As the 2024 regular season continues, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:
1. Leiter to make MLB debut:
The second overall pick of the 2021 draft is set to make his MLB debut today, as the Rangers announced earlier this week that right-hander Jack Leiter will be promoted to make today’s start against the Tigers in Detroit, where he’ll be matched up against veteran right-hander Kenta Maeda. Leiter, who will celebrate his 24th birthday on Sunday, was a consensus top-25 prospect in the sport after being drafted out of Vanderbilt three years ago but has struggled in professional ball with ERAs north of 5.00 in each of the last two seasons.
That being said, the righty has looked good three appearances into his 2024 season, posting a 3.72 ERA at the Triple-A level while striking out an incredible 43.9% of batters faced against a walk rate of just 5.3%. If Leiter has recaptured the form that made him the most dominant pitching prospect on the planet during his college days, that would be a huge boost to a Rangers club that started the season without veteran aces Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom. Leiter’s debut is scheduled for 1:10pm local time in Detroit and 12:10pm CT for fans in Texas.
2. Taillon to make season debut:
The Cubs have weathered plenty of key injuries early in the 2024 campaign, ranging from staff ace Justin Steele suffering a hamstring strain on Opening Day to right fielder Seiya Suzuki being placed on the shelf with an oblique strain earlier this week. The club is slated to move closer to full strength later today when right-hander Jameson Taillon, who is set to be activated from the injured list today, makes his first start of the 2024 campaign. Taillon, 32, is in the second year of his four-year, $68MM contract with the Cubs and posted slightly below average results (93 ERA+) last year after a brutal first half that saw him post a 6.93 ERA and 5.14 FIP in his first 14 starts.
He’ll look to turn the page on that rough performance starting today, when he’ll face off against left-hander A.J. Puk and the Marlins at Wrigley Field in a game schedule to begin at 6:40pm local time this evening. Taillon’s return could see the Cubs push youngster Ben Brown, who has dominated with a 1.23 ERA in 14 2/3 innings of work since joining the club’s rotation, into a relief role, though it’s possible the club could make another move like optioning young lefty Jordan Wicks or going with a six-man rotation if they want to keep Brown in a starting capacity.
3. LeMahieu, Lowe to begin rehab assignments:
A pair of key players in the AL East are on the road to their season debuts today, as MLB.com indicates that veteran Yankees infielder DJ LeMahieu is set to begin a rehab assignment as soon as today, while reporting earlier this week indicated that Rays outfielder Josh Lowe is also slated to begin a rehab assignment today. LeMahieu, 35, suffered a non-displaced fracture of his right foot during Spring Training and figures to get the majority of his reps at third base, where Oswaldo Cabrera is off to a hot start, upon his return to action. The veteran was roughly league average at the plate in a down season last year but has a strong .285/.358/.430 slash line since joining the Yankees prior to the 2019 season.
As for Lowe, the 26-year-old missed virtually all of Spring Training due to hip inflammation and an oblique strain. The former top prospect enjoyed a breakout season at the plate with Tampa last year, slashing an excellent .292/.335/.500 in 501 trips to the plate. In 2024, the Rays appear poised to rely on Lowe as their primary right fielder with Randy Arozarena and Jose Siri manning left and center field. Its been an injury-riddled start to the season for the Rays, particularly on the positional side where Lowe is joined by Jonny DeLuca, Taylor Walls, Brandon Lowe, and Jonathan Aranda on the shelf. Despite those injury woes, the Rays have managed to keep their heads above water with a 10-9 record to this point in the season, though that’s only been good enough for a three-way tie for last place in a highly competitive AL East.
Let’s go Jack!
The bullpen can use a shot in the arm but I really hope the Cubs opt to keep Brown in the rotation for the time being. He’s proving he belongs and gives the rotation a power strike out arm from the right side to match Imanaga’s swing and miss from the left.
I don’t know how many shots the Cubs can give Hendricks, dudes been absolutely lit up every single game. I’d strongly consider going to a six man rotation with Wesneski and Smyly having the ability to go long but give Hendo two more outings tops to see if he can get right.
dras–haven’t seen it yet, but who is on the shuttle for Taillon tonight? Is it Wesneski for no other reason than he probably isn’t available for 4 days now? Keegan? Wicks? Brewer DFA?
Major difference in the Cubs pen is that they have a boatload of guys without options (Smyly, Neris, Almote, Leiter, Brewer) so they won’t be able to use the back and forth as well as they have over the past few seasons.
I agree on hoping Brown stays (and I want Wicks to as well).
In my mind, Kyle has a lifetime pass with his championship contributions, but something has be considered in the very near future. He’s probably one of a handful of pitchers in baseball that cannot survive without absolute pinpoint control and there is way too much not on the fringes in all of his outings.
If I was to guess it would be Wicks because he hasn’t been used as a reliever where Wesneski has.
I’m hoping Hendricks suddenly develops a mysterious case of “lower back tightness” and has to go sit out for 10 days to work his way back and ramp up again in Arizona.
I actually am curious if he is injured again. Hendricks has always pitched very well except when he hurt his shoulder.
As a Detroit fan it’s amazing that Detroit is playing so close with Texas as the bats have mostly been cold. One run games are exciting to watch. A fun wrap up in Detroit today of a 4 game set that Texas leads 2-1, with Detroit having the better overall record.
Should be a good first game for Leiter. Twins are below average for BB% at 8.6 and above average for K% at 27.4%. Their team slash line is an abysmal .193 / .281 / .330. Add in that Comerica Park’s park factor is below league average (3-year rolling average) and even worse for this year so far and he should have a decent game today.
Minnesotans are going to be sad when they find out that the Twins moved to Detroit.
@Paleobros
Yeah, I messed up the teams. My bad!
The box score indicates Leiter is also sorry it wasn’t the Twins.
LeMahieu is not likely to get the majority of playing time over Cabrera. They’ll form a platoon, with Cabrera getting the heavy side of the platoon, at least until (or if) his bat slows down. There’s a 300 point swing in Cabrera’s OPS, approximately.680 vs lefties and .980 vs righties.
Think we’ll see more of a DJL/Rizzo platoon and Cabrera getting the everyday play with Berti out.