There’s a chance Astros shortstop prospect Alex Bregman, the second pick in last year’s draft, will make his major league debut sometime this season. “I wouldn’t rule out him getting [to the Majors] this year, but we have to see how the rest of the season goes for him and if there’s an opening for him at the big leagues,” general manager Jeff Luhnow told Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. If the ex-LSU standout does break in with the Astros this season, it’s unlikely to come at short, where the team already has young star Carlos Correa firmly entrenched. Given Correa’s presence, the Astros had Bregman play third base for the first time Friday with their Double-A team. “I feel like I’ll be very comfortable here really soon — really, really soon,” Bregman stated. Proficiency at the hot corner from the 22-year-old Bregman would bode well for the Astros, whose third basemen have hit a weak .221/.302/.358 this season.
More from two other American League teams:
- The Yankees’ three-headed relief monster of Dellin Betances, Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman was in top form Saturday, combining for 3 1/3 innings of eight-strikeout, one-hit ball in a 2-1 win over the White Sox. Chapman’s velocity was particularly awe-inspiring, as the left-hander averaged 100.5 mph on 17 fastballs and topped out at 102.5 mph. Despite the excellence of Betances, Miller and Chapman, Joel Sherman of the New York Post wonders how often the Yankees are actually going to be in position to take advantage of having one of the greatest late-game troikas ever assembled. The victory improved the Bombers to just 15-20 on the season, and their below-average offense once again failed to generate much (albeit against premier lefty Jose Quintana).
- Rangers right fielder Shin-Soo Choo, out since early April with a strained right calf, will begin a Triple-A rehab assignment Sunday and could rejoin the major league club Friday, reports Stefan Stevenson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Thanks to the emergence of stellar rookie Nomar Mazara, whose promotion came as a result of Choo’s injury, there was once expected to be a corner outfield logjam upon Choo’s return. However, the Rangers have since demoted center fielder Delino DeShields and shifted Ian Desmond from left to center. Once Choo comes back, Mazara is a good bet to move from right to left, writes Stevenson.
- Though the Yankees placed right-hander Luis Severino on the 15-day disabled list Friday with a triceps strain, they’re not using the injury as an excuse for his highly disappointing start to the 2016 season. “His arm strength is there, but his stuff is not there,” said GM Brian Cashman (via Chad Jennings of LoHud.com). “He doesn’t have command of his fastball. He doesn’t have command of his secondary pitches. His changeup and slider have been inconsistent. It’s not health related.” Manager Joe Girardi backed up Cashman, saying, “You don’t throw 97, 98 (if you’re) hurt.” Severino has averaged 95.5 mph on his fastball, up a bit from last year’s 95.2, but his 7.46 ERA through 35 innings is nearly five runs worse than the 2.89 mark he put up in his 62 1/3-frame major league debut last season. The 22-year-old’s K/9 has also dropped off markedly, going from 8.09 to 6.94, as he’s yielding more contact while generating fewer swinging strikes.
The back end of the Yankees bullpen is pointless if they can’t win games, which right now looks like it will be the case.
Nova went 5 innings of 1 run ball, Tanaka has been solid and Eovaldi is sharpening up again. Sabathia is going to come back soon and has been great too. Their rotation has such bloated stats because of Pineda and Severino.
It has nothing to do with their rotation, which isn’t any good, it’s that fact that their offense is one of the worst in baseball
I think looking at their last 10 games is a better assessment of what kind of offense they can have this year. They have, on paper, improved on the offense that they had last year. With an improving rotation and offense, I think by the All Star break they will be back in contention
It is one of the worst thanks to an awful April, where they finished dead last in runs scored
In May, they are 15th in runs scored. They’ve won 7 out of their last 10 against the first and second place Orioles and Red Sox, the defending WS champs, and the first place White Sox.
They only won 1 game at Baltimore, the Royals are struggling just as bad as the Yankees this year so winning that series isn’t very impressive, and the White Sox are finally coming down to earth. I’ll give it to them that winning the series against Boston was pretty impressive even though Boston’s pitching is terrible.
Not how you start. It’s how you finish. KC won’t struggle all year
Well goodness, by your requirements for facing good teams, the Yankees should have about 150 cupcake games so they shouldn’t have many issues going forward.
Good pitching always beats good hitting…. Who ever gets there pitching straightened out first in the AL east wins the prize…that’s a fact
When Severino comes off the DL they should send him down to work on all of the command issues. Part of the issue may be Severino reading his press clippings. He needs to concentrate more on his command rather than riding his star-car.
This kid looks scared to me. I don’t think it’s a “star car” thing. He’s bigger and stronger than last year and he’s throwing with more velocity. The best explanation I heard was that he’s throwing everything too hard. The off speed differential is too close and hitters are timing him better, this year. He’s throwing 95+ fastballs and should be getting better results, even if he’s missing location from time to time, unless hitters are pretty sure what’s coming. Everyone is far too enamored with velocity and I think that’s what got into this kid’s head.
Severino’s biggest issue is his mechanics. As most scouts have noted, he’s almost all upper body; he doesn’t get his lower half involved enough. A major problem with throwing hard with little lower-body involvement is, you guessed it, the risk of arm injury is much higher. I’m not sure how the Yankees haven’t fixed this yet; I’m sure they’ve tried. Pitchers with his mechanics almost always end up in the bullpen. .