AL East Notes: Britton, Price, Red Sox, Duffy, Pearce
As a dominant AL East closer that relies on one signature pitch, the Orioles‘ Zach Britton has much in common with Mariano Rivera, ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark writes. Obviously Britton has a ways to go before matching Rivera’s incredible track record, though Britton’s sinker (which he threw 92.2% of the time last season) is already being compared to Rivera’s legendary cut fastball. Without fully explaining his secrets behind the pitch, Britton tells Stark about what makes his sinker unique, and also how he came upon the pitch by accident while trying to learn, ironically, a cutter.
Here’s more from around the AL East…
- David Price was re-examined by Red Sox team doctors today and the team reported that the ace lefty “has lost enough strength in his arm to where he is weaker than he was when he reported to Spring Training,” Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald writes. Price still isn’t on a timetable to begin his throwing program, and thus Silverman speculates that Price’s DL stint could now stretch into May, as opposed to the previous theorized return date of late April. “You don’t really attach yourself to a calendar. You’ve got to listen to the pitcher’s situation, how his body is responding and what the objective tests are telling us. He’s getting closer to getting a ball back in his hand,” manager John Farrell said.
- Despite the recent spate of injuries to newly-acquired Red Sox, Dave Dombrowski doesn’t feel the team’s medical evaluation process is at fault, CSNNE.com’s Evan Drellich writes. “I don’t find anything that’s been abnormal this spring compared to any other spring I’ve ever been,” Dombrowski said. “We’ve focused a great deal on medical. But we’ve been doing that for years and we continually look at that all the time.” Price, Drew Pomeranz, Tyler Thornburg, Carson Smith and Hector Velazquez have all dealt with some degree of arm issues with joining the Sox since Dombrowski took over as president of baseball operations, though he argues that acquiring pitching of any type carries inherent risk. “With the sophistication of the medical industry nowadays, I don’t know the last time I’ve traded for somebody or signed somebody: nobody has a pristine arm,” Dombrowski said. “Nobody. I can’t even tell you the last time — it doesn’t exist. So you’re going to know that that’s just part of the equation. And then you have to weigh what type of risk you’re willing to take.”
- It looks like Rays shortstop Matt Duffy will miss Opening Day, as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes that the club is still trying to determine a timeline for Duffy’s injury rehab. Duffy underwent Achilles tendon surgery on his left heel last September, and has been limited to just strengthening exercises and drills this spring, without any running and no baseball activities. Rays manager Kevin Cash implied that Duffy’s current problems may not be related to his Achilles surgery, which could be a positive in getting him closer to readiness.
- Steve Pearce declined to tell Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun if the Orioles were in touch about re-signing the veteran utilityman, though he praised the O’s for supporting his decision to undergo elbow surgery late last season when the club was in a pennant race. Pearce also noted that he decided to sign with the Blue Jays since “they were hard and aggressive” in their pursuit this winter. “As a player, when you have somebody who wants you that bad and they come after you, they don’t mess around, they’re not trying to low ball — as soon as we got to a number we got comfortable with and they got comfortable with, it was an easy sign,” Pearce said.
- In other AL East news from earlier today on MLBTR, the Blue Jays are close to a contract extension with manager John Gibbons, the Yankees will be without Didi Gregorius for roughly six weeks due to a shoulder injury and the Rays could still possibly trade a pitcher before Opening Day.
Latest On David Price
Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski provided an update on the health of key lefty David Price, as Evan Drellich of CSNNE.com reports. While the club’s top baseball executive emphasized that there’s still no clear timeline, Drellich explains that the current trajectory makes it seem unlikely that Price will be available before the calendar flips to May.
Price has been dealing with a somewhat nebulous elbow issue, though he has already been cleared of the need for surgery. Today’s update comes amid continued uncertainty — publicly, at least — regarding Price’s outlook, and as the organization continues to looking to bolster their depth
The club is obviously taking the long view here, with Price set to play an important role in 2017 and for many years beyond. While Dombrowski said that he believes the team “could have pushed [Price] a little bit further at this point,” he stressed the need “to take our time” with the veteran southpaw.
That said, the broader news seems to be positive. Dombrowski said he believes that Price “will be fine, based upon what the doctors have told me [and] what David feels.” Though it’s still not quite clear what caused the elbow discomfort, Dombrowski said he suspects that Price was throwing hard early on, owing to offseason workouts that “really loosened up his hip” and left him working “free and easy.”
As for the next steps, that remains unclear. But the team could get some answers tomorrow, when Price is slated to be examined by the club’s head orthopedist, Dr. Peter Asnis. “So based on that, on how he feels, what the next phase will become and when that initiates more throwing with some intensity, I don’t have that start date,” said manager John Farrell.
East Notes: Yankees, Braves, Velazquez
GM Brian Cashman says the Yankees are unlikely to trade for a rotation upgrade like Jose Quintana at this point, George A. King III of the New York Post writes. “I’m expecting we will go with what we got,” Cashman says. After Masahiro Tanaka, Michael Pineda and CC Sabathia, the favorites for the last two rotation jobs appear to be Luis Severino and Bryan Mitchell, with Adam Warren Luis Cessa, Chad Green and perhaps rookie Jordan Montgomery in the mix as well. King notes that if Montgomery does make the team after spending much of 2016 at the Double-A level, he’s likely to pitch in long relief rather than starting. It perhaps isn’t surprising that the Yankees aren’t planning on trading for a high-profile starter like Quintana — while Quintana would be under team control for up to four years, making him a long-term asset, acquiring him would likely require the Yankees to part with a decent chunk of the young talent they’ve accumulated in recent trades. Here’s more from the East divisions.
- If the Braves attempt to add to their bench, they will likely do so via the trade route, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman tweets. One possibility is that they could trade one out-of-options player for another, he adds. (Braves players who are out of options include Kevin Chapman, Chase d’Arnaud, Ian Krol, Jose Ramirez and Chaz Roe.) The Braves had previously been connected to outfielder Angel Pagan, although there’s reportedly nothing happening on that front at the moment. As MLBTR’s Jeff Todd noted in his recap of the Braves’ offseason, the team’s projected bench appears to be somewhat thin on hitting talent, with d’Arnaud potentially joining Jace Peterson, Emilio Bonifacio and a catcher in the Braves’ stash of reserves.
- Righty Hector Velazquez, whose contract the Red Sox recently purchased for $30K from the Mexican League, has struggled thus far in Spring Training. But the Red Sox are holding off on fully evaluating him, Jen McCaffrey of MassLive.com writes. Between the Mexican League, the Mexican Pacific Winter League, and the Caribbean Series, Velazquez has made 46 starts and pitched 246 1/3 innings over the past year. During that time, he whiffed 242 batters while walking just 39. The Red Sox identified him as a possible target during the regular season, then sent their scouts to see him during the Caribbean Series. Red Sox exec Allard Baird cites Velazquez’s athleticism and relative youth (he’s 28) as traits they liked. (It doesn’t appear his velocity was overly impressive: “[H]e’s going to be a guy that has to command his pitches, not just control them but command them, and utilize his secondary stuff probably backwards at some point,” says Baird.) Due to his prior workload, he likely won’t be a factor in the early going, despite the Red Sox’ immediate need for starting pitching depth. He could, however, enter the big-league picture as the season progresses.
Red Sox Still Looking To Acquire Starting Pitching Depth
Manager John Farrell says the Red Sox have been and continue to be trying to acquire starting pitching depth, Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald writes. The Red Sox are dealing with injuries to starters David Price and Drew Pomeranz.
“That’s ongoing,” says Farrell of the Red Sox’ efforts to find pitching. “Our efforts haven’t picked up just because of recent developments. It’s always been there.”
Price is dealing with an elbow strain and will meet with a team physician tomorrow. Pomeranz’s velocity is not up to his usual standards as he returns from a triceps injury, and the Red Sox pulled him from his start for precautionary reasons yesterday.
Farrell echoes earlier comments from Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, who said that the Red Sox had difficulty luring depth starters during the offseason because their rotation was perceived to be well stocked. One depth veteran, Kyle Kendrick, will start for the Red Sox today and could be important to their short-term plans. Kendrick has not appeared in the big leagues since 2015, when he was with the Rockies, although he’s fared well so far this spring. Farrell also names Henry Owens and Brian Johnson as healthy pitchers who could potentially help if they could be more consistent.
Should the Red Sox acquire a starter from outside, the current list of free agents includes Jake Peavy (who is dealing with personal issues), Doug Fister, Colby Lewis, Edwin Jackson and Jerome Williams. Other players currently in camp on non-roster invites could soon become available if they don’t make the rosters of their current teams. The Red Sox could, of course, also look to make a trade, perhaps near the end of camp as teams finalize their rosters.
AL East Notes: Thornburg, Donaldson, Travis, Boxberger
Reliever Tyler Thornburg tops the Red Sox‘ list of concerns as the 2017 season approaches, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe writes. Thornburg has dealt with dead arm for most of Spring Training so far. The Red Sox gave up a fairly hefty package of talent that included infielder Travis Shaw and prospect Mauricio Dubon to get Thornburg, but so far Thornburg’s Red Sox tenure is off to a rough start — he misinterpreted the Red Sox’ prescribed offseason training regimen, according to Cafardo, and now will probably have to start the season on the disabled list. The Red Sox might end up missing longtime late-inning reliever Koji Uehara, who they allowed to depart for the Cubs. Cafardo notes that Thornburg could join a list of Red Sox relief trade acquisitions who disappointed due to injury, including Carson Smith, Joel Hanrahan and Andrew Bailey — although, of course, Hanrahan and Bailey weren’t acquired under the Red Sox’ current front office, and it’s way, way too early to write Thornburg off. Thornburg pitched an apparently successful bullpen session on Saturday. Here’s more from the AL East.
- Blue Jays slugger Josh Donaldson makes his Spring Training debut today playing DH against Minnesota, John Lott of the Athletic tweets. Donaldson suffered a calf injury near the start of Spring Training and has been out the past month. Donaldson’s return isn’t the only bit of good news for the Jays. Second baseman Devon Travis, who has missed time after having offseason knee surgery, also appears to be returning to health — Lott tweets that Travis expects to make his official spring debut later this week.
- One player whose injury prognosis isn’t so sunny is Rays reliever Brad Boxberger, as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times notes (all Twitter links). Manager Kevin Cash says Boxberger’s lat injury isn’t improving as quickly as the team had anticipated, and that he’s unlikely to be ready for Opening Day. Boxberger struggled with an oblique injury during a poor 2016 season in which he posted a 4.81 ERA, 8.1 K/9 and 7.0 BB/9 in just 24 1/3 innings. His absence could create an opportunity for recent waiver claim Jumbo Diaz, who’s about to return to the Rays after pitching in the World Baseball Classic, according to Topkin.
AL Notes: Hernandez, Anderson, Mariners
Red Sox infielder Marco Hernandez has hit very well this spring but has no obvious role with the team, so he could be traded, Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald writes. The 24-year-old Hernandez has batted .405/.488/.730 in Spring Training, but he has little chance of breaking camp with the team because he’s a lefty hitter, like utilityman Brock Holt, and the team prefers a righty. Hernandez, who the Red Sox acquired prior to the 2015 season as a PTBNL in the Felix Doubront deal, batted .309/.343/.444 in Triple-A and .294/.357/.373 in 56 plate appearances while shuttling back and forth between the minors and Majors last year. “[T]his is an everyday player if you really start to break him down and look at what he’s capable of doing,” says manager John Farrell. “Yet he’s in a group that’s talented, that’s deep, so finding his place is ongoing.” Here’s more from the American League.
- Former slugger and current vice president of baseball operations Brady Anderson is a source of tension within the Orioles organization, writes FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal in a detailed feature that’s revealing about the ways players and coaches think about the roles of team front office members. Anderson’s duties with the club include coaching, working on the team’s strength and conditioning program and helping determine player transactions, meaning he has influence in a number of seemingly disparate areas. He’s also close with owner Peter Angelos. Former pitching coach Dave Wallace cites Anderson’s “total autonomy and really no accountability” as a problem for the Orioles, and both Wallace and former bullpen coach Dom Chiti (who are both now with the Braves) cite Anderson’s presence as reasons they left the organization. Former catcher Matt Wieters also describes Anderson’s blurring of the boundaries between executive and coach as an issue for the club. “Brady was a great player for a long time. He was a member of that clubhouse,” says Wieters. “At the same time, when you get into the season, the 25 guys in that clubhouse are who you want in that clubhouse.”
- The Mariners are no strangers to analytics, but they also value old-school approaches to player evaluation, MLB.com’s Doug Miller writes. Manager Scott Servais, for example, highlights veteran catcher Carlos Ruiz‘s work this spring with pitchers, including 23-year-old Max Povse, who spent the 2016 season at the Class A+ and Double-A levels but has thrived so far in camp. “Max Povse comes out after four innings [thinking], ‘Jeez, I never had to shake off a pitch tonight. Never had to think about it,'” says Servais. “You can’t measure it, but it’s there and it’s really important to a winning team.”
AL East Notes: Red Sox, Pomeranz, McCann, Rays, Odorizzi, Blue Jays
With Rick Porcello and Chris Sale suddenly looking like the only healthy and reliable members of the Red Sox starting five, Boston’s rotation is “a house of cards,” in the words of CSNNE.com’s Evan Drellich (video link). Lou Merloni, Jared Carrabis, and Drellich discuss Boston’s lack of pitching depth in the wake of David Price‘s season-opening DL stint and Drew Pomeranz having to leave an outing today due to left triceps tightness. The controversial circumstances of the Red Sox/Padres deal that brought Pomeranz to Boston last season are also revisited, with Carrabis noting that “the trade looks like it keeps getting worse every single day” from the Sox perspective given Pomeranz’s ongoing injury problems.
Here’s more from around the AL East…
- Brian McCann has nothing but fond memories of his time with the Yankees, though he told Randy Miller of NJ Advance Media that being traded to the Astros represents “a best-case scenario for both sides.” McCann was willing to waive his no-trade protection in order to join “a team filled with talent…young talent that’s going to be together for a while” that would allow him to regularly catch, while the Yankees were clearly going with Gary Sanchez as the catcher of both the future and the present. “You’ve got to see what you have, and what they have is a very talented catcher that is going to be there for a long time,” McCann said, noting that he himself displaced a veteran catcher (Johnny Estrada) when he first broke into the bigs as a rookie with the Braves in 2005.
- Players face a big decision when presented with the opportunity to sign an early-career extension, as Evan Longoria and Jake Odorizzi of the Rays tell Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Longoria’s first extension with the Rays (a six-year, $17.5MM deal signed just a week into his big league career) drew some criticism at the time, though Longoria saw it as a chance to “have this security for myself and my family and just play and relax.”
- Odorizzi, meanwhile, passed on a discussed extension with the Rays two offseasons ago. Topkin reports that the proposed extension would have been a six-year deal worth close to $30MM in guaranteed money, with over $20MM more available via two additional club option years. Such a deal would’ve covered at least two of Odorizzi’s free agent seasons and potentially kept him under team control through his age-33 season. Odorizzi doesn’t regret turning down the extension, saying “sometimes it boils down to, and I hate to say it, but the dollar amount. We all know the money in this game and the value of players and what your value is. And sometimes it just doesn’t match up. That’s just the circumstances.”
- The Blue Jays hope to gain a competitive advantage with their high performance department, as Sportsnet.ca’s Arden Zwelling takes a look inside the all-encompassing plan dedicated to keeping players physically and mentally prepared year-round. Club president Mark Shapiro hired sports psychologist Angus Mugford last year to create the high performance department, which has now grown into a 43-person staff consisting of fitness trainers, dieticians, mental coaches, and more. The department’s focus on each player’s individual status helped the Jays decide to keep Aaron Sanchez in the rotation last season, as since Sanchez had so diligently been keeping himself in good condition, there was less fear that he would wear down after throwing so many innings.
Injury Notes: Red Sox, Tigers, A’s, Padres
The Red Sox‘s rotation will already be without left-hander David Price to begin the season, and fellow southpaw Drew Pomeranz could join him on the shelf. Pomeranz left his start Sunday after two innings with tightness in his left triceps, Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal was among those to report. Pomeranz doesn’t believe it’s a serious injury, but considering he dealt with forearm stiffness late last season and then had a stem cell injection, Boston “must be wary,” opines Scott Lauber of ESPN.com. Injuries have been the story of Pomeranz’s tenure with the Red Sox, who acquired him from the Padres last July for high-end pitching prospect Anderson Espinoza. The Sox then complained that the Padres withheld medical information on Pomeranz, leading Major League Baseball to suspend Friars general manager A.J. Preller for a month. The league also gave Boston a chance to undo the trade, but the team turned down the offer, in part because the trade deadline had already passed.
For the Red Sox, beginning the season without both Price and Pomeranz would force them to slot Kyle Kendrick into their rotation. The 32-year-old last pitched in the majors in 2015, when he started in all 27 of his appearances with the Rockies and posted a 6.32 ERA in 142 1/3 innings. Kendrick joined Boston in January on a minor league deal, which includes opt-outs on June 15 and Aug. 15.
More injury news:
- Tigers right fielder J.D. Martinez went for an MRI on his mid-right foot sprain on Sunday, but the team didn’t release the results. Instead, it sent Martinez to see a foot specialist for a second opinion, according to Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press. The Tigers could find out Martinez’s fate as early as Sunday, said manager Brad Ausmus; although Martinez doesn’t have any broken bones, ligament damage is a possibility, notes Fenech. That could be disastrous for both team and player – Martinez is an integral part of Detroit’s lineup, and he’s entering a contract year. Based on potential earning power, MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes ranks Martinez as the sixth-best player who’s scheduled to hit the open market next winter.
- Hoping to make a quicker-than-expected return from a lat strain, Athletics right-hander Sonny Gray will head to Chicago on Monday to visit Dr. Anthony Romeo, a latissimus dorsi expert, reports Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Gray’s goal is to receive clearance to begin throwing again. The A’s shut down Gray for three weeks on March 9, but if his visit to Chicago yields good news, he could make his season debut in the middle of April instead of at the end, per Slusser.
- Padres lefty Christian Friedrich has been dealing with “overall soreness from the shoulder down through the triceps through the elbow” this spring, manager Andy Green told AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. Consequently, Friedrich could have difficulty making good on his effort to crack the Padres’ rotation. Friedrich led the Padres in starts (23) last year, when he logged a 4.80 ERA, 6.96 K/9, 3.62 BB/9 and a 44.9 percent ground-ball rate over 129 1/3 innings.
- Outfielder Jaff Decker‘s spring bid to win a roster spot with the Athletics could be in jeopardy on account of an oblique strain, writes Slusser. Decker has been competing with Alejandro De Aza to serve as Oakland’s fifth outfielder (if the team carries one), but the former’s attempt might go for naught if the injury keeps him out for more than a few days. “It’s unfortunate: He was having a good camp, he was impressing,” manager Bob Melvin said of Decker, who has hit .304/.407/.408 in 23 spring at-bats. “There’s still a spot to be won out there whatever potentially the 25th spot is, the 12th or 13th spot as far as the position players go.”
Pitching Notes: Cardinals, Red Sox, Yankees, Rangers
The Cardinals have tabbed Michael Wacha to begin the season as their fifth starter, tweets Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com. That’s not particularly surprising, as St. Louis optioned one of Wacha’s competitors, Luke Weaver, to Triple-A on Saturday after he showed poorly over five spring training innings. The other contender for the Redbirds’ last starting role, former closer Trevor Rosenthal, fell behind the 8-ball when he dealt with right lat muscle soreness earlier this month. Barring an injury, the other four-fifths of the Cardinals’ season-opening rotation will consist of Carlos Martinez, Adam Wainwright, Mike Leake and Lance Lynn.
- Red Sox knuckleballer Steven Wright finally seems to be putting his long bout with right shoulder bursitis behind him, writes Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald. Wright, a 2016 All-Star whose season ended in August after he injured his shoulder as a pinch-runner, threw three hitless innings against the Twins on Saturday. The 32-year-old indicated afterward that he’s “in good position to be ready for Opening Day.”
- Ernesto Frieri served as a more-than-capable reliever with the Padres and Angels from 2010-13, when he combined for a 2.79 ERA, 12.28 K/9 and 4.36 BB/9 over 229 1/3 innings, before he flamed out over the next two seasons with the Halos, Pirates and Rays. After taking 2016 off to repair his mechanics, the 31-year-old Frieri believes he’s poised for a career renaissance with the Yankees, per Brendan Kuty of NJ.com. “Before, I was a thrower,” Frieri said Saturday. “I’d just throw fastballs and I got away with that, too. But I had that deception. And now I have that deception back.” Frieri, who’s attempting to make the Yankees’ roster after signing a minor league contract Thursday, threw two scoreless innings for Colombia during the World Baseball Classic and touched 95 mph. His average fastball velocity in 2015 was 91.2.
- Rangers right-hander Tyson Ross will throw live batting practice for the first time this year on Wednesday, reports Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). Ross, who’s on the mend from October surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome, “has met all checkpoints on time or early so far,” Grant adds. The expectation when the Rangers signed Ross in January was that he’d be ready for major league action by May or June.
AL Notes: JD Martinez, Ackley, Kopech, Red Sox, Pineda
Tigers outfielder J.D. Martinez suffered a sprain in his mid-right foot while making a catch on Saturday and left the game after just an inning. (Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press has the details.) X-rays were negative and Martinez will be re-evaluated on Sunday before the club decides that any further tests are necessary. He was seen on crutches and left the ballpark in a walking boot, though Martinez told reporters (including MLB.com’s Jason Beck) that “it’s good that I’m able to move on it.” Needless to say, losing Martinez for any extended length of time would jeopardize both the Tigers’ lineup and Martinez’s chances at a big free agent contract next offseason as one of the top players on the open market.
Here’s more from around the American League…
- Dustin Ackley has an opt-out date near the end of Spring Training in his minor league deal with the Angels, the utilityman tells Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register, though he hasn’t decided whether he’ll exercise the clause or remain with the Halos’ Triple-A club. Ackley’s choice is complicated by the fact that he has yet to play the field this spring as he continues to recover from shoulder surgery. The veteran tells Fletcher that he can play first base and swing more or less normally, though he isn’t yet able to handle the throwing involved with second base or the outfield. Ackley hopes he can “at least give them [the Angels] some games defensively before camp is over.”
- Michael Kopech was one of the major pieces the White Sox acquired in the Chris Sale trade, and Bruce Levine of CBS Chicago opines that Kopech could follow Sale’s career trajectory by breaking into the bigs as a reliever. The White Sox eased Sale into the majors by using him out of the bullpen in his first two seasons before unleashing him into the rotation, where Sale emerged as one of baseball’s best starters. Kopech only turns 21 in April and has yet to pitch above high-A ball, though if he continues to impress in the minors, Chicago may be tempted to get him to the big leagues by 2018 as a reliever.
- The Red Sox face a number of pressing questions as they head into the season, Peter Gammons of GammonsDaily.com writes, including some injury concerns for key arms like David Price, Drew Pomeranz and Tyler Thornburg. If these pitchers have to miss time in April, that could be particularly difficult for the club given that Boston faces a tough schedule over the first six weeks, including a lot of division games and tough inter-league matchups against the Cubs, Cardinals and Pirates. As Gammons notes, this could add up to a slow start for the Red Sox, which will only add to the pressure for a team that is expected to challenge for a World Series.
- Yankees right-hander Michael Pineda has already experienced a lot of ups and downs in his career, in no small part due to his struggles with the language barrier, as ESPN’s Andrew Marchand details. Pineda came to MLB with little formal education and virtually no knowledge of English or American culture, which led to some inevitable growing pains (such as Pineda’s infamous suspension for using pine tar in April 2014). The piece is well worth a full read, as it chronicles Pineda’s rise to the majors and the problems that he and many other foreign-born players face upon being thrust into the pressurized environment of pro baseball.