Latest On Jonathan Lucroy
Free agent catcher Jonathan Lucroy has turned down a few minor-league offers in hopes of landing an MLB opportunity, reports Robert Murray of FanSided (Twitter link). The 34-year-old has been on the open market since electing free agency after he was outrighted off the Nationals’ roster last week.
Lucroy is obviously far removed from his days as one of the sport’s premier backstops, having struggled to a .248/.315/.350 line with declining defensive metrics between 2017-19. He only played in one game for the Red Sox last season and unsurprisingly had to settle for a non-roster invitation to Spring Training with the White Sox over the winter.
The veteran backstop performed well this spring, but Chicago turned to younger options to back up Yasmani Grandal. Lucroy hit the open market and signed with the Nationals, who were down their presumptive catching tandem of Yan Gomes and Alex Avila due to COVID-19 spread within the organization. He made the Opening Day roster and played in five games, going 5-14 with a double and two strikeouts. Shortly after Gomes and Avila cleared health and safety protocols, though, Washington designated Lucroy for assignment.
The veteran cleared waivers and again hit free agency, but Nationals manager Dave Martinez expressed interest in bringing him back (presumably on a minor-league deal). It seems Lucroy and his representatives at Excel Sports Management remain willing to hold out for a more direct path back to the majors for now.
Murray suggests the Yankees, Blue Jays and Athletics as potential fits for Lucroy, although it’s unclear if any of those clubs have expressed interest. New York only has two catchers on the 40-man roster but current backup Kyle Higashioka is off to an incredible start to the season. Toronto is in the opposite situation. The Jays have four catchers on the 40-man, but their current big league options (Alejandro Kirk and Danny Jansen) haven’t played well early on. The A’s have a pair of 40-man options (Austin Allen and the struggling Aramís García) who could back up starter Sean Murphy. Lucroy spent the 2018 season with Oakland.
Latest On Luke Voit
The Yankees have gone without first baseman Luke Voit this season, but the slugger is progressing in his recovery from surgery on a torn left meniscus. Manager Aaron Boone said Thursday (via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com) that Voit could make his 2021 debut in approximately two weeks.
The 7-11 Yankees have sorely missed Voit, who swatted a major league-leading 22 home runs last season and turned in a line of .277/.338/.610 (152 wRC+) in 234 plate appearances. Fill-in first basemen Jay Bruce (who retired last weekend), DJ LeMahieu and Mike Ford haven’t approached that type of production this year. New York’s offense hasn’t just sputtered at that position, though, as the unit currently ranks 26th out of 30 MLB teams in both wRC+ (84) and runs scored (65). So far this season, only three Yankees regulars – LeMahieu, right fielder Aaron Judge and third baseman Gio Urshela – have posted a wRC+ north of the league-average mark of 100.
While Voit’s bat ought to help point the Yankees’ offense in a better direction, another potential benefit is that New York should be able to primarily use LeMahieu at second – his natural position. That means the Yankees shouldn’t have to rely as much on fellow second baseman Rougned Odor, whom they acquired from the Rangers on April 6. New York took a low-risk flyer on Odor in the hopes he would rebound from back-to-back dismal seasons, but a change of scenery hasn’t led to positive results to this point. While the 27-year-old did collect a pair of singles Thursday, he’s still only hitting .167/.219/.267 over 32 PA.
MLBTR Poll: Struggling 2020 Playoff Teams
This season has not started in ideal fashion for the majority of last year’s 16-team playoff field. While the Dodgers, Brewers and Athletics boast terrific records at roughly the 20-game mark, everybody else who qualified for the postseason in 2020 is, at best, hovering around .500. Eight of those clubs currently have more losses than wins (we’ll get to them in a bit).
With a 162-game schedule instead of a 60-game slate, slumping teams have far more time to rebound from slow starts this season. On the other hand, only 10 clubs will make the playoffs in 2021, so teams can ill afford to dig early holes for themselves.
American League
Twins (2020 record: 36-24; 2021 record: 6-11):
- The Twins are coming off an 0-4, COVID-interrupted road trip that came to a horrific end with a 13-12 loss Wednesday, when sloppy defense led to an extra-innings collapse against the A’s. Reliever Alex Colome – the Twins’ keynote bullpen acquisition of the offseason – took the loss, continuing a rough start to the year for him. Meanwhile, ace Kenta Maeda turned in his worst performance of the season (seven earned runs in three innings) and has only gotten past the 4 1/3-frame mark in one of his four starts. The Twins will likely need the Maeda of old back if they’re going to push for a third straight AL Central title, though Jose Berrios and Michael Pineda have helped pick up the slack in their rotation so far. Meanwhile, the Twins’ offense hasn’t been a juggernaut (Josh Donaldson, Max Kepler and Andrelton Simmons have missed time with health issues), but Byron Buxton may be in the early stages of a breakthrough year at the plate and Nelson Cruz isn’t showing signs of slowing down.
Yankees (2020 record: 33-27; 2021 record: 6-11):
- The Yankees were pegged as serious World Series contenders entering the season, but they have looked like bottom-feeders so far. What was supposed to be a high-powered offense has totaled the AL’s fewest runs and put up its second-worst wRC+, owing in part to the absence of injured 2020 home run king Luke Voit. The Yankees’ pitching has been much better than their hitting, but that’s largely thanks to the work of their bullpen – which hasn’t had many leads to protect. Gerrit Cole and, to a much lesser extent, Jordan Montgomery have carried their rotation, while offseason acquisitions Corey Kluber and Jameson Taillon haven’t been all that effective coming off injuries, and Domingo German has struggled mightily in his return from a domestic violence suspension. The Yankees should get former ace Luis Severino back from Tommy John surgery during the summer, but there’s no telling how he’ll perform in the wake of two straight injury-wrecked seasons.
Blue Jays (2020 record: 32-28; 2021 record: 8-10):
- The Jays have dealt with a rash of injuries to their pitching staff, including in their rotation – an area that could be a significant question mark even if everyone’s healthy. They have also had to go without their main offseason acquisition, center fielder George Springer, though he shouldn’t be far off from returning from a quad strain. To the Jays’ credit, they’ve essentially tread water thus far, and their plus-10 run differential does rank third in the AL.
Astros (2020 record: 29-31; 2021 record: 7-10):
- The Astros sneaked into the playoffs last year with a sub-.500 record, though they still came within a game of reaching the World Series for the third time in four seasons. However, the team then got weaker in the offseason with the loss of Springer, whom it didn’t adequately replace, and was dealt another blow when starter Framber Valdez suffered a serious finger injury at the beginning of the spring. The Astros reacted by signing veteran Jake Odorizzi, who has delivered miserable results through his first two starts. Aside from Zack Greinke and Luis Garcia, Astros starters have not gotten the job done, while their bullpen has also been a letdown in the early going. Fortunately, even without Springer, a healthy version of Houston’s offense still brings plenty of firepower to the table.
Which of the above four AL teams do you believe has the best chance to rebound and make the playoffs? (Poll link for app users)
Which AL team is most likely to bounce back?
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Yankees 45% (3,074)
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Blue Jays 21% (1,412)
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Twins 19% (1,305)
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Astros 15% (1,044)
Total votes: 6,835
National League
Braves (2020 record: 35-25; 2021 record: 8-10)
- The back-to-back-to-back NL East champions have fallen behind in April, thanks in part to injuries to starters Mike Soroka, Max Fried and Drew Smyly. The Braves overcame a series of health problems in their staff last year to earn a trip to the NLCS, of course, but an elite offense led the way then. Their attack has been above average again this year, though Ronald Acuna Jr. and Freddie Freeman are their only regulars who have offered star-caliber production. Conversely, Marcell Ozuna, Ozzie Albies, Dansby Swanson, Travis d’Arnaud have gotten off to brutal starts at the plate.
Cubs (2020 record: 34-26; 2021 record: 8-9)
- The most significant move the Cubs executed over the winter was one that weakened them, at least in the short term. The team said goodbye to Yu Darvish, sending the 2020 NL Cy Young finalist to San Diego for fellow righty Zach Davies and a few prospects. Cutting costs was part of the motivation for that trade and in general when it came to the Cubs’ offseason; as a result, many were bearish on their chances heading into 2021. So far, the preseason pessimism has been warranted. The Cubs have not hit much, evidenced by bottom four National League rankings in runs and wRC+, and their pitching staff owns the NL’s third-highest ERA. Of their starters, only Jake Arrieta and Alec Mills have managed to post an ERA south of 5.00 so far. Surprisingly, the club’s best pitcher has been closer Craig Kimbrel, who’s back in dominant form after he was largely written off before the season.
Cardinals (2020 record: 30-28; 2021 record: 8-10):
- The Cardinals pulled off one of the ultimate headline-grabbing moves of the offseason in acquiring star third baseman Nolan Arenado from the Rockies. The hope then was that Arenado would lift an offense that finished 2020 with a less-than-stellar wRC+ of 93. Arenado has indeed notched solid production so far, yet the Cardinals’ wRC+ sits at an almost identical 94 through 18 games. Meantime, the bottom-line results of the Cardinals’ starters have been a far bigger problem, as their rotation – which is missing the injured Miles Mikolas – has recorded the NL’s fifth-worst ERA.
Marlins (2020 record: 31-29; 2021 record: 8-9):
- As an unexpected playoff entrant a year ago, the Marlins entered this season having to prove themselves all over again. While their record isn’t impressive, the Marlins have outscored their opposition by four runs, logged the NL’s fourth-highest wRC+, and gotten a strong effort from a rotation missing injured righties Sixto Sanchez and Elieser Hernandez. Their starters have handed off to a bullpen that has been a mixed bag – Dylan Floro, Yimi Garcia, John Curtiss, Ross Detwiler and Adam Cimber have kept hitters at bay, but offenses have had their way with Zach Pop, Anthony Bass, Richard Bleier and Paul Campbell.
Which of the above four NL teams do you believe has the best chance to rebound and make the playoffs? (Poll link for app users)
Which NL team is most likely to bounce back?
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Braves 70% (4,849)
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Cardinals 21% (1,493)
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Cubs 6% (393)
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Marlins 3% (220)
Total votes: 6,955
Neil Walker Announces Retirement
Longtime major league second baseman Neil Walker has retired from baseball at the age of 35. Walker broke the news to Sweeny Murti of WFAN as a guest on the “30 for Murti” podcast.
A Pittsburgh native, Walker was a first-round pick (No. 11) of his hometown Pirates in 2004. Five years later, Walker made a 17-game big league debut, and he became both a regular and a consistently solid contributor beginning the next season. During a 3,386-plate appearance run from 2010-15, the switch-hitting Walker put up five seasons of at least 2.4 fWAR (including a career-high 4.1 in 2014, when he won a Silver Slugger Award) and batted .273/.338/.443 with 93 home runs.
Walker’s time with the Pirates concluded when they traded him to the Mets for left-hander Jon Niese prior to the 2016 campaign. The move didn’t work out at all for the Bucs, with whom Niese’s production spiraled, though Walker continued to perform well in Queens. He batted .275/.344/.462 and smacked 33 HRs over 757 PA in a Mets uniform in parts of two seasons, but with the team out of contention late in 2017, it traded him to the Brewers for the stretch run.
Walker didn’t re-sign with the Brewers, instead returning to New York n a one-year, $4MM guarantee with the Yankees. With a .219/.309/.354 line in 398 trips to the plate, Walker turned in his worst offensive season as a regular in 2018. He enjoyed somewhat of a bounce-back campaign the next season on a $2MM deal as a member of the Marlins, though he still had to settle for a minor league contract with the Phillies going into 2020. While Walker did make it to the majors for a 12th straight season, he struggled enough over 18 games that the Phillies designated him for assignment in September.
Although Walker had a less-than-ideal ending, he still enjoyed a far more successful and lucrative career than the vast majority of major leaguers. He’ll end with a .267/.338/.426 line, 149 homers and 21.6 fWAR/19.6 rWAR across 1,306 games and 5,152 trips to the plate. Walker also earned nearly $52MM in the bigs, per Baseball-Reference.com.
MLBTR congratulates Walker on an impressive career and wishes him the best in retirement.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
AL Notes: Yankees, Rendon, Mondesi, Rays
The Yankees were supposed to be one of baseball’s premier teams this year, but they haven’t looked the part so far. The club is currently in a tailspin, having lost five in a row to fall to an American League-worst 5-10. Nevertheless, general manager Brian Cashman isn’t panicking. The longtime executive gave votes of confidence to the Yankees’ roster and manager Aaron Boone on Monday, per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. Cashman indicated the Yankees aren’t going to make any knee-jerk decisions with their roster or in their dugout as a result of their poor start. “That’s the message to our players: ‘We do believe in you,” he said. “We know what you’re capable of. This is a bad stretch, and we’re going to get through this together.” Cashman did admit that owner Hal Steinbrenner is “disappointed” with how the team has performed, but it doesn’t seem as if that will lead to any kind of drastic changes. “I’ve got a lot of trust in the people we have,” Cashman declared.
- Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon began baseball activities Monday, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register tweets. Rendon landed on the 10-day injured list April 12 (retroactive to April 11) with a left groin strain, though he won’t return when he’s first eligible on Wednesday. The Angels have used Jose Rojas, Jack Mayfield and Luis Rengifo at third over the past week, but all three have failed to produce. Rojas, who leads the Angels in playing time at the hot corner since Rendon went down, has gotten one hit in 19 plate appearances. Mayfield and Rengifo are a combined 1-for-8.
- Royals shortstop Adalberto Mondesi has already missed three weeks with a right oblique strain, and a return doesn’t appear imminent. Manager Mike Matheny said Monday that Mondesi is “doing limited control movement” and hasn’t begun taking swings since he went on the IL on March 30. The Royals have gotten off to a surprising 9-5 start without Mondesi, in part because fill-in Nicky Lopez has put up respectable production in his stead, but they surely want last year’s stolen base champ back sooner than later.
- The Rays placed left-hander Ryan Sherriff on the restricted list April 3 when he decided to take time off from the game, but he has returned to the organization, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports. Sherriff will head to minor league camp in order to get himself back into pitching shape. The 30-year-old has only thrown one-third of an inning for the Rays this season, but he held opposing offenses scoreless over 9 2/3 innings in 2020. Sherriff added another two scoreless frames against the Dodgers in a pair of World Series appearances.
Jay Bruce Announces Retirement
Yankees first baseman Jay Bruce has announced he’s retiring from baseball (via Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic). Today’s game against the Rays will be the final outing of Bruce’s 14-year MLB career.
“After 14 incredible seasons, I’ve decided to make the very difficult decision to retire from baseball. All I ever wanted to be ‘when I grew up’ was a baseball player, and to say that I got to live out my dream would be the understatement of a lifetime. This sport gave me more than I could’ve ever asked for,” Bruce wrote as part of his announcement (the full statement is available at the above link).
A first-round pick of the Reds in 2005, Bruce would quickly become one of the sport’s most promising young talents. He was a top 100 prospect in each of his first three years in pro ball, eventually becoming Baseball America’s #1 farmhand entering the 2008 season. Bruce made his major league debut in May of that year and hit a decent .254/.314/.453, earning a fifth-place finish in National League Rookie of the Year balloting.
Two years later, Bruce settled in as the middle-of-the-order bat many evaluators expected he’d become. Between 2010-13, the left-handed slugger hit a very productive .262/.337/.489 (119 wRC+), earning back-to-back All-Star selections in 2011-12 and a pair of Silver Slugger awards and down-ballot MVP support in 2012-13. Bruce fell off a bit in 2014-15, but he rebounded offensively in 2016 and earned his third and final All-Star selection.
The bulk of Bruce’s career was spent with the Reds, but he continued to produce for a few years after leaving Cincinnati. He hit a career-high 36 home runs during a 2017 season split between the Mets and Indians and popped 26 homers as recently as 2019. He was an above-average hitter during his time with the Mets, as well as in his brief stints in Cleveland and Seattle.
Unfortunately, Bruce’s production has fallen off as he’s entered his 30’s, with increasing struggles to reach base at a passable clip. He didn’t perform well with the Phillies last year and had to settle for a minor-league deal with the Yankees over the offseason. A Spring Training injury to Luke Voit opened up an opportunity for Bruce to begin the year as New York’s first baseman, but he’s stumbled to a .118/.231/.235 line in 39 plate appearances as a Yankee.
Struggles in his final couple seasons notwithstanding, Bruce had a very strong career. Not including any stats he may accrue in this afternoon’s game, the Texas native concludes with a .244/.314/.467 slash line across 6642 MLB plate appearances, making him six percentage points better than the league average hitter by measure of weighted runs created plus.
Bruce had five separate seasons in which he was at least fifteen points above average at the plate. The well-respected veteran had 1455 hits, including 319 home runs, scored 839 times and drove in 951 runs. Altogether, Bruce was worth around 20 wins above replacement and accrued just shy of $103MM in career earnings, per Baseball Reference. MLBTR congratulates Bruce on a fine career and wishes him the best of luck in his future endeavors.
Gary Sanchez Leaves Yankees’ Game After Being Struck By Foul Tip
2:15 pm: Sánchez has been diagnosed with a contusion on his index and middle fingers, but x-rays came back negative (via Hoch). He is currently listed as day-to-day.
2:08 pm: Yankees catcher Gary Sánchez was removed from this afternoon’s game against the Rays before the bottom of the fifth inning, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com was among those to relay (Twitter link). Sánchez was struck in the right hand by a foul tip in the prior inning. While he stayed in the game to take his next plate appearance, Sánchez was replaced by Kyle Higashioka thereafter.
There’s no indication Sánchez’s injury is serious at this point. If it does require he miss time, Higashioka would figure to pick up the bulk of the playing time behind the dish. Those two are the only catchers on the Yankees’ 40-man roster, so another move would be forthcoming if Sánchez isn’t able to make an immediate return to action.
Rob Brantly and Robinson Chirinos are both in the organization on minor-league deals, but the latter remains on the mend from surgery to repair a wrist fracture last month. That seemingly suggests Brantly is next in line should additional catching depth be required in the Bronx.
AL Injury Notes: Anderson, Rays, Cabrera, Schmidt
The latest injury updates from the American League…
- The White Sox expect to activate shortstop Tim Anderson from the injured list when he’s first eligible Thursday, manager Tony La Russa told Scott Merkin of MLB.com and other reporters. The former batting champion has been down since April 5 with a strained left hamstring, and the White Sox have turned to a combination of Leury Garcia and Danny Mendick in Anderson’s absence. Garcia has gotten off to a terrible start this year, while Mendick has been great over an admittedly tiny sample size of 12 plate appearances.
- The Rays placed right-hander Chris Archer on the IL on Saturday with forearm tightness, but they’re optimistic he won’t miss too much time, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times relays. While Archer won’t throw during the next few days, the hope is that he’ll return to the mound by the end of next week. Archer, with whom the Rays reunited on a $6.5MM guarantee in free agency, has been limited to two appearances and 4 1/3 innings in the early going.
- More on the Rays from Topkin, who writes that center fielder Kevin Kiermaier ran “at about 70 percent” Monday and could return to their lineup within a week. Kiermaier went on the IL on April 6 with a left quad strain, and the Rays have since used a combination of Manuel Margot and Brett Phillips in center.
- The left biceps strain that sent Tigers designated hitter/first baseman Miguel Cabrera to the iL over the weekend is mild, Jason Beck of MLB.com tweets. The Tigers are hopeful that Cabrera will miss “the shortest amount possible.” Cabrera came out of the gates slowly before the injury, as the future Hall of Famer has hit .125/.222/.292 in 27 plate appearances this season.
- Yankees righty Clarke Schmidt, who is dealing with an elbow strain, received a cortisone injection Monday, per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. He could go back to throwing either this week or next if all goes according to plan. Schmidt was only supposed to sit out four weeks when he went on the shelf in February, but his injury hasn’t healed as quickly as expected.
Injury Notes: Kim, Alfaro, Andujar, Schmidt, Reds
Kwang Hyun Kim is slated to toss a 90-pitch simulated game today, Cardinals manager Mike Shildt told reporters (including Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch). Kim tossed another simulated game earlier this week, so the left-hander may be just about on the verge of rejoining the Cards’ rotation during the team’s upcoming series against the Phillies from April 16-18.
Back problems sidelined Kim for a good chunk of Spring Training, requiring an injured list placement to begin the season. The 32-year-old is looking to build off an impressive debut season in Major League Baseball, as Kim posted a 1.62 ERA over 39 innings (thanks to a 50% grounder rate and a lot of soft contact) in 2020.
More injury updates from around the sport…
- Marlins catcher Jorge Alfaro was scratched from yesterday’s lineup due to what the team described as “lingering tightness in his left hamstring.” Manager Don Mattingly told SportsGrid’s Craig Mish and other reporters the Marlins may decide tomorrow whether or not an IL stint is required. Counting today, Alfaro will have been sidelined for four straight games, and Miami doesn’t have another off-day until April 19. Should Alfaro hit the injured list, Sandy Leon is the only catcher in the Marlins’ farm system with any big league experience, so the team could select his minor league deal and install Leon as Chad Wallach‘s backup.
- Yankees manager Aaron Boone provided updates on Miguel Andujar and Clarke Schmidt to reporters (including ESPN.com’s Marly Rivera and Newsday’s Erik Boland). For Andujar, he is already hitting off a tee and will start hitting out of the batting cage next week as the 26-year-old is trying to recover from right carpal tunnel syndrome. Schmidt, meanwhile, is getting a second opinion on his bothersome right elbow, which is still giving him discomfort after almost seven weeks. Schmidt was shut down back in February for what was supposed to be three or four weeks due to a common extensor strain in his right elbow — for what it’s worth, Boland noted that Boone today described the injury as simply a “right elbow strain.”
- Shogo Akiyama and Sonny Gray are each progressing well in their injury recoveries, writes Mark Sheldon of MLB.com. Akiyama has been expected to return from a hamstring injury in early-mid May, and Reds manager David Bell says the outfielder has had “zero setbacks” in his rehab. Gray, meanwhile, is in line to make his return from a back injury by the end of next week. It’s a little less clear when Cincinnati can expect Michael Lorenzen back; the right-hander’s recovery from a shoulder strain is “not as going fast as he would like,” Bell said (via Sheldon).
Giants Acquire Thairo Estrada
The Giants have acquired infielder Thairo Estrada in a trade with the Yankees in exchange for cash considerations, the two teams announced. Estrada will head to the Giants’ alternate training site and be added to the 40-man roster. Outfielder Jaylin Davis (left knee tendinitis) was placed on the 60-day injured list in a corresponding move to open up a 40-man roster space.
New York designated Estrada for assignment earlier this week to free up roster space for the newly-acquired Rougned Odor. Estrada has spent his entire professional career in the Yankees organization, hitting .280/.337/.389 with 26 home runs over 1949 minor league plate appearances from 2013-19 and .214/.267/.348 over 121 PA at the Major League level in 2019-20. Rather than his bat, Estrada’s value came from his defensive versatility, as he logged a lot of playing time at shortstop, second base, and third base in the minors, and also made a few appearances as a corner outfielder in 2019.
Estrada may have a tough time breaking into a Giants depth chart that is already full of multi-positional infielders, but he might be a better depth option behind Brandon Crawford at shortstop than Donovan Solano or Mauricio Dubon, particularly since Dubon has been increasingly deployed as an outfielder.
Davis was already expected to be sidelined for four-to-six weeks due to his knee issue, so the 60-day placement will allow Davis some time to fully ramp up in the minors before the Giants consider finding a spot for him on the active roster. The 26-year-old has seen action with San Francisco in each of the last two seasons, appearing in 21 total games with a .515 OPS over 59 PA.