Health Notes: Trout, Jeffress, Murphy, Tuivailala, Volquez
It doesn’t seem as if the Angels will end up needing to place superstar Mike Trout on the injured list. The club indicated in an announcement today that he’s recovering well after tweaking his groin muscle recently, with an MRI showing that the swelling is subsiding and Trout “report[ing] daily improvement.” Another medical review is scheduled for Sunday. It’s not known whether Trout could be activated thereafter, but a decision will need to be made sooner than later. While the club obviously prefers not to go without him any longer than necessary, the worst outcome would be for Trout to make things worse by rushing back.
More on the injury front from around the game:
- Late-inning man Jeremy Jeffress is expected to return to the Brewers after one more rehab outing, skipper Craig Counsell tells reporters including Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (Twitter link). Jeffress has been moving at about the pace that was hoped when it was announced he’d open the year on the injured list with a somewhat balky shoulder. He has been knocked around a bit on his rehab assignment, though that’s hardly the focus. Jeffress says he’s gaining velocity and feeling stronger as he goes. He’ll soon get the chance to try to replicate his magnificent 2018 season.
- Rockies first baseman Daniel Murphy will not require surgery to repair his fractured left index finger, Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post reports on Twitter. That seems generally promising, if only because it’s always preferable to avoid the risks of a procedure. It’s not clear exactly how long he’ll be sidelined; at last look, the club expected he’d be out of commission through at least the end of the month, but that seems like the bare minimum. Whatever the duration, it’ll be more than desirable for a team that currently sports the league’s worst offense.
- While there’s still no precise timeline, a return to action is now in sight for Mariners reliever Sam Tuivailala. He’s still at least a month away from the majors but is nearing live BP sessions, MLB.com’s Greg Johns reports via Twitter. The 26-year-old hurler, who is working back from a torn Achilles, appears to be a bit ahead of schedule as compared to expectations last fall. He still has a fair number of additional hurdles yet to clear, of course, but it’s generally promising for the increasingly interesting M’s.
- The Rangers still lack clarity regarding the severity of the elbow injury to veteran starter Edinson Volquez. For now, the plan is to put him on the shelf for the next four to six weeks before bringing him in for imaging and a medical review, Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram was among those to cover (Twitter link). It’s a bit of an unusual situation, but it seems the hurler preferred to wait; the team agreed since he’d be sidelined regardless and the results would be more reliable after swelling has gone down. Volquez has suggested he’ll retire if he has again blown out his ulnar collateral ligament. If that’s not necessary, he could presumably return to pitch this year in Texas. It seems we’ll all wait a while longer to learn the outcome.
Previewing 2019-20’s Opt-Out Clause Decisions
Some few contracts include provisions giving the player control over one or more seasons by affording the chance to opt out of the remainder of the deal. Take the bird in hand or see how many you can net from the free-agent bush? Market changes have impacted the math for some players, but the open market still has riches to offer. We don’t know how things will look for any given player at season’s end, but here’s how it’s shaping up at the outset of the 2019 campaign:
Elvis Andrus, SS, Rangers: Three years, $43MM: The 2016-17 version of Andrus — and the one we saw through the season’s first two weeks in 2018 — looked every bit like a player who would exercise the first of two opt-out clauses in his contract (which came at the end of the 2018 season). From Opening Day 2016 through April 11 last year, Andrus posted a terrific .301/.352/.459 batting line with 30 homers, 78 doubles, 11 triples and 49 steals through 1318 plate appearances. Paired with his glovework at shortstop, he looked very capable of topping the remaining four years and $58MM on his contract. Unfortunately, he suffered an elbow fracture, missed two months, and returned to hit only .245/.289/.347 in his final 367 plate appearances. An offseason of rest looks to have done him some good, as he’s hitting .380/.392/.500 through 51 PAs. Unlike several players on this list, there’s an actual chance that Andrus could test the open market, though free agency hasn’t been kind to players on the wrong side of 30 in recent years.
Jake Arrieta, RHP, Phillies: One year, $20MM (unless Phillies exercise two-year, $40MM option for 2021-22): Arrieta’s first season with the Phils was solid, if unremarkable. He tallied 172 2/3 innings and gave the team a 3.96 ERA with fielding-independent metrics that didn’t stray too far from that ERA (4.26 FIP, 4.08 xFIP, 4.29 SIERA). The former Cy Young winner’s velocity is down a couple miles per hour from its peak levels, and while Arrieta showed good control and ground-ball tendencies in 2018, he no longer appears to be a strikeout pitcher. Given that he’ll pitch next season at age 34, it doesn’t seem all that likely that the Phillies will sign up to tack on another pair of $20MM seasons. With a strong 2019 effort, it’s possible that Arrieta positions himself to land a two-year deal with a larger guarantee but lower annual rate (e.g. two years, $30MM), so it’s not out of the question that he’d opt out at season’s end, even if seems unlikely at present.
Yu Darvish, RHP, Cubs: Four years, $81MM: Darvish’s first season in Chicago was an unmitigated disaster, as a series of arm injuries limited him to just 40 innings of work. His velocity isn’t where it was in previous seasons, and in this season’s small sample of three starts, he’s walked more batters than he’s punched out. It’s hard to envision any scenario in which Darvish opts out of his contract; even if he stormed back to ace status and won an NL Cy Young Award, I’m not sure he’d top $81MM as a 33-year-old free agent with a qualifying offer hanging over his head. The Cubs appear stuck with the contract and will need to simply hope for a rebound.
Jason Heyward, OF, Cubs: Four years, $86MM (assuming he makes 550 PAs): Heyward has had a scalding hot start to the season, mashing at a .351/.444/.676 pace. Through 45 plate appearances, he’s already halfway to his home run total from a 2018 season in which he came to he plate 489 times. Even if Heyward’s bat proves to be rejuvenated to its 2015 levels, however, it’s virtually unfathomable that he’d walk away from the remaining $86MM on this contract. His poor results in his first three seasons with the Cubs still loom large enough that a monster year at the dish would be met with a heavy dose of skepticism, and he’ll turn 30 in August.
Kenley Jansen, RHP, Dodgers: Two years, $38MM: After seven seasons as a near-unstoppable force in the Dodgers’ bullpen, Jansen looked mortal in 2018 when he logged a 3.01 ERA (his first time ever topping 3.00) and 10.3 K/9 (his first time south of 13.0). A strong enough rebound campaign could embolden Jansen to seek out a three-year deal at a lower annual salary than the $19MM remaining on his contract; the Rockies gave Wade Davis a total of $52MM for the same three-year age span that Jansen will be entering (32-34). He’s already rejected one qualifying offer in his career, so he wouldn’t be eligible to receive a second one (even though he landed with the same team that winter).
J.D. Martinez, DH/OF, Red Sox: Three years, $62.5MM: The general expectation in the 2017-18 offseason was that Martinez’s 2017 season (.303/.376/.690, 45 home runs) would be a peak year. Instead, he turned in an arguably even more productive 2018 season with the Red Sox, hitting a ridiculous .330/.402/.629 with 43 home runs in 649 PAs — the second-highest total of his career. Martinez is off to another strong start in 2019, and despite a frosty climate for free agents, one can only wonder if he’d be tempted to once again test free agency if he can post a third consecutive season of 40-plus homers with an OPS north of 1.000. One wrinkle to consider is that barring an unexpected midseason trade, Martinez would have a qualifying offer attached to him this time around; that wasn’t true of his last trip through free agency, as he’d been traded from Detroit to Arizona midseason.
Stephen Strasburg, RHP, Nationals: Four years, $100MM: Strasburg is still a strikeout machine who posts big totals in swinging-strike and opponents’ chase rates, but his 93.1 mph average fastball in 2019 is well south of last year’s 94.5 mph (to say nothing of his career 95.3). The former No. 1 pick was a big part of the Nats’ rotation in 2018 and should be again this year, but he was more good than great last year (130 innings, 3.74 ERA, 10.8 K/9, 2.6 BB/9, 43.6 GB%). Moreover, Darvish and a much younger Patrick Corbin are the only two pitchers who have topped $100MM in guarantees over the past two offseasons. Strasburg would be hit with a qualifying offer if he opted out, and he’d be betting against recent trends as a 31-year-old pitcher looking to cash in on a nine-figure contract. He can ask Dallas Keuchel how well that strategy works.
AL West Notes: Rangers, Heaney, Peacock
The Rangers are looking at adding some depth options for the rotation to their minor league ranks, president of baseball operations Jon Daniels told reporters Tuesday (Twitter link via Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram). Texas recently lost Edinson Volquez to an elbow sprain that could potentially threaten the veteran righty’s career.
At this point, the free-agent market for starting pitching has been largely picked clean, although there are still a few notable names available. Edwin Jackson remains unsigned, as does old friend Bartolo Colon, who has reportedly sought to continue his career into the 2019 season. Veterans James Shields, Chris Tillman and Yovani Gallardo all remain unsigned. As with Colon, the Rangers have had both Tillman (late 2018) and Gallardo (2015, 2018) in the organization before. The Cubs recently designated righty Jen-Ho Tseng for assignment as well, and he could be another option given several years of rotation experience in the minors. Unsurprisingly, Wilson notes that Dallas Keuchel is not viewed as an option despite the Rangers’ search for rotation help.
Here’s more from around the division…
- Angels southpaw Andrew Heaney resumed throwing today, but he’s still expected to be sidelined for a month or more, per MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger. A recent CT scan revealed what the team announced as “chronic changes” to Heaney’s left elbow, but it doesn’t appear as though there’s any threat of surgery for the left-hander. Heaney tossed 180 solid innings for the Halos in 2018 but has yet to take the mound in 2019 after being limited to just 1 2/3 innings in Spring Training.
- With a series of off-days on the horizon, the Astros will move Brad Peacock to the bullpen for the next couple of weeks, writes Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. Houston has been operating with a shorter bullpen than usual in order to carry two out-of-options players on its bench in Tony Kemp and Tyler White. Whether that arrangement proves sustainable over the course of the entire season remains to be seen, as manager A.J. Hinch even spoke of distinctly noticing a difference in carrying a 12-man pitching staff as opposed to a 13-man pitching staff in the early stages of the 2019 season.
Ronald Guzman Placed On IL With Hamstring Strain
After suffering a right hamstring strain, the Rangers have placed first baseman Ronald Guzman on the 10-day injured list, per a team announcement. To fill his roster spot, the team has recalled infielder Patrick Wisdom from Triple-A.
The 24-year-old Guzman has started off the season hitting just .231, though he has shown more reason for optimism with 4 doubles and 2 home runs through nine games, good for a .615 slugging percentage. The Rangers are hoping for the big first baseman to improve on his 2018 rookie season, in which he posted a .235/.306/.416 slash line that, while respectable, is rather pedestrian for a corner infielder. A power surge from Guzman would be a welcome development for the Rangers, who will also miss Guzman’s defense at first base. It appears that veteran Logan Forsythe will take over as the primary first baseman in Guzman’s absence, with Wisdom assuming a utility infield role off the bench.
Wisdom, 27, was an offseason acquisition from the Cardinals, where he had previously spent his entire career after St. Louis used a first-round pick on Wisdom in the 2012 amateur draft. He made his Major League debut in 2018, playing in 32 games and posting an impressive .260/.362/.520 batting line. Wisdom, who has played third base and first base in the big leagues, boasts an impressive minor-league track record, including the 2017 season, in which he hit 31 home runs in 127 games—albeit in the notoriously hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. Expect to see Wisdom earn himself a spot start here and there while the Rangers await the return of their everyday first baseman.
Quick Hits: Epstein, Cubs, Hunter, Straily, Japan
After a 1-6 start to the Cubs‘ season, Chicago fans are already pointing fingers in many directions, including criticism of ownership for not greenlighting more offseason spending, or of the team’s desultory pitching performance. President of baseball operations Theo Epstein, however, told ESPN.com’s Jesse Rogers and other reporters that the blame falls with him. “There is always a search for scapegoats when you get off to a tough start. [Pitching coach] Tommy Hottovy is not the problem. He’s a big part of the solution,” Epstein said. “[Owner] Tom Ricketts is not the problem. It’s not a resource issue. I know he’s another one that’s been taking a lot of heat. It’s not a resource problem. If people have a problem with the allocation of resources, then that’s on me. And it has been ever since I got here, with a lot of good and some bad.”
While it’s obviously still early in the season, the Cubs are already facing a big deficit in the NL Central due to the Brewers’ 7-1 start, as Rogers notes. The Cubs can make up some of that ground in their ongoing series with Milwaukee, plus there’s also really nowhere to go but up after this opening week. “It’s been real close to, if not, a worst-case scenario for us, defensively and in terms of our pitching….We’re sorry we’re putting our fans through this,” Epstein said.
Some more from around the National League…
- Phillies reliever Tommy Hunter has been shut down from throwing after receiving a PRP injection in his right arm. (MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki was among those to report the news.) Hunter won’t resume throwing for three weeks, so factoring in those days plus the time Hunter would require to get into game readiness after missing much of Spring Training, the veteran righty might not be back in the Philadelphia bullpen until late May or perhaps early June. A flexor strain sidelined Hunter during the spring, and while the injury wasn’t thought to be overly serious at the time, it will result in a lengthy absence for the 32-year-old. Hunter was a solid contributor for the Phils last season, posting a 3.80 ERA, 3.40 K/BB rate, and 7.2 K/9 over 64 relief innings in the first year of a two-year, $18MM contract.
- The Rangers and Blue Jays were two of the teams that had interest in Dan Straily before the right-hander signed with the Orioles last week, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports (Twitter link). Both Texas and Toronto are dealing with rotation injuries, though the Rangers had a more immediate need for starting help now that Edinson Volquez has been sidelined with a UCL injury.
- Japan used to be seen as something of a last resort for players that couldn’t crack the Major Leagues, though as The Athletic’s Peter Gammons writes (subscription required), more and more players are returning from stints in Nippon Professional Baseball capable of thriving at the MLB level. Colby Lewis, Ryan Vogelsong, Miles Mikolas, and Ryan Brasier are some of the pitchers who revived or kickstarted their careers while playing in Japan, which some players and executives feel is a more conducive environment than Triple-A. NPB not only offers a higher level of competition, but just competition in general — players are playing to win in pressurized games in front of large crowds, rather than the more developmental nature of the minor leagues. Plus, players can earn much more in guaranteed NPB deals than in playing for meager minor league salaries or even minimum-level Major League contracts, and the extra security allows more focus on performance. “I’m not looking over my shoulder after every outing,” said Frank Herrmann, who is in his third season as a star reliever for Rakuten Golden Eagles after tossing 135 1/3 innings for the Indians and Phillies between 2010-16. “When you are that ‘4A guy,’ a bad outing or even an extra-inning game in which you did your job could potentially be a demotion to the minors. That’s a grind mentality.”
AL West Notes: Laureano, Guzman, Heaney
Every team has regrets about giving up on a player who breaks out elsewhere, though in the Astros‘ case, it’s a bit tougher to watch since Ramon Laureano is blossoming for a division rival, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle writes. Laureano (a 16th-round pick for the Astros in 2014) showed some flashes of potential over his first four pro seasons, though it wasn’t enough to make him part of Houston’s long-term plans, especially considering the organization’s outfield depth. “We loved him, it wasn’t a lack of affection for him, it was just that we ran out of a lot of opportunity for him,” manager A.J. Hinch said. Rather than protect Laureano in the 2017 Rule 5 Draft, the Astros instead dealt the outfielder to the Athletics in November 2017 for minor league righty Brandon Bailey.
After hitting well for Oakland’s Triple-A affiliate, Laureano got the call to the big leagues last August and hasn’t looked back. He has become the Athletics’ everyday center fielder thanks to both a potent bat (.284/.344/.469 over 215 career PA) and some excellent defense, including earning the nickname of “Laser Ramon” thanks to his powerful throwing arm. “I don’t think we quite had the defense rated as well as its played in the big leagues,” Astros GM Jeff Luhnow said. “That was an underassessment on our part….We had a feeling (Laureano) was going to be a pretty good big league player, but he’s gotten off to a faster start in his career than we thought. So, yeah, he’s one that I’d love to have back.”
Here’s more from the AL West…
- Rangers first baseman Ronald Guzman left today’s game due to hamstring tightness, and MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan tweets that Guzman will receive an MRI to determine the severity of the problem. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News looks at the ripple effect that a potential Guzman IL stint would have on the Texas roster, including whether or not it would lead to top prospect Willie Calhoun receiving a promotion. Calling up Calhoun, however, would require Joey Gallo to be moved to first base, a move that Rangers manager Chris Woodward said he was hesitant to make, back in Spring Training. If not Calhoun, the Rangers could promote Patrick Wisdom or Matt Davidson, though Texas would have to clear a 40-man roster spot for Davidson.
- Elbow problems have delayed Andrew Heaney‘s start to the season, and the Angels southpaw was open with his frustration about his continued injury woes in a conversation with Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register and other reporters. “I would love to be standing here telling you guys about my first start of the season and not (expletive) talking about injuries. Trust me. I don’t want to talk to you guys about this (expletive),” Heaney said. “But I’m trying to be honest, as honest as I can be with what I’m willing to put forth….I would love to scream from the mountaintops everything that’s going on, but it’s not going to help anybody.” Tommy John surgery kept Heaney out of action for much of the 2016-17 seasons, and he also experienced elbow soreness last spring before receiving a cortisone shot that seemed to solve the problem. Heaney went on to post a 4.15 ERA over 180 innings for the Angels, apparently putting his injury issues behind him before more soreness resurfaced during this year’s Spring Training. Once Heaney begins to feel better, it will still be some time before he is able to ramp up in order to rejoin the Halos’ rotation.
Edinson Volquez Facing Retirement Decision
Rangers right-hander Edinson Volquez will consider retirement if the injury that recently landed him on the IL turns out to be another UCL tear, per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (via Twitter).
Volquez underwent Tommy John to repair the UCL in his throwing elbow in August of 2017, returning to big league action for the first time since the injury this season. He started two games before being placed on the IL with an elbow sprain. If the injury turns out to be a tear of the ulnar collateral ligament, as feared, Volquez plans to hang up his spikes. Neal reports Volquez saying (on the possibility of a tear): “If it is, I will go home and watch my daughter grow up. No complaints about what I’ve done in baseball.”
Volquez, 35, began his career in Texas before being sent to Cincinnati (with Danny Herrera) for Josh Hamilton. He threw 12 innings over 2 starts for the Royals in the 2015 World Series, including starting the series-clinching game five win over the Mets. He strongest season came as a 24-year-old in Cincinnati when he went 17-9 with a 3.21 ERA over 196 innings. Though that 2008 season may have been the high water mark for Volquez, he nonetheless put together a solid career as well as somewhat of a bounceback in 2014 and 2015, when he put together back-to-back 13-win campaigns for the Pirates and Royals, respectively.
Rangers Place Edinson Volquez On 10-Day IL With Elbow Sprain
The Rangers announced today that righty Edinson Volquez has been placed on the 10-day injured list with an elbow sprain. He’ll be replaced on the active roster by southpaw Kyle Bird, who had recently been optioned down.
It’s not yet clear how severe the injury is, but it’s an obvious red flag for a pitcher that is only just returning from his second Tommy John surgery. The 35-year-old missed half of 2017 and all of 2018 after tearing his ulnar collateral ligament. He signed a two-year deal with the Rangers last spring in anticipation of providing some solid innings in 2019.
Unfortunately, Volquez has only made it through two rough starts before hitting the shelf. He has struggled to open the year, coughing up eight walks and six earned runs in his 7 2/3 innings. He’s earning $2MM this year.
Bird will boost the pen depth for the time being, but the organization will need to find a replacement starter. Adrian Sampson seems the likeliest option. The team is otherwise light on obvious options, with just two other 40-man hurlers — Ariel Jurado and Joe Palumbo — who have some MLB experience.
Rangers Select Adrian Sampson
The Rangers have selected the contract of righty Adrian Sampson. Indeed, he was just called in to relieve in tonight’s game.
To create space on the roster, the club announced two additional moves. Southpaw Kyle Bird was optioned to make way on the active roster, while a 40-man spot was procured by shifting injured hurler Yohander Mendez to the 60-day injured list.
Sampson, a 27-year-old righty, has seen minimal MLB time and dealt with some serious arm issues over the past few seasons. He generated nice results last year at Triple-A, but ended up being non-tendered and re-signed to a minors deal by the Texas organization.
Mariners Acquire Connor Sadzeck
7:30pm: This move has now been announced.
6:37pm: The Mariners have struck a deal with the Rangers to acquire righty Connor Sadzeck, according to Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Fellow right-hander Grant Anderson will go to Texas in return.
The intra-division swap arose after Sadzeck was designated for assignment recently. He’s out of options, so he’ll head onto the Seattle 40-man and active rosters.
While Sadzeck is young and controllable, and possesses a live arm, the Rangers elected instead to carry veteran reliever Jeanmar Gomez, untested lefty Kyle Bird (who has since been optioned), and Rule 5 pick Kyle Dowdy. For all the potential that comes with his big frame and upper-nineties heater, Sadzeck has yet to show he’ll be able to deploy his arsenal effectively at the MLB level and ended up on the chopping block.
The M’s will surely be prepared to live through some more growing pains from the 27-year-old. He surrendered 11 walks while recording seven strikeouts in his first 9 1/3 MLB innings last year and then gave up eight free passes with eleven strikeouts over 8 1/3 frames in camp. But Sadzeck hasn’t been irredeemably wild in the minors. Last year, for instance, he worked to a 4.03 ERA with 10.2 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9 over 38 innings at Triple-A.
As for Anderson, the 21-year-old was plucked in the 21st round of last year’s draft out of McNeese State. He has only a dozen pro innings under his belt, but did impress enough to earn a quick (but brief) promotion to the Class A level. He allowed just four hits and two earned runs while posting a 13:7 K/BB ratio last year.