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Jon Duplantier

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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

More from the division…

  • Ross Stripling, who looks to be in the midst of a breakout season with the Dodgers, spoke to Pedro Moura of The Athletic about the role that data and analytics have played in his emergence (subscription required). The 28-year-old righty has turned in a ridiculous 1.68 ERA with 11.0 K/9, 2.1 BB/9, 0.56 HR/9 and a 47.6 percent ground-ball rate in 48 1/3 innings for the Dodgers so far in 2018. Stripling’s success is derived in large part from advance scouting of opposing lineups and taking deep dives into hitters’ strengths and weaknesses. Specifically, Stripling discusses the importance of knowing the quality of contact a hitter will make against pitch types in various portions of the strike zone. “I don’t care about average,” said Stripling. “I just want to know where he pulls the ball at 100 mph. I’m a believer in limiting slug, which is basically limiting exit velocity.” Moura’s column takes a long look not only at Stripling’s sudden success, but also his amateur days, his childhood fascination with baseball statistics and his path to professional baseball.
  • The D-backs have had rotten luck with injuries at the big league level in 2018, and it’s apparently extending to the farm system as well. Zach Buchanan of The Athletic tweets that the team’s top prospect, right-hander Jon Duplantier, is dealing with biceps tendinitis and has been shut down from throwing for at least a week. The 23-year-old Duplantier has dominated in Double-A this year, working to a 2.52 ERA with 10.4 K/9, 2.8 BB/9, 0.5 HR/9 and a 59.8 percent ground-ball rate in 35 2/3 innings. He’s currently ranked as the game’s No. 50 overall prospect over at Baseball America and No. 65 overall at MLB.com.

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