Kwang Hyun Kim is slated to toss a 90-pitch simulated game today, Cardinals manager Mike Shildt told reporters (including Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch). Kim tossed another simulated game earlier this week, so the left-hander may be just about on the verge of rejoining the Cards’ rotation during the team’s upcoming series against the Phillies from April 16-18.
Back problems sidelined Kim for a good chunk of Spring Training, requiring an injured list placement to begin the season. The 32-year-old is looking to build off an impressive debut season in Major League Baseball, as Kim posted a 1.62 ERA over 39 innings (thanks to a 50% grounder rate and a lot of soft contact) in 2020.
More injury updates from around the sport…
- Marlins catcher Jorge Alfaro was scratched from yesterday’s lineup due to what the team described as “lingering tightness in his left hamstring.” Manager Don Mattingly told SportsGrid’s Craig Mish and other reporters the Marlins may decide tomorrow whether or not an IL stint is required. Counting today, Alfaro will have been sidelined for four straight games, and Miami doesn’t have another off-day until April 19. Should Alfaro hit the injured list, Sandy Leon is the only catcher in the Marlins’ farm system with any big league experience, so the team could select his minor league deal and install Leon as Chad Wallach’s backup.
- Yankees manager Aaron Boone provided updates on Miguel Andujar and Clarke Schmidt to reporters (including ESPN.com’s Marly Rivera and Newsday’s Erik Boland). For Andujar, he is already hitting off a tee and will start hitting out of the batting cage next week as the 26-year-old is trying to recover from right carpal tunnel syndrome. Schmidt, meanwhile, is getting a second opinion on his bothersome right elbow, which is still giving him discomfort after almost seven weeks. Schmidt was shut down back in February for what was supposed to be three or four weeks due to a common extensor strain in his right elbow — for what it’s worth, Boland noted that Boone today described the injury as simply a “right elbow strain.”
- Shogo Akiyama and Sonny Gray are each progressing well in their injury recoveries, writes Mark Sheldon of MLB.com. Akiyama has been expected to return from a hamstring injury in early-mid May, and Reds manager David Bell says the outfielder has had “zero setbacks” in his rehab. Gray, meanwhile, is in line to make his return from a back injury by the end of next week. It’s a little less clear when Cincinnati can expect Michael Lorenzen back; the right-hander’s recovery from a shoulder strain is “not as going fast as he would like,” Bell said (via Sheldon).
With that outing today and Kim coming coming back, Ponce de Leon is about to discover the bench.
Trading the bench for the fountain of youth? This guy has really lost his passion.
You know how you get rid of “tightness” in a muscle? Playing! Loosen up that muscle and it will go away! Stop pampering players!
Or the “tightness” could become a pull or a tear. It’s a $10B business, and teams are protecting their assets.
Reds need Gray and Lorenzen back yesterday!
Interesting to see what they do w shogo. He’s got no place to play w naquin crushing it like he is.
Pounce de Leon will be a nice bullpen addition. With Kim’s return coming soon I think the Cards will run away with the division. They up to this point look tons the best.
With that line up and pitching staff- u must expect the other four teams to finish below 500. Well below….
The lineup is awesome and expect big things out of Carlson Bader and Williams. And I expect big improvements from O’Neil also. That guy can run and can hit it a ton. It’s going to be so exciting to watch them run away with the Central again.
“I think that the Cards will run away with the division “ – themed
How’s that “bold” prediction feeling for you after a three game home losing streak? I think the Cards are running in the wrong direction …
@earmbrister it’s only been 10 games if this streak keeps happening into late may then we can start bashing teams. i will agree so far i’m not liking what the birds staff have been doing so far but there is time to right the ship is n pitching.
No bashing. Just find it amusing that proclamations like “the Cards will run away with the division” are happening, like you said, this early in the season.
I like him less out of the pen. He can’t be trusted in high leverage situations because his control is too hit and miss. Today was ugly. But I think he is most valuable starting until/if Mikolas comes back.
He’s a much better mop up innings eater type option than Jake Woodford right now. He definitely has a role in this pen, it just won’t be a big one.
I wanted Ponce to do better. But he pitched his way to relief work
You have more faith in Kim than I do. Hope you are right.
even after mikolas and kim come back i still see ponce as the 5th starter, cmart will find a way to be a bp arm before june or get beat up at a gentlemen’s club on the east side. i really hope cmart proves me wrong but at this point i’m tired of cmart attitude/antics i don’t want him around anymore
Yeah right they will finish 4th in division
The way Aviedo pitched today he needs to be in the rotation…ponce might be good out of the bullpen but since the cardinals bullpen is pretty good he might find it hard to get a job there…either way ponce needs to go and Aviedo needs to stay
You have more faith in Kim than I do. Hope you are right.
Oviedo to alternate site was puzzling.
who’s aviedo?
@themed
Aren’t you the same guy who keeps mixing up Barney Fife with Barney Rubble?
Can’t we keep this baseball related instead of attacking other commenters? I thought that’s why they put the flag in to help stop this kind of petty attacks. Ridiculous!
Klentak made his share of questionable moves but including Alfaro in the Realmuto trade was not one of them.
Phillies “sold high” on Alfaro after 2018. Classic example of a player with solid raw athletic ability that don’t readily translate into useful baseball skills.
Poor conditioning doesn’t help and not a surprise he has had injury issues that lingered last year and this season.
Andujar just can’t catch a break. Needed AAA in the worst way last year and now he’s hurt again. If he can hit at all (even in AAA) someone will give him an opportunity.
Yeah, I feel bad for Andujar. By everything I’ve heard, the guy works hard at getting better but between injuries and no AAA, he’s really behind the eight ball.
Miggy has such a live bat.
If he could just play defense at anything close to an average level he’d be a pretty valuable player & make some good money.
By all accounts he works like a Spartan.
He looked like a disaster on the grass last summer but he does have a strong arm & is a pretty good athlete.
I think his future is there.
There is just no room him on the Yanks barring a series of injuries.
@ducky let me ask you a question about miggy since you follow the yanks and i don’t. how is miggy’s work ethic especially when it come to being a better defender. if he has a good attitude and works hard on improving his d then i say you swallow the bad d for little bit longer and see if he doesn’t improve. look at molina his first few years in the bigs he couldn’t hit his weight (unless it was oct) but about year 3 to 4 his bat came around. the same can be said about miggy if he’s a hard worker.
By all accounts he is an extremely hard worker, @brodie. Effort – sadly enough – is not the issue.
He has fairly sure hands & an excellent arm (I believe he was given a 70 grade for throwing). The problem(s) are; he double clutches his throws, his range is virtually nonexistent, & he gets tangled up with his footwork quite literally at times.
Look.
The Yanks have been working with him at 3rd the whole time (10 years by now?) & he hasn’t shown any improvement. Which is unfortunate because offensively he provides a nice counterpoint to all of out TTO guys.
I do have hopes he can follow in the footsteps of a lot of other guys who’ve transitioned from 3rd to the grass. Early returns on that were pretty bad last summer, though.
I just don’t know what to do with him from the Yanks perspective.
@ducky if what you said about miggy is true, then he’s a guy you keep around and find a spot to play. imo guys that know there weakness and work there a$$ off to improve it are guys you keep and show horn them somehow in the lineup.
Typically, yes.
It just doesn’t seem to be working & certainly not at third.
@ducky then let me ask you this. can miggy be serviceable at other pos. basically making him a utility guy like zobrist. yes miggy’s d may suck (insert phrasing here lol) but if it’s at least ok to fill in for player x for this game. imo that might be the best way for nyy to use miggy, from what i read from the nyy faithful his bat is fire his d is the solar opposite. if you slide miggy to that utility role he might excel. you can game plan around one guy with a bad glove but a hot bat.
Hey, @brodie.
Ooof…Taillon looked pretty bad out there.
Anyway.
That’s what Yanks are trying to do. He has been working out at the corners of both the infield & outfield. So they are trying to figure out a way to somehow get his bat in the lineup.
“Really bad” on D might be underselling it a bit. He put up the worst defensive season *ever* at 3rd in ’18. All time.
Also: he looked really bad on the grass in an extremely small yet particularly hideous sample last summer.
Love the kid.
I really do. Tracked him through the Minors. But his glove is a Real Big Problem.
Even if Alfaro was not hurting, I think there has already been some questions about his place in the team again after he has had moments where he has looked like the defensive issues will continue. And this was after an offseason when we looked at other options like Contreras.
This year seems to be Alfaro’s last shot to prove he’s the guy with the Marlins.
I agree that Naquin and Castellanos are crushing it……how about platooning Senzel and giving Shogo the call. Naquin can play center and Shogo can stay in Left. Castellanos is ok in Right. Senzel can’t stay healthy and he is suceptable to right hand pitching. Shogo may need to come back slowly. Send Aquino down !!!!!
Except Winker is crushing hard, so that’s not happening
Ksoze…..you are so correct ! Who made WINKER mad? He is taking it out on the rawhide.
how well can kim hit? nobody else is, so if he want a win, he better drive every one in