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Archives for May 2021

Luis Severino Targeted To Begin Rehab Assignment On Sunday

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Yankees right-hander Luis Severino continues to make his way back from Tommy John surgery, with a pair of big checkpoints on the horizon.  Manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including Pete Caldera of The Bergen Record) that Severino will toss a three-inning simulated game today, and if all goes well, Severino is expected to begin a rehab assignment on Sunday.

Severino underwent his TJ procedure in February 2020, so while his recovery is taking a bit longer than the usual timeline of 13-15 months, that probably isn’t unexpected given that Severino also missed most of the 2019 season.  Shoulder and lat problems limited Severino to only 20 1/3 combined innings in the regular season and postseason in 2019, so the Yankees will have essentially gone almost two and a half seasons without Severino before he is finally able to get back onto a big league mound.

It’s been a tough haul for a pitcher who looked like one of the better arms in the sport in 2017-18, when Severino made two All-Star teams and posted a 3.18 ERA/3.26 SIERA and 28.8% strikeout rate over 384 2/3 innings.  The Yankees haven’t usually worked out contract extensions in recent years, but they were impressed enough by Severino’s work to lock him up on a four-year, $40MM deal covering the 2019-22 seasons, with a $15MM club option ($2.75MM buyout) for 2023.  Between the shoulder issues and the Tommy John surgery, of course, Severino has barely pitched since signing that extension.

Given the long layoff, it might be optimistic to assume that Severino will immediately look like a front-of-the-rotation arm upon his return, though the Yankees will happily take anything close to that form.  New York has gotten strong results from its rotation as a whole this season, but Corey Kluber will now be sidelined through July and Jameson Taillon (who is himself returning from a long Tommy John rehab) has been inconsistent over 42 2/3 innings.

Minor MLB Transactions: 5/31/21

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The latest minor moves from around baseball:

  • The Orioles have released left-hander Josh Rogers, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com tweets. Rogers, soon to turn 27, was part of the return the Orioles received from the Yankees in a July 2018 trade centering on reliever Zack Britton. He wasn’t regarded as a high-end prospect at the time, and his stock took a hit when he underwent Tommy John surgery in July 2019. Rogers did appear in the majors with the Orioles during his first two seasons with the organization, but he could only muster an 8.65 ERA in 26 innings. While Rogers has returned to the mound at the Triple-A level this season after his TJ procedure, his struggles continued before the O’s cut him loose, evidenced by a 7.79 ERA in 17 1/3 frames.

Evan Longoria To Undergo MRI

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Giants third baseman Evan Longoria exited their win over the Angels on Monday with soreness in his right side. Longoria will undergo an MRI on Tuesday, though he’s hopeful that he isn’t dealing with a serious injury, Maria Guardado of MLB.com tweets.

The Giants entered 2021 mired in a four-year playoff drought, while Longoria has struggled of late in his own right, but the two have come alive again. San Francisco is 34-20, a half-game up in the National League West race, and Longoria has been one of its top contributors. The 35-year-old, formerly a standout with Tampa Bay, saw his numbers drop precipitously over the past few seasons, but the three-time All-Star has looked more like his younger self in 2021. He went 2-for-2 with a home run on Monday, raising his line to an outstanding .274/.360/.510 (140 wRC+) with nine homers in 178 plate appearances this season. Longoria’s success doesn’t seem to be a fluke, either, as he ranks near the top of the majors in most relevant Statcast categories.

San Francisco, which replaced Longoria with Mauricio Dubon on Monday, can only hope he will avoid a stint on the injured list. The Giants already have a few infielders on the IL in first basemen Brandon Belt and Darin Ruf and second baseman Tommy La Stella, the latter of whom won’t return until at least July.

Latest On Kevin Gausman

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MAY 31: Gausman’s MRI came back clean, and he’s optimistic he’ll make his next start, Kapler said (Twitter link via Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group).

MAY 30, 6:35PM: The hip problem has been bothering Gausman for weeks, manager Gabe Kapler told Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter links) and other reporters after the game.  The feeling is that Gausman should be able to keep pitching through the issue, though Gausman will get an MRI “for some peace of mind.”

6:16PM: Giants right-hander Kevin Gausman left today’s start after six innings due to tightness in his left hip, the team announced.  The removal was specified as being precautionary in nature, so it remains to be seen whether or not Gausman’s issue is anything serious or if the Giants were just taking it easy with their ace.

San Francisco already held a 5-0 lead over the Dodgers at the time of Gausman’s removal and he had thrown six innings, though the righty wasn’t showing any signs of fatigue.  Gausman had tossed only 72 pitches while allowing two hits over six scoreless frames of work.  In his final out of the sixth, however, Gausman did have to make a stretch to field a Matt Beaty grounder, which may have led to the hip problem.

Counting his quality start today, Gausman now has a tiny 1.40 ERA over 70 2/3 innings in 2021.  With a 30.86% strikeout rate, 5.95% walk rate, and a host of impressive Statcast numbers, Gausman has put himself in the early running for Cy Young Award consideration.  In addition to helping the Giants contend for a playoff spot, Gausman is also positioning himself as one of the top arms available in next winter’s free agent market.

Mets Make Several Roster Moves

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The Mets have reinstated first baseman Pete Alonso, outfielder Kevin Pillar and reliever Seth Lugo from the injured list, Tim Healey of Newsday was among those to report. In other moves, the Mets designated outfielder Cameron Maybin and right-hander Sam McWilliams for assignment; selected outfielder Mason Williams; and optioned outfielder Khalil Lee, catcher Patrick Mazeika and reliever Sean Reid-Foley.

The returns of Alonso, Pillar and Lugo (all previously reported) will add some reinforcements to a New York team that has been ravaged by injuries this year. Despite their health issues, though, the Mets have started a solid 25-20 en route to a 3 1/2-game lead in the National League East.

Thanks in part to their injuries, the Mets acquired Maybin from the Cubs on May 18. The Mets bought extremely low on Maybin, whom they picked up for a dollar, but they got little bang for their buck. The 34-year-old totaled 33 plate appearances, collected one hit (a single) and struck out 12 times before they designated him.

McWilliams, meanwhile, signed a major league contract with the Mets last offseason despite having never pitched in the bigs. He also hasn’t reached the majors this season, instead throwing 8 1/3 innings of 10-earned run ball at the Triple-A level. The 25-year-old owns an ugly 8.60 ERA with 53 strikeouts against 25 walks in 52 1/3 Triple-A frames.

Injured List Returns: Fraley, Lopes, Wahl

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As injury news continues to dominate baseball, here’s the latest on a few players who are returning to action…

  • The Mariners reinstated outfielder Jake Fraley from the 10-day injured list, with infielder Eric Campbell heading to Triple-A to make room for Fraley on the active roster.  Fraley has been on the IL since suffering a left hamstring strain while making a diving catch in Seattle’s 10-4 loss to the White Sox on April 6.  He has seen action at all three outfield positions during his 24-game MLB career, and he’ll provide the Mariners with some depth behind the regular outfield trio of Kyle Lewis, Mitch Haniger, and Jarred Kelenic.
  • The Brewers announced that utilityman Tim Lopes and right-hander Bobby Wahl were optioned to Triple-A after being reinstated from the 60-day IL.  Both players have been sidelined by oblique strains suffered during Spring Training.  Lopes is still looking to make his Brewers debut after being claimed off waivers from the Mariners back in December.  Wahl has appeared in parts of three MLB seasons with the A’s, Mets, and Brewers, tossing 2 1/3 innings for Milwaukee in 2020 after missing the entire 2019 campaign recovering from a torn ACL.

Phillies Place Roman Quinn On 60-Day Injured List, Select Travis Jankowski

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TODAY: Quinn’s season is over, as the Phillies announced that he will undergo surgery to repair a ruptured left Achilles tendon.  Quinn will be sidelined for the next nine-to-12 months.

MAY 30: Quinn is indeed going to miss a substantial amount of time, as the Phillies announced they placed him on the 60-day IL this morning. Jankowski was selected to the roster in his place. The 29-year-old Jankowski has never hit much in the majors (.238/.315/.313 over 994 plate appearances) but he’s capable of playing all three outfield positions. He was off to a good start at the plate at Lehigh Valley, slashing .304/.451/.375 over his first nineteen games.

MAY 29: Phillies outfielder Roman Quinn left today’s game after suffering an injury to his left Achilles.  It certainly looks as if Quinn is facing a lengthy absence, as manager Joe Girardi told reporters (including Corey Seidman of NBC Sports Philadelphia) that Quinn would be examined by doctors but “I don’t expect to get any good news from the MRI.  We’re pretty sure it’s not good.”

The injury occurred as Quinn was trying to score from first base on a Ronald Torreyes double in the fifth inning.  Quinn fell while rounding third base and managed to score the run while hopping to home plate, but he then had to be carried off the field.  Matt Joyce replaced Quinn in right field for the bottom of the fifth.

This isn’t the first Achilles injury Quinn has faced during his career, as a ruptured Achilles tendon in 2014 cost him a big chunk of his minor league season with high-A ball Clearwater.  Considered a top-100 prospect earlier in his career, Quinn’s progress has been hampered by numerous trips to the injured list over the years, and was only just activated off the 10-day IL on Tuesday after missing three weeks due a laceration on his right index finger.

Quinn is hitting .173/.306/.288 over 62 plate appearances this season, playing in 28 games and serving mostly as part of the Phillies’ revolving door in center field.  With Odubel Herrera having taken over center field duties in the last month, Quinn has since seen action in both corner outfield spots since returning from the IL, including two starts in right field in place of the injured Bryce Harper.

With Quinn joining Harper and Scott Kingery on the injured list, the Phillies’ outfield mix is down to Andrew McCutchen, Herrera, Joyce, and utilityman Brad Miller.  Nick Maton might be a candidate for the outfield mix once Didi Gregorius returns to handle shortstop, and Mickey Moniak, Travis Jankowski, Jorge Bonifacio, and Ryan Cordell are among the options at Triple-A.

Angels Place Jose Quintana On 10-Day Injured List

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The Angels announced that left-hander Jose Quintana has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to shoulder inflammation.  Southpaw Jose Quijada will take Quintana’s spot on the active roster.

Quintana threw three innings in a start yesterday before being removed from the game due to inflammation in his throwing shoulder, so today’s IL news isn’t a surprise.  It is only the third time in Quintana’s 10 Major League seasons that he has been sent to the injured list, though rather troublingly, all three of those placements have come within the last two seasons.  A picture of durability for much of his career, Quintana threw only 10 innings in 2020 with the Cubs due to left lat inflammation and a nerve problem in his left thumb.

Despite this abbreviated season, the Angels inked Quintana to a one-year, $8MM free agent contract in the hopes that he could help stabilize their long-suffering rotation.  Unfortunately, that hope hasn’t worked out, as Quintana has a 7.22 ERA through 33 2/3 innings.  Batters are making a lot of hard contact against Quintana’s pitchers and his 15.7% walk rate is by far the largest of his career.  There are some brief glimmers of hope, however, as Quintana’s 30.1% strikeout rate is also a career-best, and his SIERA is a much more palatable 4.37.  The left-hander has been victimized by the Angels’ poor defense, as Quintana has a stunningly high .400 BABIP.

Patrick Sandoval is the probable candidate to take Quintana’s rotation spot, manager Joe Maddon told reporters (including Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times).  Sandoval has already started his last three outings, due to various fill-in and spot start circumstances, so it makes for a relatively easy transition for the left-hander.  The Statcast metrics haven’t liked Sandoval’s work this season, but he has managed a 3.80 ERA over 21 1/3 frames of work.

Giants Acquire Sam Delaplane

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The Giants have acquired right-hander Sam Delaplane from the Mariners in exchange for cash considerations.  Delaplane has been optioned to the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate.

Delaplane was designated for assignment earlier this week, and will be out of action for likely the first half of the 2022 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in April.  However, the Giants took the opportunity to trade for a local product (Delaplane is from San Jose) who has a rather eye-opening minor league track record.

A 23-round pick for the Mariners in the 2017 draft, Delaplane has a 2.29 ERA over 161 1/3 relief innings in Seattle’s farm system.  He also has an overwhelming 40.91% strikeout rate, whiffing 270 of 660 batters faced over his career.  Between all those missed bats and some solid control (8.2% walk rate), it’s easy to see why San Francisco took a long-term flier on Delaplane to see if he can continue anything close to this form at the MLB level when healthy.

Nationals Reinstate Victor Robles From 10-Day IL

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Victor Robles is returning to the Nationals lineup, as the team announced that the outfielder has been activated from the 10-day injured list.  Infielder Luis Garcia was optioned to Triple-A yesterday to create room on the 26-man active roster.

Robles hasn’t played since May 19 (also his 24th birthday) due to a right ankle sprain.  Looking to bounce back from a 2020 season that was disappointing both offensively and defensively, Robles got off to a very slow start but was hitting better in the few games immediately prior to his ankle injury — over 133 PA, Robles is hitting .246/.348/.325.  His glovework has rebounded more strongly, as Robles has a +7.6 UZR/150 and +4 Defensive Runs Saved over 300 1/3 innings in center field.

With Robles back, Washington is more or less finally healthy on the position-player side for the first time all season, due to regular injuries and a COVID-19 outbreak at the beginning of the season.  The Nationals will need all the help they can get as they look to recover from a 21-28 start that has sent them to the NL East basement.

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