On the heels of a busy morning around the league, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on today:
1. Yankees await imaging results:
The Yankees and their fans are waiting with bated breath for news on a pair of potentially key players for the 2025 club: right-hander Luis Gil and veteran infielder DJ LeMahieu. Gil underwent an MRI on his shoulder over the weekend after feeling what the club described as “tightness” in the area, while LeMahieu underwent imagining of his own after he “tweaked” a calf muscle on the basepaths during his first Spring Training game of the year. LeMahieu appeared to be the favorite to handle third base entering the season for the Yankees, while Gil was all but assured of the final spot in the rotation behind Gerrit Cole, Max Fried, Carlos Rodon, and Clarke Schmidt.
If Gil ends up missing time, it appears likely the Yankees would turn to veteran Marcus Stroman to round out the rotation after coming up empty in their efforts to trade him this winter. At third base, a platoon of Oswaldo Cabrera and Oswald Peraza seems to be the most likely outcome if LeMahieu misses time and no external additions make their way into the conversation.
2. Lawrence on waivers:
Over the weekend, it was reported that right-hander Justin Lawrence was placed on waivers by the Rockies in a somewhat unusual move for this juncture of the calendar. If Lawrence is claimed by a rival club, they’ll assume his $925K salary for 2025 and he’ll depart the Rockies for that organization. If he goes unclaimed, Colorado would have the option to outright him off the 40-man roster but could also simply keep him in the fold in his current role. Lawrence, 30, is an intriguing potential rebound candidate after struggling badly in 2024 but flashing past success at Coors Field despite the difficult conditions for pitching. Given the 48-hour window associated with waivers, a resolution to Lawrence’s placement on waivers should be coming in relatively short order.
3. Tigers reeling after outfield injuries:
It’s been a tough few days for the Tigers, as what once looked like an excess of potential position player options has been picked apart by injuries. Friday saw infielder/outfielder Matt Vierling ruled out for Opening Day due to a rotator cuff strain. Shortly thereafter, center fielder Parker Meadows had his own status for the start of the season thrown into question by a nerve issue in his right arm. Meadows has not been ruled out for Opening Day at this point, and the ailment could prove to be a relatively short-term issue. Even so, Detroit will now have to plan as though their starting right fielder and their starting center fielder will both miss the beginning of the 2025 campaign.
Frustrating as that is for Vierling, Meadows, and the Tigers, it does open up opportunities for other young players. Notably, outfielder Justyn-Henry Malloy and slugger Spencer Torkelson could now have the opportunity to force their way back into the lineup as the club’s top right-handed bats who can help step in for Vierling. Malloy could simply replace Vierling in the outfield, or the club could shift Kerry Carpenter to right field, thereby opening the DH spot for either Malloy or Torkelson.
No brainer to claim a pitcher making less than one million by a team in need of arms.
Let’s just pray that Gil will be alright, truthfully.
99Captain: I don’t watch the Yankees very much, but it seems to me that Rodon is kind of up and down.
@avenger65- yeah Rodon is always up and down, but last season was a lot more consistent. Hope all is well. What team is your favorite again? Lmk
99Captain: Unfortunately, the White Sox. Fortunately, they’re no longer on local TV so I won’t have the opportunity to see them stumble their way breaking their own record for most losses in a season.
@avenger65- ok cool, so you’ve seen Rodon pitch a lot more then me over the years being a White Sox fan. The ChiSox will no longer play on NBC Chicago anymore? Let me know and thanks.
what does god have to do with baseball?
I feel bad for Stroman. He’s had a pretty solid career, overall. Last year he got to live out his dream of pitching for his boyhood team, the Yankees. It turned into a nightmare and one of his worst seasons as a pro.
It had to be gut wrenching for him.
It would be such a great story if the Yanks were forced to use him after trying to get rid of him, and he rebounded and had the season he wanted to have last year.
I’m not a Yankee fan, but I’m rooting for him. I hope if he gets a chance again that he makes the most of it.
Canuck – I know it’s only ST, but he would have to pitch a LOT better than he did yesterday.
True, but spring training is really about getting up to speed and sometimes testing out pitches. The results are less important then how the players feel and if they get their reps in.
But yeah, it’s been ugly so far.
In Stroman we trust? Imagine not having to wait for imaging? That would be great!
Canuckleball: Just a theory, but maybe pitching for his boyhood team was a bit much for Stroman. Maybe in year two the admiration will calm down and he’ll pitch like he can.
I was thinking the same. Stroman is a very high strung guy.
avenger I don’t think that’s the issue with Stroman. He pitched lights out the first half of the season. If it was pressure, it feels like it would have been a problem from the start.
avenger65- I definitely think you have something there with your comment. He would probably pitch better for another team. Stro doesn’t throw as hard anymore, but can definitely get you out with a lot of ground balls, with his power sinker and a good defense behind him.
Well, Stroman will have his chance to either blow it or run with it now, it looks like.
The Yankees pitching staff will be alright if Gil is out for a bit. Its probably not the worst thing in the world if he has a semi-protracted innings total this year anyway after the heavy load his tallied last year. Cole, Fried, Rodon, Schmidt is an elite quartet, and Stroman is probably the best #5 in baseball if it comes to that.
3B is a disaster. Someone like McMahon or Rengifo would be ideal, but I don’t see either of their respective teams being interested in selling those guys. Perhaps Pittsburgh is willing to sell on Hayes’ contract, or maybe the Twins will listen on Castro given their infield depth.
Wag – The Yankees are the runnerup favorite to win the WS this year, they will be tough as usual.
I agree. Where did I suggest otherwise?
Fever: Maybe, but I’d like to see someone else represent the AL in the WS. Boston would be ideal. Go Red/White Sox!
I’m on record of saying no to Hayes, though I like the history, I don’t like the player.
I’d be interested in the rest, with McMahon first. I feel he’s best suited for the position while Rengifo and Castro are better used as utility types–that said they are BOTH better than what we currently have.
One of the problems with Cashman that I’ve noticed is he sticks to a plan. I’ve no doubt he’s got his sights set on someone for third base longterm, maybe it’s Murakami, I dunno, but he doesn’t add to a position long term if he’s got a plan. The problem is, plans don’t always work out so sometimes if something else presents itself you need to be able to pivot into that. If McMahon was available that’s an intriguing possible solution.
@Sal
What’s your issue with Hayes?
McMahon would be a great pickup for them, would probably cost an awful lot to acquire though. Especially if they’d be looking to ship out money to balance out his contract.
Rockies are so adverse to trading their own players, especially guys they drafted high & developed. I would think there’s about a .01% chance of it happening.
I wonder how much though. He isn’t really a star player in the traditional sense. A .240 career hitter, gets on base ok, 20hr pop. The defense is very good, though. Still I can’t see how high the cost would be.
Yeah he’s definitely fairly mediocre with upside but being he was drafted so high and the Rockies just value their players WAY differently than others do, so to the Rockies owner McMahon is like Brooks Robinson lol.
When you got nothing, you cling onto everything like it’s gold, and I guess that’s a good attitude for the fans, less so for the ownership. Colorado has some good young players, though, so I can see keeping him as a leader.
My Yankee fandom encompasses a hold of breath on Gil. But I really don’t expect very much at all from DJL. Players get old, they get more easily injured, they lose some of their ability, and signing someone with his age/skills profile for 6 years was poor judgment, even if the length was an attempt to keep AAV down. Stroman needs some starts. Either he will find himself as a productive pitcher, and the Yankees can either trade him or retain him, or he’s going to be sub-par, and in that case, the Yankees are under no obligation to keep running him out there to burn the bullpen.
@mikenmn
Yankee fans seem to be fine with the long term contracts knowing the back end won’t be favorable. I guess that means they are fine with the DJL contract, because they predicted it.
Instead of just guessing how bad these injuries are, let’s use math. We’ll figure out the odds of each injury being serious, then see how much worse the team will be with the backups. This way, we know exactly which injury will hurt the Yankees the most, and where they need to focus their efforts.
Old York, cool, we can turn this into another gambling site. What’s your Over/Under on missed games for Gil ?
@Ignorant Son-of-a-b
Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe were just a bit ahead of their times. It was inevitable that MLB would adopt gambling into their sport.
“LeMahieu underwent imagining of his own…”
Only then will he have a productive season (:
Hopefully DJ doesn’t really hurt us batting 8th or 9th in the order, playing good defense. If he ever gets healthy, a big if.
Looks like Malloy, Perez and Tork will be on the team. Nerve stuff takes longer to heal than muscle stuff. At least in my own personal experience. Maybe it varies from person to person though. Idk. And of course, what it is, but years ago I fell asleep Indian style with my legs crossed. And the nerve in the ball of my ankle went numb from my weight on it for so long and my foot felt like it was asleep for about 4 months. I had no control over it when I’d step while walking. Even though I could, it just kinda plopped down on its own.
Maybe Meadows is going to need that fluid infusion thing around his nerve to “unpinch” it or “wake it up” as they are saying. Brendon White, RP, had that procedure last year and it seems to have worked.
I haven’t seen Baez take the field yet. He has been limited to DH. I could see Kreidler still in play for a spot, since he can play CF, as well as SS and 3B.
Baez interviewed recently, saying he feels 100%. I expect he will take the field soon. Obviously, Ryan Kreidler’s infield defense is generally terrific, but I think he’s gonna have to hit some to earn a spot. I remember reading about the plan to give him reps in centerfield, Does he have any experience there at all?
The Oswald-Oswaldo platoon won’t be bad.
“When you have more MRIs than RBIs, you have a problem.”
– Jack McKeon
Did Jack say anything about where STD’s fit in there?
Playing Malloy in RF in Vierling’s spot? Replacing one your two best defenders with an acknowledged defensive liability?
Pure insanity…
Kerry Carpenter will play RF over Malloy.
He’s almost as terrible as Malloy defensively, almost.
Carpenter was improving.
@luke, I have to agree with Garry Harris, that especially by the end of the year, Carpenter ‘s defense was passable. Malloy’s is not, he cannot play in the field anywhere, we saw that clearly last year, I would be shocked if they gave him a bunch of reps in the outfield. He and Tork are going to have to mash their way onto the field/26 man.
Gary is right. Carp played average defense last year. Malloy was playing 1B this spring for a reason.
What exactly is the story on Stroman? Assuming Gil is healthy is Stroman accepting that he’s essentially a reliever/emergency starter? If he’s not starting then his player option is essentially out of the question, I have to imagine that would cause some issues.
He’s prepping for the season as a starter. I’d imagine Cashman was still looking into trading him before Gil and some depth arms had recently been sidelined.
Do The OF injuries mean kerry will be full time in the lineup? I know he’s got some issues vs lefties
Carp has fewer than 50 ABs against lefties, but clearly there’s something there that the Tigers don’t like…
Carp is potentially/possibly the best hitter on the team; if he’s healthy, I got to imagine they’ll give him more chances against lefties this year. I think Perez is for sure going to get a big opportunity to play every day for the foreseeable future.
carp has 119 career ABs vs. lefties: .202 avg, .588 ops
vs righties: .290, .897
he can easily be the best hitter on the tm, needs to stay healthy, needs to figure out lefties
Tigers’ CF Ben Malgeri looks good so far.
As has Bigbee.
Looks very good. He can hit a ball which is something tiger batters have trouble doing.
The Yankees do not match with the Dodgers in hitting and piching
“while Gil was all but assured of the final spot”
Gil is the #3 starter. He was a 15 game winning ROY and led MLB is BAA for starting pitchers. It would be a MONSTER loss if he’s out for the year.
As for DJ, he’s BEEN DONE. Anyone counting on him as the starting 3B is a fool, including Cash and Boonie. It shoud be Waldo’s job to lose and I’d platoon him with Peraza.
@YanksPhan42
Or maybe he overperformed last year and blew his arm out. Second half wasn’t as great as the first half.
He’s a young pitcher coming off TJ surgery who never threw even close to that many innings. Running out of gas isn’t shocking. Dude has filthy stuff.
How did you assume that Gil is out for the year?
I didn’t. I just said it would be a monster loss IF he’s out for the year. Praying that’s not the case, obviously.
Detroit finished the season with 14 hitters not including Baez. The Tigers are pretty deep right now. Guys are fighting for their M.L.B.careers, they’ll be okay.
Detroit roster is very deep. Lots of young players coming up from the minors.