Neil is Real

A Walk(er) in the Park

Neil Walker was born and raised in the Pittsburgh area. The hometown kid was a first round selection of the Pirates (11th overall) in the 2004 draft out of Pine-Richland High School in Gibsonia, Pennsylvania.

He worked his way through the minor league system with the Buccos, making his big league debut during the 2009 season as a 23-year-old. Walker would remain with the Pirates through the next six full seasons, averaging 16 homers and 70 RBI per season while slashing .273/.338/.433.

While he was never an All-Star, he was always a very solid regular that found a home in the middle of the Pirates' lineup. He also loved hitting at PNC Park. Entering play on Friday, Walker was a .279/.347/.427 hitter with 42 career homers and 199 RBI in the ballpark.

He picked up his 200th (and 201st) career RBI's in the park when he smashed a Chad Kuhl offering over the wall in right field in the third inning, giving the Pirates a 3-0 lead. He added to that total his next at-bat, lining another Kuhl offering over the boards in right for a solo shot.

He also chipped in an RBI single, finishing the night 3-for-5 with three runs scored and four RBI, leading the Mets to an 8-1 victory over his former mates.


Putting up Zeroes

Alex Wood began the 2017 season as a long reliever in the Dodgers' bullpen after he failed to win a spot in the Opening Day rotation during spring training.

The former top prospect got his chance to shine in early April while Rich Hill battled his blister issue and he hasn't looked back.

The 26-year-old southpaw entered Friday's start against the Cubs riding a 20 1/3 scoreless inning streak. That streak lives on after firing five shutout innings and striking out eight in a victory on Friday. Wood now owns a 25 1/3 scoreless inning streak, the longest streak in the league this season.

On the season as a whole, he has been a godsend to the Dodgers and fantasy owners alike. With Friday's victory, Wood now sits at 6-0 on the season. He owns a sparkling 1.69 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and 60/15 K/BB ratio across 48 innings.

American League Quick Hits:  Chris Archer punched out 11 over 7 2/3 innings in a victory over the Twins... Logan Morrison provided the support there with his 13th home run... Eduardo Rodriguez earned his fourth win with six shutout innings against the Mariners... Jean Segura had three hits and a stolen base in a losing effort... Mike Pelfrey struck out a season-high seven in a victory over the Tigers... Joe Musgrove shut out the Orioles over seven innings in Friday's victory... Ken Giles notched his 14th save with a perfect ninth inning... Devon Travis had three hits including a grand slam in a win over the Rangers... Sean Manaea struck out eight over seven shutout innings in a no-decision against the Yankees... Masahiro Tanaka punched out a career-high 13 in a tough-luck loss there... Josh Donaldson and Troy Tulowitzki will sit on Saturday after returning to the lineup on Friday... Ubaldo Jimenez has been bumped from the Orioles' rotation in favor of Alec Asher... Glen Perkins (shoulder) could begin facing live hitters next week... Corey Kluber fired five shutout innings in his minor league rehab start with Double-A Akron. He's expected to rejoin the Indians' rotation next week... A.J. Griffin was forced to leave Friday's start due to a left intercostal strain... J.A. Happ (elbow) could rejoin the Blue Jays' rotation as soon as Tuesday... Bud Norris was forced to leave his appearance on Friday due to soreness in his right knee. He's considered day-to-day... Cameron Maybin (knee) expects to return to the starting lineup on Saturday... James Shields (lat) will throw a simulated game on Monday..  Yonder Alonso (wrist) missed another game, but was able to hit off of a tee during pregame work... Kendall Graveman was scratched from Friday's start due to soreness in his pitching shoulder... Twins' prospect Nick Burdi was forced to undergo Tommy John surgery... Dustin Pedroia (knee) missed Friday's game but expects to play on Saturday... Jharel Cotton will be recalled from Triple-A to start against the Yankees on Saturday.... The Tigers plan to make all veterans available via trade if they remain under .500 by the end of June.

National League Quick Hits: Antonio Senzatela was brilliant on Friday, shutting out the Cardinals over eight innings at Coors Field... Charlie Blackmon went 4-for-4 with a homer, triple and three RBI in the win... Jaime Garcia fired 6 2/3 shutout innings in a victory over the Giants... Adrian Gonzalez clubbed his first home run of the season in Friday's win over the Cubs... Jake Lamb clubbed his 14th home run of the season as the Diamondbacks rallied to beat the Brewers in extra innings... Corey Knebel suffered a blown save in that one, surrendering a game-tying homer to Chris Iannetta with two outs in the ninth inning... Zack Godley fired six shutout innings in a no-decision there... Junior Guerra pitched well in his return from the disabled list, allowing one run over 5 2/3 innings... Justin Bour belted a three-run homer (his 13th) in a rout of the Angels... Jacob deGrom punched out 10 over 8 1/3 innings of one-run baseball in a victory against the Pirates... Gregory Polanco clubbed a solo homer in his return from the disabled list... Scott Schebler launched his 14th homer in a win over the Phillies... Tim Adleman fired eight innings of one-hit ball to beat the Phillies... Trea Turner, Bryce Harper and Michael Taylor left the yard in a win over the Padres... Yoenis Cespedes (hamstring) went 0-for-2 with a walk and a run scored while playing six innings defensively in his first minor league rehab game with High-A St. Lucie... Rob Segedin is expected to miss the next 4-to-6 weeks after undergoing surgery on his injured right wrist... Manuel Margot is expected to be placed on the disabled list due to his sore right calf... Randall Delgado will make another start for the Diamondbacks on Monday... Cesar Hernandez was held out of the Phillies' lineup due to a minor groin injury... The Nationals acquired lefty-masher Ryan Raburn from the White Sox... Andrew McCutchen was dropped to sixth in the lineup for Friday's game against the Mets... Ryan Braun officially landed on the disabled list with his right calf strain... Tom Murphy (wrist) could begin a rehab assignment next week... A.J. Pollock (groin) is on track to return from the disabled list next week.

Frazier Watch

There have been times over the past few weeks where Todd Frazier has thought about or discussed trade rumors involving his name.

Usually the White Sox third baseman is answering questions brought about by his friends on the matter.

"They always hit me up," Frazier said. "I have guys at home who are big Red Sox fans, and they are like, 'It's going to happen.' I'm like, 'You guys have no clue.' Or Mets fans or whatever it is.
"It's mainly for them. I've been around it before a bunch of times. It's just like another day, I guess. Until you get a call or the GM tells you, I'm not worried about it. I'm worried about being a [member of the] White Sox right now."
Frazier is in an interesting position as a free agent-to-be in the midst of a slightly weird season, health-wise. He battled through a sprained left pointer finger in January, a left oblique strain during Spring Training, a knockdown bad case of the flu in-season and most recently back stiffness.
As the White Sox return from a 3-7 road trip, the 31-year-old has a .192 average with five home runs, seven doubles and 19 RBIs -- not exactly the numbers of what great trades are based upon.
But teams understand Frazier's value, both on the field and in the clubhouse, and he feels closer at the plate to where he needs to be. He has a .301 on-base percentage and seems to be tracking the ball much better offensively.

Frazier's two-run single

Todd Frazier singles to plate a pair, extending the lead to 12-2 in the top of the 7th inning

"Just trying to focus on squaring the ball up," Frazier said. "That's basically it and seeing the ball. No matter what pitch it is."
In a Tuesday night loss to the D-backs in which Frazier hit a long home run to right-center field, he didn't chase one pitch out of the strike zone. He only had one hit to show for his work, followed by two walks on Wednesday, but Frazier feels on the right path back toward his 40-homer, 98-RBI performance of 2016.
"Hopefully I just keep on rolling," Frazier said. "It's one of those things where you feel good. You don't ever want that feeling to go away. When it does go away, it's like, 'What the heck happened?' Just keep on focusing on what I've been doing and just seeing the right pitch I need to hit."
Frazier spoke at SoxFest and during Spring Training about a desire to stay with the White Sox, even with the rebuild. That desire might not be fulfilled and he soon could find himself on a true contender, but he enjoys serving as the veteran mentor among a group of talented young prospects, and he would like to extend that unofficial job description.
"No talks or anything," said Frazier of possible contract discussions with the White Sox. "Hopefully one day they will. It will be a great opportunity here and just depends on what road they want to go.
"I've expressed to them how much I would like to stay here. We have a really good time. We have a good mix, and they are learning fast. It has been fun to watch."

Rookie Watch

 There's rookies to watch out for this season

Here’s a look at 10 of the best young players in baseball.
10. Manuel Margot, 22, OF, San Diego Padres
This spot could have just as easily gone to Hunter Renfroe, Jharel Cotton, Robert Gsellman or Josh Bell, but we’re going with Manuel Margot for a number of reasons.
Capable of playing all outfield positions, Margot has primarily been used in center field due to his ability to patrol large amounts of space. In Triple-A a season ago, the 22-year-old Margot recorded 311 putouts and 18 assists, which were each second to none. Needless to say, his ability to cover ground at Petco Park is unparalleled.
But that’s not all Margot has in his bag of tricks. He’s a solid hitter for average and is capable of swiping some bases if need be. He’s batting .264 on the season but has plenty of extra-base hits, including six doubles, three triples and four home runs. Margot has shown he has some pop in his bat, which will undoubtedly improve as he gets stronger and more accustomed to quality pitching.
And while he’ll need to refine his decision-making at the major league level, the base stealing ability will become a more substantial asset over time (he’s 5-for-10 on attempts this season).
9. Trey Mancini, 25, DH, Baltimore Orioles
Trey Mancini may not have been discussed among the most exciting rookies in baseball entering the season, but if that conversation were held right now, his name would come up repeatedly and no one would bat an eye.
After hitting three home runs in 15 plate appearances as a late-season call-up a year ago, Mancini has begun this season by proving to the Orioles that his power was no fluke. In 106 at-bats so far this season, Mancini has sent seven over the wall. He’s also hit six doubles, meaning more than a third of all his early-season hits have been for extra bases.

If that doesn’t describe the sort of impact he’s had on Baltimore’s lineup, perhaps the reaction of his teammates will.
Mancini has been so blisteringly hot this season that his teammates, including Manny Machado, have resorted to using his bats at the plate. In fact, in a mid-April game, Mancini, Machado and Craig Gentry each hit home runs over a nine-batter span using the youngster’s Louisville Slugger C243.

8. Trea Turner, 23, SS, Washington Nationals
Trea Turner was initially a late-season call-up in 2015, but he didn’t play particularly well. In 2016, that changed drastically when Turner was given more of an opportunity with the Nationals. He hit .342/.370/.567 with 13 home runs, 40 RBI and an impressive 33 stolen bases.
Those 2016 numbers were enough to warrant NL Rookie of the Year conversations, where Turner finished second. They were also enough to warrant starting consideration, which he then went on to secure out of camp this year.
Although Turner is not hitting for the same average early in 2017, it remains clear just how much potential he has. And while far from perfect — there have been some lumps along the way — Turner is again playing well and proving to Washington why he deserves to be in the everyday lineup. The 23-year-old is batting .241 but has nine doubles and four home runs, giving him a .400 slugging percentage.
A versatile player who can also play in center field if need be, Turner is more like an old school base-runner and base stealer than anything else. There are hiccups to his game, but he’s more than capable of snagging a bag in a critical spot.

7. Michael Fulmer, 24, SP, Detroit Tigers
Michael Fulmer went from the minor leagues to the AL Rookie of the Year in what felt like the blink of an eye. There was no transition moment for him — no late-season call-up the year prior. Fulmer was thrust into the fire, starting 26 games for the Tigers in 2016, and he did exceptionally well.

As rookie, Fulmer compiled a record of 11-7 with a 3.06 ERA, while striking out 132 batters in 159 innings. And while the win/loss record may not be eye-opening, his ERA and 1.119 WHIP as an inexperienced rookie certainly were.
Through nine games this season, Fulmer looks even better.
He’s 5-2 with a 2.55 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and 50 strikeouts in 60 innings. He’s also displayed increased poise and control on the mound, which has allowed him to work on both sides of the plate. The No. 44 overall pick in 2011 is paying off nicely for Detroit.

6. Corey Seager, 23, SS, Los Angeles Dodgers
Corey Seager is already a star. In his first professional season, the shortstop hit .308/.365/.512 with 26 home runs and 72 RBIs. Those numbers were good enough to win him the NL Rookie of the Year award, an All-Star nod, the Silver Slugger award, and third place in MVP voting.
That’s all just a sign of things to come for Seager, who is again off to a hot start in 2017. He’s batting .292 with 12 doubles and seven home runs this season, giving him an OPS just shy of .900. His 26 walks to 35 strikeouts also represents an improvement over his ratio from a season ago.
Although some may not like his placement on this list after a full year of service in the big leagues, it’s important to remember he’s only 23 years old and has only just begun to scratch the surface of his talent.
Seager has a career average of .308, which is highly impressive for a player his age. If he can improve his patience at the plate and cut down on his strikeouts a bit, he’ll be able to hit effectively in any ballpark in North America.

5. Dansby Swanson, 23, SS, Atlanta Braves
Another top prospect who was relatively well known before his late-season call-up in 2016, Dansby Swanson has already established himself as the Braves’ shortstop of the future.
The 23-year-old hit .302/.361/.442 with three home runs, 17 RBIs and three stolen bases in 38 games for the Braves last season, and that was more than enough evidence to prove he belonged. And while he may be struggling to start the 2017 season, it’s inevitable that Swanson ultimately turns it around and becomes a fixture in the NL.
Following his poor April in which he batted just .156, Swanson is batting .288 with an .863 OPS in May.
With loose hands and good bat speed, Swanson has all the markings of a contact hitter with a high average. As he continues to develop and gain strength, he’ll add a little pop at the plate as well. Swanson is also a solid defender who will get better over time.
His early-season slump aside, Swanson is an exciting young player who should be a mainstay for years to come.

4. Gary Sanchez, 24, C, New York Yankees
Although Gary Sanchez was long considered one of the Yankees’ best prospects, he wasn’t continuously in the conversation about the best young prospects in baseball. Then he got called up in 2016 and went on a tear that nearly won him the AL Rookie of the Year award.
After mashing 20 home runs and 42 RBIs to go along with a near .300 batting average, the Yankees were convinced it was time to usher in their next starting catcher. And although an early-season injury slowed him in 2017, Sanchez is back behind the plate and is slowly becoming a force in the lineup once again.
Through 19 games in 2017, Sanchez is batting .270 with four home runs. He has posted an .811 OPS while playing a premium position.
In addition to hitting for both average and power, Sanchez has proven to be a valuable asset behind the plate. He’s developed a solid rapport with all five members of the Yankees’ rotation and has, at times, displayed a rocket for an arm.


3. Tyler Glasnow, 23, SP, Pittsburgh Pirates
Like several others on this list, Tyler Glasnow was widely known before he even stepped foot on a Major League diamond. Considered one of the best pitching prospects in baseball, the clock had been anxiously ticking until his debut.
Unfortunately for the Pirates and Glasnow, injuries and a lack of control sullied his first series of games in 2016, but he returned this season with job security and a longer leash. And while the numbers have been far from remarkable — Glasnow is 2-3 with a 7.34 ERA in eight starts — there’s no denying his ceiling is arguably unlimited.
The 23-year-old Glasnow features a mid-90s fastball that bears down on hitters thanks to his 6-foot-8 frame, which only makes his sharp curveball that much harder to hit. When he’s able to throw strikes early in the count, he’s almost unhittable. But for the youngster, it’s all about control and poise, which will come with time.

2. Andrew Benintendi, 22, OF, Boston Red Sox
Andrew Benintendi was on the scene long before he made it to the majors, through his first 75 career games, it’s become clear that hype was completely warranted.
The Red Sox got a brief glimpse into the future a year ago when Benintendi was called up, but his play so far in 2017 has led to him being dubbed “Lil’ Papi” — an obvious and deliberate comparison to retired slugger David Ortiz. And while some say it’s entirely too early for such a nickname, it’s an indication of where things are headed for Benintendi.
Through the first month-plus of the season, the 22-year-old Benintendi is also considered among the favorites to win the AL Rookie of the Year and rightfully so.
Benintendi is hitting .280/.355/.422 with five home runs, 24 RBIs and five stolen bases. He posted similar numbers over 34 games last season, as he batted .295 with 11 doubles and two home runs. Between him and Mookie Betts, the Red Sox have some serious young studs in the outfield.

1. Aaron Judge, 25, RF, New York Yankees
Aaron Judge may not be the best prospect in baseball, but it’s easy to understand why he’s No. 1 on this list.
After a somewhat clunky start to the season, Judge caught fire and hasn’t let up since. He led the Yankees in the early absence of Gary Sanchez, moving all over the batting order based on matchups, and hitting with unlimited power. Judge improved his patience at the plate and has played surprisingly good (and sometimes fearless) defense.
Through 40 games this season, the slugger is batting .315 with five doubles, two triples and 15 big home runs. His 49 strikeouts are a concern, but if that’s the cost of a hitter slugging nearly .700, it’s worth it.

The price is set to launch

Vida Blue

The highest-paid player in Red Sox history is about to do something he hasn’t done all year—pitch for the Boston Red Sox.

A former Cy Young winner returning from a major injury will always be front page news, but which version of David Price will the Red Sox be getting when he makes his season debut Monday against the White Sox? In the early days of Price, that was never a question. Back then there was only one version of Price: the one that showed up every fifth day to put on a clinic. Price was a remarkably consistent pitcher before joining the Red Sox, recording a minuscule 2.97 ERA with 94 wins from 2010-2015. That six-year stretch would later become known as the Golden Age of David Price.

Even if it took a little longer than expected, Price’s return to a big league mound on Memorial Day has to be thought of as a huge victory, not because of who Price is but because of how dire things looked for him back in March. I remember escalating the situation to Threat Level Midnight with this panicked Dose I wrote back in spring training. At that point, Price was being looked at by famed surgeon Dr. James Andrews, which is usually a worst-case scenario. It looked dicey for a minute but Price was able to avoid elbow surgery and now at long last, he’s ready to rejoin the Red Sox’s starting rotation.

But back to my original thought bubble—which David Price will be in attendance Monday at Guaranteed Rate Field (which I guess is what they’re calling Comiskey Park these days)? Coming off a lousy first year in Boston and an even lousier rehab stint with Triple-A Pawtucket, Price’s reign as MLB’s Mr. Reliable has come to an abrupt end. Price’s velocity is about where it should be—he topped out at 95 mph during his rehab while mostly sitting in the 92-94 mph range. But how can the Red Sox feel any sort of confidence after seeing Price get bombed for seven hits and six runs (three earned) over 3 2/3 innings Wednesday in his final tune-up?

I realize there’s a danger in overanalyzing minor league rehab starts. The main objective is to dust off the cobwebs, which Price has successfully done over his last two outings. I thought MLB Network analyst John Smoltz brought up a fascinating point when he theorized that minor leaguers tend to save their best for big league stars like Price. For Price, making the hour-long trek from Boston to Pawtucket is a means to an end—get your work in and hopefully make enough progress so you’ll never have to come back. But it’s a much different mindset for the hitters he’s facing. For fringe players still trying to make their case for the big leagues, smoking one off a former Cy Young winner would probably be a good place to start.

And on the other side of the coin, maybe Price was saving a little juice for when the games actually matter. Price didn’t have his best stuff when he made a rehab start in 2013, allowing two runs in only 2 1/3 innings for High-A Charlotte. Once he got back to the big leagues, he went 9-4 with a 2.53 ERA over his final 18 starts. That’s quite the turnaround, though it’s important to remember that Price was 28 back then and had much less mileage on his arm than he does now.

As if the shark-infested waters of Boston sports radio needed another reason to ambush Price, the left-hander set himself up for scrutiny by ducking out on his media obligations after Wednesday’s tough outing. Blowing off small-market reporters who were probably waiting all week to talk to Price isn’t a good look, especially when you make your escape in this $230,000 monstrosity.

Price isn’t the first player to leave the media hanging and he won’t be the last. But to me, seeing Price slip out the backdoor without talking to anyone shows me that he’s frustrated with how he pitched, which isn’t a good sign heading into his debut on Monday. It also shows me that Price is still adjusting to Boston after spending the bulk of his career in small-market Tampa Bay. Maybe Price just had an off year in 2016 but I’m sure the increased media presence and added pressure of pitching for a household name like the Red Sox played some role in his early struggles. The pressure-packed environment of Boston isn’t for everyone, as evidenced by the failures of Carl Crawford and countless other big names who never panned out, which makes Chris Sale’s seamless transition this year all the more impressive.

Regardless of whether Price ever returns to the Cy Young form he showed at previous stops in Tampa Bay, Detroit and Toronto, the Red Sox need healthy bodies to chew up innings. That’s a low bar to clear, especially considering Price’s prodigious track record, but surely the Red Sox would settle for mere competence at this point. The patchwork group of starters Boston used to replace Price (that includes Brian Johnson, Kyle Kendrick, Hector Velazquez and Steven Wright) went a combined 2-5 with a pitiful 9.35 ERA over nine starts. So just by showing up, Price is already giving the Red Sox a massive upgrade. And who knows, maybe he’ll catch a second wind and return to ace status, giving the Red Sox a formidable 1-2 punch along with Chris Sale.


Speaking of Sale, he’ll follow Price in the rotation Tuesday in his first start against the White Sox since December’s blockbuster trade. Sale’s final year with Chicago was anything but pleasant—he openly criticized the team for banning Adam LaRoche’s son from the clubhouse (which eventually led to LaRoche’s retirement) and was later suspended for cutting up throwback jerseys he found uncomfortable. That surely left White Sox fans with a bad taste in their mouths, though that doesn’t erase Sale’s seven years of complete and utter dominance including five straight All-Star appearances from 2012-16.

Despite his nearly three-month rehab, I can’t help but feel like Price is being rushed back. Neither of his starts in Pawtucket were very convincing and it seems like the Red Sox are just desperate to have another arm after two months of aimless mixing and matching. Is it too soon to take the training wheels off of Price? We’ll find out on Monday.

AL Quick Hits: Cam Bedrosian (groin) is expected to face live hitters over the weekend and could begin a rehab assignment next week. Bedrosian began the year as the Angels’ closer but with Huston Street (shoulder) on the mend and Bud Norris excelling in the ninth inning, Bedrosian may have to settle for a setup role upon his return … Edwin Diaz picked up his ninth save Thursday against the Nationals. Diaz was removed from the closer role last week after seeing his ERA balloon to 5.28 but it didn’t take long for him to pull himself out of manager Scott Servais’ doghouse … Led by Drew Pomeranz and his 11 Ks, the Red Sox tied the major league record for most strikeouts in a nine-inning game by recording 20 punch-outs in Thursday’s win over the Rangers. Craig Kimbrel contributed to Boston’s strikeout bonanza by fanning four batters in the ninth inning … Ever wonder what David Ortiz is up to these days?

NL Quick Hits: Eduardo Nunez was originally listed in the Giants’ lineup Thursday against the Cubs but was scratched due to a lingering hamstring injury. Nunez received treatment during the game and is hoping to suit up Friday night against Atlanta … Closer has been a revolving door for the Nationals this year. After previously experimenting with Blake Treinen, Shawn Kelley and Matt Albers, manager Dusty Baker has now assigned ninth-inning duties to Koda Glover. The 24-year-old has converted three-of-four save opportunities with a 2.57 ERA this season … Jameson Taillon completed a 35-pitch bullpen session on Thursday. The right-hander underwent surgery for testicular cancer earlier this month. There’s no timetable for his return … Not a great day at the office for Phillies outfielder Odubel Herrera. He finished 0-for-5 with five strikeouts in a victory over the Rockies on Thursday. They call that a Platinum Sombrero … Asdrubal Cabrera was activated from the disabled list on Thursday after missing nine games with a sprained left thumb. He appeared as a pinch-hitter in the Mets’ loss to San Diego … Jacob deGrom had been scheduled to pitch Thursday’s game against the Padres but instead the Mets pushed his start back to Friday due to weather concerns. Rafael Montero started in his place and scattered five hits, three runs and three walks over three lackluster innings for his fourth loss of the season … Padres right-hander Dinelson Lamet made his big league debut Thursday against the Mets. The 24-year-old impressed, allowing just three hits, one run and two walks over five stellar innings for his first career victory. He also finished with eight strikeouts … Brad Hand pitched the ninth inning for his second save Thursday against the Mets. That came only hours after Padres manager Andy Green wouldn’t commit to using Hand as the team’s closer. Hand is reportedly drawing heavy interest around the league, making it likely that he’s dealt before the July 31 trade deadline … Jeff Samardzija walked Ian Happ in the sixth inning of Thursday’s loss to the Cubs. Prior to that, he hadn’t issued a free pass since April 28, a span of 154 straight batters without allowing a walk … Kenta Maeda (hamstring) was activated from the 10-day disabled list on Thursday. The Dodgers cleared a roster spot for him by placing Joc Pederson on the 7-day concussion DL. Maeda wasn’t sharp in his return to the mound (5 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 2 BB) Thursday night, though he did chip in with a two-run single off Cardinals starter Michael Wacha … Yadier Molina extended his hitting streak to 14 games by slapping a pair of singles in Thursday’s loss to the Dodgers. That’s the longest active streak in the major leagues … The Cubs’ themed road-trips under manager Joe Maddon have been well documented. This one might be their best yet: Anchorman (appropriate since they’ll be in San Diego next week). All of these outfits are great but John Lackey’s Champ Kind is the clear winner.

Elephants on Acid tied for first

Ruth Standings, Pitching       W   L   pct.  GB   ERA  CG ShO  RS  Sv   IP     R   ER   H   BA   BB   K  WP
 4  Elephants on Acid          25  19  .568  -    3.23  1   2  4.5 14  389.2  153 140  360 .244 157  322  7
 6  Roving Gamblers            25  19  .568  -    3.33  1   2  4.3 13  400.1  171 148  368 .237 148  395 11
 2  Jacks                      25  19  .568  -    3.24  5   5  4.0 15  394.1  155 142  363 .241 153  360 16
 8  Rainy Day Women            24  20  .545  1    4.16  3   4  4.6  9  398.1  197 184  392 .255 189  372 14
10  Lumber Company             23  21  .523  2    3.40  3   4  3.5 14  397    164 150  319 .217 188  341 12
 

in the fantasy world, my fantasy baseball team , my favourite team, my AL Brett team, Elephants on Acid, are currently tied for first place.

My all time fantasy team is headed up by Bob Gibson on the mound.

Gibby was the best , it's said he would brush back his his mother if she was crowding the plate. Thank God she never played for the Cubs or Pirates.

At first base , I have Richie Allen of the White Sox, and at second I play Julian Javier , also of the Cardinals.

At short, Bert "Campy" Campineris, of the Oakland Athletics. At third, Sal Bando , also of the A's, but I think I will go with Mike Shannon instead.

In the outfield, I will go with Brock, Rudi, and Reggie.

Behind the plate , Timmy McCarver.

Closers, arrgh

Just when Edwin Diaz looked to be getting back on track, he collapsed on consecutive evenings. The Mariners have already ousted him from the ninth inning after he walked four of five batters on Monday. While his command has never been a plus, this was the only outing in which he's looked utterly lost. When I see something like this, I wonder if there's an injury. His velocity is fine, but that's not always affected. Steve Cishek was probably next in line until he was hammered last night.

Diaz isn't the only shake up in Closerland. Aroldis Chapman hit the disabled list shortly after the last edition of Saves and Steals. Look for Dellin Betances to do all the same things as Chapman. He's set to return in roughly three to four weeks. Elsewhere in New York, Jeurys Familia's season is in jeopardy after needing surgery for a blood clot. The Mets also have a superb fall back option to their first string closer. Last but not least, Neftali Feliz succumbed to his home run issues. Corey Knebel is the guy to own.

Greg Holland built on his saves lead by adding four more. Four others snagged three saves apiece including Matt Bush (finally) and spot-closer Derek Law. Holland's 17 saves on the season far outpaces second place Craig Kimbrel (12). Third place is a six-way tie at 10 saves.

Eduardo Nunez and Cameron Maybin shared the weekly stolen base leaderboard with four swipes each. Xander Bogaerts was next best, going 3-for-3. Billy Hamilton (19 steals) has a comfy six steal lead over A.J. Pollock, Nunez, and Dee Gordon. Unfortunately, Pollock is probably out for a month with a strained groin.

Baseball is a game of secrets

Baseball is a game of secrets and half-truths. All 30 teams employ a man whose entire job (well, most of it) is to stand there and dance around in code to relay instructions to the batter and runners. The pitcher and catcher have their own gestural language. After the game, players usually speak in a strange code in which they appear to be speaking English and answering questions, but they somehow don’t manage to say anything coherent at all. Then there’s the front office, where the secrets run so deep that depending on the day of the week, you might not be able to get the people there to admit that they are running a baseball team.
Secrets are important in the game. Teams have all sorts of things which they know that they prefer that no one else knows or—even moreso—that no one else even knows that they know. If that information is truly exclusive and if it’s important, then that secret can be worth a lot of money. If there’s a reason that the “analytics revolution” is now simply the “we all have an analytics department” statement of facts, it’s that an analytics department is a way for a team to potentially find a nugget of information that they can use to their advantage. It’s the same reason that teams have invested in all sorts of areas of knowledge.
The thing about secrets is that eventually, they get out. Ben Franklin famously observed that “three may keep a secret if two are dead.” As of this writing, there are 30 major-league teams.
How long does it take for a secret to make the rounds in baseball? One recent roster fad—the good-framing catcher—was once a secret super-power that teams sorta knew about, but few really realized how valuable (and worth chasing) it was. Some teams knew about it earlier than others, although knowing about it and doing something about it are two separate things.
Even once a secret gets out—the first public article quantifying pitch framing appeared in 2008—it took a while for the league to adjust, so there was a definite advantage to being the first to adopt the new technology. The now-famous example of the Rays signing Jose Molina (with his career .233/.282/.327 batting line), largely to take advantage of his otherworldly talents in framing the ball and provide them value well beyond what his contract actually paid, was an exercise in a team that hopped on the train early. They realized that a) this talent existed, and b) Molina was a good source of it, and no one else was paying attention to those facts.
Now, we hear about teams pricing that framing skill into their contract offers. Teams have begun training their catchers in the fine art of the frame and even moving players behind the plate if they feel they might have a good framing candidate. Now, framing is so passe that few bother to write about it. When Jason Castro got a three-year, $24.5 million deal from the Twins in the offseason, everyone nodded that while his batting line hasn’t been so great in recent years, he can still steal a few strikes. All the work that went into finding, then quantifying, then acting on that framing effect is now for naught. Everyone has it now.
But, let’s say that tomorrow, someone finds something interesting in one of the 30 MLB StatCaves out there. How long can they expect that advantage to last?

Let’s start with a strategic innovation that we know has completely saturated the league: the one-inning closer. The generally accepted theory is that the idea was “invented” in the late 1980s by A's manager Tony La Russa and his use of Dennis Eckersley (although as Rob Mains has pointed out, Pete Rose used John Franco in much the same way in 1987, before Eckersley really solidified his role in 1988).
How long did it take for the idea of having a pitcher pitch the ninth inning (and the ninth inning only) to record saves to overrun the league? First, here’s a graph of the percentage of saves from 1950-2016 that involved the pitcher getting three outs or fewer.
 Saves were “invented” in the early 1960s and not formally adopted by MLB as a statistic until 1969, but any game that has an extant box score can be retroactively awarded a save. We can see that up until about the late 1980s, the majority of saves required more than three outs. In 1987, the number was 40.0 percent. Fourteen years later, in 2001, the number had more than doubled to 83.4 percent.

From the time of Franco and Eck, it actually took more than a decade to get to near-universal use of the strategy, although within the first seven years or so, more than half the teams in MLB were using it. It is debatable whether the advent of the one-inning closer is a net positive or a net negative for teams, but clearly teams have voted on which side they prefer.
Let’s pull a number completely out of the air and say that using the strategy was worth 1.0 win above replacement in an environment where no one else was doing it. Once everyone was doing it, there was no more advantage to be gained. If it took roughly 10 years for the strategy to be fully adapted and implemented league wide, and the rate of implementation was mostly consistent (a few teams picked it up each year, and it was roughly the same number in each of the years), that insight would be worth about 5.5 wins over the course of those 10 years (1.0 WAR + 0.9 WARP + 0.8 WARP + ...). Those might not be pitch-perfect assumptions, but they give us the correct order of magnitude.
Now let’s look at a couple of other strategic trends in baseball that have appeared and that we can easily observe in the data. One is the aforementioned catcher framing, which helpfully, BP has statistics on back to 1988 (though the numbers from 1988 to 2007 are calculated in a different way—using play-by-play data—than those from 2008 to 2016.) I took data at the team level on how many framing runs each team had gotten from its catchers and then took the standard deviation of that number. Here’s the graph from 1988 to 2016.

 If teams were all getting roughly the same performance from their catchers in terms of framing, the standard deviation would be low. It seems that from the late 1980s onward, the standard deviation actually drifted ever higher, suggesting that teams were getting wildly different amounts of value from their catchers (and apparently, no one really noticed how much).


It’s not entirely clear when the “framing revolution” began to be implemented, and when teams went from just trying to grab the catchers who were good at framing to actively trying to increase the supply of good framers in the league (and kicking out the Ryan Doumit types). The numbers show that the common wisdom that the catcher market is now being flooded with good framers, decreasing the relative advantage of having a good one, is correct.
We see that in 2011, the standard deviation between teams was over 20 runs, but in 2016, it had fallen to 14 runs. There’s still a lot to be gained from having a good framer, although at this point, not as much as there once was. We don’t know what the natural low for the standard deviation is. Even if we assumed that the only thing that teams cared about in their catchers was the ability to frame (not true), and that they were out to find the 60 best practitioners of that craft, one of them would still be better than the rest, and there would be some variance.
But we can see that certainly there’s been a move toward teams striving to find (or make) their own good-framing catcher. More importantly, the key nugget of wisdom is that teams should factor this skill into their evaluations of catchers. If we mark the time from the original Dan Turkenkopf catcher-framing article to the end of the 2016 season, we get a roughly nine-year period.
Now, let’s look at shifts. Again, it’s not entirely clear that The Shift is actually a net positive for the defense, but the league keeps shifting more and more. The fact that the shifting rate for the league overall has gone up by an order of magnitude over the past few years makes this analysis a little tougher, but we can still make a graph. This time, I’m using the coefficient of variation, which is just the ratio of the standard deviation of a distribution to its mean.

I pulled the number of batters that each team shifted on, from 2010 to 2016 (the only years for which we have public data). The publicly available data is only plate appearances that ended up with a ball in play, so strikeouts, walks, hit by pitch, and home runs are not included.

Teams are getting more similar, and that coefficient of variance has been halved over the course of a mere five seasons, but teams are not completely in line with each other at this point. Maybe this year, we will see a further tightening. If The Shift truly is spreading across the league, we will. Teams all face the same (basic) set of hitters and if it makes sense for one team to shift against a hitter, it probably makes sense for the other 29 to do so as well.
Unlike catcher framing, where to increase the supply of good framers in the ecosystem a team has to locate and groom a good framer, increasing the number of shifts is (in theory) as simple as pointing the third baseman to a new spot on the diamond. Once the strategy reaches full saturation, the variation will probably reach down near zero. Again, if we’ve deleted half of the variation within five years and the trend line holds, then we are looking at a situation where everyone shifts as much as everyone else (roughly) in about 10 years.
I’ll gladly admit that some of this is slap-dash math, but I’d argue that we have a decent case that it takes about a decade for an idea to fully engulf Major League Baseball and become the new normal.
What’s a New Idea Worth?

I’ve previously lamented the problem of the “second-move advantage” in baseball research. It’s easy to start a sentence with “if a win is worth $9 million dollars ...” and end it with “then the brilliant idea I have is worth a cool million at least!” The problem is that eventually your idea gets out into the baseball ecosystem and eventually every other team can copy it without paying for the R&D costs that it took to come up with it.
That line of thought might be a little too pessimistic. Yes, a brilliant idea can be copied after a while, and eventually everyone will adopt it, but there’s an intermezzo in there that lasts a few years where even if a team doesn’t have a monopoly on the idea, they still have a relative advantage over some of the other teams in the game. And that’s still worth something.
If it takes a decade (or so, and yes there are error bars and I’m fine with that) for the full depreciation to happen, then a new idea is going to produce value, even if it’s diminishing value, for a while. It’s possible that I’m over-estimating that time, and that these sorts of big-ticket items take longer to fully make their way into the fabric of the game, but the point is that the process is not instant. It’s gradual and incremental, and the spaces in between are where the money is made.
Earlier in this article, I completely pulled a number out of the air and suggested that for an idea that produced a strategic advantage worth one win in the very short term for the team that had initially adopted it, we could expect that idea to produce 5.5 wins (or so, and yes there are error bars and I’m fine with that) of value over 10 years. Maybe it’s a little less. Maybe it varies by the type of idea. But in that delay is value.

It’s hard to come up with an idea that’s worth one win, but we can start to mold a math equation around how much value an idea worth X short-term wins would produce, accounting for the depreciation that comes from the fact that in a few years, everyone will copy it. This also begins to show the value of competitive intelligence. Maybe a team isn’t the first to think of a new idea, but if they can identify what another team is doing and see the value in it, then they could be the second to jump on the bandwagon, and could gain value that way while everyone else catches up.

It probably also explains why general managers say so little about the fun things that are going on behind those office walls. After all, the longer they can hold their brilliant idea out from the light, the longer it will take until that “discover and adapt” process begins in the other 29 front offices. Silence is worth money. We need to accept a depressing conclusion that comes with this train of thought, too. In any business, sports included, you’re only as good as your last idea and your idea comes pre-installed with an expiration date on how useful it is.
But before we depart for the day, let’s look at this from one other angle. One baffling question that has never been quite fully answered is what a general manager (or more broadly, a front office) is worth. If we assume that a general manager’s job is to come up and implement strategies that make a team better, including coming up with cool ideas and not being the last one to take up other people’s good ideas once they inevitably leak out, we are now a little closer to a framework for figuring out the sum total of those contributions.

Smoak Rises

I guess we’ve officially entered prospect season. Cody Bellinger has been making fantasy owners very happy since his debut, but we saw the return of Jose Berrios and surprising call-up of Ian Happ last weekend before injuries in the Indians’ outfield brought Bradley Zimmer to the majors this week. Most fantasy owners have been waiting on Yoan Moncada, but he’s expected to be placed on the 7-day disabled list with Triple-A Charlotte due to a sore left thumb. Don’t worry, his time should still come soon enough. Hopefully we can say the same for Mets prospect Amed Rosario, who owns a ridiculous .365/.407/.519 batting line through 39 games with Triple-A Las Vegas and appears to have little else to prove down there. Come on, Mets.

Berrios struggled with his control while posting an ugly 8.02 ERA through 14 starts with the Twins last season, but he allowed just one run on two hits and one walk over 7 2/3 innings against the Indians last Saturday. It was obviously a very encouraging outing, though four strikeouts and nine swinging strikes (including none on his curveball) left me wanting more. Berrios is already owned in 50 percent of Yahoo leagues, so he’s not in this week’s recommendations and he might not have been even if he was below that number. I wouldn’t go out of my way to pick him up just yet in standard formats.

 Tommy Joseph 1B, Phillies (Yahoo: 20 percent owned)

I mentioned Joseph in the first Waiver Wired of the season, as I was excited to see what was in store for a follow-up after he hit 21 homers with an .813 OPS in just 107 games last season, but he really scuffled out of the gate in April and soon appeared at risk of losing playing time. However, he has solidified his place in the Phillies’ lineup this month by batting .395 (17-for-43) with four home runs and six doubles through 14 games. He has improved his season OPS from .476 to .806 along the way. With the recent hot streak, Joseph has found himself in the cleanup spot in each of his last four starts. It took a little while longer than I expected, but he’s a viable corner infielder option.

Bradley Zimmer OF, Indians (Yahoo: 21 percent owned)

You can see some of my extended thoughts on Zimmer in this week’s Rotoworld Roundtable. I generally see him as someone worth picking up outside of shallow formats. The strikeouts are a concern, but there’s opportunity in Cleveland’s outfield with Abraham Almonte and Brandon Guyer facing extended absences. Zimmer should have some leash to
start out with here. The 24-year-old had a rough first stint in Triple-A last year, but he was batting .294/.371/.532 with five home runs and nine steals over through his first 33 games at the level this season. I like the potential for pop and speed, even if he’s hitting in the bottom-third of the order.

Nate Karns SP/RP, Royals (Yahoo: 31 percent owned)

While the overall numbers are underwhelming on the surface, I can’t ignore a pitcher with back-to-back double-digit strikeout games. Karns actually has a 2.08 ERA and 29/4 K/BB ratio in 17 1/3 innings across three starts this month. Perhaps this is just a blip, but something has changed here, as Karns is relying more heavily on his curveball in his most recent starts and getting more swings and misses in the process. It’s fair to wonder how viable this approach will be for the long-term, but I’ll happily chase the strikeouts here. Karns has quietly struck out 318 batters in 305 2/3 innings in the majors.

Zack Godley SP/RP, Diamondbacks (Yahoo: 26 percent owned)

It was looking like the Diamondbacks would be forced to turn to Archie Bradley to fill a rotation spot after Shelby Miller required Tommy John surgery, but Godley is staking his claim on that gig. After coming into the year with a 5.34 ERA over 36 appearances (including 15 starts) in the majors, the 27-year-old has a 1.93 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 18 2/3 innings in three starts this season. He held the scuffling Mets to just one hit on Monday. I wouldn’t mention Godley in this space unless I saw something interesting behind his performance. He has ramped up the use of his curveball so far while missing a ton of bats in the process. He’s also inducing ground balls at an insane (73.2 percent) clip. Yes, it’s a small sample and yes, walks have been a trouble spot for him, but he’s suddenly very interesting. Give him a try against the Padres this weekend.

Ian Happ 2B, Cubs (Yahoo: 31 percent owned)

This was perhaps the toughest call of the week for me. Happ’s call-up was a surprise and I’m not sure what his role will be after Jason Heyward returns from the disabled list, but he has at least forced the possibility of sticking around by going 4-for-13 with two homers, one double, and four walks through his first four games in the majors. Selected ninth overall back in 2015, the 22-year-old enjoyed a monster spring and was batting .298/.362/.615 with nine homers and 25 RBI through his first 26 games in Triple-A this year. I’m not sure about the batting average, but he looks like he belongs. It’s just a matter of opportunity, which is a tricky call with Joe Maddon’s moving parts. I wouldn’t go dropping someone really important for him, but if you have the proper roster flexibility, I could see being aggressive here while we wait to see how things are going to play out.

Devon Travis 2B, Blue Jays (Yahoo: 29 percent owned)

Travis was a target of mine this spring, but he was flat-out awful in April and lost his leadoff hitter job in the process. Fortunately, he has gotten back into the game this month, batting .327 with six RBI, two stolen bases, and nine runs scored over 15 games. Amazingly, 12 of his 17 hits this month have been doubles. This is a guy who hit .303 with 19 homers and 85 RBI in 163 games between 2015-2016, so I think we’ll see more power soon. The Blue Jays are obviously encouraged with what they are seeing, as Travis has moved into the fifth spot in each of his last two starts. He’s a fine play in most formats, ideally as a middle infielder option.

Neil Walker 2B, Mets (Yahoo: 37 percent owned)

There aren’t many positives with the reeling Mets right now, but Walker has at least awoken from his early-season slumber. After putting up two homers with a .583 OPS in April, the 31-year-old is batting .351 with nine extra-base hits (including two homers) and 12 RBI through 15 games this month while settling into the cleanup spot. If anything, he’s answering concerns about his back following season-ending surgery last year. Given his past production, it’s not a stretch to think that he could hit 15-plus homers the rest of the way. I just wonder if he’ll actually finish the year with the Mets or end up being trade bait by July.

Justin Smoak 1B, Blue Jays (Yahoo: 22 percent owned)

Smoak has been featured in Waiver Wired a couple of times over the years, but his career hasn’t exactly worked out as originally hoped. But maybe, just maybe we’re seeing him turn a new leaf. Now 30 years old, Smoak is already up to nine homers and 27 RBI to go along with a strong .280/.342/.545 batting line. It’s easy to dismiss this as a possible fluke, but he’s currently sporting the highest contact rate of his career. The switch-hitter has struck out just once in 36 plate appearances against lefties all season while putting up four homers and 10 RBI. I’m not saying to drop Edwin Encarnacion for him or something, but why not take a chance on him as a corner infielder or bench option?

Tony Zych RP, Mariners (Yahoo: 13 percent owned)
Steve Cishek RP, Mariners (Yahoo: 7 percent owned)
James Pazos RP, Mariners (Yahoo: 0 percent owned)

I’ve had about enough with the closer changes, thank you very much. Edwin Diaz was a top-five closer for me after his dominant rookie season and appeared to be righting the ship after getting off to a shaky start this year, but four walks on Monday was enough for the Mariners to give him a break from the role. Diaz is still missing plenty of bats, but he’s already allowed more walks and home runs than he did for all of last season. The Mariners want him to work on his mechanics before putting him back in save situations. I don’t think it will be long before Diaz figures it out, so definitely don’t drop him, but feel free to grab the alternatives while we wait. Cishek has the most experience of this group, but he just made his return from hip surgery and he blew his first save chance on Tuesday. This opens the door for Zych and Pazos (3 percent owned), among others. Go crazy, you save-hungry monsters.

Shopping at the five-and-dime:


Brad Hand RP, Padres (Yahoo: 7 percent owned)

Carter Capps appeared to be the most logical stash in the Padres’ bullpen coming into the spring, but his return from Tommy John surgery hasn’t gone as smoothly as originally hoped. The hard-throwing right-hander pitched in some minor league rehab games last month, but the Padres recently sent him back to Arizona to work on his mechanics. There’s no clear timetable for him to join the major league bullpen, so Hand should be stashed away in case the Padres decide to make a change with closer Brandon Maurer. Maurer deserved better luck on Wednesday, but he’s now allowed nine runs over his last four appearances. Meanwhile, Hand owns a 1.88 ERA and 31/9 K/BB ratio over 24 innings this season. This isn’t complicated. Stash and see how it goes.

Cameron Maybin OF, Angels (Yahoo: 4 percent owned)

After falling into a brutal slump at the plate, Maybin has picked up eight hits in 10 at-bats over the last two games to pull his batting average up from .180 to .231 on the year. Perhaps most importantly, he’s hitting leadoff for the Angels these days with third baseman Yunel Escobar expected to miss 2-4 weeks due to a strained left hamstring. Maybin carries his own injury concerns, but he’s 9-for-9 in stolen base attempts this season, so he’s one of the better widely-available speed options out there right now.

Luis Perdomo SP/RP, Padres (Yahoo: 4 percent owned)

Prior to his trip to the disabled list on Wednesday, Trevor Cahill was the most interesting pitcher in the Padres’ rotation, but don’t overlook what Perdomo is doing. After a couple of subpar outings to begin the year, the 24-year-old has reeled off four straight quality starts while posting a 3.00 ERA and 26/6 K/BB ratio in 24 innings. He fanned a career-high nine batters in his most recent start Monday against the Brewers. Perdomo is getting a ton of whiffs on his curveball and owns the highest ground ball rate (70.5 percent) among pitchers with at least 30 innings pitched. We can’t ignore that the Padres aren’t helping when it comes to offense or defense, but Perdomo should certainly be owned in more leagues at this point.

 Jared Hoying OF, Rangers (Yahoo: 0 percent owned)

I don’t have high expectations here, but Hoying should see plenty of playing time in center field against right-handed starters with Carlos Gomez on the shelf with a right hamstring strain. Ryan Rua should see at-bats against lefties, although in left field. The 28-year-old (Happy Birthday!) Hoying didn’t do much in his sporadic opportunities in the majors last season, but he has shown some pop and speed in the minors. The opportunity is there for value, so that’s something.

Jacob Faria SP, Rays (Yahoo: 0 percent owned)

I mentioned Chase Whitley in this space last week, but it turns out that Erasmo Ramirez (Yahoo: 3 percent owned) will fill a spot in the rotation with Blake Snell back in Triple-A. This might only be a short-term situation, as Faria is making a strong case for a call-up. Selected in the 10th round back in 2011, the 23-year-old has piled up 62 strikeouts in 41 1/3 innings in Triple-A this season while posting a 3.92 ERA over eight starts. He walks more batters than you’d like to see and home runs have been an issue for him this year, but it’s probably time to stash him if you haven’t already.



Reymond Fuentes OF, Diamondbacks (Yahoo: 0 percent owned)

The Diamondbacks have been a nice surprise this season under new manager Torey Lovullo, but they’ll have to get by without A.J. Pollock for a while after he went down with a Grade 1 strain of his right groin on Sunday. Fuentes and Gregor Blanco (Yahoo: 0 percent) figure to share playing time in center field during his absence. Blanco is obviously the more established player, but both bring some interesting speed to the table. Fuentes had nine steals in 34
games in Triple-A this season prior to his call-up. He has hit leadoff in both of his starts so far. Given the injury situation with the Braves right now, Jace Peterson (Yahoo: 0 percent owned) and Danny Santana (Yahoo: 0 percent owned) should also get some consideration. The Braves might look outside the organization (James Loney, perhaps) if the reports are true and Freddie Freeman requires a lengthy absence.

Seth Lugo SP/RP, Mets (Yahoo: 2 percent owned)

I’m not counting on anything from Lugo as he attempts to rehab from a partial tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, but he’s scheduled to begin a minor league rehab assignment on Thursday and could be an option for the Mets’ rotation within the next couple of weeks. With Robert Gsellman struggling and recent waiver claim Tommy Milone holding down another spot, the club has a clear need. Lugo posted a 2.67 ERA in eight starts and nine relief appearances as a rookie last year and is at least worth stashing as he begins his rehab assignment.