain departed. Cain also dealt with a quad issue (on his right side) in spring training, but that didn’t prevent him from debuting on time this season. It remains to be seen whether this will cost him any time.

MARCH 28: Brewers manager Craig Counsell discussed some roster situations with MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy (Twitter links), the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Tom Haudricourt (Twitter links) and other reporters today, and Counsell revealed that right-hander Justin Topa will begin the season on the injured list.  Topa underwent an MRI last night after he felt elbow discomfort during a simulated game, and the club is still waiting on the results.

Any sort of elbow problem is of particular concern for Topa, who has already undergone two Tommy John surgeries.  Despite these injury setbacks, Topa battled through five seasons in the affiliated minors and an indy ball stint before finally making his MLB debut in 2020.  Though Topa only tossed 9 2/3 total innings over six regular-season outings and one postseason game, the righty opened some eyes by allowing just two earned runs and recording 12 strikeouts against just a single walk.

Topa and Derek Fisher (hamstring) will both be on the 10-day injured list, but Counsell doesn’t believe the IL will be necessary for either Lorenzo Cain or Jackie Bradley Jr.  The two veteran outfielders had missed some time in camp with quad and wrist problems, respectively, though Counsell indicated that he wouldn’t push Cain or Bradley hard in the early stages of the season.  The Brewers were already planning to deploy something of a timeshare in the outfield in order to keep everyone fresh, and beyond Cain, Bradley, Christian Yelich, and Avisail Garcia, Billy McKinney might yet make the team in a bench role for further depth.

Speaking of Milwaukee’s bench, Counsell also said that Daniel Vogelbach made the Opening Day roster.  Though the Brewers tendered Vogelbach a contract over the winter, there was some thought that the team could still cut Vogelbach (whose $1.4MM deal isn’t guaranteed until Opening Day) because Vogelbach doesn’t offer much in the way of bench versatility.  The slugger is blocked by Keston Hiura at first base, and since the NL won’t have the designated hitter spot available this season, Vogelbach is likely just limited to pinch-hit opportunities and DH duty in interleague games.  Still, the Brewers decided Vogelbach was worth keeping in the fold, considering his .987 OPS in 67 PA for Milwaukee last season.

More out of Milwaukee:

• It has been a tough Spring Training for Eric Lauer, note Tom Haudricourt and Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Over five innings between three appearances, the left-hander has issued seven walks and given up three home runs. The Brewers optioned Lauer to Triple-A Nashville Friday, taking him out of the mix for a season-opening rotation spot. Acquired from the Padres as part of the deal that also brought in Urías and sent out Trent Grisham and Zach Davies, Lauer suffered through a brutal first season in Milwaukee. He allowed sixteen runs in eleven innings last year, issuing nine walks while striking out twelve.
• Lorenzo Cain and Devin Williams made their Cactus League debuts in last night’s game against the Reds, Haudricourt and Rosiak were among those to relay. Cain, delayed by a quad injury early in camp, took three plate appearances and played some center field. He’ll rest today but expects to be back in the lineup tomorrow. The Brewers have proceeded cautiously with Williams, who missed their playoff series last year with a shoulder injury. The reigning NL Reliever of the Year says he’ll have “three or four” more tune-up appearances before Opening Day, per Haudricourt and Rosiak.

More from the city of Giannis, Liberace, Laverne and Shirley…

• Today’s Cactus League game with the Mariners saw both Derek Fisher and Adrian Houser leave early due to injury. According to the Brewers’ official announcement, “left hamstring discomfort” forced Fisher from the game after he scored from first base on a double, and manager Craig Counsell told Haudricourt and other reporters that Fisher will be out of action for a while.  The out-of-options Fisher was already facing some tough competition to win a roster job, and this injury setback could further hamper if not ruin his chances.  As for Houser, he left the game with right thumb discomfort, but both the hurler and Counsell felt it was a minor issue that shouldn’t much interrupt Houser’s preseason preparations.
• In other injury news, Lorenzo Cain is expected to make his Spring Training debut by the weekend, Counsell told The Athletic’s Will Sammon and other reporters.  After opting out of much of the 2020 season, Cain’s return to the field has been slowed by a quad injury.  It remains to be seen how much time Cain will need to ramp up for the season, so an injured list placement probably still isn’t out of the question for at least the first week of the schedule.
• Right-hander Ray Black will begin throwing off a mound by the end of the week, Counsell said, as Black will return to work after being shut down due to elbow inflammation.  The hard-throwing Black tossed only three innings over three games in 2020, missing much of the season due to a strain in his right rotator cuff.  Given his recent injury history, Black could very well be an IL candidate for Opening Day.

On the other side of town, the White Sox will be allowed up to 8,122 patrons per game while practicing social distancing, per Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times (via Twitter). The Southsiders home opener will be on April 8th. That means every team except for the Blue Jays will have at least a limited number of fans in the seats this season, notes Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Now, the latest in roster news from the Central…

• The Brewers are facing a roster crunch at the end of the bench. It’s a side effect of the Jackie Bradley Jr. signing, writes MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy. Pablo Reyes and Derek Fisher have impressed manager Craig Counsell so far, notes McCalvy. Manny Pina and Avisail Garcia are locks to be a member of the bench, which probably only leaves two spots. Assuming Travis Shaw makes the roster, that puts one of Shaw, Orlando Arcia, and Luis Urias on the bench as well. Daniel Robertson has been viewed as a favorite to win that final bench spot, in part because the infielder is out of options. Daniel Vogelbach is also out of options and on the 40-man roster. The big first baseman brings a limited, though valuable skill-set as a power bat off the bench. Of those players on the 40-man roster, Fisher, Jace Pederson, and Billy McKinney are also out of options, giving the Brewers much to think about as we inch closer to April 1.
• Milwaukee may have a little bit of extra time to decide on that final roster spot, however. Lorenzo Cain hasn’t played in a week because of a quad issue, and there’s a chance he won’t be ready in time for opening day, per McCalvy (via Twitter). There’s still hope that he’ll be ready from the jump, but if not, the Brewers could roll with Bradley Jr. in center and Garcia in right, while taking the extra time to evaluate someone from their out-of-options pool.
• Pirates manager Derek Shelton won’t spend much time thinking about who might claim the closer role until the last few days of camp, per the Athletic’s Rob Biertempfel. Said Shelton, “We have a guy who we know can go to the back end and do it in Richie (Rodríguez), who did it last year, so I’m really not thinking about it.” That certainly sounds like Richard Rodriguez has the inside track on the job. There will certainly be enough bodies to choose from, as the Pirates plan to break camp with eight or nine relievers, notes Biertempfel. That said, there aren’t a lot of proven late-inning options to immediately wrench the role from Rodríguez. Kyle Crick is the most obvious challenger, with Chris Stratton perhaps snagging an opportunity or two after striking out close to 30 percent of hitters last season.

A few more injury updates:

• Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto had his hard cast removed and replaced with a splint as he works his way back from a fractured right thumb, Todd Zolecki of MLB.com was among those to report. That’s a generally encouraging sign, as Zolecki notes that this had been the anticipated next step in his recovery. However, Realmuto still has not progressed to a point where he can hit or throw. It remains unclear if he’ll be ready in time for Opening Day. Something resembling a typical season from Realmuto, arguably the game’s top catcher, is no doubt a key piece of Philadelphia’s hopes of snapping a nine-year playoff drought.
• Third baseman Alex Bregman and designated hitter Yordan Álvarez haven’t yet gotten into spring training games for the Astros, but it doesn’t seem there’s much cause for concern. Bregman “tweaked” his hamstring and is taking things slowly, notes Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. The 26-year-old would be playing through the soreness if it were the regular season, he says. Álvarez is a little further from game action, per manager Dusty Baker (via McTaggart), although that seems to be mere caution after the young slugger underwent season-ending surgery on both knees last August.
• Jed Lowrie is seeing action in simulated games but has not yet been cleared to play in spring training games, Athletics manager Bob Melvin told reporters (including Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle). The former All-Star second baseman is back in A’s camp as a non-roster invitee after a two-year stint with the Mets that was ruined by injuries, most recently continued trouble with his left knee. Lowrie has taken just eight MLB place appearances since leaving Oakland after a stellar 2018 season.
• Yankees right-hander Luis Severino continues to progress “really well” from his February 2020 Tommy John surgery, general manager Brian Cashman said this afternoon (via Erik Boland of Newsday). Severino had already moved to a long toss routine and soon should be able to throw off a mound, Cashman said. One of the best pitchers in the league from 2017-18, Severino has been limited to just 12 innings over the past two seasons by injury. His return would be a boon to a New York rotation that is high on upside but has plenty of risk behind ace Gerrit Cole.