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Archives for April 2019

Injury Notes: Trout, Jeffress, Benintendi, Cobb, LeBlanc

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Angels megastar Mike Trout, who has been unavailable for several days due to a groin injury, has shown improvement and will rejoin the Angels for their series in Texas, per Jeff Fletcher of the Southern California News Group. He remains day-to-day and it is yet unclear when he will be ready to return to the lineup, but the update is certainly welcome news for the Angels. Trout exited the Angels’ April 9 contest with the Brewers after suffering a right groin strain and remained in Los Angeles while the rest of the team traveled to Chicago. The club has managed well in Trout’s absence, finishing a three-game sweep of the Brewers and winning one of two games against the Cubs, with Sunday’s rubber match postponed. The news should certainly inspire some optimism for Angels fans, who have collectively been holding their breath since Trout’s injury. Considering the circumstances, it would feel like the best-case scenario for the Halos to get their franchise cornerstone back after just a handful of games, a stretch in which the team has maintained its winning form.

Here are the latest updates on other injuries from around Major League Baseball…

  • Brewers reliever Jeremy Jeffress has completed his rehab assignment and will rejoin the Brewers on Monday, per Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Jeffress, a stalwart of the Brewers’ dynamic bullpen in 2018, has been on the shelf for the beginning of the season with a shoulder issue, which has since been resolved, says Haudricourt. He will join Josh Hader in a Milwaukee bullpen that will be without Corey Knebel, who underwent Tommy John surgery earlier this season.
  • In Sunday’s victory over the Orioles, Red Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi fouled a ball sharply off his right foot and had to exit the game. In some good news for the Sox, though, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reports that x-rays on Benintendi’s foot returned negative results, though Benintendi will be day-to-day with a foot contusion.  He was replaced in left field by Blake Swihart on Sunday, who could continue to serve as Benintendi’s substitute if he misses any time.
  • Orioles righty Alex Cobb, out since April 6 with a lumbar strain, won’t come off the IL when first eligible, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com was among those to report. It doesn’t appear Cobb will miss much more time, however. Manager Brandon Hyde indicated he could start during the Orioles’ upcoming series against the Twins, which runs from April 19-21. Cobb pitched well in his lone start of the season, an April 4 loss to the Yankees in which he threw 5 2/3 innings of two-run ball.
  • Seattle Mariners southpaw Wade LeBlanc will miss 4-6 weeks with a grade 2 oblique strain, skipper Scott Servais told reporters, including The Athletic’s Corey Brock (Twitter link). With LeBlanc headed to the 10-day IL, the team has called up right-hander Erik Swanson from Triple-A. Swanson will take LeBlanc’s place in the starting rotation and is slated to make his first Major League start on Wednesday.

Brewers Acquire David Freitas From Mariners

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The Brewers and Mariners have made a trade, per a Mariners team announcement. The Brewers will acquire catcher David Freitas from Seattle in exchange for minor league pitcher Sal Biasi. Freitas will report to Triple-A with his new team.

In Freitas, who had been playing in Triple-A, the Brewers will add veteran catching depth. The 30-year-old appeared in 36 games with Seattle last season, after spending several years in the minor leagues with the Nationals, Athletics, Orioles, Cubs, and Braves organizations. In 106 Major League plate appearances in 2018, Freitas posted an unimpressive .215/.277/.312 slash line. However, his Triple-A numbers in the last two seasons have been more encouraging: Freitas worked to a .955 OPS in 36 games in 2018, and the early returns in 2019 have been equally promising. He will enter the Brewers’ catching mix behind Yasmani Grandal and Manny Pina, with Jacob Nottingham also on the 40-man roster. Though opportunities at the MLB level may be limited behind the Grandal/Pina combination, Freitas should slot in as the third catcher if needed.

In return, the Mariners will acquire Sal Biasi, a 23-year-old right-handed relief pitcher currently at the Class-A level. Biasi was the Royals’ 11th-round selection in the 2017 draft, but was traded last season to Milwaukee in a minor-league swap. In 116 career minor league innings, Biasi has posted a solid 3.26 ERA and an even 9.0 K/9, compared to 3.9 BB/9. He will represent added depth to the M’s improving farm system.

 

Dodgers Option Dennis Santana, Recall Josh Sborz

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The Dodgers have optioned right-handed pitcher Dennis Santana to Triple-A Oklahoma City and will recall fellow righty Josh Sborz to take his place on the active roster, according to Ken Gurnick of MLB.com.

The move represents a bullpen swap for the Dodgers, who have struggled to settle on a stable option to round out the bullpen. Santana, just 23 years of age, had appeared in three games for the Dodgers, compiling six strikeouts in five innings of work. However, he allowed six hits and walked four batters in that span. Santana’s promotion came after the Dodgers demoted Brock Stewart, who opened the season as the team’s long reliever; now, it appears that the Dodgers will once again look elsewhere to fill the role.

Enter Sborz, a 25-year old right-hander who has yet to debut in the Major Leagues. A second-round selection of the Dodgers in 2015, will get his first taste of the big leagues after throwing two scoreless appearances for the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate to start the season. Last season marked his first in a full-time bullpen role; he had previously functioned as a starting pitcher in his professional career. At Triple-A in 2018, Sborz struck out 47 batters in 37 innings of work and did not allow a single home run.

Braves Place Arodys Vizcaino On IL, Option Sean Newcomb

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The Braves have placed closer Arodys Vizcaino on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to April 11, and optioned left-hander Sean Newcomb to Triple-A Gwinnett, Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets. In corresponding moves, the team recalled righties Jacob Webb and Dan Winkler from Gwinnett.

Vizcaino has been battling shoulder inflammation, which is part of the reason why he hasn’t pitched since April 7. This is the second straight year in which Vizcaino has dealt with shoulder problems. He did open the season in decent fashion, though, with four innings of one-run, three-hit ball and six strikeouts against three walks. His absence should lead to more save opportunities for co-closer A.J. Minter, who converted his lone chance on April 8.

Newcomb, 25, emerged as a capable starter for the Braves from 2017-18, when he combined for a 4.06 ERA/4.16 FIP and 9.14 K/9 over 264 innings. However, Newcomb walked 4.7 batters per nine during that span and has continued to fight control problems this year. Prior to his demotion, Newcomb posted more walks (eight) than strikeouts (five) across his first three starts, during which he yielded a combined six earned runs. There’s no indication how long Newcomb will stay in the minors, but for now, his rotation spot is likely to go to fellow promising youngster Touki Toussaint. The just-recalled righty impressed during six innings of relief in a win over the Mets on Saturday.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Surprises, Clevinger, Gore, Stroman

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This week in baseball blogs…

Submissions: ZachBBWI @gmail.com

Matt Moore To Undergo Knee Surgery

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Tigers left-hander Matt Moore will undergo surgery on his injured right knee Wednesday, Jason Beck of MLB.com reports. It’s unclear how much time Moore will miss, though he’s hoping to sit out just four to six weeks, per Beck.

Moore, who damaged his meniscus April 7, had been rehabbing in hopes of avoiding surgery. However, the 29-year-old “did not feel improvement,” Beck notes. Moore had gotten off to a marvelous start prior to the injury, as he tossed 10 innings of scoreless, three-hit ball with nine strikeouts, one walk and a 59.1 percent groundball rate. It was an especially encouraging run considering Moore scuffled over the past few years with the Rays, Giants and Rangers. As a result, the former elite prospect had to settle for a $2.5MM deal with rebuilding Detroit in the offseason.

It’s not yet known who will slide into the Tigers’ rotation during Moore’s absence, though southpaws Daniel Norris and Blaine Hardy may be the most likely candidates on their 25-man roster. Two Triple-A starters, Ryan Carpenter and Matt Hall, are also members of Detroit’s 40-man. To this point, the Tigers have only needed five starters, including Moore. Not only did he give them tremendous production before going on the IL, but Matthew Boyd has pitched like a breakout star, while Jordan Zimmermann, Tyson Ross and Spencer Turnbull have served as fine complements. Their performances have helped make up for the loss of righty Michael Fulmer, who won’t pitch this year after undergoing Tommy John surgery last month, and have been instrumental in the Tigers’ 8-6 start.

Indians Select Carlos Gonzalez’s Contract

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SUNDAY: The Indians have selected Gonzalez’s contract, per a team announcement. In corresponding moves, they optioned right-hander Jefry Rodriguez to the minors and transferred righty Mike Clevinger to the 60-day injured list.

SATURDAY, 11:37AM: Gonzalez is expected to join the roster before the Indians’ Sunday afternoon game against the Royals, as per Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

9:29AM: The Indians will select the contract of outfielder Carlos Gonzalez from Triple-A, according to reporter Jorge Urribarri (Twitter link).  As per the terms of Gonzalez’s minor league deal, he’ll now earn a guaranteed $2MM for making the Major League roster, plus another $1MM is available in incentive bonuses.  Cleveland’s 40-man roster is full, so at least one more move will need to be made to accommodate Gonzalez on the MLB roster.

With the promotion, Gonzalez won’t have to face a decision about an April 20 opt-out date in his minors contract, though it seemed pretty likely that he would be back in the big leagues relatively soon given the unsettled state of the Tribe’s outfield.  The man they call “CarGo” also did his best to force the issue by posting a 1.004 OPS over 29 Triple-A plate appearances.

Gonzalez signed with Cleveland in mid-March, ending what had been a pretty quiet trip through free agency for the 33-year-old, as least in terms of known rumors.  The veteran was forced to settle for a non-guaranteed pact in the wake of a season that saw him hit .276/.329/.467 with 16 homers in 504 plate appearances for the Rockies — respectable numbers on paper, if still below-average offensive production (96 wRC+, 98 OPS+) considering the Coors Field factor.

On a more positive note, Gonzalez was worth 1.7 fWAR after a sub replacement-level (-0.1 fWAR) season in 2017, and he also had his best year on the basepaths in years, as per a +3.6 grade in Fangraphs’ Base Running metric.  Gonzalez also had something of a rebound defensively, with a +6.9 UZR/150 over 1004 1/3 innings as a right fielder in 2018 and a +2 Outs Above Average rating via StatCast, though the Defensive Runs Saved (-8) metric was much more negative about his glovework.

Cleveland entered the season with one of the shakier outfield situations in baseball, especially among contending teams.  While Leonys Martin has been a bright spot in center field and Tyler Naquin has performed well as the regular right fielder, Jake Bauers, Jordan Luplow, and Greg Allen are all off to dreadful starts.  Gonzalez figures to take the bulk of right field time from Naquin, though it leaves something of an imperfect fit since Gonzalez, Naquin, and Bauers (the top corner outfield options) are all left-handed hitters.  This situation figures to lead to fewer at-bats for Hanley Ramirez in the DH role, as Ramirez may only see action whenever the Tribe faces left-handed pitching.

MLB Announces Archer, Puig Suspensions

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APRIL 14: Archer will begin serving his five-game suspension today, Adam Berry of MLB.com tweets.

APRIL 9: Major League Baseball announced several suspensions today arising out of a review of Sunday’s bench-clearing brawl between the Pirates and Reds. You can take your own look at the incident in question right here.

Pittsburgh right-hander Chris Archer was hit with a five-game ban, with the league determining that he intentionally threw at an opposing player (Derek Dietrich). Cincinnati outfielder Yasiel Puig received a two-game suspension while skipper David Bell will sit out one contest.

All of the punishments also came with undisclosed fines. It is not yet clear whether Archer will appeal, but Puig and Bell are planning to begin serving their bans beginning with this evening’s contest.

Mets Notes: Vargas, Keuchel

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Jason Vargas’ miserable Mets tenure took another sour turn Saturday in Atlanta, where the southpaw was unable to survive the first inning against the division-rival Braves. Vargas retired just one of the six batters he faced, the others reaching on two singles and three walks, and allowed four earned runs. After the game, an 11-7 loss for the Mets, manager Mickey Callaway brought up the possibility of skipping Vargas’ next start, per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com.

“He’s just not getting outs at this point,” Callaway said. “That’s really all I can say.”

Callaway already passed over a Vargas start earlier this season, but he’s hesitant to pull him from the rotation entirely because of a lack of alternatives, DiComo relays. Outside of the Mets’ rotation, Triple-A left-hander Hector Santiago is the most experienced starter in the organization. The offseason minor league signing’s not on the Mets’ 40-man roster and hasn’t been an effective major leaguer over the past few years, however. Meanwhile, Corey Oswalt, Chris Flexen, Walker Lockett and Drew Gagnon are occupying 40-man spots, though no one from that group has enjoyed any big league success in limited action. Relievers Seth Lugo and Robert Gsellman have dabbled as starters, and Callaway did mention them as potential Vargas replacements (via Mike Puma of the New York Post), but moving either to the rotation would weaken the bullpen.

The Mets’ best bet may be to sign free-agent lefty Dallas Keuchel, who’s somehow still without a job in mid-April despite an excellent track record in the bigs. The former Astro’s asking price has dropped in recent weeks, which could make him more appealing to the Mets, yet there’s “much skepticism” they’ll add Keuchel, Puma reports. The two sides have been in contact dating back to at least last month, though, and if things don’t improve at the back end of their rotation soon, perhaps the Mets will earnestly pursue Keuchel. Even if the Mets were to ink Keuchel right now, it’s unclear when the 31-year-old would be ready to step into their rotation, given that he hasn’t pitched in a game (meaningful or exhibition) since last October. He’d likely need time to ramp up, which would still leave the Mets with a less-than-ideal situation for a little while.

The club signed Vargas to a two-year, $16MM deal prior to last season with the expectation he’d serve as an acceptable back-end complement to Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Zack Wheeler and Steven Matz. Instead, the 36-year-old has pitched to a valueless 6.32 ERA/5.22 FIP in 98 1/3 innings and averaged fewer than five frames per start since receiving his contract. Vargas has no doubt been a liability in New York, and whether the team can continue to rely on him as it vies for a title in the uber-competitive NL East is very much in question.

Tigers Place Jordy Mercer On Injured List

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SUNDAY: The Tigers will recall Rodriguez to replace Mercer, per Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press.

SATURDAY: The Tigers will place shortstop Jordy Mercer on the 10-day injured list because of a right quad strain, the team announced. They’ll make a corresponding move Sunday, Chris McCosky of the Detroit News tweets.

This injury continues a rough start to the season for Mercer, a longtime Pirate who joined the Tigers for a guaranteed $5.25MM in free agency. While the 32-year-old has never posed much of a threat with the bat, Mercer’s .233/.298/.326 line in 47 plate appearances this season looks underwhelming even by his standards. Offensive shortcomings aside, Mercer has managed to carve out a useful major league career, having totaled anywhere from 1.0 to 2.0 fWAR in five different seasons.

With Mercer heading to the shelf, it’s unclear which Tiger will receive the bulk of the work at shortstop in his absence. Gordon Beckham replaced him in Saturday’s game, though he’s not the most confidence-inspiring option. The team also has utilityman Niko Goodrum, who started 10 games at short in 2018, with 40-man middle infield possibilities Ronny Rodriguez, Dawel Lugo and Willi Castro in Triple-A Toledo. The Tigers do have a 40-man opening, though, leading McCosky to note that they could select veteran Pete Kozma from their top minor league affiliate.

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