Rays Place Blake Snell On 10-Day IL
Reigning AL Cy Young winner Blake Snell is headed onto the 10-day injured list with a fractured toe, the club announced. (Via Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times; links to Twitter.) Righty Emilio Pagan will take the open roster spot.
Fortunately, that news is far less concerning than it seems at first glance, as Snell is only expected to miss a single start. There’s little doubt the Rays will hold him out longer if necessary to be sure, but it seems only to be a blip.
Snell has been excellent thus far in 2019, turning in 25 innings of 2.16 ERA ball after inking an extension in camp. He’s average a head-turning 13.0 K/9 against 1.4 BB/9 in the new season, making him an early favorite to repeat as the AL’s consensus best starter.
Pagan, 27, will make his debut with the Tampa Bay organization after seeing time in the majors in the last two years with the Mariners and A’s. He owns a 3.85 ERA in 112 1/3 MLB frames to this point. Despite a promising blend of 9.5 K/9 against 2.2 B/9, Pagan has been hurt by the long ball (1.6 HR/9). He has thrown six scoreless innings in four appearances to open the year at Triple-A, so it seems he could be utilized in a multi-inning capacity.
AL East Notes: Red Sox, Estrada, Diaz
Though the Red Sox have hammered out extensions with free-agents-to-be Chris Sale and Xander Bogaerts in recent weeks, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski strongly suggested that the team won’t be negotiating any additional deals, Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald reports. The team has no ongoing discussions, per Dombrowski, who added that he is “pretty certain” there will not be another extension brokered this season. The Sox initially placed an Opening Day deadline on wrapping up negotiations, though the Bogaerts deal was announced a few days into the season. As Dombrowski explains, talks with Bogaerts were advanced enough that the team was confident they wouldn’t linger into the season.
A bit more from the division…
- The Yankees will recall infielder Thairo Estrada to replace Troy Tulowitzki on the active roster tomorrow, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reports (via Twitter). That all but confirms that Tulowitzki, who strained his left calf muscle in today’s game, will land on the 10-day injured list (as skipper Aaron Boone had already said was likely). Estrada, 23. missed much of the 2018 season after being shot in the hip during a robbery attempt in his native Venezuela prior to the season. The promising young infielder thankfully survived without serious damage and even returned to the field for 18 late-season games and another 19 games in the Arizona Fall League. Ranked as the team’s No. 19 prospect on MLB.com, Estrada hit .301/.353/.392 at the Double-A level in his last full season in 2017.
- The ankle injury suffered by Yandy Diaz in Tuesday’s game doesn’t appear to be serious, and the Rays are confident he’ll be able to return to the lineup Friday, writes Juan Toribio of MLB.com. Diaz could have been available off the bench but didn’t appear in today’s game against the Rockies. The 27-year-old is off to a fast start with his new organization, having slashed .333/.440/.619 with a homer and three doubles through his first 25 plate appearances after being acquired from the Indians organization in the Jake Bauers/Edwin Encarnacion three-team swap this offseason.
Injury Notes: Wendle, Blue Jays, Braves
The Rays announced Monday that they’ve placed second baseman Joey Wendle on the 10-day injured list due to a strained left hamstring and recalled Christian Arroyo from Triple-A Durham in his place. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, who first reported the moves, tweets that Wendle has a “moderate” strain that the player himself described as “not too, too bad.” Wendle won’t know how long he’s going to be shelved until he tests the injured leg in a few days’ time, though. The 28-year-old Wendle finished fourth in AL Rookie of the Year voting in 2018 after hitting .300/.354/.435 with seven homers, 33 doubles, six triples and 16 stolen bases. The Tampa Bay infield has plenty of depth between Brandon Lowe, Daniel Robertson and the newly recalled Arroyo, though Wendle was quietly one of the team’s better all-around players in 2018.
A bit more from the division…
- The Blue Jays announced that they’ve put lefty Clayton Richard on the 10-day IL due to a stress reaction in his left knee. In a corresponding move, right-hander Sean Reid-Foley has been recalled from Triple-A and will start tonight’s game for Toronto. The Jays didn’t provide a timeline for Richard’s return, but a stress reaction has the potential to keep him sidelined for a substantial period. In Reid-Foley, Toronto will be getting another look at one of its more promising young arms; the 23-year-old was the team’s second-round pick back in 2014 and pitched to a combined 3.26 ERA with 10.5 K/9 against 3.4 BB/9 in 129 2/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A last season.
- Beyond that move, the Jays revealed a wide-ranging series of medical updates Monday afternoon. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. began taking some at-bats in extended Spring Training games this weekend, tweets Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. He’ll still need to get back into his routine at third base and play in some rehab games before he emerges as an option at the MLB level. TSN’s Scott Mitchell tweets that Clay Buchholz will throw tomorrow and could start for Triple-A Buffalo on April 7, which signals that the veteran righty is on track to join his new club sooner rather than later. Ryan Tepera and Ryan Borucki are throwing ‘pen sessions, meanwhile, and could return by month’s end. Bud Norris‘ timeline is less concrete, per Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. Norris is still throwing in the 90-91 mph range — well south of his usual mid-90s heat. He did get a late start by signing in mid-March, so he’ll continue to build up arm strength without a set return date in focus just yet.
- David O’Brien of The Athletic tweets that the Braves plan to active southpaw A.J. Minter on Thursday — the first day he’s eligible. (Minter’s IL stint was backdated the maximum three days at the start of the season.) Mike Foltynewicz could join the rotation as soon as April 14 after making a pair of rehab outings, O’Brien adds. Right-hander Darren O’Day, unfortunately, is shutting down for a “couple weeks” due to ongoing forearm issues. Given that update, it seems as though it’ll be tough for the veteran O’Day to be ready before month’s end. O’Day missed the majority of the 2018 season due to a hyperextended elbow.
NL West Notes: Marquez, Rays, Lamb, Padres
As Ron Burgundy and the Channel 4 News Team race to the finish at Padres games, let’s take a look around the NL West…
- As the Rockies make a rare visit to Tampa Bay this weekend, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times looks back at the trade that sent German Marquez from the Rays to the Mile High City. This deal may be known as “the German Marquez trade” in hindsight, though back in January 2016, Marquez was a little-known minor leaguer who had yet to even reach Double-A when he and Jake McGee were sent to Colorado in exchange for Corey Dickerson and infield prospect Kevin Padlo. In 2017-18, however, Marquez developed into a stalwart member of the Rockies’ rotation, posting a 4.05 ERA, 9.5 K/9, and 3.56 K/BB rate over 358 innings. Marquez’s “abilities and the ingredients were there to have this type of impact in time…so in that way [I’m] not surprised,” Rays GM Erik Neander said. Dickerson was traded after the 2017 season and Padlo is still at high-A ball, though Neander said that Dickerson contributed some solid offensive production to help the Rays. “To make trades at the volume and frequency at which we do you have to be very comfortable knowing you’re not going to get them all right,” Neander said. “That’s something we understand and expect, and are willing to accept that because we think the total volume of the transactions we make are best for our organization…Without knowing exactly what winning a transaction even means because a lot of them are made with different goals at the time between the teams.”
- In a bit of a reversal from a statement earlier this weekend, Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo told the Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro and other reporters that Jake Lamb will still see some action at his old third base position. Lovullo even considered using Lamb at the hot corner on Saturday to get some work in, as Lamb spent much of Spring Training learning on his new first base role, and also was briefly sidelined with a back problem. While Lamb hasn’t been much of a defender at third, it can’t hurt to keep him sharp at the position for the sake of roster flexibility.
- The Padres‘ young rotation will be tested by an upcoming stretch of 11 straight games, MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell writes. There aren’t any offdays scheduled for the Padres between April 6-16, which could prove tricky for a team carrying two hurlers (Chris Paddack, Matt Strahm) on pitch limits, and southpaw Nick Margevicius, who had never pitched above A-ball before making his MLB debut on Saturday. “All options are on the table, from bullpen days to openers to protecting certain starters by pushing guys back and having guys step in front of them in the rotation. We’ll be creative,” manager Andy Green said. Cassavell also isn’t ruling out the possibility of a spot start by another minor leaguer, or perhaps even a newly-acquired pitcher joining the rotation mix.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Kimbrel, Keuchel, Eloy, Pillar, Joyce
There isn’t much indication that Craig Kimbrel or Dallas Keuchel are closing in on new contracts, though that hasn’t stopped teams from keeping in touch with the two free agents. Ken Rosenthal and Dennis Lin of The Athletic (subscription required) list the Mets and Brewers as two of the clubs checking in on both pitchers, though Milwaukee is more focused on Kimbrel as a potential add. The Rays are also still maintaining contact with Kimbrel, after reports during Spring Training suggested Tampa Bay was at least considering signing the closer. Rosenthal and Lin described the Mets’ interest in Keuchel and Kimbrel “as a matter of due diligence,” with MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo and Newsday’s Tim Healey (both Twitter links) adding that it doesn’t seem likely that either pitcher will end up in a Mets uniform.
Here’s more from Rosenthal, via his most recent Full Count video for FOX Sports…
- Eloy Jimenez‘s career-opening extension with the White Sox included “an understanding” that Jimenez and his camp wouldn’t pursue a service-time grievance with the league and players’ union. Jimenez’s agents expressed public displeasure last summer when their client wasn’t given a late-season promotion, and the young slugger had been ticketed to begin this season in Triple-A before he inked his extension, which opened the door for Jimenez to join Chicago’s Opening Day roster. The evidence seems to pretty clearly suggest that the White Sox were aiming to extend their control over Jimenez for an extra year, though the Sox are far from the only team that deploys this strategy with top prospects.
- The Giants are the only team known to be involved in the Kevin Pillar trade market, though Rosenthal notes that the Blue Jays have also talked with multiple other teams about the center fielder. Pillar offers two years of team control and a center field glove that was elite from 2015-17, as per the UZR/150 and Defensive Runs Saved metrics. Last season, however, Pillar’s glovework was rated closer to average overall, and he has yet to post even league-average run production over his six MLB seasons. If a trade did take place, Pillar would join Kendrys Morales, Russell Martin, and Troy Tulowitzki as Jays veterans sent out of town as Toronto makes room for its younger players.
- The Braves acquired Matt Joyce from the Giants last weekend, just three days after Joyce joined San Francisco on a minor league contract. Rosenthal provides some details on the transaction, stating that while the Giants were prepared to part ways with Joyce regardless, Atlanta chose to send some cash to the Giants in a trade rather than simply sign Joyce when he became available. Since league offices were closed last Saturday on the day of the trade, Joyce’s arrival in the Braves’ spring camp could have been further delayed had the two sides been required to wait for the contract to be officially approved. With a trade, however, Joyce was able to get some time in Atlanta’s camp, which led to his placement on the club’s Opening Day roster (Joyce marked his first PA with his new team by swatting a pinch-hit homer).
Injury Notes: Reds, Wood, Rays, Duffy, Jays, Marlins
Reds left-hander Alex Wood, who’s on the injured list with lower back tightness, isn’t nearing a return. While Wood is progressing in his recovery, it may have been “a little aggressive” on the Reds’ part to expect a mid-April debut, manager David Bell said Sunday (via Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer). Given that Wood has been battling back problems since late February, he’ll need to build up his innings before taking a major league mound again, Nightengale notes. Wood’s situation is undoubtedly a significant disappointment for the Reds. After all, Cincinnati acquired the ex-Dodger’s final year of team control with the hope that he’d slot in near the top of its made-over rotation for the entire season.
More injury updates from around the league…
- The back and hamstring issues that forced Rays third baseman Matt Duffy to open the season on the injured list will shelve him until at least mid-May, Rodney Page of the Tampa Bay Times writes. This is the latest unfortunate injury-related development for Duffy, who missed 71 games two years ago and sat out another 30 during what was still a productive campaign in 2018. Yandy Diaz and Daniel Robertson have occupied third in Duffy’s absence so far this season.
- The Blue Jays have shut down lefty Clayton Richard for two weeks on account of a right knee stress reaction, Scott Mitchell of TSN reports. Richard, acquired from the Padres in the offseason, had been slated to make his Blue Jays debut against Baltimore on Monday. That start will instead go to righty Sean Reid-Foley, whom the Jays will need to recall from Triple-A Buffalo. Meanwhile, southpaw Ryan Borucki, who’s on the IL with elbow discomfort, is making progress but will miss at least one more start, manager Charlie Montoyo revealed Sunday (per Shi Davidi of Sportsnet).
- The Marlins announced that they’ve placed right fielder Garrett Cooper on the IL with a left calf strain. Cooper said he’ll sit out a few weeks, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com tweets. It’s the second consecutive early season injury for Cooper, who began 2018 as the Marlins’ starting right fielder before going down for months with a partially torn wrist tendon sheath. His newest injury led the Marlins to recall power-hitting outfielder Peter O’Brien from Triple-A New Orleans.
Rays Acquire Aaron Slegers From Pirates
Per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, the Rays have acquired righty Aaron Slegers from the Pirates for cash considerations. To make room on the 40-man, Tampa has transferred lefty Anthony Banda to the 60-day IL.
Slegers, 26, was designated for assignment Thursday by the Pirates after being claimed off waivers from Minnesota in January. At a towering 6 foot 10, Slegers stands as one of the tallest pitchers in MLB history; despite the relative enormity, though, he’s not a fireballer: the longtime Twin’s averaged just 90.3 MPH on the four-seam in his brief MLB career thus far.
Deployed mostly as a starter during his six-year minor-league career with Minnesota, the Indiana product consistently struggled to miss bats, cratering to a caeeer-low 6.01 K/9 in 15 starts with Triple-A Rochester last season. He didn’t crack the organization’s top 30 prospects, per Baseball America, at any point during his tenure with the club.
The Rays will assign Slegers to Triple-A Durham, the team announced immediately, where he’ll slot in with a host of capable others in offering starter (or post-opener) depth for the parent club.
MLB Awards “Championship Belt” During Arbitration Symposium
Major League Baseball hosts an annual symposium on arbitration wherein delegates from each team come together with the league to make recommendations for upcoming arbitration hearings. There is a ceremony near the end of the symposium when a “championship belt” is awarded to the team that best accomplished the “goals set by the industry,” per The Athletic’s Marc Carig. Passed annually from one year’s winner to the next, The Belt is a chintzy, plastic “prize,” intended as a moment of levity and morale for what can be a difficult process on all sides. In this thoughtful article, Carig digs into the arbitration process, its history, the toll it takes on those involved, and of course, The Belt.
Clearly, given the tumultuous relationship between Major League Baseball, the owners, and the Players’ Association, the optics here aren’t great. However harmless the intent (or however private), an award for essentially best limiting the earning potential for players is not likely to sit well with the MLBPA – or the public for that matter. MLB confirmed existence of The Belt, explaining it as “an informal recognition of those club’s salary arbitration departments that did the best.” This season, the finalists were the Astros, Braves, Cubs, Indians, Rays, and Twins.
Executive Director of the MLBPA Tony Clark reacted with a statement (via Twitter), saying, “That clubs make sport of trying to suppress salaries in a process designed to produce fair settlements shows a blatant lack of respect for our Players, the game, and the arbitration process itself.”
Quick Hits: Keuchel, Chapman, Tropicana Field
Paul Goldschmidt became the first Cardinal ever with a 3-homer game this early in the year, the Dodgers and Diamondbacks battled it out for over 6 hours in LA, and the new-look Padres are in first place after a 2-0 start. In other words, baseball action is underway. So, too, is Dallas Keuchel finding an early season groove, though he’s stuck behind the scenes. The slick-fielding, bearded lefty throws a 95-pitch simulated game every five days to stay ready for a fashionably late start to the 2019 season, whenever that may be. Meanwhile, agent Scott Boras is working the phones, in talks with multiple teams, per MLB Network’s Jon Morosi (via Twitter). It’ll be a short season wherever he signs, but hopefully his current regimen will ease Keuchel into a faster (and smoother) transition than some late-signees in year’s past. In other news around the MLB…
- There’s growing interest in Aroldis Chapman‘s drop in velocity as he averages “only” 95.3 mph on his famed heater, per George A. King III of the New York Post. Especially after a similar drop in velocity led to Dellin Betances starting the season on the injured list, scouts in New York are keenly tracking Chapman’s velo moving forward. As of now, they’re split on its significance. There is attributing the dip in velocity to the colder weather, there’s supposing the Yanks are making an intentional effort to make Chapman less of a “thrower” and more of a “pitcher,” and there are those more focused on an increase in breaking ball usage and the lack of swing-and-miss in Chapman’s game thus far. Regardless, there’s hardly sample enough to sound the alarms two days into the season. New teammates Zack Britton and Adam Ottavino keep the Yankees well-stocked in back-end options should Chapman’s dip in velo prove a harbinger of an underlying health issue.
- The Rays are fine-tuning their new blue-lit roof in an effort to improve visibility, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Though the goal for the blue lighting is to make the white baseball more visible to outfielders, it’s a failed initiative thus far. Tommy Pham and Austin Meadows, at least, reported more difficulty tracking the baseball after some post-game testing. The Rays will continue to tinker with the brightness and hue of the Trop’s roof, but Major League Baseball may have a say as well before the new lighting is implemented in-game. The enclosure at Tropicana Field has long been a source of quirky drama, and this new lighting venture certainly adds to the singular nature of playing professional baseball in Tampa Bay.
Angels Acquire Adrian Rondon From Rays
The Angels have acquired infielder Adrian Rondon from the Rays, per club announcements. Cash considerations are headed in the other direction.
When he was inked back in 2014 out of his native Dominican Republic to a ~$3MM bonus, Rondon was considered a top talent. Now twenty years of age, he has yet to move past the Class A level and carries only a .206/.271/.321 batting line through parts of four professionals seasons.
Rondon’s outlook on the field is at best uncertain, but the Halos will see if they can unlock some of his former promise. He’ll join another fading young prospect with a top-notch pedigree, Kevin Maitan, in the Los Angeles farm system.