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NL Injury Notes: Ozuna, Mets, Jazz, Hoerner

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Braves outfielder Marcell Ozuna dislocated two fingers on his left hand during the team’s win over the Red Sox on Tuesday, according to Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe. The Braves aren’t sure whether they’ll have to place Ozuna on the injured list. Ozuna was one of the game’s premier hitters a season ago, leading the Braves to re-sign him to a four-year, $65MM guarantee in free agency, but he has been slow out of the gates in 2021. The 30-year-old has hit a disappointing .213/.288/.356 with seven home runs in 208 plate appearances.

  • The last thing the Mets need is more negative news on the injury front, but here it is: Third baseman J.D. Davis has returned to New York from his Triple-A rehab assignment “to receive treatment on his left hand from our health and performance team, as well as determine next steps,” according to the club (Twitter links via Anthony DiComo of MLB.com). Davis, who last played May 1, has inflammation and won’t resume his rehab for at least another few days. He’s one of several notable Mets hitters on the IL, with first baseman Pete Alonso, second baseman Jeff McNeil, and outfielders Michael Conforto, Brandon Nimmo and Kevin Pillar unavailable as well. They’re also missing outfielder Johneshwy Fargas, who suffered a left AC joint sprain Monday. He’s “week to week” and will go on the IL on Wednesday, per manager Luis Rojas.
  • Marlins second baseman Jazz Chisholm suffered a mild ankle sprain in their loss to the Phillies on Tuesday, manager Don Mattingly told Christina De Nicola of MLB.com and other reporters. “We’ll see where he’s at tomorrow,” Mattingly said of Chisholm, who spent time on the IL earlier this season with a strained left hamstring. When healthy, Chisholm has helped lead the Marlins’ offense this year with a .275/.336/.480 line, five home runs and eight stolen bases across 113 trips to the plate.
  • Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner strained his left hamstring during their victory over the Pirates on Tuesday, Russell Dorsey of the Chicago Sun-Times was among those to report. Whether that will lead to a trip to the IL remains to be seen, but Hoerner has already been there this season. He sat out earlier this month with a left forearm strain, but the 24-year-old has otherwise enjoyed a productive campaign. Although Hoerner hasn’t homered in any of his 84 PA, he has batted .338/.405/.432.

Braves Acquire Yoan Lopez From Diamondbacks

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The Braves announced they’ve acquired reliever Yoan López from the Diamondbacks. Outfield prospect Deivi Estrada has been sent to Arizona in return. Atlanta optioned López to Triple-A Gwinnett.

Arizona designated López for assignment earlier this week to clear 40-man roster space for the selection of Josh Reddick. The righty has gotten off to a difficult start to the year, pitching to a 6.57 ERA over 12 1/3 innings. That’s his second straight season of poor run prevention, as López only managed a 5.95 mark across 19 2/3 frames in 2020.

Those struggles led the D-Backs to move on from the 28-year-old, ending his six-year tenure in the organization. The previous front office regime signed López to an $8.27MM bonus as an amateur coming out of Cuba in January 2015. Under the terms of the previous collective bargaining agreement, the López signing barred the Diamondbacks from signing any other international amateur prospects for greater than a $300K bonus during either of the 2015-16 or 2016-17 international signing periods.

That decision proved to be one the organization would regret, as López never lived up to those lofty standards. He wasn’t completely unproductive in Arizona, though. López tossed 60 2/3 innings of 3.41 ERA ball in 2019, proving to be one of the D-Backs more reliable relievers that season. While he’s struggled to keep runs off the board the past two seasons, he has at least shown some flashes of promise.

López is inducing ground balls at a decent 45.2% rate, and he’s seen a slight uptick in swings and misses this year. His 21.3% strikeout rate is a career best (albeit still three percentage points worse than average for a reliever), excluding a 2018 season in which he only pitched nine innings. More impressively, López has generated whiffs on 12.7% of his pitches, a mark that’s slightly better than league average. He also brings a power arm to Atlanta, sitting 95.7 MPH on his heater.

Perhaps most appealing for the Braves is López’s contractual flexibility. He still has all three minor league option years remaining, so the front office can shuttle him back-and-forth between Atlanta and Gwinnett as they see fit for the next few seasons, so long as he sticks on the 40-man roster. As a player with 2.011 years of MLB service, he’s only making slightly more than the league minimum salary this year.

In return, the Diamondbacks will pick up a low-level developmental flyer. Estrada, 20, didn’t advance past the Dominican Summer League in the Atlanta organization. He hit .307/.433/.366 with more walks than strikeouts in 255 plate appearances at that level in 2019, playing mostly center field. Estrada has never been included on a Braves system ranking at Baseball America or FanGraphs.

The Best Minor League Deals Of 2021 (So Far): Position Players

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Minor league contracts don’t generally draw much of a reaction over the course of a baseball offseason, with some rare exceptions. Everyone loves to see an out-of-the-blue comeback story on a non-guaranteed arrangement, but most minor league deals of any note are injured veterans, struggling former prospects or fringe big leaguers who have never really solidified their status as a contributor at the game’s top level. Every year, however, a handful of these no-risk investments produce solid returns.

We’re about a quarter through the 2021 season, so let’s check in on a handful of non-guaranteed pacts that have already proven to be wise investments for their clubs.

  1. Tyler Naquin, OF, Reds: Naquin’s signing was met with a collective yawn, but one Ohio club’s leftovers have turned into another’s treasure. The former Indians first-rounder has mashed his way into a regular role in Cincinnati, raking at a .265/.346/.530 clip through 133 plate appearances. Naquin parlayed a strong spring and a March injury to Shogo Akiyama into an Opening Day roster spot, but he’s now fourth on the team in plate appearances and third in wRC+ at 135 (min. 20 PAs). He’s hitting so much better than struggling center fielder Nick Senzel that Cincinnati hasn’t hesitated to move Senzel to the infield in the wake of Joey Votto’s injury, creating more playing time for Naquin. This doesn’t appear to be a mere small-sample fluke, either. Naquin ranks in the 95th percentile of MLB hitters in average exit velocity and has similarly strong percentile rankings in hard-hit rate (84th), xwOBA (89th), xSLG (93rd) and barrel rate (90th). He’s also controlled through the 2022 season via arbitration. For an Indians club that has gotten virtually no production from its outfield over the past two seasons, watching Naquin’s start in 2021 has to sting, even if they’re happy for their former prospect on a personal level.
  2. C.J. Cron, 1B, Rockies: Cron’s ability to hit hasn’t really been in question since his 2014 MLB debut, but injuries have dogged him in recent years. Fresh off a season-ending knee surgery in 2020, Cron inked a non-guaranteed pact with the Rockies, made the club out of Spring Training and has unsurprisingly emerged as their primary first baseman. He’s out to an excellent start, hitting .300/.397/.500 in 116 plate appearances. Cron missed 10 days with a back strain and, unlike Naquin, is a free agent at season’s end, so he didn’t grab the top spot on this list. Still, he’s been a bright spot for the Rockies and could give them a summer trade chip if he can stay healthy. It’s still somewhat puzzling that the Tigers didn’t bring him back, given how poorly things have gone at first base in Detroit, but perhaps Cron simply liked the opportunity presented in Colorado better.
  3. Matt Duffy, 3B, Cubs: Duffy began with his MLB career with a stellar year for the 2015 Giants, in which he hit .295/.334/.428 and finished second behind current teammate Kris Bryant in NL Rookie of the Year voting. He never really followed up on that debut effort, though, as underperformance and injuries knocked him off track over the next two seasons. Duffy rebounded to play fairly well with the Rays in 2018 but wound up released after a difficult 2019 campaign. The veteran infielder spent 2020 at the Yankees alternate training site. This offseason, Duffy attracted interest from a few clubs in a coaching and/or front office capacity, but the Cubs offered him a chance to reinvigorate his playing career and have been rewarded for doing so. Duffy made the Opening Day roster and has come out with a .281/.375/.360 line over his first 104 plate appearances, his top offensive output since the aforementioned rookie season. The right-handed hitter isn’t a power threat, but he’s an above-average defensive third baseman with a good approach who makes plenty of contact. Duffy solidifying the hot corner has allowed Bryant to help out an otherwise shaky, inconsistent outfield.
  4. Jed Lowrie, 2B, Athletics: There’s something about Lowrie and the A’s that just clicks every time he dons the green and gold. In his third stint with the team after missing practically all of the 2019-20 seasons as a Met, Lowrie is improbably hitting .254/.329/.394 through 158 plate appearances. With offense down around the league and a cavernous home park, that’s good for a healthy 108 wRC+. The veteran switch-hitter’s bat has cooled since a torrid start to the season, but the early return on his no-risk minor league pact has been strong.
  5. Charlie Culberson, INF/OF, Rangers: A popular utility player wherever he goes, Culberson is well on his way to endearing himself to the Rangers’ fanbase. Through his first 97 plate appearances, the 32-year-old is hitting .264/.316/.429 with three homers. Culberson has made one-off appearances at second base, shortstop and in left field, but the bulk of his playing time has come at third base.
  6. Pablo Sandoval, INF, Braves: Atlanta fans might’ve groaned when the Braves brought the Panda back on another minor league deal, but Sandoval has thrived as a pinch-hitter and seldom-used bench bat. Sandoval has come to the plate as a pinch-hitter 26 times and homered in four of those plate appearances. On the whole, he’s hitting .250/.372/.583 through 43 plate appearances. No one expects the former All-Star to continue at this pace, and you can certainly argue that since Sandoval is effectively a dedicated pinch-hitter, this isn’t an ideal use of a roster spot. Still, it’s hard to argue with four pinch-hit dingers, and we’re talking about minor league deals here, after all.

We’ll check in on this year’s crop of minor league signees a few months from now, as it’s quite likely that we’ll see the tides turn on some of these (and other) contracts. A hot streak from Travis Shaw in Milwaukee could quickly make his deal look all the more prudent, and Connor Joe is out to a hot start with the Rox in a return from last year’s cancer diagnosis, which is a feel-good story in and of itself. At least through the season’s 25 percent mark, however, this group of bats is paying dividends for the teams that rolled the dice.

Braves Outright Jeff Mathis

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The Braves announced that catcher Jeff Mathis has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Gwinnett. As a player with more than three years of MLB service, Mathis had the right to refuse a minor league assignment. However, he has decided to accept a spot on the Atlanta taxi squad and will remain in the organization as non-roster depth, reports David O’Brien of the Athletic (Twitter link).

Atlanta designated Mathis for assignment when they acquired Kevan Smith from the Rays yesterday.  The 38-year-old Mathis had only gotten into three games with the Braves before they removed him from the roster. He went 0-9 with five strikeouts in that limited stretch.

Of course, Atlanta wasn’t expecting Mathis to offer much at the plate. Throughout his career, he’s been among the league’s least productive hitters. Mathis’ value is in his high-end defense, and he’s particularly well-regarded for his game calling and ability to work with a pitching staff. The Braves will be happy to keep the respected veteran around behind their current catching duo of William Contreras and Smith. Projected starter Travis d’Arnaud is out for at least the next couple of months after tearing a ligament in his thumb.

Braves Acquire Kevan Smith, Designate Jeff Mathis

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The Braves have acquired catcher Kevan Smith from the Rays in exchange for cash, per a team announcement. Tampa Bay had designated him for assignment earlier in the week. In a corresponding move, Atlanta designated veteran backstop Jeff Mathis for assignment.

The Braves catching situation has been in constant flux since the injury to Travis d’Arnaud. The 38-year-old Mathis went 0-for-9 in his three games of work, striking out five times and failing to reach base. Of course, his value proposition is on the defensive side of the ball, not with the bat.

As for Smith, he is 1-for-4 this season with the Rays, his second season with Tampa after previously seeing time with the Angels and White Sox. For his career, Smith owns a .271/.320/.383 across 751 plate appearances since 2016.

In other moves, the Braves activated Grant Dayton from the 10-day injured list and optioned Tucker Davidson to Triple-A, per the Athletic’s David O’Brien (via Twitter). Davidson made a spot start against the Mets yesterday. In just his second career start, the southpaw gave up three runs on five hits across six innings of work. He walked one while striking out five. The Braves ultimately lost the game by the score of 4-3.

Dayton will return to the bullpen, the fifth lefty in manager Brian Snitker’s pen. He has made nine appearances totaling nine innings and giving up five runs. He does have a solid 10-to-3 strikeout-to-walk ratio in this small sample of work.

Braves Place Huascar Ynoa On 10-Day Injured List

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Braves righty Huascar Ynoa is headed to the injured list after suffering a broken right hand, manager Brian Snitker told MLB.com’s Mark Bowman and other reporters.  The Braves made the official announcement shortly after Snitker’s meeting with the press, as Ynoa was placed on the 10-day IL and righty Edgar Santana was called up from Triple-A.

Ynoa broke his hand after punching the dugout in frustration following a tough outing yesterday against the Brewers, and will now spend approximately two months or more in recovery.  It’s a very unfortunate setback for a player who has become an unexpectedly big part of Atlanta’ rotation this season.

Even after yesterday’s struggles against Milwaukee (five earned runs allowed on nine hits and two walks over 4 1/3 innings), Ynoa still had a 3.02 ERA/3.28 SIERA over 44 2/3 total frames of work for the Braves.  Though Ynoa has been allowing a lot of hard contact, he has delivered an above-average 27.9% strikeout rate and 6.1% walk rate.

Considering Ynoa had only a 7.30 ERA in 24 2/3 innings for the Braves in 2019-20, his emergence was a major plus for an Atlanta pitching staff that has struggled to stay healthy and pitch effectively.  Since Mike Soroka’s timetable to return from the IL is still uncertain, the path was clear for Ynoa to remain in the rotation prior to his own injury.  With Ynoa out, the Braves could turn to some combination of rookie southpaw Tucker Davidson (who was called up earlier today), Bryse Wilson, or Kyle Wright to fill the open spot in the rotation.

Braves Designate Jesse Biddle For Assignment, Recall Tucker Davidson

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The Braves recalled Tucker Davidson from Triple-A today while designating fellow southpaw Jesse Biddle for assignment, per the club.

Biddle, 29, is a former first round pick of the Phillies way back in 2010. He made his Major League debut for the Braves in 2018. He made 15 appearances for Atlanta the following season before also appearing for the Mariners and Rangers. Biddle made just one appearance in the Majors last season with the Reds. The left-hander’s bugaboo has been his control, and it haunted Biddle again this season in eight outings with the Braves. While walking 15.7 percent of hitters, Biddle struggled to a 8.44 ERA/5.10 FIP across 10 2/3 innings. He’ll now be exposed to waivers.

Davidson, 25, made his debut with just 1 2/3 innings of work last season. He’s done good work in Triple-A this season, however, allowing just one earned run on seven hits and three walks while striking out a batter per inning in 14 innings across two starts.

Braves Sign Jonathan Lucroy

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The Braves have signed catcher Jonathan Lucroy to a minor league contract, according to David O’Brien and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Lucroy will report to Triple-A Gwinnett.

The 34-year-old Lucroy had been looking for a team since the Nationals designated him for assignment April 12, though he was choosy in selecting a club. Lucroy reportedly turned down multiple minor league offers in hopes of scoring a guaranteed deal, but that was a tough sell when considering how the former star’s career has gone since his 2010-16 heyday with the Brewers and Rangers.

Lucroy spent parts of 2017-19 with five different teams – the Rangers, Rockies, Athletics, Angels and Cubs – but didn’t experience much success outside of Colorado during that span. He combined to hit .248/.315/.350 with 18 home runs and minus-0.1 fWAR across 1,263 plate appearances in those three seasons, and his once-ballyhooed pitch-framing ability eroded at the same time. As a result, he has appeared in just six games since last year (one with the Red Sox and five with the Nationals).

Lucroy will now lend some depth to a Braves team in need of it behind the plate. Starter Travis d’Arnaud underwent surgery on a torn thumb ligament earlier this month and won’t return until at least July. Likewise, Alex Jackson has been out all month with a strained hamstring. And Tyler Flowers, whom the Braves re-signed to a minors pact May 6, decided to retire Friday. Atlanta is now down to William Contreras and Jeff Mathis as its top two options at the big league level.

Tyler Flowers To Retire

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Just over a week after agreeing to a minor league deal to return to the field with the Braves organization, veteran catcher Tyler Flowers has now changed course and decided to retire, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman reports (via Twitter). Bowman notes that Flowers has spent the past few seasons playing through a pair of degenerative discs in his back and has learned from doctors that he’s now developed a third. That unfortunate diagnosis has prompted him to hang it up for good, it seems.

Tyler Flowers | Adam Hagy-USA TODAY Sports

It’s a disheartening way to end what was a very fine big league career. Simply making it to the Majors after being a 33rd-round pick by the Braves back in 2005 is an accomplishment on its own, but Flowers went on to spend parts of a dozen seasons in the big leagues — all of which were spent with the White Sox or Braves.

Atlanta initially traded Flowers to the ChiSox as part of a package that sent Javier Vazquez and Boone Logan to Atlanta in Dec. 2008. Flowers would make his MLB debut the following season in 2009, and he spent parts of the next seven seasons as a backstop with the South Siders. His bat didn’t come around to the levels that the Sox had hoped when he was regarded as one of the organization’s top prospects, but Flowers’ defensive contributions were significant. Moreover, his top-of-the-scale ratings in the early days of pitch-framing metrics helped to shine a light on an element that is now widely accepted as a critical component of catcher defense.

That framing ability and a knack for hitting left-handed pitching no doubt contributed to the Braves’ interest when he reached free agency in the 2015-16 offseason. Flowers returned to his original organization on a two-year, $5.3MM deal with a third-year option, and he parlayed that into a pair of additional seasons donning a Braves uniform. His bat improved quite a bit in Atlanta, particularly in his first two seasons back with the club. While the degenerative condition in his back may have impacted him in his final years, Flowers’ framing remained sharp up through last year’s 60-game sprint — which will now prove to be his final season in the Majors.

All told, Flowers will retire as a career .237/.319/.391 hitter with 86 home runs, 111 doubles, five triples, 267 runs scored and 301 knocked in. He went 3-for-11 in limited postseason action with the Braves from 2018-20 and was part of three straight division winners in his final few years. Overall, Flowers took home more than $23MM in salary over a 12-year MLB career that was valued at 20 WAR by FanGraphs, largely on the strength of his work behind the plate.

Flowers had taken an off-field role with the Braves organization prior to re-signing that minor league deal, wherein he helped incorporate data from the club’s analytics department into game preparation. He’ll return to that role, Bowman notes, meaning the Georgia native will continue to try to help his hometown club achieve a fourth consecutive NL East crown and return to the World Series for the first time since 1999.

Braves Place Cristian Pache On IL, Activate Ender Inciarte

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The Braves have placed Cristian Pache on the 10-day injured list with a hamstring strain and activated fellow outfielder Ender Inciarte from the IL, manager Brian Snitker announced Thursday (via David O’Brien of The Athletic).

This is the second IL placement of the year for Pache, who previously missed time with a left groin injury. When healthy, it has been an abysmal season for the highly touted Pache, who has batted .111/.152/.206 with one home run in 68 plate appearances.

Inciarte, who suffered a strained hamstring April 16, has appeared in 12 games and logged a meager 20 trips to the plate this year. The once-reliable starter hit a horrid .190/.262/.250 with one home run in 131 PA last year, though he slashed a much better .294/.368/.353 before his IL trip this season.

The Braves’ best option in center this year has unexpectedly been Guillermo Heredia, but he has been on the IL since April 30 with hamstring inflammation. The absences of Pache and Heredia should clear the way for Inciarte to take over in center for the time being.

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