Mining the News (8/9/23)

American League

Guardians

• The team has not set any inning limits on their rookie starters, Tanner Bibee, Gavin Williams, and Logan Allen.

Here’s what Guardians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said on this:

“We don’t have a hard and fast limit on any of the guys. You look at each player individually, trying to understand where are they, how are they recovering between starts, are they showing signs of fatigue, are they maintaining their stuff? The good news on all of those guys so far is they’re still strong. We’ll continue to monitor that. When we can, we’ll give them extra days. But we’re hopeful they can continue to pitch and pitch effectively through the end of the season.”

Mariners

• The team isn’t planning on managing Bryce Miller’s innings much.

Miller is at 105 1/3 after reaching 133 2/3 last season. He experienced diminished velocity and inconsistency with his secondary pitches two outings ago before rebounding in a big way on Sunday in Anaheim.

Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto said last Tuesday that the club intended to “pull the curtain on” the club’s long-term pitching plans. It’s largely why the club didn’t add any pitching depth ahead of the Trade Deadline.

“We knew we were going to have to manage the innings, especially for Woo,” Dipoto said. “Not as much with Bryce, but especially Woo.

Rays

• Zack Littell changed his approach.

There have been a few tweaks on the mound, of course. Look at where Littell stood on the mound in his last appearance before going on the injured list in May, where he stood when he came back from the IL and where he’s been in his past two starts (July 30 and Aug. 4). He’s moved all the way to the first-base side of the rubber. He also added a sweeper last month, giving him another weapon with his fastball, slider and splitter.

“Just mixing. I tend to get a little bit fastball heavy. I’ve done that (for) years and years, but it’s probably more of an ego thing,” he said. “Mixing evenly is really what I’m after.”

Red Sox

• Trevor Story will be sitting regularly when first off the IL.

“A few years ago, he was one of the best defensive shortstops in the big leagues, I don’t think that has changed,” Cora told reporters, per The Athletic. “It’s a matter of him getting repetitions. Obviously, we have to protect him. Don’t be surprised if in the beginning it’s one day, one day off, one day, one day off until we feel like he’s a full go.”

Based on that timeline, Story should be a full-go for the home stretch of the regular season. And that will be crucial for the Red Sox, who figure to be entrenched in a battle for an American League wild-card spot over that span.

National League

Cardinals

• Steven Matz has been working on keeping his changeup consistent.

One big difference for Matz has been the effectiveness of his changeup since returning to the rotation. After trying several grips on the changeup, he settled on one as a reliever, and the pitch evolved into more of a weapon for him. On Saturday, Matz threw 24 changeups and induced 18 swings and five misses. That pitch also aided the effectiveness of his sinker — a pitch that induced eight swings and misses.

• Matthew Liberatore’s curve will determine is talent going forward.

When the Cardinals evaluate Liberatore, they will do so far beyond the box score. Sure, results are ultimately what is going to be the defining factor in deciding Liberatore’s role with the team. But at this point in the season, his starts will be based more on fastball velocity (both establishing it and holding it throughout the start) and curveball location. Thursday, Liberatore’s fastball velocity sat comfortably around 93 mph, but he wasn’t landing his curveball for strikes. His curveball is his catalyst.

“The velo was fine today, the sinker and four-seamer played, not a ton of swing-and-miss, but that’s what he gets with that curveball,” Marmol explained. “Being able to land it and steal strikes with it but also being able to throw it for chase later in counts is going to be what he needs to do, it’s kind of that next step.”

Cubs

• Seiya Suzuki has been out of the lineup to work on his swing.

Tuesday’s 3-2 win over the Mets marked Suzuki’s fourth consecutive game on the bench, offering the outfielder a mental break to work on his swing and approach behind the scenes. At the same time, Cubs manager David Ross has been sticking with a group of hitters who have helped the lineup operate as one of baseball’s best units over the past few weeks.

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Ross has described Suzuki as being caught “in between” with his swing lately, which is a sign of a hitter struggling with timing and picking the wrong pitches to attack. Kelly said the hitting group has been focusing on getting Suzuki to focus on fastballs first, then reacting to other offerings.

• Jameson Taillon has been working through a lot of stuff.

With that work, Taillon was able to accomplish his goal of being more linear but is now doing so without flying open and causing a litany of issues.
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There were two pitches that the Cubs and Taillon noticed weren’t moving as hoped: his curveball and four-seam fastball.

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“The four-seam is still kind of all over the place sometimes,” Taillon said. “Right now I’m just trying to put all my energy in executing and then let the stuff be what it is for now. That’s something that after the season we can really hammer. I’ll still flash the really good four-seams with 18-20 inches of vert. It’s just not every time. So let’s focus on command.”
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Taillon dropped the usage of the [cutter] in June and July to around 15 percent. The drop primarily came against lefties and positive results quickly followed. But the real adjustment has been that he’s keenly aware of when and where to throw it and has actually seen his usage tick back up in August since the team and Taillon both believe it can be an effective pitch if used in the right areas against the right hitters.

Mets
• Carlos Carrasco fixed his mechanics … again.

“I think it was my arm,” Carrasco said. “It was getting too short. Today, I was able to get the arm a little bit longer. I feel under control just doing that. I was working in the bullpen before the game. I could see a little progress there.”

The mechanics appeared to be fixed. Carrasco pitched five innings, allowed two runs on three hits and struck out five batters. He was cruising through the first three innings, retiring nine out of the 10 hitters he faced after walking Mike Tauchman to start the game.

• Brett Baty dealt with thumb inflammation to start the season.

After missing the Opening Day roster, Baty dealt with right thumb inflammation to start the season — the same thumb he had surgery on last season to repair a torn ligament.

He made his MLB debut last August and hit .184 with a .244 on-base percentage and slugged .342 during his stint in the majors last season. He batted .400 with 15 RBIs in nine games with Triple-A Syracuse before being called up.

• Starling Marte’s groin issue is still acting up.

Marte will meet with the doctor who performed both groin surgeries on Tuesday in Philadelphia.

“I don’t think he’s 100 percent, and I think we need to get our arms around getting him back to that again,” Showalter said, adding that the club thought the groin issues were “behind us” before Marte felt more discomfort there. “We’ll let the guy who did the surgeries look at everything and ask him why he’s having this strained area there.”

• Tylor Megill improved his fastball in the minors.

While working with the Mets’ pitching coaches in the minors, Megill reclaimed some velocity — he was sitting 94-96 mph while flashing 97 mph — and fixed some mechanics which allowed him to improve his arm speed and better command his fastball, which should be riding through the strike zone more than it was. While in Triple A working with Syracuse pitching coach Kyle Driscoll, director of pitching development Eric Jagers and pitching coordinator Jono Armold, Megill changed his release point, a hard fix to make while in the majors.

Phillies

• Bryce Harper could play first base in 2024.

Bryce Harper is going to be a first baseman for the rest of 2023. But what about 2024 and beyond? If the Phillies had traded for a controllable outfielder at the deadline, that could have pushed Harper to first base for the long term. So I asked Dombrowski if that’s a possibility.

“Well, if you say, ‘Is it possible?’ I’d say yes,” he replied. “We have not had that conversation at all. The only thing I do know is that I asked him, a week or 10 days ago, how he likes it, and he likes it a great deal. And part of it is, you’re involved. You’re much more involved in the action on every pitch being in the infield than the outfield.

Pirates

• Brad Keller’s cutter failed him.

On Thursday, the Brewers pounced on Keller’s cutter. Turang’s home run came on a cutter that caught too much of the plate. Sal Frelick’s opposite-field, two-run double in the first inning came on a cutter that Keller left over the middle of the plate as well.

“I think that’s one of the big drivers,” Keller said. “[The cutter] just sets up everything else to lefties. That’s probably the main thing.”

Added Keller: “It’s just off. It happens. I have to get it back.”