AL Notes: Porcello, White Sox, Headley, J. Hamilton
Red Sox right-hander Rick Porcello has been at his best during his 33 starts with Boston when he has relied on his sinker, Scott Lauber of ESPN.com details. During his first 20 starts last season, Porcello threw his sinker 28 percent of the time against lefties and 41 percent versus right-handed hitters – down from career rates of 42 and 52 percent, respectively – and he pitched to an ugly 5.81 ERA. After a stint on the disabled list, Porcello returned and finished the season strong (3.14 ERA in eight starts) while throwing sinkers 44 percent of the time to lefty batters and 58 percent against righties. He’s at 49 and 57 percent this year, respectively, and has been among the top pitchers in baseball with a 2.76 ERA, 9.92 K/9, 1.65 BB/9 and 49.4 percent ground-ball rate over 32 2/3 innings (five starts). “He had to work extremely hard to get the sink back, to get that mindset back, because he had gotten away from it a little bit,” pitching coach Carl Willis told Lauber. “But once you get to that point, I think it’s simple because it allows him to then be himself and pitch to his strengths.” In addition to throwing more sinkers, Porcello helped his cause by changing his arm slot late in Spring Training after he raised it slightly thanks to an increased use of four-seam fastballs, per Willis.
More from around the American League…
- White Sox executive vice president Ken Williams says the team has gotten over the Spring Training Adam LaRoche saga, which isn’t a surprise considering the club’s AL-best 17-8 record. “I had to do what was best for all parties. I’ve tried to stay above the fray and chose the road less traveled — the high road. We don’t talk about it anymore,” he told Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. Williams, of course, took plenty of heat from White Sox players when he told LaRoche that his son had to spend less time in the clubhouse, leading the first baseman/designated hitter to retire in March with $13MM left on his contract.
- Yankees third baseman Chase Headley failed to amass a single extra-base hit in April while batting .150/.268/.150 in 71 plate appearances, and his struggles are thanks in part to his home ballpark. “Everybody talks about how good of a ballpark Yankee Stadium is to hit in, but it’s pretty big with the exception of right field,” he told FanGraphs’ David Laurila. “The rest of it plays as big, or bigger, than most yards. It’s maybe a better fit for guys who hit the ball high down the line than it for guys who hit the ball like I have for a lot of my career.” Headley is “working on” hitting the ball in the air more to right field and wants to increase elevation in general to combat defensive shifts. The 31-year-old has a 46.8 percent ground-ball rate and a fly ball percentage of 29.8 percent this season. Both of those numbers are worse than his career rates of 44.6 and 33.6, respectively.
- Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton began a minor league rehab assignment Saturday in Double-A and totaled two at-bats, per Dave Sessions of MLB.com. Hamilton, who missed all of Spring Training with left knee problems, will need to accrue at least 20 to 30 ABs during his rehab assignment before rejoining the Rangers, manager Jeff Banister said. It’s unclear how Hamilton, who hit .253/.291/.441 with eight home runs in 182 plate appearances last year, will fit into the Rangers’ outfield plans when he returns. In addition to Hamilton, Shin-Soo Choo should come back later this month month from a calf injury to join an outfield that has mostly relied on Nomar Mazara, Delino DeShields and Ian Desmond this year.
AL Notes: Yankees, Choo, A’s
The short porch in right field at Yankee Stadium isn’t an advantage anymore for the Yankees, Joel Sherman of the New York Post argues. The fact that defensive shifting has become so common means the Yankees can no longer fill their lineup with pull-oriented lefty swingers and rack up singles and doubles at their home park, which has the least right field square footage of any stadium in the majors, Sherman writes. “It definitely has lent to us realizing that a stadium design that used to move us to gravitate to stack lefty hitters and take advantage of our stadium for 81 [home games] has been negated to a significant degree by the shift,” said general manager Brian Cashman. “You have to be aware of it when you acquire talent.” This isn’t necessarily a new problem for the Cashman-led Yankees, who have been shifted against a major league-leading 3,677 times on balls in play since 2010, according to Sherman. In those instances, the Yankees have put up the second-worst batting average in baseball, .193, on grounders and short line drives.
More from the Bombers and two other American League clubs:
- Performance-enhancing drugs are a hot topic in baseball right now in light of the suspensions given to Chris Colabello and Dee Gordon since last week. Unfortunately, Yankees manager Joe Girardi doesn’t expect PED use in the sport to ever go away, he said Friday (via Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald). His reasoning: “Because I think the rewards are too great from a financial standpoint and I think guys get caught up in being ultra-competitive and they do things that they wish they could’ve done a little bit different.”
- An MRI on Friday revealed that Rangers outfielder Shin-Soo Choo‘s strained right calf is “80 percent better,” he said (link via Dave Sessions of MLB.com). Choo is aiming to begin a rehab assignment sometime in the next two weeks and hopes to return to big league action by the third week of May. Choo has been out since April 8 because of the injury, and his departure from the lineup led to the promotion of Nomar Mazara. In Choo’s absence, the rookie phenom has batted .344/.403/.475 with two home runs in 72 plate appearances.
- Athletics outfielder Sam Fuld will face a 12- to 15-month recovery period after he undergoes surgery on a torn rotator cuff, tweets Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Renowned orthopedic surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache will perform the procedure on or before May 18, Fuld said Saturday. Fuld, 34, is now poised to miss all of this year and a sizable portion of the 2017 campaign. He’s scheduled to become a free agent during the offseason.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Braun, Angels, Yanks, Jays
Brewers star left fielder Ryan Braun can veto a trade to all teams except the Dodgers, Angels, Marlins, Rays and Nationals, but the idea of rebuilding Milwaukee dealing him “is becoming more realistic,” FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reports (video link). Braun, 32, will have four years and $76MM left on his contract after this season, and Rosenthal believes he’d make plenty of sense as a complement to Mike Trout and Kole Calhoun in the Angels’ outfield. However, the Angels’ dearth of quality prospects and a potential reluctance on owner Arte Moreno’s part to acquire Braun, given his contract and past suspension for PEDs, are factors that could stand in the way of a trade, Rosenthal adds.
Here’s more from Rosenthal:
- The Yankees aren’t known for selling at the trade deadline, but if their woeful April performance drags into the coming months, lights-out relievers Aroldis Chapman and Andrew Miller could be two of the most appealing players available over the summer, Rosenthal says. Chapman, whose 30-game suspension stemming from domestic violence allegations is almost over, will be a free agent at year’s end. Miller has two years and $18MM left on his deal after this season, and Rosenthal doesn’t expect the Yankees to move him if they intend on competing in 2017. If not, though, they could use the deadline to erase his money from their books and stave off a possible decline in their uniform. Miller, 30, hasn’t shown any negative signs this year, having amassed 15 strikeouts over nine scoreless, walk-less innings.
- Speaking of relievers, the Mets, Giants and Blue Jays will look to fortify their bullpens as the season advances, per Rosenthal. Mets relievers have been outstanding this year, while the other two clubs’ bullpen production has been average or worse. Toronto will get in-house help there eventually in the form of starter Aaron Sanchez, whose innings limit will remove him from the team’s rotation, Rosenthal notes. Sanchez, who has been excellent in a starting role (2.59 ERA, 8.33 K/9, 2.87 BB/9 in 31 1/3 innings), put up a 2.39 ERA with 19 strikeouts and seven walks in 26 1/3 frames out of the Jays’ bullpen last season.
- Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira could appeal to plenty of teams on a short-term deal if he hits free agency in the offseason, according to Rosenthal. Teixeira’s dedication to fitness might allay some teams’ fears about his age (he’ll turn 37 next April), but he’ll obviously need to stay healthy and compile significant production this season in order to cash in over the winter. Teixeira was terrific last year, slashing .255/.357/.548 with 31 homers in just 111 games to revive his career, but his 89 plate appearances this season haven’t been nearly as promising (.230/.360/.365).
AL East: Eovaldi, Blue Jays, Shaw, Sandoval
Right-hander Nathan Eovaldi lost a no-hitter in the seventh inning Wednesday after Nomar Mazara beat the Yankees‘ infield shift with a ball that would’ve been scooped up by a more traditional defensive alignment, but general manager Brian Cashman tells John Harper of the New York Daily News that he’s a steadfast believer in infield shifts. Cashman is dismissive of the the notion of abandoning infield shifts, likening the decision not to use them to playing hunches at the blackjack table. “It’d be like sitting next to the guy who’s hitting on 19,” said Cashman. “You’d be like, ‘dude, what are you doing?'” Cashman tells Harper that the Yankees have their own independent definitions for what constitutes a shift and adds that in some instances, the data can point to an 85 percent (or higher) likelihood of a ball being hit to a certain side of the field. “If a guy beats you on a 13 percent tendency, you tip your hat,” says the GM. Regardless of the results of that single batted ball, New York has to be pleased with what it’s seen from Eovaldi thus far. He’s running a 10.2 K/9 strikeout rate against just 1.8 BB/9, and his unexciting earned run average (4.38) has likely suffered in large part due to a somewhat unlucky 16.0% HR/FB rate.
Here’s more from the AL East:
- Blue Jays head trainer George Poulis provided a number of medical updates on injured players, writes MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm. Notably, Poulis said that second baseman Devon Travis, recovering from shoulder surgery, will begin taking at-bats in extended Spring Training games, though he’s not yet ready to play in the field. Travis, 25, underwent shoulder surgery in mid-November that was said to come with a 16- to- 20-week recovery period. It’s already been 23 weeks since his operation, so his rehab has apparently been slower than expected, but a return to taking at-bats in a game setting is nonetheless a positive first step. Poulis also provided updates on Franklin Morales, Aaron Loup, Bo Schultz and some others that have day-to-day maladies.
- Red Sox third baseman Travis Shaw is not only impressing on the stat sheet, he’s making believers of his teammates, Tim Britton of the Providence Journal writes. He’s not alone in that regard, either. Per GM Mike Hazen, the team’s younger players have “done a very good job of ingratiating themselves by understanding the game, knowing that they have to play hard day-in, day-out — and that’s what the veterans respect and expect day-in, day-out — and keeping their mouth shut and going about it until they earn their stripes.” It doesn’t hurt, of course, that Boston has several quality young performers, and Shaw is the latest. He is off to a .329/.410/.548 slash in 83 plate appearances, though a .423 BABIP likely reflects not only solid contact but also some good fortune.
- Of course, Shaw improbably beat out Pablo Sandoval for the Red Sox‘ starting third base job this spring, and the Panda has since gone onto the DL with a still-mysterious shoulder ailment. Rob Bradford of WEEI.com has the latest on his situation, including several notes about his original signing with Boston. Bradford notes that the Sox do not have any weight target requirement in place for Sandoval, and adds that the club has “been encouraged by his approach — and results — the last two weeks.”
Minor MLB Transactions: 4/25/16
Here are the day’s minor moves from around the league…
- Lefty Phil Coke will head to Triple-A for the Yankees after his rights were acquired from the indy league Lancaster Barnstormers, Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News reports on Twitter. Coke, 33, has bounced around quite a bit in recent years and was most recently released by the Braves during spring camp. He appeared in the majors last year with the Cubs and Blue Jays, allowing eight earned runs with 12 strikeouts and five walks (two intentional) over 12 2/3 frames.
- The Cubs have released right-hander Jonathan Pettibone from his minor league contract, Baseball America’s Matt Eddy reports. Chicago signed the former Phillies right-hander to a minor league pact back in February in hopes that he’d be able to return to health following a pair of shoulder surgeries in 2014 and 2015. Pettibone last appeared in the Majors in 2014, but it was 2013 that he looked the part of an intriguing long-term piece in the Phillies’ rotation. That year (his age-22 season), Pettibone logged 100 1/3 innings with a 4.04 ERA, 5.9 K/9, 3.4 BB/9 and a 49.4 percent ground-ball rate in 18 starts at the Major League level.
- The Giants have added veteran minor league catcher Steven Lerud on a minors deal, per Eddy. The 31-year-old began the year with the Mariners but didn’t make the big league roster and was released in early April. Lerud, 31, spent the 2015 campaign in the Nationals organization, batting .238/.320/.301 in 231 plate appearances (60 games). Lerud saw brief action for the Phillies in 2012-13, but he’s spent most of his career in the minors and is a lifetime .229/.347/.324 hitter in parts of four seasons at the Triple-A level.
- Righty Loek Van Mil was released by the Twins, MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger tweets. The 31-year-old, who stands at 7’1, was bombed for 14 earned runs in just 5 1/3 innings at Triple-A this year, while issuing six walks against four strikeouts. The Netherlands native has yet to crack the majors, and has struggled in his time at the highest level of the minors. He has, however, been better historically at Double-A, where he owns a 3.01 ERA in 212 frames with 6.1 K/9 against 3.9 BB/9.
- The Pirates have released outfielder Antoan Richardson from Triple-A, per a club announcement. Richardson, a speedy 32-year-old, was scuffling in limited duty. He’s been up in the majors before as a late-season option, recording six steals despite taking only 21 plate appearances. In 785 career plate appearances at the Triple-A level, Richardson owns a .261/.377/.347 slash and has 56 steals while being caught only three times.
AL East Notes: Kimbrel, Porcello, Jays, Orioles, Yankees
Craig Kimbrel‘s Red Sox career hasn’t gotten off to a particularly auspicious start, but manager John Farrell tells ESPN Boston’s Scott Lauber that the club still has “full trust” in its closer. While many fans might be panicking to some extent with Kimbrel having compiled a 5.00 ERA with a pair of homers allowed through his first nine innings of work, Lauber notes that Kimbrel encountered a similarly unproductive stretch to open last season before righting the ship and dominating over the season’s final five months. Kimbrel blames location of a few poorly placed fastballs to Chris Davis and Colby Rasmus for the pair of homers, noting that it’s early and that by season’s end, “…we’re going to be looking back at this and talking a little differently.”
More from the AL East…
- Though Rick Porcello‘s $82.5MM contract extension with the Red Sox is often lumped in with other ill-fated signings in Boston, the Herald’s Evan Drellich writes that Porcello has quietly begun to make the deal look more palatable. Across Porcello’s past 11 starts (dating back to his activation from the DL last August), he’s posted a 3.51 ERA with the eighth-best K/9 rate among AL starters (9.51) and the sixth-lowest BB/9 rate (1.64). GM Mike Hazen spoke highly of Porcello’s perseverance through a difficult first half last season, and Porcello himself spoke to Drellich about mechanical adjustments he’s made and a lack of well-executed pitches during his struggles. A rival executive from an AL team said of Porcello’s deal that it’s “not the most club-friendly, but not terrible,” which isn’t exactly a glowing review but speaks to the possibility that Porcello could still make good on the contract. I’d also add that while Porcello’s 4.66 ERA this season is unsightly, he rates third among MLB starters in K%-BB% and is regarded much more favorably by metrics like xFIP (2.89) and SIERA (2.54).
- It remains unclear whether David Murphy will seek to join another organization after opting out of his deal with the Twins, but if he does, the Red Sox don’t have interest in bringing him back, WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford reports (Twitter link). Murphy spent the spring with Boston, but exercised his opt-out clause and was released just before the start of the season when he didn’t make the Opening Day roster.
- Following Chris Colabello‘s 80-game suspension for a failed PED test, Jon Paul Morosi of MLB.com doesn’t expect the Blue Jays to “replace” the first baseman/outfielder in a traditional sense by acquiring another right-handed bat (links to Twitter). Rather, he notes that a contact-oriented, left-handed bat that can handle first base, outfield and DH is a more pressing need for the Blue Jays, who already have a very right-leaning lineup that is prone to strikeouts. Also impacting the Jays’ current roster construction, he tweets, is the fact that backstop Russell Martin is dealing with some lingering neck issues. Morosi further lists (link) the Cardinals as an eventual trade deadline partner given the presence of left-handed first basemen Matt Adams and Brandon Moss on their roster.
- For now, at least, the Blue Jays appear likely to bring third baseman Matt Dominguez onto the major league roster, as Sportsnet.ca’s Nicholson-Smith and Shi Davidi report (Twitter links). Toronto plans to option righty Drew Hutchison back down to clear an active roster spot, but needs to wait for him to clear optional assignment waivers since he has over three years of service. (That’s a revocable waiver placement that is typically a formality.) Manager John Gibbons suggested that the Jays prefer to have a right-handed hitter who can play third and first, which points to Dominguez. The 26-year-old hasn’t seen the majors since 2014, but has shown twenty-homer pop before and is off to a solid .311/.333/.475 start in his 66 Triple-A plate appearances on the year.
- Yahoo’s Jeff Passan chatted with Orioles closer Zach Britton about the struggles of Baltimore’s four once-vaunted pitching prospects under now-former pitching coach Rick Adair. Britton — along with Jake Arrieta, Chris Tillman and Brian Matusz — was at one point looked as a building block for the rotation in Baltimore. Instead, only Tillman has experienced success in the Orioles’ rotation (and probably not to the extent which many had hoped), though Matusz and especially Britton have been productive in relief roles. In Britton’s view, the Orioles’ pitching philosophies between the minors and Majors were contradictory. “They took away the individual approach to everything,” he explained to Passan. “Things we did extremely well in the minor leagues to get to the big leagues – we were told that just doesn’t work here.” Britton feels that Arrieta could have flourished in Baltimore under new pitching coach Dave Wallace and bullpen coach Dom Chiti but says his former teammate may have lost confidence in his abilities toward the end of his Baltimore tenure.
- Short-term injuries to Aaron Hicks and Alex Rodriguez have left the Yankees with some roster difficulties, writes River Ave. Blues’ Mike Axisa. With both players sidelined around five to six days, the Yankees are looking at playing with a two-man bench, which of course is hardly ideal. Axisa notes that the club does have some 40-man flexibility due to other more serious injuries, though, and opines that placing both Hicks and Rodriguez on the 15-day DL (even if it’s longer than needed) is preferable to simply playing short for a few days. Axisa runs down some bench options in the duo’s absence, including Nick Swisher, who is hitting well in Triple-A and will see his first outfield action tonight.
- Yankees‘ minor-league righty James Kaprielian, the club’s first-round choice from 2015, has been shut down with elbow inflammation, the club announced (via Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal, on Twitter). He’ll hit the minor league DL and will be “treated conservatively” before he begins throwing again, per the club, which says there’s still no timetable for his return. Kaprielian, 22, was seen as a quick-to-the-majors arm, and he has impressed thus far in his professional career. Over 18 innings in three starts this year at the High-A level, he owns a 1.50 ERA with 22 strikeouts against just three walks and eight hits.
AL East Notes: A-Rod, Wright, Hutchison, Stewart
Some items from around the AL East…
- Alex Rodriguez left the sixth inning of today’s game with left oblique stiffness, and a postgame MRI was negative, according to a Yankees media release. The veteran slugger will travel to Arlington with the rest of the team for a series with the Rangers, though it’s yet unknown if A-Rod will be able to play. Joe Girardi told reporters (including Josh Thomson of the LoHud Yankees blog) that if Rodriguez needs some time off, it could necessitate a DL move so the club wouldn’t be playing two men short. Aaron Hicks is resting a shoulder injury suffered on Friday and is expected to miss a few games after receiving a cortisone shot, so he could also be a DL candidate should the Yankees need to bolster their depth.
- Steven Wright has gone from injury fill-in to unexpected ace of the Red Sox staff in April after posting a 1.40 ERA over his first three starts. WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford talks to Boston scout John Lombardo, who saw potential in Wright as a knuckleballer back in 2011 when Wright was an Indians farmhand and pushed the Sox to make a trade.
- Drew Hutchison threw a solid outing for the Blue Jays today, and as MLB.com’s Alykhan Ravjiani notes, the right-hander could provide an important depth role for Toronto’s rotation. Hutchison lost his rotation spot due to a rough 2015 season and is now at Triple-A, though the Jays could call on him for spot outings to keep the rest of the rotation fresh. With Aaron Sanchez known to be eventually moving back to the bullpen to limit his innings, Hutchison could also boost his case for regular starts later in the season.
- There are some concerns within the Orioles organization about 2015 first-rounder DJ Stewart‘s struggles both at the plate and in the field, MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko writes. In 285 professional plate appearances (and low-A and high-A ball), Stewart has managed only a .214/.303/.330 slash line. Obviously it’s still quite early in his career and Stewart is only 22 years old, though the O’s have thus far not seen much from the 25th overall pick in last year’s draft.
Yankees’ Branden Pinder Has UCL Tear
SUNDAY: Pinder will visit renowned orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews during the upcoming week for a second opinion, the Yankees announced. He’s currently leaning toward having Tommy John surgery, according to manager Joe Girardi (Twitter link via the Lohud Yankees Blog).
SATURDAY: An MRI on Yankees right-hander Branden Pinder revealed a UCL tear in his pitching elbow, reports Brendan Kuty of NJ Advance Media (Twitter link). Pinder is currently undecided about whether to undergo Tommy John surgery, according to Kuty. If he does, he’ll join Nick Rumbelow as the second Yankees reliever to require the surgery this season.
Pinder has been a member of the Yankees organization since they used a 16th-round draft pick on him in 2011. After climbing up the ranks in the minors, Pinder made his major league debut last season. The fastball- and slider-heavy 27-year-old tossed 27 2/3 innings of 2.93 ERA ball in 25 appearances out of the Yankees’ bullpen, also putting up an 8.13 K/9 and 4.55 BB/9. Pinder threw five innings this year, four in Triple-A and one with the Yankees, before landing on the disabled list earlier this week with a right elbow strain. The team subsequently called up fellow righty Nick Goody to replace him on the roster.
AL Notes: Yankees, Indians, Rays, Orioles
Yankees infield prospect Sandy Acevedo was killed in a car accident Saturday night, the team announced. Acevedo was 18 years old. The native of the Dominican Republic signed with the Yankees last year as an international free agent. MLBTR extends its condolences to Acevedo’s family and friends.
In lighter news from around the American League…
- Indians star left fielder Michael Brantley will rejoin the team Monday, manager Terry Francona said Sunday, and stands a good chance to be activated then, reports Jordan Bastian of MLB.com. The club could option outfielder Tyler Naquin to Triple-A in a corresponding move when it activates Brantley, per Bastian. Brantley has been working his way back from November right shoulder surgery and has played seven minor league rehab games since April 12. The 28-year-old’s return will be a significant boon to the Indians, as he emerged as one of the majors’ most dangerous offensive threats during the previous two seasons.
- Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times believes the Rays should consider trading for Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy if they plan on contending, even if it means parting with a couple of their top prospects. So far this season, the Rays have gotten almost no offensive production from backstops Curt Casali and Hank Conger. Moreover, base stealers have gone 15 of 15 against the duo. Conger has thrown out just one of 54 runners dating back to last season. Lucroy, on the other hand, has established himself as one of the sport’s premier two-way catchers. The 29-year-old is playing this season on an eminently reasonable $4MM salary and is under team control through 2017 with a $5.25MM club option.
- In the wake of Yovani Gallardo‘s shoulder injury, right-hander Tyler Wilson will stay in the Orioles’ rotation for at least another start, Brittany Ghiroli of MLB.com was among those to report (on Twitter). As a result, Vance Worley will remain in a relief role, as Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun pointed out (Twitter link). Wilson was working out of the Orioles’ bullpen before they started him in their 8-3 win over the Royals on Saturday. The 26-year-old allowed three runs on six hits in five innings. He made five big league starts last season and put up a 4.32 ERA/4.05 FIP/5.01 xFIP in 25 frames.
AL East Notes: Snell, Hicks, Yankees, Bogaerts, Farrell
Blake Snell looked impressive in his Major League debut, holding the Yankees to one run on two hits and a walk over five innings on Saturday, while striking out six. “I just settled in, and it felt like it felt my whole life when I went out there and pitched,” Snell told reporters, including Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Snell has already been optioned back to Triple-A since the Rays only needed him for one start (due to Erasmo Ramirez being needed in the bullpen) but it seems quite likely that you’ll see Snell back in the Show later this season. Here’s some more from around the AL East…
- Aaron Hicks will be out of action for four-to-five days after receiving a cortisone injection in his left shoulder, Yankees manager Joe Girardi told reporters (including Dan Martin of the New York Post). Hicks suffered the injury, described as Girardi as traumatic bursitis, when diving for a ball in Friday night’s game. If there’s no improvement shown over the next couple of days, the team could end up placing Hicks on the DL.
- Losing the right-handed hitting Hicks will only worsen the Yankees‘ problems against left-handed pitching, Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes, an issue that developed late in 2015 and seemingly hasn’t been solved after the offseason’s moves. The Yankees entered today’s game with a .235/.324/.315 cumulative line against southpaws, and middling numbers overall against all pitching. A lackluster offense, Sherman notes, isn’t helping the team take advantage of its greatest weapon, the Andrew Miller/Dellin Betances combo at the end of games.
- X-rays were negative on Xander Bogaerts‘ right wrist after the Red Sox shortstop was hit by a Luke Gregerson pitch in Friday’s game. Manager John Farrell told reporters (including WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford) that Bogaerts would’ve only been used in an emergency situation today, though the hope is that Bogaerts can return for Sunday’s game. Farrell also provided injury updates on Carson Smith and Eduardo Rodriguez, with Smith possibly on track to return from the DL later this week.
- Some Red Sox fans have already begun to whisper that Farrell should be fired in the wake of the club’s 8-9 start, which Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe considered to be very premature thinking. It’s rare for any team to fire a manager so early in a season, and Cafardo doesn’t think Farrell should be blamed so quickly given how the Sox have faced several pitching injuries.
- It’s already been a busy day for AL East news, as beyond just Yovani Gallardo‘s DL stint and Branden Pinder‘s UCL tear, more division items were collected in a pair of Notes posts.