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Injury Notes: Kluber, Strasburg, Ross

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There’s been plenty of notable injury news around the league today. The Nationals received a crushing blow in the form of a torn ACL for Wilson Ramos, while the Blue Jays lost setup man Joaquin Benoit for two to three weeks due to a torn calf muscle. The Red Sox, meanwhile, announced that Drew Pomeranz will be, at best, a bullpen option from this point forth due to forearm soreness and a significant increase in his workload.

Here’s a look at a few more injuries pertaining to a pair of playoff clubs and a potential 2017 trade chip…

  • The Indians announced some relatively good news following an MRI for ace Corey Kluber. The test revealed a mild quad strain for Kluber, per the club, but the Cy Young candidate dodged a potentially more serious groin injury. He’ll be ready to return to game action in seven to 10 days, per the Indians, which obviously rules him out for the remainder of the regular season but gives him time to recover for the American League Division Series, which begins on Thursday, Oct. 6.
  • The news wasn’t as positive for the Nationals when it comes to right-hander Stephen Strasburg, as general manager Mike Rizzo told reporters, including Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post, that it’s doubtful that Strasburg will be ready to return for the National League Division Series. “I think it would be pushing it,” said Rizzo of Strasburg, who is dealing with a strained flexor mass in his right forearm. “I think that’s fair to say. Again, I haven’t seen him after his throwing program today, but just the calendar, it’s unlikely that he’d contribute in that first series.” Strasburg did play catch from 90 feet today, per Janes, but it appears that the Nats will need to advance to at least the League Championship Series if there’s any hope of Strasburg making a postseason impact. With Strasburg out, Max Scherzer, Tanner Roark and Gio Gonzalez would probably get the first three looks in the Division Series, and Joe Ross could be a factor as well.
  • Tyson Ross has received multiple medical opinions over the past couple of weeks, skipper Andy Green told Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune, and surgery to repair his right shoulder is a possibility. Ross, naturally, prefers to avoid that endgame, and he’s exploring all possible alternatives for the time being. The Padres hope to have a plan mapped out for Ross by the end of the regular season, Lin writes, and an ultimate decision could come later this week. Ross is earning $9.625MM this season but pitched only once for the Friars, on Opening Day, before going down with a shoulder injury that would eventually wipe out his entire season. Additionally, Lin writes that righty Jarred Cosart underwent an MRI and X-rays on his right elbow to determine the severity of a bone spur that he said he’s been pitching through.

Cincinnati Reds: Top 5 Bright Spots Of 2016

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Rebuilding season or not, falling short of the playoffs and finishing with a losing record probably means that more things went wrong than went right for a team. This series, however, will focus on those silver linings that each team can take away from an otherwise disappointing season.

[Related: “Top Bright Spots” archive]

Here are the biggest bright spots for the Cincinnati Reds.

1. Joey Votto, 1B

Votto had already proven in 2015 that he was still in the prime of his career, bouncing back from an injury-riddled and much less productive than normal season in 2014 by posting a 1.000 OPS in 158 games. Entering his age-32 season with eight years and $199MM remaining on his contract, any decline in performance would be alarming.

But Votto has not declined one bit. With an overall .974 OPS, including a ridiculous 1.103 OPS over his last 447 plate appearances, there’s no reason to believe he will slow down anytime soon. That’s great news for a Reds team that hopes to jump back into playoff contention while their star player is still worth every cent of his massive contract. (As a side note, Votto hit his 28th home run quite literally seconds before this post was published — his third hit in a 3-for-3 evening.)

2. Raisel Iglesias/ Michael Lorenzen, RP

While Iglesias and Lorenzen have pitched as well as could’ve been expected out of the bullpen, if not better—Iglesias has been dominant (1.37 ERA, 9.8 K/9, 3.3 BB/9, four saves, seven holds) and Lorenzen has been very good (2.87 ERA, 8.4 K/9, 2.5 BB/9, eight holds)—they needed to prove that they could stay healthy. After all, they’re both pitching out of the bullpen because of durability concerns.

They’ve done their part—Iglesias has appeared in 29 games as a reliever since returning from the disabled list in late June; Lorenzen returned shortly after and has appeared in 33 games. Both are on track to finish the season in good health. Now, it’s up to the Reds get to decide if either returns to starting in 2017 or remains in a late-inning bullpen role. That’s a much better alternative than wondering if either will be healthy enough to contribute at all.

3. Adam Duvall, OF

Despite his second-half struggles, the 28-year-old Duvall has proven himself on multiple levels in 2016. His power surge in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League (53 homers in 831 plate appearances in 2014-15) was obviously not a fluke. Yesterday’s multi-homer game, his third of the season, pushed his season total to 33. He also reached the 100-RBI mark.

While a sub-.300 on-base percentage and high strikeout total for a third baseman-turned corner outfielder would initially suggest a one-dimensional player, the NL All-Star has actually been a well above-average defender in left field in the view of Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating. Combine that with his bargain salary—he won’t be eligible for arbitration until after the 2018 season—and defensive versatility, and the Reds may have found themselves a gem.

4. Dan Straily, SP

Despite a solid 34-start stint to begin his MLB career in 2012-13 while with the A’s (3.94 ERA, 3.4 BB/9, 7.3 K/9), Straily hasn’t been given much of a chance to stick in a big league rotation. After being traded three times in less than two years, the 27-year-old has finally found a home with the Reds, who plucked him off the waiver wire just before the start of the 2016 season.

Since being inserted into the starting rotation on April 18, the right-hander has delivered a 3.76 ERA, 3.4 BB/9, 7.5 K/9 and a 63% quality start percentage over his 30 starts. So, basically, he’s a well-traveled version of the guy the A’s had when his value was on the rise early in his career. Straily might be staying put for awhile this time. He won’t be eligible for free agency until after the 2020 season.

5. Billy Hamilton, CF

It was pretty much the same old story for Hamilton early in the 2016 season. The most feared base stealer in baseball was not reaching base enough for it to matter very much. After failing to reach base at a 30 percent clip in either of his first two big league seasons, Hamilton went into the All-Star break with an uninspiring .283 OBP.

But if his second-half performance is any indication—the 26-year-old posted a .369 OBP with 21 walks in 197 plate appearances before a season-ending oblique injury in early September—the days of 100 stolen base seasons might not be permanently behind us. In fact, Hamilton’s 36 stolen bases in 45 games would put him right on pace with Rickey Henderson’s single-season record of 130. Not that Hamilton could match Henderson’s .398 OBP over a full season, but you get the idea. Hamilton could conceivably steal 100 if he can somehow manage a jump into the .325-.340 OBP range.

[Reds Depth Chart]

Giants Acquire Gordon Beckham

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7:36pm: Alex Pavlovic of CSN Bay Area tweets that the trade is now official and adds that the Giants will send minor league infielder Rich Rodriguez to the Braves in return. While it’s certainly surprising to see a player headed back to the Braves, Rodriguez spent the 2016 season, his age-22 campaign, at Class-A Advanced and batted .174/.209/.183 in 117 plate appearances.

MLB.com’s Chris Haft tweets that Nunez is expected to be out for the next two to three days, so the Giants ultimately may not lean on Beckham for more than a couple of games.

2:32pm: The deal is going through, with cash consideration to Atlanta, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman tweets.

1:48pm: The Giants are “very close” to striking a deal to acquire infielder Gordon Beckham from the Braves, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports on Twitter. Presumably, the move would be made to help cover for Eduardo Nunez, who is dealing with a hamstring issue.

It’s obviously rare to see trades at this stage of the season, but hardly unprecedented. Beckham, 30, would not be eligible for the San Francisco postseason roster and is a free agent after the season. But the team evidently feels that it needs a boost to its infield mix over the final six games, as it clings to a Wild Card slot.

If Nunez is out, the Giants would be left with options such as Conor Gillaspie, Ehire Adrianza, and Kelby Tomlinson at third base. Beckham isn’t exactly a premium addition — he owns only a .217/.300/.354 batting line over 273 plate appearances on the year — but promises to bolster that unit. He has been somewhat more useful against left-handed pitching, so the club will pick up some flexibility if nothing else.

Giants Designate Matt Reynolds For Assignment

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The Giants have designated left-hander Matt Reynolds for assignment in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for Gordon Beckham, whose acquisition from the Braves is now official, tweets Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle. Additionally, the Giants have selected the contract of former Pirates catcher Tony Sanchez from Triple-A Sacramento and placed Mac Williamson on the 60-day DL with a quadriceps strain to clear another 40-man roster spot.

Reynolds, 31, signed a minor league deal with the Giants earlier this summer and had his contract selected back in July. He allowed five runs in six innings at the big league level but enjoyed a more successful run with San Francisco’s Triple-A affiliate, firing off 13 2/3 shutout innings with a 12-to-2 K/BB ratio. The veteran Reynolds tossed 153 1/3 innings of 3.58 ERA ball with with 8.3 K/9 against 2.5 BB/9 between the Rockies and D-backs from 2010-13, but he underwent Tommy John surgery in early 2014 and missed the season. He’s spent the past two seasons attempting to earn his way back into regular bullpen work at the Major League level and figures to be in line for another minor league pact and an invite to Spring Training this coming offseason.

Sanchez, 28, will give manager Bruce Bochy a third catcher over the final week of the regular season. The former No. 4 overall draft pick hit .259/.303/.378 in parts of three Major League seasons with the Pirates but has split the 2016 season between the Triple-A affiliates for the Jays and Giants, batting a disappointing .201/.298/.317 through 228 plate appearances.

Lourdes Gurriel Setting Up Private Workouts With MLB Clubs

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Free agent infielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr., who hosted a showcase attended by roughly two-thirds of the league earlier this month, is setting up private workouts with “about a half-dozen” clubs, reports Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports. Currently known to have a private audition in the works are the Red Sox, Cardinals, Astros and Marlins, according to Heyman.

Gurriel, the younger brother of Astros infielder Yulieksi Gurriel, was declared a free agent in early August and is considered one of the better all-around prospects on the international market. He’s currently subject to international bonus pools, but that’ll change next month on Oct. 19 when Gurriel turns 23. At that point, he’ll be free to sign with any MLB club for any amount, so the Red Sox will have a shot at him even though they’re currently restricted in their signings of players that are subject to international bonus restrictions (i.e. players that are under 23 and/or have fewer than five years of professional experience).

Gurriel is a career .277/.362/.426 hitter in just under 1100 plate appearances in Cuba’s top professional league, although those numbers include some lackluster stats from his years as a teenager. Gurriel batted .308/.388/.466 as a 20-year-old in the 2014-15 season, and he was even more impressive as a 21-year-old in the 2015-16 season, hitting .344/.407/.560 with 10 homers in 245 plate appearances. Gurriel is primarily a shortstop but is also said to be capable of sliding over to third base, second base or the outfield. At 6’4″ and 205 pounds, it certainly seems possible that Gurriel will eventually have to move off of shortstop, given his size relative to his peers at that position.

Drew Pomeranz Won’t Start Again This Season

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Red Sox left-hander Drew Pomeranz won’t make another start this season, manager John Farrell told reporters, including WEEI’s Rob Bradford. Pomeranz has been feeling some soreness in his left forearm and has also pitched a career-high 169 1/3 innings this season whilst splitting the year between San Diego and Boston. Farrell stated that Pomeranz came out of his last start “a little more sore” but emphasized that the lefty isn’t being shut down and will hopefully make a bullpen appearance before season’s end. If Pomeranz is deemed healthy enough, he could be a bullpen option in the postseason, but his status for the playoffs remains unclear, writes Tim Britton of the Providence Journal.

The news on Pomeranz is magnified by the fact that the Red Sox were reportedly unhappy with the lack of medical information disclosed by the Padres prior to the trade that sent Pomeranz to Boston in exchange for top pitching prospect Anderson Espinoza. Major League Baseball has already suspended San Diego general manager A.J. Preller for 30 days, without pay, due to the fact that the Padres withheld medical information in the Pomeranz trade. Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe tweets that Red Sox officials declined comment about the specifics of what was withheld today in the wake of Farrell’s announcement, but it was “very clear” that the officials to whom he spoke are angry.

Bradford tweets that in spite of this recent development, the Pomeranz case will remain closed. Reports at the time of Preller’s suspension indicated that the White Sox, among other teams, were “enraged” with the Padres and felt that they were knowingly deceived, but based on Bradford’s tweet, it doesn’t appear that there will be any further action taken against San Diego. The 27-year-old Pomeranz pitched to a 2.47 ERA in 102 innings with the Padres this year, but his performance has slipped with the BoSox, as he’s worked to a more pedestrian 4.68 ERA in 67 1/3 innings. Boston controls him via arbitration for another two seasons beyond the current campaign.

Joaquin Benoit Out 2-3 Weeks With Torn Calf Muscle

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4:37pm: Benoit is in the Jays’ clubhouse, tweets Nicholson-Smith, and says that he’s been told he could be ready to return in two to three weeks. He’s currently wearing a walking boot and using crutches.

3:35pm: Blue Jays right-hander Joaquin Benoit, who left the park on crutches last night, has been diagnosed with a torn calf muscle, manager John Gibbons told reporters, including Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet (Twitter links). Benoit suffered the injury while running in from the bullpen on the heels of a benches-clearing brawl. Worsening matters for the Blue Jays is the fact that Gibbons also said that second baseman Devon Travis got his shoulder “tangled up in the brawl” and subsequently aggravated it on a swing. He’s now day to day with said injury.

For the Blue Jays, the loss is significant, especially when considering the nature in which Benoit’s injury occurred. Since coming over from the Mariners in exchange for Drew Storen, Benoit has pitched to a brilliant 0.38 ERA with 9.1 K/9 against 3.4 BB.9 in 23 2/3 innings of work. While injuries are a natural part of the game, incurring one in the midst of what was a senseless and entirely avoidable brawl last night is undoubtedly frustrating for both the team and fans alike.

Looking to the future, the injury is clearly disheartening for Benoit, who will presumably be unable to participate in the postseason and will also enter the free agent market on the heels of an injury. While the calf tear probably won’t impact his stock in the same manner that an arm injury at the age of 39 would, it nonetheless deprives him of the opportunity to further distance himself from what was a dreadful first three months of the season while pitching with the Mariners. Benoit struggled to a 5.18 ERA with Seattle due largely to poor control and a susceptibility to home runs, but he righted both of those trends to a large extent while pitching with the Jays and had done quite a bit of work to rebuild some of his free agent stock.

Blue Jays Designate Brady Dragmire For Assignment

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The Blue Jays announced that they have designated right-hander Brady Dragmire for assignment (hat tip: Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith, on Twitter). Dragmire’s roster spot will go to fellow right-hander Chris Smith, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A, per the club. The Jays also added that infielder Andy Burns has been recalled for the final few games of the season as well.

The roster moves were necessitated by a pair of injuries sustained by Joaquin Benoit and Devon Travis in last night’s benches-clearing brawl. The scrum, seemingly, could have been entirely avoided, but the Blue Jays will now be without one of their top setup men for the remainder of the season and the duration of the postseason (assuming they advance into at least the Wild Card game), as Benoit has been diagnosed with a torn calf muscle. Travis, meanwhile, is day to day with a shoulder injury.

Beyond that, the Jays have had to make a 40-man roster move sooner than they may have preferred, though Dragmire’s spot was already in jeopardy following a rocky 2016 season at the Double-A level. In 72 innings with Toronto’s affiliate in New Hampshire, Dragmire logged a 4.38 ERA with 5.1 K/9 against 3.5 BB/9. He did post an excellent 63.6 percent ground-ball rate, though, and he won’t turn 24 until February, so there’s some reason for optimism.

Smith, meanwhile, joins Toronto after posting a 1.93 ERA with 12.0 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in 60 2/3 innings between the Jays’ Double-A and Triple-A affiliates. He’s been with the Blue Jays since 2015 and, prior to that, spent the 2014-15 seasons in the Yankees organization. Smith was an undrafted free agent who cut his teeth in the independent Frontier League and overseas in the Australian Baseball League before eventually signing with the Yankees. If he enters a game for Toronto, he’ll be making his big league debut after a lengthy and unique journey to the game’s top level.

Steven Matz To Undergo Surgery To Remove Bone Spur From Elbow

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Steven Matz’s season is over, as Newsday’s Marc Carig reports that the excellent Mets left-hander will undergo surgery to remove the bone spur in his left elbow that has been plaguing him for the majority of the summer (Twitter link). Carig does tweet that Matz won’t require surgery to address the shoulder issue that has also been bothering him for the past couple of months, though that’s a small silver lining for Mets fans who were hoping that Matz could potentially return to the club in some capacity during the postseason.

While Matz, 25, announced his presence in the Majors last summer with an excellent debut, he didn’t pitch enough innings for his rookie status to expire. The 2016 campaign has technically been his rookie year, and it’ll come to a close with a 3.40 earned run average and a 129-to-31 K/BB ratio that was compiled over the life of 132 1/3 innings out of the New York rotation. Matz becomes the third Mets starer to require season-ending surgery, joining rotation-mates Matt Harvey (thoracic outlet syndrome) and Jacob deGrom (ulnar nerve in right elbow) in that category. Meanwhile, right-hander Zack Wheeler was never able to return to a Major League mound this season after suffering setbacks in his recovery from Tommy John surgery last spring.

If the Mets are able to hang onto the Wild Card spot they currently possess, they’ll likely turn to Noah Syndergaard in said Wild Card matchup and, if they make it past that point, entrust Bartolo Colon and one of their young right-handers — Seth Lugo or Robert Gsellman — to fill out the rotation in the National League Division Series.

Wilson Ramos Diagnosed With Torn ACL

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Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos has received the devastating news that he has again torn his right ACL, manager Dusty Baker told reporters (via CSN Mid-Atlantic, on Twitter). Ramos previously suffered that injury — which isn’t exactly typical for a catcher — back in 2012.

With just a week left in the regular season, and the division already locked up, the Nationals now face a void at the catching position entering the postseason. Ramos’s huge season — a .307/.354/.496 slash with 22 home runs over 523 plate appearances — was among the factors that helped drive the Nats’ success this year after both player and team disappointed in 2015.

Of course, the injury also casts a massive shadow over Ramos’s upcoming free agency. It had seemed all but certain that he’d receive and decline a qualifying offer, then enter the market in search of four or five years at over $10MM per season. Instead, in all likelihood, he’ll now likely be looking for an entirely different sort of contract.

Washington had reportedly just taken a crack at extending Ramos, though the team’s reported offer (something a bit north of three years and $30MM) didn’t seem all that likely to result in a deal. As I noted in that post, Ramos had already taken on basically all of the risk of performance and injury decline, reducing his incentive to sell his future seasons at a discount. But the relatively meager odds didn’t prevent the catastrophic injury, which is all the more concerning given that Ramos has already had that ligament replaced.

The Nats will go with Jose Lobaton and Pedro Severino for now, and will simply have to make do with that pair for the playoffs. It’s now certain that the organization will need to replace Ramos after the season — there would seem to be little chance that he’ll be ready for the start of 2017 — though it could also sign a gap-filler and explore some kind of multi-year arrangement to keep him around for the future.

Just how things will play out remains unknown, with Ramos’s anticipated timeline still yet to be determined. The repeat nature of the surgery likely increases the uncertainty surrounding his recovery, and the situation as a whole only adds to concerns about how the large-bodied receiver would age, particularly with the litany of leg injuries he has suffered.

On the positive side, “the Buffalo” — as he is affectionately and appropriately known — just turned 29 in early August, so he’s still rather youthful. He has already proved capable of working back from an ACL tear, and has held up to an immense amount of abuse before this hard-luck injury, appearing in 259 games since the start of 2015.

All said, it’s extremely disappointing to see such misfortune for a universally respected player who has already been through so much. Hope remains that he’ll be able to return to being a productive big league receiver, but it won’t be in 2016.

The injury also creates some added opportunity for other catchers on the free agent market, such as Matt Wieters and Jason Castro, who may see their demand increase. And it could shift the trade winds, potentially enhancing the Yankees’ bargaining position with veteran Brian McCann and adding to the appeal of struggling Padres receiver Derek Norris.

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