Luke Voit To Undergo MRI On Core Muscle Injury
Yankees first baseman Luke Voit departed the team’s game Tuesday with a core muscle injury, the club announced (via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). Voit will undergo an MRI.
Voit already went to the injured list with an abdominal strain earlier this month, though he returned after missing the minimum amount of time. The 28-year-old’s offensive production has dipped somewhat since he came back, but not to an alarming extent. Voit has slashed .278/.392/.493 (135 wRC+) with 19 home runs in 416 plate appearances this year, giving the Yankees their most productive full-time first base option since a brief Mark Teixeira resurgence in 2015.
New York replaced Voit on Tuesday with Gio Urshela, but he doesn’t figure to line up at first regularly if the former’s forced to head back to the IL. Urshela, after all, has unexpectedly emerged as a valuable third base regular for the Yankees. Meanwhile, the club has designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion and infielder DJ LeMahieu on hand as more logical first base possibilities. Those two and Mike Ford, who’s currently in the minors, handled the position during Voit’s brief absence a few weeks ago.
Braves Acquire Chris Martin
The Braves added a new arm to their late-inning relief mix in advance of tomorrow’s trade deadline, announcing the acquisition of right-hander Chris Martin from the Rangers on Tuesday evening. Atlanta will send left-hander Kolby Allard to Texas in return. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported the trade shortly before the teams announced the swap (Twitter link).
Martin, 33, bounced around the league as a minor league journeyman for much of the decade before reinventing himself in a stint with Japan’s Nippon Ham Fighters. The towering, 6’8″ righty emerged as one of the best relievers in Japan and parlayed that success into an affordable two-year pact with the Rangers prior to the 2018 season.
After a so-so first season in Arlington, Martin has turned in a very strong 3.08 ERA with an eye-popping 43-to-4 K/BB ratio in 38 innings of work. That fourth walk issued by Martin came in his most recent appearance — his most recent one had come nearly three months prior.
While Martin will only finish the season with two-plus year of MLB service time, he’s nevertheless a pure rental for Atlanta. The two-year, $4MM contract Martin signed upon returning to MLB stipulated that he can become a free agent at the end of the deal, so the Braves are only acquiring him for the current stretch run (barring some type of extension).
Martin will join, if not anchor a late-inning mix that currently looks nothing like the Atlanta front office expected heading into the season. Luke Jackson has emerged as the club’s primary closer, while former starter Sean Newcomb has become one of manager Brian Snitker’s more reliable setup men. Atlanta already added Anthony Swarzak in a minor trade that has paid big dividends earlier this season, and Josh Tomlin is still on board as a long reliever after only joining the organization late in Spring Training.
Dealing Allard will no doubt come as a shock to many Braves fans as the southpaw was Atlanta’s first-round pick (14th overall) back in 2015 and has ranked among baseball’s top 100 prospects in three different offseasons. Allard had back surgery in 2015 but has been relatively healthy since that time. However, his prospect star has dimmed in recent years.
Scouting reports have long touted Allard’s fastball control, which allows a fastball with rather pedestrian velocity to play up a bit. But he’s regarded more as a potential back-of-the-rotation starter at this point than the midrotation arm Atlanta may have once hoped. Baseball America and Fangraphs both dropped Allard to 12th among Braves minor leaguers on their summer re-rankings of the club’s farm system. In 110 innings with Triple-A Gwinnett in 2019 — his second full season at that level — Allard has pitched to a 4.17 ERA with 8.0 K/9, 3.0 BB/9, 1.23 HR/9 and a 50 percent grounder rate.
It’s nevertheless a strong return for the Rangers to receive in exchange for two months of a rental reliever. The Texas farm system has been starved for upper-level pitching, and even if Allard indeed tops out as a fourth or fifth starter, that’s precisely the top of serviceable asset the Rangers haven’t been able to squeeze out of their own farm system in recent years. The lack of such assets is what prompted Texas to (unsuccessfully) attempt to patch together the back of its rotation with the combination of Shelby Miller, Drew Smyly and Edinson Volquez this winter. Allard will give the team a potential immediate rotation candidate in the event of a Mike Minor trade or another injury among current starters. He may only have been considered to be the Braves sixth- or seventh-best pitching prospect but will quickly become one of Texas’ top overall farmhands.
Cardinals Exploring Trade Options For Jedd Gyorko
The Cardinals are “exploring trade options” involving infielder Jedd Gyorko now that the 30-year-old is nearly ready to return from the injured list, tweets Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. St. Louis moved Gyorko to the 60-day injured list today, but he’s already spent 52 days on the IL, so he’d be able to return a week after the trade deadline.
Gyorko, 30, has appeared in only 38 games for the Cardinals and has taken just 62 plate appearances. Gyorko opened the season on the IL due to a minor calf strain but has been out since early June due to a low back strain that Goold suggests is now fully healed. The acquisition of Paul Goldschmidt pushed Matt Carpenter to third base, and Gyorko wasn’t starting over either of Paul DeJong or Kolten Wong when healthy, either. In Gyorko’s current IL absence, both Yairo Munoz and Tommy Edman have emerged in the Majors, though neither has performed at the same levels a healthy Gyorko has reached in recent seasons.
Clubs interested in Gyorko will surely be intrigued by his versatility and offensive track record. He’s appeared at all four infield positions as a big leaguer, including 2000-plus innings at second base and third base, nearly 500 innings at shortstop and more than a hundred innings at first base. Gyorko has generally received plus ratings at third and passable marks at second base, though he’s not considered a quality defender at shortstop.
That said, he’s been a highly productive bat throughout his time with the Cardinals, hitting at a .256/.328/.456 clip with 63 home runs, 49 doubles and four triples in 1383 plate appearances dating back to 2016. Gyorko is earning $9MM this season and is still owed $3MM of that sum plus a $1MM buyout on a $13MM club option for the 2020 season.
Pirates, Brewers Have Discussed Keone Kela
Pirates reliever Keone Kela is drawing trade interest, including from the division-rival Brewers, according to Robert Murray of The Athletic. No deal appears “imminent,” Murray adds.
The Pirates and Brewers already swung a deal Monday, when Pittsburgh sent starter Jordan Lyles to Milwaukee. The rotation and bullpen still look like concerns for the Brewers, whose less-than-stellar pitching has left the reigning NL Central champions in danger of missing the playoffs. However, with a 56-51 record, the Brewers are very much in the thick of the postseason race. They’re a game back of the division-leading Cubs and Cardinals, facing the same deficit in the wild-card hunt and could make further upgrades by Wednesday’s trade deadline.
To this point, acquiring Kela at last year’s deadline hasn’t paid off as planned for the Pirates (nor has their 2018 deadline pickup of starter Chris Archer). The Pirates sent two pitching prospects to the Rangers for Kela, but the trade didn’t help lead to a playoff berth then and it won’t this season.
Kela has missed most of 2019 with right shoulder problems, and just as he returned from the injured list last week, the Pirates issued the 26-year-old a two-game suspension for an altercation with one of their coaches. The Pirates are now reportedly open to trading Kela, who has tossed three scoreless innings with four strikeouts, a walk and two hits allowed since returning from his short ban. Overall, Kela has logged a 3.68 ERA (and a much less encouraging 5.07 FIP) with 9.2 K/9, 3.07 BB/9, 1.84 HR/9 and a 31.0 percent groundball rate in 14 2/3 innings this season.
While 2019 has been a campaign to forget for Kela, he has mostly been an effective late-game option since debuting with the Rangers in 2015. Dating back to then, the hard-throwing Kela owns a 3.43 ERA/3.35 FIP with 11.04 K/9, 3.43 BB/9, 0.99 HR/9 and a GB percentage of 41.0 across 199 2/3 frames. He’s also affordable ($3.175MM salary) and set to go through arbitration one more time.
Phillies Move Zach Eflin To Bullpen
The Phillies are sending right-hander Zach Eflin from the rotation to the bullpen, Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Eflin will “most likely” back up current rotation members Jake Arrieta and Vince Velasquez, though the Phillies could also use him in games started by other pitchers, according to manager Gabe Kapler (Twitter links).
Eflin may not be the last Phillies starter dropped from their rotation, which could acquire more help by Wednesday’s trade deadline. He’s moving out to make room for Jason Vargas, whom the Phillies acquired from the Mets on Monday. Philadelphia also picked up Drew Smyly in free agency earlier this month after he pitched so poorly with the starter-needy Rangers that they released him. Smyly did, however, pitch a gem in a win over the Pirates in his Phillies debut on July 21. As of this writing, Smyly has gotten off to a terrific four-inning start versus the Giants on Tuesday.
This season has represented a step back for the 25-year-old Eflin, who was more impressive during his first truly extensive action as a starter in 2018. Eflin pitched to a 4.36 ERA/3.80 FIP with 8.65 K/9, 2.6 BB/9 and a 41.2 percent groundball rate in 128 innings then. His ERA (4.63), walk rate (2.48 per nine) and GB percentage (41.2) look much the same this season, but some of his other numbers have markedly declined. His K/9 (7.35) has sunk by almost a batter per inning, which has aided in a sizable FIP increase (4.86) and a noticeable uptick in home runs. Eflin yielded HRs on 11.2 percent of fly balls last year, but he’s up to 14.9 in that category this season.
Eflin, it should be noted, has seemingly been victimized by some poor fortune. His .316 expected weighted on-base average against looks far superior to the .338 real wOBA hitters have recorded off him. He also owned a 3.34 ERA as recently as June 29, but a horrid four-start stretch in July helped lead to his ouster from the Phillies’ rotation, at least for now.
Aside from Aaron Nola, the Phillies’ starting staff has been a general disappointment this year. Arrieta, who’s dealing with elbow issues, has fallen flat in Year 2 of a big contract. Velasquez and Nick Pivetta have shuffled between the rotation and the bullpen because of underwhelming performances, and the now-injured Jerad Eickhoff also couldn’t hold a starting job before going on the injured list with right biceps tendinitis in mid-June. The Phillies have brought in Vargas and Smyly as a result, though it’s fair to be skeptical that either will be able to cure what ails the playoff contenders’ rotation.
Latest On Yasiel Puig
7:05pm: There are “mixed opinions” in regards to Atlanta’s interest, per Heyman, who names the Indians and Rays as teams that seem to be eyeing Puig. He’s not the first right-handed slugger Cleveland and Tampa Bay have been connected to in recent days.
6:45pm: The Braves, known to be on the lookout for outfield help, have shown interest in the Reds’ Yasiel Puig, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports.
The outfield may not have been a significant concern for the Braves until they lost starting right fielder Nick Markakis to a fractured wrist over the weekend. Markakis will likely be on the shelf until sometime in September. In the meantime, the Braves will continue trying to maintain their lead in the National League East. They currently hold a 4 1/2-game advantage over the Nationals, who were 7 1/2 back just a couple weeks ago.
As things stand, the Markakis-less Braves have Ronald Acuna Jr., Austin Riley, Ender Inciarte and Adam Duvall as their top four outfielders. Aside from the great Acuna, there’s no surefire producer in the bunch. The rookie Riley began his career with a flourish, but his numbers have plummeted as the season has progressed, and they’ve been especially woeful in July. Inciarte, normally a solid all-around player, has been rather poor at the plate this season. And though Duvall (acquired from the Reds last summer) was a 30-home run hitter twice in a row in Cincinnati from 2016-17, he was so subpar between Cincy and Atlanta in 2018 that it took Markakis’ injury for him to earn a call-up to the Braves’ roster this year.
Enter Puig? The Reds are reportedly open to dealing the ex-Dodger, whom they acquired in the offseason. Puig’s a pending free agent, so unless the out-of-contention Reds plan to extend or qualify him, it would make sense to trade the 28-year-old this week. The mercurial Puig got off to a terrible start this year as he began his Cincy tenure, but he has been far better over the past several weeks. In all, Puig owns a .254/.304/.478 line with 22 home runs and 13 steals (18 attempts) across 401 plate appearances. Meanwhile, Puig has continued to serve as an asset in right (3 Defensive Runs Saved, 0.7 Ultimate Zone Rating), per defensive metrics. He’s also reasonably priced, albeit not cheap, with a $9.7MM salary.
Trevor Bauer Drawing Increased Interest; Reds Have Inquired
There’s been an “uptick” in the level of trade interest in Indians righty Trevor Bauer today, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports (subscription required). Rosenthal adds that the Indians are becoming increasingly tempted to make a deal. Joel Sherman of the New York Post, meanwhile, tweets that several executives throughout the league now believe the Indians are more likely to trade Bauer than to keep him.
More interestingly, Rosenthal tweets that the Reds and Indians have had discussions about a potential Bauer swap. Outfield prospect Taylor Trammell has been a part of those topics, Rosenthal notes, although Trammell is in the midst of a down season in Double-A and doesn’t exactly fit the bill of a big-league-ready asset the Reds can plug directly onto the 25-man roster. Cleveland is marketing Bauer more due to looming payroll concerns than because the organization is waving a white flag on the current season, and the common line of thinking has been that they’d need an immediate roster supplement in order to consider parting with Bauer.
Cincinnati’s interest, too, suggests that the club isn’t giving up on its push to end its ongoing rebuild. The Reds added Sonny Gray, Tanner Roark, Alex Wood and Yasiel Puig over the winter in an effort to contend in the NL Central. Those efforts didn’t put the club in contention for a division title, but Gray looks reborn as a quality starter and was extended for three more years. While Roark and Wood are slated to hit free agency (as is Puig), Bauer would give the Reds another option for the 2020 rotation. The trio of Bauer, Gray and Luis Castillo would become on of the more formidable top three in the game and would position Cincinnati well for a 2020 push before even reaching the offseason.
Unsurprisingly, it seems that the recent outburst in which Bauer hurled a ball over the center field fence out of being frustration upon being lifted from a start hasn’t deterred clubs from expressing interest. That incident resulted in a fine for Bauer but not a suspension, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman, but there won’t be any additional action from the league. Indians skipper Terry Francona spoke of potentially levying some additional team-issued discipline for Bauer (link via Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com), but that would of course only come into play if Bauer remains with Cleveland beyond tomorrow afternoon’s deadline.
Interest in Bauer has been fairly widespread, with the Padres, Yankees and Astros all linked to the right-hander (in addition to the aforementioned Reds). Houston has had “recent” talks about Bauer, tweets MLB.com’s Jon Morosi, though it’s not clear whether that’s indicative of talks earlier today or simply confirmation of the prior talks that have been reported upon in recent weeks.
Dalton Pompey Clears Waivers, Sent Outright To Triple-A
July 30: Pompey cleared waivers and will remain in the organization after being outrighted to Triple-A, the Blue Jays announced.
July 23: The Blue Jays have designated outfielder Dalton Pompey for assignment, according to Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca (via Twitter). Pompey’s injury rehab was up, forcing the club to make a call on the out-of-options player.
Pompey, 26, has endured a series of rough injuries in recent seasons and ended up on the shelf again this year for a concussion. He has slashed .244/.327/.311 in 14 games worth of rehab work.
This isn’t how the Toronto organization expected things to turn out after watching the Canadian native launch into top-prospect status. He was particularly impressive in 2014, when he briefly debuted in the majors and seemed primed to become the Jays’ long-term center fielder.
Pompey wasn’t able to secure a big-league job in 2015 and had showed inconsistencies thereafter in the upper minors. The club remained hopeful that he’d rediscover his form, but Pompey has been significantly limited by a series of increasingly worrisome concussions.
Entering camp this year for a rebuilding Toronto outfit, Pompey was in a make-or-break situation with no options remaining and little in the way of recent MLB experience. He ended up suffering an unlucky head injury in the locker room, forcing him to the sidelines.
Now, Pompey will be available to any other organization in the league, though a claiming team will need to put him on both its active and 40-man roster. If Pompey clears waivers, he’d remain with the Jays but would still be in line for minor-league free agency at season’s end.
Angels Designate Adam McCreery For Assignment
The Angels announced that they’ve designated left-hander Adam McCreery for assignment in order to open a roster spot for righty JC Ramirez, who has been activated from the 60-day injure list after missing more than a year due to Tommy John surgery.
McCreery, 26, didn’t pitch for the Angels at the MLB level after the Halos acquired him from the Dodgers in exchange for cash earlier this month. In fact, he made only two appearances with the Angels’ Triple-A club prior to today’s announcement, allowing a run on two hits and two walks with four strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings. McCreery has a spotty track record in the upper minors thanks to control issues, but he’s also averaged nearly 12 strikeouts per nine innings pitched throughout his minor league career.
Ramirez, 31 next month, came out of nowhere to give the Angels 24 starts and 147 1/3 innings of 4.15 ERA ball after bouncing all over the league prior to landing in Anaheim. He’ll be utilized out of the bullpen in his return to the MLB roster, but he’s eligible for arbitration in the winter and will likely reemerge as a rotation candidate for the Angels in 2019.
Trade Interest In Justin Smoak Escalating
Trade interest in Blue Jays first baseman Justin Smoak is “picking up,” tweets Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman connected the Indians to Smoak earlier today, and Nicholson-Smith adds the Rays as a team of interest as well. Several contenders have expressed interest in Smoak, per Nicholson-Smith. Notably, he’s not in the lineup tonight for the Blue Jays.
Toronto has been one of the few clear sellers on the summer market, having already departed with Marcus Stroman and David Phelps in the past 48 hours. The 32-year-old Smoak, a free agent following the 2019 season, is a logical player to deal away, too, even if the return on him doesn’t prove overwhelming. Smoak won’t be a candidate to receive a qualifying offer, so there’s added incentive to take the most appealing option presented between now and tomorrow afternoon’s trade deadline.
The switch-hitting Smoak’s batting average is down this season, but he’s walking at a career-best 16.7 percent clip and once again demonstrating above-average power. In 359 plate appearances, he’s hit .215/.357/.427 — good for a 110 OPS+ and a 108 wRC+ (which is to say he’s been about eight to ten percent better than league average from an offensive standpoint, even after accounting for his hitter-friendly home park). Smoak’s 19.8 percent strikeout rate is actually the lowest of his career, and he’s not popping up at an exorbitant level either. Rather, the key to his diminished average could be a fluky .220 average on balls in play (which checks in well south of his career .267 level).
Smoak is earning a reasonable $8MM salary in 2019 with about $2.71MM of that sum yet to be paid out between now and season’s end. With the Jays dealing away short-term assets, it seems likely that Smoak will be wearing a new uniform this time tomorrow.