AL Notes: White, Santander, White Sox
Mariners first baseman Evan White is healthy and even hit a home run in today’s spring action (Twitter link with video from the club). But Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times reports that the team wants him to get everyday action in Triple-A Tacoma to start the season. That’s fairly logical given that injuries have held back the former top prospect in recent seasons. In November of 2019, he and the club agreed to a six-year contract with three club options, before White had even cracked the majors. He finally made his debut in 2020 but struggled, striking out in 41.6% of his plate appearances. The two subsequent seasons were marred by various injuries, including hip surgery and sports hernia surgery, with White only getting into 62 total games between the majors and minors.
With so much missed time and White still having options, some regular playing time in the minors could help him get back on track. There’s also the matter of Ty France having taken over as the club’s regular first baseman. “I said to our coaches, ‘I believe at some point this year, Evan White will help us,’” Mariners manager Scott Servais said to Daniel Kramer of MLB.com. “He’s going to impact us. Certainly, Ty France has first base locked down right now. But things happen. Things happen throughout the course of the year. But [White] just needs to go play baseball, put himself kind of back on the map again — and the only way he can do that is to be available.”
In 2019, White played 92 games in Double-A and hit 18 home runs. His .293/.350/.488 batting line was good for a 132 wRC+, indicating he was 32% better than the league average hitter. If he can get back into that form, that would be a nice depth piece for the M’s to have.
Some other notes from around the league…
- Orioles outfielder Anthony Santander left today’s game after being hit on the knee with a pitch, with Nathan Ruiz of The Baltimore Sun among those to relay the details. The game was in the sixth inning at the time and Santander may have been scheduled to leave the game at that time anyway, but he did limp away from the field with the trainer by his side. The club later provided an update, describing Santander as day-to-day with a bruised knee. “I think he’s OK,” manager Brandon Hyde said, per Ruiz. If Santander isn’t seriously harmed, that would be good news for two clubs, as he’s set to play for Venezuela in the upcoming World Baseball Classic. Injuries dragged Santander down in 2021 but he stayed healthy last year and got back on track, hitting 33 home runs and finishing with a .240/.318/.455 batting line for a 120 wRC+.
- The White Sox are going to be without their closer for an unknown amount of time as Liam Hendriks is undergoing treatment for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. They will have to figure out how to proceed in the meantime, but it doesn’t seem like there are any plans to have one set closer. “Absolutely not,” manager Pedro Grifol said to Scott Merkin of MLB.com. “That’s not how we are going to run it.” Many teams are bucking traditional closers these days, preferring to target their best pitchers to the best hitters in the opposing lineup, with the Sox perhaps leaning that way as well. Though there won’t be a set closer, some candidates for high leverage work will include Kendall Graveman, Aaron Bummer, Joe Kelly and Reynaldo López.
Injury Notes: Whitlock, Ahmed, Vargas, Reynolds
Right-hander Garrett Whitlock is still on the mend from September hip surgery, though Red Sox skipper Alex Cora indicated this morning there’s a possibility he won’t be ready for Opening Day (Twitter link via Ian Browne of MLB.com). Whitlock has been throwing off a mound but is not yet performing pitchers’ fielding practice, and Cora stated that if the right-hander isn’t ready for the start of the season, “he’s not going to lose too much time.”
One of the best Rule 5 selections in recent memory, the 26-year-old Whitlock has pitched 151 2/3 innings for Boston over the past two seasons, logging a sharp 2.73 ERA with a strong 26.8% strikeout rate against a brilliant 5.3% walk rate. The Red Sox have used him far more out of the bullpen than the rotation, but he’s slated to get a look as a starter in 2023, joining the likes of Chris Sale, Corey Kluber, James Paxton and Nick Pivetta in the mix for rotation work. Fellow righty Tanner Houck and top prospect Brayan Bello are both options to step into the rotation, should Whitlock need to miss any time early in the season.
A few more health situations to monitor as spring camps continue to ramp up…
- D-backs shortstop Nick Ahmed received a cortisone injection in his right forearm and will be shut down for at least five days, writes Steve Gilbert of MLB.com. The 32-year-old Ahmed (33 next month) was dealing with inflammation and tightness in his forearm, and the hope is that the injection and some downtime will clear it up and avoid a lengthy absence. Ahmed was limited to 129 games in 2021 and just 17 games in 2022 thanks to a shoulder injury that ultimately required surgery last year. If healthy, he’ll be back in line for regular reps at shortstop, where he’s ranked among the game’s best defenders at any position. A healthy 2023 campaign is of particular importance for Ahmed, as he’s entering the final season of a four-year, $32MM contract and is slated to become a free agent for the first time next offseason.
- Infielder Miguel Vargas, who suffered a hairline fracture of his pinkie finger earlier this spring, has resumed swinging a bat, writes Jack Harris of the L.A. Times. The 23-year-old Vargas, widely considered to be one of the sport’s 100 best prospects, scuffled through a 50-plate appearance MLB debut in 2022 (.170/.200/.255) but ripped through Triple-A pitching at a torrid .304/.404/.511 pace (129 wRC+). He’s the favorite for everyday work at second base to begin the season, though obviously the health of his finger will determine his readiness for the season. Vargas is in the Dodgers’ lineup for the second time in three spring games today, but he’s batting ninth and isn’t expected to swing during any plate appearances today (he walked and struck out on Saturday). He’ll still get some work at second base and use today’s game to work on tracking pitches in the batter’s box. It’s not clear yet when he’ll begin swinging the bat in a game setting.
- Reds infielder Matt Reynolds is headed for an MRI after exiting Saturday’s Cactus League game with a quadriceps injury, tweets Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer. The 31-year-old Reynolds, in camp as a non-roster invitee, logged a career-high 272 plate appearances with Cincinnati in 2022, slashing .246/.320/.332 while appearing at every position other than catcher. Reynolds is competing with fellow non-roster invitees like Chad Pinder, Alejo Lopez and Jason Vosler for a spot on manager David Bell‘s bench to begin the 2023 season.
NL Central Notes: Mikolas, Walker, Hill, Senzel
Miles Mikolas didn’t exactly suggest that he might give the Cardinals a so-called hometown discount in a new contract, even though the team’s spring camp is located in his actual hometown of Jupiter, Florida. Mikolas noted to MLB.com’s John Denton that when he returned to the big leagues after pitching in Japan from 2015-17, “I had four or five offers that were all about the same, and I chose the Cardinals because of the organization, the fanbase and because Spring Training is in my hometown. There are always a lot of factors that play into it, and they’ll play into it if I have a decision to make down the road.” Of course, Mikolas also noted that other teams play near Jupiter, and joked that he wouldn’t necessarily be tied to the area since “the fishing is still pretty good on the west coast [of Florida].”
Mikolas said that “everything about being a Cardinal is fantastic” and that he is happy with St. Louis. As far as a long-term deal is concerned, “those decisions aren’t always up to the player. My job is to go out there and get outs as efficiently as I can, and that’s what I’m going to focus on.” After his initial deal with the Cardinals, Mikolas already agreed to one extension with the club, and 2023 is the final season of that four-year, $68MM pact. The Cards’ pitching outlook is a major storyline hanging over the team’s season, as Mikolas, Jack Flaherty, and Jordan Montgomery are all slated to free agency next winter and Adam Wainwright will retire after the year.
More from around the NL Central…
- Sticking with the Cardinals, the team is planning to focus all of Jordan Walker‘s spring work on the outfield, rather than any reps at his former third base position. Manager Oliver Marmol feels Walker would be able to adjust easily back to third base if a need arose, but the skipper told Lynn Worthy of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that “when you’re making the transition as a young player, it’s hard to…stay sharp at a lot of different positions. With this transition of [Walker] playing the outfield for the first time, we’re solely focused on him improving there rather than put too much on his plate.” One of baseball’s top prospects, Walker has already drawn a lot of buzz after his very first spring start, and Walker seems likely to make his big league debut in 2023 even though he has yet to play at the Triple-A level. Though the St. Louis outfield is already pretty crowded, Walker’s position change became necessary since Nolan Arenado is locked in at the hot corner.
- Rich Hill underwent a minor elbow procedure following the 2022 season, Pirates GM Ben Cherington told Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe. Described as something of a clean-up surgery, it doesn’t appear that the procedure will impact Hill’s readiness for Opening Day, nor did it seem to hurt his free agent market — the Rangers, Red Sox, Orioles, and Angels all reportedly had interest in Hill before he signed a one-year, $8MM deal with Pittsburgh. Hill turns 43 years old on March 11, and the 2023 season will be Hill’s 19th Major League campaign.
- Reds manager David Bell shed some more light on Nick Senzel‘s recovery timeline, telling reporters (including Bobby Nightengale Jr. of the Cincinnati Enquirer) that the hope is for Senzel to be playing in Spring Training games by the middle of March. There was already an expectation that Senzel would be somewhat slowly ramped up to action while he returns to full fitness after offseason toe surgery, and a mid-March return date might allow for Senzel to be ready for Cincinnati’s Opening Day lineup. The toe surgery is the latest in a long list of injury problems for the former top prospect, who has been limited to 273 MLB games since making his Major League debut in May 2019.
NL East Notes: Hoskins, Rosario, Mauricio, Vientos
Rhys Hoskins underwent a meniscectomy on his right knee in December, Phillies manager Rob Thomson told Alex Coffey of The Philadelphia Inquirer and other reporters. The relatively minor procedure corrected some “wear and tear,” Thomson said, and Hoskins is expected to make his in-game spring debut sometime this week.
Now entering his age-30 season, Hoskins has been a quality hitter pretty much from day one in Philadelphia, hitting .242/.353/.492 with 148 home runs and producing a 125 wRC+ over 2877 career plate appearances in six MLB seasons. Hoskins would naturally love to keep that production going in order to help the Phillies’ chances at returning to the World Series, but a big 2023 campaign would also help Hoskins as he enters free agency next winter. The Phils already have a lot of long-term money on the books and might soon add another pricey deal if they reach an extension with Aaron Nola (another pending free agent), but it stands to reason that the club would also have some interest in locking Hoskins up to an extension. That said, Boras Corporation clients like Hoskins usually end up testing the open market, and the Phillies might have some reservations about committing a long-term deal to a first base-only player.
More from around the NL East…
- Eddie Rosario followed up his 2021 NLCS MVP performance with a dismal 2022 season, as the outfielder hit only .212/.259/.328 over 270 plate appearances with the Braves. Vision problems were the root cause of Rosario’s struggles, as Rosario started to have trouble seeing the ball during last year’s Spring Training, and he still needed some adjustment time even after undergoing laser surgery and missing over two months of the season. Fortunately, “everything is good now. I feel really good and I see really well,” Rosario told MLB.com’s Mark Bowman, and both manager Brian Snitker and hitting coach Kevin Seitzer have been impressed by Rosario’s seeming return to his old form early in camp. A revived Rosario would instantly solve the Braves’ question mark in left field, and provide a nice boost to an Atlanta team that is hoping to compete for another world championship. 2023 is the final guaranteed season of Rosario’s two-year, $18MM deal with Atlanta, though the Braves hold a $9MM club option on the veteran for the 2024 campaign.
- The Mets will use Ronny Mauricio at shortstop and Mark Vientos as a corner infielder this spring, rather than continue to audition the prospects at different positions. MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo writes that plans might change in the future, and some obvious roadblocks (i.e. Francisco Lindor, Pete Alonso, Eduardo Escobar, and fellow prospect Brett Baty) seem to be preventing Mauricio or Vientos from playing their regular positions at the big league level. Of course, it is always possible that the win-now Mets might look to move either Mauricio or Vientos for a proven Major Leaguer, though New York has thus far been pretty resistant about moving too many top-tier prospects for immediate help.
Chicago Notes: Suzuki, Taillon, Crochet
Seiya Suzuki was a late scratch from the Cubs lineup, as the team announced to reporters (including Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times) that the outfielder was dealing with left oblique tightness. More will be known about Suzuki once he completes some tests, though for now, there is certainly concern over his status given the rather wide range of recovery timelines associated with oblique injuries. Even if Suzuki’s issue is relatively minor, it might create an immediate problem with his planned participation on Team Japan at the World Baseball Classic.
A finger sprain cost Suzuki about six weeks of his first MLB season, but he still hit a solid .262/.336/.433 with 14 homers over 446 plate appearances with the Cubs in 2022. More will be expected from Suzuki in his sophomore year (especially for a Cubs team that plans to be more competitive) but the first order of business is to make sure that he’s healthy and that his oblique injury doesn’t lead to much missed time.
Some more notes on both Windy City teams…
- The Mets and Phillies were the other finalists for Jameson Taillon, as the New York Post’s Jon Heyman writes that Philadelphia offered Taillon slightly more than the four years and $68MM he received from the Cubs. Since Taijuan Walker signed with the Phils for four years and $72MM, it could be that the Phillies offered similar deals to both pitchers and either Walker accepted first, or perhaps Taillon opted for Chicago’s offer instead. However, Taillon said that “I thought I was going to be a Met for a while,” indicating that New York was also strongly in the running. The mutual interest between both Taillon and the Cubs may have been the deciding factor, as “the Cubs made a really strong first impression” on the first day of free agency, and the team “made it clear from day one I was a top priority. If you can nerd-out and talk pitching with me, that really works for me. They showed me a good plan. It’s been exciting.”
- The White Sox are tentatively aiming for May as Garrett Crochet‘s return date from Tommy John rehab, as per MLB.com’s Sox-specific injuries and transactions page. Crochet underwent the TJ surgery last April, so the 13-month layoff would fit within the procedure’s usual recovery timeline. The Sox have already said that Crochet will work as a reliever when he returns, so he’ll need to build less arm strength than a pitcher who was returning to a starting role. Crochet is slated to move from two bullpen sessions per week to one high-intensity bullpen session per week, with an eye towards pitching in game action during extended Spring Training and then a minor league rehab assignment.
West Notes: Syndergaard, White, Davis
Noah Syndergaard signed a one-year, $13MM free agent deal with the Dodgers this winter, and the right-hander tells the New York Post’s Jon Heyman that “there might have been more money on the table with another team.” But, Los Angeles held particular appeal for Syndergaard, as “I wanted to give myself the best chance to get back to the World Series and win it all. And I wanted the best coaching and direction that the sport has to offer and I’m fully convinced that that is with the Dodgers.” There is certainly a solid track record of pitchers being revived after joining the Dodgers, and Syndergaard might have a lot in particular to offer, given his past ace status and the fact that he is now fully healthy.
Tommy John surgery and some related setbacks cost Syndergaard all but two innings of the 2020-21 seasons. While he had a 3.94 ERA over 134 2/3 combined innings with the Angels and Phillies last year, Syndergaard still felt the “Tommy John hangover,” saying that “I didn’t throw a pitch where it didn’t feel like I was pitching in a straightjacket….It’s hard to get hitters out when you’re thinking about what your body is doing in mid-delivery.” It remains to seen if Syndergaard can ever fully return to his All-Star form, but even solid numbers and a clean bill of health would put him in nice position for a richer, multi-year contract in free agency next winter.
More from the NL and AL West…
- Formerly one of baseball’s top prospects, Evan White played only 30 MLB games in 2021 and none in 2022 due to hip surgery, a sports hernia surgery, and related other setbacks and injuries. White is feeling much better now, however, as the Mariners first baseman told Larry Stone of the Seattle Times that he received offseason treatment for “a muscle in my pelvic floor that was the biggest issue….You can give me all the stabilization exercises you want, but if I can’t do it from the very inner parts of me, it’s tough to do. I’ve had injuries on that side since I was probably 14 years old. I had to make sure everything was firing, firing the right patterns.” Manager Scott Servais said the current plan is to keep White in his regular first base spot this spring until both White and the Mariners are fully sure of his health, and then perhaps White might get some looks as a corner outfielder, as a way of finding a lineup spot since Ty France now has first base locked down.
- David Villar‘s emergence as the Giants‘ planned regular third baseman has left J.D. Davis in something of a crunch for playing time, as The San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser notes that Davis might only see most of his action when a left-handed pitcher is on the mound, with Davis and Wilmer Flores stepping in for Joc Pederson and LaMonte Wade Jr. at DH and first base, respectively. Of course, injuries, under-performance, or the Giants’ penchant for platoon advantages could boost Davis’ time on the field, but on paper, Davis again looks to be a part-time player after filling a similar role over a good chunk of his time with the Mets. Even after an underwhelming start last season, Davis finished 2022 hitting .240/.340/.418 over 365 plate appearances (119 wRC+) with New York and San Francisco, boosted largely by a hot streak after the Giants acquired him at the trade deadline.
AL East Notes: Manoah, Shapiro, Rortvedt, Bautista
“I don’t think there’s been any talks about anything” involving a long-term extension between Alek Manoah and the Blue Jays, the right-hander told Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi. Noting that he is under team control through 2027, Manoah didn’t seem to expect any negotiations in the near future, saying “I don’t think I’m a priority right now.” The right-hander did state that “there’s no hard feelings, it’s just the business part of it” in regards to both the lack of talks, and Manoah’s decision to again take a salary renewal from the Jays rather than officially agree to their offered salary for his pre-arbitration season. Manoah will earn $745,650 in 2023, and he might become eligible for arbitration as early as next winter if he gains Super Two status.
Extending Manoah would give the Jays come cost certainty over what might be some increasingly pricey arbitration years, given how impressive he has looked in his first two MLB seasons. After a strong rookie campaign, Manoah took things a step further in his first full season, posting a 2.24 ERA over 196 2/3 innings and finishing third in AL Cy Young Award voting. If an extension didn’t come, Manoah said “I’m completely happy riding out that [arbitration] process and allowing the team to go spend money on other guys and me continuing to earn my value and earn what I hope to get one day,” though he also stated that “I want to play in Toronto for a long time.”
More from around the AL East…
- Sticking with the Blue Jays, there was some surprise that the team surpassed the luxury tax threshold for the first time this winter, and bumped its real-dollars payroll from $175MM (already a club high) in 2022 to a projected $211.7MM heading into Spring Training. But, team president Mark Shapiro told The Toronto Star’s Gregor Chisholm that “on the expense side, this is the way we envisioned it” after going through their rebuilding phase. “Once we have that mass of talent, we want to put it in a position to sustainably be a championship-calibre team. So we need to surround it with talent, where we have gaps,” Shapiro said. “But not build the team solely through free agency, supplement a team through free agency….The thought was we’d always have to ramp up payroll as we went.” The Jays have some regular shoppers in the higher-end free agent market over the last four offseasons, signing such players as George Springer, Hyun Jin Ryu, Kevin Gausman, and (most recently) Chris Bassitt to expensive long-term deals, while also investing in some pricier trade targets and contract extensions.
- The Yankees announced earlier this week that catcher Ben Rortvedt underwent surgery to remove an aneurysm in the posterior artery near his left shoulder, and that he’ll miss at least a month before resuming baseball activities. The injury was “really shocking” to Rortvedt, as he told The Athletic’s Brendan Kuty, since he first assumed that the soreness in the pointer finger of his glove hand was a normal side effect of catching. But, after he noticed his finger was starting to turn blue, Rortvedt went for further examination, and apparently not a moment too soon. According to orthopedic surgeon Dr. Armin Tehrany, such a circulation problem created “the risk of permanent soft tissue damage,” and Rortvedt “might [have needed] to get something amputated.” Fortunately, it looks like Rortvedt won’t miss all that much time, and the catcher will finally get to start his Yankees career after missing the 2022 season due to oblique and knee injuries.
- Felix Bautista threw another bullpen session today, MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko writes, as the Orioles closer was aiming to ramp up to 80-85 percent readiness. Bautista is still recovering from left knee problems that cropped up at the end of last season, as well as an offseason problem for strengthening his throwing shoulder. Today’s work marked Bautista’s sixth throwing session overall, so he appears to be on pace to reach his stated goal of making the Opening Day roster. Bautista’s first MLB season was a thorough success, as he posted a 2.19 ERA and an elite 34.8% strikeout rate (albeit with a below-average 9.1% walk rate) over 65 1/3 innings, becoming one of many breakout players for the surprising Orioles.
Diamondbacks Notes: Spending, Ballpark, Martin, Jones
Diamondbacks managing general partner Ken Kendrick and team president/CEO Derrick Hall spoke with MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert and other reporters earlier this week, discussing several topics about the club’s offseason and future plans. In regards to the biggest-picture topic of the Diamondbacks’ quest for a new ballpark, Hall said that “nothing has really changed yet….We’re still looking at what other options there might be in Maricopa County, not outside of Maricopa County,” and that “we’ll start accelerating that process again” now that the MLB lockout and the pandemic delayed the process. The club’s lease at Chase Field is up after the 2027 season, and while the D’Backs have been in talks with Phoenix officials, there were some reports in 2019 that the Diamondbacks had possibly considered Las Vegas and Henderson, Nevada as alternate sites. Hall said that the team would likely prefer to remain in the downtown Phoenix area, and Kendrick added that “whether it be the downtown setting or perhaps a ballpark somewhere in the Valley that would be a brand new one,” the D’Backs are “prepared to spend hundreds of millions of dollars” to help fund the construction of a new home.
Speaking of finances, the Diamondbacks have had an active offseason as the team looks to improve on its 74-88 record from 2022. The Snakes’ current payroll sits at around $118.9MM, which Kendrick noted was almost a 30 percent increase from last year’s figure. While this spending still puts the D’Backs in the bottom half of all MLB payrolls, Kendrick said that ownership was prepared to reinvest at the deadline if necessary: “If the team is competitive and has the chance to play in October is there, we’re going to spend more money to get there.”
More from Arizona…
- Corbin Martin has worked mostly as a starter over his pro career, but Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic writes that the D’Backs are transitioning Martin into a full-time relief role. The hope is that the new bullpen role will help Martin achieve some consistency (after posting a 6.71 ERA over his first 57 2/3 innings in the majors) and also help keep him healthy — the righty missed most of 2019 and the entire 2020 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery and a follow-up oblique strain, and Martin also had IL trips in each of the last two seasons. As Piecoro noted in another piece, those injuries meant that the D’Backs were awarded a fourth option year on Martin, giving the team additional control over their ability to move Martin between the majors and minors. “So far, I feel like health-wise, it might be the best decision. Not overtaxing, being able to go out there and focus on the three outs to get every inning…Being able to build off that is going to be able to help me in the long run,” Martin said. Martin has averaged 94.5 mph on his fastball at the big league level, but D’Backs manager Torey Lovullo said that Martin hit the 97mph mark during a live batting practice session on Thursday.
- After undergoing shoulder surgery last year, Druw Jones should be ready for action around the start of the minor league season, Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen told Piecoro and other reporters. Jones’ first minor league game will be his official pro debut, as he suffered a torn left posterior labrum during a workout just three days after signing his post-draft deal. Arizona selected Jones with the second overall pick in last summer’s draft, and injury notwithstanding, Jones is still a consensus top-35 prospect in baseball even before he has taken the field.
AL Notes: Kwan, Bieber, Varsho, Pearson
After a sensational rookie season, Steven Kwan says he’s open to discussing a long-term contract extension with the Guardians, according to Zack Meisel of The Athletic.
Kwan finished third in AL Rookie of the Year voting last year, after posting a .298/.373/.400 line with six home runs across 638 plate appearances. A lot of his value was in the defensive side of things, as Kwan amassed 21 Defensive Runs Saved and 10 Outs Above Average for his work in left field, contributing to a 4.4 fWAR rookie year. It was quite the rookie year for a player who was drafted in the fifth round of the 2018 draft and never featured on any top-100 prospect lists.
In any case, Kwan is now a nailed on starter for the Guardians and he says “it’s mind-blowing” to even be discussing a long-term extension. Kwan picked up a full year of service time for the Guardians last year, which means he has two more seasons of pre-arb control and then three years of arbitration before he likely hits free agency after the 2027 season. While it seems highly unlikely anytime soon, Kwan could technically be optioned to the minors still, in which case his scheduled free agency could be pushed back.
As for what a contract extension might look like, Ronald Acuna Jr.is the most obvious comp that immediately comes to mind after he signed an eight-year, $100MM contract with Atlanta after posting 4.1 fWAR in almost a full year of service time. Acuna was the consensus top prospect in all of baseball going into his rookie year, so there was a fair bit more hype and certainty around his future. On the flip side, that deal was widely considered to be extremely team-friendly at the time, given Acuna’s upside as an elite five-tool player. Regardless, it’s an interesting starting point to begin considering what a potential extension for Kwan may look like.
Here’s some more notes from around the American League:
- Sticking with Cleveland, and one player who seems unlikely to be taking an extension is starting pitcher Shane Bieber. Cleveland’s ace told reporters he’d “love to entertain that, but right now, I’m going to focus on what I can control and that’s my work on the field.” Bieber has two remaining years of club control and is coming off a season in which he tossed 200 1/3 innings of 2.88 ERA ball, finishing seventh in AL Cy Young voting. What that means is that any extension for Bieber is going to be significant, and likely well above the biggest contract Cleveland’s ever given out, Jose Ramirez‘ five-year, $124MM extension.
- Shifting north of the border to Toronto, and headline trade acquisition Daulton Varsho is set to be a big part of the Blue Jays’ plans this season, but it seems he’ll be playing almost exclusively in left field. According to The Athletic’s Kaitlyn McGrath, there are currently no plans for Varsho to catch any spring training games for the Blue Jays. Of course, Varsho could sporadically catch in the case of any emergency, but it’s unlikely he’d approach anything near the 55 games he caught for Arizona over the past two seasons. That’s not a huge surprise, given Toronto traded away Gabriel Moreno to get Varsho and have Alejandro Kirk and Danny Jansen slated to handle the catching duties this season. Varsho hit .235/.302/.443 with 27 home runs while earning 17 Outs Above Average for his outfield work in Arizona last year.
- McGrath’s report also confirms that former top prospect Nate Pearson is being built up as a reliever this spring. While he won’t be starting, it does seem like he’ll be in more of a bulk role, rather than a one inning relief role, per McGrath. Pearson, once a top-ten prospect in all of baseball, has been restricted to just 33 largely unsuccessful big league innings since his debut in 2020, and didn’t pitch at all in 2022 as a lat strain restricted him to just 15 2/3 minor league innings. McGrath reports that Pearson was sitting at 96-97 mph, with a fastball that topped out at 100 mph.
Twins Notes: First Base, Kirilloff, Henriquez, Rotation
The Twins don’t plan on using a dedicated first baseman in 2023, manager Rocco Baldelli told reporters this week (link via Dan Hayes of The Athletic). Minnesota will utilize a rotation of players through the position, giving looks to Alex Kirilloff, Jose Miranda, utilityman Nick Gordon and offseason signees Joey Gallo and Donovan Solano at the position. The Twins cycled through various DH options last season after three years with Nelson Cruz as the mainstay in that spot of the lineup, and it seems as though they’ll now go with a that rotational approach at both DH and first base.
Kirilloff told Hayes that he’s feeling “optimistic” about his twice-surgically repaired wrist, which is improving by the week. A healthy Kirilloff would be the favorite for work at first base. The former No. 15 overall draft pick climbed as high as the ninth-ranked prospect in all of baseball on MLB.com’s top-100 list prior to the 2019 season (and No. 15 at Baseball America), and the Twins thought highly enough of him to give him his MLB debut during the 2020 postseason.
Injuries have derailed both his 2021 and 2022 seasons, however, and after a hot start in 2021, his production began to slide. He currently has just a .251/.298/.398 batting line in 387 Major League plate appearances, but Kirilloff is also a .323/.378/.518 hitter in the minor leagues and comes with substantial upside at the plate. He could be an option in the outfield as well — he’s played all three spots in his career — but the Twins are deep in the outfield and clearly have more playing time for him at first base.
Of the options to split time at first base, the newly signed Solano could be a frequent one. Twins president of baseball ops Derek Falvey told reporters this week Solano will get a “good amount” of time at the position (link via Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press). Helfand writes that the Twins first reached out to Solano back in early January, though a deal obviously took quite a bit longer to formally come together. Solano adds that other clubs made him offers, but it seems some might’ve come from rebuilding teams, as he cited the Twins’ desire to compete in 2023 as a reason for signing in Minnesota.
Elsewhere in camp, pitching prospect Ronny Henriquez, who recently underwent an MRI after experiencing posterior elbow soreness, per Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com (Twitter link). The right-hander received an injection and will be reevaluated in a week’s time.
The 22-year-old Henriquez, acquired alongside Isiah Kiner-Falefa in the trade that sent catcher Mitch Garver to the Rangers, made his big league debut in 2022 and tossed 11 2/3 innings of 2.31 ERA ball. He struggled to a 5.66 ERA in 95 1/3 Triple-A frames, thanks largely to an inflated 1.79 HR/9 mark, but his 25.7% strikeout rate and 8% walk rate were more encouraging. He currently ranks 23rd among Twins farmhands at Baseball America. A strong performance in camp and/or in Triple-A to begin the season could put him in the mix for a bullpen spot during the upcoming campaign.
Henriquez has been primarily a starter in the minors, but with a rotation consisting of Sonny Gray, Pablo Lopez, Joe Ryan, Tyler Mahle and Kenta Maeda — plus Bailey Ober looming as a solid sixth option — it’d be an uphill battle to get into the starting mix. It’s a deep collection of starters for the Twins — one that Baldelli will likely treat differently than in 2022, when pitchers like Chris Archer and Dylan Bundy were deployed in short starts by design. Via Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Baldelli said this week that he expects Twins starters to work deep into games this year.
“I expect more out of our starters this year,” Baldelli said. “…We have several guys that, what they probably take most pride in, is giving you a good, deep effort into a ballgame. Guys that are not satisfied giving you five good innings. They want more than that out of themselves.”
The now-26-year-old Ryan led all Twins pitchers with just 147 innings pitched in 2022. Part of that was due to rampant injuries up and down the roster, but part of it was also an ostensibly conscious effort to shield starters from facing a lineup three times in an outing. Twins starting pitchers averaged just 4.83 innings per outing in 2022. The group ranked as a middle-of-the-pack unit in terms of results, landing 20th in MLB with a 4.11 ERA. Archer, in particular, averaged just 4.11 innings per start. Lopez, acquired from the Marlins last month, averaged 5.63 innings per start and pitched at least six frames in 16 of his 32 starts.