Mining the News (8/6/24)

American League

Angels

Griffin Canning thinks he is doing a better job of hiding the ball.

Canning had trouble with his control, walking four, but made up for it by allowing just three hits and striking out a season-high eight batters. He credited a change in his mechanics for his success, as he felt hitters were seeing what was coming because he separates the ball from his glove early in his delivery.

“It was significantly better today,” Canning said. “Mentally, just, in a good spot. Felt like I had good rhythm, just on the same page with [catcher] Matt [Thaiss]. And obviously I can clean up some of those walks and some deeper counts, but overall, I feel pretty good about it.”
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“I think it was just hiding the ball a little bit better,” Canning said. “I feel like hitters have kind of been telling me, I’m probably just showing the ball for too long, just based on the swings they’re getting off on me. I feel like I was hiding the ball and making them make later decisions.”

Astros

Prospects Shay Whitcomb and Zach Dezenzo are taking reps at first base in AAA.

Starting Whitcomb at first base Saturday for Sugar Land was a “clip of coming attractions,” Brown said Sunday, but presuming he is the answer is short-sighted. Whitcomb has made one professional start at first base: Saturday at Triple-A Sugar Land. Dezenzo has 19 starts at first base.

It stands to reason the club will keep exposing Whitcomb and Dezenzo to first base during the ensuing days, but putting either prospect at a position he rarely plays during his major-league debut — and in the season’s biggest games — seems ill-advised.

If Luis Garcia returns to the team, he will likely end up in the bullpen.

Though Garcia will require a pretty lengthy rehab stint when he is able to pitch, the Astros have said Garcia could potentially return as a reliever. This would require less build-up than rehabbing to work as a starting pitcher, so Garcia could make it back a bit quicker and pitch out of Houston’s bullpen later in the season or into a potential postseason run. Garcia would therefore be able to contribute to the 2024 team in some fashion, yet with still a decent length of time remaining in the regular season, the Astros will certainly first see if Garcia can indeed get healthy and ready enough to return to his customary starting role.

Guardians

Now in August, Gavin Williams is getting the feel for his slider.

An elbow issue at the start of the season complicated the usual adjustments that were bound to come in Williams’ sophomore season. The results since his July 3 return have been a rollercoaster (4.91 ERA 1.48 WHIP in 33 innings), but Williams has only begun to get a feel for his slider.

“I think it’s back to where it was last year, maybe a little bit better,” he said. “Probably gonna start working on that a little bit more in games.”

Last season, Williams’s slider posted a 16.4% Swstr%. This season, it is down at 11.6%.

National League

Cardinals

Victor Scott II has made a mechanical change to his swing.

Scott, 23, changed to an exaggerated leg kick at the plate in recent weeks, and the results have been eye-opening for both him and the MLB parent club. The Cardinals were impressed enough to bring Scott back to the big leagues on Sunday to man center field for the next several weeks with Gold Glove candidate Michael Siani out after straining an oblique muscle in his right side.

How much of a difference did the mechanical changes at the plate make? As of July 20, Scott’s average with Triple-A Memphis was .207 and he was questioning himself at every turn. After adopting a full-on leg kick, the 5-foot-11, 190-pound speedster tripled on July 23. And then came some surprising power.

On July 27 at Columbus, Scott blasted a Statcast-projected 382-foot homer that crashed off the scoreboard in right-center field. On Tuesday in Durham, he smashed a cutter so hard that it left his bat at 104.9 mph and traveled 373 feet. A night later, he accomplished a couple of firsts in pro ball with one swing — he hit his first grand slam and his first no-doubter. Not only did Scott flash light-tower power with a 104 mph smash that hung in the air for 5.8 seconds, but the ball traveled 404 feet.

Cubs

Cody Bellinger is still feeling the effects of a broken finger.

Cody Bellinger had one of the four hits for the Cubs on Monday night and has nine hits in seven games since returning from the IL, where he landed with a fractured left middle finger. Though he’s producing at the plate, Bellinger is still working his way back to play defense, sticking to designated hitter for now.

“He’s still struggling throwing,” Counsell said. “That tells you he’s still feeling it hitting. When he tries to make throws with intent, it’s not very enjoyable. We’re making progress. It’s just going a little slower. You won’t see him in the field this series. This is just (about) time.”

After Monday’s loss, Bellinger said throwing felt better during his pregame work. He said he still feels it at the plate as well and uses those timeouts he takes during at-bats to make sure the pain doesn’t linger too long. Last summer, Bellinger missed a full month with a knee injury. He came back a little quicker — 20 days — with this finger issue.

The team is working on improving Nate Pearson’s delivery and pitch mix.

Obviously Pearson has to keep using his fastball against lefties. But the point Hottovy is making is that too often pitchers think a slider is just to be used against same-handed batters. That line of thinking isn’t always effective. Hottovy is trying to shift the way Pearson thinks about his slider.

That seems to be the short-term plan with Pearson. The other issue the Cubs identified as far as the fastball goes is that they believe his delivery is leading to left-handed hitters picking up the pitch earlier, allowing them to sit on it. The shape isn’t exactly where they want it – Hottovy said it’s a combo of this and the delivery – but like with Jameson Taillon last season, they can really hone in on this over the winter.

“I don’t think it’s a significant change at all,” Hottovy said. “He’s shown the ability to do the right moves. The moves we feel are his most efficient delivery. But it’s about talking to him about the cues and what he thinks about. A lot of mechanics and the delivery is what the player is thinking about. A lot of times they’re thinking about the right things in the wrong way. There’s so much give and take in getting to know the player.”

Marlins

Jonah Bride, Jake Burger, and Emmanuel Rivera will rotate through the two corner infield spots.

Manager Skip Schumaker envisions Bride, Jake Burger and Emmanuel Rivera rotating at the corner infield spots. Waiting in the wings is Marlins No. 7 prospect Deyvison De Los Santos, who was the headliner of the A.J. Puk trade.