Rangers Notes: Outfield, Garcia, Duran
The Rangers have faced plenty of questions about their outfield mix throughout the spring, as both Wyatt Langford and Adolis Garcia have been slowed by oblique issues. While both avoided a serious injury, Langford has only recently returned to game action and Garcia is further behind. Fortunately, Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News reported earlier today that Garcia resumed swinging a bat today, putting both players in position to be ready for Opening Day on March 27.
That leaves the outfield corners more or less settled, with Langford and Garcia expected to patrol left and right field on a regular basis respectively. Center field remains something of a question mark, however. The club has both Evan Carter and Leody Taveras on the roster as solid options, and given his prospect pedigree it seems likely that Carter would have a leg up when it comes to regular playing time. With that being said, the club’s plans for center field remain very much up in the air due primarily to both Carter and Taveras struggling against left-handed pitching. Carter has hit just .081/.150/.081 against southpaws to this point in his young MLB career, and the switch-hitting Taveras’s .189/.270/.244 line last season wasn’t much more inspiring.
Without a clear option in center field against lefties, it seems increasingly likely the club could look to find a way to get either Kevin Pillar or Sam Haggerty onto the roster. Both Pillar and Haggerty are in camp as non-roster invitees but have solid track records against left-handed pitching and an ability to handle center. Pillar has plenty of experience as a glove-first outfield option over his 12 year MLB career, and even entering his age-36 season he retains the ability to mash opposite-handed pitching with a .310/.352/.500 line against lefties last year. Meanwhile, Haggerty has never had a regular role in the majors but is a career .263/.355/.452 hitter against southpaws, even better than Pillar’s career numbers. With that said, Haggerty has primarily played the outfield corners throughout his career to this point while Pillar is much more experienced in center.
Regardless of whether Pillar or Haggerty ultimately makes the roster, adding either to the mix would squeeze the club’s roster. One possible route could be optioning Carter to the minor leagues, where he has just eight games at the Triple-A level under his belt. That would cleanly allow the club to maximize its versatility while using a platoon of Taveras and either Pillar or Haggerty in center field but it would also mean further delaying the potential impact of Carter, who was a consensus top-5 prospect in the sport entering last season. If the Rangers want Carter on the roster for Opening Day, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News suggests that utility man Ezequiel Duran could be headed to Triple-A to start the season.
Duran, 25, had a brilliant season for the Rangers in 2023 but struggled badly last year with a 74 wRC+ last year. While a right-handed hitting utility player like Duran could seem like an obvious platoon partner for Carter or Taveras in center, he hit just .209/.250/.244 in 46 games against lefties last year. That work totaled just 92 plate appearances, so perhaps it should be taken with a grain of salt, but more pressing that Duran’s vanishing bat against southpaws last year is his lack of experience in center. He’s made just 16 professional appearances in center field throughout his career, and only one inning of that work came at the big league level. That could make Duran the odd man out on the club’s current roster, with fellow utility man Josh Smith potentially in line to take on additional duties in his stead.
Reds Notes: Injuries, Steer, Collier
Spencer Steer‘s ongoing right shoulder problem has been one of the key storylines of the Reds’ spring camp, and manager Terry Francona had some positive news about Steer’s status in conversation today with MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon and other reporters. Steer’s shoulder showed “marked improvement” during an examination yesterday, Francona said, and the team’s plan is for Steer to start a swinging progression at some point this week.
It is still too early one way or the other to know if Steer can be ready for Cincinnati’s Opening Day lineup, though it is a good sign that Steer’s shoulder seems to be responding well to the cortisone shot he received last week. Steer felt good enough to play as a DH in three Cactus League games prior his cortisone shot, as he related to reporters last weekend that he has no discomfort when swinging or even directly throwing, but he feels a twinge in his right shoulder when he is preparing to throw.
This issue has been bothering Steer since last season, and his shoulder tweak has continued even after the offseason. The Reds could continue to let Steer play solely as a DH, but Francona has already stated that the team wants this injury to be corrected once and for all, so Steer can continue his usual role in the field. This is of particular import to the Reds since the versatile Steer was slated to spend time at both corner infield positions and in left field, and limiting Steer just to designated hitter duty wouldn’t be ideal. Keeping Steer out of action entirely and on the injured list is also obviously not a good scenario, yet giving Steer more time to fully recover has long-term benefits.
In other Reds injury news, prospect Cam Collier suffered a torn UCL in his left thumb and will undergo surgery to correct the problem on Thursday, Francona told the media (including Pat Brennan of the Cincinnati Enquirer). Collier won’t be able to hit for the next 4-6 weeks, though he won’t be entirely kept out of all baseball-related activities. Francona noted that “hopefully while he’s down he can just [work on] his legs and turn something that could be perceived as a negative into a positive.”
Collier was selected 18th overall in the 2022 draft, and he is rated as one of baseball’s top 100 prospects by The Athletic’s Keith Law (who ranked Collier 83rd) and MLB Pipeline (90th). Collier hit .248/.355/.443 with 20 home runs in 507 plate appearances with high-A Dayton last season, and he already has parts of three pro seasons on his resume before his 20th birthday. While Collier showed development at the plate, however, Law raised questions about his weight and conditioning, and the possibility that Collier might size himself out of his natural third base position.
Twins Notes: Tonkin, Canterino, Topa, Rodriguez
We already covered Erasmo Ramirez‘s long-term shoulder issues in larger detail earlier tonight, but Twins trainer Nick Paparesta’s meeting with reporters (including MLB.com and La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune) also addressed the status of several other players.
Right-hander Michael Tonkin seems to be the newest player bitten by the injury bug, as the reliever is battling a strain in his right rotator cuff. The strain appears to be on the mild side, as Paparesta said Tonkin’s MRI came back clean. For now, Tonkin will be shut down for the next 7-10 days and then re-evaluated.
Tonkin tossed 79 1/3 combined innings with the Yankees, and two separate stints apiece between the Mets and Twins. Beginning the season on the Amazins’ roster, Tonkin went from the Mets to the Twins to the Mets to the Yankees and then finally back to Minnesota after being repeatedly designated for assignment and then traded or claimed on waivers. Amidst all of these moves, Tonkin delivered solid numbers, posting a 3.63 ERA, 25% strikeout rate, and 8.8% walk rate.
These results continued what has been a pretty successful second act to Tonkin’s big league career. After appearing in parts of five seasons with the Twins from 2013-17, Tonkin didn’t return to the majors again until 2023, as his interim years were spent pitching in the minor leagues, Nippon Professional Baseball, independent ball, and sitting out altogether during the pandemic-marred 2020 season. The 35-year-old entered Minnesota’s spring camp looking for more stability and to secure a job in the Twins bullpen, though this injury setback may hurt his chances of making the Opening Day roster.
Matt Canterino is unfortunately no stranger to injuries, as the 2019 second-round pick has seen his pro career repeatedly stalled by arm problems. Between a Tommy John surgery and then a rotator cuff strain, Canterino hasn’t pitched at all since 2022, and he now faces an appointment with Dr. Keith Meister this week in the wake of another shoulder strain.
The exact severity of Canterino’s latest injury won’t be known until the right-hander undergoes an internal dye procedure known as an MR arthogram. In terms of what the team knows at the moment, Paparesta said “last year [Canterino] had a fairly moderate right subscap strain. This year it is a little bit of a milder subscap with a more moderate strain of his teres major and latissimus dorsi.”
The bottom line is that even in a best-case evaluation, Canterino is likely facing another lengthy absence as he tries to put this latest injury behind him. Canterino has pitched only 85 professional innings, though his impressive numbers (1.48 ERA, 39.16% strikeout rate) hint his potential if he can just stay healthy.
Justin Topa‘s pro career has also been heavily impacted by injuries, including left knee problems that limited him to only three games with Minnesota in 2024. His work in camp was halted by soreness in his right shoulder, though Paparesta said the problem wasn’t severe enough to merit an MRI, and Topa could resume throwing as early as today.
Top prospect Emmanuel Rodriguez also seems to be making progress from a sprained ankle, as Rodriguez took part in a live batting practice yesterday. Beyond just the recovery from his ankle sprain, the BP session also seemingly provided Rodriguez some relief from the thumb problems that plagued him for most of 2024. Rodriguez underwent surgery on his thumb back in November, and Paparesta said that following batting practice, Rodriguez commented that “it didn’t hurt for the first time in seven months” after swinging and missing.
Rodriguez might see some game action as early as this week, if he is able to run the bases without issue. With only seven Triple-A games under his belt, Rodriguez is expected to begin the 2025 campaign in the minors, but all signs point to the outfielder making his MLB debut at some point during the coming season.
Orioles Notes: Baker, Rodriguez, Burnes
Orioles righty Bryan Baker stands as one of the more interesting out-of-options players in spring training this year. The 30-year-old righty is on the roster bubble in Baltimore after an ugly 5.01 ERA in 23 1/3 big league innings last season, but Baker averaged better than 96 mph on his heater and posted sharp strikeout and walk rates even amid that rocky showing. He’s thrown three perfect innings so far this spring and, despite last year’s ERA blip, carries a career 3.76 ERA in 139 MLB frames.
Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com writes that scouts around the league have been “tracking” Baker throughout the spring and that the “market for him is developing.” However, Andrew Kittredge‘s health status could create a clearer path to the roster for Baker. The veteran Kittredge, who inked a one-year deal worth $10MM in Baltimore this offseason, has been dealing with a knee issue and is seeking multiple opinions.
Baker is one of six potential Orioles relievers who can’t be optioned to Triple-A, but he’s the least established of the bunch. None of Kittredge, Seranthony Dominguez, Gregory Soto, Cionel Perez or Albert Suarez is a candidate to be sent to the minors or jettisoned from the 40-man roster. The other spots in Baltimore’s bullpen are earmarked for Keegan Akin, Yennier Cano and returning closer Felix Bautista. Akin and Cano both enjoyed strong 2024 seasons. Bautista was one of the sport’s top relievers prior to undergoing Tommy John surgery in October 2023. If Kittredge requires an IL stint, that’d give the O’s an easy way to delay any tough decisions on Baker, but if the entire relief corps is healthy come Opening Day, Baker could be in a tough spot.
Elsewhere in camp for the O’s, right-hander Grayson Rodriguez downplayed his struggles and diminished velocity in his most recent start. Via Matt Weyrich of the Baltimore Sun, the right-hander averaged just 93.2 mph on his heater in yesterday’s start against the Twins — three miles per hour shy of his 2024 average. Weyrich notes that Rodriguez hit 100 mph in his first spring outing last year, and the right-hander explained that he felt he came out too strong last year and felt some soreness as a result, so he’s building up more gradually.
Rodriguez noted that he felt “sluggish” and “flat” and struggled to spin the ball as he normally can, but he wasn’t concerned about the dip in velocity. That’s reassuring for Orioles fans, as Baltimore can ill afford any type of step back from the 25-year-old. Rodriguez started 20 games last year and recorded 116 2/3 innings of 3.86 ERA ball, fanning 26.5% of opponents against a 7.3% walk rate. The O’s, of course, lost Corbin Burnes in free agency and didn’t add a big-name arm to replace him, instead opting to fill those innings with one-year deals for 41-year-old Charlie Morton ($15MM) and 35-year-old Tomoyuki Sugano ($13MM). The Orioles’ rotation of Zach Eflin, Rodriguez, Morton, Sugano and Dean Kremer could be solid, but there are plenty of question marks among the group as well.
Burnes discussed his decision to sign with the D-backs earlier in the offseason, but the right-hander chatted with Jack Vita for the Baltimore Sun earlier this week and spoke highly of the Orioles organization, touting their long-term outlook and noting that the club made a strong effort to re-sign him.
The former Cy Young winner described the O’s as “definitely pretty aggressive early on” as his free agency process began. While Burnes has previously stated that the Orioles didn’t submit a formal offer — just “some verbal stuff” — his comments this week strongly imply he still knew where they were willing to go in order to keep him. He suggested the O’s were “in the ballpark” and “competitive” in their pursuit, but Burnes again was clear in stating that the D-backs were his preference all throughout free agency, given his family residence in Arizona and the ability to be home with his wife and three young children.
Injury Notes: Jordan Walker, Christian Walker, Topa
The Cardinals got good news on Jordan Walker this afternoon. An MRI revealed no structural damage in his left knee, manager Oli Marmol told reporters (including John Denton of MLB.com). Walker is dealing with inflammation that’ll shut him down for around a week, but there’s nothing to suggest this’ll be a serious issue. It would have been a freak injury, as the young outfielder felt the discomfort after stepping on a sprinkler head while tracking a fly ball during Tuesday’s game.
With three weeks until Opening Day, it seems the 22-year-old will be on track for the start of the regular season. He’s in line to work as the everyday right fielder. The former top prospect has yet to develop into the impact hitter that many evaluators believe he could become. Walker has turned in a .255/.317/.423 slash in 643 career plate appearances. That includes a .210/.253/.366 line over 51 MLB games last season. He had pedestrian numbers (.263/.326/.427 over 377 PAs) in Triple-A as well. Walker is young enough that this isn’t yet a make-or-break season, but the Cards’ transitional year should give him an extended opportunity to cement himself.
A couple other health updates from around baseball:
- Christian Walker felt soreness in his left oblique during batting practice before the Astros game on Wednesday, manager Joe Espada told the beat (relayed by MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart). He’s day to day for the moment, but the team will know more tomorrow after further testing. Any kind of strain would make a season-opening injured list stint likely. Walker was Houston’s big free agent pickup, inking a three-year deal that guarantees $60MM. He’s coming off his third consecutive Gold Glove win and hit .251/.335/.468 with 26 homers over 552 plate appearances during his final season in Arizona. If Walker misses time, Jon Singleton would get the bulk of the first base reps. Righty-hitting Zach Dezenzo could take some at-bats against lefty pitching in that situation.
- Twins reliever Justin Topa has had unfortunate injury luck for most of his career. He has undergone two Tommy John procedures and a flexor tendon surgery. A patellar tendon issue in his left knee limited him to three MLB appearances last season. Topa is now dealing with shoulder discomfort, writes Bobby Nightengale of the Minnesota Star-Tribune. Minnesota lifted the righty from Wednesday’s game after seven pitches when Topa reported shoulder tightness. Manager Rocco Baldelli told reporters that the pitcher wasn’t overly concerned, so it’ll hopefully be a precautionary removal, but he’ll go for further testing tomorrow.
Dodgers Notes: Phillips, Kopech, Henriquez
The Dodger bullpen was so crowded that Ryan Brasier was designated for assignment and flipped to the Cubs a little over a month ago, despite posting a solid 3.54 earned run average last year. Since camp has opened, a few injuries have created a bit of breathing room, with Evan Phillips and Michael Kopech a bit behind the rest of the group.
It was reported about three weeks ago that both pitchers were delayed as camp opened. Phillips was diagnosed with a small tear of a tendon in his rotator cuff during last year’s playoffs. Surgery was not recommended and a cortisone injection had led to some healing, but the damage lingered into at least December and slowed his offseason throwing progression. It was reported a little over a week ago that the righty would not be ready by Opening Day.
Manager Dave Roberts provided Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic with a positive update. Roberts relayed that he watched Phillips throw a bullpen session today and came away impressed. He added that Phillips will stay in Arizona to continue getting work in while most of the Dodgers head to Japan for the Tokyo Series. Phillips will miss those Tokyo games and the start of the domestic regular season but Roberts says he should be back with the club in the first half of April. That’s good news as Phillips posted a 2.21 earned run average with the Dodgers over the past three seasons, striking out 29.6% of opponents while only giving out walks at a 6.5% clip.
As for Kopech, his track record as a reliever is far shorter but he still projects to be a key part of the bullpen. A starter for most of his career, he moved to relief work last year and had a 3.46 ERA between the White Sox and Dodgers. His 12.2% walk rate for the year was high but he punched out 31.5% of batters faced.
But he has been battling some forearm inflammation in recent months, putting his status for the start of 2025 in question. Yesterday, Ardaya relayed that Kopech was throwing a bullpen session. Kopech’s status is still up in the air but it does at least seem as though some progress is being made.
With some extra bullpen opportunities opening up, it could have been a chance for someone like Edgardo Henriquez to earn a job, but that won’t happen now. The young righty was spotted in a walking boot in the clubhouse yesterday. Roberts told Ardaya that the righty had a “mishap” away from the field and will be out of action for about four to six weeks. While the nature of the injury is mysterious, the point is that Henriquez won’t be able to step up and force his way into the bullpen while Phillips and Kopech are delayed.
Henriquez, 23 in June, was called up by the Dodgers late in September of last year. He tossed 3 1/3 innings but impressed the club enough to make the playoff roster, tossing another five innings in the postseason.
It’s hard to read much into that small sample of work but he averaged 98.7 miles per hour on his heater and 89.4 mph with his cutter. Prior to his call-up, he logged 53 minor league innings last year with a 2.72 ERA and 38.9% strikeout rate. The 12.8% walk rate is on the high side but the punchouts are huge and he is still young. He should factor into the Dodger bullpen mix down the line but will have to stay on ice for now.
AL Notes: Slater, Garcia, Canterino
White Sox outfielder Austin Slater was scratched from yesterday’s game with a left oblique strain, with Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times among those to relay the information. The club hasn’t provided any details about how long they expect Slater to be out but oblique strains are notoriously pesky.
The Sox have taken a few hits to their outfield mix recently. Andrew Benintendi suffered a fracture in his hand after being hit by a pitch and is slated to be out of action for four to six weeks. Michael A. Taylor has been undergoing scans due to some elbow inflammation.
The club isn’t planning on being competitive this year but has made an effort to bolster the roster. They signed Slater, Taylor and Mike Tauchman to join an outfield/designated hitter mix alongside Benintendi and Luis Robert Jr. The idea was seemingly to add some veteran presence to a young roster while also giving the club some potential midseason trade candidates. With some more playing time opening up, perhaps young guys like Dominic Fletcher or Oscar Colás could seize roles. The club also has Joey Gallo, Brandon Drury and Corey Julks among their non-roster invitees.
Some more notes from around the Junior Circuit…
- Rangers left-hander Robert Garcia hopes to be a closer someday, telling Shawn McFarland of The Dallas Morning News as much. He also believes now is a good time to take a shot at it with Texas not having a set closer yet. Garcia had a 4.22 earned run average last year but his 29.9% strikeout rate and 6.4% walk rate were quite strong. A .329 batting average on balls in play and 57.2% strand rate pushed that ERA up, which is why he had a 2.38 FIP and 2.71 SIERA. He doesn’t yet have a save in his career but has 17 holds. His main competition could come from veteran Chris Martin, who has plenty of good numbers on his track record but more as a setup guy than a closer. Martin has 14 career saves in the majors and 106 holds, though he did have a 21-save season in Japan in 2016.
- Twins right-hander Matt Canterino has been shut down due to a right shoulder strain, reports Bobby Nightengale of the Minnesota Star Tribune. He’s awaiting a second opinion with no current timetable for his return. It’s another unfortunate setback for a righty who has had many. Tommy John surgery wiped out his 2023 season and then a rotator cuff strain prevented him from getting back on the mound last year, meaning he hasn’t pitched in official game action since 2022. Thanks to the pandemic and some other injuries, he only tossed 85 innings from 2019 to 2022. He had an excellent 1.85 ERA and 39.2% strikeout rate in that time, prompting the Twins to protect him from the Rule 5 draft by giving him a roster spot in November of 2022. But since then, he has burned through two of his option years without throwing an official pitch and is now hurt again.
NL Injury Notes: Smith, Gomber, Minter
Will Smith has been dealing with a bone bruise in his left ankle for almost nine months, as the Dodgers catcher revealed to The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya and other reporters this weekend. Smith hurt his ankle while sliding into second base to try and break up a double play in the Dodgers’ 11-3 win over the Yankees on June 8, and he has been dealing with some level of discomfort ever since, though Smith didn’t go on the injured list or even miss really any time in the aftermath of the injury. The issue has persisted even after an offseason of rest, resulting in Smith being held out of Spring Training games until last Friday.
Smith said his ankle is only sore when he runs, and he is otherwise able to catch and hit normally. As Ardaya notes, Smith’s post-injury numbers imply otherwise — Smith hit .292/.361/.498 in 238 plate appearances though June 8, and then only .213/.301/.382 in 306 PA afterwards, plus a .568 OPS over 65 more trips to the plate during the playoffs. Los Angeles GM Brandon Gomes implied that the team might be more open to giving Smith extra off-days to keep him healthy and more well-rested in general for what the Dodgers hope is another deep postseason run.
This might not be the most prominent Will Smith-related news item to ever arise on an Oscar night, but let’s move onto some other notes from around the National League…
- Austin Gomber was scratched from a scheduled start today due to some soreness in his throwing shoulder, MLB.com’s Thomas Harding writes. Testing revealed no structural damage, though Rockies manager Bud Black wasn’t sure when Gomber might be back on the mound. While Gomber isn’t a high-velocity pitcher, his fastball was also down a tick during his first Spring Training start last week, so the matter didn’t solely arise today. Gomber viewed the situation as “a reset” rather than anything too serious, saying “maybe I would have tried to push it a little bit more if we were in a different spot on the calendar. But it being so early in the year, I just felt like I wanted to take a few days to try to get a touch better and not have something that’s like nagging throughout the year.” The veteran southpaw has been part of Colorado’s rotation for the last four seasons, and he posted a 4.75 ERA in 165 innings in 2024.
- A.J. Minter underwent season-ending hip surgery last August, and he hit a big checkpoint in his rehab process by throwing 20-25 pitches during a live batting practice session. Minter told MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo and other reporters that he “felt good” in the aftermath, and figures he’ll have at least one more live BP session before taking part in a proper Spring Training game setting. Despite Minter’s injury, his track record as a reliable bullpen arm led to plenty of interest on the free agent market, and he joined the Mets on a two-year, $22MM deal (with an opt-out after the first year). His progress hints that he might be able to be part of New York’s roster on Opening Day, but “we’re going to be smart about this. If I have to miss a few days or a couple weeks, my goal is to help this team at the end of the season.”
Reds Notes: Extensions, Steer, Abbott
The Reds are in the midst of a youth movement, with a number of key young players within their years of team control. Despite that reality, the only player they’ve managed to secure a long-term extension with who fits that description is right-hander Hunter Greene, who agreed to a six-year deal back in 2023. Gordon Wittenmyer of The Cincinnati Enquirer reported yesterday that the club is unlikely to add another extension alongside Greene’s this spring after an offseason where the club focused on creating depth in hopes of avoiding a campaign derailed by injuries like they suffered in 2024.
“We certainly have guys in that service-time range,” general manager Brad Meador said (as relayed by Wittenmyer) when asked about extensions. “We’ve talked about some of it. We haven’t gone into real specifics with anyone. It’s been pretty vague with the agents.”
In particular, Wittenmyer notes three players who have expressed interest in getting a longer-term extension done with the Reds: veteran right-hander Nick Martinez, who reportedly discussed an extension with the Reds before accepting their Qualifying Offer back in November, as well as youngsters Spencer Steer and Tyler Stephenson. Those extension talks between Martinez and the Reds fizzled out once the right-hander accepted the QO, while Wittenmyer notes that both Steer and Stephenson expressed openness to the idea of an extension but there have not been talks between them and the Reds about the matter to this point.
Stephenson would appear to be the more urgent extension target should the Reds have interest. The 28-year-old was a first-round pick by the Reds back in 2015 and has five seasons in the majors under his belt. He rebounded from a down season in 2023 to establish himself as one of the better offensive catchers in the game last year, hitting .258/.338/.444 in 138 games. A free agent following the 2026 season, it wouldn’t be a shock if another solid offensive season from Stephenson put him outside of the Reds’ financial comfort zone as an extension target, though the 2026-27 free agent class features a number of interesting catching options as discussed by MLBTR’s Darragh McDonald last week. That could make Steer a more logical candidate for an extension in the long run, given that he’s under team control through the end of the 2028 season.
Speaking of Steer, the right-handed slugger received a cortisone injection in his ailing shoulder yesterday as he attempts to combat continued soreness after playing through the issue last year. While a timetable for his return remains unclear, manager Terry Francona emphasized his desire to avoid Steer playing through the issue again this year like he did in 2024, and did not shut the door on the possibility of a trip to the IL to open the season for Steer, as noted by Mark Sheldon of MLB.com.
“We need to discuss the next few days or the next week,” Francona said, as relayed by Sheldon. “Everybody points to Opening Day, and I get it, myself included. I’m not saying he’s not going to be ready, but we’ve got to do what’s right for him.”
If Steer is out of action to begin the season, that could open up more playing time for youngster Christian Encarnacion-Strand at first base early in the year. It could also benefit infielder Santiago Espinal by way of opening up third base in the event that Jeimer Candelario shifts across the diamond to cover first.
In more positive injury news, Wittenmyer relayed earlier today that southpaw Andrew Abbott threw his first bullpen session of the spring. Abbot had been behind in camp after a shoulder strain cut his season short last year, but Abbott told reporters (including Wittenmyer) after his bullpen session that it was a “big step” in his progression and that he believes he still has time to be ready to pitch in the first turn through the rotation when the season begins later this month. That would be welcome news for the Reds, particularly given the fact that right-hander Rhett Lowder also entered camp behind schedule. If healthy, Abbott figures to slot into the club’s rotation alongside Greene, Martinez, Brady Singer, and Nick Lodolo.
Cubs Notes: Infield, Pressly, Little
The Cubs’ infield alignment figures to be in flux throughout both the Tokyo Series and perhaps even into the early days of the season stateside. As noted by ESPN’s Jesse Rogers earlier this week, second baseman Nico Hoerner will not be participating in the Tokyo Series with the Cubs as he recovers from offseason flexor tendon surgery. Instead, Hoerner will stay behind in Arizona in hopes of being ready for the start of the stateside regular season on March 27, which Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun Times notes the infielder currently appears to be “on track” for.
That’s fairly good news overall, as Hoerner entered camp with an unknown timeline for return from surgery and it wouldn’t have necessarily been a shock to see him miss the first few weeks of the regular season. In that context, missing just the first two games of the year would be a notable win. What complicates matters further, however, is the questions surrounding top prospect Matt Shaw. The club’s presumptive starting third baseman, Shaw has been slowed by an oblique issue this spring and has yet to get into a game.
Andy Martinez of Marquee Sports Network relayed comments from manager Craig Counsell earlier this week on Shaw’s status. Counsell noted that the Cubs “aren’t ruling [Shaw] out for anything,” suggesting he could be in play for the Tokyo Series. With that being said, however, Shaw has not yet made his Spring Training debut despite Counsell referring to Shaw as “not too far” from getting into games last week.
While Hoerner is unavailable, utility man Jon Berti figures to slide into the opening at second base. If Shaw is also unavailable for the Tokyo Series, however, things could get a bit more complicated. The final bench spot for the club’s ultimately 26-man roster remains up for grabs, with Rule 5 pick Gage Workman, trade acquisition Vidal Brujan, and non-roster invitee Nicky Lopez all in the conversation to join Berti, Carson Kelly, and Justin Turner on the club’s bench.
Any of them could be in the conversation to cover for Shaw in the event that both Shaw and Hoerner are unavailable for the start of the season, although it seems as though Turner could be an option as well. The 40-year-old hasn’t played third base on a regular basis since 2022, but the veteran told reporters (including those at Marquee Sports Network) that he’s been taking “a lot of” reps at the hot corner this spring to stretch out his arm in order to be ready to fill in at the position if necessary.
Moving on to the bullpen, veteran right-hander Ryan Pressly was acquired from the Astros this winter to help bolster the club’s bullpen mix. Reporting at the time of the trade suggested that Pressly was assured that he would be the club’s top candidate for saves this season prior to waiving his no-trade clause to join the club. That could certainly be the case, and Lee writes that Pressly remains a favorite for the closer job, though it’s worth noting she also acknowledges young right-hander Porter Hodge as another potential favorite for save opportunities. Hodge dazzled in his rookie season last year, posting a sterling 1.88 ERA with a 2.75 FIP in 43 innings of work while picking up nine saves along the way.
Given that framing of Pressly and Hodge as both being potential favorites for the closer job, it’s possible that the club could utilize both hurlers in the ninth inning depending on matchups. For his part, Pressly expressed a preference for pitching in the ninth inning but made clear that he doesn’t see the role as assured.
‘‘I’ve done every role under the sun in the bullpen, but I really felt like I got my stride when I was in that ninth-inning role,’’ Pressly said, as relayed by Lee. ‘‘And I’m happy for the opportunity to be back in it. And now it’s just a matter of seeing what I can do with it.’’
Elsewhere in the bullpen, Lee reports that southpaw Luke Little threw live batting practice for the first time of the spring yesterday. Little has been slowed throughout camp due to what pitching coach Tommy Hottovy described to Lee as “typical offseason issues” that impacted the southpaw’s buildup this winter unrelated to the lat strain that ended his 2024 season. It’s unclear whether Little will be ready for domestic Opening Day or not, though as a reliever with options remaining in a crowded bullpen the southpaw may wind up starting the season at Triple-A Iowa even if he’s healthy.