Brewers Place Jhoulys Chacin On 10-Day Injured List
TODAY: The Brewers have officially announced Chacin’s IL placement. A corresponding move will be announced tomorrow.
YESTERDAY: Brewers right-hander Jhoulys Chacin is on his way to the 10-day injured list with an oblique strain, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel tweets. It’ll be the second IL stint of 2019 for Chacin, who previously missed time with a lower back strain.
When healthy, the 31-year-old Chacin has been a major disappointment for the reigning NL Central champion Brewers, which is one of the reasons why they’re out of a playoff spot right now. At 54-50, they’re two games behind the division-leading Cubs and one back of the NL’s second wild-card spot. Chacin helped guide the Brewers to a playoff spot a year ago, but he has pitched to a woeful 5.79 ERA/5.70 FIP with 8.12 K/9, 3.96 BB/9 and a 37.4 percent groundball rate in 88 2/3 innings this season.
Chacin’s struggles are among the reasons Milwaukee’s a prime candidate to acquire rotation help in advance of the July 31 trade deadline. General manager David Stearns downplayed the possibility Tuesday, but the Brewers are now without two starters in Chacin and their No. 1, Brandon Woodruff. Worsening the Brewers’ situation, their main healthy options – Zach Davies, Chase Anderson and Gio Gonzalez – don’t inspire a great deal of confidence.
Alex Wood Scheduled For Season Debut On Sunday
TODAY: Wood is scheduled to start Sunday’s game against the Rockies, the Reds announced (Twitter link).
TUESDAY: Rehabbing Reds left-hander Alex Wood finally looks to be nearing his 2019 major league debut, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com writes. Barring setbacks, Wood – who began a 30-day rehab stint July 6 – figures to join the Reds sometime in the next two weeks.
The 28-year-old Wood, out all season with back spasms, created plenty of optimism during a rehab start Monday with Double-A Chattanooga. It was the fourth minor league start of 2019 for Wood, who threw six innings and 85 pitches of one-run ball. Reds manager David Bell was encouraged afterward, saying: “Excellent reports. He was really good. He felt great. He pitched really well, was really sharp. Everything was positive.”
Bell likely thought he’d be gushing over Wood all season, as the hurler was one of the Reds’ key pickups during the winter. He came aboard in a noteworthy December trade with the Dodgers that also delivered Yasiel Puig, Kyle Farmer and the now-unemployed Matt Kemp to Cincinnati. Wood was then coming off an eminently productive three-plus-year run in LA, with which he put up a 3.46 ERA/3.50 FIP, 8.3 K/9, 2.5 BB/9 and a 52.1 percent groundball rate over 434 2/3 innings.
In light of what Wood accomplished as a Dodger, the Reds were banking on him to help fix what had been a terrible rotation. Even without Wood, though, the Reds’ starting staff has taken enormous steps forward this season. Luis Castillo has turned into a front-line performer, offseason additions Sonny Gray and Tanner Roark have met or exceeded expectations, and Tyler Mahle and Anthony DeSclafani have been fine in complementary roles.
Despite the vast improvement of their rotation, the long-suffering Reds possess the NL’s fourth-worst record (45-53, putting them 6 1/2 back of a playoff spot). Whether the team will sell at the July 31 trade deadline is unknown, but it’s clear the pending free agent Wood won’t be among its trade chips. However, it does appear that Wood will have around two months to showcase himself to Cincy and the rest of the league before a scheduled trip to the open market.
Yankees Rumors: Bauer, Bumgarner, Syndergaard, Wheeler
The Yankees and Twins, two American League powers, staged a memorable three-game battle in Minnesota this week. This round went to the Yankees, who took two of three in an offense-driven set that saw the Bombers live up to their name in outscoring the Twins 30-27.
While the Yankees are now a major league-best 66-35, they’re surely not thrilled with the way their somewhat maligned pitching staff performed against the high-powered Twins. Starters C.C. Sabathia, Domingo German and J.A. Happ were among Yankees hurlers who took beatings, which could intensify the club’s efforts to improve its rotation before the July 31 trade deadline. That remains general manager Brian Cashman’s primary focus, according to Bryan Hoch of MLB.com.
Over the past several weeks, the Yankees have been connected to just about every top starter potentially available – including the Indians’ Trevor Bauer, the Giants’ Madison Bumgarner, and the Mets’ Noah Syndergaard and Zack Wheeler.
Bauer is near the top of the Yankees’ wish list, per Hoch, who reports they “would love” to see Cleveland make him available. Indians general manager Mike Chernoff seemingly hasn’t closed the door on a Bauer trade, but parting with him would be an unexpected move from a Tribe team that has overcome a difficult start to climb into playoff position. The Indians are 59-42, two games up on the AL’s No. 1 wild-card spot and just two back of the Twins, thanks in part to Bauer. The 28-year-old has racked up a major league-high 152 1/3 innings of 3.49 ERA/4.19 FIP pitching with 10.58 K/9 against 3.49 BB/9.
Like Bauer, Bumgarner’s perhaps an indispensable piece to a team that has emerged as a playoff hopeful. Bumgarner looked like a surefire trade candidate all season until the red-hot Giants won 17 of 21 in recent weeks. They’re currently 52-51 and three back of a wild card. The future of Bumgarner, a Giants icon, looks much more up in the air as a result. Regardless, it doesn’t seem as if Bumgarner – who has the Yankees on his limited no-trade list – is New York’s preferred choice. “Yankees people are said to be less enthused with” Bumgarner than Bauer, Hoch writes.
Meanwhile, Hoch relays that the belief is the Mets are uninterested in dealing with the crosstown rival Yankees at all, no matter what they might offer for Syndergaard or Wheeler. That would be unfortunate for the Yankees, who may be the team with the most interest in Syndergaard and would reportedly be willing to trade their premier prospect, Deivi Garcia, for him. As a soon-to-be free agent who’s about to return from a multi-week absence stemming from a shoulder injury, Wheeler has far less trade value than Syndergaard. Andy Martino of SNY reported three weeks ago that the Mets were open to sending Wheeler – then healthy – to the Bronx, but that might not be the case after all.
Even if the Yankees don’t end up with Bauer, Bumgarner, Syndergaard or Wheeler, they do seem likely to strengthen their rotation this month. After Minnesota shredded its staff this week, New York’s starters rank a middling to worse 15th in ERA, 16th in fWAR and 21st in FIP. Nobody from the group has produced truly great numbers, either. Masahiro Tanaka, James Paxton and German have posted low-four ERAs with aligning peripherals, while Sabathia and Happ have performed like back-end options at best.
One would be remiss to ignore that the Yankees have gone without their ace – Luis Severino – all season because of shoulder and lat injuries. While the Yankees are hopeful the star righty will return in mid to late August, which could provide an enormous boost, it’s unknown whether Severino will be able to go full bore at any point this year. Cashman suggested two weeks ago that Severino could max out at 75 pitches or even work as a reliever. Severino’s ongoing absence has thrown a massive wrench in the Yankees’ plans this year, and it could have a big hand in the club landing an outside starter.
Quick Hits: Dodgers, Giants, Cubs, Sogard, Yanks, White Sox
As was the case a couple weeks ago, the Dodgers are “quite interested” in multiple Giants relievers, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets. Jon Morosi of MLB.com reported July 10 that Will Smith, Sam Dyson, Tony Watson and Reyes Moronta were on the Dodgers’ radar. At that point, San Francisco owned a 41-48 record and looked as if it was sure to sell prior to the trade deadline. However, the Giants were in the early stages of an out-of-nowhere tear that has continued, putting them at 52-51 and calling into question whether they’ll trade any of their top chips in the next week. Even if they do, there’s no guarantee the Giants will deal with the archrival Dodgers, despite the connection between SF president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi and LA president Andrew Friedman. Zaidi was Friedman’s top lieutenant with the Dodgers from 2014-18.
More from around the game…
- The Blue Jays’ Eric Sogard is on the Cubs’ radar with the deadline approaching, but it’s not the first time Chicago has eyed the infielder. The Cubs’ interest in Sogard dates back to the offseason, Jesse Rogers of ESPNChicago.com reports. Back then, the 33-year-old Sogard had to settle for a minor league contract with Toronto after a rough season in Milwaukee. It’ll go down as an excellent low-risk pickup by the Blue Jays, who will almost surely flip Sogard for some kind of return by July 31. With a .299/.363/.480 line and 10 home runs in 317 plate appearances, Sogard’s enjoying a career year. His production’s probably not sustainable, but that won’t stop the Jays from finding a trade partner.
- Injured Yankees outfielder Cameron Maybin began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Tuesday, per George A. King III of the New York Post. Barring setbacks, Maybin could return from his month-plus absence next week. The 32-year-old journeyman had been amid a dream season before suffering a left calf strain June 21. His .314/.391/.500 slash with five homers in 133 PA helped make up for injuries to big-hitting Yankees outfielders Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. Judge returned just as Maybin went down, while Stanton headed back to the shelf after briefly gracing the Yankees’ lineup last month. Assuming Maybin does come off the IL soon, the optionable Mike Tauchman seems likely to go back to the minors. That would be a tough break for Tauchman, who has joined Maybin in posting surprisingly impressive numbers this year.
- The White Sox have shifted Nick Hostetler from amateur scouting director to special assistant to GM Rick Hahn, the team announced (via Lamond Pope of the Chicago Tribune). Hostetler will focus on pro scouting in his new role. He had been in his prior job since August 2015, meaning he was influential in the drafting of recent first-round picks and current top 100 prospects Nick Madrigal and Andrew Vaughn. As Pope points out, 12 of the White Sox’s preseason top 20 prospects at MLB.com entered the organization during Hostetler’s amateur scouting reign. They’re now looking for someone to fill his former position.
Ivan Nova: Trade Candidate?
This has been a season to forget for veteran right-hander Ivan Nova, whom the White Sox acquired from the Pirates last winter to competently soak up innings. It wasn’t an unreasonable expectation on Chicago’s part that Nova would provide its rotation with some much-needed stability. After all, Nova was coming off three straight seasons in which he amassed 160-plus frames and recorded an ERA in the low fours. That type of production would’ve been welcome for this year’s White Sox, who have gotten very little from any starter except Lucas Giolito. That includes the 32-year-old Nova, their leader in starts (21) and innings (119 2/3).
Even after firing a one-run complete game against the Marlins on Monday, Nova has only managed a 5.49 ERA/5.34 FIP this season. And yet, despite the immense difficulties Nova has encountered in 2019, he seems to be garnering interest from elsewhere with the trade deadline a week away. “Many scouts” have been “looking at” the struggling Nova, according to Joe Frisaro of MLB.com, while Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times also identifies him as a potential trade chip.
When it comes to starters, pitchers the caliber of Madison Bumgarner, Trevor Bauer and Marcus Stroman tend to monopolize the headlines at this time of year. Back-end innings eaters do have value to teams pushing for playoff spots, though, which could make Nova movable for the White Sox. The problem is that the 2019 version of Nova hasn’t fit the bill. Even looking past Nova’s shoddy run prevention, there isn’t much to like aside from a low walk rate (2.33 BB/9) and a solid groundball percentage (47.0). His home run-to-fly ball rate, 19.5, ranks fifth worst among 75 qualified starters. His strikeout rate, 5.79 per nine, sits third from the bottom. Furthermore, just 14 starters have posted a worse swinging-strike rate (9.0 percent).
Statcast doesn’t care for the Chicago iteration of Nova, either. In fact, he doesn’t check in any better than the majors’ 37th percentile in mean fastball velocity (92.3 mph), strikeout percentage, exit velocity, hard-hit rate against, expected batting average, expected slugging percentage or expected weighted on-base average. While Nova’s .357 xwOBA is better than the J.D. Martinez-esque .370 real wOBA that hitters have pummeled him for, it’s not by much.
Based on what Nova has done this year, the soon-to-be free agent doesn’t appear capable of boosting anyone’s rotation down the stretch. But could he aid a team in a relief role? It doesn’t look like it. Batters have smacked Nova for a .361 wOBA the first time through the order, with righties (.367) and lefties (.365) abusing him to near-matching degrees. Nova also isn’t cheap – he’s making $8.5MM, roughly $3MM of which is still on the way – so Chicago will likely have to eat most or all of his salary to have any hope of dealing him. Even if the White Sox do that, they may have trouble finding a taker.
Latest On Braves’ Jacob Webb
Atlanta’s bullpen is one of the few legitimate areas of concern for the first-place club as the July 31 trade deadline approaches. The Braves, cognizant they’re in need of upgrades, have been connected to Blue Jays closer Ken Giles, Orioles right-hander Mychal Givens and multiple White Sox relievers on the rumor mill in recent days, and there are likely more late-game arms on the team’s radar.
The Braves are in search of help because they haven’t gotten nearly enough from the majority of their current options. Of their healthy arms, only Luke Jackson, Anthony Swarzak and Sean Newcomb have posted high-quality numbers over at least 20 innings of work apiece. Right-hander Jacob Webb has also been eminently productive, having notched a tremendous 1.39 ERA through 32 1/3 frames, but the 25-year-old rookie hasn’t been a factor in recent weeks. Webb has totaled a mere three innings this month and hasn’t pitched since July 12 on account of an elbow impingement, and it doesn’t appear he’ll return to the Braves’ bullpen in the immediate future. Manager Brian Snitker indicated Wednesday that Webb’s set to miss “at least a couple more weeks,” Mark Bowman of MLB.com writes.
The latest news on Webb could further galvanize the Braves to bolster their bullpen in the next week. However, they’d have likely tried to do so even had he stayed healthy. The Braves are atop the NL East East at 60-43, meaning they don’t have to pick up anyone, but their lead has dwindled to 4 1/2 over the Nationals – whom they play 10 more times. Three of those games will take place next week, but the Braves won’t have Webb available for any of them.
Depending on the stats you look at, Webb may have been either supremely lucky or just flat-out excellent prior to landing on the IL. ERA indicators FIP (4.31), xFIP (5.14) and SIERA (4.54) suggest Webb has no business sporting such a pristine ERA, and his strikeout, walk and groundball rates (7.79 K/9, 3.34 BB/9, 38.2 GB%) also paint a somewhat gloomy picture.
On the other hand, the hard-throwing Webb has been a wiz at preventing meaningful contact this season. Among 168 relievers who have thrown at least 30 innings, Webb checks in at 17th in infield fly percentage (17.5). He also ranks near the top of the league in several Statcast categories, including expected weighted on-base average against. Hitters have mustered a weak .287 wOBA off Webb, which aligns with an even better .281 xwOBA. Webb’s first among Braves relievers in the former category, while only Jackson has outdone him in the latter.
Interest In Nomar Mazara Reportedly “Picking Up”
There was considerable hype surrounding outfielder Nomar Mazara when the Rangers promoted him to the majors in 2016. Mazara was one of baseball’s elite prospects at the time, but three-plus years later, he hasn’t lived up to the billing. While Mazara is now seemingly falling out of favor with the Texas organization, he remains intriguing to other franchises. With the July 31 trade deadline just a week away, interest in Mazara “is picking up,” specifically from teams that could be contenders in 2020, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News writes.
Although Mazara’s well into his major league career, he’s still just 24 years old. He’s also making a fair $3.3MM salary now and under control through 2021 via arbitration. That’s the good. The bad: Mazara’s more a big name than a big producer at this point.
Mazara smacked 20 home runs in each of the previous three seasons and has totaled 12 this year, but his overall numbers are lackluster. Mazara entered the year a .258/.320/.425 hitter with a subpar 92 wRC+ and just 1.5 fWAR across 1,720 plate appearances. His output this season has been even worse. Through 381 trips to the plate, Mazara has slashed .255/.307/.438 (86 wRC+) and accounted for a replacement-level fWAR (0.0). Southpaws flummoxed the left-handed Mazara during the prior three seasons, which has again been the case in 2019. They’ve held him to a horrific .200/.231/.345 line with 30 strikeouts against four walks thus far.
Not only has Mazara come up short in the batter’s box, but he has left something to be desired as a defender. In almost 4,000 innings of work as an outfielder, Mazara has totaled minus-20 Defensive Runs Saved, though his minus-2.3 Ultimate Zone Rating hasn’t been nearly as woeful. He’s at minus-5 and minus-1.9 in those categories this season, adding a more respectable minus-1 in Statcast’s Outs Above Average metric.
Statcast is also more bullish on Mazara as a hitter. For one, Mazara’s .340 expected weighted on-base average far outpaces his .314 real wOBA. He also ranks either a bit or well above average in hard-hit percentage, expected batting average and expected slugging percentage. But that may not be of much consolation to the Rangers, who have time and again seen Mazara fail to meet expectations over the years. And now that the slumping Rangers are falling out of playoff contention, they could deem Mazara expendable in the coming days.
Caleb Smith Drawing Interest
Marlins left-hander Caleb Smith is generating interest as the July 31 trade deadline nears, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com tweets.
It’s no surprise there are teams eyeing the controllable, effective Smith, but whether the Marins are open to dealing him is in question. Frisaro reported a month ago that the Marlins aren’t willing to give up Smith, who has been one of the few hugely successful trade additions they’ve acquired since Bruce Sherman and Derek Jeter bought the franchise late in the 2017 season.
Smith, like Jeter, joined the Marlins after a run with the Yankees. The 27-year-old hurler threw 77 1/3 effective innings with the Marlins a season ago and has been even more impressive in 2019. Across 90 frames, Smith has recorded a 3.30 ERA/4.13 FIP with 11.0 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9. While Smith’s 28 percent groundball rate ranks last among those who have thrown at least 90 innings this season, the home run ball hasn’t crushed him to this point. Smith has surrendered HRs on 15.2 percent of fly balls, which is below average but not ruinous.
Smith doesn’t throw particularly hard, evidenced by his 92.1 mph average, but hitters have nonetheless had difficulty squaring up against him. According to Statcast, Smith ranks in the 70th percentile or better in expected weighted on-base average against, exit velocity, fastball spin, expected batting average and strikeout rate. If that’s not appealing enough, Smith’s making what amounts to a minimum salary this season and won’t be eligible for arbitration until after the 2020 campaign.
All things considered, Miami would be within reason to request a ransom for Smith. However, assuming the Marlins haven’t changed their minds over the past month, they seem inclined to keep him.
Rangers Likely To Place Joey Gallo On IL
Rangers outfielder Joey Gallo‘s right wrist injury is “likely” to lead to a stint on the IL, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports. The extent of the injury isn’t yet clear, but there’s concern within the team that Gallo fractured the hamate bone in his hand, per Grant. If so, he’ll need surgery.
Already amid a tailspin, a significant injury to their best player is the last thing the Rangers need. The club has surprisingly been in the playoff hunt for most of the season, but after losing nine of 10, it’s at .500 (51-51) and 6 1/2 games out of a playoff spot.
The fact that Texas has been in the hunt for most of the year is a tribute to Gallo, who has been one of the majors’ top players in 2019. Gallo missed time earlier in the season because of an oblique injury, but he has still slashed .253/.389/.598 (146 wRC+) with 22 home runs in 297 plate appearances. Factoring in his work in the field (4 Defensive Runs Saves, 5.5 Ultimate Zone Rating), Gallo has posted a career-high 3.3 fWAR.
If Gallo heads to the IL for the second time this year, the Rangers will recall Willie Calhoun from Triple-A Nashville to replace him, according to Grant. The Rangers demoted Calhoun a week ago, to his chagrin.
Does Brandon Woodruff’s Injury Affect Brewers’ Deadline Plans?
The Brewers will go without their best starter, Brandon Woodruff, for approximately six weeks after he suffered an oblique strain Sunday. Woodruff’s absence could make it all the more imperative for the Brewers to add a starter before the July 31 trade deadline, but general manager David Stearns conveyed a lack of urgency on the matter Tuesday.
Asked if the Brewers now feel more pressure to address their rotation, Stearns said (via Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel): “I don’t know that we can let his temporary absence impact how we manage the deadline. I have found that potential acquisition costs generally dictate what is reasonable and what is not.”
With only about nine weeks left in the regular season, it’s probably not reassuring to Brewers fans to hear their GM brush off Woodruff’s absence as “temporary.” Even before the emergent right-hander went down, there was a strong case Milwaukee needed to pick up another starter prior to the end of the month. For what it’s worth, the team did reportedly show interest in the Mets’ Noah Syndergaard–Zack Wheeler duo (links here) and the Giants’ Madison Bumgarner (link) back when Woodruff was healthy.
As for the Brewers’ current options, Zach Davies has prevented runs to an impressive degree, but his peripherals don’t inspire nearly as much confidence. Chase Anderson has turned in fine results, though he has only completed six innings in one start. Jhoulys Chacin‘s season has been calamitous. Gio Gonzalez just returned from an almost two-month absence because of a dead arm, and has only averaged five frames per outing when he has taken the ball. Adrian Houser had been in the rotation out of desperation before Gonzalez came back last weekend, but the production he has posted as a starter and reliever indicates he’s much better off in a bullpen role.
The flaws in the Brewers’ rotation have helped lead to several weeks of underwhelming play from the club, though it’s still smack dab in the playoff hunt. With a 53-46 record, the reigning NL Central champions are two games behind the division-leading Cubs and 1 1/2 out of a wild-card spot. Of course, it would have been a challenge for the Brewers to clinch their second straight playoff berth for the first time since 1982 even if Woodruff had avoided the IL. Now, if the team doesn’t adequately replace Woodruff in the next week, its chances of fading from the race seem likely to increase.