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L.A. Notes: Kershaw, Buehler, Ohtani, Drury, Trout

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The Dodgers were well-established as searching for pitching upgrades ahead of Tuesday’s trade deadline. In the end, they managed to make some minor additions, adding right-handers Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly in a deal with the White Sox and picking up left-hander Ryan Yarbrough from the Royals, but failed to land any of the impactful starters that were moved like Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, and Jordan Montgomery. The club had a deal in place with the Tigers to acquire lefty Eduardo Rodriguez, though Rodriguez vetoed the trade using his 10-team no-trade list, which included the Dodgers. After failing to acquire an impact starter at the deadline, the club will have to lean heavily on the group of arms already in the organization down the stretch.

To that end, the Dodgers relayed good news regarding a pair of arms currently on the injured list yesterday starting with lefty veteran Clayton Kershaw. The 35-year-old future Hall of Famer delivered a 2.55 ERA in sixteen starts prior to going on the IL at the end of June and could return to the mound as soon as next week for the Dodgers. As noted by J.P. Hoornstra of the Orange County Register, Kershaw’s most recent simulated game inspired confidence in manager Dave Roberts to the point that he suggested Kershaw likely won’t require a rehab assignment in the minor leagues before returning to the big league club. Per Hoornstra, one more bullpen session is on the docket for the club’s veteran ace before they decide whether he’ll make his return in Arizona on either Tuesday or Wednesday or wait to face the Rockies at Dodger Stadium later in the week.

The Dodgers also had positive news to offer regarding right-hander Walker Buehler, who has missed the entire season to this point while rehabbing Tommy John surgery. As relayed by Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times, Roberts indicated yesterday that Buehler has nearly reached the point in his recovery process where he will begin a minor league rehab assignment. Earlier this season, Buehler expressed a desire to make it back to the majors this year, with a target date of September 1. That goal seemingly remains unchanged, though it was initially thought that a September return for Buehler would likely come as a member of the Dodgers’ bullpen. Roberts indicates that isn’t the case, however, as the righty will be built up as a starter as he aims to return to the majors next month.

A healthy and effective Buehler would be a huge boon for a Dodgers rotation that has seen its starting staff struggle to a 5.86 ERA since Kershaw’s last start back in June. Prior to his injury-shortened 2022 campaign, Buehler had been one of the best starters in the game over the past four seasons, with a 2.82 ERA and 3.16 FIP across 564 innings of work between 2018 and 2021. That included a sensational 2021 campaign, where Buehler finished fourth in Cy Young award voting after throwing 207 2/3 innings of 2.47 ERA baseball.

More from the other side of town…

  • Two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani exited his start against the Mariners yesterday after just four innings due to cramping in his middle finger, as noted by ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez. The Angels phenom stayed in the game as a hitter, but the departure continues a worrying trend of issues hampering Ohtani on the mound, as he dealt with a cracked fingernail and blister on that same finger last month. Since his battle against those injuries began, he’s struggled on the mound with a 5.52 ERA across his last five starts. While the combined thirteen scoreless innings from his last two starts would normally be encouraging, the prospect of Ohtani potentially missing a start is a worrisome one for the Angels, who at 56-54 need every win they can get if they’re to make the playoffs for the first time since 2014.
  • While Ohtani’s health is in question, the Angels received a positive update regarding the status of infielder Brandon Drury yesterday, per MLB.com. Drury, who has been on the shelf with a shoulder contusion since the end of June, started a minor league rehab assignment on Tuesday and is scheduled to play another rehab game tonight. If that goes well, it’s possible he’ll rejoin the major league roster as soon as tomorrow to contribute to an infield mix that has primarily relied on Mike Moustakas, C.J. Cron, Zach Neto, Luis Rengifo, and Eduardo Escobar in recent weeks. When on the field, it’s been a strong season for Drury, who sports a 122 wRC+ in 75 games with the club while playing first and second base for the Angels.
  • While he may not be as close to returning as Drury, the Angels also received good news regarding veteran superstar Mike Trout yesterday. Trout underwent surgery to remove a fractured hamate bone in early July with a four-to-eight week timeline for return. It sounds like Trout’s return may come on the earlier end of that spectrum, as manager Phil Nevin reports that Trout had progressed to hitting off a tee yesterday, per MLB.com, adding that his ramp-up to returning to game action should be a quick one. It’s been a relative down season for Trout, as he’s slashed “only” .263/.369/.493 with a wRC+ of 137 in 81 games. Those excellent numbers may be a far cry from his career wRC+ of 170, but the 31-year-old superstar is well established as not only one of the greats of today’s game, but one of the finest hitters in baseball history.

The Opener: Fried, Verlander, Woodruff

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As the 2023 regular season continues, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. Fried to return from IL:

The Braves have been perhaps the most impressive team in the majors this year, with a phenomenal 69-37 record that puts them 11.5 games up on the competition in the NL East. What’s more, they’ve done all of that without two of their most impactful starters from last season: left-hander Max Fried and right-hander Kyle Wright. That’s poised to change today, at least in the case of Fried, as the southpaw is set to return from the IL today to take the mound against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. As Fried is on the 60-day IL, the club will need to make a 40-man roster move to accommodate their lefty ace.

Since his breakout campaign in 2020, Fried has been one of the game’s best starters with a 2.64 ERA (165 ERA+) and 3.01 FIP in 74 starts. That includes a stellar 2022 campaign where Fried made the first All-Star appearance of his career and was the runner-up in NL Cy Young award voting after posting a sterling 2.48 ERA and an equally excellent 2.70 FIP. In five starts this season prior to going on the injured list, Fried appeared on track to continue his dominance from last season, as he posted a walk rate of just 5.8% against a solid 24.3% strikeout rate, leaving him with a 2.08 ERA and 3.04 FIP over 26 innings of work.

2. Verlander to make 2023 Astros debut:

Newly re-acquired Astros ace Justin Verlander is set to make his 2023 debut with the team against the Yankees in the Bronx on Saturday opposite Nestor Cortes, who will be making his first start since going on the injured list back in May. Verlander, now in his age-40 season, signed with the Mets after winning the World Series with the Astros last season but was made available at the trade deadline thanks to the Mets’ unexpected struggles this season. After weathering injuries to Luis Garcia, Jose Urquidy, and Lance McCullers Jr. for most of the 2023 campaign, Houston pounced on the opportunity to re-acquire their ace, sending a prospect package headlined by top prospect Drew Gilbert to Queens in exchange for Verlander’s services.

As Verlander prepares to make his first Astros start since he was the winning pitcher in Game 5 of the 2022 World Series, he’s in the midst of another strong season with a 3.15 ERA over 16 starts. That being said, Verlander’s performance has taken a step back from the dominance he displayed last season en route to the third Cy Young award of his career. In 2022, Verlander struck out 27.8% of the batters he faced, while this season that figure has dipped to just 21%. That being said, Verlander figures to help anchor the starting staff in Houston alongside left-hander Framber Valdez, giving the Astros a pair of aces as they attempt to catch the Rangers in the AL West.

3. Woodruff to return from IL:

The Brewers reclaimed the lead in the NL Central race yesterday as they took a half-game lead over the Reds following a 14-1 rout of the Pirates. As they try to protect that minuscule lead, they’ll receive reinforcements this weekend from ace right-hander Brandon Woodruff. He’ll be activated from the injured list on Sunday to make his first start since early April, when he first went on the shelf due to a subscapular strain in his right shoulder. Before he can take the field against the Pirates, the Brewers will need to make a 40-man roster move to accommodate the righty, who is currently on the 60-day IL.

Woodruff has been perhaps one of the most underrated starters in the game in recent years. Since joining the rotation full-time in 2019, Woodruff has posted an incredible 2.97 ERA (142 ERA+) with a nearly matching FIP of 3.04 across 94 starts with a strikeout rate just north of 30%. Prior to his aforementioned injury, Woodruff seemed to be gearing up for another dominant season with a microscopic 0.79 ERA across his two starts this season. With fellow ace Corbin Burnes also heating up in recent weeks (1.85 ERA in six July starts), Milwaukee’s rotation seems well-equipped as they work to fend off the Reds and Cubs over the next two months.

MLB Trade Rumors Podcast: Trade Deadline Recap

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss the happenings of the recent trade deadline, including:

Check out our past episodes!

Tigers Release Johan Camargo

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The Tigers released infielder Johan Camargo from a minor league contract, tweets Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free-Press. The switch-hitter had signed with Detroit in late June.

Camargo made 22 appearances for their Triple-A team in Toledo. He struggled over 88 trips to the plate, hitting .238/.295/.400. Camargo connected on three homers and kept his strikeouts to a modest 17% clip but was weighed down by a .254 average on balls in play. He’d fared much better in Triple-A with the Royals earlier in the season, when he hit .298/.412/.544 in 15 contests.

Between the organizations, Camargo still has a solid .263/.346/.460 showing at the top minor league level on the season. That hasn’t gotten him back to the big leagues, which he’d reached every year between 2017-22. Camargo got semi-regular run at third base for the Braves during his first couple seasons but has been in a utility capacity since 2019. He’s a career .255/.313/.410 hitter over 416 MLB contests.

Camargo returns to the open market and could look to catch on with a third organization for the stretch run. He can play anywhere on the infield and carries a .303/.376/.500 line over parts of six seasons in Triple-A.

Blue Jays Expected To Select Davis Schneider

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The Blue Jays plan to promote Davis Schneider before tomorrow’s game in Boston, as first reported by Johnny Giunta (Twitter link). Toronto will need to create a vacancy on the 40-man roster to select his contract.

Schneider, 24, has spent six seasons in the minors. The Jays selected him in the 28th round of the 2017 draft out of a New Jersey high school. Schneider moved slowly up the ladder, first reaching Double-A last season. He had a solid .253/.366/.457 showing between a trio of minor league levels in 2022 but was nevertheless left unprotected in the Rule 5 draft.

After going unselected, he remained in the Jays’ system and was assigned to Triple-A Buffalo. Schneider has been one of the better hitters in the International League this season. Over 392 trips to the plate, he’s hitting .275/.416/.553 with 21 home runs. The 5’9″ hitter has walked at a huge 18.4% clip against an average 21.9% strikeout rate. While this year’s Triple-A environment has been very offense-heavy, that production still stands out.

Schneider ranks eighth among 88 International League batters (minimum 300 PA’s) in on-base percentage. He leads the league in walk rate and ranks 10th in slugging output. That breakout showing led Baseball America to slot him 15th among Toronto prospects in their recent farm rankings — the first time he’d made an organizational top 30 list at BA. The outlet points to a jump in Schneider’s minor league exit velocities and strong strike zone awareness.

Defensively, he bounces between second base, third base and left field. He’ll bring some flexibility to the bench but is regarded as more of a bat-first utility type. The Jays have Santiago Espinal, Cavan Biggio and Ernie Clement on the big league bench with a primary middle infield duo of Paul DeJong and Whit Merrifield while Bo Bichette is hurt.

Adam Ottavino Intends To Return To Mets In 2024

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The Mets’ deadline sale has generated plenty of headlines over the past few days. New York moved a number of star players but also held a few veterans whose names had been floated in rumors — among them José Quintana, Brooks Raley and Adam Ottavino.

Ottavino is one of a trio of players still on the Mets’ roster who’d have the choice to become a free agent at year’s end. Carlos Carrasco is headed to the open market; Ottavino and Omar Narváez have player options for next season. (The club holds an option on Raley.) Narváez seems a lock to return on a $7MM salary after slumping to a .200/.295/.260 line and missing a good chunk of the season with a strained calf. Ottavino’s option seemed a closer call, but the veteran reliever indicated this afternoon he’s leaning towards exercising it.

The Brooklyn native tells Anthony DiComo of MLB.com he intends to return for a third season with the Mets. Ottavino suggested he was likely to trigger the $6.75MM option on his existing contract. He left open the possibility of trying to renegotiate the deal if he pitches well enough over the next two months, though he indicated he’d do so as a means of tacking on more years rather than prioritizing the average annual value. The Mets don’t have to consider a renegotiation, of course. There’s ostensibly still a chance that Ottavino looks to extend the contract, the Mets decline, and he’s left to reconsider the possibility of opting out.

That said, the hurler seemed quite committed to returning to Queens for his age-38 campaign. “I want to be here no matter what,” Ottavino told DiComo. “This is a good place for me. I love the organization. I love being able to play where I’m from.”

Next year’s Mets will be a quite different team from the one that entered this season. Owner Steve Cohen and GM Billy Eppler have each made clear the club doesn’t anticipate being as active at the top of the free agent market as they had been. Cohen frankly stated yesterday that the ’24 roster won’t carry the same expectations as this year’s group.

Ottavino doesn’t seem deterred by the organizational messaging. The right-hander opined he “(knows) that we’re not going to stink next year.” More broadly, he said he’d value team success more when it’s built on continuity. “I really want to win, but I’ve come to realize it means more to me when I feel invested with the team, when I’ve been with the team for a while,” he told DiComo. “I don’t like feeling like a hired gun. … When I came here, I really wanted to prove myself again and stay. Once I was able to do that, now I feel like I’m bought into everything we’re doing around here.”

While Ottavino has sole discretion on whether to play out his contract, his deal does not contain a no-trade clause. If he exercises the option, there’d be nothing prohibiting the Mets from exploring trade possibilities during the winter. Barring an excellent final couple months, however, New York likely wouldn’t find a huge prospect return if they put Ottavino on the trade market.

While the 13-year MLB veteran is having a solid season, his production has taken a step back from his first year in Queens. Ottavino owns a 3.48 ERA across 44 innings. He’s racking up ground-balls at a massive 58.1% clip but has slightly worse than average strikeout (21.6%) and walk (10.3%) tallies. Ottavino fanned over 30% of opponents against a meager 6.2% walk percentage en route to a sterling 2.06 ERA through 65 2/3 frames a season ago.

The average velocity on Ottavino’s sinker and sweeping slider are each down a tick relative to last season. That has contributed to a drop in whiffs, though his lower arm angle has remained a very challenging look for same-handed hitters. Righties have only four extra-base hits and a .273 slugging mark in 118 plate appearances against him.

Yankees Place Domingo Germán On Restricted List Due To Alcohol Abuse

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August 3: Germán’s entry into a treatment program was preceded by an incident in the Yankees’ clubhouse, reports Lindsey Adler of the Wall Street Journal. According to the report, the pitcher was apparently intoxicated when he entered the clubhouse in preparation for the Yankees’ game on Tuesday. Adler writes that Germán argued with teammates and manager Aaron Boone and flipped a couch amidst those confrontations. He eventually went into the stadium nap room while the rest of the team prepared for the game.

August 2: “Domingo Germán has agreed today to voluntarily submit to inpatient treatment for alcohol abuse,” the Yankees said in a press release today. “He will be placed on the restricted list for the time that he is away from the club. It is critical that Domingo completely focuses on addressing his health and well-being. We will respect his privacy as he begins this process.”

General manager Brian Cashman met with reporters this evening (relayed by Bryan Hoch of MLB.com and Andy Martino of SNY). The GM said Germán has battled alcohol issues in the past and had an incident — about which he declined to go into detail — yesterday. As the team did in its statement, Cashman expressed that his foremost concern is for Germán and his family. The right-hander will not return to the playing field this season.

Germán, 30, has pitched for the Yankees since 2017. He was suspended for the entire shortened 2020 schedule after violating the MLB – MLBPA domestic violence policy the preceding September. He returned to the club in ’21 and has worked mostly out of the rotation in the three years since then. Germán etched his name into the history books six weeks ago, throwing a perfect game in Oakland on June 28.

Altogether, Germán carries a 4.56 ERA through 20 appearances on the season. Players on the restricted list aren’t paid or credited with MLB service, so Germán will forfeit what remains of this year’s $2.6MM salary (roughly $838K). He’d been on track to surpass five years of service this season but seems likely to now fall a bit shy of that mark. He’ll be eligible for arbitration again during the upcoming offseason.

Trey Mancini Clears Waivers, Reaches Free Agency

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Trey Mancini has gone unclaimed on waivers and become a free agent, tweets Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times. According to his transaction log at MLB.com, he’d been released upon being designated for assignment two days ago.

There was little suspense with this sequence of events after Tuesday’s trade deadline passed. He was DFA to clear space for the recently acquired Jeimer Candelario. As a player with over five years of MLB service, he can decline any minor league assignment while retaining all of his salary. With no trade lined up, Mancini had to go on waivers, where his contract made it a lock he’d be unclaimed.

He’d signed a two-year, $14MM free agent deal in January. The move didn’t work out as he or Chicago had envisioned. His few months on the North Side were among the worst of his career. Mancini hit .234/.299/.336 with only four home runs through 263 trips to the plate. He struck out at an alarming 29.7% clip, the highest rate of his career.

Mancini hit a career-high 35 home runs in 2019 before missing the 2020 campaign after a colon cancer diagnosis. His return to the diamond after beating the disease was one of the sport’s best stories the following season. Mancini spent another season and a half with the Orioles, hitting .260/.334/.421 in a little more than 1000 trips. It wasn’t the impact production of his ’19 campaign but remained slightly above-average offensive output.

Baltimore dealt Mancini to the Astros in a three-team trade at last summer’s deadline. His production slumped in Houston, as he mustered only a .176/.258/.364 line through 186 plate appearances. Mancini collected a World Series ring but didn’t play much of a role in the Astros’ championship run.

The Cubs’ hopes for a rebound didn’t materialize. Mancini carries a .210/.282/.348 slash through 449 plate appearances dating back to last year’s trade. As a player who’s best suited for first base or designated hitter — he’s a below-average defender in the corner outfield — the lack of offensive productivity pushed him off the Chicago roster. The 31-year-old has a career .263/.328/.448 line in just under 3400 trips to the dish.

Mancini is due around $2.2MM through season’s end and $7MM next year. The Cubs will be on the hook for virtually all of that money. Any team that adds him in free agency within the next season and a half would pay just the prorated league minimum salary for time spent in the majors, which’ll come off the Cubs’ ledger. The well-respected veteran is sure to at least find minor league interest and could land an immediate MLB roster spot elsewhere now that there’d be virtually no financial cost for another team to add him as a bench bat.

Mariners Add Ryder Ryan To 40-Man Roster

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The Mariners announced they’ve selected reliever Ryder Ryan onto the 40-man roster. He was immediately optioned to Triple-A Tacoma, so he’ll have to wait a little longer for his first MLB call. Seattle had an opening on the 40-man after designating Kolten Wong for assignment on Tuesday.

Ryan, 28, has spent seven years in the minors. Originally a 30th-round draft choice by Cleveland in 2016, he’s been traded twice. The right-hander went to the Mets at the ’17 deadline in the Jay Bruce deal and to the Rangers over the 2020-21 offseason as the player to be named later in the Todd Frazier swap. Ryan spent two years in Triple-A with Texas but never cracked the big league club and became a minor league free agent last winter.

The North Carolina product signed a minor league pact with Seattle. He’s spent the season in Tacoma, working to a 3.72 ERA through 38 2/3 innings in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. Ryan has solid if unspectacular peripherals — a 23% strikeout rate, 9.1% walk percentage and 48.4% grounder rate.

It’s unclear what spurred the M’s to select his contract without immediately bringing him to the MLB roster. Speculatively, it’s possible his minor league deal had contained an opt-out provision that required them to do so or allow him to head back to free agency. In any case, getting added to the 40-man gives him a good chance at securing a big league look down the stretch.

Rays Place Shane McClanahan On Injured List

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6:40pm: Tampa Bay has officially placed McClanahan on the IL, Topkin tweets. The club said they are “in the process of gathering further information” and will provide updates when they become available.

6:13pm: The Rays plan to place Shane McClanahan on the 15-day injured list, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. The two-time All-Star felt some soreness on the outside of his forearm during yesterday’s start against the Yankees.

Tampa Bay sent McClanahan for imaging this morning. Topkin that the Rays still don’t have a set diagnosis from initial testing. The 6’1″ left-hander is slated for further evaluation in the coming days but will need at least two weeks on the shelf.

Until there’s more clarity on the issue, the overall timetable remains unknown. Yet even a best-case scenario for the Rays sees them lose arguably their best pitcher for a couple weeks while they battle for a division title. Tampa Bay has gone 26-27 since the start of June, a couple months of average play after their league-best performance through May. As a result, they’ve dropped two games back of the Orioles in the AL East.

They’re still in great shape to secure a playoff spot. The Rays sit three games clear of the second-best Wild Card team and 7.5 up on the top non-playoff club. They’ll need to track down Baltimore to snag a first-round bye, though, and any extended absence from McClanahan would only make that more challenging.

The 26-year-old was on a Cy Young pace last year before a late-season shoulder impingement knocked him to sixth in the voting. He hasn’t been quite as good this season but remains one of the top pitchers in the sport. Through 115 innings, McClanahan carries a 3.29 ERA with a strong 25.8% strikeout rate. He missed a couple weeks earlier in the season with back tightness but returned not long after a minimal stay on the shelf.

Pitching injuries have been an all too familiar occurrence for Tampa Bay this year. The Rays were without Tyler Glasnow early and lost Jeffrey Springs and Drew Rasmussen to season-ending surgeries midway through the season. They dealt top first base prospect Kyle Manzardo to Cleveland for Aaron Civale to fortify the starting staff. That acquisition could take on even more importance if McClanahan misses a notable chunk of time. Tampa Bay optioned rookie Taj Bradley to Triple-A after acquiring Civale; he’d seem the likeliest candidate for a recall to take McClanahan’s active roster spot.

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