Rockies starter Jordan Lyles has apparently escaped last night’s injury scare with nothing more than a significant bruise on his right hand, Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post tweets. Lyles says he hopes to make his next start, though it is probably too soon to tell whether he’ll miss some action. The 24-year-old was struck on his throwing hand by an Albert Pujols comebacker last night, with the subsequent swelling leading many to fear that he may have suffered a fracture. Lyles and Eddie Butler have arguably been the Rockies’ most consistent starters this season.
More from the NL West…
- Hector Olivera is expected to arrive in Los Angeles tonight, CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman reports (Twitter link). The Cuban infielder will take his physical and, presuming all is well, his agreement with the Dodgers will finally be official.
- James Shields is delivering on the mound and in the clubhouse for the Padres, leading USA Today’s Bob Nightengale to wonder if the several teams who passed on Shields this winter are now second-guessing their decision.
- Wil Myers has tendinitis in his left wrist as the Padres hope that a few days of rest will help the outfielder avoid a DL stint, MLB.com’s Corey Brock tweets. Myers underwent surgery on his right wrist last year, though he was dealing with an existing left wrist injury at that time as well.
- Don Mattingly deserves credit for keeping the Dodgers in first place despite several key injuries and some underperforming stars, Joel Sherman of the New York Post opines. There have been rumors that the team’s new front office could bring in their own manager after the season is over or if the Dodgers struggled, yet Sherman feels Mattingly is staking his claim as a long-term answer in the dugout.
- Despite the growing buzz surrounding Troy Tulowitzki’s name, a source tells the Record’s Matt Ehalt that the Mets haven’t changed their thoughts on acquiring the longtime star shortstop. Ehalt cites Tulowitzki’s injury history, the money remaining on his contract and a repeated unwillingness from the Mets to part with top-tier pitching prospects. Wilmer Flores, who homered today, has shown good pop but questionable on-base skills and defense in his first extended look at shortstop in the Majors.
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports discussed the Rockies in his latest piece, writing that it’s “obvious to everyone” but Rockies owner Dick Monfort that the time to trade Tulowitzki has come. However, rather than look to begin moving pieces in the wake of a 10-game losing streak, the Rockies are still actively searching for starting pitching in hopes of improving the club. Rosenthal notes that the second wild card spot in each league can often act as “fool’s gold,” leading teams without legitimate hopes of contending to delay, or in some cases, refuse to sell off pieces with an eye toward the future.
Leading MLB in HR allowed, having a FIP of almost 5 and an ERA of 4.20 away from Petco doesn’t really make me feel like a ton of teams are second guessing a 4 year, 75M dollar commitment to James Shields
He’s also leading the NL in strikeouts currently.
And? Doesn’t mean anything. Even bad pitchers (not saying Shields is bad) can rack up strikeouts. Kluber leads all pitchers in Ks and has an ERA over 4.20
Agree with you, but I don’t think Kluber is the best example to use.
I just took a look at the league leaders. I’m sure there is a better example, but its early in the season.
And ERA is a lousy way to evaluate a pitcher. Especially one who has started 7 games
The original line in the article suggested that Shields was making people regret not signing him based on what hes done so far. So the ‘only 7 games’ argument is irrelevant.
ERA and WHIP are the ONLY good ways to evaluate a pitcher
Right he’s the most recent recipient of the CY Young in the AL.
Kluber won the CY Young last year, you trying to say he’s not a good pitcher?
Thats not what I said at all.
Hes struggling, but still racking up strikeouts. Even a struggling pitcher can rack up strikeouts. Maybe my wording was bad. Sorry
I’m sure his ERA will improve but a 4.20 ERA is basically giving up 3 ER in about 6-7 inning of work which isn’t bad.
But it’s not good either
The strikeout is one of the most overrated statistics in baseball
I don’t think many questioned if Shields would have a bad or be average this year, it’s just the latter years of his contract many think he might be in a decline. But AL pitchers who transition to the NL usually have more success it seems overall.
I saw him handle a hot hitting Mariners club on Wednesday evening. He reminds me a bit of Tim Hudson… Not stuff wise…but how he uses it and presence.
Mattingly has some strengths like handling individuals and many past questionable moves are often overlooked now when players are generally performing better. Now that he has been having better performances from the bullpen especially, few of his moves get questioned whereas he got dumped on in the past when he brought in a reliever who did not do the job. His one area of weakness is that he will face some opposing managers who are able to keep one move ahead of him tactically – like Bochy, Black, Matheny. Mattingly may make a move, then they make a countermove that trumps him. I think the bench coach needs to be more involved in that area of the game
I always thought Ned was the problem, partciuarly w/ the weird roster management. That bullpen was a dumpster fire last year and was nearly impossible to mix and match w/ besides Kenley in the 9th. Bad bullpen almost certainty means a mediocre or bad team, yet they won 94 games last year.
In fairness, most of the bullpen personnel this year were part of the organization last year. If you are going to blame Colletti for the likes of Wilson and Perez, you might also want to give him credit him for signing or hanging onto Garcia, Baez, Rodriguez, Howell and Frias.
Yeah, but I highly doubt Ned breaks camp with 2 rookie relievers on the roster. These pitchers were also in the org. last year, but he kept Perez, Wilson, and Wright on the roster for the whole year.
It really isn’t up to the GM to decide who makes the roster out of spring training. In any case, Wright, Perez and Wilson had just been signed, and Frias, Baez and Garcia were still raw rookies. Rodriguez wasn’t available. Hindsight is always 20-20, and often the real story is the dog that didn’t bark. None of those arms were traded, and I’m sure they’d have been marketable.
Not trying to dog on Mattingly, as he was my favorite player growing up, but have you seen that Dodger offense? It’s pretty easy to keep a team afloat when you have 9 players with at least 50 PA and a .375 wOBA. Seven of them have wOBAs above .400 and they can match that with their top SP of Kershaw and Grienke and a good BP. That is a good, deep team.
James Shields delivers for everyone but Domino’s and teams in the playoffs
I’m yet to see him deliver Pizza Hut to my door.
I believe the Hut is Justin Masterson’s route. But his car is a little shaky and breaks down from time to time.
Shields is a good, solid ML pitcher. He gives a team innings and wins more than he loses. Is he a future Hall of Famer? NO. Is he worth the money he’s getting? Probably not but that’s a relative term considering some of these other contracts that have been given out. So far, Shields is producing more for his money than Scherzer or Lester and is on target for another 200+ innings season.
I’m kind of glad that the Mets are showing some patience with Flores. I’m sure it’s borne out of financial cheapness and (rightful) unwillingness to unload pitching, but he’s only 23 with 135 MLB games under his belt. He’s starting to look a little better out at SS and his arm strength is improving (this is anecdotal, of course). On pace for about 20 doubles, 20 HR, and around 2-2.5 WAR. Not bad for essentially a rookie SS.