Mining the News (4/11/23)

American League

Angels

• José Suarez’s spot in the rotation isn’t in question … just yet.

Nevin deflected a question about his level of concern about Suarez, but it’s likely too early for Suarez’s spot in the rotation to be in question, especially because he’s out of Minor League options. But if his struggles continue, he could be sent to the bullpen. In that scenario, Canning could be the club’s fifth starter, and Davidson would serve as the sixth starter and occasional long reliever.

He’s not getting the swings-and-misses from last year (12% SwStr% to 10%) because he is filling up the strike zone (53% Zone% to 56%).

Guardians

• Cal Quantrill hasn’t thrown his splitter because it’s cold outside.

Quantrill said it can be tough to grip his new pitch in the cold. (He developed it over the winter while basking in the Arizona sun.) He said he needs to feel comfortable and confident in his delivery to be able to implement the splitter, and he hasn’t reached that point through two rocky outings. His focus has been on attempting to keep the Guardians in the game, fighting to survive long enough to spare the bullpen from being overworked, so he hasn’t had the ideal scenario to throw a series of splitters. He said he tossed one on Saturday, but it wasn’t anything noteworthy.

Maybe the splitter would give Quantill one average swing-and-miss pitch… maybe.

Red Sox

• With Adam Duvall on the IL, Rob Refsnyder (vs LHP), and either Jarren Duran …

And unlike the open roster spot that went to Tapia out of spring training, this would not be strictly a bench role. Duran could become the team’s primary center fielder against right-handed hitters, though he likely would not be their lone solution. It’s going to take a few different players to fill Duvall’s shoes.

…

Refsnyder has been a good platoon hitter against lefties and was in Duvall’s usual No. 5 spot in the order on Monday, but the Red Sox are worried about overworking Refsnyder — especially during this stretch of left-handed opposing starters — and also still need him to occasionally rest their left-handed hitters in the outfield corners.

… or Raimel Tapia will form a centerfield platoon.

With Duvall sidelined, it’ll likely fall to Refsnyder and Raimel Tapia to man things in center field. Refsnyder will get the first crack at that tonight, with the Sox facing left-hander

The platoon might make everyone involved just weekly streaming options depending on the schedule.

Royals

• Kris Bubic plans on using his new slider against lefties.

What stood out, and what Bubic can build on, was his pitch usage. Bubic threw his fastball 40 percent of the time, distributing his secondary pitches much more effectively. He dropped in 23 curveballs and 21 changeups, and that new slider that was the talk of Spring Training again this year? Bubic threw nine of them, registering five swings and three whiffs on the pitch.

He’s planning on using it more against lefties, like he did with Varsho — who homered in the sixth off Carlos Hernández — on Tuesday.

“I’ll continue to work it in, obviously with the heavy right-handed lineup they have tonight, the changeup was the go-to offspeed, especially to a lot of the righties,” Bubic said. “The slider felt good. Sometimes it gets a little big on me, kind of blends with the curveball, but I’m happy it’s in the arsenal and happy I’m mixing it in.”

Tigers

• The team still has no plans to name a closer.

Hinch said going into the season that he wouldn’t declare roles with this group after losing four veteran relievers from last year. He has largely stuck to his word. Detroit’s lone save so far this season belongs to long reliever Garrett Hill from last Monday’s extra-inning win in Houston. Presumptive closer Alex Lange has pitched the seventh inning as often as the ninth. Veteran holdover José Cisnero has pitched everywhere from the fifth inning to the eighth. Expect more of that until some of these guys emerge to deliver consistent outs.

Twins

• Trevor Larnach focused on hitting non-fastballs this offseason.

Amid a lackluster team offensive performance on Monday driven mostly by Chicago defensive miscues, Larnach was the only one to knock a hit with runners in scoring position, as he did when he stayed back on a 1-1 curveball from Cease and lined it to right-center for an RBI single.

That’s actually been unusual for Larnach, as he entered the game having collected nine of his 11 hits this season on fastballs, his strength — despite having seen the fewest fastballs among any hitter in baseball to see at least 150 pitches this season. He’s been pitched that way since he entered the league, but his preparation and anticipation have allowed him to hone in and do damage on his pitches.

“I like to just be ready for it, simply,” Larnach said. “I love hitting fastballs. I think that’s why they don’t throw me fastballs. But if I can be on time for that and still expect offspeed, then that’s a good position to be in.”

Of all qualified hitters, he is still seeing the fewest fastballs at 28%. Even with the work, he still hasn’t gotten an extra-base hit off a non-fastball.

Yankees

• The team has more faith in Isaiah Kiner-Falefa than Aaron Hicks.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone took the left-handed Cordero out of the game in the sixth and replaced him with Isiah Kiner-Falefa when the Orioles put in a lefty reliever. With a runner on third, Kiner-Falefa popped out to first.

“Just a chance to have a better matchup with the lefty there and a chance to add on,” Boone said of his decision to use Kiner-Falefa in that situation. “I like the chances of IKF putting the ball in play there. He popped it up.”

In the eighth with two outs, Kiner-Falefa struck out with another runner on third and an opportunity for the Yankees to tie. Boone was asked why he stuck with Kiner-Falefa in his second at-bat over using beleaguered veteran Aaron Hicks.

“We’re looking for a hit in that spot,” Boone said. “It’s not an on-base situation, necessarily, it’s more of a hit situation, so I liked IKF there.”

National League

Brewers

• Eric Lauer could not maintain his fastball velocity throughout a start.

Lauer’s four-seam fastball — or zoom ball, in the 27-year-old Ohioan’s preferred vernacular — averaged 90.8 mph and topped out at 92.7 mph over four laborious innings during Saturday’s 6-0 loss to the Cardinals at American Family Field. The defeat in front of a sellout crowed of 43,077 fans snapped the Brewers’ six-game winning streak and, while Lauer attributed the issue to mere execution, it added a layer to the worry that something is not quite right.

“Yeah, his velocity is down from last year,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “I thought the first inning was pretty good. He touched 93 [mph], which is the kind of a normal first inning we saw last year. But he was not able to hold onto it throughout the start. And that’s where he’s been at since Spring Training.”

I’ve already written some about pitchers struggling with velocity the first and second time through the order (TTO). Since then, I thought of two other ways to split up the date.

• First, I wanted to see if pitchers who lost the most velocity the first to second TTO last season lost the most this season. After several tests, I found nothing with the velocity loss being the same as the league-wide loss.
• The second one was a little more informative. I grouped pitchers by this season’s TTO velocity gains or losses and compared their projected and actual ERA. The pitchers who maintain velocity had the best results.

Cubs

• Christopher Morel will stay in the minors until he has a full-time position in the majors.

Players with Morel’s profile — 99th percentile arm strength and 88th percentile in sprint speed and max exit velocity, per Baseball Savant, plus great energy — are hard to find.

“We want to bring him up to play a lot,” Hoyer said. “Now he might not play one position all the time, but we don’t see him as a bench player. We see him as a guy that can move all over and do a lot of things. It didn’t appear that those at-bats would be there for him early in the season. The coaching staff was really — I don’t want to say insistent — but they felt strongly that he’s a really good player and we really want him playing a lot. Having him as a bench option isn’t the right thing for his career, and probably not the right thing for the length of the season.”

Mets

• To no one’s surprise, Eduardo Escobar needs to start hitting to keep his job.

“We live in a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately world,” Showalter said. “You’re trying to win that day’s game and put your best foot forward. I’ve got to keep the big picture in mind but also try to win that game today.”

Asked if he intends to platoon Escobar with left-handed hitting infielder Luis Guillorme, Showalter acknowledged all possibilities while adding, “we’re not there yet.”

…
In the short-term, Baty’s health is a factor in the Mets’ third-base plans. Escobar is set to return to the starting lineup on Friday, but it’s unclear how close he is to running out of rope. If Escobar hits, he’ll likely stay there for the foreseeable future. If his weeklong slump turns into a monthlong slog, the situation could rapidly change.

Padres

• The Padres might move one of Seth Lugo, Nick Martinez, or Ryan Weathers back to the bullpen.

To stretch their available pitching resources, the Padres could consider temporarily shifting Nick Martinez, their most versatile reliever last season, back to the bullpen. But Martinez signed a three-year, $24 million contract to stay in San Diego, and team decision-makers may be inclined to keep starting him — at least for now. Weathers, perhaps, could be the first pitcher to move from the rotation to the bullpen. Beginning April 24, the Padres will have five off days in 15 days, and Melvin has said it may not be practical to continue carrying six starters during that stretch.

In any case, the Padres figure to need innings. Lugo, eventually, will loom as an enticing bullpen option.

Phillies

• The team plans on giving Edmundo Sosa a run at third base with Alec Bohm playing first base.

Despite previous indications that Kody Clemens would take most of the reps at first base following Darick Hall’s thumb surgery, it would appear that the Phillies are now planning on shifting third baseman Alec Bohm over to first base in order to give utilityman Edmundo Sosa a run as the everyday third baseman. As noted by Scott Lauber of The Philadelphia Inquirer, manager Rob Thomson seems interested in what Sosa can do with an everyday opportunity, telling reporters that “we’re going to see what he’s going to do against right-handed pitching.”

Reds

When Joey Votto returns, the team wants to keep Jason Vosler in the majors in a multi-position role.

When Votto does return, it won’t necessarily come at Vosler’s expense on the 26-man roster.

“He’ll start getting a little bit more work in the outfield,” Bell said. “I’m confident he could play second base. He’s played short. Between first, third, second and occasional outfield, when Joey comes back, for example, we’d still be able to get Jason at-bats and get him in there.”