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Royals Re-Sign Zack Greinke

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FEBRUARY 6: Heyman today provided more specifics of the incentives on Twitter. Greinke will get that $8.5MM guarantee, then $450K for getting to 90 innings pitched and every five innings thereafter up until 135. At 140 innings pitched, he gets a further $300K and keeps adding that amount at each five-inning interval until 185.

FEBRUARY 3: The Royals officially announced Greinke’s new deal.  According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post (Twitter link), Greinke will earn $8.5MM in guaranteed money, with up to $7.5MM more available in incentives.

JANUARY 30: The Royals have reached agreement on a one-year contract to bring back veteran starter Zack Greinke, according to Bob Fescoe of 610 Sports Radio in Kansas City. MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand hears that the deal will be worth $8-10MM in base salary, plus performance-based bonuses. Greinke is a client of Excel Sports Management.

Greinke began his professional career with the Royals way back in 2002 as the No. 6 overall pick in that year’s MLB Draft. He made his big league debut in KC in 2004 and spent his first seven seasons there, highlighted by an AL Cy Young Award win in 2009. Following successful stints with the Brewers, Angels, Dodgers, Diamondbacks and Astros between 2011-2021, the eccentric right-hander returned to his old stomping grounds in 2022 and worked to a 3.68 ERA in 26 starts covering 137 innings.

His paltry 4.8 K/9 last year was a career-low and ranked as the worst K/9 of all 90 major league pitchers who logged at least 130 innings over the course of the 2022 regular season. But the 39-year-old showed terrific control (1.8 BB/9) and was generally able to induce more soft contact than hard contact to help pave over his diminished swing-and-miss stuff. Among the 585 total batters he faced during the 2022 campaign, Greinke surrendered only 14 home runs. That worked out to a 0.92 HR/9, putting him right around rising studs like Nestor Cortes, Logan Gilbert, Ranger Suarez and George Kirby.

Greinke can hopefully again serve as an innings-eater and clubhouse mentor for a Royals rotation that has undergone a few offseason changes but will still be relying on a lot of youth pushing forward. Brady Singer, 26, stands out as somebody who made significant gains in 2022, perhaps thanks in part to Greinke’s tutelage. Brad Keller, 27, and Daniel Lynch, 27, could use a similar type of molding.

Greinke figures to be named the Opening Day starter for the Royals in 2023, as he was last year. Singer and Keller project to fall in somewhere behind him, along with newcomers Jordan Lyles and Ryan Yarbrough. Kansas City finished 27th among all 30 teams in combined starter ERA (4.76) in 2022, despite Greinke’s contributions and Singer’s mini-breakout. KC’s combined starter K/9 of 6.9 ranked 28th.

Red Sox, Marlins Swap Matt Barnes For Richard Bleier

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The Red Sox and Marlins swapped relievers Monday afternoon, with righty Matt Barnes dealt to Miami for southpaw Richard Bleier. Boston is also reportedly sending a little more than $5.5MM in cash in the deal to make the transaction nearly cash-neutral.

Barnes, 32, was designated for assignment by the Red Sox last week following the completion of a one-year, $7MM agreement with outfielder Adam Duvall. He served as Boston’s primary closer in 2021, earning a team-leading 24 saves. The 2021 campaign, however, was something of a tale of two seasons for Barnes. He dominated to the tune of a 2.25 ERA and a 42% strikeout rate through Aug. 4. Barnes was impressive enough that the Sox inked him to a two-year, $18.75MM extension in early July.

Over the final two months of the 2022 season, however, Barnes not only struggled but melted down in catastrophic fashion. He pitched just 10 2/3 innings from Aug. 5 onward, yielding a dozen runs on 17 hits and nine walks with 16 strikeouts along the way. It was a calamitous end to a what had begun as one of the best seasons among all Major League relievers.

Barnes hoped to right the ship in 2022 but promptly lost the closer’s job early in the year when he stumbled to a 7.94 ERA through the end of May.  The right-hander was always going to be much lower among the team’s high-leverage considerations in 2023, following the December additions of Kenley Jansen and Chris Martin — a pair of moves that was in large part necessitated by Barnes’ struggles.

Nonetheless, it’s worth pointing out that Barnes finished on a high note that likely intrigued Miami and other clubs. He was on the injured list from early June through early August due to shoulder inflammation, and upon returning, he looked much more like the Barnes of old. Beginning on Aug. 4 — the same point at which he began to struggle a year prior — Barnes pitched 22 2/3 innings of 1.59 ERA ball and picked up four saves. His 21.1% strikeout rate was half that of his dominant 2021 form, but it was still an encouraging note on which to end the season.

Barnes might eventually get a fresh chance to carve out some save opportunities in Miami, though Dylan Floro is the current projected frontrunner for that gig. Floro worked to a 3.02 ERA across 53 2/3 innings with the Marlins in 2022, and he has successfully converted 25 save attempts over the last two years. Barnes tallied only eight saves in 2022 and finished with a 4.31 ERA in 39 2/3 frames. He’ll add quite a bit more bat-missing potential to a team that ranked 13th among MLB clubs with a 24% strikeout rate from its relief corps in 2022, though the downside is obvious.

Bleier, meanwhile, can fill the Sox’s need for left-handed bullpen help, even as he enters his age-36 season. The veteran southpaw has registered a 3.09 ERA in 125 1/3 innings since the beginning of 2020, and he’s held left-handed batters to a .225/.260/.313 slash line since he first reached the major leagues with the Yankees in 2016. Boston traded lefty Josh Taylor to the Royals in exchange for Adalberto Mondesi, sent veteran Jake Diekman (signed through 2023) to the White Sox at last year’s trade deadline and lost Darwinzon Hernandez to the Orioles via waivers earlier this offseason — all of which had thinned out the team’s left-handed depth in the ’pen.

They’ll get some quality left-handed innings out of Bleier, although despite his strong track record there are some red flags of note. The soft-tossing southpaw has never missed many bats, but last year’s 14.4% strikeout rate was his lowest since 2019. Bleier has, in the past, offset his lack of whiffs with enormous ground-ball rates. However, while last year’s 52.5% mark was strong relative to the league-average, it was nowhere close to the 63.5% career mark he carried into the 2022 season. Bleier has also regularly avoided hard contact, but last year’s 89.6 mph exit velocity and 40.8% hard-hit rate were both his worst showings since the aforementioned 2016 debut.

Barnes will make $7.5MM in 2023 and is due at least a $2.25MM buyout on a 2024 club option valued at $8MM. Bleier is due $3.25MM for the upcoming season and has a $3.75MM club option with a $250K buyout for next year. Barnes is guaranteed $9.75MM from here on out while Bleier will make at least $3.75MM. The Sox are covering the bulk of that $6MM gap with the $5.5MM+ cash consideration.

The Sox will save a minuscule amount of money and bring in a middle reliever with a solid overall track record and some particularly encouraging numbers against fellow lefties — even if Bleier comes with some potential areas of concern. That he can be controlled through 2024 via that affordable $3.75MM option is icing on the cake.

As for the Marlins, they’ll add more late-inning upside to their bullpen with this swap at almost no additional cost. Fans may bristle at shipping out the reliever with better surface-level numbers for what amounts to a Barnes reclamation project, but the Fish are willing to gamble on the younger, harder-throwing Barnes in hopes of unlocking a high-leverage reliever who can be controlled affordably through the 2024 season via that $8MM option. And, if Barnes is indeed able to round back into form, he’ll give Miami an interesting arm to put on the market this summer if they’re decisively out of postseason contention.

Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic first reported the Marlins were acquiring Barnes. Craig Mish of SportsGrid reported that Boston was acquiring Bleier in return. Jordan McPherson of the Herald was first to relay that Miami was receiving cash considerations, which Mish pegged in the $5MM range. Chris Coitllo of MassLive was first to report the cash involved was a little above $5.5MM.

Diamondbacks Re-Sign Jake Hager To Minor League Deal

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The Diamondbacks have re-signed infielder Jake Hager to a minor league contract with an invitation to Spring Training, as announced over the weekend by the Triple-A Reno Aces.

Hager spent the majority of the 2022 season with Reno and slashed .261/.342/.391 with five home runs and eight stolen bases in his 303 plate appearances at the Triple-A level. He also got into 28 games at the MLB level and batted .240/.345/.280 with zero homers and zero steals across 59 plate appearances with the D-backs.

The 29-year-old journeyman — 30 in March — has proven capable of handling every position on the infield defensively, but he will lug a rough .197 career major league batting average and a .531 career major league OPS into camp in Arizona. Hager is probably going to be viewed as organizational depth leading into the 2023 campaign, an option to step in and at least provide competent a glove should something go awry with the Diamondbacks’ projected infield starters and bench fillers.

The current Arizona roster outlook has Josh Rojas and Emmanuel Rivera platooning at third base, Nick Ahmed handling shortstop duties and Ketel Marte locked in at second. Evan Longoria is an additional candidate for playing time at the hot corner, though it sounds like the D-backs mostly want to use him as their DH. 23-year-old switch-hitter Geraldo Perdomo is a good bet for an active backup role between third, short and second. Perdomo still has two options remaining and could see more regular action at Triple-A as well after a rough rookie season at the plate.

Quick Hits: Orioles, Nationals, Steer

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Orioles general manager Mike Elias told Jim Bowden of MLB Network Radio on Sunday that he expects top pitching prospect Grayson Rodriguez to crack the team’s Opening Day rotation out of camp this spring and that he also believes top outfield prospect Colton Cowser will be ready to make his MLB debut at some point in 2023.

Rodriguez was striding confidently toward Baltimore last summer before he suffered Grade 2 right lat strain while working in a game at Triple-A Norfolk in early June. He didn’t return to action in the minors until September, and by the time he got properly stretched out again, the O’s chances of a late-season push to the playoffs had fully cratered. The 23-year-old ultimately finished with a 2.62 ERA, 109 strikeouts and 28 walks in 75 2/3 innings (17 starts) between High-A Aberdeen, Double-A Bowie and Norfolk. He’s recorded a career 2.47 ERA with 419 strikeouts in 292 total professional frames since the Orioles selected him 11th overall in the 2018 MLB Draft, but the lineups and environments of the AL East obviously present a far greater test than what he’s seen on the farm.

Cowser, the No. 5 overall pick from the 2021 MLB Draft, also reached the Triple-A level in 2022 and produced an overall .278/.406/.469 batting line with 19 home runs and 18 stolen bases in his 138 minor league games. The 22-year-old has experience at all three outfield spots and boasts an .895 OPS so far as a pro. If there’s an injury to Austin Hays, Cedric Mullins or Anthony Santander, the ETA on Cowser could further shrink.

A brighter future is rapidly coming into focus at Camden Yards.

  • Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo spoke glowingly of the organization’s young players and rising prospects at the club’s Hot Stove event for full-season-ticket holders this weekend, as relayed by Stephen Mears of TalkNats.com. CJ Abrams, Luis Garcia, Keibert Ruiz, Cade Cavalli, MacKenzie Gore and Josiah Gray all earned a specific mention. “This is the most lush and successful prospect list that we’ve ever had,” Rizzo said. “It’s the most talented players we’ve ever had in the farm system at one time.” The big buzz is that Cavalli could be positioned to join Gore and Gray in Washington’s season-opening starting rotation with Stephen Strasburg’s health still a lingering uncertainty.
  • Spencer Steer acknowledged at a Reds Caravan event over the weekend that he has his sights set on the everyday third base job in Cincinnati this season. “I’m going to do everything I can to win that spot,” he told MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon. “I think it’s doable and attainable. That will be my focus: getting into that lineup and staying in that lineup.” Acquired from the Twins at the trade deadline last August in the return package for Tyler Mahle, the 25-year-old Steer went on to bat .211/.306/.326 across his first 28 big league games. He was slashing .274/.364/.515 in the minors prior to his promotion to the Reds’ roster.

Darren O’Day Announces Retirement

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Right-hander Darren O’Day announced his retirement from baseball on his personal Twitter account on Monday morning.

“The mental, physical, and time demands have finally outweighed my love for the game,” wrote the 40-year-old submarine reliever. “When I started in 2006, I didn’t know if I was good enough to compete in MLB, but I was determined to keep going until someone told me otherwise. I hope anyone out there who does things a little different can find inspiration in my story.”

O’Day went undrafted after a solid NCAA tenure at the University of Florida, but he quickly latched on with the Angels and made his MLB debut with that organization in 2008. He wound up pitching for six total teams — Angels, Mets, Rangers, Orioles, Braves and Yankees — during his impressive 15-year major league career and will hang up his cleats having registered a collective 2.59 ERA with 637 strikeouts, 166 holds and 21 saves in 609 frames at baseball’s highest level. Baseball-Reference has his final career earnings wrapping up just shy of $50MM.

O’Day’s best year on the mound was 2015, when he earned his lone All-Star nod and delivered an overall 1.52 ERA and 82 strikeouts (with only 14 walks) in 65 1/3 innings for the O’s, who then signed him to a four-year, $31MM contract the following winter. The unconventional right-hander was obviously far more than just a one-hit-wonder given how long he lasted in the bigs and how many different clubs saw him as a fit for their respective bullpen mixes along the way. Between the 2009-2021 campaigns, he posted a 2.37 ERA in 586 appearances and collected 21 saves. He also logged 30 postseason appearances in that timeframe, including four in the World Series in 2010 with the Rangers.

O’Day signed a minor league contract with the Braves last winter and put up a 4.15 ERA and 26-to-10 K/BB ratio across 21 2/3 innings in the first half of the 2022 regular season. He suffered a calf injury just before the All-Star break and then a season-ending sprain of his right big toe in September. His last pitch as a major leaguer came on July 11 against the Mets.

MLBTR wishes O’Day well in the next chapter of his life.

Yankees Name Brad Wilkerson Assistant Hitting Coach

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The Yankees announced Monday that Brad Wilkerson will join their MLB coaching staff in 2023 as an assistant hitting coach. Wilkerson replaces Hensley Meulens, who moved on to become the lead hitting coach with the Rockies in November.

Wilkerson played parts of eight major league seasons with the Expos/Nationals, Rangers, Mariners and Blue Jays between 2001-2008, tallying 788 hits, 122 home runs and an overall .247/.350/.440 career batting line. He was selected 33rd overall by Montreal in the 1998 MLB Draft and finished second for NL Rookie of the Year in 2002. His playing career officially came to an end in the spring of 2010, when the Phillies cut him loose from a minor league pact with a camp invite.

This will be the first MLB-affiliated coaching position for Wilkerson. He managed a middle school baseball team in 2014 and spent some time as a high school coach before joining Jacksonville University in 2020 as a baseball assistant.

The 45-year-old will work alongside lead hitting coach Dillon Lawson in New York and try to help the Bronx Bombers replicate the kind of cumulative success they achieved at the plate last season. With a combined team OPS of .751 (4th in MLB) and the second-most runs scored of all 30 major league teams, the Yankees rolled to 99 regular-season wins and the AL East title.

Phillies Sign Josh Harrison

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The Phillies have signed utilityman Josh Harrison to a one-year, $2MM deal, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports (Twitter link).  MSM Sports, Harrison’s agency, has also announced the news.

The versatile 35-year-old batted .256/.317/.370 with seven home runs and two stolen bases in 119 games last season for the White Sox while appearing defensively at second base, third base, shortstop, left field, and even a few mop-up relief pitching appearances. The big majority of Harrison’s playing time was at second base, which has been his primary position over 12 Major League seasons. He still drew above-average grades from Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average at the position (and at third base) during his time in Chicago last season.

Harrison has suited up for five different teams over those 12 seasons, though he was formerly a member of the Phillies organization without ever seeing any action on the field.  Philadelphia inked Harrison to a minor league deal during the 2019-20 offseason, but he was released just prior to the start of the COVID-shortened 2020 season.

With a guaranteed MLB deal in hand, Harrison can presumably be plugged onto the Opening Day roster in Philadelphia as an option off the bench, joining Edmundo Sosa and Dalton Guthrie as position-player depth. Bryson Stott is the projected starter at second base for the reigning NL champions and Alec Bohm has stated an impressive case that he can be the long-term answer at third.

Former starting second baseman Jean Segura is gone to the Marlins in free agency, so Harrison represents some veteran infield depth behind Stott and Bohm. Stott is the less-established of the two, and while he played better later in his rookie season and saw starting duties for the Phillies in the playoffs, Stott batted a modest .234/.295/.358 over 446 PA in the regular season.

Harrison’s right-handed bat could complement the left-handed hitting Kyle Schwarber for some left field playing time. Since the Phillies’ lineup won’t truly be whole until Bryce Harper makes his midseason return from Tommy John surgery, Harrison gives the team another experienced bat to utilize in the interim.

Harrison’s $2MM salary is modest by MLB standards, but it’s not without some implications for the Phillies. As a luxury tax payor for the second straight season, the Phils were on the hook for a  30% tax  for the first $20MM by which they exceed the $233MM tax threshold. Harrison actually bumps them into the second tier, per Roster Resource, landing them at $254.85MM. They’d previously been just below the $253MM cutoff point for tier two. Harrison will cost the club about $800K in taxes, and the Phillies will be taxed at a 42% rate for every dollar added to the payroll up until $273MM, at which point the tax hit would jump to 75%.

Free Agent Profile: Dylan Bundy

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There has been very little chatter on free agent right-hander Dylan Bundy since the Twins declined his $11 million club option for 2023 back in early November. The 30-year-old managed to stay mostly healthy last season in Minnesota, outside of a short COVID-19 IL stint in May, but that run of better health didn’t exactly yield the kind of bounceback campaign that the Twins — and now other teams — were looking for.

Across his 29 starts, covering 140 innings, Bundy struggled to a 4.89 ERA (79 ERA+, 21 points below league average) and he also registered by far the lowest strikeout rate of his career. His measly K/9 of 6.04 ranked third-worst among the 71 major leaguers who logged at least 140 innings in 2022. Granted, veteran starter Johnny Cueto was even more inferior in that regard (5.75 K/9) and yet he managed to score a one-year, $8.5MM contract from the Marlins that can max out at two years, $16.5MM if Miami also picks up his option for 2024.

The one calling card for Bundy, if he can’t recapture a bit more swing-and-miss, is that he does have impeccable control. He ranked in just the 8th percentile of all MLB pitchers last year in strikeout percentage and finished in the 15th percentile in whiff rate, but his BB percentage of 4.7 was a 93rd-percentile triumph of sorts. On the flip side there, he served up 151 hits and 24 home runs to the 595 batters he faced. Pitchers that are forced into more of a contact-inviting approach must ensure that it is soft contact, and Bundy did not meet that objective. That he’s being forced into a change at all at a relatively young age doesn’t speak well of the long-term outlook for the No. 4 overall pick from the 2011 MLB Draft. His fastball continues to lose velocity (89.2 mph average last year, compared to 93.8 mph in 2016) and his slider, curveball and changeup have all been rendered rather ineffective as out-inducing offerings.

Bundy is probably looking to land in a pitcher-friendly environment, but he had that with the Twins and it sure seems like he won’t get much of a choice of destinations in the end. Maybe the Cardinals would like to build out better rotation depth before camp gets underway in Jupiter, Florida? They’re asking a lot of Jack Flaherty, Steven Matz and a 41-year-old Adam Wainwright as that roster currently stands. Or perhaps the White Sox might be a fit, what with Mike Clevinger currently under investigation following allegations of domestic violence and child abuse. Keep in mind that this is a World Baseball Classic year and the door to a job on a contender could suddenly swing open.

The long list of projected non-contenders with rotation holes includes the Pirates, Nationals, Royals … and, well, the Rockies. Boston, sitting kind of on the borderline between contention and non-contention for 2023, could come into the picture here if things fall flat with Michael Wacha, who is still on the hunt for a multi-year deal. We’ve already seen how a younger and stronger version of Bundy plays in the AL East, and it was rarely pretty, but it’s not like there are a ton of established MLB starters languishing out on the open market. Wacha is the only one left that cracked MLBTR’s Top 50 list.

Bundy’s best showing on the mound came in 2020, the COVID-shortened season, when he rolled to a 3.29 ERA with 72 strikeouts (and only 17 walks) in 65 2/3 innings for the Angels. He received one third-place vote and one fifth-place vote for the AL Cy Young Award that year, the only time in his career that he’s been included on any BBWAA ballots. Shane Bieber ultimately took home the hardware in unanimous fashion, with Bundy placing 9th. And, again, this current version of Bundy looks quite different than that one.

Yankees Avoid Arbitration With Gleyber Torres

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The Yankees announced Sunday that they have reached agreement on a one-year contract with Gleyber Torres, avoiding salary arbitration. MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reports that the deal is worth $9.95MM, right at the midway point between the $10.2MM sum that Torres requested and the $9.7MM number that New York put forth when arbitration figures were exchanged earlier this winter.

Torres commanded $6.25 million in 2022 — his second year of arbitration eligibility — and went on to bounce back from a power standpoint with 24 home runs and 76 RBI in 140 regular-season games for the AL East champions. He totaled only nine homers over 127 games played in 2021, when his negotiated salary came in at $4 million. Torres seemed a bit more comfortable in general last year following a more permanent move from shortstop to second base. But he does have some work to do in the OBP department, as his .310 on-base percentage from 2022 was a personal low. That number finished at .331 in 2021, .356 in 2020, .337 in 2019 and .340 in his rookie year in 2018.

Torres drew back-to-back All-Star nods in his first two major league seasons before regular defensive mishaps and inconsistent offensive production threatened to derail such a promising start to his career. He just turned 26 years old and is currently under the Yankees’ control through the 2024 campaign. They’ll certainly hope that he can carry over the hard-hit-rate rebound in 2023 while looking for him to return to overall form as a worthy top-of-the-lineup presence.

Most projected roster outlooks have Torres batting leadoff for the Yanks this season, table-setting ahead of Aaron Judge, Anthony Rizzo, Giancarlo Stanton, Josh Donaldson, Harrison Bader, Aaron Hicks, Oswald Peraza and Jose Trevino. Largely unchanged over the winter, that lineup placed 2nd among all 30 MLB teams last year in runs scored, behind only the Dodgers. It ranked 4th in combined team OPS at .751 as the Bronx Bombers won 99 games.

Of course, Torres isn’t necessarily a guarantee to be part of the 2023 lineup. The Yankees are known to have looked into possible trades of infielders this winter, and while Donaldson or Isiah Kiner-Falefa might be the team’s preferred trade chips, Torres is also a candidate to be moved for the right return. The Marlins made a bid for Torres at the trade deadline, offering Pablo Lopez and Miguel Rojas to New York in exchange for Torres and Peraza, but the Bombers rejected the proposal.

Dipoto: Mariners Likely Done Adding To Roster Before Camp

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Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto appeared on the latest Locked On Mariners podcast with Ty Dane Gonzalez and Colby Patnode and offered a fairly thorough review of the club’s offseason strategy and overall roster makeup leading into the 2023 campaign. First off, they’re likely done spending for the time being …

“We might wind up coming up with a late trade like we did a year ago with Eugenio Suarez and Jesse Winker by way of Cincinnati,” said Dipoto. “We could pick up a couple of extra NRIs, the non-roster invites … we’re constantly trying to add to the depth of what we go to Spring Training with. But if I had to bet on anything major happening before we step foot on the field, I’d bet against it at this point. And we’re comfortable with that. We feel like we have improved this team.”

Winker is gone after one highly disappointing season in Seattle, having been dealt to the Brewers in December as part of a package for rangy second baseman Kolten Wong. Among the other newcomers: Teoscar Hernandez, acquired via trade from the Blue Jays in November. AJ Pollock, brought in on a one-year, $7MM free agent contract earlier this month. And also Tommy La Stella, signed to a one-year major league pact 10 days ago.

Dipoto views this as more of a deep and dynamic group than what the Mariners put out there in 2022, when they snapped the longest postseason drought in North American professional sports before getting swept by the eventual World Series-champion Astros in the ALDS. Most of the additions have been on the position-player side, which makes sense given that Seattle finished 14th last year in combined team OPS at .704 and 8th in combined team ERA with a mark of 3.59.

Hernández will be the new starter in right field, with near-unanimous 2022 AL Rookie of the Year Award winner Julio Rodríguez locked into center for possibly the next decade-plus. Dipoto expressed hope that Jarred Kelenic can take a step forward and grab the reins in left. Taylor Trammell figures to factor into the outfield mix as well, and so can the versatile Dylan Moore if he makes a full recovery from offseason surgery to address a core injury. Moore will be a little behind his teammates when Spring Training officially gets underway next month, which maybe gives young speedster Cade Marlowe a chance to shine.

The infield looks set with Ty France at first base, Wong sliding into second, Suarez handling third, and J.P. Crawford returning at short. La Stella will back up a couple of those spots along with Moore and Sam Haggerty. Cal Raleigh should get the majority of the action at catcher, with a healthier Tom Murphy sitting behind him in reserve. “All baseball activity is in play now,” Dipoto said of Murphy, who appeared in only 14 games in 2022 because of a left shoulder injury that required season-ending surgery in June. “His workouts have gone extremely well … We missed Murph.”

The bullpen largely has the same dominant names and faces — Paul Sewald, Andres Munoz, Diego Castillo, Matt Brash, Penn Murfee — that helped produce a combined 3.33 reliever ERA (6th in MLB) and 583 strikeouts in 544 innings last season. Justin Topa, recently picked up from Milwaukee, drew praise from Dipoto as an under-the-radar breakout candidate in that department.

The biggest camp battle, as things stand right now, is going to be for the final spot in the starting rotation. Chris Flexen and Marco Gonzales are the frontrunners, but Dipoto sees Emerson Hancock, Bryce Miller, Taylor Dollard and Bryan Woo knocking on the door as the season plays out. Luis Castillo, Logan Gilbert, Robbie Ray and George Kirby can be penciled into the top four spots, pending any sudden injuries.

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