Rosenthal: The Rangers' barren bats, two big Yankees improvements and more MLB notes

New York Times

6 days ago

Hey, let's fire the hitting coach!
The Texas Rangers, before dismissing Donnie Ecker on May 4 and replacing him with Bret Boone, were 17-18 and averaging 3.23 runs per game.
Since the arrival of Boone, who joined the team's other hitting instructors, Justin Viele and Seth Conner, the Rangers are 10-12 and averaging 3.27 runs per game.
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Yes, that's a lower winning percentage.
And an uptick in 'production' of a mammoth .04 runs per game.
If the Rangers' offensive malaise continues — they currently rank 28th in scoring, wasting perhaps the best pitching in franchise history — the team will have little choice at the trade deadline but to sell.
Maybe things will change now that shortstop Corey Seager has returned from his second injury-list stint due to a strained right hamstring — the Rangers are 15-12 with Seager, 12-18 without him. But the Rangers' offensive ineptitude is not a new problem.
In 2023, when the Rangers won their first World Series, they ranked third in runs. In '24, they dropped to 18th, prompting general manager Chris Young to add designated hitter Joc Pederson and first baseman Jake Burger during the offseason.
Pederson was hitting .131 with a .507 OPS before suffering a fractured right hand. Burger is hitting .208 with a .639 OPS, and recently spent 10 days at Triple A. And they are hardly the only Rangers hitters performing below career norms.
Second baseman Marcus Semien's .485 OPS through Wednesday was the lowest in the majors. Right fielder Adolis Garcia's .626 was the 20th lowest. Seager, left fielder Wyatt Langford and third baseman Josh Jung are the only Texas hitters with an OPS above .750.
Last year, the Rangers entered the deadline three games under .500 and 3 1/2 games out of first place. With a group of potential free agents that included right-hander Nathan Eovaldi, lefty Andrew Heaney, first baseman Nathaniel Lowe and relievers David Robertson and Kirby Yates, they could have done well as sellers. But coming off a World Series title, Young gave the team the benefit of the doubt, and added lefty reliever Andrew Chafin instead.
Now what?
Young thought he put together a championship-caliber club. Ten writers from The Athletic, including yours truly, picked the Rangers to win the World Series. The team is 27-30, but just 4 1/2 games out in the AL West. It's not as if the season is lost. Yet.
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The Rangers' pitching, third in the majors in ERA, could get even stronger in the coming weeks with the returns of Jon Gray, Cody Bradford and Kumar Rocker. Perhaps the staff will grow deep enough for Young to trade from strength; Tyler Mahle, fourth in the league in ERA, is a potential free agent, as are Gray and relievers Chris Martin and Hoby Milner. But eventually, the Rangers will need to hit.
Evidently, firing the hitting coach wasn't the answer.
The Rangers might not be the only team with pitching to spare. The Milwaukee Brewers have won four straight to move above .500, and their staff is growing deeper by the day.
Crazy, isn't it?
The Brewers had so many pitchers injured to open the season, they started journeyman right-hander Elvin Rodríguez in their home opener and predictably suffered an 11-1 defeat.
Less than two months later, the Brewers are in almost the opposite position.
On Monday, they optioned right-hander Logan Henderson, who in his first four major-league starts produced a 35.8 percent strikeout rate, 7.4 percent walk rate and 1.71 ERA. And more difficult decisions lie ahead.
Lefty José Quintana returns from the injured list Sunday. Righty Brandon Woodruff is on a rehabilitation assignment. Righty Jacob Misiorowski, the team's top prospect, is throwing 100 mph at Triple A.
The current rotation includes veteran righties Freddy Peralta and Aaron Civale, plus two emerging starters, Chad Patrick and Quinn Priester. Last year's revelation, Tobias Myers, is at Triple A.
Two months from now, the Brewers' situation obviously might look quite different — the moment a team thinks it has a surplus of pitching is generally the moment it starts to disappear.
Henderson threw only 81 1/3 innings last season, so it's not as if the Brewers are going to stretch him to 150. The team's bullpen also has thrown the second-most innings in the majors, behind only the Los Angeles Dodgers. The recent returns of lefties Aaron Ashby and DL Hall should help ease that burden. Piggy-backing starters would be another option.
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Still, the Brewers never are afraid to trade, even when in contention. Peralta is earning $8 million with an $8 million club option for next season. Civale is earning $8 million in his walk year. The Brewers conceivably could move one or both and replace them with cheaper alternatives. Peralta, with a 2.77 ERA in 11 starts, would be especially attractive.
How much of a step back competitively would the team take without its ace? Depends upon the return. For now, the Brewers are in a fairly good spot. And they can maneuver in any number of ways.
The Seattle Mariners will be another team to watch at the deadline. Their farm system is the best in the game, according to The Athletic's Keith Law. And of the six Mariners prospects Law included in his top 100, four are middle infielders.
True, the Mariners are budget-conscious, placing high value on affordable talent. But twice in the past three seasons under president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto and general manager Justin Hollander, they traded future impact for present impact.
In 2022, the Mariners included two prized infielders, Noelvi Marté and Edwin Arroyo, in the four-player package they sent to the Cincinnati Reds for right-hander Luis Castillo. And in '24, they parted with outfielder Aidan Smith and right-hander Brody Hopkins in a deal with the Tampa Bay Rays for outfielder Randy Arozarena.

Among their current prospects, Colt Emerson (Law's No. 5 overall) and Felnin Celesten (No. 24) are the purest shortstops. Cole Young (No. 45) is more of a second baseman, and his .849 OPS at Triple A could make him an option sooner than later. Michael Arroyo (No. 81), whose opposite-field stroke draws comparisons to Howie Kendrick's, profiles at second or third.
What might the Mariners seek to acquire? Assuming their injured starting pitchers return and perform at their previous levels, first base (25th in OPS) and right field (27th) are two positions where the team clearly needs offensive help. Luke Raley and possibly Victor Robles could return from injuries in right, and the Mariners picked up Leody Taveras in the interim, but an upgrade at the position still is warranted.
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Two areas the New York Yankees sought to improve during the offseason were their bullpen's strikeout rate and their lineup's performance against left-handed pitching.
Mission accomplished on both fronts.
The bullpen's strikeout rate, 23.9 percent in each of the past two seasons, has increased to 26.6 percent, third in the majors behind only the Toronto Blue Jays and Houston Astros.
Fernando Cruz, acquired during the offseason from the Cincinnati Reds, leads Yankees relievers at 37.6 percent. Mark Leiter Jr., acquired from the Chicago Cubs at last year's deadline, is second at 36.5, followed by Ian Hamilton at 33.8, Devin Williams at 28.3 (down from 43.2 in 2024) and Luke Weaver at 25.6 percent.
The Yankees' .858 OPS against left-handed pitching, meanwhile, ranks first in the majors, a significant increase from their .721 mark last season, which was 12th. Aaron Judge's league-leading 1.653 OPS vs. lefties is a big part of that, of course. But Paul Goldschmidt, signed to a one-year, $12.5 million free-agent contract, is not far behind Judge at 1.571.
This is nothing new for Judge and Goldschmidt, who rank 1-2 in OPS against left-handers since 2018. Another of the Yankees' acquisitions, Cody Bellinger, is carrying a .998 OPS against lefties, a significant improvement from his previous .778 career mark.
It's easy to interpret the Dodgers' recent promotion of rookie Dalton Rushing as the possible prelude to a trade. But even though Hunter Feduccia could slide into the backup catcher's role, the Dodgers are not inclined to move Rushing, and certainly not for a short-term fix.
Good hitters are in increasingly short supply, and Rushing offers considerable offensive promise. If the Dodgers are willing to forsake the value he would provide as a catcher, he could end up replacing Michael Conforto next season in left field.
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The entire point of the Dodgers' offseason buildup was to avoid overpaying at the deadline. The team, even with all its injuries, should be plenty deep in starting pitchers and position players. Right-handed relief is another matter, and the Dodgers took the first step toward shoring up that area Thursday by acquiring Alexis Díaz from the Cincinnati Reds.
He isn't Tarik Skubal throwing 102.6 mph in the final pitch of a Maddux or Paul Skenes competing for a Cy Young Award in his first full season. But Kansas City Royals rookie left-hander Noah Cameron has achieved a rare feat of his own, becoming only the second pitcher since 1893 to work at least 6 1/3 innings and allow one run or fewer in his first four major-league starts.
Cameron's sample might be small, but in an era of diminishing workloads, Zack Wheeler and Max Fried are the only current starters averaging 6 1/3 innings. Now the Royals must figure out how Cameron fits in their rotation going forward.
Believe it or not, his place is not secure.
Righty Seth Lugo is expected to come off the injured list Friday and lefty Cole Ragans one week later. With lefty Kris Bubic mounting an All-Star bid and righty Michael Wacha delivering his usual quality performance, the Royals can either move righty Michael Lorenzen to the bullpen to clear a spot, or return Cameron to the minors.
Good as the Royals' rotation is, ranking third in the majors in ERA, the team lacks depth at Triple A. By demoting Cameron, the Royals could keep him stretched out and ready for his next major-league opportunity. Such a move, though, would appear self-defeating.
Lorenzen's adjusted ERA is slightly below league average, and he has bullpen experience. A six-man rotation, with the team off the next four Mondays, is probably unnecessary at this point — though club officials are mindful of protecting Bubic, who threw only 66 innings last season between the majors and minors, and Wacha, who has a lengthy injury history.
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Like the Rangers, their spring-training neighbor in Surprise, Ariz., the Royals are far more concerned with their offense than their pitching. Unlike the Rangers, they soon could get a jolt from one of the game's top offensive prospects — Jac Caglianone, a left-handed hitter who was the sixth pick out of the University of Florida in the 2024 draft.
Caglianone, 6 feet 5 and 250 pounds, plays first base (and also pitched in college). The problem is, Vinnie Pasquantino already occupies that position and Salvador Perez also requires time at first base and DH. So, the Royals are converting Caglianone to the outfield at Triple A. For the past two weeks, he has worked one-on-one with longtime Royals instructor Rusty Kuntz.
While outfield defense is important at spacious Kaufman Stadium, club officials expect Caglianone will be adequate in a corner. The Royals, whose outfielders have combined for the second-worst OPS in the majors, cannot afford to be picky, even as they worry about Caglianone's tendency to chase. He has torn up Double A and Triple A with a combined 14 homers and .986 OPS.
One rival evaluator, in his writeup of Caglianone as an amateur, described him as having 'ridiculous strength' and giving off 'peak Matt Olson vibe, look and profile,' with the potential to one day lead the majors in home runs.
• The Baltimore Orioles, while not yet giving up on their season, are informing clubs that if they continue at their present trajectory, they will be sellers at the deadline.
Stating the obvious? Perhaps. At 19-36, the Orioles' playoff odds as of Thursday stood at 1.3 percent. And the expected addition of John Mabry to their coaching staff isn't likely to be a game-changer.
First baseman/outfielder Ryan O'Hearn, a potential free agent whose .977 OPS ranks fourth in the majors, is among Baltimore's intriguing trade candidates. O'Hearn's .327 expected batting average is just 11 points below his actual mark, and his .518 expected slugging percentage is just 32 points below.
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• Teams generally use their most athletic defenders in the middle of the diamond, so why are the Yankees playing Jazz Chisholm Jr. at third base on his rehabilitation assignment?
One reason: DJ LeMahieu, though less athletic than Chisholm, is more comfortable at second base than third. Another: The supply of second basemen at the deadline might be greater than the supply of third basemen.
If LeMahieu fails to sufficiently revive — and he's batting .184 with a .507 OPS in his first 12 games back from the injured list — Chisholm's willingness to be versatile would enable them to address either position.
• Anyone interested in a potential Hall of Fame reliever? Right-hander Craig Kimbrel has a 1.54 ERA and is averaging better than a strikeout per inning at Triple A.
Kimbrel's minor-league contract with the Atlanta Braves includes a rolling opt-out. If a club offers him a major-league job, the Braves must promote him to their roster or let him go.
Kimbrel, who turned 37 on Wednesday, had 23 saves in 28 chances with the Orioles before the All-Star break last season and a 2.80 ERA. He collapsed in the second half, and the Orioles released him in late September.
• The 2023 Arizona Diamondbacks went through a 7-25 stretch and made it to the World Series. So, while the team's decision-makers shook up the roster Thursday by optioning reliever Kevin Ginkel and infielder Jordan Lawlar to the minors, they aren't necessarily panicking over the club's current 1-7 slide.
The Diamondbacks rank fifth in the majors in runs per game and second in rotation innings. The problem is their bullpen.
Three times this season, the Diamondbacks have lost games in which they scored 11 or more runs. Justin Martinez came off the IL last Friday. A.J. Puk is expected back in June. But the Diamondbacks need to find solutions in the middle innings.
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• A Cincinnati Reds official expressed concern before the start of the season, saying he feared the team was short at least one run-producing hitter.
Turns out he was onto something.
The Reds have been shut out eight times, four times by 1-0 scores. They are 0-5 in extra innings, and scoreless in extras on the season. Finally, they are 0-22 trailing after six innings.
(Top photo of Marcus Semien: Duane Burleson / Getty Images)