PT Today

(*) PT TODAY: Loaisiga, German could get opportunity in NY

PT Today

BaseballHQ

Mar 7 2019 1:07am

(*) PT TODAY: Loaisiga, German could get opportunity in NY

BaseballHQ

Mar 7 2019

Team-by-team playing time allocation charts can be found in our Teamview pages.

American League \| National League

Yankees \| Luis Severino may miss start of season
New York Yankees RHP Luis Severino (shoulder) has been diagnosed with rotator cuff inflammation and will not throw for two weeks. Manager Aaron Boone said Severino likely will not be ready for the start of the regular season. Source: MLB.com - Bryan Hoch

BHQ take: Severino had not yet made a spring training 2019 appearance, so once the inflammation dies down, he will have to get stretched out before rejoining the Yankees rotation. This, combined with recent news that CC Sabathia will not only be delayed by a five-game suspension (for intentionally throwing at a batter in September 2018), but also for a "short" trip to the Injured List (IL) at the start of the season. It is unclear at this writing whether that IL stay is related to his offseason angioplasty, or a surgical cleanup of his balky right knee, or both, but the end result is that there is now likely room on the Opening Day roster for both Domingo Germán and Jonathan Loáisiga (pictured). Both German and Loaisiga were recently well covered in both Playing Time Today and the Starting Pitcher Buying Guide, and the extra early playing time opportunity will definitely move them both up the pitcher rankings. —Matt Dodge

Impact: Low
Severino, Luis
Loaisiga, Jonathan
German, Domingo
Sabathia, CC



Twins \| Miguel Sanó likely out until May
Minnesota Twins INF Miguel Sanó (heel) underwent a debridement procedure on his heel Tuesday, March 5, and is expected to be sidelined until May. Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune - La Velle E. Neal III

BHQ take: For those hoping for a bounce-back season from Sano, 2019 is not off to a promising start. Sano initially cut his heel while in the Dominican League. He's since missed camp and now will likely be out until mid-May. He's coming off a season in which he hit .199 with 13 HR and 41 RBI. The beneficiary here is new addition Marwin Gonzalez, who was expected to carve out a super-utility role in MIN but now will likely log plenty of AB at 3B to open the season. Gonzalez's 2018 season (.247-16-68) was a disappointment and a repeat of 2017's breakout (.303-23-90) shouldn't be expected. However, a bump in average should be in the cards with his HctX and LD% being fairly similar over the past three seasons (102, 104, 105 and 21%, 20%, 23%, respectively). —Rick Green

Impact: Med
Sano, Miguel
Gonzalez, Marwin



Royals \| Salvador Perez to have major surgery
Kansas City Royals C Salvador Perez (elbow) is expected to have Tommy John surgery next week. He likely would be ready for the 2020 season. Source: MLB Network - Jon Heyman

BHQ take: It is now confirmed that Perez will undergo the surgery on March 6 and is expected to miss the entire 2019 season, with the hopes of a near-normal spring training in 2020. The Royals are reportedly closely monitoring the free agent catcher pool for organizational depth (Martín Maldonado's name has been mentioned), but have also given indications that the primary catcher job could fall to current backup Cam Gallagher. Gallagher has only collected 87 AB in the majors over the 2017-18 seasons (Perez didn't get many days off), but has impressed the team thus far with his defense, and showed a decent plate approach over 528 AB in Triple-A (86% ct%, 0.62 Eye). If no other catcher is added, Meibrys Viloria would have the inside track on the backup slot. Viloria saw major league action in September 2018 as a callup from Single-A, and then continued on to the Arizona Fall League, but with a total of only 170 innings at those higher levels of competition, his development would probably be better served by playing more regularly in the upper minors. —Matt Dodge

Impact: High
Viloria, Meibrys
Gallagher, Cameron
Perez, Salvador



Angels \| Zack Cozart out with calf strain
Los Angeles Angels INF Zack Cozart (calf) has a Grade 1 strain in his left calf, and will miss a 'a few weeks,' manager Brad Ausmus said Tuesday, March 5. Cozart's expected absence has him questionable for Opening Day. Source: Los Angeles Times - Maria Torres

BHQ take: We only have Cozart projected for 70% PT because of his injury history, so we'll wait for more word before we ding him now with three weeks left before Opening Day. But Taylor Ward has reportedly impressed the team with his work at third base during spring training -- and could be in line to open the season as the starter if Cozart's injury lingers into the regular season. With 2B David Fletcher at least capable at 3B, both bench infielder Tommy La Stella and rookie 2B Luis Rengifo could also factor into the early picture. To be continued. —Jock Thompson

Impact: High
Rengifo, Luis
Ward, Taylor
La Stella, Tommy
Cozart, Zack





National League \| American League

Brewers \| Jeremy Jeffress leaves early
Milwaukee Brewers RHP Jeremy Jeffress (shoulder) left his spring training appearance after only three pitches Wednesday, March 6, because of shoulder weakness. Jeffress said he will rest his shoulder but is not sure about any tests on the shoulder. Source: MLB.com - Adam McCalvy

BHQ take: Relivers RHP Corey Knebel and LHP Josh Hader are likely to split MIL saves if Jeffress starts the season on the Injured List. Jeffress collected 15 saves in 2018, as MIL's saves were largely split among the three relievers, with all three looming as 2019 saves sources. Knebel could be anointed the primary closer with Hader used in certain matchup situations and when Knebel is unavailable, or they could split saves more equally, with both capable of saves of more than three outs. Stay tuned here for further developments as Opening Day approaches. If he is sidelined to open the season, Knebel could regain his stauts —Tom Kephart

Impact: High
Hader, Joshua	SV Gain: 10%
Knebel, Corey	SV Gain: 10%
Jeffress, Jeremy	PT Loss: -1% SV Loss: -20%



Padres \| Travis Jankowski to undergo surgery
San Diego Padres OF Travis Jankowski (wrist) is scheduled to undergo surgery on his broken wrist and is expected to be sidelined for around three months. Source: MLB.com - AJ Cassavell

BHQ take: Tough break for Jankowski and his owners who were looking to exploit his running game. No other changes for an over-projected collection of SD OFs, particularly given Jankowski's uphill PT battle even before this injury. —Jock Thompson

Impact: High
Jankowski, Travis	PT Loss: -20%



Padres \| José Castillo placed on 60-day IL
The San Diego Padres placed LHP José Castillo (flexor) on the 60-day injured list Friday, March 1, due to a left flexor strain. The team believes he will need six to eight weeks of rest and rehabilitation and hopes that he will be able to avoid Tommy John surgery. Source: The San Diego Union-Tribune - Kevin Acee

BHQ take: The injury and its obvious uncertainty make Castillo -- one of our favorite non-closer RP options entering 2019 -- almost unrosterable to begin 2019 in all but the deepest of keeper leagues with reserve spots. Still someone to keep an eye on. —Jock Thompson

Impact: High
Castillo, Jose	PT Loss: -2% SV Loss: -10%



Cardinals \| Francisco Peña to miss some time
St. Louis Cardinals C Francisco Peña (oblique) will be out of commission for 10 to 15 days with an oblique injury. Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch - Derrick Goold

BHQ take: Even though Pena was not on the MLB roster, he was in the mix to be the primary back-up to Yadier Molina. 2018 was the first time that Pena had gotten more than a token amount of MLB playing time, but over 133 at bats, he had a only .193 xBA and a 48 PX. Those numbers suggest that even if healthy, he had a tough road to claim a spot on the Opening Day roster, With his injury, recently signed Matt Wieters becomes the favorite to back-up Molina. Wieters was covered in Playing Time Today on February 26th. —Phil Hertz

Impact: Low
Pena, Francisco
Wieters, Matt



Dodgers \| Clayton Kershaw may not be ready for opener
Los Angeles Dodgers LHP Clayton Kershaw (shoulder) has shown good progress since his return to camp, but manager Dave Roberts acknowledged Monday, March 4, that he may not have enough time to be ready for Opening Day. Source: The Orange County Register - Bill Plunkett

BHQ take: As we (and others) suspected. We'll hold off on another reduction of his IP projection for now. But like everyone else, we're watching Kershaw closely. —Jock Thompson

Impact: High
Kershaw, Clayton

News feed provided by: Fantasy.USATODAY.com

Playing Time Key

The playing time percentage changes at the bottom of most news items correspond to BaseballHQ.com's Teamview pages. The percentages approximate changes in AB, IP and Saves in the following manner:

For batters, each 5% of PT% ~ 31 AB (100% total for each position = 618 AB)
For pitchers, each 3% of PT% ~ 44 IP (100% total for a team's entire pitching staff)
For relievers, each 5% of Svs ~ 2 saves (100% of a team's total = about40 saves)

A complete explanation of BaseballHQ.com's playing time allocations can be found in the article "How the Projections are Created."