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Daniel Stumpf

Phillies Designate Daniel Stumpf

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The Phillies have designated lefty Daniel Stumpf for assignment, per a team announcement. He’ll be replaced on the active roster by righty Severino Gonzalez.

[Related: Updated Phillies Depth Chart]

Stumpf was a Rule 5 selection over the winter, meaning that he had to be kept on the active roster (or the 15-day DL) for the duration of the year for the Phillies to retain his rights. He was only recently activated after serving an 80-game PED suspension, and evidently didn’t show enough to warrant a roster spot.

It’s a short sample, but the numbers certainly weren’t there for Stumpf. He allowed six earned runs on nine hits and two walks, while recording just a pair of strikeouts, in five frames over seven total appearances on the year.

Quick Hits: Strasburg, PEDs, Harvey, Draft

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In a piece that’s certainly worth a full read, James Wagner and Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post detailed how right-hander Stephen Strasburg’s mega-extension with the Nationals came to fruition. It helped the Nats’ cause that owner Ted Lerner has both an affinity for Strasburg and his agent, Scott Boras. “They have an incredible relationship,” said Ted Lerner’s son, Mark Lerner, regarding his father’s closeness with Boras. “Scott really respects my dad and what he’s built over the years from nothing.” Prior to inking Strasburg to a seven-year, $175MM deal, Lerner was using the free agent contracts awarded during the offseason to Jordan Zimmermann (five years, $110MM) and Johnny Cueto (six years, $130MM) as comparables. Boras countered with the bigger deals given in recent years to Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke and the Nats’ Max Scherzer, and sold Lerner on Strasburg’s similarly elite potential. Ultimately, the two settled on an accord resembling the ones inked by Justin Verlander and Felix Hernandez in past years. Strasburg gave Boras the thumbs up on the seven-year agreement in late April – two weeks and two starts before it was announced – and it was kept under wraps as language was drawn up and Strasburg underwent an in-depth medical exam. Strasburg found out the deal was done when a fan congratulated him after his start Monday. “The light bulb went off,” he said.

Here’s more from around baseball:

  • Blue Jays first baseman/designated hitter Chris Colabello and Phillies reliever Daniel Stumpf both received 80-game suspensions in April after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs, and the two remain confused as to how PEDs entered their respective systems, writes Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Colabello’s agent, Brian Charles, organized a conference call earlier this week with doctors, scientists and molecular biologists, all of whom are experts on steroid testing, as he tries to get to the bottom of his client’s positive test. Colabello, Stumpf and ex-UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir also partook in the call. All three tested positive for the banned anabolic steroid Turinabol, and each is without an answer as to how. The players association finds the cases of Colabello and Stumpf “puzzling,” sources tell Rosenthal. “The part that scares me the most is that I don’t know what to change for this not to happen again,” stated Stumpf, who said he only takes fish oil and doctor-prescribed medication. “It’s killing me,” added Colabello. “Everything I do in my life is thought out with careful attention and detail. I don’t do irresponsible things because I never want to make a mistake that could cost me my career.”
  • Speaking of confusion, Mets right-hander Matt Harvey is perplexed by his early season struggles, per David Waldstein of the New York Times. “There’s a lot of unknowns,” he said. Harvey insists he’s physically fine and doesn’t believe his problems are related to his release point, with which he and pitching coach Dan Warthen have been tinkering. After allowing five runs on 11 hits in 5 2/3 innings Friday in Colorado, Harvey saw his ERA rise to 4.93 – more than two runs worse than his career mark of 2.76. His strikeout and walk rates have also trended downward this year, as has his velocity. It’s worth noting, though, that after striking out a meager 14 batters and walking eight during his first four starts (22 1/3 innings), Harvey has fanned 27 against just five free passes in the four outings since (23 1/3 frames).
  • Jonathan Mayo and Jim Callis of MLB.com have published their latest mock draft, which is free to all. Within it, the MLB.com duo projects Mercer outfielder Kyle Lewis (who was recently interviewed by MLBTR’s Chuck Wasserstrom) to go first overall to the Phillies. Florida lefty A.J. Puk, who has been projected to go 1-1 by some draft gurus, goes to the Reds at No. 2 in Callis and Mayo’s latest attempt to peg the first round, and they have prep lefty Jason Groome (an oft-speculated 1-1 candidate himself) going to the Braves to round out the top three.

Quick Hits: Leyland, Rule 5, Groome, Analytics

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Veteran manager Jim Leyland will serve as the skipper for Team USA in the 2017 World Baseball Classi, reports MLB.com’s Jon Paul Morosi. The 71-year-old Leyland most recently managed the Tigers from 2006-13, leading the Tigers to three division championships and two American League pennants. Though he didn’t capture a World Series in Detroit, Leyland did manage the 1997 Marlins club that won the Fall Classic in just the franchise’s fifth year of existence. As Leyland explains to Morosi, he never thought he would manage again once his Tigers stint concluded, but he couldn’t pass on this opportunity. “I’m never going to manage again after this,” said Leyland. “…I could not turn this down. Not from an ego standpoint, but it’s the honor of being asked to manage for your country.” Leyland is taking the honor seriously, already plotting out which players he’ll seek permission to invite to the club and envisioning possible lineups. He’s also having fun with it though, telling his former prized slugger Miguel Cabrera: “I already told Miggy I’m going to walk him.”

Some more notes from around the game…

  • Following the PED suspension of Phillies Rule 5 pick Daniel Stumpf, J.J. Cooper of Baseball America examines if such discipline can, in a bizarre way, give Rule 5 players added incentive to use banned substances. Stumpf is the third Rule 5 lefty in the past year to be suspended, and Cooper points out that because the suspensions make it easier for a club to carry a Rule 5 player through the early portion of the season while still fulfilling his roster requirements, the suspensions can actually be beneficial. By the time Stumpf is activated, the Phillies will only need to carry him for about two months before rosters expand in September. And while Stumpf won’t be paid for his time on the restricted list, even the roughly $250K he stands to make (half the MLB minimum) dwarfs what he would have been paid in the minors this year. Cooper notes that many Rule 5 picks — especially relievers — are older and could be the types of players who will struggle to find work by the time they’re six-year minor league free agents. Cooper looks at the case of Andrew McKirahan, who sat half of the 2015 season with a suspension and then underwent Tommy John surgery this spring, thus landing him on the Major League 60-day DL. While McKirahan’s injury is of course unfortunate, McKirahan will make about $750K between 2014-15 —  staggering sum compared to the ~$25K he might’ve otherwise made. Cooper’s column is excellent, and I’d highly encourage MLBTR readers to take the time to read it start to finish.
  • The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association has deemed potential No. 1 overall draft pick Jason Groome, a left-hander out of Barnegat High School, ineligible to play due to a violation of the state’s transfer rule, as Joe Zedalis and Matthew Stanmyre of NJ.com report. Groome spent last season pitching at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. and transferred to Barnegat in 2016. The NJSIAA, however, ruled that his transfer didn’t come with a “bona fide change of residence,” thus making Groome temporarily ineligible to pitch. Head coach Dan McCoy tells the NJ.com duo that Groome will be eligible to return around April 24, but Groome still could miss a pair of starts as a result, thus striking a couple of opportunities for MLB scouts and executives to see him.
  • Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith explores the rapid expansion of analytics and sabermetrics throughout the game in his latest column for Sportsnet The Magazine. As recently as five to 10 years ago, many clubs only had a lone analyst to keep up with sabermetric trends, but the amount of data-driven research has exploded, with one person indicating to Nicholson-Smith that there may be three to four times as many analytics jobs in the game as there were even two years ago. While there was a point in time where fans who kept up with sabermetric trends were ahead of many teams, those days are in the past. Teams are now building more and more proprietary metrics for player evaluation. Braves GM John Coppolella estimates to Nicholson-Smith that “maybe about 50 or 60 percent of what teams are doing privately gets reported.” Many within the game expect the gap between proprietary metrics and those that are publicly available at sites like Fangraphs and Baseball Prospectus to grow considerably in the coming years as clubs continue to make aggressive hires in statistical analysis.

Phillies Reliever Daniel Stumpf Receives 80-Game PED Suspension

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Phillies left-hander Daniel Stumpf, a Rule 5 pick out of the Royals organization, has been suspended for 80 games after testing positive for a banned substance (dehydrochlormethyltestosterone), Major League Baseball announced today. The Phillies have announced that left-hander Elvis Araujo has been recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to take Stumpf’s place on the 25-man roster.

Stumpf, 25, is one of two Rule 5 picks to make the Phillies club out of Spring Training this season, joining former Rays outfielder Tyler Goeddel. Stumpf had a solid Spring Training, pitching to a 3.65 ERA with a 14-to-4 K/BB ratio in 13 2/3 innings. He struggled mightily in his MLB debut this year, yielding three runs without recording an out, but he’s appeared in a pair of games since that time and retired the two batters he’s been asked to face. Last season, in 70 2/3 innings at the Double-A level, Stumpf logged a 3.57 ERA with 9.7 K/9 against 4.0 BB/9.

The Phillies will still be able to control the rights to their Rule 5 selection when he returns from the suspension, if they choose. Last year, we saw a pair of Rule 5 picks — David Rollins (Mariners) and Andrew McKirahan (Braves, via waivers from Marlins) — each receive 80-game suspensions but stick with their new organizations regardless. The team has issued a press release with the following statement on the matter: “The Phillies support Major League Baseball’s Joint Prevention and Treatment Program and are disappointed to hear today’s news of Daniel’s violation.”

East Notes: Rays, Mets, Fernandez, Phillies

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The Rays’ quest for a new stadium in the greater Tampa Bay area remains an important topic for the organization and the league. As Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports, club owner Stuart Sternberg continues to assert a commitment to finding a way forward in Florida. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, meanwhile, said he’s putting his faith in Sternberg, saying: “as long as he’s committed, I think we — me and Major League Baseball — will remain committed to the market.” Manfred also addressed the matter of geography more generally, as Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca reports. He suggested that the priority is to figure out the outstanding ballpark difficulties of organizations in their current cities, before considering any expansion possibilities. “Sequentially, I think it’s important for Tampa Bay and Oakland to get their facility situations resolved before we move into a real active consideration of expansion,” said Manfred. Of course, that’s an important factor in maintaining leverage; as Manfred perhaps implicitly acknowledged in stating, “we feel it’s our obligation to have alternatives to consider in the event that a relocation becomes necessary.”

There was also some sad news out of St. Petersburg today, as Rays’ minority owner Lance Ringhaver was reportedly killed in a car accident yesterday, as the Tampa Bay Times reports. Sternberg issued a statement mourning the loss of the 76-year-old, and MLBTR joins in offering condolences to his family and the Rays organization.

  • The Mets are likely to face ongoing questions of daily lineup construction with both Juan Lagares and Michael Conforto in line for playing time, as John Harper of the New York Daily News writes. Lagares appears to be back in good form while Conforto continues to show the promise he displayed in 2015, but Yoenis Cespedes is an everyday player and Curtis Granderson still seems lined up for the majority of the action in right. (Then, of course, there’s Alejandro De Aza.) For now, this seems like a good problem to have, but it certainly could lead to some tough decisions as the season goes along.
  • Meanwhile, the Mets could face yet tougher issues with third baseman David Wright, as Joel Sherman of the New York Post explains. Wright’s movement in the infield and ability to keep pace at the plate while dealing with spinal stenosis remain in question, though of course the standout veteran will have every chance to battle through.
  • Via MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (on Twitter), the Marlins say that they have placed an innings limit of about 180 on right-hander Jose Fernandez in his first full season back from Tommy John surgery. The 23-year-old ace tossed 89 1/3 innings last season after returning in early July, though he was slowed late in the season by a biceps injury as well. Fernandez is slated to make his season debut tomorrow against the Tigers in Miami.
  • As Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer points out, only three teams in the past decade have kept two Rule 5 Draft picks for the entirety of a season, but manager Pete Mackanin tells him that the Phillies are aiming to become the fourth by retaining both outfielder Tyler Goeddel and lefty Daniel Stumpf for the entire year. “They’ve both shown enough ability where they can be part of the future,” Mackanin told Gelb. “…It’s hard to turn away young talent and that’s what our goal is, to keep them.” For the time being, Goeddel will platoon with Cedric Hunter, per Gelb. And while Stumpf could initially be used as a situational lefty, the uncertainty that is permeating the Phillies’ bullpen gives each reliever a chance to see his role grow, he adds. Additionally, Gelb notes that while Carlos Ruiz got the nos on Opening Day, it’ll be the younger Cameron Rupp seeing the lion’s share of playing time behind the plate this year. Ruiz is earning $8.5MM in the final season of a three-year deal.

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