Mining the News (9/4/24)

American League

Angels

• Here is your periodic reminder to read Lance Brozdowski’s work on pitcher adjustments (and watch his YouTube channel). In this instance, Lance points out how much Caden Dana’s release varies between his pitches.

There’s large release height variation here that makes me worried. He’s popping a half-foot above his slider to get to his fastball shape and then popping another half-foot to get to his curveball shape. These are massive differences and he’s not creating outlier shapes in the process like a Ricky Tiedemann, where you can squint and justify it. Rhett Lowder does this a bit too but not nearly as dramatic. Dana looks like a 20-year-old pitcher to me.

Here are Dana’s different release points.

For a comparison, here are Zack Wheeler’s release points from his last start.

The biggest issue with the various release points is he is tipping his pitches so the batters know which pitch is coming.

Rangers

• Jack Leiter will get regular MLB starts until the season’s end.

This is going to be the first of many starts for Leiter down the stretch. Both Bochy and general manager Chris Young have said they hope to get him some runway in September with the Rangers out of contention so he can get more acclimated to his surroundings.

“We feel like he’s done everything he can at Triple-A,” Young said earlier in the homestand. “Now he needs some consistent starts at the Major League level. …. There’s an adjustment that happens in the big leagues, and it’s going to be really important for him over the next month to get exposure to all of that, and then we expect the results to continue to improve.”

• Max Scherzer adjusted his mechanics to deal with a nerve issue.

The nerve issue in his triceps has been connected to his mechanics. The soreness and irritation was only occurring when he was throwing the ball, and not when doing any other activity. Scherzer slightly adjusted his throwing motion, hoping to fix the issue.
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“There was something mechanically going on with my elbow and elbow retraction that was making that radial nerve of my tricep get irritated,” he said. “Yesterday, I got on the mound to do a full bullpen and no issue. So finally, I feel like I’ve figured something out on this. Finally, I feel like I can overcome this, because there’s nothing wrong with it. Structurally, I’m fine. Strength, I’m fine. I don’t have an injury here. This was just a nerve irritation. I feel like I potentially have solved this.”

Scherzer opened the 2024 season on the IL as he recovered from offseason back surgery. Initially, he was set for an early return in mid-May before he was shut down due to a nerve issue shortly after making one rehab assignment with Triple-A Round Rock in April.

• Yesterday news came out that Corey Seager would see regular rest because he was playing through an injury …

Bochy did indicate that Tyler Mahle is likelyq done for year, too.

Corey Seager is “load management,” but Bochy said he is probably “not 100%” but at this point who is?

— Evan Grant (@Evan_P_Grant) September 3, 2024

… and now he’s headed to the IL and could need surgery.

Young said that it is too early to tell if Seager is done for the season is not. Same goes for if he’d need surgery. https://t.co/NiqzaQz71n

— Shawn McFarland (@McFarland_Shawn) September 4, 2024

Rays

• Taj Bradley’s splitter is not getting the same amount of sink as it did earlier in the season.

Five of the Padres’ seven hits in the first two innings came against Bradley’s splitter, the offspeed pitch that helped him baffle hitters during his hot streak. That pitch has dropped less over his past six starts than during his first 14 outings, according to Statcast data, and opponents have had a lot more success as a result.

Manager Kevin Cash noted that the Rays are “not seeing the depth that he’s capable of creating” on Bradley’s splitter. But he and Bradley also credited San Diego’s lineup, which leads the Majors in batting average, for spoiling splitters outside the strike zone and smacking the ones in the zone.

Royals

• Alec Marsh worked on his mechanics in AAA.

Marsh went down to Triple-A with a clear plan to iron out mechanical inefficiencies that were getting him out of whack over the previous months before he was sent down. Getting more behind the ball and having a consistent arm slot helps Marsh obtain the four-seam fastball profile he’s looking for, get the sinker to the right location and help his sweeper, which is a pitch he’s been working on all season.

Twins

• Royce has been working out at second base after struggling with throws at third base …

Royce Lewis spent much of the home stand taking pregame practice reps at second base and made his MLB debut there in the sixth inning Sunday. For now, it’s an effort to expand the infield options while Correa is out, opening up more third base opportunities for Jose Miranda at a time when first base and designated hitter are crowded.

In the long term, Twins officials are still evaluating which alignment Lewis and Lee fit best, flanking Correa, who remains locked into shortstop. Lewis has struggled with throwing errors at third base, grading out roughly average. Lee has looked good at both positions, and his superior arm strength and accuracy could make him the more natural third baseman.

… and is getting a start there already.

Royce Lewis is making his first start at second base for the #MNTwins

Up-the-middle tandem with Brooks Lee.

Miranda at 3B.

That's a fun infield! https://t.co/TDUNn9EuVW

— Ted (@tlschwerz) September 4, 2024

• Matt Wallner will continue to strike out as long as he hits homers.

“Honestly, sometimes, I feel like when I strike out more, those are my best stretches,” Wallner said. “There’s some times when I strike out way too much and I’m terrible, like at the beginning of the year. But when I’m hitting homers, I usually strike out more. I’m looking for pitches, being more aggressive. I obviously don’t want to, but it’s just how I flow, I guess.”

Yankees

• An “evaluator” stated that Jasson Domínguez’s arm strength is still not to his pre-surgery levels.

One evaluator for an opposing team said that Domínguez’s arm strength had been OK of late but had not yet recovered from where it was before the Tommy John surgery he had in October, and that he had been spraying some of his throws. The evaluator added that Domínguez had been prone to misplays in the outfield this season.

National League

Cubs

• Justin Steele was pitching through an elbow issue for a while.

A little more from Justin Steele on his elbow issue, which he’s apparently been pitching through for a little while now (Sun-Times): “I want to make every single start every single year. But I feel like it was smart just because I’d been feeling it, don’t want to continue to blindly throw not knowing exactly what it was. I’d say it was smart just so we could have a definite answer as to what it was …. I’ve been able to do what I want to do, execute pitches and whatnot. But it comes to a point where it’s like, ‘How long do you want to continue to pitch through something? How bad can it continue to get if you continue to do so?’” Yes. Very much yes, Justin. Good call. I’m glad he came to that conclusion BEFORE something very bad happened, especially when the chances of a playoff run are so tiny.

Dodgers

• Bobby Miller has been dealing with a knee issue.

Bobby Miller said he’s been dealing with a left knee issue. Thats what he tweaked in 2nd inning tonight. Miller said he can manage his left knee the rest of the season. #Dodgers

— David Vassegh (@THEREAL_DV) August 30, 2024

Giants

• Kyle Harrison wasn’t maintaining his “arm care stuff” and experienced shoulder fatigue.

“It’s about building that engine,” said Harrison, who acknowledged working through shoulder fatigue during his first full season. “I’m feeling better now. I’ve worked through stuff in my routine I wasn’t feeling good with. I’m doing more arm care stuff now.

• Marco Luciano will get starts at second base to see if it’s an option.

Luciano has been developed primarily as a shortstop, but his latest audition is expected to come at second base, where he’s made only 21 appearances in the Minors. He looked like a work in progress while making his first career Major League start there on Tuesday night, though he tried to make up for it at the plate, delivering an RBI single in the Giants’ 8-7 series-opening loss to the D-backs at Oracle Park.

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Luciano has always been viewed as a bat-first prospect, though he’ll have a chance to show that he can still be a viable option in the middle infield in September. He’s still working to get more comfortable at second base, as he couldn’t get a throw off after backhanding Adrian Del Castillo’s grounder in the third and then committed an error after dropping Geraldo Perdomo’s bouncer to the right side in the sixth.

• Mason Black made several mechanical adjustments.

Black, the club’s No. 8 prospect per MLB Pipeline, logged an 8.79 ERA over his first four big league outings this year, but he worked on some mechanical adjustments at Triple-A, focusing on staying more upright to help make his delivery more repeatable. He earned his second callup after recording a 2.91 ERA over four starts for the River Cats in August and continued to build on that success against the Marlins.

Leaning primarily on his four-seam fastball, sweeper and sinker, Black struck out three of the first four batters he faced, though he was hurt by a misplay from shortstop Tyler Fitzgerald, who flubbed Jonah Bride’s routine grounder up the middle with one out in the second.

Phillies

• Bryce Harper has been playing through a sore elbow and shoulder.

But he is banged up. He reluctantly acknowledged that much before Friday night’s 7-2 loss to Atlanta at Citizens Bank Park, cutting the Phillies’ lead over the Braves in the National League East to five games with 27 to play. Attentive Phils fans have noticed Harper wearing a protective black sleeve on his right arm since Monday’s game against Houston. They also might have noticed that Harper has not homered in 77 consecutive plate appearances, dating back to Aug. 9.

Is it a sore wrist? A sore elbow?

“All of it,” Harper told MLB.com. “The elbow. The wrist. It’s not anything crazy, but obviously it’s there.”

He said his wrist has bothered him since May. The elbow is more recent. Harper said he doesn’t recall a specific play or moment that irritated the wrist, only that it “just generally got worse. I’ve been grinding through that.” But with the postseason a little more than a month away, he said he is hopeful it will not be an issue in October.

Pirates

• Henry Davis changed his swing mechanics and is using a smaller bat.

It’s way too soon to see if Davis’ work at Indianapolis will translate to the Majors, but he has made changes. The Pirates wanted him to revert back to his old swing mechanics. He is using a smaller bat.

Those changes have yielded some of his best bat speeds in the Majors this season. He’s also renewing his old college coaches’ teachings to just put the ball in play, even if it means shortening up his swing with two strikes.