As the third week of the 2023 regular season begins, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today.
1. Baty to be recalled:
The Mets are reportedly poised to call up top prospect Brett Baty later today, prior to the club’s 9:10pm CT game against the Dodgers. Baty, 23, has torn up Triple-A in the early going this season to the tune of a .400/.500/.866 slash line. Of course, the club will have to make a move to make room for Baty on the active roster, though he does already have a 40-man roster spot.
The club’s only optionable bat (beyond stars Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil, both of whom are locked into the everyday lineup) is Luis Guillorme, leaving the option of sending him to Triple-A one potential route. The Mets could also have an injury they’ve not yet made known, which would pave the way for an IL stint to open that roster spot. Outside of that, it’s possible the club could designate a player like outfielder Tim Locastro or even struggling third baseman Eduardo Escobar, who figures to lose substantial playing time to Baty, for assignment.
2. Fried set to return:
Rotation reinforcements are coming in Atlanta, as ace Max Fried is poised to return from the 15-day injured list today to make this evening’s 8:40pm CT start against the Padres. Fried suffered a hamstring strain on Opening Day and left his first start of the season early. Now that Fried is set to rejoin the team, the rotation appears to be set, with right-hander Bryce Elder settling into the fifth spot over rookies Jared Shuster and Dylan Dodd after he impressed with a 1.53 ERA over 17 2/3 innings while filling in for Fried.
Throughout the early part of the season, the Braves have been able to utilize a nine-man bullpen by carefully managing their roster so only four starters are on the active roster at a time. With Fried’s activation, the club’s ability to do that seems set to come to an end, meaning the roster move to make space for Fried could shed some light on the club’s preferred bullpen structure when able to utilize eight relievers.
3. Rangers to unveil City Connect uniforms:
The Rangers are expected to unveil their City Connect uniforms today, following the Braves’ announcement earlier in the month. Later in the season, the Mariners, Reds, Orioles, and Pirates are expected to announce City Connect uniforms, joining 14 clubs that had unveiled jerseys of their own over the past two seasons. The Rangers unveil their jerseys as the club is out to one of its best starts since the team’s most recent playoff run back in 2016, with the club currently 9-6 with a 1.5 game lead in the AL West. You can read more about the jerseys unveiling and related promotions here.
Battered, fried Rangers?
Blue Bell (Texas) fried ice cream
yep. I’m from Texas and this would do it lol
It’s what’s fer supper.
Can’t wait for the first high chopper to head to Baty with the entire game on the line and it goes off the glove and bounces into LF as two runs come in
The overwhelming majority of the City connect jerseys have looked terrible. Hopefully the Rangers can break that trend.
I can’t understand all the online love for the Rockies “Quaker State pit crew” uniforms. I absolutely hated them last season, although they are not AS bad since they ditched the solid green pants for white pants this year. Still they are not the Rockies.
The only one that I’ve seen that’s decent is the Angels. The rest are terrible.
They didn’t.
1.. Guy’s raking in AAA. He should mash MLB pitching. All the best to his success in the majors.
2. Welcome back!
3. I like the top of the jersey and hat but the black pants don’t look right. They should have went all white/beige.
It’s ok. In a month when Baty has a .650 OPS the Mets can send him back down. They just needed to call him up to not disturb the natural progression of his development
All the prospect worshippers will sleep better knowing they called Baty up