Mining the News (4/10/24)

American League

Astros

• The team needs to determine which starter will leave the rotation when Justin Verlander returns from the IL. Just a week ago, it was assumed to Ronel Blanco.

When Verlander does return, Houston could have a compelling rotation crunch to address. Ronel Blanco profiled as the odd man out, but after throwing a no-hitter on Monday, he may be given a longer look. The Astros have four off days from April 18-30, so a six-man rotation isn’t feasible.

Nearly two no-hitters later for Blanco, the narrative has changed to Blanco, J.P. France, and Hunter Brown.

Justin Verlander’s impending return could move Blanco, J.P. France or Brown into the bullpen as long relievers, too, but Houston has more immediate needs.

Blanco is probably safe but France and Brown have both been struggling.

Name: IP, ERA, xFIP
Brown: 7.0, 6.43, 4.94
France: 11.1, 4.76, 4.96
Blanco: 15.0, 0.00, 4.58

• As currently constructed, the bullpen can’t cycle many players to and from the minors since just a couple of arms have options.

Bielak is one of six members of Houston’s eight-man bullpen without minor-league options. Seth Martinez and Bryan Abreu are the only two relievers who can be optioned. Abreu is a budding All-Star who won’t be optioned unless he stages a staggering collapse.

Martinez threw 17 pitches in Friday’s loss and could fall victim to inevitable roster crunches throughout the season. Asked after Friday’s game about the state of his bullpen, Espada acknowledged he needed to “reassess where we’re at” before Saturday’s game.

The phantom IL is going to be used a ton this year to give these guys some rest.

Rangers

• Cody Bradford has re-introduced his curveball.

Bradford re-introduced the curveball to his arsenal during Spring Training after scrapping the pitch following his Draft year in 2019. This season, he’s thrown 27 curveballs — 18 against the Astros and nine in his first start against the Cubs.

“I’m a lot more [confident in the pitch now] than I was in the spring,” Bradford said. “For sure, I’m definitely trying to use it in all counts now. It’s just a great way to slow a guy down, get them on the front foot. It sure helps the 90 mph fastball play up.”

The curveball results have not been the greatest. Currently, his curve (n=26) has a 4% SwStr% and a 100% Flyball%. BotStuff grades it as a 46 (below average) and Stuff+ is at a 102 (average) so there is some hope for improvement.

Twins

• Edouard Julien keeps begging not to be platooned.

It is known that the Twins very aggressively platoon Julien, Matt Wallner and other left-handed bats, and they’re going to continue doing that unless their roster situation dictates otherwise. Not much will change there, and manager Rocco Baldelli has been firm on it.

That doesn’t stop Julien from trying to make his case, anyway.

“He mentions it to me all the time, which is fun,” Baldelli said. “I’m all for it. He can remind me as much as he wants, and I’ll remind him of what I want to remind him of, too. It works fine. But he’s pretty open about it. He wants to play every day.”

Maybe Julien should work on hitting righties since he’s struggling against them this season (.080/.179/.240). Ed. note: Julien hit 2 HRs this afternoon, including 1 v. a lefty… maybe that’s the jumpstart he needs. So cool, sweet, and neat that he’s on my bench!!

• Carlos Correa has regained his old Sprint Speed.

Recovering the sprint speed Correa lost last season while playing through pain was no doubt the goal, but he’s blown past that mark in the early going. So far this year, Correa’s average sprint speed ranks in the 57th percentile, his highest leaguewide placement since 2020 with the Houston Astros, when he registered in the 60th percentile as a 25-year-old.

“It’s different (from last year),” Correa said. “You’ve seen me running. I felt like last year I couldn’t run at all. It just feels good that I can play on two legs again.”

National League

Cardinals

• The team wants to go with defined bullpen roles.

“When those guys define their roles and are able to do it the way they’re doing it right now, then there’s confidence in knowing this is (their) spot,” he added. “Let me go get my three outs and hand it to the next guy. You feel that in the dugout, they feel that in the pen, and it’s led to some early wins.”

There is one notable change in Marmol’s bullpen management this year. Unlike 2022 and 2023, the Cardinals will use Helsley as a traditional closer this season, tasking him for three ninth-inning outs in save scenarios. In prior seasons, Marmol selected the most high-leverage situations for Helsley, which often required him to pitch multiple innings — making him unavailable for the following game. Part of the rationale behind that decision was that the Cardinals did not have many arms they could trust behind Helsley, with Gallegos often the lone exception.

Mets

• José Buttó will start on Saturday.

This list sure is shorter than it used to be, isn’t it? Barring something unforeseen, Buttó will reenter the rotation on Saturday. The Mets had optioned him before the start of the season, which made him ineligible for an immediate recall and forced them to sign Teheran. That’s all in the past now, and New York is excited about what Buttó can provide. Counting the Majors, Minors and Grapefruit League, Buttó owns a 2.61 ERA over his past 11 outings.

Phillies

• Taijuan Walker will be on his rehab stint for almost the entire time.

Turnbull is holding a rotation spot for Taijuan Walker, who will begin a minor-league rehab assignment Thursday with Triple-A Lehigh Valley. That initiates a 30-day clock. The Phillies expect Walker to make three or four starts in the minors as he builds arm strength. He sat 90 mph with his fastball in a simulated game over the weekend in chilly Washington.

• The team is trying to get Brandon Marsh more plate appearances against lefties.

Thomson could have pinch-hit Alec Bohm for Marsh, but he liked Marsh’s first two at-bats, which included a single in the fifth. The Phillies have been walking a line between saying Marsh can play regularly against left-handers while also resting him fairly regularly against them.

Marsh sat twice over the weekend against lefties. Whit Merrifield and Cristian Pache each got a start in left instead.

“[Marsh has] got to get left-handed reps,” Thomson said. “His at-bats against lefties have actually been pretty good. And I was saving Bohm for the [Johan] Rojas spot.”