Giants Notes: Vitello, Hyde, Coaching Staff
The Giants officially introduced new manager Tony Vitello at a press conference on Thursday. San Francisco hired the 47-year-old away from the University of Tennessee, where’d been arguably the best college baseball coach in the country. He signed a three-year contract that reportedly pays $3.5MM per season and comes with a vesting option for 2029. According to Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area, the option would vest if the Giants make the playoffs in 2028.
The hire will cost the Giants quite a bit more than $3.5MM in the first season. Maria Guardado of MLB.com was among those to note that the Giants also covered Vitello’s $3MM buyout to get out of his contract at Tennessee. John Shea of The San Francisco Standard observes that they’re also eating $4MM in dead money after exercising their 2026 option on Bob Melvin’s contract in July.
Moving on from Melvin to Vitello will wind up costing the Giants $10.5MM in year one. Of course, firing Melvin and hiring Vitello were two separate decisions. Pavlovic writes that president of baseball operations Buster Posey had decided to move on from Melvin well before the end of the regular season, even though they didn’t make the move until the first day of the offseason.
The Giants picked up Melvin’s option on July 1 but went into a tailspin over the next six weeks. They sold at the deadline after a 9-15 showing in July, and it seems that more or less sealed Melvin’s fate. Pavlovic suggests that the Giants might have made a change even if they’d manage to snag the final Wild Card spot (though one imagines a deep playoff run would have changed the calculus). The Giants finished the season at .500, and the Mets’ collapse allowed an 83-win Reds team to sneak into the postseason.
Posey credited general manager Zack Minasian with first suggesting the possibility of making a run at Vitello. “There were some rumors (in 2024) that teams were wanting and trying to talk to him, and I thought about it for us just as we started to get to work on building the list,” Minasian told reporters, including Pavlovic. “It was a name that I thought would be interesting to talk to Buster about individually, as opposed to just sending over ‘here are the 30 names we have.’ I mentioned to him that I think Tony would be really interesting to talk to. I don’t think it took him long to respond with, ‘Yeah, I think he would be.'”
That didn’t ensure Vitello would get the job. The Giants are known to have also interviewed Rangers special assistant Nick Hundley, Royals third base coach Vance Wilson, and future Angels managerial hire Kurt Suzuki. Shea reports that they also conducted a formal interview with former Orioles skipper Brandon Hyde. It was already known that Posey and Hyde had spoken but wasn’t clear until today whether that was an official managerial interview or a chat about some other potential role. Hundley was widely viewed as the early favorite, but he took himself out of consideration because of family commitments.
Vitello told reporters that he has had preliminary conversations as he puts together his first MLB coaching staff. Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic covers a few possibilities. He notes that Vitello was a college teammate of Twins bench coach Jayce Tingler, who’d managed the Padres between 2020-21.
Tingler was Rocco Baldelli’s top assistant in Minnesota for the past four seasons, but the Twins fired Baldelli and tabbed Derek Shelton as their manager. Meanwhile, Baggarly relays that the Giants could look to bring back former outfield/first base coach Antoan Richardson. Richardson held that role for four seasons before leaving to take the first base coach job with the Mets in 2024. It was reported this week that he would not be back in Queens because the sides were unable to agree on a new contract.
A’s Could Pursue Relievers With Closing Experience
The A’s go into the offseason prioritizing starting pitching and help at one or both of second and third base. They might also be in the market for a late-game reliever. Martín Gallegos of MLB.com writes that the A’s are likely to target a pitcher who has closing experience.
Manager Mark Kotsay used a committee approach in the ninth inning after the A’s traded Mason Miller at the deadline. Hogan Harris, Sean Newcomb, Michael Kelly and Tyler Ferguson each picked up at least one save. Osvaldo Bido got one as well, but that was of the ‘three innings to finish a blowout’ variety.
The patchwork relief group pitched well. Only the Guardians had a lower bullpen ERA than the A’s 2.99 mark over the final two months. They surrendered only three leads, tied with Miller’s new team in San Diego for the fewest in MLB. It’s nevertheless understandable that the front office would prefer a more proven arm at the back end.
The quartet of Harris, Kelly, Newcomb and Ferguson had a combined four career saves before August. Newcomb, who had two of them, is headed to free agency. The A’s don’t have many relievers with significant big league experience of any kind. They won’t have a single reliever with even two years of MLB service time once Newcomb, José Leclerc and Scott McGough hit free agency.
The A’s tried to add a proven back-end arm last offseason, signing Leclerc to a one-year deal with a $10MM salary. He was supposed to be the team’s top setup man in front of Miller. Leclerc made 10 appearances before suffering a shoulder injury that required season-ending surgery. He’s highly unlikely to be back. It stands to reason they’ll try to retain Newcomb, who pitched to a 1.75 ERA in 51 1/3 innings after being acquired from the Red Sox. He’s got a shot at a two-year contract after that strong showing but won’t command much on an annual basis. The A’s aren’t going to sign Newcomb as a closer, though, so there should be room for a bigger move in the ninth.
There are no shortage of free agent relievers who have closing experience. The A’s aren’t signing Edwin Díaz, of course. It’s highly unlikely they’ll win the bidding for Robert Suarez either. Any of Kyle Finnegan, Raisel Iglesias, Emilio Pagán, Kenley Jansen or Ryan Helsley should be within the price range. There’s a chance Devin Williams settles for a pillow contract. Each of Seranthony Domínguez, Gregory Soto, Kirby Yates, Taylor Rogers, Paul Sewald and Michael Kopech have past closing experience as well. No one from the latter group seems likely to sign as a closer this offseason, however.
The A’s could have issues selling some of those pitchers on signing with a fringe contender that plays its home games in a hitter-friendly minor league stadium. They’d have no such need if they trade for a closer, so players like Pete Fairbanks, JoJo Romero and Dennis Santana could be targets on that front.
Staff Notes: Rockies, Baker, Kiekhefer, Tigers
The Rockies’ search for a front office leader will drag into the offseason. Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post reports that the Rox don’t intend to announce their baseball operations hire until next week. The World Series will end on Saturday at the latest, but the Rockies are apparently content to go at least a few days into their offseason activity without a GM in place.
Colorado doesn’t have any free agents who’d receive consideration for a qualifying offer. Their option decisions are easy calls to buy out Kyle Farmer and Thairo Estrada. It’s not a big deal not to have a GM for either of those moves. However, the first five days of the offseason see plenty of waiver activity as teams are required to get their rosters down to 40 without the injured list. Colorado has top waiver priority as the worst team in the league. It would be ideal to have a permanent baseball operations leader for those opportunities, but it doesn’t appear they’ll be in place for that rush. The GM will also need to oversee a managerial search process that could take weeks. Guardians assistant general manager Matt Forman and Diamondbacks AGM Amiel Sawdaye are among the finalists to replace Bill Schmidt in the GM chair.
While we await Colorado’s decision, let’s turn to a few teams that have made minor front office or coaching moves.
- The Pirates parted ways with vice president of player performance John Baker, reports Jason Mackey of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. A former big league catcher, Baker had been with the Bucs for the past five seasons. He spent his first four years as the organization’s farm director before moving to the more nebulous player performance role last winter. Michael Chernow replaced Baker as the player development director in January.
- There are a couple changes coming to Oli Marmol’s coaching group with the Cardinals. Katie Woo of The Athletic reports that assistant pitching coach Dean Kiekhefer and game-planning coach Packy Elkins will be reassigned to strategist roles. Woo notes that the Cards intend to hire an assistant pitching coach and an assistant hitting coach later in the offseason. She also writes that the club will add new hires in international scouting and player development. Cardinals fans will want to read the full column, which includes quotes from new president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom on building their front office infrastructure without replacing most of the key staffers from the John Mozeliak era.
- The Tigers are hiring Alex Smith away from the Cubs to work as their vice president of baseball strategy, report Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney of The Athletic. Smith had been on Craig Counsell’s staff with the somewhat vague title of strategy coach. Smith had spent three seasons on Chicago’s MLB staff — one under David Ross and two with Counsell. Sharma and Mooney write that he was largely tasked with helping the coaches integrate data into their preparation. The Cornell product returns to a front office after working in the Cubs’ analytics department between 2015-22, overlapping with Detroit president of baseball operations Scott Harris for two years. Harris had worked as Chicago’s assistant general manager in 2018-19.
Super Two Cutoff Expected To Be Around 2.140 Years Of Service
This offseason’s cutoff for Super Two arbitration eligibility is likely to land around two years and 139 or 140 days of service time, MLBTR has learned. MLB should finalize the cutoff within the next few weeks.
The Super Two this year should be a slight increase from last offseason, when the cutoff was 2.132 service years. Players automatically qualify for arbitration when they reach three years of service time and don’t already have a guaranteed contract. The top 22% of players in service between two and three years also qualify (so long as they spent at least 86 days of the preceding season on the active roster or MLB injured list).
Qualifying for early arbitration is a nice boost for a player’s earning potential. He gets to earn a salary above the MLB minimum a year earlier than most other players in the 2-3 year bracket. Arbitration salaries are also designed to escalate as a player builds service, so there are compounding benefits in future years from working off a bigger platform.
Here are the official thresholds from prior offseasons:
- 2024: 2.132
- 2023: 2.118
- 2022: 2.128
- 2021: 2.116
- 2020: 2.125
- 2019: 2.115
- 2018: 2.134
- 2017: 2.123
- 2016: 2.131
- 2015: 2.130
- 2014: 2.133
- 2013: 2.122
- 2012: 2.140
- 2011: 2.146
- 2010: 2.122
- 2009: 2.139
Matt McLain is the only player in MLB who ended the year with exactly two years and 140 days of service. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects the Cincinnati second baseman for a $2.6MM salary. Next year’s league minimum is $780K, so it’s likely McLain will earn close to an extra $2MM by a matter of days (to say nothing of the escalating benefit if the Reds tender him contracts in future years).
There are three pitchers at 2.139 service years: Cincinnati starter Brandon Williamson, Seattle reliever Jackson Kowar, and Tampa Bay reliever Manuel Rodríguez. Their status won’t be known until MLB finalizes the cutoff, but none of those players are going to command much more than the league minimum regardless. They all spent most of this past season (all of it, in Williamson’s case) on the injured list.
No one in MLB has exactly 2.138 or 2.137 service years. It thus appears that the three players at 2.136 years — Lucas Erceg, Patrick Bailey, and Ryan Walker — will be the closest misses. They were each projected between $1.9MM and $2.5MM had they been eligible for arbitration. That’d be a nice development for the Giants, who would save around $4MM from an already light arbitration class if Bailey and Walker indeed are in for another season around the minimum.
Blake Perkins, Kody Clemens, Bryan Hoeing and Zack Kelly are the other players who would’ve qualified for Super Two at last year’s cutoff but are likely to fall short with the slightly higher threshold. Grayson Rodriguez (2.129), Reese Olson (2.123), Bryan Woo (2.121), Andrew Abbott (2.119) and Elly De La Cruz (2.118) are among the notable players who came up a couple weeks short.
Notable players who did qualify for Super Two status beyond McLain include Zach Neto (2.170), Maikel Garcia (2.168), Mason Miller (2.166), Brice Turang (2.165) and Francisco Alvarez (2.164). MLBTR’s projections for all arbitration-eligible players are available here.
Twins Hire Derek Shelton As Manager
October 30: The Twins officially announced Shelton as their new manager this morning. The team will introduce Shelton at a press conference on November 4.
“Derek brings a tremendous amount of experience from his many years coaching and managing at the Major League level,” Derek Falvey, Twins president of baseball operations, said in a statement. “He cares deeply about this community and our fans, and he’s genuinely driven to take on the challenge of bringing winning baseball back to Minnesota.
“We’ve seen firsthand the trust and respect he earns from players and how he helps them reach their best,” Falvey’s statement reads. “His journey, through both the successes and the tough stretches, has given him real perspective as a leader. That balance and his connection to what this place means to people will serve our players and staff well as we work to build something lasting for our fans and for Minnesota.”
October 29: The Twins are hiring Derek Shelton as their new manager, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. The team will not announce the hire tonight, as MLB discourages clubs from revealing personnel news on playoff game days. Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports that Shelton will be officially introduced sometime next week.
Shelton returns to the Twin Cities, where he previously spent two seasons as bench coach. He held that role between 2018-19, working one season apiece under Paul Molitor and Rocco Baldelli. His familiarity with the front office surely gave him a boost in the managerial search. Shelton was a finalist during the 2018 hiring process that led to Baldelli. While he didn’t get the job at that point, he only needed to wait one more year before he got a managerial opportunity. Shelton landed the top job with the Pirates going into 2020.
Pittsburgh was coming off a 69-93 season that had led ownership to fire manager Clint Hurdle and GM Neal Huntington. They brought in Ben Cherington to run the front office and Shelton to oversee a rebuilding roster. Pittsburgh went 19-41 in the shortened season, then posted consecutive 100-loss records in 2021-22.
Things appeared to be trending up by 2023. The Bucs improved to a 76-86 record. The next season, they hovered around .500 for a while and were very soft deadline buyers. Pittsburgh finished with a 21-33 performance in the final two months, leaving them 10 games under .500 for the second straight year.
The poor finish carried into the ’25 season. The Bucs began the year with a 12-26 record and were more or less locks for another last place showing when they fired Shelton in the second week of May. Pittsburgh played .500 ball under Don Kelly the rest of the way, so they’re sticking with a Cherington/Kelly tandem going into 2026.
Overall, Shelton holds a 306-440 career record. That’s heavily weighed down by the first three seasons in which no manager stood a chance of posting good results with such a poor roster. The Bucs stalled before they ever pulled out of the rebuild, however.
Pittsburgh especially struggled to develop young hitters. Highly-touted talents like Ke’Bryan Hayes, Henry Davis, Endy Rodríguez, Nick Gonzales and to a lesser extent Oneil Cruz did not click the way the organization needed. That’s not entirely the fault of any one coach or manager, of course, but Shelton came up as a hitting coordinator in Cleveland and spent parts of seven seasons as an MLB hitting coach with the Rays before getting the bench coach position in Minnesota.
Shelton’s experience working with a rebuilding roster should come in handy with the Twins. They’re amidst at least a retooling effort after trading Carlos Correa and essentially their entire bullpen at the deadline. The Pohlad family ownership group has pulled back spending since the Twins won 87 games and an AL Central title in 2023. They’re coming off a 70-92 showing that had them above only the White Sox in the American League. That resulted in them firing Baldelli after seven seasons. Any or all of Joe Ryan, Pablo López and Ryan Jeffers could be traded this offseason.
The Twins landed a couple upper level starting pitchers (Taj Bradley and Mick Abel) at the deadline, and they have some interesting young hitters to build around Byron Buxton. Maybe there’s a path back to competitiveness by 2027, but this is likely to be one of the worst teams in the AL next year. They need to overhaul the bullpen and have too many holes in the bottom half of the lineup to fix in an offseason that is likely to be more about which players they trade away than the ones they bring in.
Shelton was reportedly one of four finalists for the Minnesota job. Yankees hitting coach James Rowson (another former Twins staffer), Cubs bench coach Ryan Flaherty, and Padres special assistant Scott Servais were the others. There are now four teams still searching for a new skipper: the Padres, Braves, Rockies and Nationals.
Flaherty and Servais have each been floated as potential candidates for the San Diego position, which is expected to be filled by the end of the week. Rowson has only publicly been linked to the Twins position. Atlanta and Washington have played their searches close to the vest. (Baldelli is reportedly of interest to the Nats.) Colorado has yet to even get the process underway as they focus on hiring a new GM. It’s possible that any of the three other finalists gets a look from one of those teams.
Image courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images.
Jordan Lawlar Taking Center Field Reps In Winter Ball
Diamondbacks rookie Jordan Lawlar is playing winter ball in the Dominican Republic this offseason. He made his first appearance with the Tigres del Licey at an unfamiliar position: center field. It’s the first professional outfield experience for Lawlar, whose minor league and MLB work has been divided between second, third and shortstop.
Steve Gilbert of MLB.com wrote earlier this month that the D-Backs wanted Lawlar to get center field work alongside his usual infield responsibilities. The Diamondbacks haven’t made any decisions about a position change, but it behooves them to get a look at him in the outfield for a few reasons.
Lawlar’s defense was a significant issue late this year. The Diamondbacks finally opened everyday playing time for him at third base with the Eugenio Suárez deadline deal. Lawlar was on the minor league injured list for a couple weeks but was recalled at the end of August. His third base audition didn’t last long. Lawlar committed four errors in 76 innings, two apiece on September 7 and 14. Three of those were of the throwing variety. One of Lawlar’s errant throws led to a collision at first base that injured Tyler Locklear, who required surgeries on both his shoulder and elbow.
Scouting reports on Lawlar have generally praised his defensive ability. He was drafted as a shortstop and only moved to third base in deference to Geraldo Perdomo. It’s possible this year’s issues were a blip that’ll be corrected with a mechanical tweak or simply an offseason mental reset. The D-Backs didn’t want him in the field while they were chasing down a Wild Card berth, though. Manager Torey Lovullo kept Lawlar at DH or as a pinch-hitter after his game on September 14. Blaze Alexander played third base until the last game of the season — once the Snakes had been eliminated from contention.
The third base job should be open going into 2026. Alexander is a steady defender but doesn’t have huge upside at the plate. He’s better suited for a utility role. Lawlar, a career .298/.395/.515 hitter in the minors, has a higher ceiling. That wouldn’t matter much if the Diamondbacks don’t trust him defensively. They’re not going to lock him into full-time DH work at 23, but they probably wouldn’t feel great about handing him the starting third base job out of camp. He does still have an option remaining, yet they’re not going to learn much by sending him back to Triple-A Reno and letting him feast on Pacific Coast League pitching for another season.
John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM writes that the D-Backs aren’t inclined to play Lawlar at second base. Ketel Marte might benefit from a few more DH at-bats but remains the primary second baseman. The two outfield spots to the left of Corbin Carroll could be up for grabs.
Center fielder Alek Thomas is a .234/.277/.362 hitter in almost 1400 career plate appearances. The Diamondbacks will eventually need some kind of offense from that spot. Left field is in worse shape. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. tore his ACL in September. Jake McCarthy is coming off a .204/.247/.345 season. Prospect Ryan Waldschmidt may already be their best internal option, and he hasn’t played a game above Double-A.
McCarthy could be non-tendered, while Thomas is a potential change-of-scenery candidate. If Lawlar takes to center field in winter ball, that could allow the Diamondbacks to feel a little more comfortable entertaining Thomas trade talks. Lawlar himself could also be a trade chip, as he’d be their best bet at getting a controllable starting pitcher in return. The Diamondbacks are going to need at least one outfielder via free agency or trade either way, making this an interesting offseason storyline in the desert.
Nationals Interview Chad Epperson In Managerial Search
The Nationals have interviewed Red Sox’s Double-A manager Chad Epperson as part of their managerial search, reports Spencer Nusbaum of the Washington Post. He joins Brandon Hyde as the only known interviewees.
The Post’s Andrew Golden wrote this afternoon that the Nats have informed interim manager Miguel Cairo that he is no longer in the running. Golden reported that the Nationals were interested in speaking with former Twins skipper Rocco Baldelli and Dodgers bench coach Danny Lehmann, but it’s not known if either of them have formally interviewed.
Washington’s new president of baseball operations Paul Toboni was previously an assistant general manager with the Red Sox. He’s familiar with Epperson and evidently valued his work in the Boston organization. The 53-year-old Epperson has been with the Sox for over 20 years. He got his first affiliated managerial gig in Low-A back in 2004.
Epperson managed in A-ball for six seasons before becoming the organization’s minor league catching coordinator. He held that position for 12 years until returning to the dugout. Epperson has led the Sox’s Double-A team in Portland for the past four seasons. He also worked as a quality control coach with the Toros del Este in the Dominican Winter League over the 2024-25 offseason.
Offseason Outlook: San Diego Padres
The Padres won 90 games and made the playoffs for a second straight season. They came up short in a tightly-contested Wild Card Series against the Cubs. Manager Mike Shildt retired a few days later, sending them on the hunt for the sixth full-time skipper of A.J. Preller's tenure. That comes as they face the impending free agency of two of their top starters and their closer.
Guaranteed Contracts
- Manny Machado, 3B: $301MM through 2033 (including $35MM in remaining signing bonus payments)
- Fernando Tatis Jr., RF: $286MM through 2034
- Xander Bogaerts, SS: $200MM through 2033
- Jake Cronenworth, 2B: $60MM through 2030
- Nick Pivetta, RHP: $51MM through 2028 (can opt out after '26 and '27)
- Yu Darvish, RHP: $43MM through 2028
- Joe Musgrove, RHP: $40MM through 2027
- Yuki Matsui, LHP: $19.25MM through 2028 (can opt out after '27)
- Robert Suarez, RHP: Can opt out of remaining two years and $16MM
- Wandy Peralta, LHP: Can opt out of remaining two years and $8.9MM (can also opt out after '26)
Option Decisions
- RHP Robert Suarez can opt out of two years and $16MM
- Team, RHP Michael King have $15MM mutual option ($3.75MM buyout)
- LHP Wandy Peralta can opt out of two years and $8.9MM
- Team, C Elias Díaz hold $7MM mutual option ($2MM buyout)
- Team holds $6.5MM option on LF Ramón Laureano
- Team holds $5MM option on LHP Kyle Hart ($500K buyout)
2026 guarantees (assuming only Laureano and Peralta return): $154.95MM
Total future commitments (assuming only Laureano and Peralta return): $1.022 billion through 2034
Arbitration-Eligible Players (service time in parentheses; projected salaries courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz)
- Adrian Morejon (5.140): $3.6MM
- Jason Adam (5.132): $6.8MM
- Gavin Sheets (4.076): $4.3MM
- JP Sears (3.065): $3.5MM
- Luis Campusano (3.003): $1MM
- Mason Miller (2.166): $3.4MM
- Freddy Fermin (2.165): $1.8MM
Non-tender candidates: Adam, Sears
Free Agents
- Dylan Cease, Michael King, Robert Suarez (assuming opt out), Ryan O'Hearn, Luis Arraez, Jose Iglesias, Elias Díaz, Martín Maldonado (retired), Nestor Cortes
Every offseason in San Diego features its share of twists. This year's began within days of elimination. On October 9, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that manager Mike Shildt and president of baseball operations A.J. Preller were expected back. Two days later, Shildt informed the team he was retiring. Subsequent reporting from The SDUT's Kevin Acee pointed to discord between Shildt and his coaching staff.
It was the third consecutive managerial stint that ended in some measure of controversy. Jayce Tingler had seemingly lost the clubhouse by the time he was fired in 2021. Preller and Bob Melvin clashed to such an extent that the Padres allowed Melvin out of his contract during the 2023-24 offseason to take the same job with the division-rival Giants. Preller is still expected back for what'll be his 12th full season leading baseball operations. This will be his fifth managerial search and he's going into the final year of his contract. Reporting from Ken Rosenthal and Dennis Lin of The Athletic pointed to some tension between Preller and CEO Erik Greupner that raises questions about whether the Padres will extend Preller or let him work on a lame duck contract.
The managerial search is well underway and could be concluded within the next few days. Acee wrote last night that they've moved to the second round of interviews while narrowing their search to a group of finalists. Albert Pujols is the only candidate known to have gotten a second interview. Bench coach Brian Esposito and pitching coach Ruben Niebla each interviewed at least once. Cubs bench coach Ryan Flaherty, a former Padres staffer who appeared to be the runner-up when the position went to Shildt two years back, has also been speculated as a candidate. Obviously, the managerial hiring will shape how much of Shildt's coaching staff returns.
It'd behoove the Padres to get their manager in place within the next week or so. They always have a lot to accomplish on the roster. This year is no exception, though most of their early option decisions are straightforward.
They'll exercise their $6.5MM option on Ramón Laureano, who was fantastic after being acquired from the Orioles at the trade deadline. They'll buy out lefty Kyle Hart and backup catcher Elias Díaz. Closer Robert Suarez will opt out of the remaining two years and $16MM on his contract, while Michael King has an easy call to decline his end of a $15MM mutual option in favor of a $3.75MM buyout.
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George Springer Undergoes MRI For Right Side Discomfort
George Springer left the Blue Jays’ crushing Game 3 loss with what appeared to be a right side injury. Toronto’s leadoff man was leading off the seventh inning and fouled off the first pitch from Justin Wrobleski, then winced and grabbed for his lower right side. After unsuccessfully trying to walk it off, he called for the trainer and was immediately lifted from the game. Manager John Schneider provided details to reporters (including Shi Davidi of Sportsnet) following the 18-inning epic about Springer’s status, revealing he was suffering from “right side discomfort” and had already been sent for an MRI, which the club was awaiting results on.
The possibility of a side injury raises fears about an oblique strain that would certainly put an end to Springer’s series. Even minor oblique strains are an almost automatic injured list stint — usually requiring upwards of a month on the shelf. Springer was able to play through knee discomfort after being hit with a pitch in Game 5 of the ALCS. An oblique injury would be essentially impossible to overcome, as they inhibit a hitter’s ability to rotate through their swing.
Losing Springer would be a massive blow to Toronto’s chances of coming back to pull off an upset in the series. He has four homers and six doubles across 14 postseason contests. None was bigger than the go-ahead, three-run shot off Eduard Bazardo to knock off the Mariners in Game 7 of the Championship Series. Springer is hitting .246/.323/.561 in October. That follows up a resurgent regular season in which he hit .309/.399/.560 with 32 home runs, his best year since 2019.
Ty France came off the bench to work as the designated hitter for last night’s game. It’s unlikely that’d be the plan for the remainder of the Series if Springer is sidelined. Bo Bichette would presumably move to the DH spot for the final few games, which would draw Isiah Kiner-Falefa back in at second base for defensive purposes. Bichette has been limited in his first game action since spraining his knee in early September. He did not start Game 2 and was lifted for Kiner-Falefa as a pinch-runner/defensive substitute in the seventh inning. Bichette has picked up where he’d left off at the plate, though, going 3-7 with a walk and a strikeout in the series.
If Springer cannot return, the Jays would petition MLB to replace him on the roster. Joey Loperfido, who replaced the injured Anthony Santander on the ALCS roster, was dropped from the World Series roster with Bichette and France activated from injury. He’d be the obvious choice to return to the roster in Springer’s place.
Pirates To Hire Bill Murphy As Pitching Coach
The Pirates are expected to hire Astros pitching coach Bill Murphy for the same position, reports Chandler Rome of The Athletic. Pittsburgh had a vacancy after former pitching coach Oscar Marin did not have his contract renewed. Assistant pitching coach Brent Strom is also not returning to the team.
Murphy has been a coach in Houston’s organization since 2016. He was first hired as a pitching coach for Rookie-level Greeneville. Murphy moved up to Single-A Tri-City in 2017, then to Double-A Corpus Christi the following season. He became an assistant pitching coach with the big league club in 2021, coincidentally working underneath Strom (then Houston’s pitching coach) in his first season. Strom stepped down at the end of that year, so Houston elevated Murphy and Josh Miller to co-pitching coach positions.
Houston’s pitching staff hadn’t missed a beat after Strom’s departure. They lead MLB with a 3.61 earned run average over the past four seasons. Only the Braves have a higher strikeout rate over that stretch. They dropped to 11th in ERA this year but led MLB with a 24.9% strikeout percentage. No team got more swinging strikes.
The Astros already had an excellent pitching staff by the time that Murphy and Miller took the lead positions. Hunter Brown’s emergence as an ace has come under their tutelage, however. The Astros navigated various injuries on the pitching staff over the past few years, with the likes of J.P. France, Ronel Blanco and Jason Alexander each turning in a solid or better season in that time.
Murphy gets to work with an arguably even more talented group of arms in Pittsburgh. Paul Skenes is one of the few pitchers in baseball who is better than Brown. Bubba Chandler, Braxton Ashcraft and Mike Burrows might all be in the Opening Day rotation, while Jared Jones could be back from elbow surgery in the second half. Mitch Keller has tailed off late after stellar first halves in three straight years. He’s unlikely to turn into an ace at age 30, but it’d be a boon for the Bucs if they can get him to sustain his #2/3 caliber production for an entire season.
The Astros will now need to decide whether to turn the full-time job to Miller or hire a new co-pitching coach. They’re already revamping their offensive instruction after moving on from co-hitting coaches Alex Cintrón and Troy Snitker.