Rookie revives Red Sox; A’s monitor closer’s pain
He has not pitched in the majors since Sept. 27, 2017.
Detroit Tigers
IF Ronny Rodriguez is getting an opportunity to play regularly while 2B Josh Harrison recovers from a sore left shoulder.
Rodriguez made his major league debut last season, hitting .220 with five home runs in 62 games. In his first 12 games this year, Rodriguez batted .333 with three homers.
The Tigers signed Rodriguez as a minor league free agent before the 2018 season. He spent the first seven years of his professional career in the Cleveland Indians’ farm system.
Harrison has struggled in his first season after signing as a free agent, hitting just .156 with one homer in 22 games. He was a two-time All-Star with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
❚ Rookie LF Christin Stewart began a rehab assignment on May 3 with high Class A Lakeland (Florida). He has been on the injured list since April 18 because of a strained right quadriceps.
Kansas City Royals
3B Hunter Dozier is starting to live up to his status as a firstround draft pick.
Dozier was hitting .343 with eight home runs and a 1.113 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) through 31 games. That came after he began the season on a 3-for-27 slide.
The Royals selected Dozier eighth overall in 2013 from Stephen F. Austin State. He made his major league debut by playing in eight games in 2016 but did not return to Kansas City again until last season, when he batted .229 with 11 homers in 102 games.
❚ IF Kelvin Gutierrez got off to a hot start after being called up from Class AAA Omaha (Papillion, Nebraska), hitting .333 with one homer in his first nine major league games. The Royals acquired Gutierrez from the Washington Nationals last June in a trade for RP Kelvin Herrera.
Minnesota Twins
3B Miguel Sano is working his way back to the major leagues after beginning the season on the injured list because of a right heel laceration.
Sano went 4-for-5 with a homer in his two games with high Class A Fort Myers (Florida) before he was sent May 4 to Class AA Pensacola (Florida). The Twins also want the 2016 All-Star to play at Class AAA Rochester (New York) before returning to the major leagues.
Manager Rocco Baldelli said the team does not have a set number of minor league plate appearances for Sano. He hit .199 with 13 home runs in 71 games last season.
❚ C-IF-OF Willians Astudillo is making steady progress in his rehab from a strained left hamstring and will begin running this week. The Twins are optimistic he will not need a rehab assignment.
AL WEST
Houston Astros
The spin on RP Ryan Pressly’s club-record run is that he has learned to lean more on his curveball.
Acquired from the Minnesota Twins before the trade deadline last July, Pressly had a 33inning scoreless streak thanks to a curve that has more bite.
“We got him with the idea he was going to be a high-end, leveraged reliever for us, and he’s over-delivered,” manager AJ Hinch said. “He’s gone through stretches in most of his Astros tenure in being unhittable.”
❚ The Astros’ revolving door at designated hitter has been unique and productive. They rank among the league leaders at DH with a nine-player rotation that has included OF Michael Brantley, OF George Springer, 2B Jose Altuve and OF Josh Reddick to complement Tyler White.
Los Angeles Angels
DH Shohei Ohtani’s encore season since being named the AL Rookie of the Year was expected to finally begin.
Ohtani, who had Tommy John elbow surgery in October, could be in the lineup during the road trip that began this week. The left-handed batter hit .285 with 22 home runs and 61 RBI in 104 games last year.
With Mike Trout on pace for a career high in walks, Ohtani will provide protection in a lineup that is missing OF Justin Upton (toe). Ohtani is restricted to hitting as his elbow heels after he became the first player to win four games and hit 10 home runs in the same season since Babe Ruth in 1919.
❚ 3B Zack Cozart (neck) also could return soon, and the Angels need him. Their numbers at third base are among the worst in the majors.
Oakland Athletics
The Athletics’ dismal road trip came with additional bad news when RP Blake Treinen admitted his elbow wasn’t right.
Treinen’s durability has been among his strengths. The AllStar closer made at least 60 appearances in each of the past four seasons, and his 0.78 ERA last year set a major league record for pitchers with a minimum of 80 innings.
Treinen, whose 38 saves tied for fourth in the majors last year, has never been on the injured list, and the A’s were encouraged May 5 when he said the elbow felt better. Nevertheless, he was scheduled to be examined May 6.
❚ OF Skye Bolt, one of the team’s top prospects, was elevated from the minors to give the struggling offense a boost. Bolt, a switch-hitter who plays all three outfield positions, supplies a much needed bat from the left side.
Seattle Mariners
It’s about to get crowded at first base with 3B Kyle Seager (hand) expected to return by the end of May. Seager, who was hurt in spring training, will push his replacement, Ryon Healy, back to first, but Edwin Encarnacion, Daniel Vogelbach and Jay Bruce have been playing there.
Encarnacion, 36, has been productive in his first six weeks in Seattle, but his age and $20 million contract don’t fit with the team’s youth movement. He’ll be part of the first base/designated hitter mix, but what the Mariners envision is that Encarnacion keeps raking to increase his value and is then moved for younger players.
❚ LHP Wade LeBlanc (strained muscle in right side) is primed to throw one or two rehabilitation outings before possibly returning to the rotation during a road trip that starts May 20.
Texas Rangers
RHP Shelby Miller was scheduled to start on May 8 against the Pittsburgh Pirates. But his role after that remains a mystery.
Miller, still trying to come back from Tommy John surgery performed in May 2017, is 1-2 with a 7.99 ERA in his first six starts this season, on the heels of his 10.69 ERA in 16 innings last year. But there’s life on his fastball, which averages close to 95 mph, and that could result in a new role.
“He could be a power arm out of the bullpen,” manager Chris Woodward said.
If Miller is switched to the later innings, RHPs Ariel Jurado or Kyle Dowdy could replace him in the rotation.
❚ RHP Jose Leclerc lost his closer role after surrendering 10 runs, 14 hits and nine walks in his first 13 appearances (102⁄3 innings). RHPs Shawn Kelley and Chris Martin will fill the void for the time being.