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MLB Daily Roster Roundup: Bryant, Bundy, Cain, Wright

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ROSTER MOVES BY TEAM
(June 26th)

NATIONAL LEAGUE

  • MIAMI MARLINS | Depth Chart
    • Suspended: SP Dan Straily is serving a 5-game suspension (June 26-June 30).
      • Straily was lined up to start on Friday, the last day of his suspension, so he’ll likely be pushed back to Saturday.

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AMERICAN LEAGUE

  • HOUSTON ASTROS | Depth Chart
    • Reinstated from Restricted List: SP Dean Deetz
      • Deetz was optioned to Triple-A after serving an 80-game suspension.

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FUTURE EXPECTED MOVES

Injury Notes: Kuhl, Ervin, Bundy, O’Day, Guzman

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The Pirates announced tonight that right-hander Chad Kuhl exited his start after four innings due to discomfort in his right forearm. Forearm discomfort can be ominous in and of itself, but Kuhl’s exit is made all the more concerning by the fact that he uncorked three wild pitches, walked a pair and threw just 40 of his 73 offerings on the evening for strikes. There’s been no word on Kuhl since the Bucs and Mets wrapped up tonight’s game, but if he requires a DL stint, the Pirates can turn to righty Nick Kingham once again. While he’s currently in the minors, Kingham has pitched well both in the Majors and in Triple-A so far this season.

As we await further word on Kuhl, who has a 4.55 ERA with 8.6 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 in 85 innings out of the rotation in 2018, here are a few more notable injury updates from around the around the game…

  • Ervin Santana looks to be back on track toward a return to the Twins, as MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger tweets that the veteran right-hander is slated to head to Class-A Advanced Fort Myers on Saturday to embark on a rehab assignment. Santana has already started one rehab assignment this season as he works back from February finger surgery, but he had to cut that assignment short due to lingering discomfort. Over the weekend, it was reported that Santana was still struggling and wasn’t able to reach 90 mph with his fastball in a throwing session last week, but it seems he’s trending back up. Bollinger notes that a live batting practice session went well for Santana, leading to the decision to send him out on rehab.
  • The Orioles placed right-hander Dylan Bundy on the 10-day DL due to an ankle sprain that he sustained while running the bases during interleague play over the weekend. Left-hander Donnie Hart was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk in his place. Thankfully for the O’s, the injury doesn’t sound to be overly serious; Rich Dubroff of PressboxOnline.com tweets that Bundy is only expected to miss two starts with the ankle issue. Despite bizarrely authoring one of the worst starts in MLB history earlier this year (seven earned runs, no outs recorded), Bundy has been Baltimore’s best starter in the aggregate so far. He’s notched a 3.75 ERA with 10.1 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 through 96 innings over the life of 16 starts.
  • Baltimore also looks likely to place righty Darren O’Day on the 10-day disabled list, as MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko writes. O’Day incurred some type of leg injury while fielding a bunt, signaled for the trainer, and exited after throwing just one warmup pitch. Kubatko notes that O’Day was bothered by some hamstring soreness a week ago and may have aggravated that ailment. MLB.com’s Brittany Ghiroli adds (via Twitter) that both O’Day and outfielder Craig Gentry are DL-bound for the Orioles, with the latter being troubled by a rib injury that stems from being hit by a pitch recently.
  • The Rangers announced Tuesday that rookie first baseman Ronald Guzman has been placed on the 7-day concussion list, with Ryan Rua returning from Triple-A Round Rock to take his spot on the active roster. Guzman sustained his concussion when he dove back into third base on a pickoff attempt but collided with the knee of Padres third baseman Christian Villanueva. The 23-year-old Guzman, long one of the Rangers’ most promising farmhands, had a rough start to the season but came alive in late May and had compiled an impressive .266/.364/.489 slash in his most recent 110 PAs leading up to the injury.

Shae Simmons Elects Free Agency

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A day after clearing outright waivers, right-handed reliever Shae Simmons has rejected an assignment to the Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate and instead elected free agency, as Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune tweets.

Simmons hasn’t been previously outrighted but does have more than three years of MLB service time (much of it spent on the MLB disabled list), which affords him the right to pass on an outright assignment and again test the open market. The Cubs ran Simmons throughout waivers in hopes of creating some roster flexibility, it seems, as they didn’t announce any form of corresponding move along with his outright, and their 40-man roster remains at 39 players.

Now 27 years of age, Simmons is a ways removed from an impressive rookie campaign with the Braves back in 2014. The former 22nd-round pick was never considered an elite prospect but debuted to toss 21 2/3 innings of 2.91 ERA ball with a 23-to-11 K/BB ratio, just one homer allowed and 52.8 percent ground-ball rate. At the very least, Simmons looked to have earned himself a bullpen gig for the following season — and potentially for years to come — but he required offseason Tommy John surgery and missed the entire 2015 season.

Upon returning in 2016, Simmons tossed 25 innings between the Majors and minors, generally faring well along the way. He was traded alongside Mallex Smith to the Mariners in a deal that netted the Braves pitching prospect Luiz Gohara, and he went on to spend most of the 2017 season on the 60-day DL in Seattle with a flexor strain.

The Cubs still saw enough in Simmons that they signed him to a split Major League deal this winter and placed him on the 40-man roster, but the righty has struggled to this point in the year down in Iowa. Through 22 2/3 innings, Simmons had logged a 5.56 ERA with as many walks as strikeouts (21 apiece). While his 50.8 percent ground-ball rate and the one homer he’d allowed were both encouraging signs, Simmons’ lack of control proved too detrimental to overcome. Simmons was still averaging 96 mph on his heater with the Mariners in 2017, and he can still miss bats and generate grounders, so it seems likely that another team will take a chance on him as long as he’s healthy (barring a reunion with the Cubs on a new minor league deal).

Mets GM Sandy Alderson Takes Leave Of Absence Following Cancer Recurrence

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6:20pm: Asked whether he’d return should be again be declared cancer-free, Alderson offered a candid assessment of his recent work (link via MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo). “[I]f I were to look at it on the merits, I’m not sure coming back is warranted,” Alderson said, in a nod to his team’s 31-45 record. Joel Sherman of the New York Post, meanwhile, writes that while Alderson and COO Jeff Wilpon neglected to go further into the prospect of the future, Tuesday’s press conference “sound[ed] like a goodbye to the job.”

The Post’s Mike Puma tweets that in the interim, there’s an expectation that Ricco will serve as the de facto point man, with Minaya and Ricciardi serving as experienced advisers and sounding boards. It’s been reported on multiple occasions in the past that the organization views Ricco as something of an heir apparent to Alderson anyhow, and the coming months could serve as an audition of sorts for the longtime AGM.

3:12pm: Mets GM Sandy Alderson will take a leave of absence to address a recurrence of cancer, the organization announced. Tim Britton of The Athletic (Twitter links) was among those to cover the news.

Alderson, 70, previously took a leave of absence in December of 2015 owing to a cancer diagnosis. He was later able to resume his duties as the top baseball decisionmaker, a role he has held since the end of the 2010 season.

In Alderson’s absence, top lieutenants John Ricco, J.P. Ricciardi, and Omar Minaya will run the baseball operations department. That group brings decades of baseball operations experience to the table. Ricco has been an assistant GM with the Mets since 2006, while Minaya is a former Mets GM himself. Ricciardi, meanwhile, was once the general manager of the Blue Jays.

It is not known at this time how long Alderson will be away, but he says that he will likely undergo surgery later this summer. Fortunately, the veteran executive says that the prognosis is good. MLBTR joins those around the game in sending its best wishes for a rapid and full recovery.

Cubs Place Kris Bryant On Disabled List

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The Cubs announced a lengthy series of roster moves Tuesday, most notably placing Kris Bryant on the disabled list (retroactive to June 23) due to left shoulder inflammation. Chicago also placed right-hander Justin Hancock on the DL due to inflammation in his right shoulder and optioned righty Duane Underwood Jr. back to Triple-A Iowa. In place of that trio, the Cubs are calling up right-hander Dillon Maples, right-hander Luke Farrell and infielder David Bote.

It’s the first career trip to the disabled list for Bryant, who entered play today hitting .280/.383/.481 with nine homers, 20 doubles and three triples so far on the season. There’s no timetable available yet for Bryant, who hasn’t played since this past Friday.

The 27-year-old Hancock has posted a strong 1.46 ERA in 12 2/3 innings for the Cubs so far, though his 11-to-9 K/BB ratio is far less encouraging. Underwood, 23, recently made his MLB debut in a spot start, tossing four innings of one-run ball.

Of the names being recalled to join the big league roster, Maples is the most noteworthy. The 26-year-old flamethrower is widely considered to be among Chicago’s best prospects, and the organization hopes that he can help to anchor the relief corps for years to come. If that’s to happen, though, Maples will have to considerably improve his control. The righty has the ability to wholly overpower opposing hitters, as evidenced by averaging better than 14 strikeouts per nine innings pitched across three minor league levels over the past two seasons. However, Maples’ control has been terrible in that time as well; he averaged 5.3 walks per nine innings pitched in 2017 and has issued 24 free passes in 25 1/3 innings with Triple-A Iowa so far in 2018.

Bote has been up and down with the Cubs this season, appearing in a total of eight games and hitting .263/.286/.368. The 25-year-old has a career .282/.360/.510 slash in 70 Triple-A games and has experience at every position other than catcher (including seven innings of minor league relief pitching). Farrell, 27, was claimed off waivers last October and has already pitched 20 innings in the Majors for the Cubs this year, recording a 4.50 ERA with 30 strikeouts against eight walks.

Josh Donaldson Suffers Setback In Injury Rehab

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What once looked to be a potentially minor trip to the disabled list for Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson will now be prolonged in fairly considerable fashion. The Blue Jays revealed today that Donaldson incurred a setback while fielding ground-balls in Florida as part of his rehab program (Twitter link via Sportsnet’s Arden Zwelling). An MRI has already been taken, revealing an “acute strain” of his calf muscle that’ll require him to be shut down once again. Donaldson will be reevaluated in three weeks, per Zwelling.

That timeline figures to knock Donaldson out for the remainder of the first half, as he’ll assuredly be eased back into baseball activities before ramping up and heading out on a minor league rehab assignment.

It’s already been nearly a month since Donaldson last saw action in a big league game. He’s been on the disabled list twice this season, with the other stint coming due to inflammation in his throwing shoulder. Obviously, that’s not how Donaldson hoped his contract season would play out — especially not after a monster finish to the 2017 season in which he hit .302/.410/.698 in August and September to close out the 2017 season, homering 22 times in 227 plate appearances along the way.

The 32-year-old Donaldson has been limited to just 159 plate appearances so far in 2018, hitting at a .234/.333/.423 pace with five homers. That combination of solid on-base skills and useful power numbers (.190 ISO) isn’t necessarily bad, but it’s nowhere near the lofty standards that the 2015 AL MVP has established for himself since breaking out as one of the league’s best all-around players back in 2013. As MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes noted on the latest edition of MLBTR’s 2018-19 Free Agent Power Rankings, Donaldson’s injury troubles could be significantly diminishing his earning power in free agency; Donaldson ranked fourth on the first edition of the list but fell to eighth on this month’s update back on June 7.

There is, of course, still time for Donaldson to return and rebuild some of his stock. But at 33 years of age this winter and with an absence that could now approach two months for his current calf injury, Donaldson will have a fairly big hole out which to dig himself, and his reps at MVP Sports will have some work to do in convincing interested teams that his injuries come with minimal changes of lingering into 2019 and beyond.

As for the Blue Jays, the setback Donaldson is especially problematic given their status as sellers at this summer’s non-waiver deadline. Even in a best-case scenario, Donaldson would have minimal time to return and showcase his health prior to the non-waiver trade deadline. Perhaps his sizable $23MM salary for the 2018 season would allow him to clear revocable trade waivers and be marketed in August, but there’s no denying that his value on the trade market has taken a substantial hit and robbed the Jays of some opportunity to acquire meaningful prospect capital in exchange for the final few months of control over Donaldson.

While many fans will wonder whether this setback could impact the timeline of uber-prospect Vladimir Guerrero Jr., it’s worth reminding that Guerrero himself hasn’t played since June 6 due to a strained patellar tendon in his left knee. He was slated to be evaluated four weeks after sustaining his own injury, and the Jays will presumably want to get him some reps in minor league games before even considering a promotion to the Majors.

Amateur Notes: July 2 Class, Draft, Indians, Pirates, Royals

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The international market is ready to get cranking again, with a new July 2nd class just around the corner. As usual, Ben Badler of Baseball America and Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com are providing plenty of insight. Badler just released his ranking of the 50 best international prospects, with lengthy scouting reports as well as anticipated signing teams and bonuses where available (a BA subscription is required). Sanchez, meanwhile, has his own top 30 rankings and scouting reports posted. On the top of Badler’s rankings is Cuban outfielder Victor Victor Mesa, who has yet to be declared a free agent by Major League Baseball. The other key distinction in his case is that he’s much older and more advanced than the bulk of the available talent. Indeed, Badler believes that Mesa is ready for an upper-minors placement, meaning he may not actually be far from the majors if he can translate his skills into professional production. Sanchez pegs Venezuelan catcher Diego Carataya as the top talent in the class, though perhaps only by way of technicality; because Mesa is not yet formally a free agent, he’s absent from the MLB.com list entirely.

Of course, when it comes to bringing in new talent, the immediate action remains centered around the 2018 amateur draft class:

  • With a deadline of July 6 to work out bonuses, there’s still plenty of time left for unsigned players to come to terms. At present, there are a fair number of first-rounders who’ve yet to lock up agreements. That includes four first-round players: No. 4 pick Nick Madrigal (White Sox), No. 5 pick Jonathan India (Reds), No. 7 pick Ryan Weathers (Padres), and No. 8 pick Carter Stewart (Braves). There’s no indication to this point that the respective teams will have trouble finalizing things. As always, you can catch up on the latest signings with our 2018 Amateur Draft tag.
  • Over the coming weeks, of course, we could begin to see some situations develop that warrant closer attention. It seems there’s at least a bit of uncertainty between the Brewers and their top pick, Brice Turang. The same can be said with regard to a few other talented young players. Ethan Hankins, the No. 35 overall selection, is still in talks with the Indians, as GM Mike Chernoff says and MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian tweets. But he also has an arrangement in place with Chipola College’s JuCo baseball program that would enable him to play a year and then re-enter next year’s draft, Doug Freeman of Prep Baseball Report tweets. Similarly, Pirates draftee Gunnar Hoglund — who went one pick after Hankins — has begun attending summer school orientation at Ole Miss, per Kiley McDaniel of Fangraphs (via Twitter).
  • Elsewhere, the status of Oregon State lefty Luke Heimlich remains uncertain as he participates in the finals of the College World Series. But Royals GM Dayton Moore had some noteworthy comments on the situation recently, leaving many to wonder if the Kansas City organization will make a move to add a player whose abilities aren’t questioned, but carries a highly controversial status as a convicted sexual offender. Indeed, Moore has already spoken on Heimlich quite a bit, as Rustin Dodd of The Athletic explains (subscription link). It’ll ultimately come down to an ownership call that has yet to be made, according to Dodd, who writes: “The Royals are not close to signing Heimlich, nor do they have any framework for a deal in place, according to a source familiar with the situation.” It’s hard to know just why the organization (or, perhaps, Moore personally) decided to air its feelings on this subject before reaching a decision. Now that he has, though, perhaps the public reaction will help inform the ultimate course of action.

Blue Jays Designate Gio Urshela For Assignment

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The Blue Jays announced that they’ve designated infielder Gio Urshela for assignment in order to clear space on the roster for left-hander Ryan Borucki, who has been recalled from Triple-A Buffalo and will start tonight’s game.

Urshela, 26, was acquired from the Indians back in early May and has received sparse playing time in the six weeks that have followed. Urshela has appeared in 19 games with the Jays but taken just 46 trips to the plate, hitting .233/.283/.326 in that time. That’s roughly in line with his career numbers to date: a .225/.274/.315 batting line in 499 plate appearances. Urshela grades out as an above-average third baseman, though Toronto has used him more at shortstop, where defensive metrics have been less favorable (in an admittedly negligible sample of 85 innings).

Toronto will have a week to either trade Urshela or place him on outright waivers in hopes of going unclaimed and subsequently being sent outright to Buffalo. Given his defensive reputation, it’s possible that Urshela would indeed be claimed by another club. However, he’s also out of minor league options, so any team claiming him will have to carry him on the MLB roster or try to once again run him through waivers in order to get him to Triple-A.

Brewers Place Lorenzo Cain On DL, Recall Keon Broxton

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The Brewers announced Tuesday that they’ve placed Lorenzo Cain on the 10-day disabled list due to a groin strain and recalled fellow outfielder Keon Broxton from Triple-A Colorado Springs in his place. Cain’s placement on the DL is retroactive to Sunday.

Cain, 32, was among the highest-paid free agents of the 2017-18 offseason, landing a five-year, $80MM contract to return to the organization that originally drafted him in the 17th round back in 2004. Thus far, that investment has paid off in spades, as Cain is enjoying one of the most productive seasons of his career and is playing his usual bland of outstanding defense.

In 312 plate appearances, Cain is hitting .291/.394/.438 with eight homers, 15 doubles and 16 steals (in 19 attempts). Defensive Runs Saved pegs Cain at +11, while Ultimate Zone Rating is similarly bullish at +7.1. Meanwhile, Statcast’s Outs Above Average metric has Cain tied for third among Major League outfielders, trailing only Delino DeShields Jr. and Adam Engel.

The Brewers didn’t provide a timeline for Cain’s return, though certainly the hope is that he can recover with a minimal DL stint. There’s no indication yet that he’s in line to miss significant time.

In his absence, the Brewers will give Keon Broxton his first look in the Majors this season. A popular offseason trade candidate who ultimately wound up staying put, the 28-year-old Broxton is hitting .263/.336/.431 with nine homers and 24 steals so far in Triple-A. Broxton is know for his tantalizing blend of power and speed, but the center fielder is also among the game’s most strikeout-prone players. He fanned at a 37 percent clip in 707 plate appearances from 2016-17 and is striking out at a 35.6 percent clip in Triple-A this season. That said, a team eyeing outfield help at this year’s deadline could certainly show interest in Broxton, who can be controlled through at least the 2022 season.

Red Sox Place Steven Wright On DL With Knee Inflammation

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The Red Sox announced today that righty Steven Wright is going on the 10-day disabled list with inflammation in his left knee. Boston has recalled Justin Haley to take the open roster spot.

It’s not clear what the prognosis is just yet for Wright, but the fact of the DL placement is somewhat worrisome in and of itself. Wright missed much of the 2017 season after undergoing a cartilage restoration procedure on the same joint. He missed the first six weeks or so of the current campaign, too.

Wright, a 33-year-old knuckler, has been a key piece for the Sox since getting back to the hill. In forty innings over ten appearances, including four starts, he has worked to a 3.38 ERA with 7.0 K/9 and 4.5 BB/9.

If the knee responds well to rest, perhaps this won’t turn out to be a significant issue at all. If it’s more, then depth could begin to be a concern. Drew Pomeranz is still working back from the DL at the moment, but would be the top rotation option once he’s ready. Otherwise, Haley has thrown well at Triple-A but has not yet started in the bigs. (He has recorded twenty innings of relief.) The team’s other options with MLB experience, Hector Velazquez and Brian Johnson, are currently working out of the major-league bullpen.

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