NL Central Notes: Kingham, Finnegan, Dubon
The Pirates announced this afternoon that they’ve optioned righty Nick Kingham back to Triple-A Indianapolis. The 26-year-old was the talk of baseball when he took a perfect game into the seventh inning in his MLB debut, though his second start (four runs in 5 1/3 innings with seven strikeouts against one walk) offered more mixed results. Kingham’s spot in the rotation will likely go to Joe Musgrove, who is nearing a return from the DL, though more immediately, his roster spot is going to infielder Jose Osuna, who has been recalled from Triple-A. Chad Kuhl‘s strong weekend outing likely bought him some additional length on his leash, but it still seems likely that Kingham will be starting games for the Pirates again at some point in 2018, whether due to injury or poor performance from one of the club’s other young starters.
Here’s more from the division…
- Reds interim manager Jim Riggleman told reporters today that in spite of his considerable struggles, left Brandon Finnegan would make his next scheduled start (Twitter link via C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic). Finnegan, 25, has been hammered for 19 earned runs on 27 hits (five homers) and 15 walks against 14 strikeouts in 20 2/3 innings so far in 2018. He hasn’t lasted more than five innings in any of his starts this season and has allowed three or more runs each time he’s taken the mound. There was plenty of debate as to whether Finnegan was best suited as a starter or reliever even prior to Cincinnati’s acquisition of him in the 2015 Johnny Cueto blockbuster with the Royals, and he’s yet to establish himself as a viable rotation piece at the game’s top level. Rosecrans notes that Riggleman wouldn’t commit to anything beyond his next outing, so it’s possible that Finnegan’s leash is running out. Finnegan does have minor league options remaining for this season and next.
- Some Brewers fans have clamored for a promotion of infield prospect Mauricio Dubon, who has a 23-game hitting streak going in Triple-A, but Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports that Dubon incurred a knee injury over the weekend and is headed to Milwaukee to be examined by team physician Dr. William Raasch. Farm director Tom Flanagan tells Haudricourt that the hope is that Dubon is dealing only with a strain, though the organization won’t know until further testing and imaging is performed. Dubon suffered the injury while executing a rundown in Saturday’s game. Acquired alongside Travis Shaw in the Tyler Thornburg deal with the Red Sox, Dubon is hitting .343/.348/.574 with four homers and six steals in 114 plate appearances this season.
NL Central Notes: Happ, Kang, Norris, Reds, Davies
Despite Ian Happ‘s alarming struggles at the plate — he’s hitting .233/.282/.384 with a mammoth 46.2 percent strikeout rate through 78 plate appearances — Cubs skipper Joe Maddon says the team is not discussing the possibility of optioning the young switch-hitter to Triple-A Iowa (link via Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times). Per Maddon, the 23-year-old is frustrated by his lack of contact but handling the struggles quite well. Maddon acknowledges that it’s difficult to get all of his young hitters into the lineup but maintains that the best place for Happ to right the ship at the plate is with the big league club for the time being.
More from the division…
- Jung Ho Kang has reported to the Pirates‘ Spring Training facility in Bradenton, Fla., writes Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Manager Clint Hurdle explains that the plan for Kang is to get him into game shape over the course of the next month — he’ll remain on the restricted list and won’t be paid or accrue service time during that period — as he prepares for in-game action. “There will be no game activity until we get his arm in shape, his legs in shape, get him swinging, get our people to look at him and evaluate him and then go from there,” says Hurdle. Kang is preparing for a return to the Pirates after sitting out the 2017 season upon being convicted of a third DUI in his native South Korea and subsequently being unable to acquire a work visa.
- Given Greg Holland‘s disastrous start to the 2018 season, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny confirmed today that Bud Norris is his closer for the time being, as Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes. “It’s Bud’s game right now,” said Matheny after effusing praise for the manner in which the veteran Norris has performed in high-leverage spots while ascending to the ninth-inning role. “But we’re going to have to have other people to pitch the end of the game. There are going to be times when Bud’s down and times when we need to put Bud in a little earlier and he needs help.” There’s no indication as to when Holland might be given another try in save situations, though with Norris boasting a terrific 1.72 ERA and 22-to-2 K/BB ratio through his first 15 2/3 innings of the season, he’s likely earned himself a reasonably lengthy leash in the the ninth inning.
- The fate of the Reds‘ rebuild is in the hands of a group of starting pitchers that have yet to prove capable at the big league level or even, in some cases, in the upper minors, writes John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer. As Fay notes, the Reds have a fairly promising group of position players in the big leagues (plus an elite prospect on the cusp in Nick Senzel), but none of their pitching prospects have established themselves. As Brandon Finnegan, Luis Castillo, Tyler Mahle and Sal Romano endure struggles in the Majors, alternatives such as Robert Stephenson, Cody Reed and Jackson Stephens are floundering in the minors. Fay notes that the organization’s plan had been to expand payroll next offseason and fill some holes via free agency as the nucleus of the next contending Reds team emerged, but that of course won’t have any impact if the team can’t overcome an increasingly problematic inability to develop starters.
- The Brewers announced tonight that righty Zach Davies is going on the 10-day disabled list due to some inflammation in his right rotator cuff. However, with two off days coming in the next week, the team added that it only expects Davies to miss one start. A corresponding move will be made tomorrow. The 25-year-old Davies has started off the 2018 season with a 4.24 ERA, 6.6 K/9, 3.2 BB/9, 1.32 HR/9 and a 48 percent ground-ball rate through his first 34 innings. His placement on the DL is retroactive to April 30, so he can be activated in a week’s time.
Injury Notes: Donaldson, Tropeano, Musgrove, Twins
The Blue Jays announced tonight that third baseman Josh Donaldson will rejoin the club Thursday and is likely to be activated from the disabled list. A shoulder issue has kept the former AL MVP out of action since April 10, though he’s played in multiple minor league rehab games and appears to be back on track after experiencing some troubles throwing across the diamond earlier this season. The Jays have stayed afloat just fine in the absence of their best player, as they’re currently sporting a 17-13 record and right in the middle of the AL Wild Card mix a month into the season. Donaldson will have plenty riding on a healthy and productive return, as he’s set to hit free agency for the first time following the 2018 campaign.
Some other health-related notes from around the league…
- Already being hit hard by the injury bug, the Angels took another punch on Wednesday, announcing that righty Nick Tropeano is headed to the 10-day DL with a shoulder issue. The good news for the Halos is that the injury appears minor, as Tropeano told reporters he’ll “100 percent” be ready to return after the 10-day minimum (Twitter link via Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register). As Tropeano explains, he’s not even planning to stop throwing and already played catch earlier today. The Angels, it seems, are merely acting with precaution after the righty felt some something slightly off in his shoulder.
- Pirates righty Joe Musgrove threw 36 pitches in a rehab outing, writes Oliver Macklin of MLB.com, 29 of which went for strikes. Manager Clint Hurdle added that Musgrove threw his cutter, slider and changeup in the outing and demonstrated “firm” velocity on his fastball. Perhaps more notable is the fact that Hurdle confirmed that Musgrove will indeed be rejoining the Pirates’ rotation when he returns from the disabled list. That could be bad news for rookie Nick Kingham, who turned in one of the best debuts in recent MLB history when he flirted with a perfect game through more than six innings this past Sunday. Kingham is slated to start Friday for the Buccos, though Hurdle said in announcing that earlier this week that there was nothing guaranteed beyond that point. Speculatively speaking, right-hander Chad Kuhl has also struggled in 2018 (5.01 ERA, seven homers in 32 1/3 innings), so perhaps he could be bumped if Kingham impresses in his second big league start.
- Byron Buxton has yet to progress to running since being diagnosed with a hairline fracture in his toe, writes MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger. Buxton sustained the injury when he fouled a ball into his foot during a rehab game in Fort Myers as he was working his way back from a bout with ongoing migraine headaches. He’ll rejoin the club on Friday but won’t necessarily be activated from the DL, Bollinger notes, as the team is debating whether he needs another rehab stint now that he’s been off for several weeks due to the foot injury. Bollinger adds that righty Trevor May, recovering from 2017 Tommy John surgery, tossed three innings and 46 pitches in an extended Spring Training game as he pushes his way toward readiness for a rehab assignment with the team’s Triple-A club.
Pirates Move Steven Brault To Bullpen
The Pirates are moving left-hander Steven Brault to the bullpen, tweets Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic. For the time being, that means that righty Nick Kingham will remain in the rotation and get another start on Friday on the heels of yesterday’s historic debut, during which he took a perfect game into the seventh inning.
Manager Clint Hurdle told reporters, however, that there are no guarantees for Kingham beyond his second start. The club has a number of off-days on the horizon, and righty Joe Musgrove is expected to return later this month. Of course, Kingham already bought himself a second start after what looked to be a spot start Sunday, and it stands to reason that another strong performance could further force the Pirates’ hand. Ivan Nova, Jameson Taillon, Trevor Williams and Chad Kuhl will continue to hold down the top four spots in the Pittsburgh rotation, with either of Kingham or Musgrove now looking to be the leading candidates for the final spot.
[Related: Updated Pittsburgh Pirates depth chart]
Brault, meanwhile, will give the Pirates a much-needed lefty in a bullpen where closer Felipe Vazquez is the lone southpaw. Josh Smoker opened the season in the ‘pen but has since been optioned to Triple-A, leaving Hurdle with a heavily right-handed relief corps.
Even if Kingham is in the Majors to stay, he’s spent enough time in the minor leagues this season to fall shy of a full year of MLB service time. He’ll be controlled through the 2024 season at the very least, though he’s currently on track to qualify as a Super Two player, meaning he’d be eligible for arbitration four times rather than the standard three.
Central Notes: Moustakas, Kang, Matheny, Brewers
Some rumblings from around both the AL and NL Central….
- Mike Moustakas looks like a prime candidate for a deadline trade, though in a video for FOX Sports (Twitter link), Ken Rosenthal cautions that the Royals could face some difficulties in finding a trade partner. For one, there aren’t any contenders with an obvious need at third base, though injuries can certainly change that equation. One rival executive tells Rosenthal that it can be hard to trade a single-position rental player like Moustakas at the deadline.
- Jung Ho Kang‘s impending return to the Pirates “is probably his last chance with us,” GM Neal Huntington said on his weekly radio show with Joe Block (hat tip to MLB.com’s Adam Berry). Kang received a work visa earlier this week and is preparing to rejoin the Pirates organization after spending all of 2017 on the restricted list following a DUI conviction in South Korea. Should the infielder face any more off-the-field issues, things “are not going to go well for” Kang with the team, Huntington said. It isn’t any surprise that Kang is on a very short leash given his past history, and he very well could be entering his last few months with the Bucs regardless of how he might perform if and when he returns to the majors. It doesn’t seem likely that the Pirates will exercise their $5.5MM club option on Kang’s services for 2019, barring a major turn-around.
- While closer Corey Knebel has been on the DL, the Brewers‘ adoption of a fully situational bullpen has been a big success, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes. Manager Craig Counsell has been deploying his pitchers simply as “out-getters,” in his words, and not worrying about using specific arms in specific roles. Entering today’s play, Brewers relievers had a cumulative 2.50 ERA (third-best in baseball) despite heavy usage, as the team has the fourth-most bullpen innings of any club in the league. This outstanding relief effort has helped the Brewers offset some pretty middling numbers from the starting rotation.
- With Mike Matheny set to manage his 1000th game on Tuesday, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch looks at how Matheny has handled the pressure and expectations of his six-plus seasons running the Cardinals‘ dugout. Despite Matheny’s 559-440 record, he has faced criticism from some corners of the St. Louis fanbase for not having either the consistent success (particularly after consecutive non-playoff seasons) or the openness to publicly discuss decisions as former skipper Tony La Russa. Behind closed doors, however, Matheny has been praised for his leadership and teaching skills. “He’s got a lot of talents….He has it all covered,” Michael Wacha said. “Whenever he talks in front of a group of people that group of people is leaning in, listening to what he’s saying. He carries that confidence that he knows he belongs where he is.”
Pirates Place Enny Romero On DL
4:08pm: Pittsburgh intended to designate Romero, but it instead placed on him on the disabled list with a left shoulder impingement, according to a team announcement (via Adam Berry of MLB.com).
10:33am: The Pirates have designated left-hander Enny Romero for assignment, per a team announcement. Romero’s roster spot will go righty Nick Kingham, who will make his first career start Sunday.
It may go down as a short stay in the Pittsburgh organization for Romero, who joined the team off waivers two weeks ago after the Nationals designated him. The 27-year-old Romero’s shining moment with the Pirates has actually come with the bat, as he smacked a double – his first career hit – in an appearance against the Rockies on April 18.
Unfortunately for Romero and the Bucs, his time on the mound with the club hasn’t been as memorable. Prior to Sunday’s designation, he struggled somewhat across four innings, yielding five runs (two earned) on seven hits and three walks, with five strikeouts. Overall, Romero has combined for 142 MLB frames with a 4.69 ERA/4.06 FIP, 9.7 K/9 against 4.56 BB/9 and a 40.4 percent grounder rate with the Rays, Nats and Pirates.
NL Notes: Panik, D-backs, Cards, Pirates
Giants second baseman Joe Panik has a torn ligament in his left thumb that could require surgery, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Panik, who went on the disabled list Saturday, will go for a second opinion to determine whether he’ll go under the knife or rehab the injury without surgery, per Schulman. Panik got off to a solid start in his first 100 plate appearances of the year before landing on the shelf, with a .267/.323/.389 line (102 wRC+) and as many walks as strikeouts (six). Kelby Tomlinson has been San Francisco’s top second base option in Panik’s absence.
More from the NL…
- Although Diamondbacks right-hander Archie Bradley has been among the game’s most dominant relievers since moving to the bullpen last year, he hasn’t given up on working as a starter again someday. “I still would like to start and see what I can do,” the 25-year-old told Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. “But for what I’m doing right now and what this team is doing, it’s kind of the perfect spot for me. It just fits with what we’re doing.” Bradley was a high-end prospect as a starter, evidenced in part by the fact that he went seventh overall in the 2011 draft. However, he struggled at times in that role in the minors and then in the majors, where he logged a 5.18 ERA (with a much more encouraging 4.27 FIP) in 34 starts and 177 1/3 innings from 2015-16. As a reliever, on the other hand, Bradley has posted a 1.73 ERA/2.47 FIP over 88 1/3 frames.
- The Cardinals have recalled lefty Austin Gomber from Triple-A, putting him in position to make his major league debut, and optioned righty Jack Flaherty. Gomber, whom the Cardinals chose in the fourth round of the 2014 draft, ranks as the team’s 14th-best prospect at MLB.com. The 24-year-old has registered impressive numbers as a starter in the minors, including this season (2.45 ERA, 9.47 K/9 and 3.16 BB/9 in 25 2/3 innings), but he’s likely to open his MLB career as a long reliever, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
- Pirates righty Joe Musgrove is slated to begin a rehab assignment Tuesday, Adam Berry of MLB.com tweets. Musgrove joined the Pirates over the winter as a key part of their Gerrit Cole trade with Houston, but a muscle strain in his pitching shoulder has delayed his debut with the club. Barring any setbacks, Musgrove should be four rehab starts away from returning to the majors, Berry suggests.
NL Notes: Bruce, Kang, Stratton, Panik, Gohara, Pennington
Mets outfielder Jay Bruce has been taking ground balls at first base, James Wagner of the New York Times reports. Wagner adds that the Mets may consider playing him there in order to open up room for Brandon Nimmo to receive everyday playing time again. First base incumbent Adrian Gonzalez has struggled mightily thus far, with just a .203/.300/.320 batting line on the season. It’s still only April, but in light of his struggles last year with the Dodgers, Gonzalez’s leash might be fairly short. That’s particularly true since Nimmo reached base in half of his 38 MLB plate appearances this season. It’s fair to think that the Mets are looking hard for ways to lock Nimmo into an everyday role.
Other news out of the NL…
- Pirates infielder Jung Ho Kang won’t receive any discipline from MLB, nor will the team dole out any punishment, Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports on Twitter. Kang was denied a U.S. visa for all of last year due to multiple DUI-related arrests. He’s finally able to return to the Pirates as of Thursday.
- Today, the Giants reinstated Chris Stratton from the paternity list, optioning outfielder Austin Slater to Triple-A Sacramento in a corresponding move. Within hours, however, the club reversed its reported stance on Mac Williamson‘s status, placing him on the seven-day concussion DL. The move allowed the Giants to recall Slater, who’s directly replacing Williamson. Stratton sports an impressive 2.32 ERA and 2.69 FIP across five starts this season, though the fact that he hasn’t allowed any homers despite a 37.8% hard contact rate suggests he might have been a bit lucky in that regard. Stratton will take his scheduled turn through the rotation today against the Dodgers.
- In other Giants news, second baseman Joe Panik has been placed on the disabled list with a sprained left thumb. The club correspondingly purchased the contract of second baseman/outfielder Alen Hanson, who leads the Triple-A Pacific Coast League with a .403 batting average. The club moved Mark Melancon to the 60-day DL in order to clear room on the 40-man roster for Hanson.
- The Braves have reinstated left-hander Luiz Gohara from the disabled list and optioned him to Triple-A Gwinnett, David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Gohara suffered a sprained ankle during a spring training outing, and had exhausted the maximum amount of time allotted for rehab starts. He’ll likely make a couple more starts in the minors before returning to help the Braves at the major league level. Gohara had figured to be a prominent part of Atlanta’s rotation before the season began.
- The Reds announced that infielder Cliff Pennington has cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Louisville. Pennington, who signed a minors deal in the offseason, made the club out of spring training camp as a bench player. However, he’s struck out in nearly 40 percent of his plate appearances thus far and has yet to sock an extra-base hit.
Pirates To Promote Nick Kingham
The Pirates will promote right-hander Nick Kingham to make his Major League debut and start Sunday’s game, reports Stephen J. Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (via Twitter).
Now 26 years old, Kingham was widely regarded as one of the game’s top 100 overall prospects back in 2014-15 and looked to be on the precipice of the Major Leagues when a torn ulnar collateral ligament torpedoed his 2015-16 seasons. Kingham underwent Tommy John surgery in 2015, tossing just 31 1/3 innings that season and just 46 frames late in the 2016 season upon completing his rehab.
The 2017 season marked his first healthy season since 2014, and while he didn’t dominate, the 2010 fourth-rounder did turn in a solid 3.95 ERA with 7.1 K/9 against 2.2 BB/9 with a 45 percent ground-ball rate. He’s off to a torrid start to the 2018 season — as MLBTR’s Jason Martinez noted when including Kingham in the first 2018 edition of Knocking Down The Door — having logged a microscopic 1.59 ERA with a 27-to-7 K/BB ratio and a 49.1 percent grounder rate in 22 2/3 innings. He’s yet to allow a home run this year and allowed only eight in 2017.
[Related: Pittsburgh Pirates depth chart]
It could very well prove to be a spot start for Kingham — MLB.com’s Adam Berry suggested as much, on Twitter — though it would seem as though there’s at least one possible starting job that Kingham could eventually seize. The rotation jobs of Ivan Nova, Jameson Taillon, Trevor Williams and Chad Kuhl all seem safe, even with Taillon’s struggles in his past two outings, though southpaw Steven Brault‘s spot is less solidified. In four starts this year, Brault has posted a 5.06 ERA with a 12-to-11 K/BB ratio in 21 1/3 innings. He did open the year with three innings of scoreless relief work, but his overall body of work has not been especially impressive to date.
Regardless of whether Kingham arrives for a day or for the rest of the season, he’ll fall shy of a full year of Major League service time, so the Pirates will be able to control him through at least 2024. It’s worth noting that the 2018 season represents Kingham’s final option year, despite the fact that he’s never pitched in the Majors. The Buccos had to add him to the 40-man roster two offseasons ago in order to protect from being selected in the Rule 5 Draft (which he quite likely would have been). That’ll make it all the more important for Kingham to establish himself, to an extent, in the Majors this season. He’ll be out of options next spring and have to make the Opening Day roster, be exposed to waivers or traded to a team willing to carry him.
Minor MLB Transactions: 4/26/18
Here are Thursday’s minor moves from around the game…
- The Pirates have traded minor league outfielder Todd Cunningham to the White Sox, per a club announcement. John Dreker of PiratesProspects.com first broke news of the trade (via Twitter). The Bucs will receive a player to be named later in return. The 29-year-old Cunningham spent parts of three seasons in the Majors with the Braves (2013, 2015) and Angels (2016) but struggled to a .207/.256/.264 slash through 130 plate appearances. He’s off to a rough start in Triple-A this season but turned in an excellent .284/.404/.414 batting line in 358 plate appearances between the Cardinals’ and Dodgers’ top affiliates in 2017. In all, the 2010 second-round pick is a career .274/.356/.372 hitter in nearly 2200 Triple-A plate appearances.