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Mets, Tommy Hunter Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Mets are in agreement with reliever Tommy Hunter on a minor league contract, report Ken Rosenthal and Britt Ghiroli of the Athletic (Twitter link). The Athletic adds that the righty will report to the team’s complex in Port St. Lucie this week and is hoping to build into MLB game shape by June.

Ghiroli reported this morning that Hunter recently conducted a showcase in front of scouts. It didn’t take long for him to find a home after demonstrating his current form, as he’ll return to the place where he began the 2021 season. The 6’3″ hurler signed a minor league deal with New York last February, then pitched his way onto the MLB roster by the first week of May. Hunter worked eight scoreless innings across four appearances, punching out six while issuing three walks and allowing four hits.

Unfortunately, Hunter landed on the injured list just two weeks after the Mets called him up. He was nebulously diagnosed with lower back pain, but he was transferred to the 60-day IL not long thereafter. New York traded Hunter to the Rays to offset some money in the teams’ July Rich Hill deal, but he remained on Tampa Bay’s IL all season. The veteran qualified for free agency, and his stay on the open market was quiet until today.

According to Ghiroli, Hunter underwent back surgery at some point last year. He’s now progressed to throwing, and he’ll take the next month-plus to accumulate pitches and build stamina in hopes of making a midseason return to the bullpen. If healthy, the 14-year MLB veteran should have a good shot at landing a middle innings role for skipper Buck Showalter. Since moving from the rotation to the ’pen with Showalter’s Orioles in 2013, Hunter has tossed 402 innings of 3.18 ERA ball, holding opposing hitters to a .238/.285/.370 slash line. Hunter’s velocity has fallen from its 97 MPH peak into the 92-94 range of late, but he has excellent control and has generally induced ground-balls at a better than average clip.

Staying healthy has been an issue for Hunter, who spent some time on the IL in each season between 2016-21 (although his 2020 stint was COVID-related, not due to a physical injury). On a non-roster deal, there’s little risk for the Mets in gauging Hunter’s form over the next few weeks to determine whether to add him back to the big league bullpen.

Tommy Hunter Works Out For Teams

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Veteran reliever Tommy Hunter didn’t pitch after May 18 last season, spending the remainder of the 2021 campaign on the injured list — first with the Mets and then with the Rays, who acquired him as a financial counterweight in the trade that sent Rich Hill from Tampa Bay to New York.

Neither the Mets nor the Rays announced a formal diagnosis for Hunter beyond the Mets’ original indication that he was dealing with a lower back injury. As it turns out, Hunter missed the remainder of last season after undergoing back surgery, Britt Ghiroli of The Athletic reports (Twitter links). Furthermore, Ghiroli adds that Hunter is now healthy and recent held a bullpen session attended by scouts from upwards of a dozen teams, reaching the mid-90s with his heater during that showcase.

Hunter, 35, appeared in just four games with the Mets last season but was sharp in that brief time, logging eight shutout innings with a 6-to-3 K/BB ratio and an above-average 47.8% ground-ball rate. Solid work out of the ’pen is nothing new for Hunter, who since moving to the bullpen on a full-time basis in 2013, has compiled 402 innings of 3.18 ERA ball with a 20.7% strikeout rate, an outstanding 5.3% walk rate and a solid 45.9% grounder rate. He’s seen that strikeout rate jump in recent years (23.2% from 2017-21) without significantly increasing his walk rate (5.3%).

Unfortunately for Hunter, injuries are also nothing new for him. There’s little doubt that he’s a talented late-inning arm, but Hunter has dealt with back, forearm (twice), hamstring and calf strains dating back to 2017, and he missed a good portion of the 2016 season following sports hernia surgery as well. Since Opening Day 2016, he’s averaged just 32 innings per season (34 if you exclude the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, which skews the number a bit even though Hunter was healthy for it).

Hunter has pitched for seven big league teams and carries a career 3.21 ERA out of the bullpen. Given the lengthy layoff from pitching, he might require a minor league tune-up before he’s able to jump back onto a big league roster, but bullpen-hungry teams will surely be interested in taking a low-cost look at a pitcher with his track record if he’s indeed healthy now.

Latest On Jacob deGrom

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Jacob deGrom went for a follow-up MRI on his injured shoulder yesterday, and the team provided reporters (including Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News and Anthony DiComo of MLB.com) with an update late last night. According to the club, imaging showed “considerable healing of the stress reaction on his scapula.” Doctors have cleared deGrom to start “loading and strengthening” his shoulder, but he will not begin throwing. The team is likely to send deGrom for further imaging in around three weeks.

Certainly, it’s a positive to hear of “considerable healing.” deGrom told reporters just before Opening Day his shoulder had held up structurally, adding “once the bone heals, then we’ll be ready to go and build up from there and hopefully be healthy for the rest of the year.” That the bone has progressed in the three and a half weeks since then is a welcome development for his long-term prognosis.

That said, the announcement deGrom won’t yet start a throwing program seems to suggest he’s not especially close to returning. Both Thosar and DiComo indicate it’s unclear whether the team is ruling deGrom out from beginning a throwing program until his next imaging three weeks from now. If that proves to be the case, there’d be virtually no chance of the two-time Cy Young award winner returning at the start of June as had been hoped.

deGrom hasn’t pitched in a regular season game since July 7 of last year. He spent the second half of the season on the injured list recovering from an elbow issue. That brought an unfortunate early end to what looked as if it might be one of the most dominant performances by a pitcher in league history. deGrom returned this spring and made two starts in Grapefruit League play before feeling some shoulder soreness during a between-outings long toss session. The team sent him for an MRI, which revealed the stress reaction that has shut him down thus far.

In deGrom’s absence, the Mets opened the season with a rotation of Max Scherzer, Chris Bassitt, Tylor Megill, Carlos Carrasco and Taijuan Walker. That’s an impressive top five even sans arguably baseball’s best arm. The top four pitchers have been excellent, with each member of that group posting an ERA and SIERA of 3.00 or lower through their first few starts.

Walker landed on the IL just two innings into his season debut because of shoulder bursitis, but he’s expected to return this weekend. Lefty David Peterson has stepped into his place and pitched very well himself. Only the Dodgers (2.09) have a better rotation ERA than the Mets’ 2.29 in the early going, a big reason New York has raced to a 13-5 start.

Reds Claim Matt Reynolds, Designate Ryan Hendrix

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The Reds announced that they have claimed infielder Matt Reynolds off waivers from the Mets. Right-handed pitcher Ryan Hendrix has been designated for assignment in a corresponding move, reports Mark Sheldon of MLB.com.

Reynolds, 31, made his major league debut with the Mets in 2016. Since then, he’s bounced around to the Nationals and Royals, as well as a stint in the minors for the White Sox. He returned to the Mets on a minor league deal and was selected to their 40-man roster a couple of weeks ago when Brandon Nimmo and Mark Canha tested positive for Covid-19. As they returned to reclaim their roster spots, Reynolds relinquished his, being designated for assignment last week.

Reynolds hasn’t hit much at the major league level thus far in his career, putting up a line of .212/.282/.323 in 131 games. However, his Triple-A numbers are much more encouraging, coming in at .282/.363/.434 in 585 games at that level. The Reds will be hoping Reynolds can carry some of that production up to the majors. Their infield has taken a number of hits in the early going this year, as Mike Moustakas, Jose Barrero, Jonathan India, Donovan Solano and Max Schrock are all on the injured list. Reynolds has played all over the infield in his career, while also seeing limited action in the outfield corners.

Hendrix made his major league debut last year, throwing 31 2/3 innings out of Cincinnati’s bullpen. His 5.97 ERA was on the high side, but he at least paired that with a decent 24.6% strikeout rate and tolerable 11.3% walk rate. Things have gone sour this year, however, as his ERA has shot up to 8.10, with a 22.2% walk rate. We’re talking about a miniscule sample of 3 1/3 innings, but the Reds are nonetheless willing to take the risk of Hendrix clearing waivers and sticking with the organization. The 27-year-old does have an option, which could give him some appeal to teams in need of pitching depth.

Injury Notes: Bell, Voit, deGrom, Walker

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Josh Bell left today’s 5-2 Nationals loss to the Giants due to tightness in his right hamstring.  Bell walked and advanced to third base during the bottom of the second, but was replaced in the field for the top of the third inning.  Nationals manager Davey Martinez said Bell was undergoing an MRI, which would mark the second MRI of the week for the first baseman after tests were negative on his left knee.  Soreness in that left knee also forced Bell to make an early exit from Washington’s game on Wednesday.

Given that previous injury, Martinez told reporters (including Bobby Blanco of MASNsports.com) that “I want to be cautious” with Bell’s status.  More will be known when the MRI results are in, but the Nationals might still opt to sit Bell on Sunday with an off-day coming up Monday, in the hopes that two days of rest will get him ready for Tuesday’s game with the Marlins.  Apart from Bell and Juan Soto, the Nats are almost entirely off to a slow offensive start, so any time missed for Bell (batting .345/.446/.509 over his first 67 plate appearances) is a big loss for the D.C. lineup.

More injury news from around baseball….

  • Luke Voit has been bothered by a lingering right biceps problems, the Padres first baseman told The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Jeff Saunders and other reporters.  With only a .143/.315/.167 slash line over his first 54 PA, Voit bluntly described himself as “a waste of an at-bat right now.  I’m not doing the team any good.  I played through injuries last year and it’s really hard.”  Voit isn’t in tonight’s lineup, and while manager Bob Melvin indicated that Voit could be available to pinch-hit, a trip to the injured list might be necessary.
  • In an update on Jacob deGrom, the Mets ace underwent MRI and CT scans yesterday, manager Buck Showalter told The New York Post’s Mike Puma and other reporters.  The MRI came a few days earlier than initially expected, though regardless, it doesn’t seem as though the Mets will have a plan of action in place anyway until doctors have fully reviewed the results.  A stress reaction in deGrom’s right scapula during Spring Training resulted in a four-week shutdown, and these test results will mark the next step in the right-hander’s recovery process.  If all goes well, deGrom could be cleared to start throwing, and a possible timetable could be floated for deGrom’s 2022 debut.
  • Taijuan Walker is much closer to his return, as Showalter told reporters (including MLB.com’s Jake Rill) that the right-hander is tentatively set to face the Phillies on either Friday or Saturday.  Walker tossed two innings in his first Mets start of the season but has since been on the 10-day IL recovering from shoulder bursitis.  After throwing a side session yesterday, Walker is now lined up for either a minor league rehab start or a simulated game on Tuesday.

Mets Activate Mark Canha, Designate Matt Reynolds For Assignment

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The Mets made a few roster moves today, as relayed by Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. Mark Canha was reinstated from the Covid IL, while Matt Reynolds was designated for assignment to create room on the 40-man roster. (Players on the Covid list don’t count against a club’s 40-man roster.) Right-handed pitcher Jake Reed, who began the season on the injured list with an oblique strain, was reinstated and optioned to Triple-A Syracuse.

Canha, along with Brandon Nimmo, both tested positive for Covid-19 and landed on the shelf April 15th. Both players were asymptomatic. Under the league’s 2022 health-and-safety protocols, players who test positive are subject to a 10-day absence from the club, though it’s possible to be reinstated in less time if the player has gone 24 or more hours without a fever, received a pair of negative PCR tests, and been given approval from a team physician and the MLB/MLBPA joint committee (a panel of one league-appointed and one union-appointed physician). That seems to have been the case for both players, as Nimmo was activated yesterday and Canha today, just four and five days after their IL placement.

Signed by the Mets to a two-year, $26.5MM deal in the offseason, Canha is off to a great start in his Queens residency. In his first 26 plate appearances, he’s hitting .381/.500/.381, for a wRC+ of 174.

Reynolds was signed to a minor league deal in the offseason and had his contract selected when Nimmo and Canha went on the IL. The 31-year-old has 251 career plate appearances in 131 games, hitting .212/.282/.323. A second round pick of the Mets in 2012, Reynolds has become a bit of a journeyman, spending time with the Nationals, Royals and White Sox in recent years, before returning to the Mets. In 21 Triple-A plate appearances this year, he’s hit .118/.238/.294.

Jacob deGrom Slated For Followup MRI Next Week

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Mets ace Jacob deGrom is slated to undergo a followup MRI on his ailing right shoulder next Monday, the team told reporters Tuesday (Twitter link via Anthony DiComo of MLB.com). If that round of imaging goes well, it’s possible he’ll be cleared to begin throwing shortly thereafter.

The Mets haven’t received an inning from deGrom so far in 2022, as he’s been shelved after being diagnosed with a stress reaction in his right scapula back on April 1. The original recommendation was for a four-week shutdown. A two-time Cy Young winner, deGrom pitched to a superhuman 1.08 ERA with a 45.1% strikeout rate and 3.4% walk rate in 92 frames last year before being shut down in early July with a forearm issue that eventually proved to be a season-ender.

There’s still no timetable on deGrom’s return and won’t be until that MRI next week is complete, although the Mets have not yet placed him on the 60-day injured list. That leaves open the possibility that he could return before the early-June point that such a move would necessitate.

Even without deGrom and right-hander Taijuan Walker, who’s currently out with a case of bursitis in his right shoulder, the Mets’ rotation hasn’t missed much of a beat so far in 2021. Righty Tylor Megill has gotten out to a magnificent start, hurling 11 shutout innings while brandishing an improved heater that has enjoyed a velocity spike of nearly two miles per hour. Former Cleveland star Carlos Carrasco, who struggled mightily in his first year with the Mets last season, has looked like his old self for his first two trips to the mound. Trade acquisition Chris Bassitt, meanwhile, has allowed just one run through a dozen frames. Max Scherzer has had a pair of sharp outings to begin his Mets career, and lefty David Peterson has yet to allow a run through 8 1/3 frames.

The 33-year-old deGrom is being paid $33.5MM in the penultimate guaranteed season of a five-year, $137.5MM contract. He can opt out of that deal at season’s end — a right he’s said he still plans to exercise even after missing the early portion of the season on the injured list. The right-hander’s current contract would pay him $30.5MM in 2023 and gives the Mets a $32.5MM option on the 2024 season.

Injury Notes: Buxton, Walker, Tatis

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Twins center fielder Byron Buxton exited Friday’s game with what initially looked like it could be a notable knee injury, but an MRI over the weekend ruled out any structural damage. Manager Rocco Baldelli told reporters Monday morning that Buxton is feeling optimistic and that within the next day or two, the Twins would be “talking about a specific plan for getting him back out there” (Twitter link via Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com). President of baseball operations Derek Falvey joined the booth as a guest during the broadcast of today’s game and added that the hope is for Buxton, who has not been placed on the injured list, to rejoin the lineup at some point during the Twins’ upcoming series against the Royals. The Twins will travel to Kansas City for a three-game set running from Tuesday through Thursday.

The latest on some more health situations around the game:

  • Righty Taijuan Walker is headed out on a minor league rehab assignment this week and is expected to start for the Mets’ Class-A Advanced affiliate on Wednesday, tweets Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. Walker, who landed on the injured list last week due to a case of bursitis in his pitching shoulder, may only need the one rehab appearance before being cleared to return. DiComo suggests the 29-year-old right-hander will likely line up to start one of next week’s games against the Cardinals. Walker’s first outing of the season lasted just two innings, but it seems he’ll be able to make a swift return to the rotation, barring any setbacks of note during his rehab outing. Walker posted a 4.47 ERA in 30 appearances for the Mets in 2021.
  • Padres star shortstop Fernando Tatís Jr. has progressed to participating in light on-field baseball activities, writes AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. The two-time Silver Slugger award winner simulated taking ground-balls during infield practice before tonight’s game against the Reds, throwing the ball across the diamond to first base. Tatís is still wearing a brace and has yet to progress to fielding or swinging a bat as he rehabs from the mid-March surgery he underwent to repair a fractured scaphoid bone in his left wrist. The Padres initially placed a three-month timetable on his return to the field, though Cassavell writes Tatís recently opined he’s ahead of schedule in his recovery. The organization won’t make any firmer timetable until he begins to swing a bat, which manager Bob Melvin says will be the final baseball activity the team allows him to take. Tatís is on the 60-day injured list and ineligible to return until the first week of June. In all likelihood, he’ll be out for a bit beyond when he’s first eligible to return, but it’s welcome news that he’s progressed to getting some pre-game work in on the field.

Brandon Nimmo, Mark Canha Test Positive For Covid-19

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Mets outfielders Brandon Nimmo and Mark Canha are both out of the lineup and likely headed to the injured list after testing positive for Covid-19, reports Mike Puma of the New York Post (Twitter link). Both players are asymptomatic. Newsday’s Tim Healey first reported this morning that tweets that a member of the Mets’ staff had tested positive and that a few players were deemed close contacts and undergoing testing.

Under the league’s 2022 health-and-safety protocols, players who test positive are subject to a 10-day absence from the club, though it’s possible to be reinstated in less time if the player has gone 24 or more hours without a fever, received a pair of negative PCR tests, and been given approval from a team physician and the MLB/MLBPA joint committee (a panel of one league-appointed and one union-appointed physician). Asymptomatic players are not subject to regular testing under the 2022 protocols, but it’s possible that Canha (who told reporters last year that he is vaccinated) and Nimmo were deemed close contacts of the staff member(s) in question.

With both Nimmo and Canha sidelined for at least the next few days, manager Buck Showalter tells reporters that outfielder Nick Plummer and infielder Matt Reynolds are with the team (Twitter link via Puma). Showalter also added that one member of his coaching staff tested positive (Twitter link via Healey).

Plummer is on the 40-man roster, but Reynolds was not previously on the 40-man. Neither Nimmo nor Canha will count against the 40-man roster while on the Covid-related injured list, however, making it easier to add Reynolds to the roster. The Mets have Jeff McNeil starting in left field, Travis Jankowski in center, Robinson Cano at second base and J.D. Davis at designated hitter today. Dominic Smith’s left-handed bat is somewhat surprisingly absent from the lineup against right-hander Zach Davies, but Showalter tells reporters that’s simply because he wanted to get Davis some at-bats amid a lengthy stretch of predominantly right-handed opponents (Twitter link via Puma).

Injury Notes: Walker, Fletcher, Alcala

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The Mets have placed right-handed pitcher Taijuan Walker on the 10-day injured list with shoulder bursitis per MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo. Walker started yesterday’s game against the Phillies, pitching two scoreless innings with four strikeouts before leaving the game with shoulder irritation. Though the right-hander himself indicated he’d be alright following an MRI earlier today, it appears the team will be taking a more cautious approach. DiComo adds that Walker will miss at least a couple turns through the rotation as he will stretch out on a rehab assignment when he’s cleared to pitch again.

Electric closer Edwin Diaz will return from the bereavement list and take the roster spot vacated by Walker, sparing the Mets from any further roster shuffling for the time being. With New York’s rotation already thinned following Jacob deGrom’s untimely IL stint, the team will presumably have to rely on internal options— perhaps long reliever and last-year starter David Peterson— to patch over some rotation gaps early in the season.

Some other injury developments from the young season…

  • The Angels announced that they have moved infielder David Fletcher to the 10-day IL with a left hip strain. Infielder Andrew Velazquez, acquired in an offseason waiver claim from the Yankees, has been recalled to man the shortstop position in tonight’s game against the Marlins. It’s an inauspicious start to the 2022 season for Fletcher, who struggled offensively (.622 OPS) across 157 games in the first year of his five-year extension.
  • Twins right-hander Jorge Alcala is also headed to the 10-day IL with right elbow inflammation, per MLB.com’s Do-Hyoung Park. Elbow discomfort has followed Alcala around since this spring, so down time may do some good for one of the more quietly effective members of the Twins’ pitching staff the past few seasons. Right-hander Griffin Jax, who saw a plenty of action out of the team’s rotation last year, has been called up from Triple-A in a corresponding move.
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