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AL Injury Notes: Diaz, Bauers, Farmer, Benintendi

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Aledmys Diaz is likely going to require a trip to the 10-day injured list after suffering a hamstring injury in today’s game, Athletics manager Mark Kotsay told Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle and other reporters.  After delivering an RBI single in the second inning, Diaz stole second base and then advanced to third on a Jordan Diaz single before being replaced by pinch-runner Kevin Smith (who then took over for Diaz at shortstop in the top of the third inning).

An injury would only add to what has been a brutal start to the season for Diaz, and the A’s as a whole.  Diaz is hitting only .153/.226/.212 over his first 93 plate appearances, after signing a two-year, $14.5MM deal with Oakland during the winter.  While the offense hasn’t been there, Diaz has at least provided some versatility, playing at all four infield positions over his 25 games. [UPDATE: The A’s will see how Diaz is feeling after Monday’s offday, according to MLB.com’s Martin Gallegos.  An MRI revealed a Grade 1 hamstring strain for Diaz, but there is apparently some hope that a couple of days’ rest might allow Diaz to avoid the injured list.]

More on other injury situations from around the American League…

  • The Yankees selected Jake Bauers’ contract prior to today’s game with the Rangers, but his return to the big leagues has already been clouded by an injury scare.  Bauers made an outstanding catch to rob Adolis Garcia of extra bases in the bottom of the first inning, but had to make a hard slide into the wall to complete the play.  Officially diagnosed as a right knee contusion, Bauers’ injury will receive further testing, manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner and Newsday’s Erik Boland).  Boone said “it’s possible” the club might need to call someone up from Triple-A as early as tomorrow if Bauers needs to go on the injured list, and Boland also noted that Bauers was walking “with a significant limp in the clubhouse” after the game.
  • Twins manager Rocco Baldelli told MLB.com’s Do-Hyoung Park and other reporters that Kyle Farmer might begin a rehab assignment this week.  Farmer hasn’t played since April 12, when he was hit in the face by a Lucas Giolito fastball.  The scary-looking injury resulted in a facial laceration and some significant dental work for Farmer, but he fortunately avoided anything more serious like a concussion or a broken jaw.  Minnesota acquired Farmer in a trade with the Reds back in November, and when Farmer is healthy, he’ll resume his role as a multi-positional option on the Twins’ bench.
  • X-rays were negative on Andrew Benintendi’s elbow after the White Sox outfielder was hit by a pitch during Friday’s game.  Benintendi didn’t play today but manager Pedro Grifol told The Athletic’s James Fegan and other reporters that Benintendi might be back as early as Sunday.  While Benintendi isn’t known for his power bat, he hasn’t delivered much pop in his short time in Chicago, hitting .281/.337/.333 in his first 104 PA in a White Sox uniform.  The outfielder signed a five-year, $75MM free agent contract with the Sox in the offseason.

Mariners Notes: Rodriguez, McGee, Flexen, Hernandez

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Julio Rodriguez left today’s game due to lower back tightness, with manager Scott Servais telling reporters (including MLB.com’s Daniel Kramer) that Rodriguez started feeling discomfort after a stolen base in the third inning.  The outfielder remained in the game until AJ Pollock replaced Rodriguez in center field before the bottom of the sixth, but the Mariners opted to be a little cautious with the young star.

The injury doesn’t appear to be serious, as Servais indicated that Rodriguez might potentially be back in the lineup tomorrow.  However, the Mariners have an off-day on Monday before facing the A’s on Tuesday, so the team might opt to give Rodriguez “a couple days down, [so] he will be okay when we go over to Oakland,” Servais said.

As Kramer notes, Rodriguez also dealt with lower back problems near the end of the last season, which ultimately resulted in a 10-day IL placement.  That decision was made in part to get Rodriguez healthy prior to the playoffs, and he was able to return just before the end of the regular season prior to hitting .217/.357/.435 over 28 plate appearances during Seattle’s postseason run.

Rodriguez’s presence might have made a difference late in today’s 1-0 loss to the Blue Jays in 10 innings.  One bright spot for the M’s was the performance of surprise starter Easton McGee, who allowed just one hit and one walk over 6 2/3 scoreless innings.  McGee held Toronto hitless until his final batter faced, when Matt Chapman lined a double to center field to end the unlikely no-hit bid.

Chris Flexen had initially been slated to start on Saturday, but the Mariners instead called McGee up from Triple-A prior to the game.  Going into the season, Flexen was projected to work as a reliever, but a spot in the rotation opened up when Robbie Ray was sidelined with a flexor tendon injury that ended up requiring a season-ending surgery.  Unfortunately for Flexen, he hasn’t risen to the occasion, with a 10.38 ERA over 17 1/3 innings in four starts as Ray’s replacement.

In addition to Monday’s off-day, the Mariners are also off on May 11 and May 18, giving the team some opportunity to reset their rotation multiple times.  As a result, the M’s might only need a fifth starter twice within the next three-plus weeks.  It would certainly seem like McGee has earned another look, but whether it’s McGee, Flexen, or another pitcher used as the fifth starter, the Mariners will get some time to evaluate and prepare for the longer-term question of how they’ll replace Ray.

McGee was making his first Major League start and just his second career appearance in the Show, after debuting with three innings of relief work (allowing four hits and one unearned run) as a member of the Rays in their 3-1 loss to the Astros on October 2, 2022.  Tampa opted to designate McGee for assignment after that game, with the Red Sox quickly claiming the right-hander off waivers.  The Mariners then acquired McGee in a trade for cash considerations in November.

A fourth-round pick for the Rays in the 2016 draft, McGee isn’t a hard thrower or much of a strikeout pitcher, with a modest 17.47% strikeout rate over 485 1/3 career innings in the minors.  McGee worked to a 4.30 ERA over his minor league career by inducing a lot of grounders and avoiding walks, though his walk rate with Triple-A Tacoma this year has risen to a still-solid 7.6%.  McGee largely struggled at Triple-A Durham in 2022, but he has done much better with the Mariners’ top affiliate, with a 3.14 ERA over 28 2/3 innings for Tacoma in 2023.

This weekend’s series marked Teoscar Hernandez’s first time in Toronto since the November trade that sent him from the Jays to the Mariners.  Interestingly, M’s president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto told The Athletic’s Kaitlyn McGrath and Corey Brock that Hernandez might have come to Seattle much earlier, as “most of the work we did on the Teoscar trade actually happened in Spring Training before the [2022] season began.  We tried so hard to pick him up before the season started and talked through a lot of players.”

It makes for an interesting what-if, as Hernandez being dealt prior to the season might have greatly changed the trajectory for two teams that reached the postseason (and faced each other in the Wild Card Series).  For Seattle, it could be that the M’s pivoted to the Eugenio Suarez/Jesse Winker trade with the Reds after not reaching an agreement with Toronto over Hernandez, or perhaps DiPoto’s front office might have even explored adding Hernandez in addition to the two former Cincinnati players.  That would’ve made for a crowded outfield in Seattle, but it’s possible the Mariners might have sent one or two of those excess outfielders to the Blue Jays as part of a projected Hernandez swap.  Erik Swanson may have still be part of such a trade but likely not as the primary piece, given how Swanson hadn’t yet had his 2022 breakout season, and Hernandez would’ve commanded a higher trade ask since he had two remaining years of arbitration control.

Yankees Notes: Judge, Trivino, Loaisiga

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9:51pm: Judge said postgame he expected to be sidelined for a few days but downplayed any significant concern (Boland link).

9:23pm: AL MVP Aaron Judge left tonight’s game in Texas in the bottom of the fourth inning. The Yankees later informed reporters that Judge was experiencing some discomfort in his right hip (relayed by Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). Oswaldo Cabrera came off the bench to take over right field.

The club will surely provide more on Judge’s status in the near future. At the moment, there’s nothing to suggest it was more than a precautionary move to keep the star slugger healthy. Judge has been in the starting lineup for all 26 of New York’s games. While he’s not hitting at last year’s superhuman level, the four-time All-Star has a well above-average .261/.352/.511 batting line with six home runs in 108 trips to the plate.

Elsewhere on the Yankee roster, manager Aaron Boone provided reporters with injury updates on a pair of relievers before tonight’s contest. Right-hander Lou Trivino is headed for a second opinion on his injured elbow, tweets Greg Joyce of the New York Post. Trivino hasn’t pitched this season because of an elbow sprain. The Yankees had announced early in Spring Training that he’d be out into May but that timeline was further pushed back when he recently experienced renewed soreness. The 31-year-old met with Yankees’ physician Christopher Ahmad yesterday.

Acquired from the A’s alongside Frankie Montas last summer, Trivino threw 21 2/3 innings of 1.66 ERA ball down the stretch for New York. The former Oakland closer had been quite effective from 2020-21 but was off to a rough first half to the ’22 campaign before righting the ship in the Bronx. He could be a medium to high-leverage arm in the Yankee relief corps if healthy but the mention of a second opinion for an elbow concern raises the possibility of a long-term absence.

Fellow righty Jonathan Loáisiga has been out since the second week of the season with inflammation in his throwing elbow. While it doesn’t seem there’s a ton of long-term concern there, Boone told reporters the 28-year-old was experiencing some soreness after a throwing session yesterday (via Erik Boland of Newsday). The club hasn’t provided many specifics, though it’s possible Loáisiga finds himself a little behind schedule in his rehab process as a result.

White Sox Notes: Anderson, Alberto, Crochet, Hendriks, Moncada

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The White Sox provided reporters with some updates on various injured players and their paths to rejoining the club, with James Fegan of The Athletic among those to relay the information (Twitter links). The ones closest to return are infielders Tim Anderson and Hanser Alberto, as they will be starting rehab assignments with Triple-A Charlotte tomorrow.

Anderson, 30 in June, has been on the injured list since April 11 due to a knee sprain. He was initially estimated to miss between two and four weeks, so it’s still possible for him to come back in that time frame. One of the club’s better players, his absence has corresponded with a dreadful downward slide in the standings. The Sox were 5-6 when he hit the shelf but have gone just 2-12 since, now sporting a record of 7-18.

The club is obviously better when Anderson is a part of it. Dating back to the start of 2019, he has 51 home runs and 58 stolen bases. His .317/.346/.471 batting line in that time amounts to a wRC+ of 122. Any club would be worse off when subtracting that kind of production, but his replacements have fared quite poorly. With him out of action, Elvis Andrus has become the everyday shortstop, but he’s hitting just .195/.260/.230 on the year for a wRC+ of 37. The second base position, which was previously covered by Andrus, has been mostly split between Romy González and Lenyn Sosa in that time. González is currently hitting .129/.129/.129 for a wRC+ of -39 while Sosa’s line is .122/.143/.220, -8 wRC+.

The tremendous drop-off from Anderson’s typical production to those numbers has surely played a role in the club’s recent struggles, making his imminent return fantastic news for the club. He’s been floated as a speculative trade candidate this summer if they fail to return to contention, given he’s in the final guaranteed season of his contract. However, the club has an affordable $14MM option for 2024 with a $1MM buyout.

There’s also good news in the return of Albero, on the IL with a quad strain, though he’s more of a role player. His career batting line of .271/.293/.380 translates to a wRC+ of 77, which isn’t terribly exciting but would still mean the club would have options to turn to when others are struggling.

Just slightly behind those two is left-hander Garrett Crochet, who missed all of last year due to undergoing Tommy John surgery in April. He’s getting a check-up in Chicago but would be approved for his own rehab assignment if everything looks good there. The southpaw has a career 2.54 ERA in 60 1/3 innings, striking out 29% of batters faced against a 10.7% walk rate. Getting him back in the bullpen would surely give the club a nice boost back there.

Another boost for the bullpen could be coming as right-hander Liam Hendriks, who has missed all of this season so far while undergoing treatment for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, though he recently shared the good news that he’s been declared cancer free. He’s just slightly behind Crochet, as he will report to Chicago for his own pre-rehab checkup next week. He’s become one of the most dominant relievers in baseball in recent years, racking up 119 saves in the previous four seasons with a 2.26 ERA and 38.8% strikeout rate in that time.

While it’s great that those four players are making progress towards their respective returns, there’s one bit of news that’s less encouraging, per Fegan. Third baseman Yoán Moncada, who was been on the injured list for about two weeks due to back tightness, has been diagnosed with a protruding disc that is touching a nerve and causing pain in his glutes. While the issue is supposedly improving, Moncada still won’t be starting a rehab assignment during the current eight-game homestand that begins tonight. General manager Rick Hahn said that these issues don’t require offseason surgery about 80% of the time.

That’s surely not ideal information since Moncada’s IL placement originally seemed to be fairly precautionary. There was a period of a few days where it seemed he and the club were hoping to avoid an IL stint altogether but it’s now clearly more serious than initially thought. More updates will surely be forthcoming but it doesn’t seem like he’s close to a return and future surgery isn’t completely off the table.

Moncada has been fairly hot-and-cold in his career but was on a heater this year before the injury popped up, hitting .308/.325/.564 through his first nine games. Thankfully, his absence hasn’t created as much of a hole in the lineup as Anderson’s has, as Jake Burger has filled in with a .213/.309/.596 showing. Still, it’s a discouraging update on a key member of the core for a club that was held back by significant injuries last year and has been battling them again this year. His contract runs through 2024 with a $25MM option for 2025 that has a $5MM buyout.

Injury Notes: Skubal, Hendricks, Suarez, Lynch

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The Tigers have been without left-hander Tarik Skubal since he underwent surgery to repair a flexor tear in his forearm last August. Detroit hasn’t provided a specific recovery timeline for the 26-year-old hurler, though he’s out until at least late May after starting the year on the 60-day injured list. Skubal is soon to hit a notable marker in his rehab process, as he’s in line to throw his first post-surgery bullpen session this week (link via Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free-Press).

Skubal will certainly need multiple ’pen sessions and likely some live batting practice work before he’s ready to step into game action. Petzold notes the club is still without a firm timetable on when he might embark on a minor league rehab stint. That he’s throwing is obviously a plus and provides some hope he could return when or not long after he’s first eligible. Skubal developed into perhaps Detroit’s best pitcher before the injury, working to a 3.52 ERA with a 24.5% strikeout percentage through 21 starts last year.

Some updates on other injured pitchers around the league:

  • Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Iowa on Thursday, tweets Bruce Levine of 670 The Score. The right-hander is still working back from a capsular tear in his throwing shoulder suffered last August. He’s been throwing for the better part of six weeks but the club has understandably taken a cautious approach to building him up. Hendricks will require multiple rehab starts, with Levine suggesting the hope is he can return to the Wrigley Field mound in the middle of May. The 33-year-old worked to a career-worst 4.80 ERA over 84 1/3 innings last season. He’s headed into the final guaranteed year of his contract, with the Cubs deciding on a net $14.5MM decision for 2024 ($16MM option, $1.5MM buyout) at year’s end.
  • The Phillies are also sending one of their starters on a rehab stint this week. Left-hander Ranger Suárez will pitch two innings with Double-A Reading on Thursday, relays Matt Gelb of the Athletic. According to Gelb, he’s expected to make three or four minor league appearances before making his MLB season debut in the middle of May. The southpaw was slowed by a bout of forearm inflammation in Spring Training, part of a tough exhibition season from a health perspective for Philadelphia. He threw a personal-high 155 1/3 innings with a 3.65 ERA and an excellent 55.4% ground-ball percentage in 29 starts last year.
  • Royals left-hander Daniel Lynch threw a bullpen session this afternoon, tweets Anne Rogers of MLB.com. He’s expected to log three innings in an extended Spring Training game on Thursday before beginning a rehab stint. That could position Lynch for his season debut in mid-May after a strain in his throwing shoulder shut him down at the end of Spring Training. One of the expected key starters for K.C. coming out of their rebuild, Lynch has had up-and-down results in his first two big league campaigns. He allowed a 5.13 ERA across 131 2/3 innings last season. With Kris Bubic lost for the season and Brady Singer struggling in the early going, a step forward from the 26-year-old Lynch takes on all the more importance for the Royals in the long term.

AL East Notes: Rodon, Pearson, Tate

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The Yankees are still waiting on Carlos Rodon’s team debut after signing him to a six-year contract this offseason. The lefty took a positive step this weekend when he resumed playing catch, writes Dan Martin of the New York Post. The goal is for Rodon to continue throwing throughout the upcoming week, though there’s no concrete timetable for when he might take the mound for the big league club just yet. Rodon pitched just two official innings during Grapefruit League play this spring before a forearm strain sidelined him. He’s spent the first several weeks of the year rehabbing that injury, but a recent flare of back pain has further slowed the process for the team’s $162MM co-ace. The Yanks still rank sixth in the Majors with a 3.53 ERA from their rotation, though that’s due largely to a superhuman start from Gerrit Cole (0.79 ERA in 34 innings). Nestor Cortes Jr. has a 3.09 ERA in 23 1/3 frames of his own, but each of Domingo German, Clarke Schmidt and Jhony Brito have pitched to a 4.50 ERA or higher through their first four to five starts of the season.

More from the division…

  • Former top prospect Nate Pearson’s start to the season in the Triple-A Buffalo bullpen is garnering plenty of attention, and he figures to be among the top candidates for a look whenever the Blue Jays look to the minors for some reinforcements, writes Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. As Nicholson-Smith points out, the Jays haven’t made a single move pertaining to their bullpen yet in 2023. The Toronto Sun’s Rob Longley wrote yesterday that the Pearson watch is picking up some steam. Much of the Toronto ’pen has performed well in 2023, with Jordan Romano, Erik Swanson, Trevor Richards and Tim Mayza out to nice starts. Both Yimi Garcia and Adam Cimber have allowed runs in three of their past four outings, though, and Anthony Bass has yielded at least one run in four of his past five trips to the mound. Pearson has a 2.16 ERA and 45.7% strikeout rate in 8 1/3 innings to begin the year in Triple-A, although he’s also walked 14.3% of his opponents and thrown three wild pitches, so his command hasn’t exactly been pristine. The former first-round pick was once ranked as one of the top three pitching prospects in all of baseball but has seen his career slowed by repeated injuries.
  • Orioles righty Dillon Tate is expected to begin a minor league rehab assignment this week and told reporters that he’ll likely need five or six appearances before he’s ready to make his 2023 debut (Twitter link via Jake Rill of MLB.com). Tate, who’ll turn 29 in a week, suffered a flexor strain during his offseason program back in November and hasn’t pitched yet this year (spring training or regular season). The former No. 4 overall draft pick stepped up as a key setup man in Baltimore’s bullpen last year when he tossed 73 2/3 innings of 3.05 ERA ball. Tate’s 20.5% strikeout rate was a bit below the league average, but both his 5.5% walk rate and 57.4% ground-ball rate were outstanding. He finished out that breakout season with five saves and 16 holds.

NL East Notes: Braves, Marlins, Mets

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Braves fans got some positive injury news yesterday, as manager Brian Snitker told reporters, including Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitutional, that both closer Raisel Iglesias and catcher Travis d’Arnaud are making progress in their rehab processes.

Iglesias, who the Braves acquired from the Angels at last year’s trade deadline, has been on the injured list since the start of the season due to shoulder inflammation. The 33-year-old righty has been among the game’s best closers for several years now, with a 2.75 ERA (160 ERA+) in 448 1/3 innings with a 30.7% strikeout rate and 7.2% walk rate since the start of the 2016 season. Iglesias started his Braves career in particularly dominant fashion, with a microscopic 0.34 ERA in 26 1/3 innings down the stretch following last summer’s trade.

Per Toscano, Iglesias is scheduled to throw live batting practice on Monday, which could indicate that a rehab assignment is a possibility in the near future. A return to action for Iglesias would be fantastic news for the Braves, who are currently relying on A.J. Minter, Dylan Lee, and Jesse Chavez in late inning situations.

Meanwhile, d’Arnaud has been on the 7-day concussion IL since he was involved in a collision at home plate earlier this month. The 34-year-old catcher, who pairs with Sean Murphy to create perhaps the best catching tandem in the sport for the Braves when healthy, was slashing .333/.333/.424 in eight games prior to going on the IL. He took a step forward in his rehab yesterday, catching a bullpen session in addition to hitting. While d’Arnaud has been on the shelf, Chadwick Tromp has backed up Murphy behind the plate.

More from around the NL East…

  • Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara told reporters today, including Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald, that he expects to pitch against Atlanta on Wednesday if everything goes well after skipping his last start due to biceps tendinitis. Before he gets to that point, the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner will play catch today and throw a bullpen session tomorrow. Alcantara has struggled to open the season with a 5.47 ERA in 24 2/3 innings and a reduced 19.8% strikeout rate, though with only 43.7% of baserunners stranded to this point in the season, it’s easy to see how the 27-year-old ace has been unlucky in the early going this season, as punctuated by his 3.52 FIP being nearly two runs lower than his ERA.
  • Sticking with 2022 Cy Young Award winners, Mets manager Buck Showalter tells reporters (including The Athletic’s Will Sammon) that ace Justin Verlander is set to throw a live bullpen session today. Verlander, who has been sidelined with a shoulder strain since the start of the season, signed with the Mets this past offseason on a two-year, $86.66MM deal. The Mets rotation has been decimated in the early going this season, with both Jose Quintana and Carlos Carrasco joining Verlander on the injured list, while fellow ace Max Scherzer serves a 10-game suspension for foreign substance use during which the Mets cannot replace him on the active roster. [UPDATE: as per MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo, Verlander threw 43 pitches over his three-inning bullpen session. The Mets plan for Verlander to make a minor league rehab start on Friday, with an eye towards Verlander being activated from the IL to pitch during the Mets’ series in Detroit on May 2-4.]

Twins Notes: Maeda, Ober, Kirilloff, Buxton

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X-rays were negative on Kenta Maeda’s left ankle after the Twins starter was hit by Jarren Duran line drive on Thursday, though it isn’t yet clear if Maeda will still require a stint on the 15-day injured list.  The team is planning to push back Maeda’s next turn in the rotation, and reporters (including MLB.com’s Do-Hyoung Park) were told that more on Maeda’s condition will be known after he gets through a light throwing session today, and then a bullpen session on Monday.

Bailey Ober is being called up on Sunday for a spot start in Minnesota’s game with the Nationals, thus pushing back the rest of the Twins rotation and providing a bit more time for Maeda to recover.  If Maeda is able to pitch, he’d take the mound at some point during the Twins’ four-game series with the Royals from April 27-30.

Maeda missed all of the 2022 season due to Tommy John surgery, and the results have been somewhat mixed in his first three starts back in action.  Beyond the obvious negative of the ankle bruise, Maeda has been allowing a lot of hard contact, his 23.1% strikeout rate is barely above the league average, and his fastball velocity has dropped to 89.9 mph from his previous career average of 91.2mph (though velo has never been a big part of Maeda’s arsenal).  On the plus side, he has a 4.15 ERA over 13 innings, with an elite-level chase rate and walk rate — the right-hander has issued just one walk to date this season.

In other injury news, Alex Kirilloff has yet to play this season, as the former star prospect opened the season on the 10-day IL while still recovering from his season-ending wrist surgery last August.  Kirilloff is nearing the end of his 20-day minor league rehab assignment, but The Athletic’s Aaron Gleeman reports that some team officials feel Kirilloff won’t immediately join the Twins’ big league roster once activated from the IL, as he instead could be optioned to Triple-A.

Kirilloff has played in only seven minor league games during his rehab assignment, and didn’t see any game action during Spring Training.  As a result, the Twins might feel he simply needs more time to fully ramp up to face MLB pitching, even though Kirilloff has been hitting very well during his limited minor league at-bats.  The returns of Jorge Polanco and Joey Gallo from the IL have helped bolster the Twins’ lineup, and in Gallo’s case specifically, he has been playing first base — ostensibly Kirilloff’s position when he eventually gets back to the Show.  Since Minnesota has no glaring need in the lineup and naturally the team wants to be cautious with Kirilloff given his history of wrist problems, it could mean a more extended stint at Triple-A.

Speaking of injury histories, Byron Buxton has thankfully remained off the injured list thus far in 2023, which could be in part due to the Twins’ deployment of the outfielder has a full-time DH.  Buxton has yet to play in the field this season, and manager Rocco Baldelli told reporters (including John Shipley of the St. Paul Pioneer Press) that he didn’t know when or necessarily even if Buxton would be back in the outfield.  “I am enjoying the fact that I get to write his name in the lineup virtually every day right now.  And at this point, I’m not going to do anything to jeopardize that, because I think that’s the most important thing,” Baldelli said.

For his part, Buxton admitted that “I wouldn’t say comfortable” about the arrangement, saying that being a DH is “still a job that’s not normal for me.  It’s still something I’m figuring out.”  However, Buxton also said that “as long as I’m playing, that don’t faze me.”  Buxton has been solid if unspectacular at the plate thus far, hitting .243/.316/.443 with three homers over 79 plate appearances, translating to a 113 wRC+.

NL Central Notes: Frelick, Houser, Wainwright, Rodriguez, Pirates

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A left thumb sprain sent Brewers outfield prospect Sal Frelick to the seven-day Triple-A injured list this week, and MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy tweets that Frelick is getting a second opinion on the injury.  Though a second opinion is often something of an ominous sign, “it sounds like the more [the Brewers] learn, the more they believe Sal avoided a serious injury,” McCalvy writes.  That’s good news for Frelick, who celebrated his 23rd birthday earlier this week.

A consensus top-50 prospect heading into the season, Frelick was picked 15th overall by the Brewers in the 2021 draft, and he has mostly been tearing up minor league pitching during his brief pro career.  He played in 46 Triple-A games last season and was projected to make his MLB debut at some point in 2023, though Frelick has been set back by both his thumb problem and a slow start in general, as he has hit a modest .232/.318/.321 over 65 Triple-A plate appearances this year.  Had he been healthy, Frelick might have been in the majors as early as this weekend, given that Garrett Mitchell might be facing a season-ending shoulder surgery.  Once Frelick is himself healthy, he’ll certainly be on Milwaukee’s radar as a possible answer to its outfield depth issues.

More from around the NL Central….

  • Since the Brewers’ rotation has also been thinned by injuries to Brandon Woodruff and Aaron Ashby, the club is stretching out Adrian Houser as a potential starting option.  “Really, it’s day by day with all this because we’re checking health….He’s in a regular starter’s routine now, so we’ll see what happens after this one,” manager Craig Counsell told McCalvy and other reporters.  “If we need him, he’s ready to go.”  Houser has yet to pitch this season due to a groin injury, and is slated to toss 75-80 pitches in a Triple-A rehab start on Sunday.
  • Adam Wainwright is also set for another minor league rehab start, with Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweeting that Wainwright is expected to toss around 75 pitches on Tuesday for the Cardinals’ Double-A affiliate.  Wainwright has been recovering from a groin strain suffered during a Team USA workout during the World Baseball Classic, and it is possible that the Cards might activate their longtime ace from the 15-day IL if he gets through this second rehab outing without incident.
  • Pirates catching prospect Endy Rodriguez will be examined by doctors in Pittsburgh on Monday after suffering a right forearm strain, GM Ben Cherington told reporters (including Kevin Gorman of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review).  Like Frelick, Rodriguez was also starting the season at Triple-A and was expected to arrive in the majors in 2023, and Rodriguez was helping his case with a respectable .263/.333/.456 slash line over 66 plate appearances.  Baseball America ranked Rodriguez 23rd on its preseason top-100 list, with MLB Pipeline and Baseball Prospectus each ranking Rodriguez as the 55th-best prospect in baseball.  Most of Rodriguez’s time has been spent as a catcher, but he has also played first base, second base, and both corner outfield slots, making him a unique multi-positional threat.

Rays Notes: Ballpark, Eflin, Siri, Thompson, Glasnow

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The Rays “seem to be making progress” on a new ballpark, principal owner Stuart Sternberg told Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.  While the organization has still been talking with Tampa officials about the possibility of building a long-awaited new stadium in that city, Sternberg said “we’ve been focused on” remaining in St. Petersburg, and a proposed plan that would see the Rays’ new home built near the current site of Tropicana Field.

The stadium would be the centerpiece of a major redevelopment project similar to other recent “ballpark villages” in Atlanta and St. Louis, as the Rays’ new yard would be surrounded by new housing, shopping centers, restaurants, and entertainment venues.  Nothing has been finalized about either the ballpark project or the larger revitalization project, as Sternberg said “We’re working at both and neither one is easy….The county and the city are really working beautifully together, so that’s part of the reason why we’re all optimistic.”

While the Rays’ lease at Tropicana Field runs through the 2027 season, there has long been a push from ownership to figure out a new ballpark situation sooner rather than later, with the Rays at one point even exploring an idea to split their home schedule between Tampa and Montreal (in new ballparks in both cities).  However, it does now appear that at least some momentum seems to be building towards the Rays staying in St. Pete, which must count as some relief to fans after years of speculation about a possible move.

With the Athletics now on the verge of officially moving from Oakland to Las Vegas, Sternberg commented on the situation, saying that “It’s in all of baseball’s interests to have the A’s and any baseball team on the firmest footing possible.”  By this same logic, Sternberg supported commissioner Rob Manfred’s decision to waive a relocation fee, noting that to help a team regain stability, it doesn’t fit for the league “to say ‘Look, we’re going to let you move and your revenues are going to go up but we’re going to take them all from you.’ ”

In some Rays news on the field, the team will get some reinforcements back from the injured list starting tomorrow, when Zach Eflin will activated to start Sunday’s game against the White Sox.  Eflin’s placement on the 15-day IL was retroactive to April 8, but since his bout of back tightness proved to be minor, he’ll be able to return on the first day of eligibility.  After signing a three-year, $40MM free agent deal with Tampa Bay during the offseason, Eflin looked sharp in his first two starts with his new club, posting a 3.27 ERA with 12 strikeouts and one walk over 11 innings.

Jose Siri was also off to an impressive start before beginning an IL stint on April 8, as a hamstring strain put the center fielder on the sidelines.  Manager Kevin Cash told reporters (including Kristie Ackert of the Tampa Bay Times) that Siri will be re-evaluated following a two-game minor league rehab assignment.  Siri played the first of those two games yesterday as a DH with Triple-A Durham, and he’ll take today off before playing center field for Durham in Sunday’s contest.

If all goes well, Siri might be activated as early as Monday, when the Rays begin a series against Houston.  By coincidence, the Astros were also the team who dealt Siri to Tampa last year at the trade deadline, and after showing his mettle as a defender, Siri has now started to break out at the plate.  He hit .318/.333/.682 with two home runs in his first 24 plate appearances before suffering his hamstring strain.

Ryan Thompson also looks to be facing a “very minimal” IL stint, Cash said, which could mean the reliever might return from the 15-day injured list on April 28, when first eligible.  Thompson suffered a right lat strain after posting a 3.18 ERA over his first 5 2/3 innings of work out of Tampa’s bullpen.

The timeline isn’t as clear for Tyler Glasnow, who was given an initial window of 6-to-8 weeks when he first suffered his Grade 2 oblique strain at the end of February.  Cash said Glasnow was slated for two innings of live batting practice in extended Spring Training work on Monday, which comes on the heels of a pair of bullpen sessions earlier this month.  The Rays are aiming for Glasnow to be ready by around the middle of May, once he is fully ramped up after missing such a big chunk of Spring Training work.

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