Baseball Chatter 04/24

Player News

• The Indians signed Melky Cabrera to a minor league deal yesterday. He will have extended spring training in Arizona for about a week before he joins Triple-A Columbus. He is a perfect fit for the Indians since they lost the switch-hitting Carlos Santana and Cabrera is a switch hitter. Expect him.
• Word has it that Jose Bautista turned down a higher offer from another team but decided to sign with his former general manager, Alex Anthopoulos, who says he will play first base or outfield as well as third base if they need him.
• Nick Pivetta walked way too many hitters last season, (3.86/9) but he is much improved this year with only four walks through 28 innings.

Our friend Paul Martin wrote about Pivetta last week, you should grab him if he is still lingering

In each of his two home starts so far, Yu Darvish threw four scoreless innings before getting blown up in the fifth. He also pitched in the coldest weather he has ever pitched in. Don’t forget, he went from Texas to California before ending up Chicago.

• Brian Dozier currently has a 17 game hit streak, 75 at-bats.
• The crazy hype train for Vlad Guerrero Jr. has gotten out of control ever since MLB Pipeline issued him the first ever perfect hit tool score, 80. Just in case you forgot, let me remind you:

• • A hit tool is only part of what makes you great in Fantasy.
  • A player needs all five tools to be great in baseball and he needs at least three in Fantasy
  • The homer is not as exciting as it used to be, there are plenty of Three True Outcome players in the game already.

• Franchy Cordero could lose at-bats now that Wil Myers and Manuel Margot are both healthy, but management always finds a place in the lineup for guys who are hitting well. And right now Cordero is hitting really well. He hits homers really well, at least. He also likes to steal bases so that is surely a positive. Those of you who own him in OBP leagues are suffering some, as he strikes out 32.6 percent of the time and rarely takes a walk. His contact rate is 62 percent. Sell if you can.
• Jaime Barria needed 21 pitches and nearly 13 minutes to face Brandon Belt in the first inning. You won’t be surprised to hear Barria only lasted two innings, threw 77 pitches and faced 12 batters.

Belt made history for the most pitches since they started keeping track in 1988. He hit a foul ball on two strikes 16 times.  

Injury Updates

Check out the new injury updates section here on the site. Here are some highlights:

Be Back Soon!

• Jonathan Schoop started running and throwing yesterday. His return date is not set, but it is a good sign. Oblique injuries are quite different than other injuries though, as they vary in length from a few days to several months.
• Xander Bogaerts starts his rehab assignment today at Triple-A and could be back with the Red Sox this Friday

Recently Added to DL

• Avisail Garcia (CWS-OF) was placed on the 10-day DL with a strained hamstring. The severity of his injury is not known at this time but expect to see more playing time for Leury Garcia. Garcia has four stolen bases in 11 games so far this season.
• Tim Beckham is likely to hit the disabled list after the Orioles called up Engelb Vielma from Triple-A. Beckham was pulled from the game with a groin injury, but he is also dealing with a sore achilles.

Team Stuff

• Jim Riggleman won his first game in Cincinnati, where they had the lowest attendance at home in nine seasons.
• Braves relievers have walked more batters than any team in baseball, 57 in 77 innings. The most of a(6.66 BB/9), but they have only allowed two home runs though (.23HR/9)

They also have the least saves of any team, two.

• The Orioles have scored three or fewer runs in 16 of 22 games so far in 2018 and have lost nine of their last ten
• Phillies pitchers have a league-leading ERA of 1.89 at home and 3.01 overall. Only the Red Sox and Astros have been better. They aren’t hitting well, .230 average, but they know how to take walks, .325 OBP.