The 2018 Major League Baseball Player Chatter, News and Fantasy Thread.

[El Nino]

Dodgers are a -390 loser

Biggest MLB betting upset in 11 years.

[Cross]

How can a baseball game ever be -390???

[Chi_archie]

How can a baseball game ever be -390???

Implied probability of 79.59%


every year there are a handful of pitchers that are gonna be so dominant their team wins 80% of the games they start

[BigSpoon]

Acuna is really driving the ball.

Braves fans have to be so excited to have him on their team. He looks very impressive.

[JMobile]

Biggest MLB betting upset in 11 years.

I bet Don Mattingly is happy.

[koz-man]

Boston's Brock Holt lands on DL but Red Sox get Xander Bogaerts back

The Boston Red Sox placed utilityman Brock Holt on the 10-day disabled list with a left hamstring strain on Friday and activated shortstop Xander Bogaerts. Holt had been one of the Red Sox's hottest hitters over the past couple of weeks. He went 16-for-34 (.471) with six doubles, one homer and six RBIs in his past nine games. On the season, Holt, 29, has hit .340 with a .400 on-base percentage, reaching base in each of his 14 starts.

[batt33]

Kershaw not pitching against giants this weekend.........figures.....

[EmpireMaker]

• The Athletics have placed southpaw Ryan Buchter on the DL, per a club announcement. He’ll be replaced on the active roster by Danny Coulombe. At this point, the team plans to shut Buchter down for at least ten days and possibly longer, as MLB.com’s Jane Lee tweets. The 31-year-old southpaw, who was acquired over the offseason, has been quite good thus far for the A’s. He’s carrying a 1.69 ERA with 9.3 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 over 10 2/3 innings.
• While the Giants will hold off on putting Mac Williamson on the DL, he’s in the concussion protocol at present, as manager Bruce Bochy informed reporters including Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group (Twitter link). In the meantime, the organization has brought fellow outfielder Austin Slater onto the active roster, creating space by sending reliever Josh Osich to the 10-day DL. It’s unclear at this point how long Slater will have in the majors, but he’ll surely be hoping to follow the same track as Williamson, who kept on raking after receiving a promotion. Slater owns a .358/.435/.642 slash with just six strikeouts in his 62 plate appearances on the year at Triple-A.
• Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson is beginning his rehab assignment tomorrow, as the team announced. He’ll open as a DH as he eases back into action, though the real test will come when he puts his throwing back on display at game speed. There’s similarly good news for the division-rival Orioles, who expect to send second baseman Jonathan Schoop on a brief rehab assignment next week, as Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com tweets. He has been out for two weeks with an oblique strain.
• The Nationals, who are still waiting for a trio of important players, gave some updates today. (Links to the Twitter feed of Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com.) Third baseman Anthony Rendon is reasonably close and is expected to return in relatively short order after a brief stint on the shelf. It’s not quite as rosy for outfielder Adam Eaton, who has seemingly had some ups and downs in rehabbing his ankle issues, but — GM Mike Rizzo emphasized — also has not experienced any setbacks. As for second baseman Daniel Murphy, who has yet to play at all following offseason knee surgery, there’s still no timeline for a return.
• A number of other players are already coming off of the DL. The Reds have activated righty David Hernandez and the Mariners have brought back first baseman Ryon Healy. Both were relatively significant offseason acquisitions for their organizations. Meanwhile, the Rays activated infielder Matt Duffy and the Rangers did the same with righty Tony Barnette.

[Cross]

Acuna is fun for baseball, Atlanta has some speed with him and that 2nd baseman.

[El Nino]

Acuna is fun for baseball, Atlanta has some speed with him and that 2nd baseman.

Acuna has a smooth swing.

[ApricotSinner32]

• The Athletics have placed southpaw Ryan Buchter on the DL, per a club announcement. He’ll be replaced on the active roster by Danny Coulombe. At this point, the team plans to shut Buchter down for at least ten days and possibly longer, as MLB.com’s Jane Lee tweets. The 31-year-old southpaw, who was acquired over the offseason, has been quite good thus far for the A’s. He’s carrying a 1.69 ERA with 9.3 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 over 10 2/3 innings.
• While the Giants will hold off on putting Mac Williamson on the DL, he’s in the concussion protocol at present, as manager Bruce Bochy informed reporters including Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group (Twitter link). In the meantime, the organization has brought fellow outfielder Austin Slater onto the active roster, creating space by sending reliever Josh Osich to the 10-day DL. It’s unclear at this point how long Slater will have in the majors, but he’ll surely be hoping to follow the same track as Williamson, who kept on raking after receiving a promotion. Slater owns a .358/.435/.642 slash with just six strikeouts in his 62 plate appearances on the year at Triple-A.
• Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson is beginning his rehab assignment tomorrow, as the team announced. He’ll open as a DH as he eases back into action, though the real test will come when he puts his throwing back on display at game speed. There’s similarly good news for the division-rival Orioles, who expect to send second baseman Jonathan Schoop on a brief rehab assignment next week, as Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com tweets. He has been out for two weeks with an oblique strain.
• The Nationals, who are still waiting for a trio of important players, gave some updates today. (Links to the Twitter feed of Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com.) Third baseman Anthony Rendon is reasonably close and is expected to return in relatively short order after a brief stint on the shelf. It’s not quite as rosy for outfielder Adam Eaton, who has seemingly had some ups and downs in rehabbing his ankle issues, but — GM Mike Rizzo emphasized — also has not experienced any setbacks. As for second baseman Daniel Murphy, who has yet to play at all following offseason knee surgery, there’s still no timeline for a return.
• A number of other players are already coming off of the DL. The Reds have activated righty David Hernandez and the Mariners have brought back first baseman Ryon Healy. Both were relatively significant offseason acquisitions for their organizations. Meanwhile, the Rays activated infielder Matt Duffy and the Rangers did the same with righty Tony Barnette.

[koz-man]

Angels 1B/DH Albert Pujols is 5 hits shy of 3,000 after a 7th inning single off Yankees starter Luis Severino on Friday night. When Pujols made his Major League debut in 2001, Severino was 7 years old.

[JMobile]

Kershaw not pitching against giants this weekend.........figures.....

Baez took over and lost the game for the Dodgers.

[batt33]

Pablo sandoval... best pitcher for the giants in the first game of a double header ugh on to the second

[EmpireMaker]

Padres outfielder Wil Myers exited the team’s game against the Mets on Saturday with a left oblique strain, according to an announcement from San Diego. The severity of the injury isn’t yet known, but oblique strains often require stints on the disabled list. Myers was already on the DL earlier this month (with a right arm injury), thereby limiting him to 40 plate appearances thus far in 2018. The Padres had a crowded outfield on their hands prior to Saturday’s game, as AJ Cassavell of MLB.com detailed at the time, with Myers, Manuel Margot, Franchy Cordero and Jose Pirela among their options. Pirela had been slated to see more time at second base as a result, but if Myers joins fellow Friars outfielder Hunter Renfroe on the DL, that plan could change.
More from the West Coast…

• Angels two-way sensation Shohei Ohtani isn’t a lock to make his scheduled start against Baltimore on Tuesday, Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times was among those to report. Ohtani suffered a mild left ankle sprain while crossing first base on Friday and was then out of the Angels’ lineup Saturday. Fortunately, though, a DL placement is not under consideration for the right-handed pitcher/left-handed hitter, manager Mike Scioscia declared. [Update: Ohtani believes he’ll be OK to start Tuesday, Maria Guardado of MLB.com tweets.]
• Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto said in his latest MLB.com podcast with Aaron Goldstein that outfielder Mitch Haniger “fills up just about every box” as a player and a person, and he realizes the budding star may be on his way to big money (h/t: TJ Cotterill of the Tacoma News Tribune). “I probably just gave Matt Sosnick and the great people at Sosnick and Cobbe great fodder,” Dipoto said of Haniger’s agency after lavishing praise on the 27-year-old. “But deservedly so. He’s been a terrific player.” Haniger has indeed been outstanding since joining the Mariners prior to 2017, especially this year (.307/.382/.682 with nine home runs in 102 plate appearances), though he’s not even going to be eligible for arbitration until after next season.
• The X-rays on Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig’s left foot came back negative, Andy McCullough of the LA Times was among those to tweet. Puig fouled a ball off his foot in the first game of the team’s doubleheader in San Francisco on Saturday, which led to fear about his status and paved the way for hyped outfield prospect Alex Verdugo to start in the second contest.

[koz-man]

Gleyber Torres still doesn't know what it is to lose a Major League game. Including their 11-1 pounding of the Angels tonight, the Yankees are 7-0 since Torres' debut on Sunday 4/22.

[koz-man]

Saturday night's game was practically done once it started. A five-run first and a five-run second inning kicked off the Yankees' 11-1 rout over the Angels in Anaheim. Gleyber Torres (who still hasn't seen a Yankees loss in the week he's been with the MLB club) was a bright spot. The 21-year-old recent call up went 2-for-5 with a double that one-hopped the wall. Aaron Judge rifled three hard hits in his first three times up. Every Yankees starter also reached base. Riding an eight-game winning streak, New York goes for its second straight series sweep in Sunday night's finale.

[ApricotSinner32]

Saturday night's game was practically done once it started. A five-run first and a five-run second inning kicked off the Yankees' 11-1 rout over the Angels in Anaheim. Gleyber Torres (who still hasn't seen a Yankees loss in the week he's been with the MLB club) was a bright spot. The 21-year-old recent call up went 2-for-5 with a double that one-hopped the wall. Aaron Judge rifled three hard hits in his first three times up. Every Yankees starter also reached base. Riding an eight-game winning streak, New York goes for its second straight series sweep in Sunday night's finale.

[JaimeMiro]

11 -1, what a beat down

[BarkingToad]

How is Buck Showalter still managing the Orioles?

[Chi_archie]

Saturday night's game was practically done once it started. A five-run first and a five-run second inning kicked off the Yankees' 11-1 rout over the Angels in Anaheim. Gleyber Torres (who still hasn't seen a Yankees loss in the week he's been with the MLB club) was a bright spot. The 21-year-old recent call up went 2-for-5 with a double that one-hopped the wall. Aaron Judge rifled three hard hits in his first three times up. Every Yankees starter also reached base. Riding an eight-game winning streak, New York goes for its second straight series sweep in Sunday night's finale.

love to see the new guys start at hitting

[JMobile]

Pablo sandoval... best pitcher for the giants in the first game of a double header ugh on to the second

He had a good breaking ball on Chris Taylor.

[El Nino]

Pablo sandoval... best pitcher for the giants in the first game of a double header ugh on to the second

Was pitching like he wanted to hurry in and get after the clubhouse spread! Love it...Kenley Jansen's expression the entire half inning was funny.

[Andy117]

How is Buck Showalter still managing the Orioles?

They have low expectations.

[batt33]

giants take 3 of 4 from the dodgers ....nice weekend close out!

[Cross]

Cubs traded away Gleybar, can’t remember was that the Quintana trade?

[Chi_archie]

Cubs traded away Gleybar, can’t remember was that the Quintana trade?

no, Chapman from Yanks

[EmpireMaker]

• Mike Moustakas looks like a prime candidate for a deadline trade, though in a video for FOX Sports (Twitter link), Ken Rosenthal cautions that the Royals could face some difficulties in finding a trade partner. For one, there aren’t any contenders with an obvious need at third base, though injuries can certainly change that equation. One rival executive tells Rosenthal that it can be hard to trade a single-position rental player like Moustakas at the deadline.
• Jung Ho Kang’s impending return to the Pirates “is probably his last chance with us,” GM Neal Huntington said on his weekly radio show with Joe Block (hat tip to MLB.com’s Adam Berry). Kang received a work **** earlier this week and is preparing to rejoin the Pirates organization after spending all of 2017 on the restricted list following a DUI conviction in South Korea. Should the infielder face any more off-the-field issues, things “are not going to go well for” Kang with the team, Huntington said. It isn’t any surprise that Kang is on a very short leash given his past history, and he very well could be entering his last few months with the Bucs regardless of how he might perform if and when he returns to the majors. It doesn’t seem likely that the Pirates will exercise their $5.5MM club option on Kang’s services for 2019, barring a major turn-around.
• While closer Corey Knebel has been on the DL, the Brewers’ adoption of a fully situational bullpen has been a big success, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes. Manager Craig Counsell has been deploying his pitchers simply as “out-getters,” in his words, and not worrying about using specific arms in specific roles. Entering today’s play, Brewers relievers had a cumulative 2.50 ERA (third-best in baseball) despite heavy usage, as the team has the fourth-most bullpen innings of any club in the league. This outstanding relief effort has helped the Brewers offset some pretty middling numbers from the starting rotation.
• With Mike Matheny set to manage his 1000th game on Tuesday, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch looks at how Matheny has handled the pressure and expectations of his six-plus seasons running the Cardinals’ dugout. Despite Matheny’s 559-440 record, he has faced criticism from some corners of the St. Louis fanbase for not having either the consistent success (particularly after consecutive non-playoff seasons) or the openness to publicly discuss decisions as former skipper Tony La Russa. Behind closed doors, however, Matheny has been praised for his leadership and teaching skills. “He’s got a lot of talents….He has it all covered,” Michael Wacha said. “Whenever he talks in front of a group of people that group of people is leaning in, listening to what he’s saying. He carries that confidence that he knows he belongs where he is.”

[Cross]

Yep, the Chapman trade, at least he helped them get a World Series.

[ApricotSinner32]

• Mike Moustakas looks like a prime candidate for a deadline trade, though in a video for FOX Sports (Twitter link), Ken Rosenthal cautions that the Royals could face some difficulties in finding a trade partner. For one, there aren’t any contenders with an obvious need at third base, though injuries can certainly change that equation. One rival executive tells Rosenthal that it can be hard to trade a single-position rental player like Moustakas at the deadline.
• Jung Ho Kang’s impending return to the Pirates “is probably his last chance with us,” GM Neal Huntington said on his weekly radio show with Joe Block (hat tip to MLB.com’s Adam Berry). Kang received a work **** earlier this week and is preparing to rejoin the Pirates organization after spending all of 2017 on the restricted list following a DUI conviction in South Korea. Should the infielder face any more off-the-field issues, things “are not going to go well for” Kang with the team, Huntington said. It isn’t any surprise that Kang is on a very short leash given his past history, and he very well could be entering his last few months with the Bucs regardless of how he might perform if and when he returns to the majors. It doesn’t seem likely that the Pirates will exercise their $5.5MM club option on Kang’s services for 2019, barring a major turn-around.
• While closer Corey Knebel has been on the DL, the Brewers’ adoption of a fully situational bullpen has been a big success, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes. Manager Craig Counsell has been deploying his pitchers simply as “out-getters,” in his words, and not worrying about using specific arms in specific roles. Entering today’s play, Brewers relievers had a cumulative 2.50 ERA (third-best in baseball) despite heavy usage, as the team has the fourth-most bullpen innings of any club in the league. This outstanding relief effort has helped the Brewers offset some pretty middling numbers from the starting rotation.
• With Mike Matheny set to manage his 1000th game on Tuesday, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch looks at how Matheny has handled the pressure and expectations of his six-plus seasons running the Cardinals’ dugout. Despite Matheny’s 559-440 record, he has faced criticism from some corners of the St. Louis fanbase for not having either the consistent success (particularly after consecutive non-playoff seasons) or the openness to publicly discuss decisions as former skipper Tony La Russa. Behind closed doors, however, Matheny has been praised for his leadership and teaching skills. “He’s got a lot of talents….He has it all covered,” Michael Wacha said. “Whenever he talks in front of a group of people that group of people is leaning in, listening to what he’s saying. He carries that confidence that he knows he belongs where he is.”

[koz-man]

Angels manager Mike Scioscia told reporters postgame that Shohei Ohtani will pitch this weekend in Seattle.

[koz-man]

New York Mets slugger Yoenis Cespedes expects to miss three days after leaving Sunday's 14-2 victory over the San Diego Padres with an injured left thumb.

[BigSpoon]

no, Chapman from Yanks

Yankees made out like bandits trading away Chapman and Miller to jump start the rebuild.

[mr. leisure]

Angels manager Mike Scioscia told reporters postgame that Shohei Ohtani will pitch this weekend in Seattle.

Skipping his start against the O`s

[El Nino]

Yankees made out like bandits trading away Chapman and Miller to jump start the rebuild.

Big time. Now they can cherry pick a few free agents if they like. Back to the evil empire days.