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NL Injury Notes: Madrigal, Wisdom, Dominguez, Eflin, Wheeler, Bryant

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The Cubs placed second baseman Nick Madrigal on the 10-day injured list due to a right groin strain, and activated Patrick Wisdom (left ring finger sprain) from the 10-day IL to fill the open roster spot.  Madrigal suffered the injury in yesterday’s game, and given the lack of time remaining in the season, it isn’t out of the question that Madrigal might be shut down entirely.  This is the second groin injury (the first strain was to Madrigal’s left groin) and third injury overall for the second baseman in 2022, after a back problem cost him three weeks in May.

Overall, Madrigal has played in only 59 games this season, only slightly topping the 54 games he played during a 2021 campaign that was shortened by hamstring surgery.  While Madrigal is still eyed as the Cubs’ second baseman of the future, this health history is already concerning, and it’s fair to say that his injuries were certainly a factor in his .249/.305/.282 slash line in 228 PA this season.  With the Cubs out of contention, their eyes are on 2023, and aren’t likely to push Madrigal back onto the field unless his current groin issue ends up being pretty minor.

Updates on other injury situations from around the National League…

  • Phillies interim manager Rob Thomson updated reporters (including MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki) on several injured Philadelphia players, including two pitchers ready to return to the mound.  Seranthony Dominguez will be activated prior to tomorrow’s game against the Nationals, after missing a little over three weeks due to right triceps tendinitis.  Zach Eflin will be activated from the 60-day IL prior to Tuesday’s game, with Eflin possibly working as an opener as he embarks on a new role as a relief pitcher.  Eflin has been out since late June due to knee problems, and with less time to ramp up for a starter’s workload, Philadelphia will instead use Eflin out of the bullpen.  Zack Wheeler (forearm tendinitis) won’t be back until at least September 20, but Wheeler threw 15 pitches off a mound today, and Thomson said Wheeler will throw a proper bullpen session on Monday or Tuesday.
  • Kris Bryant hasn’t played since July 31 due to plantar fasciitis, and Rockies manager Bud Black wasn’t sure if the slugger would be able to return before the season is over.  “There is time but I don’t know if it’s going to happen…He hasn’t had a bat in his hand for a while, but he’s feeling much better,” Black told reporters, including The Denver Post’s Patrick Saunders.  Bryant has been able to play catch and lift weights now that he is no longer in a walking boot, though it remains to be seen when (or if) he’d be able to take part in fuller baseball activities.  Between the platar fasciitis and two separate IL stints due to back injuries, Bryant’s first year with the Rockies has essentially been a lost season, with only 42 games played.  The one bright spot is that Bryant at least hit well when he was able to play, contributing a .306/.376/.475 slash line and five homers in 181 plate appearances.

Dodgers Place Blake Treinen On 15-Day Injured List

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The Dodgers have placed right-hander Blake Treinen on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to September 7.  Right-hander Andre Jackson has been called up from Triple-A to take Treinen’s spot on the roster.

Treinen is dealing with tightness in his throwing shoulder, which is an ominous diagnosis considering that Treinen has missed most of the season due to shoulder problems.  As Treinen told MLB.com’s Juan Toribio and other reporters last week, he was initially advised to get surgery to repair a partial tear in the front capsule of his shoulder, but instead chose a non-surgical recovery option.  This allowed the right-hander to make it back for two more appearances after being activated from the 60-day IL, but Treinen has now been sidelined again.

It’s probably safe to assume that Treinen will again try to make it back without going under the knife, especially with the postseason nearing.  Whether he’ll be able to return after a minimum 15 days is another question, and it is possible Treinen has already thrown his final pitch of the 2022 season.  It might be that surgery is inevitable to fully correct his shoulder issues, and such a procedure might now potentially threaten his readiness for at least the start of the 2023 season.

In the midst of his IL stint, Treinen and the Dodgers agreed to a contract extension back in May that guaranteed his 2023 salary at $8MM, which was the total of a club option Los Angeles already held on his services.  Another club option for 2024 was also added, worth between $1MM-$7MM depending on Treinen’s health and other benchmarks.  With Treinen still plagued with shoulder problems, this extension might already look like a misfire on the Dodgers’ part, especially if he ends up having to miss a portion of the 2023 season.  While $8MM isn’t a huge amount to a big-payroll team like L.A., that number could certainly impact the luxury tax number for a club that figures to be in tax territory once again next year.

Nationals Sign DJ Peters To Minor League Deal

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The Nationals signed outfielder DJ Peters to a minor league contract, and Peters played his first game with Triple-A Rochester yesterday.  The 26-year-old was a free agent after being waived by the Korea Baseball Organization’s Lotte Giants back in July.

Peters’ time in the KBO League resulted in a .228/.299/.402 slash line over 354 plate appearances, with 13 home runs.  The Giants paid Peters a $600K base salary — well above what the outfielder would’ve earned on a minor league salary, and there was no guarantee Peters would’ve landed a big league deal as a free agent.  Of course, Peters couldn’t have signed anywhere last winter due to the lockout, and thus he opted to take some guaranteed money with the Giants rather than face the unique uncertainty of the 2021-22 offseason.

Power has been Peters’ calling card since the Dodgers selected him in the fourth round of the 2016 draft.  Over his minor league career (and counting last night’s game with Rochester), Peters has hit .266/.359/.488 over 2197 PA, but after the canceled 2020 minors season, he returned and struggled at Triple-A in 2021.  However, Peters also made his MLB debut last season, hitting .197/.242/.422 with 13 homers over 240 combined PA with the Dodgers and Rangers.

The rebuilding Nationals can offer plenty of opportunity for players who might have late-breakout potential, with 30-year-old rookie Joey Meneses serving as a prime example of how unheralded players can unexpectedly blossom.  Peters’ power bat and strong throwing arm give him a couple of plus tools, and the best could be yet to come if he can cut down on his strikeouts and become a more polished overall hitter rather than just an all-or-nothing slugger.

Brewers Place Eric Lauer On 15-Day Injured List

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The Brewers placed left-hander Eric Lauer on the 15-day injured list due to elbow inflammation.  The placement is retroactive to September 8.  Right-hander Trevor Kelley was called up to take Lauer’s spot on the active roster.

Milwaukee has essentially gone all season without its rotation at full strength, and the injuries have now started to mount up as the Brewers chase an NL wild card berth.  Lauer joins Freddy Peralta and Aaron Ashby as starters on the IL, leaving the Brew Crew with Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff, Adrian Houser, and Jason Alexander as the provisional starting four.  No immediate decision needs to be made about a rotation replacement since the Brewers have off-days on both Monday and Thursday, but Triple-A hurler Ethan Small is the only other pitcher currently in the organization who has made a start for Milwaukee this season.

With two solid seasons under his belt now, Lauer has emerged as a stable member of the Brewers rotation.  The southpaw has a 3.91 ERA over 145 innings this year, albeit with a below-average 22.8% strikeout rate and 8.6% walk rate.  In fact, Statcast metrics across the board weren’t very favorable to Lauer in either 2021 or 2022, and it seems as though Lauer has benefited from a .257 BABIP.  His 3.58 ERA since the start of the 2021 season is over half a run lower than his 4.19 SIERA.

Still, the bottom-line results are more than enough for a fourth or fifth starter, and prior to this elbow problem, Lauer had also been a pretty stable source of innings amidst several other injuries that sidelined Milwaukee starters.  Losing Lauer and Peralta will further tax an already-struggling Brewers staff — since August 1, Brewers pitchers have a cumulative 1.2 fWAR, the sixth-lowest total of any pitching corps in baseball.  This has contributed to the Brewers’ major slide from NL Central contenders to outside the postseason bracket altogether, 3.5 games behind the Phillies for the last wild card slot.

Padres Activate Pierce Johnson From 60-Day Injured List, Designate Matt Beaty

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The Padres made a series of transactions prior to today’s game, according to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune (Twitter link).  Right-hander Pierce Johnson was activated from the 60-day injured list, right-hander Reiss Knehr was optioned to Triple-A, catcher Austin Nola was activated off the paternity list, and infielder/outfielder Matt Beaty was designated for assignment.

Johnson appeared in six games in April before heading to the IL with tendinitis in his right forearm.  While the bright side is that forearm issue didn’t result in a longer-term injury like a Tommy John surgery, Johnson still ended up missing most of the 2022 season, costing the Padres a key bullpen arm and costing Johnson a chance to build himself a nice platform for his entry into free agency this winter.  Still, the right-hander has time to play an important role down the stretch as San Diego looks to secure a wild card berth.

After playing with the Hanshin Tigers in Japan in 2019, Johnson returned to Major League Baseball when he signed a two-year, $5MM deal with the Padres in January 2020.  That contract then become a three-year, $7MM pact when the Padres exercised their club option on Johnson for 2022 — essentially a no-brainer decision given Johnson’s solid work (3.22 ERA, 31.6% strikeout rate) over 58 2/3 innings in 2021.

Beaty also spent time on the 60-day IL this season, with a shoulder impingement limiting him to only 20 games.  Beaty was a solid part-time/bench player for the Dodgers in 2019-21, but Los Angeles designated him for assignment in March, and Beaty landed with the Padres in a rare trade between the two NL West rivals.  It’s safe to say that the injury derailed Beaty’s season, as he has only a .333 OPS over 47 plate appearances.

With these struggles in mind, teams might be wary of claiming Beaty off the DFA wire, though his roughly league-average production as a Dodger could sway teams in need of a left-handed hitter.  Beaty also brings some versatility in the field, as he has experience at both corner outfield and corner infield positions.

Mets Place Starling Marte On 10-Day Injured List

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The Mets have placed Starling Marte on the 10-day injured list, with the placement backdated to September 6.  Marte’s IL stint opens a roster spot for prospect Mark Vientos, whose promotion was reported earlier today.

Marte hasn’t played since Tuesday, when he suffered a partial, non-displaced fracture in his right middle finger after being hit by a pitch by Pirates righty Mitch Keller.  New York delayed in placing Marte on the IL in the hopes that he could recover enough to return to the lineup without an extended absence, but Marte still seemed very limited in terms of baseball activities.  Newsday’s Tim Healey wrote prior to Friday’s game, Marte only “participated lightly in pregame drills” without any throwing or swinging.

The veteran outfielder will now get a full week off to recuperate, though given the nature of the injury, it isn’t a given that Marte will spend only the minimum amount of time on the injured list.  The Mets surely don’t want to rush Marte back and risk further injury, which would then possibly put Marte’s availability for the playoffs in question.  While the Mets are in a tight race with the Braves for the NL East title, the Mets are basically a lock to reach the postseason as at least a wild card team, and Marte will be a big part of any push throughout October.

Through 505 plate appearances, Marte is hitting .292/.347/.468 with 16 homers.  This translates to a 134 wRC+, tying the career-best mark Marte posted just last season.  Marte was named to his second All-Star roster earlier this summer.  It has been an immediate impact for Marte in Queens, and the Mets’ four-year, $78MM free agent deal with the outfielder back in November currently looks like one of the winter’s wisest investments.

Tyler Naquin has taken over in right field in Marte’s absence, and it seems likely that the left-handed hitting Naquin and the right-handed hitting Darin Ruf will work in a platoon until Marte is able to return.  The two trade deadline acquisitions have pronounced splits over their careers, and for 2022, Naquin is hitting .264/.329/.495 in 228 PA against righties, while Ruf has slashed .224/.329/.455 in 167 PA against southpaws.

Latest On Tigers’ General Manager Search

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It has been almost a month since the Tigers parted ways with GM Al Avila, and since Lynn Henning of The Detroit News notes that ownership puts a high priority on keeping matters close to the vest, there hasn’t been much public news about potential targets to take over the front office.  However, Hennig lists current Tigers assistant GM Sam Menzin, Dodgers senior VP of baseball ops Josh Byrnes, and Cardinals special assistant to the GM Matt Slater as “three people are believed to be under heavy consideration” for the full-time general manager role.

Several other front office members from multiple teams were also mentioned as plausible further candidates, though Henning was more circumspect about naming any of this group as surefire names in the hunt — Twins assistant GM Daniel Adler, Braves VP of scouting Dana Brown, Cardinals assistant GM Randy Flores, Guardians assistant GM James Harris, Orioles VP and assistant GM Sig Mejdal, Astros assistant GM Pete Putila, and Rays VP of baseball operations Carlos Rodriguez.  Former Tigers director of baseball operations Mike Smith could also potentially receive consideration.

There is no shortage of work ahead of Detroit’s next baseball operations leader, given how the Tigers have floundered in a season that was supposed to mark their return to contention.  While it isn’t expected that the Tigers will step back entirely into rebuild mode, the next GM will have to both make the big league team better while also bolstering the farm system at the same time.  According to league officials speaking with Henning, upgrading the Tigers’ international development system will be a priority, and “trades are expected to be made with more aggression and more initiative than was practiced by Avila.”  The next front office will also need to focus on how to better apply analytics to development and on-field work.

Byrnes is the most familiar name to baseball fans, and the former Padres/Diamondbacks GM is also the only one of the known candidates with experience in leading a front office.  Byrnes ran the D’Backs from 2006-2010 and then the Padres from 2011-14, in both cases being fired around midway through his final season with the organization.  Of those eight full and partial seasons for Byrnes, only two (2007 and 2008 with Arizona) resulted in a winning record, and the 2007 NL West-winning Diamondbacks were the only Byrnes team to reach the postseason.

Still only 52 years old, Byrnes’ long career in baseball has also included stretches as an assistant GM and VP with the Rockies, Red Sox, and (since 2014) Dodgers, and Byrnes has been a part of two World Series-winning front offices.  Back in August, the New York Post’s Jon Heyman suggested Byrnes as a natural candidate for Detroit given Byrnes’ past familiarity and working relationship with Tigers manager A.J. Hinch, who will be remaining with the team and will have some influence in the hiring of the next GM.

Menzin is also naturally a familiar face for Hinch, and Henning writes that the assistant GM “is known to enjoy great favor with Hinch.”  Only 31 years old, Menzin already has a decade of experience in Detroit’s front office, starting as an intern and gaining experience working within several different departments of the Tigers’ baseball operations.  Since Avila’s firing, Menzin has also been as the de facto interim general manager.

Slater doesn’t have any ties to Hinch or the Tigers organization, and given the amount of work that might need to be done, it is possible he might be attractive to the club as a fresh voice.  The 51-year-old Slater’s specific role with the Cardinals is in player procurement, with the St. Louis website describing him as the franchise’s “senior talent evaluator.”  The Cards’ excellent track record at finding and developing homegrown talent is certainly a point in Slater’s favor, and he has been with the team since 2007.  Before coming to St. Louis, Slater also worked in a number of different scouting and baseball ops roles with the Brewers, Orioles, and (for nine years) Dodgers.

Pirates Designate Josh VanMeter For Assignment

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The Pirates have designated infielder Josh VanMeter for assignment.  In other moves, right-hander Hoy Park and left-hander Eric Stout were called up from Triple-A, with Stout acting as the 29th man for today’s doubleheader with the Mets.

Acquired in a trade with the Diamondbacks in March, VanMeter’s first season in Pittsburgh has resulted in a .187/.266/.292 slash line over 192 plate appearances, a step down even from the modest offense VanMeter produced in 649 PA with the Reds and D’Backs in 2019-21.  VanMeter’s biggest asset has been his defensive flexibility, as he has mostly played first and second base this season while also making a few appearances as a third baseman, left fielder, catcher, and three mop-up pitching cameos.

This versatility has kept VanMeter in part-time and bench roles over the last four seasons, though with the season winding down, the Pirates will now open up more playing time for their younger players.  VanMeter is out of minor league options, so the DFA route had to be pursued in order to remove the 27-year-old from Pittsburgh’s roster.  A team in need of infield depth could potentially have VanMeter on the radar for a waiver claim, and the expanded September rosters create a bit of extra leeway for VanMeter’s out-of-options status.

Mets Designate Adonis Medina For Assignment

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The Mets designated right-hander Adonis Medina for assignment, and also made Max Scherzer’s 15-day IL placement official.  In corresponding moves, New York selected the contract of left-hander Alex Claudio and called up right-hander Yoan Lopez from Triple-A.  Lopez will be the 29th man for today’s doubleheader against the Pirates.

Medina has been up and down from Triple-A multiple times this season, and all of the shuttling may have had an adverse effect on his performance.  The righty has a 6.08 ERA over 23 2/3 innings with the Mets and a more palatable 3.71 ERA in 26 2/3 frames for Triple-A Syracuse, though Medina’s minor league walk rate is a troubling 12.1%.

This is the third time that Medina has been designated for assignment within the last year, with the first of those DFA stints keeping Medina in transactional limbo throughout the entirety of the offseason lockout.  The Pirates claimed Medina off waivers from the Phillies once the lockout was over, and a subsequent DFA from Pittsburgh resulted in Medina being traded to the Mets just prior to Opening Day.

Medina received some top-100 prospect attention as recently as 2019, but he has yet to make a big impact in the majors, pitching only 11 2/3 innings with the Phillies prior to this season.  Generally a below-average strikeout pitcher, Medina has posted grounder rates around the 50% mark during his career, usually relying more on soft contact and keeping the ball in play rather than missed bats.  Medina has worked as a starter for much of his career but he primarily been a reliever this season in Syracuse, and his 14 Mets appearances were all out of the bullpen.

Claudio inked a minor league deal with the Mets during the offseason, and the southpaw is now on the verge of making it a ninth consecutive season with some MLB action.  Speaking of low-strikeout grounder specialists, Claudio has a 17% strikeout rate and 59.8% groundball rate over his 344 1/3 career innings in the majors.  Claudio was a generally reliable bullpen arm throughout his time with the Rangers and Brewers from 2014-20, posting a 3.44 ERA and eating plenty of innings — his 83 appearances led the big leagues in 2019.

The Brewers opted to non-tender Claudio following the 2020 season, in part due to his lack of strikeouts or high velocity, as well as the idea that Claudio (who has pretty big career splits) would be hampered by the three-batter rule.  Signing with the Angels in the 2020-21 offseason, the southpaw had only a 5.51 ERA over 32 2/3 innings with Anaheim in 2021, and also pitched in the Red Sox farm system after the Angels cut him loose midway through the campaign.

The Mets’ lack of left-handed relief depth has been an ongoing story of their season, with Joely Rodriguez being the only southpaw regular within the bullpen mix.  Such left-handed pitchers as Chasen Shreve, Nate Fisher, Rob Zastryzny, Sam Clay, and Thomas Szapucki have all gotten some looks, and Claudio will become the latest southpaw to get a shot at catching on as extra depth.

Rangers Release Dallas Keuchel

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SEPTEMBER 5: Keuchel has been released, according to his transactions log at MLB.com.

SEPTEMBER 4: The Rangers announced that left-hander Dallas Keuchel has been designated for assignment.  Left-hander John King was called up from Triple-A to take Keuchel’s spot on the active roster.

Keuchel was signed to a minor league deal in late July, and his contract was officially selected to the big league roster on August 27.  Unfortunately for Keuchel, his two starts in a Texas uniform were disasters, as he allowed seven runs in each outing and has a 12.60 ERA to show for his 10 innings as a Ranger.

It has been a rough season overall for the 34-year-old, who has a 9.20 ERA over 60 2/3 cumulative innings with the Rangers, Diamondbacks, and White Sox.  Beginning the season in Chicago, Keuchel struggled to the point that he was released in late May, with the Sox eating the approximate $13MM still owed to Keuchel in the final year of his three-year, $55.5MM contract.

The D’Backs and Rangers therefore only had to pay Keuchel the prorated portion of a Major League minimum salary during his brief time on their active rosters, as the White Sox covered the rest of the bill.  It was a low-cost risk for the two clubs to see if Keuchel could benefit from a change of scenery, yet the veteran struggled at every stop.

While there has long been speculation about how long Keuchel’s ground-heavy, low-strikeout approach would continue to be successful, the lefty was still a front-of-the-rotation arm as recently as 2020, when he finished fifth in AL Cy Young Award voting in his first season with the White Sox.  However, Keuchel’s numbers already declined considerably in 2021, as he started to allow considerably more hard contact and his walk rate fell.  Those problems have only deepened in 2022, with Keuchel’s 10.2% walk rate falling in only the 20th percentile of all pitchers.

It seems a given that Keuchel will pass through waivers again, and it seems likely that the Rangers will release him rather than outright him to Triple-A.  The southpaw’s career track record could land him another minors contract during the offseason, yet as he approaches what would be his age-35 season, the possibility exists that Keuchel is simply no longer an effective Major League pitcher.  Retirement could be a possibility after 11 MLB seasons, but with that 2020 performance still so recent, it also wouldn’t be surprising to see Keuchel keep grinding to see if he could get his career back on track.

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