Trevor Bauer insists that he wants to go year-to-year with his contracts once he reaches free agency this winter. Something tells me there will be big multi-year offers if he changes his mind.
Bauer was electric again on Wednesday in Kansas City in the second game of a doubleheader. The right-hander yielded just one hit and three walks while fanning nine batters across seven shutout innings in the Reds’ 5-0 win over the Royals. An Adalberto Mondesi single in the fifth inning represented the only hit for K.C.
How good has Bauer been this season?
He gave up just one hit and three walks over seven innings Wednesday and his WHIP for the year went up.
All told, the 29-year-old holds a 0.68 ERA, 0.57 WHIP and 41/7 K/BB ratio over 26 1/3 innings this season. He has allowed eight hits over those 26 1/3 frames. Eight.
So what’s been the key for Bauer this season after last year’s disappointment? We know he’s a constant tinkerer, and his pitch mix has been significantly different in 2020. He’s throwing a lot fewer curveballs and has basically ditched his changeup, instead focusing on more fastballs and cutters.
Bauer is probably due for some negative home run regression. He allowed just nine homers during his breakout 2018 season before serving up 34 in 2019. So far in 2020 he’s yielded just two. His control has also been much better than usual prior to the three walks Wednesday, so the free passes might start to creep up, too.
Still, we’ve obviously seen Bauer pitch like one of the better hurlers in the game for stretches before, and he’s clearly on one of those rolls now. He’ll get the Brewers next.[[ad:athena]]
Lugo to Rotation; Matz to Bullpen
Seth Lugo has always told anyone who would listen that he wanted to be a starter again. Well, the Mets are finally giving him that chance.
Manager Luis Rojas announced after Wednesday’s game that Lugo would start Thursday’s contest against the Marlins. The club plans to stretch Lugo out, leaving him in the rotation indefinitely.
“Seth has been a starter for us in the past and with his ability to navigate through the lineup, with his repertoire and command, we’re going to see what he can do,” Rojas said. “We’re going to start stretching him out. With him already at a point where he was throwing multiple innings in outings, he can probably give us a little bit of length with the pitch count.”
The Mets have resisted putting Lugo in the rotation previously even as he begged for the opportunity. In one sense it’s hard to blame them, since they’re losing their most reliable reliever over the last three seasons. Lugo has posted a 2.68 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and 218/46 K/BB ratio over 191 2/3 innings since the beginning of the 2018 campaign. All but five of his 124 appearances were in relief.
However, with Michael Wacha (shoulder) still out, David Peterson (shoulder) joining him on the shelf and Steven Matz struggling (not to mention being without Noah Syndergaard all season), the Mets decided that now is the time to give Lugo his shot. Matz has been sent to the bullpen.
Lugo will probably only be able to go 2-3 innings Thursday and will build from there. He should already be owned in your league, but if he’s not, rectify that.
With Lugo now starting, Edwin Diaz is likely to regain his closer job. Diaz walked in the tying run in the eighth inning of Wednesday’s game but rebounded to strike out the next four hitters he faced, sealing the win after Michael Conforto had put the Mets back ahead with a dinger. The Mets pulled the plug on Diaz as the closer quickly this season, but he’s been excellent overall.
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Knee Surgery for Alvarez
The excitement felt by the Astros and fantasy leaguers over Yordan Alvarez’s return was, unfortunately, short-lived.
Alvarez was placed on the 10-day injured list on Tuesday. On Wednesday the team revealed that the designated hitter will undergo surgery next week to repair a partial tear of the patella tendon in his right knee. He will be sidelined for the remainder of the season.
Alvarez first started dealing with knee issues last year and they popped up again during spring training. After returning last Friday following a late start to the season due to a positive COVID-19 test, he started having issues with his knee again.
“You know, it’s been bothering him for a while,” manager Dusty Baker said. “The diagnosis is different this time than in spring training. You’re not really sure when it happened or if it just happened with deterioration and time. … We decided to do something about it now.”
The discussions about Alvarez’s knee problems during spring training were always vague, so in one sense it could actually be a bit of a relief that he finally has a clearer diagnosis of what was wrong with him. The hope, of course, is that the surgery will fix the injury and he comes back as strong as ever in spring training.
Kyle Tucker started in left field on Wednesday, but when Michael Brantley returns – likely this weekend – it figures to be Tucker to receive the bulk of the playing time in the designated hitter spot moving forward.
Tucker had a monster game Wednesday in Colorado, homering, tripling twice and singling. The former top prospect had been off to a slow start this season before Wednesday’s explosion, but we know the power/speed upside he brings. Tucker went 30/30 in the minors last season while adding four more homers and five more steals with the big club.
American League Quick Hits: Aaron Civale went the distance Wednesday, throwing a five-hitter in the Indians’ defeat of the Pirates … Alex Bregman was removed from Wednesday’s game against the Rockies due to right hamstring discomfort … Jesus Luzardo blanked the Diamondbacks over 6 1/3 innings to pick up a win on Wednesday … The Blue Jays put Nate Pearson on the IL with right elbow tightness … Randal Grichuk slugged two home runs in the Blue Jays’ win over the Orioles on Wednesday … Edwin Encarnacion supplied a pair of solo homers Wednesday as the White Sox topped the Tigers … Gerrit Cole fanned 10 while allowing two runs in 6 2/3 innings Wednesday against the Rays … Austin Nola homered and drove in four runs to help the Mariners to a win over the Dodgers on Wednesday … Willie Calhoun departed Wednesday’s game against the Padres with a strained left hamstring … The Mariners designated Daniel Vogelbach for assignment … Casey Mize surrendered three runs but fanned seven in 4 1/3 innings Wednesday against the White Sox in his major league debut. Making his debut in the same game, Dane Dunning had nearly an identical line in allowing three runs through 4 1/3 innings with seven punchouts … Mitch Garver was pulled from Wednesday’s game versus the Brewers with right side soreness … Framber Valdez threw 7 1/3 innings while allowing just one earned run to pick up a victory on Wednesday over the Rockies … Brad Keller missed a seven-inning shutout by one out Wednesday as the Royals beat the Reds in the first game of a doubleheader … The Rays placed Yonny Chirinos on the injured list with a right elbow strain.
National League Quick Hits: Jacob deGrom, who missed his last turn with neck soreness, shut out the Marlins for six innings and struck out seven in a no-decision Wednesday … The Rockies placed David Dahl on the injured list with a lower back injury, recalling Brendan Rodgers to take his roster spot … Eugenio Suarez homered, reached three times and stole a base in the second game of a doubleheader on Wednesday against the Royals … Craig Kimbrel earned the save in the second game of Wednesday’s doubleheader versus the Cardinals. Cubs manager David Ross did not commit to Kimbrel having his old job back, though … Manny Machado hit a walk-off grand slam on Wednesday in the 10th inning to give the Padres a win over the Rangers … Jean Segura (hamstring) is expected to return to the Phillies’ lineup Thursday … Wilmer Flores homered and drove in four runs to lead the Giants to a win over the Angels on Wednesday … Chris Paddack struck out five hitters over six innings of one-run baseball in a no-decision against the Rangers on Wednesday.
