Outfielder Yasiel Puig signs with the Braves
Opening day rosters gained clarity on Tuesday when the Atlanta Braves reached an agreement with Yasiel Puig, while Tampa Bay pitcher Tyler Glasnow provided hopes for teams awaiting players to be cleared following positive tests for the coronavirus.
Puig agreed to a one-year deal pending a physical, a person with knowledge of the agreement told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the agreement is not official until Puig passes the physical.
The 29-year-old Puig, who began his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers, hit a combined .267 with 24 homers and 84 RBIs for Cincinnati and Cleveland in 2019. He also stole 19 bases.
Puig was the last big-name free agent from the offseason who had not signed with a team. He helps the Braves fill a void left when Nick Markakis opted out for the season.
Glasnow re-joined the Rays on after missing the first 11 days of summer camp following his positive test. The righthander immediately jumped into a simulated game at Tropicana Field and threw 49 pitches over 3 1/3 innings.
Glasnow said he felt fine and expects to be ready to begin the 60-game season on time.
Outside of briefly losing his sense of taste and smell, the 26-year-old Glasnow said he didn't experience any noticeable symptoms of COVID-19.
“I had maybe really mild cold symptoms for maybe a day,” Glasnow said, wearing a mask during a Zoom call. “If this wasn't going on, I probably wouldn't have known I was sick.”
The pitcher said he quarantined for 14 days inside his apartment in St. Petersburg, Florida. After that, he was able to work out alone, throwing into a net when he was able to find an empty park in the area.
“It would always be at a weird time of the day, and it had to be nobody there,” Glasnow said. “If there was anybody there, I would just leave.”
Glasnow, Charlie Morton and 2018 AL Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell lead a rotation that has the potential to be among the best in baseball. Glasnow was 6-1 with a 1.78 ERA in 12 starts last season.
Mets second baseman Robinson Canó also returned to camp after missing five straight workouts for undisclosed reasons. The 37-year-old Canó was scheduled to participate in practice, but not the intrasquad game at night.
“We'll go day by day. I mean, he looks great. He's in great shape,” manager Luis Rojas said.
Mets relief pitchers Brad Brach and Jared Hughes remained absent.
Also returning was Orioles outfielder Anthony Santander, whose late arrival might have been attributed to COVID-19 testing. The team has not provided an explanation.
Santander, who hit 20 home runs last year, is a projected starter. The short-handed outfield is without slugger Trey Mancini, who had colon cancer surgery in March. Dwight Smith Jr. has not yet reported, for reasons not disclosed by the Orioles.
Springer held out
Outfielder George Springer missed practice because of a delay in receiving his coronavirus test results, the latest in a series of testing snafus for the Houston Astros.
The Astros were forced to cancel their practice on July 6 because the Fourth of July holiday delayed test results. Third baseman Alex Bregman was held out of practice last week because he hadn't received his test results.
Manager Dusty Baker said he understands baseball is trying to work the kinks out of the new system. Baker said he hopes they get things figured out soon so no players are forced to miss games because of testing delays.
Buxton injured
The Minnesota Twins say outfielder Byron Buxton has a sprained left foot. His status is day to day. He hurt his foot chasing a flyball on Monday night.