The latest on some prominent players who had to make early exits from today’s games…
- Steven Matz lasted only four pitches into today’s start against the Pirates, as Matz was suffering from stiffness in his left shoulder. Cardinals manager Olli Marmol told reporters (including MLB.com’s John Denton) that Matz will undergo an MRI later tonight. It has been a tough start overall to Matz’s tenure in St. Louis, as the southpaw has allowed a lot of hard contact en route to a 6.03 ERA over his first 37 1/3 innings in Cards red.
- Jazz Chisholm Jr. was replaced at second base prior to the third inning of the Marlins’ 4-3 win over the Braves, and the Miami side announced that Chisholm was dealing with left hamstring tightness. Chisholm walked and later scored during his only plate appearance, and MLB.com’s Christina De Nicola noted that Chisholm was running the bases much slower than usual, hinting at his hamstring issue. In Saturday’s game, Chisholm was spiked in that same left leg by Ozzie Albies when Albies was trying to steal second base, though tests didn’t reveal anything that kept Chisholm from today’s lineup. The Marlins infielder has been great thus far in 2022, hitting .290/.341/.581 with seven homers over 139 PA.
- Designated hitter Nelson Cruz sprained his right ankle during an awkward slide into second base during the fourth inning of the Nationals’ 8-2 win over the Brewers today. Cruz was replaced by a pinch-hitter in his next at-bat, with Nats manager Davey Martinez telling reporters (including The Washington Post’s Jesse Dougherty) that Cruz continued to feel discomfort while taking some warm-up swings in the batting cage between innings. It isn’t yet clear if Cruz will require a trip to the injured list, as Martinez just described the veteran slugger as day-to-day. Though Cruz collected two hits against Milwaukee today, he is hitting only .204/.283/.296 with four homers through 161 PA.
- On the 13th pitch of his start against the Rays today, Orioles right-hander Spenser Watkins was hit in the forearm by a line drive off the bat of Ji-Man Choi. Watkins had to leave the game without recording an out (and allowing singles to his three batters faced), but he may have avoided serious injury — x-rays were negative and Watkins was diagnosed with only a bruised forearm. Sunday marked Watkins’ eighth start of the season, and the second-year player had a 6.00 ERA over 30 innings thus far in 2022.
As a Mets fan I have to say, Matz just isn’t very good
As a Mets fan why do they cry and whine when they stand on top of the plate and get unintentionally hit and then start a beanball war?
Naturally Matz isn’t that good. John Mozeliak wouldn’t ever spend the money for a Verlander or a Scherzer quality pitcher!! Instead he waste the same amount of money in 4 low hanging fruit players and end up with wasted money and zero results!!!
Mozeliak has made 2 good acquisitions for the Cards in the last 10 years— Goldschmidt and Arenaldo. And this is the last season we’ll see of Arenaldo!!! Because —- The Cardinals Head Hitting Coach Alberts has Arenaldo’s swing so screwed up it may never recover!!!!!
Christiano Arenaldo?
As a Marlins fan, I always find it entertaining when a Mets fan talks about how great a player is when he’s with the Mets and teams up with other Mets fans to say anyone that disagrees is wrong, but then speaks the truth about the player when that player is no longer with the Mets.
Nah, we all knew Matz was nothing more than a few good starts per year and an injury waiting to happen. It was obvious after 2018 that he wasn’t going to be able to take the next step and needed a change of scenery. No surprise for us Mets fans, but enjoy letting your narrative bounce around in that pee brain of yours.
Mike Leake 2.0.
Wrong. Completely wrong, dude. You might as well say Cliff Lee 2.0. That Leake comment makes zero sense.
Oh, if you say it’s wrong, it must be wrong.
Care to elaborate?
He’ll need to shoplift more before the comparison bears fruit.
nottinghamforest13 – There was really no need to go there. There, but for the grace of God, go you.
Marlins gonna miss that dude. Better to IL him than to let him keep favoring it and causing worse damage.
so you’re saying ya like jazz?
DarkSide – yes, I do like him. And want him to stay healthy.
He’s such an electrifyingy exciting player. It’s a bad day for baseball when he gets hurt.
Busch Stadium has always favored the pitcher until this season… I wonder if the ball being kept in the humidor has anything to do with it.
A more humid ball will always benefit pitchers and St. Louis is notoriously humid. Granted, it’s early in the season so humidity may play that big of a factor and I may be gasping at straws.
I’ll be interested to read the data for the ballparks in more humid states (and DC) at the end of the year to see if there is any effect with the drier baseballs.
Busch Stadium has had a dead ball effect since the completion of ball park Village in 2015. They started using humidors to “find a better competitive balance for a more exciting brand of baseball.” The humidor is actually more dense due to being slightly waterlogged. They use them in Colorado and Arizona to help create more drag on the baseball I was surprised STL used them for this reason
My understanding is the league is trying to make the baseball the same for all ballparks and that all stadiums now hide a humidor. Is that not correct?
beware the career year – Matz had a good year in 2021, but his history is not great.
Felt 50/50 on the Matz singing, hate to see him hurt this early in the season for both him and the team. Wonder if Libratore will fill in or if the team will call on someone else
It would be nice to get a healthy Jack Flaherty back soon.
Jazz was really sick a few days ago. Hope that didnt cause him to get hurt
I’m more worried that a player his age and at his point of his career may be pushing because the vets on his team aren’t coming through. Same with Jesus Sanchez. These two are supposed to be focused on getting better with no pressure, but the vets have mostly failed this year to the point that our young hitters are under a bit more pressure than they should have been. Even de la Cruz is now expected to do more since he’s also been performing to the point of deserving the playing time over the vets.
I’ve said it many times, and I think I remember you agreeing…they didnt need to sign those guys. De La Cruz should have been given the opportunity from the beginning. I also have seen some video of Jerar Encarnacion this year, and honestly, I would call him up and give him a chance 2 weeks ago/right now. The reason being is he has totally changed his approach at the plate. He is so much more balanced at the plate, his swing is smoother (watch his head and his hands), he is laying off more pitches he used to swing at. I honestly dont think he could get that much more development down there, and I’m not saying that just b/c of his numbers. If you see what he is doing, it explains how he is getting those numbers in the first place. He is also already on the 40 man roster.
That being said, the Marlins waited too long to trade guys like Hernandez, again, and should have done more to address the bullpen, and that has been the biggest issue. They’ve already lost 13 1 run games
Marlins gonna Marlins
With the Nats already 13.5 games out and seemingly done, perhaps they should let Cruz go and give some AAA guys a chance. Like Jake Noll, for whom it seems time to either fish or cut bait, or Andrew Stevenson, who unlike Cruz has spreed, can field, and is off to a strong start at the plate.