NL Notes: Giants, Hendricks, Lewis
Giants manager Gabe Kapler recently discussed the club’s current catching situation following San Francisco’s signing of Gary Sanchez on a minor league deal, telling reporters (including Maria Guardado of MLB.com) that the club views the Sanchez signing as “a good opportunity for us to add some depth on a guy that we feel like has a chance to make a contribution at the Major League level at some point.”
If Sanchez is going to contribute to the major league Giants this season, it will likely come before May 1, when he will have the opportunity to opt out of his deal with the club if he hasn’t already been added to the team’s active roster. Still, that outcome certainly seems to be within the realm of possibility. Though the Giants opened the season with three catchers on their roster, the Giants have previously indicated that their current catching situation may not stick deep into the season.
Rule 5 pick Blake Sabol‘s positional versatility will hold less value when outfielders Austin Slater and Mitch Haniger are ready to return from the injured list. Meanwhile Joey Bart, who the Giants selected with the second overall pick of the 2018 draft, has struggled all throughout his MLB career to this point. He’s posted a wRC+ of just 84 in 133 big league games, with a whopping 38% strikeout rate. Kapler noted Bart could still be significant part of the club’s future in spite of his past struggles saying “it’s absolutely the best outcome” if the 26 year-old is able to establish himself as the Giants’ everyday catcher going forward. However, with Bart dealing with back tightness to open the season and the club’s fluid catching situation, it’s an open question whether or not he’ll be able to do that early in this season.
All that potentially opens the door for Sanchez, a bat-first catcher who Kapler notes has been improving on defense in recent years and could complement the glove-first Roberto Perez nicely in a potential catching tandem, should the Giants indeed shift to a roster that features only two catchers later this season.
More from around the National League…
- The Cubs are continuing to take Kyle Hendricks‘s rehab slowly, as noted by Patrick Mooney of The Athletic. Hendricks, who is suffering from a capsular tear in his throwing shoulder, threw a bullpen session on Friday, but will take a brief recovery period before his next two bullpen sessions. Following those sessions, Hendricks will advance to live batting practice. Hendricks was among the more effective starters in the game for the first seven seasons of his career, posting a 3.12 ERA and 3.53 FIP in 1,047 1/3 innings of work 2014-2020 while earning votes for the NL Cy Young award in both 2016 and 2020. Since the start of the 2021 season, however, Hendricks struggled to a 4.78 ERA (87 ERA+) in 265 1/3 innings before being shut down midway through the 2022 season. Fortunately for Chicago, the club has plenty of starting options even without Hendricks, with Adrian Sampson serving as depth behind the starting five of Marcus Stroman, Justin Steele, Jameson Taillon, Drew Smyly, and rookie Hayden Wesneski.
- Diamondbacks slugger Kyle Lewis is feeling good as he attempts to compete in a full 162 game season for the first time in his career. Lewis, the AL Rookie of the Year during the shortened 2020 season, has struggled badly with injuries (including a torn meniscus and a concussion) in each of the past two seasons, prompting his trade to the Diamondbacks from the Mariners. Arizona has planned to use Lewis carefully to open the season, opting to play him at DH against left-handed starters and as a pinch-hitter rather than use him everyday or give him reps in the outfield. That said, Lewis is hoping for an expanded role in the near future. The slugger told reporters, including Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic, that he should be able to play “almost every day”, should the club want him to. Lewis is currently competing for at-bats in the Dbacks outfield with Corbin Carroll, Alek Thomas, Jake McCarthy and Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
Diamondbacks Acquire Anthony Misiewicz
The Diamondbacks have acquired left-hander Anthony Misiewicz from the Cardinals, per announcements from both clubs. The D’Backs will send cash considerations to St. Louis in exchange. To open a spot on their roster, Arizona transferred right-hander Corbin Martin to the 60-day injured list.
Misiewicz, 28, has pitched in the past three big league seasons, mostly with the Mariners but also with the Royals. In 103 2/3 innings, he has a career 4.43 ERA, striking out 23.9% of batters faced, walking 7% and getting grounders at a 38.6% clip. The Royals designated him for assignment when they re-signed Zack Greinke in February, then flipped Misiewicz across Missouri for cash.
The southpaw had a decent spring, allowing two earned runs in seven innings, striking out eight batters against one walk. However, he got squeezed off the roster by a couple of factors. One is that prospect Jordan Walker‘s meteoric rise led to him needing an Opening Day roster spot. Second, the Cards had a bunch of lefty relief options on the roster in Zack Thompson, Packy Naughton, Génesis Cabrera and JoJo Romero. When the time came to add Walker to the roster, it seems Misiewicz was considered the most expendable and was designated for assignment earlier this week.
He’ll now head to the Diamondbacks, though he may not be ticketed for the active roster since he still has a couple of options. The club currently has Andrew Chafin and Kyle Nelson as their left-handed relief options in the big leagues. Misiewicz could make it three but they could also send him to Triple-A to serve as depth until needed. Misiewicz has between two and three years of MLB service time and can be controlled via arbitration through the 2026 season, though optional assignments could push that back.
In order to open up a spot for Misiewicz, Martin has been moved to the 60-day IL. That move doesn’t come as a surprise since he recently underwent lat tendon surgery and will likely miss the entire 2023 season.
Joe Mantiply To Open Season On Injured List
The Diamondbacks will be without top reliever Joe Mantiply start the season. Manager Torey Lovullo told reporters the southpaw will open the year on the 15-day injured list as he battles shoulder fatigue (via Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic). Arizona will carry Kyle Nelson on the active roster in his place.
Mantiply had a breakout 2022 campaign. The southpaw threw a career-high 60 innings over 69 appearances, posting a 2.85 ERA. Mantiply racked up grounders at an excellent 53.5% clip while punching out more than a quarter of batters faced. Perhaps most impressively, he kept his walks to a microscopic 2.5% rate, the second-lowest mark among relievers around the league.
That secured Mantiply his first All-Star nod and pushed him into high-leverage innings. The Snakes set out to deepen their bullpen this offseason with additions of Miguel Castro, Scott McGough and Cole Sulser. They’ve already lost Mark Melancon and Corbin Martin for extended stretches this spring, and now they’ll be down arguably their top reliever headed into the year. The team hasn’t provided much clarity on Mantiply’s return date.
To backfill the bullpen, the D-Backs are turning to a few less proven arms. Right-hander Drey Jameson is moving to relief, the club announced over the weekend (relayed by Steve Gilbert of MLB.com). Ryne Nelson secured the fifth starter role and Arizona elected to carry Jameson out of the big league bullpen rather than send him back to Triple-A Reno. Jameson impressed over his first four MLB starts last season but has long faced questions from evaluators about whether he can hold up as a starter, due both to a rather slight frame and some inconsistency in his control.
Meanwhile, 23-year-old righty Carlos Vargas will get a season-opening bullpen job (as first reported by Eno Sarris of the Athletic). He’s already on the 40-man roster but hadn’t previously gotten a big league call. Arizona acquired Vargas from the Guardians back in November.
The Dominican Republic native split the 2022 season between Cleveland’s top two affiliates, combining for a 3.67 ERA with a decent 24.7% strikeout rate but an alarming 11.3% walk percentage across 34 1/3 innings. He managed a 13:4 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 10 1/3 frames of three-run ball while averaging north of 100 MPH with his fastball this spring. He’s a volatile but possible high-upside arm for Lovullo to call upon in the middle innings.
NL West Notes: Gonsolin, Profar, Senzatela, Cron, Cobb, D’backs
Tony Gonsolin suffered an ankle sprain earlier this month, and the injury is already set to place the right-hander on the 15-day injured list to begin the season. The Dodgers have yet to share a more specific recovery timeline for Gonsolin, but The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya writes that late April probably represents the earliest we could see Gonsolin make his 2023 debut. On Friday, Gonsolin did some mound work for the first time since his ankle injury.
Losing a pitcher of Gonsolin’s caliber for at least a month isn’t news for the Dodgers, but the team is better equipped than most to withstand such a significant loss to the rotation. Los Angeles had a pair of promising young arms competing for the right to be Gonsolin’s replacement, with Ryan Pepiot getting the nod over Michael Grove. Pepiot will get a chance to build on the 36 1/3 innings he threw in his MLB debut season, and establish himself as the team’s top depth option in the event of future injuries.
More from around the NL West…
- Jurickson Profar finally left the free agent market when he signed with the Rockies last week, but the outfielder has yet to actually join his new club due to visa issues, manager Bud Black told The Denver Gazette’s Danielle Allentuck and other reporters. Profar is still in his native Curacao and slated to visit the consulate on Monday, with the hopes of being able to join the Rox in time for Opening Day. It is possible Profar might still need some ramp-up time during extended Spring Training given that he only recently signed, but Profar is at least in game shape, after playing with the Netherlands during the World Baseball Classic.
- Sticking with the Rockies, Antonio Senzatela‘s recovery from ACL surgery hit another key checkpoint yesterday, when the righty faced hitters for the first time. Senzatela is expected to return to the Rockies sometime in May, and he told MLB.com’s Thomas Harding that after yesterday’s 20-pitch session, “I feel like I’m getting closer…My knee is feeling good, everything is feeling good.” In more immediate injury news, Black told Harding and other reporters that C.J. Cron could return to the lineup as soon as today, as the first baseman has missed the last 10 days due to back spasms.
- Alex Cobb has been slowed by a knee contusion suffered after Miguel Vargas lined a ball off the Giants right-hander’s knee on March 11. Cobb told Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle that the swelling has now also moved up into Cobb’s hamstring area, but the veteran righty got through a bullpen session with no issue yesterday. Barring any setback, Cobb is still penciled in to start against the Yankees on April 1, with a simulated game planned as his last ramp-up outing prior to the regular season.
- From injury updates to roster battles, as the Diamondbacks still have to identify their fifth starter and the final two spots in their bullpen. The two battles are somewhat intertwined, as Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic writes that with Ryne Nelson and Drey Jameson competing for the final rotation job, whomever isn’t used as a starter could take one of the two bullpen roles. Carlos Vargas, Peter Solomon, and Ryan Hendrix are also competing for spots in the relief corps. [UPDATE: Nelson has been named the fifth starter and Jameson will take one of the bullpen jobs, Piecoro tweets. Solomon is out of the running for a relief role, as the D’Backs reassigned him to their minor league camp.]
D-backs To Release Jeurys Familia
The Diamondbacks are set to release veteran reliever Jeurys Familia, reports Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic (Twitter link). Familia is one of a few dozen veterans with an opt-out in his contract tomorrow but had been informed by the club that he would not make the Opening Day roster. They’ll cut him loose a day early and give him some extra time to latch on with a new organization.
Familia, 33, had a strong spring showing with Arizona, pitching six innings of one-run ball with just three hits and one walk against four strikeouts. Those sharp results apparently weren’t enough to sway the Snakes into putting him on the Opening Day roster, so he’ll instead return to the free-agent market in search of an opportunity with another club in need of some bullpen help.
Solid as Familia was this spring, he’s coming off the worst season of his career. In 44 1/3 innings between the Phillies and Red Sox, Familia was tagged for an ugly 6.09 ERA. His 20.1% strikeout rate was the second-lowest mark he’s posted in a full season, as was his 10.7% swinging-strike rate. Familia’s 10.8% walk rate was well north of the league average, and his 95.6 mph average fastball velocity was a personal-low for the former Mets closer.
Familia did have a nice season as recently as 2021 (3.94 ERA, 27.5% strikeout rate, 10.2% walk rate in 59 1/3 innings), and his broader track record at the MLB level is impressive overall. The 2016 All-Star boasts a 3.51 ERA, 125 saves, 70 holds and a 24.4% strikeout rate in 543 big league frames.
Carson Kelly Diagnosed With Fractured Forearm
Diamondbacks catcher Carson Kelly has a right fractured forearm, manager Torey Lovullo tells Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic. The backstop had left yesterday’s game after being hit by a pitch. Lovullo did not provide an estimated timeline for Kelly’s recovery, but he will be facing a significant absence.
Kelly, 28, came over from the Cardinals as part of the December 2018 Paul Goldschmidt trade and has been the club’s primary backstop for the past four seasons. While his defense and framing have generally been solid in that time, his offense has run hot and cold from year to year. In both 2019 and 2021, he posted double-digit home run totals and walked in more than 12% of his trips to the plate. His wRC+ was 107 in 2019 and 103 in 2021, indicating he was a bit above average in each season. Since catchers tend to hit a bit less than other players, that’s decent production.
But he struggled both in the shortened 2020 season and in 2022. Last year, he hit just seven home runs in 354 plate appearances and walked 8.2% of the time, leading to a batting line of .211/.282/.334. His 73 wRC+ indicates that he was 27% below league average at the plate for the year.
Kelly still has a couple of years of arbitration control remaining, but general manager Mike Hazen indicated in October that the club could look to upgrade behind the plate. That eventually came to pass a couple of months later when they acquired prospect Gabriel Moreno and outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. from the Blue Jays, sending Daulton Varsho the other way. Moreno is considered one of the top prospects in the league but has just 25 games of major league experience under his belt. Kelly was still likely to see significant action, splitting the catching duties with Moreno as the youngster got acclimated to his new club, but that won’t be the case for the next little while.
It seems then that Moreno, 23, could be ticketed for a larger role in the majors. As mentioned, he got a brief taste of the big leagues with the Jays last year, hitting .319/.356/.377 in his first 73 plate appearances. Despite the limited track record, there are reasons to feel good about Moreno going forward. He’s never hit for much power or drawn many walks in the minors, but he’s very difficult to strike out and always runs high batting averages. His defense is also well regarded, leading to him currently being considered the #12 prospect in the league at Baseball America.
The only other catcher on the club’s 40-man roster is José Herrera. The 26-year-old has shown some promise in the minors but has far less prospect pedigree than Moreno. He’s hit .277/.377/.426 in 120 games between Double-A and Triple-A over the past two years. However, his 47-game MLB debut last year resulted in a showing of just .189/.250/.207.
Kelly wasn’t likely to be the most integral member of the Diamondbacks’ roster, but his injury does put them in a bit of a precarious position. Moreno is an exciting young player but he’s inexperienced and new to the organization, presumably still getting familiar with the pitching staff. Herrera, meanwhile, is more of a depth option who could be pushed up to the big league squad. The club has struggled in recent seasons but has been pegged as a potential dark horse contender this year given their slate of current prospects and recent graduates, including Moreno, Corbin Carroll, Alek Thomas, Ryne Nelson, Drey Jameson and Brandon Pfaadt. Their catching depth behind the plate has now taken a hit, though there’s also a clear path forward now for Moreno to have a breakout.
The D’Backs have some depth options on hand via minor league deals, including P.J. Higgins, Ali Sánchez and Juan Centeno. Those players will all presumably move up one rung on the depth chart for now. If the club feels they need to add to that group, it’s possible that some players will get cut from other teams as final roster decisions are made in the coming days.
Latest On D-Backs’ Rotation
The Diamondbacks entered Spring Training with four rotation spots in place. Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly are the top two on the staff. Madison Bumgarner will get another crack in the middle, while Arizona brought back Zach Davies on a one-year free agent deal to take a back-end spot.
Who would secure the fifth spot was one of the more interesting decisions for the Snakes in camp. As MLBTR’s Darragh McDonald explored in early January, that battle looked likely to come down to four hurlers: Ryne Nelson, Drey Jameson, Tommy Henry and Brandon Pfaadt. Jameson and Nelson, both of whom made their big league debuts late in the 2022 season, seemed the early favorites.
That indeed now appears to be a two-person race. Arizona reassigned Pfaadt, who is not yet on the 40-man roster, to minor league camp over the weekend. They optioned Henry to Triple-A Reno this afternoon, taking him out of consideration for an Opening Day job as well.
Neither Jameson nor Nelson has done much to seize the job this spring. The former has allowed eight runs in 9 2/3 innings, while the latter has been tagged for nine runs in the same amount of work. Jameson has at least managed a solid 12:3 strikeout-to-walk ratio, while Nelson’s 10:6 mark is less impressive.
Both pitchers fared well in very limited MLB looks last year. Jameson made four starts and posted a microscopic 1.48 ERA through 24 1/3 innings. That came with an excellent 56.1% grounder percentage and above-average strikeout and walk numbers. It was a very strong debut effort but won’t completely erase concerns about the ghastly 6.95 ERA he’d posted over the 114 Triple-A innings he’d thrown prior to his promotion. Reno is among the hardest places in affiliated ball to pitch, which certainly didn’t do him any favors. That said, some prospect evaluators have suggested the Ball State product is likelier to settle into a bullpen role than a rotation because of concerns about his command.
Nelson has had some relief concerns himself, though he’s generally credited for more advanced command than Jameson. He doesn’t throw quite as hard and didn’t miss as many bats in his brief big league look as Jameson did. Nelson had similarly strong bottom line numbers in a cup of coffee, however, allowing four runs in 18 1/3 big league frames. Over 136 innings in Reno, he’d posted a 5.43 ERA with roughly average strikeout and walk numbers.
Henry had the most MLB work of this group in 2022, starting nine games. He didn’t find the early success of Jameson or Nelson, pitching to a 5.36 ERA with below-average strikeout and walk rates in 47 innings. Henry allowed 11 runs in 16 1/3 frames in camp before being optioned. Pfaadt is arguably held in the highest regard of the bunch but is the only one who hasn’t made his big league debut. The 24-year-old made 19 starts at Double-A Amarillo and 10 with Reno last season, combining for a 3.83 ERA in 167 innings. He allowed five runs with 15 strikeouts and four walks in 12 innings this spring.
Diamondbacks’ Corbin Martin To Undergo Lat Tendon Surgery, Likely To Miss 2023 Season
TODAY: Martin has chosen to undergo surgery to repair his lat tendon, Lovullo told Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic and other reporters. It is “doubtful” that Martin will be able to return before the end of the 2023 season, Lovullo said.
MARCH 18: Corbin Martin left Wednesday’s game due to injury, as the Diamondbacks right-hander was brought to his knees in obvious pain after throwing a pitch. Martin has been diagnosed with a tear in the lat tendon under his right shoulder, and though manager Torey Lovullo said that Martin is exploring a second opinion on the injury, “we’re talking months instead of weeks” before the righty can return to action.
“We’re going to get that second opinion but no matter what, we feel like it’s going to be a long road to recovery and he’ll get back out there as soon as possible,” Lovullo said during an appearance on the Burns & Gambo radio show.
Even if Martin is able to avoid a surgery, the lat tear represents another tough setback for the 27-year-old. Martin missed most of the 2019 season and all of the 2020 season recovering from Tommy John surgery, and an oblique strain prevented him from even a cameo appearance near the end of the abbreviated 2020 campaign. Martin has hit the injured list in each of the last two seasons while also being shuttled back and forth between Arizona’s roster and Triple-A Reno.
With only a 6.71 ERA to show for 57 2/3 career innings in the majors, Martin has yet to really get on track as a big leaguer. The Astros took Martin in the second round of the 2017 draft and the righty even drew some top-100 prospect attention prior to the 2019 season. His stock was high enough that even after the Tommy John surgery, Martin was still sought after by the D’Backs as part of the four-player package for Zack Greinke at the 2019 trade deadline. This spring, the D’Backs were using Martin in a new bullpen role in an attempt to help keep him healthy.
Between Martin’s lat tear and Mark Melancon‘s shoulder strain, Arizona is suddenly facing two long-term injury absences and two holes to fill in the bullpen. The Diamondbacks have a long list of experienced relievers in camp on minor league contracts, and of that group, Jeurys Familia look to be the favorite to win a job on the Opening Day roster. Familia has looked sharp in posting a 1.59 ERA over 5 2/3 innings in Cactus League play, and he would receive a guaranteed $1.5MM salary if he did crack the D’Backs roster at any point during the season.
Mark Melancon Expected To Miss Multiple Months With Shoulder Strain
The D-Backs announced on Wednesday that veteran reliever Mark Melancon would miss the start of the season after experiencing shoulder discomfort. Manager Torey Lovullo provided a disheartening update on Thursday afternoon. The four-time All-Star will receive a platelet-rich plasma injection to address a subscapularis strain, an injury the skipper said will be measured in “months, not weeks” (link via Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic).
Signed to a two-year, $14MM free agent contract over the 2021-22 offseason, Melancon had a rough first season in the desert. The righty posted a 4.66 ERA through 56 innings. It was his worst run prevention mark in a decade, while his 14.2% strikeout rate was his lowest since his abbreviated rookie season in 2009. His 44.1% grounder percentage was the worst of his career. The D-Backs pulled Melancon from the closing role towards the tail end of the season.
His hope for a bounceback showing has been set back out of the gate. There’s some hope the PRP injection can get him back on track eventually but it now seems that’s a midseason goal. Given the stated timeline, the 14-year MLB veteran figures to wind up on the 60-day injured list whenever the club needs a 40-man roster spot.
Melancon isn’t the only Arizona reliever dealing with a concerning shoulder issue. Right-hander Corbin Martin left last night’s Spring Training contest with an injury. Lovullo told reporters the 27-year-old was going for imaging on Thursday (relayed by Steve Gilbert of MLB.com). The club won’t know a timetable for Martin’s return until there’s more clarity on the diagnosis, yet it’s an obviously unfortunate situation for a pitcher still looking to establish himself at the MLB level.
A former second-round pick of the Astros, Martin reached the majors with Houston two years after being drafted. He made five starts and had been optioned back to Triple-A when he required Tommy John surgery in July 2019. Within a few weeks, Houston dealt him as one of four players in the deadline blockbuster to acquire Zack Greinke. A top 100 caliber prospect at the time, Martin was arguably the headliner of a package that included former first-rounders J.B. Bukauskas and Seth Beer, as well as infielder Josh Rojas (who has been the most successful of the bunch to this point).
Martin hasn’t established himself in the wake of that surgery, bouncing on and off the active roster for the past couple seasons. He allowed a 4.84 ERA in 22 1/3 MLB innings last season and was hit hard for a 6.08 ERA over 17 Triple-A starts. This spring, the D-Backs moved him to relief in an effort to get him on track. He’d gotten off to a nice start this spring, striking out nine with only a pair of walks in 5 2/3 frames before the injury.
Mark Melancon Likely To Miss Start Of Season Due To Shoulder Strain
March 16: Manager Torey Lovullo today told Steve Gilbert of MLB.com that Melancon subscapularis strain in his right shoulder. He is getting a PRP injection and will indeed start the year on the injured list.
March 15: The Diamondbacks expect to be without veteran reliever Mark Melancon to open the season because of a shoulder injury, general manager Mike Hazen said this evening (relayed by Steve Gilbert of MLB.com). The issue’s severity isn’t clear but apparently will send him to the injured list at the start of the year.
It’s an unfortunate beginning to the four-time All-Star’s hope for a bounceback season. Melancon had a tough opening campaign in the desert. Signed to a two-year free agent deal over the 2021-22 offseason, the righty posted a 4.66 ERA through 56 innings. It was his worst run prevention mark in a decade, while his 14.2% strikeout rate was his lowest since his abbreviated rookie season in 2009. His 44.1% grounder percentage was the worst of his career. The D-Backs pulled Melancon from the closing role towards the tail end of the season.
Rough 2022 campaign aside, Melancon’s track record offered some hope he could improve his results this year. He’d allowed fewer than four earned runs per nine innings in each of the previous four seasons, including consecutive sub-3.00 showings in 2020-21. Melancon doesn’t sport the high-octane, overpowering arsenal of most elite relievers. Yet he’d consistently been successful keeping runs off the board for over a decade on the strength of pristine control and strong ground-ball numbers.
The Diamondbacks made a handful of additions to their bullpen over the winter. Miguel Castro, Scott McGough and Andrew Chafin all came aboard on low-cost free agent deals. Arizona also nabbed Cole Sulser off waivers from Miami. That group and in-house options like Kevin Ginkel and Joe Mantiply give skipper Torey Lovullo a little more flexibility in the late innings than he’s had in recent seasons.
Lovullo had already suggested he was prepared to take a closer by committee approach early in the year. Melancon, who has saved 262 MLB games in his career, could factor into that mix at some point. He’ll now first have to get healthy, with little public clarity about his overall recovery timeline.