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Dodgers Place Yasiel Puig On DL

By Connor Byrne | April 29, 2018 at 2:18pm CDT

The Dodgers will place outfielder Yasiel Puig on the 10-day disabled list, Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times tweets. Puig’s 25-man spot will go to right-hander Brock Stewart, whom the Dodgers have recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City. Stewart could start Monday for the Dodgers, as left-hander Rich Hill is dealing with an infection on his injured finger and isn’t ready yet to return from the DL, Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register reports.

Puig exited the first game of the Dodgers’ doubleheader in San Francisco on Saturday after suffering hip and left foot injuries (the latter problem came after he fouled a ball off his foot). He’s now dealing with a hip pointer and a bruised foot, per Ken Gurnick of MLB.com.

These injury issues continue what has been a disappointing year so far for Puig, who hasn’t been able to build on a bounce-back 2017 to this point. Puig has racked up 96 plate appearances this season and slashed a subpar .193/.250/.250 (43 wRC+) with no home runs. His absence may keep top prospect Alex Verdugo on the roster (he started in right in Puig’s place Saturday night), but the Dodgers also have Joc Pederson and Enrique Hernandez on hand as corner outfield options.

New York Notes: Walker, Yanks, Mets, A-Gon

By Connor Byrne | April 29, 2018 at 12:45pm CDT

There’s a chance that Yankees infielder Neil Walker’s roster spot could soon be in jeopardy, George A. King III of the New York Post suggests. With third baseman Brandon Drury nearing a return from the disabled list and first baseman Greg Bird scheduled to come off the DL sometime next month, the Yankees could have an infield logjam which pushes someone out. That may prove to be Walker, even though he signed a $4MM deal with the Yankees in March. While Walker, 32, was previously a solid producer with the Pirates, Mets and Brewers, he has batted just .181/.231/.208 (16 wRC+) in his first 78 plate appearances as a Yankee. The fact that Walker didn’t have much of a spring training after going without a contract for several months has perhaps contributed to his sluggish start. Either way, he may need a significant uptick in production to stick on the roster if fellow infielders Drury, Bird, Didi Gregorius, Miguel Andujar, Gleyber Torres, Ronald Torreyes and Tyler Austin are all healthy in the near future. Of course, there’s recent precedent for the Yankees quickly cutting bait on a free-agent signing. It happened last June when the team designated slugger Chris Carter for assignment just a few months after guaranteeing him $3.5MM.

Now for the latest on the Yanks’ crosstown rivals…

With Mets catchers Jose Lobaton and Tomas Nido having combined for six hits in 54 plate appearances, the club is at least considering outside options, general manager Sandy Alderson said Saturday (via Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News). “We continue to monitor the market, see what is available to us. At the same time we monitor Plawecki and his progress,” said Alderson, referring to starting catcher Kevin Plawecki, who went on the disabled list April 13 with a hairline fracture in his left hand. At approximately the same time, the Mets lost fellow backstop Travis d’Arnaud to a season-ending elbow injury, leaving them with Lobaton and Nido behind the plate. Alderson is content with the tandem’s defensive work, but it’s clear they’ve been a drag on the team’s offense. While potential trade candidates Wilson Ramos, Blake Swihart and Max Stassi have recently come up as possible targets for the Mets, Ackert hasn’t heard anything about specific backstops the team may be considering (Twitter link).
The Mets have also gotten poor offensive production at first base, thanks largely to the struggles of low-cost free-agent pickup Adrian Gonzalez. The 35-year-old concluded his Dodgers tenure in 2017 with a nightmarish, injury-shortened showing, and he has been similarly woeful this season (.200/.296/.317 in 71 PAs). But Alderson doesn’t seem displeased with the signing, as Ackert relays in the same piece. “I think it’s played out reasonably well. If you look at some of the metrics we monitor, they are similar to his very productive years,” Alderson said. “So right now, we’re reasonably happy. I am sure he’d like to have a higher batting average and so would we. He’s had some big hits for us. What goes somewhat unrecognized, is on defense the confidence he gives the rest of the infielders over there. We’ll continue to see where this goes.” Despite Alderson’s public vote of confidence in Gonzalez, outfielder Jay Bruce could take over for him at first if his subpar production continues. Shifting Bruce to first would open up a spot in the outfield for the promising Brandon Nimmo, and it’s hard to argue the Mets are better with this version of Gonzalez in their lineup than him.

Padres Place Wil Myers On DL

By Connor Byrne | April 29, 2018 at 12:00pm CDT

The Padres have placed outfielder Wil Myers on the 10-day disabled list with a left oblique strain, Dennis Lin of The Athletic tweets. His roster spot will go to outfielder Travis Jankowski, whom the team recalled from Triple-A.

This is already the second DL placement of the year for Myers, who previously went on the shelf with a right arm injury. Myers missed roughly two weeks then, and oblique strains often require absences of at least that long. Clearly, then, Myers is on his way to a significantly shorter season than expected after appearing in at least 155 games in each of the previous two campaigns.

Without Myers, who has hit .300/.300/.450 in 40 plate appearances, the Padres’ outfield setup figures to mostly consist of Manuel Margot, potential breakout player Franchy Cordero and Jose Pirela. Jankowski and Matt Szczur are on hand as bench options for San Diego, which lost outfielder Hunter Renfroe to the DL earlier this month on account of elbow inflammation.

Braves Release Peter Bourjos

By Steve Adams | April 29, 2018 at 11:47am CDT

APRIL 29: The Braves have released Bourjos, David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets.

APRIL 25: The Braves announced Wednesday that they’ve designated outfielder Peter Bourjos for assignment. His roster spot will go to Ronald Acuña Jr., whose contract has been formally selected from Triple-A Gwinnett. Acuña will make his MLB debut tonight.

Bourjos, 31, has a longstanding reputation as a premium defensive outfielder but has struggled at the plate in recent seasons. The 2018 campaign was no exception, as Bourjos got off to a 3-for-25 start to the season, with a pair of walks against seven strikeouts through a total of 27 plate appearances. He latched on with the Braves on a Major League contract late in Spring Training after being cut loose by the Cubs, with whom he’d been playing on a minor league deal.

Atlanta will have a week to trade Bourjos, run him through outright waivers or simply release him. If he clears outright waivers, he’d have the option to reject the outright assignment in favor of free agency, given that he has seven-plus years of MLB service time — well north of the minimum three he’d need to exercise that right. Considering the crowded outfield situation with the Braves with Acuna, Ender Inciarte, Nick Markakis and Preston Tucker all on the big league roster, it’s quite possible that the veteran Bourjos looks to find another opportunity with an organization that has a less-solidified mix of outfielders in the Majors.

Brewers To Add Wade Miley To Roster

By Connor Byrne | April 29, 2018 at 11:21am CDT

The Brewers will add left-hander Wade Miley to their roster, according to a team announcement. He’ll start Wednesday’s game in Cincinnati, thus sending fellow southpaw Brent Suter to the bullpen. Milwaukee will have to make corresponding 40- and 25-man moves by then.

The Brewers had been facing a weekend deadline to either promote Miley to their roster or release him back into free agency. The decision was supposed to come back in late March, but the team was able to put it off after Miley went to the disabled list with a slight groin tear. The 31-year-old, who inked a minors pact in the offseason and will now earn a $2.5MM salary in the majors, looked like a decent bet to earn a rotation spot before his injury. He’ll now do so at the expense of Suter, who made six starts prior to Sunday and registered a 5.34 ERA/3.81 FIP, 6.53 K/9 against 2.08 BB/9, and a 32 percent groundball rate during that 30 1/3-inning span.

Like Suter this year, Miley has struggled to prevent runs recently. He posted ERAs in the fives over the previous two seasons – one divided between Seattle and Baltimore, the other solely with the Orioles – leading to an inability to secure a major league contract over the winter. At his best, Miley was a capable workhorse with the Diamondbacks and Red Sox from 2012-16, a period in which he ranked 14th in the majors in innings (958 1/3) and logged a 4.17 ERA/3.86 FIP with 7.12 K/9, 2.73 BB/9 and a 48.5 percent grounder mark.

Miley will now join a Brewers rotation that has managed the game’s eighth-best ERA (3.64), though the unit ranks a far less encouraging 18th in fWAR. Regardless, the hopeful playoff contenders have fared nicely in the early going (16-12) despite not having their 2017 ace, Jimmy Nelson, who’s working back from September shoulder surgery.

Hisashi Iwakuma Dealing With Shoulder Discomfort

By Connor Byrne | April 29, 2018 at 11:08am CDT

Mariners right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma felt discomfort in his surgically repaired shoulder during a sim game on Sunday and will be temporarily shut down from throwing, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times reports on Twitter. The Mariners are hopeful it’s merely tendinitis, but regardless, it’ll delay Iwakuma’s attempt to return to the majors.

The 37-year-old Iwakuma’s latest problem is particularly alarming after shoulder troubles helped limit him to a career-low 31 innings of 4.35 ERA/6.42 FIP pitching in 2017. He ended up undergoing arthroscopic shoulder surgery in late September, just over a month before the Mariners declined his $10MM option for 2018. Iwakuma quickly returned to the Mariners on a minor league deal with the hope that he could work his way back to the majors by May. That may now be in serious jeopardy in light of Sunday’s developments.

Although Iwakuma scuffled through last season, his Mariners tenure has been a resounding success since he emigrated from Japan prior to the 2012 campaign. Iwakuma has recorded a 3.42 ERA/3.87 FIP in 883 2/3 innings, and the Mariners would certainly welcome that type of production from him this season if he makes it back to the mound.

Seattle, a prospective playoff contender, has gotten off to a quality 15-11 start without Iwakuma, though its rotation hasn’t been great in the aggregate. Entering Sunday, Mariners starters rank last in the majors in ERA (5.73) and fourth from the bottom in fWAR. The M’s top three starters – James Paxton, Felix Hernandez and Mike Leake – each figure to perform better as the year progresses, but the team’s rotation could still feature multiple question marks even if that happens.

Francisco Rodriguez Agrees To Deal With Long Island Ducks

By Connor Byrne | April 29, 2018 at 10:45am CDT

Veteran reliever Francisco Rodriguez has reached an agreement with the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League, Jon Heyman of FanRag tweets.

The 36-year-old Rodriguez had been without an employer since the Phillies released him in March after a failed bid to crack their Opening Day roster. The right-hander previously inked a minor league deal with the Phillies, who took a flyer on him in the wake of a dismal season for the longtime closer. As a member of the Tigers in 2017, Rodriguez pitched to a 7.82 ERA/7.38 FIP and logged an unappealing groundball rate (30.1 percent) across 25 1/3 innings before they released him in June.

Odds may be against K-Rod ever pitching in the majors again, but it’s clear he hasn’t abandoned that goal. For now, he’s set to serve as one of the most accomplished players in the history of the Atlantic League, which has seen some household names come and go over the years. Also a former Angel, Met, Brewer and Oriole, Rodriguez ranks fourth all-time in saves (437) and owns a 2.86 ERA over 976 major league innings.

Blue Jays Option Devon Travis

By Connor Byrne | April 29, 2018 at 9:11am CDT

The Blue Jays have optioned second baseman Devon Travis to Triple-A and recalled right-hander Carlos Ramirez, Hazel Mae of Sportsnet reports.

The 27-year-old Travis is a familiar name who has enjoyed success in the past, which theoretically makes this a surprising move. However, Travis has dealt with injury issues throughout his career and, although he’s healthy now, has gotten off to a dreadful start in 2018. Travis has batted an ugly .148/.212/.246 (25 wRC+) through 66 plate appearances, making it difficult for Toronto to keep him in its lineup – let alone in the majors. Sending Travis to the minors could enable him to get back up to speed in the wake of his injury-shortened 2017, as MLBTR’s Mark Polishuk recently noted.

In light of Travis’ struggles, prospect Lourdes Gurriel Jr. has been seeing some time lately at second. While Gurriel has also gotten off to a slow start, he seems likely to serve as Toronto’s top second base option now that Travis is headed to Buffalo. That may change when on-the-mend third baseman Josh Donaldson returns from a shoulder injury, which could push utility player Yangervis Solarte from the hot corner to the keystone.

Phillies Place J.P. Crawford On DL

By Connor Byrne | April 29, 2018 at 9:05am CDT

The Phillies have placed shortstop J.P. Crawford on the 10-day disabled list with a right forearm strain, per a team announcement. The club recalled infielder/outfielder Jesmuel Valentin from Triple-A in a corresponding move.

Crawford’s DL placement was expected after the 23-year-old left the Phillies’ game Saturday with numbness in his arm. It’s an injury that has bothered Crawford the past few days, perhaps contributing to his offensive and defensive struggles. The former top prospect has slashed a meager .188/.246/.328 (58 wRC+) across 71 plate appearances, and he has already posted minus-4 Defensive Runs Saved and five errors – all of which have been throwing miscues.

Meanwhile, Valentin – also 23 – is now in line to see his first major league action. The switch-hitter ascended to the Triple-A level in 2016 and has since batted .240/.322/.346 in 302 PAs, including a much better .242/.373/.371 in 75 tries this season. While Valentin does have some minor league experience at short, the Phillies are more likely to turn to fellow youngster Scott Kingery or veteran Pedro Florimon at the position. Kingery will start there for the Phils on Sunday.

NL Notes: Panik, D-backs, Cards, Pirates

By Connor Byrne | April 29, 2018 at 8:36am CDT

Giants second baseman Joe Panik has a torn ligament in his left thumb that could require surgery, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Panik, who went on the disabled list Saturday, will go for a second opinion to determine whether he’ll go under the knife or rehab the injury without surgery, per Schulman. Panik got off to a solid start in his first 100 plate appearances of the year before landing on the shelf, with a .267/.323/.389 line (102 wRC+) and as many walks as strikeouts (six). Kelby Tomlinson has been San Francisco’s top second base option in Panik’s absence.

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