Yordan Alvarez was a late scratch from today’s Astros lineup, as the young slugger continues to battle knee issues. Manager Dusty Baker told the Houston Chronicle’s Chandler Rome and other reporters that Alvarez arrived at the ballpark feeling knee soreness, which Baker suspected was from an awkward slide into third base during Saturday’s game. Alvarez has been dealing with bad knees throughout his young career, and he has already been limited to DH duty for this season.
Since past tests haven’t revealed any structural problems, it could be that Alvarez’s knees could simply limit him going forward, perhaps both in 2020 and beyond. It certainly isn’t what you want to see from a 23-year-old player, especially one who has been so productive even amidst this knee pain, and Baker acknowledged that the team will keep a close eye on managing Alvarez for the rest of the season.
More on some of the many injury situations popping up on a daily basis around baseball…
- Tommy Pham was removed during a ninth-inning at-bat during today’s Padres/Diamondbacks game. Pham was seemingly favoring his hand after hitting a foul ball, and left after a consultation with a team trainer. This is the second straight game Pham has left early, as he was removed during the second inning of Saturday’s contest due to cramping in both calves. However, he was back in today’s starting lineup as the DH and didn’t seem any worse for wear, going 1-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base. [UPDATE: the Padres are worried Pham has a broken hamate bone, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.]
- Franmil Reyes hit two home runs during the Indians’ 8-5 victory over the Tigers today, though Reyes’ big day had a painful ending after he was hit in the left hand by a pitch during a ninth-inning plate appearance. Reyes was removed from the game, though he was diagnosed with only a contusion after x-rays were negative. It seems likely Reyes will miss a game or two, though an injured list placement doesn’t seem likely at this point. Reyes has been one of the few highlights for a struggling Cleveland lineup, as Reyes has hit .316/.366/.553 with five home runs.
- Aaron Judge’s 10-day IL stint may be a minimal one, as the Yankees star told Newsday’s Roger Rubin and other media that he is already recovered from his minor calf strain just two days after his placement. “I was begging for just a couple days…and I don’t need 10 days to be feeling good. I already feel 100 percent now,” Judge said. While Judge is “frustrated with myself not being out there,” he “wouldn’t say I’m frustrated with the organization. This shows how much the organization cares for me and looks out for my well-being.” Given how much time Judge (and other Yankees players) have missed due to injury in recent years, it makes sense that the club would be as cautious as possible in making sure a seemingly minor injury didn’t blossom into a bigger issue.
I feel Yordan with the knees. I have bad knees too and they didn’t figure out what was wrong with them until I was 28.
What did they determine? If you don’t mind saying
I do hope the NYY does right by him when the time comes.
I need to see more from Judge. 2017 was magic, but he’s missed significant time since. I also don’t see how you sit Frazier down right now…
I think more so Frazier should start seeing time while Gardner takes a seat. Gardner’s time is coming to an end and his bat is just not there. Would rather have Frazier play everyday with Gardy as a defensive replacement late in games
Nailed it. And next year Tauchman follows suit.
He’s their biggest offensive star since Jeter retired. They’ll overpay but I hope it’s not a lengthy contract. Judge makes a good deal off endorsements as a NYY which I think he knows.
Good luck with getting Aaron Judge to sign a short deal lmfao
It’s a possibility given he won’t hit free agency until after his 30th birthday and his injury history. With two more arb-years left, if the Yankees offered somewhere in nine-figures to buy those plus, say three free agent years, Judge would do well to consider it. (Similar to deGrom accepting only 5/137.5)
At this point, I think the Yankees are in the drivers seat. They can go year-to-year with him for two more seasons and then let him walk if he shows signs of decline, keeps getting hurt, or if another team wants to make him a six or seven year deal for a mid-30’s Judge.
It’s really not a possibility. Look at what Stanton got, and he was about the same level of injury-prone and also only had a single great season to his name. Judge is one of the biggest superstars in MLB, and since he’ll be 30, he’s only going to get one big chance to cash in; there is exactly zero chance he doesn’t sign a long term megadeal. If the Yankees want to play coy like they’re in the “driver’s seat”, then they will lose him. Now, whether or not you think that is OK given his injury history or whatever can be up for debate, but thinking he’ll sign a short term deal to help the Yankees front office is not.
I promise you, Stanton’s deal isn’t making anyone want to lock Judge up long term. If anything, how Stanton’s contract looks now will limit Judge’s market to 5-6 years.
Saw Reyes get hit. It looked bad at first but after a few minutes he was fine. It looked like he was showing his hand to a teammate while poking at it in the dugout.
I hope so, but dude was seeing the ball so well I hate for him to miss any days right now. He is a streaky guy who was in the middle of a hot one. Would of loved to see how long it could last.
Ouch. Tough start for Pham. He’s really sucking down the AB’s too. His SLG is tragically low. I wonder how much more time the Padres will give him before they start benching him.
I think if he’s healthy they pretty much have to keep rolling with him, they don’t really have a solid bat to replace him. Main other options are Naylor and Oliveras who are both unproven and haven’t looked very good so far. I don’t think they’ll bench him unless he needs to go on the IL.
His BABIP is .250 which is way lower than his career mark of .335, I think some of it is tough luck. Looks like he’s smoked some balls, just right at people. If he ends up coming out of this healthy hopefully he would positively regress back to his career average eventually.
Damn you. I wanted to be lazy and not look at metrics but with your use of BABIP, I am forced to..and you are right. His exit velo is 92.5 mph, tied for his second best effort so far and well above league average. His Hard-Hit rate is 50% which is also well above average and would be a personal best if the season ended tomorrow. That all confirms that his BABIP isn’t low because he’s making weak contact.
Which means you are also right when you say they will or at least SHOULD roll with Pham.
Pham is like a china doll total injuries here and there something AJ should have been aware of prior to the trade. Is AJ on the hot seat if this team doesn’t make the playoffs this year I’d say see ya out the door. He’s had his chances over six yrs. and has shown little for a team payroll of almost $130M. Are the padres headed for another losing season? are we going to use the excuse Yates is out for the season? were suppose to have the deepest pen in baseball, right now its a joke. Does Tingler know what he’s doing with his pitchers?
Smartest move for the Yankees would be to try to sign Aaron Judge to a 8 year contract extension for $320 million with 2 club option years that could make the contract $400 million for 10 years. $40 million a year annually for 8 years is nothing to sneeze at.
1. Aaron Judge is much more likely to sign a 5-6 year deal in the $100-200 million range than he is to sign eight-years for over $300 million.
2. Those club options would be valued at $40 million AAV which is insane for Judge in his late 30’s even if he had never spent any time on the IL.
3. If they wanted to extend him I think a much more reasonable offer would be for five-years at $125 million with an option for a sixth season. Judge would lock in a very large amount of money while protecting himself in the case of further injury or decline while the Yankees three or four free agent years from Judge.
Thing is, the Yankees don’t have to do this. Judge has proven to be a great ballplayer who has been injured in three straight seasons now. He’s controlled for two more years and is already approaching 30. Unless they can get an Acuna-like steal of a deal, the smart course of action may be to see if Judge can stay healthy before committing what will certainly be nine-figures to him.
@Brandon Sans- definitely sounds like the perfect solution low ball him because he gets injured so he ends up leaving in 5-6 years for the San Francisco Giants? The whole purpose of the club option years was for protection if he were to get injured…smh
Would have been logical to mention Carlos Estevez in this post. Line drive to the wrist of his pitching hand.
$125 million for 5 years is a contract you would offer J.T Realmuto not Aaron Judge. Yikes!
As a Tigers fan, I can only say beware of paying a player for what he’s already done and not for what he will or may do! I know Judge is much younger then Miggy Cabrera but her looks as if he will age the same way, as in he’s a bigger guy who already has a long injury history. Miggy is playing a bit better this season but we’ll be (and have been) paying him like a mega-star and he’s basically a glorified singles hitting DH who can still go yard here and there. I love Miggy and appreciate what he’s done as a Tiger, but as soon as Mr. Illitch signed him to that contract I cringed knowing that we’d be paying the largest portion of it to him in his late 30s and would be on the steep decline by then. But the Yankees can afford to do so, so not sure what direction they’ll go. But just saying buyer beware!
I am tired of waiting for 20 years or so to get to a playoff game. Let’s face it the Padres are playing up to their expectations now and that’s now saying much.
We are the laughing stock of baseball year after year even the Marlins are showing better to this point. We need a C who can at least hit their weight.
Mejia a total bust thus far, pass balls and his BA is a joke. I say send Mejia down and bring up another C in our system. I don’t see Tingler making moves for a 60 game season, leaving in his RP too long, not pitch hitting, no hit n runs, etc
Yanks are locked into Judge, he is the face of the team. They give him a Yellich contract 7/200