Houston Astros All-Star Yordan Alvarez has a sore left hand that will keep him out of batting practice for a few days in spring training.
Alvarez told reporters on Tuesday that soreness in the hand was an issue at times last year and continued to “flare up a bit at times” during the offseason.
Despite the soreness, Alvarez hit .306 with 37 homers and 97 RBI and finished third in the AL MVP voting for the World Series champion Astros.
Speaking through a translator, Alvarez said he told team officials about the sore hand when he reported to camp.
“It’s just something we’re going to monitor,” said Alvarez, a native of Cuba. “I felt a little bit of discomfort but it’s something we’re going to monitor and work on. I’m going to take the next couple days off here like I did in the offseason and prepare but it’s not something that’s going to be an issue during the season.”
Alvarez had only three hits in the World Series, including a 450-foot, three-run homer that powered the Astros to a 4-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies in the decisive Game 6.
PIRATES: A guest of the Pittsburgh Pirates required emergency medical attention after suffering cardiac arrest while fielding fly balls on a practice field.
Ernie Withers, 69, was shagging balls at the team’s spring training complex when he had “a medical event” that required immediate attention and caused practice to stop.
Jacki Dezelski, president of the Manatee Chamber of Commerce in Bradenton, Florida, confirmed Withers is a member of her group that sometimes is invited to attend practices and retrieve balls near the fence during batting practice.
Dezelski said Withers suffered a cardiac arrest and was alert, talking and “doing well” following a procedure.
ROYALS: Aroldis Chapman can earn up to $8.75 million as part of his one-year contract with the Kansas City Royals if he regains a job as a regular closer.
The left-hander, who turns 35 on Feb. 28, is guaranteed $3.75 million under the deal announced Jan. 27.
Chapman can earn $2.5 million in performance bonuses based on games: $312,500 for 20 and for each additional five through 55. He also can earn $2.5 million based on games finished: $312,500 for 12 and for each additional four through 40.
He averaged 100.7 mph on his fastball in 2016 but dropped below 100 mph in 2018 and was at a career-low 97.5 last season. He was 4-4 with a 4.46 ERA last season for the Yankees, walking 28 and striking out 43 in 36 1/3 innings.
BREWERS: First baseman Luke Voit and outfielder Tyler Naquin agreed to minor league contracts and will report to major league spring training.
Voit, 32,hit .226 with 22 homers, 69 RBI, a .308 on-base percentage and a .402 slugging percentage in 135 games with San Diego and Washington last season. He became a free agent when the Nationals failed to offer a 2023 contract.
Naquin, who turns 32 on April 24, batted .229 with 11 homers, 46 RBI, a .282 on-base percentage and a .423 slugging percentage in 105 games for Cincinnati and the New York Mets last season.
METS: Phil Regan sued the New York Mets and former general manager Brodie Van Wagenen, alleging age discrimination and wrongful termination when he was moved out as pitching coach after the 2019 season.
Regan, a former big league pitcher who turns 86 in April, also claimed harassment and hostile work environment in a complaint filed Monday in New York Supreme Court in Queens.
“Phil came into an underperforming pitching staff and immediately righted the ship,” his lawyer, Matthew J. Blit, said in a statement Tuesday. “He helped lower the team ERA and brought the staff back to where it was supposed to be. Instead of rewarding him for his masterful performance he was tossed aside because of his age.”
Regan was 96-81 with a 3.84 ERA for Detroit, the Chicago Cubs and White Sox and the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1960-72 and was an All-Star in 1966. He managed the Baltimore Orioles to a 71-73 record and third-place finish in the AL East during the strike-shortened 1995 season.
He joined the Mets’ organization as pitching coach of Class A St. Lucie in 2009 and became minor league pitching coordinator in 2016.
New York fired pitching coach Dave Eiland on June 20, 2019, when the team was fourth in the NL East at 35-39 with a big league-high 16 blown saves and a 4.67 ERA, 20th among the 30 big league clubs. Regan became interim pitching coach, and the Mets lowered their ERA to 4.24 by the end of the season.
Regan was replaced on Dec. 8 by Jeremy Hefner, who was 33 at the time and still holds the job. Regan claimed in the suit the Mets offered him a minor league contract at reduced terms. Regan was listed last season as senior adviser, pitching development.
“BVW specifically informed Mr. Regan that he wasn’t being retained because of his age,” the suit said, referring to Van Wagenen by his initials.
The Mets declined comment and Van Wagenen, who was fired when Steve Cohen bought the team in November 2020, said he deferred to the team for any comment.
Regan’s suit contends the team “has further harassed and discriminated” against him by “further decreases in salary, further denials of opportunities which he deserved, and even a reduction in housing allowance.”
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