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Yankees Sign David Hernandez

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The Yankees  agreed to a minor league contract with veteran right-hander David Hernandez, as was first reported by Conor Foley of the Scranton Times-Tribune (via Twitter). The Yankees didn’t make any formal announcement of the move, but Hernandez actually pitched last night for the team’s Triple-A club.

Hernandez, 34, was released by the Reds on Sunday after struggling through most of the 2019 season. The veteran signed a two-year, $5MM contract with Cincinnati prior to the 2018 season and pitched well in the first year of that deal, logging a 2.53 ERA with 9.1 K/9, 2.4 BB/9, 0.84 HR/9 and a 32.9 percent ground-ball rate. The 2019 season has fallen on the opposite end of the spectrum, though, as Hernandez was shellacked for an 8.02 earned run average in 42 2/3 innings.

Hernandez has already allowed more homers (seven) than he did in 64 innings last year (six), and his BB/9 mark has jumped from 2.4 to 4.2. That said, he’s averaged 11.2 strikeouts per nine inning pitched, the second-best mark of his career, and has actually seen his velocity improve over last year. After averaging 93 mph on his heater in 2018, Hernandez is averaging 93.6 mph in that regard in 2019. He’s also sitting on career-highs in swinging-strike rate (14.7 percent) and opponents’ chase rate (35.3 percent).

While his diminished control has certainly been a factor in his poor results, Hernandez has also been plagued by a .393 average on balls in play and a fluky 54.5 percent strand rate. That BABIP is the second-highest mark of any pitcher in baseball with at least 40 innings pitched (trailing only Milwaukee’s Corbin Burnes), and only three pitchers have seen a lower left-on-base percentage in 2019. Hernandez carries a career 75 percent strand rate, making this season’s alarmingly low rate seem all the more likely to be an aberration.

There’s no guarantee that the veteran Hernandez will round back into form in a new setting, but he’ll look to right the ship in a lower-pressure setting with Triple-A Scranton — likely in hopes of emerging as a September callup for the Yankees. New York would only owe Hernandez the prorated league minimum for any time he spends on the big league roster, as the Reds will remain on the hook for the rest of this season’s $2.5MM salary.

AL West Notes: Angels, Crawford, Bailey

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After opting out of their stadium lease last October, the Angels agreed to a one-year lease extension with the city of Anaheim back in January. However, Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times reports that the extension doesn’t mean the team’s lease now expires after the 2020 season. Rather, the January agreement was merely an extension of the opt-out agreement — effectively delaying the team’s final say on whether it’ll opt out at all or remain in its current lease with Angel Stadium, which runs through 2020. The Angels have explored the possibility of building new stadium in Long Beach and in Anaheim, but a third option would simply be to remain in their current park through the end of their current lease in 2029. Angels ownership will have until Dec. 31 to ultimately make that call; Shaikin suggests that any agreement on a Long Beach development would require the renegotiation of a short-term lease in the current facility while the new structure is built.

More news and notes out of the AL West…

  • Prior to embarking on the team’s rebuild, Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto tasked upwards of 20 baseball operations and analytics staffers with identifying potential acquisitions, writes Corey Brock of The Athletic (subscription required). “The most oft-mentioned hypothetically-acquired player was J.P. [Crawford], who was identified by virtually all of those who took part in the project,” Dipoto tells Brock. The organization widely viewed Crawford as an affordable and potentially available shortstop of the future, and Dipoto now says the club is more confident than ever that Crawford can be just that type of piece. The 24-year-old already dropped jaws across the baseball world with one of the season’s most spectacular defensive plays late last month (video link), and the club believes the work he’s put in with infield coach Perry Hill has improved his footwork to the point that he can be a consistent plus with the glove. Crawford’s .241/.321/.398 (95 wRC+) batting line isn’t all that eye-catching, the Mariners are optimistic that his bat will improve as his glove has this season. Crawford spent enough time in the minors this season that he can be controlled through the 2025 season.
  • Last night’s gem from Homer Bailey — seven shutout innings of two-hit ball with one walk and seven strikeouts — was well-timed but doesn’t secure the veteran’s place in the Athletics’ rotation, writes Ben Ross of NBC Sports Bay Area. Bailey has pitched well in all of his home starts and last night’s road outing in San Francisco, but he’s also been torched in visits to Minute Maid Park (Astros) and Wrigley Field (Cubs). Each of Mike Fiers, Brett Anderson, Tanner Roark and Chris Bassitt appears locked into a rotation spot now, and the A’s will soon welcome back Sean Manaea from the injured list. A healthy Manaea would be Oakland’s best starter, leaving Bailey’s status somewhat unclear. The A’s also added Matt Harvey on a minor league contract last night, giving them another potential alternative to Bailey (depending, of course, on his performance in Triple-A Las Vegas).

Latest On A’s Extension Possibilities

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With third baseman Matt Chapman and shortstop Marcus Semien, the left side of the Athletics’ infield is among the most productive in baseball. The fact that the two combine to make less than $6MM (almost all of which belongs to Semien) only adds to their appeal from the low-budget Athletics’ perspective. But their days of earning relatively meager salaries might not last for much longer. Both players are candidates for contract extensions, though Semien will reach free agency after next season if nothing comes together between him and Oakland in the meantime.

To this point, the A’s haven’t handed out a longer or richer contract than the six-year, $66MM extension they signed third baseman Eric Chavez to entering the 2004 campaign. They now have a new standout at the hot corner in Chapman, a Scott Boras client who could eventually unseat Chavez as the recipient of the biggest deal in team history. It’s “believed” the Athletics are considering making Chapman an offer for longer than the one Chavez signed 15 years ago, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Fortunately for the Athletics, there’s no imminent danger of losing Chapman. The 26-year-old isn’t even slated to reach arbitration for the first time until after 2020, and once he does, he’ll still be controllable for three seasons. Nevertheless, though, the A’s may want to get out in front of the arbitration process with Chapman. After all, he has burst out as one of the most valuable players in the sport over the past couple seasons, combining defensive virtuosity with marvelous offense.

Dating back to last year, his first full season in the majors, Chapman has slashed .267/.347/.506 (130 wRC+) with 51 home runs in 1,116 plate appearances. His 10.7 fWAR in that span ranks seventh among all position players, putting him just behind Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon – a pending free agent who could collect a payday in the $150MM range in the offseason.

Considering the disparate points they’re at in their careers, Chapman obviously doesn’t have the earning power of Rendon. Depending on the length of the deal, though, Chapman could come within shouting distance of nine figures. MLBTR’s Jeff Todd posited last October that a seven-year, $80MM commitment might not have been out of reach on an extension, and that was before Chapman’s second straight overwhelmingly successful season.

Semien, 29 next month, has joined Chapman in emerging as an integral Athletic in the past couple years. By FanGraphs’ wRC+ metric, Semien was a slightly below league-average offensive producer from 2013-18, but the former White Sox infielder has found another gear this season. He’s hitting .273/.359/.469 (122 wRC+) with 19 HRs through 551 trips to the plate. Between his improved offense and quality defense, Semien has accounted for a personal-best 4.6 fWAR thus far. He’ll absolutely earn a solid raise in arbitration during the winter, but perhaps the Athletics will lock him up before it comes to that. Having just switched representation last week, he told Slusser his goal is to stick with the A’s for the long haul.

“That’s always been a big want for our family,” Semien said. “We’re extremely happy living here year round — that’s what anyone would want. And this team is such an amazing group to be around. Everyone talks about how bad the stadium is but when you have a group of guys you enjoy being around, that doesn’t matter.”

Oakland previously tried to extend Semien at the beginning of the 2017 season, when he would’ve come much cheaper. But the club wasn’t willing to match the six-year, $25MM guarantee the White Sox awarded shortstop Tim Anderson around the same time, according to Slusser. No agreement materialized as a result, and that may not change going forward, as Slusser writes “it’s hard to imagine” the A’s giving Semien a contract worth that much more than Chavez’s. It seems a long-term accord for Chapman is the bigger priority for the team.

Jose Iglesias Interested In Re-Signing With Reds

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Jose Iglesias has been an effective pickup at a low price for the Reds, who inked the former Boston and Detroit shortstop to a minor league contract last winter. Although he had to settle for a non-guaranteed deal, Iglesias earned a spot on the Reds’ roster and a $2.5MM salary coming into the season. The 29-year-old has since turned into a starter for Cincinnati, where he has batted .290/.321/.417 with a career-high eight home runs in 390 plate appearances.

It’s possible the slick-fielding Iglesias’ output this year will be enough to convince a team to sign him to a major league pact prior to next season. Whether or not that happens, Iglesias would like to stay in Cincy, he explained to Mark Sheldon of MLB.com.

“We haven’t gotten deep into that conversation yet. It’s going to happen soon, I guess,” Iglesias said. “Man, I love this group. That’s all I can say. This is where I belong. I don’t know, it’s totally out of my hands after that. I’ve enjoyed every single day I’ve come to the ballpark and leading by example, helping the younger players, and I’m very, very happy to be here.”

The Reds are also open to continuing their relationship with Iglesias, with president of baseball operations Dick Williams telling Sheldon that the club “could have any combination of (Jose) Peraza, (Freddy) Galvis and Iglesias on the team next year. None currently have guaranteed contracts, but we have interest in all of them as well as control over some of them, and we’ll evaluate how the pieces best fit together.”

Peraza, Galvis and Iglesias are currently part of a Reds middle infield mix that also includes Josh VanMeter, Kyle Farmer and the injured Derek Dietrich. Among Peraza, Galvis and Iglesias, the former has posted the least productive 2019. After racking up encouraging numbers last year, Peraza has only hit .241/.287/.355 in 321 trips to the plate this season. He’s on a $2.775MM salary and controllable via arbitration two more times. Galvis, just claimed from the Blue Jays on waivers this week, has a $5.5MM club option (or a $1MM buyout) for 2020. This has been a respectable campaign for the 29-year-old switch-hitter, owner of a .274/.305/.456 slash with 19 homers over 479 PA.

With everyone from the above group looking like candidates to return next season, the Reds once again appear as if they’ll have no shortage of in-house middle infield choices. However, Cincinnati could nonetheless seek higher-upside possibilities than Iglesias and the rest during the winter, when Williams and general manager Nick Krall figure to make an earnest attempt to construct a playoff-caliber roster. The Reds (56-63) have made obvious strides this year, but they’re still on pace for their sixth straight sub-.500 season, leaving room for improvement in their middle infield and elsewhere.

Athletics To Reduce Jurickson Profar’s Role

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Second baseman Jurickson Profar rode the bench in favor of the just-promoted Corban Joseph for the Athletics’ victory over the Giants on Wednesday. It’s the beginning of a trend for Profar, who’s in for a “greatly reduced role,” Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle writes. Most of the switch-hitting Profar’s action will come against left-handed pitchers, Slusser explains, with the lefty-swinging Joseph and righty Chad Pinder set to eat into his playing time.

A late-season reduction in at-bats for Profar isn’t what the Athletics had in mind when they acquired him last winter, especially now that they’re locked in a playoff race. The addition of Profar from Texas in a three-way trade that also included Tampa Bay cost Oakland standout reliever Emilio Pagan and infield/outfield prospect Eli White. It didn’t look like an unreasonable price to pay for Profar, a once-prized prospect who finally lived up to some of his past promise in 2018. After largely disappointing from 2012-17, Profar batted .254/.335/.458 (108 wRC+) with 20 home runs, 10 steals and 2.9 fWAR as a 25-year-old last season.

The A’s likely expected more of the same from Profar this season, if not an even better performance. Instead, though, Profar has batted a miserable .205/.268/.382 (70 wRC+) through 395 PA. While Profar has swatted 15 homers and totaled seven more steals, his weak batting line and subpar reviews at second (minus-10 Defensive Runs Saved, minus-0.8 Ultimate Zone Rating), have limited him to a replacement-level impact in 2019. It may go down as the lone year with the Athletics for Profar. While he still has another season of arbitration control, in which Profar will hope to earn a raise over his current salary of $3.6MM, Slusser casts doubt on the possibility of him returning to the team in 2020.

Regardless of what his future holds, Profar – to his credit – is taking his demotion in stride, as he told Slusser:  “I don’t feel like I’ve been contributing like I’m capable of, so I’m OK with it. I’ll just keep working and try to find it.”

Profar’s troubles have come against righties, who have held him to a .177/.245/.372 line (compared to a solid .304/.353/.418 versus lefties). A deeper dive into Profar’s numbers does indicate some bad fortune has factored into his woes. Profar has typically run low batting averages on balls in play in his career, evidenced by his lifetime .257 BABIP, but this year’s .205 mark is way down even by his standards. Meanwhile, according to Statcast, his .302 expected weighted on-base average easily outpaces his .278 real wOBA. Profar also remains difficult to strike out, having done so at a 15.2 percent clip this year.

Granted, those aren’t overwhelming positives, so the Athletics want to explore alternatives at the keystone. Manager Bob Melvin told Slusser the A’s aren’t “getting as much production as we want at that position, so maybe you look elsewhere.” That’ll lead them to Joseph, a 30-year-old with a mere 31 major league plate appearances under his belt.

Jeter: Marlins Haven’t Made Decision On Mattingly’s Future

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The Marlins will reportedly move on from manager Don Mattingly after the season, but the 58-year-old said Wednesday he hopes to return to his post in 2020, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com relays.

“I’d love to be back, especially if they want you back,” said Mattingly, whose contract will expire at season’s end.

Marlins owner Derek Jeter acknowledged that Mattingly’s future is “something that we need to talk about sooner rather than later. We have touched base, and we’ll continue to talk.” To this point, though, the Marlins haven’t taken time to decide on whether they’ll make a change in the dugout, according to Jeter.

Going solely by win-loss record, it’s been a rather poor Miami tenure for Mattingly, whose teams have assembled a 263-339 mark. But judging by record wouldn’t be fair to Mattingly, who has tried to weather especially tempestuous times as the Marlins’ skipper. The franchise looked to be making progress in his first year on the job, a 79-win campaign, but it lost ace Jose Fernandez in a boating accident that September. The next season – an MVP-winning effort for outfielder Giancarlo Stanton – the Marlins hung in wild-contention late into the summer before falling apart and finishing 77-85.

Jeter and Bruce Sherman took over for the reviled Jeffrey Loria as the Marlins’ owners after the 2017 season, and they then launched the organization into a full rebuild. Since then, the Marlins have slashed a huge amount of payroll – not to mention big league talent – by trading the likes of Stanton, Christian Yelich, Marcell Ozuna and J.T. Realmuto. In the process, the Marlins have rebuilt a once-dreadful farm system into an impressive group, but Mattingly hasn’t really been in position to benefit from that. The MLB club has gone 107-172 dating back to 2018.

If the Marlins do move on from Mattingly after the season, it’ll represent one former Yankees captain waving goodbye to another. Mattingly held the role with the Yankees until he retired in 1995. Jeter, who debuted in Mattingly’s final season, took over as New York’s captain in 2003. Should Jeter part with him, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Mattingly draw managerial interest from elsewhere at the outset of the offseason. He’s a respected presence in the game who, before landing in Miami, enjoyed a decent run as the Dodgers’ manager from 2011-15.

Injury Notes: Astros, Ray, Nimmo, Voit

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The hamstring injury that prompted the Astros to scratch Gerrit Cole from yesterday’s start isn’t immediately believed to be serious, manager A.J. Hinch told reporters (Twitter link, with video, via Brian McTaggart of MLB.com). That doesn’t necessarily preclude a trip to the injured list, but Hinch explained that Cole “doesn’t think it’s that serious.” He’ll nonetheless be tested further to ensure there’s no risk of a more substantial injury. Scratching Cole had a trickle-down effect on the pitching staff, though, as it forced Houston into a bullpen game in the second half of a Tuesday doubleheader against the White Sox. As such, deadline acquisition Joe Biagini was optioned to Triple-A in order to get a fresh arm, Cy Sneed, into the bullpen. Biagini’s trip to the minors seems likely to be brief and won’t impact his arbitration or free-agent timeline.

More on a few other noteworthy injury situations…

  • Diamondbacks left-hander Robbie Ray exited his start in Colorado on Wednesday after two innings because of back spasms. Afterward, manager Torey Lovullo told Zach Buchanan of The Athletic and other reporters he hopes Ray won’t “need to miss much time” (subscription link). The club should have a better idea of Ray’s status after he undergoes an MRI on Thursday. With Arizona already looking like a playoff long shot (it’s 3 1/2 back of a wild-card spot), it can ill afford to lose Ray for any decent chunk of time. The 27-year-old is the No. 1 starter left in a rotation that has gone through significant changes this season. Ray was a trade candidate at last month’s deadline, but he stayed put while the team instead moved ace Zack Greinke, bringing in Mike Leake and Zac Gallen to help cover for his exit. Back in May, long before the deadline, the Diamondbacks saw emergent righty Luke Weaver hit the IL with arm troubles. Weaver still hasn’t come back. There is optimism Weaver will return this season, but he’ll likely finish the year as a reliever if he does.
  • Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo is within a week or ten days of launching a rehab stint, per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com (via Twitter). Of course, the most recent prior report had indicated Nimmo might already have been prepared for minor-league game action, and that obviously did not come to pass. The 26-year-old is dealing with a bulging disc in his back. While the club has thrived of late, a healthy Nimmo would be a notable roster upgrade. Injuries have been mounting for the Mets, who’ve now lost Robinson Cano and Jeff McNeil to the IL in the past couple weeks. McNeil, who was placed on the IL today due to a mild hamstring strain, may yet beat Nimmo back from the injured list, though.
  • Yankees first baseman Luke Voit could begin his own rehab assignment “next week,” he said Wednesday (via George A. King III of the New York Post). That’s encouraging news for a player who has dealt with core issues since June 29 and looked like a serious candidate for season-ending sports hernia surgery not long ago.

Athletics Sign Matt Harvey

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9:53pm: The club has indeed signed Harvey, per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Harvey will report to Triple-A Las Vegas.

9:17pm: The Athletics are closing in on a contract with free-agent right-hander Matt Harvey, according to Roster Roundup. It’ll be a minor league pact, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets.

An agreement with the A’s means Harvey will continue in the American League West, where he pitched for the Angels this season before they released him three weeks ago. The former Mets star, 30, was among the Angels’ most notable signings last winter, when they handed him an $11MM guarantee. But the Halos’ version of Harvey performed like one of the worst starters in baseball, which forced the team to drop him.

After reviving his career to some extent as a member of the Reds late last season, Harvey opened this year with a ghastly 7.09 ERA/6.35 FIP with 5.88 K/9 and 4.37 BB/9 across 59 2/3 innings and 12 starts. As you’d expect, he ranked near the bottom of the league in all of those categories. In the process, Harvey yielded home runs on a personal-worst 22.4 percent of fly balls, recorded the lowest average four-seam fastball velocity of his time in the majors (93.2 mph) and posted the second-weakest swinging-strike rate of his career (9.1). Hitters teed off on Harvey for a .372 weighted on-base average along the way, but according to Statcast’s expected wOBA metric (.390), he actually deserved worse.

Needless to say, this has been a nightmarish campaign for Harvey. There’s little harm in the A’s taking a flier on him on a minors pact, though, especially considering the success they’ve recently had bringing in castoff starters on low-cost deals (Edwin Jackson, Brett Anderson and Trevor Cahill spring to mind). And Harvey’s now back in the same organization as A’s executive Sandy Alderson, who was New York’s general manager during the hurler’s tenure there.

Having dealt with significant injuries to Sean Manaea, Jesus Luzardo, A.J. Puk, Marco Estrada and Jharel Cotton – not to mention an 80-game suspension to emergent ace Frankie Montas – Oakland has been forced to make do with a patchwork rotation for the second straight year. The club somehow won 97 games and earned a wild-card berth last season, though, and has weathered its issues in 2019 to log a 68-52 record.

Currently two games back of a wild-card spot, the Athletics have been aggressive in trying to upgrade their starting staff over the past few weeks. Prior to last month’s trade deadline, they acquired Tanner Roark from the Reds and Homer Bailey from the Royals. Those two are now part of a rotation that also includes Anderson, Mike Fiers and Chris Bassitt, while Manaea, Luzardo and perhaps even Harvey are among those who could also factor into the mix in the coming weeks.

Blue Jays Notes: Smoak, Galvis, Bichette, Catcher

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A day after suggesting that Rowdy Tellez was in line to receive more playing time down than Justin Smoak down the stretch, Blue Jays skipper Charlie Montoyo has walked that assertion back a bit. “Maybe it came out like he’s going to play more than Smoak, but it’s still the same way,” Montoyo told reporters, including Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. “Smoak will DH, play first. I don’t see that much of a difference.” Smoak himself was caught off guard by Montoyo’s initial comments, but the first baseman said Montoyo took him aside in an effort to sort things out. It seems that Smoak and Tellez will share first base/designated hitter duties down the stretch, though Montoyo has no shortage of other players he’ll need to try to work into the mix at DH. Davidi adds that the Blue Jays “seem to have no intention” of placing Smoak on outright waivers in the manner they did with Freddy Galvis, who was claimed by the Reds earlier this week.

More out of Toronto…

  • The Blue Jays didn’t find much in the way of trade interest for Galvis prior to the trade deadline, writes The Toronto Sun’s Ryan Wolstat, but the arrival (and immediate success) of Bo Bichette prompted the club to give the veteran Galvis an opportunity to be claimed by a club that’d play him every day at his natural position. General manager Ross Atkins said the club and Galvis were open and honest with each other leading up to the move. Montoyo effused praise for Galvis’ professionalism and leadership, and teammates such as Lourdes Gurriel Jr. expressed some sadness in seeing Galvis depart. “He taught me a lot, not just to me, to the rest of the guys and I will always carry that with me,” said Gurriel of Galvis. “Freddy’s a huge mentor for any player.” The Reds will now have the ability to exercise Galvis’ $5.5MM club option for the 2020 season, though they’ll also be on the hook for the $1MM buyout should they not decide to bring him back.
  • While Danny Jansen is still the favorite to serve as the Jays’ primary catcher in 2020, TSN’s Scott Mitchell writes that Reese McGuire will be given an opportunity to show he can be a significant piece of the catching puzzle in the season’s final six weeks. Both Jansen and McGuire drew heaps of praise for their defensive prowess from catching coordinator John Schneider, and Jansen indeed ranks among the game’s best backstops in terms of pitch framing, pitch blocking, Defensive Runs Saved and Baseball Prospectus’ fielding runs above average. Jansen has also salvaged what was shaping up to be a miserable season at the plate, hitting .252/.316/.484 dating back to June 1. As Mitchell points out, the Jays have a number of other catching options coming up through the system, giving them some potential trade commodities to address other holes on the club if the Jansen/McGuire pairing is indeed determined to be the long-term catching tandem.

Padres Likely To Place Fernando Tatis Jr. On Injured List

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The Padres are likely to place phenom Fernando Tatis Jr. on the injured list because of back spasms, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune tweets. Tatis departed Tuesday’s game because of the issue and then sat out Wednesday.

This will be the second IL stint of the season for Tatis, a 20-year-old rookie shortstop who has been among the majors’ best players – first year or otherwise – in 2019. Although he missed a month earlier in the season with a hamstring strain, Tatis has still managed to slash an excellent .317/.379/.590 (149 wRC+) with 22 home runs, 16 steals and 3.7 fWAR across 372 plate appearances. Tatis may join Mets first baseman Pete Alonso as the leading NL Rookie of the Year vote-getters at season’s end, though having a pair of IL trips under his belt could help prevent the Padre from winning the award.

Regardless of whether he takes home any hardware this year, Tatis has the talent to end up in the running for plenty of accolades in the future. With that in mind, the Padres will surely be cautious with Tatis as he works his way back from this injury – especially considering they’re all but out of playoff contention. However, the club is hopeful he’ll be able to return after 10 days off, according to Acee.

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