Orioles Outright Renato Nunez
The Orioles announced that they have outrighted Renato Nunez to Triple-A after he cleared waivers. The Baltimore organization had just claimed Nunez itself.
With the series of moves, the O’s will gain control over Nunez without occupying a 40-man roster spot. Though he does not really fit well on the current roster, it’s certainly possible that Nunez could get a look in the majors if the Orioles undertake some summer trades.
AL East Notes: Osuna, Morales, Eovaldi, Wright, Orioles
Major League Baseball announced today that Blue Jays pitcher Roberto Osuna will remain on administrative leave through at least May 21st. He was first placed on leave by the commissioner’s office on May 8th, pursuant to the MLB-MLBPA Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy, after it emerged that he had been arrested and charged with domestic assault. At this point, it remains unknown when and how Osuna’s legal and disciplinary situations will be resolved.
Here’s more from the AL East:
- The Blue Jays may soon face a tough call on DH Kendrys Morales, as Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca writes. The veteran switch-hitter is off to an abysmal start, though GM Ross Atkins says that the organization still has some grounds for optimism. While there isn’t a clear roster crunch at present, that could change. If Morales can’t generate some positive momentum, Nicholson-Smith suggests, the Toronto front office will increasingly find it difficult to keep the bat-only player on the roster.
- It seems that Rays righty Nathan Eovaldi is facing yet another hurdle. Per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, via Twitter, the long-rehabbing starter won’t make it back as hoped later this month. While his elbow isn’t the culprit this time, thankfully, Eovaldi will first need to recover from a right rib muscle strain. The prognosis is not terribly clear at the moment, so it could yet be that this’ll be more of a speed bump than a roadblock, but it’s certainly disappointing to hear that Eovaldi has again been dealt with tough luck on the cusp of a return to the majors.
- Red Sox right-hander Steven Wright has been activated for the first time this year, the club announced. To create a roster spot, fellow righty Hector Velazquez is going onto the 10-day DL with a lower back strain. Wright served a 15-game suspension after opening the year on the shelf while recovering from knee surgery. He’ll likely work as a long man out of the Boston bullpen upon arrival, though he’s also likely the first man up if a rotation need arises.
- Dan Connolly of BaltimoreBaseball.com checks in on where things stand for the Orioles roster. Despite a recent uptick in play, argues Connolly, the team must still be preparing to blow things up this summer. As MLBTR’s Steve Adams also argued recently, it’s hard to imagine a path back to contention in 2018 for the O’s. Meanwhile, Connolly wonders just why the Orioles placed a claim on slugging, reputedly poor-fielding corner man Renato Nunez. He suggests the org may simply hope to pass him through waivers once a 40-man spot is needed.
Orioles Claim Renato Nunez From Rangers
The Orioles have claimed infielder/outfielder Renato Nunez off waivers from the Rangers, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com tweets. In a corresponding move, Baltimore transferred infielder Tim Beckham to the 60-day DL.
Nunez lost his spot with the Rangers when they designated him on Friday. The 24-year-old logged 41 appearances with the club prior to then and batted just .167/.244/.278. He offered similar production from 2016-17 in Oakland (.167/.194/.267 in 31 PAs), which jettisoned him in mid-April. Nunez has been far better at Triple-A, where he owns a .242/.301/.460 line in 1,113 PAs, and is capable of lining up in the corners.
Most of Nunez’s professional action has come at third base, where the Orioles have been without Beckham for a few weeks. Beckham underwent core muscle surgery April 26 and is in the early stages of what will be at least a six-week recovery, making his shift to the 60-day DL a logical move for the Orioles. This has been a year to forget thus far for Beckham, who slashed .179/.247/.262 in 93 PAs before landing on the shelf. Beckham’s fall from grace since last season, when he was an effective piece for Baltimore after it acquired him from Tampa Bay in July, has been one of many clear causes for the Orioles’ 12-28 start.
Injury Notes: Naquin, Graveman, Buchter, Hendriks, Vielma, Alvarez,
The Indians have placed outfielder Tyler Naquin on the DL with a left hamstring strain, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com writes. Naquin limped into second during yesterday’s game while running out a double, and stayed in the game through the remainder of the inning. He was taken out subsequently, though, and sent to get an MRI. There’s no word yet on the severity of Naquin’s injury, nor how long he’ll be out. It’s surely a disappointing development for the Indians; Naquin’s hitting .333/.367/.453 on the year, albeit with an unsustainable .442 BABIP. In a related move, the Indians activated reliever Tyler Olson from the paternity list for today’s game.
Other injury notes from around the league…
- Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle provided some injury updates on Athletics players with a pair of tweets today. Right-hander Kendall Graveman is “limping around” after taking a liner off his shin last night. While the situation is reportedly better than expected, the A’s aren’t yet certain whether they’ll need to push back Graveman’s next side session. Meanwhile, Ryan Buchter (shoulder strain) will begin a throwing program next week, and Liam Hendriks (groin strain) is scheduled to throw off a mound today.
- In Orioles injury news, infielder Engelb Vielma is set to have surgery on his knee (according to Rich Dubroff of PressBoxonline.com). He sustained the injury after tripping over a mound while running down a fly ball in foul ground during a minors game, and while it’s not thought to be season-ending, some in the Orioles organization have loudly voiced their frustrations about the circumstances surrounding the injury. Meanwhile, Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun tweets that Pedro Alvarez‘ hamstring tightness will hold him out of today’s lineup, though there’s still hope that he could be called upon to hit if needed.
East Notes: Hess, Stroman, Mets, Pedroia, Mujica
After placing Chris Tillman on the DL earlier today, the Orioles have announced that they’ll promote David Hess to take the open spot in the rotation, as Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun was among those to report on Twitter. The 24-year-old righty entered the year as a notable, if not particularly heralded prospect. He has impressed thus far in 2018 after being added to the 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft last fall. Through 29 2/3 innings over six starts, Hess owns a 2.12 ERA with 8.8 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9. It remains to be seen how long a run he’ll get in the majors, but it seems there’ll be opportunity available if he throws well.
Here are some more notes from the eastern divisions, focusing on some health situations of note:
- Blue Jays starter Marcus Stroman discussed his DL placement with the media today, with MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm providing the story. Stroman acknowledged that the placement was made with consideration not just of his physical wellness, but his mental state. “Just a collective decision between me and the staff, to take a step back, do what I need to do for my shoulder, get my emotions and everything in sync, to get back to myself,” Stroman said. It seems he’ll mostly be looking to get a relatively brief respite before rejoining the staff.
- The Mets provided a variety of health updates today to reporters, including MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo. Infielder T.J. Rivera is not yet ready for rehab assignments but could make it back from Tommy John surgery by July. Backstop Kevin Plawecki is closer, as he’s preparing to begin rehabbing in earnest in hopes of returning from a fractured hand by the end of the month. As Tim Britton of The Athletic tweets, though, reliever Anthony Swarzak is still a little ways off. His injured oblique is still not healed enough to allow him to take the mound. Meanwhile, the club has placed reliever Hansel Robles on the 10-day DL with a sprained knee, with lefty Buddy Baumann taking his place on the active roster.
- Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia is hoping to begin a rehab assignment early next week, Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe tweets. He has been building back to full strength following offseason knee surgery. While the Sox have managed just fine without the veteran star, a return from Pedroia will certainly be most welcome, as fill-in Eduardo Nunez has struggled thus far at the plate.
- Rays righty Jose Mujica has been cleared of any significant arm issues, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. The minor-league hurler will need about a month of rest after being diagnosed with a forearm strain. So long as he can get back to health, though, he could represent a much-needed option later in the year.
Orioles Place Chris Tillman On 10-Day DL
The Orioles have announced that starter Chris Tillman is going on the 10-day DL with what the club is calling a lower back strain. He’ll be replaced on the active roster by right-handed reliever Jimmy Yacabonis.
There had been no prior indication that Tillman was dealing with a back issue, though certainly something hasn’t been right for the 30-year-old righty. He has been one of the least-effective pitchers in all of baseball, stumbling through 26 2/3 innings of 10.46 ERA pitching in his seven starts on the year.
Baltimore had promised Tillman $3MM to rejoin the organization after a disastrous 2017 season. The deal included loads of incentives, though they don’t begin to kick in until he reaches 125 innings. Tillman’s performance had already begun to make that number seem steep. It’s not clear how long he’ll be out, but any kind of extended absence would make it all but impossible for Tillman to boost his earnings for the year.
Of course, those financial considerations aren’t really on anyone’s minds at present. The real question is whether the O’s can somehow find a way to get Tillman back to being a serviceable pitcher. If he is on the shelf long enough, he may end up getting some time in the minors on a rehab assignment to try and sort things out.
Answers won’t come easy. His average fastball velocity has continued to fall and now sits below 90 mph. Never much of a strikeout pitcher, Tillman is now only generating a career-low 5.2% swinging-strike rate, with a brutal combination of 4.4 K/9 against 5.7 BB/9. Opponents are swatting more than two homers per nine. Statcast calculations suggest Tillman has deserved to be knocked around, as he’s credited with a .458 xwOBA that’s nearly identical to the .455 wOBA rate at which opposing hitters are producing against him.
As for Yacabonis, he has been starting at Triple-A, so could offer the O’s some length from the pen or a fill-in rotation option. Interestingly, though his, six outings for Norfolk are the first six starts he has ever made as a professional, so odds are he’ll work from the pen. The 26-year-old, who spent some time in the majors last year and has one appearance this season as well, has coughed up 11 earned runs in twenty innings in the highest level of the minors thus far in 2018, with an unfavorable mix of both a dozen walks and strikeouts.
Orioles Notes: Machado, Brach, O’Day, Vielma
In his latest Inside Baseball notes column, Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports writes that while many expect the Orioles to focus on pitching help in the seemingly inevitable event that they shop Manny Machado to contending clubs, some familiar with the team’s thinking also believe they’ll be keen on pursuing additional infield talent. With Machado hitting the market at season’s end and Jonathan Schoop only controlled through 2019, the O’s are set to lose two of the league’s better infielders in a short period of time. Prospect Ryan Mountcastle could conceivably emerge as an option in the infield, though he began the season on the DL with a fractured hand, and there’s been quite a bit of debate as to where he’ll fit on the field. Heyman also notes that he spoke to a scout who said that setup man/closer Brad Brach‘s stuff is “a little down” thus far in 2018, though the same scout offered no hesitation in stating that he’d “still take” Brach in his team’s bullpen.
Here’s more out of Baltimore…
- Eduardo A. Encina provides some insight into the injury that sent righty Darren O’Day to the 10-day disabled list with a hyperextended right elbow. O’Day explains that a “freak accident” occurred during the middle innings of Tuesday’s game as he began stretching and getting loose. A teammate inadvertently ran into his arm while he was stretching it, hyperextending the right elbow and initially causing O’Day to fear that he’d suffered a serious injury. An MRI revealed no structural damage in O’Day’s right arm, and manager Buck Showalter actually said that the MRI was “remarkably good” for a pitcher in his mid-30s.
- Showalter also addressed the media about an injury sustained by infielder Engelb Vielma while playing with Triple-A Norfolk (link via Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com). Vielma suffered a broken patella when chasing down a foul pop and tripping over a bullpen mound in foul territory, ultimately smashing his knee into a portion of exposed concrete at the Durham Bulls’ field (the Rays’ top affiliate). Showalter was not shy about expressing his anger over the matter calling the injury both “brutal” and suggesting it could have easily been avoided. “It’s hard for me to imagine in today’s game that we can’t make that mandatory, Triple-A and Double-A and the big leagues,” said the skipper. “We have mounds on the playing field. Really? It just infuriates me.” There’s no timeline on Vielma’s return, though Showalter said it’ll be “an extended period.” The 23-year-old defensive whiz made his big league debut with the O’s earlier this season, though he made just eight plate appearances in six games. Both pieces from Encina and Kubatko have additional quotes from a lengthy Showalter rant that expresses his frustration with the circumstances that led to the injury.
Injury Notes: Price, O’Day, Dodgers, Neshek, Karns
After being scratched from today’s start due to numbness in his left hand, David Price has been diagnosed with a “mild case” of carpal tunnel syndrome, Red Sox manager Alex Cora said in a radio appearance on WEEI today (Twitter link via The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey). The hope, Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe writes, is that he’ll only be required to miss one start and can avoid the disabled list. “We’re glad it’s only this,” said Cora. “We know how we’re going to attack it. We’re going to get him healthy.” It’s been an uneven season for Price, who was brilliant in his first two starts of the year but has struggled since initially reporting numbness in his hand in mid-April. He’s now sporting a 5.11 ERA with 7.8 K/9 against 3.9 BB/9 and a 42.7 percent ground-ball rate in 37 innings this year.
Some more injury news from around the game…
- The Orioles announced on Wednesday that they’ve placed Darren O’Day on the 10-day disabled list due to a hyperextended right elbow. Lefty Tanner Scott was recalled to step into his spot on the active roster and in the Baltimore bullpen. As Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com writes, the team’s hope is that O’Day, who has assumed ninth-inning duties, will be ready to return when he’s eligible. It’s not clear who’ll step into any potential save opportunities for the O’s, though they’ve generally been few and far between for a Baltimore club that still has just eight wins on the season. Mychal Givens could get a look in that role, or Buck Showalter could again turn to Brad Brach, though he’s struggled so far in 2018. Lefty Richard Bleier remains yet another option.
- The Dodgers announced a host of roster moves tonight. Tony Cingrani hit the DL due to shoulder inflammation, while Yasiel Puig was activated from the DL. Meanwhile, righty Brock Stewart and lefty Scott Alexander are up from Triple-A, while outfielder Alex Verdugo and right-hander Yimi Garcia were optioned to Triple-A. The 27-year-old Puig is off to an ugly start through 96 plate appearances in 2018, hitting .193/.250/.250 without a home run. He’s been plagued, to an extent, by a .243 average on balls in play though — despite still possessing solid hard-contact and line-drive rates. Cingrani will be replaced by Alexander for the time being, though the team didn’t provide a timeline for his return to big league action. It’s also worth noting, of course, that ace Clayton Kershaw played catch today, though skipper Dave Roberts wasn’t able to say whether Kershaw is expected to be ready for activation after the minimum 10-day stay on the DL (Twitter link via Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times). Kershaw hit the DL on Sunday due to biceps tendinitis.
- Righty Pat Neshek will be shut down for the next week, tweets MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki. The Phillies setup man has yet to pitch this season due to a shoulder injury, but it seems he’s now dealing with a flexor strain as well. At this point, it’s not clear as to when he’ll be able to go on a rehab assignment and ultimately rejoin the Phils. If and when he’s able to do so, a healthy Neshek would be a significant boon to a Phillies club that has outperformed expectations to date. The sidearmer utterly dominated opponents in 2017, pitching to a 1.59 ERA with 10.0 K/9, 0.9 BB/9, 0.43 HR/9 and a 36.4 percent ground-ball rate in 62 1/3 innings between the Phils and the Rockies.
- The Royals have shut Nate Karns down for the next four days because of persistent inflammation in his right elbow, tweets Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com. Karns has yet to pitch in 2018 after seeing his 2017 season cut short by thoracic outlet surgery. He opened the year on the shelf with some issues in his elbow as well, and it seems it’s his elbow that’s still slowing him more than anything else.
Central Notes: Dawson, Martin, Dickerson, Machado
Bob Nightengale of USA Today provides an interesting look at the post-playing career of Hall-of-Famer Andre Dawson, the slugging outfielder best remembered for his time with the Cubs and Expos. The Hawk now operates a funeral home with his wife in the Miami area, a surprising turn for a legendary ballplayer. Fans of the former great will certainly want to read the entire piece, which paints a compelling picture of Dawson and his new line of work.
Here’s the latest from the central divisions:
- The Tigers announced that outfielder Leonys Martin is going on the DL, with fellow outfielder Mikie Mahtook taking his place on the active roster. A hamstring strain is the cause of the placement for Martin, who had been off to a solid start in Detroit. Thus far, he has amply justified the team’s $1.75MM investment, turning in a .294/.355/.508 slash in his 138 plate appearances. Though he has not been as effective on the bases as usual, that may just be a short-sample blip for a player who has long been excellent with his legs. And metrics view him as a quality defender in center. That could make Martin a useful trade chip come July if he’s able to get back to health and continue producing.
- Over at Fangraphs, Jeff Sullivan examines the excellent work turned in thus far in 2018 by new Pirates outfielder Corey Dickerson. It really has been a fascinating showing to this point, as Dickerson is not just producing good numbers — a .333/.371/.550 slash — but is doing so while making vast improvements in his contact rate. Bucs fans will certainly want to give a full read to understand why and how the 28-year-old has thus far managed to change his approach and boost his productivity so significantly.
- The summer trade picture is only just starting to take shape, but Manny Machado obviously represents a key component. As MLBTR’s Steve Adams wrote recently, it is hard to imagine the Orioles won’t end up trading him before he reaches free agency at season’s end. And the Cubs are shaping up to be an interesting fit, as Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times writes. Indeed, per the report, the Chicago organization has plans to discuss Machado with the O’s once the trade window begins to open. Of course, that’s hardly surprising and hardly suggests that the Cubs are a favorite. As Wittenmyer notes, the club has a relatively diminished upper-level talent pool to draw from in making a deal; while indications are that ownership is willing to green-light an aggressive approach, it’ll still be tough to pull off a deal. And the Cubs surely won’t be alone in pursuing Machado, who could be seen as a difference-maker for numerous rosters around the game.
Injury Notes: Beltre, Schoop, Price, Cueto, Heyward
The Rangers announced this afternoon that they’ve activated Adrian Beltre from the disabled list. Beltre is in the lineup tonight, hitting cleanup and playing his customary third base. Infielder Eliezer Alvarez was optioned to Double-A Frisco to open a roster spot for Beltre’s return from a hamstring strain that sidelined him for roughly two weeks. The injury initially served as cause for greater concern within the organization, as Beltre was reportedly visibly frustrated and was not optimistic after initially sustaining the injury. Beltre was hitting .310/.366/.437 through 101 plate appearances when he laced a would-be double to the gap in right-center field but came up lame and hobbled into first base before exiting a late-April game.
Some additional injury updates on several high-profile players throughout the league…
- The Orioles activated Jonathan Schoop from the 10-day disabled list prior to tonight’s contest, optioning infielder Engelb Vielma to Triple-A Norfolk to clear a space for their second baseman. Schoop, 26, missed nearly a month of action after landing on the DL on April 14 due to a strained right oblique muscle. Like much of the Baltimore offense, he’d been struggling prior to landing on the disabled list. In 65 plate appearances this season, he’s batted .230/.266/.344 with a troubling spike in strikeouts (19 — a rate of 29.2 percent) and just one walk on the season (1.5 percent).
- David Price has been scratched from tomorrow’s start by the Red Sox, Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe tweets. He’s headed back to Boston after experiencing numbness in his hand and being unable to complete his most recent bullpen session on Sunday, per the report. Abraham’s colleague, Alex Speier, recently examined Price’s velocity drop this season in a column, noting that he exited a start earlier this year due to similar feelings of numbness, though he attributed that instance to the cold weather. That wasn’t the case this time around, as Sunday’s bullpen session took place in Arlington. Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald has quotes from manager Alex Cora in the wake of today’s news. Cora doesn’t believe the injury is related to Price’s elbow, though the tests he undergoes in Boston will obviously be more telling in that regard. Rick Porcello is stepping up to start in Price’s place tomorrow.
- Johnny Cueto will be shut down entirely for the next two weeks as he rests a sprain in his right elbow, per Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic (Twitter links). The Giants righty told reporters today that he pitched through “unbearable” pain in each of his final three starts before landing on the disabled list. Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets that Cueto had mentally prepared himself for the news that he was going to require Tommy John surgery and miss the remainder of the season.
- The Cubs announced today that outfielder Jason Heyward has been placed on the 7-day concussion DL. Infielder David Bote is back up from Triple-A to take his spot on the active roster for the time being. Heyward collided with the right-field wall over the weekend when attempting to rob former teammate Dexter Fowler of what wound up being a walk-off home run in the 14th inning of Sunday’s game against the Cardinals (video link). Interestingly, manager Joe Maddon tells reporters that Kris Bryant could see some time in right field while Heyward is sidelined (Twitter link via MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat).
An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated that Cueto had already undergone Tommy John surgery once in his career.