Phillies right-hander David Robertson threw a bullpen session yesterday and went through fielding drills, tweets Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer. That’s the first baseball activity for the veteran closer since sustaining a calf strain while celebrating Bryce Harper’s home run during the team’s Wild Card win over the Cardinals. Robertson was left off the roster for the Phillies’ NLDS showdown with the Braves, but throwing off a mound and running through some fielding drills Monday at least opens the door for him to be reinstated for Philadelphia’s NLCS date with San Diego. The Phils will make a formal announcement on their NLCS roster by 10am PT this morning.
A few more injury items of note…
- Yankees outfielder Andrew Benintendi received an injection in his wrist this week after experiencing continued pain in his ailing right wrist, tweets MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch. Benintendi underwent surgery in early September after suffering a hamate fracture in his wrist and has not appeared in a game since. There’s been hope that, if the Yankees advance beyond today’s ALDS Game 5 against the Guardians, that he could potentially return for the ALCS, though the latest update on him casts plenty of doubt on that possibility. If the Yankees were to advance, they’d have to announce an ALCS roster by 10am CT tomorrow. Benintendi hit .304/.373/.399 with five home runs in 521 plate appearances prior to his injury — including a .254/.331/.404 output in 131 plate appearances with the Yankees (following a trade from the Royals).
- Orioles lefty John Means underwent Tommy John surgery back in late April, and just shy of six months later he’s resumed throwing. Means shared video his session yesterday, labeling it “day one” of his return to a throwing program. There’s still a long road back from this point, as Means isn’t throwing anywhere near 100% at this juncture and will have plenty of milestones to clear as he rehabs his new elbow ligament and eventually builds up strength to return to a Major League mound. An early summer return in 2023 would be a good outcome, though each pitcher’s recovery from Tommy John surgery varies. Means, who’s pitched to a 3.81 ERA in 356 2/3 innings since making his big league debut with the O’s, signed a two-year, $5.925MM deal covering the 2022 season and 2023 season but is under club control via arbitration through the 2024 campaign.
Phillies in 6…
…and you get an upvote..
I just read on Twitter that David Robertson is back for NLCS roster. Phillies in 5.
Benintendi trade just one of several deadline deals Yankees made that ranged from borderline to really poor. It’s not the injury, it’s the mediocrity before the injury. Going to be a long front-office hangover from 2021 offseason through trade deadline 2022 transactions.
His OBP the last 12 games prior to the injury was 388. Anything close to his overall season avg of .370 would have a noticable impact in front of Judge. The trade was absolutely fine.
Stud – Are you sure the Yanks would allow Judge to move down in the lineup?
After all, those brilliant analytics guys think it’s better for Judge to bat leadoff so he can maybe get an extra PA each week.
It’s all about the solo homer, bayyybeee!!!
Outstanding Take – 5 STARS
FPG, Judge had 3.24 times as many plate appearances in the two hole, but his best numbers were in the leadoff spot: .366/.481/.740/1.221
So, especially after Beni and DJ got hurt, there was a reasonable rationale for batting him in the leadoff spot.
Yeah, obviously it hasn’t worked out because of the injury, but Bennintendi was a good option for a couple reasons:
1- He is a legitimate top-of-the-order bat, and
2- he’s the best LFer on the Yankees roster defensively.
If he were able to play, or hadn’t suffered that injury, the Yankees lineup & defense (ie, the Hicks failure in a can-of-corn pop up in the last ALDS) would be in much better shape.
Cannot predict injury but would you have wanted a
311/.387/.386 line with a 124 wRC+ and 2.1 fWAR.
….Or Joey Gallo?
Plus Bader and Montas are controllable for next year so neither we’re rentals. Could they have done more?, probably, but going forward, it’s not as awful as some people make it seem.
Agreed. Remember the CF market is absolutely terrible. Grabbing the hometown boy, Bader will prove to be a positive move. Not a big fan of the Montas trade. Yanks gave up a lot of pitching to get him.
Why to new fans or ignorant fans think every trade needs to be for a superstar and they need to perform at a superstar level? When most trades the guy you acquire never performs to his old teams standards.
Benintendi was and still is a great fit for the Yankees, he just got off to a bad first week or two. Hope they bring him back next year, he was playing very well before he got injured.
Imagine Peraza at short and Cabrera in left instead of replacing Hicks with Marwin in left. Oh, well. Hope for the best.
Boone managing for an ALCS that might never come, taking Cortes out. Hope it doesn’t come back to bite.