Jon Duplantier

Pitcher Notes: Scherzer, Tigers, Archer, Angels, D-backs

By Connor Byrne | June 29, 2019 at 11:19pm CDT

Washington is visiting Detroit, where current Nationals ace Max Scherzer will start against his former team Sunday. Scherzer blossomed into a star as a member of the Tigers, with whom he won his first Cy Young Award in 2013. At the conclusion of the next season, though, Scherzer signed a seven-year, $210MM contract with the Nationals after rejecting a $144MM extension from the Tigers. Scherzer, now a three-time Cy Young winner and a potential Hall of Famer, reflected on his Detroit departure Saturday, saying (via Chris McCosky of the Detroit News): “That’s just the business side. I didn’t feel slighted. That stuff just all takes care of itself. I don’t hold any grudges or anything like. When I look back on my time in Detroit, I have great memories here and great friends.” Scherzer also noted he and fellow righty Anibal Sanchez, teammates in Detroit and again in D.C., still lament they were never able to win a World Series with the Tigers. The club clinched playoff spots from 2011-14, each of the four seasons Scherzer and Sanchez were part of its rotation. Those teams earned one World Series berth, falling to the Giants in a 2012 sweep.

Health Notes: Mize, Buxton, Astros, D-backs, M’s

By Connor Byrne | June 15, 2019 at 12:29am CDT

On Friday, one day after Casey Mize left his Double-A start early, the Tigers placed the prized right-hander on the minor league injured list with inflammation in his pitching shoulder. Any shoulder injury for a pitcher obviously isn’t an ideal outcome, but it seems Mize and the Tigers dodged a bullet in this instance. Mize, the No. 1 pick in the 2018 draft and one of the majors’ elite prospects, had been utterly dominant in the minors this season before going on the IL. Between the High-A and Double-A levels, the 22-year-old has logged 78 innings of 0.92 ERA pitching with 8.7 K/9 and 1.4 BB/9.

Now for some major league health updates…

Center fielder Byron Buxton exited the Twins’ game Friday after taking a pitch off the right wrist from Royals starter Brad Keller. Luckily for Buxton and the Twins, though, he avoided a serious injury, La Velle E. Neal III of the Star Tribune reports. “Byron’s doing fine. Wrist contusion,” said manager Rocco Baldelli, who added it’s “pretty positive news.” The 25-year-old Buxton looks to be on track for a career season, having hit .266/.324/.527 (120 wRC+) with nine home runs, 10 steals and 2.2 fWAR in 227 plate appearances.
Speaking of center fielders in fine form, the Astros’ Jake Marisnick departed their game Friday with left knee discomfort, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports. It’s unclear whether the issue will force the Astros to send yet another player to the IL. Marisnick, 28, has paired above-average offense with his usual excellent defense en route to 1.3 fWAR in 156 trips to the plate this year.
An MRI on Diamondbacks righty Jon Duplantier’s shoulder confirmed he’s dealing with inflammation, Steve Gilbert of MLB.com tweets. Like Mize, it seems Duplantier has avoided a catastrophic injury. The D-backs placed the 24-year-old on the IL on Wednesday, cutting off an encouraging start to his career. Duplantier has pitched to a 4.32 ERA/3.83 FIP with 8.64 K/9 and 3.24 BB/9 in 25 innings (eight appearances, three starts).
The Mariners reinstated shortstop J.P. Crawford from the IL on Friday and placed reliever Brandon Brennan on the IL with a strained right shoulder, per Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. Crawford had been out since suffering a left ankle sprain May 28. The injury to Brennan continues what has been a shaky season for the 2018 Rule 5 pick from the Rockies. Brennan leads Mariners relievers in innings (34) and has posted 9.26 K/9 with a 55.4 percent groundball rate, but a high walk rate (5.29 BB/9) has helped produce a 5.56 ERA/4.39 FIP.

D-Backs’ Jon Duplantier Placed On IL, Headed For MRI

By Steve Adams | June 12, 2019 at 7:19pm CDT

The Diamondbacks announced Wednesday that they’ve placed righty Jon Duplantier on the 10-day injured list due to shoulder inflammation. Manager Torey Lovullo told reporters prior to tonight’s game that Duplantier will undergo an MRI tomorrow to determine the severity of the injury (Twitter link via Zach Buchanan of The Athletic).

Duplantier, 24, entered the season considered by many to be among the game’s top 100 prospects. He’s given the D-backs 25 respectable innings thus far, pitching to a 4.32 ERA with a 24-to-9 K/BB ratio. It’s an ill-timed trip to the IL for both Duplantier and the organization. He’d been in line for what looked to be an extended audition in the bullpen with both Taijuan Walker and Luke Weaver on the injured list with significant injuries.

Those injuries to Walker and Weaver, plus the struggles of Zack Godley, had prompted the Diamondbacks to turn to Duplantier and fellow rookie Taylor Clarke to help round out the starting five behind Zack Greinke, Robbie Ray and Merrill Kelly. With Duplantier sidelined, the Diamondbacks could again turn to Godley, as there’s not much help looming in Triple-A. Both Taylor Widener and Braden Shipley have ERAs north of 9.00, while other starters such as Anthony Vasquez and Matt Koch have had struggles of their own.

D-backs general manager Mike Hazen chatted with Buchanan for a Q&A (subscription required) that was published earlier today, wherein he stated for the second time in as may weeks that he’s been exploring the market for rotation depth. “Ever since we lost Taijuan Walker and Luke Weaver, we’ve been canvassing, at least watching the market,” said Hazen. One can presume that any type of notable absence for Duplantier will only create more urgency on that front.

Diamondbacks Promote Jon Duplantier

By Jeff Todd | April 1, 2019 at 4:44pm CDT

The Diamondbacks announced today that they have selected the contract of righty pitching prospect Jon Duplantier. He’ll take the active roster spot of infielder Ildemaro Vargas, who was optioned back to Triple-A.

Generally regarded as the best prospect in the Arizona farm system, Duplantier will initially work out of the bullpen, according to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic (Twitter link). It seems likely he’ll serve in a long-relief capacity for the time being and will generally remain stretched out.

Duplantier was a third-round pick out of Rice back in 2016. He has marched up the chain since that time, turning in excellent results all along the way. He pitched to a 2.69 ERA with 9.1 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9 in 67 Double-A innings last year, but some arm issues kept him from working a full season. Duplantier then threw another 21 2/3 frames in the Arizona Fall League (3.32 ERA, 32:10 K/BB ratio) to build up his workload.

Prospect hounds generally view Duplantier as a high-ceiling hurler. He has proven capable in the minors of producing grounders as well as swings and misses, with a mid-nineties heater that he combines with a good slider and still-progressing curve and change. There’s some worry about his long-term health outlook, and he has missed some action since joining the professional ranks, but the consensus is that the talent is there for the 24-year-old to be a top-flight pitcher.

AL East Notes: MASN, Happ, Estrada, Machado

By Jeff Todd | July 4, 2018 at 2:50pm CDT

While the ongoing television rights dispute between the Orioles and Nationals has been out of the news for some time, that doesn’t mean there hasn’t been any action behind the scenes. Jeff Barker of the Baltimore Sun recently provided a notable update on the situation. While the Baltimore organization has “grown weary of battling Major League Baseball over the [MASN] network” and has tried to work out a settlement, there’s still no resolution. At present, there’s no indication that the stalemate will be broken voluntarily; barring a change in that dynamic, the next big event on the calendar is a scheduled arbitration hearing in November.

Here’s the latest from the AL East:

The Yankees may be the “main player” for Blue Jays starter J.A. Happ, per Jon Heyman of Fancred (via Twitter). Not only is Happ arguably the best rental starter on the market, but it seems the Yanks hold him in high regard. They won’t be alone in pursuing the Toronto southpaw, however. MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand tweets that the Jays are directing some scouting resources toward the Brewers farm system, perhaps in anticipation of interest from the Milwaukee organization.
Fellow Blue Jays starter Marco Estrada left last night’s game with a sore hip, as MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm was among those to tweet. For now, the severity isn’t known, though perhaps it’s promising that the Toronto organization made a roster transaction today but did not feel compelled to rush Estrada onto the disabled list. As we recently examined, Estrada’s strong performance of late has made him seem increasingly like a potential trade candidate this summer, but he’ll only be a useful asset for the Jays if he’s in good health.
Orioles third baseman Manny Machado is said to be drawing wide and increasingly active interest from a variety of rival organizations. That’s no surprise, as he’s a mid-prime rental asset of rare ability. The Diamondbacks have held “consistent” talks with the Baltimore organization, per MLB.com’s Jon Morosi (Twitter links), which largely confirms the steady stream of reports we’ve seen on Arizona’s engagement. Morosi adds that the O’s are interested in young D-Backs prospect Jon Duplantier, whose current injury has “complicated” efforts to put together a package that suits both teams. It’s hard to gauge to what extent Duplantier’s status will impact the broader Machado situation, in no small part because it is not apparent whether he’s a player the Snakes would be willing to part with for a rental. Meanwhile, the Braves do have some interest in Machado, Morosi also tweets, but are mostly exploring the market for “controllable relievers” at the moment. Again, that dovetails with what we’ve heard out of Atlanta in recent weeks.

NL West Notes: Padres, Hughes, Stripling, Duplantier

By Steve Adams | June 4, 2018 at 3:23pm CDT

The Padres’ acquisition of Phil Hughes was clearly more about acquiring the Twins’ competitive balance draft pick than the pitcher himself, and GM A.J. Preller and scouting director Mark Conner spoke to MLB.com’s A.J Cassavell about the swap. Preller told Cassavell that he’s been calling every team that received pick in the competitive balance lottery on a near-weekly basis in an attempt to acquire an additional selection — something that’s long been a priority but was magnified in 2018 after San Diego surrendered a pick to sign Eric Hosmer. “The game now is about making your money work for you,” said Preller. “…You have to figure out what’s the best bang for your buck. Having the extra pick gives you more options.”

The move was met by excitement from Conner and his scouts, who’ll now not only have an extra pick (No. 74 overall) but an additional $812,200 in their draft pool. The Padres, of course, spent considerably more than that to obtain the pick, relieving the Twins of just over $7.6MM of Hughes’ salary. While it seems a shrewd (albeit expensive) pickup of a resource with limited availability, not every organization agrees; one exec from another club told FanRag’s Jon Heyman last week that the Padres were “insane” for taking on that much of the remaining contract to obtain the pick.

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