Mining the News (5/22/25)

American League

Athletics

• The team hopes to improve their pitchers’ setup by cleaning and adding AC to the dugout bathroom.

Severino came away with the idea after a conversation with pitching coach Scott Emerson, who believes the change will help him feel more comfortable with the field, which from the mound offers a view unlike any other ballpark in MLB.

“There’s a definite weird look from the rubber to home plate with where the walkway is behind the dish,” Emerson said. “The press box is off-center, and that can kind of give you an optical illusion of maybe the plate being in a different spot, per se. I think if we can get his [bullpen] sessions off the game mound and get him more comfortable seeing the visual there, that’ll help.”

Severino also has referenced the lack of a connected clubhouse to the dugout — the A’s new two-story clubhouse at Sutter Health Park is situated behind left field — as something he has had to adjust to. His usual in-game routine on days he starts consists of heading inside the clubhouse during the half-innings he is not on the mound to either watch film or move around to keep his body warm.

…

“When you don’t have a clubhouse to go to, it can be frustrating at times,” Emerson said. “We’ve just got to find a way to be better. Whether it’s going into the clubhouse from the mound every now and then to kind of relax and decompress and sit down in a comfortable chair where you control the air conditioning or heat each and every game.

“But that’s going to be tough, too, because it’s going to take two minutes to get off the field and two minutes to get back on the field. Maybe we can find a comfortable spot in the dugout or the [dugout] bathroom. Clean it up a little bit to where he feels comfortable with.”

Wasn’t this a scene in Moneyball?

Blue Jays

• Daulton Varsho reworked his swing to gain power but with less contact.

So far in 2025, in a sample of 57 plate appearances that’s notable but too small to draw definitive conclusions from, [Varsho’s] average exit velocity of 93.2 m.p.h. is nearly six miles an hour above his career rate, he’s set a new exit velocity high at 113.9 m.p.h., has a sweet-spot percentage of 38.2 per cent that’s six per cent better than his career mark and a hard-hit rate of 50 per cent, a major jump from his 36.5 per cent average.

There have been trade-offs — his strikeout rate of 36.5 per cent is nearly 11 per cent higher than his average, while his 5.3 per cent walk rate is down more than three per cent — but Varsho feels he’s more able to get his “top hand to work above the baseball” which helps “my swing generally stay in the zone for a longer time.”

In turn, that gives him “little things that you manipulate to try to get to that feel,” so he’s “able to go A-to-B and be basically short and quick” to the baseball.

• Anthony Santander continues to play through a shoulder injury.

Sunday marked a much-needed new beginning, but Santander isn’t back to 100 percent yet. The shoulder is still bothering him, as is the hip. He isn’t using it as an excuse for going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts, but in one way or another this is all connected.

Guardians

• Shane Bieber sat 92 to 94 mph in his last live batting practice.

“I sat down with [senior vice president, medical services] Lonnie Soloff on Thursday morning,” pitching coach Carl Willis said on Sunday. “We started to put down the first draft of a rehabilitation calendar. I know that [Bieber’s] live batting practice his last time [on Friday] was really, really good.

“We saw, I think, 92 to 94 [mph] with the fastball in that live BP setting. So he’s continuing to move forward. He hadn’t had any issues. And the next steps are very soon.”

The next steps would figure to include Bieber pitching in a game, likely down in the Rookie-level Arizona Complex League to start. Manager Stephen Vogt noted on April 27 that the right-hander (as well as reliever Trevor Stephan and utility man David Fry) was projected to begin game activity in Arizona sometime in May.

Bieber’s average fastball velocity was 92 mph last year and 91.4 mph in 2023 so at least he’s throwing hard.

• David Fry will only DH this season.

David Fry is set to join Double-A Akron next week on his rehab assignment. He will DH and continue his throwing program, Vogt said. Fry (who had right UCL revision surgery in November) began a rehab assignment in the Rookie-level Arizona Complex League on Wednesday and played in three games.

The 29-year-old, who hit 14 homers last season and earned his first All-Star nod, will be limited to DH duty this season, as the rehab time to return to playing the field is expected to be a year.

Twins

• Kody Clemens gained bat speed because he’s now in his physical prime.

Kody Clemens’ increased bat speed isn’t a function of different offseason work, nor anything new imparted by the Twins’ hitting coaches.

Clemens, 29, thinks a 3 mph increase on competitive swings from a season ago is a combination of regular play, good mechanics and perhaps reaching his physical prime. According to Baseball Savant, Clemens, who doubled and flew out to the wall in Sunday’s loss, has a 73.4 mph average bat speed, up from 70.5 mph a year ago and better than the league average (71.6 mph).

“I try to keep it as simple as possible,” Clemens said. “Almost dumbing it down to: see ball, hit ball. Someone mentioned that to me and I didn’t even know. … Maybe I’m in my prime. I’ve never really tried to increase bat speed. It’s all about timing and rhythm and my swing.”

National League

Cubs

• Matt Shaw made several adjustments in AAA.

Matt Shaw speaks on swing adjustments he made while in Iowa. pic.twitter.com/sI7MI5xPxJ

— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) May 19, 2025

• Shota Imanaga will return “well into June”.

Per Craig Counsell, #Cubs Shota Imanaga will begin throwing off a mound towards the end of next week. He said his return will be “well into June.”

— Taylor McGregor (@Taylor_McGregor) May 19, 2025

• Jameson Taillon added a kick-change.

Jameson Taillon threw 13 changeups tonight in MIA – getting 4 whiffs – 2nd most he's thrown in a start this year.It's a pitch he wanted to use more against LHH in his career but didn't have good feel until switch to kick-change grip. A look at the adjustment: www.chicagotribune.com/2025/05/20/c…

— Meghan Montemurro (@mmontemurro.bsky.social) 2025-05-21T00:55:02.734Z

The pitch has a 21% SwStr% and the STUPH models grade it as an average pitch.

Dodgers

• Andy Pages, Michael Conforto, and Teoscar Hernández will be the regular outfielders, with Hyeseong Kim getting 3.5 starts per week.

The full-strength starting outfield has generally been Michael Conforto in left, Pages in center and Teoscar Hernández in right. That won’t change much.

“Andy is an everyday player,” said Roberts. “He’s earned it. … I think that with Kim — getting Tommy some days once in a while; I think getting Teo a day here or there to get his feet back and legs back under him. We’ll give Michael a day here in the next two. I think that’ll be a way to kind of keep Kim involved. I would probably say 3 1/2 times a week, getting him in there to start.”

Phillies

• Matt Strahm could be used for Saves depending on the upcoming batter handedness late in the game.

Matt Strahm will shift into the role previously held by Alvarado. Strahm and Jordan Romano will make up the closing tandem, with Strahm called on in the eighth inning if it’s a left-handed section of the lineup and Romano used if there are righties due up. The other guy would get the ninth.

• Alec Bohm wants to pull the ball in the air more.

Just getting the ball in the air to the pull side was an improvement in itself. Bohm is not a dead-pull hitter; he takes pride in an all-fields approach. But he has hit too many balls on the ground in 2025. His rate of pulled balls in the air was down by half. He said he was missing the pitches he should be pulling — either fouling them back or pushing them too much.

“I would like to pull the ball a little more,” Bohm said. “But I also think sometimes when I go up there with that intention, I make myself an out. I end up not getting the pitch to do it on anyway. It’s more about letting it happen naturally. And I think that is starting to come more, whereas at times I would force it. Then I was just swinging at bad stuff.”

• Spencer Turnbull’s fastball velocity is sitting just above 90 mph.

The 32-year-old is essentially going through his own version of Spring Training right now, taking a big step Thursday when he pitched four innings of one-run ball for the Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays. Turnbull struck out four hitters and his fastball sat just above 90 mph, a number he’ll need to see climb a bit as he ramps up, but all of the initial signs were positive for this stage.

Last season, Turnbull’s fastball was sitting at 92.3 mph with a career 93.7 mph average.

Pirates

• The team doesn’t have a set closer.

Kelly doesn’t have a closer at this time — he’s playing the matchups, and he liked Bednar’s stuff against the top of the Reds’ order — so expect to see Bednar and Santana flip-flop in the eighth and ninth mostly. It’s a bit of luxury to be able to pick those spots, and it’s only possible because Bednar is looking more like his old self.