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Pirates To Place Jung Ho Kang On DL, Recall Josh Bell

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The Pirates have announced that they will place third baseman Jung Ho Kang on the 15-day DL and will recall first baseman Josh Bell to take his place on the active roster. Kang sustained a left shoulder injury while sliding into second base during yesterday’s game against the Marlins.

Kang has batted a robust .243/.326/.481 in 267 plate appearances this year, although those numbers have dipped and his defense has flagged in the past two months (although he has three home runs in the past week). He has also faced allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman in a Chicago hotel earlier this summer.

With Kang on the shelf, David Freese will likely take most of the Pirates’ playing time at third base. Meanwhile, Bell will likely share time with John Jaso at first. Bell, one of the Bucs’ top prospects, had a brief stint in the Majors earlier in the summer and didn’t disappoint, reaching base in all four of his plate appearances and hitting a grand slam. But the Pirates opted to return him to the minors and continue playing Jaso, despite Jaso’s underwhelming performance at the plate. For the season, Bell has batted .295/.382/.468 at Triple-A Indianapolis, although his glove, rather than his bat, appeared to be the main source of the Pirates’ reluctance to give him regular playing time.

Dodgers’ Hill, Kershaw Move Closer To Returns

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The health of the Dodgers’ injury-riddled rotation has improved in the past 24 hours, as a date has been set for Rich Hill’s first start in Dodger blue and Clayton Kershaw had a successful bullpen session.

Hill, acquired at the August 1 deadline from the Athletics, has not yet pitched for the Dodgers due to blister issues. On Thursday, however, he threw 78 pitches in a simulated game, and he’s set to start on Wednesday against the Giants, as Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register writes. He has not pitched in the big leagues since July 17. Hill was one of the top prizes available at the trade deadline after a brilliant half-season with Oakland, so his return to action could prove to be a major help to his new team.

In news that is perhaps even more encouraging for Dodgers fans, Clayton Kershaw pitched a bullpen session today and reported that he felt “100 percent” (via Plunkett on Twitter). Kershaw, of course, was in the midst of an historically dominant season (with a 1.79 ERA, 10.8 K/9 and an amazing 0.7 BB/9 in 121 innings) before he came down with a herniated disc and headed to the DL in late June. Unlike with Hill, the timeline of Kershaw’s return remains unclear, and he probably still has significant work to do before he’s ready to start a big-league game. If in fact he’s able to pitch a successful bullpen right now, though, it seems reasonable to hope he can contribute by the end of the season and in the playoffs.

Mariners Outright Joe Wieland

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The Mariners have announced that they’ve outrighted righty Joe Wieland to Triple-A Tacoma, removing him from the 40-man roster. They had optioned Wieland to Tacoma yesterday to create space as Steve Cishek returned from the DL.

This marks the second time the Mariners have outrighted the 26-year-old Wieland this season — they also did so back in May. They returned him to their roster just last week, and he made one start, giving up six runs in five innings. The Mariners acquired Wieland from the Dodgers in a depth move last offseason, and he has spent most of 2016 with Tacoma, posting a 5.38 ERA, 8.1 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 in 103 2/3 frames.

Nationals Reinstate Ryan Zimmerman, Jose Lobaton

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The Nationals have announced that they’ve reinstated first baseman Ryan Zimmerman and catcher Jose Lobaton from the DL. To clear space for the pair on their active roster, they’ve optioned righty A.J. Cole and catcher Pedro Severino to Triple-A Syracuse.

[Related: Updated Washington Nationals Depth Chart]

Zimmerman went on the disabled list two weeks ago with a left wrist contusion suffered after he was hit by a pitch. He’s had a poor season, batting just .222/.284/.394 in 335 plate appearances, but Clint Robinson hasn’t done much better while soaking up at-bats in Zimmerman’s absence, so there is no reason to think Zimmerman won’t continue to receive plenty of playing time.

Lobaton, meanwhile, will replace Severino as the backup to Wilson Ramos. Lobaton had been on the DL since late July with elbow tendinitis. He has batted .194/.301/.361 this season, although he gets good marks for his pitch-framing.

Angels Notes: Anderson, Escobar, Morris

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The Angels will induct former outfielder Garret Anderson into their Hall of Fame on Saturday, as Mark Whicker of the Orange County Register notes. Anderson hasn’t appeared in the big leagues since being released by the Dodgers in 2010, and he says he’s enjoyed his time away from the game, in which he hasn’t had to deal with the frustrations of failing. “I was a mess in the minors. If I struck out in my first at-bat, I was done. For a good player to become better, he has to put that aside,” he says. “I miss the one-on-one with the pitchers. I miss competing against Pedro Martinez, a guy who could make you miss. Other than that, I don’t miss anything. When it was over, I was going home to be with my family. The game was never my identity.” Interestingly, Anderson credits Mike Scioscia — who appears likely to remain with the Angels in 2017 — with instilling a winning culture that changed the Angels. “We had a third-place mentality,” he says. “We’d have good years but we wouldn’t get the player we needed, so that’s how we played. Then Mike Scioscia came in and after a while I realized, this guy really thinks we can win.” Here’s more from Anaheim.

  • Third baseman Yunel Escobar could wind up on the disabled list, Jeff Fletcher of the Register tweets. Escobar left yesterday’s game after bunting a ball off his face. X-rays came back negative, but he is sore. The 33-year-old is batting a strong .320/.368/.402 in his first season with the Angels. He has a $7MM club option for next season.
  • Angels pro scouting director Hal Morris is leaving the organization to work in athlete development for Fantex in San Francisco, Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times tweets. Fantex is the company that makes deals with athletes, paying them an upfront sum in exchange for a percentage of their future earnings and then offering shares of those players to investors. Its MLB players include Jonathan Schoop, Maikel Franco, Collin McHugh, Yangervis Solarte, Tyler Duffey and current Angel Andrew Heaney. Morris, the former Reds first baseman, was a candidate for the Angels’ GM job before the team hired Billy Eppler.

Phillies Not Expected To Deal Ryan Howard

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The Phillies are not expected to trade first baseman Ryan Howard before the end of the season, MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki writes. Instead, Howard will finish out the year in Philadelphia, at which point the Phillies will pay a $10MM buyout rather than exercise his $23MM 2017 option.

Zolecki notes that, at this point, the Phillies would likely rather keep Howard, a former franchise player, than trade him for a return that would almost certainly be nominal. As recently as last week, though, they seemed to have at least some hope of trading him, particularly since Howard has hit well recently.

“If I were a playoff team, I’d take notice” of Howard’s recent play, manager Pete Mackanin said last week. Howard has batted a remarkable .394/.444/.909 with five home runs in 36 August plate appearances and also had a .525 slugging percentage in July.

Any consideration of the slugger’s recent hitting, though, would have to be balanced by his performance in the previous several seasons. Howard has batted just .220/.287/.416 since the start of the 2014 season, a line that looks worse when one considers his lack of defensive value. He’s no longer a starting first baseman, either, having lost his regular gig to Tommy Joseph. Even leaving salary aside, then, Howard’s value on the trade market would be very limited.

Zach Eflin Has Season-Ending Surgery

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Phillies rookie right-hander Zach Eflin had season-ending surgery Friday to repair his right patella tendon, Ryan Lawrence of PhillyVoice.com writes. The Phillies have also moved Eflin to the 60-day DL. He will likely require a similar surgery on his left knee in about six weeks, GM Matt Klentak said. The Phillies are hopeful he’ll be ready for Spring Training.

Eflin’s knee issues landed him on the DL earlier this month, but his knee troubles go back further — much further, according to Klentak.

“This is an issue he’s been fighting since he was a kid. I think he told me since he was 11 years old, he first started battling knee problems. The hope here is that it’s going to alleviate the problem,” Klentak says, via Lawrence. “And in just talking candidly with Zach last night, while not excited to undergo the knife today, he was pretty excited about the possibility of coming to Spring Training next year pain-free for the first time in his life.”

Eflin came up through the Padres system, then headed to the Phillies in December 2014 via two quick trades — first to the Dodgers in the Matt Kemp / Yasmani Grandal deal, then to Philadelphia in the Jimmy Rollins swap. The 22-year-old emerged as a big-league rotation candidate this year with a strong showing at Triple-A Lehigh Valley, where he posted a 2.90 ERA, 7.2 K/9 and 1.4 BB/9 in 68 1/3 innings. He struggled after being promoted, with a 5.54 ERA, 4.4 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 in 63 1/3 innings with the Phillies.

Eflin isn’t the only young starter the Phillies have lost to injury recently. Earlier this week, they shut down Aaron Nola with a UCL sprain and flexor strain. They’re currently going with a rotation of Jeremy Hellickson, Jerad Eickhoff, Vincent Velasquez, Jake Thompson and Adam Morgan.

5 Key Stories: 8/14/16 – 8/20/16

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Here’s a look back at this week’s five top stories here at MLBTR.

Middle-infield changes for the Braves. The Braves made a variety of moves this week, the most significant of which was the promotion of top shortstop prospect and former No. 1 overall draft pick Dansby Swanson from Double-A Mississippi. Swanson replaces Erick Aybar, who the Braves shipped to Detroit for Mike Aviles and a prospect. (They then designated Aviles for assignment.) They also released veteran second baseman Omar Infante.

Giancarlo Stanton to miss rest of season. The slugger is out for the year with a groin injury, a loss that could significantly impact the Marlins’ Wild Card chances. They’ve considered acquiring Carlos Gomez, who was recently released by the Astros, to replace him on their roster.

Nationals release Jonathan Papelbon. The Nats released their former closer last week rather than designating him for assignment, allowing him to hit the open market immediately. A few days later, it appeared he was close to deciding on a new team, with the veteran being connected to the Red Sox and Cubs. Now, however, it appears his timeline for signing has been pushed back.

More rookies arrive. Swanson’s promotion wasn’t the only crucial one this week. The Rockies are set to promote Jeff Hoffman, the key to last year’s Troy Tulowitzki trade. And the Yankees promoted slugger Aaron Judge along with first baseman Tyler Austin. Both players made an immediate impact, homering in their first big-league at-bats last Saturday against the Rays.

Potential changes for the Diamondbacks. The D-Backs haven’t yet made the call on contract decisions for top execs Tony La Russa, Dave Stewart and De Jon Watson, Jon Heyman reported yesterday. Manager Chip Hale could also be on the hot seat in the wake of the team’s extremely disappointing 50-72 season thus far. One Diamondback who isn’t in danger of losing his job is catcher Welington Castillo, who the team has considered extending.

Michael Brantley Undergoes Shoulder Surgery

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AUG. 16: The Indians announced today that Brantley underwent a 45-minute operation, commonly referred to as “bicep tenodesis,” to correct chronic biceps tendinitis in his right shoulder. Surgeons Keith Meister and Mark Schickendantz confirmed that Brantley’s surgically repaired labrum is still intact and projected a four-month recovery for Brantley following this operation (Twitter link via MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian).

AUG. 13: Indians manager Terry Francona says outfielder Michael Brantley will have season-ending surgery on Monday, MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian and other reporters have tweeted. The specifics of the surgery have yet to be announced, and the timeline of his recovery isn’t yet clear, but Brantley had been dealing with shoulder and biceps issues and already appeared unlikely to return in 2016.

Brantley had shoulder surgery last November and began the season on the disabled list, then had persistent problems with the shoulder throughout the season. He was also diagnosed with biceps tendinitis in June, and he had surgery last month to remove scar tissue from his biceps tendon.

In the midst of all that, Brantley has collected just 43 plate appearances this season, batting a mere .231/.279/.282. That’s a far cry from the numbers he posted in his healthy 2014 and 2015 seasons, when he hit a combined .319/.382/.494 and rated among the American League’s best players. The Indians have fared quite well in the outfield without Brantley, getting very strong performances from a patchwork group of outfielders led by Rajai Davis, Tyler Naquin, Lonnie Chisenhall and Jose Ramirez. It is, however, hard for a team not to miss a player of Brantley’s caliber.

As Francona explained today (via Cleveland.com’s Paul Hoynes on Twitter), the timing of Brantley’s surgery now is geared toward getting him healthy for next season and presumably beyond. Brantley remains under contract with the Indians for 2017, and his contract contains a team option for 2018.

Nationals Release Jonathan Papelbon

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The Nationals have officially announced that they’ve released former closer Jonathan Papelbon, making him a free agent. The Nats had initially told Papelbon they intended to designate him for assignment, as Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post writes (Twitter links). Papelbon instead requested to be released, since the process of being designated for assignment could result in him being in DFA limbo for up to ten days. The Nationals agreed, although they waited for much of the day Saturday to make the move official. Papelbon’s release clears space for Reynaldo Lopez, who will start tonight against the Braves.

MLB: Washington Nationals at Arizona DiamondbacksThe 35-year-old Papelbon has had a hard time this year, with a 4.37 ERA, 8.0 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9 in 35 innings, and his struggles had deepened recently — he allowed a total of nine runs in his last five outings, and he hadn’t pitched in a week. Those struggles coincided with the Nats’ recent addition of Mark Melancon to replace him at closer, and Melancon has had great success so far in Washington. Also, while Papelbon pitched well in previous seasons despite steadily declining velocity, his average fastball continued to slow this year, dropping to 90.9 MPH five years after peaking 95.0 MPH in 2011.

The release ends Papelbon’s tenure in Washington, which began just over a year ago when they acquired him (with cash) from the Phillies for a minor leaguer. His on-field performance was satisfactory down the stretch for Washington last year, although he was involved in an ugly incident near the end of the season in which he choked teammate Bryce Harper in the dugout.

After struggling in 2016, Papelbon would have had little or no trade value, given his performance, his salary ($13MM for the year) and his dodgy clubhouse reputation. He’s due for free agency this winter. The Nationals surely gauged trade interest before releasing him, but it’s easy to imagine that there wasn’t much.

ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick was first to report that the Nationals were likely to make a move with Papelbon, and that he had asked to be released (all Twitter links).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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