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New York Times
4 days ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Jerar Encarnacion returns with a bang as Giants finally power past pesky Pirates
PITTSBURGH — Jerar Encarnacion was in the middle of a postgame interview at his locker Tuesday night when Willy Adames strolled past the group of reporters. Adames smiled and tried his best to lower his tenor voice into a baritone. 'I got mucho power and I'm a big guy,' Adames bellowed while puffing out his chest. Advertisement It wouldn't matter what sport Encarnacion chose to play. He's one of those people who will scare an opponent just by walking off the bus. He's listed at 6-foot-4 and 260 pounds and probably could push a tackling sled as if it were made of balsa wood. His mucho power was among the primary reasons that the Giants considered themselves a sleeper team back in spring training. Encarnacion didn't have much of a major-league track record. He wouldn't be facing the same pitchers he destroyed while playing in the Pacific Coast League or for Oaxaca in the Mexican League. He wouldn't be taken in anyone's fantasy draft or make a dent in any projection systems. But Giants coaches and teammates marveled all spring at his at-bat quality and his all-fields ability to drive the ball. Some dared to whisper best-case comparisons to J.D. Martinez, a rare late bloomer who went from upper-minors flotsam into one of the game's most feared run producers. 'Coming out of spring training, this guy looked like he was going to be a semi- … almost a regular for us,' Giants manager Bob Melvin said. 'To have that kind of power, against righties and lefties, is big for us, especially with the trouble we've had against left-handed pitching. We've been waiting on him to contribute.' List it among the factors that have gone wrong for the Giants this season: They had to wait until the first week of August to watch Encarnacion's first home run fly over the fence. He fractured a finger when hit by a pitch in spring training. His return in June consisted of 22 plate appearances over eight games before he pulled an oblique. When the Giants had Encarnacion stay the maximum 30 days with Triple-A Sacramento on his latest minor-league rehab assignment, it was fair to wonder whether he'd be back on the roster at all. But the Giants optioned Luis Matos to activate Encarnacion on Monday. And when he returned to the lineup Tuesday night, he shrank a pitcher's park while hitting a 415-foot drive that landed in the topiaries beyond the center-field wall. Advertisement Christian Koss also made the most of a rare start, smacking a two-run home run in the third inning. Adames hit his 18th homer of the season. All the run support must've seemed like an all-you-can-eat Vegas buffet for Logan Webb, who has pitched with almost no margin for error all season. Webb struck out 10 in six innings and the Giants finally bossed around the Pittsburgh Pirates while enjoying a palate-cleansing 8-1 victory on the banks of the Allegheny River. 'It was probably the best baseball game we've played in a long time,' Webb said. 'We've just gotta keep the momentum and let everybody be themselves.' That includes Encarnacion, whose home run stood out even though it was just a snackable solo shot amid the feast of offense. 'When you get Jerry going, we saw it in the spring,' Webb said. 'Everyone was super excited to see him get an opportunity and he's just been hampered by injuries. You can tell there's a lot of energy in there with him. He brings the clubhouse up. Just getting him to feel good was the main thing. I'm excited for him and Koss. It's going to take all of us.' Wait a minute. Jerry? Is that really what we're going with? 'They can call me whatever they want,' Encarnacion said, smiling. Melvin calls him Inky. His teammates call him Jerry. No matter what sobriquet sticks, the Giants will call his name again in Wednesday's series finale. The Giants traded Mike Yastrzemski at the deadline last week, so it's possible that Encarnacion still has a runway to the playing time that everyone envisioned. Most of the at-bats that the Giants anticipated giving to Encarnacion in the first half went to Wilmer Flores, who was the National League's RBI leader as recently as the start of June. But Flores drove in a run in just one of the 16 games he played in July, and he's been sidelined of late because of a hamstring he strained over the weekend in New York. Flores is also an impending free agent. So there might be an opportunity for Encarnacion to get chances at designated hitter as well as in the outfield. Advertisement Especially if he keeps shrinking ballparks. 'There were some balls hit hard to center field that didn't go anywhere,' Melvin said. 'And his went somewhere. That's the kind of power he has. He has power to the off-field too. You come back after a long layoff and contribute right away and hit a homer, I know that does a world of confidence for you.' Facing the struggling Pirates is often a confidence boost for any opponent, but entering Tuesday night, the Giants had lost all four games they'd played against the NL Central's cellar dwellers over an eight-day span. The Giants figured to have every advantage heading into these games at PNC Park, too. They had the good fortune to avoid facing brilliant ace Paul Skenes for the second consecutive series. Plus, the Pirates were coming off a visit to Coors Field in which their pitching staff gave up 30 runs in three games and no starting pitcher lasted past the fifth. Monday's series opener turned into a bullpen game when the starting pitcher they activated, Johan Oviedo, was pulled after throwing 43 pitches in the first inning. But the Giants blew a three-run lead and a decision for Justin Verlander in a walk-off loss. Melvin made a few lineup tweaks on Tuesday. Koss, who was used as a defensive replacement for second baseman Casey Schmitt a night earlier, received a start because Melvin wanted to play his best infield defenders behind Webb. Koss jumped on the first pitch he saw to give the Giants a quick 2-0 lead in the third. The Pirates postured to take the lead back in the bottom of the third when they strung together four consecutive singles against Webb with one out. In past seasons, Webb would throw his two-seam fastball with the bases loaded and hope for a double-play grounder. But he has the confidence to pitch for strikeouts this season while posting a career-best strikeout rate of 9.9 batters per nine innings. Webb wanted to take batted-ball variability out of the equation if he could — especially against a hitter like Oneil Cruz, who lights up the exit velocity leaderboard almost every night. Webb started Cruz with a slider and then threw three changeups. Cruz fouled off two pitches and swung through the fourth. Then Nick Gonzales grounded out to end the inning. Advertisement 'You saw what he did the next at-bat,' Webb said of Cruz. 'He hit a groundball at 115 mph.' Webb (10-8) reached double-digit victories for the fifth consecutive season — something only six other pitchers have done in the Giants' San Francisco era. Most recently, Madison Bumgarner won at least 10 games in six consecutive seasons from 2011-16. Jason Schmidt (5), Jim Barr (5), Gaylord Perry (6), Kirk Rueter (7) and Juan Marichal (11) are the others. Webb also passed 1,000 innings for his career. 'It's cool. I'm 2,500 away from Justin,' said Webb, gesturing toward Verlander, the soon-to-be Hall of Famer. 'So I've got some work to do.' The Giants have plenty of work to do if they hope to close their gap with the San Diego Padres and resuscitate their wild-card hopes. So it'll be encouraging if they can start to tap into some dependable power sources, especially when they've got seven games lined up against the Padres over the next two weeks. 'It was God's decision for me to get injured,' Encarnacion said through Spanish interpreter Erwin Higueros. 'There's nothing I could do about it. But I'm really happy to be back and I'm looking forward to being able to play as much as they want me to play. 'I feel perfect. I feel very good. My confidence returned in Sacramento. I just thank God I'm back here.' To borrow a famous sitcom line: He's out there, Jerry, and he's loving every minute of it. (Top photo of Jerar Encarnacion: Joe Sargent / Getty Images)
CBS News
7 days ago
- Sport
- CBS News
Pirates GM Cherington believes deadline moves create options for 2026. In what way is uncertain
The Pittsburgh Pirates arrived at spring training six months ago, stressing that it was time to win. They talked about urgency. They talked about internal improvements. They talked about returning to playoff contention for the first time in a decade. Then the talk stopped, and the games began. And the losses — both on and off the field — mounted. Quickly. And sometimes embarrassingly. Even the brilliance of superstar ace Paul Skenes and the fresh, no-frills approach of manager Don Kelly — promoted after Derek Shelton was fired in May — couldn't stop the last-place club from being sellers at the trade deadline again. In 24 hours, general manager Ben Cherington sent away former franchise cornerstones Ke'Bryan Hayes and David Bednar in exchange for prospects, most of whom are years away from reaching the majors, if they ever even get there. It's a pattern that has repeated itself over and over during Cherington's five-plus years on the job. Yet, unlike the early days of his top-to-bottom overhaul — when Cherington tore the major league roster down to the studs while accumulating as many bodies as he could to replenish the club's bereft minor-league system — it comes at a time when expectations both internally and externally are considerably higher. Yet Cherington believes his approach checked all three boxes required to help Pittsburgh win in 2026, saying the Pirates added a significant group of young players, most notably, catcher/first base prospect Rafael Flores, who has 16 homers between Double-A and Triple-A this season. The departure of Hayes at third base, Bednar, a two-time All-Star closer, and left-handed starter Bailey Falter will create opportunities for others down the stretch. Cherington also pointed out the expected exit of veterans currently on one-year deals — infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa, outfielder Tommy Pham and pitcher Andrew Heaney, most notably — will create considerable financial flexibility as Pittsburgh tries to upgrade an offense currently mired near the bottom of the majors in most offensive categories. "There's always more things like that that you want to do, so I feel really good about the things we did do," Cherington said. "I do believe we put ourselves in a stronger position going into August, September and the offseason." Yet when pressed on what that fiscal flexibility might look like in practice for a team that regularly begins each season with among the bottom five clubs in terms of payroll, Cherington offered only vague answers. "We'll be open-minded about free agency," he said. "We've pursued legitimate major-league position players in the past here since I've been here and I'm sure we'll do it again. It's never going to be one thing that solves that issue and helps us figure out the offense that leads to a winning team. It's always going to be lots of things and a lot of that has to happen internally." Therein lies one of Pittsburgh's biggest issues, for all of the success Cherington and his staff have had in identifying and developing young pitchers — there's a very real chance 22-year-old right-hander Bubba Chandler makes his major league debut later this summer — the results when it comes to position players are far more misses than hits. While 19-year-old shortstop/outfielder Konnor Griffin is currently considered perhaps the top prospect in all of baseball, he is currently in Class A. Termarr Johnson, a first-round pick in 2022, is having a solid but not exactly spectacular year at Double-A. They will both eventually be everyday players in Pittsburgh, but having that happen by next summer is a stretch. So it leaves the Pirates in a familiar place: playing out the string, knowing exactly what they need to do to be better next year. Pittsburgh was in the same spot last summer, and Cherington's only significant moves during the offseason were to acquire first baseman Spencer Horwitz while taking one-year flyers on Pham and Adam Frazier, who has already been traded to Kansas City. The results have hardly been surprising. Horwitz has been steady (.252) since missing the first month-plus of the season due to a wrist injury, but the power Pittsburgh hoped would come along remains a work in progress. Pham has emerged from a massive funk to boost his average to .273. In a way, the Pirates' offense mirrors enigmatic centerfielder Oneil Cruz, who sometimes dazzles with his physical gifts but just as frequently draws attention for his inattentiveness. The inability to score runs has marred a remarkable season by the pitching staff. The Pirates entered Friday's game at Colorado in the top seven in the majors in ERA, led by Skenes and his major-league best 1.83 ERA. The 23-year-old is a Cy Young candidate despite entering the weekend with a 6-8 record. Just as importantly, Skenes has consistently said and done all the right things since the Pirates took him first overall in the 2023 draft. He brushed off the idea that the club should trade him now, with his value so high, saying simply, "anybody can play GM." Yet his patience might already be wearing thin. Skenes — who will become arbitration-eligible after 2026, which will likely mean a hefty raise — told the club's radio network over the weekend that while he thinks Pittsburgh is "very close" to contending, it must "consciously and intentionally make moves to get us better" at the deadline. Cherington — whose status beyond this season is uncertain as Pittsburgh eyes a sixth straight losing season on his watch — may have finally said the quiet part out loud late Thursday as the Pirates eye another pennant race going on without them. Yes, they'll have money to spend over the winter. Just don't expect a gold rush. "(Improving) in Pittsburgh is going to be a combination of taking chances, making bets on young players who are unproven," he said. "And we've got to continue to do that and be right more often than we're not right on those." The clock is ticking. In more ways than one. ___ AP MLB:
New York Times
02-08-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
What should the Mets expect from Cedric Mullins? Scouts, evaluators weigh in
Several years ago, when spring training reached that familiar monotonous stage, with every day starting to feel the same and the regular season too far away to count down, Buck Showalter wanted to add energy. Showalter, then the Baltimore Orioles manager, asked Brian Graham, the club's farm director at the time, to borrow a player from minor-league camp who could enter a game late and provide a spark. It didn't take long for Graham to think of someone. Advertisement That's how Cedric Mullins, whom the industry didn't deem as much of a prospect at the time, took the 30-minute ride from Sarasota, Fla., to Bradenton to play in a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He took just one at-bat. The game ended up as his only appearance for the Orioles in that spring 2016. But he made a lasting impression by hitting a double, using his speed and flashing a big smile. There was life to his game. 'I'll never forget watching him that day in Bradenton,' Showalter said by phone Friday. 'It was like, 'Where has this guy been?'' Nearly a decade later, the New York Mets are hoping they got that same kind of player in Mullins after acquiring the center fielder Thursday in a trade with the Orioles, the only organization he had ever played for. Mullins arrived at Citi Field on Friday about 2 1/2 hours before first pitch (7:10 p.m.). Therefore, he was activated on the roster but not inserted into the starting lineup. In the Mets' 4-3 loss to the San Francisco Giants, Mullins appeared as a pinch hitter in the ninth inning and popped out, and then stayed in the game at center field. 'I'm just trying to be myself and bring the type of game I know I can bring,' Mullins said before the game. 'Using my legs, running, stealing bases, playing solid defense, showing a little bit of power here and there, bunts — just a little bit of everything.' Since Mullins was a late arrival, Tyrone Taylor started at center field with Jeff McNeil at second base. Before the Mullins trade, Taylor and McNeil split time in center field. Around 5:30 p.m., Taylor left manager Carlos Mendoza's office after a conversation about more of a bench role. New York sent Baltimore three prospects; Taylor and McNeil still linger as options, but Mullins is going to absorb most of the playing time in center field. Advertisement With McNeil set for more action at second base, Mendoza said his messaging to the group of young infielders — Ronny Mauricio, Mark Vientos and Brett Baty — battling for time at third base and designated hitter was, 'There's a healthy competition … even if you're not in the lineup, you're probably going to get the biggest at-bat in the sixth or seventh inning.' With Mullins active, the Mets optioned infielder Luisangel Acuña to Triple A. Cedric's here 👀 — New York Mets (@Mets) August 1, 2025 People who know him well describe Mullins as reserved. Friday, he answered questions from reporters using a soft voice. In the clubhouse, he prefers to blend in. It's on the field where he can sometimes stand out. 'It is sometimes hard to find a guy who is both, but he has a strong work ethic while playing with some flair,' a longtime scout of an American League team said. 'Offensively, he is streaky, but he can do a lot to win a club games — hit a home run, steal a base, make a catch, plus the little things, like cutting balls off well, taking the extra base.' Added another AL evaluator, 'He runs hot and cold offensively sometimes, but whether it's offense, defense, base running, he gives you everything he's got.' The Mets swung two trades with the Orioles — they also acquired lefty reliever Gregory Soto from them — and talks between the two clubs started weeks ago. Mullins was a big part of those discussions. In 335 plate appearances with the Orioles this season, Mullins slashed .229/.305/.433 with 15 home runs and 14 stolen bases. Against lefties this season, Mullins, a left-handed batter, has a .866 OPS. After struggling significantly in May and June (.542 OPS), he bounced back in July, producing an .868 OPS. The Mets studied Mullins' production, particularly over the last eight weeks. For his career, Mullins has hit right-handed pitchers better than lefties, but Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns pointed to approach adjustments Mullins has made recently against southpaws (while citing the difficulty of putting too much stock in small samples of reverse splits). The Mets haven't hit lefties well, and it remains to be seen how much action Mullins will see against them. Besides lengthening the lineup a bit, the Mets need strong defense from Mullins. Despite his defensive metrics being down, Mets officials believe he has offered quality defense in center field since recovering from a hamstring tweak several weeks ago. Advertisement Mendoza, who spent four seasons as the New York Yankees' bench coach before replacing Showalter as the Mets manager ahead of the 2024 season, observed plenty of Mullins. He said Mullins' jumps, routes and speed make him a standout defender. 'There are years where you feel like, man, that's weird, that he's grading so low defensively,' Mendoza said, 'but when you watch this kid play, especially for the last, what, four, five, six weeks, he's a pretty elite defender out there.' With his strong base running, good defense and capable bat, Mullins seemingly fits the Mets' roster well. 'New York is a great place to land,' Mullins said. Not everyone who comes to New York via trade assimilates well over the final two months. People familiar with Mullins say he should adjust fine to a new team and a new city — one full of expectations — because of his personality and multidimensional skills. 'He is so sincere and so humble,' said Showalter, Mullins' first manager in the major leagues who spent a combined six seasons guiding the Mets and Yankees. 'He is going to smile easily, but he is a tough kid, too, who knows the seriousness of what's needed.'
Yahoo
01-08-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Pirates GM Cherington believes deadline moves create options for 2026. In what way is uncertain
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Pirates arrived at spring training six months ago stressing that it was time to win. They talked about urgency. They talked about internal improvements. They talked about returning to playoff contention for the first time in a decade. Then the talk stopped, and the games began. And the losses — both on and off the field — mounted. Quickly. And sometimes embarrassingly. Even the brilliance of superstar ace Paul Skenes and the fresh, no frills approach of manager Don Kelly — promoted after Derek Shelton was fired in May — couldn't stop the last-place club from being sellers at the trade deadline again. In the span of 24 hours, general manager Ben Cherington sent away former franchise cornerstones Ke'Bryan Hayes and David Bednar in exchange for prospects, most of whom are years away from reaching the majors, if they ever even get there. It's a pattern that has repeated itself over and over during Cherington's five-plus years on the job. Yet, unlike the early days of his top-to-bottom overhaul — when Cherington tore the major league roster down to the studs while accumulating as many bodies as he could to replenish the club's bereft minor-league system — it comes at a time when expectations both internally and externally are considerably higher. Yet Cherington believes his approach checked all three boxes required to help Pittsburgh win in 2026, saying the Pirates added a significant group of young players, most notably, catcher/first base prospect Rafael Flores, who has 16 homers between Double-A and Triple-A this season. The departures The departure of Hayes at third base, Bednar, a two-time All-Star closer, and left-handed starter Bailey Falter will create opportunities for others down the stretch. Cherington also pointed out the expected exit of veterans currently on one-year deals — infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa, outfielder Tommy Pham and pitcher Andrew Heaney most notably — will create considerable financial flexibility as Pittsburgh tries to upgrade an offense currently mired near the bottom of the majors in most offensive categories. 'There's always more things like that that you want to do, so I feel really good about the things we did do,' Cherington said. 'I do believe we put ourselves in a stronger position going into August, September and the offseason.' Yet when pressed on what that fiscal flexibility might look like in practice for a team that regularly begins each season with among the bottom five clubs in terms of payroll, Cherington offered only vague answers. 'We'll be open-minded about free agency,' he said. "We've pursued legitimate major-league position players in the past here since I've been here and I'm sure we'll do it again. It's never going to be one thing that solves that issue and helps us figure out the offense that leads to a winning team. It's always going to be lots of things and a lot of that has to happen internally.' Where will help come from? Therein lies one of Pittsburgh's biggest issues, for all of the success Cherington and his staff have had in identifying and developing young pitchers — there's a very real chance 22-year-old right-hander Bubba Chandler makes his major league debut later this summer — the results when it comes to position players is far more miss than hit. While 19-year-old shortstop/outfielder Konnor Griffin is currently considered perhaps the top prospect in all of baseball, he is currently in Class A. Termarr Johnson, a first-round pick in 2022, is having a solid but not exactly spectacular year at Double-A. They will both eventually be everyday players in Pittsburgh, but having that happen by next summer is a stretch. So it leaves the Pirates in a familiar place: playing out the string knowing exactly what they need to do to be better next year. Pittsburgh was in the same spot last summer, and Cherington's only significant moves during the offseason were to acquire first baseman Spencer Horwitz while taking one-year flyers on Pham and Adam Frazier, who has already been traded to Kansas City. The results have hardly been surprising. Horwitz has been steady (.252) since missing the first month-plus of the season due to a wrist injury, but the power Pittsburgh hoped would come along remains a work in progress. Pham has emerged from a massive funk to boost his average to .273. In a way, the Pirates' offense mirrors enigmatic centerfielder Oneil Cruz, who sometimes dazzles with his physical gifts but just as frequently draws attention for his inattentiveness. A missed opportunity The inability to score runs has marred a remarkable season by the pitching staff. The Pirates entered Friday's game at Colorado in the top seven in the majors in ERA, led by Skenes and his major-league best 1.83 ERA. The 23-year-old is a Cy Young candidate despite entering the weekend with a 6-8 record. Just as importantly, Skenes has consistently said and done all the right things since the Pirates took him first overall in the 2023 draft. He brushed off the idea the club should trade him now with his value so high, saying simply 'anybody can play GM.' Yet his patience might already be wearing thin. Skenes — who will become arbitration eligible after 2026, which will likely mean a hefty raise — told the club's radio network over the weekend that while he thinks Pittsburgh is 'very close' to contending, it must 'consciously and intentionally make moves to get us better' at the deadline. Cherington — whose status beyond this season is uncertain as Pittsburgh eyes a sixth straight losing season on his watch — may have finally said the quiet part out loud late Thursday as the Pirates eye another pennant race going on without them. Yes, they'll have money to spend over the winter. Just don't expect a gold rush. '(Improving) in Pittsburgh is going to be a combination of taking chances, making bets on young players who are unproven," he said. 'And we've got to continue to do that and be right more often than we're not right on those.' The clock is ticking. In more ways than one. ___ AP MLB:
Washington Post
01-08-2025
- Sport
- Washington Post
Pirates GM Cherington believes deadline moves create options for 2026. In what way is uncertain
PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates arrived at spring training six months ago stressing that it was time to win . They talked about urgency. They talked about internal improvements. They talked about returning to playoff contention for the first time in a decade. Then the talk stopped, and the games began. And the losses — both on and off the field — mounted. Quickly. And sometimes embarrassingly.
