As the 2023 regular season continues, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:
1. Davis reaches the majors:
As was reported yesterday, the Pirates are expected to promote catching prospect Henry Davis before today’s game against the Cubs. The first overall pick in the 2021 draft, Davis is a consensus top 100 prospect in the game who was ranked as highly as #46 by Baseball America entering the 2023 campaign. Those strong rankings came even after some outlets soured on Davis somewhat thanks to a difficult stint in Double-A last year, where he hit .207/.324/.379 in 136 plate appearances. Davis has left little room for doubt with his performance so far in 2023, however, crushing minor league competition to the tune of a .284/.433/.541 slash line in 232 plate appearances split between the Double-A and Triple-A levels.
While Davis has spent most of his playing career as a catcher, it appears that may not be his position in the majors, at least on a full-time basis. Manager Derek Shelton already acknowledged yesterday that the club’s current catching tandem of Austin Hedges and Jason Delay would remain on the active roster following Davis’s promotion, while Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette expands on that comment, noting that the expectation is that Davis will play primarily in right field while also getting occasional starts behind the plate. A 40-man roster move will be necessary to accommodate Davis, though that can easily be accomplished by transferring right-hander Vince Velasquez, who will not pitch again in 2023, to the 60-day IL.
2. Nootbaar to return:
The Cardinals have been without outfielder Lars Nootbaar for the entirety of June thanks to a lower back contusion, but the outfielder could be on the verge of returning, with multiple reports indicating that Nootbaar will rejoin the Cardinals against the Nationals in Washington, potentially as soon as today. That’s great news for St. Louis, as Nootbaar’s fantastic .380 on-base percentage in 184 plate appearances this season should help bolster an offense that ranks just 9th in the NL with a team-wide OBP of .322.
It’s currently unclear which players in the Cardinals lineup will see reduced playing time thanks to Nootbaar’s return. With Nootbaar on the shelf, Tommy Edman has moved from the infield to center field, a position he’s taken to rather well. He’s flanked on either side by Jordan Walker and Dylan Carlson on most days, while Paul DeJong, Brendan Donovan, and Nolan Gorman mix and match up the middle. Given the versatility of Edman and Donovan, the club has plenty of flexibility with regard to how it can juggle its position players upon Nootbaar’s return.
3. Candelario to be re-evaluated:
The Nationals could be without one of their key offensive contributors in the coming days, as manager Davey Martinez told reporters (including Mark Zuckerman of MASN) that third baseman Jeimer Candelario suffered a bone bruise on his right thumb on Saturday. Martinez notes that the club plans to re-evaluate Candelario ahead of this evening’s game against the Cardinals. While the Nationals, sporting an NL-worst record of 27-43 that’s set them back 18 games in the NL East, will hardly have hopes of making the playoffs dashed by Candelario missing time, the switch-hitter suffering an injury that causes him to miss significant time would be a major blow nonetheless.
That’s because Candelario figures to be one of the more interesting bats available to potential buyers at the trade deadline. After a difficult 2022 season that saw him non-tendered by the Tigers over the offseason, Candelario has bounced back in a big way with the Nationals, slashing .256/.336/.452 in 283 plate appearances while playing quality defense at third base. Should Candelario miss time, Michael Chavis and Ildemaro Vargas appear to be the most likely options to cover for him at the hot corner.
Timing the promotion of a catcher is much more about the defensive development and leadership skills in minors. Hope enough has been done there to help him and the team. It’s not like bringing up a DH or bat that you live with questionable D in corner OF simply to boost the offense.
I think they are reacting to the shot in the arm De La Cruz gave the Reds. Any team in the Nl Central still has a shot. I think they see Davis as a potential catalyst and adds to the quality of at bats for the Pirates who have been very streaky this season. The Pirates are going to need one more starter to stay in the race, which is the same thing the Reds need. Both teams can be dangerous in the playoffs, if they end the season playing good baseball, especially if they only require 3 good starters. The Pirates have the edge over the Reds, if Mitch Keller starts pitching like an ace again.
MLB needs more Nootbaars.
Carlson looks completely lost at the plate. With how highly regarded he was upon breaking into the majors his rapid decline is all the more pronounced.
How so? He’s hit for an .864 OPS in the 9 games since his return from the IL, and he was also hitting well for the week or two before he hit the IL. He just got off to a bad start like Arenado and many other hitters did this season.
Numbers are like your brother in law. They’ll lie if they have to.
Numbers never lie unless you approximate in a poor manner, and they only misrepresent when you force them to do so, neither of which have I done here.
It’s amazing , first rounder Patrick Bailey in SF is making Joey Bart look like a complete bust. Then again …he just might be one
Detroit should trade for Candelario. They need a 3B desperately. If only they could add a player of this quality by increasing expected payroll by $1MM… Oh, never mind.
Candelario is back and in today’s lineup.
Starting and batting 3rd vs the Cards.
I think it will be Donovan losing most of the playing time for the Cardinals, just as he’s the odd man out in the lineup today. He’s one of the weaker bats on the team, and both Edman and Dejong play better defense.
He’ll still likely get the most playing time among the “bench players” as the super-sub, though.
Sorry, it’s Carlson who sat today. I still think Donovan will lose more playing, though.