It was a bit of a slow news day yesterday, but there is some interesting prospect news…

 

MLB Callups...Or Not

Jacob Nottingham was called up by the Brewers. Nottingham was a former top prospect that has lost a lot of his sheen due to struggles with contact. There is power there and some speed for a catcher, but the Sheriff (yeah, I called him the Sheriff) is unlikely to get a ton of playing time in Milwaukee. 

According to manager Bryan Price stated that there is no known timetable for Nick Senzel to get called up. The Reds are in need of third base help with Eugenio Suárez on the DL and Senzel has passed the date in which the Reds get an extra year of service time, so he could be up in short order.

According to MLB.com, the Braves do not have plans to call up Ronald Acuna at this time. Acuna is struggling to start the year in AAA and the Braves have had nice performances from Preston Tucker and Nick Markakis in the outfield. The Braves may want to wait and see if they have a real chance at competing before starting Acuna’s clock, so it could be a bit before he arrives.

Greg Allen has been called up by the Indians. He will likely just be the 26th man for the upcoming series in Puerto Rico, but Allen has a future with the club as a speedy outfielder that plays great defense. At some point he will likely replace either Lonnie Chisenhall or Michael Brantley , but he isn’t worth grabbing just yet in redrafts.

Gleyber Torres was pulled from his AAA game in the fifth inning on Monday. He reportedly suffered a hamstring injury. The injury does not appear to be serious, but this should quell some of te rumors that the removal from the game is in any way associated with a potential call up.

 

Things That Make You Go “Hmmmm…”

According to manager Bud Black, DJ LeMahieu may stay at lead off after Nolan Arenado returns from his suspension. Charlie Blackmon has been batting third in Arenado’s, absence, but he could end up staying there or moving to second in the order as the Rockies trying and generate more offense than they have early in the season.

Blake Snell was fantastic in the win over the Rangers yesterday. He struck out nine batters in just 6.1 innings. The lefty is a former top prospect for the Rays and had a nice run down the stretch last year for Tampa and we could be seeing him finally putting it all together.

According to manager Jeff Banister, Carlos Tocci will play regularly in center until Delino Deshields is ready to return from the DL. Tocci has struggled offensively so far, but is very good defensively and can swipe bags. He has AL Only value for his stolen base upside.

James Paxton pitched well versus a tough Astros lineup on Monday. He threw six innings and struck out seven while only giving up three hits and an earned run. Since a rough first start of the year, Paxton has thrown 17 innings with a 2.65 ERA and a 12.71 K/9 and is back to being a lower end ace.

Luis Castillo gave up four runs in 6.2 innings versus the Brewers. This was poor management by Reds manager Bryan Price as Castillo already had thrown 100 pitches before he gave up a two-run double in the seventh inning. He then allowed another base runner before he was pulled. Those runners scored on the reliever that came in, so it should have been a much better day. This may be your last chance to buy low on him.

 

What We’ll Be Watching Today

Can Zack Wheeler repeat the success of his first start? Wheeler was fantastic in his first start, but that was against the Marlins. He now gets a bat breaking Bryce Harper and the Nationals.

David Price vs Shohei Ohtani . It is the premier matchup of the day, but it also marks the first real tough test for Ohtani and Price’s first start since leaving a game with a weird sensation in his fingers.

Nick Pivetta vs Michael Foltynewicz . Both are guys with no hype coming into the season, but have been great so far. Folty is a two-pitch guy that has survived with smoke and mirrors. I have much more faith in Pivetta long-term.

Who is the real Chad Bettis ? Chad Bettis has had a nice start to the season and gets the Pirates at PNC park.

Can the Giants hit Patrick Corbin ? Corbin shut the Giants down in SF last week and San Francisco is struggling offensively. Andrew McCutchen and Evan Longoria hit home runs over the weekend, so they may be starting to pull out of their slumps.

Will Lance McCullers rebound? The results haven’t been there, but the underlying skills have been fantastic. No reason to think he won’t rebound very soon.

Baseball. Lots of baseball.