NL West Notes: Bettis, Gray, Dahl, Walker, Bradley, Wood, Giants
Rockies righty Chad Bettis is set to report to the club to begin moving toward a return, Nick Groke of the Denver Post reports on Twitter. Bettis, who underwent chemotherapy treatment for testicular cancer, has already been throwing and running. Needless to say, it’s great to see that he’s ready to start working in earnest. Notably, too, Bettis could conceivably represent quite an impactful late-season addition if the Rockies stay in contention and he’s able to move through a rehab assignment.
- A quicker path to relief for the Rockies rotation could be in the works, as Jon Gray was able to run on the field for the first time this week, per Groke. Gray is slated to face hitters in a sim game for the first time next week, which suggests he isn’t far from ramping it up in earnest. Groke also notes that the club isn’t interested in utilizing a six-man rotation; presumably, another hurler will step aside to make way for Gray when he’s ready.
- The news wasn’t quite as promising for Rockies outfielder David Dahl, who has also missed the entire season thus far after a strong rookie campaign. His rib issues are still causing discomfort, so the club has sent him back to its spring facility to keep exercising and waiting for the problems to subside, per Thomas Harding of MLB.com (via Twitter). With Ian Desmond back, Mark Reynolds still producing, and Gerardo Parra showing much-improved form, the loss of Dahl hasn’t been as significant as might have been feared. Still, he’d represent another offensive threat, and his progress could be quite important if any needs arise between now and the trade deadline.
- Diamondbacks righty Taijuan Walker isn’t quite ready to take the ball this weekend, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports on Twitter. Walker says his blister is nearly healed, but isn’t quite to the point that the club is comfortable putting him on the major league mound.
- Meanwhile, D-Backs manager Torey Lovullo tells MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM (Twitter link) that the club isn’t interested in moving righty Archie Bradley back to the rotation at this point. That was a topic of discussion when Shelby Miller was lost for the year, says Lovullo, but ultimately the team felt Bradley was too valuable in his current role as a multi-inning-capable reliever. The 24-year-old, a former top prospect, had struggled as a starter in his prior MLB work. But he currently owns a sterling 1.46 ERA through 24 2/3 innings of relief, with 31 strikeouts against just six walks on the year.
- Dodgers lefty Alex Wood, who is on the DL with sternum discomfort but was just named the NL pitcher of the month, got some promising news today. As Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times tweets, skipper Dave Roberts says a medical review came back “as benign as possible.” Wood is only expected to miss one more start before he’ll be ready to return.
- Things are obviously not going well for the Giants in 2017; indeed, as Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News observes, not only is the major league outfit struggling, but all of the organization’s affiliates are currently sitting in last place. GM Bobby Evans says that may be due in part to the fact that the club has pushed younger players up the ladder somewhat rapidly — especially pitchers. Looking back at the MLB outfit, top righty Johnny Cueto had some notable words on the current atmosphere in the clubhouse. Drawing a distinction to his prior clubs, Cueto says the Giants players tend to be “on their own, just sitting at their locker, very quiet, just by themselves.”
Giants To Purchase Contract Of Austin Slater
The Giants will purchase the contract of outfielder Austin Slater, according to Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News. Slater, 24, was taken in the eighth round of the 2014 draft.
A corresponding move has yet to be reported, but the Giants will need to clear roster space to make way for Slater. While that could involve optioning youngster Christian Arroyo, a 40-man move of some kind will be needed regardless.
Slater has thrived in the upper minors since the start of the 2016 season. All told, he owns a .308/.381/.487 slash through 474 trips to the plate at Triple-A, with 48 walks to go with 91 strikeouts.
While the right-handed hitter can play center, it makes sense to expect he’ll find most of his opportunities in left field. San Francisco has struggled to find production from the outfield all year long.
The struggling Giants could ultimately begin cycling in more new faces, Baggarly notes, if the club can’t quickly break out of its season-long struggles. It seems that light-hitting outfielder Gorkys Hernandez is the most likely player to go to make way for Slater, though a few of other roster spots also appear to be less than secure.
MLB Announces Suspensions For Harper, Strickland
TODAY: Harper’s ban was knocked down to three days upon appeal, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets.
YESTERDAY: Following last night’s brawl, Major League Baseball has announced suspensions for Giants righty Hunter Strickland and Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper. As Joel Sherman of the New York Post first tweeted, Strickland will receive a six-game ban, while Harper will miss four contests.
Both players have appealed their sentences. They’ll also each pay undisclosed fines, per the league announcement.
The fracas occurred when Strickland plunked Harper in the hip in the first pitch of his plate appearance. The latter charged the mound, with both players landing punches before things were broken up.
While the two hadn’t even squared off in years, the last time they did it was under dramatic circumstances. Harper, of course, swatted two long home runs off of Strickland in the 2014 NLDS.
While Strickland did not admit to any intent after the game, the commissioner’s office nevertheless found that he had intentionally struck Harper with the pitch. Per the league’s announcement, his actions were responsible for “inciting the bench-clearing incident and fighting.” As for Harper, one of the game’s most visible players, the ban was announced for “charging the mound, throwing his helmet and fighting.”
While Harper will officially sit for less games, the punishment will hurt the Nats more than it does the Giants. The former will lose a fair bit of production from one of the game’s best hitters, while the latter will miss out on only a few innings from a quality reliever. That imbalance is ripe for some criticism, though it’s also something of a matter of perspective. If the punishment is intended primarily for the player rather than the team, then perhaps it’s not as skewed as it might otherwise appear. The bigger question, perhaps, is whether suspensions of this length provide sufficient deterrent value at all.
NL West Notes: Kazmir, Segedin, Arroyo, Margot, Bettis, Wall
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts says that starting pitcher Scott Kazmir‘s velocity is up to 90-92 MPH as he rehabs his injured hip, Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times tweets. That’s close to Kazmir’s typical regular-season velocity, which has sat in the low 90s over the past several seasons. It’s still unclear when Kazmir will return to the team, however. The hip has been an ongoing problem for Kazmir, as has his velocity, which was well below 90 MPH at various points in Spring Training. He has not yet pitched in the Majors or minors this season. As long as their other pitchers remain healthy, though, the Dodgers should be able to get by without him — they have Clayton Kershaw, Alex Wood, Kenta Maeda, Rich Hill and Brandon McCarthy already available and Hyun-Jin Ryu and Julio Urias waiting in the wings. Here’s more from the NL West.
- Dodgers corner infielder Rob Segedin is set to have wrist surgery on Wednesday and will miss four to six weeks, MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick tweets. Segedin was hurt while batting as he was rehabbing an earlier injury to his toe. The 28-year-old was one of Triple-A Oklahoma City’s top hitters last year, and he was off to a good start before succumbing to injury last month, batting .324/.342/.541 in 38 plate appearances. He’s also collected 87 big-league plate appearances over the last two seasons.
- With Giants rookie Christian Arroyo going through an extended lull at the plate, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle writes that it’s plausible to imagine him being optioned. With Aaron Hill and Conor Gillaspie both nearing returns from injury, and some alternatives on hand at Triple-A, San Francisco may have little choice but to see if it can get more production elsewhere — while letting Arroyo iron out the kinks back at Sacramento. As SB Nation’s Grant Brisbee further writes, the move makes all the more sense when considering the fact that Eduardo Nunez‘s glove likely doesn’t belong in left field.
- The Padres have placed young center fielder Manuel Margot in a walking boot as a precautionary measure, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. Margot’s calf issue is likely to send him to the 10-day DL, it seems, though the team is waiting to make a final decision. Through exactly 200 plate appearances on the year, Margot is hitting .259/.305/.389 with four home runs and five stolen bases (albeit in ten attempts).
- Rockies starting pitcher Chad Bettis sees pitching in the big leagues this season as a “realistic goal” as he continues to recover from testicular cancer, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal writes. “The way I see it, it’s going to happen,” Bettis says. “At what point in time during the season I would be coming back is all kind of up in the air. But it’s something that I’m going to be pushing to get to.” Bettis had surgery during the offseason but learned in Spring Training that the cancer had returned, weeks before his wife gave birth to his first child. Since then, he’s had several rounds of chemotherapy, although those ended earlier this month. Now, he’s working on throwing at 75 feet and doing cardiovascular work. There’s still no date for his return, however, and he’s watched the Rockies’ strong start from the sidelines. “[I]t’s hard,” he says. “I so wish that I was a part of it.”
- Rockies prospect Forrest Wall, who had moved from second base to the outfield this year, is slated to miss the rest of the season after suffering a dislocated left shoulder, Vince Lara-Cinisomo of Baseball America writes. The 21-year-old needs surgery, bringing an end to what had been a promising campaign. Taken 35th overall in the 2014 draft, Wall had struggled in 2016. But he was slashing a robust .299/.361/.471 through 98 plate appearances at High-A at the time of his injury.
Minor MLB Transactions: 5/26/17
Here are the day’s minors moves from around baseball…
- The Giants have released first baseman/outfielder Kyle Blanks, tweets Alex Pavlovic of CSN Bay Area. The 30-year-old Blanks missed the 2016 campaign with foot injuries and inked a minor league pact with San Francisco this winter. Through 34 games and 92 plate appearances, Blanks has yet to deliver much in the way of offense despite the hitter-friendly nature of the Pacific Coast League. He’s hitting .232/.315/.390 with three homers and four doubles. The former Padres prospect does, however, have an excellent track record in Triple-A, having slashed .291/.390/.546 with 40 homers in 770 total plate appearances at that level.
Giants Notes: Shaw, Cueto, Tomlinson, Hwang
The Giants have promoted 2015 first-round pick Chris Shaw from Double-A to Triple-A, and as Alex Pavlovic of CSN Bay Area writes, the former first baseman will continue his work in left field following the latest promotion. Giants GM Bobby Evans spoke to reporters about Shaw’s impressive run in Double-A (.301/.390/.511, six homers, 10 doubles) and stated that Shaw was simply “ready for the next challenge.” Pavlovic notes that although Shaw is the more highly regarded prospect, fellow minor league outfielder Austin Slater is probably ahead of him in the pecking order when it comes to a potential MLB promotion. Shaw doesn’t need to be added to the 40-man roster this year in order to be protected from the Rule 5 Draft, but Slater, who is hitting .313/.376/.435 in 40 Triple-A games, does. As for Shaw’s ability to handle the outfield despite his considerable 6’4″, 235-pound frame, Evans noted that Shaw played nearly 100 games in the outfield in college and added that the team wants to see if he can get comfortable in left field. That, of course, is perhaps the Giants’ greatest position of need at the Major League level, and Shaw is blocked at first base by Brandon Belt.
More on the Giants…
- Right-hander Johnny Cueto was hit hard again in yesterday’s start, and he revealed after the game that he’s been pitching through a pair of blisters on his right hand, writes MLB.com’s Chris Haft. Cueto has one blister on his index finger and another on his middle finger, though he wouldn’t point to that issue as the source of his 2017 struggles. “I’m getting hit,” Cueto said bluntly, noting that the blisters are “not an excuse.” To this point there’s been no talk of a quick stint on the 10-day DL for Cueto to allow his fingers to heal up, though other pitchers around the league (e.g. Rich Hill, Aaron Sanchez) have required multiple absences due to blister troubles.
- Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News writes that the Giants are giving Kelby Tomlinson continued work in center field with their Triple-A affiliate as hope that he can emerge as a center field alternative on the big league roster. Presently, Gorkys Hernandez and Justin Ruggiano are the team’s only other options beyond starter Denard Span, but neither has provided much in the way of offense. Ruggiano has displayed some pop but is hitting .244/.273/.415, while Hernandez has posted a woeful .160/.248/.213 batting line through 106 plate appearances.
- Baggarly also notes that Korean star Jae-gyun Hwang is hitting fairly well in Triple-A and is likely to receive a call-up before the July 1 opt-out provision in his contract. Both Evans and manager Bruce Bochy have suggested that they hope to see what they have in Hwang eventually, per Baggarly. Hwang has hit for a respectable average and displayed some power thus far while seeing time at both infield corners and in left field. However, his 32-to-5 K/BB ratio suggests that his approach still needs some refinement. Through 168 plate appearances, he’s hitting .280/.298/.435 with three homers, 12 doubles and a pair of triples.
Chris Marrero To Sign With Japan’s Orix Buffaloes
First baseman/left fielder Chris Marrero has agreed to a deal with the Orix Buffaloes of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, tweets Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports. Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News was the first to report that Marrero, who was recently designated for assignment and outrighted by the Giants, was close to joining the Buffaloes (Twitter link).
The Giants will receive some level of cash compensation for selling Marrero’s contract to the Buffaloes, and Marrero himself will presumably be paid more than he’d have earned if he stuck with the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate, thus making it a winning scenario for all parties involved. Marrero is represented by MSM Sports.
Marrero, 28, was a first-round pick by the Nationals (15th overall) back in 2006 and made his big league debut with the Nats as a 22-year-old in 2011. However, he’s never solidified himself in the Majors and would only see action in parts of two big league seasons with the Nationals before being cut loose in 2013.
Since that time, Marrero has bounced around the minor league circuit, logging seasons with the Double-A and Triple-A affiliates for the Orioles, White Sox and Red Sox before signing a minors pact with the Giants this past winter. A Herculean Spring Training in which Marrero clubbed seven homers with a .979 OPS (plus some injuries to his competitors) led Marrero to break camp with the Giants as part of a left-field platoon with Jarrett Parker. However, Marrero hit just .132/.171/.211 across 41 plate appearances with the Giants before being designated for assignment to clear a spot for Christian Arroyo.
For all of his struggles in the Majors, Marrero has a much stronger .274/.340/.430 career batting line in parts of seven Triple-A seasons. That includes a robust .284/.344/.494 slash and a career-best 23 homers with the Red Sox’ Triple-A affiliate in 2016. If Marrero can find success overseas, he can certainly carve out a lucrative career playing in Japan. Alternatively, he could make some adjustments to his game and pique the interest of an MLB club, perhaps leading to another crack at the Majors somewhere down the line.
Injury Notes: Matz, Hughes, Cardinals, Span, Flaherty
The Mets may welcome back lefty Steven Matz sooner than later, David Lennon of Newsday reports on Twitter. Indeed, if he has a strong outing tomorrow at Triple-A, the club may allow him to make his next start at the major league level. That would obviously represent welcome news for the beleaguered Mets staff. Whether Matz can stay on the hill the rest of the way will no doubt go a long way toward determining whether New York can climb back into the postseason picture.
Here’s more on some health situations from around the game:
- Though he’s still heading to the 10-day DL, Twins righty Phil Hughes will do so with a somewhat more optimistic outlook than had been feared, as Phil Miller of the Star Tribune was among those to tweet. Hughes is dealing with right biceps tendinitis, the team says, which seems quite a bit less worrisome than the hints of a shoulder problem that had been given previously.
- The Cardinals have provided a few injury updates, as MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch reports. Notably, lefty Tyler Lyons is nearing a return from an intercostal strain, though the precise timing of his activation isn’t yet clear. The Cards don’t expect a prolonged absence from second baseman Kolten Wong, meanwhile, who is still out with some elbow soreness but doesn’t figure to hit the DL. Interestingly, Langosch also notes, lefty Zach Duke is lining up an effort to return more quickly than is typical from his Tommy John surgery. Duke is already eyeing work against live hitters in hopes of ramping up in time to return to the Cards in August.
- Giants center fielder Denard Span is limited by a left thumb problem, he told reporters including Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area (Twitter link). It doesn’t appear as if it’s something that’ll require a DL stint, but it does represent yet another nick for the 33-year-old. Span is hitting just .258/.296/.398 on the year thus far, with a shoulder injury also having limited him in the early going.
- It seems the Orioles will go without infielder Ryan Flaherty for a reasonable stretch. Per Steve Melewski of MASNsports.com, via Twitter, the veteran utilityman is going to need a platelet-rich plasma injection after suffering an injury to his shoulder/upper-back area. Flaherty, 30, is expected to need more than the minimum ten-day stay on the DL.
- Phillies prospect Jesmuel Valentin may need shoulder surgery that could end his season, Ryan Lawrence of the Philly Voice reports on Twitter. The 23-year-old second baseman, who was taken 51st overall in the 2012 draft, came to the Philadelphia organization as part of the 2014 trade that sent veteran righty Roberto Hernandez to the Dodgers. Valentin, who occupies a 40-man spot, had struggled to a .229/.282/.292 batting line this year but has shown a quality approach in the past and slashed .269/.341/.395 with nine home runs last year in the upper minors.
2017 Opt-Out Clause Update
Recently, I took a quick look at all of the players with vesting options for the 2018 season, noting that many of the outcomes within will have significant ramifications for both the upcoming free-agent market and the future of those players’ respective teams. The implications are even greater for the eight players that have opt-out provisions of some type at the end of the current season. In some cases, the opt-out in question could either liberate that player’s team from more than $80MM in future commitments or saddle them with that same burdensome amount. (And, in most cases, if the player isn’t opting out, the remaining salary is indeed a burden, as the player either performed too poorly to opt out and/or got hurt.)
Here’s a look at the opt-out decisions that are looming at season’s end…
- Justin Upton, Tigers: The disastrous start to Upton’s six-year, $132.5MM contract now looks like a distant memory. After struggling to a .228/.286/.369 batting line through his first three months in the Motor City, Upton has surged with a .255/.342/.535 slash and 31 home runs over his past 471 big league plate appearances. Strikeouts are still an issue for Upton, but he’s also walking more than ever (15 percent in 2017). He’s on pace to finish the season right around the 30-homer mark, and if he can do so with an OBP in the mid-.300s and respectable marks in left field — he’s currently at +4 DRS and +3.4 UZR — then the remaining four years and $88.5MM on his contract will pose an interesting decision for Upton, who is currently playing out his age-29 season.
- Johnny Cueto, Giants: Cueto looked like an ace in his first year with San Francisco but has stumbled to a 4.50 ERA through his first 58 innings with the Giants in 2017. He’s still averaging better than eight punchouts per nine innings to go along with solid (but diminished) control. However, he’s seen his ground-ball rate plummet from 50 percent to 39 percent, and paired with the increase in walk rate (1.8 BB/9 to 2.5 BB/9), that has led to some issues. There’s still plenty of time for Cueto to get back on track, but the remaining four years and $84MM on his contract doesn’t look quite as easy to walk away from as it did just seven weeks ago. He’ll be 32 next season.
- Masahiro Tanaka, Yankees: Cueto’s slow start looks Cy Young-worthy when juxtaposed with Tanaka, who has logged a ghastly 6.56 ERA through 48 innings in 2017. Like Cueto, Tanaka has seen his control take a step back, though his strikeout and ground-ball rates are consistent, and his velocity is fine. Tanaka’s average on balls in play is up, however, and his homer-to-flyball rate has skyrocketed from 12 percent to 24.5 percent. Given his age (29 in November), Tanaka would be a virtual lock to opt out of the remaining three years and $67MM on his contract with a good season. If he can’t overcome his home-run woes, however, he may instead opt for the substantial amount of guaranteed cash remaining on his deal.
- Wei-Yin Chen, Marlins: Chen’s opt-out is perhaps the easiest to determine of any player on this list. Unfortunately for the Marlins, that’s due to the fact that he’s currently sidelined indefinitely due to arm troubles. Chen is on the disabled list with arm fatigue, though it’s been reported previously that he’d been pitching through a slight tear in his ulnar collateral ligament, which was sustained in 2016. Chen hasn’t pitched well as a Marlin even when healthy, and at this point it would take a quick recovery and a dominant finish for him to even consider opting out of the remaining three years and $52MM on his contract.
- Ian Kennedy, Royals: Kennedy has logged a solid 3.74 ERA in 233 1/3 innings since signing a five-year deal with Kansas City, but he’s already in his age-32 season. His strikeout rate and control have taken a step back in 2017 as well, and he’s remained homer-prone despite pitching half his games at the spacious Kauffman Stadium. Kennedy turned in a very strong final four months in his last contract season — which helped him land this surprising contract in the first place — but it doesn’t seem likely that he’ll opt out of the remaining three years and $49MM on his current contract.
- Greg Holland, Rockies: To be clear, Holland cannot technically opt out of his contract just yet. The one-year, $7MM contract that he signed with the Rox contained a $10MM mutual option that can vest as a $15MM player option if Holland finishes 30 games. At this juncture, though, it seems as if an injury is all that can stop Holland’s player option from vesting. He’s already finished 20 of the 30 games he needs, and he’s currently boasting a preposterous 0.96 ERA with a 26-to-6 K/BB ratio through 18 2/3 innings. Apparently, pitching at Coors Field suits Holland just fine, though if he keeps this up, it’s a foregone conclusion that he’ll turn down the one year and $15MM he’d receive for a second season at Coors and hit the market in search of a lucrative three- or four-year contract.
- Matt Wieters, Nationals: The stagnant offseason market for Wieters’ services culminated in a two-year, $21MM contract with the Nats that offers Wieters the opportunity to test free agency once again next winter, if he wishes. To this point, it’s looking likely that Wieters will pass on that player option. His walks, hard-hit rate and BABIP are up, none of which has come at the expense of his strikeout rate. Wieters is hitting a solid .283/.358/.442 with four homers on the year. His caught-stealing rate is down (23 percent), and his framing remains questionable, but the improved offense makes it seem likely that, even if Wieters again struggles to find the strong multi-year deal he craves, a contract comparable to the one year and $10.5MM he can opt out of will once again be available on the open market.
- Welington Castillo, Orioles: Castillo’s two-year, $13MM contract with the Orioles was a pleasant surprise for a player who had previously been locked into arbitration in Arizona before surprisingly being non-tendered. He’s off to a torrid .348/.375/.543 start to the season with four homers and six doubles through 96 plate appearances. There’s a fair bit of luck involved in that production, as evidenced by the 30-year-old’s .418 BABIP. But his strikeouts are down this season, and he’s thrown out a career-best 41 percent of attempted base thieves. His framing marks, while still below average, have improved on a per-pitch basis as well. His glove may prevent him from fully cashing in, but Castillo’s bat could make the remaining one year and $7MM on his contract easy enough to walk away from, assuming he’s healthy.
Heyman’s Latest: Nats, Cutch, Marlins, Cole, Cobb
Jon Heyman of Fan Rag takes a look around the league in his latest notes columns. In addition to providing updates on every National League and American League team, he takes a particularly close look at the Nationals in separate posts. Let’s take a look at some of the items of particular relevance to the transactional landscape:
- The Nationals are beginning to put in phone calls to rivals as they start the search for a new closer in earnest, Heyman writes. Among the players under consideration by the team, at present, are a variety of names with differing contract situations. David Robertson of the White Sox, Kelvin Herrera of the Royals, and A.J. Ramos of the Marlins all have two years remaining at less-than-bargain rates (the latter two via arbitration). Alex Colome of the Rays and Roberto Osuna of the Blue Jays, meanwhile, bring more years of cheap control — and, in all likelihood, astronomical asking prices. Then there’s old friend Mark Melancon, who is in the first year of the four-year pact he signed with the Giants — who evidently beat the Nats’ offer over the winter. Needless to say, there’s quite a lot that could change that picture over the coming months.
- Looking back a bit, the Nationals came closer than any other team to landing Andrew McCutchen from the Pirates over the winter, Heyman adds.Per the report, the sides held talks that “revolved around three players, including Lucas Giolito and veteran Gio Gonzalez.” It’s not immediately clear what else might have been involved, and where things went south, but it’s interesting to hear those parameters. The Nats ultimately pivoted to Adam Eaton, of course, but he’s now out for the year. Perhaps it’s conceivable that the team could take another look at McCutchen, though no doubt the teams would need to start discussions anew with Giolito in Chicago, Gonzalez a key member of the Nats staff and McCutchen struggling.
- The Marlins sale talks had seemingly been building, but Heyman writes that there’s no deal ready to be made at present. For one thing, there are whispers that the purchase price will continue to drop as the organization’s financial health comes under greater scrutiny. For another, there are still questions about where the money will come from on the buyer’s side. “[A]t least the Bush-Jeter group and maybe the Romney-Glavine group, too, [are] still seeking investors,” per Heyman.
- Two significant recent investments made by the Marlins aren’t delivering value at present. Per Heyman, lefty Wei-Yin Chen is headed for a second opinion with his elbow issue still failing to progress. It seems the team could be bracing for a relatively lengthy absence. And Heyman notes that some in the baseball operations department weren’t thrilled at the idea of extending Martin Prado last year at $40MM over three years. He has been playing well enough, but is back on the DL with a recurring hamstring injury.
- Pirates righty Gerrit Cole has looked strong in the early going, but Heyman says the team may not be interested in dealing him even if they continue to lag in the standings. “We’re not in any rush,” a club source tells him. “I don’t think we’re there yet.” The 26-year-old owns a 2.84 ERA with 7.9 K/9 and 1.0 BB/9; while the peripherals are largely in line with his 2016 work, the improved results are supported by jumps in swinging-strike rate (9.9%) and average fastball velocity (a career-high 96.1 mph). With two more years of arb eligibility to go, Cole would likely command a big price at the deadline.
- While the Rays entered play today just one game under .500, that doesn’t mean they aren’t readying for the possibility of selling. Of course, given the team’s pitching depth, it’s imaginable that the team could send out a veteran while still maintaining hopes of cracking the postseason. Per Heyman, Tampa Bay has “already begun calling to get a gauge on the value of Alex Cobb.” Rivals also think the club will be amenable to discussing both Jake Odorizzi and Chris Archer, he adds. Cobb, though, is the most obvious possible trade chip. The 29-year-old was homer-prone in his return from Tommy John surgery last year, but has looked solid through 56 1/3 innings this year — his last before reaching free agency. He carries a 3.67 ERA with 6.1 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 to go with a 47.5% groundball rate. Cobb still isn’t getting swings and misses like he used to, but his velocity is better than ever and he has tamped down on the long balls thus far.