Mining the News (3/14/22)

American League

Angels

• The Angels are going with a six-man rotation.

The Halos will have a six-man rotation again in 2022, so they could look to add another starter.

• In the shortstop battle, Joe Maddon thinks Andrew Velazquez has a leg up on the competition.

Outside of pitching, the club’s biggest weakness is at shortstop. Maddon said he sees Andrew Velazquez as the current leader there, ahead of Luis Rengifo and Tyler Wade. All three will compete for the job, but there remains a chance the Angels acquire a shortstop.

Projected wOBA for the three shortstops
Velazquez: .290
Rengifo: .304
Wade: .281

• Mike Trout might not play centerfield.

Superstar Mike Trout is coming off a year that saw him limited to just 36 games because of a season-ending right calf strain suffered in mid-May. As a result, Maddon said they might be cautious with him this year and move him to a corner outfield spot. Former top prospect Brandon Marsh got his first taste of the Majors last year and is considered a strong defender in center field.

I’m not sure how the playing time will sort itself out. I wonder if Brandon Marsh and Justin Upton will end up in a platoon.

Name: 2022 OPS vs LHP, vs RHP
Upton: .838, .652
Marsh: .560, .726

The team could end up with one decent hitting outfielder.

• I’m not 100% sure what Maddon is talking about here when mentioning new DH rules.

Maddon said they don’t plan to change much with Ohtani because it worked out so well last season. But he would like to get more clarification on how to use Ohtani as a hitter with the universal designated hitter in place.

“We have to make sure [MLB] is going to be fine with him hitting when he pitches,” Maddon said. “I don’t know if that’s been addressed yet. He needs to hit or we’d be the only team playing NL rules when he pitches.”

Maybe there is a new clause that Ohtani can stay in the game as the DH even if he’s done pitching. It’s something to keep track of.

• Maddon has set five rotation spots with at least three guys fighting for the final one.

Maddon spoke about the roster as it stands. He said Shohei Ohtani, Noah Syndergaard, Michael Lorenzen, José Suarez and Patrick Sandoval make up five of six in the rotation. That means Reid Detmers, Jaime Barria, Griffin Canning and others will compete for the final spot — assuming no one else is added to the team.

Astros

• Niko Goodrum is planning on playing some shortstop and center field.

Goodrum has played every position in his Major League career except catcher and pitcher, spending the bulk of his time at shortstop (147 games) and second base (114 games).

“Initially, they said [I’d play] shortstop and center,” Goodrum said, “but you know me — I play everything. I’m open to whatever. I’ll do whatever I have to do.”

Right now Chas McCormick is penciled in as Houston’s center fielder and Jeremy Peña as the shortstop. Here are the trio’s OPS splits to see if there should be any platoon.

Name: Career OPS Splits vs LHP, vs RHP
Goodrum: .830, .654
McCormick: .822, .745
Pena (minor league): .799, .853

Maybe Goodrum and Pena at short, but not in center.

• Justin Verlander might not be ready by the season’s start.

Verlander would be a lock to start on Opening Day for the Astros on April 7 against the Angels, but that might require pushing himself a little harder than he wants to in the next three weeks. He said he’s “a hair behind” and likely won’t be built up to throw 100 pitches by then.

Blue Jays

• Nate Pearson’s fastball has touched 98-mph and he is working on a curve and change.

Pearson’s breaking ball was working, and his trademark fastball, which is already reaching up to the 98-mph range, looked just fine.
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“I feel like I can dig deeper into my arsenal now,” Pearson explained. “Last year, I really only had my fastball and slider because I was worried about everything else going on. Now, I threw a few curveballs today and I’m working on my changeup. The heater is right where I want it.”

Last season, his fastball averaged 98 mph. Hopefully, he can get back to his previous velocity.

Guardians

• Josh Naylor’s leg is still not 100% even though he’s blasting baseballs.

Naylor is returning from a gruesome right leg injury last season that required surgery to repair fibula fractures and ligament tears. Over the weekend, he took ground balls at first base and showed no signs of pain while blasting homers in batting practice. But his lower leg is wrapped with medical tape in two places and he still appears to be favoring it while running. He’s expected to meet with the media Monday to explain what his path forward will look like. With that said, his progress over the next 22 days will be important for the team.

Mariners

• Evan White may play some outfield

Dipoto has toyed with giving White outfield reps, and given White’s pronounced offensive struggles in his first two seasons, with a .165/.235/.308 (.544 OPS) slash line, it’s also possible that they start him at Triple-A Tacoma to further develop his bat.

.• The Athletic’s Corey Brock doesn’t think the team is going back to a six-man rotation.

Don’t worry: The Mariners aren’t going back to a six-man rotation, though if there was ever a time to do it, it might be now. There are four off-days in April, so that will help. And we could certainly see some shorter starts early in the season as those guys round into shape.

Rangers

• The team traded away Isiah Kiner-Falefa. This trade has been covered in detail but for reference, here are the splits for the remaining third base options.

Name: MLB OPS vs LHP (minors), vs RHP (minors)
Yonny Hernandez: .439 (.767), .620 (.761)
Andy Ibáñez: .898 (.837), .674 (.820)
Nick Solak: .788 (.956), .667 (.845)

There isn’t a perfect platoon, so probably the best spring training results between Ibanez and Solak will start with the job.

Red Sox

• Several members of the team were not vaccinated last season and won’t be able to travel to Canada to play the Blue Jays.

Last September, Red Sox ace Chris Sale said he wasn’t vaccinated. Xander Bogaerts, Christian Arroyo and Josh Taylor were among other Sox players who weren’t vaccinated by the end of the 2021 season.

Tigers

• As of now, Tyler Alexander is the fifth starter.

The Tigers’ most pressing need is in their rotation, where they have four set starters but could use a fifth, as well as some depth. If they didn’t make a move, Hinch said, they could fill out a rotation with swingman Tyler Alexander at the back end.

Twins

• Prospects Josh Winder and Jhoan Duran could see their innings limited because of 2021 injuries.

Take your pick of any of these following names for the blank in the question: Josh Winder, Jhoan Duran, Jordan Balazovic, Matt Canterino, Cole Sands, Simeon Woods Richardson and Louie Varland. The answer, in all of those cases, is probably a “no” at the start of the season.
…
As for the two who have already pitched in Triple-A in Winder and Duran, their workload this season will likely be measured by the fact that they both missed large chunks of time due to injury in ’21, with Winder held to 72 innings by shoulder troubles and Duran limited to 16 innings by elbow issues. The Twins, as an organization, have been particularly cognizant of limiting workloads for their young pitchers, and especially in the cases of top arms like Winder and Duran, they’ll have little reason to rush them for Opening Day.

• Luis Arraez showed up to camp looking stronger.

Arraez also reported to camp noticeably slimmer — he said he dropped 11 pounds — after spending a month training and hitting at Nelson Cruz’s house in the Dominican Republic starting in mid-January. Cruz is famous for his aggressive training regimen, and Arraez jumped in headfirst by training alongside the veteran. He said they’d work from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., take a break, and go back to work at 7 p.m.

“I’m feeling strong,” Arraez said. “That’s what my focus was.”

White Sox

• The team has considered going with a six-man rotation to start the season.

Pitching depth will be a key, especially in the early going. Getting creative with the arms, even via a six-man rotation, has been broadly discussed and some ideas have been tossed around.

“Now, again, as we understand exactly, say, where Lance Lynn or Michael Kopech or whomever it is is at in terms of their personal pacing towards the season and building towards the season, you can start talking about how viable some non-five-rotation ideas may be,” Hahn said. “Little premature, but it is something in general we’ve talked about.”

• Garrett Crochet will likely be a multi-inning reliever.

Crochet is indeed headed toward a Kopech-style super relief role, with extended outings and possible spot starts on deck, but even that revelation was the product of Hahn giving the same answer he’s given two other times this offseason.

National League

Brewers

• Keston Hiura made a mechanical change to his swing this offseason.

“I know everyone in baseball was itching to get back,” Hiura said. “[My mechanical change] has been going really well this offseason. I felt really comfortable with it. Once I get into live at-bats with live pitching against some velocity and offspeed, it’s definitely going to help in preparing for the season.”

Cardinals

• Alex Reyes and Jordan Hicks will likely not be rotation options.

“I do think getting Alex and Jordan stretched is going to be much more challenging than in a normal time,” Mozeliak said in reference to the ban on staff members from communicating with players on their 40-man rosters between December 2 and March 10. While he didn’t specifically rule a rotation conversion out, that prospect always seemed a bit of a reach — particularly with regards to Hicks. Hicks pitched only ten innings in 2021, as he went on the injured list in early May with elbow inflammation that proved season-ending.

• If Lars Nootbaar, Nolan Gorman, and Juan Yepez are in the majors, it will be with full-time at-bats.

“We have three young guys who are pretty excited about trying to get at-bats in the big leagues — [Lars] Nootbaar, Gorman and [Juan] Yepez. We want to make sure whatever we do isn’t impeding development of these young players as well,” said president of baseball operations John Mozeliak when asked about the organization potentially adding a free agent as a DH. “Is [Gorman] the best or one of the best 26? The bigger question, really, is, ‘How much is he going to play?’

“When you have a young player who’s performed well in camp, but he’s not going to get 25 or 26 plate appearances in a week, is that in his best interest?” Mozeliak asked. “So I don’t want to just reward three weeks of play for possibly sacrificing development. The key for somebody like Gorman is, ‘Can he get playing time at the big league level? And where?’ And, most importantly, ‘Will he continue to grow as a player?’”

Diamondbacks

• Josh Rojas had off-season shoulder surgery.

Infielder/outfielder Josh Rojas had surgery after last season to “clean up” the joint in his left (non-throwing) shoulder.

Rojas began feeling some discomfort in the shoulder just prior to the All-Star break but was able to play through it. However, it got more and more painful the last month-plus of the regular season.

“The cartilage was frayed,” Rojas said. “I tried to do everything I could to get it to feel good for each and every game, but I mean, there was some pain there at the end of the year and probably limited the power numbers a little bit. But I fought through it and I was out there.”

Before the break, he had a .762 OPS and after the break, it was a .738 OPS.

Giants

• Tommy La Stella is behind in his rehab.

Zaidi said Tommy La Stella will be a little behind in camp as he recovers from Achilles surgery, but he's doing well.

— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) March 11, 2022

• The Giants don’t have the roster space to add a reliever who doesn’t have options remaining.

There won’t be much turnover in the core group. Dom Leone, Jarlín García, Jose Alvarez, Zack Littell and Tyler Rogers all return. So does closer Jake McGee and closer (?) Camilo Doval. (Who doesn’t enjoy a breathless but otherwise meaningless closer controversy in spring training?)

But only Rogers, Littell and Doval have an option remaining among that group. So the water wheel never stops turning. The Giants probably don’t have the 40-man roster space to spare on a major-league free agent, nor do they have the roster flexibility to accommodate another reliever who cannot be shuttled to the minors when necessary.

• Thairo Estrada and Mauricio Dubón are both out of options.

With Thairo Estrada and Mauricio Dubón both out of options, they might be battling for one roster spot alongside Wilmer Flores, who is certain to take a healthy cut the first time he takes his bat off his shoulder.

• Joey Bart and Curt Casali will be splitting time at catcher.

“We view it as some kind of time-share between those two,” president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said. “It’ll be determined by health and performance in camp. We see everyday catcher upside with Joey, but having a tandem with somebody like Curt that we have trust in gives us some flexibility to make adjustments to what that time-share looks like, depending on how Joey comes along.”

I was wondering if there might be a platoon situation and possibly with Casali hitting against lefties.

Casali — .756 career OPS vs LHP; .696 vs RHP

Marlins

• Dylan Floro isn’t the closer yet but was good enough in the role according to Don Mattingly to do it again.

Yimi García was solid in the role before being dealt ahead of the Trade Deadline, paving the way for setup man Dylan Floro to take over through the end of the season. He went 13-for-14 in save opportunities when pitching in the ninth, embracing the high-leverage opportunities he didn’t see as much of with the Dodgers.

“I’m not saying he should be the closer or anything like that,” manager Don Mattingly said during the season’s final weekend. “He did a nice job with leverage innings, he holds runners, for the most part he’s not walking people. So he doesn’t really hurt himself too much when he’s in that role.”

Nationals

• Dave Martinez wants Tanner Rainey to be one of the closers.

“I’m going to be honest with you, I would love for Rainey to take that role if he’s ready,” Martinez said, adding, “We’ve seen the good Tanner, we’ve seen the not-so-good Tanner. For him, he understands that he has to be consistent, he’s got to pound the strike zone and he’s got to stay healthy. … If we have one or two guys that could pitch that ninth inning, it would be awesome — and I’m hoping that he’s one of them.”

Rainey struggled with his command (7.1 BB/9) last year but did get two Saves in his last four appearances.

• Martinez also wants Victor Robles to claim the center field job over Lane Thomas.

Former Gold Glove Award finalist Victor Robles is vying to regain his starting job in center field during camp. Martinez is eager to see the speedy 24-year-old in action after he last played with the Nationals on Aug. 30. Lane Thomas, who emerged as a breakthrough player after being acquired at the Trade Deadline, took over the starting role for the remainder of the season.

“I’m hoping that he comes to Spring Training ready to go,” Martinez said of Robles, whose batting average dipped to .203 last season. “There [are] no guarantees. He’s got to come out here and play and compete for a job. But I want him to be our center fielder, and he knows that. I’ve told him that. But we need him to get on base. We need him to play good defense every day. We need him to make smart baserunning decisions. He understands that.”

Projected THE BAT X OPS:
Robles: .694
Thomas: .734

Phillies

• Matt Vierling could be in a centerfield platoon and playing some first base.

Spring was here, and the club’s top officials spent the morning touting Matt Vierling as a potential solution in center field as part of a platoon while Vierling honed his craft at first base on a side field.

Vierling didn’t have a platoon issue in the minors (.748 OPS vs LHP, .750 OPS vs RHP). Maybe they want Mickie Moniak (.663 OPS vs LHP, .722 OPS vs RHP) to get one more shot.

• Ranger Suárez has stopped his throwing program while stuck in Columbia.

Ranger Suárez is stuck in Colombia awaiting permission to enter the United States and he halted his throwing program there. The Phillies are hopeful he will arrive this week, but he will be behind. And then there is Wheeler, who accumulated a career-high 213 1/3 innings last season.

Pirates

• Oneil Cruz could start the season in AAA to work in the outfield.

Oneil Cruz — Finally, it’s his time … or is it? Cruz crushed pitches during his two-game cameo in October, which suggests his bat is major-league ready. The Pirates desperately need someone with his dynamic blend of speed and power in the lineup. And yet, an injury limited Cruz to 62 games at Altoona last season and nixed the beginning of his outfield lessons. The lockout and truncated spring training might nudge management to send Cruz back to Indy for more experience at the start of the season.

Reds

• David Bell would like to have one closer but has no idea who that could be.

“I’m not opposed to a closer. There’s definitely benefits to having someone that you can slot in that’s comfortable pitching in that role,” Bell said. “We’re not there yet though, as a team or a staff. We’re going to have to let it play out a little bit. I think we have quite a few pitchers that could step into that role.”

Rockies

• The Rockies won’t go with a single person at DH according to the Athletic’s Nick Groke.

Anyway, the Rockies won’t use a traditional DH. They aren’t looking for a David Ortíz type. They have other plans. Basically, everybody will be a DH. Well, not everybody. But Blackmon, Cron, Rodgers, Sam Hilliard and Colton Welker could all see DH time. The Rockies will use the spot as a resting place, as an opportunity to get some players off their feet, to rest them without taking their bat from the lineup. This will be especially relevant for Blackmon and Cron. Or, possibly, some unsigned free agents.

I tried to verify if it was a team stance or just Groke’s with no luck.

• Brendan Rodgers will no longer do squats because they hurt his back.

For example, in the past Rodgers has put a bar on the back of his shoulders and squatted 405 pounds. As a guideline, what Rodgers did is equal to what gobigrecruiting.com says a defensive back for a Power 5 college football program must accomplish.

But with the torque required to swing the bat, in a sport that could leave you standing for long periods then suddenly call upon all your athletic skills to make a game-saving play, having football muscles can be problematic. When doing a squat, the shoulders that help support the weight bar, the back that helps stabilize the body and the legs that push the weight upward are all stressed.

During his pro career, Rodgers has had shoulder, back and hamstring injuries, so he has backed away from one of his favorite exercises and has shifted to core mobility and stability.

“I don’t really back-squat as much,” said Rodgers, who spent the offseason in the Orlando, Fla., area, but has been in Scottsdale for a week completing his program with Rockies teammates. “I understand that you can have a lot of injuries later in your career just loading that weight, and I’ve had some stuff in the past. I’m focusing more on hips and glutes and not loading my back and putting my shoulder in weird positions that can hurt me.”