Mining the News (3/20/23)

American League

Athletics

• Aledmys Díaz should get plenty of playing time, especially at shortstop.

“You could see Díaz at shortstop. That’s kind of been a trend this Spring Training. That’s not set in stone,” Kotsay said. “Aledmys can play in left, we have the opportunity to DH as well. So there’s a ton of combinations that we can put together that we feel good about. We’re still evaluating and nothing is set in stone. And even when we open the season with the Opening Day lineup, things can change.”

With a late ADP (423 in Main Events), 15 HR power, and several qualified positions, he’s a nice bench bat. When he has started this Spring Training, he has hit in the top third of the lineup.

Guardians

• Gabriel Arias is positioning himself to be the first sub if a hitter heads to the IL.

No. 9 prospect Gabriel Arias has all but solidified that he’ll be on the Guardians’ Opening Day roster with the way he’s swung the bat this spring. He added two more hits to bring his average to .351 (13-for-37) in 14 Cactus League games, and he’s also played solid defense, no matter which position he’s been asked to play.

He’s not much of a hitter though as seen by his .239/.299/.379 Depth Chart projection.

Red Sox

• Brayan Bello should join the rotation in mid-April.

Meanwhile, the Red Sox need to allocate the innings of their remaining Grapefruit League games mainly for pitchers who are going to break camp with the team. Bello can get his work in on the backfields against Minor League opponents.

Bello won’t be absent from Boston’s big league mix for long, though. He will need to pitch roughly four more times before the Red Sox activate him. Going by a five-day pitching schedule, Bello will make his fifth appearance around April 8. That means he could be in Cora’s rotation as soon as April 13.

White Sox

• Michael Kopech is still not 100% and doesn’t have his old velocity.

Beyond the results, with some sharp singles leading to an unearned run in the first and a pair of walks, Kopech lost his grip on a couple of curveballs that sailed high, was dinged for a possibly incorrect enforcement of the disengagement rule and did not see his velocity climb from his debut. After sitting 94-95 mph in his previous turn and clipping 98 mph with one fastball, Kopech topped out at 95 mph and throttled down as low as 91 mph. Since he’s coming off a season in which his knee injury had similar effects on him, it was cause for him to restate how he feels physically.

“There’s still some things that my body’s getting used to. My knee is learning to get back to being ‘normal,’ rather than trying to find the adjustment to work around,” Kopech said. “I know (velocity is) something that wasn’t quite as much there today. I also know it’s something that will be there when I need it to be there. I’m just trying to make pitches right now. With that, velo will come. Same thing with my breaking stuff. I threw some breaking balls that were slower than I’d like today, but the shape was there and the efficiency was there on the ones I’m referring to. Ultimately, I know that’s going to pick back up and come back.”

National League

Braves

• Michael Soroka doesn’t have a return timetable but it could take a couple of months.

Soroka is another matter altogether. There are no timetables for him — at least not one that will be made public until Soroka is close to being ready to pitch in the majors. He and the Braves have been down this frustration-filled road too many times to make proclamations about when he might join the rotation.

Privately, the hope is he’ll be available at some point in the first couple of months of the season if the big-league team needs him by then.

Cardinals

• Ryan Helsley won’t throw in back-to-back days.

As for the high-leverage relievers, Helsley and Gallegos are expected to split closing duties again. Helsley looks as if he’s picking up where he left off last season. The right-hander has 10 strikeouts in five innings this spring. As of now, however, there are again no plans for Helsley to pitch on back-to-back days, which means Gallegos will be counted on again in high-leverage scenarios when Helsley is unavailable.

I’m trying to find how often back-to-back Saves happen. I think a safe assumption would be around 25% to 33%. Right now Helsley is projected for 30 Saves and Giovanny Gallegos with three. I think 22 to 25 Saves is a better projection for Helsley and 8 to 10 for Gallegos.

• It seems like the outfielders will need to share the DH spot.

Marmol likes to switch up the lineup on a near-daily basis. With that same logic in mind, the Cardinals could use that strategy with a rotating DH in the outfield, as Carlson, Nootbaar and O’Neill can all play center field, and ensure Walker gets the reps he needs.

With everyone hitting, there are just enough lineup spots for the outfielders, but Goldschmidt and Arenado will DH sometimes. Don’t overreact to some outfielders are sitting more than expected.

Cubs

• Edwin Ríos reworked his swing and is still fine-tuning it.

Ríos came up with a plan to focus on getting the weight transfer of his swing started more with a focus on his back hip. The idea was to find a better way to time up his stride for improved pitch recognition, allowing him to identify and attack all varieties of pitches.

What happened in the process was Ríos developed a more distinct leg kick, which he used in his first handful of Cactus League games for Chicago. Ríos found that, while the idea was sound, the feeling he had in cage work and batting practice was not translating to games.

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Ríos went to work with Cubs hitting coach Dustin Kelly and assistant hitting coach Johnny Washington on reducing the kick and reverting back to a more subtle toe tap for timing. In the process, they worked to keep the same weight-transfer tweak Ríos focused on over the winter months.

• The Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma thinks Michael Fulmer will be the closer.

For now, Fulmer looks like the closer to start 2023, with Estrada and Sanders probably ticketed for Triple A.

Dodgers

• Don’t be surprised if Brusdar Graterol gets the most Saves.

Phillips is the Dodgers’ best arm of the group, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be the closer. In fact, it means he’ll probably get fewer appearances than the others in the ninth inning because the Dodgers value high-leverage situations early in games. Graterol has had a solid spring and will be in the mix for the unofficial closer’s job.

Phillies

• Bailey Falter is likely the team’s fifth starter.

Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, Walker and Suárez will be the first four starters. Left-hander Bailey Falter is the heavy favorite to be the No. 5, although Dombrowski stopped short of anointing him. Behind Falter, the only healthy starter on the 40-man roster is left-hander Michael Plassmeyer. Left-hander Matt Strahm could be stretched out, if needed.

Reds

• The last rotation spot is a competition between Luke Weaver, Luis Cessa, Connor Overton, Chase Anderson, and Brandon Williamson.

Manager David Bell conceded on Saturday that Luke Weaver’s chances of being ready for the start of the season are in doubt. Weaver left a Minor League game on Monday with soreness in his right forearm.

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Another candidate, Luis Cessa, has been away from the team to pitch for Mexico in the World Baseball Classic. However, Cessa has only pitched once during that span — a two-inning relief appearance against Colombia on March 11.

“It’s still possible he would be able to be in our rotation and get up to 4-5 innings,” Bell said. “… If, for some reason, that doesn’t happen, he has a spot on our staff. He can help us as a reliever, but he’s still in the mix for the rotation.”

The other rotation candidates are Connor Overton, Chase Anderson and Brandon Williamson.

Feel free to ignore all five.