Rockies prospect David Dahl was at one point thought to be out for the season following a collision that led to a massive laceration on his spleen, but he’s now opted for a splenectomy and, incredibly, is hoping to return to the field within six weeks, agent Adam Karon tells ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick. “David has put in an incredible amount of work the last two offseasons, and he just couldn’t fathom the idea of a shortened season,” Karon told Crasnick. “…A normal person would just leave the spleen in. But for an athlete, there’s an additional risk of the spleen rupturing again in a collision. David said, ’I can’t play the rest of my career worrying about this, and I don’t want to miss any more time this year than I have to.'” Dahl got off to a slow start at Double-A this season, but it seems likely that he’ll get a chance to improve those numbers yet — an outcome that seemed impossible as recently as one week ago.
Here’s more from the NL West…
- The Dodgers are in the midst of a 72-hour window to make a decision on veteran right-hander David Aardsma, writes Jacob Unruh of The Oklahoman. The 33-year-old Aardsma has been lights-out in relief for the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate in Oklahoma City this year, but the team may not be able to find room for him on the 25-man roster. Aardsma’s contract contains a June 1 opt-out that triggers the 72-hour window; he must be added to the roster or he can elect free agency. Aardsma reworked his mechanics and went throw a program called Top Velocity this offseason in an effort to rediscover his velocity, and he tells Unruh that he feels he can contribute to a Major League bullpen again. If the results in Triple-A are any indication, that may well be true, as Aardsma has posted a 2.55 ERA with a 21-to-7 K/BB ratio and 15 saves in 17 2/3 innings thus far.
- Archie Bradley is placing the Diamondbacks in a tough spot, writes Zach Buchanan of the Arizona Republic. The top prospect won a job in the rotation out of Spring Training — impressing the team so much that they traded Trevor Cahill to clear a place for him — but he’s struggled since returning from a frightening injury. Bradley missed two weeks after being struck in the face by a Carlos Gonzalez line drive, and since coming back, he’s averaged just four innings a start and allowed 19 runs in 15 2/3 innings. Bradley maintains that the injury isn’t the reason for his downturn in performance, but as Buchanan notes, the D-Backs rank at the top of the league in terms of innings pitched by their bullpen. Bradley’s current inability to work deep into games is further stretching the club’s relief corps, but despite that troubling trend, general manager Dave Stewart told Buchanan that there are “no plans right now” to make a move involving Bradley.
- Speaking of Cahill, the right-hander recently spoke to the Republic’s Sarah McLellan about being traded to Atlanta at the end of Spring Training. Cahill said that it was “kind of shocking” to be traded with just one day of camp remaining, but he ultimately told himself to view the transaction as a new opportunity. Of his time with the Snakes, Cahill told McLellan, “I worked hard and competed as best as I could, but I wished I could have done more to help the team.” His struggles have persisted to this point in Atlanta, where he’s pitched to a 7.33 ERA with 12 strikeouts against 11 walks in 23 1/3 innings and ceded his spot in the rotation to young flamethrower Mike Foltynewicz.
- A pair of NL West news items came in late last night as well, for those who had turned in for the evening: the D-Backs announced that Tuffy Gosewisch will miss the remainder of the season with a torn ACL, and veteran righty Juan Gutierrez opted out of his minor league deal with the Giants.
Archie Bradley’s BB/9: 2012: 5.6, 2013: 4.1, 2014: 5.3. This should not be some big surprise to AZ’s front office. His performance his never matched his prospect status
In 2013 he threw 152 innings of 1.84 ball as a 20 year old in AA (mostly). That’s what fueled his prospect status. Sure his BB/9 was 4.1 but it also came with a 9.6 K/9 and 6.8 H/9. I’d argue that is a very impressive performance especially considering his age.
I don’t agree that that is what “fueled his prospect status”. From what I remember what fueled his prospect status was people seeing his electric stuff shortly after the draft and his draft status. He did pretty well in 2013 with periphals with some outliers that were obviously not sustainable (beyond era like hr rate and a shoddy k/bb rate). There was no reason for the diamondbacks to push him to the rotation this year, it was a weird decision.
After his 2013 season his ranking peaked as he became a consensus top ten prospect. Clearly his dominance that season had some effect. He had electric stuff and was dominating in a league that had a median age 4.5 years older, that context matters. It is not uncommon for a young pitcher to improve his walk rate, it is very unlikely he will just discover the type of stuff Bradley possess.
Bradley being up in the majors is another issue all together. It may have been too soon but he was performing well before the line drive to the face. Hard to say whether his recent performance is due to that injury or readiness.
Young pitchers are all over the place when placed into the 5 man mlb rotation. In times past these pitchers would be put in long relief and worked in slowly. I think we also need to look at the game breakdowns on the Bradley’s and Tajuan Walkers…I think if we do we’ll see a tendency to lose it in about the 4th inning to major league batters.
this is not to say he is a bad prospect or won’t work out (though I do think he is a bit overrated and probably won’t be a front of rotation guy), but I do feel he was rushed.
Based on the crap the Dodgers threw out there today in game 1, Aardsma’s an upgrade.
Carlos Carrasco wasn’t too sharp in his first few outings after getting hit by a Melky Cabrera line drive. It took a few starts, but Carrasco is dealing once again.
Can’t find a spot for him? Just follow the smell to Chris Hatcher’s spot!
David Dahl, the Splendid Spleenter.