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NL Central Notes: Taillon, Adams, Grichuk, Garza

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Top Pirates prospect Jameson Taillon skipped a start at Triple-A this week, but not because he’s hurt, writes MLB.com’s Adam Berry. “Taillon is strong and healthy, but as we look to monitor his and other pitchers’ workload to put them in a position to finish the season strongly, we will periodically look to reduce pitch counts by removing the pitcher from a game early or by skipping a start,” says GM Neal Huntington. Pirates fans are anxious for Taillon’s big-league debut, a day that could potentially come in June, after the Super Two threshold passes. After missing two seasons due to injury, Taillon has been outstanding for Triple-A Indianapolis, posting a 1.82 ERA, 9.3 K/9 and a measly 0.9 BB/9 in 49 1/3 innings. Here’s more from the NL Central.

  • Cardinals hitters Matt Adams and Randal Grichuk got off to slow starts this season but have come up huge lately, ESPN’s Mark Saxon writes. Adams is batting .382/.433/.673 in May, while Grichuk is hitting .273/.333/.481 this month after batting just .182 in April. Adams’ resurgence is perhaps the more notable of the two, given the big lefty’s disappointing .240/.280/.377 showing last year. “This is the kind of player we saw coming up through the system,” says manager Mike Matheny of Adams. “We were just kind of waiting for it to happen at this level and there’s no reason why it shouldn’t be happening now.”
  • Brewers starter Matt Garza, who’s missed the entire season thus far with a lat issue, will begin a rehab assignment with Class A Wisconsin on Tuesday, MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy tweets. Garza says he hopes to return to the Brewers June 14. The Brewers are just 22-26 and don’t look like contenders, so it’s doubtful Garza’s return will have an immediate impact, especially given that he posted just a 5.63 ERA, 6.3 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 in 2015. If he does return in June, though, a performance closer to his 2014 (3.64 ERA, 6.9 K/9, 2.8 BB/9) could potentially make him a summer trade candidate.

Mets Acquire James Loney From Padres

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The Mets have acquired first baseman James Loney from the Padres for cash considerations, the Padres have announced. Loney had an opt-out in his minor-league deal with the Friars, although the move that brings him to New York is a trade. The bulk of Loney’s $8MM 2016 salary will be paid by the Rays, who signed him to a three-year deal prior to the 2014 season and then released him in early April.

MLB: Spring Training-Tampa Bay Rays at Toronto Blue JaysThe Mets were on the lookout for a first baseman with Lucas Duda out for a significant stretch due to a stress fracture in his back. Loney was an obvious potential target, and many speculated from the beginning that the Mets could pursue him. That appears to be exactly what they did. Earlier this week, the New York Post’s Joel Sherman reported that the Mets had at least some degree of interest.

Loney was hitting .342/.373/.424 with the Padres’ Triple-A affiliate in El Paso. He previously played in ten MLB seasons, spending time with the Dodgers, Red Sox, and Rays, while compiling a career .285/.338/.411 line. While he’s mostly retained his ability to hit for average as his career has progressed, though, his power numbers have dwindled — he once regularly hit ten to 15 home runs a season, but last year with the Rays he hit just four while posting a .357 slugging percentage. Once a plus defensive first baseman, his fielding numbers have taken a tumble as well, with both UZR and DRS marking him as significantly worse in the last two seasons than he was in 2011 through 2013.

Given the Mets’ need, though, and the fact that the cash return the Mets will send the Padres is presumably nominal, it’s no surprise that the team pursued him despite his flaws. He’s a longtime starter who has experience and some level of on-base ability. The team can also potentially protect the lefty hitter by using Eric Campbell at first against lefty starters.

Adam Rubin of ESPN reported that Loney was headed to the Mets and that the deal was a trade (Twitter links). Jon Heyman tweeted that the Padres would receive cash considerations in return.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

East Notes: Herrera, Rule 5, Red Sox, Mets

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Odubel Herrera’s brilliance has been a key to the Phillies’ surprising success so far this season, and his emergence since being selected in the 2014 Rule 5 Draft highlights the way the Rule 5 has changed in recent years, Matthew Trueblood of Baseball Prospectus writes. One reason players like Herrera, Delino DeShields and Ender Inciarte have been available in the Rule 5 in recent years is that teams seem to prefer protecting players who have power, making low-power but potentially high-OBP players available. Also, the emergences of players like those listed above (as well as Hector Rondon, Mark Canha, Logan Verrett and so on) suggests there’s enough talent in the game for MLB to withstand expansion without significantly diluting its talent level — leaving aside the complex question of what markets the league should expand to. Here’s more from the East divisions.

  • The Red Sox’ terrific 2011 draft class has become the franchise’s foundation, Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal writes. The team had four of the first 40 picks in that draft, and used them to select Jackie Bradley and Blake Swihart, as well as Matt Barnes and Henry Owens. That group alone would have made the draft a good one, but the Sox also snagged Mookie Betts, Travis Shaw and Noe Ramirez in the later rounds. Bradley fell to the Sox at No. 40 in part because of a wrist injury that held him back in his junior year at South Carolina. Bradley was a gamble, and not all gambles on talented players whose stock have fallen work out — MacPherson mentions 2012 first-rounder Deven Marrero, and I might add 2010 39th overall pick Anthony Ranaudo, whose stock fell prior to the draft due to an elbow injury. Bradley, though, was a steal, and he, Betts and the rest of the Sox’ 2011 class looked poised to lead the organization forward.
  • The Mets have no plans to use outfielder Michael Conforto at first base with Lucas Duda on the shelf, ESPN’s Adam Rubin tweets. “Right now Michael has a lot on his plate and I don’t need to add more to it,” says manager Terry Collins. The team is currently weighing its options in the wake of Duda’s injury, and has shown at least some interest in James Loney. MLBTR’s Jeff Todd recently listed potential first base solutions the Mets could pursue.

Blue Jays Place Troy Tulowitzki On DL

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The Blue Jays have placed shortstop Troy Tulowitzki on the 15-day DL with a quad strain, Brendan Kennedy of the Toronto Star tweets. Taking his place on the active roster will be lefty Aaron Loup, who’s returning from an elbow injury.

Tulowitzki played yesterday against Boston (striking out four times) but missed the previous two games due to quad tightness, during which time the Jays used Ryan Goins and Darwin Barney at shortstop. The injury occurred when he was stealing a base against the Yankees on Tuesday. It’s been a somewhat disappointing season thus far for Tulowitzki, who’s batted just .204/.289/.383 in 190 plate appearances this year. It’s been a slow start to Tulo’s Blue Jays career in general, in fact — he hit .239/.317/.380 down the stretch in 2015 after arriving in a high-profile trade with Colorado.

Loup has been a regular in the Toronto bullpen the last four seasons, with a 3.11 ERA, 7.5 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 in a big-league career spent entirely with the Jays. The team had been using a six-man bullpen, and Loup’s addition gives the team its usual complement of seven relievers. The move also gives the team a second lefty to go with Chad Girodo.

Jeff Bridich On Jose Reyes, Jeff Hoffman

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Here’s the latest from Rockies GM Jeff Bridich, via an interview with Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post:

  • Bridich characterizes shortstop Jose Reyes’ situation as “day by day.” Reyes is suspended through May 31 under MLB’s domestic violence policy, and then he’ll likely begin a two-week rehab assignment. Bridich doesn’t dismiss the possibility that the team could deal Reyes, noting that “anything is possible.” (It doesn’t sound, however, like there will be significant trade interest in an expensive player who’s about to turn 33 and who’s coming off a .274/.310/.378 season and a domestic violence suspension. There has already been speculation that the Rockies could release Reyes once his suspension is complete.)
  • The team has no plans to rush pitching prospect Jeff Hoffman, Bridich says. “There are very specific things — not large, general things — but very specific things, that he needs to continue to work on. But that’s actually a good thing,” says the GM. Hoffman, the ninth overall pick in the 2014 draft and one of the team’s acquisitions in last year’s Troy Tulowitzki trade, has a 2.70 ERA, 8.3 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 this season in hitter-friendly Triple-A Albuquerque.
  • The Rockies are hovering near .500, at 23-24, and are on the fringes of the NL West and NL Wild Card races at this early point in the season. But Bridich suggests the team’s position in the standings will not have a significant effect on their timelines for the promotions of Hoffman or other top prospects. “Jeff and some of the other players we think about as quality depth still are being challenged at Triple-A, and they have to meet those challenges to be ready for this level,” Bridich says.

Week In Review: 5/21/16 – 5/27/16

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Here’s a look back at the past week at MLBTR.

Key Moves

Trades

Claims

Designated For Assignment

Outrighted

Opted Out

Released

Retired

Key Minor League Signings

Twins “100 Percent Committed” To Terry Ryan

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A Twins official says the team is “100 percent committed” to GM Terry Ryan despite the team’s 11-31 start, Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press writes. Berardino notes that Ryan and Twins owner Jim Pohlad spoke on the field on Friday, and there did not appear to be strife between them.

“There are concerns in ownership as you would be expecting when you’re (11-31),” says Ryan. “[B]ut as far as the relationship and anything else that comes with our conversations, it’s mostly, ‘All right, how are we going to get this thing right?’ That’s where some of that creativity comes in as far as answers.”

Ryan, for his part, recently offered support for Twins manager Paul Molitor. It sounds, though, like he’s very open to other moves to address the team’s weaknesses.

“It just isn’t going well at all. So I have to be prepared to try to change it up and move some pieces,” he says. “We’re struggling to a point where we haven’t been able to right it. I’m going to have to do some things. We’re going to have to keep messing around with this roster.”

To that end, the Twins have made a variety of roster moves in the past two weeks, adding lefties Pat Dean and Taylor Rogers, righty Brandon Kintzler, and outfielders Robbie Grossman and Darin Mastroianni to the big club. Aside from a 5-3 win against the Blue Jays today, however, the losses continue to mount.

Offensively, the team’s winter signing of Byung Ho Park has been a success, and Joe Mauer and Miguel Sano have contributed. But a number of position players have struggled, including Oswaldo Arcia, Eduardo Escobar, Danny Santana and Eddie Rosario. (Escobar is currently on the disabled list; Rosario was recently sent to the minors.) The team has the second-worst OBP (.299) and worst slugging percentage (.376) in the AL. The team’s pitching staff, meanwhile, has accumulated a miserable 5.01 ERA, with the team suffering through down seasons so far from Phil Hughes and a number of relievers and back-of-the-rotation starters.

Ryan, of course, enjoyed success with the Twins in the early 2000s, as the team won four division titles from 2002 through 2006. He stepped down in 2007, remaining with the organization as an adviser, and returned to the GM job in 2011. The Twins had three straight seasons of 92 losses or more from 2012 through 2014 (although an incoming GM does not deserve full blame for the poor performance of a team built in part by his predecessor). The Twins finished 83-79 last season in their first winning campaign since 2010.

Cubs Designate Neil Ramirez For Assignment

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The Cubs have designated reliever Neil Ramirez for assignment, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times tweets. The move clears roster space for outfielder Matt Szczur, who was activated today. Jason Heyward’s MRI on his injured side revealed only a contusion, so he’ll only need to miss three to five days and won’t require a stint on the disabled list.

Ramirez, 26, got off to a rough start this season for the Cubs, surrendering a whopping eight walks in 7 2/3 innings. He allowed a more modest run total (four) while racking up an impressive 10 strikeouts, though, and has overall been an asset for the Cubs dating back to his debut with the team in 2014. Even with this season’s struggles factored in, Ramirez has posted a terrific 2.20 ERA, 10.74 K/9 and 4.27 BB/9 in 65 1/3 frames with Chicago. The team has 12 pitchers without Ramirez, however, and decided it made more sense to risk losing him than reserve catcher Tim Federowicz, according to ESPN’s Jesse Rogers (Twitter link).

NL Injury Notes: Duda, Montas, Smith

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First baseman Lucas Duda was scratched from the Mets’ lineup Saturday and had an MRI on his back, as ESPN’s Mark Simon notes. The nature and severity of Duda’s issue is unclear, although he’s batted just .192/.300/.404 in May. “Having him out of the lineup is a huge loss for us, especially against right-handed pitching, which we’re going to see two games here and two games in D.C. (next week),” says manager Terry Collins. “We have to look at the big picture. We can’t aggravate this thing to where it becomes a major issue. We hope that it won’t.” Here’s more on NL injuries.

  • The Dodgers are keeping an eye on Frankie Montas, Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register writes. Montas, who’s recovering after having surgery on his rib in February, pitched two scoreless innings in extended spring training on Thursday and threw 100 MPH with what manager Dave Roberts describes as good command. Montas is expected to begin a rehab assignment with Double-A Tulsa this weekend. As Plunkett notes, Montas isn’t eligible to come off the 60-day DL until June 3. Montas, one of the keys to the Dodgers’ end of the Todd Frazier deal last winter, could turn out to be a significant asset for the Dodgers, given his velocity (his average fastball last year in a brief trial with the White Sox was 96.7 MPH) and the instability of the Dodgers’ bullpen beyond Kenley Jansen.
  • Brewers manager Craig Counsell says lefty Will Smith is ready to begin a rehab assignment and could return to the team in the first week of June, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports (Twitter links). Smith tore his lateral collateral ligament late in Spring Training and opted to rehab it rather than having surgery. He began throwing off a mound last week. A quick return would be a boon for both Smith and the Brewers — he had figured to get at least some opportunities at closer this year, and if he does pile up saves or holds, he’ll likely get a nifty raise on his $1.475MM 2016 salary through the arbitration process next winter. Perhaps we would be getting ahead of ourselves in imagining he might close, however — Jeremy Jeffress has done well in the closer’s role, and there’s no urgent reason for the Brewers to remove him. The team surely would, however, enjoy the return of a reliever in Smith who posted a 2.70 ERA, 12.9 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in a terrific 2015 season. He and Jeffress could also be good trade chips for the Brewers this summer.

 

NL Notes: Phillies, De La Rosa, Harvey

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The Phillies have been lucky to get solid work from a cheap bullpen this season, Matt Gelb of Philly.com writes. Ken Giles and Jonathan Papelbon are now gone, but journeyman Jeanmar Gomez has been effective in the closer’s role, and Hector Neris and David Hernandez have also been terrific. The team could also soon receive reinforcements, with Michael Mariot and Mario Hollands perhaps joining the bullpen after returning from injury. Another possibility, Gelb suggests, might be Edubray Ramos, a 23-year-old who now has a 1.54 ERA, 24 strikeouts and just one walk in 23 1/3 innings split between Double-A Reading and Triple-A Lehigh Valley this season. Here’s more from the National League.

  • Jorge De La Rosa will return to the Rockies’ rotation on Tuesday against the Red Sox, MLB.com’s Thomas Harding tweets. Jon Gray will pitch Wednesday and Eddie Butler on Thursday. De La Rosa struggled this season before missing almost a month due to a groin strain, but if he can approach something resembling his 2015 form (when he posted a 4.17 ERA, 8.1 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9), he’ll provide a boost to a Rockies pitching staff that has already recently added help in its bullpen.
  • Matt Harvey has struggled to the tune of a 5.77 ERA this season (albeit with a reasonable 8.0 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9). But his agent, Scott Boras, says Harvey’s tough year is the result of the typical ups and downs experienced by pitchers returning from Tommy John surgery, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reports. He compares Harvey (who had TJ surgery in 2013) to Stephen Strasburg, who underwent the procedure in 2010 and has had bumps in the road (including some struggles at the beginning of last season) since then but recently signed a $175MM extension. “This Tommy John dynamic carries with it unknowns,” says Boras. “It’s amazing that Harv and Stras pitched against one another (Thursday night). You go back a year ago and who’s who? I’m sitting on the phone (then) talking about Strasburg’s career and no one is saying anything to me about Matt Harvey’s brilliance and dominance. Now the roles are reversed.” Boras suggests that former Tommy John patients experience trouble locating pitches.

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