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Archives for May 2016

Pitcher Notes: Buchholz, Boxberger, Gray, Wilson

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Red Sox right-hander Clay Buchholz is displeased with his demotion to the bullpen, writes Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald. Buchholz declined to talk to reporters for the second straight day and threw in a curse word as he walked away from them Saturday, according to Drellich. Manager John Farrell has left the door open for Buchholz to return to the rotation, saying, “While he might not like the current situation, that’s where we are. If he pitches to his talents and abilities, that role can potentially change.” Buchholz, 31, has been a solid starter for most of his career, but he put up a 6.35 ERA, 5.88 K/9 and 3.91 BB/9 in 56 2/3 innings in that role this year and will try to right the ship as a reliever.

Here’s more on a few other established pitchers:

  • The Rays will slowly transition reliever Brad Boxberger back into the closer role when he returns soon from core muscle surgery, manager Kevin Cash said (via Sam Blum of MLB.com). The righty led the American League in saves last year (41), but thanks to the brilliance of fill-in Alex Colome, the Rays haven’t missed him in the ninth inning. Nonetheless, Boxberger’s presence will aid a Rays bullpen that has been mediocre this year. In 137 2/3 innings from 2014-15, Boxberger compiled a 3.03 ERA, 12.55 K/9 (seventh among qualified relievers) and 3.67 BB/9.
  • Athletics right-hander Sonny Gray threw a 35-pitch first bullpen session Saturday – his first BP session since going on the disabled list last Sunday with a trapezius injury – per Jane Lee of MLB.com. Gray “feels good,” manager Bob Melvin said afterward, and could return on or shortly after June 5.
  • Two big-name Angels, southpaw C.J. Wilson and righty Tim Lincecum, are on similar timelines to make their major league debuts this year, tweets Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. Wilson, who has been out all season with an injured left shoulder, will make his first of at least two starts with Triple-A Salt Lake City on Monday.
  • In case you missed it, the White Sox and Padres are discussing a James Shields trade.

Dodgers Designate James Ramsey For Assignment

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The Dodgers have designated outfielder James Ramsey for assignment, sent left-hander Julio Urias to Triple-A Oklahoma City and selected the contract of reliever Casey Fien, according to a team announcement.

Ramsey, whom the Dodgers acquired for cash considerations from the Indians last month, has never seen major league action despite going 23rd overall in the 2012 draft. The 26-year-old has slashed just .222/.285/.429 with five home runs in 138 minor league plate appearances this season. All told, Ramsey owns a .257/.350/.421 line in 1,792 minor league trips to the plate.

Urias, meanwhile, made only one start for the Dodgers after his highly touted promotion. The 19-year-old superprospect tossed 2 2/3 innings of three-run ball and allowed nine base runners (five hits, four walks) against three strikeouts in a loss to the Mets on Friday. He previously threw 41 dominant innings with Oklahoma City and has gone 27 consecutive frames in the minors without surrendering a run.

Fien, claimed off waivers from the Twins earlier this month, has racked up 251 1/3 big league innings of 4.05 ERA pitching. The 32-year-old has limited walks (1.82 BB/9) throughout his career, and he exceeded the 60-inning plateau in each season from 2013-15. Fien got off to a forgettable start for the Twins this year, however, and then yielded five earned runs in 7 2/3 innings with Oklahoma City.

Injury Notes: Darvish, Perez, Cain, Wright

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As expected, the Rangers have announced that they’ve activated Yu Darvish from the disabled list. To clear space for him on the active roster, they shipped slugger Joey Gallo to Triple-A Round Rock. Darvish will start tonight in his first appearance since undergoing Tommy John surgery and missing the entire 2015 season. Previously, of course, Darvish was one of the game’s most dominant starters, leading the AL in strikeouts (277) and K/9 (11.9) and finishing second in Cy Young balloting in a brilliant 2013 season before succumbing to injury. It will be interesting to see how he fares tonight in his first regular-season action since August 2014. Here are more notes on injuries.

  • Catcher Salvador Perez left the Royals’ game against the White Sox today after colliding with third baseman Cheslor Cuthbert, Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star reports. He had to be helped off the field. Via Dodd on Twitter, manager Ned Yost says Perez has a quad contusion and that there’s no structural damage to his knee, although he’ll have an MRI tomorrow. Losing him for an extended period would be tough for the Royals — his offense this season (.282/.314/.503) has provided plenty of value even independent of the work he does with the Royals’ pitchers, and the Royals also recently learned that another key player, Mike Moustakas, would be out of the season after tearing his ACL.
  • The Giants have announced that they’ve placed starter Matt Cain on the 15-day DL with a hamstring strain and recalled fellow righty Chris Stratton to take his place on the active roster. 2016 has proven to be yet another frustrating season for Cain, who currently has a 5.20 ERA, 6.4 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 in 53 2/3 innings this year after struggling through an injury-riddled 2015 campaign. For now, Stratton will likely serve as a long reliever, as Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News suggests. Stratton, the 20th overall pick in the 2012 draft, was pitching in the rotation at Triple-A Sacramento, where he’d posted a 6.02 ERA, 6.2 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9 in 52 1/3 innings.
  • David Wright is out the lineup Saturday due to neck pain, and the Mets have at least some concern about the situation, ESPN’s Adam Rubin writes. The concern might be that the issue could be related to Wright’s chronic spinal stenosis, although Mets GM Sandy Alderson won’t speculate about the matter until he knows more. Wright has collected 164 plate appearances this season and has generally been effective, batting just .226 but with a solid on-base percentage (.350) and seven home runs.

NL Central Notes: Taillon, Adams, Grichuk, Garza

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Top Pirates prospect Jameson Taillon skipped a start at Triple-A this week, but not because he’s hurt, writes MLB.com’s Adam Berry. “Taillon is strong and healthy, but as we look to monitor his and other pitchers’ workload to put them in a position to finish the season strongly, we will periodically look to reduce pitch counts by removing the pitcher from a game early or by skipping a start,” says GM Neal Huntington. Pirates fans are anxious for Taillon’s big-league debut, a day that could potentially come in June, after the Super Two threshold passes. After missing two seasons due to injury, Taillon has been outstanding for Triple-A Indianapolis, posting a 1.82 ERA, 9.3 K/9 and a measly 0.9 BB/9 in 49 1/3 innings. Here’s more from the NL Central.

  • Cardinals hitters Matt Adams and Randal Grichuk got off to slow starts this season but have come up huge lately, ESPN’s Mark Saxon writes. Adams is batting .382/.433/.673 in May, while Grichuk is hitting .273/.333/.481 this month after batting just .182 in April. Adams’ resurgence is perhaps the more notable of the two, given the big lefty’s disappointing .240/.280/.377 showing last year. “This is the kind of player we saw coming up through the system,” says manager Mike Matheny of Adams. “We were just kind of waiting for it to happen at this level and there’s no reason why it shouldn’t be happening now.”
  • Brewers starter Matt Garza, who’s missed the entire season thus far with a lat issue, will begin a rehab assignment with Class A Wisconsin on Tuesday, MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy tweets. Garza says he hopes to return to the Brewers June 14. The Brewers are just 22-26 and don’t look like contenders, so it’s doubtful Garza’s return will have an immediate impact, especially given that he posted just a 5.63 ERA, 6.3 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 in 2015. If he does return in June, though, a performance closer to his 2014 (3.64 ERA, 6.9 K/9, 2.8 BB/9) could potentially make him a summer trade candidate.

Mets Acquire James Loney From Padres

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The Mets have acquired first baseman James Loney from the Padres for cash considerations, the Padres have announced. Loney had an opt-out in his minor-league deal with the Friars, although the move that brings him to New York is a trade. The bulk of Loney’s $8MM 2016 salary will be paid by the Rays, who signed him to a three-year deal prior to the 2014 season and then released him in early April.

MLB: Spring Training-Tampa Bay Rays at Toronto Blue JaysThe Mets were on the lookout for a first baseman with Lucas Duda out for a significant stretch due to a stress fracture in his back. Loney was an obvious potential target, and many speculated from the beginning that the Mets could pursue him. That appears to be exactly what they did. Earlier this week, the New York Post’s Joel Sherman reported that the Mets had at least some degree of interest.

Loney was hitting .342/.373/.424 with the Padres’ Triple-A affiliate in El Paso. He previously played in ten MLB seasons, spending time with the Dodgers, Red Sox, and Rays, while compiling a career .285/.338/.411 line. While he’s mostly retained his ability to hit for average as his career has progressed, though, his power numbers have dwindled — he once regularly hit ten to 15 home runs a season, but last year with the Rays he hit just four while posting a .357 slugging percentage. Once a plus defensive first baseman, his fielding numbers have taken a tumble as well, with both UZR and DRS marking him as significantly worse in the last two seasons than he was in 2011 through 2013.

Given the Mets’ need, though, and the fact that the cash return the Mets will send the Padres is presumably nominal, it’s no surprise that the team pursued him despite his flaws. He’s a longtime starter who has experience and some level of on-base ability. The team can also potentially protect the lefty hitter by using Eric Campbell at first against lefty starters.

Adam Rubin of ESPN reported that Loney was headed to the Mets and that the deal was a trade (Twitter links). Jon Heyman tweeted that the Padres would receive cash considerations in return.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

East Notes: Herrera, Rule 5, Red Sox, Mets

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Odubel Herrera’s brilliance has been a key to the Phillies’ surprising success so far this season, and his emergence since being selected in the 2014 Rule 5 Draft highlights the way the Rule 5 has changed in recent years, Matthew Trueblood of Baseball Prospectus writes. One reason players like Herrera, Delino DeShields and Ender Inciarte have been available in the Rule 5 in recent years is that teams seem to prefer protecting players who have power, making low-power but potentially high-OBP players available. Also, the emergences of players like those listed above (as well as Hector Rondon, Mark Canha, Logan Verrett and so on) suggests there’s enough talent in the game for MLB to withstand expansion without significantly diluting its talent level — leaving aside the complex question of what markets the league should expand to. Here’s more from the East divisions.

  • The Red Sox’ terrific 2011 draft class has become the franchise’s foundation, Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal writes. The team had four of the first 40 picks in that draft, and used them to select Jackie Bradley and Blake Swihart, as well as Matt Barnes and Henry Owens. That group alone would have made the draft a good one, but the Sox also snagged Mookie Betts, Travis Shaw and Noe Ramirez in the later rounds. Bradley fell to the Sox at No. 40 in part because of a wrist injury that held him back in his junior year at South Carolina. Bradley was a gamble, and not all gambles on talented players whose stock have fallen work out — MacPherson mentions 2012 first-rounder Deven Marrero, and I might add 2010 39th overall pick Anthony Ranaudo, whose stock fell prior to the draft due to an elbow injury. Bradley, though, was a steal, and he, Betts and the rest of the Sox’ 2011 class looked poised to lead the organization forward.
  • The Mets have no plans to use outfielder Michael Conforto at first base with Lucas Duda on the shelf, ESPN’s Adam Rubin tweets. “Right now Michael has a lot on his plate and I don’t need to add more to it,” says manager Terry Collins. The team is currently weighing its options in the wake of Duda’s injury, and has shown at least some interest in James Loney. MLBTR’s Jeff Todd recently listed potential first base solutions the Mets could pursue.

Cardinals Designate Ruben Tejada For Assignment

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The Cardinals have announced that they’ve designated infielder Ruben Tejada for assignment. Mark Saxon of ESPN.com was first to report on Twitter that the DFA was likely. Tejada’s roster spot will be taken by Matt Carpenter, who’s returning from the paternity list.

St. Louis faced a choice between cutting Tejada loose and optioning Greg Garcia. The latter may have made the decision for the team with a highly productive game tonight. He’s now blasted two home runs (among eight total hits) and drawn seven walks in just twenty-one plate appearances.

Garcia, of course, has never hit at anything close to that rate in the minors. But the 26-year-old is clamoring for a larger opportunity, and Tejada no longer really is needed for the reason he was acquired.

St. Louis inked Tejada to a $1.5MM deal after he was cut loose by the Mets, with the Cards still trying to figure out what to do with Jhonny Peralta on the DL. In the interim, Aledmys Diaz has taken over at short and Peralta is now nearing a return, reducing the need for middle infield help with Garcia, Jedd Gyorko, and Kolten Wong also all on hand.

The 26-year-old Tejada has certainly not helped his cause. In 40 plate appearances, he owns a .176/.225/.235 slash. That doesn’t inspire much confidence given that Tejada has hit at about 15% below the league average rate over his career. Plus, he’s known more as a competent than a high-quality gloveman. All that being said, capable middle infielders who are competent offensively aren’t easy to find, so it seems reasonable to expect plenty of interest from teams looking for depth up the middle.

Blue Jays Place Troy Tulowitzki On DL

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The Blue Jays have placed shortstop Troy Tulowitzki on the 15-day DL with a quad strain, Brendan Kennedy of the Toronto Star tweets. Taking his place on the active roster will be lefty Aaron Loup, who’s returning from an elbow injury.

Tulowitzki played yesterday against Boston (striking out four times) but missed the previous two games due to quad tightness, during which time the Jays used Ryan Goins and Darwin Barney at shortstop. The injury occurred when he was stealing a base against the Yankees on Tuesday. It’s been a somewhat disappointing season thus far for Tulowitzki, who’s batted just .204/.289/.383 in 190 plate appearances this year. It’s been a slow start to Tulo’s Blue Jays career in general, in fact — he hit .239/.317/.380 down the stretch in 2015 after arriving in a high-profile trade with Colorado.

Loup has been a regular in the Toronto bullpen the last four seasons, with a 3.11 ERA, 7.5 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 in a big-league career spent entirely with the Jays. The team had been using a six-man bullpen, and Loup’s addition gives the team its usual complement of seven relievers. The move also gives the team a second lefty to go with Chad Girodo.

Jeff Bridich On Jose Reyes, Jeff Hoffman

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Here’s the latest from Rockies GM Jeff Bridich, via an interview with Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post:

  • Bridich characterizes shortstop Jose Reyes’ situation as “day by day.” Reyes is suspended through May 31 under MLB’s domestic violence policy, and then he’ll likely begin a two-week rehab assignment. Bridich doesn’t dismiss the possibility that the team could deal Reyes, noting that “anything is possible.” (It doesn’t sound, however, like there will be significant trade interest in an expensive player who’s about to turn 33 and who’s coming off a .274/.310/.378 season and a domestic violence suspension. There has already been speculation that the Rockies could release Reyes once his suspension is complete.)
  • The team has no plans to rush pitching prospect Jeff Hoffman, Bridich says. “There are very specific things — not large, general things — but very specific things, that he needs to continue to work on. But that’s actually a good thing,” says the GM. Hoffman, the ninth overall pick in the 2014 draft and one of the team’s acquisitions in last year’s Troy Tulowitzki trade, has a 2.70 ERA, 8.3 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 this season in hitter-friendly Triple-A Albuquerque.
  • The Rockies are hovering near .500, at 23-24, and are on the fringes of the NL West and NL Wild Card races at this early point in the season. But Bridich suggests the team’s position in the standings will not have a significant effect on their timelines for the promotions of Hoffman or other top prospects. “Jeff and some of the other players we think about as quality depth still are being challenged at Triple-A, and they have to meet those challenges to be ready for this level,” Bridich says.

Week In Review: 5/21/16 – 5/27/16

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Here’s a look back at the past week at MLBTR.

Key Moves

Trades

Claims

Designated For Assignment

Outrighted

Opted Out

Released

Retired

Key Minor League Signings

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