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James Paxton Undergoes Tommy John Surgery

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APRIL 28: Paxton underwent Tommy John surgery in the past five to seven days, Servais announced (via Brock).

APRIL 13: Servais confirmed today that Paxton will undergo season-ending surgery (Twitter link via The Athletic’s Corey Brock). Servais did not specify the procedure, only that it would be season-ending elbow surgery.

APRIL 10: Paxton hasn’t yet decided on surgery and will seek a second opinion on his injury, Mariners manager Scott Servais told reporters (including MLB.com’s Daniel Kramer).

APRIL 8: Tommy John surgery has been recommended for Mariners left-hander James Paxton, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports. If Paxton undergoes the procedure, he’ll miss the rest of this season and at least some portion of the 2022 campaign.

Paxton began his career with the Mariners, who used a fourth-round pick on him in 2010, though after spending 2013-18 in their uniform, they traded him to the Yankees. But Paxton, 32, returned to Seattle in free agency this past offseason on a one-year, $8.5MM deal. Unfortunately, the Big Maple exited his first (and potentially lone) start of 2021 on Tuesday because of forearm troubles. The Mariners then placed Paxton on the 10-day injured list.

While Paxton has typically pitched well in the majors, evidenced by his 3.59 ERA/3.62 SIERA over 137 appearances (all starts) and 754 2/3 innings, various injuries have haunted him since he entered the league in 2013. He has never thrown more than 160 1/3 innings in an individual season, and he totaled just 20 1/3 frames last year while dealing with back issues and a flexor strain. The Yankees then elected against bringing Paxton back, though he did draw substantial interest from teams on the open market before returning to the Mariners. It doesn’t appear the reunion will be fruitful for either side, however.

The Mariners entered the season with Paxton as a key part of their six-man rotation, but it looks as if they will have to make other plans for the rest of the year. At least for now, Nick Margevicius will take Paxton’s spot in the M’s starting staff, complementing Marco Gonzales, Yusei Kikuchi, Justus Sheffield, Chris Flexen and Justin Dunn.

Blue Jays Activate George Springer, Place Hyun Jin Ryu On 10-Day IL

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Center fielder George Springer will make his long-awaited Blue Jays debut Wednesday against the Nationals, the team announced. Springer will serve as Toronto’s designated hitter and bat in the leadoff spot. In other moves, the Blue Jays placed left-hander Hyun Jin Ryu on the 10-day injured list with a right glute strain, optioned first baseman/DH Rowdy Tellez to its alternate site and recalled lefty Travis Bergen.

The Blue Jays signed Springer to the offseason’s richest free-agent guarantee, a six-year, $150MM pact, but have not gotten a single at-bat from the ex-Astros standout this year. Springer suffered an oblique strain during the spring, and just when it appeared he would return, he went down with a quad strain. The three-time All-Star didn’t recover from the latter injury as quickly as expected, so the club has spent the month relying on Randal Grichuk and Jonathan Davis in center.

Grichuk has hit a more-than-respectable .289/.345/.500 with four home runs in 84 plate appearances, thus helping the Springer-less Jays stay afloat in the early going with an even 11-11 record. Springer has enjoyed a much better career than Grichuk, though, having slashed .270/.361/.491 hitter with 174 homers over 3,587 PA. The 31-year-old is also above average in the outfield, where he has posted 26 Defensive Runs Saved and a 10.4 Ultimate Zone Rating since entering the league in 2014.

Springer’s activation spells bad news for Tellez, who has gotten off to a poor start this year with a .183/.222/.267 line and one homer in 63 trips to the plate. Those numbers are a far cry from Tellez’s output in 2020, when it appeared the 26-year-old broke out with a .283/.346/.540 showing and slugged eight HRs over 127 PA.

The Springer addition is a welcome one for Toronto’s offense, but the Ryu loss is a tough blow for its pitching staff. Ryu’s IL placement is retroactive to April 26, but he’ll still miss at least one start. The Jays’ ace exited his latest start this past Sunday after throwing 3 2/3 scoreless innings against the Rays, and has recorded a 2.60 ERA on the season over 27 2/3 frames. Ryu, Ross Stripling, T.J. Zeuch and Nate Pearson represent starting options on the IL for the club, which will somehow have to battle through those absences and cobble together a rotation.

Mariners Claim Jacob Nottingham, Designate Brandon Brennan

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The Mariners announced that they have claimed catcher Jacob Nottingham off waivers from the Brewers. To make room for Nottingham, the Mariners designated right-hander Brandon Brennan for assignment.

Nottingham, whom the Brewers designated last week, will now join his fourth major league organization. He entered the pro ranks as a fourth-round pick of the Astros in 2013 and has also spent time with the Athletics. The 26-year-old was a prospect of some note in his younger days, but he hasn’t gotten an extended look in the bigs. Nottingham has so far amassed 85 plate appearances, all from 2018-20, and batted a playable .203/.306/.432 with five home runs. He’s out of minor league options, so he’ll have to stick on a Seattle roster that has received bottom-of-the-barrel production from catchers Luis Torrens and Tom Murphy in 2021.

The soon-to-be 30-year-old Brennan became a Mariner in December 2018 when they took him from the Rockies in the Rule 5 Draft. Brennan appeared with the Mariners from 2019-20, during which he dealt with oblique and shoulder issues and combined for 54 2/3 innings of 4.45 ERA/4.52 SIERA pitching with a 23.6 percent strikeout rate against a 12.7 percent walk rate. He still has three minor league options left.

Marlins To Place Jazz Chisholm On Injured List

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April 28: Chisholm will be placed on the 10-day injured list, reports Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald (Twitter link). The Marlins will recall fellow infielder Isan Diaz in his place. Diaz, who’ll turn 25 next month, is a former top prospect himself but has yet to find any sustained success in his limited big league action to date. Through 223 plate appearances, he’s batted just .174/.251/.294.

The Marlins have yet to provide any sort of timeline on Chisholm’s expected return, although manager Don Mattingly will surely touch on the subject prior this afternoon’s game against the Brewers.

April 27: Marlins second baseman Jazz Chisholm exited their game against the Brewers on Tuesday with a strained left hamstring, the team announced. The severity of the injury is unknown at this point.

Chisholm, originally acquired from the Diamondbacks for right-hander Zac Gallen in 2019, has emerged as one of baseball’s most electrifying players so far this season. The 23-year-old has already totaled 1.0 fWAR in 80 plate appearances, having slashed .290/.375/.551 with four home runs and a National League-leading seven stolen bases.

In the event Chisholm has to go on the injured list, it would further weaken a Marlins lineup that’s already missing a couple of other important contributors. Center fielder Starling Marte has been on the shelf since April 18 with a fractured rib, and his return isn’t imminent. Meanwhile, third baseman Brian Anderson and catcher Jorge Alfaro have been on the IL for a week apiece.

Jon Berti has racked up the most playing time at second for the Marlins behind Chisholm, but he has been filling in at third during Anderson’s absence. Miami replaced Chisholm on Tuesday with Jose Devers, a 21-year-old who had never played above High-A ball until the team recalled him last week.

Yankees Trade Mike Tauchman To Giants For Wandy Peralta

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The Yankees have traded outfielder Mike Tauchman to the Giants for left-handed reliever Wandy Peralta, Jack Curry of the YES Network reports. New York will also receive a player to be named later, the team announced.

This deal sends the 30-year-old Tauchman back to the National League West, where the former 10th-round pick played with the Rockies from 2017-18. Tauchman was unable to establish himself in Colorado, which traded him to the Yankees for lefty Phillip Diehl shortly before the 2019 season.

At first, the Tauchman pickup looked like a steal for the Yankees, as he appeared in 87 games as a reserve in his initial year with the team and slashed a terrific .277/.361/.504 with 13 home runs, six steals and 2.6 fWAR over 296 plate appearances. Tauchman blended that offensive performance with great work among all three outfield positions, combining for 19 Defensive Runs Saved in the grass.

While the 2019 version of Tauchman was a gem, his production and playing time have significantly dwindled since then. Tauchman did appear in 43 games and total 111 PA last season, but he failed to hit a homer, batted a below-average .242/.342/.305 and essentially broke even in the field with zero DRS and a minus-2.2 Ultimate Zone Rating. Meanwhile, fellow Yankees outfielders Aaron Judge, Clint Frazier, Aaron Hicks and Brett Gardner each recorded far superior production, which helped lead Tauchman to fall out of favor.

With Judge, Frazier, Hicks and Gardner returning, Tauchman became an afterthought for the Yankees this year. So far, he has picked up a meager 16 trips to the plate and batted .214/.267/.286 without a homer. Now, the out-of-options Tauchman will provide versatile depth in a Giants outfield that has used Mike Yastrzemski (though he’s currently dealing with a mild oblique issue), Austin Slater, Alex Dickerson, Mauricio Dubon and Darin Ruf, among others, this season. Tauchman won’t reach arbitration for the first time until the upcoming winter, so he could be a multiyear piece for the Giants if he performs to their liking this season.

Peralta, 29, started his career in 2016 with the Reds, who lost him on waivers to the Giants late in the 2019 campaign. Despite 95-96 mph fastball velocity and a career 50.4 percent groundball rate, Peralta has typically had trouble keeping runs off the board. Through 192 2/3 innings, including 8 1/3 this season, Peralta has recorded a 4.72 ERA/4.58 SIERA with unspectacular strikeout and walk percentages of 18.5 and 10.8, respectively.

Peralta still has a minor league option remaining, though he’ll only be eligible for arbitration one more time. For now, Peralta will give the New York organization a third southpaw relief option behind closer Aroldis Chapman and Lucas Luetge. The Yankees have had to go this season without key lefty setup man Zack Britton, who’s on the mend from arthroscopic elbow surgery and probably won’t return until the summer.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Brewers To Select Zack Godley

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The Brewers will select right-hander Zack Godley’s contract prior to their game against the Marlins on Wednesday, manager Craig Counsell told Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and other reporters. Godley is not on the Brewers’ 40-man roster, which is full, so they will have to clear a spot before he makes the start in Miami.

Godley, whom the Brewers signed to a minor league contract last month, will earn at an $800K rate now that he’s back in the majors. The 31-year-old will also temporarily take over in the Brewers’ rotation for left-hander Brett Anderson, who’s on the 10-day injured list with a strained hamstring.

Godley brings a fair amount of experience in teams’ rotations, having started in 88 of 136 appearances since he debuted with the Diamondbacks in 2015. He put together impressive numbers during his best season, 2017, when he threw 155 innings of 3.37 ERA/3.67 SIERA ball with a 55.3 percent groundball rate. Godley has not approached that type of success since then, however, and is now coming off an especially difficult two-year stretch divided among the D-backs, Blue Jays and Red Sox.

Last season in Boston, opposing offenses lit up Godley for 42 hits and nine home runs in 28 2/3 innings, which helped lead to a career-worst 8.16 ERA. Godley, who averaged just under 90 mph on his fastball, also registered a personal-low grounder rate (40.8) and a below-average strikeout percentage (19.6).

Injury Notes: Jays, Fried, Astros, Freeland

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A few health updates from around the game…

  • Center fielder George Springer’s Blue Jays debut is on hold yet again. As of Sunday, manager Charlie Montoyo was optimistic Springer would debut tonight, but that wasn’t the case. Springer is “not ready yet,” Montoyo said (Twitter links via Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet), though he did take batting practice and run the bases on Tuesday. Montoyo added that “[Springer] feels great except the running.” The former Astro has been trying to work back since suffering a right quad strain three weeks ago. In better news for the Blue Jays, ace Hyun Jin Ryu is recovering well from the right glute strain he incurred Sunday and shouldn’t miss a start, Nicholson-Smith relays.
  • The Braves are “likely” to activate left-hander Max Fried from the 10-day injured list next Tuesday or Wednesday, Mark Bowman of MLB.com tweets. If true, it’ll go down as roughly a three-week stay on the IL for Fried, who suffered a right hamstring strain during his most recent start on April 13. Once he returns, the 2020 NL Cy Young contender will try to rebound from a ghastly three-start, 11-inning stretch in which hitters victimized him for 15 runs (14 earned) on 23 hits and five walks.
  • Tuesday brought some positive and negative health-related developments for the Astros’ pitching staff. The good news: Southpaw Framber Valdez is making tremendous progress from a left ring finger injury and could rejoin their rotation sometime in June, Jake Kaplan of The Athletic relays. Valdez turned in a stellar performance in 2020, but he hasn’t gotten a chance to follow up on it this year. As for the bad news, righty reliever Pedro Baez has halted his throwing program on account of lingering shoulder soreness. The Astros transferred Baez from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day IL on Monday, meaning he won’t make his first appearance with the club until June 9 at the earliest. Houston signed the former Dodger to a two-year, $12.5MM guarantee over the winter.
  • Rockies lefty Kyle Freeland said Tuesday that he will “absolutely” pitch in the majors this season, per Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post (Twitter links). Freeland, a little over a month removed from suffering a strained pitching shoulder, had an “outstanding” bullpen session on Tuesday and could throw a sim game next week, according to manager Bud Black. However, there’s still no clear timetable for a potential 2021 debut for Freeland, who finished third on the Rockies in innings (70 2/3) and recorded a 4.33 ERA/4.95 SIERA with a 51.5 percent groundball rate last season.

COVID Notes: 4/27/21

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Tuesday’s coronavirus-related updates from around the majors:

  • Twins outfielders Max Kepler and Kyle Garlick have cleared Major League Baseball’s COVID-19 protocols and could return by the end of the week, manager Rocco Baldelli announced (via Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press). Both Kepler and Garlick tested positive for COVID, leading the Twins to place them on the injured list last Tuesday. Neither player has appeared in a game since April 16. Before going on the shelf, Kepler began a disappointing .234/.315/.362 with no home runs in 54 plate appearances. Garlick has also gone without a homer, but he has still hit a passable .280/.321/.400 over 28 PA.

Jerry Blevins Announces Retirement

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Veteran reliever Jerry Blevins has retired from baseball, he announced Tuesday on Twitter (click here to read his statement). The left-hander had been with the Mets on a minor league contract.

Now 37 years old, Blevins entered the pros as a 17th-round pick of the Cubs in 2004. He never pitched for the Cubs, however, as they traded him to the Athletics as part of a deal for catcher Jason Kendall in 2007. Blevins debuted in the majors that year, which began a fairly long run in Oakland. He stuck with the A’s through 2013 and notched ERAs ranging from 2.48 to 3.70 in four different seasons as a member of the club.

Despite his solid production in an A’s uniform, they moved on from him heading into 2014, sending Blevins to the Nationals for outfielder Billy Burns. That proved to be the lone season in Washington for Blevins, whom the Nationals traded to the Mets for outfielder Matt den Dekker before the 2015 campaign.

Blevins missed almost all of his first season as a Met because of a fractured pitching arm, but he returned to deliver outstanding results over the next two years. In a 91-inning span from 2016-17, Blevins put up a 2.87 ERA with a 30.6 percent strikeout rate and a 9.9 percent walk rate. However, Blevins couldn’t replicate that success in 2018 – his last year with the Mets – and then reunited with the A’s on a minor league deal in the ensuing offseason. Oakland wound up trading Blevins to Atlanta before the 2019 season, which will go down as his final year in the majors. Although Blevins threw 32 1/3 frames of 3.90 ERA ball that season, he couldn’t make it back to the bigs on a minors deal with the Giants in 2020 or with the Mets this season.

In all, Blevins appeared in parts of 13 MLB seasons and posted a 3.54 ERA with 508 strikeouts in 495 1/3 innings. Blevins was especially tough on lefties, whom he held to a weak .213/.270/.313 line. MLBTR congratulates Blevins on a very solid career and wishes him the best in his post-playing days.

Hector Rondon Retires

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Longtime major league reliever Hector Rondon retired earlier this month, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com relays. Rondon had been with the Red Sox on a minor league contract, though he didn’t earn a promotion to MLB this season.

The right-handed Rondon appeared in the majors in each season from 2013-20 – an eight-year run he divided among the Cubs, Astros and Diamondbacks. Rondon experienced his greatest success in Chicago, which added him as a Rule 5 pick from Cleveland in December 2012. Rondon went on to pitch his first five seasons as a member of the Cubs, with whom he recorded a 3.22 ERA, posted a 24.9 percent strikeout rate against a 6.8 percent walk rate, logged a grounder percentage of 48.0, and piled up 77 saves. He amassed 50-plus innings in each of his seasons with the Cubs, including 51 in their World Series-winning 2016 campaign.

Rondon’s fruitful Cubs tenure came to an end when the Astros signed him to a two-year, $8.5MM guarantee going into 2018. He delivered typically strong results during the first year of the deal before fading somewhat in the second season. The Astros didn’t bring back Rondon, who inked a $3MM deal with the Diamondbacks last year. After Rondon slumped to a career-worst 7.65 ERA across 20 innings in 2020, the Diamondbacks declined his $4MM option in favor of a $500K buyout. He spent time with the Phillies on a minors deal before his brief stint with the Boston organization.

While Rondon’s career didn’t end well, the 33-year-old was a reliable and durable arm overall. He’ll hang up his cleats having pitched to a 3.49 ERA with 92 saves and 63 holds in 436 innings. MLBTR congratulates Rendon on a quality career and wishes him the best going forward.

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