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Mets Place Drew Smith On 15-Day Injured List

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Mets manager Carlos Mendoza announced to reporters (including Newsday’s Tim Healey) that right-hander Drew Smith has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to shoulder inflammation.  Outfielder Starling Marte has also been placed on the bereavement list, so New York has called up both infielder Mark Vientos and right-hander Dedniel Nunez to fill the two open spots on the 26-man.

Since Smith’s MRI didn’t reveal any structural damage, the hope is that the righty can be back in the bullpen after just the minimum 15 days.  The Mets’ relief corps has been a strength for the team this season, and Smith has contributed to the cause with a 2.70 ERA over 10 innings and 10 appearances.  His most recent game was last Tuesday, when he allowed two runs in an inning of work during New York’s 5-1 loss to the Giants.

The solid ERA hides some underlying concerns in Smith’s performance, most notably a hefty 14.9% walk rate.  Smith’s walk rate had already taken a sizeable jump from eight percent in 2022 (when he had a 3.33 ERA) to 11.9% last season, when Smith posted a 4.15 ERA over 56 1/3 frames.  On the plus side, Smith has an excellent 24.1% hard-hit ball rate, helping somewhat mitigate the bad luck of a .345 BABIP.  Smith has reincorporated a cutter into his arsenal this year with good results, though batters are having more success against his primary pitch, a four-seamer.

NL East Notes: Ozuna, Turnbull, Mets, Senga, Megill, Cavalli

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“There’s no way you want to go explore somewhere else when you feel comfortable, when you’ve got your teammates and you’ve got your organization’s love.  There’s no doubt in my decision.  I don’t want to go anywhere else,” Marcell Ozuna told The Athletic’s David O’Brien about his desire to sign a contract extension with the Braves.  Ozuna’s four-year, $65MM deal is up at season’s end, though the Braves hold a $16MM club option for 2025 that looks like a sure bet to be exercised give how well Ozuna is performing at the plate.  Coming off a 40-homer campaign in 2023, Ozuna has stayed hot by hitting .344/.419/.677 over his first 105 plate appearances in 2024, leading the National League with nine homers.

The idea of Ozuna remaining in Atlanta over the long term would’ve seemed far-fetched a year ago.  The veteran struggled badly over the first two seasons of his contract, and that two-year stint also included an arrest on a DUI charge, and a 20-game suspension under MLB’s joint domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy.  Since the Braves reportedly never considered parting ways with Ozuna in the wake of these issues or his lack of production on the field, it would stand to reason that the team would be open to some kind of longer-term commitment beyond just the club option year.  Some obvious obstacles exist — Ozuna will be 35 in November 2025 and is essentially a DH-only player at this point in his career, plus Atlanta’s payroll is already at team-record heights in both pure dollars and in luxury tax value.

More from the NL East…

  • Taijuan Walker is expected to be activated from the 15-day injured list on Sunday to start the Phillies’ game against the Padres.  A shoulder impingement delayed Walker’s 2024 debut, and it also created an opportunity for Spencer Turnbull to open some eyes as the fill-in starter in Philadelphia’s rotation.  With an outstanding 1.33 ERA over 27 innings and five starts, Turnbull has certainly pitched well enough to remain in the starting mix, but Rob Thomson told the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Alex Coffey (X link) and other reporters that a decision will be held off on Turnbull’s next step until after Walker throws on Sunday.  Turnbull could get a proper start on Tuesday, or be part of a piggyback start with Cristopher Sanchez in Monday’s game.  With Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Ranger Suarez, Sanchez, and Turnbull all looking great thus far in the season, Walker’s return gives the Phillies a rare pitching surplus at the moment, and creates a nice problem for the team to navigate.
  • In some Mets injury updates, Kodai Senga will throw a live batting practice session on Monday, and Tylor Megill will begin a minor league rehab assignment today with high-A Brooklyn.  (The Athletic’s Tim Britton was among those to report the news.)  Senga has yet to pitch this season due to a moderate posterior capsule strain suffered during Spring Training, and because of his placement on the 60-day injured list, won’t be eligible to join the Mets until May 27 at the earliest.  Megill pitched in one game before a shoulder strain sent him to the 15-day IL.  Megill and Senga could each potentially be part of a six-man rotation over the next six weeks, as Britton writes that New York is considering using an extra starter to keep everyone fresh through a busy stretch of the schedule.
  • Cade Cavalli is set for a live batting practice session on Monday, his first time facing real hitters since undergoing Tommy John surgery in March 2023.  Cavalli updated reporters (including MASNsports.com’s Bobby Blanco) about his rehab progress, as the plan is for the right-hander to start a minor league rehab assignment in the middle of May.  Nationals manager Davey Martinez then views Cavalli’s return to the majors for “sometime at the end of June, maybe July.”  The 22nd overall pick of the 2020 draft pitched in exactly one MLB game before his career was put on pause by the TJ procedure, and assuming all goes well health-wise, Cavalli should now be in line for his extended stint in a big league rotation.

Mets Designate Zack Short For Assignment

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The Mets announced that outfielder J.D. Martinez has been recalled from Triple-A Syracuse, with infielder Zack Short designated for assignment as the corresponding move.

Martinez, 36, signed a one-year deal with the club last month. That deal came about very late in the offseason, not being made official until March 23, when Spring Training was effectively done. Players with at least five years of service time cannot be optioned to the minors without their consent, but Martinez agreed to be sent down since he missed the spring and needed to get some at-bats.

His return should bolster the Mets lineup, as he is a .287/.350/.524 hitter in his career and is coming off a strong season with the Dodgers. He seemed to be selling out for power last year, as his 31.1% strikeout rate was a career high by four points, but he also hit 33 home runs and slashed .271/.321/.572. Manager Carlos Mendoza indicated earlier this week that the club was planning to activate Martinez today, which was now come to fruition.

Martinez was already on the 40-man roster but the Mets had limited options in terms of getting him onto the active roster. The only optionable position players currently on the squad are Brett Baty and DJ Stewart. Baty has been the club’s everyday third baseman this year while Stewart has been great at the plate. Going back to his time with the club last year, he’s hit 14 home runs in 240 plate appearances. He has struck out at a hefty 28.7% clip but also drawn walks 10.4% of the time.

That left the Mets having to cut someone who is out of options and they decided on Short. The infielder, who turns 29 next month, was claimed off waivers from the Tigers in November. He took 12 plate appearances with the Mets this year and produced a line of just .111/.273/.111 in that time.

He spent the past three years with the Tigers and has a career batting line of .172/.266/.304 in 462 plate appearances. He’s been better in Triple-A, having slashed .226/.361/.397 since the start of 2021 while drawing walks in 16.2% of his appearances at that level. Since he’s played all three outfield spots and the three infield positions to the left of first base, he could be a solid utility piece if his major league offense were a bit more like his minor league work.

The Mets will have a week to trade him or pass him through waivers. In his absence, Joey Wendle will be the backup infielder, with a regular alignment of Baty, Francisco Lindor, Jeff McNeil and Pete Alonso on the dirt.

Yankees Claim Michael Tonkin, Designate McKinley Moore

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The Yankees announced that they have claimed right-hander Michael Tonkin off waivers from the Mets. He had been designated for assignment by the Mets earlier this week. To open a roster spot for Tonkin, right-hander McKinley Moore was designated for assignment.

Tonkin, 34, has been getting passed around the league so far this year. He was non-tendered by Atlanta at the end of last season and then signed a major league deal with the Mets. Shortly after the season started, he was designated for assignment and went to the Twins on a cash deal but then returned to the Mets on waivers. Now he’s on the move yet again and will join the Yankees.

Amid all those transactions, he has managed to throw nine innings on the year. He’s allowed six earned runs for a flat earned run average of 6.00, which obviously isn’t too impressive, but the peripherals are solid. He has struck out 23.9% of batters faced while walking 8.7% of them and keeping 44.4% of balls in play on the ground, with all of those rate stats coming in fairly close to league averages.

With Atlanta last year, he tossed 80 innings over 45 appearances. He had a 4.28 ERA in that time, as well as a 23.1% strikeout rate, 7.1% walk rate and 38.3% ground ball rate. He’s clearly an attractive enough bullpen arm that teams keep grabbing him but he’s also out of options and keeps getting squeezed.

Since he’s out of options, the Yankees will need to make room for him on the active roster whenever he reports to the team. Of their bullpen arms, Ian Hamilton, Ron Marinaccio and Cody Morris all have options and could be sent down. Hamilton isn’t likely the one to be packing his bag since he’s entered a high-leverage role for the Yankees. He had two saves and five holds last year and has already added four more holds this year.

To get Tonkin onto the 40-man, the Yankees have bumped off Moore. He’s only been with the Yanks a short time, having been claimed off waivers from the Phillies in February. He has made two appearances for the Triple-A club but walked six of the nine batters he faced.

That continues a pattern of control problems for the righty. He walked 23.8% of batters faced in his major league debut last year. In his 20 1/3 innings of minor league work in 2023, he struck out 40.7% of batters faced but also gave free passes to 24.2% of them.

The Yankees will now have one week to trade McKinley or pass him through waivers. The control problems will obviously be a concern to other teams but Moore’s also struck out 32.6% of batters faced throughout his entire minor league career. He averaged 97.2 miles per hour on his fastball during his MLB debut last year while also throwing a sweeper and a changeup. He still has a couple of options and could perhaps appeal to a club looking for a long-term project.

Rangers Claim Kolton Ingram

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The Rangers have claimed left-handed reliever Kolton Ingram off waivers from the Mets, per a team announcement. The Rangers’ 40-man roster is now at capacity. Ingram was designated for assignment when the Mets selected Tomas Nido’s contract in the wake of Francisco Alvarez’s thumb injury. Ingram has been optioned to Triple-A Round Rock for now.

Ingram, 27, made his big league debut with the Angels in 2023 but totaled just 5 1/3 innings. He allowed five runs on eight hits and five walks in that tiny sample but did fan seven of his 30 opponents. He’s had far more success in the upper minors, logging 102 1/3 innings of 2.46 ERA ball in Double-A and 38 2/3 innings of 3.72 ERA ball in Triple-A. Broadly speaking, Ingram has shown a knack for missing bats throughout his career — evidenced by a sharp 30% strikeout rate in the minors. However, he’s also battled command issues, walking 11.1% of his opponents in addition to another 14 plunked batters (1.6%).

Primarily a fastball/slider pitcher, Ingram sits 92-93 mph with his heater and has proven to be a consistent headache for left-handed opponents. They mustered an awful .151/.245/.186 slash against him in 2023 and hit just .141/.243/.219 against him the year prior. Righties have had more success but primarily due to his sub-par command. Right-handed opponents still hit in the low .200s against Ingram, but they’ve walked at a 12.5% clip against him over the past several seasons.

With Brock Burke on the injured list, the Rangers’ lone lefty in the bullpen at the moment is rookie Jacob Latz. He’s been generally effective through 11 1/3 innings, recording a 3.97 ERA with a below-average 21.6% strikeout rate but a strong 7.6% walk rate. Antoine Kelly had been the only other left-handed reliever on the 40-man roster for Texas, however, so Ingram will give them another candidate to join the big league ’pen if the club wants to carry a second southpaw or in the event of an injury to Latz. Ingram is in the second of three option years, so he can freely be shuttled between Arlington and Round Rock both this year and next (if he sticks with the organization).

Francisco Alvarez Expected To Miss Roughly Eight Weeks After Thumb Surgery

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Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez underwent surgery to repair the UCL tear in his left thumb, the team announced. The club suggested the procedure tends to require eight weeks before a player can return to game action. Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase reported shortly before the team announcement (on X) that the young catcher expected to be back at some point in July.

That’s at the longer end of the timeline which the team provided over the weekend. New York announced on Saturday that Alvarez was going under the knife. At the time, manager Carlos Mendoza loosely floated a recovery timetable in the six-to-eight week range, although he noted the team would have a clearer picture after the surgery.

New York initially placed Alvarez on the 10-day injured list. It’s likely that he’ll be moved to the 60-day IL once the team needs to open a spot on the 40-man roster. It’s a tough loss to the Mets lineup, as Alvarez is one of the team’s better power threats. He hit 25 homers last year as a 21-year-old rookie. He’d only connected on one longball in his first 59 plate appearances this season, hitting .236/.288/.364 over 16 games.

The Mets selected Tomás Nido onto the major league roster after the Alvarez injury. He’ll back up Omar Narváez for the foreseeable future. They’re the only healthy catchers on the 40-man roster. Narváez, who is likely to get the majority of the playing time, has struggled since signing a two-year free agent deal. The veteran hit .211/.283/.297 in 49 games last season. He’s out to a .179/.233/.214 start over his first 10 contests.

Mets Designate Michael Tonkin For Assignment

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The Mets have designated right-hander Michael Tonkin for assignment and optioned righty Grant Hartwig to Triple-A Syracuse, per a team announcement. It’s the second time they’ve designated Tonkin for assignment within the season’s first three and a half weeks. The Mets traded him to the Twins for cash last time, only to claim him back off waivers from Minnesota late last week when the Twins also designated him. The roster spots for Tonkin and Hartwig will go to right-hander Sean Reid-Foley and lefty Josh Walker. Reid-Foley is returning from the 15-day IL, while Walker is being recalled from Syracuse.

Tonkin’s second Mets stint last only two appearances and three innings. The 33-year-old righty pitched both Saturday and Sunday, allowing a pair of runs over three innings. He’s logged nine innings in the majors this season, yielding six earned runs (plus another six unearned) on 10 hits, four walks and four hit batters with 11 strikeouts.

Tonkin spent the 2023 season in the Braves’ bullpen, logging a 4.28 ERA, 24.2% strikeout rate and 9.1% walk rate in 80 innings. That set a new career-high MLB workload for the journeyman right-hander, who owns a career 4.44 ERA (4.54 FIP, 3.70 SIERA) with a 23.1% strikeout rate, 8% walk rate and 39.5% grounder rate in 235 1/3 big league innings between Minnesota, Atlanta and New York. Tonkin has also pitched in the D-backs and Brewers systems in addition to stints with the independent Atlantic League’s Long Island Ducks, the Mexican League’s Toros de Tijuana, and the Nippon-Ham Fighters in Japan.

As with Tonkin’s prior DFAs, he’ll either be traded, passed through outright waivers or released within the next week. He’d have the option to reject an outright assignment to Triple-A in the event that he goes unclaimed, though doing so would require forfeiting the remainder of the salary on the $1MM split major league contract he signed over the winter.

Mets Place Brooks Raley On 15-Day Injured List

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5:44PM: Manager Carlos Mendoza told MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo and other reporters that Raley’s MRI came back clean for any structural damage, so the expectation is that Raley could miss just the minimum 15 days.

3:40PM: The Mets announced that left-hander Brooks Raley has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to elbow inflammation.  Righty Grant Hartwig was called up from Triple-A in the corresponding move.

Raley has been untouchable so far this season, with a spotless 0.00 ERA (with two hits and three walks) over seven innings out of the New York bullpen.  He last pitched on Friday, tossing 20 pitches in two-thirds of an inning in the Mets’ 9-4 win over the Dodgers.  Raley’s previous outing was back on Monday, so it could be that he had been trying to pitch through his elbow soreness after taking a couple of days, or perhaps his elbow simply started barking after Friday’s game.

It was almost exactly a year ago that Raley was also placed on the Mets’ 15-day IL with a bout of elbow inflammation, and he was able to return after just a minimal absence.  Raley and the Mets can only hope that this latest injury is similarly minor, as Raley has an important role as the team’s chief southpaw reliever.  With Raley now sidelined, Jake Diekman is the only left-hander in New York’s relief corps.

Raley has posted a 2.58 ERA, 27.3% strikeout rate, and nine percent walk rate over 115 1/3 innings since the start of the 2022 season.  While he had a 4.78 ERA in 2021 with the Astros, the advanced metrics indicated a performance level closer to his 2022-24 numbers, so the Rays’ decision to give Raley a two-year, $10MM deal in the 2021-22 offseason ended up being a very canny move.  The Mets acquired Raley in a trade in December 2022, and then this past fall exercised their $6.5MM club option on Raley’s services for the 2024 campaign.

NL East Notes: Martinez, Ruiz, Strider

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The Mets are hoping that veteran slugger J.D. Martinez can join the big league club to make his debut on Friday, manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters (including Anthony DiComo of MLB.com). In the meantime, DiComo adds that Martinez will move his rehab assignment up to Triple-A Syracuse while he works toward being ready to return to the big leagues. Martinez, 36, signed with the Mets on a one-year deal just before Opening Day. Thanks to the slugger missing the entirety of Spring Training, he began the season in the minor leagues in order to build up for his debut with the big league Mets.

That process hit almost an immediate snag after Martinez found himself sidelined by “general body soreness” just two games into his rehab process. It was initially expected that Martinez would only need a few days off, but he hasn’t appeared in any games during the two weeks since then. That’s now set to change, however, with Martinez scheduled to get his final reps in at the Triple-A level before finally making his debut in Queens against the Cardinals, assuming things go smoothly from here. Should Martinez indeed be ready to come up on Friday, it would provide a boost to a Mets club that has already won six straight and ten of their last twelve to place themselves just 2.5 games back of Atlanta for the lead in the NL East.

The addition of Martinez, a six-time All Star and three-time Silver Slugger award winner, to the club’s lineup should help to further bolster a lineup that has already delivered a solid 109 wRC+ that ranks ninth among all MLB clubs this season. He’ll be particularly valuable for his power output; while the Mets currently rank middle of the pack with an ISO of just .141 and 22 home runs as a team, Martinez sports an incredible .237 ISO for his career and crushed 33 homers in just 113 games with the Dodgers last year.

More from around the NL East…

  • When Nationals backstop Keibert Ruiz was placed on the 10-day injured list because of the flu last week, it was a bit of an unusual diagnosis as illnesses rarely keep players out for more than a couple of days. Spencer Nusbaum of the Washington Post reported this afternoon that Ruiz’s case was severe enough that he’s lost between 18 and 20 pounds due to the illness, which has sidelined him since April 9. Fortunately, the young catcher seems to be doing better at this point, as Nusbaum adds that Ruiz is expected to head out for a rehab assignment in the coming days. Ruiz got off to a tough start at the plate with a slash line of just .194/.265/.290 in 34 plate appearances this year but nonetheless figures to take over regular catching duties for the Nats upon his return, where Riley Adams and Drew Millas have split time in Ruiz’s absence.
  • Braves right-hander Spencer Strider won’t pitch again this season after undergoing an internal brace procedure on his UCL earlier this month, but he told reporters (including Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution) earlier this week that he hadn’t actually torn his UCL. Instead, Strider noted that imaging revealed that a bone fragment had formed inside his UCL in the years since he first underwent surgery on the elbow back in 2019. Strider also revealed that he had been nursing discomfort in his elbow dating back to Spring Training, though at the time he attempted to pitch through it as it hadn’t impacted his velocity. The 25-year-old has emerged as one of the league’s most talented starters in recent years, posting a 3.36 ERA and 2.43 FIP in 318 1/3 innings of work between the 2022 and ’23 seasons. Atlanta has turned to right-hander Darius Vines to fill Strider’s spot in the rotation for the time being, though it’s possible another arm such as Bryce Elder or AJ Smith-Shawver could enter the mix for Strider’s starts at some point this season.

Francisco Alvarez To Undergo Thumb Surgery

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6:49PM: Mendoza told reporters (including Mike Puma of the New York Post) this evening that the youngster actually suffered a torn ligament in his thumb that will require surgery. Mendoza added that Alvarez’s timetable for return is not year clear but that he’s “confident” that the 22-year-old will return to action at some point this year. Puma adds that Alvarez indicated to teammates that his timeline for return is between six and eight weeks.

1:02PM: “We know for sure it’s going to be more than 10 days” for Alvarez’s recovery, Mendoza told MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo and other reporters.  The catcher is still undergoing further testing to check for any ligament damage or further injuries beyond just a sprain.

11:39AM: The Mets placed catcher Francisco Alvarez on the 10-day injured list due to a left thumb sprain, and selected the contract of catcher Tomas Nido from Triple-A.  In another corresponding move, left-hander Kolton Ingram was designated for assignment to open up a 40-man roster spot for Nido.  Earlier today, Mike Puma of the New York Post (X link) wrote that Nido was on his way to Los Angeles, as Alvarez was expected to require an IL stint after leaving last night’s 9-4 Mets win over the Dodgers.

In the top of the second inning, Alvarez hit an infield grounder, and Dodgers catcher Will Smith lobbed his throw over the head of first baseman Freddie Freeman.  Alvarez made it to second base on the error, but put his left hand on the ground to brace himself after stumbling on the turn around first base.  Mets manager Carlos Mendoza told SNY and other media that the thumb problem occurred on this play, and Alvarez was replaced behind the plate by Omar Narvaez for the bottom of the second inning.  Alvarez underwent an MRI after the game, and Mendoza said the team was “pretty concerned” about the situation.

After hitting .209/.284/.437 with 25 home runs over 423 plate appearances in 2023, Alvarez was looking to follow up his first full MLB season with another step forward this year.  The former star prospect has hit only .236/.288/.364 with one homer in 59 PA to date, and it now might be a while before he can improve on that small sample size.  We may learn more when Mendoza addresses reporters later today about the severity of the sprain or what kind of a recovery timeline awaits Alvarez.

Narvaez and Nido will handle catching duties in the meantime, and in Nido’s case, the selection of his minor league contract will allow the veteran backstop to take part in his eighth Major League season.  Nido’s whole career has been spent in the Mets organization, and he signed a two-year, $3.7MM extension prior to the 2023 campaign.

The catcher is still owed $2.1MM on that deal for this season, and Nido will also reach five full seasons of MLB service time after he amasses 11 more days on an active roster.  Once he hits the five-season threshold, Nido will be able to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency, while still retaining whatever is is still owed on that guaranteed salary.  When New York designated Nido for assignment and outrighted him last June, he would’ve had to walk away from his salary if he had opted to turn down the outright assignment and become a free agent, which undoubtedly impacted his decision to remain in the organization.

Ingram was claimed off waivers from the Tigers back in February, and the left-hander has struggled badly over four relief appearances for Triple-A Syracuse this season.  Over just five innings of work, Ingram has already issued six walks and allowed five hits, en route to a 7.20 ERA.  While control has been a concern for Ingram for much of his minor league career, this spike (albeit in a small sample size) in walk rate obviously jarred the Mets enough to expose the southpaw to DFA waivers.

It isn’t out of the question that another organization might put in a claim, as Ingram already switched teams twice this offseason via the waiver wire — before going from the Tigers to the Mets, Detroit first claimed Ingram off waivers from the Angels.  It was with Los Angeles that Ingram made his MLB debut with 5 1/3 innings in 2023, and he also amassed some solid numbers over his three seasons in the Angels’ farm system.  Ingram had a 30.21% strikeout rate in the minors prior to this season, but that number also plummeted to 9.5% in his brief time with Syracuse.

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