Adam Eaton Suffers Torn ACL, Meniscus
SUNDAY: Rizzo confirmed Eaton’s ACL tear on Sunday, adding that he also suffered a torn meniscus and a high ankle sprain. Eaton will face a six- to nine-month recovery period after he undergoes surgery, which the Nats haven’t scheduled yet (Twitter links via Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post). For at least the time being, Rizzo expects to replace Eaton from within, noting that center field is one of the organization’s deepest positions.
SATURDAY: Nationals center fielder Adam Eaton suffered a torn ACL in his left knee on Friday and will miss the rest of the season, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter link). The injury occurred when Eaton beat out an infield single in the ninth inning of a 7-5 loss to the Mets. Eaton stepped on first base awkwardly and was then unable to put any weight on his left leg, forcing him to exit the game (video via MLB.com).
Entering Saturday, Eaton had been among the red-hot Nationals’ best players in his first month as a member of the club. The top-of-the-order hitter slashed an impressive .297/.393/.462 with two home runs and three steals across 107 plate appearances. In the process, the 28-year-old may have quelled some doubts about the Nationals’ decision to trade a significant haul to the White Sox for him over the winter.
Washington gave up three well-regarded pitching prospects, Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez and Dane Dunning, for Eaton, leading to widespread criticism of Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo. However, Eaton had been a terrific offensive player in Chicago over the previous three years, and he drew great marks for his defense in both the 2014 and ’16 campaigns. Further, Eaton carries an appealing contract, one that could max out at an eminently reasonable $38.4MM through the 2021 season.
It’s fair to say Rizzo’s plan for Eaton was to serve as a key cog for a potential championship contender as early as this season, and at 16-8, first-place Washington has looked the part thus far. But the loss of Eaton is undoubtedly a major blow to their roster, and it’s now unclear who will man center field going forward. For now, it’s Michael Taylor, though he has never resembled a big league regular over 814 career PAs. Both the Nationals’ best player, right fielder Bryce Harper, and shortstop Trea Turner have experience in center, but moving either from his current spot would lead to more questions. Other 40-man options to help fill Eaton’s void include Brian Goodwin and Rafael Bautista, the latter of whom the Nats promoted when they placed Eaton on the disabled list early Saturday. The club also has an elite center field prospect in Victor Robles, but he’s only 19 and has never played above the High-A level.
In the event Washington is unsatisfied with its own center fielders, it could go outside the organization for help. Pickings in free agency are slim, though, with the potentially retired Angel Pagan representing the best of a deeply flawed class of unsigned players. Notably, the Nationals aggressively pursued Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen via trade prior to landing Eaton, and the five-time All-Star could hit the block again this year if the Bucs don’t contend. However, the Nationals found the Pirates’ asking price for McCutchen to be prohibitive in the offseason. If the Nationals don’t look again to McCutchen, Kansas City’s Lorenzo Cain could be a possibility, as the scuffling Royals are on track to sell off veterans this summer. The Nats already have interest in the Royals’ closer, Kelvin Herrera, and could perhaps attempt to reel in him and Cain in a package. That’s merely speculation, of course, and having already surrendered a prospect bounty for Eaton a few months ago, Rizzo might be reluctant to part with more high-end youngsters for another outfielder.
Athletics Place Sean Manaea On DL
The Athletics have placed southpaw Sean Manaea on the 10-day disabled list, retroactive to April 27, with a left shoulder strain. Manaea left his start after two innings Wednesday against the Angels with shoulder stiffness, but there was hope that he’d avoid a DL stint.
In five starts and 24 1/3 innings this season, the 25-year-old Manaea has pitched to a 5.18 ERA, largely thanks to a 4.44 BB/9 and a 53.8 percent strand rate. Manaea doled out only 2.3 free passes per nine innings and stranded runners at a 75 percent clip last year, when he logged a 3.86 ERA during a 144 2/3-frame rookie campaign. Encouragingly, Manaea has experienced an uptick in strikeouts (9.99 K/9), ground-ball rate (63.9 percent, up from 44.2 in 2016) and swinging-strike percentage (13.8, an increase over last year’s 11.8) so far this season.
With Sonny Gray set to make his season debut Tuesday, the A’s rotation will simply swap him for Manaea for the time being. Kendall Graveman, Andrew Triggs, Jharel Cotton and Jesse Hahn will continue to comprise the rest of Oakland’s starting staff.
AL Notes: Trout, Fowler, Jays, Red Sox, A’s
As the best player in baseball, and as a 25-year-old who’s signed through 2020 at a more-than-fair price, Angels center fielder Mike Trout is untradeable, opines Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. Unsurprisingly, Halos general manager Billy Eppler won’t even entertain dealing the two-time American League MVP, according to multiple GMs who spoke with Feinsand. “There’s no point to bringing up Trout, because it’s going nowhere,” one GM observed. “Teams will surely try, but it’s like running into a brick wall.” Another GM informed Feinsand that Trout is basically untouchable, but he did touch on what it might take for Eppler to consider an offer. “For a team to inspire Billy Eppler to even return the call, it would have to come to the table stocked with one of the best farm systems and young, upside Major Leaguers and be willing to not put any of those players off limits, because it will take a healthy blend from those two groups,” he said.
More from the AL:
- The Blue Jays offered center fielder Dexter Fowler a four-year, $64MM contract in free agency, reports ESPN’s Buster Olney. That proposal fell well short of the five-year, $82.5MM pact Fowler ended up signing with the Cardinals in December. By joining St. Louis, Fowler ensured he’d remain in center. The ex-Cub presumably would have had to play a corner with the Blue Jays, who have an elite defensive center fielder in Kevin Pillar, and it’s unclear whether they would have re-signed right fielder Jose Bautista for an $18.5MM guarantee in January had they committed significant money to Fowler.
- Red Sox southpaw David Price faced hitters Saturday for the first time since suffering an elbow injury in early March, writes Chad Jennings of the Boston Herald. Price tossed 30 pitches over two simulated innings, which represented “a quality workday for him,” said manager John Farrell. The plan is for the 31-year-old to throw a light bullpen session Monday and another sim game Thursday.
- Multiple pieces of good news for the Athletics’ rotation, courtesy of John Hickey of the Bay Area News Group: Right-hander Sonny Gray, who has missed the first few weeks of the 2017 campaign with a lat strain, will make his season debut Tuesday against the Twins. And one of Gray’s fellow A’s starters, left-hander Sean Manaea, likely won’t require a stint on the disabled list. Manaea left his start after two innings Wednesday on account of shoulder stiffness, but he’s “feeling great right now.” Barring a setback, Manaea’s next turn will probably come Saturday versus the Tigers, per Hickey.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: D-backs, Jays, Astros, Orioles, Brewers, Bucs
This week in baseball blogs:
- Clubhouse Corner suggests Diamondbacks left-hander Robbie Ray is becoming a complete pitcher, and talks with Ray, first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, manager Torey Lovullo and pitching coach Mike Butcher, among others, about the hurler’s success.
- Jays From the Couch revisits Toronto’s offseason and speaks with an inside source about the front office’s approach.
- The Unbalanced names some players who could benefit from hitting more fly balls.
- The Runner Sports writes that the Astros’ Chris Devenski is “the poster boy of the high-leverage reliever.”
- Camden Depot explains that Orioles catcher Caleb Joseph has contributed to southpaw Wade Miley‘s resurgence.
- Inside the ‘Zona details the strides Diamondbacks left fielder Yasmany Tomas has made at the plate.
- The First Out At Third asks if Brewers right-hander Chase Anderson is for real.
- Extra Innings: Baseball Around the World interviews Angels shortstop Andrelton Simmons.
- Pirates Breakdown is optimistic about Andrew McCutchen‘s offensive performance thus far.
- Bleeding Royal Blue delves into the early season struggles of Kansas City’s offense.
- The Runner Sports opines that Yankees first baseman Greg Bird‘s April slump shows how little spring training numbers matter.
- Chin Music Baseball points out that healthy versions of outfielders A.J. Pollock and David Peralta have made big impacts for the Diamondbacks during their hot start.
- BP Toronto expects Blue Jays second baseman Devon Travis to turn around his season.
- Outside Pitch MLB notes that Eric Thames isn’t the only hot-hitting Brewer.
- PhoulBallz talks with Phillies director of player development Joe Jordan.
- MetsRewind looks back at the life of former outfield prospect Brian Cole, who passed away in a car crash in 2001.
- Yanks Go Yard wonders how good the Yankees actually are.
- The Process Report lays out reasons for hope regarding struggling Rays reliever Austin Pruitt.
- The Point of Pittsburgh is frustrated with the Pirates’ defense.
- That Ball’s Outta Here writes about the Phillies’ four-corners offense.
- The K Zone shares a slew of player interviews, including chats with Blue Jays center fielder Kevin Pillar and Dodgers reliever Grant Dayton.
- District On Deck breaks down the impact Koda Glover‘s injury will have on the Nationals’ bullpen.
- Mets Daddy is worried about the workload of the Mets’ bullpen.
- Jays Journal interviews Toronto outfield prospect Anthony Alford.
- Clutchlings says Alford’s regaining his luster as a top prospect.
- The 3rd Man In interviews and profiles left-hander Jacob Heatherly, one of the top prospects in this year’s draft.
- When Sid Slid offers its latest Braves prospect hot sheet.
- Pinstriped Prospects talks to Yankees Single-A right-hander Albert Abreu.
- Notes From The Sally scouts Braves outfield prospect Cristian Pache.
- MetsMind lists the good, bad and ugly of right fielder Jay Bruce‘s defense.
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NL Notes: Thames, Posey, Dodgers, Phillies
Eric Thames‘ agent, Adam Karon, was the driving force behind the now-Brewers’ slugger’s decision to sign with the Korea Baseball Organization in 2013, writes Tyler Kepner of the New York Times. “My view was, ‘Look, you’ve always been successful when you’ve played every day, and you’re not going to get the opportunity here,’” Karon said. “He was the last man on the 40-man roster of the worst team in baseball.”
Then a member of the Astros organization and a participant in the Venezuelan Winter League, Thames scoffed at Karon’s suggestion initially. However, he had a change of heart and ended up inking a two-year deal with the NC Dinos. Thames became a sensation in Korea, where he toyed with the KBO’s offspeed-heavy pitchers from 2014-16. He parlayed that success into a three-year, $16MM pact with the Brewers this past winter, and the first baseman has certainly done his part to justify that investment so far. The 30-year-old entered Saturday leading the league in both home runs (11) and ISO (an absurd .506), and he has swung at just 19.8 percent of pitches outside the strike zone – down from 36.3 percent with the Mariners and Blue Jays from 2011-12. There is skepticism toward Thames’ success, though, evidenced in part by the fact that the league administered him a random drug test for the third time in a 10-day span on Friday, according to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Thames seems more amused than bothered by the testing, but he’s not sure how “random” it actually is, relays Haudricourt (Twitter link).
More from the National League:
- Giants catcher Buster Posey has long been a workhorse behind the plate, and while moving the 30-year-old to a different position could possibly help prolong his effectiveness, it’s not on the team’s agenda, details Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com. “When you have a guy that’s led us to three titles, a lot of it is because of his preparation and guidance of the starting rotation and the bullpen,” said general manager Bobby Evans. “I think it distinguishes him from other positions — and other guys. My mindset is we’re a better team with Buster back there, and as long as we can keep him back there, we want to do it.” Posey wouldn’t fight a position change down the line, saying that “it’s about winning ballgames,” but he notes that “there’s value in having a good hitter behind the plate and being able to put a bat at first base as well.” The Giants plan to start Posey 115 to 120 times at catcher and in 15 to 20 games at first/designated hitter, per Crasnick, potentially putting him on track for a sixth straight 140-plus-game season.
- The Dodgers have considered shifting the blister-plagued Rich Hill to the bullpen, but manager Dave Roberts announced Saturday that the left-hander will return to their rotation when they activate him from the DL, tweets Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times. Hill, who landed on the shelf April 17 (already his second DL stint of the year), will throw a four-frame, 60-pitch rehab outing with Single-A Rancho Cucamonga on Thursday.
- Phillies right-hander Aaron Nola isn’t making ideal progress in his recovery from a lower-back strain. Nola threw a two-inning simulation game Friday and then complained of back discomfort, Todd Zolecki of MLB.com was among those to report. That means Nola won’t come off the DL when he’s first eligible on Monday. When asked if Nola suffered a setback, manager Pete Mackanin said: “If you want to call it that. We’re being cautious with him this early in the season.” Mackanin added, though, that Nola is “improving.”
Rockies Likely To Activate Ian Desmond On Sunday
The Rockies’ prized offseason acquisition, Ian Desmond, is primed to make his season debut Sunday against the Diamondbacks, Thomas Harding of MLB.com was among those to report.
The 31-year-old Desmond has been on the shelf since fracturing his left hand on a hit by pitch on March 12, but he played an extended spring training game Saturday and then told reporters, including Harding: “As far as I know, the bone is healed. Now, it’s just about getting motion back and seeing what it’s going to feel like.”
Colorado raised eyebrows in the offseason when it signed Desmond to a five-year, $70MM contract, which also cost the club the 11th overall pick in this June’s draft. It came as a surprise, too, that the Rockies added Desmond with the intention of using him at first base, where he has never played. As a member of the Nationals from 2009-15, Desmond was a shortstop, but he spent last season as an outfielder with the Rangers.
When he suits up as a Rockie for the first time, he’ll displace Gerardo Parra in left field, per Harding, thanks to fill-in first baseman Mark Reynolds‘ early season success at the plate. Reynolds has slashed an excellent .307/.367/.636 with eight home runs in 98 plate appearances, which is easily superior to the production of Colorado’s primary corner outfielders, Parra and Carlos Gonzalez. To some degree, Parra has bounced back from a nightmarish 2016, having hit a Coors Field-inflated .286/.324/.443 in 72 PAs; on the other hand, the normally solid Gonzalez has batted a meek .222/.286/.358 in 91 tries.
At some point, the Rockies will also have David Dahl as an option, which will add to their outfield logjam. Dahl, like Desmond, hasn’t played yet this season. The 23-year-old suffered a stress reaction in his sixth rib in early March, though he did show progress in his recovery when he took batting practice Friday. Dahl had a quality rookie year last season, hitting .315/.359/.500 in 237 PAs, and was in line to serve as an integral part of Colorado’s offense prior to his injury. It’s now up in the air how the Rockies will distribute playing time to him, Desmond, Parra, Reynolds and Gonzalez if they’re all healthy at the same time (notably, Desmond and Reynolds are right-handed hitters, while the rest are lefties). It could be a good problem for the Rockies, though, as they have unexpectedly started a National League West-leading 15-9 without any contributions from either Desmond or Dahl.
Minor MLB Transactions: 4/29/17
Saturday’s minor moves:
- The Giants’ Triple-A affiliate in Sacramento has released left-hander Ricky Romero, who first joined the organization in 2015. Romero combined for just 30 2/3 innings with the Giants at two minor league levels, including 14 2/3 frames of 6.75 ERA pitching with Sacramento this season. The 32-year-old had been a highly effective starter with the Blue Jays from 2009-11, a 613-inning span in which he logged a 3.60 ERA, 7.24 K/9, 3.54 BB/9 and a 54.6 percent ground-ball rate. That output led the Jays to give Romero a five-year, $30.1MM contract in 2011, but his performance fell off drastically the next season and he has thrown just 7 1/3 major league frames since. Romero underwent elbow surgery in 2012, perhaps contributing to his on-field woes, and Toronto released him in 2015.
Nationals Interested In Kelvin Herrera
Barring a turnaround over the next couple months, the 7-15 Royals will be prime candidates to sell several veterans prior to the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. One of those players could be closer Kelvin Herrera, who’s already drawing the Nationals’ interest, reports FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal (video link).
The Nationals were connected to multiple high-profile closers in the offseason, including Kenley Jansen in free agency and David Robertson via the trade route, but elected to begin the year with in-house options. That hasn’t gone swimmingly thus far for Washington, which has seen Opening Day closer Blake Treinen, current closer Shawn Kelley and fellow late-game option Koda Glover post disappointing results. The best of three has been Glover, but the hard-throwing rookie landed on the disabled list with a hip impingement earlier this week after allowing four earned runs on seven hits and a walk, with six strikeouts, in 8 2/3 innings. Meanwhile, in 19 combined frames, Treinen and Kelley have yielded 16 earned runs on 10 walks and 25 hits, with 21 strikeouts, and have blown two of eight save chances. What’s more, given Kelley’s history as a two-time Tommy John surgery recipient, the Nats are wary of using the 33-year-old on consecutive days, having done so just once this season.
At 16-8, Washington doesn’t look like a team with many weaknesses (though center fielder Adam Eaton‘s knee injury is troubling), but its bullpen has been a glaring issue in April. The unit’s 6.08 ERA and 5.09 FIP rank toward the bottom of the majors, so it would behoove the Nationals to bolster their relief corps if its performance doesn’t improve in the coming months. Herrera would theoretically help the Nats do that, as he has typically been a premier reliever since debuting in 2012.
In eight innings this season, the 27-year-old Herrera has only allowed two earned runs on three hits and a walk, albeit with just five strikeouts. His velocity is at its usual level, though, and both his hard-throwing ways and history of positive results mean he should bring back a quality return for the Royals in a trade. Rosenthal contends that the Nationals have enough well-regarded position player prospects to swing a deal for Herrera, who’s controllable via arbitration through next season, citing three outfielders – the newly promoted Rafael Bautista, Juan Soto and Andrew Stevenson – as potential trade chips. Both Baseball America and MLB Pipeline place the 18-year-old Soto and Stevenson, 22, among the Nats’ five best prospects.
Injury Notes: Cespedes, Price, Rangers, Britton, Pederson
Yoenis Cespedes was out of the Mets’ lineup for the third straight game Sunday, leaving manager Terry Collins to acknowledge that the left fielder could head to the disabled list if his left hamstring issue doesn’t heal by Tuesday (via ESPN.com). “I think we’d need to take a look at that,” Collins said of a potential DL stint for Cespedes, who did tell the skipper he “felt a lot better” Sunday. Cespedes has mashed this season for the slow-starting Mets (.263/.377/.632 with six home runs in 69 plate appearances), but they’re nonetheless decently equipped to handle his short-term absence. Michael Conforto, Jay Bruce, Curtis Granderson and Juan Lagares give the Cespedes-less club a full complement of major league-caliber outfielders. (Update: Cespedes expects to return Tuesday, tweets Matt Ehalt of The Record.)
- Red Sox left-hander David Price will throw a 45- to 50-pitch bullpen session Monday as he tries to work back from forearm trouble, per Ben Standing of MLB.com. Price still seems a ways off from making his 2017 debut, but a positive showing Monday would put him in position to face live hitters sometime soon. “Once we get through [Monday’s] work session and kind of begin to map out a little more of a structure on a calendar, I think we’re at that point [of facing batters],” said manager John Farrell. “Anytime you get to the number of pitches thrown that will be tomorrow, you can start to foresee a progression to hitters and ultimately to games, but we don’t have that in place right now.”
- The Rangers continue to play it safe with third baseman Adrian Beltre in his recovery from a right calf strain, meaning he probably won’t debut until May, relays Brandon George of the Dallas Morning News. “I think we need to continue to rehab,” said manager Jeff Banister. “The conservative nature is probably in our best interest.” Meanwhile, after upper back spams slowed Tyson Ross‘ comeback from thoracic outlet syndrome surgery, the expectation is that the right-hander will resume throwing from a mound by the end of the upcoming week, Banister told George.
- Orioles closer Zach Britton will see a hand specialist Monday, after which he could resume throwing, writes Brittany Ghiroli of MLB.com. Britton went on the disabled list last Sunday with a forearm strain – a scary injury for a pitcher – but an MRI came back clean on Friday. The Orioles believe sending the ace reliever to a specialist will help prevent a forearm strain from rearing its head again in the future, Ghiroli notes.
- Center fielder Joc Pederson left the Dodgers’ win over the Diamondbacks on Sunday with right groin tightness, and the likelihood is that he’ll miss some games, according to Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register. The Dodgers, already dealing with injuries to outfielders Andre Ethier and Franklin Gutierrez, will re-evaluate Pederson on Monday. A 25-plus-home run hitter in each of first two major league seasons, Pederson has gotten off to a sluggish start this year, with a .220/.322/.340 batting line and only one homer in 59 PAs.
NL Notes: D-backs, Mets, Phillies, Nats
The Diamondbacks could be in for bad news regarding right-hander Shelby Miller, who, as Barry M. Bloom of MLB.com tweets, exited his start Sunday with forearm tightness. Arizona is scheduling an MRI for Miller, who lasted four-plus innings and allowed three earned runs in a loss to the Dodgers. Manager Torey Lovullo is trying to be optimistic, notes Bloom, but Steve Gilbert of MLB.com observes (on Twitter) that the situation is “not good.” Forearm tightness often portends Tommy John surgery, which would be the biggest setback yet in Miller’s rocky tenure with the Diamondbacks. The club’s previous regime drew seemingly endless criticism for sending a Dansby Swanson– and Ender Inciarte-led package to the Braves for Miller two winters ago. General manager Dave Stewart and senior vice president of baseball operations De Jon Watson lost their jobs last fall after Miller struggled through a 2016 to forget, pitching to a 6.15 ERA in 101 major league innings and enduring a demotion to the minor leagues. Thanks in part to improved velocity, though, Miller has fared respectably this year with a 4.09 ERA and 3.29 FIP in 22 frames.
More from the National League:
- With an .095/.186/.127 batting line in 70 plate appearances, Mets infielder Jose Reyes has been among the majors’ worst players this year. Nevertheless, the Mets aren’t considering releasing the 33-year-old, according to Newsday’s Marc Carig, who casts doubt on the possibility of the team cutting him even if his performance doesn’t improve soon. Reyes makes a minimum salary and is a speedy switch-hitter who can play shortstop, all of which are facts that work in his favor, Carig writes. While the Mets have an elite shortstop prospect in Amed Rosario, who has slashed .355/.382/.353 in 55 PAs this season, a promotion for him isn’t imminent, sources told Carig. The Mets don’t want to rush either the 21-year-old Rosario or first base prospect Dominic Smith (also 21) to the majors.
- Phillies left fielder Howie Kendrick‘s previously reported abdominal strain is actually an oblique strain, one that’s likely to keep him out until “sometime in the early to mid part of May,” GM Matt Klentak informed Ryan Lawrence of PhillyVoice. With Kendrick unavailable for a while, Klentak acquired infielder/outfielder Ty Kelly from the Blue Jays on Saturday. It turns out the Klentak-led Phillies had Kelly on their radar in the past. “Kelly is a guy who was on waivers twice in the last few months, and both times that he was passing through waivers we were intrigued by him and would have liked to have placed a claim but our roster was in a position where he couldn’t do it,” Klentak said. “But now with the ability to transfer (Clay) Buchholz to the (60-day DL) and free up a spot, we were able to acquire him.” Aaron Altherr, not Kelly, will see the majority of time in left while Kendrick’s out, Lawrence notes.
- The Nationals will place righty Stephen Strasburg on the paternity leave list Monday, meaning he’ll miss his scheduled start Tuesday in Colorado, reports Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com. Washington is likely to recall Jacob Turner to fill Strasburg’s void for a start, while the latter will return in time to take the mound either Friday or Saturday.