Joe Panik Undergoes Thumb Surgery
TODAY: Panik has indeed undergone the procedure, as Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area was among those to tweet.
YESTERDAY: There’s a “good chance” Giants second baseman Joe Panik will need to undergo surgery on his injured left thumb, manager Bruce Bochy told Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports California and other reporters Sunday (Twitter link). Panik still has to see a specialist in Los Angeles, but if he does go under the knife, it would likely keep him out six to eight weeks, per Pavlovic.
While Panik certainly isn’t an elite second baseman, his absence would rob the Giants of a quality player and likely damage their already slim playoff chances. The club, which placed Panik on the disabled list on Saturday, is off to a 13-14 start and currently sits 6.5 games behind the NL West-leading Diamondbacks. Panik has been his usual solid self, though, having batted .267/.323/.389 (102 wRC+) with a major league-leading 92.4 percent contact rate across his first 100 plate appearances of the year.
The Giants will continue with Kelby Tomlinson and Alen Hanson as their top second base options in Panik’s absence, Pavlovic suggests. San Francisco also has Josh Rutledge in the fold in Triple-A, though he’s not on its 40-man roster.
D-Backs Place Robbie Ray On 10-Day DL With Strained Oblique
TODAY: Ray has officially been placed on the 10-day DL, per a club announcement. Reliever Silvino Bracho has been called up to replace him on the active roster.
The diagnosis is a grade two strain for Ray, as Zach Buchanan of The Athletic was among those to tweet. There’s still quite a lot of potential variability in the amount of time Ray could miss, but that portends a fairly lengthy stint on ice. Southpaw starter Tyler Skaggs, for instance, suffered a similar injury almost exactly one year ago, and did not return until early August of 2017.
YESTERDAY: Diamondbacks left-hander Robbie Ray departed his start against the Nationals on Sunday with a strained right oblique, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic was among those to report. Ray exited after 1 1/3 innings and 21 pitches.
Given what we know about oblique strains, it seems like a strong bet that Ray will head to the disabled list in short order. It’s unclear how much time he’ll miss, though this injury often sidelines players for several weeks. As Zach Buchanan of The Athletic notes, Diamondbacks reliever Randall Delgado has been out since the beginning of spring training with an oblique strain.
An extended absence for Ray would leave the D-backs without two members of their season-opening rotation, as righty Taijuan Walker recently succumbed to an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery. While Ray’s injury isn’t nearly that catastrophic, it may nonetheless deprive the D-backs of one of the game’s premier strikeout artists for a while. The 26-year-old has averaged a ridiculous 14.64 strikeouts per nine across 26 1/3 innings this season, though he has somewhat offset that with an untenable walk rate (5.53 BB/9). Ray has also induced grounders at only a 32.2 percent clip, which has helped lead to a high home run-to-fly ball rate (19.2 percent) and a bloated ERA (4.88). He managed a stingy 2.89 ERA over 162 innings last year, when his walk, grounder and homer numbers were significantly better.
Even though Ray’s run prevention hasn’t been in top form yet, the D-backs still managed to win four of his five starts prior to Sunday. After unexpectedly clinching a playoff spot last year, Arizona has raced to a 19-7 mark and a five-game lead in the NL West early in 2018. But the Diamondbacks’ starting depth, which was a question mark entering the season, is being put to the test.
Should Ray miss time, the D-backs could turn to either Braden Shipley or Troy Scribner – two Triple-A hurlers on their 40-man roster – to join Zack Greinke, Zack Godley, Patrick Corbin and Matt Koch in their rotation. The club doesn’t have any other healthy depth starters on its 40-man, though veteran Kris Medlen is on hand at Triple-A. Medlen hasn’t been effective this year, however, with a 6.00 ERA/5.91 FIP in 18 innings (four starts).
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Hoskins, Rockies, Moncada, Yanks, Bumgarner, Machado
This week in baseball blogs…
- Clubhouse Corner chats with Phillies slugger Rhys Hoskins about his position change and hitting approach.
- SportsTalkPhilly.com takes a look at Hoskins’ early career excellence.
- Rox Pile interviews Rockies manager Bud Black, reliever Jake McGee and center fielder Charlie Blackmon about the importance of the inside pitch.
- The Loop Sports regards young White Sox second baseman Yoan Moncada as must-see TV.
- Bronx Bomber Ball argues that the Yankees should try to acquire Giants ace Madison Bumgarner over the summer.
- MLB & Fantasy Baseball Analyzed lists potential trade destinations for Manny Machado.
- STL Hat Trick is cautiously optimistic about Cards shortstop Paul DeJong.
- The Point of Pittsburgh breaks down all the potential obstacles that Jung Ho Kang has to overcome before returning to the majors.
- Chin Music Baseball points to Sean Manaea‘s improved control as a reason for his terrific start to 2018.
- Know Hitter opines that the Tigers are amid a best-case scenario start.
- Underthought details the effect one hot day at the plate can have on the the April leaderboards.
- Blue Jays Beat delves into catcher Luke Maile‘s hot offensive start.
- Rising Apple names four Mets who won’t be members of the team in 2019.
- The 3rd Man In profiles and interviews potential first-round pick Tristan Pompey, brother of Dalton Pompey.
- Notes from the Sally scouts Royals first base prospect Nick Pratto.
- The First Out At Third examines Eric Thames‘ April prowess.
- A’s Farm talks to Oakland shortstop prospect Nick Allen.
- East Village Times evaluates Padres GM A.J. Preller.
- Locked On Pirates lays out how Bucs third baseman Colin Moran has fared against the fastball, changeup and curveball.
- Call to the Pen looks at some Phillies who could be either key cogs or placeholders.
- Everything Bluebirds explains how Teoscar Hernandez‘s success changes the Blue Jays’ outfield situation.
- 216Stitches (podcast) discusses the early season performances of Miles Mikolas, Jordan Hicks, Nick Pivetta and Jarlin Garcia.
- Mets Daddy breaks down the club’s in-house first base options with Adrian Gonzalez struggling.
- The Sports Tank checks in on baseball’s worst teams.
- Camden Depot notes that the Orioles haven’t really benefited from the Rule 5 draft.
- Jays Journal talks with Toronto pitching prospect Patrick Murphy.
- The Runner Sports (links: 1, 2, 3) wonders how the Yankees will dole out playing time at first when Greg Bird returns, ranks the members of the Twins’ struggling bullpen, and profiles towering Astros prospect Taylor Jones.
- Friars On Base provides major league ETAs for some of the Padres’ prospects.
- Pirates Breakdown is optimistic about the Bucs’ offense.
- District On Deck wants the Nationals to bat Trea Turner second when the injured Adam Eaton returns.
- Jays From the Couch focuses on Randal Grichuk‘s struggles.
- MetsMerizedOnline.com approves of the Mets’ Todd Frazier signing thus far.
- Foul Territory compares the majors’ best teams to the Avengers.
- Motor City Bengals ranks the 10 best shortstops in the history of the Tigers.
- Rotisserie Duck assesses some fantasy baseball picks in the early going.
Submissions: ZachBBWI @gmail.com
Pirates Place Enny Romero On DL
4:08pm: Pittsburgh intended to designate Romero, but it instead placed on him on the disabled list with a left shoulder impingement, according to a team announcement (via Adam Berry of MLB.com).
10:33am: The Pirates have designated left-hander Enny Romero for assignment, per a team announcement. Romero’s roster spot will go righty Nick Kingham, who will make his first career start Sunday.
It may go down as a short stay in the Pittsburgh organization for Romero, who joined the team off waivers two weeks ago after the Nationals designated him. The 27-year-old Romero’s shining moment with the Pirates has actually come with the bat, as he smacked a double – his first career hit – in an appearance against the Rockies on April 18.
Unfortunately for Romero and the Bucs, his time on the mound with the club hasn’t been as memorable. Prior to Sunday’s designation, he struggled somewhat across four innings, yielding five runs (two earned) on seven hits and three walks, with five strikeouts. Overall, Romero has combined for 142 MLB frames with a 4.69 ERA/4.06 FIP, 9.7 K/9 against 4.56 BB/9 and a 40.4 percent grounder rate with the Rays, Nats and Pirates.
Dodgers Place Yasiel Puig On DL
The Dodgers will place outfielder Yasiel Puig on the 10-day disabled list, Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times tweets. Puig’s 25-man spot will go to right-hander Brock Stewart, whom the Dodgers have recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City. Stewart could start Monday for the Dodgers, as left-hander Rich Hill is dealing with an infection on his injured finger and isn’t ready yet to return from the DL, Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register reports.
Puig exited the first game of the Dodgers’ doubleheader in San Francisco on Saturday after suffering hip and left foot injuries (the latter problem came after he fouled a ball off his foot). He’s now dealing with a hip pointer and a bruised foot, per Ken Gurnick of MLB.com.
These injury issues continue what has been a disappointing year so far for Puig, who hasn’t been able to build on a bounce-back 2017 to this point. Puig has racked up 96 plate appearances this season and slashed a subpar .193/.250/.250 (43 wRC+) with no home runs. His absence may keep top prospect Alex Verdugo on the roster (he started in right in Puig’s place Saturday night), but the Dodgers also have Joc Pederson and Enrique Hernandez on hand as corner outfield options.
New York Notes: Walker, Yanks, Mets, A-Gon
There’s a chance that Yankees infielder Neil Walker‘s roster spot could soon be in jeopardy, George A. King III of the New York Post suggests. With third baseman Brandon Drury nearing a return from the disabled list and first baseman Greg Bird scheduled to come off the DL sometime next month, the Yankees could have an infield logjam which pushes someone out. That may prove to be Walker, even though he signed a $4MM deal with the Yankees in March. While Walker, 32, was previously a solid producer with the Pirates, Mets and Brewers, he has batted just .181/.231/.208 (16 wRC+) in his first 78 plate appearances as a Yankee. The fact that Walker didn’t have much of a spring training after going without a contract for several months has perhaps contributed to his sluggish start. Either way, he may need a significant uptick in production to stick on the roster if fellow infielders Drury, Bird, Didi Gregorius, Miguel Andujar, Gleyber Torres, Ronald Torreyes and Tyler Austin are all healthy in the near future. Of course, there’s recent precedent for the Yankees quickly cutting bait on a free-agent signing. It happened last June when the team designated slugger Chris Carter for assignment just a few months after guaranteeing him $3.5MM.
Now for the latest on the Yanks’ crosstown rivals…
- With Mets catchers Jose Lobaton and Tomas Nido having combined for six hits in 54 plate appearances, the club is at least considering outside options, general manager Sandy Alderson said Saturday (via Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News). “We continue to monitor the market, see what is available to us. At the same time we monitor Plawecki and his progress,” said Alderson, referring to starting catcher Kevin Plawecki, who went on the disabled list April 13 with a hairline fracture in his left hand. At approximately the same time, the Mets lost fellow backstop Travis d’Arnaud to a season-ending elbow injury, leaving them with Lobaton and Nido behind the plate. Alderson is content with the tandem’s defensive work, but it’s clear they’ve been a drag on the team’s offense. While potential trade candidates Wilson Ramos, Blake Swihart and Max Stassi have recently come up as possible targets for the Mets, Ackert hasn’t heard anything about specific backstops the team may be considering (Twitter link).
- The Mets have also gotten poor offensive production at first base, thanks largely to the struggles of low-cost free-agent pickup Adrian Gonzalez. The 35-year-old concluded his Dodgers tenure in 2017 with a nightmarish, injury-shortened showing, and he has been similarly woeful this season (.200/.296/.317 in 71 PAs). But Alderson doesn’t seem displeased with the signing, as Ackert relays in the same piece. “I think it’s played out reasonably well. If you look at some of the metrics we monitor, they are similar to his very productive years,” Alderson said. “So right now, we’re reasonably happy. I am sure he’d like to have a higher batting average and so would we. He’s had some big hits for us. What goes somewhat unrecognized, is on defense the confidence he gives the rest of the infielders over there. We’ll continue to see where this goes.” Despite Alderson’s public vote of confidence in Gonzalez, outfielder Jay Bruce could take over for him at first if his subpar production continues. Shifting Bruce to first would open up a spot in the outfield for the promising Brandon Nimmo, and it’s hard to argue the Mets are better with this version of Gonzalez in their lineup than him.
Padres Place Wil Myers On DL
The Padres have placed outfielder Wil Myers on the 10-day disabled list with a left oblique strain, Dennis Lin of The Athletic tweets. His roster spot will go to outfielder Travis Jankowski, whom the team recalled from Triple-A.
This is already the second DL placement of the year for Myers, who previously went on the shelf with a right arm injury. Myers missed roughly two weeks then, and oblique strains often require absences of at least that long. Clearly, then, Myers is on his way to a significantly shorter season than expected after appearing in at least 155 games in each of the previous two campaigns.
Without Myers, who has hit .300/.300/.450 in 40 plate appearances, the Padres’ outfield setup figures to mostly consist of Manuel Margot, potential breakout player Franchy Cordero and Jose Pirela. Jankowski and Matt Szczur are on hand as bench options for San Diego, which lost outfielder Hunter Renfroe to the DL earlier this month on account of elbow inflammation.
Brewers To Add Wade Miley To Roster
The Brewers will add left-hander Wade Miley to their roster, according to a team announcement. He’ll start Wednesday’s game in Cincinnati, thus sending fellow southpaw Brent Suter to the bullpen. Milwaukee will have to make corresponding 40- and 25-man moves by then.
The Brewers had been facing a weekend deadline to either promote Miley to their roster or release him back into free agency. The decision was supposed to come back in late March, but the team was able to put it off after Miley went to the disabled list with a slight groin tear. The 31-year-old, who inked a minors pact in the offseason and will now earn a $2.5MM salary in the majors, looked like a decent bet to earn a rotation spot before his injury. He’ll now do so at the expense of Suter, who made six starts prior to Sunday and registered a 5.34 ERA/3.81 FIP, 6.53 K/9 against 2.08 BB/9, and a 32 percent groundball rate during that 30 1/3-inning span.
Like Suter this year, Miley has struggled to prevent runs recently. He posted ERAs in the fives over the previous two seasons – one divided between Seattle and Baltimore, the other solely with the Orioles – leading to an inability to secure a major league contract over the winter. At his best, Miley was a capable workhorse with the Diamondbacks and Red Sox from 2012-16, a period in which he ranked 14th in the majors in innings (958 1/3) and logged a 4.17 ERA/3.86 FIP with 7.12 K/9, 2.73 BB/9 and a 48.5 percent grounder mark.
Miley will now join a Brewers rotation that has managed the game’s eighth-best ERA (3.64), though the unit ranks a far less encouraging 18th in fWAR. Regardless, the hopeful playoff contenders have fared nicely in the early going (16-12) despite not having their 2017 ace, Jimmy Nelson, who’s working back from September shoulder surgery.
Hisashi Iwakuma Dealing With Shoulder Discomfort
Mariners right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma felt discomfort in his surgically repaired shoulder during a sim game on Sunday and will be temporarily shut down from throwing, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times reports on Twitter. The Mariners are hopeful it’s merely tendinitis, but regardless, it’ll delay Iwakuma’s attempt to return to the majors.
The 37-year-old Iwakuma’s latest problem is particularly alarming after shoulder troubles helped limit him to a career-low 31 innings of 4.35 ERA/6.42 FIP pitching in 2017. He ended up undergoing arthroscopic shoulder surgery in late September, just over a month before the Mariners declined his $10MM option for 2018. Iwakuma quickly returned to the Mariners on a minor league deal with the hope that he could work his way back to the majors by May. That may now be in serious jeopardy in light of Sunday’s developments.
Although Iwakuma scuffled through last season, his Mariners tenure has been a resounding success since he emigrated from Japan prior to the 2012 campaign. Iwakuma has recorded a 3.42 ERA/3.87 FIP in 883 2/3 innings, and the Mariners would certainly welcome that type of production from him this season if he makes it back to the mound.
Seattle, a prospective playoff contender, has gotten off to a quality 15-11 start without Iwakuma, though its rotation hasn’t been great in the aggregate. Entering Sunday, Mariners starters rank last in the majors in ERA (5.73) and fourth from the bottom in fWAR. The M’s top three starters – James Paxton, Felix Hernandez and Mike Leake – each figure to perform better as the year progresses, but the team’s rotation could still feature multiple question marks even if that happens.
Francisco Rodriguez Agrees To Deal With Long Island Ducks
Veteran reliever Francisco Rodriguez has reached an agreement with the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League, Jon Heyman of FanRag tweets.
The 36-year-old Rodriguez had been without an employer since the Phillies released him in March after a failed bid to crack their Opening Day roster. The right-hander previously inked a minor league deal with the Phillies, who took a flyer on him in the wake of a dismal season for the longtime closer. As a member of the Tigers in 2017, Rodriguez pitched to a 7.82 ERA/7.38 FIP and logged an unappealing groundball rate (30.1 percent) across 25 1/3 innings before they released him in June.
Odds may be against K-Rod ever pitching in the majors again, but it’s clear he hasn’t abandoned that goal. For now, he’s set to serve as one of the most accomplished players in the history of the Atlantic League, which has seen some household names come and go over the years. Also a former Angel, Met, Brewer and Oriole, Rodriguez ranks fourth all-time in saves (437) and owns a 2.86 ERA over 976 major league innings.