J.T. Realmuto has been cleared for baseball activities, manager Joe Girardi told reporters (including NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Jim Salisbury). Realmuto’s tasks today included hitting off a tee and making 40 throws from 90-foot distances, as the catcher continues to work his way back from a right thumb fracture. There is some optimism that Realmuto will be ready to go for the Phillies’ opener on April 1, with Salisbury writing that the club could take it easy with Realmuto’s playing time over the season’s first week or so, should Realmuto still need a bit of prep time.
A brief injured list to begin the season also isn’t out of the question for Realmuto, as with backdating, he would only miss the first six games. Backup catcher Andrew Knapp would step in as the interim starter, though finding a second catcher could be a little complicated. Rafael Marchan (the only other catcher on the 40-man roster) is battling a hamstring problem, so the Phillies could need to open up a 40-man space to find room for Jeff Mathis or Christian Bethancourt, both in camp on minor league deals.
More injury updates from around baseball….
- Padres outfielder Trent Grisham left today’s game with what manager Jayce Tingler called “a slight strain in his hamstring.” Grisham didn’t think the injury was terribly serious, but Tingler told MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell and other reporters that Grisham will be re-evaluated tomorrow. Grisham enjoyed a breakout season in 2020 that included a Gold Glove, and while the Padres have a lot of depth, they won’t be able to easily cover center field if Grisham’s hamstring lands him on the IL. Jurickson Profar might be the top fill-in choice, as Profar has been getting some work in center field this spring.
- Ender Inciarte has been hampered by a thumb injury that has kept him out of action since March 4. Braves manager Brian Snitker told reporters (including Gabriel Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution) that Inciarte is “progressing, but he’s not to the point he can go out and get a game at-bat right now, so we’ll have to see.” As Burns notes, star prospect Cristian Pache was already looking like a strong bet to break camp with the team, and an Inciarte absence would all but assure Pache of a spot on the Opening Day roster. Inciarte hit only .190/.262/.250 over 131 PA in 2020, and is now entering the last guaranteed year of his contract. With Pache and another noteworthy prospect in Drew Waters both knocking on the door for MLB playing time, Inciarte might be in his final year in Atlanta even if he does have a bounce-back season.
- Cubs catcher Austin Romine hasn’t played since the weekend due to a right knee sprain, MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian tweets. While the problem isn’t considered to be too serious, there isn’t yet any plan for when Romine could return to action. The veteran catcher signed a one-year, $1.5MM free agent deal to act as Willson Contreras’ backup this season. Should Romine have to miss any time, veteran Jose Lobaton (in camp on a minors contract) would likely get the call, though the Cubs would have to make another move to add Lobaton to the 40-man roster.
- Marlins righty Jorge Guzman is battling elbow inflammation and will be “out for a bit” of time, GM Kim Ng told the Miami Herald’s Jordan McPherson (Twitter link) and other reporters. The hard-throwing Guzman was acquired as part of the Giancarlo Stanton trade in December 2017, and he ranked 87th on Baseball America’s top 100 prospects list prior to the 2018 season. Guzman made his MLB debut in cup-of-coffee fashion in 2020, tossing one inning and allowing two homers.
Jayce Tingler is the scariest movie of all time.
Whats your stats? 280, 5’9″? Usually that’s what it comes down to, its about you isn’t it.
Quite defensive. Definitely feels like it’s actually about you.
Phillies should DFA Bryce Harper to make room for Jeff Mathis. Hell, they should DFA the entire roster for Jeff Mathis. All you need is Jeff Mathis to win.
Shut the site down. No greater comment.
People are saying that Fernando Tatis Jr is the face of MLB, but they are wrong. Jeff Mathis is the face of MLB. We should all bow down to the glory of the GOAT. In fact we are all unworthy to be graced by his presence on the diamond and don’t know how lucky we are. 30 years from now when people are talking about the best players of all time they will be talking about the likes of Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron. Mike trout, Barry Bonds, and of course Jeff Mathis. Kids will pretend to be Jeff Mathis playing ball in the back yard in a sunny day. Jeff Mathis is the man every girl wants to be with and every man wants to be.
Breakout season Grisham hit .251 and .136 in postseason
i think that was also his fielding percentage in the 2019 postseason
It was only a wild card game so one can’t get too loose with the language, but watching him lose that game was one of those moments when oxygen is completely sucked out of all the ambient atmosphere where you are and you feel the earth moving.
What was Hosmer’s fielding percentage in the playoffs?
Imagine still using fielding percentage and batting average as a measure of success.
1.000 fielding percentage probably means good fielding.
A .400 batting average is probably good too.
Both measured as successful if accomplished.
Day is young and you’re using up all your stupid comments. Save some for the weekend.
We have better statistics.
Is a 1.000 fielding percentage good if you can’t get to 90% of balls others can get to? Is a .251 bating average good or bad? It requires the context of how much he walks, how many extra bases he is hitting. Those two stats in a vacuum tell you nothing about a player.
But, Trent Grisham might turn into Ted Williams if he got rid of his arm guard, right? Its a bit sad how you spout nonsense and then act as if you are some intellectual heavy weight. I think you should change your name to Dunning-Kruger.
Fielding percentage was an advanced stat back in 1905 when the fields were littered with rocks and pebbles. Today it’s pretty much meaningless, as Bill James demonstrated 40 years ago. You might want to check out UZR and DRS if it’s not too complicated for you.
Charlie Blackmon and Kevin Kiermaier had the same fielding percentage in 2020, yet they’re drastically different defenders. In 2019, Mike Trout and his teammate David Fletcher had nearly identical batting averages, yet they were drastically different hitters.
No no no, Trent Grisham wouldn’t turn into Ted Williams if he stopped using an arm guard. He means that Aroldis Chapman will start throwing like Kyle Hendricks if batters stop using the arm guard.
Hank those fielding metrics are flawed and a misrepresentation too. But please tell us why a 1.000 fielding percentage is bad.
mlb1225 not sure why thinking is a problem for you. Nowhere did I compare player to player, simply pointing out that 1.000 fielding percentage and .400 batting average is good.
If you are not prepared to counter that claim you should probably refrain from commenting. You don’t want to go full Nebraska.
As for arm guards, yes they help hitters. Why you can’t fathom that is a you problem. Once again you make a very poor argument comparing apples and oranges.
Nebraska how many walks do you need to drive in runs. 4 walks in a row? Ok, cool.
People who know baseball would take a .400 hitter on their team. You aren’t part of that group.
While I will admit that a .400 BA is usually very good, a 1.0 fielding percetage isn’t always good. Context always matters. You can be a well below average defender and not make any errors. I’m pretty sure everyone knows that Kevin Kiermaier and Jason Heyward are way better defenders than Ian Happ and Charlie Blackmon, yet all four have a 1.0 fielding percentage.
Sure they help hitters some, but are we really talking about a large margin of performance? Probably not. You’re whole basis for this ‘no arm guard=less Tommy John’ argument is that Tommy John has been on the rise since arm guards started to be used more frequently by batters. I feel there are way more and more plasuable explainations for the rise in TJ surgery than batters wearing arm guards such as kids starting younger (ie like 8-10 years old), throwing all year around (fall/summer baseball camps/clinics), throwing harder (the average fastball in 2008 was 91.7 MPH compared to 93.7 MPH in 2020) and throwing more breaking balls (13% average slider usage in 2010, 19% in 2020). Think about it. What’s more likely going to cause a kid to have Tommy John surgery? A batter wearing an elbow guard, or a guy starting to pitch at 10 years old, training all year around and having over a decade’s worth of use on his arm by the time he reaches 25 years old?
Thank god… not our Guzman.
Good luck to Jorge Guzman though.
Regular Season week 7: “JT Realmuto hitting off live pitching and throwing from 90 feet, expected to be ready by July 1 with no issues.”
No he’s not a yankee. He’ll be good to go by April 1st.
I like JT I really do it’s really not about him but I don’t understand why it was so crucial the Phillies resigned him. So they could run it back again with the team that hasn’t gotten it done with him. I think they’d have been much better off spreading that money around. The Phils had/have some holes and they’ve killed them the past couple years. Especially that bullpen. It’s really hard to win when your pen blows games and it’s demoralizing. I know just as a fan when you are up let’s say 5-2 in the 7th it may not be over but youre feeling pretty good about your chances of winning and when the pen blows it it’s a bit of a sting. I imagine it’s the same for players and if it happens too often it’s gotta really sting
They were one of the top offenses in all of baseball last season. Maybe getting JTR and Didi back was a good thing. Def not the same pen. Their bullpen may be a strength this year if they stay healthy.
Why was it crucial, really? They gave up Sixto Sánchez plus for JT.
Ender is gonna go on the DL and sit there all year to collect his paycheck and hope he can magically sign with another team this offseason. At his rate of regression, this is actually smart. Right now, he has some value at the right price, albeit that value is unreal low and almost nonexistent. Nevertheless. If he sits, maybe he gets himself a minor league deal somewhere next season. If he plays and keeps doing terrible and regresses, he might not even be able to get that lol
There is still plenty of good catchers out there.
In my opinion, the Cubs need a good proven veteran backup for Wilson Contreras.
Jonathan Lucroy where are you at when we need you.I think the Cubs are just worried that they might have to spend more than a million dollars on someone. My first Cubs game was in 1993 and it was sad for me to see the mass Exodus this year.
I just wanna point out the fact the Marlins are smacking everyone around in ST so far. Just putting that out there. But I know, it’s just “SP”