Orioles Rumors

AL East Notes: G. Sanchez, Andujar, Shoemaker, Wendle, Schoop

By Connor Byrne | April 20, 2019 at 6:32pm CDT

Injuries to cornerstone players have defined the season for the Yankees, who are likely to see right fielder Aaron Judge hit the IL next. But there is better news regarding banged-up catcher Gary Sanchez and third baseman Miguel Andujar, who, like Judge, are among New York’s offensive linchpins. Sanchez, on the IL with a left calf strain since April 11, will play a minor league rehab game Monday and should then return to the Yankees’ lineup Wednesday, per David Lennon of Newsday. Meanwhile, the Yankees “continue to be optimistic” that Andujar will come back this season, according to manager Aaron Boone (via Lennon). Andujar hasn’t played since March 31 because of a labrum tear in his right (throwing) shoulder, an issue the team has feared could require season-ending surgery. However, the majority of recent Andujar updates have been positive, and that’s all the more heartening for the Yankees given their injury-ravaged state.

Here’s more from the American League East…

Blue Jays right-hander Matt Shoemaker suffered a left knee sprain Saturday and will undergo an MRI on Sunday, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet reports. A stint on the injured list looks like a legitimate possibility for Shoemaker, who was frequently on the IL during his Angels tenure. The first-year Blue Jay, whom they signed for $3.5MM in free agency, looked like a quality bargain pickup for the club prior to his latest injury. Shoemaker threw three scoreless innings against Oakland before departing Saturday, leaving him with a 1.57 ERA/3.80 FIP, 7.53 K/9, 2.83 BB/9 and a 51.4 percent groundball rate in 28 2/3 frames this year.
Rays second baseman Joey Wendle is nearing activation from the IL, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. A left hamstring strain has kept Wendle out since March 31 and given the keystone to Brandon Lowe, who’s enjoying an outstanding season thus far. Wendle was effective in his own right in 2018, when he batted .300/.354/.435 (116 wRC+) with 3.7 fWAR in 545 PA.
Second baseman Jonathan Schoop has spent nearly his entire career as a member of the Orioles, though they cut ties with him last July when they traded him to the Brewers. Schoop then became a Twin in free agency this past offseason, but he tells Steve Melewski of MASNsports.com that he was open to a reunion with Baltimore. “Honestly, there were a lot of teams that were talking to me,” Schoop said of his trip to the open market. “I was thinking about it if I had the chance to come back. This was the team that gave me a chance. So I was thinking about it. But they never reached out. So I go forward and the Minnesota Twins was the one coming out more. So right away I signed with them.” On the heels of a down 2018, Schoop joined the Twins on a one-year, $7.5MM deal in December. Even though we’re just a few weeks into the season, Schoop has bounced back to a degree in the early going, having hit .241/.317/.407 (97 wRC+) in 60 plate appearances.

Injury Notes: Trout, Jeffress, Benintendi, Cobb, LeBlanc

By George Miller | April 14, 2019 at 3:48pm CDT

Angels megastar Mike Trout, who has been unavailable for several days due to a groin injury, has shown improvement and will rejoin the Angels for their series in Texas, per Jeff Fletcher of the Southern California News Group. He remains day-to-day and it is yet unclear when he will be ready to return to the lineup, but the update is certainly welcome news for the Angels. Trout exited the Angels’ April 9 contest with the Brewers after suffering a right groin strain and remained in Los Angeles while the rest of the team traveled to Chicago. The club has managed well in Trout’s absence, finishing a three-game sweep of the Brewers and winning one of two games against the Cubs, with Sunday’s rubber match postponed. The news should certainly inspire some optimism for Angels fans, who have collectively been holding their breath since Trout’s injury. Considering the circumstances, it would feel like the best-case scenario for the Halos to get their franchise cornerstone back after just a handful of games, a stretch in which the team has maintained its winning form.

Here are the latest updates on other injuries from around Major League Baseball…

Brewers reliever Jeremy Jeffress has completed his rehab assignment and will rejoin the Brewers on Monday, per Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Jeffress, a stalwart of the Brewers’ dynamic bullpen in 2018, has been on the shelf for the beginning of the season with a shoulder issue, which has since been resolved, says Haudricourt. He will join Josh Hader in a Milwaukee bullpen that will be without Corey Knebel, who underwent Tommy John surgery earlier this season.
In Sunday’s victory over the Orioles, Red Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi fouled a ball sharply off his right foot and had to exit the game. In some good news for the Sox, though, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reports that x-rays on Benintendi’s foot returned negative results, though Benintendi will be day-to-day with a foot contusion. He was replaced in left field by Blake Swihart on Sunday, who could continue to serve as Benintendi’s substitute if he misses any time.
Orioles righty Alex Cobb, out since April 6 with a lumbar strain, won’t come off the IL when first eligible, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com was among those to report. It doesn’t appear Cobb will miss much more time, however. Manager Brandon Hyde indicated he could start during the Orioles’ upcoming series against the Twins, which runs from April 19-21. Cobb pitched well in his lone start of the season, an April 4 loss to the Yankees in which he threw 5 2/3 innings of two-run ball.
Seattle Mariners southpaw Wade LeBlanc will miss 4-6 weeks with a grade 2 oblique strain, skipper Scott Servais told reporters, including The Athletic’s Corey Brock (Twitter link). With LeBlanc headed to the 10-day IL, the team has called up right-hander Erik Swanson from Triple-A. Swanson will take LeBlanc’s place in the starting rotation and is slated to make his first Major League start on Wednesday.

AL Notes: C. Davis, Lindor, Sano

By Connor Byrne | April 13, 2019 at 7:17pm CDT

Beleaguered Orioles first baseman Chris Davis entered Saturday without a hit in his previous 54 at-bats, the longest streak in major league history. But the former star’s nightmarish skid ended with a first-inning, two-run single off Boston’s Rick Porcello, giving Davis his first hit since Sept. 14, 2018. Davis later went on to collect two more hits and another pair of runs batted in during what wound up as a 9-5 victory for the Orioles. While Davis was one of Baltimore’s best players Saturday, he has delivered startlingly few valuable performances since 2016, the first season of a seven-year, $161MM contract that now looks like one of the worst investments in baseball history. Once a premier slugger, the 33-year-old Davis has slashed a hideous .198/.294/.388 (83 wRC+) with minus-0.8 fWAR since signing his current deal.

Davis appears to be a sunk cost for the rebuilding Orioles, who owe him roughly $108MM more and will pay him through 2037 because of deferrals, yet there’s no urgency on their part to get rid of him. Rookie general manager Mike Elias told Dan Connolly of The Athletic (subscription required) on Friday that the Orioles are “absolutely” planning to keeping Davis, adding that “he’s on this team and it’s no secret the fact that we have a large and long commitment to him, so our focus is going to be on getting the best performance out of him that we possibly can.” Elias went on to explain to Connolly that the Orioles, with the help of analytics guru Sig Mejdal and hitting coach Don Long, are “just going to do as much as we can incrementally to get him into a better place.”

Orioles Sign Jesmuel Valentin To Minor League Deal

By Steve Adams | April 12, 2019 at 9:19am CDT

The Orioles signed infielder Jesmuel Valentin to a minor league contract, per Rich Dubroff of BaltimoreBaseball.com (Twitter link). The Orioles’ Double-A affiliate in Bowie announced shortly thereafter that Valentin has been added to its roster.

Valentin, 24, made his big league debut with the Phillies in 2018 but received just 89 plate appearances. In that time, the switch-hitter managed only a .177/.258/.304 batting line with a homer, five doubles and a triple. Valentin, the No. 51 overall pick in the 2012 draft (by the Dodgers), is the son of former big leaguer Jose Valentin and the nephew of Javier Valentin.

The younger Valentin landed with the Phillies by way of the 2014 swap that sent right-hander Roberto Hernandez from Philadelphia to Los Angeles. He’s a versatile defender, with experience at second base, shortstop, third base and a brief look in both outfield corners, but he’s never established himself as much of an offensive threat. He’s a career .260/.345/.379 hitter in parts of seven minor league seasons, including a .239/.322/.339 output in 381 plate appearances at the Triple-A level.

Orioles To Select Josh Lucas, Place Richard Bleier On Injured List

By Steve Adams | April 11, 2019 at 8:53am CDT

The Orioles have lockers set up for right-hander Josh Lucas and lefty Tanner Scott this morning, per MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko (all Twitter links), indicating that both have been brought up to the Major League roster. Lucas isn’t on the team’s 40-man roster, so his contract will be formally selected prior today’s 12:35 ET starting time. Baltimore already optioned Josh Rogers to Triple-A Norfolk following last night’s game, creating one vacancy on the 25-man roster, and the other will be created by placing lefty Richard Bleier on the injured list.

Lucas, 28, signed a minor league pact with the Orioles back in late November. His experience at the MLB level is limited, though he’s appeared in each of the past two big league seasons: with the Cardinals in 2017 and the Athletics in 2018. He’s tallied just 21 2/3 frames in that time, working to a 5.40 ERA with a 21-to-13 K/BB ratio and a promising 54.8 percent ground-ball rate.

Lucas doesn’t throw particularly hard, sitting 91-92 mph with his fastball, but he’s induced a solid 11.4 percent swinging-strike rate and a strong 33.8 percent chase rate on pitches out of the strike zone. He’ll come to the O’s with a nice Triple-A track record, having logged a 3.32 ERA with 8.9 K/9, 2.6 BB/9 and above-average ground-ball tendencies.

Bleier, despite a lack of missed bats, was the Orioles’ most effective reliever from 2017-18. Through 4 1/3 innings this season, though, he’s already allowed as many runs (seven) as he did through 32 2/3 frames last year. Bleier’s 2019 season was cut short by a lat tear that required surgery, and it’s possible that he’s still dealing with some lingering effects from that procedure.

Prior to Opening Day, he’s totaled 119 innings in the Majors between the Yankees and O’s, pitching to an immaculate 1.97 ERA despite averaging 4.1 K/9. Bleier’s pristine control (1.6 BB/9) and knack for avoiding hard contact have helped him thrive to this point in his big league career. If he can get back on track between now and July, he’d stand out as a possible trade candidate; the late-blooming Bleier will turn 32 next week but has three years of team control remaining beyond 2019.

The 24-year-old Scott, meanwhile, is already on the 40-man roster after spending the bulk of the 2018 season with the Orioles. Last year, he logged a lackluster 5.40 ERA but did punched out 76 batters in just 53 1/3 innings of Major League relief. The flamethrower has averaged better than 97 mph on his heater at the MLB level with a gaudy 16.4 percent swinging-strike rate and 36.6 percent opponents’ chase rate on out-of-zone pitches. If Scott can rein in his control (4.7 BB/9), he has the makings of a quality late-inning reliever; fielding-independent pitching metrics are already quite bullish on him as it is (3.40 FIP, 2.96 xFIP, 3.18 SIERA in 2018).

Orioles Return Rule 5 Pick Drew Jackson To Dodgers

By Steve Adams | April 10, 2019 at 8:28pm CDT

The Orioles announced Wednesday that Rule 5 pick Drew Jackson has cleared outright waivers and been returned to the Dodgers organization. He’ll be assigned to a minor league affiliate but won’t require placement on Los Angeles’ 40-man roster. He’d been designated for assignment when the Orioles signed Dan Straily.

Jackson, 25, appeared in three games with the O’s before being designated for assignment but received just four plate appearances. He’s still looking for his first big league hit but will now have to bide his time in the minors as he awaits a fresh opportunity for that milestone.

Jackson has more than 1,000 innings of minor league experience at second base and north of 2100 innings at shortstop, though the O’s deployed him as an outfielder in his brief time with the organization. He spent the ’18 campaign with the Dodgers’ Double-A affiliate, where he hit .251/.356/.447 with 15 homers and 22 steals (in 29 attempts). He’s one of two Rule 5 picks who broke camp with the Orioles, joining shortstop (and No. 1 pick in last December’s draft) Richie Martin. Rostering multiple Rule 5 selections is difficult even for a rebuilding organization like the Orioles, though, and the O’s felt it prudent to evaluate other options both in the middle infield and in the outfield rather than dedicate the necessary playing time to do so with Jackson.

Injury Notes: Dahl, Turner, Cobb, Mariners

By Steve Adams | April 9, 2019 at 5:42pm CDT

The Rockies announced Tuesday that they’ve placed outfielder David Dahl on the 10-day injured list due to a “left-side core injury.” Fellow outfielder Yonathan Daza has been recalled from Triple-A in his place. Dahl’s injury isn’t believed to be especially serious, and the hot-hitting 25-year-old in fact told MLB.com’s Thomas Harding that he hopes to return after a minimal 10-day stay on the IL (Twitter link). Dahl joins Daniel Murphy as a key middle-of-the-order presence whose absence will surely be felt by a Rockies lineup that entered play Tuesday tied for 20th in total runs scored (37th), 24th in batting average (.219), 26th in on-base percentage (.283) and 23rd in slugging percentage (.350). Dahl was off to a scintillating .343/.385/.629 start to the season through 39 plate appearances.

Some more notable injury updates from around the game…

Brittany Ghiroli of The Athletic tweets that there’s a “tentative” timeline of four to six weeks for Nationals star Trea Turner (from the time of his injury). Turner landed on the injured list with a fractured index finger last week. Light-hitting Wilmer Difo has filled in for Turner since he exited last Tuesday’s game after injuring his right (throwing) hand on a bunt attempt in his first plate appearance.
The Orioles announced that right-hander Alex Cobb, who had been slated to start tomorrow night’s game, has instead been placed on the 10-day injured list with a lumbar strain. The move is backdated to April 6. Cobb quickly follows righty Nate Karns (forearm strain) to the injured list, though there’s no timetable for a return on either right-hander. Baltimore has yet to announce a corresponding 25-man roster move for Cobb, who opened the season on the IL due to a groin strain. He’s thrown just 5 2/3 innings in one appearance so far this season. The early durability issues don’t help the Orioles’ already minimal chances of finding a summer trade partner willing to take on a portion of the $43MM still owed to Cobb through the 2021 campaign.
Mariners right-hander Chasen Bradford has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to inflammation in his right shoulder, per a team announcement. The Seattle organization will turn to fellow righty Erik Swanson in his stead. There’s no immediate rotation opening for Swanson, one of the focal pieces of the trade that sent James Paxton to the Yankees, so the 25-year-old seems ticketed for the bullpen for the time being. If Swanson finds his way into a game, he’d be making his big league debut. An eighth-round pick by the Rangers in 2014, Swanson went from Texas to New York in the 2016 Carlos Beltran trade before being sent to the Mariners in the aforementioned Paxton swap. He pitched at three levels in the Yankees’ system last year, working to a combined 2.66 ERA with 10.3 K/9 against 2.1 BB/9 in 121 2/3 innings.

Health Notes: Moore, Karns, Padres, Red Sox

By Jeff Todd | April 9, 2019 at 1:28pm CDT

Here are the latest notes on some health situations from around the game …

The Tigers and lefty Matt Moore are hopeful that he won’t need to undergo surgery after being diagnosed with a meniscus injury, Chris McCosky of the Detroit News was among those to report. Damage to the joint was diagnosed after Moore experienced some issues in his last outing. While a procedure on the meniscus wouldn’t likely be season-ending, it would make for a fairly lengthy absence. With rather mild symptoms, Moore suggests he’s optimistic he can instead rehab briefly and then pitch through the injury.
Orioles righty Nate Karns has gone on the injured list with a forearm strain, the club announced. The severity isn’t know, but it’s obviously rather worrying to see another arm issue for a pitcher that has dealt with significant health issues in recent years. Reliever Evan Phillips, who was acquired in last year’s Kevin Gausman swap, has been called up to take the open roster spot. Phillips struggled in brief MLB action last year but had a nice showing this spring.
The Padres announced last night that lefty Aaron Loup and outfielder Franchy Cordero were headed to the injured list. Infielder Luis Urias is taking one of the open roster spots, thus putting another top San Diego prospect at the MLB level, with southpaw reliever Brad Wieck occupying the other. As Jason Freund of the East Village Times explains, arm issues drove both IL placements. The severity isn’t known in either case, but Loup’s forearm strain and Cordero’s elbow strain each echo injuries that those players dealt with last year.
Red Sox ace Chris Sale isn’t one for excuses, but skipper Alex Cora did offer up a possible explanation for Sale’s otherwise concerning recent velocity drop. The star lefty was dealing with illness in the run-up to his last start, which reduced his intra-start work and may also have affected him on gameday, Cora told reporters including Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com (Twitter links). Sale’s velocity has trended back up in the first inning of today’s game, which is certainly a promising sign. There was also generally encouraging news for southpaw Brian Johnson, who was feared to have suffered a significant elbow injury. He’s actually just dealing with inflammation, so it seems reasonable to hope that a rest and rehab approach will allow him to get back to the mound in relatively short order.

Orioles Outright Matt Wotherspoon

By Steve Adams | April 8, 2019 at 9:28am CDT

The Orioles announced over the weekend that right-hander Matt Wotherspoon has cleared waivers and been assigned outright to Triple-A Norfolk, thus freeing a spot on the 40-man roster. Baltimore had only recently selected Wotherspoon’s contract, but the 27-year-old’s first exposure to the Majors and to a 40-man roster both proved brief.

A 34th-round draft pick of the Yankees back in 2014, Wotherspoon appeared in just one game with the Orioles, pitching two innings and yielding three runs on four hits and a walk. He’s spent parts of four seasons at the Triple-A level, where he owns a combined 3.55 ERA with 9.5 K/9, 3.6 BB/9 and 1.0 HR/9 159 2/3 innings of work. Baltimore originally acquired the righty under former general manager Dan Duquette, when they traded a portion of their international bonus pool to the Yankees in exchange for Wotherspoon.

With the move, the Orioles’ 40-man roster is now at 39 players.

Pitching Notes: Keuchel, A. Miller, Cards, Orioles, Royals

By Connor Byrne | April 7, 2019 at 11:57am CDT

Left-hander Dallas Keuchel reportedly sought a six- to seven-year contract worth upward of $25MM per annum at the outset of the winter, which may explain why he’s still available a week into the regular season. Now, though, it appears Keuchel’s asking price has dropped significantly, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports hears (video link). An executive’s “under the impression” the 2015 AL Cy Young winner wants a one-year deal worth more than the $17.9MM qualifying offer he turned down from the Astros or a long-term contract at a lower salary, per Rosenthal. Nevertheless, there aren’t any signs that the 31-year-old is close to finding a team, and as Rosenthal points out, the longer Keuchel sits out, the more money he’ll give up on a prorated pact. Although Keuchel has been throwing 95-pitch sim games every five days as he waits for a contract, he still may not be ready to immediately step into a team’s rotation upon signing.

Southpaw Andrew Miller looks more like the second coming of Greg Holland than the savior the Cardinals’ bullpen was hoping for this season, Ben Frederickson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch observes. Signed to a two-year, $25MM contract over the winter, Miller has given up six runs (four earned) on five hits (three homers) and four walks, with just two strikeouts, in his first 3 1/3 innings as a Cardinal, thereby mimicking the awful performance Holland registered last season after inking a one-year, $14MM deal. While it’s clear Miller has looked nothing like the dominant force he was with the Red Sox, Orioles, Yankees and Indians from 2012-17, it’s obviously far too soon to write him off as a bust. Fortunately, both Miller and Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak insist the 33-year-old is healthy after knee, hamstring and shoulder injuries plagued him in Cleveland last season.
Right-hander Nate Karns began the season in the Orioles’ rotation, but he’s now shifting to their bullpen on a full-time basis in favor of lefty John Means, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com writes. Means may not be long for the starting five, however, considering the just-signed Dan Straily figures to head to the rotation in short order. A starter in 56 of 66 career appearances, Karns made his first relief appearance of the season Saturday against the Yankees, who collected three hits off him in just a third of an inning. The 31-year-old Karns made two starts before that, though he functioned as an opener in both outings and didn’t go past the two-inning mark in either. After recovering from 2017 thoracic outlet syndrome surgery, the journeyman joined the Orioles in free agency this past winter on an $800K contract.
It appears reliever Drew Storen is still far away from potentially joining the Royals’ bullpen, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com tweets. Storen, who’s on his way back from 2017 Tommy John surgery, is currently building up arm strength in extended spring training. The 31-year-old signed a minors deal with the Royals in February, meaning he was never guaranteed to crack their bullpen. However, if the horrendous performance Kansas City’s relief corps has turned in thus far is any indication, Storen could get a chance in if he returns to health.

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