Quick Hits: Mets, E. Rodriguez, Tigers
The Mets are off to a slow start at 3-4, and high-profile reliever Edwin Diaz hasn’t helped matters. Diaz, whom the Mets hoped would rebound this year after a subpar first season with the team in 2019, has allowed an earned run in two of three appearances this year. He struggled Thursday in a loss to the Red Sox, allowing four of five hitters to reach base. Afterward, manager Luis Rojas told Anthony DiComo of MLB.com and other reporters that Mets bigwigs will discuss whether to use Diaz in high-leverage situations going forward. Considering Diaz has only thrown 2 1/3 innings this season, it’s far too soon to say he won’t bounce back. Nevertheless, it’s stunning to see how far he has fallen off since a tremendous run with the Mariners from 2016-18. The Mets’ decision to trade for Diaz and second baseman Robinson Cano continues to look worse and worse.
- Infielder Jed Lowrie joined the Mets in the same offseason as Diaz and Cano, but he has barely played for the club. Now in the second season of a two-year, $20MM contract, various injuries have limited Lowrie to nine games and eight plate appearances as a Met. He hasn’t played yet this season, and the reason became somewhat more clear Thursday. It turns out that Lowrie is dealing with PCL laxity in his left knee, according to general manager Brodie Van Wagenen. It’s still unknown if Lowrie will play for the Mets this season, however.
- Red Sox left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez has been out this season because of coronavirus complications, but chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom told Greg Hill of WEEI on Thursday (h/t: Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com) that they believe he will pitch this year. “We do expect to get him back,” Bloom said. “I couldn’t tell you exactly when. Obviously, we’re fortunate in that the complication that he had was very mild in terms of the severity of it.” Rodriguez went on the injured list July 7 after testing positive for the virus and has been dealing with a heart issue related to the illness lately. If healthy, he’ll unquestionably be the No. 1 starter in a Boston staff that’s rife with problems.
- The Tigers are placing oufielder Cameron Maybin on the injured list because of a strained quad, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com relays. Maybin suffered the injury Thursday, just the sixth game since the once-touted Tigers prospect returned to Detroit for a third stint. The club signed Maybin to a one-year, $1.5MM deal in free agency.
East Notes: Mets, Rays, Red Sox
Mets right-hander Marcus Stroman is making progress in his recovery from the left calf tear he suffered last week. Stroman has returned to throwing “full tilt” bullpen sessions, manager Luis Rojas said (via Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News). Pitching coach Jeremy Hefner added that Stroman is still unable to sprint, so it remains unclear when he’ll be in line for his season debut. The sooner the better for the Mets, for whom Stroman is a must-have complement to ace Jacob deGrom. From his own standpoint, Stroman’s in for a rather important season with his first trip to free agency scheduled for the winter.
- One of Stroman’s Mets teammates, fellow righty Jared Hughes, has been on the injured list since July 15. The team didn’t announce a reason for the move at the time, though it turns out he tested positive for the coronavirus, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports. Hughes was symptomatic for roughly 10 days, per Rosenthal, but he’s now healthy and pitching at the team’s alternate training site. Prior to his bout with the virus, Hughes appeared as if he’d earn a season-opening roster spot after the Mets signed him to a major league contract.
- The Rays have gotten good news on a couple of their outfielders who, because of their own positive COVID tests, have missed the season so far. Star Austin Meadows engaged in baseball activities on Wednesday, Juan Toribio of MLB.com relays (Twitter links). Manager Kevin Cash indicated Meadows could return sometime during the Rays’ Aug. 4-9 homestand. Meanwhile, Randy Arozarena was cleared to rejoin the team and resume baseball activities, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. He started a rehab assignment at the Rays’ alternate training site Wednesday.
- The Red Sox, having gotten poor production from their patchwork rotation thus far, will give righty Zack Godley an opportunity as a starter, Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald tweets. Godley, whom the Red Sox signed to a minor league contract this month, will make his first start with the club on Saturday against the Yankees. The former Diamondback and Blue Jay was an effective starter just a couple years ago before falling off dramatically last season. Godley had an extremely encouraging long-relief appearance Monday, though, as he tossed four scoreless, four-hit innings with seven strikeouts against no walks in a loss to the Mets.
Red Sox Designate Jonathan Lucroy, Call Up Chris Mazza
3:03pm: Lucroy has been designated for assignment.
11:14am: The Red Sox will remove catcher Jonathan Lucroy from their roster today and call up right-hander Chris Mazza from their alternate training site in Pawtucket, Chad Jennings and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic report (via Twitter). The exact nature of the move isn’t clear. It’s possible that Lucroy will simply be designated for assignment, though it’s also conceivable that he could be shipped to another club with a need for catching depth.
Lucroy, 34, cracked Boston’s Opening Day roster as a third catcher behind Christian Vazquez and Kevin Plawecki, but he’s yet to tally a plate appearance with the Sox. He split the 2019 season between the Angels and Cubs, hitting at a combined .232/.305/.355 rate in 101 games and 328 plate appearances.
More than three full years have passed since Lucroy enjoyed his last above-average season at the plate, but for a time, he was considered to be among the game’s elite backstops. From 2012-16, Lucroy batted .291/.353/.465 (120 OPS+) while drawing elite framing marks and registering a solid 27.5 percent caught-stealing rate. Those days, however, have long since passed. Over his previous three seasons, Lucroy has combined for a .248/.315/.350 output as his defensive ratings have tumbled considerably.
In his place, the Sox will add the 30-year-old Mazza — an offseason waiver claim out of the Mets organization who has just 16 1/3 MLB innings under his belt. While Mazza doesn’t have much big league experience, he turned in a 3.67 ERA with 7.3 K/9 against 2.1 BB/9 in 76 Triple-A frames last year — particularly solid marks given the offensive explosion there. Mazza has an overall ERA of 3.72 or better at every individual minor league level and has a composite 3.21 ERA with 7.4 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9. He’s regularly posted excellent ground-ball mark as well, thanks to a heavy sinker that has one of the lowest spin rates in MLB (which, in the case of sinkers, is a good thing).
Alex Wilson Retires
Former major league right-hander Alex Wilson has retired, Robert Murray reports. The 33-year-old will join the Ballengee Group as an advisor, per Murray.
Wilson, a second-round pick of the Red Sox in 2009, debuted in 2013 and generated solid results with Boston over a combined 56 innings through 2014. But Wilson wasn’t long for the Red Sox, who traded him to Detroit after the 2014 campaign in the teams’ Yoenis Cespedes–Rick Porcello swap. Wilson went on to enjoy a successful stint as a member of the Tigers, with whom he was a durable and effective reliever.
Wilson amassed 264 2/3 innings and pitched to a 3.20 ERA with 5.8 K/9 against 2.1 BB/9 as Tiger from 2015-18, but they non-tendered him heading into last season. He saw his final major league action in Milwaukee, where he was tattooed for 12 earned runs on 15 hits in 11 1/3 frames. Although the Tigers brought Wilson back last offseason on a minor league contract, they ended up releasing him in June.
While his career didn’t end in ideal fashion, there’s no denying Wilson had a more productive MLB career than most. He’ll depart with 332 innings of 3.44 ERA ball and 6.1 K/9 against 2.4 BB/9. MLBTR wishes Wilson the best in his next venture.
Predict The AL East Division Winner
With final roster decisions in the books and the 2020 season underway at long last, it’s time to make some predictions. We’re polling the MLBTR readership on each of the game’s six divisions — though plenty more teams will crack the postseason under the rather inclusive new playoff qualification system. We’ve already surveyed the AL Central, NL Central, and NL East landscapes, and now we’ll turn to the American League East.
The Yankees have certainly been tabbed the favorite by most observers, but several key players have questionable injury histories and the short-season format opens the door for challengers. The Rays are perhaps the prime contender for a surprise, with a deep and versatile roster that’s far more talented than the payroll would suggest. Then again, we may all be overlooking the Red Sox, who have certainly shed some talent but still have several rather high-ceiling players. There’s a ton of young talent on the Blue Jays roster; maybe the team could surprise if those precocious performers develop ahead of schedule. It’s quite difficult to make a case for the Orioles, even in a pithy blurb, but … hey, they’re tied for the division lead at 2-1 entering play today!
Which team do you think is going to take the division title? (Poll link for app users.)
Predict The 2020 A.L. East Division Winner
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Yankees 53% (3,832)
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Rays 23% (1,651)
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Orioles 10% (756)
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Blue Jays 10% (704)
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Red Sox 4% (261)
Total votes: 7,204
Red Sox Claim Robert Stock
The Red Sox have claimed right-hander Robert Stock off waivers from the Phillies, as per a team press release. Philadelphia designed Stock for assignment earlier this week.
Stock represents the latest new arm in Boston’s organization, as the Sox have also added the likes of Zack Godley, Dylan Covey, and Stephen Gonsalves in recent days in an attempt to shore up a pitching staff thinned by injuries, COVID-related absences (i.e. Eduardo Rodriguez) and opt-outs (Collin McHugh). The Red Sox have optioned Stock to their minor league training site, though it isn’t hard to imagine him getting a call to the MLB roster at some point, as the Sox continue to figure out their optimal bullpen mix.
The hard-throwing Stock has a 4.11 ERA over 50 1/3 career innings, all as a reliever, and all with the Padres from 2018-19. After posting a 2.50 ERA in 39 2/3 frames in 2018, Stock struggled to a 10.13 ERA over 10 2/3 innings last season as his walk rate and homer rate both ballooned, and he also hit the injured list with a biceps strain in September.
Stock was a second-round pick for the Cardinals in the 2009 draft, though he pitched for a few different organizations (as well as stints in Mexico and independent baseball) before finally reaching the Show in 2018. The 30-year-old has a 3.74 ERA, 1.54 K/BB rate, and 8.5 K/9 over 327 career minor league innings, working as a reliever in 210 of his 217 appearances.
Red Sox Select Zack Godley
The Red Sox announced they have selected right-hander Zack Godley to their 40-man and active rosters. Fellow right-hander Dylan Covey has been optioned to their minor league training site to clear active roster space. Their 40-man roster now sits at 39 players.
Boston signed Godley to a minor-league deal shortly after he was released by the Tigers at the outset of Summer Camp. Godley didn’t immediately command a 40-man roster spot, but it always seemed likely he’d get a look on an uncertain pitching staff. The 30-year-old turned in a pair of productive seasons as a starter with the 2017-18 Diamondbacks. Combined, he tossed 333.1 innings of 4.10 ERA ball with a solid combination of strikeouts (24.7%), walks (9.4%) and groundballs (51.6%).
The wheels fell off completely in 2019. Between Arizona and Toronto, Godley turned in a 5.97 ERA in 33 appearances (9 starts) with dramatic declines in his strikeouts and grounders. Along the way, Godley’s lost some velocity on both his cutter and sinker. Given his somewhat recent respectable track record, though, it’s easy to see why the Red Sox are willing to give him another look. Their current top four starters- Nathan Eovaldi, Martín Pérez, Ryan Weber and Matt Hall– hardly inspire a ton of confidence.
Covey, too, is a recent addition to the pitching staff, having been acquired from the Rays on Tuesday. The three-year White Sox starter threw two innings in relief in yesterday’s loss to the Orioles.
Eduardo Rodriguez Dealing With Heart Issue Related To COVID Diagnosis
The COVID-related health problem that led the Red Sox to shut Eduardo Rodriguez down for a week is related to his heart, WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford reports. “There seems to be a strong possibility” that Rodriguez is suffering from the inflammation of the heart muscle known as myocarditis, which has been observed in multiple patients recovering from COVID-19.
Rodriguez tested positive for the coronavirus prior to the start of Boston’s summer camp and had a rough time dealing with symptoms, as he told reporters. However, he was cleared to join his teammates on July 17 and seemed to be on track to miss relatively little time at the start of the season prior to the setback.
Any heart problem is naturally cause for concern, and while the specifics of Rodriguez’s setback weren’t known earlier in the week, Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke said at the time that the left-hander’s “minor complications” were enough for the club to take it as cautiously as possible with Rodriguez. Roenicke did said that he expected E-Rod to pitch at some point in the 2020 season and that “we’re really hopeful that this is going to clear up in a short time.”
Such a scenario would obviously be great news both for Rodriguez’s health and for the thin Red Sox pitching staff, which could sorely use the lefty back atop the rotation. 2019 saw Rodriguez enjoy the finest of his five MLB seasons, as he finished sixth in AL Cy Young Award voting and posted a 3.81 ERA, 2.84 K/BB rate, and 9.4 K/9 over 203 1/3 innings.
Red Sox Claim Stephen Gonsalves
The Red Sox claimed left-hander Stephen Gonsalves off waivers from the Mets, as per a team press release. Gonsalves has been optioned to Boston’s minor league training site.
The Mets designated Gonsalves for assignment earlier this week, ending the 26-year-old’s tenure in New York without so much as a big league pitch after Gonsalves was claimed off waivers from the Twins last November. Gonsalves’ lone taste of MLB action came with Minnesota in 2018, as he posted a 6.57 ERA over 24 2/3 innings (starting four of seven games).
Originally drafted by the Twins as a fourth-round pick in 2013, Gonsalves has a impressive 2.50 ERA, 2.67 K/BB rate, and 9.6 K/9 over 612 career minor league IP, though much of that success came at the lower levels. Walks were a bit more of an issue for Gonsalves at the Triple-A level, with a 4.9 BB/9 over his 125 frames at the highest rung on the minor league ladder, though he still managed a 3.46 ERA at Triple-A Rochester.
Gonsalves will now join a Red Sox club that is in need of any sort of pitching help, so another call to the majors might not be too far away. Darwinzon Hernandez and Josh Taylor are both recovering from positive COVID-19 tests, however, so the Sox will be getting southpaw bullpen reinforcements back in hopefully short order. With Gonsalves’ addition, Boston has now maxed out its player pool at 60 men, and has 38 spots filled on its 40-man roster.
Eduardo Rodriguez Shut Down For “Minor Complications” From COVID-19
Red Sox hurler Eduardo Rodriguez will take a step back from his effort to return from a bout of COVID-19, manager Ron Roenicke tells reporters including MLB.com’s Ian Browne (Twitter link). Rodriguez is said to be dealing with “minor complications” from the virus.
It’s obviously not clear what specifically is ailing Rodriguez, who has continued to test negative for an active infection. Roenicke says the club is taking the measure to ensure that Rodriguez clears out any nagging issues relating to the disease.
Thankfully, it seems there’s ample confidence that Rodriguez will make a full and rapid recovery. The skipper says that all believe he will be able to resume pitching and make it back to the majors this year. Nevertheless, it’s a sobering reminder that this illness isn’t necessarily a non-event, even for otherwise exceptionally healthy young athletes.