Baseball Chatter 02/17

Chester Cuthbert will compete for the Royals starting second base job with Whit Merrifield, Christian Colon, and Raul Mondesi. Cuthbert did a good job filling in at third base when Mike Moustakas got injured, but Moustakas is back and Cuthbert is out of minor league options.

Jharel Cotton is ready for his first full season of major league play, looking to continue the success he had over his first five big league starts in 2016. He had a 2.15 ERA and 0.82 WHIP.

Alex Meyer reworked his delivery over the offseason, speeding up his windup while keeping his shoulder closed before he releases his pitches. Like many tall hurlers, the 6-foot-10 right-hander has struggled to sustain a consistent delivery and stay healthy. He had a 4.57 ERA in five starts, 21.2 innings. He struck out 24 24 but walked 13.

Max Scherzer will not commit to being ready for Opening Day. He dropped out of pitching in the WBC because of a stress fracture in the knuckle of his right ring finger.

Hyun-Jin Ryu‘s was throwing in the 84-86 mph range during his last bullpen session

Joey Gallo will have a chance to get in the Rangers’ left field mix, but will most likely open the year at Triple-A, playing third base, first base and left field

Jurickson Profar appears poised to start in left field against right-handed pitching this season

Cesar Hernandez looks to steal 30-40 bases this year and reported to Phillies camp with an added 15 pounds of muscle. Hernandez successfully stole 17 of 30 attempts last season. His .294 average will likely regress some , but that 10.6 percent walk rate shows he has the tools to build on his ability to swipe bags

Vincent Velasquez is working on his curveball this spring, Matt Breen of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Velasquez threw his two fastballs 64.2 percent of the time, per Fangraphs, though it was less productive because his changeup failed to complement the heat. Fangraphs (9.9 percent) and PITCHf/x (13.6) differ on how often he used his curveball, likely because some sliders and hooks often look too similar to identify properly.

Joe Ross plans on focusing on the development of his changeup this spring, The Washington Post reports. “That’s probably the biggest thing I’m going to work on throughout the spring,” Ross said Tuesday He threw the pitch 8.8 percent of the time last year, and it was more effective than it had been in 2015, but it’s still far from a reliable pitch for Ross. An improved change should help him against left-handed hitters, who slashed .313/.385/.439 against him last season

Nationals manager Dusty Baker doesn’t yet know who his closer will be in 2017, but he won’t be using a committee approach to the ninth inning, writes Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post. The second-year Nats skipper flatly said that he doesn’t like the committee approach Shawn Kelley ,Koda Glover,Blake Treinen and Joe Nathan are candidates

Phils Manager Pete Mackanin did acknowledge that both Hector Neris and Edubray Ramos have “shown closer’s stuff,” but he stressed that Gomez is the current closer. The 29-year-old Gomez carried a 2.97 ERA into the 2016 season’s final month before being shelled for 17 earned runs in his final eight innings.

The Mets don’t consider it a setback, as Zach Wheeler’s initial physical revealed his elbow to be in seemingly fine condition. Rather, the current belief is that Wheeler’s mild discomfort comes from scar tissue and won’t be a longstanding issue.

The Blue Jays have agreed to a deal with right-hander Mat Latos, reports Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet (via Twitter).

The Rays’ interest in free-agent catcher Matt Wieters is serious enough that they’ve made a formal offer, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. However, the team’s offer is “likely for one year” and would be less lucrative than whatever figure Wieters and agent Scott Boras are still hoping to find in free agency

Wil Myers is targeting a 40-homer, 40-steal season in 2017, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

Unless Tyler Glasnow pitches lights-out during spring training, he’ll likely begin 2017 with Triple-A Indianapolis. “He’s got to go out and compete, and show some improvements,” manager Clint Hurdle told Pirates Prospects Glasnow is working on two pitches that he rarely threw in 2016, including a changeup and a two-seam fastball. He’s also shortening his stride in an effort improve upon his command

Archie Bradley went 8-9 with a 5.34 ERA in 141 2/3 innings last season, but four of his last seven were quality starts, including a career high 11 strikeouts against the Padres in the season finale.

Attn Dynasty Leagures

A “minor spike” in workload from Carl Edwards Jr. 60 combined appearances (61⅓ innings) between Triple-A and the majors could wind up with a significant setup role this season and possibly the closer’s job in the next year or two

David Dahl and Gerardo Parra will compete for the starting left field job during camp.

  • Dahl made a strong impression last season as a rookie, hitting .315 with seven home runs in 63 games (222 at-bats).
  • Parra, slowed by an ankle injury, had a disappointing season after signing a three-year, $27.5 million contract. He hit .253 with a .271 on-base percentage, both career lows, and drew only nine walks in 381 at-bats. Last year, Parra wasn’t at the top of his game.

Yankees prospects:

  • Clint Frazier is likely a corner outfielder if he gets to the majors.
  • Jorge Mateo is a middle infielder who might be converted to center field, but hasn’t played higher than Single-A.
  • Dustin Fowler hasn’t played a game above Double-A

Aaron Altherr is possibly the best defensive Phillies player and has a chance to secure an opening-day spot as their starting right fielder. Altherr had his best minor-league numbers of his career in 2015 and finished off the season by showing some bursts of power (11 doubles and five home runs) and speed (four triples and six stolen bases) in 39 big-league games. He later faltered as his wrist injury was still a problem

Jeanmar Gomez‘s lack of strikeout stuff means he is more reliant on his defense for outs, and less able to pitch his own way out of trouble. It also means he is reliant on baseball’s maddening odds.

In his last 19 appearances, his ratios remained largely the same as they were in his first 51

  • ground ball ratio, which was actually better in that end-of-the-season stretch 1.21, compared with 1.13
  • Nearly the same`percentage of balls in play, the difference being:
    • 44.1 percent of them went for hits in his last 19 appearances, including eight for extra bases, in 72 total at-bats
    • In his first 51 games, just 28.6 percent of his balls in play resulted in hits, with 13 going for extra bases, in 198 total at-bats

Andrew McCutchen has never played in right field during his professional career. He started 1,175 games in center.

Starling Marte‘s 580 games in the majors, Marte played 338 of total 580 major league games in right field

Gregory Polanco, who debuted in 2014, appeared in 338 games in right. He played in 37 games in left field and seven in center.

All three outfielders will play in the World Baseball Classic, which means they won’t have much time together in Pirates camp to adjust to their new roles.

Luke Weaver, 23, was 1-4 with a 5.70 ERA over 36 1/3 innings in the majors last season. He’s likely to start the season at Class AAA Memphis if Carlos Martinez, Adam Wainwright, Leake, Lance Lynn and Michael Wacha remain healthy and effective.

Weaver allowed 11.4 hits per nine innings in the majors, 3.3 hits more per nine innings than he averaged in the minors. After averaging 0.3 home runs allowed per nine innings in the minors, he gave up 1.7 homers per nine innings in the majors. He issued three walks per nine innings, almost twice as many as his 1.6 walks per nine innings in the minors.

 

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