Derek Dietrich Undergoes Shoulder Procedure
Reds infielder Derek Dietrich has undergone left shoulder surgery, as Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer was among those to cover on Twitter. Fortunately, the clean-up procedure did not reveal any significant damage.
The expectation is that Dietrich will have a more-or-less unimpeded offseason. If there truly aren’t any real ongoing concerns, then it seems likely the club can make a decision whether to tender Dietrich a contract without worrying much about his health.
That said, it’s hardly clear that the Reds will want to commit to Dietrich for 2020. The 30-year-old had a monster showing in the first two months of the season but fell off badly thereafter. He hasn’t played much at all in the second half and a .187/.328/.462 overall slash line that translates only to a 103 wRC+.
Reds Notes: Brennaman, Votto, Gray, Barnhart
The Reds played their last home game of the season today, which doubled the final game of Marty Brennaman’s 46-year career calling Reds baseball. The longtime radio broadcaster was feted by the team in ceremonies both before and after the game, giving the Cincinnati fans multiple chances to celebrate the man who has been a fixture behind the microphone since the days of the Big Red Machine teams. We at MLBTR congratulate Brennaman on a wonderful career, and wish him all the best in retirement.
More from Cincy…
- 2019 has been “an awful year” for Reds cornerstone Joey Votto, who went into detail with reporters (including MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon) about “the worst year of my career.” The 36-year-old has hit only .264/.360/.417 over an even 600 plate appearances, with his batting average, OBP, and wRC+ (103) all representing the lowest totals of Votto’s 13 Major League seasons. Were it not for a hot streak in August and September, Votto would have certainly been in danger of posting the first below-average (as per wRC+) season of his outstanding career. It also marks the second straight year of mediocre power numbers for Votto, who had a .578 SLG as recently as 2017. “I didn’t help the team enough this year. There were long stretches where I was a liability in important parts of the season,” Votto said. Between his performance and another losing season for the Reds, it was a frustrating enough season for Votto that he is planning to “just take as much time away from the game as possible, just kind of recharge” over the winter. This said, Votto also has some hope for a rebound, noting that he has spoken to other veteran players who have recovered from late-career “downturns and they made the adjustment and flourished at the end.”
- Remaining an everyday contributor is very important to Votto, as “I don’t think I would have fun coming out and just collecting paychecks and facing favorable matchups and taking more days off. I just don’t think that would resonate with me.” The first baseman is under contract through the 2023 season at the cost of $107MM in guaranteed money, and while he has said in the past that he was willing to retire if he was no longer enjoying the game, that time hasn’t yet come. “Yeah, I’ve had my moments where I’ve been really, really frustrated and thought a good deal about non-baseball, but you know, I don’t think I’m there yet,” Votto said.
- Sonny Gray underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow yesterday, correcting a problem that has bothered the right-hander since Spring Training, he told reporters (including Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer). In fact, Gray said that “I think we were two days away from having this [surgery] done in spring,” which would have cost him roughly a month of the regular season. “It came to a point where if I couldn’t start throwing tomorrow or the next day, it almost becomes a point where you might need to get this done now. That was definitely an option,” Gray said. Even while dealing with the discomfort of four bone chips in his elbow, Gray enjoyed an impressive season, posting a 2.87 ERA, 3.01 K/BB rate, and 10.5 K/9 over 175 1/3 innings for the Reds.
- Switch-hitter Tucker Barnhart is considering becoming a full-time left-handed batter, the catcher tells MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon. “I’m trying to see if it’s a possibility moving forward and I’ll go into the offseason, sit down and think about it again. Then I’ll head into Spring Training with a clear vision of what I want to do,” Barnhart said. Entering today’s action, Barnhart has made just 46 plate appearances from the right side of the plate this season, compared to 309 PA as a left-handed hitter (including five PA hitting as a lefty against a left-handed pitcher). Barnhart has a .259/.337/.390 career slash line over 1648 PA as a left-handed hitter against righty pitching, compared to only hitting .220/.297/.296 over 401 PA as a right-handed batter. “I just feel like I’m giving myself a better chance, left on left than right on left….I won’t say it’s hurt my left-handed swing, but I don’t think [switch-hitting] has allowed me to reach my full potential left-handed because I still have to work on hitting right-handed and that’s less swings for the left side,” Barnhart said.
Sonny Gray Undergoes Arthroscopic Elbow Surgery
Reds right-hander Sonny Gray underwent an arthroscopic procedure to remove loose bodies from his right elbow today, the team announced. The procedure isn’t expected to impact his offseason training regimen, nor should it have any sort of impact on his availability for the beginning of Spring Training.
Cincinnati’s decision to buy low on Gray, who’ll turn 30 this winter, proved to be one of the best moves made by any team this winter. The Reds bet big on Gray not only by trading Shed Long and a Competitive Balance Round A draft pick to obtain the former Oakland ace but also by inking him to a three-year, $30.5MM extension that covers the 2020-22 seasons.
Gray put a forgettable 2018 season with the Yankees squarely in the rear-view mirror by not simply returning to his 2017 form but arguably by delivering the best season of his career. Through 175 1/3 innings, the 2011 first-rounder logged a 2.87 ERA (3.43 FIP, 3.65 xFIP) with a career-high 10.5 strikeouts per nine innings pitched. Gray’s average of 3.5 walks per nine frames was up from the 2015 season in which he finished third in American League Cy Young voting, but he also managed to allow just 0.87 homers per nine innings pitched. That’s a strong number in any season but is particularly impressive when pitching in the cozy confines of Great American Ball Park during 2019’s record-setting home run boom.
With Gray and midseason acquisition Trevor Bauer now in the plans for 2020, joining holdovers Luis Castillo and Anthony DeSclafani, the Reds look to have the foundation for an extremely strong starting staff in place. There’ll be work to do elsewhere on the roster this winter, but the Reds’ pitching next season could be more formidable than at any point in recent memory.
Nick Senzel To Undergo Shoulder Surgery
Reds rookie Nick Senzel is scheduled to undergo shoulder surgery next week to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder, according to Mark Sheldon of MLB.com. A timetable for his return is not yet known.
Though it was already known that Senzel’s season would end prematurely, there were questions whether the injury would require surgery or not. Those questions, of course, have now been answered and that procedure has been scheduled for Tuesday.
While no timetable has been announced, manager David Bell expressed optimism that his young center fielder would be ready to play on Opening Day 2020.
Notably, it’s not believed that the surgery will force a return to the infield for Senzel, who was thrust into a new position in his first taste of the big leagues. For his part, he fared reasonably well in center field as a rookie, credited with -1 DRS and -1 UZR—not bad marks, all things considered (he only started playing the position in spring training). He was drafted and developed as an infielder, though opportunities at second and third base have been scarce, with Eugenio Suarez entrenched at the hot corner. With Scooter Gennett no longer in Cincinnati, there’s a need at second base, although the Reds wouldn’t have an immediate replacement for Senzel in center field in such a scenario, making that an unlikely outcome. Anyway, there’s no reason to move Senzel down the defensive spectrum if he’s shown himself a passable center fielder.
It was an up-and-down rookie season for Senzel, the former second-overall draft choice in 2016. Through July, he had posted an OPS of over .800, though a dreadful month of August dragged that number down considerably. Overall, he drew walks at a 7.3% clip, a solid rate for a rookie. He’s always been lauded for his offensive skillset, which carried him throughout the minors. While he’s yet to really make good on those evaluations, he’s only got 414 Major League plate appearances under his belt. He’s had his moments, and has in reality had just one bad month.
More concerning that his performance, though, is the laundry list of injuries that Senzel’s accrued at just age 24. He missed much of the 2018 minor-league season with a fractured finger and vertigo, then began this season on the injured list with a sprained ankle.
Reds Select Contract Of Christian Colon
The Reds have selected the contract of infielder Christian Colon, the club announced and C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic was among those to cover on Twitter. Colon, the fourth overall pick of the 2010 draft, will join the active roster for the final two weeks of the season.
It has been a few years since Colon has seen the majors. The 30-year-old carries a .252/.315/.315 batting line in 386 total plate appearances, all compiled between 2014 and 2017 with the Royals and Marlins.
Odds are, the Reds will put the 40-man roster to another use once the season was over. But Colon will help fill in for the time being. And he certainly earned the call-up with a strong showing this year at Triple-A Louisville.
Through 582 plate appearances this year at the highest level of the minors, Colon slashed .300/.372/.443 with ten long balls and 24 steals along with a 58:57 K/BB ratio. That’s good for a 110 wRC+. He was also an above-average hitter at Triple-A last year and has always graded well in the field, so perhaps there’s still a chance for a bit of a late-career renaissance for the former top Kansas City farmhand.
Central Notes: Twins, Reds, Senzel, Tigers
Before hiring Rocco Baldelli as the 31st manager in franchise history (just the fourth in the last 33 years), the Twins had him vetted by a pair of professional contemporaries currently serving Minnesota’s baseball ops department as special assistants: LaTroy Hawkins and Torii Hunter, per The Athletic’s Andy McCullough. Not long after Baldelli’s hire, he faced a similar grilling from another pair of special assistants: Justin Morneau and Michael Cuddyer. The quartet of Twins’ legends do more than serve as protective older brother types for Senior Baseball Officer Derek Falvey and GM Thad Levine – they’re active in a variety of capacities, from analytics, to hiring, to hands-on engagement with players at all levels of the Minnesota system. Levine said this of their veteran cabinet, “We haven’t acquired a single player at the major-league level without asking them to do makeup work on them.” Subscribers to The Athletic should read this piece in full for a fascinating peak into the machinations of the Twins organization. While you do that, we’ll see what else is happening in the Midwest…
- The Reds don’t expect Nick Senzel’s torn labrum to affect his defensive placement moving forward, per MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon. Said Manager David Bell, “He’s so young that hopefully his shoulder — he gets through this and that won’t be a factor at all on what position he plays. I’m expecting a full recovery.” The organization was impressed with how quickly Senzel made camp in center, enough to let his future defensive home remain a dependent variable. Without a clear-cut alternative in center, however, Senzel’s likely to stay put in the near-term. There’s questions in the infield, too, where a handful of options speckle the 2020 landscape, though none of Freddy Galvis, Jose Peraza, Josh VanMeter, or Derek Dietrich have a firm hold on starter’s minutes.
- Tigers President and CEO Christopher Ilitch spoke with reporters yesterday about the direction of the franchise, per Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press. Generally speaking, Ilitch didn’t provide any groundbreaking news. He appeared content with the speed of Detroit’s rebuild while focusing on continued progress as the organization’s only present mandate. Of course, he couldn’t say much to praise the Tigers’ current performance level without seeming disingenuous, and there would be little point in publicly denigrating a team that could well be on its way to a second top overall pick in three years. The primary takeaway seems to be an overall lack of urgency at the big league level – good news for prospect truthers, frustrating for those with hopes of seeing a competitive on-field product at Comerica Park in 2020. It seems there will be at least one more season of slow-and-steady as they continue to flesh out an increasingly well-regarded farm system.
Nick Senzel Done For Season Due To Torn Right Labrum
Nick Senzel‘s season is over, as the Reds outfielder has suffered a torn right labrum, The Athletic’s C. Trent Rosecrans reports (Twitter link). Senzel has missed four of Cincinnati’s last seven games due to the shoulder injury, and only took one plate appearances over the other three games.
Senzel will finish with a .256/.315/.427 slash line and 12 homers over 414 plate appearances, while also stealing 14 bases in 19 chances. With only an 89 OPS+ and wRC+, it wasn’t quite the big breakout the Reds and their fans were hoping for from one of the game’s top prospects, though it’s worth noting that a sprained ankle suffered late in Spring Training kept Senzel from taking the field until April 23, and delayed his Major League debut until May 3.
Perhaps most troublingly, the 24-year-old is already amassing a rather lengthy injury history just four years into his pro career. Senzel played just 44 total games (all at Triple-A) in 2018 due to a broken finger and a bout of vertigo, which also cost him time in 2017. The Reds were going to send Senzel to the Arizona Fall League for more seasoning, only to drop those plans when elbow surgery sidelined him for much of October and November of last year.
Through it all, Senzel also had to take on a brand-new position, as Cincinnati shifted him into center field duty. Since he’d never played center field prior to 2019, Senzel’s slightly below-average defensive metrics (-2.1 UZR/150 and -1 Defensive Run Saved) are actually more than respectable. It seems likely that the Reds will continue to use Senzel in center going forward, though now that Scooter Gennett is no longer in the picture, one wonders if the club would consider having Senzel split time between both second base and center field. Senzel’s original third base position, of course, is blocked by slugger Eugenio Suarez.
It isn’t known if Senzel will require shoulder surgery, though president of baseball operations Dick Williams suggested Thursday that Senzel could be ready for Spring Training either way (link via Daniel Kramer of MLB.com).
Selected as the second overall pick in the 2016 draft, Senzel’s hitting ability has been highly regarded since his days at the University of Tennessee. Senzel hit .312/.388/.508 with 28 home runs over 1028 PA in the minors, including an .853 OPS over 231 PA at the Triple-A level.
Giants Claim Wandy Peralta
The Giants have claimed left-handed pitcher Wandy Peralta off waivers from the Reds, according to C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic. He’ll report to his new club on Monday, tweets Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic, adding that the Giants have placed infielder Zach Green on the 60-day injured list thanks to a hip impingement.
Peralta has thrown 34 innings for the Reds this year, striking out 27 batters and walking 15 en route to a 6.09 ERA. He hasn’t been able to duplicate the success he generated in 2017, but he’ll have a chance for a change of scenery as he joins the stable of Giants relievers for a September tryout.
Latest On Jeremy Jeffress
Right-hander Jeremy Jeffress, officially released by the Brewers yesterday, has drawn some level of interest from several teams, tweets Yahoo’s Matt Ehalt. The Reds, Mets, Phillies, Rays and even the Brewers are among the teams who’ve inquired about the 2018 All-Star.
Jeffress isn’t postseason eligible, having been cut loose in September, but some of the interested teams would apparently like to proactively lock him up to a deal that covers the 2020 campaign (perhaps via a club option). That’d help to explain Milwaukee’s reported interest in bringing the righty back; the Brewers clearly had no intention of exercising Jeffress preexisting $4.3MM option for the 2020 season, but they (or another suitor) could conceivably try to hammer out an option at a lower base salary with some additional incentives. Any team signing Jeffress would only owe him the prorated league minimum for the remainder of the current season.
It’s also possible, though, that Jeffress could simply sit out the remainder of the season and explore opportunities this winter. He was on the injured list due to a hip ailment at the time of his release, and there’d surely be some benefit to an extended period of rest for the righty. He’ll likely have offseason minor league offers with decent base salaries (though less than the previous $4.3MM) at the very least, meaning there’s no rush to sign at the moment. There’ll surely be teams who are only interested in adding him after the current season draws to a close, so waiting until November to take a deal would widen his market.
Open-market circumstances surrounding Jeffress will always be somewhat atypical, given the right-hander’s history. He’s served multiple minor league suspensions for drugs of abuse (i.e. marijuana) and was charged with a DWI while pitching for the Rangers in 2016. That track record surely contributed to the club-friendly deal Jeffress signed with Milwaukee prior to the 2018 season, which came with two team options at relatively low base rates and plenty of yearly incentives based on innings pitched and games finished.
Jeffress’ release earlier this week marked the end of a radical downturn in performance. The right-hander logged a 1.29 ERA with 10.5 K/9, 3.2 BB/9, 0.59 HR/9 and a 56.4 percent ground-ball rate in last year’s All-Star season before unraveling in the playoffs. He then missed the first several weeks of the 2019 season due to shoulder fatigue.
Upon activation in mid-April, Jeffress pitched well for two months, logging a 2.52 ERA and a 26-to-9 K/BB ratio through his first 22 appearances (25 innings). Since that time, he’s scuffled with an ERA north of 7.00 and a deflated strikeout rate. Jeffress’ velocity has actually improved a bit as he’s distanced himself from the early shoulder fatigue, but the aforementioned hip ailment has added another injury to the ledger. In all, he’s turned in 52 innings with a 5.02 ERA, 8.0 K/9, 2.7 BB/9, 1.00 HR/9 and a 48.4 percent ground-ball rate while enduring a pair of IL stints in 2019. The upside a healthy Jeffress brings to the table is enormous, but he’s struggled to produce consistent results over the past three seasons.
Early Trade Deadline Re-Assessment: NL Central
It has only been four weeks, so it’s too soon to judge with finality how this year’s trade deadline maneuvers will play out. That said, we’re already half of the way through the period — the regular season portion, at least — for which rental players were acquired. Even players with future control are usually added first and foremost for their immediate contributions (though there are some exceptions). It’d be awfully premature to say anything conclusive about the prospect side of any deals, but we do now have some additional information with which to work.
So, that’s why we’re going to take a glance back over our shoulders at the moves (and major non-moves) that organizations made in the run-up to this year’s trade deadline. We already covered the AL Central; now we’ll go over to the National League’s middle division.
Cardinals
When the Cards dropped five of six games after the trade deadline, it looked as if they may be on the brink of a collapse. But the club recovered with a stirring, 19-5 run. So … what caused it? A big deadline blockbuster? Multiple, well-conceived additions? Not so much.
The only move the Cards made this summer was a roster-management swap in which they sent veteran infielder Jedd Gyorko to the Dodgers. He’s playing a limited role in L.A. and hasn’t yet done anything of note. Back in St. Louis, the Cards remain laden with position-player options. A deep September roster will help the club mix and match down the stretch, though cramming talent onto a postseason roster will be more difficult.
When the Cards held pat at the deadline, it was fair to wonder whether the team’s uncertain place in the standings was a significant factor. Now, there’s little question that the club has the inside track to a divisional appearance, if not more. It was arguable at the time that the club ought to cash in some of its many solid young assets in pursuit of a higher-end starter or center fielder. So far, the decision not to do so hasn’t hurt (far from it). We’ll see how it plays out over the final month and beyond.
Cubs
The Cubbies’ biggest mid-season acquisition came not via trade, but by way of signing. But closer Craig Kimbrel hasn’t had the biggest impact. That honor would go to outfielder Nicholas Castellanos, who burst to life after being sent to Chicago. He carries a 1.060 OPS through thirty games. The move did cost two pitchers (Paul Richan and Alex Lange) that now feature among the top thirty or so Tigers farmhands. The former has shown well since the deal, carrying a 29:2 K/BB ratio over five High-A starts.
Also more helpful to this point than Kimbrel is veteran reliever David Phelps, who has been excellent since coming over. He has allowed just two earned runs in 13 appearances. That deal could still cost in the long run. It cost the Cubbies Tom Hatch, a Double-A starter who has compiled 35 1/3 innings of 2.80 ERA pitching with an intriguing 34:2 K/BB ratio since the swap.
A low-risk shot on Derek Holland hasn’t really paid dividends, as he wasn’t terribly effective before hitting the injured list. But he could still return and provide an important pen presence late in the season. Brad Wieck, acquired when the club gave up on Carl Edwards Jr., has added a bit of lefty relief depth. Edwards was knocked around before hitting the IL, so there aren’t any regrets there.
There was also a sort of hot-stove miniseries regarding the Cubs catching situation. The team added Martin Maldonado but then sent him on to the Astros for Tony Kemp. When starter Willson Contreras went down with a significant injury, the club picked up Jonathan Lucroy. The club was simply acting on the needs it had before it, but this series of moves hasn’t really worked out. Maldonado would be preferable to Lucroy at this stage of their respective careers; Kemp has struggled badly at the plate and doesn’t seem all that necessary to a roster with a wide variety of infield/outfield-capable players.
While the Cubs are now staring at a three-game deficit in the NL Central, they’ve moved into strong Wild Card position. It’s hard to say they realistically could or should have done much more at the deadline.
Brewers
The Milwaukee org has fallen off the pace since the deadline, playing sub-.500 ball over the month of August. That drop coincided with the rise of the Redbirds … in spite of the fact that the Brew Crew front office was far more active on the trade market — and generally successful in unearthing value.
Adding Jordan Lyles, at the cost of pitching prospect Cody Ponce, has been a clear win to this point. The 28-year-old Lyles has a 2.51 ERA through six starts in Milwaukee. Ponce, a former second-round pick, could yet emerge but hasn’t done anything since the deal to suggest the Brewers made a big mistake by parting with him.
Improving the bullpen was also a key need and the Brewers accomplished that in their swap with the Giants. Lefty Drew Pomeranz has turned on the afterburners of late. Overall, he has allowed just four earned runs with a 22:7 K/BB ratio over 13 2/3 innings. Righty Ray Black has just two strikeouts in his 6 2/3 innings but has managed to keep opponents to just a pair of earned runs. It’ll be interesting to see whether former top prospect Mauricio Dubon makes the Milwaukee org pay for parting with him. He’d likely be playing a significant role there with Keston Hiura injured; instead, he’s getting a full MLB showcase with the Giants.
The Brewers’ other trade hasn’t yet added value but also hasn’t hurt much. Though Jesus Aguilar started out hot after the Brewers sent him to the Rays, he has fallen back to an unremarkable .279/.351/.412 overall slash with his new club. The hurler acquired in return, Jake Faria, has been knocked around a bit in three MLB appearances.
Reds
The Cincinnati front office turned in what was arguably the most interesting overall package of deadline moves. With only an outside chance at a postseason run this season, but a keen desire to contend as soon as possible, the focus was on the near-future.
First and foremost was the surprising move to bring in veteran righty Trevor Bauer. After picking up multiple short-term starters in the prior offseason, the Reds were in need of another reload entering 2020. In that respect, going for Bauer made for an early shopping trip. He has struggled quite a bit working to an 8.40 ERA in thirty innings, though he’s still sporting a 37:13 K/BB ratio. It just hasn’t been a great follow-up season for a pitcher who landed sixth in the Cy Young voting last year. The Reds are betting he’ll figure out how to return to dominance over the offseason.
The cost for Bauer was fairly steep. Outfielder Yasiel Puig is a pending free agent, but he could’ve been cashed in otherwise. Top prospect Taylor Trammell isn’t tearing up Double-A with the Padres organization, but remains a highly regarded player. And then there’s the other, least-known aspect of the swap. Lefty Scott Moss was pitching well before the swap but has impressed all the more since. He even overcame the treacherous International League in a late stint, allowing just four earned runs on a dozen hits with 23 strikeouts and eight walks in 18 2/3 innings.
Having picked up Bauer, the Reds proceeded to ship out pending free agent starter Tanner Roark. That helped cover the late-2019 salary of the new rotation piece and also landed the team a new prospect in recent second-round pick Jameson Hannah. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been a shining season thus far for Hannah, who struggled to a .224/.325/.299 slash in 78 plate appearances after the deal.
Otherwise, the Reds don’t regret dumping Scooter Gennett, whose feel-good tenure in Cincinnati ended in bitterness. He didn’t last long in San Francisco. The club added righty Justin Grimm for depth, but he hasn’t been called upon.
Pirates
The Pirates were within 2.5 games of the division lead as late as July 7th, but it has been an unmitigated disaster ever since. It was already clear that this wasn’t going to be the team’s year by the time the deadline hit, but that didn’t set the stage for a sell-off.
The deadline period ended up being rather quiet. After the aforementioned Lyles deal, the Pirates swapped Corey Dickerson to the Phillies for some international bonus capacity and a PTBNL. Something may ultimately come of the acquired assets — Ponce seems like a good bet to appear in the majors at some point — but it was hardly a moment of note.
It could’ve been different. The Pirates discussed Felipe Vazquez with the Dodgers and could’ve come away with some serious talent for the high-end reliever. The club also could’ve held trade talks on Starling Marte, Josh Bell, or others. But it’s also plenty understandable that the organization decided against rushing into a decision on such significant assets. The pressure of the deadline might’ve spiked Vazquez’s value, but it could also be that the Bucs can get as much or more by shopping him over the winter (if they decide to do so at all). There’s always injury risk, but he has only continued to excel. While there is an argument to be made that the organization ought to pursue a different direction after another disappointing season, the club still has every opportunity to do so after holding tight this summer.