Mike Clevinger’s back issue will cost him most of the first half. Luis Severino has a new injury, and his first half is also in doubt. Who will step up for the Yankees to fill the void? Clayton Kershaw is close to getting back out on the bump for the Dodgers. Trea Turner is out with a broken finger issue that could cost him 4-6 weeks. Even with Turner out of action, why aren’t the Nats using Victor Robles at the top of the order? David Dahl is hurt again – is anyone surprised?
ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST
Mike Clevinger hurt his back in his last start, and the team put on a brave face. Alas, it was mere posturing as the truth is that Clevinger is going to miss a significant chunk of the 2019 season. The back strain will keep Clevinger from throwing a baseball for 6-to-8 weeks. It could then take 2-4 weeks for him to get back into baseball shape, possibly even more than that. Bottom line, a best-case scenario for a return would appear to be late June. Ugh is right.
The Indians have not said how they plan to plug the gaping hole in their rotation. As of this writing, there is no defined pickup.
So here is where we sit as of April 10th.
Taking a look back at the NFBC ADP from March 1st on, this is what we’ve got when it comes to the top arms in the game.
#3 Chris Sale is struggling.
#7 Corey Kluber is struggling a bit.
#10 Carlos Carrasco is struggling a bit.
#12 Walker Buehler is struggling.
#18 Clevinger is hurt.
It’s been a pretty rough couple of weeks for some of the top arms in the game.
LUIS SEVERINO UPDATE – NOT GOOD
Things just keep getting worse for Luis Severino.
Already sidelined with a rotator cuff issue, he injured another part of his body during his attempted recovery from the shoulder issue as he suffered a Grade 2 strain of his lat. He has two issues now and the result is that he won’t throw a baseball for six weeks. Since he will be starting from nothing, you likely have to tack on another four or so weeks for him to get his body/arm back in shape after the shutdown which means we’re potentially looking at 10 or so weeks with no Severino which gets us to late June. It’s certainly possible that stretches in July. Bottom line, you shouldn’t be expecting Severino to offer much of value in the first half of the season. Ugh. Here is a clip with Steve Phillips and yours truly talking Severino’s situation.
So, what do the Yankees do?
CC Sabathia is expected to return to the rotation this weekend which will obviously help and give them a foursome of Sabathia, Masahiro Tanaka, J.A. Happ and James Paxton. Jonathan Loaisiga has been sent back to the minors for now as the team keeps a close eye on his workload. For now, their fifth starter figures to be Domingo German. In two outings this season German has been mostly good with 10 strikeouts and three runs allowed (two earned), over 11 innings. He’s also walked seven batters, not common for him, so it’s not all rosie. He has a dynamite arm and in limited big-league work he’s the owner of a stellar 14.3 swinging strike rate. On the downside he missed time with an elbow issue last year, and he has a rather inadequate number of innings on his arm: 2015 he threw zero innings, 2016 49.2 innings, 2017 123.2 innings and last season 92.2 innings. Pretty hard to envision him taking the ball 28 times for the Yankees this season as a starter especially when you consider…
There are always rumors when a starter goes down that the team might sign Dallas Keuchel, but the Yankees may not need/want to go down that road since they have Gio Gonzalez working his way into game shape on the farm. Gio’s first minor league outing was brutal as he was annihilated for eight runs while generating 12 outs. Things were totally different Tuesday night as he dominated Lehigh Valley over six shutout innings with 10 punchouts, just one walk and a mere three hits allowed. He could be asked to fill the fifth spot if German struggles or if the Yankees brass decides that using Gio as a starter, and German out of the bullpen, makes more sense.
CLAYTON KERSHAW APPEARS READY
Clayton Kershaw had a decent first outing (2 ER over 4.1 IP) but he was better in his outing Tuesday as he threw 81 pitches allowing two runs over six innings as he punched out six (he allowed two solo homers in the 6th after five shutout innings). His fastball was between 88-90 mph and reports suggest his slider was sharp. Provided he recovers as expected, it seems likely that Kershaw will make his season debut this Sunday against the Brewers or maybe Monday against the Reds.
TREA TURNER OUT 4-6 WEEKS?
It sounds like Trea Turner will miss 4-6 weeks with his broken right index finger. That means he’s out until May, potentially as late as the middle of the month, as long as he doesn’t have any setbacks. Any injury to the wrist or hands is potentially a long-term concern, so it’s no lock that Turner will be able to return and drive the ball with authority immediately.
ROBLES IS READY TO MOVE UP
Victor Robles is one of my favorites. It’s obvious why that is. The dude is flat out talented. The 21 year old outfielder is off to a sizzling start as well with an impressive .324-3-6-10-1 line through 10 games. Moreover, when leading off an inning, Robles has gone 6-for-11 with two homers, two doubles and a walk. Even with Turner on the sidelines, the Nats have chosen to hit Robles ninth in all 10 outings. At some point will the Nationals move Robles up in the order? There’s a lot to be said about taking pressure off the youngster, and batting him 9th likely does that, but with the way he’s performing it’s simply unintelligent to continue to let him languish in the 9th hole. It’s even stranger that Brian Dozier has hit second five times, but in four games he’s hit seventh which has still led to no games in the two-hole for Robles. Make the move Nationals.
DAHL WASTING HIS TALENT?
David Dahl is a potential .300 hitter with 20 homer power and 20 steal speed. Pretty obvious he has that talent if you ever watch him grace a ballfield. There’s also the mighty impressive work he has done with the Rockies to date over 150 games: .296-25-78-77-10. It’s all there. Well, it’s all there but one piece – health.
Dahl’s injury track record is obnoxiously long.
In 2015 he missed about 50 days with a serious injury (spleen).
In 2017 he missed more than 100 days with a rib cage injury.
In 2018 he missed more than 120 days with a broken foot.
Now he is being placed on the DL with a core injury that the team is hoping will only cost him 10 days, but with his track record how can you believe that? Answer is – you cannot, no matter what Dahl is saying. Even so, it’s become pretty clear that for whatever reason this man simply cannot withstand the rigors of the game. He could end up rattling off five 150-game seasons in a row, who knows, but right now the odds of that seem lower than Britney Spears reclaiming her former glory. My advice would be to hold him for now. Then, when he returns and continues to rip it up, that you investigate what the trade market would bring for him. If you cannot get value for his talent, then hold. If you can, you should seriously consider adding him.
As for his replacement… Garrett Hampson saw some action in the outfield Monday, though that was in place of a struggling Ian Desmond who was getting a break. The true fill-in for Dahl would almost certainly be Raimel Tapia. Here is what I wrote about Tapia Monday. “A Jeff Mans favorite, he’s a proven .300 hitter in the minors who sprays the ball all over the field, and he has the speed to swipe 20 bases as well. Think Howie Kendrick with a bit more speed as the upside if everything went right.” Tapia has the kind of game that plays in 2019 because avg/speed are harder to acquire than power which is extremely prevalent. It’s unlikely that Tapia carves out a full-time role if/when Desmond starts hitting and Dahl returns, but in the interim he’s a solid addition in mixed leagues.
Ray Flowers can be heard Monday-Friday, 8-10 PM EDT on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). Follow Ray’s work on Twitter (@baseballguys) and be sure to listen to his podcast work too.
