By Mark Polishuk | at
The Diamondbacks announced that catcher Carson Kelly and righty J.B. Bukauskas have been placed on the 10-day injured list. Kelly is suffering from a tuft fracture in his big left toe, while Bukauskas has a right elbow flexor strain. In corresponding moves, right-hander Yoan Lopez was called up from Triple-A and infielder Domingo Leyba’s contract was selected from Triple-A. To create a 40-man roster spot for Leyba, Kole Calhoun was moved to the 60-day IL.
More to come…
By Mark Polishuk | at
The Brewers have selected the contract of left-hander Hoby Milner, the team announced. Milner will take the place of Eric Lauer on the active roster, as Lauer was optioned to Triple-A.
The move could essentially just be a way for Milwaukee to get a fresh arm in the bullpen, as Lauer threw 55 pitches over three innings in yesterday’s 6-3 loss to the Braves. Lauer’s future also won’t be in the bullpen, as MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy notes that the team plans to stretch Lauer out as a starter since the Brew Crew will be adopting a six-man rotation for the upcoming stretch of the schedule.
Lauer has already made two starts for Milwaukee this season, to go along with two relief appearances. The southpaw has a very solid 2.81 ERA/3.23 SIERA over 16 innings this season, as well as an above-average 24.6% strikeout rate and an outstanding 3.1% walk rate. On the down side, Lauer has allowed five home runs over those 16 innings.
Milner signed a minors contract with the Brewers last winter and now looks to get some action in his fifth MLB season. The lefty has a 4.53 ERA over 55 2/3 career innings with the Phillies, Rays, and Angels, with most of that experience coming in the form of 31 1/3 frames for Philadelphia in his 2017 rookie season. Milner has struggled since that first year, despite doing a good job of limiting hard contact.
By Mark Polishuk | at
MAY 13: Frazier has elected free agency, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette tweets.
MAY 10: The Pirates announced that infielder Todd Frazier has been designated for assignment. Ben Gamel, recently claimed off waivers from the Indians, will take Frazier’s spot on Pittsburgh’s roster.
“The Toddfather” initially signed a minor league deal with the Pirates during the offseason, then opted out of that contract near the end of Spring Training only to re-sign with the club a few days later. Frazier did end up seeing some time on the Bucs’ big league roster, but he hit only .086/.200/.114 over 40 plate appearances.
Despite this lack of offense, the timing of Frazier’s DFA comes at something of an unexpected moment, given that Colin Moran was just placed on the 10-day injured list and Bryan Reynolds is also day-to-day with an unspecified lower-body injury. Gamel can fill in for Reynolds, and Phillip Evans seems like the logical choice to be moved to first base, with such other internal options like Troy Stokes Jr., Hunter Owen, and minor league signing Wilmer Difo all vying for playing time until Reynolds, Moran, and Ke’Bryan Hayes are all healthy.
A veteran of 11 MLB seasons and a former two-time All-Star, Frazier was still swinging a productive bat as recently as 2019, when he hit .251/.329/.443 (104 OPS+, 106 wRC+) over 499 PA for the Mets. Since that season, however, Frazier has only a .616 OPS over 212 PA with the Mets, Rangers, and Pirates. Assuming he clears DFA waivers, the 35-year-old figures to get some looks from teams in need of corner infield help. Frazier is still a capable fielder at first base and third base, and apart from his 2021 numbers, he has still been solid against left-handed pitching.
By Mark Polishuk | at
May 12: May underwent surgery today, as he announced himself on Twitter.
May 3, 4:06pm: May will undergo Tommy John surgery, the Dodgers announced (Twitter link via Juan Toribio of MLB.com). He’ll miss the rest of this season and likely a sizable portion of the 2022 campaign.
2:44pm: Dodgers right-hander Dustin May left Saturday’s start in the second inning due to an arm injury, and the initial news isn’t good. MLB Network’s Jon Morosi reports (Twitter link) that May has suffered some damage to his right UCL, and he and the “Dodgers will make [an] official decision on how to proceed in the next 24 hours.”
The worst-case scenario, of course, would be a Tommy John surgery that would keep May on the shelf for the next 13-15 months. Depending on the severity of the UCL damage, May could first opt to rest and rehab his elbow in an attempt to pitch through the discomfort — Masahiro Tanaka is probably the most well-known example of a pitcher who avoided TJ surgery and went on to pitch for years with little issue despite a tear in his UCL. That said, Tanaka is a rare case, and if May spends time rehabbing his elbow and then has to undergo a Tommy John procedure anyway, the added time could run him the risk of missing the entire 2022 campaign.
Regardless, it’s an all-around tough situation for a 23-year-old hurler who seemed to be on pace to be the Dodgers’ next great homegrown pitcher. A third-round pick in the 2016 draft, May was regarded as one of baseball’s best prospects during his time in the Los Angeles farm system, and he has a 2.93 ERA, 24.2% strikeout rate, and an impressive 5.9% walk rate over 113 2/3 innings in the big leagues. He has also logged 14 postseason innings, with 10 2/3 of those frames coming during the Dodgers’ run to the World Series last fall.
Los Angeles plans to have Tony Gonsolin step into May’s open rotation spot, though Gonsolin has yet to pitch this year due to shoulder inflammation, and will require an estimated 3-4 weeks to get fully ramped up. The Dodgers could make do with a four-man rotation until Gonsolin is ready, and David Price doesn’t appear to be a starting option since he is also still recovering from a hamstring strain.
With a starting four of Trevor Bauer, Clayton Kershaw, Julio Urias, and Walker Buehler, it’s hard to say the Dodgers are exactly hurting for rotation help. If May does indeed end up missing an extended amount of time, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the team sign an innings-eating veteran to a minor league deal in the short term, and L.A. could certainly eye a bigger-name hurler at the trade deadline.
By Mark Polishuk | at
MAY 11: The Mets have officially placed deGrom on the IL and recalled righty Sean Reid-Foley, Mike Puma of the New York Post tweets.
MAY 10: The Mets will place star right-hander Jacob deGrom on the 10-day injured list due to right side tightness, the team announced. The placement will become official prior to tomorrow’s game with the Orioles, and the placement will be retroactive to May 10.
The news wasn’t a surprise considering that deGrom made an early exit from yesterday’s start, though an MRI didn’t reveal any structural damage. Naturally, the Mets want to be as cautious as possible with the ace of their staff, especially since deGrom had been scratched from a previous start last Tuesday due to inflammation in his right lat. Though it doesn’t appear as if deGrom’s injury is all that serious, getting at least 10 days off to rest and rehab is probably a wise move considering his outsized importance to New York’s rotation.
Since the Mets are off today, Thursday, and on May 20, it’s possible deGrom might only miss one start during his absence. A return to the hill for May 21 against the Marlins certainly seems feasible if deGrom makes a quick recovery. As MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo notes, it isn’t uncommon for deGrom to miss a start or two per season due to a minor injury, though this will mark the first time deGrom has actually been placed on the IL since 2019. DeGrom has hit the big league IL four times in his career, returning each time in relatively short order.
DeGrom is in the midst of yet another spectacular season, with an 0.68 ERA/1.65 SIERA and (this is somehow not a typo) 567 ERA+ through 40 innings. His 46.1% strikeout percentage leads all starting pitchers, and he also leads the majors in K/9 (14.6), hits/9 (3.8), WHIP (0.60) and FIP (1.03), not to mention high-90th percentile spots in several Statcast categories.
By Mark Polishuk | at
Catching up on some minor league moves from around baseball…
Earlier updates:
By Mark Polishuk | at
TODAY: Polanco is expected back with the Pirates within a few days, manager Derek Shelton told reporters (including Kevin Gorman of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review).
MAY 8: The Pirates placed Gregory Polanco on the COVID-related injury list on Tuesday, without any specific details (though none are required in COVID situations) given about why Polanco would be missing time. However, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Polanco’s placement was due to a violation of healthy and safety protocols. Polanco “utilized a training service that was outside of the Pirates’ bubble,” according to Mackey’s sources.
It isn’t yet known how long Polanco will be away from the team, or whether or not he’ll face league-mandated punishment for breaking protocol. According to the 2021 Operations Manual, “Any Covered Individuals who are found to have violated the Code of Conduct are subject to potential discipline, including suspension or forfeiture of salary for days spent away from the Club while in mandatory self-isolation or quarantine resulting from the violation.”
In short, a suspension would cost Polanco some game checks (he is earning $11MM this season, as Pittsburgh’s highest-paid player) and it isn’t out of the question that he could also lose some money for the time he has currently missed on the COVID-IL. It remains to be seen how the Pirates, the league, and possibly the MLBPA could approach this situation due to the lack of known information about the exact circumstances of Polanco’s violation.
Polanco tested positive for COVID-19 last July, costing him some time during the Pirates’ Summer Camp and delaying the start of his 2020 season by a few games. Since undergoing shoulder surgery in September 2018, Polanco has hit .197/.263/.369 over 431 plate appearances, missing significant time in 2019 dealing with more shoulder problems. Beyond the shoulder injury and the positive COVID test, Polanco also suffered a wrist fracture in December.
By Mark Polishuk | at
Shane Greene’s long free agent wait ended yesterday when he re-signed with the Braves on a one-year deal worth a prorated $1.5MM. “It seemed early on that a return to the Braves was his preference,” SKOR North’s Darren Wolfson writes (Twitter link), as Wolfson notes that the Twins were willing to offer Greene more money. This focus on Atlanta could explain why it took until May for Greene to land a contract, as David O’Brien of The Athletic estimated back in mid-March that the Braves were only willing to spend in the neighborhood of $1MM on Greene — given the prorated nature of Greene’s contract, he’ll end up earning around $1.1 or $1.2MM.
More pitching-related items from around baseball…
By Mark Polishuk | at
The Rays have signed left-hander Adam Conley to a minor league deal, Baseball America’s Chris Hilburn-Trenkle reports. Conley had previously agreed to join NPB’s Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, but opted out of joining the team earlier this week.
According to a statement from the Eagles (hat tip to reporter Jim Allen), Conley decided against playing in Japan due to concerns over the country’s COVID-19 situation. Due to entry restrictions from the Japanese government, Conley had been unable to even arrive in Japan until late March, and those same restrictions prevented Conley’s family from joining him abroad.
This isn’t the first time that the coronavirus has directly impacted the southpaw’s career, as Conley was one of many Marlins players placed on the COVID-related injured list last summer due to an outbreak within the clubhouse. Conley ended up not pitching at all in 2020, after previously seeing some big league action in each of the previous five seasons.
Initially a promising starter in the Marlins’ rotation in 2015-16, Conley ran into some struggles and then turned to relief pitching, with some success in 2018 and then a rougher experience (6.53 ERA in 60 2/3 innings) in 2019. For his career, Conley has a 4.82 ERA, 19.7% strikeout rate, and 9.5% walk rate over 414 1/3 innings, all with Miami.
It remains to be seen what role Conley will take with Florida’s other MLB team, though given the Rays’ flexible approach to pitching, Conley could potentially be used in a number of different ways. He could be deployed in a traditional relief role or perhaps stretched out to be given a second look as a starter, or the Rays could use Conley as an opener, a piggyback starter, a long reliever, a swingman, or perhaps all of the above.
By Mark Polishuk | at
The latest minor moves from around baseball…
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