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Pitcher Injury Notes: Wendelken, Matz, Kazmir, Salazar, Wright, Solis

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Athletics righty J.B. Wendelken is likely to undergo Tommy John surgery, as Joe Stiglich of CSNBayArea.com reports. The 23-year-old, who came over as part of last winter’s Brett Lawrie trade, had received scattered major league work in Oakland, allowing 14 earned runs with a dozen strikeouts and nine walks over 12 2/3 innings. He showed more promise at Triple-A, with a 4.11 ERA and 12.7 K/9 in his 46 frames, but he also experienced control problems (5.1 BB/9) for the first time in his professional career.

Here are some more pitching health notes:

  • The Mets plan to put lefty Steven Matz on the hill tomorrow after he showed well in a bullpen session yesterday, MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo tweets. “He looked very good,” said manager Terry Collins. “He looked nice and easy.” New York’s most recent attempt to ease a starter back into the rotation did not end well, and the team is certainly hoping for a smoother transition this time around. If he can stay healthy, Matz would represent a key asset over the final ten days of the regular season as well as a hopeful postseason berth beyond that.
  • While their own rotation health situation is generally on the upswing, the Dodgers will be looking to see whether southpaw Scott Kazmir can hold up in a major league start, as MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick tweets. The 32-year-old last appeared a month ago and carries a 4.59 ERA in 135 1/3 innings on the year. He’ll follow Brett Anderson, who goes today, as the team looks to assess its options for the playoffs.
  • Also facing postseason roster decisions with a key arm are the Indians, who are hoping that righty Danny Salazar can return — albeit as a reliever, per MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian. Salazar is still not ready for mound work, but has begun rebuilding arm strength in hopes that he can be ready for a possible relief role in the ALDS. For now, it’s still a measured process. “If he starts to feel real good, they can speed it up,” said manager Terry Francona.
  • It’s unclear whether the Red Sox will give serious consideration to using right-hander Steven Wright in the postseason, if he’s able to return, but there’s some hope that he’ll soon present that option. As Scott Lauber of ESPN.com tweets, Wright is set to meet up with the team and may be ready for a pen session as he continues to test his balky shoulder.
  • It’s also not apparent what plans the Nationals may have for left-handed reliever Sammy Solis, who has been sidelined with his own shoulder troubles. But it seems he’s now making forward progress, as Dan Kolko of MASN tweets that Solis felt good after a 25-pitch session on the mound. He could soon face hitters, which might pave the way for a return to the majors right at the end of the regular season, conceivably making him a playoff option.

Nationals Initiated Extension Talks With Wilson Ramos

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8:46am: The team’s offer was for “a bit more” than the three-year, $30MM figure that Heyman suggests, per Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post (via Twitter).

7:57am: The Nationals initiated extension talks with catcher Wilson Ramos, according to Jon Heyman of Fan Rag. Initial chatter, however, has not led to more extensive discussions.

While Ramos has stated that he would invite a chance to re-up with the team, but evidently the preliminary offer was not enough to get things going. Washington opened the bidding at around three years and $30MM, per Heyman.

That does indeed sound like rather a low amount, though it would be right in line with what the Pirates promised Francisco Cervelli earlier this year to keep him from reaching the open market. Of course, that pact took place before much of the season had occurred, meaning that Cervelli was avoiding the risk of an injury or a performance downturn harming his stock — which, it turns out, is just what happened.

Ramos, by comparison, has already absorbed most of the risk, boosting his own earning power substantially with a huge season. As I recently examined, the 29-year-old has a strong case for a five-year deal at a rather lofty average annual value. Many teams are hunting for a backstop, and Ramos now stands out rather clearly as the top available free agent at that position. Though his offensive production has dipped somewhat of late, the overall output (.303/.352/.491, 21 home runs) remains immense for his position.

It’s not clear whether talks will be revisited at some point before Ramos qualifies for free agency, but Heyman calls that a “long shot.” That’s not terribly surprising, as both sides are surely focused on the task at hand with the postseason beckoning. We have seen late-breaking, pre-free-agency extensions — the Giants’ pact with Hunter Pence stands out — so that possibility can’t be ruled out entirely. On the other hand, the Nats have previously moved on from core players like Jordan Zimmermann and Ian Desmond when new contract discussions were not fruitful.

Latest On Bryce Harper

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THURSDAY: In the latest twist on this story, Janes reports that Rizzo held a sit-down with Harper, manager Dusty Baker, and trainer Paul Lessard in order to determine whether there was something he was not aware of. Per the report, Harper denied that he was dealing with any injury and Lessard said he had not treated Harper in the shoulder/neck area since he sat out a handful of games earlier this year. Further, says Janes, Harper stated that he had not told Verducci anything to the contrary.

Janes wisely sought out agent Scott Boras for comment on the matter, given his high-profile involvement in the health-related situations of several other major clients. But Boras declined to comment in this case, citing HIPAA laws. That federal health information protection statute obviously does not forbid disclosure or discussion of medical information where consent is obtained from the individual in question.

The report suggests that the Nationals genuinely do not know where the reports are coming from and still have no reason to believe that Harper is dealing with a shoulder injury. As Janes notes, Rizzo’s statements on the matter seem to indicate that he is relying upon what the club’s star is telling him. “Rizzo has effectively tied his own credibility to Harper’s,” she writes, “a strong statement of trust in the 23-year-old’s honesty.”

TUESDAY: Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated reported for a second time today that reigning National League MVP Bryce Harper is playing through a shoulder injury that is severely hampering his ability to perform at the plate, and, as Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post writes, the Nationals have once again vehemently denied that Harper is playing through a notable injury. Verducci reported similar news last month, prompting GM Mike Rizzo to call the report inaccurate. Harper, Janes notes, wouldn’t confirm or deny the report when approached today and simply refused to comment on it entirely.

Verducci cites “a source close to Harper” in writing that at the peak of the issue, Harper was scarcely able to throw the ball 40 feet and points out that Harper was playing abnormally shallow in right field this past weekend. According to Verducci, Harper has been playing through the issue since early July, and the SI scribe quotes manager Dusty Baker stating “the shoulder thing” has been bothering Harper. Baker, however, adamantly insisted to Janes that he was misrepresented in the column and was referencing the previous neck injury that cost Harper five games in August when he spoke to Verducci this past weekend.

“That’s totally inaccurate,” said the Nationals’ skipper. “I don’t know where they got that from. … Bryce said it didn’t come from him. Nobody really knows where it comes from because it’s not on the injury report. The trainer said no. We treated that shoulder already in the past. If I did make a mistake it was because it’s in his neck, which is connected to his shoulder.” Baker conceded that at the time Harper was held out of the lineup for those five games, his throwing was hindered. But Baker also insisted that Harper is healthy and able to throw right now, pointing to the fact that Braves third base coach Bo Porter held several runners at third this weekend rather than testing Harper’s typically strong arm.

Nationals GM Mike Rizzo, meanwhile, once again stated to Janes that Harper is healthy and added that he checked with Harper himself in light of the report and was told that there’s no issue. Said Rizzo: “I just talked to the player again because of the new stuff that came out, and he says it’s the 4-5 days he had with the neck. That’s it.”

Whether there’s an injury at play or Harper’s productivity is simply lacking due to mechanics or another reason, the drop-off in 2016 has been notable. Harper slugged his way to MVP honors last season when he hit .330/.460/.649 with 42 homers, and he carried an OPS north of 1.000 as deep into the 2016 season as May 22. That’s an admittedly arbitrary endpoint, but Harper is hitting a pedestrian .235/.343/.398 in 96 games since that time. While his patience at the plate is eminently visible — he’s walked in at least 13 percent of his plate appearances each month the 2016 season — he’s showing a fraction of his previous power. Since the All-Star break, just 8.5 percent of Harper’s fly balls have left the yard. That’s a significant drop-off from the 18.6 percent mark he posted in the first half, and it’s a precipitous drop from the staggering 27.3 percent HR/FB rate he posted in 2015.

Verducci’s column breaks down the various ways in which a shoulder and/or neck injury could be impacting Harper’s swing at the plate, whereas Janes’ column has further quotes on the matter and further analysis of comments from Baker and Rizzo. Those looking for a greater level of detail on the reported injury and the team’s denial of said ailment are encouraged to check out both pieces in their entirety.

Nationals To Sign Cuban Outfielder Yadiel Hernandez

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The Nationals have agreed to a deal with Cuban outfielder Yadiel Hernandez, as Jorge Ebro of el Nuevo Herald reports. He’ll receive a $200K bonus, with Ben Badler of Baseball America adding that it comes on a minor league deal.

Hernandez, 29, has been free to sign since April, but failed to hook on with an organization until the minor league season already ended. As a result, he’ll have to wait for his first chance at competitive, regular season action until next year, though presumably he’ll be able to participate in various fall and winter activities and leagues.  Hernandez last played in a full-fledged game early last year.

It’s a bit surprising that Hernandez had to wait so long and was only able to secure such a meager bonus, but perhaps his showcases haven’t been convincing. Hernandez’s age is obviously a limiting factor on his value, but teams have promised tens of millions of dollars to even older players out of Cuba. But Badler suggests that he is good enough to warrant placement at Triple-A or even to battle for a major league roster spot out of camp.

Indeed, the numbers in Cuba have shown plenty of promise. In his last Serie Nacional campaign, Hernandez put up a robust .369/.509/.535 batting line with 7 home runs over 369 trips to the plate. There obviously isn’t much power in his game — he has never hit more than ten in a single season — but he also managed 77 walks against just 47 strikeouts in that span, which seemingly suggests that he will bring an advanced approach with him to D.C.

Hernandez is viewed as being capable of playing an average right or left field, but it doesn’t seem as if there’s much hope of him lining up in center — which is where the Nats could most benefit from a left-handed bat in 2017. Still, he’ll add to the organization’s depth options next season and beyond, and the meager bonus makes this an extremely low-risk signing.

Quick Hits: Ramirez, Kazmir, Strasburg

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In his second season in Boston, Hanley Ramirez is settling into a leadership role, Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald writes. In the piece, Ramirez addresses a variety of topics, but perhaps the most interesting is his view of the Red Sox and Marlins franchises. “It’s way different,” he says. “Down there, we were just happy to be there and make it to the big leagues. We didn’t have that kind of pressure. Here, it’s about winning, it’s about success and winning.” Ramirez also describes how Mookie Betts looks to him for advice. Lately, of course, Ramirez has mostly led with his bat, hitting .356/.415/.746 in September even before his two-homer outburst today against the Yankees. After a torrid second half in which he’s run his season line up to .290/.361/.503, Ramirez’s current four-year, $88MM contract looks wildly more successful than it did this time last season. Here’s more from around the big leagues.

  • Dodgers starter Scott Kazmir developed a blister on his finger after pitching a simulated game Sunday, MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick writes. Manager Dave Roberts says he doesn’t yet know how serious the blister is, but it has to be an annoying development for both player and team. Kazmir has been out since late August with neck inflammation, and the Dodgers are trying to decide who will start for them in the playoffs besides Clayton Kershaw, Rich Hill and Kenta Maeda. Kazmir has a 4.59 ERA, 8.9 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 in 135 1/3 innings so far this season.
  • Another injured starter trying to return to action, Stephen Strasburg of the Nationals, played catch on flat ground Saturday, writes MLB.com’s Bill Ladson. Strasburg suffered a flexor mass strain earlier this month and later told reporters he wasn’t sure if he would be able to return for the postseason. Playing catch on flat ground is dramatically different from pitching in a game, but it appears he’s at least taken a first step toward coming back. The 28-year-old has a 3.60 ERA, 11.2 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 in 147 2/3 innings in 2016.

Nats Activate Joe Ross, Designate Chris Bostick For Assignment

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The Nationals have reinstated right-hander Joe Ross from the 60-day disabled list and designated infielder Chris Bostick for assignment, per a team announcement.

[RELATED: Updated Nationals Depth Chart]

Ross will take the mound Sunday against the Braves in his first major league outing since July 2. Right shoulder inflammation kept the 23-year-old out for two-plus months, thereby shortening a promising season for Ross and giving the Nationals one fewer quality rotation option in the process.

Ross made 16 starts for the Nats before succumbing to injury and produced a 3.49 ERA, 7.46 K/9, 2.45 BB/9 and 44.1 percent ground-ball rate in 95 1/3 innings. Given that Ross didn’t exceed the 60-pitch mark in recent simulated games, Washington will ease him back into the mix and won’t use him for more than three innings Sunday, according to Bill Ladson of MLB.com. Barring a collapse, the Nationals – who own a nine-game lead in the National League East – will make the playoffs, but it’s unclear what Ross’ role will be in October. Manager Dusty Baker could turn to Ross as a bullpen arm next month, per Ladson.

Bostick, whom the Nationals acquired from the Rangers two years ago in a deal involving left-hander Ross Detwiler, posted differing results at two minor league levels this season. The 23-year-old fared well with Double-A Harrisburg, where he hit .290/.355/.462 in 297 plate appearances. However, he batted just .203/.261/.297 in 242 PAs with Syracuse in his first Triple-A action.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Wieters, Cardinals, Leon, Twins

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Some news items from the latest Full Count video clip from FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal…

  • The Orioles are meeting with Matt Wieters’ agent Scott Boras this week to discuss a contract extension, though Rosenthal is doubtful Wieters will remain in Baltimore.  The Nationals will have interest in signing Wieters if their own notable free agent catcher (Wilson Ramos) leaves, and Rosenthal also cites the Mets, White Sox and Braves as possible candidates to pursue Wieters.  The Braves have perhaps a bit of a geographic advantage, as Wieters is from South Carolina and played college ball at Georgia Tech.
  • The Cardinals aren’t likely to lose draft picks as punishment for the data breach of the Astros’ computer network.  The league would have to negotiate a reduction of draft picks (and, perhaps most importantly, the Cardinals’ available draft bonus spending pool) with the players’ union since the draft rules are part of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.  Rosenthal believes that the league could instead punish via the Cards via other methods, such as a fine.
  • Nobody saw Sandy Leon’s slugging breakout with the Red Sox coming, including the Nationals, who dealt Leon to Boston in a minor cash deal in March 2015.  Rosenthal notes that the Nats are hardly the only team who missed on Leon — literally any club could’ve claimed him when the Sox designated the catcher for assignment in July 2015.
  • Cubs senior VP Jason McLeod (whose mother is from Samoa) is the only known minority candidate in the Twins’ front office search.  Rosenthal figures more are probably in the mix, given that Minnesota has hired the same search firm used by Major League Baseball itself last year to prepare female and minority candidates for baseball operations jobs.

NL East Notes: Stanton, d’Arnaud, Mets, Ramos

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Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton may be ready to return to the starting lineup as soon as this Friday, manager Don Mattingly told reporters, including MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro, following last night’s win over the Braves. Stanton hit the disabled list with a Grade 3 groin strain that was supposed to effectively end his season in early August, but Miami activated him from the disabled list last week in a surprise move. However, Stanton has been relegated to pinch-hit duties until this point. Frisaro writes that Stanton has been running the bases and performed fielding drills in right field without any signs of discomfort. At 73-73 on the season, the Marlins are currently four games back from an NL Wild Card spot with 16 games remaining on the schedule. Seven of those games will come against the fourth- and fifth-place Phillies and Braves, though, while another three will come against the Mets, who currently lead the Fish in said Wild Card chase.

A bit more from the division…

  • Travis d’Arnaud is beginning to lose his hold on the starting catcher’s job, writes Mike Puma of the New York Post. Mets manager Terry Collins called d’Arnaud’s lack of home run pop in 2016 (four homers in 250 plate appearances) “frustrating,” writes Puma, and said he’s had extensive talks with the coaching staff to try to discern what has caused the downturn in d’Arnaud’s productivity, but to no avail. “You play the hot hand,” Collins explained in reference to starting journeyman Rene Rivera over d’Arnaud. “We’re in a situation now where we’ve got to go with, at this time last year or maybe a little earlier, hey look: The guys that are producing runs are the guys who are going to get in there.”
  • Interestingly, Collins is seemingly electing not to apply that same logic in the outfield. The Mets’ skipper stood by the slumping Jay Bruce, writes the Post’s Mike Vaccaro, making a not-so-subtle statement about his confidence (or lack thereof) in current bench options Michael Conforto and Alejandro De Aza in the process. “If I take him out,” Collins said of Bruce, “I’d better be confident that someone can do a better job.” Bruce is hitting .192/.271/.315 since being traded to the Mets and is in the midst of a 3-for-25 skid over the past week (29 plate appearances). The Mets will have a decision to make on Bruce’s $13MM club option for the 2017 campaign, which doesn’t look nearly as palatable as it did at the time of the trade.
  • Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos admits to Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post that he became distracted by focusing too much on his impending free agency recently. Ramos, who has been mired in a significant slump (.196/.252/.314 over his past 111 plate appearances), homered last night and tells Castillo that he’s come to the park with a better, more focused approach after a supportive conversation with his wife. The 29-year-old is still hitting .304/.354/.496 even after factoring in a month of poor performance at the dish, making him one of the top free agents on the upcoming market.

Stephen Strasburg Diagnosed With Flexor Mass Strain; No Ligament Damage Found

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SATURDAY: Strasburg says he can’t promise he’ll return for the postseason, Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post tweets. Via MLB.com’s Jamal Collier (also on Twitter), Strasburg received a PRP shot yesterday.

THURSDAY 5:03pm: Strasburg will visit noted orthopedic surgeon Neal ElAttrache for a second opinion, Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post reports (Twitter links). That’s team protocol for an injury of this kind, which was deemed to have been acute (caused by one pitch) rather than from accumulated wear and tear.

3:15pm: Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg, who had an MRI today after exiting last night’s start in the third inning, has been diagnosed with a flexor mass strain, head athletic trainer Paul Lessard told reporters, including MASNsports.com’s Dan Kolko (Twitter link). On the positive side, he does not have any damage to the ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow.

While that assessment rules out Tommy John surgery, the injury is still notable, and there’s no immediate timeline for his return to action. However, the Washington Post’s Chelsea Janes notes (Twitter links) that Lessard doesn’t feel the injury will end Strasburg’s season — though he also couldn’t definitely state that the key righty would be back.

The flexor mass strain is a fairly common pitching injury, but its outlook depends quite a bit on the situation. Andrew Miller, for instance, only missed about a month earlier this year — though he likely had a shorter road back as a reliever. But more severe forms of the injury can require surgery, as was the case previously for Homer Bailey. Flexor issues more or less ended Cliff Lee’s career. And flexor mass problems can be a precursor to Tommy John surgery, as occurred this year with Carson Smith. Other pitchers who have recently had some kind of injury to the flexor tendon or muscle include Aaron Nola, Wade Davis, and George Kontos.

Clearly, the Nats will be relieved that another TJ procedure isn’t immediately on the horizon. That would have been a major blow given that the club struck earlier this year to keep Strasburg off of the market with a seven-year, $175MM extension. If Strasburg had required a second UCL replacement, odds are he’d have missed all of 2017 and possibly a bit of 2018 as well — assuming he was able to progress well.

That’s not to minimize the immediate loss. Washington obviously viewed Strasburg as a part of its postseason rotation. Though a pair of rough, recent outings inflated his ERA, the 28-year-old has been stellar for most of the season. There are plenty of candidates to take over — the D.C. depth chart shows a variety of intriguing arms — but none will hold the same promise as Strasburg. While it is still too soon to write off a return, it would be a tall order for Strasburg to heal entirely and ramp all the way back up to carry a major workload this fall.

NL Notes: Cashner, Pollock, Casilla, Olivera, Solis

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Facial hair policy may not typically be at the top of the list of considerations for free agents, but Marlins righty Andrew Cashner says it’s a matter of concern to him, as Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports. The recently-acquired starter says that he “still hate[s]” Miami’s policy forbidding beards and intends to weigh that when he reaches the open market after the season. “That is a big deal to me in free agency,” he said. The 29-year-old seems unlikely to be more than a rental for the Fish anyway — his 4.78 ERA with the team is a near match for the 4.76 mark he put up before he was dealt — but if he sticks to his guns, it would seem that he also will be unlikely to sign with the beardless Yankees this winter.

Here are some more notes from the National League:

  • Diamondbacks center fielder A.J. Pollock left tonight’s action with what the team announced as a groin strain. The severity of the injury is not known at present, but it represents another turn of bad luck for a player who missed the vast majority of the year with a broken bone in his elbow. The 28-year-old hasn’t quite been himself at the plate since returning, though returning to health is the primary consideration and he has only had a chance to accumulate 45 plate appearances thus far in a star-crossed season.
  • The Giants have elected to remove Santiago Casilla from the closer’s role, skipper Bruce Bochy told reporters including Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle. San Francisco intends to play the matchups for the time being, but Bochy suggested both that Casilla could still see save opportunities and that rookie Derek Law may get some chances once he’s back from the DL. Law, 25, has posted a 1.94 ERA over his first 51 MLB frames, with 8.3 K/9 and 1.6 BB/9, and could set himself up as the team’s closer of the future. As for the 36-year-old Casilla, the move mostly represents an acknowledgment that he’s more a sturdy reliever than a lights-out presence at the back of the pen. He still carries a solid 3.52 ERA with 10.2 K/9 against 3.0 BB/9 in his walk season.
  • By releasing Hector Olivera, the Padres forewent any chance of avoiding salary obligations that his jail time would otherwise have freed them from paying, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports (Twitter links). It’s important to note, though, that he is only slated to spend ten days in prison after his domestic violence conviction, and the team would only have been able to recoup salary if the time ended up being served during the season.
  • Nationals lefty Sammy Solis has encountered a “roadblock” in his efforts to work through a shoulder injury, manager Dusty Baker told reporters including Dan Kolko of MASNsports.com (via Twitter). Washington still hopes that the 28-year-old will make it back by the end of the year, which could represent a nice boost as the club enters a highly likely postseason berth. Solis has had quite a nice season when healthy, posting a 2.35 ERA in 38 1/3 frames while compiling 10.3 K/9 and 4.7 BB/9.
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