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Injured List Placements: Flores, Anderson, Martin

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The latest on some notable players heading to the 10-day injured list…

  • The Giants have placed Wilmer Flores on the 10-day injured list due to a left hamstring strain, as Mauricio Dubon was called up from Triple-A in the corresponding move.  Flores had a 10-day minimum absence due to a strain in his other hamstring in May, and Giants manager Gabe Kapler told reporters (including Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle) that the infielder “has been wrestling with hamstring issues for most of the season,” and he will now miss “a couple of weeks” with his latest injury.  Flores has hit .249/.319/.438 with 17 home runs over 389 plate appearances this season, and the known lefty-masher has had uncharacteristically even splits against both left-handed and right-handed pitching.  San Francisco’s infield depth will be tested yet again, as Flores joins Donovan Solano and Evan Longoria on the IL, and Tommy La Stella is day-to-day with tightness in his side.
  • The Brewers placed Brett Anderson on the 10-day IL due to a left shoulder contusion.  Anderson departed last night’s start after two innings after being hit in the shoulder by a Brandon Crawford line drive, though it appears as though the left-hander didn’t suffer any structural damage.  This is Anderson’s third IL visit of the season, after two relatively brief absences due to a right knee contusion and a right hamstring strain.  Through 88 1/3 innings this season, Anderson has a 4.18 ERA on the strength of a 59.5% grounder rate and an above-average 6.9% walk rate, despite a lot of blue ink on his Statcast numbers.  Milwaukee at least has a ready-made replacement for Anderson, as Freddy Peralta is expected to be activated from the injured list to start tomorrow’s game against the Cardinals
  • The Braves placed right-hander Chris Martin on the 10-day IL due to inflammation in his throwing elbow.  Southpaw Sean Newcomb was recalled from Triple-A to take Martin’s spot on the active roster.  In a season already shortened by a month-long injured list trip due to right shoulder inflammation, Martin has a 4.17 ERA over 36 2/3 innings out of Atlanta’s bullpen.  That ERA has been inflated by four runs allowed over his last four appearances, which could be due to this elbow issue.  For the season as a whole, however, Martin’s strikeout and hard-hit ball rates are each considerably down from his 2020 statistics.

Brewers Outright Derek Fisher

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JUNE 28: Fisher has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Nashville, the team announced. The 27-year-old doesn’t have the requisite service time to reject an outright assignment. He’ll remain in the organization as non-roster depth and attempt to play his way back onto the MLB team before the end of the season.

JUNE 22: The Brewers announced a series of roster moves before tonight’s game against the Diamondbacks, the most notable of which is the designation of outfielder Derek Fisher. Outfielder Tyrone Taylor was activated from the 10-day injured list, while right-hander Ryan Weber was recalled from Triple-A Nashville. The club selected the contract of righty Miguel Sánchez, placed starter Brett Anderson on the 10-day IL with a right knee contusion and optioned reliever Hoby Milner to Nashville.

Fisher, a supplemental first-round pick by the Astros back in 2014, emerged as one of the more well-regarded position player prospects in the organization. The left-handed hitter long drew praise for his combination of raw power and speed, but there were always lingering questions about his hit tool. Indeed, Fisher has been undone by a lofty 35.4% strikeout rate to this point in his MLB career, contributing to a .195/.285/.378 line over 466 plate appearances at the highest level.

Given his obvious physical gifts, Fisher could draw interest from another club via small trade or waiver claim. The 27-year-old is out of minor league option years, though, so any acquiring club would have to keep him on their active roster or again expose him to DFA limbo.

Sánchez, also 27, is now in line to make his MLB debut. A pure reliever, he didn’t appear in affiliated ball until he was 22 years old, but he’s performed fairly well over parts of five seasons in the Milwaukee system. Sánchez has a 3.95 ERA across 84 1/3 innings over parts of three seasons at Triple-A, striking out a decent 24.2% of opposing hitters while walking 9.4%.

Daniel Vogelbach Out At Least Six Weeks

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June 25: Vogelbach will be out for “at least” six weeks, manager Craig Counsell announced to reporters Friday (Twitter link via Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel). The manager added that lefty Brett Anderson is expected to miss 10 to 14 days with the bone bruise in his knee that recently landed him on the IL.

June 23:  The Brewers announced Wednesday that they’ve placed first baseman Daniel Vogelbach on the 10-day injured list due to a left hamstring strain and recalled infielder Keston Hiura from Triple-A Nashville.

It’s not yet clear how long Vogelbach will be expected to miss, although manager Craig Counsell foreshadowed an absence of some note last night when calling it a “significant” strain and noting that Vogelbach would require an MRI (video link via Bally Sports Wisconsin). GM Matt Arnold tells reporters that the team is evaluating not only Vogelbach’s hamstring but also his left knee (Twitter link via Adam McCalvy of MLB.com).

Vogelbach sustained the injury on one of the more bizarre plays you’ll see this season. The slugger came up lame as he rounded third base but somehow managed to limp home to score anyway when the D-backs inexplicably failed to throw to the plate on a play where Vogelbach should’ve been out by some 30 to 40 feet.

While Vogelbach’s overall .216/.323/.386 slash isn’t particularly impressive, he’s been much better of late, swatting four homers and four doubles with an .816 OPS since the calendar flipped to June. Beyond that, Milwaukee first baseman have persistently struggled in 2021, so getting any production from the position in recent weeks has been a nice change of pace.

Hiura, who returns for a third stint with the Brewers this season, has played no small part in the team’s collective struggles at first base. The former first-round pick and top prospect slid over to first when Milwuakee inked Kolten Wong to a two-year deal this winter, but the offensive form that made him such a sensation as a rookie in 2019 has been nowhere to be seen. Hiura always seemed primed for some degree of regression, as his 2019 breakout was buoyed by a .402 average on balls in play, but few could’ve predicted struggles of this magnitude.

So far in 122 plate appearances, the 24-year-old has mustered only a .130/.217/.222 slash. His luck on balls in play has swung completely in the opposite direction of 2019, as he’s been plagued by a .220 BABIP in that small sample. However, Hiura’s anemic stat line is far from a matter of a poor fortune. He punched out at a 30.7 percent clip during his rookie campaign but has seen that number skyrocket to 39.3 percent so far in 2021, and his rate of hard-hit balls has dropped by nine percent as well. It’s perhaps encouraging that Hiura has maintained a 23.3 percent line-drive rate, but he’s hitting far more lazy flies than he did at his best — and the huge uptick in strikeouts is obviously glaring.

Hiura absolutely destroyed Triple-A pitching when he was first sent down to the minors this year, hitting at a .438/.526/.906 clip with three home runs and six doubles in 38 plate appearances. But he also punched out 13 times, and when he returned to the Majors on the heels of that strong Nashville showing, he looked more lost than ever. From May 24 through June 6, Hiura went 2-for-29 and struck out in 16 of 33 plate appearances. The Brewers demoted him back to Nashville.

Hiura has punished Triple-A pitchers in similar fashion since being sent back to Nashville a second time this year, albeit with one key difference. His .375/.490/.575 slash in his latest 11-game stint is nearly as impressive as his first Triple-A run, but this time around he’s showing considerably more discipline. Hiura has drawn nine walks in 51 plate appearances and struck out as many times in 51 plate appearances as he did in 38 plate appearances during his first minor league run this year (13).

It’s obviously a tiny sample from which to glean much, but the dip from a 34 percent strikeout rate to a 25 percent clip is encouraging, as is the increase from a 10.5 percent walk rate to a 17.6 percent mark. At the very least, it would seem to indicate that Hiura has made conscious strides to work on his plate discipline.

He’ll now have a chance to carry that potential change in approach over to the big league level. With Vogelbach on the shelf, Hiura ought to receive the bulk of the playing time at first base, securing one final audition before the Brewers make tougher calls with the trade deadline on the horizon. Ideally, a version of Hiura at least approximating his 2019 output would take the reins at first base and run with the job. But with Milwaukee first baseman combining for just a .197/.295/.343 batting line so far in 2021, it stands to reason that the Brew Crew will look outside the organization if Hiura can’t pick up the slack in his third go-around of the season with the MLB club.

NL Central Notes: Moran, Brewers, Baez, CarMar

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Colin Moran left in the first inning of today’s 3-2 Pirates loss to the Cubs, as Moran experienced some left groin discomfort while making a play at first base.  Moran snagged a line drive and then dove at the bag in an attempt to double Willson Contreras off of first base.  Moran is officially day-to-day, and an injured-list placement would cost the Pirates their top offensive performer of the last two seasons.

Moran is hitting .297/.352/.468 with four home runs thus far in 2021.  Given the forgettable state of his hard-hit ball numbers, it’s safe to say Moran has benefited greatly from his .392 BABIP, though he has been an above-average hitter (103 wRC+, 104 OPS+) since coming to Pittsburgh prior to the 2018 season.  Moran has seen almost all of the action at first base this season, and Todd Frazier is probably the likeliest candidate to fill in should Moran indeed require an IL stint.

More from the NL Central…

  • The Brewers have been hit hard by injuries this season but they’re finally starting to get some better health news.  Catcher Manny Pina (left toe fracture) returned to the lineup today after being sidelined since April 27, while southpaw Brett Anderson (right hamstring strain) is expected to start on Sunday for his first action since April 23.  Manager Craig Counsell also told MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince and other reporters that Corbin Burnes will throw a bullpen session on Monday and in all likelihood return to the rotation during the Brewers’ upcoming homestand against the Cardinals and Braves.  Burnes was placed on the IL for unspecified reasons on April 29 but the ace looks to make a fairly quick resumption of a possible Cy Young Award-caliber season.  Over 29 1/3 innings, Burnes has a 1.53 ERA and 49 strikeouts, and he has yet to issue a walk.
  • Javier Baez also left today’s Pirates/Cubs game in the seventh inning due to lower back tightness, though it was a “precautionary” removal, as Cubs manager David Ross told NBC Sports Chicago’s Tim Stebbins and other reporters.  “I saw him moving a little bit stiff out there…He just wasn’t moving well, and it doesn’t make sense to push him there,” Ross said.  Baez reported some improvement with his back even after the game ended, though since the Cubs aren’t playing on Monday, it wouldn’t be surprising if Baez is rested on Sunday to give him some extra recovery time.
  • The Cardinals recorded a 9-8 victory over the Rockies today, despite a very shaky outing from Carlos Martinez that saw the starter allow five runs on six hits and five walks over five innings pitched.  After the game, Martinez told Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat (all Twitter links) and other reporters that he was pitching on a twisted ankle.  Manager Mike Shildt said trainers tested Martinez prior to the game and gave him the green light to make the start, and Martinez believes he’ll be ready for his next scheduled start.  The injury occurred during Friday’s game, Martinez said, as he hurt his ankle while standing on the dugout steps to high-five Jack Flaherty after Flaherty hit a home run.

Brewers Place Brett Anderson, Josh Lindblom On 10-Day IL

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The Brewers announced that left-hander Brett Anderson (strained right hamstring) and right-hander Josh Lindblom (right knee effusion) have been on the 10-day injured list.  Right-hander Phil Bickford and outfielder Corey Ray were called up from the alternate training site to fill the spots on the active roster, and Ray is now in line to make his Major League debut.

Anderson threw only 11 pitches Friday before being removed from his start against the Cubs, resulting in an unexpected bullpen game for Milwaukee and a 15-2 loss.  Lindblom was the next pitcher in to replace Anderson, and the two hurlers combined to allow 11 earned runs over four innings of work.

With Anderson out of action, the Brewers could lean on their bullpen to cover his next start or two, or turn to one of multiple starters working at the team’s alternate site.  Jordan Zimmermann, Zack Godley, and Eric Lauer are all candidates, with Patrick Weigel perhaps the top option among the more inexperienced candidates (Weigel has only two-thirds of an inning as a big leaguer).

Ray was the fifth overall pick of the 2016 draft, and he is getting his first taste of the majors at age 26.  As a pro, Ray has shown only flashes of the potential he showed at the University of Louisville, battling injuries and hitting .235/.311/.406 over 1665 plate appearances in the Milwaukee farm system.  MLB Pipeline still ranks Ray 24th among all Brewers prospects, noting the plus speed and plus glovework and throwing arm that make him a viable center fielder, but Ray’s hitting ability is has been held back by a lot of strikeouts.  Given that the Brewers are dealing with several outfield injuries, Ray should get a pretty immediate opportunity for playing time.

NL Central Notes: Cardinals, Yelich, Anderson, Hayes

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Facing a run of 17 games in 17 days, the Cardinals will move to a six-man rotation for the time being, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. Young righty Johan Oviedo will make at least a pair of starts to afford the remainder of the Cardinals’ rotation five days of rest between outings. Pitching coach Mike Maddux says the team is focused on “keeping guys fresher for September and we hope October” with a shift to a larger starting staff. Right-hander Miles Mikolas, who has yet to pitch this season due to shoulder troubles (after missing the 2020 season because of flexor tendon surgery), is still a few weeks away from being a viable rotation option, per Goold. As such, the Cards will rely on Jack Flaherty, Adam Wainwright, Kwang Hyun Kim, John Gant, Carlos Martinez and Oviedo to make starts for the foreseeable future.

A few more notes from the division…

  • Brewers star Christian Yelich won’t be activated from the injured list when he is first eligible Saturday, manager Craig Counsell tells reporters (Twitter link via Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel). Counsell didn’t offer a potential return date for Yelich, who hasn’t played since April 11 because of a back ailment. Billy McKinney has been the Brewers’ main left field fill-in since Yelich went down, and though he hasn’t gotten on base much, his .275/.293/.550 line through 41 plate appearances is 25 percent above the league-average mark, according to FanGraphs’ wRC+ metric.
  • McKinney hit his third homer of the season Friday, but the Brewers still took a 15-2 beating at the hands of the division-rival Cubs. The game started inauspiciously for Milwaukee, which saw starter Brett Anderson exit with an injury in the first inning after facing four batters and surrendering three earned runs on three hits. Anderson said after the game that he’s dealing with a hamstring issue and will undergo an MRI, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com tweets. The Brewers will know Saturday whether the 33-year-old southpaw will require an IL stint.
  • Pirates third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes suffered a setback in his left injured wrist earlier this week, but he’s “doing better” now, manager Derek Shelton said (via Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic, on Twitter). Shelton added that the Pirates will know more on Hayes’ status when their road trip ends Sunday. Hayes was a popular NL Rookie of the Year pick entering the season, but he has only played in two games so far, and there’s no clear timetable for his return.

Brewers Re-Sign Brett Anderson

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TODAY: The Brewers officially announced Anderson’s deal.

FEB. 16, 4:38pm: The two sides have a one-year, $2.5MM deal in place, pending a physical, per Jeff Passan of ESPN. Anderson could earn an additional $1MM in incentives.

4:36pm: The Brewers and free-agent left-hander Brett Anderson are “in serious discussions” on a contract, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets. Anderson spent last year with the Brewers.

Now 33 years old, the ever-promising Anderson overcame a spate of injuries earlier in his career to emerge as a solid back-end option over the past couple of seasons. Anderson tossed a career-high 176 innings of 3.89 ERA ball with the Athletics in 2019, and he parlayed that effort into a $5MM guarantee with the Brewers last offseason.

During his first season in Milwaukee, the soft-tossing Anderson turned in 47 innings in 10 starts and logged passable numbers for a No. 4/5 rotation option. He ended the year with a 4.21 ERA/4.40 SIERA and an exemplary 57.7 percent groundball rate. Although Anderson didn’t strike out many hitters (15.8 percent), he somewhat offset that by walking just 5.0 percent of the batters he faced. Anderson’s strikeout and walk numbers essentially lined up with the figures he has put up during a career that began in 2009 and has spanned 1,044 1/3 innings.

If he stays in Milwaukee, Anderson will vie for starts in a rotation set to include Brandon Woodruff and Corbin Burnes at the top. Josh Lindblom, Adrian Houser and Eric Lauer will also compete for jobs, and the Brewers just added another candidate in veteran Jordan Zimmermann on a minor league contract.

Injury Notes: Osuna, Meadows, Brewers

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It’s been nearly two months since Tommy John surgery was initially recommended for Astros closer Roberto Osuna. A couple weeks later, however, Houston skipper Dusty Baker revealed that Osuna was opting for a rest-and-rehab route. Osuna elaborated on the decision to FOX 26’s Mark Berman, revealing that a second opinion offered him a different conclusion: a forearm strain that could benefit from four weeks or so of rest. Osuna shut down from throwing for the recommended four weeks and resumed throwing three weeks ago. He’s optimistic that he’ll be able to avoid surgery based on the way his arm feels and his most recent input from doctors.

Even with a deep postseason run for Houston, it’s hard to imagine a scenario where he builds up to the point of being able to pitch in 2020. And given that he’s eligible for a raise on this year’s $10MM salary in arbitration before becoming a free agent next winter, he doesn’t appear to be a lock to be tendered a contract. Even if he were to simply repeat this year’s salary, that’d be a rather sizable gamble to take on a reliever who is just months removed from a Tommy John recommendation.

A couple more injury notes from around the game…

  • The Rays have been without Austin Meadows since Sept. 17 due to an oblique strain, but Tampa Bay general manager Erik Neander tells reporters that it’s possible Meadows will be able to rejoin the club for its upcoming ALDS date against the Yankees (Twitter link via Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times). The 25-year-old Meadows opened the season on the Covid-19 IL after testing positive and experiencing symptoms in July. He didn’t look like himself when on the field, struggling to a .205/.296/.371 slash with a bloated 33 percent strikeout rate in 152 plate appearances. That’s miles away from last year’s .291/.364/.558 slash and 22.2 percent strikeout rate. If Meadows is able to return to that 2019 form, it’d obviously represent a major boost to the Rays in a division series that could pit them against Gerrit Cole twice. With Meadows absent, the Rays’ only left-handed-hitting outfield options have been Kevin Kiermaier and Brett Phillips.
  • Brewers skipper Craig Counsell didn’t give a particularly positive update on Brett Anderson when asked by reporters last night (Twitter link via Adam McCalvy of MLB.com). The veteran lefty, who is not on the Wild Card roster due to a blister, hadn’t improved much since the end of the regular season and was “not close” to being considered for the team’s roster in round one of postseason play. Right-hander Devin Williams, meanwhile, said he believes he’d be able to rejoin the roster in the next round of postseason play, should the Brewers qualify (Twitter link from McCalvy). The breakout changeup artist was left off Milwaukee’s Wild Card roster due to shoulder soreness. Any Brewers injury news could be rendered mostly moot, of course, as they’ll fight for their playoff lives tonight in an elimination showdown with the Dodgers and Clayton Kershaw.

Injury Notes: Martin, Anderson, Castro, Gio

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A year after a Chris Martin oblique injury altered the course of the postseason for the Braves, Martin is now potentially hobbled once again. Atlanta announced yesterday that Martin exited the season finale with a potential groin injury. Manager Brian Snitker said after the game that Martin will be in for treatment today (link via Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution). Snitker said the Braves hoped to get out in front of the issue and hope it to be minor, but for the time being it sounds as though Martin is considered day-to-day. Anything more serious would be a major blow to the Braves’ bullpen, as Martin has been excellent in the first of a two-year, $14MM deal. In 18 frames, the 34-year-old righty allowed just two runs on eight hits with a 20-to-3 K/BB ratio.

A few more health situations to monitor among the game’s 16 playoff clubs…

  • Brett Anderson was forced out of the Brewers’ finale yesterday because of a blister on his left index finger, writes Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. He’d have been in line to start the third game of the Brewers’ Wild Card series, but that availability is now in question. “We’ll figure out how we’re going to line everything up over the next day or so, and we’ll go from there,” was all president of baseball ops David Stearns had to say on the status of the rotation after yesterday’s game, per McCalvy. Anderson, signed to a one-year, $5MM contract over the winter, was a steadying presence in the Milwaukee rotation. He missed time with another blister early on, but his overall 4.21 ERA and 4.38 FIP in 47 frames kept the Brewers in the majority of games he started. Anderson, as always, was a ground-ball machine with terrific control, inducing grounders on 57.7 percent of balls put in play against him and averaging just 1.9 walks per nine innings pitched. He’ll turn 33 this winter, and that performance should ensure that he gets another chance in a rotation somewhere — be it with the Brewers or with another club.
  • Padres catcher Jason Castro took a foul tip the face behind the plate in yesterday’s game and has been diagnosed with a sprained jaw, per The Athletic’s Dennis Lin (Twitter link). The good news for Castro and the Friars is that the 33-year-old passed concussion protocols. The club is optimistic that he’ll be good to go when the Wild Card round begins on Wednesday. Castro’s role with the Padres might not be as large as the team envisioned when acquiring him from the Angels, as the club managed to pry Austin Nola away from the Mariners just a day after picking up Castro. The former Astros, Twins and Angels backstop has had just 30 plate appearances with his new club and batted .179/.233/.357 in the process. But Castro is a very well-regarded receiver with strong framing numbers, good patience at the plate and some pop in his bat. He hit .232/.332/.435 in 275 plate appearances with Minnesota last year.
  • White Sox lefty Gio Gonzalez exited yesterday’s game with soreness in his left shoulder and will be evaluated further today, tweets Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times. Initially signed as a veteran option for the back of the rotation that would allow the Sox to ease their young starters into the mix in 2020, Gonzalez has spent more time in the ’pen than as a starter. His last seven outings have come in relief, and although he has a 2.53 ERA in that time (three runs in 10 2/3 frames), Gonzalez has also issued nine free passes and hit two batters in that stretch. Between that shaky showing and this new bout of shoulder troubles, it’s far from certain that he’ll factor into Chicago’s postseason plans.

Brewers Place Brett Anderson On Injured List

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The Brewers have placed left-hander Brett Anderson on the injured list, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com tweets. Anderson’s dealing with a blister.

Anderson was one of the Brewers’ most important offseason acquisitions of the winter, when they signed him to a one-year, $5MM guarantee, and should play a key role in their rotation when he returns to health. But various injuries have troubled the 32-year-old Anderson since he debuted in the majors with the Athletics in 2009. He remained healthy for the most part last year, though, throwing 176 innings and registering a 3.89 ERA/4.57 FIP in Oakland despite a measly 4.6 K/9. Anderson helped his cause with an above-average 54.5 percent groundball rate and a 2.51 BB/9.

The Anderson IL placement is the latest setback for Milwaukee’s rotation, which will also begin the season without fellow southpaw Eric Lauer. As a result, it’s unclear how their rotation will look when the season starts. Brandon Woodruff, Adrian Houser and Josh Lindblom make for some of the Brewers’ most experienced healthy starting options. They’re in line for starting jobs, while Brent Suter, Corbin Burnes, Freddy Peralta and David Phelps have also opened games in their own right and could fill in thanks to the team’s health issues.

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