AL West Notes: Rangers, Odor, Cano, Astros
The appeal hearing on the eight-game suspension the league gave Rangers second baseman Rougned Odor for punching Toronto’s Jose Bautista will be held Tuesday, reports Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. Major League Baseball’s executive vice president, John McHale, will conduct the hearing and Odor will have to begin serving his suspension once McHale’s ruling is issued. The decision could take up to two days to render, notes Grant.
More from the AL West:
- Mariners second baseman Robinson Cano wasn’t his usual excellent self last year, but that has changed this season and he attributes it to regaining his health. Cano dealt with a parasite that attacked his system and sapped him of energy early in 2015 and then a hernia on each side of his abdominal area in the second half of the campaign. Cano underwent surgery on the two hernias last October. “Now that you’re healthy, you get to look back and see the difference,’’ Cano told Larry Stone of The Seattle Times. “After what I went through last year, thank God I’m healthy. I’m able to use my body and move left and right, back and forth. That’s everything.” The healthy Cano is now taking on a leadership role in Seattle, according to general manager Jerry Dipoto. “In addition to his incredible offensive contribution and great defense, Robby has been unbelievable for me, and for (manager) Scott (Servais), in helping to make a very difficult transition, with a lot of new faces, go so much quicker and easier,” he said. Shortstop Ketel Marte also praised the ex-Yankee, saying, “He’s been special to me. He tries to make me better every single day.”
- Rangers right-hander A.J. Griffin – who has been on the disabled list since May 8 with a shoulder strain – isn’t close to returning, according to Grant. Texas’ hope when it placed Griffin on the DL was that he’d be able to come back immediately, but the 28-year-old still hasn’t thrown off a mound since and will need to go on a rehab assignment after he does. “It’s probably going to take more than one rehab start. We’ve got to make sure the arm is ready to handle the workload,” stated manager Jeff Banister.
- The Astros aren’t considering moving hard-throwing reliever Michael Feliz into the rotation, but that could change if the 22-year-old continues dominating out of the bullpen, writes Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle. “Not really much dialogue (about giving Feliz a start) as much as there’s curiosity for long term,” said manager A.J. Hinch. “When I see him hold his velocity for the three-inning outings that he’s had in recent days, including (Friday) night, it’s hard not to dream about it.” Since allowing nine earned runs in his first 5 1/3 innings of the season, the righty has yielded just one earned run while striking out 19 hitters and walking none in 11 2/3 frames.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Astros, A’s, Indians, Phillies
If the Astros don’t recover from their 17-26 start, they could become interesting sellers as the trade deadline approaches, says FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal (video link). As pending free agents at season’s end, outfielder Colby Rasmus, right-handers Doug Fister and Scott Feldman, and catcher Jason Castro could all be on the move. Center fielder Carlos Gomez‘s deal is also set to expire, though his value is close to nonexistent at the moment, according to Rosenthal. Gomez has rapidly fallen from grace since the Astros surrendered a handful of youthful pieces for him and righty Mike Fiers at last year’s deadline. Thanks to both that trade and the offseason acquisition of reliever Ken Giles, the Astros have lost several young players and could replenish their system this summer by moving at least some of the aforementioned veterans.
More of the latest rumblings from Rosenthal:
- Athletics lefty Rich Hill, third baseman Danny Valencia and reliever John Axford are all potential deadline chips, reports Rosenthal. The only member of the trio unsigned beyond this season is the 36-year-old Hill, who is on a $6MM salary and has performed like an ace since his red-hot September with Boston in 2015. Valencia is currently making $3.15MM and has one year of arbitration eligibility remaining, and he has been quietly spectacular going back to last season. Over his past 475 plate appearances, Valencia has slashed .302/.352/.531 with 24 homers. With third base prospect Matt Chapman waiting in the wings, the A’s could sell high on Valencia, per Rosenthal. Axford, meanwhile, has gotten solid results in 18 2/3 frames this year (2.89 ERA) while recording a career-worst strikeout rate (5.79 per nine) and a personal-best walk rate (1.45). He’s making $4.5MM this season and is set to rake in another $5.5MM in 2017.
- The Indians could try to upgrade their bullpen by acquiring a left-hander or a dominant late-inning arm, but two factors are working against them: Other contenders will be in the hunt for similar help, and the Indians are “notoriously cautious” when discussing trades.
- The Phillies are prepared to deal right-hander Jeremy Hellickson if a solid offer comes along, though they’re also focused on limiting the innings thrown by some of the younger members of their rotation. Thanks to Charlie Morton‘s season-ending injury, the 28-year-old Hellickson is now the elder statesman of a Phillies rotation that has been among baseball’s best in 2016. Hellickson, who’s on a $7MM salary and is scheduled to become a free agent at season’s end, has put up a 3.99 ERA to accompany significantly improved strikeout and walk rates (9.06 and 2.36, respectively) in 49 2/3 innings this year.
AL West Notes: Trout, Richards, Choo, Gattis
Angels general manager Billy Eppler tells Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times that he hasn’t taken a single call asking about the availability of Mike Trout in the midst of his team’s injury-riddled season. There’s been a perhaps surprising amount of speculation about the Halos eventually making Trout available with a poor on-field product at the moment (due in part, though not necessarily entirely due to the aforementioned injuries) and the team’s dismal farm system. As one rival GM put it when speaking to Shaikin: “You’re getting a guy who’s being paid at the very top of the food chain and trading three to five potential impact players in return. I don’t think there is a scenario where that is going to happen.”
More pertaining to the Halos and their division…
- Angels ace Garrett Richards spoke to MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez (Twitter link) about his decision to hold off on the Tommy John surgery he was reported to require for a tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. “The way my timetable lines up, as far as being back by 2018 if I did have surgery, is not any different if I have surgery now versus in a couple of months from now,” said Richards, who plans to first attempt stem-cell therapy to treat his injury. “This is just something that was an option, and I decided to take it. Why not, right?” Even the most optimistic projections for a Richards return would’ve been a late May/early June return for Richards in 2017, and if he follows a 14- to 16-month recovery timeline for Tommy John, then he’d indeed have missed most or all of the 2017 season anyhow.
- The Rangers optioned reliever Andrew Faulkner to Triple-A yesterday, which should clear a path for outfielder Shin-Soo Choo to be activated from the disabled list today. Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star Telegram tweets that with Choo’s return, he’ll return to his role as the everyday right fielder, with rookie Nomar Mazara sliding over to left field. The Rangers, following Delino Deshields’ recent demotion, will move forward with Mazara and Choo flanking a resurgent (and re-positioned) Ian Desmond in center field. Choo appeared in only five games for the Rangers this season before suffering a calf injury that necessitated a roughly six-week stay on the disabled list.
- Evan Gattis‘ return to catching drew strong reviews from Astros right-hander Collin McHugh, writes MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart. Gattis, who was solely a DH in his first year with Houston, was recently optioned to Double-A Corpus Christi to once again familiarize himself with catching, and the plan is for him to catch a couple of times per week when he isn’t serving as the club’s designated hitter, per McTaggart. “The story of today is Evan Gattis,” said McHugh following a strong start against the White Sox. “…He’s a big league catcher and everybody needs to understand that and recognize that. He did a really phenomenal job tonight, both calling the game and blocking.” Despite hitting 27 homers last season, Gattis’ .285 on-base percentage made his work as a DH questionable overall. However, if he can deliver relatively similar production while serving as a part-time catcher in 2016, he’ll obviously become a considerably more valuable commodity for the Astros, even if his defense behind the dish isn’t premium.
Central Notes: Chris Correa, Brewers, Molitor
Former Cardinals scouting director Chris Correa, who is pleading guilty to criminal charges for his role in the Cardinals’ unauthorized access of the Astros’ proprietary computer network, has had his sentencing hearing pushed back from June 6 to July 5 at the request of the probation office, reports David Barron of the Houston Chronicle (links to Twitter). As of January, Correa was slated to plead guilty to five of the 12 charges of unauthorized access to a private computer, with a maximum penalty of five years in prison per charge as well as a fine of $250,000, per a release from the United States Department of Justice.
More from the NL Central…
- Rule 5 second baseman Colin Walsh and out-of-options outfielder Ramon Flores are both struggling immensely for the Brewers, but manager Craig Counsell tells Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel that the team isn’t planning to give up on either player anytime soon. “I don’t think anybody sets specific dates on this stuff,” said Counsell when asked specifically about Walsh. “You have to feel it. At some point, we have to see what they can become.” Counsell acknowledged that not every player is destined for an everyday job but stressed the importance of finding role players that can contribute to a winning club, even if it’s difficult for those players to get consistent at-bats. “Every team’s got guys at the back end of their roster,” said Counsell. “Those guys are going to play the least. We’re evaluating that. … There’s going to be times when you might have to live through stretches of development.”
- MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy also spoke to Counsell about the fact that the Brewers are leading the league in an undesirable category: taking called third strikes. Counsell explained that he feels velocity has “changed the game” and that the looking strikeouts have been a recent topic of conversation among Milwaukee decision-makers. “There’s multitudes of ways to talk about this, but one of them is, do you get hits on pitches at the edge of the strike zone?” he asked rhetorically. “Should you swing at it with two strikes, or take it? We had this conversation this morning, actually. Can you get a hit if you swing at it? The ideal result for a hitter [on a pitch at the edge of the zone] is a foul ball, actually. But there are five hitters in the game who can intentionally hit foul balls.” The concepts raised by Counsell and the idea of taking a fringe pitch in a full-count setting have previously been explored by the Astros, which is of course where Milwaukee GM David Stearns previously served as an assistant GM.
- Twins skipper Paul Molitor chatted with Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports about his club’s struggles, saying that he’s still approaching the job with the same vigor. While he didn’t exactly suggest that there’s a significant hope of a full-blown turnaround this year, Molitor did stress that he’ll continue to “choose to see light still” even amidst the difficulties.
Astros Designate Asher Wojciechowski, Place Carlos Gomez On DL
The Astros have designated righty Asher Wojciechowski for assignment, per a club announcement. His 40-man spot was needed for the promotion of third baseman Colin Moran.
Houston also announced that outfielder Carlos Gomez will hit the 15-day DL; he has a bruised left rib cage, per Brian McTaggart of MLB.com (Twitter link). Gomez will be replaced by Evan Gattis, who is finished with a brief minor league assignment in which he has returned to active duty behind the plate.
Wojciechowski, 27, was a sandwich-round pick in the 2010 draft who came to Houston in the ten-player J.A. Happ deal back in 2012. He got a brief taste of the majors last year, but has mostly pitched at the Triple-A level for Houston.
All told, Wojciechowski has pitched to a 4.39 ERA in 350 2/3 frames at the highest level of the minors, with 7.0 K/9 against 3.1 BB/9. But he’s steadily declined in effectiveness since a solid early showing upon joining the Astros.
As for Gomez, it’s hard not to see the non-injury-related motivations that may have come into play. He has looked nothing like the player the ‘Stros thought they were acquiring last summer, and may ultimately end up spending some time in the minors looking to rehabilitate his swing as much as his injury.
Meanwhile, Houston is set to get its first extended look at Gattis as an option behind the dish. He’ll presumably back up Jason Castro at the position while also spending time at DH.
Astros To Promote Colin Moran
The Astros will promote third base prospect Colin Moran to join the team for tonight’s game, according to Peter Gammons of GammonsDaily.com (via Twitter). It’s not yet clear what the club will do to make space on its active and 40-man rosters.
Moran, 23, was taken sixth overall in the 2013 draft and entered the minors considered by some to be a top-100 prospect leaguewide. But he’s lagged far behind fellow third bagger Kris Bryant, who went before him in that year’s draft, and has failed to develop in the power department.
Houston got Moran in a 2014 deadline deal with the Marlins that makes for an interesting swap to look back at. The Marlins haven’t received what they hoped for from Jarred Cosart (who was the key piece), quickly shipped Enrique Hernandez out to L.A., and have watched outfielder Austin Wates struggle at Triple-A. Over on the Astros’ side, the club has made use of Jake Marisnick, but he’s been demoted, and it’s now set for a first look at Moran. But the real upside may be yet to come, as pitcher Francis Martes has turned into a major prospect and the ‘Stros were able to parlay the Marlins’ 2015 compensation pick into Daz Cameron.
It remains to be seen whether Moran will ever do quite enough damage at the plate to be a regular in the majors. He had a strong campaign last year at Double-A, earning a spot at Houston’s top affiliate to open 2016. But he’s only hitting at a .288/.331/.416 clip through 136 plate appearances, with three long balls, and has seemingly yet to make real strides in bolstering his evident hitting ability with greater pop.
That kind of offensive profile would be easier to credit were it not for the fact that Moran isn’t well-regarded in other aspects of his game. As Baseball America wrote entering the year, he’s not considered a good runner and doesn’t move well in the field — though he does have a big arm. That means that his bat will largely need to carry his value.
Houston, certainly, hopes there’s still some upside to be tapped into. Regardless, the organization will look for Moran to provide a near-term boost while beginning to evaluate how important a piece he’ll be after this season. Needless to say, the Astros have disappointed thus far, and regular third baseman Luis Valbuena has been a big part of the struggles. A pending free agent, Valbuena is off to a .208/.306/.340 start to his season and has hit just two home runs a year after swatting 25.
Minor MLB Transactions: 5/16/16
Here are today’s minor moves from around the league…
- The Astros have released lefty Edwar Cabrera, Matt Eddy of Baseball America reports. He cracked the majors briefly back in 2012, and has consistently posted solid earned run averages throughout his minor league career, but was struggling at Triple-A in 2016. Over 11 1/3 frames, exclusively as a reliever, Cabrera has allowed ten earned runs and racked up a dozen walks to go with his 13 strikeouts.
- Southpaw Dustin Richardson was cut loose by the Dodgers, also via Eddy. He had permitted six earned in 8 1/3 frames, with a 12:6 K/BB ratio. Richardson saw 29 total MLB appearances in 2009-10 with the Red Sox.
- Among the Padres‘ moves, per Eddy, the organization has released righty Greg Reynolds, who was the second overall selection of the 2006 draft. He struggled in three brief cracks at the big leagues, and was hit hard in his five starts this year at Triple-A, allowing twenty earned runs while recording just five strikeouts. Meanwhile, fellow right-hander Cory Mazzoni was re-signed to a minor league deal after being released, and was then shifted to the 60-day DL while he works his way back from shoulder surgery. The 26-year-old, a former second-round pick, briefly reached the majors last year.
- The Giants added righty Preston Claiborne on a minor league deal, Eddy further notes. Claiborne, 28, has provided the Yankees with some useful innings, but hasn’t pitched competitively since 2014. He’s battled shoulder issues and was cut loose by the Marlins this spring.
- The Angels have outrighted first baseman/Rule 5 pick Ji-Man Choi to Triple-A Salt Lake after he cleared waivers, and he accepted the assignment, tweets Adam Chodzko of the Angels’ media relations department. (Having been previously outrighted, Choi could have refused and elected free agency.) Choi, 24, saw just 24 plate appearances with the Halos this season and went 1-for-18, though he did draw six walks as well. That he cleared waivers means that all 29 other clubs, including the Orioles (from whom he was selected in last December’s Rule 5 Draft), passed on the opportunity to add him. With Trey Mancini and Christian Walker, two of the Orioles’ more highly regarded prospects, each present on the Triple-A Norfolk roster, it seems that Baltimore felt comfortable with its first base depth. Choi had only just signed a minors deal with the Orioles a couple of weeks prior to being taken in the Rule 5, so his history with the organization wasn’t particularly lengthy. He’ll now hope to build on his career .280/.379/.401 batting line at the Triple-A level and work his way back onto the Angels’ Major League roster.
AL West Notes: Mariners, Gomez, Gray, Madson
The Mariners are off to a 21-16 start and currently sit a half game back in the AL West, and Bob Nightengale of USA Today spoke to a number of players on the roster as well as general manager Jerry Dipoto about the club’s early surge. As Dipoto explained to to Nightengale, his focus during his first offseason as the Seattle GM was to restructure the roster without compromising the impressive core he inherited. “I learned there really is no such thing as rebuilding in the major leagues,” said Dipoto. “You can rebuild organizations, but you’re here to win at the big-league level. We wanted to rebuild and replenish our player development, but when you have Robinson Cano and Felix Hernandez, and Kyle Seager and Nelson Cruz, why would you ever rebuild?” Dipoto praised ownership for allowing him to pursue creative opportunities to turn the roster over and also stressed the importance of building a winning culture, not merely accumulating talent. Acquired in the offseason, left-hander Wade Miley explained to Nightengale that said vision has paid off. “This is the most fun I’ve ever had,” said Miley, who came over in the Carson Smith trade with the Red Sox. “Well, since I was 12.” Miley is just one of many new faces, though, as Nightengale points out that there are only eight holdovers from last year’s disappointing roster — a testament to Dipoto’s aggressive winter maneuverings.
More from the division…
- The Astros‘ acquisition of Carlos Gomez hasn’t paid off as the club had hoped last summer, as he’s batted just .215/.266/.322 with Houston and dealt with multiple injuries. Despite the high-profile nature of the acquisition, GM Jeff Luhnow suggested today that Gomez’s leash is growing shorter. Via MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart (on Twitter): “I think he’s going to have to turn it around at some point, otherwise we’re not going to be able to continue to play him,” said Luhnow of his struggling center fielder. The timing of Gomez’s struggles is particularly problematic for him as an individual, as he’s slated to hit free agency at season’s end. Gomez entered the season second on MLBTR’s Free Agent Power Rankings but dropped to fifth on May 2 and is hitting just .122/.234/.195 since that writing.
- Athletics ace Sonny Gray has been shelled in his past three starts, yielding a total of 18 runs in 12 2/3 innings, but he tells MLB.com’s Jane Lee that he made a mechanical adjustment late in Sunday’s rough outing that he feels will halt the struggles. “I’ve constantly been leaving the ball up, and you can tell,” said Gray. “It was literally just a visual thing to get the ball back down, and you could tell there, when it’s back down, it’s got great life on it, and you start to see the swing and misses.” Catcher Stephen Vogt echoed that Gray’s movement and location were much better following an Evan Longoria home run, as Gray set down five of the final six he faced. Whether Gray has indeed righted the ship remains to be seen, though it’s worth noting that his velocity isn’t demonstrably worse than it at this time last season. Getting Gray back on track is paramount for an A’s club that currently sits at 16-22 — six games out of the division lead.
- Lee also writes that A’s manager Bob Melvin confirmed yesterday that Ryan Madson is indeed his closer — an arrangement that has appeared obvious for quite some time but hadn’t been explicitly stated by anyone with the club. Former closer Sean Doolittle had some struggles early in the season, but he’s bounced back with a 1.93 ERA and an 11-to-3 K/BB ratio in 9 1/3 innings since mid-April. That success notwithstanding, it seems the closer’s role is Madson’s job to lose at this point. “I think at this point in time, Madson is probably the guy we’re looking to,” said Melvin. Madson, who inked a three-year, $22MM deal with Oakland this offseason that caught many in the industry by surprise, has a 1.08 ERA through 16 2/3 innings, though he’s seen his strikeout, walk and ground-ball rates all trend in the wrong direction this season. (A reminder that those monitoring closer situations for fantasy baseball purposes can follow @closernews on Twitter, where we at MLBTR will keep you up to date on the latest ninth-inning news and trends.)
AL Notes: Astros, Yankees, Choo
There’s a chance Astros shortstop prospect Alex Bregman, the second pick in last year’s draft, will make his major league debut sometime this season. “I wouldn’t rule out him getting [to the Majors] this year, but we have to see how the rest of the season goes for him and if there’s an opening for him at the big leagues,” general manager Jeff Luhnow told Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. If the ex-LSU standout does break in with the Astros this season, it’s unlikely to come at short, where the team already has young star Carlos Correa firmly entrenched. Given Correa’s presence, the Astros had Bregman play third base for the first time Friday with their Double-A team. “I feel like I’ll be very comfortable here really soon — really, really soon,” Bregman stated. Proficiency at the hot corner from the 22-year-old Bregman would bode well for the Astros, whose third basemen have hit a weak .221/.302/.358 this season.
More from two other American League teams:
- The Yankees’ three-headed relief monster of Dellin Betances, Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman was in top form Saturday, combining for 3 1/3 innings of eight-strikeout, one-hit ball in a 2-1 win over the White Sox. Chapman’s velocity was particularly awe-inspiring, as the left-hander averaged 100.5 mph on 17 fastballs and topped out at 102.5 mph. Despite the excellence of Betances, Miller and Chapman, Joel Sherman of the New York Post wonders how often the Yankees are actually going to be in position to take advantage of having one of the greatest late-game troikas ever assembled. The victory improved the Bombers to just 15-20 on the season, and their below-average offense once again failed to generate much (albeit against premier lefty Jose Quintana).
- Rangers right fielder Shin-Soo Choo, out since early April with a strained right calf, will begin a Triple-A rehab assignment Sunday and could rejoin the major league club Friday, reports Stefan Stevenson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Thanks to the emergence of stellar rookie Nomar Mazara, whose promotion came as a result of Choo’s injury, there was once expected to be a corner outfield logjam upon Choo’s return. However, the Rangers have since demoted center fielder Delino DeShields and shifted Ian Desmond from left to center. Once Choo comes back, Mazara is a good bet to move from right to left, writes Stevenson.
- Though the Yankees placed right-hander Luis Severino on the 15-day disabled list Friday with a triceps strain, they’re not using the injury as an excuse for his highly disappointing start to the 2016 season. “His arm strength is there, but his stuff is not there,” said GM Brian Cashman (via Chad Jennings of LoHud.com). “He doesn’t have command of his fastball. He doesn’t have command of his secondary pitches. His changeup and slider have been inconsistent. It’s not health related.” Manager Joe Girardi backed up Cashman, saying, “You don’t throw 97, 98 (if you’re) hurt.” Severino has averaged 95.5 mph on his fastball, up a bit from last year’s 95.2, but his 7.46 ERA through 35 innings is nearly five runs worse than the 2.89 mark he put up in his 62 1/3-frame major league debut last season. The 22-year-old’s K/9 has also dropped off markedly, going from 8.09 to 6.94, as he’s yielding more contact while generating fewer swinging strikes.
AL Notes: Severino, Rays, Wilson, Heaney, Ferrell
Prized Yankees righty Luis Severino was roughed up today and left early after experiencing elbow pain, but the prognosis isn’t nearly as bad as might have been feared. New York announced that he has a triceps strain, but it doesn’t seem that he’s suffered any serious damage. Severino will hit the 15-day DL and won’t touch a baseball for about a week, but it remains to be seen what his path back will be beyond that. The 22-year-old may have been nearing an optional assignment as it was, as he’s failed to follow up on his sparkling debut in 2015, so it wouldn’t be surprising if he takes at least a few turns at Triple-A before returning to the majors.
Here’s more from the American League:
- With the Rays‘ offense struggling, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes that the time to take some fairly drastic measures could be nearing. Entering tonight’s action, Desmond Jennings, Hank Conger and Logan Morrison were each hitting under .200 with OPS marks south of .500, and while each has seen his playing time diminish, Topkin wonders how long each can hold onto his roster spot. Jennings, he notes, does have a minor league option remaining, and fellow outfielder Mikie Mahtook is coming off the disabled list at Triple-A Durham this weekend. While Jennings was once viewed as a building block and is earning $3.3MM this season, Topkin notes that he’s already been reduced to a bench role and is in a 1-for-35 slump, so some time at Triple-A could do him some good. It’d be difficult for the Rays to part ways with Morrison ($4.2MM) when they’re already paying James Loney $8MM not to play for them, but his production has been dismal. Conger, meanwhile, hasn’t hit and has also not made strides in the throwing department, having caught just one of 13 runners. He’d been 0-for-48 prior to the one runner he caught this season.
- The Rangers prioritized defense in bringing back center fielder Drew Stubbs and catcher Bobby Wilson, GM Jon Daniels tells Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News in a podcast interview. The club primarily valued Wilson over Chris Gimenez, who was traded away when the former was added, because Wilson “excels” at things like “working with the pitcher, executing a game plan and reading swings” and other softer elements of the craft of catching. Notably, though, Wilson has also been working to drive the ball more when he has the bat in hand, even at the cost of some swings and misses, and Daniels says he’s noticed an improvement offensively.
- The Angels‘ rotation remains a major question mark as the club seeks to crawl back into things in the AL West, and the status of lefty Andrew Heaney could play a big role in the team’s near and long-term outlook. At present, writes Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register, he’s waiting to see how his elbow reacts to a platelet-rich plasma treatment while using meditation to gain any advantage he can. “Right now I’m trying to will my body to heal itself,” he said. “The mind is a powerful thing. … It sounds like a crock, but it can’t hurt.”
- Astros righty Riley Ferrell, a third-round pick in last year’s draft, is likely to miss the rest of the season after undergoing a procedure to “repair an aneurysm in his throwing shoulder area,” GM Jeff Luhnow told reporters including Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle reports. It’s expected that Ferrell will be ready to go for a full 2017, however, and this doesn’t appear to be the kind of traditional shoulder issue that would send up red flags. The 22-year-old had been off to a nice start to his career. He threw well at the Class A level last year and opened the current season with ten innings in which he allowed just two earned runs while racking up 14 strikeouts against a pair of walks.