Left-hander Ryan Weathers was something of a surprise inclusion on the Padres’ NLDS roster, as the 20-year-old had yet to pitch in even a Double-A game, let alone a Major League contest. Still, Weather made his MLB debut in tonight’s Game 1 and impressed, tossing 1 1/3 scoreless innings and allowing two walks but no hits.
Earlier today, general manager A.J. Preller told MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell and other reporters that Weathers has “always been a strike thrower, and he’s continued to get better over the last few months….Honestly, it’s just giving another quality arm to [manager Jayce Tingler] and see how he wants to use him.” The seventh overall pick in the 2018 draft, Weathers has a 3.78 ERA, 4.91 K/BB rate, and 8.5 K/9 over his 114 1/3 pro innings. Working out at the Padres’ alternate training site, Weathers has seen his fastball velocity jump from 91mph last season to the 96-97mph range this year. He topped out at 96.4mph tonight, working a steady array of fastballs, sliders, and sinkers to six members of the fearsome Dodgers lineup.
More from around the majors…
- The Cardinals rank 23rd of 30 teams in home runs since the start of the 2017 season, and their 51 homers in 2020 was a league low. There’s no easy way to correct this power shortage, leaving The Athletic’s Mark Saxon to speculate that St. Louis might need to make some tough choices to get some more pop into the lineup without drastically (or at all) increasing payroll. For instance, could the Cards again trade from their depth of pitching prospects for a bat, even while their need for additional arms might be greater in 2021? Or, a more drastic option could be to decline Kolten Wong’s $12.5MM option for 2021 and install Tommy Edman at second base, freeing up some money to land a slugger.
- The Blue Jays face a lot of possibilities as they look to upgrade their roster this offseason, and the Toronto Star’s Gregor Chisholm explores several of those options as part of a reader mailbag piece. In Chisholm’s opinion, the Jays should consider trying to move Randal Grichuk in order to improve the outfield defense and to get some of Grichuk’s contract off the books — Grichuk is owed $29MM through the 2023 season. Grichuk is an imperfect fit as a center fielder but he did rebound from a tough 2019 to hit .273/.312/.481 with 12 homers (112 wRC+, 114 OPS+) over 231 PA this season, so that offensive production could attract some trade suitors.
if the Pads try to rely on guys with no high minors experience they’ll eventually get burnt. should’ve gotten Weathers some regular season experience if you thought to bring him in here.
Anyone know if a players service clock starts if their first MLB experience is in the playoffs?
no
No, but now he’s locked into a 40 man slot
No, it does not count for service time. Nor do playoff stats count in career stats.
Weathers did okay. But once the Dodgers (and other teams) get a good look at him, they’ll adjust.
Hope they add re-seeding after every round in future years, why are the top two teams in the NL playing in the LDS? Just because they’re in the same division?
I don’t like it.
Not because they’re in the same division. San Diego is a wild card team. Why should they be re-seeded to a #2 seed when Atlanta won their division?
Especially when the Braves are better than the Padres
Yessir indeed.
Easy to say when they probably won’t play each other again until next year. Padres had a better record.
I think the original poster is saying because the Padres finished with the second best record in the NL, they should have the second seed and shouldn’t have to face the first seed in this round.
To seed teams based on record would totally negate having divisions.
The Padres example doesn’t work because they were the wild card team, even if they did have the second best record. The American League bracket though it didn’t play out like this. The Astros beat the #2 seed, thereby taking their spot.
If you re-seeded in the next round for the AL it would have been Rays vs Astros (the highest and lowest seed) and then A’s vs Yankees.
Honestly I would have rather seen that because right now the two best teams in the AL, the Yankees and Rays are playing in the DS when they should be playing in the CS.
So I’m guessing clev only went an inning so he could pitch again before series is over?
Padres would be fools to rely on Clevinger at this point.
Probably the opposite, there’s clearly something wrong with his arm, he lost 5mph on his fastball in between innings and could barely get the second pitch to the plate.
It’s more likely they shut him down for the year and grab another arm off the taxi squad.
That long inning did not help. They should have scored and instead loaded the bases and lost their ace
In reality if he went down that quick, he was “feeling good” more on adrenaline than getting better imo. It was just a matter of time till he couldn’t go more
It would explain why in last 2 weeks he’s been up and down in the reports. When his adrenaline is flowing he can feel good. But long down period, or in between days, his arm has time to start barking
But the long inning, let down they didn’t score after all that, he lost 4mph on his pitches. I hope it’s Still not structural But that’s just not a good sign
I doubt it. I think he’s done for this year.
@commonsense. I suspect that Clev really really wanted to get out there and pitch. If this had been the middle of the regular season, he might have stayed out a while.
I don’t think trading Grichuk would be a bad thing, but they should only do it if they can add someone significantly better. No point moving him for a marginal upgrade.
Springer as a free agent or maybe trade for Marte? I know Miami just added Marte, I think they decided to try and go for it in this bizarre/shortened season…they generally don’t like to retain expensive vets and have plenty of prospects, just a thought.
Marte is a FA if Marlins don’t exercise his $12 M option. Cards can just sign him. Three years at that same $12M per ought to do it.
Oh, I didn’t know that, guess that my I’m a guru…ish. I used to be full of knowledge but 3 kids and old…er’ people life has slowed my pace. I was thinking Springer or Marte for the Jaya though, not Cards… Randy out and a more traditional CF in.
@Lou Orlando why would the Marlins DFA Marte if he can get that kind of money as a FA? Like at least exercise the option then trade him for a prospect or two.
Grichuk managed -0.7 dWAR in 55 games. As a CF, he has to hit like an all-star to make up for his lack of range and work out as an average player. I say trade him to anyone who’ll take the contract even if it’s for a bag of baseballs, while his relatively good hitting season makes it possible. He might have some value to a team that needs a corner outfielder.
Blue jays have three left fielders. prefer to move Grichuk. It looks like guerrero will be dh. /parttime first base. they do not have dh available.
Close the book on Sunshine 2020. Balls and strikes not something to get tossed over even though some calls were seemingly one-sided (the 3-1 to Tatis comes to mind). Weathers should have gone longer, the kid was dealing and we needed the innings eaten. Clev to IL (?), perhaps it truly is Gore time. Hats for bats time, boys. Gear up. Keepin’ the faith!
Gore’s not on the roster.
Gore is on the taxi squad, they can add him to the roster with an injury if they make a 40 man spot for him.
Theoretically they can add him to roster if they IL Clev, but I doubt they will we will find out at 10 am
Decline the option for Wong? Are teams so hurting for money that they can’t afford $12.5 million for a player that is good for 2-3 WAR a season? This off season should have some bargains for teams that are willing to spend.
I agree. This off-season could be quite crazy. I can see a lot of players holding out because they want pre-COVID money and team simply not wanting to move. I can also see some guys understanding the situation and taking a deal for far less than their value traditionally would be worth. I also see more shorter contracts, 1 year deals etc than norm.
in a depressed market you can probably get a better player for less
If they need pop, they should look for it in the outfield corners. Start the season with Wong and Edman, then promote Nolan Gorman after you get that extra year of control for a little more power.
Wong is definitely a keeper. He is arguably the best second baseman in baseball. St. Louis has one of the better cash reserves in baseball, so $12.5 million is just a drop in the bucket for a player of Wong’s abilities. I’d rather start Wong over Edman at second. The problem is that St. Louis prefers to remain cheap. They gambled on Carpenter and a few other free agents that fell to the bottom of the heap after signing their contracts. Perhaps they are just paranoid about free agents BTW, it was nice to see Goldschmidt rebound. Since the name of the game is home run hitters who strikeout a lot, they need to spend a few dollars on a couple of that type of outfielders. Their wonderful pitching prospects are burning out much too fast, like so many pitchers do in today’s game, so they need to hang on to as many as they can simply to replenish the roster whenever one gets hurt, and, they all will eventually get hurt. I think St. Louis is also leaning too much on prospects. No matter how good they are in the minors, it is a small percentage that makes it in the big leagues. Still, I’d like to see Carlson get a shot. Same for Gorman at third. Edman’s value is he can play many positions and can be an every day player, playing anywhere on the field as needed. Eat Carpenter’s contract and bench him, trade him, or cut him from the team. He is a good guy, just a bad baseball player. Too bad, he had such promise at one time.
Wong better than Altuve, Albies, Torres, Merrifield, LeMahieu?
No, no, no, no and no.
At least with the glove, Wong is arguably the best on the field, not with the bat. I stand corrected. Altuve has been humbled without his buzzer, so he is out of the conversation. The rest, as the overall best, I concede. Corrected statement s\b Wong is a better fit at second base in St. Louis.
Suppose they had kept Ozuna’s 18 HR’s and 56 RBI’s ??
What can I say? management let him go while he was wanting to stay.
let’s not limit power to corners, if you can hit with power, why limit it?
Cardinals should call the Blue Jays for some payroll relief. If it means choosing between Wong or Carpenter, the Cards would rather have Wong.
Now that Grichuk is coming off a better season the Jays should consider dealing him. They might be able to land the same production from another player at half the cost and for just one season, maybe two. Or go all out on Springer.
This web site has always said that Grichuk doesn’t produce, yet many other MLB players of Grichuk’s ability and talent have been crowned as stars by the very same writers. The guy isn’t a superstar and is average at best, but he is better than any outfielder in St. Louis and they gave him away to make room for low dollar bottom feeders who cannot produce at the major league level. Cardinal management is likely the problem of the St. Louis franchise. My words are spoken with true 20-20 hindsight!
Carlson is a keeper, but Cards need to improve the other two OF spots. O’Neill and Bader can provide some pop, but at what cost? A .220 BA. Fowler is toast but we’re stuck with him for now.
Reds have OFs all over the place. Tough to trade within your division, but maybe can pick up somebody cheaply. Rockies are another team with OFs galore. The oft-injured David Dahl is probably available. And maybe, if he’s gonna opt out of his contract when he gets the chance, Rox put Arenado in play.
Wouldn’t mind Cards taking a shot on Gregory Polanco (Bucs). If there’s a guy who needs a change of scenery, it’s Polanco.
Lastly, wouldn’t mind Brandon Nimmo for a corner OF spot. He’s not really a CF and Mets are still trying to make room in LF for Smith, Davis and on occasion, McNeill.. Like reds and Rox, maybe the crowded OF presents an opportunity to pounce?
I think the first trade the Cardinals need to make is for a new GM
Better scouting/talent evaluation.
Agreed, and the second is to dump Moz
Exactly. The Cardinals seem to operate by Connie Mack’s philosophy, (paraphrasing) “remain competitive enough to give the fans hope so they show up and fill the stands.” However, the fans are losing hope. It is time to step up, starting with management.
How about a new hitting coach while you’re at it. And the need to keep Wong. Decent bat and great defense. They need to look at 3rd and the outfield. DeJong is good but needs more rest. Edman (IMHO) is overrated but could be a good utility player who plays 4 days a week keeping others rested. And do whatever to dump Carpenter. What’s the point of a sub .200 hitting DH.
That’s a good place to start, a new approach to hitting might help alot of players
The president of baseball operations needs to go first!!!! I’m glad others are finally realizing he, as a non-baseball player himself, hasn’t a clue as to how to evaluate top or even potentially top talent. As is grossly evident in the number of starting players on all of the playoff teams who were once in the Cardinal organization!!! Plus, with the exception of Goldschmidt, his trades and free agent signings has made the Cardinals around a .500
Team on a yearly basis. Also, the stupid contracts he’s given to over the hill past stars, including Matt Carpenter, have financially strapped do the Cardinals both financially and
Put star minor leaguers held down in the minors or traded because a past his prime former star is playing the same position on the big team shed o him. (Carpenter vs. Voit at first base)—-(Carpenter vs. Edman or Gorman at 3rd base)
Ryan’s daddy was mighty good. Enjoyed watching him pitch all those years. Wow. 20 and already pitching in the playoffs.
Rangers possibly could be interested in a trade for Grichuk involving Lynn and perhaps an addition of Heineman, who upgrades LF defensively but not offensively. for Jays.
I like what I saw from Weathers. 20 years old, had a good presence on the mound, and attacked very good hitters in Seager and Bellinger. Secondary stuff needs work but he’s 20 and never pitched above a ball so thats expected.
So who do you call up to replace Clevinger? Lucchessi, Perdomo, or Altavilla.
Side note: Idk why Tingler is insistent on using Austin Adams as a 1 out weapon. Always seems to bring him in for 1 out then switches to another pitcher next inning.
Strahm didn’t look right either. Hopefully Davies can give them some innings today.
Hey Gurriel had a strong last half offensively & Defensively, He stays, Jays need to upgrade CF & get Grichuk contract off the books. Lynn is 33, Stay young Jays. Don’t take on any contracts over age say 28
Grichuk alone does not get Toronto Lance Lynn anyways. Texas would also be looking for at least one major league ready prospect from Toronto, most likely a pitcher (if not two prospects). Lynn is going to return some quality talent no matter who Texas trades him to.
People around the Rangers have started to speculate that a 1v1 deal for Lynn might be explored this off-season and not an actual package deal. I still want to see Clint Frazier come to Texas, but we’d have to add more to that deal. Maybe Groshans?
Jays wouldn’t deal Groshans.
@jimmertee 100%, they definitely wouldn’t deal Groshans for Lynn.
Cards sound like they need Joey Gallo. I wouldn’t hate a Lynn-Gallo mega deal for some of their top prospects.
Hey the BlueJays could go for Kevin Pillar. They haven’t had a good Cf since they traded him away to make room for Derek Fisher. I love what Atkins said when they picked up Fisher. “Amazing tools and can play all 3 outfield positions” …yah sure. Atkins can’t evaluate talent.
Or they could try Anthony Alford whom they released for Fisher.
Stick with Davis or Atkins May make another stupid decision.
Alford needs to stay as far away from Toronto as possible. He finally got some playing time for the Pirates, and in 5 games he showed some actual promise with the ex-top prospect bat. I hope he can find his footing elsewhere because he needs playing time to be successful.
100% agree ranger. I have always believed that Alford was going to be a late bloomer. All is needs to do is find his swing and look out, very good player.
He was given many opportunities in Toronto, above others who may have even deserved it more. Some of the years he was called up and got injured, in others he performed horribly in the minors and didn’t deserve to be called up before September. The same thing happened in Pit that often happened in Toronto. He go injured. He played football as well for his first 2-3 years in the org when he was ranked as a top organizational prospect which slowed his development. Also, I wouldn’t say a sample of 12 Ab’s enough to say someone is showing promise.
also i doubt anyone wants Grichuk. he bounced back this year but it was a small sample. overall meh player paid to peoduce more then he has. no one wants that.
We agree Darkside. Over the course of a full season he would have regressed. In fact towards the end of the season he was slumping compared to the hit streak. That is Grichuks career MO, be hot for a month or two then disappear for months on end.
Grichuk: Good power, decent glove. But both come at the expense of a lousy BA, OBP and lots of Ks.
Agreed, I think there are many options similar to Grichuk that can be had for close to nothing. I’d go after one of those options if Grichuk costs more than nothing.
st louis should turn the clock back and keep voit, aroz and alcan.
Cardinals should dump Fowler and Carpenter then trade for Arenado and sign Springer or Marte and sign depth Starting Pitchers!!
tbone: Christmas is still almost three months away. Arenado, Springer and Marte, eh? You don’t have a stocking that big hanging on the mantle.
mo thinks his sock is stuffed
Marte is a Fowler deal waiting to happen. No thanks
With John Mozeliak’s history over the past 5+ years, I don’t see him actually capable of making any kind of trade or free agent move to bring in a young quality power hitter who would help the Cardinals in 2021.
The Cardinals are strapped down salary wise now because of bad trades, and poor over the hill
free agent signings Mozeliak has made over the past 5+ years.
It is obvious to people looking in from the outside to see, just by watching former Cardinals playing on current teams in the playoffs, how many star players Mozeliak has either traded away or refuse to resign. Voit and Ozuna come to mind quickly as power bats given away by Mozeliak. That in its self indicates Mozeliak hasn’t got a clue how to evaluate talent. Using numbers alone.for analization of players talents has become Mozeliak’s down fall. Thus it is the down fall of the Cardinals starting line up too.
It’s time to quit playing and paying once productive players such as Matt Carpenter. Quit signing injury plagued players with past big baseball names and start the more productive players on the cards roster.
Mozeliak needs to quit trying to fit a round peg into a square hole such as he’s doing with O’Neil, Thomas, etc. in the Cardinals outfield.
The definition of insanity is to keep trying the same experiment day after day and getting the same results…. while expecting the answer will change. That is a great definition of John Mozeliak’s history over the past 5+ years!!
Bottom line…… There will not be any improvement made for the Cardinals in 2021. Unless Mozeliak resigns. Fat chance of that because he couldn’t make neat the money he’s making with the Cardinals with any other team.
They need pitching but I hope Springer is the number one target for the Blue Jays.