NL Health Notes: Watson, A. Miller, Freeman, Dodgers
Giants reliever Tony Watson has been dealing with shoulder tightness this spring, but the left-hander said Monday (via John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle), “It’s nothing I’m concerned about.” Watson, who threw his second bullpen session in three days on Monday, expects he’ll be set to go for the beginning of the regular season. However, it’s unknown when he’ll be ready to appear in a spring training game. The 34-year-old’s the elder statesman in a bullpen that has undergone significant changes since last season, when the normally reliable Watson turned in a career-worst campaign. Watson wound up with a 4.17 ERA/4.81 FIP and 6.83 K/9 against 2.0 BB/9 over 54 innings, but the Giants still brought him back on a reasonably priced guarantee ($3MM).
Let’s check in on a few more health situations from around the National League…
- Cardinals southpaw Andrew Miller is having difficulty “getting a feel for the ball,” Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. Nothing “physically hurts,” according to Miller, but Goold writes that he’ll undergo a “battery of exams” to determine what’s troubling him. That’s not the type of news he or the Cardinals wanted entering the second season of a two-year, $25MM contract. The 34-year-old didn’t deliver as hoped in Year 1, as he posted a 4.45 ERA/5.19 FIP with 11.52 K/9, 4.45 BB/9 and a 37.2 percent grounder rate in 54 2/3 innings. Miller pitched in 73 games, and with 37 more appearances this year (110 from 2019-20), his $12MM vesting option for 2021 will become guaranteed.
- Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman has battled some discomfort in his surgically repaired right elbow, but as expected, he appears to be fine. After sitting out of action last week, Freeman returned Monday, saying (per David O’Brien of The Athletic, via Instagram), “I feel great,” and added that he’s not facing any restrictions. That’s excellent for Atlanta, which will likely need yet another outstanding season from Freeman if it’s going to rule the National League East for the third year in a row.
- The Dodgers have temporarily shut down infield prospect Omar Estevez as a result of soreness in his right (throwing) shoulder, Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register tweets. Estevez has been in camp this spring as a non-roster invitee. It’s unclear how much time he’ll miss, but it’s the latest injury for a player who sat out roughly two months last season with a hamstring strain. When healthy in 2019, though, Estevez put up nice production in his Double-A debut, batting .291/.352/.431 in 336 plate appearances. He now ranks as Baseball America’s 16th-best Dodgers prospect.
Yairo Munoz Likely To Begin Season On Injured List
Cardinals utilityman Yairo Munoz suffered a hamstring strain while running out an infield single on Saturday, manager Mike Shildt told MLB.com’s Anne Rogers and other media. According to Shildt, “it’s going to be a while” before Munoz returns to action, meaning an injured list placement looms for the 25-year-old.
Originally acquired from the Athletics as part of the December 2017 trade that sent Stephen Piscotty to Oakland, Munoz has been a valuable bench piece over his two Major League seasons, getting significant playing time at six different positions — shortstop, third base, second base, and all three outfield spots. Munoz’s versatility has made him a nice part-time fill-in for injured or resting players, plus a late-game substitute on double switches.
While his minor league hitting numbers were decent but unspectacular, Munoz did some damage after being promoted to the Cardinals in 2018, batting .276/.350/.413 over his first 329 big league plate appearances. Both the production and the playing time diminished in 2019, however, as Munoz hit .267/.298/.355 over 181 PA. This dropoff put Munoz into a battle for a bench spot this spring, especially since the also-versatile Tommy Edman delivered an upgraded version (.850 OPS in 349 PA) of Munoz’s 2018 numbers in his own 2019 rookie year.
Edman can also play all over the diamond, and while St. Louis has him penciled into regular outfield duty for now, plans could change should one of the Cards’ many young outfielders — i.e. Tyler O’Neill, Lane Thomas, or even top prospect Dylan Carlson — step up to win a job. Veteran Brad Miller was also signed to a $2MM deal and figures to factor into the backup mix, especially since Miller hits from the left side, unlike Munoz and many other of the Cards’ top bench candidates.
Rays’ Centerfield Situation
Kevin Kiermaier and Manuel Margot are hard-coded atop the centerfield depth chart for the Tampa Bay Rays, but both players come with question marks.
Despite Kiermaier’s statesman status as the longest-tenured Ray, the club has taken an aggressive approach to finding players capable of roaming the grass in center. He remains a defensive stud, but his health is perpetually in question and his offense has slipped over the past two seasons. His two-year slash line checks in at just .223/.280/.386 across 847 plate appearances. Despite roughly 21% less offensive production than average (79 wRC+), Kiermaier’s A-1 defensive abilities and plus baserunning skills maintain his viability as a starter. Margot fits the same profile, but five years younger and he bats from the right side.
The Rays know what they like, apparently, because they are continuing to experiment with power-shy Lucius Fox in centerfield, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Fox has been an infielder for most of his career, primarily at shortstop, though he’s gotten looks at second and third as well. Fox is a tremendous speedster, making him a fit for center from a raw tools standpoint, but he has yet to log any professional time in the outfield. It hasn’t clicked yet for Fox offensively with a .244/.337/.325 line across four seasons in the minor leagues.
Before acquiring Margot, the Rays also picked up Randy Arozarena in the Matthew Liberatore trade. Arozarena now seems likely to start the year in Triple-A, but he’s another option for center. He also happens to be coming off a monster year in Triple-A, where he hit .358/.435/.593 in 64 games after earning a promotion from Double-A. He excelled in a small-sample 19 games with the Cardinals at the end of the year, making their playoff roster as a speed option off the bench. Purely from a numbers standpoint, Arozarena could have the highest-ceiling of all their current options.
The Rays clearly prefer a gold glove roving-type in centerfield, but Austin Meadows could also fill in there in a pinch. It is telling, however, that he has only logged 13 innings in center since being acquired from the Pirates.
Cardinals Notes: Molina, Southpaws, Carpenter
The latest out of the Cardinals’ camp…
- Yadier Molina intends to finish his career as a Cardinal, though the longtime catcher won’t insist on a starting role throughout the life of a potential new contract with St. Louis. According to The Athletic’s Mark Saxon (subscription required), Molina “has informed club officials he would be willing to take a reduced role in the second season of an extension.” This would represent the 2022 campaign, as Molina is entering the final year of his current contract. Given that Molina will be 39 years old on Opening Day 2022, moving into a part-time or backup role at that late stage of his career isn’t really a surprise, aside from the fact that Molina has always been such a workhorse behind the plate. Molina has the seventh-most games played (1947) as a catcher in baseball history, and with three more seasons, could potentially pass Carlton Fisk (2226) for second on the all-time list. Andrew Knizner and Ivan Herrera are the two top young catchers in the Cards’ farm system, with Saxon noting that Knizner (who has already cracked the big leagues and would be 27 on Opening Day 2022) could still potentially become a trade chip if St. Louis feels Herrera is the better bet as Molina’s heir apparent.
- The Cardinals have been working to add more left-handed pitching to their roster, with GM Michael Girsch telling the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Derrick Goold that “when we had the opportunity to make transactions, we sided slightly to the left if we could.” Some of the southpaws acquired in big and small moves over the last two years include Andrew Miller, Kwang-Hyun Kim, Genesis Cabrera, Tyler Webb, Matthew Liberatore, Rob Kaminsky, and Ricardo Sanchez, and several of those names are in the mix to play bigger roles for the Cards in 2020. Beyond the need for greater balance between lefty and righty pitching, there is also a specific strategic element at play, given all of the big left-handed bats in the NL Central.
- Matt Carpenter missed Wednesday’s Spring Training game with what he described as a “super minor” back injury, MLB.com’s Anne Rogers writes. The back tightness wouldn’t have prevented Carpenter from playing in a regular season game, though perhaps even the fact that he reported the issue is indicative of how Carpenter is approaching his health and conditioning as he tries to rebound from a rough 2019 season. “Today would’ve been a great example of not saying anything, going out and played, and something happening….I think that is going to be big for me going forward, just being open to not push through stuff that can set me back for a month, and just say, ‘Hey, today I don’t feel as good,’ and it’s two days instead of two months,” Carpenter said.
Marcell Ozuna Discusses Cardinals, Qualifying Offer Decision
Marcell Ozuna signed a one-year, $18MM deal with the Braves in January, after an offseason that saw the outfielder connected to multiple teams, including a potential reunion with the Cardinals. Though he turned down the Cards’ one-year, $17.8MM qualifying offer, “if I knew before it was going to happen like this, I would have taken it,” Ozuna told Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “But I wanted to make sure I had a chance (at a contract) for my career.”
As it happened, such an acceptable long-term offer didn’t materialize over the early weeks of the offseason, leading Ozuna and his representatives to pivot to the idea of a one-year deal and a quick return to free agency next winter without the burden of the draft pick compensation attached to his services for rejecting the QO. (Players cannot be issued more than one qualifying offer in their career.) Before taking Atlanta’s one-year deal, Ozuna turned several multi-year offers that were reportedly on the table, including a three-year/$50MM offer from the Reds.
There’s some obvious risk in Ozuna’s decision, as injury or a down year would erase his chances at landing another major long-term contract, and he’ll be re-entering the market heading into his age-30 season. But, the outfielder is choosing to bet on himself to deliver a better platform year than in 2019, when he hit a solid but unspectacular .241/.328/.472 with 29 homers over 549 PA for the Cardinals, and missed over a month recovering from a fractured finger.
Ozuna made no secret of his desire to return to St. Louis, and after extensions talks proved fruitless last season, he and his agency (MDR Sports Management) remained in contact with the Cardinals “every time something moved” in his market, Ozuna said.
“If they offer a good offer, I would get it. But they didn’t do it….I thought the Cardinals were going to offer something (early), but they didn’t do that after I rejected the qualifying offer,” Ozuna told Goold. “So, I got patient. And I waited. And I talked to my agent a lot of the time. We were waiting — and then Atlanta was the team that gave me the opportunity for the one year and a good deal. I had to do that.”
There don’t appear to be any hard feelings between Ozuna and the Cardinals, as he is “not disappointed” with how the winter played out. “I feel like they did not give me the opportunity, so I had to walk away. It’s business,” Ozuna said.
It ended up being a pretty quiet offseason for the Cardinals overall, who re-signed Adam Wainwright and Matt Wieters, and signed Kwang-Hyun Kim and Brad Miller but otherwise didn’t pull the trigger on any major moves, despite constant rumors. The club’s one notable trade was a multi-player deal with the Rays that saw the Cardinals actually subtract from their Major League roster, moving Jose Martinez and Randy Arozarena to Tampa Bay. At the time of that trade, there was some thought that St. Louis could be making room in its outfield to potentially accommodate Ozuna, but instead, the Cards were simply subtracting from an outfield picture that is still pretty crowded as we approach Opening Day.
It can certainly be argued that Ozuna represents a more proven MLB asset than any of Harrison Bader, Tommy Edman, Tyler O’Neill, Lane Thomas, Dylan Carlson, and Ozuna also seems like a better option at this point than veteran Dexter Fowler, who is entering his age-34 season and is coming three inconsistent years for the Cards. However, with so many outfielders in the mix, the Cardinals were seemingly more comfortable with counting on some members of this group to emerge than they were in offering Ozuna even a one-year deal.
It’s interesting to speculate on how the shape of the offseason (for the Braves, Cardinals, and the free agent market as a whole) would have been altered had Ozuna indeed taken the Cards’ qualifying offer. There was some thought last fall that he could be a candidate to take the $17.8MM deal, as two other notable would-be free agents — Jose Abreu (White Sox) and Jake Odorizzi (Twins) did with their respective teams. However, given that the Cardinals’ interest in retaining Ozuna seemed lukewarm at best, it could be that St. Louis might not have issued the QO whatsoever if they thought there was a truly serious chance that Ozuna would accept.
NL Notes: Kershaw, Martinez, Freeman, Farmer
Let’s take a look at the latest notes from the National League:
- Dodgers great Clayton Kershaw was something of a surprise offseason Driveline Baseball student, Pedro Moura of The Athletic reports (subscription link). It’s by now common to hear of hurlers spending time at the renowned clinic, but the most accomplished pitcher of his generation? Kershaw says he was mostly intrigued by learning “how to create the most efficiency with your body, and how to create the most power with your body.” President of baseball ops Andrew Friedman calls it a testament to the superstar lefty’s curiosity. No doubt a devastating postseason exit played a role. It’ll be interesting to see how the effort translates as Kershaw attempts to continue to evolve as he ages. (Long-time division rival Mason Saunders prefers a somewhat different offseason regimen.)
- The Cardinals seem hopeful that righty Carlos Martinez can return to being a quality rotation piece in 2020. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that the club still feels Martinez has exceptional talent. But it’s equally clear there’s still uncertainty. Manager Mike Shildt says Martinez is “out here giving himself a legitimate shot to compete” for a starting job, but notes that “what he does during the work and how he recovers between games that are going [to matter] as we start to ramp it up.” In other words, as Goold puts it, the organization believes Martinez must “embrace a more consistent between-start and pregame approach.” Whether Martinez can find his groove could make quite the difference in the Cards’ 2020 outlook, particularly with Miles Mikolas set to miss time.
- We heard chatter about Freddie Freeman‘s late-2019 elbow issues, but it seems the injury was a fair bit more debilitating than the Braves slugger let on. As Jeff Schultz of The Athletic reports (subscription link), Freeman dealt not only with pain, but with quite a lot of difficulties relating to his efforts to deal with the agonizing bone spurs in his joint. Schultz writes that the star first baseman relied heavily upon pain pills just to be able to play. But that came with other problems: “He had gotten into bad habits, cutting his swing short, because of the injury. The lack of sleep and accompanying stress made things worse.” The story speaks to Freeman’s determination, but it’s also a bit worrisome to read of his travails. Thankfully, it seems offseason surgery has eliminated the need for such drastic measures in 2020.
- The Reds roster remains fun to watch even as Spring Training gets underway. The team placed some bat-first bets around the lineup but also installed Freddie Galvis at shortstop. He’s currently without a reserve complement, but the Reds are now looking to find one in a somewhat surprising place. As MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon writes, Kyle Farmer will be given a shot at adding reserve shortstop to his already lengthy list of responsibilities. The 29-year-old has plenty of amateur experience at the position and has spent a bit of time there as a pro, but he has primarily been tasked with playing behind the dish and at third base since being drafted. It seems the Reds are comfortable playing Farmer just about anywhere on the infield; he could be an interesting asset if he’s able to improve upon last year’s tepid offensive showing.
NL Central Notes: Pirates, Reynolds, Newman, Cardinals, Goldschmidt, Flaherty
The Pirates are more likely than not to land outside the playoff picture in 2020, but they’ve not given up the notion of wreaking some havoc on the NL Central this year. To do so, however, Bryan Reynolds and Kevin Newman will need to avoid the dreaded sophomore slump, writes Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. True enough, Reynolds and Newman came out the gate strong in 2019, posting 3.2 fWAR and 2.4 fWAR, respectively. And yet, teaming their rookie duo with Josh Bell‘s breakout bat still only amounted to the 20th-ranked offense by runs scored (758 runs), 19th by wRC+ (92). Beyond these three, the other two Pirates rounding out their top-5 by wRC+ in 2019 now play for different teams (Starling Marte, Corey Dickerson), and the sixth is a pitcher (Steven Brault). Immediately upon the close of 2019, the Pirates had planned to give Brault a go as a two-way player, but with new leadership up and down the organization, it’s unclear what his role will be. Regardless, Jarrod Dyson is the biggest addition made the to position player group this winter. Reynolds and Newman are core pieces of this lineup, and the good news is this: if they do slump in their sophomore seasons, they should have enough leash to find their way back. Let’s jump from the bottom of the NL Central to the top and check in with the reigning divisional champs…
- As Spring Training games kick off (weather permitting), hitters around the league are putting their offseason swing adjustments to the test. Paul Goldschmidt, Harrison Bader, and Matt Carpenter of the Cardinals will all be deploying tweaked swings to some degree as they seek the kind of offensive consistency that eluded the trio last year, per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Goldy was the most successful of the three, but his fortunes at the plate sunk and fell seemingly on a monthly basis, and he never quite settled into the type of season to which he is accustomed. A .260 BA was his lowest mark since 2012 by almost thirty points, and while his power remained decidedly above average, it did drop from the astronomical heights of the couple seasons prior. Still, even in a down year, Goldy produced 16% more offense than average. Any substantive regression to his career norms should be enough to raise Goldy’s stock back to the level of franchise cornerstone where the Cardinals expected him to be when they acquired him for three players and a pick last winter.
- Unsurprisingly, Cardinals manager Mike Shildt wasted no time in naming Jack Flaherty their opening day starter, tweets Goold. Flaherty drove the Cardinals second half push to 91 wins and their first divisional crown since 2015. Who follows Flaherty in the rotation is a more compelling question for those in Cardinals camp this spring. There are no shortage of options, from rotation holdovers like Dakota Hudson and Miles Mikolas, to former ace Carlos Martinez, to newcomer Kwang-Hyun Kim. Adam Wainwright will be somewhere in the rotation after a rejuvenating 14-10 season in which he posted a 4.19 ERA/4.36 FIP across 31 starts. The bridge from Flaherty to Wainwright (to Chris Carpenter to Matt Morris) is a tangible reminder of the Cardinals’ institutional success. 2007, Wainright’s first season as a starter, remains the only losing season the Cards have suffered this century (they went 78-84 and finished in third place).
MLBTR Poll: Last Year’s Division Champs
Of the six teams that finished in first place in their divisions in 2018, three (the Red Sox, Indians and Brewers) failed to defend their crowns last season. Two (the Red Sox and Indians) didn’t even make the playoffs, so ruling your division one year doesn’t mean you’ll end up in the postseason the next. Last season, the Yankees, Astros and Twins finished atop their divisions in the American League, while the Braves, Dodgers and Cardinals were the top seeds in the NL. Among those six, who’s the most vulnerable going into the new season? Let’s review the offseasons they’ve had…
AL:
- Astros: If you’ve paid any attention to baseball in the past several weeks, you know this offseason has been a catastrophe for the Astros. They got rid of general manager Jeff Luhnow and skipper A.J. Hinch as a result of a sign-stealing scandal that has rocked baseball, replacing them with James Click and Dusty Baker. The Astros are still loaded with talent, but they lost the great Gerrit Cole even before their sign-stealing shenanigans came to light. Now, there’s plenty of skepticism they’ll put together a fourth straight 100-win season after such a horrendous winter – one in which they were very quiet in free agency. What’s more, they’re stuck in a division with a legit challenger in Oakland and two improving clubs in the Angels and Rangers.
- Yankees: New York took Cole from Houston, which has been the Wile E. Coyote to the Yankees’ Road Runner in recent postseasons. The Yankees looked as if they’d have a tremendous rotation with Cole, Luis Severino, James Paxton and Masahiro Tanaka as their top four, but health woes are already haunting the club yet again after an injury-riddled 2019. Severino, who barely pitched last season, is now facing a very worrisome situation with his forearm; meanwhile, Paxton will sit out until at least May or June as a result of back surgery. The Yankees are still laden with talent, and they remain capable of pulverizing the opposition with their offense, but some of the shine has come off since the Cole signing because of the Severino and Paxton situations. Fortunately for the Yankees, there may only be one team capable of standing up to them in the AL East – the Rays.
- Twins: It was quite a winter for the Twins, who bolstered their rotation with the additions of Kenta Maeda, Homer Bailey and Rich Hill. They also retained Jake Odorizzi and Michael Pineda. Perhaps more importantly, they signed third baseman Josh Donaldson for four years and $92MM – the largest contract they’ve ever given out in free agency. So, a team that hit an all-time record 307 home runs in 2019 seems as if it’ll put a similarly scary offense on the field this year. The Twins could face more resistance in their division from the White Sox, who had an aggressive winter, though the Indians haven’t really bettered themselves. The Tigers have, but they’ll still struggle to win many games, while the Royals also figure to wind up among the game’s worst teams.
(Poll link for app users)
Who is the AL's most vulnerable reigning division winner?
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Astros 63% (7,781)
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Twins 23% (2,873)
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Yankees 13% (1,658)
Total votes: 12,312
NL:
- Dodgers: What do you get the team that won 106 games last season? How about Mookie Betts, who’s on the short list of the greatest players in the game? With Betts in tow, the Dodgers will enter 2020 as the overwhelming favorites to win their division for the eighth year in a row, but an improved Arizona club should at least offer a decent challenge. The Padres have also worked to get better since last season ended, but they don’t appear to be any match for the stacked Dodgers, while the Rockies and Giants look to be way behind.
- Braves: Atlanta’s down Donaldson, but it was rather active in adding free agents. The team plucked the likes of Marcell Ozuna, Will Smith, Cole Hamels, Travis d’Arnaud and Chris Martin off the open market. Hamels is dealing with shoulder problems, however, and it’s unclear when he’ll be able to pitch in 2020. Regardless, the Braves still have quite a bit of premier talent (Ronald Acuna Jr., Freddie Freeman, Ozzie Albies and Mike Soroka spring to mind), so it’s easy to envision them winning a third consecutive division title. At the same time, the reigning world champion Nationals, the Mets and Phillies are realistic contenders for the NL East championship.
- Cardinals: Aside from the Reds, a 75-win outfit a year ago, it wasn’t really a busy offseason for any NL Central team. That includes the Cardinals, whose biggest addition was Korean left-hander Kwang-Hyun Kim (and they lost their No. 1 free agent, the aforementioned Ozuna). They’re now set to open 2020 without one of their best starters in Miles Mikolas, who just received a platelet-rich plasma injection. The good news for St. Louis is that there’s no apparent juggernaut in its division, as the Cubs and Brewers have either stayed roughly the same or gotten worse since last year ended.
(Poll link for app users)
Who is the NL's most vulnerable reigning division winner?
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Cardinals 74% (9,600)
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Braves 21% (2,732)
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Dodgers 5% (698)
Total votes: 13,030
Prospect Notes: Carlson, Graterol, Dunning, Ramos
The Cardinals‘ hole in left field has many fans focused on top prospect Dylan Carlson, and Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch explores the 21-year-old’s potential timeline to the big leagues. The Cards, Goold notes, don’t have a history of service time manipulation — in part because they’re aggressive in trying to lock up key young players on long-term contracts that buy out the seventh year that would be gained by holding a prospect down in the minors. That said, Carlson has limited exposure in Triple-A and several competitors he’ll have to outplay in decisive fashion this spring in order to be considered for the Opening Day roster. Tyler O’Neill, Lane Thomas, Justin Williams and waiver claim Austin Dean are all in the mix for at-bats in the outfield. Goold spoke with president of baseball ops John Mozeliak, manager Mike Schildt, teammate Jack Flaherty and Carlson himself about what it’d take to complete the former No. 33 overall pick’s ascent to the Majors. Mozeliak wouldn’t expressly rule out an Opening Day nod for Carlson, indicating that the club would use Spring Training “to figure out exactly what we have.” Barring injury, it’d be a surprise if Carlson didn’t play in the Majors at some point in 2020.
More notes on some of the game’s most promising young talent…
- The Dodgers plan to utilize newly acquired flamethrower Brusdar Graterol as a reliever in 2020, writes Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times. That’s the same plan that the Twins had for the highly touted righty, making it all the more perplexing that the Red Sox claim to have backed away from the three-team iteration of the Mookie Betts blockbuster upon deciding that Graterol was best suited for the ‘pen in the short-term. Dodgers skipper Dave Roberts tells Castillo that his understanding of Graterol’s medical review is that he’s “asymptomatic,” and the right-hander has impressed officials with his new club right out of the gate in camp. “A guy with his stuff, it’s just a different look for our bullpen,” pitching coach Mark Prior says. “The ability to bring that kind of raw power, impact into the game is only a good thing for us.” The state of limbo in which Graterol found himself after the Red Sox backed off the initial trade iteration wasn’t easy on the righty, who felt like he “had a weight on top of” him while awaiting resolution.
- White Sox righty Dane Dunning is slated to throw his first live batting practice of the spring next week, writes MLB.com’s Scott Merkin. That’ll be Dunning’s first time facing hitters since undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2019. Dunning, 25, was a consensus top 100 prospect heading into the 2019 season but didn’t throw a pitch during the season due to that surgery. Dunning, whom the White Sox acquired from the Nationals in the Adam Eaton trade, acknowledged that he’ll likely be on an innings limit in 2020. There’s no indication as to the organization’s target for him, but Dunning has never tossed more than the 144 frames he logged back in 2017 — be it in college or in pro ball.
- A knee injury shortened the 2019 season for Giants outfield prospect Heliot Ramos, but president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi believes that the 2017 first-rounder can “absolutely” ascend to the Majors in 2020, writes Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle. Ramos wasn’t invited to Major League Spring Training and has only played 25 games in Double-A, where he’ll likely open the 2020 campaign. But the Giants have a fairly wide-open outfield at the moment, with veteran Hunter Pence returning to join Steven Duggar and a pair of corner options with limited track records (Mike Yastrzemski and Alex Dickerson). Ramos, who hit .290/.369/.481 in 444 plate appearances between Class-A Advanced and Double-A when healthy in 2019, remains the organization’s top outfield prospect and won’t turn 21 until this September.
Quick Hits: Mikolas, K. Seager, Judge, D-backs
Cardinals right-hander Miles Mikolas will begin the season on the injured list after receiving a platelet-rich plasma injection, per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. As of now, it appears Mikolas will make his 2020 debut toward the end of April or in the beginning of May, according to Goold. It’s a blow to the Cardinals’ rotation, which got back-to-back quality seasons from Mikolas in 2018-19 and now has to fill a couple openings behind Jack Flaherty, Adam Wainwright and Dakota Hudson. Carlos Martinez and Kwang-hyun Kim were already known to be in the running before Mikolas went down, and now Daniel Ponce de Leon, Austin Gomber, Ryan Helsley, Alex Reyes, John Gant and Genesis Cabrera are also in the mix, Goold writes.
Here’s more from around the game…
- Mariners third baseman Kyle Seager was the subject of trade rumors over the winter, when “a handful of teams” discussed him with the M’s, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times writes. Seager has stayed put to this point, and he’s now the longest-tenured player on Seattle’s roster, though he realizes a deal could still come together. The 32-year-old admitted to Divish that a trade remains “a definite possibility.” Seager enjoyed a bounce-back season in 2019, but he’s still owed $37MM over the next two years. His contract also includes a 2022 $15MM club option that will turn into a player option if he’s dealt, which could help stand in the way of a trade.
- Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge has been battling a right shoulder issue early in camp, but he’s progressing in his recovery, George A. King III of the New York Post relays. Judge told manager Aaron Bone he’s “game-ready,” but the Yankees are taking it slow with their prized slugger, whom injuries limited to a combined 214 of a possible 324 regular-season games from 2018-19. “Start reintroducing him to full swinging and stuff in the next couple of days I would think,’’ Boone said. “I am sure in the next day or two it will probably start to ramp him back up.’’
- Thanks to a productive 2019 season at the Double-A level, Diamondbacks first base prospect Pavin Smith has a chance to make his major league debut sometime this year, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic observes. Smith was the seventh overall pick of the Diamondbacks in 2017, and while he hit well in low-A ball that year, he provided little to no power (zero home runs, .097 ISO). He then didn’t produce at a particularly impressive clip at the high-A level the next season, but Smith turned it around last year. In his Double-A debut, he put up a .291/.370/.466 line with 12 homers and almost as many walks (59) and strikeouts (61).