Narrowing Down The Closer Options In Texas
The Rangers and White Sox were the only teams in the league last season that failed to have a reliever record double-digit saves. Jhoan Duran and David Bednar each did it with two different teams. The 43-win Rockies had multiple pitchers lock down 10+ games.
Texas finished the year tied for 22nd in saves with the Nationals, who also had two relievers reach the double-digit threshold. Luke Jackson, Shawn Armstrong, and Robert Garcia had a three-way tie for the Rangers team lead at nine saves. Phil Maton chipped in three, while Chris Martin had two.
Jackson, Armstrong, and Maton have moved on to other organizations. Martin is back with the club, embarking on his age-40 season. Garcia remains a key piece of the late-inning equation, though the club is sorely lacking in high-leverage lefties. Here’s a quick look at how the closer role could shake out in Texas…
Robert Garcia
The case against Garcia has nothing to do with his skills. He posted a sub-3.00 ERA with more than a strikeout per inning in his first year with the club. Garcia notched 15 holds in addition to his nine saves. The Rangers’ acquisition of Garcia from the Nationals for Nathaniel Lowe, who landed in Cincinnati on a minor league deal this offseason, seems like a clear win.
The problem for Garcia is the lack of other lefties in the ‘pen. Tyler Alexander is the only healthy left-hander on the 40-man roster who will definitely be filling a relief role. He comes to Texas after four straight seasons with a 4.50 ERA or worse. Jacob Latz is a candidate for the rotation. If he comes up short for the No. 5 spot, he’ll likely be in a flexible multi-inning role.
Garcia is the lone holdover from the 2025 closer trio, but he had that role under former manager Bruce Bochy. Skip Schumaker is at the helm now. The new skipper had a lefty closer in Tanner Scott during his two seasons with the Marlins, but those teams also had A.J. Puk, Andrew Nardi, and Steven Okert as left-handed options.
Chris Martin
The veteran right-hander’s career has seemed over multiple times recently. He said at the close of the 2024 campaign that he was 95% sure that 2025 would be it for him. Then this past season included three different injuries, punctuated by a chilling diagnosis of thoracic outlet syndrome. And yet, Martin is back with the Rangers on a one-year deal.
The soon-to-be 40-year-old has been a solid reliever for much of his career, but it’s hard to know how many innings he can handle at this point. It’s also difficult to gauge how the Rangers will treat him. It was pedal to the metal to begin 2025, as Martin pitched in all three games of the first series against Boston. It’d be surprising to see him used anywhere near that frequently this year.
This is by far the most intriguing name on the list, both because of his past history as a solid closer and his more recent history as a struggling minor-league reliever. Diaz dominated in his 2022 debut with the Reds, firing 63 2/3 innings of a 1.84 ERA and a 32.5% strikeout rate. He picked up 10 saves as a rookie. He would go on to rack up 65 saves over the next two seasons.
Diaz missed the start of last season with a hamstring strain. He was crushed for eight earned runs over six innings once he returned, and found himself back in Triple-A. Cincinnati would deal him to the Dodgers at the end of May. Diaz continued to scuffle in L.A. and was even worse after latching on with the Braves to close the year. If he can find a way to regain a couple of ticks on his fastball, Diaz could push for high-leverage opportunities.
It’s been a long journey to the big leagues for the 2018 first-round pick, but the converted starter was a significant contributor in the bullpen last season. The majority of Winn’s work came in the middle innings, but he did pick up four holds. The right-hander posted a pristine 1.51 ERA. He deserves some credit for that mark, though the underlying numbers point to regression. Winn had a .194 BABIP and a 90.5% LOB%. His xERA and xFIP were both over 4.00.
While he probably won’t put up a sub-2.00 ERA again, Winn does have the stuff of a high-leverage arm. He sits above 96 mph with the four-seamer, while boasting a pair of strong swing-and-miss pitches. Winn’s slider had a 34% whiff rate, and his splitter had a hefty 43.3% mark. It’s odd to see a short reliever throw five different pitches at least 12% of the time, but the arsenal is viable.
Carter Baumler (honorable mention)
The Rule 5 pick has been turning heads in camp. Baumler has an upper-90s heater with a hard slider and a big curveball. Schumaker described the arsenal as “stuff that we don’t really have in the mix of the potential bullpen construction,” relayed by Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News. Baumler has never made it above Double-A, so it’s hard to imagine him stepping into a late-inning role. His first goal will be just making the team. Baumler is well on his way to earning a roster spot with three strikeouts across two scoreless innings in Spring Training.
Photo courtesy of Matt Kartozian, Imagn Images
Red Sox Notes: Anthony, Casas, Crawford
Red Sox fans shielded their eyes on Friday when outfielders Roman Anthony and Ceddanne Rafaela slammed into each other during a Spring Training game against the Braves. Fortunately, both players avoided serious injury, reports Tim Healey of MassLive.com. “[Anthony is a] really big guy,” Rafaela said. “Hits hard too … I just was hoping he’s OK. I was more worried about him than I was about me, because I saw him in some pain, and I don’t like seeing my teammates in those types of situations.”
Latest On The Phillies’ Pitching Pursuits
The Phillies have long been known to be keeping an eye out for starting pitching depth in order to fortify their rotation, particularly given that Zack Wheeler is expected to open the year on the injured list. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski spoke to reporters (including Todd Zolecki of MLB.com) earlier today about the team’s pursuits, and Zolecki reports that despite the team’s desire for pitching help, they were not involved in the market for future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer before he returned to the Blue Jays on a one-year, $3MM guarantee. Dombrowski went on to indicate that the remaining top starts available, Lucas Giolito and Zack Littell, are “not a fit” for what the Phillies are looking for either.
That might seem like a surprise on the surface, but it’s fairly understandable. All three hurlers are major league quality starters who figure to have the expectation of getting the opportunity to make a full slate of starts, health permitting. That’s not something the Phillies can offer, given that any addition would come in behind at minimum Wheeler, Jesus Luzardo, Cristopher Sanchez, and Aaron Nola on the team’s depth chart. That theoretically leaves one spot open at the back of the rotation even when Wheeler is healthy, but the team has not made it a secret that they hope to give Andrew Painter a significant opportunity in the rotation this year, perhaps as soon as Opening Day. If the rest of the rotation is healthy and another regular was added to the mix, pushing Painter in would either force the club to go to a six-man rotation or demote someone to the bullpen.
Given that, it’s perhaps not too surprising that Dombrowski indicated players like Giolito, Littell, and Scherzer aren’t fits for what they’re looking for. There’s a number of veterans left who seem likely to have to settle for minor league deals such as Patrick Corbin, Tyler Anderson, and Marcus Stroman, but outside of that group the pickings are rather slim. Even if one of those players were open to joining Philadelphia, it might not be an ideal fit. Dombrowski highlighted in his comments to Zolecki that the club’s preference is to add arms that can be optioned to the minors, given that Wheeler could return from the injured list as soon as early April.
It’s not impossible to find optionable starters on the free agent market, as shown by the teams recent minor league deal with right-hander Connor Gillispie. Dombrowski’s comments about their continued search for pitching came after the Gillispie deal, however, suggesting the team is still on the hunt for more talent. That’s not exactly a shock, given that Gillispie has just 34 big league innings under his belt and struggled badly in six starts with the Marlins last year. Fringe big leaguers like Gillispie are par for the course when it comes to free agents available who can still be optioned to the minors, however, and that makes it easy to understand why Dombrowski has indicated in his previous comments that he’s interested in swinging a trade for rotation depth.
Looking around the league, there’s certainly a handful of teams with an excess of optionable starters who could fit the Phillies needs. The Cubs (Javier Assad), Dodgers (Landon Knack), Tigers (Keider Montero) and Giants (Hayden Birdsong) are among the teams with optionable starters who have notable big league experience but are likely to be squeezed out of the club’s rotation entering the year. It’s not easy to get clubs to part with optionable rotation depth given the value of that resource, but if the Phillies are sufficiently motivated those teams could be better equipped to part with the sort of arm Dombrowski seems to be looking for than most. Failing that sort of trade, a non-roster invitee to Spring Training like Bryse Wilson, Tucker Davidson, or perhaps Gillispie (if he received a big league camp invite as part of his deal) seems likely to be where the Phillies turn as they look to give Painter competition for the vacant Opening Day rotation job.
Marlins Notes: Stowers, Arquette, Pauley
The Marlins had a bit of an injury scare regarding star outfielder Kyle Stowers today, as he was scratched from his scheduled appearance in the Miami lineup today due to hamstring tightness. As noted by Christina De Nicola of MLB.com, manager Clayton McCullough told reporters this afternoon that imaging on Stowers had revealed a “very minor” strain in his right hamstring.
While hamstring strains can often be serious issues, with even relatively minor strains costing players upwards of a month, it seems Stowers’s strain was caught early enough that it shouldn’t be a major problem for him. McCullough indicated that Stowers will be sidelined for just a week or two before returning to game action, and that he could resume taking at-bats outside of games within the next few days. That’s great news for the Marlins given that Stowers is their best and most established hitter on the roster at the moment. The 2025 All Star is coming off a rookie campaign where he slashed an excellent .288/.368/.544 with 25 homers and 21 doubles in 117 games.
If the Marlins are going to build on their third-place finish in the NL East last year and push back over .500 for the first time since their surprise postseason appearance back in 2023, they’ll need Stowers to be healthy and firing on all cylinders. With Opening Day now just a month away, it would be understandable for Miami to be cautious with Stowers as they bring him back into game action over the coming weeks. If Stowers suffers a setback or his hamstring is re-aggravated once he begins ramping back up, that could put his availability for the start of the season in danger. Youngsters Jakob Marsee and Owen Caissie currently figure to handle center field and right field for the Marlins, respectively, but a more serious injury to Stowers could open the door for some combination of Griffin Conine, Javier Sanoja, Christopher Morel, and Esteury Ruiz to get looks in his absence.
Looking elsewhere on the Marlins’ roster, De Nicola also reports that top Marlins prospect Aiva Arquette underwent core muscle surgery recently and is facing a four to six week recovery period before he can resume baseball activities. Arquette reportedly suffered a left groin strain during his offseason workouts, and while he stopped activities and focused on recovery from there his arrival in camp came with renewed discomfort and prompted the procedure. A consensus top-50 prospect in the sport, Arquette was Miami’s first-round pick (seventh overall) in the 2025 draft. He scuffled a bit in his first 27 games as a professional last year at the High-A level, but the 22-year-old figures to spend much of the year at Double-A once he’s ready to return to action and could be on the radar for a big league debut sometime next year.
Elsewhere on the infield, MLB.com notes that Graham Pauley has begun working his way back after being shut down due to forearm tightness earlier this week. Pauley is slated to throw to 90 feet and take live at-bats today, and is slated to serve as the team’s DH in tomorrow’s Spring Training game against the Nationals. Assuming those first steps go well, it stands to reason that Pauley could be back to regular work at some point next week. Pauley hit just .224/.311/.366 in 64 games for the Marlins last year, but his left-handed bat and solid defense at third base could still earn him some work around the infield against tough right-handed pitchers throughout the year given that switch hitter Xavier Edwards is the only other infielder on the projected roster that doesn’t bat right handed.
Josh Hader Still Uncertain For Astros’ Opening Day Roster
A bout of biceps inflammation in late January set Josh Hader back in his offseason prep, and has continued to limit the Astros closer during Spring Training. Hader’s throwing has been limited to games of catch, and Astros manager Joe Espada told reporters (including the Houston Chronicle’s Matt Kawahara) that Hader would continue on this route through the week.
Espada didn’t provide any clarity on when Hader might start to increase his throwing progression, or whether or not the left-hander might not be available for Opening Day. “I think we still have a little bit more time. Once we start getting down to that we’ll talk more on that, but right now it’s still premature just to see where we’re at by March 26,” Espada said.
Because Hader is a relief pitcher built for a limited workload, he naturally doesn’t require as much ramp-up as a starter. In each of the last three years, however, Hader has made at least six appearances in Spring Training games, and matching that number may be difficult given that we’re less than a month away from Houston’s first regular-season contest.
The biceps injury comes on the heels of a more serious injury setback for Hader, as a left capsule sprain prematurely ended his season last August. Surgery wasn’t required, and after completing a throwing program in November, Hader said that he expected to be ready for Spring Training. That might have well been the case, if it wasn’t for the biceps inflammation that again put Hader on the sidelines.
Bryan Abreu covered the majority of save chances when Hader was on the injured list last season, so Abreu would probably be Houston’s top choice as interim closer if Hader needs a 15-day IL stint to begin the 2026 campaign. While Abreu has more than proven himself capable of high-leverage work, obviously removing a star closer like Hader from the equation weakens the bullpen depth chart as a whole.
If Hader is absent, it will put more of a spotlight on the rest of the Astros’ relief corps, from both a quality and health perspective. To the latter point, Enyel De Los Santos has started throwing again and Espada said the right-hander should start working off the mound by next week.
De Los Santos picked up a right knee strain early in camp, but it appears as though the strain ended up being fairly minor. The missed time in camp may not have much impact on De Los Santos’ availability for Opening Day, as Espada said that since De Los Santos pitched in winter ball, the righty might be able to rebuild his arm strength in fairly short order.
De Los Santos signed with Houston last August and pitched pretty well down the stretch, posting a 4.03 ERA, 6.6% walk rate, and 26.4% strikeout rate over 22 1/3 innings in an Astros uniform. He avoided arbitration with the Astros by agreeing to a one-year, $1.6MM deal for the 2026 season, giving the 30-year-old a bit of stability after already playing for eight different teams over the course of his seven MLB seasons.
Mariners Notes: Miller, Crawford, Labrada
General manager Justin Hollander updated reporters (including Seattle Sports’ Shannon Drayer and MLB.com’s Daniel Kramer) about some injury situations in the Mariners’ camp, including some side soreness for Bryce Miller. The right-hander reported some discomfort on his left side on Thursday, and a subsequent MRI revealed inflammation. Miller received a PRP shot and will be fully re-evaluated in about a week, though he could begin playing catch in a few days.
Drayer described Miller’s shutdown as “very precautionary,” and the soreness was mild enough that Miller might not have even told the team if the issue has arisen during the regular season. That said, there obviously isn’t any reason for Miller or the Mariners to push things during Spring Training. It isn’t out of the question that Miller could start the season on the 15-day injured list as a further precaution, or if he isn’t able to get back onto the mound in a week’s time to continue his normal spring ramp-up.
Miller is already coming off an injury-marred season that saw him limited to 90 1/3 regular-season innings. Bone spurs in his throwing elbow twice sent Miller to the IL, though he returned in the last half of August to make eight more starts, and then posted a 2.51 ERA over three starts and 14 1 1/3 innings in the playoffs.
Rather than undergo surgery to address the bone spurs, Miller has opted for such non-surgical treatments as a cortisone shot, a PRP shot, and a Synvisc injection to try and avoid a procedure. It was just over a week ago that Miller stated he had been able to have essentially a normal offseason, though this seemingly minor bout of side soreness is surely unwelcome.
If things developed to the point that Miller did need an IL trip, Emerson Hancock would probably be Seattle’s top choice as a rotation fill-in. Blas Castano and long man Cooper Criswell are also on the 40-man roster, or the Mariners could opt to select the contract of a non-roster invite like Casey Lawrence or Dane Dunning.
Turning to the diamond, J.P. Crawford is expected to play in his first Cactus League game of the spring on Tuesday. The veteran shortstop will be in Tuesday’s lineup as the DH, as Crawford is still recovering from a shoulder issue that has slowed his progress in camp. Hollander said the plan is for Crawford to return to shortstop the following week, which should give him plenty of time to be ready for Opening Day.
There has never been any concern that Crawford would miss any regular-season action, as the M’s were simply easing Crawford into his spring work. He is taking part in a live batting-practice session today to get some at-bats against actual pitchers under his belt before his debut game.
After an oblique strain and a fractured right hand limited Crawford to 105 games in 2024, he rebounded for a healthy 2025 campaign and a .265/.352/.370 slash line with 12 homers over 654 plate appearances (translating to a 113 wRC+). Crawford is now entering both his age-31 season, and the final year of the five-year, $51MM extension he signed with the Mariners in April 22. With star shortstop prospect Colt Emerson on the verge of his MLB debut, Crawford’s future in Seattle could be in doubt, so he’ll need a strong season to impress the M’s or potential other suitors as free agency looms.
Prospect Victor Labrada made his Triple-A debut in 2025 and could be on the radar for his first big league call-up at some point in 2026, but his season could be delayed by an oblique strain. Hollander said Labrada hurt his oblique yesterday while swinging in the batting cage, and an MRI today will determine the extent of the injury.
Labrada hit .265/.397/.376 over 235 plate appearances with Triple-A Tacoma, and he has an overall .267/.365/.402 slash line across 2155 PA in his minor league career. The 26-year-old doesn’t have much power, but he has terrific speed, with 172 steals out of 222 attempts. This speed and solid glovework at all three outfield positions could make Labrada at least a backup outfielder at the MLB level, and his ability to stick as a regular will depend on how well he can reach base and capitalize on what Baseball America describes as “solid bat-to-ball skills to hit the ball to the alleys.” BA ranks Labrada as the 26th-best prospect in the Mariners’ farm system.
Royals To Sign Starling Marte
1:39PM: Marte and the Royals have agreed to a one-year, Major League contract, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reports (multiple links). The deal will be finalized once Marte passes a physical, plus the Royals will have to make another move to clear a 40-man roster spot.
10:06AM: 2025 was the last season of Starling Marte‘s four-year, $78MM contract with the Mets, and while Marte was hopeful of playing for multiple more years, there hadn’t been any public buzz about his free agent market over the winter. Things could be changing now, however, as reporter Yancen Pujols writes that the Royals are discussing a contract with Marte, a Klutch Sports client.
Now entering his age-37 season, Marte’s tenure in New York was defined by injuries, as he played in only 396 games during his four-year stint. Groin problems were the source of most of Marte’s issues, as surgery on both his left and right groin muscles following the 2022 season didn’t entirely correct the problem, as the injury resurfaced in 2023. Marte also missed time due to a neck strain, migraines, and a bone bruise in his right knee, and the Mets responded to Marte’s lower-body injuries by making him essentially a full-time DH in 2025.
Marte still made 12 appearances in the outfield last year, and given the Royals’ need for outfield help, Kansas City could consider giving him slightly more time on the grass in 2026 if the two sides reached an agreement. After acquiring both the switch-hitting Isaac Collins and the right-handed hitting Lane Thomas this winter, the Royals’ primary outfield looks like Collins in left field, defensive specialist Kyle Isbel in center, and Thomas and lefty-swinging Jac Caglianone perhaps in a platoon situation in right field. Salvador Perez and top prospect Carter Jensen will handle the catching duties, and whomever isn’t behind the plate will likely get plenty of DH at-bats.
It would add up to another part-time role for Marte, though there’s value in having a veteran bat on the roster. Caglianone struggled badly in his first exposure to big league pitching in 2025, and Thomas is coming off essentially a lost year due to injuries in 2025. Thomas’ top season was his 28-homer campaign with the Nationals in 2023, but he has posted just a 98 wRC+ over 1900 plate appearances over the last four seasons. Collins is also far from a sure thing, as his impressive 2025 rookie season with the Brewers came despite some hard-contact issues that were perhaps obscured by a .326 BABIP.
Marte hasn’t looked like a true top-tier hitter since 2022, but he still managed a respectable .269/.331/.398 slash line and 16 homers over 699 PA during the 2024-25 seasons, translating to a 108 wRC+. Marte is still making hard contact at an above-average rate, even if his power (and his Statcast metrics on the whole) have fallen off.
Whether or not Marte can maintain even this decent production into his 15th Major League season remains to be seen, of course. It can be argued that Collins, Thomas, and potentially Marte couldn’t help but be upgrades for K.C. given how little the Royals have gotten from their outfield mix in the last few years, plus Caglianone is still a highly-touted prospect with breakout potential.
Marte’s next contract will surely be a one-year deal worth perhaps a few million dollars in guaranteed money, with probably some bonus clauses built in based on plate appearances. The Royals’ payroll currently sits at around $149.2MM (as per RosterResource‘s estimates), which represents a modest increase over their $139.8MM figure from 2025. This tracks with owner John Sherman’s comments from October about the payroll likely staying in the same general range, which naturally left the front office a little limited in what they could do in pursuing needed lineup help.
Phillies Notes: Wheeler, Kerkering, Stott
Zack Wheeler threw a 21-pitch bullpen on Thursday, making the first time that the Phillies ace had thrown a BP since undergoing thoracic outlet surgery in September. Wheeler and Phils manager Rob Thomson each told reporters (including The Athletic’s Charlotte Varnes) that Wheeler threw only fastballs and sinkers at about 85 percent effort, which is normal for any pitcher’s first bullpen session following an injury layoff. Everything went well enough that Wheeler is slated for another bullpen on Sunday, as for now, the right-hander is on a standard ramp-up plan.
It is still early enough in the process that neither Wheeler or the team is putting any kind of timeline on when the three-time All-Star could potentially make his return to Philadelphia’s rotation. TOS surgeries and their associated recovery periods are, as Thomson put it, “new stuff, and it’s different than a lot of other injuries. So, we really can’t pin it down to a day or a week.”
Still, it would seem like the early optimism that Wheeler could be back at some point in the first half of April has yet to abate. Wheeler was given a broad timeframe of 6-8 months in the wake of his surgery, so at the very least, it would seem like he’ll be able to return in the earlier end of that two-month window. A season-opening IL stint is definite, but Thomson said it is possible Wheeler could pitch in a Spring Training game before camp is over.
The Phillies surely aren’t going to rush Wheeler’s process, of course, since simply having him back pitching isn’t nearly as important as having him back in good form, both health-wise and results-wise. It is anyone’s guess as to whether or not Wheeler will able to recapture his superstar level of production immediately or even at all, given how many (but not all) pitchers dealing with thoracic outlet syndrome have never been the same after their surgeries. The fact that Wheeler is thus far feeling normal in his prep work is a great sign that the righty can again be a force in the rotation.
In other injury news, Orion Kerkering was sidelined by a Grade 1 hamstring strain right at the start of the Phillies’ camp, but the right-hander is set to throw a bullpen session today. Assuming no setbacks in Kerkering’s ramp-up, he should be on track for the Opening Day roster, as his arm will require less build for a relief role.
Kerkering will return to a high-leverage assignment in Philadelphia’s bullpen, though the addition of Brad Keller may push Kerkering a rung lower on the depth chart. Kerkering’s 2025 season will unfortunately be remembered for his game-ending and series-ending throwing error in Game 4 of the NLDS, but he delivered another solid campaign overall, with a 3.30 ERA and 24.4% strikeout rate over 60 innings. That strikeout rate was a dropoff from his 28.8K% in 2024, however, plus Kerkering’s walk rate spiked upwards.
Bryson Stott is another Phillie looking for more consistency in 2026, but the fact that the second baseman ended last season on a high note gives him lots of optimism for the coming season. As Stott told MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki, some brutal numbers in the first half led Stott to overhaul his approach on the fly at midseason, with adjustments that included lowering his hands and standing closer to the plate. The left-handed hitter also simplified things by just trying to pull the ball and make solid contact, rather than focus on trying to hit to all fields.
“If you just take your swing and it’s an outside pitch, it’s going to go to left, instead of trying to guide it to left,” Stott said. “For example, I’ll get an inside heater and I’m like, ‘Well, I want to hit the ball to left this at-bat,’ and then I try to finagle the barrel around and that’s when I get myself in trouble. The second half was more of just letting the ball dictate where it’s going to go rather than me trying to dictate where it’s going to go.”
Stott enjoyed a hot start in April before sinking into a deep slump, as he batted just .196/.266/.274 over 243 plate appearances from May 1 through July 22. From that point onwards, the swing changes starting clicking, as Stott hit .307/.376/.508 over his final 202 PA of the 2025 campaign.
Most of Stott’s season-long damage came against right-handed pitchers, as he batted only .225/.287/.228 in 123 PA against southpaws. Stott posted at least decent numbers against lefties in his first two MLB seasons, but his splits have cratered over the last two years, which has threatened his role as Philadelphia’s everyday second baseman. The team’s plan is to give Edmundo Sosa a big chunk (and maybe all) of the second base playing time when a left-hander is on the mound, though Stott believes he can perform well enough against southpaws to protect his spot in the lineup.
Tigers’ Troy Melton Delayed By Elbow Inflammation
TODAY: Melton told the Detroit News’ Chris McCosky and other reporters that he is “not too concerned about anything long-term” with his elbow issue. “We’ll know more for sure in a couple of days or a week. But I’m pretty positive for the time being,” Melton said.
FEBRUARY 27: Tigers right-hander Troy Melton has halted his throwing program due to elbow inflammation, the team announced. Manager A.J. Hinch told reporters (including Evan Woodbery of MLive) that the second-year pitcher is unlikely to be ready for Opening Day.
Melton pitched well as a rookie. Promoted shortly after the All-Star Break, he logged 45 2/3 innings. He started four of his 16 appearances and pitched to a 2.76 earned run average. Melton fanned 20% of batters faced against a league average 8.3% walk rate. He performed well enough to earn a spot on Detroit’s playoff roster, though he surrendered five runs across 8 1/3 frames.
Although Melton worked mostly out of the bullpen in his first season, he projects as a long-term starter. Melton posted a sub-3.00 ERA across 18 appearances (16 starts) in Triple-A before his promotion. He may have been in the mix for a rotation spot this spring if not for the late free agent signings of Framber Valdez and Justin Verlander.
Valdez and Verlander slot behind Tarik Skubal in Hinch’s starting five. Casey Mize and Jack Flaherty will round out the group if everyone gets through camp healthy. KBO signee Drew Anderson can work in long relief or as a spot starter; he’d presumably draw into the rotation if anyone from the starting five is injured. That would have left the Tigers to decide whether to carry Melton as multi-inning leverage reliever or have him stay stretched out in the Triple-A rotation.
There’s no indication he’s facing a long-term absence. The team will be cautious with any elbow concern for one of their more talented young pitchers, of course, but it doesn’t seem out of the question he could be back after a fairly minimal injured list stay to begin the year.
Latest On Brendan Rodgers’ Shoulder Injury
Brendan Rodgers left Wednesday’s Red Sox/Twins game due to right shoulder soreness, and has since undergone both an MRI and a CT scan. Rodgers is now considering his options in the wake of these tests, and the situation “doesn’t look great,” Sox manager Alex Cora told the Boston Globe’s Tim Healey and other reporters.
The implication is that Rodgers might again be facing a significant shoulder surgery, which would be the third of his career. Rodgers’ rookie season with the Rockies was cut short by a season-ending surgery on that same right shoulder in July 2019, and some recurring issues in his shoulder resulted in another IL stint in 2020. Exactly three years ago today, Rodgers dislocated his left shoulder while diving for a ball during a Spring Training game, and a subsequent surgery delayed his 2023 season debut until the very end of July.
At the very least, Rodgers seems ticketed for a season-opening stint on the injured list. The veteran infielder doesn’t have any roster security since he is in Boston’s camp on a minor league contract, so it is as least possible the Red Sox could take the harsh step of cutting Rodgers entirely if he isn’t healthy. The likelier scenario is that Rodgers passes on at least the March 22 opt-out clause in his contract and is stashed on the minor league IL if he is indeed facing a long-term recovery.
The 29-year-old Rodgers was non-tendered by the Rockies following the 2024 season, and then signed a minors deal with the Astros last offseason that led to a spot on Houston’s Opening Day roster. Rodgers hit only .191/.266/.278 over 128 plate appearances and 43 games with the Astros, however, before a variety of injuries ended his season. An oblique strain led to Rodgers’ initial IL placement last June, and he suffered both a concussion and a nasal fracture after colliding with a teammate during a minor league rehab game. Back problems then cropped up for Rodgers when he next attempted to take the field during a minor league game in August.
Rodgers faced relatively steep odds of breaking camp with the Red Sox anyway, though Boston now finds itself down two middle infielders since Romy Gonzalez is unlikely to be ready for Opening Day due to shoulder problems of his own. Marcelo Mayer is slated to be Boston’s regular second baseman this season, though Rodgers was brought in as even more veteran depth at the keystone beyond the options already on hand (i.e. Gonzalez, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Andruw Monasterio, Nate Eaton, Anthony Seigler).