Every time you look up, it seems likely someone is being removed from a game with some sort of physical malady. As Jeff Mans pointed out in this tweet, the DL was used nearly 700 times last season, and we sure seem on our way to another obnoxiously huge number in 2019. Ray reviews some of the recent health news on the diamond.
HITTERS
Josh Donaldson (calf) is back in action for the Braves meaning that Austin Riley will continue to have to wait in the minors.
Eloy Jimenez (ankle) is likely to begin a rehab assignment within the next week. He has been spotty, far from abnormal for a rookie, with a .674 OPS through 85 plate appearances. His launch angle of 7.9 percent is well below the league average and at about 50 percent below the number he will likely nee to consistently hit 30 homers. His current 37 percent hard-hit rate is also very blah, and that 29.4 percent K-rate is concerning. Again, a rookie struggling, and not a sign that the apocalypse is coming.
Jed Lowrie (knee) is close to a promotion to Triple-A. He’s only gone 1-for-7 in two games at High-A, but you know they fast track veterans. With Peter Alonso ensconced at first base, the Mets will have to figure out how to fit J.D. Davis, Todd Frazier and Lowrie in the lineup. One would think that, if healthy, Lowrie would play most days.
Shohei Ohtani will not play when the Angels go to Mexico. At the same time, he’s fully expected to return from Tommy John surgery prior to the end of the upcoming road trip which ends on May 16th. That means Ohtani should be playing by May 18th at the latest. According to beat writer Alden Gonzalez, Ohtani could return as the full-time DH. What that means follows. (1) Ohtani crushed righties last season with a massive 1.043 OPS, though his mark was just .654 against lefties. Still, he’s just 24 years of age and doesn’t have to worry about pitching this season, so it makes all the sense in the world to me that the Angels would just let Ohtani rip away day after day. (2) This means that either Albert Pujols or Justin Bour will be on the bench most days – something I’ve said since the preseason would likely happen. As awful as Pujols has been (.222-4-16-12), he’s been better than Bour (.174-3-13-8). He’s also making a gazillion dollars and is Albert Pujols. Plus, Bour has a .389 SLG his last 600 plate appearances with just 23 homers, and for his career he has a mere .639 OPS against lefties.
The Giants have designated for assignment left fielder Gerardo Parra. Currently, Giants’ left fielders have a .485 OPS, so a change was desperately need. Still, it was a surprising move. The club has promoted from Triple-A Mike Gerber. The outfielder posted a Giants like .289 OPS last season in 18 games with the Tigers, but he has been sharp this season with an impressive six homers and 1.057 OPS in 21 games in the PCL. He certainly could become a part of the lineup, but he’s a lefty, who will be taking his hacks in SF, and he really doesn’t profile as an appreciably different player than… Gerardo Parra.
Juan Soto is fine. So why does he keep missing game action with back spasms? That’s a very fair question. Wednesday and Thursday he was a late scratch, while Friday he’s just out of the lineup. The MRI came back clean, but we’re now at three games out of action for the phenom. Should back spasms really keep someone out of game action this long? Something else going on? Pure speculation of course. Michael Taylor continues to fill in.
Yankees Infield… Didi Gregorius (elbow) is a few weeks away from heading out on a rehab assignment. Seems like it’s been an ideal recovery from the surgery at this point. There seems to be growing hope that he could return before the All-Star Break. Miguel Andujar (shoulder) won’t have surgery and he might even be activated from the DL Saturday. In the short term Andujar will DH while Gio Urshela will continue to man third base (a good thing because Andujar is horrid defensively and he has already committed two errors on five defensive chances in the minors). Andujar could still have a setback, and it’s unclear if he will be able to effectively drive the baseball. Note that Andujar is likely going to have to be able to play defense at some point soon, because it’s sounds like the outfield is starting to get healthy.
Yankees Outfield… Aaron Judge (oblique) isn’t doing any baseball activities, but he is improving and starting work in the weight room while working on range of motion exercises. Aaron Hicks (back) will play all weekend in extended spring games before heading to the Single-A Tampa Tarpons on Monday. Clint Frazier (ankle) is going through work on Friday, and if that goes as expected he will head to Double-A Trenton for a couple of games this weekend. If that goes well, he could be activated next week, potentially as early as Monday.
HURLERS
Chris Archer is on the DL with a thumb issue that has been bothering him for a while. He threw Friday, but it’s still unclear when he might be able to return to the hill for the Pirates.
The Giants will start Tyler Beede Friday. It could be just one outing though as he’s merely filling in for the injured Derek Holland. A one time top-of-the-rotation prospect, Beede’s lost some stuff over the years and is thought of more as a 4/5 big league pitcher at the moment. He’s been rolling in the minors (1.99 ERA with 34 Ks in 22.2 innings), but again, he would have to dominate Friday to have any shot at sticking around in a starting role once Holland is ready to go, and that seems likely to happen for his next out.
Corey Kluber will be re-evaluated in 3-4 weeks. No surgery is indicated at the moment, and that’s good news, but his return to action is still to be measured in months, not weeks. The options to fill his spot in the rotation are Asher Wojciechowski, Cody Anderson, Chih-Wei Hu, Michael Peoples and Adam Plutko. The last name, Plutko, would likely engender the most interest, but he’s just back to throwing after missing time with a forearm strain. By the way, Jefry Rodriguez will start Tuesday against the White Sox while Cody Anderson starts Saturday against the Mariners, even though he isn’t stretched out enough to be expected to go deep in the game. There’s no one to turn to right now from a fantasy perspective. Oh yeah, Mike Clevinger (back) has been throwing from about 90 feet. The estimates are that he could miss 6-8 weeks with the injury, so it sounds like he might be a wee bit ahead of the curve at the moment.
Carlos Martinez (shoulder) shall return to game action Sunday for Low-A Peoria. Yes, if you missed it, Martinez will return as a reliever, severely limiting his outlook in mixed leagues.
