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Johan Camargo

NL East Notes: Thompson, Ruiz, Gonzalez, Flores, Wheeler, Lugo

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It appears that the Phillies are transitioning right-hander Jake Thompson into a relief role, writes Todd Zolecki of MLB.com. Once part of the six-player return for Cole Hamels, Thompson has only made four relief appearances in his professional career (majors and minors included). Three of those appearances came last year, however, and he’s been used largely out of the bullpen in Grapefruit League play. Thompson says that nobody has directly told him he’ll become a reliever, but believes it to be the case. “They think the slider and split can work in short periods, miss bats and get ground balls,” Thompson said of Philadelphia’s coaching staff. “They’ve built up my pitch count a little bit, so if something happens I can still do both. I’m fine with it. Anything that can get me in the big leagues and stay I’d be willing to do.”

Other news from some of baseball’s Eastern teams…

  • It wasn’t long ago that Braves third baseman Rio Ruiz was struggling with a new swing and seemed destined to start the season in the minors, David O’Brien writes in a piece for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. That outlook has changed dramatically, as Ruiz’ offensive output has been a lot more impressive over the past couple weeks. The 23-year-old’s uptick in production coincides with an injury to Johan Camargo, who’s set to open the season on the disabled list. Though the organization seems to believe Camargo can return as soon as he’s eligible, manager Brian Snitker left room for interpretation on whether Ruiz can stick at the position even then. ““Rio has worked his ass off the last couple of years. He’s getting better,” said Snitker. “You never know, situations happen, door gets opened and a guy doesn’t give it back. You never know.”
  • Mets manager Mickey Callaway says he doesn’t expect Adrian Gonzalez to play every day, and not even against every right-hander (h/t Anthony DiComo of MLB.com). That likely means more playing time for Wilmer Flores. “Wilmer deserves to play, and not just against lefties,” said Callaway. That’s not the only interesting comment Callaway made today, as he confirmed that Seth Lugo is being considered as a rotation candidate following an excellent Grapefruit League outing in which the right-hander struck out five while allowing no runs across four innings. The presence of Lugo in the rotation would likely make Zack Wheeler, who had another rough showing today, the odd man out. “”We have some big decisions to make,” Callaway said on the subject.

AL Notes: Rays, Cobb, Archer, Twins, Tigers, A’s

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Even though right-hander Alex Cobb is still a free agent as the regular season closes in, there won’t be a reunion between him and the Rays, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes. Cobb’s not going to end up signing for a price the Rays deem palatable, Topkin suggests, even though he’s amid a highly disappointing trip to free agency after rejecting the team’s $17.4MM qualifying offer at the outset of the offseason. As they begin life without Cobb, the Rays are set to use a four-man rotation – something their top starter, Chris Archer, discussed with Travis Sawchik of FanGraphs. “The concept makes sense,” said Archer, who noted it’s particularly logical for low-payroll teams to have “four guys on the shuttle making $500,000 each,” as opposed to one player earning $2MM-plus. Although, Archer cautioned that it’s “hard to sustain” a bullpen-heavy plan over the course of a 162-game season. Archer’s also wary about how teams going to more of a bullpen approach could affect player development, as he explained to Sawchik, whose quote-filled piece is worth reading in full.

More from the AL:

  • Twins infielder Erick Aybar will be able to ask for his release if the team doesn’t add him to its roster by Friday, Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press reports (all Twitter links here). It’s unclear whether Aybar would accept a Triple-A assignment (the club hasn’t discussed it with him, per chief baseball officer Derek Falvey), but his chances of eventually landing a spot with the Twins may have improved Sunday with starting shortstop Jorge Polanco’s 80-game suspension. Polanco got the news of his positive PED test a month ago, Dan Hayes of The Athletic was among those to tweet, but the Twins themselves weren’t aware of it until Sunday, Falvey said.
  • In better news for the Twins, righty Ervin Santana is “progressing as expected” in his recovery from February finger surgery, according to Falvey (via Berardino). He should be back toward the tail end of the 10- to 12-week recovery timeline, Berardino notes.
  • Tigers righty Mike Fiers’ back issues could force him to start the season on the disabled list, Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press relays. If so, both Daniel Norris and Matt Boyd would make a Detroit rotation whose only sure bets at the moment are Michael Fulmer, Jordan Zimmermann and Francisco Liriano. The Tigers guaranteed Fiers $6MM over the winter with the hope that he’d grab a starting spot, but he hasn’t made a good case for himself this spring, having surrendered 12 earned runs on 10 hits and eight walks, with seven strikeouts, in 11 1/3 innings. Nevertheless, thanks to his veteran status, the Tigers are willing to give the 32-year-old Fiers “leeway,” manager Ron Gardenhire said. As such, if Fiers is healthy, he’ll be in their season-opening rotation.
  • Athletics right-hander Raul Alcantara could lose his 40-man roster spot when their deal with righty Trevor Cahill becomes official, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle writes. Alcantara, 25, is out of options and hasn’t produced in Oakland, where he combined for 46 1/3 innings of 7.19 ERA/7.45 FIP ball from 2016-17.

Injury Notes: Camargo, Brantley, Yunel, Cobb, Kela, Knapp

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Some notable injury news from around the league as Tuesday evening winds down…

  • Camargo will head to the 10-day disabled list, but it looks like Braves fans can breathe a sigh of relief, as MLB.com’s Mark Bowman tweets that the MRI revealed no structural damage in Camargo’s right knee. Instead, he’s been diagnosed with a bone bruise. Camargo has been told he’ll miss anywhere from 10 to 14 days (Twitter link via Bowman). While not an ideal outcome, it’s a better prognosis than some may have feared when seeing the 23-year-old helped off the field and struggling to put any weight on his right leg. It’s likely that Swanson will take Camargo’s roster spot, though that has yet to be announced by the team.
  • MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian tweets that Indians left fielder Michael Brantley is headed for an MRI on a sprained ankle that he sustained in tonight’s game. An Achilles injury has “already been ruled out,” according to Bastian, and the team will have further updates on his status tomorrow morning.

Earlier Updates

  • The Angels announced on Tuesday that third baseman Yunel Escobar is headed to the disabled list with a “mild grade 1 oblique strain.” Per the club’s announcement, a general timetable for recovery from such an injury is two to three weeks. While Escobar was hardly a definitive trade candidate, the free-agent-to-be seemingly stood a chance of being moved prior to the end of the month in the event that the Angels can’t right the ship and fall out of the American League Wild Card race. The 34-year-old is hitting .274/.333/.397 with seven homers through 381 plate appearances in his second season with the Angels. Now sidelined until mid-to-late August, Escobar’s chances of being dealt look decidedly slimmer, though he could still conceivably return and demonstrate his health for interested parties.
  • Braves infielder Johan Camargo suffered a leg injury prior to tonight’s game and has been initially diagnosed with a hyperextended knee, tweets David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Camargo hopped over the chalk line while taking the field and seemed to trip in doing so, ultimately crumbling to the ground and needing to be helped off the field (video link via FOX Sports Braves, on Twitter). O’Brien notes that Camargo is set to undergo an MRI, and Dansby Swanson has already been pulled from the game with the Braves’ Triple-A affiliate in Gwinnett. The Braves figure to have further word on the injury later tonight.
  • Rays right-hander Alex Cobb has landed on the 10-day disabled list due to a case of turf toe, the team announced. Cobb tells Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times that the injury was an issue in his last start and adds that he felt he could’ve pitched through it, but the team wanted to proactively get him healthy (Twitter link). It’ll be Blake Snell taking Cobb’s place for what looks to be a minimum-stay DL stint, per Topkin, meaning that prized prospect Brent Honeywell will have to wait a bit longer to make his big league debut with the Rays.
  • The Rangers announced that right-hander Keone Kela has been placed on the 10-day disabled list, retroactive to Aug. 5, with soreness in his right shoulder. It’s an inopportune time for an injury for Kela, who could’ve been in line to see some save opportunities (and thus pad his arbitration earning power), as Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News suggests. As Grant notes, there’s no timetable for his return — Kela will be reevaluated when the Rangers return from their current road trip — and manager Jeff Banister said it would be “a challenge” to get Kela a look in the closer’s role later this year.
  • The Phillies will be without catcher Andrew Knapp for at least a “couple weeks” after an MRI revealed a fracture in his right hand, according to Matt Gelp and Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Knapp had been on the DL with a hand contusion and would’ve been eligible to return on Monday but will now be sidelined a fair bit longer. That will give the Phils more of a chance to look at prospect Jorge Alfaro, and manager Pete Mackanin tells Gelb and Breen that he plans to give the 24-year-old Alfaro a fair bit of playing time. “I’ll pick my spots, but I’ll play him,” said Mackanin. “I can’t catch Rupp everyday. He’ll get a good bit of playing time.”

NL East Notes: Kendrick, Phillies, Asdrubal, Nats, Werth, Camargo

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The Phillies announced that Howie Kendrick has been activated off the 10-day DL, with Brock Stassi heading down to Triple-A in corresponding move.  Between this hamstring strain and a strained oblique earlier this season, Kendrick has been limited to just 33 games and 139 plate appearances in his first season in Philadelphia, though the veteran has been raking when he has been able to play.  Kendrick is hitting .349/.403/.476 this year, and while some regression is surely baked into those numbers (his BABIP is a whopping .443), Kendrick’s bat, positional versatility and respected clubhouse presence make him a valuable trade chip for the Phillies.  He’ll have 11 days to audition for other clubs and prove he is healthy before the deadline.

Here’s more from around the NL East…

  • Even before he has made his return, some teams have expressed interest in trading for Kendrick, MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki writes in a rundown of the Phillies’ potential deadline plans.  Jeremy Hellickson has also drawn interest.  While these two veterans and first baseman Tommy Joseph are being shopped, sources tell Zolecki that reliever Pat Neshek is definitely the most likely — and maybe the only –Phillie to be moved prior to the deadline.  Kendrick, Hellickson, Joaquin Benoit and Daniel Nava could still be dealt but not until the August waiver period.
  • Mets infielder Asdrubal Cabrera has drawn interest from the Indians, ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick reports (via Twitter).  The Tribe would use Cabrera (who spent the first seven-plus years of his career in Cleveland) at second base until Jason Kipnis returns from the DL, and Cabrera would them move into a utility infield role backing up Kipnis, Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez.  Cleveland could add bench depth if they can’t swing a larger trade, Crasnick writes (Twitter links) though “they appear to be on the fence” about making such a move, with current signs pointing towards nothing major in the works.
  • The Nationals want to add another reliever and potentially some rotation depth, though it remains to be seen if they’ll have the prospects or money to make those deals happen, MLB.com’s Jamal Collier writes as part of a reader mailbag piece.  It doesn’t look like the Nats will move top prospects Victor Robles, Juan Soto or Erick Fedde as part of any trade, plus the club already dealt from its secondary farm system stockpile in acquiring Ryan Madson and Sean Doolittle from the A’s.  That deal added roughly $5MM in salary to the Nationals’ 2017 payroll, so it’s possible Washington might be out of financial room, unless they can move some current salaries as part of a trade.
  • Earlier this week, Jayson Werth told Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post and other reporters that he suffered a fracture in his left foot in addition to the bone bruise that has sidelined him since early June.  Despite the ominous-sounding injury, Werth said that the bone bruise is the real problem, as he still can’t sprint.  The veteran outfielder is taking batting practice and throwing, however, so going by the rough two-month timeline for bone bruise recovery, Werth could potentially be back with the Nationals in early August.
  • Johan Camargo has impressed the Braves and is taking playing time away from shortstop Dansby Swanson, David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes.  While the Braves still have full confidence in Swanson’s ability as a future franchise cornerstone, Camargo has hit .315/.338/.465 over his first 134 MLB plate appearances and flashed some good glovework at not just shortstop, but also at third base.  The Braves’ experiment with Freddie Freeman at third has morphed into Freeman playing every day at either third or first base, with Camargo starting at the hot corner against left-handed pitching and Matt Adams starting at first against right-handed pitching.  Camargo could be playing himself into a regular infield role for 2018, or possibly as a multi-positional superutility man capable of playing the outfield as well.

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