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AL Notes: Bubic, Greene, Brnovich

By Darragh McDonald | May 13, 2022 at 9:34am CDT

The Royals announced yesterday that they optioned left-hander Kris Bubic to Triple-A Omaha, with righty Jonathan Heasley taking his spot on the active roster.

Over the past couple of years, Bubic seemed to be establishing himself as a solid, if unspectacular, part of the club’s rotation. Over 2020 and 2021, he made 30 starts and nine appearances out of the bullpen, throwing 180 innings with a 4.40 ERA. His 21% strikeout rate, 10.4% walk rate and 46.8% ground ball rate were all within a few points of league average. However, just about everything has gone in the wrong direction this year, as his ERA is currently at 12.83, with his strikeout rate dropping to 14.7%, his walk rate jumping to 16.2% and his grounder rate sinking to 38.3%. He’ll now head to Omaha and try to get the train back on the tracks. Despite having over two years of MLB service time now, he’s still just 24 years old and has plenty of time to recover.

The team is off to a disappointing 10-19 start. Although Bubic and Carlos Hernandez have struggled in the rotation, the club’s biggest weakness so far has been the bats. The team-wide slash line of .216/.282/.308 amounts to a wRC+ of 76, dead last in the majors.

Some other notes from the American League…

  • During Spring Training, it seemed like the Tigers were poised to have their top two prospects crack the Opening Day roster. In the end, first baseman Spencer Torkelson followed through, but outfielder Riley Greene couldn’t make it after fracturing his foot just a few days before the opener. It seems he could be nearing a return to the field, with Jason Beck of MLB.com relaying word from manager A.J. Hinch that Greene is about to resume baseball activities. The club is out to a miserable 9-23 start, a worse record than every team except for the Cincinnati Reds. The primary culprit has been the offense, with Austin Meadows the only Tiger having a wRC+ higher than 101 in more than 50 plate appearances. There’s no guarantee a young player will hit the ground running in his first taste of MLB action, as evidenced by Torkelson’s .146/.276/.258 line, but it’s possible that Greene could provide a boost based on his .308/.400/.553 line in Triple-A last year. Since the demotion of Akil Baddoo, the outfield mix consists of Meadows, Willi Castro, Derek Hill and Robbie Grossman. With Grossman approaching free agency at season’s end, he’s a likely trade candidate, unless the Tigers can vault themselves back into contention over the next few months.
  • The Orioles announced that pitching prospect Kyle Brnovich underwent Tommy John surgery this week, as relayed by Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. Brnovich was drafted by the Angels and traded to the Orioles as part of the Dylan Bundy deal before pitching for his original organization. Last year, he logged 95 innings across High-A and Double-A with a 3.32 ERA, 31.5% strikeout rate and 6.7% walk rate. Based on that strong season, he’s now considered the #30 prospect in the organization by Baseball America and #17 by FanGraphs. He started the year in Triple-A but was only able to throw eight innings before being shut down. He’ll now miss the remainder of this season, but could be pushing for a rotation spot in the second half of next year, given the usual 12-18 month recovery time from the procedure. Even with this setback, the club’s future rotation picture is starting to look better. Bruce Zimmermann, Tyler Wells and Kyle Bradish are showing signs of promise in the early going, to varying degrees, with prospects Grayson Rodriguez and DL Hall pitching well in Triple-A and surely nearing their MLB debuts.
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Baltimore Orioles Detroit Tigers Kansas City Royals Notes Jon Heasley Kris Bubic Kyle Brnovich Riley Greene

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9 Comments

  1. Jay 30

    3 years ago

    God save the Detroit Tigers.

    5
    Reply
    • rememberthecoop

      3 years ago

      I’ve always liked Hinch as a manager despite how he handled the whole trash can thing in Houston. While I recognize that he can’t hit or pitch, how is he doing so far? Any blame at his doorstep?

      2
      Reply
      • For Love of the Game

        3 years ago

        I think some blame does belong on his doorstep. Other than injuries, he has made exactly one change among position players. He sent down Akil Baddoo, but replaced him with a pitcher. Trotting out the same guys for more than a month and not getting results suggests holding someone’s feet to the fire. Unfortunately, the culprits are chiefly Schoop and Candelario who are out of options, Torkelson, and Baddoo. Not a lot of moves to be made, but someone has to be held accountable for their performance, and it really hasn’t happened.

        1
        Reply
        • The Saber-toothed Superfife

          3 years ago

          Chris Illich?

          Reply
  2. 13Morgs13

    3 years ago

    I like the future of Baltimore

    6
    Reply
    • kcmark

      3 years ago

      The. City or the Baseball Team?

      Reply
  3. MarlinsFrontOffice

    3 years ago

    The Tigers have to be one of the biggest disappointments so far. We had hopes they would take a step forward, but the young pitching has been injured and the bats have been miserable. We at the Marlins are also heavily reliant on our young pitching. We’ll continue to store Lopez and Alcantara in a humidor with the dead balls in between starts to maintain freshness.

    6
    Reply
    • Cosmo2

      3 years ago

      They’re not fully cooked yet. A team on the rise for sure but last years hot finish fooled fans into overestimating the teams chances this year.

      Reply
  4. Bjoe

    3 years ago

    Hope Bubic gets things figured out in Omaha. He definitely has good stuff.

    Reply

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