Michael Pérez - Page 7 - MLB News, Rumors, & Updates

Bounces back in second sim game Poche tossed a scoreless inning in Sunday's simulated game and looked much sharper than in his first outing Thursday, Juan Toribio of MLB.com reports.

Impact Poche needed just 13 pitches to get through the trio of Mike Brosseau and Joey Wendle, inducing flyouts from the pair before recording a swinging strikeout of Michael Perez. Poche mentioned he'd been working on upping his use of the slider after his first sim game Thursday, but he'd been notably less precise with his control in that appearance. The 26-year-old southpaw is looking to solidify his bullpen spot after a rocky six-appearance Grapefruit League stint (7.94 ERA across 5.2 innings).

JULY 13, 2020 • ROTOWIRE

Bat could be key to roster spot Both Smith's handedness and bat could give him an upper hand in the backup catcher job battle, Juan Toribio of MLB.com reports.

Impact Smith is battling Michael Perez and Chris Herrmann to slot in behind starting backstop Mike Zunino, and he has a couple of factors that may ultimately tip the scales in his favor. One is the fact Smith is the only right-handed hitter among the trio, and another is that he's coming off a 2019 season with the Angels during which he posted career highs in exit velocity (89.4 mph) and expected batting average (.294). Furthermore, while Smith's average slumped to a serviceable .251 last season, it's worth noting he'd generated much stronger .283 and .292 figures in that category in 2017 and 2018, respectively. The 31-year-old was hitting .263 (5-for-19) with four RBI and five runs across nine Grapefruit League games before spring training was suspended.

MARCH 21, 2020 • ROTOWIRE