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Archives for July 2019

Angels Recall Nick Tropeano, Designate Adalberto Mejia

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The Angels announced that they have recalled righty Nick Tropeano from Triple-A to start tonight’s game. Maria Torres of the Los Angeles Times first reported that decision on Twitter.

To create roster space, the club designated southpaw Adalberto Mejia for assignment. Mejia was recently claimed off waivers from the Twins.

The Halos will hope that Mejia clears waivers and can be stashed at Triple-A. He’d be a nice depth piece to have on hand, particularly for an organization that needs both rotation and bullpen options. Mejia had endured a brutal stretch in Minnesota to open the year but gave his new club four good outings (one earned run, 6:1 K/BB in 4 1/3 innings) to open his tenure.

As for Tropeano, this’ll be his latest attempt to reestablish himself in the majors. He was ambushed in two prior MLB starts this year. And things haven’t gone well at Triple-A, either. Through 49 1/3 frames, he’s carrying a 7.66 ERA on 64 base knocks with 10.4 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9.

Max Scherzer Dealing With Renewed Upper Back Issues

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After coming off of the injured list to start yesterday, Nationals ace Max Scherzer woke up with renewed stiffness in his back, Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com reports. It is not clear at this point whether he’ll skip his next scheduled start and/or require a return trip to the 10-day IL.

An MRI taken this morning revealed a mild rhomboid strain. That’s a different issue in the same area of the upper back/shoulder. Scherzer had previously been dealing with an inflamed bursa sac in the vicinity of his shoulder blade. To treat the new problem, Scherzer has undergone a stem-cell injection. His response to that will be assessed in a few days.

While the Nats need every single Scherzer outing they can get, the team is also walking a bit of a tightrope. Allowing the fiery veteran to push himself too hard could easily backfire. And Scherzer wasn’t quite at his best in his return start, though he was still effective and did emphasize that he felt at full health going into and during the outing.

The uncertainty surrounding Scherzer comes at an interesting time for the Nationals. There was already a case to be made that this team could use a starting pitcher. There’s all the more reason to do so now, if only to buy some time to give Scherzer ample rest.

One route would be to grab a fill-in rotation piece that can check down to a relief role. Derek Holland might’ve made sense in that capacity, particularly since the Nats could use a southpaw and he has been so nasty against opposing lefties. But the team didn’t jump on the opportunity, with Holland landing today with the Cubs. Similar hurlers could yet make sense. The tough thing for the D.C. organization will be to balance the imperative to buttress the rotation with a still-glaring need for multiple, quality relief arms.

Detroit’s Underrated Trade Chip

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Owners of a major league-worst 30-68 record, the Tigers figure to be one of baseball’s most active sellers prior to next Wednesday’s trade deadline. Three of their players – starter Matthew Boyd, reliever Shane Greene and right fielder Nicholas Castellanos – stand among the most discussed trade chips in baseball. But they’re likely not the only Tigers who are on other teams’ radars as the deadline approaches. The club also has an underrated reliever, right-hander Buck Farmer, it could market.

As is the case with Boyd, who’s under control for the next few years, there isn’t necessarily any urgency to deal Farmer. He’s earning a minimal salary right now and won’t make his first of three potential trips through the arbitration process until the offseason. That said, Farmer’s a soon-to-be 29-year-old on a team that’s not contending now and won’t in the immediate future, which makes him a sensible piece for Detroit to consider parting with in the next few days.

Farmer has been a member of the Tigers since they chose the ex-Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket in the fifth round of the 2013 draft. Although he wasn’t a particularly high selection, Farmer climbed up the team’s system to become the Tigers’ second-ranked prospect at Baseball America after the 2014 season, during which he briefly debuted in the bigs. At the time, BA contended Farmer could become a useful back-of-the-rotation starter, though it noted the Tigers may decide he’s better off in the bullpen.

Five years later, Farmer has indeed found his niche in Detroit’s relief corps. After a few seasons of posting mediocre to worse numbers as a starter and reliever, Farmer has morphed into a pleasant surprise this year. Farmer has logged a 3.70 ERA across 41 1/3 innings (45 appearances, one start) thus far. That’s not going to blow anyone away, but Farmer’s strikeout and walk rates (10.67 K/9, 2.83 BB/9) are impressive, as is his 13.3 percent swinging-strike rate, while his 3.20 FIP, 3.36 SIERA and 3.37 xFIP all suggest he has deserved better in the run prevention department. He’s generating groundballs at a 51.4 percent clip, which is exactly 11 percent higher than the GB rate he recorded over a full season of relief work last year. Along with inducing grounders at a below-average rate over 69 1/3 frames then, Farmer put up just 7.4 K/9 against 5.32 BB/9, helping lead to an unspectacular 4.15 ERA/4.46 FIP.

Like last year, Farmer has continued to fire four-seam fastballs at around 95 mph. However, Farmer has somewhat changed his pitch mix since then, per Statcast. He utilized his four-seamer approximately 57 percent of the time in 2018, but it’s down to just over 48 percent now. Meantime, Farmer’s slider usage has climbed significantly – from 17 percent to 27 – while his changeup reliance has continued to hover around the mid-20 percent range. The adjustment to Farmer’s repertoire has worked out. While batters have destroyed his fastball (.436 weighted on-base average, .422 xwOBA), they’ve done next to nothing against his slider (.240/.148) and change (.224/.271). Thanks largely to his hittable heater, Farmer ranks in the basement of the league (its sixth percentile) in hard-hit rate against. Still, his quality offspeed offerings have enabled Farmer to limit hitters to a respectable .320 wOBA/.313 xwOBA overall.

In Farmer, an acquiring team wouldn’t exactly be landing the most exciting option prior to the deadline. Nevertheless, Farmer’s an effective, cheap, controllable reliever who has helped the Tigers this year and would likely aid a contender. It would make sense for Detroit to consider selling high on Farmer in the coming days, and it would be logical for better teams to come calling.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Angels Looking For Starting Pitching

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The Angels have no hope of making a charge in the AL West and face a tough path to the Wild Card, but the club doesn’t appear to be ready to wave the white flag. To the contrary, the Halos are looking at a wide variety of potentially available starters, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network (via Twitter).

Though they have battled into a plausible contending position, the Angels’ starting pitching situation remains quite problematic. The unfathomable loss of Tyler Skaggs has left an enormous hole in the organization and on the roster. With Andrew Heaney heading to the IL and JC Ramirez turning in messy rehab results, the rotation is full of inexperienced, less-than-ideal options.

Given the long odds of even reaching the postseason, it’s hard to imagine the Halos chasing the top rental arms. But the club does have good cause to consider controllable hurlers that will not only contribute now but help to fill out the rotation in the near future. Last winter’s signings of Matt Harvey and Trevor Cahill have been complete duds — which is always a risk, but especially so when you’re focused on short-term free agents. Repeating that approach probably won’t have a ton of appeal. But the Angels will surely also remain reticent to make a big commitment to a better veteran starter in free agency.

Trade talks make sense, then, particularly now that the L.A. organization has a greater abundance of prospects to work with. Of course, the team will also need to protect those assets as much or more as its future payroll capacity. An anemic talent pipeline has been a big problem in recent campaigns. The team is already enjoying the fruits of a more productive farm and will surely want to exercise caution lest it compromise its future talent base.

It’ll be interesting to see just how aggressively the Angels approach the starting pitching market. The preferred targets of GM Billy Eppler aren’t really clear. Heyman mentions Noah Syndergaard and Trevor Bauer — two of the best hurlers that could be moved this summer — but seemingly only by way of example. The report suggests the Angels have been looking at any and all possible arms. With value a paramount consideration for a team in this particular situation, a broad market exploration makes good sense.

Latest On Nationals’ Bullpen Pursuits

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4:10pm: The Nats are also in touch with the Blue Jays regarding their relief arms, per Jon Morosi of MLB Network (via Twitter). Both Ken Giles and Daniel Hudson are said to be of interest to D.C.

11:40am: The Nationals are known to be on the lookout for multiple relievers following their meteoric rise back up the standings, and ESPN’s Buster Olney writes that the team’s preference is to add a left-handed reliever. General manager Mike Rizzo won’t limit himself to only southpaws, though, and to that end, MLB.com’s Jon Morosi tweets that the Nationals are in active pursuit of White Sox righty Alex Colome and Tigers righty Shane Greene.

Washington’s interest in Greene isn’t new; it’s been reported on multiple times in the past and is also a relatively obvious match simply from a common sense standpoint. The Nationals figure to have checked in on virtually every reliever’s asking price by now, and MLB.com’s Jamal Collier recently reported that the Tigers made the sky-high ask of top shortstop prospect Carter Kieboom in initial talks with the Nationals. One can hardly blame the Tigers for aiming high, but that price point indeed seems rather lofty. Still, the fact that Washington is still showing interest suggests that the two sides could come to terms on a deal just yet.

Whether the White Sox were keen on moving Colome earlier this month wasn’t clear, but the South Siders’ poor play of late has dropped them to 10 games under .500. The club is making efforts to move beyond its rebuild and plans to make a push in 2020, so perhaps the preference is to retain Colome. Still, he’ll likely top $10MM in arbitration earnings next season, so it’d also be reasonable for Chicago to cash in if GM Rick Hahn can find a trade partner willing to make a decent offer.

Both Greene and Colome are controlled through the 2020 season, with Greene’s $4MM salary checking in considerably lower than Colome’s $7.325MM rate. As such, even though Greene is having a better season, his salary next year will likely be more affordable.

In 37 innings, Greene has posted a pristine 1.22 ERA with 10.0 K/9, 2.7 BB/9, 1.22 HR/9 and a 54.3 percent ground-ball rate. Colome, meanwhile, has a rather pedestrian 7.0 K/9 mark against 2.8 BB/9 and 0.93 HR/9. Both closers have benefited tremendously from unsustainable averages on balls in play (.180 for Greene and .153 for Colome) and strand rates near 83 percent. Greene’s lower salary and superior strikeout and ground-ball rates make him to more appealing of the pair but also mean that he’ll probably come with a higher asking price. And even with some degree of regression likely for both pitchers, each is still a quality arm who’d give the Nats a much-needed upgrade to a setup corps that has been problematic all season long.

Mariners Select Ryan Court

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The Mariners have selected the contract of infielder Ryan Court, per a club announcement. He’ll take the active roster spot of fellow infielder Tim Lopes, who has gone on the 7-day concussion injured list after being struck in the head by a pitch last night. Ryon Healy was shifted to the 60-day IL to free a 40-man spot.

It’s a nice reward for the 31-year-old Court, whose first trip to the plate will be his first at the MLB level. A former 23rd-round draft pick, Court has seen action at Triple-A in parts of four seasons but seemed unlikely ever to touch the majors when he opened the present season in the indy ball ranks.

As it turns out, Court has been a nice find for the M’s top affiliate. In 154 plate appearances, he carries a .279/.377/.581 slash with nine home runs — that’s just two shy of his single-season career high. Court has appeared all over the diamond but has mostly been utilized as a corner infielder in recent seasons.

Royals Designate Brian Flynn

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The Royals announced today that they have designated southpaw Brian Flynn for assignment. His roster spot was needed for a variety of other pitching moves.

Also departing the active roster is righty Jake Newberry, who was optioned. The Kansas City org has activated starter Jakob Junis and recalled southpaw Richard Lovelady.

Flynn, 29, has appeared at the major-league level with the Royals in each of the past four seasons. He was a multi-inning mainstay in the pen last year but has scuffled in 2019. Through 29 1/3 innings over ten relief appearances and one start, Flynn carries a 5.22 ERA with 6.8 K/9 and 5.2 BB/9.

Phillies Showing Interest In Tanner Roark

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The Phillies are showing some interest in Reds righty Tanner Roark, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter link). It sounds as if a few other organizations are also looking into the veteran starter, whose trade availability is not really clear.

It wasn’t long ago that the Reds were putting out word that they intended to function as a buyer at the trade deadline. But the club’s position is increasingly grim, with eight games and three teams separating it from the NL Central lead.

If the Cincinnati organization does decide to sell a few players, Roark would be one of the clear pieces to move. He’s among the pending free agents who’d be of interest to contenders. Other rental candidates include Alex Wood, David Hernandez, Jared Hughes, Yasiel Puig, Scooter Gennett, and Jose Iglesias.

As for the Phillies, we’ve continued to see them connected to most of the available arms. The club is obviously looking far and wide for possible arms to buttress its rotation and pen. While the preference remains to acquire with control, as Heyman notes and the front office has made clear, there’s surely also room for rental pieces at the right price.

[RELATED: Trade Candidate: Tanner Roark]

Roark has been as solid as the Reds could have hoped for when they acquired him from the Nationals over the winter. He’s through 107 innings of 3.95 ERA pitching over twenty starts, with 8.9 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9. In terms of peripherals and pitch quality, it has been much of the same sturdy work that Roark has provided over the past several campaigns. He’s hardly an ace, but is about as dependable as any back-of-the-rotation starter and would surely represent a nice upgrade for the right contender.

Cubs Acquire Derek Holland, Designate Tim Collins

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The Cubs announced today that they have acquired lefty Derek Holland from the Giants. To create roster space, fellow southpaw Tim Collins was designated for assignment.

Holland had recently been designated himself by the San Francisco organization. He was playing on a deal that promises him $6.5MM this year and a $500K buyout on a $7MM club option (which also includes some escalators). Today’s trade, humorously, involves “a cash consideration” heading in both directions. Precisely how the sides have sorted the financials isn’t yet clear, but it seems fair to presume that the Cubs will pick up a small portion of the two-and-a-half million or so remaining on the tab.

The Chicago organization continues to cycle through lefty relievers. When Collins signed his modest, $850K deal, the club dropped Brian Duensing from its 40-man despite a $3.5MM salary. Now, the team will give Holland a look in a relief capacity.

It’s not surprising to see Holland land on his feet despite his struggles this year. The 32-year-old washed out of the San Francisco rotation after seven starts, as he failed to follow up a quality 2018 season. His ability to throw multiple innings as a long man or starter is still of appeal, particularly for a Cubs team that recently parted with Mike Montgomery.

The real appeal here, though, is the possibility of using Holland as a situational reliever. While his overall results were hardly exceptional — 5.03 ERA in 34 innings with 29 strikeouts and 15 walks — Holland has shown a velocity boost in the bullpen. Better still, he’s pummeling opposing left-handed batters, who carry a meager .182/.276/.195 batting line in 89 trips to the plate against him this season. Holland has not only induced lots of poor contact, but has drawn grounders from southpaw hitters on more than three of every four balls they put in play.

As for Collins, the 29-year-old hasn’t been tasked with much of a workload in the majors. His swinging-strike rate has dropped from a promising 11.6% rate last year to just 7.5% in his nine appearances in 2019. He has spent most of the year pitching at Triple-A, where he carries a 4.67 ERA with 12.3 K/9 against 5.3 BB/9 with seven long balls marring his stat line.

Royals Working On Jake Diekman Trade

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12:02pm: The Dodgers stood out as the likely “frontrunners” from the start, tweets Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com. However, he adds that the Nationals and Phillies both still have Diekman on their radar.

11:53am: The Royals “could be getting closer” to a trade involving left-handed reliever Jake Diekman, tweets Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. Both the Braves and Dodgers have been showing strong interest in the southpaw, he adds.

Diekman, 32, is playing out the season on a one-year, $2.25MM contract, though he’s also owed a $500K buyout on a $5.75MM mutual option that doesn’t seem likely to be exercised (as is the case with virtually all mutual options). That puts the remaining obligation to Diekman around $1.3MM between now and season’s end.

While Diekman’s 4.75 ERA isn’t going to excite most fans, he’s also notched a hefty 13.6 K/9 mark and kept the ball on the ground at a 48-4 percent clip. Left-handed opponents have batted just .213 and slugged .255 against him. As has oft been the case for Diekman throughout his career, though, control has been an issue. He’s averaged five walks per nine innings pitched this season and plunked another eight hitters. As such, Diekman has yielded an overall .213/.362/.255 line to lefties and a .211/.331/.358 line to right-handed hitters.

Diekman is technically controlled beyond the 2019 season, but mutual options are almost never exercised by both parties. Typically, if a player performs well enough to justify that salary, he’s inclined to test the open market. And if a player doesn’t perform up to that standard, the club will of course buy the option out. Perhaps the changing landscape of free agency will make a player such as Diekman — one with limited earning power but who could justify a net $5.25MM decision with a strong finish — more likely to exercise his half of the provision, but there’s limited historic precedent.

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