Baseball Daily Dose: Daily Dose: Harvey Day
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You can’t really claim your own day when you’ve been pitching the way Matt Harvey has been pitching this season. However, on Monday the righty took a nice step forward as he looks to make #HarveyDay a happy day again.
Harvey limited the White Sox to just two singles and one walk while recording six strikeouts across seven shutout innings. He escaped a sticky situation in the top of the seventh inning before watching Neil Walker come through with a homer in the bottom of the frame to break a scoreless tie and give Harvey his first win in four tries.
According to BrooksBaseball.net, Harvey’s four-seamer averaged 96.5 mph and topped out at 99.2 mph Monday, which is the best velocity the right-hander has displayed this season. And, as my colleague D.J. Short pointed out, the 10 swinging strikes Harvey got among his 87 pitches were two more than he induced in his previous two starts combined.
It’s obviously too soon to declare that Harvey is definitely back. We’re talking about a guy who entered the day with a 6.08 ERA and who had allowed 19 runs – 16 earned – over his previous three outings. However, it was obviously a very encouraging development for the Mets’ righty. He’ll try to keep rolling this weekend in Miami.
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Back to Buxton
Many figured it would only be a matter of time before the Twins gave Byron Buxton another look after the way he’s hit at Triple-A Rochester. As it turns out, an injury to another outfielder forced their hand.
Danny Santana strained his left hamstring in Monday’s loss to the A’s and was placed on the disabled list after the game. It’s the same injury that cost him two weeks of action last month.
“It [stinks],” Santana said through interpreter Carlos Font. “You never want this to happen — not to me, or to anyone, really.”
Replacing Santana on the roster will be the guy who he supplanted as the Twins’ starting center fielder last month. Buxton was optioned to Rochester after an awful start to the season where he batted just .156/.208/.289 with a 24/2 K/BB ratio over 49 plate appearances. Really, though, the struggles date back to last season, as Buxton has managed an ugly .195/.239/.316 batting line and 68/8 K/BB ratio in 187 major league plate appearances. However, the 22-year-old really seemed to find his footing at Rochester, putting up a .336 average with six homers, four stolen bases and a 26/11 K/BB ratio over 129 plate appearances.
The big question, of course, is whether Buxton is ready to translate his minor league success and five-tool ability into success at the major league level. Most everyone feels like it’s going to click for Buxton at some point, but it’s pretty much impossible to predict whether this is the time it comes together for him.
Buxton is still incredibly young and has been very bad offensively in the majors, so it’s dangerous to form big expectations, at least as far as the 2016 campaign goes. The good news is it should cost you next-to-nothing in a redraft league to take a chance, and the potential reward is still great.
Howard Phased Out?
Is the Ryan Howard era in Philadelphia nearing an end?
Phillies manager Pete Mackanin revealed over the weekend that he planned to give Tommy Joseph more playing time against right-handers. That means less time for Howard, who already has been benched regularly versus lefties.
“We brought Joseph up here for a reason, to get a look at him,” Mackanin said. “I can’t let him stagnate on the bench like (Darin) Ruf ended up doing, so he’s going to face some right-handed pitchers to keep his timing. I don’t know when the next time we’re going to face a left-handed pitcher is, but I’m going to use (Joseph) a little bit more often than I did Ruf.”
The day following the quote from Mackanin, Howard started at first base against Nationals righty Tanner Roark (he went 1-for-4 with an RBI double). Before the contest the skipper said that Howard was “still in the picture, he’s not being benched.”
While it doesn’t seem like the Phillies are ready to release Howard just yet, it does appear that he could be more of a reserve player than a platoon player going forward. The 36-year-old is sporting a hideous .157/.219/.350 batting line on the season and has a 52/12 K/BB ratio over 155 plate appearances. He’s batted .097/.162/.258 in May. As my colleague Matthew Pouliot referenced, Howard’s longest hitting streak this season is two games.
Joseph has batted .278/.282/.556 with three home runs over 39 plate appearances since being promoted earlier this month. That has come after he sported a .347/.370/.611 with six homers for Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Of course, Joseph is no slam dunk. He used to be a solid catching prospect but was plagued by concussion issues the last few years and eventually had to move off the position. When he was on the field the last few seasons, he wasn’t terribly productive.
That said, the Phillies simply have no incentive to give Howard significant playing time at this point. He doesn’t have trade value and he’s not going to develop any in what is his last season under contract. Seeing what they have in Joseph makes every sense in the world.
National League Quick Hits: David Wright is dealing with a herniated disk in his neck and could be placed on the disabled list … Bryce Harper exited Monday’s game versus the Phillies after being hit on the right knee by a pitch. He’ll be re-evaluated on Tuesday … Jeff Locke threw a three-hit shutout in Monday’s victory over the Marlins … Adam Duvall had his first career two-homer day in Monday’s win over the Rockies … Gregor Polanco went 2-for-4 with a grand slam in Monday’s rout of the Marlins … Ryan Braun missed a third straight game Monday with a neck injury … Carlos Martinez struck out eight batters over eight scoreless innings Monday in the Cardinals’ 6-0 victory over the Brewers … Jason Hammel left Monday’s start with a hamstring cramp, but he expects to be ready for his next outing … Daniel Murphy went 3-for-4 with his eighth homer in Monday’s win over the Phillies … Jeremy Hellickson whiffed eight over seven frames of one-run ball against the Nationals … Carlos Gonzalez doubled and smacked a two-run homer in Monday’s loss to the Reds … Matt Holliday went 3-for-4 with a homer and three RBI on Monday … Mike Foltynewicz tossed six innings of one-run ball while striking out four against the Giants Monday … Matt Duffy exited Monday’s game against the Braves after taking a pitch off his left wrist, but X-rays came back negative … Dexter Fowler is day-to-day with a sore right heel … Stephen Piscotty was scratched from Monday’s lineup after coming down with food poisoning …
American League Quick Hits: Marco Estrada whiffed six while spinning eight shutout innings against the Yankees on Monday … Jhoulys Chacin allowed one run in a complete game win over the Tigers … Xander Bogaerts went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles, a walk, and two RBI, extending his hitting streak to 23 games in Monday’s win over the Orioles … Eric Hosmer singled and belted a three-run homer in Monday’s win over the Rays … Ian Desmond doubled and ripped a two-run homer in Monday’s victory over the Indians … The Twins have removed Phil Hughes from their rotation … Marlon Byrd went 4-for-4 with a solo home run in Monday’s loss to the Rangers … Steven Wright allowed two runs in a complete-game victory over the Orioles on Monday … Collin McHugh struck out eight while allowing three runs and notching his first ever complete game on Monday versus the Diamondbacks … Kyle Seager smacked a two-run homer and scored a couple runs in Monday’s win over the Padres … Huston Street was activated from the disabled list on Monday … David Ortiz (foot) homered in his return to the lineup Monday … Yunel Escobar (wrist) sat out Monday’s game against the Tigers … Derek Holland spun six frames of one-run ball in Monday’s victory over the Indians … Athletics manager Bob Melvin said Monday that they aren’t ruling out Rich Hill (groin) from making his next start … Henderson Alvarez (shoulder) played catch on flat ground Monday without issue … Kyle Gibson (shoulder) will return from the DL Thursday … Dustin Ackley could need season-ending surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder … The Yankees activated Luis Severino from the DL and optioned him to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Monday …
