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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.

Cardinals To Add Jordan Hicks To Opening Day Roster

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The Cardinals will include right-hander Jordan Hicks on their 25-man roster, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports, with the move becoming official on Wednesday or Thursday morning.  Righty John Brebbia will be optioned to Triple-A in a corresponding transactions once Hicks’ contract has been selected.

A third-round pick for St. Louis in the 2015 draft, Hicks has looked good in Spring Training, posting a 2.35 ERA and recording eight strikeouts against just one walk over 7 2/3 innings.  Despite this strong performance, this is quite an aggressive promotion for the Cards, as Hicks will be entirely skipping both Double-A and Triple-A en route to the majors.  He posted good but not dominant numbers (2.82 ERA, 7.4 K/9, 1.85 K/BB rate) over 165 2/3 innings in the minors and was a well-regarded but not elite prospect, ranked as the sixth-best minor leaguer in the Cardinals’ farm system by both Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus.

[Updated Cardinals depth chart at Roster Resource]

Despite this lack of a standout pedigree, Hicks obviously impressed Cardinals officials during the spring and offers even more potential as a bullpen weapon.  Just three of Hicks’ 34 career appearances in the minors have come as a reliever, though the 2018 Baseball America Prospect Handbook predicted that relief pitching could be Hicks’ ultimate future due to some issues with his control and command.  Hicks offers an arsenal of two excellent pitches that would seem to lend itself to bullpen work, including a power curveball “that draws plus-plus grades from evaluators,” according to BA.  He is best known, however, for a fastball that routinely averages in the mid-90’s, and he has touched the 102-mph threshold this spring.

This type of velocity could be even more dangerous in short bursts as a reliever, and Hicks’ inclusion on the roster adds another fascinating wrinkle to the Cardinals’ closing situation.  Luke Gregerson was signed this winter to ostensibly work as the St. Louis closer, though it seems as if the team will take something of a situational approach to the ninth inning, especially since Gregerson will start the season on the DL.  Tyler Lyons and Dominic Leone look like the top choices for saves right now, though there have been rumors that the Cards are still interested in free agent Greg Holland.  Should Hicks impress early in the season, however, his power arm could quickly move him up the depth chart and potentially get him into the closer mix as well.

NL Central Notes: Colome, Cards, Holland, Pirates, Cutch, Maddon

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Some rumblings from around the NL Central…

  • The Cardinals were linked to Rays closer Alex Colome in trade rumors earlier this winter, though two sources tell Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the team’s interest in Colome was “overstated.”  Chris Archer seems to be the Cards’ top target in regards to trade talks with the Rays.
  • Cardinals GM John Mozeliak told Goold and other reporters that he is still “kicking tires” on some other bullpen options but he is overall comfortable going into the season with Luke Gregerson as the top closer option.  This could be some gamesmanship on Mozeliak’s part given that St. Louis has been exploring several relief options both before and after they signed Gregerson, though Gregerson collected 31 saves as recently as 2015 when he pitched for Houston.  In terms of other available relievers, the Cardinals have “at most, tempered” interest in Greg Holland.  Beyond the veteran Gregerson, the Cards also have several young arms in the pen and in the upper minors that could eventually factor into the ninth-inning mix.  Goold notes that hard-throwing righty prospect Jordan Hicks has drawn trade interest from other teams.
  • Now that Gerrit Cole has been traded, teams who have talked deals with the Pirates believe that the Bucs could now be more open to moving Andrew McCutchen, ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick writes (Twitter links).  Pittsburgh has had “ongoing dialogue” about McCutchen with multiple teams, including the Giants.  One potential side effect of increased trade talks involving McCutchen (and the Marlins’ Christian Yelich) is that it could extend the lack of activity on the free agent outfielder front.
  • If the Pirates did deal McCutchen, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney (Twitter links) isn’t sure how much the Bucs could get back, based on the relatively lacking returns other teams have recently gotten in trades for players in their final year before free agency.  Olney opines that the Pirates could get more young talent back in a trade by offering to cover some of the $14.75MM owed to McCutchen in 2018.
  • It doesn’t appear as though Joe Maddon and the Cubs have any talks about an extension, though the manager said during this weekend’s Cubs Convention (as reported by The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney) that he doesn’t “ever try to strike up those kind of conversations….I believe if we take care of our own business properly, that’s the kind of stuff that takes care of itself. I’ve always relied on that thought. So I’m not concerned about that. I am a Cub right now. And I want to be a Cub for many years to come.”  Maddon is under contract through the 2019 season, so there isn’t any immediate need for either side to press for extension negotiations already.  Maddon’s comments also make it seem as if he has no plans to retire anytime soon, which is notable given that he turns 64 next month.

Orioles Rumors: Schoop, Mancini, Givens, Machado, Cards, Duffy

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The latest on the Orioles comes in a pair of articles from Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com…

  • It’s unclear how many “untouchable” players the Orioles have, but second baseman Jonathan Schoop, outfielder Trey Mancini and reliever Mychal Givens are among them, an executive from outside the organization told Kubatko at the Winter Meetings. The lone player of those three who’s not under control for the long haul is Schoop, who has two arbitration-eligible years remaining. The Orioles will attempt to extend him sometime soon, Kubatko suggests. Mancini is controllable for the next half-decade, including two pre-arb campaigns, while Givens is under wraps for four more seasons (he’ll be eligible for arbitration in a year).
  • While talking Manny Machado with the Cardinals, the Orioles showed interest in a trio of right-handers – Luke Weaver, Jack Flaherty and Jordan Hicks – as well as catcher Carson Kelly, Kubatko relays. In acquiring Weaver and Flaherty, the Orioles would accomplish their goal of getting two major league-ready starters for their top player. Of course, it’s questionable whether the Cardinals would even part with one (let alone both) for a single year of Machado. Weaver held his own across 60 1/3 innings last season for the Cards, who may not be in position to lose another starter with free agent Lance Lynn likely set to depart, while Flaherty ranks as MLB.com’s 48th-best prospect.
  • The Orioles are reportedly trying to acquire Royals left-hander Danny Duffy, but Kubatko throws cold water on the possibility. Baltimore is indeed interested in Duffy, but it’s unlikely a deal with Kansas City will come together, in part because the Royals aren’t “aggressively shopping” the soon-to-be 29-year-old, Kubatko hears.
  • Although the Orioles are seeking a left-handed hitter, they don’t seem to have interest in free agent Jon Jay, per Kubatko. That differs from previous offseasons when Jay was on the O’s radar, he notes. Conversely, Baltimore could consider Preston Tucker, whom the Astros designated for assignment Friday.

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