As he’s wont to do, agent Scott Boras lobbied on behalf of one of his clients Saturday, the Cubs’ Jake Arrieta, brushing off concerns about the right-hander’s early season velocity drop. As Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com notes, the 31-year-old Arrieta has lost 2.5 mph on his fastball since 2015 – his NL Cy Young-winning campaign (he averaged 94.6 mph then) – but Boras doesn’t see it as a big deal. “The question becomes what’s (Clayton) Kershaw averaging? He’s throwing 92.5 mph,” said Boras. “(Zack) Greinke is throwing 91.8 mph. (Max) Scherzer, when he was a free agent, was throwing 92 mph.” Perhaps thanks to his decline in velocity, Arrieta has struggled to prevent runs in his contract year (4.92 ERA in 56 2/3 innings), but Boras still regards him as an “elite pitcher” who has proven it time and again in the regular season and playoffs.
More from around the game:
- In yet another unfortunate break for the injury-laden Mets, left fielder Yoenis Cespedes felt soreness in his right quad Friday and won’t take live at-bats until at least Tuesday, Marc Carig of Newsday was among those to report (Twitter links). Cespedes’ setback occurred while running the bases in a Class-A rehab game, and the club scratched him Saturday as a result. There had been hope that Cespedes would return during the Mets-Brewers series between Monday and Wednesday of the upcoming week, but that no longer looks like a possibility. The Mets have been without Cespedes since late April, when he landed on the disabled list with a hamstring strain after getting off to a blistering start (.270/.373/.619 with six home runs in 75 plate appearances). Notably, a right quad injury hampered him at times last season.
- As they prepare to pick first overall in next month’s draft, the Twins are doing their due diligence on six players, but Vanderbilt righty Kyle Wright has emerged as the front-runner, writes Jim Callis of MLB.com in his latest mock draft. Like Wright, Louisville first baseman/left-hander Brendan McKay is garnering strong consideration, notes Callis, with California high school righty Hunter Greene, North Carolina high school lefty MacKenzie Gore, California prep outfielder Royce Lewis and Virginia first baseman Pavin Smith also in the mix. Between Wright and McKay, the former has the higher ceiling, per Callis.
- The Indians’ rotation could be in for a bit of a shakeup: Ace Corey Kluber, on the DL since May 3 with a strained lower back, will rejoin the team Thursday, relays the Associated Press. To make room for Kluber, righty Danny Salazar might head to the bullpen, reports Paul Hoynes of cleveland.com. While all 95 of Salazar’s career appearances have come as a starter, the flamethrower hasn’t helped the Tribe in that capacity this season. Salazar has failed to complete six innings in five straight starts, including a 5 1/3-frame loss to the Royals on Saturday, and has pitched to a 5.50 ERA in 52 1/3 innings. While the 27-year-old has missed bats at a superstar-caliber level (12.55 K/9, 15.8 percent swinging-strike rate), he has offset that with a lofty walk rate (4.82 per nine) and a sky-high home run-to-fly ball ratio (22.9 percent).
- The Astros, meanwhile, are also making an adjustment to their rotation. Mike Fiers had been scheduled to start Monday in Minnesota, but he’ll go to the bullpen in favor of Brad Peacock, tweets Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle. The role reversal will stick if Peacock pitches well, manager A.J. Hinch indicated. Fiers has been a rare weak link for the formidable Astros this year, having recorded a 5.21 ERA (with a ghastly 7.56 FIP) in nine starts and 46 2/3 innings. Peacock, on the other hand, has logged a microscopic ERA (.87) in 13 appearances and 20 2/3 frames. He picked up his first start of the year in a win over Detroit this past Monday, tossing 4 1/3 scoreless, one-hit innings and tallying eight strikeouts. Peacock has been racking up strikeouts throughout the year (13.06 K/9), but control has been an issue (5.23 BB/9).
“as he’s wont to do” am i the only one confused here?
hopefully moving salazar to the bullpen for a spell turns out like it did for carrasco. moving carrasco to the pen a few years ago sure helped him turn a corner. hopefully the same can be said for danny. he’s got all the potential but is super frustrating to watch.
I’ve had that exact thought all season. Maybe he should pitch out of the stretch, too?
sure didn’t hurt cookie.. might as well try it with danny
Salazar goes from a cy young contender if he stayed healthy last year to a reliever this year
It’s crazy. His 5.50 ERA is so far out of line with his typical ERA. I hope they figure out the problem
Arrieta has declined so much since 2015. He is pure garbage now. No one will even give him 100 million
Pure garbage is pretty extreme. He’ll probably get something around 5/90 or something next season, unless he has a really strong second half/postseason. Personally, since Arrietta is a total jerk I hope he doesn’t succeed, but he’s still a good pitcher.
He seems to get hit hard by any decent hitting team. His sinker has lost the movment that made him so dominate in 2015
*dominant.
“Dominate” is a verb.
Agreed on the last sentence, but I just can’t fathom 5 years with his age and declining performance. Jeff Sullivan seems to think a slight mechanical tweak could fix it, but we haven’t seen the dominant ace since April of 2016. A full calendar year later, is he really worth 18 MM per year for something that happened two years ago?
How is he a total jerk lol
Google is your friend.
I Googled it and found nothing.
The only controversy I’ve ever seen from Arrieta’s camp while he’s been with the Cubs is his tweet after the election about Hollywood elites leaving the country, but I’d hardly say that makes him a jerk.
There’s that and his silly contempt for any modern statistic, and the way he treats reporters who are just doing their jobs. He actively belittles people who ask him questions.
And lol at him calling out “hollywood elites” btw. This is a man who gets paid tens of millions of dollars a year to play a game. (As he should, I’ll add).
Exactly..they’re the crybaby’s! Examples Miley Cyrus and Michael Moore..oh if he’s elected we’ll leave the US. How can anyone miss them when they never left!
That doesn’t make him a jerk, that makes him a man with a view you disagree with. Do you think everyone that thinks differently than you is a jerk?
Sorry, this was specifically about the first sentence, re: contempt for statistics.
Watch an interview with Arrieta and a reporter after a bad game. He is so mean to them. No reason for that at all. They are doing their job, just as he is.
And he isn’t just contemptuous of modern stats – he is actively mean to the people who work in that field. There’s interviews in which he belittles the people at Fangraphs, for example, That’s not nice, and those people work really hard. And they never belittle him.
They are belittling him with their stats this season. Or is it Arrieta belittling himself because he stinks now?
3 years, max. Given his performance….if this keeps up, he’s in absolutely no position to make demands. And, if I’m a GM, even 3 years would make me extremely nervous.
GM’s weren’t born yesterday. They know he’s on the decline and is nowhere near the pitcher he was for those few magical years.
In my opinion, the good times are over, as far as Jake goes. He has been this way for too long to write it off as a slump, and the metrics are proving that he’s on the decline.
Starting pitchers peak between 29-31. Arrieta is done.
exactly shark got 5 for 90 million ah an era of almost 5 so Arrieta will get at least that
Shark was in the AL though. His performance was more impressive. But your point stands Arrieta won’t have problems getting paid.
Scumbag Dave strikes again.
I can see something like 3/75, or a 4/80 for Arrieta or a one year pillow contract like Beltre years ago
“As he’s wont to do” = rookie talk
More like “I don’t know English” talk……..
Look up the definition of “wont” (not won’t, but wont). It’s English, pal.
Thank you Aiden.
“Wont to do” is a great phrase. Remember the days when people would look up a term or phrase they didn’t know? Effort, I miss effort. You keep it classy, Connor Byrne. Also, Arrieta has himself in a less than favourable spot – bad timing, bad advice.
You must be even older than Vin Scully himself. I was born in 1990, but my mom was born in 1954. She’s age 62, and tells me that people were always too lazy to look stuff up. And she lived in Los Angeles until 1984. Maybe she just missed the boat in terms of that era of non laziness.
Guess, per fangraphs, who is the only pitcher in MLB history to throw a faster fastball in his 40’s than he did when he was in his 20’s? Hint: He’s an active player and IMO clearly started juicing starting in 2012.
Bartolo?
Cespedes breaking down from the pre contract roids! They eventually catch up to you.
Stop
The guys numbers jumped in NY..just in time for the contract/opt out. Age and track record don’t add up,and the injuries seam pretty reminiscent of past dopers.
Lol, accusing someone of taking steroids because they finally figured stuff out while here in America. Let me guess, Yankees fan? Fun!
So his Detroit/Oakland days never happened in your world?
Bad guess. Eventually you will get it. Perhaps after the 4th of July when your team’s season is over you can put on your jets helmet and stop making believe you know it all.
His time with those teams plus Boston were nothing like this and he’s older. Where there’s smoke!
Ok so he’s had one bad season in his career in Boston… I’m sorry you think he’s on steroids just because he had a down season like literally every other player in the league does
Just saying the two years following his debut were pedestrian. Detroit and Boston were part of that. Once he got to the Mets,he started playing superhuman(his contact year by the way). He’s been breaking down every since.
Have you looked at his Detroit numbers? Theres a reason he costed the Mets Michael Fulmer as a rental…
CONTRACT YEAR!
Cespedes was always injury prone and the NL is a far weaker league than the AL. This steroid absurdity has to stop. He gets tested all the time, like every ML player.
it’s time to Stop!
Not taking roids per se, but taking too many deep divots daily does take a toll on the legs.
Cubs are better off not resigning Arrieta
“Wont to do” has been used all my life. We have the internet now. My gosh, how hard is it to open another window to look it up before calling out the writer? It must be hard reading all of those punctuated and complete sentences(and for those of you who would like a gold star sticker for reading it all, I’ll be glad to disappoint you). I guess if you didn’t know something or just plain disagree, it must be inaccurate or plain wrong. It reminds me of an episode of King of the Hill where Hank is trying to help and tell his niece how silly she is being, and she proceeds to ignore him by covering her ears and yelling “Uh Uh! Hee-haw! Hee-haw!”… Yep…
I looked it up and was surprised to find that it was accurate. Though, I hardly blame people for not knowing the phrase, it seems like a typo if you aren’t familiar with the phrase.
Most people don’t actually read the articles at all. They read the headline and the first sentence and then begin commenting.
Did bor-ass really use one year wonder arrieta in a sentence with Kershaw and Sherzer??? The guy is delusional…
To be fair, he had roughly two and a half good seasons. Yes, Boras is full of hot air but give Arrieta his dues.
I am enjoying that so many people are focusing on the vocabulary here. I’m familiar with the phrase and very well read but it even felt a little off to me seeing it at the first sentence of an article. I think that’s what has drawn so many comments here that it kind of stops the reader for a second as it’s a strange opener. But on the other hand, who cares? Write the way you want as long as the information is solid and insightful.
Boras will always be the guy I remember as saying that Edwin Jackson (his client, of course) would be a better investment than Yu Darvish. The guy could open a used car lot and sell everything in stock in ten minutes. At least he believes so.
If the Twins draft Wright over McKay I’m going to be pissed
Why?
I prefer Wright personally, but obviously, it’s a real question that people within baseball are struggling with. I personally prefer Wright’s stuff over McKay’s advanced command and collegiate performance, but to each their own
Same. Mckay reminds me of the type of pitcher the Twins always go for: low 90s FB, good/great control and command. Those types of pitchers end up no better than number threes in a rotation. The Twins need number threes, but I’d aim higher at 1-1. And in my opinion, McKay’s bat isn’t elite enough to justify 1-1 either.
Wright has the stuff to be a number 1: mid 90s FB, above average curve and slider. His command/control isn’t what McKay’s is, but these last 6 games, or however many, shows that he can definitely harness it and get better. And they say he still has room to improve. That’s what I want.
yeah it’s interesting how there are three pitching options they have one super high upside super high risk, one low-risk low-reward, and one that’s in the middle in wright. and I agree on McKay’s bat it’s good but not a 1-1 bat