Premise: Nicasio is in the early stages of recovering from a clean-up procedure on his knee and is expected to be ready for spring training, Greg Johns of MLB.com reports. The veteran reliever battled bone chips and swelling in his right knee on two separate occasions this season, finally opting for surgery to address the issue in late August. Nicasio flashed excellent strikeout upside and control in 2018 on his way to a 53:5 K:BB, but a trio of relief outings which he allowed at least three earned runs helped lead to a 6.00 ERA.
Hypothesis: Nicasio battled bone chips and swelling in his knees on two separate occasions this season.