Baseball Daily Dose: Daily Dose: Selling Shields
James Shields may be pitching himself out of San Diego, in a good way.
Shields, who owns a 3.06 ERA through 10 starts with the cellar-dwelling Padres, has been the subject of recent trade rumors as teams begin looking for outside help for a playoff push. Most recently, the White Sox on Sunday were reported to have had discussions with the Padres regarding the 34-year-old.
The move made sense prior to the White Sox’ weekend sweep at the hands of the Royals, as the Sox have used seven different starters to this point, including Miguel Gonzalez — who was DFA’d by the Orioles at the end of spring — Erik Johnson, and recently DFA’d John Danks.
“To beat better pitching you have to have better pitchers,” White Sox assistant general manager Buddy Bell said Friday. “You have to be better yourself. That’s how I look at it.
“Overall we still like our team. There is no reason not to. But you can always add pitching. You can always look to get better there. The problem is every one is looking for that.
“We’re going to contend all year so it’s sort of a no brainer for us. Rick and Kenny [Williams] are going to add whenever they can. Pitching is always the first priority. It always will be that way in our organization.”
In Shields, the Sox or any other suitor would be getting a pitcher who, despite his best days being behind him, is still a serviceable starter. He hasn’t been able to maintain last year’s spike in strikeout rate, but he’s benefited from a ground ball rate that would be the second-highest of his career if the season ended tomorrow.
It’s unclear what the Padres might get in return for the veteran, who still has two more years at $21 million per year left on his contract, but it likely won’t be top Sox prospect Tim Anderson. Details were still being hammered out late Sunday — with no guarantee a deal would even get done — but it sounds as though Shields could be on the move, somewhere, sooner than later.
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Lincecum Set For June 12 Debut
A tentative date has been set for his 2016 debut, but Tim Lincecum is going at his own pace.
Lincecum, pitching in extended spring training, is expected to debut for the Angels on June 12 against the Indians. That’s assuming a start for Triple-A Salt Lake on Thursday goes well, similar to how Lincecum’s roughly 75-pitch extended spring start went Saturday.
“Everything felt pretty good,” Lincecum said after the start. “What I asked for and what the Angels are giving me is just time to move along at my own pace and figure out things that I need to.”
The timeline is even more aggressive than some expected when teams were courting the 31-year-old earlier this month. Some writers had suggested Lincecum would need six weeks to get up to speed before pitching in a big league game. Shortly after he signed on May 19, Angels general manager Billy Eppler said he expected Lincecum would need 20-30 days before being ready.
What to expect is anyone’s guess, although the Angels certainly have higher hopes than the 4.68 ERA he’s put up since the start of the 2012 season. One reason for optimism is an increase in velocity of roughly two miles per hour on his fastball from last season, when he averaged 87.5 mph per PITCHf/x.
“I know I’m not going to blow the doors off,” he said. “I already feel pretty confident with what I got. I had to pitch with the stuff that I had the last few years. Now that my velo’s just a couple ticks up from where it was last year, I feel like that can make a huge difference.”
We’ll see on June 12.
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Royals Breathe Sigh Of Relief, Sort Of
The star-crossed Royals received some good news — in that it could have been worse news — on Sunday regarding Salvador Perez.
The backstop, who left Saturday’s game after colliding with teammate Cheslor Cuthbert in the ninth inning, was diagnosed with a bruised left quad but no structural damage to his knee. Perez will miss between seven and 10 days but may not require a trip to the disabled list.
Given the Royals’ recent history of injuries — both Alex Gordon and Mike Moustakas are on the disabled list, Moustakas with a season-ending ACL tear, after running into each other earlier this month — Sunday’s news qualified as a positive.
“As soon as he hit me, I thought it was going to be worse,” Perez said Sunday. “But after the MRI, we were thinking only a few days. Everything is not right, but it could be a lot worse.”
National League Quick Hits: Ryan Braun sat out for the second straight day Sunday due to neck stiffness/soreness. Braun has also battled back and wrist injuries this season and has played just six out of the last 14 games. He’s slashing .351/.424/.583 when in the lineup … Giancarlo Stanton (side) took batting practice Sunday. He could be back in there as soon as Monday … David Wright (neck) was out of the Mets’ starting lineup on Sunday. Manager Terry Collins made it sound as though Wright wouldn’t be available on Monday, either … ESPN’s Buster Olney reports that Hyun-Jin Ryu (shoulder) felt sore after his last rehab start and is “backing off his planned assignments.” It’s unclear how big of a setback it could be, but obviously it’s not a good development, especially after Ryu tossed four scoreless innings in his last rehab outing and had been scheduled to start on Monday … Archie Bradley pitched into the eighth inning Sunday in the Diamondbacks’ 6-3 defeat of the Padres. He yielded only four total hits and one walk over 7 1/3 official frames while striking out nine … Adrian Gonzalez went 2-for-4 and drove home three runs on Sunday night as the Dodgers defeated the Mets 4-2 in New York. Gonzalez delivered an RBI single off Bartolo Colon in the fifth inning and smacked a two-run single off Mets closer Jeurys Familia in the top half of the ninth to break a 2-2 tie … Stephen Strasburg improved to 9-0 in Sunday’s 10-2 win over the Cardinals, allowing one run on six hits over six innings. Strasburg now owns a 2.69 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and 90/20 K/BB ratio through 73 2/3 innings … Jayson Werth launched a pinch-hit grand slam in the victory … Matt Adams (back) returned to the Cardinals’ lineup Sunday. He went 0-for-2 with a walk and an RBI in the loss … Christian Yelich (back) made his first start in over a week Sunday, finishing 1-for-5. Yelich missed time while battling back spasms.
American League Quick Hits: Rich Hill was diagnosed with a mild groin strain after leaving Sunday’s start against the Tigers. A’s manager Bob Melvin was unsure if the veteran left-hander would be able to make his next start, but for now it doesn’t sound as though a trip to the disabled list is coming. Hill will be reevaluated by the club’s medical team on Monday … Huston Street (oblique) could be activated from the disabled list on Monday. Street made it through an appearance in extended spring training on Saturday with no issues and could skip a rehab assignment if he feels well enough … David Ortiz (foot) was a late scratch from the Red Sox’ lineup Sunday. Ortiz was a little sore after being hit on the left foot by a pitch Saturday. Consider him day-to-day … Rays manager Kevin Cash said Saturday that he would like to ease Brad Boxberger (abdomen) back into the closer role. Boxberger will be activated from the disabled list on Monday, but it sounds like Alex Colome could stick in the ninth inning for a few more days … Jordan Zimmermann (groin) threw a bullpen session Sunday. Zimmermann said he felt great during the session. He’ll throw another bullpen session on Tuesday and if that goes well should be cleared to rejoin the Tigers’ rotation later this week … Carlos Gomez (ribs) is expected to be activated from the disabled list on Tuesday, the first day he’s eligible. Gomez played in his fifth and likely final rehab game on Sunday, finishing 5-for-20 with one homer on the rehab assignment as he works his way back from a bruised left rib cage … Michael Brantley (shoulder) admitted Saturday that it’s “going to take a little bit of time” before he returns. Indians manager Terry Francona added that the club is taking a more “conservative” approach with Brantley now after it appears they brought him back from the disabled list too soon late last month … Mark Teixeira (neck) took batting practice Sunday, and assuming he wakes up feeling OK Monday, he could be back in the lineup then. Teixeira hasn’t played since Tuesday due to a neck injury … C.J. Wilson will be shut down indefinitely after feeling soreness in his pitching arm during a bullpen session Saturday. Wilson was initially diagnosed with biceps tendinitis, although more details will be available after he undergoes an MRI. He admitted to feeling fatigue toward the end of his rehab start Wednesday and then said he felt “awful” Saturday. Uh oh … Glen Perkins (shoulder) has resumed a throwing program. Perkins had to be shut down for a week after feeling stiffness in his pitching shoulder. He will throw off a mound later this week, assuming all goes well Carlos Correa hit a pinch-hit three-run shot in the top of the 13th inning as the Astros beat the Angels on Sunday. So much for a day off … Kendrys Morales (finger) was back in the Royals’ lineup Sunday. Morales hadn’t played since Tuesday due to a sprained right finger, going 0-for-2 with two walks in his return … Jake Odorizzi gave up one hit on Sunday, but it was one hit too many. The right-hander carried a perfect game into the seventh inning before a one-out walk to Brett Gardner preceded a two-run homer by Starlin Castro. Odorizzi and the Rays lost 2-1. Brutal.
