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Saturday brought news on ailing aces
Sunday’s Say Hey Baseball brings you updates on a couple of star pitchers, the scoop on Edwin Encarnacion’s slow start, and an inexplicably disappointed Andrew Miller.
Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
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Both the Mets and the Red Sox were popular picks to take their divisions during preseason prediction season. In fact, there were certainly people who thought that both squads would be able to reach the World Series to repeat the 1986 Fall Classic.
Through the first five weeks of the season, both teams have been a little disappointing. The Red Sox find themselves two games above .500 but are in third place in the AL East and four games behind the Yankees. The Mets are in second place in the NL East but are a game below .500 and trail the Nationals by 6.5 games. Both teams are also missing an ace, and both teams received a little news on that front on Saturday.
The Red Sox have been without David Price all season. Always one of the models of durability among the starting pitcher community, Price felt discomfort in his elbow during spring training and hasn’t yet appeared in a game. The good news is that he didn’t have to go under the knife. The bad news is his rehab approach has had minor setback after minor setback. On Saturday, the Red Sox were finally willing to put a tentative timetable on the lefty’s return. If all goes well, he’ll make his season debut at the end of May, and the Red Sox could finally have their Big Three of Price, Chris Sale, and Rick Porcello all together.
The news wasn’t as positive for Mets fans, who are starting to get used to negative injury news in 2017. Among all the injuries, the toughest blow has definitely been the one to Noah Syndergaard. If you recall, he felt discomfort in his throwing arm, but decided he didn’t need to undergo an MRI. The team sent him back out to the mound, but the discomfort quickly returned and he was eventually diagnosed with a torn lat. We knew it wouldn’t be a quick time spent on the shelf, and now we know that he won’t even be able to throw for six more weeks. That will almost certainly put him out until after the All-Star break, meaning the Mets will need their other pitchers to step up in the star’s absence.
- Edwin Encarnacion was the biggest signing of the winter for Cleveland, but he hasn’t lived up to expectations just yet. Is it too early to worry?
- Brandon Phillips isn’t the player he once was, but he can still do this.
- The Cubs and Yankees are playing each other this weekend, and it’s giving New York a look at how it should be approaching its rebuild.
- The Mets don’t only have injuries in their pitching staff. Asdrubal Cabrera also had to leave after hurting his thumb.
- Meanwhile, it appears the Orioles may have rushed back their star closer Zach Britton, who is going back to the disabled list after he felt more discomfort in his forearm.
- In even more injury news, the Dodgers had to place Adrian Gonzalez on the disabled list. It is the veteran’s first ever trip to the disabled list.
- In happier news, the Royals just got Jorge Soler back from the DL. He had yet to play a game for Kansas City prior to this weekend.
- On Wednesday, Andrew Miller tossed two scoreless frames with four strikeouts but still came away disappointed. Let’s Go Tribe tells you why.
- The Cardinals have been aggressive on the base paths. Maybe it’s time they chill out for a minute.
- In the minors, the Cubs’ and Mariners’ Single-A affiliates played a 19-inning game that had to be spread over two days.
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