With roughly 5% of the 2024 MLB regular season in the books, here are a few things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:
1. Solar eclipse to appear over MLB stadiums:
A total solar eclipse will appear in the skies over North America today for the first time since 2017 and the final time until 2044. Baseball fans around the country will be able to enjoy the eclipse, with fans in Cleveland in particular getting a special treat. The Guardians are opening the gates to Progressive Field at 1pm CT, as noted MLB.com. That’s just over an hour before the eclipse will begin, which itself will occur roughly two hours before the club’s game against the White Sox is scheduled to begin at 4:10pm CT.
Progressive Field is one of two ballparks in the path of totality hosting a baseball game today, joining the Rangers’ Globe Life Field. However, the game between the Rangers and the Astros is scheduled to begin at 7:05pm CT, long after the eclipse will have passed over the city of Arlington. The Yankees/Marlins in New York, the Cardinals/Phillies game in St. Louis, the Pirates/Tigers game in Pittsburgh, the Reds/Brewers game in Cincinnati, and the Mariners/Blue Jays game in Toronto will all occur in cities where fans will be able to view an eclipse of at least 90% today.
2. Story to undergo exam:
Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story is set to undergo an exam today to determine the severity of a shoulder subluxation that sent the 31-year-old back to the injured list over the weekend. As chief baseball officer Craig Breslow told reporters this weekend, it remains unclear if Story will be able to return to the field this season or if surgery will be required on his ailing shoulder.
It’s the latest brutal setback for Story during his tenure in Boston, which has seen him play just 134 games between the 2021 and 2022 seasons due to wrist, heel, and elbow injuries. Even when he’s been healthy enough to take the field during that time, he’s struggled to a slash line of just .227/.287/.398 at the plate. The club figures to rely on a combination of David Hamilton and Pablo Reyes at shortstop for the time being while Story is on the shelf, though it’s possible that a youngster such as Ceddanne Rafaela or Vaughn Grissom could contribute at the position at some point should Story face a lengthy absence.
3. Snell set for Giants debut:
After spending nearly the entire offseason on the free agent market, Blake Snell is set to make his Giants debut today. The reigning NL Cy Young winner, who inked a two-year, $62MM contract that includes an opt-out clause next offseason, will square off against the rebuilding Nationals and right-hander Trevor Williams in front of Giants fans at Oracle Park tonight. Snell tossed 74 pitches in a simulated game against Giants Double-A hitters last week and has been facing live hitters for several weeks now. Still, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle suggests he’ll likely be limited to the 70-80 pitch range in his first outing of the season as he finishes ramping up to larger per-start workloads.
Snell will join Cy Young runner-up Logan Webb, top prospect Kyle Harrison, sophomore Keaton Winn and reliever-turned-starter Jordan Hicks in the Giants’ rotation.
4. Dodgers to add Brogdon:
The Dodgers acquired right-hander Connor Brogdon from the Phillies over the weekend — a buy-low move on a 29-year-old who entered the 2024 campaign with a career 3.55 ERA and 4.04 FIP. Brogdon, who’s looking to rebound from a down year in 2023 and poor start to the 2024 season, has not officially joined the team yet. Manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Jack Harris of the L.A. Times) that he’ll be doing so today ahead of this evening’s game against the Twins in Minnesota.
Some sort of corresponding move will need to be made to accommodate Brogdon’s addition to the active roster, though his spot on the 40-man was already secured by the club’s decision to designate right-hander Dinelson Lamet for assignment recently. Lefty Alex Vesia and righties Michael Grove and Gus Varland are the only optionable pitchers in the club’s bullpen as things stand, making one of that trio most likely to head to the minors, barring a surprise injury announcement. Brogdon is out of minor league options, so he can’t be sent to Triple-A himself without clearing waivers.
Cardinals manager’s name is Oliver Marmol, not Carlos.
It doesn’t say Carlos in the article.
He never fixed his egregious error from yesterday.
Who is you?
He does make a lot of mistakes. They could use someone as a second pair of eyes. Look, Tim, you don’t need to pay an editor – just have one of the other guys – or yourself – give a second glance. Even Mark & Steve make mistakes. We’re all human. A lot of them are fairly easy to catch, at least to me. Of course, I worked as an editor when I wasn’t writing for Bleacher Report for a long time. So, it’s just natural for me to look at articles with a discerning eye…
I wish it was Carlos Marmol…
Also, regarding Trevor Story, “…which has seen him play just 134 games between the 2021 and 2022 seasons”
This should read “the 2022 and 2023 seasons”
You seem fun.
will – Funny thing is, Lloyd got the number of games wrong …. Story played in 137 games between 2022-2023 …. the way he’s constantly injured, every additional game played credited to him counts! LOL!!
Oh yeah. Deeds got that wrong too. 137, not 134. I didn’t think to double check his math.
He follows the Anthony Franco method of accurate and insightful reporting.
Will: Story and the obnoxious Rendon should join Eloy and Robert and play for the White Sox. Since the Sox are, at best, a AAA team, they can rehab with the Sox against major league teams until they’re healthy enough to join their actual teams.
Facts matter. If you get the basic facts wrong often like Deeds does, people stop reading your articles.
Cleveland is ET so why are the times listed CT?
They are required to use CT because the owner of this website lives in the central time zone.
Central time zone is the greatest of time zones
oh – CT is not the best time zone, and not the worst.
I’d say it’s somewhere in the middle.
ohyeadam: Got that right. Let the eastern time zone people realize that there more time zones than et. Love the time being CT on this site.
Not great, not terrible.
I see what you did there.
What??? Not checking out the Jays Home Opener??? New Reno’s and all, to go along with their Offen…….Oops forget it LOL
Tigers need a hitter desperately.
Dog – Miggy is available.
No. He has a job already
Hotdog: How hard would it be for Miggy to change from a suit to a uniform? He could use the nearest phone booth just like Superman.
They can get Miggy with it.
Was at the game Friday night when Story injured his shoulder. You could tell he landed on it in a bad position.
No, you couldn’t. You aren’t superhuman
Yeah, the outstretched arm and immediate signs of pain are t obvious at all.
With the calls he makes you’d swear that Angel Hernandez has looked directly at numerous solar eclipses
You’re more likely to see a solar eclipse than the right call.
That dude has been a bad umpire since say one and is still employed.
The umpiring has been awful this year. Watching Swanson getting rung up on ball four with the base loaded and one out was bad, then the ump punched out Busch on another ball. Completely changed the course of the game that could have easily led to a Chicago sweep of the Dodgers.
And watching the Dodgers’ hitters suffer similarly in that horribly umpired ballgame was just as bad….
Calls were bad all series, and strongly favored the Cubs in game 1 so at best it’s a wash. Look at the tracking on Busch’s HR for example. Also FWIW a robo-ump would’ve rung up Swanson there too.
Really? I’ll agree the plate calling was awful on both sides but I don’t recall a dodger being called out in such a high leverage situation.
Someone needs to translate into Snell. So, 70 to 80 pitches is what 2 2/3?
Sound like 3 innings of Hunter Greene’s work too.
@unpaidobserver
Pitchers don’t go more than 4 innings so if Snell is on, he might go 1.2 or 2 innings. Must be nice to show up to work, do an hour or so of work and get paid millions.
It wasn’t long ago that people on this site were chastising others who dared to suggest trading Lamet while his stock was high could be a wise move.
Randor – There were people here insisting Bloom’s acquisition of Lamet last year was a brilliant move …. and yadda yadda yadda 13.50 ERA proved them wrong again.
Brogdon’s got a bug up his butt
Vaughn Grissom’s defensive numbers are scary. Lets hope Red Sox dont have to put him at SS.
He is not a good SS at all….
@APBA
MLB doesn’t value defense as much as the offense so if he can hit the cover off the ball but can’t field to save his life, they’ll still play him in the field for his bat. Case in point, Nick Castellanos in RF.
Old York:
Well said, I value fielding more than they do, I guess.
In my view, one error or ‘shouldve made’ play keeps your pitcher on the mound longer, creating more possibilities for problems. You could make the same argument for hitters prolonging the other pitcher’s time on the mound, but a pitcher wont get as frustrated if its his fault like an error does.
In the end, I’d rather see Reyes’s glove at SS and whatever offensive production you get, rather than Hamilton or Grissom there. At 2B, Im a little more understanding of the need for offense.
We will hear a lot of Bonnie Tyler today.
Different eclipse. Nothing you can do…
In Cleveland, a room at a Super 8 Motel (with a 3.2 out of 10 rating) is going for 1200 a night.
I’m on a site about MLB trade rumors and I still can’t escape the people herping a derp about the eclipse.
You’d herp a derp if you’ve seen one. Just saw my second total eclipse in Watertown, NY.
The best part about the first few days of this season is Yankees and Red Sox 1-2 in American League East.
@ChuckyNJ
I miss the rivalry they had a few decades ago. Good to see the two teams on top.
What is the rarer eclipse? Total solar eclipse, or Trevor Story eclipsing 100 games in a season?
Winning at Snells Pace !
How cool would that have been to be at the stadium to watch the eclipse then watch your team play. Hope they passed out glasses for that. Some people really are dumb enough to stare right at the sun without them.
If only the Angels had us stare at the sun before that game yesterday ha ha.