Daily Dose: Carrasco Sauce
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Indians starter Carlos Carrasco attempted to pitch a perfect game in Wednesday night’s start against the Rays, continuing a trend in which Indians pitchers flirt with history. On Monday, Cody Anderson lost a bid for a perfect game in the seventh inning when Grady Sizemore hit a one-out solo home run. Danny Salazar lost a no-hitter with two outs in the sixth inning on Tuesday when Curt Casali hit a double. Carrasco lost his perfect game when he issued a one-out walk in the seventh, and the no-hitter when Joey Butler laced an RBI single to right-center with two outs in the ninth inning. All told, he held the Rays to one run on one hit and two walks with 13 strikeouts.
Carrasco, 28, hasn’t been the dominating pitcher he was last season, when he finished with a 2.55 ERA across 14 starts and 26 relief appearances spanning 134 innings. His stuff is about the same in terms of strikeout rate (around 26.5%) and walk rate (around 5%) but he’s induced slightly fewer ground balls, allowed slightly more home runs, and has suffered some misfortune with BABIP as opposed to having good fortune last year (.336 versus .274).
Carrasco has really started to pick things up as of late, holding the opposition to three or fewer runs in seven of his last eight starts. He has a 3.79 ERA, a 1.14 WHIP, and a 110/21 K/BB ratio in 97 1/3 innings. Based on his strikeout and walk rates, plus the changes detailed back in January by MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian, it seems like Carrasco is the real deal.
Buster Posey Exits with Head Injury
Giants catcher Buster Posey exited Wednesday night’s game against the Marlins after taking a foul ball off of his mask in the fourth inning. Andrew Susac replaced Posey behind the plate. After the game, Posey was able to pass a concussion test. Should the backstop need to miss an extended period of time, Susac would assume everyday catching duties and the club would call up a catcher from Triple-A Sacramento, likely Hector Sanchez.
Posey, 28, entered the game having a typically excellent season, batting .303/.378/.487 with 12 home runs and 54 RBI in 307 plate appearances. He has increasingly played more at first base, spending 35 games there last season and 21 already in 76 team games this season.
It goes without saying that catchers face the highest injury risk of those at any position on the diamond. Posey is no stranger to trauma behind the plate, as his famous collision with Scott Cousins back in 2011 was the impetus behind the current rules in place regarding catchers blocking the plate. It will be interesting to watch how the Giants handle Posey going forward, even if Wednesday’s worry turns out to be relatively minor. Of course, it won’t affect his fantasy value this year, but could send his value down quite a bit in the future.
Twins Call Up Miguel Sano
The Twins are calling up third base prospect Miguel Sano from Double-A Chattanooga, filling the roster spot opened up when Kennys Vargas was sent down on Wednesday. Sano, 22, entered the season rated the #11 overall prospect in baseball by MLB.com, #12 by Baseball Prospectus, and #13 by Baseball America.
Sano, in 286 plate appearances with Double-A Chattanooga, hit .274/.374/.544 with 15 home runs and 48 RBI. Though Sano is a third baseman by trade, the Twins already have Trevor Plouffe at the hot corner, so he should slot in as the club’s DH.
Those in mixed leagues should feel comfortable taking a gamble on Sano, though as with every young player called up, one should expect some early struggles.
National League Quick Hits: Nationals manager Matt Williams said on Tuesday that Anthony Rendon (quad) is “still a few days away” from running and fielding grounders … Mets starter Bartolo Colon pitched seven shutout innings on Wednesday in an 11-inning loss to the Cubs … Juan Uribe homered in Wednesday’s win against the Nationals, giving him homers in back-to-back games … Justin Bour hit a walk-off three-run home run on Wednesday against the Giants … Aaron Harang was tagged for 14 hits and eight runs in five innings, losing to the Brewers on Wednesday … Cardinals outfielder Jon Jay (wrist) was held out of batting practice on Wednesday and could land on the disabled list … Neil Walker homered twice in a four-hit effort as the Pirates tallied 21 hits to beat the Tigers on Wednesday … Cubs starter Jon Lester tossed seven shutout innings as the Cubs won in 11 innings against the Mets … Brandon Phillips (thumbs) returned to the Reds’ lineup on Wednesday, going 1-for-3 with a walk in Wednesday’s win against the Twins … Scooter Gennett went 3-for-5 with two doubles, a triple, and three RBI to lead the Brewers past the Phillies on Wednesday … Dodgers second baseman Howie Kendrick extended his hitting streak to seven games in Wednesday’s win against the Diamondbacks … Giants closer Santiago Casilla allowed a walk-off three-run home run, blowing the save on Wednesday against the Marlins … Diamondbacks pitcher Patrick Corbin (elbow) could make his season debut on Saturday against the Rockies, according to manager Chip Hale … Melvin Upton, Jr. drew a pinch-hit walk and stole a base, but the Padres were shutout by the Mariners on Wednesday … The Rockies promoted shortstop prospect Trevor Story to Triple-A Albuquerque on Wednesday.
American League Quick Hits: Orioles closer Zach Britton struck out the side to earn the save on Wednesday against the Rangers … Rays outfielder Joey Butler hit an RBI single to break up Carlos Carrasco’s no-hitter on Wednesday in a loss to the Indians … Dellin Betances got four outs to pick up his seventh save in Wednesday’s victory over the Angels … Blue Jays first baseman Justin Smoak homered from both sides of the plate in Wednesday's win against the Red Sox … Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia (hamstring) will take batting practice on Thursday … Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer (finger) took some soft-toss swings on Wednesday … Eddie Rosario was responsible for the Twins’ only run in a loss to the Reds on Wednesday … Tigers starter Alfredo Simon was crushed in a loss to the Pirates on Wednesday, surrendering six runs on 15 hits in 5 2/3 innings … Brandon Moss crushed a three-run home run in Wednesday’s win against the Rays … White Sox manager Robin Ventura may move Chris Sale’s next start back from Sunday to Monday, simply for an extra day of rest … Dan Straily will start for the Astros against the Red Sox on Friday, taking Brett Oberholtzer’s spot in the starting rotation … Mike Trout ripped his 21st home run of the season in a losing effort against the Yankees on Wednesday … Shin-Soo Choo homered in his third consecutive game, but the Rangers lost to the Marlins on Wednesday … Taijuan Walker held the Padres to one hit in six shutout innings to earn the win on Wednesday … Athletics closer Sean Doolittle (shoulder) expects to start playing catch towards the end of next week.
