Rockies shortstop Trevor Story has torched opposing pitchers this year with a .300/.321/.820 line and a league-high seven home runs in 54 plate appearances, but his propensity for striking out makes him a candidate for a severe decline in production. Though Story has posted a bloated 38.9 percent strikeout rate so far, manager Walt Weiss isn’t worried, writes Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. “I still think Trevor is competing really well, and he’s still a dangerous bat at the top of our lineup,” Weiss said. “That’s why I’ve continued to run him out there.” Since last hitting a homer a week ago, Story has looked mortal during a 6-for-24 slide. Alarmingly, he has struck out 12 times and walked only twice in that stretch.
More from the National League:
- Pirates general manager Neal Huntington said Sunday that he hopes first baseman/outfielder Mike Morse is able to find a major league opportunity after the team designated him for assignment earlier this week. However, he expects the Bucs would “have to take back a significant amount of money,” tweets Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Morse, 34, is owed $8MM this year and coming off a season in which he hit just .231/.313/.336 in 256 PAs. That obviously won’t cut it for a bat-only player like Morse, though he was a standout offensive performer as recently as 2014. Then a member of the Giants, he batted .279/.336/.475 with 16 homers in 482 PAs.
- Reds right-hander Homer Bailey is making progress in his recovery from May 2015 Tommy John surgery and is poised to begin a rehab assignment. Bailey will start at least three minor league games before potentially rejoining the Reds next month, according to Mark Sheldon of MLB.com. Injuries have befallen Bailey over the last two seasons, but he put up back-to-back 200-inning campaigns from 2012-13 and combined for a 3.58 ERA to accompany a 7.92 K/9 and 2.29 BB/9. Bailey inked a six-year, $105MM contract in 2014 with the Reds, and his career has taken an injury-influenced turn for the worse since. The Reds could certainly use a healthy Bailey, as their rotation has been disastrous this season aside from Raisel Iglesias and Brandon Finnegan.
- Here’s an interesting tidbit: Pirates manager Clint Hurdle expects a woman to break into the major leagues as a player at some point. “I still believe firmly there is going to be a day where there is a female player in the big leagues. I got that. Where it goes, I don’t know. I don’t believe I’ll be in the dugout to see it,” he said (link via Matt Eisenberg of espnW).
There will be either a submarining left-handed reliever or a knuckleballing starter break through in the next five years. Of course, I said that five years ago. And ten years ago. Fifteen, too.
Both have already happened. Multiple times. Derp.
I believe ItsThatBriGuy meant a woman with that was either a submarining left-handed reliever or a knuckballer. Not a male pitcher with those traits.. Derp.
I’m with Clint, sooner or later there will be a woman in the MLB other than the typical locker room ‘issue’ people talk about I don’t think there is one down side to it. I’m actually surprised it hasn’t happened yet There has to be women out there that are just as good if not better than many of the current MLBers out there.