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Quick Hits: Padres, M’s, Twins, White Sox

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It’s possible Dinelson Lamet or Mike Clevinger could start Game 1 of the Padres’ series against the Cardinals on Wednesday, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. It’s fantastic news for the Padres, who saw Lamet go down with right biceps tightness last Friday, while Clevinger suffered a sprained right elbow last Wednesday. At least in Clevinger’s case, it initially didn’t seem he would be ready for the start of the playoffs, but it now looks as if the Padres’ top starters (along with Zach Davies) will be ready when they begin their first postseason series since 2006.

  • The  Mariners will enter the upcoming offseason with a focus on upgrading their bullpen, per general manager Jerry Dipoto (via Greg Johns of MLB.com). Seattle would “like to add three or four guys down there that can stabilize that group and give us some certainty as we move toward the end of a game,” acccording to Dipoto. The Mariners, who finished with a 27-33 record, kept their long-running playoff drought going this year thanks in part to a weak relief corps that finished last in the AL in ERA (5.92).
  • Twins third baseman Josh Donaldson (calf) and center fielder Byron Buxton (concussion) had “a relatively good day” Monday, according to manager Rocco Baldelli (via Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press). Donaldson battled calf problems in the past, but that didn’t stop the Twins from signing him to a four-year, $92MM contract in the offseason. Further calf troubles have held Donaldson to 28 games this year, though, and he hasn’t played since Sept. 25. Buxton, who also has a history of injuries, only played in 39 regular-season games. However, even without full campaigns from either of those two, the Twins won 36 games en route to a second straight AL Central title. They should be even stronger if the two are ready for playoff action.
  • White Sox left fielder Eloy Jimenez expects to be available for the team’s Game 1 playoff showdown in Oakland on Tuesday, Scott Merkin of MLB.com was among those to tweet. Jimenez hasn’t played since Sept. 24 because of a mid-foot sprain, but when he was able to take the field, he was one of Chicago’s most valuable hitters. As a .296/.332/.559 hitter in 226 plate appearances, the 23-year-old Jimenez helped the White Sox to their first playoff berth since 2008.

Michael Lorenzen Could Start For Reds In 2021

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Having finished the regular season 31-29, the Reds are gearing up for their first playoff appearance since 2013. However the postseason ends for the club, though, it will face important questions in its starting rotation heading into 2021. National League Cy Young candidate Trevor Bauer (whom the Reds unsurprisingly want to re-sign) and fellow right-hander Anthony DeSclafani are due to become free agents in a couple months, so Cincinnati will have questions to address in its starting staff.

Fortunately for the Reds, they do have a few notable starters locked into spots going into next year. Luis Castillo, Sonny Gray, Tyler Mahle and Wade Miley are slated to remain in place, so the Reds are already in better shape than a lot of teams even if they lose Bauer and/or DeSclafani. But if a worst-case scenario happens and both players depart, the Reds are interested in moving reliever Michael Lorenzen to their rotation, Bobby Nightengale of the Cinncinati Enquirer relays.

“He’s put himself in that conversation,” pitching coach Derek Johnson said of Lorenzen. “Where we need to go depends on who is going to come back, who we’re going to get.”

Lorenzen first debuted in 2015, a year in which he amassed 21 starts in 27 appearances, but has largely served as a bullpen piece since then. The 28-year-old has been a useful member of the Reds’ staff throughout his career, having pitched to a 3.97 ERA/4.28 FIP with 7.8 K/9, 3.71 BB/9 and a 48.5 percent groundball rate across 444 1/3 innings. Lorenzen’s also known for his prowess at the plate (at least, compared to most pitchers), but if he moves into a starting role next year and the universal DH sticks around, at-bats could be hard to come by for him.

Previewing The 2020-21 Free Agent Class: Shortstops

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With the 2020 regular season having reached its end, there will be more and more talk about free agency during the upcoming weeks. MLBTR has already taken a look at the catchers and first basemen due to reach the open market soon. We’ll now turn to the shortstop position, where a few household names are without contracts for 2021.

Everyday Shortstops

  • Marcus Semien (30): It has only been a year since Semien was a superstar-level producer, as the A’s shortstop posted 7.6 fWAR in 2019. This regular season didn’t go nearly as well for Semien, though, considering he wound up with a .223/.305/.374 line (good for a wRC+ of 91 – down 46 points from his previous figure) and seven home runs over 237 trips to the plate. Semien’s Statcast numbers, including an expected weighted on-base average that tumbled from .367 to .274, also plummeted. It’s now up in the air whether the low-budget A’s will issue Semien a qualifying offer once the season ends. It’s tough to believe it has even become a question for someone who was coming off an MVP-type campaign around 12 months ago.
  • Didi Gregorius (31): Gregorius starred as a Yankee for much of his Bronx tenure from 2015-19, but he underwent Tommy John surgery before the last of those seasons and missed significant time as a result. Sir Didi also saw his production fall off a cliff when he was healthy enough to play, but after signing a one-year, $14MM contract with the Phillies last winter, he got back on track. Gregorius slashed .284/.339/.488 with 10 home runs in 237 plate appearances as a Phillie, and he struck out in a mere 11.8 percent of PA. He’ll be a QO candidate before a potential trip to the market.
  • Andrelton Simmons (31): Left ankle problems have weighed down the defensive virtuoso since 2019, when he also struggled at the plate. But, despite not finishing with a single home run, Simmons rebounded this year with 127 plate appearances of .297/.346/.356 hitting. The Angels will now have to decide whether to hand a QO to Simmons, who was a five-fWAR player as recently as 2018.

Utility Types

  • Freddy Galvis (31): He’s not the most exciting option, but a team could certainly do worse than Galvis. The versatile infielder, who has tons of experience at short and second, turned in another passable regular season at the plate in 2020. The switch-hitting Galvis concluded with a line of .220/.308/.404 and seven HRs across 159 PA. He has recorded a wRC+ of at least 85 three times in a row.
  • Ehire Adrianza (31): Adrianza gave the Twins league-average production on offense a season ago, but he struggled mightily this year, hitting .191/.287/.270 without a home run in 110 PA. He’s not about to hit free agency at an ideal time, then, though that could make the multi-positional Adrianza an intriguing buy-low candidate for many teams.
  • Eric Sogard (35): Like Adrianza, Sogard had a very fine 2019. Sogard signed with the Brewers for $4.5MM after that, but everything went south from there. Along with hitting a woeful .209/281/.278 with one HR across 128 PA, Sogard’s xwOBA dove from .342 to .250 in a one-year span.

Club Option Decisions

  • Jose Iglesias (31): Typically known as a slick fielder with an unimposing bat, Iglesias went wild at the plate this year as a member of the Orioles, winding up with a .373/.400/.556 mark and three homers in 150 PA. There are plenty of reasons to be skeptical about that performance, including a .407 batting average on balls in play that checks in 99 points above his lifetime BABIP, but Iglesias should still be a useful player in 2021 even if his offense returns to its previous form. Therefore, for $3.5MM (compared to a $500K buyout), it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the O’s exercise their option over Iglesias.

Rockies Designate James Pazos For Assignment

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The Rockies announced that they have designated left-hander James Pazos for assignment.

Pazos, previously with the Yankees, Mariners and Phillies, joined the Rockies in a trade with Philadelphia early in the 2019 season. He has since given the Rockies just 15 2/3 innings of 6.89 ERA pitching with 6.32 K/9 and 5.17 BB/9.

At his peak, Pazos was a threat out of the Mariners’ bullpen from 2017-18. He amassed at least 50 innings in each of those seasons, combining for 103 2/3 frames, and logged a 3.39 ERA with 9.55 K/9 against 3.39 BB/9. Pazos averaged nearly 96 mph on his fastball in the first of those two seasons, but the 29-year-old has seen his velocity fall to the lower 90s since then.

Latest On Dinelson Lamet, Wil Myers

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TODAY: Myers is in the Padres’ lineup today, batting cleanup and playing right field.  Myers sat out Saturday’s game due to some quad tightness but the injury was apparently minor.

SEPTEMBER 26, 4:47 pm: Lamet is playing catch today and will throw a bullpen session in the next few days, reports AJ Cassavell of MLB.com (Twitter link). The club did not find an MRI to be necessary, notes Dennis Lin of the Athletic. San Diego hopes he’ll be able to start the first game of the Wild Card round.

SEPTEMBER 26, 8:18 am: Lamet complained of biceps tightness, manager Jayce Tingler told reporters (including Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune) postgame. At this point, the organization anticipates him being able to start in next week’s Wild Card round, Tingler adds.

SEPTEMBER 25: Padres right-hander Dinelson Lamet and outfielder Wil Myers left the team’s game against the Giants on Friday for undisclosed reasons, Dennis Lin of The Athletic tweets.

Lamet’s the second key Padres starter who may have suffered a key injury in the past few days, joining fellow righty Mike Clevinger. The Padres seem likely to go without Clevinger for at least the first round of the playoffs because of a sprained elbow. Therefore, they can ill afford to lose Lamet, who has been a Cy Young-level starter this season. The 28-year-old entered Friday with a 2.07 ERA/2.51 FIP across 65 1/3 innings.

While Lamet has been one of the Padres’ best pitchers, Myers has emerged as one of their top hitters. After three straight disappointing seasons, Myers has rebounded in a big way with a .285/.352/.591 slash and 14 home runs in 213 plate appearances this year. He, like Lamet, is among the reasons the Padres broke a 13-year playoff drought this season. But now it seems the Padres are in danger of entering the postseason without Lamet, Myers and Clevinger, so they won’t be at full strength when the playoffs commence.

Howie Kendrick Undecided On Future

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SEPTEMBER 26: Kendrick elaborated a bit on his situation yesterday (via Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com). He’d initially planned to retire at the end of the 2020 season, but the year’s unusual nature has at least given him pause.

“Man, do you want to go out like this? Do you want 2020 to be any worse?” Kendrick rhetorically asked. “2020 has been strange, due to COVID and all the other climate going around the country. It is a strange year. And to think you would end on a year like this … it is a tough one.”

SEPTEMBER 25: The excellent performance of Nationals infielder Howie Kendrick was one of the reasons the team won its first-ever World Series title in 2019, but he and the club have offered disappointing showings this season. Nearly 12 months later, the Nationals are going to miss the playoffs, and they may not have Kendrick in the fold next season.

While the Nationals and Kendrick share a $6.5MM mutual option for 2021, the 37-year-old said Friday he’s unsure whether he’s planning on continuing his career, Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post tweets. Kendrick, who hasn’t played since Sept. 5 because of a hamstring strain, wants to check on his health before committing to another season. The Nationals, meanwhile, could buy Kendrick out for $2.25MM during the coming weeks, so it’s unknown whether he’ll stay with the team even if he does keep his career going.

Kendrick, a former Angel, Dodger and Phillie whom the Nats acquired from Philadelphia in 2017, has mostly been very good in Washington. He was one of the majors’ top regular-season hitters last year with a .344/.395/.572 mark and 17 home runs in 370 plate appearances, and he smacked the go-ahead HR in the seventh inning of what proved to be a Game 7 World Series victory over the Astros. While Kendrick will live on in Washington lore for his Fall Classic heroics, his output fell to earth during a 110-PA 2020 campaign in which he batted .275/.320/.385 with two homers.

Giancarlo Stanton Won’t Opt Out Of Contract

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Yankees designated hitter/outfielder Giancarlo Stanton won’t opt out of his contract at the end of the season, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets. This is the only opt-out opportunity for Stanton, who still has another seven years and $215MM left on the 13-year, $325MM extension he signed with the Marlins before the 2015 season. Considering how much guaranteed money is left on Stanton’s pact, it’s hardly a surprise that he’ll stay put.

Even after signing his mega-deal, Stanton continued to star with the Marlins, as he won the NL MVP in 2017 with a 59-home run season. But the cost-cutting Marlins then moved on from Stanton, sending him and most of the money left on his contract to the Yankees in advance of the 2018 campaign.

Stanton wasn’t an MVP-caliber producer in his first season with the Yankees, but he still slashed .266/.343/.509 with 38 home runs in 705 plate appearances and 158 games. Since then, though, various injuries have slowed the 30-year-old Stanton, who missed 144 games in 2019 and has only appeared in 22 of the Yankees’ 58 contests this season. To his credit, Stanton has continued to pose a serious threat when healthy, as he has batted .273/.397/.508 with seven HRs in 157 trips to the plate since ’19, but the Yankees certainly didn’t expect him to miss so much time when they acquired him.

AL Notes: Eloy, Royals, Tigers, Rangers, Rowdy

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White Sox left fielder Eloy Jimenez suffered a mid-foot sprain on Thursday, and the club doesn’t expect to have him for its season-ending series against the Cubs, manager Rick Renteria told Scott Merkin of MLB.com and other reporters. It’s unknown whether an early playoff return is in jeopardy for Jimenez, who has helped the White Sox to a 34-23 record and a postseason berth with his stellar offensive output. The 23-year-old’s regular season concluded with a .296/.332/.559 line and 14 home runs in 226 trips to the plate.

  • The Royals have placed reliever Greg Holland and outfielder Jorge Soler on the 10-day injured list with oblique strains, per a team announcement. They reinstated reliever Ian Kennedy from the IL and recalled first baseman/outfielder Ryan McBroom in corresponding transactions. The season’s now officially over for Holland, who enjoyed a major bounce-back year in his return to KC after signing a minor league deal in the offseason, as well as Soler. A 48-home run hitter a season ago, Soler totaled eight in 173 plate appearances this year and finished with a .228/.326/.443 line. He’ll be eligible for arbitration for the final time during the offseason.
  • Tigers third baseman Jeimer Candelario is done for the year, as the club announced that it has placed him on the 10-day IL with a low back strain. Candelario, whom the Tigers acquired from the Cubs in 2017, made notable strides in 2020. The switch-hitting 26-year-old significantly upped his hard-contact rate en route to a .297/.369/.503 mark and seven homers in 206 PA. He leads all Tigers in fWAR with 1.6.
  • The Rangers will be looking for starters in the offseason, especially if they trade Lance Lynn, but it doesn’t appear reliever Jonathan Hernandez will fill any voids in their rotation in 2021. Hernandez informed the Rangers that he’d rather stay in the bullpen next year than transition to a starting role, TR Sullivan of MLB.com tweets. The rookie Hernandez has been one of the main bright spots this season for Texas, with which the 24-year-old has posted a 2.51 ERA/2.49 FIP and registered 9.42 K/9 against 1.57 BB/9 across 28 2/3 innings. Hernandez has averaged almost 98 mph on his fastball along the way.
  • The Blue Jays don’t expect first baseman/designated hitter Rowdy Tellez to be ready for the wild-card playoff round, GM Ross Atkins told Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet and other reporters. Tellez has been on the IL with a right knee strain since Sept. 9. He put up a career-best .283/.346/.540 line with eight homers in 127 plate appearances before then.

Giants Activate Jeff Samardzija

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The Giants have activated right-hander Jeff Samardzija from the injured list. He’ll start the second game of their doubleheader against the Padres on Friday. This could be the final Giants outing for Samardzija, who’s a pending free agent.

Samardzija hasn’t made an appearance since Aug. 7, after which he went on the IL with a shoulder impingement. The 35-year-old posted disastrous production in three starts and 13 2/3 innings prior to his IL placement, as he recorded a 9.88 ERA/9.48 FIP with a career-worst 3.29 K/9 against 2.63 BB/9, and a personal-low 20.8 percent groundball rate. That’s not exactly the type of production which will endear Samardzija to other teams as he prepares for a trip to the open market during the offseason.

For the most part, Samardzija has been an effective hurler in the majors, where the former Notre Dame wide receiver has accrued 1,624 1/3 innings of 4.14 ERA/3.98 FIP pitching with the Cubs, Athletics, White Sox and Giants. Samardzija was good enough for the two Chicago clubs and Oakland that the Giants gave him a five-year, $90MM guarantee before 2016. While he hasn’t offered front-line numbers during his run with the Giants, Samardzija has logged 650 2/3 innings and a respectable 4.22 ERA/4.21 FIP since he joined the team.

Cubs Select Patrick Wisdom

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The Cubs have selected infielder Patrick Wisdom, optioned first baseman/outfielder Jose Martinez and placed right-hander Manuel Rodriguez on the 45-day injured list, Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic was among those to report.

Wisdom could now see his first action with the Cubs, who signed him to a minor league contract Aug. 23. He began his career as a member of the rival Cardinals, who chose him in the first round of the 2012 draft, but only amassed 58 plate appearances with the Redbirds (all in 2018) before they traded him to the Rangers. Wisdom totaled another 28 PA with Texas last season, but he collected far more strikeouts (15) than hits (four), and the Rangers outrighted him last winter.

All told, the 29-year-old Wisdom has batted .224/.306/.408 with four home runs in 86 trips to the plate as a major leaguer. As someone who has primarily lined up at third base in the bigs, he’ll give the Cubs a bit of extra depth as they await the return of Kris Bryant, who hasn’t played since Monday because of an oblique injury.

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