Matt Adams has been hot. As a result he’s up to .309 in the batting average category. That’s nice. It won’t last. Also should note that he’s walked all of four times in 23 games. Horrible. Deal at his peak which is likely right now.

Oswaldo Arcia was send to the DL with a right hip flexor strain. Ugh. Through 19 games he’s been a bust hitting just two homers with eight RBIs and six runs scored. The Twins called up Eddie Rosario from Triple-A to take up the roster spot. Rosario is the 9th ranked prospect in the Twins organization according to MLB.com. In 23 games at Triple-A he was hitting .242 with three homers and a steal. Kinda odd that Rosario was called up over Aaron Hicks who was batting .289 with a .375 OBP and .494 SLG. Have the Twins just moved on from Hicks after years of disappointment?

Jose Bautista has a shoulder that is bothering him and it sounds like he won’t be playing in the field until next week. He will continue to function as the designated hitter for the Jays. He’s been awful with a .203 batting average, but he still has a .827 OPS and 17 runs and 17 RBIs in 21 games. A fine offensive player indeed.

Asdrubal Cabrera has been dropped from third to seventh in the Rays lineup. It was deserved given his offensive woes to this point (.194/.250/.269). Still think he’s a good buy low option but he should be on your bench right now if you’re in a mixed league.

For my thoughts on Austin Hedges and Blake Swihart see this Daily Trends piece.

Devin Mesoraco has a hip issue. He’s been out of the starting lineup since April 11th for the Reds. It’s May 4th. Why on earth have the Reds kept him on the active roster so that he could make five pinch hitting appearances the last three weeks? That’s just nonsensical. Mesoraco has appeared in 11 games and had 24 at-bats all season. This has been one of the oddest player usages scenarios that I have ever seen. None of this makes any sense to me. Open letter to the Reds… what the hell are you doing?

I saw caught the 70’s Show this morning. This is probably my favorite bit on the show.

 

Michael Morse has been awful for the Marlins. He’s hitting .253… wait, that’s his OBP. His OBP is .284. No wait, that’s his SLG. Yeah, .193/.253/.284 ain’t gonna get it done. Through 23 games he’s struck out 28 times in 88 at-bats and has walked just four times. At least he’s been relatively healthy.

I almost traded for Colby Rasmus in Tout Wars (I did deal Lorenzo Cain for Jorge Soler and Fernando Rodney earlier in the day). Just couldn’t pull the trigger on Rasmus though. Rasmus is batting .257 with five homers  this season, and an impressive .883 OPS, but he’s a punk, always seemingly hurt, and very inconsistent. Going back to the start of last season – 127 games – he’s hit 23 homers with 50 RBIs and 57 runs scored. Just blah for an outfielder.

Anthony Rendon = tire fire, dumpster fire, piece of pocket lint. He’s flown back to D.C. to have his left side examined. I’m just gonna call it. He’s not going to appear in the month of May. He was supposed to be ready for Opening Day. We’re a month down now, and this oblique issue is likely going to cost him more time. Let’s hope I’m wrong.

Nick Swisher is likely to be activated Tuesday. His knees are finally OK. He hit just .208 last season with an under .340 SLG, so don’t believe in the name until you see if the game is there. 

The Cincinnati Red Stockings played the first professional baseball game 146 years ago