No day games today, which makes for a slow news day, but still some interesting things going on in the world of baseball!


 

Weather Issues

Not much to worry about weather-wise today. The Rangers/Tigers game could have a delay, but should play no problem.

 

What’s Happening

Johnny Cueto has been activated from the 60-Day DL and will start tonight versus the Cardinals. Cueto had been dealing with an elbow injury, but that appears to be behind him as he was fantastic in his minor league rehab assignment, throwing 7.2 innings in two outings in AAA-Sacramento, striking out ten and only allowing one walk and no earned runs. When healthy this season, Cueto was fantastic, sporting a sub-1 ERA and a 22.1% strikeout rate.

According to manager Joe Maddon, there is no current timetable for Yu Darvish to start throwing. Darvish has been shut down after struggling in his rehab with continued pain and discomfort.  Darvish has struggled this year even when healthy, allowing a 11.7% of batters to reach via the free pass and seven home runs in just 40 innings pitched. He may be a good buy low for next year, but with an iffy timetable for 2018, it is best to avoid him for now.

Martín Prado has been activated from the 10-Day DL and is expected to be in tonight’s lineup. Prado has been dreadful this season, hitting .194/.242/.226 in 99 plate appearances and currently has no homers or stolen bases. The only reason he is still playing at this point appears to be his contract which is one of the highest on the Marlins.

According to Mark Zuckerman, Jeremy Hellickson is sick, but expected to attempt to pitch through it. Hellickson has been pretty good as of late for the Nationals, but this may be an outing to avoid in case he can’t push through it or they shorten his outing because of the illness.

 

Quick hits

Both Eric Thames and Travis Shaw are out of the lineup tonight versus the Braves. This is most likely due to left-hander Max Fried pitching for Atlanta, but Shaw has been dealing with some minor wrist issues, so we will need to keep an eye on if any information comes out that points to that.

Melky Cabrera resigned with the Cleveland Indians on a minor league deal, less than a month after he elected to test free agency instead of being demoted.

Francisco Cervelli will begin a minor league rehab assignment today. Cervelli has been out for about two weeks after suffering a concussion.

Ryan Zimmerman may begin a minor league rehab assignment early next week according to manager Davey Martinez and could be back right before the All-Star Break if things go well.

Mike Zunino is sitting tonight for Mariners. Looks to just be a scheduled day off, so nothing to worry about.