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Archives for September 2018

Latest On Brandon Morrow

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While the Cubs aren’t giving up hope that closer Brandon Morrow will make it back to the majors this year, manager Joe Maddon did not paint a terribly optimistic picture in comments to reporters including MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat. Morrow has been out since mid-July with a biceps injury.

Notably, the 34-year-old hurler has yet to begin throwing from a mound. Even if he’s cleared to do so in the near-term, Maddon explains, there’s simply a crunch for time. As the skipper put it, there is “barely” enough room on the calendar for a return late this month.

That’s obviously worrisome news for a club that’s trying to protect a three-game lead in the division and launch an extended postseason run. Morrow, who signed a two-year, $21MM deal in the offseason, had been in excellent form to open the year. In his first 30 2/3 frames in a Cubs uniform, he racked up 22 saves and posted a 1.47 ERA with 9.1 K/9 against 2.6 BB/9.

Whatever one may think of the Cubs’ replacement options when trying to protect late-game leads, the absence of Morrow greatly diminishes the overall vitality of the club’s relief unit. Of course, his long history of injury problems helps explain why the Chicago organization got such a reasonable price on a pitcher coming off of a dominant season.

At the time of the injury, the hope seemed to be that Morrow would only need a brief respite. How the Cubs weighed the uncertainy in plotting mid-season moves isn’t really known. The club picked up Brandon Kintzler and Jesse Chavez, but did not land a pitcher who’d clearly function as a replacement. While the former has more experience as a late-inning reliever, the latter has been far the better pitcher over the last several weeks.

Now, with the deadline to add postseason-eligible players from outside the organization already having passed, the Cubs won’t be able to do anything to bolster their bullpen other than add some late-regular-season depth. Fortunately, there are a few worthwhile options still on hand. Kintzler and Chavez are still beneath Pedro Strop,  Steve Cishek, and Carl Edwards Jr., on the Cubs’ depth chart. Each of those three righties has high-leverage experience and a sub-3.00 ERA for the 2018 season.

Perhaps it’s still hypothetically possible for Morrow to return in the postseason, even if he’s not able to make it back before the calendar flips to October. That would be complicated by the lack of rehab outing possibilities, but certainly isn’t outside the realm of possibility — particularly for an organization that recently engineered an even more dramatic postseason injury return.

Mike Rizzo Suggests Dave Martinez Will Return As Nationals Skipper

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In comments to the media today, Nationals president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo suggested that manager Dave Martinez is expected to stay in his position in 2019. Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com was among those on the scene (Twitter links).

Martinez has overseen a roughly .500 effort from the Nats this season, his debut campaign as a MLB manager and his first year with the organization. Needless to say, the outcomes have fallen well shy of the lofty expectations held both inside and outside the organization for a talented roster.

On the one hand, it’s not terribly surprising to hear that Martinez is expected to get another shot. “I haven’t considered any other scenario,” says Rizzo, seemingly affirming that the plan — on his end, at least — is to stay with a skipper who surely can’t be blamed for all of the team’s travails. Martinez initially signed a three-year deal, so two more campaigns remain on his contract.

On the other, this is a team that has seen loads of managerial upheaval in recent seasons, even while turning in outstanding overall results in terms of regular-season wins and losses. And Martinez has been on the receiving end of rumors of clubhouse problems, though it’s still difficult to assess those accusations and the organization’s feelings on the matter.

It’s only fair to note that, this time last year, it also seemed Dusty Baker was destined to remain in D.C. Even after another disheartening postseason exit, it was tough to pin the blame on the veteran manager. Still, he ended up not being asked back, kicking off a search that ended with the hiring of Martinez.

While there’s time yet for things to change, then, it seems the expectation ought to be that Martinez will remain in the gig for at least one more season. Rizzo says, unsurprisingly, that the organization believes it still has the core pieces in place to build a highly-competitive roster for 2019, so it seems that Martinez will be under pressure to deliver results from the jump.

Orioles Release Craig Gentry

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The Orioles announced Wednesday that they’ve released outfielder Craig Gentry. He’d been designated for assignment on Aug. 31 when the club began its September roster expansion. Additionally, the O’s announced that infielder Steve Wilkerson has been recalled from Triple-A and will join the club for the remainder of the season.

Gentry, 34, appeared in 68 games for Baltimore this season and posted a .269/.321/.346 with a homer, five doubles, two triples and a dozen steals (in 15 tries) over the life of 169 plate appearances. He’s spent most of the past two seasons as a reserve with the Orioles organization, serving as a defense- and baserunning-focused backup outfielder. The former 10th-round pick (Rangers, 2006) has a long history in that sort of role, though he hasn’t amassed even 200 plate appearances in a season since 2014.

Overall, he’s a career .262/.333/.339 hitter with solid but unspectacular numbers against left-handed pitching and more troublesome numbers against righties. He’s consistently drawn solid marks for his glovework in the outfield, and 2018 was no exception (+6 DRS, +2.2 UZR, +3 Outs Above Average in 386 innings).

As for Wilkerson, the versatile 26-year-old will be getting his second look with the O’s after a brief seven-game cup of coffee earlier this year. He batted .270/.329/.500 in a small 86-game sample in his first run at Triple-A this season and is a career .282/.342/.399 hitter in parts of three Double-A campaigns. Wilkerson, the Orioles’ eighth-round selection in the 2014 draft, has played all four infield positions and both corner outfield positions in his minor league career.

Royals Claim Ben Lively, Designate Eric Stout For Assignment

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The Royals have claimed right-hander Ben Lively off waivers from the Phillies, according to an announcement from both teams. To make room on the 40-man roster, the Royals have designated left-hander Eric Stout for assignment.

Lively, 26, will give the Royals yet another arm to evaluate as they stockpile potential rotation pieces for the 2019 season and beyond. The right-hander, originally acquired by the Phils in the 2014 trade that sent Marlon Byrd to the Reds, has a minor league option remaining beyond the current season, so the Royals will be able to shuttle him back and forth between Omaha and the Majors next year — in the event that Lively survives the offseason on Kansas City’s 40-man roster.

It’s been a tough season for Lively, who has missed time with a shoulder injury. He’s been hit hard to the tune of a 6.85 ERA in a tiny sample of 23 2/3 Major League innings this season, though his Triple-A work — 2.42 ERA, 8.1 K/9, 2.6 BB/9, 0.52 HR/9, 42.3 percent ground-ball rate in 52 innings — has been decidedly more encouraging. Lively ranked in the bottom half of the Phillies’ top 30 prospects in 2016-17, per Baseball America, drawing praise as a potential fifth starter at the big league level with average to fringe-average stuff across the board.

Lively has a 2.97 ERA in 266 2/3 career innings of Triple-A work, making him a more or less MLB-ready asset on which the Royals are taking a chance. He also turned in a 4.26 ERA with less-encouraging peripheral marks through 88 2/3 innings with the Phils last season. The move to the American League probably won’t help Lively much, though he’s going from a homer-friendly home setting, Citizens Bank Park, to a fairly cavernous one in Kauffman Stadium.

Stout, 25, was beat up for seven runs (six earned) in just 2 1/3 innings with the Royals earlier this season. Though he posted solid bottom-line numbers at Triple-A in 2017, his pedestrian K/BB numbers, low ground-ball rate and good fortune on homers allowed contributed to an FIP (4.24) and xFIP (5.26) that were markedly higher than last season’s 2.99 ERA. Through 55 Triple-A frames in 2018, he has indeed regressed, working to a 4.75 ERA with 7.2 K/9, 2.1 BB/9, 0.82 HR/9 and a 37.8 percent grounder rate. Lefties have posted a .725 OPS against Stout between the Majors and Minors this season, though to his credit, he held same-handed opponents to a putrid .193/.264/.301 slash with a 22.5 percent strikeout rate against a 7.5 percent walk rate in Omaha a year ago.

AL West Notes: Mariners, Deetz, Rangers

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Tensions boiled over in the Mariners’ clubhouse yesterday, as a physical altercation broke out and briefly spilled beyond the closed doors where the media waited on the other side, as Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times was among the many to report. According to Divish, Dee Gordon and Jean Segura may have been at the center of the quarrel after Gordon misplayed a ball in center field, though no players were willing to divulge any real details. Robinson Cano, one of the players who could be seen breaking up the skirmish, simply said following the incident that “Everybody’s good.”

Manager Scott Servais wasn’t in the clubhouse at the time but told reporters that such incidents are more common than most would think. “I played for 11 years in the big leagues and it’s almost every year with every team I’ve been a part of,” the manager explained. Seattle has fallen to 5.5 games back from a Wild Card spot as it attempts to end the game’s longest playoff drought. With a combined six games remaining against the Yankees and A’s, who currently hold those Wild Card spots, plus 10 games against the last-place Orioles, Padres and Rangers, there’s still time for the Mariners to turn things around.

More from the division…

  • The Astros called up right-hander Dean Deetz as part of yesterday’s latest slate of September additions. The righty spoke to reporters about the 80-game PED suspension he served earlier this season, which will prevent him from being postseason-eligible this year regardless of how well he performs this month (link via MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart). Deetz still maintained that he never knowingly took a banned substance and went through a roller-coaster swing of emotions upon learning he’d tested positive. “I got a call literally three or four days after I got put on the [40-man roster],” he said. “I went from being really excited to the toughest news I ever heard.” Deetz, 24, pitched to a ridiculous 0.79 ERA in 34 Triple-A innings this season, averaging 13.2 strikeouts, 4.8 walks and 0.26 homers per nine innings pitched. This promotion will be his first exposure to big league opponents, and he figures to be in the mix for a bullpen spot in Spring Training next year.
  • Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News looks ahead to the future of the Rangers’ rotation, delving into the possibility of the team adopting the increasingly popular “opener” trend in 2019 as well as the argument and reasoning for doing so. While there’s little in the way of certainty on the Rangers’ roster at present, Grant notes that veteran righty Edinson Volquez, who signed a two-year minor league contract last year, is progressing well in his rehab from Tommy John surgery and could be on the cusp of facing live hitters. Volquez is expected to vie for a starting job next year alongside Mike Minor and at least one young, internal option. Texas could opt to pursue a veteran piece who could develop into a trade chip this winter or could stick with internal options and focus on adding some relievers, depending on how aggressively Jon Daniels & Co. want to pursue the “opener” methodology.

Phillies Notes: Jordan, Kingery, Franco

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Some further changes are on the horizon in the Phillies’ front office, as farm director Joe Jordan has stepped away from the organization, Matt Gelb of The Athletic writes (subscription link). The Phillies have since confirmed Jordan’s departure. Gelb characterizes a “rift” between Jordan and the new front office, headed by GM Matt Klentak and president Andy MacPhail. The 56-year-old Jordan told Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia that he “had the greatest job” but “walked into [Klentak’s] office and told him I didn’t think I was the guy to take this thing forward.” Jordan had held that position since being hired by Ruben Amaro back in 2011 but knew both Klentak and MacPhail from prior experience working with the pair in the Orioles’ front office. Gelb’s column details Jordan’s departure at length, noting that increased usage of data, analytics and Trackman technology at the minor league levels have all been implemented under the new regime — among numerous other changes.

A bit more out of Philadelphia…

  • Phillies skipper Gabe Kapler tells Scott Labuer of the Philadelphia Inquirer that the organization isn’t planning on assigning one set position to super-utilityman Scott Kingery at any point in the near future. Kingery has played shortstop primarily over the past couple of months but is also seen as an option at second, third and in the outfield. “The most sensitive, direct, and understanding way I can answer this question  is that we don’t know,” Kapler says in response to questions of Kingery’s placement on the diamond in the long-term. Lauber also speaks at length with Cardinals third base coach and former big league utilityman Jose Oquendo about the manner in which Kingery has been used, as Oquendo himself was once one of the game’s most prominent utility pieces. Oquendo offers some veteran insight as a former player who thrived in that role for years, stressing that as long as the player buys in, he can enjoy success in that role. As Lauber notes, Kingery’s versatility should afford the front office plenty of flexibility in the offseason.
  • Salisbury also writes that third baseman Maikel Franco is likely headed to meet with a specialist to have his ailing right wrist examined today. Franco was among the Phils’ hottest hitters for much of July and in early August, but his bat has faded as he’s played through considerable pain. With the 26-year-old Franco currently unavailable, trade acquisition Asdrubal Cabrera has been logging most of the time at third base. The Phillies did bring J.P. Crawford up as part of their slate of September call-ups and, paired with Kingery, that gives them several options to fill out the left side of the diamond. Pedro Florimon is also back with the big league club as an infield option on the left side.

Danny Duffy Shut Down For Remainder Of Season

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Sept. 5: Manager Ned Yost confirmed that Duffy’s season is over, Flanagan tweets. With the team’s most veteran arm done for the year, Jakob Junis will be the most experienced arm heading up a six-man rotation. Brad Keller, Heath Fillmyer, Jorge Lopez, Eric Skoglund and Glenn Sparkman could all be in line for starts down the stretch.

[Related: Kansas City Royals depth chart]

Sept. 4: Royals left-hander Danny Duffy exited tonight’s start after being charged with three runs in just two-thirds of an inning, with the team later announcing that he exited due to a left shoulder impingement. Following the game, Duffy told Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com that he expects to be shut down for the rest of the season (Twitter link).

While there’s been no formal declaration from the team just yet, the Royals have every reason to exercise caution. Kansas City was mathematically eliminated from postseason contention quite some time ago and was never considered a contender heading into the season. Duffy is quite arguably the team’s most important starter, as he’s owed $46MM from 2019-21 as part of a five-year, $65MM contract extension he signed prior to the 2017 season. He already missed 10 days due to a left shoulder impingement last month, and he’d struggled for much of the season even before landing on the disabled list.

Duffy, 29, was the Royals’ best starter from 2016-17 but saw his ERA balloon to 4.88 following today’s ugly outing. His strikeout rate has remained in line with his mark from 2017, but Duffy’s walk, home-run, ground-ball, line-drive, hard-contact and swinging-strike rates have all gone in the wrong direction. Prior to tonight’s start, Statcast measured the average exit velocity of balls in play against Duffy to be up by 2.1 mph from 2017 — further lending credence to the notion that he’s surrendering far too much hard contact on the season.

Had Duffy been healthier in 2018, he’d no doubt have seen his name kicked around the rumor circuit in the weeks leading up to the non-waiver trade deadline — and possibly even into the month of August. However, there’s little reason to think the Royals would even entertain the thought of selling low on Duffy. In fact, the Royals may not even be eyeing as lengthy of a rebuild as was once expected. General manager Dayton Moore told the Kansas City Star’s Maria Torres back in late July that he and his front office deliberately targeted upper-level prospects in some of this summer’s trades, hoping to infuse some youth into the roster and to put together a more competitive club as soon as 2019 or 2020.

Blue Jays Will Reportedly Acquire Julian Merryweather As PTBNL In Josh Donaldson Trade

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The Blue Jays will acquire right-hander Julian Merryweather as the player to be named later in the Josh Donaldson trade, tweets Fancred’s Jon Heyman. Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com tweeted at the time of the deal that Merryweather “was rumored” to eventually be Toronto-bound, while Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi tweeted more recently that Merryweather “is expected” to eventually be announced as the PTBNL.

An official announcement doesn’t seem likely to happen until after the season. The 26-year-old Merryweather underwent Tommy John surgery during Spring Training and has spent the season on the minor league disabled list. Because he’s not healthy enough to begin a rehab assignment, he won’t be passed through waivers before the end of the season, so it seems that a formal announcement could yet be more than a month away.

Prior to the 2018 season, Baseball America ranked Merryweather 17th among Indians farmhands, praising a fastball that reaches 97 mph with regularity, an above-average but inconsistent changeup and another pair of potentially average breaking pitches (slider, curve).

Merryweather breezed through Double-A last year as a 25-year-old, pitching to a 3.38 ERA with a 52-to-10 K/BB ratio and a 48.9 percent ground-ball rate in 50 2/3 innings. He was too homer-prone in a later stint at Triple-A, leading to a 6.58 ERA, but his K/BB numbers and ground-ball tendencies remained strong. Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen wrote shortly after his promotion to Triple-A last year that both his changeup and curveball could be plus offerings, calling Merryweather a potential mid-rotation starter.

While the Blue Jays will assuredly exercise caution when working Merryweather back from Tommy John surgery next spring, he’ll give the team an arm that could help either in the bullpen or in the rotation as soon as next summer. And, because Merryweather didn’t spent the 2018 season on the Major League disabled list, he didn’t accrue any MLB service time and will thus remain controllable through at least the 2024 season — if not the 2025 campaign.

That proximity to the Majors, it seems, was enough for the Jays to deem Merryweather a more appealing and more valuable piece than the draft pick they’d have received upon extending a qualifying offer to Donaldson and allowing him to test free agency. (Indeed, GM Ross Atkins told Sportsnet’s Arash Madani that the PTBNL is someone the organization considers to be an “exciting upper-level talent.”) It’s also possible, perhaps even likely, that the team simply didn’t feel comfortable making that type of offer to Donaldson on the heels of his injury-ruined season — especially with wunderkind Vladimir Guerrero Jr. waiting in the wings to hold down third base for the foreseeable future.

AL Central Notes: Sano, Abreu, Duffy, Phillips

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Twins slugger Miguel Sano had to be carted off the field Tuesday after suffering an apparent left leg injury upon sliding into second base (video link via MLB.com). That’s the same leg that caused Sano to miss the final few weeks of the 2017 season — an injury that ultimately led to surgery to insert a titanium rod into his shin. Initial x-rays on the injury were negative, according to the team, and Sano has been diagnosed with a bruised lower leg, although there figure to be further evaluations and updates after the game. Whether lingering effect from that offseason procedure have impacted Sano isn’t clear, but the 2018 campaign has been a nightmare for the former top prospect. A year after hitting .264/.352/.507 with 28 homers in 483 plate appearances, Sano has struggled to a dismal .202/.285/.405 slash with a 37.6 percent strikeout rate.

More news out of the AL Central…

  • White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu told reporters today that the surgery he underwent two weeks ago was to repair a testicular torsion, as Daryl Van-Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times writes. The issue “blindsided” Abreu and prompted emergency surgery, but the 31-year-old Abreu thankfully revealed that he is in good health and possibly even nearing a return to the playing field. Abreu expressed optimism about being able to play in a game this weekend, though Van Schouwen notes that both manager Rick Renteria and GM Rick Hahn offered a more cautious timetable and said Abreu could miss another week or so. For now, Abreu is doing light cardio exercises as he works his way back.
  • The Royals announced tonight that left-hander Danny Duffy exited tonight’s start with a shoulder impingement and shoulder tightness. Further details haven’t yet been made available, but Duffy already missed 10 days last month due to an impingement in his left shoulder, making continued symptoms all the more troubling. The 28-year-old lefty lasted just two-thirds of an inning and saw was charged with three runs, causing his ERA to balloon to 4.88 on the year. Center fielder Brett Phillips, meanwhile, was announced as day-to-day with a shoulder contusion after crashing into the outfield wall at top speed.

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