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Angels Select Phil Gosselin, Designate Scott Schebler

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The Angels have selected the contract of infielder Phil Gosselin and designated outfielder Scott Schebler for assignment, per a team announcement.

This is now the ninth straight season in the bigs for Gosselin, whom the Angels signed to a minor league contract over the winter. The 32-year-old has appeared in the majors with six teams, most recently the Phillies, and put together a .261/.314/.361 line in 749 plate appearances. Gosselin has experience at several positions, including third base, where he’ll start for the Angels on Tuesday. Starter Anthony Rendon will sit because of a knee contusion.

Schebler, another of the Angels’ offseason minor league additions, had his contract selected in mid-April. The two-time 30-home run hitter has failed to impress since then, however, with a mere four hits (three doubles and a single) in 27 plate appearances. Schebler struck out 11 times while recording no walks during that span.

Health Notes: Ohtani, Mondesi, Graterol, Mikolas, D-backs,

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Right-hander Shohei Ohtani was supposed to take the mound for the Angels in their game against the Rays on Monday, but the team scratched him in favor of lefty Jose Quintana because of elbow soreness. Ohtani swas hit by pitch on Sunday, and manager Joe Maddon told reporters (including Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times) that he’s now “too sore to throw.” However, there’s still a chance he’ll start sometime during this four-game set versus Tampa Bay. Even if that doesn’t happen, Ohtani feels well enough to hit, so the DH will continue making an offensive impact. Ohtani has only made three starts and pitched 13 2/3 innings this season, but he has overcome control problems (13 walks) to log a 3.29 ERA with 23 strikeouts and a 62.5 percent groundball percentage. He has complemented his pitching performance with a power-packed .270/.318/.620 line, eight homers and six stolen bases over 107 plate appearances as a hitter.

  • Royals shortstop Adalberto Mondesi will start doing pregame work with the team this week and could begin a rehab assignment next week, per general manager Dayton Moore (via Anne Rogers of MLB.com). The Royals have gone all season without Mondesi, the reigning stolen base champion who strained his right oblique during the spring. Despite Mondesi’s absence, the Royals entered Monday with a surprising 16-10 record – the best mark in the majors. Nicky Lopez has filled in capably for Mondesi during KC’s fast start.
  • Dodgers reliever Brusdar Graterol will undergo an MRI on his ailing right forearm Tuesday, Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times tweets. The team placed Graterol on the IL last Thursday with forearm tightness – a rather ominous-sounding injury for someone who underwent Tommy John surgery in the past – and the 22-year-old hasn’t resumed throwing since then, according to Castillo. The Dodgers lost another of their promising young hurlers, righty starter Dustin May, to the dreaded TJ diagnosis on Monday.
  • Cardinals righty Miles Mikolas will make a rehab start with Triple-A Memphis this week, and he’ll “likely” go four innings, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat writes. Mikolas hasn’t pitched in the majors this year because of shoulder problems, after he sat out all of last season on account of flexor tendon surgery. His most recent MLB outing occurred Oct. 11, 2019.
  • The Diamondbacks have reinstated first baseman Christian Walker and outfielder Tim Locastro from the IL, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic tweets. The club optioned outfielder Nick Heath and infielder Andrew Young in corresponding moves. The Diamondbacks have been without Walker since April 12 because of a right oblique strain, while Locastro suffered a dislocated finger April 17. Walker had a rough go early on with a .179/.250/.282 line and one homer in 44 trips to the plate. Locastro, meantime, took 58 PA last month and batted .269/.345/.327 with an HR and three steals.

COVID Notes: 5/3/21

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The latest cronavirus updates from around the majors…

  • The Angels announced that they have placed right-hander Mike Mayers on the injured list and recalled lefty Patrick Sandoval. No reason was given for Mayers’ IL placement, but the team expects him to return in the next few days, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register was among those to report. That information implies Mayers’ absence is related to COVID-19. The 29-year-old Mayers broke out as part of the Angels’ bullpen in 2020 and has continued his effectiveness this season with 14 1/3 innings of 2.51 ERA/3.63 SIERA pitching and 18 strikeouts against six walks.

Los Angeles Notes: Ohtani, Watson, Gonsolin, Price, Gray, Morrow

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Shohei Ohtani’s scheduled start against the Rays on Monday is now up in the air after he was hit on the right elbow by a pitch during his first plate appearances in today’s 2-0 Angels loss to the Mariners.  Ohtani stayed in the lineup for the remainder of the game, and in fact stole two bases after being plunked.  Angels manager Joe Maddon told reporters (including MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger) that Ohtani “was sore, but he kept telling me he was feeling better game-in-progress.”

All options seem to be on the table for Monday, whether that means Ohtani is scratched from the lineup altogether, or perhaps only pitches or only acts as the designated hitter, or if he feels fine and fills both roles as originally planned.  Surely the Halos aren’t going to take any unnecessary risks with such an important player, particularly one enjoying as special of a season as Ohtani’s ongoing campaign.  He is hitting .263/.311/.606 with eight homers (and six steals from seven chances, to boot) over 106 plate appearances, while also posting a 3.29 ERA/4.52 SIERA and 37.1% strikeout rate, albeit with a very troubling 21% walk rate.

More from both the Angels and Dodgers….

  • Tony Watson was placed on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to April 29) due to a left calf strain, the Angels announced prior to today’s game.  Right-hander James Hoyt was called up from the alternate training site to take Watson’s roster spot.  After opting out of a minor league deal with the Phillies near the end of Spring Training, Watson inked a new minors deal with the Angels just prior to Opening Day, and the veteran has posted some excellent bottom-line results over 8 1/3 innings.  Watson has an 1.08 ERA, though with the help of a 100% strand rate and an .182 BABIP.  While some regression is inevitable, Watson still has a 2.57 SIERA, and he has often outperformed his advanced metrics during his 11-year career.
  • With Dustin May now the latest Dodgers pitcher to hit the injured list, the team is in the rare position of being somewhat short on pitching depth.  Manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register) that the Dodgers are considering a four-man rotation, since a fifth starter won’t be required until May 18 thanks to three upcoming off-days on the schedule.  Tony Gonsolin is currently being stretched out to work as a starting pitcher when he returns from his own IL stint due to shoulder inflammation, and Roberts said Gonsolin is roughly three-to-four weeks away from being activated.
  • David Price hit the IL with a right hamstring strain on April 26, and Roberts estimated that the southpaw could beat (or at least be on the low end of) his projected four-to-six week recovery timeline.  Since Gonsolin is the pick as May’s replacement, Price will resume his previous bullpen role when he returns to action.  Roberts also noted that Josiah Gray, the Dodgers’ top pitching prospect, isn’t currently a candidate for a promotion to fill the rotation job.
  • Brandon Morrow stopped his throwing program due to arm problems, Roberts said, and the veteran right-hander’s comeback attempt looks uncertain.  “B-Mo just hasn’t responded to treatment,” Roberts said.  “It’s been a tough road for B-Mo and his family, so I don’t know if it’s even gonna be a play this year.  Obviously, I’m hopeful.”  Morrow signed a minors deal with the Dodgers in December, hoping to return to the majors for the first time since back and elbow injuries halted his career in 2018.

Mariners Claim Jack Mayfield

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The Mariners announced Tuesday that they’ve claimed infielder Jack Mayfield off waivers from the Angels and optioned him to their alternate site. Shed Long was transferred to the 60-day injured list in a corresponding roster move.

The slick-fielding Mayfield now joins his third American League West club. He was signed and developed by the Astros but found his way to the Angels via some offseason waiver maneuverings — briefly stopping in Atlanta but not making it to a Spring Training game before being waived a second time. He’ll give the Mariners some extra infield depth, which is needed in part due to Long’s lingering injury.

Mayfield, 30, appeared in a pair of games with the Angels but was hitless in three trips to the plate. He’s a career .165/.193/.275 hitter in the Majors, but that unsightly batting line comes in a sample of just 115 plate appearances, so it’s hard to glean too much from it. Mayfield carries a much more palatable .268/.325/.475 output in parts of four Triple-A seasons, and he’s regarded as a solid defender who can handle shortstop, second base or third base as needed. He still has a minor league option remaining beyond this year, so he can be an up-and-down depth option for the Seattle infield if he performs well enough to stick on the 40-man roster.

Angels Activate Anthony Rendon; Mike Trout To Return Monday

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The Angels have activated third baseman Anthony Rendon from the 10-day injured and optioned infielder Luis Rengifo, the team announced. Rendon had been on the IL since April 12 with a left groin strain.

Now in the second season of a seven-year, $245MM contract, Rendon has continued to thrive since leaving the Nationals for the Angels in free agency. He was one of the majors’ premier performers last season and got off to a good start this year before going on the IL. So far, Rendon owns a .290/.378/.387 with one home run in eight games and 37 plate appearances. The Angels turned to Rengifo, Jose Rojas and Jack Mayfield at the hot corner over the past couple weeks, but no one from that trio has come close to replicating Rendon’s production.

In another piece of welcome news for the Halos, center fielder Mike Trout will return to their starting lineup Monday in Texas. Trout last played on April 22, when he suffered a bruised left elbow on a hit by pitch from the Astros’ Cristian Javier. Fortunately, the game’s preeminent player avoided a serious injury.

Pitching Notes: Corbin, Odorizzi, Tepera, Ohtani

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Patrick Corbin was the subject of some trade discussions this winter, as ESPN.com’s Buster Olney (subscription required) reports that the Nationals had talks with other teams about the veteran left-hander.  It isn’t clear whether the Nats initiated these talks or if other teams were exploring Corbin’s availability, or if any of these discussions were anything beyond standard offseason “checking-in” types of conversations.  It could be that teams were trying to buy low on Corbin in the wake of a down year that saw him post a 4.66 ERA, 20.3% strikeout rate, and a career-low 90.2 mph average fastball velocity over 65 2/3 innings.  Between 2020’s shortened season and Corbin’s stint on the COVID-related injury list this April, it makes it hard to gauge whether or not Corbin’s struggles last year and in the early days of the 2021 season are truly due to a decline.

Trading Corbin would have been quite the pivot for a Washington team that planned on contending in 2021.  It’s possible the Nats could have looked to add Major League-ready pieces rather than prospects in any Corbin deal, or perhaps moved the southpaw for a comparably high-priced proven veteran.  Corbin is owed $106MM from 2021-24 in the four remaining seasons of his original six-year, $140MM free agent deal from the 2018-19 offseason.  The topic of a Corbin trade could be worth revisiting of the Nationals don’t get into the playoff race and become sellers at the trade deadline, though Corbin’s contract would seemingly make him one of the less-likely Nats players to be dealt, considering how D.C. has so many rental players available.

More pitching-related items…

  • Jake Odorizzi is being examined today after having to leave yesterday’s game after just five pitches.  More will be known when tests are complete, but Astros GM James Click gave an optimistic view on the injury during an interview on the team’s pregame radio show today (hat tip to Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle).  “The initial read yesterday was more of a muscle cramp in the pronator muscle, which is not the flexor mass,” Click said.
  • The Cubs announced that Ryan Tepera’s three-game suspension was reduced to two games on appeal, and the right-hander will begin serving his suspension today.  Tepera’s suspension was issued earlier this month after an incident that saw Tepera throw behind the Brewers’ Brandon Woodruff.
  • We’ll conclude this edition of Pitching Notes with an item on…an outfielder, sort of.  Shohei Ohtani played an inning of left field, moving from DH to the grass at the end of the Angels’ 16-2 loss to the Astros yesterday.  As Angels manager Joe Maddon told MLB.com’s Daniel Guerrero and other reporters, the move was made “out of necessity” due to a short-handed bench and outfielder Anthony Bemboom getting called to the mound for an inning of mop-up duty.  There has often been speculation that Ohtani could be deployed in the outfield as a way of keeping him in the lineup and opening up Anaheim’s DH spot, but Maddon stressed that using Ohtani as a position player is “not part of the plans” going forward.  Maddon did note, however, that Ohtani “is such a great athlete…I’m telling you he could do it.”

Injury Notes: Crawford, Longoria, Rendon, Nola, Giolito

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The Giants made Brandon Crawford a late scratch from yesterday’s lineup due to quad tightness.  Evan Longoria also missed his second consecutive game with hamstring tightness, after the same issue forced him to make an early exit from last Thursday’s game.  To add some extra infield help, the Giants called up Jason Vosler from the alternate training site prior to yesterday’s game (reliever Jarlin Garcia was placed on the 10-day IL with a left groin strain).

San Francisco has more infield depth than most clubs, though even the Giants’ roster has been stressed with Crawford and Longoria both hurting and Donovan Solano already on the injured list recovering from a calf strain.  Mauricio Dubon is the top choice to fill in at shortstop if Crawford has to miss any more time, while Wilmer Flores has been handling third base in Longoria’s absence.  It also creates an opportunity for Vosler, who made his MLB debut last night.  The 27-year-old was a 16th-round pick for the Cubs back in 2014, and Vosler has spent his minor league career in the Cubs and Padres farm systems, also spending time at San Diego’s alternate training site in 2020.

The latest on some other injury situations from around baseball…

  • Anthony Rendon could return to the Angels’ lineup tomorrow or Tuesday, manager Joe Maddon told The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya and other reporters.  Rendon hit the 10-day IL due to a left groin strain back on April 12, so the third baseman will likely end up missing only slightly more than the 10-day minimum.  Anaheim’s already-strong offense will be even more dangerous with the addition of a former All-Star in Rendon, who is entering his second season with the team.
  • Austin Nola could return to the Padres lineup next week, manager Jayce Tingler told reporters (including Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune).  Nola has been out since mid-March after fracturing his left middle finger in Spring Training, though Nola is playing games at the Padres’ alternate training site.  San Diego has relied upon Victor Caratini and top prospect Luis Campusano to handle catching duties in Nola’s absence, though neither Caratini or Campusano have been very productive at the plate.
  • Michael Kopech will start for the White Sox today rather than originally-scheduled starter Lucas Giolito, who told reporters (including Vinnie Duber of NBC Sports Chicago) he has been “pushed back a couple of days” due to a cut on the middle finger of his throwing hand.  As Giolito explained in self-deprecating fashion, he suffered the minor injury because “I thought that a glass water bottle I had was twist-off, and it wasn’t twist-off.”  The team decided to hold Giolito out of today’s start just to be cautious, and the right-hander expects to pitch Tuesday when the White Sox open a series against the Tigers.

AL West Notes: Judge, Angels, Athletics, Kelenic

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The Angels had trade talks with the Yankees about Aaron Judge this winter, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney reports, though it sounds as if the discussions were little more than due diligence.  “It was the lightest of flirtations,” as Olney put it, “and perhaps a door-opener for other names.”  No details about the specific nature of the talks were mentioned, though it’s safe to assume the Angels explored some bigger outfield names like Judge before eventually landing Dexter Fowler in a salary-dump of a trade from the Cardinals.

Needless to say, a Judge trade would have been arguably the offseason’s biggest blockbuster, and it’s fun to speculate about what exactly Los Angeles would have had to give up to land the slugger.  (Cue the inevitable “Judge for Trout and Ohtani sounds about fair” jokes in the comments section.)  The Angels and Yankees were somewhat imperfect trade partners since both shared a need for starting pitching, which could be one of the reasons negotiations didn’t get very far.  Since getting under the luxury tax threshold seemed to be the Yankees’ primary offseason goal, finances would likely have played some factor in a hypothetical trade, though obviously the Yankees wouldn’t have just given Judge away to clear his relatively modest $10.175MM salary.  Olney also observed that discussion about Judge’s future in the Bronx will soon become more prominent, as Judge is only under team control through the 2022 season.

More from the AL West…

  • In figures released on Friday, the Athletics’ plans for their new ballpark at the Howard Terminal site in downtown Oakland will cost $1 billion for the stadium itself, and roughly $12 billion for development projects in the surrounding area.  (Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times has the details.)  The bulk of the costs would be covered by the team and private developers, though the A’s asked the city to provide $855MM for infrastructure improvements.  That money would come from taxes related to the project, but a statement from Oakland mayor Libby Schaaf said that while “the city is willing to bring to bear its resources to help make this vision a reality…today’s proposal from the A’s appears to request public investment at the high end for projects of this type nationwide.”  The Athletics have requested that Oakland’s city council vote on the project before the end of the summer.
  • Mariners star prospect Jarred Kelenic will make his MLB debut at some point this season, though while GM Jerry Dipoto told MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand that Kelenic “is going to get here soon…I don’t expect that’s going to be in a matter of days.”  Enough time has passed in the season that the Mariners have gained an extra year of control over Kelenic’s services, a tactic mentioned as part of the infamous comments made by former team president/CEO Kevin Mather during a rotary club speech in February.  As expected, Dipoto made no mention of service time considerations, noting that the M’s wanted to see Kelenic get more experience facing left-handed pitching.  The GM also said that “when you break camp with a team, committing to those players for the first 30 or 40 games, it would be unfair to judge what they do without giving them that sample to work with.”  Looking at Seattle’s current outfield options, Mitch Haniger is off to a red-hot start, Taylor Trammell hasn’t hit but has looked strong defensively, and Kyle Lewis only just returned from the injured list.  Ty France is also hitting well and has taken most of the DH at-bats, but France could also see more time at first or second base when the time comes for Kelenic’s promotion.

Angels Designate Jack Mayfield, Reinstate Jose Suarez To 40-Man Roster

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The Angels designated infielder Jack Mayfield for assignment, the team announced.  A 40-man roster spot was required for left-hander Jose Suarez, who is back on the 40-man after an injured list placement last week.

Acquired from the Braves in a February trade, Mayfield received three plate appearances over two games with Anaheim this season.  The 30-year-old’s ability to play shortstop, second base, and third base made him a useful bench piece in Houston, as Mayfield appeared in 49 games with the Astros over the 2019-20 seasons.  Atlanta claimed Mayfield off waivers back in November.

Suarez was assigned to the Angels’ alternate training site at the end of Spring Training.  An international signing for the Angels back in 2014, Suarez debuted in the big leagues in 2019 and posted a 7.11 ERA over 81 innings.  Matters didn’t improve for Suarez last season, as he made two starts but was torched for 10 earned runs over just 2 1/3 total innings.  While the early returns in the majors haven’t been good, the 23-year-old Suarez has some solid numbers (3.68 ERA, 25.4% strikeout rate) over 335 1/3 career frames in the Angels’ farm system.

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