Baseball Daily Dose: Daily Dose: Rosenthal Removed
Trevor Rosenthal‘s reign of terror is over, for now.
Rosenthal, the Cardinals’ closer with a penchant for high-wire acts, was removed from the role by Cards manager Mike Matheny on Saturday after he suffered his third blown save of the season Friday. Rosenthal coughed up a two-run lead without registering an out against the Mariners, with Adam Lind‘s walk-off, three-run homer capping the comeback.
“We just need to figure out a way to get him right and figure out how to get him to the point of being the pitcher that he’s been the last few years,” Matheny said before Saturday’s game in Seattle. “Right now, the ninth inning is a tough ask to do that. We’ll continue to watch, but right now we’re going to wait and see if we can get him into some spots to get him in that good place.”
Rosenthal regularly touches triple digits on the radar gun and saved 93 games between the 2014 and 2015 seasons, but he has struggled to a 5.63 ERA this season that includes a 14.14 ERA in June. The 26-year-old has struck out 36 batters in 24 innings but has also walked 21, leading to a 2.04 WHIP in 29 appearances.
In his stead, the Cardinals will employ a dreaded closer-by-committee approach to the ninth inning. Matheny identified Seung Hwan Oh, Kevin Siegrist and even Jonathan Broxton as possible candidates to assume the role on a given night.
Of the choices, Oh is clearly the best option and the one worth owning for fantasy players speculating for saves. The 33-year-old veteran of the Korean Baseball Organization and Japan Central League — in which he saved a combined 357 games — had a 1.66 ERA, 0.78 WHIP and 51/8 K/BB ratio over 38 innings of work heading into Saturday’s game.
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Struggling Conforto Gets Demoted
Michael Conforto didn’t play a game at Triple-A Las Vegas on his way through the Mets’ system.
He’s going to get a few under his belt in the near future.
Conforto, who rose to the majors as a 22-year-old and starred for the Mets in last year’s World Series, was sent to Triple-A on Saturday, a result of prolonged struggles in the majors. The team called up outfield prospect Brandon Nimmo to replace Conforto on the 25-man roster.
It was the end of a long few months for Conforto, who was hitting just .222/.296/.431 at the time of his demotion. He’d batted just .148/.217/.303 since the start of May.
“It’s been very tough,” Conforto said. “It’s upsetting not having the success that I know I can have. Obviously seeing the success in April kind of shows who I am as a player. It’s disappointing not to be able to show that everytime I go out there, but I know who I am and I know the ability that I have. Just got to fine tune some things That’s what we’re going to go down there and do. Just got to stay positive, work hard. I know I’ll be back.”
Mets general manager Sandy Alderson expressed similar hope, saying he believes Conforto can be back sooner than later.
“We felt we put it off a little too long and maybe even to Michael’s detriment,” Alderson said. “We just felt that at some point this is counterproductive and what we need to do is get him to Las Vegas, get his swing back and then hopefully get him back here in a relatively short period of time.”
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Mets Agree To Reyes Reunion
The Mets are giving Jose Reyes a second look — and a second chance.
The troubled shortstop signed a minor league deal with the club Saturday, making official the reunion rumored Friday. Reyes will report to Class A Brooklyn on Sunday, where he will play third base.
The Mets have a need at the hot corner with David Wright out indefinitely, and Reyes, who recently finished serving a 52-game suspension for violating the league’s domestic violence policy, has a history with the club after having called Citi Field home for the first nine years of his major league career. It was his intimate history with the organization — Mets general manager Sandy Alderson called the team Reyes’ “surrogate family” — that led them to give him a shot.
“I do believe he is a good person at heart, a good person that made a huge mistake and a good person who deserves a second chance with conditions,” Alderson said.
Reyes will need a few games to get up to speed, but he could find himself in New York within seven to 10 days. Not the player he once was, the 33-year-old could still provide some speed for owners desperate for steals.
National League Quick Hits: Stephen Strasburg (back) has been scratched from his scheduled start Sunday against the Brewers. Strasburg was hoping to return Sunday after missing his last start Monday against the Dodgers but his back flared up again. After his latest setback, Strasburg is likely headed to the disabled list … Jonathan Papelbon (intercostal) threw a 40-pitch bullpen session Saturday and felt good. The Nationals haven’t made an official decision, but Papelbon could begin a minor league rehab assignment with High-A Potomac as soon as Monday. He’s on track to return sometime next week … Vincent Velasquez said he’s discussed an innings limit with agent Scott Boras. The right-hander has never logged more than 125 innings in a season … Gregory Polanco (leg) remains out of the starting lineup Saturday versus the Dodgers. Polanco is dealing with some discomfort in his left leg and needed at least another day … Anthony Rizzo (back) returned to the Cubs’ lineup Saturday versus the Marlins. Rizzo sat out back-to-back games due to back stiffness. He had two doubles in his return to the lineup … Rizzo’s teammate Ben Zobrist was not in Saturday’s lineup. Zobrist suffered a bruised left ankle when he was hit by a pitch on Friday. He walked as a pinch-hitter Saturday. Consider him day-to-day … Matt Adams (back) was absent from the Cardinals’ starting lineup Saturday against the Mariners. Adams was scratched from Friday’s game with lower back stiffness and sat again Saturday … Jon Jay (wrist, forearm) remains out of the Padres’ lineup Saturday against the Reds. Jay hasn’t played since he was hit in the wrist area with a pitch last Sunday and a stint on the disabled list remains a possibility … Andrew McCutchen hit a solo homer in the fourth inning, then trumped that with a three-run bomb in the sixth to carry the Pirates to a 6-1 victory over the Dodgers on Saturday. The two home runs give McCutchen 12 for the season … Justin Bour homered in his third straight game, racking up three RBI, as the Marlins outlasted the Cubs 9-6 on Saturday. Bour is as hot as the day is long, as he’s now got four homers in his last six games and is hitting .339 with five homers, 17 RBI and 11 runs scored in the month of June … Brewers signed first-round pick OF Corey Ray. Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports hears that the deal is worth $4.125 million, so it comes in slightly under the $4.382 million slot value attached to the No. 5 overall pick. Ray is a dynamic offensive performer and could make to the majors in relatively short order, so he makes for an exciting name to follow in fantasy leagues.
American League Quick Hits: Royals activated OF Alex Gordon from the 15-day disabled list. Gordon had been sidelined since May 23 due to a broken scaphoid bone in his right hand. He showed no ill effects Saturday, going 2-for-5 with a solo homer in a loss to the Astros … Yankees activated 1B Mark Teixeira from the 15-day disabled list. Teixeira had been sidelined since June 3 with a cartilage tear in his right knee. He went 0-for-3 in his return to the lineup … A.J. Reed served as the designated hitter and batted sixth in his MLB debut Saturday. The big lefty went 0-for-2 with two walks, an RBI and two runs scored in the game … Jose Altuve‘s epic season rolls on as he smacked four hits, including a home run and two doubles, in Saturday’s 13-5 thrashing of the Royals. Altuve is now batting .348 with 13 home runs and a .994 OPS. Add in his 54 runs scored, 44 RBI and 18 stolen bases and you get possibly the most valuable player in fantasy baseball this year … Jose Abreu (leg) returned to the starting lineup Saturday against the the Blue Jays. Abreu sat out Friday’s game due to leg fatigue, but it’s not a major concern … Edwin Encarnacion carried the Blue Jays to victory Saturday against the White Sox, providing three hits and four RBI. He’s slugged nine homers this month with 26 RBI and 14 extra-base hits. The 33-year-old leads the majors with 66 RBI … Francisco Lindor hit two home runs in Saturday’s win over the Tigers. It was the first multi-homer game of the 22-year-old’s young career. Lindor now has 10 home runs, 39 RBI, 47 runs scored and 12 steals this year to go with a robust .306/.365/.471 line … Carlos Carrasco threw a four-hit, complete-game shutout in a 6-0 win over the Tigers on Saturday. The complete game was his first this year and the seventh of his career. Carrasco improved to 3-2 with a 2.73 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 49/13 K/BB ratio over 56 innings of work … Matt Wieters went 3-for-4 with two home runs and three RBI as the Orioles took the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader against the Rays by the score of 8-6. Wieters, who didn’t start the first game of the doubleheader, made his start count, smashing a two-run homer off Rays starter Jake Odorizzi in the fourth inning before adding a solo shot off reliever Danny Farquhar in the eighth. Wieters now has nine big flies on the year, batting .278/.332/.471 through 53 games.
