Weekend Rumblings - News for June 15, 2024

Get better, Salvy!

Salvador Perez left yesterday’s game with knee discomfort.

Anne Rogers talks to Matt Quatraro about how the rotation will play out.

Right-hander Michael Wacha, who is on the injured list with a left foot fracture, could be nearing a return for the next time that spot comes up in the rotation. Wacha threw three innings of a simulated game on Thursday, and if he checks all the boxes with running and his arm recovery on Friday, a rehab outing could be the next step.

“We’re going to talk through that to see how many days — how [Seth] Lugo feels, how [Cole] Ragans feels, what we think is best for them and whether we utilize that [off-day] as just an extra day or we keep them on regular rest,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “It’s something we still have to decide.”

David Lesky wrote about the terrific Alec Marsh start on Thursday.

He threw six different pitches - four-seam fastball, changeup, curve, sinker, sweeper and slider - and all but the curve got a whiff on the day. For what it’s worth, that must have been reclassified because at some point, Marsh had a whiff on a curve. I’d have to go back through and look at all the pitches to see which one was changed from a curve to something else, but either way, he got whiffs on most of his pitches. And after having three straight starts where the opponent left the bats on their shoulders a lot, the Yankees took a hack at just about half the pitches he threw, so they were swinging.

Craig Brown was not thrilled with the New York-centric coverage of the game.

The post-mortem of this game was, as you might expect, Yankee-centric. I caught a little of the panel on MLB Network and they were ripping on Soto for trying to get to second base on the Waters throw. I mean, really going after him. As if the Yankees would’ve scored five or six more runs had he not attempted to take an extra base. At The Athletic, the headline was “What went wrong in Yankees’ 9th-inning meltdown loss to Royals.” I mean…Meltdown? The article focuses on the tweener ground ball from Waters. It also contains the misstatement that Marsh entered the game with a 6.05 ERA. Because heaven forbid a pitcher like Marsh strangle the vaunted New York lineup. (Marsh’s ERA entering the game was 4.05. It’s now at 3.63 after he threw seven shutout innings.)

Bradford Doolittle at ESPN Insider writes what each team must do at the trade deadline.

What they need to do before the deadline: The Royals’ fundamentals underscore their record. But that doesn’t change the fact that the roster is weak at several spots, particularly when it comes to the bullpen and the outfield. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Kansas City has improved its baseline projection enough that most systems see them landing in the 85-to-90-win range at this point, but perhaps no other team in the top couple of tiers can so obviously get markedly better via the trade market. But how? The Kansas City farm system isn’t a deep one. The best route for improving in the short term might be a willingness to take on money, never an easy thing for this franchise. The onus, then, might fall on the ownership group led by John Sherman, whose willingness to amp up the spending has been well rewarded so far. The key to further aggression is a simple one: Keep winning.

Adam Frazier returned to the team with Nick Pratto headed back to Omaha.

The Royals trade catcher Logan Porter to the Giants.

The Astros release Jose Abreu despite owing him $30 million.

The Blue Jays designate Dan Vogelbach for assignment.

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MLB disciplines umpire Pat Hoberg over gambling allegations.

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Spencer Torkelson and Henry Davis have not lived up to their potential as #1 picks.

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Jackson Holliday pays tribute to the infamous Billy Ripken baseball card.

The Athletics will host meetings to get input from Las Vegas residents on stadium planning.

Tennessee’s Christian Moore hits for the cycle in the College World Series.

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Charles Barkley says he will retire from broadcasting after next year.

Wells Fargo fires more than a dozen employees for “simulation of keyboard activity.”

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