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Health Notes: S. Gray, K. Calhoun, Jays, Tigers, Astros

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Reds right-hander Sonny Gray doesn’t appear far from making his 2021 debut. Gray will throw a simulated game Saturday, and if that goes well, he’ll start for the Reds next week, C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic tweets. Gray has been behind schedule for about a month because of a back injury, thus robbing the Reds of one of their top starters. The 31-year-old has thrived with the Reds since they acquired him from the Yankees before 2019, having recorded a 3.07 ERA with a 29.4 percent strikeout rate and a groundball percentage of 50.9 over 231 1/3 innings.

  • The Diamondbacks activated outfielder Kole Calhoun from the 10-day injured list before their game against Cincinnati on Friday. Calhoun had been on the shelf for over a month after undergoing surgery on a torn right meniscus. He was a vital part of the Diamondbacks’ offense last season, when he batted .226/.338/.526 with 16 home runs in 228 trips to the plate.
  • Angels outfielder Dexter Fowler departed their game Friday with a left knee contusion, per the team. Fowler left on a cart after stepping awkwardly on second base, though manager Joe Maddon indicated afterward that he dodged a serious injury. Fowler has been the Angels’ primary choice in right field this year, and if he does need to sit out for an extended period of time, they have Jared Walsh, Juan Lagares and Jose Rojas on hand as potential subs on their MLB roster.
  • The Blue Jays sent Tyler Chatwood to the 10-day IL on Friday with right triceps inflammation, per Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. Chatwood,  a former Angel, Rockie and Cub whom the Blue Jays signed to a $3MM guarantee in the offseason, has thrown 2 2/3 scoreless innings this year with three strikeouts.
  • The Tigers scratched righty Julio Teheran from his start Friday because of tightness in his triceps. The team replaced Teheran with lefty Derek Holland, who surrendered three earned runs in 2 2/3 frames in a loss to Cleveland. It’s unclear whether Teheran will miss any more time. The Tigers signed Teheran to a non-guaranteed deal in the wake of a terrible 2020 with the Angels, and after earning a roster spot with Detroit during the spring, he debuted with a five-inning, one-run performance in a win over Cleveland last Saturday.
  • The Astros placed righty reliever Enoli Paredes on the 10-day IL and recalled fellow righty Nivaldo Rodriguez, the team announced. Paredes’ placement on the IL was expected after he left his appearance Thursday with discomfort in his side.

NL Injury Notes: Wong, Akiyama, Goldy, Davis

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Brewers second baseman Kolten Wong departed the team’s game against the Cardinals on Thursday after re-aggravating his left oblique, manager Craig Counsell told Andrew Wagner of the Wisconsin State Journal and other reporters. It’s the same issue that kept Wong from playing Wednesday, and Counsell said (via Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) there’s a “distinct possibility” that he’ll require a trip to the injured list. Wong, previously with St. Louis, joined the Brewers on a two-year, $18MM contract during the offseason. If he does have to miss time shortly into his Brewers tenure, it would be another blow to the middle infield depth of a team that traded Orlando Arcia to Atlanta earlier this week. The Brewers did add veteran Dee Strange-Gordon on a minor league contract Thursday, though Daniel Robertson – who replaced Wong when he exited – would be the favorite to handle most of the reps at the keystone.

  • The Reds are planning to have Shogo Akiyama back with the team in early-to-mid May, C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic reports (via Twitter). Akiyama started slowly for the Red last season, but he was able to adjust and post a strong second half. At least so far, however, the Reds have managed just fine without him. Tyler Naquin has helped fill the void with a massive start to the season. With Nick Senzel, Jesse Winker, Nick Castellanos, and Aristides Aquino on the roster, the Reds are in no real hurry to upset the apple cart, so to speak.
  • Paul Goldschmidt was scratched from today’s Cardinals game because of lower back tightness, per MLB.com’s Zachary Silver (via Twitter). The move was precautionary, so presumably the Cardinals don’t expect this to lead to an IL placement. Manager Mike Shildt said after the game that Goldschmidt’s day to day, and the Cardinals will know more about his status Friday, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News tweets.
  • The Mets received some good news on J.D. Davis. X-rays came back negative on his bruised left hand, Tim Healey of Newsday relays (via Twitter). Davis does not appear to be headed to the injured list, though he remained out of the lineup for the Mets’ home opener today. Jonathan Villar took his place at the hot corner. Villar got the start at third base today for the first time since 2016. Luis Guillorme would also be in line to see a bump in playing time while Davis is on the shelf. It’s not clear, however, how much time Davis will miss.

Rays Place Kevin Kiermaier On Injured List, Claim Deivy Grullon Off Waivers

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3:23pm: Kiermaier expects to miss a few weeks, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets.

1:52pm: The Rays on Tuesday announced that they’ve placed center fielder Kevin Kiermaier on the 10-day injured list due to a left quadriceps strain and claimed catcher Deivy Grullon off waivers from the Reds. Infielder Kevin Padlo was recalled to take Kiermaier’s spot on the roster, while righty Chaz Roe was transferred to the 60-day IL to open a 40-man spot for Grullon. Roe is expected to miss as many as 12 weeks with a shoulder strain.

Grullon, 24, has made extremely brief appearances in the Majors with both the Phillies (2019) and Red Sox (2020) over the past two seasons. In 13 plate appearances, he’s collected two hits, including a double, with a walk and three punchouts. There’s little to glean from such a small sample, but Grullon carries a .283/.354/.496 slash in 457 Triple-A plate appearances and a .264/.302/.494 line in a similar body of work in Double-A. He also went 2-for-13 with a pair of homers and two walks during Spring Training with Cincinnati, but the Reds designated him for assignment when claiming fellow catcher Beau Taylor recently.

Kiermaier, 30, exited last night’s game with tightness in his quad, leading to today’s IL placement. It’s not yet clear how much time he’s expected to miss, though the Rays will surely provide additional updates on his expected recovery as they’re available.

This it the latest in a mounting series of injuries for Kiermaier, an ultra-talented defender with a tantalizing combination of power and speed but questionable durability. Over the past five seasons, Kiermaier has missed time with a fractured hand, a fractured hip, a ligament tear in his right thumb, a sprain in his other thumb and now this latest quadriceps issue. In all, he’s missed almost exactly one third of the Rays’ total games since Opening Day 2016.

Padlo, 24, is a right-handed-hitting corner infielder with impressive power who ranked 20th among Rays farmhands prior to the season, according to Baseball America. He slashed .265/.389/.538 in 432 plate appearances between Double-A and Triple-A back in 2019 and went 2-for-12 with a homer and six strikeouts this spring. BA’s scouting report pegs him as a solid defender at third but also a likely platoon bat — though the Rays have no trouble maximizing their return on such skill sets.

NL Notes: Reds/Cardinals Brawl, Castellanos, Padres, Baez

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Outfielder Nick Castellanos was issued a two-game suspension for his part in Saturday’s brawl between the Reds and Cardinals, the league announced.  Castellanos was the only player suspended, and he is appealing his two-game ban.  Fines were issued to three players on each team — the Reds’ Castellanos, Jesse Winker and Eugenio Suarez, and the Cardinals’ Jordan Hicks, Yadier Molina, and Nolan Arenado.

The incident developed after Cards pitcher Jake Woodford hit Castellanos with a pitch during a fourth-inning at-bat.  Castellanos wasn’t pleased by the HBP, and picked up the ball and held it in Woodford’s direction as he went to first base.  Later in the inning, Castellanos scored from third on a wild pitch, and celebrated the run by standing over Woodford (who was covering home plate) and flexing.  This led to the benches clearing, and a lot of shoving and heated words between the two NL Central rivals.

More from the division….

  • The Padres hope to have Trent Grisham back in center field when they travel to play the Rangers on April 9, manager Jayce Tingler told Jim Duquette of MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (via Twitter).  Grisham has been out of action since suffering a hamstring strain during a Spring Training game on March 11, though he did play in some simulated games at the end of camp.  Austin Nola isn’t quite as far along in his rehab from a fractured left middle finger, but he could soon get some plate appearances at the Padres’ alternate training site.
  • The Cubs drafted Javier Baez with the ninth overall pick of the 2011 draft, a selection that has proven to be a winner even though Baez was one of many notable players taken in an unusually star-studded first round.  As Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune writes, the Cubs were set on Baez as their pick, though they were eyeing Jose Fernandez and C.J. Cron as Plan B options if Baez was selected by one of the eight teams picking in front of Chicago.  Tim Wilken, the Cubs’ director of amateur scouting at the time, said that the club would have taken Baez even if another star shortstop prospect in Francisco Lindor was still on the board — it ended up being a moot point, as Cleveland took Lindor with the eighth overall pick, just ahead of Baez and the Cubs at ninth.

Injury Notes: Elieser, Brantley, Bracho, Senzel

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Marlins righty Elieser Hernandez left today’s start in the third inning due to what the team described as “inflammation in his right biceps tendon.”  Hernandez experienced a big velocity drop after his previous two innings of work, and manager Don Mattingly told reporters (including MLB.com’s Christina De Nicola) that he initially thought it could be a recurrence of the blister problem that has bothered Hernandez in the past.  Mattingly didn’t have any updates about Hernandez’s status after the game, other than to say “obviously, it’s something that we’ll have to be careful with.”

After posting a 3.16 ERA over the small sample size of 25 2/3 innings in 2020, Hernandez was being eyed by the Marlins as a candidate for a much more extended breakout this year.  However, with Hernandez now possibly sidelined and Sixto Sanchez and prospect Edward Cabrera already nursing injuries, Miami already finds itself short on pitching depth.  The Marlins have a bit of flexibility due to off-days both tomorrow and on April 9, but with Hernandez possibly facing an IL stint, De Nicola suggests the club could again look to acquire some veteran starting depth to replace the recently-retired Gio Gonzalez.

More injury updates from around baseball…

  • X-rays were negative on Michael Brantley’s right wrist after the Astros slugger was hit by a pitch from Oakland’s Cole Irvin today.  Brantley remained in the game to play left field in the bottom half of the inning, but was replaced by pinch-hitter Chas McCormick the next inning when it was Brantley’s next turn at the plate.  Manager Dusty Baker told MLB.com’s Alyson Footer and other reporters that the team initially feared a much worse injury: “I went out to talk to Michael, he couldn’t feel his fingers….He’ll probably be sore for a couple days.  He couldn’t turn the bat head over so he’s day to day until then.”  McCormick was playing in just his second career big league game today, though on a Houston club that was already lacking in outfield depth, McCormick looks to be the top fill-in option if Brantley has to miss a significant amount of time.
  • Right-hander Silvino Bracho suffered a left oblique strain in his final spring outing, Giants manager Gabe Kapler told Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group and other reporters.  Bracho is back playing catch but he will kept off a mound for the next 7-10 days.  The oblique problem represents yet another health setback for Bracho, who missed all of 2019 recovering from Tommy John surgery and then pitched only a single inning in 2020 due to both a setback in his TJ recovery and then a positive COVID-19 diagnosis.  With 89 2/3 total MLB innings on his resume, Bracho had spent his entire pro career in the Diamondbacks organization before signing a minor league deal with the Giants during the offseason.
  • Nick Senzel left the Reds’ first game of the season due to a shoulder injury, but the outfielder returned to action today as a midgame defensive substitution.  He also received one plate appearance in the Reds’ 9-6 victory over the Cardinals.  There was certainly reason to fear the worst given Senzel’s lengthy injury history, though manager David Bell told reporters (including the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Charlie Goldsmith) that Senzel’s issue was “nothing serious” and that Senzel could be “back in the lineup in a matter of a day or two.”

Reds Claim Beau Taylor, Designate Deivy Grullon

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The Reds have claimed catcher Beau Taylor off waivers from the Indians, and designated catcher Deivy Grullon for assignment.  Taylor will be optioned to the Reds’ alternate training site.  The club also announced that right-hander Edgar Garcia is also headed for the alternate training site, as Garcia (who was designated for assignment earlier this week) has cleared waivers and been outrighted off the 40-man roster.

The 31-year-old Taylor is moving onto his fourth different organization in as many seasons, with an MLB resume that includes 25 games with Oakland, Toronto, and Cleveland.  Originally a fifth-round pick for the Athletics back in 2011, Taylor has only a .492 OPS over 60 big league appearances, but a much more respectable .256/.373/.385 slash line in 798 PA at the Triple-A level.  Cincinnati now has both Taylor and Rocky Gale at the alternate site as depth options while top prospect Tyler Stephenson and utilityman Kyle Farmer are handling backup catcher duties behind Tucker Barnhart on the big league roster.

Grullon was himself a waiver claim acquisition for the Reds, selected away from the Red Sox back in December.  Grullon has appeared in five total Major League games — four with the Phillies in 2019 and one with the Red Sox in 2020 — and 606 minor league games in a pro career that began back in 2013.  The 25-year-old didn’t hit much until the 2018 and 2019 seasons, and Grullon has delivered a .283/.354/.496 slash line over 457 Triple-A plate appearances.  Considering this resume and Grullon’s well-regarded throwing arm, it’s quite possible another team could pluck Grullon off the waiver wire.

Reds Designate Edgar Garcia, Select Jonathan India

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The Reds announced this morning that they’ve selected the contract of infielder Jonathan India and cleared a spot on the 40-man roster by designating right-hander Edgar Garcia for assignment. Cincinnati also activated Joey Votto from the injured list and optioned Max Schrock and Mark Payton to the alternate training site. Right-hander Sonny Gray (back injury) and outfielder Shogo Akiyama (hamstring strain) were both placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to March 29, as expected.

Garcia, 24, had a nice spring with the Reds but now could be headed elsewhere before ever playing in a regular-season game for them. Signed to a non-guaranteed big league deal over the winter, Garcia held opponents to a pair of runs on five hits and three walks with eight strikeouts through 7 1/3 Cactus League innings. He struggled with the Phillies and Rays in the Majors from 2019-20 — 6.17 ERA, 16 percent walk rate — but Garcia has posted strong ERAs with very good strikeout and walk rates in both Double-A and Triple-A. He has a minor league option remaining, which could attract the interest of another team.

None of the other moves announced Thursday were unexpected. Cincinnati confirmed what had long been apparent yesterday when declaring that India, the No. 5 overall draft pick in 2018, had made their Opening Day roster. He’s expected to serve as their primary second baseman.

Quick Hits: Strange-Gordon, Seager, Universal DH, MLBTR Origins

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Utilityman Dee Strange-Gordon has turned down multiple minor-league offers since being released by the Reds last week, reports Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic (Twitter link). It seems that Strange-Gordon would rather work out independently in hopes that a more direct path back to the majors presents itself as team needs arise during the season. Cincinnati was one of the teams that offered Strange-Gordon a new minor-league opportunity after he failed to crack their Opening Day roster, Rosenthal reports.

More from around baseball:

  • Extension negotiations with Francisco Lindor and Carlos Correa have drawn plenty of headlines in recent days. Things have been rather quiet regarding another impending free agent star shortstop, Corey Seager. The Dodgers did make some effort to work out a long-term deal with Seager this spring, reports Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter link). Those discussions apparently didn’t get very far, as Heyman notes Seager “will enter the (regular) season without an extension.”
  • There is no expectation of a universal designated hitter for the 2021 season, Heyman reiterates (Twitter link). That has been the case for several weeks but Padres’ right-hander Yu Darvish caught the attention of some fans when he told reporters (including Scott Miller) this afternoon he had “all the trust” the National League DH would be in play this year. MLB and the MLBPA agreed to an expanded playoff format covering the 2020 season mere hours before first pitch on Opening Day last summer, fueling some (unsubstantiated) speculation of a similar last-minute agreement on playoff expansion and the universal DH for 2021 as well.
  • MLBTradeRumors founder Tim Dierkes recently sat down for an interview with Michael Wall of Too Opinionated. Dierkes looked back on the origins of MLBTR and shed some light on the site’s long-term progression and day-to-day management. Wall and Dierkes also discussed their expectations for the upcoming season, the top players still available in free agency, the role of advanced metrics in baseball, and much more.

Jonathan India Makes Reds’ Roster

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The Reds announced Wednesday that 2018 No. 5 overall draft pick Jonathan India has made their Opening Day roster. He’ll need to be added to the Reds’ 40-man roster to make the move official.

At this point, India winning a spot shouldn’t come as a surprise. It’s been apparent that the Reds expected him to play a prominent role in their infield since the club decided to move Eugenio Suarez back to shortstop and slide Mike Moustakas over to third base. India will likely open the season as Cincinnati’s everyday second baseman on the heels of a .313/.441/.604 showing through 59 spring plate appearances.

Headed into the 2019 season, the now-24-year-old India ranked among the game’s Top 100 prospects at Baseball America, MLB.com, Baseball Prospectus and FanGraphs. At the time, India was regarded as a potential above-average defender at the hot corner who also possessed an above-average hit tool and above-average to plus raw power. His stock has tumbled a bit since then, however, despite a solid showing between two pitcher-friendly levels in 2019 — .259/.365/.402 between Class-A Advanced and Double-A. He still ranks third among Reds farmhands at Baseball America, fifth at MLB.com and seventh at FanGraphs.

India hasn’t shown much of that raw power since being drafted, although he’s of course only had one full minor league season due to last year’s circumstances. He still has just 145 plate appearances of Double-A experience under his belt and none in Triple-A, so he’ll be making a fairly substantial leap to the big leagues with today’s announcement. That said, India did homer three times and collect five doubles in his 59 Cactus League plate appearances, and his power could be aided by playing his home games at Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park. At the very least, he gives the Reds an intriguing collection of bats in the infield, even if there are some questions surrounding the group’s defensive outlook.

Reds Return Rule 5 Selection Kyle Holder To Yankees

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The Reds have returned Rule 5 Draft pick Kyle Holder to the Yankees, according to announcements from both teams. The Yankees subsequently assigned the infielder to their alternate training site.

It was actually the Phillies who used a Rule 5 selection on Holder last December, but they wound up trading him to the Reds for cash considerations in late January. The 26-year-old went on to total 32 at-bats in spring training with the Reds, but despite a solid on-base percentage (.350), he hit for little average (.219) or power (.250 slugging percentage).

Originally a first-round pick of the Yankees, who took him 30th overall in the 2015 amateur draft, Holder hasn’t climbed above the Double-A level yet. He did hit well there in 2019, though, as he slashed .265/.336/.405 with nine home runs, seven stolen bases and a 13.8 percent strikeout rate in 472 plate appearances. But Holder’s at his best in the field, where he has experience at both middle infield spots and third base. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen wrote after the Rule 5 Draft that Holder “can absolutely pick it at shortstop,” adding he could turn into a defense-first utility player in the majors.

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