Royals Activate Adalberto Mondesi
The Royals announced that they have activated shortstop Adalberto Mondesi from the injured list. He’s in line to make his 2021 debut after missing nearly the first two full months of the season.
The 25-year-old Mondesi went on the IL on March 31, just before the season began, with a right oblique strain. The Royals have since gone through an up-and-down year without Mondesi, last season’s stolen base champion, as they got off to a great start before enduring an 11-game losing streak. But the club has righted the ship of late and now owns a 22-23 record that places it 4 1/2 games behind the American League Central-leading White Sox.
The absence of Mondesi left the Royals’ shortstop position to Nicky Lopez, who has hit .230/.317/.310 with zero home runs and five steals in 150 plate appearances. Mondesi batted a somewhat underwhelming .256/.294/.416 with six home runs over 233 trips to the plate in 2020, but he has established himself as a major stolen base threat and a valuable starter.
David Phelps Out For Season After Surgery To Repair Lat Strain
Blue Jays right-hander David Phelps will miss the remainder of the 2021 season after undergoing surgery to repair what the club had termed a “significant” strain of his right lat, the team announced (Twitter link via Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet).
This is a terrible blow for the Blue Jays and Phelps, who was brilliant for the club before landing on the injured list toward the beginning of the month. Phelps hasn’t pitched since May 2, but in the 10 1/3 innings he did throw this season, the 34-year-old surrendered just two runs (one earned) on eight hits and four walks, and he struck out 15 batters along the way. Toronto couldn’t have asked for a better performance than that when it signed the well-traveled Phelps to a $1.75MM guarantee in free agency, but he’ll have to head back to the open market during the upcoming offseason after a truncated campaign.
For their part, the Blue Jays will go the remainder of their season without one of their most dependable relievers. Phelps joins Kirby Yates, another of the team’s offseason signings, as someone who won’t return to the mound this season. The Jays are also without Julian Merryweather, Ryan Borucki and Tommy Milone, who have each been on the IL for at least a couple weeks apiece.
Cubs Designate Jason Adam For Assignment, Place Matt Duffy On Injured List
The Cubs have placed infielder Matt Duffy on the 10-day injured list due to a lower back strain and selected the contract of infielder Patrick Wisdom in his place, the team announced to reporters (Twitter link via Russell Dorsey of the Chicago Sun-Times). In order to open a spot on the 40-man roster for Wisdom, Chicago has designated right-handed reliever Jason Adam for assignment.
The veteran Duffy, 30, has proven to be one of the best minor league signings any team made this winter. He’s stepped in frequently at third base for the Cubs — Kris Bryant has spent more time in the outfield as a result — and delivered a very solid .278/.378/.356 slash through his first 106 plate appearances.
While he clearly hasn’t hit for much power, Duffy has been a tough strikeout (17 percent), drawn 11 walks (10.4 percent) and gone 3-for-3 in stolen base attempts while playing strong defense. Suffice it to say, he’s been an important piece so far for a Cubs team that, at 24-22, sits one and a half games back in the NL Central.
Adam’s DFA is the culmination of a highly unfortunate sequence. The right-hander was a bright spot in the Chicago bullpen last season and got out to a nice start in 2021. However, he was placed on the Covid-19 list after Chicago’s bullpen coach tested positive, and Adam was shelled for five runs without recording an out in his return. Adam was optioned out to Triple-A Iowa, where he suffered a dislocated ankle while shagging fly-balls prior to a recent minor league game. The injury required surgery that could put an end to his season.
Injured players can’t be placed on outright waivers, so there’s a good chance that Adam’s DFA will ultimately result in the Cubs requesting unconditional release waivers on him. It’s common, but not a given, for players in this situation to quickly re-sign a minor league deal with the organization (as we saw with the Tigers and righty Franklin Perez a couple weeks back).
It’ll be interesting to see whether another club tries to find a way to bring Adam into the fold despite the fact that he may not pitch again in 2021. From 2019-20, he pitched a combined 35 1/3 innings of 3.06 ERA ball between the Blue Jays and Cubs, striking out 26.2 percent of opponents. His 2021 season in Chicago was particularly intriguing, as he punched out a whopping 36.1 percent of his opponents. Adam is something of a Statcast darling, thanks largely to a 99th-percentile spin rate on a four-seamer that has averaged just shy of 95 mph over the past three seasons.
Wisdom, 29, is an experienced Triple-A slugger whose start with the Cubs in 2021 has been a mixed bag. He’s just 4-for-25 in a tiny sample of 34 plate appearances but has slugged three home runs, hit a double, drawn six walks and been plunked by a pair of pitches. The resulting .160/.353/.560 slash is rather unusual, but he’s a career .250/.329/.479 hitter in parts of five Triple-A seasons. He’s homered four times in 88 MLB plate appearances but has an overall .219/.299/.397 batting line with a massive 38.6 percent strikeout rate.
Rangers Place Kyle Gibson On Injured List
The Rangers announced a series of roster moves Tuesday, most notably placing right-hander Kyle Gibson on the 10-day injured list due to a right groin strain. Texas also placed righty Hunter Wood on the IL with a fairly ominous designation of “right elbow discomfort.” Gibson’s placement is retroactive to May 22, while Wood’s is backdated to May 23. No timeline was provided for either pitcher, though Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News tweets that the initial hope is Gibson will only be forced to miss a pair of starts. In their place, lefty Wes Benjamin and righty Demarcus Evans were recalled from Triple-A.
It’s a sudden and unexpected development for the Rangers, though the expectation of a relatively brief absence is good news for the club and its fans. Gibson, 33, was absolutely shelled for five runs in a third of an inning in his 2021 debut, but he’s been one of the best pitchers on the planet in nine starts since that time. Dating back to April 7, the longtime Twins righty has pitched to a 1.50 ERA with a 20.3 percent strikeout rate, a 6.9 percent walk rate and a 52.7 percent ground-ball rate.
The 2021 season is the second of three in a $28MM contract Gibson inked with Texas back in the 2019-20 offseason. The first of his three years on the deal didn’t go well at all — 5.35 ERA in 67 1/3 innings — but like Mike Minor and Lance Lynn before him in Texas, he’s now exceeded all expectations on a three-year pact that surprised some onlookers. For a Rangers club that is 22-27 at the moment, losing its best starter even for a brief period of time is a notable hit to absorb.
Of course, the Rangers weren’t expected to contend this season anyhow, as the club has been outspoken about its decision to move in a younger direction. With that in mind, Gibson’s run of excellence and a contract that now looks eminently affordable would make him one of this summer’s most obvious trade candidates — provided today’s injury indeed proves to be minor in nature. Should he require a lengthier stint, experience a setback in rehab and/or deal with additional groin issues down the road, that could adversely impact the Rangers’ ability to extract a strong return in a trade.
Wood, 27, signed a minor league deal with the Rangers and was called to the big league club not long ago. He’s tossed five innings and held the opposition to a pair of runs, making for a fine start to his Texas tenure. The right-hander has a solid track record at the MLB level, having compiled a 3.34 ERA in 91 2/3 frames between Tampa Bay, Cleveland and his new surroundings in Texas. The hope, as always, is that the elbow discomfort proves to be minor, but the lack of specificity suggests the Rangers will perform additional testing to determine what’s at play.
Phillies Place Bryce Harper On Injured List
The Phillies announced that right fielder Bryce Harper is headed to the 10-day injured list with a forearm contusion. Harper was out of the team’s lineup both Sunday and Monday. Outfielder Roman Quinn is up from Triple-A to take Harper’s spot on the roster for now.
Harper, 28, got out to a brilliant start and still touts a very strong .274/.395/.489 slash through his first 162 trips to the plate. However, that slash line sat at .318/.449/.582 mark as recently as 10 days ago, before Harper fell into a 2-for-25 tailspin.
Manager Joe Girardi maintained yesterday that his absence from the lineup was not due to injury (link via MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki), but Harper was previously said to be battling various arm ailments (including shoulder and wrist troubles) and hasn’t looked right at the plate at all, punching out in 13 of 26 plate appearances during that woeful slump. The team will surely have more on his IL placement later today.
Cardinals Place Harrison Bader On IL With Fractured Rib
The Cardinals announced Tuesday that center fielder Harrison Bader is headed to the 10-day injured list after being diagnosed with a hairline fracture on one of his ribs. Bader exited last night’s game in the third inning after very nearly making an outstanding diving catch on a sinking liner off the bat of Nick Madrigal (video link). However, he ultimately landed with his ribcage on the baseball after it kicked off the heel of his glove. The Cardinals have recalled first baseman/outfielder John Nogowski to take his spot on the active roster.
Bader’s placement on the IL comes at a time when the Cardinals’ outfield depth is already compromised. Tyler O’Neill is on the shelf with a fractured finger at the moment, while Triple-A outfielders Austin Dean and Scott Hurst were both recently placed on the injured list. That slate of injuries likely shifts Dylan Carlson over to center field, with a combination of Justin Williams, Lane Thomas and Nogowski seeing action in the corners.
This is the second IL stint already on the young season for Bader, who opened the season on the shelf due to a forearm injury. He’s gotten out to a .219/.301/.411 start to his season through 83 plate appearances. It’s the same blend of low batting average and decent power we’ve seen from Hader in recent years, but with a greatly reduced strikeout rate standing out as a key difference. Bader entered the 2021 season with a career 29.1 percent punchout rate, but he’s fanned just 13 times in his 83 trips (15.7 percent).
Bader’s contact rate has also improved in 2021, while both his swinging-strike rate and called-strike rate have declined. At least through his first 22 games, he’s looked to have a better recognition of the strike zone and given some inklings that the drop in strikeouts is legitimate. Should that prove to be the case, it’s quite likely his overall batting line will tick up. He’s currently being plagued by a .211 average on balls in play that is nearly 100 points lower than his career mark. He’s also making less hard contact than in recent seasons, so it’s not all good news, but the generally improved approach is certainly still of note.
Red Sox Outright Austin Brice
The Red Sox announced Tuesday that right-hander Austin Brice has been outrighted to Triple-A Worcester after he went unclaimed on waivers. He was designated for assignment last week when Boston selected Danny Santana‘s contract. While Brice has the requisite service time to reject the assignment and elect free agency, doing so would mean walking away from the remainder of this season’s $870K salary, so he’ll likely head to Worcester and hope to pitch his way back into the team’s big league plans.
Brice, 29 next month, has shown plenty of promise throughout his big league career but never put it together outside of a solid 2019 effort in Miami. He has, at various times, flashed not only the ability to miss bats at a high level but also shown strong ground-ball tendencies and posted solid walk rates. He’s never been able to get all three of those traits to align in a single season, however.
With the 2019 Marlins, Brice tossed 44 2/3 innings of 3.43 ERA ball with roughly average strikeout and ground-ball tendencies, but his time in Boston hasn’t gone well. He’s been clobbered for a 6.32 ERA with the Sox, and his overall career mark now sits at 5.18. Brice has had consistent success in Triple-A whenever he’s pitched there (career 2.70 ERA), so if he can get back in track in his fourth stint at that level, it’s possible he’ll return to the big league bullpen later this year.
Brewers Claim Jake Hager
The Brewers announced Tuesday that they’ve claimed infielder/outfielder Jake Hager off waivers from the Mets, who’d designated him for assignment over the weekend. Hager has been assigned to Triple-A Nashville. Milwaukee had space on its 40-man roster, so a corresponding move isn’t necessary.
Hager, 28, made his big league debut with the Mets in 2021, going 1-for-8 in a brief five-game stint. This will be his second stint with the Brewers organization, having spent the 2018-19 seasons with Milwaukee’s Double-A and Triple-A affiliates.
Hager has spent the bulk of his career at shortstop, although he’s begun to diversify his defensive repertoire in recent seasons. The Mets, due in no small part to the rash of injuries they’ve incurred at the big league level, got Hager some work in the outfield corners and even trotted him out to center for one game with their Triple-A affiliate. Hager has just 67 innings of outfield work in his professional career but has ample experience at all four infield positions.
Chris B. Young Joins MLB Network
Former All-Star outfielder Chris Young is joining MLB Network as an on-air analyst and will make his debut on MLB Tonight on Memorial Day, the network announced in a press release this morning. He becomes the second recently retired big leaguer to join the network’s roster in recent weeks. Yonder Alonso was announced as a new analyst for MLB Network just under a month ago.
“I’m excited for the opportunity to join the squad to talk baseball, mix in a little trash talk, have some fun and get my feet wet in the industry,” Young said in a statement within today’s announcement. “Being fresh out of the game, I’ve followed it closely and am ready for this new challenge. I played for seven different teams in my career and I can’t wait to get started with my eighth.”
Young’s last MLB action came with the 2018 Angels, when he played through a hip injury that ultimately required surgery. He hit just .168/.252/.363 in 128 trips to the plate that season, but his overall body of work through parts of 13 MLB seasons was solid. Young finished fourth in 2007 NL Rookie of the Year voting with the D-backs, made the All-Star team in 2010, and for years was a big league regular with an enticing blend of power and speed. Young belted 191 homers and swiped 142 bases, tallying a trio of 20-20 seasons along the way. Overall, he batted .235/.314/.428 with above-average defensive ratings in center.
Mets Exploring Trade Market As Injuries Mount
With the Mets reeling due to a massive slate of injuries, they’re not waiting until the trade deadline to look for ways to help their roster. Acting general manager Zack Scott told reporters prior to last night’s game that he’s in active pursuit of reinforcements (links via Newsday’s Laura Albanese and The Athletic’s Tim Britton).
“I’m pretty much on the phone all day, every day,” Scott said prior to a game which saw the Mets incur yet another injury, when Johneshwy Fargas sustained a sprained AC joint in his shoulder upon crashing into the center field fence. “We’ve got to find the best solutions, always. … We’re trying to find the best internal options and the best external options and trying to get the best out of the guys that we have
The Mets have been hit with a near-unfathomable slate of outfield injuries, some of the soft-tissue variety that have been on the uptick in 2021 throughout the league but many freak injuries that are entirely unforeseeable. Fargas becomes the second Mets outfielder to injure himself colliding with the wall in center field, joining Albert Almora Jr. in that regard. Kevin Pillar was struck in the face by a fastball last week, leading to multiple nasal fractures that required surgery. Brandon Nimmo is currently being plagued by a nerve issue in his left hand that forced a recent minor league rehab assignment to be halted. Meanwhile, the Mets revealed last night that both Michael Conforto and Jeff McNeil will likely be out until late June, as the hamstring strains that sent them both to the injured list have proven to be “significant.”
At this point, the Mets are a catcher injury shy of having legitimate MLB-caliber starting lineup on the IL. Pete Alonso, McNeil, Luis Guillorme, J.D. Davis, Pillar, Nimmo and Conforto represent a better foundation for a lineup than many rebuilding clubs around the league trot out on a nightly basis.
Unfortunately for the Mets, this is also happening at a time when most clubs aren’t yet ready to throw in the towel on their season. Save for a few clubs who entered the year knowing the 2021 season wouldn’t be a competitive one — Pirates, Tigers, Orioles, etc. — teams generally wait until further into the summer to determine their trade deadline direction.
Even those clear sellers may prefer to wait a bit longer, as the demand for the players they plan to market will likely increase along with the number of motivated buyers. Many of today’s front offices seemingly prefer to wait until the eleventh hour and choose not to start dealing until the deadline is just days or even hours away. The Nationals’ remarkable turnaround in 2019 likely only further dissuades clubs from becoming early sellers.
“It’s harder to assess, to address your needs in May or early June, than it is when everyone’s kind of in that (trade deadline) mode,” Scott said last night. At the same time, there’s urgency for the Mets to act now, to the extent possible. “[T]he risk of waiting given all our injuries is that we’re in a different spot and not where we want to be come the end of July,” Scott added.
The Mets, improbably, remain in first place in the National League East in spite of their litany of injuries and a -14 run differential. They can hardly be expected to maintain that standing with the skeleton crew they’re running out on a nightly basis, but Scott and team president Sandy Alderson face an uphill battle in terms of prying meaningful help away from another club at this point in the schedule.