The Cubs have acquired RHP Eddie Butler from the Rockies in exchange for minor league RHP James Farris. Butler was designated for assignment over the weekend, but just two years ago, he was ranked as one of the top 50 prospects in baseball.
Butler is a ground-ball pitcher, but has struggled with his command at the major league level. The move from Coors field alone will raise the stats, but his role in Chicago is yet to be determined. Stay Tuned…
Joe Maddon wants the “geeks” in the baseball operations department to go over the numbers to see if it might be a good idea to bat his pitchers eighth so that Kyle Schwarber will get more RBI opportunities. Schwarber has shown great skill getting on base, so he can bat lead-off also.
That info about Maddon came from Carrie Muskat of MLB.com, but the article to read is over at Fangraphs, written by Jeff Zimmerman.
The Nationals added some bullpen depth in Joe Nathan and Matt Albers, which reminds me of something I heard last night on WFAN radio but have not looked into yet, which was that Shawn Kelley ended last season coming out of a playoff game with some kind of finger injury Check it out and let me know..
Julio Urias will likely start the season at Triple-A unless there is an immediate opening in the Dodgers rotation. Also, it has been made clear that the Dodgers intend to limit his innings in an attempt to keep him healthy. Point is that there are better options available late in drafts.
Zack Greinke accounts for nearly half (46.7%) of the Diamondbacks $72.8 million payroll in 2017
Josh Bell underwent knee surgery, and will be expected to miss 2-4 weeks. The Pirates are unsure whether he will be ready by opening day.
Reds manager Bryan Price insists that Dilson Herrera “will not to be sitting on the bench five days a week, ” He’s either playing regularly in the big leagues or he’s playing in Triple-A.”
If the Orioles fall out of contention early, watch for what could be one of the biggest fire sales in recent MLB history. Any or all of Welington Castillo, Chris Tillman, Ubaldo Jimenez, Seth Smith,Hyun Soo Kim, Manny Machado, Adam Jones, Zach Britton and Wade Miley could go.
Although I already told Lenny that Ubaldo is not sellable, The Orioles could throw him into a deal just to get rid of him. Sorry Ubaldo, nothing personal. After I added my thought on Ubaldo, I read the following:
Ubaldo Jimenez had a 7.38 ERA and a .320 BAA over 82 first half innings in 2016. Those numbers drastically improved in the second half , when he posted a 2.82 ERA and a .183 BAA over 60.2 innings. Look what he did in the month of Sept/October.
Which led me to inquire about Sept/Oct throughout his career…He has never had a bad Sept/Oct. This is extremely valuable info to know, at least in my opinion, because when you are trying to win your league and it gets late in the season….quality is almost impossible to find…
I could have written an entire piece on Jason Kipnis but he was originally part of today’s chatter and for fear that I never get it done, he stays in chatter with a few extra bits of information goodness..Enjoy…
Player Outlook 2017: Jason Kipnis
Jason Kipnis hit 23 home runs slugging .469 last season, both career highs. These numbers can be attributed, at least in part, to his excellent work ethic and mental approach at the plate.
Kipnis’ SLG on pitches on inner third of K-zone jumped to .743 in ’16 from .593 in ’15. Here’s a look at how his XBH spray chart changed. pic.twitter.com/p3DXfepe7H
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) January 29, 2017
“It was a conscious effort,” Indians assistant hitting coach Matt Quatraro said. The extra power came with a trade-off, less contact. His Contact% dropped 2% points which pushed his K% up 4.5% points. The effects snowballed with his AVG and OBP dropping ~30% points.
DeRosaon KIpnis
Share this Post