Eric Hosmer will be activated from the injured list tomorrow, according to Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe. Hosmer has been out since late August with lower back inflammation.
It’s been a curious season for Hosmer. Dogged by trade rumors for years, the first baseman was initially reported to be part of the deadline blockbuster between the Padres and the Nationals where San Diego acquired Juan Soto and Josh Bell. Hosmer refused to waive his no-trade rights, however, and so the Padres pivoted, sending Luke Voit to Washington as part of the Soto package and instead moving Hosmer, Corey Rosier, and Max Ferguson to Boston in exchange for Jay Groome.
Hosmer played just 12 games for the Red Sox before heading to the injured list. In those games, he slashed a meager .225/.311/.300, though his season line of .267/.333/.381 is good for a 104 wRC+, his best mark in a full season since his 2017 walk year with the Royals. Though Hosmer’s contract, which will pay him $13 million a year for the 2023-2025 seasons, has an opt-out after this season, it’s extremely unlikely to be exercised. As such, Hosmer is expected to compete with Bobby Dalbec and top prospect Triston Casas for playing time at first base going forward, though with J.D. Martinez slated to hit free agency after this season, it’s possible Hosmer could see some time at DH as well.
Additional notes from around the AL East…
- Red Sox outfielder Tommy Pham’s mutual option for the 2023, previously reported as $6 million, is a $12 million option, per MassLive’s Christopher Smith. Like any mutual option, it remains exceedingly unlikely to be exercised. The Red Sox acquired Pham from the Reds at the trade deadline earlier this season in exchange for a player to be named later or cash. It’s been a disappointing season at the plate for Pham, as he’s slashed just .241/.316/.381 in 611 plate appearances between Cincinnati and Boston.
- The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner reports that Yankees reliever Miguel Castro is expected to be activated from the injured list tomorrow. The right-hander has posted a 4.00 ERA with a 3.75 FIP in 27 innings this season. Castro has been out with a right shoulder strain since July. As he’s coming off the 60-day injured list, a 40-man roster spot will be necessary to activate Castro. That spot could come from Matt Carpenter, who was transferred to the 60-day IL himself earlier today. Additionally, Kirschner relays that lefty Wandy Peralta will not pitch again during the regular season this year, instead heading to Somerset to prepare for the postseason while the Yankees travel to Texas for their final regular season series against the Rangers. Peralta was placed on the 15-day injured list in September with left thoracic spine tightness.
- Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi reports that Blue Jays infielder Santiago Espinal will take live batting practice on Tuesday, and could be activated from the injured list shortly thereafter as Toronto gears up for the postseason. Espinal has slashed .267/.322/.370 in 491 plate appearances this season, but was placed on the injured list with a left oblique strain in September. While Espinal is expected to be ready for the postseason, how much playing time he’ll have available to him is an open question. Espinal has primarily played second base this season, but fellow second basemen Whit Merrifield has posted an .865 OPS since the start of September. That being said, both players have the positional versatility to share a lineup if interim manager John Schneider so desires.
Lost in the shuffle this season is just how impressive Groome has been finally healthy. He aced another test after looking quite good in the PCL down the stretch.
His first 7 starts in AAA weren’t all that great he did have a 4.08 ERA, but 30k/18BB in 35 innings with a .297 opponent average, but he did better in to finish the year, except the championship game.
I was excited to see him pitch in person at AA Richmond but he looked awful. 89-91mph flat fastball that didn’t miss bats and a slow slurve/curveball he couldn’t locate.
I just looked up his PCL numbers and they are nothing special.
51 IP, 52 H, 14 BB, 44 Ks. Not very impressive. 7.7 K/9 in AAA doesn’t sound like a hot prospect to me.
Groome did do pretty good at limiting home runs at the PCL with a .70 HR/9. The league average rate is nearly twice of what Groome had. But if he is only sitting low-90s, then it’s pretty much refine his command to a near elite level or bust for him in the long run and he only had a 8.7% walk rate at the PCL, which isn’t bad, but not great either.
Lowest ERA among starters for El Paso with at least 10 starts by nearly a full run. His 3.16 would lead the PCL by nearly a full run.
That’s why ERA is a bad indication of future pitching success, especially in small sample sizes like 10 starts. If you look into the underlying numbers, you see it is caused by a high strand rate and a lower-than-career average HR rate. He’s ripe for regression.
I liked Groome a ton when he was drafted but surgery has wiped out his stuff. It sucks, but I don’t see a MLB pitcher there.
Obviously, you’re entitled to your opinion. I wish mine were different than it is. If you go watch him pitch you’ll see what I’m talking about.
I did too. I was hoping his sign-ability concerns would have allowed the Braves to grab him overslot at where they got Wentz.
Apparently Groome’s fastball didn’t come back after TJ surgery.
SoxProspect.com has scouted Groome extensively and said he is no longer an MLB quality stater. As Allin just stated…”his fastball did not come back after TJ”…. His secondary pitches are not good enough for MLB either. SD dumped Hosmer to save $5,000,000 in CBT under the new rules, and Boston gave up a non-prospect.
Eric Hosmer’s photo should be included with this definition. Just substitute ’paid’ for ‘promoted’.
The Peter principle is a concept in management developed by Laurence J. Peter, which observes that people in a hierarchy tend to rise to “a level of respective incompetence”: employees are promoted based on their success in previous jobs until they reach a level at which they are no longer competent,…”
I wish I could expect that Chapman pitched his way off the postseason roster today, but Cashman will want Boone to assign playing time by salary, most likely.
With Martinez likely leaving as a free agent the Sox can probably carry all three of Casas/Dalbec/Hosmer on the roster next season, thanks in part to Dalbec’s versatility being able to play 1B/3B as well as 2B/SS if need be.
I could see Dalbec traded as well. He could possibly be part of a return for Sean Murphy from Oakland if the Red Sox go that route this winter
Dalbec at best is a secondary piece and probably more likely a third piece to a package for Murphy. It’s going to take a sizeable package with at least one top prospect included from the Red Sox to get a guy coming off a 5 fWAR season with a wRC+ of 122, good defense, and three years of relatively cheap control remaining.
Absolutely true. Dalbec is not a headliner but would certainly help the A’s since they have been mostly awful at the corners this season
But would the A’s even want Dalbec? Third base was an issue for the A’s this year, but they’re more focused on building the farm and the future rather than acquiring a guy like Dalbec. Seth Brown has been decent for them this year too and was slightly above league average last year, so it’s not like they’re dying for a guy at 1B. While they might take on Dalbec as a complementary piece to a much larger package, if they were forced to choose between him and a teenage prospect at rookie ball or A-Ball, I think they’d go with the low-level prospect instead.
Dalbec is a -0.9 bWAR this year. He’s not much help.
Dalbec is a lottery ticket. If, and it’s a big if, he puts it all together his power potential is enormous.
45 homers in roughly 800 professional at bats is no joke.
45 homers in 800 at bats is not that special. Not when it’s all you do. Look at his OPS. He’s just not very good.
curt – His numbers have drastically declined each year of his career, and he’ll be 28 next year. His value has decreased a lot, Bloom should have traded him at least a year ago. He won’t bring back much in return now.
Did you catch the “lottery ticket” part?
I didn’t say he was that special, nor did I say he was very good.
To dumb it down for you, he is the kind of guy a team might take a chance on because of his power potential.
Yeah, I know.
I guess people don’t do analogies much here.
You don’t have to dumb it down. It started at that level. If that’s the direction you want this conversation to go in.
Curt – Why the attitude, I’ve never even seen your handle before.
Yeah there’s a reason why lottery tickets tend to cost just a couple bucks, because they almost always become worthless.
My point stands, Bloom wouldn’t get much for him in a trade. When he’s not hitting homeruns he brings virtually nothing to the table. Not a strong glove, not fast, horrendous OBP.
I completely agree. Dalbec should have been traded before this off-season, if not earlier.
Cosmo – He’s not even good enough to have a SonsofBobbyDalbec.net forum created.
FeverPitchGuy, CurtisRowe is cool, he just mentioned that Dalbec might be a lottery ticket for someone. Everything is good. I know he loves the Sox and the Celtics. I see him at Hoops rumors all the time and he has good posts. Good stuff.
Dalbec should be traded if anyone would take him.
Every time I see an article about Hosmer I just think imagine being THAT bad at your job and getting THAT much money…
Exactly. But that’s why guys give a thousand percent in their contract year.
While there certainly are things (fielding, power) that make Casas attractive as the team’s 1b-man, there are a couple of things at the plate that make me wonder if he needs more time to develop or they will just be part of his game, namely his LD% is less than half that of the MLB average and his ground ball rate is about 40% higher.
I stayed on the line in Iraq with two herniated discs in my back. Hosmer is a Prima Dona and is not motivated to play and I question his heart. Now you know why San Diego was so anxious to trade him all these years and then to eat all his salary to get rid of him.