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Injury Notes: Sandoval, Hedges, Boxberger, Morton, Dodgers

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Here are various notes on injuries from throughout the game.

  • Red Sox third baseman Pablo Sandoval will have Dr. James Andrews examine his injured shoulder on Monday, Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe tweets. Last week, a scheduled exam was canceled because Sandoval’s shoulder was too sore, with the idea that Sandoval would attempt to meet with Andrews at a later date. The Red Sox placed him on the disabled list two weeks ago.
  • Padres catcher Austin Hedges will have surgery to address a hamate fracture and will likely be out six to eight weeks, tweets MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell. Hedges spent much of 2015 as the Padres’ backup catcher, but this year, he began the season with Triple-A El Paso (where he was hitting quite well in a small sample) after the Friars acquired Christian Bethancourt. Regardless, it sounds like Hedges, who’s still just 23, will miss a significant chunk of development time.
  • Rays closer Brad Boxberger, who’s missed the entire season so far after having core muscle surgery in March, has been cleared to resume baseball activities, Roger Mooney of the Tampa Tribune tweets. Boxberger remains on track to return to the Rays in mid-May. Alex Colome has collected four saves in his absence.
  • Phillies righty Charlie Morton didn’t receive positive news from an MRI on his injured hamstring on Monday, MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki writes. Morton strained the hamstring on Saturday and was placed on the DL the next day. “Apparently, his MRI wasn’t as good as we were hoping,” says manager Pete Mackanin. “We’re going to see what happens in the next two or three days and see what the next step is. I really don’t know what the next step is, I just know it’s not as good as we were hoping.” Adam Morgan is expected to take Morton’s place in the starting rotation for the time being.
  • Dodgers righty Brandon McCarthy threw a bullpen for team officials yesterday, tweets MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick. The throwing session was the latest step in McCarthy’s recovery after having Tommy John surgery early last season.
  • Another injured Dodgers starter, Hyun-jin Ryu, threw a 30-pitch bullpen today and could soon begin facing live hitters, ESPN’s Doug Padilla writes. Ryu, who is recovering after having labrum surgery last year, had his throwing program delayed after he suffered a groin strain earlier this month. It’s still unclear when he’ll return, Padilla notes.
  • The Dodgers have also announced that they’ve reinstated outfielder Carl Crawford, who had been on the DL for the past two weeks with a back injury. To clear space on their active roster, they optioned righty Zach Lee to Triple-A Oklahoma City.
  • Brewers infielder Scooter Gennett was scratched from tonight’s lineup due to oblique tightness, Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel tweets. There’s no immediate word on the severity of the injury. Gennett is off to a hot start this season, batting .258/.361/.516 this year after mostly struggling in 2015.

David Murphy Retires

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Veteran outfielder David Murphy has retired, as SportsDay’s Gerry Fraley and Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram both report. (Fraley posted the news earlier today, with Wilson following up later with quotes from Murphy.)

USATSI_9200843_154513410_lowres“Basically, it got to the point where playing this game and living this lifestyle wasn’t worth it any more to be away from my family,” says Murphy. Retirement is “permanent,” he adds.

Last year, Murphy batted a solid .283/.318/.421 in 391 plate appearances, although defensive metrics suggested somewhat of a decline in the quality of his work in the field, and his career .258/.305/.350 line against lefties means he likely needed to be platooned. Earlier this season, Murphy had opted out of minor-league deals with the Red Sox and Twins, and it had previously been reported that he would consider retiring if he wasn’t able to land a big-league job. One such job did open for Murphy with Minnesota, but he reportedly told the Twins he wanted to be with his family instead.

The 34-year-old Murphy was the 17th overall pick in the 2003 draft (and the first draft pick of Theo Epstein’s tenure with the Red Sox). He made it to the big leagues with Boston in 2006, then headed to Texas in 2007 as part of a deal for Eric Gagne. Murphy established himself as a solid corner outfield option with the Rangers, playing parts of seven seasons there before heading to the Indians and then the Angels. His best offensive season was probably 2012 with Texas, when he batted .304/.380/.479 and hit 15 home runs. For his 10-year big-league career, Murphy finishes with a .274/.333/.432 line, with 104 big-league homers. Via Baseball Reference, he made at least $24MM in his career.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Jake Arrieta, Cubs Remain Far Apart On Extension Framework

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Cubs ace Jake Arrieta believes he will get a six- or seven-year deal if the Cubs don’t extend him before he becomes eligible for free agency following the 2017 season, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale writes. “If we don’t work out a deal here, and I go to free agency, I will get six or seven years. No doubt about that,” Arrieta says. “I’d like to stay in Chicago, but if they don’t want me, somebody will.”

Arrieta’s comments appear consistent with reporting surrounding extension talks between him and the Cubs this past offseason, and they suggest there continues to be a wide gulf between player and team about the length of a potential deal. In early March, Jon Heyman reported that Arrieta was seeking seven-plus years, while the Cubs wanted to sign him for a shorter duration. In his latest article, Nightengale notes that, according to Arrieta’s agent Scott Boras, the Cubs weren’t willing to offer more than three or four years. Boras emphasizes that the two sides remain far apart.

“It’s like being in a museum and seeing contemporary art on one side, and the Mona Lisa on the other,” says Boras. “We’re both in the same museum. We both agree that the art is great. But we’re in two different hallways.”

The 30-year-old Arrieta, meanwhile, notes that free agent aces in their early thirties (such as David Price and Zack Greinke) have received six- or seven-year deals on the open market. Nightengale also notes that Arrieta currently has less wear on his arm than many pitchers his age, having only pitched 826 1/3 innings in the big leagues.

If Arrieta reaches free agency without signing an extension, he will only recently have turned 32 by the time his new deal begins, so Greinke (who is currently 32) seems like a reasonable comparable. Greinke has a longer track record of success than Arrieta currently does, but Arrieta’s current level of dominance (which has already resulted in a no-hitter this year after a brilliant stretch run in 2015) would appear to be more than enough for him to cite Greinke as a comparable pitcher. There is, however, risk in waiting to get to the point where he can cash in as Greinke did — Arrieta is currently only signed to an arbitration-avoiding $10.7MM deal for 2016.

Padres Designate Cory Mazzoni For Assignment

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The Padres have designated righty Cory Mazzoni for assignment, as Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune tweets. They also optioned infielder Jose Pirela to Triple-A El Paso and selected the contract of lefty Michael Kirkman from El Paso.

Kirkman’s addition should give the Padres’ relievers a bit of help after a series of short recent outings by San Diego starters. Kirkman, who last pitched in the big leagues in 2014, had allowed three runs while striking out six in six innings at El Paso.

The 26-year-old Mazzoni struggled in eight relief appearances with the Padres last season, his first eight outings in the Majors. He’s made two appearances with El Paso this season. Last season, he had a 3.97 ERA, 12.2 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 in 34 innings at El Paso.

Minor MLB Transactions: 4/16/16

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Here are today’s minor moves from around the game.

  • The Rangers sent lefty reliever Andrew Faulkner to Triple-A and recalled righty Nick Martinez, according to John Henry of MLB.com. Prior to the move, Faulkner tossed 4 1/3 innings for the Rangers and allowed four earned runs, five hits and three walks while striking out just one batter. Martinez logged extensive time in the majors last season, totaling 125 innings of 3.96 ERA ball with Texas. ERA estimators like FIP (4.98) and xFIP (4.99) thought far less of his performance. He’ll serve as a long reliever and spot starter for the Rangers.
  • The Brewers have called up righty Zach Davies from Triple-A Colorado Springs to make a spot start against the Pirates on Sunday, per Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Twitter link). In a corresponding move, they sent outfielder Keon Broxton down to Colorado Springs. Davies, whom the Brewers acquired from the Orioles last year, fared respectably in his first big league action in 2015. In six starts (34 innings), he put up a 3.71 ERA to go along with a 6.35 K/9 and 3.97 BB/9. Broxton went without a hit and struck out 11 times in 18 plate appearances before the demotion.
  • The Orioles have released righty Todd Redmond, their Triple-A Norfolk Tides affiliate tweets. The 30-year-old Redmond pitched a combined 152 innings for the Blue Jays in 2013 and 2014, appearing as both a starter and as a reliever, but spent most of last season with Toronto’s Triple-A team. The O’s signed him to a minor-league deal in November, but he struggled after being sent to Norfolk, allowing 15 runs in five innings there. In his big-league career, Redmond has a 4.25 ERA, 7.9 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in 171 1/3 innings.

Quick Hits: Straily, Smith, Former Players

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The Reds are considering moving Dan Straily into their rotation, C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer writes. “We’ll have to take a look at Dan Straily with the job that he’s done. Unfortunately, we’ve had to utilize him in some games that have gotten out of control early,” says manager Bryan Price. “He’s done a really nice job managing those opportunities. So we’ll see how it goes.” Straily, who arrived near the beginning of the season on a waiver claim from the Padres, has fared well thus far in long relief (allowing three runs and four walks while striking out eight in 8 1/3 innings so far), and the Reds’ rotation has put pressure on the team’s bullpen so far with a number of short starts. The Reds are also dealing with a variety of rotation injuries, although one of their injured pitchers, Jon Moscot, will return Sunday to pitch against the Cardinals. Here’s more from around the game.

  • Reliever Carson Smith appears to be getting closer to joining the Red Sox, writes WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford. Smith, who’s had a right flexor mass strain in his elbow, hasn’t yet made his debut with his new club after arriving via an offseason trade with the Mariners. But manager John Farrell says Smith threw 35 pitches of live batting practice today without incident, and could appear in an extended spring training game by next weekend. That could put him in position to join the Red Sox’ bullpen by the end of the month.
  • Players union head Tony Clark is frustrated that the lack of opportunities for former players, and especially minority players, to find jobs with teams, the AP reports. Clark would like MLB to start a program to prepare players for careers after their playing careers are over. The program would include college scholarships for minor-leaguers, a database of minority players, and a coaching school, as well as courses about baseball analytics and business practices. It would be funded by taxes on international amateur signing bonuses. Part of Clark’s concern arises from a change in MLB front offices, which are suddenly heavily populated by graduates of Ivy League schools who might have perspectives that are similar to one another. Increasing front-office focus on analytics could also potentially decrease opportunities for former players to have jobs within the game. “Diversity offers a different vantage point, different experiences, different realizations that inevitably can help move the industry forward, “says Clark. “… [I]t simply suggests our industry has missed opportunities as the result of the backgrounds and engagements therein being so similar.”

West Notes: Stripling, Story, Beltre

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Dodgers righty Ross Stripling nearly completed a no-hitter in his first big-league start, but he headed into the season with the far more modest hope of avoiding going back to Double-A, Tyler Kepner of the New York Times writes. “I knew we were going to have a lot of guys filter down to Triple-A and that might push guys back to Double-A,” he says. “When they kind of told me early in spring that I was going to Oklahoma City, that was a good thing for me. I was happy to be going up a level.” Beginning the season at Double-A wouldn’t have seemed at all unreasonable for Stripling, at least on paper — it would have been his third year at the level, but he made only 13 starts at Double-A Tulsa while returning from Tommy John surgery in 2015. Instead of going back to Tulsa this year, Stripling quickly made his way to the big leagues and enjoyed an improbable level of immediate success. The last pitcher to throw a no-hitter in his big-league debut, Kepner writes, was Bumpus Jones of the 1892 Cincinnati Reds. Here’s more from the West divisions.

  • Another emerging player, Rockies shortstop Trevor Story, has “hit the ground trotting” with a seven-home-run binge to start the season, writes ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick. “He’s been so composed right from the beginning of Spring Training,” says manager Walt Weiss. “He knew he had an opportunity coming into camp, and with some kids, it’s too much for them. But with Trevor, I think it elevated his game. It brought out the best in him.” As Crasnick points out, Story probably would have played for Triple-A Albuquerque this April had it not been for Jose Reyes’ domestic-violence suspension.
  • The Rangers formally announced Adrian Beltre’s two-year, $36MM extension as a press conference this afternoon. Perhaps it’s unsurprising given that the new deal takes him through his age-39 season, but Beltre says he wants to retire as a Ranger, as Stefen Stevenson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tweets. Of course, it’s not clear whether that means Beltre will retire when his new deal ends — he remains very productive even at 37, finishing seventh in AL MVP balloting last year and getting off to a fine .283/.340/.52 start so far in 2016.

Eric Sogard Likely To Have Knee Surgery

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Athletics infielder Eric Sogard seems set for knee surgery and could be out six to eight weeks, according to various reporters, including the Bay Area News Group’s John Hickey. “They found some loose bodies in the knee near the patella tendon,” Sogard said after an MRI. “And they have to take them out. I’ve played through the pain the last couple of years, but this is the time.” Sogard will seek a second opinion, but surgery seems likely, manager Bob Melvin says.

Sogard began the season on the disabled list with a shoulder problem that is (perhaps obviously) unrelated to his current health issues. He played in 120 games, mostly at second base, for the A’s last season, and he batted a disappointing .247/.294/.304 but with strong defensive numbers. He’s currently on the outside looking in for either Athletics starting infield job, since the team now has Jed Lowrie at second base and Marcus Semien at shortstop.

East Notes: deGrom, Red Sox, Braves

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The Mets have placed righty Jacob deGrom on the MLB bereavement/family medical emergency list due to “complications” with his son Jaxon, according to various reporters, including the New York Daily News’ Kristie Ackert. Jaxon was born Monday. Mets manager Terry Collins did not offer specifics on deGrom’s son, but described the matter as a “real-life situation.” We at MLBTR wish deGrom and family the best. We’ll provide updates as the story develops.

Here’s more from the East divisions.

  • The Red Sox optioned young backstop Blake Swihart to Triple-A in favor of the just-promoted Christian Vazquez. As Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald tweets, Swihart will continue to work as a catcher but will also see time in left field. Mastrodonato explained on this week’s MLBTR podcast that the Sox have always seen Swihart as having potential in other areas even as they’ve maintained hope that he can elevate his game behind the dish. There are implications here for his long-term outlook, as well as his possible usage at the big-league level later in the season.
  • It’s been a rough season so far for the Braves, who only won their first game yesterday. But GM John Coppolella isn’t making excuses for his team’s poor start in an interview with MLB.com’s Mark Bowman. Coppolella points out that many teams that have enjoyed recent success went through tough times before emerging as winning teams. “I’m sure the fans of the Royals, Pirates, Cubs, Astros and Mets were frustrated a few years ago,” says Coppolella. “It took Kansas City nine years to reach the playoffs, and the Royals started out 3-14 in 2012, but they stayed patient and were ultimately rewarded.”

Dodgers Sign Joe Thatcher To Minor-League Deal

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The Dodgers have signed lefty Joe Thatcher to a minor-league deal, SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo tweets. Thatcher is a client of Platinum Sports.

The Indians released Thatcher near the end of Spring Training. Last season, he got good results in the Astros’ bullpen, posting a 3.18 ERA, 10.3 K/9 and 4.8 BB/9 in 22 2/3 innings and 43 plate appearances. Nearly two-thirds of the batters he faced were lefties, who hit .245/.365/.321 off him. Never a hard thrower, Thatcher had the lowest velocity of his career in 2015, with his average fastball dropping to just 84.5 MPH. The 34-year-old has a career 3.38 ERA, 9.3 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in parts of nine big-league seasons, during which he’s appeared with the Padres, Diamondbacks and Angels as well as the Astros.

The Dodgers currently have J.P. Howell and Adam Liberatore as lefties in their bullpen, with Luis Avilan, Sean Burnett and Ian Thomas available with Triple-A Oklahoma City. After having had a few weeks off, Thatcher will likely need a bit of time to get himself established at Oklahoma City before emerging as a potential big-league option.

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