Yankees righty Michael King, who missed the final two and a half months of the 2022 season due to a fractured right elbow, tells The Athletic’s Brendan Kuty that he expects to be ready for Opening Day and anticipates being deployed as a multi-inning reliever in 2023. The 27-year-old King was in the midst of a breakout season when he suffered his ill-timed injury. Prior to landing on the IL, he’d pitched to an outstanding 2.29 ERA and whiffed 33.2% of his opponents against a tidy 8% walk rate. The righty was also touting a career-high 47% grounder rate and career-low 0.53 HR/9 mark. His 96.5 mph average fastball was the best of his career. Just three weeks ago, Opening Day was reported to be a slightly optimistic target for King, so his firmer confidence in his ability to be ready for the season is a welcome development for the Yankees and their fans.
A few more health/injury updates of note from around the league…
- Reds reliever Tejay Antone’s offseason throwing program has been slowed by a forearm issue, reports Mark Sheldon of MLB.com, though it’s not believed to be related to the right-hander’s surgically repaired elbow. Antone was having one of the best seasons of any reliever in baseball before undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2021. The former fifth-rounder turned in an outstanding 2.14 ERA with a gaudy 32.8% strikeout rate against a 10.2% walk rate while holding opponents to a comically inept .152/.258/.250 batting line through 128 plate appearances. If healthy, he could quickly ascend the bullpen hierarchy and return to high-leverage work in 2022. Antone has another three seasons of club control remaining and is set to earn just $770K this season. As such, he’ll quite likely garner plenty of summer trade interest if he’s back to form, given the state of the Reds’ rebuild.
- Mariners reliever Paul Sewald might not be ready for the beginning of Spring Training, as Corey Brock of The Athletic reports that the righty underwent a “minor clean-up of his heel and elbow.” The exact timeline of the procedure or recovery aren’t known, though Brock suggests Sewald should still be ready to go by Opening Day. Turning 33 in May, Sewald is enjoying a late-career bloom. After posting underwhelming numbers over the 2017 to 2020 stretch, he has a 2.87 ERA in 127 appearances over the past two campaigns, striking out 34.8% of batters in faced in that time against an 8.1% walk rate. He and the club agreed to a $4.1MM salary for the upcoming campaign and he’ll have one further arbitration season in 2024 before he’s slated for free agency.
Getting King back will be huge for the Yankee pen.
He was King Awesome last year.
We need Sewald, who is a veteran reliever and a stabilizer in the clubhouse.
By “we” I mean the Seattle Mariners, in the Year of The Mariner.
I read that that he got the heel of his elbow cleaned up. I was wondering what is the heel of the elbow? Then reread it and got it.
We do need Sewald to pitch like he has. He is a vital cog in that wheel out there.
CDoug I kind of like the mix he uses as closer. Not sure how much it throws off the batters but they have to look at 3 guys maybe 4 if Brash gets more time in the 9th.
Sewald can take as long as he needs… that guy is immense for the Mariners.
I’m hoping my shares of Munoz get a boost over Sewald for saves.
I personally think munoz has the stuff and mentality to be the full time closer. He absolutely can strike out the side on any given night. His slider has more Bite than Sewald who tend to hang his offering a little to low & inside power rightness. I love both guys but I would want more of defined hierarchy this season Servais. Castillo = 7th, sewald = 8th, munoz = 9th
I’m curious to see how much progress he has made on improving his FB. Just too easy to hit for some reason. If otherwise, I wouldn’t even consider Sewald capable of keeping the spot.
I think I’d rather see more Brash later and less Castillo.
Yes. Please. Less Castillo.
Sad to hear Antone suffered a setback. Interesting they think he’s be traded at this point in his career. Need to research better.
“Antone has another three seasons of club control remaining and is set to earn just $770K this season. As such, he’ll quite likely garner plenty of summer trade interest if he’s back to form, given the state of the Reds’ rebuild.”
Given the state of the Reds’ finances, why would they trade a premium reliever making only $770k if he pitches well this year? Unless they got a king’s ransom in return, which is doubtful given his injury history.
The Reds need inexpensive competent bullpen pitching, don’t see them trading such away.
Exactly.