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The release of Adrian Gonzalez and a subsequent roster shuffle is the big news out of Citi Field, though here are some more Mets items….
- Yoenis Cespedes was on the verge of a return from his hip flexor strain, though a setback in Saturday’s minor league rehab game will require him to restart his recovery program, manager Mickey Callaway told MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo and other reporters. It isn’t clear when Cespedes will be able to return from the injury that has kept him sidelined since May 16, leaving the offense-starved Mets without their best hitter for an even longer period of time. In better DL news, Callaway was hopeful that Jeurys Familia and Wilmer Flores would both be back in action at some point during the Mets’ upcoming road trip.
- Asdrubal Cabrera left tonight’s game due to a tight left hamstring, with The Athletic’s Tim Healey (Twitter link) being among those to report that Cabrera will stay overnight in New York to have the problem examined. Losing Cabrera would be yet another big injury loss for the Mets, as the infielder has hit an impressive .283/.323/.498 through 254 PA this season.
- A Cabrera DL stint could help prolong Jose Reyes’ time with the Mets, though as The Athletic’s Lindsey Adler (subscription required) writes, the infielder’s prolonged struggles are creating an uncomfortable situation for both the player and the team. Reyes “has advocates in ownership and the front office” and has yet to speak to team officials about his future, though he seems like an expendable piece after hitting just .149/.213/.203 through his first 80 PA. Reyes said that he is still adjusting to being a part-time player, though he acknowledges that he hasn’t been worthy of more playing time. “So far the opportunities that I’ve had I feel like I didn’t do anything,” Reyes said.
- Right-hander Jamie Callahan will undergo season-ending shoulder surgery, Triple-A manager Tony DeFrancesco told Betsy Helfand of the Las Vegas Journal-Review and other reporters (Twitter link). It’s a tough blow for Callahan, who was acquired as part of the Addison Reed trade last July and looked like a potential candidate to see more time in the Mets bullpen this season. Originally a second-round pick for Boston in the 2012 draft, Callahan began to deliver better results after becoming a full-time reliever in 2016, and he made his MLB debut by appearing in nine games with the Mets last year. Shoulder problems began to crop up early this season, however, and Callahan tossed just 8 1/3 Triple-A innings before hitting the disabled list.
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A-Gone needs to go to the AL and just DH.Comment -
How the penetrate did the Mets win last night?Comment -
The Yankees became the final team in the majors to be shut out this season when they dropped the finale of this weekend's Subway Series to the Mets, 2-0.
It was the first time in five games that the Yankees did not get an eventual game-winning homer in the seventh inning or later. The loss also is only the second the Yankees have had in games started by Luis Severino this season.
They are now 12-2 in such games. The Bronx Bombers will have the day off Monday before returning to Yankee Stadium for a two-game series with the Nationals beginning Tuesday.Comment -
Ohtani expected to undergo surgery and miss next season too.
[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 -
that's crazy tho from the Angels perspective. They knew Ohtani had some damages before signing. But how much did they outlay on his contract? What does he get half of the money while on DL (I forget how that works)?Comment -
The Indians have promoted top prospect Francisco Mejia, per a club announcement. Right-hander Evan Marshall was optioned to create active roster space.
Mejia, who’s known most for his bat, was announced as a catcher/outfielder. It’s still unknown just how the team will deploy him in the mid and long-term, but he’ll fill in for backup catcher Roberto Perez for the meantime. Though the team says Perez is not going on the DL — at least, not yet — he is expected to miss some time after being struck by a pitch in the hand yesterday.
Mejia, who made a brief MLB cameo last year, entered the season as a consensus top-twenty prospect leaguewide, with many assuming he would hit his way into the MLB mix sooner than later. Defensively, though, there are far greater questions. Thus far in 2018, he has split his time about evenly behind the plate and in the grass.
While he has worked to find a defensive home, Mejia hasn’t produced to his typical levels at the plate. In 214 plate appearances at the highest level of the minors, he owns a .214/.271/.33 slash. That said, as the team notes in its release, the switch-hitting Mejia has been on a hot streak of late. And he came into the season with a track record and reputation as a polished hitter from both sides of the plate.
While the Cleveland organization gets a sense for what kind of contribution it can expect from Mejia now and in the future, the 22-year-old will accrue MLB service time. He already had 31 days from 2017, and can earn as many as 112 from this point through the end of the current season, so he could profile as a future Super Two qualifier if he stays up for good.
Mejia made the news earlier this season when he brought a lawsuit seeking to abrogate his contractual relationship with an entity called Big League Advance. The litigation will determine whether Mejia is forced to pay a portion of his ongoing MLB earnings.Comment -
Following an on-air report from ESPN’s Pedro Gomez in which Gomez suggested that Angels ace Shohei Ohtani “probably will need Tommy John surgery,” Halos GM Billy Eppler opposed the notion in a statement to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter links).
“There have been no changes in Ohtani’s diagnosis and neither our physicians nor medical staff have recommended (Tommy John surgery) or said it’s likely,” said Eppler on Monday.
As with any UCL injury, of course, the possibility remains that surgical repair will ultimately be proven necessary. Notably, Eppler doesn’t definitively state that Ohtani will not require Tommy John surgery, likely because he and the team’s medical staff genuinely do not know whether Ohtani will avoid surgery at this point. When the Angels made the announcement that Ohtani was DL-bound, the team said that he had already received platelet-rich plasma and stem cell injections and would be re-evaluated in three weeks.
Eppler, then, simply seems to have been motivated to speak out against a report that was based on something other than conclusive medical evaluations. While some with the club are likely bracing for the worst and may even pessimistically be considering it the likeliest outcome, there’s no clear way to know exactly what treatment is in store for Ohtani until later this month when doctors make their recommendations following the initial wave of treatment. To that end, it’s worth noting that two of Ohtani’s current teammates, Garrett Richards and Andrew Heaney, attempted similar treatment methods in order to avoid Tommy John surgery themselves. Heaney ultimately required the surgery anyway, but Richards did indeed manage to avoid the operation.
For the Angels, there’s little downside in attempting PRP and stem cell injections in addition to rest and rehab. As a theoretical example, even if Ohtani underwent Tommy John surgery tomorrow, he would still be likely to miss the majority of the 2019 season anyhow. While some pitchers have returned from Tommy John in 11 to 12 months in the past, the Halos would certainly err on the side of caution in Ohtani’s rehabilitation process. A best-case scenario might see him sidelined into next August, so the harm in trying to avoid the procedure entirely is somewhat minimized when viewed through that lens.Comment -
So sad on Ohtani, he just got that money and going back to Japan.Comment -
The Mariners win a game by ... two runs, knocking off the Angels 5-3. All eight runs came on home runs, two each by Mike Trout and Nelson Cruz, while Jean Segura added three more hits to raise his average to .343.
He's second in the majors in hits, second in batting average and tied for fifth in runs scored as he makes a point that Lindor, Machado, Correa and Simmons aren't the only AL shortstops having big seasons.Comment -
AL west is solid this year .Comment -
So the Yankees decided to keep throwing at Harper until they injured him. He just left the game.[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 -
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The Yankees will promote right-hander Jonathan Loaisiga from Double-A to make a spot start later this week, manager Aaron Boone announced Tuesday (link via ESPN’s Coley Harvey). He’ll get the ball Friday in place of the injured Masahiro Tanaka. Domingo German will start Thursday for the Yankees, with Luis Severino going Saturday, per the report.
It’s not yet clear if the Nicaraguan-born Loaisiga will get anything more than a one-off look in the rotation, but because he’s already on the 40-man roster and has thrown well so far in 2018, he’ll get the call over more name-brand prospects like Justus Sheffield and Chance Adams. In 45 innings between Class-A Advanced and Double-A, Loaisiga boasts a 3.00 ERA with an electric 58-to-4 K/BB ratio and above-average ground-ball tendencies.
This will be the first taste of the big leagues for the 23-year-old Loaisiga, who ranks 12th among Yankee farmhands per Jonathan Mayo and Jim Callis of MLB.com and per Kiley McDaniel of Fangraphs. The two scouting reports offer a similar take on his three-pitch arsenal: a fastball that sits 94-96 mph, an above-average to plus curveball and the potential for an average changeup.
The 5’11”, 165-pound Loaisiga’s size and injury history — he missed the 2014-15 seasons due to injury and had Tommy John surgery in 2016 — create some concerns that he’ll be forced into a bullpen role over the long haul. However, given that Loaisiga was picked off the scrap heap by the Yankees after being released by the Giants as a 21-year-old following those lost 2014-15 seasons, the very fact that he’s emerged as any type of prospect is already a bonus for the team and a testament to the right-hander’s raw ability and perseverance.Comment -
Padres going for their 5th series win in a row tonight vs the cardinals.Comment -
Hunter strickland is the re incarnation of 80's jeff brantly for the giants ...
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Why Yankees throwing at Harper?Comment
