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Poll: Which Surprise Team Has Best Shot At Playoff Berth?

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As the 2018 MLB season nears the one-third mark, the playoff races in each league are beginning to take shape. While it’s no surprise that the majority of the sport’s so-called super teams have lived up to the billing thus far, several unexpected contenders may be emerging to challenge for postseason berths. None of the Mariners, Athletics, Braves, Phillies or Pirates were popular playoff picks entering the campaign, but all are in contention at this point, and a few of those teams even possess elite records.

The most successful of those clubs has been Seattle, which is one of just five teams with a winning percentage above .600. The Mariners have raced to a 32-20 mark (.615), the fourth-best record in the American League, even though they’ve had to go without superstar second baseman Robinson Cano for two weeks and won’t get him back in the near future. Cano suffered a fractured right hand in mid-May, but the 80-game suspension he incurred almost immediately after that injury is the more costly blow because it’ll render him ineligible for the playoffs – if the Mariners qualify, that is.

A postseason berth for Seattle would be its first since 2001, thus snapping the longest playoff drought in American sports. There’s clearly plenty of work for that to happen, particularly for a team that hasn’t been spectacular statistically and possesses a less shiny 27-25 Pythagorean record. But the Mariners’ actual record right now is so impressive that they won’t need to be great from here on out to remain firmly in the mix throughout the regular season. FanGraphs is projecting a mediocre 56-54 win-loss total over the Mariners’ final 110 games, but even in that scenario, they’d finish with 88 victories – three more than Minnesota amassed in 2017 en route to an AL wild-card berth.

The wild card is likely the M’s only path to the playoffs, as even though they’re just one game out of the AL West race, there’s little question the reigning World Series champion Astros will pull away with the division. Given the talent in the AL, a wild-card spot will be tough to come by for the Mariners, but general manager Jerry Dipoto seemingly increased his team’s odds last week when he acquired reliever Alex Colome and outfielder Denard Span from the Rays. The Mariners already owned one of baseball’s best bullpens without Colome, and his presence should make Seattle an even harder out in close games. At 15-8, the Mariners have been one of the majors’ top teams in one-run contests this season.

Staying in the AL West, Oakland has perhaps exceeded expectations at 28-25, though it has scored fewer runs than it has allowed (234 to 237). Still, despite its underwhelming Pythagorean mark (26-27), FanGraphs is projecting an above-.500 final record for Oakland (82-80) – which would be its first such season since 2014 and could keep it in the discussion into September. However, with the Yankees or Red Sox (whichever team doesn’t win the AL East), Angels and Mariners among the teams fighting for two wild-card positions, a playoff position looks a bit unrealistic for the A’s.

Over in the National League, both the Braves (30-21) and Phillies (29-21) have gone from serving as longtime NL East doormats to looking like two of the premier teams in the game. Milwaukee, arguably a surprise team but one that did garner some preseason hype after winning 86 games in 2017, is the lone NL club with a superior record to Atlanta and Philadelphia. And only the Cubs have a better run differential than the Braves, who have outscored their opponents by 60 (261 to 201).

The Braves’ arduous, years-long rebuild is clearly paying dividends now, as a host of players under the age of 25 – including Ozzie Albies, Ronald Acuna (who’s now on the DL), Dansby Swanson, Sean Newcomb, Mike Soroka, Luiz Gohara and A.J. Minter – have been among their driving forces this year. With that group joining a few slightly older, already established players (superstar Freddie Freeman, Ender Inciarte and Mike Foltynewicz, to name a few), Atlanta looks as if it’s going to be around for a long time. And it might be ready now to return to the playoffs, where it hasn’t been since 2013, though the NL East is going to be a dogfight with both the Phillies and favored Nationals (29-22) right behind the Braves.

As for those Phillies, they own an even longer playoff drought than the Braves (six years), but that streak doesn’t look as if it’ll last much longer. Like Atlanta, Philadelphia went through a few years of suffering while simultaneously managing to stockpile young talent (Aaron Nola, Odubel Herrera, Rhys Hoskins, Seranthony Dominguez, Nick Pivetta, Vince Velasquez, Scott Kingery) that has either already established itself in the majors or is in the midst of doing so. Philly’s also a sleeping giant in terms of payroll, a club capable of spending alongside other big-money juggernauts, and it’ll put that advantage to use in the coming years. It already started last winter with the expensive free-agent signings of Jake Arrieta and Carlos Santana, two additions which have paid off so far (Santana did endure a poor April, but he’s gotten off the mat this month).

As with the Braves, the Phillies should be around for a while, and a playoff spot this year certainly isn’t out of the question. Although, despite their tremendous starts, FanGraphs is projecting both teams to finish with 82 wins and extend their playoff droughts.

Baseball’s other Pennsylvania-based team, the low-payroll Pirates, lost the battle for public opinion over the winter when they traded two veteran cornerstones (Andrew McCutchen and Gerrit Cole) for younger players and didn’t sign any free agents to major league contracts. Some Pirates fans even called for owner Bob Nutting to sell the team in the wake of those deals, but he didn’t oblige.

Now, the Pirates are a solid 28-24 (plus-22 run) and have gotten there with some help from Colin Moran and Joe Musgrove, two players acquired in the Cole package. Fellow offseason acquisition Corey Dickerson – whom general manager Neal Huntington stole from the Rays in another trade – has been even better, while veteran holdovers Starling Marte and Francisco Cervelli are also amid excellent seasons. Pittsburgh may be able to hang in the race all year, then, for the first time since 2015 – its most recent playoff berth. It’s going to be an extremely tall task to actually return to the postseason, though, with six NL teams – including the division-rival Brewers, Cubs and Cardinals – ahead of Pittsburgh in the standings and several more breathing down its neck.

Every year in baseball, surprise teams emerge to upset the preseason apple cart. Just as the Twins, Diamondbacks and Rockies crashed the playoff party last year, at least one of the Mariners, Athletics, Braves, Phillies or Pirates could do it in 2018. The question is: Which team has the best chance to play into the fall?

(poll link for app users)

Injury Notes: Vazquez, Darvish, Cordero, Renfroe, Flores

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Pirates closer Felipe Vazquez felt soreness in his left forearm during the last two pitches of his appearance today against the Cardinals, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Elizabeth Bloom reported.  The southpaw didn’t speak to the media himself after the game, though Pirates director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk confirmed that Vazquez was receiving treatment.  It’s too early to gauge the seriousness of the problem, though obviously any sort of forearm issue is of great concern, particularly for a pitcher who throws as hard as Vazquez.  His fastball has dropped in velocity this season (96.8 mph as opposed to 98.5 mph in 2017), though this year’s total is closer to his career average, so it could be that 2017 proves to be something of an outlier, or perhaps it’s still too early in the 2018 campaign to make conclusions.  Vazquez has a 3.54 ERA and 9.74 K/9 through 20 1/3 frames for the Bucs this year, with an increased walk rate and a decreased swinging-strike and grounder rate from his outstanding 2017 season.  On the flip side, Vazquez has also yet to allow a home run this year, and he has had some bad luck the form of a .333 BABIP and only a 65.5% strand rate.

Vazquez’s breakout 2017 earned him a four-year, $22MM extension from the Pirates in the offseason, locking him up as a building block on the Pittsburgh roster.  Losing Vazquez for any amount of time would be a significant blow to a Pirates team that has surpassed expectations by staying competitive in the NL Central and in the wild card race.  Michael Feliz and Edgar Santana are likely the top candidates to take over as closer if Vazquez did have to hit the DL; it’s possible that the Bucs could target ninth-inning help at the deadline if they stayed in the race, though payroll would certainly play an issue in any acquisition.

Here’s some more on some injury situations around baseball…

  • Yu Darvish will undergo an MRI on Tuesday, 670 The Score’s Bruce Levine reports (Twitter link), and the Cubs righty has said that the soreness in his right triceps is in a different place than it was in 2015, when Darvish underwent Tommy John surgery.  This could be a further sign that Darvish’s current injury isn’t very serious, so he could be back in Chicago’s rotation sooner rather than later.
  • Franchy Cordero will likely be placed on the 10-day DL tomorrow due to forearm soreness, MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell tweets.  The Padres believe the issue has recently been impacting Cordero’s swing, which could explain his .515 OPS over his last 47 plate appearances.  This recent slide cooled off what had been a strong start for Cordero on the season, and the outfielder still owns an overall .237/307/.439 slash line and seven homers over 154 PA.
  • Hunter Renfroe is expected to be activated from the disabled list tomorrow to take Cordero’s spot on the Padres roster, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes.  Renfroe hasn’t played since April 17 due to elbow inflammation, and he has nine Triple-A rehab games under his belt as he prepared for his return to the majors.  Acee notes that the rehab assignment may have essentially doubled as an opportunity for Renfroe to get his bat on track, as the former top prospect got off to a slow start this season and has yet to really break out in the big leagues, though Renfroe has crushed left-handed pitching.
  • A DL stint could be in the offing for Wilmer Flores, as the Mets infielder left today’s game in the fourth inning due to back soreness.  MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo reports that Flores has flown back to New York for examination, and the Mets will have Phillip Evans on hand in Atlanta tomorrow if a roster move needs to be made.  Flores is hitting .248/.320/.398 through 128 PA this season and has continued to be a versatile infield depth piece for the Mets, most recently seeing a lot of third base time filling in for the injured Todd Frazier.

Central Notes: Meadows, Reds, Cards, Miggy

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When the Pirates promoted outfield prospect Austin Meadows on May 18, the plan was for him to quickly return to the minors, manager Clint Hurdle told Elizabeth Bloom of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and other reporters Saturday. However, Meadows’ “performance was eye-catching,” according to Hurdle, which convinced the team to keep him around when it activated fellow outfielder Starling Marte from the disabled list Saturday. With Marte, Gregory Polanco and Corey Dickerson, the Pirates now have their starting outfield intact again, but Hurdle still sees enough opportunities for the 23-year-old Meadows to justify keeping him in the majors. “We need to continue to monitor [Corey] Dickerson’s on-field innings,” Hurdle said. “Marte’s bouncing back, we’re going to be smart with, and Polanco. So I think between the four of them, and a true fourth outfielder, we’ll be able to have the opportunity to get everybody playing time.” Meadows was out of the lineup for the Bucs’ game on Saturday, but he did collect a pinch-hit appearance. He didn’t reach base in that at-bat, dropping his line to a still-stellar .433/.433/.867 over his first 29 major league trips to the plate.

More from the majors’ Central divisions…

  • Reds left-hander Brandon Finnegan tells Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer that he’s displeased the team demoted him to Triple-A on May 10 to make room for Matt Harvey’s acquisition. Finnegan noted that he’s fine either starting or relieving in the majors, saying “whatever helps the team out is what I want to do,” but he believes he made a case earlier this season to continue in the Reds’ rotation. “I felt like I had two pretty good starts up in Cincinnati,” Finnegan said. “You can’t do anything about getting taken out of the game after 70 pitches. (Reds interim manager Jim) Riggleman loves using the bullpen; that’s his thing. That part was out of my hands. Besides that, two of my five starts I had, I thought were pretty good. I was attacking guys.” Notably, Finnegan added that he has no hard feelings toward Riggleman, per Nightengale. Regardless, Finnegan didn’t exactly make a case to stay in the Reds’ rotation during his five pre-demotion starts  – he logged a 7.40 ERA with 15 walks and 14 strikeouts in 20 2/3 innings – though he still expected more leeway after missing most of last season with shoulder issues. The Reds, for their part, haven’t given up on Finnegan serving as a starter in the majors, and they sent him down so he’d work out of their their Triple-A rotation rather than the big league bullpen, Nightengale writes. Finnegan, meanwhile, is using his stint in the minors as motivation and “hoping to get back” to the Reds sooner than later.
  • Cardinals righty Alex Reyes will make his much-anticipated 2018 debut on May 30 in a start against the Brewers, Joe Trezza of MLB.com tweets. It’ll be the prized 23-year-old’s first MLB outing since he underwent Tommy John surgery prior to the 2017 season. Reyes tore through multiple minor league levels during his rehab stint this year, racking up 44 strikeouts against seven walks in 23 scoreless frames, and looks unlikely to work under an innings limit upon his return to the majors.
  • Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera is making progress as he works back from a hamstring strain, as Evan Woodbery of MLive.com details, but a return date for the future Hall of Famer is still unclear. Cabrera hasn’t played since May 3, before which he seemed to be in the midst of a bounce-back campaign. After posting an uncharacteristically pedestrian 2017, Cabrera opened this year – his age 35-season – with a .323/.407/.516 line in 108 PAs. Fortunately for Detroit, first base fill-ins John Hicks and Niko Goodrum have fared respectably in Cabrera’s stead.

NL Injury Notes: Kershaw, Bucs, Panik, Mets

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Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw said Saturday that he’ll be ready to rejoin their rotation in five days, though it’ll be up to the team whether that happens, according to Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times. Kershaw’s four-inning simulated game on Saturday went well enough that he may be able to avoid a rehab assignment, despite having been on the disabled list since May 7 with biceps tendinitis. The left-hander is part of a large group of important Dodgers who have missed significant time this year, thus helping to explain the reigning NL champions’ 23-27 start. LA has won seven of its past eight, however, and is within a manageable 3.5 games of first-place Colorado in the NL West.

  • Pirates starter Ivan Nova has a strained ligament in his right index finger and may be headed to the DL, Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic tweets. To prepare for Nova’s potential absence, the Pirates had their Triple-A affiliate pull righty Nick Kingham from his start after just one inning on Friday, per Mason Wittner of MLB.com. The 26-year-old Kingham made the first three big league starts of his career earlier this season and held his own, with a a 3.44 ERA/2.56 FIP and outstanding strikeout and walk rates (10.31 K/9, .98 BB/9) across 18 1/3 innings. While Nova hasn’t been nearly as effective as Kingham, he has logged playable numbers over 11 starts and 61 1/3 frames (4.96 ERA/4.28 FIP, 6.86 K/9, 1.46 BB/9 and a 50.7 percent groundball rate).
  • Giants second baseman Joe Panik is on track to come off the DL next weekend, Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group suggests. In the meantime, he’ll open a four- or five-game rehab assignment on Monday. Panik will end up missing upward of a month after undergoing left thumb surgery in late April. He hasn’t played since April 27, and fill-in Alen Hanson has been out for two weeks, leaving the Giants with the underwhelming duo of Kelby Tomlinson and Miguel Gomez as their options at the keystone.
  • Catcher Kevin Plawecki could rejoin the Mets on Monday, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com writes. Plawecki landed on the shelf with a hairline fracture in his left hand on April 13, when the Mets also announced that fellow backstop Travis d’Arnaud would undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery. New York then received terrible behind-the-plate productions from subs Tomas Nido and Jose Lobaton in the ensuing few weeks, leading it to acquire Devin Mesoraco from the Reds for righty Matt Harvey in a May 8 trade. The deal has worked out well for the Mets thus far, as Mesoraco has performed respectably enough that they’ll be able to ease Plawecki back into action when he returns, DiComo notes.

Pirates Activate Starling Marte, Option Jose Osuna

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After reporting earlier today that Starling Marte could be activated from the DL if he felt good upon arrival to PNC Park, Adam Berry of MLB.com tweets that Marte has indeed been reinstated, with the Pirates optioning first base/outfield type Jose Osuna to the minors.

The quick DL stint for Marte is obviously best-case scenario for the Pirates, who must have been concerned at first considering the dubious nature of oblique injuries in general. Marte’s kicked off the 2018 season with a bang, hitting .308/.366/.503 with six homers and ten steals, so his return to the lineup is excellent news for Pittsburgh, who’ve been a .500 team in his absence.

The more interesting implication of this transaction is that outfield prospect Austin Meadows survived the roster crunch. Meadows was promoted to the big leagues for the first time ever following Marte’s placement on the disabled list, despite hitting a tepid .294/.336/.397 in Triple-A this season. His performance in the majors, however, has earned him a longer look: Meadows has homered three times and struck out just twice while hitting .448 in his 29 MLB plate appearances.

Injury Notes: Gomez, Sanchez, Marte, Bird, Prado

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Rays outfielder Carlos Gomez has been activated from the 10-day disabled list; he’d been sidelined since May 16th with a strained groin. The injury was thought to be minor at the time, and the fact that Gomez missed only the ten-day minimum leaves little room to doubt his health at this time. That doesn’t mean his performance comes without questions, though, as the veteran is slashing just .200/.252/.345 on the season. No corresponding move was required for Tampa Bay, as their roster was two men short following yesterday’s surprising trade with Seattle.

And now a flurry of other injury-related items from around the league…

  • David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution suggests that Anibal Sanchez could be the Braves’ starter on Tuesday following a successful rehab start on Friday. Mark Bowman of MLB.com takes it a step further by quoting manager Brian Snitker, who reportedly said that Sanchez is indeed penciled in to start Tuesday’s game. Sanchez has a 1.29 ERA in three appearances (two starts) on the season.
  • Adam Berry of MLB.com writes that Starling Marte will be activated from the DL by the Pirates today if he reports to the ballpark feeling ready to play. It’d be a remarkably quick return for the 29-year-old outfielder, who has been sidelined with an oblique injury. Injuries of that type have a reputation for lingering and causing players to miss extended time. One has to wonder what Marte’s potential activation would mean for the red-hot Austin Meadows, who’s managed more homers in the big leagues thus far (3) than strikeouts (2).
  • The Yankees have reinstated first baseman Greg Bird from the disabled list, optioning infielder Ronald Torreyes to Triple-A in a corresponding move. Marc Carig of The Athletic notes that the move makes plenty of sense considering the versatility of Gleyber Torres and the fact that a removal of Neil Walker from the roster isn’t reversible. Bird entered the season with plenty of hype surrounding him, but has yet to make his 2018 debut thanks to right foot surgery.
  • In a move that was widely expected, the Marlins placed Martin Prado (hamstring) on the 10-day DL today, recalling J.T. Riddle from Triple-A to take his place on the roster. It’s the latest in an unfortunate series of injuries for the formerly-durable Prado, who made only 147 trips to the plate last year following eight straight seasons with at least 500 PA.

Quick Hits: Colon, Bibens-Dirkx, Odor, Rangers, Anthopoulos, Bae

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Timeless right-hander Bartolo Colon celebrated his 45th birthday this week, so he’ll soon become just the 18th player in major league history to pitch in the majors beyond that benchmark. Colon is also the oldest to hurl a pitch since Jamie Moyer back in 2012. Value metrics are divided on his effectiveness so far this season; Baseball Reference pegs his contributions at 1.6 WAR, while Fangraphs believes his 2018 production to be exactly replacement level. In any case, it would have been difficult at season’s outset to imagine Colon exceeding his current results. A 3.51 ERA and 7.20 K/BB ratio are welcome numbers to a Rangers rotation that sports the sixth-highest combined ERA in major-league baseball.

It’ll be fun to see just how long Colon can keep up this pace. But in the meantime, here are some minor notes from last night…

  • In other Rangers news, Jeff Wilson of the Star Telegram examines the job security of a pitcher and a position player in Arlington. Austin Bibens-Dirkx pitched well on the whole in his last start (though he was a victim of some bad fielding behind him), Wilson notes that the club is more likely to give Matt Moore a longer look before ceding his spot in the rotation to Bibens-Dirkx. Meanwhile, Wilson notes that struggling second baseman Rougned Odor has two options remaining. With Jurickson Profar putting together quality at-bats of late, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa producing at a better clip than Odor, there’s a chance the club might consider letting the latter work out his issues in the minors.
  • In a subscription-only piece for The Athletic, Bill Shaikin examines the storyline of Alex Anthopoulos leaving the Dodgers organization to run a Braves club that’s currently leading the NL East. While Anthopoulos felt like he had “as good a job as there was in baseball” with the Dodgers, his reshaping of the Braves’ payroll has helped to set them up for success as they near the end of a lengthy rebuild. Trades of Jim Johnson, Matt Kemp and some international bonus pool money shipped to the Angels has set the stage for Atlanta to complement its young core through free agency and perhaps even the midseason trade market.
  • Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette provides an update on Pirates prospect Bae Ji-hwan via Twitter. Bae is reportedly on his way back to the United States after cooperating with police in South Korea on suspicion of a domestic violence incident. He’ll be allowed to participate in baseball activities pending the outcome of an investigation into said incident. Bae was one of a few players that the Braves reportedly offered “extra-contractual compensation” recently and were thus barred from signing in the last international signing period.

Minor MLB Transactions: 5/22/18

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Here are the day’s minor moves…

Latest Transactions

  • The Nationals signed outfielder Jaff Decker to a minors contract, the Washington Post’s Chelsea Janes reports (via Twitter).  The 30-year-old has appeared in each of the last five MLB seasons, posting a .510 OPS over 191 career plate appearances with the Padres, Pirates, Rays, and A’s.  Decker signed a minor league deal with Atlanta over the winter but was released earlier this month.
  • The Mets signed veteran lefty Aaron Laffey to a minor league deal, purchasing his contract from the independent Atlantic League.  The Somerset Patriots, Laffey’s Atlantic League team, reported the news on Twitter.  The 33-year-old worked as both a starter and reliever for six teams (including a brief stint with the Mets in 2013) over parts of eight MLB seasons, though Laffey has only 7 1/3 innings in the Show since the end of the 2013 season and none since 2015.  He has bounced around the minors, including a previous stint with Somerset last season that ended when he signed a minors deal with the D’Backs.

Earlier Today

  • The Reds selected the contract of infielder/outfielder Brandon Dixon from Triple-A, optioning Rosell Herrera to Triple-A in a corresponding move.  Dixon, a third-round pick for the Dodgers in the 2013 draft, was one of the three youngsters (along with Jose Peraza and Scott Schebler) dealt to Cincinnati as part of the three-team trade that sent Todd Frazier to the White Sox.  Neither Baseball America or MLB.com ranked Dixon among the Reds’ top 30 prospects, though he put himself on the map this season thanks to an impressive .326/.371/.527 slash line over 140 PA at Triple-A Louisville.  While he has spent much of his pro career as a second and third baseman, Dixon has made multiple starts as a first baseman and corner outfielder this season, giving him added versatility on the Reds’ roster.
  • The Tigers announced the purchase of left-hander Kevin Chapman’s contract from the independent Atlantic League’s New Britain Bees.  Chapman has been assigned to Triple-A.  The southpaw posted a 4.09 ERA over 55 relief innings for the Astros in 2013-16, and spent last season in the Braves’ and Twins’ farm systems.  The Tigers are short on left-handed relievers both in the majors and upper minors, so there seems to be an opportunity for Chapman to earn a spot back to the big leagues.
  • The Nationals announced that outfielder Moises Sierra has cleared waivers and been optioned back to Triple-A.  Sierra was designated for assignment earlier this week to clear roster space for the promotion of top prospect Juan Soto.  Appearing in his first MLB action since 2014, Sierra hit .167/.217/.404 over 60 PA for Washington this season.
  • Southpaw Jairo Labourt has been released by the Tigers, as Evan Woodberry of MLive.com covers on Twitter. Despite being a popular waiver wire target over the offseason, the 24-year-old lefty has not been in good enough form even to join an affiliate to this point. The Tigers originally acquired him in the 2015 David Price swap.
  • The Pirates have released right-hander Tyler Jones, according to John Dreker of PiratesProspects.com. Jones, 28, has had some promising seasons in the upper minors, but hasn’t shown as well in the last two campaigns. Homers have been an issue for Jones thus far, as he has been tagged for a 5.40 ERA with 9.2 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9 over 16 2/3 innings with the Bucs’ top affiliate.
  • Rangers righty David Ledbetter has decided to retire, according to MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan (via Twitter). Per the report, the 26-year-old decided to hang things up as a “family decision.” A third-round pick in 2013, Ledbetter has never quite found his form in the minors. In 115 1/3 Triple-A innings, he owns a 4.99 ERA with 6.0 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9.

NL Central Notes: Krall, Vazquez, Anderson/Peralta, Hicks, Darvish

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On his latest podcast, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand chats with just-minted Reds GM Nick Krall, who took a grinder’s approach to getting into the game. The back story is an interesting listen and also provides some insight into Krall’s background with the Moneyball-era A’s. Of what he learned from Billy Beane, Krall says he was impressed by Beane’s scope of knowledge of players from outside the Oakland organization along with his certitude as to “what he wanted on his team.” From former Reds GM Walt Jocketty, Krall says he learned to exercise greater patience. (Krall describes himself as “a very impatient person” by nature.) It’s a worthwhile listen for fans who want to learn more about the most recent person to be named a major-league general manager.

Here’s more from the NL Central:

  • Elizabeth Bloom of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette looks at a few interesting subjects involving the Pirates. In particular, she dives into the question of fastball velocity in regard to closer Felipe Vazquez, whose slight loss of speed does not seem to represent much cause for concern — particularly since he has actually increased the spin rate on the offering. Though Vazquez only carries a 3.86 ERA on the year, it’s worth noting too that he has been hurt by a 58.3% strand rate. That said, while Vazquez is still getting loads of swinging strikes, his walk rate has gone backwards and he isn’t getting as many grounders as he has in years past. At this point, he hasn’t shown quite the level of dominance he did in 2017, but there’s not yet any reason to believe he won’t be a quality late-inning arm for the foreseeable future.
  • The Brewers activated righty Chase Anderson from the DL to take the ball yesterday, optioning Freddy Peralta to open a roster spot. It’s certainly good news for Milwaukee that Anderson was able to bounce back quickly from illness; now, the 30-year-old will look go get back on track after a messy start to the year. He has managed a 3.86 ERA in 51 1/3 frames, but has showing worrying trends in his peripherals that have fielding-independent pitching metrics raising red flags (6.02 FIP; 5.36 xFIP; 5.16 SIERA). The brief respite for Anderson may not have been the worst thing for all involved. In addition to giving him a chance to get sorted, the team surely now feels like it has a better sense of Peralta’s potential to help at the MLB level in the near term. His second outing wasn’t quite as stirring as his first, to be sure, but Peralta impressed overall by allowing just four earned runs on four hits while recording 18 strikeouts against eight walks in 9 2/3 innings.
  • Over at Fangraphs, there are a couple pieces well worth a read for fans of the division. Jeff Sullivan examines the curious case of Cardinals reliever Jordan Hicks, the flamethrowing reliever who has thus far registered very few strikeouts. It’s a well-balanced take on the youngster, who certainly has exhibited a fascinating skill but still will need to make improvements to become a dominant MLB reliever. Speaking of fastballs, Jay Jaffe looks at the arsenal of Cubs starter Yu Darvish and his reasonably promising return from the DL. It’s a complicated picture, but well worth a look for anyone looking to gauge where things are headed for the high-priced hurler.

Central Notes: Cardinals, Brewers, Bucs, Royals

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Greg Holland’s short tenure with the Cardinals took another disastrous turn Saturday when the once-dominant reliever got the loss against the Phillies, who scored twice on him in 2/3 of an inning. Holland, whom the Cards guaranteed $14MM after he went through spring training unemployed, has now pitched to a sky-high 7.30 ERA with astoundingly poor strikeout and walk rates (6.57 K/9, 10.22 BB/9) across 12 1/3 innings this season. Nevertheless, there’s no indication the the Cardinals will ask him to head to the minors to work through his issues, Joe Trezza of MLB.com tweets. Even if the Redbirds were interested in demoting Holland, they’d need the 32-year-old’s consent to do so. It doesn’t appear they’d receive it, though, as Holland “flatly denounced the idea” of going down, Trezza writes.

  • In better news for the Cardinals, ace Carlos Martinez received “encouraging” results on the right shoulder MRI he underwent this week, according to president John Mozeliak (Twitter link via Rob Rains of STLSportsPage). Martinez is on track to begin a throwing program Monday and return to the Cards’ rotation within one or two weeks, Rains adds. The fireballer has been out since May 8, before which he notched a 1.62 ERA/3.38 FIP across 50 innings.
  • Although the Royals own the majors’ second-worst record (14-31) and look like sellers in the making, they’re not yet focused on trades, general manager Dayton Moore tells Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com. “It all depends on where we’re at when that time comes,” Moore said. “Honestly, we’ve never been a team that has traded many guys off the 25-man roster. We’ll see where we are. There’s no reason to make advance decisions on that.” For now, the Moore-led Royals are more concerned about June’s draft, in which they own five of the first 58 picks, Flanagan points out. Once the draft’s in the rearview mirror, the Royals may have at least a few potential trade chips in contract-year veterans Mike Moustakas, Kelvin Herrera, Jon Jay, Lucas Duda and Alcides Escobar; speculatively, though, quality returns may be hard to come by in most of those cases.
  • The Pirates plan to activate second baseman Josh Harrison from the disabled list Sunday, manager Clint Hurdle told Chris Adamski of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and other reporters Saturday. Harrison has been out since mid-April with a fractured left hand, and fellow second base options Sean Rodriguez, Max Moroff and Adam Frazier haven’t been particularly productive in his absence. The club optioned Moroff to Triple-A on Saturday.
  • As is the case with Martinez, the outlook for Brewers righty Jimmy Nelson is also positive. Nelson, who’s working back from the right shoulder surgery he underwent last September, got good news after his visit with Dr. Neal ElAttrache this week, per Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He’s now at the beginning of a 10-day rest period, Rosiak reports.
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