162 Games Of Shohei Ohtani
The Angels had far more important things on their mind Tuesday, a night in which they mourned the loss of friend and teammate Tyler Skaggs, but their game against the Rangers marked Shohei Ohtani‘s 162nd as a part of their offense. Injuries have prevented the two-way phenom from making a greater impact since he emigrated from Japan entering the 2018 season, but in the full season he has played, Ohtani has more than matched the overwhelming hype that accompanied his arrival.
Although there wasn’t much question Ohtani would turn into a front-line starter when he left his homeland for the majors, there was plenty of doubt regarding how well he’d fare as a hitter. It turns out Ohtani has made more of a mark on the offensive end to this point, though the fact that he underwent Tommy John surgery last October is partially the reason for that. The righty-throwing Ohtani accumulated only 51 2/3 and 10 starts in 2018, when he logged a terrific 3.31 ERA/3.57 FIP with 10.97 K/9 against 3.83 BB/9.
Ohtani’s pitching numbers will stay in place until he returns to the mound from his TJ procedure in 2020. That same surgery stopped Ohtani from making his 2019 debut as a hitter until May 7, but the DH has more than made up for lost time in the nearly two months since then.
The lefty-swinging Ohtani burst on the scene last year with a .285/.361/.564 line (152 wRC+) and 22 home runs in 367 plate appearances. Thanks to that and his output on the mound, Ohtani rightly took home American League Rookie of the Year honors. While Ohtani hasn’t been quite as strong this year on a rate basis, he has still been a premier hitter, evidenced by his 142 wRC+.
Across 195 trips to the plate, Ohtani has slashed .303/.359/.554 with 12 homers. Now, 162 games and 562 PA into his career as a major league batter, Ohtani owns a .291/.360/.561 slash – good for an exemplary 148 wRC+ – with 34 homers. His .269 isolated power ranks 10th in the majors since 2018, wedging him between the powerful duo of Khris Davis and Luke Voit. The speedy Ohtani has added 14 steals on 19 tries for good measure, giving him a 3.9 fWAR over a full season as a major league offensive player.
Ohtani was marvelous last year and has been again this season, though there are some differences in the way he has compiled his production. Ohtani’s pulling pitches less, hitting far more grounders and far fewer fly balls, all of which has led to a power decrease. He’s still formidable in that department, though. An uptick in line drives has helped Ohtani rank near the absolute top of the majors in expected slugging percentage (86th percentile), expected weighted on-base average (89th percentile), hard-hit percentage (94th percentile), expected batting average (95th percentile) and average exit velocity (99th percentile), according to Statcast. The difference between his .378 xwOBA and .382 wOBA, both of which rank in the top 40 among hitters with at least 150 PA, is negligible.
It’s unwise to draw conclusions from such a small sample, yet it’s worth noting the lefty-swinging Ohtani has been much better against same-handed pitchers than he was a year ago. As FanGraphs’ heat maps indicate (2018, 2019), Ohtani showed no power versus lefties when they threw pitches belt high or lower on the outer half last season. That hasn’t been the case at all this year, on the other hand. At the same time, he has taken tremendous steps forward against breaking pitches in general – after managing a .292/.300 wOBA/xwOBA versus such offerings in 2018, he’s up to .414/.363 a couple months into the current season. Ohtani has shown further growth as a hitter by chasing less outside the zone, swinging and missing at fewer pitches and making much more contact than he did during his rookie campaign.
There is room for improvement when it comes to plate discipline for Ohtani, whose K/BB ratio has hung around the league average in each of his two seasons. And he could have a difficult time continuing to uphold a .350 batting average, which he recorded last year and has again this season. However, as a fast runner who hits the ball hard and amasses a lot of grounders and liners, his skill set is conducive to a high BABIP.
Several months before Ohtani’s much-ballyhooed free-agent derby began, MLBTR contributor Chuck Wasserstrom surveyed scouts on what type of major league hitter he’d become. They didn’t forecast an elite-caliber offensive player, but that’s what Ohtani has been through his first full season at the plate. The fact that the two-way force hasn’t really begun to realize his potential as a pitcher is all the more thrilling for the Angels and all the more concerning for the rest of the league.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Athletics To Designate Aaron Brooks, Activate Blake Treinen
The Athletics are set to designate right-hander Aaron Brooks for assignment, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com was first to indicate (Twitter link). His 25-man roster spot will go to closer Blake Treinen, who’s set to return from a short stay on the injured list.
Brooks has been a regular for the A’s pitching staff this season, having amassed 50 1/3 innings in 15 appearances (six starts). However, the results have been underwhelming. Brooks has only managed a 5.01 ERA/5.67 FIP, in part because he has surrendered home runs on 19.4 percent of fly balls. On the other hand, the 29-year-old has logged decent overall strikeout and walk rates (7.69 K/9, 2.5 BB/9) and racked up almost a K per inning as a reliever.
Brooks is in his second stint with the Athletics, who acquired him from the Brewers last September in a minor trade. He was previously a member of the A’s in 2015 when they landed him and Sean Manaea from the Royals in a deal for Ben Zobrist. Brooks didn’t pitch for the A’s that year, though, and wound up going to the Cubs in a February 2016 trade for Chris Coghlan.
In a combined 111 career innings for the A’s, Royals and Cubs, Brooks has notched a 6.65 ERA/5.39 FIP with 6.81 K/9 and 2.68 BB/9.
Willie Calhoun Could Be Infield Possibility For Rangers
Willie Calhoun was primarily a second baseman during his days as a touted Dodgers prospect, but he has shifted to the outfield since the Rangers acquired him for Yu Darvish in 2017. Calhoun did man the keystone three times earlier this season in Triple-A ball, though, and now the Rangers are exploring using him in their infield, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports.
The 24-year-old Calhoun spent about 20 minutes working at second with infield coach Tony Beasley before the Rangers’ game against the Angels on Monday, according to Grant. Beasley wants it to become a regular occurrence for Calhoun, who Grant notes lost 30 pounds during the offseason and is now more equipped to line up in the infield. He could become an option at both second and third for the Rangers.
The way the slimmed-down Calhoun’s hitting, his bat will play at any position. It’s a small sample of 71 plate appearances, though Calhoun’s slashing a terrific .313/.352/.567 (134 wRC+) with four home runs in the majors this year. He has also raked in 2019 with Triple-A Nashville, having hit .302/.417/.540 (137 wRC+) with eight HRs in 152 tries.
For the most part, Calhoun has played left field for the playoff-contending Rangers. However, a healthy Rangers team has a vast selection of other outfield choices, including Joey Gallo, Nomar Mazara, Shin-Soo Choo, Hunter Pence (on the injured list at present), Danny Santana and Delino DeShields. Meanwhile, the Rangers haven’t gotten stellar overall production from second or third – two places they could potentially squeeze Calhoun’s bat into the lineup.
Second baseman Rougned Odor has posted cataclysmic numbers this year, though he has inched toward respectability of late (.746 OPS in June). The Rangers would have an easier time moving on from struggling third baseman Asdrubal Cabrera than Odor – something Grant raised as a possibility last week. Cabrera, whom the Rangers signed to a one-year, $3.5MM contract in free agency, has batted .228/.310/.406 (82 wRC+) with minus-5 Defensive Runs Saved over 287 PA. Fellow veteran Logan Forsythe has been the more productive of the two, but he stumbled to a single-digit wRC+ (9) in 57 PA last month.
Even if the Rangers don’t believe Calhoun’s ready for regular infield duty this year, it could become a possibility in 2020. Both Cabrera and Forsythe seem likely to be out of Texas by then, which will leave the Rangers looking for an answer at the hot corner.
Twins To Place Jake Odorizzi On Injured List
Twins All-Star right-hander Jake Odorizzi is headed to the injured list with a blister, Dan Hayes of The Athletic tweets. The issue should only shelve Odorizzi for one start, however. They’ll recall righty Zack Littell from Triple-A Rochester to take Odorizzi’s 25-man roster spot.
Odorizzi’s blister helped force him out of the Twins’ loss to the Athletics on Tuesday after he threw just three innings. He yielded six runs (five earned) on three hits, including two home runs, with three walks against two strikeouts. Odorizzi has now gone four outings in a row without posting a quality start, thereby raising his ERA from a near-spotless 1.92 on June 9 to 3.15 in less than a month.
Recent problems notwithstanding, this has been an impressive contract year for Odorizzi, who has helped pitch the Twins to a 53-31 record and a seven-game lead in the AL Central. The 29-year-old has capitalized on an increase in velocity to log a career-high 9.74 K/9 (against 3.05 BB/9) and a personal-best 3.59 FIP in 88 2/3 innings. While Odorizzi continues showing an aversion to grounders, he has largely avoided HRs. That hasn’t been the case during his recent slide, though, and now he’ll take a short breather.
Zack Wheeler Rumors: Yankees, Braves, Brewers
Trades between the Yankees and Mets have been rare during the crosstown rivals’ histories. The clubs have made just 15 deals since 1966, in fact, but we might see No. 16 this summer. With the starter-needy Yankees pushing for a World Series and the Mets looking like non-contenders, the New York franchises could come together on a trade for soon-to-be free-agent right-hander Zack Wheeler this month. The Yankees are already known to like Wheeler, and the Mets wouldn’t be averse to sending him to the Bronx, Andy Martino of SNY.tv says.
The Mets are more focused on getting the best offer for Wheeler than where they’d trade him. But the Yankees are sure to face plenty of competition for Wheeler if they do make an earnest attempt to pull him in before the July 31 deadline. Martino names Atlanta and Milwaukee as just a couple other teams with interest in the 29-year-old. The Brewers were “enamored” of Wheeler’s upside as recently as last offseason, per Marc Carig of The Athletic (subscription link).
The heat-throwing Wheeler put on a show for an array of scouts Tuesday when he handled, of all teams, the Yankees. Wheeler fanned eight over 6 1/3 innings, allowing two earned runs on five hits and a walk. He’s still running an uninspiring 4.42 ERA through 114 frames this season, up significantly from last year’s 3.31. It hasn’t helped that Wheeler has pitched in front of a dreadful defense, though, and the rest of his output is far more promising than his simple run prevention numbers. Wheeler has struck out 9.71 batters per nine while walking 2.53, giving him an outstanding 3.71 K/BB ratio. He’s also inducing grounders at a 45.3 percent clip and infield flies 14 percent of the time – the latter of which ranks 13th among qualified starters.
Adding to Wheeler’s appeal, he’s on a $5.975MM salary that every contender should be able to afford. It appears he’ll join Giants left-hander Madison Bumgarner as one of the top two rental starters available in July, barring a miraculous Mets turnaround. The Mets have won two in a row, though they’re still just 39-47 and six games out in a jam-packed National League playoff race. Assuming New York elects to sell, dealing Wheeler would give the team a chance to replenish its lackluster farm system to at least some degree. The Mets just may be able to do that at the Yankees’ expense.
Yangervis Solarte Will Reportedly Sign With Japanese Team
Veteran infielder/outfielder Yangervis Solarte is less than a month into his Marlins tenure, but it appears it’s already over. Solarte is set to sign with a Japanese team, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com reports. The minor league deal Solarte inked with the Marlins on June 7 gives him the right to pursue opportunities in Asia, per Frisaro.
Solarte caught on with Miami a couple weeks after San Francisco released him. The switch-hitting Solarte wound up slashing .314/.345/.451 (93 wRC+) with one home run in 55 plate appearances as a member of the Marlins’ Triple-A team in New Orleans.
Now 31 years old, Solarte has appeared in the majors with four different clubs – the Yankees, Padres and Blue Jays prior to the Giants – since debuting in 2014. While Solarte was a useful offensive contributor earlier in his career, his numbers have cratered over the past couple seasons. He struggled enough with the Jays in 2018 for them to non-tender him, and even though Solarte parlayed a minors pact with the Giants into a season-opening roster spot this year, his production worsened.
Dating back to 2018, Solarte has batted a dreary .224/.273/.370 (72 wRC+) with 18 home runs and minus-1.6 fWAR in 584 major league attempts. It now appears if Solarte’s ever going to resurface in the bigs, he’ll first have to revive his career in Japan.
MLB Draft Signings: 7/2/19
Here’s a look at the latest noteworthy draft signings, with the newest moves at the top of the post. Click here for the full list of slot values and draft pool bonuses, and you can find prospect rankings and scouting reports from Baseball America’s Top 500, Fangraphs’ Top 200, MLB.com’s Top 200, and the Top 50 of ESPN.com’s Keith Law….
- The Rockies have agreed to sign sign second-round right-hander Karl Kauffmann, Thomas Harding of MLB.com reports. Kauffmann’s pick (No. 77) came with an assigned slot value of $805,600, and that’s just what he’ll receive, per MLB.com’s Jim Callis (via Twitter). Callis and colleague Jonathan Mayo ranked the 21-year-old Kauffmann as the 110th-best player available entering the draft, crediting the ex-Michigan standout with “one of the livelier fastballs in the college ranks.” His fastball sits between 91 and 94 mph, though it’s capable of hitting 96, and he showed an ability to maintain his velocity deep in games with the Wolverines. Kauffmann complements his heater with a good changeup and an inconsistent slider, per Callis and Mayo, who write he possesses “a relatively high floor.”
Injury Notes: Carpenter, Hamels, Athletics, Pence
The Cardinals placed third baseman Matt Carpenter on the injured list Tuesday because of lower back spasms, per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. They recalled reliever John Brebbia from Triple-A Memphis to take Carpenter’s roster spot. Expectations are Carpenter will return July 12, the first game of the season’s second half, as Mark Saxon of The Athletic tweets. Injury aside, the normally excellent Carpenter is one of several Cardinals to come up short of expectations so far in 2019. The 33-year-old’s off to a .216/.325/.381 start (90 wRC+) with 10 home runs in 326 plate appearances, putting him on pace to fall way shy of last season’s 36-HR outburst. Carpenter hasn’t started since last Tuesday, which has left third base to Tommy Edman and Yairo Munoz over the past week.
Here’s more on a few other notable injury situations…
- The Cubs seem to have dodged a worst-case scenario with injured southpaw Cole Hamels, who suffered a strained left oblique last Friday. Manager Joe Maddon revealed Tuesday that Hamels is “feeling a lot better quicker than we anticipated,” adding the 35-year-old’s MRI delivered positive results (via Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times). However, there’s still no timetable for the return of Hamels, who has joined the just-returned Kyle Hendricks as one of the Cubs’ top two starters this season.
- A right knee sprain forced Athletics right fielder Stephen Piscotty to the IL last Sunday. While an MRI didn’t show a tear, Piscotty could still miss a month of action, according to manager Bob Melvin (via Martin Gallegos of MLB.com). Meanwhile, the Athletics finally activated catcher Chris Herrmann from the IL on Tuesday. Herrmann hasn’t gotten to play for the A’s yet since signing a one-year, $1MM deal with the team in the offseason, having undergone arthroscopic surgery on his right knee in early March. Oakland optioned fellow backstop Beau Taylor to Triple-A Las Vegas to clear a 25-man spot for Herrmann and moved injured catcher Nick Hundley to the 60-day IL to open up 40-man space.
- Rangers All-Star designated hitter/outfielder Hunter Pence suffered a setback during his minor league rehab game Monday, Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports. There’s no new injury for Pence, who has been out since June 17 with a right groin strain, though it’s now possible he won’t be healthy enough to participate in the All-Star Game. Manager Chris Woodward said Tuesday that Pence is unlikely to return until after the break, but he could still get an at-bat in the Midsummer Classic.
Dilson Herrera Opts Out Of Mets Contract
Infielder Dilson Herrera has opted out of his minor league contract with the Mets, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports. Herrera had been with the team since late November.
This ends Herrera’s second stint as a member of the Mets, who originally acquired him from the Pirates in a 2013 trade involving outfielder Marlon Byrd and catcher John Buck. Herrera was a well-regarded prospect at the time who continued climbing up lists after the deal, but shoulder problems stunted his development and hastened his departure from the Mets. They traded Herrera to the Reds for outfielder Jay Bruce in August 2016, after the former had collected just 169 plate appearances in a New York uniform.
Herrera was a member of the Cincinnati organization until rejoining the Mets last winter. He only collected 97 trips to the plate as a Red, all last season, and owns a .203/.293/.394 line with a 91 wRC+ and 11 home runs in 266 major league attempts. The 25-year-old has been much more productive in Triple-A ball, where he has slashed .285/.350/.477 with 57 HRs in 1,561 attempts. Herrera added 17 of those homers this year as a member of the the Mets’ top affiliate in Syracuse and batted .258/.355/.566 (126 wRC+) in 256 PA.
The Surprisingly Disappointing Paul Goldschmidt
There haven’t been many better major leaguers than first baseman Paul Goldschmidt since he made his debut with the Diamondbacks in 2011. From Goldschmidt’s first big league at-bat through last season, he slashed .297/.398/.532 with 209 home runs in 4,708 plate appearances and showed off rare athleticism for his position, adding 124 stolen bases. During his first seven-plus years in the bigs, Goldschmidt tied for sixth in wRC+ (144) and ranked ninth in fWAR (36.2). Goldschmidt did a large portion of that damage on a sweetheart contract for Arizona, which signed him to a five-year, $32MM guarantee entering 2013. When the club made that commitment to Goldschmidt, he was about to begin his first of six straight All-Star seasons.
With Goldschmidt on the brink of a contract year in 2019, he understandably wasn’t going to take a discount this time. And the Diamondbacks weren’t willing to splurge on Goldschmidt, even though he’s a franchise icon, prior to his age-31 season. As a result, the Diamondbacks made the difficult decision to trade Goldschmidt to the Cardinals last December for three players – right-hander Luke Weaver, catcher Carson Kelly and infielder Andy Young – as well as a draft pick after Competitive Balance Round B. It looked like a solid haul at the time for one year of Goldschmidt, and indeed, Weaver and Kelly have impressed this year in the desert.
The Cardinals, who missed the playoffs in each of the previous three years, thought the Goldschmidt acquisition would inject new life into their lineup. The team was thrilled to reel in Goldschmidt, who finally got his enormous payday with a five-year, $130MM extension on the cusp of the season. So far, though, it hasn’t looked like a great allocation of funds. Goldschmidt has underwhelmed enough that he won’t be an All-Star this year, and the Redbirds have consistently taken one step forward and another back en route to a 41-41 record.
St. Louis’ offense ranks 21st in the majors in both runs and and wRC+. After adding one of the premier hitters of the past decade, the club expected much better. Goldschmidt hasn’t done a lot to help matters with his .246/.336/.405 line and 98 wRC+ through 352 plate appearances. While Goldschmidt has slugged 14 home runs, three came in the Cardinals’ second game of the season, when it looked like the start of an ideal match between him and the team.
On its surface, Goldschmidt’s middling production doesn’t mean this is the beginning of the end of an illustrious career. Just last year, he struggled through May before going on a three-month tear to restore his numbers. That said, it would be reasonable to sound some concern over Goldschmidt’s issues this year.
While Goldschmidt put up an expected weighted on-base average of .367 to .404 from 2015-18 – the first four seasons of the Statcast era – he’s down to .343 in that category this season. Granted, that’s definitely not awful – it ranks in the league’s 62nd percentile – though it’s not befitting of the superstar we’ve grown accustomed to watching. Moreover, a high batting average has always been a calling card for Goldschmidt, who’s a lifetime .294 hitter in part because he has registered a .351 BABIP in the majors. Goldschmidt’s BABIP this season has dropped to .302, which could be a sign of bad luck on its face, yet there’s almost no gap between his .246 average/.248 expected BA in 2019. He’s also walking less than he has since 2011, albeit at a still-solid 11.4 percent clip, while chasing more out-of-zone pitches than ever and making less in-zone contact than he has in any season but his rookie introduction.
Less contact on strikes has led to less power for Goldschmidt, who has limped to a .159 ISO thus far. That’s a 75-point drop in comparison to 2011-18 (.234) and a below-average mark relative to the league (.180). Going back to 2018, Goldschmidt showed power all over the strike zone, including on the inner and outer halves of the plate. This year, though, those pitches have largely thrown him for a loop.
When Goldschmidt has gotten on base this season, his long-established ability to steal has been nonexistent. Goldschmidt has swiped at least 15 bags in five seasons, though that number dipped to seven last year and has fallen to zero in 2019. He has only attempted to steal once, in fact, likely because his top speed has waned. Goldschmidt’s sprint speed has gradually come down in recent years and only ranks in the game’s 37th percentile, per Statcast.
Three months into Goldschmidt’s Cardinals career, it’s much too soon to say this type of production is his new normal. Frankly, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Goldschmidt go on a vintage run in the coming months. Considering the Cardinals’ place in this year’s NL postseason chase, not to mention the $22MM per annum they owe Goldschmidt through 2024, they need a rebound from their franchise player sooner than later.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.