Baseball Daily Dose: Daily Dose: Duda Down
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The Mets began a National League East showdown with the Nationals on Monday, but they had to do battle without a key piece of their lineup. In fact, they’re going to be without that piece for a while.
Lucas Duda has been diagnosed with a stress fracture in his lower back and was placed on the 15-day disabled list. The Mets are only saying that he’s out indefinitely, but manager Terry Collins conceded that it would be “a while.” Duda being on the shelf for a matter of months, not weeks, certainly looks like a possibility.
Duda had been battling the back issue for a while and finally was examined further over the weekend, at which point the bad news was discovered. The first baseman has batted just .231/.297/.431 so far this season, but that includes a .171/.292/.220 line with no homers over his last 13 games, and the back surely played a part in his struggles. Duda hit .249/.350/.483 with 57 longballs over the previous two seasons, so it’s a lot of production that the Mets are going to have to replace.
For the time being, the Mets will roll with Eric Campbell as their regular at first base. Campbell has put up some nice numbers the last few years in a hitter’s haven at Triple-A Las Vegas, but the 29-year-old entered play Monday as a career .230/.321/.319 at the big league level and isn’t someone the Mets would be excited about giving a ton of at-bats to. Ty Kelly replaced Duda on the roster and he has a little bit of experience at first base, but Kelly is more of a utility infielder type.
By this weekend, the Mets’ primary first baseman will likely be Wilmer Flores. Flores is on the disabled list with a strained hamstring but will begin a rehab assignment Tuesday and is expected to be activated when first eligible on Friday. The 24-year-old is certainly lacking Duda’s on-base skills, but he did have 16 homers across 510 plate appearances last season. Flores is eligible at shortstop, second and third base in Yahoo leagues and will soon gain eligibility at first base. The infielder isn’t a bad add in deeper leagues.
There’s also the possibility that the Mets will eventually look for help outside the organization, something that assistant general manager John Ricco acknowledged on Monday was a possibility. It’s certainly not the best time of the season to be seeking help via trade, but some teams that are realistic about their lack of playoff hopes will surely listen if the Mets call. Chris Carter could potentially be a possibility. Former Met Kelly Johnson is probably a more realistic one.
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Ah, Choo!
Shin-Soo Choo’s return from the disabled list was short-lived.
Just three days after his return from a six-week absence for a strained calf, Choo was placed back on the DL Monday with a strained hamstring. The Rangers expect Choo to miss 3-4 weeks of action, which means he could potentially be on the shelf for essentially 10 of the first 11 weeks of the season. He has just three hits over 16 at-bats on the year.
“I’m mad at myself,” Choo said. “Come back from the disabled list and this happens. Nobody wants to get hurt. It’s frustrating.”
With Drew Stubbs also going on the DL with a sprained toe, the Rangers had to replace two bodies and they went with Joey Gallo and Jared Hoying. Gallo hasn’t played the outfield at Triple-A Round Rock this season, but he played 39 games in the outfield last year between the majors and minors.
You’d have to believe the Rangers are going to play Gallo while he’s up, so he should see a good number of starts in left field and possibly at first base and/or the designated hitter spot. There are certainly holes is Gallo’s game. He struck out 57 times in 123 plate appearances in the majors last season and hit only .204/.301/.417 overall. However, the power is obviously massive and Gallo has made significant strides both with his strikeout and walk rate at Round Rock this season. It could ultimately be only a three-week look-see, but Gallo’s upside makes him worth a gamble in most any format.
Hoying got a start on Monday and went hitless in two at-bats before being lifted for a pinch-hitter. He’s 27 and wasn’t on the prospect radar coming into the season but was batting .319/.409/.550 with seven homers and 13 steals at Round Rock. He has a couple 20/20 seasons under his belt in the minors, so there could be a little deep league intrigue here if the playing time was there, but there are no guarantees with Gallo and Ryan Rua in the picture.
The Rangers got some additional bad injury news Monday when it was revealed that Josh Hamilton will undergo season-ending surgery on June 8 to repair cartilage in his left knee. Hamilton has been out all season with knee issues and had to be pulled off a rehab assignment earlier this month after just one game due to renewed soreness. It will be the third procedure he’s had on the knee since last September. The 35-year-old will have played just 139 games over his last three seasons, but he’s under contract next year and plans on rehabbing while an eye on playing in 2017.
“His mindset is he will,” general manager Jon Daniels said. “He is very convicted.”
Miggy Mashing
Remember when people were worried about Miguel Cabrera?
Cabrera continued his recent assault on Major League pitching on Monday, going 3-for-3 with a pair of solo home runs in a win over the Phillies. The two-time MVP has been on a rather absurd stretch over his last 16 games, batting .448 with seven home runs. Cabrera was sporting a rather pedestrian .262/.342/.430 batting line before the 16-game span. He’s now up to .327/.401/.588, watching his OPS jump 217 points in 18 days.
While he’s remained incredibly productive the last couple seasons when healthy, Cabrera’s power was down both in 2014 and 2015, leading some to wonder whether the slugger would ever get it back to the level we had become accustomed to. It’s looking like Cabrera still has plenty to offer in the power department, however, as he’s now on pace for 41 home runs and 103 RBI. The 33-year-old also ranks in the top-25 in baseball in batted ball distance and the top-15 in hard-hit percentage.
Among first basemen, Cabrera ranks No. 1 in the Rotoworld Season Pass Player Rater.
National League Quick Hits: Clayton Kershaw struck out seven while recording his third shutout this month in Monday’s win over the Reds … Johnny Cueto spun a two-hit shutout while whiffing six batters in Monday’s victory over the Padres … Drew Pomeranz tossed seven shutout frames in a no-decision against the Giants … Brandon Finnegan recorded an eight-inning complete game but took a loss against the Dodgers Monday … Angel Pagan exited Monday’s game after apparently aggravating his hamstring injury … Randal Grichuk singled and hit a walk-off homer in Monday’s win over the Cubs … Marcell Ozuna stayed hot Monday, going 3-for-4 with a solo homer and two runs scored in a win over the Rays … Odubel Herrera had three more hits Monday but was pulled from the game for not running out a groundball … The Braves acquired Brian Matusz from the Orioles on Monday and immediately designated him for assignment … Zach Wheeler (elbow) threw off the pitching rubber Monday for the first time since his Tommy John surgery … Jason Heyward (ribs) did some hitting on the field Monday and is expected back in the lineup soon … The Cubs released Shane Victorino from his minor league contract … Jung Ho Kang (hand) will return to the lineup Tuesday …
American League Quick Hits: Alex Gordon will miss the next 3-4 weeks with a broken scaphoid bone in his right wrist … Salvador Perez went 5-for-5 with an RBI and three runs scored in Monday’s victory over the Twins … Rich Hill struck out six over eight shutout innings in Monday’s win over the Mariners … Kevin Kiermaier is set to miss 8-10 weeks after undergoing surgery Tuesday to repair two fractures in his left hand … Jordan Zimmermann will miss at least one start after being diagnosed with a Grade 1 strain of his right groin … Brandon Guyer went 3-for-5 with a solo homer and three runs scored in Monday’s loss to the Marlins … Joe Mauer went 3-for-5 with a solo homer in Monday’s loss to the Royals … Nick Tropeano recorded six strikeouts across 6 2/3 shutout frames in a win over the Rangers on Monday … Josh Reddick will not require surgery on his left thumb and is expected to miss 4-6 weeks … Henderson Alvarez (shoulder) will resume playing catch on Tuesday … Todd Frazier had four hits – including his league-leading 14th homer – during Monday’s doubleheader against the Indians … Justin Upton was scratched from Monday’s lineup against the Phillies due to right quad tightness … Mike Moustakas is day-to-day with a knee contusion …
