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NL Notes: Phillies, Urias, Rockies, Cardinals

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At 22-15, the Phillies have been among the standings’ biggest surprises this season, but rookie general manager Matt Klentak isn’t losing sight of the fact that the team is in a rebuild, writes Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Klentak also realizes that the Phillies have one of the majors’ worst run differentials and probably won’t be able to sustain their early success in the win column. “We’re not blind to the fact that our run differential is negative by a significant margin,” he said. “We’re well aware that there has been a lack of offensive production throughout much of the lineup.” Only the Braves’ historically anemic offense has been worse than Philadelphia’s thus far, but the good news on the offensive end is that the Phillies have seemingly found an enviable long-term piece in 24-year-old center fielder Odubel Herrera.

More from the National League:

  • The Dodgers were considering promoting 19-year-old prospect Julio Urias to bolster their bullpen as of last weekend, and the left-handed phenom’s stock has risen even higher since. Urias fired six scoreless innings for Triple-A Oklahoma City on Saturday, extending his streak to 22 straight frames without allowing a run, according to Vince Lara-Cinisomo of Baseball America. Urias is laying waste to the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, where he has a 1.25 ERA and 39 strikeouts against eight walks in 36 innings, and looks primed to jump to baseball’s highest level soon.
  • Rockies shortstop Jose Reyes is still capable of being a “serviceable” option at the position, though he’s clearly on the downside of his career, a longtime scout told Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. Reyes, who’s suspended until the end of May because of a violation of the league’s domestic violence policy, could be done in Colorado. A trade might be difficult, though, considering Reyes’ contract (he’s still owed roughly $41MM, including a $4MM buyout in 2018), off-field troubles and on-field decline, according to Saunders. That could lead the Rockies to release the 33-year-old, which is a possibility, some close to the team have told Saunders.
  • The Cardinals have taken a tough-love approach with pitching prospect Alex Reyes – who’s nearing a return from a 50-game suspension for a second positive marijuana test – as Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch details. The Cardinals could have lifted Reyes’ 50-game ban at any point by putting him on their 40-man roster, but they elected against it and didn’t even invite the right-handed 21-year-old to Spring Training. “There are two things for him to take from this,” stated general manager John Mozeliak. “No. 1, he made a mistake and cannot make that mistake again. No. 2, because of this mistake he has to realize he was risking a lot because of what he can do with his talent. Time will tell the direction this sends him.” Reyes seems to have taken the discipline to heart, saying, “That day, I changed my mentality.”

Cardinals Place Seth Maness On DL With Elbow Inflammation

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The Cardinals have placed right-handed reliever Seth Maness on the 15-day disabled list with inflammation in his pitching elbow, reports Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com (Twitter link). Maness’ placement on the DL comes after the Cardinals previously optioned him to Triple-A Memphis, though this decision will keep the 27-year-old on their major league roster and enable him to embark on a rehab assignment, as Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch notes (on Twitter).

Maness told Langosch on Friday that his health wasn’t a problem (via Twitter), but elbow inflammation would help to explain his dreadful start to the 2016 campaign. Prior to landing on the DL, Maness surrendered 10 runs in 12 2/3 innings. Also of concern: His average fastball velocity declined from 89.5 mph last year to 87.3. Maness has never been a strikeout pitcher, instead inducing most of his outs via the ground ball, but both those marks are at career lows (4.26 K/9 and 52 percent grounder rate, respectively), and his BB/9 has risen to a personal-worst 2.84.

Before this season, Maness established himself as a mainstay in the Cardinals’ bullpen by tossing the 10th-most relief innings in baseball (205 2/3) from 2013-15 and pitching to a solid 3.15 ERA/3.52 FIP/3.27 xFIP during that three-year period.

The Cardinals recalled lefty Dean Kiekhefer from Memphis earlier Saturday to take Maness’ spot on their roster.

NL Central Notes: Hoyer, Reds, Maness

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Cubs GM Jed Hoyer took an unusual path to Major League Baseball, working in the admissions departments at two universities before taking an internship with the Red Sox at age 28, David Hough of the Chicago Tribune writes. “Ben [Cherington] said, ’Do you really want to do this? You know it will be a huge pay cut and you’ll be an older intern,”’ says Hoyer. “And I said, ’I don’t care, I’ll look at it as grad school, take on debt for a couple of years and if it works, great. If not, I’ll have no regrets.”’ Shortly after Hoyer joined the organization, the Red Sox hired Theo Epstein as its GM. The two got along and have worked together ever since, with the exception of the two years Hoyer spent as GM of the Padres. Here’s more on the NL Central.

  • The Reds’ poor 14-21 start will not be the primary determinant in whether the team keeps manager Bryan Price, GM Dick Williams says in an interview with MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon. “I think Bryan is being evaluated on his whole body of work over the course of three seasons,” says Williams. “There are a lot of things that Bryan is continuing to be evaluated on. Right now, he is totally busy doing what he needs to do day-to-day.” Williams says that the team’s injury struggles (they’ve lost catcher Devin Mesoraco for the season, and have also suffered a number of losses to their pitching staff) won’t cause the organization to deviate from its long-term vision.
  • The Cardinals have optioned reliever Seth Maness to Triple-A Memphis, as MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch tweets. He’s been replaced on the Cards’ active roster by lefty Dean Kiekhefer. Maness was a mainstay in the St. Louis bullpen the last three seasons, but he’s struggled this season, allowing ten runs while striking out just six in 12 2/3 innings. His average fastball velocity has also declined, from 89.5 MPH last year to 87.3 in 2016. Kiekhefer, meanwhile, is in the midst of a second consecutive strong season at Triple-A, with a 1.35 ERA, nine strikeouts and no walks in 13 1/3 innings there so far. He has never appeared in the big leagues.

NL Central Notes: Braun, Smith, Grichuk, Straily

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This summer could be the perfect time for the Brewers to trade Ryan Braun, writes ESPN’s Buster Olney. The 32-year-old will gain 10-and-5 rights early next season, allowing him to veto any trade. Braun can already block trades to 23 teams, with the D-backs, Angels, Dodgers, Marlins, Padres and Giants representing the only teams to which he can be traded without his consent. Olney spoke to a number of executives and evaluators regarding Braun, and the general consensus was that his heightened 2016 play has made the once-near-impossible thought of a trade much more plausible. Braun’s contact rate is the best of his career, and he’s enjoying the second-lowest swinging-strike and out-of-zone swing rates of his career. One evaluator noted to Olney that Braun has learned to lay off the high fastball that was once a pitch with which he could be put away in two-strike counts. An executive from another club opined that the Brewers will still have to eat a considerable amount of Braun’s salary to facilitate a deal, however; by my calculation he’s owed $90.85MM through 2020, including the remaining money on this year’s $19MM salary and the $4MM buyout of his 2021 option.

More on the Brewers and their division…

  • Left-hander Will Smith will throw off a mound today for the first time since tearing the LCL in his right knee in a freak Spring Training accident (while taking off his shoe), reports Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Smith, whose workouts to this point have included running on an anti-gravity treadmill, is hoping to avoid surgery and will begin a throwing program if today’s mound session goes well. However, Haudricourt notes that if he experiences problems, surgery could be the ultimate outcome anyway. Smith, 26, came to Spring Training with a chance to become the Brewers’ closer, but right-hander Jeremy Jeffress has seized that role with eight saves and a 2.63 ERA in 13 2/3 innings thus far.
  • Cardinals outfielder Randal Grichuk spoke with MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch about the 2013 trade that brought him from Anaheim to St. Louis and some of the struggles he endured with the Angels. “I got injured so much in that organization, that I felt like I got put on the back burner,” Grichuk said of the Angels. “They didn’t really expect much out of me at that point. I definitely think that this trade helped rejuvenate my career. I’m definitely thankful for it.” As Langosch notes, living in the shadow of Mike Trout was also a difficult task. The two were inevitably compared to one another as they were selected with back-to-back picks in the first round, both play center field and were even born just six days apart. Grichuk and Trout remain close, and Trout told Langosch that he’s happy to see his friend succeeding, even if it’s in another organization.
  • Waiver claim Dan Straily has been an early success story for the Reds, writes Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer. The right-hander has benefited from pitching coach Mark Riggins, who taught him a grip for a two-seam fastball with which Straily is comfortable. Straily tells Buchanan that he’d never used a two-seamer much in the past because he hasn’t been successful with the pitch, but his new grip is helping him keep left-handed opponents off balance. Interestingly, president of baseball operations Walt Jocketty tells Buchanan that his team actually got some trade inquiries on Straily earlier this year but elected to hang onto him. “We felt we needed him more than what we could get in return for him,” said Jocketty. Straily has walked 10 of the 66 lefties he’s faced, so he could still stand to improve his control, but he’s locked down a rotation spot for the time being with a 3.47 ERA in 36 1/3 innings. And, as Buchanan points out, he has four more years of club control remaining beyond the 2016 campaign if he can continue his success.

NL Central Notes: Hammel, Peralta, Victorino, Epstein, Reds

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Every player has different priorities, many of which go beyond maximizing earnings, though that’s not always easy to discern from publicly available information. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports provides an interesting recent example, though, in Jason Hammel of the Cubs. The right-hander and his wife were disappointed to be dealt away from Chicago at the trade deadline in 2014, with Hammel telling Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein that he would “pitch well enough that you bring me back” even as he departed for the A’s. Though Hammel wasn’t as good in Oakland as he had been before the deal, that’s just what happened, as Hammel inked a two-year, $18MM deal in the offseason. It looked like a nice value for the team at the time, and the veteran has rewarded the Cubs with 204 2/3 innings of 3.43 ERA pitching since his return.

Here’s more from the NL Central:

  • Cardinals shortstop Jhonny Peralta has been cleared to begin swinging a bat, as MLB.com’s Jen Langosch reports on Twitter. Peralta’s thumb injury looked like a major blow at the time, and while his loss has been softened by the stellar play of Aledmys Diaz, he should still provide a boost for a club that’s hovering around .500 while their division rivals to the north lay waste to the rest of the league. Fellow middle infielders Kolten Wong and Jedd Gyorko haven’t been nearly as effective as Diaz, and could cede playing time to Peralta when he’s healthy.
  • Shane Victorino is active at Triple-A Iowa for the Cubs, but he might not spend much time there before a decision is made on his future with the organization. Tommy Birch of the Des Moines Register tweets that Chicago has informed the veteran outfielder that his status will be reevaluated after a few weeks with the team’s top affiliate. Victorino is off to a solid start, with five hits — including two doubles and a triple — in his first four games.
  • There’s long been talk that Epstein would sign a new deal with the Cubs before reaching executive free agency after the season, but he tells Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune (Twitter link) that there are no imminent extensions — either for himself or with any of the team’s players. Nevertheless, the presumption still seems to be that Epstein will re-up with the organization at some point.
  • It was always expected to be a difficult season for the Reds, but the organization has dealt with more injuries than might’ve been hoped. C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer provides updates on several situations. Righty Michael Lorenzen is just now returning to the hill after experiencing elbow issues this spring and then suffering a bout with mono. Fellow pitchers Anthony DeSclafani, Raisel Iglesias, and Jon Moscot are all making progress with their own injury matters, but certainly that’s not a list of arms that the club hoped to see on the DL at this stage of the year. DeSclafani, like Lorenzen, has yet to appear in the majors this season.

NL Notes: Cardinals, Belt, Bucs, Lincecum

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In 2012, before shortstop Aledmys Diaz had left Cuba, Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak wondered why the Redbirds hadn’t been active in the Cuban market and pushed for organizational changes, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch details. “I was trying to find different ways to look at the future, and we were hearing a lot about Cubans signing, all the time, and not hearing much from us,” Mozeliak said. He added that the Cardinals “needed boots on the ground wherever a Cuban team played. We needed more information. We needed to learn more about the market so we could make better decisions.” The organization’s newfound focus on Cuba eventually led it to Diaz, whom it signed to a four-year, $8MM deal in March 2014. The Cardinals were patient with Diaz (now 25) – as evidenced by the fact that he didn’t make his major league debut until this year – which was a factor in his decision to sign with them. “I think in the end you’re looking for a good bonus, a good contract, but you also want a good reason (to sign),” Diaz said. “They showed me a lot. They gave me a lot of time.” Diaz has repaid the Cardinals’ patience with an astounding .400/.436/.695 batting line, five home runs and nearly as many walks (six) as strikeouts (eight) through his first 101 major league plate appearances.

More from the National League:

  • With a .324/.447/.552 line in 132 PAs, Giants first baseman Brandon Belt has been one of the majors’ premier hitters this year. Belt has long been a terrific offensive player, but he’s easily on track for his best season and his 2016 outburst has come thanks to some notable changes, writes FanGraphs’ Owen Watson. Belt has shown remarkable strike zone mastery in walking 18.9 percent of the time and striking out at a 14.4 percent rate. Those marks are significantly better than his career rates (10.3 percent and 23.8 percent, respectively). He’s also swinging at far fewer pitches outside the strike zone (and fewer pitches in general) while making more contact with the offerings at which he does swing. The 28-year-old now clearly holds his hands lower than he used to before the ball is thrown and isn’t standing as upright – two adjustments that could be helping him see the pitch longer – Watson notes. Belt’s also combating defensive shifts, which teams commonly deploy against him, by hitting the ball to the opposite field more often.
  • The Pirates sent a scout to watch Tim Lincecum’s showcase Friday and have done their “due diligence” on the free agent right-hander, general manager Neal Huntington said Sunday (Twitter link via Dan Zangrilli of 93.7 The Fan). Given Ray Searage’s reputation for reviving pitchers, it would be fascinating to see how Lincecum would fare as a Pirate. A Searage-Lincecum union probably isn’t in the offing, though, as Orioles GM Dan Duquette said earlier Sunday that Lincecum is likely to sign west of the Mississippi. That would obviously rule out Pittsburgh.

Central Notes: Martinez, Braun, Diaz, Twins

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A few notes from MLB’s Central divisions as the majority of tonight’s games come to a close…

  • Cardinals right-hander Carlos Martinez will not be investigated by the league in connection to the civil lawsuit that has reportedly been filed against him by a Florida woman, reports ESPN’s Mark Saxon. Per Saxon’s source, Martinez’s case falls outside of the domestic violence policy’s jurisdiction, and beyond that, no police report was ever filed in connection with the matter. Martinez tells Saxon that he doesn’t consider the issue to be a distraction, noting that it’ll be handled by his agent and his lawyer.
  • On the heels of a recent Ken Rosenthal report pertaining to Ryan Braun’s potential trade candidacy, Fangraphs’ Dave Cameron speculates on a handful of clubs that could make sense as a trade partner for the Brewers. The Red Sox, White Sox and Nationals, Cameron opines, are the three best fits for Braun, though there are reasons that each club would struggle to fit Braun into the books and onto the roster. Cameron makes a reasonable case for each team, noting that Braun would deepen Boston’s bench by pushing Brock Holt to a super-utility role, and he’d be an upgrade in Chicago as well, where Avisail Garcia is effectively a replacement-level placeholder on a win-now club. Cameron concedes that the Nationals are somewhat of a stretch, but it’s hard to argue with Braun serving as an upgrade over Jayson Werth and/or Ryan Zimmerman, and pairing him with Bryce Harper in the middle of the lineup would give the Nats an imposing middle of the order duo.
  • The Pirates announced earlier this week that top catching prospect Elias Diaz would undergo surgery on his right elbow, but there were no further details and no timeline provided by the club. MLB.com’s Adam Berry adds some context to the report, tweeting that Diaz underwent a debridement of his throwing elbow and is currently expected to miss seven to nine weeks while recovering from the injury. While that’s still bad news for the organization, it’s fortuitous that Diaz’s ulnar collateral ligament remained intact and that he seemingly has a strong chance of returning before the 2016 season comes to a close.
  • The Twins got a first-hand look at Luke Gregerson as he closed out an Astros win over them last night, but Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports that Minnesota wasn’t far off from seeing quite a bit more of Gregerson. The right-hander tells Berardino that the Twins pursued him heavily as a free agent in the 2014-15 offseason prior to his signing with Houston. Gregerson, of course, wouldn’t comment on the specifics of Minnesota’s offer, but he did tell Berardino that the Twins came “pretty close” to Houston’s offer of $18.5MM over a three-year term. The tipping point for Gregerson, it would seem, may have been Houston’s willingness to let him serve as the team’s closer, which he said made their offer “hard to pass up.” Said Gregerson: “I think if the situation was a little different, I think it would have definitely been able to work out. I’m happy where I ended up.”

NL Central Notes: Votto, Cardinals, Kang

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Superstar Reds first baseman Joey Votto has hit a surprisingly poor .233/.333/.314 in 102 plate appearances this year while walking less than usual and striking out at a rate higher than normal. Votto, who’s making $20MM this season and is owed up to $192MM from 2017-2024, is embarrassed by his early season performance and told C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer that he’d rather retire and forfeit the money than stick around and fail to produce. “I’m here to play and be part of setting a standard. It’s something I’ve always taken pride in,” he said. “I love to play at a really high level. So far this year, it’s not been that. I will not be a very satisfied, happy person if I don’t perform at the level that I expect.” The 32-year-old Votto, a career .309/.421/.529 hitter, is coming off a 7.4-fWAR season, so he seems like a prime candidate to return to form as 2016 progresses. “I signed up for a high-level of performance. I didn’t sign up for this just to make money,” he added.

And now for some news on a pair of Cincinnati’s division rivals…

  • There was a report Saturday stating that the Cardinals gave right-hander Carlos Martinez permission to leave the team Friday because of a civil lawsuit he’s facing in Florida. Now there’s more details on that suit, courtesy of TMZ (link via Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com). The woman suing Martinez is seeking upward of $1.5MM in damages for battery, negligent transmission of sexually transmitted diseases and fraud. She and Martinez have had an on-again, off-again relationship since 2012, according to her. As of Saturday, the Cardinals were in the process of determining whether the allegations against Martinez will lead to an investigation by Major League Baseball under its domestic violence rules. Martinez rejoined the Cardinals after his brief departure and started their game today.
  • The Pirates will ease shortstop/third baseman Jung Ho Kang back into their lineup when he returns soon from a left knee injury, general manager Neal Huntington said Sunday (link via Adam Berry of MLB.com). That could mean starting Kang two of every three games and using him as a pinch hitter or defensive replacement when he’s not in the lineup, Huntington suggested. Kang has amassed 32 at-bats during his rehab stint with Triple-A Indianapolis, and he could rejoin the Pirates once he gets anywhere from 45 to 60.
  • Cardinals shortstop Jhonny Peralta is progressing quickly in his recovery from left thumb surgery in March and could return to the majors later this month, reports Langosch. Peralta fielded grounders at short Sunday for the first time since the surgery, and the club currently plans for him to start a rehab assignment May 21. The Cardinals haven’t missed Peralta nearly as much as expected because of the virtuoso performance Aledmys Diaz has turned in at short, which means they’ll have to find a way to play both when Peralta returns. “What he’s doing, he needs to be on the team,” Peralta said of Diaz, who has hit .417/.447/.722 with four homers in the first 76 PAs of his big league career.

Pitcher Notes: C. Martinez, Giles, Reds, Heaney

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The Cardinals gave right-hander Carlos Martinez permission to leave the team Friday because of a civil lawsuit he’s facing in South Florida, ESPN reported (link via Dan O’Neill of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch), though he is now back with the club. “We are just learning of this matter. I was notified by Carlos’ agent the other night,” general manager John Mozeliak told ESPN. “We will not be in a position to act until we have more information.” Major League Baseball has not informed the Cardinals of any pending disciplinary action, according to Mozeliak. The club is in the process of determining whether the allegations made by the woman who filed the lawsuit will lead to a league investigation under its domestic violence rules, per O’Neill. Martinez, who has put up a 1.93 ERA, 6.43 K/9 and 2.57 BB/9 in four starts (28 innings) this season, is scheduled to take the mound for the Cardinals on Sunday.

More of the latest pitcher-related news from around the league:

  • Hard-throwing reliever Ken Giles hasn’t come as advertised this year after the Astros gave up a Vincent Velasquez-headlined haul for the ex-Phillie during the offseason, and he told Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle that his issues are related to mechanics. “I’m not the guy I was the past two seasons. I’m somebody completely different on the mound, and I don’t feel comfortable up there. It’s just mechanical work,” he said. Giles was an elite reliever for the Phillies from 2014-15, combining for a 1.56 ERA with an 11.75 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 in 115 2/3 innings, but this season has been a nightmare for the 25-year-old. Though Giles’ strikeout and walk rates look fine (12.6 and 3.6, respectively), as does his velocity, he has already surrendered four home runs and 10 earned runs in 10 innings. Giles yielded a combined three homers and 20 earned runs during the previous two seasons. Thanks to his struggles, the Astros will “ease the burden of the eighth inning off of him a little bit,” manager A.J. Hinch said.
  • Two prospective long-term cogs in the Reds’ rotation, right-handers Raisel Iglesias and Anthony DeSclafani, are dealing with injuries, as C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer writes. Iglesias, who’s scheduled to pitch Sunday, felt a “pinch” in his throwing shoulder Friday and underwent an examination today. The Reds will know more about his status later in the day, manager Bryan Price said. This isn’t the first time Iglesias’ shoulder has acted up: The 26-year-old dealt with fatigue last season and began his throwing program later in the spring as a result, Rosecrans notes. Iglesias has been stellar early this year, having tossed 28 1/3 innings of 3.49 ERA ball (9.21 K/9 and 2.22 BB/9) in five starts. DeSclafani, meanwhile, has been out all season with a left oblique strain and felt a “sensation” in his side during a 77-pitch rehab start Friday. “We’re really doing everything we can to avoid a setback. He was good until the last inning or so, and then it was an issue,” Price stated.
  • Angels lefty Andrew Heaney won’t need surgery on the forearm strain that has kept him out for nearly all of April, but he still hasn’t been cleared to throw, according to Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register and Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com (Twitter links). Heaney will receive a platelet-rich plasma injection in his left arm, which will keep him out for six to 12 more weeks, GM Billy Eppler said (Twitter link via Fletcher). Heaney started for the Halos on April 5 and put up a decent line against the Cubs (six innings, seven strikeouts, no walks, seven hits, four runs), but he complained of left forearm tightness afterward and landed on the disabled list the next day.

NL Notes: Braves, Hughes, Cardinals, Votto

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Two top Braves prospects are inching closer to the Majors, as MLB.com’s Mark Bowman tweets. The team has promoted Ozzie Albies from Double-A Mississippi to Triple-A Gwinnett and fellow shortstop Dansby Swanson from Class A+ Carolina to Mississippi. Albies was already a highly-regarded prospect heading into the season, but he’s surpassed expectations by skipping over Class A+ and batting .369/.442/.512 at Mississippi at the ridiculously young age of 19. Swanson, meanwhile, has hit brilliantly in his first full pro season, batting .333/.441/.526. The former Vanderbilt infielder and top overall 2015 draft pick appears to be on the fast track to the big leagues, where he could eventually pair with Albies in the Braves middle infield, likely with one of them moving from shortstop to second. Here’s more from the National League.

  • The Pirates have announced that righty Jared Hughes has been reinstated from the 15-day DL, and that they’ve cleared space for him on the active roster by optioning fellow Rob Scahill to Triple-A Indianapolis. Hughes had missed the entire season to this point with a lat strain. The return of the ground-ball specialist should provide a boost to a Bucs bullpen that has struggled to this point, posting a 4.48 ERA, 8.1 K/9 and an ugly 4.5 BB/9 thus far and ranking as below replacement level as a unit.
  • Cardinals GM John Mozeliak says shortstop Jhonny Peralta, who had thumb surgery in March, could be set to begin a rehab assignment in about three weeks, Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes. That timetable means Peralta might return to the team early in June. Mozeliak notes, though, that the team will still find ways to use rookie Aledmys Diaz, who’s batting a remarkable .420/.452/.739 while playing mostly shortstop so far this season.
  • Reds first baseman Joey Votto is in the midst of the worst offensive month of his career, as FanGraphs’ Owen Watson notes. Votto is batting just .238/.330/.325, with an unusually high strikeout rate (23.4%) and low walk rate (11.7%). He’s also been very pull-happy at the plate, an approach Watson suggests might not work for him. He’s been pulling the ball so much in part because opposing pitchers are throwing inside against him, trying to get him to hit into defensive shifts. Votto likely needs to adjust to that strategy, and Watson seems confident that he will.
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