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Archives for August 2021

Brewers Reinstate Jake Cousins From COVID-IL, Designate Sal Romano

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The Brewers announced that right-hander Jake Cousins has been reinstated from the COVID-19 injury list.  To create roster room, right-hander Sal Romano has been designated for assignment.

Cousins returns after the mandatory 10-day quarantine period following a positive coronavirus test.  The Brewers still have six more players on their COVID list, but between Cousins, Hunter Strickland, and Christian Yelich all returning in recent days, the club is slowly starting to make its way back from this outbreak.

The positive COVID-19 result was unwelcome interruption to what has been an eye-opener of rookie season for the 27-year-old Cousins, who has yet to allow a run over 14 1/3 innings out of Milwaukee’s bullpen.  The hard-throwing righty has an impressive 37.7% strikeout rate and an even 50% grounder rate, as opposing batters have managed only an .091 batting average in 53 plate appearances.  After a few nondescript seasons in the Nationals’ farm system, Cousins has seen his strikeout rates spike since joining the Brewers in 2019.

Romano was claimed off waivers from the Yankees just last week, as the Brew Crew looked for some fresh arms in the midst of their coronavirus outbreak.  After tossing one inning in one game for Milwaukee, Romano has now banked appearances with three different clubs in 2021 — the right-hander has a combined 5.63 ERA over 24 innings with the Brewers, Yankees, and Reds, with 20 2/3 of those innings coming in Cincinnati.

Braves Designate Shane Greene For Assignment

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The Braves announced that right-hander Shane Greene has been designated for assignment.  Southpaw A.J. Minter has been called up from Triple-A to take Greene’s spot on the active roster.

It has been a tough season for Greene, who didn’t land a contract in free agency until May, when he agreed to rejoin the Braves on a one-year, (prorated) $1.5MM deal.  Since Greene didn’t have a proper Spring Training, he worked out at Triple-A for a month before joining Atlanta’s bullpen, but the results simply weren’t there.  Greene posted an 8.47 ERA over 19 innings for the Braves, striking out only 20.5% of batters faced and allowing five home runs.

Greene’s strikeout ability has tended to be more “above average” than elite, yet even without a blazing fastball or a big K-rate, the 32-year-old has generally posted quality numbers out of the Tigers and Braves bullpens since the start of the 2017 season.  Atlanta first acquired Greene in a deadline deal in July 2019, and he pitched well for the club both in the regular season and in the last two postseasons — Greene had a 2.39 ERA over 90 1/3 innings with Detroit and Atlanta from 2019-20.

It isn’t out of the question that Greene can regain this form in 2022 with the benefit of a full Spring Training, though it remains to be seen if his next contract will come this winter or if another team could potentially obtain him now before his DFA period is up.  Claiming Greene would require a new team to take on his remaining 2021 salary, so the likelier move is an interested club would either work out a trade with Atlanta or just wait to see if Greene is released.  If Greene clears waivers, he might also accept an outright assignment to Triple-A and remain in the Braves organization.

Padres Had “Strong Interest” In Trea Turner At Trade Deadline

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The Dodgers’ blockbuster acquisition of Max Scherzer and Trea Turner was the biggest news of deadline season, though Los Angeles wasn’t the only NL West power looking to land that same duo from the Nationals.  The Padres were reportedly close to getting Scherzer, and FanSided’s Robert Murray writes that San Diego also had “strong interest” in obtaining Turner.

Despite all these talks, there still seemed to be some distance between the Padres and Nationals in talks.  Murray writes that “a deal was never close” for Turner, while even the Scherzer negotiations were described by one Washington source as “general back and forth.”

MLB Network’s Jon Heyman shed some more light on the Padres/Nationals talks, reporting that the Padres “floated a serious package” for both Scherzer and Turner, “with the idea of offering even more if Nats came back to them.”  Washington apparently didn’t check back in with the Padres, instead taking the Dodgers’ offer of Keibert Ruiz, Josiah Gray, Gerardo Carrillo, and Donovan Casey.  As a counter to Ruiz, San Diego’s offer might have also included a top-tier catching prospect, as Heyman says the Padres and Nationals discussed Luis Campusano.

Had Turner landed in San Diego, the initial plan likely would have been to install him at second base, just as the Dodgers did in order to fit both Turner and incumbent star shortstop Corey Seager into the same lineup.  Turner and Fernando Tatis Jr. would have formed quite a combo up the middle for the Padres, though Turner would have ended up playing shortstop anyway, if Tatis had also re-injured his shoulder in this alternate reality.  Turner might have also been the shortstop anyway, had a healthy Tatis instead been moved to the outfield in order to help preserve his shoulder.

Should Scherzer and Turner help the Dodgers win this year (or in 2022 when Turner will still be under contract), Padres fans will look back on this missed trade with regret, though of course it isn’t known exactly what the Nationals would have demanded from San Diego.  The Dodgers and Padres are currently on pace to meet in the NL wild card game, with Los Angeles holding a three-game lead over San Diego in the standings.  The Padres also have to worry about the surging Reds, who have moved to 3.5 games back of that second wild card berth.

Cardinals Place Kwang Hyun Kim On 10-Day Injured List

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The Cardinals placed left-hander Kwang Hyun Kim on the 10-day injured list yesterday due to left elbow inflammation.  The placement is retroactive to August 8.  Right-hander Daniel Ponce de Leon was activated from his own 10-day IL stint after missing close to seven weeks with shoulder discomfort.

This is the third time Kim has visited the IL this season, following two previous absences caused by a bad back.  The southpaw has been dealing with a sore elbow for over a week, which led the Cards to give him some extra time between starts.  After Kim was touched up for five runs over 2 2/3 innings against the Indians on July 28, his next start was held off until August 7 — another less-than-successful outing, as Kim allowed two runs and threw 83 pitches over four innings against the Royals.

It isn’t known if Kim could return after just a 10-day break, or if his elbow issues will require more recovery time.  In the short term, St. Louis can fill the rotation spot with ace Jack Flaherty, who is expected to return from the IL this week.  Miles Mikolas is also getting closer to a return after spending almost the entire season on the injured list.

Despite all the injuries and only a 18.3% strikeout rate, Kim has been effective when he has been on the mound this season, posting a 3.36 ERA over 91 innings.  Now with 130 innings of Major League work to his name after two seasons, Kim has a 2.84 ERA but also with a 4.85 SIERA that reflects the lack of strikeouts and only a slightly above-average walk rate.  On the plus side, Kim is good at limiting hard contact and at keeping the ball on the ground (47.1% grounder rate), making him a particularly good fit on the defensively-strong Cardinals.

Another injury absence, however, won’t help Kim’s free agent stock heading into the offseason.  There was some trade buzz surrounding Kim heading into the trade deadline, though St. Louis ultimately opted against selling and made some modest rotation additions in J.A. Happ and Jon Lester.  Adam Wainwright , Kim, Happ, and Lester will all be free agents, while the Cardinals aren’t expected to exercise their $17MM club option on Carlos Martinez.  With all this rotation uncertainty heading into 2022, one would assume the Cardinals would have interest in re-signing Kim after his solid results of the last two years.

Dodgers Make Two Waiver Claims; Kershaw, Duffy Transferred To 60-Day IL

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The Dodgers announced Monday that they’ve claimed catcher Anthony Bemboom off waivers from the Angels and right-hander Conner Greene off waivers from the Orioles. In order to open space on the 40-man roster, Los Angeles transferred left-handers Danny Duffy and Clayton Kershaw to the 60-day injured list. The “60-day” minimum on those IL stints for Duffy and Kershaw begin with their initial placement on the IL — July 20 for Duffy and July 7 for Kershaw. Duffy would be eligible to return on Sept. 18 and Kershaw on Sept. 5.

Bemboom, 31, has batted .213/.302/.347 in 88 plate appearances with the Angels over the past two seasons. He’s also logged some very brief big league time with the Rays. While Bemboom hasn’t hit much in the Majors through a small sample’s worth of career games, he’s a .256/.349/.410 hitter in parts of five Triple-A seasons. He also boasts an excellent 35 percent caught-stealing rate behind the dish and has been credited with solid framing marks at Baseball Prospectus, FanGraphs and Statcast.

The Angels designated Bemboom for assignment over the weekend when claiming fellow catcher Chad Wallach off waivers from the Marlins. Bemboom will now head to the Dodgers and provide some experienced depth for a club that just traded away top catching prospect Keibert Ruiz in the Max Scherzer/Trea Turner blockbuster.

Greene, 26, made his Major League debut with the Orioles this season but was hit hard in 3 2/3 innings. The former Blue Jays, Royals and Cardinals minor leaguer surrendered six runs on seven hits and a walk with five strikeouts in his short time with the O’s and has had a similarly rough go of it in Triple-A this year (7.09 ERA in 20 2/3 frames).

That said, Greene averaged nearly 96 mph with his heater with the Orioles and posted strong swinging-strike and opponents’ chase rates. Greene was a prospect of note for several years, drawing 70 grades on his heater and 55s and 60s on his changeup (on the 20-80 scale). He’s had control problems throughout his minor league tenure (11.2 percent walk rate), but the Dodgers are ostensibly intrigued by his raw stuff and may have their own ideas about how to maximize his potential. Greene can be optioned for the rest of the season but will be out of minor league options in 2022.

The news of Kershaw moving to the 60-day IL shouldn’t be a huge surprise after manager Dave Roberts recently said he expected his left-hander to be out until September. Duffy’s move to the 60-day IL, however, is a bit more surprising. Royals general manager Dayton Moore said not long before trading Duffy to the Dodgers that he expected the southpaw to return sometime in mid-August. The Dodgers were of course able to perform their own assessment of Duffy’s medicals and were aware of the risk of a lengthier absence, but they were still probably hoping to get Duffy back on the mound sooner than this. If the remainder of his rehab from a flexor strain goes well, Duffy can still be an option for the season’s final few weeks and a bullpen candidate in the postseason.

Brewers Activate Hunter Strickland, Return Blaine Hardy To Minors

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The Brewers announced they’ve activated reliever Hunter Strickland from the COVID-19 injured list. Left-hander Blaine Hardy, who was selected as a COVID replacement last week, has been removed from the 40-man roster and returned to Triple-A Nashville.

Because Hardy came up as a COVID replacement, he needn’t be passed through waivers to return to the minor leagues. The 34-year-old made one big league appearance since being selected on July 31, allowing three runs in an inning of work against the Pirates. That marked Hardy’s first big league action since 2019, as the longtime Tiger missed the entire 2020 season recovering from a Tommy John surgery. He’ll head back to Nashville, where he’s worked to a 3.50 ERA with nearly average strikeout and walk rates (22.4% and 8.9%, respectively) over 46 1/3 innings.

Reliever Jake Cousins — who landed on the COVID-19 IL ten days ago after testing positive at the same time as Strickland — is expected to be activated tomorrow, according to Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (Twitter link). Milwaukee has a vacancy on the 40-man roster to accommodate Cousins’ forthcoming reinstatement. The Brew Crew are still without Keston Hiura, Adrian Houser, Josh Hader, Eric Lauer and Jandel Gustave because of their subsequent positive tests.

Minor MLB Transactions: 8/9/21

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The latest minor moves from around the league:

  • The Royals announced that left-hander Daniel Tillo has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list and optioned to Double-A Northwest Arkansas. Kansas City had a pair of vacancies on the 40-man roster, so no additional move was required. Tillo, named the #51 prospect in the Royals system entering the year by Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs, was selected to the 40-man roster in advance of last winter’s Rule 5 draft. The 24-year-old has spent the entire year recovering from a 2020 Tommy John surgery and has thus far topped out at Double-A.
  • The Giants signed right-hander Logan Ondrusek to a minor league contract over the weekend. He’s been assigned to Triple-A Sacramento, where he made his first appearance on Saturday. Ondrusek made 288 MLB relief appearances between 2010 and 2016, the bulk of that time coming with the Reds. The 36-year-old hasn’t appeared in the majors in five years, but he’s worked his way back to affiliated ball after beginning the year well with the Leones de Yucatán of the Mexican League. Now working as a starting pitcher, Ondrusek pitched to a 2.38 ERA with an incredible 50:3 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 45 1/3 innings in Mexico this season.
  • Dodgers right-hander Yefry Ramírez has cleared outright waivers, according to the MLB.com transactions tracker. Ramírez, who was designated for assignment last week, had the right to reject an outright assignment because he’d been outrighted in the past. He has apparently chosen to accept an assignment to Triple-A Oklahoma City, though, as he’s listed on OKC’s active roster. The 27-year-old made one appearance with L.A. but has otherwise spent the year with Oklahoma City, working to a 5.49 ERA across 62 1/3 innings.

Marlins Select Deven Marrero, Shawn Morimando

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The Marlins are selecting infielder Deven Marrero and left-hander Shawn Morimando to the big league roster, relays Christina de Nicola of MLB.com (Twitter link). Second baseman Jazz Chisholm is landing on the COVID-19 injured list. Chisholm has been suffering from virus-like symptoms and stayed behind in Denver, where the Fish just wrapped up a series against the Rockies.

Both Marrero and Morminado have been yo-yoed on and off the roster this season. Miami has rather remarkably selected Marrero’s contract four times, designating him for assignment and passing him through outright waivers shortly after each of his first three calls. Most recently, Marrero was selected and DFA’d just last week — incidentally while Chisholm was on the COVID-19 IL for a day after not feeling well. The 30-year-old has only picked up seven plate appearances over his various big league stints; he’s hitting .252/.327/.397 this year with Triple-A Jacksonville.

Morimando is up for the third time. He’s made two appearances, allowing four runs in just two-thirds of an inning against the Phillies on May 24 but tossing five scoreless frames against the Braves on July 9. The 28-year-old has a 4.43 ERA over 63 innings with Jacksonville this season.

Diamondbacks Release Josh Reddick

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The Diamondbacks announced they’ve released veteran outfielder Josh Reddick. He had been designated for assignment last week.

A release was the anticipated outcome once Arizona bumped Reddick from the 40-man roster. The 34-year-old has more than enough big league service to reject an outright assignment, and the rebuilding Diamondbacks are long past focusing on the 2021 season. Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic wrote last week that Reddick’s designation was part of a broader organizational plan to give some more run to younger players as the front office looks for more information about who could comprise their core in future years.

Upon clearing release waivers, Reddick will be free to sign elsewhere. He’ll presumably be looking at minor league offers, as he settled for a minors pact over the offseason before being selected to Arizona’s big league club in late May. He struggled to the worst offensive showing of his career — .258/.285/.371 over 158 plate appearances — in the desert.

Nevertheless, Reddick figures to find decent interest from other clubs willing to offer him a Triple-A opportunity. The left-handed hitter has generally been a productive player over the course of his career, and he posted league average offensive numbers between 2018-20. If Reddick signs elsewhere on or before August 31, he’d be eligible for a new team’s postseason roster.

Yankees Place Gleyber Torres On Injured List

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5:12 pm: The Yankees were relieved by the MRI results on Torres, according to Boone, who estimates the shortstop could be back within 10-20 days (via Marly Rivera of ESPN). Urshela, though, suffered some form of setback that’ll push back his expected return date for at least a few days (relays Lindsey Adler of the Athletic).

3:15 pm: The Yankees announced they’re placing shortstop Gleyber Torres on the 10-day injured list with a left thumb sprain. Utilityman Andrew Velazquez has been selected to the roster in a corresponding move.

Torres suffered the injury diving into the second base bag during the fourth inning of yesterday’s game against the Mariners. He stayed in for a few frames before being removed for a defensive replacement in the top of the ninth. Torres was sent for an MRI after the game, with manager Aaron Boone acknowledging the team had some concern it was a noteworthy issue. There’s no indication at this point that Torres will have to miss anything beyond the ten day minimum, but the injury is apparently severe enough for the organization to shut him down for the next week-plus.

It comes at an unfortunate time for Torres, who had heated up at the plate over the past couple weeks after a subpar first half. Altogether, the 24-year-old has a .253/.328/.351 mark with six home runs across 407 plate appearances this season. Torres’ power production has largely evaporated over the past couple years, but he’d shown signs of life coming out of the All-Star Break. Torres has popped three home runs and hit .300/.337/.500 over his past 90 plate appearances.

With Torres landing on the IL, the Yankees rather incredibly have twenty players on the injured list at the moment. A few of those players figure to return in the coming days after testing positive for COVID-19, but New York will have to make due for now without lineup regulars such as Torres, Gio Urshela, Gary Sánchez and Anthony Rizzo — as well as key starters Gerrit Cole and Jordan Montgomery. It’s particularly poor fortune for a Yankee club 2.5 games back of the Red Sox for the American League’s final playoff spot.

Torres, Urshela and Tyler Wade are the only players to see action at shortstop for the Yankees this season. It now seems Wade and the switch-hitting Velazquez could cover the position. Velazquez, signed to a minor league deal over the offseason, has a .156/.257/.219 line in 113 big league plate appearances between 2018-20. He’s had a very strong season at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, though, slashing .283/.367/.471 while logging significant action at each of shortstop, second and third base.

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