Injury Notes: Dodgers, Red Sox, Pirates, Mariners
Dodgers left-hander Rich Hill is making progress in his effort to overcome a flexor tendon strain, Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register reports. A platelet-rich plasma injection “has promoted some healing in the tissue,” writes Plunkett, who adds “everything looked good” for Hill after an ultrasound on Friday. He’s on track to start playing catch next weekend, though a potential return is still a ways off. The 39-year-old landed on the 10-day injured list June 20, but the Dodgers transferred him to the 60-day version earlier this week. Consequently, Hill won’t factor back into the Dodgers’ pitching staff until at least August. He had been enjoying another fine season – the last of his three-year, $48MM contract – with a 2.55 ERA/4.15 FIP, 10.36 K/9, 2.04 BB/9 and a 48.9 percent groundball rate over 53 innings.
- Sticking with the Dodgers, corner infielder David Freese is a good bet to return from the IL on Friday, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com tweets. Freese went down June 23 with a left hamstring strain, temporarily halting a rousing start for the long-productive 36-year-old. He came out flying this season with a .308/.407/.592 line (162 wRC+) and eight home runs in 140 plate appearances.
- Red Sox first baseman Mitch Moreland could start a rehab assignment next week, according to Bill Koch of the Providence Journal. Moreland has already been on the IL twice dating back to late May, including since June 8. He first succumbed to a lower back strain and then suffered a right quad strain upon his return. A healthy Moreland has been among many major leaguers to demonstrate an increase in power this season. The 33-year-old boasts 13 HRs, a sky-high .318 ISO and a .225/.316/.543 line (116 wRC+) in 174 trips to the plate.
- Left-hander Steven Brault became the most recent Pittsburgh starter to head to the IL on Saturday. Brault will sit out with a left shoulder strain, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes. That sounds like a concerning ailment on paper, though Brault and the Pirates are optimistic he won’t miss more than one or two starts, according to Mackey. Brault exited his start against the Brewers on Friday after four innings of one-run ball because of the injury. He has now pitched to a 4.15 ERA/4.53 FIP with 7.86 K/9 and 4.75 BB/9 in 60 2/3 innings (15 appearances, nine starts) this year. Several injuries to starters, including to Pirates No. 1 Jameson Taillon, have opened the door for Brault to work from their rotation. Taillon has been out since May 4 with a right flexor strain, though in a long-awaited sign of progress, he’ll play catch Sunday, Mackey relays. Meanwhile, reliever Keone Kela threw a simulated game Saturday. Kela, also down since May 4, has been battling right shoulder troubles.
- Greg Johns of MLB.com and Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times share the latest on a trio of righty Mariners relievers. Offseason signing Hunter Strickland, out since March 30 with a right lat strain, felt “awesome” after throwing a 20-pitch bullpen Saturday. His return still appears to be a good distance away, though. Austin Adams (Grade 1 lat strain) and Dan Altavilla (ulnar collateral ligament) just joined Strickland on the IL. Between Adams and Altavilla, the former has been the better reliever this year, but the latter’s injury looks more severe. The Mariners will know more after Altavilla undergoes an MRI.
Trey Mancini Drawing Interest
To state that the Baltimore Orioles figure to be deadline sellers would be an understatement. At 27-61, the Orioles are likely on a fast-track to the #1 overall pick in the 2020 Rule Four draft, and it’s no secret that teams at such a juncture are often the most eager to unload veteran assets for pieces that more neatly fit within the next contention window.
Of course, a bigger issue for a team like the Orioles is what, if any, pieces are on hand that would attract serious attention from clubs in search of improvement. After trading star third baseman Manny Machado at last year’s deadline, Baltimore’s Opening Day lineup this season consisted mostly of lightly regarded journeymen and faded former standouts like Jonathan Villar and Chris Davis. One member of that Opening Day lineup, however, has begun to generate serious trade interest in advance of the July 31st trade deadline, according to a report from Ken Rosenthal (via Twitter).
After a 2018 season that saw him regress to below-average league offensive levels (93 wRC+), outfielder Trey Mancini has reasserted himself this year as a high-caliber big league bat. From an offensive standpoint, Mancini’s .297 /.354 /.528 slash line (130 wRC+) would seem to represent a marked improvement over the outfield options of many clubs, even if defensive metrics continue to dog the 27-year-old’s performance on the grass. At worst, Mancini would seem to profile as a cheap, controllable DH option for an acquiring AL club.
Rosenthal does point out, however, that such cheap control could actually prove to be an impediment to a potential trade. Mancini, who will carry an arbitration figure for the first time next season, is currently making the league minimum, and–as a productive and recognizable Orioles player–he could be considered more valuable to the O’s franchise than to any other club. It may be just as reasonable, based on that viewpoint, to speculate the Orioles could play the wait-and-see game on Mancini’s market – perhaps with an eye on an offseason deal.
Sean Manaea To Begin Rehab Assignment Monday
In a welcome piece of A’s starter-related news, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle has reported that left-hander Sean Manaea will begin a rehab assignment with the organization’s AAA affiliate on Monday. Manaea has been sidelined for the entirety of the 2019 season following September 2018 surgery on his rotator cuff.
In light of the misfortunes the Athletics have suffered in regards to their starting staff this season, Manaea’s return will surely be a welcome one. Though perhaps best known for his no-hit performance against the Red Sox last April, the Indiana-bred Manaea has been best known to Oakland fans as one of the team’s steadier starting options in recent years. From 2016 to 2018, the lefty posted 80 starts that resulted in a 3.94 ERA (4.15 FIP) across 464 innings. Last season, he did an especially laudable job at limiting walks, with an allowance of just 1.79 BB/9 (a mark which, had he qualified, would have placed Manaea 6th among all starters).
In his absence, the Athletics have mostly been scrambling this year to account for other absences. Frankie Montas, brilliant 2019 results notwithstanding, was recently suspended 80 games for PED use; Jharel Cotton was shut down in June with a hamstring injury; young options like Jesus Luzardo and A.J. Puk have been waylaid by setbacks and shaky rehab performances, respectively. Despite these developments, the A’s have maintained a 49-40 record, partly due to quality starts provided by the likes of veterans Mike Fiers, Brett Anderson, and Chris Bassitt.
Brodie Van Wagenen Reportedly Lashes Out At Mets’ Coaches
The fun never stops for the 2019 Mets, who’ve endured a nightmarish, drama-packed campaign after starting it with playoff aspirations. Following Friday’s loss to the Phillies, general manager Brodie Van Wagenen assembled the Mets’ coaching staff, including beleaguered manager Mickey Callaway, and “lashed out” over the fact that the team wasted ace Jacob deGrom‘s excellent performance, Mike Puma of the New York Post reports. Van Wagenen further expressed his displeasure by throwing a chair and ordering Callaway to go conduct his “[expletive] press conference,” according to Puma.
The GM neither confirmed nor denied the incident took place, per Puma, though Anthony DiComo of MLB.com and Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News tweet that it did indeed happen. If we’re to believe these reports, this looks like just the latest strange occurrence of the season for the Mets. Van Wagenen reportedly had deGrom pulled from a start June 1 because of a hip cramp, and just two weeks ago, Callaway and left-hander Jason Vargas got into a dustup with Newsday beat writer Tim Healey. Vargas’ actions reportedly left the team’s front office “incensed” and could hasten his departure either by the July 31 trade deadline or in the offfseason.
As with Vargas, it’s fair to wonder how much longer Callaway will continue with the organization. The club has gone a horrid 116-134 since it hired him entering last season, though that’s not to suggest he’s the lone source of blame. Led by the neophyte GM and ex-agent Van Wagenen, the Mets surely expected to wind up as deadline buyers this year. In January, when Van Wagenen was amid an aggressive offseason that was supposed to turn around the downtrodden franchise, he told the rest of the National League East to “come get us.” Three months into the season, the division has done just that.
Among their divisional foes and the entire NL, the Mets have bettered only the rebuilding Marlins as the All-Star break approaches. At 39-49, the Mets are a whopping 13 games behind the East-leading Braves and seven back of a wild-card spot. Frustrations are boiling over as a result.
Nationals, Anthony Rendon Discussing Extension
Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon is slated to become the best position player to hit free agency in the upcoming offseason. He might not reach the open market, though. Nationals owner Ted Lerner and Rendon’s agent, Scott Boras, are discussing an extension for the All-Star, Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com reports.
Boras was at Nationals Park on Saturday – an indication of how serious negotiations have become, Zuckerman observes. The two sides have talked about a new deal for Rendon on and off for a while now, though they haven’t been able to bridge the gap thus far. Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post reported earlier this week there hadn’t been much progress between the team and player, noting Rendon’s likely seeking a pact in the range of the seven-year, $234MM extension Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado signed before the season.
Rendon’s trophy case is nowhere near as full as that of Arenado, who has earned five All-Star trips and six Gold Gloves, among other awards. Nevertheless, Rendon has been one of the majors’ premier players in his own right. Rendon, whom the Nationals chose sixth overall in the 2011 draft, debuted in 2013 and has since slashed .286/.363/.482 (125 wRC+) with 122 home runs and 29.0 fWAR in 3,597 plate appearances. Only 11 position players have bettered Rendon in the fWAR department dating back to his first at-bat, and he’s now enjoying his top season yet. On the strength of a .304/.388/.612 line (150 wRC+) with 20 homers in 320 PA, Rendon finally picked up a long-overdue All-Star nod.
Now, having lost Bryce Harper to free agency last winter, the Nationals don’t seem prepared to let yet another homegrown superstar depart. Harper’s also a Boras client, but even though the team was unable to retain the outfielder, its ownership is known to have a positive relationship with the super-agent.
Along with Rendon, four of the Nationals’ other players are Boras clients, including high-profile starters Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg. Washington signed Scherzer to a seven-year, $210MM contract in free agency entering 2015. The club then handed Strasburg a seven-year, $175MM extension in May 2016, when he was just a few months from potentially testing the open market. The Nationals may now follow suit with Rendon.
Report: Orioles “Certainly Would” Trade Andrew Cashner
Orioles general manager Mike Elias suggested in late June it would be difficult for the starter-starved club to part with either Dylan Bundy or Andrew Cashner prior to the July 31 trade deadline. However, at least in Cashner’s case, Baltimore “certainly would” part with the right-hander, according to Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. Elias has been “checking the Cashner market for quite a while,” Kubatko adds.
The Orioles obviously haven’t found a taker for Cashner yet, though he has upped his value with a resurgent year. After Cashner’s disastrous 2018, his first season as an Oriole, it would have been difficult to envision him emerging as a trade chip this summer. But the 32-year-old has come out of the gates this season with a 3.83 ERA/4.26 FIP, 6.17 K/9 against 2.71 BB/9, and a 49.2 percent groundball rate in 96 1/3 innings. Cashner turned in his fifth consecutive quality start Saturday, throwing seven innings of one-run ball in Toronto.
Cashner’s success in 2019 has come thanks in part to an ability to stymie opposite-handed hitters, whom he has limited to a paltry .229 weighted on-base average. At the same time, Cashner has held enemy lineups to a .273 wOBA the first time through the order, a .311 mark the second time and a .312 figure the third time. Cashner’s better output has come with an increase in velocity. He averaged 92.4 mph on his fastball a year ago, but the number has revisited its 93.5 mph mean from 2017 – a season in which he defied uninspiring peripherals to post a 3.40 ERA with the Rangers. He landed a two-year, $16MM deal from the O’s the next winter as a result.
Cashner’s on track to reach free agency again during the upcoming offseason, and he is owed approximately $3.7MM of his current $8MM salary in the meantime. Considering Cashner is not a major difference-maker at this stage of his career, Baltimore might have to eat some of his remaining money to augment his trade value in the next few weeks. If Cashner keeps pitching well until then, though, he may indeed end the season with a playoff contender.
Tigers Outright Jose Fernandez
After being designated for assignment earlier this week, Tigers lefty Jose Fernandez has cleared waivers and will remain with AAA Toledo, per the MLB Roster Moves Twitter feed.
Fernandez came to Detroit this offseason via waivers after several years in the Blue Jays organization, but a brief pit stop with the Tigers across April and May yielded unpalatable results. After giving up 7 ER in just 3.2 big league IP, Fernandez was optioned to Toledo on May 9th. All told, the 26-year-old Dominican has an even 9.00 ERA across 14 big league innings dating back to last season.
Fernandez has been much more successful at preventing runs in Toledo this season, having logged a 3.90 ERA over 27 2/3 frames. However, he has only put up 5.86 K/9 against 4.23 BB/9 with Detroit’s top affiliate.
Latest On Edwin Diaz
6:04pm: Diaz remains the Mets’ closer for now, Callaway announced Saturday (via Anthony DiComo of MLB.com).
9:48am: The Mets are considering removing Edwin Diaz from the closer role after another rough outing on Friday night, per Wallace Matthews of Yahoo Sports.
In the span of five batters in the top of the ninth inning last night against the Phillies, Mets closer Edwin Diaz unraveled once again. The half inning provided a microcosm of the season thus far for the moribund Mets. Diaz walked a batter and surrendered three hits, Wilson Ramos gave away an extra base with a throwing error, and the Mets past mistakes came back to haunt them once again – this time in the form of Jay Bruce, who singled in the go-ahead run before being lifted for a pinch-runner.
Mickey Callaway has little choice but to consider removing Diaz from the closer role. Diaz now carries a 5.67 ERA, a far cry from the 1.96 ERA he put together last year en route to 57 saves for the Mariners. The situation is further pressurized by the prospects whom the Mets surrendered for Diaz, who continue to climb up prospects boards as they near their new futures in Seattle. Robinson Cano, either the tax in the deal or Diaz’s sidekick, depending on your perspective, hasn’t helped matters either. Hampered by injuries, Cano has produced just a .244/.292/.368 batting line while drawing boos from the New York crowd.
The devolution of Cano isn’t all that stunning – though Brodie Van Wagenen clearly did not see this coming – but few expected Diaz to stumble into the All-Star break such as he has. How bad Diaz has been is a matter of debate, as he’s been worth -0.4 wins above replacement by measure of rWAR, whereas Fangraphs takes a brighter view, putting his worth on the year at a positive 0.4 fWAR. Neither are what the Mets hoped for, but by Fangraphs measure there is some hope that Diaz hasn’t lost what made him so special last season.
Looking at fielding independent metric, Diaz looks downright functional with 3.72 FIP and 2.87 xFIP. His 14.85 K/9 is only down a little from last year’s mark, while a .425 BABIP and 21.9% HR/FB% speak to a certain degree of poor luck. If Diaz can get the balls to stop leaving the yard, his overall numbers should rebound. Of course, it’s a zero sum game for closers, and no matter how the peripheral numbers look, the blown saves have piled up and forced Callaway to consider his options, such as they are.
Were there a deputy on hand to depose Diaz, his removal might be hastened, but it’s slim pickings these days in the Mets bullpen. Jeurys Familia has been an equal disaster, and Seth Lugo blew three saves from June 23-29. Robert Gsellman saved 13 games for the Mets last season, but his surface numbers (4.96 ERA) aren’t much better than Diaz. The lack of alternatives might buy Diaz some time to turn it around, but the watch is on.
The Marlins’ Sneaky Trade Chip
Apart from a few scattered signs of promise dotting the South Florida tank, it’s been another year to forget for the Fish. The Marlins currently sit at 32-54, 19.5 games back of the Braves in a tough NL East, a mark that all but assures the club of a decade-long losing-season sweep.
The club’s heaviest assets of yesteryear have all been pawned, leaving an assortment of pre-arb castoffs, up-and-comers, and journeymen hangers-on. Still, it’s baseball, and where playing time awaits, new assets will emerge. The club has steadily rebuilt its once-barren farm, stolen a couple names from regimes with which new club personnel were familiar, and allowed previously cast aside young talent to flourish. Even Zac Gallen and Sandy Alcantara, the bulk of the oft-pilloried return for Marcell Ozuna, have spread their wings this season, with the former vaulting into top-100 territory and the latter notching the club’s lone ’19 All-Star appearance despite shaky peripherals.
Can the club add to its array of projected big leaguers on the farm? Many of its top performers this season – Brian Anderson, Pablo Lopez, Garrett Cooper, Caleb Smith – figure to comprise the core of Miami’s next contending club, and are thus unlikely to move. Veterans Martin Prado, Starlin Castro, Wei-Yin Chen, Adam Conley, and Sergio Romo have done little to boost their respective values, and high-octane hurler Jose Urena hasn’t take the step forward the team hoped. But one former throw-in from a long-ago deal has remained steady as always.
Enter Miguel Rojas. Acquired in the head-scratching deal that sent Andrew Heaney, Kiké Hernandez, and Austin Barnes to LA in exchange for Dee Gordon and an aging Dan Haren, Rojas was used sparingly in his first couple seasons with the club. He opened eyes with a 1.4 fWAR performance in just 90 games in 2017, pairing strong contact ability with above-average defense at multiple positions. The gutting of 2018’s roster left near-full-time opportunity at shortstop for Rojas, a position at which he sparkled defensively, notching 10 defensive runs saved in nearly half the innings of NL-leader Nick Ahmed, who posted 21, and a UZR/150 that ranked among MLB’s best.
The 30-year-old Venezuelan has vaulted up a notch this season, pacing the big leagues in both UZR/150 and the range component of the stat, with a striking 13 Defensive Runs Saved to boot. With Andrelton Simmons on the shelf, and Brandon Crawford looking a shell of his former shelf all across the diamond, Rojas has staked a legitimate claim to the league’s best defender at the most difficult defensive position on the field.
His bat, too, has taken off: his 97 wRC+ has the one-time utility man on pace for nearly 3.0 fWAR this season, an easily above-average mark, and his second such offensive campaign in three years. His hard-hit rate has jumped to a career-high 35.5%, and the righty’s chasing pitches outside the zone at a career-low pace. Rojas’ 12.8 K% (paired with a respectable 7.8% BB) ranks among the league’s lowest.
In short, he’s as solid as they come. But where will he fit? Unlike other positions – catcher, second base – shortstop is rife with talent, and nearly every contender has a good one. Milwaukee, who’s seen Orlando Arcia reprise his poor performance from a season ago, could be a fit, as might Tampa or perhaps Pittsburgh or Cincinnati. Washington could again shift its shortstop, Trea Turner, around the diamond – he’s been awful defensively in limited action so far this season – as could the Cubs, whose second-base hole might simply be plugged by the displacement of one-time incumbent Javier Baez.
Given the propensity of new-wave front offices to acquire pieces without a clear fit, it stands to reason that Rojas’ market may be wider than it first appears. He’s arbitration-eligible for the final time in 2020, so Miami’s return won’t be negligible; the one-time throw-in may soon find himself a centerpiece.
Minor MLB Transactions: 7/6/19
The latest in minor moves from around the game…
- The Reds have released Zach Duke, per Mark Sheldon of mlb.com. Duke, now 36, has long been an effective reliever from the left side, but was viciously knocked around in 30 appearances for the club this season, posting identical 6.94 K and BB/9 marks in 23 IP. The lefty’s assortment of offspeed offerings has been death on same-side hitters for nearly a decade and a half now, but even southpaws crushed him this year, posting an eye-popping .250/.385/.500 slash through the season’s first half. He’s a decent bet to catch on elsewhere, given his track record, but the leash won’t be nearly as long this time around.
- Former Mets infielder T.J. Rivera has signed with the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League, tweets Jon Heyman of MLB Network, who notes that the 30-year-old took much of the early season off to “fully recover” from his 2017 Tommy John Surgery. Rivera posted consecutive above-league-average offensive marks in limited time for the 2016 and ’17 Mets, though the club never seemed keen on giving him a full-time gig. A strong Indy showing should land him a spot in affiliated ball, though it may be too late this season for him to make a mark.