Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports that the Pirates have agreed to acquire outfielder Edward Olivares from the Royals.
The Royals will receive minor league infielder Deivis Nadal in return. The Royals seemed to go out of their way to avoid giving Olivares a real shot at an everyday role in their lineup. Hopefully the move to Pittsburgh will be exactly what he needs to showcase his dynamic blend of power and speed. The 27-year-old outfielder is a career .261/.310/.426 hitter with 24 homers and 15 stolen bases in 771 plate appearances at the big league level. The move will free up a spot for Chris Stratton on the Royals’ 40-man roster.
https://www.nbcsports.com/mlb/edward-olivares/48615
2024 Padres non-prospects news and notes
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Re: 2024 Padres non-prospects news and notes
RP: Wander Suero
AAA: 6-3, 3.26 ERA, 49 2/3 IP, 53 K, 23 BB, .178 BAA, 1.11 WHIP
Suero served as the closer for Triple-A Oklahoma City for most of ‘23, converting an organization-leading 17 saves and recording his best ERA since 2017. This past season was Suero’s 12th campaign in the Minors. He served as a swingman with the Major League club, receiving multiple callups throughout the season. The Dominican Republic native was signed by Houston on Dec. 7, and will likely fill the same role with his new club.
https://www.mlb.com/news/los-angeles-do ... e-coverage
AAA: 6-3, 3.26 ERA, 49 2/3 IP, 53 K, 23 BB, .178 BAA, 1.11 WHIP
Suero served as the closer for Triple-A Oklahoma City for most of ‘23, converting an organization-leading 17 saves and recording his best ERA since 2017. This past season was Suero’s 12th campaign in the Minors. He served as a swingman with the Major League club, receiving multiple callups throughout the season. The Dominican Republic native was signed by Houston on Dec. 7, and will likely fill the same role with his new club.
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Re: 2024 Padres non-prospects news and notes
Fernando Tatis Jr. slid feet-first into second base and, as the throw from catcher Webster Rivas bounced into center field, popped up and ran to third.
Reclining in a seat several rows up from the visiting dugout at Estadio Francisco A. Micheli, Padres manager Mike Shildt waited a few seconds before making a rhetorical observation:
“Fun to watch, isn’t he?”
It is perhaps particularly so here and now.
Tatis is the biggest name in the Dominican Winter League (LIDOM) this year. Starling Marte is set to join Escogido soon. The next-biggest names on Tatis’ Estrellas Orientales team are Robinson Cano, Miguel Sano and Jurickson Profar. Ronald Acuña Jr. played in his native Venezuela this month.
“Because (of) the money,” Fernando Tatis Sr., manager of Estrellas Orientales and the Padres star’s father, opined one afternoon this week. “Money makes you lose the love for this game. If you make the kind of money he is making right now and you are playing in the Dominican, it’s because you love the game. He loves the game.”
The elder Tatis paused before continuing.
“It’s good for him,” he said, “because as a baseball player, you need to be on the field.”
That is the overriding theme of conversations this week with father and son centered around why Tatis is playing in the Dominican for the first time since becoming a major leaguer.
“It brings you back to your roots,” the younger Tatis said Monday before playing in his fifth game for his hometown team. “I feel like myself. Here is where I became a really good baseball player, like where I separated from just having good talent to putting it in play and having results. … Baseball players, if they want to get better, they just need to play baseball.”
This is where he first recalls seeing his father, an 11-year MLB veteran, play. It is where he works under the watch of his father, who remains his most trusted coach. It is where he feels he truly launched his professional career and where he is launching what he believes will be a return to truly being the player he can be.
That Tatis is playing baseball on winter nights, under lights that are not quite bright, in front of crowds that are not yet big, alongside players that are a mix of well before their prime or well past their prime, means his journey back has hit its stride.
“This is the platform to make him ready to play in the big leagues,” the elder Tatis said before a game in San Pedro de Macorís, where he and Junior both grew up and where Senior now manages Estrellas.
Fernando Tatis Jr. lamented being unable to be on the field or even swing a bat or work out while home last winter, as he ramped up for his comeback season after missing all of 2022 due to injury and suspension.
“It was different,” he said this week. “It was hard. I couldn’t work out at full capacity before I got to (spring training). This year, it was just my talent that took over and helped me survive the season.”
So what is next season?
After flashing the big Tatis smile, he said: “It’s talent plus work.”
Tatis got back to work in earnest after a month-and-a-half of catching up on sleep, swimming in water that is practically a fluorescent shade of blue and hiking in mountains thick with palms, plantains and Caoba trees. Tatis began playing later than he initially wanted to, after his father said he was ready — and after the Padres had approved his playing 20 games or so.
Various injuries were the primary reason Tatis had not played here since the 2018-19 LIDOM season, when he sparked Estrellas to their first Dominican championship in 51 years.
That was the winter before he made his big-league debut and in relatively short order became the face of baseball.
This is the winter, he asserts, when he gets back to being the player that got him on the video game cover and in international ad campaigns for major brands.
“I’m going to be way better,” Tatis said. “Way better. I don’t want to get too ahead of myself, but I’m just gonna tell you for sure I’m getting ready for a long season and I’m putting the work in.”
The Padres need the Tatis who was as powerful and explosive and exciting and dangerous as any player in the major leagues from 2019 through 2021 — when he wasn’t getting hurt and before he got suspended for a failed PED test.
As the organization’s baseball decision makers sat around A.J. Preller’s suite at the Opryland Hotel during the winter meetings earlier this month, pondering the unpleasant task of trading Juan Soto, they mulled the possibilities. They could keep Soto (and his projected $33 million salary) but would have to trade Jake Cronenworth and maybe Ha-Seong Kim and Robert Suarez, among others. But those internal debates inevitably returned to the firm belief that a lineup anchored by Tatis, Xander Bogaerts and Manny Machado was a fine foundation from which to start.
For that to be so, Tatis has to be Tatis.
Last year, in essence, was something like practice. And survival. Because he was not the player the Padres need him to be going forward.
“It was a good baseball year overall,” Tatis said. “But I can’t lie to everybody. I cannot say I played winning baseball or good baseball. But what everybody knows I am capable of is just a whole different story.”
Tatis batted .257/.322/.449 in 2023. That was perhaps about all that could have rightfully been expected.
He had surgery in March 2022 fto repair a wrist fracture suffered in an offseason fall of a motorcycle here. His rehab from that surgery was ramping up in mid-August 2022 when, after playing four games for Double-A San Antonio, he was suspended 80 games.
In the wake of that shutdown, Tatis agreed to undergo surgery to repair a labrum tear in his right shoulder. And while recovering from that procedure, he underwent a second wrist surgery. Tatis didn’t start working out until last January. After participating in spring training, while learning a new position, he got 39 plate appearances in Triple-A and made his season debut in the season’s 21st game.
Tatis’ 25 home runs ranked third on the Padres, and his 33 doubles led the team. His .771 OPS, however, was 204 points lower than in 2021 and 194 points off his career mark coming into the season. His 5.5 WAR, according to Baseball-Reference.com, was tied with Soto for eighth in the National League. However, Tatis’ oWAR was a mere 2.8 — 4.5 below his 2021 mark. A chase rate of nearly 36 percent was the highest of his career.
After the season, Fernando Tatis Sr. recalled saying to his son: “It’s not a good year. It’s not a great year. It’s not a bad year. It’s OK. But the talent that you have and the things that you can do on the field, those numbers are not enough.”
Tatis appeared in 141 of the Padres’ 142 games after his suspension was up. But he batted .213/.289/.383 over his final 104 plate appearances and acknowledged in the season’s final week that he was exhausted. Tatis looked forward to resting — and then getting back to playing.
“It has always been for me about swinging the bat more,” he said in September. “That’s what I always do (and) wasn’t able to do (before the season).”
This week, he said of the winter league: “It keeps you in baseball shape. It helps you stay on the fastball and helps you to work on whatever you didn’t have time during the season because you were already in the season. Now you put in the work.”
He is here with his favorite teacher.
“He’s been working to separate,” Fernando Tatis Sr. said. “He’s doing a little thing on the plate to get his hands in the perfect position to hit, slow his body down. Quick hands, slow his feet down a little bit more and stay focused to hit the ball in only one place, not in different places. We’re working on that. And it’s been going well.”
Monday, in his fifth game for Estrellas, Tatis ripped a three-run homer that tied the game in the top of the third inning. Estrellas beat Toros del Este that night, and beat Aguilas Cibaenas the next night to clinch a spot in the 18-game round robin tournament that begins Wednesday and goes to mid-January. The top two teams in that tournament will then play a best-of-nine championship series.
Tatis said he plans to play for Estrellas “as far as we go.” The Padres likely would not be on board with Tatis playing in the Caribbean Series should Estrellas advance to the tournament that runs through Feb. 9, about a week before the Padres’ first official full-squad workout.
Through Thursday, with one game remaining in the regular season, Tatis has walked seven times and is batting .304 (7-for-23) with a home run, a triple, a double and three stolen bases in seven games. He also walked seven times in his first five games.
“Just working on details that I feel like during the season was missing on the hitting part,” he said. “During the season, you’re a little afraid to try stuff. You’re already in the season and you just need results at the time. But now we can come and concentrate on what we thought we could have done better and just be a little bit more disciplined with it.”
Shildt was in the Dominican Republic primarily to see Tatis, watching two games and having dinner at Tatis’ home.
“Everything he went through — under the public microscope — to do as well as he did,” said Shildt, who also visited with new pitchers Jhony Brito and Randy Vásquez while here.
“We have a tendency to live in the past, harp on the past, and we don’t stop and look up and go, ‘Wait a minute, this guy played every day after missing 17 months, (having) three surgeries and performed at a high level … and actually leaned into some of the criticisms and the crowd and some of the things that are really, really hard to face.’ He faced them like an absolute man and a pro. He handled it at a high level, regardless of age. He hasn’t gotten enough credit for it. I’m excited about this year, and I know he is too. It’s gonna be a fun year for him.”
On Monday, Tatis played center field for the first time since joining Estrellas. But a position switch for the National League’s Platinum Glove winner in his first season in right field does not seem to be a real possibility for 2024.
“I’m a right fielder,” he said. “We have talked about it. A.J. gave me permission to play a little bit (of) center, a little bit (of) right. Let’s see how I’m focused later. But right now I’m a right fielder. And I’ve talked to A.J. also about the dimensions of our field, and I feel for me it’s a little bit more important to have a right fielder than a center fielder for Petco Park.”
He is not playing shortstop here, which his father and Estrellas management had proffered as a possibility last month. Tatis speaks only of the outfield for now, though he has in the past said a return to the infield someday is possible.
The elder Fernando Tatis was impressed by his son’s move to the outfield.
“I like it,” he said. “He’s doing great in the outfield. That takes me by surprise. The way he plays in the outfield, that’s unbelievable.”
Still, Tatis’ father leaves no question as to how he feels.
“When you have a shortstop that can cover that kind of ground and up … Junior is an exciting player,” Fernando Tatis Sr. said. “There are two players that keep me awake at nighttime to watch games — Junior and (Reds shortstop) Elly de la Cruz. Elly De La Cruz is gonna be a player that always does something in the game. That is not normal.”
There is time, even if the time is now.
Junior turns 25 on Jan. 2.
“He is still learning,” Fernando Tatis Sr. said. “He is still learning how to hit, how to make situations on the field. He is still learning how to make damage. He is still learning how to go the other way, how to stay inside the ball. Still learning how to play shortstop. He’s still learning. He’s only going to be 25. Can you imagine where he’s gonna be when he’s 28,29,30? If God gives him health, we’re going to have a lot of fun watching him play every day.
“And I told him, your goal this year is you need to have at least 500 at-bats. I don’t care how we’re going to do it, but you have to stay healthy. You have to play smart. You’ve got to be able to help your teammates every single game. No matter what happens, you’ve got to be there for your teammates. You’ve got to work for them. You’ve got to support them. You are the head. You’ve got to push.”
That push has started here.
“I don’t say I have anything to prove,” Tatis said. “But everybody just knows now what I’m capable of. It’s just a matter of I can get back to that level and perform as, you know, everybody is expecting and I am expecting of myself also. …
“The game reminds me every single day. It gives me small glimmers of who I am and what I’m capable of. And it’s just asking me for that little extra work.”
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sp ... n-republic
Reclining in a seat several rows up from the visiting dugout at Estadio Francisco A. Micheli, Padres manager Mike Shildt waited a few seconds before making a rhetorical observation:
“Fun to watch, isn’t he?”
It is perhaps particularly so here and now.
Tatis is the biggest name in the Dominican Winter League (LIDOM) this year. Starling Marte is set to join Escogido soon. The next-biggest names on Tatis’ Estrellas Orientales team are Robinson Cano, Miguel Sano and Jurickson Profar. Ronald Acuña Jr. played in his native Venezuela this month.
“Because (of) the money,” Fernando Tatis Sr., manager of Estrellas Orientales and the Padres star’s father, opined one afternoon this week. “Money makes you lose the love for this game. If you make the kind of money he is making right now and you are playing in the Dominican, it’s because you love the game. He loves the game.”
The elder Tatis paused before continuing.
“It’s good for him,” he said, “because as a baseball player, you need to be on the field.”
That is the overriding theme of conversations this week with father and son centered around why Tatis is playing in the Dominican for the first time since becoming a major leaguer.
“It brings you back to your roots,” the younger Tatis said Monday before playing in his fifth game for his hometown team. “I feel like myself. Here is where I became a really good baseball player, like where I separated from just having good talent to putting it in play and having results. … Baseball players, if they want to get better, they just need to play baseball.”
This is where he first recalls seeing his father, an 11-year MLB veteran, play. It is where he works under the watch of his father, who remains his most trusted coach. It is where he feels he truly launched his professional career and where he is launching what he believes will be a return to truly being the player he can be.
That Tatis is playing baseball on winter nights, under lights that are not quite bright, in front of crowds that are not yet big, alongside players that are a mix of well before their prime or well past their prime, means his journey back has hit its stride.
“This is the platform to make him ready to play in the big leagues,” the elder Tatis said before a game in San Pedro de Macorís, where he and Junior both grew up and where Senior now manages Estrellas.
Fernando Tatis Jr. lamented being unable to be on the field or even swing a bat or work out while home last winter, as he ramped up for his comeback season after missing all of 2022 due to injury and suspension.
“It was different,” he said this week. “It was hard. I couldn’t work out at full capacity before I got to (spring training). This year, it was just my talent that took over and helped me survive the season.”
So what is next season?
After flashing the big Tatis smile, he said: “It’s talent plus work.”
Tatis got back to work in earnest after a month-and-a-half of catching up on sleep, swimming in water that is practically a fluorescent shade of blue and hiking in mountains thick with palms, plantains and Caoba trees. Tatis began playing later than he initially wanted to, after his father said he was ready — and after the Padres had approved his playing 20 games or so.
Various injuries were the primary reason Tatis had not played here since the 2018-19 LIDOM season, when he sparked Estrellas to their first Dominican championship in 51 years.
That was the winter before he made his big-league debut and in relatively short order became the face of baseball.
This is the winter, he asserts, when he gets back to being the player that got him on the video game cover and in international ad campaigns for major brands.
“I’m going to be way better,” Tatis said. “Way better. I don’t want to get too ahead of myself, but I’m just gonna tell you for sure I’m getting ready for a long season and I’m putting the work in.”
The Padres need the Tatis who was as powerful and explosive and exciting and dangerous as any player in the major leagues from 2019 through 2021 — when he wasn’t getting hurt and before he got suspended for a failed PED test.
As the organization’s baseball decision makers sat around A.J. Preller’s suite at the Opryland Hotel during the winter meetings earlier this month, pondering the unpleasant task of trading Juan Soto, they mulled the possibilities. They could keep Soto (and his projected $33 million salary) but would have to trade Jake Cronenworth and maybe Ha-Seong Kim and Robert Suarez, among others. But those internal debates inevitably returned to the firm belief that a lineup anchored by Tatis, Xander Bogaerts and Manny Machado was a fine foundation from which to start.
For that to be so, Tatis has to be Tatis.
Last year, in essence, was something like practice. And survival. Because he was not the player the Padres need him to be going forward.
“It was a good baseball year overall,” Tatis said. “But I can’t lie to everybody. I cannot say I played winning baseball or good baseball. But what everybody knows I am capable of is just a whole different story.”
Tatis batted .257/.322/.449 in 2023. That was perhaps about all that could have rightfully been expected.
He had surgery in March 2022 fto repair a wrist fracture suffered in an offseason fall of a motorcycle here. His rehab from that surgery was ramping up in mid-August 2022 when, after playing four games for Double-A San Antonio, he was suspended 80 games.
In the wake of that shutdown, Tatis agreed to undergo surgery to repair a labrum tear in his right shoulder. And while recovering from that procedure, he underwent a second wrist surgery. Tatis didn’t start working out until last January. After participating in spring training, while learning a new position, he got 39 plate appearances in Triple-A and made his season debut in the season’s 21st game.
Tatis’ 25 home runs ranked third on the Padres, and his 33 doubles led the team. His .771 OPS, however, was 204 points lower than in 2021 and 194 points off his career mark coming into the season. His 5.5 WAR, according to Baseball-Reference.com, was tied with Soto for eighth in the National League. However, Tatis’ oWAR was a mere 2.8 — 4.5 below his 2021 mark. A chase rate of nearly 36 percent was the highest of his career.
After the season, Fernando Tatis Sr. recalled saying to his son: “It’s not a good year. It’s not a great year. It’s not a bad year. It’s OK. But the talent that you have and the things that you can do on the field, those numbers are not enough.”
Tatis appeared in 141 of the Padres’ 142 games after his suspension was up. But he batted .213/.289/.383 over his final 104 plate appearances and acknowledged in the season’s final week that he was exhausted. Tatis looked forward to resting — and then getting back to playing.
“It has always been for me about swinging the bat more,” he said in September. “That’s what I always do (and) wasn’t able to do (before the season).”
This week, he said of the winter league: “It keeps you in baseball shape. It helps you stay on the fastball and helps you to work on whatever you didn’t have time during the season because you were already in the season. Now you put in the work.”
He is here with his favorite teacher.
“He’s been working to separate,” Fernando Tatis Sr. said. “He’s doing a little thing on the plate to get his hands in the perfect position to hit, slow his body down. Quick hands, slow his feet down a little bit more and stay focused to hit the ball in only one place, not in different places. We’re working on that. And it’s been going well.”
Monday, in his fifth game for Estrellas, Tatis ripped a three-run homer that tied the game in the top of the third inning. Estrellas beat Toros del Este that night, and beat Aguilas Cibaenas the next night to clinch a spot in the 18-game round robin tournament that begins Wednesday and goes to mid-January. The top two teams in that tournament will then play a best-of-nine championship series.
Tatis said he plans to play for Estrellas “as far as we go.” The Padres likely would not be on board with Tatis playing in the Caribbean Series should Estrellas advance to the tournament that runs through Feb. 9, about a week before the Padres’ first official full-squad workout.
Through Thursday, with one game remaining in the regular season, Tatis has walked seven times and is batting .304 (7-for-23) with a home run, a triple, a double and three stolen bases in seven games. He also walked seven times in his first five games.
“Just working on details that I feel like during the season was missing on the hitting part,” he said. “During the season, you’re a little afraid to try stuff. You’re already in the season and you just need results at the time. But now we can come and concentrate on what we thought we could have done better and just be a little bit more disciplined with it.”
Shildt was in the Dominican Republic primarily to see Tatis, watching two games and having dinner at Tatis’ home.
“Everything he went through — under the public microscope — to do as well as he did,” said Shildt, who also visited with new pitchers Jhony Brito and Randy Vásquez while here.
“We have a tendency to live in the past, harp on the past, and we don’t stop and look up and go, ‘Wait a minute, this guy played every day after missing 17 months, (having) three surgeries and performed at a high level … and actually leaned into some of the criticisms and the crowd and some of the things that are really, really hard to face.’ He faced them like an absolute man and a pro. He handled it at a high level, regardless of age. He hasn’t gotten enough credit for it. I’m excited about this year, and I know he is too. It’s gonna be a fun year for him.”
On Monday, Tatis played center field for the first time since joining Estrellas. But a position switch for the National League’s Platinum Glove winner in his first season in right field does not seem to be a real possibility for 2024.
“I’m a right fielder,” he said. “We have talked about it. A.J. gave me permission to play a little bit (of) center, a little bit (of) right. Let’s see how I’m focused later. But right now I’m a right fielder. And I’ve talked to A.J. also about the dimensions of our field, and I feel for me it’s a little bit more important to have a right fielder than a center fielder for Petco Park.”
He is not playing shortstop here, which his father and Estrellas management had proffered as a possibility last month. Tatis speaks only of the outfield for now, though he has in the past said a return to the infield someday is possible.
The elder Fernando Tatis was impressed by his son’s move to the outfield.
“I like it,” he said. “He’s doing great in the outfield. That takes me by surprise. The way he plays in the outfield, that’s unbelievable.”
Still, Tatis’ father leaves no question as to how he feels.
“When you have a shortstop that can cover that kind of ground and up … Junior is an exciting player,” Fernando Tatis Sr. said. “There are two players that keep me awake at nighttime to watch games — Junior and (Reds shortstop) Elly de la Cruz. Elly De La Cruz is gonna be a player that always does something in the game. That is not normal.”
There is time, even if the time is now.
Junior turns 25 on Jan. 2.
“He is still learning,” Fernando Tatis Sr. said. “He is still learning how to hit, how to make situations on the field. He is still learning how to make damage. He is still learning how to go the other way, how to stay inside the ball. Still learning how to play shortstop. He’s still learning. He’s only going to be 25. Can you imagine where he’s gonna be when he’s 28,29,30? If God gives him health, we’re going to have a lot of fun watching him play every day.
“And I told him, your goal this year is you need to have at least 500 at-bats. I don’t care how we’re going to do it, but you have to stay healthy. You have to play smart. You’ve got to be able to help your teammates every single game. No matter what happens, you’ve got to be there for your teammates. You’ve got to work for them. You’ve got to support them. You are the head. You’ve got to push.”
That push has started here.
“I don’t say I have anything to prove,” Tatis said. “But everybody just knows now what I’m capable of. It’s just a matter of I can get back to that level and perform as, you know, everybody is expecting and I am expecting of myself also. …
“The game reminds me every single day. It gives me small glimmers of who I am and what I’m capable of. And it’s just asking me for that little extra work.”
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sp ... n-republic
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Re: 2024 Padres non-prospects news and notes
Kevin Kiermaier wants to hit for more power.
One thing to watch for? Kiermaier wants to hit for more power, flipping the script after he joked one year ago that his goal was to hit zero home runs and be the best No. 9 hitter in baseball. He believes — and you can see the belief is earnest — that he has another level to unlock.
“I’m as motivated as I’ve ever been right now,” Kiermaier said, leaning in to the camera. “I can never sit still. I’ve got this fire in me.”
https://fantasy.fangraphs.com/mining-the-news-1-10-24/
One thing to watch for? Kiermaier wants to hit for more power, flipping the script after he joked one year ago that his goal was to hit zero home runs and be the best No. 9 hitter in baseball. He believes — and you can see the belief is earnest — that he has another level to unlock.
“I’m as motivated as I’ve ever been right now,” Kiermaier said, leaning in to the camera. “I can never sit still. I’ve got this fire in me.”
https://fantasy.fangraphs.com/mining-the-news-1-10-24/
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Re: 2024 Padres non-prospects news and notes
Good news, if it happens!
Alex Cobb (hip) is aiming to start a flat-ground throwing program in the next few days.
The 36-year-old veteran righty remains without a definitive return timetable, but he told the San Francisco Chronicle this week that he will return sooner than anticipated. San Francisco picked up Cobb’s $10 million club option for 2024 as he continues to recovery from last October’s surgery to repair a torn labrum and also remove several bone chips from his left hip. He was excellent in the first half of last season before lingering physical issues torpedoed his numbers down the home stretch. If he’s healthy, he’s a strong back-end rotation stabilizer for fantasy managers and is worthy of a late-round pick this spring in drafts.
https://www.nbcsports.com/mlb/alex-cobb/49238
Alex Cobb (hip) is aiming to start a flat-ground throwing program in the next few days.
The 36-year-old veteran righty remains without a definitive return timetable, but he told the San Francisco Chronicle this week that he will return sooner than anticipated. San Francisco picked up Cobb’s $10 million club option for 2024 as he continues to recovery from last October’s surgery to repair a torn labrum and also remove several bone chips from his left hip. He was excellent in the first half of last season before lingering physical issues torpedoed his numbers down the home stretch. If he’s healthy, he’s a strong back-end rotation stabilizer for fantasy managers and is worthy of a late-round pick this spring in drafts.
https://www.nbcsports.com/mlb/alex-cobb/49238
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Re: 2024 Padres non-prospects news and notes
Charlie Morton (finger) is fully healthy entering spring training.
Morton is expected to be a full-go at the outset of spring training after missing last postseason due to right index finger inflammation. The 40-year-old righty remains as reliable as ever from a workload standpoint, having eclipsed 30 starts in each of the last five full seasons since 2018. He’s a late-round rotation stabilizer for fantasy managers entering 2024.
https://www.nbcsports.com/mlb/charlie-morton/48665
Morton is expected to be a full-go at the outset of spring training after missing last postseason due to right index finger inflammation. The 40-year-old righty remains as reliable as ever from a workload standpoint, having eclipsed 30 starts in each of the last five full seasons since 2018. He’s a late-round rotation stabilizer for fantasy managers entering 2024.
https://www.nbcsports.com/mlb/charlie-morton/48665
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Re: 2024 Padres non-prospects news and notes
Braxton Garrett is trying to add a changeup … again.
LHP Braxton Garrett
New(ish) pitch: Changeup
Quote: “[My offseason work has been to] keep my same delivery and just sharpen everything, really. … Keep the slider sharp, maybe make a few adjustments with it. And especially the changeup, that’s the pitch I feel like I tell you guys every year I’m working on.”
Adam Ottavino is changing his “cutter-slider pitch”.
Ottavino is always someone who tinkers with his pitches, and this offseason seemed to be no different.
“I’ve been working on my pitches in a number of ways,” Ottavino said. “I do think if I can get a little bit of my velocity back, that will make the rest of my arsenal play up the way I really want it to. So that’s kind of the main indicator. I’m just looking to trend in a little better direction, velocity-wise, when I get there.
“But I have been altering a little bit with my cutter-slider pitch — looking to make it more of a chase pitch, something that I can get swing-and-miss below the zone — and I’m looking to get down to Florida and kind of see the trial-and-error process with actual hitters.”
https://fantasy.fangraphs.com/mining-the-news-2-12-24/
LHP Braxton Garrett
New(ish) pitch: Changeup
Quote: “[My offseason work has been to] keep my same delivery and just sharpen everything, really. … Keep the slider sharp, maybe make a few adjustments with it. And especially the changeup, that’s the pitch I feel like I tell you guys every year I’m working on.”
Adam Ottavino is changing his “cutter-slider pitch”.
Ottavino is always someone who tinkers with his pitches, and this offseason seemed to be no different.
“I’ve been working on my pitches in a number of ways,” Ottavino said. “I do think if I can get a little bit of my velocity back, that will make the rest of my arsenal play up the way I really want it to. So that’s kind of the main indicator. I’m just looking to trend in a little better direction, velocity-wise, when I get there.
“But I have been altering a little bit with my cutter-slider pitch — looking to make it more of a chase pitch, something that I can get swing-and-miss below the zone — and I’m looking to get down to Florida and kind of see the trial-and-error process with actual hitters.”
https://fantasy.fangraphs.com/mining-the-news-2-12-24/
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Padres
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Re: 2024 Padres non-prospects news and notes
The aches and pains of fronting an elder rotation ...
Justin Verlander admitted that he had a “hiccup” in the offseason and is “a couple weeks behind” his normal offseason schedule.
The 40-year-old said that he usually stops throwing for a while after the season and when he first picked up the ball and started throwing again his “shoulder didn’t feel so great” so he had to be more diligent about his build up. While he doesn’t appear concerned and stated that he simply is learning to adjust his preparation as he gets older, it’s certainly a situation to monitor given his age and previous injuries. He said it was “too far down the line” to tell if he could miss Opening Day, but we should be on mild alert.
https://www.nbcsports.com/mlb/justin-verlander/48244
Alex Cobb (hip) is at Giants spring training but has not been cleared to throw off a mound yet.
Cobb is coming off offseason hip surgery which removed several bone chips. He claims that his hip feels great, but doctors have not yet cleared him to throw off a mound. He hopes that will come soon and that he can progress to facing live hitters by the end of camp. He will, obviously, not be ready for the start of the season, but if he progresses as he hopes, he should start a rehab assignment not long after training camp ends, which would mean he could return to the Giants before June, if all goes well.
https://www.nbcsports.com/mlb/alex-cobb/49238
Justin Verlander admitted that he had a “hiccup” in the offseason and is “a couple weeks behind” his normal offseason schedule.
The 40-year-old said that he usually stops throwing for a while after the season and when he first picked up the ball and started throwing again his “shoulder didn’t feel so great” so he had to be more diligent about his build up. While he doesn’t appear concerned and stated that he simply is learning to adjust his preparation as he gets older, it’s certainly a situation to monitor given his age and previous injuries. He said it was “too far down the line” to tell if he could miss Opening Day, but we should be on mild alert.
https://www.nbcsports.com/mlb/justin-verlander/48244
Alex Cobb (hip) is at Giants spring training but has not been cleared to throw off a mound yet.
Cobb is coming off offseason hip surgery which removed several bone chips. He claims that his hip feels great, but doctors have not yet cleared him to throw off a mound. He hopes that will come soon and that he can progress to facing live hitters by the end of camp. He will, obviously, not be ready for the start of the season, but if he progresses as he hopes, he should start a rehab assignment not long after training camp ends, which would mean he could return to the Giants before June, if all goes well.
https://www.nbcsports.com/mlb/alex-cobb/49238
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Padres
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- Name: Jim Berger
Re: 2024 Padres non-prospects news and notes
It’s not that J.T. Realmuto was skeptical last November before he stepped into the lab housed at the Carpenter Complex. He just was not sure how much it could help him. He lives on the beach in the offseason, about 20 minutes from the Phillies’ campus, and Realmuto knew this much: He had to close a hole in his swing that pitchers exploited.
So, he started hitting earlier than ever. “It shows how unhappy he was with how things went,” Phillies hitting coach Kevin Long said. Realmuto struck out last season at a higher rate than ever before. He posted his lowest OPS since his rookie year.
He asked the team if he could try its biomechanics lab, which is loaded with high-speed cameras and force plates. The Phillies weren’t going to foist it upon Realmuto. But they were hoping he would consider it.
“With technology,” Realmuto said, “there’s no excuse to not get better.”
This flaw in Realmuto’s swing was no secret last season. It appeared on scouting reports. The Phillies attempted fixes with Realmuto, but they never stuck. At one point last summer, Long told Realmuto to stop looking for the inside pitch, period.
Realmuto couldn’t do that.
“They were pitching me in a lot because I would swing at the ball this far off the plate in,” said Realmuto, as he held his hands more than 6 inches apart. “A lot of it had to do with my setup and being really open. Like, I saw the ball in well. But I couldn’t decipher where the strike zone was because I was starting so open. And by the time I was getting my swing off, my front hip would open up a little bit. So I would be flying open, which caused me to chase more.”
An in-season adjustment is easy to discuss but difficult to implement. For years, Long has wanted Realmuto to quiet his leg kick, which became higher and higher in 2023 as the veteran catcher searched at the plate.
Then, when Realmuto stepped into the lab and saw data that reinforced how his body was working against him, he was curious. Long pulled video from when Realmuto was at his best — different parts of different seasons — and it led to an enlightening discovery.
“My leg lift wasn’t always the same,” Realmuto said, “but my hands were getting to their launching position earlier than I was most of the time last year. So if I could get my hands to where I need to launch, I’d be in a lot better position.
“The higher leg kick was a byproduct of me having to get my hands in a better spot.”
Realmuto is in a race against time, one that he acknowledges but also resists. Catchers are not supposed to age well. When a 32-year-old catcher has one of his worst seasons at the plate, the conclusions are natural. Maybe they are justified.
Realmuto, who turns 33 in March and is signed through 2025, is convinced he uncovered something. So, he’ll look different in the batter’s box in 2024.
“I don’t want to regress with age,” Realmuto said. “I don’t want to be one of the catchers who they’re like, ‘Oh, you know, at 34 or 35, he really fell off. You saw a drastic dip.’ I don’t want to be that guy. I want to be able to play at a very high level as long as I possibly can. So I think this is something that’ll help us.”
Realmuto hit at the lab three times a week in November. He worked with Rob Segedin, a former big-league utilityman who now has one of the fanciest titles in the Phillies organization: director of integrative baseball performance and strategic initiatives. Segedin oversees the burgeoning biomechanics program. The Phillies believe it’s an important development tool; they are among MLB teams leading in this realm.
No one was looking to overhaul Realmuto. He is a golfer — probably the best one in the Phillies’ clubhouse — and he played in the Farmers Insurance Open pro-am at Torrey Pines over the winter. Biomechanic analyses have become the standard in that sport. If he was going to try something, November was the perfect time.
Realmuto took hacks using his old swing for a baseline. He worked with Segedin on more efficient movements. Then, he went to Oklahoma for the holidays. Long provided Rafael Pena, the club’s new assistant hitting coach who happens to live in Oklahoma City during the offseason, with some drills to do with Realmuto. The Phillies and Realmuto had reached a consensus; it just took a winding path to reach it.
“It was outstanding,” Long said. “And I love how it filtered through me and trickled its way through our system.”
In January, when Realmuto returned to the lab, the Phillies took updated measurements of his swing.
“We just put them side by side, looked at the different metrics and how much force I’m driving into the ground,” Realmuto said. “The numbers just kind of spoke for themselves. There’s a way to be more efficient. After a month, it started to feel more and more natural. Now it feels good.”
Realmuto wanted to be clear: This is not a dramatic reinvention.
“My hands are going to fire the same spot they’ve always fired,” he said. “But now they’re just going to get there easier. So my swing isn’t necessarily changing. My setup is going to allow me to get to my swing more often and easier.
“What it’s going to do is allow me to be on time and make better decisions. When I’m struggling, that’s why I’m fighting — being on time. And then when I’m not on time, I make bad swing decisions. That’s what we’re trying to combat.”
J.T. Realmuto posted a career-high strikeout rate (25.6 percent) last season. (Eric Hartline / USA Today)
Until he proves otherwise, pitchers will probably continue to attack him inside.
... As far as Realmuto is concerned, this is not a physical issue. He’s started 130 games at catcher in each of the past two seasons and that is the number he’s targeted again for 2024. There won’t be a debate about this. “He’s in great shape,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “It’s tough to take him out of the lineup.” If Realmuto’s swing adjustments don’t lead to better results, maybe the Phillies reassess. Realmuto seemed to benefit in 2023 whenever he had occasional rest. The Phillies are not convinced that is correlated.
The issues at the plate, in Realmuto’s mind, were born from bad habits that are correctable. His average exit velocity and line-drive rates were all in line with his career norms. He just missed too many pitches.
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“If you’re not able to make adjustments, you’re going to get left in the dust, especially as you get older,” Realmuto said. “Your body changes. Your reaction time changes. So you have to make those adjustments and almost relearn yourself every year of how you’re feeling, how you’re competing, what’s working, what’s not. This game is hard enough. If you’re stubborn in this game, it just gets even harder.”
That extends to the defensive side; Realmuto did not grade well in framing metrics last season. It’s a point of emphasis this spring. Third-base coach Dusty Wathan, who oversees the catchers, is working with Realmuto to be a little more aggressive when receiving certain pitches. It’s harder to frame a pitching staff that throws hard and does not always have good command. But there are specifics Realmuto can refine.
“I mean, if a guy is 28 years old and has a down year, people don’t say he’s aging,” Wathan said. “If a guy is 32 and he has a down year, people say he’s aging. So, why don’t we talk next spring?”
Wathan wasn’t being flippant; there is just confidence in Realmuto that is not reserved for most soon-to-be-33-year-old catchers. “He’s too good of an athlete still,” Long said. “I mean, he’s still running well. His body doesn’t look slow. It looks explosive. His mechanics needed to be. …” Long paused.
“Here’s the way I explain it to him,” Long said. “You’re using all these movements and guess what? You’re still really damn good. Like, one of the best (catchers) in our era that’s been out there hitting-wise. But you’re making it hard — with a very athletic person. So why can’t we make it a little bit easier?”
The message finally stuck. The test is maintaining conviction in the changes throughout the spring. “There will still be some growing pains,” Long said. Realmuto, in the past, hasn’t always had patience with change.
“It feels good right now,” Realmuto said. “Obviously, we’ll see how it feels once I get in a game and you actually have to make decisions.”
Long chides Realmuto about his bullheadedness. “We’re going to ditch it all,” Long said after a few down days earlier this month. Realmuto laughed. In the past, maybe. There is still work to be done.
“We joke about it,” Long said. “But, deep down inside, I think he knows that this is really going to help him.”
https://theathletic.com/5287706/2024/02 ... ed-article
So, he started hitting earlier than ever. “It shows how unhappy he was with how things went,” Phillies hitting coach Kevin Long said. Realmuto struck out last season at a higher rate than ever before. He posted his lowest OPS since his rookie year.
He asked the team if he could try its biomechanics lab, which is loaded with high-speed cameras and force plates. The Phillies weren’t going to foist it upon Realmuto. But they were hoping he would consider it.
“With technology,” Realmuto said, “there’s no excuse to not get better.”
This flaw in Realmuto’s swing was no secret last season. It appeared on scouting reports. The Phillies attempted fixes with Realmuto, but they never stuck. At one point last summer, Long told Realmuto to stop looking for the inside pitch, period.
Realmuto couldn’t do that.
“They were pitching me in a lot because I would swing at the ball this far off the plate in,” said Realmuto, as he held his hands more than 6 inches apart. “A lot of it had to do with my setup and being really open. Like, I saw the ball in well. But I couldn’t decipher where the strike zone was because I was starting so open. And by the time I was getting my swing off, my front hip would open up a little bit. So I would be flying open, which caused me to chase more.”
An in-season adjustment is easy to discuss but difficult to implement. For years, Long has wanted Realmuto to quiet his leg kick, which became higher and higher in 2023 as the veteran catcher searched at the plate.
Then, when Realmuto stepped into the lab and saw data that reinforced how his body was working against him, he was curious. Long pulled video from when Realmuto was at his best — different parts of different seasons — and it led to an enlightening discovery.
“My leg lift wasn’t always the same,” Realmuto said, “but my hands were getting to their launching position earlier than I was most of the time last year. So if I could get my hands to where I need to launch, I’d be in a lot better position.
“The higher leg kick was a byproduct of me having to get my hands in a better spot.”
Realmuto is in a race against time, one that he acknowledges but also resists. Catchers are not supposed to age well. When a 32-year-old catcher has one of his worst seasons at the plate, the conclusions are natural. Maybe they are justified.
Realmuto, who turns 33 in March and is signed through 2025, is convinced he uncovered something. So, he’ll look different in the batter’s box in 2024.
“I don’t want to regress with age,” Realmuto said. “I don’t want to be one of the catchers who they’re like, ‘Oh, you know, at 34 or 35, he really fell off. You saw a drastic dip.’ I don’t want to be that guy. I want to be able to play at a very high level as long as I possibly can. So I think this is something that’ll help us.”
Realmuto hit at the lab three times a week in November. He worked with Rob Segedin, a former big-league utilityman who now has one of the fanciest titles in the Phillies organization: director of integrative baseball performance and strategic initiatives. Segedin oversees the burgeoning biomechanics program. The Phillies believe it’s an important development tool; they are among MLB teams leading in this realm.
No one was looking to overhaul Realmuto. He is a golfer — probably the best one in the Phillies’ clubhouse — and he played in the Farmers Insurance Open pro-am at Torrey Pines over the winter. Biomechanic analyses have become the standard in that sport. If he was going to try something, November was the perfect time.
Realmuto took hacks using his old swing for a baseline. He worked with Segedin on more efficient movements. Then, he went to Oklahoma for the holidays. Long provided Rafael Pena, the club’s new assistant hitting coach who happens to live in Oklahoma City during the offseason, with some drills to do with Realmuto. The Phillies and Realmuto had reached a consensus; it just took a winding path to reach it.
“It was outstanding,” Long said. “And I love how it filtered through me and trickled its way through our system.”
In January, when Realmuto returned to the lab, the Phillies took updated measurements of his swing.
“We just put them side by side, looked at the different metrics and how much force I’m driving into the ground,” Realmuto said. “The numbers just kind of spoke for themselves. There’s a way to be more efficient. After a month, it started to feel more and more natural. Now it feels good.”
Realmuto wanted to be clear: This is not a dramatic reinvention.
“My hands are going to fire the same spot they’ve always fired,” he said. “But now they’re just going to get there easier. So my swing isn’t necessarily changing. My setup is going to allow me to get to my swing more often and easier.
“What it’s going to do is allow me to be on time and make better decisions. When I’m struggling, that’s why I’m fighting — being on time. And then when I’m not on time, I make bad swing decisions. That’s what we’re trying to combat.”
J.T. Realmuto posted a career-high strikeout rate (25.6 percent) last season. (Eric Hartline / USA Today)
Until he proves otherwise, pitchers will probably continue to attack him inside.
... As far as Realmuto is concerned, this is not a physical issue. He’s started 130 games at catcher in each of the past two seasons and that is the number he’s targeted again for 2024. There won’t be a debate about this. “He’s in great shape,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “It’s tough to take him out of the lineup.” If Realmuto’s swing adjustments don’t lead to better results, maybe the Phillies reassess. Realmuto seemed to benefit in 2023 whenever he had occasional rest. The Phillies are not convinced that is correlated.
The issues at the plate, in Realmuto’s mind, were born from bad habits that are correctable. His average exit velocity and line-drive rates were all in line with his career norms. He just missed too many pitches.
Advertisement
“If you’re not able to make adjustments, you’re going to get left in the dust, especially as you get older,” Realmuto said. “Your body changes. Your reaction time changes. So you have to make those adjustments and almost relearn yourself every year of how you’re feeling, how you’re competing, what’s working, what’s not. This game is hard enough. If you’re stubborn in this game, it just gets even harder.”
That extends to the defensive side; Realmuto did not grade well in framing metrics last season. It’s a point of emphasis this spring. Third-base coach Dusty Wathan, who oversees the catchers, is working with Realmuto to be a little more aggressive when receiving certain pitches. It’s harder to frame a pitching staff that throws hard and does not always have good command. But there are specifics Realmuto can refine.
“I mean, if a guy is 28 years old and has a down year, people don’t say he’s aging,” Wathan said. “If a guy is 32 and he has a down year, people say he’s aging. So, why don’t we talk next spring?”
Wathan wasn’t being flippant; there is just confidence in Realmuto that is not reserved for most soon-to-be-33-year-old catchers. “He’s too good of an athlete still,” Long said. “I mean, he’s still running well. His body doesn’t look slow. It looks explosive. His mechanics needed to be. …” Long paused.
“Here’s the way I explain it to him,” Long said. “You’re using all these movements and guess what? You’re still really damn good. Like, one of the best (catchers) in our era that’s been out there hitting-wise. But you’re making it hard — with a very athletic person. So why can’t we make it a little bit easier?”
The message finally stuck. The test is maintaining conviction in the changes throughout the spring. “There will still be some growing pains,” Long said. Realmuto, in the past, hasn’t always had patience with change.
“It feels good right now,” Realmuto said. “Obviously, we’ll see how it feels once I get in a game and you actually have to make decisions.”
Long chides Realmuto about his bullheadedness. “We’re going to ditch it all,” Long said after a few down days earlier this month. Realmuto laughed. In the past, maybe. There is still work to be done.
“We joke about it,” Long said. “But, deep down inside, I think he knows that this is really going to help him.”
https://theathletic.com/5287706/2024/02 ... ed-article
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Padres
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Re: 2024 Padres non-prospects news and notes
Tyler Matzek isn’t completely back to being himself yet. But he’s back, and that’s all that matters as he aims to regain the dominance he displayed before missing last year while recovering from Tommy John surgery.
Matzek successfully passed another hurdle on Monday, when he made his spring debut against the Orioles. His one-inning stint marked the first time he pitched against opponents since his injury-riddled 2022 season concluded with the revelation he would miss all of '23.
“My body is recovering well, honestly, better than I was expecting,” Matzek said. “I feel really good. I’m happy with it right now.”
That’s really all Braves manager Brian Snitker wanted to hear after watching Matzek pitch a scoreless inning against the Orioles. His fastball velocity was 91-95 miles per hour, and the hit he allowed was a triple that a leaping Jarred Kelenic prevented from clearing the outfield wall.
But this was just the beginning for Matzek, one of the Braves’ top relievers during the 2020 and ’21 seasons.
“You want him to feel good about it and be right,” Snitker said. “It’s going to take him a while to build up. As long as he stays healthy and can make each [Spring Training] appearance, I think everything else will take care of itself. Right now, everything looks really good.”
There’s a chance the Braves will give Matzek a chance to make a few April appearances with Triple-A Gwinnett before putting him on Atlanta’s roster. But the veteran left-hander is going to make more appearances than normal Spring Training. Matzek believes this will give him and the team a chance to know if he would indeed be ready for a regular relief role at the start of the regular season.
“If I continue down this path where I’m bouncing back real well, doing my back-to-back appearances and my three-out-of-fours, there will be no need to slow down the process,” Matzek said. “Starting on the IL was more of an, ‘If I need to,’ which right now, it doesn’t look like it. But if I need to, it’s more important to take two weeks at the start of the season than to take two weeks in the middle of the season because something is flaring up.”
Regardless of whether Matzek is ready for Opening Day, Atlanta is confident he will be an asset within what should be one of the game’s top bullpens.
https://www.mlb.com/news/tyler-matzek-p ... -test-2024
Matzek successfully passed another hurdle on Monday, when he made his spring debut against the Orioles. His one-inning stint marked the first time he pitched against opponents since his injury-riddled 2022 season concluded with the revelation he would miss all of '23.
“My body is recovering well, honestly, better than I was expecting,” Matzek said. “I feel really good. I’m happy with it right now.”
That’s really all Braves manager Brian Snitker wanted to hear after watching Matzek pitch a scoreless inning against the Orioles. His fastball velocity was 91-95 miles per hour, and the hit he allowed was a triple that a leaping Jarred Kelenic prevented from clearing the outfield wall.
But this was just the beginning for Matzek, one of the Braves’ top relievers during the 2020 and ’21 seasons.
“You want him to feel good about it and be right,” Snitker said. “It’s going to take him a while to build up. As long as he stays healthy and can make each [Spring Training] appearance, I think everything else will take care of itself. Right now, everything looks really good.”
There’s a chance the Braves will give Matzek a chance to make a few April appearances with Triple-A Gwinnett before putting him on Atlanta’s roster. But the veteran left-hander is going to make more appearances than normal Spring Training. Matzek believes this will give him and the team a chance to know if he would indeed be ready for a regular relief role at the start of the regular season.
“If I continue down this path where I’m bouncing back real well, doing my back-to-back appearances and my three-out-of-fours, there will be no need to slow down the process,” Matzek said. “Starting on the IL was more of an, ‘If I need to,’ which right now, it doesn’t look like it. But if I need to, it’s more important to take two weeks at the start of the season than to take two weeks in the middle of the season because something is flaring up.”
Regardless of whether Matzek is ready for Opening Day, Atlanta is confident he will be an asset within what should be one of the game’s top bullpens.
https://www.mlb.com/news/tyler-matzek-p ... -test-2024
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Padres
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Re: 2024 Padres non-prospects news and notes
Damn ... here we go again ... these guys are joining Alex Cobb on the season opening IL
Astros manager Joe Espada told reporters Justin Verlander will begin the season on the injured list.
Verlander has been dealing with shoulder soreness this offseason and ultimately the club decided to have him get right before going on the mound for the 2024 regular season. Espada added that Verlander hasn’t had any setbacks, he just needs more time in his build up. The 41-year-old should see a dip in fantasy value in drafts given his unavailability out the gate and should monitor how long he could be out for to start the year.
https://www.nbcsports.com/mlb/justin-verlander/48244
Skip Schumaker said Braxton Garrett is unlikely for the Opening Day roster.
Garrett is still dealing with shoulder soreness from earlier in camp. Even though he is throwing bullpen sessions, he hasn’t progressed to live batting practice. Schumaker added that the 26-year-old feels great, but thinks it’s dangerous to push Garrett. The right-hander pitched a career-high 159 2/3 innings last season with an impressive 156/29 K/BB ratio.
https://www.nbcsports.com/mlb/braxton-garrett/49066
Giants general manager Farhan Zaidi told reporters Alex Cobb (hip) is due back “relatively soon” into the season.
There’s certainly optimism Cobb won’t require a lengthy trip to the injured list to open the season as he continues to work his way back from offseason hip surgery to repair a torn labrum and remove bone chips. The 36-year-old veteran righty was excellent last year on a per-start basis, when healthy, and is still worthy of a speculative stash for fantasy managers in deeper mixed leagues.
https://www.nbcsports.com/mlb/alex-cobb/49238
Astros manager Joe Espada told reporters Justin Verlander will begin the season on the injured list.
Verlander has been dealing with shoulder soreness this offseason and ultimately the club decided to have him get right before going on the mound for the 2024 regular season. Espada added that Verlander hasn’t had any setbacks, he just needs more time in his build up. The 41-year-old should see a dip in fantasy value in drafts given his unavailability out the gate and should monitor how long he could be out for to start the year.
https://www.nbcsports.com/mlb/justin-verlander/48244
Skip Schumaker said Braxton Garrett is unlikely for the Opening Day roster.
Garrett is still dealing with shoulder soreness from earlier in camp. Even though he is throwing bullpen sessions, he hasn’t progressed to live batting practice. Schumaker added that the 26-year-old feels great, but thinks it’s dangerous to push Garrett. The right-hander pitched a career-high 159 2/3 innings last season with an impressive 156/29 K/BB ratio.
https://www.nbcsports.com/mlb/braxton-garrett/49066
Giants general manager Farhan Zaidi told reporters Alex Cobb (hip) is due back “relatively soon” into the season.
There’s certainly optimism Cobb won’t require a lengthy trip to the injured list to open the season as he continues to work his way back from offseason hip surgery to repair a torn labrum and remove bone chips. The 36-year-old veteran righty was excellent last year on a per-start basis, when healthy, and is still worthy of a speculative stash for fantasy managers in deeper mixed leagues.
https://www.nbcsports.com/mlb/alex-cobb/49238
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Padres
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Re: 2024 Padres non-prospects news and notes
The Houston Astros are in an unfamiliar situation: five games under .500 with Memorial Day approaching in the distance like a looming mountain out an airplane window. And they’ve won nine of their past 11 to even get that close.
The Astros have had their ups and downs during their ongoing run of seven straight ALCS appearances, including a season in which they finished under .500 but came within a game of making the World Series anyway. But barring another pandemic — which might well happen if you jokers keep drinking unpasteurized milk — that isn’t going to cut it in 2024.
Houston’s run over the past decade is a great illustration of the Ship of Theseus paradox. (Really more of a Spaceship of Theseus in this case. Because they’re the Astros.) Since 2015, there have been something like seven or eight players who could’ve reasonably been called the Astros’ best player for at least half a season. Most of them aren’t on the team anymore; some of them aren’t even in the league anymore.
Now, it is undoubtedly Kyle Tucker’s turn.
It’s not like Tucker came from nowhere; he was a top-five pick in the draft and a top-five MVP vote-getter last year. He had a rough first season in the majors; he hit .141/.236/.203 in 28 games in 2018, and looked skinny and a little lost on the way to that unimpressive line. This was my last season living and working in Houston, and I held onto that negative first impression longer than I should have, but by the end of 2020, Tucker was clearly an All-Star-caliber right fielder. And freakishly consistent one at that. Here are his past four seasons, with his 2020 numbers expanded to fit a 162-game schedule.
The Amazingly Consistent Kyle Tucker
Season G PA HR R RBI SB AVG OBP SLG wRC+ WAR
2020* 157 616 24 89 113 22 .268 .325 .512 122 4.9
2021 140 567 30 83 92 14 .294 .359 .557 146 5.0
2022 150 609 30 71 107 25 .257 .330 .478 129 4.9
2023 157 674 29 97 112 30 .284 .369 .517 140 4.9
*Adjusted for 162-game schedule
We came into 2024 knowing what Tucker is: an All-Star-level right fielder, year in and year out. He’s a 30-30 threat, by virtue of once having hit exactly 30 homers and stolen exactly 30 bases, but not in the same season. He plays a solid defensive right field. Probably not a future MVP or Hall of Famer — unless he could continue to put up exactly 5.0 WAR every year into his late 30s — but a very, very good player. A less swole Matt Holliday, perhaps.
So now that we’re almost two months into the 2024 season, I want to know who this guy is and what he’s doing wearing Tucker’s uniform.
The Alien Wearing Kyle Tucker’s Skin
G PA HR SB BB% K% AVG OBP SLG wRC+ WAR
46 205 15 7 18.0 17.1 .284 .417 .623 192 3.0
I’ll save you the trouble of doing the math: The most consistent 5 WAR player ever created is on pace for 10.3 WAR this season, per our On-Pace leaderboards.
Even this far into the season, when a really good player hits like an MVP for a couple months, it could be noise. But there are four components to Tucker’s game that have changed this season and lead me to believe these two months are — at least to some extent — durable. (All stats from this point forward are current through Saturday’s games unless stated otherwise. So as you gawk at Tucker’s batted ball numbers, bear in mind that there are two home runs on his record that aren’t represented here.)
The first is a massive drop in swing rate and O-Swing%. Since 2020, Tucker has always been a fairly disciplined hitter, and he’s become more so as he’s matured. In 2023, he was in the 86th percentile in chase rate and the 85th percentile in walk rate.
He’s now in the 98th percentile in chase rate. Does that mean he’s swinging and missing less? No, in fact, Tucker’s whiff rate is actually up about a point and a half from where it was in 2023, but that was a career low. Whiff rate, like everything else about Tucker, has been pretty consistent, never more than 2.5 percentage points away from 20% since 2020.
And while Tucker is swinging and missing (slightly) more, he’s also taking more pitches for strikes. His called strike percentage is the highest of any full season in his career. Because Tucker’s swing rate is down, across the board.
Tucker is swinging less within the strike zone — hence the increase in called strike percentage — but as I’ve said his chase rate has gone down by a proportion that mathematicians refer to as “a buttload.” He’s now the second-most selective hitter in baseball on pitches outside the zone, and his overall swing rate has dropped from the high 40s, which is pretty average, to almost 40% exactly.
Now, what’s an obvious downstream effect of swinging less? Walking more, of course, and Tucker is doing that too. That’s change no. 2. Last season marked the first time in his career that Tucker posted a double-digit walk rate. Through eight weeks of the 2024 campaign, he has the highest walk rate of any qualified hitter in baseball. That’s an instant 50-point bump in OBP, which would be enough to change the entire outlook of Tucker’s career on its own. The sell for Tucker heading into this season was that he was a potential 30-30 guy and good defender in right field, with an OBP of .350 or .360. Which is impressive, but by no means unique. That same player but with a .400 OBP or higher is… somewhere between 2018 Christian Yelich and Mookie Betts, I guess?
But wait, there’s more. The third change: He’s hitting even more balls in the air.
Tucker, who was already a pretty fly ball-happy hitter, has taken it to the extreme this year. His GB/FB ratio and FB% are both in the top five in baseball. On hard-hit balls, he’s putting three in the air for every one on the ground. He doesn’t have the extreme pull-happy fly ball power of someone like Isaac Paredes, but as a left-handed hitter who plays half his games in Minute Maid Park, that’s not a problem. Houston is the land of kolaches and cheap left field home runs. Observe.
Tucker still did a number on this pitch, but according to Baseball Savant, Minute Maid Park is the only stadium in the majors this ball would’ve gotten out of. But knowing one’s surroundings is a useful skill for a hitter; Tucker should no more be impugned for taking advantage of the Crawford Boxes than should David Ortiz lose all the doubles he pinged off the Green Monster or the home runs he hit over it.
And, as always, if you’re hitting the ball in the air, it helps to hit it hard. Tucker has been an excellent fastball hitter for years, so point no. 4 is more of an evolution than a new frontier. Nevertheless, Tucker is slugging .820 against four-seamers through Sunday. According to Baseball Savant, he’s 12 runs above average against four-seamers, which is the highest number for any batter against any individual pitch type.
Including Sunday’s action, Tucker has nine strikeouts this year off four-seamers against eight home runs (and six doubles and six singles). In the Statcast era, Tucker’s current slugging percentage against four-seamers would be tied for the second-highest by a hitter over a full season.
Best SLG vs. Four-Seamers, Statcast Era
Player Year SLG Notes
George Springer 2019 .845 Hit 39 HR
Chris Davis 2015 .820 Led MLB with 47 HR
Aaron Judge 2017 .819 Led AL with 52 HR, Won RoY, MVP Runner-Up
Juan Soto 2018 .810 RoY Runner-Up
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 2021 .803 Led MLB with 48 HR, MVP Runner-Up
Aaron Judge 2022 .802 Led MLB with 62 HR, Won MVP
Shohei Ohtani 2023 .788 Won MVP
SOURCE: Baseball Savant
Minimum 2,000 total pitches faced
With the four-seam fastball being the most common pitch in the sport, it seems like a good sign when a hitter tees off on it.
You’ll notice that two of the six names on that list are the recipients of two of the three richest contracts in baseball history, and Soto will surely make it three of four this offseason. Most of the free agent anxiety around Houston these days revolves around Alex Bregman, and rightly so, as his contract is up after this season.
But Tucker’s only under team control through 2025, at which point he’ll be a free agent after his age-28 season, which is fairly young. Even if he reverts to “merely” the player he was before, he’d be in for an enormous payday. Springer, for example, got six years and $150 million from Toronto despite being two years older than Tucker will be when he hits free agency. That’s setting aside five years of inflation, and the argument that even the lesser version of Tucker, the consistent five-win player, might be a more attractive free agent proposition.
When I first thought of writing about Tucker, it was with the intention of cheekily insinuating that he might be a good candidate for Houston to trade in order to kickstart its first rebuild in over a decade. Now, the Astros have gotten hot and reinserted themselves into the AL West picture. But even if that weren’t the case, Tucker might be moving himself from the tier of players you trade in a fire sale to the tier of players you keep no matter the cost.
https://blogs.fangraphs.com/tuck-on-rol ... st-player/
The Astros have had their ups and downs during their ongoing run of seven straight ALCS appearances, including a season in which they finished under .500 but came within a game of making the World Series anyway. But barring another pandemic — which might well happen if you jokers keep drinking unpasteurized milk — that isn’t going to cut it in 2024.
Houston’s run over the past decade is a great illustration of the Ship of Theseus paradox. (Really more of a Spaceship of Theseus in this case. Because they’re the Astros.) Since 2015, there have been something like seven or eight players who could’ve reasonably been called the Astros’ best player for at least half a season. Most of them aren’t on the team anymore; some of them aren’t even in the league anymore.
Now, it is undoubtedly Kyle Tucker’s turn.
It’s not like Tucker came from nowhere; he was a top-five pick in the draft and a top-five MVP vote-getter last year. He had a rough first season in the majors; he hit .141/.236/.203 in 28 games in 2018, and looked skinny and a little lost on the way to that unimpressive line. This was my last season living and working in Houston, and I held onto that negative first impression longer than I should have, but by the end of 2020, Tucker was clearly an All-Star-caliber right fielder. And freakishly consistent one at that. Here are his past four seasons, with his 2020 numbers expanded to fit a 162-game schedule.
The Amazingly Consistent Kyle Tucker
Season G PA HR R RBI SB AVG OBP SLG wRC+ WAR
2020* 157 616 24 89 113 22 .268 .325 .512 122 4.9
2021 140 567 30 83 92 14 .294 .359 .557 146 5.0
2022 150 609 30 71 107 25 .257 .330 .478 129 4.9
2023 157 674 29 97 112 30 .284 .369 .517 140 4.9
*Adjusted for 162-game schedule
We came into 2024 knowing what Tucker is: an All-Star-level right fielder, year in and year out. He’s a 30-30 threat, by virtue of once having hit exactly 30 homers and stolen exactly 30 bases, but not in the same season. He plays a solid defensive right field. Probably not a future MVP or Hall of Famer — unless he could continue to put up exactly 5.0 WAR every year into his late 30s — but a very, very good player. A less swole Matt Holliday, perhaps.
So now that we’re almost two months into the 2024 season, I want to know who this guy is and what he’s doing wearing Tucker’s uniform.
The Alien Wearing Kyle Tucker’s Skin
G PA HR SB BB% K% AVG OBP SLG wRC+ WAR
46 205 15 7 18.0 17.1 .284 .417 .623 192 3.0
I’ll save you the trouble of doing the math: The most consistent 5 WAR player ever created is on pace for 10.3 WAR this season, per our On-Pace leaderboards.
Even this far into the season, when a really good player hits like an MVP for a couple months, it could be noise. But there are four components to Tucker’s game that have changed this season and lead me to believe these two months are — at least to some extent — durable. (All stats from this point forward are current through Saturday’s games unless stated otherwise. So as you gawk at Tucker’s batted ball numbers, bear in mind that there are two home runs on his record that aren’t represented here.)
The first is a massive drop in swing rate and O-Swing%. Since 2020, Tucker has always been a fairly disciplined hitter, and he’s become more so as he’s matured. In 2023, he was in the 86th percentile in chase rate and the 85th percentile in walk rate.
He’s now in the 98th percentile in chase rate. Does that mean he’s swinging and missing less? No, in fact, Tucker’s whiff rate is actually up about a point and a half from where it was in 2023, but that was a career low. Whiff rate, like everything else about Tucker, has been pretty consistent, never more than 2.5 percentage points away from 20% since 2020.
And while Tucker is swinging and missing (slightly) more, he’s also taking more pitches for strikes. His called strike percentage is the highest of any full season in his career. Because Tucker’s swing rate is down, across the board.
Tucker is swinging less within the strike zone — hence the increase in called strike percentage — but as I’ve said his chase rate has gone down by a proportion that mathematicians refer to as “a buttload.” He’s now the second-most selective hitter in baseball on pitches outside the zone, and his overall swing rate has dropped from the high 40s, which is pretty average, to almost 40% exactly.
Now, what’s an obvious downstream effect of swinging less? Walking more, of course, and Tucker is doing that too. That’s change no. 2. Last season marked the first time in his career that Tucker posted a double-digit walk rate. Through eight weeks of the 2024 campaign, he has the highest walk rate of any qualified hitter in baseball. That’s an instant 50-point bump in OBP, which would be enough to change the entire outlook of Tucker’s career on its own. The sell for Tucker heading into this season was that he was a potential 30-30 guy and good defender in right field, with an OBP of .350 or .360. Which is impressive, but by no means unique. That same player but with a .400 OBP or higher is… somewhere between 2018 Christian Yelich and Mookie Betts, I guess?
But wait, there’s more. The third change: He’s hitting even more balls in the air.
Tucker, who was already a pretty fly ball-happy hitter, has taken it to the extreme this year. His GB/FB ratio and FB% are both in the top five in baseball. On hard-hit balls, he’s putting three in the air for every one on the ground. He doesn’t have the extreme pull-happy fly ball power of someone like Isaac Paredes, but as a left-handed hitter who plays half his games in Minute Maid Park, that’s not a problem. Houston is the land of kolaches and cheap left field home runs. Observe.
Tucker still did a number on this pitch, but according to Baseball Savant, Minute Maid Park is the only stadium in the majors this ball would’ve gotten out of. But knowing one’s surroundings is a useful skill for a hitter; Tucker should no more be impugned for taking advantage of the Crawford Boxes than should David Ortiz lose all the doubles he pinged off the Green Monster or the home runs he hit over it.
And, as always, if you’re hitting the ball in the air, it helps to hit it hard. Tucker has been an excellent fastball hitter for years, so point no. 4 is more of an evolution than a new frontier. Nevertheless, Tucker is slugging .820 against four-seamers through Sunday. According to Baseball Savant, he’s 12 runs above average against four-seamers, which is the highest number for any batter against any individual pitch type.
Including Sunday’s action, Tucker has nine strikeouts this year off four-seamers against eight home runs (and six doubles and six singles). In the Statcast era, Tucker’s current slugging percentage against four-seamers would be tied for the second-highest by a hitter over a full season.
Best SLG vs. Four-Seamers, Statcast Era
Player Year SLG Notes
George Springer 2019 .845 Hit 39 HR
Chris Davis 2015 .820 Led MLB with 47 HR
Aaron Judge 2017 .819 Led AL with 52 HR, Won RoY, MVP Runner-Up
Juan Soto 2018 .810 RoY Runner-Up
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 2021 .803 Led MLB with 48 HR, MVP Runner-Up
Aaron Judge 2022 .802 Led MLB with 62 HR, Won MVP
Shohei Ohtani 2023 .788 Won MVP
SOURCE: Baseball Savant
Minimum 2,000 total pitches faced
With the four-seam fastball being the most common pitch in the sport, it seems like a good sign when a hitter tees off on it.
You’ll notice that two of the six names on that list are the recipients of two of the three richest contracts in baseball history, and Soto will surely make it three of four this offseason. Most of the free agent anxiety around Houston these days revolves around Alex Bregman, and rightly so, as his contract is up after this season.
But Tucker’s only under team control through 2025, at which point he’ll be a free agent after his age-28 season, which is fairly young. Even if he reverts to “merely” the player he was before, he’d be in for an enormous payday. Springer, for example, got six years and $150 million from Toronto despite being two years older than Tucker will be when he hits free agency. That’s setting aside five years of inflation, and the argument that even the lesser version of Tucker, the consistent five-win player, might be a more attractive free agent proposition.
When I first thought of writing about Tucker, it was with the intention of cheekily insinuating that he might be a good candidate for Houston to trade in order to kickstart its first rebuild in over a decade. Now, the Astros have gotten hot and reinserted themselves into the AL West picture. But even if that weren’t the case, Tucker might be moving himself from the tier of players you trade in a fire sale to the tier of players you keep no matter the cost.
https://blogs.fangraphs.com/tuck-on-rol ... st-player/
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Padres
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Re: 2024 Padres non-prospects news and notes
MINNEAPOLIS — Jose Miranda’s streak of consecutive at-bats with a hit was briefly paused at 10 when Houston Astros starter Hunter Brown plunked the Minnesota Twins third baseman on the left hand with a 96 mph pitch in the first inning Saturday.
Miranda stayed in the game following a long visit from Twins head athletic trainer Nick Paparesta, repeatedly flexing and shaking his hand in obvious discomfort.
And then in the second inning Miranda delivered an RBI single to make it 11 straight at-bats with a hit, tying Bernie Williams (2002) and Dustin Pedroia (2016) for the modern MLB record. But he wasn’t done yet.
Miranda singled again in the fourth inning to tie Johnny Kling (1902), Pinky Higgins (1938) and Walt Dropo (1952) for the all-time MLB record with hits in 12 straight at-bats. During the 12-for-12 streak, Miranda has raised his batting average from .294 to .329.
Including the hit-by-pitch, Miranda has also set a new Twins record by reaching base safely in 13 consecutive plate appearances.
Miranda, who missed much of last season with a shoulder injury that eventually required surgery, has been one of the biggest driving forces behind a resurgent Twins lineup that leads the American League in runs scored and OPS since mid-April.
Called up from the minors on April 8, he’s hit .329/.372/.533 with nine homers, 20 doubles and 41 RBIs in 72 games while playing third base, first base and designated hitter.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/562074 ... its-twins/
Miranda stayed in the game following a long visit from Twins head athletic trainer Nick Paparesta, repeatedly flexing and shaking his hand in obvious discomfort.
And then in the second inning Miranda delivered an RBI single to make it 11 straight at-bats with a hit, tying Bernie Williams (2002) and Dustin Pedroia (2016) for the modern MLB record. But he wasn’t done yet.
Miranda singled again in the fourth inning to tie Johnny Kling (1902), Pinky Higgins (1938) and Walt Dropo (1952) for the all-time MLB record with hits in 12 straight at-bats. During the 12-for-12 streak, Miranda has raised his batting average from .294 to .329.
Including the hit-by-pitch, Miranda has also set a new Twins record by reaching base safely in 13 consecutive plate appearances.
Miranda, who missed much of last season with a shoulder injury that eventually required surgery, has been one of the biggest driving forces behind a resurgent Twins lineup that leads the American League in runs scored and OPS since mid-April.
Called up from the minors on April 8, he’s hit .329/.372/.533 with nine homers, 20 doubles and 41 RBIs in 72 games while playing third base, first base and designated hitter.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/562074 ... its-twins/
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Padres
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Re: 2024 Padres non-prospects news and notes
He may not be playing in Arlington tonight, but Christian Walker just wrapped up an All-Star level first half. The Diamondbacks first baseman came into the All-Star break ranked third in the National League with 22 home runs, fifth with 66 RBI, and among the top 15 qualified batters in wOBA (.357), xwOBA (.365), and wRC+ (131). His 10 OAA are third-most among NL fielders, while his 7 DRS, 4.1 UZR, and 8 FRV are all the top marks at his position. Thanks to his spectacular defensive performance, the two-time Gold Glove winner is the only qualified NL first baseman who has provided positive defensive value at first despite the hefty positional adjustment. On top of that, he has played in all 97 of Arizona’s games so far, putting him on pace for more than 700 plate appearances this season.
Add his offense, defense, and durability together and you get 2.9 WAR, which places Walker in the top 15 among NL position players and top 30 in the majors. Considering that 46 position players were invited to the Midsummer Classic this year, it’s hard to deny that Walker is having an All-Star worthy season. At the same time, it’s also hard to get too fired to up about his “snub.” Bryce Harper and Freddie Freeman have put up superior offensive numbers and WAR totals, rightfully earning the two guaranteed spots for first basemen on the NL roster. In addition, three NL players with more WAR and arguably even stronger All-Star cases than Walker were also left off the squad: Francisco Lindor, Brandon Nimmo, and Willy Adames. Finally, this isn’t even the most disappointing time Walker has missed out on a trip back to Globe Life Field within the past 10 months. Still, it’s a shame that Walker’s excellent first half will go unrewarded. At 33 years old, the late bloomer is putting together the best season of his career at the plate and in the field. Surely, that deserves to be celebrated.
At this point, Walker is used to being underestimated. He has been a regression candidate since the moment he first tasted big league success. Following his breakout rookie season in 2019 (111 wRC+, 3.0 WAR) ZiPS projected a step back in ’20; as Dan Szymborski put it, “The projections aren’t completely sold on Christian Walker, still seeing him as a league-average first baseman.”
It’s not difficult to understand why ZiPS was skeptical of Walker. At 29 years old, he had only one successful major league season under his belt, and no projection system could expect him to maintain his ridiculous defensive numbers at first base. ZiPS wasn’t wrong, either, as he took a significant step back in 2020 and an even bigger step back in ’21. Thus, the system was still skeptical of Walker after his second breakout season in 2022. Although Walker slugged 36 home runs, led first basemen with 14 OAA, and finished with 4.0 WAR, Dan included him on his list of ZiPS bust hitters entering 2023, describing him as “clearly not a star, just a good league-average first baseman coming off a peak year.” Yet, lo and behold, Walker almost perfectly replicated his 2022 season in ’23. He finished with a 120 wRC+ and 3.9 WAR, while deservedly winning his second Gold Glove in as many years. To be clear, I don’t bring this up to dunk on ZiPS, but rather to demonstrate how many times Walker has exceeded expectations in his unusual career.
Indeed, ZiPS underestimated Walker once again heading into 2024; he has already surpassed his preseason 2.7 WAR projection according to ZiPS Depth Charts. However, the fact that projection systems (and ZiPS is hardly the only one) keep selling Walker short is a feature, not a bug. A good projection system isn’t going to expect a career-best performance from a player as he enters his mid-30s. Projections systems are built on historical comps, and Walker has defied the typical progression of a major league career. In his age-33 season, he is on pace for career-highs in plate appearances, games played, home runs, RBI, runs scored, wOBA, xwOBA, wRC+, OAA, FRV, and WAR:
Christian Walker 2024 Pace
PA G HR RBI R wOBA xwOBA wRC+ OAA FRV WAR
701 162 37 110 97 .357 .365 131 17 13 4.9
When Walker spoke to David Laurila ahead of the 2023 season, he explained how “data and hard numbers” have helped him trust his process during difficult stretches. Missing out on an All-Star nod amid what could be the best season of his career is surely disappointing, but as long as he focuses on the data and hard numbers, he should be nothing but pleased with his first-half performance.
Underlying Walker’s career-best 131 wRC+ is a career-best 103.4 EV50 (the average exit velocity of the hardest 50% of his batted balls) and a career-best 36.3% sweet-spot rate, resulting in a career-best 15.7% barrel rate. He has also increased his pull rate and lowered his opposite field rate on fly balls. In fact, nearly all of his extra-base hits have been pulled this year, which stands out compared to last year, when he sprayed the ball to all fields:
This could be a warning sign that Walker is selling out to pull more fastballs as he ages. However, I’m not seeing many other indications of age-related decline. His bat speed is elite (92nd percentile), and his whiff rate remains essentially unchanged from last season. Moreover, he has done more damage on curveballs (+4 run value, per Baseball Savant), changeups (+4), and sweepers (+4) than he has on all other pitches this season. That’s not what you’d expect from a hitter sitting fastball.
That said, Walker is striking out noticeably more often this season (25.2%) than he did in 2023 (19.2%), to the point that no qualified NL batter has seen a larger increase in strikeout rate. However, it’s hard to worry too much about this development after looking at Walker’s underlying plate discipline data. Both his whiff rate (misses as a percentage of swings) and his swinging-strike rate (swings and misses as a percentage of all pitches) are ever so slightly down from last season. So is his chase rate. What’s more, his first-pitch strike rate is down from 60.2% to 55.7%. Only three qualified NL batters have seen a lower rate of first-pitch strikes this season, and no NL batter has started more plate appearances ahead in the count. As you’d expect, Walker has done quite well for himself when he starts out 1-0, posting a 186 wRC+. Unfortunately, he has been worse than in past years when he gets into an 0-1 hole (75 wRC+). But that’s been happening less often, so the tradeoff certainly seems to be worth it.
All this is to say, I’m inclined to believe Walker’s rising strikeout rate is the result of conscious decision-making at the plate rather than an inability to keep up with opposing pitchers. Consider this: Walker has been far more likely to whiff with two strikes this season than he was in 2022 or ’23, yet his wOBA, xwOBA, and run value in two-strike counts are all higher this year than in any other full season. My apologies if you’re tired of reading about all the ways in which Walker is having a career-best season, but you’re going to have to take that up with the man himself.
As luck would have it, Walker is enjoying this excellent season with his first foray into free agency on the horizon. Thus, his name has come up in a bit of trade speculation; earlier this month, Jon Heyman called Walker the Astros’ “dream target” ahead of the deadline. It seems unlikely that the reigning NL champs would sell this summer, especially not now that they are back above .500 and just a game behind the Mets for the final wild card spot, but it’s worth mentioning that on July 1 general manager Mike Hazen would not commit to buying when asked about his deadline plans. Perhaps the fact that his team has gone 8-5 since his comments has changed his mind, but then again, a losing streak after the All-Star break could swing the pendulum back in the opposite direction. Even if the Diamondbacks don’t buy at the deadline, I’d expect them to stand pat. Their best bet could be to hope that Corbin Carroll turns his season around and veteran starters Jordan Montgomery, Eduardo Rodriguez, and Merrill Kelly return strong and healthy from the IL. However, if things go especially poorly in the 10 games between the All-Star break and the deadline, perhaps Hazen can be swayed by a strong enough offer for Walker. After all, Walker could be the best rental and one of the few impact bats available on a seller’s market.
Still, the more likely outcome is that Walker remains with the D-backs come July 31. In that case, the team will surely extend him a qualifying offer after the season, and he will almost surely decline, setting himself up to test free agency for the first time.
I find it more than a little frustrating that a player who made his MLB debut at 23 years old in 2014 will not become a free agent until the 2024-25 offseason, ahead of his age-34 campaign. Most players in a similar situation would have lost their peak earning years to the artificial constraints of the arbitration system. However, in Walker’s unusual case, he might just be reaching free agency at the perfect moment. During spring training, he told The Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro how proud he is to feel like he’ll have legitimate leverage to wield as a free agent: “It’s a sense of accomplishment… We have the ball in our court. It hasn’t always felt that way.” And that was before he put together the best first-half performance of his career.
Christian Walker might not be an All-Star, but he is playing the best baseball of his career, and he’s setting himself up nicely for free agency this winter.
https://blogs.fangraphs.com/christian-w ... walk-year/
Add his offense, defense, and durability together and you get 2.9 WAR, which places Walker in the top 15 among NL position players and top 30 in the majors. Considering that 46 position players were invited to the Midsummer Classic this year, it’s hard to deny that Walker is having an All-Star worthy season. At the same time, it’s also hard to get too fired to up about his “snub.” Bryce Harper and Freddie Freeman have put up superior offensive numbers and WAR totals, rightfully earning the two guaranteed spots for first basemen on the NL roster. In addition, three NL players with more WAR and arguably even stronger All-Star cases than Walker were also left off the squad: Francisco Lindor, Brandon Nimmo, and Willy Adames. Finally, this isn’t even the most disappointing time Walker has missed out on a trip back to Globe Life Field within the past 10 months. Still, it’s a shame that Walker’s excellent first half will go unrewarded. At 33 years old, the late bloomer is putting together the best season of his career at the plate and in the field. Surely, that deserves to be celebrated.
At this point, Walker is used to being underestimated. He has been a regression candidate since the moment he first tasted big league success. Following his breakout rookie season in 2019 (111 wRC+, 3.0 WAR) ZiPS projected a step back in ’20; as Dan Szymborski put it, “The projections aren’t completely sold on Christian Walker, still seeing him as a league-average first baseman.”
It’s not difficult to understand why ZiPS was skeptical of Walker. At 29 years old, he had only one successful major league season under his belt, and no projection system could expect him to maintain his ridiculous defensive numbers at first base. ZiPS wasn’t wrong, either, as he took a significant step back in 2020 and an even bigger step back in ’21. Thus, the system was still skeptical of Walker after his second breakout season in 2022. Although Walker slugged 36 home runs, led first basemen with 14 OAA, and finished with 4.0 WAR, Dan included him on his list of ZiPS bust hitters entering 2023, describing him as “clearly not a star, just a good league-average first baseman coming off a peak year.” Yet, lo and behold, Walker almost perfectly replicated his 2022 season in ’23. He finished with a 120 wRC+ and 3.9 WAR, while deservedly winning his second Gold Glove in as many years. To be clear, I don’t bring this up to dunk on ZiPS, but rather to demonstrate how many times Walker has exceeded expectations in his unusual career.
Indeed, ZiPS underestimated Walker once again heading into 2024; he has already surpassed his preseason 2.7 WAR projection according to ZiPS Depth Charts. However, the fact that projection systems (and ZiPS is hardly the only one) keep selling Walker short is a feature, not a bug. A good projection system isn’t going to expect a career-best performance from a player as he enters his mid-30s. Projections systems are built on historical comps, and Walker has defied the typical progression of a major league career. In his age-33 season, he is on pace for career-highs in plate appearances, games played, home runs, RBI, runs scored, wOBA, xwOBA, wRC+, OAA, FRV, and WAR:
Christian Walker 2024 Pace
PA G HR RBI R wOBA xwOBA wRC+ OAA FRV WAR
701 162 37 110 97 .357 .365 131 17 13 4.9
When Walker spoke to David Laurila ahead of the 2023 season, he explained how “data and hard numbers” have helped him trust his process during difficult stretches. Missing out on an All-Star nod amid what could be the best season of his career is surely disappointing, but as long as he focuses on the data and hard numbers, he should be nothing but pleased with his first-half performance.
Underlying Walker’s career-best 131 wRC+ is a career-best 103.4 EV50 (the average exit velocity of the hardest 50% of his batted balls) and a career-best 36.3% sweet-spot rate, resulting in a career-best 15.7% barrel rate. He has also increased his pull rate and lowered his opposite field rate on fly balls. In fact, nearly all of his extra-base hits have been pulled this year, which stands out compared to last year, when he sprayed the ball to all fields:
This could be a warning sign that Walker is selling out to pull more fastballs as he ages. However, I’m not seeing many other indications of age-related decline. His bat speed is elite (92nd percentile), and his whiff rate remains essentially unchanged from last season. Moreover, he has done more damage on curveballs (+4 run value, per Baseball Savant), changeups (+4), and sweepers (+4) than he has on all other pitches this season. That’s not what you’d expect from a hitter sitting fastball.
That said, Walker is striking out noticeably more often this season (25.2%) than he did in 2023 (19.2%), to the point that no qualified NL batter has seen a larger increase in strikeout rate. However, it’s hard to worry too much about this development after looking at Walker’s underlying plate discipline data. Both his whiff rate (misses as a percentage of swings) and his swinging-strike rate (swings and misses as a percentage of all pitches) are ever so slightly down from last season. So is his chase rate. What’s more, his first-pitch strike rate is down from 60.2% to 55.7%. Only three qualified NL batters have seen a lower rate of first-pitch strikes this season, and no NL batter has started more plate appearances ahead in the count. As you’d expect, Walker has done quite well for himself when he starts out 1-0, posting a 186 wRC+. Unfortunately, he has been worse than in past years when he gets into an 0-1 hole (75 wRC+). But that’s been happening less often, so the tradeoff certainly seems to be worth it.
All this is to say, I’m inclined to believe Walker’s rising strikeout rate is the result of conscious decision-making at the plate rather than an inability to keep up with opposing pitchers. Consider this: Walker has been far more likely to whiff with two strikes this season than he was in 2022 or ’23, yet his wOBA, xwOBA, and run value in two-strike counts are all higher this year than in any other full season. My apologies if you’re tired of reading about all the ways in which Walker is having a career-best season, but you’re going to have to take that up with the man himself.
As luck would have it, Walker is enjoying this excellent season with his first foray into free agency on the horizon. Thus, his name has come up in a bit of trade speculation; earlier this month, Jon Heyman called Walker the Astros’ “dream target” ahead of the deadline. It seems unlikely that the reigning NL champs would sell this summer, especially not now that they are back above .500 and just a game behind the Mets for the final wild card spot, but it’s worth mentioning that on July 1 general manager Mike Hazen would not commit to buying when asked about his deadline plans. Perhaps the fact that his team has gone 8-5 since his comments has changed his mind, but then again, a losing streak after the All-Star break could swing the pendulum back in the opposite direction. Even if the Diamondbacks don’t buy at the deadline, I’d expect them to stand pat. Their best bet could be to hope that Corbin Carroll turns his season around and veteran starters Jordan Montgomery, Eduardo Rodriguez, and Merrill Kelly return strong and healthy from the IL. However, if things go especially poorly in the 10 games between the All-Star break and the deadline, perhaps Hazen can be swayed by a strong enough offer for Walker. After all, Walker could be the best rental and one of the few impact bats available on a seller’s market.
Still, the more likely outcome is that Walker remains with the D-backs come July 31. In that case, the team will surely extend him a qualifying offer after the season, and he will almost surely decline, setting himself up to test free agency for the first time.
I find it more than a little frustrating that a player who made his MLB debut at 23 years old in 2014 will not become a free agent until the 2024-25 offseason, ahead of his age-34 campaign. Most players in a similar situation would have lost their peak earning years to the artificial constraints of the arbitration system. However, in Walker’s unusual case, he might just be reaching free agency at the perfect moment. During spring training, he told The Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro how proud he is to feel like he’ll have legitimate leverage to wield as a free agent: “It’s a sense of accomplishment… We have the ball in our court. It hasn’t always felt that way.” And that was before he put together the best first-half performance of his career.
Christian Walker might not be an All-Star, but he is playing the best baseball of his career, and he’s setting himself up nicely for free agency this winter.
https://blogs.fangraphs.com/christian-w ... walk-year/
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Re: 2024 Padres non-prospects news and notes
Alex Cobb (hip, shoulder) allowed one run over 3 1/3 innings on Monday in a minor league rehab start in the Rookie-level Arizona Complex League.
Cobb recorded three strikeouts in his fourth rehab outing as he continues to work his way back from offseason hip surgery and a couple setbacks earlier this year due to shoulder issues. The 36-year-old veteran righty figures to be ready to make his season debut at some point in August and offers some streaming appeal for fantasy managers, especially in deeper mixed leagues.
https://www.nbcsports.com/mlb/alex-cobb/49238
Cobb recorded three strikeouts in his fourth rehab outing as he continues to work his way back from offseason hip surgery and a couple setbacks earlier this year due to shoulder issues. The 36-year-old veteran righty figures to be ready to make his season debut at some point in August and offers some streaming appeal for fantasy managers, especially in deeper mixed leagues.
https://www.nbcsports.com/mlb/alex-cobb/49238
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Re: 2024 Padres non-prospects news and notes
Will Kyle Tucker return with the same efficacy?
Tucker missed Houston’s final 36 games of the first half. Somehow, he still has the lineup’s highest slugging percentage, on-base percentage and OPS, has drawn more walks than any of his teammates and, according to Baseball-Reference, remains worth more wins above replacement than any Houston hitter.
Inserting Tucker back into the lineup could lessen the Astros’ need to acquire a bat at the trade deadline, but whether he will come back at full strength is a legitimate question.
Tucker fouled a pitch off his right shin on June 3. He is still walking with a slight limp. As of Sunday morning, he had only resumed light, on-field baseball activities that did not include hitting. Asked this weekend whether he still felt any pain in his leg, Tucker acknowledged he did while adding, “I can’t do everything normally right now.”
The Astros have only described Tucker’s injury as a “right shin contusion.” Both Brown and Espada have termed it a “bone bruise.” Tucker said there have been multiple rounds of imaging done on his leg, none of which revealed anything more serious than what the team has described.
If Tucker can’t begin a minor-league rehab assignment within the next week, his chances of returning before Aug. 1 diminish. If the pain persists in his leg, it’s worth wondering if this is an injury Tucker will have to manage when he returns and what it may do to his effectiveness.
Houston’s lineup scored 5.4 runs and averaged 9.3 hits per game during Tucker’s absence, demonstrating the depth and length many presumed this offense was capable of producing. Getting Tucker back in any capacity will only bolster it.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/564380 ... directed=1
Tucker missed Houston’s final 36 games of the first half. Somehow, he still has the lineup’s highest slugging percentage, on-base percentage and OPS, has drawn more walks than any of his teammates and, according to Baseball-Reference, remains worth more wins above replacement than any Houston hitter.
Inserting Tucker back into the lineup could lessen the Astros’ need to acquire a bat at the trade deadline, but whether he will come back at full strength is a legitimate question.
Tucker fouled a pitch off his right shin on June 3. He is still walking with a slight limp. As of Sunday morning, he had only resumed light, on-field baseball activities that did not include hitting. Asked this weekend whether he still felt any pain in his leg, Tucker acknowledged he did while adding, “I can’t do everything normally right now.”
The Astros have only described Tucker’s injury as a “right shin contusion.” Both Brown and Espada have termed it a “bone bruise.” Tucker said there have been multiple rounds of imaging done on his leg, none of which revealed anything more serious than what the team has described.
If Tucker can’t begin a minor-league rehab assignment within the next week, his chances of returning before Aug. 1 diminish. If the pain persists in his leg, it’s worth wondering if this is an injury Tucker will have to manage when he returns and what it may do to his effectiveness.
Houston’s lineup scored 5.4 runs and averaged 9.3 hits per game during Tucker’s absence, demonstrating the depth and length many presumed this offense was capable of producing. Getting Tucker back in any capacity will only bolster it.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/564380 ... directed=1
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Re: 2024 Padres non-prospects news and notes
Astros’ skipper Joe Espada told reporters that Kyle Tucker was able to do “intense defensive drills” on Saturday.
The 27-year-old superstar outfielder had been doing light on-field activities earlier in the week, so it sounds like this was at least a step up from there. There’s still no word on when he’ll be able to start hitting again — or how long he’ll need before he’s able to return to the Astros’ lineup. Any step in the right direction is considered progress though, so we’ll take what we can get at this stage.
https://www.nbcsports.com/mlb/kyle-tucker/48275
Justin Verlander (neck) threw around 40 pitches during a successful bullpen session on Saturday.
Astros’ manager Joe Espada told reporters that the next step for the 41-year-old right-hander will be to throw another bullpen session early next week. If all goes well there, it seems like Verlander could then be cleared to face live hitters. It remains to be seen whether or not he’ll require a minor league rehab start (most likely) before rejoining the Astros’ rotation.
https://www.nbcsports.com/mlb/justin-verlander/48244
Twins’ manager Rocco Baldelli told reporters on Saturday that Jose Miranda (back) won’t return from the injured list when first eligible on Sunday.
Miranda is progressing in his recovery from a lower back strain, but he’s going to need at least a few more days before he’s ready to rejoin the big-league club. Expect Austin Martin and Edouard Julien to continue to provide infield depth while Miranda, Carlos Correa and Royce Lewis are sidelined.
https://www.nbcsports.com/mlb/jose-miranda/48690
The 27-year-old superstar outfielder had been doing light on-field activities earlier in the week, so it sounds like this was at least a step up from there. There’s still no word on when he’ll be able to start hitting again — or how long he’ll need before he’s able to return to the Astros’ lineup. Any step in the right direction is considered progress though, so we’ll take what we can get at this stage.
https://www.nbcsports.com/mlb/kyle-tucker/48275
Justin Verlander (neck) threw around 40 pitches during a successful bullpen session on Saturday.
Astros’ manager Joe Espada told reporters that the next step for the 41-year-old right-hander will be to throw another bullpen session early next week. If all goes well there, it seems like Verlander could then be cleared to face live hitters. It remains to be seen whether or not he’ll require a minor league rehab start (most likely) before rejoining the Astros’ rotation.
https://www.nbcsports.com/mlb/justin-verlander/48244
Twins’ manager Rocco Baldelli told reporters on Saturday that Jose Miranda (back) won’t return from the injured list when first eligible on Sunday.
Miranda is progressing in his recovery from a lower back strain, but he’s going to need at least a few more days before he’s ready to rejoin the big-league club. Expect Austin Martin and Edouard Julien to continue to provide infield depth while Miranda, Carlos Correa and Royce Lewis are sidelined.
https://www.nbcsports.com/mlb/jose-miranda/48690
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Re: 2024 Padres non-prospects news and notes
Longtime Rays and current Blue Jays centerfielder Kevin Kiermaier plans to retire at the end of the season.
“This is it, 2024 is it for me,” Kiermaier told the Tampa Bay Times before Wednesday’s game against the Rays. “This next week will be very interesting (in terms of a potential trade). But this will be my last year playing.
“I’m going to give it my all the rest of the year regardless of what situation I’m in. But my body is talking to me now more than ever.”
Kiermaier, 34, has played 11 seasons (plus one game in 2013) in the majors, winning four Gold Glove awards and one Platinum Glove. He twice was named the Wilson Defensive Player of the Year and finished in the top 10 in American League MVP voting in 2015. He also has generated a lengthy highlight reel of his leaping and diving catches.
Kiermaier said wear and tear on his body was the biggest factor in his decision.
“The way I reflect on it, the product I put on the field now still can be good, but the effort it takes to get it to what I’ve been used to all those years, with my speed and defense and arm and everything, it’s tough,” he said.
“I knew this year was going to be tough just with how I felt last year, and I know as the years go by it’s going to get tougher and tougher. I have my third kid coming in December, and it’s time for me to be a dad and let my body recover.”
Kiermaier was quite a success story. An Indiana kid who was a 31st-round pick in the 2010 draft (941st overall, signed for $75,000), he turned into a frontline player and team leader with the Rays, making roughly $70 million over his career. He has a .247 career average and .710 OPS.
“I’m very proud and very happy,” Kiermaier said, “and it’s just been the best journey I could ever ask for. … It’s been incredible.”
Rays manager Kevin Cash, who had heard of Kiermaier’s decision on Tuesday, said Wednesday he was privileged to see him play from up close.
“What a career,” Cash said. “How fortunate I was to watch for eight years to see the best centerfielder in baseball roam our outfield, making highlight play after highlight play. He got big hits for us. And he really developed into such a positive influence and had a leadership quality with so many young players coming through our system.”
Added Cash, “It’s a really impressive story. How many 31st-rounders have that type of career? The odds were definitely against him early on.”
Kiermaier left the Rays when they declined his option for the 2023 season and signed with the Jays, who he resigned with again this season. His career 31.7 WAR rating (per baseball-reference.com) with the Rays ranks fourth-best in franchise history, behind only Evan Longoria (51.2), Carl Crawford (35.6) and Ben Zobrist (35.3).
In addition to his play on the field, Kiermaier said he was proud of how he developed into a leader with the Rays.
“Those guys made me feel comfortable when I first got called up, and then I’m leading our postgame chants a couple years later and viewed as a team leader for a professional team,” he said. “It didn’t seem like it would ever be possible, but I know how I embraced things as the years went on.
“It still does mean the world to me, my time and tenure (with the Rays) and how guys looked up to me in a way. I wasn’t the best player on the field, but the guys knew that they could count on me to lead the way each and every night, and they knew how I was going to play when I took the field. That’s how I want to be remembered by my teammates.”
Kiermaier said playing home games each season on artificial turf, at Tropicana Field and Rogers Centre, was a significant factor in his decision.
“I’d say I deserve an award for playing on turf the way I have the last 11 years,” he said. “I truly don’t think anyone could take the field with my demeanor, truly trying to make plays each and every night. I would go back and do the same thing. Even with how my body feels right now, I would play the exact same way. I really would.”
Kiermaier said he and his wife, Marisa, their two sons and a daughter expected in December plan to stay in the Tampa Bay area. He would like to remain involved in the game, perhaps providing individual coaching with outfielders — ”an outfield whisperer,” he suggested — and/or working as a special assistant.
https://www.tampabay.com/sports/rays/20 ... tampa-bay/
“This is it, 2024 is it for me,” Kiermaier told the Tampa Bay Times before Wednesday’s game against the Rays. “This next week will be very interesting (in terms of a potential trade). But this will be my last year playing.
“I’m going to give it my all the rest of the year regardless of what situation I’m in. But my body is talking to me now more than ever.”
Kiermaier, 34, has played 11 seasons (plus one game in 2013) in the majors, winning four Gold Glove awards and one Platinum Glove. He twice was named the Wilson Defensive Player of the Year and finished in the top 10 in American League MVP voting in 2015. He also has generated a lengthy highlight reel of his leaping and diving catches.
Kiermaier said wear and tear on his body was the biggest factor in his decision.
“The way I reflect on it, the product I put on the field now still can be good, but the effort it takes to get it to what I’ve been used to all those years, with my speed and defense and arm and everything, it’s tough,” he said.
“I knew this year was going to be tough just with how I felt last year, and I know as the years go by it’s going to get tougher and tougher. I have my third kid coming in December, and it’s time for me to be a dad and let my body recover.”
Kiermaier was quite a success story. An Indiana kid who was a 31st-round pick in the 2010 draft (941st overall, signed for $75,000), he turned into a frontline player and team leader with the Rays, making roughly $70 million over his career. He has a .247 career average and .710 OPS.
“I’m very proud and very happy,” Kiermaier said, “and it’s just been the best journey I could ever ask for. … It’s been incredible.”
Rays manager Kevin Cash, who had heard of Kiermaier’s decision on Tuesday, said Wednesday he was privileged to see him play from up close.
“What a career,” Cash said. “How fortunate I was to watch for eight years to see the best centerfielder in baseball roam our outfield, making highlight play after highlight play. He got big hits for us. And he really developed into such a positive influence and had a leadership quality with so many young players coming through our system.”
Added Cash, “It’s a really impressive story. How many 31st-rounders have that type of career? The odds were definitely against him early on.”
Kiermaier left the Rays when they declined his option for the 2023 season and signed with the Jays, who he resigned with again this season. His career 31.7 WAR rating (per baseball-reference.com) with the Rays ranks fourth-best in franchise history, behind only Evan Longoria (51.2), Carl Crawford (35.6) and Ben Zobrist (35.3).
In addition to his play on the field, Kiermaier said he was proud of how he developed into a leader with the Rays.
“Those guys made me feel comfortable when I first got called up, and then I’m leading our postgame chants a couple years later and viewed as a team leader for a professional team,” he said. “It didn’t seem like it would ever be possible, but I know how I embraced things as the years went on.
“It still does mean the world to me, my time and tenure (with the Rays) and how guys looked up to me in a way. I wasn’t the best player on the field, but the guys knew that they could count on me to lead the way each and every night, and they knew how I was going to play when I took the field. That’s how I want to be remembered by my teammates.”
Kiermaier said playing home games each season on artificial turf, at Tropicana Field and Rogers Centre, was a significant factor in his decision.
“I’d say I deserve an award for playing on turf the way I have the last 11 years,” he said. “I truly don’t think anyone could take the field with my demeanor, truly trying to make plays each and every night. I would go back and do the same thing. Even with how my body feels right now, I would play the exact same way. I really would.”
Kiermaier said he and his wife, Marisa, their two sons and a daughter expected in December plan to stay in the Tampa Bay area. He would like to remain involved in the game, perhaps providing individual coaching with outfielders — ”an outfield whisperer,” he suggested — and/or working as a special assistant.
https://www.tampabay.com/sports/rays/20 ... tampa-bay/
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Re: 2024 Padres non-prospects news and notes
Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich will rest and rehab his injured lower back rather than undergo surgery that would have ended his season, a source briefed on his situation told The Athletic on Thursday.
While offseason surgery is a strong possibility for Yelich, 32, he is hopeful for now that he will simply need rest for his discomfort to ease.
The Brewers placed Yelich on the injured list Wednesday. His back issues required IL stints four previous times in his career, including once earlier this season, but never required surgery.
Yelich told reporters in Chicago on Wednesday that his latest flare-up is “not great, for sure.” Losing him for an extended period would be a massive blow to the Brewers, who lead the NL Central by six games with a 59-43 record, the third-best in the National League.
Not only is Yelich enjoying his best offensive season since 2019, entering Wednesday leading the NL with a .315 batting average and .406 on-base percentage, but he also is a former MVP, the leader of a team with the second-youngest group of position players in the majors.
“For what Yeli does for this lineup and this clubhouse, I don’t know (that) there’s too many players who can replace him. I mean that,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said Wednesday. “He’s got a special niche here with us.”
The Brewers are relatively deep in outfielders — Jackson Chourio, Blake Perkins and Garrett Mitchell started Thursday, and the other options include Sal Frelick and Joey Wiemer at Triple A. But their lineup clearly is not as strong without Yelich, their No. 3 hitter. Rhys Hoskins batted third Wednesday and Willy Adames fourth.
Yelich’s stint on the injured list earlier this season lasted only from April 16 to May 8. His back problems in 2014 and 2015 also cost him a relatively minimal amount of time. In 2021, he missed more than a month, coming off the IL for one game and then going back on it the next day.
Before the news on Yelich, the Brewers’ biggest need was a top-of-the-rotation starter. The team, however, is expecting a boost from the returns of closer Devin Williams and lefty DL Hall, and was not expected to be especially aggressive at the trade deadline.
Whether that changes with the absence of Yelich, in a thin market for hitters, will be determined in the coming days.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/565681 ... ck-injury/
While offseason surgery is a strong possibility for Yelich, 32, he is hopeful for now that he will simply need rest for his discomfort to ease.
The Brewers placed Yelich on the injured list Wednesday. His back issues required IL stints four previous times in his career, including once earlier this season, but never required surgery.
Yelich told reporters in Chicago on Wednesday that his latest flare-up is “not great, for sure.” Losing him for an extended period would be a massive blow to the Brewers, who lead the NL Central by six games with a 59-43 record, the third-best in the National League.
Not only is Yelich enjoying his best offensive season since 2019, entering Wednesday leading the NL with a .315 batting average and .406 on-base percentage, but he also is a former MVP, the leader of a team with the second-youngest group of position players in the majors.
“For what Yeli does for this lineup and this clubhouse, I don’t know (that) there’s too many players who can replace him. I mean that,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said Wednesday. “He’s got a special niche here with us.”
The Brewers are relatively deep in outfielders — Jackson Chourio, Blake Perkins and Garrett Mitchell started Thursday, and the other options include Sal Frelick and Joey Wiemer at Triple A. But their lineup clearly is not as strong without Yelich, their No. 3 hitter. Rhys Hoskins batted third Wednesday and Willy Adames fourth.
Yelich’s stint on the injured list earlier this season lasted only from April 16 to May 8. His back problems in 2014 and 2015 also cost him a relatively minimal amount of time. In 2021, he missed more than a month, coming off the IL for one game and then going back on it the next day.
Before the news on Yelich, the Brewers’ biggest need was a top-of-the-rotation starter. The team, however, is expecting a boost from the returns of closer Devin Williams and lefty DL Hall, and was not expected to be especially aggressive at the trade deadline.
Whether that changes with the absence of Yelich, in a thin market for hitters, will be determined in the coming days.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/565681 ... ck-injury/
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Re: 2024 Padres non-prospects news and notes
Rhys Hoskins is working on his swing decisions and set up in the box.
Hoskins is hitting for more power, and he feels like he’s getting to a better spot at the plate.
“Yeah, I do,” Hoskins said. “Still working on swing decisions. I’ve always said that if the swing decisions are good, the results usually tend to follow. I like my chances if you’ve got to beat me in the zone. We’ll just continue working on pitch recognition and being stubborn to what we do well as a team — also as me individually.”
…
Lately, Hoskins has been working a lot on his setup at the plate and trying to get his body in better — and more comfortable — position in the box.
“I think with comfort comes a thoughtless mind,” Hoskins said. “And usually, when you’re not thinking much up there, talent tends to come out. Like I said — continue to fight for more comfort in the box and let the eyes tell me swing or no swing.”
https://fantasy.fangraphs.com/mining-the-news-8-1-24/
Hoskins is hitting for more power, and he feels like he’s getting to a better spot at the plate.
“Yeah, I do,” Hoskins said. “Still working on swing decisions. I’ve always said that if the swing decisions are good, the results usually tend to follow. I like my chances if you’ve got to beat me in the zone. We’ll just continue working on pitch recognition and being stubborn to what we do well as a team — also as me individually.”
…
Lately, Hoskins has been working a lot on his setup at the plate and trying to get his body in better — and more comfortable — position in the box.
“I think with comfort comes a thoughtless mind,” Hoskins said. “And usually, when you’re not thinking much up there, talent tends to come out. Like I said — continue to fight for more comfort in the box and let the eyes tell me swing or no swing.”
https://fantasy.fangraphs.com/mining-the-news-8-1-24/
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Re: 2024 Padres non-prospects news and notes
Luis García Jr., 2B, Washington Nationals
García Jr. has been around since 2020, but he hasn’t been talked about much since he’s been on some bad National teams. Just 24 years old, he was the Nationals’ #1 prospect when he graduated in 2020. FanGraphs gave him a 40/60 Hit, 30/45 Game Power, 50/55 Raw Power, 40/40 Speed, and 50 Future Value. Prior to this year, he had 1245 PA, a .265/.295/.395 triple slash, and 85 wRC+. The .130 ISO was limiting his value.
In 369 PA this year he has a .290/.322/.460 slash, 117 wRC+, and the ISO is up to .170. However, since July 1 he has a .287 ISO and 8th best 197 wRC+. I’m confident in saying he’s a good contact hitter who will provide a good AVG and SB, but is this power surge real?
His prospect grades say he’d have below-average to average power. His Max EVs throughout his career have hovered between 110-113. That’s not great, but it’s not bad either. His Brl% took a dip last year, but otherwise, they’ve been climbing throughout his career, and are up to 9.0% this year (66th percentile).
It’s been improving as this season has gone along too.
Verdict: Mostly Legit. García Jr. is probably never going to be a big home run hitter, but if he can maintain even modest power he will be an above-average 2B. I didn’t mention that he already has by far a career-best 17 SBs. Pitcher List’s Power+ is basically an xISO and it shows he is hot right now. Even if he cools off, his floor is still a good source of AVG and SBs.
https://pitcherlist.com/is-it-legit-8-6 ... tin-wells/
García Jr. has been around since 2020, but he hasn’t been talked about much since he’s been on some bad National teams. Just 24 years old, he was the Nationals’ #1 prospect when he graduated in 2020. FanGraphs gave him a 40/60 Hit, 30/45 Game Power, 50/55 Raw Power, 40/40 Speed, and 50 Future Value. Prior to this year, he had 1245 PA, a .265/.295/.395 triple slash, and 85 wRC+. The .130 ISO was limiting his value.
In 369 PA this year he has a .290/.322/.460 slash, 117 wRC+, and the ISO is up to .170. However, since July 1 he has a .287 ISO and 8th best 197 wRC+. I’m confident in saying he’s a good contact hitter who will provide a good AVG and SB, but is this power surge real?
His prospect grades say he’d have below-average to average power. His Max EVs throughout his career have hovered between 110-113. That’s not great, but it’s not bad either. His Brl% took a dip last year, but otherwise, they’ve been climbing throughout his career, and are up to 9.0% this year (66th percentile).
It’s been improving as this season has gone along too.
Verdict: Mostly Legit. García Jr. is probably never going to be a big home run hitter, but if he can maintain even modest power he will be an above-average 2B. I didn’t mention that he already has by far a career-best 17 SBs. Pitcher List’s Power+ is basically an xISO and it shows he is hot right now. Even if he cools off, his floor is still a good source of AVG and SBs.
https://pitcherlist.com/is-it-legit-8-6 ... tin-wells/
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Padres
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- Location: Wells, Maine
- Name: Jim Berger
Re: 2024 Padres non-prospects news and notes
Ouch ...
Milwaukee Brewers All-Star outfielder Christian Yelich will have back surgery Friday that will end his season.
“After careful consideration and consultation with medical personnel, I have decided to undergo season-ending back surgery,” Yelich said in a statement released by the team. “I ultimately felt it was in the best interest of myself and the Brewers to have surgery with the expectation of being back at 100% for next season.
“We have a very special team here and it will be disappointing not to be able to contribute on the field down the stretch. However, I have the utmost confidence in my teammates and will be cheering them on with all of you, the great friends of Milwaukee. Thank you for all your support. Go Brewers!”
Yelich, 32, was hopeful that rest and rehab would allow him to return this season for the Brewers, who at 69-52 hold a nine-game lead in the National League Central. The Brewers placed him on the injured list on July 24; his back also caused him to miss almost a month earlier this season.
The Pulse Newsletter
The 2018 NL MVP made the All-Star team this season for the first time since 2019 and batted .315 this season with a 152 OPS+ and 21 stolen bases in 22 attempts.
Yelich will make $26 million in each of the next four years. He signed a nine-year, $215 million extension with the Brewers before the 2020 season.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/570426 ... k-surgery/
Christian Yelich is scheduled to undergo season-ending back surgery on Friday.
It’s an unfortunate development for fantasy managers, and the surging Brewers, as Yelich was attempting to go the rest and rehabilitation route earlier this summer in the hopes of returning for a late-season playoff push after landing on the injured list with back inflammation. The 32-year-old fantasy stalwart has dealt with persistent back issues the past few years and it’s difficult to envision those going away as he enters his mid-30’s. He’s been a borderline elite five-category fantasy contributor when he’s been healthy and finishes the season with a robust .909 OPS with 11 homers and 21 steals across 73 games. There should be an update on his return timetable later this week following the procedure, but he’s expected to be ready for the start of next season.
https://www.nbcsports.com/mlb/christian-yelich/48159
Milwaukee Brewers All-Star outfielder Christian Yelich will have back surgery Friday that will end his season.
“After careful consideration and consultation with medical personnel, I have decided to undergo season-ending back surgery,” Yelich said in a statement released by the team. “I ultimately felt it was in the best interest of myself and the Brewers to have surgery with the expectation of being back at 100% for next season.
“We have a very special team here and it will be disappointing not to be able to contribute on the field down the stretch. However, I have the utmost confidence in my teammates and will be cheering them on with all of you, the great friends of Milwaukee. Thank you for all your support. Go Brewers!”
Yelich, 32, was hopeful that rest and rehab would allow him to return this season for the Brewers, who at 69-52 hold a nine-game lead in the National League Central. The Brewers placed him on the injured list on July 24; his back also caused him to miss almost a month earlier this season.
The Pulse Newsletter
The 2018 NL MVP made the All-Star team this season for the first time since 2019 and batted .315 this season with a 152 OPS+ and 21 stolen bases in 22 attempts.
Yelich will make $26 million in each of the next four years. He signed a nine-year, $215 million extension with the Brewers before the 2020 season.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/570426 ... k-surgery/
Christian Yelich is scheduled to undergo season-ending back surgery on Friday.
It’s an unfortunate development for fantasy managers, and the surging Brewers, as Yelich was attempting to go the rest and rehabilitation route earlier this summer in the hopes of returning for a late-season playoff push after landing on the injured list with back inflammation. The 32-year-old fantasy stalwart has dealt with persistent back issues the past few years and it’s difficult to envision those going away as he enters his mid-30’s. He’s been a borderline elite five-category fantasy contributor when he’s been healthy and finishes the season with a robust .909 OPS with 11 homers and 21 steals across 73 games. There should be an update on his return timetable later this week following the procedure, but he’s expected to be ready for the start of next season.
https://www.nbcsports.com/mlb/christian-yelich/48159
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Padres
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Re: 2024 Padres non-prospects news and notes
Damn the luck ...
Austin Riley is expected to miss approximately six to eight weeks with a right hand fracture.
What a brutal turn of events for the Braves and fantasy managers. The Braves have already lost Ronald Acuna Jr. for the season and Ozzie Albies for the remainder of the regular season, and now it appears that Austin Riley will join them after being hit on the hand by a pitch in the first inning of Sunday’s game. The 27-year-old could be back in time for the playoffs if the Braves make it in, which is far less likely than it looked earlier in the season. For now, the team seems likely to turn to Luke Williams at third base, and Riley can be safely dropped in all redraft leagues.
https://www.nbcsports.com/mlb/austin-riley/48500
Since he was traded to the IBC Padres at the start of the month he had hit .319/.377/.787 with 7 HR, 11 RBI and scored 13 runs in 12 games ... Brutal!
Austin Riley is expected to miss approximately six to eight weeks with a right hand fracture.
What a brutal turn of events for the Braves and fantasy managers. The Braves have already lost Ronald Acuna Jr. for the season and Ozzie Albies for the remainder of the regular season, and now it appears that Austin Riley will join them after being hit on the hand by a pitch in the first inning of Sunday’s game. The 27-year-old could be back in time for the playoffs if the Braves make it in, which is far less likely than it looked earlier in the season. For now, the team seems likely to turn to Luke Williams at third base, and Riley can be safely dropped in all redraft leagues.
https://www.nbcsports.com/mlb/austin-riley/48500
Since he was traded to the IBC Padres at the start of the month he had hit .319/.377/.787 with 7 HR, 11 RBI and scored 13 runs in 12 games ... Brutal!
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Padres
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- Name: Jim Berger
Re: 2024 Padres non-prospects news and notes
This is just getting absurd ...
Guardians placed RHP Alex Cobb on the 15-day injured list with a fractured fingernail.
Cobb looked good in his second start with the Guardians, allowing just one run on three hits over 5 2/3 innings of work against the Cubs. However, he must have sustained the injury in that outing, so the club will put him on the IL in the hopes that his finger can heal and he can grip the baseball and throw his pitches without pain. Anthony Gose will be called up to take his spot on the active roster.
https://www.nbcsports.com/mlb/alex-cobb/49238
Cobb has started exactly 1 game for the IBC Padres so far this year and has a 2.57 ERA, 6/1 K/BB in 7 IP with a 1-0 record but he'll get one more start before going on the IBC IL ...
Guardians placed RHP Alex Cobb on the 15-day injured list with a fractured fingernail.
Cobb looked good in his second start with the Guardians, allowing just one run on three hits over 5 2/3 innings of work against the Cubs. However, he must have sustained the injury in that outing, so the club will put him on the IL in the hopes that his finger can heal and he can grip the baseball and throw his pitches without pain. Anthony Gose will be called up to take his spot on the active roster.
https://www.nbcsports.com/mlb/alex-cobb/49238
Cobb has started exactly 1 game for the IBC Padres so far this year and has a 2.57 ERA, 6/1 K/BB in 7 IP with a 1-0 record but he'll get one more start before going on the IBC IL ...
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Padres
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- Joined: Sat May 13, 2006 1:00 am
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- Name: Jim Berger
Re: 2024 Padres non-prospects news and notes
Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo told reporters that Christian Walker (oblique) is doing work on the field Monday, and might not need a game at continuation camp.
Walker continues to make steady progress from his oblique injury, and Jesse Friedman believes that the first baseman will join the Diamondbacks on their road trip in San Francisco, with that series against the Giants beginning Tuesday. That doesn’t mean Walker will necessarily be activated for that three-game set, but it does sound like the 33-year-old will be back soon.
https://www.nbcsports.com/mlb/christian-walker/48224
Walker continues to make steady progress from his oblique injury, and Jesse Friedman believes that the first baseman will join the Diamondbacks on their road trip in San Francisco, with that series against the Giants beginning Tuesday. That doesn’t mean Walker will necessarily be activated for that three-game set, but it does sound like the 33-year-old will be back soon.
https://www.nbcsports.com/mlb/christian-walker/48224
