The Opener: Pitchers’ Duel, LeMahieu, Nootbaar
As the 2024 regular season continues, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:
1. Pitchers’ duel in Detroit:
Two of the AL Central’s very best starting pitchers are set to clash this evening when Twins right-hander Pablo Lopez takes the mound in Comerica Park against Tigers lefty Tarik Skubal. Lopez, 28, is coming off a strong 2023 campaign that saw him make the first All-Star appearance of his career and finish seventh in AL Cy Young award voting after posting a 3.66 ERA and 3.33 FIP in 194 innings of work. He’s performed admirably in his first two starts this year since stepping into the role of staff ace vacated by Sonny Gray, with a 2.84 ERA and 3.05 FIP in 12 2/3 innings of work to this point.
Meanwhile, Skubal is coming off a dominant second-half in 2023 after his midseason return from elbow surgery. In 15 starts last year, Skubal pitched to a sterling 2.80 ERA with an even better FIP of 2.00 while striking out a whopping 32.9% of batters he faced. The southpaw has continued rolling so far this year, with a 32.6% strikeout rate to go with a 2.92 ERA and 3.37 FIP in 12 1/3 innings. Detroit has outperformed Minnesota in the early going this year, posting a 7-4 record (1.5 games behind the Guardians in the AL Central) that gives them an early lead on the 4-6 Twins. This afternoon’s game is set to begin at 6:40pm local time.
2. LeMahieu to be re-examined:
Veteran infielder DJ LeMahieu has spent the entire 2024 campaign to this point on the injured list, prompting the Yankees to lean on Oswaldo Cabrera and Jon Berti at the hot corner. It’s possible LeMahieu could be getting closer to a return, however. Per MLB.com, manager Aaron Boone recently told reporters that LeMahieu will undergo a fresh round of imaging today in order to determine whether or not he’s ready to head out for a rehab assignment. The 35-year-old veteran was roughly league average at the plate in a down season last year but has a strong .285/.358/.430 slash line since joining the Yankees prior to the 2019 season.
3. Cardinals to activate Nootbaar:
The Cardinals’ outfield was hit particularly badly by the injury bug in spring training, as each of Lars Nootbaar, Tommy Edman, and Dylan Carlson opened the season on the shelf. Fortunately for Cardinals fans, that’s about to change. Per The Athletic’s Katie Woo, Nootbaar is set to be activated from the injured list prior to tonight’s game against the Diamondbacks, which is scheduled to begin at 6:40pm local time. A corresponding move will be necessary to make room for Nootbaar on the active roster, and Woo reports that the Cardinals will accomplish that by optioning third-string catcher Pedro Pages to the minor leagues.
Nootbaar carries a .247/.356/.430 slash (120 wRC+) and an excellent 14.5% walk rate in 225 games for the Cardinals over the past two seasons. If the 26-year-old can replicate that past production, he’s sure to provide a major boost to a beleaguered offense in St. Louis that has seen its current outfield mix of Jordan Walker, Victor Scott II, and Alec Burleson all get out to slow starts. They aren’t the only ones who have struggled so far. Veterans Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado have hit a combined .194 with just four extra base hits in 108 trips to the plate.
The Opener: Twins, Tigers, Jansen, Martinez
As the 2024 regular season continues, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:
1. Tigers/Twins game postponed:
The Tigers announced this morning that the club’s scheduled game against the Twins in Detroit this afternoon has been postponed due to inclement weather. Per the announcement, the game will be made up this coming Saturday as part of a straight doubleheader beginning at 1:10pm local time that afternoon. Ticket-holders for today’s game will be able to exchange their tickets to attend Saturday’s doubleheader or any other regular season game “of similar value” in the next 12 months. The series between the two division rivals is now expected to begin tomorrow at 6:40pm local time.
2. Jansen nearing impressive milestone:
Veteran closer Kenley Jansen is among the most reliable closers in MLB history, with a career 2.51 ERA and matching 2.51 FIP over his 15 seasons in the big leagues. This year, the 36-year-old veteran has a chance to further bolster his spot in the annals of MLB history during his next appearance. Jansen’s next save will be the 424th of his career, tying him with longtime Mets and Reds closer John Franco on the All-Time saves leaderboard. That would leave Jansen tied for fifth all-time in career saves behind only Mariano Rivera, Trevor Hoffman, Lee Smith, and Francisco Rodriguez. It’s a milestone Jansen could achieve as soon as tonight, when the Red Sox face the Orioles in Boston for a game scheduled to begin at 7:10pm local time.
3. When will Martinez join the Mets?
Veteran slugger J.D. Martinez signed a one-year deal with the Mets nearly three weeks ago, but has seen his start to the season pushed back by what has been termed “general body soreness” to this point. While there had previously been some optimism that Martinez would be able to make his big league debut at some point this weekend, that’s been dashed now that manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters (including Anthony DiComo of MLB.com) that Martinez has received a platelet-rich plasma injection in his lower back and will not return to hitting for at least three to five days. While the timing of Martinez’s debut with the Mets remains up in the air, the 36-year-old veteran has a real chance to impact the club’s struggling offense after slugging 33 homers in just 113 games with the Dodgers last year.
The Opener: Holliday, Astros, Miley
As the 2024 MLB regular season continues, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:
1. Holliday in Baltimore:
The sport’s consensus No. 1 overall prospect, infielder Jackson Holliday, is reportedly set to be called up to the majors today. The 20-year-old was taken first overall by the Orioles in the 2022 draft and has done nothing but dominate at the plate since, slashing .297/.489/.422 in 20 games down the stretch that year before delivering a .323/.442/.499 line during a 2023 campaign that saw him promoted across four levels of the minors. Holliday hasn’t taken his foot off the gas as the calendar flipped to 2024, with a .311/.354/.600 slash in 15 Spring Training games and an even more impressive .333/.482/.595 line through ten games at Triple-A this season.
The Orioles will not need to make room for Holliday on the 40-man roster, which currently stands at 38, but will need to make a corresponding move on the active roster in order to officially activate the youngster. It’s worth noting that the O’s are short on players who can be easily optioned out. Infielder Jordan Westburg is one candidate, but none of Ramon Urias, Jorge Mateo, Tony Kemp or Ryan O’Hearn can be optioned. O’Hearn technically has an option left but must consent to being optioned as a player with five-plus years of service. The others would need to clear waivers before being sent down.
2. Astros to select Arrighetti:
Another prospect making his big league debut Wednesday will be Astros right-hander Spencer Arrighetti, who’ll start this evening’s game against the Royals. Arrighetti, 24, was a sixth-round pick by Houston in the 2021 draft and enjoyed a solid 2023 season that saw him pitch to a respectable 4.40 ERA in 124 2/3 innings of work split between the Double- and Triple-A levels. His return to the Triple-A level this year has gone quite well across two starts, as he’s yielded just two earned runs in 8 1/3 innings of work while striking out 27% of batters faced.
Arrighetti steps into the rotation at a time of clear need for the Astros, with each of Justin Verlander, Framber Valdez, Luis Garcia Jr., Jose Urquidy, and Lance McCullers Jr. on the shelf for the time being. In order to officially select Arrighetti’s contract, the Astros will need to make a corresponding move at some point this evening that clears space on both the 40-man and active rosters.
3. Miley to make season debut:
Veteran southpaw Wade Miley, who re-signed with the Brewers on a one-year deal over the offseason, has been shelved to this point in the 2024 campaign by a shoulder impingement. His time on the injured list is poised to come to an end today, however, as MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy notes that the lefty is scheduled to take the mound opposite right-handed youngster Hunter Greene in this evening’s game between the Brewers and Reds in Cincinnati.
The start will kick off Miley’s third season in Milwaukee after he pitched for the club both last year and back in 2018. He’s racked up an impressive 2.91 ERA across 39 starts (201 innings) to this point in his Brewers career and now will enter the club’s new-look 2024 rotation that lacks long-time co-aces Corbin Burnes and Brandon Woodruff. Miley is already on the 40-man roster, but the Brewers will need to make a corresponding move to clear space for the 37-year-old on the active roster in order to officially activate him.
Marlins Void 2025 Club Option On Manager Skip Schumaker
April 9: Barry Jackson, Jordan McPherson and Craig Mish of the Miami Herald add some additional context to Schumaker’s contract status. Schumaker, according to the report, was frustrated by the departure of Ng, who’d hired him less than a year prior.
The Herald trio writes that owner Bruce Sherman agreed to remove the club option on the contract “as a show of good faith” after Schumaker voiced his concerns. In essence, voiding the club option gives Schumaker control over his own future if he and Bendix clash over the course of the season. Per the Herald report, there have been no issues between Bendix and Schumaker even in spite of the team’s terrible (1-10) start to the season, but the in-house expectation is that Schumaker will explore other options following the season.
April 7: Marlins manager Skip Schumaker is set to become a free agent following the 2024 season, reports Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Schumaker was hired by the club in October 2022 to serve under then-GM Kim Ng and agreed to a two-year deal with a club option for 2025, but Nightengale reports that Miami agreed to void the option this past winter.
Schumaker, 44, is a former big league outfielder and second baseman who played for the Cardinals, Dodgers, and Reds from 2005 to 2015 with a roughly league average .278/.337/.364 slash line in 1,149 career games. Just a few short years after retiring as a player in 2016, Schumaker began his coaching career as the first base coach in San Diego for the 2018 season. He was promoted to associate manager prior to the 2020 season but departed the club prior to the 2022 campaign to rejoin the Cardinals as Oli Marmol’s bench coach.
After a year working under Marmol in St. Louis, Schumaker quickly emerged as a finalist to replace outgoing manager Don Mattingly in Miami, and eventually reached a deal with the Marlins shortly thereafter. His debut season as manager scarcely could’ve gone better, as Schumaker led a surprisingly competitive Marlins club to an 84-win season in 2023, securing the club’s first full-season playoff appearance since 2003. Miami’s surprising performance was enough to earn Schumaker NL Manager of the Year honors over fellow finalists Craig Counsell and Brian Snitker.
Since then, however, there’s been plenty of upheaval in the Marlins organization. Ng parted ways with the organization after ownership refused to offer her an extension and indicated they planned to reduce her role by installing a president of baseball operations above her. Her departure last fall reportedly upset Schumaker. The club subsequently hired former Rays GM Peter Bendix to run the club’s baseball operations department.
The club went on to make minimal additions to its roster this winter, only adding shortstop Tim Anderson on a major league deal. Slugger Jorge Soler departed for San Francisco via free agency, and the Marlins at least entertained the idea of trading Jesus Luzardo and other young starters this winter. While it’s still early in the 2024 season, the returns on the club’s inaction this winter are nothing short of awful; the club has lost each of its first nine games this season while suffering injuries to key pieces such as Eury Perez and Braxton Garrett — both of whom opened the season on the injured list. Perez will miss the entire 2024 season due to Tommy John surgery.
Given the recent changes in club leadership and the team’s struggles, it’s possible Bendix hopes to choose his own manager following the 2024 season, resulting in the team being willing to forfeit their ability to unilaterally retain Schumaker. If Schumaker doesn’t remain in Miami beyond the current season, Nightengale suggests that he could join Red Sox manager Alex Cora as one of the most attractive managerial candidates available to clubs this winter.
The Opener: Valdez, Gray, MLBTR Chat
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As the 2024 MLB regular season continues, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:
1. Valdez to be evaluated:
Astros southpaw Framber Valdez was scratched from his start yesterday due to elbow soreness, becoming the latest player of note in the league to suffer an elbow-related injury scare. Per Matt Kawahara of The Houston Chronicle, the lefty has departed the team’s road trip and is set to return to Houston today for further evaluation. Kawahara adds that both manager Joe Espada and GM Dana Brown downplayed the seriousness of Valdez’s injury, with Espada emphasizing that Valdez has not yet been placed on the injured list. If Valdez misses time, he’d join Justin Verlander, Jose Urquidy, Luis Garcia Jr., and Lance McCullers Jr. as Astros starters on the injured list, though Verlander could be nearing a return later this month.
Right-hander Blair Henley was called up to take the mound in place of Valdez yesterday, but he allowed five runs while recording just one out against the Rangers. Fellow righty Spencer Arrighetti could be an alternative option to take the ball next time Valdez’s spot in the rotation comes up if he’s not cleared to take the ball and Houston decides not to stick with Henley.
2. Gray to make Cardinals debut:
The Cardinals are expected to activate right-hander Sonny Gray from the injured list today to make his club debut in St. Louis against the Phillies. The 34-year-old signed with the club on a three-year, $75MM deal this offseason on the heels of a dominant 2023 campaign with the Twins where he led the majors with a 2.83 FIP and finished second to Gerrit Cole in AL Cy Young voting. He’ll get a tough assignment in his Cards debut, taking the mound opposite Phillies ace Zack Wheeler. St. Louis is surely hoping that Gray can help the club turn its rotation around. The group’s collective 4.85 ERA ranks 20th in MLB, and their 5.48 FIP ranks 29th, ahead of only the Blue Jays, through the young 2024 season’s first 11 games.
3. MLBTR Chat today:
The 2024 season is now in full swing, and some clubs have gotten off to surprisingly strong starts while plenty of expected contenders have struggled to open the year. If you have questions regarding your favorite club’s start to the campaign, MLBTR’s Steve Adams will host a live chat with readers this afternoon at 1pm CT. You can click here to ask a question in advance, and that same link will allow you to join in on the chat once it begins or read the transcript after it is completed.
The Opener: Solar Eclipse, Story, Snell, Dodgers
With roughly 5% of the 2024 MLB regular season in the books, here are a few things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:
1. Solar eclipse to appear over MLB stadiums:
A total solar eclipse will appear in the skies over North America today for the first time since 2017 and the final time until 2044. Baseball fans around the country will be able to enjoy the eclipse, with fans in Cleveland in particular getting a special treat. The Guardians are opening the gates to Progressive Field at 1pm CT, as noted MLB.com. That’s just over an hour before the eclipse will begin, which itself will occur roughly two hours before the club’s game against the White Sox is scheduled to begin at 4:10pm CT.
Progressive Field is one of two ballparks in the path of totality hosting a baseball game today, joining the Rangers’ Globe Life Field. However, the game between the Rangers and the Astros is scheduled to begin at 7:05pm CT, long after the eclipse will have passed over the city of Arlington. The Yankees/Marlins in New York, the Cardinals/Phillies game in St. Louis, the Pirates/Tigers game in Pittsburgh, the Reds/Brewers game in Cincinnati, and the Mariners/Blue Jays game in Toronto will all occur in cities where fans will be able to view an eclipse of at least 90% today.
2. Story to undergo exam:
Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story is set to undergo an exam today to determine the severity of a shoulder subluxation that sent the 31-year-old back to the injured list over the weekend. As chief baseball officer Craig Breslow told reporters this weekend, it remains unclear if Story will be able to return to the field this season or if surgery will be required on his ailing shoulder.
It’s the latest brutal setback for Story during his tenure in Boston, which has seen him play just 134 games between the 2021 and 2022 seasons due to wrist, heel, and elbow injuries. Even when he’s been healthy enough to take the field during that time, he’s struggled to a slash line of just .227/.287/.398 at the plate. The club figures to rely on a combination of David Hamilton and Pablo Reyes at shortstop for the time being while Story is on the shelf, though it’s possible that a youngster such as Ceddanne Rafaela or Vaughn Grissom could contribute at the position at some point should Story face a lengthy absence.
3. Snell set for Giants debut:
After spending nearly the entire offseason on the free agent market, Blake Snell is set to make his Giants debut today. The reigning NL Cy Young winner, who inked a two-year, $62MM contract that includes an opt-out clause next offseason, will square off against the rebuilding Nationals and right-hander Trevor Williams in front of Giants fans at Oracle Park tonight. Snell tossed 74 pitches in a simulated game against Giants Double-A hitters last week and has been facing live hitters for several weeks now. Still, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle suggests he’ll likely be limited to the 70-80 pitch range in his first outing of the season as he finishes ramping up to larger per-start workloads.
Snell will join Cy Young runner-up Logan Webb, top prospect Kyle Harrison, sophomore Keaton Winn and reliever-turned-starter Jordan Hicks in the Giants’ rotation.
4. Dodgers to add Brogdon:
The Dodgers acquired right-hander Connor Brogdon from the Phillies over the weekend — a buy-low move on a 29-year-old who entered the 2024 campaign with a career 3.55 ERA and 4.04 FIP. Brogdon, who’s looking to rebound from a down year in 2023 and poor start to the 2024 season, has not officially joined the team yet. Manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Jack Harris of the L.A. Times) that he’ll be doing so today ahead of this evening’s game against the Twins in Minnesota.
Some sort of corresponding move will need to be made to accommodate Brogdon’s addition to the active roster, though his spot on the 40-man was already secured by the club’s decision to designate right-hander Dinelson Lamet for assignment recently. Lefty Alex Vesia and righties Michael Grove and Gus Varland are the only optionable pitchers in the club’s bullpen as things stand, making one of that trio most likely to head to the minors, barring a surprise injury announcement. Brogdon is out of minor league options, so he can’t be sent to Triple-A himself without clearing waivers.
NL Central Notes: Gray, Cubs, Brewers
The Cardinals started the season without their biggest offseason signing, as staff ace Sonny Gray opened the 2024 campaign on the shelf due to a hamstring strain. The right-hander was scheduled for a final rehab start this past week before returning to big league action, but those plans were dashed by an unfortunate rainout that kept Gray from taking the mound. The club initially announced that Gray would have his Triple-A start pushed back to this coming Tuesday, but manager Carlos Marmol revealed to reporters (including The Athletic’s Katie Woo) today that Gray’s start that day will actually be for the big league club.
Per Marmol, Gray will be limited to around 65 pitches in his Cardinals debut, where he’ll take on the Phillies in the second game of a three-game set between the clubs. Gray landed in St. Louis back in November on a three-year, $75MM deal following a dominant 2023 season in Minnesota. The right-hander posted a 2.79 ERA with an MLB-best 2.83 FIP for the Twins last year in a performance that earned him his third career All Star appearance and a second-place finish in AL Cy Young award voting behind Yankees ace Gerrit Cole.
The Cardinals are surely hoping Gray will bring that same form to St. Louis. The club was plagued by one of the worst starting pitching staffs in the majors last year, and the early returns haven’t been much better so far with the rotation’s 5.64 FIP in the young 2024 campaign is better than only the Rockies and Blue Jays among all big league clubs. Upon his return, Gray figures to replace struggling youngster Zack Thompson in the club’s rotation mix, slotting in alongside fellow veterans Miles Mikolas, Steven Matz, Kyle Gibson, and Lance Lynn.
More from around the NL Central…
- The Cubs made a surprise roster move just before the start of their game against the Dodgers this afternoon, placing right-hander Julian Merryweather on the 15-day injured list with a right shoulder strain as noted by Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune. It’s a significant blow to the club’s relief corps, as Merryweather has dominated with a 3.29 ERA (136 ERA+) and a nearly matching 3.46 FIP in 73 appearances for the Cubs across the past two seasons. Merryweather’s absence will pave the way for right-hander Daniel Palencia, who pitched to a 4.45 ERA across 27 appearances in his rookie season last year, to join the club’s bullpen. Meanwhile, Merryweather’s role in the club’s late-inning mix alongside Adbert Alzolay and Hector Neris figures to be filled by Mark Leiter Jr.
- Speaking of pitching roster moves, the Brewers placed right-hander Jakob Junis on the 15-day IL yesterday due to a right shoulder impingement. Fortunately for Milwaukee, it sounds as though the issue isn’t particularly serious. According to Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, an MRI on Junis’s shoulder came back clean and Junis told reporters that he hopes to begin ramping back up in a few days. That would seem to indicate an absence near the minimum for the right-hander, who’s been replaced by southpaw Aaron Ashby on the active roster while he recuperates. Ashby, 26 next month, did not pitch in the majors last year after undergoing shoulder surgery but now appears to be healthy, having already made a five-inning start at the Triple-A level this season.
Marlins Outright Kent Emanuel
The Marlins have assigned left-hander Kent Emanuel outright to Triple-A Jacksonville, according to the transactions log on Emanuel’s MLB.com player profile. Emanuel was designated for assignment last week in order to make room for right-hander Matt Andriese on the club’s 40-man roster. Emanuel has the right to reject the assignment after being outrighted to the minors previously in his career by the Phillies back in November of 2022, though it’s unclear if he intends to exercise that right and test free agency or remain with the Marlins.
Emanuel, 32 in June, was a third-round pick by the Astros in the 2013 draft who made his big league debut with Houston back in 2021. Emanuel pitched decently across ten appearances in the majors, posting a strong 2.55 ERA in 17 2/3 innings of work despite a lackluster 19.1% strikeout rate and a whopping four home runs allowed leaving him with a much higher 5.49 FIP. That cup of coffee with the Astros would be the southpaw’s only big league experience until last week, when he pitched three innings for the Marlins against the Angels. The appearance didn’t go well as Emanuel was lit up for four runs on three walks and four hits, including a homer, while striking out just two of the 15 batters he faced.
Between his two stints in the majors, Emanuel spent the 2022 season with the Phillies and 2023 with the Pirates. He pitched primarily as a starter in the minors for both Pennsylvania clubs, impressing with a 2.37 ERA in ten starts at the Triple-A level with the Phillies but struggling badly across 84 1/3 innings of work in a swing role with Pittsburgh’s affiliate at the level. Over 20 appearances (13 starts) in Triple-A last year, Emanuel struggled to a 6.12 ERA while striking out just 20.1% of batters faced.
Despite those lackluster numbers last year, it’s easy to imagine a team in need of starting pitching depth having interest in Emanuel as an optionable, left-handed depth option on a non-roster deal. That could make free agency a tempting possibility for the southpaw, though it’s worth noting that few teams need pitching depth more than the Marlins themselves at this point in the season. With Sandy Alcantara and Eury Perez set to miss the 2024 campaign while Braxton Garrett and Edward Cabrera both began on the injured list themselves, the club’s entire projected starting five outside of Jesus Luzardo is on the shelf as things stand, leaving the club to rely on the likes of Ryan Weathers and prospect Max Meyer.
New York Notes: Belt, Martinez, Cole
Veteran slugger Brandon Belt‘s free agency has surprisingly dragged into the regular season, with the soon to be 36-year-old reportedly “baffled” by the lack of offers he’s received to this point. The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly provided additional details on Belt’s free agency recently, noting that the Mets were the only club to offer Belt a guaranteed contract this winter, though he added that the deal was “almost entirely” incentives-based.
Belt is coming off an excellent season with the Blue Jays that saw him slash .254/.369/.490 with 404 trips to the plate. That included a fantastic 146 wRC+ against right-handed pitching, the eleventh-best figure among all qualified hitters last year which trailed only Shohei Ohtani among this winter’s free agents. The performance was more or less par for the course for Belt, who’s hit .258/.369/.503 since the start of the 2020 season and is a career .261/.357/.460 hitter for his career. That type of production certainly would’ve made sense for the Mets, though the club ultimately landed slugger J.D. Martinez on a one-year deal to plug the hole in the lineup at DH.
With that said, it’s somewhat surprising that the Mets were the only club to offer Belt a big league deal this winter. The only player on MLBTR’s annual Top 50 free agents list still unsigned, Belt was predicted for a one-year, $15MM deal this winter. That would’ve been a small bump over the one-year, $9.3MM deal he landed with Toronto prior to 2023 on the heels of a below-average showing at the plate during his final season with the Giants. Belt recently indicated that he still hopes to play in 2024, but also noted that he doesn’t want to settle for a minor league contract after his strong season last year.
More from the New York teams…
- Sticking with the Mets, Martinez was expected to make his debut with the club during this week’s series against the Braves, but that plan appears to have been scuttled. As relayed by MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo, manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters that Martinez is dealing with “general body soreness” and is not yet ready for his big league debut. Now, DiComo reports that the plan is for Martinez to take the next two days off and return to minor league action on Tuesday, with Friday as the earliest Martinez could make his big league Mets debut. The 36-year-old slugger slashed an impressive .271/.321/.572 with 33 home runs in 113 games with the Dodgers last year and figures to provide a major boost to the big league lineup, which ranks 28th in the majors with a 64 wRC+ so far in the young 2024 campaign.
- Looking toward the Bronx, Yankees fans received positive news regarding ace right-hander Gerrit Cole this morning, as manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including Greg Joyce of the New York Post) that Cole is nearing the beginnings of a throwing program. Cole started the season on the injured list while rehabbing nerve inflammation on his elbow, and now is expected to begin playing catch as soon as tomorrow. Cole, 33, is the reigning AL Cy Young award winner and a six-time All Star who pitched to a sterling 2.63 ERA with a 27% strikeout rate in 209 innings of work. If the right-hander can make a relatively speedy return from his rehab, it would surely provide a major boost to the Yankees as they look to return to the postseason.
Diamondbacks Designate Corbin Martin For Assignment
The Diamondbacks announced this morning that they’ve designated right-hander Corbin Martin for assignment. Martin’s spot on the club’s 40-man roster will go to infielder Kevin Newman, whose contract has been selected to replace injured shortstop Geraldo Perdomo on the active roster as was reported earlier this morning.
Martin, 28, was a second-round pick by the Astros in the 2017 draft and is perhaps best known as one of the prospects Arizona acquired in the Zack Greinke trade at the 2019 trade deadline alongside first baseman Seth Beer, right-hander JB Bukauskas, and infielder Josh Rojas. What appeared at the time to be a strong return for the ace righty’s services proved to be underwhelming over time, as only Rojas made an impact for the Diamondbacks at the big league level. Now all four players acquired in the Greinke deal will no longer be a part of the Dbacks organization, unless Martin clears waivers and is assigned outright to the minor leagues.
The right-hander’s time with Arizona was fraught with injuries and ineffectiveness. Martin underwent Tommy John surgery shortly before being acquired by the Diamondbacks and as a result did not make his team debut until 2021, when he struggled to a 10.69 ERA (8.42 FIP) in 16 innings of work with the big league club. Those struggles were paired with additional injuries, as Martin spent the entire second half of 2021 on the injured list in the minor leagues. 2022 was more of the same as Martin pitched to a below-average 4.84 ERA and 4.59 FIP in seven appearances for the big league club and spent the majority of the season in the minors before once again being shut down due to injury in August of that year.
Martin’s struggles in a starting role and numerous injuries led the Diamondbacks to move him to the bullpen full time during Spring Training last year in an effort to keep the right-hander healthy, but those hopes were dashed just a month later when Martin suffered a lat tendon in his right shoulder that required surgery. Martin went on to miss the entire 2023 season. He’s made just two appearances at Triple-A Reno so far in 2024 and has allowed three runs on three walks and three hits (including a home run) in three innings of work while striking out three.
Moving forward, the Diamondbacks will have one week to waive, trade, or release Martin. It’s possible the right-hander’s previous prospect pedigree could earn him the interest of another club as a potential reclamation project, though his lengthy injury history and general ineffectiveness in the majors may keep rival clubs from dedicating a roster spot to the former top-100 talent. If Martin passes through waivers unclaimed, Arizona will have the opportunity to retain him in the organization as non-roster depth going forward. As for the club, the Dbacks still have the likes of Justin Martinez and Andrew Saalfrank available as depth options on the 40-man roster behind their current bullpen mix while Paul Sewald recovers from an oblique strain.