Injury Notes: Price, O’Day, Dodgers, Neshek, Karns
After being scratched from today’s start due to numbness in his left hand, David Price has been diagnosed with a “mild case” of carpal tunnel syndrome, Red Sox manager Alex Cora said in a radio appearance on WEEI today (Twitter link via The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey). The hope, Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe writes, is that he’ll only be required to miss one start and can avoid the disabled list. “We’re glad it’s only this,” said Cora. “We know how we’re going to attack it. We’re going to get him healthy.” It’s been an uneven season for Price, who was brilliant in his first two starts of the year but has struggled since initially reporting numbness in his hand in mid-April. He’s now sporting a 5.11 ERA with 7.8 K/9 against 3.9 BB/9 and a 42.7 percent ground-ball rate in 37 innings this year.
Some more injury news from around the game…
- The Orioles announced on Wednesday that they’ve placed Darren O’Day on the 10-day disabled list due to a hyperextended right elbow. Lefty Tanner Scott was recalled to step into his spot on the active roster and in the Baltimore bullpen. As Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com writes, the team’s hope is that O’Day, who has assumed ninth-inning duties, will be ready to return when he’s eligible. It’s not clear who’ll step into any potential save opportunities for the O’s, though they’ve generally been few and far between for a Baltimore club that still has just eight wins on the season. Mychal Givens could get a look in that role, or Buck Showalter could again turn to Brad Brach, though he’s struggled so far in 2018. Lefty Richard Bleier remains yet another option.
- The Dodgers announced a host of roster moves tonight. Tony Cingrani hit the DL due to shoulder inflammation, while Yasiel Puig was activated from the DL. Meanwhile, righty Brock Stewart and lefty Scott Alexander are up from Triple-A, while outfielder Alex Verdugo and right-hander Yimi Garcia were optioned to Triple-A. The 27-year-old Puig is off to an ugly start through 96 plate appearances in 2018, hitting .193/.250/.250 without a home run. He’s been plagued, to an extent, by a .243 average on balls in play though — despite still possessing solid hard-contact and line-drive rates. Cingrani will be replaced by Alexander for the time being, though the team didn’t provide a timeline for his return to big league action. It’s also worth noting, of course, that ace Clayton Kershaw played catch today, though skipper Dave Roberts wasn’t able to say whether Kershaw is expected to be ready for activation after the minimum 10-day stay on the DL (Twitter link via Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times). Kershaw hit the DL on Sunday due to biceps tendinitis.
- Righty Pat Neshek will be shut down for the next week, tweets MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki. The Phillies setup man has yet to pitch this season due to a shoulder injury, but it seems he’s now dealing with a flexor strain as well. At this point, it’s not clear as to when he’ll be able to go on a rehab assignment and ultimately rejoin the Phils. If and when he’s able to do so, a healthy Neshek would be a significant boon to a Phillies club that has outperformed expectations to date. The sidearmer utterly dominated opponents in 2017, pitching to a 1.59 ERA with 10.0 K/9, 0.9 BB/9, 0.43 HR/9 and a 36.4 percent ground-ball rate in 62 1/3 innings between the Phils and the Rockies.
- The Royals have shut Nate Karns down for the next four days because of persistent inflammation in his right elbow, tweets Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com. Karns has yet to pitch in 2018 after seeing his 2017 season cut short by thoracic outlet surgery. He opened the year on the shelf with some issues in his elbow as well, and it seems it’s his elbow that’s still slowing him more than anything else.
MLBTR Chat Transcript: Eloy, Fowler, Mondesi, Riley
Click here to view the transcript for MLBTR Chat With Jason Martinez: May 9, 2018
Red Sox Prospect Jay Groome To Undergo Tommy John Surgery
5:35pm: The Red Sox have announced the news. Dr. Neal ElAttrache will perform the operation next week, on May 15.
5:20pm: Top Red Sox prospect Jay Groome will miss the remainder of the 2018 season and part of the 2019 campaign due to a UCL injury that will require Tommy John surgery, reports Sean McAdam of the Boston Sports Journal. Groome, the 12th overall pick in the 2016 draft, will have the surgery either later this week or early next week, per McAdam.
Groome, 19, missed much of the 2017 campaign due to a flexor strain in his left arm as well, throwing just 55 1/3 innings on the season as a whole. He’s yet to pitch this season, either, after opening the season on the disabled list with what the team called a similar flexor issue to the one that plagued him last year.
Obviously, given his age and the fact that he’s yet to pitch above A-ball, Groome wouldn’t have factored into Boston’s immediate plans anyhow. Losing a year of development and adding a major arm surgery to his medical file at a young age, however, is a disconcerting outcome all the same. It also saps some of Groome’s trade value, lessening the possibility that he could be used to acquire a key piece in trades this summer as the Sox look to bolster their standing in a competitive AL East.
Heading into the 2018 season, Groome was a consensus Top 100 prospect throughout the league, ranking 83rd per Baseball America, 85th per MLB.com, 78th per Baseball Prospectus and 98th per Fangraphs. He’s touted as a potential top-of-the-rotation arm given an above-average fastball and a knockout curveball, but it now looks as though the 2020 season will be his best bet at turning in a full season of development at the minor league level.
It’s been a rough start to the season for Boston’s farm system, with Groome now requiring Tommy John surgery and infield prospect Michael Chavis already having been hit with an 80-game suspension following a failed PED test.
Brewers Activate Corey Knebel; Wade Miley Out Four To Six Weeks
3:30pm: Miley has been told he’ll miss four to six weeks with the oblique strain (Twitter link via Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel).
May 9, 9:44am: Milwaukee has announced the moves. Franklin is indeed going to the DL, with infielder Tyler Saladino called up to take his place on the active roster.
May 8: The Brewers announced that Wade Miley left tonight’s start with a strained right oblique muscle. He’s headed to the disabled list (Twitter link via MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy), while closer Corey Knebel is set to be activated from the DL tomorrow. It’s also possible that infielder Nick Franklin is headed for the DL after incurring an injury on the very day he returned to the big leagues. McCalvy tweets that he left tonight’s game with a quadriceps strain and is “likely” to hit the DL.
Miley’s injury comes less than a week after he was activated from the disabled list for a groin strain that cost him the first month of the season. The 31-year-old veteran notched a very solid quality start in his first outing, allowing one run through six innings, but he exited tonight’s game after recording just one out when he injured his oblique while delivering a pitch. There’s no timeline on his return, but it’s common for players to spend around a month on the disabled list for Grade 1 strains and considerably longer for Grade 2 strains.
With Miley heading to the DL and likely to miss several starts, the Brewers may once again turn to southpaw Brent Suter. The 28-year-old lefty just moved to the ‘pen to accommodate Miley, but he showed that he’s still plenty stretched out by coming in and posting 4 2/3 innings of quality relief in Miley’s place tonight. Zach Davies is also on the DL with some mild inflammation in his right shoulder, so the Brewers will need to fill two spots for the time being, although Davies’ absence is expected to be extremely minimal. Prospect Brandon Woodruff is on-hand in Triple-A and could be viewed as an option for the Brewers to step into the starting mix alongside Suter.
[Related: Milwaukee Brewers depth chart]
Knebel landed on the disabled list on April 6 after collapsing on the mound while delivering a pitch. He had to be helped off the field and looked to be in excruciating pain, though the diagnosis ultimately proved to be more favorable than expected upon seeing the initial injury. The Brewers initially believed that Knebel would miss “at least” six weeks, but he’ll return to the club in a bit under five weeks after suffering his injury.
If Franklin requires a DL trip, the Brewers could give Eric Sogard another look, though he consented to an optional assignment today in an effort to get his swing sorted out in the minors. Tyler Saladino would be another option who is already on the 40-man roster and has plenty of middle infield experience in the Majors. And Jonathan Villar, of course, is still with the big league club as well, though he’s had a lackluster season at the plate so far in 2018.
It’s been an eventful day on the injury front in Milwaukee. The Brewers learned earlier today that Mauricio Dubon, one of their top infield prospects who’d been in the mix for a call to the Majors, will miss the remainder of the year following a torn ACL. And the news is somehow even more grim for veteran catcher and beloved clubhouse leader Stephen Vogt, who suffered damage to his anterior capsule, rotator cuff and labrum in his throwing shoulder and is now faced with the possibility of career-threatening surgery.
Blue Jays Acquire Gio Urshela
The Blue Jays have acquired third baseman Gio Urshela from the Indians, per a club announcement. Cash considerations or a player to be named later will go to Cleveland in return.
Urshela, 26, had recently been designated for assignment after opening the year on the DL. The out-of-options infielder did take 42 plate appearances at Triple-A on a rehab assignment, slashing .324/.405/.432.
Though he’s considered a quality defender, Urshela has struggled at the plate in his opportunities in the majors. Over 453 total plate appearances, he carries only a .225/.273/.405 batting line with seven home runs.
Trade Candidate: J.T. Realmuto
As the Marlins offloaded their fleet of talented outfielders over the winter, it began to feel inevitable that catcher J.T. Realmuto would be the next out the door. While there weren’t really any financial pressures at play — he’s earning just $2.9MM in his first year of arbitration eligibility — it stood to reason that the Miami organization might prefer to finish off a painful but necessary offseason and further build out its newly robust store of young talent.
Certainly, that seems to have been Realmuto’s hope. He asked for a trade even before Christian Yelich was moved and reiterated that stance thereafter. Given that stance, it seems unlikely that an extension will come together. The Marlins, likewise, are surely aware that the roster is unlikely to be competitive while they control Realmuto, who’s eligible for arbitration for two more seasons in the future.
Under the circumstances, it still feels more a question of when than whether the Fish will part with Realmuto. The coming trade deadline surely isn’t a hard stopping point, but it would be foolish for the organization not to market him vigorously. Dealing Yelich proved that the Marlins were ready to embrace a rebuild. Holding Realmuto over the winter does not indicate otherwise; rather, it showed that the club was also willing to exercise patience in achieving value for its best remaining assets.
While the decision not to move starter Dan Straily has not looked promising to this point — he’s struggling to keep the ball in the zone after a DL stint to open the year — the Marlins may yet be paid out for waiting on Realmuto, who has looked much better since his own return from the DL. Through 77 plate appearances, the 27-year-old has shown career-best form in walk rate (7.8%), strikeout rate (13.0%), and power (.206 ISO) while producing at an excellent .309/.382/.515 rate with the bat.
To be sure, Realmuto has not yet proven he can sustain that kind of productivity over the course of a full season. But it has not been BABIP-driven, as he’s carrying a reasonable .315 mark thus far in 2018. If anything, the Statcast results suggest he has been a bit unlucky, as Realmuto is credited with a lofty .410 xwOBA based upon the quality of his contact, handily outpacing his already-impressive .383 wOBA.
Regardless, Realmuto is immensely valuable even if he goes back to being a slightly above-average hitter, as he was over the prior two seasons. He’s youthful. He steals bases. He’s the most athletic catcher in baseball. He has long been lauded for his handling of an ever-changing Miami pitching staff.
If there’s a question — beyond whether he’s a useful or a very good hitter — it’s probably in the framing department. StatCorner has rated Realmuto as one of the worst catchers in the game at winning strikes for his pitchers. Baseball Prospectus, meanwhile, has identified significant improvement over the years and graded Realmuto quite well in this area last year. Without a clear consensus in the metrics, it’s tough to say anything conclusively, though perhaps potential acquiring teams would at a minimum expect to be able to draw more out of Realmuto in the framing department given his underlying physical tools.
Just how much value Realmuto can return will likely depend upon how he hits over the next two-plus months. Barring a serious injury or total collapse at the plate, though, he has already established himself as one of only a few young, everyday backstops in the game.
In this case, then, the Marlins will be marketing Realmuto not only as a mid-season upgrade but also as a solution for clubs that have future needs behind the dish. A high-quality, mid-prime catcher often costs quite a lot more than he’s set to receive. The Pirates seemingly got an appealing price when they promised Francisco Cervelli $31MM over three years in an extension. Russell Martin took down $82MM over a five-year term on the open market.
Starting catchers may not necessarily represent a traditional deadline asset class, but they’ve been moved before. Most recently, one-and-a-half affordable seasons of Jonathan Lucroy — then one of the game’s best and most-established backstops — were swapped (along with quality reliever Jeremy Jeffress) for two high-end prospects.
Teams interested in immediate catching help may have a few other options. Wilson Ramos has been playing well and could be made available, though he’s more expensive now and will be a free agent after the season. Ditto, Lucroy. Perhaps the White Sox will dangle recent signee Welington Castillo, though he was evidently not strongly pursued by contenders over the offseason. The few poor-performing teams that possess established, controllable young catchers seem less likely to move them for a variety of reasons. With the Pirates and Braves contending to this point, some of the more appealing hypothetical rental targets (Cervelli, Kurt Suzuki, Tyler Flowers) may not be available.
In this setting, Realmuto could be in quite some demand. On paper, the Red Sox, Brewers, and Angels have the immediate and long-term need for improvement. The Nationals are getting useful work from behind the dish for the time being, but may well end up needing an upgrade this summer and still lack a long-term solution behind the dish. Though the Astros have been well-served by Brian McCann, they’d be a good fit for the present and future. While the Mets just added Devin Mesoraco, he doesn’t seem particularly likely to be the answer there. A few other teams — the Twins come to mind — could also conceivably emerge as suitors as well.
That’s just a preliminary glance, of course. Injuries and other developments can and surely will change the picture over the coming months. Generally, though, it seems reasonable to anticipate that the Marlins will have a good chance to secure a significant return for Realmuto this summer. While clubs that tried to structure a deal for him over the winter proved unwilling to meet the lofty asking price, the pressures of the trade deadline could help enhance the leverage available to the Miami front office.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Cubs Select Contract Of Justin Hancock
The Cubs have selected the contract of righty Justin Hancock, per a club announcement. He’ll be making his way onto an MLB roster for the first time.
Outfielder Mark Zagunis is also coming up to the active roster after briefly debuting in 2017. In corresponding moves, the Cubs have optioned righty Jen-Ho Tseng and southpaw Rob Zastryzny.
It’s obviously a big day for Hancock, who was originally selected by the Padres in the ninth round of the 2011 draft out of Lincoln Trail College in southern Illinois. At that time, Cubs GM Jed Hoyer was at the helm in San Diego.
Hancock has worked exclusively out of the bullpen since landing in the Cubs organization in the deal that sent Matt Szczur to the Friars. He continued to struggle with command last year but seems to have righted the ship thus far in 2018, with 14 1/3 innings of 3.77 ERA ball over which he has recorded 19 strikeouts against just four walks.
Athletics Promote Dustin Fowler, Place Trevor Cahill On 10-Day DL
1:15pm: Cahill is expected only to be out for the required ten days, skipper Bob Melvin tells reporters including MLB.com’s Jane Lee (via Twitter). It is obviously not seen as a significant injury.
10:41am: The Athletics have announced the promotion of outfielder Dustin Fowler. He’ll take the open roster spot created by the placement of righty Trevor Cahill on the 10-day DL.
Fowler, acquired in last summer’s Sonny Gray trade, will be back in the majors after his first stint ended in calamity with a ruptured patella tendon in his very first game. The 23-year-old has been at full strength this year at Triple-A, where he has recorded a .313/.333/.484 batting line in 132 plate appearances.
It is not fully clear at the moment whether Fowler will get an extended look, as the A’s will ultimately need to add another arm to account for Cahill’s absence. It’s possible, though, that he’ll be given a chance to stake a claim to the job in center. The club has received middling production from Matt Joyce and Stephen Piscotty thus far and does not have a true center fielder on the roster. While Mark Canha has hit well since stepping in up the middle, and the A’s have a bevy of outfield-capable options, there’s a path to playing time for Fowler if the club so chooses.
As for Cahill, he has been diagnosed with an elbow impingement. It’s not clear at the moment how long he will be expected to miss. He had been off to an excellent start after signing with Oakland for $1.5MM late in camp. Cahill has worked to a 2.25 ERA with 11.6 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9 over 24 frames in four outings.
Filling the void could mean bringing back Kendall Graveman, but his struggles have persisted since his demotion. Otherwise, Frankie Montas and Daniel Gossett appear to be the top options on the 40-man roster.
Rafael Palmeiro To Join Cleburne Railroaders
Veteran first baseman Rafael Palmeiro will launch his unlikely comeback bid with the indy ball Cleburne Railroaders, he tells Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. He’ll play there with his son, former minor-leaguer Patrick Palmeiro.
Needless to say, it had always seemed a longshot that the former star would earn a chance with an affiliated organization. He announced late last year that he was hoping to make it back to the majors for the first time since 2005 — when he was already forty years of age.
Palmeiro could still hit when last he suited up. In ’05, he turned in a .266/.339/.447 slash with 18 home runs and as many walks as strikeouts (43 apiece) in 422 plate appearances. Of course, that was 13 years ago and he was already fading from his prior levels of productivity. Other than a first, brief taste of the majors way back in 1986, Palmeiro never ended a season with an overall batting line that fell below league average. He stands as one of only five players to accumulate 3,000 hits and 500 home runs.
Those stats don’t mean as much as they might have, of course, given that Palmeiro ultimately tested positive for steroids. He has since steadfastly denied that he knowingly used steroids, though the matter has perhaps kept him from reaching the Hall of Fame.
White Sox Prospect Jake Burger Re-Tears Achilles
White Sox prospect Jake Burger has re-torn his Achilles tendon, GM Rick Hahn tells reporters including Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times (Twitter links). The recent first-round pick was rehabbing a prior tear that occurred in late February.
Burger was already down for the year, but that doesn’t mean this isn’t a significant new development in its own right. He will now have to start over in his rehab after undergoing a second surgical replacement. With a full-year absence required, that means there’s little hope that Burger will be ready for the start of the 2019 season.
Clearly, the 22-year-old was not going to be a part of the immediate plans for the Chicago organization even before the initial injury. But the successive procedures don’t exactly help his long-term outlook, though at this point there’s no reason to believe he can’t get back to full health.
The White Sox will ultimately have to wait quite a bit longer than originally anticipated to see a contribution from Burger, the 11th overall pick last summer out of Missouri State. He hit at a .263/.336/.412 rate in his 217 innings in the low minors last year, so clearly was still in need of significant seasoning. Now, he’ll need to work through quite a lengthy rehab process before re-starting his march toward the majors.