The bat, the glove, the wheels: Chourio does it all in debut

https://www.mlb.com/video/jackson-chour ... st-popular

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Justin Steele Out Until At Least May

By Steve Adams | March 30, 2024 at 7:26pm CDT
Cubs ace Justin Steele exited his first start of the season with a hamstring strain, and he’s looking at an absence that’s more than double the minimum 15 days on the injured list. Manager Craig Counsell told the Cubs beat today that Steele has been diagnosed with a Grade 1 strain and is expected to miss the entire month of April (X link via Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic). The team doesn’t have an exact timetable yet, as they’re waiting for Steele to be able to walk without a limp before mapping things out more concretely.

Steele was cruising through a well-deserved first Opening Day start of his career when he tumbled awkwardly while fielding a bunt off the bat of Leody Taveras. The 28-year-old lefty managed to make an impressive play and throw out the speedy Taveras but immediately grabbed at his leg in the aftermath of the play before exiting with a trainer. The Cubs put him on the injured list earlier today and called up pitching prospect Ben Brown.

Losing Steele for at least a sixth of the season is a significant blow to a Cubs club that has its sights set on a return to the postseason in what’s viewed as a wide-open NL Central division. The left-hander was never considered to be a premium prospect but has nevertheless climbed from an unheralded fifth-round pick to not just a solid member of the starting staff but an All-Star and top-five finisher in National League Cy Young voting.

Steele made 30 starts for the Cubs in 2023 and pitched 173 1/3 innings with a 3.06 ERA, 24.6% strikeout rate, 5% walk rate and 49.4% ground-ball rate. That marked his second straight season of a low-3.00s ERA, but Steele dramatically improved his walk rate in 2023 and enjoyed his success over a much larger sample in ’23 than the prior season. Including his 2021 rookie showing and this year’s lone appearance, he’s pitched to a 3.28 ERA in 354 big league innings.

With Steele sidelined for more than a month and perhaps even a fair bit more than that — Counsell did not specify whether early May or late May was the expectation — the Cubs’ rotation depth will be put to the test early. Chicago signed star NPB lefty Shota Imanaga to a four-year contract over the winter, effectively replacing righty Marcus Stroman, who eventually signed with the Yankees as a free agent. Imanaga, Kyle Hendricks and bounceback hopeful Jameson Taillon will lead a staff that’ll now be quite young in the four and five spots.

The 24-year-old Brown, a well-regarded pitching prospect whom the Cubs acquired from the Phillies in the 2022 David Robertson trade, will make his big league debut when he first takes the mound. He has significant command issues in Triple-A last year (15.8% walk rate in 72 2/3 innings) but impressed in spring training and has strong overall numbers up through Double-A. Javier Assad has a 3.06 ERA in 41 career appearances, but more than half those have come out of the bullpen. He’s also posted a below-average 20.2% strikeout rate against a higher-than-average 9.9% walk rate.

The Cubs have a few soft spots on the schedule over the next month-plus, but they’ll face more competitive teams than non-contenders. Their April schedule will see them square off against the Dodgers, Astros, D-backs, Mariners, Padres, Marlins, Red Sox and Rockies. They draw the Mets, Brewers (twice), Padres, Pirates (twice), Braves (twice) and Cardinals in May.

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Twins RHP Anthony DeSclafani to miss 2024 after forearm surgery

Field Level Media

Mar 30, 2024, 01:44 PM ET

Minnesota Twins right-hander Anthony DeSclafani underwent forearm flexor tendon surgery and will miss the entire 2024 season.

Expected to be a starter on the back end of the Minnesota rotation, DeSclafani was diagnosed with a right elbow strain in mid-March and was placed on the 60-day injured list Thursday in advance of the regular season.

With a timetable for a return set at 13 months, DeSclafani will miss the start of the 2025 season as well.

Traded from the San Francisco Giants to the Seattle Mariners on Jan. 5, DeSclafani was then moved to the Twins in a Jan. 29 deal.

DeSclafani is in the American League for the first time after spending nine seasons with the Miami Marlins (2014), Cincinnati Reds (2015-20) and Giants. He went 4-8 with a 4.88 ERA in 19 appearances (18 starts) for San Francisco last season but did not pitch after July 23 because of a forearm strain.

In 180 career appearances (169 starts), DeSclafani is 54-56 with a 4.20 ERA.

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Minnesota Twins Lose Breakout Slugger to Injured List

The Minnesota Twins have lost slugging third baseman Royce Lewis to the injured list after just one game due to a hamstring issue. It's the latest frustrating setback for Lewis, who has dealt with injuries throughout his career.

BRADY FARKAS 10 HOURS AGO

In another frustrating setback, Minnesota Twins' infielder Royce Lewis is headed to the injured list after just one game. He's dealing with a quadriceps issue that caused him to leave the Opening Day game early on Thursday.

Per Twins' reporter Do-Hyoung Park on social media:

Royce Lewis is expected to head to the IL today, with Austin Martin called up in his place. Further details expected later this morning.

Lewis was 2-for-2 in that opener with a home run and a single and is expected to be a major contributor to the Twins' offense this year - that is if he can stay on the field.

Formerly a top prospect, the 24-year-old California native has played just 71 career games since debuting in 2022. He played only 12 games in 2022 and 58 in 2023.

As for Martin, he is ranked the No. 15 prospect in the organization, per MLB.com. Here's a portion of his MLB.com prospect profile:

From the outset, coaching staffs have worked with Martin to drive the ball more and no adjustments have ever stuck. What he does have is incredible bat-to-ball skills; the right-handed hitter has struck out in just 16.5 percent of his plate appearances heading into 2024. He draws walks and can spray the ball to all fields and, to his credit, did hit the ball on the ground less once he recovered from the elbow injury at midseason last year and he had a big August where he drove the ball more consistently.

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Missed this one.

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Boston Red Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito will undergo right elbow surgery potentially ending his first season with the team before it even begins.

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MLB fires back after MLBPA calls pitch clock a ‘threat’ as pitching injuries mount

By Steve Berman and Evan Drellich
Apr 6, 2024


Amid Cleveland Guardians starter Shane Bieber and Atlanta Braves right-hander Spencer Strider suffering elbow injuries, the Major League Baseball Players Association expressed concern over the effects of MLB’s rules changes, citing the pitch clock that went into use during the 2023 season.

“Despite unanimous player opposition and significant concerns regarding health and safety, the commissioner’s office reduced the length of the pitch clock last December, just one season removed from imposing the most significant rule change in decades,” MLBPA executive director Tony Clark said in a statement released Saturday.

“Since then, our concerns about the health impacts of reduced recovery time have only intensified. The league’s unwillingness thus far to acknowledge or study the effects of these profound changes is an unprecedented threat to our game and its most valuable asset — the players.”

MLB issued the following statement in response to Clark:

“This statement ignores the empirical evidence and much more significant long-term trend, over multiple decades, of velocity and spin increases that are highly correlated with arm injuries. Nobody wants to see pitchers get hurt in this game, which is why MLB is currently undergoing a significant comprehensive research study into the causes of this long-term increase, interviewing prominent medical experts across baseball which to date has been consistent with an independent analysis by Johns Hopkins University that found no evidence to support that the introduction of the pitch clock has increased injuries.

“In fact, JHU found no evidence that pitchers who worked quickly in 2023 were more likely to sustain an injury than those who worked less quickly on average. JHU also found no evidence that pitchers who sped up their pace were more likely to sustain an injury than those who did not.”

MLB instituted a pitch clock for last season that gave pitchers 15 seconds to throw with no base runners and 20 seconds when someone was on base. In December, after a season in which games were 2 hours, 40 minutes on average, the league’s competition committee approved a change to the pitch clock rule, shortening the time with runners on base to 18 seconds.

Bieber will undergo Tommy John surgery in the coming days, ending his season after two dominant starts against the Oakland A’s and Seattle Mariners. Strider reported feeling elbow soreness after his start Friday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Braves announced Saturday that Strider will see a specialist to determine treatment options for a damaged UCL, which often requires Tommy John surgery.

Eury Pérez, a 20-year-old starter for the Miami Marlins, learned early this week that he would also have to undergo Tommy John surgery.

While serious pitching injuries — particularly elbow injuries — are seemingly on the rise, many have pointed to an increase in velocity throughout the majors as the root cause.

“Well, they’re throwing harder than ever and spinning the ball more than ever,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said on Saturday. “I don’t know. I hate it for everybody concerned. That’s the biggest thing we have in our game, man, is the pitching.”

The competition committee’s makeup consists of six owners, four players and one umpire. After December’s pitch-clock adjustment, Clark noted that the players were against that change.

“This afternoon, player representatives voted against the 2024 rule changes proposed by the commissioner’s office,” read Clark’s statement. “As they made clear in the competition committee, players strongly feel that, following last season’s profound changes to the fundamental rules of the game, immediate additional changes are unnecessary and offer no meaningful benefits to fans, players, or the competition on the field.

“This season should be used to gather additional data and fully examine the health, safety, and injury impacts of the reduced recovery time; that is where the focus should be.”

Bieber isn’t the only one dealing with elbow trouble. Yankees starter Jonathan Loáisiga said on Saturday that he’ll undergo season-ending right UCL surgery and Braves starter Spencer Strider is waiting to find out if his right UCL needs to be operated on.


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Rockies' Kris Bryant reveals death threats amid struggles

The Rockies star spoke out on the death threats amid his frustrating campaign with the team.

By Gerard Angelo Samillano

Apr 7, 2024 at 11:11 AM CDT3 min read

{ Didn't know if I should post this one here or in the Politics Folder ]

The Colorado Rockies are in hell. Ironic, since they play up in Denver, but the way this team is playing, you'd think that they came from the deepest pits of Tartatus. They're just a bad team… no other way around it. It certainly doesn't help that one of their franchise players, Kris Bryant, is in the midst of a massive slump. After signing a long-term contract, Bryant has struggled to find the form he once had before.

Obviously, everyone in Colorado is frustrated. Kris Bryant himself must be frustrated about his own play. However, what's unacceptable is how some fans react to his struggles on the field. The Rockies star talked about the death threats and aggression he's taken from frustrated fans, per Bob Nightengale.

Colorado Rockies fans didn’t try to hide their disgust towards Kris Bryant and his struggles by heavily booing him at their home opener. “I’ve been through it all,” Bryant told reporters. “The death threats, the ‘kill yourself.’ All the craziness that this game will dish out. It takes courage to show up every day in this game. This game dishes you a lot. A lot of up, well, not a lot of up, but a lot of downs.”

Why is Bryant heavily booed? Well, it might have something to do with his recent comments. Bryant went viral recently for comments that seemed to imply that he regretted signing with Colorado. The quote was taken out of context, and it was just an interpretation, but the damage was already done.

“It's like, ‘Oh shoot, I need to get there,” Bryant said. “There were other teams interested, but I didn't want to wait around. It was a completely different situation for a lot of free agents at the time. I guess I didn't do as much research into the prospects as I should.”

Bryant signed a massive deal with the Rockies back in 2022. It was an interesting move, to say the least: Bryant was a highly coveted free agent, and teams definitely would've wanted him on the team. However, he decided to join Colorado.

His first year was pretty damn good: a plus-.300 batting average and an OPS+ of 128 is solid. He didn't earn any accolades, but the Rockies would've been happy to see that same performance year after year. Since then, though, it's just been… bad. 2023 saw Bryant's performance tank in ways we've never seen, partly due to injuries. His batting average dropped to .233, and his WAR has steadily dropped.

It's been especially worse in 2024. Currently, Bryant is batting just .120 with a dismal 41 OPS+. Strikeouts are becoming the norm for the former All-Star now. He's seemingly been dealing with back issues, which is a problem. Still, even when he's relatively healthy, the Rockies star has been the complete opposite of the player they hoped they signed. There's a good reason why fans are frustrated.

That being said… death threats are not the answer. It's frustrating to see your best player struggle, yes, but that should never be a reason to wish death on a man or his family. Rockies fans are free to vent their frustration, but aiming it directly at Bryant (or worse, his family) is not the solution.

Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any light at the end of the tunnel for the Rockies. While the rest of their division spent the offseason retooling, the team continued to trudge along with the same team. That would've been fine if the had the best team in baseball. What they have, though, was the complete opposite. It's unfortunate that this is happening to Colorado's baseball-crazed crowd.

[ Wonder where I've read, heard, and seen these types of stories before? Sad! Unfortunately this type of crap has become the norm these days! This type of rhetoric seems to have no bounds. ]

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No death threats, I hope, but Nolan Jones is another Rockie having a rocky start to his season. After blossoming into a hitting star last season, and getting some projections as one of the top 100 players in the majors this season, Jones has dropped back dramatically in April. Still has 80% of the season to turn things around.

To date: `48/225/259 1 homer 33 strikeouts.
He's number 95 of 96 in the NL in OPS
Number 97 of 98 in on base pct
Number 91 of 98 in slugging
Number 4 in strikeouts [Will Benson is number 7]

Jones had a similar spring training when he went homerless and struck out 40%of the time. Will he be a one year wonder?
He continues to shine on defense and will have a long opportunity to prove he is for real. Doubt Rockies will give up on him quickly like CLE did

I would not even call him a one year wonder. Reality set in when he got traded. Good results one year but we will see if he can be consistent.

Hayden Grove
@H_Grove
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1h
Will Benson and Nolan Jones combined this season:

25 hits in 154 at-bats

.162 - 3 HR - 12 RBI

Benson does at least draw a fair number of walks and steals some bases. Both are rated good defenisve OFs. Sort of Zimmerish.

Giants outfielder Jung Hoo Lee dislocates left shoulder in win over Reds

Could be a team that would be very interested in Myles Straw.

if they're that desperate it would be great opportunity