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Fernando Tatis Jr. Exits Game With Left Shoulder Discomfort

By Connor Byrne | March 23, 2021 at 5:56pm CDT

5:56pm: Tatis is “fine,” a source told Acee.

5:04pm: Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. exited the team’s game against the Reds on Tuesday with discomfort in his left (non-throwing) shoulder, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune was among those to report. The club will re-evaluate Tatis on Wednesday.

There is no indication Tatis is dealing with a major injury, but if it a serious issue, it would be an awful development for the Padres. They’re coming off a tremendous 2020, an active offseason and hoping to knock the reigning World Series champion Dodgers off the National League West perch this year. For that to happen, the Padres will need a healthy Tatis, a 22-year-old who has established himself as a star since his 2019 debut. Tatis was so effective over his first two seasons, in which he slashed .301/.374/.582 with 39 home runs and 27 stolen bases over 629 plate appearances, that the Padres signed him to a 14-year, $340MM extension last month.

In the event of a worst-case scenario that would force Tatis to miss time, the Padres do have at least one viable replacement on their bench. Ha-Seong Kim – who thrived in Korea before joining the Padres on a four-year, $28MM guarantee in the offseason – has a great deal of professional experience at the position, where he played 776 games in the KBO.

MLBTR Chat Transcript

By Steve Adams | March 23, 2021 at 1:59pm CDT

Click here to read a transcript of Tuesday’s chat with MLBTR’s Steve Adams.

Erick Fedde No Longer Has Fourth Option

By Steve Adams | March 23, 2021 at 1:39pm CDT

An arbiter has ruled that Nationals right-hander Erick Fedde does not have a fourth minor league option season, reports Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post (Twitter link). That means that Fedde, a former first-round pick, is now out of minor league options and thus cannot be sent to Triple-A without first being exposed to waivers.

As MASNsports.com’s Mark Zuckerman outlined in February 2020, the Nationals were granted a fourth option over Fedde for the 2020 season because the league’s rules stipulate that such an option be granted when a player has exhausted all three minor league options despite not completing five “full” seasons (between the Majors and Minors combined).

A “full” season, under those terms, entails 90 or more days on an active roster, be it a big league or minor league roster. Time on the injured list does not count toward that definition. As such, Fedde’s 2015 season — what would’ve been his first “full” season after being drafted 18th overall in 2014 — did not count because he was recovering from Tommy John surgery for much of the year and did not accrue the requisite 90 days. Heading into the 2020 season, he’d played four “full” seasons but expended all of his options. A fourth option was granted to the Nats.

The Nationals didn’t use that option last year on Fedde, keeping him at the MLB level all season. The confusion surrounding Fedde, and others, was whether last year’s shortened schedule constituted a “full” season. It was fewer than 90 days in length, but service time and salary were prorated, so it could be argued that time on the roster for the purposes of determining minor league option eligibility should be treated similarly. Fedde and agent Scott Boras likely appealed that because he spent the 2020 season on the roster for the maximum time possible (67 days), he now has five “full” seasons under his belt, voiding the fourth option.

It’s a notable development for the Nationals’ pitching staff. Fedde had previously looked to be a potential odd man out behind fellow righties Joe Ross, the likely fifth starter, and Austin Voth, who’ll likely open the year in the ’pen. Both Ross and Voth had a leg up in the competition by virtue of the fact that they were out of minor league options, but Fedde is now in a similar position and thus much more likely to make the Opening Day roster.

There’s room for the Nats to carry all three hurlers, but the sudden lack of an option for Fedde would deprive them of some bullpen flexibility. Brad Hand, Tanner Rainey and Daniel Hudson obviously aren’t going anywhere at the back of the ’pen, and Wander Suero seems to be on solid ground as well. Voth is quite likely penciled into a long relief spot because of his own lack of options. Adding Fedde to that mix could make it tougher for a non-roster hopeful like Javy Guerra, Luis Avilan or T.J. McFarland to crack the roster. It’s also not great news for 40-man relievers like Kyle Finnegan and Ryne Harper, each of whom does have minor league options remaining.

Earlier this spring it came to light that several players were awaiting word on whether they do or do not have a fourth minor league option. The Cardinals’ Justin Williams, the Cubs’ Adbert Alzolay and the Angels’ Jaime Barria were among the many players who are currently in this state of limbo. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweeted earlier this afternoon that some from that group have been informed that they are indeed out of options, so it seems Fedde is the first known player among that bunch.

Phillies Facing Decisions On Veteran Relievers

By Steve Adams | March 23, 2021 at 11:03am CDT

The Phillies will soon have several decisions on their hands as veterans Brandon Kintzler, Tony Watson and Hector Rondon all have Wednesday opt-outs in their respective minor league deals with the club, per Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The Phillies’ 40-man roster is full at the moment and doesn’t have an obvious candidate for the 60-day IL, so there aren’t any injury situations that could clear up a roster spot. Lauber notes that manager Joe Girardi prefers to carry a five-man bench and an eight-man bullpen, too, so it doesn’t seem likely that the Phils will simply carry an extra reliever early in the year. Kintzler has had the best showing of the three this spring, tossing 7 2/3 shutout frames. Watson would give the Phillies an experienced lefty to pair with the inconsistent Jose Alvarado and/or the yet-unproven JoJo Romero.

There are also luxury tax implications tied to these decisions — particularly with regard to Kintzler and Watson. Both signed minor league deals with rather hefty $3MM guarantees should they make the club. Rondon’s deal calls for a $1.5MM base if he makes the team. All three relievers could also earn at least an additional $1MM via incentives.

With veteran outfielder Matt Joyce also on a minor league pact, the Phils have too many non-roster veterans to carry them all without going over the $210MM luxury barrier. They’re currently about $8.3MM shy of that mark, per Roster Resource’s Jason Martinez, and most clubs prefer to leave themselves at least some slight wiggle room for in-season dealings.

There’s been some speculation throughout camp about the possibility of a Vince Velasquez trade, which would free up $4MM of breathing room. The right-hander’s upside has long tantalized the organization, and he has at times flashed brilliance in the Philadelphia rotation. But Velasquez has yet to demonstrate much consistency through parts of five seasons. It’s also worth noting that since the Phils made the decision to tender him a contract, they’ve hired a new president of baseball operations (Dave Dombrowski), a new general manager (Sam Fuld) and signed a pair of veteran arms to fill out the rotation: Chase Anderson and Matt Moore.

Velasquez himself told reporters earlier this spring that he knew he wasn’t a lock to be tendered a contract, and Lauber has previously reported that the Phillies at least “gauged interest” in Velasquez even after tendering him a contract. The situation is complicated somewhat by the fact that Velasquez has been sidelined by an oblique issue of late (link via MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki), though he threw from 60 feet over the weekend.

As has been well-documented by now, teams are going to be more reliant on their rotation depth than ever before while monitoring workloads in the wake of last year’s shortened season. Because of that, there’s good reason to keep Velasquez around — even if he’s in the bullpen as a long man to begin the season. That appears the likeliest outcome at this point, leaving the Phils with some crucial decisions to make by week’s end. Opt-out clauses in minor league deals typically give a club 48 hours to put the player in question on the roster.

Mariners Release Gerson Bautista

By Steve Adams | March 23, 2021 at 8:24am CDT

The Mariners announced a slate of roster moves last night, reducing their spring roster to 48 players. Among the most notable cuts: right-hander Gerson Bautista was released from the organization.

This marks the second time that the Mariners organization has parted ways with Bautista, although the circumstances are different. Seattle outrighted Bautista off its 40-man roster at the end of the 2020 season after he missed the year due to a flexor strain in his pitching arm, and he was able to elect free agency thereafter. He quickly returned on a new minor league deal, signing back with the Mariners just two weeks later.

That’s not the case this time around, as Bautista wasn’t on the 40-man roster and has been able to pitch this spring — but has not done so effectively. The hard-throwing 25-year-old served up three runs in 5 1/3 innings, which isn’t necessarily alarming on its own, but he did so on the strength of seven hits and six walks without recording a strikeout. Small sample or not, six walks against no strikeouts through 26 batters faced isn’t an encouraging omen for any pitcher — particularly one who punched out 27.5 percent of his opponents at the Triple-A level. Bautista came to the Mariners alongside Jarred Kelenic and Justin Dunn in the Robinson Cano/Edwin Diaz blockbuster with the Mets, and it seems he may now be destined for a new organization.

The Mariners also optioned righty Yohan Ramirez to Triple-A to begin the season after the righty accrued a full year of service in their bullpen last year. Ramirez posted a strong 2.61 ERA and whiffed 26 batters in 20 2/3 frames, so some may be a bit surprised by his demotion. However, in spite of that impressive ERA, he also issued 20 walks, plunked four hitters and tossed a pair of wild pitches. His control could clearly use some refinement, and Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times tweets that he’s also been behind after spending time away from the club due to Covid-19 protocols. Ramirez tossed just one inning in an official game this spring and, despite not yielding a hit, allowed a pair of runs on a walk, two hit batters and two wild pitches.

It’s also notable that top pitching prospect Logan Gilbert was reassigned to a minor league camp. The former first-rounder only made one Cactus League start, and given his lack of pro experience — just one full season, in 2019 — that wouldn’t have registered as much of a surprise. However, former CEO Kevin Mather suggested during the interview that led to his resignation that Gilbert wouldn’t make the Opening Day roster but would be in the Majors “by mid-April.” As such, the right-hander’s timeline to the big leagues will be interesting to monitor. He’s yet to pitch above Double-A, where he started nine games in 2019. In a total of 135 frames between Class-A, Class-A Advanced and Double-A that year, Gilbert worked to a combined 2.13 ERA with a gaudy 31.7 percent strikeout rate and a tiny 6.3 percent walk rate.

Health Notes: Barreto, Eflin, Teheran, A. Wood

By Connor Byrne | March 22, 2021 at 11:09pm CDT

A few injury-related items from around the majors…

The Angels are shutting down infielder Franklin Barreto for four to six weeks because of elbow inflammation, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com relays. It’s yet another disappointing development for the 25-year-old Barreto, a former top 100 prospect who hasn’t matched the hype in the pros. Barreto, who’s out of minor league options, joined the Angels last summer in a trade that sent second baseman Tommy La Stella to the Athletics. He collected just two hits in 18 plate appearances with the Halos after that deal. Barreto’s injury means the Angels will likely open the season with Luis Rengifo in a utility role, Bollinger notes.
Phillies right-hander Zach Eflin has dealt with a back issue since last week, but it doesn’t look as if it will keep him from making his first start of the regular season. Eflin will throw a simulated game Wednesday and then appear in a Grapefruit League game next Monday, Matt Gelb of The Athletic reports. While Eflin’s pitch count might be somewhat limited in early April, he’s still on track to be part of the Phillies’ rotation at the outset of the season. Eflin enjoyed a career year last season with 59 innings of 3.97 ERA/3.50 SIERA pitching and a tremendous strikeout-walk percentage of 22.4.
Righty Julio Teheran exited his appearance Monday with back tightness, according to an announcement from the Tigers. The injury doesn’t seem serious, but it’s notable because Teheran is pushing for a spot in the Tigers’ rotation after signing a minor league contract in free agency. Detroit has to make a decision on Teheran’s status this week, as his deal includes an opt-out clause. As of now, the former Brave and Angel is “likely” to wind up on their roster, Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press tweets.
Giants lefty Alex Wood threw a bullpen session Monday and “felt really good,” Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area writes. Wood, who underwent an ablation procedure on his spine earlier this month, will throw a live bullpen later in the week, per Pavlovic. It’s unclear whether he’ll be ready for Opening Day. The Giants signed the ex-Brave, Red and Dodger to a one-year, $3MM guarantee during the offseason.

Reds, Heath Hembree Agree To Minor League Deal

By Connor Byrne | March 22, 2021 at 9:35pm CDT

The Reds have agreed to a minor league contract with right-handed reliever Heath Hembree, the team announced. The deal includes an invitation to major league spring training.

Hembree, who has appeared in the bigs with the Giants, Red Sox and Phillies since he debuted in 2013, signed a minors deal with Cleveland during the offseason. He became available again when the Indians released him over the weekend.

The 32-year-old Hembree could now compete for a spot in Cincinnati’s bullpen, which has lost Raisel Iglesias and Archie Bradley since last season. Hembree carries a 3.90 ERA/3.80 SIERA over 272 2/3 innings in the majors, though he struggled last season between Boston and Philadelphia. He gave up 19 earned runs on 26 hits and eight walks (against 20 strikeouts) in 19 innings, leading the Phillies to outright him in October.

AL East Notes: Davis, Yanks, Wilson, Andujar, Jays

By Connor Byrne | March 22, 2021 at 9:04pm CDT

The seven-year, $161MM contract the Orioles gave first baseman Chris Davis before 2016 continues to look worse: Manager Brandon Hyde admitted Monday that the lower back strain that has sidelined Davis since early this month could force him to begin the season on the 60-day injured list, according to Dan Connolly of The Athletic. Davis, who turned 35 last week, has gone from star to liability over the past few years. He slashed a horrendous .115/.164/.173 with no home runs during an injury-shortened, 55-plate appearance 2020. Davis is in the penultimate season of a contract that has long been an albatross for Baltimore.

White Sox Option Reynaldo Lopez

By Connor Byrne | March 22, 2021 at 7:06pm CDT

The White Sox optioned right-hander Reynaldo Lopez to their alternate site Monday, per a team announcement. The move means Lopez won’t open the season on the big league roster.

Lopez, who came to Chicago in a blockbuster trade with Washington heading into 2017, has had an up-and-down run with the White Sox. Now 27 years old, Lopez has pitched to a 4.76 ERA/4.98 SIERA across 446 2/3 innings as a member of the club. The previous two seasons were especially rough for Lopez, who combined for a 5.52 ERA/4.96 SIERA over 210 1/3 frames. He also walked a career-worst 12.4 percent of batters last year.

Lopez entered spring training with the hope of claiming a season-opening roster spot, but he allowed 11 earned runs in as many innings, gave up 16 hits, and totaled just six strikeouts against four walks in exhibition play before the White Sox demoted him. As of now, the White Sox appear as if they’ll enter 2021 with a rotation consisting of Lucas Giolito (whom they acquired in the same trade as Lopez), Dallas Keuchel, Lance Lynn, Dylan Cease and Carlos Rodon.

NL Central Notes: Pirates, Cards, Reds, Brewers

By Connor Byrne and TC Zencka | March 22, 2021 at 6:29pm CDT

Here’s the latest from the National League Central:

Pirates manager Derek Shelton expects recently signed right-hander Trevor Cahill to break camp with the team, Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic relays. “I don’t plan on him staying behind in Florida,” Shelton said of Cahill, whom the Pirates inked to a one-year, $1.5MM guarantee earlier this month. The Pirates aren’t yet sure which role Cahill will fill when the season starts, though. The well-traveled 33-year-old has amassed 225 starts in 352 appearances, and he’s coming off a season divided between starting and relieving with the Giants. Cahill wound up with 26 innings of 3.24 ERA ball and posted an excellent 29.2 percent strikeout rate, but he also walked 13.2 percent of the batters he faced, recorded a 4.38 SIERA and logged a personal-worst 33.3 percent groundball rate.
John Nogowski has made himself a surprising candidate for a roster spot in Jupiter with the Cardinals, per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The 28-year-old first baseman has an uphill climb ahead of him even after hitting .391/.533/.522 in 30 plate appearances this spring. Thanks to his limited defensive utility, however, there may not be an avenue for the Florida native to make the roster. The Cardinals would basically have to resolve themselves to keeping a roster spot solely for pinch-hitting duties. With Paul Goldschmidt set at first and Matt Carpenter also on the roster, Nogowski wouldn’t even necessarily be the first left-handed bat off the bench. Because of the injuries in the rotation, the Cardinals could choose to go with a four-man bench to help fill the innings, deepening the need for versatility from their bench bats. Also working against Nogowski is that he has two option years remaining, whereas Justin Williams, another left-handed bat, has none. If Carpenter, Williams, and backup catcher Andrew Knizner all make the roster, the Cardinals will still need someone capable of backing up Paul DeJong at shortstop. Tommy Edman would be the backup shortstop if another infielder is not added to the Opening Day roster.
The Reds are considering using Tejay Antone as a multi-inning option out of the bullpen, writes C.Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic. Whenever he pitches, the Reds are going to lean on Antone. They don’t expect to get as much length out of their starters as they had in 2020, feeding the thinking that Antone might be most impactful as an innings eater out of the bullpen. Pitching coach Derek Johnson stressed the importance of the bullpen, saying:“I don’t look for our starters to necessarily go out and give us six or seven every time. I think it’d great when and if they do, and that’ll be a bonus, but I do think our games — like they have in the last couple of years — they have been won or lost, a lot of times, in the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth inning. Our bullpen has to be solid if we’re going to have a chance.” Amir Garrett and Lucas Sims, two of their prime bullpen arms, have been slow in making their spring debuts, which could also play a part in the Reds’ using Antone in relief.
As long as he’s healthy, Daniel Robertson appears to be a sure bet to earn a roster spot with the Brewers as a utility player, according to Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. Robertson, who doesn’t have any minor league options remaining and was out the past couple of days because of a knee issue, returned to Milwaukee’s lineup Monday. The ex-Ray and Giant signed a one-year, $900K deal with the Brewers in free agency.

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