AL Notes: Tanaka, Hamels, Kiermaier, Orioles
Yankees right-hander Masahiro Tanaka left his start against the Mets on Friday after five innings because of stiffness in both hamstrings. He’ll undergo an MRI on Saturday to determine the severity of the issue, though odds are he’ll require a stint on the disabled list, Randy Miller of NJ.com suggests. Tanaka suffered the injury on the bases, thus cutting short a performance in which he allowed one run on one hit and a walk and struck out eight. The 29-year-old’s amid a second straight underwhelming season from a run prevention standpoint (4.58 ERA), but losing him would still be a significant blow for the starter-needy Yankees, who already lost lefty Jordan Montgomery for the season (and some of 2019) earlier this week.
- Given that it’s likely in the market for a starter, New York has come up as a speculative fit for Rangers left-hander Cole Hamels in advance of the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. However, if Hamels’ home run issues don’t subside, the Rangers will have trouble getting much back for him in a trade, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News observes. The 34-year-old is currently yielding 1.93 homers per nine, well above his career mark (1.04) and the American League average for starters (1.23). Hamels has still logged a respectable 3.86 ERA, but his secondary numbers are less encouraging. He’s not exactly teeming with trade value, then, especially considering Hamels’ ability to block deals to 20 teams and his $22.5MM salary this season (plus either a $20MM club option or a $6MM buyout in 2019).
- Rays center fielder Kevin Kiermaier expects to return from the disabled list around June 20, according to Bill Chastain of MLB.com. The defensive standout has been on the shelf since suffering a torn ligament in his right thumb on April 15, thus limiting him to 48 plate appearances so far. Fill-in Mallex Smith has performed respectably in the aggregate (.271/.340/.351 with 11 steals in 211 PAs), but his production has dropped off a cliff this month. The Rays, meanwhile, have lost eight in a row since May 31 to fall six games below .500.
- The Orioles will activate reliever Darren O’Day from the DL on Saturday, per Keegan Matheson of MLB.com. O’Day has been out for over a month with a hyperextended right elbow. With Baltimore well out of contention, the 35-year-old O’Day could spend the next several weeks auditioning for other teams as the deadline nears, though he’s still under contract at $9MM for next season. Meanwhile, teammate and impending free-agent reliever Zach Britton could return as early as Monday, Matheson notes. Britton hasn’t pitched at all this season after suffering a ruptured Achilles during the winter.
Rays Agree To Terms With First-Rounder Matthew Liberatore
The Rays have a deal in place with first-round draft pick Matthew Liberatore, Jon Heyman of Fan Rag reports on Twitter. He’s slated to receive a $3.5MM bonus, per the report.
Liberatore was widely tabbed as a top-five talent, with MLB.com ranking him second on its board. But he lasted until the 16th pick on the day of the draft, leaving many to wonder just how that happened.
While the presumption seemed to be that the Rays had promised Liberatore an over-slot bonus, given that the club has a big war chest due to its compensation selections, that does not appear to have been the case. Liberatore will evidently come in right around the slot value of $3,603,500.
In any event, the Rays are surely thrilled to add a high-end southpaw prospect from their perch in the middle of the first round. Liberatore has at times shown top-shelf fastball velocity, but hasn’t maintained it. Otherwise, he’s a pitching coach’s dream, with an advanced pitch mix that he knows how to use and a big frame that could still support further development.
Rays Designate Brad Miller For Assignment
The Rays have designated infielder Brad Miller for assignment, as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports on Twitter. His roster spot will go to Jake Bauers, who has been called up as expected.
Miller, 28, was a non-tender candidate and a trade/release candidate throughout the offseason after struggling through a dismal 2017 campaign, but he agreed to a $4.5MM salary to avoid arbitration and broke camp with the club at the end of Spring Training. To his credit, he’s done a nice job of rebounding from last year’s dreadful .201/.327/.337 slash. Through his first 174 plate appearances in 2018, Miller has hit .256/.322/.429 with five homers, 10 doubles and a triple.
While that slash line is above the league average, it’s also dependent on a .343 BABIP that is way north of Miller’s career mark of .287. That trend is all the more concerning given that Miller is putting fewer balls in play than ever before; he’s striking out at a career-worst 29.3 percent pace in 2018 and carries a fairly characteristic platoon split that has rendered him largely unplayable against left-handed pitching (.639 OPS against lefties in 35 PAs).
The hope for the Rays, clearly, is that Bauers can provide an offensive spark. He’ll give the Rays a left-handed bat to replace the lefty-swinging Miller and a considerably better glove to play at first base. He also comes to the big leagues with more outfield experience than Miller has, so he’ll give manager Kevin Cash an option in that regard as well. Bauers has crushed left-handed pitching in a small sample so far in 2018 and posted a .396 OBP against lefties last year as well, so he also represents a more well-rounded offensive player, in theory.
Tampa Bay will now have a week to either trade, outright or release Miller, who is owed about $2.79MM through season’s end. That salary makes it tough to envision a straight waiver claim taking place, but Miller has a bit of defensive versatility (even if he’s not a plus defender at any position) and has a track record of hitting right-handed pitching well. It’s possible, then, that the Rays could find a taker on the trade market if they agree to pay down a portion of that remaining sum.
Rays To Promote Jake Bauers
The Rays are set to promote top prospect Jake Bauers from Triple-A Durham, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter). The first baseman/outfielder will join the team for his MLB debut on Thursday.
Bauers, 22, entered the season to quite a bit of Top 100 prospect fanfare, ranking 43rd at Fangraphs, 45th at Baseball America and 68th at MLB.com. (He’s since risen to 42 at BA and 55 at MLB.com.)
Bauers is not yet hitting for a great deal of power but is off to a fine start in Durham, slashing .279/.357/.426 with five homers, 14 doubles and 10 steals (in 16 attempts). He’s drawn a walk in 10.4 percent of his 222 trips to the dish and has whiffed at a 21.2 percent clip. Defensively, Bauers has spent the bulk of his time in the field at first base, his primary position in the minors, but has logged 47 innings in the outfield corners as well (35 in left field and a dozen in right field).
Originally a seventh-round pick of the Padres back in 2013, Bauers went from San Diego to Tampa Bay in the three-team blockbuster that saw Wil Myers land with the Padres, sent Trea Turner to the Nationals and landed the since-traded Steven Souza Jr. in a Rays uniform. While that three-team deal features plenty of name value now, the Nats look to have come out quite a bit ahead thanks to the success of Turner (and righty Joe Ross, who’s currently mending from Tommy John surgery). Bauers, though, will now look to help the Rays recoup some value in his first taste of the Major Leagues.
C.J. Cron has hit quite well as the Rays’ primary first baseman, but Tampa Bay has received modest production from its outfield. With Kevin Kiermaier on the shelf and Denard Span traded to the Mariners, the Rays have been utilizing Mallex Smith, Carlos Gomez, Johnny Field and Rob Refsnyder in the outfield of late.
It stands to reason that the left-handed hitting Bauers could join that mix. Scouting reports on him indicate that while he’s a better defensive first baseman than outfielder, he’s slimmed down in recent years and can handle the outfield grass (or turf, as it were) adequately while chipping in with an above-average hit tool and average or better power at the plate.
The timing of Bauers’ promotion is such that he won’t be eligible for free agency until at least the end of the 2024 season, though his early-June debut figures to leave him on the bubble for Super Two arbitration status down the line.
There’s no exact cutoff date for that nebulous distinction, as it’s dependent on the service time of the other players in Bauers’ service class, but it seems likely that he’ll fall just shy of qualifying. There are only 116 days remaining in the season from the point at which Bauers will be formally promoted, and the lowest that the Super Two cutoff has fallen in recent seasons has been two years, 122 days of MLB service time.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Rays Place Chris Archer On 10-Day DL, Promote Diego Castillo
The Rays announced today that they have placed top righty Chris Archer on the 10-day disabled list with what has been diagnosed as a left abdominal strain. He’ll be replaced by right-handed pitching prospect Diego Castillo.
Archer’s placement is retroactive to June 3rd, so it could only be a brief stay on the DL. At this point, though, his timeline is not clear.
To this point in the season, the results have continued to lag the peripherals for Archer. He has allowed more than four earned runs per nine dating back to the start of the 2016 campaign despite fielding-independent pitching metrics that suggest much better.
Still, there’s little doubt that Archer remains a highly appealing potential trade target. He’s throwing as hard as ever and getting swings and misses. Prior to today’s news, he was on track to challenge for fourth-straight season of two hundred or more innings. And he can be controlled for three more seasons via affordable options.
It’s certainly still possible that Archer can feature as an interesting deadline asset. First, though, he’ll have to make it back and show he’s in good form. It remains to be seen, too, whether the Rays will have serious interest in striking a deal.
Castillo, 24, has been impressive thus far at Triple-A. In his 26 1/3 innings on the year, accumulated over 19 appearances, he has allowed just three earned runs on 15 hits while compiling a 32:7 K/BB ratio. He entered the season as the Rays’ 27th-best prospect, in the eyes of MLB.com. Baseball America’s Kyle Glaser tweets that Castillo’s stuff is electric, even if his command can waver at times.
Day 2 Draft Notes: Assessments, McClanahan, Rocker, Wilcox, Heimlich
Our brief preview post contains links to many of the best sources for draft information heading into the draft. We also wrote up the Tigers’ selection of Casey Mize with the first overall selection and tracked the first round, compensation, and Round A competitive balance picks (1-30; 31-43). Now, with day two of the draft underway, here are some other links and notes:
- If you want to catch up on the details of yesterday’s action, there are a variety of places worth a look. The Fangraphs team broke out the drafted players and offered capsules on each team’s early haul. ESPN.com’s Keith Law offers a look at “winners and losers” from the first day in a subscription post. MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo provides a preview of today’s action. Among the coverage at Baseball America, Teddy Cahill wrote about the unfortunate timing that saw several players drafted while playing in NCAA tournament games.
- As many of those evaluations reflect, the Rays were credited by many for taking advantage of their large overall bonus pool to snag top talent despite a mid-first-round position. As one example, Tampa Bay grabbed lefty Shane McClanahan with the 31st selection. The University of South Florida junior had notified teams he wanted a $3MM bonus to sign, per Kiley McDaniel of Fangraphs (via Twitter). Now, says McDaniel, McClanahan and the team will likely have to compromise a bit. His selection spot came with a $2.22MM slot allocation, but the Tampa Bay organization will also be working to sign another top talent who came off the board later than expected in first-round pick Matthew Liberatore.
- While those southpaws are expected to sign, a pair of highly regarded young righties appear to be headed to college after going undrafted to this point. Kumar Rocker strongly hinted in an Instagram post that he’ll matriculate at Vanderbilt, as Teddy Cahill of Baseball America notes on Twitter. And Cole Wilcox left no doubt in his own tweet that he’ll play for Georgia, as BA’s Chris Collazo passed along via Twitter. It seems reasonable to presume that both players simply were not presented with opportunities to earn bonuses sufficient to forego their commitments, if they were willing to do so at all. In all likelihood, those players will not end up being drafted in the first ten rounds, as failing to sign a player in those slots means sacrificing pool money, but will end up being plucked at some point in the later rounds (on the off chance that circumstances change for them and/or a drafting team).
- If there’s a player who looms large despite not yet being picked, it’s certainly Oregon State pitcher Luke Heimlich. As impressive as he has been on the field, Heimlich carries a particularly concerning past. Kurt Streeter of the New York Times was among those to take on this story recently, for those who are not familiar. Needless to say, his draft status is extremely controversial, and it was not particularly surprising to see him end up still available after day one. That probably will not last, however, according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports, who writes that Heimlich is likely to be chosen at some point. A “handful of teams” have not eliminated the left-hander from consideration, says Passan, who says there’s “basically zero” chance that Heimlick won’t join an affiliated organization, almost certainly via the draft. Notably, Passan also reports that the Orioles talked with Heimlich’s camp about signing him last year, when he was eligible to agree to terms after not being selected. There’s loads of interesting information and analysis in Passan’s article, which is well worth a full read.
Anthony Banda To Undergo Tommy John Surgery
Rays lefty Anthony Banda will undergo Tommy John surgery, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter). Given the typical year-plus recovery timeline for this procedure, Banda will likely miss the remainder of the current season and most or all of 2019.
Banda came to Tampa Bay over the offseason as a key part of the three-team swap that sent outfielder Steven Souza to the Diamondbacks. He had turned into a notable prospect in the Arizona system, which he joined along with Mitch Haniger following the 2014 deadline deal that sent Gerardo Parra to the Brewers.
With the news, Banda will join another recent top pitching prospect acquired in a significant, relatively recent trade — Jose De Leon — on the road to a return from a TJ procedure. De Leon will surely hope to be ready at some point relatively early in the 2019 season. It’s certainly not out of the realm of possibility that Banda will be able to join him late next year, though of course the Rays will surely exercise caution.
In weighing a timeline, it’s also worth bearing in mind that Banda is still not established at the game’s highest level. The 24-year-old southpaw struggled in his first taste of the majors last year, but gave the Rays 14 2/3 useful innings this year, over which he allowed six earned runs while compiling ten hits against three walks. Banda also showed a health (95.4 mph average) heater, up from his numbers in 2017.
In truth, Banda’s limited MLB showing isn’t yet sufficient to draw any conclusions about his future. He has pitched well this year at Triple-A, though, after putting up middling numbers there in 2017. Through 42 frames over eight starts, he owns a 3.64 ERA with 10.5 K/9, 3.9 BB/9, and a 38.4% groundball rate.
The move puts another dent in Tampa Bay’s rotation depth, both for the present season and beyond. More immediately, the organization has at least finally welcomed Nathan Eovaldi back. And Yonny Chirinos is also off of the DL, though he has been optioned to Triple-A despite a solid start in his season in the majors.
Rays Notes: Archer, Banda, Pitching, Mariners, Trades
Here’s the latest from Tropicana Field…
- Chris Archer will undergo an MRI on Monday to determine the extent of his injured groin, he told MLB.com’s Erik Erickson and other reporters. The injury cropped up during Archer’s start on Saturday, and the Rays ace said the problem was still bothering him today. Given the timeline, Archer said it was “questionable” whether he’d make his next scheduled start. Losing Archer would be another blow to a Rays team that has been scrambling for arms due to injuries and their unique usage of regular bullpen days, not to mention the potential impact it could have on Archer’s value as a potential trade chip at the deadline.
- In further ominous injury news, the Tampa Bay Times’ Marc Topkin reports (Twitter link) that southpaw Anthony Banda will visit with team doctors after being placed on the Triple-A disabled list due to a forearm strain. Acquired as the primary piece in the three-team trade that sent Steven Souza to the Diamondbacks last offseason, Banda has posted solid numbers at Triple-A this season and also made three MLB appearances for the Rays (one official start and two relief outings behind “openers” Sergio Romo and Ryne Stanek). Forearm injuries are always cause for concern, particularly since Tampa Bay has already lost youngsters Jose De Leon and Brent Honeywell to Tommy John surgery within the last few months.
- Rays senior VP of baseball operations Chaim Bloom recently spoke with The Athletic’s Juan Toribio (subscription required) about the team’s controversial “bullpen day” strategy and the usage of relievers to “start” games by pitching an inning before turning things over to a multi-inning pitcher. Bloom said the front office has been “encouraged” by the results thus far, and very pleased with how the players and coaching staff have bought into the idea. Despite the relative success thus far, however, Bloom said the Rays won’t necessarily stick with the pitching strategy going forward. “I think time will tell, but we don’t want to shoehorn a group of players into a certain model just to say that we’re doing it….I think potentially if you have a different group of players with different strengths and weaknesses, you might do something different,” Bloom said. “But what we wanted to get away from was kind of doing the opposite, where I think previously the mindset was that no matter what the strength and weaknesses are of our player group, we’re going to force them to be in the so-called traditional model. We wanted to take an approach of, let’s assess the strengths and weaknesses of our group, and then try and figure out a way to build this in a way that gives them the best chance.”
- The recent deal that sent Denard Span and Alex Colome to Seattle stands out as perhaps the biggest of the nine trades between the Rays and Mariners since Jerry Dipoto became Seattle’s GM in September 2015. The close relationship between Dipoto and Rays GM Erik Neander plays a large role, though Topkin expands on that topic as part of a larger piece about how Tampa Bay approaches trades in general. For instance, the Rays send several scouts to analyze another team’s player (or players) to get a variety of opinions before targeting someone in talks. The club also puts a particular focus on scouting the lower levels of the minors to find hidden gems; several players acquired from the Mariners, in fact, have been unheralded names who eventually cracked the big leagues.
Injury Notes: Murphy, Archer, T. Frazier, Graveman
Unfortunately for the Nationals, second baseman Daniel Murphy doesn’t seem close to making his 2018 debut. Manager Dave Martinez told Jamal Collier of MLB.com and other reporters Sunday that Murphy remains “a ways” away from coming off the disabled list. What’s more, Murphy – who underwent microfracture surgery in his right knee last October – has not looked healthy during his Double-A rehab assignment, Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post hears. A scout informed Janes that Murphy has been “gimpy,” “struggling to move laterally” and lacking “straight-ahead speed” during action this weekend. Not only is that bad news for the Nats, with whom Murphy starred from 2016-17, but also for the impending free agent. While Murphy did all he could to set himself up for another nice payday over the previous couple seasons, the 33-year-old is now amid a less-than-ideal platform campaign.
- Rays right-hander Chris Archer dealt with groin tightness during his start Saturday, helping lead to his exit after five innings of two-run ball, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes. It doesn’t seem to be a major concern, but “he’ll probably get checked out here in the next day or two and see how it is,” manager Kevin Cash said. Thanks in part to Saturday’s performance, Archer has seen his ERA plummet from a season-worst 7.84 on April 14 to 4.24 over his past nine starts. That should help the hard-throwing 29-year-old’s stock if the Rays make him available in advance of the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, as some expect them to do.
- Mets third baseman Todd Frazier is primed to come off the DL in time for the team’s series against Baltimore, which begins Tuesday, Matt Ehalt of The Record suggests. Indeed, Frazier tweeted Sunday that he’s on his way back to New York, thus wrapping up a Triple-A rehab assignment. His return will be a rare positive development for the free-falling Mets, who placed Frazier on the DL with a hamstring strain on May 8. Prior to suffering the injury, the offseason free-agent signing opened 2018 with a helpful .237/.357/.412 line and five home runs in 140 plate appearances.
- The Athletics’ Triple-A affiliate in Nashville has placed righty Kendall Graveman on the DL with a forearm strain, according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Fortunately, Graveman doesn’t have any structural damage and should only miss 10 days, Slusser reports. Nevertheless, the injury continues a difficult year for Graveman, who entered 2018 off three straight respectable campaigns but has spent a large portion of the season in the minors. The 27-year-old worked to a 7.60 ERA in 34 1/3 innings prior to his demotion and also hasn’t been great in Nashville, where he has posted a 4.50 ERA in 24 frames.
Reds Acquire Curt Casali
4:34pm: Casali has not been placed on the MLB roster to this point, per C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic (via Twitter). Presumably, though, the team will select Casali’s contract or otherwise bring another catcher up before its next game, which is tomorrow evening.
4:20pm: The Reds have acquired catcher Curt Casali from the Rays, per a club announcement. Cash considerations are heading to Tampa Bay in return.
Casali, 29, has seen action in four MLB campaigns. He’s a .199/.285/.385 hitter with 19 home runs in 466 career plate appearances. This season, Casali is off to a solid start to the year at Triple-A, where he’s slashing .283/.330/.467 in one hundred trips to the plate. He has also typically graded as a solid performer at framing pitches, blocking balls in the dirt, and handling the running game.
It seems that the Reds will be adding Casali to the MLB roster, as the club announced that fellow backstop Tony Cruz has been optioned down to Triple-A. The 31-year-old Cruz has struggled in limited action this year at the MLB level, with 11 strikeouts in his 26 plate appearances.