Some really poor performances by bullpens today. Rangers, Royals, & Braves all sucked.
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The Mets enjoyed a solid Opening Day win today on the back of a strong performance from starter Noah Syndergaard. But there are some new health concerns for the team’s pitching staff — though their gravity isn’t yet clear.
Syndergaard himself departed after six innings with a blister, as Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News writes. It’s not expected to be a major issue, but the team is looking to get out ahead of things by giving him an added day of rest. Blisters can turn into significant injuries, to be sure, but there’s no reason at this point to think it’s more than a minor issue to be managed.
There’s more worry with lefty Steven Matz, who is already on the DL with elbow inflammation. The team’s position remains that he has been cleared of structural damage, as Marc Carig of Newsday reports, but Matz provided further information on the issue. He says that he has been diagnosed with a flexor tendon strain, which would seem to be a distinct injury from the bone chips that he had surgically removed over the offseason. Regardless, his timeline will surely be dictated by how he feels and what kind of progress the doctors observe, but the news adds to the 25-year-old’s growing list of arm ailments in his young career.
In theory, any such gaps in pitching coverage were to be covered by Seth Lugo, who filled in with aplomb last year. But as John Harper of the New York Daily News reports, manager Terry Collins hinted after today’s game that there may be some concern with Lugo’s status. “We lost Seth Lugo today for a period of time,” said Collins, who later added that “it’s going to be a couple of weeks, for sure,” before Lugo is able to return. There are no known details to this point, but clearly the Mets are anticipating that they won’t be able to use the 27-year-old for at least some fairly significant stretch.
In light of these new concerns, Collins stressed the need to maintain the health of the current five-man rotation, which explains the proactive move to get Syndergaard extra rest. As Harper notes, resurgent righty Rafael Montero — who’s currently operating out of the MLB bullpen — now seems to occupy a position of much greater importance than had been anticipated. If there’s a silver lining to this early test of the organization’s pitching depth, it’s that they had so much to begin with, so the current roster is still stocked with high-quality starters.Comment -
Trumbo hits a walk off against Blue Jays in Bottom of 11th with 2 outs. Gausman looked good in opening dayComment -
Justin Verlander's 10 strikeouts were the most he's had during his nine Opening Day starts, and were the most in a Tigers opener since Mickey Lolich in 1970. According to ESPN Stats & Info,Comment -
Lol. Padres beat Dodgers 4-0 after get blasted on opening dayComment -
- Chad Graff of the St. Paul Pioneer Press spoke to Twins GM Thad Levine about the lack of roster turnover this offseason despite a 103-loss campaign in 2016 that led to Minnesota landing the first overall pick in the 2017 draft. Levine expresses optimism regarding the improving young talent that permeates the Twins’ roster and suggests that both he and first-year chief baseball office Derek Falvey view the 2016 season as an anomaly. Levine was heartened, he says, by the number of rival executives that spent the offseason trying to pry several of the Twins’ young players away in trades. “That speaks to the fact that they didn’t see it as a 103-loss team,” says Levine. “They saw it as more talented than that.” Catcher Jason Castro, who is new to the Twins in 2017 but no stranger to rebuilding/100-loss teams, opines to Graff that the 2017 Twins are “light years ahead of where they were in that rebuild process in Houston” when the Astros began their aggressive rebuild several years ago.
- Indians ace Corey Kluber had a callus on his pitching hand break open during his start during Monday’s season opener, writes Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, but manager Terry Francona and pitching coach Mickey Callaway say that the 2014 AL Cy Young winner will be ready to take his next turn in the rotation on Sunday. Kluber was tagged for five runs in six inning on Monday, though the blister/callus issue likely contributed to that problematic outing to some extent.
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David Price update: He played catch from 100 feet, including 25 throws off a mound without a catcher. While that literally qualifies as "throwing off a mound," it was hardly as intense as even a bullpen session, "just to feel the slope under his feet," Red Sox manager John Farrell said.Comment -
Cahill vs. Hill .. Should be a entertaining game tonight .
Cahill might be worth a small shot at +230Comment -
The Mets have signed outfielder Desmond Jennings to a minor league contract and assigned him to Triple-A Las Vegas, tweets James Wagner of the New York Times. Jennings, a client of the Boras Corporation, spent Spring Training with the Reds but was released late in camp.
Jennings, 30, hit .195/.300/.415 with two home runs and two steals in his 18 games with Cincinnati this spring — an apparent continuation of the struggles that’ve plagued him in recent seasons. Once one of the game’s top overall prospects based on a promising blend of power and speed, Jennings’ career has been slowed significantly by leg injuries, including knee surgery back in 2015.
After hitting .249/.327/.402 in just under 2000 plate appearances from 2011-14; along the way he hit between 10 and 14 homers and racked up between 15 and 31 steals in each of those four campaigns. Since that time, though, Jennings owns an anemic .222/.295/.347 batting line in 333 trips to the plate.
It’s not clear that Jennings is a reliable option in center field anymore — the Rays shifted him to left field in 2015, though some of that was due to Kevin Kiermaier’s emergence — but Jennings does have experience there. He also provides the Mets with a potential right-handed complement to a rather left-leaning collection of outfielders, including Curtis Granderson, Jay Bruce and Michael Conforto. Of course, it’s far from certain that Jennings will ever surface in the bigs with the Mets, though he’s headed to a very hitter-friendly environment, which shouldn’t hurt his chances at rediscovering some confidence and getting into a good offensive groove at the plate.Comment -
Mets signed him for his speed IMO.Comment -
Chris Sale solid in his first start for the BoSox. 7 innings, 3 hits, 1 BB, 7K's.Comment -
Standard Sale stat line, Bosox should be excited.Comment -
his counterpart Jameson Taillon did very well too
taken with a grain of salt, pretty extreme pitcher conditions yesterdayComment -
lots of day games today fellasComment -
Travis Wood issued the 10th walk by a Royals reliever already this season. That's the most in the AL but not the majors -- Brewers have 11.Comment -
Bounceback season for Yasiel Puig? He's looking good so far.Comment -
Puig is too good not to bounce back[quote=jjgold;5683305]I win again like usual
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[quote=Whippit;7921056]miami won't lose a single eastern conference game through end of season[/quote]Comment -
Rockies 3-1 start on the road. You think this team could go above .500?Comment -
Give him a couple weeks and he will f up.Comment -
Jays got their first win yesterday. Morales with a grand slam.Comment -
That was Giants first baseman Brandon Belt's first grand slam. He was a .235 hitter (12-for-51 with 19 strikeouts) in his career with the bases loaded before that at-bat.Comment -
I guess you are right. I would rather have Puig than not have him.Comment
