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Nationals Activate Adam Eaton, Release Rafael Bautista

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The Nationals have activated outfielder Adam Eaton from the 60-day disabled list, per a team announcement. In corresponding moves, the Nationals released outfielder Rafael Bautista and optioned right-hander Wander Suero to Triple-A.

Eaton hasn’t played since April 8 because of a right ankle issue, one which required surgery in early May, thus continuing an injury-plagued tenure in Washington for the 29-year-old. Since the Nationals acquired Eaton from the White Sox in a December 2016 blockbuster, he has played in just 31 of a possible 223 regular-season games. Eaton missed all but 23 games last season after tearing both his left ACL and meniscus at the end of April.

When Eaton has been healthy enough to take the field for the Nationals, he has continued to post the type of strong production he offered in Chicago from 2014-16. Across 140 plate appearances since last year, the lefty-swinger has slashed .308/.400/.508 with four home runs and nearly as many walks (17) as strikeouts (20). He’ll now rejoin a crowded outfield in D.C. that also consists of right fielder Bryce Harper, stunningly great 19-year-old left fielder Juan Soto, center fielder Michael Taylor and reserve Brian Goodwin.

It’s unclear how the Nats will divvy up playing time among their outfielders, though Soto and Taylor do have minor league options remaining. Soto has perhaps been too effective to demote, however, having batted .339/.431/.571 with three homers, nine walks and 10 strikeouts in the first 65 PAs of his career.

Bautista, 25, had been occupying a spot on Washington’s 40-man roster, but a serious knee injury derailed his season and, barring a re-signing, his career with the franchise. He tore the ACL, LCL and meniscus in his left knee while playing with Triple-A Syracuse three weeks ago. Bautista had been a quality prospect before then, though, as Baseball America (15th), FanGraphs (16th) and MLB.com (19th) each placed him among the Nationals’ top 20 farmhands in recent months.

Injury Notes: Donaldson, Nats, F. Vazquez, Reddick, Royals

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Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson departed their game Monday with left calf tightness, the team announced. Jays doctors are currently evaluating Donaldson, who missed time last season with a right calf strain and was on the shelf earlier this year on account of a shoulder issue. With a playoff berth looking unlikely for Toronto and Donaldson being a free agent at season’s end, he could be a prime trade chip in the coming months. But neither the 32-year-old’s recent injury troubles nor his surprisingly mediocre production (.243/.333/.423 in 159 plate appearances) are helping his stock at the moment. Trade speculation aside, if Donaldson does head back to the DL, calls for the Jays to promote 19-year-old super prospect Vladimir Guerrero Jr. figure to grow even louder. [Update: Donaldson suggested to Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com and other reporters that he’s not dealing with a serious injury.]

More on injury situations around the game…

  • Asked Monday when Nationals second baseman Daniel Murphy could make his season debut, manager Davey Martinez said, “I’m hoping it’ll be fairly soon” (via Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com). The Nats will make sure running isn’t an issue for Murphy before activating him, given that the three-time All-Star underwent right knee surgery in the offseason. Just as Murphy’s progressing, so are fellow banged-up Nationals Adam Eaton and Ryan Zimmerman. Both players took batting practice with their teammates Monday, Zuckerman relays. Eaton, who hasn’t played since April 8, is recovering from left ankle surgery. Zimmerman has been out since May 9 with a back injury, and his absence opened the door for veteran first baseman Mark Reynolds’ promotion to Washington. Reynolds has taken advantage of the opportunity, having slashed an otherworldly .406/.457/.906 with five home runs in just 35 plate appearances.
  • There was fear on Sunday that Pirates closer Felipe Vazquez suffered a serious forearm injury, but it seems he dodged a significant blow. Vazquez told Liz Bloom of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and other reporters Monday that he’s doing fine, adding that he expects to be available again Tuesday. “I felt like a little pop, but it was not — it looked worse than it really happened,” he said.
  • Astros outfielder Josh Reddick is eligible to come off the DL on Friday, but that’s not going to happen, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com writes. Reddick, who’s battling a skin infection above his left knee, hasn’t resumed baseball activities and may need to embark on a rehab assignment before he returns, according to manager A.J. Hinch.
  • Royals left-hander Eric Skoglund has a Grade 1 UCL strain and “will be out a while,” Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com tweets. Skoglund, 25, had been a fixture in KC’s rotation prior to the injury, though he struggled to a 6.70 ERA during that nine-start, 49 2/3-inning span.

Injury Notes: Kendrick, Bumgarner, Mauer, Moore, Souza, Cuthbert

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Things got even worse for the Nationals today; Howie Kendrick appeared to sustain a serious injury while chasing down a Max Muncy fly ball. Kendrick was carted off the field, and was seen pointing to his ankle area. Jamal Collier of MLB.com reports that he’s off to get an MRI. The Nationals are already dealing with injuries to a number of other key players, including Ryan Zimmerman, Adam Eaton, Matt Wieters and Brian Goodwin, and can ill afford to lose another player from their outfield for an extended period of time. They’ll likely be anxious as they await further news on Kendrick.

More injury news from around MLB today…

  • Giants lefty Madison Bumgarner considers his fractured left hand to be “95% or more” healed, according to a tweet from MLB.com’s Chris Haft. He’s on track to throw live batting practice on Tuesday and begin a rehab assignment on Saturday. Meanwhile, Haft says, Johnny Cueto will head to the club’s rehab facility in Arizona. The Giants will hope for the best-case scenarios as far as the timetables of these two players; their depleted rotation is a chief factor in the club’s sub-.500 record on the season.
  • Joe Mauer is headed to the Twins’ DL with concussion symptoms once again, according to LaVelle E. Neal of the Star Tribute. He reportedly did well in regards to concussion tests last night, but is apparently experiencing some sensitivity to light along with some balance issues. Mauer, who has dealt with concussion issues in years past, is walking at a 16.8% clip so far this season en route to a .404 OBP. According to chief baseball officer Derek Falvey (via MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger), the club is “not saying at this time that Joe has a concussion.”
  • The Rangers have placed lefty Matt Moore on the 10-day disabled list with what the club is calling right knee soreness. The move will make room for fellow righty Ariel Jurado, who will make the jump from Double-A to debut in the majors tonight. Jurado has a 2.57 ERA in 35 minor league innings this year, but with a 5.31 FIP that strongly disagrees with those results. He posted a 4.59 ERA at Double-A last season, with 5.45 K/9.
  • Diamondbacks outfielder Steven Souza will avoid the DL for the time being, says Zach Buchanan of The Athletic. A key offseason acquisition by the Dbacks, Souza has already spent the bulk of the season on the DL after suffering a pectoral strain upon diving for a ball in the outfield. Fortunately, it seems as though some minor pec soreness will not require a second DL stint for the time being.
  • The Royals have placed Cheslor Cuthbert on the 10-day DL with a lower back strain, recalling fellow infielder Ramon Torres from Triple-A Omaha in a corresponding move. Cuthbert is a career .252/.308/.383 hitter, and is performing especially poorly this season, as evidenced by his -0.5 fWAR for 2018. However, Torres seems unlikely to provide any significant upgrade; he’s hitting just .229/.280/.307 at the Triple-A level so far this season.

Adam Eaton Targeting Return In Six Weeks

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Though last week’s unexpected ankle surgery for Nationals outfielder Adam Eaton created a potential long-term issue for the Nats to navigate, the outfielder explained to reporters today that he believes he can return from the disabled list in six weeks’ time (Twitter link via Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com). Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post adds that the cast is coming off Eaton’s ankle today (Twitter links). She also notes that Eaton revealed he dislocated and did additional damage to his ankle last year on the same play in which he suffered a season-ending ACL tear.

A return in six weeks would still allow Eaton to play a bit more than half the season for the Nats, which is no small boost to the team’s aspirations of capturing yet another division title in the NL East. While Eaton has been limited to just 31 games since being acquired by the Nationals in a 2016 Winter Meetings blockbuster with the White Sox, he’s been terrific when healthy enough to take the field. In 140 plate appearances, he’s batted .308/.400/.508 with four homers, 10 doubles and a triple.

The fact that Eaton is set to return in a relatively short window likely rules out any possibility of the Nationals taking to the trade market to pursue an upgrade. Once Eaton is able to return to the Nats, they’ll be able to trot out a strong outfield of Michael A. Taylor, Eaton and Bryce Harper, with Brian Goodwin, Howie Kendrick and Matt Adams on hand as reserve options. For the time being, Taylor should continue to hold down the center field gig, with Adams and Kendrick platooning in left field.

Should additional injuries arise or should Eaton incur a setback in his recovery, the Nats also have top prospect Victor Robles waiting in the wings in Triple-A, though he’s been on the shelf himself due to a hyperextended elbow. Top prospect Juan Soto is rapidly ascending through the minor league ranks, though he only just reached Double-A and isn’t likely to be considered a candidate for a promotion anytime soon, despite his otherworldly production early in the 2018 campaign.

Nationals Place Matt Wieters On DL, Select Contract Of Spencer Kieboom

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As expected, the Nationals have placed catcher Matt Wieters on the 10-day DL with a hamstring strain. He’ll be replaced on the active roster by backstop Spencer Kieboom, as the Talk Nats blog first reported on Twitter.

While Kieboom was previously on the Nats’ 40-man, he was bumped off the roster last spring. The Nats have selected his contract again to facilitate his move back to the active roster.

Clearing a 40-man spot wasn’t a challenge with so many injured players susceptible of moving to the 60-day DL. The Nationals made that move with outfielder Adam Eaton, who recently underwent ankle surgery and is expected to be out of commission for quite some time. Since he has been out since early April anyway, his timeline will not be impacted. (D.C. fans looking for a silver lining will note that this decision leaves Daniel Murphy eligible to return before the end of May, though it’s still not clear he’ll be ready by that point.)

At this point, it’s still unclear just what sort of absence the Nats ought to expect from Wieters. The injury has been announced as being to his hamstring, but there was some concern his knee may have incurred damage. It is not known at this point whether the joint is still an area of concern.

The 27-year-old Kieboom, who’s the older brother of Nats prospect Carter Kieboom, drew a walk in his lone prior MLB plate appearance. He has not hit all that much in the upper minors — his .250/.337/.333 slash thus far in 2018 is representative — but does possess solid plate discipline and contact skills (lifetime 8.4% walk rate and 19.2% strikeout rate). Kieboom has long been regarded as a quality defender, too, so he’s a suitable option at least for fill-in duty.

Whether or not Wieters is shelved for a significant time, the Nationals’ questions behind the dish are only getting more pressing. The club is now facing some firm challenges from within the NL East while dealing with the absences of Murphy and Eaton. Though both Wieters and now-starter Pedro Severino have produced at approximately league average offensively to this point of the season, there’s reason in both cases to suspect the output will lag over the course of the season. While the team will surely also be looking for pitching depth at the deadline, the situation behind the plate stands out as being the other area of the roster ripest for upgrade. That’s all the more true since Wieters is set to depart after the current season, meaning the Nats still need to find a near and long-term solution.

Adam Eaton Undergoes Ankle Surgery

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Nationals center fielder Adam Eaton underwent arthroscopic surgery on his injured left ankle today, reports Jack Magruder of FanRag Sports (Twitter link). Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post had reported yesterday that Eaton was visiting a specialist in Wisconsin, and that evaluation revealed a “cartilage problem” that necessitated the operation, per Magruder. Eaton remains in a walking boot, and there is not presently a timetable for his return, per Magruder.

More specifically, Janes adds (via Twitter) that three different doctors were unable to see the source of pain in Eaton’s ankle on either MRIs or bone scans, but the scope revealed a tear in his chondral flap, explaining the pain he’d been experiencing. MASNsports.com’s Dan Kolko tweets that Eaton’s ankle will be immobilized for a week, but a return this season is still “in play.”

The ankle procedure is yet another roadblock in Eaton’s short career with the Nationals since being traded over from the White Sox during the 2016 Winter Meetings. The fleet-footed outfielder missed the majority of the 2017 campaign when he tore the ACL in his left knee early last year, and he played in just eight games with the Nats in 2018 before injuring his ankle on a foot-first slide.

When healthy, Eaton has been nothing short of brilliant for the Nats, hitting .308/.400/.508 in 140 trips to the plate, but he’s unfortunately been able to suit up only 31 times for the organization. Of course, the very reason that the Nationals were willing to part with three highly touted pitching prospects — Reynaldo Lopez, Lucas Giolito and Dane Dunning — in order to acquire Eaton was that he was controlled so affordably and for such a long time. They’ll still have plenty of time to reap value from their investment in the 29-year-old, as he’s locked up through the 2021 season at a total of $34.4MM (with the final $20MM of that sum coming in the form of two club options for 2020-21).

[Related: Washington Nationals depth chart]

With Eaton now sidelined for the foreseeable future, the Nats will continue to utilize Michael A. Taylor in center field, with Bryce Harper in his customary right field. Left field has been manned by a platoon of hot-hitting Matt Adams and Howie Kendrick of late, though the Nats also have Andrew Stevenson and Moises Sierra on the big league roster as outfield options at present, with Rafael Bautista in Triple-A as another 40-man option. Top prospect Victor Robles is also on the 40-man roster, but he’s nursing an elbow injury at the moment, and the Nats don’t want to recall him unless he’s able to receive everyday at-bats.

East Notes: Betts, Eaton, Phillies, Clippard

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Mookie Betts tells WEEI’s Rob Bradford that nothing has changed on his end regarding a potential extension with the Red Sox, as the 25-year-old still has no intention of discussing a long-term deal during the season. Controlled for just two years beyond the current campaign, Betts’ increasing proximity to free agency and his continually elevated level of play have priced a theoretical extension out of bargain territory and into a massive financial undertaking, as Bradford examines. Certainly, that’s the case with any young star as he navigates through the arbitration process, but Betts already has one record arbitration payday in his back pocket, and he’s turning in the best season of his young career thus far. The $30MM annual rate that Jose Altuve secured on his recent extension with the Astros seems like an increasingly relevant comp, if not a baseline, Bradford posits in highlighting the difficulties that the Sox could face in locking up their brightest young star.

More from the game’s Eastern divisions…

  • Adam Eaton’s ankle injury doesn’t appear to be healing as well as the Nationals’ might’ve hoped, as Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post reports that Eaton is traveling to Wisconsin to be evaluated by a specialist. He’ll meet with orthopedic surgeon Robert Anderson, currently on the Green Bay Packers’ medical staff but also a renowned surgeon who has worked with high-profile athletes ranging from Steph Curry to Cam Newton to Derek Jeter. Eaton has been on the disabled list for nearly a month after suffering an ankle injury on a slide early in the 2018 season.
  • The Phillies announced tonight that they’ve activated right-hander Ben Lively from the 10-day disabled list and optioned him to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. The 26-year-old Lively opened the season in Philadelphia’s rotation but struggled to a 6.85 ERA in 23 2/3 innings before landing on the disabled list with a back strain. In his absence, fellow righty Zach Eflin stepped into the rotation and has been outstanding in two starts, yielding a run on seven hits and three walks with 13 strikeouts in 12 2/3 innings. He’ll remain in the rotation over Lively for now, and as MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki noted yesterday, a continued hot streak from Eflin could force the Phils to make some tough decisions. GM Matt Klentak has already stated that Jerad Eickhoff will be in the rotation when he returns from the DL later this month, thus pitting Eflin against righties Vince Velasquez and Nick Pivetta for the final two rotation spots behind Aaron Nola and Jake Arrieta. Of course, things can change quickly in the coming weeks, either with a downturn in Eflin’s performance or another injury elsewhere on the roster.
  • With Roberto Osuna on administrative leave and under league investigation, the Blue Jays turned to Tyler Clippard with their first save opportunity. Jays manager John Gibbons deployed setup men Seung Hwan Oh, John Axford and Ryan Tepera in the middle innings on Wednesday evening with his team trailing before handing the ninth inning over to Clippard, who worked a scoreless inning with a pair of strikeouts. While Wednesday’s sequence of events doesn’t necessarily anoint Clippard the closer during Osuna’s absence, it does at least suggest that he’s the early favorite for the role. Signed to a minor league deal this March, Clippard has given the Jays 19 1/3 innings of 1.40 ERA ball with 10.2 K/9, 4.2 BB/9 and 1.4 HR/9. He’s running up a staggeringly low 18.6 percent ground-ball rate, however, which could well be a portent for further homer troubles down the line. As a reminder for fantasy players, you can track ninth-inning situations throughout the game by following MLBTR’s @CloserNews account on Twitter and by utilizing Jason Martinez’s closer depth chart over at Roster Resource.

Injury Notes: Teheran, Buchter, Giants, Donaldson, Schoop, Nats

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Braves righty Julio Teheran left his outing today with what the team is calling “right upper trap tightness.” He had shown a concerning velocity drop before departing, as David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets. The 27-year-old Teheran entered the day with a 4.00 ERA in his 27 innings, while carrying a career-best 12.8% swinging-strike rate, but gave up three earned in his three frames. It seems generally promising that there’s a muscular explanation for Teheran’s sudden loss of velo, though of course that does not necessarily mean he’s out of the woods and we’ll have to await further word.

Here’s the latest on some other health situations around the league:

  • The Athletics have placed southpaw Ryan Buchter on the DL, per a club announcement. He’ll be replaced on the active roster by Danny Coulombe. At this point, the team plans to shut Buchter down for at least ten days and possibly longer, as MLB.com’s Jane Lee tweets. The 31-year-old southpaw, who was acquired over the offseason, has been quite good thus far for the A’s. He’s carrying a 1.69 ERA with 9.3 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 over 10 2/3 innings.
  • While the Giants will hold off on putting Mac Williamson on the DL, he’s in the concussion protocol at present, as manager Bruce Bochy informed reporters including Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group (Twitter link). In the meantime, the organization has brought fellow outfielder Austin Slater onto the active roster, creating space by sending reliever Josh Osich to the 10-day DL. It’s unclear at this point how long Slater will have in the majors, but he’ll surely be hoping to follow the same track as Williamson, who kept on raking after receiving a promotion. Slater owns a .358/.435/.642 slash with just six strikeouts in his 62 plate appearances on the year at Triple-A.
  • Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson is beginning his rehab assignment tomorrow, as the team announced. He’ll open as a DH as he eases back into action, though the real test will come when he puts his throwing back on display at game speed. There’s similarly good news for the division-rival Orioles, who expect to send second baseman Jonathan Schoop on a brief rehab assignment next week, as Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com tweets. He has been out for two weeks with an oblique strain.
  • The Nationals, who are still waiting for a trio of important players, gave some updates today. (Links to the Twitter feed of Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com.) Third baseman Anthony Rendon is reasonably close and is expected to return in relatively short order after a brief stint on the shelf. It’s not quite as rosy for outfielder Adam Eaton, who has seemingly had some ups and downs in rehabbing his ankle issues, but — GM Mike Rizzo emphasized — also has not experienced any setbacks. As for second baseman Daniel Murphy, who has yet to play at all following offseason knee surgery, there’s still no timeline for a return.
  • A number of other players are already coming off of the DL. The Reds have activated righty David Hernandez and the Mariners have brought back first baseman Ryon Healy. Both were relatively significant offseason acquisitions for their organizations. Meanwhile, the Rays activated infielder Matt Duffy and the Rangers did the same with righty Tony Barnette.

Nationals Place Adam Eaton On 10-Day DL

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The Nationals have placed outfielder Adam Eaton on the 10-day DL, as Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post reported was likely to occur. Eaton will be replaced by outfielder Moises Sierra, whose promotion required some other roster machinations.

Eaton is not dealing with any new problems in his surgically-repaired left knee, but rather has been diagnosed with a bone bruise in his left ankle. That joint was also damaged last year, though it seems the new problem is not expected to pose any major new obstacles. Just how long he’ll be out remains to be seen and will likely be dictated both by how he responds to treatment and by how the roster shakes out in the meantime.

While it unquestionably hurts the Nats to see Eaton go back on the shelf, the veteran noted there are some silver linings here. “[W]e’re really going to concentrate on strength and the process of getting it better,” he said of his left leg. “And get my quad correct and everything. And work on things we kind of ran out of time in spring training so this might be a little blessing in disguise.”

As for Sierra, the 29-year-old hasn’t tasted the majors since back in 2014. But he has performed well since joining the Nationals on a minors deal, turning in a strong spring performance and opening the season well at Triple-A. In all likelihood, Brian Goodwin will take the bulk of the time in left, with Sierra supplementing him as needed. The club could have turned to Andrew Stevenson, who is already on the 40-man, but he has scuffled early at Syracuse after a reasonably promising spring.

Of course, the open spot might have gone to top prospect Victor Robles, who could well have commanded a MLB job to open the season had it not been for the full mix of outfielders already ahead of him. But Robles left a recent game after a cringe-inducing effort at a diving catch.

Fortunately, x-rays on Robles’s arm were negative, as Castillo reports (Twitter links). He has only been diagnosed to this point with a hyperextended elbow, though ligament or other damage has yet to be ruled out since a complete examination will not be possible until the swelling in the joint has subsided. The Nats organization, which no doubt views the much-hyped Robles as an excellent insurance policy and potential mid-season roster addition, is undoubtedly hoping that he has escaped a significant injury.

NL Notes: Reds, Nats, Brewers, Braves, Cubs

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Injuries continue to plague Reds right-hander Anthony DeSclafani, who’s now dealing with an oblique issue, C. Trent Rosecrans was among those to report (Twitter links). There’s no timetable for DeSclafani’s return, per Rosecrans, who adds that he “felt discomfort” during his start Friday and then underwent an MRI. DeSclafani previously missed two months during the 2016 campaign with an oblique injury, and then sat out all of last season with a sprained ulnar collateral ligament, depriving the Reds of one of their top players. When he was available from 2014-15, DeSclafani logged a 3.74 ERA/3.79 FIP with 7.48 K/9 and 2.48 BB/9 across 308 innings.

More from the National League…

  • Nationals left fielder Adam Eaton is “very close” to participating in major league spring training games, manager Dave Martinez told Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post and other reporters Sunday (Twitter link). Eaton, who’s coming back from the torn left ACL he suffered last April, has been playing in minor league games recently. The Nationals expect him to be ready for Opening Day, Jamal Collier of MLB.com relays.
  • The Brewers don’t plan to name a starting second baseman by the beginning of the season, manager Craig Counsell said Sunday (Twitter link via Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel). Rather, the hope is that someone from the Jonathan Villar–Eric Sogard–Hernan Perez trio will stand out during the season, Haudricourt suggests. Notably, second baseman Neil Walker remains on the open market after performing well as a Brewer during the second half of 2017, and he’s arguably a better option than anyone they have now. However, the Brewers don’t seem to be interested in a reunion with the 32-year-old.
  • Braves left-hander Luiz Gohara’s sprained ankle is likely to keep him out until May, if not later, David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes. Manager Brian Snitker acknowledged that ““it’s going to be a while” for Gohara because he’ll essentially have to restart spring training from scratch when he’s well enough to return. A healthy Gohara may have opened the year in the Braves’ rotation, but his injury woes could lead to veteran lefty Scott Kazmir claiming a spot, O’Brien notes. A hip injury prevented Kazmir from pitching in the majors in 2017, his final year with the Dodgers.
  • The Cubs renewed second baseman/outfielder Ian Happ’s 2018 salary for $570K on Sunday, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago-Tribune tweets. It’s a noteworthy development because it’s the first time the Cubs weren’t able to reach an agreement on a salary with a pre-arb player since president Theo Epstein took the reins in 2011. Nevertheless, there are “zero hard feelings” between the Cubs and Happ, general manager Jed Hoyer said. Happ, 23, debuted in the bigs in 2017 and slashed .253/.328/.514 with 24 home runs across 413 plate appearances.

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