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Cardinals Notes: Wainwright, Mikolas, Martinez

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The Cardinals are off to a solid start to the year, though the NL Central is shaping up to be quite the battleground in 2018. Maintaining health throughout the season could end up being a major factor in deciding the division race. The long view is what motivated Cards righty Adam Wainwright to go on the DL at this point, as MLB.com’s Joe Trezza reports. His elbow has flared up a bit, though the 36-year-old suggested he’s confident that he’ll be able to return in relatively short order. The hope is that some rest and minor mechanical tweaks will allow Wainwright to take most of his scheduled starts in the final season of his contract. Of course, even if the veteran hurler is down longer than expected, the team has plenty of options, as Ben Frederickson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch explores.

Here’s more from St. Louis:

  • Another key hurler for the Cardinals, recent signee Miles Mikolas, has thrown well upon his return to the majors. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch documents some of the ways in which Mikolas has thrived. In particular, he has been one of the most efficient starters in all of baseball, due in no small part to the fact that he has issued just a pair of walks in 26 innings. Goold traces this element of Mikolas’s game back to his successful stint in Japan, during which he gained mental and physical control of his pitching. It’s early, to be sure, but the two-year, $15.5MM pact Mikolas signed over the winter has looked like a bargain.
  • Cardinals fans will also want to check out two other recent pieces from the Post-Dispatch on the team’s pitching staff. Jose de Jesus Ortiz offers a look at staff ace Carlos Martinez, who says he believes he is pitching better than ever. That the 26-year-old has found another gear is certainly a scary thought for the rest of the league. And Goold examines the intriguing case of Bud Norris, who is now closing out games and sporting a career-high 15.3% swinging-strike rate. It’s a worthwhile read that goes well beyond the field of play.
  • On the position-player side, the Cards appear to have unearthed another hidden gem in first baseman Jose Martinez. The late-blooming 29-year-old has done nothing but hit in the majors and is off to a .329/.409/.526 start to the current campaign. Trezza penned an interesting look at Martinez’s unlikely path to the majors. The St. Louis scouting department and front office aptly identified and targeted the burly slugger, eventually snagging him from the cross-state rival Royals. Of course, the results have outstripped even the most optimistic expectations. “We were confident he could be a good right-handed hitter off the bench,” says Cardinals GM Mike Girsch. “That’s what we thought we were getting. Since then, he’s been raking.” While he’s currently performing like a mid-prime star, Martinez won’t even reach arbitration eligibility until 2020.

Reds Release Barrett Astin

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The Reds announced that they have released right-hander Barrett Astin. He had been outrighted off of the 40-man roster last fall.

The 26-year-old Astin is a former third-round pick who landed in Cincinnati as the player to be named later in the 2014 swap that sent Jonathan Broxton to the Brewers. Astin cracked the majors last year, but issued seven walks while recording only two strikeouts in his eight innings of action.

Though he had a promising season at Double-A in 2016, Astin has largely struggled at the highest level of the minors. He carries a 5.91 ERA in 56 1/3 total innings for Triple-A Louisville and has surrendered over a dozen base hits per regulation game along with 7.8 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9.

Yankees Acquire A.J. Cole, Designate David Hale

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The Yankees have acquired righty A.J. Cole from the Nationals, per club announcements. Cash considerations will go to the Washington organization in return. To clear a roster spot, the Yankees designated fellow right-hander David Hale for assignment.

Cole, 26, had recently been designated by the Nats after a poor start to the current season. Originally a fourth-round pick, he was a part of two notable trades swung by the organization, first going to the Athletics in the Gio Gonzalez swap and then returning to D.C. (along with Blake Treinen and Ian Krol) in the three-team arrangement in which the Nationals sent Michael Morse to the Mariners and the A’s picked up John Jaso.

Entering the season, the Nationals planned to utilize Cole as their fifth starter. But he struggled in two turns through the rotation, leading the club to bump him to the pen in favor of Jeremy Hellickson. Cole ultimately made two relief appearances but failed to show signs of improvement. In his 10 1/3 innings on the season, he has allowed 15 earned runs and six home runs while compiling ten strikeouts against six walks.

Cole is out of options, so he’ll go directly onto the Yankees’ MLB roster, where he could work as a longman from the bullpen. He’ll replace Hale, who threw two scoreless innings tonight for the Yanks but had opened the year at Triple-A. In his three starts there, he worked to a 5.52 ERA with a 10:2 K/BB ratio in 14 2/3 innings. He has not seen the majors since 2016; in parts of four seasons in the bigs, Hale owns a 4.48 ERA over 178 2/3 frames.

Indians To Sign Melky Cabrera

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The Indians have reportedly agreed to a minor-league deal with veteran outfielder Melky Cabrera. Tenchy Rodriguez of ESPN Deportes Radio first tweeted the news.

Cabrera, 33, went unsigned over the just-completed offseason after a poor finish to his 2017 campaign with the Royals. But he had been an above-average offensive performer in the first half of the season and ended with an overall .285/.324/.423 slash line and 17 home runs for the year.

The switch-hitting Cabrera has turned in quality output at times with the bat, with approximately equal success against both left- and right-handed pitching, though he has rarely strung together good seasons in succession. In his thirteen total seasons at the game’s highest level, he carries a cumulative .286/.335/.418 batting line with 131 home runs. Cabrera has never been regarded highly for his glovework, though, and has also graded poorly on the bases in recent seasons.

Despite the inconsistencies, Cabrera’s most recent contract prior to this one paid him rather handsomely. On the heels of a quality 2014 effort with the Blue Jays, he inked a three-year, $42MM deal with the White Sox.

For the Indians, there’s little risk in giving Cabrera a shot at rediscovering his offensive form. While the club is pacing the AL Central, they have just three players currently sporting above-average overall work at the plate. Cabrera could provide an option as a DH or in the corner outfield, though he’ll surely need some time ramping up before he’ll be ready to join the MLB roster.

Phillies To Sign Trevor Plouffe

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The Phillies have struck a minor-league deal with veteran third baseman Trevor Plouffe, according to Gerry Fraley of the Dallas Morning News (via Twitter). (H/t to Eric English, who first tweeted the connection.)

Details are sparse beyond the fact that it is a minors arrangement. Plouffe spent the spring in camp with the Rangers but ultimately asked for his release after failing to crack the MLB roster.

The 31-year-old Plouffe returned to the open market in search of an opportunity to earn his way back to the majors. He has at times been a solid regular at the hot corner, and carries a .242/.304/.410 slash with more than a hundred long balls in over three thousand MLB plate appearances in eight seasons. Now, though, Plouffe is coming off of a brutal 2017 season in which he hit just .2198/.272/.318 over 313 trips to the plate.

It seems likely that Plouffe will mostly be viewed as a depth piece for the Phils. The club already has Maikel Franco lined up at third base and does not appear to have a clear use for a corner infield reserve on the major-league roster as things stand.

Rockies Place Chris Rusin On 10-Day DL, Move Carlos Estevez To 60-Day DL

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The Rockies have announced a trio of pitching moves. Southpaw Chris Rusin will head to the 10-day DL with an intercostal strain, with fellow southpaw Harrison Musgrave replacing him on the active roster.

Bringing up Musgrave meant opening a 40-man spot, which the Rox accomplished by shifting reliever Carlos Estevez to the 60-day DL. He opened the year on the 10-day list owing to an oblique issue, but is now said to be dealing with an elbow strain. The team says Estevez is not at risk of requiring Tommy John surgery, Nick Groke of The Athletic tweets, though he’ll now have to sit for at least the first two months of the current campaign.

Rusin, 31, has been a huge asset for the Colorado pen over the past two seasons. The converted starter has consistently given good innings — often, more than one at a time — after having failed to stick in the rotation. Since a rough first outing, Rusin has been effective. His fastball velocity has been in line with prior seasons and he was generating grounders and swinging strikes at rates generally commensurate with his recent work.

While the Rockies wait for their longman to return, they’ll get a look at a 26-year-old lefty who has yet to reach the game’s highest level. Musgrave has spent the past couple seasons in the upper minors, where he has worked exclusively as a starter. He’s carrying a 3.38 ERA with ten strikeouts and two walks in his 10 2/3 innings at Triple-A Albuquerque thus far in 2018.

Dodgers Designate Wilmer Font

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The Dodgers have designated right-hander Wilmer Font for assignment, per a club announcement. His roster spot will go to top prospect Walker Buehler, whose promotion — to make his first-ever MLB start — was previously reported.

Font, who’ll soon turn 28, received his first real shot at the majors to open the 2018 season. The results, however, just haven’t been there, as he has surrendered 13 earned runs in 10 1/3 innings.

There’s just one walk — of the intentional variety — on Font’s stat line, so he’s been in the zone. But he has also coughed up 18 base hits, five of which have left the yard, and generated soft contact on just one of every ten balls put in play against him.

Despite the struggles, it would not be surprising to see another organization roll the dice on the out-of-options Font. After all, he turned in an impressive 2017 effort at Triple-A. In 134 1/3 innings spread over 25 starts last year at the highest level of the minors, Font worked to a 3.42 ERA with even more impressive peripherals (including 11.9 K/9 against just 2.3 BB/9).

Braves Expect To Utilize Jose Bautista As Starting Third Baseman

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Braves skipper Brian Snitker says the organization expects to install veteran Jose Bautista as the regular at third base once he’s brought up to the majors, Gabriel Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Bautista signed a minors deal recently after sitting out Spring Training, so he’s still getting up to full speed.

At the moment, Bautista is playing at Triple-A after logging a few games down at the High-A level. Snitker says that he’s told Bautista is “close,” so it may not be long before we get a look at the veteran at the game’s highest level. Indeed, last we heard, the expectation was that the former Blue Jay would be playing in the majors by early May at the latest.

The decision to use Bautista in a starting capacity will bump Ryan Flaherty into a platoon role. He’ll surely get some opportunities to spell Bautista against righties, and perhaps will receive some time up the middle, but the news certainly will put a big dent in Flaherty’s playing time. The 31-year-old has been among the pleasant surprises in Atlanta; he’s carrying a .362/.471/.500 slash through seventy plate appearances.

Last year, under different front-office leadership, the Braves attempted an even more novel maneuver at third by slotting Freddie Freeman there after he returned from a lengthy DL stint. That experiment didn’t last long. In this case, though, new GM Alex Anthopoulos says that he has long believed Bautista can handle the hot corner. And Snitker says there are “nothing but good reports” streaming in at the moment.

There are obviously some questions about how Bautista will perform at 37 years of age, coming off of a season in which he hit just .203/.308/.366 while playing his accustomed corner outfield. But there’s upside aplenty here for the Braves and relatively little to lose by trying. Bautista is not far removed from being one of the game’s preeminent hitters and could be quite a valuable asset if he can bounce back at the plate and deliver even palatable glovework at third.

Blake Wood Diagnosed With Elbow Impingement

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Angels righty Blake Wood has been diagnosed with an impingement in his pitching elbow, Jeff Fletcher of the Southern California News Group was among those to report on Twitter. Wood is heading to the 10-day DL.

Fellow righty Justin Anderson receiving his first call to the majors to take the open roster spot. The team had an open 40-man spot to accommodate the selection of his contract. Another right-handed reliever, Eduardo Paredes, is also heading back to the majors after some time on optional assignment.

The Halos added Wood late in the 2017 season and then agreed to an arbitration contract with him just before the tender deadline. He’s earning $1.45MM for the 2018 season.

Details of the injury aren’t yet known, but this sort of malady typically sidelines a pitcher for a fairly substantial stretch of time. To take but one recent example — which may or may no be of much predictive value — the Dodgers shut down Alex Wood for about a month when he was diagnosed with an elbow impingement back in 2016.

Wood, 32, has given the Angels 11 2/3 innings of 2.31 ERA ball thus far. While he has only managed 7.7 K/9 against 5.4 BB/9, he’s sporting a fairly typical 10.0% swinging-strike rate and 96 mph average fastball. Wood has also generated groundballs at an excellent 58.6% rate in the early going.

While the Angels would surely rather continue trotting Wood out there, turning to Anderson represents an interesting alternative. The 25-year-old has opened eyes in the upper minors after a strong showing in camp. Through 8 2/3 innings at the Double-A and Triple-A thus far in the regular season, he has racked up a 14:2 K/BB ratio while allowing just two hits and no earned runs. That’s certainly an intriguing development for a pitcher who, entering the season, had averaged less than seven strikeouts per nine as a professional.

Brewers Outright Alec Asher

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Right-hander Alec Asher has cleared waivers and been assigned outright to Triple-A Colorado Springs after being designated for assignment last week, as first reflected on the MLB.com Transactions page. He’ll remain with the organization and hope to pitch his way into consideration for a look in the Majors later this season.

The 26-year-old Asher has appeared in 36 big league games over the past three seasons, 18 of them starts, splitting his time between the Phillies (2015-16) and Orioles (2017). Baltimore designated him for assignment when setting its Opening Day roster, and was claimed by the Dodgers and then the Brewers before ultimately clearing the third time he was attempted to be put through waivers.

Last year with the Orioles, Asher totaled 60 innings with a 47-to-23 K/BB and 5.25 ERA. While the righty demonstrated an ability to pitch out of both the rotation and bullpen in multi-inning stints, he also served up 10 homers in last year’s 60 frames. He’ll head to Triple-A with a 3.74 ERA, 6.3 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 in 173 1/3 innings of work at that level (including a brief three-inning appearance with the Dodgers this year).

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