German Marquez suffered a left hamstring injury during conditioning drills, though Rockies manager Bud Black told The Denver Post’s Patrick Saunders and other reporters that Marquez was able to do some light running on Friday and play catch. The injury seems minor enough that Marquez expressed hope that he could still pitch for his native Venezuela during the second round of the World Baseball Classic, though Marquez will be sidelined for the first round of WBC play.
The right-hander is looking to bounce back from a disappointing 2022 campaign that saw him post a 4.95 ERA over 181 2/3 innings and some of the worst hard-contact numbers of any pitcher in baseball. Any kind of delay in his spring work won’t help in Marquez’s rebound efforts, and a pitching-thin team like Colorado certainly can’t afford seeing its ace miss any time. However, the injury may have taken place early enough that Marquez’s Opening Day status may not be in question — as Black put it, “we’re fortunate in a lot of ways, and German realizes this, that it’s the middle of February and not the middle of March.”
More on other injury situations around the sport…
- Both Michael Kopech and White Sox manager Pedro Grifol think the right-hander is going to be ready for Opening Day, as they updated reporters (including the Associated Press) about Kopech’s status following an injury-marred end to his season. Kopech spent time on the injured list due to shoulder inflammation and a left knee strain, and his season came to an early end when he underwent surgery to fix a tear in his right meniscus. After an offseason of rehab work, Kopech is now “at a point where the knee’s feeling better, the shoulder’s feeling better. But it’s just kind of smoothing things out and getting back to 100 percent.” With Kopech tossing only 119 1/3 innings in 2022, his first full season as a starting pitcher ended up being somewhat limited, though he overcame some very shaky metrics to post a 3.54 ERA.
- Mitch White told MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson that he had a slight shoulder impingement in January that somewhat delayed his usual offseason routine, but the Blue Jays righty is now feeling “great.” White is close to starting to throw side sessions, and that might provide a clearer picture of whether or not White is fully ready as camp opens. Entering his first full season with Toronto, White struggled to a 7.74 ERA over 43 innings with the Blue Jays after being traded from the Dodgers, but White still enters camp in competition for the Jays’ fifth starter role.
Glad to hear that from, Mitch White.
wind – I’m also glad to hear Kopech will be healthy for Opening Day.
Man did Dombrowski fleece the ChiSox with the Sale trade.
Big Sale fan but his Rsox tenure has been pretty injury plagued especially since the extension. It might be time for Sale to turn back to the closer role. Everybody fleeces the WSox in trades.
Cubs didn’t. Quintana for Cease and Eloy was a huge win.
Tatis comes to mind
Whites under the hood numbers were decent. He should be the favorite to win SP5. Kikuchi is only getting a chance because that contract is a nightmare
As a Mariners fan I know how it feels to have Kikuchi pitch for your team. There was dancing in the streets when he didn’t pick up his player option
The contract was heavily front-loaded, so it is only $10 million this year and $10 million next year. That’s not too bad. Kikuchi’s stuff is tantalizing; unfortunately his control is terrible.
Can’t wait for another injury plagued Kopeck season. Here’s to the greatest WSox pitcher that never was since John Danks. Has Giolito figured out why his spin rate and velocity was down? Maybe it’s because he throws too many pitches per batter. Hey Gio, get a grip
$19.99 for 2.5 oz of Spider Tack on Amazon. Gio could afford it.
Trevor Bauer has entered the chat.
The league has cracked down on foreign substances and spin rates are down for some pitchers. Just a Coincidence? Kinda doubt it
some pitchers… spin rates are elevated for plenty, and I’m sure people are using some sort of substance to increase them. Baseball has a rich history of cheating… I mean, “gamesmanship”
What did Joe Musgrove have on his ears during the playoffs??? Never seen such shiny ears!!! Lol
Yeah Cleo, that crackdown on Tack seemed to be about the time when things went south for Gio.
I feel he’ll be finding real estate in California before the end of the year.
LaRussa beat Kopech like a mule
The negativity in the comments sections of the last several posts is rather astounding. “Hope and faith” has been replaced with “gripe and complain.”
Talk about complaining…..
An observation is complaining?
Marquez is injured? Maybe, the Yankees should call up Colorado and try to acquire him, because Cashman likes to trade for injured players. (Montas)
And sign injury-prone players (Judge).
@Books- the Yankees really had no other option, to replace Judge. So he had to be resigned. You can’t fault the Yankees for that. Montas was hurting last season, they should have definitely steered clear of him.
CaptJ, before the year is over, it wouldn’t surprise me, if the Cubs and the Yankees might find common ground in the trade market.
It’s possible the Cubs could have enough surplus SPs by late July – that teams might be calling 1-800-CHI-CUBS to inquire.
But it will not come cheap.
@Dogbone- I feel the Yankees pitching will be alright truthfully. I think Ian Happ is a player the Yankees will zone in at the deadline. I definitely see the Yankees and the Cubs being trade partners later in the season. I love the Cubs, they are my favorite National League team. I wish them my best this season as always.
Your right CapJ, The OF ‘could be’, an area of surplus also, for the Cubs. If Brennan Davis is healthy and performing well, and Canario looks to have recovered from the serious injuries he sustained in Winter ball – the Cubs might be able to help you guys.
The issue is, Davis, Canario and Seiya Suzuki are RH bats – and the Cubs need LH bats at this time. Happ coulld work himself into the near term future, Cub OF. Bellinger might be a more realistic trade chip IF he’s performing decent.
White is a terrible pitcher. Full stop. Terrible trade for the Jays and called so at the time.
I think Kopech can be a great pitcher and this should be the year to see him start coming into his own.