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Koji Uehara Retires

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Veteran reliever Koji Uehara has retired, Jim Allen of the Kyodo News reports. The 44-year-old Uehara last pitched in the majors in 2017, after which he returned to his native Japan to join the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball. It proved to be a full-circle move by Uehara, who began and ended his career with Yomiuri.

Uehara was often dominant as a starter for Yomiuri from 1999-2006 before mostly working out of the Giants’ bullpen from 2007-08. The right-hander then headed to the majors in 2009 when he signed a two-year, $10MM contract with the Orioles, who initially deployed him as a starter.

Uehara transitioned to the Orioles’ bullpen in 2010 and began a lengthy run as one of the majors’ most effective relievers. During a six-season, 324-inning span from 2010-15, Uehara’s pristine command helped him place first among relievers in two key categories – BB/9 (1.19) and K/BB ratio (9.56) – as well as seventh in ERA (2.08) and 19th in K/9 (11.42).

While Uehara’s major league excellence began with Baltimore, his tenure there was short-lived. The club traded him to the Rangers in July 2011 for reliever Tommy Hunter and a then-unproven slugger named Chris Davis, who later became the highest-paid Oriole ever and remains with the franchise today. Meanwhile, Texas clinched playoff berths in both of Uehara’s seasons with the team and won the American League the year it acquired him, though it wound up losing a classic seven-game World Series to the Cardinals.

Uehara returned to the World Series in 2013 with the Red Sox, who inked him to a one-year, $4.25MM contract prior to the season. It’s safe to say that deal ranks among the wisest the Red Sox have ever doled out, as it began a fruitful four-year union between the sides. Uehara was never greater than during his first year in Boston, where he logged 74 1/3 regular-season innings of 1.09 ERA ball and 12.23 K/9 against 1.09 BB/9. That brilliance carried into the playoffs, where Uehara earned ALCS MVP honors after combining for six shutout innings in a six-game victory over the Tigers. Uehara then totaled another 4 2/3 scoreless frames during the Red Sox’s World Series triumph over the Cardinals, whom he closed out in Game 6.

Although Uehara was never part of another title-winning team, he remained a quality reliever throughout his major league career – which concluded with a one-year stint with the Cubs. Across Baltimore, Texas, Boston and Chicago, the one-time All-Star produced 480 2/3 innings of 2.66 ERA ball with 10.7 K/9, 1.5 BB/9 and 95 saves, leading to upward of $50MM in earnings.

As great as Uehara was in the majors, he’s even more accomplished in his homeland. Uehara registered a 3.02 ERA and a 112-67 record over 312 appearances and 205 starts with Yomiuri, where he earned a slew of personal and team awards. MLBTR congratulates Uehara on two outstanding decades in pro baseball and wishes him the best moving forward.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Latest On Dallas Keuchel, Padres

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Although the Padres are looking for starting pitching help, it “doesn’t appear” they have interest in free-agent left-hander Dallas Keuchel at this time, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com writes.

A match between the Padres and Keuchel looked like a possibility on multiple occasions during the offseason, though reports indicated a union was improbable. However, at those points of the winter, few would have expected Keuchel to remain without a team nearly two full months into the current campaign. Odds are Keuchel will have to wait at least a couple more weeks to sign, as it wouldn’t make much sense at this juncture for a team to ink the 31-year-old before the June 3 draft. Because Keuchel rejected a qualifying offer from the Astros, a club that inks him prior to the draft would have to surrender a pick. The former AL Cy Young winner will be free of that burden soon, however, which could finally end the staring contest between him and teams in need of starting pitching.

It’s no secret the Padres want to bolster their own rotation, but if they don’t have a change of heart on Keuchel, any noteworthy addition will have to come via trade.  Dating back to the offseason, reports have tied the Padres to several controllable hurlers – most recently the Indians’ Trevor Bauer – though their attempt at going big-game hunting for a starter hasn’t yielded anything yet.

The Padres’ unsuccessful pursuits on the trade front have left them with a youth-laden rotation that has been a mixed bag this season. Chris Paddack, Matt Strahm and Joey Lucchesi have held their own (though San Diego’s monitoring the workloads of Paddack and Strahm), while Eric Lauer and the just-demoted Nick Margevicius have had difficulty preventing runs. The team called on Cal Quantrill to take over Margevicius’ vacated rotation spot Sunday, but he struggled during a loss to the Pirates.

Poll: Anthony Rendon’s Future

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Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon has been among the majors’ most valuable players since his first full season, 2014, having recorded the league’s eighth-highest fWAR (26.4). The 28-year-old is now enjoying another magnificent campaign, one that may end with career-best offensive numbers, as he has slashed .331/.416/.669 (181 wRC+) with eight home runs in 137 plate appearances. At 19-27, the Nationals haven’t been able to capitalize on Rendon’s excellence this season – nor have they even won a playoff series during his career – and time may be running out for the club to take advantage of his presence.

Rendon is one of the game’s premier impending free agents, a player who’s likely on a collision course with a nine-figure payday over the next few months, and is far from certain to remain in Washington. Rendon has expressed interest in continuing with the Nationals, who have made an effort to extend him, but the team hasn’t been able to close the gap with the Boras Corporation client thus far. With Rendon still not under contract beyond this season and the July 31 trade deadline inching closer, the Nationals may have to decide soon whether to keep the homegrown star or deal him.

If the Nationals rebound from their shaky start and emerge as contenders over the next two months, chances are they won’t consider moving an unsigned Rendon. Otherwise, should the Nats’ woes continue, general manager Mike Rizzo could think about parting with him. The executive was in a similar position last year with Bryce Harper, whom he elected not to give up during the summer even though Washington was treading water and the outfielder was approaching free agency. Rizzo spurned interest from the Astros, Indians and Dodgers (and perhaps other unreported teams), in part because he wanted to continue working toward a long-term deal with Harper. In the end, though, the Nationals neither prevented Harper from testing the market – where he secured the largest contract ever for a free agent (13 years, $330MM) – nor exiting D.C.

Harper joined the division-rival Phillies this past offseason and all the Nationals got for their trouble was a draft pick after the fourth round, given that they exceeded the luxury tax in 2018 and he rejected their qualifying offer. This time, if the Nationals retain Rendon through the season and he walks in free agency in lieu of accepting a QO, they’re likely to receive a more appealing pick (a selection after Competitive Balance Round B). While the Nationals are only $3MM-plus under the $206MM tax threshold, ownership does not want to surpass that mark this season.

Whether draft compensation for Rendon’s departure would be worth more than the package the Nats would acquire for him in a trade is something Rizzo will have to determine. But it’s possible Rendon would be to this season’s deadline what Manny Machado was to last year’s. Machado’s then-team, the Orioles, oversaw a bidding war for the impending free agent and wound up accepting an offer of five young players from the Dodgers. Ideally for the Nationals, they’ll do what the Orioles couldn’t and lock up their top position player in advance of the deadline. If not, though, Rizzo may have an important choice to make by then.

(Poll link for app users)

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Giolito, Harper, Yordan, Mets, German

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This week in baseball blogs…

Submissions: ZachBBWI @gmail.com

Jose Leclerc “Real Close” To Regaining Closer Role

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Rangers right-hander Jose Leclerc lost his spot as the team’s closer May 1, but he’s already “real close” to getting the job back, manager Chris Woodward said Sunday (via Jeff Wilson of the Star-Telegram). Woodward made that comment in the wake of a win over the Cardinals, albeit one in which fill-in closer Chris Martin blew a save.

Save situations have been a rare occurrence for Texas since it removed Leclerc as its game-ending option. Martin has converted one of the two chances he has received, while Shawn Kelley – who’s recovering from throat surgery and hasn’t pitched since May 4 – made good on the team’s other opportunity. Meantime, Leclerc has been brilliant since the Rangers demoted him. Over eight innings and six appearances this month, the flamethrowing 28-year-old has allowed one earned run on one hit with 15 strikeouts against four walks. Leclerc was utterly dominant in Sunday’s game, during which he fanned five and generated six swinging strikes in a pair of perfect frames.

Lecler’s output this month even outdoes the incredible production he posted in 2018, a breakout season in which he logged 57 2/3 innings of 1.56 ERA/1.90 FIP ball with 13.27 K/9 against 3.9 BB/9. Those numbers helped convince the Rangers to award Leclerc a four-year, $14.75MM contract extension shortly before the current season began. Thanks to his slow start, Leclerc has only managed a 5.30 ERA/3.96 FIP with 13.98 K/9 and 6.27 BB/9 through 18 2/3 innings in 2019, but it appears he’s returning to form and living up to the payday Texas handed him.

Travis Shaw Nearing Rehab Assignment

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Injured Brewers third baseman Travis Shaw is slated to begin a rehab assignment Wednesday, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com reports. Shaw has been on the injured list since May 14 because of a wrist issue.

Shaw’s injury led to the promotion of highly touted second base prospect Keston Hiura, who hasn’t gotten off to a dazzling start but did post a two-hit game with his first career home run in a win over the Braves on Sunday. Hiura’s already just three homers short of Shaw, a key Brewers contributor from 2017-18 who has come out of the gates slowly this year. So far, Shaw’s slashing a paltry .163/.266/.281 with four HRs in 154 plate appearances. After combining for 7.1 fWAR over the previous two seasons, Shaw has recorded minus-0.8 in that category to rank second to last among position players in 2019. He’s also second from the bottom in wRC+ (46), which is a far cry from the 119 mark he registered from 2017-18.

While Shaw’s batting average on balls in play is an ultra-low .222, poor fortune’s certainly not the sole reason for his horrid numbers. Looking under the hood, alarming trends abound. Shaw’s running a career-worst strikeout rate (32.5 percent, up from 18.4 last season), a .119 ISO that comes up 120 points shy of the figure he recorded during the past two seasons, a skyrocketing swinging-strike rate (14.4 percent, compared to 8.2 in 2018) and a plummeting contact rate (67.7 percent, down from a personal-best 81.4 percent last season).

Although the 29-year-old Shaw was a vital cog in Milwaukee during his first two years in the organization, the Brew Crew could relegate him to the bench if he doesn’t rebound upon returning from the IL. Veteran third baseman Mike Moustakas opened the season at second base to accommodate Shaw, whom he has easily outproduced, and now the presence of Hiura has sent Moustakas back to the hot corner.

Injury Notes: Astros, Puig, Yankees, Rosenthal

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Astros second baseman Jose Altuve is eligible to return from the 10-day injured list Tuesday, but that won’t happen, according to Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle. Instead, Altuve – who has been on the IL with a strained left hamstring since May 11 – will embark on a rehab assignment in the coming days. Altuve’s injury forced the Astros to turn to Aledmys Diaz at second, which worked out initially during a Diaz hot streak, but the latter has been dealing with his own hamstring strain since Friday. Fortunately for Houston, Diaz could return early in the upcoming week, per Rome.

  • Continuing with the Astros, outfielder George Springer left the team’s game Sunday with lower back stiffness, according to Rome. Astros doctors will examine Springer on Monday. In the meantime, all the Astros can do is hope Springer won’t miss any time. The 29-year-old has already posted 2.9 fWAR, the same total he accrued in 140 games last season, on the strength of a .313/.396/.654 line (179 wRC+) with an American League-leading 17 home runs.
  • Reds outfielder Yasiel Puig is hoping to avoid an IL stint after suffering a sprained right shoulder Sunday, Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer writes. Puig incurred the injury against his former team, the Dodgers, on a leaping catch, though he doesn’t think it’ll lead to an absence from Cincinnati’s lineup. Regardless, Puig’s off to a rocky start in his first season outside of Los Angeles, having hit .206/.253/.358 (58 wRC+) in 178 plate appearances.
  • There were concerns over banged-up Yankees starters James Paxton and Masahiro Tanaka on Saturday, but both are making good progress, Sarah Langs of MLB.com explains. The same holds true for reliever Dellin Betances, who hasn’t pitched this season because of a bone spur in his right shoulder.
  • Nationals reliever Trevor Rosenthal is close to returning to the majors, manager Dave Martinez told Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post and other reporters Sunday. Rosenthal went to the IL on April 26 with a viral infection, which came on the heels of an embarrassing start to the season for the former Cardinals closer. The 28-year-old Rosenthal didn’t record an out until April 10, his fifth appearance of the season, and has allowed 12 earned runs on seven hits and nine walks (against three strikeouts) in three innings.

White Sox Option Nick Delmonico

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The White Sox have optioned outfielder Nicky Delmonico to Triple-A Charlotte, tweets James Fegan of The Athletic. While a corresponding move will be made official tomorrow, it’s expected that rookie outfielder Eloy Jimenez will be activated ahead of the series opener versus Houston.

Delmonico has scuffled out of the gates this season, posting a disappointing .586 OPS in 20 games for the White Sox. Following a promising rookie season in which a 13.9% walk rate carried him to a .373 OBP, Delmonico’s plate disciplined has trended steadily downward, culminating in a 6.3% walk rate that has fueled a .281 OBP in 2019. What’s worse, the 26-year-old’s strikeouts have moved in the opposite direction, with 35.9% of Delmonico’s 2019 plate appearances ending in strikeouts, compared to just 18.7% in 2017. Of course, the hope is that a stint in the minor leagues will allow the young outfielder ample opportunity to reverse these troubling developments and make the necessary adjustments to return to the big league club.

Assuming that Jimenez takes Delmonico’s place on the active roster, it will mark his first appearance since April 26, when he suffered a high ankle sprain. The highly-touted rookie has thus far experienced a mixed bag of results in the Majors, with a .674 OPS and 25 strikeouts in 85 plate appearances.

Quick Hits: Clevinger, Rays, Rangers, Kelley, Phillies, Quinn

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In a promising development for the injury-stricken Indians, right-hander Mike Clevinger is steadily progressing towards beginning a rehab assignment, writes Mandy Bell of MLB.com. Clevinger, who was able to make just two starts before landing on the injured list with a strained back, has thrown a couple of bullpen sessions, and will build up his workload in subsequent sessions before embarking on a minor league assignment, which should come in the near future. Expect Clevinger to conduct a few more bullpen sessions to increase his pitch count before returning to game action in the minor leagues. Certainly, the news should inspire some optimism among Cleveland faithful, for whom the presence of the intense Clevinger on the mound will be especially comforting, considering the team’s unfortunate struggles with injuries to Corey Kluber and Danny Salazar. As Bell notes, June 7 marks the earliest date that Clevinger could be activated.

Here are the latest tidbits from the baseball world…

  • The Rays will deploy minor-league infielder Jake Cronenworth as a two-way player moving forward, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Cronenworth was used as the “opener” yesterday for Triple-A Durham, reportedly flashing a fastball at 94-96 miles per hour. The 25-year-old, a 7th-round selection of the Rays in 2015, pitched at the University of Michigan. It bears mentioning that Cronenworth has been plenty successful with the bat in 2019, slashing a cool .367/.460/.511 in 37 Triple-A games this season. This, of course, marks latest experiment for the innovative Rays, who also feature high-profile two-way player Brendan McKay in their farm system.
  • Rangers reliever Shawn Kelley, who Thursday underwent a procedure to remove lumps from his throat, is back throwing live batting practice, tweets Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, who further notes that Kelley could even be activated as early as Monday. Kelley last appeared from the Rangers on May 4, and was subsequently placed on the IL with an infection, though it was unclear just what Kelley was dealing with. Of course, the Rangers will breathe a sigh of relief as they hope to welcome back Kelley, who has been one of the club’s most productive relievers.
  • Phillies outfielder Roman Quinn, currently on the injured list recovering from a strained groin, will hit exclusively from the right side when he returns to action, notes Matt Gelb of The Athletic (subscription required). Quinn, a natural righty, began hitting from both sides at the beginning of his professional career per the Phillies’ request, but injuries have stunted his development as a switch-hitter. As a result, he has informed manager Gabe Kapler that he will bat only as a righty, where Quinn has enjoyed considerably stronger platoon splits, upon his return from the injured list.

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