Tim Anderson is hurt, and he’s going to miss substantial time with that ankle holding him back. What will the White Sox do in his absence? Is there anything to worry about with the slumping Josh Bell? Giancarlo Stanton is hurt again. Should anyone be surprised? The Marlins and the Padres pitching rotations could be a changing. What does that mean for guys like Lamet, Allen, Yamamoto, Gallen and Hernandez?
ANDERSON HURT
Tim Anderson has a high ankle sprain on his right leg. He was seen in walking boot, and he’s undergoing further testing, including an MRI. It’s unclear how much time he will miss, but high ankle sprains often take four or more weeks to heal.
Anderson is on pace for a .317-20-75-80-30 season, a series of numbers that seems unfathomable for him to reach at this point. Not only does he have the injury to deal with, but there’s performance concerns as well.
For some reason, a fella really took me to task Tuesday night when I pointed out that Anderson had a .719 OPS the last 30-days. He said that wasn’t a big enough sample size. OK, how about since the start of May? Over his last 47 games, Anderson has hit .286 with a .313 OBP and .423 SLG leading to a .313 wOBA and a 96 wRC+. Let me state those numbers more clearly. Since the start of May, Anderson has been below the league average in performance if you look at wOBA and wRC+, and his .736 OPS in that time is also well below the league average of .752.
To put a bow on it… since his magical April, Anderson has been the same guy he’s always been.
The team will likely go with some combination of Jose Rondon and Leury Garcia in Anderson’s absence. Leury has been the team’s centerfielder, but he can handle shortstop with the recently activated Jon Hay taking over in the outfield. “Right now, I’m looking to use Leroy there for a little bit,” manager Rick Renteria said. “Obviously he’s very capable of playing shortstop. And quite honestly, might give him a little break. His legs have been barking a little bit, it might help him out a little bit to bring him into the infield.” Garcia hit .270 and .271 the last two seasons, and this year he’s at .283. Still, his OBP is barely league average, he has no power, and is just a guy (read, a desperate mixed league option).
BELL STRUGGLING
Josh Bell has 20 homers, 66 RBI, 57 runs scored and a 1.013 OPS. He’s been flat out tremendous. Period. However…
Things are slowing, as expected.
In June, Bell has hit .221 with a .319 OBP and .429 SLG. The result is a .303 wOBA, an 87 wRC+ and a .747 OPS. Just like Anderson, Bell has been a league average hitter this month.
Interestingly, the slowdown has led to a season long 0.50 BB/K ratio, a four-year low (career 0.64). One would think that number would be improved given his overall growth.
Bell does have an elite 93.7 mph exit velocity and 51.6 percent hard-hit rate, so there can be no denying that he’s consistently squared up the ball extremely effectively. Bell has a .340 BABIP after never posting a mark above .305, though he should be able to hold on to some of those gains given the Statcast numbers. At the same time, Bell has a career best launch angle of 11 percent. Still, that number is a direct match for the league average which leads me to think that the 25 percent HR/FB ratio he has is going to regress (16.1 percent for his career).
Not predicting a collapse, but I also don’t think a return to April-May is gonna happen.
STANTON HURT
Yes, he’s hurt again.
Giancarlo Stanton, who has already missed games this season with shoulder, biceps and calf issues… now is dealing with a knee concern. Even though he had his hand stepped on last night, it’s the knee that is causing the biggest concern. Word has come down that he has an injured PCL, and that means he will head back to the IL yet again, and early estimates seem to suggest weeks on the shelf.
The Yankees have played 79 games with Stanton appearing in nine.
Stanton continues to be what he is – a talented yet frequently injured option that is nearly impossible to trust in the fantasy game.
Don’t worry, he’s only due $234 mullion the next nine years.
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MARLINS ROTATION
Caleb Smith is getting close. After striking out 11 batters over 4.1 innings Monday at Double-A, it appears that he will make one more start on the farm before being activated. He will re-enter the rotation when healthy, likely next week.
Pablo Lopez has a right shoulder strain. There is no structural a damage, but his return to action seems fully certain to last beyond the All-Star Game.
Jose Urena has a herniated disk in his back and has been placed on the 60-day IL.
So where does that leave us?
Here is the current rotation – Trevor Richards, Zac Gallen, Sandy Alcantara, Elieser Hernandez and Jordan Yamamoto.
It seems unlikely that the play will be for the team to go with a 6-man rotation, which means that someone listed will lose his gig when Smith is ready to go.
Richards has struggled of late (12 runs his last 15.2 innings), but he seems completely locked into the rotation.
Gallen was sharp in his first outing walking two with six punchouts over five innings.
Alcantara has made 15 effective starts leading to a 3.51 ERA. He’s been locked in the last five games. In that time, he’s allowed a total of nine runs, only six earned, as he’s posted a 1.71 ERA with a 1.36 WHHIP and at least five innings and three or fewer runs in each outing. No reason to think he’s losing his starting spot.
Hernandez has made four appearances, three starts, and performed fairly well. In the three outings he’s allowed three, two and three runs while walking just three batters with 19 punchouts in 16.2 innings. The home run ball has really been the only issue (three the last two outings).
Yamamoto has pitched extremely well in his three outings holding the opponent to two runs, seven hits and eight walks over 19 innings. He’s struck out 19 with a 0.79 WHIP as batters have hit .115. Nothing more can he do to keep a rotation spot.
So, I’d say that Gallen, Hernandez or Yamamoto is likely to lose their starting gig, and that could lead to a demotion to the minors to allow the hurler to continue to start.
PADRES ROTATION
In 2017 Dinelson Lamet struck out 139 batters over 114.1 innings and 21 starts on his way to a 10.94 K/9 and 1.24 WHIP. Alas, he injured his arm, had Tommy John surgery, and missed 2018.
Lamet has made five starts on the farm, and after his next start this weekend, the Padres will consider calling him up, to start, for the Padres. Lamet hasn’t thrown more than 73 pitches yet, so he’s not likely to be racking up huge pitch marks at any point in the near future. They also seem context to give him some extra rest between starts, as they have done with Matt Straham and Chris Paddack. If Lamet enters the rotation what do the Padres do? Do they remove Logan Allen who has been pretty sharp in two outings in favor of Lamet? Do they opt for a 6-man rotation? I mean, the 6-man thing kinda makes sense given how they have seem content to roll arms out there (Cal Quantrill has been starting and relieving too). Slotting Lamet into a 6-man rotation would help to conserve innings for all involved, and that has to be at least a consideration for the Padres at this point.
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