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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!
It’s not easy being a Mets fan (trust me on this one). On Tuesday night, Bartolo Colon left the game after just throwing four pitches. One of those four came back and hit Colon on the thumb.
Then Wednesday night saw their ace, Noah Syndergaard, leave with elbow soreness and he met with a doctor.
Fear not Flushing faithful, the Mets may be trying to solve their offensive problems. The team will hold a private workout for Cuban infielder Yulieski Gurriel.
Some teams are interested in Julio Teheran of the Braves, but how good actually is the 25-year-old?
If we assume that Teheran’s youth will allow him to regress less than most of these guys, maybe his true-talent ERA gap is something like 0.3 runs per nine innings, and with a ~3.90 FIP projection, that would put him as a 3.60 ERA guy going forward, in the NL anyway. It’s a little closer to 4.00 in the AL, once you adjust for league quality and the DH.
That’s not a dominating frontline starter, but given Teheran’s youth and controllable years, he remains a very valuable piece. He’s not likely to keep beating his FIP by this degree, but he is likely to keep beating it by a decent margin, and that makes him a quality mid-rotation arm. A team shouldn’t pay ace prices to land Teheran based on his ERA, but he’s a good pitcher on a great contract, and so the line for his services will be quite long.
The latest edition of the Rosterbatorical came out on Wednesday, and the Red Sox, along with Jose Reyes were the main topics of conversation.
After missing his last start, Stephen Strasburg is aiming to pitch again this Sunday.
The Rangers acquired Kyle Kubitza from the Angels in exchange for cash.
Fellow AL West team, the Mariners, inked Tom Wilhelmsen to a one-year deal.
Tampa placed both Steve Pearce and Mikie Mahtook on the disabled list.
Here is a roundup of news from around the American League East.
What if that Strasburg-Clayton Kershaw matchup actually happened? Rachel Heacock of Beyond the Box Score explored that possibility
. So while baseball fans everywhere were let down that they didn’t get to watch a serious pitching duel, Petit didn’t pitch much worse than you would have expected Strasburg to pitch. With Strasburg in the game, the score likely would have been a closer – and the game certainly a more exciting experience – but with the same outcome.
Fans missed out on Strasburg’s velocity and increased use of his new slider is also something he brings to the table, but were treated to Petit’s deceptive ways. It’s easy to overvalue the impact of one baseball player, even a starting pitcher, in any single game. Strasburg is a much better pitcher than Petit but the difference between great and ordinary just isn’t that large on most nights. Against a lesser opponent, that margin can make a big difference, but against a superhuman like Kershaw, it’s mostly aesthetic.
So, to Vin Scully (and everyone else), I hope this eases the pain of missing out on the highly anticipated matchup.
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Today in Baseball History: In 1988, for the fifth time, George Steinbrenner fires Billy Martin.