Aaron Sanchez To Undergo Season-Ending Shoulder Surgery
Aaron Sanchez won’t pitch again this season, as Astros GM Jeff Luhnow told reporters (including Mark Berman of KRIV Fox 26) that the right-hander is set to undergo shoulder surgery next week. The nature of the procedure or Sanchez’s recovery timeline isn’t yet known, as Luhnow said more details will be forthcoming after the surgery takes place.
Sanchez was already on the injured list (dating back to August 21) due to a sore right pectoral muscle, and though the severity of his shoulder problem isn’t yet established, it represents yet another troubling injury absence for the 27-year-old. Sanchez was plagued with a variety of blister, nail, and finger problems in 2017-18, and also missed over two months due to finger surgery in 2018.
These injuries derailed what was looking like a career on the rise, as Sanchez posted a league-best 3.00 ERA in 2016 for a Blue Jays team that reached the American League Championship Series. Since the end of that season, however, Sanchez has a 5.29 ERA, 7.4 K/9, and 1.54 K/BB rate over 272 1/3 innings for Toronto and Houston, as he has been unable to regain his past form even when healthy.
The Jays dealt Sanchez to the Astros as part of a four-player deal at the trade deadline, and the prevailing thought was that Sanchez could blossom with a change of scenery, particularly given how the Astros had proven to be adept at reviving pitchers’ careers or taking them to another level in recent years. This seemed like the case almost immediately, as Sanchez’s first start as an Astro saw him toss six hitless innings as part of a combined no-hitter.
After following that start up with another strong outing, however, Sanchez struggled over his next two starts, and his first season for Houston will finish with a 4.82 ERA, 7.7 K/9, and 1.78 K/BB rate over 18 2/3 innings. While it’s a small sample size, Sanchez’s home run problems (already an issue in Toronto) worsened, as he surrendered five homers over those 18 2/3 frames.
Sanchez as seen as a potential relief weapon out of the Astros’ pen in October (he excelled in a similar role during the 2015 Blue Jays’ postseason run). Since Sanchez is no longer an option, it adds another question mark to an increasingly troubled Astros relief corps as the club approaches the playoffs. Ryan Pressly, Collin McHugh, and Brad Peacock are all on the IL, while closer Roberto Osuna has been rather homer-prone himself. It remains to be seen how healthy and effective the relievers will be to back up the all-world starting quartet of Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole, Zack Greinke, and Wade Miley.
Looking long-term, if the surgery require a long recovery period, Sanchez could even be in danger of being non-tendered by Houston in the offseason. He will be arbitration-eligible for a third and final time this winter, though he won’t carry a big price tag, after Sanchez made just under $1.271MM in 2019. With only a modest raise forthcoming, the Astros could decide to tender Sanchez a contract just to see what they can get from him next year, or perhaps work out a two-year extension to keep him into the fold for 2021 should Sanchez miss a large portion of the 2020 season.
George Springer To Miss Time With Mild Concussion
TODAY: The official diagnosis on Springer is a mild concussion, Luhnow told reporters (including MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart). The Astros hope to have Springer back in action by early next week, assuming he is medically cleared.
Sept. 4: Astros president of baseball operations Jeff Luhnow appeared on the Sean Salisbury Show on SportsTalk 790 AM today (audio link) and indicated that while things are “looking positive” following initial tests, the nature of head and neck injuries makes it difficult to draw conclusions until 24 to 48 hours have passed. It doesn’t sound like there’ll be any definitive status update on Springer’s condition until the hours leading up to tomorrow’s game.
Sept. 3: Astros center fielder George Springer was carted of the field in tonight’s game following a collision with the center-field wall, and manager A.J. Hinch said after tonight’s game that Springer is being evaluated for a head injury and will travel back to Houston with the club tonight (Twitter link, with video, via MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart). For the time being, the Astros are listing Springer as day-to-day, but he’s still slated to undergo a series of additional tests.
Springer made an outstanding grab of a deep drive to center field off the bat of Ryan Braun, but fell to the ground hard and appeared to strike his head against the base of the wall at Miller Park (video link). Hinch and several teammates were with Springer as he lay on the warning track for a few minutes until the cart arrived to help him off the field. Right fielder Josh Reddick said after the game that Springer never lost consciousness and seemed alert following the collision (video link via McTaggart).
First place in the AL West is a veritable certainty for the Astros at this point, given their 10-game lead over second-place Oakland, but a concussion or any other head injury of note for Springer would be of significant concern with postseason play set to begin in roughly a month. The 29-year-old Springer has been among the league’s most productive hitters, posting a .297/.389/.573 batting line with 30 homers, 19 doubles and three triples despite missing nearly a month with a hamstring injury earlier in the season.
Houston’s lineup went through a spell where it was without several key players due to injury, but the Astros were nearly at full strength entering play tonight. Carlos Correa remains sidelined by a back injury but hit off a tee earlier today (Twitter link via the Houston Chronicle’s Chandler Rome). He’s expected to return in the relatively near future, but Springer’s now-uncertain status gives the Houston organization and its fans another key injury situation to monitor.
AL West Notes: Angels, Laureano, Piscotty, Crawford
The relationship between Scott Boras and Angels owner Arte Moreno is a notable subplot of the Halos’ plans to upgrade their starting pitching this winter, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal writes (subscription required). There has been some level of friction between Moreno and Boras ever since the Angels came up short in their pursuit of free agent and Boras client Mark Teixeira in the 2008-09 offseason. This isn’t to say that the two sides haven’t worked together since, as current Angels such as Noe Ramirez and top prospect Jo Adell are all represented by the Boras Corporation, and the Angels have signed Boras clients like Ryan Madson and Matt Harvey to notable deals in recent years.
Still, the modest Madson/Harvey contracts are a far cry from what it would take to sign one of the several Boras clients at or near the top of the free agent pitching market — i.e. Gerrit Cole, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Dallas Keuchel, and (if he opts out of his contract) Stephen Strasburg. Even beyond the Boras clients, Rosenthal notes that Los Angeles also couldn’t come to terms with any upper-tier free agent arms the team pursued last winter, leading the Angels towards their ill-fated strategy of signing players like Harvey to one-year contracts. Beyond free agency, Rosenthal wonders if the Halos could trade for pitching by offering from a farm system that is heavy on position-player talent, if not necessarily elite talent (besides Adell) in the eyes of most prospect rankings.
More from around the AL West…
- Ramon Laureano is on track to return from the injured list during the Athletics‘ upcoming series with the Tigers, A’s manager Bob Melvin told media (including Ron Kroichick of the San Francisco Chronicle). A stress reaction in his right shin has kept Laureano out since July 28, cutting short a white-hot hitting streak that had seen the outfielder post a 1.264 OPS over his previous 93 plate appearances. For the season as a whole, Laureano has a .284/.334/.518 slash line and 21 homers in 419 PA, and he’ll reclaim his usual center field role upon his return. Laureano’s activation will help an Oakland outfield that has been further depleted by the loss of Stephen Piscotty to an ankle sprain. Piscotty hit the IL on August 25 and has yet to begin baseball activities, Melvin said, so it isn’t known when Piscotty could return to the lineup. [UPDATE: Laureano will return on Friday, Melvin told the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser and other media members]
- Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford will miss roughly two weeks due to a hamstring strain, GM Jerry Dipoto told the Seattle Times’ Ryan Divish and other media. Crawford was diagnosed with a Grade 1 strain, which is the lowest level of severity, though “some areas of the strain [are] nearing a Grade 2,” Divish writes. It isn’t out of the question that Crawford’s season could be over, as Dipoto said the M’s “won’t push” Crawford if any complications arise. Acquired as the young centerpiece of the trade that sent Jean Segura to the Phillies last winter, Crawford has a .241/.322/.397 slash line over 338 plate appearances in his first season as a Mariner.
Pablo Sandoval Undergoes Tommy John Surgery
Pablo Sandoval‘s season officially came to an end, as the Giants announced that infielder underwent both Tommy John surgery and a more minor arthroscopic procedure yesterday to remove loose bodies from his right elbow. Given the usual TJ recovery period for position players, Sandoval won’t be ready for the start of the 2020 season, though exactly how much time he’ll miss isn’t yet known.
Though Sandoval went on the injured list in mid-August and the Tommy John diagnosis has been known for a couple of weeks now, the Giants activated him on September 1 so the longtime fan favorite could get one final at-bat in front of the Oracle Park faithful. It’s quite possible this could end up as the final appearance for Sandoval in the orange-and-black, though given that his injury recovery will certainly limit his free agent options, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Sandoval re-sign with San Francisco sometime next year, once he has a clearer idea of when he’ll be back in action.
There’s certainly evidence that the 33-year-old can still be a productive player, as Sandoval is finishing up his best season in years. The Kung Fu Panda hit .268/.313/.507 with 14 homers over 296 plate appearances, good for a 109 wRC+ that marks Sandoval’s first season of above-average run production since 2014. He also capably handled spot duty at both corner infield spots, and even contributed a scoreless inning on the mound.
Injury Notes: Dyson, Cueto, Polanco, Dominguez, Morejon
The Twins are waiting to see how reliever Sam Dyson responds to some time off to deal with recurring biceps soreness. Chief baseball officer Derek Falvey discussed the matter with reporters including Phil Miller of the Star Tribune (Twitter link). It’s an effort to “get out ahead” of things, says Falvey. The Twins need their most significant trade deadline acquisition at top form with a major postseason clash beckoning. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been himself since coming over. Dyson owns a 7.15 ERA in a dozen appearances in Minnesota.
More injury updates from around the game …
- Giants right-hander Johnny Cueto, on the mend from 2018 Tommy John surgery, experienced a setback in his most recent rehab outing, tweets Kerry Crowley of the San Jose Mercury News. He’ll be reevaluated in the next few days but won’t be an option for the team as soon as originally hoped. Manager Bruce Bochy had previously put a tentative date of Sept. 8 on a return for Cueto, but that no longer appears to be a plausible timeline. Back tightness, rather than arm issues, has caused the revised timeline. While there’s still hope that Cueto will make it back to the big-league bump this season, the organization will surely avoid any unnecessary risks.
- A few Pirates outfielders won’t return to action this year, as Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports (Twitter links). Gregory Polanco will receive platelet-rich plasma injections in a bid to spur healing in his troublesome shoulder. That’ll be a key situation to monitor in the offseason for the Pittsburgh organization. Jason Martin now has his own shoulder malady to deal with: a separation suffered yesterday. He’s expected to miss the rest of the year. Infielder Kevin Kramer will come up to the active roster due in part to Martin’s absence. Though Bucs righty Mitch Keller was hit in the wrist with a batted ball yesterday, he was able to play catch today. his timeline isn’t clear, but that certainly seems like promising news.
- The Phillies got some promising news on righty reliever Seranthony Dominguez, who has at times seemed destined to miss the rest of the season. Despite a recent scare, he has shown enough progress in his elbow health to resume throwing, manager Gabe Kapler told reporters including Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philly (via tweet). It’s still not clear that Dominguez will have enough time to ramp up and return to active duty, though perhaps there’s still an outside shot.
- Padres southpaw Adrian Morejon will not make it back to the bigs in 2019, Dennis Lin of The Athletic tweets. That’s not to say that the widely hailed 20-year-old isn’t making progress. His injured shoulder is in good enough shape to allow Morejon to resume throwing. Though he struggled quite a bit in limited MLB action, Morejon has generally shown all the skills that made him a consensus top-100 leaguewide prospect. He’ll likely again factor into the San Diego plans next season, though he’ll do so without much of an innings base to work from. Morejon has not yet thrown more than 65 1/3 frames in a given campaign and fell shy of that mark this year.
Yankees Health Updates: Severino, Betances, Andujar, Urshela, Stanton
Rumor has it that the Yankees have dealt with a few bites of the injury bug this year. Here’s the latest on the health front …
- It’ll be a big day for the Yanks on Friday. Two key righties — Luis Severino and Dellin Betances — will each take the ball for the club’s Trenton affiliate. Neither has pitched in the big leagues yet this year, but both could be key late-season additions for the AL East champions-to-be. It’s still anyone’s guess what these hurlers will be able to contribute.
- Third baseman Miguel Andujar has been undergoing physical therapy since his season-ending shoulder surgery back in May and will begin participating in full baseball activities next week (Twitter link via Laura Albanese of the New York Daily News). Andujar expects to be at 100 percent come Spring Training next season. The talented 24-year-old figures to play a major role in the club’s near-future plans, though he’ll be returning to a different situation than the one he left.
- Of more immediate concern at the hot corner is Gio Urshela, who has been out with a groin injury. He’s likely to jump right back into the lineup after the ten-day minimum, skipper Aaron Boone indicated to reporters including James Wagner of the New York Times (Twitter link). The 27-year-old Urshela has outdone Andujar, slashing .331/.370/.555 with 18 long balls in 414 plate appearances.
- And then there’s long-lost slugger Giancarlo Stanton, who’s still nursing a knee injury. While the 29-year-old’s anticipated output has improbably been replaced by a rotating cast of unlikely heroes, it’d still be nice to get him back for the postseason. Stanton has finally picked up some “momentum,” per Boone (via Lindsey Adler of The Athletic, on Twitter). The outfielder/DH is slated to face live pitching at the club’s Florida facility. His timeline remains unclear, but it seems there’s finally some light at the end of the tunnel.
Phillies Release Drew Anderson
The Phillies announced today that they have released right-hander Drew Anderson after he cleared waivers. He had been designated for assignment recently.
Anderson, a 25th-round pick in 2012, has had success at times as a starter in the upper minors. But he has struggled in limited MLB action, coughing up 18 earned runs on 29 hits in 21 total frames.
It has been a rough overall campaign for Anderson, who has been sidelined since late June and was ineffective before that. Over 11 starts at the Triple-A level, he managed only a 5.77 ERA with 7.4 K/9 against 5.0 BB/9.
Dodgers Health Updates: Verdugo, Muncy, Hill, May
With the NL West sewn up, the Dodgers have two primary goals down the stretch: secure home-field advantage throughout the postseason and get to full health. Here are the latest updates from manager Dave Roberts on a few key players, as MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick was among those to cover on Twitter:
- Back soreness has halted the rehab work of outfielder Alex Verdugo. He had seemingly been nearing a return from an oblique injury. Now, per Roberts, Verdugo may head back to the club’s Arizona facility to receive further treatment. Verdugo had emerged as an important part of the Los Angeles outfield mix, even commanding time against left-handed pitching. On the year, he owns a strong .294/.342/.475 batting line with a dozen long balls. Verdugo has also graded as a plus defender and is capable of lining up anywhere in the outfield. It’s completely unclear at this point what kind of timeline to anticipate for the new malady.
- In more promising news, infielder Max Muncy is participating in baseball activities. He has already taken groundballs and will soon resume swinging. That represents fast progress for a player who recently suffered a fractured wrist. The club’s optimism regarding the severity of the injury has thus far been justified. Needless to say, the Dodgers will be focused on ensuring Muncy’s readiness for the postseason. The 29-year-old is carrying a big .253/.375/.525 batting line on the year. His left-handed bat is all the more important given Verdugo’s uncertainty.
- Southpaw Rich Hill is prepared to take the bump against live batters later this week, which could set the stage for a return as soon as next week. The plan remains for Hill to come back as a reliever. It seems the flexor tendon strain that sidelined the veteran hurler has recovered fully, though it remains to be seen what sort of form he’ll show upon his return. Hill almost certainly won’t be at full strength in the postseason, but he will have a few weeks to build up innings. He’ll surely play an interesting role in the L.A. playoff effort, with his showing also destined to impact his forthcoming free agency. The 39-year-old was outstanding (2.55 ERA in 53 innings) before going down with the injury.
- As for prized young hurler Dustin May, it seems awfully promising that he was able to throw a simulated inning today. The team still isn’t sure what will come next for the right-hander, who was drilled by a comebacker over the weekend but seems to have avoided serious injury. As in the above cases, the Dodgers will proceed with caution — all the more so given that the 21-year-old is considered a major future asset.
The Luke Voit Trade Doesn’t Look So Lopsided Anymore
The Luke Voit trade (as it’s now known) barely drew any headlines when it was struck last July between the Cardinals and Yankees. Chasen Shreve was the best-known player in a deal that was viewed largely as two clubs dealing from positions of organizational depth.
Voit got a quick look with the Yankees before being optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, then returned in late August when the Yankees needed an extra bat after Didi Gregorius landed on the shelf due to a heel injury. His first two appearances in his second Yankees stint were of the pinch-hit variety, but he drew a start at first base on Aug. 24 and, in belting a pair of home runs that day, began a rapid ascension. Those two long ball were the first of seven in a 12-game span. By the end of the year, Voit had exploded with a .333/.405/.689 batting line and 14 home runs in just 148 plate appearances as a Yankee.
A huge showing in Spring Training and yet another Greg Bird injury locked Voit into a spot on the Yankees’ Opening Day roster. Meanwhile, Shreve was designated for assignment by the Cardinals late in camp and went unclaimed on waivers. The trade looked like an all-out heist for the Yankees.
Enter Giovanny Gallegos.
The least-known player involved in that July 28 swap, Gallegos didn’t distinguish himself much early in his Cardinals tenure. It’s true that he dominated in 16 2/3 innings with the Cardinals’ Triple-A affiliate following the trade in 2018, but he made just two big league appearances in St. Louis (1 1/3 innings pitched) last season and didn’t even break camp with the Cards in 2019. When he did arrive in the Majors on April 11, Gallegos limped out to a slow start. He allowed three home runs and pitched to a 4.80 ERA through his first 15 innings this season. While the 25-to-5 K/BB ratio he posted in that time looked encouraging, Voit was at that point sitting on a .282/.382/.575 batting line and 24 home runs in 319 total plate appearances as a Yankee. The Cardinals drew plenty of criticism for the trade (including from myself).
That May 12 cutoff, admittedly, is rather arbitrary. But since that point, Gallegos has been one of the most effective relief pitchers on the planet. Over his past 46 2/3 innings of work, the right-hander has pitched to a pristine 1.35 ERA with a 56-to-7 K/BB ratio. He’s allowed only three home runs in that span — the same number he yielded in his first 15 innings — and held opponents to a .150/.194/.250 batting line (.193 wOBA) through 170 plate appearances.
Since that time, there’s not a single pitcher in baseball (min. 40 IP) who has been tougher to hit than Gallegos. That .190 wOBA is more than 30 points lower than the second-best pitcher in that same span (Boston’s Brandon Workman). He’s surely benefited from some good fortune (.206 BABIP, 90 percent strand rate), but Gallegos is also 11th in the big leagues with a 28.8 K-BB% in that time. He’s whiffed 32.9 percent of the batters he’s faced since that point and walked just 4.1 percent of them.
On the season as a whole, Gallegos is now boasting a 2.19 ERA with 11.8 K/9, 1.8 BB/9 and 0.88 HR/9. A 2.58 FIP and 2.70 SIERA support his emergence as a top-tier reliever. His 16.7 percent swinging-strike rate puts him on par with Max Scherzer and places him 11th among MLB pitchers with at least 50 innings thrown in 2019. Statcast indicates that Gallegos is in the 87th percentile of MLB hurlers in terms of fastball spin rate. He’s also in the 87th percentile in expected slugging percentage and the 97th percentile in both expected batting average-against and expected wOBA-against. While some higher-profile relievers have posted similar ERAs with the benefit of some smoke and mirrors, Gallegos’ success doesn’t look to be a fluke.
All of that is particularly good news for the Cardinals, because they can control the late-blooming 28-year-old all the way through the 2024 season. Gallegos won’t even be eligible for arbitration until after the 2021 campaign; he’ll earn scarcely more than the league minimum in both the 2020 and 2021 campaigns. There’s no more volatile asset in Major League Baseball than relief pitchers, but for the time being, Gallegos has dominated enough to flip the narrative on last year’s trade. One can certainly still argue that the Cards would’ve been better off keeping Voit, but St. Louis was by no means left empty-handed and may even have come away from the exchange with a dominant bullpen anchor for years to come.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Giants Promote Jaylin Davis
The Giants announced today that they have selected the contract of outfielder Jaylin Davis. He’ll take the 40-man roster spot of reliever Reyes Moronta, who was placed on the 60-day injured list.
Davis came to the San Francisco organization as part of the deadline deal that sent reliever Sam Dyson to the Twins. The former 25th-rounder was putting up big numbers in the upper minors at the time of the swap but was obviously deemed expendable by the Minnesota organization.
Since changing jerseys, Davis has continued to rake. Over the course of the year, he has posted well-above-average numbers at each stop: a 147 wRC+ at Double-A, 175 wRC+ in the International League, and 160 wRC+ in the Pacific Coast League.
It remains to be seen whether Davis will be able to apply his power consistently enough at the major-league level. But it’ll certainly be fun to see whether he can do so. We’ve seen other under-the-radar slugger types carry forward big upper-minors production into the bigs. If that’s the case for Davis, the Giants could have a steal. He’d have required a 40-man spot in advance of this winter’s Rule 5 draft regardless of today’s move, so there was little reason not to give him his first look now.