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The Rangers announced today that they have added right-handed pitchers Juan Nicasio and Edinson Volquez to their 60-man player pool. That leaves the team with three remaining openings to work with at the outset of Summer Camp.
Both of these hurlers had already been inked to minor-league deals with the Texas organization. Their inclusion on the list was expected, but the club had waited to make the formal moves until the veterans had entered the United States and made it through testing protocols.
Nicasio, 33, has topped forty MLB frames in each of the past nine seasons. He hasn’t been terribly effective of late; last year, he finished with a 4.75 ERA in 47 1/3 innings with the Phillies. But Nicasio has had his share of success and carried eye-popping peripherals in the 2018 campaign (despite a substandard 6.00 ERA).
As for Volquez, who turns 37 tomorrow, it once seemed he’d already be retired by this point. But he chose to return last year after undergoing Tommy John surgery and was able to reacquire all of his arm strength. The results weren’t there in his brief 2019 action and he struggled early in camp, but the Rangers obviously feel there could still be some gas in the tank.
In each case, the MLB opportunity is perhaps greater than might have been expected. The new three-batter minimum rule and shortened second training camp give these veteran pitchers added appeal. Both have experience as starters and historically carry neutral platoon splits. With extra active roster spots to work with early on, the Rangers could well carry and frequently utilize both Nicasio and Volquez.Comment -
Who are going to be the headline opening day startersComment -
Quintana lacerated his hand washing the dishes...game over, Cross
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Your current Cub rotation as of now. (with projections)
ROLE POS # PLAYER THR ERA GS IP H BB SO SP1 SP 11 Yu Darvish R 3.81 11 67 57 22 79 SP2 SP 34 Jon Lester L 4.66 11 65 68 22 56 SP3 SP 28 Kyle Hendricks R 4.1 11 67 68 16 54 SP4 SP 32 Tyler Chatwood R 4.62 10 62 58 38 56 SP5 SP 30 Alec Mills R 4.92 5 35 36 12 30 Comment -
Got this message from 5Dimes.
I think this was good to know before hand.
All World Series, pennant, divisions and "make the playoffs" futures, will be graded according to the official winner declared by the MLB. For action, a winner must be announced on or before 12/31/20.Comment -
Losing Quintana for a few weeks, not Darvish. No worries. Mills and Chatwood will do just as well as Quintana actually.Comment -
Snell now regretting ranting about his pay before the pay cuts.Comment -
Trout may not playComment -
A quartet of Atlanta Braves tested positive for COVID-19: Freddie Freeman, Pete Kozma, Touki Toussaint, and Will Smith, per Sportscaster Kelly Crull. Though the teams do not have to release the names of the players who test positive for coronavirus, in this case, the players consented to have their names released in order to spread awareness.
Smith and Toussaint are asymptomatic at this time. Freeman tested negative upon intake, but started developing symptoms before workouts were to begin, per The Athletic’s David O’Brien. Since it appears Freeman caught the virus while at Braves’ camp, this will be an important situation to track.
Not to mention, it’s possibly a blow to the Braves on-field expectations for 2020. There’s no telling how severe a case Freeman is dealing with, and even after he’s back to full health, he’ll need to pass the new protocols to return to play. Freeman, 30, is the longest-tenured member of the Braves. When he made his debut in 2010, Chipper Jones, David Ross, Derek Lowe, Jason Heyward, Tim Hudson, Craig Kimbrel, and Brian McCann were still a part of the team.
Though it seems like he’s been around forever, Freeman still produces like a superstar. He hit .295/.389/.549 even while dealing with an elbow injury that sapped him of some power.
Smith, meanwhile, could return earlier if he remains asymptomatic, but it’s important to remember that anybody appearing without symptoms who test positive could simply be pre-symptomatic, at which point there’s no telling yet what kind of timetable for a return might be. Smith was to be an important piece of Atlanta’s bullpen after joining the club from San Francisco via free agency. As the Giants’ closer last year, Smith went 6-0 with 34 saves and a 2.76 ERA/3.23 FIP over 60 games.
Toussaint had an outside shot at winning a spot in the Atlanta bullpen, though he figured to join the big league club at some point during the season as he has in each of the past two campaigns. Kozma was to serve as a depth infield option after playing all of 2019 for the Tigers’ Triple-A club.Comment -
Less than three weeks til ball, aight den!Comment -
David Price opting out of playing in the 2020 season. Wonder if more players will do the same, although Price in unique position to do so. Made alot of money already and already won a ring.Comment -
Your 2020 LA Dodger rotation with projections as it stands now (7/5/2020)
ROLE POS PLAYER THR ERA GS IP H BB SO SP1 SP Clayton Kershaw L 3.44 12 75 67 16 76 SP2 SP Walker Buehler R 3.41 12 71 61 18 82 SP3 SP Julio Urías L 4 10 62 55 25 67 SP4 SP Alex Wood L 4.02 10 55 54 15 47 SP5 SP Dustin May R 4.06 8 50 49 13 43 Comment -
Yankees second baseman DJ LeMahieu and right-hander Luis Cessa have both tested positive for the coronavirus, manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including ESPN’s Marly Rivera). Cessa has mild symptoms, while LeMahieu is asymptomatic. Neither player has arrived at the Yankees’ Summer Camp, as both were tested before making the trip to New York.
As per the league’s COVID-19 policy, LeMahieu and Cessa are under quarantine for a two-week period, and will then have to exhibit no symptoms and test negative twice for the virus before being cleared to play. With Opening Day tentatively scheduled for July 23, that leaves some time for either player to make the initial 30-man roster, though Cessa might need a bit more time to get his arm in proper shape.
LeMahieu is coming off a superb debut season with the Yankees, as the veteran finished fourth in AL MVP voting and collected Silver Slugger honors after hitting .327/.375/.518 with 26 home runs in 655 plate appearances. After getting a lot of playing time at first, second, and third base last season, LeMahieu is expected to be New York’s regular second baseman now that Gleyber Torres is taking over at shortstop, though LeMahieu’s versatility will give Boone some valuable flexibility in juggling his lineup.
Cessa has worked as a reliever and occasional starter for the Yankees over his four MLB seasons, and posted a 4.11 ERA, 2.42 K/BB rate, and 8.3 K/9 over 81 innings (all as a reliever) in 2019. This workhorse-like ability to eat innings is particularly valuable in a short season, where New York’s entire staff will be called upon while the starters get ramped up.Comment -
Players who have opted out of the 2020 season so far:
Ryan Zimmerman
Joe Ross
Ian Desmond
Mike Leake
David Price
Felix HernandezComment -
Jake what's going on with Kirby Yates ?Comment -
Mets infielder Jed Lowrie is said to be a “full go” for Mets workouts, manager Luis Rojas told reporters including Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. He’ll participate in a sim game at Citi Field today. Lowrie has been absent with a variety of nebulous injuries to his left side, seemingly stemming from an initial knee injury. Those injuries limited the 36-year-old to just nine games last year, his first with the Mets. He entered this year’s first iteration of Spring Training in a brace, apparently dealing with some lingering effects from last year’s health issues. It’s encouraging to hear that Lowrie seems to be in better shape now, but it remains to be seen just how often Rojas will deploy him in a somewhat crowded infield mix. This year marks the final year in the two-year, $20MM contract Lowrie inked prior to last year. And between last year’s injury-plagued season and a shortened campaign in 2020, it’s looking like the Mets’ two-year investment in Lowrie is going largely by the wayside.
Other injury-related notes from around baseball…
- Brewers right-hander Corey Knebel is looking good in Brewers camp as he recovers from Tommy John surgery, per a report from Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. Knebel missed all of last year after undergoing the procedure in the spring, but he’s ramped up to throwing live batting practice in the Brewers’ return to action. As McCalvy says, manager Craig Counsell and pitching coach Chris Hook still want to be careful with Knebel, who’s a little more than a year removed from surgery. That said, it seems like Knebel should figure into Milwaukee’s bullpen mix this year, augmenting a unit that already looks formidable with Josh Hader at the helm. The tandem of Hader and Knebel, who was an All-Star in 2017, could form the backbone of one of baseball’s deadliest bullpens.
- After an elbow-related scare this spring, Angels righty Griffin Canning says he’s feeling “10 times better” than he did a few months ago, according to Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. That’s encouraging news for Angels fans who might have been panicking when ongoing elbow issues became a topic of focus during Spring Training. Luckily, those elbow troubles weren’t due to a tear in the UCL, so Canning was able to avoid an invasive procedure. A PRP injection seems to have worked wonders for Canning, and the hope is that he’ll maintain good health down the road. All told, it seems like Canning should be able to contribute in some capacity to the Angels’ shortened season—great news after an impressive rookie season.
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Sports in Europe in full swing; hoping MLB and NBA can join the party... Damn Virus messing up all NCAA schedulesComment
