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It looked like it was a very serious injury.
Rodriguez left his start Wednesday against the Rays in the first inning with an injury which was originally called side discomfort. While he's apparently avoided a particularly serious injury, he'll still miss at least two turns in the rotation and won't be back until early June. With Matt Manning (shoulder), Casey Mize (elbow), Tyler Alexander (elbow) and Michael Pineda (finger) all on the shelf as well, the Tigers will have to dig deep into their depth options for at least the next couple weeks.
I was wrong. My bit of FAAB fell way short.
He won't be supplanting Soto this week.
It seemed likely that Vest was in the league's COVID-19 protocols after he was placed on the injured list without a designation Friday. Since he's tested positive for the virus he'll need to clear the league's protocols before he's eligible to rejoin the team.
Kieboom resumed throwing in early May, but he'll ultimately be sidelined for the remainder of the season after doctors determined he'd need Tommy John surgery. The recovery process for the procedure doesn't typically last as long for position players, so the Nationals are hopeful that the 24-year-old will be available for the start of spring training in 2023.
Rotowire:
The right-hander was removed from Wednesday's start with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre with an apparent elbow injury, and he'll apparently be sidelined for the foreseeable future. The specifics of the injury remain unclear, but Gil's availability for the rest of the season is now in question.
Griffin was unable to crack the Opening Day roster but will now receive his first big-league chance in 2022. The left-hander appeared in 13 games for Triple-A Omaha this season and has a 1.83 ERA, 0.94 WHIP and 23:4 K:BB across 19.2 innings.
Rotowire:
Wade appeared in Wednesday's matchup against the Rockies as a pinch hitter, but he'll ultimately require a trip to the injured list after being diagnosed with inflammation. Austin Slater will be in the mix for increased playing time in the outfield, while Luis Gonzalez was recalled by the Giants on Friday and should see his fair share of at-bats.
Rotowire:
Snyder spent a brief period in the big-league bullpen in mid-April, giving up two runs in one inning and walking three batters while striking out none across a pair of relief appearances. He's thrown 8.2 scoreless innings at the Triple-A level and owns a 36.4 percent strikeout rate, but he'll likely be stuck in low-leverage opportunities until he proves himself at the highest level.
From the team notes today in the Post:
The Mets all wore T-shirts after the game honoring Eduardo Escobar for reaching ten years of service time. Showalter said Max Scherzer led the presentation to Escobar.
Eleven big flies wafted over the ivy in Wrigley today. Rojas said when he saw the wind blowing out, he skipped batting practice.
Good plan.
if there is a stats problem, I see this:
baseball-reference and MLB carry his name as MJ Melendez
but down deep in his bio it says Mervyl S. Melendez
From Eno Sarris today at The Athletic:
... The changes were ostensibly made to find a more consistent ball and a more consistent offensive environment for players, but that hasn’t been the lived-in experience around baseball.
“The balls are a little mushy some days, and then the next day they’re 2019 balls,” said Twins outfielder Max Kepler. “I feel like there’s a mixture of balls, it’s not just one ball.”
Phillies hitting coach Kevin Long told The Athletic’s Jayson Stark something similar.
“You just want consistency, and there was a lot of inconsistency,” Long said. “And then I picked up the balls in L.A. They were completely different. They were darker. They seemed to be harder. They just seemed to be a different baseball. But I don’t know. That’s just from feel and look and appearance. I mean, I’m not a scientist. I can’t tell you for sure. I just know the ball seemed to be traveling much better.”
But at some point, the players need to play, and need to figure out how to play this year, with this ball.
“I noticed early on this year that I hit three balls that my hitting coach said should’ve been homers, according to launch angle and exit velocity, and I thought that’s interesting,” Kepler said. “I was getting info from other players with the same sort of reviews, that some balls just aren’t going and they’re getting all of them, so I thought if I could find a balance between fly balls and line drives, then I’ll be sitting pretty.”
When it comes to Kepler, the adjustment — which is apparent in the numbers — has brought him immediate rewards at least when it comes to one facet of his game.
| SEASON | LAUNCH ANGLE | AVG |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 13.0 | 0.259 |
| 2021 | 16.3 | 0.211 |
| 2020 | 21.9 | 0.228 |
It makes sense that hitting in lower angles would produce a better batting average, since the best angles for line drives (around zero to 16 degrees) are lower than the best angles for home runs (16 to 32). So, the lower average launch angle for Kepler is showing us some signal that his batting average will be better. Good adjustment!
“It could be, it could be. I don’t know if batting average is the thing anymore, though,” Kepler said with a smile.
... For the other guys adding line drives, we’ll have to see if it was a good decision. The dumbest thing about all of this is that the humidors could have a much different effect as we head into the wetter months of peak summer, when they’ll draw water out of the balls instead of putting it in. You’d hate to change your approach to fit a situation just to see it change, but that’s the life of baseball players today.
“Too much information maybe,” shrugged Kepler. “We’re getting to a point where we’re overflowing with info, in all aspects of life and you don’t know what to believe sometimes.”
16K w 2BB but currently on mystery IL - likely COVID secret. Worth watching since good relievers are not exactly mantiply-ing like rabbits in the desert.
Has only ten hits in 43 AB at Norfolk,but three of them have gone out of the park. Has walked seven times, fanned six.
Caleb Kilian, RHP, Cubs: Acquired with Alexander Canario in last year's Kris Bryant trade, Kilian has been one of the most consistent starters in the minors this year. Last night he lowered his International League leading ERA to 1.31 by allowing no earned runs (but two unearned ones) in 5.2 innings. Kilian is yet to allow more than a single earned run in any of his eight starts.
Dark horse? We don't even have Kyle Nelson's stats.
We should get them later today.
The Monkey's
VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today:
1. Adam Cimber (TOR) – Is Jordan Romano ready to go yet after his gastrointestinal infection?
2. Matt Bush (TEX) – Joe Barlow (day to day) could still be dealing with the “hot spot” on his index finger. 3. Steven Wilson (SD) – Taylor Rogers threw 33 pitches Thursday and has gone in two of three and three of five.
4. Kyle Nelson (ARI) – How’s this for a dark horse? The entire Diamondbacks hierarchy has gone in two straight, so some or all of that trio need rest. Kyle Nelson earned a late-inning hold as recently as last Saturday and has a 1.23 ERA and 0.75 WHIP in 15 appearances.
The intriguing matchup today: Keuchel vs. Cortes in Yankee Stadium.
Both work fast, neither throws hard, one is very hard to hit.
Fought Jordan Montgomery -- a lefty so similar, if they swapped uniforms you might not notice -- to a 3-3 standstill over five.
Bruce Zimmermann (P) BAL - May. 19
https://www.rotowire.com/baseball/player.php?id=15664
Zimmermann allowed five runs on seven hits and one walk across five innings during Thursday's 9-6 win over the Yankees. He struck out two.
ROTOWIRE RECOMMENDS: Zimmerman gave up a two-run single to Giancarlo Stanton in the first and a solo shot to the slugger in the third. He was ultimately chased in the sixth after allowing back-to-back singles and saw his his line take a blow when both of those runners came around to score on a Isiah Kiner-Falefa game-tying single. It was by far Zimmerman's worst start of the season, and he's now given up multiple runs in six straight games after not allowing a run across his first two starts of the season. His next start is tentatively scheduled for a rematch with the Yankees in New York on Tuesday.
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Why do the KC TV people call him Junior? His dad wasn't that great and he didn't play for KC.
Bobby played short again yesterday.
Bobby Witt (SS) KC - May. 19
https://www.rotowire.com/baseball/player.php?id=16040
Witt went 2-for-4 with a solo home run -- his fourth of the season -- in Wednesday's 6-2 win over the White Sox.
ROTOWIRE RECOMMENDS: The rookie delivered a modest .558 OPS in April, but he's begun to resemble the elite prospect he was billed as through the Royals' first 17 games of May. Over that three-week stretch, Witt is slashing .233/.292/.517 while providing all four of his home runs this month. He'll hit out of the No. 3 spot for the third game in a row in Thursday's series finale, with his ascension into a prominent spot in the lineup coinciding with Salvador Perez's (thumb) placement on the injured list.
Says HQ (subscription) about Melendez, now the top catcher for KC with Perez out:
The reason for optimism is his exceptional 14.4% bb% which would put him at 23rd in MLB with enough plate appearances. Melendez isn’t overmatched by the “stuff” of MLB pitchers and isn’t being fooled into swinging at pitcher’s pitches (only a 17% swing percentage on pitches out of the zone). With swing decisions as good as his, the contact and results are due to follow.
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Lewis is a shortstop by trade, but that position is firmly blocked by Carlos Correa for now. He impressed in his brief debut while Correa was out with a finger injury, hitting .308/.325/.564 with a pair of homers in 11 games, but he nevertheless was sent to the minors upon Correa's return from the injured list. How often he features at other positions for St. Paul could give clues as to how quickly he'll return.