Here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around baseball today…
1. Cardinals, Cardinals, Cardinals:
There’s no shortage of intrigue around the Cardinals right now — albeit not for reasons the St. Louis faithful would prefer. Lars Nootbaar and Tommy Edman both left last night’s game after injuring themselves on foul balls — Edman fouling one into his leg and Nootbaar fouling one into his groin. The latter was taken to a “non-emergency medical facility” for further exams, per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The Cards will have updates on both today, but with that pair ailing and Nolan Gorman now having missed three games due to ongoing back discomfort, the Cards could be shorthanded and forced into some kind of roster move.
Elsewhere on the roster, tonight will be a crucial night for struggling franchise icon Adam Wainwright, who has limped to an 8.78 ERA in 66 2/3 innings during what will be the final season of his big league career. Wainwright is two wins away from becoming just the 122nd player to ever reach 200 wins … but he’s allowed 38 runs in 23 innings since his last victory, exactly two months ago to the day. Wainwright tells Benjamin Hochman of the Post-Dispatch that he has no plans to quit and plans to see the season through. Manager Oli Marmol acknowledged Wainwright’s struggles, telling Hochman that in the event of another non-competitive outing, “we’ll sit down and we’ll have another honest conversation as to what does this really looks like moving forward and what’s best.”
2. Kittredge set to return to Rays:
When the Rays next take the field on Friday, they’ll likely do so with right-hander Andrew Kittredge in their bullpen for the first time since June 8, 2022. Kittredge, who underwent Tommy John surgery last summer, has wrapped up his rehab process and is expected to be activated from the 60-day injured list prior to tomorrow’s game, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes. Righty Hector Perez, who was selected to the big league roster yesterday and subsequently allowed four of the five batters he faced to reach base, seems to be a likely corresponding move.
Getting Kittredge back is nothing short of a boon to a Tampa Bay pitching staff that has been ravaged by injuries. While he’s not going to step into the rotation to help offset the crushing losses of Shane McClanahan, Drew Rasmussen and Jeffrey Springs, Kittredge was a quietly elite bullpen option from 2020-22 before his injury. In his past 99 2/3 big league frames, he’s notched a 2.17 ERA with a 24.2% strikeout rate, 4.9% walk rate and 51.9% ground-ball rate.
3. More veterans hit the market:
As August has worn on, we’ve seen several notable names jettisoned from Major League rosters by way of DFA. With no trades of Major League players allowed, any player designated for assignment at this point can only be placed on outright or release waivers, instantly making him available to all 29 other teams. Yesterday’s DFAs of Ryan Thompson (Rays) and Luke Weaver (Reds) add another pair of potential depth options for teams, joining earlier DFA casualties like Mychal Givens and the since-released Carson Kelly and Chasen Shreve. (Givens, as of this morning, had not yet passed through waivers but will likely clear, given his $5MM salary and injury-plagued season.) Both Thompson and Weaver are affordable enough — earning $1MM and $2MM this season, respectively — that it’s not completely out of the question that a team would claim them, though that appears unlikely in the latter’s case, given the extent of his struggles. Even if Givens, Thompson and Weaver all become free agents, they’ll stand out as immediate depth options for teams dealing with injuries in the bullpen or (in Weaver’s case) the rotation.
There are also a handful of notable veterans who’ve been released from minor league deals recently, including catcher Kevin Plawecki, lefty Fernando Abad, right-hander Dan Altavilla and designated hitter/outfielder Franmil Reyes. Royals righty Nick Wittgren, meanwhile, is likely to elect free agency today.
At some point, the body says enough is enough. We don’t get to decide when that will be, but it happens to each of us.
nottinghamforest: That’s true, the body does gradually decline
But hopefully MLB players understand that play time when they were boys. In pro ball, it’s a job. And to keep their jobs, they have to work on their game year around. In their twenties, players feel good and aren’t worried about declining. If they’re smart and want to have long careers, they should work on their bodies.bWeight lifting, cardio, TRX, calisthenics and good nutrition. A strong workout three times a week would get them on good shape.
Anyone who signs Weaver needs a big ballpark and fast outfielders.
Even then, they will DFA him eventually.
We could re-sign him and he would immediately be our ace!
“Potential depth options” would not be what I’d hope for as a description of my chances of getting another job….
And if those are your options, you have none!
Winn should be called up if Edman is to miss more than a game. It should have been Winn covering short and Edman covering second while Gorman is out. Why is a team with Winn and Prieto available playing Motter and Fermin? The later two will never be anything but journeymen minor leaguers.
Carlson and O’Neill can cover for Nootbar with Burlson available for the corners. It’s not like the Cardinals are going anywhere this season.
It’s all about service time and maintaining ’24 ROY eligibility for Winn.
We’re under 45 days after tomorrow. Let’s see if they call him up.
Good grief! Motter at SS is better than Carlson in center or O’Neill in center and Burleson in left? Marmol really needs to go in the off season. Edman should be at short. His time in center coincided with a drastic drop in offense. Motter shouldn’t even be on the roster. There are plenty of better and younger players in the pipeline.
Fouling a ball into your groin is not exactly my idea of a good time…
I assume everyone near you is probably grateful for that.
The Nootbaar now comes without nuts
Noot-lessBaar
Wouldn’t it be Nootbaar-son?
That would be the mochi version of the Noot-lessBaar sold only in Japan.
And we have a winner!
I bet Lars is a bit teste during interviews now.
Enough with the Cardinals. Sell the team and trade/DFA the whole group. Clearly, the Cardinal Way is gone and we need some better management.
So you want to sell the team, DFA all the players, and get new management? Wouldn’t it just be easier and more beneficial for all if you just found a new team?
But these are the best fans in baseball!
Self proclaimed of course.
Maybe we should throw batteries on the field. That makes us better fans.
Batteries thing was @25 yrs ago….. Find new material…
And before you bring up the santa thing, that was @55 yrs ago…..
If the rally squirrel could pitch,
waterdog311: One thing I learned from English league soccer is you never give up on your team whether it’s one game or the whole season. Unfortunately, my team are the White Sox. They are, as Led Zeppelin would put it, the Sox’ new song is “Going down, going down now…” I watch them and can’t help laughing at how they play the game. But I’ll never give up on them or the Cards, my favorite NL team.
I’m not giving up on my team either, I’m suggesting that Old York should move on from them as his ideas are outrageously ridiculous. He might be better served changing old to new and rooting for the team in Queens….new owner and spending like it’s nickels at a casino.
Mozeliak ran this team into the ground. Fitting that they’re known as the Midwest Yankees.
Shildt was the right guy, after all. SHOCKER that a competent, no-nonsense manager was removed. Happens in all industry fields. Front Offices, Board Rooms, Commissions, etc. all hire people they can CONTROL and are not a threat to their fragile egos. John Mozeliak: Exhibit A.
I never understood why they fired Schildt and, for some reason thought Marmol was the right man for the job. briar-patch Thatcher: If you know why they made such a stupid move, please fill me in.
If Shildt was the guy (and I’m not taking a side, just don’t see many Cards games here) why hasn’t another team hired him to manage yet? Interim third base coach should be an easy job to move on from….
Shildt by all accounts refused to adopt analytics, and worst of all refused to play matchups. Burned his best 9 and best BP guys by just rolling the smae guysbout day after day.
What the Cards need is Marmol’s brains and Shildt’s man-management.
Schildt put Reyes in that playoff game in LA after the cards had knocked Scherzer out of the game on the road and were taking it to extras only to have happen what anyone watching the cards that season knew was going to happen. One of the worst managerial calls I’ve seen. He deserved to be fired for that alone.
Wainwright is indeed starting for STL tonite (8/17) and it’s on Fox to most of the nation.
/Because he’s facing the Mets.
In other words, it doesn’t matter how much Wainwright is hurting the team, he doesn’t care, he’s going for 200. And this is a big reason why the team is in the cellar in the first place.
Big time leadership and accountability right there.
There’s no one to take Wainwright’s starts unless the team promotes some guys who aren’t ready. Why damage the youngsters in a lost season?
The team is in last place with or without Wainwright.
What a ridiculous take. It’s not like we are a game or two out of contention so why not let the guy try for 200? Your point would make slightly more sense if he was our only weak link.
I’m not a cardinals fan, but I imagine seeing Waino get to 200 would actually provide some semblance of enjoyment from the 2023 season that would otherwise be completely lacking, right? Letting him try to get to 200 could actually be the best thing they could do for the fans of the team.
The cards losing games at this point is just stocking their bonus pool. Waino getting to 200 would mean something in a lost season. I imagine you’ll see Drew Rom soon anyway. The rotation they’re rolling out is a mess after the 2 trades. There’s enough innings to go around.
He’s one of my favorite players of all time and even though I’m starting to think that even I could hit his curveball right now, he’s earned the ability to compete in a lost season. It’s more a question of if it’s worth it to him to keep getting shelled on the way to 200.
I’ll cheer him on every time he starts. He’s that rare guy who is an incredible competitor and impeccable human being. But, it’s definitely been rough to watch.
High 80s that was once an inch off the plate is now outer third and getting Squared. Vintage curveball is now loopy and getting Squared. At some point it can’t go on even if they need innings. They’re not approaching competitive innings anymore.
I was honestly surprised when I saw that Wainwright had somehow won three games this year. Shows that even a batting practice pitcher can get lucky once in a while.
Luke Voit is still out there too, for some team trying to catch lightning in a bottle. Yankees, are you listening ?
The Yankees scream for offensive infusion, and are on life support right now.
The plug was pulled after that blown game to the Marlins on Sunday.
“Meanwhile” has to start the sentence. It can’t come in the middle, separated by commas.
Jean Segura is a pretty notable veteran too – hard to believe he’d just be done after several solid years.