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Central Notes: Minor, Twins, Wainwright, Pirates

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Royals lefty Mike Minor struck out the side to end the Indians’ winning streak and pick up his first career save over the weekend, and he tells MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan that he’s intrigued by the idea of holding a late-inning relief role moving forward. “I value starting over not knowing when you’re going to pitch,” said Minor, a potential free agent after the season. “But if there’s an opportunity to be an eighth-inning guy or ninth-inning guy, that’d be great.” Minor says that he spoke to Wade Davis about his transition from struggling starter to dominant reliever when the two were teammates last season, and he also pointed to Zach Britton’s similar emergence as one of baseball’s top relief arms. The Royals hold a $10MM mutual option on Minor for the 2018 season, though the 29-year-old’s dominant season could also lead to a return to free agency. In 73 innings, Minor has averaged 10.2 K/9 against 2.6 BB/9 with a 43.4 percent ground-ball rate — all of which has resulted in a 2.71 ERA.

More from the Central divisions…

  • Byron Buxton and Zach Granite were among the Twins players that were disappointed to hear of the team’s firing of minor league skipper Doug Mientkiewicz, writes Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. The longtime Twins first baseman has been managing in Minnesota’s minor league ranks for the past five years and enjoyed his fair share of winning (four playoff appearances), but the team won’t bring him back for a sixth season. “He knows how to bring out the best in players,” Buxton tells Berardino. “He was very fiery. When you did things right, he would let you know, and when you did things wrong, he’d let you know as well — and he’d tell you ways to correct. … He was more of a brother to us.” Granite, the Twins’ minor league player of the year in 2016, credits Mientkiewicz for teaching him ho to drive the ball and taking his game “to the next level.”
  • Injured Cardinals righty Adam Wainwright won’t start again in 2017, but he’ll return to the club as a reliever for the final few weeks, writes Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Wainwright faced teammates Magneuris Sierra, Luke Voit and Alex Mejia in a live batting practice session Sunday morning, per Goold, with manager Mike Matheny catching. Rookie Jack Flaherty will make three more starts this season in what was Wainwright’s rotation spot, though he could be paired with either Wainwright or John Gant in a “piggyback” type of setting, per Goold, where he’d be lifted after four to five innings to help preserve his workload. Interestingly, Goold also notes that Wainwright tried out the changeup grip of young teammate Luke Weaver during his most recent throwing session and will test it out in games over the season’s final weeks.
  • Fangraphs’ Travis Sawchik spoke to Pirates general manager Neal Huntington about the growing presence of Statcast in today’s game and how technology can coexist with teams’ scouting departments. While some see the advent of Statcast as a threat to the scouting community, Huntington — a former advance scout — suggests that the technology could instead be an advantage to scouts. Rather than tracking the minutia of a game — pitch location, batted ball outcomes, etc. — scouts can instead be freed to watch more intangible elements of the game, such as player makeup, baserunning instincts, body language, etc. “It’s one thing to say, ‘The route was efficient, the jump was X, the max speed was Y,'” said Huntington. “It’s another thing to understand defensive instincts. How engaged he away from the ball? Is he a spectator or a participant?”

Injury Notes: Hernandez, Wainwright, Marisnick, Johnson

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As planned, Felix Hernandez will come off the DL to start tonight for the Mariners, according to a club announcement. It’ll be King Felix’s first start for Seattle since July 31st. It’s been a tough year for the righty so far (this was his second stint on the disabled list for issues with his throwing shoulder), but he’ll have a chance to turn things around and keep the Mariners breathing in the AL Wild Card chase.

Some other injury news and updates from around MLB…

  • Cardinals righty Adam Wainwright threw a bullpen session today, according to a tweet from MLB beat reporter Jenifer Langosch. At this point in the season, and with the Cards three games back in a battle for the NL Central pennant, it seems likely that the veteran will pitch out of the bullpen upon his return. Langosch also notes that reliever Seung-hwan Oh threw a bullpen session as well, while Jedd Gyorko and Dexter Fowler took practice on the field.
  • Astros outfielder Jake Marisnick left Wednesday’s game with an apparent thumb injury after sliding into second base in the top of the third inning. Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle offers some thoughts on the unfortunate situation for the AL West-leading Astros, noting that the recently-acquired Cameron Maybin and rookie Derek Fisher are likely to see increases in playing time. The organization hasn’t released details on the severity of the injury, but manager A.J. Hinch offered that, “It doesn’t look good.” For reference, significant thumb injuries — such as fractures or ligament tears — frequently require absences of at least six to eight weeks. More information will likely be available sometime after Marisnick undergoes tests in Houston today.
  • Veteran reliever Jim Johnson of the Atlanta Braves has been diagnosed with achilles tendinitis, David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. He remained in Atlanta while the team traveled to Washington, and Braves manager Brian Snitker says he’s unlikely to pitch this weekend. Johnson is in the first year of a 2-year, $10MM deal with the Braves. It remains to be seen whether he’ll pitch again this season, but its certainly an unfortunate development for Johnson after losing the closer role to Arodys Vizcaino already this season. For Atlanta, the loss of Johnson thins out a bullpen that already has the fifth-highest ERA among all major league teams.

NL Notes: Brewers, Rockies, Lucroy, Cards, Stanton

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A late-season reinforcement is on the way for the Brewers, who will see right-hander Chase Anderson return to their rotation Sunday in Colorado. Rookie left-hander Brandon Woodruff is headed back to Triple-A in a corresponding move. An oblique injury has kept Anderson from the mound since the end of June, before which he turned in 90 1/3 innings of 2.89 ERA ball, with 8.47 K/9 against 2.69 BB/9. The Brewers were two games over .500 at the time of Anderson’s DL placement and are now four above, sitting at 64-60 and two back of the NL Central-leading Cubs. If the 29-year-old Anderson’s breakout continues down the stretch, he could end up as a key figure in a tight division race.

More from the National League:

  • Set to become a free agent in the offseason, Rockies catcher Jonathan Lucroy explained to Adam McCalvy of MLB.com what an ideal situation for him would look like going forward.  “I’m hoping to be somewhere where I can contribute on an everyday basis and help the team win, where I can go out and be depended on to do the job,” Lucroy said. “That’s what I’m looking for. Whether that is here [with the Rockies] or somewhere else, I don’t know what’s going to happen with all that. I do love it here, though. I like it a lot. It’s a great place.” Lucroy, whom the Rockies acquired from the Rangers last month, posted a meager .635 OPS in 306 plate appearances with Texas this year but has hit a much-improved .333/.473/.452 in 51 PAs with his new club. The onetime pitch-framing demigod’s newfound struggles in that department have continued with the Rockies, however, according to Baseball Prospectus.
  • The Cardinals placed righty Adam Wainwright on the DL on Thursday with an elbow impingement, but president John Mozeliak is “optimistic” the former ace will pitch again this season, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes. However, it’s uncertain whether Wainwright will reclaim a spot in the team’s rotation if he does return in 2017. “I think how he’s used will really be dictated by where he’s at,” Mozeliak said. “Prior to his last outing, he indicated to us that the more he threw the better he felt. That would indicate that it would be very difficult to be used in a short-reliever role, then the other relief roles — would he be able to go back-to-back and get hot?” Wainwright received a platement-rich plasma injection Friday and won’t throw for 10 to 14 days. Luke Weaver will slot into St. Louis’ Wainwright-less rotation for the time being.
  • More on the Cardinals, whose refusal to match the Angels’ 10-year, $240MM offer to St. Louis icon Albert Pujols in 2011 is a sign that they won’t pursue a trade for Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton, Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Post-Dispatch reasons. Stanton is a potential trade candidate who’s due $295MM from 2018-28, and that enormous commitment could cause a mid-level payroll team like the Cards to shy away. Indeed, Mozeliak expressed wariness toward Stanton-like contracts to Ortiz, saying: “When evaluating long-term investments you have to understand the impact on the out years and not simply on the day it’s signed. These types of investments tend to have a lot of risk or downside.” Chairman Bill Dewitt Jr. offered a similar sentiment. “As you can see, some of the long-term free agent contracts don’t really work out toward the end,” Dewitt said. “Clubs wish they hadn’t done them. We can afford a payroll that is very competitive and in the top third, which is where our revenues are, and that’s the way we look at it.”

Cardinals Place Adam Wainwright On 10-Day DL

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The Cardinals have placed righty Adam Wainwright on the 10-day DL with an elbow impingement, as MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch reports on Twitter and Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch had previously indicated (Twitter links). He’ll be replaced on the roster by righty Mike Mayers.

It isn’t yet clear just how serious the issue is for the veteran Wainwright, who had exhibited a concerning velocity loss of late. The 35-year-old has battled with some back issues recently, too, though this new problem is perhaps of greater concern. Wainwright has been knocked around while failing to touch 90 mph with his fastball in his past two outings.

For now, the Cards appear set to lean on Luke Weaver in Wainwright’s stead. The impressive young righty makes for quite the insurance policy: he has briefly contributed at the majors in each of the past two seasons while dominating in the upper minors. But that doesn’t mean the loss won’t tell, particularly with Trevor Rosenthal also just going on the DL with elbow troubles of his own. St. Louis will not be able to utilize Weaver in a relief role to help make up for the loss of its closer.

Mayers, 25, has minimal experience at the game’s highest level. He has been rather productive in the upper minors over the last two seasons, though. This year, over 99 frames at Triple-A (including 15 starts and ten relief appearances), Mayers carries a 3.36 ERA with 8.0 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9.

Injury Notes: Lester, Wainwright, Cervelli, Feldman, Tomas

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Jon Lester’s start yesterday lasted just 1 2/3 innings and ended with the Cubs lefty calling for the trainer before exiting with an 8-0 deficit. The Cubs’ initial diagnosis on Lester was tightness in his left lat muscle, though he headed out to see a specialist in Chicago yesterday afternoon. Following that examination, the Cubs are hopeful that Lester will only miss one to two starts, according to Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune. Even a quick absence of that nature could mean a 10-day DL stint for Lester, and Sullivan notes that left-hander Mike Montgomery would step into the rotation in the interim.

A few more notable injury updates from around the league…

  • Adam Wainwright is on his way back to St. Louis to have his arm examined by Cardinals team physicians, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes. Wainwright allowed five runs in three innings yesterday and has been plagued by persistent pain in his elbow when pitching. MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch notes that Wainwright hasn’t reached 90 mph in either of his past two starts and has yielded nine runs on 15 hits and nine walks with just one strikeout in his past 11 innings (Twitter link). Wainwright recently spent a bit more than two weeks on the disabled list due to a back injury.
  • The Pirates announced yesterday that Francisco Cervelli has been placed on the 10-day disabled list (retroactive to Aug. 14) due to inflammation in his left wrist. Infielder Max Moroff is up from Triple-A Indianapolis to take Cervelli’s spot on the roster for now. Catcher Elias Diaz was already with the Pirates due to Cervelli’s lingering wrist pain, and he’ll split time with Chris Stewart behind the plate in Cervelli’s absence. It’s an ill-timed injury for the fading Bucs, who have lost five games in a row and are now 5.5 games out of the division lead.
  • The knee injury that landed Reds righty Scott Feldman on the disabled list last month has resurfaced and could potentially end his season, writes Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Feldman was candid in telling the Cincinnati media, “If it doesn’t get any better, I don’t think I can pitch like that anymore.” Feldman served up five homers to the Cubs in fewer than four innings before exiting yesterday’s game. Feldman’s fastball was sitting at 82 mph in that rocky outing, Buchanan notes, and the veteran acknowledged that he’s “not really feeling too confident” about the outlook of the injury. This isn’t Feldman’s first bout of troubles with his right knee; the right-hander underwent microfracture surgery on that same knee back in 2011 and tore a meniscus in that same knee four years later with the Astros.
  • Diamondbacks outfielder Yasmany Tomas has suffered a second setback in his recovery from a groin injury and is traveling to Philadelphia to meet with a specialist on Monday, per Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. Tomas has been out since June 2 with a groin issue and already had to shut down one rehab assignment when he incurred a new (and more severe) injury in a different area of his groin, Piecoro writes. The 26-year-old Tomas was hitting .241/.291/.464 with eight homers through 180 plate appearances at the time of his injury.

NL Central Notes: Molina, Wainwright, Thames, Cervelli

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The Cardinals are readying to face some potentially tricky decisions with regard to franchise stalwarts Yadier Molina and Adam Wainwright, as Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes. While the organization is hoping for both to finish out their careers in St. Louis, a sentiment the players share, such arrangements are sometimes easier said than done. Extension talks are planned at some point this year with Molina, who remains a highly valuable workhorse behind the dish. The guaranteed portion of his contract ends after the season, with a mutual option looming. As Goold explains, it’s hardly a straightforward matter to reach a new deal; the question of how great a commitment the team wants to make will have to account for not only the valuation of an aging catcher, but also the rise of prospect Carson Kelly. As for Wainwright, who tells Goold he’ll only be interested in single-season contracts when his deal is up (after the 2018 season), there’s more time to see how things progress and less pressure given his position.

Here are a few more notes from the NL Central…

  • Eric Thames will be the latest data point as teams try to project how star-level performance in the Korea Baseball Organization carries over to Major League Baseball, and Fangraphs’ David Laurila spoke to Brewers GM David Stearns about the factors that went into signing Thames. Stearns explained that improved plate discipline despite a vast increase in the number of breaking balls Thames saw in Korea played into the decision, as did a number of analytics processes and statistical projections. “As more players play in the KBO, or any other foreign league, and then come back to the States, projection systems are going to continue to improve,” said the Milwaukee GM. “Clearly, the translation of KBO stats to (MLB) stats isn’t as straightforward as translating a Triple-A environment to a Major League environment, but it still played a role in our evaluation.”
  • MLB.com’s Adam Berry breaks down the value that Pirates catcher Francisco Cervelli brings to the team with his ability to frame pitches. While Cervelli’s lack of pop might make his three-year, $31MM deal look questionable to some, Berry points out that per MLB’s Statcast data, Cervelli rated third in the Majors in total strikes “stolen” for his pitchers in 2015 and, in an injury-shortened 2016 campaign, ranked third once again on a per-pitch basis in that same category. The skill is hardly lost on the Pirates’ young pitchers, several of whom lauded Cervelli’s receiving abilities when speaking to Berry. “He makes every pitch look really good, even your bad pitches,” said Jameson Taillon. “”That’s a big confidence-builder.” 

Pitcher Notes: Wainwright, Gausman, Bauer

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The latest on a trio of MLB pitchers:

  • After missing nearly all of last season with a torn Achilles, longtime Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright’s return hasn’t gone according to plan. In 5 1/3 innings Saturday, Wainwright allowed 10 hits and seven earned runs while striking out just two hitters in a 9-8 loss to the Reds. The 34-year-old walked only one batter – a big improvement over the combined eight free passes he issued in his first two starts – but he now owns an 8.27 ERA in 16 1/3 innings this month. Nevertheless, he expects to break out of his funk. “What I will and can say is I will come out of this, and I will be a very, very good pitcher. I’m just not there right now,” he said, according to Joe Harris of MLB.com. Wainwright will try to right the ship against the offensively challenged Padres next Friday.
  • Orioles righty Kevin Gausman, who’s recovering from tendinitis in his throwing shoulder, tossed 74 pitches in a rehab start for Class-A+ Frederick on Friday and said Saturday that he’s “ready to get going” in Baltimore, per Dave Sessions of MLB.com. “I don’t think there would be anything wrong with getting another [rehab start], but at the same time, I want to pitch for the Orioles,” continued Gausman, who’s on the 15-day DL. “I want to be up here, I don’t want to miss any more starts, that’s the biggest thing. “ Gausman has posted a career 4.27 ERA, 7.48 K/9 and 2.57 BB/9 in 238.1 innings as a starter and will slide back into the rotation when he returns. With Chris Tillman, Ubaldo Jimenez and Yovani Gallardo also in place, either Vance Worley or Mike Wright will be the odd man out of the quintet.
  • The Indians are encouraged by Trevor Bauer’s early season performance as a reliever, president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti told Paul Hoynes of cleveland.com. “I hope he continues to throw like he has in the bullpen,” said Antonetti. “What role that will ultimately morph into either in the bullpen or back in the rotation will depend on what the team needs.” The Indians shifted Bauer to the bullpen prior to the season in favor of Cody Anderson and Josh Tomlin, who beat him out for the last two jobs on the starting staff. Bauer has responded by striking out eight, walking two and allowing a pair of runs in six innings. Both of those runs came on a David Ortiz Opening Day homer, and Bauer has since worked five scoreless innings in a row. The former top prospect threw 329 frames as a starter for the Indians from 2014-15, but his results were uninspiring (4.38 ERA) and he had control problems (3.8 BB/9).

Cardinals Activate Adam Wainwright

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TODAY: The Cardinals have officially activated Wainwright, creating a 40-man roster spot by placing Carlos Martinez on the 60-day DL.

TUESDAY: The Cardinals are set to activate right-hander Adam Wainwright from the 60-day DL, and he will be immediately available to pitch out of the bullpen, reports MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch (via Twitter). Of course, Wainwright will have to wait a bit longer to get into a game, as tonight’s contest between the Cardinals and Pirates has been postponed due to rain. St. Louis will need to make a 40-man roster move in order to accommodate Wainwright’s activation.

Wainwright pitched 25 innings for the Cardinals earlier this season before a ruptured Achilles landed him on the disabled list. The injury was believed to be season-ending in nature, but Wainwright has been on an accelerated rehabilitation program that will see him get healthy just in time for St. Louis’ postseason push.

The addition of Wainwright to the bullpen will be a late boost to a Cardinals team that has also lost pitchers Jordan Walden and Carlos Martinez as well as catcher Yadier Molina, though Molina could potentially return for the playoffs at this point. The Cardinals have yet to officially clinch the division, but they’re the overwhelming favorite to capture the NL Central crown, as they hold a four-game lead with five games to play.

Quick Hits: Redesign, Wainwright, Ausmus, Janish

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As MLB Trade Rumors nears its ten-year anniversary, I’ve decided to update the design for desktop and tablet users.  The changes are mostly aesthetic, but if you’re willing to take five minutes and send us feedback on the new look, I’d love to hear it.  Just drop me a line at mlbtrdata@gmail.com and I’ll send you a link where you can preview our new design.  I hope to roll it out within the next few weeks.  – Tim Dierkes

With that said, here’s some news from around the league…

  • Adam Wainwright’s return to the Cardinals is now pending only a doctor’s approval, writes MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch. Wainwright threw 27 pitches in a simulated game and faced six hitters, allowing a single but then retiring four hitters on strikeouts and a fifth via fly-out. Wainwright said that he felt like himself on the mound and called the session “incredibly uplifting.” Langosch notes that he also fielded grounders and tested his quickness on covering first base without issue. If all goes well, he could be activated not only for the postseason, but for the Cardinals’ upcoming regular-season series against the Pirates.
  • Via MLive.com’s Chris Iott, Tigers manager Brad Ausmus briefly spoke about the team’s decision to bring him back and his expectations for the 2016 season (video link). Ausmus said that after a conversation with GM Al Avila, he knew that reports suggesting he’d be fired didn’t come from him or owner Mike Ilitch. Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN tweets that he spoke to someone close to Ron Gardenhire — a rumored candidate to replace Ausmus — and was told, “Just when you think you got it figured out, it always surprises you.”
  • The latest Q&A conducted by Fangraphs’ David Laurila is an excellent conversation with Orioles infielder Paul Janish — a longtime defensive wizard who has struggled to maintain consistent big league playing time due to his offensive deficiencies. Janish discusses with Laurila the rigors of playing in the minor leagues, the difficulty that being labeled presents (both mentally and in terms of getting future opportunities) and acceptance of his limitations. Janish believes that he can contribute to a big league club for at least another three to four years but admits that finding the right spot is more crucial for a player like him than it is others. I enjoyed Janish’s self-assessment and the insight into the experiences of less established stars that are perennially fighting for roster spots and would encourage all to check out the piece.

NL Central Notes: Counsell, Happ, Marshall, Wainwright

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If newly minted Brewers GM David Stearns elects to keep Craig Counsell in the manager’s role, the two appear to be a very good fit with one another on the surface, writes David Laurila of Fangraphs. Laurila spoke to Counsell recently about how his time working in the Brewers’ front office gave him an appreciation of analytics and how his years working with Doug Melvin have made him receptive to input from the front office. “Part of what working in the office did for me was provide a lot of exposure to the analytics side,” said Counsell. “That was valuable, because every day it plays a part in your decision-making. You’re challenged by what your eyes are telling you, you’re challenged by what the information is telling you, and you strike a balance. That’s managing. … [A] great thing about working in the front office was that it gave me a different perspective. You see the game differently. When you’re in the forest every day, you always don’t see it.” The entire interview is well worth a read, as Counsell offers an insightful, forward-thinking take on the evolving role of a manager and the incorporation of data and analytical information into his job.

A few more notes from the league’s toughest division…

  • In the final minutes leading up to the non-waiver trade deadline, J.A. Happ had heard nothing about a trade, writes MLB.com’s Jack Etkin, leading to a very surprised reaction from the lefty when he learned after the deadline had passed that he’d been dealt to the Pirates in a last-minute swap. Happ’s trade didn’t make too many headlines, but he’s been a vital component to the Pirates’ stretch drive, Etkin notes, pitching to a brilliant 2.28 ERA in nine starts with Pittsburgh. Happ appears to be yet another triumph for vaunted Pirates pitching coach Ray Searage, as his ERA, along with his 10.2 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9 rates, rank as the best work of his career. Happ, however, is just happy to have the opportunity to contribute to a playoff push — a sensation he hasn’t had since 2008-09 with the Phillies. “You come in and kind of realize what this team’s doing and what they’re capable of,” Happ said. “It’s been a lot of fun. It feels good to contribute.”
  • Sean Marshall’s career has been dramatically altered by shoulder surgeries, but the 33-year-old Reds left-hander tells C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer that he still hopes to play beyond the 2015 season. Marshall, who thought the surgery he underwent in May (his second shoulder operation) could be career-ending, now hopes to pitch for the Reds before the season comes to a close. He’s dropped his arm angle about four to six inches, he estimates. “I want to keep playing,” Marshall tells Rosecrans. “I’m not ready to hang ’em up yet. I still feel great.”
  • Adam Wainwright threw 25 pitches to teammates yesterday, reports Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. However, the injured Cardinals ace, who hopes to return for the postseason as a reliever, said he still feels “a hair off,” even though he considers his pitches to be “game-ready.” The next step for Wainwright is a simulated game without a screen (he threw from behind a screen Wednesday) so that he can field his position. Manager Mike Matheny wouldn’t offer any definitive take on whether or not Wainwright would pitch in the playoffs, stating that the decision would come down to what’s best for the team. He did, however, note that he’s a firm believer that, come the postseason, experience is an important factor.

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