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The MLB Daily Dish is a daily feature we're running here at MLBDD and rounds up roster-impacting news, rumors, and analysis. Have feedback or have something that should be shared? Hit us at @mlbdailydish on Twitter.
Good morning baseball fans!
The big news from yesterday was the Rockies designating Jose Reyes for assignment, giving them ten days to either trade, release or demote the shortstop.
More roster moves, as the Royals designated Omar Infante for assignment.
In today’s game, the knuckleball is becoming more commonplace.
But listen to Wright talk about throwing a knuckleball well, and it sounds like every other pitcher. “If you throw it with more conviction, you get more movement,” he said. “More movement means less control in the strike zone, but if you get them into swing mode by getting ahead, then I can stay aggressive.”
The knuckleball is not a pitch that anyone can master. “It’s hard to do, it’s not easy to do,” Wright laughed. But that doesn’t mean it’s unlike any other pitch. It’s a little bit like every pitch, actually. You just don’t know which one it will be, and that’s the genius of it.
After colliding with Trevor Story, the Rockies have lost Gerardo Parra to a sprained left ankle and he is listed as day-to-day.
San Francisco has placed Matt Cain on the disabled list and activated outfielder Angel Pagan.
Ubaldo Jimenez is headed for the bullpen, because the Orioles are set to get back Yovani Gallardo.
The latest edition of the Rosterbatorical was released yesterday, and you can listen to that here.
Both Brad Ziegler and Daniel Hudson are under consideration for extensions by the Diamondbacks.
Here is a roundup of news from around the American League West.
Trayce Thompson has turned himself into an offensive threat for the Dodgers.
The other negative has to do with the projection systems. Despite all of the offensive growth, both ZiPS and Steamer are in eery agreement on his forecast, projecting his rest-of-season wRC+ to be 97 and 98, respectively. Maybe Thompson really has changed, but there have simply been too many years of mediocrity in the minor leagues, and now he’s facing much tougher competition in the Show.
Still, for a team struggling to put runs on the board like the Dodgers, there is no reason not to run Thompson out there every day and see whether or not you really have a star on your hands. And make no mistake, Thompson’s current production unequivocally equals a star. The only question is whether or not he can keep up his current production, and the stats seem to point to yes.
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Today in Baseball History: In 1995, Andre Dawson hits his 400th National League home run, the 429th blast in his big league career.