Some items from around the AL East…
- Alex Rodriguez left the sixth inning of today’s game with left oblique stiffness, and a postgame MRI was negative, according to a Yankees media release. The veteran slugger will travel to Arlington with the rest of the team for a series with the Rangers, though it’s yet unknown if A-Rod will be able to play. Joe Girardi told reporters (including Josh Thomson of the LoHud Yankees blog) that if Rodriguez needs some time off, it could necessitate a DL move so the club wouldn’t be playing two men short. Aaron Hicks is resting a shoulder injury suffered on Friday and is expected to miss a few games after receiving a cortisone shot, so he could also be a DL candidate should the Yankees need to bolster their depth.
- Steven Wright has gone from injury fill-in to unexpected ace of the Red Sox staff in April after posting a 1.40 ERA over his first three starts. WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford talks to Boston scout John Lombardo, who saw potential in Wright as a knuckleballer back in 2011 when Wright was an Indians farmhand and pushed the Sox to make a trade.
- Drew Hutchison threw a solid outing for the Blue Jays today, and as MLB.com’s Alykhan Ravjiani notes, the right-hander could provide an important depth role for Toronto’s rotation. Hutchison lost his rotation spot due to a rough 2015 season and is now at Triple-A, though the Jays could call on him for spot outings to keep the rest of the rotation fresh. With Aaron Sanchez known to be eventually moving back to the bullpen to limit his innings, Hutchison could also boost his case for regular starts later in the season.
- There are some concerns within the Orioles organization about 2015 first-rounder DJ Stewart’s struggles both at the plate and in the field, MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko writes. In 285 professional plate appearances (and low-A and high-A ball), Stewart has managed only a .214/.303/.330 slash line. Obviously it’s still quite early in his career and Stewart is only 22 years old, though the O’s have thus far not seen much from the 25th overall pick in last year’s draft.
It’s just a matter of time before A-Rod goes on the DL. NYY fans were treated to a surprise year last year by him; however, what no one takes into consideration is he had a whole year off (courtesy of a little PED use) to heal his body. During the stretch last year his age began to show big time For the 2016 season all he had was an offseason to try and recover. His body probably never fully recovered and he will become a liability by mid-season. It’s too bad GB is out for the year. This could have been his year to solidify a spot in the lineup.
Hopefully Hutchison makes the most out of these spot starts. If he can become more consistent, he can be important to the Jays down the stretch. When he’s on he can be a very good pitcher.
“When he’s on he can be a very good pitcher”. Isn’t that the case with every other pitcher in the MLB?
Why does Sanchez have an innings limit by not Stroman? It just seems to me the Blue Jays have little confidence in Sanchez are are holding him back. I personally think he will be their best pitcher within a year or two.
I wonder how long will the Blue Jays keep beating the dead horse known as Dickey? I think the team should give him a Sandoval-esq trip to the DL and give Hutchinson three or four starts to see if he can return to what he once was. The ceiling for Drew is still far higher than Dickey who has been pretty bad this season outside of 5 innings in his last start. I would love to see Dickey replaced; he doesn’t give the team a good chance to win and he is also the reason why the Blue Jays have such a very substandard back-up catcher. Not having Dickey also means no Thole.