Mining the News (6/12/24)

American League

Angels

• Mike Trout is not “running, hitting or throwing”.

Rendon is ahead of Trout in the rehab process. Trout has yet to progress to light baseball activities after he underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee on May 3. Trout has utilized the Alter-G treadmill but hasn’t tested out running, hitting or throwing like Rendon has. Still, Washington said Trout remains on schedule and hasn’t suffered any setbacks.

• Reid Detmers will have a few more starts in AAA. This information is from the Angels newsletter at MLB.com. Usually, they make it into an article, but this bit did not.

Detmers, meanwhile, struggled in his first outing with Triple-A Salt Lake, allowing seven runs over five innings and giving up four home runs on Friday against Sugar Land. Washington said that if it were up to him, Detmers would make a few more starts in the Minors to get things going before he is recalled.

“He’s heading in the right direction, we’ve just got to keep him going there,” Washington said. “We didn’t send him down there to stay. We sent him down there to get it together so we can bring him back, because we need him up here.”

Blue Jays

• Yariel Rodríguez is an internal rotation option.

But Toronto needs to find a more permanent solution, and Yariel Rodríguez is the leading internal candidate. He is scheduled to pitch again in Triple A this week as the team tries to build up his pitch count. Assuming it goes well, he could slide back into the MLB rotation. If the Blue Jays want to keep a watchful eye on his pitch count, Francis can be used as a bulk guy on his days.

• Spencer Horwitz will likely be on the strong side of platoon playing at first, second, and DH.

Schneider said the tentative plan is for Horwitz to split time 60/40 between second base and first base, with some games as the DH here and there. The left-handed-hitting Horwitz had good numbers against lefties in the Minors this year, but he’ll get most of his starts against right-handers for now.

Tigers

• Javier Báez’s back is acting up and he might not return this season.

The back pain has been a recurring issue for the Tigers’ shortstop, who in spring training talked of getting his back healthy but has gone on to hit only .183 with one home run and 27 wRC+, making him once again one of the worst regulars in baseball.

Tuesday in the Tigers’ clubhouse, Báez was preparing to travel to Florida to follow up with doctors he visited in the offseason.

“It wasn’t really an easy decision for me because I obviously want to be out there,” Báez said. “But if I want to help the team out long term I got to do this and try to come back for the second half and help the team.”

His back has been an issue for a couple of seasons.

Báez made more mentions of his back. “The past two years with the back situation, I felt like I couldn’t hit the ball to the right side,” he said. “This offseason it just felt back to normal hitting the ball to second base and keeping my approach that way.”

He later added: “I was just trying to be healthy (in the offseason), feel better with my low back and my core. It feels pretty good right now. I’ve been swinging a lot. … It hasn’t been bothering me, so hopefully it stays that way.”

Yankees

• Juan Soto will feel the effects of his forearm injury for at least a week.

Soto said he felt fine and swung without pain when he hit in the cage pregame Monday, which led to his inclusion in the lineup. But his return to the outfield will depend on how he feels Tuesday after returning to game action.

“[It went] pretty good,” Soto said. “I know I was DHing, but got to see a couple pitches out there, take some hacks. I felt pretty good.

“I have been doing a lot of treatments, I’ve been feeling good and I’ve been seeing a lot of improvement. It’s definitely not going to go away that quick. We will keep working on it and doing a couple things for the next week and see how it goes after that. It’s all about the next day.”

National League

Brewers

• Carlos Rodriguez will get a few more starts.

The Brewers will get to know Rodriguez in due course; manager Pat Murphy said he felt Rodriguez did enough to earn additional starts, but would discuss the plan with his staff before committing.

Cardinals

• Steven Matz is still a couple of weeks away from joining the team.

But that method is not sustainable. Steven Matz is set for his second rehab appearance on Tuesday with Double-A Springfield, where he will be scheduled for 40 pitches. That suggests he’s still at least two weeks away, which means the Cardinals will again need to backfill the fifth-starter role. The never-ending rotation hole churns on, leaving St. Louis scrambling during a time it should be surging.

Cubs

• Until his fracture heals, Nico Hoerner will deal with “day-to-day pain”.

Initially, Hoerner hoped the results of imaging would show only a bone bruise. News of the fracture creates a more challenging scenario.

“It’s definitely a one-day-at-a-time situation,” Hoerner said. “Hand stuff can be a little scary — just a lot of little things in there. As far as the fracture itself, ‘Can’t make it worse,’ is nice to hear. As far as day-to-day pain, I think that is something that you can make worse, unfortunately. So I think it’s being aware of just managing that.”

• The team is considering promoting Matt Shaw to play third base.

The Cubs have evaluated alternatives to Christopher Morel at third base and remained open to the possibility that a prospect such as Matt Shaw could eventually become part of the solution.

Dodgers

• Alex Vesia loosened up his mechanics to throw more strikes.

This winter, Vesia ratcheted it down to five days a week, while maintaining what Phillips called a “bit of a crazy” lifting regimen. That allowed the Dodgers’ pitching brain trust to start making adjustments to his mechanics in the spring.

Those started with Vesia’s setup. Whether it was the implementation of the pitch clock last season, or a body that was unable to move as fluidly, something sapped Vesia’s fastball velocity and its unique movement profile.

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Vesia said then he felt close to where he wanted to be, a dubious claim given all that preceded it. He reflected on that outing again this week. He’s only allowed one earned run since.

The tweaks to his mechanics have erased much of his troubles. His slider is not only landing for strikes but has added depth. His fastball once again is playing.

Giants

• Keaton Winn needs to work on limiting the running game. Also, he didn’t throw as hard because of his recent injury.

Winn allowed the Rangers to steal a season-high four bases on Sunday, another sign of rustiness from the Ollie, Iowa, native.

“He was too slow to the plate,” manager Bob Melvin said. “Even his slide steps were a little too slow. That’s something he’ll have to work on.”

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Winn began the season by recording a 3.18 ERA over his first six starts of the year, but he’s hit a rough patch over his last four outings, going 0-4 with a 17.05 ERA (24 earned runs over 12 2/3 innings). He struck out a season-high seven batters on Sunday, but his velocity was down a tick, with his four-seam fastball sitting more in the mid-90s instead of the upper-90s.

Winn said he tried to tone it back a bit in light of his latest arm injury, though he acknowledged that the slightly decreased velocity ended up leaving him with a smaller margin for error.

Marlins

• Tim Anderson is trying to raise his launch angle.

Entering the series opener, Anderson’s launch angle was 0.9 degrees (MLB average 12.2 degrees). Among 251 Major Leaguers with 100-plus batted balls (excluding bunts), it was the second lowest, ahead of only Harold Ramírez. Both hits on Tuesday had a 15-degree launch angle.

Anderson “topped” the ball on 46.5 percent of his batted balls this season – the second-highest rate among that same group of 251 players. His 65.8 percent ground-ball rate was by far the highest.

Anderson not only spent his time away over the weekend with family, but also working on his swing. He wouldn’t reveal who helped him, but the early returns are positive.

“It was kind of one of those resets that I needed,” said Anderson, whose minus-1.1 WAR ranked last among MLB shortstops with at least 170 plate appearances. “I got a chance to really break down my swing and obviously I got a chance to go swing, and it showed tonight.”

Mets

• Francisco Alvarez might be limited in how much he’ll catch because of a thumb splint.

When it comes to how many consecutive games he can catch after coming back from thumb surgery, Francisco Alvarez deferred to manager Carlos Mendoza and the training staff. Alvarez said he felt good Sunday after catching nine innings in a rehab game with Brooklyn. But he must continue to wear a splint on his catching hand to protect his thumb. Thus, while Alvarez’s return appears imminent, his workload may be worth monitoring.

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And the backup job may continue to matter a great deal if the Mets choose to bring Alvarez along gradually. With J.D. Martinez solidified as the Mets’ full-time designated hitter, New York is not positioned to give many at-bats to anyone else at that spot.

Padres

• Luis Campusano needs to rework his swing but won’t be able to during the season.

Have the Padres considered asking Campusano to simplify a swing that contains a lot of moving parts?

“All the time,” Rodriguez said. “But when you get a guy that works his butt off the whole winter working on those things, it’s tough for him to go, ‘Oh, let me eliminate all the work that I did to simplify things.’ Eventually, he’s going to make those adjustments, realizing, ‘I’m going to compete. I need to stay here. What are the things I need to do?’”

More significant swing adjustments might need to wait until the offseason.

Phillies

• The team will have to deal with a crowded outfield when Brandon Marsh returns from the IL.

Coming out of spring training, the Phillies did not believe they needed a traditional lefty bench bat. Those pinch-hit chances late in games against right-handed relievers, Thomson said, would go to Whit Merrifield. But the veteran has disappointed. There are no indications the Phillies have reached a breaking point with Merrifield. He’ll stick around.

So, it’s Dahl or Cristian Pache, who has not played much. Pache offers more defense. He is a natural platoon partner for Marsh. He is insurance for Johan Rojas in center. The Phillies could hypothetically demote Rojas to the minors, although that would leave them with two outfield platoons — Marsh and Pache in center with Dahl and Merrifield in left — and that could be a net negative. Marsh’s work in left field has been exceptional. They would prefer to leave him there.