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NL Notes: Jeffress, Nationals, Varsho, Howard

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The Nationals’ release of Jeremy Jeffress yesterday carried some mystery, both because it came so early in Spring Training (and within three weeks of Jeffress signing with the Nats) and because GM Mike Rizzo used the odd phrasing of describing the release as due to “personnel reasons.”  Rizzo didn’t provide much further clarification in speaking with Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com and other reporters today, apart from saying that Jeffress’ release was “an employment issue” and not related to on-field performance.

Jeffress himself has weighed in, texting Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post to say that the Nationals’ given reason for releasing him was “not true,” without specifying what the club said.  The veteran reliever also wrote a pair of tweets yesterday, one stating “I’m not what they say I am, I’m what God says! I don’t deserve this false negativity!” and another since-deleted tweet saying that his former agent “jus ruined my life.”  It remains to be seen if the reason behind Jeffress’ release will ever fully come to light, but if nothing else, this uncertain situation would seem to hamper Jeffress’ chances of catching on with another team.

More from the National League…

  • “Catcher/center fielder” isn’t exactly a common defensive skillset, and while Daulton Varsho saw more time in the outfield than he did behind the plate in his rookie season, the Diamondbacks are clear about their top prospect’s future role.  “We see him as a catcher who can play other positions, not as a center fielder who can catch,” Arizona assistant general manager Amiel Sawdaye told The Athletic’s Zach Buchanan.  Varsho is happy to play wherever, and the outfield might be his clearest path to more MLB playing time in 2021, considering the D’Backs have Carson Kelly and Stephen Vogt as their regular catching duo.  The team doesn’t want to take too much time away from Varsho’s development as a catcher, however, given the amount of specialized work that goes into learning the position at the big-league level.
  • The Phillies also face a question about how to deploy a top prospect, as Spencer Howard has never thrown more than 112 innings in any of his four pro seasons.  As Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes, the Phils could start Howard in the minors since rotation space could be hard to find, or they could manage his innings throughout the season in a relief role on the MLB roster.  The latter option would leave the door open to Howard eventually making some starts in 2021, though it would require the Phillies to also keep Howard stretched out in something of a swingman role so he could more easily shift into working as a starting pitcher.  A second-round pick for the Phillies in the 2017 draft, Howard’s minor league climb was slowed by some shoulder problems in 2019, and he has yet to pitch at Triple-A ball.  Philadelphia promoted Howard to the majors last summer after watching him at the alternate training site, and Howard posted a 5.92 ERA over 24 1/3 innings and six starts.

Injury Notes: K. Calhoun, Lugo, Wick, Pearson

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The latest injury updates from around the majors…

  • Diamondbacks outfielder Kole Calhoun underwent surgery on a torn right meniscus Wednesday, but he expects to recover on the shorter end of the four- to six-week timetable, Steve Gilbert of MLB.com relays. Either way, it doesn’t appear the Diamondbacks will go too long in the regular season without Calhoun, who was one of their most productive players in 2020. The former Angel batted .226/.338/.526 in 228 plate appearances and led the team in home runs (16) and fWAR (1.8.).
  • Mets reliever Seth Lugo said Thursday that he is “on track” in his recovery from mid-February surgery on bone spurs in his right elbow, per Ken Davidoff of the New York Post. Lugo, however, did not offer a timetable for his return from the procedure; it was reported then that Lugo would need at least six weeks to begin throwing again, making it likely he’ll miss the beginning of the season. Lugo has been tremendous out of the Mets’ bullpen since 2018, though his numbers dipped when the club experimented with him in a starting role last year.
  • Cubs righty Rowan Wick, who’s recovering from an intercostal strain, is unlikely to be ready for Opening Day, Russell Dorsey of the Chicago Sun-Times tweets. Wick has been working back from the injury since last season, when he didn’t pitch past Sept. 16. That cut off a second consecutive solid year for Wick, who has managed a 2.66 ERA/4.02 SIERA with an above-average 25.7 percent strikeout rate in 50 2/3 innings out of the Cubs’ bullpen dating back to 2019.
  • Blue Jays hurler Nate Pearson has a Grade 1 right groin strain, but the team is hoping he’ll return “pretty quickly,” according to general manager Ross Atkins (via Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet). The touted right-hander, 24, figures to make a good amount of starts for the Blue Jays this year if he’s healthy. Pearson debuted in 2020, but elbow issues limited him to 18 innings and five appearances (four starts), in which he pitched to a 6.00 ERA/5.95 SIERA.
  • Padres righty Javy Guerra will miss “at least” two to four weeks because of a Grade 1 UCL sprain, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com writes. Guerra (not to be confused with the Nationals’ reliever of the same name) is a former infielder who moved to the mound and threw 22 innings out of the Padres’ bullpen from 2019-20, but he has struggled to an 8.18 ERA thus far in his major league career. The 25-year-old is out of minor league options, so it’s up in the air whether he’ll still be part of the San Diego organization when the season starts.

Diamondbacks Sign Anthony Swarzak

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The Diamondbacks have signed veteran right-hander Anthony Swarzak and added him to Major League camp as a non-roster invitee, per a club announcement. The Jet Sports client worked out for clubs back in January after he didn’t pitch with an organization during the 2020 season. (He was with the Phillies on a non-roster deal but was cut loose at the end of summer camp.)

It’s been a few years since Swarzak, 35, enjoyed a full, healthy season at the big league level. He inked a two-year, $14MM deal with the Mets prior to the 2018 season — a move that proved regrettable when shoulder and oblique issues derailed much of his 2018 season. The Mets included him in the Robinson Cano/Edwin Diaz/Jarred Kelenic blockbuster, primarily as a financial counterweight. He was traded to the Braves early in the year and went on to pitch reasonably well with Atlanta, though he again spent time on the IL that summer due to shoulder problems.

Back in 2017, Swarzak thrived in a career year split between the White Sox and Brewers. Through 77 1/3 innings, the righty worked to a 2.33 ERA with a terrific 30 percent strikeout rate against a strong 7.3 percent walk rate.

It’d be a stretch to expect that level of dominance at 35 years old and after a year of not pitching, but since returning from a KBO stint in 2015, Swarzak has tallied 201 1/3 innings of 3.98 ERA ball with peripherals that generally match that output. He’ll give the D-backs some depth in the bullpen and, given the unsettled nature of their relief corps, ought to have a chance at winning a spot on the Opening Day roster. Arizona has shored up the bullpen a bit over the past month, signing Joakim Soria and Tyler Clippard, but there are still multiple spots up for grabs.

Diamondbacks To Sign Heath Fillmyer

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The Diamondbacks are signing Heath Fillmyer to a minor league contract, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN (Twitter link). The right-hander spent last season at the Royals’ alternate training site.

Selected by the Athletics in the fifth round of the 2014 draft, Fillmyer was traded to Kansas City in January 2018 as part of the deal that sent Ryan Buchter to Oakland. He made his MLB debut that summer and picked up 17 appearances (13 starts) down the stretch. He posted a 4.26 ERA but punched out a below-average 16.6% of opposing hitters. Fillmyer was hit hard over 22.1 innings in 2019 and wound up losing his spot on the Royals’ 40-man roster following that season. While he was part of Kansas City’s 60-man player pool last year, the 26-year-old didn’t return to the majors.

Fillmyer has managed a 5.07 ERA/5.10 SIERA over 104.2 MLB innings. He has struggled to miss bats (career 15.9% strikeout percentage) but he’s induced ground balls at a decent clip (45.3%) and avoided walks at a near-average rate (9.7%). Fillmyer posted quality numbers up through Double-A and gives the D-Backs a depth option capable of either starting or working multiple innings in relief.

COVID Notes: Locastro, Happ

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The latest regarding the coronavirus:

  • Diamondbacks outfielder Tim Locastro tested positive for COVID-19, manager Torey Lovullo told reporters (including Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic). Fortunately, Locastro is asymptomatic (per Piecoro), but he’ll still be out of action for at least the next ten days. The speedster rather quietly hit at a .290/.395/.460 clip with a pair of home runs over 82 plate appearances last season.
  • J.A. Happ reported to Twins camp yesterday after being sidelined nearly two weeks by a positive coronavirus test, notes Dan Hayes of the Athletic. The veteran southpaw expressed optimism he’ll build up strength in time to make his first scheduled start of the regular season, although he acknowledged his workload might be checked a bit early on. Happ experienced mild virus symptoms and still has yet to completely regain his sense of smell or taste, per Hayes.

Kole Calhoun To Undergo Knee Surgery

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5:20pm: Calhoun has a torn meniscus, Steve Gilbert of MLB.com tweets.

5:07pm: Diamondbacks outfielder Kole Calhoun will undergo right knee surgery Wednesday, manager Torey Lovullo told Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic and other reporters. Lovullo was unable to offer any details on the procedure.

While it’s unknown how much time he will miss, it at least seems likely that Calhoun will sit out the start of the regular season, which is less than. a month away. That’s unwelcome news for Arizona, as Calhoun was one of its few bright spots during a disappointing 2020. After signing a two-year, $16MM guarantee in free agency, the longtime Angel slashed .226/.338/.526 (125 wRC+) with 16 home runs and a career-high .300 isolated power number in 228 plate appearances. Calhoun also continued his good work in right field, where he recorded a 5.3 Ultimate Zone Rating.

Considering he isn’t signed beyond this season, Calhoun’s entering a pivotal year. If he’s able to rebound quickly and perform even close to as well as he did last year, Calhoun could convince the Diamondbacks to exercise his $9MM option for 2022 instead of buying him out for $2MM. Regardless, it appears the Diamondbacks are going to have to at least temporarily pencil in someone else in right, where Josh VanMeter, Daulton Varsho, Pavin Smith, Josh Rojas and Stuart Fairchild could be in-house possibilities who are on the team’s 40-man roster. Otherwise, Arizona may consider free agency, waivers or a trade.

Minor MLB Transactions: 3/1/21

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Catching up on the latest minor league transactions…

Newest Moves

  • The Yankees announced that they’ve outrighted outfielder Greg Allen to Triple-A. Allen, whom the Yankees designated last week, will remain in MLB camp. The Yankees acquired Allen from San Diego in January, but he lost his roster spot when the team signed reliever Justin Wilson. Allen, 27, has batted .239/.298/.343 with eight home runs and 32 stolen bases in 618 plate appearances between the Indians and Padres.

Earlier Today

  • The Diamondbacks announced that right-hander Keury Mella has been outrighted to Triple-A, and assigned to the team’s Major League spring camp.  Mella was designated for assignment earlier this week.  The righty has been action in each of the last four MLB seasons, though only for 19 games and 27 innings with the Reds and D’Backs.  After signing a minor league deal with Arizona last winter, Mella had a 1.80 ERA over 10 frames of work, with an even 10 strikeouts against three walks.
  • The Red Sox outrighted Marcus Walden to Triple-A after the right-hander cleared waivers, and Walden is remaining in Boston’s big league spring camp.  Walden was designated for assignment last week to create a roster spot for the newly-acquired Marwin Gonzalez.  A veteran of three MLB seasons and 106 innings in the Show, much of Walden’s experience (78 innings over 70 games) came during a workhorse of a 2019 season, as he posted a 3.81 ERA and 23.24K% out of the Red Sox bullpen.  Walden struggled badly last year, however, with a 9.45 ERA over 13 1/3 innings and almost as many walks (nine) as strikeouts (10).

Blue Jays Acquire Travis Bergen From Diamondbacks

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The Blue Jays are acquiring left-handed reliever Travis Bergen from the Diamondbacks in exchange for cash considerations, per various reporters (including Scott Mitchell of TSN). Right-hander Patrick Murphy is going on the 60-day injured list to clear 40-man roster space. Arizona had designated Bergen for assignment earlier this week. The teams have since announced the move.

It’s something of a homecoming for Bergen, who entered pro ball as a seventh-round pick of the Jays back in 2015. The Giants selected Bergen in the Rule 5 draft in advance of the 2019 season but returned him to Toronto in the middle of that year. The Blue Jays ultimately selected Bergen to the 40-man roster themselves, but they wound up flipping him to Arizona last summer for Robbie Ray. (Perhaps more meaningfully for the D-Backs, Toronto also agreed to pick up most of Ray’s $1.42MM salary for the 2020 stretch run).

Bergen will now team up with Ray, who re-signed with the Jays over the offseason. Despite spending most of his pro career in the Toronto organization, he’s only pitched in one MLB game as a Blue Jay. The rest of Bergen’s big league experience consists of 19.2 innings for the 2019 Giants and 6.2 innings for the Diamondbacks last year. Overall, he has a 4.82 ERA at the highest level. His 24% strikeout rate is fairly typical for a reliever, but Bergen has been plagued by a lofty 14.9% walk rate in his limited MLB time.

Between being selected in the 2019 Rule 5 draft and the lack of a minor-league season last year, Bergen has even less experience at Triple-A than he does in the big leagues. However, the 27-year-old struck out 43 against just nine walks with a 0.50 ERA in Double-A in 2018. Bergen has yet to reach arbitration and has three option years remaining, so the Jays can cheaply shuttle him back-and-forth between the majors and Triple-A Buffalo so long as he sticks on the 40-man roster.

Murphy has a sprained AC joint in his shoulder and hasn’t pitched in spring training, Mitchell notes. He made four relief appearances for Toronto last season.

Quick Hits: Yankees, Cardinals, Diamondbacks

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Teams in need of a left-handed hitting outfielder might want to check in with the Yankees about the availability of Mike Tauchman. Though the Yankees have four years of control remaining, there may simply not be room for him on the opening day roster, writes the Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. It’s not just the addition of Brett Gardner that could push Tauchman out of the picture, though that doesn’t help Tauchman’s case. He’s competing with Jay Bruce and Derek Dietrich for that fifth outfielder role, and that veteran pair both bring the ability to play first base as well. That’s not on Tauchman’s resume. After a surprising .277/.361/.504 line over 296 plate appearances in 2019 turned the 30-year-old into a valuable member of the Yankee reserves, the power dissipated in 2020. His bat slipped from 28 percent better than average to 22 percent below by measure of wRC+. Mike Ford’s playing time could also be at risk, but the backup first baseman has two option years remaining, whereas Tauchman would have to pass through waivers.

  • Matt Carpenter is not conceding his spot in the everyday lineup just yet, writes Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Carpenter won’t take many at-bats from Paul Goldschmidt or Nolan Arenado at the corners, and he’s competing with popular upstart Tommy Edman at the keystone, though Edman can play the outfield, too. Had the universal DH made its way to the league this season, Carpenter likely would have lined up for many of those at-bats. As is, he’ll be hard-pressed to beat out Edman at second, even if defense wasn’t a consideration. After being a 133 wRC+ hitter from 2012 to 2018, Carpenter fell to 95 wRC+ and 84 wRC+ the past two seasons. His batted ball profile has generally paralleled that trajectory, with exit velocity and hard hit percentage down in 2019 and 2020 from where he’d been previously.
  • The Diamondbacks are promoting a new assistant general manager, per Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic (via Twitter). Mike Fitzgerald was previously the analytics director, and he now joins Amiel Sawdaye as assistant GMs under Executive VP and GM Mike Hazen. Ross Seaton has also been promoted to director of pitching.

Diamondbacks Designate Travis Bergen, Keury Mella For Assignment

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The Diamondbacks have designated left-hander Travis Bergen and right-hander Keury Mella for assignment, per a club announcement. Their roster spots will go to right-hander Tyler Clippard, whose previously reported one-year deal is now official, and to right-hander Luis Frias, who has been reinstated from the Covid-19 list.

Bergen, 27, was acquired from the Blue Jays last summer in the trade that sent Robbie Ray to Toronto. He tossed 6 2/3 innings with the Snakes and yielded just three runs, though he also issued eight walks in that brief time. Bergen, a former Rule 5 pick, has pitched 28 innings in the Majors with three different clubs, logging a combined 4.82 ERA with a 24 percent strikeout rate and an unsightly 14.9 percent walk rate.

It’s surely a disappointing outcome for the D-backs to ultimately receive little in the way of a return for one of the organization’s better arms in recent years. But Ray struggled immensely with Arizona in 2020, and his $9.43MM salary (prorated to about $3.4MM in 2020) only further weighed down his trade value. The Blue Jays did take on the majority of the $1.42MM that remained on Ray’s contract at the time of the trade.

Mella, also 27, signed a minor league deal with the D-backs last offseason and was called up for 10 innings of relief. He allowed just two runs in that time and struck out 10 of the 42 hitters he faced (23.8 percent) while walking just three (7.1 percent). Mella doesn’t have much of a track record at the MLB level otherwise, however. His only other big league work came with the Reds from 2017-19, during which time he allowed 15 runs in 17 innings of work.

Mella was at one point considered to be one of the better prospects in both the Giants and the Reds organizations. He and Adam Duvall were packaged together by the Giants in the trade that brought Mike Leake to San Francisco at the 2015 trade deadline.

The Diamondbacks will have a week to trade both pitchers or attempt to pass them through outright waivers. Mella is out of minor league options, while Bergen has multiple option years remaining. If either passes through waivers unclaimed, they can be retained by the D-backs and returned to Major League camp as non-roster invitees.

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