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West Notes: Stammen, Olson, Meyer

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Veteran righty Craig Stammen is interested in returning to the Padres next season, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. “I really like it in San Diego,” says Stammen, who signed with the Padres last winter after missing most of the previous two seasons to injury. “They showed me quite a bit of loyalty at the beginning of the season when I was struggling. They could’ve gotten rid of me really quick. But they stuck with me, they gave me a chance. (Manager Andy Green has) been great with me, allowed me to work back this year and get put in different situations.” The 33-year-old Stammen allowed 11 runs in 11 2/3 innings in April but has quietly been terrific since then, with a 2.14 ERA and 60 strikeouts in 63 innings since. He’s eligible for free agency this winter and should attract serious interest on the open market — assuming, that is, that he doesn’t re-up with the Padres. Here’s more from the West divisions.

  • The Athletics installed Matt Olson at first base after dealing Yonder Alonso to Seattle last month and have gotten great results so far, as Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle notes. Olson has 17 homers in just 47 big-league games so far this year. The lefty-swinging Olson’s performance so far has suggested he doesn’t need much platoon help, either — three of his homers have come against lefties, including one today against Houston’s Tony Sipp. Olson was a former first-round pick and top prospect whose star faded somewhat after a mediocre 2016 with Triple-A Nashville, but after strong performances in both Nasvhille and Oakland this year, he appears to be very much back on the map. “Olson looks like the real deal,” says a rival scout, via Slusser. “I’ve been impressed with how he’s gotten on some pitches in the upper zone.”
  • Angels righty Alex Meyer already knows his 2017 is over, but also must deal with uncertainty about his future after losing the last two months of the season to shoulder inflammation, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register writes. Meyer isn’t yet sure if surgery might help him, and he doesn’t yet know if he might have to move to the bullpen to stay healthy. Meyer has been dogged by shoulder issues at various points throughout his pro career, but managed to avoid the DL in 2015, when he mostly pitched in the bullpen in the Twins’ system. “I don’t know if there’s a correlation, but I can’t say there’s not,” he says. Meyer posted a 3.74 ERA, 10.0 K/9 and 5.6 BB/9 over 13 starts and 67 1/3 innings in the big leagues this season.

AL Injury Notes: Sanchez, Iwakuma, Dyson, Bush, Kela

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The Blue Jays have announced that righty Aaron Sanchez will miss the rest of the season. Sanchez has dealt with blister issues throughout the year (with four separate DL stints) and hasn’t returned since being placed on the disabled list in late July. After breaking through in the Jays’ rotation in 2016, the 25-year-old will end his 2017 season with just 36 innings pitched, a 4.25 ERA, 6.0 K/9 and 5.0 BB/9. Here are more quick notes on AL injuries.

  • Hisashi Iwakuma and Jarrod Dyson are running out of time to make it back to the Mariners’ active roster before the end of the season, Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune writes. Iwakuma, who’s missed four months with shoulder issues, is still hopeful he’ll return this season, but manager Scott Servais says Iwakuma has “still got a little work to do” after throwing 30 pitches in a simulated game Saturday. Dutton adds that the Mariners are likely to pay a $1M buyout rather than exercise Iwakuma’s $10MM option next season. Dyson, who’s out with a strained groin, still felt pain upon participating in drills on Friday. He’s a free agent after the season.
  • Matt Bush is back from the DL, but another Rangers reliever, Keone Kela, isn’t yet ready to return, MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan writes. Bush, who posted a 3.04 ERA, 10.1 K/9, 3.4 BB/9 and 10 saves over 47 1/3 innings before suffering a concussion and a sprained knee in an on-field collision last month, is likely to pitch high-leverage innings, according to manager Jeff Banister. Alex Claudio will likely continue to close, however. Kela has been out with a shoulder injury since early August. He is set to throw a bullpen session Monday. Kela has posted a 2.36 ERA, 4.2 BB/9 and an outstanding 12.1 K/9 over 34 1/3 innings with the Rangers this season.

Three Needs: Pittsburgh Pirates

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With less than a month remaining in the regular season, many teams still have plenty of fall drama ahead. Many clubs, though, are already looking to 2018. With that in mind, here’s the latest entry in our Three Needs series. You can track other entries in the series here.

For a team currently in the midst of a 67-76 season in which nearly everything went wrong, the Pirates have surprisingly few pronounced holes. That isn’t to say that it will be impossible for them to find ways to improve, only that they have reasonable possibilities in place for 2018 at most key roster spots. A player like Jordy Mercer is representative of the Pirates’ situation right now — he’s in the midst of a decent .254/.328/.404 season and is clearly a capable starting shortstop, but he’s also only notched two wins above replacement once in his career. A team with the resources and/or inclination to aggressively pursue upgrades over the reasonable, established assets they already have might look to add a starting shortstop, but it doesn’t seem especially likely the Pirates will. The Bucs also already did address what might otherwise have been a key offseason priority with their in-season trade to reacquire Sean Rodriguez, which bolstered the infield depth they lost due to Jung Ho Kang’s visa issues.

With that in mind, here are some areas the Bucs might address over the winter. A variety of somewhat dramatic approaches would seem defensible for the Pirates over the next few months, and with a number of key veterans potentially nearing the ends of their careers in Pittsburgh, the Bucs will have to at least consider some of them. If they do take dramatic action, though, they appear likely to do so by trading high-value veterans rather than adding them, although they could also pursue somewhat of a mixed strategy, dealing away some veteran salaries in order to bolster a decent base of young talent with veteran free agents.

[Related: Pittsburgh Pirates Depth Chart and Payroll Outlook]

1. Figure out what to do with Andrew McCutchen. In what’s become a semiannual tradition for the Pirates, they’ll attempt this offseason to chart a course for Andrew McCutchen, on whom they have a $14.5MM option or a $1M buyout in his last winter before free agency. McCutchen has posted a .583 OPS in August and .536 in September, but two very hot months this June and July should ease fears of a steep decline following a poor 2016 season. This time, of course, the Pirates can only offer suitors one season of McCutchen, but from the Bucs’ perspective, at least they can offer a McCutchen whose .273/.363/.467 line and improved defensive work look like significant upgrades on the McCutchen they had on offer last winter. The Pirates nearly traded Cutch to the Nationals then, and it seems very likely they’ll strongly consider trading McCutchen for young talent this winter, too.

2. If McCutchen goes, figure out what happens next. The Pirates are already pretty far removed from the Bucs teams that made three straight playoff appearances from 2013 through 2015, but dealing a franchise player like McCutchen would sever ties with the past even more decisively. Actually, whether the Bucs deal McCutchen or not, they need to develop a plan (or, more likely, continue implementing a plan that understandably hasn’t completely been publicly articulated) that’s designed to get them back to the playoffs at some point in the future. Neither of their last two teams have been good enough, and it’s not yet clear that the next wave of young assets (including Gregory Polanco, Josh Bell, Austin Meadows, Jameson Taillon, Chad Kuhl, Tyler Glasnow and Felipe Rivero) form a good enough core by themselves to return the team to glory, even though all of them are clearly useful or at least have the potential to be. With all that in mind, the possibility of a McCutchen trade raises obvious questions about other veterans the Pirates might trade, including Gerrit Cole and Josh Harrison. Other names, like those of David Freese and Francisco Cervelli, could be bandied about as well.

The Pirates can control Cole for two more years, and with his pedigree, stuff, and performance, he’d undoubtedly yield plenty of talent coming back. The Bucs might not be able to top the fine returns the Athletics and White Sox received in dealing controllable veteran starters Sonny Gray and Jose Quintana, respectively, but they’d be able to point to those trades as potential starting points.

Harrison’s season is now over due to a broken finger, but he could be on the market this winter as well. After a solid .272/.339/.432 2017 campaign, he’s pretty clearly an asset, particularly given the structure of what remains on his contract — he’ll make a modest $10MM in 2018, and the team that controls him will also have relatively cheap options for both 2019 and 2020. That makes Harrison a very low risk for any team that might acquire him. The fact that he’s capable at both second and third could also create a variety of potential fits.

Any big trades the Pirates do make will create other potential decisions that could shape their winter. After Meadows’ injury-plagued season, the Bucs probably won’t be comfortable with having him replace McCutchen right away, which might mean they’ll look for outfield depth if they trade McCutchen. The same could be true of the infield should Harrison be traded. The Pirates would also have to determine how much space, if any, they want to carve out for interesting but lesser-known young players like outfielder Jordan Luplow and infielder Max Moroff. (From there, the Pirates can sort out the composition of their bench, perhaps adding a left-handed bat to replace free agent John Jaso.) If the Bucs were to trade Cole, they’d have a variety of young options to take his place, but it also wouldn’t be a shock if they looked for a veteran starter to provide stability.

3. Look for bullpen help. The Bucs’ recent trade of Tony Watson and their bizarre loss of Juan Nicasio on waivers have left their relief corps a bit thin. (Of course, both players would have been eligible for free agency after the season anyway.) The team recently made one significant move to improve the 2018 bullpen by claiming George Kontos from the Giants, but they’ll likely make one or two more this winter to add to a group currently headed by Rivero and Daniel Hudson. Like many teams, the Bucs have young or young-ish arms that could play bigger roles in next season’s ’pen, like Edgar Santana and Dovydas Neverauskas. The Bucs’ bullpen does, however, currently appear short on both veteran stability and overall talent. A buy-low move or two like the one that landed Hudson last winter wouldn’t be a surprise.

NL Notes: Brewers, Acuna, Braves, Ruiz, Marte

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The Brewers began the season with just about the lowest payroll in baseball, which makes the team’s charge into playoff contention all the more surprising, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes.  Despite spending far less on players than the other contenders, the Brew Crew entered today three games out of both a wild card spot and first place in the NL Central.  Here’s the latest from around the National League.

  • Braves youngster Ronald Acuna blossomed into one of the game’s best prospects this season, and Baseball America’s Kyle Glaser (subscription required) outlines how Atlanta was able to sign the talented and surprisingly unheralded outfielder in 2014 for a mere $100K bonus.  Interestingly, Acuna said that he was expecting to sign with the Royals before the Braves upped their offer to that $100K, and thus Acuna simply went with the highest bidder.
  • Rio Ruiz is hitting well in September and hoping to work himself into the third base picture for the Braves next season, David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes.  The rookie still has just a .604 OPS over 119 total plate appearances this year, largely due to a nasty slump that led to his demotion earlier in the season, though Ruiz feels he has improved his work both at the plate and especially in the field.  Third base stands out as a clear area of need for the Braves in 2018, though it remains to be seen if the team will make a veteran acquisition or if they’ll stick to the rebuilding plan and continue giving playing time to Ruiz, Johan Camargo or other internal options.
  • Starling Marte talks to ESPN.com’s Marly Rivera (also, here is the link to the interview in its original Spanish) about his life, career and how he is trying to come back from the 80-game PED suspension that marred both his season and his reputation.  The Pirates outfielder said he still doesn’t know how nandrolone got into his system, though ultimately, “it was my mistake” for not being careful about everything he ingested.

Blue Jays Notes: Prospects, Osuna, Anderson, Urena

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The 2017-18 international market has only been open for a little over two months, but Baseball America’s Ben Badler already has a preview (available to BA subscribers) of 10 notable prospects who will be available in the 2018-19 int’l class, which opens next July 2.  Dominican shortstop Orelvis Martinez projects to have the largest bonus of this group, as the 15-year-old is expected to receive over $3MM from a team, with the Blue Jays reportedly favorites.  The Jays have been active on the international front in recent years, most notably landing star prospect Vladimir Guerrero Jr.  Badler’s piece outlines which teams are connected to the other nine prospects, as well as details on the Rangers and Yankees potentially still lined up to sign well-regarded prospects in the current international class (or eyeing Shohei Otani this winter).

Here’s the latest from Toronto…

  • Roberto Osuna has struggled in recent weeks, though as Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi notes, perhaps the only surprise is that Osuna went almost three full seasons into his career before hitting an extended slump.  Osuna is still 22 and he has outstanding peripherals (11.6 K/9, 8.44 K/BB rate), plus his problems could stem from incorporating a sinker and cutter into his repertoire, as opposed to his old fastball/slider mix.  The counter-argument is provided by Jonah Keri, writing for the Athletic (subscription required), who suggests that the Jays may want to consider trading Osuna while he still has value.  Osuna’s velocity drop and 10 blown saves are both concerns, and Keri raises the point that hitters may simply be starting to figure Osuna out, as it’s rare for relievers to remain consistently dominant.
  • Brett Anderson has a 3.06 ERA over his first three starts in a Jays uniform and he has yet to walk a batter over his 17 2/3 innings.  As Sportsnet’s Arden Zwelling notes, Anderson is rebuilding his value for free agency this winter and even putting himself into the Blue Jays’ rotation plans.  “I think everybody’s looking at him to see what’s available for next year,” manager John Gibbons said.  “Hey, maybe if he’s really good they want to re-sign him. He’s experienced this place, maybe he likes it here, too.”  Marcus Stroman, J.A. Happ and (health permitting) Aaron Sanchez are the only locks for the 2018 rotation, as Marco Estrada is headed for free agency and Joe Biagini’s future may be in the bullpen.
  • Richard Urena is off to a nice start in his Major League career, though the young shortstop seems likely to begin the 2018 season at Triple-A rather than on the Jays’ roster, Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi writes.  Urena was something of a surprise call-up, going directly from Double-A to the bigs without a stop at Triple-A Buffalo since the Jays were in need of middle infield help.  As such, his September playing time “is more a growth experience than audition for next year,” Davidi notes.  Urena is still just 21 years old and, at Triple-A next year, he’ll give the Blue Jays some available depth at shortstop or second base, which is necessary given the checkered injury histories of Troy Tulowitzki and Devon Travis.

Injury Notes: Contreras, Fowler, Syndergaard, Heaney

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Here’s the latest on some injury situations around baseball…

  • The Cubs announced that catcher Willson Contreras has been activated from the 10-day disabled list.  Manager Joe Maddon told MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat (Twitter links) and other reporters that Contreras is available to play, though the team will only gradually work him back into the lineup, such as not using Contreras for a full game.  Contreras has been sidelined for the last month due to a hamstring strain, which interrupted a very strong season for the 25-year-old.  Prior to the injury, Contreras had posted a .274/.342/.519 slash line and 21 homers over 378 plate appearances, spending the bulk of his time at catcher but also playing a few games in both corner outfield and infield spots.
  • Dexter Fowler will be out of action “for at least a few days” due to a left knee contusion, MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch reports (Twitter link).  Fowler suffered the injury crashing into the outfield wall in pursuit of an Adam Frazier fly ball last night, and Fowler was forced to leave the game.  The good news is that an MRI didn’t reveal any structural damage to Fowler’s knee.  Fowler as been productive (.255/.356/.470, 15 homers) when he’s been able to play this season, though a variety of injuries has limited the Cardinals outfielder to 436 PA and 106 games.
  • Due to what the team described as “general soreness,” Mets right-hander Noah Syndergaard won’t throw any simulated innings today, Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News reports.  Syndergaard threw three innings in a minor league rehab start on Thursday and was supposed to toss some simulated frames today in the latest step of his recovery process.  Syndergaard has missed much of the season due to a partially torn lat muscle, and with the Mets out of contention and few games left on the schedule, any sort of notable setback could end Syndergaard’s chances of returning to the mound in 2017.
  • Andrew Heaney left his start last night during the third inning due to shoulder tightness, though the Angels right-hander tells Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register and other reporters that he’s “not very concerned” about the injury.  Heaney only just returned from Tommy John rehab in August and has made five starts (to a 7.06 ERA in 21 2/3 IP) for the Halos.  A shoulder issue is less of a red flag than an elbow or forearm problem given Heaney’s history, and he said he hopes to soon resume throwing.

MLBTR Originals

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Here’s the recap of all the original content from the past week at MLB Trade Rumors…

  • MLBTR launched the “Three Needs” series, detailing three pressing offseason needs for teams that have a lot of work ahead of them this winter in the wake of disappointing 2017 seasons.  The Giants were the first team featured, as Steve Adams highlighted San Francisco’s need for upgrades in the outfield, third base and in the middle of the rotation.
  • Twins right-hander Trevor May took over a special edition of the MLBTR Mailbag, answering reader questions about his Tommy John rehab, how players deal with trades, and several other topics.
  • Veteran righty Tim Dillard returns with his latest Inner Monologue, sharing some insight into the Triple-A playoffs, introducing the PONAR statistic and introducing new ways to befriend strangers on a plane.
  • Andrew Cashner has posted some good results for the Rangers this season, though his lack of strikeouts and injury history are question marks for teams that may look into signing the right-hander as a free agent this winter.  Jeff Todd explores Cashner’s pros, cons, comparables and potential market in a Free Agent Stock Watch piece.
  • September isn’t usually a big month for contract extensions, though Jeff Todd lists several notable players from the last six years who have inked significant new contracts just weeks before hitting free agency.
  • Giancarlo Stanton hit his 54th home run of the season last night, inspiring Connor Byrne to ask MLBTR readers how many homers they think the Marlins slugger will post before the year is out.  Over 55% percent of respondents feel Stanton will finish with between 61-64 dingers.

Mets Notes: Warthen, Offseason, Injuries

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Here’s the latest from Citi Field…

  • Pitching coach Dan Warthen had intended to retire after the season but now would like to return in 2018, he tells Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News.  Despite Warthen’s plans, “after this year, I want one more year. I don’t want to leave them [the pitching staff] like this.”  Warthen, who has been the Mets’ pitching coach since June 2008, is respected around the game and is popular with his pitchers and Mets owner Fred Wilpon, though he does have some critics in the organization.  Warthen and the rest of the Mets’ coaching staff (as well as manager Terry Collins) aren’t under contract for 2018, and with wide speculation about Collins’ future, it stands to reason that a coaching shakeup could take place if New York does indeed make a managerial switch.
  • The Mets face a difficult offseason, Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes, as the team wants to stay competitive but may cut payroll, and planning ahead is difficult since the Mets don’t know how many of their multiple injured stars will rebound in 2018.  If the Mets “really a big-market team,” Sherman opines, they’ll bring back Asdrubal Cabrera, Juan Lagares and Matt Harvey next year at a total price tag of roughly $23MM to provide needed roster depth and flexibility.  For external help, Sherman feels that the Amazins could add some slightly less-expensive help (he lists such names as free agents Eduardo Nunez, Howie Kendrick, Logan Morrison or possible trade targets Dexter Fowler and Ian Kinsler) rather than aim for a big-ticket free agent like Mike Moustakas or Eric Hosmer.
  • Trades could be difficult, Sherman adds, since the Mets have a thin farm system and (even more troublingly) several of their younger players took hits to their trade value in 2017 due to injury or under-performance.  First baseman Dominic Smith, for instance, hasn’t produced much in first taste of MLB action, and despite being a top-50 prospect, still has some doubters who question his fitness and ability to hit for power at the big league level.  Given these concerns, as one executive puts it, “that is a hard sell and then (the rival GM) is going to ask, ‘why are the Mets willing to get rid of him?’ ”
  • The Mets don’t seem to be planning any changes to their training staff or their affiliation with the Hospital for Special Surgery in the wake of the injury-ruined season, according to Newsday’s David Lennon.  In an effort to simplify and improve how the team releases medical information to media and fans, the Mets have been publishing a daily injury report listing the progress, prognosis and forthcoming steps for each injured player.

MLBTR Poll: Giancarlo Stanton’s 2017 HR Total

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Marlins right fielder Giancarlo Stanton continued marching toward the 60-home run mark on Saturday when he slugged his 54th long ball of the year, a 456-foot shot off Braves left-hander Max Fried. While the 68-74 Marlins lost the game and have dropped 11 of their past 13 to plummet from playoff contention, Stanton still seems likely to garner serious NL MVP consideration even if he doesn’t reach 60. The 27-year-old currently leads every other NL player by at least 17 homers, after all, and has slashed an incredible .282/.377/.646 in 604 plate appearances.

Giancarlo Stanton

The excellence Stanton has exhibited could be difficult for MVP voters to ignore, particularly if he does reach the celebrated 60 figure by season’s end. In doing so, the 27-year-old would follow Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Roger Maris and Babe Ruth as the sixth player to accomplish the feat (McGwire and Sosa each did it multiple times) and the first since 2001. That was the year Bonds smashed a record 73. Remarkably, Stanton may have outdone his former hitting coach had he been as otherworldly in the season’s first half as he has been since the All-Star break.

While Stanton racked up a “mere” 26 long balls in 369 PAs between Opening Day and mid-July, he’s already at 28 through 235 attempts over the nearly two months since the Yankees’ Aaron Judge upstaged him at the Home Run Derby on Stanton’s turf in Miami. Stanton has gone yard every 8.39 trips to the plate in the second half, which would translate to 83 over a 700-PA season (Stanton’s on track for 698). Should Stanton continue to stay healthy and hammer HRs at his second-half pace, he’d finish the year with around 65 – a number only Bonds, McGwire (twice) and Sosa (twice) have matched or exceeded.

As superb as Stanton has been, it goes without saying that it will be immensely difficult for him to keep raking at his current clip over the Marlins’ final 20 games of the season. But both the slate of mostly unspectacular starting pitchers scheduled to face Stanton over the next couple weeks and the Marlins’ three-game set at Colorado’s Coors Field thereafter should aid him in his quest to go deep at least six more times this year. Clearly, Stanton’s on the verge of posting one of the most awe-inspiring offensive seasons in the history of the sport. The question is: Will he pull it off?

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

NL Notes: Acuna, Braves, Cubs, D-backs

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Braves outfield prospect Ronald Acuna earned Minor League Player of the Year honors from Baseball America on Friday, before which BA’s Matt Eddy noted that the 19-year-old had one of the finest offensive seasons ever put together by a teenager. Acuna, who climbed from High-A to Double-A to Triple-A in 2017, combined for a .325/.374/.522 batting line and a 155 OPS+ in 612 plate appearances. Only seven other teenage players – all household names in Andruw Jones, Gary Sheffield, Alex Rodriguez (twice), Jason Heyward, Gregg Jefferies, Justin Upton and Mike Trout – bettered Acuna’s OPS+ in an individual season, Eddy notes. Based on Acuna’s Double-A and Triple-A production, Eddy writes that he stacks up closely with where A-Rod, Sheffield, Jones, Jefferies, Heyward, Trout, Melvin Upton, Justin Upton, Adrian Beltre and Delmon Young were at similar stages of their minor league careers. For the most part, that’s special company.

A bit more from the NL…

  • Cubs catcher Willson Conteras has been out with a hamstring strain since Aug. 9, but manager Joe Maddon suggested Saturday that he’s closing in on a return. “It’s not impossible [he could be activated on Sunday], but I don’t know that it’s going to happen,” Maddon said, per Carrie Muskat of MLB.com. “It’s just a matter of when you talk to him, ’How are you seeing the ball? What do you feel like at the plate? How does the leg feel?'” Although Conteras has been among the majors’ best catchers this year, the first-place Cubs have managed to increase their lead in the NL Central during his absence from 1.5 games to three. Among the reasons: Fellow backstops Alex Avila and Rene Rivera, both of whom joined the Cubs as recent acquisitions, have filled in with aplomb offensively.
  • Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo announced Saturday that the team has shut down right-hander Randall Delgado and added that he could miss the rest of the season, according to Kellan Olsen of Arizona Sports 98.7. Delgado hasn’t pitched for the D-backs since July 15 on account of elbow issues. He underwent an MRI this week that showed a flexor strain, and the club will send him to famed orthopedist Dr. James Andrews for a second opinion. Flexor strains sometimes portend Tommy John surgery, of course, and having to undergo the procedure at this point would likely keep Delgado out until the 2019 campaign. The swingman was having a nice year before the injury cropped up, as he pitched to a 3.59 ERA with 8.62 K/9 against 2.01 BB/9 across 62 2/3 innings (26 appearances, five starts).

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