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Health Notes: Marwin, Kintzler, Marlins, Rockies

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The latest on a few notable health situations from around the majors…

  • The Twins welcomed utilityman Marwin Gonzalez back from injury Monday in their win over the White Sox. Gonzalez hadn’t played since Aug. 27 because of an abdominal issue. His presence should help make up for the absence of fellow utilityman Ehire Adrianza (down with an oblique strain) and give the Twins the ability to rest first baseman C.J. Cron – who’s dealing with a bruised thumb, per Brian Hall of MLB.com. Gonzalez, the Twins’ highest-paid acquisition of last winter (two years, $21MM), has gotten past a sluggish start to post a useful .262/.322/.418 line with 15 home runs in 441 plate appearances this season.
  • Cubs reliever Brandon Kintzler hasn’t pitched since Sept. 10, when the right-hander allowed two earned runs on three hits in a third of an inning in a loss to San Diego. It turns out that Kintzler has been out with a mild left oblique strain, as Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic was among those to tweet. There’s no word on how much more time Kintzler will miss, but the sooner he returns, the better for the playoff-contending Cubs. The 35-year-old has bounced back from a shaky 2018 to post a 2.82 ERA/3.60 FIP with 7.62 K/9, 2.15 BB/9 and a 56.6 percent groundball rate in 54 1/3 frames.
  • Marlins first baseman/outfielder Garrett Cooper isn’t likely to return this season, Craig Mish of FNTSY Sports Radio reports. The 28-year-old jammed his knee Friday, and though Mish notes it isn’t serious, the bottom-feeding Marlins don’t need to risk running Cooper out again this season. An ice-cold August has driven down Cooper’s numbers this year, but he has nonetheless been one of the hitter-needy Marlins’ top offensive players in 2019, having batted .281/.344/.446 with 15 HRs across 421 trips to the plate.
  • Rockies righty Chad Bettis, who underwent season-ending hip surgery Aug. 27, expects to go through “a normal offseason,” he told Kyle Newman of the Denver Post. That may be true from a health standpoint, but whether the winter will be conventional otherwise for Bettis is up in the air. After all, the Rockies could non-tender Bettis, who’s slated to go through arbitration for the third and final time. He made $3.325MM this season but only pitched to a 6.08 ERA/5.16 FIP in 63 2/3 innings – most of which came out of the Rockies’ bullpen.

A Trade That Is Working Out For The Marlins

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The Marlins have been roundly criticized for trades in recent years, deals that have come thanks in part to a desire to cut payroll. Outfielders Christian Yelich, Giancarlo Stanton and Marcell Ozuna, second baseman Dee Gordon and catcher J.T. Realmuto are all prominent players the rebuilding Marlins, stuck in a soon-to-be 16-year playoff drought, have traded away since the end of the 2017 season.

While the Marlins’ decisions since co-owner Derek Jeter took the reins in 2017 haven’t come without protests, at least one of the trades they’ve made under him is paying significant dividends at the MLB level.

In November ’17, a few months after the former Yankees shortstop took the Marlins’ reins, his new team seemingly took advantage of his previous franchise. Miami acquired left-hander Caleb Smith and first baseman/outfielder Garrett Cooper from New York for right-handed pitching prospect Mike King and $250K in international bonus pool money. The Yankees did so in part in an effort to pad their offer to then-free agent Shohei Ohtani, but he ultimately signed with the Angels.

Now, with the World Series-contending Yankees on the hunt for another credible starter, the current version of Smith would fit into their rotation. But Smith, now 27, didn’t get much of a chance with the Bombers. A 14th-round pick of the Yankees in 2013, Smith reached the majors for the first time in 2017 – the season before the trade – and struggled over 18 2/3 innings. Since then, though, Smith has performed like a legitimate major league rotation piece for the Marlins. Dating back to 2018, he has pitched to a 3.83 ERA/4.09 FIP with 10.67 K/9 against 3.33 BB/9, albeit with an awful 28.7 percent groundball rate, in 143 1/3 innings. Among starters who have thrown at least 140 frames since last year, Smith ranks 15th in strikeout rate.

Although Smith has been on the injured list since June 7 with a hip problem, teams still figure to approach the Marlins with interest in him going into the July 31 trade deadline. However, the Marlins don’t seem willing to trade Smith, who won’t be eligible for arbitration until after 2020 or free agency until the conclusion of the 2023 campaign.

The Marlins may have stumbled on a long-term piece in Smith. The same holds true for Cooper, who comes with the same amount of control as Smith. Cooper, a sixth-rounder of the Brewers in 2013, went to the Yankees in July 2017 in a deal for now-Cardinals reliever Tyler Webb. Cooper didn’t look like much more than the potential right-handed side of a first base platoon at the time, and injuries limited him to fewer than 100 plate appearances between the majors and minors last season. This year, though, Cooper’s taking advantage of his chance on a woeful Miami team.

Although the Marlins rank second to last in the majors in runs, their problems haven’t been Cooper’s fault. The 28-year-old has easily been their best hitter, in fact. He’s off to a .317/.383/.488 start (134 wRC+) with seven home runs across 183 plate appearances in his first extensive major league experience. Whether Cooper can keep it up is the question.

The bad: Cooper’s .388 batting average on balls in play is nowhere near sustainable, nor will 35 percent of his fly balls keep leaving the yard. Likewise, it’s concerning that Cooper’s hitting ground balls upward of 55 percent of the time, especially considering he’s hardly a speed demon. His 16.3 percent fly ball rate ranks last among hitters who have totaled 180-plus PA this year. That isn’t necessarily a death knell to his production, granted, as the great Ohtani ranks just two spots better. Cooper’s also having immense difficulty against left-handed pitchers, oddly enough. While he has smacked righties to the tune of a .400 wOBA, southpaws have held him to a .298 mark.

In more encouraging news, Cooper’s strikeout, walk and contact rates are all hovering around average. Better still, Statcast indicates Cooper’s expected slugging percentage (73rd percentile), hard-hit percentage (75th percentile), expected weighted on-base average (83rd percentile) and expected batting average (95th percentile) are all good to exemplary. His .371 xwOBA is essentially right in line with a .376 wOBA that ties him with Max Kepler and Yoan Moncada. All of that suggests Cooper will keep making an impact so long as he continues making contact.

At 32-50, this hasn’t been a victory-laden season for the Marlins, but you take the wins where you can. And it looks as if the team prevailed on its end of this trade with the Yankees, a club so loaded that they can get away with letting go of useful contributors without getting a lot back. The Marlins aren’t as fortunate, but it seems they landed a pair of quality pieces in Smith and Cooper.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

NL East Notes: Mets, Rosario, Nats’ Injuries, Marlins, Cooper

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Amed Rosario’s defensive struggles have emerged as a point of concern for the scuffling Mets, who will weigh what to do with the shortstop if he can’t correct his errors soon. Ken Davidoff of the New York Post outlines the problem, writing that general manager Brodie Van Wagenen, who has been aggressive in his first year at the helm, cannot afford to keep Rosario in the lineup for much longer when his lackluster defense could cost the club crucial wins. Rosario, just 23 years of age, is still a developing player and sustained reps could be the best remedy to his early-season challenges. However, a competitive Mets team that finds itself in the thick of a heated division race may run out of patience with Rosario, who is not hitting enough to quell the defensive concerns. To be sure, Davidoff notes that Rosario went eight straight games without an error before Saturday, when his two errors didn’t help the Mets’ cause in a marathon loss to the Brewers. The Mets are not yet considering a demotion—it will take another week or more before that becomes a serious possibility, per Davidoff—but Rosario could get a few days off if he can’t correct things in the next few games. Rosario has already accumulated -11 DRS—last season, he checked in at -16—and the Mets have Adeiny Hechavarria and Luis Guillorme as backup options, if it comes to that.

Here’s the latest news from around the NL East…

  • Nationals right-hander Erick Fedde will be deployed as a reliever moving forward, writes Mark Zuckerman of MASN. After an impressive 4-inning outing against the Padres last week—his first Major League relief appearance—the club has decided that he will continue to work out of the bullpen in Double-A rather than returning to the Harrisburg rotation. The plan is for Fedde to rejoin the Nationals soon, in hopes that he will help remedy a bullpen that has arguably been the worst in the Majors.
  • The Nationals will have to work around yet another injury, as Matt Adams was placed on the 10-day IL with a left shoulder strain on Saturday, recalling infielder Jake Noll. Meanwhile, the team will certainly welcome a piece of good news: Anthony Rendon is expected to rejoin the team on Tuesday, when he is eligible to return from his stint on the injured list, per Todd Dybas of NBC Sports. Rendon had been dealing with an elbow contusion that refused to heal, but he was finally able to take swings, indicating that a return is on the horizon.
  • The Mets’ bullpen took another hit on Saturday, as southpaw Luis Avilan was placed on the 10-day IL with elbow tightness, according to Tim Healey of Newsday. Avilan, who has posted a dismal 9.28 ERA in 2019, joins fellow bullpen arms Jeurys Familia and Justin Wilson on the injured list. Tim Peterson and Tyler Bashlor were promoted to replace Chris Flexen and Ryan O’Rourke, both of whom were optioned to the minors. Flexen took Avilan’s place for Saturday’s game because Peterson and Bashlor were unavailable.
  • In a stroke of bad luck, Marlins OF/1B Garrett Cooper finds himself once again on the injured list, this time with a left hand contusion, writes Joe Frisaro of MLB.com. After a calf strain held him out of action for a month, Cooper returned on April 30, only to be hit in the hand by a pitch, causing the injury. Peter O’Brien has been recalled from Triple-A to replace Cooper, who has been limited to just 4 appearances so far this season.

Marlins Option Lewis Brinson, Activate Garrett Cooper

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The Marlins have optioned down struggling outfielder Lewis Brinson, as MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro was among those to tweet. He’ll be replaced on the active roster by Garrett Cooper.

It’s quite a disappointing outcome for Brinson as he prepares to celebrate his 25th birthday. The hope was that he’d have translated his obvious abilities into MLB production by this point. At the moment, Brinson has one year and 58 days of MLB service on his odometer, meaning he can only stay in the minors for 39 days if he’s to crack two full years of MLB service by season’s end.

Brinson turned in a disappointing first season in Miami after arriving as a major part of the Christian Yelich swap. Things have gotten even worse in 2019, as Brinson’s already meager power and walk numbers have cratered yet further.

All told, Brinson is sitting on a .190/.240/.321 slash line with a 30.4% strikeout rate and 4.8% walk rate through 543 plate appearances at the game’s highest level. That’s a fair sight shy of what he has produced over a similar stretch at Triple-A: .342/.398/.560 with 18 home runs and 18 steals in 497 plate appearances. And it’s well short of expectations for a player long tabbed as one of the twenty or so best prospects in baseball.

As for the 28-year-old Cooper, he’ll hope to finally get back to full health and stay that way. He was sidelined most recently with a calf strain. The Marlins have hoped for some time to give him an opportunity to prove he’s capable of hitting in the majors, but he has played in only 36 total games at all levels since joining the organization via trade in the 2017-18 offseason. Cooper will likely see time in the corner outfield and at first base.

Injury Notes: Reds, Wood, Rays, Duffy, Jays, Marlins

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Reds left-hander Alex Wood, who’s on the injured list with lower back tightness, isn’t nearing a return. While Wood is progressing in his recovery, it may have been “a little aggressive” on the Reds’ part to expect a mid-April debut, manager David Bell said Sunday (via Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer). Given that Wood has been battling back problems since late February, he’ll need to build up his innings before taking a major league mound again, Nightengale notes. Wood’s situation is undoubtedly a significant disappointment for the Reds. After all, Cincinnati acquired the ex-Dodger’s final year of team control with the hope that he’d slot in near the top of its made-over rotation for the entire season.

More injury updates from around the league…

  • The back and hamstring issues that forced Rays third baseman Matt Duffy to open the season on the injured list will shelve him until at least mid-May, Rodney Page of the Tampa Bay Times writes. This is the latest unfortunate injury-related development for Duffy, who missed 71 games two years ago and sat out another 30 during what was still a productive campaign in 2018. Yandy Diaz and Daniel Robertson have occupied third in Duffy’s absence so far this season.
  • The Blue Jays have shut down lefty Clayton Richard for two weeks on account of a right knee stress reaction, Scott Mitchell of TSN reports. Richard, acquired from the Padres in the offseason, had been slated to make his Blue Jays debut against Baltimore on Monday. That start will instead go to righty Sean Reid-Foley, whom the Jays will need to recall from Triple-A Buffalo. Meanwhile, southpaw Ryan Borucki, who’s on the IL with elbow discomfort, is making progress but will miss at least one more start, manager Charlie Montoyo revealed Sunday (per Shi Davidi of Sportsnet).
  • The Marlins announced that they’ve placed right fielder Garrett Cooper on the IL with a left calf strain. Cooper said he’ll sit out a few weeks, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com tweets. It’s the second consecutive early season injury for Cooper, who began 2018 as the Marlins’ starting right fielder before going down for months with a partially torn wrist tendon sheath. His newest injury led the Marlins to recall power-hitting outfielder Peter O’Brien from Triple-A New Orleans.

NL Notes: Harper, Giants, Wacha, Cardinals, Marlins

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The Giants have been long-rumored suitors for Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper, who’s expected to reach free agency in the offseason and sign one of the richest contracts in baseball history. While Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle opines that the deep-pocketed Giants should go after Harper, he casts doubt on the possibility of the soon-to-be 26-year-old superstar signing with them. Giants CEO Larry Baer said this week that the club should “lean more toward the development” side of things in the immediate future, Schulman points out, adding it’s doubtful Harper would select San Francisco over teams in better position to contend immediately. Schulman also suggests that the Giants’ stadium, pitcher-friendly AT&T Park, could work against them during the Harper sweepstakes. It’s worth noting, then, that the Giants’ venue currently ranks 19th among 30 parks in HR factor for left-handed hitters, per Baseball Prospectus.

A couple more notes from the National League…

  • Cardinals right-hander Michael Wacha is slated to rejoin the team’s rotation during the first week of September, manager Mike Shildt told Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and other reporters Saturday. Wacha will first need to get through a Double-A rehab outing on Tuesday, when he could throw 75 to 80 pitches, per Goold. A left oblique strain has kept Wacha out since June 21, before which he made 15 starts and tossed 84 1/3 innings of 3.20 ERA/4.21 FIP ball. Meanwhile, reliever Dominic Leone is also on track to return to the Cardinals early next month, Joe Trezza of MLB.com tweets. The offseason trade acquisition from Toronto landed on the DL on May 5 with a nerve issue in his right biceps – an injury which has prevented Leone from properly following up the excellent 2017 he had with the Blue Jays.
  • Marlins first baseman Garrett Cooper suffered a setback during a rehab assignment on Wednesday and is “likely” done for the season, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com writes. Cooper has been dealing with right wrist problems since the second game of the season, when the Cubs’ Kyle Hendricks hit him with a pitch, and hasn’t played since July 20. With the Marlins having traded former starting first baseman Justin Bour to the Phillies earlier this month, a healthy Cooper perhaps could have made a case for the job heading into 2019. Instead, it appears the 27-year-old’s season will end with a .212/.316/.242 batting line over just 38 major league plate appearances.

Marlins Designate JB Shuck, Activate Martin Prado

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2:01pm: Miami will actually activate Martin Prado at this time, per an announcement. The club also added righty Ben Meyer and placed fellow right-hander Tayron Guerrero on the 10-day DL. Presumably, Cooper will be brought back in short order.

Prado struggled badly to open the season and has dealt with significant injuries of late, so it’s hard to imagine him as a mid-season trade candidate. Still, he could conceivably turn into an August target if he performs well. The Miami organization would surely like to get out from under some of his hefty salary ($13.5MM this year and $15MM next), though most of it will surely remain on their books regardless.

12:27pm: The Marlins are set to designate outfielder JB Shuck for assignment, according to Craig Mish of Sirius XM (Twitter link). His roster spot will go to Garrett Cooper, who’ll be activated from the disabled list.

Shuck, 31, has struggled at the plate in his action this year in Miami. Through 142 plate appearances, he carries only a .192/.255/.231 batting line. He has hit a bit more in past seasons, but in the aggregate is only a 72 OPS+ hitter in 1,232 trips to the plate in the majors.

As for Cooper, 27, he’s finally ready to return after suffering a fractured wrist on a hit-by-pitch early this season. The Marlins had picked him up from the Yankees over the winter in hopes that he’d make good on the promise he showed in the 2017 season. Cooper ended up posting a .359/.423/.634 slash in 350 total plate appearances in the upper minors last year and also hit well in his first, brief stint in the big leagues.

Marlins Select Contract Of J.B. Shuck, Place Garrett Cooper On 60-Day DL

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The Marlins announced on Friday that they’ve selected the contract of outfielder J.B. Shuck from Triple-A New Orleans. To clear room on the 40-man roster, first baseman/outfielder Garrett Cooper has been moved from the 10-day DL to the 60-day DL. Outfielder Braxton Lee was optioned to New Orleans to create a 25-man spot for the veteran Shuck.

Cooper recently landed on the disabled list when he was hit on the wrist by a pitch, and while the initial injury report out of Miami was a contusion, it seems that the injury is likely worse than that given today’s shuffle. Indeed, MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro tweets that Cooper has been diagnosed with a partially torn wrist tendon sheath.

That’s obviously unfortunate news for the 27-year-old, who had a clear path to a full-season showcase with the Fish. The rebuilding Marlins organization acquired Cooper over the winter from the Yankees and had planned to give him a shot at earning time in the corner outfield while also backing up Justin Bour at first base.

Cooper put himself on the map with a surprising minor-league breakout last year, leading to his acquisition by the Yankees and first crack at the majors. In his first 54 plate appearances at the game’s highest level, nine of which came early this season, he carries a .300/.333/.440 batting line.

The 30-year-old Shuck, meanwhile, will help fill in for at least the time being. He failed to spend any time in the majors last year, instead turning in 475 plate appearances of .259/.325/.368 hitting at Triple-A with the Twins organization. In just over a thousand trips to the plate in the majors, Shuck carries a .251/.299/.328 batting line with eight home runs.

NL East Notes: Nimmo, Conforto, Cooper, Sanchez

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The imminent return of Michael Conforto could force one of his deserving Mets teammates out of a job, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com writes. Specifically, leadoff hitter Brandon Nimmo (who reached base four times on opening day) could end up being displaced to the bench, as the Mets also have Yoenis Cespedes and Jay Bruce at the outfield corners. Nimmo, who was the club’s first-round selection in 2011, leapfrogged Juan Lagares on the depth chart with a fantastic spring. However, he doesn’t carry the upside of Conforto or the track record of Bruce or Cespedes. DiComo adds that the Mets are not considering shifting Bruce to first base, as the club seems content with Adrian Gonzalez at that position for the time being. For his part, Nimmo isn’t thinking about the outfield crunch at this time. “When Conforto comes back, we’ll deal with that,” he said. “But as far as right now, I’m just going to try to be me, and be the best me I can.”

Other items from the NL’s eastern teams…

  • In other Mets news, Anthony Swarzak left today’s game with an apparent injury. Said injury was later described as a “sore oblique”, and he’s considered day-to-day for the time being (h/t Anthony DiComo of MLB.com). For Swarzak’s part, he’s “not panicking” about the soreness and is hoping it’ll disappear tomorrow.
  • After being hit by a pitch on the wrist in yesterday’s 17-inning marathon, Marlins outfielder Garrett Cooper was replaced by fellow outfielder Cameron Maybin. After the game, the club described the injury as a “wrist contusion”, writes MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro. It’s good news for Miami to hear that Cooper’s wrist isn’t broken, but he’s day-to-day for the time being, and it’s unclear when he’ll return to the lineup. “I took the sleeve off, and it was pretty purple,” Cooper said of the injury. “No fracture. Just day-to-day right now. I can move it around. Just a little swollen.”
  • The Braves currently have three catchers on the roster, but manager Brian Snitker says that one of them could give way to right-hander Anibal Sanchez soon. David O’Brien of the Atlantla Journal-Constitution writes that while Sanchez has been tabbed for the fifth spot in the rotation (when necessary) for some time, the club may add him sooner than that in case they need to deploy him as a reliever. Sanchez pitched to a horrific 5.67 ERA across 415 2/3 innings across his last three seasons with the Tigers, though his strikeout (8.14 K/9) and walk (2.84) ratios remained generally good during that time.

Marlins Acquire Garrett Cooper, Caleb Smith From Yankees For Michael King, Int’l Bonus Pool Money

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The Marlins have struck a deal to acquire first baseman Garrett Cooper and lefty Caleb Smith from the Yankees. New York will receive righty Michael King and $250K of international bonus pool money in the swap. A deal involving Cooper and another player was first reported by Robert Murray of Fan Rag (via Twitter); the dollar value was tweeted by Joel Sherman of the New York Post.

Cooper, 26, is a right-handed hitter who made his MLB debut in 2017 after going to the Yankees in a mid-season swap. He turned in 45 productive plate appearances, slashing .326/.333/.488 despite not hitting any long balls and drawing only a single walk. Cooper was quite productive on the year in the upper minors, posting a composite .359/.423/.634 batting line in 350 total plate appearances.

Smith, who’s also 26, struggled in his first MLB action in 2017. But he showed a 93.6 mph average heater from the left side along with a 13.0% swinging-strike rate in his 18 2/3 frames. And he also pitched to a 2.39 ERA with 8.9 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9 over 98 innings in his first full attempt at Triple-A this year. For the pitching-needy Marlins, that’s a background worth taking a shot on.

The Yanks have been hustling to sort their 40-man roster in advance of today’s deadline to protect players from the Rule 5 draft. Cooper, clearly, was not seen as a significant part of the team’s future while Smith had perhaps been bypassed by other relief options. In King, the club will add a 22-year-old who just turned in 149 innings of 3.14 ERA ball at the Class A level — and won’t create any 40-man pressures for quite some time.

Meanwhile, the club has padded its international bonus availability as part of a possible push for Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani. The Marlins reportedly had $1.74MM left to work with. But teams can only trade for 75% of their original pool amount. In the Yankees’ case, the team started with $4.75MM, meaning they are capped at $8.3MM total. And the organization had already boosted its pool to $8MM (a good portion of which it has already spent). As things stand, the Yanks have $3.5MM left to dangle for Ohtani or utilize on other international amateur talent.

The Marlins, meanwhile, are engaged in their own roster maneuvering this winter under new ownership. It’s not tough to see how a young lefty would fit. But the team is set at first with Justin Bour, who is deserving of near-everyday time after a breakout 2017 season. He handled lefties just fine when allowed the chance, though he could also stand to be paired with a right-handed hitter. And it’s still possible that Bour could be dangled in trades, though he’s plenty cheap as a pre-arb player. In any event, the Marlins are surely focused mostly on finding as much affordable and controllable talent as possible.

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