With the commerce deadline simply two weeks away, listed here are three issues we’ll be maintaining a tally of across the baseball world all through the day at the moment:
1. Pirates Prospect Promotions:
This night’s sport in opposition to the Guardians is shaping as much as be a major one for the Pirates, because the membership is poised to name up a trio of prospects previous to the sport tonight. Reviews started circling over the weekend that right-handed pitching prospect Quinn Priester could be taking the ball for his MLB debut tonight, whereas final night time information broke that he would be joined by catcher Endy Rodriguez and infielder Liover Peguero, the latter of whom will probably be returning to the massive leagues after a one-game cup of espresso final yr.
The trio of high 10 prospects within the Pirates system have all generated top-100 prospect buzz all through their careers within the minors. Rodriguez is the most effective recognized of the bunch, as a consensus high 55 prospect within the sport getting into the 2023 marketing campaign. Priester, entered the 2023 marketing campaign ranked sixtieth by MLB Pipeline. Peguero isn’t on any high 100 lists for the time being, although he was a consensus high 80 prospect previous to the 2022 marketing campaign. Rodriguez and Peguero are each already on the 40-man roster, however a gap will must be created for Priester earlier than he can be a part of the workforce. In fact, area will must be cleared for all three on the lively roster previous to tonight’s sport as effectively.
2. Reds to advertise CES:
The Pirates aren’t the one membership selling a high prospect at the moment. The youth motion in Cincinnati is about to proceed this night with infield prospect Christian Encarnacion-Strand set to join the club for tonight’s sport in opposition to the Giants. Encarnacion-Strand is at the moment ranked 88th on MLB Pipeline’s top 100 list and has had an unbelievable season in his first style of Triple-A motion with Louisville. In 316 plate appearances on the stage, Encarnacion-Strand has slashed .331/.405/.637, good for a wRC+ of 153. The 23-year-old isn’t but on the 40-man roster, so a corresponding transfer will probably be essential to create area for him.
In selling Encarnacion-Strand, the Reds will create a little bit of a logjam of their infield. With future Corridor of Famer Joey Votto raking 77 plate appearances into his age-39 season, the Reds should juggle taking part in time for him, Encarnacion-Strand, Spencer Steer, Elly De La Cruz, Jonathan India, and Matt McLain across the infield. Whereas the DH slot ought to ease these points to an extent, with six infielders seemingly due for normal taking part in time and solely 5 spots within the lineup out there to them, the Reds will both must make troublesome choices concerning their infield combine or lean closely on the restricted expertise of each Steer and Encarnacion-Strand within the outfield corners.
3. McClanahan to return:
Rays lefty Shane McClanahan has been on the 15-day injured record for the reason that starting of the month with mid-back tightness. After simply over the minimal time away, he’s poised to return to the mound at the moment in a begin in opposition to the Rangers tonight in Texas. McClanahan’s return is certain to take strain off right-handers Tyler Glasnow, Zach Eflin, and Taj Bradley, who’ve operated as a three-man rotation in McClanahan’s absence.
The lefty was dominant in 17 begins previous to occurring the IL, with a 2.53 ERA and three.86 FIP in 96 innings of labor. Whereas these numbers are actually spectacular, they’re truly inflated by a pair of shortened begins throughout which McClanahan was battling the damage that ultimately despatched him to the shelf. By his first 15 begins of the season, McClanahan seemed to be the clear front-runner for the AL Cy Younger award this yr with a sterling 2.12 ERA in 89 1/3 innings of labor.
