Inside Baseball MLB Notes | JD Martinez worth every penny

And now, around the majors…

Arizona Diamondbacks

• The Diamondbacks have something special going there.
• A.J. Pollock looks like he’s headed for a big free agency after finishing April with nine home runs and 22 RBI, then making it 10 homers the first day of May.
• Any contract talk with free-agents-to-be Pollock and Patrick Corbin has been tabled until after the year, it appears.
• Corbin is a smart guy, and he realized his quotes about his love for the Yankees in USA Today came out a little too effusive, even if D-Backs people hadn’t say anything – though they maybe gave him a hint to consider toning it down. (Anyway, the Yankees loved hearing it, as we wrote last week).
• The D-backs became the first NL team to win their first nine series since the 1907 Cubs. And they did it without to key starting players – Steven Souza and Jake Lamb.
• Robbie Ray went on the DL with a grade two oblique strain, so he’ll be out more than the 10-day D.L. stay.
• They need him, especially with Taijuan Walker out for the year.
• Don’t forget: Shelby Miller is on the horizon. June is a fair guess.
• Though he is thriving in the pen, Archie Bradley hasn’t given up his dream to start, he tells Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic.
• Mike Petriello took a look at the humidor’s effect on Chase Field.
• The entertaining Cody Decker (now in the D-backs minors) is among those on Team Israel featured in the new documentary “Heading Home” about the wonderful story of the team’s great run in the WBC. Also featured: Ike Davis, Sam Fuld, Josh Zeid, Ryan Lavarnway, Ty Kelly, others and of course The Mensch on the Bench. The film, directed by Seth Kramer, Daniel Miller and Jeremy Newberger, is premiering May 29 in New York City at the Marlene Meyerson JCC, at 334 Amsterdam Ave. Davis will be there to answer questions.

Atlanta Braves

• All the attention is on Ronald Acuña Jr., and understandably so. But Ozzie Albies is off to a huge start, leading the majors in extra-base hits.
• Acuña made his mark early, hitting a ball 111.8 mph in one of his first games – the third-hardest hit ball by a Brave this year.
• More importantly, he was 10-for-27 with five doubles and a homer, and the Braves were winning.
• The call-up of Mike Soroka gave the Braves the three youngest players in the bigs.
• Say what you want about ex-GM John Coppolella, but he brought a lot of good players into the system. (Acuña was from the Frank Wren regime).
• As for the Acuña Hall of Fame talk I’ve seen on twitter, I’d say this: too soon. Remember César Cedeño. He was a similar talent who got off to a remarkable start, but never came close to Cooperstown.
• Julio Teheran’s velocity was down in his last start, presumably due to upper trap tightness, as David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal Constitution said.
• Tyler Flowers is back.
• Peter Bourjos was released. He’s a terrific defender. It’s easy to recall one spring when he and Mike Trout were considered the top two Angels prospects, and some actually favored Bourjos at the time. Which tells you this: It’s often hard to tell.

Baltimore Orioles

• GM Dan Duquette said in a phone interview that they are going to give it a few more weeks before deciding what to do about potential trades. “We’ve got to get to Memorial Day to see if we have any sort of (competitive) team,” Duquette told FRS Baseball.
• Alex Cobb is one of many late-signing free agents off to a rough start (though he looked much better Tuesday night in Anaheim/Los Angeles). Other lat- signers Lance Lynn, Greg Holland, Logan Morrison and Neil Walker also are struggling in the early going. Mike Moustakas seems to be the only avoiding the early jinx.
• Chris Tillman has looked better lately.
• Jerry Crasnick wrote about Adam Jones’ great off-the-field activities, and tackles the question of whether that helps in his coming free agency. My guess: not much.
• Nice story on Trey Mancini grinding through adversity, by Eduardo Encina of the Baltimore Sun.
• Pedro Alvarez’s comeback is a nice story. The No. 2 overall pick years back seems to be back.
• Richard Bleier continues to impress out of the pen. He’s a guy who’s not afraid, even if he doesn’t throw very hard, leading to the nickname in the minors, “Big (Richard),” but not really Richard.
• There were rumors a few years back when the Blue Jays were interested in hiring Dan Duquette as their team president that manager Buck Showalter could move to the front office, with the Orioles’ iconic shortstop Cal Ripken Jr. taking over as manager. Could that happen in the future?

Boston Red Sox

• The Red Sox hit six grand slams in April, becoming the first team since the 1996 Expos to achieve that.
• Xander Bogaerts picked up where he left off before he went on the D.L.
• Drew Pomeranz has a velocity issue. Not good timing with free agency looming. He can win without throwing 90 mph, but that’s something teams stress nowadays.
• Alex Cora got a little taste of what it’s like to be a Red Sox manager when a decision to let Sandy Leon hit in a key spot was discussed, seemingly forever.
• The negotiation seemed to drag on forever, but so far J.D. Martinez has been worth every penny of the $110 million. He entered Thursday with a .984 OPS.
• Hanley Ramirez’s $22 million 2019 option vests with 1,050 plate appearances between this year and last (497 are needed in 2018). And with a .330 average so far, he certainly has a shot.
• At week’s start, the Red Sox had the highest OPS vs. right-handers (.864) and lowest vs. lefties (.546), noted Alex Speier of the Boston Globe.
• Great news: Craig Kimbrel’s baby girl Lydia Joy was home from the hospital following heart surgery, as @PeteAbe noted.
• Dustin Pedroia is targeting May 25 as a return date, according to Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic.
• Rusney Castillo is playing well at Triple-A Pawtucket and remains baseball’s best-paid minor leaguer. Perhaps there needs to be a rule allowing him to play in the majors without that affecting Boston’s tax. Or maybe he could be traded to a team under the tax; Boston and Washington are the only two teams over the tax.
• The Red Sox are actually a little more than $20 million over the tax, so give them credit in a year many teams seem to be counting pennies. “They don’t care about the tax. Roseanne had over 25 million viewers,” one baseball insider cracked, referring to Red Sox chairman Tom Werner’s hit show. That’s a joke of course…we think.
• Hector Velazquez, with a 2.10 ERA, has been a big help.
• K-Rod was scouted by the Red Sox before he went with the Phillies this spring. So if they have trouble in the set-up dept., they could be a candidate for him if he does well with the Long Island Ducks. Many a former MLB player has made a comeback starting back with the Ducks.

Chicago Cubs

• The Cubs’ young nucleus is mostly thriving. Albert Almora and Javier Baez both lost an 11-game hitting streak the same day.
• The guess here is Anthony Rizzo (.159 BA) has tried to play through pain, because that just isn’t him.
• Joe Maddon had Rizzo bat leadoff in an effort to jump-start him, and the team’s offense, too. Of course, he hit a homer.
• Jose Quintana continued his domination of the Brewers, going to 24 scoreless innings in his last three starts against the Crew. Milwaukee was one of the teams that tried for Quintana last summer.
• On the occasion of the promotion of David Bote, Maddon had a funny comment, as per usual. “If you say David Bote very quickly it sounds like David Bowie. I am trying to convince him to use ‘Rebel, Rebel,’ as his walk-up music.” 
• Loved Yu Darvish’s 64 mph curve.
• The Cubs can take it: They had 23 hit by pitches in April.
• The Cubs scored nine runs in a four-game series with the Brewers, and swept the Crew. Christopher Kamka pointed out the anomaly. (He is an anomaly expert, as well as everything to do with numbers.) He also pointed out the Cubs scored 14 in a seven-game span, and somehow had a five-game winning streak in there.
• The comments of Maddon and others about games that were played in unplayable weather may lead to at least one change. MLB seems likely to schedule more intra-division games early. One of the issues has been that teams hosting visiting teams who are only there once a year feel compelled to play games in terrible weather, since the visiting teams from outside the division won’t be returning later in the year.

Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

Chicago White Sox

• ChiSox starters are last in ERA, K-percentage, walk percentage and groundball percentage. In other words, they need work.
• Someone clever rewrote the Royals’ Wikipedia page to reflect that Matt Davidson owns the Royals. Where the GM was listed, it was correctly listed as Dayton Moore; where the president was listed it was also correct (Dan Glass), but where the owner was listed, yes, Davidson’s name was written in.
• For better or worse, Tim Anderson has managed to get under the skin of Justin Verlander and Salvy Perez with his big celebrations. His enthusiasm is great, and we hate to be the fun police, but one came after a home run leading off a game (Perez) and the other on a steal attempt in which he was actually awarded second due to a walk as it turned out (Verlander), so perhaps he should temper it a bit. We know the kids love the unbridled excitement, but sometimes – especially when it isn’t even a steal, and you’re still down 5-0 – it’s a bit much, at least from here.
• This story got a lot of attention. J.R. Fegan of The Athletic did an in-depth piece on Anderson vs. Salvy.
• Ed Sherman documents Chris Volstad’s remarkable comeback.

Cincinnati Reds

• The Reds are “playing better” under Jim Riggleman, one rival exec said. That exec said the team is trying more things, putting runners in motion, double stealing and squeezing. Experience counts.
• The Reds are aiming to fix Luis Castillo, who’s slipped early this year after looking like a potential ace last year, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com reports.
• Joey Votto continues to be great after a slow start. He’s up to an OPS over .800.
• Jose Peraza is still trying to prove he belongs as starting shortstop.
• Suggestion for stat-listers. Zach Weiss, who allowed four runs in no innings, should not be listed among all the pitchers with a 0.00 ERA. His ERA is infinity, so he should be listed last.

Cleveland Indians

• Josh Tomlin is called a “marvel” by a rival exec for his ability to win on 88 mph straight fastballs. He definitely has a big heart and bigger stones, but with a 9.16 ERA, his start Friday vs. the Yankees is a big one for him.
• The Indians have the right guy to manage their depleted bullpen in Terry Francona. But it won’t be easy without Andrew Miller and of course Bryan Shaw (not to mention a couple others) who left via free agency last winter.
• Trevor Bauer’s complaint via twitter suggesting a star Astros pitcher or two used pine tar came off as unnecessary trolling. Astros pitcher Lance McCullers looked better sticking up for his teammates.
• Zack Meisel of The Athletic wrote about Corey Kluber’s search for a third Cy Young award, which would put him in elite company. Seven of the 10 men with three such awards are in the Hall, and of the other three, Clayton Kershaw and Max Scherzer will be in, and the 10th is Roger Clemens, who won seven — though who knows how many legitimately.
• Jose Ramirez is red hot.
• Don’t forget Melky Cabrera is in Columbus if they need him.
• Triston McKenzie is a can’t-miss pitching prospect according to all who have seen him.

Colorado Rockies

• Adam Ottavino, a brainiac, has used a camera that hones in on his release point, and it appears to have turned him into a strikeout machine. Some see his efforts as over the top, though. Anyway, this is good timing as he heads to free agency.

Detroit Tigers

• Miguel Cabrera seems to be back in form. But he still isn’t being listed in the July trade list due to his $32 million salary, which would still seem to make him untradeable.
• Auburn right-hander Casey Mize is the clear No. 1 choice, but some are wondering whether the Tigers’ choice will come down to spending a higher percentage of their draft allotment on him, or a bit less on someone else. Teddy Cahill of Baseball America wrote about the Mize-Brady Singer (of the U. of Florida) matchup.
• Daniel Norris will miss two months.
• Paul Voelker had a rough outing in the minors, allowing five runs in one inning. It isn’t known what he knows about economics.
• Joe Jimenez

Houston Astros

• Charlie Morton really is something else. Few have ever improved as he has – though some say his past issues always revolved around health, not ability.
• Some credit has to go to Astros pitching coach Brent Strom, who’s overseen stark improvement from both Morton and Gerrit Cole – who both came from the Pirates, the team most famous for pitching improvement.
• Some believe Cole is better off now, and actually pitching to his style, which is to throw more four-seamers and breaking balls and fewer sinking two-seamers.
• Ken Giles appeared to land a punch on himself on the way out of the game against the Yankees in which he gave up the game-winning home run to Gary Sanchez. Giles is generally solid, but closer is one spot where the Astros could consider upgrading.
• Dante Pettis, son of Astros coach Gary, was selected in the draft by the San Francisco 49ers.
• Nobody figured Jose Altuve’s new deal would affect his performance, and it hasn’t. He is at .347, which seems typical.

Kansas City Royals

• Alex Gordon lost his dad in February. He invited his brother Eric to join the team’s annual Fathers Trip, and as Rustin Dodd of The Athletic wrote, “On Tuesday they both went deep at Fenway Park.” Eric hit one out in BP, Alex in the game.
• Jorge Soler is doing what they expected and hoped when they traded star reliever Wade Davis for him. Dodd called it “the Summer of Jorge.”
• That may be a good way to look at it since their other top players may hit the trade market. Soler still have two years left after this one.
• Good thing they brought back Mike Moustakas.
• Lorenzo Cain’s return to K.C. was heart-warming. There was genuine affection there.
• GM Dayton Moore in this space last week said he’d like manager Ned Yost back, and as Moore suspected, there’s no reason to think Yost doesn’t want to return.

Los Angeles Angels

• Injuries and a lack of depth has led one rival exec to declare that “the Angels need pitching.”
• “I don’t know how (Mike) Scioscia has won 16 games,” one rival said, suggesting the pitching needs reinforcements.
• Shohei Ohtani is fantastic. But as a rival points out, “he’s a once-a-week pitcher,” which adds a need for extra starters, and rotation depth is a perennial Angels issue. That said, he’s obviously super valuable, and really, a one-in-a-billion talent.
• Kenyan Middleton has an elbow issue.
• Ohtani took coach Eric Hinske’s advice to go to a toe tap instead of a leg lift on the cusp of the season, which is being given credit for his turnaround. Another possibility: Ohtani was playing possum in spring training.
• Kole Calhoun’s offensive slippage was mentioned here in this space last week. But he is deserving of Gold Glove consideration in right field. He won back in 2015, and continues to get better with the glove.

Los Angeles Dodgers

• The Dodgers tried for Manny Machado over the winter, and they are talking again behind the scenes about him now that they have an opening at his shortstop position. However, to this point there isn’t overwhelming optimism that there will be a deal to be made.
• Manager Dave Roberts’ quote that “when it’s all said and done, the Dodgers will be at the top of the division” didn’t age well. In fact, it looked worn out within 24 hours.
• Roberts has tried a few things, issuing that ill-timed strong statement and even benching nice guy Cody Bellinger for failing to hustle on a double into “triples alley.” Bellinger seemed to slip out of the box, the Giants outfield was playing deep for him and he said later that he was concerned about making the first out at third, so his less-than-100-percent run to second was understandable, even typical, in today’s game (especially when you consider Yasiel Puig had already gone out for hustling maybe too much). At the same time, Roberts probably calculated that Bellinger could take it (while he disagreed, he didn’t create a disturbance; he said he didn’t quite get it, which is understandable since his 80 percent or so run to second is very typical in today’s game), and he probably felt it was time to send a message. So we get it.
• Matt Kemp is faster than he’s been in three years, according to J.P. Hoornstra of the Los Angeles Daily News.
• Hyun-Jin Ryu regained his old form.
• Corey Seager, whose torn UCL ended his season, has been dealing with the arm soreness and had been toughing it out longer than most realizer — over two years, as far back as early 2016 — agent Scott Boras said. The tear was known about, but apparently worsened with a few throws early this season. That’s when he got the MRI that ultimately showed the tear had grown.
• Noted Dodgers writer Jon Wesiman has written “Brothers in Arms,’’ about the Dodgers’ unbelievably rich history of pitchers, starting with the Brooklyn years (Ralph Branca, Carl Erskine, aka “Oisk,” etc.) to the great Kershaw.

Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Miami Marlins

• Caleb Smith has joined Jarlin Garcia as surprise success stories in the Marlins rotation. Smith, who’s not necessarily a hard thrower, started his season with two big strikeout games.
• It looks like our ranking the Marlins last in our first-ever Weakness Rankings last week spurred on the team. The Marlins had won six of seven and three straight series through Tuesday, as Jessica Blaylock of FOX pointed out.
• Miguel Rojas, the fill-in shortstop, had four home runs. Or as Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald pointed out, one fewer than ex-Marlin Giancarlo Stanton (three fewer, now, after Stanton’s two homers Wednesday). Half of the homers came against Jake Arrieta and Clayton Kershaw.
• Could Wei-Yin Chen’s return give the Marlins a chance to save a few bucks via trade?
• If Chen can be dealt, it should be to an AL team. He is now 1-for-59 as a hitter.
• Chen may be the poster boy for the trend not to give mid-rotation starters huge deals. His contract for $80 million over five years seems ridiculous now, even if you don’t think about the injury.
• Tayron Guerrero hit 101.8 mph, the fastest pitch of the year, by anyone, to that point.
• Liked to see Steelers great Antonio Brown, from Miami Gardens, throw out the first ball. Who says there aren’t stars at Marlins Park?

Milwaukee Brewers

• The Brewers need a starter if they hope to return to the playoffs.
• Wade Miley’s return could be bigger than one would think. He was fantastic in spring and looked good on his rehab.
• Harvard’s Brent Suter went to the pen.
• Josh Hader is becoming the Brewers’ biggest star and most interesting player. The former late-round draft choice is on pace for 211 strikeouts out of the pen, as Peter Gammons of MLB Network noted. He’s already the first to close out a save with eight outs all on strikeouts.
• Hader became the first pitcher to average more than two strikeouts per inning over a full month, with 19.5 over nine innings. The previous best was Eric Gagne, at 17.654 in August, 2003. And we know now Gagne had…um…help.
• Folks who know Hader cite his unflappable personality as a key. Stuff that’s reminiscent of Chris Sale doesn’t hurt, either. He signed as a 31st-round pick by his hometown Orioles. It is believed the bonus was in the $20K range.
• Boone Logan is making progress toward a return.
• Lorenzo Cain can still play the heck out of center field.

Minnesota Twins

• There are a lot of theories as to what’s going on with the Twins, a surprise playoff team last year that made several logical and seemingly smart moves this winter and spring. The Twins’ rough start is a bit of a shocker. But they aren’t making any excuses. “We’re kind of getting what we deserve,” manager Paul Molitor said. In any case, we have a few theories.
• Miguel Sano’s absence isn’t helping, either.
• Phil Hughes was sent to the pen, and though he has a high salary, his roster spot could be in jeopardy if things don’t get better.

New York Mets

• Matt Harvey’s appearance on Page Six for reportedly being at a club in L.A. the night before he pitched in San Diego elicited a cutting response from GM Sandy Alderson, who said he couldn’t be disappointed since it’s not unexpected. No one figured Harvey’s tenure with the Mets was going past this year, anyway. But it appears they could be headed for an ugly, and perhaps early, ending.
• The Mets did a great job adding key pieces over the winter. But to this point, they have been oddly unaggressive in addressing the catching situation.
• Yoenis Cespedes says he may take golf back up after his strikeout-laden start. He seems very energized, and I’d say go ahead since it’s an effort to regain his stroke. When he took up golf in Detroit, that’s when his career really took off.
• Cespedes supposedly had a bad thumb injury, and he missed only one game. He seems all in this year.
• Asdrubal Cabrera continues to be very valuable.
• The spin on Adrian Gonzalez’s slow start was that he’s “not as bad as you think.”
• Jay Bruce is taking groundballs at first base. Which makes you wonder whether the Mets are concerned about A-Gon.
• Or maybe they just want to make sure Brandon Nimmo plays more. He certainly should.
• There never was any traction toward a Jacob deGrom or Noah Syndergaard extension this winter. The Mets seem to have an aversion to going ultra-long with anyone in recent years. Not sure where that comes from, whether it be Madoff or the unfortunate turn captain David Wright’s career took due to back, neck and shoulder injuries. Or maybe just a change in philosophy. It may turn out to be the right course. Obviously, they appear to have made the right move never locking up Matt Harvey, and the jury’s still out on Steven Matz and whether he can remain healthy. On the other hand, deGrom and Syndergaard are the heart of the team.
• deGrom left his start Wednesday with what is being called a hyperextended elbow, but an MRI showed no ligament damage, per Anthony DiComo. Looks like the Mets may have dodged a bullet.
• The Mets may also have regrets about the Juan Lagares deal since he has yet to develop as a hitter.
• New pen lefty Buddy Baumann is quite a nice story of perseverance.
• Jose Reyes’ signing, and now spot on the team, would seem to be an ownership decision. It’s hard to find other executives who are in favor at this point.

New York Yankees

• Aaron Judge definitely should get a day off here and there. But how about it not being the first game against the Astros on a nine-game winning streak? Seems like a rookie mistake by Aaron Boone, who has fit quite well in terms of demeanor and setting a great tone, but has made a curious move or two.
• Judge had 62 home runs over his first 203 games, first all-time, and Gary Sanchez had 61, good for second place (obvs.), according to YES Network. Following them were Mark McGwire (60) and Rudy York (59).
• Giancarlo Stanton weathered his first crisis in New York. He seems to be thrilled to be there — and just hit two home runs on Wednesday.
• One theory on Stanton’s early struggles: a lot of sliders in the American League.
• Didi Gregorius, mentioned here as an MVP candidate in a couple past columns, was leading MLB with a 2.4 WAR.
• Sonny Gray looked more aggressive in his most recent start vs. the Astros. He was getting the rep of a nibbler among Yankees people.
• Miguel Andujar had 12 doubles over a 12-game stretch. That is not a misprint. And for that reason, the Yankees couldn’t possibly demote him.
• Something has been made of Aroldis Chapman’s decreased velocity. But his slider is spectacular, and he is throwing it with absolute confidence. He also is throwing it a lot – 27.9 percent, up from 17.2 percent.
• Masahiro Tanaka dominated Shohei Ohtani over in Japan, it was revealed this week. Ohtani was 0-for-11 with six strikeouts. Of course, that all came in 2013, when Ohtani was basically a child.

Oakland A’s

• Khris Davis wants to stay long-term with the A’s, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic had reported the sides were hoping to work out a deal for next year, when Davis is arbitration-eligible.
• Wilmer Font allowed eight home runs in 12 innings (as noted by Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle), which isn’t easy to do. So put that in boldface.