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AL Notes: Judge, Brash, Tigers, White Sox

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After spending most of his career in right field and spending much of 2022 in center, it’s possible the reigning AL MVP will be taking reps in left field this spring. Yankees manager Aaron Boone tells reporters, including MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch, that Judge playing some left field is “on the table” for this spring.

Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported yesterday that this was a consideration, with the goal being to allow slugger Giancarlo Stanton, who figures to be the team’s primary designated hitter, to play right on his days in the outfield due to Yankee Stadium’s outfield being far more spacious in left than in right. For his part, Judge told reporters, including ESPN’s Marly Rivera, that he wouldn’t mind Stanton playing more right field and taking reps in left if needed.

Stanton struggled with durability early on in his Yankees career, including just 41 games played in the 2019 and 2020 seasons combined. Since then, his transition to primarily playing DH has seemingly helped him stay on the field, as he played 249 games combined across the past two seasons, with just 64 of those games including an appearance in the outfield. In 2022, 34 of Stanton’s 38 games in the outfield took place in right, as Judge spent most of his time in center field. This year, 2022 trade deadline acquisition Harrison Bader figures to get most of the reps in center field, leaving Judge to spend more time in left if Stanton is to continue to make most his outfield starts in right.

More from the American League…

  • The Athletic’s Corey Brock discussed yesterday the role of Mariners right-hander Matt Brash, who is set to begin the 2023 season as a member of the bullpen. Brash made the 2022 Opening Day roster as a starter but struggled mightily, posting a 7.65 ERA across five starts before being demoted to Triple-A. Brash returned later in the season as a reliever and dominated, posting a 2.35 ERA in 30 2/3 innings of work out of the bullpen down the stretch. Brock notes that Brash hopes to get another shot at starting in the future, and though he isn’t being stretched out this spring, the Mariners remain open to the possibility down the line.
  • Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris spoke to the media, including Chris McCosky of The Detroit News, yesterday about the relatively quiet offseason in Detroit. Harris made note that, follow a disappointing 96-loss season, it didn’t make sense to acquire short term veterans who would take up what he called valuable at-bats that could go to young players who would be part of the next core. Detroit acquired a few such players, particularly in the trade that sent reliever Gregory Soto to the Phillies. That deal brought back Matt Vierling, Nick Maton, and Donny Sands, all of whom figure to get playing time in the big leagues with Detroit in 2023.
  • Staying in the AL Central, White Sox GM Rick Hahn discussed how Chicago’s offseason had gone with reporters yesterday, including James Fegan of The Athletic. The White Sox made three key additions to their roster following a disappointing 81-81 campaign, signing righty Mike Clevinger, outfielder Andrew Benintendi, and most recently infielder Elvis Andrus to big league deals, with Benintendi’s five-year, $75MM contract being the only multiyear pact of the group. Hahn, referring back to his comments earlier in the offseason that he expected the club to be active on the trade market, noted the discrepancy between that expectation and what came to pass, saying “I did expect there to be more trades… You go into the offseason with needs and potential fits, and over the course of the offseason, you adjust based on what’s viable, both in free agency and via trade. Sometimes teams are pricing guys differently than expected.” As Fegan notes, a quiet offseason on the south side is somewhat unsurprising giving the club’s stated expectation that payroll would stay largely static headed into 2023.

Astros Notes: Alvarez, Brantley, Gilbert

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Astros outfielder Yordan Alvarez is dealing with some left hand soreness, with both he and manager Dusty Baker speaking to reporters today about it, including Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle and Mark Berman of Fox 26. Alvarez isn’t currently swinging a bat but expects to do so in the coming days.

Alvarez dealt with soreness in both hands last year but it doesn’t seem as though offseason surgery was ever seriously considered, with Baker relaying that doctors “said he didn’t need it.” Despite the seemingly persistent nature of the issue, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of concern, with Alvarez suggesting that it can be addressed with rest. It certainly didn’t seem to hamper him too much last year, as he launched 37 home runs and hit .306/.406/.613 for a wRC+ of 185, though he did go to the injured list once for the soreness in his right hand.

Everyone involved seems to be downplaying the issue for now and this all might pass in a few days. But given that Alvarez is one of the most potent sluggers in the league and the soreness seems to have been lingering for quite some time now, it will be a situation to monitor going forward.

Elsewhere on the roster, outfielder Michael Brantley is still trying to get back into shape following last year’s shoulder surgery but could spend some time at first base once he’s healthy. A report from Brian McTaggart of MLB.com indicates Brantley has been getting some work at first lately, with the club exploring if he’s a viable emergency option there. Houston will have José Abreu getting the lion’s share of the work at the cold corner after he signed a three-year, $58.5MM deal this offseason, but it seems there’s a chance Brantley could give him the occasional day off.

Brantley has a small amount of first base experience in the minors, way back in 2007 and 2008, but none at the Triple-A level or in the majors. “We’ll see how it goes,” Brantley said. “At the same time, it’s a team-first approach always. I’ve always been like that. If I can help the team out in any way, I’ll be available. It’s a lot of hard work. I’m learning a lot very quickly, but it’s all been going smoothly so far.”

If the experiment proves successful and Brantley becomes a legit option there, it could provide the club with a bit more flexibility in setting its lineup. Furthermore, Brantley has had a few significant injuries in his career and is turning 36 in May, meaning there might be some wisdom in having him play a position that generally requires less running around the field. Abreu will also be in his age-36 season, so helping him get off his feet on occasion could also have benefits.

For the time being, Abreu is likely followed by David Hensley and J.J. Matijevic on the first base chart, though they have just 16 and 32 games of MLB experience, respectively. It’s always possible that the club could find someone else to jump in, such as longtime Astro Yuli Gurriel, though general manager Dana Brown recently articulated the difficulty in finding a substantial role for a veteran like Gurriel. Unless something changes on that front, it seems Brantley will take a shot at making himself a part-time option at the position.

In more long-term news, prospect Drew Gilbert is expected to be ready to go when the minor league season starts, director of player development Sara Goodrum tells Rome. Gilbert was the club’s first round draft pick last year and played ten games in the lower levels of the minors before crashing into the outfield wall in a Class-A game. He was initially diagnosed with a forearm contusion though it was later discovered that he suffered a dislocation in his right elbow, which ended his season. He’s just 22 years old and will still have to climb his way up the minor league ladder, but the fact that he’s going to start the season healthy is still encouraging news.

Angels Notes: Ohtani, Rendon, Barria

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Agent Nez Balelo of CAA, who represents Shohei Ohtani, told reporters this week that while an extension is “always” something to which they’ve been open, Ohtani has also “earned the right to play through the year, explore free agency” (link via ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez) As one would expect, Balelo spoke rather vaguely with regard to his star client’s future, stating that Ohtani is taking things “day by day” and downplaying the idea that the Angels’ lack of postseason berths during his time with the team would push the two-way sensation to a new team. “He’s so competitive, like all great players are, so of course they want to experience postseason, of course they’d love to be in the World Series,” said Balelo. “But is that the deciding factor? I don’t know. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

At 28 years old, Ohtani has become one of the game’s brightest stars. He secured an All-Star berth in each of the past two seasons, winning American League MVP honors in 2021 and finishing runner-up in 2022 — while also grabbing a fourth-place finish in Cy Young voting. Since Opening Day 2021, he’s batted .265/.364/.554 with 80 homers and 37 steals in 1305 plate appearances, while at the same time pitching 296 1/3 innings of 2.70 ERA ball with a 31.4% strikeout rate and 7.4% walk rate. There’s been plenty of talk about the bidding war he could spark heading into his age-29 season, with speculation that Ohtani could sign the largest contract ever — perhaps even pushing $500MM in total value.

More on the Halos…

  • Anthony Rendon is in Angels camp and feeling optimistic about the 2023 season despite requiring a second surgery in as many years last summer, writes Sarah Valenzuela of the Los Angeles Times. Rendon noted that returning even for a couple games late in the 2022 season brought him some peace of mind heading into the winter, and while his surgically repaired wrist wasn’t 100% throughout the winter, it’s feeling stronger now. He acknowledged that the Angels will likely be cautious with his workload and offered high praise for new teammate Gio Urshela — the trade acquisition who’ll play no small part in helping to spell Rendon when needed. Halos skipper Phil Nevin pointed out that Rendon already has one Comeback Player of the Year Award under his belt and expressed confidence that the former All-Star can return to form. Rendon, who signed a seven-year, $245MM deal with Anaheim following the 2019 season, has played in just 157 games since putting pen to paper. Fifty-two of those games came in the shortened 2020 season, when he turned in an outstanding .286/.418/.497 slash with solid defense at the hot corner. Since then, he’s played in just 105 of 324 possible games.
  • Right-hander Jaime Barria is in the mix for the sixth spot in the Angels’ rotation, writes Sam Blum of The Athletic. He’ll join a group including Griffin Canning, Chase Silseth, Tucker Davidson and Chris Rodriguez in vying for that spot. As Blum outlines, that sixth-starter role could perhaps be best occupied by someone with Barria’s swingman experience, given that off-days will necessitate the sixth spot being skipped from time to time. Barria, who’s out of minor league options, figures to make the club one way or another this year, particularly given last season’s strong showing in a long relief role. In 79 1/3 frames, the 26-year-old posted a 2.61 ERA with a well below-average 17.1% strikeout rate but a strong 6% walk rate and a 40.9% grounder rate. Barria has never missed many bats but has typically displayed strong command en route to a career 4.09 ERA in 380 1/3 innings split fairly evenly as a starter (4.03 ERA, 56 appearances) and and a reliever (4.25 ERA, 44 appearances). He and the Angels avoided arbitration with a one-year, $1.05MM deal earlier this winter.

Rays Notes: Diaz, Poche, Arbitration, Stadium

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The Rays expect to deploy Yandy Díaz frequently at first base during the upcoming season, manager Kevin Cash informed reporters (link via Joe Trezza of MLB.com). He’ll presumably pick up the lion’s share of at-bats there after Tampa Bay dealt Ji-Man Choi to the Pirates at the start of the offseason.

Díaz has plenty of experience at the position, logging just under 1000 MLB innings there. He led the team in first base playing time as recently as 2021 — narrowly topping Choi that season — but spent the bulk of his 2022 campaign at third base. Díaz started only 15 games at first last season and was penciled in at the hot corner on 97 occasions. Public defensive metrics have never rated him especially favorably there. Last season was no exception, with both Statcast and Defensive Runs Saved grading him among the league’s bottom five defensive third basemen.

The 31-year-old is coming off arguably the best season of his career on the other side of the ball, however. Díaz hit .296/.401/.423 with nine home runs and more walks than strikeouts in 558 trips to the plate. The Rays rewarded him with a three-year deal to buy out his final two arbitration seasons and extend their window of club control by potentially two years (including a 2026 club option). He’ll surely be in the lineup on most days and manning first base would lighten his defensive responsibilities while leaving greater opportunities at the hot corner for players like Isaac Paredes and Taylor Walls.

In other news out of Tampa:

  • The club won arbitration hearings over relievers Colin Poche and Ryan Thompson over the weekend. After the decisions were handed out, Poche expressed some frustration with the arbitrators who heard his case (link via Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times). “I thought my agency, and the lawyers from the Players Association, made a really strong case. I thought we had a good chance,” Poche said. “But that’s kind of what happens when you leave it up to a panel of arbitrators who have experience in the process, but they’re outside the realm of baseball. So there’s a lot of things that maybe we place more importance on that they don’t fully grasp the same level of importance.” The left-hander indicated he felt the panel wasn’t properly suited to value non-closing relievers, in particular, and opined the arbitrators didn’t place enough emphasis on his 23 holds last season. Poche stressed he had no gripes with the Rays or the manner in which they presented their case (as did Thompson), confining his criticism to the arbitrators themselves. Both players had small filing gaps relative to the salaries they’ll wind up making. Poche will make $1.175MM rather than his desired $1.3MM, while Thompson will collect $1MM instead of a $1.2MM filing figure.
  • The Rays’ efforts to get a new stadium in the Tampa area took a step forward a few weeks back when St. Petersburg mayor Ken Welch backed the club’s proposal for a redevelopment plan of the city’s Gas Plant district. That doesn’t tie the franchise to the city but sets the stage for continued negotiations. Colleen Wright of the Tampa Bay Times provided an update on the process over the weekend, reporting the city has begun drafting a term sheet that’d commit the Rays to St. Petersburg for an initial term of 30 years if eventually agreed upon. Those drafts have yet to specify any proposed funding commitments between the city, Pinellas County and the Rays’ organization. That’ll obviously be a key issue to hammer out over the coming months, with the process expected to continue well into the summer. Wright notes the city retained a Minneapolis-based law firm last week in preparation for negotiations.

NL East Notes: Wright, Meneses, Rainey, Sosa

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Even if Kyle Wright is slightly behind in his throwing schedule, Atlanta is hoping he won’t have to start the regular season on the injured list, according to Mark Bowman of MLB.com. The right-hander produced comfortably his best season to date last year, breaking out after owning a combined 6.56 ERA. over the previous four seasons to go 21-5 with a 3.19 ERA over 180 1/3 innings.

The 27-year-old’s off-season prep was halted for three weeks in January following a cortisone injection in his right shoulder. That’s put him behind schedule as spring training begins, and Wright’s unlikely to make any starts for Atlanta over the first few weeks of Grapefruit League action in Florida. As Bowman reports, the hope is he’ll be able to increase his pitch count during the back half of spring training to a point where he can throw around 75 pitches in his regular season debut. That would probably mean he’d miss Atlanta’s opening series in Washington, instead targeting the trip to St Louis as a possible season debut.

Here’s some more notes from around the National League East:

  • The Nationals intend to use 2022 breakout star Joey Meneses in a utility role this season. Manager Dave Martinez told reporters (including Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post) that Meneses would play “a lot of a little bit of everywhere.” That’ll mean he sees time at first base, left field and DH on the rebuilding Nats. As a 30-year-old rookie, Meneses slashed .324/.367/.563 with 13 home runs across 240 plate appearances last season, a small bright spot in a disappointing campaign for Washington. He was certainly helped by a .371 BABIP, but nonetheless it was an impressive debut stint in the big leagues for a player who toiled away for 11 years for reaching the bigs.
  • Sticking with the Nats for now, and reliever Tanner Rainey is targeting a return at the 12-month mark since his Tommy John surgery. As Jessica Camerato of MLB.com reports, Rainey is in the third week of his throwing program, and a return a year after surgery would have him slated to be back on the mound in the first week of August. Of course, there’s a lot that can happen between now and then, and with the Nats in the midst of a rebuild they’d certainly be unlikely to rush him back, but it’s an encouraging sign for the 30-year-old, who worked to a 3.30 ERA over 30 innings last season before going down.
  • Phillies infielder Edmundo Sosa is working on learning center field, according to Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The plan is for the Phillies to get Sosa some center field reps during spring training in the hope he’ll be in a position for that to be an option during the regular season. Sosa has appeared in all of 3 1/3 innings in the outfield in his career, but the bulk of his appearances for the Cardinals and Phillies have come in the middle infield spots. After slashing .227/.275/.369 with two home runs, Sosa projects as an infield option on the bench in 2023, with Trea Turner and Bryson Stott manning the positions full time. Veteran Josh Harrison is also projected as a bench option that can cover the infield positions, so adding center field to Sosa’s repertoire would certainly help to deepen the bench options available to manager Rob Thomson.

AL Notes: Chapman, Andrus, Orioles

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Blue Jays third baseman Matt Chapman is entering his second and potentially final season in Toronto, as he looks set to hit free agency at season’s end. The 29-year-old addressed his long term future with the organization with Gregor Chisholm of the Toronto Star, saying he’s open to an extension but realistic about his future.

“I know the Blue Jays enjoy having me here and want to continue having me here,” Chapman said. “I know I want to continue to be here and be a part of this team. I’m sure conversations will be had along the way but, when I signed that two-year deal, I was anticipating they would have to pay Bo and Vladdy and all these young guys.”

With Manny Machado seemingly headed for the open market next winter, Chapman figures to be the second best third baseman available. Offensively he’s hit 27 home runs in each of the past two seasons, and has hit at least 24 in the last four 162-game seasons, while his glove has been worth 18 Outs Above Average over the past two seasons and 40 over his career. Another quality season should set Chapman up to do very well in free agency, whether that be for the Blue Jays or elsewhere.

Here’s some more bit and pieces from around the American League as full squad workouts begin:

  • The White Sox made their signing of infielder Elvis Andrus official today, confirming the one-year, $3MM deal. General manager Rick Hahn addressed the signing with reporters (including Scott Merkin of MLB.com) in Arizona, confirming the expectation is that Andrus will be Chicago’s everyday second baseman. Leury Garcia, Romy Gonzalez, Yolbert Sanchez, Lenyn Sosa and non-roster invite Hanser Alberto were all the previous candidates to man second, but Andrus will bump some combination of those players into bench/utility roles. With Tim Anderson entrenched at shortstop, this will be the first time Andrus has logged time at another defensive position, as all of his career 16,606 innings in the field have come at short. There seems little doubt about Andrus’ ability to handle second of course, given his track record of quality glove work at the more demanding shortstop position.
  • Speaking of free agency, Roch Kubatko of MASN reports that the Orioles are still involved in the free agency market, and have their eyes on a few major league players. Jurickson Profar stands out as comfortably the highest-profile player remaining in a very thin free agent field. Profar does make some sense as an upgrade over Austin Hays in left field, although it’s also not an obvious fit. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic did report back in January that the Orioles were involved in Profar, although they didn’t appear particularly confident of getting a deal done. Outside of Profar, there’s no available free agent who’d drastically alter Baltimore’s payroll for the upcoming season, but it is worth noting here CEO John Angelos’ comments about the team’s payroll moving forward.

 

NL Notes: Marte, Stephenson, Dodgers, Taillon

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Starling Marte underwent core surgery in November, and the outfielder talked with reporters (including MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo) today about the somewhat unexpected nature of that procedure.  Marte ended up requiring surgery on both sides of his groin, providing an unwelcome answer to he’d been bothered by leg and lower-body problems for a big portion of the 2022 season.  Marte played through quad and groin soreness but didn’t go on the injured list until he suffered a fractured finger in September, sidelining him until the playoffs.

Despite all the injuries, Marte’s first Mets season was a success, as he hit .292/.347/.468 with 16 homers over 505 plate appearances.  Both Marte and manager Buck Showalter indicated that the veteran outfielder will be ramped up somewhat slowly in the early days of Spring Training, yet Marte is expected to be ready to roll for the Opening Day lineup.

More from around the National League…

  • Pirates reliever Robert Stephenson is suffering from some right arm discomfort, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Jason Mackey tweets.  It seems to be a precautionary slowdown at this point, and Stephenson threw as recently as Saturday.  Heading into his first full season with the Pirates, Stephenson had a 3.38 ERA and a whopping 36% strikeout rate over 13 1/3 innings after the Bucs claimed him off waivers from the Rockies in late August.  Assuming that this arm issue isn’t overly serious, Stephenson is an interesting high-leverage bullpen arm for Pittsburgh, given that he posted good results in 2019 (with Cincinnati) and 2021 (with Colorado).
  • Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya and other reporters that J.D. Martinez will be the club’s designated hitter “99.9 percent of the time,” though Martinez isn’t necessarily expected to play all 162 games.  This plan differs from the Dodgers’ rotational use of the DH spot last season, and in particular, Will Smith will be slated for more full rest days with Martinez on board, as Los Angeles often used Smith at DH on days when he wasn’t catching.  As productive a bat as Smith has been, he might be even better with a bit more rest, and ideally Martinez’s offense would further enhance the Dodgers’ lineup punch.
  • Jameson Taillon is on a new team and he is now learning a new pitch, as the Cubs right-hander has started to work on a sweeping slider.  As Taillon tells The Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma, he was one of the relatively few Yankees pitchers who didn’t use the “whirly,” as his 2020-21 offseason was spent recovering from Tommy John surgery and adjusting after being traded from the Pirates, and Taillon’s 2021-22 offseason work was hampered by the lockout and recovery from ankle surgery.  “This year, healthy offseason, I signed on the earlier end, got familiar with the pitching coaches and I’m comfortable with my delivery.  So I feel like it’s the perfect storm for being able to tinker a little bit,” Taillon said.  The righty inked a four-year, $68MM free agent deal with Chicago in early December.

Astros Notes: Altuve, Gage, McCullers

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Dana Brown’s first few weeks with the Astros has already seen the new general manager sign Cristian Javier to a five-year, $64MM contract extension, and more long-term deals seem to be on Brown’s radar in the near future.  Jose Altuve was one of several players cited by Brown as extension candidates, with the new GM making the particular point that the longtime second baseman “should be in Houston for life.”  This is music to Altuve’s ears, who told MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart and other reporters that “it’s really good to hear that” from Brown.  “I hope to retire here, so I think we’re on the same page.”

Altuve has become a franchise icon over his 12 seasons with Houston, and has already signed one big-money extension with the club — a seven-year, $163.5MM deal that runs through the 2024 season.  A new contract could overwrite the last year or two of that previous deal, of course, or the Astros might simply look to tack a few more seasons onto Altuve’s existing pact.  2025 is Altuve’s age-35 season, yet there isn’t any sign of slowing down, considering that Altuve’s 164 wRC+ in 2022 was the best of his career.

More from the defending World Series champs….

  • The Astros claimed Matt Gage off waivers from the Blue Jays earlier this week, and Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi adds some interesting details behind the transaction.  Gage will receive a split contract with a $770K salary in the majors and $170K in the minors, and the Astros included a $125K signing bonus.  The bonus was included in order to convince Gage to join the team, because Gage had the right to reject Houston’s claim and test free agency since the Jays placed him on release waivers rather than standard outright waivers.  Before offering the signing bonus, Brown first had to contact the league office to confirm that the unusual tactic was allowed in release waiver situations.
  • Manager Dusty Baker gave a positive update on Lance McCullers Jr. yesterday following the news that the righty had been temporarily shut down due to arm soreness.  Baker and Brown made similar statements today to FOX 26’s Mark Berman (Twitter links) and other reporters, with Brown noting that he is “not alarmed at all” by the “day-to-day” nature of McCullers’ issue.

AL Notes: Twins, LeMahieu, Means

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Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey told reporters, including Dan Hayes of The Athletic, that right-handed prospect Jordan Balazovic will miss the start of Spring Training due to a broken jaw stemming from “an altercation away from the field.” A source with the team indicated to Hayes that Balazovic suffered the injury following a verbal altercation last Saturday, though Balazovic did not retaliate physically. Balazovic underwent surgery and is currently unavailable, though he could begin to play catch in seven to 10 days.

Balazovic came into the 2022 season viewed as a consensus top 100 prospect but struggled mightily with injuries and ineffectiveness last year. He was out until May 1 last year with a knee injury and then struggled to a 7.68 ERA in 72 2/3 minor league innings last year while pitching almost exclusively at the Triple-A level. Now it appears his 2023 is off to a rocky start of its own. Fortunately for Minnesota, the club has an impressive amount of starting pitching depth, with Pablo Lopez, Tyler Mahle, Sonny Gray, Joe Ryan, Kenta Maeda, and Bailey Ober all capable big league starters even with Chris Paddack set to spend most of the 2023 season on the injured list.

Elsewhere around the AL…

  • Sticking with the Twins, center fielder Byron Buxton and first baseman Alex Kirilloff are both in places the club is comfortable with health-wise at this point in the spring, according to Hayes. Buxton is fully recovered from last year’s knee surgery and is playing without limitations, while Kirilloff, Falvey notes, is behind most other hitters as the organization plans on taking things slowly with him following his second wrist surgery, which Hayes notes was particularly intensive. Both figure to be part of the Twins Opening Day lineup if healthy, though the Twins acquired Michael A. Taylor earlier this offseason in part as insurance in center if Buxton continues to struggle to stay healthy, while rumors of the clubs interest in a veteran, right-handed complement to Kirilloff at first base have percolated throughout the offseason.
  • Yankees infielder DJ LeMahieu talked with reporters this morning, including Erik Boland of Newsday Sports and Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. LeMahieu noted that he is at “100 percent” as he enters camp this spring, able to play with no limitations. In addition, LeMahieu says he’s excited to play in a utility role for the Yankees this season. With Anthony Rizzo at first base and Gleyber Torres at second, while Oswald Peraza, Oswaldo Cabrera, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa all expected to mix and match at shortstop and with Josh Donaldson at third base, at least until top prospect Anthony Volpe is ready to contribute, LeMahieu figures to pick up playing time at each of first base, second base, and third base this season. LeMahieu played second base almost exclusively prior to signing with the Yankees ahead of the 2019 season, but since then has moved around the infield more often, racking up 872 innings of work at first base and 1,171 innings at third base in a Yankees uniform.
  • While Orioles left-hander John Means won’t factor into the Baltimore Opening Day rotation, he certainly seems to be on the right track to have an impact on the club at some point this season. Orioles manager Brandon Hyde told reporters, including Roch Kubatko of MASN, that means will begin throwing off a half mound sometime in the coming week. Means has had the look of a solid mid-rotation starter since taking on a full-time role in 2019, pitching to a 3.72 ERA (124 ERA+) in 353 1/3 innings over that time while earning an All Star appearance and finishing second in AL Rookie of the Year voting for his 2019 season, where he posted a 3.60 ERA (131 ERA+) in 155 innings of work. Whenever Means is ready to return, he’ll be a welcome addition to a rotation that saw Kyle Gibson replace outgoing veteran righty Jordan Lyles and added lefty Cole Irvin in a trade with Oakland this offseason.

Injury Notes: Marquez, Kopech, White

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German Marquez suffered a left hamstring injury during conditioning drills, though Rockies manager Bud Black told The Denver Post’s Patrick Saunders and other reporters that Marquez was able to do some light running on Friday and play catch.  The injury seems minor enough that Marquez expressed hope that he could still pitch for his native Venezuela during the second round of the World Baseball Classic, though Marquez will be sidelined for the first round of WBC play.

The right-hander is looking to bounce back from a disappointing 2022 campaign that saw him post a 4.95 ERA over 181 2/3 innings and some of the worst hard-contact numbers of any pitcher in baseball.  Any kind of delay in his spring work won’t help in Marquez’s rebound efforts, and a pitching-thin team like Colorado certainly can’t afford seeing its ace miss any time.  However, the injury may have taken place early enough that Marquez’s Opening Day status may not be in question — as Black put it, “we’re fortunate in a lot of ways, and German realizes this, that it’s the middle of February and not the middle of March.”

More on other injury situations around the sport…

  • Both Michael Kopech and White Sox manager Pedro Grifol think the right-hander is going to be ready for Opening Day, as they updated reporters (including the Associated Press) about Kopech’s status following an injury-marred end to his season.  Kopech spent time on the injured list due to shoulder inflammation and a left knee strain, and his season came to an early end when he underwent surgery to fix a tear in his right meniscus.  After an offseason of rehab work, Kopech is now “at a point where the knee’s feeling better, the shoulder’s feeling better.  But it’s just kind of smoothing things out and getting back to 100 percent.” With Kopech tossing only 119 1/3 innings in 2022, his first full season as a starting pitcher ended up being somewhat limited, though he overcame some very shaky metrics to post a 3.54 ERA.
  • Mitch White told MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson that he had a slight shoulder impingement in January that somewhat delayed his usual offseason routine, but the Blue Jays righty is now feeling “great.”  White is close to starting to throw side sessions, and that might provide a clearer picture of whether or not White is fully ready as camp opens.  Entering his first full season with Toronto, White struggled to a 7.74 ERA over 43 innings with the Blue Jays after being traded from the Dodgers, but White still enters camp in competition for the Jays’ fifth starter role.
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