RESOLVING THE LEDGER
This is one outlet's own report from CBS Sports — the article as it was filed. Other outlets are covering the same event; open the full story to compare every source side by side.
See the full story · 1 sources
When a pitcher is coming back from a forearm or elbow injury, you're just holding your breath with every pitch. And when Kyle Harrison left Wednesday's start early, it was hard not to fear the worst.
But you can safely exhale. Harrison left the game Wednesday against the Pirates after just five innings and 69 pitches, but the team announced shortly after that he left with cramping in both of his calves – so, nothing to do with his arm. I'm sure that wasn't comfortable for Harrison, but it should be nothing a bit of extra Gatorade can't handle.
And, if you were worried about how Harrison would look after a nearly month-long absence from the rotation, well, we got good news there, too. Because he looked about as good as ever, limiting the Pirates to just one hit over five innings, walking just one and striking out 10 for his fourth double-digit strikeout effort of the season. He struck out eight straight to close out the start, even, so if the calves were an issue, they weren't enough to slow him down. His velocity was down a bit on his four-seamer and a bit more on the breaking ball, but neither was terribly concerning, especially with how effective he was. Harrison doesn't need to sit 96 to dominate, thanks to the combination of his delivery from the left side of the mound and the movement profile on the four-seamer, both of which were intact in his return from the injury.
That's not always guaranteed to happen, but Harrison looked so good Wednesday that I think we can be pretty confident he's going to be good moving forward. If healthy, of course, but that's always the concern. We can't guarantee that'll be the case moving forward, but he sure looked healthy in Wednesday's start, and unless that cramping issue is hiding something more serious, it sure looks like you can get back to treating Harrison as a must-start pitcher.
Here's what you might have missed from CBSSports.com's MLB coverage in recent days:
Prospects report . Get to know the 12 biggest prospects who changed hands at the deadline.
Deadline winners and losers . Scott White takes a look at the biggest winners and losers from Monday's wild deadline.
Prospect callups . George Lombard highlighted the first crop of post-deadline promotions to get to know.
Deadline grades . The Dodgers get an 'A'. How did everyone else fare?
Best non-Skubal moves . Which teams who didn't trade for the best pitcher in baseball did the best job re-tooling?
The top waiver-wire targets from Wednesday's action:
Angel Genao , SS, Guardians (15%) – When Genao's promotion was announced, I thought he was going to be a lot less expensive than George Lombard when waivers ran this week, because he came to the majors with a lot less hype (and, let's be honest, because he doesn't play for the Yankees ). But Genao might have spoiled that himself Wednesday by going 4 for 5 with a run and an RBI in his MLB debut. Remember, this guy was hitting .300 with 13 homers and 11 steals in the minors and has played his way into top-25 global prospect consideration, so he's very much a player worth getting excited about now that he's here. Lombard will probably still cost a bit more – he has a bit more job security and might have a bit more present power than Genao – but the chances of Genao going under the radar just took a big hit. He still has the upside to be worth chasing, though if Jose Ramirez doesn't go on the IL, the playing time is definitely in question.
Noah Cameron , SP, Royals (74%) – We've seen good stretches from Cameron before. I mean, heck, he finished last season with a 2.99 ERA; the whole thing was a good stretch! But we've never seen a stretch like this one from him, as he struck out nine in eight innings Wednesday against the Twins , giving him 24 strikeouts in 23 innings over his past three starts – his previous high for a three- start stretch was 22 strikeouts and 20.2 innings, respectively. It's also the third time in a row Cameron deprioritized his four-seamer, throwing it less than both his changeup and slider. He had 17 whiffs in the start while matching his career high in strikeouts, and he's been impressive enough lately with these tweaks to his arsenal that it's worth adding him in all leagues just to see if it can prove sustainable.
Jacob Lopez , SP, Athletics (14%) – I'll remind you that Lopez had a 12-start stretch from June through August last season when he had a 2.30 ERA with 10.8 K/9 before an elbow injury ended his season. He hasn't been anywhere near that good so far this season, but he's showing some signs here lately. He struck out nine over five innings while allowing two earned runs and walking just one, and it brings him to 27 strikeouts to nine walks in 19.2 innings over his past four starts. The starts have been brief and the control hasn't been great on the whole, but it's enough to get me interested in Lopez again, at least as a deep-league streamer who gets two starts against the Rays and Rangers next week.
Endy Rodriguez , C, Pirates (21%) – I think after all this time and all those injuries, Rodriguez might just finally be healthy and figuring it out. Fantasy players have been slow to buy in, but Rodriguez just keeps producing, this time homering in consecutive games Tuesday and Wednesday, bringing him to seven homers and six steals in 43 games. Project that over 129 (roughly a starting catcher's usage and an easy multiplication for me to do) and you're looking at a 21-homer, 18-steal pace from a catcher hitting .269 with really good plate discipline. With a 92.3 mph average exit velocity and 11.2% barrel rate, the power doesn't look like a fluke, and if the batting average is a little inflated, it's not so out of whack that you think it's going to collapse (he has a .249 expected average, for example). This all just looks like a very solid profile from a former top prospect, and at this point, I'm buying at least in any two-catcher league.
Mitch Bratt , SP, Diamondbacks (3%) – Where'd this come from? Br...
AIPROPX is an independent multi-source news index — we track, compare, and connect coverage from across the web into one place you won't find anywhere else.