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NL Notes: Arroyo, Gray, Gilmartin, Cards

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Right-hander Bronson Arroyo is only two starts into his comeback attempt with the Reds, but the 40-year-old is seemingly giving himself a short leash to produce on the mound, writes Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Following an outing in which he surrendered five runs in six innings yesterday, Arroyo told reporters, “The next two times out, if I don’t see something a little bit crisper and able to keep us in the ballgame a little bit better, maybe you’re at a dead end street. I’m not sure.” 

A bit more from around the Senior Circuit…

  • Rockies right-hander Jon Gray left last night’s contest after aggravating a toe injury that bothered him in Spring Training, and MLB.com’s Thomas Harding writes that Gray will be reevaluated this morning. The problematic toe is on Gray’s plant foot on the mound, and the Rockies want to be careful with the injury so he doesn’t alter his mechanics to compensate for the pain. Gray could miss a start with the injury, though to this point there’s been no talk of him becoming the latest in a long list of Rockies to land on the disabled list.
  • The Mets are planning to promote southpaw Sean Gilmartin prior to tonight’s contest in order to add a fresh arm to their bullpen in the wake of last night’s 16-inning marathon game, per Betsy Helfand of the Las Vegas Review Journal (Twitter link). The Mets went through eight pitchers last night, including four relievers who threw two or more innings. As Helfand points out, Gilmartin and right-hander Erik Goeddel are essentially the only two viable options on New York’s 40-man roster, and Goeddel has been slowed of late by a groin injury. The Mets have long been touted for their rotation depth, but multiple injuries and the trade of Gabriel Ynoa to the Orioles has thinned out their upper-level options on the 40-man roster.
  • ESPN’s Mark Saxon breaks down each element of the Cardinals’ struggles thus far in the 2017 campaign, noting that the team’s rotation and run production figure to be sound in the long run, but the bullpen and defense look far shakier. As Saxon observes, Alex Reyes’ injury now looks costlier than ever with the underperformance of the bullpen. Matt Adams continues to represent a clumsy fit for the Cardinals’ roster as well, with Saxon suggesting the team seek to trade him in exchange for a true fourth outfielder that can play all three positions. That may prove difficult, of course, as the team wasn’t able to drum up much of a market for Adams this offseason in a crowded market for players with similar skill sets.

N.L. Injury Notes: Rodriguez, Wright, Goeddel, Schwarber, Flores

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Braves GM John Coppolella spoke with Bill Shanks of The Macon Telegraph in a wide-ranging interview (audio link) that has plenty of interesting info for Atlanta fans. For our purposes, the most notable segment involved the team’s addition of second baseman Brandon Phillips after the terrifying car crash involving recently added infielder Sean Rodriguez. Per Coppolella, the organization reignited prior talks with the Reds shortly after learning of the accident. It seems that Atlanta isn’t sure as yet just when Rodriguez will be able to join the organization. “We hope that Sean’s family can heal and get right,” said the GM. “… [W]e don’t know when Sean’s going to be back, it’s going to be a long time.”

Here are a host of other notes on injury situations around the National League as pitchers and catchers report:

  • Mets third baseman David Wright has yet even to throw a baseball since his season-ending neck surgery, Marc Carig of Newsday reports on Twitter. Though the club has seemingly given some consideration to trying him out at first base this spring, it seems that there are plenty of prior hurdles to clear before any position change is attempted. It remains unclear just what kind of timeline the veteran will take this spring, or whether there’s a realistic chance he’ll be ready for Opening Day.
  • Meanwhile, the Mets are hoping that bone chip surgery for righty Erik Goeddel could help him return to the solid former he showed as a rookie in 2015. As Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports, the reliever feels healthy after recovering from the procedure, which was performed to help relieve aching that wouldn’t go away. He’ll compete for a pen role this spring.
  • The Cubs are set to find out today whether slugger Kyle Schwarber will be cleared to get behind the plate, though the organization plans to be cautious regardless. As Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune tweets, president of baseball operations Theo Epstein put it in colorful terms, saying that “we’ll walk before we squat.” Regardless, Schwarber is expected to spend the bulk of his time in left field while serving as at most a third catcher, as Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets.
  • Cardinals non-roster camp invitee Kendry Flores is heading for an MRI after reporting shoulder discomfort, according to MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch (via Twitter). The 25-year-old was added on a minor-league deal over the winter, so was likely seen more as a depth piece than a key member of the staff. He owns a 3.78 ERA with 7.0 K/9 against 3.2 BB/9 in 150 career innings at Triple-A.

Mets Make Two Waiver Claims; Place D’Arnaud, Flores, Three Others On Revocable Waivers

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The Mets have made waiver claims on two unknown players, Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News reports, though they haven’t been able to work out a trade with either player’s team.  One of the players is a relief pitcher, which isn’t surprising given how the Mets were unable to land a desired bullpen upgrade prior to the August 1 trade deadline.  Teams have 48.5 hours to work out a trade once a player is claimed, and it is unclear if that deadline has already in the case of either player claimed by the Mets, or if the club still has time to work something out.  The fact that trades were being discussed between the two sides implies that the Amazins had at least some interest in the players, and the claims weren’t made just to block a rival club.

In other Mets waiver news, Ackert hears from an industry source that the club has also placed five players on revocable waivers: catcher Travis d’Arnaud, infielder Wilmer Flores, utilityman Ty Kelly and relievers Erik Goeddel and Josh Edgin.  The New York Post’s Mike Puma reports (Twitter link) that the Mets will eventually put their entire roster on waivers throughout August, a procedural move commonly used by several teams so they can either gauge the market for several players or keep hidden the identities of the players they’re actually interested in trading.  As a team can pull back any claimed player, it costs the Mets nothing to put their entire club on the waiver wire.

Still, d’Arnaud’s presence in the first wave of Mets waiver placements is notable given that the catcher has already been linked to one high-profile trade rumor prior to the deadline.  New York reportedly offered d’Arnaud to the Brewers both straight-up and as part of a trade package for Jonathan Lucroy, prior to Lucroy eventually being dealt to the Rangers.  D’Arnaud has shown glimpses of his hitting potential when healthy, though those instances have been rather few and far between, as d’Arnaud has been plagued by multiple injuries over his brief MLB career.  While it’s understandable that the Mets would be interested in parting with d’Arnaud for a proven star like Lucroy, it’s fair to wonder if the Mets are considering parting ways with d’Arnaud entirely since he can’t seem to stay healthy.

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