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Archives for May 2017

Marlins Claim Christian Colon, Designate Steve Lombardozzi

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The Marlins have claimed infielder Christian Colon off waivers from the Royals, per a club announcement. Miami designated fellow infielder Steve Lombardozzi to create roster space.

[Related: Updated Miami Marlins depth chart]

Colon, who just turned 28, had played a limited role thus far for Kansas City in 2017 and was designated for assignment recently. He carried a .263/.323/.329 batting line over 348 plate appearances in his four seasons with the Royals. While that fell far shy of expectations when Colon was taken with the fourth overall pick of the 2010 draft, he did end up playing a notable role in the organization’s 2014-15 postseason runs.

The Marlins have scrambled to find infield help over the past several weeks amidst a wave of injuries. Colon will now take the place of Lombardozzi, who was hitless in eight plate appearances. He has appeared in just 34 MLB games since the start of the 2014 season, but had been a regular contributor for the Nationals before that. Lombardozzi opened the current season at Triple-A New Orleans, where he slashed .250/.289/.317 over 129 plate appearances. He seems likely to clear outright waivers and return to New Orleans, though due the fact that he’s been outrighted earlier in his career, he’d also have the ability to reject that assignment and elect free agency

Mets Place Asdrubal Cabrera On 10-Day DL, Move Jeurys Familia To 60-Day DL

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The Mets have placed shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera on the 10-day DL, per a club announcement. His active roster spot will go to reliever Neil Ramirez, whose signing was made official, with the 40-man spot cleared by moving Jeurys Familia to the 60-day DL.

[Related: Updated New York Mets depth chart]

Cabrera has a sprained left thumb, per the club announcement. The specifics of that injury had caused some confusion recently. While Cabrera seemingly believed there was a ligament tear, the club stated that the issue with the thumb is limited to the joint.

It’s not immediately clear just how long Cabrera will be down, though perhaps there’s some cause for optimism. After all, he had been trying to play through the injury, so it may be that a sufficient rest will allow it to fully heal without a long layoff or rehab stint.

What does seem apparent is that the Mets won’t immediately dip into their farm to call up top prospect Amed Rosario. Though he has performed admirably at Triple-A, reports suggest that the club isn’t interested in bumping Rosario to the majors in the near-term.

Cabrera, 31, has been hitting somewhat below his recent levels through 33 games of action. Over 127 plate appearances, he owns a  .257/.339/.381 batting line with three home runs. While that’s a big step back from his power numbers from last year — 23 total long balls and a .474 slugging percentage — Cabrera had ticked up in the plate-discipline department, with just twenty strikeouts against eleven walks.

Indians Promote Bradley Zimmer, Designate Carlos Frias

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The Indians have selected the contract of top outfield prospect Bradley Zimmer, per a club announcement. To create 40-man roster space, the team designated righty Carlos Frias.

Cleveland also announced a few other corresponding moves. Righty Shawn Armstrong was recalled, as well, creating a need for two active roster spots. Those were cleared by placing outfielder Abraham Almonte on the 10-day DL and optioning utilityman Yandy Diaz.

[Related: Updated Cleveland Indians depth chart]

Zimmer, now 24, has been seen as a key future piece for the Indians ever since he was taken with the 21st overall pick of the draft back in 2014. (He spoke with MLBTR’s Steve Adams earlier that year.) He has been a consensus top-100 prospect entering each of the past two seasons, though he fell in some rankings due to a so-so 2016 campaign. In advance of the current campaign, MLB.com slotted Zimmer 22nd, Fangraphs had him at #45, Baseball America ranked him 62nd (now up to 54th in their updated list), and Baseball Prospectus had him at 80th. ESPN.com’s Keith Law dropped Zimmer out of his own top-100.

Bradley Zimmer | Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The reasons for concern were rather clear. While Zimmer has the tools — raw power, good speed, and a quality glove that plays up the middle — he hadn’t yet put it all together. In 557 plate appearances in the upper minors last season, he slashed .250/.365/.425 with 15 home runs and 38 steals. But the bulk of the damage came at Double-A; over his 150 trips to the plate at the highest level of the minors, Zimmer went down on strikes 37.3% of the time. The left-handed hitter also turned in a rough overall .179/.343/.250 batting line against left-handed pitching.

As MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian wrote this spring, Zimmer has worked hard to upgrade his swing mechanics. And that seems to be paying dividends. He hit well in the Arizona Fall League and has been clicking thus far at Triple-A, with a .294/.371/.532 slash. The swing-and-miss will likely always be a part of his game — Zimmer currently carries a 29.9% strikeout rate on the year — but he’s showing an ability to make more and better contact thus far. He has also reversed his results against southpaws — albeit in quite a small sample. Coupled with a typically selective approach, and some untapped power potential, there’s reason to hope that Zimmer could blossom into a high-end major league piece.

The move comes with potential contract implications. Zimmer will have the opportunity to accumulate as many as 138 days of MLB service this year, so long as he can hold onto an active roster spot the rest of the way. If he can stick in the majors from here on out, then, he’d have a solid chance of qualifying for an addition year of arbitration after the conclusion of the 2019 season. The cutoff for Super Two status has ranged between 2.122 and 2.146 years of service over the past eight years, landing at 2.131 last season. Regardless, the Indians will control him through at least 2023.

That all depends upon Cleveland’s intentions — as well as Zimmer’s performance. While this could constitute only a brief preview, the fact that the Indians moved him onto the 40-man roster suggests the team intends to rely on him for more than a temporary patch. So long as Zimmer is up for any extended period, it seems likely he’ll see fairly regular action — meaning he could have a chance to play himself into a permanent role for the defending American League champs.

To add Zimmer meant clearing space on the roster, so the Indians elected to bump Frias, who was acquired over the winter. The 27-year-old had struggled through 17 frames at Triple-A this year, allowing 17 earned runs while recording just eight strikeouts to go with nine walks. Over three years of action with the Dodgers at the major league level, splitting his time between starting and relieving, he has worked to a 4.50 ERA in 114 frames.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Mets To Sign Neil Ramirez

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The Mets have agreed to a deal with free-agent righty Neil Ramirez, per Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter). Ramirez, who just hit the open market after rejecting an outright assignment, will receive a major league pact.

[Related: Updated New York Mets depth chart]

Ramirez, 27, opened the season with the Giants before being claimed off waivers by the Blue Jays. He was designated and outrighted before seeing any action with Toronto, though, and just went unclaimed the second time through the wire.

New York will need to place Ramirez on its active roster, as he’s out of minor league options and thus cannot be sent down without first clearing waivers. The club will evidently be banking on Ramirez’s peripherals turning around his results. He gave up 15 earned runs in 10 1/3 innings with San Francisco, but also managed an 18:4 K/BB ratio with a strong 12.6% swinging-strike rate while dealing with some clear evidence of bad luck (.500 BABIP; 33.0% strand rate). The right-hander once looked like a potential long-term piece in the Cubs’ bullpen after coming over from the Rangers organization as a PTBNL in the Matt Garza trade, but shoulder and triceps injuries have slowed his career.

AL Central Notes: Infante, White Sox, Jimenez, AJax

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It has been a long and winding path back to the big leagues for White Sox righty Gregory Infante, as Dan Hayes of CSN Chicago writes. After briefly making his MLB debut at 22 years of age, the now-29-year-old had bounced around the upper minors waiting for another shot. That finally came after Infante threw 13 dominant innings at Triple-A Charlotte to open the current season, earning him a ticket back to the majors. “I am very happy and glad to get this opportunity,” Infante said. “The last seven years were tough years, but I also worked a lot in the last seven to get to this point because this is where you want to be as a player.”

  • That White Sox bullpen of which Infante is now a member figures to draw plenty of attention over the coming months. With a variety of interesting arms — closer David Robertson, injured setup man Nate Jones, and suddenly interesting righties Tommy Kahnle and Anthony Swarzak — on hand, the rebuilding organization could be in quite a nice selling position at the deadline. In the meantime, manager Rick Renteria tells Hayes, the organization plans to carry eight relievers — helping to spread the burden in the pen and alleviate any innings shortages from the rotation.
  • Tigers reliever Joe Jimenez is expected to miss about a month with a back injury, writes John Wagner of the Toledo Blade. Jimenez, 22, has been working at Triple-A after a rough debut in the majors. Since his demotion, Jimenez has continued the dominant path he charted over the preceding four seasons, racking up 13 strikeouts against four hits and two walks over 6 1/3 scoreless innings. Had that continued, he may well have been positioned to return to the bigs in relatively short order. Instead, he’ll first have to rehab the injury.
  • Indians outfielder Austin Jackson appears to be progressing from his toe injury, as Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports on Twitter. The veteran is with the club today, participating in agility drills and baserunning work. It’s not clear whether he’ll require a brief rehab stint once he’s back to health, but presumably he’ll be ready for MLB duty in relatively short order once his toe is healed.

NL East Notes: Nationals, Rosario, Cespedes, Straily

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While the Nationals still hold the best record in the National League, the team’s bullpen struggles remain a real concern, as Thomas Boswell of the Washington Post writes. Boswell acknowledges the benefit of hindsight but points out that the very trade that brought the Nats a closer last summer (Mark Melancon) cost them a much-needed future piece, as left-hander Felipe Rivero went to the Pirates in that deal. Rivero, 25, has a 0.87 ERA in 20 games for the Bucs this season, while the Washington relief corps has one of baseball’s worst bullpens, in terms of ERA. Manager Dusty Baker acknowledged to Boswell that the bullpen is a problem but suggested that there’s no quick fix at this time. “You’re always pushing for a trade, but ain’t nobody trading right now,” said Baker. “Sometimes you have no choice but to have patience. Nobody is going to drop you down a knockdown closer out of the sky until there’s some teams out of it. We have to look from within right now.”

More from the NL East…

  • While Boswell focuses heavily on the need for a closer, Dave Cameron of Fangraphs observes that for the Nationals, it’s not just a matter of finding a closer. A league-average bullpen could get the Nats to the postseason, but that won’t cut it in the playoffs, Cameron notes. Washington is likely in need of at least two quality relief arms this summer, and Cameron posits that the team could look to add multiple pitchers in a single trade. He speculates that the pairing of Ryan Madson and Sean Doolittle from the A’s (assuming Doolittle is healthy) or Tommy Kahnle and David Robertson from the White Sox could be plausible fits.
  • The Mets are considering a DL stint for shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera, but even if he does land on the shelf, top prospect Amed Rosario isn’t a consideration for a callup, writes Mike Puma of the New York Post. Mets assistant GM John Ricco told reporters that while the team is happy with Rosario’s performance in Triple-A, the general thought is that the 21-year-old still needs more time to round out his development. Also of note: Ricco refuted the notion that Cabrera has sustained a torn ligament in his thumb. “The ligament is not affected,” said Ricco. “It’s a joint. We have to see how he feels [Tuesday]. To his credit, he wants to keep fighting.” Cabrera himself, however, told Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News on Sunday that he had torn a ligament in his thumb.
  • Ackert also writes that Yoenis Cespedes is close to beginning a running program and could be a week to 10 days from returning to the Mets. Ricco stated that Cespedes will “have to ramp up a couple days” but has been getting at-bats in extended Spring Training already. She also reports that left-hander Steven Matz and right-hander Seth Lugo will both throw bullpen sessions tomorrow and go out on Class-A Advanced rehab assignments on Thursday.
  • Marlins right-hander Dan Straily allowed just one hit in tonight’s start against the Astros but exited after five innings. Straily was struck on the right forearm by a line drive off the bat of Evan Gattis that was smoked at 108.3 mph, per Statcast (h/t: MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro). Straily was able to make his scheduled plate appearances the next inning (though he only bunted), and Frisaro tweets that the righty said after the game that he escaped serious injury. Straily said the ball struck more muscle than bone, and while there’s obviously some swelling, he expects to make his next start.

Injury Notes: Giants, Red Sox, Indians, Jays, Jankowski

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The Giants announced tonight that right fielder Hunter Pence has been placed on the 10-day disabled list due to a left hamstring strain. Fellow outfielder Mac Williamson is up from Triple-A Sacramento to take Pence’s spot on the roster. The loss of Pence is the latest blow to a Giants roster that has seen a number of key players go down with injuries this year, though Pence’s performance hasn’t been anywhere near what one would expect from the typically productive slugger. The 34-year-old has been at least 18 percent better than the league-average hitter in each of the past four seasons, per park-adjusted metrics OPS+ and wRC+, and he’s batted a combined .281/.339/.463 in that time. However, this year, he’s mustered just a .243/.289/.338 batting line through his first 149 plate appearances.

A few more notable injury scenarios from around the league…

  • Giants closer Mark Melancon is on the mend and appears to be progressing well, as the right-hander told reporters that he threw a 22-pitch mound session today (Twitter links via John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle and Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. Melancon said that he was “pretty much full go,” and Pavlovic notes that he can be activated as soon as tomorrow. Derek Law has been filling in as San Francisco’s closer with Melancon on the shelf.
  • An MRI of Drew Pomeranz’s left triceps didn’t reveal any new injuries, and the Red Sox lefty has been cleared to resume baseball activities, tweets Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. News on Tyler Thornburg, though, isn’t as good. The Sox are still trying to get to the bottom of the shoulder woes Thornburg is experiencing, as Evan Drellich of CSNNE.com tweets. Thornburg is set for additional testing and medical consultations this week. He has yet to take the hill since arriving in Boston via trade over the winter.
  • The Indians will be without Brandon Guyer for the next four to six weeks due to a sprained left wrist, manager Terry Francona told reporters today (via MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian). Guyer will be completely shut down for a week before he begins the next phase of his rehab. Bastian also notes that ace Corey Kluber tossed a 20-pitch session today but still needs a more aggressive mound session and a simulated game before he’s cleared to begin a rehab assignment. And if those injuries aren’t enough for Cleveland, the Indians’ No. 2 starter, Carlos Carrasco, exited tonight’s game with tightness in his left pectoral muscle (Twitter link via Bastian). There’s no word on the severity of that issue, though it seems reasonable to expect further word following the completion of tonight’s game.
  • Steve Pearce became the latest member of the Blue Jays to land on the disabled list, as the infielder/outfielder suffered a calf injury last night and was placed on the 10-day DL today following an MRI. The Jays announced the injury as a right calf strain and did not offer a timeline on Pearce’s absence. Right-hander Leonel Campos is up from Triple-A to give the relief corps a quick boost, though as Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith tweets, that gives the Jays a two-man bench and a nine-man bullpen. As such, it seems likely that a reliever will be sent down soon. On a more positive note for Toronto fans, the team also announced that Troy Tulowitzki began a rehab assignment today, suggesting that he’s quite near to a return.
  • Padres outfielder Travis Jankowski has been on the DL since late April, and MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell now tweets that it’ll be at least another six weeks before the defensive standout is ready to return to the team. Jankowski hit the DL with what was termed a “deep bone bruise,” though reports at the time suggested that doctors believed there could be a hairline fracture in his foot. Per Cassavell, Jankowski’s most recent tests did indeed reveal a fracture, which lengthens the amount of time that he’ll be away from the club.

D-Backs Unlikely To Sign Doug Fister

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The Diamondbacks are probably out of the mix for free-agent righty Doug Fister, GM Mike Hazen tells FanRag’s Jack Magruder (Twitter link). Last week, reports had indicated that Fister was likely to sign in the near future, with Arizona being mentioned as one prominent possibility.

Fister made sense as a depth option for the Snakes following the season-ending injury to Shelby Miller, but it seems as though they’ll stick with internal options. Zack Greinke has reestablished himself as an ace atop the rotation in his second season with Arizona, with Patrick Corbin, Taijuan Walker and Robbie Ray occupying the next three spots in the starting five. Right-hander Zack Godley has been outstanding in two starts as well, and the D-backs also have right-hander Braden Shipley and left-hander Anthony Banda on the 40-man roster and in the Triple-A rotation.

[Related: Arizona Diamondbacks depth chart]

SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo mentioned the D-backs, Mets, Giants, Angels and Blue Jays as possible landing spots for Fister, though Joel Sherman of the New York Post has since suggested that Fister won’t land with the Mets or Jays (or the Marlins, for that matter). That leaves the Giants and Angels as possibilities from that initial list, and Sherman did note that the Halos were believed to be one serious consideration. FanRag’s Jon Heyman, though, suggested that an NL team was likelier to sign Fister when first reporting that a deal was close.

It’s been mostly quiet on Fister since the initial reports of his market heating up, and it remains unclear if that market has changed for some reason or if perhaps his proximity to an agreement was overstated. Fister remains arguably the top unsigned player on the market, though it’s also been awhile since he’s been an above-average contributor in the Majors. The right-hander’s velocity has plummeted in recent seasons, and though he proved himself a durable rotation piece last year (32 starts, 180 1/3 innings for Houston), interest in him has seemingly been tepid.

Perhaps Fister’s camp is waiting to see if an injury with another club creates an opportunity that does not presently exist, but he’ll presumably need quite a bit of time to ramp up to the point where he’s ready to join a rotation after sitting out Spring Training and the season’s fist six weeks.

Diamondbacks Place A.J. Pollock On DL, Designate Enrique Burgos

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The Diamondbacks announced that they’ve placed center fielder A.J. Pollock on the 10-day disabled list due to a right groin strain and selected the contract of fellow outfielder Reymond Fuentes from Triple-A Reno. In order to clear a spot for Fuentes on the 40-man roster, Arizona has designated right-hander Enrique Burgos for assignment.

[Related: Updated Arizona Diamondbacks depth chart]

The loss of Pollock, even for a brief time, is a tough blow for a D-backs club that has gotten off to a strong 21-18 start. The 29-year-old Pollock’s early play has been a big factor in Arizona’s winning record, as he’s slashed .299/.337/.455 with a pair of homers and 11 stolen bases through his first 163 plate appearances. To this point, Arizona hasn’t put any sort of timetable on Pollock’s recovery.

Burgos, 26, spent the majority of the 2015-16 seasons in the Arizona bullpen, but he struggled to consistently retire Major League hitters despite excellent fastball velocity. Though he averages nearly 96 mph on his heater and has punched out 82 batters in 68 1/3 Major League innings (10.8 K/9), he’s also averaged five walks per nine innings and generated grounders at a below-average 38.7 percent clip. Overall, he’s logged just a 5.27 ERA as a big leaguer.

Burgos turned in a stellar 1.95 ERA in 27 2/3 innings with Arizona’s Triple-A affiliate in 2016, but he’s registered a bleak 6.23 ERA with a lackluster 13-to-11 K/BB ratio in 13 2/3 innings with Reno’s bullpen thus far in 2017.

Fuentes, on the other hand, has been excellent in Reno, hitting .376/.403/.481 with eight doubles, three triples and nine steals in nine attempts to open the year. Fuentes was once a well-regarded outfield prospect that went from Boston to San Diego (alongside Anthony Rizzo) as part of the 2010 Adrian Gonzalez blockbuster. However, he’s stumbled more often than not in the upper minors and also hasn’t produced in his 80 MLB plate appearances to date. Fuentes can play all three outfield spots, so he and veteran Gregor Blanco could slot into the mix in center field with Pollock on the shelf. Chris Owings also has some experience in center field, so the D-backs could give him a look there on occasion and turn to Nick Ahmed at shortstop on those days.

Brewers Designate Jhan Marinez For Assignment

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The Brewers announced that they’ve designated right-hander Jhan Marinez for assignment and recalled lefty Brent Suter to take his place on the roster. The move makes the 27-year-old Suter the lone southpaw on what had been an entirely right-handed Brewers pitching staff.

[Related: Updated Milwaukee Brewers depth chart]

Marinez, 28, was acquired from the Rays in exchange for cash last season. The right-hander turned in a strong performance with the 2016 Brewers, logging a 3.22 ERA with 7.2 K/9 against 3.2 BB/9 in 58 2/3 innings, but he’s struggled to a 5.40 earned run average through his first 16 2/3 innings in 2017. More troubling, perhaps, is that after walking just 21 hitters all last season, Marinez has already issued 11 free passes.

Marinez does average nearly 95 mph on his fastball and has logged a 51.9 percent ground-ball rate across the past two seasons, so it’s possible that he could hold some intrigue to clubs in need of bullpen depth. However, he’s also out of minor league options (likely the primary factor behind Milwaukee designating him for assignment), so any club that picks him up will have to carry him on its 25-man roster.

Suter has seen action with the Brewers in each of the past two seasons, pitching a total of 29 innings with a 3.72 ERA, 6.2 K/9, 2.8 BB/9 and a 42.2 percent ground-ball rate. However, he’s also been shelled by lefties in the Majors, as same-handed opponents have clobbered him at a .356/.408/.511 clip. That production has come in an admittedly minuscule sample of 49 plate appearances, but Suter has never dominated southpaw hitters in the upper-minors, either.

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