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Archives for August 2020

Mike Clevinger Violates Coronavirus Protocols

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Indians right-hander Mike Clevinger has violated their coronavirus protocols, the team announced (via Ryan Lewis of Ohio.com). Clevinger was scheduled to start for the Indians against the Cubs on Tuesday, but they’ll go with fellow righty Adam Plutko instead.

Clevinger’s violations came on the road against the White Sox over the weekend, as did fellow starter Zach Plesac’s. It turns out that the two were out on the town in Chicago together, and then Clevinger took a flight with the Indians, Jeff Passan of ESPN tweets. The Indians ended up dismissing Plesac from the team on a temporary basis. Clevinger, for his part, must quarantine for 72 hours and test negative for the coronavirus before he’s eligible to rejoin the club.

The main hope is that neither of these players’ decisions will negatively affect others, including their teammates. On the field, the two have been rather effective parts of the Indians’ rotation. Clevinger has generally offered the Indians front-line results since 2017.

Angels Designate Jose Rodriguez

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The Angels have designated righty Jose Rodriguez for assignment, per a club announcement. His 40-man spot was needed for southpaw Jose Suarez, who was reinstated from the injured list and optioned to the team’s alternate training site.

Soon to turn 25, Rodriguez first reached the majors in 2019 as a swingman for the Halos. He has only allowed six earned runs in 21 1/3 MLB innings, but he has managed only a 13:12 K/BB ratio and has also coughed up five long balls. The Angels obviously don’t expect that high-wire act to continue succeeding.

If and when he earns his way back to the bigs, the 22-year-old Suarez will hope to improve upon a challenging debut season. He was tagged for 23 long balls and limped to a 7.11 ERA in 81 frames last year. The Los Angeles organization will certainly remain patient given Suarez’s history of high strikeout rates as a minor-league starter.

Cardinals-Tigers Doubleheader Postponed

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The Cardinals’ next scheduled matchup will be postponed, per a league announcement. The team had been set to resume play on Thursday in a doubleheader against the Tigers.

This is only the latest in a string of cancellations that have threatened the viability of the 2020 season for the venerable St. Louis organization. The club has completed just five games, while some competitors have already logged 17 contests.

It’s obviously necessary to err well on the side of caution given the worryingly broad spread of COVID-19 in the clubhouse. But the result is equally obvious: the length of the layoff makes it hard to imagine the Cards will complete anything approaching a 60-game campaign.

The earliest the Cardinals will resume play is Friday, when they’re scheduled to head to Chicago. The latest round of testing did not feature any new positives, which seems promising. But any further setbacks would pose significant questions to the league.

Diamondbacks Place Madison Bumgarner On Injured List, Select Jeremy Beasley

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4:01pm: The team has selected the contract of righty Jeremy Beasley and activated him to fulfill the open active roster spot. Beasley, a former 30th-round pick, gets his first taste of the majors after pitching to a 4.49 ERA in 122 1/3 innings in the upper minors last year.

3:47pm: The Diamondbacks have placed lefty Madison Bumgarner on the injured list, GM Mike Hazen told reporters including Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic (via Twitter). He’s said to be dealing with a mid-back strain.

The hope at this point is that Bumgarner won’t be sidelined for an extended stretch. But even a few missed outings could put a rather significant dent in his overall contribution in a shortened 2020 season.

More broadly, it’d probably be good news if a fairly minor back issue helps explain Bumgarner’s early struggles. The 31-year-old’s past two starts have been duds; he has allowed an eye-popping six home runs while registering just four strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings.

Red Sox Release Brian Johnson

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The Red Sox have released lefty Brian Johnson, according to Christopher Smith of MassLive.com (via Twitter). He did not have a place on the team’s 40-man roster but was in the 60-man player pool.

Johnson, 29, was a useful swingman for the Boston club back in 2018. He threw 99 1/3 frames that year, working to a 4.17 ERA with 7.9 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9. Things turned south last year, however, as Johnson saw his walk rate (5.1 BB/9) and ERA (6.02) skyrocket.

It sounds as if the decision was driven by Johnson himself. Though the organization has been scrambling a bit for innings, he hasn’t drawn another chance. It seems the southpaw will now go out looking for a new opportunity with another organization.

Brewers Reinstate Luis Urias, Designate Logan Morrison

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The Brewers have reinstated infielder Luis Urias from the injured list. He had been sidelined due to a COVID-19 diagnosis.

To open roster space, the Milwaukee organization has designated veteran first baseman Logan Morrison for assignment. He could conceivably remain with the team if he clears waivers and the club wants to keep him in the 60-man player pool.

Urias came to the Brew Crew along with Eric Lauer in the swap that sent Trent Grisham and Zach Davies to the Padres. The Friars have received strong initial production on their side of the deal, though it’s obviously far too soon to declare a winner.

Through about a half-season of total MLB play, Urias has struggled to a .221/.318/.331 batting line with six home runs. But the former top-100 prospect has ripped up Triple-A pitching for a cumulative .305/.403/.511 output over 887 plate appearances.

Morrison, soon to turn 33, has seen his MLB opportunities wane in recent seasons. He struggled in 28 plate appearances early this season in Milwaukee. In his eleven major league campaigns, LoMo has launched 140 long balls and produced a .238/.323/.425 slash.

Mariners Claim Brady Lail, Designate Patrick Wisdom

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The Mariners announced Monday that they’ve claimed right-hander Brady Lail off waivers from the White Sox and designated infielder Patrick Wisdom for assignment.

Lail, 27, made his big league debut with the Yankees in 2019 but pitched just 2 2/3 innings in his lone appearance with the club. It was a similar tale with the ChiSox, who got Lail into one game for 1 1/3 innings of work prior to designating the right-hander for assignment. He’s struggled in the upper minors as a starter, but he moved to the bullpen full-time a couple years back and has since enjoyed much better results. In 49 1/3 frames between Double-A and Triple-A in 2019, Lail pitched to a 3.83 ERA with 12.2 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9.

Wisdom, 28, hasn’t appeared in the Majors with Seattle since signing with them over the winter. He’s a career .224/.306/.408 hitter in 86 MLB plate appearances and a .252/.328/.478 hitter in parts of four Triple-A seasons. Wisdom struggled quite a bit in his first run through Triple-A, but he’s slugged 77 homers in three seasons since that time while oscillating between the Majors and Minors. He has experience at all four corner positions.

Marcus Stroman Opts Out Of 2020 Season

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The Mets announced Monday that right-hander Marcus Stroman has opted out of the remainder of the 2020 season. The right-hander, who is a free agent at season’s end, called the move a family decision and cited the many “uncertainties” and “unknowns” of playing in the current health-and-safety atmosphere.

This obviously represents a major blow to the Mets’ hopes in 2020. While Stroman will forgo the remainder of his $12MM salary, it isn’t as if there’s an obvious way for the team to reinvest it for a player of similar quality — at least, not without giving up substantial prospect value via trade.

The decision puts a bow on the Mets’ end of last summer’s trade that brought Stroman to Queens. Adding him cost two promising young starters: Anthony Kay and Simeon Woods Richardson. The club remained competitive late in 2019 but was already in too deep a hole to make a postseason run. And now Stroman won’t throw a pitch in the 2020 campaign.

It all sets up several intriguing contract situations in the future. Stroman, who had been on the injured list, did not opt out until after he had reached six full years of MLB service. That means he’ll still qualify for free agency. Whether the Mets will extend Stroman a qualifying offer, as once seemed sure, remains to be seen. And it’ll be interesting to see how the open market treats the high-quality 29-year-old.

Stroman is now listed among the players around the game that have opted out of the 2020 season.

Twins Sign Casey Lawrence, Outright Aaron Whitefield

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The Twins have inked right-hander Casey Lawrence to a minor league deal and assigned him to their alternate training site in St. Paul, per The Athletic’s Dan Hayes (Twitter link). Meanwhile, outfielder Aaron Whitefield has cleared waivers and been assigned outright to the minor leagues. Being outrighted to the minors versus the alternate training site is a notable distinction, as it indicates that Whitefield is no longer in the team’s 60-player pool. He won’t be eligible to return to Minnesota’s pool in 2020 (though he could still technically be traded elsewhere). The Twins had 59 players in their pool.

Lawrence, 32, has seen action in a pair of big league seasons without much success. In 78 2/3 innings between the Blue Jays and Mariners, he was knocked around for a 6.64 ERA with a 66-to-35 K/BB ratio (five of the walks were intentional) and a 48.6 percent grounder rate. However, he also has a career 3.73 ERA with 7.0 K/9 against 1.7 BB/9 in parts of five Triple-A seasons.

Lawrence actually signed a minor league deal with Minnesota back in January, although he wasn’t ever included in the team’s player pool and was seemingly cut loose at some point between the conclusion of Spring Training and today’s re-signing. The Twins currently have Zack Littell, Homer Bailey and Rich Hill on the injured list, which prompted the team to select Cory Gearrin’s contract yesterday. Bringing Lawrence into the mix gives them another experienced arm to stash in St. Paul should they need a long reliever at some point.

As for Whitefield, he made just one plate appearance and appeared in three games with the Twins this year. That marked the 23-year-old Aussie’s MLB debut, but he was destined for a limited role from the moment the Twins put him on the Opening Day roster. Whitefield was a late add to Minnesota’s player pool and was carried primarily for pinch-running and late-inning defensive purposes. He’s a career .238/.299/.338 hitter in the minors but has gone 115-for-148 (77.7 percent) in stolen base attempts through just 357 games in the Twins’ system.

Dodgers Place Joe Kelly On Injured List

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The Dodgers announced that right-handed reliever Joe Kelly has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to inflammation in his right shoulder. No timeline for his return was provided. The Dodgers have recalled lefty Adam Kolarek in his place.

Kelly is still facing an eight-game suspension after throwing a fastball near Alex Bregman’s head and swapping verbal jabs with Carlos Correa, all of which eventually led to bench-clearing confrontation. He’s in the process of appealing the punishment, and a hearing on that front is set for today, tweets Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times.

The 32-year-old Kelly had a rough first season in L.A., pitching to a 4.56 ERA in 51 1/3 frames after inking a three-year, $25MM deal in the preceding offseason. He was hit hard in the playoffs as well. This year, he’s rattled off 6 1/3 shutout innings to begin the shortened campaign, although the five walks he’s yielded in that time are still a red flag. Kelly’s 97.1 mph average fastball in 2020 is still well above the league average, but it’s down about two miles per hour from its 2017 peak and down nearly a mile per hour off last year’s mark.

With Kelly out until at least next week, the Dodgers will lean move heavily on fellow righties Blake Treinen, Pedro Baez and Brusdar Graterol to set up for closer Kenley Jansen. Kolarek will give the club a fourth southpaw option to match up with opposing lineups, joining Caleb Ferguson, Scott Alexander and Jake McGee.

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