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Injured List Returns: Fraley, Lopes, Wahl

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As injury news continues to dominate baseball, here’s the latest on a few players who are returning to action…

  • The Mariners reinstated outfielder Jake Fraley from the 10-day injured list, with infielder Eric Campbell heading to Triple-A to make room for Fraley on the active roster.  Fraley has been on the IL since suffering a left hamstring strain while making a diving catch in Seattle’s 10-4 loss to the White Sox on April 6.  He has seen action at all three outfield positions during his 24-game MLB career, and he’ll provide the Mariners with some depth behind the regular outfield trio of Kyle Lewis, Mitch Haniger, and Jarred Kelenic.
  • The Brewers announced that utilityman Tim Lopes and right-hander Bobby Wahl were optioned to Triple-A after being reinstated from the 60-day IL.  Both players have been sidelined by oblique strains suffered during Spring Training.  Lopes is still looking to make his Brewers debut after being claimed off waivers from the Mariners back in December.  Wahl has appeared in parts of three MLB seasons with the A’s, Mets, and Brewers, tossing 2 1/3 innings for Milwaukee in 2020 after missing the entire 2019 campaign recovering from a torn ACL.

Phillies Place Roman Quinn On 60-Day Injured List, Select Travis Jankowski

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TODAY: Quinn’s season is over, as the Phillies announced that he will undergo surgery to repair a ruptured left Achilles tendon.  Quinn will be sidelined for the next nine-to-12 months.

MAY 30: Quinn is indeed going to miss a substantial amount of time, as the Phillies announced they placed him on the 60-day IL this morning. Jankowski was selected to the roster in his place. The 29-year-old Jankowski has never hit much in the majors (.238/.315/.313 over 994 plate appearances) but he’s capable of playing all three outfield positions. He was off to a good start at the plate at Lehigh Valley, slashing .304/.451/.375 over his first nineteen games.

MAY 29: Phillies outfielder Roman Quinn left today’s game after suffering an injury to his left Achilles.  It certainly looks as if Quinn is facing a lengthy absence, as manager Joe Girardi told reporters (including Corey Seidman of NBC Sports Philadelphia) that Quinn would be examined by doctors but “I don’t expect to get any good news from the MRI.  We’re pretty sure it’s not good.”

The injury occurred as Quinn was trying to score from first base on a Ronald Torreyes double in the fifth inning.  Quinn fell while rounding third base and managed to score the run while hopping to home plate, but he then had to be carried off the field.  Matt Joyce replaced Quinn in right field for the bottom of the fifth.

This isn’t the first Achilles injury Quinn has faced during his career, as a ruptured Achilles tendon in 2014 cost him a big chunk of his minor league season with high-A ball Clearwater.  Considered a top-100 prospect earlier in his career, Quinn’s progress has been hampered by numerous trips to the injured list over the years, and was only just activated off the 10-day IL on Tuesday after missing three weeks due a laceration on his right index finger.

Quinn is hitting .173/.306/.288 over 62 plate appearances this season, playing in 28 games and serving mostly as part of the Phillies’ revolving door in center field.  With Odubel Herrera having taken over center field duties in the last month, Quinn has since seen action in both corner outfield spots since returning from the IL, including two starts in right field in place of the injured Bryce Harper.

With Quinn joining Harper and Scott Kingery on the injured list, the Phillies’ outfield mix is down to Andrew McCutchen, Herrera, Joyce, and utilityman Brad Miller.  Nick Maton might be a candidate for the outfield mix once Didi Gregorius returns to handle shortstop, and Mickey Moniak, Travis Jankowski, Jorge Bonifacio, and Ryan Cordell are among the options at Triple-A.

Angels Place Jose Quintana On 10-Day Injured List

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The Angels announced that left-hander Jose Quintana has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to shoulder inflammation.  Southpaw Jose Quijada will take Quintana’s spot on the active roster.

Quintana threw three innings in a start yesterday before being removed from the game due to inflammation in his throwing shoulder, so today’s IL news isn’t a surprise.  It is only the third time in Quintana’s 10 Major League seasons that he has been sent to the injured list, though rather troublingly, all three of those placements have come within the last two seasons.  A picture of durability for much of his career, Quintana threw only 10 innings in 2020 with the Cubs due to left lat inflammation and a nerve problem in his left thumb.

Despite this abbreviated season, the Angels inked Quintana to a one-year, $8MM free agent contract in the hopes that he could help stabilize their long-suffering rotation.  Unfortunately, that hope hasn’t worked out, as Quintana has a 7.22 ERA through 33 2/3 innings.  Batters are making a lot of hard contact against Quintana’s pitchers and his 15.7% walk rate is by far the largest of his career.  There are some brief glimmers of hope, however, as Quintana’s 30.1% strikeout rate is also a career-best, and his SIERA is a much more palatable 4.37.  The left-hander has been victimized by the Angels’ poor defense, as Quintana has a stunningly high .400 BABIP.

Patrick Sandoval is the probable candidate to take Quintana’s rotation spot, manager Joe Maddon told reporters (including Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times).  Sandoval has already started his last three outings, due to various fill-in and spot start circumstances, so it makes for a relatively easy transition for the left-hander.  The Statcast metrics haven’t liked Sandoval’s work this season, but he has managed a 3.80 ERA over 21 1/3 frames of work.

Giants Acquire Sam Delaplane

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The Giants have acquired right-hander Sam Delaplane from the Mariners in exchange for cash considerations.  Delaplane has been optioned to the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate.

Delaplane was designated for assignment earlier this week, and will be out of action for likely the first half of the 2022 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in April.  However, the Giants took the opportunity to trade for a local product (Delaplane is from San Jose) who has a rather eye-opening minor league track record.

A 23-round pick for the Mariners in the 2017 draft, Delaplane has a 2.29 ERA over 161 1/3 relief innings in Seattle’s farm system.  He also has an overwhelming 40.91% strikeout rate, whiffing 270 of 660 batters faced over his career.  Between all those missed bats and some solid control (8.2% walk rate), it’s easy to see why San Francisco took a long-term flier on Delaplane to see if he can continue anything close to this form at the MLB level when healthy.

Nationals Reinstate Victor Robles From 10-Day IL

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Victor Robles is returning to the Nationals lineup, as the team announced that the outfielder has been activated from the 10-day injured list.  Infielder Luis Garcia was optioned to Triple-A yesterday to create room on the 26-man active roster.

Robles hasn’t played since May 19 (also his 24th birthday) due to a right ankle sprain.  Looking to bounce back from a 2020 season that was disappointing both offensively and defensively, Robles got off to a very slow start but was hitting better in the few games immediately prior to his ankle injury — over 133 PA, Robles is hitting .246/.348/.325.  His glovework has rebounded more strongly, as Robles has a +7.6 UZR/150 and +4 Defensive Runs Saved over 300 1/3 innings in center field.

With Robles back, Washington is more or less finally healthy on the position-player side for the first time all season, due to regular injuries and a COVID-19 outbreak at the beginning of the season.  The Nationals will need all the help they can get as they look to recover from a 21-28 start that has sent them to the NL East basement.

Astros Injury Notes: Urquidy, Taylor, Gurriel, Alvarez, McCullers

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The Astros’ long list of injured pitchers will get a bit shorter today, as Jose Urquidy and Blake Taylor have both been activated from the 10-day injured list.  Urquidy will get the start in today’s game against the Red Sox.  Right-handers Andre Scrubb and Ralph Garza were optioned to Triple-A to make room for Urquidy and Taylor on the active roster.

Urquidy hit the IL on May 16 due to right shoulder discomfort, though that potentially ominous-sounding diagnosis wasn’t considered too serious.  The right-hander will indeed return in pretty short order, and he’ll look to continue what has thus far been a solid 2021 season.  Urquidy has a 3.22 ERA and a very strong 5.1% walk rate over 44 2/3 innings, though advanced metrics (such as a 4.58 SIERA) haven’t been as impressed with his work.  Urquidy has both a low strikeout rate (18.6%) and grounder rate (28.5%), and he has been relying on a lot of soft contact and some batted-ball luck (.242 BABIP) to retire batters.

Taylor has been out of action since suffering a right ankle sprain on April 17, and he has been on a Triple-A rehab assignment since last week.  Taylor made his MLB debut last season, and he has a 3.12 ERA, 18.4% strikeout rate, and 12.3% walk rate over 26 total innings in the big leagues.  With Kent Emanuel still on the IL, Brooks Raley has been the only other left-hander in Houston’s bullpen, so Taylor’s return will add some depth in that area.

The lineup will continue to be shorthanded, however, as manager Dusty Baker told reporters (including MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart and The Houston Chronicle’s Chandler Rome) that neither Yuli Gurriel or Yordan Alvarez are available for today’s game, though both are “close” to returning.  Alvarez appears to be the nearest of the two, though Baker said he “nixed” the idea of Alvarez in the lineup in order to give the young slugger another day of recovery.

This will make it five games missed for Alvarez due to a wrist problem, while Gurriel is now on track to miss his third game due to inflammation in his left middle finger.  Baker did say Gurriel would return at some point during Houston’s four-game series with the Red Sox that begins today.

“It’s a situation where they’re not hurt badly enough where you can put them on ten days and lose them, so you’d rather wait two or three days extra and not lose them for ten,” Baker said.

The Astros still scored 15 runs in the two games without Gurriel and Alvarez in the lineup, though naturally the team would like to have two of its best hitters back as soon as possible.  Both players have hit seven home runs this season, with Gurriel hitting .309/.380/.511 in 205 PA and Alvarez hitting .310/.343/.525 over 169 PA.

Baker also told McTaggart and company that he is hopeful Lance McCullers Jr. can be back in the rotation by the “middle of June.”  McCullers was placed on the 10-day IL on May 26 due to right shoulder soreness but, like Urquidy, the issue as thought to be pretty minor.  McCullers is playing catch in the outfield today, Baker said.  Over 51 2/3 innings this season, McCullers has a 2.96 ERA/4.02 SIERA, despite allowing a lot of hard contact.

Braves Select Abraham Almonte’s Contract

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The Braves have selected the contract of outfielder Abraham Almonte from Triple-A Gwinnett.  In corresponding moves, right-hander Jay Flaa was optioned to Triple-A, and a 40-man roster spot was opened when Huascar Ynoa was moved to the 60-day injured list.

A veteran of eight MLB seasons, Almonte now looks to add a ninth campaign to his record after signing with the Braves last October.  While Almonte technically signed a Major League contract, it wasn’t a guaranteed deal, and Atlanta already outrighted him off its 40-man roster near the end of Spring Training and Almonte chose to remain in the organization.

Almonte has played for five different teams over his career, hitting .237/.298/.370 over 1151 plate appearances.  A part-timer and platoon outfielder for much of his tenure, Almonte hasn’t seen much action over the last two seasons, appearing in 24 total games with the Diamondbacks and Padres since the start of the 2019 season.  However, Almonte’s ability to play all three outfield positions will add some depth to an Atlanta bench that is short on true outfielders.

Latest On Yankees’ First Base Situation

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Luke Voit was placed on the 10-day injured list Wednesday due to a Grade 2 oblique strain, and Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including The New York Post’s Dan Martin) today that Voit will miss “at least a few weeks” of action.

Between knee surgery and now this oblique strain, Voit has played in only 12 games this season, hitting .182/.280/.250 over 50 plate appearances.  It has been a marked step down for a player who had been crushing the ball basically since the moment he came to New York in a trade with the Cardinals in July 2018, with Voit even leading the majors in home runs in 2020.

Voit’s absence (and lack of production when he has played) has been one of the many reasons why the Yankees have struggled to score runs, with just about every regular on the team is having a subpar year at the plate.  First base, in particular, has been a problem area — Yankees first basemen have combined for an 82 wRC+, the fifth-worst mark of any team in baseball at the position.  Besides Voit and the now-retired Jay Bruce, DJ LeMahieu, Mike Ford, and Miguel Andujar have all seen time at first base, and while LeMahieu is seemingly the best option on paper, his services have also been required at both second base and third base this season.

Since Voit may not be available until late June at the earliest, it opens the door for another option, such as minor league slugger Chris Gittens.  A 12th-round pick for the Yankees in the 2014 draft, the 27-year-old Gittens isn’t considered a top-30 Yankees prospect by either Baseball America or MLB Pipeline, and he had never played even at Triple-A until this season.

Gittens is something of a throwback player, a classic slugging first base/DH type with a lot of power (.476 slugging percentage, 75 homers) and a lot of swing-and miss (473 strikeouts) over his 1709 career PA in the minors.  That includes a red-hot performance at Triple-A, with a .268/.464/.634 slash line and four homers over 56 plate appearances for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

“He’s swinging the bat really well to start the season,’’ Boone said, adding that Gittens is “very much on our radar” given his Triple-A production.

Gittens isn’t on the 40-man roster, and the Yankees don’t yet have a 40-man spot available since a decision hasn’t yet been made about Corey Kluber’s health situation.  Kluber will miss at least eight weeks recovering from a strain in his rotator cuff, so a shift to the 60-day IL could be inevitable, and such a transaction would free up a 40-man spot for Gittens or perhaps another player.  Martin suggests that the Yankees might also consider veterans who can opt out of their minor league contracts on June 1.

Pirates Injury Notes: Kuhl, Hayes, Moran, Evans, Swaggerty

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Pirates GM Ben Cherington updated reporters (including Kevin Gorman of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review) with the latest on several injured Bucs players.  The most imminent news concerns Chad Kuhl, who will be activated from the 10-day injured list to start Monday’s game with the Royals.

Kuhl was placed on the IL on April 22 due to right shoulder discomfort.  After tossing a pair of rehab outings at Triple-A, Kuhl will look to get back on the big league mound and turn the page on what has been a tough 2021 season.  Kuhl has a 6.32 ERA over his first four starts and 15 2/3 innings, in large part due to an extreme lack of control — Kuhl has 16 walks in those 15 2/3 innings.

“Part of Chad’s rehab was not just getting healthy, it was making sure that he continued to build off what he had done in that last start and attack the strike zone,” Cherington said, referencing Kuhl’s final start before his IL visit.  While Kuhl still allowed three earned runs in five innings against the Brewers on April 18, he did walk just one Milwaukee batter, while striking out six.

Ke’Bryan Hayes might also soon be returning to the Pirates, as Cherington indicated that “all reports have been good” about Hayes’ Triple-A rehab stint.  The star rookie went on the IL after just two games due to left wrist inflammation, and his recovery process already hit one setback in April.  With so much time missed, Cherington felt Hayes needed “almost a Spring Training progression” to get ramped up, since “the last thing we wanted to do was sort of rush him back and then something else happens because his body was just not ready….So that’s why you’ve seen maybe a little longer progression than we would in some other cases with rehab.”

Hayes has already appeared in seven games with Triple-A Indianapolis, and figures to clock a few more appearances before June 3, when he is eligible to be reinstated from the 60-day injured list.  It is quite possible Hayes will be activated that day, when the Pirates begin a four-game series at home with the Marlins.

Colin Moran and Phillip Evans are also likely to be starting rehab assignment of their own, possibly as early as within the next two days, Cherington implied.  Moran has been out since May 9 due to a groin injury, while Evans went on the IL on May 13 because of a hamstring strain.  Evans’ versatility helped the Pirates fill several holes around the diamond before he too was lost to the injured list, while Moran has hit well as the team’s regular first baseman.

On the minor league front, Cherington said that Travis Swaggerty’s dislocated right shoulder is “going in [the] direction” of requiring surgery.  Swaggerty suffered the injury while diving back to first base during a Triple-A game, and he has spent much of the last two weeks weighing recovery options.  Swaggerty was the tenth overall pick of the 2018 draft, and MLB Pipeline ranks him as the ninth-best prospect in Pittsburgh’s farm system.  Surgery would seemingly end the season for the outfielder, an especially tough blow since Swaggerty already lost a year of development when the 2020 minor league season was canceled.

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