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Quick Hits: C. Martinez, Rangers, Straily, Mercer

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Cardinals right-hander Carlos Martinez has been a highly capable starter for most of tenure with the club, which dates back to 2013. But the Cardinals moved the then-injured Martinez to their bullpen in late April, and that’s where he’s going to stay for the time being, per manager Mike Shildt (via Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch). Shildt suggested the Cardinals don’t have time to build up Martinez, who opened the season on the injured list with shoulder problems. “To put him back in that cycle again doesn’t make a lot of sense when he’s in a spot where he’s had success and he’s recovering,” Shildt said of Martinez, who has totaled 12 appearances and 13 1/3 innings with a 3.38 ERA/3.47 FIP, 8.1 K/9, 2.7 BB/9 and a 58.3 percent groundball rate since he made his season debut May 18. Even though Martinez has posted good numbers as a reliever, the Cardinals’ rotation has missed the 27-year-old. Their starting staff has been mediocre or worse this season.

Here’s more from around the majors…

  • The Rangers were planning on giving left-hander Joe Palumbo a chance to audition for a role in their thin rotation, but that may not be the case anymore, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News writes. The 22-year-old Palumbo has started twice, including in Wednesday’s 10-4 drubbing at the hands of the Indians. The Tribe lit up Palumbo for seven earned runs on six hits (two home runs) in two innings. Reliever Jesse Chavez came in after Palumbo and tossed five innings of one-run ball. Although Chavez, 35, hasn’t started extensively since 2017, the Rangers are so hard up for stability in the back of their rotation that they’ll “consider” shifting him there, manager Chris Woodward said.
  • Orioles righty Dan Straily’s place on the team’s roster may be in jeopardy, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com suggests. The low-risk flier the club took on Straily on April 5, a little over a week after the Marlins released him, hasn’t worked out to this point. Straily, 30, was coming off a multiyear run as a useful starter when he joined Baltimore, yet he has worked to a hideous 9.82 ERA/9.30 FIP in 47 2/3 innings since then. While Straily began 2019 as a starter, his struggles convinced the O’s to demote him to their bullpen nearly a month ago. Straily has fared even worse in that role.
  • Injured Tigers shortstop Jordy Mercer is nearing a rehab assignment and could return to the majors by the first week of July, according to manager Ron Gardenhire (via Chris McCosky of the Detroit News). Mercer, out since April 14 with a right quad strain, already began a rehab stint once. However, he suffered a setback three weeks ago and hasn’t returned to game action yet. When the rebuilding Tigers signed the soon-to-be 33-year-old Mercer to a $5.25MM guarantee in the offseason, they were likely hoping he’d perform well enough to emerge as a summer trade chip. Instead, the former Pirate got off to a brutal start – .206/.275/.317 (55 wRC+) in 69 plate appearances – and hasn’t played since.

Braves To Start Dallas Keuchel On Friday

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JUNE 20: Keuchel will start for the Braves on Friday, O’Brien tweets. The club has optioned righty Huascar Ynoa to Triple-A Gwinnett to clear a 25-man roster spot for Keuchel.

JUNE 17: The Braves plan for left-hander Dallas Keuchel to make his season debut Friday against the division-rival Nationals, according to manager Brian Snitker (via David O’Brien of The Athletic and Mark Bowman of MLB.com).

Keuchel has pitched two minor league tuneup games since he ended his protracted trip to free agency with a one-year, $13MM agreement on June 7. The first, in which Keuchel threw seven shutout, one-hit innings at the Single-A level, went swimmingly. Keuchel added another seven frames in a Double-A start Saturday, though he allowed 11 hits and three earned runs. However, the Braves are “encouraged” by the fact that Keuchel threw 101 pitches in that outing, Bowman writes.

Although the reigning NL East champion Braves lead their division by 2 1/2 games this year, they’ve gotten to this point with middling starting pitching. In need of a complement to superb rookie Mike Soroka, the club made a notable in-season commitment to the 31-year-old Keuchel, who often excelled in Houston over the previous half-decade and has a 2015 AL Cy Young Award on his resume.

Keuchel is now about to join a Braves rotation which, aside from Soroka, isn’t the most trustworthy group. Julio Teheran has enjoyed a major bounce-back year in terms of bottom-line results, but as always, his peripherals aren’t as encouraging as his ERA. Meantime, Max Fried has cooled off since a great start, Mike Foltynewicz has been surprisingly poor after what looked like a breakout 2018, and Kevin Gausman (now injured), Sean Newcomb, Kyle Wright, Touki Toussaint and Bryse Wilson haven’t offered solutions over a combined 22 starts.

Fortunately for Atlanta, Keuchel’s not the only reinforcement on the way. Injured center fielder Ender Inciarte – out since May 15 with a lumbar strain – has been cleared for baseball activities and could embark on a rehab assignment next week, per Bowman. However, as Bowman notes, Inciarte will not reclaim the starting job in center field when he returns to the majors.

The Braves can’t sit rookie standout left fielder Austin Riley, who will continue to line up alongside Inciarte’s center field replacement, Ronald Acuna Jr., and right fielder Nick Markakis. The defensively adept Inciarte had center on lockdown in Atlanta from 2016 until landing on the IL this year, but his injury and subpar start over the first month and a half of this season opened the door for the hot-hitting Riley.

Latest On Jameson Taillon

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A flexor strain in Pirates starter Jameson Taillon’s pitching elbow has kept the right-hander off a major league mound since May 1. Almost two months later, Taillon’s not recovering as hoped, Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic explains (subscription required). Surgery could emerge as a possibility for Taillon if he doesn’t begin progressing, Biertempfel notes.

Taillon first started feeling symptoms of his flexor strain in spring training, well before he landed on the injured list. He still hasn’t resumed throwing since going on the IL, though the Pirates are hopeful that will change in 10 to 14 days, director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk told Biertempfel. However, Tomcyzk admitted “we might have to go in another direction” – possibly surgery – with Taillon if he shows ill effects after he returns to throwing. Regardless, it doesn’t appear he’s close to a return to the majors.

An elbow procedure would be the second for Taillon, who underwent Tommy John surgery as a prized prospect in 2014. Now, given the 27-year-old’s importance to the Bucs, another TJ procedure would be an enormous blow to Taillon and the team. Taillon entered 2019 off his best season in the majors, in which he threw 191 innings of 3.20 ERA/3.46 FIP ball with 8.43 K/9 and 2.17 BB/9, and performed well again this year before going on the IL. Even though he wasn’t at full strength, Taillon managed 37 1/3 frames of 4.10 ERA/3.76 FIP pitching with 7.23 K/9, 1.93 BB/9 and a 49.6 percent groundball rate.

Injuries to Taillon and other starters help explain the Pirates’ 33-40 record, which is the third-worst mark in the National League. The club just got back Trevor Williams, but he missed a little over a month with a side strain. Meanwhile, Jordan Lyles has been on the IL since June 10. Of starters who opened the season in Pittsburgh’s rotation, Taillon, Williams and Lyles have been its top performers so far. On the other hand, Joe Musgrove and Chris Archer haven’t prevented runs at palatable rates.

MLB Draft Signings: 6/19/19

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Here’s a look at the latest noteworthy draft signings, with the newest moves at the top of the post.  Click here for the full list of slot values and draft pool bonuses, and you can find prospect rankings and scouting reports from Baseball America’s Top 500,  Fangraphs’ Top 200, MLB.com’s Top 200, and the Top 50 of ESPN.com’s Keith Law….

  • The Red Sox announced the signing of second-round pick Matthew Lugo on Tuesday. The high school shortstop from Puerto Rico will receive $1.1MM, a fair amount more than the $929,800 slot value accompanying the 69th pick, Jim Callis of MLB.com tweets. FanGraphs’ Kiley McDaniel and Eric Longenhagen ranked the 18-year-old Lugo as the 26th-best player available entering the draft, writing he has “50 or 55 tools across the board.”
  • The Marlins have agreed to sign fifth-round right-hander Evan Fitterer to a deal worth far more than slot value, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports. Fitterer will earn $1.5MM, even though his pick (No. 141) called for a bonus in the $390K range. Callis and Jonathan Mayo write that the 18-year-old high schooler from California “reminds some of a young Kyle Hendricks, perhaps with a bigger fastball, but with a similar feel to pitch.”

Minor MLB Transactions: 6/19/19

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The latest minor moves from around baseball…

  • The Rangers have re-signed right-hander Nick Gardewine to a minor league contract, the team announced. Gardewine’s back with the Rangers shortly on the heels of his release last Thursday, five days after they designated him for assignment June 8. A seventh-round pick of the Rangers in 2013, Gardewine reached the majors for the first time in 2017 and then pitched to a 4.85 ERA with 4.85 K/9 and 4.85 BB/9 (that’s a lot of 4.85s) in 13 innings through 2018. The 25-year-old has missed substantial time over the past couple seasons because of injuries, though he has pitched 323 innings of 3.71 ERA ball with 8.8 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 during his minor league career.

Royals Release Drew Storen

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The Royals have released right-handed reliever Drew Storen, according to Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com. Storen had been with the organization since it signed him to a minor league deal in February.

The Royals assigned Storen to the Double-A level in May, which was a sizable step forward in his rehab process from the Tommy John surgery he underwent as a Red in September 2017. However, the 31-year-old Storen then gave up nine earned runs on 15 hits and five walks (with 12 strikeouts) in 10 1/3 innings, which caused the Royals to get rid of him.

Storen, best known for his stint as a Nationals reliever from 2010-15, will now seek another big league organization. Also a former Mariner and Blue Jay, Storen has pitched to a 3.45 ERA/3.44 FIP with 8.52 K/9, 2.7 BB/9 and a 46.1 percent groundball rate in 440 1/3 innings at baseball’s highest level. Storen has also converted 99 of 123 save chances, though his days as a closer appear long gone.

Cody Allen Drawing Interest

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Free-agent reliever Cody Allen, whom the Angels released Tuesday, is drawing substantial interest. At least 11 teams have inquired about Allen, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports.

The Angels signed the 30-year-old Allen to an $8.5MM guarantee in the offseason, but the union provided disastrous for the club. Allen registered an awful 6.26 ERA/8.34 FIP with 11.35 K/9, 7.83 BB/9 and a paltry 19.7 percent groundball rate in 23 innings before the Angels cut the cord on him. The right-hander posted his lowest swinging-strike rate since 2012, his first season, and the worst contact percentage of his career in the process. He also logged his lowest velocity since entering the bigs and yielded more fly balls than ever. All told, the Angels’ version Allen managed the game’s 10th-worst weighted on-base average against (.419) and its fifth-highest xwOBA (.412), according to Statcast.

Even though Allen looks done at this point, the fact that he’s not far removed from a successful stint in Cleveland gives teams hope for a revival on a low-risk deal. Allen fell flat in 2018, which forced him to settle for a one-year pact last winter, though he was mostly terrific with the Indians. As a member of the Tribe’s bullpen from 2012-18, Allen put up a 2.98 ERA/3.17 FIP with 11.52 K/9 against 3.53 BB/9, and converted 149 of 172 save opportunities.

Padres To Recall Chris Paddack

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Padres ace Chris Paddack, optioned to the minors June 12, will return to start in the majors this Saturday, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

It was an eyebrow-raising decision when the Padres demoted Paddack a week ago, though the move quickly became understandable when it was revealed they did it to give him a breather. The 23-year-old right-hander has already pitched 65 2/3 innings this season, which comes close to the professional-high 90 frames the former Tommy John surgery recipient amassed in the minors in 2018.

One of the game’s elite prospects entering the season, Paddack has lived up to the billing thus far. He owns a 3.15 ERA/3.73 FIP with tremendous strikeout and walk rates (9.87 K/9 and 1.78 BB/9) through the first 12 starts and 65 2/3 innings of his major league career. But Paddack has stumbled somewhat since the outset of May, when his ERA sat at just 1.55, which likely played into the Padres’ decision to send him to the Single-A level on a short-term basis.

Upon Paddack’s return, he’ll rejoin a team which continues to hang around the National League’s playoff race. Winners of four in a row, the Padres are only 2 1/2 games back of the NL’s second wild-card spot at the moment.

Diamondbacks Sign Carlos Asuaje

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The Diamondbacks have reached a minor league agreement with infielder Carlos Asuaje, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports.

Asuaje’s now returning to a major league franchise after spending the first few months of the season in the Korea Baseball Organization. The Rangers released Asuaje last December, allowing him to sign with the KBO’s Lotte Giants, but the Korean club let the 27-year-old go on June 9. Asuaje hit .252/.356/.368 in 194 plate appearances with the Giants this season.

To this point, all of Asuaje’s major league action has come with the Padres. He debuted in San Diego in 2016 and then managed a .240/.312/.329 line (75 wRC+) with six home runs in 586 PA through last season. Asuaje picked up nearly all of his playing time at second base along the way.

Diamondbacks To Sign First-Rounder Blake Walston

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The Diamondbacks have reached an agreement with first-round left-hander Blake Walston, the team announced. Walston received $2.45MM, just below the $2,653,400 slot value, Jim Callis of MLB.com tweets.

The Walston agreement brings the Diamondbacks closer to finishing their heavy lifting with respect to this year’s draft. They already signed fellow top 60 picks Corbin Carroll, Brennan Malone, Drey Jamison and Ryne Nelson before reaching a deal with Walston. That group helped comprise quite a 2019 haul for the Diamondbacks, who entered this draft with a league-high $16,093,700 to spend on their selections.

Arizona received the pick it used on Walston because it failed to sign 2018 first-rounder Matt McClain a year ago. In Walston, the team’s getting a prospect whom FanGraphs, Baseball America, ESPN’s Keith Law and MLB.com each ranked in or near the top 50 players available entering the draft. Law (subscription required) noted the high school hurler from North Carolina could be difficult to sign, but the Diamondbacks now have the 17-year-old under wraps.

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