Diamondbacks News
Diamondbacks’ Ildemaro Vargas named NL Player of the Month by Tyler Drake [Arizona Sports]
The honor comes a week after Vargas took home NL Player of the Week.
Vargas, who just saw his 27-game hitting streak end over the weekend, has been on a tear this season.
Over 22 games in April, Vargas slashed .372/.393/.663 with a 1.056 OPS. He recorded 32 hits (five home runs), 19 RBIs and three walks to 11 strikeouts. He was easily one of Arizona’s biggest standouts a month into the season.
Carlos Santana’s
Looming Return Quietly Creates Major D-backs Problem by Alex D’Agostino [SI]
Keeping Santana in the minor league system is not an option for Arizona at this stage of his career. He is obviously out of options at age 40, and he’s not going to be a player the team is quick to DFA based on an eight-game sample size, either. His defense and veteran presence in the clubhouse are both valuable, as much as fans or observers may not be able to tangibly measure that type of impact.
Santana will get playing time when he’s healthy, and that reality is inevitable. Ultimately, Santana playing and hitting well would benefit the D-backs, but the cost of reducing two other productive players’ playing time may not be worth the offensive production Santana can still provide.
Diamondbacks Have Nothing to Lose By Trying This Strategic Change by Alex D’Agostino [SI]
Frontloading an inning or two from a relief pitcher before allowing the starter to throw bulk frames could allow the D-backs to get their starter past the fifth or sixth inning more frequently, and could, in theory, allow the offense to get set up with an initial lead.
Because for as comeback-reliant as Arizona has been in recent seasons, it’s still no easy task to string together patient, thorough at-bats when staring down a multi-run deficit.
Even the most disciplined hitters can tend to press in those scenarios, and that’s been evident by a distinct lack of production from Arizona’s “big three” hitters of late.
Granted, utilizing an opener is not necessarily an effective method when it comes to avoiding excessive bullpen taxation, but it might lead to better in-game situations and set up the offense with more favorable scores.
Around the League
“THEEEE Yankees Win!” Sweep-capping rout a perfect homage to Sterling by Bryan Hoch [MLB]
“Seeing that tribute hit home, because he loved the Yankees – he loved this team, he loved this franchise, he loved the fans,” Judge said. “To do that there in the first, I was chuckling around the bases, thinking about what he was probably saying.”
Michael Kay and Suzyn Waldman laid bouquets across home plate before first pitch as both teams observed a moment of silence for Sterling, who passed away on Monday at 87.
After the final out, a recording of Sterling’s signature “Yankees win, theeee Yankees win!” call was played. Judge said he hopes to see that continue as a permanent stadium tradition.
How Mike Trout changed this winter to return to form by Buster Olney [ESPN]
“If you look at all of the great players, they tend to lean out over time,” Angels general manager Perry Minasian said. “Freddie Freeman, David Ortiz, a lot of guys.”
Trout changed his workout program, an adjustment that has carried into the 2026 regular season. In the past, he would do an upper-body workout twice a week, a lower-body regimen twice a week, and then take Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday off. Instead, he’s working out daily, but sometimes to activate his physiology instead of lifting heavier weights — he might do as few as eight reps of the same exercise and call it a day.
Trout hired a nutritionist and focused on eating less junk food on the couch before he goes to sleep, and along the way, his weight dropped to 230 pounds, which is about 8-to-10 pounds less than in previous seasons. He noticed an immediate difference late in the winter with how his legs and knees felt. As spring training games started, Trout had a goal to get back to a sprint speed of 30 feet per second — a target he hit a couple of times.
Tarik Skubal’s Injury Leaves Him – and the Tigers – In Uncertain Territory by Ben Clemens [FanGraphs]
There are no “good” injuries in baseball. Losing a player to the IL is never a fun time. But there’s still a relative hierarchy – not every injury is an equally big bummer. On Monday, we got one of those big bummers. The Tigers placed Tarik Skubal, the two-time reigning AL Cy Young winner, on the injured list. He’s slated to undergo surgery to remove loose bodies in his pitching elbow, as Evan Woodbery of MLive first reported.
Skubal had dealt with occasional pains in his arm throughout the season, as The Athletic’s Cody Stavenhagen reported. In his start last Wednesday, Skubal grimaced and grabbed his elbow in the seventh inning, sending a bevy of concerned Tigers staffers to the mound. He waved them off and struck out the side, but when his arm didn’t recover as much as expected in the aftermath of that start, the team had imaging done, revealing the need for surgery. This injury could alter the balance of power in the AL Central this year. More than that, it could change the trajectory of Skubal’s career. So let’s walk through the implications for the team, league, and player as we try to make sense of this unfortunate bit of news.
White Sox Sign Randal Grichuk by Anthony Franco [MLB Trade Rumors]
The White Sox and outfielder Randal Grichuk are in agreement on a major league deal, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. The Sox will need to make corresponding moves to open space for the Paragon Sports International client on the active and 40-man rosters.
Grichuk elected free agency just three days ago after being designated for assignment by the Yankees. The 34-year-old had broken camp on a minor league contract to work in a short side platoon role. He was essentially the last man on Aaron Boone’s bench and took more than two-thirds of his 33 plate appearances versus lefty pitching.
