CarterHud

    

  The Atlanta Braves have acquired 1B Matt Adams from the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for minor league infielder Juan Yepez. Let\’s get into details.

       Along with first base, Adams has played in left field this season. He seems to be able to play right field as well. But with star Matt Carpenter at first, and solid OFs Randal Grichuk and Stephen Piscotty in the corners, the Cardinals mostly used Adams as a pinch hitter for the pitcher against righties. So, they didn\’t really need him. They didn\’t get much value in Yepez, but it\’s something.

       The 19 year old Yepez was never been apart of the Braves top 30 prospect list. He hit .275 with a homer, 15 RBIs and four steals in 142 ABs for the Rome Braves (single-A) this year. He\’s hit .281 with six homers, 54 RBIs and seven steals in his three year minor league career dating back to 2015.

        With star 1B Freddie Freeman out for a while, the Braves have been searching first base options. They called up Rio Ruiz, who hit his first MLB home run yesterday. They also signed former star James Loney to a minor league deal. But Adams seems to be the favorite to start the majority of the games until Freeman returns.

      Adams, 28, hit .292 with a homer and seven RBIs in 48 ABs for the Cardinals this season. He\’s played in six MLB seasons, all with the Cardinals, with a .271 average, 56 HRs and 217 RBIs in 1429 ABs. He appeared in the 2013 World Series for the Cardinals, hitting .136, without an RBI and striking out seven times in 22 ABs. The Cardinals lost to the Red Sox that series.

       This is getting ridiculous. After a 5-3 win over the Detroit Tigers, the Texas Rangers extended their winning streak to 10 games. That\’s the longest winning streak for any MLB club so far in 2017.
      
        The Rangers offense has been awake. They\’ve scored 64 runs on the streak, with at least four runs scored in every game. Their pitching has been solid, allowing just 27 runs. That\’s 6.4 runs scored per game and 2.7 runs allowed per game.

        Also, there\’s a new pitching hero every night. A different pitcher has won each game. Here\’s the list of winning pitchers in the last 10 games:

A.J. Griffin
Jeremy Jeffress
Sam Dyson
Keone Kela
Tony Barnette
Dario Alvarez
Yu Darvish
Andrew Cashner
Martin Perez
Nick Martinez

            They\’ve also done it with stars Cole Hamels and Adrian Beltre on the DL.

            The only problem is that the Rangers have barely gained any ground on their rivals, the Houston Astros, who are in first place. The did lose yesterday, but have won 9 of their last 11.

            The Rangers currently are second in the AL West (behind Houston) with a 23-20 record, 6.5 games back of the Astros.

    
  The Tampa Bay Rays have placed 2B Brad Miller on the 10-day DL with a left abdominal strain. He\’s not expected to miss a long period of time.

        Miller, 27, hit a career high 30 homers last year. That offseason, he was acquired by the Rays along with Logan Morrison and Danny Farquhar from the Seattle Mariners for Nathan Karns, C.J. Riefenhauser and Boog Powell. He\’s hit .205, with two homers, 14 RBIs and three steals in 132 ABs this year. He\’s a career .243 hitter, with 61 HRs, 213 RBIs and 31 steals in 1791 ABs for the Rays and Mariners.

        The Rays also traded for 2B Michael Martinez, giving up a PTBNL or cash to the Cleveland Indians. He\’s hit .364 without an RBI in 14 ABs for Cleveland this year. He has a .200 average, six homers and 42 RBIs in 545 career ABs for the Indians, Boston Red Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates and Philadelphia Phillies.

         For Martinez to go on the 40 man roster, Xaiver Cedeno was transferred to the 60 day DL. He has a 3.86 ERA in 2.1 innings this year, without a K. He has a 3.81 ERA in 141.2 innings, striking out 140 for the Rays, Nationals and Astros.

        It might be May already, but that doesn\’t mean signing free agents isn\’t a thing anymore. Two teams signed some key players who are good enough to start in the MLB.

        After star 1B Freddie Freeman went on the DL today, the Atlanta Braves needed first base depth. So, they signed 1B James Loney to a minor league deal. Loney was optioned to Gwinnett (AAA). He spent all of last year with the Mets, with a .265 average, and 9 homers and 34 RBIs in 343 ABs. He spent his spring with the Rangers, then was released. He signed with the Tigers, but was released after just playing minor ball. He\’s also played AAA ball in the Padres organization. He was once a star in L.A. He has a .284 average, 108 homers and 669 RBIs in 5023 career ABs with the Dodgers, Red Sox, Rays and Mets.

         With injuries to most of their starters, including ace Garrett Richards, the Los Angeles Angels needed a starter. So, they signed SP Doug Fister, who last pitched last year for Houston. He\’s proving to be strong in his eight year career. He has a career 3.60 ERA and 847 strikeouts in 1266 innings for the Astros, Nationals, Tigers and Mariners.

        After being hit by an Aaron Loup pitch and exiting the game Wednesday, Atlanta Braves slugger Freddie Freeman has been placed on the 10-day DL. He is expected to miss 8-10 weeks.

        Freeman, 27, has hit an outstanding average of .341 in 135 ABs. He leads the NL in homers, with 14. He has a slugging % of .748 and an OPS of 1.209. He has just 25 RBIs compared to the 14 bombs. He has a career average of .290 with 152 homers.

        To replace Freeman, INF Rio Ruiz was recalled from AAA Gwinnett. He\’ll turn 23 in four days. He has a .262 average, 4 HRs and 16 RBIs in 141 ABs with Gwinnett this year. He has just seven career MLB ABs (all last year), and went 2 for 7 (.286) with a triple, a SB and a pair of RBIs.

        Also in that game, the bench cleared after another Jose Bautista bat flip. Blue Jays Kevin Pillar apparently said a homophobic slur to Braves pitcher Jason Motte, and has apologized. The Blue Jays suspended him for two games. He has .305 average, above his career .271 average in 167 ABs this year, including six homers. He has just 30 bombs in his career.