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Injury Notes: Nunez, Nelson, Delgado, Kela, Capps, Rasmussen

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Red Sox utilityman Eduardo Nunez feels he has dodged a bullet with his right knee injury, as Evan Drellich of CSSNE.com reports on Twitter. Nunez sprained his posterior cruciate ligament, but he says he anticipates returning before the year is up. That said, he’ll understandably also take his time to ensure he makes it back to full health. While Boston hasn’t yet nailed down a postseason spot, it is in excellent position and (at this point, at least) doesn’t seem in need of rushing back an important player.

Here’s the latest on some other health issues from around the game:

  • The Brewers are still waiting to learn more on the status of key righty Jimmy Nelson, as Adam McCalvy of MLB.com reports on Twitter. He received a second opinion on his shoulder injury today, though the outcome isn’t yet known. Nelson is expected to miss the rest of the season regardless, but the precise course of treatment hasn’t been determined.
  • Diamondbacks righty Randall Delgado is indeed dealing with a flexor strain, Jack Magruder of Fan Rag tweets. That initial diagnosis has now been confirmed; while that seemingly takes some worst-case scenarios out of play, he’s already slated to miss the remainder of the year. Delgado had thrown 62 2/3 frames of 3.59 ERA ball, posting 8.6 K/9 and an uncharacteristically low 2.0 BB/9, before going down. That should set him up for a decent raise on his $1.775MM salary for his final year of arbitration, though the price will still likely be low enough for Arizona to pick up the tab unless there’s real concern he won’t bounce back.
  • The Rangers announced that they’ve activated righty Keone Kela from the DL. The 24-year-old has been dealing with a shoulder injury, but could represent a nice boon to the club’s relief corps if he can get back in the swing of things late this year. Kela had pitched to a 2.36 ERA over 34 1/3 innings before hitting the DL.
  • Padres righty Carter Capps has been diagnosed with a blood clot, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union Tribune reports (Twitter links). He’s heading to the 60-day DL, ending his season and allowing the club to select the contract of Cory Mazzoni. The broader outlook for Capps isn’t clear. San Diego will have to decide whether to tender him a contract this winter. He hasn’t been all that inspiring thus far since returning from Tommy John surgery, allowing nine earned runs with a 7:2 K/BB ratio in 12 1/3 innings while averaging just 93.2 mph with his fastball (over five mph off of his most recent readings from 2015). That said, Capps will likely command only around $1MM; the club could at least take him into camp and cut bait before that full amount is guaranteed if he can’t turn the corner.
  • Recent Rays draft pick Drew Rasmussen has undergone his second Tommy John procedure, Danny Moran of the Oregonian reports on Twitter. Rasmussen, an Oregon State hurler, went to Tampa Bay with the 31st overall pick in this summer’s draft but did not sign with the team. The Rays evidently found some reason to be concerned with the medicals from the talented youngster, who had returned from his first TJ procedure only months before the draft.

Minor MLB Transactions: 9/12/17

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Here are the day’s minor moves from around the game:

  • The Red Sox have outrighted right-hander Kyle Martin, per a team announcement. He had been designated for assignment recently but will remain with the organization. Martin, 26, was regarded as a legitimate prospect entering the current season; indeed, he ranked 14th on the club’s list, per Eric Longenhagen of Fangraphs. Though he did reach the majors for the first time this year, Martin made only two appearances but showing a 93.5 mph average heater. Unfortunately, too, he hasn’t been quite as good at Triple-A as he was in 2016, showing declines in strikeouts (from 10.5 K/9 to 8.4 K/9), walks (from 2.8 BB/9 to 4.4 BB/9), and groundball rate (45.1% to 33.1%).

Latest On David Price

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Red Sox southpaw David Price threw a two-inning sim game Saturday as he continues to work back from forearm problems, Scott Lauber of ESPN.com was among those to report (links here). While Price hasn’t taken the mound for the Red Sox since July 22 and only threw 32 pitches Saturday, they’re hopeful he’ll be able to come back this year as a starter, Lauber notes. The Sox will have a clearer idea about Price’s future after he throws another sim game midway through next week, but the likelihood is that he’ll finish 2017 as a reliever because he won’t have enough time to ramp back up as a starter, Tim Britton of the Providence Journal writes.

Red Sox Notes: Nunez, Brentz

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  • Red Sox utilityman Eduardo Nunez is likely to find a better contract and a bigger role elsewhere in the offseason, Cafardo suggests. The 30-year-old has slashed an outstanding .311/.343/.528 with eight homers in 169 plate appearances since the Red Sox acquired him from the Giants on July 26. Most of Nunez’s work in Boston has come at second base, where Dustin Pedroia was out from July 29 until the end of August. Pedroia is now back, though, and is obviously the team’s top option at the keystone. He’ll continue to man second next season, and Boston also has everyday players locked in at Nunez’s other positions (third base, shortstop and the corner outfield). A team with less certainty in any of those areas could be a more realistic fit for Nunez going forward, then, and Cafardo lists the Mets as a possible suitor. With the exception of shortstop, where the Mets figure to stick with top prospect Amed Rosario, they’ll enter the offseason with questions at all of Nunez’s positions.
  • Red Sox Triple-A outfielder Bryce Brentz is drawing interest from Japan, according to Cafardo. However, the 28-year-old would like to parlay his .271/.334/.529 line with 31 home runs in 494 plate appearances into a major league contract during the offseason. Brentz has been a member of the Red Sox since they used a first-round pick on him in 2010, but he has accrued just 90 PAs with the club and hasn’t seen the majors this year. Despite his 2017 power surge, the Red Sox didn’t summon Brentz to the majors Sept. 1, perhaps sealing his fate with the organization.

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Red Sox Could Face Punishment For Illegal Use Of Electronics To Steal Signs

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5:00pm: Drellich tweets that Manfred has stated there’s no specific rule against sign-stealing. The punishment the Red Sox could face would be from illegal usage of technology in the dugout.

4:45pm: Evan Drellich of CSN New England tweets that Dombrowski said there is indeed an investigation looking into the Yankees. Newsday’s David Lennon tweets that when asked about the Red Sox’ allegations regarding YES cameras, Yankees skipper Joe Girardi replied bluntly: “No chance. We’re not doing it.” Girardi did acknowledge that all teams try to steal signs to some extent, though without going so far as to use technology to do so (Twitter link via Lennon).

4:30pm: USA Today’s Bob Nightengale writes that a league official confirmed Schmidt’s report to him and added that the league is preparing discipline against the Red Sox. The stealing of signs by a runner on second base (and relaying the upcoming pitch to the hitter) is not forbidden “so long as artificial means are not used,” per Nightengale. While MLB has allowed the presence of iPads in the dugout and bullpen, those league-issued devices don’t have Internet access and cannot stream live video.

Yankees left fielder Brett Gardner briefly addressed the issue today when speaking to reporters (Twitter link via MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch), telling the media: “It’s always been a game within a game, but the use of electronics takes it too far.”

4:14pm: In one of the more eyebrow-raising stories of the season, Michael S. Schmidt of the New York Times reports that MLB investigators have determined that the Red Sox used an Apple Watch and other technology to steal signs from the Yankees earlier this season. Furthermore, the Red Sox also filed their own complaint against the Yankees today, alleging that they use a YES Network camera for the exclusive purpose of stealing signs during games.

The Yankees filed a complaint about two weeks ago, according to Schmidt, providing the Commissioner’s Office with video that depicted a member of the Boston training staff receiving intel from his Apple Watch and relaying it to players on the field. More damning is the fact that Schmidt reports that the league has already confronted the Red Sox on the matter, and the team has conceded that their training staff did indeed receive information from video replay personnel, which was then relayed to players. The process had been in place for “at least several weeks,” per Schmidt.

The Red Sox reportedly told the league that president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski and manager John Farrell were not involved in the implementation of this process and weren’t even aware of the sign-stealing operation at all. Investigators have already interviewed the Red Sox’ training staff as well as outfielder Chris Young. Schmidt’s report also mentions that Brock Holt and Dustin Pedroia were seen on video receiving info from assistant athletic trainer Jon Jochim.

Asked about the story, Farrell told reporters that the Red Sox are “aware of the rule (that) electronic devices are not to be used in the dugout,” but said that it’s a league matter and offered no further comment (link via ESPN’s Scott Lauber).

It’s not clear what actions that commissioner Rob Manfred will take against the Red Sox, nor is there any word of whether an investigation of the Yankees will be launched based on Boston’s reported allegations. Manfred has previously stripped the Cardinals of multiple draft picks as punishment for illegally accessing the Astros’ proprietary databases, though certainly that was a different scenario and is not a direct comparison to the Red Sox/Yankees situation.

Manfred is at Fenway Park tonight and will meet with the media at 5:45pm ET, per Lauber, so there could very well be further details made available in the near future. In the meantime, I’d highly encourage those interested in the matter to read Schmidt’s column in full.

Red Sox Activate Carson Smith, Designate Kyle Martin

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The Red Sox announced that they have activated right-handed reliever Carson Smith from the 60-day disabled list and designated fellow righty Kyle Martin for assignment to clear a spot on the 40-man roster.

Now 27 years old, Smith was acquired by the Red Sox in the 2015-16 offseason with the hope that he could serve as a setup man for Craig Kimbrel. The hard-throwing Smith was brilliant during his 2015 rookie campaign with the Mariners, pitching to a 2.31 ERA with 11.8 K/9, 2.8 BB/9 and a 64.3 percent ground-ball rate in 70 innings. Unfortunately for the Red Sox, Smith suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament after just three appearances in a Red Sox uniform and hasn’t appeared in a Major League game since.

September will give the Sox time to evaluate Smith for a potential postseason bullpen spot and will also certainly provide an audition of sorts for the 2018 campaign, when they’ll again hope that he can join Joe Kelly, Matt Barnes and others in forming a bridge to Kimbrel.

As for Martin, the 26-year-old made his Major League debut this season but tossed just 2 1/3 innings in the bigs. Martin has posted some gaudy strikeout rates in the past as a minor leaguer, averaging better than a strikeout per inning from 2014-16 and more than 10 K/9 in 2015-16. He reached Triple-A for the first time in 2017 and logged a 4.36 ERA with 8.4 K/9, 4.4 BB/9 and a 33.1 percent ground-ball rate in 53 2/3 innings.

Swihart Working To Increase Versatility

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The Red Sox have been getting Blake Swihart experience at first base, and he’s also been taking grounders at third base, writes Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe. Boston also plans to send the 25-year-old former top prospect to winter ball this year, which will allow him to make up for some missed time (due to injuries) but could also boost his trade value by showcasing some versatility. The switch-hitting Swihart was long touted as Boston’s catcher of the future, but Christian Vazquez and Sandy Leon look locked in for the 2018 season, when Swihart will be out of minor league options. “We recognize where he’s at contractually going into next year,” manager John Farrell tells Abraham. “Trying to create some versatility on the defensive side of things is part of the overall plan.” Swihart’s surgically repaired ankle has still limited him this year, so the extra time in winter ball could prove especially important as the Sox make a determination on his future.

Cafardo: Red Sox Must Pursue Giancarlo Stanton

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The first-place Red Sox’s success this year has come despite a lack of power (they entered Saturday 26th in the majors in home runs and 27th in ISO), leading Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe to argue that they have to pursue Giancarlo Stanton in the offseason.  It’s unclear whether the new Marlins ownership group will shop the right fielder and potential 60-home run man, but Cafardo contends that a Red Sox offer consisting of left fielder Andrew Benintendi, left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez and a pitching prospect would grab the attention of Derek Jeter & Co.  As great as Stanton has been this year, it’s tough to imagine Boston parting with Benintendi, a top-flight rookie who won’t even be eligible for arbitration until after the 2019 campaign.  Stanton, meanwhile, is still due another $295MM from 2018-28, and his contract includes full no-trade rights and an opt-out clause after the 2020 campaign.

Red Sox Not Ruling Out Bullpen Role For Price In 2017

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  • Red Sox manager John Farrell said in an appearance on WEEI’s Dale, Holley & Keefe that the team cannot rule out the possibility of David Price returning as a reliever this season (via WEEI’s Ryan Hannable). Farrell acknowledged that the team’s decision-makers are cognizant of the limited time Price has to build his strength back up after being on the disabled list with an elbow injury since late July. Price threw off a mound today but was limited to just fastballs, per Farrell. “When he is able to get back to game speed or full speed and then see what the best role and the most realistic role is for him and how do we make sure we do what is right by David and not over stressing the number of pitches in an outing,” said the manager.

Josh Rutledge Undergoes Hip Surgery

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The Red Sox announced on Wednesday that infielder Josh Rutledge underwent season-ending arthroscopic surgery on his left hip. He’s expected to be ready for the 2018 season. per the Red Sox’ press release.

After spending the 2015-16 seasons with the Red Sox organization, Rutledge inked a minor league pact with the Rockies (the organization that initially drafted him) back in November, only to be selected by the Red Sox in the Rule 5 Draft just two weeks later. As Evan Drellich of CSN New England points out, Rutledge didn’t meet the minimum 90 days on the active roster, so despite the fact that he has more than four years of service time, he’ll retain Rule 5 status headed into the 2018 season (Twitter link).

Rule 5 status for Rutledge is somewhat of a moot point anyhow, though, as he’s out of minor league options and therefore would have to break camp with the team next spring or else be exposed to waivers. If the Red Sox keep him on the roster this winter, Rutledge will retain arbitration eligibility as well — he’s earning $600K in 2017 — though his limited role and sub-par results at the plate make him a non-tender candidate despite that modest salary.

Rutledge logged 118 plate appearances with the Red Sox this season — his most in the Majors since 2014 — and batted just .224/.297/.262 with two doubles and a triple. Overall, he’s a career .258/.310/.384 hitter in 1206 Major League plate appearances. He played primarily third base for the Sox in 2017, though he’s also capable of playing second base and has logged the vast majority of his Major League innings at shortstop.

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