Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Twins Place Josh Donaldson On IL

By | at

The Twins have placed third baseman Josh Donaldson on the injured list with a strained right calf, Dan Hayes of The Athletic was among those to report. The move’s retroactive to Aug. 4, though it’s unclear how long Donaldson will take to recover.

Minnesota has gone all week without Donaldson, who suffered the injury July 31. It’s especially concerning when you consider that calf issues played a role in Donaldson’s limited 2018 between the Blue Jays and Indians. The former MVP returned to health and form a year ago as a Brave, though, and that was enough to convince a Twins club that hopes to push for a World Series title to sign him to a four-year, $92MM contract in free agency over the winter. The 34-year-old has since accumulated 27 plate appearances as a Twin and batted .182/.296/.318, though the team has still gotten off to a spectacular 10-3 start.

With Donaldson unavailable over the past several days, the Twins have turned to Marwin Gonzalez and Ehire Adrianza at the hot corner. Gonzalez has enjoyed a nice start, but Adrianza has begun poorly.

Royals Place Mike Montgomery On 45-Day IL

By | at

The Royals announced that they have moved left-hander Mike Montgomery and righty Glenn Sparkman from the 10-day injured list to the 45-day version. They also reinstated righty Chance Adams from the IL and optioned him to their alternate training site.

The most notable name here is Montgomery, who began the season in the Royals’ rotation before quickly succumbing to a lat strain. The 31-year-old has made made one start this year, back on July 27, but it didn’t go well. Montgomery lasted just two innings against the Tigers then and yielded five runs (three earned) on three hits. Considering Friday’s news, it’s unknown whether Montgomery will pitch again this season.

Montgomery’s best known as one of many 2016 heroes for the Cubs, as he saved their Game 7 World Series victory over the Indians that broke a 108-year championship drought. But Montgomery fell out of favor last season in Chicago, which dealt him to Kansas City for catcher Martin Maldonado with the trade deadline approaching.

During his second stint with the Royals, who first acquired him in Round 1 of the 2008 draft, Montgomery has put up a 4.91 ERA/5.33 FIP with 7.09 K/9, 2.86 BB/9 and a 51.7 percent groundball rate over 66 innings. Montgomery’s on a a prorated $3.1MM salary this year and has another season of arbitration eligibility left if the Royals choose to retain him on the heels of an injury-limited 2020.

George Springer Suffers Sprained Right Wrist

By | at

AUG. 7: Springer has a sprained wrist, manager Dusty Baker said Friday (via Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle).

AUG. 6: Astros outfielder George Springer departed the team’s loss to the Diamondbacks on Thursday with a right wrist strain, Jake Kaplan of The Athletic was among those to report. Fortunately, X-rays came back negative, so he shouldn’t sit out for a significant amount of time, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today.

Although Springer seems OK, even a few days off could be damaging to a Houston team that’s off to a 6-6 start. The reiging AL champions have already had to go without ace Justin Verlander and slugger Yordan Alvarez for most or all of the season because of health problems, and their bullpen has taken a beating from injuries. Those troubles have helped lead to an early 2 1/2-game deficit in the AL West, a division the Astros have won three years in a row. They’re now staring up at the Athletics.

Of course, a great deal of Houston’s recent success has been on account of Springer, who has slashed .269/.360/.488 with 163 home runs in 3,398 plate appearances since he debuted in 2014. He’s one of the premier pending free agents in baseball, and with such a short season, any missed time could hurt the 30-year-old’s earning power heading into the offseason.

The Astros replaced Springer with Myles Straw in center field on Thursday. Michael Brantley, Kyle Tucker and Josh Reddick represent the rest of the healthy outfielders on their roster.

Stephen Strasburg To Make 2020 Debut Sunday

By | at

Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg will make his 2020 debut Sunday against the Orioles, Jessica Camerato of MLB.com reports. Manager Dave Martinez indicated the Nationals are hopeful that Strasburg will give them 75 to 80 pitches in his first start of the season.

Strasburg has been on the shelf with a nerve issue in his right hand, which is certainly not the way he or the Nats expected him to begin the seven-year, $245MM contract they re-signed him to last offseason. Injuries have often been a problem for Strasburg, whose career began with great fanfare in 2010, but he stayed healthy in 2019 en route to a 209-inning campaign and a 3.32 ERA/3.25 FIP with 10.81 K/9 and 2.41 BB/9. He put the cherry on top with a marvelous playoff performance that concluded with a title for the team and a World Series MVP for himself.

This year’s Nationals have come out of the gates slowly at 4-5, but a few of the starters they’ve used – Max Scherzer, Patrick Corbin, Austin Voth and Erick Fedde – have done well to prevent runs. Scherzer left his start Wednesday with a hamstring injury, but the three-time Cy Young winner is optimistic he’ll make his scheduled start, per Camerato.

Reds Add 3 To Player Pool

By | at

The Reds have added left-hander Brandon Finnegan, infielder Rece Hinds and outfielder TJ Friedl to their 60-man player pool, Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer tweets. All three players will report to the team’s alternate site.

While he was formerly a high-end prospect whom the Reds acquired from the Royals in the teams’ 2015 Johnny Cueto blockbuster, Finnegan hasn’t made a major impact in the bigs. Finnegan threw 172 innings of 3.98 ERA ball as a Red in 2016, but injuries have helped cut him down since then. He threw just 33 2/3 innings from 2017-18 and then didn’t pitch at all in the majors last season. The Reds outrighted the 27-year-old back in April.

Both Hinds and Friedl rank among the Reds’ most promising farmhands, as MLB.com places the former ninth in their system and the latter 22nd. Hinds, just 19 years old, was a second-round pick in 2019 who took a mere 10 plate appearances in rookie ball last season because of a quad injury. The 24-year-old Friedl has topped out at Double-A, where he batted .257/.353/.372 with seven home runs in 565 trips to the plate from 2018-19.

Indians Hitting Coach Ty Van Burkleo Opts Out Of Season

By | at

Indians hitting coach Ty Van Burkleo has elected to opt out of the season over coronavirus concerns, Zack Meisel of The Athletic was among those to report. He’ll continue to assist the club remotely. Meanwhile, Alex Eckelman will join the big league staff to join Victor Rodriguez and Justin Toole as coaches who will work with the Indians’ hitters in person, Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com tweets.

Van Burkleo has been the hitting coach in Cleveland since before the 2013 season. While it’s difficult to quantify how much impact a coach can have on a team’s production, the team’s offense has generally been a strength since it hired Van Burkleo. The Indians are sixth in the majors in runs and ninth in wRC+ during his run on their staff.

Latest On Yordan Alvarez, Jose Urquidy

By | at

A litany of health problems have slowed the Astros, who have started 2020 an even 6-6 after winning the American League a year ago. Slugger and 2019 AL Rookie of the Year Yordan Alvarez is among the team’s most important players on the shelf, likely owing to a positive coronavirus test. Alvarez is taking batting practice and running, but manager Dusty Baker suggested a return is not imminent.

“The cavalry is a ways off,” Baker said of Alvarez and right-hander Jose Urquidy, who has also been on the IL for an undisclosed reason early this year, per Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle. Urquidy just began throwing off a mound.

The 23-year-old Alvarez was a critical piece of the puzzle for the Astros last season, when he slashed .313/.412/.655 with 27 home runs in 369 plate appearances. There’s obviously no realistic way to replace that type of production.

Urquidy, 25, didn’t star as a rookie last year, but he was impressive in his own right, as he amassed 41 innings of 3.95 ERA/3.68 FIP ball with 8.78 K/9 and 1.54 BB/9. The Astros, who are facing several injuries in their pitching staff, will welcome similar numbers this year if Urquidy is able to pitch.

Austin Pruitt is also among the wounded in Houston, and the club decided to transfer the righty to the 45-day IL because of an elbow ailment on Friday, Mark Berman of Fox 26 tweets. The move opened up space for just-acquired righty Chase De Jong in their 60-man player pool. Pruitt still hasn’t pitched for the Astros, who added him in an offseason trade with the Rays, and it remains very much in question whether he’ll take the mound at all this season.

Latest On Dylan Carlson

By | at

The Cardinals were a playoff team a season ago, but they’re off to a slow start in a coronavirus-delayed year and their offense has been lacking during their 2-3 opening. Top prospect Dylan Carlson may be able to help the Cards overcome their woes at the plate, but they’re not eager to promote the 21-year-old yet, according to manager Mike Shildt (via Benjamin Hochman of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch).

While St. Louis is “comfortable and confident what Dylan can do,” the club’s belief is that “there’s not a need for Dylan at the moment,” per Shildt. President of baseball operations John Mozeliak added the Cardinals aren’t ready to tab Carlson because he may not be in line for “a true opportunity” at his point.

The Cardinals have largely gone with a Tyler O’Neill–Harrison Bader–Dexter Fowler alignment in the outfield in the handful of games they’ve been able to play. Lane Thomas is also in the mix, though he has only totaled four plate appearances this year. O’Neill and Fowler have posted above-average production across larger sample sizes, but Bader has struggled. So has designated hitter Matt Carpenter, who’s in line for an infield role with shortstop Paul DeJong on the shelf because of a positive coronavirus test. There could be room for Carlson in the Cardinals’ lineup sometime soon, then, especially considering that promoting him wouldn’t burn a year of service time. However, it appears his first major league call-up will have to wait for at least a little while longer.

Whenever it arrives, Carlson’s MLB debut should draw plenty of attention. A former first-round pick (No. 33 in 2016), the switch-hitting Carlson has continued to boost his stock since the Cardinals added him to their system. Carlson raked between Double-A and Triple-A last year, when he slashed .292/.372/.542 with 62 extra-base hits (28 doubles, 26 home runs, eight triples) and 20 steals over 562 plate appearances, and brings experience at every outfield position.

Blue Jays Place Trent Thornton On IL

By | at

The Blue Jays have placed right-hander Trent Thornton on the injured list with elbow inflammation, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet reports. Thornton “felt kind of weird” when throwing a bullpen, but he’s not in line for an MRI at this point, per Nicholson-Smith.

Set to turn 27 years old next month, Thornton joined the Blue Jays in a trade with the Astros for infielder Aledmys Diaz in November 2018. Thornton wound up as one of the Blue Jays’ most relied-on starters in 2019, when he threw 154 1/3 innings and notched a 4.84 ERA/4.59 FIP with 8.69 K/9 and 3.56 BB/9. Prior to his IL placement this year, he made one appearance on July 27 and yielded one earned run on eight hits with three strikeouts and two walks across four innings in a win over the Nationals.

Victories have been in short supply for Toronto, which is off to a 4-6 start, and its rotation has been a mixed bag in the early going. Thornton, Tanner Roark and Nate Pearson have kept runs off the board at a good clip so far. That hasn’t been the case for Hyun Jin Ryu and Matt Shoemaker, but they’ve shown they’re capable major league starters. That’s especially true of Ryu, who was a star with the Dodgers in recent seasons. In his best Blue Jays performance to date, he tossed five shutout innings of one-hit ball in a win over the Braves on Wednesday.

Rays Place Yonny Chirinos On Injured List

By | at

The Rays have placed starter Yonny Chirinos on the injured list, retroactive to Aug. 3, with right triceps inflammation, Juan Toribio of MLB.com tweets. The team recalled fellow righty Trevor Richards from its alternate training site to take Chirinos’ place.

Fortunately, expectations are that Chirinos will not be on the IL for long, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. While Charlie Morton, Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow overshadow him in the Rays’ rotation, Chirinos has been an effective swingman for the club since he debuted in 2018. The 26-year-old has logged a 3.61 ERA/4.09 FIP with 7.61 K/9 and 2.21 BB/9 during his 231 2/3-inning career. He totaled 8 2/3 frames of one-earned run ball in two starts this season before landing on the IL.

Chirinos had been scheduled to start Saturday versus the Yankees, but it’s now unclear who will take the ball for the Rays then. Richards may be a candidate, though, as he combined for 48 starts as a Marlin and Ray from 2018-19. Although Richards was a passable starter in those seasons, he began this year in rough fashion. After Richards allowed six earned runs on 10 hits in 5 1/3 innings in two appearances, the Rays optioned him earlier this week.

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top