We’ll round up some news from the NL Central.
- Cardinals outfielder Dexter Fowler sat out yesterday’s intrasquad game with back tightness, manager Mike Shildt told reporters (including Anne Rogers of MLB.com). He won’t take part in today’s Summer Camp work, either. Shildt categorized Fowler’s absence as merely precautionary, calling him day-to-day. Also sidelined today is utilityman Brad Miller, who’s dealing with heel soreness, per Rogers. As with Fowler, the Cards appear simply to be exercising an abundance of caution with Miller.
- Pirates outfielder Sócrates Brito has returned to Summer Camp, tweets Adam Berry of MLB.com. The 27-year-old had tested positive for COVID-19, but fortunately is asymptomatic and has twice tested negative for the virus, per MLB protocols. The out-of-options Brito was once a well-regarded prospect in the Diamondbacks’ system, but he’s not found any MLB success in parts of four seasons. All told, Brito has a career .179/.216/.309 (33 wRC+) line in 218 plate appearances at the game’s highest level. The speedster has been much better in Triple-A, with a .297/.345/.491 slash in over 1500 plate appearances.
- Pirates first-year pitching coach Oscar Marin brings a newfound fluency in pitch data and biomechanics to the position, players tell Berry. As Steve Adams of MLBTR explored in March, the previous coaching staff- predominantly manager Clint Hurdle and pitching coach Ray Searage- advocated a sinker-heavy diet for most players, even if their pitch movement data suggested a north-south, four-seam heavy approach could’ve been more effective. (Steve’s optimism that Chris Archer, in particular, could rebound with such an approach was dashed by the subsequent revelation that Archer would need surgery due to thoracic outlet syndrome, but the general point remains). While the Hurdle-Searage staff wasn’t entirely averse to data, reliever Nick Burdi tells Berry the club is “starting to utilize (analytical information) a bit more,” under Marin and new manager Derek Shelton.
An abundance of caution… is it me or are baseball players simply getting soft over the years??
it may come from a better understanding of how injuries heal. in yester year players might have played through pain more, perh
aps causing long term damage and harming players and their careers.
Playing through said pain ended up ending some careers. If some of today’s caution was used in those good old days, some of those one or two year phenoms may have healed properly and could have been known as former stars instead of flash in the pans. We will never know the answer to that.
It all started with Tommy John, that softy.
@fannclub6 – It’s you.
Also, since owners have to pay players closer to their real worth these days, they’re more cautious with their investments.
$10,000 investment vs. $10,000,000 investment?
It’s you.
I agree, it’s you @fannclub6
Didn’t think of the money aspect. I guess the owners should protect their investment and players need to protect themselves.
It is indeed a different game today
Thanks Sheep, MWeller and gbs
It’s not you, they are definitely entitled babies. Salary, plus food in the clubhouse, plus paid travel, plus staying in 5 star hotels, plus meal money, plus medical, etc. etc.
Curse those players wanting their share of a $10B industry.
Where did he try to put a curse on them? Hyperbole much?
This year especially teams want to be careful with there better players as each games counts for what would normally be 2.7 games.. that’s huge.. you want to stay as healthy as possible!
You said better players…..we’re talking Fowler here in this article :)
Ouch! But good point.
@fannclub6 In this modern era of baseball, teams expect pitchers to throw 100 mph and hard on ever pitch. I wouldn’t say they are soft but maybe pushed to hard to throw each pitch as hard as they can. When a pitcher loses a little speed off their pitches, they become expendable. Not every pitcher is going to sustain their power throughout their careers. Josh Lindblom ex-Giants pitcher is prime example of power pitcher who became expendable. Others include Donte Willis, AJ Burnett, Chris Sale, etc etc. It’s tough to see teams not trying to transfer these guys into ground ball pitchers later in their career after 8 seasons in the MLB. That is usually when pitchers lose their speed on pitches. They can still be dominant with a changed approach and be once of the top pitchers in the league. Justin Verlander comes to mind as someone who was a big power pitcher and had to change his approach later in his career while being successful. It prolonged his career without forcing himself into a Tommy John as most clubs have done to pitchers. Another thing I see is your typical RP being stretched out to a SP because they can throw 100 mph. Causing many to go under the knife. It’s poor management by majority of the league. Yankees and a few other clubs are the still “old school” and work with pitchers to adjust to their decrease in speed of pitches by implying more breaking pitches and spin rates on the ball. There are not many clubs who try to help the pitchers without blowing their arms out.
Dexter Fowler = Soft
Dexter Fowler=overpaid mediocre player.
Dexter Fowler = Better than the majority of MLB players in history and also overpaid.
Dexter Fowler OPS+ of 97 as a Cardinal = overpaid, below average, aging player who is blocking another below average prospect, which = the current Cardinals OF is pathetic.
Last time I checked getting drilled by a pitch still hurt, can’t be soft and play baseball
Jon Jay’s A&& disagrees.
If only Lonborg hadn’t gone skiing …
Amen to that my friend. He never was the same, different pitcher even in his half way decent years as a Philly many years later.
Thanks for the update on Socrates Brito.
What is the status of: Antisthenes Brito, Plato Brito and Aristotle Brito?
Plato, Aristotle, Socrates? Morons.
You’re really that smart?
*said in my best British accent*
“Never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha”..thud!
They’re all in the football match against the Germans.
Rumor is that Bernardo Brito will attempt a comeback !!
Sócrates Brito might be my fave baseball name since Sixto Lezcano
I’m partial to Emilio Bonifacio. It’s just fun to say.