Mining the News (2/21/22)

• Niko Goodrum expects to have a major league contract.

Niko Goodrum is one of the many free agents still waiting to land his next contract, though the utilityman told The Detroit News’ Chris McCosky that he had plenty of interest prior to the lockout. The Tigers outrighted Goodrum off their 40-man roster in mid-November and he chose to test the open market, saying “we had been in contact with 10 teams….Seven of them were looking to offer big-league deals.”

For those fantasy managers in draft-and-hold leagues, he might be worth a late flier.

American League

Guardians

• There is a chance that Amed Rosario could pick up second base eligibility this season.

Andrés Giménez and Gabriel Arias are expected to vie for Opening Day infield consideration, and both are regarded as superior defensive shortstops. Could Rosario quickly learn second base?

Royals

• Kyle Isbel reworked his swing midseason.

Turns out, after he was demoted to Triple-A Omaha, the Royals hitting development department, led by senior director of player development and hitting performance Alec Zumwalt, uncovered what Isbel termed a “hip slide.” To fix things, he turned his back foot inward, eliminating pressure on the inside part of his foot. He then began to rake again.

That, of course, propelled another promotion. Hitting a baseball is a task that requires correct mechanics, a clear mind and a mobile body. Working in sync, those characteristics can help against the best pitchers in the world. Isbel is proof. His swing-and-miss dipped, but his numbers rose. In 36 plate appearances in April, he posted a .630 OPS. In 44 plate appearances in September, he posted a .930 OPS. Interestingly, he did also have reverse splits (an .885 OPS against lefties and a .751 OPS against righties).

He took several steps forward. His plate discipline improved with his walk rate going increasing from 6% to 11% and strikeout rate dropping from 42% to 17%. Additionally, his power jumped up (.059 ISO to .238 ISO). His Steamer600 projection has him at 16 HR and 15 SB with a .259 AVG. Not bad for someone with an ADP over 500.

National League

Braves

• Charlie Morton is still not 100% and no one will know his full status until he reports to camp.

As of Saturday, Morton said he’s “mostly caught up” to where he would be normally at this point of February, but added that he wouldn’t know more until he gets into the rigors of spring training.

Brewers

• Keston Hiura is taking steps to improve his swing and two-strike approach.

But too often, Hiura over the last year or two has looked like he was trying to do too much with an aggressive swing. To that end, Thompson and Hiura have worked on improving a two-strike approach and putting more balls in play. In theory, toning down his leg kick, getting his foot down earlier and being on time should help him avoid unfavorable counts. The strikeouts escalated last season to an unacceptable 39 percent. The issue needed to be addressed, and Thompson said he didn’t want anyone to believe Hiura wasn’t thinking about that.

• The DH spot is likely to just be one of the often injured outfielders getting some rest.

With strictly in-house choices, the most logical way the Brewers could make use of the DH would be by rotating the spot between their outfielders and also giving Hiura a try.

If you’re looking for a potential breakout player from the Brewers, there’s more reason to like Tyrone Taylor. Taylor has been pegged for a larger role in 2022 regardless of the DH, but the rule change would allow the Brewers to play him, Lorenzo Cain, Christian Yelich and Hunter Renfroe in the same lineup. Yelich would probably stand to benefit the most, given his back issues.

Cardinals

• I missed a bit of news earlier in the offseason when Oli Marmol said he would go heavy with platoons. I found out about this change in philosophy from this statement about Paul DeJong and Edmundo Sosa.

New skipper Oli Marmol has yet to manage a game in the majors, but it’s expected he’ll turn to a combination of platoons and split matchups to maximize the roster.

…

But the options for the Cardinals extend deeper than their young, promising talent. There is plenty of middle infield depth, and Paul DeJong and Edmundo Sosa are expected to platoon at shortstop.

And here are the original quotes from back in November.

“There’s some stuff [the front office and I] have talked about, like modernizing our strategies and optimizing our lineups,” Marmol said. “I think we have an opportunity for that. I think we have an opportunity for how we use our bullpen. I think there’s ways to optimize our lineup on a day-to-day basis, depending on starting pitching and what’s available in opposing bullpens. When you hear the term modernizing strategy or overall decision making, those are the things we are talking about.”

By optimizing the lineup, Marmol is quick to explain how he plans to incorporate platoons and play the matchups against opposing pitchers, but adds he won’t be able to fully envision his blueprint until the 2022 roster is complete.

For reference, here are some regulars who struggled against a certain pitcher handedness.

I don’t think the Cardinals will go full Rays or Giants with platoons, but their lineup might show more variance than it did last season.

Mets

• Max Scherzer doesn’t expect any ramp-up time and will be ready to go whenever the season starts.

So the next question has to be, in a year like this where the lockout looks like it’s going to throw off that timing pattern, do you have to change at all or are you right now still building up the way you would as if spring training were definitely starting (Feb. 15)?

Yeah, I’m just going to go. I’m just going to build my arm up. I don’t know to what capacity. I don’t know how long the lockout’s going to go. But if COVID showed us anything, it showed us that you have just as much danger not pitching as pitching. I’d rather just get out there and build my arm up and be ready at any point in time, so that way whenever the lockout does end, it’s much easier to transition to spring training at that point.

I don’t want to sit idle and do nothing until we end the lockout. I feel like then that would be trying to ramp up too quick. It’s easier on your body if you’re already at a high level of pitching. My body is used to pitching for eight months when you factor in the postseason. My routines and everything, I’m used to pitching eight months.

Reds

• The relievers will be expected to throw two innings this year.

After last year’s minor-league season, the Reds parted ways with director of pitching Kyle Boddy and put big-league pitching coach Derek Johnson in charge of the organization’s pitching development. One of the first changes made under the new regime is an effort to build up relievers in spring training to pitch two innings, in part to take a load off of starters earlier.

• Nick Lodolo’s is not feeling any pain in his shoulder.

Reds pitching prospect Nick Lodolo has been working off a mound with no concerns about the shoulder injury that hampered his 2021 season. Lodolo’s most recent bullpen session came Tuesday at the club’s player development complex in Goodyear, Ariz.