Chris Heisey

Twins Notes: Aybar, Busenitz, Duffey, Kinley, Hughes, Heisey

By Kyle Downing | March 22, 2018 at 6:05pm CDT

Veteran shortstop Erick Aybar has been informed he will not make the Twins roster, tweets Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press. Aybar seemed to have at least an outside shot of making the club out of camp in light of Jorge Polanco’s 80-game PED suspension, but after managing just a .621 OPS in 35 spring training at-bats, Minnesota couldn’t find room for him. Aybar signed with the Twins late in February on a minor league deal; He can choose to opt out of it on Friday. We’re now three years removed from Aybar’s last season playing above league average; since a 4.2 fWAR campaign in which he hit .278/.321/.379 while playing sterling defense at shortstop for the Angels, Aybar has severely declined. Over the past three seasons, his glovework has been average at best, and he sports a wRC+ of just 73.

Other Twins-related items…

There are other changes afoot in Minnesota, too, as Berardino reports. Righties Alan Busenitz and Tyler Duffey were each shipped out of camp on optional assignment. Both struggled this spring, as Berardino notes, while other developments — particularly, the desire to carry Rule 5 pick Tyler Kinley and oft-injured starter Phil Hughes in the pen — have tightened things on the MLB roster. As per the conditions of the Rule 5 Draft, the Twins must keep Kinley on the major league roster for an entire season or else offer him back to the Marlins. The 27-year-old righty has allowed five earned runs while striking out eleven hitters in ten spring training innings.
Chris Heisey has been granted his release by the Twins, tweets Phil Miller of the Star Tribune. The 33-year-old outfielder played in 38 games last season for the Nationals (79 plate appearances), and hit a dismal .162/.216/.270. In the early stages of his career, Heisey played in a reserve outfielder role for the Reds; he’s since played for the Dodgers in addition to the aforementioned Nats. He owns just a .444 OPS this spring, so it would be tough to imagine him latching onto an opening day roster spot with an MLB club.

Twins Sign Chris Heisey

By Jeff Todd | February 13, 2018 at 12:58pm CDT

The Twins have signed Chris Heisey to a minor-league deal, per a club announcement (h/t MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger, on Twitter). The veteran receives an invitation to MLB Spring Training.

Heisey, 33, impressed the Nationals enough as a bench piece in 2016 to sign a major-league deal to return for the following season. He struggled through an injury-plagued year, though, taking just 79 plate appearances and carrying a terrible .162/.215/.270 slash line. The Nats ended up cutting Heisey loose just before the trade deadline.

It’s conceivable that Heisey could challenge for a reserve outfield role in camp, but he’ll need to show that the disappointing 2017 campaign is now firmly in the rearview mirror. At his best, Heisey has provided solidly average output in all areas of play with some pop at the plate. He has actually been quite a bit better against right-handed pitching over his career, so he likely won’t represent a possibility to serve as the lefty-mashing bat that the Twins have sought.

Nationals Release Chris Heisey

By Steve Adams | July 30, 2017 at 10:57am CDT

The Nationals have released veteran outfielder Chris Heisey in order to clear a spot on the roster for right-hander Erick Fedde, who will make his Major League debut today, tweets Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post.

Heisey, 32, provided some pop off the Washington bench in 2016 and returned in a similar capacity this year, but he hasn’t been productive through 79 plate appearances. In that brief sample, he’s batted just .162/.215/.270 with a homer, three doubles and a triple. He’s missed time with a biceps injury and a groin injury thus far in 2017, and Washington’s acquisition of Howie Kendrick made Heisey somewhat of a redundancy on the active roster.

Minor MLB Transactions: 7/23/17

By Mark Polishuk | July 23, 2017 at 9:10pm CDT

Here are the latest minor moves from around baseball, with the newest transactions at the top of the post…

Rangers infielder Pete Kozma cleared waivers and has accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A, Rangers executive VP of communications John Blake tweets. Kozma was designated for assignment on Thursday. The veteran has appeared in 39 games with the Rangers and Yankees this season, filling in at all four infield positions and hitting .111/.200/.178 in 51 plate appearances.
The Nationals announced some roster moves prior to today’s game, including selecting the contract of outfielder Andrew Stevenson and calling up catcher Pedro Severino. In corresponding moves, Jayson Werth was shifted to the 60-day DL, Ryan Raburn went on the bereavement list and Chris Heisey was placed on the 10-day DL with a left groin strain. Stevenson, a second-round pick out of LSU in the 2015 draft, is getting his first taste of big league action after hitting .280/.335/.366 over 1216 career PA in the minors. Most of that success, however, came at the lower rungs of Washington’s farm system; Stevenson has posted only a .612 OPS over 306 PA at the Triple-A level. Stevenson will serve as a backup in left, center and right field, and he should get a decent amount of playing time with the Nats short-handed in the outfield.
The Yankees outrighted first baseman Ji-Man Choi to Triple-A, the team announced prior to today’s game. Choi signed a minor league deal with New York last winter and collected on that contract’s $700K guaranteed salary when he was promoted to the Yankees’ roster earlier this month. He made a strong impression during his short time in the Bronx, posting a 1.067 OPS over 18 plate appearances. Choi will continue to provide the Yankees with first base depth in the minors.

Injury Notes: Polanco, Pedroia, Happ, Mets, Nats, Palka

By Jeff Todd | May 29, 2017 at 10:56pm CDT

The Pirates seemingly made it through a scare today after outfielder Gregory Polanco was carted off the field following a collision with the wall. As Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review first tweeted, Polanco escaped with only a sprained ankle. Still, the severity isn’t quite clear and may not be until the joint responds overnight. As Stephen Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tweets, Polanco did require a walking boot after the game.

Here are some more injury updates from around the game:

Some fears were seemingly put to rest for Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia after an X-ray on his wrist came back clean, as Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald was among those to report. But Pedroia, who was injured in a collision while running to first base, has yet to undergo an MRI. The team is sending him back to Boston for a closer look tomorrow morning, with his status to be assessed thereafter.
The Blue Jays will welcome back starter J.A. Happ from the DL tomorrow, as Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca reports on Twitter. Happ, 34, was sidelined after his third start of the year with elbow inflammation. He had recorded twenty strikeouts against four walks in his first 16 innings on the year after racking up 195 frames of 3.18 ERA ball in 2016.
There are some updates on notable injured Mets players, courtesy of Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News. Closer Jeurys Familia says he is “feeling good” and thinks he can resume throwing within about two weeks — possibly setting up a return as soon as late August. Both Steven Matz and Seth Lugo, meanwhile, will take additional rehab starts before returning to the majors. They are said to be slated for the rotation, with Robert Gsellman expected to move to the bullpen. Meanwhile, star outfielder Yoenis Cespedes is looking at another week or ten days before he’s back, though the team is treading carefully. The current issue — not his hamstring, for which he originally went on the DL, but his quadriceps — is apparently tied to the injury that kept Cespedes out of action for a stretch last year.
As for the division-rival Nationals, the bench got some good news today. Stephen Drew made it back from the DL today after a long layoff for a hamstring strain, as Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com reports. And it seems that Chris Heisey may be ready to return much more quickly than seemed likely when it was learned that he had a torn biceps tendon. Heisey is already on a rehab assignment, in fact, since it turns out he can essentially play through the injury. As manager Dusty Baker put it: “Boy, if you’re going to get hurt, I guess you gotta hurt something that you really don’t need.”
Twins outfield prospect Daniel Palka is out “indefinitely” after suffering a fractured left index finger, as Triple-A Rochester PR official Nate Rowan tweets. The 25-year-old has shown big-time power in the minors, but also swings and misses with some frequency. He has yet to conquer the highest level of the minors; through 171 plate appearances this year, he owns a .261/.316/.452 batting line with eight long balls.

NL East Notes: Heisey, Mets, Phillies, Yelich, Chen

By Steve Adams | May 25, 2017 at 10:29am CDT

Nationals outfielder Chris Heisey was placed on the disabled list with what the team termed a “right biceps rupture,” per a club announcement. That’s an ominous-sounding injury for the 32-year-old Heisey, and he will indeed undergo an MRI today to learn if the injury requires surgery, as MASNsports.com’s Byron Kerr writes. As Heisey explains the injury, he’s felt on-and-off discomfort in his shoulder and biceps all season but felt an increase in discomfort in a pinch-hitting appearance on Tuesday. “I came in [Wednesday], got some treatment and tried to give it a go. I thought it would be fine,” says Heisey. “I took a swing in batting practice and actually tore my bicep tendon.” Heisey does expect to be back with the team at some point, stating that he doesn’t believe the injury is season-ending in nature. Through 50 plate appearances, Heisey is hitting just .128/.180/.213, though certainly his ongoing arm troubles may have impacted that lackluster batting line. The veteran did slash .216/.290/.446 and club nine homers in just 155 PAs a season ago. In Heisey’s place, fellow outfielder Brian Goodwin has been recalled from Triple-A.

Nationals Re-Sign Chris Heisey

By Jeff Todd | November 19, 2016 at 9:32am CDT

TODAY: The Nationals have officially announced the signing.

NOVEMBER 11: The Nationals have agreed to a one-year, $1.4MM to bring back outfielder Chris Heisey, according to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com (via Twitter). The contract includes various performance incentives as well.

[RELATED: Updated Nationals Depth Chart]

Heisey, 31, provided Washington with a solid, right-handed-hitting presence from the bench last year. He ended with a .216/.290/.446 slash over 155 plate appearances, with nine home runs. There’s a fair bit of swing and miss in his game — he posted a 28.4% K rate last year — and Heisey has been an essentially average fielder and baserunner. But he obviously impressed the Nats, and it probably didn’t hurt that he came up with a big home run in the NLDS.

Looking at the roster, locking in a right-handed-hitting outfielder probably doesn’t dictate many other moves. Heisey has traditionally carried reverse splits, and will be expected to play a relatively minor role as a spot starter and pinch hitter. The signing probably doesn’t help Michael Taylor’s chances of cracking the Opening Day roster, and makes it appear somewhat unlikely that the club will sign a more significant fourth outfielder, but otherwise the primary needs remain the same.

Quick Hits: Mets, Indians, Rockies, Dodgers

By Connor Byrne | October 8, 2016 at 9:34pm CDT

Durability is the main reason the Mets should re-sign impending free agent Bartolo Colon, opines Joel Sherman of the New York Post. The right-hander will be 44 next season, but he still led the Mets in starts (33) and innings pitched (191 2/3) this year. Colon hasn’t thrown fewer than 190 1/3 frames in a season since 2012, and he’s one of just 14 pitchers to make 30-plus starts in each of the past four campaigns, notes Sherman. It also helps that Colon remains highly effective, having logged a 3.43 ERA to go with 6.01 K/9 against 1.5 BB/9 this year. If they let Colon go, the Mets will have plenty of other rotation options on hand in Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey, Steven Matz, Zack Wheeler, Seth Lugo and Robert Gsellman, though injuries or inexperience are concerns with certain members of the group. Whether it’s with the Mets or someone else, Colon should be in line for a raise over the $7.25MM he made this year.

Here’s more from around the majors:

An important reinforcement could be on the way for the Indians, who will have a chance to sweep the Red Sox on Sunday to advance to the ALCS. Injured right-hander Danny Salazar threw a 35-pitch bullpen session in Arizona on Friday and is hoping to come back from a month-long absence if the Indians advance, writes Jordan Bastian of MLB.com. Salazar started in all 25 of his regular-season appearances before succumbing to a forearm strain in early September, but he’ll work out of the bullpen in the event of a return. As of now, Salazar is only throwing fastballs and changeups because his curveball was his main source of discomfort, per Bastian.
With Walt Weiss gone and the Rockies in search of a new manager, the team parted with multiple members of his coaching staff Saturday, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today (Twitter link). Colorado let go of bench coach Tom Runnells, hitting coach Blake Doyle, first base coach Eric Young, and catching coach/defensive coordinator Rene Lachemann. Pitching coach Steve Foster, bullpen coach Darren Holmes and third base coach Stu Cole are still with the team, but it’s unknown if they’ll keep their jobs.
Nationals outfielder Chris Heisey didn’t enjoy his one-year stint with the Dodgers, he told Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times. Heisey joined the club prior to the 2015 season and then spent the year shuffling between Triple-A Oklahoma City and LA. The Dodgers optioned Heisey five times, recalled him five times, and also released and re-signed him. “On the personal side, they may not realize the toll it may take on a player’s confidence when he’s going up and down, taken off the roster, put back on the roster, in my case released and signed back,” said Heisey. “It was a crazy year. I made some good friends there, so it wasn’t all bad. But it was tough.” Heisey collected 72 plate appearances as a Dodger and another 262 in OKC. The 31-year-old then signed a minor league with the Nationals during the offseason, but all 155 of his PAs since have come with Washington. “I think this year has been a lot better in that regard — being comfortable, being with the same guys all year, competing at the highest level and not having to go back and forth and say goodbye to my family so many different times. That was one of the harder parts,” added Heisey, whose Nats dropped the first game of the NLDS to the Dodgers on Friday.

NL Notes: Reds’ Medicals, Henderson, Heisey, Gott, Nolin

By Jeff Todd | April 1, 2016 at 10:11pm CDT

Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer has penned an interesting piece on the process for evaluating medicals in prospective trades — a matter that has taken on increasingly public significance with several recent swaps blown up after agreement was reportedly reached in principle. He chats at length with Reds orthopedist Dr. Timothy Kremchek and GM Dick Williams about the “streamlined” but still-nuanced assessment of player health in finalizing trades. “You’re hearing more about the ones that don’t happen,” Williams explained. “I do think because the technology is better. In the old days, it’s like, ‘Well, he has a sore elbow, but I’m sure it’ll be fine by spring.’ Now they’re taking scans and x-rays and you’re getting a lot more detail. There’s a lot more opportunity for interpretation. The dollars have gotten so much bigger that doctors don’t want to be the scapegoat.” The article is well worth a full read.

Of course, Williams also chatted recently with MLBTR about quite a different topic — his time at the University of Virginia. (As a fellow U.Va. alum, that made for an especially interesting trip down memory lane.) Here’s the latest from the National League:

Righty Jim Henderson has cracked the Mets’ Opening Day roster, as the team announced and ESPNNewYork.com’s Adam Rubin reports. Once a late-inning reliever, Henderson has struggled with shoulder injuries in recent years, but impressed this spring by allowing just two earned runs on eight hits and one walk while striking out 13 over 10 2/3 frames. Meanwhile, lefty Sean Gilmartin — who had a strong season in the pen as a Rule 5 pick last year — has been optioned down to Triple-A. Logan Verrett will instead make the roster and function as New York’s longman.
Outfielder Chris Heisey will take a reserve role with the Nationals out of camp, Devan Fink first reported on Twitter. A 40-man spot was cleared by adding TJ rehabber Aaron Barrett to the 60-day DL.
Meanwhile, Blake Treinen appears to have beaten out Sean Burnett and Trevor Gott for the final pen role, James Wagner of the Washington Post tweets. Burnett is set to opt out of his deal, and the team has announced that Gott was optioned. What’s surprising isn’t so much that Treinen made the pen — he has an impressive arsenal and nice spring under his belt — but that Matt Belisle took the spot that had seemed destined to go to Gott. It’s not as if he had rough camp, as he finished with three earned runs on his tab over nine innings, allowing nine hits and two walks while recording five strikeouts. Though he generated quite a few grounders last year with the Angels, Gott only struck out 5.1 batters per nine, and he could certainly stand to add some polish to his curve to develop another pitch to go with a 96.1 mph heater. Gott enters the year with 114 days of service on his ledger, so a sufficiently lengthy minor league stint could also buy the club another year of control. He could eventually join Barrett, Treinen, and lefty Felipe Rivero in a young, cheap, high-powered pen corps of the future.
Brewers manager Craig Counsell says that lefty Sean Nolin has been diagnosed with a “significant” injury to his UCL, MLB.com’s Chris Abshire reports. There had been some suggestion that Nolin had avoided a ligament issue, but today’s news seemingly puts a lengthier absence on the table. A final prognosis will await a second opinion, though, so the 26-year-old’s fate remains to be seen. Nolin, who was claimed off waivers from the A’s over the winter, had been competing for a pen spot before he was shut down a few weeks ago.

Minor MLB Transactions: 11/21/15

By charliewilmoth | November 21, 2015 at 11:06pm CDT

Here are the latest minor moves from around the league…

The Orioles have signed first baseman Ji-Man Choi to a minor league deal, according to South Korean media outlet Ilgan Sports (hat tip to Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun). Choi will be invited to the Orioles’ Major League spring camp and he’ll earn a $650K base salary if he makes the club, plus at least another $350K available in incentives. Still just 24 years old, Choi has five years of minor league experience in the Mariners’ system, hitting .302/.404/.481 with 35 homers over 1378 PA. His bat has fallen off over the last two seasons, however, thanks to injuries and a 50-game PED suspension in 2014.
The Indians announced that Taiwanese righty C.C. Lee was sold to the Saitama Seibu Lions, with Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reporting that the Tribe received between $350K-$500K from the NPB club. Lee has been in the Indians organization since 2008 and he posted a 4.50 ERA, 8.7 K/9 and 2.06 K/BB rate over 34 relief innings for the Tribe from 2013-15.
The Athletics have signed left-hander Patrick Schuster to a minor league contract, MLBTR has learned. Schuster has a 3.46 ERA, 7.6 K/9 and 1.92 K/BB rate over 408 career minor league innings, most of which came in the Diamondbacks’ farm system before he was dealt to the Reds last June. The 25-year-old was also briefly property of the Astros, Padres and Royals during the 2013-14 offseason, in a flurry of transactions in the wake of Houston taking Schuster first overall in the 2013 Rule 5 draft.
The Braves have signed reliever David Carpenter to a minor league deal, Scout.com’s Bill Shanks writes. Carpenter elected free agency this week after being outrighted by the Nationals. He had two of the best seasons of his career with the Braves in 2013 and 2014 before being traded to the Yankees, so his signing with Atlanta represents a bit of a homecoming. Carpenter will now get a shot to re-join a Braves bullpen that struggled in 2015. Carpenter posted a 4.01 ERA, 5.5 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in 24 2/3 big-league innings last season.
The Nationals have agreed to terms outfielder Chris Heisey on a minor league deal, ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick tweets. Crasnick notes that Heisey will be reunited with Dusty Baker, who managed him with the Reds. After spending most of the previous several seasons in the big leagues, Heisey collected only 72 plate appearances with the Dodgers in 2015, instead spending most of the season at the Triple-A level (where he hit .223/.350/.445 in 302 plate appearances). Heisey’s batting average in the big leagues has decreased in each of the last three seasons, suggesting he’s lost a step offensively. He remains, however, a solid defender at any of the three outfield positions.
The Nationals have also signed infielder Scott Sizemore to a minor league deal, writes MLB.com’s Bill Ladson. Sizemore, a veteran of parts of four seasons with the Tigers, Athletics and Yankees, spent 2015 with the Triple-A affiliates of the Marlins and Nationals, batting .263/.369/.354 in 289 plate appearances while playing second base and third base.
The Blue Jays have signed Humberto Quintero to a minor league deal, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca writes. The 36-year-old, a veteran of 12 MLB seasons, will likely provide the Jays with catching depth at the Triple-A level. He spent the 2015 season with the Red Sox’ Triple-A affiliate in Pawtucket, batting .254/.287/.354 in 305 plate appearances.
The Brewers have announced a variety of minor league signings and re-signings, including righties Hiram Burgos and Jaye Chapman, outfielder Ben Guez, and catcher Rene Garcia. The 28-year-old Burgos, a longtime Brewers minor leaguer, had a solid year in the minors in 2015, pitching 149 1/3 innings with a 3.62 ERA, 8.9 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9. Chapman, also 28, pitched in the bullpens at Double-A Biloxi and Triple-A Colorado Springs for the Brewers in 2015, posting a 2.37 ERA, 9.3 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 64 2/3 innings. Guez established himself as a good minor league hitter in the Tigers system before heading to Colorado Springs in 2015. There, he hit a strong .287/.410/.504, although he missed three months in the middle of the season, apparently due to injury. Garcia, 25, spent 2015 in the Phillies system, batting .318/.332/.359 in 200 plate appearances in the high minors. His previous performances in the Astros system, however, suggest that he’s more of an organizational catcher type than that high 2015 batting average suggests.

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