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Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
American League<\/p>\n
Angels<\/p>\n
\u2022 Yusei Kikuchi<\/a> went back to his old mechanics<\/a> with some improved results.<\/p>\n After struggling in his first four starts of the season, the left-hander turned it around by striking out eight over six scoreless innings in a 4-1 loss to the Padres on Saturday night at Angel Stadium. And Kikuchi said it happened after he reverted to a similar arm angle to last year after experimenting with a higher release point through his first four starts.<\/p>\n \u201cI went over my mechanics this week and I think that brought me good results,\u201d Kikuchi said through interpreter Koki Goto. \u201cGoing into this season, I raised my arm angle to become a better pitcher, but for the first four games, it didn\u2019t work out well, so I brought back last year\u2019s form. I tried to recall the drills I did, and I think that brought me good results.\u201d As long as Kikuchi throws strikes (1 BB with his new arm slot), he can be an effective pitcher. His problem is that he\u2019s had two, four-walk games so far this season with 9 ER in 8 IP. <\/p>\n
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Blue Jays<\/p>\n \u2022 Nathan Lukes<\/a> has been dealing with vertigo<\/a>.<\/p>\n Lukes visited with a Phoenix-area vertigo specialist Friday morning and doubled down on some head-movement exercises that can help alleviate the symptoms, which include dizziness, unsteadiness and nausea. Since arriving in Arizona, he\u2019s had a couple of \u201cthe better days with my vision that I\u2019ve had in the past month,\u201d which played a big role in him getting better results.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know where (the vertigo) came from and how it happened, but it\u2019s hard to hit when the world is spinning and when you feel like you could throw up at any second,\u201d said Lukes. \u201cI never want to take myself out of the game, whether I\u2019m feeling good or feeling bad. So, I\u2019ve been grinding.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2022 Eric Lauer \ub77c\uc6b0\uc5b4<\/a> threw with the flu for a couple of starts<\/a>.<\/p>\n Eric Lauer has struggled in his last two outings, but it\u2019s difficult to put much weight on those, given that he went through a rough path with a flu bug and didn\u2019t have his normal velocity<\/p>\n The drop in velocity is obvious.<\/p>\n During those two starts, he allowed 9 ER in 7 IP. In his first and last start, he allowed 5 HR in 10 IP.<\/p>\n Guardians<\/p>\n \u2022 The team wants Travis Bazzana<\/a> to have more consistent at-bats<\/a> before promoting him.<\/p>\n Of course, that\u2019s a small sample and those are surface-level numbers. Antonetti noted the Guardians will study \u201cunderlying indicators\u201d to determine what might translate at the big-league level. Bazzana\u2019s scouting report has long included high-level plate discipline and swing decisions, but lately, it seems as though he has been more aggressive at the plate. It\u2019s one thing to draw a bunch of walks in the minors, but when big-league pitchers attack the zone, will Bazzana be able to inflict damage? He smoked a double and a homer to the opposite field Saturday before getting an off day Sunday. \u201cHe\u2019s continuing to progress and build consistency with his at-bats,\u201d Antonetti said.<\/p>\n Yankees<\/p>\n \u2022 George Lombard Jr.<\/a> is getting some third base reps<\/a> to potentially play there in the majors.<\/p>\n Lombard, The Athletic\u2019s No. 24 overall prospect, will make his third start of the season at third base with Yankees ace Gerrit Cole<\/a> on the mound for his first rehab start Friday night at Double-A Somerset.<\/p>\n Lombard will be playing the position in part in deference to Anthony Volpe<\/a>, who is rehabbing and starting at shortstop. The Yankees could have started Lombard at second base instead, as he has played all three positions. The 2023 first-round pick is considered a high-level defender, and the organization believes his glove is major-league-ready.<\/p>\n \u201cAs far as the defending goes,\u201d Double-A manager James Cooper said, \u201cwe thought last year the defense was ready to play in the big leagues. \u2026 We just need everything else to catch up to the defense.\u201d<\/p>\n Ryan McMahon<\/a>, the Yankees\u2019 regular third baseman, has been a major disappointment this season. He\u2019s hit .119 (5-for-42) with no home runs, 2 RBIs and a .379 OPS in 17 games. He\u2019s struck out 16 times.<\/p>\n National League<\/p>\n Cardinals<\/p>\n \u2022 The team might be going with a six-man rotation<\/a> once Hunter Dobbins<\/a> comes off the IL.<\/p>\n The club may look to implement a six-man rotation during its stretch of 17 games in 17 days that starts on Friday. That would be the most non-disruptive way to give Dobbins an opportunity to start games for St. Louis and compete for a rotation spot. But any decision to change up the rotation is now more complicated than it was a few days ago.<\/p>\n Cubs<\/p>\n \u2022 Alex Bregman<\/a> is trying to lift the ball more<\/a>.<\/p>\n Still, the results just aren\u2019t coming. It\u2019s not hard to find the culprit. Bregman\u2019s groundball rate of 47.8 percent is nearly a dozen points higher than his career average.<\/p>\n One can hardly get the question out before Bregman chimes in.<\/p>\n \u201cWay too high,\u201d Bregman said when his groundball rate was brought up. \u201cGet the ball off the ground! Disconnected, bats being left behind me, contact point is deep. When I\u2019m good, I get the ball out front. It\u2019s poor mechanics right now that I\u2019m working through. But I\u2019m going to get it.\u201d<\/p>\n Diamondbacks<\/p>\n \u2022 With Lourdes Gurriel Jr.<\/a> off the IL, the team\u2019s plan is to start him most days<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Diamondbacks have Monday off before starting a three-game series against the Chicago White Sox, and Lovullo anticipates Gurriel being in the lineup for all three of those contests.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is tied into the medical team, and we\u2019re still going to be very guarded with him,\u201d Lovullo said. \u201cWe don\u2019t want anything to go backwards with his knee.<\/p>\n \u201cBut the volume from the time he steps on the field, how many full-out sprints does he make, what\u2019s that distance, how many catches does he make, does the knee swell up, those types of things, we don\u2019t anticipate that being an issue. \u2026 We feel like he can play two in a row here, off day and then go three in a row. We will make adjustments depending on how he\u2019s feeling or volume, and also we\u2019ll make some DH days there as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Dodgers<\/p>\n \u2022 Shohei Ohtani<\/a> might continue to only pitch when he starts and not DH<\/a>.<\/p>\n After a dominant outing on the mound, Shohei Ohtani addressed one of the biggest talking points from the night \u2014 not serving as the designated hitter while pitching.<\/p>\n Speaking with both English and Japanese media, Ohtani made it clear this wasn\u2019t random, but part of a bigger plan focused on health, efficiency, and long-term success.<\/p>\n Giants<\/p>\n \u2022 Because Daniel Susac<\/a> is hitting, he and Patrick Bailey<\/a> might start splitting the catcher duties 50\/50<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Giants initially planned for the right-handed-hitting Susac to serve as Bailey\u2019s backup and draw most of his starts against left-handed pitching, but the Rule 5 Draft pick has made it hard for the club to keep his bat out of the lineup after hitting .563 (9-for-16) with a 1.338 OPS and five RBIs over his first eight games.<\/p>\n Bailey, meanwhile, is batting only .128 with a .308 OPS and no extra-base hits over 15 games this year, a prolonged slump that has become difficult for the Giants to absorb given their wider offensive struggles this year. San Francisco entered Friday averaging an MLB-low 3.05 runs per game, leading manager Tony Vitello to suggest that the club could \u201cget into an every-other-day situation\u201d with Bailey and Susac moving forward.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was just a day-by-day decision,\u201d Vitello said Friday. \u201cYou guys have asked about it a million times. I\u2019ve been as honest as possible and talked about Patty being what he is. He\u2019s still a Gold Glove guy. He\u2019s our guy. There\u2019s nothing controversial to anything. We\u2019ve stood by him and played him a bunch. Right now, he\u2019s not playing as well as he can capably play. That\u2019ll work itself out over due time. And the other guy [Susac] is obviously swinging a hot bat right now but also gives you a really good at-bat. It\u2019s a good, complementary 1-2.<\/p>\n Padres<\/p>\n \u2022 Griffin Canning<\/a> is close to returning to the team<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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He also did it with better velocity, as his four-seamer reached as high as 98.6 mph and averaged 96.4 mph, which was 1.3 mph higher than his season average. He also threw it 45 percent of the time, which was way up from his season average of 25 percent.<\/p>\n
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Bazzana, in the near future, should simplify things on the middle infield.<\/p>\n