Quick Hits: Lucroy, Mets, Darvish, Pads, D-backs
Given his performance and team-friendly contract, catcher Jonathan Lucroy could be the most sought-after player available at this year’s trade deadline if the Brewers shop him. The playoff-contending Mets are one of several clubs he seems like a fit for, as their catchers entered Saturday with a horrible .191/.289/.275 batting line and three home runs on the year (Lucroy is at .304/.364/.512 with nine HRs). However, there are roadblocks in the way of a potential deal, writes Ken Davidoff of the New York Post. For one, the Mets don’t seem ready to give up on 27-year-old Travis d’Arnaud as their long-term solution behind the plate. Although d’Arnaud has an extensive history of maladies (he’s currently working his way back from a strained right rotator cuff) and got off to a poor start before suffering his latest injury in April, the former top prospect was quite valuable to the Mets over the previous two seasons. Additionally, the Mets might not have the prospects to win a Lucroy bidding war, per Davidoff, who notes that the team’s best young talent is already playing an important role in the majors. Lucroy, for what it’s worth, told Davidoff that he’s “not really a big city guy.”
Here’s more from around the majors:
- In troubling news, the Rangers have scratched ace Yu Darvish from his Monday start because of tightness in his neck and throwing shoulder, tweets Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. Darvish will next head back to Dallas for an MRI, according to Grant. “I don’t want to push it and make it worse. It’s a precaution. We hope it’s nothing serious and that I can be back soon,” said Darvish (Twitter link via Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram). After missing all of last season on account of Tommy John surgery, the star right-hander returned May 28 and made three starts before getting hurt again. If Darvish is seriously hurt, it will be a major blow to the first-place Rangers and could lead them to aggressively pursue pitching help as the trade deadline nears.
- The rebuilding Padres plan to spend “every penny” of their $12.74MM in bonus pool money for this year’s draft, stated general manager A.J. Preller (Twitter link via MadFriars). “We view it as an opportunity,” he continued. The Padres, who selected Stanford righty Cal Quantrill with their top pick (No. 8), have the third-highest spending allotment available. In addition to Quantrill, the team used first-rounders on high school shortstop Hudson Sanchez (24th overall) and Kent State southpaw Eric Lauer (25th).
- Earlier today, the Diamondbacks placed center fielder Chris Owings on the disabled list (retroactive to June 6) with plantar fasciitis in his left foot, per Jake Ril of MLB.com. Owings previously dealt with plantar fasciitis in both feet in 2010 and played just 62 games that year, notes Ril. The 24-year-old compiled a roughly league-average batting line of .285/.340/.419 in 196 plate appearances before leaving the Diamondbacks’ June 5 game with soreness in his foot. In his absence, the D-backs will use Michael Bourn and David Peralta in center.
Felix Hernandez Could Miss Four More Weeks
Mariners ace Felix Hernandez, who is on the disabled list retroactive to May 28 with a strained right calf muscle, could miss another four weeks, reports Marly Rivera of ESPN.com. When the Mariners placed Hernandez on the DL on June 1, their hope was that the 30-year-old would sit out only two starts and return as early as this Sunday. Hernandez still wasn’t moving well or throwing as of earlier this week, though, so he underwent a second MRI and the doctor advised him to rest the calf for a few more weeks and wear a boot “as often as possible” to protect the muscles surrounding the calf, the right-hander told Rivera.
Prior to landing on the DL, Hernandez was his usual formidable self from a results standpoint, recording a 2.85 ERA over 63 innings. However, the six-time All-Star’s strikeout and walk rates (7.57 and 3.71, respectively, per nine innings) are currently at their worst levels since 2008, and his fastball velocity before the injury sat at a career-low 90 mph.
While the onetime Cy Young Award winner isn’t as dominant as he was in his younger days, his absence certainly doesn’t help the cause of the 34-28 Mariners, who trail the AL West-leading Rangers by four games and are percentage points from holding one of the two Wild Card spots. Hernandez has easily been the best Mariners starter this year in terms of run prevention, with Hisashi Iwakuma, Wade Miley, Taijuan Walker and Nate Karns all posting significantly higher ERAs. Of those four, only Walker (3.48) has a sub-4.00 mark.
If there’s one positive to glean from Hernandez’s injury, it’s that his replacement, James Paxton, has been a revelation. The left-hander threw 6 1/3 shutout innings Saturday, giving him a 2.25 ERA, 24 strikeouts and four walks through 16 frames (three starts) since taking over for Hernandez. The former well-regarded prospect has thrown his fastball at an astounding average of 97.3 mph – up from a career mean of 94.5 – and has topped out at 100.2, which is likely attributable to a change in arm slot (via FanGraphs’ Eno Sarris). If the new version of Paxton continues faring well, the struggling Miley is a good bet to be the odd man out of the Mariners’ rotation when Hernandez returns.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Lucroy, Rays, Cubs, Nats, Reyes
Although the catcher-needy Rays covet Brewers backstop Jonathan Lucroy, their aversion to trading prospects makes them unlikely to acquire the 29-year-old if Milwaukee shops him, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reports (video link). The Cubs, like the Rays, are also a poor bet to land Lucroy. Chicago inquired about Lucroy’s availability during the offseason and even explored the idea of involving a third club to help make a trade happen with the division-rival Brewers, says Rosenthal, who adds that talks didn’t get serious then and probably won’t around the deadline. As Rosenthal notes, the Cubs have $14MM catcher Miguel Montero at the major league level, and highly regarded prospect Willson Contereras is laying waste to Triple-A pitching.
Even if the Rays and Cubs aren’t in the running to pick up Lucroy, there should still be plenty of suitors for him, as MLBTR’s Mark Polishuk detailed Friday.
More from Rosenthal:
- The Nationals’ top priority before the trade deadline is to acquire a dominant reliever like the Yankees’ Aroldis Chapman or Andrew Miller (as Bill Ladson of MLB.com reported last weekend), but the Bombers might not make either available and the Nats could balk at their asking price if they do, according to Rosenthal. Nationals relievers entered Saturday with the league’s fifth-best ERA (3.11) and sixth-ranked K/BB ratio (3.16), for one, and the organization has a pair of hard-throwing potential reinforcements in Double-A prospects Reynaldo Lopez and Koda Glover. The latter was an eighth-round pick just last year.
- The Rockies have until Wednesday to either add shortstop Jose Reyes to their roster, trade him or designate him for assignment, and executives tell Rosenthal that Colorado is continuing to shop the 32-year-old. However, there are plenty of questions about how much he’s capable of contributing in the majors at this point, per Rosenthal. Reyes, who served a domestic violence suspension through May, is coming off arguably the worst season of his career and is still owed upward of $40MM – including a $4MM buyout in 2018.
Braves Release Dale Thayer
Less than two weeks after signing reliever Dale Thayer to a minor league contract, the Braves have announced the release of the right-hander. Prior to his brief stint in the Braves organization, Thayer spent a month with the Dodgers’ Double-A affiliate before opting out of his deal with Los Angeles on May 3. He’ll now look for work again after totaling just 1 1/3 innings with the Braves’ Triple-A team.
In his latest taste of big league action, the 35-year-old logged 37 2/3 innings with a 4.06 ERA, 5.97 K/9 and 3.58 BB/9 as a member of the Padres last season. That was Thayer’s fourth year with the Friars, whom he joined in 2012. He previously racked up major league experience with the Rays and Mets. All told, Thayer has pitched to a respectable 3.47 ERA, with a 7.62 K/9 and 2.36 BB/9, in 251 1/2 major league innings.
With just over four years of MLB service time on his ledger, Thayer will still be controllable through arbitration if he lands elsewhere.
Injury Updates: Teixeira, Felix, Hill, Dodgers
Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira, who went on the disabled list last Saturday with a cartilage tear in his right knee, is progressing toward a return and expects to start running next week, he told Randy Miller of NJ Advance Media. Teixeira didn’t reveal when he could rejoin the Yankees, but the fact that it’s a possibility is undoubtedly welcome news for him and the team. The fear when Teixeira suffered the injury was that he’d need surgery. As of now, though, it appears the 36-year-old will avoid going under the knife. In addition to Teixeira, the Yankees have recently lost two other first base options – Chris Parmelee and Dustin Ackley – to injuries.
Here’s more on some big-name players dealing with health troubles:
- Mariners ace Felix Hernandez is making progress with his strained calf, but there remains no timetable for his return, said manager Scott Servais (Twitter link via Greg Johns of MLB.com). Hernandez, who landed on the DL retroactive to May 28, was originally supposed to miss only two starts with the injury. But he’ll now need to go on a rehab stint when he’s deemed healthy enough to return to the mound, tweets Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. Hernandez posted a 2.86 ERA, 7.57 K/9 and 3.71 BB/9 in 63 innings prior to going on the shelf.
- Athletics left-hander Rich Hill won’t throw off a mound until the middle of next week at the earliest, per John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle (on Twitter). Before hitting the DL on Thursday with a right groin strain, the 36-year-old threw 64 frames of 2.25 ERA, struck out 10.41 batters per nine innings and established himself as an appealing summer trade candidate.
- Dodgers starters Hyun-jin Ryu and Brandon McCarthy will both begin four- to five-start rehab assignments this weekend, according to manager Dave Roberts (via Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register). This will be the second time Ryu has attempted a rehab assignment; in May, he suffered a setback in his surgically repaired left shoulder after making three rehab starts. The 29-year-old southpaw underwent surgery on a torn labrum in May 2015 and hasn’t appeared in a major league game since October 2014. Given the time Ryu has missed, he’ll need to prove himself worthy of a rotation spot, Roberts said. McCarthy, meanwhile, had Tommy John surgery a year ago after racking up just four starts on the season.
7 Surprise Players Making Cases To Land Qualifying Offers
Since Major League Baseball instituted the qualifying offer system in 2012, the cost to extend one to a free agent has gradually risen from $13.3MM on a single-year contract to $15.8MM. That number figures to increase again this year, which is all the more reason for teams to be vigilant when distributing them. Last year was the first time a player accepted the offer – three did, actually – which prevented their teams from watching them depart in free agency in favor of a first-round compensatory pick.
Looking ahead to the upcoming offseason, potential free agents like Yoenis Cespedes, Jose Bautista and Kenley Jansen, among others, are slam dunks to receive qualifying offers if they reach November without being traded and without new contracts (Cespedes would have to opt out of his current deal, which he seems likely to do). That premier group of shoo-ins could be joined by a slew of players who have been surprise standouts so far this year. Those players are…
Mark Trumbo, 1B/RF/DH, Orioles: Six months ago, the Mariners dealt Trumbo to Baltimore for backup catcher Steve Clevenger in what amounted to a salary dump. Trumbo established himself as a notable home run threat during the first five years of his major league career, hitting 131 balls over the fence from 2011-15, but that’s about all he did well. In addition to proving himself a defensive liability, Trumbo struck out too much, walked too little and got on base at a paltry .301 clip. The Mariners, already Trumbo’s third team, decided it made more sense to get rid of his salary (which ended up at $9.15MM after a January arbitration hearing) than deal with his shortcomings.
The Baltimore version of Trumbo brings the same flaws to the table as he did in previous stops, but now he’s doing his best to offset his imperfections by producing like an elite hitter. The 30-year-old has already totaled a major league-leading 20 homers, and he ranks fourth in ISO (.316, 99 points higher than his career mark) and is tied for fifth in wRC+ (155) through 251 plate appearances.
Trumbo – who has slashed .296/.347/.609 – has helped himself by chasing fewer bad pitches than ever, having swung at a career-best 32.7 percent of offerings outside the strike zone, and has elevated the ball and hit it both hard and far when he has swung. Trumbo’s 43.1 fly ball percentage and 37.5 ground-ball rate are both personal bests, and Statcast (link via Baseball Savant) indicates that the ball is coming off Trumbo’s bat at a mean of 95.3 miles per hour – good for fourth in the league – and traveling an average of 250 feet. At that distance, he’s tied with teammate Chris Davis, among others, for seventh in the league. Further, as pointed out earlier this week by FanGraphs’ Jeff Sullivan, Trumbo’s stellar production at the plate goes all the way back to last July – nearly a calendar year. All things considered, the Orioles have a prodigious slugger who’s on a collision course with a qualifying offer.
Rich Hill, SP, Athletics: Hill went on the disabled list Thursday with a strained right groin, which is a troubling development for someone who has a long injury history and hasn’t exceeded 100 innings in a major league season since 2007. Nevertheless, the 36-year-old was among the top starters in baseball over the season’s initial two months. Eleven starts and 64 innings into 2016, the curveball specialist owns the league’s ninth-best ERA (2.25) and 10th-best K/9 (10.41), and Hill has amassed those numbers while inducing plenty of grounders (48.1 percent rate) and generating soft contact (87 mph exit velocity). Both Hill’s early season brilliance and the A’s struggles make him an ideal candidate to move prior to the Aug. 1 trade deadline. If the A’s do sell Hill, he won’t be eligible to receive a qualifying offer in the offseason from his new team. In the event Oakland keeps Hill and he doesn’t turn into a pumpkin before the end of the season, he’ll be a strong bet to land a qualifying offer. Given Hill’s journeyman status, including a stint in the independent Atlantic League last summer, his story is already rather improbable. If he goes from Long Island Duck in July 2014 to major league qualifying offer recipient in November 2016, it would add yet another unexpected chapter to the book.
Michael Saunders, LF, Blue Jays: When it comes to Toronto’s pending free agents, almost all of the attention has understandably gone to Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion. Saunders’ start to the year has also made him worth paying attention to, though, as he has rebounded from an injury-ravaged 2015 to upstage his more accomplished teammates. Through his first 222 trips to the plate, Saunders leads all Jays regulars – including reigning AL MVP Josh Donaldson – in average (.294), OBP (.374) and slugging percentage (.528), and he’s third on the team in both ISO (.234) and fWAR (1.5). On a leaguewide scale, Saunders’ 145 wRC+ places him in a tie with former NL MVP Ryan Braun and slightly ahead of other world-class talents like Paul Goldschmidt, Anthony Rizzo, Miguel Cabrera and Bryce Harper. It’s possible Saunders’ success is largely driven by a .376 BABIP and he’ll eventually revert to being merely the decent cog he was during his most productive seasons with the Mariners from 2012-14. For now, he’s following in the footsteps of Bautista and Encarnacion as the Jays’ latest out-of-nowhere offensive star. That puts Saunders on pace to once again mimic those two in receiving a qualifying offer.
Dodgers Designate Carl Crawford For Assignment
The Dodgers have designated outfielder Carl Crawford for assignment and recalled catcher/infielder Austin Barnes from Triple-A Oklahoma City to take his roster spot, per a team announcement.
Designating Crawford could bring about a significant financial hit for the Dodgers, who will likely have to pay the remaining $35MM on his contract, according to Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times (on Twitter). Crawford, who’s signed through next season, “got caught in the numbers game,” Dodgers vice president of baseball operations Josh Byrnes told MLB Network Radio (Twitter link). The Dodgers do have a slew of non-Crawford outfield options in Joc Pederson, Trayce Thompson, Scott Van Slyke, Howie Kendrick and Enrique Hernandez – not to mention the injured Yasiel Puig and Andre Ethier – but this is nonetheless quite a fall from grace for such a high-profile player.
As a quality hitter who offered excellent defense and established himself as a terror on the bases, Crawford was a premier all-around player with the Rays over the first several seasons of his career. The four-time All-Star’s success in Tampa Bay led the division-rival Red Sox to sign him to a seven-year, $142MM contract in 2010, but Crawford fared poorly in Boston during parts of two seasons. The Red Sox then shipped him to the Dodgers in 2012 as part of a salary-dumping trade that also featured first baseman Adrian Gonzalez going to Los Angeles. As noted by the Boston Globe’s Peter Abraham (Twitter link), Crawford was just two days removed from Tommy John surgery at the time.
Injuries have long been an issue for Crawford, who appeared in just 310 games with LA prior to today’s designation. He began this season on the disabled list with a back issue and returned to appear in 30 games, during which he hit a terrible .185/.230/.235 in 87 plate appearances. To Crawford’s credit, he was a solid piece for the Dodgers from 2013-15 – slashing .286/.328/.414 with 18 home runs and 48 steals in 1,032 trips to the plate – but LA has now deemed the soon-to-be 35-year-old expendable.
Crawford, a career .290/.330/.435 hitter who has swatted 136 homers and stolen 480 bases, could catch on elsewhere at a cheap cost after he clears waivers (assuming no one claims him, of course). The Dodgers would have to pick up the remainder of his salary.
AL Notes: Angels, BoSox, Twins, Rays
Pirates third baseman David Freese spoke fondly of his two-year tenure with the Angels on Sunday and told reporters, including Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register, that he had hoped to re-sign with them last offseason. “I wanted to be an Angel. I can’t hide that,” stated Freese, who was an Angel from 2014-15. “From Day 1, I wanted to come back. I loved the guys. We had unfinished business. It just didn’t happen.” Freese said that he and the Angels discussed a return, but the team never actually made an offer. The Angels instead acquired Yunel Escobar, leaving Freese to eventually sign with Pittsburgh. Freese hit a decent .258/.322/.401 and accounted for 4.3 fWAR in 981 plate appearances with the Halos.
Elsewhere around the American League…
- Red Sox catcher/left fielder Blake Swihart landed on the disabled list earlier today with a left ankle sprain, and manager John Farrell revealed that he won’t be back within the 15-day window. Farrell called the sprain “severe” and added that Swihart will be immobilized for two weeks, Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald was among those to report (Twitter link). With fellow left field option Brock Holt also out, the Red Sox are down to Chris Young and Rusney Castillo at the position.
- Twins infielder Eduardo Nunez has hit a terrific .331/.359/.497 with six home runs in 193 trips to the plate this season, but manager Paul Molitor isn’t sold on the 28-year-old as an everyday long-term option for the club (via Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com). “It’s a slippery slope as far as projecting a guy into that role who has played well for a couple months,” said Molitor. “If you base it on how he’s performed, it’s easy to speculate he could be one of those guys who sheds the role as a utility guy. But I think it’s too early for that.” This has easily been Nunez’s best season in an otherwise unremarkable career since he broke into the majors with the Yankees in 2010, so Molitor’s position is certainly understandable. Nunez, to his credit, has been far better in Minnesota than he was in New York, though. Since joining the Twins in 2014, Nunez has batted .286/.318/.435 with 14 homers in 607 PAs, also chipping in 28 steals.
- The Rays placed outfielder Brandon Guyer on the 15-day disabled list with a left hamstring strain Sunday and recalled infielder Nick Franklin from Triple-A Durham, Bill Chastain of MLB.com was among those to report (Twitter link). Guyer is now the second notable Rays outfielder to hit the DL in recent weeks, joining center fielder Kevin Kiermaier. The 30-year-old had gotten off to an excellent start pre-injury, evidenced by his .271/.365/.472 batting line in 168 PAs, and helped his cause by reaching base 15 times via the hit by pitch. That’s nothing new for Guyer, whom opposing pitchers have struck a combined 50 times since he started seeing extensive big league action in 2014. Franklin, a former well-regarded prospect with the Mariners, has spent this year in the minors after hitting an unsightly .158/.213/.307 in 109 PAs with the Rays last season.
- Speaking of the Rays, they entered play Sunday with the second-worst record in the AL, and Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times offered some potential ways the team could save its season before it slips away. Among Topkin’s suggestions: Cut $3.3MM outfielder Desmond Jennings loose or demote him to Durham (either option could be difficult now with the Rays’ depth already having taken multiple hits), promote top pitching prospect Blake Snell and find an outside catcher solution – even if it means surrendering a significant haul for Brewers backstop Jonathan Lucroy.
Baseball Blogs Weigh in: Jays, D-backs, Bucs, Draft
Here’s this week’s spin around the baseball blogosphere:
- BP Toronto takes an in-depth look at Blue Jays right-hander Marcus Stroman‘s repertoire.
- Inside The ‘Zona presents some pitch selection changes Diamondbacks southpaws Patrick Corbin and Robbie Ray should make.
- Big Three Sports evaluates an atypical Cardinals team.
- The Point Of Pittsburgh wonders if Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen‘s best days are behind him.
- Baseball MTJAG memorializes Vanderbilt pitcher Donny Everett, who died in a drowning accident Thursday.
- Clubhouse Corner interviews Diamondbacks reliever Zac Curtis and his college pitching coach, Skylar Meade.
- 1 Blue Jays Way talks with Blue Jays first base prospect Rowdy Tellez.
- Pinstriped Prospects chats with Yankees relief prospect Cale Coshow.
- Cover Those Bases ranks the top 20 position players in the upcoming draft.
- Wayniac Nation compares the top two high school bats in the draft.
- Outside Pitch MLB sees All-Star potential for hot-hitting Reds outfielder Adam Duvall.
- Off The Bench explains why the Yankees and Cubs are logical trade partners.
- Baseball Hot Corner suggests the Blue Jays trade for Brewers slugger Ryan Braun.
- Bucs Raise It asks if the Pirates should worry about a potential Francisco Cervelli decline.
- Now On Deck laments right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez‘s presence on the Orioles.
- Philliedelphia contends that struggling first baseman Ryan Howard should announce this season is his last so he can turn a negative campaign into a positive.
- Gaslamp Ball expects Padres 2013 first-round pick Hunter Renfroe to make his major league debut this season.
- The Runner Sports reviews the Astros’ 2015 draft and lists previews some 2016 first-round possibilities for the club.
- Pirates Breakdown examines the run production of outfielder Starling Marte.
- Jays From The Couch writes that the AL East could come down to a season-ending three-game set between the Red Sox and Blue Jays.
- Notes From The Sally scouts Marlins first base prospect Josh Naylor.
- Think Blue Planning Committee looks at the state of the Dodgers’ rotation.
- Total Sports Live assesses the Phillies’ present and future.
- Dan Grant of Same Page Team delves into the Blue Jays’ roster and puts some focus on their newest player, reliever Jason Grilli.
- North Shore Nine grades the Pirates after two months.
- Super Two Sports believes Dick Allen’s exclusion from the Baseball Hall of Fame is unjust.
- Sports Heaven points out the flaws in judging pitchers on wins and losses.
- isportsweb previews June for the Phillies.
- Rotisserie Duck profiles Rangers reclamation project Matt Bush.
- Chin Music Baseball argues that the National League should never adopt the designated hitter.
- LA Dodger Report takes the Dodgers’ front office to task.
Please send submissions to ZachBBWI@gmail.com.
Pitcher Notes: Nats, Chapman, Miller, Reds, Felix
Improving their bullpen will be the Nationals’ “top priority” as the Aug. 1 trade deadline approaches, a source told Bill Ladson of MLB.com. The Nats aren’t close to acquiring anyone at this time, reports Ladson, who writes that they are hoping the Yankees will put lights-out lefties Aroldis Chapman and Andrew Miller on the block. Both have been connected in the past to the Nationals, who aren’t content with Jonathan Papelbon serving as their closer. Papelbon has fared well this year, having converted 14 of 16 save chances and posted a 2.91 ERA, 7.06 K/9 and 2.08 BB/9 in 21 2/3 innings, but he’s undoubtedly inferior to both Chapman and Miller. Even without either of those two in the mix, Washington’s bullpen entered Sunday ranked third in both ERA (2.85) and K/BB ratio (3.51).
More pitching notes:
- In unfortunate news for the Reds, their top starter, right-hander Raisel Iglesias, will work out of the bullpen when he returns from a shoulder injury in a few weeks, reports Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer (Twitter link). The door isn’t closed on the 26-year-old rejoining the Reds’ rotation down the line, but he’ll have to show that his shoulder can hold up, per Buchanan. From a financial point of view, Buchanan notes that the likelihood of Iglesias opting out of his $27MM contract when he becomes eligible for arbitration will decrease if he doesn’t go back to starting (Twitter links). Iglesias has 154 days of major league service time under his belt and will soon reach the 172-day mark necessary for a full year, but he’s still a good distance from the three years needed to take a crack at arbitration. The Cuba native has so far made 23 big league appearances (21 starts) and compiled a 4.00 ERA, 9.68 K/9 and 2.55 BB/9 in 123 innings.
- On the bright side for the Reds, righty Anthony DeSclafani is likely to make his 2016 debut during the upcoming week – perhaps Friday – tweets Buchanan. The 26-year-old has been out all season with an oblique issue. He performed well in 2015, his first full big league campaign, totaling 184 2/3 innings of 4.05 ERA/3.67 FIP/3.97 xFIP pitching.
- The Mariners’ Felix Hernandez might not return from the disabled list when he’s eligible on June 12, reports Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune. “Fingers crossed, but he may miss a couple (of more starts). We’ll see,” said manager Scott Servais. The hope when Hernandez landed on the DL with a straight right calf muscle was that he’d only miss two starts, but he still isn’t moving well and hasn’t resumed throwing. King Felix posted a 2.86 ERA, 7.57 K/9 and 3.71 BB/9 in 63 innings prior to going on the shelf.