Luke Weaver hasn’t pitched since Monday due to a sore forearm. His status for the start of the season should be considered a question mark at this juncture, with Reds manager David Bell telling reporters that "we’d have to push pretty hard to get him ready for Opening Day."
Despite the ominous nature of forearm-related injuries, Weaver’s issue seems to be run-of-the-mills spring soreness. He might throw a bullpen session in a few days’ time. Even if the health concern is essentially just a minor speed bumpb, though, the right-hander will have little time to fully build his arm strength in advance of Opening Day at March's end.
Weaver was projected to be Cincinnati’s fourth starter, with his injury creating another wrinkle in what was already a battle for the fifth starter’s job. Connor Overton, Luis Cessa, Brandon Williamson, and non-roster invitee Chase Anderson were all in the running for the final rotation job.
Two of those pitchers might now earn jobs if Weaver needs to miss regular-season time. Cessa is also a bit of a question mark for workload-related reasons, as he has been away from the team as part of Mexico's World Baseball Classic team and might need to build up his arm strength before he is ready for major league action. Even if Cessa is unable to scratch the rotation, Bell like's the right-hander for relief work.
Elsewhere in the NL Central, manager David Ross provided media (including MLB.com) with an update on Seiya Suzuki, who continues to recover from an oblique strain. Suzuki will likely need to begin the season on the injured list, but he has been steadily increasing his workouts, including some light baseball activities within the last week.
Hayden Wesneski has become the favorite for the fifth starter role on Ross' team, per 'The Athletic'’s Sahadev Sharma, which could mean that Adrian Sampson will begin the season as a depth starter at Triple-A. Wesneski made his MLB debut last season, posting an impressive 2.18 ERA, 25% strikeout rate and 5.3% walk rate over the small sample size of 33 innings.
Besides Sampson, Javier Assad is also still in the competition for a rotation job, though Assad has been amassing his innings with Mexico's WBC team, rather than in spring training. Sharma feels Assad might have a path to Chicago’s roster as a reliever rather than as a starter, especially if Keegan Thompson’s velocity continues to be inconsistent.
In a final note, this one with the Brewers, Milwaukee has been working Owen Miller out in center field, as the team attempts to give itself another outfield option to help fill for the injuries to Tyrone Taylor and top prospect Garrett Mitchell.
Miller relished the positional adventure, saying, “It’s good to get game reps like that. I’ll keep working every day to see as many balls out there as I can."
Acquired in a trade from the Guardians over the offseason, Miller has seen action at all four infield positions (primarily first and second base) during his two MLB seasons with Cleveland. He has all of one Triple-A game under his belt in the outfield. Becoming even more versatile can only help Miller’s chances of carving out a spot on Milwaukee’s roster.
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