With simply 17 days till the common season involves an in depth, listed here are three issues we’ll be keeping track of across the baseball world right this moment:
1: Altuve day-to-day:
Astros second baseman Jose Altuve was pulled from yesterday’s recreation attributable to what the membership described as proper aspect tightness. Supervisor Joe Espada instructed reporters (together with MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart) that he wasn’t anxious concerning the difficulty for the time being and that Altuve was day-to-day, however it’s nonetheless a worrisome growth for the Astros as they give the impression of being to lock down the AL West and return to the postseason for a ninth consecutive season.
Altuve, 34, hasn’t hit at fairly the elite stage that he did the previous two seasons however has however loved a wonderful marketing campaign with a .304/.359/.452 slash line, 19 homers, and 20 steals in 622 journeys to the plate. If the veteran had been to hit another residence run earlier than the yr involves an in depth, it will be his first 20/20 marketing campaign since his MVP-winning 2017 season. These aspirations could also be placed on maintain in the interim if the damage proves to be extra severe than the membership initially believed, nevertheless.
2. Rocker to make MLB debut:
One of many league’s most fascinating prime prospects is about to make his huge league debut, because the Rangers have scheduled right-hander Kumar Rocker to start out right this moment’s recreation towards the Mariners in Seattle. The 24-year-old was a prime ten choose in back-to-back draft courses in 2021-22 when the Mets chosen him tenth general earlier than declining to signal him attributable to damage issues in his bodily. That led Rocker to take the bizarre path of pitching within the unbiased Frontier League forward of the 2022 draft, the place the Rangers shocking chosen the righty third general regardless of many believing his inventory had dipped.
Rocker in the end underwent Tommy John surgical procedure however has been good since returning to motion. In seven begins between the Double- and Triple-A ranges this yr, the right-hander boasts a 0.91 ERA with a 34.9% strikeout charge in 29 2/3 innings of labor. He’ll now get the chance to point out off his stuff on the huge league stage tonight, when he faces Bryce Miller (3.18 ERA) at 6:40pm native time.
3. Collection Preview: Pink Sox @ Yankees
The Pink Sox did what they wanted to do so as to maintain their distant playoff odds alive towards one division rival this week once they took two video games of their three-game set towards the Orioles. They’ll now journey to the Bronx for a four-game set towards their archrival Yankees in one other important sequence. For Boston, a robust efficiency on this sequence is crucial to remain alive within the race for the third AL Wild Card spot, the place they path the Twins by 4 video games. In the meantime, the sequence gives the Yankees not solely a possibility to bury their oldest rival but additionally to carry onto their lead over the Orioles for the AL East title and the bye by way of the Wild Card Collection that probably comes with it.
The sequence kicks off this night at 7:15pm native time with a match-up between righty Cooper Criswell (4.11 ERA) and lefty Nestor Cortes (3.97 ERA). Righties Tanner Houck (3.24 ERA) and Clarke Schmidt (2.34 ERA in 12 begins) are scheduled to face off tomorrow. Saturday will see teen Brayan Bello (4.70 ERA) tackle Gerrit Cole (3.36 ERA in 14 begins). The sequence wraps on Sunday with right-hander Kutter Crawford (4.09 ERA) dealing with southpaw Carlos Rodon (4.21 ERA).
