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Latest On Stephen Piscotty

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The Athletics have been rolling lately, but not everything is glorious for the American League wild-card leaders. Manager Bob Melvin said Monday that outfielder Stephen Piscotty’s high right ankle sprain might keep him out for the rest of the regular season, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Piscotty, who hasn’t played since Aug. 24, is still dealing with soreness in his ankle, according to Melvin. That continues what has been a tough campaign for the 28-year-old Piscotty, a highly valuable Athletic last season who has only managed a .252/.312/.416 line with 13 home runs in 389 plate appearances. Piscotty has missed quite a bit of time along the way, as he previously sat out after he underwent surgery to remove a melanoma from his right ear and was later shelved with a right knee sprain.

A healthy Piscotty has been the A’s go-to pick in right field this year, but they’ve turned the position over to a mix of Chad Pinder, Robbie Grossman, Mark Canha and Ramon Laureano in his absence. Oakland has carried on just fine with that group, evidenced by the club’s 15-6 record since Piscotty last played.

If the A’s earn a playoff spot in a couple weeks but Piscotty’s still unable to suit up, they’ll likely place left-hander Jesus Luzardo on their postseason roster, Slusser suggests. The phenom Luzardo, 21, has thrown six innings of two-run ball in a pair of appearances since debuting in the majors Sept. 11.

Lucas Giolito Done For Season

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White Sox ace Lucas Giolito was diagnosed with a mild lat strain after going for an MRI on Monday, James Fegan of The Athletic tweets. That type of injury normally takes three to four weeks to recover from, Fegan notes, so the right-handed Giolito’s year is over.

Season-ending injury aside, 2019 will go down as an enormous step forward for Giolito, who finally began to live up to the immense hype he garnered as a prospect. Giolito, whom the White Sox acquired from the Nationals in December 2016 as part of the teams’ Adam Eaton blockbuster, found himself among the majors’ worst starters as recently as a year ago. The 25-year-old turned the tables this season, though, as he fired 176 2/3 innings of 3.41 ERA/3.44 FIP ball with 11.62 K/9, 2.9 BB/9 and 5.1 fWAR to reestablish himself as one of the league’s most coveted arms.

While Chicago’s way out of contention yet again as the playoffs near, its hope is Giolito will help lead it back to relevance a year from now. Giolito’s among a few highly talented starters who could help the White Sox accomplish that goal. Michael Kopech should be back from Tommy John surgery by then, and Carlos Rodon figures to return from his own TJ procedure. Meanwhile, the promising tandem of Dylan Cease and Reynaldo Lopez will be a year older and maybe a year wiser when it comes to retiring opposing hitters.

Edwin Encarnacion Expects To Return Before End Of Regular Season

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Alarm bells were raised when Yankees slugger Edwin Encarnacion turned up with an oblique strain recently, as a significant version of that injury could easily spell a lengthy absence. But the progress has been so promising that the veteran says he believes he’ll return to the field of play in the next two weeks, as MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch covers on Twitter.

Encarnacion, 36, says that he’s “feeling better every day.” So long as he continues to ramp up, he ought to have a chance to pick up some plate appearances before the club wraps up play on the 29th. It doesn’t matter much to the Yanks whether they have Encarnacion’s bat in the lineup down the stretch, but the club will certainly hope to have him at full speed in the postseason.

The Yanks still have quite a few interesting potential roster questions to resolve before playoff action gets underway. Giancarlo Stanton joins Encarnacion as a rehabbing righty power bat, with a bevy of other possibilities for roster spots. And the team has a variety of hurlers — Luis Severino, Dellin Betances, Jordan Montgomery — trying to show they’re ready to roll, with other pitchers waiting in the wings.

One of those other key players, Betances, just had his first outing. As Hoch tweets, the power righty was not only happy with the outing — he struck out the two batters he faced — but how he feels the day after. Montgomery’s own season debut wasn’t quite so promising, as he gave up three earned in two innings. Both pitchers worked well below their previously established levels of fastball velocity. Severino will take the ball in the majors tomorrow for the first time this year.

Poll: AL MVP Front-Runner

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The American League Most Valuable Player race took an unfortunate turn over the weekend when the Angels ruled transcendent center fielder Mike Trout out for the rest of the season. The out-of-contention Angels have nothing to left to play for, but the final couple weeks of the year could have helped Trout, a future Hall of Famer, bolster his MVP case. The 28-year-old has already won the award twice (arguably not enough times considering his brilliance to this point), and he looked like the favorite to take home the honors again this season before a foot injury took him down. Trout could still end up as the AL MVP, but given that he’s on a bad team and hasn’t played since Sept. 7, it’s increasingly likely a challenger will rise up and win it.

If we’re to believe Fangraphs’ version of wins above replacement, 10 American League hitters have been worth at least 5.0 fWAR this year. Trout’s easily in first place, having racked up 8.6 fWAR, while Astros third baseman Alex Bregman’s next at 7.4. Underrated Athletics shortstop Marcus Semien (6.6) is one of three players thereafter who have bettered the 6.0 mark, with Red Sox right fielder/reigning AL MVP Mookie Betts (6.3) and shortstop Xander Bogaerts (6.2) filling out the group. Beyond them, there’s Astros outfielder George Springer, A’s third baseman Matt Chapman, Red Sox third bagger Rafael Devers, Yankees utilityman DJ LeMahieu and White Sox third baseman Yoan Moncada with 5.0 fWAR.

There are also six starting pitchers in the bunch with 5.0 or more fWAR – the Astros’ Gerrit Cole and Justin Verlander, the Rangers’ Lance Lynn, the Rays’ Charlie Morton, the Indians’ Shane Bieber and the White Sox’s Lucas Giolito – for what it’s worth. However, it’s incredibly difficult for a pitcher to earn MVP honors. Verlander pulled it off back in 2011, but he was the first hurler since 1992 to do so. It’s improbable he or any other pitcher will accomplish the feat this year. Likewise, it’s difficult to imagine a player on a non-contender (Trout aside) earning the MVP this year. That may well rule out anyone from the two Sox-wearing teams.

By process of elimination, the MVP race might come down to Trout, Bregman, Semien, Springer (though it’s tough to see him winning when teammate Bregman has clearly been the more valuable player), Chapman (who’d likely lose votes to Semien) and LeMahieu.

Of course, it’s highly doubtful the voters will make the decision largely by the polarizing WAR stat, and understandably so. There will be plenty who place the most value on the dominance of Trout despite his team’s fecklessness. Others will give the nod to Bregman, who has been on an absolute tear in the season’s second half (the same goes for Semien, by the way). Meanwhile, LeMahieu has thrived as a multi-positional player in the game’s biggest market after joining the Yankees last offseason on what now looks like a bargain contract of two years and $24MM.

The Yankees and Astros are heading to the playoffs as elite teams, which could help their MVP contenders’ causes. The A’s are also likely on their way, so the same applies to their prospective MVPs. All said, it’ll be an interesting final couple weeks of the regular season as all of the above vie for the award. As of now, which player do you think should win?

(Poll link for app users)

Brandon Woodruff To Start Tomorrow For Brewers

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Brewers skipper Craig Counsell said today that top starter Brandon Woodruff will make his long-anticipated return tomorrow, as Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel was among those to report (Twitter links). He has been sidelined since late July with an oblique strain.

Without any remaining minor-league games to utilize for rehab work, Woodruff will obviously not hit the ground at full stride. The Brewers are clearly planning ahead for a truncated outing, though just how long he’ll last hasn’t been divulged. The club did indicate that veteran lefty Gio Gonzalez will take the ball from Woodruff.

It’ll be interesting to see how the 26-year-old Woodruff throws upon his return. Indications are that the team is bullish on his work to date, though game conditions will pose a different challenge. With a tight postseason race coming down to the wire, Counsell will need to extract as much value as possible from Woodruff while also ensuring he doesn’t push the valuable young pitcher too far too fast.

If the Milwaukee organization is able to sneak into the postseason, Woodruff will be a fascinating part of the picture. He likely won’t be fully built up to shoulder a full starter’s workload, but could be used in tandem fashion. And it stands to reason that his workload might increase with each successive outing, which could make Woodruff a larger and larger factor.

Woodruff will still be short of two full years of MLB service at season’s end, so he’s well shy of arbitration eligibility. But he’s on track to qualify as a Super Two at the end of the 2020 campaign. With ample cheap control remaining, Woodruff is a major piece of the near-future puzzle in Milwaukee. Thus far in 2019, he has thrown 117 2/3 innings of 3.75 ERA ball with a strong combination of 10.4 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9.

Nats’ Skipper Dave Martinez Undergoing Medical Testing On Heart

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Nationals manager Dave Martinez, who left yesterday’s game after experiencing chest discomfort, remains in Washington, D.C. for further testing, as MLB.com’s Jamal Collier was among those to report. MLBTR extends its best wishes to Martinez for an optimistic prognosis and speedy recovery.

It isn’t known how long Martinez will be out of action, but he did not travel with the team to St. Louis. Martinez, who was was hospitalized as a precautionary measure, underwent an exploratory cardiac catheterization procedure. He is continuing to receive medical evaluation.

For the most part, then, the Nationals are simply awaiting word from Martinez and his doctors. Bench coach Chip Hale, a former manager himself, will fill in while Martinez is sidelined.

With the Nats trying to close out a postseason appearance, the hope certainly seems to be that Martinez will return to uniform in relatively short order — though obviously his personal health will take priority. Hale says that he spoke with his colleague and found him to be in good spirits; indeed, Martinez texted a lineup to his temporary fill-in.

Anthony Rizzo Diagnosed With Moderate Lateral Ankle Sprain

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Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo has emerged from a medical check with lukewarm news on his injured ankle. An MRI revealed a moderate lateral sprain, the team told reporters including Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune (via Twitter).

Rizzo will not require surgery, which is promising. But he’s going to spend five to seven days in a walking boot, which seems to put a good bit of doubt on his ability to return to action before the end of the regular season.

A specific timeline isn’t known at this time; no doubt, more will be evident once the boot comes off. But it’s obvious the Cubs will go without the slugging first baseman for most or all of the stretch run, with his postseason availability also in question.

Unfortunately, Rizzo isn’t the only Cubs player to go down with an injury. The club is already missing Javier Baez and Addison Russel in the infield, which has forced youngster Nico Hoerner into earlier-than-anticipated action. Now, the team will need to dip into its depth further to fill in at first. Skipper Joe Maddon mentioned Victor Caratini, Ian Happ, and Jonathan Lucroy as possibilities (via Gonzales, on Twitter).

All that being said, the Cubbies remain in solid (though hardly certain) postseason position. They’re currently slotted into the second Wild Card slot, with the first WC position and the NL Central division still in play. While the Brewers are in hot pursuit, the rest of the pack has fallen four or more games back.

Reds Select Contract Of Christian Colon

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The Reds have selected the contract of infielder Christian Colon, the club announced and C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic was among those to cover on Twitter. Colon, the fourth overall pick of the 2010 draft, will join the active roster for the final two weeks of the season.

It has been a few years since Colon has seen the majors. The 30-year-old carries a .252/.315/.315 batting line in 386 total plate appearances, all compiled between 2014 and 2017 with the Royals and Marlins.

Odds are, the Reds will put the 40-man roster to another use once the season was over. But Colon will help fill in for the time being. And he certainly earned the call-up with a strong showing this year at Triple-A Louisville.

Through 582 plate appearances this year at the highest level of the minors, Colon slashed .300/.372/.443 with ten long balls and 24 steals along with a 58:57 K/BB ratio. That’s good for a 110 wRC+. He was also an above-average hitter at Triple-A last year and has always graded well in the field, so perhaps there’s still a chance for a bit of a late-career renaissance for the former top Kansas City farmhand.

Pirates Claim Corban Joseph

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The Pirates announced Monday that they’ve claimed infielder Corban Joseph off waivers from the Giants. Right-hander Chris Archer was transferred from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL in order to make room on the 40-man roster.

Joseph, 30, is the younger brother of Diamondbacks catcher Caleb Joseph. He returned to the Majors with the 2018 Orioles five years after his 2013 MLB debut and has seen time with both Bay Area teams in 2019. The Giants had recently designated him for assignment. In a combined 57 plate appearances between Oakland and San Francisco in 2019, he managed an unsightly .151/.193/.245 batting line. That said, Joseph utterly laid waste to Pacific Coast League pitching, logging a .371/.421/.585 batting line with 13 home runs, 35 doubles and four triples in 493 plate appearances.

That production is miles ahead of Joseph’s career output in Triple-A, where offensive numbers are up throughout the league. But, it’s still 44 percent better than the league average in 2019 (per wRC+), and Joseph does have a history of performing well at the top minor league level. In parts of six Triple-A seasons, he’s a .294/.362/.457 hitter. He’s been primarily a second baseman but also has experience at both corner outfield and corner infield positions.

Archer was shut down for the season over the weekend after missing the past several weeks due to shoulder discomfort, so the move to the 60-day injured list, at this point, was a pure formality in order to get Joseph onto the roster.

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