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Robinson Cano

Mets Place Robinson Cano On Injured List, Activate Billy Hamilton

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10:41pm: Cano will be on the shelf “until at least mid-August,” DiComo tweets.

6:15pm: The Mets have placed second baseman Robinson Cano on the 10-day injured list due to a Grade 2 left adductor strain and selected the contract of Billy Hamilton, who’ll be on the bench for tonight’s game (Twitter links via Anthony DiComo of MLB.com). DiComo adds that Jeff McNeil (intercostal strain) and Amed Rosario (quad tightness) are both day-to-day.

There’s no telling just how long Cano will be sidelined at this point, but any type of Grade 2 strain (as opposed to a more mild Grade 1 strain) is cause for concern regarding an extended absence. His injury is particularly unfortunate for the Mets given that the 37-year-old had gotten out to a blistering start. In his first 39 plate appearances, Cano was hitting at a torrid .412/.462/.559 clip with a homer and two doubles. While it’s inevitable that he’d have cooled off to some extent, Cano also ranked among the game’s best in terms of hard-hit rate and average exit velocity, and his swinging-strike rate was among the lowest in MLB.

Despite the addition of the designated hitter in the National League, Cano has been the team’s primary second baseman. Yoenis Cespedes had been serving as the regular designated hitter, but he opted out of the remainder of the season over the weekend. With Cano, Jed Lowrie and Jeff McNeil all on the injured list, regular second-base duties for the Mets seem likeliest to fall to top prospect Andres Gimenez and veteran Brian Dozier, who inked a minor league deal late in Summer Camp and was selected to the Mets’ roster last week. Dozier is batting sixth in tonight’s lineup against lefty Patrick Corbin, but the makings of a natural platoon with the left-handed-hitting Gimenez are present. Of course, that’s contingent on Rosario returning to the lineup; Gimenez and Dozier could each draw regular starts as double play partners while Rosario is out.

As for Hamilton, he was acquired over the weekend in a trade that sent recently outrighted reliever Jordan Humphreys to the Giants. He’ll jump right onto the Mets’ big league roster and provide some speed and elite glovework off the bench. Brandon Nimmo is still lined up for everyday work in center, and he’ll be flanked by J.D. Davis and Michael Conforto to begin most games. Hamilton’s role is perhaps the same role the Mets envisioned for offseason acquisition Jake Marisnick, but he’s currently on the injured list with a hamstring strain.

Mets’ Infield Dealing With Injuries

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The Mets are suddenly dealing with a few notable injuries in their infield, Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News was among those to report. Second baseman Robinson Cano (left groin), shortstop Amed Rosario (left quad) and third baseman Jeff McNeil (lower back) are all battling some degree of “tightness,” per Thosar.

The severity of these injuries are unclear, but they’re the latest hits to an offense that saw outfielder Yoenis Cespedes opt out of the season Sunday. Cespedes got off to a subpar start this season, as has Rosario. On the other hand, Cano and McNeil have been great thus far. It’s especially encouraging in regards to Cano, who was a letdown a season ago, but not surprising in McNeil’s case. After all, he was one of the NL’s best position players last year.

The Mets entered the day at 3-7, so any further bad news for their lineup could make it even harder for the team to dig out of the hole it’s in at the one-sixth mark of the season. The Mets replaced their three lost starters with Brian Dozier, Andres Gimenez and Luis Guillorme on Monday.

Quick Hits: Round Numbers, Red Sox Rotation, Astros

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If there’s something fans and baseball players can agree on, it’s a love of round numbers. Unfortunately, because of the pandemic-shortened seasons, many of baseball’s legendary Latino contemporaries may have to put away their obsession with certain benchmarks, writes ESPN’s Enrique Rojas. Albert Pujols needs 44 home runs to reach 700. Miguel Cabrera is 185 hits from 3,000 and 23 home runs from 500. Robinson Cano is just under 500 hits away from 3,000. Their ability to reach these markers is taking a hit with a shortened 2020. Given the changes in the game, there’s certainly a question about how long milestones of the past will continue to be held in such particular esteem. Rate statistics like wRC+ have already taken hold in some parts of the baseballsphere, and it’s certainly worth wondering if similar metrics will start to be used more in conjunction with traditional statistical benchmarks (300 wins, 3,000 hits, 500 home runs, etc.). Now let’s see what’s happening on the field…

  • It’s looking less and less likely that Eduardo Rodriguez will be back in time to start the Red Sox Opening Day contest, per Chris Cotillo of masslive.com. That puts Nathan Eovaldi in line to get the Opening Day nod. The rest of the Red Sox rotation remains a bit of a mess, certainly a far cry from the squad the took the team to the World Series just two seasons ago. But with Chris Sale on the shelf, David Price and Rick Porcello both gone, Boston is turning to the likes of Martin Perez, Ryan Weber, Chris Mazza, Jeffrey Springs, Colten Brewer and Matt Hall for rotation consideration. Collin McHugh, signed at the tail end of free agency, will not be ready by Opening Day. The Red Sox are counting on less-heralded performers than in year’s past, but there’s room for someone (or a few someone’s) to step up and stake their claim to a locker in Boston.
  • The Astros canceled their workout today after someone on staff became exposed to COVID-19, per Jake Kaplan of The Athletic (via Twitter). GM James Click released a statement: “As part of MLB’s testing and reporting plan, we were alerted that a staff member was potentially exposed to a COVID-positive individual outside the organization. Out of an abundance of caution, we have cancelled today’s workout.” These sorts of snow days may become commonplace, at least in these early days. Still, it’s an important measure. Credit the Astros for taking the necessary amount of caution here. [UPDATE: the Astros announced that workouts at Minute Maid Park will resume on Sunday.]

NL East Notes: Mets, Realmuto, Cano, Marlins, Brinson, Sierra

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Let’s check in on a pair of teams from the National League East…

  • The Mets pushed hard to land J.T. Realmuto before he was ultimately traded from Miami to Philadelphia, and Mike Puma of the New York Post writes in his latest mailbag column that the team’s pursuit of Realmuto might not yet be over. Realmuto is represented by CAA, the former agency of GM Brodie Van Wagenen, and current catcher Wilson Ramos has a club option for the 2021 season that isn’t a lock to be picked up ($10MM or a $1.5MM buyout). The Mets have acquired several of Van Wagenen’s former players since he became GM — Jed Lowrie, Michael Wacha and Robinson Cano — although CAA has a rather large base of clients and Van Wagenen has certainly added plenty of players from other firms (Ramos, J.D. Davis, etc.). Still, there’s no obvious in-house alternative if the team opts to move on from Ramos — or to pick up his option and look to trade him. Realmuto would indeed be an upgrade, particularly on the defensive side of things, which is notable given the questions that arose regarding Ramos’ glove in New York last year.
  • The COVID-19 shutdown hasn’t been fun for anyone, but Cano has at least found a silver lining during the delayed season. Cano said Tuesday that the downtime has “been beneficial for me for sure” physically, as Tim Healey of Newsday relays. “My legs feel strong right now,” continued Cano, who’s champing at the bit to return to the diamond. “Just can’t wait to go back on the field, and then play.” If there is a season, the longtime star, 37, will aim to rebound after a rough debut campaign with the Mets. Cano hit just .257/.307/.428 with 13 homers during an injury-limited, 423-plate appearance season.
  • Expanded rosters should be quite favorable for several Marlins outfielders who might not have been a lock to make the team, writes Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. Lewis Brinson has drawn his share of flak having yet to produce after arriving as the centerpiece in the widely panned Christian Yelich trade, and he’d be “very, very” likely to break camp with an expanded roster. Magneuris Sierra is out of minor league options and was a risk to be exposed to waivers given his lack of big league production, but greater roster flexibility and his elite speed make him a likely bench piece at the very least. Sierra, like Brinson, came over in a high-profile swap — the Marcell Ozuna deal — although the Fish have already fared quite a bit better in that deal. Sandy Alcantara was that trade’s headliner, while righty Zac Gallen was also in that deal and has since netted the team top shortstop prospect Jazz Chisholm.

The Mark Grace Decade Award

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For many years, my go-to baseball trivia question was this: who led the 1990s in hits? 

I won’t bury the lede any further: The answer is Mark Grace. Grace never hit 20 home runs in a season despite being a middle-of-the-order bat, and he spent most of his career on lackluster Cubs teams. He was a three-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove winner who never finished higher than thirteenth in MVP voting. He was a very good baseball player. But I think it’s safe to say that he’s not the first name that comes to mind when looking for the decade-leader in hits. 

Growing up, Grace was my favorite player, but that’s only part of why I loved this trivia question. In my mind, Grace epitomized something special about the game. He played smart and with obvious boyhood joy. He could hit .300 falling asleep, and though he wasn’t known for his power, he held his own – in his words – by “turning triples into doubles” (he also led the nineties in doubles). #17 wasn’t a superstar to the world (he didn’t hit home runs, he didn’t run well, and he played for the lovable loser version of the Cubs), but Grace made the most of his physical abilities and let his personality shine through. And ah yes, he had more hits in the nineties than Tony Gwynn, Robby Alomar, Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey Jr., Sammy Sosa, Cal Ripken Jr.…or anyone else.

That he accomplished this feat speaks to the randomness and the breadth of the game of baseball. Only a player who played in every season of the decade is likely to lead all major leaguers in hits (see the exception to this rule later). And yet, what a tremendous accomplishment! The juxtaposition of those two thoughts encapsulates so much of what makes baseball unique. Timing is a huge factor in determining what becomes part of the baseball zeitgeist, and yet, there’s an ocean of information beneath the surface of any given statistical achievement. 

Not to date myself, but there’s been two full decades since Grace led the nineties in hits! Granted, hits are no longer the be all and end all of offensive production. Not anywhere close. But they’re still important. Leading the league in hits over a decade is more trivia than player analysis, but it’s still an accomplishment that shines a light on a particular style of hitter. So without further ado, I thought it would be a fun exercise to see who wins the Mark Grace Award for leading a decade in hits.

2010-2019

  1. Robinson Cano (1,695)
  2. Nick Markakis (1,651)
  3. Adam Jones (1,647)
  4. Starlin Castro (1,617)
  5. Miguel Cabrera (1,595)
  6. Elvis Andrus (1,595)

Kicking it off, this is not the list I expected for our most recent decade. Cano taking the title is impressive, if not surprising for the career .302 hitter, because he only appeared in 107 games this last season and only 80 games the year before that. Taking the crown regardless speaks to how difficult it is in this day and age to stay in the game. Kudos to the the rest of the list as well, which provides a real working class crew (Miggy aside). Cano is also, for what it’s worth, the least productive hits king in any decade since the war-torn forties when the Indians’ Lou Boudreau took home the title with 1,578 hits.

2000-2009

  1. Ichiro Suzuki (2,030)
  2. Derek Jeter (1,940)
  3. Miguel Tejada (1,860)
  4. Todd Helton (1,756)
  5. Vladimir Guerrero (1,751)

Tejada is the only name on this list that might take more than a couple of guesses. Of course, the most impressive feat here is that Ichiro managed to chalk up more than 2,000 hits in only 9 seasons.

1990-1999

  1. Mark Grace (1,754)
  2. Rafael Palmiero (1,747)
  3. Craig Biggio (1,728)
  4. Tony Gwynn (1,713)
  5. Roberto Alomar (1,678)

Biggio or Gwynn probably would have been my guess had I not known the answer beforehand. Biggio led the league in plate appearances in 5 seasons (’92, ’95, ’97,’98,’99), but he hit “only” .297 for the decade (versus .310 for Grace). Gwynn hit .344 in the nineties, but only managed to appear in more than 140 games twice.

1980-1989

  1. Robin Yount (1,731)
  2. Eddie Murray (1,642)
  3. Willie Wilson (1,639)
  4. Wade Boggs (1,597)
  5. Dale Murphy (1,553)

Willie Wilson gave himself a good head start with 230 hits in 1980, but Yount and Murray managed to make up the difference before the end of the eighties. The Royals’ great did crush the competition for most triples in the decade, however, with 115 (Yount was second with 83).

1970-1979 

  1. Pete Rose (2,045)
  2. Rod Carew (1,787)
  3. Al Oliver (1,686)
  4. Lou Brock (1,617)
  5. Bobby Bonds (1,565)

No surprises here, with Rose and Carew atop the list.

1960-1969

  1. Roberto Clemente (1,877)
  2. Hank Aaron (1,819)
  3. Vada Pinson (1,776)
  4. Maury Wills (1,744)
  5. Brooks Robinson (1,692)

For the decade, Clemente hit .328/.375/.501. He took the batting crown four times and hit over .350 twice (1961: .351 BA, 1967: .357 BA).

1950-1959

  1. Richie Ashburn (1,875)
  2. Nellie Fox (1,837)
  3. Stan Musial (1,771)
  4. Alvin Dark (1,675)
  5. Duke Snider (1,605)

Integration wasn’t exactly a comprehensive process from the jump when Jackie Robinson first appeared for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, so we’ll make the fifties the last decade. All in all, Pete Rose unsurprisingly was the most prolific hits leader in any decade with 2,045 knocks in the 70s, but I’m not sure there’s a more impressive name on there than Ichiro, whose wizardy with the bat came up just 15 hits shy of Rose in just 9 seasons from 2001 to 2010.

Otherwise, definitely some names you might have expected (Rose, Young, Clemente), but it’s not as if a 3,000 hit king rules every decade. Ashburn, like Grace, hit the league at the perfect time to snag this award, as his career spanned from 1948 to 1962. He joins Grace and Cano as the non-3000 hit players to lead a decade in hits (though Cano still has an outside shot to get there). For their careers, Grace takes the distinction as the player with the least career hits to lead a decade in the category.

Who else on these list surprises you? Al Dark? Elvis Andrus? Who did you expect? Let’s hear your takes in the comments!

Robinson Cano May Not Be Done Yet

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Second baseman Robinson Cano is one of the most successful major leaguers of the past couple decades. If you go back to 2005, the season in which he debuted with the Yankees, he ranks sixth out of position players in fWAR (57.7). Only Mike Trout, Miguel Cabrera, Chase Utley, Adrian Beltre and Albert Pujols have bettered Cano in that category. There’s more than one Hall of Famer in that group. Utley’s the lone second baseman there who was more valuable than Cano, who has slashed .302/.352/.490 (125 wRC+) with 324 home runs over 9,264 plate appearances as a member of the Yanks, Mariners and Mets.

The 37-year-old Cano could hang it up right now and go down as one of the most accomplished second basemen ever. But he has four seasons and $96MM left on the 10-year, $240MM contract he signed with the Mariners entering 2014, so that’s not going to happen. That may be to the chagrin of the Mets, who have gotten surprisingly little from Cano since they landed him in December 2018. He came over as part of a deal that also netted the Mets then-dominant reliever Edwin Diaz (we covered his struggles last week) and cost the team a pair of well-regarded prospects in outfielder Jarred Kelenic and right-hander Justin Dunn.

Perhaps the greatest success of Cano’s career has come in New York, but a return to his old stomping grounds didn’t prove beneficial for the eight-time All-Star last season. Rather, Cano endured a subpar, injury-shortened season in Year 1 as a member of the Mets, with whom he batted .256/.307/.428 (93 wRC+) with 13 home runs and 0.8 fWAR in 423 plate appearances. By measure of wRC+, it was just the second time that Cano posted below-average offensive numbers in a season.

Considering what they gave up for Cano and the amount of money they still owe him, the Mets can only hope last season was an aberration – he was, after all, a great offensive player as recently as 2018 (a PED suspension-shortened campaign, granted). The question now is whether there’s any hope for Cano to bounce back. There just might be. Cano was a far better hitter last year as it went along. He managed a paltry .646 OPS in the first half of the season and then saw that number skyrocket to a much more Cano-like .880 thereafter, albeit over fewer trips to the plate (258 in the first half, 165 in the second). And there wasn’t really anything alarming in Cano’s batted-ball profile – he actually made more hard contact than he has for most of his career, according to FanGraphs. His hard-hit percentage (46.0) ranked in the game’s 87th percentile, per Statcast, which also pegged his average exit velocity (90.8 mph) in the 82nd percentile. That doesn’t sound like someone who’s done, though Cano’s expected weighted on-base average (.328, compared to a real wOBA of .309) fell well shy of his typical output.

Had Cano actually finished with a .328 wOBA in 2019, he’d have been in close company with fellow second basemen such as Adam Frazier, Hanser Alberto and Cesar Hernandez. Nobody there’s a true standout, but they were all around the 2.o-fWAR mark. That’s not the type of production the Mets wanted when they made the Cano trade, but if he’s at least an average player in 2020 (for the sake of our own sanity, let’s assume there will be a season), it could help the club make a return to the playoffs after a three-year drought.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

East Notes: Phillies, Werth, Harper, Mets, Gimenez, Orioles, Martin

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Jayson Werth was not surprised when his bromantic partner Bryce Harper signed with the Phillies exactly a year ago yesterday, per Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia. After years of traveling together, yukking it up from stadium to stadium, Werth knew Harper’s feelings about the league about as well as could be expected, and given his own positive feelings about his time in Philly (he won a ring there in 2008), Harper taking a shine to his mentor’s former club definitely tracks. Werth impacted both franchises in their most recent championship endeavors, directly for the Phils as he hit .309/.387/.582 during their ’08 run. For the Nats, he provided legitimacy to the franchise at the outset of their current run of competency. The Nationals have posted a winning record in each of the last eight seasons back to 2012, Werth’s second year with the club. That’s enough reminiscing for today. Let’s stay in the NL East and check in on some spring training news…

  • New York Mets prospect Andres Gimenez added a leg kick to his swing this winter in an effort to get more lift, per Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News. Gimenez will have to push the envelope to make his presence felt at the major league level this season, but he’s breathing down Amed Rosario’s neck. Robinson Cano is owed big money over the next four seasons, but there’s certainly the possibility that one of the Mets’ young shortstops could eventually move to the keystone. Despite some uncertainty regarding Rosario’s performance at the big league level, shortstop is a deep positional field for the Mets organizationally. Gimenez is the Mets’ 2nd-ranked prospect, per Fangraphs, behind only Ronny Mauricio, who trails Gimenez in timeline by roughly the same margin between Gimenez and Rosario. For now, Rosario, 24, will keep the position warm until Gimenez, 21, can take it. That is, until Mauricio, 19 in April, can get to it first. 
  • Jumping to the junior circuit, the Baltimore Orioles expect 2020 to be a development year for Richie Martin – out of the spotlight. With defensive wizard Jose Iglesias in-house to hold down shortstop – until July at least – Martin can make up for lost time in Triple-A. Last year’s Rule-5 selection from the A’s, Martin was pushed into a full season with the big league club last year, and his naïveté showed. Martin put up -0.6 rWAR and a 50 wRC+ in 2019 as their more-or-less everyday shortstop. Still, Martin isn’t giving up the possibility of winning a job at second base or in a utility role, per MASN’s Roch Kubatko. The team lacked middle infield depth last season, but they at least have more players vying for those roles this spring – likely leaving Martin on the outside looking in on opening day. Hanser Alberto has his name on one roster spot, while Andrew Velazquez and Ramon Urias are contenders for utility roles, while Stevie Wilkerson, Pat Valaika, Jose Rondon, and Dilson Herrera are all in camp as non-roster invitees. 

Mets Notes: Cano, Diaz, Offseason, Smith

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It’s a hypothetical that Mets fans could be asking for years to come — what if the team didn’t make last December’s big blockbuster trade with the Mariners for Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz?  Yahoo Sports’ Matt Ehalt looks at a potential alternate reality where the trade didn’t take place, which keeps Jay Bruce, Anthony Swarzak, Gerson Bautista, and prospects Jarred Kelenic and Justin Dunn in the New York organization and also slightly dims Van Wagenen’s “win-now” push, which also means that Marcus Stroman isn’t acquired at the trade deadline (for pitching prospects Anthony Kay and Simeon Woods-Richardson).  All other moves remain the same, which means that J.D. Davis and Wilson Ramos are still on the team, for instance.

The end result is a Mets roster that has a lot more young talent as its disposal as possible trade chips or roster reinforcements for 2020, plus a lot more financial flexibility without Cano or Diaz on the payroll.  McNeil is locked in as the everyday second baseman, while players like Davis and Pete Alonso still blossom as they did in the real world.  “In this alternate universe, the Mets enter the offseason in a much better position,” Ehalt writes, as while “this version of the Mets would win fewer games than the 80-plus games the Mets will win this year, but a few wins are irrelevant when neither season results in a postseason berth.”

Here’s more from Citi Field…

  • “Boldness won Brodie Van Wagenen the job of Mets general manager, and lost the season,” the New York Post’s Joel Sherman writes in roundup of the Mets’ 2019 campaign and a look ahead to what the team should do this offseason.  Sherman notes that while many of Van Wagenen’s bigger moves (i.e. the Mariners trade) backfired, many of his less-heralded moves proved successful, such as acquiring J.D. Davis or Justin Wilson.  Looking ahead to 2020, Sherman proposes that the Mets should continue to “find hidden treasures” on other teams’ rosters, acquire a proper center fielder (Sherman suggests the Padres’ Manuel Margot) for at least a platoon role, and hang onto Diaz and Noah Syndergaard rather than trade either pitcher.  To juggle the payroll, Sherman also suggests a few bad contract swaps, unloading the likes of Ramos or Jed Lowrie for high-priced relievers who are also in need of a change of scenery (such as the Rockies’ Jake McGee or White Sox righty Kelvin Herrera).
  • Dominic Smith, center fielder?  After getting work in the corner outfield this year, Smith tells MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo that he wants to contribute to the 2020 Mets at as many positions as possible.  This includes all three outfield spots and at his old first base position, despite something of a roster logjam — Pete Alonso obviously isn’t going anywhere at first base, while Michael Conforto, Brandon Nimmo, Jeff McNeil, or J.D. Davis could all be options for corner outfield work (not to mention the x-factor that is Yoenis Cespedes, should he be able to get healthy).  While center field may seem like a tall order for a player who didn’t fare well defensively as a corner outfielder, Smith will have an offseason to fully prepare himself for outfield work, and to that end has already hired a track coach for offseason speed training.  With the Mets looking for answers in center, there’s at least a chance that Smith could be a part-time solution up the middle.  “Why not get in great shape, man, and go out there and try to compete and do it? I don’t sell myself short on anything. I feel like I can go out there and compete and do anything,” Smith said.

Robinson Cano Expected To Return Tomorrow

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When Robinson Cano went down with a torn left hamstring on Aug. 5, appearances were that the accomplished infielder was likely going to miss the remainder of the 2019 season. Amazingly, at 36 years old, Cano has progressed well enough in his recovery that he will return to action for tomorrow’s game with the division-rival Nationals, according to Mike Puma of The New York Post (link). Cano concluded a two-game rehab appearance with the short-season Brooklyn Cyclones on Sunday.

With Cano out of action, the Mets have split keystone duties between Jeff McNeil and free agent pickup Joe Panik. Production hasn’t been powerful from the veteran Panik, who has offered a .265/.315/.338 line in a limited sample of 74 plate appearances. That said–as has been said before–it’s not as if Cano was his vintage self while wearing a Mets uniform this year, either.

In his first year in Flushing, the eight-time All-Star has hit .252/.295/.415 with 10 home runs in 346 plate appearances. That’s not what the Mets had in mind when they acquired him in an essentially franchise-altering trade this offseason, but even a shade of the Dominican’s former greatness would be greatly welcome as the Mets try to mount a 4.0 game deficit in the NL Wild Card race. After this season, Cano will have four years and $96MM remaining on the ten-year/$240MM contract he signed with the Mariners in 2013.

 

 

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