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Rockies To Promote AJ Ramos

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6:17 pm: Ramos’ promotion has been made official. Roster space was opened by the designation of right-hander Wade Davis for assignment.

1:02 pm: The Rockies are preparing to call right-hander AJ Ramos up to their active roster, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports (Twitter link).  An additional move will need to be made to create a space for Ramos on the team’s 40-man roster.

After a couple of false starts, it looks like Ramos is finally set to make his return to the majors after almost 28 months.  The righty underwent shoulder surgery in 2018 after a rough 19 2/3 innings with the Mets that season, and was off the radar until this summer, when he inked minor league deals with both the Dodgers and Cubs.  Neither of those contracts led to a Major League call-up, however, and the Rockies signed Ramos to yet another minors deal after the Cubs released him in early September.

Ramos turns 34 tomorrow, so the promotion is a nice birthday present for the former All-Star.  Ramos posted some strong numbers with the Marlins from 2012-17 (including a 2.78 ERA, 2.19 K/BB rate, and 10.4 K/9), though his productivity dipped in 2017, particularly after a July trade to the Mets.  The 22-28 Rockies are on the verge of being eliminated from postseason contention, so there’s nothing to be lost in seeing whether or not Ramos could potentially be a candidate for their 2021 bullpen.

Tyler Thornburg Undergoes Tommy John Surgery

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Reds right-hander Tyler Thornburg underwent Tommy John surgery earlier this week, Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports (Twitter link).  Thornburg was placed on the 10-day injured list with an elbow sprain eight days ago and then shifted to the 45-day IL last Monday, officially ending his season.

Given the usual 12-15 month recovery time associated with Tommy John procedures, Thornburg will almost certainly miss the entire 2021 season.  It is the latest in a series of tough injuries for the 31-year-old, who has been limited to 269 1/3 innings and 192 appearances in the big leagues since 2012.  Thornburg previously missed the entire 2017 season and much of 2018 due to thoracic outlet syndrome surgery.

These constant health woes kept Thornburg from realizing what seemed like a high ceiling as a relief pitcher.  Thornburg had two outstanding seasons with the Brewers in 2013 and 2016, though elbow problems limited him in 2014-15.  In the wake of that strong 2016 campaign, Milwaukee sent Thornburg to the Red Sox as part of a notable trade that brought Travis Shaw and Mauricio Dubon to the Brew Crew, though injuries limited Thornburg to just 42 2/3 innings in a Boston uniform before the Sox released him partway through the 2019 season.

A minor league deal with the Dodgers didn’t result in any MLB time in Los Angeles, though Thornburg resurfaced after inking a minors deal with Cincinnati over the winter.  Thornburg posted a 3.86 ERA, 12.9 K/9, and 2.00 K/BB rate over what might wind up as his only seven innings for the Reds, and his fastball still clocked at 93.1 mph.

White Sox Activate Dallas Keuchel From 10-Day IL

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The White Sox announced that southpaw Dallas Keuchel has been activated off the 10-day injured list in advance of his scheduled start tonight against the Reds.  Right-hander Jonathan Stiever was optioned to the club’s alternate training site to create roster space.

Keuchel was placed on the IL due to back spasms, and since his placement was retroactive to September 7, he will return having missed only a couple of days past the 10-day minimum.  The injury wasn’t thought to be overly serious in the first place, and Keuchel will now get to make at least one tune-up start before the White Sox begin their postseason run.

Signed to a three-year, $55.5MM free agent deal last winter, Keuchel has thus far been a big plus for the White Sox, posting a 2.19 ERA over his first 53 1/3 innings on the South Side.  ERA predictors (3.19 FIP, 3.84 xFIP, 4.42 SIERA) are naturally less impressed with Keuchel due to his lack of strikeouts, as he has only a 5.4 K/9.  As always, however, Keuchel is generating a ton of grounders (56% grounder rate), and this season has done a better job than ever of keeping the ball in the park.  The left-hander has a league-best 0.3 HR/9 this year, a massive improvement over the 1.3 HR/9 he posted over 112 2/3 innings with the Braves in 2019.

Justin Verlander To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

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Justin Verlander announced (via his Instagram page) that he will undergo Tommy John surgery.  As per the normal timeline for TJ recovery, Verlander will miss the entire 2021 season.

The right-hander’s full statement…

After consulting with several of the best doctors, it has become clear that I need Tommy John surgery.  I was hopeful that I would be able to return to competition in 2020, however, during my simulated game unfortunately the injury worsened.  Obviously I’m extremely disappointed, but I will not let this slow down my aspirations for my career.  I will approach this rehab the only way I know, attack and don’t look back.  I’m confident that with a proper rehabilitation program and my unwavering commitment that this surgery will ultimately lengthen my career as opposed to shorten it.  I can’t thank my teammates, coaches, the front office and my fans enough for the support they have given me so far in this process.  I’m eager to get through this recovery and back on the field to continue to do what I love.

Verlander started the Astros’ first game of the season and then was placed on the injured list due to a forearm strain.  After some initial speculation that the injury would be season-ending, there was hope that Verlander was nearing a return to Houston’s rotation before the end of the schedule, and that he would be available for the team in the playoffs.  Unfortunately, it now seems like we won’t see Verlander back on a mound until Opening Day 2022 at the earliest.

Given that Verlander will be 39 years old at that point, there is at least a chance that we have already seen the last pitch of his Hall Of Fame career.  There isn’t a long track record of pitchers rebounding after such a notable surgery at that advanced age, though on the plus side for Verlander, he has been the picture of durability over his career.  Apart from a triceps strain that cost him two months of the 2015 season, Verlander has been virtually free of any major injury, so he could theoretically have a better chance at a full recovery and a return to form than most pitchers in their late 30’s.

Verlander has already done better than most in holding off Father Time, as he is coming off two of his best seasons.  At ages 35 and 36 during the 2018-19 seasons, Verlander posted a cumulative 2.55 ERA, 12.2 K/9, and 7.47 K/BB rate over 437 innings for Houston, leading the league in both K/BB and WHIP in both years.  After finishing second in AL Cy Young voting in 2018, Verlander edged out then-teammate Gerrit Cole to win the award in 2019, eight seasons after Verlander’s initial Cy Young Award triumph (as well as an AL MVP Award) with the Tigers in 2011.

The Astros signed Verlander to a two-year, $66MM extension prior to the 2019 season, and that deal certainly looked all the world like a sound investment in the wake of Verlander’s Cy Young year.  However, both years of that contract have now been wiped out thanks to his forearm problem, and it is possible Verlander’s time in Houston could now be up.

It’s a major blow to an Astros team that already has $115MM committed to the 2021 season in the form of only four players — Verlander, Zack Greinke, Jose Altuve, and Alex Bregman.  With George Springer, Michael Brantley, and Yuli Gurriel all scheduled for free agency this winter, GM James Click faces some significant financial decisions, and the Astros’ overall direction is now severely complicated with the knowledge that Verlander won’t be a factor in 2021.  While Houston has gotten some nice contributions from younger arms like Jose Urquidy, Cristian Javier, and Framber Valdez, obviously the pitching staff is much deeper and stronger with Verlander teaming with Greinke at the top of the rotation.

Red Sox Chairman: “We Expect To Be Competitive Next Year”

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On the heels of what team chairman Tom Werner described as “a very disappointing season,” Werner said the Red Sox are planning for a return to form in 2021.  In an interview on NESN’s Gameday Live show yesterday (hat tip to MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo), Werner noted that the Sox were hampered by multiple injuries this season, though “we’re not going to make any excuses.  The only thing I’ll say is that there were a number of bright spots this year.  We’re already attacking the challenges and we expect to be competitive next year.”

The Red Sox are 19-33, a record that puts them in last place in the AL East and 28th of 30 teams (ahead of only the Pirates and Rangers) in winning percentage.  Injuries were indeed a factor as Werner mentioned, most notably Chris Sale being lost to Tommy John surgery and Eduardo Rodriguez missing the entire season after developing myocarditis stemming from a bout of COVID-19.  While the pitching staff never recovered from the loss of those key arms, there were also issues on the position player side, as the likes of J.D. Martinez and Andrew Benintendi underachieved at the plate.

With the postseason out of reach early, the Red Sox did some selling at the deadline, trading such players as Mitch Moreland, Brandon Workman, Heath Hembree, and Kevin Pillar.  However, the fact that Boston didn’t move any true long-term assets was the first hint that the club wasn’t planning any sort of big overhaul.

“We don’t want this to be a long rebuilding process….We’ve got a lot of assets and, as everybody knows, we spend and we’re not a small-market team,” Werner said.  “We’re going to be back next year.”

After two years of luxury tax payments, the Red Sox got their payroll under the tax threshold in 2020, thus resetting their penalty limit to zero and allowing the team to surpass the 2021 threshold ($210MM) if necessary with only a minimal penalty fee.  Of course, last year’s hiring of former Rays executive Chaim Bloom as chief baseball officer indicates that the Sox are likely planning a more efficient approach to spending that would keep them from regularly crossing the tax line, even if Boston will surely still have one of the sport’s higher payrolls.

Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers, Alex Verdugo, and promising rookie Bobby Dalbec are bolstering a lineup that is still quite productive, though “there’s no secret to the fact that pitching wins pennants for you….It’s going to start with pitching,” Werner said.  Rodriguez and Nathan Eovaldi project as Boston’s top two starters next year, Martin Perez seems like a good candidate to return on a $6.25MM club option for 2021, and Sale is on track to return in June or July given the usual Tommy John recovery timeframe.  It seems very likely that the Red Sox will augment this group with at least one new pitcher, though it is yet to be known if Bloom will aim to make a big splash or if he will score on a lower-cost acquisition.

Twins Place Jake Odorizzi On 10-Day Injured List

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The Twins placed right-hander Jake Odorizzi on the 10-day injured list yesterday due to a blister on his right middle finger.  Righty Sean Poppen was called up from the Twins’ alternate training site to take Odorizzi’s spot on the active roster.

The placement is retroactive to September 17, so Odorizzi can be activated on the last day of the regular season.  While blisters can be a nagging problem, Odorizzi is expected to miss only the minimum amount of time, though he’ll miss even more time in what has been an injury-plagued season for the veteran righty.  Odorizzi has pitched only 13 2/3 innings due to two previous IL stints — the first for a back strain suffered during Summer Camp, and the second for a chest contusion after Odorizzi was hit in the chest with an Alex Gordon line drive.

Unsurprisingly, all the stops and starts have seemingly impacted Odorizzi’s performance, as he has only a 6.59 ERA and has been tagged for four homers over those 13 2/3 frames.  As a result, Odorizzi seems ticketed for bullpen action during the Twins’ postseason run, and it certainly isn’t the platform year Odorizzi was looking for as he prepares to head into free agency this offseason.  Odorizzi was also scheduled for free agency last offseason but he accepted the Twins’ one-year, $17.8MM qualifying offer rather than test the open market.

Minor MLB Transactions: 9/15/20

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The latest minor moves from around baseball….

  • The Blue Jays outrighted catcher Caleb Joseph to their taxi squad after he cleared waivers, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet tweets. The club designated Joseph for assignment on Sept. 11 and replaced him on its roster with young catcher Alejandro Kirk. The 34-year-old Joseph has taken only nine trips to the plate with the Blue Jays this season, and as a .223/.270/.351 hitter in 1,367 PA, the former Oriole and Diamondback hasn’t posed much of a threat on offense since he debuted in 2014.

Earlier moves:

  • The Indians outrighted Dominic Leone off their 40-man roster after the right-hander cleared waivers, and the team announced that Leone has reported to its alternate training site.  Leone was designated for assignment earlier this week.  The veteran reliever struggled to an 8.38 ERA over 9 2/3 innings for the Tribe this season, allowing three home runs (for a 2.8 HR/9) over that brief span.  While six of Leone’s nine runs allowed came over two disastrous outings against the Royals and Tigers, Leone wasn’t exactly solid otherwise, as he allowed at least one baserunner in all but two of his 12 appearances.  On the plus side, Leone did record 16 strikeouts over his 9 2/3 frames.

A’s Place Chad Pinder On Injured List

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SEPTEMBER 15: Pinder’s done for the regular season with a Grade 1 hamstring strain, but the A’s are hopeful he’ll be ready for the playoffs, Slusser tweets.

SEPTEMBER 13: Pinder has been formally placed on the IL, the A’s announced. Orf’s contract was selected in a corresponding roster move.

SEPTEMBER 12: The Athletics made Chad Pinder a late scratch from the second game of tonight’s doubleheader with the Rangers, and Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that Pinder is likely headed to the 10-day injured list due to a right hamstring strain.  A’s manager Bob Melvin confirmed the news to Slusser and other reporters this evening,

Losing a versatile bench piece like Pinder isn’t good in any circumstance, though losing him now is particularly inopportune for the A’s since Matt Chapman’s season was just ended by hip surgery.  The A’s are now without both an All-Star third baseman and their top backup infielder, who likely would have been in line for a lot of work at the hot corner with Chapman gone.

Rookie Vimael Machin started third base in tonight’s nightcap, and as Slusser notes, new acquisition Tommy La Stella also has quite a bit of third base experience.  Oakland picked up La Stella as a second base upgrade, but La Stella could now conceivably slide over to play third base every day, while Tony Kemp and Machin could handle second.  Noted prospect Sheldon Neuse could also be called up to play either second or third, and in the event of a second base platoon, the right-handed hitting Neuse is a more logical fit for a platoon with Kemp than Machin, as both Kemp and Machin are left-handed batters.

Eric Campbell and Nate Orf are the only other infielders with MLB experience at the Athletics’ alternate training site, and either would have to be added to the 40-man roster to be called up.  The A’s have an open 40-man spot already, plus Chapman or A.J. Puk (who will undergo shoulder surgery) could be moved to the 60-day IL to remove them from the 40-man and create more space for further additions, be they internal promotions or external signings.

Pinder took a .231/.286/.404 slash line into today’s play, with the utilityman also adding two homers over his 56 plate appearances.  Now in his fifth season in Oakland, Pinder has contributed near-league average offensive production (a career .244/.302/.431 slash line that has resulted in a 98 wRC+ and 98 OPS+) while also playing all over the diamond at every position except pitcher and catcher.

Tigers Place Jonathan Schoop On 10-Day IL, Activate Niko Goodrum

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The Tigers have placed second baseman Jonathan Schoop on the 10-day injured list due to a right wrist sprain, the team announced.  Schoop’s placement is retroactive to September 13.  Niko Goodrum will take Schoop’s spot on the MLB roster, as Goodrum has been activated from his own IL stint due to a right oblique strain.

Schoop sprained his wrist swinging, manager Ron Gardenhire told MLB.com’s Jason Beck (Twitter links) and other reporters.  This comes after Schoop was hit by a pitch on that same wrist on September 8, and Schoop has also been dealing with some hamstring issues.  The backdated IL placement means that Schoop could technically still return before the season is over, though with the Tigers fading from playoff contention, it’s possible the infielder could be shut down.

If this is the case, it could mark the end of Schoop’s time in Detroit.  Schoop signed a one-year, $6.1MM deal with the Tigers in the offseason, and hit a solid .278/.324/.475 with eight homers over 177 plate appearances.  While the Statcast metrics weren’t fans of Schoop’s work this year, the veteran positioned himself for another Major League contract as a free agent this winter, and a return to the Tigers might not be out of the question.

Schoop’s chances of suiting up as a Tiger in 2021 could depend on the team’s plans for Goodrum and Willi Castro, as Gardenhire said Goodrum will take over for Schoop at second base so Castro can get some time at shortstop.  The versatile Goodrum can play all over the diamond, so Detroit could explore moving him back into a super-utility role next year if they wanted to go with Castro as an everyday shortstop and perhaps bring Schoop back as the regular second baseman.

On the flip side, Castro hasn’t shown much defensively at shortstop, whereas Goodrum has displayed some strong glovework (+8.7 UZR/150 and +2 Defensive Runs Saved) over 248 innings at the position this season.  Goodrum’s main focus over the season’s final days will likely be getting his bat on track, as Goodrum has hit only .186/.264/.381 in 129 PA in 2020.

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