Montgomery and Snell Still Waiting, Injuries Around Baseball, Skenes, Kilian, and Other Cubs Bullets

Mar 06, 2024

I really gotta get out to the theater soon to see ‘Dune 2.’ I really enjoyed the first one, and everyone keeps telling me that the second one is better, and is especially good with the theatrical experience.

No update yet on Caleb Kilian’s apparent injury last night. Like I said at the time, losing Kilian for a while would not necessarily hurt the Cubs’ starting depth TOO badly (he is probably the 9th or 10th pitcher in line to make starts this year), but that’s not zero. And there was always the chance that he’d finally figure out how to turn his premium stuff into actually missing bats. I still want to believe in that potential, even if it means a bullpen conversion later this year. So, hopefully a minor issue, maybe shut down for a while, and then back at it in the early minor league season?

Pitching injuries have popped up in sufficient quantity around baseball at this point that it’d be hard to argue Scott Boras didn’t get the opportunity it seemed like he, Blake Snell, and Jordan Montgomery were waiting for by pushing this thing deep into Spring Training. That either means the signings are coming soon, or the heels are REALLY dug in. It probably doesn’t help either of them that they’re both 31-year-old lefties, with Snell arguably slightly better but Montgomery unattached to draft pick compensation. They could not be more in direct competition with each other in a limited market, and with the same agent. One or both of them simply is not going to get a great deal at this point.

Scott Boras has said interest has ticked up in the duo since the start of Spring Training (though at some point, you run up against the reality that these guys won’t be able to start the season on time, and then teams use THAT against you in negotiations):

Scott Boras: Interest up for Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery – via @ESPN App https://t.co/s1oXLGTx3o
— Jesse Rogers (@JesseRogersESPN) March 4, 2024

Speaking of pitching injuries, the Giants have ANOTHER one, with righty Sean Hjelle shut down by an elbow sprain. The giant of a Giant was likely to be a swing guy out of the gate, but given all the injuries at the back of their rotation, it’s possible he was just going to start. Not now. So the Scott Boras really must be blowing up Farhan Zaidi’s phone right now. I’d be kinda shocked if Snell or Montgomery doesn’t sign there *IF* they sign within the next couple weeks. Because if their free agencies drag into the regular season, then all bets are off on which team might sign them.

Apparently the Houston Astros aren’t going to pursue additional starting pitching after announcing that Justin Verlander (shoulder) will open the season on the IL.

Oh, by the way, Michael Lorenzen is still out there, too. He’s not Snell or Montgomery, but he’s a solid swing guy whose lack of a job at this point is a mild surprise. Then again, Ken Rosenthal seemed to suggest Lorenzen might be looking for a deal in the two-year, $20 million range, which I’m just not sure was ever going to be out there.

This is a fantastic read on what it’s like to be designated for assignment by your organization, and what life is like after that. We can’t ever forget that, to the players involved, it can be sudden, surprising, and essentially feel like being fired.

No surprise, but top pitching prospect Paul Skenes won’t make the Pirates’ Opening Day rotation. He has barely pitched as a professional, and although he may very well be good enough to compete against MLB hitters right now, I don’t really have a problem with the Pirates wanting to work with him a bit more in the minors before promoting him. The side benefit of getting an extra year of team control obviously is a factor for the Pirates, too, though they aren’t going to say it since they have reasonable cover otherwise.

The Pirates, by the way, have been without David Bednar this spring (lat tightness) and they also might be losing setup man Dauri Moreta for an extended period of time. The team anticipates the 27-year-old righty (who was quietly a stud last year) will be out for a while with an unspecified elbow injury.

Renderings time:

Together with @BIG_Architects and @HNTBCorp, we have unveiled the design for our new ballpark project in Las Vegas on the Tropicana site. BIG will serve as the design lead and HNTB as the sports/hospitality designer and architect of record.

Images by Negativ pic.twitter.com/mvpiCBXD54— Oakland A's (@Athletics) March 5, 2024

This is one of those things that’s been increasingly deployed on the running throw toward second base at the start of a double play (it’s just a hard one not to overthrow for some reason), but this seems like an unnecessarily extreme version:

Bounce pass double play?

BOUNCE PASS DOUBLE PLAY 😳 @UIBaseball pic.twitter.com/5ng1Q5du5n
— B/R Walk-Off (@BRWalkoff) March 6, 2024

Just under-hand toss it at that distance, right? Seems like it would get there just as quickly and be even less likely to go astray. (OPE UPDATE: As I typed this, someone replied to me on Twitter that the second baseman had actually specifically requested it at the time because the sun was in his eyes on anything thrown higher. OK. Well done, gents.)

Gonna re-up it here in case you missed it, because I think it has the potential to be very important in the future: Marquee is simulcasting a March 12 Cubs game locally over-the-air.

Not a sentence I expected to see today (and I definitely didn’t expect to see jerseys for the Malmö Oat Milkers):

Here Are Those Oatly-Themed Minor League Baseball Uniforms! https://t.co/zaK78dJctK
— Paul Lukas (@UniWatch) March 6, 2024

Sad Joey:

missing ball pic.twitter.com/r8ZG9gfU2i
— Joey Votto (@JoeyVotto) March 6, 2024

This just seems like a good idea, in addition to being fun and nice for fans who want it as an option:

Everyone has Major League dreams. Now it's your time to unlock them.

Announcing Road to The Show: Women Pave Their Way, a new way to play @MLBTheShow's Road to The Show mode as a female player! pic.twitter.com/BtpcQFPCpX— MLB (@MLB) March 5, 2024

It’s not as if professional women players don’t exist at this point. Moreover, to anyone who complains, this cracked me up:

I’m very mad the MLB The Show has lady baseball players. Now if you’ll excuse me, my Cubs team with Babe Ruth and Mike Trout is about to start their game in a stadium built into a mountain.— 🤌🏼Super Nintendo Chalmers🤌🏼 (@snchalmers79) March 6, 2024

Any excuse to use this magnificent clipping:

https://t.co/2PSziSs8Ye pic.twitter.com/mZ9xcn63BB
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) March 6, 2024

written by

Brett Taylor

Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

Montgomery and Snell Still Waiting, Injuries Around Baseball, Skenes, Kilian, and Other Cubs Bullets

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