The Weekly Rundown: 3/26/23 - 4/1/23
Real, meaningful baseball is BACK.
Good morning!
At last, real Major League Baseball games are back in our lives and they will be for the next seven months. We’ve got a lot to get to in this week’s rundown and that will be the case for many weeks to come.
Before we recap the week in baseball, I have to annoy you one last time. Just before the season began, I wrote my predictions for each division as well as the playoffs and end-of-season awards. You can catch up on all of that below.
AL East | AL Central | AL West | NL East | NL Central | NL West | Playoffs & Awards
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And now, for the first Weekly Rundown of the 2023 MLB season…
Locked up
A handful of notable players signed contract extensions with their clubs over the last week. Here’s a breakdown of each.
Andres Gimenez, 2B, Cleveland Guardians
Gimenez was rewarded for his breakout 2022 campaign with a seven-year, $106.5 million extension with Cleveland. The deal includes a club option for the eighth year.
Suddenly, Gimenez has the second-largest contract in Guardians history. It’s well-deserved. The 24-year-old was an All-Star last season, hitting .297 with an .837 OPS, 17 homers, 69 RBI, and 20 stolen bases in 146 games played. He added a Gold Glove award for good measure. It remains to be seen whether he can maintain that level of production consistently, but all signs point toward him becoming arguably the best second baseman in the sport.
Cleveland also signed righty reliever Trevor Stephan to a four-year extension with club options for 2027 and 2028.
Nico Hoerner, 2B, Chicago Cubs
The Cubs inked Hoerner to a three-year, $35 million contract extension that runs through the 2026 season.
Hoerner, 26, slashed .281/.327/.410 with 10 homers and 20 stolen bases in 135 games last year. He was the Cubs’ primary shortstop but has moved over to second base following the offseason acquisition of Dansby Swanson.
While his bat is an asset, Hoerner makes most of his money for his defense. Alongside Swanson, he’ll form one of the best defensive middle infields in baseball for years to come.
Orlando Arcia, SS, Atlanta Braves
Arcia went from not knowing whether he’d have a full-time role in Atlanta to being named the Opening Day shortstop and signing an extension with the club. The deal is for $7.3 million over three years.
A part-time infielder for the Braves last season, Arcia beat out 22-year-old Vaughn Grissom for the starting shortstop role in 2023. He started at second base while Ozzie Albies missed time with a broken foot. The 28-year-old hit .244 with nine homers and 30 RBI in 209 at-bats.
Jake Cronenworth, INF, San Diego Padres
You have to wonder whether Padres owner Peter Seidler’s hand is sore from signing all of these checks. After an active offseason, San Diego continued to spend by locking up infielder Jake Cronwnworth on a seven-year contract worth $80 million.
Cronenworth, currently playing first base, is a versatile option who provides plus defense at all four infield spots. A two-time All-Star, he’s a career .255 hitter and a good bet for roughly 20 homers in a season.
He joins third baseman Manny Machado (11 years), shortstop Xander Bogaerts (11 years), right-hander Yu Darvish (six years), right-hander Joe Musgrove (five years), and righty Robert Suarez (five years) as players to sign long-term deals with the club over the last eight months.
Injuries
We go from the highest of highs (players getting paid) to the lowest of lows (players getting hurt). Already, several impact players are headed to the injured list. Here are a few of the most notable players to go down with injuries over the past week.
Triston McKenzie, RHP, Cleveland Guardians
This one really sucks. McKenzie was placed on the IL with a right shoulder strain and could miss up to eight weeks.
The 25-year-old left his spring training start last Sunday with soreness and tightness in his shoulder and an MRI confirmed a teres major muscle strain. It’s a significant blow to Cleveland’s rotation as McKenzie was considered a dark-horse Cy Young candidate after a breakout 2022 season in which he posted a 2.96 ERA and 0.95 WHIP in 31 starts (191 1/3 innings)
Justin Verlander, RHP, New York Mets
The Mets can’t seem to catch a break. They already lost Edwin Diaz for the season and Jose Quintana for likely half of it, and now they’ll have to wait to see reigning Cy Young award winner Verlander make his debut with the club.
Verlander was placed on the IL with what is being called a low-grade teres major strain. It’s currently unclear how much time he’ll miss, but he’ll be reevaluated in a week or so.
Max Fried, LHP, Atlanta Braves
Fried’s Opening Day start ended prematurely as the left-handed ace exited with a left hamstring strain in the fourth inning. He suffered the injury while racing to cover first base and will likely land on the IL.
Losing the 2022 second-place NL Cy Young finisher is just about the worst way the Braves could have started their season. If he misses an extended period of time, Ian Anderson and Bryce Elder are the most likely options to take his spot int he rotation.
Daniel Bard, RHP, Colorado Rockies
Bard opened the season on the IL due to anxiety.
"From my experience, knowing myself, I think just taking a step back, taking time to work through things, get it right, is the best approach," he said on Thursday, according to MLB.com.
The 37-year-old reliever, who has a well-documented history with the yips, pitched for Team USA at the 2023 World Baseball Classic. He had serious control issues during a game against Venezuela in which he drilled Jose Altuve, breaking the Astros star’s hand.
It’s a shame, because Bard has been exceptional since reviving his career in Colorado. Last season, he posted a 1.79 ERA in 57 appearances and even finished 16th in NL MVP voting.
Willson Contreras, C, St. Louis Cardinals
Contreras’ official Cardinals debut did not go the way he had hoped. The ex-Cubs catcher took a 103 mph Jordan Hicks fastball off his knee during the eighth inning of Thursday’s opener vs. the Blue Jays. The good news is he’s listed as day-to-day and the injury isn’t believed to be serious.
Robbie Ray, LHP, Seattle Mariners
Ray was placed on the 15-day IL with a flexor strain. The 2021 AL Cy Young award winner allowed five runs (three earned) and walked five batters in his season debut Friday vs. Cleveland.
Anthony Volpe has arrived
Volpe, the Yankees’ top prospect, made the Opening Day roster. The team tweeted out an awesome video of manager Aaron Boone breaking the news to his new starting shortstop.
Yep, I’m a sucker for those types of videos. Sue me.
Volpe went 0-for-2 in his MLB debut with a walk, strikeout, and his first big-league stolen base. He swiped 50 (!!!) bags last season between Double-A and Triple-A.
In Game 2 of his career on Saturday, Volpe collected his first two MLB hits and another steal for good measure. His first knock came off Giants starter Alex Cobb.
I picked Volpe to be the 2023 AL Rookie of the Year. There are bound to be some growing pains, but he showed throughout spring training that he’s the real deal.
Anthony Rendon wants the smoke
The most viral clip of the week was an incident that occurred off the field. Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon lost his cool and nearly started Malice At The Palace: Oakland Coliseum edition.
Rendon grabbed the A’s fan and had a few choice words for him before attempting to smack him upside the head and walking away. Of course, that prompted a fair amount of “swing and a miss” jokes…
Watch the video below:
It definitely isn’t the greatest look for Rendon. Being called a “bitch” doesn’t feel great, but pro athletes typically get a LOT worse than that.
At the same time, I kind of get it. Some of these fans think they can just say what they’d write anonymously on social media without any consequences. I don’t hate the idea of some of these loudmouths getting a smack back to reality every now and then.
Now, we just wait to hear of a possible fine or suspension for Rendon.
Ch-ch-ch-changes
The bigger bases and the shift ban haven’t stood out to me much so far, but the pitch clock has been the talk of the league through spring training and the first few days of the regular season.
Cubs righty Marcus Stroman was called for the first regular-season pitch clock violation in MLB history. Over in Boston, Rafael Devers became the first player to be called out to a pitch clock violation as he was not set and focused on the pitcher in time.
These changes will take some getting used to for everyone — hitters, pitchers, umps, etc. But I’m a firm believer that once it becomes routine, it’ll be considered one of the greatest things to happen to the sport. It has cut down the length of games significantly while saving us from having to watch players dink around before every single pitch. Give it another month or so and I bet these violations will be a rarity.
Baltimore blows it
The Red Sox completed their comeback vs. the Orioles with one of the craziest endings you’ll ever see in a baseball game.
There were two outs in the ninth inning when Masataka Yoshida hit a lazy fly ball to left field off Felix Bautista. Ryan McKenna camped under it for what looked like an easy final out to take Game 2 of the series… then this happened:
That set up a nightmare scenario for Baltimore. Next up to the plate was Sox newcomer Adam Duvall, who was only a single away from completing the cycle. He decided to homer and send the Fenway Faithful home happy instead.
And that, my friends, is why you never say never in baseball.
Tres homers for Trayce
Dodgers outfielder Trayce Thompson hit not one, not two, but TRES homers Saturday night vs. the Diamondbacks.
Thompson finished with eight RBI, making him the league leader with only one game played so far this season. He is only the eighth player in Dodgers history to drive in at least eight runs in a game.
L.A. reacquired Thompson last summer from the Tigers in exchange for cash. Since then, he has hit 13 homers and postted a .901 OPS in 74 games.
And yes, in case you weren’t already aware, he is the brother of Warriors star Klay Thompson.
First impressions/other quick thoughts
As I mentioned above, the pitch clock is a godsend. Huge fan.
Ever think you could get a hit off a big-league pitcher? Well, unless you have pro baseball experience, you can’t. Here’s proof.
Adley Rutschman is a future MVP and that could be as soon as this season. The Orioles’ young catcher went 5-for-5 with a homer and four RBI in his season debut against Boston.
Aaron Judge hit the first homer of the 2023 season, because of course he did.
Nine walks for Red Sox pitchers on Opening Day? That won’t win over the pessimistic fan base…
Hunter Greene tied with Aroldis Chapman for the fastest pitch in MLB history (105.2 mph). He’s going to be a problem.
Shohei Ohtani struck out 10 over six scoreless innings and ended up with the loss to OAKLAND of all teams. Cue the ‘Tungsten O’ Doyle’ tweet!
The only thing Chris Sale hurt was his pride on Saturday. I guess that’s a plus?
Web gems
Hunter Renfroe took a bad route but made up for it with an insane no-look grab.
Esteury Ruiz robbed Mike Trout of extra bases.
Bubba Thompson with the robbery of Jake Cave.
Air Lindor.
Kyle Freeland shows off his athleticism.
Rapid Fire
Veteran catcher Gary Sanchez signed with the Giants on a one-year deal that will be worth $4 million if he makes the big-league roster. The 30-year-old hit 205/.282/.377 with 16 home runs and 24 doubles last season with the Twins.
The Rumor Mill
The Bryan Reynolds saga continues as the Pirates reportedly were close to signing him to an eight-year, $106 million extension, but Reynolds’ agents requested an opt out after 2026, and that put the deal on hold. It’s frustrating news for Pittsburgh fans but on the bright side, it shows the two sides are working hard to get something done. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s completed by the time the next rundown comes out.
That’ll do it for this week. Remember, you can get these in your e-mail every Sunday morning throughout the season if you subscribe below. You can also gift subscriptions to the baseball fans in your life (it’s all free, by the way).
Have a great week, everyone.