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Xander Bogaerts is out indefinitely, the Royals’ veteran pitchers are helping the young guys, we take a look at the 1984 Detroit Tigers, and I can’t stop watching Elly De La Cruz do something weird. I’m Levi Weaver, here with Ken Rosenthal — welcome to The Windup!
Loss of Xander Bogaerts hurts Padres on defense and offense
For a moment, it seemed the Padres had dodged a bullet. The initial imaging on Xander Bogaerts’ right shoulder — injured when he dove for a ball with the bases loaded on Monday — came back negative.
Alas, the follow-up X-rays showed something else. Bogaerts has a fracture in his left shoulder.
It’s rough news for the Padres. Bogaerts, 31, was off to a poor start — he was hitting just .204 through his first 40 games — but he had heated up of late, riding a six-game hitting streak into Monday’s game. That 8-for-25 stretch will have to wait now; he’s out indefinitely while the shoulder heals.
The Padres are currently 26-26 and in second place in the NL West, just a game ahead of the Giants for the third wild-card position. While the loss of who Bogaerts has been this season isn’t the biggest subtraction, statistically, the loss of who he should be — the Bogaerts who seemed to be returning over the last week — is huge.
It’s not just on offense, either. Bogaerts was one of the Padres’ many converted shortstops, and among second basemen, ranked fifth in FanGraphs’ Outs Above Average stat, with plus-4.
Luis Arraez started at second base on Tuesday, and will likely get the bulk of the playing time there. He is currently ranked last in OAA, at minus-8.
Dennis Lin has all the details and contingency plans.
Ken’s Notebook: How much is veteran influence worth?
When trying to calculate the value of a free agent, teams do not always account for the positive effect a veteran can have on younger players. While that intangible cannot be measured, it often is real. The 2024 Kansas City Royals (32-19) are a case in point.
Seth Lugo (three years, $45 million, opt out after two seasons) and Michael Wacha (two years, $32 million, opt out after one) are not only providing quality innings, but also teaching the Royals’ younger starters how the job should be done.
“I’ve always wanted to get deeper into games, control my pitch count, stay away from the big inning — that’s something that has been a downfall for me in my career,” right-hander Brady Singer said. “This year, I’m doing a little better job of that, just watching those two guys, how they navigate through the innings.”
The lessons from Lugo, 34, and Wacha, 32, are helping not just Singer, 27, but also Cole Ragans and Alec Marsh, both 26. Only three teams, the Philadelphia Phillies, Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, boast better rotation ERAs than the Royals. Lugo is second in the AL with 65 1/3 innings and first with a 1.79 ERA. Wacha has a 4.45 ERA but, along with Ragans and Singer, also ranks among the top 20 in the AL in innings.
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