There was some concern that Mets top prospect Francisco Alvarez could require surgery on his ailing right ankle, but the team received relatively good news on that front, tweets Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. While Alvarez does have a loose body in his ankle, he won’t undergo surgery and will instead receive an injection to alleviate some of the discomfort he’s been experiencing. The hope is that Alvarez could resume baseball activities as soon as next week.
Alvarez, 20, ranks among the top ten prospects in all of baseball on the majority of publications and is currently the game’s top-ranked prospect at FanGraphs and MLB.com. He tore through Double-A pitching earlier this season despite being one of the league’s youngest players, hitting .277/.368/.553 with 18 homers and 16 doubles through 296 plate appearances. However, Alvarez stumbled a bit in Triple-A, slashing just .180/.340/.378 in his first 141 plate appearances. His strikeout rate rose from 24% in Double-A to 28.4% in Triple-A. Alvarez hasn’t played in a game since Aug. 23.
A few more notes on some of the game’s top prospects…
- Rangers fans are (understandably) clamoring for third baseman Josh Jung to make his Major League debut, and general manager Chris Young and interim manager Tony Beasley discussed with Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News the team’s decision to hold off on promoting him just yet. Texas is also taking a look at infield prospect Ezequiel Duran, who’s playing third base in the big leagues right now and would be displaced with a Jung promotion. “We have an opportunity to play [Duran] and we just want to take advantage of that until it’s not there,” Beasley said. From a bigger picture vantage point, Jung still has just 83 plate appearances in Triple-A after missing the first four-plus months of the season due to shoulder surgery. Grant points out that Jung still hasn’t gone a full week playing third base every day — he’s spent eight games at DH — and the Rangers will want to see him at the hot corner as much as possible in the big leagues. When Jung originally underwent surgery, the expectation was that he’d miss the majority of the season and perhaps be able to DH for a few weeks late in the year. He’s beaten both the timeline and that DH-only projection, and he’s decimated Triple-A pitching to the tune of a .299/.349/.610 batting line. It still seems Jung will debut in the near future, but Young emphasized the organization is focused on his long-term outlook rather than getting his bat into the big league lineup as soon as possible.
- While slugger Triston Casas wasn’t among the Red Sox’ initial September call-ups, manager Alex Cora said on WEEI’s Merloni, Fauria & Mego show this week that the team has discussed giving Casas his first taste of the big leagues sometime this month (Twitter link via Steve Hewitt of the Boston Herald). Casas, 22, missed two months with a high ankle sprain but has been excellent since returning to the lineup in Triple-A Worcester, hitting .300/.410/.515 with five homers, 11 doubles and a triple in 156 plate appearances. The 6’4″, 252-pound first baseman is considered one of the best bats in the minors and ranks 31st or better among all MLB prospects at The Athletic, MLB.com, Baseball America and FanGraphs. The Red Sox will have to add Casas to the 40-man roster this winter in order to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft anyhow, so there’s plenty of reason to get an earlier look at him.
- Right-hander Grayson Rodriguez made his first appearance for an Orioles affiliate in three months last night, returning from a Grade 2 lat strain that, at one point, threatened the remainder of his season. Rodriguez threw just 31 pitches in 1 1/3 innings with Class-A Aberdeen and exited after back-to-back walks in the second inning. He told reporters after the game that he’d simply hit the pitch count the organization placed upon his first appearance since June 1 (link via Steve Melewski of MASNsports.com). Considered by many to be the game’s top pitching prospect, Rodriguez overwhelmed Triple-A lineups prior to his injury, pitching to a 2.09 ERA with a 37.4% strikeout rate and a 6.5% walk rate through 56 innings. He’s not on the 40-man roster at the moment, but he’ll need to be added in the offseason or else be Rule 5-eligible, so it’s at least possible the O’s call him up for a big league debut late in the regular season if his rehab work progresses nicely.
There is no reason for Casas to still be in minors.
And Alverez should just have a minor surgery to have to particle removed. Shooting up with injections will not heal him, just prevent him from feeling the injury as bad. There is nothing gained by this type of decision in my opinion
He cant hit lefty pitching. His OPS against Lefties:
2021– .619
2022– .627
Theres concern there.
Right in line with Franchy and Dalbec. Platoon him with Dalbec. Give them time to learn some stuff in the bigs. It’s what this time of year is for when a team is out of contention.
Platoon, then how does he get better? Red Sox need him to be able to hit lefties. Better to leave him at Triple A to work on his complete game. I’d be more with you if the games were important and they really needed the bat, but they’re not.
It’s not unusual for young left handed hitters to have platoon splits like Casas. Gunnar’s are even more pronounced and he’s worse against lefties then Casas. This shouldn’t keep him down it sure didn’t Gunnar.
This would be more of a problem if he was a righty with severe platoon splits.
If he has surgery now he misses all this playing time. He can have that minor surgery once the season is over and still have all these at bats under his belt for experience.
Isn’t he still in the minors? Why risk further injury? To me it’s not worth the risk. But I can see your point, too.
I agree with DBH. Looking at Alvarez’s splits, you’ll see a drop in BA after his promotion to Syracuse, but in August his OBP and SLG sank too. Maybe it’s not the discomfort that’s causing it, but if it is, to then make him face major league pitching while he’s struggling with pain wouldn’t seem like a good way to introduce him to the majors.
You have seen the images?
DH I can’t agree with you more Casas should be up now it’s time.
The Jung lack of promotion doesn’t pass the smell test to me. If his service clock had already started he’d be up by now.
Starting his service clock isn’t really the same concern as it was under the previous CBA. If anything, they’re probably keeping him in AAA long enough to ensure that he’ll retain his rookie status into 2023. That way, if/when he’s on the Opening Day roster, he’ll give them a chance to pick up a draft pick based on Rookie of the Year voting.
The ROY of the year deadline has passed, he would not reach that threshold if promoted.
I live in Baltimore, but I’m a huge Phillies fan. the Baltimore Orioles have something really special being built. the guy in charge of the Orioles Mike Elias was the assistant general manager of the Houston Astros in the early 2010s when the Astros had three straight seasons of 100 losses I believe.
I believe the start of 2015 is when the Astros started bringing all their players up and Carlos Correa and he took off from there one in the world series just two years later. the Orioles have already brought up adley ruchman, Gunner Henderson, Kyle stowers, DJ Hall. they still have one of the games highest ranking prospects and Grayson Rodriguez and still the number one pick of the 2022 draft Jackson holiday.
I believe they’re starting their playoff contention at least one year early possibly even 2 years earlier than they thought. they still have a boatload of highly rated prospects in the minors now I doubt all of them is going to contribute to the Orioles some will be used in trade packages to acquire an elite player somewhere. but this team has done it right and I think in Baltimore they’re going to go through at least 7-year run of consistently being in the playoffs at the very least
Baltimore absolutely has such a bright future. Hell, they look good now! That looks to be one rebuild that will pay off handsomely. That said, that’s also what I thought about the White Sox yet they’ve struggled, so you never know. But it must be an exciting time to be living in Baltimore if you’re a baseball fan. I’m jealous.
well like I said I do live in Baltimore, my favorite team is the Phillies. I do root for the Orioles like crazy cuz they’re my hometown team.
yes things look absolutely amazing for the Oreos in their future just simply amazing. but at the same time it only looks so bright because it’s been so horrendous for about 6 years now.
this rebuild started during 2017, if you remember they made the playoffs against Toronto in 2016 wild card game and lost. then I think they lost 100 games in three straight years maybe even four straight years 2021 was your five and now this season. I did not expect them to be as good as they are right now I did not expect this until at least next year most likely 2024.
like Elias is considered a God here in Baltimore when they talk about them on sports talk radio and even when he’s on television or just talking about him during the game broadcast
It’s about time they got better. They’ve been an embarrassment for 15 years. Great ballpark, bad fan base. Before this year the place was half filled and about a third of the crowd was rooting for who ever the visiting team was. I got World Series tickets for face value in 1979….on the day of the game!
They lost 100 games like 5 years in a row, what do you expect
What would fans in New York, Boston or St. Louis have done if the team was that bad for so long? Nothing, because it would never happen in those cities. Fans in Baltimore just didn’t care.
What do you mean for 15 years? I swear the internet forgets how good the O’s were between 2012 and 2016
Sorry, you’re correct. They had a nice run between 12 and 16. But 21 out of the last 30 years without a winning record is pathetic.
It’s almost like they play in the toughest division in baseball, one that consistently touts multiple 90+ win teams. With the exception of the 00s, the Orioles have been very competitive in every decade since they moved to Baltimore.
I swear the IQ of baseball fans gets lower every year.
I’ll compare baseball IQs any time. I forgot more about baseball than you know. The rest of the division retools and rebuilds and only have short down times. Yankees did it now they’re a contenders and the Red Sox will be a serious contender in a couple of years. Baltimore is in a multi decade rebuild. I just hope you’re not one of those stat nerds that are ruining the game.
How is it a multi-decade rebuild if you just admitted they were very competitive for 5 years less than 10 years ago? You’re contradicting yourself again old-timer.
No snappy come back about not being able to keep pace with the other teams in the division when it comes to rebuilding? Figures. Just cherry pick away. And don’t get in a battle of wits with me: you don’t have enough ammunition.
Haha I’ll cherry-pick as long as you keep avoiding the fact your argument is a vapid straw-man generalization. Keep arguing, I think it’s hilarious how you keep constantly contradict yourself.
You weren’t listening, good night
In review, the judges award the victory to EarlWeaverStan. Tomdocmac has come up short in the battle of wits. We are all looking forward to round 2.
It would be funny if all these players ended up eligible for the rule 5 draft, and then they cancelled it again. Lol!
“Jung still has yet to play a full week at 3B, he’s DH’d”
Okay cool. Call him up and play him and 3B and DH every other day instead of giving DH AB’s to Culberson and Brad Miller.
I find it funny that a guy on a team that stinks can’t learn a position in the Majors. TEX isn’t making the playoffs this season. Bring him up and try and work him into 3B work thereafter.
Learn a position? I’m confused. He’s been playing 3B since he was at Texas Tech.
The Rangers position is defensible.
Thank you for not trading your a Alvarez or Baty for Contreras and Robertson. Good luck in the playoffs.