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Albert Pujols, Miguel Cabrera Selected To All-Star Game

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Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera have been selected to the 2022 All-Star Game, MLB announced this morning. They’ve been tabbed as the National and American League’s respective “legendary” nominees.

Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reported this week that the new collective bargaining agreement permitted the commissioner’s office to select one or more players from each league as bonus additions to the game. The honor is in recognition of the player’s career body of work, not their 2022 performance.

“I am delighted that Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera have agreed to participate in the All-Star Game,” commissioner Rob Manfred said in the league’s press release. “Albert and Miguel are two of the most accomplished players of their generation. They have also represented the baseball traditions of the Dominican Republic and Venezuela with excellence for the last two decades. Albert and Miguel are two all-time greats whose achievements warrant this special recognition.”

Pujols is playing the final season of his career. He finished in the top five in NL MVP voting in ten of his first 11 years with St. Louis, claiming the award three times. After spending parts of ten seasons with the Angels and a bit more than half of last year with the Dodgers, he returned to the Cardinals for his final run. Pujols has appeared in 45 games in a part-time first base/designated hitter role.

Cabrera has seven top-five MVP finishes in his career, including back-to-back wins in 2012-13. He’s won seven Silver Slugger Awards and claimed the AL Triple Crown in 2012. He’s under contract with Detroit through 2023 and hasn’t suggested he plans to retire after this season, but he’s nevertheless a perfectly sensible choice as the AL’s first “legendary” All-Star. Cabrera has gotten the nod for 68 of Detroit’s 82 games at DH and posted slightly above-average offensive numbers.

Among active players, Pujols and Cabrera rank first and second, respectively, in career hits, home runs and RBI. Pujols is the active career leader in Baseball Reference WAR, while Cabrera ranks third among position players in that category (behind Mike Trout). They’re both locks to reach the Hall of Fame in their first years on the ballot. This will be Pujols’ 11th All-Star nod, while Cabrera is heading to the Midsummer Classic for a 12th time.

Cardinals Select Austin Romine, Option Ivan Herrera

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The Cardinals purchased the contract of catcher Austin Romine from Triple-A Memphis, the team announced today. In a corresponding move, the club optioned catcher Ivan Herrera to Memphis. Romine is in the starting lineup for the Cardinals tonight in the opener of a four-game series against the Braves.

The Cardinals will be the fifth team in the last four years for the longtime-Yankee-turned-journeyman. Since leaving New York following the 2019 season, Romine suited up for the Tigers in 2020, the Cubs in 2021, and the Angels for a three-game stint earlier this season. He opted out of his minor-league pact with the Angels on June 1st and signed with the Cardinals a few weeks later. He’s a career .238/.276/.357 hitter but has generally graded out as an above-average backstop.

Herrera struggled in his first taste of the big leagues, notching a .111/.190/.111 batting line in limited action behind Andrew Knizner, but remains a consensus top-five prospect in the St. Louis system. He’ll return to Memphis, where he’d hit a robust .291/.388/.436 in 129 plate appearances before an injury to Yadier Molina forced him to the majors. The timeline on Molina’s return remains very much unclear, so he could be back in St. Louis in short order if Romine fails to produce or either he or Knizner suffer an injury.

Cardinals Designate Nick Wittgren For Assignment

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The Cardinals announced a series of roster moves prior to today’s game, with righty Jordan Hicks being activated from the 15-day injured list. Lefty Matthew Liberatore was also recalled to take a spot on the active roster. To create room for those two hurlers, the Cards optioned righty Jake Woodford and designated righty Nick Wittgren for assignment. The club’s 40-man roster now sits at 39, though T.J. McFarland and Genesis Cabrera are currently on the COVID IL and will need roster spots when they are eligible to return.

Wittgren, 31, spent the first three years of his career with the Marlins and the next three with Cleveland. In that time, he established himself as a solid if unspectacular bullpen piece. At the end of the 2021 season, he had 271 1/3 innings under his belt with a 3.75 ERA, 23.5% strikeout rate, 6.7% walk rate and 39.9% ground ball rate. He had never posted an ERA above 5.00 until 2021, and even then, it was just 5.05. Cleveland could have controlled him for one more year via arbitration but decided to move on, after which he was scooped up by the Cards on a one-year deal for $1.2MM.

It’s been a difficult season to evaluate for Wittgren, with many of his stats differing from career norms. His strikeout rate has plummeted to 12.7%, barely half of his mark coming into the year. He’s allowed a .333 BABIP, well above his .292 career rate. However, his HR/FB is just 2.9%, well below the 12.4% rate of his career. All of that has resulted in a 5.90 ERA, though advanced metrics are divided as to whether that’s deserved or not. SIERA gives him a 4.73 with xFIP at 5.14, but xERA and FIP have him at 3.83 and 3.85, respectively. There’s some wide variance there, but all of those metrics feel he’s better than his ERA suggests. According to Statcast, Wittgren is in the 99th percentile in terms of barrel percentage and 78th percentile in terms of hard hit percentage. Any team that needs bullpen help and believes that Wittgren’s suppression of hard contract is sustainable could be interested in acquiring his services. The Cardinals will have a week to work out a trade or put him on waivers.

As for Hicks, he returns after just over a month on the IL due to a forearm strain. Though the Cardinals tinkered with adding him to the rotation earlier in the year, he seems ticketed for a return to the bullpen now. In his four rehab outings, he tossed five total innings, with all but one of those appearances being of the one-inning variety. Despite tantalizing stuff, Hicks has been limited by injuries in recent years. After throwing 77 2/3 innings in 2018, he’s thrown just 67 1/3 total frames in the four subsequent seasons.

Jack Flaherty Shut Down From Throwing For 2-3 Weeks

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The Cardinals placed Jack Flaherty on the 15-day injured list this week, as the right-hander is again battling shoulder issues. The club hasn’t provided any sort of estimated timeline on Flaherty’s return, but manager Oli Marmol said this afternoon that the star hurler wouldn’t throw for the next two-to-three weeks (via John Denton of MLB.com). President of baseball operations John Mozeliak indicated there was no structural damage but Flaherty continues to feel discomfort tied to a strain in the area.

Arguably the Cardinals best pitcher when at his best, Flaherty has been plagued by health concerns over the past couple seasons. He missed a good portion of the 2021 campaign after suffering an oblique strain. Upon returning, Flaherty injured his shoulder and lost a month late in the season — a development that required he return as a reliever at the end of the year.

While club and player were surely both hopeful he’d put those issues behind him, Flaherty began this season on the injured list after being diagnosed with shoulder bursitis in Spring Training. That delayed his 2022 debut until mid-June. Reinstated two weeks ago, the 26-year-old made three starts before additional discomfort arose.

Mozeliak said earlier this week the club believed Flaherty would return at some point this season, a sentiment echoed by the pitcher himself. A shutdown of multiple weeks reinforces that he’s looking at another extended absence, however, as he won’t pick up a ball until around the All-Star Break in a best-case scenario. Even if he doesn’t incur any setbacks, the club is sure to exercise caution building up his throwing program from there given his recent injury history.

Cardinals Place Jack Flaherty, Harrison Bader On Injured List

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The Cardinals announced this afternoon that both Jack Flaherty and Harrison Bader are headed to the injured list. Flaherty, as a pitcher, lands on the 15-day IL with what the team is calling a right shoulder strain. The position player Bader heads to the 10-day IL as he battles plantar fasciitis in his right foot.

To replace the duo on the active roster, the Cards selected outfielder Conner Capel and reliever James Naile onto the big league club. St. Louis had a pair of vacancies on the 40-man roster after placing southpaws Génesis Cabrera and T.J. McFarland on the COVID-19 list in recent days. Each of Capel and Naile would be making their major league debuts if they get into a game.

Flaherty’s injury is the most notable development. The star right-hander has spent a good chunk of the last two years on the IL, most recently as he’s battled continued shoulder problems. He lost a month last season due to a shoulder strain (in addition to a longer stint with an oblique injury), then spent the first two-plus months of this year on the shelf with what the pitcher identified as bursitis in Spring Training. Flaherty was only just activated for his season debut a couple weeks ago, and he made three appearances before leaving yesterday’s start after the second inning.

It’s an alarming recent injury history, and it seems the 26-year-old is going to miss a notable chunk of time yet again. President of baseball operations John Mozeliak told reporters (including Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat and Ben Frederickson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch) that Flaherty’s again dealing with bursitis. Mozeliak said the club was “pretty optimistic” Flaherty will be able to return at some point this season, but he didn’t provide more specifics on a timeline.

Flaherty joins Steven Matz on the injured list, leaving the club with a starting four of Adam Wainwright, Miles Mikolas, Dakota Hudson and Andre Pallante at the moment. Top prospect Matthew Liberatore would seem the logical candidate for the fifth spot, but he has just four MLB appearances under his belt. The Cards sit a game back of the Brewers in the NL Central and seem likely to at least dabble in the trade market for starting pitching before the August 2 deadline, particularly if Flaherty’s indeed looking at another months-long recovery process.

In addition to losing arguably their best pitcher, St. Louis will be down their primary center fielder for at least a week and a half. Bader has started 65 of the team’s 75 games this season, hitting .256/.303/.370 with five home runs through 264 plate appearances. That’s a step back from his offensive production of 2020-21, but he’s swiped 15 bases and consistently rates as one of the game’s top defensive outfielders.

Bader’s absence leaves the club without a true center fielder, as right fielder Dylan Carlson looks likely to slide up the middle for now. That figures to be a notable defensive downgrade, although the Cards do have players like Lars Nootbaar and designated hitter/corner outfielder Juan Yepez capable of subbing in for Carlson in right.

Capel joins that mix, having spent much of his minor league career in right field. Originally selected by Cleveland in the fifth round of the 2016 draft, the Texas high school product was dealt to St. Louis in the Oscar Mercado trade in 2018. He’s spent the past few seasons slowly moving through the ranks in the upper minors, and he earns a big league call with a career-best 2022 showing for Triple-A Memphis.

Over 252 plate appearances this year, Capel is hitting .271/.361/.466. He’s popped nine homers, stolen 16 bags and drawn walks at an excellent 11.9% clip. The 25-year-old hasn’t appeared on an organizational prospects list at FanGraphs or Baseball America since 2019, and the Cards decided against adding him to the 40-man roster last winter — leaving him eligible for selection in a Rule 5 draft which never wound up transpiring. He’s elevated his stock enough in the past couple months to join the big league corner outfield rotation.

Naile, 29, is a seven-year minor league veteran. Originally a 20th-round selection of the A’s in 2015 out of UAB, he remained in the Oakland system through 2021. The right-hander never reached Oakland’s 40-man roster and hit minor league free agency at the end of last year. He signed a non-roster pact with St. Louis over the winter.

After working as a starter for much of his time in the A’s system, Naile has come out of the bullpen for 24 of his 27 outings with Memphis. He’s tossed 46 2/3 innings of 3.28 ERA ball in that new role, often working two innings at a time. Naile has a modest 21.1% strikeout rate, but he’s only walked 5.5% of batters faced. He’s also induced grounders on over 55% of batted balls, a trait the front office has prioritized given the club’s excellent infield defense. He’ll add a multi-inning arm to Marmol’s bullpen.

Jones first reported Naile’s and Capel’s promotions before the team announcement.

Cardinals Notes: DeJong, Matz, Molina

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After years of declining offense, the Cardinals optioned Paul DeJong to the minors in early May. Since that time, he’s showed some improved results, relatively speaking. Through 37 games with the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds, he’s hitting .230/.276/.500. The resulting 95 wRC+ is still below league average, but is miles ahead of the 25 wRC+ he posted at the MLB level this year.

Even if DeJong were to take a step forward and get into a nice groove, it will be difficult for him to force his way back to the big leagues due to the success of those already there. John Mozeliak, the team’s president of baseball operations, spoke to Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about the situation recently. “The way Tommy Edman’s playing, and we’re getting a lot of production out of our second basemen, (DeJong) is going to have to hit his way back,” Mozeliak said. “It’s really been a situation where he would go down, get himself right and then come back. In the meantime, there’s been a little bit of a Wally Pipp situation where the players who have taken over those positions have been thriving.” For those unfamiliar, Wally Pipp was a Yankees first baseman who was once replaced by Lou Gehrig, who then went on to play 2,130 consecutive games. Since then, Pipp’s name has become synonymous with a player’s job being stolen and never relinquished.

As Mozeliak mentioned, Edman is indeed playing well. The positional switch doesn’t seem to have slowed him down at all, as Statcast currently pegs him as having provided five Outs Above Average at both second base and shortstop, totaling ten on the season. DRS and UZR are similarly bullish on his glovework at both positions. At the plate, he’s hitting .274/.347/.407 for a wRC+ of 119. That’s just shy of the 124 from his rookie season and much better than the 91 he posted in each of the past two seasons.

As for the second basemen that were alluded to, since Edman moved to primary shortstop duty, the keystone has been manned by rookies Brendan Donovan and Nolan Gorman. Both of them are having great seasons at the plate, with Donovan hitting .311/.422/.416 for a wRC+ of 146 and Gorman slashing .255/.317/.455 for a wRC+ of 120. With the Cards getting that type of production from their middle infield, it’s understandable that they’re going to making DeJong show another gear before giving him another shot. DeJong is turning 29 in August and still under contract through 2023 at a $9MM salary. There are also club options for 2024 and 2025, at $12.5MM and $15MM, though those seem sure to be bought out, barring a major turnaround in the meantime.

Elsewhere on the roster, Mozeliak notes that Steven Matz has recuperated from his shoulder issues enough to throw a bullpen session and seems lined up to start a rehab assignment on Tuesday. Signed to a four-year, $44MM contract in the offseason, Matz has only been able to make nine starts so far, with diminished results. His 6.03 ERA is certainly unsightly, but there’s likely some misfortune in there. Matz actually improved his strikeout and walk rates compared to last year, but has a .350 BABIP, 67% strand rate and 21.1% HR/FB rate, all of those being worse than his career averages. As such, all of the advanced metrics believe him to be much better than that ERA, with xFIP going so far as to place him at 2.98. When Matz returns, he will likely join Jack Flaherty, Miles Mikolas, Adam Wainwright and Dakota Hudson in the rotation, leaving Andre Pallante as the odd man out. Pallante has a 2.03 ERA through 48 2/3 innings thanks to a healthy 62.7% ground ball rate. However, his 15% strikeout rate and 10.2% walk rate are both worse than league average, with a .282 BABIP and 91.3% strand rate helping him keep that ERA down.

One member of the team who doesn’t seem close to a return, however, is franchise catcher Yadier Molina. Hummel relays that he has returned to his home in Puerto Rico while rehabbing his knee, with no timetable for his return. Turning 40 in a just over two weeks, Molina has already declared that this will be his final season. However, knee soreness has limited his production to a line of .213/.225/.294 on the year for a 47 wRC+. Andrew Knizner has gotten the bulk of playing time in his absence, though he’s hitting just .185/.281/.244 on the season for a 60 wRC+. With just over a month to go until the trade deadline, the health of Molina’s knees and the status of Knizner’s bat could compel the team to consider outside options before the August 2 cutoff.

Central Notes: Happ, Merrifield, Cabrera

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With the Cubs currently sitting on a record of 27-44, speculation has naturally started building about players nearing free agency that could be moved at the August 2 trade deadline. One such player who will be coveted by rival teams is Ian Happ, though Happ doesn’t seem to be bothered by being the subject of rumors. “At some point, you get numb to it,” Happ tells Patrick Mooney of The Athletic. “Everybody’s been through it at certain points. It’s something that you just kind of get numb to and understand it’s part of the job.”

Happ’s case will be an interesting one to watch this year, as there are arguments for holding onto him as well as arguments for trading him. He’s slated to reach free agency after the 2023 season, making him a fairly logical trade candidate for a rebuilding team that isn’t likely to be competitive within that time frame. He’s also having the best season of his career, meaning the club might want to put him on the block while his value is at high tide. He’s hitting .288/.385/.475 on the year for a wRC+ of 138. Combined with solid outfield defense, he’s produced 2.2 fWAR on the year, which is already a career high, even with more than half the season still to be played.

However, the Cubs could also extend Happ and keep him around for the next competitive window. Happ seems open to that idea, saying “I’ve always been very clear, too, that I like playing here. This is a great place to play. I would love to be a part of competitive groups in years to come here.”

Some other notes from Central teams…

  • The Royals are 26-43 and will have to decide which of their players will be moved as part of their deadline strategy. Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports that a Whit Merrifield trade is being given more consideration than in previous years. Merrifield has been the subject of trade rumors for a long time, as the club has been mired in a years-long rebuild for essentially his entire big league career. The Royals went 81-81 in 2016, Merrifield’s debut season, but have been below .500 ever since. Despite that, the club has eschewed all trade overtures in past seasons. It would certainly come as a shock if the team were to suddenly change course and agree to a deal now, as Merrifield is having easily the worst season of his career. Through 69 games, he’s hitting .230/.277/.314 for a wRC+ of 66. To spurn offers for years and then suddenly relent when his value is at a low ebb would be a very surprising turn of events. Perhaps the club is concerned that the 33-year-old won’t be able to turn things around, though there’s time for him to do so. His contract runs through next year, with a club option for 2024.
  • The Cardinals announced that left-hander Genesis Cabrera is going on the injured list. No designation for his injury was given, implying that Cabrera has gone on the COVID-related IL. Righty Jake Woodford was recalled to take his place on the active roster. This is the second time COVID has hit the St. Louis bullpen in recent days, as T.J. McFarland also was sidelined earlier this week. Notably, both Cabrera and McFarland are southpaws, leaving the club short-handed on that side of their bullpen. There are two lefties now remaining, although Packy Naughton is more of a long relief option. That leaves Zack Thompson and his 14 2/3 innings of MLB experience as the club’s primary left-handed reliever. Cabrera has become a key asset for the club in recent years, notching 28 holds last year and 10 so far this year. He has a 2.27 ERA here in 2022, despite generating fewer strikeouts. His .193 BABIP and 93.1% strand rate are surely giving him an unsustainable boost, but he’s also lowered his walk rate to 9.3%. That’s still above league average, but much improved over his 12.1% career mark.

Cardinals Notes: O’Neill, Dickerson, Hicks, Thompson

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Tyler O’Neill is back on the injured list, as the club put him on the 10-day IL before this evening’s contest with the Brewers due to a left hamstring strain. Lars Nootbaar was recalled from Triple-A Memphis to take his place on the active roster, while utilityman Brendan Donovan kicked out to left field for tonight’s game.

The team didn’t provide a timetable for O’Neill’s recovery. It’s the latest in what has been a very disappointing season for the slugging outfielder. He lost a couple weeks in May battling a right shoulder impingement, and he’s not been as productive as anticipated even when healthy. Through 185 plate appearances on the season, the 26-year-old (27 on Wednesday) owns a .241/.292/.361 slash with only four home runs. That’s on the heels of a 34-homer campaign, and O’Neill’s had a rather startling dip in batted ball quality (barrel rate, hard contact rate, etc.) to go along with the lesser results.

Donovan figures to step in fairly regularly in left in O’Neill’s absence. The lefty-hitting rookie has a .315/.424/.434 mark through 170 plate appearances. That relatively quiet excellence has earned him a spot in the regular batting order, although manager Oli Marmol has had to shuffle Donovan around the diamond with Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Gorman, Tommy Edman and Nolan Arenado serving as the primary infield.

Nootbaar and the righty-hitting Juan Yepez will likely also cycle through the corner outfield and designated hitter. Veteran Corey Dickerson was signed to a one-year deal over the offseason to play a similar role, but he’s been out for a couple weeks with a calf strain. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that Dickerson felt continued discomfort after a rehab appearance in Memphis last Thursday, causing him to transition to non-game activities for a few days. The hope is he could resume the rehab stint as soon as tomorrow.

Dickerson would be joined by Jordan Hicks, who is set to start a rehab assignment of his own there tomorrow (relayed by Katie Woo of the Athletic). Hicks has missed the past three weeks with a forearm strain in his throwing arm, the latest issue for a pitcher who underwent Tommy John surgery in 2019 and missed two months with elbow inflammation last season. It’s a welcome development that Hicks is set to return to the mound in relatively short order this time around.

Woo adds that the club is planning to deploy Hicks out of the bullpen. The flamethrowing righty worked exclusively in relief for the first few seasons of his major league career, spending a chunk of the 2018-19 seasons as the club’s closer. He surprisingly lengthened out into a starter this year and cracked the season-opening rotation, making his first seven big league starts (in nine outings) before landing on the IL.

Hicks had a rough showing in that role, though, posting a 5.02 ERA through 28 2/3 innings. He’s struck out a decent 23% of opponents while racking up grounders on more than half the batted balls against him, but he’s also struggled significantly to throw strikes. Hicks walked almost 16% of batters faced, and the club seems set to transition him back to his more familiar relief role.

That could suggest Andre Pallante is ticketed for a longer look in the rotation. The rookie right-hander opened the season in the bullpen, but he’s started three of his four most recent appearances. Pallante, who started in college and in the minor leagues, reached 5 2/3 innings yesterday against the Red Sox — suggesting the Cards are comfortable with him turning lineups over at least twice in an outing.

The rest of the starting staff is established, with Jack Flaherty, Miles Mikolas, Dakota Hudson and Adam Wainwright making a strong top four. Offseason signee Steven Matz is on the IL with a shoulder injury, but Pallante seems to be settling into the #5 role. Former first-round pick Zack Thompson is also on the active roster and has worked as a starter this season with Memphis, but it appears the club views him as a primary relief option at the major league level for now. Marmol indicated this afternoon that Thompson could see more higher-leverage work moving forward (via John Denton of MLB.com).

Tigers Claim Ali Sanchez Off Waivers From Cardinals

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The Tigers have claimed catcher Ali Sanchez off waivers from the Cardinals and optioned him to Triple-A, per the team. In addition, Jacob Barnes was granted his release after clearing waivers.

Sanchez, still just 25 years old, has appeared in the Majors in each of the past two seasons with the Cardinals and Mets, respectively. He has yet to garner more than a dozen appearances, however. Of course, the Cardinals and Mets were both been pot-committed to their starting catcher, whether by performance and pedigree in the case of Yadier Molina or by contract in the case of James McCann. He has posted solid offensive numbers in Triple-A, slashing .255/.333/.409 across 123 plate appearances this season.

Sanchez may find more of an opportunity in Detroit playing behind Tucker Barnhart and Eric Haase, who sees as much time in the outfield and designated hitter now as he does at catcher. Sanchez also has an option remaining, which may put him in front of veteran Dustin Garneau on the short-term call-up list.

As for Barnes, the 32-year-old journeyman is granted free agency after making 22 appearances and posting a 6.10 ERA/5.51 FIP across 20 2/3 innings.

Cardinals Sign Austin Romine To Minors Deal

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The Cardinals announced that catcher Austin Romine has been signed to a minor league contract, and assigned to Triple-A Memphis.  Romine opted out of his previous minors deal with the Angels earlier this month.

With Yadier Molina sidelined due to knee soreness, the Cardinals were in need of some veteran catching depth, given the inexperience of both Andrew Knizner and Ivan Herrera.  Romine will essentially take the place of Ali Sanchez, who had been playing for Triple-A Memphis, but the Cards designated him for assignment two days ago.

After signing with the Angels in March, Romine appeared in three MLB games with the team, briefly filling in when both Max Stassi and Kurt Suzuki were on the COVID list.  Romine was optioned back to Triple-A, and then had the right to exercise an opt-out clause in his contract on June 1 if the Angels hadn’t recalled him back to the majors.

A veteran of 11 MLB seasons, Romine has mostly worked in part-time or backup roles, appearing in 436 games and hitting .238/.276/.357 over 1322 career plate appearances.  The 33-year-old might not be long for the Cardinals organization depending on how quickly Molina is able to return to action, but since Molina might not be back before the All-Star break, Romine will get an opportunity to work at Triple-A and perhaps get another shot on the active roster.

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