Giants finally coming back to earth this year it seems.
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Going to back the reds for a few games. Hope they can go .500 at + moneyComment -
It feels like the KC Royals have been rained out all week.Comment -
Rockies with a nice Comeback. Team keeps hanging aroundComment -
Padres laid an egg last nightComment -
Time for me to just watch cubs prospects, mlb squad sucks.Comment -
Luis Castillo will make his season debut on Monday, as the Reds will activate the right-hander from the 10-day injured list to start their game against the Brewers. Castillo suffered soreness in his throwing shoulder during Spring Training, which required an IL visit and a late start to his 2022 campaign.
The former All-Star has allowed only a single earned run over 10 1/3 innings during his minor league rehab assignment, albeit with a troubling eight walks. Nevertheless, the focus on rehab assignments is more health and tune-up work rather than results, and after three rehab outings, Castillo appears to be ready to return to the Show.
Counting Castillo since he has yet to be officially activated, the Reds have a whopping 14 players on the injured list, which has been a big factor in the team’s disastrous start. Even after winning two of three games in their weekend series with the Pirates, Cincinnati has only a 5-23 record.
It is a lot to ask of Castillo to try and turn things around for the Reds by himself, and it remains to be seen if the right-hander will immediately be in good form once he takes the mound. Castillo has traditionally been something of a slow starter, as April and May are his worst months by ERA. If it takes him a while to really get going, it will not only impact whatever tiny chance the Reds have of getting on track, but it would also hamper Castillo’s value as a possible trade chip heading into the deadline. Since Castillo is controlled (via arbitration) through the 2023 season, the Reds should be able to command a nice trade return for Castillo, assuming that he is pitching like his usual self.Comment -
The White Sox are set to activate Yoan Moncada and Joe Kelly off the injured list for Monday’s game against the Guardians, manager Tony La Russa told reporters (including LaMond Pope of The Chicago Tribune). Both players will be playing in their first games of the 2022 season, and in Kelly’s case, it also marks his debut in a White Sox uniform.
Moncada suffered a right oblique strain near the end of Spring Training, and it would like the third baseman is back in form, given how he has shredded Triple-A pitching during a rehab assignment. Moncada will be looking to build on a solid 2021 season that was perhaps slightly disappointing because it was “only” solid, given all of the superstar hype attached to Moncada during his time as baseball’s best prospect. 2019 saw Moncada reach a higher level of performance, though as he enters his age-27 season, it isn’t yet clear if Moncada will indeed become an All-Star.
Kelly signed a two-year, $17MM contract just after the lockout ended, as between Kelly and fellow free agent Kendall Graveman, the Sox reinforced their bullpen depth in advance of Craig Kimbrel being traded to the Dodgers. Due to a biceps strain suffered during the NLCS last season, Kelly’s offseason prep work was delayed, hence his late start to the 2022 campaign.
With Moncada and Kelly back, the White Sox will gain some relief from the swath of injuries that have hampered their club all season. However, it’s a case of two steps forward and another step back, as La Russa told reporters (including Daryl Van Schouwen of The Chicago Sun-Times) after today’s game that reliever Aaron Bummer will be placed on the injured list with a knee problem. Kelly will take Bummer’s spot on the 26-man roster.
A reliable bullpen arm over his five previous seasons in Chicago, Bummer has gotten off to a slow start, with a 4.91 ERA and 15.1% walk rate over his first 11 innings of work in 2022. The extra walks certainly haven’t helped Bummer’s efforts, but there is also at least a little bad luck involved, as the grounder specialist has a .370 BABIP. It isn’t known how serious Bummer’s knee issue is, or how long the left-hander could be out of action.
Rookies Tanner Banks and Bennett Sousa are now the only healthy left-handers in the Sox bullpen, and Anderson Severino (another first-year player) is the only other southpaw reliever on Chicago’s 40-man roster. While Banks has pitched well thus far, it stands to reason that the White Sox might look to add a more experienced left-handed arm if Bummer is expected to miss beyond the 10-day minimum.Comment -
Jorge Alfaro with a 3 run homer with 2 outs in the 9th to beat the Marlins 3-2
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George Kirby looked promising in his MLB debut for SeattleComment -
Who's going to be the #1 pick in MLB draft?
Matt Joyce?Comment -
9-18, just brutal, time to start trading for next year again.Comment -
That was just vintage Professor painting a masterpiece in San Diego this evening!Comment -
Rodon was terrific again tonight thankfully the Giants got 8 runs because the Rockies made some noise late against the Giants bullpen.Comment -
The Marlins announced that they have activated right-handed pitcher Dylan Floro from the injured list. Infielder Joe Dunand was optioned to Triple-A Jacksonville in a corresponding move.
Floro has missed the entirety of the season so far, having been shelved during Spring Training with some arm soreness. This was later diagnosed as right rotator cuff tendinitis, which landed Floro on the injured list as the season began in April. Acquired from the Dodgers prior to the 2021 season, Floro somewhat quietly had an excellent campaign in Miami last year. In 64 innings out of the bullpen, his ERA was 2.81, along with a 23% strikeout rate, 9.3% walk rate and 49.2% ground ball rate. He notched 15 saves and 11 holds as a key piece of the team’s bullpen.
Without Floro in the mix, the club has turned to Anthony Bender as its primary closer this year. Although he’s notched six saves, he’s also blown a pair, putting up an ERA of 4.91 so far in the young season. His 28.7% strikeout rate from last year has dipped to 21.7% so far this year, though this is a small sample of just 11 innings. Regardless of how the roles shake out, if Floro is able to replicate his success from last year, he should be a boon to the team’s relief corps. As a whole, the Miami bullpen has a 3.05 ERA, placing them 7th in the league.Comment -
The Jacksonville Jumbo shrimp. Got to love minor league namesComment -
Padres offense in a major skidComment -
Wow, Cubs almost getting a grand slam in the 9th vs the PadresComment -
Teams starting to hit now. Just this week my offense is going ballistic in my main fantasy league. Also overs starting to hit as teams find their rhythm at the plate. It was a matter of time before the market corrected itself and we see some overs across the league.Comment -
The Padres made a flurry of moves this afternoon, optioning shortstop C.J. Abrams to Triple-A San Antonio, reinstating outfielder Wil Myers and first baseman Luke Voit from the 10-day IL, and designating outfielder Trayce Thompson for assignment, reports AJ Cassavell of MLB.com (Twitter link).
The demotion of Abrams, who’d been splitting time at shortstop with Ha-Seong Kim, will come as a disappointment to Padres fans, who’d hoped to see the consensus top-20 prospect (and, until today, youngest player in the NL) hit the ground running in the bigs. But while the 21-year-old has played solid defense in his first taste of the majors, his .182/.270/.273 batting line was simply too much of a drag on an already stagnant Padres offense to give him the playing time the organization will want to give him.
The long-term expectation in San Diego likely remains that Abrams will ultimately dislodge Fernando Tatis Jr. from shortstop, but it may not happen this year unless Abrams can find his stroke in San Antonio. Kim will likely take over primary duties there for the time being, with the recently claimed Sergio Alcántara as his understudy. It isn’t yet clear whether Tatis will reclaim the position upon his expected mid-season return from a fracture in his left wrist, though Abrams’ failure to lay claim to the position certainly makes that scenario more likely.
Myers and Voit will likely reclaim their spots in the lineup (Myers in right, Voit at DH), though neither had gotten off to a blistering start to the season. Myers, who’s been out since late April with a thumb injury, owns a .218/.254/.273 line in 59 plate appearances, while Voit, also out since late April with a biceps tendon issue, has slashed a mere .143/315/.167 in 54 trips to the plate. Both have proven themselves capable of greater production than they’ve delivered so far, of course, and they should give a boost to a Padres lineup that’s posted a meager 65 wRC+ in May. Manger Bob Melvin has rotated DH duties in Voit’s absence, but Myers will likely take at-bats directly from rookie Jose Azocar (.222/.323/.259 in a 31 PA sample) and the DFAed Thompson.
Indeed, though he’s now appeared in six major league seasons (dating to his 2015 debut with the White Sox) and delivered better-than-replacement-level production on the whole in his big-league career (.205/.280/.397 in 640 plate appearances), Thompson’s departure from the 26-man roster marks another failure to find a permanent home for the 31-year-old former second-rounder. Though he’d hardly played for the Friars (sixteen trips to the plate across six games), his anemic .071/.188/.071 batting line made him a prime choice to fall victim to a roster crunch. As Thompson (the younger brother of NBA star Klay Thompson) has been outrighted before, he can opt to become a free agent, though he may also choose to accept an assignment if he thinks another big-league opportunity with the Padres could present itself.Comment -
Didn't know Klay Thompson's brother was a baseball playerComment -
Big rubber game in San Diago this afternoon.Comment -
I knew the weather risks when I bet Houston today but I just didn't like anything on the board more than the Astros against Archer so I bet it and naturally Mother Nature came in and put a stop to a winning bet. Maybe next time I won't bet the riskiest weather game on the board no matter how much I like the team I'm betting on.
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Mitch Haniger was placed on the injured list a couple of weeks ago due to a right ankle sprain, with the club not providing an estimate on his recovery period at that time. Haniger himself spoke to Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times and gave an update that won’t come as good news to Mariners’ fans, as he might be out until around the All-Star break.
“As far as getting back in games, I think like a rough estimate would be from date of injury is 10 to 12 weeks,” Haniger says. “But at the same time, I’ve heard it can go on the earlier end and I’ve also heard on the longer end.” As Divish notes, that 10-12 week timeline would mean a return to action somewhere in the window of July 10-24, with a rehab stint likely pushing his return to the big leagues another couple of weeks down the road.
This marks yet another frustrating development in the Haniger arc, as he has oscillated between excellent performance and extended absences in his career. Over 2017 and 2018, he hit 42 home runs and slashed .284/.361/.492 for a 134 wRC+. After 63 games in 2019, he fouled a ball off himself and ruptured a testicle, wiping out the rest of that season as well as the next. He returned last year and had a tremendous comeback, hitting 39 dingers and slashing .253/.318/.485, 120 wRC+. This year, he’s been limited to nine games, first by a bout with Covid, followed by this ankle sprain. Incidentally, Haniger thinks one issue might have led to the other, as he tells Divish that he had post-Covid struggles with congestion and pressure in his head, which affected his balance.
For Haniger personally, it’s very unfortunate timing for yet another serious injury. The 31-year-old is in his final year of club control, heading to free agency at season’s end. It seems now that his platform year will be reduced to the last two or three months of the campaign, assuming he can follow the prescribed timeline. Even if he can return to health and play well over the second half of the schedule, teams will no doubt use this injury as a way to try to tamp down their offers.
It’s also quite unfortunate for the team, as their hot start has been largely erased by a rough two-week skid. After going 11-6 in their first 17 games, the club has since gone 3-12 in their last 15 contests, winding up at 14-18. Although Julio Rodriguez has been heating up after a cold start, the rest of the regular outfielders haven’t provided much. Jesse Winker’s batting line is sitting at .202/.313/.275, 86 wRC+. Jarred Kelenic is even colder, with a line of .141/.221/.294, for a 58 wRC+. With Haniger not returning for a few months, that group will need to step up in order to help the team pull out of this recent tailspin. Some help is on the way, however, with 2020 AL Rookie of the Year Kyle Lewis currently out on a rehab assignment and likely returning in just over a week.Comment -
Things are dire if the Cubs win a series against you...
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