Braves Notes: Iglesias, Anderson, Wright
The Braves have been without closer Raisel Iglesias in the early going. The veteran reliever was sidelined during the final week of March with inflammation in his throwing shoulder. The club announced he’d be shut down for at least a week and he opened the season on the 15-day injured list.
It appears that stint will linger beyond the minimal two weeks. Manager Brian Snitker informed reporters on Monday that Iglesias has yet to resume throwing (link via Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal Constitution). The Braves have continued to evaluate the righty’s progress, though Snitker noted they won’t have any kind of recovery timetable in place until Iglesias is able to pick up a ball.
A.J. Minter and Jesse Chavez have each picked up a save this season. The latter’s was a one-out appearance during today’s 5-2 win over the Cardinals after Collin McHugh had thrown 27 pitches. The highest-leverage work in the season’s first week has fallen to Dylan Lee, McHugh and Chavez. Minter and righty Joe Jiménez also figure to be in the mix for important work as the year goes along. They’ll all be up a peg in the pecking order so long as Iglesias is on the shelf.
Injuries have also been a story on the rotation front. Atlanta placed Ian Anderson on the minor league injured list this morning. Toscano tweets that Anderson has a right elbow injury and is being evaluated.
There’s no word on the issue’s severity, though any problem with a pitcher’s throwing elbow raises some amount of concern. Anderson will miss at least the next week of action at Triple-A Gwinnett. It’s possible he’s sidelined beyond the minimal stay, which would further thin an Atlanta rotation that has faced some questions early in the season.
The Braves were already set to rely on a pair of pitchers who had never previously pitched in the majors as part of the season-opening rotation. Jared Shuster and Dylan Dodd jumped Anderson and Bryce Elder on the depth chart in Spring Training. Ace Max Fried landed on the 15-day IL after straining his hamstring on Opening Day. The Braves recalled Elder, pushing Anderson into the #6 role on the depth chart before the elbow soreness.
Fortunately, Atlanta should soon welcome back Kyle Wright from an IL stint of his own. The righty was slowed in camp by a sore shoulder. He opened the season on the 15-day IL to buy him a bit more time to build strength. He made a rehab start for Gwinnett this evening. The bottom line results weren’t great — he allowed five runs in a 6-3 loss — but Wright worked six innings and tossed 84 pitches. That indicates he’s mostly stretched out and figures to make his next start at the MLB level. He’s first eligible to return on April 11, which would be a home start against Cincinnati.
Liam Hendriks Completes Chemotherapy Treatment
White Sox closer Liam Hendriks announced this morning on Instagram that he’s finished his rounds of chemotherapy. The right-hander posted a brief video of himself ringing a hospital victory bell to a round of cheers, accompanied by a lengthy post.
“Five months ago my life changed forever,” Hendriks wrote. “You never think you will be the one who hears ‘you have cancer’ but there I was … in shock and fear not knowing what comes next. I started treatment after so many life-altering appointments on January 9, 2023. Every 28 days, I would have another round. Every 28 days, I got closer to the PET scan that would dictate how many more rounds there would be. Every 28 days, I got closer to this moment.
These past five months have been both the quickest and slowest of my life. Being able to ring this victory bell has been one of the most emotional things I’ve ever done. I cannot thank my team of doctors and nurses enough for coming up with the best medical plan for me. No words can express the gratitude I have for them saving my life.”
Hendriks goes on to thank his wife for her support, as well as expressing gratitude to the rest of his family, friends and fans.
It’s obviously a welcome and heartwarming development. The White Sox announced on January 8 that Hendriks would begin treatment after being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The team has understandably been reluctant to divulge much about the recovery, though general manager Rick Hahn provided reason for optimism last week when he told reporters Hendriks was responding well to treatment (relayed by Daryl Van Shouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times). Chicago refrained from placing the All-Star on the 60-day injured list, at least leaving open the possibility he could be back on an MLB mound by May.
The club hasn’t provided further specifics about Hendriks’ potential return to game action. The pitcher’s health has of course taken precedence throughout the past few months, though Hendriks teased he’d “see (White Sox fans) on the South Side soon” in a video message released by the team earlier this week. MLBTR joins countless others throughout the game in congratulating Hendriks on his recovery and wishing him the best once he’s ready to begin building back into game shape.
Latest On Justin Verlander
The Mets provided an update on Justin Verlander this afternoon. Their newly signed ace has been on the 15-day injured list after being diagnosed with a low-grade strain of the teres major muscle in his shoulder at the end of Spring Training.
New York sent Verlander for an MRI this morning, raising some amount of concern amongst the fanbase. Fortunately, imaging revealed diminished inflammation, according to the club. He remains without a firm timetable for a return to MLB action but is going to continue a throwing program.
It’s a solid update, all things considered. While there’s still some issue with Verlander’s shoulder and no specific return date, that imaging didn’t turn up any serious structural issues is a positive. The Mets are already going to be without José Quintana for a few months. That pushed David Peterson into the starting staff and Verlander’s injury led to Tylor Megill claiming a back-end job. Joey Lucchesi and José Butto are at Triple-A Syracuse as the presumed next options if any of the current five suffer an injury.
In other New York news, catcher Omar Narváez left this afternoon’s loss to Milwaukee in the ninth inning. After the game, manager Buck Showalter told reporters (including Tim Britton of the Athletic) Narváez had some discomfort in his left calf. He’s day-to-day for now and will presumably be further evaluated over the next few days.
Tomás Nido is the other backstop on the active roster. Top prospect Francisco Álvarez opened the year on optional assignment to Syracuse, with the Mets preferring to get him consistent reps in the minors as opposed to more sporadic MLB playing time. If Narváez requires an IL stint, Álvarez would be the most straightforward option to replace him on the active roster. The Mets don’t have any other catchers on the 40-man roster; veteran Michael Pérez is a non-roster option in Syracuse.
Aaron Ashby To Undergo Arthroscopic Shoulder Surgery
Brewers left-hander Aaron Ashby will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder this week, manager Craig Counsell told reporters after this afternoon’s win over the Mets (relayed by Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel). Ashby will be out for “significant time,” in the words of the skipper, and might not return at all in 2023.
It’s a brutal development for one of the sport’s more promising young starters. Ashby, a fairly recent top prospect, threw 139 innings between 2021-22. The former fourth-rounder has only managed a 4.47 ERA but posted more intriguing underlying numbers. He’s punched out an above-average 27.1% of batters faced while keeping the ball on the ground on a huge 57.8% of batted balls. That rare combination of strikeouts and grounders led Milwaukee’s front office to invest in Ashby last summer.
The Brewers guaranteed him $20.5MM through 2027 on a deal that contained club options through ’29. While it’s still possible for that relatively modest deal to pan out, Ashby hasn’t been able to contribute because of shoulder issues. He made just three starts after the extension before landing on the injured list with shoulder inflammation. That ended his 2022 campaign early. The problems unfortunately cropped back up this spring, as he was diagnosed with a small labral tear in mid-February.
Ashby and the club initially downplayed the long-term severity of the injury. He was expected to miss the first six weeks of the season but his timeline now gets pushed back by another setback. The team hasn’t indicated whether Ashby suffered a more severe injury or if the initial issue simply hasn’t progressed as expected.
The Brewers will be able to transfer Ashby from the 15-day to the 60-day injured list whenever they have a need for a 40-man roster spot. Milwaukee still has a strong front five of Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff, Freddy Peralta, Eric Lauer and Wade Miley. Depth options Ashby, Jason Alexander and Adrian Houser are all on the IL, though, leaving Milwaukee fairly thin behind their top group.
It’s an obviously suboptimal development early in the season and at least raises some question about Ashby’s ability to cement himself in the rotation over the longer term. Miley is only guaranteed to be around this year, while Burnes and Woodruff are on track for free agency after the 2024 season. There’s surely still hope Ashby can join Peralta as longer-term impact starters but he’s now in danger of missing his entire age-25 campaign.
A’s Sign Spencer Patton To Minor League Deal
The A’s have signed right-hander Spencer Patton to a minor league deal, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post.
Patton, 35, pitched in the big leagues from 2014 to 2016 but struggled in that time and then headed to Japan. He spent four years with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars of Nippon Professional Baseball, from 2017 to 2020. He tossed 205 2/3 innings in that time over 219 appearances, posting a 3.68 ERA.
He returned to North America in 2021, signing a minor league deal with the Rangers. He was selected to the big league club and made 42 appearances that year with a 3.83 ERA, 27.9% strikeout rate, 8.7% walk rate and 41.3% ground ball rate. Unfortunately, last year was a little more rocky, as he was placed on the injured list in April with an oblique strain after just seven appearances and was later outrighted off the roster. He was doing fine in Triple-A for most of the year, having a 3.42 ERA through early August. However, he was bombed for 11 earned runs in his final three appearances, shooting his ERA up to 6.44 and leading to his release.
He’ll now join the Athletics’ organization and try to work his way back to the big leagues. The club’s bullpen has a couple of veterans in Trevor May and Jeurys Familia but everyone else has less than two years of major league service time. Patton will likely head to Triple-A Las Vegas and look to get himself in position for a big league opportunity, should one arise.
Blue Jays Claim Jordan Luplow From Braves
The Blue Jays announced that they have claimed outfielder Jordan Luplow off waivers from the Braves and optioned him to Triple-A. Luplow had been designated for assignment by Atlanta earlier this week when that club selected rookie pitcher Dylan Dodd. In a corresponding move, the Jays transferred lefty Hyun Jin Ryu to the 60-day injured list.
Luplow, 29, has appeared in the past six major league seasons, suiting up for Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Tampa Bay and Arizona. He’s largely taken on part-time duties, as his 85 games and 261 plate appearances in 2019 are both career highs. The right-handed hitter is generally viewed as a short-side platoon option, often putting up good numbers against lefties. His career batting line against southpaws is .226/.337/.505 for a wRC+ of 125, compared to a .200/.288/.355 line and 76 wRC+ against righties.
Last year, Luplow didn’t hit well against pitchers from either side, slashing .176/.274/.361 for the Diamondbacks. They could have retained him via arbitration, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting a $2MM salary, though the D’Backs opted to cut him from the roster at the end of the season instead. Atlanta picked him by signing him to a slightly lower price point of $1.4MM, but he didn’t make the club’s Opening Day roster. They had picked up a few other candidates for part-time outfield roles, such as Sam Hilliard, Kevin Pillar and Eli White. That nudged Luplow to the minors to start the season and off the 40-man shortly thereafter.
For the Jays, they previously had a righty-heavy outfield but tipped the scales the other way this offseason. Righties Teoscar Hernández and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. were both traded away while lefties Daulton Varsho and Kevin Kiermaier were brought aboard and Nathan Lukes won the bench outfield job out of camp. Luplow will head to Triple-A Buffalo for now but he could potentially be recalled at some point to play matchups and take some at-bats against tough lefties.
He currently has between four and five years of MLB service time, meaning the Jays could retain him for next season via arbitration if he lasts the whole year on the roster. He has just one option year remaining, however, meaning he will likely be out of options next year. Once he spends 20 days in the minors, then 2023 will officially burn his last option year.
As for Ryu, this transfer comes as no surprise as he’s recovering from Tommy John surgery and is targeting a return around the All-Star break. This move was an inevitable formality, with the Jays waiting until they found a player they liked on the waiver wire to make it.
Cardinals Notes: O’Neill, Nootbaar, Wainwright, DeJong
Cardinals outfielder Tyler O’Neill is not in today’s lineup, with Dylan Carlson taking his center field spot. It appears as though this is relation to a play in last night’s game where O’Neill was thrown out at home, trying to score from second on a single by Brendan Donovan (Twitter link with video from the Braves). Manager Oli Marmol is of the opinion that O’Neill wasn’t running with full effort on the play and spoke on the record about it last night and again today, as relayed by Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Katie Woo of The Athletic.
“There is a standard,” Marmol said. “You meet it, you play. You don’t meet it, you don’t play.” He further commented: “There’s going to be a style of play that we are known for. It’s going to involve effort and it’s going to involve being relentless. It’s going to involve being smart. We’re going to hold guys to that, because that’s how you sustain being good for a long time. There’s a lot of good players in that clubhouse, and down below, and I love competition. And the last thing you want to do when you’re in competition is open up a window.”
O’Neill doesn’t agree with Marmol’s view of the situation. “I’m trying to do everything I can to stay on the field and give it my best effort,” O’Neill said. “I’ve never been known to be a dogger in any caliber. So for him to say that is very strong words.” The outfielder also took exception to Marmol talking to the media about the situation. “I don’t think it should’ve been handled that way,” O’Neill said. “I think if there’s internal issues they should be handled internally. We should have each others backs out there. Sometimes it doesn’t go that way I guess. Live and you learn.”
The club came into the season with a glut of outfielders, including O’Neill, Carlson, Jordan Walker, Lars Nootbaar, Alec Burleson and Juan Yepez. Nootbaar is currently on the injured list but there’s still plenty of guys for three spots, while Nolan Gorman has been the designated hitter most days so far this year. Marmol’s comments suggest that his feelings about the play in question are strong enough that O’Neill is at risk of losing playing time beyond just today’s benching. Time will tell as to how it plays out in the long term, but O’Neill didn’t seem to have a good answer when asked how they will move past this. “I don’t know,” O’Neill said. “Continue with our communication. But really? I don’t know.”
O’Neill can be an excellent player when healthy, which he showed in 2021. He hit 34 home runs that year and slashed .286/.352/.560 for a wRC+ of 144. He also stole 15 bases and was given strong grades for his outfield defense, leading to a tally of 5.6 wins above replacement by FanGraphs. Last year, injuries limited him to 96 games and he wasn’t as impactful while on the field. He’s making $4.95MM this year and can be controlled via arbitration in 2024 before he’s slated to reach free agency.
Moving to less dramatic and more standard fare, Katie Woo also relayed some updates on injured members of the team. As mentioned, Nootbaar is currently on the IL, which is due to a thumb contusion. It seemed like he would likely have a short stay on the shelf and Woo relays that he may not even require a rehab assignment, though the club still isn’t sure about that. His return would further complicate the already-crowded outfield mix.
Adam Wainwright, on the injured list with a groin strain, will throw a bullpen tomorrow as he works his way back to health. Infielder Paul DeJong, who’s been out with a back issue, will begin a rehab assignment tomorrow, taking the designated hitter spot for Palm Beach.
Reds Select Kevin Herget, Designate Bennett Sousa
The Reds announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Kevin Herget. To open a spot on the active roster, fellow righty Joel Kuhnel was optioned to Triple-A Louisville. In a corresponding 40-man move, left-hander Bennett Sousa was designated for assignment.
Herget, 32, spent many years as a Cardinals farmhand but finally made his major league debut last year with the Rays. He posted a 7.71 ERA, but in a small sample of seven innings over three appearances. He spent the rest of the year in Triple-A, making 21 appearances, 17 of those being starts. In his 97 2/3 innings at that level, he had a 2.95 ERA, striking out 24.4% of hitters with a miniscule 3.9% walk rate.
The Rays designated him for assignment at season’s end and he landed with the Reds on a minor league deal. He tossed 5 2/3 innings this spring over four appearances, allowing three earned runs while striking out five and walking none. The club’s bullpen has been used heavily in recent days, so he’ll slot in for Kuhnel and give the club a fresh arm.
The cost of getting Herget onto the roster is cutting Sousa the day before his 28th birthday. The southpaw had spent his entire career with the White Sox until the Reds claimed him off waivers in February. He made his major league debut last year, posting an unsightly 8.41 ERA in a small sample of 20 1/3 innings. He had a much nicer 3.95 ERA in 27 1/3 Triple-A innings with a 30.2% strikeout rate, 10.3% walk rate and 51.5% ground ball rate.
The Reds will now have one week to trade Sousa or pass him through waivers. Given that left-handed pitching depth tends to always be in demand, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Sousa garner interest from one of the 29 other clubs in the league. Despite his poor results in the majors last year, he could intrigue teams based on his minor league track record. He also has a couple of option years remaining, meaning he could be stashed in the minors by any club willing to give him a 40-man spot.
White Sox Place Eloy Jiménez On IL With Hamstring Strain
The White Sox announced that outfielder Eloy Jiménez has been placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to April 4, with a “low-grade” left hamstring strain. Infielder Jake Burger was recalled in a corresponding move. Jiménez is expected to miss about two to three weeks, per James Fegan of The Athletic.
Jiménez, 26, is one of baseball’s most potent sluggers when healthy. Last year, he hit .295/.358/.500 for a wRC+ of 144, indicating he was 44% better than the league average hitter. That latter number ranked him in the top 15 spots on the major league leaderboard, among hitters with at least 300 plate appearances.
Unfortunately, the “when healthy” qualifier is doing a lot of work in that previous paragraph. Jiménez also dealt with a hamstring strain last year, in his right leg, one that cost him over two months of the season. In 2021, a ruptured left pectoral tendon kept him out of action for more than three months. Due to those injuries and the 2020 season being shortened by the pandemic, he’s only played 199 games since the end of the 2019 season.
In this instance, it doesn’t sound as though Jiménez is facing a significant absence, though it’s yet another frustrating hurdle for a guy who has had a lot of them lately. It’s also a notable development for the club, as they are considered by many observers to have a strong top layer of talent but weak depth that could be exposed by injuries over the course of the season. That’s not to say that this injury alone is some kind of death knell for their season, but it’s possible this will be part of an ongoing area of concern in the months to come.
Jiménez is capable of playing the outfield but has been limited to the designated hitter role so far this year. This IL placement will open up that lineup slot for manager Pedro Grifol to rotate some different players through.
Orioles Recall Grayson Rodriguez, Place Kyle Bradish On IL
The Orioles have announced that right-hander Grayson Rodriguez has been recalled and will start today’s game against the Rangers. It was reported last night that the prospect was joining the club and likely to jump into the rotation. Fellow righty Kyle Bradish was placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to April 4, with a right foot contusion.
Rodriguez, 23, will be making his major league debut today, which has been a long time coming. A first-round pick from 2018, he’s been considered one of the top pitching prospects in the sport for a while. Baseball America has ranked him on their top 100 list in each of the past four seasons, with Rodriguez in the top 10 both this year and last year. He seemed to be cruising towards a debut last year since he began the season in Triple-A, but a lat strain then put him on the shelf for about three months and prevented that from happening.
Throughout the winter, it was expected by many that Rodriguez would crack the club’s Opening Day rotation, with general manager Mike Elias stating that was his expectation as well. But the young hurler didn’t look great in spring, posting a 7.04 ERA in his five starts. He struck out 19 hitters in his 15 1/3 innings but also walked seven and allowed 17 hits, including three home runs. The club decided not to carry him in the Opening Day rotation after all and optioned him to Triple-A Norfolk at the end of camp.
The O’s were probably hoping for Rodriguez to spend a bit more time in the minors getting into a good groove, but circumstances necessitated a quick change. Bradish was struck on his foot by a comebacker on Monday and was removed after just 28 pitches and 1 2/3 innings. That’s led to the recall of Rodriguez after just a single start for Norfolk, which didn’t exactly go swimmingly. He threw 75 pitches over four innings, allowing three runs, two earned. He only struck out two opponents, walked four of them and surrendered four hits.
It will be interesting to see how he fares in his first taste of major league action. On the one hand, the recent results haven’t been amazing. On the other, he’s ranked high on prospect lists because of his quality arsenal and has had better results in the past. He posted a 2.20 ERA in his 14 Triple-A starts last year, striking out 35.8% of batters he faced along the way.
If Rodriguez is able to thrive and hold onto his roster spot the rest of the way, he’ll be able to earn a full year of service time. The major league baseball season is 187 days long but a player needs to only spend 172 days on the active roster, or injured list, in order to bank a full year. That will obviously have implications for him personally, as hitting that mark would put him on track to reach arbitration after 2025 and free agency after 2028. But further time in the minors could keep him shy of that line and potentially push those timelines back a year.
The team could also benefit if Rodriguez sticks around, on top of whatever contributions he makes on the field. If a player has less than 60 days of service time and is considered a top 100 prospect by two of Baseball America, MLB Pipeline or ESPN then earns a full service year, they become eligible for the prospect promotion incentive. If that player wins Rookie of the Year or cracks the top three in Cy Young or MVP voting during their pre-arbitration years, the team will net an extra draft pick. This began with the new collective bargaining agreement that was signed a year ago and has already happened once, with the Mariners getting an extra draft pick when Julio Rodríguez won Rookie of the Year last season. Baltimore’s young pitcher is on all three of the aforementioned prospect lists, putting all of this on the table.
Those will be concerns for the future. In the short term, the club will have to see which version of Rodriguez shows up, the one who looked dominant in Triple-A last year or the one who floundered in spring this year. He’ll slot into the rotation next to Kyle Gibson, Cole Irvin, Dean Kremer and Tyler Wells, with Bradish returning at some point down the line.