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Kirby Yates Likely To Undergo Season-Ending Elbow Surgery

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AUGUST 17: Yates went for a second opinion with elbow specialist Dr. Keith Meister on Monday, and now expectations are that he’ll undergo season-ending surgery, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. Yates would need six-plus weeks to recover from the procedure.

AUGUST 16: Yates’ MRI revealed bone chips in the back of his elbow, manager Jayce Tingler told reporters (including Dennis Lin of the Athletic). He’ll head for a second opinion on Monday.

AUGUST 15: The Padres have placed reliever Kirby Yates on the 10-day injured list with right elbow inflammation, the team announced. His roster spot will be taken by right-handed pitcher David Bednar, who has been recalled.

Yates is set to undergo an MRI today to clarify the injury to Yates’s elbow, which forced the 33-year-old out of last night’s game against the D-Backs. It was initially described as discomfort in “the back of his elbow.”

It had been a slow start to the season for the defending NL saves leader, who has thus far posted an uncharacteristic 12.46 ERA in 4 1/3 innings. His usual strikeout production has been there, but that’s been offset by an equally high number of walks (8 K/4 BB).

While the injury to Yates is an unquestionable blow to the San Diego bullpen, manager Jayce Tingler will have several options at his disposal to close games, including Emilio Pagan, Craig Stammen, and Drew Pomeranz. The latter two combined for just 10 career saves prior to this season, but Pomeranz has amassed four saves this year and has been the Padres’ most reliable reliever thus far. Pagan, meanwhile, was an accomplished closer for the Rays last year.

NL Health Notes: Braves, Mets, Cards, Giants, Padres, Dodgers

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The Braves placed outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. on the injured list Saturday (retroactive to Aug. 12) because of left wrist inflammation, and the team’s hope then was that Acuna would be back by the upcoming weekend. However, there’s still no timetable for the superstar’s return, per The Athletic’s David O’Brien, who reports he’s continuing to battle soreness in his wrist. Meanwhile, second baseman Ozzie Albies – whom the Braves put on the IL on Aug. 5 with a bone contusion in his right wrist – is progressing but still has a ways to go, according to O’Brien.

  • Mets starters David Peterson and Jacob deGrom will take the ball as scheduled Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, Tim Healey of Newsday relays. Peterson had to leave his previous start last Thursday against the Nationals with left shoulder fatigue, while the club scratched deGrom on Friday because of a stiff neck. They’ve been the two best members of the rotation this year for the struggling Mets, as Peterson has performed like one of the game’s top rookies and the back-to-back Cy Young winner deGrom has continued to shine.
  • Cardinals righty Carlos Martinez and infielder Edmundo Sosa have been cleared to resume baseball activities, manager Mike Shildt announced to Mark Saxon of The Athletic and other reporters. They’re two of the many Cardinals who recently tested positive for the coronavirus. It’s not clear when either could return, as Shildt noted they’ll need time to build themselves back up. Martinez, long a key part of the Cardinals’ pitching staff, made one very rocky appearance earlier this season. Sosa hasn’t played in the majors this year.
  • Giants righty Jeff Samardzija will begin a throwing program Wednesday, according to the club (via Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle). Samardzija went on the injured list Aug. 8 with a shoulder impingement, which came after he opened the season with three rough performances. The pending free agent, 35, owns a ghastly 9.88 ERA across 13 2/3 innings, has already given up 18 hits and six home runs, and has only struck out five hitters.
  • The Padres placed catcher Francisco Mejia on the IL on Monday with a thumb bruise, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune tweets. With him and outfielder Tommy Pham (previously reported) headed to the shelf, the Padres recalled backstop Luis Torrens and utility player Ty France. Prior to going on the IL, Mejia got off to a woeful start this year with an .079/.146/.184 line in 41 plate appearances. He and fellow Padres catcher Austin Hedges have combined for a disastrous minus-1 wRC+ over 79 trips to the plate thus far.
  • The Dodgers announced that they’ve placed infielder Edwin Rios on the IL with a left hamstring strain and recalled lefty Adam Kolarek. The Rios injury is a blow to the Dodgers’ offense, as even though he’s just a part-time player, the 26-year-old has done nothing but hit since debuting last season. So far in 2020, Rios has slashed .276/.323/.690 with three home runs in 31 plate appearances.

Cardinals Select Ryan Meisinger

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The Cardinals announced that they’ve selected right-hander Ryan Meisinger’s contract and optioned first baseman John Nogowski to their alternate site. Nogowski will remain part of their taxi squad.

An 11th-round pick of the Orioles in 2015, Meisinger made his major league debut with the club in 2018 and threw 21 innings of 6.43 ERA/6.30 FIP ball. He was much more successful that year in Triple-A ball, where he notched a matching 2.28 ERA/FIP and posted 11.71 K/9 against 3.26 BB/9. However, the Orioles lost Meisinger on waivers to the Cardinals during the ensuing offseason.

While Meisinger didn’t appear in the majors in his first year as a Cardinal, he did log a 3.09 ERA/4.20 FIP with 10.8 K/9 and 2.57 BB/9 across 35 frames with their Triple-A affiliate. He could get now get his first MLB chance with the organization, which is playing a doubleheader Monday against the Cubs as it seeks to make up games lost because of a coronavirus outbreak.

Red Sox To Reportedly Add Triston Casas To Player Pool

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The Red Sox are set to add first base prospect Triston Casas to their 60-man player pool, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reports. He’ll head to their alternate site. As Cotillo notes, Boston’s pool is at capacity, so it’ll have to make a corresponding move once Casas is officially part of it.

Now 20 years old, Casas became a member of the Red Sox when they drafted him 26th overall in 2018. Last season, his first full campaign in the minors, Casas held his own with a .256/.350/.480 line and 20 home runs between Single-A and High-A (all but seven of his 500 plate appearances came at Single-A). Once he joins Boston’s player pool, Casas will be eligible for a trade before the Aug. 31 deadline, but that’s a moot point here, as Cotillo writes that the team’s goal in calling him up is to aid in his development.

In other Red Sox moves Monday, they activated lefty reliever Josh Taylor from the injured list, optioned righty Chris Mazza and placed infielder Christian Arroyo on the IL, Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe tweets. Taylor, who was strong as a rookie in 2019 but hasn’t pitched this year because of a positive coronavirus test, should be a welcome addition for a struggling club with a deeply flawed pitching staff. As for Arroyo, whom the Red Sox claimed via waivers from the Indians on Aug. 13, his IL placement (retroactive to the 14th) was done to give him more time to join his new club as he goes through coronavirus protocols.

Mets Add Ronny Mauricio To 60-Player Pool

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The Mets have added infield prospect Ronny Mauricio to their 60-man player pool and placed catcher Rene Rivera on the 45-day injured list, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com tweets. Rivera’s dealing with a hyperextended left elbow.

Mauricio is still just 19 years old and hasn’t played above the Single-A level, so he remains a ways off from the majors. Regardless, not only does he rate as one the Mets’ top farmhands, but one of the game’s best prospects in general. For example, Baseball America places Mauricio at No. 70 overall and writes he has the ceiling of a “classic power-hitting corner infielder.”

Mauricio is now the third Mets prospect to join their player pool since Saturday, following catcher Francisco Alvarez and right-hander Matthew Allan. As MLBTR’s Mark Polishuk noted then, only players in teams’ pools are eligible to be traded prior to the Aug. 31 deadline. That obviously doesn’t mean the Mets are going to move any of these players (Mauricio would be especially tough to pry away), but the option is there if an enticing enough offer comes along. In all likelihood, though, the Mets added the three for developmental purposes.

Reds Select Tyler Thornburg, Outright Christian Colon

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AUG. 17: The Reds outrighted Colon to their alternate site Monday after he cleared waivers, Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer tweets. Colon will remain in the organization.

AUG. 14: The Reds announced that they’ve selected the contract of righty Tyler Thornburg. Infielder Christian Colon was designated for assignment to create roster space.

This’ll be Thornburg’s first MLB action since wrapping up a disappointing and injury-riddled tenure with the Red Sox. The 31-year-old was a highly productive reliever with the Brewers before running into difficulties in Boston.

Colon saw sporadic action with the Reds this year, as has been typical over his six seasons in the majors. All told, he owns a .249/.312/.310 slash in 418 plate appearances at the game’s highest level.

White Sox Place Adam Engel On IL, Select Luis Gonzalez

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The White Sox have placed outfielder Adam Engel on the injured list and selected fellow outfielder Luis Gonzalez’s contract from their alternate training site, James Fegan of The Athletic was among those to report.

Chicago put Engel on the IL because he may have come into contact with someone who has the coronavirus. However, Engel has not tested positive for it. The IL placement interrupts a solid start to the season for Engel, who has batted .263/.317/.500 with a pair of home runs in 41 plate appearances.

Gonzalez, 24, was a third-round pick of the White Sox in 2017 who could now receive his first major league action. After producing nice offensive numbers at the Single-A and High-A levels from 2017-18, he debuted in Double-A last year and batted .247/.316/.359 with nine homers and 17 steals in 535 trips to the plate. MLB.com ranks Gonzalez as the White Sox’s 13th-best prospect, noting he has a “sweet left-handed swing,” a “plus arm” and the versatility to play all three outfield positions.

Kendall Graveman Diagnosed With Bone Tumor In Cervical Spine

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Mariners right-hander Kendall Graveman has been diagnosed with a bone tumor in the C6 part of his cervical spine, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times reports.

Fortunately, Graveman’s tumor is benign and won’t grow or worsen if he continues to pitch, per Divish. And while Graveman may undergo surgery to address it at some point, that procedure won’t take place “until down the road,” Divish writes. It seems Graveman will even pitch again this year, as his hope is to make one more rehab start in an intraquad game before he’s ready for a return, according to Divish.

Graveman, whom the Mariners signed to a one-year, $1.5MM contract last winter, made two appearances for the club this season before landing on the injured list Aug. 4 with what the team described as neck spasms. The 29-year-old was successful member of the A’s staff from 2015-17, but Tommy John surgery limited him in 2018 and kept him out of action entirely last season.

Yankees Place DJ LeMahieu On 10-Day IL

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AUG. 17: The Yankees expect LeMahieu to miss two to three weeks, manager Aaron Boone told Hoch and other reporters.

AUG. 16, 3:05pm: LeMahieu will receive a second opinion on his hand tomorrow, reports Bryan Hoch of MLB.com, who adds that LeMahieu will visit the same specialist who treated him for a similar injury in 2018. As of now, there’s no timetable for LeMahieu’s return, though the Yankees are confident that the sprain will not require surgery.

11:34am: The Yankees announced they’ve placed DJ LeMahieu on the 10-day injured list with a left thumb sprain. Miguel Andújar has been recalled from the alternate training site to replace him on the active roster.

LeMahieu was removed from last night’s game against the Red Sox. While x-rays came back negative, manager Aaron Boone acknowledged then an IL stint was a possibility. That’s evidently come to pass. LeMahieu has been a big part of the Yankees’ AL East leading 14-6 start. He’s hitting .411/.456/.534 (177 wRC+) over 79 plate appearances, more than doubling down on his breakout 2019 season, in which he hit .327/.375/.518 en route to a 4th-place finish in AL MVP balloting.

The Yankees didn’t announce a timetable for his potential return, but the hope is today’s move is merely out of an abundance of caution. After all, New York sits in prime postseason position already and surely wants LeMahieu at full strength for the stretch run. An impending free agent, the 32-year-old no doubt is targeting a healthy, productive finish to the season himself.

Andújar was seemingly a victim of a roster crunch when he was optioned ten days ago. The 25-year-old was highly productive as a rookie (at least offensively) in 2018, but he’s since been passed at the hot corner through little fault of his own by Gio Urshela. It’s seemingly still questionable whether he’ll find everyday run, given that he won’t be seen as an option to replace LeMahieu at the keystone. That role figures to be handled by Tyler Wade and/or Thairo Estrada.

Yankees Activate Aroldis Chapman, Designate David Hale

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The Yankees announced Monday that they’ve reinstated closer Aroldis Chapman from the injured list and designated right-hander David Hale for assignment in order to create roster space.

Chapman is expected to step back into the closer’s role, pushing fellow southpaw Zack Britton back into a setup role. Chapman has yet to pitch this season after testing positive for the coronavirus in mid-July. He was cleared to resume baseball activities back on July 31, though, and has since been working to build up to game readiness. His return should only deepen an already formidable late-inning relief corps; Britton has allowed just one run through 8 1/3 frames while racking up eight saves. And Chapman himself is fresh off a 2.21 ERA and 13.4 K/9 through 57 innings last season.

Fans can be forgiven if they’ve lost track of how many times the Yankees have designated Hale for assignment at this point. The 32-year-old righty continues to post sharp numbers for the Yanks — he allowed two runs in six innings this season — but has been designated for assignment an astonishing four times in the past three years in addition to being outrighted off the team’s 40-man roster in the 2018-19 offseason. Hale has signed five minor league contracts with the Yankees since 2018.

For all the times he’s been cast aside by the Yankees, Hale keeps coming back and keeps pitching well. In 54 1/3 frames wearing Yankee pinstripes, Hale owns a 2.98 ERA and 3.54 FIP with averages of 6.0 strikeouts, 1.8 walks and 0.7 home runs allowed per nine innings pitched. The righty generates grounders at an above-average rate and has proven plenty capable of pitching multi-inning stints, so another club in need of some length in the bullpen or depth in the rotation could conceivably take a look.

The Yankees will have a week to trade Hale, release him or attempt to pass him through outright waivers.

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