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Archives for July 2021

NL Injury Notes: Diamondbacks, Gallen, Cardinals, O’Neill

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It’s Saturday morning, which means it’s time to check in on a couple of potentially consequential injures from yesterday’s ballgames…

  • Zac Gallen was removed from yesterday’s start due with what the Diamondbacks described as right hamstring tightness. He’ll have an MRI done today. The Athletic’s Zach Buchanan provides video of the pitch that took Gallen out of the game. It’s yet another setback for Gallen in what was supposed to be a breakout season. He missed the beginning of the season with a hairline fracture in his forearm, then went back on the injured list for another 39 days with an elbow sprain. Speculatively speaking, another IL stint appears likely here. Especially given the state of Arizona’s season, they are likely to be cautious with Gallen. When has has been healthy, he’s been effective, making eight starts with a 3.69 ERA/3.75 FIP in 72 innings with a strong 27.3 percent strikeout rate, slightly high 10.7 percent walk rate, and 44.6 percent groundball rate.
  • Cardinals outfielder Tyler O’Neill appeared to take a fastball off the wrist yesterday, per MLB.com’s Zachary Silver (via Twitter). Upon further review, O’Neill was clipped in the right pinky, though he did leave the ballgame. The team is optimistic, though he will undergo further testing today, per The Athletic’s Katie Woo (via Twitter). A Gold Glove Award winner in 2020, O’Neill’s bat has caught up to his glove this season as he’s slashed .276/.329/.558 with 15 home runs in 237 plate appearances. The Cardinals have struggled to get the most out of their outfielders, ranking 22nd in the game by measure of fWAR with 2.6, with O’Neill himself adding 2.1 fWAR. Harrison Bader is recently returned from injury, but losing O’Neill would be a blow. In the short term, Tommy Edman will shift to the outfield, though if O’Neill ends up on the injured list, St. Louis would likely call-up another outfielder.

 

 

Kyle Schwarber Leaves Game Due To Hamstring Injury

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10:12PM: Schwarber did injure his right hamstring, Nationals manager Davey Martinez told MLB.com’s Jessica Camerato and other reporters.  Schwarber will receive an MRI tomorrow to determine the extent of the problem.

7:10PM: Nationals left fielder Kyle Schwarber left tonight’s game after suffering an apparent right leg injury.  Schwarber singled in the second inning but stepped awkwardly while rounding first base, leaving Schwarber favoring his leg (particularly the upper portion, making a hamstring injury a possibility).  Gerardo Parra replaced Schwarber as a pinch-runner and in left field.

It certainly seems as if the injured list will be required for Schwarber, which would cut short one of the most remarkable power binges in baseball history.  Schwarber has cracked 16 home runs over his last 20 games prior to tonight’s contest, with a .333/.407/.987 slash line in that 86-plate appearance stretch.  This exceptional hot streak resulted in NL Player Of The Month honors for Schwarber in the month of June, and helped fuel a resurgence for the Nats in the NL East standings, as Washington has won 14 of its last 17 games.

Losing Schwarber would represent another huge blow for the Nationals lineup, especially with Trea Turner already day-to-day with a finger injury and several notable pitchers (including Stephen Strasburg, Daniel Hudson, and Erick Fedde) already on the IL.  While Washington is only two games behind the Mets for the division lead, the team is also only 40-39 and seven games out of a wild card berth.

It is certainly still possible the Nationals are an extended cold streak away from being sellers, rather than buyers, at the trade deadline — and ironically, a healthy Schwarber would suddenly be a prime trade piece, as his contract is only guaranteed through this season.  Schwarber signed a one-year, $10MM free agent deal with the Nats last winter that breaks down as $7MM in guaranteed salary, and a $3MM buyout of an $11.5MM mutual option for 2022 (a buyout that Schwarber looks likely to take rather than exercise his end of the mutual option).

Injured List Returns: Gregorius, Reyes, Gray

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While top players continue to hit the injured list on a near-daily basis, several notable names also made their return to the field today.  The latest…

  • The Phillies activated shortstop Didi Gregorius off the 10-day injured list prior to today’s 4-3 victory over the Padres, with infielder Nick Maton heading to Triple-A in the corresponding move.  Gregorius hadn’t played since May 12, as his initial right elbow injury was slow to heal, and led to a setback in his minor league rehab assignment.  The veteran shortstop had hit only .229/.266/.364 in his first 128 plate appearances of the season, but Gregorius celebrated his return to the lineup with a solo home run and a walk in four PA tonight.
  • Franmil Reyes was activated off the Indians’ 10-day IL, and infielder Yu Chang was optioned to Triple-A.  Reyes suffered an internal oblique strain on May 23, and he’ll return about halfway between his projected recovery timeline of 5-to-7 weeks.  The struggling Cleveland lineup is in need of Reyes’ offensive production, and he picked up where he left off by collecting three hits in tonight’s 6-3 Tribe loss to the Astros.  Reyes is now hitting .268/.325/.577 with 11 home runs over 163 PA.
  • Sonny Gray tossed five innings of one-run ball (on five hits and one walk, with eight strikeouts) in the Reds’ 2-1 victory over the Cubs.  A right groin strain sidelined Gray on June 9, and his return will boost a Cincinnati team that is trying to stay close in the NL Central and NL wild card races.  With tonight’s outing in the books, Gray has a 3.27 ERA and an impressive 30.8% strikeout rate over 55 innings this season.  Right-hander Ashton Goudeau was optioned to Triple-A to create roster room for Gray’s activation off the 10-day IL.

Yasmani Grandal Day-To-Day With Calf Tightness

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10:05PM: Grandal is day-to-day with the injury, as manager Tony La Russa told The Athletic’s James Fegan (Twitter links) and other reporters that the Sox will monitor Grandal’s condition to determine if an IL placement is eventually necessary, or if another roster move is necessary to get another catcher on the roster.  For now, the plan seems to be for Collins to start tomorrow’s game and Danny Mendick to act as the emergency catcher.  Zavala left tonight’s Triple-A game, so he is likely to at least be added to Chicago’s taxi squad.

8:49PM: White Sox catcher Yasmani Grandal left tonight’s game due to left calf tightness, the team announced.  It isn’t yet clear when the calf issue surfaced for Grandal, as was replaced behind the plate by Zack Collins prior to the bottom of the fifth inning, more than two innings as Grandal’s last at-bat (he struck out to end the top of the third).

Between that strikeout and a single in his first plate appearance, Grandal’s slash line now sits .190/.388/.441 through 243 plate appearances.  Despite the lack of batting average, Grandal still has a 135 wRC+ due to his power (14 homers) and his exceptional on-base skills.  Grandal’s 59 walks ranks second among all players, as the Rangers’ Joey Gallo leads baseball with 63 free passes, though Gallo has the benefit of 80 more plate appearances than the Chicago catcher.

It isn’t yet known if Grandal will be placed on the injured list, though such a move would leave the White Sox without yet another key bat.  Luis Robert, Eloy Jimenez, Adam Engel, and Jake Lamb are all on the IL, while Nick Madrigal has been lost for season after hamstring surgery.  Yoan Moncada also suffered a bruised hand while sliding into third base yesterday, and will miss at least Chicago’s current three-game series with the Tigers while recovering.

Collins figures to get the majority of starts at catcher if Grandal is sidelined, and Collins took an above-average 106 wRC+ (and .236/.333/.400 slash line in 127 PA) into tonight’s game with Detroit.  Yermin Mercedes has played two games at catcher this season, and Seby Zavala is also available at Triple-A.

White Sox Interested In Adam Frazier

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The White Sox are “taking a close look” at Pirates second baseman Adam Frazier, reports Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter link). The 29-year-old is amidst a stellar campaign that earned him his first career All-Star nod last night.

Chicago surely isn’t alone in taking an interest in Frazier, who has a .326/.393/.468 line (139 wRC+) through 346 plate appearances this season. He broke into the majors in 2016 and immediately settled in as a fairly productive, high-contact bat. Over his first three-plus seasons, Frazier’s ability to put the ball in play resulted in league average offense (.279/.342/.420), despite lacking impact power. He slumped to a .230/.297/.364 mark during last year’s shortened season but has more than rebounded during this season’s first half.

In actuality, Frazier’s true talent level probably hasn’t bounced around as much as those numbers would suggest. Because he specializes in making contact, his production is more dependent than most players on ball-in-play results. Last season, Frazier’s BABIP fell to .246; this year, it’s sitting at a sky-high .361. Over the course of his career, Frazier has a more ordinary .312 BABIP, and it’s fair to presume it’ll settle in around that mark moving forward.

Frazier has made some modest process improvements this season. His contact rate is up nearly four percentage points, to a career-high 88.6%. He’s traded in some grounders for a few extra line drives. But Frazier hasn’t started hitting the ball with dramatically more authority. His hard contact rate is in the 4th percentile leaguewide, while his barrel rate (essentially how often a batter hits the ball hard at an optimal launch angle for power) is in the 3rd percentile, per Statcast. All in all, Frazier likely isn’t all that different than the player he was entering 2021.

That’s not to say he’s not a quality player. As mentioned, Frazier has an established track record of solid work at the plate. He’s a career .282/.345/.422 hitter, six percentage points better than league average by measure of weighted runs created. Advanced defensive metrics have suggested he’s an average or better gloveman at second base, and he’s rated highly as a corner outfielder when asked to man the grass.

In addition to his solid play on the field, Frazier’s an eminently affordable target for contending clubs. He’s making just $4.3MM this season (exactly half of that remains due from now through the end of the year) and is controllable next year via arbitration. He’ll certainly be in line for a nice raise given his production this season, but even a salary in the $8MM – 9MM range in 2022 would be more than reasonable for a player of his caliber.

A year and a half of Frazier’s services would hold a lot more value to a contender than it would for the rebuilding Pirates. Pittsburgh isn’t making the playoffs this season, and they’re not expected to next year either. There’s little reason for the Pirates not to take offers on Frazier (as they did over the offseason) and he looks like a virtual lock to wind up elsewhere before the July 30 trade deadline.

It’s not hard to see the appeal for the White Sox. Second baseman Nick Madrigal is out for the season after undergoing hamstring surgery, and the Sox have been relying on Leury García and Danny Mendick since he went down. Prospect Jake Burger has gotten work at second in the minors and was called up to make his MLB debut today. It’s unclear, though, whether Chicago would feel comfortable turning to Burger, whose more natural position is third base, at the keystone during a pennant race.

The White Sox have also been tied to Eduardo Escobar over the past couple weeks. An Escobar trade remains a possibility (and, as Heyman notes, would surely require a lesser prospect package than the one required to land Frazier), but other teams have jumped into the bidding for the Diamondbacks infielder in recent days.

Brewers Place Kolten Wong On 10-Day Injured List

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Prior to tonight’s game, the Brewers placed second baseman Kolten Wong on the 10-day injured list due to left calf tightness.  With right-hander Alec Bettinger also optioned to Triple-A, infielder Pablo Reyes and lefty Hoby Milner were called up from Triple-A to fill the two open roster spots.

This is already the third IL visit of the season for Wong, who missed about four weeks total due to two separate left oblique strains.  Wong initially hurt his calf last Sunday and sat out four games in an attempt to rehab the issue without another IL trip, though Wong had to make an early exit from yesterday’s game in his return to the field.

The stop-and-start nature of Wong’s debut season in Milwaukee is all the more frustrating for both the second baseman and the team considering how well Wong has performed when he has been able to play.  Wong has a .291/.346/.485 slash line and seven home runs through 214 plate appearances, with a 125 wRC+/OPS+ that would represent the best of his career over a full season.  Between this offensive production and his usual excellent defense over 53 games, Wong still has a 1.7 fWAR — the second-highest total of any Brewers player, and the tenth-highest fWAR of any second baseman in baseball with at least 200 PA.

Jace Peterson has been starting at second base in Wong’s absence, and Daniel Robertson can also come off the bench to team with Peterson in a platoon if he isn’t needed elsewhere around the infield.  Reyes has played mostly third base for the Brewers this season but he has also clocked a few games as a middle infielder.

Wong’s injury perhaps makes infield depth an even bigger target for the Brewers than it already was, considering the team’s preference for versatile, multi-positional players.  Milwaukee has overcome a lot of injury absences to take a healthy lead in the NL Central, but the Brew Crew’s position player mix is currently short some notable names in Wong, Lorenzo Cain, Daniel Vogelbach, and Travis Shaw.

Nationals Close To Acquiring Alcides Escobar From Royals

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7:26PM: The Royals will receive cash considerations from the Nats in the trade, as per The Athletic’s Maria Torres (via Twitter).

6:41PM: The Nationals are in the process of completing a deal to land minor league shortstop Alcides Escobar from the Royals, reports Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post (Twitter link). The 34-year-old Escobar has been with Kansas City’s Triple-A affiliate and is not on the 40-man roster.

Escobar is most famous for his first run with the Royals. The slick-fielding shortstop was an everyday player and frequent leadoff hitter for Kansas City’s contending clubs of the last decade. His high batting averages were sometimes enough to offset his lack of power and perennially low walk rates, but the speedster’s production tailed off as he entered his 30’s. Escobar struggled offensively each season from 2015-18 and hasn’t appeared in the majors since.

He spent the entire 2019 season with the White Sox’s Triple-A affiliate, then signed with the Yakult Swallows of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball last year. Escobar returned to the United States in 2021, signing a minors deal with his old club in May. Through 133 plate appearances with Omaha, he’s hit at a passable .274/.311/.452 clip.

That was enough to catch the attention of the Nationals, who have been shorthanded in the infield in recent days. Star shortstop Trea Turner has been dealing with a finger issue. He remains day-to-day, although it’s not clear if the Escobar acquisition suggests he could be facing a stint on the injured list. Expected backup infielder Jordy Mercer just landed on the IL himself, leading the Nats to bring up another former Royal, Humberto Arteaga, from Triple-A this afternoon.

Athletics Acquire Sam Moll From Diamondbacks

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The Athletics announced they’ve acquired reliever Sam Moll from the Diamondbacks in exchange for cash considerations. Moll was not on the Arizona 40-man roster, so he’ll serve as high minors bullpen depth with the A’s for now.

It’s something of a homecoming for Moll, who appeared in eleven games for Oakland back in 2017. That marks the extent of his major league experience to date. The left-hander has a much lengthier track record at Triple-A, where he’s logged parts of five seasons and pitched to a 4.42 ERA across 152 2/3 innings.

Moll signed a minors pact with the D-Backs in January. He’s spent the year with Triple-A Reno, working to a 5.82 ERA with a strong 29.7% strikeout rate but a very high 14.9% walk percentage.

Mets Activate Brandon Nimmo, Place David Peterson On Injured List

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The Mets announced a host of roster moves this afternoon. Outfielder Brandon Nimmo is back from the injured list, as are reliever Jeurys Familia and catcher Tomás Nido. Righty Marcus Stroman has been activated from the bereavement list. To clear four active roster spots, New York placed lefty David Peterson on the 10-day IL, retroactive to July 1, and optioned infielder Travis Blankenhorn, catcher Patrick Mazeika and southpaw Thomas Szapucki to Triple-A Syracuse.

Nimmo’s reinstatement is the most welcome of today’s developments for the Mets. The center fielder went on the IL on May 5 with a left index finger injury. It was initially termed a contusion, but further evaluation first suggested it was a nerve problem and eventually revealed a small ligament tear. Ultimately, the bothersome issue kept Nimmo out for nearly two full months.

The Mets are surely thrilled to have the 28-year-old back. Nimmo got off to a stellar .318/.430/.439 start through 80 plate appearances this season, a continuation of the fantastic production he’s put up over the past few years. He joins Jeff McNeil and Michael Conforto as recent returnees from the IL for New York, who leads the National League East by two games.

Peterson’s IL placement isn’t wholly unexpected. He’s been dealing with discomfort in his right side in recent days and was already expected to miss his next start. With the All-Star Break just ten days away, it makes sense for New York to at least shut him down through then. It’s been a bit of a confounding season for Peterson, whose ERA has jumped from 3.44 to 5.54 since 2020 despite improvements in his strikeout and walk rates (from 19.5% to 24% and 11.7% to 10.1%, respectively).

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