Injury Notes: Kirilloff, Maeda, Ahmed
Twins first baseman/outfielder Alex Kirilloff started swinging a bat earlier this month, and is currently taking 50-60 swings a day according to Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com. Kirilloff underwent season-ending wrist surgery in August last year.
Kirilloff has long battled wrist injuries, landing on the IL four times for that reason since making his big league debut in 2021. The once highly touted prospect hasn’t hit much in his time in the majors, compiling a combined .251/.295/.398 line with 11 home runs over 387 plate appearances. That’s a disappointing return for a bat-first player, although it is fair to wonder just how much these wrist issues have hampered his output even when he’s been on the active roster.
The Twins have a crowded outfield picture at the moment, particularly after acquiring Michael A. Taylor from the Royals, but the trade of Luis Arraez has seemingly opened up first base for Kirilloff. Given the injuries and output to date, there’s quite a bit of risk in relying on the 25-year-old as the primary first baseman, but there’s also significant upside too. Kirilloff was one of the top prospects in baseball before reaching the big leagues, and if he can show he’s past his wrist issues and unlock some of his potential that Twins could find themselves with a valuable middle-of-the-order bat.
Here’s some other notes from around the league:
- Sticking with the Twins to begin with, starter Kenta Maeda is set for a normal spring training with no restrictions, according to Dan Hayes of The Athletic. Maeda missed the entire 2022 season as he recovered from Tommy John surgery. Maeda, 35 in April, is entering the final year of his contract and set to earn a modest $3MM salary. Given he underwent internal brace TJ surgery which typically requires a slightly shorter recovery time, and there had initially been hope that Maeda would be available towards the backend of last season, it’s not a huge surprise that he’s shaping up nicely for 2023. Maeda’s most recent sample of work came in 2021, when he worked to a 4.66 ERA over 21 starts.
- As he works his way back from shoulder surgery, Diamondbacks shortstop Nick Ahmed has begun hitting and throwing, per Nick Piecoro of AZ Central. Piecoro adds that Ahmed is not expected to have any restrictions by the time spring training rolls around. Having been hampered by shoulder problems for the past few years, Ahmed underwent season-ending surgery in June last year having been restricted to just 17 games in 2022. Ahmed has never been a huge threat at the plate, but has been one of the game’s best defenders at shortstop, amassing 154 Outs Above Average since 2016, trailing only Francisco Lindor‘s 161 for best in baseball in that timeframe. Ahmed, 33 in March, is entering the final year of his contract and will take home a $10.375MM payday in 2023.
AL East Notes: LeMahieu, Yankees, Orioles, Bello
DJ LeMahieu continues to make progress in his recovery from a foot fracture, and based on the infielder’s offseason workouts, “it looks like there was never a problem,” Yankees hitting coach Dillon Lawson said. Though LeMahieu has yet to face live pitching, Lawson told the New York Post’s Dan Martin that the infielder is “able to do everything he needs to do, whether [the pitch] is inside, outside, up or down,” whereas when LeMahieu was battling his injury late last season, “sometimes when he came out there for batting practice, he’d have to come off his back side and couldn’t really rotate into the ball.”
Assuming LeMahieu is healthy and productive, the Yankees will pencil him into the lineup every day, whether at third, second, or first base. It is also possible that if the team is entirely confident LeMahieu is healthy, another infielder might be traded to make some extra space in the infield picture. Jon Heyman of the New York Post suggests that in addition to trying to trade Josh Donaldson and his hefty contract, the Yankees also at least explored trying to move Gleyber Torres or Isiah Kiner-Falefa, though obviously no deals transpired. Kiner-Falefa is expected to compete with star prospects Oswald Peraza and Anthony Volpe for everyday shortstop duty, while Torres is expected to be the starting second baseman. If Torres was dealt, New York could cover second base with some combination of LeMahieu, Peraza, Volpe, Kiner-Falefa, and Oswaldo Cabrera.
More from around the AL East…
- The Orioles have interest in acquiring “a defensive-minded corner outfielder who can be trusted in left field,” Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com writes. Austin Hays and Anthony Santander are slated to be the starters in the corners for Baltimore next season (with Hays in left field and Santander in right) and defensive metrics are somewhat split on the glovework for both players. The Defensive Runs Saved and UZR/150 metrics like Hays’ left field work quite a bit, though he is rated as a subpar defender by Outs Above Average. Presumably the Orioles are looking for more of a veteran glove-first player for their outfield mix, which also includes such less-experienced names as Ryan McKenna, Kyle Stowers, and top prospect Colton Cowser. Franchy Cordero and Nomar Mazara will also be in camp on minor league deals, though neither are known for their glovework.
- Earlier this week, Triston Casas said the Red Sox hadn’t yet broached the subject of an early-career contract extension, but he would be open to discussing such a deal. The same is true for another up-and-coming Sox star, as Brayan Bello told Alex Speier of the Boston Globe and his representatives and the Red Sox “haven’t had that conversation yet, [but] I would definitely listen.” Like Casas, Bello is 23 years old and made his MLB debut last season, with the right-hander delivering a 4.71 ERA over his first 57 1/3 innings in the Show. Bello doesn’t have Casas’ status as a staple of top-100 prospect lists, but he is still a well-regarded young pitcher, and perhaps even more important to Boston’s long-term plans given the organization’s recent struggles at developing homegrown arms. Though a long-term extension might limit Bello’s earning potential if he grows into being a consistent big league-caliber pitcher, he might also have interest in locking in the first guaranteed payday of his pro career, as Bello received only a $28K bonus as an international prospect in 2017.
Health Notes: King, Antone, Sewald
Yankees righty Michael King, who missed the final two and a half months of the 2022 season due to a fractured right elbow, tells The Athletic’s Brendan Kuty that he expects to be ready for Opening Day and anticipates being deployed as a multi-inning reliever in 2023. The 27-year-old King was in the midst of a breakout season when he suffered his ill-timed injury. Prior to landing on the IL, he’d pitched to an outstanding 2.29 ERA and whiffed 33.2% of his opponents against a tidy 8% walk rate. The righty was also touting a career-high 47% grounder rate and career-low 0.53 HR/9 mark. His 96.5 mph average fastball was the best of his career. Just three weeks ago, Opening Day was reported to be a slightly optimistic target for King, so his firmer confidence in his ability to be ready for the season is a welcome development for the Yankees and their fans.
A few more health/injury updates of note from around the league…
- Reds reliever Tejay Antone‘s offseason throwing program has been slowed by a forearm issue, reports Mark Sheldon of MLB.com, though it’s not believed to be related to the right-hander’s surgically repaired elbow. Antone was having one of the best seasons of any reliever in baseball before undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2021. The former fifth-rounder turned in an outstanding 2.14 ERA with a gaudy 32.8% strikeout rate against a 10.2% walk rate while holding opponents to a comically inept .152/.258/.250 batting line through 128 plate appearances. If healthy, he could quickly ascend the bullpen hierarchy and return to high-leverage work in 2022. Antone has another three seasons of club control remaining and is set to earn just $770K this season. As such, he’ll quite likely garner plenty of summer trade interest if he’s back to form, given the state of the Reds’ rebuild.
- Mariners reliever Paul Sewald might not be ready for the beginning of Spring Training, as Corey Brock of The Athletic reports that the righty underwent a “minor clean-up of his heel and elbow.” The exact timeline of the procedure or recovery aren’t known, though Brock suggests Sewald should still be ready to go by Opening Day. Turning 33 in May, Sewald is enjoying a late-career bloom. After posting underwhelming numbers over the 2017 to 2020 stretch, he has a 2.87 ERA in 127 appearances over the past two campaigns, striking out 34.8% of batters in faced in that time against an 8.1% walk rate. He and the club agreed to a $4.1MM salary for the upcoming campaign and he’ll have one further arbitration season in 2024 before he’s slated for free agency.
Quick Hits: Colas, Jimenez, White Sox, Giants, Hendricks, Cubs
“Oscar Colas is going to be given every opportunity to” become an everyday right fielder, White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said in a recent interview on 670 The Score’s Inside The Clubhouse show (partial transcript here). This doesn’t mean that Colas has a clear path to a starting job, however, as Grifol said Gavin Sheets, Jake Marisnick, Leury Garcia, and even Eloy Jimenez will also be competing for time in right field. In Jimenez’s case, he’ll still be Chicago’s primary DH, but Grifol said Jimenez could appear in right field “a day or two a week if possible and keeping him athletic and keeping him working on the defensive side, because I know that helps on the offensive side as well.”
Given Jimenez’s injury history and his subpar glovework as a left fielder, it is clear he’ll be taking a back seat on the outfield depth chart, as the Sox would love to see Colas emerge at the big league level. A highly-touted signing out of Cuba, Colas didn’t play anywhere in 2020-21 but hit .314/.371/.524 with 23 homers over 526 combined plate appearances with three different White Sox affiliates. That includes only a seven-game stint at Triple-A, but the White Sox seem confident that Colas will be ready for the majors possibly as soon as Opening Day.
More from around baseball…
- With contract opt-outs becoming more of a trend around the league, the Giants are no exception, as NBC Sports Bay Area’s Alex Pavlovic notes that most of the club’s biggest offseason moves contain the potential for early exits. Michael Conforto, Ross Stripling, and Sean Manaea can all opt out of their two-year deals next winter, while Mitch Haniger can opt out of his three-year contract following the 2024 season. “It just so happens that a lot of players that we’ve talked to feel like they have another level of performance in them,” president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said, downplaying the idea that the Giants are focusing only on shorter-term candidates. “I think that speaks to players believing in our development and our ability to help guys maximize their abilities. They want to come here and get another bite at the apple, and a lot of times that’s in our best interests, too, for players to be motivated along those lines and to be better.” San Francisco has had a lot of success in finding bounce-back players during Zaidi’s tenure, and it isn’t as though the club has shied away from longer-term offers, given what the Giants were prepared to give Carlos Correa or Aaron Judge. However, Pavlovic notes the negatives of this strategy, including how the opt-out tends to push the risk onto the team’s side of a contract, and also how even in the best-case scenario of a player performing well, an opt-out leaves the Giants churning the roster yet again to fill that hole.
- 2023 is the last guaranteed year of Kyle Hendricks‘ contract, as the Cubs hold a $16MM club option (with a $1.5MM buyout) on the veteran righty’s services for the 2024 season. After two underwhelming years and an injury-shortened 2022 campaign, Hendricks doesn’t look at the moment like a good bet to get that option exercised, but he is confident that he has a rebound coming. “I just want to get healthy and go in and (contribute)….By doing that — if I’m able to be who I am — then I think things will end up taking care of themselves after the season,” Hendricks told The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney. “Obviously, the goal would be to stay here. I’ve loved everything about it. I would love to ride it out as long as I possibly can.” Hendricks had some solid-to-excellent numbers with Chicago from 2014-20, and will be 34 on Opening Day 2024, so on paper it isn’t too late for the right-hander to have a bit of a revival. A big portion of Hendricks’ offseason work has included learning how to rehab and manage the capsular tear in his right shoulder, and his type of injury doesn’t usually require surgery. If Hendricks did regain any of his old form next season, the Cubs would face an interesting $14.5MM decision, and the chips might fall in Hendricks’ favor given the high price of starting pitching around the league.
Twins Notes: Rotation, Ober, Arraez
The dust is still settling in the aftermath of the Twins’ big four-player trade with the Marlins this past week, as Luis Arraez was sent to Miami in exchange for right-hander Pablo Lopez and prospects Jose Salas and Byron Chourio. The move shook up Minnesota’s lineup and added yet another external arm to the Twins’ rotation.
As noted by Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, all five members of the projected starting five (Lopez, Tyler Mahle, Sonny Gray, Joe Ryan, and Kenta Maeda) were all acquired in trades over the last three years. Chris Paddack is currently recovering from Tommy John surgery but was also acquired in a trade with the Padres prior to last season, while Simeon Woods Richardson is another arm on the depth arm that came to the Twins as part of the deal that sent Jose Berrios to the Blue Jays at the 2021 trade deadline.
While it is somewhat unusual for a team to built its rotation entirely via the trade market, Twins chief baseball officer Derek Falvey was blunt in telling reporters (including Miller and Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press) that, “I don’t care where [the starters] come from. We need really good starters and we need really good pitchers. Some of those are going to be free-agent signings, some of those are going to be trades, and some of those will also hopefully be from development. But the goal here is to continue to deepen the starting rotation and pitching staff however we can do it.”
Bailey Ober is a homegrown product, selected by the Twins in the twelfth round of the 2017 draft. The right-hander has pitched well in 148 1/3 innings and 31 starts over the last two seasons, though Lopez’s addition seemingly pushes Ober out of the rotation mix for now. Of course, rotations rarely stay healthy for an entire season, leaving opportunity for Ober or other pitchers like Woods Richardson, Josh Winder, Louie Varland, etc. to make some starts if one of the top five needs to visit the injured list.
There’s also a chance that the starting five becomes a starting six, as adopting a six-man rotation is “something we talk about a lot,” Falvey admitted. Minnesota’s depth gives the team the flexibility to shift to a six-man rotation if necessary, and “I will tell you that our hope right now is that we will go with five starters, and we feel like we have five good ones…but ultimately [we] have some depth behind it to make sure that we’re in a good place.” If everyone stays healthy and the Twins do end up with a surplus of starting candidates, Falvey described that potential scenario as “a great problem to have.”
The Lopez trade closes the book on Arraez’s tenure with the Twins, as the infielder went from being a fairly unknown prospect to being an All-Star, Silver Slugger winner, and AL batting champion in 2022. Arraez was already a strong performer in the three years prior to his big 2022 campaign, but his performance did dip a bit in an injury-shortened 2021 season. In the wake of that relative down year, Jim Souhan of the Minneapolis Star Tribune writes that the Twins had some talks with Arraez about a long-term extension, but Arraez turned the club down.
As a Super Two player, Arraez is eligible for four trips through the arbitration process, and he and the Twins avoided a hearing in Arraez’s first year of arb-eligibility by agreeing to a $2.125MM salary for the 2022 season. While the terms of Minnesota’s extension offer aren’t known, it is fair to guess that the Twins were looking for a deal that would’ve covered all four of those arbitration years, as well as at least one of Arraez’s free agent years. Signing such a contract would’ve locked in a nice guarantee for Arraez, and the first major payday of a career that began with a modest $40K bonus as an international signing.
But, Arraez opted to instead bet on himself to rebound from his 2021 season, and that self-confidence paid off nicely. Prior to the trade, Arraez and the Twins were headed to an arbitration hearing after not being able to reach a salary agreement before the arbitration figure-exchange deadline — Arraez is looking for a $6.1MM salary, while the Twins countered with $5MM. It seems possible that the Marlins might still go to a hearing with Arraez due to general front office principle, even if an arbitration hearing would be something of an awkward start to the relationship between the infielder and his new team.
Injury Notes: Acuña, Clevinger, Rockies
Ronald Acuña Jr. had a relatively disappointing showing at the plate in 2022, coming off his season-ending right ACL tear in July 2021, but the dynamic three-time All-Star believes he will be back at full strength leading into 2023. “I’m feeling 100 percent and I’m ready to go back to normal, and I definitely don’t want to play DH anymore,” Acuña told Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Saturday.
Acuña delivered a combined .925 OPS in his first 1,764 major league plate appearances between 2018-2021 before sinking to a .764 OPS in 533 plate appearances last year. He made 27 starts at DH for the Braves in 2022, after logging — or requiring? — only one total DH start across his entire four previous MLB seasons. In general, he’s averaged 38 home runs and 34 stolen bases for every 162 games played as a big leaguer. Last year: 15 homers, 29 steals in 119 games. As he moves further and further away from that knee injury, the reigning NL East champs should become all the more dangerous.
Acuña is going to DH in the Venezuelan Winter League finals, per Toscano, and he has also stated a desire to represent his native country in the Winter Baseball Classic. But the 25-year-old outfielder noted to David O’Brien of The Athletic that the Braves’ medical staff is unlikely to clear him to play in the upcoming WBC because it is more of a time and physical commitment than Winter League. Essentially, they just really want him to stay in camp.
- Mike Clevinger signed a one-year, $12MM contract with the White Sox earlier this winter. Soon after, he received a platelet-rich plasma injection to aid in the healing of a knee injury that hampered him down the stretch with the Padres last season and led to a disappointing overall 4.33 ERA. With his knee on the mend, and his November 2020 Tommy John surgery fully in the rearview, the White Sox believe the 32-year-old right-hander can get back to being his old top-of-the-rotation self. “We broke down some biomechanics stuff after we signed him to kind of show him the differences,” pitching coach Ethan Katz told James Fegan of The Athletic. “Where he was different in all aspects of his delivery, which was probably in correlation to the knee … Now that he is healthy, he is working on it. His bullpens and the videos that I have seen, there’s been no kind of restrictions or anything that’s slowed him down from being able to be aggressive on that back leg.”
- Ryan Rolison, the Rockies’ top selection in the 2018 MLB Draft and perhaps a big rotation piece for their future, is said to be 100 percent recovered from the left shoulder surgery that knocked his pro career off track last season. He did not pitch in MLB-affiliated ball at all in 2022 and ultimately went under the knife in June. “We are better than we were a year ago,” Rockies GM Bill Schmidt said to Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post in a recent chat, making note of Rolison’s rebounded health. “We have created some competition for some guys,” Schmidt added. “And, overall, our organizational depth is better.” Germán Márquez, Kyle Freeland, and José Ureña would seem to be locked into the top three rotation spots for Colorado. Rolison could perhaps battle with Austin Gomber and Connor Seabold at the back end. Peter Lambert (elbow) is also expected to be healthy heading into camp and might get another look for MLB starts at some point in 2023.
AL East Notes: Guerrero, Sale, Rays
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the Blue Jays “haven’t had the conversations yet” this winter about a multi-year extension, the slugger tells Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi and other reporters. Guerrero didn’t sound overly concerned about the lack of talks, saying “I’m going to stay focused on working hard and let my team take care of that.” The idea of a long-term deal between Guerrero and the Jays has been a topic essentially since Guerrero arrived in the majors as baseball’s top prospect, and though the first baseman is heading into his fifth MLB season, the clock isn’t yet ticking too loudly on Guerrero’s team control. Toronto still has arbitration control over Guerrero through the 2025 season, and the two sides already worked out a contract for Guerrero for 2023, as he’ll earn $14.5MM for the coming year.
With Guerrero set to become a free agent prior to his age-27 season, this relatively early entry into the market likely means a particularly large payday is awaiting the first baseman — whether from another team, or in the form of an extension from the Blue Jays to lock Guerrero up as the face of the franchise. As Davidi notes, the massive longer-term contracts handed out this winter undoubtedly caught the attention of both the Jays and Guerrero’s representatives, and now both sides may have a better view of what it might cost the Blue Jays to retain Guerrero’s services. Since most extension talks usually don’t begin until deeper into Spring Training, it will be interesting to watch if Guerrero and the Jays have any substantive negotiations, or if any real progress is made towards an extension.
More from the AL East…
- After three injury-riddled seasons, Chris Sale told reporters (including The Boston Globe’s Peter Abraham) that he is “very, very excited” about being healthy and heading for his first normal Spring Training since 2019. Between a Tommy John surgery, a fractured rib, and fractures to his finger and wrist, Sale has pitched only 48 1/3 Major League innings since the start of the 2020 season, which was also the first season of a five-year, $145MM contract extension Sale had signed with the Red Sox the year prior. Given the lack of return on this extension, Sale feels “I owe my teammates the starting pitcher they thought they were going to get. I owe the front office the starting pitcher they paid for. I owe the fans performances they’re paying to come and see.” Looking for a silver lining to his injury woes, Sale noted “that’s three years of [pitching] that’s not on my arm” as he enters his age-34 season. “That’s not going on the odometer. I’ve kept myself in really good physical shape. My arm’s feeling good. I don’t have any hesitation going forward with pitching.”
- Seven Rays players are slated for arbitration hearings, which is (as per MLB.com) is the third-highest number of hearings for any team in the history of the arb process. President of baseball operations Erik Neander felt the lack of agreement in negotiations with the seven prior to the arbitration filing deadline were “much more about the uniqueness of several players’ career paths leading to a bit of a more challenging experience for both parties to find common ground,” the executive told Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. “But I very much believe that everyone worked to find it — we just didn’t quite get there.” As Topkin notes, the differences between the Rays’ submitted salary figures and the seven players’ figures work out to only $2.85MM in total. That said, it doesn’t seem likely that any deals will be worked out before the sides present their cases to an arbiter, unless a player signs a multi-year contract. [RELATED: the full list of the 33 players who are heading for arbitration hearings]
Astros Notes: Catching, Brantley, Gurriel
The defending champion Astros could be set to go with internal options alongside veteran Martin Maldonado behind the plate. As a report from Brian McTaggart of MLB.com suggests, the Astros had looked into the possibility of bringing in an external backstop to replace the retired Jason Castro and departed Christian Vazquez, but now may just let one of their young catchers backup Maldonado.
With the popular Maldonado the team’s top backstop, prospects Korey Lee and Yainer Diaz could battle it out in the spring for the big league backup job. Lee was the team’s first round pick back in 2019 and made it onto Baseball America’s Top 100 list before last season. He got some time in the big leagues last year, going 4-for-25 in 12 games. Lee mashed 25 homers on the way to a .238/.307/.483 line at Triple-A, where he spent the bulk of the 2022 season.
Diaz, 24, is known for his big bat and slashed .306/.356/.542 with 25 home runs between Double-A and Triple-A last season, his first with the Astros after coming over in the Myles Straw deal with Cleveland. Diaz, too, got a callup to the big leagues last season, picking up a double and a walk in nine plate appearances. While both Lee and Diaz have upside, McTaggart speculates that Diaz’ bat could give him the edge over Lee initially, as the team could play him at DH and first-base as well.
Here’s some other bits and pieces from the Astros:
- Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle relays that the expectation is that Michael Brantley will be ready for Opening Day. The Astros re-signed Brantley to a one-year, $12MM deal just before Christmas. The 35-year-old was a productive hitter for the Astros last year, slashing .288/.370/.416 before going on the injured list in late June with a shoulder injury that eventually required surgery. Brantley is no stranger to injury problems, but has been a highly effective hitter when fit, as evidenced by his .306/.365/.462 line since 2017. The Astros will hope he can return fully fit in 2023 and provide more valuable offense as they look to defend their title.
- Astros great and front office member Jeff Bagwell offered some insight into whether or not the team has any interest in bringing back Yuli Gurriel. The 38-year-old is a free agent after playing seven seasons with the Astros. He had some strong seasons in Houston, but his production dipped last year and he wound up hitting just .242/.288/.360 with eight home runs over 584 plate appearances. The Marlins are the only reported team to have made contact with Gurriel, but it seems the Astros aren’t closing the door on bringing him back. “There’s nobody that loves Yuli more than us, myself, Jim (Crane), Dusty (Baker), everybody. It’s just trying to find the right fit for the club. He’s a huge part of our success here. We’ll continue to monitor that situation,” Bagwell said (via McTaggart).
Red Sox Notes: Middle Infield, Hernandez, Arroyo, Sale, Whitlock, Houck
Red Sox’s brass met with reporters and fans at their Winter Weekend convention this evening. Manager Alex Cora and chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom each addressed the roster status with roughly two months remaining in the offseason.
The middle infield is among the biggest questions. With Xander Bogaerts in San Diego and Trevor Story set to miss at least a notable portion of the upcoming season, Boston has very little certainty up the middle. Adam Duvall agreed to a one-year deal earlier this week to man center field, likely kicking Enrique Hernández back to the infield.
Manager Alex Cora suggested that was currently the team’s plan, implying that Hernández was the in-house favorite to play shortstop (via Ian Browne of MLB.com). That leaves Christian Arroyo as the likeliest option to man second base. Bloom indicated the team remained open to adding help from outside the organization (relayed by Julian McWilliams of the Boston Globe) but the Hernández – Arroyo pairing seemingly has the inside track among internal candidates.
Hernández has experience at every non-catching position on the diamond. He’s primarily played center field or second base, logging just 618 shortstop innings through parts of nine MLB seasons. Defensive Runs Saved has looked favorably upon his limited work there, rating him as nine runs better than average overall. Hernández has typically graded out as a solid or better second baseman and a particularly strong center fielder, where he spent the bulk of his time in 2022.
Arroyo has been in the Boston second base mix for the past couple seasons. He’s hit at a roughly league average level in both years, making plenty of contact to compensate for low walk rates. Arroyo has logged just under 900 major league innings at the keystone. Defensive Runs Saved has pegged him an excellent 10 runs better than the average defender there, while Statcast has rated him as an exactly average gloveman.
There aren’t many middle infield options remaining in free agency. Elvis Andrus and Josh Harrison are probably the top players still available. The Sox have been loosely tied to both in recent days. Donovan Solano, César Hernández and José Iglesias are among the depth types remaining as well.
There’s also a fair amount of uncertainty on the pitching side of things in Fenway, largely thanks to injury. Chris Sale, Tanner Houck and Garrett Whitlock each ended the 2022 season on the injured list. Whitlock is returning from hip surgery, while Houck underwent a back procedure. Sale had myriad health concerns that culminated in surgery to repair a fracture in his right wrist sustained in a bicycle accident.
Cora said this evening that all three pitchers have been throwing off a mound (relayed by Jen McCaffrey of the Athletic). All three could factor into the rotation. Sale’s a lock for the starting five if healthy. The Sox have already announced they plan to give Whitlock a rotation opportunity. Houck’s role seems more fluid, as he could crack the starting five or remain in a high-leverage relief capacity. The former first-round pick has been the subject of some recent trade speculation, though there’s no indication a deal is on the horizon or especially likely to transpire.
Marlins Notes: Meyer, Eder, Sanchez
The Marlins’ rotation has been a common point of discussion this offseason, with Miami considering ways to deal veteran pitching as a means of addressing the offense. The main impetus for the front office is their stockpile of arms, a group that includes a few talented young pitchers working back from serious injuries.
Former third overall pick Max Meyer cemented himself as one of the sport’s top prospects before his call-up last July. The organization’s excitement for that debut turned quickly, as the 23-year-old blew out his elbow during his second big league start. He required Tommy John surgery a couple weeks later.
As he nears the six-month mark in his recovery, Meyer updated Kyle Sielaff of the Hot Stove Show on his progress. The right-hander indicated he’s built up arm strength and hopes to be able to start throwing next month. “I think early February — even February 1 — is when I’m going to start throwing,” Meyer told Sielaff. “Been starting to get the elbow moving a little bit. … When Spring Training rolls around, I’ll be throwing with all those guys — I don’t know with the team or not — but I’ll be throwing. It’s coming up here pretty soon.”
The young starter will surely take things slowly, with Christina De Nicola of MLB.com writing that he’s expected to begin with a long toss program once he’s again able to throw. De Nicola adds that general manager Kim Ng indicated last month Meyer was likely to miss the entire 2023 season rehabbing from the procedure, which often comes with a recovery time pushing or exceeding 14 months. There’s no indication that timeline has changed — he’ll certainly need multiple months to gradually build back into game shape from the first time he can pick up a ball — but it’s encouraging he seems to be progressing well thus far.
Meyer isn’t Miami’s only touted young pitcher working back from Tommy John. Left-hander Jake Eder had broken out as one of the more interesting arms in the minors through 15 excellent Double-A starts early in the 2021 campaign. The Vanderbilt product blew out and underwent TJS at the end of August that year; he missed all of last season recovering. De Nicola writes that Eder, who first began throwing roughly 10 months after the operation, is expected to be at full strength for Spring Training.
Eder is not yet on the 40-man roster and will surely begin the upcoming season at an upper minor league affiliate. Those 15 Double-A starts are the 24-year-old’s only professional experience, and the organization has the MLB pitching depth to not rush Eder to the big leagues. If his stuff returns at pre-surgery levels and he again thrives in the upper minors, it seems possible he could put himself on the radar for a call-up later in the season.
Sixto Sánchez, meanwhile, has now lost two consecutive seasons to shoulder issues. Still just 24, the former top prospect and centerpiece of the J.T. Realmuto trade has fallen down the Miami depth chart in the wake of those injuries. Sánchez underwent arthroscopic surgery on the shoulder last October, with the club announcing at the time he was expected back for Spring Training. Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald provides a reasonably promising update, writing that Sánchez has been throwing bullpen sessions of late. Backstop Nick Fortes, who recently caught one of Sánchez’s workouts, expressed optimism about the young pitcher’s form heading into exhibition play.