Seattle designated the 34-year-old La Stella for assignment earlier in the week when selecting the contract of top pitching prospect Bryce Miller. He’d signed on with the team back in January after being released by the Giants ahead of the third and final season of a three-year contract, but a spring elbow injury had prevented La Stella from playing the field. He’s been limited to DH and pinch-hit duties so far, taking just 24 plate appearances in 12 games over the season’s first month. It was a curious use of a roster spot in the first place, and La Stella’s .190/.292/.238 slash in that span didn’t make the decision look any better.

La Stella was a high-end, contact-oriented utilityman with the Cubs, Angels and A’s from 2016-20, batting a combined .282/.358/.435 in 1061 plate appearances and walking at nearly as high a clip as he struck out (9.6% vs. 10.6%). That strong run helped him land a three-year, $18.75MM deal with the Giants, but things didn’t pan out for La Stella either in San Francisco. His .250/.308/.405 line in 242 plate appearances in 2021 was at least passable, but a hamstring tear limited him to just 76 games. The following season saw La Stella miss time with Achilles and neck injuries, batting just .239/.282/.350 in 195 plate appearances between stints on the injured list.

Health troubles have mounted for La Stella in recent years, but given his track record, contact skills and ability to play multiple positions, another club could still show some interest. He’ll likely need to settle for a minor league deal at this point, particularly since it’s not fully clear when he might again be an option to play defense on a regular basis.

Seattle signed La Stella in January. That came on the heels of his release from the Giants, with whom he’d signed a three-year free agent deal over the 2020-21 offseason. La Stella’s two seasons in San Francisco didn’t go well. He hit .245/.297/.380 and was limited to 136 games over that stretch by injuries. The Giants moved on, eating the $11.5MM he’s due in 2023.

Once La Stella cleared release waivers, other teams could add him for the league minimum salary. The Mariners jumped on the opportunity, hoping he’d add a productive left-handed bat to their infield mix. That didn’t pan out, as the 10-year MLB veteran had a tough showing in 12 games. He hit .190/.292/.238 with only one extra-base hit (a double) in 24 plate appearances. La Stella didn’t see any action on defense; he started six games at designated hitter and came off the bench to pinch hit on six more occasions.

With the club apparently reluctant to push La Stella into much or any defensive work, there was plenty of pressure on him to start well offensively. He didn’t come out of the gate strong and is now designated for assignment for the second time in five months. The M’s will have a week to trade him or put him on waivers; in all likelihood, he’ll be released and hit free agency within the next few days.

Once he gets to the open market, La Stella will again have the opportunity to explore his options around the league. The Giants remain on the hook for the bulk of his salary. He’d be an affordable pickup for another club that thinks there’s some offensive ability still in the tank. It’s possible he’s limited to minor league offers this time around but he still brings a high-contact bat with good awareness of the strike zone.

More updates on other injury situations from around the American League…

• Dylan Moore has yet to play this spring as he recovers from offseason core surgery, but the Mariners utilityman is “closing in on playing,” according to GM Jerry Dipoto.  In an interview on the Brock and Salk Show on Seattle Sports 710AM radio, Dipoto said Moore is on pace to be part of the Opening Day roster, and Moore is “now at full-go on the backfields and running, changing direction, and all those good things.”  Dipoto also feels Tommy La Stella will be set for the Mariners’ opener, though La Stella has been battling an elbow injury.  The team’s plan is to ease La Stella back into action as a DH, and then get him some fielding work in games early next week.
• Josh Winder threw a bullpen session on Wednesday and is slated for another bullpen during the weekend, the Twins told reporters (including Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star Tribune).  Wednesday’s outing marked Winder’s first bullpen of the spring, as the right-hander has been bothered by a sore shoulder.  This particular injury is especially troublesome for Winder given that shoulder problems also hampered him in each of the last two seasons, though if he is able to get back into game action relatively soon, he can still be an option for the Twins’ season-opening bullpen.
• A posterior knee muscle strain has sidelined Matt Vierling for the last few days, but the Tigers outfielder will be back to baseball-related activities as soon as this weekend, Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press writes.  Acquired from the Phillies as part of the Gregory Soto trade in January, Vierling is projected for regular duty in Detroit’s outfield this season, after being mostly a part-time player in his first two MLB seasons in Philadelphia.

La Stella, who turns 34 later this month, has some strong seasons on his track record but is coming off a rough patch. From 2016 to 2020, he walked in 9.6% of his trips to the plate and struck out in just 10.6% of them. He only hit 29 home runs over those five years but produced a batting line of .282/.358/.435. That production amounted to a wRC+ of 114, indicating he was 14% better than league average.

He parlayed that strong run of play into a three-year, $18.75MM contract with the Giants going into 2021. Unfortunately, things started going poorly for La Stella as soon as the ink dried on that deal. He only got into 76 games in 2021 due to various ailments and hit just .250/.308/.405 for a wRC+ of 93. He underwent achilles surgery in October, which was originally reported as occurring on his left achilles but was reported almost a year later to have been on both of them, per Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic.

Things got even worse in 2022, as injuries limited him to just 60 games on the season and he spent most of those as a designated hitter. He only took the field for 76 innings all year, getting brief amounts of time at first, second and third base. He hit just .239/.282/.350 for a wRC+ of 78. Though there was still one year left on his contract, the Giants cut bait and released him.

That makes this essentially a no-risk move for the Mariners, since the Giants are on the hook for the $11.5MM that’s still owed to La Stella. The M’s will pay him the prorated league minimum for any time he’s on the roster, with that amount being subtracted from San Francisco’s tab.

Though La Stella hardly took the field last year, he’s played more second base than anywhere else in his career. The Mariners were looking bolster their middle infield this offseason and already did so by trading for Kolten Wong. If the club views La Stella as a viable defender, he potentially gives them some extra cover there while adding a left-handed bat into their position player mix. Some of the clubs most obvious designated hitter candidates are right-handed, such as Teoscar Hernández and AJ Pollock. La Stella hits from the left side and has traditional platoon splits, having produced a 105 wRC+ against righties but just an 87 against lefties.

Though there’s no real financial cost for the M’s, they are paying the price of potentially losing Sheffield, who turns 27 in May. He was a first round selection of Cleveland in 2014 but was twice traded in headline-grabbing deals. He went to the Yankees in 2016 as part of the Andrew Miller trade and then went to Seattle in the 2018 James Paxton deal, frequently appearing on top prospect lists in that time as well.

Unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to live up to that pedigree thus far. He’s pitched 186 innings over the past five seasons but has just a 5.47 ERA to show for it. He’s gotten grounders at a healthy 49.5% clip but his 18.2% strikeout rate and 10.6% walk rate are both worse than league average. He hasn’t been faring much better in the minors either. He made 24 starts for Triple-A Tacoma last year and posted a 6.99 ERA in that time. The Rainiers play in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League but his rate stats were all fairly similar to his big league work and advanced metrics were only slightly kinder, such as a 6.27 FIP and 5.64 xFIP.

It seems those poor results have been enough to push him off Seattle’s roster. They will now have one week to trade him or pass him through waivers. He still has one option year remaining and just over two years of service, which could make him appealing to a club that thinks he can recapture the form that made him such a touted prospect.

La Stella’s placement on release waivers puts an end to a three-year, $18.75MM deal that didn’t pan out at all in the manner the Giants had hoped. At the time of the contract, La Stella was a 31-year-old coming off a four-year platform in which he’d posted a hearty .284/.358/.441 batting line while showing plenty of defensive versatility and elite bat-to-ball skills. For a team like the Giants, that constructs rosters with a heavy focus on positional flexibility, adding La Stella as a viable option at several different spots on the diamond was an appealing move.

Injuries and poor performance, however, torpedoed any value the Giants might’ve hoped to get from the deal. La Stella posted a respectable but diminished .250/.308/.405 batting line in 2021 (93 wRC+) but missed half the season due to a tear in his hamstring. His 2022 season was interrupted by an Achilles injury, a stint on the Covid-related injured list and neck spasms. The extent to which the health troubles impacted La Stella’s performance can’t be known, but the end result was a combined .245/.297/.80 slash in 437 plate appearances with San Francisco.

La Stella’s strikeout rate remained one of the lowest in the game at 12.8%, but that was still considerably higher than the 7.3% strikeout rate he posted in 2020-21. Meanwhile, his walk rate dropped to 6.6% — a notable dip from the 8.6% he’d posted in the two preceding seasons (and the 9.4% mark he’d tallied in the aforementioned 2017-20 stretch).

Once La Stella clears waivers, he’ll add a left-handed bat to the free-agent market — a low-cost option that could be of interest to teams in search of infield help and/or left-handed bats. Teams like the White Sox, Blue Jays, Rays, Tigers, Orioles and Red Sox are among some speculative candidates to take a league-minimum flier on a player with La Stella’s track record.

The exact ramifications of these changes will be discovered as the 2023 season progresses, but the hope is that some routine grounders turn into hits instead. Those players who have been shifted the most could stand to reap the most benefit from the new environment. The prototypical example of the hitter that is the most harmed by the shifts has been a plodding and pull-happy left-hander who can be neutralized by having an infielder in deep right field. However, each player is unique and will have been attacked in different ways, so let’s look at the data, with a minimum of 100 plate appearances required to be considered here. Which free agents were shifted the most in 2022? (Quick note that Stephen Vogt has been excluded since he previously announced 2022 would be his last season.)

1.  Rougned Odor – 93.8%
2. Kole Calhoun – 93.4%
3. Zack Collins – 88.9%
4. Brett Phillips – 88%
5. Brandon Belt – 85.2%
6. Mike Ford – 84.6%
7. Jed Lowrie (as a lefty) – 83.5%
8. Robbie Grossman (as a lefty) – 82.6%
9. Michael Perez – 81.8%
10. Mike Moustakas* – 81%
11. Tommy La Stella* – 80.5%
12. Josh VanMeter – 79.7%
13. Luke Voit – 76.9%
14. Colin Moran – 75%
15. Adam Duvall – 71.7%
16. Gary Sánchez – 70.5%
17. Dominic Smith – 70.4%
18. Jackie Bradley Jr. – 64%
19. Jurickson Profar (as a lefty) – 63.8%
20. Didi Gregorius – 60.3%

(* – Moustakas and La Stella technically aren’t free agents right now. However, they were both recently designated for assignment and are likely to be released given their onerous contracts.)

Odor has been quite awful at the plate recently, with his batting average finishing at .207 or below in each of the past four years. However, his batting average on balls in play has been at .244 or below in each of those seasons, well below his earlier career marks and the .290 league average in 2022. Perhaps the shift bans could get him closer to his earlier career number when he hit between .259 and .271.

Belt hit .285/.393/.595 over 2020 and 2021, good enough for a wRC+ of 162 which trailed only Juan Soto and Bryce Harper among all MLB hitters in that time. He was actually shifted more in those two seasons than he was in 2022. Injuries limited him to just 78 games and tepid production this year, but perhaps better health and some more open space on the field could help him return to being one of the best hitters in the league.

As for the rest, some of these guys are role players or aging veterans, but a few of them could be sneaky value pickups in the latter half of the offseason. Like Belt, many of them are coming off disappointing and/or injury-marred years and will be looking to bounce back in 2023. Grossman posted a 118 wRC+ over 2020 and 2021 but just an 82 this year. Voit had a 153 wRC+ in the shortened 2020 season but dipped to 112 and 102 in the past two campaigns. Duvall had a 108 wRC+ over 2019-2021 but an 87 here in 2022. Sánchez recorded a 143 wRC+ in his first two seasons but just a 96 in the following five years, including an 89 in the most recent campaign. Smith posted a huge 150 wRC+ over 2019 and 2020 but has slid to just 82 since. Profar is coming off a decent campaign and is arguably the best free agent still unsigned.

La Stella, 34 in January, had an up-and-down career before coming to the Giants. After a couple of subpar seasons with the Braves and Cubs in 2014 and 2015, he seemed to find a good groove after that. Still with the Cubs in 2016 and 2017, he walked in 11.9% of his plate appearances and produced an overall batting line of .278/.372/.436. That production was 16% above league average, as evidenced by his 116 wRC+.

He had a swoon in 2018, as he hit just a single home run in 123 games and his walk rate dipped to 8.9%, leading to a batting line of .266/.340/.331 and a wRC+ of 87. However, he seemed to take a big step forward in 2019, hitting 16 home runs, more than his total over the previous five seasons. His walk rate dipped again but he only struck out in 8.7% of his plate appearances. 2019 was the “juiced ball” season, but he was still well above average at the plate. His .295/.346/.486 amounted to a wRC+ of 119, indicating he was 19% better than average that year, with wRC+ controlling for the offensive environment around the league.

In the shortened 2020 campaign, he added another five home runs and dropped his strikeout rate even farther to just 5.3%. He parlayed that into a three-year, $18.75MM deal with the Giants going into 2021. Unfortunately, La Stella’s seesaw career has been pointing straight down since that deal was signed. He made multiple trips to the injured list in 2021, getting into 76 games and hitting just .250/.308/.405 for a wRC+ of 93. He underwent achilles surgery in October, which was originally reported as occurring on his left achilles but was reported almost a year later to have been on both of them, per Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic.

In 2022, things got worse, as he continued to make frequent trips to the IL. He only played 60 games in the most recent season and took the field for just 76 innings on the year. When in the lineup, he produced a slash line of just .239/.282/.350 for a wRC+ of 78. Though there’s still another year left on his contract, it seems the Giants have decided it’s time to move on.

La Stella’s deal was heavily backloaded, as he made just $2MM in 2021, $5.25MM this year and is set for a salary of $11.5MM next year. The Giants will now have one week to trade La Stella or pass him through waivers, though a trade will be difficult to accomplish. Given the past two years have seen him struggle both in terms of health and performance, there will be little appetite from other teams to take on that $11.5MM salary. On the defensive side of things, La Stella has previously been able to serve as a utility player, splitting his time between second, third and first base. However, he hasn’t been rated as especially strong at any of them and barely donned a glove in 2022.

Assuming he clears waivers, he has more than five years of MLB service time, which gives him the right to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency while retaining that salary. At that point, any club in the league could sign him and pay him the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the roster, with that amount being subtracted from what the Giants pay.

The changing rules limiting defensive shifts will be a factor in San Francisco’s decision-making, as La Stella will now have to show more range in order to play second or third base, and La Stella’s mobility has been rather limited since undergoing Achilles surgery.  Since a more athletic roster is a stated offseason goal of president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi, Slusser wonders if La Stella could be the odd man out if he is unable to play anywhere beyond first base or DH.

More from the National League…

• The Phillies are on the cusp of clinching a wild card, and interim manager Rob Thomson told reporters (including MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki) that the injured Edmundo Sosa and Brad Hand could be options to return for the playoffs should the Phils qualify.  A right hamstring strain has kept Sosa on the 10-day IL since September 16, while Hand was retroactively placed on the 15-day IL on September 22 due to tendinitis in his throwing elbow.  The versatile Sosa hit a scorching .315/.345/.593 in 59 plate appearances after being acquired by the Cardinals on July 30, while Hand has struggled over his last few outings but still has a 2.80 ERA over 45 innings for the season.
• Justin Steele has been shut down for the remainder of the season, Cubs manager David Ross told The Chicago Tribune’s Meghan Montemurro and other reporters.  Steele hasn’t pitched since August 26 due to a lower back strain, and while Steele has been throwing bullpens, that work has been more about getting Steele fully healthy rather than prepping him for a final appearance in 2022.  In his first full MLB season, Steele has a 3.18 ERA over 119 innings, with an above-average strikeout rate even though walks (9.8 BB%) were an issue.  The left-hander has nonetheless put himself in good stead for a rotation spot in 2023.
• The Nationals also won’t start Josiah Gray again this year, as manager Davey Martinez told reporters (including The Washington Post’s Andrew Golden) that Gray already talked his way into some extra work beyond his initial limit of 130 innings.  Gray finishes with 148 2/3 innings in his first big league campaign, though it was far from smooth sailing for the right-hander.  Gray has allowed a Major League-leading 38 home runs and an NL-leading 66 walks, en route to a 5.02 ERA over 28 starts.

La Stella is dealing with neck spasms, and given the calendar, it is possible La Stella might be shut down for the remainder of the 2022 season if he isn’t making progress by the time his 10-day minimum is up.  The IL has become an unfortunately familiar landing spot for La Stella over his two years in San Francisco, as he played in only 76 games in 2021 and 60 games this season due to a long list of health issues.  The infielder didn’t make his 2022 debut until mid-May due to recovery from offseason Achilles surgery.

All of these injuries have limited La Stella’s production, as he has hit only .239/.282/.350 over 195 plate appearances this year.  He has also mostly been limited to DH duty, which is a hit for a player valued for his ability to play third, second, and first base.  If this is indeed it for La Stella in 2022, the Giants can only hope that a full winter of rest can get him back to his usual defensive role(s) in what will be the final year of his contract.  La Stella signed a three-year, $18.75MM free agent deal in February 2021 that to date hasn’t panned out for the Giants.

Calhoun was acquired in a trade with the Rangers in June, and the slugger will now make his first Major League appearance outside of a Texas uniform.  A 21-homer season in 2019 seemingly served as a breakout for Calhoun, but several injuries and a lack of big league playing time stalled his career.  Calhoun was vocal about his desire for a trade after the Rangers optioned him to Triple-A earlier this season, as he’ll now get a fresh start with a late-season audition with the Giants.

Thus far, the change of organization seems to have helped, as Calhoun has hit .299/.386/.465 with five homers in 166 PA with Triple-A Sacramento.  Carrying that production from the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League to the majors will be a challenge, though if Calhoun can show some of his old form down the stretch, he could put himself into San Francisco’s plans for 2023.  Calhoun still has two years of arbitration control remaining, and he doesn’t turn 28 until November.

Waites was an 18th-round selection for the Giants in the 2019 draft, and the righty is getting his first call to the majors.  Due to both knee surgery and the canceled 2020 minor league season, Waites doesn’t have a lot of pro experience, with only 71 1/3 total innings in the minors (40 2/3 of them this year).  However, he has a stunning 45.12% strikeout rate and 2.78 ERA over those 71 1/3 frames, though his 13.8% walk rate indicates shaky command.

Baseball America (21st) and MLB Pipeline (29th) each rank Waites among the top 30 prospects in the Giants’ farm system, citing his plus fastball that can touch 100mph, as well as a slider that can be a dominant pitch when Waites can control it.  Waites has pitched exclusively as a reliever over the last two seasons, and projects as an intriguing bullpen arm if he can limit the free passes.

Mazeika was claimed off waivers from the Mets on August 21, and he’ll now return to DFA limbo after eight games with the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate and no appearances at the big league level.  A long-time member of the Mets farm system, Mazeika has played in 61 MLB games over the 2021-22 seasons and hit .190/.236/.279 over 159 PA.  With Joey Bart now back from the concussion-related IL, San Francisco has made some adjustments to its catching depth in recent days, including Mazeika’s DFA and Andrew Knapp’s outright assignment to Triple-A.

San Francisco nabbed Rondón off waivers from the Cardinals two weeks ago, and he’s made just two Triple-A appearances since that point. He’ll now lose his roster spot and perhaps never appear in a big league game with the Giants, as he’ll either be traded or waived within the next week.

Rondón, a 24-year-old righty, has three big league appearances under his belt. He tossed two frames over two outings last season, and he’s made one five-inning relief appearance with St. Louis this year. He’s spent the majority of the year in Triple-A, working as a swing option for the Cardinals top affiliate in Memphis. Rondón threw 49 innings in 18 appearances (five starts) there, posting a 4.04 ERA with a decent 24.2% strikeout percentage but an elevated 15.3% walk rate.

This is the second of three minor league option years for Rondón, so any team that acquires him could stash him in Triple-A as a depth arm for the next season and a half. If he passes through waivers unclaimed, he’d remain with the Giants top affiliate in Sacramento as a non-roster player.

La Stella is in tonight’s lineup as the designated hitter, setting him up to make his season debut. Signed to a three-year deal over the 2020-21 offseason, the lefty-hitting second baseman dealt with a few injuries during his first season in San Francisco. La Stella missed a few months due to a left hamstring strain and then a right hand fracture. He was then hampered by left Achilles soreness late in the season, and he was forced to undergo surgery in late October.

Recovery from that procedure lingered into the regular season and wound up costing La Stella the first five weeks of the year. Now that he’s back, he’ll likely step into a regular second base role. La Stella posted a .250/.308/.405 line in 242 plate appearances during his first season as a Giant, but he’d put up an excellent .281/.370/.449 mark in virtually the same amount of playing time during the shortened 2020 campaign. One of the game’s top contact hitters, La Stella could eventually be a top-of-the-lineup table setter for skipper Gabe Kapler. His forthcoming return no doubt played a role in the Giants’ decision to deal utilityman Mauricio Dubón to Houston over the weekend.

Llovera is back with the big league club for the second time this season. The former Phillies reliever signed a minor league deal over the winter and was selected in late April while the team was dealing with COVID-19 concerns. He appeared in four games and worked as many innings, allowing one run while striking out five without a walk. Despite the solid work, Llovera lost his 40-man roster spot as the club returned to health.

The 26-year-old’s first call-up came as a designated COVID substitute, meaning the team could return him to Sacramento without running him through waivers. That isn’t the case this time around, suggesting the Giants plan to keep him on the 40-man roster for a longer while. That’s understandable after Llovera has tossed 12 2/3 scoreless innings in the minors, fanning 17 batters against a pair of walks. Llovera does have a minor league option year remaining, so he can still bounce between San Francisco and Sacramento while maintaining a 40-man roster spot.

DeSclafani originally landed on the 10-day IL on April 22 as he battled right ankle inflammation. Today’s transfer keeps him out of MLB action for sixty days from that date, meaning he won’t return to an Oracle Park mound until at least late June. The move comes as a bit of a surprise, as the righty had progressed to mound work during his recovery last week.

Kapler stressed that DeSclafani didn’t suffer a setback (via Maria Guardado of MLB.com). Rather, it seems the club is just committed to a cautious rehab for the 32-year-old, whom they re-signed to a three-year deal over the offseason. DeSclafani tossed 167 2/3 innings of 3.17 ERA ball last season.

Cutting a 20-day rehab assignment short would be a bold move for a player who played in just 36 games last season, but clearly speaks to the team’s confidence in Lewis’s recovery. For what it’s worth, the Mariners aren’t exactly hurting for offense at the moment, as they rank third in the AL in runs scored. The high-upside outfield trio of Jesse Winker, Julio Rodriguez, and Jarred Kelenic, as well as a mishmash of DH options, have yet to really get it going however, and seem likely to cede time to the right-handed Lewis in the coming weeks.

Some additional injury updates from around the league…

• Mets reliever Trevor May is headed to the 10-day IL with triceps inflammation in his throwing arm, per Tim Healey of Newsday Sports. The typically reliable right-hander is off to a rough start in the 2022 season, allowing sixteen batters to reach base and half of them to score across eight appearances. The Mets currently sit atop the NL win column with an 18-8 record but if there’s one nit to pick with the team’s outstanding play so far it’s the bullpen, who have been a bottom-half unit in terms of run prevention this season. A return to health and vintage form from May will go a long way to shoring up the bullpen and taking pressure off the team’s lineup and rotation, both of which rank as top-5 groups in the sport. Right-hander Adonis Medina, who was acquired from the Pirates in early April, has been recalled to fill the bullpen vacancy.
• The Rangers meanwhile welcomed back right-handed starter Jon Gray from the IL today after he sprained in his knee in his previous start. Gray, one of several splashy signings made by Texas this offseason, has yet to get into a groove with his new club. The 30-year-old has already been placed on the IL twice during the young season, and was pulled after 60 pitches in tonight’s match against the Phillies. A rough first inning ballooned his ERA up to 7.50 on the season, but a quiet pair of ensuing innings is what the Rangers and their beleaguered pitching staff will be looking for more of moving forward. Right-handed reliever Albert Abreu, acquired from the Yankees in April’s Jose Trevino trade, heads to the IL in Gray’s stead with a sprained ankle. Abreu has managed a solid 3.57 ERA on the year, albeit with a worrying 11 walks in just over seven innings of action.
• The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly rolled out a cavalcade of positive health updates on ailing Giants players today. Notably, injured infielders Evan Longoria and Tommy La Stella will join recovering outfielder LaMonte Wade Jr. on a rehab assignment in Triple-A. Outfielders Joc Pederson and Mike Yastrzemski are nearing full-time returns as well after a right adductor strain and positive COVID test interrupted their respective seasons. Right-handed starter Anthony DeSclafani has also made progress in his recovery from the right ankle inflammation that recently landed him on the IL. Healthy returns from the listed players would be a boon for the club, who currently have several regulars out for COVID-related reasons. Despite sporting an IL that is more recognizable than the starting lineup, the Giants haven’t missed a beat from last season. The team is currently a half game out of first in the NL West, behind the Dodgers and Padres, with a top-3 bullpen and offense that only figures to get deeper in the next few days.

As it happens, Pollock was already set to miss some time.  The outfielder and his wife are expecting their second child, and Pollock was scheduled to go on paternity leave tomorrow.  He’ll use the absence to rest his hamstring and hopefully avoid become the latest White Sox player to hit the injured list.  Garrett Crochet has been lost for the season due to Tommy John surgery, while the 10-day IL features Lance Lynn, Yoan Moncada, Joe Kelly, Yermin Mercedes, and Ryan Burr, plus Lucas Giolito is now also set to miss at least his next two starts.

More injury updates from around baseball…

• There is “no set in stone timeline at this point” for when Tommy La Stella might return from the injured list, Giants manager Gabe Kapler told MLB.com’s Maria Guardado and other reporters.  La Stella underwent Achilles surgery in October and is still feeling some soreness, though he told media that doctors have said this isn’t unusual.  Despite the lack of clarity, the Giants did consider using La Stella as a DH to begin the season, so it would seem like he is relatively close to playing.  “It was just one of those things where we wanted to make sure that we weren’t sacrificing the long-term success in this process for short-term gains now and make sure I’m set up to be good to go for the rest of the season,” La Stella said.
• Anibal Sanchez could miss his scheduled start Monday, as the Nationals right-hander has been dealing with neck soreness.  The Nats already pushed Sanchez’s start back to give him time to heal, but as MASNsports.com’s Mark Zuckerman writes, the club now may need to turn to either the bullpen, or possibly a minor league call-up like Josh Rogers or Aaron Sanchez to take the start.  In Aaron Sanchez’s case, the Nationals would have to first clear a 40-man roster spot to select his minor league contract.
• Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo updated reporters (including TSN’s Scott Mitchell) about sidelined pitchers Ryan Borucki and Nate Pearson.  Borucki is on the 10-day IL with a right hamstring strain, but came out of a two-inning simulated game feeling well.  Pearson is set to start light throwing after missing time due to mononucleosis, but because Pearson missed a significant portion of Spring Training, Mitchell writes that the right-hander is “essentially starting from scratch” from a preparation standpoint.  As such, it might not be until at least mid-May that Pearson is fully ramped up.

Tommy La Stella has also yet to take the field this spring, but is running the bases and taking part in other baseball activities.  After undergoing Achilles surgery in October, La Stella is now “getting very close to being ready,” Kapler said, and “Tommy has shared strongly that he wants the opportunity to be ahead of schedule and be ready for Opening Day.”  The final call will be up to La Stella and the team’s training staff, but even if La Stella isn’t quite ready to go when San Francisco begins play, Kapler intimated that the infielder wouldn’t miss too much time.

Some other injury notes from around the National League…

• Dylan Floro has yet to pitch during Spring Training, as the right-hander is dealing with some arm soreness.  Marlins manager Don Mattingly was non-committal about Floro’s readiness for the Opening Day roster, telling MLB.com’s Christina De Nicola and other reporters that “We’ll just have to see how that goes,” though Mattingly did note that Floro worked through some similar issues last year with no ill effects during the season.  One of baseball’s more underrated relievers of the last four seasons, Floro posted a 2.81 ERA over 64 innings in 2021, his first year in Miami.  This performance had put Floro in line for perhaps the majority of ninth-inning work for the Marlins this season, though Mattingly said “I think we’re going to be more of a mix-and-match club” for save situations.  Some new faces could also be joining the bullpen, as GM Kim Ng has stated the Marlins are exploring the relief market.
• Nick Ahmed’s bothersome right shoulder is “good enough” for the Diamondbacks shortstop “to be out there right now,” but Ahmed told The Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro that his shoulder still isn’t 100 percent after almost two years of intermittent soreness.  Even after receiving two injections in his shoulder this past offseason, Ahmed said the treatment “didn’t go great, how I wanted them to go.  I just ended up rehabbing it most of the offseason.”  Surgery doesn’t appear to be an option at this point, as Ahmed said he has been working out a training regiment to help keep his shoulder strong and capable of holding up over 162 games.  Between his nagging shoulder injury and a knee problem, Ahmed admitted that injuries played a big part in his steep dropoff at the plate, as the shortstop batted only .221/.280/.339 in 473 plate appearances in 2021.  On the plus side, Ahmed’s health didn’t hamper his fielding, as he was still one of the game’s better defensive shortstops.
• Speaking of Gold Glove shortstops, Andrelton Simmons is also dealing with some right shoulder soreness, Cubs manager told reporters (including The Chicago Tribune’s Meghan Montemurro).  Simmons hasn’t played the last two days and was in Thursday’s lineup only as the DH.  Simmons joined the Cubs on a one-year, $4MM deal soon after the lockout ended.

For the Mets, Max Scherzer, Jacob deGrom, Taijuan Walker and Carlos Carrasco are penciled into the top four rotation spots, and Tylor Megill and David Peterson are the favorites for the fifth starter’s role.  Weaver brings his own set of question marks, but he would add depth to a group that also has plenty of injury concerns.  Given how aggressive the Mets will likely continue to be in their offseason endeavors, New York is likely to check in on just about any pitching option available, whether a bigger name in free agency or on the trade market, or perhaps a more modest acquisition like Weaver.

More from around the NL West…

• Dave Roberts and the Dodgers are “really close” on a contract extension, the manager told reporters (including The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya) today.  Reports surfaced last month that the team was looking into a new deal for the World Series-winning skipper, as Roberts is entering the last year of his current contract.
• Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi told reporters (including The San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser) that his team was still looking to add some hitting, yet even though the Giants lineup is short on right-handed bats, Zaidi said that they are looking at options on both sides of the plate.  “I don’t think we’re going to be totally fixated on that side.  If there’s a left-handed bat that makes sense for us, I think we can find a way to fit that as well,” Zaidi said.  “We obviously love versatility.  Handedness isn’t as critical.”
• Also from Zaidi, he said that Tommy La Stella’s recovery from left Achilles surgery is coming along well, though the infielder will be a little behind during the Giants’ Spring Training camp.  La Stella underwent the surgery at the end of October and had a rough timeline of four months, so it isn’t surprising that La Stella isn’t quite yet fully ready.  There doesn’t yet seem to be concern, however, that La Stella might miss any time at the start of the season.  La Stella battled several injuries during his first season in San Francisco, likely contributing to his underwhelming .250/.308/.405 slash line over 242 plate appearances.  Due to the backloaded nature of his three-year, $18.75MM free agent contract, La Stella is still owed $16.75MM over the final two seasons of that deal.