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Chris Devenski

Chris Devenski Undergoes Elbow Surgery

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Astros right-hander Chris Devenski underwent arthroscopic surgery to remove a bone spur from his right elbow yesterday, the team announced Wednesday. The recovery time on the procedure is expected to be about four months.

Devenski, 29, has struggled over the past few seasons, but from 2016-17, “The Dragon” was a major piece of Houston’s bullpen. In that time, he worked a combined 189 innings with a 2.38 ERA, 9.7 K/9, 2.2 BB/9, 0.71 HR/9 and a 35.9 percent ground-ball rate. He posted a swinging-strike rate better than 15 percent over that two-year stretch, including a gaudy 16.9 percent in a 2017 campaign that saw him punch out 31.6 percent of the hitters he faced.

Since Opening Day 2018, however, Devenski has a 4.88 ERA in 120 frames. He’s still averaging 9.6 strikeouts per nine innings pitched in that time, but his walk rate has ticked up slightly, his velocity has dipped, and he’s become vastly more prone to home runs (1.73 HR/9). Devenski managed just 3 2/3 innings in 2020 and was tagged for six runs on seven hits and three walks in that brief sample.

Heading into the offseason, Devenski will be at somewhat of a crossroads. His $2MM salary in 2020 was hardly outrageous, and his limited body of work this year means he’s unlikely to receive much of a raise — if any at all. Still, every club will be looking to trim some payroll where possible (to varying extents). Devenski’s late elbow procedure and his downward trend in 2018-20 will make him a non-tender candidate, particularly given that he’s only controllable through the 2021 season right now at present anyhow.

Alex Bregman Nearing Return; Astros Place Taylor, Devenski On IL

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The Astros are likely to activate star third baseman Alex Bregman from the injured list on Tuesday, manager Dusty Baker told Jake Kaplan of The Athletic and other reporters.

Houston has gone without Bregman since he suffered a strained right hamstring on Aug. 19, temporarily depriving the club of one of baseball’s greatest talents. Bregman’s production has dipped a bit compared to the previous couple seasons, but his output has still been outstanding this season. The 26-year-old slashed .272/.374/.500 (139 wRC+) with four home runs in 107 plate appearances before hitting the IL. The Astros have since turned to Abraham Toro, Jack Mayfield and Aledmys Diaz at the hot corner, but those three have registered terrible numbers this season. Plus, having dropped four straight to fall to 21-19, the Astros as a whole have slumped of late, so they’ll be all the more pleased to welcome Bregman back.

Meantime, the news isn’t nearly as positive for Houston’s pitching staff, which lost left-hander Blake Taylor and righty Chris Devenski to the IL with elbow problems on Monday, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle tweets. The Astros will use righties Chase De Jong and Humberto Castellanos to take their open roster spots.

The rookie Taylor, 25, has been a bright spot for an Astros relief corps that has dealt with injuries to the likes of Roberto Osuna and Brad Peacock, among others. In his first 17 major league frames, Taylor has posted a 2.12 ERA/4.09 FIP with 7.94 K/9 and a 51.1 percent groundball rate, though he has walked 5.82 batters per nine. Devenski, formerly a key cog for Houston’s bullpen, has been battling elbow issues throughout the season. He made two appearances in July, missed all of August and then totaled another two appearances this month (on Sept. 5 and 6), in which he combined for 1 2/3 innings of three-run ball, before going back to the IL.

Astros Place Chris Devenski On Injured List, Select Carlos Sanabria

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The Astros have placed pitcher Chris Devenski on the injured list, retroactive to July 29th, per Mark Berman of Fox 26 (via Twitter). To replace him on the roster, Houston selected the contract of Carlos Sanabria.

As with many clubs around the game, consistently fielding a competent pitching staff is going to be bit of a whirlwind this season. Devenski has been a cog in their bullpen for the past four seasons, though a 4.56 ERA/4.57 marks an underwhelming last couple of seasons. Still, the Astros are working a lot of young arms into the mix this season, and Devenski’s veteran presence could help stabilize the relief corps.

For now, however, they’ll look elsewhere. Ryan Pressly continues to be held out of action, though he’s very close to being game-ready, per Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. Pressly figures to be a significant presence in the back end of the bullpen, especially with Will Harris now in Washington.

McTaggart also notes that Forrest Whitley has been dealing with some arm soreness. Despite a difficult season in 2019, Whitley will almost surely make his debut this year since there’s no Triple-A season. Still, he’ll have to get healthy first.

Sanabria, 23, will make his major-league debut should he get into a game. The 6’3″ right-hander pitched only as high as Double-A in 2019, making 37 appearances with a 3.11 ERA despite 5.9 BB/9. He’s a live-armed pitcher with some promise if he can get his command right. Fangraphs has him as the Astros’ 22nd ranked prospect.

Latest On Astros’ Bullpen

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The Astros are off to a nice 3-1 start to the 2020 season, but the reigning American League champions are nonetheless facing plenty of injury-related issues at the moment. Ace and defending AL Cy Young winner Justin Verlander is on the shelf with a forearm strain, 2019 AL Rookie of the Year Yordan Alvarez has been out for weeks and it’s unclear when he’ll debut this season, and the club has a handful of notable relievers battling arm troubles.

The Astros’ best setup man, Ryan Pressly, is now among the team’s wounded, as Brian McTaggart of MLB.com was among those to report that he’s fighting elbow soreness. Chris Devenski is dealing with the same malady, while another of the Astros’ righties – Austin Pruitt – has been shut down on account of his own elbow woes.

The 31-year-old Pressly was largely lights-out with the Twins and Astros from 2018-19, but injuries have slowed him dating back to late last season. Pressly underwent knee surgery in August, and while he did return to throw four innings of scoreless, one-hit ball with seven strikeouts and one walk at the end of September, he experienced more discomfort during the playoffs and was shellacked for 12 hits and seven earned runs in 5 2/3 October frames. Pressly still hasn’t pitched this year, though the severity of his newest injury isn’t known right now.

Devenski, who was subpar from 2018-19 after back-to-back terrific campaigns, has already taken the mound twice this season. The first of those showings went well, but he was the losing pitcher Sunday after giving up three earned runs in an inning of work. Pruitt, meantime, continues to await his Astros and 2020 debuts. They acquired the swingman from the Rays over the winter, but arm injuries – first to his shoulder – have weighed him down.

If Pressly and Devenski join Pruitt and the also-injured Brad Peacock in missing time, it will leave Houston with no established relievers aside from closer Roberto Osuna and fellow veteran Joe Biagini. As McTaggart points out, the Astros have a whopping eight rookies in their bullpen.

Players Avoiding Arbitration: American League

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Entering the day, there were more than 150 players on the clock to exchange arbitration figures with their respective teams prior to a noon ET deadline. As one would expect, there’ll be an utter landslide of arbitration agreements in advance of that deadline. We already ran through some key facts and reminders on the arbitration process earlier this morning for those who are unfamiliar or simply need a refresher on one of MLB’s most complex idiosyncrasies, which will hopefully clear up many questions readers might have.

We’ll track the majority of the American League’s settlements in this post and split off a separate one for NL settlements as well. Note that all projections referenced come courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz:

  • Newly acquired Angels righty Dylan Bundy receives a $5MM salary, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter links). He had projected at a $5.7MM price tag. Teammate Hansel Robles gets $3.85MM, per Heyman, just shy of his $4MM projection.
  • The Yankees have worked out deals with all of their eligible players. The team has a hefty $8.5MM pact with Aaron Judge, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter). Backstop Gary Sanchez settled for $5MM, per Feinsand (via Twitter). The New York org will pay righty Luis Cessa $895K and Jonathan Holder $750K, Murray reports (Twitter links). Fellow reliever Tommy Kahnle will earn $2.65MM, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network (via Twitter). And star lefty James Paxton has settled at $12.5MM, Heyman adds via Twitter. Chad Green and Jordan Montgomery have also agreed to terms, the former at $1.275MM and the latter at $805K, per Heyman (Twitter links).
  • The Twins announced that they struck deals with Trevor May, Taylor Rogers, Eddie Rosario and Byron Buxton. Jon Heyman of MLB Network followed up with salary terms (all links to Twitter). May earns $2,205,000; Rogers takes home $4.45MM; Rosario lands at $7.75MM; and Buxton receives $3.075MM. While the first and last of those land rather close to the projected amount, Rogers got $550K more and Rosario got $1.15MM less than the calculators predicted.
  • Shortstop Carlos Correa settled with the Astros for $8MM, per MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart (via Twitter). Righty Brad Peacock lands at a $3.9MM salary, per Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). The former went for more than his $7.4MM projection, while the latter ended up shy of the $4.6MM mark produced by the computers. The ’Stros also have agreed with closer Roberto Osuna as well, per an announcement. It’s a $10MM deal, slotting in just $200K shy of his projection, per Rome (via Twitter).
  • The Orioles have a deal with outfielder/first baseman Trey Mancini, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com tweets. It’s for $4.75MM, per Dan Connolly of The Athletic (via Twitter), well south of the $5.7MM projection.
  • Outfielder Jorge Soler has agreed to a $7.3MM deal with the Royals, MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan tweets. That’s well off of the $11.2MM that MLBTR’s model projected, though it is likely that the cause of the gulf lies in the interpretation of the correct baseline to start from in building Soler’s salary. He’s in the 4+ service class but had been playing on the original deal he signed out of Cuba.
  • The Tigers have a deal in place with southpaw Matthew Boyd, per Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press (via Twitter). It’ll pay him $5.3MM, per Chris McCosky of the Detroit News (Twitter link). That falls comfortably below the $6.4MM, suggesting that Boyd’s camp was concerned with the way his suboptimal ERA would play in the arb process. Fellow lefty starter Daniel Norris will earn $2.96MM, McCosky tweets.

Earlier Settlements

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Astros Select Kent Emanuel, Decline Option Over Chris Devenski

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The Astros announced today that they have selected the contract of lefty Kent Emanuel. That move will prevent him from reaching minor-league free agency.

The Houston organization also declined a $2.825MM club option over righty Chris Devenski. But that does not mean he’ll necessarily be lost to the open market. Devenski remains eligible for arbitration and projects to earn $2.0MM through that process.

Set to turn 29 later this month, Devenski’s not far removed from a tremendous run in Houston’s bullpen. He looked like an elite reliever at times from 2017-18, the first of which was a championship season for the Astros, but has come to earth over the past two years. Devenski’s now coming off a season in which he logged a pedestrian 4.83 ERA/4.62 FIP with 9.39 K/9, 2.74 BB/9 and a 32.7 percent groundball rate over 69 innings. He then wasn’t much of a factor in the Astros’ run to a World Series berth, as they left him off their ALDS and ALCS rosters. While Devenski did pitch in the team’s World Series loss to Washington, he allowed three earned runs in as many innings.

Emanuel, 27, is a former North Carolina Tar Heel who joined the Astros as a third-round pick back in 2013. The left-hander has grades as one of Baseball America’s top 30 Astros prospects on multiple occasions in the past, though he hasn’t gotten to the bigs yet. Emmanuel is on the heels of his best Triple-A campaign, however, as he notched a 3.90 ERA/4.09 FIP with 7.17 K/9, 2.04 BB/9 and a terrific 57 percent grounder rate over 101 2/3 innings.

Astros Avoid Arbitration With Chris Devenski

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The Astros and reliever Chris Devenski have settled on a $1.525MM salary for the 2019 season, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Per Rosenthal, the deal also includes a club option for $2.625MM in 2020, which can increase to $2.725MM if the righty appears in 50 or more games in 2019. The salary will increase to $2.825MM if he appears in 60 games, and $2.925MM if Devenski, represented by MVP Sports Group, makes 68 appearances.

Devenski had originally asked for $1.65MM in his first arbitration-eligible season, with the club filing at $1.4MM.

The 28-year-old Devenski broke out in 2016, posting an absurdly high (for a reliever) 2.8 fWAR in just 48 appearances. His once-dominant changeup, though, has become far more hittable of late – AL hitters teed off on the righty last season, smashing nine homers in just 47.1 IP and making hard contact nearly 34% of the time. Devenski did continue to strike batters out, whiffing 9.7 men per nine after a career high of 11.6 K/9 in 2017.

He’ll likely fill a long role in a deep Astro bullpen that includes stalwarts Roberto Osuna, Ryan Pressly, Hector Rondon, and Will Harris, with the Houston analytic team surely on the prowl for ways in which the unorthodox righty can keep more balls on the ground.

Astros File Arbitration Figures For Carlos Correa, Chris Devenski

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The Houston Astros submitted their arbitration bids yesterday after signing fellow arb-eligibles Lance McCullers Jr., Will Harris and Brad Peacock to one-year deals. Houston failed to reach agreements with shortstop Carlos Correa, starter Gerrit Cole and swingman Chris Devenski. All three, at least for the time being, will head towards arbitration hearings to determine their 2019 salaries.

Correa is coming off a bit of a down year, while injuries have kept him to no more than 110 games in each of the last two seasons. He filed for a $5MM salary for 2019, while the Astros countered at $4.25MM. MLBTR projected a $4.625MM contract for Correa in this, his first year of arbitration. Both sides are surely hoping for a healthy bounceback campaign from Correa, a core piece of their championship winning club of 2017 who struggled to the tune of .239/.323/.405 last season. Of course, most clubs would be pretty thrilled to get a 101 wRC+ from a 23-year-old shortstop.

Devenski, meanwhile, filed for $1.65MM, with Houston countering at $1.4MM – the same number MLBTR projected for the righty. Devenski has primarily come out of the pen for Houston, pitching to a 2.74 ERA over his three major-league seasons. Last year was the worst campaign of Devenski’s three in the majors, though he was still serviceable in 47 1/3 innings, which included one start (4.18 ERA, 4.49 FIP, 4.01 xFIP). Like Correa, Devenski has two further seasons of arbitration eligibility before hitting free agency after 2021.

As reported yesterday, Cole filed at $13.5MM, while the Astros countered at $11.425MM. The rather large difference of $2.075MM is understandable given this will be Cole’s last time through arbitration before hitting free agency. He had a stellar 2018 in his first year with the Astros, 15-5 with a 2.88 ERA and 12.4 K/9, a rather ridiculous number across 200 1/3 innings. No doubt it was a tremendous season, good for 5.3 rWAR, a far cry better than the 2.3 rWAR he accrued per season in Pittsburgh, which definitely complicates the valuation process for all parties.

There is, of course, still time for Houston to forego arbitration with Correa/Cole/Devenski, though the common “file and trial” practice means teams typically stop negotiating one-year deals at this juncture. It is not uncommon for parties to negotiate long-term deals during this period.

Arbitration figures for Correa and Devenski was first posted by USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (Twitter links). Cole’s figures were reported yesterday by Fancred’s Jon Heyman (via Twitter). 

Unresolved 2019 Arbitration Cases

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Yesterday’s arbitration deadline wasn’t a firm date for agreeing to terms. Rather, it was the end of the period to negotiate before submitting numbers for possible hearings. Negotiations can continue thereafter, but teams and players will now have to defend their submission numbers if they can’t bridge the gap before a hearing. Baseball arb panels simply pick one side’s number; that aspect of the process is designed to force the parties to the bargaining table.

[RELATED: MLBTR Arbitration Projections; MLBTR Arbitration Tracker]

Here’s what we know thus far about the still-unresolved cases:

Today’s Updates

  • The Yankees have yet to come to a deal with ace starter Luis Severino, and they may be heading to arbitration. The Yanks have submitted their bid at $4.4MM, while Severino has asked for $5.25MM, per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (via Twitter).
  • Tommy Pham and the Rays have submitted their numbers for arbitration, per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (via Twitter). Pham filed at $4.1MM while the Rays submitted a bid of $3.5MM. Pham has had no problem expressing his honest opinion about the Rays fanbase of late, and it will be interesting to see if he gets an equal portion of honest feedback in return in his arbitration hearing.
  • The Oakland A’s and their closer Blake Treinen have both submitted their numbers, with the team coming in at $5.6MM while Treinen files for $6.4MM, per Fancred’s Jon Heyman (via Twitter). It’s not a shock to see these sides far apart, given Treinen’s remarkable 2018 and how far above his usual standard of production last season’s numbers fell.
  • Washington Nationals filed at $1.725MM for newcomer Kyle Barraclough, who counters at $2MM, per Nightengale (via Twitter). The former Marlin was acquired in an uncommonly early offseason trade that sent international bonus pool money the Marlins’ way.
  • The Diamondbacks have only one player they did not reach an agreement with, lefty reliever T.J. McFarland. The Dbacks submitted a bid of $1.275MM, while McFarland is asking for $1.675MM, per Nightengale (via Twitter).
  • Alex Wood submitted $9.65MM for his 2019 salary, while his new club the Cincinnati Reds countered at $8.7MM, per Nightengale (via Twitter). Wood will be a free agent at season’s end.
  • The Detroit Tigers reached agreements with all of their arbitration eligible players except for right-handed starter Michael Fulmer. Fulmer comes in at $3.4MM with the team countering at $2.8MM, the difference being 600K, per Nightengale (via Twitter).
  • Ryan Tepera has filed for $1.8MM while the Blue Jays submitted their bid at $1.525MM, per Nightengale (via Twitter). Tepera has been a reliable bullpen arm for the Jays through his first four seasons. He has two more seasons of arbitration remaining, set to reach free agency in advance of the 2022 season.
  • Reserve outfielder Michael A. Taylor and the Washington Nationals are a 250K apart, per Nightengale (via Twitter). Seems like a rather small sum to quibble over in the grand scheme of things, but every cent counts right now in Washington, it seems. Taylor submitted a bid of $3.5MM, with the Nats countering at $3.25MM.

Earlier Updates

  • Rockies star Nolan Arenado is headed for a record arb salary, unsurprisingly. The question is by how much. He has filed at a whopping $30MM, with the club countering at $24MM, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). Even the lower figure would represent a record. It doesn’t seem as if the sides will go to a high-stakes hearing on this one; Jeff Passan of ESPN.com tweets that the odds are good they’ll find common ground. MLBTR and contributor Matt Swartz projected Arenado to earn $26.1MM, though he also explained that it’s not hard to see that number swaying in either direction based upon a close examination of the (few relevant) comps.
  • Despite a monster 2018 season, Phillies righty Aaron Nola isn’t seeking to set a record first-year arb starter salary. (That belongs to Dallas Keuchel, at $7.25MM, when he was coming off of a Cy Young season.) Nola did file at a hefty $6.75MM, per Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia (via Twitter), while the club entered just $4.5MM. It’ll be interesting to see how this one plays out. The Keuchel salary represented a sea change for young starters, but few others have tested the process since. MLBTR’s projection system spit out a $6.6MM figure for Nola.
  • Righty Gerrit Cole filed at $13.5MM, while the Astros countered at $11.425MM, according to Jon Heyman of Fancred (Twitter link). Teammates Carlos Correa and Chris Devenski have also yet to agree to terms. MLBTR projected Cole to earn $13.1MM in his final arb season, Correa to check in at $5.1MM in his first arb year, and Devenski to take home $1.4MM his first time through the process.
  • Indians righty Trevor Bauer is seeking a $13MM payday, while the club will argue instead for $11MM, per Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer (via Twitter). The Cleveland org has long utilized a file-and-trial approach on a case-by-case basis. It’s not totally clear whether that’ll be the approach here, but as Hoynes notes, the sides did go to a hearing already last year. (Bauer won.) MLBTR projected a $11.6MM payday; Swartz also explained why he thought the model was likely in the right ballpark for Bauer in a detailed post.
  • Passan provides a list of other players who have yet to agree to terms and who could therefore still end up before a panel. There are fifteen in total, including those already noted above as well as Kyle Barraclough and Michael Taylor (Nationals), Michael Fulmer (Tigers), T.J. McFarland (Diamondbacks), Tommy Pham (Rays), Luis Severino (Yankees), Ryan Tepera (Blue Jays), Blake Treinen (Athletics), and Alex Wood (Reds).

Astros Place Charlie Morton On 10-Day DL, Activate Chris Devenski

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The Astros announced today that righty Charlie Morton will be placed on the 10-day disabled list, as Jake Kaplan of The Athletic was among those to report (Twitter links). He’ll be replaced on the active roster by reliever Chris Devenski, who was activated from his own DL stint.

Morton is dealing with “right shoulder discomfort,” per the team’s account. That description is somewhat ominous on its own, but evidently shouldn’t be interpreted in such a manner. Fortunately, per Houston GM Jeff Luhnow, the expectation is that Morton will only miss a single start.

It certainly doesn’t see as if the AL West-leading ’Stros feel as though this injury is cause for particular concern. While the organization still needs to hold off a pesky A’s club that’s dealing with its own, perhaps more serious pitching health troubles, the focus will surely remain on getting Morton to full health for the postseason.

The Astros have already dipped into their farm to fill in for Lance McCullers Jr., who is himself on the DL, installing Framber Valdez into the rotation. With several relievers on hand who can give innings, it may not be necessary to call another starter up to account for Morton’s absence. If the organization does look at adding another arm at some point, though, it can call upon 40-man members such as Brady Rodgers, Cionel Perez, and Reymin Guduan.

All told, there’s really no reason to anticipate that the Astros will feel particularly compelled to add another arm via trade. Indeed, Luhnow said yesterday that “there’s no clear missing piece” on the roster, as Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reported. McCullers is expected to return as a reliever rather than building out to a full starter’s workload, but the ’Stros still have three excellent postseason starters (in addition to Morton) and can also ask for multiple innings from pitchers such as former starters Collin McHugh and Brad Peacock. Luhnow didn’t shut the door to an acquisition entirely, but there’s little reason to think that any dealmaking will be driven much by Morton’s current health situation.

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