Mark Polishuk | MLB Trade Rumors

Cardinals Re-Sign T.J. McFarland

By Mark Polishuk | August 23, 2022 at 12:31pm CDT

After releasing T.J. McFarland last week, the Cardinals announced that the veteran left-hander has been re-signed to a minor league deal. McFarland will report to the Cardinals’ Triple-A affiliate in Memphis.

Now in his second season with the Cards, McFarland pitched well in 2021 but has struggled to a 6.61 ERA over 32 2/3 frames this season. Low-strikeout pitchers who heavily rely on ground balls are perhaps more prone to big swings in performance, and in McFarland’s case, an increase in hard contact, a jump in BABIP (from .261 in 2021 to .333 this year), and a decrease in grounder rate (53% this season, 63.7% in 2021) have all combined to ruin McFarland’s performance. His strand rate is also an abnormally low 60.4%, and his walk rate is also up from last season.

McFarland’s sinker (his primary pitch) is the best illustration of how his performance has tended to vary over his 10 MLB seasons. When the southpaw had a 2.00 ERA over 72 innings with the Diamondbacks in 2018, McFarland’s sinker was one of the most effective pitches in all of baseball, and he also had great success with the pitch in 2021. When the sinker isn’t only an average or below-average pitch, however, batters have feasted.

Retaining McFarland on a minors contract is a low-risk move for the Cardinals, as some time in Triple-A could help the 33-year-old get back on track. St. Louis has plenty of other left-handed options in their bullpen for the stretch run and potentially into the playoffs, but a McFarland who can rediscover his 2021 form would give the Cardinals another nice depth option.

Bryce Harper To Begin Minor League Rehab Assignment

By Mark Polishuk | August 22, 2022 at 3:10pm CDT

Aug. 22: Harper will begin a rehab assignment at Triple-A tomorrow, tweets Matt Gelb of The Athletic. Harper will play everyday from Tuesday to Saturday, take Sunday off and potentially join the big league club on Monday.

Aug. 21: As the Phillies continue to vie for a wild card berth, their biggest possible reinforcement is taking a step closer to a return, as Bryce Harper is slated to begin a Triple-A rehab assignment on Tuesday or Wednesday. Harper underwent surgery to repair a fractured left thumb in late June, and told reporters (including MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki) that his thumb has now regained full strength and is at roughly “85-90 percent” in terms of mobility.

While his thumb seems to be making good progress, Harper did caution that “I’m not really sure how it’s going to feel after I make contact, things like that. [Batting practice], machine, it all feels good, but you just never know until you get in the game.” That said, Harper has set September 1 as a loose target date for a return, so it seems like he’ll be in line for a week of Triple-A games.

It is possible Harper’s rehab assignment could be on the longer side because he wants to “come back at full strength playing,” rather than something like a limited schedule of playing two of every three games. Harper has already been limited to some extent this season, as a UCL tear in his throwing elbow kept him limited to being a designated hitter since April.

That elbow problem didn’t keep Harper from hitting .318/.385/.599 with 15 home runs over his first 275 plate appearances. If Harper can get anywhere close to that production upon his return, the Phillies will get a major boost in their hopes of ending their postseason drought. Philadelphia has continued to play well with Harper sidelined, posting a 28-20 record in the 48 games since he fractured his thumb.

Nathan Eovaldi Likely To Be Placed On IL Due To Neck/Shoulder Soreness

By Mark Polishuk | August 22, 2022 at 2:35pm CDT

Aug. 22: Chris Cotillo of MassLive tweets that Eovaldi will likely be placed on the 15-day injured list in order to make room on the roster for Josh Winckowski, who is taking the ball in Eovaldi’s place for tomorrow’s game.

Aug. 21: The Red Sox skipped Nathan Eovaldi’s last turn through the rotation since the right-hander was dealing with soreness in his neck and shoulder. The issue is still bothering Eovaldi, and manager Alex Cora told MLB.com’s Ian Browne (Twitter links) and other reporters that Eovaldi won’t make his next start, scheduled for Tuesday against the Blue Jays. Another trip to the injured list hasn’t been ruled out, though Cora said the Sox haven’t yet decided how to proceed.

For Eovaldi, he said that staying off the IL is “the main goal,” since he is “feeling a lot better” than earlier in the week, even if the recovery process is “going a little slower than we anticipated.” Needless to say, it has been a “frustrating” time for the righty, who said that “every day, it’s just how can we make sure that I’m 100 percent especially going down the road for this next stretch.”

Eovaldi already missed a little more than month of the season due to inflammation in his lower back, and injuries have hampered the right-hander for much of his career. 2021 was a rare healthy season for Eovaldi, and he responded with a 3.75 ERA over 182 1/3 innings and a fourth-place finish in AL Cy Young Award voting — indicative of just how high Eovaldi’s ceiling can be if he can just stay on the field.

With a 4.15 ERA over 99 2/3 innings this season, Eovaldi’s bottom-line numbers aren’t far off his 2021 totals, and he still has an elite walk rate. However, Eovaldi has allowed more hard contact than almost any other pitcher in the league, and his strikeout has dropped to a middling 22.7%. Despite this step backwards, Eovaldi is still arguably Boston’s best starting pitcher, and is critical to whatever chance the Red Sox might still have of sneaking back into the wild card hunt.

In the bigger picture, Eovaldi is also a free agent after the season, and would surely prefer to reach the open market without yet another IL stint on his resume. Eovaldi already hasn’t appeared in a game since August 12, and even with up to three days of backdating available on an injured-list placement, putting Eovaldi on the IL would keep him out of action until September. If Eovaldi is already feeling some improvement, the Sox could take the risk of leaving him off the IL, though another setback (which presumably would then make an IL stint a foregone conclusion) would delay his return even further.

NL Notes: Kimbrel, Fedde, Cavalli, Nationals, Junis

By Mark Polishuk | August 21, 2022 at 10:55pm CDT

The Dodgers used Craig Kimbrel for the last inning of today’s 10-3 win over the Marlins, and the reliever delivered a perfect frame to mop things up. While not a save situation for Kimbrel, manager Dave Roberts told J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group (Twitter links) and other reporters that Kimbrel and the team have agreed to base the right-hander’s workload going forward not on save chances, but rather on just getting regular outings. This wouldn’t preclude Kimbrel being used in save opportunities, of course, and Roberts said he could still choose to use Kimbrel in consecutive games.

It has been a shaky year for the veteran reliever, as between a subpar walk rate and a lot of hard contact allowed, Kimbrel has only a 4.46 ERA over 42 1/3 innings. A big .388 BABIP is responsible for some of these struggles, but consistency has been hard to come by in Kimbrel’s first season in Los Angeles. It has turned the ninth inning into a question mark for the Dodgers heading into the postseason, and it could be that Kimbrel’s adjusted role could be the team’s way of auditioning some other relievers for the closer’s job as October looms. It is also possible the Dodgers will rotate Kimbrel and many other pitchers into save situations as circumstances dictate, which may concern L.A. fans who have seen late-game breakdowns doom the Dodgers in past postseason trips.

MLBTR Chat Transcript

By Mark Polishuk | August 21, 2022 at 9:24pm CDT

Click here to read the transcript of tonight’s live baseball chat

Kyle Hendricks Not Planning To Return During 2022 Season

By Mark Polishuk | August 21, 2022 at 6:26pm CDT

Kyle Hendricks hasn’t pitched since early July due to a strain in his right shoulder, and it appears as though his 2022 season is over. The Cubs right-hander told reporters (including MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian) that he is trying to get healthy in order to have a normal offseason and ramp-up period for the 2023 season, and to that end, Hendricks plans to restart a throwing program at the Cubs’ training complex in Arizona this week.

Hendricks underwent an MRI earlier this month that didn’t reveal any structural damage, according to Chicago manager David Ross. However, it seemed even at the time that Hendricks’ 2022 campaign was probably over, as Ross said that getting Hendricks back this season wasn’t “a top priority” compared to the bigger-picture desire to make sure the veteran is healthy.

As such, it looks like Hendricks will wrap up his ninth MLB season with a 4.80 ERA over 84 1/3 innings. This marks two underwhelming seasons in a row for Hendricks, who has a 4.78 ERA/4.62 SIERA in 265 1/3 frames since the start of the 2021 campaign. His once-elite walk rate fell to a still-decent 6.7% this year, but combined with a big increase in hard-hit ball rate, Hendricks’ low-velocity, contact-heavy arsenal wasn’t fooling many batters.

While the 2020 season was only 60 games long, Hendricks was still a capable front-of-the-rotation starter as recently as two years ago, when he finished ninth in NL Cy Young Award voting. Sometimes underrated as a key piece of the Cubs’ success over the last decade, Hendricks was a very solid member of the rotation from 2014-20, with a 3.12 ERA over 1047 1/3 innings of an old-school approach that relied more on command and soft contact rather than missed bats. The 2016 season was a peak for Hendricks, both due to his league-best 2.13 ERA and his big role in the Cubs’ World Series triumph.

With the Cubs now in a rebuild, it’s safe to guess that if Hendricks hadn’t been struggling with both performance and injury over the last two seasons, he might very well have joined the long list of veterans traded away. Hendricks’ salary was also a big factor — 2023 is the final season of the four-year, $55.5MM extension he signed in March 2019, and he is owed $14MM for the 2023 season.

The Cubs also have a $16MM club option on the right-hander’s services for 2024, but at this point, it would seem like Chicago will buy that option out for $1.5MM unless Hendricks can turn things around next year. Or, if a bounce-back year is in the cards, that option decision could be in the hands of another team, if the Cubs looked to finally trade Hendricks after all. Since it doesn’t seem like Hendricks has much trade value at the present, he’ll need to return healthy and pitch well in the first half of 2023 before we get more clarity on his future either in Chicago or as a potential trade chip.

NL Central Notes: Pujols, Peterson, Wisdom, Miley, Overton

By Mark Polishuk | August 21, 2022 at 4:05pm CDT

Albert Pujols’ recent hot streak hasn’t changed the legendary slugger’s mind about retirement, as Pujols told USA Today’s Bob Nightengale that he is “still going to retire” at season’s end. Despite a 1.428 OPS in 53 plate appearances since the All-Star break and his ever-nearing proximity to some notable milestones, Pujols confirmed that he hasn’t thought about playing in 2023.

“I don’t get caught up in numbers. If you were going to tell me 22 years ago that I would be this close, I would have told you that you’re freakin’ crazy,” Pujols said. “My career has been amazing…I’ve had enough. I’m glad I made the announcement this was it when I signed. Really, I wouldn’t change a thing.”

Pujols now has 692 career homers, making it a realistic possibility that he can pass Alex Rodriguez (696 homers) on the all-time list and perhaps even become the fourth player in history to reach the 700-homer threshold. After last night’s four-hit performance against the Diamondbacks, Pujols is also now second on the all-time total bases list, passing another Cardinals legend in Stan Musial. Interestingly, Nightengale also notes that Pujols’ desire to return to St. Louis led him to pass up on offers from three other teams this winter, even though those other clubs were offering either more playing time or more money than Pujols’ $2.5MM salary for 2022.

Yasmani Grandal To Miss 10-14 Days With Knee Injury

By Mark Polishuk | August 21, 2022 at 1:25pm CDT

Aug. 21: The White Sox announced that further testing revealed “no acute damage to the ligaments, tendons or cartilage around the knee.” They diagnose the issue as “inflammation caused by the hyperextension of the knee” and say that Grandal should return to action in 10-14 days.

Aug. 20, 10:58PM: Grandal will be going on the injured list and Perez will be called up from Triple-A, manager Tony La Russa told reporters (including Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times).

10:27PM: The White Sox announced that Grandal left the game due to left knee discomfort, and the catcher is still being evaluated.

10:18PM: White Sox catcher Yasmani Grandal left Saturday’s game with an apparent left leg injury after a play at the plate. After Elvis Andrus singled in the seventh inning, Grandal was thrown out trying to score from second base, and seemed to hurt his knee on an awkward attempt to avoid the tag. Grandal had to be helped off the field, and didn’t return to the game.

More will be known about Grandal’s status after the game, yet it would certainly appear as though the veteran catcher will miss at least some time. Considering the calendar, anything beyond a minor injury could put the rest of Grandal’s 2022 season in jeopardy.

Grandal already missed five weeks due to back spasms earlier this season, and another significant injury would only add to a nightmarish year for the 33-year-old backstop. Limited to 287 plate appearances over 73 games, Grandal is hitting only .202/.307/.258, career lows in all three slash-line categories. His once-notable power has completely declined, with an Isolated Slugging statistic of only .056 (miles beneath the .211 ISO he carried over his first 10 seasons). While Grandal still has one of the league’s best walk rates, his lack of other production at the plate has made him a sub-replacement player, with a -0.2 fWAR.

As rough as Grandal’s season has been, the White Sox won’t be helped by the possible loss of their starting catcher as the team continues to battle for a playoff spot. Chicago dealt defensive specialist Reese McGuire to the Red Sox at the trade deadline, leaving Seby Zavala as the primary backup and now potential starter down the stretch. Zavala (who turns 29 later in August) has posted big numbers at Triple-A this season and has an above-average 108 wRC+ in 142 PA in the majors this season, hitting .281/.329/.398.

Nick Ciuffo and Raudy Read are the only other catchers in Chicago’s farm system with MLB experience. Neither are on the 40-man roster, and neither is Carlos Perez, a longtime member of the White Sox farm system who is hitting .259/.317/.448 with 17 homers for Triple-A Charlotte this season. In the event that Grandal misses some of all of the season, the Sox would have to turn to one of these options, or perhaps seek out the waiver wire or minor league trade route to land more catching depth.

Quick Hits: Maddon, Molina, Hernandez, Gilbert

By Mark Polishuk | August 20, 2022 at 9:47pm CDT

After being fired as the Angels manager in June, Joe Maddon would like to return to baseball, but “right now I need to get tired of what I’m doing in order to want to do something else,” Maddon told Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times. The veteran skipper is enjoying a rare “summer vacation” of sorts, and would only be interested in a managerial or advisory job with a team that had a “strong balance between the old and the new” approaches to the game, and not too tilted in favor of analytics.

It seems clear that Maddon didn’t feel this balance existed in Anaheim. In general, Maddon felt the Angels’ “infrastructure needs to be improved….It’s the non-sexy stuff that has to get better. It’s not just bright, shiny objects — they have that. They need to do the infrastructure better in order to get to where we had been in the past.” Maddon also implied that the front office tried to have too much of an influence on baseball decisions, thus trying to turn the manager into a “middle man” rather than an actual leader in the clubhouse.

“It’s at the point where some GM should really just put a uniform on and go down to the dugout, or their main analytical membrane, he should go down to the dugout….And what happens is when the performance isn’t what they think it should be, it’s never about the acquisitional process,” Maddon said. “It’s always about the inability of coaches and managers to get the best out of a player. And that’s where this tremendous disconnect is formed.”

Latest On Yordan Alvarez

By Mark Polishuk | August 20, 2022 at 7:48pm CDT

Yordan Alvarez left Friday’s game in the fifth inning due to shortness of breath, and went to a local hospital for examination later that evening. Both the Astros and manager Dusty Baker addressed the situation today, saying that Alvarez was released from hospital after tests revealed nothing abnormal, and the slugger was even back at the ballpark today, though he wasn’t in the starting lineup for the Astros’ game against the Braves.

Baker even suggested that Alvarez could play on Sunday, though “We still have to watch him. He’s still under (something) similar to a concussion protocol,” the manager told The Houston Chronicle’s Chandler Rome and other reporters. “You don’t want him to maybe fall out. They couldn’t find anything, but that don’t mean nothing’s wrong. We’re just going to wait today, see how he is tomorrow.”

Any sort of breathing issue is naturally cause for concern, though it is a very good sign that Alvarez’s initial round of testing and observation didn’t reveal any more serious problem. It could be that Alvarez was affected by playing in Atlanta in particular, with Baker noting that there is more smoke than usual in the atmosphere due to Truist Park’s tradition of shooting fireworks every time a Braves player homers, or every time a Braves pitcher records a strikeout.

Alvarez is also working through his first real slump of the 2022 season, as he has only one home run and a .572 OPS over his last 78 plate appearances. However, even with his cold streak, Alvarez is still batting .295/.400/.612 for the season, and his 31 homers ties him for the third-highest total in baseball. The season has cemented Alvarez as one of the game’s top hitters, and he will be a major factor for the Astros as they try to capture the World Series.

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