As MLB’s regular season continues, here are three things for MLBTR readers to keep an eye out for today:
1. Yelich to the injured list?
Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich has enjoyed his best start to a season since 2018-19, hitting .333/.422/.744 with five home runs in just 46 plate appearances. Unfortunately, lower back soreness has limited Yelich to just 11 games so far and could cause him to miss even more time.
As relayed by Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, manager Pat Murphy told reporters yesterday that while Yelich’s soreness hasn’t improved in recent days, the club feels it’s best to wait until the “last minute” before making the decision to place him on the shelf. Murphy went on to indicate that decision would come today. Should Yelich require a trip to the 10-day IL, the Brewers figure to turn to a Triple-A depth option such as Vinny Capra or Owen Miller to fill out the club’s positional mix while mostly relying on Jackson Chourio, Sal Frelick, Joey Wiemer, and Blake Perkins in the outfield.
2. Blue Jays bullpen getting healthy:
It’s been an uneven start for the Blue Jays, with the club’s 9-8 record putting them in a three-way tie at the bottom of the AL East. A patchwork bullpen that has posted a 5.00 ERA so far in the 2024 campaign has been an Achilles heel. Fortunately for fans in Toronto, it appears plenty of help is on the way. Keegan Matheson of MLB.com suggests that both closer Jordan Romano and setup man Erik Swanson could be activated from the injured list today.
Over the past four seasons, Romano has pitched to a 2.29 ERA and 3.13 FIP while racking up 97 saves in 199 appearances. Meanwhile, Swanson enjoyed a strong inaugural season in Toronto after coming over in the Teoscar Hernandez trade last year. He posted a 2.97 ERA and 3.51 FIP in 66 2/3 innings of work. The high-leverage duo’s return should take pressure off Chad Green and Yimi Garcia and deepen the group overall. Toronto will need to make a pair of active roster moves to accommodate the return of Romano and Swanson ahead of this evening’s game against the Yankees, which begins at 7:07pm local time.
3. MLBTR Chat today:
The 2024 season is now in full swing, and some clubs have gotten off to surprisingly strong starts while a handful of others have unexpectedly struggled to open the year. If you have questions regarding your favorite club’s start to the campaign, or perhaps questions about the summer trade deadline or 2024-25 offseason, MLBTR’s Steve Adams will host a live chat with readers today at 11am CT. You can click here to ask a question in advance, and that same link will allow you to join in on the chat once it begins or read the transcript after it is completed.
Jays pen has been pretty brutal, combining for -0.5 fWAR (ranked 28th) so far this season but the SP has only provided +0.9 WAR (ranked 23rd). If they can get that pitching side fixed, they should see some better results for the team, given their offense is ranked #13 in the MLB based on fWAR.
Man it was fun watching a healthy Yeli rake again!
Fun while it lasted, anyway.
Ross Atkins better be ready to trade Vladdy at the deadline if this team isn’t performing to standards. Can’t stand watching this front office either kill a players trade value by waiting too long or getting nothing in return
@MysteryWhiteBoy13
You need some value to trade him. He’s currently sitting at wRC+ of 103 and -0.1 WAR. He is also -2.2 Def on Fangraphs so far this year.
Yeah, it’s been like 15 games and I assume even you are smart enough to know that using any small samples is just silly. Especially for a player that has quite obviously out performed that small sample every single season. His value is whatever another teams GM is willing to trade and that value goes down by continuing to wait
@MysteryWhiteBoy13
Good luck with that prediction. I don’t think the value will be there by the deadline. He’s peaked.
Then you have proven that you are just a moron
@MysteryWhiteBoy13
I’m a moron because you disagree with me? LOL! Wow, social media has turned people into silos of self-centered failure.
I do agree with you about small sample sizes, but he has had diminishing returns for 4 seasons now and he isn’t making 2 million dollars.
If his numbers look similar to last years at the deadline (which is a big step up from what he is producing now), you might be disappointed with the returns being offered
His value goes down every game that he proves that 2021 was. a fluke
No. You’re a moron because you still think 15 game small samples are proof of anything. Your comment was proof you are a moron, I was just pointing it out
Still more value this year at the deadline, than next off season or next years deadline.
@MysteryWhiteBoy13
Good. Guy’s overvalued significantly. He already peaked and won’t be any better than he is right now. If I were the GM and was keeping the guy, I’d plan to have him full-time DH. Let him focus on hitting only, as that is where he is best fit. The fact that the Jays haven’t extended him tells me they don’t think he’ll pan out to be anything worth investing in.
Totally agree, sadly. At this point, Vladdy looks to be a slightly above league average hitter with a below average glove at an ‘easy’ position and no defensive versatility. Additionally, he routinely makes bad choices on the base paths and almost never hustles.
In the last day or two, I saw him hit a single to the gap that scored a run and he trotted down to first and looked into the dugout at his pals, as if he hit a homer. The ball was live. A player who is in the game should be running until the defense makes them stop. If the outfielder had misplayed the ball, Vladdy would have had to stay on first.
Nobody is tripping over themselves to get a guy like that.
He has all the talent in the world, but apparently no drive or will to apply it.
Old,
Suggesting a guy has peaked at 25 seems very shortsighted. Also, Vlads advanced stats all suggest he’s ran into bad luck vs being a bad player.
@drasco036
Advanced stats suggesting he’s running into bad luck means nothing. If he hits into an out, he’s out. It’s the same flawed logic about how the guy always hits into the shift and shouldn’t be forced to make proper adjustments. No, we must ban the shift. Hilarious!
I wouldn’t expect anything less from you and your black of critical thinking skills. You are arguably the most uninformed poster on this board.
Even though it’s going to go over your head let me explain it to you: his exit velocity, barrel percentage, hard hit percentage, max exit and launch angle are on par with where they need to be. So is his walk rate and k rate which means it’s bad luck. Much like Juan Soto early last season. Vlad is seeing and hitting the ball well, he will be fine. You’re just too dumb to realize it
@drasco036
It ultimately doesn’t matter what the expected result is. If he’s hitting into outs, that’s the reality. To suggest he’s actually doing well because some advanced metrics suggest so is like saying we should stop actually playing the game and reward players for expected performances.
Wow, not only do you lack critical thinking skills you also lack reading comprehension. I hope you didn’t spend much on your education.
What’s funny to me is you ignoring advance metrics in this thread but try to use wRC+ in others to support your claim that older, less talented players of the 20s were better than the current players.
Two things, god why do I waste my time with you, I said he is hitting the ball well, which he is, he is making quality contact. He is also rocking an OPS+ of 113 despite his lack of luck on BABIP.
@drasco036
You criticized my education and then just went on a rant with no data to show for it. You sound like a little kid so it’s probably best to go back to school and stay in school.
I criticized your lack of education.
@drasco036
What lack of education? Do you personally know me?
Rather see the front office and their analytics team traded. This would give all the players a much needed change of scenery.
Agree, Atkins needs to be on the hot seat; but that doesn’t change the fact that he is currently in charge and has actually done quite a good job making this a playoff caliber team
What if Vlad Jr. isn’t performing? Through his first 76 ABs, 0.0 bWAR (99 OPS+). Not acceptable for a 1B/future DH. They may benefit from a team hoping to pry Alonso away from NYM and settling for a renewed Vlad Jr. He looks like a prime candidate for a monster contract year in the right lineup. TOR has some hard choices to make.
Using Wiems more than once a week is too much
Does he still have that herky-jerky stance?
He’s lowered his hand load and gone to more of a toe-tap, but it’s not paying off here or AAA. Shouldn’t have messed with it in the first place.
Unhealthy backs have derailed many a career. Yelich seemed to have clawed his way back to the top only to have back issues again. Hopefully it’s short term.
Hader gave up 4 ERs in 0.1 innings pitched, last night. Good money spent, Houston! I’ve been expecting a 3.5 – 4 FRA for him this year, so things are going to get better but still pretty bad so far this season. 8 ER in 7.2 innings. Brutal!
Inadvertent pun? (…clawed his way back…)
Since mlbtr continues to ignore the status of MLB’s HR leader (who’s also carrying a 1.209 OPS and 238 OPS+) since he was injured during yesterday’s 11 AM ET/ 10 AM CT game, in addition to receiving 8 stitches and being placed in concussion protocol he has been ruled out (expectedly) for today’s game according to reports you just won’t find here.
You should start your own competing website.
Really?
>A patchwork [Blue Jays] bullpen that has posted a 5.00 ERA so far in the 2024 campaign has been an Achilles heel.
The Jays bullpen does have a 5.00 ERA but it also has a 4-1 W-L with 4 saves, 6 holds, a ZERO blown saves.
Eat your heart out, Astros!