Latest On Dallas Keuchel
Dallas Keuchel‘s market, like that of fellow free agent Craig Kimbrel, figures to accelerate in the coming days now that he’s no longer tied to draft-pick compensation. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets that the Yankees, Cardinals and Braves are among the favorites to land Keuchel — though as of yesterday, Keuchel and the Yankees were still a ways apart in terms of asking price. Earlier this morning, the Twins were also reported to have had recent talks with Keuchel’s agent, Scott Boras.
The rationale behind the Yankees’ interest in Keuchel isn’t difficult to see. Luis Severino has yet to pitch in 2019, primarily due to a lat strain that will likely sideline him into next month. Both James Paxton and CC Sabathia have spent time on the injured list, and Domingo German figures to be on some type of innings limit after throwing only 94 innings in 2018 between the Majors and minors (and 123 1/3 frames the year prior). Signing Keuchel would come with notable luxury ramifications for the Yankees, who’d pay a 32 percent tax on any dollar spent on him (per Jason Martinez’s luxury projections at Roster Resource).
The Cardinals, too, have seen some rotation issues pop up. Carlos Martinez has been moved to the bullpen after spending the beginning of the season on the injured list, while free-agent-to-be Michael Wacha has also been moved to a relief following an awful start to the year. Rookie Genesis Cabrera is getting his first look at the MLB level, but the Cards are in 1.5 games back in the tightly contested National League Central — a division where the difference between first place and fifth place is a mere span of 6.5 games at the moment.
Keuchel’s shedding of draft pick compensation matters less to the Astros than to others, since they were never in line to forfeit one of their picks to retain him and have known for a while they wouldn’t end up scoring a compensatory pick. But ESPN’s Buster Olney suggests (subscription required) that there may yet be a gap between what Houston is willing to offer and what Keuchel is seeking. The Astros offered Keuchel a one-year deal worth about $15MM early in Spring Training when he was still seeking a multi-year deal, according to Olney. Even though his asking price has come down since that point, he’s still reported to be seeking a one-year deal worth the $17.9MM value of the qualifying offer he rejected last November. Any such sum would be prorated over the course of the remainder of the season.
Dallas Keuchel, Craig Kimbrel No Longer Attached To Draft Pick Compensation
It is officially draft day in Major League Baseball, and as the clock has struck midnight on the east coast, it also means that teams can sign free agents who rejected the qualifying offer without having to surrender the draft pick compensation usually attached to QO picks. Thus, after months of speculation, Dallas Keuchel and Craig Kimbrel have been one of their chief obstacles to a new contract fall by the wayside.
While several players have seen their free agent markets impacted by the qualifying offer over the QO’s seven offseasons of existence, Keuchel and Kimbrel join Kendrys Morales as the only players to escape the qualifying offer’s draft penalties by simply waiting out the draft itself to sign new contracts. Stephen Drew‘s free agent visit also extended into the 2014 season, though he ultimately re-signed with the Red Sox before the draft.
Of course, waiting this long to sign has the obvious drawback of inactivity. The two pitchers have now given up over two months of their careers and a proper Spring Training camp, though Keuchel and Kimbrel have both been working in preparation to eventually get on the field, Keuchel and Kimbrel will have to ramp up their activity without the benefit of a proper Spring Training camp. According to Keuchel’s agent Scott Boras, the southpaw will be ready to join his new team about a week after signing, which seems like a somewhat optimistic projection. It’s worth noting that Morales and Drew both struggled badly in their abbreviated 2014 seasons, and we’ve seen several other examples (i.e. Greg Holland last season) of how players with QO-induced extended layoffs can struggle without the benefit of a proper offseason.
As a reminder, here is what each team would have had to give up in terms of compensation had they signed Keuchel or Kimbrel at any point in the last seven months. The large majority of teams would have had to give up just one draft selection (either their second-highest or third-highest pick), and the 12 clubs who didn’t exceed the luxury tax or receive revenue-sharing payments would have also had to surrender $500K in international bonus pool money. The Nationals and Red Sox were the only two teams who did surpass the luxury tax threshold in 2018, and thus would have had to give up their second- and fifth-highest picks plus $1MM in international bonus pool money. (This only applies to Boston in regards to Keuchel, as the Sox obviously could have re-signed Kimbrel with no penalty since he was most recently on their team.)
The Red Sox and Astros are further impacted, as the two clubs will now no longer receive the extra picks that would have been owed to them had Kimbrel and Keuchel indeed signed elsewhere. Since they paid into the luxury tax, the Red Sox would have only received a pick between the fourth and fifth rounds, while Houston would have received a pick between Competitive Balance Round B and the third round. While the current draft order would have been altered in this scenario depending on what team gave up their pick to sign Keuchel, the Astros would have had either the 78th or 79th overall pick if Keuchel had indeed landed on another team.
Rather than discussing how Keuchel would impact a new rotation, or how Kimbrel would shore up the back of a contending team’s bullpen, the two pitchers instead became the poster children for the increasing lack of action in baseball’s free agent market. With modern front offices putting so much value on possessing a young player (either a draft pick or an international signing) through six or as many as seven seasons pre-free agency, as well as an increased wariness in how veteran players decline in their 30’s, teams are simply loathe to give up draft capital and/or spend money on established free agents, even noted stars like Keuchel and Kimbrel.
In fairness to teams, the qualifying offer draft compensation wasn’t the only reason both pitchers are still available as the calendar turned to June. There were legitimate baseball reasons to hold off on spending huge money on either player — Keuchel’s grounder-heavy arsenal and lack of a power fastball might not age well, while Kimbrel looked shaky down the stretch and throughout Boston’s postseason run in 2018.
Keuchel and Boras were looking for at least a five-year contract, while Kimbrel entered the offseason hoping for what would have been a record-setting $100MM+ contract for a closer. Both those sky-high initial asking prices have since been lowered, as Kimbrel was said to be looking for a three-year deal in early April, while Kimbrel was reportedly open to a one-year contract worth more than the value of the $17.9MM qualifying offer he turned down from Houston. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman, however, notes that such a prorated one-year offer isn’t being considered by either Keuchel or Kimbrel, as “both would be signed” if they were willing to settle for such contracts.
With the draft pick hurdle now cleared and over a third of the season gone, it remains to be seen exactly what type of contracts Keuchel and Kimbrel will end up signing. A one-year pact would have allowed either pitcher to test free agency again this winter without the qualifying offer, though that scenario might not be appealing if the shortened season does lead to a downturn in performance. At the same time, it’s rather hard to imagine teams extended multi-year guarantees given the circumstances.
As odd as it sounds after seven months of inaction, but Keuchel and Kimbrel now aim to be hot commodities for a wide range of teams looking for rotation or bullpen help. The Braves, Brewers, and Rays have each had interest in both pitchers, with Atlanta, St. Louis and the Yankees considered “favorites” for Keuchel, as per Heyman, and such teams as the Mets, Diamondbacks, and Twins have also been mentioned as possible candidates to sign Keuchel. For Kimbrel, the Phillies and Cubs are known to have some level of interest in the closer. A signing could some relatively quickly, or Keuchel and Kimbrel may still take a bit more time to properly sort through the offers coming their way.
Progress Report: Pittsburgh’s Return For Gerrit Cole
In one of the most significant trades of the 2017-18 offseason, the Pirates sent right-hander Gerrit Cole to the Astros for a four-player package. The move put an end to nonstop trade rumors centering on Cole, who had been a Pirate since they selected him first overall in the 2011 draft. Cole largely lived up to the billing in Pittsburgh, but with the Pirates being a low-budget team and Scott Boras functioning as the hurler’s agent, the club had little choice but to deal him. Cole was down to his penultimate year of control, and the Pirates knew they weren’t going to be able to prevent him from reaching free agency after 2019.
Cole has excelled with the Astros since the deal went down, though even they haven’t locked him up to an extension. The soon-to-be 29-year-old is likely to reach the open market after the season, when he could be the top player available. In the meantime, Cole could help guide an elite Houston team to a World Series championship. On the other hand, the Pirates haven’t contended since they traded Cole (in fairness, nor did they in his final two seasons in the Steel City). At 27-28, it appears the Buccos are on their way to a fourth consecutive year without a playoff berth. The package they got for Cole hasn’t really helped matters.
Righty Joe Musgrove, arguably the headliner from Pittsburgh’s point of view, came over after a year in which he moved to the Astros’ bullpen and stood out. But the Pirates shifted Musgrove back to the rotation, and aside from a horrendous showing in May, he has resembled a decent big league starter. While Musgrove has given up 27 earned runs on 38 hits in 30 innings this month, his overall numbers as a Pirate are fine. The 26-year-old has given Pittsburgh 30 starts and 178 1/3 frames of 4.29 ERA/3.60 FIP ball with 7.57 K/9, 2.12 BB/9 and a 44.8 percent groundball rate dating back to his arrival.
In the aggregate, Musgrove has been more the solution than the problem for the Pirates. He’s also on a pre-arbitration salary this season and still has three years of arb control thereafter. Realistically, there’s not a lot to complain about with Musgrove, though the same hasn’t been true of the other three players the Pirates got back.
The hope was that big, hard-throwing righty Michael Feliz would emerge as a lights-out member of the Pirates’ bullpen right away. They’re still waiting. Feliz managed a 4.13 FIP and 10.38 K/9 in 47 2/3 innings last season, but he walked more than four batters per nine and limped to a 5.66 ERA. To make matters worse, the 25-year-old has spent most of this season in Triple-A. Across the 12 innings Feliz has logged in the majors in 2019, he has surrendered 11 earned runs on 12 hits and nine walks (with an impressive 16 strikeouts, it should be noted).
Outfielder Jason Martin, who was the Astros’ 15th-ranked prospect at the time of the trade, totaled the first 38 plate appearances of his major league career earlier this season. He didn’t produce much, though, nor has the 23-year-old acquitted himself all that well at the minors’ highest level thus far. Martin got a promotion after crushing Double-A pitching last season, but he’s the owner of a meager .225/.284/.371 line in 338 Triple-A attempts.
That leaves 26-year-old third baseman Colin Moran, who has garnered the most playing time of anyone Pittsburgh got back for Cole. The former top 100 prospect has been just a guy with the Pirates – a league-average hitter whose WAR suggests he’s something between an average player and a replacement-level performer. Over 618 trips to the plate as a Pirate, Moran has hit a respectable but unexciting .274/.335/.414 (102 wRC+) with 17 home runs and 1.1 fWAR.
Including Moran’s contributions, the Pirates have gotten 4.7 fWAR out of the Cole trade so far. Last July, seven months after that deal, the Pirates traded two hyped young players (righty Tyler Glasnow and outfielder Austin Meadows) to Tampa Bay for a potential Cole replacement righty Chris Archer. That transaction has worked out far worse for the Pirates to this point, as Dan Szymborski of FanGraphs recently explained.
The Cole and Archer moves have left the Pirates with a bunch of controllable parts, but nobody from the group looks like much to write home about so far. At the same time, the swaps stripped the organization of a trio of players who have been high-end contributors elsewhere. Two of them, Glasnow and Meadows, are under control for the foreseeable future. These are mistakes a small-budget team can ill afford to make, and they help explain why the Pirates are stuck in neutral.
Forrest Whitley Dealing With Shoulder Fatigue
The Astros have sent right-handed pitching prospect Forrest Whitley to the minor league injured list with shoulder fatigue, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle was among those to report. There’s no timetable for Whitley’s return. For now, he’ll head to the Astros’ Florida-based spring training facility to rehab.
For the majority of minor leaguers, an IL placement stays off the radar. The 21-year-old Whitley’s a special case, though, considering he’s a consensus top 10 prospect who could make a major league impact as early as this season. However, once he returns to action, Whitley’s performance in the minors will have to dramatically improve if he’s going to earn a promotion in the coming months.
Whitley, a first-timer at the Triple-A level this season, hasn’t looked ready for a call-up yet. In five starts and 24 1/3 innings at Round Rock, he has given up a whopping 33 earned runs on 35 hits, nine home runs and 15 walks (with 29 strikeouts).
General manager Jeff Luhnow doesn’t seem overly concerned, contending the hard-throwing Whitley’s “stuff,” velocity and spin look normal. In Luhnow’s estimation: “He’s not commanding it, he’s putting guys on base and allowing a lot of home runs. It’s a combination of probably the delivery, the pitch selection and a lot of different things that are going on. He’s had a bit of bad luck, too.”
The Astros are hopeful Whitley’s trip to the IL will give him a chance to hit the “reset” button, per Luhnow, who wants the hurler to “prove to us that he’s ready for an opportunity here if one presents itself.”
Houston’s 37-20 and in possession of one of the game’s most effective rotations, so it’s not exactly hard up for Whitley’s help. However, the Astros’ starting staff doesn’t look quite as infallible as it did over the previous couple seasons. Unsurprisingly, the losses of Charlie Morton, Dallas Keuchel and the injured Lance McCullers Jr. since 2018 have removed some of the bite from the team’s rotation.
Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole still make for an elite one-two punch, while Brad Peacock‘s return to a starting role has worked out to this point. Wade Miley has outdone the 2018 version of Keuchel in terms of run prevention, though the former’s peripherals don’t align with his stingy 3.32 ERA. And rookie Corbin Martin, another of the Astros’ high-caliber pitching prospects, has stumbled over four starts since receiving his first MLB promotion May 11. Martin’s only in Houston’s rotation thanks to the performance- and injury-related issues that have haunted Collin McHugh this season.
Even if Whitley doesn’t join Martin in getting an audition in the Astros’ rotation this year, he could be in line for one in 2020. The team’s starting five is slated for plenty of upheaval after this season. Cole, Miley and McHugh may exit in free agency, which would leave the Astros looking for answers behind Verlander and perhaps Peacock and McCullers (if he’s back from Tommy John surgery). Whitley, Martin, Josh James and J.B. Bukauskas could represent a few other potential options in an organization with plenty of young pitchers.
Carlos Correa Diagnosed With Fractured Rib
4:45pm: Correa has issued a statement on the injury, which occurred off the field (Twitter link via The Athletic’s Jake Kaplan):
“I’m extremely disappointed about not being on the field with my teammates. I sustained the rib fracture during a massage at my home on Tuesday. To sustain an injury in such an unusual way makes it even more frustrating. However, I will work hard to get back on the field as quickly as possible to help our team achieve our goal of winning another championship.”
10:57am: Astros star Carlos Correa has been diagnosed with a fractured rib, Mark Berman of FOX 26 reported (via Twitter) and the team has since announced. He’s expected to be sidelined for four to six weeks and will obviously be headed for a stint on the injured list.
It’s a disappointing development for the Houston organization and its 24-year-old shortstop, who had hoped for a fully healthy season on the heels of an injury-limited 2018 campaign. Fortunately, it does not appear this issue is connected to the back and oblique issues Correa experienced last year.
Correa had looked himself in the first fifty games of the new year. Through 214 plate appearances, he carries a hefty .295/.360/.547 batting line with 11 home runs — good for a 143 wRC+.
The injury doesn’t change Correa’s revived outlook at the plate, but it will again impact his earning power. He took down a $5MM salary after winning an arbitration hearing against the ‘Stros. That’s a nice start, but not the kind of scratch he’d have commanded with a typical and healthy platform season. Missing time this year will similarly limit his ability to build up a raise in his second (and second-to-last) season of arb eligibility.
Correa joins fellow stars George Springer and Jose Altuve on the injured list. Notably, reserve infielder Aledmys Diaz is also sidelined, creating some obvious challenges in the middle infield.
This being the Astros, there are still ample possibilities on hand. Alex Bregman would be a superstar at shortstop had he not been bumped to third base due to Correa, so he can slide over. The team can shift Yuli Gurriel to third, but after that it’ll need to rely on less-established players.
Infielder/outfielder Myles Straw has been summoned from Triple-A to take the open roster spot. He has played almost exclusively as an outfielder as a professional, but began spending time at shortstop this year at Triple-A. Straw and the just-promoted Jack Mayfield could share time at second base and chip in on the left side of the infield.
Both those players have a good case for a chance at the majors, though it’d be unreasonable to expect them to fill the shoes of Correa and Altuve. Houston GM Jeff Luhnow said he’d at least take a look at the external options, as MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart tweets, though he noted that he’s comfortable with the organization’s overall middle-infield depth.
Astros Get “Encouraging” News On Injured Jose Altuve
Injured Astros second baseman Jose Altuve is dealing with fatigue and soreness in his right leg, though it doesn’t appear to be a major issue. The Astros received “encouraging” news after evaluating Altuve on Tuesday, according to manager A.J. Hinch. However, Altuve’s going to need time to “strengthen his lower half,” per Hinch. Altuve added he hopes to return to the diamond “pretty soon” (Twitter links via Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle).
The 29-year-old Altuve has been on the 10-day IL since May 11 because of a problem with his other leg – a left hamstring strain – but looked as if he’d be able to return by Wednesday before this setback occurred. Now, though, it’s unclear when he’ll be ready to come back. Altuve underwent surgery on his right knee last October. Between that and Altuve’s importance to the Astros, who signed the six-time All-Star to a five-year, $151MM extension in March 2018, they’re inclined to take a cautious approach in this situation.
Even with Altuve and George Springer on the IL (and the banged-up Carlos Correa out Monday), the loaded Astros have continued to roll over their competition. They beat the Cubs on Monday to move to 13-4 since Altuve went down. Houston now boasts an elite 37-19 record and a seven-game lead over white-hot Oakland in the AL West.
Injury Notes: Astros, Lyles, Vincent, Reid-Foley
Astros stars Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa are both being evaluated by the team’s medical staff for potential injuries, the team told reporters Tuesday (Twitter links via Jake Kaplan of The Athletic). Altuve was already on the injured list but reported feeling fatigue and soreness his right leg after playing minor league rehab games on consecutive days. That’s all the more notable given that Altuve underwent right knee surgery following the 2018 season. As for Correa, he was scratched from tonight’s lineup due to discomfort in his ribs and is being evaluated back in Houston. President of baseball operations Jeff Luhnow downplayed the potential for a serious issue, however, stating that he doesn’t expect either issue to be a long-term problem (Twitter link via the Houston Chronicle’s Chandler Rome). It’s possible that either could be out “a couple weeks,” per Luhnow, although obviously an exact timeline is impossible to gauge until the medical staff has completed its tests.
Some more injury notes from around the league…
- The Pirates announced that right-hander Jordan Lyles exited tonight’s game due to hamstring discomfort. Lyles has been one of the best one-year signings of this past offseason, but he struggled through a second straight rough Tuesday, surrendering three runs on three hits and a pair of walks in four innings of work. Though his last two outings haven’t been sharp, Lyles still boasts a 3.09 ERA, 9.1 K/, 3.1 BB/9, 0.81 HR/9 and a 43.1 percent ground-ball rate in 55 1/3 innings. The Pirates have placed Jameson Taillon, Chris Stratton and Keone Kela on the injured list in May. If he requires a trip to the IL, the Bucs could turn back to top prospect Mitch Keller, who was recalled for a spot start yesterday but optioned back today.
- Giants right-hander Nick Vincent exited tonight’s game with trainers, and The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly notes (via Twitter) that Vincent was motioning toward his neck/collarbone area as he departed the game. He’s been used heavily by the Giants, frequently pitching two- or more innings at a time. Prior to the 2019 season, Vincent had never thrown more than 64 2/3 innings in a Major League season, but he’s already up to 30 2/3 frames on the year. Correlation certainly doesn’t equate to causation in this instance, but the uptick in workload is at least worth a mention. Vincent looked like a potential trade chip less than three weeks ago, as he had a 2.25 ERA and a 25-to-6 K/BB ratio in 24 innings back on May 10. Since then, he’s surrendered 13 runs in his past four appearances — a span of just 6 2/3 innings.
- It appears there’s some concern regarding young Blue Jays right-hander Sean Reid-Foley, as Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com tweets that Reid-Foley exited Tuesday’s start for Triple-A Buffalo in what looked to be “a lot of discomfort.” The former second-round pick loaded the bases and walked in a run before exiting the game with a member of the Bisons’ training staff. Reid-Foley has had a tough season in Buffalo so far, entering play Tuesday with a 6.60 ERA through 45 inning of work. To his credit, he’s picked up 50 strikeouts in that time, but he’s also issued 34 walks, hit four batters and thrown four wild pitches. [Update: Chisholm tweets that the Jays are calling the injury a back strain but hopeful that he can avoid even missing a start in Buffalo.]
AL West Notes: Gallo, Halos Hurlers, M’s, Herrmann, McHugh
There’s little doubt that Rangers slugger Joey Gallo has drastically increased his career earnings outlook with a massive start to the current season. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News takes a look at the state of affairs on the extension front for baseball’s reigning three-true-outcomes king. The organization is obviously impressed, with manager Chris Woodward tabbing Gallo the club’s “best player” and GM Jon Daniels saying that he’s “mentally in a great spot.” Gallo says he’s not thinking about contracts, but agent Scott Boras surely is. As Grant notes, Boras’s assessment of Gallo’s season to date — “we are seeing the evolution of a superstar player” — offers a hint as to the kind of contract it might take to lock him up.
More from the American League West:
- Angels righty JC Ramirez is set to launch a rehab assignment later this week, Maria Torres of the Los Angeles Times tweets. Ramirez underwent Tommy John surgery last April. With his 30-day rehab clock set to be triggered, Ramirez is now back on the map as a near-term roster piece for the Halos. The club owes him $1,901,000 this year, with two more arb campaigns remaining. Though he has had some struggles in his time in the majors, Ramirez has given the Halos 200 1/3 innings of 4.04 ERA ball and showed he could stick in the rotation in 2017.
- As ever, there are other updates to the Angels rotation mix. Nick Tropeano will beat Ramirez back to the big leagues; as Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register tweets, Tropeano is coming up to pitch today’s ballgame. He was optioned after working back from a shoulder strain, and has been tagged in the run-happy PCL, but the innings are needed now. That’s due in no small part to the issues surrounding Matt Harvey, who just hit the injured list with a back strain after an awful stretch on the hill. Harvey didn’t have much of a timeline to offer reporters, as Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times reports (Twitter link). With more to sort out than an injury, there’s no reason to think Harvey will be rushed back.
- For the Mariners, there are a few incremental health updates of note, as Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times reports (all links to Twitter). Rehabbing relievers Sam Tuivailala and Hunter Strickland are still a ways off. The former, who is working back from Achilles surgery, has come down with dead arm and may need to re-start his rehab rather than heading back to the majors. The latter is readying for his first mound work since leaving with a lat injury earlier this year. Starter Felix Hernandez, who’s on the IL with a shoulder strain, is also nearing mound work. The club is still taking it slow with corner infielder Ryon Healy, who has yet to resume baseball activity after recently hitting the shelf due to a balky lower back. That’s a less promising outlook than had been indicated when he was first sidelined, but the club no doubt hopes to avoid a lingering problem.
- Athletics backstop Chris Herrmann is nearing a rehab assignment, per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter link). Herrmann inked a one-year, $1MM deal over the offseason but hasn’t yet debuted with his new organization owing to knee surgery. It remains to be seen how the Oakland club will manage its roster once Herrmann is ready; Josh Phegley has hit well all year and Nick Hundley has turned it on after a dreadful start. It’s possible the A’s could ultimately carry all three, at least for a stretch, as Herrmann does have experience playing in other parts of the field.
- It still doesn’t seem the Astros have cause for alarm regarding righty Collin McHugh, but he’s not going to be ready to return within the minimum ten-day window. Manager A.J. Hinch tells reporters, including Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link), that McHugh is in need of “a little more down time” to let his elbow stop barking. “He’s played catch a couple days and has not seen any progress,” says Hinch. “He’s not any closer than he was a few days ago.” McHugh has been a bit homer-prone, which explains his rough 6.04 ERA on the year, but otherwise has impressive peripherals. That he has been moved out of the rotation and into a relief role is testament to the depth of the talent on hand in Houston.
Astros To Select Jack Mayfield, Place Aledmys Diaz On IL
The Astros are set to select infielder Jack Mayfield‘s contract from Triple-A Round Rock, Jake Kaplan of The Athletic reports. Mayfield will take the place of fellow infielder Aledmys Diaz, who’s going to the 10-day injured list with a left hamstring strain, and will grab the last open spot on Houston’s 40-man roster.
Mayfield, 28, is finally receiving his first big league call-up six years after joining the Astros as an undrafted free agent in 2013. The former Oklahoma Sooner has seen action at the Triple-A level in each season since 2016, combining for a .262/.320/.452 line with 34 home runs in 970 plate appearances. Mayfield has gotten off to a .283/.362/.572 start with 10 homers in 177 PA this year, which impressed the Astros enough for him to warrant a promotion.
It may be a short-lived Houston stint for Mayfield, who will temporarily fill Diaz’s void as a multi-position infielder. Everyday second baseman Jose Altuve could bump Mayfield off the Astros’ roster when he returns from his own IL stay in the coming days.
Astros Likely To Place Aledmys Diaz On 10-Day IL
A left hamstring strain forced Aledmys Diaz to be removed from the Astros’ lineup during the first inning of today’s game, and manager A.J. Hinch told reporters (including The Athletic’s Jake Kaplan) that the injury is likely to send Diaz to the 10-day injured list. Diaz missed three games last week due to hamstring soreness, and re-aggravated the injury while running the bases today.
Like pretty much everyone on the Astros’ roster this season, Diaz has been enjoying a good year at the plate, hitting .286/.321/.510 with five homers over 109 plate appearances. Houston acquired the 28-year-old utilityman in a trade with Toronto during the offseason, seeing Diaz as an alternative to departing free agent Marwin Gonzalez. Diaz has lived up to that versatile billing, starting at least two games at five different positions (all four infield slots and left field) this year. Much of Diaz’s recent action has come at second base, as he has been filling in for the injured Jose Altuve.
While it hasn’t yet affected their big lead in the AL West, the Astros have been bit by the injury bug over the last few weeks, with Altuve, George Springer, Collin McHugh, Max Stassi, and now Diaz all sidelined. The good news is that Altuve is expected back in a few days’ time, filling one major hole in the club’s lineup. Depending on how long Diaz is out of action, Yuli Gurriel could handle backup shortstop duties behind Carlos Correa, though Gurriel has only played two games at short in his four MLB seasons. Myles Straw is another consideration, as the outfielder has been seeing action at shortstop at Triple-A.