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Braves Add Chris Martin, Johan Camargo To NLCS Roster

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The Braves enter tonight’s NLCS a little more well-rested than their counterparts from LA. Having finished the Brewers off in four games, the Braves are able to set their rotation as desired with ace Max Fried taking the ball in game one. After that, Charlie Morton and Ian Anderson will be ready for games two and three, though not in that order, as the Braves are giving Morton an additional day of rest to start game three. That also allows Anderson the more favorable home crowd in game two.

On the offensive end, Jorge Soler remains on the COVID-19 list. He could return sometime during this series if he’s cleared, but they’d have to remove Cristian Pache, who took his roster spot in the NLDS, notes The Athletic’s David O’Brien (via Twitter). The rest of their NLCS roster lays out thusly…

Right-Handed Pitchers

Left-Handed Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Essentially, the Braves have chosen to swap out Dylan Lee and Terrance Gore in favor of Chris Martin and Johan Camargo. Pache also remains on the roster for the time being, with Soler expected to miss the entire series. The Braves are rolling with just a 12-man pitching staff while keeping six bats on the bench.

In Soler’s spot, Pache will likely be used as a defensive replacement. He could also be used as a pinch-runner now that Gore has been left off. Gore made his first appearance of the season for the Braves in the NLDS, though keeping the speedster on the roster is a bit of a luxury.

In his place, Camargo provides greater flexibility with the glove. Camargo saw his role diminish more than ever this season, stepping to the plate just 18 times without recording a hit during the regular season. The baseball gods surely have primed Camargo for a significant plate appearance at some point during the NLCS.

Lee was a surprising addition to the NLDS roster, and he did not appear against the Brewers. Martin brings much more experience in what’s sure to be a high-pressure series against the Dodgers. Without Lee, the Braves still have the M&Ms Matzek and Minter as southpaws ahead of their lefty closer Smith, as well as Smyly, though the latter is the most likely option to start game four in Los Angeles. Should Smyly come in handy out of the pen early in the series, Ynoa is certainly capable of starting game four in his place.

Dodgers Remove David Price, Billy McKinney For NLCS

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The Dodgers narrowly survived a five-game tilt with their rival Giants, but now they must quickly turn the page and prepare for a seven-game NLCS rematch with the Atlanta Braves. Unfortunately for Dodger fans, the club will continue without star first baseman Max Muncy. The injury the knocked Muncy out of the lineup in game 162 will keep him out at least through the World Series.

Here’s how the rest of the roster breaks down for the NLCS…

Right-Handed Pitchers

Left-Handed Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

The most notable subtraction from the NLDS roster is southpaw David Price. He’s essentially replaced on the roster by the southpaw Bruihl. Though Price was on the NLDS roster, he did not appear in a game against the Giants. Bruihl provided the Dodgers with a more traditional bullpen lefty while giving up the potential length provided by Price. The veteran Price has plenty of postseason experience, whereas Bruihl is a 24-year-old rookie with just 21 big league games under his belt.

Regardless, it will be Bruihl in the bullpen alongside Vesia preparing for showdowns with Freddie Freeman, Eddie Rosario, or Joc Pederson. Bruihl faced 43 lefties over his 18 1/3 Major League innings, compared to just 30 right-handers. Those same-handed hitters struggled to a .150/.209/.150 mark with just six hits – none for extra bases. Of course, Freeman is usually protected in the lineup by righty Austin Riley, and with the three-batter rule, Bruihl likely won’t escape usage against opposite-handed hitters if he makes an appearance.

They also removed outfielder/first baseman Billy McKinney from the roster. The well-traveled McKinney had mostly been used as a late game replacement at first base. With Beatty, Pujols, and Bellinger on the roster, however, that’s a role the Dodgers should have no trouble filling. Manager Dave Roberts likely trusts both Beatty and Bellinger at first late in games, depending on what the match-ups at the plate dictate.

What is interesting is that the Dodgers chose to add an additional pitcher for this round. Right-hander Evan Phillips will give Roberts another arm with which to mix-and-match. They now have 13 pitchers and 13 position players. Phillips, 27, is a well-traveled righty who has logged innings in his professional career with the Braves, Orioles, Rays, and Dodgers. He made one appearance with Tampa this season before being claimed off waivers by the Dodgers. He appeared seven times down the stretch for the Dodgers, logging more than one inning in five of those seven outings.

The decision to remove McKinney and add Phillips leaves Roberts with a five-man bench. Most days, Pujols, Barnes, Beatty, Souza Jr., and Lux will be available to Roberts off the bench.

As for the rotation, the Dodgers are going with a bullpen game in game one, with Knebel serving as the opener, just as he did in game five against the Giants. Scherzer and Buehler should line up for games two and three.

Lance McCullers Jr. Questionable For World Series Return

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Lance McCullers Jr. was diagnosed with a flexor pronator muscle strain, tweets Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle. They found no structural problems with McCullers’ elbow.

In the strictest sense, this is good news for the Astros, as it doesn’t immediately rule him out for a potential return in the World Series. That said, there’s not a lot of news beyond that. He remains out for the League Championship Series and it would seem only an outside shot at returning this season, should the Astros advance. The Astros are now three wins away from their third World Series appearance in the last five years.

The Astros have yet to announce their game three starter, though manager Dusty Baker’s choice very well may depend on how they fare in tonight’s game two. Luis Garcia takes the bump tonight have never pitched into the fourth inning of a postseason game. After getting just 2 2/3 out of Framber Valdez yesterday, it will be interesting to see if Baker feels compelled to give Garcia more leash. Bakers used eight of his 13 rostered pitchers to get the win in game one.

Yankees Have Options With Joey Gallo

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Joey Gallo has long been one of the most inconsistent stars in baseball. If you see him on the right day, he’s a surefire MVP, a towering power hitter with surprising range in the outfield. He looks like a designated hitter, but he can passably cover centerfield.

See him on the wrong day, however, and you’ll be surprised to hear that he ever makes contact (36.9 percent career strikeout rate). He can seem passive at the plate, and when you see his sub-Mendoza-line batting average come across your TV screen, you may wonder why he’s even in the lineup.

For 58 games, the Yankees got a much heavier dose of Gallo version two as he slashed .160/.303/.404 in 228 plate appearances with a 38.6 percent strikeout rate. He did hit 13 home runs with a .245 ISO, but Yankees fans might be wondering if he’s worth the $10.2MM he’s projected to make in his final season before free agency. Joel Sherman of the New York Post explores some trade possibilities for Gallo, should the Yankees look that way this winter.

It would be a tough turnaround to flip Gallo, as they almost certainly wouldn’t be able to get as much as they gave up to get him. Besides, the short porch in Yankee Stadium still offers a tantalizing advantage for Gallo over a full season. Had he played the entire year in New York, public sentiment might be different. For the year, Gallo posted 3.5 fWAR with a .199/.351/.458 line with 38 home runs and 90 RBIs. Though you might not love the shape of it, those are solid bottom-line numbers.

In all likelihood, the Yankees hold onto Gallo for the final season of his contract. Despite their relative health this season, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton still come with a lengthy injury history, and Gallo provides significant power/patience insurance for a lineup that faltered at times.

If they do want to move him, however, they could start with the clubs that explored a trade for him at the deadline. Sherman provides that list: the Rays, White Sox, Braves, Brewers, Giants, Padres, and Phillies. The list of teams would almost certainly grow if the Yankees put him out there this winter. There’s a deal out there for the Yankees if they want it, but Gallo version one might still be the guy the Yankees want and need in the middle of their order.

Latest On Cardinals’ Managerial Opening

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9:56 PM: The Cardinals plan to have their next manager in place by mid-November, per The Athletic’s Katie Woo. With the rest of the coaching staff remaining intact, it makes sense that the Cards could be relatively quick with their manager hire.

7:06 PM: The speculation has already begun on who might replace Mike Shildt as the next manager of the St. Louis Cardinals. The popular internal candidates appear to be Oliver Marmol and Stubby Clapp, per Jon Morosi of the MLB Network (via Twitter).

St. Louis usually likes to promote from within, and both Marmol and Clapp have surfaced before as candidates for managerial openings. Neither, then, would be a shocking choice, though given the surprising nature of Shildt’s release, anything could be on the table. Without knowing the real nature of the disconnect between Shildt and Cardinals’ president of baseball ops John Mozeliak, it’s tough to speculate on potential targets.

Players in San Diego, however, are hearing that former Cardinal fan favorite Skip Schumaker might be a candidate for the role, per Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune (via Twitter). There would be support from Padres’ players were Schumaker considered as the Padres’ next manager, notes Acee, though it’s not clear yet what direction President of Baseball Ops A.J. Preller will lean.

Looking Ahead To The ALCS Rotations

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The Red Sox will go with Chris Sale and Nathan Eovaldi in the first two games of the ALCS against the Astros, but it’s anyone’s guess as to who might be available for game three.

The uncertainty stems not from an uneven rotation, but from an uncertain group of relievers. Manager Alex Cora’s other available starters – Eduardo Rodriguez, Tanner Houck, and Nick Pivetta – will be available out in the bullpen for the start of the series, writes MLB.com’s Daniel Kramer. That’s a strategy that worked for Cora in the ALDS. Pivetta proved crucial out of the pen against the Rays, a performance redolent of Eovaldi’s own in the 2018 World Series. Houck tossed seven innings of relief in the series as well, yielding just a pair of runs.

Whereas the Red Sox were able to patchwork their bullpen for a four-game series win against the Rays, they will likely need an even more dynamic approach to survive a seven-game tilt against the Astros’ potent offense. There is definite potential for this series to turn into a slugfest, not only because these two clubs boast the first and fifth ranked offenses in the game by runs scored in the regular season, but because the Astros are likely to be without Lance McCullers Jr. Results of the MRI on his sore forearm have yet to be revealed.

McCullers may not be viewed nationally as an ace, he’s been nothing short of stellar in the postseason. He owns a 2.83 ERA in 57 1/3 career postseason innings.

And while McCullers can boast the distinction of having started a game seven of the World Series back in 2017 (a win), he could be replaced by another righty who’s held that honor. Zack Greinke started game seven of the World Series in 2019 for Houston (a loss), and though he’s not likely to put up a full starter’s load, he could be used as an opener in McCullers’ stead, writes The Athletic’s Jack Kaplan. Jose Urquidy, Cristian Javier, and Jake Odorizzi are also candidates to pick up bulk innings if McCullers is unavailable.

What we do know is that Framber Valdez will take on Sale in game one, while Luis Garcia will go head-to-head with Eovaldi in game two, per Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle. The Red Sox have the experience edge, but Valdez is no stranger to postseason success. Garcia, meanwhile, has at least gotten his feet wet in the playoffs: he had a scoreless two-inning outing in 2020 and 2 2/3 innings as the starter in game three versus the White Sox.

Latest On Rockies’ Offseason Strategy

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It wasn’t that long ago that many thought Jon Gray’s days in Colorado were over. In July. With the team outside the playoff hunt, armchair wisdom suggested trading Gray at the deadline, but all accounts suggest they were more than comfortable keeping the big righty in Denver. He finished the year with a 4.59 ERA/4.22 FIP in 29 starts covering 149 innings. It wasn’t a stellar year, but it might be enough to leave other clubs curious about what he might be capable of outside of Colorado.

Inside Colorado, GM Bill Schmidt is now fully installed in his role, so there’s little reason to think his position has changed. They’d love to have Gray back. Gray, of course, will be a free agent the day after the World Series. The Rockies have no more a hold on Gray than the other 29 teams in the league (assuming they don’t extend a qualifying offer). There are rumblings of a contact extension being on the table, per The Athletic’s Nick Groke. Still, any agreement at this juncture would be surprising.

In terms of the rest of the roster, Schmidt’s recent comments provided by Groke suggest he may turn initially to the trade market, which would be a departure from normal operating procedure under former GM Jeff Bridich. If the Rockies do decide to dangle some of their players, Groke suggests Raimel Tapia, Brendan Rodgers, Colton Welker, Daniel Bard, Ryan Vilade, and Grant Lavigne as affordable assets that might draw attention. Comments from the club last season suggested they plan to build around Tapia and Ryan McMahon, so it would be a little surprising to see one of them move, even if there’s wisdom in exploring the options.

Rodgers, likewise, has hung around for long enough waiting to replace Trevor Story. The 25-year-old managed enough offensively to suggest he might be ready for that role. That said, 100 wRC+ and 1.6 fWAR in 415 plate appearances doesn’t scream superstar. The bigger question with Rodgers might be his position, as he may no longer be ticketed for shortstop. Still, he’s looking like a plus power bat at the keystone, per Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. That’s a fine future for Rodgers, but it does limit his potential future value.

Schmidt, of course, already made his first couple of big moves this winter, signing Antonio Senzatela and C.J. Cron to extensions. Those moves lend credence to Groke’s suggestions above to dangle the organization’s other first baggers like Welker and Lavigne on the trade block, despite their youth. Cron’s deal was just for two years, but it does provide the team with some surplus from which they might be comfortable dealing.

Matt Wisler Aggravates Finger Injury

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TODAY: Wisler is managing the injury and will remain on the Rays’ roster, skipper Kevin Cash told MLB.com’s Adam Berry and other reporters.  “As we stand right now, he’s just too valuable to go away [from],” Cash said.

OCTOBER 9: The Red Sox broke the seal on mid-series roster moves yesterday when they removed Garrett Richards because of a hamstring injury, replacing him with Matt Barnes. Barnes quickly got some work in during yesterday’s blowout, tossing a scoreless, if rocky ninth inning. By that point, Boston was riding an eight-run lead and could allow Barnes to work himself in and out of trouble.

The Rays may be next in line to make a roster move. Righty Matt Wisler surrendered a three-run homer to J.D. Martinez that put the Red Sox up for good, and in the process, the Rays might have lost more than just game two. Wisler aggravated a previous finger injury that twice landed him on the injured list during the regular season, per The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (via Twitter). It is not yet clear if the Rays will make a move. If they do – like Richards – Wisler would be out until the World Series at the earliest.

The Rays sent Michael Plassmeyer to the Giants for Wisler in June when his value was low. The veteran had seen some poor luck in getting out to a poor start in terms of raw run prevention, posting a 6.05 ERA in 21 games with the Giants despite a 4.10 FIP. He promptly turned it around in Tampa, making 27 appearances with a 2.15 ERA/2.22 FIP over 29 1/3 innings.

Three Rangers Elect Free Agency

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Mike Foltynewicz, Hunter Wood, and outfielder Jason Martin have elected free agency, per the Rangers. The trio will now hit the open market.

Foltynewicz is the biggest name of the three, though it’s been some time since the right-hander seemingly broke out with Atlanta back in 2018. In his first and only season with the Rangers, Folty was given some leash, making 24 starts and adding four bullpen appearances for a total 139 innings. Folty pitched to a 5.44 ERA/6.02 FIP with a below-average 16.6 percent strikeout rate, though solid 6.1 percent walk rate.

Wood, formerly of the Rays and Indians, made just five appearances with the Rangers, tossing five innings and giving up a pair of earned runs. For his career, the swingman owns a 3.34 ERA/4.09 FIP across 91 2/3 innings.

Martin’s primary claim to fame comes via his inclusion in the trade that sent Gerrit Cole from the Pirates to the Astros. After appearing in the Majors with the Pirates in 2019 and 2020, he was granted free agency, signing with the Rangers. The 26-year-old saw the most playing time of his career in his lone season in Texas, slashing .208/.248/.354 across 154 plate appearances.

Coaching Notes: Cardinals, Pirates, Diamondbacks

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Cardinals manager Mike Shildt won the Manager of the Year award in his first full season at the helm, and he’s taken the club to three consecutive postseason appearances, including a division title in 2019. He’s under contract for just one more season, though St. Louis is likely to explore a contract extension for their skipper, per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak considered making some personnel changes on the coaching staff, but they held firm and eventually turned the season around. Now it appears that most of the coaching staff will return, though decisions are still being made about 2022 and beyond.

  • The Pirates will not bring back third base coach Joey Cora, the team announced today, per Jason Mackey of PGSportsNow (via Twitter). The 56-year-old Cora began his Major League coaching career in 2003 on Ozzie Guillen’s staff with the White Sox, where he eventually rose to the level of bench coach. He was the third base coach for the World Series winning team in 2005. His time in Chicago ended after in September of the 2011 season, corresponding with Guillen’s own departure. Cora would joined Guillen’s staff in Miami for 2012. He had been the Pirates’ third base coach since the 2017 season.
  • Pirates’ manager Derek Shelton will need to fill out a couple of positions on his staff for next season, including hiring a new hitting coach following the mid-season firing of Rick Eckstein. The Pirates are likely to hire from outside the organization to fill Eckstein’s spot, per Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic (via Twitter).
  • The Diamondbacks are rethinking the way manager Torey Lovullo builds out his coaching staff, writes The Athletic’s Zach Buchanan. Primarily, Lovullo is looking to better bridge the gap between the Majors and Triple-A, allowing for a more cohesive promotion process for young players. They’ll do so by hiring a number of assistant hitting and pitching coaches, some of whom will themselves split their time between the Majors and Triple-A.

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