Walker Buehler left last night’s game before he was able to get through the sixth, but it wasn’t due to poor performance. The promising young right-hander left due to a side injury. Thankfully, Bill Shaikin of the LA Times reports that Buehler is describing his injury as “bruised ribs”. There’s no word yet as to whether he’ll need to land on the DL for a stint, but the news ought to bring a mild sigh of relief to Dodgers fans. Such a description would seem to eliminate the dread of an oblique or intercostal strain, if Buehler’s self-description holds up. Bruises seem far less likely to disrupt his excellent season thus far; Buehler’s been worth 1.7 fWAR across nine starts in part thanks to a 4.91 K/BB ratio and 54.5% ground ball rate.
Other items out of the NL West…
- The Dodgers have received news on Justin Turner that’s far less promising, however. Shaikin also reports that Turner’s performance could be diminished all season by lingering wrist issues. The slugger spent most of the season thus far on the DL after suffering a fractured wrist during a spring training game. Shaikin also points out that he’s been held out of the lineup in three of the last four games, and has managed just a .668 OPS since returning from the disabled list.
- AJ Cassavell of MLB.com revisits the Brad Hand extension in his recent piece, reminding readers that it significantly reduced the likelihood of the reliever being traded any time soon. Hand has been one of the best relievers in baseball in recent seasons by metrics such as WPA, fWAR and ERA, and though he’d certainly fetch a hefty price for the rebuilding Padres, they now control him through 2021. That’s a season in which they could feasibly be contending for a title. For his part, Hand certainly had that in mind. “”When I signed the contract, that was the big part of it,” he said. “I wanted to be here, I wanted to help the young guys come up, and I wanted to win a World Series here.”
- Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo believes Ketel Marte is “100% playable” in spite of a recent injury, says MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert. However, Lovullo adds that he “created some tenderness” with a headfirst slide into third base this past Sunday. He was held out of the lineup on Saturday, but the move seems to have been largely precautionary; his manager reportedly wanted to give him a day to get ahead of the injury. Marte has struggled to produce offensively throughout his career, sporting a .258/.313/.364 line since debuting in 2015. However, his excellent defense has played him to 2.6 wins above replacement, according to Fangraphs’ metric.
In today’s market Hand can lay some good prospects but id keep him vs trade him…given he’s controlled cheap for a rebuilding team.
I think it would be a bad move to not trade one of the best relievers in baseball when you are not going to contend for at least 3 seasons and his value alone could kick-start the rebuild
The rebuild is already in full mode… it won’t take another 3 years either
Seems that the biggest problem so far in moving Hand is that teams are not willing to meet the ask.
It really comes down to what offers teams are coming to the Padres with. They want a good return for Hand and they’re willing to wait a little longer to get it. There’s still time before the deadline, so maybe teams will start getting desperate as things play out. It’s possible Hand could be traded in the offseason too.
2020 by then Hand arm will fall off
Padres would trade hand if they got a great offer but the Padres farm is stacked so itd only make sense for them to take near mlb ready top prospects which teams covet nowadays.
The curse of Kendall Graveman.
why? because a pitcher threw inside to a guy who basically stands on the plate?
Well it’s Preller, so Hand probably won’t be traded when he should. And again, even in 2021, the Padres won’t be contending.
On this, we are in agreement.
I guess you really aren’t westcoastryan, my apologies.
We’ve seen this situation with the Padres before: holding on to a certain player too long and failing to trade him at his highest value. They did this with Headley after 2012 and with Tyson Ross the first time around. I really don’t want to see this happen with Hand.
Don’t get me wrong, Hand is awesome, but I just don’t see him still being the closer by 2021, when the team should be contending. That job will likely belong to Maton or one of their relief prospects in the minors. It only makes the farm stronger if they trade Hand, if not by the deadline, then sometime in the coming offseason.
All signs point to him being dominant for years to come and through his whole contract. He’s only 28, and 31 in 2021, which is plenty young for a RP.
The thing is, there is really nothing for the Padres to trade for at this point. Their first wave of hot lava will be up by 2020 (Tatis/Urias in the field, Quantrill/Baez/Allen/Nix/Paddock/Morejon on the mound plus the already arrived Lauer/Lucchesi). Their only glaring needs in this window are 3B (which they seemingly have a serviceable platoon option with Villa) and maybe OF (if Margot doesn’t rebound, or Hunter and Fran brothers never put it all together).
The one thing they will need in this window is an elite closer. So trade for it now, means returning prospects later to get it back. Yes, Maton will eventually take over but having 2 elite bullpen pieces is a must these days. Especially with a young SP staff. Hopefully they have a 2nd option in 2022 when his contract runs out (maybe another extension?).
Obviously, if you get an elite package you have to make the trade, but I just don’t see the suitors formulating. Would HOU part with Whitley or Tucker? Nats with Robles or Soto? CLE with Mejia? ATL with Wright/Soroka? I would guarantee a no on almost all these and anything further down the list doesn’t help the Friars.
An elite closer is also the area the Padres have never struggled with. For example, after trading Craig Kimbrel, they turned around and gave $3m to Fernando Rodney to have more saves the following season than Kimbrel did.
The padres: rebuilding since 1969.