American League

Blue Jays

• Yusei Kikuchi has tinkered with his mechanics and dropped his cutter for a slider.

It’s been less than a month since Kikuchi last faced the Yankees and didn’t make it out of the fourth inning, but in that short time, the Blue Jays pitching coaching staff, led by Walker, have been tinkering with Kikuchi’s mechanics and repertoire. It was last outing, against the Houston Astros, that Kikuchi showed a new delivery on the mound with a toned-down leg kick. They’ve also shifted the target behind the plate. And Kikuchi has scrapped his cutter entirely and instead has introduced a new, harder slider instead.

Making in-season adjustments isn’t easy and requires patience. Let’s also remember that Kikuchi has had to do this while facing an absolute gauntlet of a first stretch starting against the Yankees twice, the Red Sox and the Astros twice.

He might be worth a bench and watch to see if the changes lead to permanent improvements. Read the rest of this entry »

American League

Angels

• Anthony Rendon may get every Sunday off to start the season.

Joe Maddon said it was possible that Anthony Rendon remains on this type of schedule with regard to off-days. So far he's had the last two Sundays off.

Maddon said it's because he's coming off surgery, and he may need less time off later in the season.

— Sam Blum (@SamBlum3) April 17, 2022

Orioles

• Keegan Akin and Mike Baumann will remain as long relievers.

Meanwhile, the Orioles watched starting prospects like Akin and Baumann make more traditional conversions into relievers. Now, suddenly searching for ways to fill a John Means-sized rotation hole, Hyde said he prefers to keep Akin and Baumann in bulk-relief roles despite their starter history.

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The in-season Mining the News will generally be focused on players who could be available on the waiver or could be dropped. There will be little to nothing on the likes of Gerrit Cole and Mike Trout. I just don’t have the time to grind out the information on players who, no matter what, will just remain in a fantasy team’s lineup.

American League

Astros

• Chas McCormick and Jose Siri will be sharing the centerfield job.

McCormick started against right-handers and Siri against lefties, but Baker didn’t commit to that going forward.

“Just depends on who I think the matchup is best for and what kind of defense that we need,” he said. “They’re both going to play. Everybody is going to play here. I don’t like guys going too long without playing.”

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I’m in a state where I don’t have lineups to review before the weekend but Spring Training is over, all the roster speculation is over. I’m going to go over some pieces of information that could be useful from Spring Training and yesterday’s games.

• First, here are the strikeout minus walk leaders from Spring Training. Besides news of velocity and arsenal changes, I find this information the most useful. It shows that the pitcher is being productive while throwing quite a few innings.

Spring Training leaders in total K-BB. pic.twitter.com/UClP07rsno

— Jeff Zimmerman (@jeffwzimmerman) April 7, 2022

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American League

Angels

• For now, Brandon Marsh, Jo Adell, and Taylor Ward will be splitting time between two outfield spots.

Marsh might have to start taking better care of it, because odds are it’ll get plenty dirty in 2022. After the Angels designated incumbent Justin Upton for assignment, Marsh, former top prospect Jo Adell and fifth-year grinder Taylor Ward are the only outfielders aside from Trout left on the roster.

Three days before Opening Day — by manager Joe Maddon’s own admission — there still isn’t much of a set plan for the Marsh-Adell-Ward carousel.

“To be honest with you, I think it’s going to be a group effort,” Marsh said. “I don’t know what the positions are. I know Trout’s in center … we’re going to fill in the corners.”

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Anticipating injury and frequent platooning, Maddon said it’s likely the three end up with a similar number of at-bats once the season ends.

Here is how the trio is projected to hit this season:

It’s interesting to see Ward projected to hit better than Adell.

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American League

Astros

• Framber Valdez added a cutter.

The first spring start of Grapefruit League play this year went much more smoothly for Valdez, who threw 30 pitches in three scoreless innings in Monday’s 2-1 win over the Cardinals at Roger Dean Stadium. Valdez also debuted a cutter he picked up in the offseason that he hopes to add as a viable weapon with his sinker and curveball with an elite spin rate.

Read the rest of this entry »

American League

Astros

• Cristian Javier will start the season in the bullpen.

Astros manager Dusty Baker said on Monday that Cristian Javier will likely begin the season in the bullpen, because the club will need some long relievers in April.

Athletics

• According to manager Make Kotsay, Lou Trivino should be the closer.

Who begins the year as closer remains under wraps. However, A’s manager Mark Kotsay mentioned that Trivino’s track record does give him a leg up on the competition.

“When we put this roster together, we’ll try to identify roles,” Kotsay said. “But [Trivino] obviously has the most experience on the roster closing games, so it seems like he would be ahead of the curve.”

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American League

Angels

Astros

• Yuli Gurriel has trimmed down.

Knowing that Spring Training was likely to be abbreviated this year, Astros first baseman Yuli Gurriel gave up pizza, soda and other unhealthy habits to make sure he didn’t have to worry about getting in shape in March. He dropped 15 pounds, and if his first two games of the spring are any indication, it’s paid off.

Gurriel slugged a fifth-inning grand slam off reliever Sean Doolittle in Thursday’s 10-8 win over against the Nationals at the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches — his second home run in as many games, after mashing a two-run blast against the Cardinals in his first game of the spring Wednesday.

“I feel great,” he said. “I knew it was a shortened Spring Training this year and I came in in better shape just to take advantage of it.”

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American League

Athletics

• Seth Brown is not expected to play first base and the outfield is up for grabs.

Seth Brown, who backed up Olson with a handful of games there last season, seems like an ideal replacement. However, A’s manager Mark Kotsay indicated that Brown is being looked at as more of an outfielder to this point. That leaves the competition down to three players in camp as non-roster invitees: Eric Thames 테임즈, Dalton Kelly and Billy McKinney.

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There’s also uncertainty with the corner-outfield spots. Left field could see a left-right platoon formed between Brown and Chad Pinder. The A’s might also need Brown or Pinder to shift over to right field, as Stephen Piscotty has been dealing with a shoulder issue in camp and has yet to appear in a Cactus League game. If Piscotty’s injury lingers to the point where he’s not available for Opening Day, the door could open for Skye Bolt or Buddy Reed to nab a spot on the roster.

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American League

Angels

• Justin Upton is taking some reps at first base because of Jared Walsh’s heavy platoon split.

But Upton, who is earning $28 million in 2022 and has a full no-trade clause, is fully healthy and the Angels plan to experiment with him at first base, where he could potentially serve as the backup to left-handed-hitting Jared Walsh. Upton would face lefties to give Walsh a break, and he could also platoon with lefty Brandon Marsh in left field as well. Upton is a career .259/.359/.493 hitter against left-handers and batted .225/.355/.483 against them last year.

“We have him working at first base because there might be an opportunity to give Walshy a day off against a tough left-hander,” Angels manager Joe Maddon said. “There’s different ways to get his bat in the lineup. He’s getting his typical work in the outfield corners, but we wanted to introduce him at first base just in case that became pertinent.”

So far in his career, Walsh has a .604 OPS vs lefties and .945 against righties. Last season, Upton had a .838 OPS vs lefties and .652 against righties. The hitting part should work, but Upton just has to play a passable first base.

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