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Orioles Select Gabriel Ynoa’s Contract, Designate Mike Wright

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The Orioles have selected the contract of right-hander Gabriel Ynoa from Triple-A, as per a team announcement.  Right-hander Mike Wright has been designated for assignment in a corresponding move.

Ynoa tossed 53 innings for the Mets and Orioles in 2016-17 before being limited to just seven Double-A innings in 2018 due to both rotator cuff inflammation and shin splits.  Ynoa has a 3.60 ERA, 3.59 K/BB rate, and 5.7 K/9 rate over 926 career minor league innings, relying on strong control and grounder rates rather than a lot of missed bats.  The 25-year-old could simply replace Wright in the bullpen, though Ynoa has started all three of his Triple-A appearances this season and could potentially step into Baltimore’s rotation on at least a temporary basis.  The Orioles don’t have a scheduled starter for their game against the White Sox on Wednesday.

A third-round pick for the Orioles in the 2011 draft, Wright was seen for years as a future rotation piece for the O’s, but he has simply not been able to get on track at the Major League level, either as a starter or as a reliever.  The right-hander has a 5.95 ERA, 2.04 K/BB rate, and 7.1 K/9 over 242 Major League innings, and has long had issues (career 1.6 HR/9) keeping the ball in the park.  At age 29, it remains to be seen if Wright has a post-hype breakout in him, though such an opportunity could come with another organization since he is out of options.

Injury Notes: Rendon, Lester, Cobb, Angels

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Third baseman Anthony Rendon departed the Nationals’ loss to the Marlins on Saturday after taking a 95 mph Jose Urena fastball off the left elbow. Fortunately for Rendon and the Nationals, X-rays came back negative, Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post tweets. It’s unclear whether Rendon will avoid the injured list, though, as manager Dave Martinez said the Nats will reevaluate the 28-year-old Sunday morning. An IL stint would be another unlucky development for the Nationals, who are already missing injured shortstop Trea Turner along the left side of their infield. They’ve gone just 9-10 thanks in part to Turner’s absence, though Rendon has tried his best to lift the team with an all-world showing thus far. Rendon’s consistently great output in Washington may help him land a contract extension.

  • A hamstring injury forced Cubs left-hander Jon Lester to the IL on April 9, though it appears the well-respected hurler is nearing a return. The Cubs could activate Lester during their upcoming series against the Dodgers, which runs from Tuesday to Thursday, the Associated Press relays. The 35-year-old looked “very good” during a 45-pitch sim game Saturday, according to manager Joe Maddon. The Maddon-led Cubs haven’t needed a replacement starter since Lester went down, instead relying on Cole Hamels, Kyle Hendricks, Jose Quintana and the struggling Yu Darvish, but that will change Sunday when Tyler Chatwood takes the ball against Arizona. Chatwood fell on his face as a starter during a walk-happy 2018, the first season of a three-year, $38MM contract, and has continued to exhibit control problems as a reliever this season.
  • The Orioles brought righty Alex Cobb off the IL on Saturday to make his first start since a right lumbar strain sent him to the shelf on April 6. In hindsight, the Orioles probably wish they’d have started someone else. Cobb endured one of the worst outings in his career in a loss to the Twins, who thrashed him for nine earned runs on 10 hits and three homers in 2 2/3 frames. It continued a subpar Orioles tenure for Cobb, now in the second season of a four-year, $57MM contract. The rebuilding Orioles would likely jump at the chance to deal him, but Cobb’s ongoing woes won’t make it easy to find a taker.
  • The Angels are off to a dreary start, in part because their rotation is banged up yet again. Oft-injured starters Tyler Skaggs, Andrew Heaney and Nick Tropeano are making progress, though, per reports from Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register and Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com. Skaggs, on the IL since April 15 because of a left ankle sprain, enjoyed a productive bullpen session Saturday and may return as early as Tuesday. Heaney’s still a ways off because of elbow issues, though he could get back on a mound within the next week, Fletcher writes, and manager Brad Ausmus said Saturday his rehab has been “all positive so far.” Tropeano, who’s on the mend from a right shoulder strain, threw a four-inning sim game Saturday and is nearing activation. The Angels will option Tropeano to Triple-A Salt Lake when he does exit the IL, Bollinger suggests.

NL West Notes: Padres, Giants, D-backs, Swihart

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Few teams have received worse second base production than the Padres, for whom Ian Kinsler, Luis Urias and Greg Garcia have combined for minus-0.7 fWAR and a dismal .144/.252/.237 line in 111 plate appearances. Now, the Padres find themselves waiting for someone to “take hold of” the job there, manager Andy Green said Saturday (via Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune). Kinsler has had the most opportunities (66 PA), but while he’s a longtime quality starter at the keystone, he has been a detriment to the Padres’ on-field efforts in the first season of a two-year, $8MM contract. Urias, a high-end prospect, may be the Padres’ long-term solution at the position. The 21-year-old has only come to the plate 28 times this season, though, leaving Acee to wonder if the Padres will send him back to the minors for more reps. However, Green believes Urias has gotten “consistent enough” playing time in the bigs this year.

Elsewhere around the division…

  • Giants manager Bruce Bochy says they expect Mark Melancon to close games at some point this season, per Kerry Crowley of The Mercury News. Melancon has been about as good as can be so far this year, scattering seven hits across ten scoreless innings. The 34-year-old has also finished five games for the Giants, though none were save opportunities. He’s no stranger to the ninth inning, having saved 182 games in his career, including a league-leading 51 for the Pirates in 2015. Melancon followed up that campaign by saving 47 games for the Pirates and Nationals before cashing in on his current four-year, $62MM deal, of which he will have one year and $14MM remaining after this season. The bullpen has been an area of strength for the 8-14 Giants, with lefty Will Smith the nominal ninth-inning anchor. Given the number of horror-show bullpens around the league right now, there’s likely to be trade interest in one or more of San Francisco’s high-performing relievers at some point this season. Melancon figures to stick around, however, as his deal is more cumbersome than the contracts belonging to Smith, Tony Watson, Nick Vincent, Sam Dyson et al.
  • If the Giants do part with any of those veterans, it could open up a spot for Triple-A righty Ray Black. For now, however, the team has shut down Black for seven to 10 days on account of a right pronator strain, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle was among those to tweet. It’s troubling news in light of Black’s injury-checkered past, and it continues a rough April for the flamethrowing 28-year-old. After posting a 3.16 ERA with 16.13 K/9 and 2.81 BB/9 in 25 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level last year, Black has pitched to a 6.43 ERA with 9.0 K/9 and 7.71 BB/9 in seven frames this season. He also had trouble preventing runs in a 23 1/3-inning major league debut in 2018, when he recorded a 6.17 ERA, though he did manage 12.73 K/9 against 3.86 BB/9.
  • The Diamondbacks plan to utilize just-acquired catcher Blake Swihart in the outfield corners on occasion, according to manager Torey Lovullo (via Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic). Lovullo added that the Diamondbacks will use the 27-year-old Swihart there to spell veterans Adam Jones and David Peralta, both of whom are in their 30s. The outfield’s not foreign to Swihart, who played 48 games there as a member of the Red Sox, as Piecoro notes. While it’s rare for any catcher to line up in the grass, Lovullo says Swihart is “a pretty special athlete.”

AL East Notes: G. Sanchez, Andujar, Shoemaker, Wendle, Schoop

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Injuries to cornerstone players have defined the season for the Yankees, who are likely to see right fielder Aaron Judge hit the IL next. But there is better news regarding banged-up catcher Gary Sanchez and third baseman Miguel Andujar, who, like Judge, are among New York’s offensive linchpins. Sanchez, on the IL with a left calf strain since April 11, will play a minor league rehab game Monday and should then return to the Yankees’ lineup Wednesday, per David Lennon of Newsday. Meanwhile, the Yankees “continue to be optimistic” that Andujar will come back this season, according to manager Aaron Boone (via Lennon). Andujar hasn’t played since March 31 because of a labrum tear in his right (throwing) shoulder, an issue the team has feared could require season-ending surgery. However, the majority of recent Andujar updates have been positive, and that’s all the more heartening for the Yankees given their injury-ravaged state.

Here’s more from the American League East…

  • Blue Jays right-hander Matt Shoemaker suffered a left knee sprain Saturday and will undergo an MRI on Sunday, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet reports. A stint on the injured list looks like a legitimate possibility for Shoemaker, who was frequently on the IL during his Angels tenure. The first-year Blue Jay, whom they signed for $3.5MM in free agency, looked like a quality bargain pickup for the club prior to his latest injury. Shoemaker threw three scoreless innings against Oakland before departing Saturday, leaving him with a 1.57 ERA/3.80 FIP, 7.53 K/9, 2.83 BB/9 and a 51.4 percent groundball rate in 28 2/3 frames this year.
  • Rays second baseman Joey Wendle is nearing activation from the IL, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. A left hamstring strain has kept Wendle out since March 31 and given the keystone to Brandon Lowe, who’s enjoying an outstanding season thus far. Wendle was effective in his own right in 2018, when he batted .300/.354/.435 (116 wRC+) with 3.7 fWAR in 545 PA.
  • Second baseman Jonathan Schoop has spent nearly his entire career as a member of the Orioles, though they cut ties with him last July when they traded him to the Brewers. Schoop then became a Twin in free agency this past offseason, but he tells Steve Melewski of MASNsports.com that he was open to a reunion with Baltimore. “Honestly, there were a lot of teams that were talking to me,” Schoop said of his trip to the open market. “I was thinking about it if I had the chance to come back. This was the team that gave me a chance. So I was thinking about it. But they never reached out. So I go forward and the Minnesota Twins was the one coming out more. So right away I signed with them.” On the heels of a down 2018, Schoop joined the Twins on a one-year, $7.5MM deal in December. Even though we’re just a few weeks into the season, Schoop has bounced back to a degree in the early going, having hit .241/.317/.407 (97 wRC+) in 60 plate appearances.

Phillies Place Three On Injured List

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The Phillies have placed shortstop Jean Segura, infielder/outfielder Scott Kingery and reliever Victor Arano on the 10-day injured list, Matt Breen of The Philadelphia Inquirer tweets. The team recalled right-hander Drew Anderson, left-hander Austin Davis and third baseman Mitch Walding from Triple-A Lehigh Valley in corresponding moves.

Segura’s IL placement, retroactive to Wednesday, comes as a result of a left hamstring strain. It’ll deprive the Phillies of one of their key offseason additions and someone who has gotten off to a terrific start this year. The 29-year-old’s slashing .328/.384/.476 (130 wRC+) in 73 plate appearances, continuing an impressive run of production that began with the Diamondbacks in 2016.

With Segura unavailable over the past couple days, the Phillies turned to the versatile Kingery at short. After a rough rookie season in 2018, Kingery, 24, opened this year with an exemplary line of .406/.457/.719 (208 wRC+) and two home runs in 35 PA. He’s also dealing with a strained hamstring, but on his right side, and an MRI showed it’s “mild,” per Breen.

The absences of Segura and Kingery will leave shortstop to journeyman Phil Gosselin, at least initially. The club also has the somewhat experienced duo of Andrew Romine and Gift Ngoepe as potential minor league call-ups, but it would need to add either to an already full 40-man roster.

The 24-year-old Arano is now the third Phillies reliever currently on the IL, joining David Robertson and Tommy Hunter. Arano’s battling elbow inflammation, no doubt an ominous-sounding problem for a pitcher. The righty was one of the Phillies’ most successful relievers last year, his rookie campaign, though a horrific spring forced him to begin this season in the minors. He then dominated Triple-A hitters over four innings, which led to a return to the majors April 12. Since then, Arano has combined for 4 2/3 frames in three appearances and allowed two earned runs, both in the Phils’ loss to the Rockies on Thursday, while notching seven strikeouts against two walks.

Nathan Eovaldi To Undergo Elbow Surgery

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MONDAY: Eovaldi will go under the knife tomorrow, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports via Twitter. The club anticipates that the righty will be sidelined for four to six weeks, Rob Bradford of WEEI.com tweets.

SATURDAY, 4:27pm: Eovaldi is indeed “leaning” toward minor elbow surgery to clean up loose bodies, per Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe.

10:37am:Red Sox right-hander Nathan Eovaldi has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a loose body in his elbow, per MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo. Bobby Poyner will take Eovaldi’s roster spot (Twitter links). The move is retroactive to April 18th.

This is not a new injury for Eovaldi, as just last season he had arthroscopic surgery to remove a similar loose body, causing him to miss roughly two months of the season. Obviously, Eovaldi recovered just fine, but the injury is still a blow to the defending champs as they have yet to play up to the level of expectations thus far in 2019. There has been no indication as to whether or not this current IL stint will require surgery. NBC Sports Boston’s Evan Drellich posted this report from November which gave Eovaldi a clean bill of health, though of course, Eovaldi has put a few more miles on the elbow since then.

The injury hits after just four starts this season in which Eovaldi did not record a decision, totaling 21 innings with an even 6.00 ERA. It was certainly a rough start as his walk rate was up (4.71 BB/9), strikeout rate was down (6.86 K/9), and he  surrendered 2.57 home runs per game on a 25% HR/FB rate. Those numbers were bound to normalize at least somewhat over time, though obviously this new injury revelation might speak to his early season struggles as well.

Poyner, 26, will join the team as a left-handed option out of the bullpen for the time being. He went 1-0 with a 3.22 ERA across 20 appearances out of the Red Sox pen last season with an impressive 9.7 K/9 to 1.2 BB/9 in the admittedly small sample.

NL Notes: Kimbrel, Mets, Brewers, Giants, Morrow, Cubs

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Free agent reliever Craig Kimbrel is “still in touch” with the Mets and Brewers, tweets The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, who notes that the Mets would only sign the 30-year-old if he were open to “any role” in the team’s bullpen. Rosenthal reported a week ago that the flamethrower’s price has dropped substantially, though whether or not he’s budged on the desire to pitch only in the ninth inning is still an open question. Both clubs’ pens have been far shakier than anticipated in the early going: indeed, apart from the lights-out performance of offseason acquisition Edwin Diaz, New York’s pen has arguably been the league’s worst. Milwaukee, too, has lost Corey Knebel to Tommy John, was without stalwart Jeremy Jeffress until this week, and has gotten middling-at-best output from all other contributors not named Josh Hader. Still, it’s the sloppy rotation – beset by a thus-far return to normalcy from Jhoulys Chacin and a gopher-ball binge embarked upon by rookies Corbin Burnes and Freddy Peralta – that seems most in need of the Crew’s attention. Allocating what little resources purportedly remain to anything other than a veteran starter would seem a curious choice indeed.

In other news from around the Senior Circuit…

  • Per Rosenthal, the Giants are already “willing to talk” about some of their veteran relievers, though closer Will Smith doesn’t appear to be among the names on the list. Lefty Tony Watson, who’s seen his average fastball velocity dip to a career-low 91.0 MPH, figures to be at the fore, along with the richly-paid Mark Melancon. Sam Dyson, Trevor Gott, and Nick Vincent, all of whom’ve had strong 2019 debuts, would likely also be in the mix, with the former’s $5MM 2019 salary seemingly the impetus for such an early position on the block. The club would likely jump at the chance to move Melancon, 34, who’s owed approximately $29MM through 2020. The former closer hasn’t allowed a run thus far in ten ’19 IP, but signs of major regression lurk beneath: the righty’s allowed hard contact at a rate of above 40% for the second consecutive season (after a career-high of 27.1% in his first nine MLB campaigns), has seen his swinging strike rate plummet to a career-worst 8.0%, and is again failing to strike batters out at an alarming rate. Any Melancon move would likely need to be offset by either another bad contract or a significant chunk of change heading with him, but the ever-creative Farhan Zaidi may yet have something up his sleeve.
  • Cubs reliever Brandon Morrow, who’s mixed occasional big-league appearances around a litany of DL/IL stints in his 13-year MLB career, has been shut down in his attempted return from a right elbow injury. The 34-year-old was scheduled to miss just the season’s first month, but “did not recover well” from a bullpen session he threw earlier this week, according to MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian. The club, who’s already shuffled multiple bullpen pieces after a disastrous late-inning start in the early going, was counting heavily on Morrow to stabilize the mishmash crew. No timetable’s been set for the righty’s return, so the club will have to lean primarily on the well-traveled arms of Pedro Strop, Steve Cishek, and Brandon Kintzler in close-and-late situations.

Injury/Rehab Notes: D. Duffy, Honeywell, Chisenhall

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Danny Duffy is scheduled to make what could be his final rehab appearance tonight for AA-Northwest Arkansas, writes the Kansas City Star’s Lynn Worthy. Though the 30-year-old had initially expressed interest in returning to the club as a reliever, GM Dayton Moore prefers the lefty return to a patchwork rotation: “That’s the natural question to ask for a lot of reasons as we’re looking for more consistency in our bullpen and you want to put quality arms in the back end, but we’ve gotta have guys that can start. We’ve gotta have guys that can go out there and set the tone every fifth day. We’ll be open-minded as we go forward.” Both units are again in shambles for a struggling Royals club, though the nightmare bullpen – last in the AL in all relevant park-adjusted metrics – is arguably in more dire need. Duffy’s 2018 season was his worst in years, but the eight-year MLB vet remains far and away the most talented arm on the 12-man Royal staff.

In more injury and rehab news from around the game…

  • Rays top prospect Brent Honeywell, on the mend from a February 2018 Tommy John surgery, couldn’t make it through his first start in extended spring training without a setback, Eduardo Encina of the Tampa Bay Times was among those to report. The 24-year-old, who was on track for a late-May/early-June return to competition, felt soreness in his forearm, the same symptom that was a surgery precursor 14 months ago. The team was quick to note that it’s “fairly common” for TJ rehabbers to experience similar issues, though the thinly-veiled unease wasn’t hard to detect. Honeywell be shut down indefinitely for the time being, though there’s no word on whether or not the club will ask him to shelve his said-to-be arm-shredding screwball, which has baffled minor leaguers high and low throughout his professional tenure.
  • The Pirates lost another outfielder to injury yesterday in center fielder Starling Marte, the club’s fourth in an early-season string of maladies at the positions. Offseason acquisition Lonnie Chisenhall, though, is finally on the mend: the 30-year-old began a rehab assignment at Triple-A Indianapolis yesterday, and appears set to rejoin the club in the coming days.  The oft-injured lefty will apparently see time at third base and first base, in addition to the corner outfield spots, writes MLB.com’s Adam Berry, and will look to add his much-improved bat (128 wRC+ over his last 365 MLB PA) to a surging Pirate club.

Gio Gonzalez Opts Out Of Yankees Deal

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2:07pm: Gonzalez will opt-out, tweets Andy Martino of SNY. The club has 48 hours to either grant him his release or add him to the active roster.

Friday, 2:47pm: Gonzalez does indeed intend to trigger the clause, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (Twitter link), which means the Yankees will have to decide whether to add him to their roster. That appears to be unlikely, per Feinsand, suggesting that Gonzalez will probably head back onto the open market.

Friday, 12:16pm: Veteran left-hander Gio Gonzalez has hired CAA Baseball to represent him, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports (via Twitter). He’d previously been a client of the Boras Corporation. The change comes just before tomorrow’s opt-out date in Gonzalez’s minor league contract with the Yankees — a provision that he is giving strong consideration to exercising, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN (Twitter link). The Yankees recently got CC Sabathia back from the injured list and have received three solid outings from righty Domingo German, so there’s no guarantee they’ll bring Gonzalez to the Majors for a look.

Gonzalez’s contract comes with a $3MM base salary, but the greater consideration for the Yankees is surely the incentives structure to which he agreed. As one might expect for a veteran of his stature, Gonzalez’s non-guaranteed deal is packed with incentives — perhaps more so than any minors deal in recent memory. He’d reportedly be paid a hefty $300K per start with the Yankees at the MLB level, on top of that base rate of pay, making it a fairly expensive proposition to even take a look at him on a short-term, trial basis.

Thus far with the Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate, Gonzalez has had mixed results. He was shelled in the season opener for Scranton (eight runs in four innings), but he’s rebounded with a pair of excellent outings, yielding a combined two runs with an 18-to-2 K/BB ratio in 11 innings.

The fact that he made 93 pitches in his most recent outing should signal to other clubs that he’s built up enough to the point that he could step directly onto a big league pitching staff if needed. Assuming he opts out, that type of opportunity would likely be the type he and his new representatives seek. Several teams that entered the year hoping to contend — Red Sox, Brewers, Cardinals, Angels, Mets, Phillies, Athletics — have seen their starters combine for an ERA of 4.50 or worse, so it stands to reason that there could be heightened interest in Gonzalez now, as compared to when he was a free agent over the winter and was unable to find a big league deal.

If Gonzalez does trigger his opt-out clause tomorrow, he won’t immediately become a free agent. The Yankees would have 48 hours to weigh whether it’s worth placing him on the big league roster or grant him his release. But with the rotation currently featuring James Paxton, Masahiro Tanaka, J.A. Happ, Sabathia and German (with other depth options on hand in the form of Chance Adams, Jonathan Loaisiga and Luis Cessa), the team may simply prefer to let him go.

Gonzalez’s change in representation has been reflected in MLBTR’s Agency Database. As always, if you see any errors or omissions within, please let us know via email: mlbtrdatabase@gmail.com.

Pirates Select Bryan Reynolds, Recall Cole Tucker, Place Starling Marte On 10-Day IL

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1:45 pm: Per a team release, Marte will hit the 10-day IL with an “abdominal wall contusion,” while Gonzalez will be placed on the 60-day IL with a fractured left clavicle.

11:57 am:The Pirates have recalled shortstop Cole Tucker and selected the contract of outfielder Bryan Reynolds, adding both to the 25-man roster, the team announced. Reynolds will take the final remaining spot on Pittsburgh’s 40-man roster. There has been no corresponding roster moves announced, but it’s been widely speculated that Starling Marte and Erik Gonzalez may both be headed to the IL after their collision in last night’s ballgame.

Fangraphs puts Tucker and Reynolds as the #5 and #9 ranked prospects, respectively. Both will be making their major league debuts after strong showings in Spring Training this year. Tucker, 22, hit .259/.333/.356 in Double-A last year, but he’s torn his way through the Arizona Fall League, Spring Training, and his first thirteen games with Triple-A Indianapolis so far this season, where he was hitting a robust .333/.415/.579 in 66 plate appearances.

Reynolds, you may remember, joined the Pirates as part of the Andrew McCutchen trade. As MLB.com’s Adam Berry points out (via Twitter), the Pirates 25-man roster is now populated by the Pirates’ returns from the McCutchen and Gerrit Cole trades, with Michael Feliz being the only piece from either deal not currently in Pittsburgh. Kyle Crick recently returned from the injured list, Jason Martin is hitting .333/.391/.429 in limited playing time in left, Colin Moran platoons at third, and Joe Musgrove ably holds down a rotation spot for the Pirates.

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