On the heels of some early-morning news, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:
1. Scherzer to undergo MRI:
Future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer exited his start against the Blue Jays in the sixth inning due to a triceps spasm. As noted by Jeff Wilson of Rangers Today, manager Bruce Bochy told reporters yesterday that Scherzer will undergo an MRI today to determine the extent of the injury. An injury to Scherzer, who owns a 3.20 ERA and 3.46 FIP in eight starts since joining Texas at the trade deadline, would be a brutal blow to the Rangers late in the season. The club is in the thick of the playoff race, sitting one game behind the Astros for the AL West crown and up half a game on both the Mariners and Blue Jays for the second of three AL Wild Card spots.
The Rangers’ potential playoff rotation would stand to take a hit as well, of course. Lefty Jordan Montgomery (3.62 ERA) and righty Nathan Eovaldi (2.90 ERA) have both had strong seasons to this point, but replacing Scherzer with one of Dane Dunning (3.91 ERA), Jon Gray (3.96 ERA), or Andrew Heaney (4.10 ERA) would be a downgrade.
2. Bailey nearing a return:
Giants catcher Patrick Bailey is eligible to return from the 7-day concussion-related injured list today. Both manager Gabe Kapler (per MLB.com) and Bailey himself (per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle) have indicated that he is likely to return as soon as he’s eligible, meaning he could be back in the lineup for this afternoon’s game against the Guardians. Bailey, 24, has solidified the catcher position for the Giants during his rookie season, pairing a decent .248/.304/.390 (91 wRC+) slash line with defense that has graded out as superb behind the plate. The Giants have been utilizing a tandem of Joey Bart and Blake Sabol behind the plate in Bailey’s absence. The return of San Francisco’s rookie catcher could provide a spark for a Giants club that sits just 1.5 games out of the final NL Wild Card spot but has gone just 4-7 since the start of September.
3. Canha to visit doctor:
After exiting yesterday’s game against the Marlins in the third inning, Brewers outfielder Mark Canha is set to have his ailing wrist evaluated, as noted by Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. In conversation with reporters, Canha noted that he’s dealt with wrist issues before and that cortisone injections have been helpful in the past, but his treatment plan and path forward this season won’t be clear until after today’s testing. The 34-year-old Canha has slashed an impressive .303/.394/.459 with a wRC+ of 133 in 142 plate appearances since joining the club at the trade deadline, so any missed time will sting for the Brewers. Joey Wiemer appears to be the likeliest candidate to take over for Canha in the outfield, if necessary.
Don’t run on Bailey. Almost 40% CS. That’s Yadier Molina territory.
All hail Yadi.
40% is amazing considering, first and foremost, the larger bases. I agree with Longtime oming (below) that pitchers refuse to use the slide step. Either no one’s teaching it or pitchers are doing what they please no matter the results. Ricky Henderson has the record of SB in a season. If Acuna or someone else breaks it with the bigger bases, it shouldn’t count.
Personally, I think that stat is very misleading as a lot of bases are stolen on the pitcher’s lack of holding a runner on / being to slow to the plate. Some catchers have lower numbers as a result while some others may have a better result due to having a staff that is the opposite.
Not intending to diminish a quality arm behind the plate – just saying don’t 100% go by that stat as your judging tool.
If there’s any way for Cards fans to inflate the status of their players,they’ll find it.
@njbirdsfan
I’m not a Cards fan…
Amen. Remember when Kolten Wong was the next Joe Morgan? How did that pan out…
@Longtimecoming
That’s a fair argument but now we have different rules that essentially allow runners to run wild, so the fact that the guy has a decent CS%, even if the pitchers are not holding them on.
It’s actually better than Yadi considering the new rules and bases.
Mad Max isn’t durable enough for a full season.
You can probably say that for most pitchers these days … if not all. Ugh.
I’m actually starting to like the new playoff structure. Keeps the season interesting for more teams. And all of them are “Nottheyankees”, which makes them many of my 29 favorite teams. Yummy.
> Yummy.
I’m going to go all in and put my chips down where the rubber meets the road, I’m just sayin I’m not gonna lie to you, we’re all adults here, and at the end of the day, I’m kinda confused about this part.
Baseball tastes better when it doesn’t have Yankees all over it.
Oh. Wow. Ummm… I’d be careful. Only Manfred knows what’s inside his baseballs.
Max disappears again once the games get important.
So the Mets will be paying part of the freight for Max’s TJ and the final year of his career?
Who cares? At least he’s gone.
Father time remains undefeated. Maybe he’s starting to call Scherzer’s name.
Have you seen how many pitchers for the Rays have had health issues? Father time doesn’t care one bit. The injuries are a combination of genetics, overuse, poor managing by teams, poor pitching approaches and sometimes just bad luck.
Or sports science has men getting deeper into their capabilities and operating at their bodies upper limits for longer.
Just saying, at a certian age, injuries heal slower, and happen more frequently. Might be at 30, might be a 40, heck might be at 25. Yes, all of the things you listed do have a factor. But age is also one of said factors.
> overuse, poor managing by teams,
> poor pitching approaches
Those are all directly or indirectly related to abuse. Abuse trumps time for everything.
Buy a car. No maintenance for five years. Beat the $&#! out of it, too. Boom! Car needs major surgery.
You mean the Max Scherzer with the 3.58 career playoff ERA with 164 Ks and 98 hits in 133.1 IP?
Canha has been on fire ever since he put the Crew uniform on really. Glad for him as a person and certainly as a fan!
Glad that he is injured and is seeing a doctor?
Don’t be dense. He’s obviously a Brewers fan, why would he be glad that the guy hitting well for his team is injured and seeing a doctor?
Wow the Rangers don’t seem to have much of a starting rotation anymore plus their bullpen is majorly circumspect as usual. And missing Adolis and Jung. Hmmm. Well, one game at a time I guess.
The Rangers probably wish they had spent that Jacob Degrom big money on a couple decent bullpen pieces instead. With a decent bullpen, they are probably safely leading the A.L West.
It’s just really hard to fill a roster out in free agency and it isn’t a sustainable model.
The rangers forced a window open with all their FA signings over the last 2 off seasons without having the guys in the org in place yet.