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Weston Wilson Out At Least Six Weeks Due To Oblique Strain

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Phillies manager Rob Thomson told reporters (including Matt Gelb of The Athletic) today that infielder/outfielder Weston Wilson has been diagnosed with a strained oblique that will keep him out of action for at least the next six weeks.

Wilson, 30, was widely viewed as the favorite for the final spot on Philadelphia’s Opening Day bench. Either Rafael Marchan or Garrett Stubbs will occupy one spot as the club’s backup catcher behind J.T. Realmuto, while Edmundo Sosa and Johan Rojas are locked into bench spots already as well. Wilson appeared to be a likely candidate for that final spot due to his right-handed bat that could serve as a complement for Max Kepler and Brandon Marsh in the outfield, as well as his ability to play all four corners and even second base as needed.

The 30-year-old’s big league opportunities have been fairly limited to this point in his career, but the club will surely miss his bat off the bench. Wilson’s done nothing but hit when given the opportunity in the majors, slashing .288/.375/.490 (139 wRC+) for his career including 98 plate appearances last year where he slashed .284/.347/.489 (130 wRC+). Wilson’s career .388 BABIP has propped up his production somewhat to this point, and it’s certain to come down as he gets more opportunities in the majors. With that being said, even the 110 wRC+ Wilson posted at Triple-A last year would be an asset on a Philadelphia bench that lacks much offensive presence.

Unfortunately for Wilson and the Phillies, they won’t get the opportunity to see what he can do as part of the bench mix to open the season. With Wilson now off the table as an option, an opportunity has been created for other players to step into the role. Center fielder Cal Stevenson offered decent production at the plate (100 wRC+) in a brief cup of coffee with the Phillies last year, but his left-handed bat would be somewhat redundant in the club’s outfield mix and he lacks the versatility to play the infield. If the club was going to add a lefty bat to its bench mix, Kody Clemens would seem to be the more natural fit given his experience at all four infield spots and the outfield corners as well as his decent showing in 120 plate appearances with the Phillies last year. While he hit just .219 with a lackluster .258 on-base percentage during that time, he showed plenty of pop with five homers, nine doubles, and a triple that allowed him to post a decent 92 wRC+ overall.

Of course, replacing Wilson with another righty bat would likely make the most sense. Gelb suggests that the injury to Wilson figures to “considerably” improve the odds that 26-year-old infielder Buddy Kennedy makes the club’s Opening Day roster, and it’s not hard to see why. A fifth-round pick by the Diamondbacks in 2017, Kennedy made his big league debut back in 2022 and split 2024 between the Tigers and Phillies organizations. He hit .190/.308/.381 (95 wRC+) in 26 big league plate appearances last year, but more important than his performance in that small sample size was his excellent work for the Phillies at Triple-A Lehigh Valley last year.

In 300 plate appearances, Kennedy slashed an excellent .294/.400/.500 with a 13.7% walk rate that nearly matched his strikeout rate of just 15.0%. If Kennedy can offer anything close to that level of plate discipline in a bench role, he’d be a very valuable bench piece for the club this season. Kennedy has played exclusively second and third base to this point in the majors but has experience at first, shortstop, and left field in the minors. That at least leaves the door open for the club to rely on him as a right-handed complement to Kepler in left field, which likely would’ve been Wilson’s most prominent role.

While it seems likely that the Phillies would prefer to give the final bench job to one of the hitters already on their 40-man roster, there are at least a handful of non-roster invitees who could receive consideration for a bench job. Second baseman Christian Arroyo had some success in the majors with the Red Sox in 2021 and ’22, while outfielder Oscar Mercado has had intermittent success in the majors with Cleveland and St. Louis in the past. Both players are less versatile than what the club may be looking for off the bench, however, and other non-roster veterans like Rodolfo Castro have fairly limited track records in the majors themselves.

Red Sox Injury Notes: Crawford, Bello, Giolito, Rotation, Abreu

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When the Red Sox opened camp last week, Kutter Crawford stood out as an immediate injury concern due to a lingering knee problem that first arose last April.  The situation hasn’t much improved, as manager Alex Cora told MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo (multiple links) and other reporters that Crawford’s right patellar tendon is still giving him discomfort following a long-toss session on Thursday and a bullpen session yesterday.

“Opening Day, right now, is an ’if.’  Let’s see what happens,” Cora said.  “[Crawford is] not feeling well.  He’s behind. We’ve got to make sure the knee is good so the shoulder doesn’t suffer.”

Unfortunately for the Sox, Crawford isn’t the only pitcher facing uncertainty early in camp, as Brayan Bello has been dealing with shoulder soreness since the start of spring camp.  Cora said Bello will undergo a strength test tomorrow, as the Red Sox continue to evaluate the right-hander’s status.  To date, Bello has been throwing, but the team has been taking it relatively slowly with this progression, and Cora said Bello hasn’t thrown any bullpens.  Between the two starters, Crawford seems to be more of a question mark than Bello, as Cora said that “with Kutter, that’s the one it looks like is going to be long.”

With over a month before Opening Day, there is plenty of time for either pitcher to still get healthy for the season in general, even if the Red Sox could be cautious in placing Crawford and/or Bello on the 15-day injured list just to provide more ramp-up time.  In theory, Boston has a good deal of pitching depth on hand in the form of Cooper Criswell, Richard Fitts, Quinn Priester and Michael Fulmer, so any of these arms could fill in for Crawford, Bello, or Lucas Giolito, who is still working through his rehab from an internal brace surgery from last March.

Only five proper starters will be needed in the early going, as Cora confirmed that Boston will be using a five-man rotation.  Reports in January indicated that the Sox were at least thinking about a six-man staff in order to best utilize and manage its starting depth, but Cora said “we haven’t talked about a six-man.  You guys have talked about it.  If we go that route, it’s for a reason.  For right now, we’re taking the best five and using the bullpen.”

This lines the staff up as Garrett Crochet, Tanner Houck, Walker Buehler, Giolito if healthy enough for Opening Day, and then potentially one of the depth starters if Bello and Crawford indeed aren’t available.  Plans could certainly change given Boston’s busy early schedule, as both Cotillo and Cora noted that the team plays on 19 of the regular season’s first 20 days.

The injury bug is also impacting Boston’s position players, as Wilyer Abreu has yet to start workouts due to a gastrointestinal virus.  A team spokesperson told Cotillo and other reporters that Abreu received “some abnormal labs” on his illness, but the “labs have been getting better, and he’s feeling better, but they’re waiting for those to get back to a normal range before baseball activity.”

More testing is coming on Monday, Cora said, and Abreu will sit through the weekend.  A timeline isn’t in place for how much time Abreu could still miss, or whether or not this absence could cost him any time on the injured list at the start of the season.  Abreu is slated for another heavy role in Boston’s outfield this season, as the Gold Glover looks to build on a very successful rookie year.

Pirates Designate Brett De Geus, Release Yerry Rodriguez

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The Pirates officially announced the Andrew Heaney signing today, as well as a pair of other roster moves.  Right-hander Brett de Geus was designated for assignment to create 40-man roster space for Heaney, and the Bucs also released right-hander Yerry Rodriguez.

This is the fourth time de Geus has been DFA’ed since the start of August, and each of those three designations saw the righty switch teams.  The Marlins claimed de Geus when the Mariners DFA’ed him in early August, the Blue Jays picked the reliever up on another waiver claim in September after Miami designated de Geus again, and Pittsburgh just picked de Geus up a little over a month ago after Toronto designated him and then traded de Geus in a cash transaction.

All of these moves come after two other DFAs earlier in de Geus’ career, as both the Rangers and Diamondbacks looked to move him through waivers back in 2021.  Because Arizona’s designation was followed by an outright assignment, de Geus now has the ability to reject any future outright assignments in favor of free agency, should he pass through the waiver wire without being claimed or traded this time.

De Geus’ only big league experience came during those two DFA-laden seasons.  He tossed 50 innings with Texas and Arizona in 2021, then resurfaced in the Show this year to pitch 11 1/3 combined frames for Seattle, Miami, and Toronto.  De Geus has a 7.48 ERA over his 61 1/3 career innings in the majors, plus a 6.66 ERA in 50 career innings at the Triple-A level.

Despite the lack of bottom-line results, de Geus has a 52.5% grounder rate at the MLB level, and a sinking fastball that averaged 96.4 mph last season.  The righty has been such a popular figure on the waiver wire during his career that it wouldn’t be surprising if yet another team elects to acquire the 27-year-old to see if its pitching development team has the magic touch in turning de Geus’ promising stuff into an arsenal capable of handling big league hitters.

Rodriguez signed a minor league deal with the Pirates in November, but he’ll make an early exit from Pittsburgh’s camp.  Rodriguez is also a former Ranger and Blue Jay, and he has an 8.17 ERA over 36 1/3 innings with the two clubs since the start of the 2022 season.  Control has been an issue for Rodriguez in both the majors and at Triple-A, and the strikeout potential he has showed in the minors hasn’t translated within the small sample of his MLB playing time.

Evan Phillips: “Opening Day Is Off The Table” Due To Shoulder Rehab

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Reports from last week indicated that Dodgers reliever Evan Phillips might begin the season on the 15-day injured list, as his offseason throwing work was delayed until January due to a small tear in the tendon of his right rotator cuff.  Phillips confirmed his status to reporters (including the Orange County Register’s Bill Plunkett) on Friday, saying that “Opening Day is off the table,” even though he doesn’t expect to miss much time.

Some positive steps have already been taken in that direction, as Phillips said his shoulder has felt good during his ramp-up work in camp.  This includes his first proper bullpen session of Spring Training, which took place yesterday.  The Dodgers figure to take Phillips along pretty slowly in camp to make up for his lost prep time during the offseason, yet the early indications are promising.

Phillips emerged as the Dodgers’ closer in 2023 by converting 24 of 27 save chances and posting a 2.05 ERA over 61 1/3 innings.  That ERA shot up to a 3.62 mark over 54 2/3 innings in 2024, due in large part to a more baseline amount of batted-ball luck — Phillips had a .219 BABIP in 2023, and a .298 BABIP last season.  The right-hander’s SIERAs over both seasons were virtually identical (3.08 in 2023, 3.15 in 2024) and his walk rate increased from a very strong 5.6% to an only decent 7.5%.  Most of Phillips’ struggles last year came in one brutal six-outing stretch in July that saw him tagged for a 19.64 ERA over just 3 2/3 innings of work, but he righted the ship over the last two months of the regular season.

The good form continued into October with 6 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball in the NLDS and NLCS, except Phillips’ shoulder injury then kept him off the World Series roster.  Phillips said he received a PRP injection in his shoulder in November, though an MRI in December still showed “some damage,” hence the adjustments to his offseason throwing routine.

Phillips’ health status was undoubtedly a factor in the Dodgers’ decision to sign Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates this offseason, fortifying the end-game innings just in case Phillips does have to miss any time.  Michael Kopech’s status is also a question mark, though Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya) that Kopech is set to “touch the mound” for a brief throwing session tomorrow.  Reports last month indicated that Kopech is dealing with some forearm inflammation, and while the Dodgers didn’t think the situation was too serious, Kopech has indeed been limited in his throwing during Spring Training.

In other Dodgers pitching news, Bobby Miller updated the media on his condition after the right-hander was struck in the head by a Michael Busch line drive on Thursday.  Miller told Ardaya that he is dealing with some headaches and drowsiness, and Roberts said yesterday that the team would continue to monitor Miller through concussion protocol.  All in all, it seems as though Miller has thankfully emerged relatively unscathed from the scary incident.

Brewers’ Blake Perkins Sidelined Through April Due To Shin Fracture

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Brewers outfielder Blake Perkins sustained a fracture in his right shin after fouling a ball off himself during batting practice, manager Pat Murphy told MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy and other reporters.  Perkins will miss the next 3-4 weeks in recovery, and Murphy pointed to May as a best-case scenario for Perkins’ return to the big league roster.

It’s a tough setback for the 28-year-old Perkins, who has established himself as a superb defensive player over his two MLB seasons (both with Milwaukee).  Perkins was a Gold Glove finalist in the NL center fielder category in 2024 after posting a +7.7 UZR/150, +10 Outs Above Average, and +8 Defensive Runs Saved over 956 1/3 innings up the middle for the Brewers.  He also put his elite speed to good use on the basepaths, swiping 23 bases in 28 attempts.

The stolen bases were Perkins’ chief offensive contribution, as he hit only .240/.316/.332 over 434 plate appearances.  This essentially matches his career line over 602 total PA at the big league level, translating to an 85 wRC+.  While not ideal, the switch-hitting Perkins at least had a decent .271 average against left-handed pitching last season, making him a solid platoon partner for the left-handed hitting Garrett Mitchell in center field heading into 2025.

With Perkins out through April, the newly-signed Manuel Margot now looks to step right as Milwaukee’s top backup outfielder.  Jackson Chourio will play every day in right field, and Margot (a right-handed bat) could spell either Mitchell or Sal Frelick in left field.  Christian Yelich figures to see some time in left field but will probably get more DH time in his return from back surgery.

Isaac Collins, Brewer Hicklen, and Jared Oliva are other outfield options further down the depth chart, but the Margot signing indicates that Milwaukee wanted more of an experienced hand to fill in since Perkins is facing a fairly lengthy absence.  It also wouldn’t be surprising to see the Brewers add another outfielder at some point this spring, either from the current free agent class or maybe later in March once other teams start making roster cuts.

Latest On Twins’ Ownership Situation

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Yesterday’s news that Justin and Mat Ishbia were no longer looking to buy the Twins surprised many around the baseball world and within the organization itself, though the Athletic’s Dan Hayes hears from a source that there was some indication last month that the Ishbias would instead look to increase their minority share in the White Sox rather than seek out a full purchase of the Minnesota club.  Still, the Ishbias’ departure from the Twins’ process now means that “everything’s on the table” in regards to the sale, as another source puts it.

This includes the possibility that the Pohlad family could pull the team off the market entirely, if no bidder is willing to meet the Pohlads’ asking price.  Hayes wrote in January that there was plenty of interest in the Twins, to the point that the Pohlads felt a sale could be arranged by Opening Day.  That optimistic viewpoint could have been inspired by the Ishbias’ interest, of course, and their departure from the pursuit naturally changes the equation.  In his latest piece, Hayes writes that the Twins expect to “have more clarity on the sale process within the next 30 to 60 days.”

The Ishbias were the only known bidder for the Twins, fueling to the perception that they were also the leading contenders to succeed the Pohlads as franchise owners.  Justin Ishbia was the driving force behind the bid, with the plan being for Justin to become the Twins’ control person while Mat remained the governor of the brothers’ other major sports interests — the NBA’s Phoenix Suns and WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury.  Both the Twins and Major League Baseball itself had vetted Ishbia, a process likely streamlined by the fact that the Ishbias (due to their involvement in the White Sox ownership group) were already a known quantity within the league.

As Hayes’ first source described things, there was some feeling among other Twins bidders that the Ishbias were “preordained” within the process, so their departure might now open things up for other candidates to step forward.  The number of other bidders isn’t known, though the source said there were an “adequate” number of suitors beyond just the Ishbias.  While much about the situation remains up in the air, the presence of other bidders indicates there is still momentum towards a sale, even if the process will take significantly longer than anticipated.

Andrew Vasquez Signs With Mexican League’s Tecolotes De Los Dos Laredos

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The Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos of the Mexican League have signed left-hander Andrew Vasquez to a contract for the 2025 season, according to KPRC2’s Ari Alexander.  Vasquez can walk away from the deal if he receives interest from a big league club, with the Tecolotes owed nothing in buyout fees.

Vasquez has logged 63 2/3 career innings over five MLB seasons, with the large majority of that action coming when he pitched 48 1/3 frames for the Phillies and Tigers in 2023.  His bottom-line results of a 3.35 ERA were solid, though his strikeout (19.6%) and walk (10.5%) rates were both subpar, and his performance fell off drastically after he went to the Tigers on a waiver claim.  Philadelphia opted to designate Vasquez for assignment just after the trade deadline in order to clear roster space, despite Vasquez’s 2.27 ERA in 39 2/3 innings for the club.

After struggling to an 8.31 ERA in 8 2/3 innings with his new team, Vasquez returned to the Tigers last winter on a minors contract and spent the entire 2024 campaign at Triple-A Toledo.  Vasquez’s situation wasn’t helped by a lack of minor league options, but he didn’t make much of a case for promotion after posting a 5.11 ERA, 19.4% strikeout rate, and 9.6% walk rate over 68 2/3 innings with Toledo.

This stint in the Mexican League marks the first time in Vasquez’s pro career (which began as a 32nd-round pick for the Twins in 2015) that he has pitched outside of affiliated baseball.  The 31-year-old should find more of a regular role with the Tecolotes than he would in battling amongst other minor league signings withing a Major League team’s camp, and his contract’s out clause allows Vazquez some flexibility if he pitches well enough to attract attention from MLB scouts.

Anthony Rizzo Hopes To Continue Playing Career

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Anthony Rizzo remains unsigned as Spring Training gets underway. The 35-year-old first baseman tells Ken Rosenthal and Brendan Kuty of The Athletic that he’s hopeful of finding a landing spot for the upcoming season. However, he suggested he’s been underwhelmed by the interest he’s received even relative to diminished expectations.

“Two years ago, I had kind of a weird year with the concussion,” Rizzo conceded to The Athletic. “Then last year, I was hurt twice. My power numbers dropped. I’m surprised, but not like crazy surprised just because I’m a realist in the game and you’re getting older. The fact that teams want you to play for basically league minimum. I’m like, you guys are crazy. You’re almost trying to ruin the market for the next guy.”

Rizzo nevertheless made clear that he wants to keep playing. “I’m going to train until the season starts and even well into the season and see what happens,” the three-time All-Star said. However, he acknowledged that the market hasn’t been kind to aging hitters. “I think I have a lot to give to the game still. But at the same time, if teams are not going to want to pay a few million dollars for veterans, I’ve seen it the last 10 years of my career. It’s what happens to the older guys. They kind of get squeezed,” Rizzo told Rosenthal and Kuty. “You’ve seen it happen more and more. I’m not naive to it. It could be it.”

As Rizzo acknowledged, his past couple seasons have been impacted by myriad health issues. Initially acquired by the Yankees at the 2021 trade deadline, he re-signed on a two-year, $40MM deal after the ’22 campaign. That deal didn’t work out in large part because of injuries. Rizzo had been out to a nice start to the ’23 season. He injured his head in a collision at first base with Fernando Tatis Jr. in late May. Rizzo’s production tanked thereafter until the Yankees put him on the injured list in early August with post-concussion syndrome that they traced back to that collision. That ended his season.

The 14-year big league veteran returned last season. He got out to a slow start, hitting .224/.289/.341 across 291 plate appearances into the middle of June. Another freak injury resulted in an extended absence. Rizzo collided with Boston pitcher Brennan Bernardino at first base while trying to beat out a grounder. He broke a bone in his right arm on the fall and was immediately shelved into September. Rizzo returned for a few weeks, but he suffered another tough break when Pittsburgh reliever Ryan Borucki hit him with a pitch. That broke two fingers on his right hand. Rizzo missed the Division Series but returned for the ALCS and World Series. He reached base at an excellent .421 clip, though he only recorded one extra-base hit (a double) in 38 playoff plate appearances.

New York bought out Rizzo for $6MM in lieu of a $17MM club option, an easy call after the past couple seasons. There haven’t been any teams publicly linked to him over the past few months. MLBTR’s Steve Adams identified a few speculative fits for Rizzo and some other unsigned hitters in a post for Front Office subscribers this afternoon.

Eddie Fisher Passes Away

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Former All-Star Eddie Fisher passed away on Monday at 88. His obituary was provided by an Oklahoma funeral home.

Born in Shreveport, Louisiana, Fisher moved to Oklahoma as a child. He attended OU before signing with the Giants in 1958. A knuckleballer, Fisher reached the majors within a year of signing his pro contract. He pitched sparingly over three seasons with San Francisco. The Giants included the 6’2″ righty in a trade package to the White Sox for veteran pitchers Billy Pierce and Don Larsen during the 1961-62 offseason.

Fisher spent parts of five seasons in Chicago. Working primarily as a long reliever, he rattled off four straight years with at least 120 innings and a sub-4.00 earned run average. Fisher had his best season in 1965, when he turned in a 2.40 ERA while leading the American League in appearances (82) and WHIP (0.974). He made his lone All-Star appearance, where he tossed two scoreless innings. Fisher finished fourth in AL MVP balloting behind Zoilo Versalles and future Hall of Famers Tony Oliva and Brooks Robinson.

It was more of the same in ’66. Fisher carried a 2.29 ERA over 35 1/3 innings for the White Sox, who swapped him to the Orioles for middle infielder Jerry Adair that June. Fisher tossed 71 2/3 frames with a 2.64 mark down the stretch for Baltimore. The O’s went on to win the World Series, getting Fisher the only ring of his career. He didn’t make an appearance in the Fall Classic. Baltimore’s sweep of the Dodgers included complete game shutouts from Jim Palmer, Wally Bunker and Dave McNally, so they had little need to use their bullpen.

Fisher continued to soak up innings out of the ’pen for multiple teams into the 1970s. He pitched one more season with Baltimore and spent four years with the California Angels, for whom he turned in a 3.22 ERA. He had a brief second stint with the White Sox and wrapped his career with the Cardinals in ’73.

He concluded a 15-year big league run with a 3.41 earned run average in more than 1500 innings. Fisher won 85 games and recorded 812 strikeouts. He finished 344 contests and was credited with 82 saves (most of them retroactively because the stat wasn’t officially tracked by MLB until 1969). MLBTR sends condolences to Fisher’s family, friends and loved ones.

Justin Ishbia Abandons Pursuit Of Twins, Will Increase Minority Stake In White Sox

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Billionaire brothers Justin and Mat Ishbia are no longer interested in purchasing the Twins from the Pohlad family, reports Jon Greenberg of The Athletic. Justin Ishbia instead intends to purchase a greater minority share of the White Sox, Greenberg writes. Kurt Badenhousen and Eben Novy-Williams at Sportico reported last month that the Ishbias had purchased a small share of the White Sox back in 2021.

In the short term, the biggest significance is that it’s a major setback in the Twins sale process. The Pohlad family announced in October that they were looking to sell the Minnesota franchise, which they’ve owned for four decades. The Athletic’s Dan Hayes reported in early January that the Pohlads had received robust interest and were hoping to have the sale finalized by Opening Day. There were reportedly multiple interested parties, but the Ishbias seemed the early frontrunners.

Mat and Justin Ishbia co-own the Phoenix franchises in the NBA and WNBA. While Mat Ishbia is the majority owner of the basketball teams, Justin Ishbia would have been the control person had they purchased the Twins. It’s unclear how far down the road the Pohlads got in negotiations, but they’ll now need to turn their attention elsewhere.

Over the longer haul, this is also a potentially seismic development for the White Sox. Greenberg writes that some people familiar with the situation believe this will be a stepping stone to Justin Ishbia eventually assuming majority control of the franchise from Jerry Reinsdorf. White Sox VP of communications Scott Reifert pushed back against that notion. “White Sox limited partners have received an offer from a third party to purchase their shares in the team, providing liquidity for the limited partners on their long-term investment in the club,” he told Greenberg. “This offer to limited partners has no impact on the leadership or operations of the Chicago White Sox and does not provide a path to control.”

Reinsdorf, who turns 89 next week, has owned the White Sox since 1981. He has owned the NBA’s Bulls since the mid-80s. For more than a decade, Reinsdorf has maintained that his family should sell the White Sox after his passing. He reportedly had conversations with a Dave Stewart-led group about a sale last October. It’s not clear whether those talks made progress, though Stewart joined the A’s in a special assistant role last month.

That process also involved some speculation about relocation. The Sox’s lease at Rate Field runs through 2029. Reinsdorf lobbied for a reported $1 billion in public funding for a new stadium in Chicago’s South Loop last year. As of last October, the White Sox were continuing to pursue the South Loop project.

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