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The Mets just weren't hitting at all, Cespedes and Wright are starting to heat up at the plate, and they have the best Starting pitching rotation in baseball bar none (and they have a couple extras that are top notch too). The Mets are far from a fluke, they need to keep addressing their hitting if they got a couple more top notch hitters they would be very difficult to stop.Comment -
And Matt Harvey needs to get his head out of his ass, that will help tooComment -
And now 5 straight games with at least 5 runs scored scored by the Mets after their 11-spot on Tuesday.Comment -
Well not sure they are as good say but pitching can only get u so farComment -
The Reds bull-pen (Hoover) almost blows another game.Comment -
Has Bryce Harper surpassed Mike Trout as the best player in the game?
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Chris Sale is off to a very strong start as the White Sox improve to 10-5 on the season...
Sale
(W, 4-0)7.0 2 1 0 0 3 0 108-76 1.80 Jones
(H, 6)0.2 0 0 0 0 1 0 10-6 1.17 Robertson
(S, 6)1.1 2 0 0 0 0 0 23-15 0.00 PITCHING
Sale pitched to 1 batter in the 8th
WP: Jones
HBP: Calhoun (By Sale)
First-pitch strikes/Batters faced: Sale 14/23; Jones 2/3; Robertson 3/5
Called strikes-Swinging strikes-Foul balls-In Play strikes: Sale 22-8-27-19; Jones 2-1-1-2; Robertson 2-2-6-5
Ground Balls-Fly Balls: Sale 10-7; Jones 0-1; Robertson 2-1
Game Scores: C Sale 74Comment -
White Sox playing some good ball.Comment -
Great stuff when you have the time to watch...
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and they stranded a bunch of base runners tonight, it's been like they turned the hitting switch on about a week agoComment -
Cuban Outfielder Yadiel Hernandez Declared Free Agent
By Steve Adams | April 21, 2016 at 6:42pm CDT
Cuban outfielder Yadiel Hernandez, who defected from the island late last June, has been declared a free agent by Major League Baseball today, reports Baseball America’s Ben Badler. The 28-year-old corner fielder had a showcase back in February that reportedly drew scouts from 25 teams.
Because Hernandez is older then 23 and has more than five years of professional experience in Cuba, he’s exempt from international signing bonuses and free to sign a Major League contract for any amount. A career .324/.449/.487 batter in Cuba, Hernandez has enough pop in his bat to hit 10 to 15 homers in a season, Badler writes, but the left-handed hitter’s on-base skills are a likelier source of value to big league teams. Indeed, Hernandez walked at an exceptional 17.5 percent clip throughout his career in Cuba, and his 380 walks drawn in those six seasons dwarf his 285 strikeouts.
Unlike many international free agents, Hernandez could conceivably help a big league club in short order, but it’s also important to note that he hasn’t played regularly in a game setting since the 2014-15 season in Cuba’s Serie Nacional. As such, it seems likely that he’d require some time in the minor leagues if for no other reason than to get up to speed and get some reps at the plate and in the field.
Badler adds that since his open showcase in late February, Hernandez has been hosting private workouts for interested clubs. He’s a client of Rep 1 Baseball.Comment -
White Sox have a tough series with the hot Texas Rangers this weekend .
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What is going on with the Giants?Comment -
the al west is very similar also......Comment -
The AL East is still up for grabs as well, don't see the Orioles just running away with the division.Comment -
- Rehabbing Rangers ace Yu Darvish will throw another live BP session before beginning his rehab assignment, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports. The righty hasn’t suffered any kind of setback, but hopes to refine his offspeed offerings before reporting to Double-A to begin his march back to the majors.
- Meanwhile, Red Sox reliever Carson Smith looks to be on track for a return in early May, Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe reports on Twitter. He’ll need to make at least three minor league outings, including two on back-to-back days, before being activate. The righty will be a welcome addition to the back of the Boston pen. Likewise, lefty Eduardo Rodriguez may be on his way back soon, as Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald tweets that he could return to the majors after two rehab starts.
- In other Red Sox pitching news, the club is hopeful that Joe Kelly won’t miss much more than the minimum on his 15-day DL stint, Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald reports (Twitter links). Southpaw Henry Owens will step into Kelly’s place in the rotation. He’s put up three solid outings at Triple-A thus far, allowing just two earned runs in 18 innings with 23 strikeouts and ten walks.
- With top Rays pitching prospect Blake Snell coming up for his first start tomorrow, Baseball America’s Vince Lara-Cinisomo takes a look at the 23-year-old lefty. While he still needs to refine his command, BA suggests he could become a number two starter if he can reach his ceiling in the majors. Tampa Bay has optioned reliever Danny Farquhar to clear room for Snell, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. The 29-year-old righty has pitched well enough in the early going, but he was one of only a few optionable arms in the Rays’ pen and appeared in each of the last two games.
- The Orioles are set to activate Kevin Gausman for his first start of the season on Monday, with the heralded righty saying that he thinks his shoulder issues are a thing of the past, as MLB.com’s Britt Ghiroli reports. In his latest rehab appearance, said Gausman, he felt more “comfortable” than he had in his prior outings. Hopes are high for the 25-year-old, and the Baltimore rotation is certainly need of a boost with only one member (Ubaldo Jimenez) currently carrying a sub-4.00 ERA.
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White Sox turn outrageous triple play
The Rangers were officially caught in the first 9-3-2-6-2-5 triple play in major league history.Comment -
Only three games separate top from bottom heading into Saturday's action...
LA Dodgers 10 7 .588 - - 6-4 L1 4-2 6-5 4/22 @ COL, L 5-7 4/23 @ COL, 8:10 PM Colorado 9 7 .563 0.5 +0.5 6-4 W1 4-3 5-4 4/22 vs LAD, W 7-5 4/23 vs LAD, 8:10 PM Arizona 9 9 .500 1.5 0.5 6-4 L1 2-6 7-3 4/22 vs PIT, L 7-8 4/23 vs PIT, 8:10 PM San Francisco 8 10 .444 2.5 1.5 2-8 W1 4-5 4-5 4/22 vs MIA, W 8-1 4/23 vs MIA, 9:05 PM San Diego 7 10 .412 3.0 2.0 4-6 W1 4-6 3-4 4/22 vs STL, W 4-1 4/23 vs STL, 8:40 PM Comment -
Blue Jays Chris Colabello banned 80 games for PEDs. http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/15305652/toronto-blue-jays-outfielder-chris-colabello-suspended-80-games-major-league-baseball
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Josh Bell hit for the cycle on Friday night. He better be called up soon!
April 22, 2016
Final
- MiLB.TV
- HIGHLIGHTS
- Gameday
- Box
- Recap
Indianapolis
(7-6)2 0 8 0 1 2 0 0 0 13 18 1 
Louisville
(6-7)1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 1 W:Brault (1-1, 2.63) ;L:Lamb, Jo (0-2, 19.06) HR: IND: Bell (3) . Game Story: Indianapolis | Louisville
a-Grounded out for Brault in the 6th. b-Walked for Partch in the 8th.Player Pos AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG* Alen Hanson 2B 6 2 2 0 0 0 1 0 1 .333 Adam Frazier LF 6 2 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 .268 Jung Ho Kang 3B 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 .000 Josh Bell 1B 5 2 4 1 1 1 5 1 0 .292 Max Moroff SS 6 1 2 0 1 0 1 0 1 .206 Willy Garcia RF 5 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 .191 Danny Ortiz CF 5 2 2 0 1 0 1 0 1 .227 Ed Easley C 5 1 3 1 0 0 3 0 0 .318 Steven Brault P 3 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 .333 a- Mel Rojas Jr. PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .063 Curtis Partch P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 b- Antoan Richardson PH 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .063 Guido Knudson P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Totals 46 13 18 3 3 1 13 4 6 .248
BATTING
2B: Bell (3, Lamb, Jo); Easley (1, Lamb, Jo); Brault (1, Villarreal).
3B: Moroff (1, Villarreal); Ortiz (1, Villarreal); Bell (1, Somsen).
HR: Bell (3, 3rd inning off Morris, A, 3 on, 2 out).
TB: Ortiz 4; Frazier 4; Hanson 2; Bell 10; Moroff 4; Brault 2; Easley 4.
RBI: Bell 5 (14); Moroff (6); Garcia, W (2); Easley 3 (3); Hanson (2); Frazier (2); Ortiz (4).
2-out RBI: Hanson; Bell 4.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Ortiz; Kang; Moroff 2; Hanson.
GIDP: Bell.
Team RISP: 6-for-21.
Team LOB: 10.Comment -
By the way, Indianapolis is the Pirates AAA team...Comment -
good to see Bell, Tallion, and Hanson off to a good start
need Kang to start hitting on his rehab assignmentComment -
Blake Snell looked impressive in his Major League debut, holding the Yankees to one run on two hits and a walk over five innings on Saturday, while striking out six. “I just settled in, and it felt like it felt my whole life when I went out there and pitched,” Snell told reporters, including Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Snell has already been optioned back to Triple-A since the Rays only needed him for one start (due to Erasmo Ramirez being needed in the bullpen) but it seems quite likely that you’ll see Snell back in the Show later this season. Here’s some more from around the AL East…
- Aaron Hicks will be out of action for four-to-five days after receiving a cortisone injection in his left shoulder, Yankees manager Joe Girardi told reporters (including Dan Martin of the New York Post). Hicks suffered the injury, described as Girardi as traumatic bursitis, when diving for a ball in Friday night’s game. If there’s no improvement shown over the next couple of days, the team could end up placing Hicks on the DL.
- Losing the right-handed hitting Hicks will only worsen the Yankees’ problems against left-handed pitching, Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes, an issue that developed late in 2015 and seemingly hasn’t been solved after the offseason’s moves. The Yankees entered today’s game with a .235/.324/.315 cumulative line against southpaws, and middling numbers overall against all pitching. A lackluster offense, Sherman notes, isn’t helping the team take advantage of its greatest weapon, the Andrew Miller/Dellin Betances combo at the end of games.
- X-rays were negative on Xander Bogaerts’ right wrist after the Red Sox shortstop was hit by a Luke Gregerson pitch in Friday’s game. Manager John Farrell told reporters (including WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford) that Bogaerts would’ve only been used in an emergency situation today, though the hope is that Bogaerts can return for Sunday’s game. Farrell also provided injury updates on Carson Smith and Eduardo Rodriguez, with Smith possibly on track to return from the DL later this week.
- Some Red Sox fans have already begun to whisper that Farrell should be fired in the wake of the club’s 8-9 start, which Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe considered to be very premature thinking. It’s rare for any team to fire a manager so early in a season, and Cafardo doesn’t think Farrell should be blamed so quickly given how the Sox have faced several pitching injuries.
- It’s already been a busy day for AL East news, as beyond just Yovani Gallardo’s DL stint and Branden Pinder’s UCL tear, more division items were collected in a pair of Notes posts.
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The Braves, struggling to find effective starting pitching until their stacked farm system blooms, have called up their No. 3 prospect, righthander Aaron Blair.
Blair, acquired along with top prospect Dansby Swanson in the deal that sent Shelby Miller to Arizona, was 3-0, 1.42 for Triple-A Gwinnett, with 22 strikeouts and five walks in 19 innings. Blair seemingly cemented his callup with seven no-hit innings against Durham on Tuesday. He struck out 10 and walked one.
Blair hasn’t allowed a run since the sixth inning of his first start of 2016, pitching 13 consecutive scoreless innings. Beyond Matt Wisler (0-1, 3.10), Braves starters have struggled, allowing about five runs a game with an adjusted-ERA+ of 86.
Blair has zipped through the minors since becoming Marshall’s highest-drafted player as the 36th overall pick in 2013. He was chosen for the call-up over Mike Foltynewicz, who in September had surgery to remove half a rib after being hospitalized because of blood clots in his right arm.
Blair will make his major league debut Sunday against the Mets.
SCOUTING REPORT
Blair leads his arsenal with a heavy fastball that ranges 91-95 mph. With good, downward plane, the pitch allows him to keep balls on the ground—and in the park. It has proven difficult to hit the ball out of the park against Blair, who has allowed just 28 long balls in 382 innings as a pro. Blair also throws an 11-to-5 curveball, a presently average pitch that he will throw early in the count for strikes, and a slurvy slider he uses more as a chase pitch.
But the key to Blair’s success is a changeup that he’ll throw in any count to any batter. A present plus offering, the change ranges from 81-84 mph with good fade. Blair shows plus command, filling up the strike zone.
The 6-foot-4, 250-pound righthander is athletic for his size and repeats his delivery, projecting as a workhorse with a knack for going deep into his starts.
WHAT TO EXPECT
The Braves removed Williams Perez from the rotation, so there’s clearly room for Blair if he succeeds. Atlanta will jumpstart Blair’s Super Two clock with the promotion, but with an eye at competing as soon as 2017 with the opening of SunTrust Park, that might not be a concern.
There’s no guarantee Blair will remain in Atlanta, but if he does, he can provide strikeouts (8.3 strikeouts per nine innings as a pro) and a fine WHIP (1.15 career) for fantasy players.Comment
