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Injury Notes: Longoria, Urias, Whitley

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Evan Longoria made his spring training debut today at designated hitter, but it might be some time until he’s regularly taking grounders at third. He’s working his way back from plantar fasciitis, per MLB.com’s Maria I. Guardado (via Twitter). This is an injury that has plagued Longoria in the past, and it does have a tendency to linger. The Giants have no reason to rush Longoria, who hit .254/.297/.425 in 2020. The Giants built up their infield depth this winter. Tommy La Stella is the most likely to see time at third while Longoria is out with Donovan Solano staying at the keystone. If the injury lingers, San Francisco could also use the opportunity to get extra at-bats for Wilmer Flores.

  • Luis Urias will be out for a day or two with a hamstring injury, but it’s “very minor” and unlikely to affect his playing time beyond the next couple of days, per the Athletic’s Will Sammon (via Twitter). Urias is looking to take advantage of an opportunity to win the everyday shortstop job in Milwaukee. The Brewers are clearly comfortable playing Orlando Arcia and Travis Shaw on the left side of the infield, but they’d like to see Urias in one of those spots. Arcia has been moved around this spring for the first time in his career in an effort to give Urias more training at short.
  • Forrest Whitley is again having a tough spring. His arrival in camp was initially delayed because of coronavirus intake protocols, and now he’s dealing with a sore arm, writes MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart. Whitley has struggled to get healthy and produce as expected for a top prospect, but there is still hope that he will establish himself at some point in 2021. He is on the Astros’ 40-man roster now, and while the stakes seem high for 2021, Whitley is still only 23 years old.

NL Central Notes: Contreras, Mikolas, Brewers

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Willson Contreras “wasn’t bothered at all” by trade speculation during the offseason, and if anything, the catcher was flattered by other teams’ interest.  “The rumors didn’t bother me,” Contreras told The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney and other reporters.  “It’s the other way — those rumors make me proud because of where I come from, everything that I’ve done to be where I’m at….I went through it relaxed because if I got traded, I know that I’m ready to play anywhere and everywhere.”

Like fellow Cubs teammates Javier Baez and Kris Bryant have stated in recent days, Contreras would welcome any extension talks with the team, saying “obviously, I’m willing to listen to whatever they have.”  Baez and Bryant are entering their final season before free agency while Contreras is under team control through 2022, so Chicago may not quite have as much urgency to explore a longer-term deal with the catcher just yet, though it would be surprising if the Cubs didn’t at least broach the subject with Contreras and his representatives this spring.  Contreras said that he is “just not thinking about” contract talks for now, as “my main focus is on this year.”

More from the NL Central…

  • Cardinals righty Miles Mikolas “will be pushed back just a little bit” from his first outing of the spring, manager Mike Shildt told reporters (including Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch).  Mikolas was scheduled to pitch during a simulated game on Monday, after throwing some live batting practice to teammates last week.  “For now it’s caution,” Shildt said, and a team official told Goold that there is “very low” concern about Mikolas for the time being, yet any sort of setback has to considered notable considering that Mikolas missed the entire 2020 season.  The right-hander ultimately decided to undergo surgery last August to fix a damaged right flexor tendon, after getting PRP injections both after the 2019 season and in February 2020, and then trying to work through the injury during both the shutdown and in Summer Camp.  The Cards were already planning to bring Mikolas along rather slowly in order to build up his readiness for the start of the season, and it remains to be seen if this latest issue could delay his recovery plan.
  • Injuries and a positive COVID-19 test prevented Luis Urias from getting any preseason time at shortstop last year, so the Brewers will give the youngster plenty of looks at the position during Spring Training.  The larger question, as The Athletic’s Will Sammon examines, is whether or not this will result in Urias becoming the Brew Crew’s regular shortstop once the season actually begins.  Milwaukee has built a lot of flexibility into the left side of its infield, as Urias, Orlando Arcia, and Daniel Robertson can all play either shortstop or third base, while Travis Shaw is also an option at the hot corner.  Shaw can play first base as well, and Arcia also said that he is preparing to work out as a center fielder.  Arcia made a single appearance in center field (the first of professional career) last season, playing four innings at the position on August 12 in a 12-2 loss to the Twins.

Brewers Reinstate Luis Urias, Designate Logan Morrison

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The Brewers have reinstated infielder Luis Urias from the injured list. He had been sidelined due to a COVID-19 diagnosis.

To open roster space, the Milwaukee organization has designated veteran first baseman Logan Morrison for assignment. He could conceivably remain with the team if he clears waivers and the club wants to keep him in the 60-man player pool.

Urias came to the Brew Crew along with Eric Lauer in the swap that sent Trent Grisham and Zach Davies to the Padres. The Friars have received strong initial production on their side of the deal, though it’s obviously far too soon to declare a winner.

Through about a half-season of total MLB play, Urias has struggled to a .221/.318/.331 batting line with six home runs. But the former top-100 prospect has ripped up Triple-A pitching for a cumulative .305/.403/.511 output over 887 plate appearances.

Morrison, soon to turn 33, has seen his MLB opportunities wane in recent seasons. He struggled in 28 plate appearances early this season in Milwaukee. In his eleven major league campaigns, LoMo has launched 140 long balls and produced a .238/.323/.425 slash.

Luis Urias, Angel Perdomo Test Positive For COVID-19

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TODAY: Urias and Perdomo were placed on the Brewers’ injured list, the team announced.

JULY 6: Brewers infielder Luis Urias and left-hander Angel Perdomo both tested positive for COVID-19 prior to intake, manager Craig Counsell told reporters this morning (Twitter links via Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel). Both consented to their diagnoses becoming public. Urias and Perdomo are thankfully asymptomatic at this point and are going through the league’s COVID-19 protocols. They’ll need a pair of negative tests, separated by at least 24 hours, before they’re able to join Brewers Summer Camp.

There’s no firm timetable on Urias or Perdomo returning to the team, though Counsell estimated at least 10 days would be necessary. That’s of particular note for Urias, who was contending for a starting job in the infield and already had his initial Spring Training wiped out by a fractured hamate bone that required surgical repair.

The overall well-being of the 23-year-old Urias and the 26-year-old Perdomo is certainly the greater focus, but it’s now possible that they’ll only have a week or so to ramp up to the season. The potential impact that would have on Urias’ role, at least early on, is readily apparent. It’s likely that former top prospect Orlando Arcia would shoulder the lion’s share of the workload at shortstop should Urias be unavailable or limited out of the gate. As for Perdomo, he wasn’t in the club’s initial player pool but seems likely to be viewed as a left-handed depth piece who could make his MLB debut in 2020, assuming a full recovery.

Brewers Provide Updates On Corey Knebel, Others

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The Brewers had a wide slate of injured players during Spring Training — some expected to be key contributors in 2020 — and president of baseball operations David Stearns tells Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee-Journal Sentinel that most are progressing well through their rehab.

Former closer Corey Knebel, who underwent Tommy John surgery last spring, is “getting pretty close” to being able to join the bullpen mix, per Stearns. He’s been on a throwing program and seemingly hasn’t had any setbacks, though Stearns noted that the final test is always to see how players fare in competitive settings with adrenaline flowing, and that obviously hasn’t been possible during the COVID-19 shutdown.

It’s easy to forget just how important Knebel was to the Brewers’ bullpen prior to his injury. Josh Hader’s breakout as MLB’s strikeout king has somewhat overshadowed Knebel, but the two form one of baseball’s best late-inning tandems when both are healthy. From 2017-18, Knebel gave the Brewers 151 1/3 frames of 2.54 ERA ball (2.74 FIP) with a ridiculous 14.7 K/9 and a 40.2 percent overall strikeout rate. He agreed to a $5.125MM salary this offseason — the same as in 2019 — and is under club control through the 2021 season.

Shortstop Luis Urias should be up to speed once play is able to resume, Haudricourt writes. Stearns notes that Urias was already close to getting into Spring Training games at the time of the league shutdown, and he’s of course now had nearly three additional months to mend from the fractured hamate bone he sustained during winter ball. Urias was acquired in the trade that sent Trent Grisham and Zach Davies to the Padres. And while lefty Eric Lauer, the other player the Brewers landed in that swap, was slowed by shoulder troubles this spring, he’s healed up and should be in the rotation competition again when Spring Training 2.0 kicks off (assuming an agreement is reached).

Both players could well hold important roles for the Brewers in 2020 and for years to come. Onetime top prospect Orlando Arcia has yet to seize the everyday role at shortstop, opening the door for Urias — a touted prospect in his own right but one who the Padres felt comfortable dealing to upgrade in other areas. The 22-year-old Urias hasn’t hit in the Major yet but did turn in a ridiculous .315/.398/.600 slash in 73 Triple-A games last year (137 wRC+).

As for Lauer, the 2016 first-rounder was a quick riser to the Major, debuting in 2018. Since that time he’s tossed 261 2/3 innings of 4.40 ERA ball with 8.2 K/9, 3.3 BB/9, 1.20 HR/9 and a 38.9 percent grounder rate. He’s likely more of a mid-rotation or back-of-the-rotation arm, but for a Brewers club that uses its pitching staff in less conventional manners than many other clubs, there could be some ideas to maximize his effectiveness through the use of openers, limiting times through the order, etc. He’s controllable all the way through 2024, so whatever games are able to be played in 2020 will serve as a proving ground of sorts for Lauer. With Brett Anderson lined up for free agency in the 2020-21 offseason, there’s a clear path to innings in future seasons if Lauer or another young Brewers hurler impresses when play resumes.

NL Central Notes: Flaherty, Urias, Reds, Williams

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Cardinals right-hander Jack Flaherty may be headed for a contract renewal for the second straight offseason since he has yet to agree to his 2020 contract, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes.  The Cards use a strict formula for giving salary raises for pre-arbitration players and Flaherty didn’t agree to his deal last year, leaving $10K in salary on the table and forcing the Cards to renew his 2019 contract for $562.1K, just $7.1K over the league minimum salary.  “Flaherty wanted his disagreement with the Cardinals’ valuation of his salary noted, and that was worth the $10,000 penalty,” Goold wrotes.

As per the Cardinals’ formula, Goold reports that Flaherty is now in line for a salary close to $605K for the 2020 season — a 7.3 percent increase over the minimum salary, which is a new record raise since St. Louis adopted its formula.  Still, such a raise is still very small potatoes considering Flaherty’s great 2019 numbers, and also indicative of how little leverage pre-arbitration players have in earning any extra money for outstanding performance.  Flaherty is in line for a big raise once he enters the arbitration process next winter, though (barring an extension) the real big money won’t come until he hits free agency following the 2023 season.

More from the NL Central…

  • Luis Urias has already “been doing pretty much everything” in preparation to get back onto the field, the Brewers infielder told MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy and other reporters, including full infield drills, taking batting practice from coaches, and tracking live pitches in the batter’s box.  Urias had surgery on his left hamate bone at the end of January, so he is just shy of the short end of the projected six-to-eight week timeline for a return to action.  The next step will come tomorrow, when Urias visits his hand surgeon and could potentially be cleared to start facing live pitching that same day.  Manager Craig Counsell said Urias could potentially see some game action in roughly a week’s time, if all goes well.  Acquired by the Padres in November, Urias will be competing with Orlando Arcia for the shortstop job once healthy, and it certainly seems like there’s a chance Urias will be able to avoid starting the season on the injured list.
  • After a big offseason, Reds president of baseball operations Dick Williams is being no less bold in his expectations for the 2020 season.  “We are going to say World Series is our goal because now you look around the room and you see the talent is there and it’s just not fair to limit yourselves,” Williams told The Athletic’s Paul Dehner Jr. (subscription required).  “You can’t reach that goal if you don’t set it.  It has been a few years since we have openly and brazenly said, ’The ring is within our reach’ and it’s up to us to go and get it.   That’s only fair to these players.  I wouldn’t put the goal of anything less in front of them because I think they can do it.”  Williams welcomes the pressure of these extra expectations, noting that the team had been building towards being a contender by undergoing “a massive culture shift” that extends from the front office through both the major and minor league coaching ranks “getting everybody top to bottom feeling that this is a championship-level organization.”  Spending over $164MM on free agent talent this winter was “terrifying, but…exciting,” Williams said, since the Reds had so much belief in their pre-existing core group of players that “it was the right time to spend.  It makes it easier to make that decision to go out on a limb.“

The Brewers’ Infield Picture

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Those following the Brewers at a distance may not have paid much attention to their tempered approach to the offseason. It’s easy to look at their winter and see a modest collection of stopgaps to stanch the roster bleed of departing vets like Yasmani Grandal and Mike Moustakas. Look a littler closer, however, and you’ll find President of Baseball Ops and GM David Stearns created a two-year window of flexible and affordable contracts to keep Craig Counsell’s squad in contention, writes Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

With Christian Yelich and Josh Hader, the Brew Crew have some of the best high-end talent in the game, but they’ve done a nice job filling out the infield with one-and-one contracts for Brock Holt, Eric Sogard, Justin Smoak, and Jedd Gyorko. Along with trade acquisition Luis Urias, the Brewers found a grab bag of roster pieces to power their infield engine in a wide-open NL Central. Holdovers Keston Hiura and Orlando Arcia join the extensive group of infielders vying for playing time.

Though Arcia is still just 25-years-old and has notched some big performances for the Brewers in recent seasons, his grip on everyday at-bats is loosening. Urias’ injury has provided Arcia with a last-ditch opportunity to prove his mettle. He certainly brings attitude and flair to the diamond, but two seasons of a .228/.277/.333 line dims the outlook on Arcia’s offensive potential for sure. Still, of the newcomers in the clubhouse, only Urias really threatens Arcia’s everyday status at short.

Of all rostered Brewers not named Yelich, Hiura has the highest ceiling. Thus, the onus lies largely (if unfairly) on his shoulders to make up the offensive production left behind by Grandal and Moustakas (who put up a combined 7 oWAR last season per baseball-reference). He put up a robust .303/.368/.570 line in just 84 games as a 22-year-old after being called up last season (139 wRC+). His power numbers have fluctuated throughout his professional career, but the hit tool has consistently played, and the Brewers are counting on Hiura to do some damage from the middle of their order.

The final piece of the infield puzzle for Counsell is long-time face-of-the-franchise Ryan Braun. Braun could see a majority of his time at first base with Avisail Garcia and Ben Gamel lining up with Yelich and Lorenzo Cain in the outfield. The exact formula for the rest of the lineup has no shortage of variables, but Counsell has proven himself an adept engineer. Importantly for Milwaukee, if any of the newly-acquired pieces fail to meld, they’ve maintained the flexibility, financially and structurally, to pivot.

Luis Urias To Miss 6-8 Weeks After Hamate Bone Surgery

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Newly acquired Brewers infielder Luis Urias has undergone surgery to repair a fractured left hamate bone, Robert Murray reports. He’s expected to miss six to eight weeks, which seems to jeopardize his spring training and the beginning of the regular season.

Urias paused his winter ball season just a few days ago on account of soreness in his wrist, but the expectation then was that he was dealing with a relatively minor issue. That doesn’t appear to be the case, though, and now it’s possible the Brewers will have to begin the campaign without one of their key offseason additions.

The 22-year-old Urias isn’t far removed from ranking as one of the absolute best prospects in the game, but he didn’t produce much at the major league level with the Padres from 2018-19. San Diego then dealt Urias to Milwaukee in November in a four-player trade that also saw outfielder Trent Grisham and pitchers Zach Davies and Eric Lauer change hands.

Since his change of scenery, Urias has looked like the front-runner to start the year at shortstop for the Brewers. That could still happen, but it looks like a much more questionable bet now. As a result, the Brewers may have to turn back to Orlando Arcia as their No. 1 option at the outset of the season. Arcia was a promising prospect in his own right during his younger days, but the 25-year-old hasn’t done much of anything at the plate since he debuted in the majors in 2016.

NL Notes: Braves, Acuna, Brewers, Urias, Nationals, Zimmerman, Payroll

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Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker has no intention of moving Ronald Acuna Jr. to the cleanup spot, per The Athletic’s David O’Brien (via Twitter). Even before the Marcell Ozuna signing, Snitker wasn’t entertaining removing Acuna from leadoff, where he excelled last season after a short stint in the middle of the order. Acuna has 15 leadoff home runs across his two seasons with the Braves and an overall batting line of .297/.380/.565 out of the leadoff spot. Acuna hardly struggled elsewhere in the lineup, but he’s certainly a luxury at the top of the order for the two-time defending NL East champs. With Ozzie Albies, Freddie Freeman and Marcell Ozuna presumably behind him in the order, there’s no particular need to mess with success. Let’s check in elsewhere in the National League…

  • Milwaukee Brewers infielder Luis Urias is returning stateside to have his left wrist examined, per Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Twitter links). Urias cut his winter ball season short upon experiencing soreness. The Brewers hope to have answers by the middle of next week, and surgery is a possibility. Though mention of surgery sets off alarm bells, the Brewers expect this to be a minor issue. Urias, of course, is looking to establish himself as a full-time big-leaguer in his first season with the Brewers. He put up 1.0 bWAR, but just 0.1 fWAR across 71 games of action as a rookie with the Padres in 2019.
  • Now that franchise cornerstone Ryan Zimmerman is back on an exceedingly affordable $2MM deal, the Nationals have financial flexibility under the tax, writes MASN’s Mark Zuckerman. Roster resource puts the Nats’ tax payroll at about $204MM, which doesn’t provide a ton of wiggle room under the $208MM tax line. Zuckerman figures it closer to $194MM, which is the number given by Cot’s Contracts, roughly $14MM under the tax line. Either way, the Nats have been a willing tax payer in the past, and after ducking under the line in 2019, they’re safe to exceed it again without extra penalty. Given the level of free agent available, however, the Nats are probable to enter the season – like their divisional mates in New York and Philadelphia – near the line with the ability to exceed it with midseason additions should they be close enough to push for the playoffs.

Padres, Brewers Agree To Four-Player Trade

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2:00pm: The Brewers have formally announced the deal. They’ll also receive a player to be named later or cash from the Padres, per a team press release.

9:57am: The Padres and Brewers have broken open a quiet trade market with an interesting swap of young big leaguers. Outfielder Trent Grisham and righty Zach Davies are heading to San Diego, with second baseman Luis Urias and southpaw Eric Lauer going to Milwaukee in exchange.

This is a rare need-for-need, value-for-value trade. For the Friars, Grisham could pair with Manuel Margot in center field and ultimately move to a corner spot when top prospect Taylor Trammell is ready. Both he and Urias have debuted but not yet accrued a full season of MLB service. Meanwhile, Davies will represent a sturdy rotation piece. He’s projected to earn $5.0MM in his second-to-last season of team control.

On the other side, the Brewers now appear to have a double-play partner for Keston Hiura. Indications are that the club will utilize Urias at shortstop. Whether there’s still room for Orlando Arcia remains to be seen. The 24-year-old Lauer could deliver solid innings for years to come. While he’s not as established as Davies, the southpaw has shown well early in his career and remains under control through the 2024 season.

For the most part, 2019 was a bit of a dream season for Grisham. The former first-rounder finally turned the corner at the plate, raking in the upper minors (.300/.407/.603) to earn his way up to the majors.

Grisham ended up seeing significant time in the big leagues for the postseason-qualifying Brewers. He wasn’t exactly an instant star, but turned in a palatable .231/.328/.410 slash in 183 plate appearances while contributing highly graded defense. Unfortunately, the season ended on a sour note, as Grisham committed a costly error that cemented the Brewers’ Wild Card meltdown.

It feels funny to treat Davies as a secondary piece in this deal; that’s certainly not the case. Still just 26 years of age, he spun 159 2/3 innings of 3.55 ERA ball last year. True, Davies wasn’t exposed often to lineups for a third time. And there’s probably some good fortune embedded in those results. Davies will never be much of a strikeout pitcher, with a career K rate of 6.4 per nine. But he has proven over the years that he can produce good results despite his limitations, with a 3.91 ERA in 614 1/3 career innings.

In Urias, the Brewers see a compelling young hitter that just hasn’t quite found his footing in the majors. He’s just 22 years of age and carries a .305/.403/.511 slash over 887 Triple-A plate appearances. Urias has succeeded largely with his strong plate discipline (108 walks, 172 strikeouts) and excellent bat-to-ball skills. But there’s a bit of pop in the bat as well, as he has 28 long balls during his time at the highest level of the minors.

That said, there are some questions — there’s a reason that Urias has spent so much time at Triple-A while some other Padres players have breezed through and never returned. The initial MLB returns were tepid. Urias owns a .221/.318/.331 batting line in 302 plate appearances in the bigs. It seems reasonable to suppose he’ll improve upon that, but to what extent remains to be seen.

There are also some questions whether Urias can handle the shortstop position with sufficient aplomb at the game’s highest level. He spent the majority of his time in the minors at second base and has graded better there than at short in his limited MLB time at both spots. But the Brew Crew has been willing to rely upon its infield placement to help cover up any range issues.

It’d be easy to lose sight of Lauer here, but he’s a notable asset in his own right. The former first-rounder has thrown 261 2/3 MLB innings over the past two seasons, working to a cumulative 4.40 ERA. Nothing jumps off the page about him — 8.2 K/9, 3.3 BB/9, 38.9% groundball rate, 1.20 HR/9 — but he could bring steady innings at a cheap rate. The Brewers will likely plan to utilize Lauer in a somewhat flexible role to maximize his utility, as they have other hurlers that might not quite warrant traditional starter usage.

Jon Morosi of MLB.com (Twitter link) broke the deal, with Jeff Passan of ESPN.com (via Twitter) and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter link) adding key details.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports.

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