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AL Notes: Cole, Astros, Voit, Jays, Twins, Tigers, Rays

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The Astros remain optimistic that right-hander Gerrit Cole will avoid a stint on the injured list, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com writes. Cole, who has been dealing with hamstring discomfort this week, played catch Friday and will do so again this weekend, manager A.J. Hinch said. Hinch added that the Astros are hopeful the AL Cy Young contender will return near the end of their upcoming series against Detroit, which runs from Monday to Thursday. Meanwhile, righty Brad Peacock could come off the IL as early as Sunday. Peacock had been in the Astros’ rotation before going down with shoulder discomfort June 28, but he’ll revert to his previous role as a reliever when he makes it back to the majors.

Here’s more from around the AL…

  • Yankees first baseman Luke Voit expects to start a Triple-A rehab assignment Thursday, per Jack Curry of the YES Network. Voit has been dealing with core issues since late June, which have forced him to the injured list multiple times and could’ve ended his season. Now, though, Voit “feels he’s in the clear,” Curry writes. He hasn’t suited up for the Yankees in almost three weeks, and they’ve turned to DJ LeMahieu and Mike Ford at first in the absences of Voit and fellow injured Bomber Edwin Encarnacion.
  • Blue Jays outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. is hoping to return from the IL at the end of the month, Scott Mitchell of TSN reports. Gurriel went down Aug. 8 with a strained left quadriceps, cutting off a breakout campaign for the 25-year-old. With a .279/.331/.548 line and 19 home runs in 321 plate appearances, Gurriel has been one of several young Toronto hitters who look as if they’ll be long-term building blocks for the club.
  • Twins left-hander Ian Krol has received a 50-game suspension after his second positive test for a drug of abuse, J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group tweets. Krol last appeared in the majors a year ago with the Angels, though he only threw two innings for the club. He previously received far more MLB work with the Nationals, Tigers and Braves from 2013-17. The 28-year-old has spent this season in Triple-A ball, where he has struggled to a 5.67 ERA with 11.3 K/9 and 4.3 BB/9 in 46 innings between the top affiliates of the Twins and Reds.
  • The Tigers will reinstate righty Jordan Zimmermann from the IL on Saturday, the team announced. Zimmermann will end up missing two weeks with a right cervical spasm. The 33-year-old has missed time with injuries in each season since the Tigers awarded him an five-year, $110MM contract entering 2016. To make matters worse, the former Washington standout hasn’t been productive when healthy since he joined Detroit.
  • The Rays have turned infield prospect Jermaine Palacios into a two-way player – the fourth in their system – according to John Vittas, broadcaster for the High-A Charlotte Stone Crabs. The 23-year-old Palacios fired 95 to 96 mph fastballs during his debut on the mound, Vittas adds. Palacios joined the Rays in their Jake Odorizzi trade with Minnesota prior to last season. While Palacios boasted a decently regarded bat at the time of the deal, he hasn’t hit much since then, which likely played a role in the Rays’ decision to try him as a pitcher.

Blue Jays Claim Beau Taylor

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The Blue Jays have claimed catcher Beau Taylor off waivers from the Athletics, per a club announcement. He’ll begin his tenure with the Toronto organization at Triple-A.

Taylor was likely targeted to bolster the Jays’ catching depth. The team seems likely to continue utilizing Danny Jansen and Reese McGuire at the major-league level for the duration of the present season, barring injury.

Though it’s possible Taylor could end up losing his 40-man roster spot at some point, he may also be retained and given a shot to compete in spring camp next year. The 29-year-old can still be optioned and has produced big offensive numbers this year at Triple-A, with a .257/.408/.461 batting line in 240 plate appearances.

Blue Jays Notes: Smoak, Galvis, Bichette, Catcher

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A day after suggesting that Rowdy Tellez was in line to receive more playing time down than Justin Smoak down the stretch, Blue Jays skipper Charlie Montoyo has walked that assertion back a bit. “Maybe it came out like he’s going to play more than Smoak, but it’s still the same way,” Montoyo told reporters, including Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. “Smoak will DH, play first. I don’t see that much of a difference.” Smoak himself was caught off guard by Montoyo’s initial comments, but the first baseman said Montoyo took him aside in an effort to sort things out. It seems that Smoak and Tellez will share first base/designated hitter duties down the stretch, though Montoyo has no shortage of other players he’ll need to try to work into the mix at DH. Davidi adds that the Blue Jays “seem to have no intention” of placing Smoak on outright waivers in the manner they did with Freddy Galvis, who was claimed by the Reds earlier this week.

More out of Toronto…

  • The Blue Jays didn’t find much in the way of trade interest for Galvis prior to the trade deadline, writes The Toronto Sun’s Ryan Wolstat, but the arrival (and immediate success) of Bo Bichette prompted the club to give the veteran Galvis an opportunity to be claimed by a club that’d play him every day at his natural position. General manager Ross Atkins said the club and Galvis were open and honest with each other leading up to the move. Montoyo effused praise for Galvis’ professionalism and leadership, and teammates such as Lourdes Gurriel Jr. expressed some sadness in seeing Galvis depart. “He taught me a lot, not just to me, to the rest of the guys and I will always carry that with me,” said Gurriel of Galvis. “Freddy’s a huge mentor for any player.” The Reds will now have the ability to exercise Galvis’ $5.5MM club option for the 2020 season, though they’ll also be on the hook for the $1MM buyout should they not decide to bring him back.
  • While Danny Jansen is still the favorite to serve as the Jays’ primary catcher in 2020, TSN’s Scott Mitchell writes that Reese McGuire will be given an opportunity to show he can be a significant piece of the catching puzzle in the season’s final six weeks. Both Jansen and McGuire drew heaps of praise for their defensive prowess from catching coordinator John Schneider, and Jansen indeed ranks among the game’s best backstops in terms of pitch framing, pitch blocking, Defensive Runs Saved and Baseball Prospectus’ fielding runs above average. Jansen has also salvaged what was shaping up to be a miserable season at the plate, hitting .252/.316/.484 dating back to June 1. As Mitchell points out, the Jays have a number of other catching options coming up through the system, giving them some potential trade commodities to address other holes on the club if the Jansen/McGuire pairing is indeed determined to be the long-term catching tandem.

East Notes: Scherzer, Stanton, Jays, Mets

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A look around the majors’ East divisions…

  • Nationals ace Max Scherzer came out of a 32-pitch sim game Tuesday feeling “really good,” Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com relays. If all goes well over the next few days, Scherzer could throw a bullpen session Thursday and then either make a rehab start or return to the Nationals’ rotation Sunday. The three-time Cy Young winner has started just twice for the team over the past month and a half – his most recent outing came on July 25 – because of back problems. Should he return this weekend, he’d be on a limited pitch count, according to manager Dave Martinez.
  • Injured Yankees outfielder Giancarlo Stanton is “up to 75 or 85 percent,” according to manager Aaron Boone (via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). It’s unclear how close Stanton is to returning, though. The former NL MVP has been on the shelf since late July with a knee injury, and he only took 38 plate appearances before then. Somehow, though, the Yankees have thrived this season with basically no contributions from Stanton. Just about every outfielder they’ve plugged in has succeeded, including formerly unspectacular-looking pickups Mike Tauchman and Cameron Maybin.
  • The Blue Jays recalled first baseman Rowdy Tellez from Triple-A Buffalo on Tuesday. The 24-year-old forced his way back by mauling pitchers at the Triple-A level, where he slashed .366/.450/.688 with seven home runs in 109 plate appearances. Tellez wasn’t nearly that good this year in the majors before a mid-July demotion, as he hit .227/.280/.436 with 14 HRs over 286 PA. However, considering they’re looking toward the future, the rebuilding Blue Jays want to see if Tellez can continue his minor league brilliance in their uniform. His promotion could spell bad news for veteran first baseman Justin Smoak, who’s likely to lose playing time to Tellez, manager Charlie Montoyo said Tuesday (via Scott Mitchell of TSN). That doesn’t seem to bode well for the Toronto future of Smoak, a pending free agent.
  • Mets righty Jacob Rhame has undergone ulnar nerve transposition surgery and will miss the rest of the season, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com tweets. The 26-year-old only threw 27 innings between the majors and minors this season, six of which came as a member of the Mets.

Blue Jays Release David Paulino

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The Blue Jays announced that righty David Paulino has cleared release waivers, making him a free agent. He had been designated for assignment recently.

Once a major prospect, the 25-year-old hurler has not developed as hoped. There have been quite a few hiccups along the way, most notably arm injuries and a PED suspension.

Paulino now seems likelier to end up in a big-league relief unit, but he had been functioning as a starter this year at Triple-A. In seven outings this season, he worked to a 3.45 ERA with 8.5 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 over 28 2/3 innings.

Unfortunately, Paulino has missed the bulk of the campaign with an as-yet-unreported health issue. While no organization was willing to utilize a 40-man spot to add him — notably, he won’t be optionable in 2020 — it stands to reason that one will be glad to take a chance on a minors deal.

Reds Claim Freddy Galvis

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The Reds have claimed shortstop Freddy Galvis off waivers from the Blue Jays, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet reports.

This is the second notable waiver claim in the past week for the Reds, who are taking advantage of a system now devoid of an August trade deadline in an attempt to bolster their roster. The Reds grabbed right-hander Kevin Gausman off waivers from the Braves last Monday.

Gausman and Galvis could boost the Reds’ playoff chances this year – they’re five games back of a wild-card spot right now – and will be able to contribute to the club in 2020. In Galvis’ case, he’s on a $4MM salary this year, which the Reds will have to assume the rest of, and can be controlled with a $5.5MM club option (or a $1MM buyout) next season.

Also a former Phillie and Padre, the durable, switch-hitting Galvis, 29, has slashed a respectable .267/.299/.444 (93 wRC+) with 18 home runs and 1.4 fWAR in 473 plate appearances this year. He was expendable to the Blue Jays, who have seen youngsters Bo Bichette and Cavan Biggio come up from the minors this season to grab a stranglehold on their middle infield spots.

The Reds’ middle infield doesn’t boast the type of promise the Blue Jays’ does, on the other hand. Free agent-to-be Jose Iglesias has been dealing with a biceps injury, which has left shortstop of late to the struggling Jose Peraza, and the light-hitting Iglesias’ offensive numbers have largely cratered since a decent start over the season’s first couple months. Meanwhile, having traded Scooter Gennett to the Giants at last month’s deadline, the Reds have turned to a combination of Peraza, Josh VanMeter, Kyle Farmer and Derek Dietrich at the keystone in the past couple weeks. Perhaps Galvis will also factor in at second, though he has spent almost all of his career at short since debuting in 2012.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

East Notes: Red Sox, Mets, Diaz, Rays, Jays

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The Red Sox are going to have to “be creative” in the near future when it comes to drawing up a plan for their floundering rotation, manager Alex Cora said Sunday (via Chad Jennings of The Athletic; subscription required). The club has six days off in the next three weeks, which will enable it to skip certain starters, but there’s no denying Boston’s in trouble. The reigning world champions are what could be an insurmountable 7 1/2 games back of an American League wild-card spot, in part because their rotation has endured a Murphy’s Law year. Chris Sale and Eduardo Rodriguez have arguably been the Red Sox’s best starters, but the former hasn’t been the dominant ace we’ve grown accustomed to watching, and the latter has been more good than great. Meantime, David Price is on the injured list (and went through a horrid stretch before hitting the shelf Aug. 8), former Cy Young winner Rick Porcello has been horrid, and the pre-trade deadline acquisition of Andrew Cashner has blown up in the team’s face.

Here’s more from the East Coast…

  • Despite his ongoing struggles, the sizzling Mets aren’t considering demoting reliever Edwin Diaz to the minors, according to Andy Martino of SNY. The hyped offseason acquisition has surrendered at least one earned run in five of his past six outings, contributing to a horrendous 5.60 ERA in 45 innings on the season. That’s almost four runs higher than the 1.96 ERA the hard-throwing Diaz posted in his final season as a Mariner last year. Most of Diaz’s other numbers have also gone way downhill, though he has still struck out 14.6 batters per nine.
  • The sprained right hand Rays outfielder Tommy Pham is “something he’s going to have to manage” through the end of the season, skipper Kevin Cash said Sunday (via Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times). The Rays don’t expect Pham to land on the injured list, but it seems the sprain has negatively affected his production. He’s just 5 for 30 since suffering the injury, though Pham’s still batting a strong .266/.365/.440 with 16 home runs and 13 steals in 485 plate appearances on the season.
  • Blue Jays executive vice president, business operations Andrew Miller has joined the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings as their chief operating officer, Adam Schefter of ESPN tweets. Miller had been with the Blue Jays since 2016. His familiarity with Jays president of baseball operations Mark Shapiro and general manager Ross Atkins dates back to their time in Cleveland’s front office. For more on the Vikings and the NFL, visit ProFootballRumors.com.

Blue Jays To Select Neil Ramirez, Transfer Ryan Borucki To 60-Day IL

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The Blue Jays will select the contract of right-handed reliever Neil Ramírez, tweets Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. To clear 40-man space for Ramírez, the club has transferred left-hander Ryan Borucki to the 60-day injured list. Reliever Jason Adam was optioned to Triple-A Buffalo to clear active roster space.

While the club considered recalling outfielder Billy McKinney– to the point he was in the clubhouse before today’s game- he’ll remain off the roster for the time being, Davidi adds (via Twitter). The club had been contemplating an IL stint for reliever Ken Giles, but an encouraging game of catch today convinced the club to hold off shelving Giles for the time being.

Ramírez gets the call after pitching just one game for the Jays’ Triple-A affiliate in Buffalo. The 30 year-old signed a minor-league contract just last week after being cut loose by Cleveland. He pitched in 16 games for Cleveland earlier this season, giving up far too many home runs to hold a job in their strong bullpen. While he hasn’t been productive in either of the last two seasons, Ramírez was quite good with the 2014-15 Cubs and still boasts above-average velocity and fastball and curveball spin, so it’s easy to see why the Jays would give him a shot. He’ll make only the prorated portion of the league minimum (Cleveland remains on the hook for the rest of his $1M salary), and can be tendered in arbitration one final season if the Jays like what they see down the stretch.

Adam, a 28 year-old righty, was optioned after five appearances. While he allowed just one run in seven innings in Toronto, he only struck out five against three walks. Like Ramírez, Adam relies on a high-spin four-seam/curveball pairing.

Borucki’s transfer is just a formality. He’s out for the season after a recent bone spur surgery. Before his injury-plagued 2019, the 25 year-old looked like a potential back-end starter for Toronto. He’ll have ample opportunity to claim a job in a rotation in flux next spring.

Closer Updates: Jansen, Giles, Kimbrel

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Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen has received the dreaded “vote of confidence” from skipper Dave Roberts, as detailed in a report from the Orange County Register’s Bill Plunkett. Following a blown save in Friday’s game against Arizona, Jansen has five blown saves in 2019–matching his combined total from 2017 and 2018. Despite the big righty’s career-high 3.83 ERA entering play Saturday, Roberts seemed generally nonplussed at the prospect of a Jansen demotion. “Do I have any concerns? No,” Roberts told Plunkett. “He’s a guy that I know for us to win 11 games in October, we need him. I know he’ll get there.”

As Plunkett points out, Jansen has responded to his 2019 struggles by altering his repertoire. Typically a flamethrower with a 90% usage rate on his cutter, Jansen has implemented a slider at an 11.3% clip in 2019–his highest rate on that offering since 2016. “Certainly throughout the early part of his career, he just overpowered the league and there was some unfamiliarity there. Now you’ve got to continue to evolve,” Roberts said.

More developments from the world of late-inning lynchpins…

  • Blue Jays hurler Ken Giles has been dealing with a balky elbow for several weeks and could end up on the injured list in the coming days. Manager Charlie Montoyo told Scott Mitchell of TSN that Giles’ arm isn’t “bouncing back” after a July cortisone shot that was intended to quell inflammation surrounding the elbow, and admitted that the team is having a “conversation” about what to do next in regard to Giles. At 49-71, the Blue Jays don’t figure to close many relevant ballgames down the season’s homestretch, but it stands to reason that Giles’ lingering injury would be of concern to a Blue Jays front office that opted not to deal the talented closer at July’s trade deadline. Across 37 innings, Giles has logged identically fantastic ERA and FIP marks of 1.95.
  • Cubs closer Craig Kimbrel hit the injured list five days ago with knee inflammation, but he could rejoin the team for this week’s upcoming series with the Phillies, per Gordon Wittenmeyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. Kimbrel is expected to “test” his knee with a bullpen session in Philadelphia, although it is unlikely that he will be activated when first eligible on Wednesday. After Steve Cishek’s IL placement this afternoon, Cubs fans will certainly be clamoring for Kimbrel’s recovery.

East Notes: Scherzer, Voit, Gurriel Jr.

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The Nationals shouldered another late-inning loss at Citi Field last night as Sean Doolittle folded in the ninth for four runs and the loss. Max Scherzer’s return is more vital now than ever for the Nats, but there’s still not a clear timetable for his activation from the injured list. He threw off flat ground yesterday and may follow it up with a bullpen session today, but the Nationals are content being cautious with their ace, per MASN’s Byron Kerr (via Twitter). Joe Ross has stepped up in Scherzer’s absence with back-to-back scoreless outings on the road. Lowering a 9.85 ERA to 6.75 over the course of two starts must feel pretty good for Ross, but Scherzer’s health remains Washington’s focus. When he does return, Washington will decide between Ross and Erick Fedde for the fifth starter spot. Let’s head to the American League for a couple of health updates…

  • Yankees first baseman Luke Voit is doing his best to return to the team, but there won’t be a clear timeline until he resumes baseball activities, per George A. King III of the New York Post.  He is running now, but hernia surgery remains a possibility for the 28-year-old Missouri native. Voit built upon his surprising 2018 breakout with more of the same this season. In roughly one season’s worth of playing time between this year and last, Voit appeared in 141 games for 577 plate appearances with a .291/.393/.545 line, 34 home runs and 90 RBIs. With a batting champion taking over for Voit at first (DJ LeMahieu) and another unearthed offensive marvel covering for him at third (Gio Urshela), the Yankees aren’t exactly suffering in Voit’s absence. With a 9 1/2 game lead in the division, they are willing to wait out Voit’s injury in the hopes that he can avoid season-ending surgery.
  • The Blue Jays are placing outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. on the 10-day injured list, as Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca tweets. He has been diagnosed with a quadriceps strain. Gurriel is one of the many MLB legacies making waves in Toronto this season with an overall batting line of .279/.331/.548 with 19 home runs. Gurriel Jr. struggled early in the season to the point of being sent back to Triple-A, but since returning from a six-week exile in Buffalo, Yuli’s little brother has looked like an All-Star, hitting .295/.344/.591 with all 19 of his home runs coming since his return. The Blue Jays are rapidly putting together a lineup worth talking about, and Gurriel Jr. is no small part of their future.
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