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White Sox Place Andrew Benintendi On 10-Day Injured List

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Prior to today’s game, the White Sox placed outfielder Andrew Benintendi on the 10-day injured list today due to left achilles tendinitis.  Oscar Colas was called up from Triple-A to take Benintendi’s roster spot, as Francys Romero was the first to report (via X) yesterday.

It seemed likely that Benintendi was headed for the IL after he was removed early from yesterday’s game.  Sox manager Pedro Grifol revealed to reporters that Benintendi had been playing with the injury for a while, and though the outfielder even homered prior to his early exit Saturday, the discomfort just became too much for Benintendi to bear.

The IL placement is yet another bad turn in Benintendi’s star-crossed tenure with the White Sox.  He signed a five-year, $75MM free agent deal with Chicago in the 2022-23 offseason, but then hit only .262/.326/.356 over 621 plate appearances last year.  The follow-up has been even worse, as Benintendi’s .195/.230/.284 slash line over 200 PA in 2024 has given him the lowest fWAR (-1.6) of any qualified player in baseball.  While there are still over three and a half years remaining on Benintendi’s deal, the largest contract in White Sox history is already looking like an albatross, which isn’t great news for a rebuilding Sox team that will be trying to move as much veteran talent as possible in order to reload with younger players.

Colas was in today’s starting lineup against the Brewers, and he has appeared in one other MLB game this season (a pinch-hit appearance in Chicago’s 7-6 loss to Cleveland on April 10).  The outfielder has otherwise spent the season at Triple-A Charlotte, hitting .244/.358/.406 with five home runs over 193 PA.  It seems possible that this could be another cup of coffee type of promotion for Colas, as Luis Robert Jr. is expected to be activated from the injured list this coming week, and possibly as early as Tuesday when the White Sox next take the field.

Then again, Colas’ time in the Show could also be elongated depending on Andrew Vaughn’s status, as Vaughn has missed Chicago’s last three games.  Vaughn hasn’t played since spraining his left ring finger while sliding into a base on Wednesday, and manager Pedro Grifol told MLB.com and other media that the plan was to see how Vaughn felt after 3-5 days of rest.  If Vaughn still isn’t showing improvement on Tuesday, he might go on the IL himself (with three days of backdated placement) if Robert is ready to be activated.

Vaughn is unfortunately not far ahead of Benintendi, as Vaughn’s -0.8 fWAR is the fourth-worst of any qualified player.  The former third overall pick had a 107 wRC+ and a .264/.317/.429 slash line over 1170 PA during the 2022-23 seasons, but he has taken a big step backwards with a .199/.264/.313 slash and four homers in his first 220 trips to the plate this year.  Gavin Sheets has been filling in at first base in Vaughn’s absence.

Giants, Camilo Doval Discussed Extension Last Year

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4:40pm: Slusser has since updated her report to note that the previously reported $50MM figure is not accurate. She adds that the offer was “closer to what an extension for a pre-arb reliever would have been,” although the specific terms of the offer are not clear.

2:54pm: The Giants and closer Camilo Doval had talks last year about a contract extension that would have paid Doval around $50MM, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.  It isn’t known if the Giants have since made a larger offer, or if the two sides have continued negotiations in any significant fashion.

In terms of the timing of the $50MM offer, Slusser writes that Edwin Diaz’s five-year, $102MM deal with the Mets from November 2022 happened “not long before” the talks between Doval and the Giants.  It might therefore be safe to guess the two sides held discussions during Spring Training 2023, as teams routinely explore longer-term contracts with their in-house players during spring camp.

Doval is still a pre-arbitration player, as the right-hander will only enter the arb process for the first of three times this coming offseason.  He is slated to hit free agency following the 2027 campaign, so it seems likely that the Giants’ offer covered Doval’s remaining two pre-arb seasons, his three arbitration years, and at least one of his free agent seasons, with possibly a club option or two also attached.

It would’ve been quite the financial commitment for a pitcher who had only 94.2 MLB innings under his belt heading into the 2023 season, especially for a Giants team that has been wary of giving any kind of long-term contract to a pitcher since president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi took the front office.  It should be noted that the spring of 2023 did see the Giants complete a five-year, $90MM extension with Logan Webb, though a longer-term deal with a front-of-the-rotation starter carries less risk than a longer-term deal to a reliever.

There haven’t been many relief pitchers in history who have landed contracts (whether extensions or free agent deals) worth $50MM or more.  Doval was also something of a lightly regarded international prospect who signed for a $100K bonus in 2015, so even if he viewed the offer as unsatisfactory in the wake of Diaz’s deal resetting the market, it must’ve taken quite a bit of confidence on Doval’s part to pass up the life-changing security of San Francisco’s extension.

Now two months into the 2024 season, Doval’s decision to bet on himself is still looking sound.  Doval has a 2.89 ERA over 90 1/3 innings since Opening Day 2023, with an outstanding 30.4% strikeout rate, a 55.6% grounder rate, and a fastball averaging 99.2 mph.  Some other metrics stand out as red flags, as Doval has always been prone to walks, and his hard-contact numbers have been decidedly below average over the last two years.

Since traditional counting stats like saves are valued by arbiters moreso than deeper analytics, the number that might matter most to Doval’s future earnings are his Doval’s 75 saves in 87 chances over the last three seasons.  Assuming he stays healthy and effective for the remainder of 2024, he’ll head into his first round of arbitration with a strong three-year platform of quality results in the ninth inning.  This will subsequently line him up for increasingly larger salaries in his next two arb years if all goes well, and then a free agent deal in the 2027-28 offseason (when he is 30 years old) that might possibly set a new standard for closer contracts.

That is still a ways down the road, of course, which speaks to the longer-term risk that Doval is taking in foregoing an extension.  Nothing is preventing Doval and the Giants from coming together on a long-term deal at any point over the next four seasons, or San Francisco might also now be open to another options for their highest-leverage innings.  As Slusser writes, rookie Randy Rodriguez has looked good in his first taste of MLB action, and might be a potential closer of the future.  This could mean the Giants might eventually explore trading Doval in order to address needs elsewhere on the roster, while saving a bit of money on Doval’s escalating arbitration salaries, and perhaps selling high to some extent.  Those elevated hard-contact rates, for instance, or Doval’s continued control problems might have given the Giants some more concerns over Doval’s long-term viability than they had in the spring in 2023.

Phillies Claim Freddy Tarnok

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The Phillies announced that they have claimed righty Freddy Tarnok off waivers from the Athletics.  Tarnok has been optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley after first being activated off the 60-day injured list.  To create room on the 40-man, the Phils moved right-hander Dylan Covey to the 60-day IL.

It wasn’t publicly known that Tarnok had been designated for assignment, but Oakland had to make some kind of decision since was nearing the end of his 30-day rehab assignment.  Tarnok has pitched in six games for Triple-A Las Vegas since May 8, and with a 13.50 ERA to show for those 7 1/3 innings of work, Tarnok might have simply pitched himself out of the Athletics’ plans.  Tarnok has been on the IL since Opening Day due to inflammation in his right hip, and he was moved from the 15-day to the 60-day at the start of May.

A third-round pick for the Braves in the 2017 draft, Tarnok made his MLB debut in the form of a single game and two-thirds of an inning pitched during the 2022 season.  That winter, Atlanta dealt Tarnok to Oakland as part of the huge three-team, nine-player trade that sent William Contreras and Joel Payamps to the Brewers and Sean Murphy to the Braves, with Tarnok being one of the younger, controllable players the A’s landed in one of several fire-sale type trades during their latest rebuild.

Tarnok’s first (and officially only) season with the A’s consisted of five outings and 14 2/3 innings due to multiple injuries.  Shoulder problems led to a 60-day IL stint to begin the 2023 campaign as well, and hip surgery then ended his season altogether in August.  Recovery from that hip procedure lingered into the offseason and Spring Training, necessitating Tarnok’s IL stint at the start of this year.

Unsurprisingly, Tarnok has run into some troubles keeping the ball in the park in the Pacific Coast League, and his walk and strikeout rates have been average at best even prior to 2024 across his 71 career Triple-A innings.  However, Tarnok has a solid 4.18 ERA in those 71 Triple-A frames, and is still only 25 years old.  There’s no risk for the Phillies in having some more big league-ready rotation depth ready at Lehigh Valley in the event of injury, or if Philadelphia just wants to give some of its starters extra rest in advance of what the team hopes will be a deep postseason run.

Covey has yet to pitch this season after suffering a shoulder strain during Spring Training, and he likely would’ve been placed on the 60-day IL much earlier than today had the Phillies been in need of a 40-man roster spot.  As a reminder, a 60-day IL placement is retroactive to the start of the initial 15-day placement, so Covey can now technically be activated at any time since it has already been more than 60 days since Opening Day.

Padres Place Yu Darvish, Joe Musgrove On 15-Day Injured List

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1:18PM: The Padres have announced that both Musgrove and Darvish have placed on the 15-day IL.  Musgrove’s injury has been termed as right elbow inflammation and his placement date is retroactive to May 29, while Darvish has a left groin strain and a May 30 retroactive placement date.  Vasquez and Logan Gillaspie have been called up from Triple-A.

Darvish lasted only three innings before his hamstring forced him out of his start against Miami last Wednesday, though the injury has now been diagnosed as a groin problem.  This could be a new injury stemming from the initial issue, or simply a clearer diagnosis after a couple of days of testing.  The Padres listed Darvish day-to-day at first, so it seems possible that Darvish might be back after only 15 days if the injury is somewhat minor in nature.

12:30PM: Joe Musgrove has been scratched from his scheduled start today and will instead be placed on the Padres’ 15-day injured list.  According to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune (X link), Musgrove is again suffering from the triceps tendinitis that already sent him to the IL at the start of May.  Right-hander Randy Vasquez was recalled from Triple-A El Paso to take Musgrove’s spot on the active roster and to start today’s game against the Royals.

Somewhat ominously, Acee wrote that Musgrove’s triceps issue “is not believed at this time to be a season-ending injury.”  While this is positive news at the moment, the fact that there’s enough uncertainty over this lingering injury that an early end to Musgrove’s 2024 campaign is even a possibility is certainly not a good sign.  Even if no structural damage is found, even relatively minor cases of inflammation or tendinitis can lead to lengthy layoffs, if a pitcher simply continues to feel discomfort when throwing.

Musgrove looked pretty good in the two starts since returning from the first IL trip, posting a 2.16 ERA over 8 1/3 frames.  After laboring through three innings in his first outing on May 21, he looked much sharper on May 26 when tossing 5 1/3 shutout innings against the powerful Yankees lineup in a 5-2 Padres victory.  Considering how Musgrove had a 6.37 ERA in his 41 innings prior to that initial IL visit, it seemed as though he was over his triceps problems and back in his normal form as a frontline member of San Diego’s pitching staff.

Vasquez is a logical fill-in candidate while Musgrove is out, yet Vasquez doesn’t have much big league experience, and his 5.82 ERA over 21 2/3 innings this season indicates that he might not be an ideal choice as a longer-term rotation patch if Musgrove has to miss a significant amount of time.  Even beyond Musgrove, Yu Darvish is also dealing with a hamstring injury that forced him out of his last start, and it isn’t yet known if Darvish will be able to make his next start or if he might also need to visit the 15-day IL.

The Padres’ next off-day isn’t until June 13, plus the rotation has some depth question even with Darvish and Musgrove both healthy.  Dylan Cease, Michael King, and Matt Waldron have settled into rotation roles, and that trio plus Darvish, Musgrove, and Vasquez have accounted for all of the Padres’ starts this season.  Ryan Carpenter or Jackson Wolf could be the top Triple-A depth options, though even accounting for the Pacific Coast League’s hitter-friendly bent, Carpenter’s 8.74 ERA and Wolf’s 6.69 ERA are cause for concern.  (Vasquez also has a 7.45 ERA in 19 1/3 innings for El Paso.)

Tigers Notes: Carpenter, Canha, Harris, Spending

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1:03PM: Canha told reporters (including Petzold) and other reporters that he has a strain of his psoas muscle, but the injury “feels a lot better today” than it did Friday.  Canha won’t play today but intends to be in Sunday’s lineup, and coming out of that game in good health could determine whether or not an IL stint is needed.

9:45AM: Kerry Carpenter was placed on the Tigers’ 10-day injured list earlier this week with what was described as lumbar spine inflammation, but the issue has unfortunately proven to be more serious.  The club announced on Friday that Carpenter “is currently completing rehab for a lumbar spine stress fracture,” with no recovery timeline provided.  Manager A.J. Hinch could have more details during his pregame chat with media later today, but it would appear as though Carpenter will be sidelined for at least a month, and potentially quite longer depending on the severity of the fracture.

It’s tough news for the 26-year-old Carpenter, who has quietly been Detroit’s best hitter since he made his MLB debut during the 2022 season.  After hitting .273/.334/.474 with 26 homers in 572 plate appearances in 2022-23, Carpenter has taken it up another level this year, with a hefty 154 wRC+ from a slash line of .283/.342/.572 and eight home runs in his first 163 PA.

Carpenter’s production has again stood out within a Tigers lineup that has struggled to generate consistent offense.  Matt Vierling and Wenceel Perez have earned more playing time due to their solid numbers, while among the players projected to be regulars going into the season, Riley Greene and Mark Canha are the only other batters besides Carpenter who have hit well.  However, Canha’s status is also a question mark after he was scratched from Friday’s lineup due to soreness in his left hip.

“It’s been bothering me for a week or so,” Canha told reporters, including Chris McCosky of the Detroit News.  “It was getting worse and worse and today was the pinnacle.  It got to a point where I had to shut it down.”

For now, Canha is day to day, though he has undergone testing to see if a more serious problem is causing the hip discomfort.  Acquired in a trade with the Brewers last November, Canha has delivered a 120 wRC+ (.247/.358/.401 with six home runs) in his first 215 PA in a Tigers uniform, bouncing around between the DH spot, both corner outfield positions, and some occasional work at first base.  Canha’s numbers have generally been down in May, though one of his best hitting stretches of the season has actually come over the last week of play, when he was hampered by his hip injury.

Needless to say, the Tigers would be hard-pressed to lose both Carpenter and Canha for any notable length of time.  Removing both hitters would put more pressure on Greene, Vierling, and Perez to stay hot, and increase the pressure on Detroit’s many struggling hitters to get on track.  Colt Keith and the Jake Rogers/Carson Kelly catching tandem have started to pick it up after dismal starts to the season, but quite a bit more will be required to dig the Tigers out of their early hole in the AL Central race.  A trendy dark horse pick to win the division heading into the season, the Tigers sit in fourth place with a 28-29 record, 10 games behind the first-place Guardians.

While Detroit still has four months of regular season to cut into that deficit, it is fair to wonder if the clock is really closer to two months, as in the July 30 trade deadline.  The Tigers could conceivably be deadline sellers if they remain around .500 and the Guardians (or the surprising Royals, or the reigning division champion Twins) have all continued to pull away from the pack.  Even if the Tigers do get back into the race, it isn’t clear just how aggressive they might be in making potential additions at the deadline, given that president of baseball operations Scott Harris again reiterated earlier this week that the organization isn’t yet planning any significant payroll boost.

“We’re not quite there yet as far as spending at that level because we need to build the foundation of this team to put us in a position to supplement it with free agent signings in the upcoming winters,” Harris said in an MLB Network interview with Brian Kenny (hat tip to Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press).  “I have confidence that the resources will be there. The Ilitch family has always supported the Tigers, and they are ready and eager to do it….We just have to develop the core that we’re going to spend around, and we also have to target the players in upcoming winters that can really help us.”

The Tigers’ payroll has naturally dropped as the club has undergone a lengthy rebuilding period, and Detroit hasn’t enjoyed a winning season since going 86-75 in 2016.  The splashy signings of Javier Baez and Eduardo Rodriguez during the 2021-22 offseason seemed to indicate that the rebuild was over, yet multiple pitching injuries and a near team-wide offensive slump resulted in a 96-loss season.  Former GM Al Avila was fired in August 2022, leading to Harris’ hiring a month later as the person tasked with finally getting the Motor City back into contention.

The end of Miguel Cabrera’s contract removed the Tigers’ biggest financial commitment from the books last winter, plus Rodriguez departed to sign with the Diamondbacks (for four years and $80MM) after opting out of the last three years and $49MM on his Tigers contract.  Still, the team didn’t reinvest those savings back into the roster, as the Tigers opened the season with a payroll of roughly $97.6MM, and only made modest spends this past winter on Canha and free agents Kenta Maeda and Jack Flaherty.

Baez’s struggles have only worsened over his three seasons in Detroit, and the heretofore disastrous nature of that contract acts as a cautionary tale for those critical of Harris’ measured approach to spending.  That said, Petzold notes that Tarik Skubal’s remaining years of arbitration control (through the 2026 season) might serve as a window for the Tigers to make a push to contend, since Skubal has emerged as one of the best pitchers in baseball this season.  Other promising young starters as well as Greene, Carpenter, and Keith might already form a good enough core to contend, and if Harris and ownership hold off on bigger spending until even more prospects arrive and get established, the timeline might extend past Skubal’s time with the team.  Of course, locking up Skubal to a big extension would be a way for the Tigers to both increase payroll and secure a core player in a single move.

Blue Jays Place Jordan Romano On 15-Day Injured List

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The Blue Jays announced that closer Jordan Romano has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to inflammation in his right elbow.  Left-hander Brendon Little was called up from Triple-A Buffalo to take Romano’s spot on the active roster.

This is the second time this season that Romano has been sidelined with elbow inflammation, as his first stint on the injured list delayed his 2024 debut until April 16.  The results in between those two IL stints have been very shaky, as Romano has a 6.59 ERA over 13 2/3 innings.  Romano’s 21% strikeout rate is far below the career 30.5K% he took into the season, and batters have been absolutely teeing off on Romano to the tune of a 50% hard-hit ball rate.  The right-hander has also allowed four homers over his small sample size of 13 1/3 frames, after giving up 10 homers total over 123 innings in 2022-23.

In short, Romano simply hasn’t looked right all season, whether that was due to any lingering elbow problems or more underlying issues.  Jays manager John Schneider told reporters (including Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi) that Romano’s MRI came back clean, so it doesn’t seem to be a case of any structural damage that could threaten Romano’s season.  It could be that this 15-day absence might be a bit of reset just to get Romano entirely healthy and mechanically fine, or the Blue Jays could keep him out for longer than 15 days just to fully ensure that Romano’s inflammation woes are behind him.

If the Jays can’t turn things around from their underwhelming 27-29 start, Romano (if healthy) is one of many names on the roster that could be speculative trade candidates come the deadline.  Romano has one remaining year of arbitration eligibility before hitting free agency after the 2025 season, and this extra year of control could make him an attractive asset for teams in need of bullpen help.  Naturally that would require Romano to return to action relatively soon, and for him to display both good health and a form more akin to his 2020-23 form.

While Toronto’s struggling offense has taken most of the heat for the club’s 27-29 start, the relief corps has also been a major issue.  The Blue Jays’ 4.60 bullpen ERA ranks 26th of 30 teams, as Yimi Garcia has been the only consistently reliable option amidst the other set of struggling relievers, with Romano the face of these struggles given his status as closer.  Unsurprisingly, Schneider said that Garcia will probably get most of the save situations while Romano is out, with Chad Green also factoring into the closer mix now that Green is back from his own stint on the IL.

AL West Notes: Semien, Schanuel, Erceg

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Marcus Semien went 1-for-4 in the Rangers’ 8-2 loss to the Marlins yesterday, marking his return to the lineup after sitting out Texas’ previous game.  While off-days aren’t normally worth mention, Semien’s absence from Wednesday’s lineup ended a streak of 349 starts for the star second baseman, and it represented only his ninth missed game since the start of the 2019 season.  The decision was made since Semien is dealing with a compressed nerve in his neck, as he told Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News and other reporters yesterday, and the hope is that resting both Wednesday and Thursday (when the Rangers didn’t have a game) will help get Semien back on track.

“I could have missed more time, but I’m trying to figure out how to fight through it,” Semien said.  “It feels better after a day off and another day of rest.  I’m happy about that.  I just want to come back strong.”

The injury stems from a collision between Semien and Adolis Garcia while the two were chasing the same fly ball on May 18.  Semien has hit only .135/.200/.189 over 40 plate appearances in the nine games since the collision, and also made three errors in the field.  As Grant notes, Semien’s career splits indicate that he is generally a better hitter anyway later in the season, though this neck issue adds an unwelcome obstacle for a Texas club that has struggled to a 27-30 record in its defense of last year’s World Series championship.

More from around the AL West…

  • Speaking of lingering injuries, Nolan Schanuel was a late scratch from the Angels’ lineup yesterday due to left thumb soreness.  Manager Ron Washington told MLB.com and other media that Schanuel has been bothered by his thumb for an unspecified period of time, which could explain the first baseman’s underwhelming .224/.294/.328 slash line through 206 plate appearances.  It has still been less than a year since Schanuel was selected as the 11th overall pick in the 2023 draft, and his 2024 numbers have been a tough follow-up to his solid .275/.402/.330 mark over 132 PA last season, after the Angels fast-tracked him to the majors after just 97 minor league PA.
  • Lucas Erceg was placed on the Athletics’ 15-day injured list yesterday with what officially termed a forearm strain, and manager Mark Kotsay didn’t give reporters (including MLB.com’s Martin Gallegos) a timetable on when the reliever might be ready to return to action.  However, it does seem like Erceg’s injury might be of the relatively minor variety, as Kotsay indicated that Erceg might be able to start throwing “sooner than later.”  That’s certainly good news considering the ominous nature of forearm injuries, so it seems like Erceg could soon resume set-up duties in front of star rookie closer Mason Miller.  Erceg has a 2.86 ERA over 22 relief innings, with a set of impressive Statcast metrics that include a superb 31% strikeout rate and 28% hard-hit ball rate.

Ronald Acuna Jr. Suffers Torn ACL, Will Miss Rest Of 2024 Season

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Reigning NL MVP Ronald Acuna Jr. suffered a fully torn left ACL during today’s game, as the Braves announced following an MRI examination tonight.  Acuna will undergo surgery and miss the remainder of the 2024 season.

Acuna was taking a lead off second base during the first inning of today’s 8-1 Atlanta win over the Pirates when he faked a possible steal attempt with a move towards third base.  However, Acuna’s left leg twisted under him and he fell to the ground in obvious pain.  Speaking with reporters after the game, Acuna said that he didn’t feel a pop in his knee and expressed hope that might perhaps miss just a month of action if his knee was only strained, but unfortunately the MRI has revealed the worst-case scenario for the star outfielder.

This is the second major knee surgery of Acuna’s career, as he previously tore his right ACL on July 10, 2021.  He was able to return to action quicker than expected and was back in the Braves lineup by the end of April 2022, though it didn’t seem like he was quite back in full form, as Acuna batted a relatively underwhelming .266/.351/.413 over 533 plate appearances that season.

With a full and normal offseason of prep and recovery over the winter of 2022-23, Acuna bounced back with not just his best season, but one of the best all-around seasons in the history of the sport.  Acuna was a unanimous choice as NL MVP after hitting .337/.416/.596 with 41 homers and 73 stolen bases (in 87 attempts).  This made Acuna the first player to ever have a 40-50 season, let alone establishing the 40-60 and 40-70 clubs to boot.

That type of season would’ve been a tough act to follow for anyone, but Acuna was hitting only .246/.348/.356 over 221 PA heading into what ended up as his final game of the 2024 campaign.  Acuna’s barrel rates were still above average but well below his career norms, and both his home run total (four) and his overall power numbers sharply dropped.  He also reverted back to his pre-2023 free-swinging ways, after he was one of baseball’s toughest hitters to strike out last season.

We’ll now never know if Acuna could’ve shaken off this slow start, as he is facing yet another brutally long absence from the Braves lineup.  Since Acuna suffered a complete tear in his ACL, his recovery figures to be on the longer side of the usual 7-10 month timeframe for such surgeries.  This would still put him in line to return by Opening Day 2025, though it seems quite possible Acuna and the Braves might explore a longer rehab this time given that it is Acuna’s second ACL tear, and because his previous relatively quick return in 2022 seemed to result in nagging knee soreness and his comparatively lackluster numbers.

More will be known about Acuna’s recovery timeline in the coming weeks and months, but the bottom line is that the news is devastating on all fronts for Acuna, the Braves, and for MLB itself in losing a signature star.  Acuna still doesn’t turn 27 until December, and yet while he has plenty of time to continue building on what seems like a Cooperstown-worthy career, it is anyone’s guess if he’ll be able to again recapture his old form after ACL surgeries on both knees.

The Braves overcame Acuna’s previous ACL injury to launch an unlikely run to the 2021 World Series crown.  Atlanta chose to double down on its attempt to stay in the playoff race by adding four outfielders (Jorge Soler, Eddie Rosario, Joc Pederson, and Adam Duvall) prior to the trade deadline, and the entire quartet stepped up to help carry the team in the remainder of the regular season and during the postseason.  Soler even won World Series MVP honors and Rosario was the NLCS MVP, cementing Alex Anthopoulos’ bold decision to reload rather than not give up on the season in the wake of losing Acuna.

With this in mind, it is impossible to say that Acuna’s latest injury will doom Atlanta’s chances in 2024, even if president of baseball operations Anthopoulos now faces another tricky path to building a championship team.  Though the Braves are six games behind the Phillies for the NL East lead, Atlanta’s 30-20 record gives them a comfortable five-game edge for the top NL wild card berth, and it certainly looks like a return to the postseason in the cards.  This is despite middling seasons from most of the Braves’ lineup (save Marcell Ozuna and Travis d’Arnaud), Sean Murphy missing almost the entire season with an oblique strain, and staff ace Spencer Strider undergoing a season-ending surgery of his own with an internal brace procedure.

Since the Braves still went for it in 2021 despite a sub-.500 record at the start of August, they will obviously still be all-in on a title now given their team-record payroll and one of baseball’s most enviable collections of long-term talent.  Jarred Kelenic and Adam Duvall have been splitting time in left field so either could shift over to right field for the time being, or Atlanta might just stick with the left field platoon and look to find another full-time replacement on the trade market.  Making an early strike in a trade could be costly for Anthopoulos, yet he might look to replicate 2021 by adding multiple outfielders in somewhat lower-tier deals.

If the Braves really wanted to get the band back together, Rosario (now with the Nationals) figures to be available as a deadline rental and Pederson might be the same if the Diamondbacks can’t get back into contention.  In terms of internal help, Atlanta’s tendency to rarely rest its starters means that Acuna, Kelenic, Duvall, Michael Harris II, and (with one inning in right field) Forrest Wall are the only players who have gotten any work in the Braves outfield all season.  Wall, J.P. Martinez, and Luke Williams are all at Triple-A and on the 40-man roster, plus Eli White and Skye Bolt are among a few other Triple-A outfield options with Major League experience.  Newly-acquired utilityman Zack Short has also gotten some time in the corner outfield during his career and figures to be part of this mix as well.

While there will be no shortage of trade speculation surrounding the Braves heading into the July 30 deadline, the obvious fact is that there is no way to truly replace Acuna, his 2024 struggles notwithstanding.  Losing Acuna for the season puts even more pressure on Atlanta’s other bats to get on track, and on the club’s pitching staff to continue its solid work.  The Braves’ attempt at a seventh consecutive division title is already in jeopardy thanks to the Phillies’ hot start, and without Acuna, it will be much more difficult for the Braves to navigate their way back to the World Series.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Cristian Javier Day-To-Day With Forearm Discomfort

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Cristian Javier was set to throw a bullpen session today in advance of his next scheduled start on Tuesday, but Astros manager Joe Espada told reporters (including Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle) that “a little forearm discomfort” led to Javier’s bullpen being scrapped.  The right-hander was deemed as day to day for now, though it would certainly seem like his next start will be pushed back or skipped altogether, and naturally any forearm-related injury will be monitored closely by team doctors.

While the best case scenario is that Javier’s soreness goes away in a couple of days, even a minimal 15-day stint on the injured list might also be considered a relative win considering how serious forearm problems can often result in much longer absences.  That said, even 15 days without Javier would be a blow to an Astros team that has already been stretched thin by pitching injuries this season, including a prior IL stint for Javier himself — the righty missed a little over three weeks recovering from a neck strain.

Javier has a solid but unspectacular 3.89 ERA over 34 2/3 innings this season, and his Statcast metrics are almost all below average apart from strong hard-hit ball rates.  Javier didn’t look sharp in allowing four runs over four innings against the Angels in his most recent outing last Tuesday, and Kawahara noted that Javier’s average fastball velocity in that start was 1.5mph below his mean number for the season.

It could be that if even the forearm injury isn’t overly serious, the Astros could consider giving Javier a 15-day IL stint just as a way to fully reset himself and get healthy after his inconsistent start to the season.  This tactic would also, however, put more pressure on a rotation that is trying to navigate a stretch of 29 games in 30 games.  The only off-day of that gauntlet just took place last Thursday, and the Astros have 10 games remaining before their next scheduled off-day on June 6.

In the event that Javier was either on a proper IL trip or was just held out in day-to-day form, Houston will have to make up two starts.  Veteran Eric Lauer was just signed to a minor league deal last week and could be a candidate to step into the rotation on a short-term basis, or both of Hunter Brown and Spencer Arrighetti could remain in the rotation.  Ronel Blanco’s return from suspension looked like it would push one of Brown or Arrighetti out of the regular starting mix, but if Javier is going to miss some time, an extra arm will be required.

Justin Verlander, Framber Valdez, and Blanco form a sturdy top three in the rotation.  Elsewhere on the injured list, Luis Garcia (Tommy John surgery) and Lance McCullers Jr. (forearm tendon surgery) are expected to make their 2024 debuts closer to midseason, and Jose Urquidy is dealing with some forearm soreness of his own that developed during a recent minor league rehab outing.

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