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NL Injury Notes: Giants, Floro, Ahmed, Simmons

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The Giants provided updates on some veteran names who have yet to appear in Spring Training games, though Brandon Belt and Evan Longoria are both expected to be ready for Opening Day, manager Gabe Kapler told MLB.com’s Maria Guardado and other reporters.  Longoria has been dealing with right index finger tendinitis, while Belt has inflammation in his right knee.  The latter issue might be the bigger problem on paper, given Belt’s history of knee injuries, but Kapler said “We don’t really have concerns.  It’s just going to be a later start for Brandon.”

Tommy La Stella has also yet to take the field this spring, but is running the bases and taking part in other baseball activities.  After undergoing Achilles surgery in October, La Stella is now “getting very close to being ready,” Kapler said, and “Tommy has shared strongly that he wants the opportunity to be ahead of schedule and be ready for Opening Day.”  The final call will be up to La Stella and the team’s training staff, but even if La Stella isn’t quite ready to go when San Francisco begins play, Kapler intimated that the infielder wouldn’t miss too much time.

Some other injury notes from around the National League…

  • Dylan Floro has yet to pitch during Spring Training, as the right-hander is dealing with some arm soreness.  Marlins manager Don Mattingly was non-committal about Floro’s readiness for the Opening Day roster, telling MLB.com’s Christina De Nicola and other reporters that “We’ll just have to see how that goes,” though Mattingly did note that Floro worked through some similar issues last year with no ill effects during the season.  One of baseball’s more underrated relievers of the last four seasons, Floro posted a 2.81 ERA over 64 innings in 2021, his first year in Miami.  This performance had put Floro in line for perhaps the majority of ninth-inning work for the Marlins this season, though Mattingly said “I think we’re going to be more of a mix-and-match club” for save situations.  Some new faces could also be joining the bullpen, as GM Kim Ng has stated the Marlins are exploring the relief market.
  • Nick Ahmed’s bothersome right shoulder is “good enough” for the Diamondbacks shortstop “to be out there right now,” but Ahmed told The Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro that his shoulder still isn’t 100 percent after almost two years of intermittent soreness.  Even after receiving two injections in his shoulder this past offseason, Ahmed said the treatment “didn’t go great, how I wanted them to go.  I just ended up rehabbing it most of the offseason.”  Surgery doesn’t appear to be an option at this point, as Ahmed said he has been working out a training regiment to help keep his shoulder strong and capable of holding up over 162 games.  Between his nagging shoulder injury and a knee problem, Ahmed admitted that injuries played a big part in his steep dropoff at the plate, as the shortstop batted only .221/.280/.339 in 473 plate appearances in 2021.  On the plus side, Ahmed’s health didn’t hamper his fielding, as he was still one of the game’s better defensive shortstops.
  • Speaking of Gold Glove shortstops, Andrelton Simmons is also dealing with some right shoulder soreness, Cubs manager told reporters (including The Chicago Tribune’s Meghan Montemurro).  Simmons hasn’t played the last two days and was in Thursday’s lineup only as the DH.  Simmons joined the Cubs on a one-year, $4MM deal soon after the lockout ended.

Rays Acquire Harold Ramirez From Cubs

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The Rays have acquired outfielder Harold Ramírez from the Cubs in exchange for minor league infielder Esteban Quiroz, according to announcements from both teams. Tampa Bay announced they’ve placed reliever Nick Anderson on the 60-day injured list to open space for Ramírez on the 40-man roster.

The move brings Ramírez’s Chicago tenure to an end before he ever suited up for the team. The Cubs acquired the right-handed hitting outfielder from the Guardians in exchange for cash in late November. That came after Cleveland had designated him for assignment in advance of Rule 5 protection day, part of an overhaul of more than a quarter of the Guardians’ 40-man roster.

While Ramírez didn’t play in a game with the Cubs, he has logged a fair bit of MLB action over the past few seasons. A former Blue Jays’ farmhand, Ramírez debuted in the majors with the Marlins in 2019. He hit .276/.312/.416 in 119 games as a rookie, but he missed almost all of the following season after suffering a severe hamstring strain. Cleveland picked him up off waivers in February and gave him 361 plate appearances, and his .268/.305/.398 line wasn’t much different than his 2019 performance.

The 27-year-old Ramírez has a career .271/.308/.405 mark in a bit more than 800 plate appearances. He makes a fair amount of contact, leading to a solid batting average. Yet he’s paired that with a minuscule 4% walk rate and a below-average .134 ISO (slugging minus average). Ramírez’s 47.2% hard contact percentage and 91.3 MPH average exit velocity were more impressive than those bottom line power numbers might suggest, but he negated a good bit of that batted ball authority by putting more than half his balls in play on the ground.

Ramírez adds an affordable option to the Tampa Bay outfield. He’ll play the 2022 campaign on just a $728K salary and is controllable via arbitration through 2025. The Rays could keep him around as a long-term piece, but he’s also out of minor league option years. That means Tampa Bay must either carry him on the active roster all season or DFA him themselves.

Whether Ramírez sticks long-term could be determined by what the Rays have planned for the coming weeks. The outfield is already pretty crowded, with Randy Arozarena, Kevin Kiermaier and Manuel Margot lined up as the projected starting group. Austin Meadows will see some time in the corners and at designated hitter, while the out-of-options Brett Phillips and top prospect Josh Lowe figure to be in the mix. It may be tough to carry both Phillips and Ramírez in depth capacities all season, but the former is a better defensive option off the bench. Ramírez has some experience in center field but is better suited for the corners.

Of course, it’s possible the Rays deal from the outfield logjam before the season. Meadows, in particular, has been floated in trade rumors since the lockout was lifted. The front office isn’t going to be pressured to deal one of their regulars because they picked up Ramírez in a minor trade, but today’s deal could be a preemptive move to bolster the outfield depth in case another swap on the horizon.

From the Cubs’ perspective, the pair of Ramírez trades essentially amounts to picking up Quiroz for cash. Despite never having appeared in the majors, Quiroz is actually a few years older than Ramírez. At 30 years old, the lefty-hitting infielder isn’t a prototypical prospect. Yet he has a long track record of performing well in both the Mexican League and in the high minors, one that has caught the attention of a handful of clubs.

Originally signed by the Red Sox out of Mexico, Quiroz was dealt to the Padres for Colten Brewer over the 2018-19 offseason. Tampa Bay picked him up in March 2020 as the player to be named later in the Tommy Pham, Jake Cronenworth, Hunter Renfroe deal. Listed at 5’6″, 199 pounds, he doesn’t have overwhelming physical tools. Yet Quiroz owns a .270/.391/.534 line in his Triple-A career, including a .268/.401/.526 mark with the Rays’ top affiliate in Durham last season. Quiroz won’t occupy a spot on the Cubs 40-man roster; he’ll presumably head to Triple-A Iowa and keep trying to earn an MLB debut.

Anderson’s placement on the 60-day IL was a formality whenever the Rays needed a roster spot. The righty underwent a UCL brace procedure last October that was always expected to keep him out of action past the All-Star Break.

Cubs Designate Tommy Nance For Assignment

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The Cubs announced Friday that they’ve reinstated right-hander Tommy Nance from the Covid-19-related injured list and designated him for assignment. Nance went on the Covid list earlier in the week as a corresponding move when the team finalized its one-year deals with lefties Drew Smyly and Daniel Norris. However, with no open 40-man spot to return to, Nance will now either be traded or placed on waivers within a week’s time.

Nance, 31, made his MLB debut last season and tossed 28 2/3 innings out of the Chicago bullpen. He was hit hard in that time, yielding five homers and a 7.22 ERA, but Nance impressed in  Triple-A (2.35 ERA, 18-to-3 K/BB ratio in 15 1/3 frames) and has a generally solid track record in the upper minors.

Struggles during his first taste of the Majors notwithstanding, Nance could appeal to other clubs for a few reasons. He averaged better than 95 mph on a heater that had above-average spin, and the spin rate on his curveball ranked among the game’s elite, landing in the 90th percentile. He also punched out 26.1% of the opponents he faced between Triple-A and the Majors last year and has a pair of minor league option seasons remaining. If Nance does pass through waivers unclaimed, he can return to Cubs camp and would likely head to Triple-A Iowa to begin the 2022 season in hopes of pitching his way back up to the MLB club.

Cubs Designate Sergio Alcantara For Assignment

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The Cubs have designated infielder Sergio Alcantara for assignment, per a team announcement. His spot on the 40-man roster will go to veteran reliever Mychal Givens, whose previously reported one-year deal has now been formally announced by the team.

Claimed off waivers out of the Tigers organization in Feb. 2021, Alcantara wound up appearing in 89 games with Chicago — most of which came after the team had stripped down the roster with a July fire sale that saw Kris Bryant, Javier Baez and Anthony Rizzo traded (among others). The 25-year-old Alcantara logged 255 plate appearances with the Cubs but managed only a tepid .205/.303/.327 batting line during that stretch — his first extended look at the MLB level. He’d previously had a brief 10-game, 23-plate appearance cup of coffee with Detroit in 2020.

In addition to that lackluster showing in the big leagues, Alcantara owns a pedestrian .261/.340/.317 batting line in 822 plate appearances at the Double-A level. He did hit .305/.447/.451 in a small sample of 103 Triple-A plate appearances in 2021, but that’s an outlier relative to his overall body of work in the minors. Offense, however, has never Alcantara’s calling card anyhow. He’s regarded as a plus defensive player at shortstop who can also handle second base and third base. He’s also walked in 11.1% of his minor league plate appearances against a 17.1% strikeout rate, showing solid bat-to-ball skills and a good knowledge of the strike zone.

An above-average runner with a strong throwing arm and good defensive skills on the whole, Alcantara could potentially be of interest to clubs around the league as they evaluate bench options for the expanded 28-man roster early in the season. He has a minor league option year remaining as well, so he can provide some additional bench flexibility throughout the season. The Cubs will have a week to trade Alcantara or attempt to pass him through outright waivers.

Latest On Willson Contreras

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The Cubs have overhauled a good portion of their roster this winter. Among the most impactful moves was bringing in veteran backstop Yan Gomes — the top catcher in this year’s free agent crop — on a two-year deal prior to the lockout.

That has naturally led to some trade speculation regarding incumbent catcher Willson Contreras, who’s entering his final year of club control. There hasn’t been much firm indication the Cubs have shopped the 29-year-old this winter, but they’d also yet to open talks regarding a possible long-term extension with his representatives as of last week.

Speaking with Bruce Levine of 670 The Score over the weekend, an emotional Contreras acknowledged the possibility he could either be dealt or depart the organization via free agency next winter. “This is something that is really tough for me,” the two-time All-Star said. “Personally, the relationships I have with the team, players and fans, (leaving would) be something that will be really tough to take. This is something very emotional for me, knowing all that I have had to go through to get to this point. It’s going to be really tough and very emotional.”

Levine reports that the Yankees and Padres are among the teams that have checked in with the Cubs to gauge Contreras’ availability, although it’s not clear if any discussions are currently ongoing. Chicago certainly doesn’t have to trade the right-handed backstop, as the implementation of the universal designated hitter could allow manager David Ross to pencil both him and Gomes into the lineup on a regular basis. The Cubs’ fairly active offseason suggests they’re not punting the 2022 campaign entirely, and keeping both players would give the team enviable depth behind the dish and the opportunity to lengthen the overall lineup.

That said, one could argue that having Contreras and Gomes as a 1A/1B tandem between catcher and designated hitter isn’t an optimal deployment of those players. Both are good hitters for catchers, but neither has the kind of offensive track record that’d make them great fits as regular options at the DH spot. Contreras is the better offensive player of the duo, but even he falls a bit shy of the typical output expected from the bat-only position.

Contreras has been an above-average hitter by measure of wRC+ in each of his six career seasons. Going back to the start of 2020, he owns a .239/.345/.429 line, numbers that check in nine percentage points above the league average. That’s markedly better than the .230/.307/.392 figure put up by catchers around the league, but it’s not elite middle-of-the-order output overall. Most American League teams have increasingly preferred to cycle various regulars through the DH spot as quasi-rest days unless they have an excellent bat-only player to plug in. Just seven hitters tallied 300+ plate appearances as a DH last year; of that group, only Miguel Cabrera didn’t outhit Contreras.

While he might not be a great fit for semi-regular DH time, Contreras should hold plenty of appeal to catching-needy teams. The Yankees make an unsurprising possibility after trading away Gary Sánchez. New York is presently slated to roll with Kyle Higashioka and Ben Rortvedt behind the dish. That duo figures to be capable defensively but doesn’t seem likely to come close to Contreras’ production at the plate.

The Padres making a run would be more surprising, as San Diego already has something of a logjam at catcher. Contreras’ price tag could also prove problematic for the Friars. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him for an $8.7MM salary in his final year of arbitration. That’d come with a matching luxury tax hit, and the Padres already have around $224MM in CBT commitments, in the estimation of Jason Martinez of Roster Resource. Acquiring Contreras would push the Friars right up against or perhaps past the $230MM base tax threshold, and Dennis Lin of the Athletic wrote last week the club would prefer to not surpass the CBT marker for the second straight season.

Aside from Contreras, there don’t seem to be many options for teams looking to upgrade behind the plate before the start of the season. Almost all the free agent options at the position have been signed, and there aren’t any other teams who seem likely to make regulars available in trade. The A’s might entertain the possibility of moving Sean Murphy, but that seems unlikely since he has yet to even reach arbitration eligibility. The trade market may just consist of depth types like Reese McGuire and Jorge Alfaro if the Cubs elect to hold onto Contreras.

Cubs, Robel Garcia Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Cubs signed infielder Robel García to a minor league contract over the weekend, according to the transactions tracker at MLB.com. The switch-hitting infielder returns to the organization with which he began his MLB career.

García broke into pro ball with the Indians in 2010 but didn’t advance past Low-A in three-plus years in the system. He was out of affiliated ball entirely for some time, but García posted big numbers playing professionally in Italy between 2017-18. The Cubs were intrigued and brought him back to the affiliated ranks on a minors pact over the 2018-19 offseason.

Upon stepping into the high minors in the system, García picked up where he’d left off in Italy. He tore the cover off the ball for a month in Double-A, then hit .281/.361/.585 with 21 home runs over 296 plate appearances at Triple-A Iowa. The Cubs selected him to make his major league debut that July, and he appeared in 31 games. The Dominica Republic native hit five homers in 80 plate appearances, but he also struck out 35 times while drawing just seven walks.

Chicago waived García the following July, and he was claimed by the division-rival Reds. After spending the 2020 season at Cincinnati’s alternate training site, he bounced around the waiver wire from the Mets to the Angels to the Astros. García stuck in Houston for the bulk of last year, tallying a personal-high 117 plate appearances over 47 games. He hit only .151/.216/.208 with one homer in that time, though, and he struggled to a .162/.272/.368 mark over 32 games with Triple-A Sugar Land.

The Astros designated García for assignment and outrighted him off their 40-man roster last September. He elected minor league free agency and now returns to the place where he began the second act of his career. Swing-and-miss has been a clear problem for García, who has punched out in 33.1% of his Triple-A plate appearances and nearly 40% of his big league trips to the dish. Yet he’s capable of playing anywhere on the infield and has flashed some power potential in the past. The Cubs will take add him back to the organization, although it might be hard for García to crack an Opening Day infield mix that figures to include Andrelton Simmons, Nico Hoerner, Nick Madrigal, Jonathan Villar and Patrick Wisdom.

Cubs To Sign Steven Brault

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March 21: Brault’s deal has been reworked as a minor league contract with a non-roster invite to Spring Training and a July opt-out opportunity, tweets Bastian. The veteran lefty is now dealing with an “injury setback” of some type, per Bastian — hence the restructured deal. He’d earn at a $1.5MM rate in the big leagues and can tack on up to $400K worth of incentives.

March 16, 11:30am: Brault is signing a Major League contract with the Cubs, tweets Jordan Bastian of MLB.com.

10:44am: The Cubs are close to a deal with free-agent lefty Steven Brault, tweets Robert Murray of FanSided. The longtime Pirates southpaw became a free agent earlier this offseason when Pittsburgh cut him loose just prior to the non-tender deadline. Brault is represented by Warner Sports Management.

Brault, 30 in April, has tallied 70 1/3 innings for the Pirates since 2020.  He was occasionally deployed as an opener in the shortened 2020 season, though he did close out that year by allowing only one earned run over 16 innings across two starts.  In March of 2021, Brault suffered a lat strain, pushing his season debut to August 4.  In seven starts, he completed five innings only twice, with his velocity down 1.4 miles per hour from the prior year.  The lat strain re-occured on September 10, ending his season and six-year career with the Pirates.

Brault’s career high in innings in an MLB season is 113 1/3, back in 2019.  In his big league career, he’s generally struggled with walks and hasn’t missed bats.  Brault was a two-way player at Regis University, and was drafted by the Orioles in the 11th round in 2013 and traded to the Pirates two years later.  The athletic lefty managed to hit .333 in 50 plate appearances back in 2019, and which point the suggestion arose that he could occasionally pitch in in the outfield.  If Brault is healthy, there could still be a potential back-end starter in there for the Cubs.  They badly need the depth, especially with Adbert Alzolay starting the season on the IL.

Cubs To Sign Jonathan Villar

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March 19: The latest breakdown from Feinsand marks the deal as a $4.5MM base with a $1.5MM buyout on a $10MM mutual option for the 2023 season. There are also $500K in incentives tied to the 2022 season.

March 17: The Cubs have reached an agreement with free-agent infielder Jonathan Villar, reports Robert Murray of Fansided. The ACES client’s contract is pending the completion of a physical. Villar’s deal with the Cubs is worth $6MM, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. The one-year deal also includes a mutual option for the 2023 season and performance incentives that can boost that $6MM base, tweets MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand.

Jonathan Villar

Villar, 30, spent the 2021 season with the Mets, where he put together a solid .249/.322/.416 showing with 18 home runs, 18 doubles, a pair of triples and a 14-for-21 showing in the stolen-base department. That marked the second straight season of solid production at the dish for the switch-hitting Villar, who also slashed .274/.339/.453 with 24 long balls and 40 stolen bases as a member of the Orioles.

Unfortunately for Villar, that pair of above-average seasons at the plate bookended a disastrous 2020 showing that has hampered his earning power in free agency to some extent. Splitting the 2020 campaign between Miami and Toronto, Villar posted a combined .232/.301/.292 line through 207 trips to the plate. Small sample or not, that marked the least-productive year of what is now a nine-year career as a big leaguer — and it came on the cusp of Villar’s first venture into free-agent waters.

The Cubs’ infield picture is largely up in the air at the moment, so it’s not yet clear just where Villar will slot in. He’s capable of playing second base, third base and shortstop, though he’s better suited for the former two positions than the latter. The Cubs are hopeful that former No. 4 overall pick Nick Madrigal, acquired from the White Sox for Craig Kimbrel at last year’s trade deadline, will be able to step up as their everyday second baseman. Madrigal, however, is recovering from surgery to repair a full tear of his hamstring last year, so it’s not a given that he’ll hit the ground running.

At third base, the Cubs currently look like they’ll rely primarily on journeyman Patrick Wisdom. Although Wisdom came out of nowhere to smash 28 home runs last season and post a .231/.305/.518 (115 wRC+) batting line as a rookie, he did so while striking out in a staggering 40.8% of his plate appearances. He can’t be counted upon to repeat last year’s surprising power display if he’s going to continue striking out at a near-41% pace, and Villar will give Chicago some cover at the hot corner if Wisdom takes a step back.

Looking to shortstop, the Cubs will hand things over to veteran Andrelton Simmons. The longtime Braves and Angels defensive standout struggled through an awful year at the plate in his lone season with the Twins last year (.223/.283./274) but remains one of the sport’s best gloves. He’ll probably log the lion’s share of innings at shortstop as he searches for a rebound to prior levels of offense.

Villar can back up any of the three positions, and the Cubs still have former first-round pick Nico Hoerner as an option to fill in around the infield as well. Hoerner, much like Madrigal has virtually no power but possesses excellent bat-to-ball skills and a sharp eye at the plate (14.7% strikeout rate, 10% walk rate in 2021). Each of Madrigal, Simmons, Wisdom and Hoerner hits right-handed, so Villar’s switch-hitting bat gives manager David Ross some more flexibility and additional matchup options.

Cubs To Sign Drew Smyly

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The Cubs and starter Drew Smyly are in agreement on a one-year contract with a mutual option for a second year. The first year carries a $4.25MM base with a $1MM buyout on a 2023 mutual option. Smyly, then, is guaranteed $5.25MM over one season with an additional $2.5MM available in potential incentives. The two sides were reportedly close to coming to terms on a deal yesterday.

Smyly should actually get the opportunity to take the hill in Cubbie blue this time: he previously signed a backloaded two-year deal with the Cubs when recovering from Tommy John surgery prior to the 2018 season. He spent that year rehabbing with the organization without ever making an in-game appearance.

After the season, the Cubs dealt Smyly to the Rangers in a bit of financial acrobatics. At the time, the Cubs were trying to bring back Cole Hamels, who had a buyout option that Texas was on the hook to pay if the Cubs didn’t accept a team option. The Rangers were basically given the choice of paying Hamels’ $6MM buyout, or taking on Smyly and his $7MM, one-year deal.

The Rangers chose to avoid the dead money and add Smyly to their rotation. Even if Texas’ hand was forced to a certain degree, they needed pitching, and Smyly seemed a fair and affordable bet to rebound from Tommy John surgery. Unfortunately, he never found his footing with the Rangers, posting a 8.42 ERA across 51 1/3 innings, earning his release in June.

Since then, he’s become a mercenary swingman, finishing the 2019 season with the Phillies, spending the shortened 2020 year with the Giants, and then winning a World Series ring as part of the Braves last season.  Smyly did not make the postseason rotation, but he did appear in three games during the run, including twice in the World Series.

During the regular season, he made 23 starts and appeared in 29 games for the Braves, logging a not-insubstantial 126 2/3 innings with a 4.48 ERA/5.11 FIP. Smyly continued a career trend in keeping the ball in the air with just a 39.2 percent groundball rate in 2021. He recorded a 21.4 percent strikeout rate and 7.5 percent walk rate, both numbers fairly close to average marks for a starting pitcher.

For the Cubs, Smyly can help fill out a rotation that’s improved from last year’s unit, but still facing a number of questions. Marcus Stroman, Kyle Hendricks, and Wade Miley make up a veteran front three, but there’s not much beyond that veteran trio, especially with the recent news that Adbert Alzolay will begin the year on the injured list. Smyly becomes the leading candidate for the fourth spot in the rotation, and given the guaranteed money on his deal, he’s a safe bet to at least start the season in the rotation.

Looking over his shoulder, Alec Mills, Steven Brault, Justin Steele, Keegan Thompson, Cory Abbott, Anderson Espinoza, and Brailyn Marquez are other potential rotation candidates. Down the line, Caleb Kilian, Ryan Jensen, Riley Thompson, and Alexander Vizcaino are prospects with some pedigree who could play their way into rotation minutes.

The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (via Twitter) broke the initial news of the deal, while MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (via Twitter) added the initial financial terms. MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand provided the details of the mutual option.

Cubs In Discussions With Drew Smyly

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The Cubs are “deep in discussions” with free agent Drew Smyly, reports Bruce Levine of 670 The Score (on Twitter). If a deal were to get across the finish line, it’d technically mark Smyly’s second stint as a Cub. The left-hander signed with Chicago over the 2017-18 offseason, but he missed the entire season due to injury and was traded to the Rangers the following winter.

Smyly has bounced between four clubs in the three years since. He split the 2019 campaign between Texas and Philadelphia. After a terrible start to the year with the Rangers, he bounced back to provide the Phils with capable back-of-the-rotation production. The Giants signed Smyly that winter, and while he only worked 26 1/3 innings during the shortened schedule, he struck out an incredible 37.8% of opposing hitters.

That small-sample performance intrigued the Braves enough they rolled the dice on an $11MM guarantee for Smyly last offseason. He didn’t sustain the huge spike in whiffs, though, as his strikeout rate fell to a slightly below-average 21.4% mark. That was much more in line with his career rate, and Smyly struggled to keep the ball in the yard en route to a 4.48 ERA. He did make 29 appearances (including 23 starts) for the World Series champs, absorbing 126 2/3 innings.

There hasn’t been much buzz since Smyly hit the open market this time around, but he’s one of the more accomplished arms remaining in a free agent rotation class that has thinned out. The 32-year-old owns a 4.18 ERA in 837 1/3 innings over parts of eight big league seasons. He’s a generally productive back-end starter who has shown flashes of mid-rotation or better upside during his career. The Cubs don’t have a ton of certainty in the rotation beyond the top trio of Marcus Stroman, Kyle Hendricks and Wade Miley — particularly with righty Adbert Alzolay missing at least the first two months of the season.

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