Kyle Schwarber has been informed by doctors that he cannot play in the outfield during the World Series, as MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat writes. The young Cubs slugger, whose remarkable recovery from a torn ACL and LCL has been one of the most notable narratives of the postseason, will be limited to a pinch-hitting role while the series is played under NL rules at Wrigley Field. “It’s not disappointing at all,” Schwarber said. “It was a long shot at the most. Obviously, I want to be out there with my teammates, but facts are facts. I just can’t physically do it. I’ll be ready any time during the game to be out there to pinch-hit.” Schwarber, of course, remains a threat for the Cubs even in that limited role. Despite the lengthy layoff, he went 3-for-7 with a double (which was nearly a home run) in the first two games of the World Series while serving as a DH in Cleveland.
More from the division…
- Baseball America’s J.J. Cooper has posted a review of Reds righty Ariel Hernandez, who was just added to the club’s 40-man roster. He’d have been a sure Rule 5 pick otherwise, Cooper explains, because he delivers not only an upper-nineties heater but also a devastating curveball. Hernandez has taken a winding road to get to this point, nearly leaving the game and battling through persistent control problems until Cincinnati plucked him from the Diamondbacks last winter in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft.
- Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that commissioner Rob Manfred would not commit to any type of deadline regarding MLB’s investigation into the Cardinals’ unauthorized accessing of the Astros’ proprietary computer network, Ground Control. Manfred reiterated that the goal of the investigation is to be as thorough as possible and called the process “ongoing” but declined further comment. As Goold notes, though, the Cardinals are entering the offseason under the impression that they’ll be able to conduct business as usual. Nonetheless, it seems inevitable that the Cards will face some degree of penalization, with the loss of draft picks and/or significant international signing restrictions among the speculated means of league-imposed discipline.
- The Pirates got away from their focus on ground-ball pitchers a bit in 2016, but manager Clint Hurdle tells MLB.com’s Adam Berry that keeping the ball on the ground will remain a “cornerstone” for the Pirates’ pitching staff moving forward. “We tried some outliers this year to attack it a different way,” said Hurdle of the team’s disappointing 2016 run. As Berry explains, the Pirates are likely to target a veteran starter to join the rotation alongside the likes of Gerrit Cole, Jameson Taillon and Chad Kuhl this winter, and it would seemingly stand to reason that a pitcher who is proficient in inducing grounders would be the target.
I sure wish they would have penalized them a long time ago, gets real old of reading daily about this
Agreed.
If the Pirates and their uber-cheap owner can’t afford Nova, then it looks like Jhoulys Chacin is their guy. If they won’t pay Nova, then they can’t afford Fister, Hill or Hellickson either.
Chacin’s GB% is just above 50% and he can probably be had very cheap on a 1-year deal. Ugh, I thought this crap ended when McClatchy sold the team…
With the lack of interest last year and having a down year in 2016, I don’t anticipate Fister being all to expensive, but I do see your point.
as an angels fan, I wouldn’t mind the pirates getting weaver, I want them to keep him but if there is one team for him to go to its the pirates, I think Ray Serage can fix him and turn him back into the bulldog that he was,
Orioles will trade Pirates Britton and Christian Walker for Mccutchen and Glasnow.
But the pirates will not
The pirates do need a veteran starter, but I wonder if they will go the trade route because they have so many starters. Obviously the three locks showed above but also Nick Kingham, Trevor Williams, Steven Brault and Tyler Glasnow. They should trade a couple of those guys for a borderline #1-2 starter.
But we already have one of those in gerrit cole?
They probably won’t trade more than one of those guys, but they could trade one of them. I’m not sure Brault belongs in that group, as I don’t know if his ceiling is as high as the others. As for Cole, after the last half of his 2016 season, there are legitimate questions about whether he is a #1 or #2 starter… but as long as it’s possible that Cole is the ace, the Bucs are not going to spend the money to bring in another one if they might end up paying Cole, or if they think Taillon/Glasnow/Kingham or whomever could be that guy.
I would like to see the Bucs bring back Nova. Short of that, I still feel like they go the “rebound candidate” route even though they got burned trying that with Niese and, to a lesser extent, Vogelsong. Fister might be the route to try.
Kingham will be just like Taillon this coming year and be a strong addition to the staff.
The surprise will be who they find on the market.
I don’t really see the Cardinals receiving anything more than financial penalties since there has been no disclosed evidence that anyone other than the individual who perpetrated the hack knew the hack had even occurred before the federal investigation started.
Well, as a result of that one idiot doing the hack, the Cardinals benefitted from it with or without knowledge of the hacking, like the draft, etc. So I understand why they’ll get punished, but I just wish they’d do it already
I think Manfred is waiting until after the new CBA. It may give him more/different powers to punish teams for organizational violations like what the Cardinals, Red Sox, and Padres have committed.
I would trade Glasnow if I were them to Tampa for Archer or Odorizzi. I don’t think he can become a consistent starter with his command and tendency to rack up a high pitch count. Looks like an elite reliever to me. Cole isn’t a #1 at this point, and Taillon can probably be a third starter at best, so they need another top guy and really need to let go of dead weight like Jeff Locke.
Glasnow is one of the best pitching prospects in the bigs. So the bucs would be getting archer. I agree cole is a great #2 guy but just doesnt have the it factor to be an ace. But to say that taillon is a #3 guy at best is just stupid to say. Kid has a higher ceiling than cole and can undoubtably be a #1 guy given he develops the right way.
Time to dump cutch for a major league arm and a backup catcher
I think you quietly shop McCutchen this winter and put out feelers. See how he starts the season and if it doesn’t look good, unload him.
I heard the Pirates have already been shopping McCutchen. Sounds like Meadows is about ready.
If they choose to wait til the season starts and he is still struggling or digressed even more, then why would anyone else want him? Do it now this offseason while his value is at its highest.