Bauer tweaks Bregman; Reddick alters approach
against the Miami Marlins. Carrasco hurt his left leg as he stumbled while covering first base in the fourth inning and was forced to leave the game.
Detroit Tigers
RHP Jordan Zimmermann’s stint with the Tigers continues to be disastrous. He could be out through the end of the May because of a sprained ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.
Pitching against the Red Sox at Boston on April 25, Zimmermann was pulled after three innings when he felt discomfort in the elbow. He allowed five runs in falling to 0-4 with a 5.93 ERA in six starts this season.
The Tigers don’t have to immediately fill Zimmermann’s spot in the rotation. They will not need a fifth starter until May 11 because of off days.
Zimmermann is 24-32 with a 5.29 ERA in four seasons since signing a five-year, $110 million contract as a free agent.
❚ SS Jordy Mercer is expected to be activated from the injured list this week. He has been sidelined since April 14 because of a strained right quadriceps.
Kansas City Royals
IF Kelvin Gutierrez made a good impression in his major league debut, starting at third base and driving in two runs while going 3-for-7 against the Los Angeles Angels in his first two games.
The Royals called up Gutierrez from Class AAA Omaha (Papillion, Nebraska) on April 27. The 24-year-old was hitting .333 with two home runs in 18 games for the Storm Chasers.
Gutierrez was one of three minor league players acquired from the Washington Nationals in a trade for RP Kelvin Herrera last June.
❚ RHP Brad Keller returned to the rotation April 29 against the Tampa Bay Rays after serving a five-game suspension imposed by Major League Baseball for hitting White Sox SS Tim Anderson with a pitch April 17. Keller appealed the suspension, then dropped it after pitching April 22 at Tampa Bay.
Minnesota Twins
Twins fans will have to wait before they again can cheer the player who is quickly becoming their favorite. C-IF-OF Willians Astudillo was placed on the injured list April 27 because of a strained left hamstring.
The 5-9, 225-pounder made his major league debut last June 30. In 45 career games, he has hit .345 with five home runs in 150 plate appearances.
The Twins held “An Evening With La Tortuga at Target Field” on April 26 when they hosted the Baltimore Orioles. The 3,000 fans who prepurchased a special ticket package received T-shirts featuring Astudillo’s nickname, which means turtle in Spanish.
❚ 3B Miguel Sano, out all season because of a cut right heel, started playing in extended spring training games last week. However, at the start of the week the Twins had not set a timetable for when he might go on a rehab assignment.
AL WEST
Houston Astros
OF Josh Reddick has adjusted from being exclusively a pull hitter, and the results have been encouraging as he resembles the batter he was in 2017.
The left-handed hitter went the opposite way regularly until last year, when he attempted to turn on most pitches. With defenses taking note, they’ve shaded him to his pull side, leaving holes on the left side. Reddick is taking advantage.
“Where I need to be is going that way and not trying to hit everything into the upper deck,” Reddick told mlb.com.
❚ OF Yordan Alavarez continued to produce impressive numbers at Class AAA Round Rock (Texas). The 6-5 Cuban became the first minor leaguer to reach 10 homers in 2019.
Los Angeles Angels
The struggling Angels were hoping their rotation gets a boost from the return of LHP Tyler Skaggs and the much anticipated major league debut of RHP Griffin Canning.
After healing a sprained left ankle, Skaggs threw five scoreless innings in beating the Kansas City Royals on April 26. His curveball had improved bite and his fastball hit 94 mph.
Canning, 22, a 2017 secondround pick out of UCLA, has pitched only 1291⁄3 pro innings but sped through three levels last year. In three starts for Class AAA Salt Lake (Salt Lake City) this season, he had a 0.56 ERA with 17 strikeouts and two walks in 16 innings.
❚ DH Albert Pujols needed just a week to move from fifth to third on the all-time RBI list with 1,997, passing Barry Bonds. Next is Alex Rodriguez (2,086).
Oakland Athletics
There was never any doubt about 3B Matt Chapman’s defense, which has won a Gold Glove. Now Chapman’s bat is starting to rival his field work after he became more disciplined at the plate.
In his first 30 games this season, he had career highs in batting average (.284), on-base percentage (.385) and slugging percentage (.579).
“It really is pitch selection and making sure I’m hunting the pitches I’m looking for,” Chapman told NBC Sports California.
❚ 1B Matt Olson (wrist) could return to the heart of the Athletics’ lineup when their next homestand starts on May 7. Olson, in his first full season last year, had 29 home runs and 84 RBI and won a Gold Glove.
Seattle Mariners
The Mariners got a glimpse of the present and the future when LHP Yusei Kikuchi was relieved in his abbreviated start by rookie RHP Justus Sheffield in a win over the Rangers on April 26.
Kikuchi, the Japanese star signed in the offseason, worked just one inning as the M’s monitor his workload. He’ll resume his normal role this week against the Cleveland Indians.
Sheffield, 22, one of the key pieces received from the New York Yankees in the trade for LHP James Paxton, struggled in his Seattle debut, walking four in three innings, and then was sent back to Class AAA Tacoma (Washington)
❚ 3B Kyle Seager (wrist), who was injured in spring training, has resumed taking groundballs and is eligible to come off the injured list May 25.
Texas Rangers
LHP Drew Smyly is expected to start against the Toronto Blue Jays on May 5 after being sidelined by arm fatigue.
The rotation was in such need of bodies, manager Chris Woodward was considering moving a Rule 5 draft pick, RHP Kyle Dowdy, from the bullpen to a starting role. So far Dowdy, a starter and reliever in the minors, has shown poise and a considerable upside.
“I feel like this kid has such potential,” Woodward said. “The kid is young but he is fearless.”
❚ LHP Taylor Hearn, one of the club’s top prospects, retired just one of the eight batters he faced in his major league debut and landed on the injured list because of elbow tightness.