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Injury Notes: Dyson, Cueto, Polanco, Dominguez, Morejon

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The Twins are waiting to see how reliever Sam Dyson responds to some time off to deal with recurring biceps soreness. Chief baseball officer Derek Falvey discussed the matter with reporters including Phil Miller of the Star Tribune (Twitter link). It’s an effort to “get out ahead” of things, says Falvey. The Twins need their most significant trade deadline acquisition at top form with a major postseason clash beckoning. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been himself since coming over. Dyson owns a 7.15 ERA in a dozen appearances in Minnesota.

More injury updates from around the game …

  • Giants right-hander Johnny Cueto, on the mend from 2018 Tommy John surgery, experienced a setback in his most recent rehab outing, tweets Kerry Crowley of the San Jose Mercury News. He’ll be reevaluated in the next few days but won’t be an option for the team as soon as originally hoped. Manager Bruce Bochy had previously put a tentative date of Sept. 8 on a return for Cueto, but that no longer appears to be a plausible timeline. Back tightness, rather than arm issues, has caused the revised timeline. While there’s still hope that Cueto will make it back to the big-league bump this season, the organization will surely avoid any unnecessary risks.
  • A few Pirates outfielders won’t return to action this year, as Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports (Twitter links). Gregory Polanco will receive platelet-rich plasma injections in a bid to spur healing in his troublesome shoulder. That’ll be a key situation to monitor in the offseason for the Pittsburgh organization. Jason Martin now has his own shoulder malady to deal with: a separation suffered yesterday. He’s expected to miss the rest of the year. Infielder Kevin Kramer will come up to the active roster due in part to Martin’s absence. Though Bucs righty Mitch Keller was hit in the wrist with a batted ball yesterday, he was able to play catch today. his timeline isn’t clear, but that certainly seems like promising news.
  • The Phillies got some promising news on righty reliever Seranthony Dominguez, who has at times seemed destined to miss the rest of the season. Despite a recent scare, he has shown enough progress in his elbow health to resume throwing, manager Gabe Kapler told reporters including Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philly (via tweet). It’s still not clear that Dominguez will have enough time to ramp up and return to active duty, though perhaps there’s still an outside shot.
  • Padres southpaw Adrian Morejon will not make it back to the bigs in 2019, Dennis Lin of The Athletic tweets. That’s not to say that the widely hailed 20-year-old isn’t making progress. His injured shoulder is in good enough shape to allow Morejon to resume throwing. Though he struggled quite a bit in limited MLB action, Morejon has generally shown all the skills that made him a consensus top-100 leaguewide prospect. He’ll likely again factor into the San Diego plans next season, though he’ll do so without much of an innings base to work from. Morejon has not yet thrown more than 65 1/3 frames in a given campaign and fell shy of that mark this year.

Pirates Notes: Archer, Polanco, Koehler

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The latest on a few injured Pirates, courtesy of Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

  • The season has gone down the drain for the Pirates, whose 56-77 record is among the worst in the majors, but they’re still hoping to see right-hander Chris Archer take the hill again this year. Archer went to the injured list a week ago on account of shoulder inflammation, though he has made good progress since then, director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk explained Wednesday. Archer still hasn’t thrown a baseball since he landed on the IL, though, so it’s hardly a foregone conclusion that he’ll return to the mound in 2019. Regardless, the Pirates seem likely to exercise Archer’s $9MM club option (in lieu of a $1.75MM buyout) once the offseason arrives. While Archer was a highly regarded starter when he joined the Pirates last summer in a major trade with the Rays, the current campaign has been an injury-limited disaster for the 30-year-old. Archer has given Pittsburgh 119 2/3 innings of 5.19 ERA/5.01 FIP ball this season.
  • As with Archer, it’s uncertain whether outfielder Gregory Polanco will suit up for the Bucs again in ’19. Polanco’s shoulder has been a problem for about a year now – he underwent surgery in mid-September of 2018, sat out until late April this season and then went back to the IL in the middle of June. Although Polanco’s rehab in Bradenton, Fla., is going well at the moment, there may not be enough time left in the Double-A or Triple-A seasons for him to play with those affiliates before a potential return to the majors. Indeed, Tomcyzyk admitted that Pittsburgh’s “running up against the clock” with Polanco. The 27-year-old has been a rather valuable piece for the Pirates in the past, especially in 2018, but his shoulder troubles have helped hold him to an ineffective .242/.301/.425 line in 167 plate appearances this season. Next year will be the penultimate guaranteed season of the $35MM extension Polanco signed back in 2016. He’ll earn $8MM in 2020.
  • The Pirates have shut righty Tom Koehler down for the year after he suffered a setback in his recovery from shoulder surgery. Koehler underwent the procedure last July as a member of the Dodgers, for whom he didn’t pitch at all in 2018, and has thrown just four innings at the minor league level this season. The 33-year-old signed with the Pirates on a minors pact last winter. Also a former Marlin and Blue Jay, Koehler has recorded a 4.39 ERA/4.49 FIP with 6.93 K/9 and 3.69 BB/9 in 784 1/3 frames in the majors.

NL Notes: Castellanos, Cubs, Padres, Richards, Pirates

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Outfielder Nicholas Castellanos is only about a week into his Cubs tenure, but Patrick Mooney of The Athletic (subscription link) wonders if the free agent-to-be will work his way into the team’s plans past this season. Castellanos has excelled at the plate over a rather small sample of work as a Cub, and as Mooney explains, the former Tiger has taken a liking to his new franchise. While the 27-year-old Castellanos will be one of the top hitters in the upcoming winter’s free-agent class, a lack of defensive value figures to limit his earning power. The price could be palatable enough for the Cubs to retain him, but it wouldn’t be ideal that Castellanos would have to remain a full-time outfielder in a DH-less league.

More from the NL…

  • The Padres don’t expect the shoulder tightness that forced right-hander Garrett Richards from his latest rehab start to require an MRI, per Jeff Sanders on the San Diego Union-Tribune. “We’ll see how it responds over the coming week to treatment and when he picks up a ball in the near future,” manager Andy Green said of Richards. If all goes well, the former Angel could debut with the Padres sometime before this season ends. The Padres signed Richards to a two-year, $15.5MM contract last winter just a few months after he underwent Tommy John surgery.
  • Prized Pirates righty Mitch Keller is likely to return to the majors for a start next Tuesday, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette suggests. The 23-year-old is one of the game’s highest-ranked pitching prospects, but a three-start audition in the majors from May to June didn’t go well. Keller allowed 14 earned runs on 21 hits and six walks in a 12-inning span, though he did strike out 15 batters. And Keller has held his own this year in his debut in the offense-driven International League. In 103 2/3 innings with Triple-A Indianapolis, he has pitched to a 3.56 ERA/3.60 FIP with 10.68 K/9 and 3.04 BB/9.
  • More on the Pirates from Mackey, who has the latest on injured outfielder Gregory Polanco and catcher Francisco Cervelli. Polanco, who hasn’t played since June 16 because of left shoulder problems, has received clearance to restart baseball activities. It’s still not clear when he might return to the Bucs, however. Polanco also sat out the first couple weeks of 2019 on account of his shoulder, which required season-ending surgery last September. Cervelli, trying to work back from a concussion that has shelved him since May 25, is progressing toward catching again this season. The concussion-prone Cervelli will first need “final clearances from our doctors, the commissioner’s office and the [MLBPA],” Pirates director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk said.

Latest On Jameson Taillon, Gregory Polanco

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6:52PM: The belief is that Taillon will need some type of surgery, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets.  Flexor damage is the better-case scenario, rather than elbow surgery, as a flexor procedure wouldn’t likely keep Taillon from being ready for the start of the 2020 season.

10:03AM: The Pirates’ hopes for a competitive 2019 season are looking rockier than ever as key players Jameson Taillon and Gregory Polanco struggle to turn the corner. Both are facing increasingly worrisome injury situations, as they discussed this morning with reporters including Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Twitter link) and The Athletic’s Rob Biertempfel (links to Twitter).

Taillon’s situation appears to be the one with the most at stake. We heard some ominous news yesterday as his rehab was halted. The additional word out of the Bucs’ locker room doesn’t provide much in the way of comfort.

The team still doesn’t know the outcome of his arm issues, but will learn more soon. Taillon will visit with orthopedist Dr. David Altchek on Monday. The righty says he’s “hoping it’s just the forearm” rather than an elbow problem that could require major surgery.

Taillon, who has previously undergone a Tommy John procedure, indicates that he’s “excited for whatever comes next” even if it means a lengthy rehab process. He says that he has “been stuck in a grey area for a while.” Though the team has long signaled that Taillon was expected to return this season, it seems there may have been greater internal pessimism throughout.

Any kind of significant arm procedure would be a worry for the Bucs. Taillon is one of the organization’s top players and best assets, at least assuming full health. But it seems he’s all but certainly done for the year; as he puts it, “this season is probably a wash for me.” Taillon only made seven starts this year after a superlative 2018 season, which means he’ll enter arbitration in the offseason with a weak platform that will limit his earnings.

As for Polanco, there’s also some longer-fuse worry. He says he pushed too hard to make it back from last year’s shoulder procedure, leading to the problems that have forced him to the shelf after a return. Now, he’s going to take some more time to rest after having his rehab assignment halted a week ago. Whether Polanco can make it back to the majors this year isn’t yet known, but certainly can’t be presumed.

Having already gone through an unsuccessful effort to ramp up relatively quickly and play at less than full health, Polanco says he’s now committed to fully healing. “This time, I want to be 100 percent,” he says. With the club owing him $23MM in future salary, including two guaranteed seasons and buyouts on a pair of options, a long-term outlook makes sense for all sides.

Needless to say, with the Bucs already reeling in the standings, they increasingly appear to be situated as a seller at the coming deadline. There’s not much of an argument to be made that the roster, especially sans Taillon and Polanco, can contend in the present campaign. The question the front office needs to consider most closely is whether it has the pieces needed to bounce back in 2020.

Pirates Halt Gregory Polanco’s Rehab Assignment

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The Pirates have shut down Gregory Polanco’s rehab assignment due to continued shoulder discomfort, director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk told reporters Wednesday (Twitter links via Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).

It doesn’t sound as if the club is concerned about any potential structural damage in Polanco’s surgically repaired shoulder, as Tomczyk called the joint both “strong” and “stable” in making today’s announcement. “We just need to figure out the details of what’s causing the soreness and the discomfort in the back of the shoulder,” he added.

Polanco, 27, has been sidelined since late June due to inflammation in a left shoulder that required season-ending surgery in 2018. He beat the initially projected recovery timeline associated with that procedure by more than a month when he was reinstated from the injured list on April 22, but Polanco hasn’t been himself even when healthy in 2019. Through his first 167 trips to the plate, he’s batted just .242/.301/.425 — a significant departure from last year’s .254/.340/.499 output.

Potential complications in Polanco’s recovery are of particular note given the team’s wealth of outfielders. It’s been reported that Pittsburgh preferred to trade Corey Dickerson due to a surplus that existed with Dickerson, Polanco, Starling Marte, rookie Bryan Reynolds and resurgent veteran Melky Cabrera. Whether the club would be so willing to move Dickerson now that there are renewed questions about Polanco’s health will likely depend on the extent to which the ongoing shoulder troubles are expected to hinder Polanco. For the time being, there’s no timeline available on Polanco’s return to the lineup. He’s headed back to Pittsburgh, where he’ll presumably undergo further testing.

Health Notes: McCann, Castillo, Polanco, Severino

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Veteran Braves backstop Brian McCann hasn’t yet decided on his future but feels great in the present, he tells David O’Brien of The Athletic (subscription link) as part of a lengthy and entertaining chat. The 35-year-old backstop would say only that “we’ll see what happens” when pressed on his intentions for playing beyond the current campaign. It certainly seems like a tempting proposition for McCann, who says he “feel[s] amazing” after undergoing knee surgery last year. While he has had some ups and downs at the plate this season, McCann carries a solid .257/.328/.427 batting line over 198 plate appearances and has been an excellent value for the Braves at $2MM. His ongoing knee health seems to bode well for the organization down the stretch.

More on a few health situations from around the game …

  • The White Sox announced today that they have activated catcher Welington Castillo. He ended up missing about a month with an oblique strain. It remains to be seen how the Chicago org will allocate playing time, but odds are James McCann will continue to receive the lion’s share of the duties behind the dish. Castillo could conceivably be moved later this month, if only because teams will be looking to stash depth in advance of the single trade deadline, but he won’t hold much appeal given his ugly .196/.289/.364 slash. The veteran backstop is also earning a hefty $7.25MM this year and is owed a $500K buyout on a $8MM club option for 2020. The White Sox may also just hang tight and see if their club can make a surprise run at a Wild Card slot.
  • Pirates outfielder Gregory Polanco won’t bounce back to the majors quite as quickly as had been hoped. As Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes, Polanco was pulled from a rehab contest with left shoulder tightness. For now, the club only intends to give him a brief rest without interrupting the rehab assignment. As Mackey notes, the timing is of some consequence to the Bucs. The club is in a tough spot as the trade deadline approaches, having slipped into the NL Central cellar. It’s arguably positioned to sell a left-handed-hitting outfielder regardless of what else it does — highly paid pending free agent Corey Dickerson seems a particular candidate — but it’ll be tough to pull the trigger on a deal if there’s uncertainly regarding Polanco’s availability.
  • As expected, Yankees righties Luis Severino and Dellin Betances resumed throwing yesterday, as MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch reports. Indications are that all went well for both hurlers in limited sessions, designed only to begin reintroducing their strained lats to the rigors of the MLB mound. Severino told reporters that he’d be willing to work back in a relief capacity if that’s the organization’s preference. While that’d bring him aboard quicker, it probably isn’t the optimal outcome for a club that has a need for quality rotation pieces and can probably afford to be patient.

Pirates Place Gregory Polanco On 10-Day IL

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The Pirates have placed outfielder Gregory Polanco on the 10-Day IL with left shoulder inflammation, the team announced. Outfielder Jason Martin has been recalled in his place. It’s the same shoulder on which Polanco underwent major surgery in the offseason, resulting in a month-long absence at the season’s outset. The move is retroactive to Wednesday, however, so it may just be a minor setback for the 29-year-old.

The lefty has struggled in his first 42 games for the team this season, slashing just .242/.301/.425 (89 wRC+) with an easily-career-high 29.3% strikeout rate. Polanco’s (left) throwing arm has graded out as subpar for the first time in his six-year big-league career thus far, so it’s certainly possible the shoulder is still giving him issue.

Martin, 23, was acquired from Houston as part of the Gerrit Cole deal, but has not been good after a midseason promotion to Triple-A in 2018. He boasts identical 65 wRC+ marks at Indianapolis both this season and last, and a 17-game cameo with Pittsburgh earlier in ’19 did not go well, as the rare lefty hitter/righty thrower slashed just .229/.289/.286 in limited action.

Rookie Bryan Reynolds has been a godsend for a beleaguered Pirate outfield thus far, but the team’ll need plenty of help elsewhere if it’s to overcome the six-under-.500 hole in which it currently sits.

Pirates Rumors: Kingham, Keller, Outfield, Vazquez

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The Pirates’ rotation in 2019 has been unexpectedly weak. Injuries to Jameson Taillon and Trevor Williams and some alarming regression for Chris Archer have overshadowed solid performances by Joe Musgrove and offseason signee Jordan Lyles. Longtime prospect Nick Kingham entered the year out of minor league options and struggled so greatly that the team begrudgingly designated him for assignment last week and now seems likely to lose the righty.

Pittsburgh isn’t currently certain who’ll start for the organization on Wednesday this week, but general manager Neal Huntington told reporters that the Pirates will “look externally” to see if there are any palatable options available (links via Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Adam Berry of MLB.com). Top prospect Mitch Keller is a candidate to make that start, but the Bucs have already recalled and optioned Keller once this season. The next time Keller is called up to the Majors, Huntington noted, the team would like it to be a permanent promotion. Adding an external option would allow the team to give Keller a bit more time in Triple-A, where he has 100 1/3 total innings since last season, but the Bucs won’t find a more talented option than Keller to plug in for that Wednesday outing.

In the meantime, the Pirates will explore the trade market to see what kind of interest there is in Kingham. Huntington noted that players with that type of prospect pedigree “tend to get traded” if they’re designated for assignment and expressed optimism that he will “be able to get something for him” even in spite of his considerable 2019 struggles. Kingham allowed an incredible 38 runs on 54 hits and 17 walks in 34 2/3 innings to begin the 2019 season, but he has a solid Triple-A track record and was long viewed as a potential big league starter. A rebuilding club like the Orioles, Blue Jays, Tigers, Royals or Giants could be intrigued by seeing how he fares in a change of scenery. An injury-plagued team like the Angels or Athletics could make some sense, too.

Perhaps a more intriguing source of trade speculation surrounding the Pirates, however, resides in the outfield. Corey Dickerson returned from the IL to join a mix that already had Bryan Reynolds, Starling Marte and Melky Cabrera playing well. Gregory Polanco has posted roughly average numbers at the plate since returning from shoulder surgery and has a solid track record prior to this season. With all five healthy, it’ll be tough to sort out playing time Huntington unsurprisingly declined to go into specifics but did at least acknowledge the possibility of a trade, stating that while the Pirates like all five outfielder, they’re “always open to opportunities to make this club better.”

That said, with the team slipping in the National League Central, it’s only natural that there’ll be increased speculation about the possibility of trades in the coming weeks — particularly when dealing from a position of strength like the outfield. Moving an outfielder, even to another contender (probably not within the division) could potentially net some help for a pitching staff that hasn’t performed up to expectations so far. If the Pirates surge back into contention — they’re seven back in the NL Central and five and a half back of a Wild Card spot — moving a short-term piece like Dickerson for another veteran could boost the staff. If their slide in the standings worsens, the Bucs could even entertain offers on Marte, who is controlled through 2021 by way of a pair of club options ($11.5MM in 2020, $12.5MM in 2021). Doing so could reap prospect value while opening a long-term spot for the cost-controlled Reynolds.

Also of interest in a selling scenario would be whether the Pirates make standout closer Felipe Vazquez available, but the fact that he is cheaply controlled through the 2023 season would make it extremely difficult to bite the bullet on a deal. “The ask will be big, and they won’t move from it,” one rival executive told ESPN’s Buster Olney when asked about a potential Vazquez deal (subscription required).

That’s probably an understatement. Vazquez has a 2.30 ERA with 14.2 K/9, 2.6 BB/9, 0.99 HR/9 and a 34.4 percent ground-ball rate in 27 1/3 innings so far in 2019. He’s being paid $4MM this year, $5.25MM in 2020 and $7.25MM in 2021 before the team will be able to decide on a pair of club options in 2022 and 2023 — both valued at $10MM. That’s four and a half seasons of control over Vazquez, who’ll turn 28 in July, for a shade under $35MM.

For the time being, it’s likely that the Bucs will find some kind of deal for Kingham (or that he’ll be claimed on waivers) and monitor the market for at least a potential spot-start option Wednesday. There’s sure to be more afoot over the next several weeks, as the Pirates will soon have to give a long-term audition to one of the game’s best overall prospects (Keller) and perhaps resolve an outfield logjam on the trade market. Whether that move is made with an eye toward 2019 or an eye toward 2020 and beyond will probably be dictated by the team’s performance in the near term.

Pirates Activate Gregory Polanco, Option Steven Brault

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We’re a smidge late on this one, as he’s already in action tonight, but it’s nevertheless worth highlighting that the Pirates have activated outfielder Gregory Polanco. To create active roster space, the club optioned Steven Brault.

When Polanco underwent surgery late last season with a torn shoulder labrum, it wasn’t entirely clear how long he’d be out. Indeed, that’s the sort of injury that can hamper a player even when he is back on the field.

As it turns out, Polanco was able to return to the majors at the early end of the estimates. (And he’s two-for-three with a walk already this evening.) That’s great news for his long-term outlook; clearly, he healed quickly and did not experience any setbacks or new issues during his rehab work.

It’s also critically important for the Bucs’ 2019 hopes. With Starling Marte now sidelined indefinitely, joining Corey Dickerson and Lonnie Chisenhall on the injured list, the outfield was badly in need of reinforcement.

The 27-year-old Polanco had an up-and-down showing in 2018, but ended the campaign with a career-best .254/.340/.499 slash and 23 long balls over 535 plate appearances. That’s the sort of output the Pittsburgh organization had long hoped to receive. Whether Polanco can pick up where he left off will have significant bearing on the Pirates’ ability to maintain a narrow early lead in a hotly contested NL Central.

As for Brault, he has been utilized mostly in a relief capacity of late but will be stretched out at Triple-A, manager Clint Hurdle told reporters including Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic (Twitter link). The 26-year-old hadn’t been used much at all in the early going. He is now sitting on 1.110 years of MLB service, meaning that he still needs 62 more days of MLB action this year to enter a new service class by season’s end.

NL Central Notes: Moustakas, Pirates, Senzel, Reds

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Brewers infielder Mike Moustakas will try to play through a fracture in the tip of his right ring finger, and is hopeful of avoiding an injured list stint.  (Todd Rosiak of Milwaukee Journal Sentinal was among those to report the news.)  Moustakas suffered the injury yesterday while fielding a ground ball and left the game after the sixth inning.  X-rays were negative, though Moustakas isn’t in the Brewers’ lineup today.  The third baseman-turned-second baseman has received mixed reviews at his new position depending on which defensive metric you prefer — the Moose has a +3.9 UZR/150 but minus-2 Defensive Runs Saved over 137 1/3 innings as a second baseman this season.  No matter the position, Moustakas has continued to hit, with six homers and a .239/.349/.549 slash line through 83 plate appearances.

Some more from around the NL Central…

  • Pirates manager Clint Hurdle and GM Neal Huntington updated the media (including Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) on the status of several injured Bucs players.  A collision between Starling Marte and Erik Gonzalez during Friday’s sent both men to the injured list, with Gonzalez on the 60-day IL with a broken collarbone and Marte to the 10-day IL with abdominal wall and quadriceps bruises.  While Marte has the shorter timeline on paper, Huntington wasn’t certain when Marte could be back in action.  Corey Dickerson isn’t yet ready for a minor league rehab assignment as he recovers from a shoulder strain, while Gregory Polanco (labrum surgery) could potentially make his season debut sometime this week.
  • In other Pirates injury news, the team placed catcher Jacob Stallings on the 10-day IL with a cervical neck strain.  Stallings’ roster spot will be filled by Einar Diaz, who was activated off the IL after recovering from a virus that sidelined him for two weeks’ worth of Spring Training action.
  • Top Reds prospect Nick Senzel is scheduled to play in his first Triple-A game of the season on Tuesday, Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer writes.  Senzel was sidelined late in Spring Training with an ankle injury, so it will end up being roughly a month-long absence for the infielder-turned-center fielder.  Senzel has already been playing some extended Spring Training games, and will now return to Triple-A Louisville after posting an .887 OPS in 193 PA at the top minor league level in 2018.  The Reds are expected to promote Senzel at some point this season, though they’ll first want to see the 23-year-old get an extended stretch of good health, as Senzel has been plagued by a variety of injuries over the last year.
  • The Reds’ starting pitching has looked much better this season than in the last several years, and catcher Tucker Barnhart feels part of the reason for the improvement is an increased focus on analytics.  Under new manager David Bell and new pitching coach Derek Johnson, discussions with Reds coaches are “more numbers-driven now,” Barnhart tells Fangraphs’ David Laurila.  “They’re more percentage-driven, and more based on exit velocities and probable outcomes. Things like that. I still trust my eyes, but in the back of my mind there are always the percentages of what’s supposed to work. You’d be naive not to fall back on that, especially if you’re stuck calling a pitch.”

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