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Central Notes: Twins, Reds, Senzel, Tigers

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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.

Ehire Adrianza Suffers Oblique Strain

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Twins utilityman Ehire Adrianza left the team’s game against the Nationals on Thursday with a right oblique strain, Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com was among those to report. Considering oblique strains often lead to weeks-long absences, it’s possible this will end Adrianza’s season.

A lengthy absence for Adrianza would count as yet another unfortunate late-season development in a growing line of them for Minnesota. Even though the club’s 89-56 and seemingly on its way to an American League Central title, it has absorbed multiple blows in recent days. Right-hander Michael Pineda won’t pitch again this year as a result of a 60-game suspension, while center fielder Byron Buxton’s season is done thanks to shoulder surgery.

Adrianza probably isn’t as important to the Twins’ cause as Pineda or Buxton, but the 30-year-old has nonetheless been a solid contributor this season. The switch-hitting Adrianza has slashed a career-best .272/.349/.416 (102 wRC+) with five home runs in 236 trips to the plate. On the other side, Adrianza has amassed 20-plus appearances at three infield positions – first, third and short – and has also seen time at second and in the corner outfield. Fortunately for the Twins, they do have other prominent versatile options, which is among the reasons they’re in the catbird seat in the AL Central. Luis Arraez and Marwin Gonzalez, for instance, can each handle multiple spots with aplomb, though the latter’s dealing with an injury in his own right. The Twins subbed in the just-selected Ronald Torreyes for Adrianza at short on Thursday.

Michael Pineda Hopes To Stay With Twins

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Even though the AL Central-leading Twins are well on their way to a playoff berth, the 2019 season is already in the rearview mirror for one of their top starters, Michael Pineda. Major League Baseball hit the right-hander with a 60-game suspension last weekend after he tested positive for the diuretic hydrochlorothiazide, which is on its list of banned substances. It’s a costly ban for Pineda, writes the Star Tribune’s Phil Miller, who explains that the 30-year-old will surrender a substantial amount of money. He’s out the rest of his $8MM salary this season ($984K), could lose as much as $1.5MM in bonuses and won’t collect any of his salary during the rest of his suspension in 2020 (39 games).

The question now is where Pineda, a pending free agent, will pitch next season. The former Mariner and Yankee joined the Twins on a two-year, $10MM contract in December 2017, at which point he was recovering from Tommy John surgery. Pineda didn’t pitch in the majors at all last year as a result, but he made an impressive return this season before his misdeed sent him to the shelf. He concluded his campaign with 146 innings of 4.01 ERA/4.02 FIP pitching and 8.63 K/9 against 1.73 BB/9.

If not for his ban, Pineda would have been a strong bet to land a quality payday on the open market during the upcoming winter. It’s conceivable he’ll still get one, but regardless, Pineda’s hopeful he’ll stay in Minnesota, according to Miller. While Pineda wants to re-sign with the Twins, he noted he doesn’t “have control over that. We’ll let time decide that.”

For now, Pineda – who expressed contrition over his suspension – will continue to hang around the team as it tries to win its first World Series title since 1991. It’s going to be all the more difficult to accomplish that feat without Pineda, though, and it’s possible his ill-timed suspension will turn the Twins’ hierarchy off of the concept of re-signing him. On the other hand, however, starting pitching’s going to be an obvious need for the Twins in the offseason, which could steer them toward a Pineda reunion.

The lone full-time starter on the Twins who’s set to return next year is their No. 1 option, Jose Berrios. Pineda, Kyle Gibson and Jake Odorizzi – who have each been effective over a combined 81 starts – are all slated to reach free agency. Martin Perez could join them, though the Twins will first have to decide whether to exercise his $7.5MM club option or buy him out for $500K.

Twins Select Ronald Torreyes

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The Twins have selected the contract of infielder Ronald Torreyes. Also heading onto the active roster is righty Kyle Gibson, who was activated from the injured list.

Torreyes will come up to help fill in for some missing pieces. He’ll take the 40-man spot vacated when outfielder Byron Buxton was placed on the 60-day injured list.

This’ll be the first time that Torreyes has appeared in the big leagues this season after seeing action in each of the past four campaigns. He’s a .281/.310/.375 lifetime hitter in the majors. In 330 plate appearances this year at Triple-A, he has turned in only a .256/.289/.406 batting line.

Byron Buxton To Undergo Labrum Surgery

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Twins center fielder Byron Buxton is undergoing surgery to fix his left (non-throwing) shoulder labrum, skipper Rocco Baldelli told reporters including Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press (via Twitter). That’ll obviously end his 2019 season.

It had emerged earlier today that some kind of surgical outcome was likely. But this still represents a major development in the situation. Precise details of Buxton’s procedure remain unknown — and will depend upon what’s found by surgeons — but the baseline expectation is of a five-to-six-month recovery process. (Via Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com, on Twitter.)

Spring Training will begin in mid-February of 2020. That’ll be right at the six-month mark from today’s procedure. Depending upon the severity of the damage, extent of the work, and course of rehab, it seems Buxton’s full availability at the outset of camp is possible but hardly assured.

The Twins will be gathering information on Buxton’s progress and outlook throughout the rehab process. But the club is going to have to account for the uncertainty in some manner. Just how it might impact the offseason decisionmaking remains to be seen.

As we examined further in the above-linked story, this news will force the Twins into a sub-optimal outfield alignment down the stretch and into the postseason. It takes a player out of the mix who had been playing at a 5 to 6 WAR full-season pace. Looking forward, Buxton’s limited playing time will limit his ability to secure a big raise on top of his current salary of $1.75MM, though his strong offensive numbers will certainly support a bump. A Super Two qualifier this year, Buxton remains eligible to go through the arb process three more times.

Baldelli: Twins “Bracing” For Possibility That Buxton Won’t Return In 2019

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12:55pm: It “sounds like” Buxton is slated to undergo surgery this afternoon, tweets Darren Wolfson of SKOR North 1500 AM.

12:25pm: The Twins have been playing without Byron Buxton in a full-time capacity since Aug. 1 thanks to a shoulder injury, and manager Rocco Baldelli indicated today on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM that the organization is “bracing” for the news that Buxton won’t return in 2019 (Twitter link, with audio).

“Surgery is an option here,” said Baldelli after relaying that Buxton saw a specialist in California this week. “We’re basically sitting down and bracing for the realization that this could be his season ending right now. We basically are going to see what it looks like going forward. ’Buck’ is an enormous part of what we do here. The contributions he makes on the field are fantastic, obviously — he’s one of the best defenders in the world. That being said, the energy he brings and the lift that he brings to the team is also huge.”

Buxton indeed ranks as one of the premier defenders in the sport, regardless of position. His 10 Defensive Runs Saved rank sixth among Major League center fielders despite having played fewer innings than anyone ahead of him, and his overall Ultimate Zone Rating (+8.8) ranks 10th among all fielders at any position. He also places fourth in Statcast’s Outs Above Average metric (+12) despite fewer chances than the three players ahead of him: Victor Robles, Kevin Kiermaier and Lorenzo Cain. Of course, the reckless abandon with which Buxton plays the outfield both contributes to his penchant for rangy, highlight-reel plays and puts him at greater risk for injury; his current shoulder subluxation was sustained when crashing into the center field wall at Marlins Park more than a month ago.

Beyond his defensive prowess, Buxton has enjoyed some pronounced improvement at the plate. In 295 plate appearances, he’s turned in a .262/.313/.513 slash with 10 home runs, 30 doubles, four triples and 14 stolen bases (in 17 attempts). Buxton’s speed has allowed him to rack up more doubles than singles (27) on the season, and his 23.1 percent strikeout rate is down nearly seven percent from a season ago. In all, he’s been worth 2.7 wins above replacement, per Fangraphs, and 3.2 WAR, per Baseball-Reference, in less than a half season’s worth of plate appearances. Needless to say, his loss absence has been profoundly felt by the Twins.

If Buxton is indeed lost for the year, Baldelli suggests that Max Kepler will continue to man center field on a regular basis for Minnesota. That’s a drop-off from a defensive standpoint, but perhaps not to the extent one would think. Kepler has been strong in center himself this season (+4 DRS, +3.1 UZR in 452 innings), and he’s tied for 13th among 93 qualified outfielders with seven outs above average, per Statcast. Losing Buxton fotr the balance of the 2019 season and postseason would likely mean mixing and matching with Jake Cave, Marwin Gonzalez and LaMonte Wade Jr. in right field, with Eddie Rosario continuing as the primary left fielder.

Buxton’s bounceback season at the dish will surely benefit him in arbitration this winter, when he’ll be due for a raise on this year’s $1.75MM salary. However, his general lack of plate appearances and another season truncated by injury will also prevent him from maximizing his earnings in that process. The Twins control Buxton through the 2022 season.

MRI On Max Kepler Comes Back Clean

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Sept. 9: Kepler’s MRI didn’t reveal any structural damage, tweets Darren Wolfson of SKOR North 1500. He’s dealing with inflammation in his left shoulder but has seemingly avoided a major injury, which is obviously a sigh relief for the Twins and their fans. There’s still no clear timeline on Kepler’s return to the lineup.

Sept. 8: Max Kepler left the Twins’ 5-2 loss to the Indians today after just one inning, as the outfielder was feeling discomfort in his left shoulder and scapula after an at-bat in the bottom of the first.  As MLB.com’s Do-Hyoung Park described it, “Kepler appeared to swing awkwardly” during the plate appearance, which resulted in a pop-up to Cleveland starter Mike Clevinger.  Kepler didn’t return to right field for the top of the second.

This marks the second time in less than a week that the issue has forced Kepler to make an early exit from a game, and these shoulder/scapula problems have been bothering the outfielder for months, as he told Park and other reporters after the game.  The injury has become worse in recent days, which Kepler felt could have been due to aggravating his shoulder while making throws.  Kepler said the soreness is “concerning,” and will undergo an MRI to investigate the problem on Monday.

Kepler has just four hits over his last 32 plate appearances, so it isn’t surprising to learn that this nagging problem has become a greater issue.  For now, he is just listed as day-to-day, joining a number of notable Twins players battling the injury bug.  As Park notes, the club is already trying to get by without Nelson Cruz (wrist), Miguel Sano (back), Marwin Gonzalez (oblique), Byron Buxton (shoulder) and Sam Dyson (biceps), not to mention the permanent loss of Michael Pineda for the remainder of the season due to a PED suspension.

If Kepler has to miss time, Minnesota’s outfield depth will consist of regular Eddie Rosario and then a host of second-choice options, such as utilitymen Luis Arraez and Ehire Adrianza, Jake Cave, the newly-acquired Ryan LaMarre, and rookies LaMonte Wade Jr. and Ian Miller.  On the plus side, the Twins still have a 5.5 game lead over the Indians in the AL Central, though they face the Tribe in Cleveland in a big three-game set next weekend.

Kepler has been in the midst of a breakout season, hitting .252/.337/.522 with 36 homers over 587 PA.  The 26-year-old has reached new personal bests in just about every major offensive category, making the five-year, $35MM extension the Twins reached with Kepler in February look like an even cannier investment for the club.

Quick Hits: Astros, Correa, Suzuki, Haniger, Buxton

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The Astros will move forward with a four-man rotation for the remaining 18 games of the season, according to Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. Between Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole, Zack Greinke, and Wade Miley, Houston’s club features perhaps the most formidable rotation in baseball, and the team will start gearing up for postseason play by trotting out what projects to be its playoff rotation. As McTaggart notes, the schedule lines up such that the fifth spot in the rotation will only come up twice more, leaving each of the Stros’ four starters to make four more appearances while manager A.J. Hinch will have to patch together two bullpen days. Meanwhile, lefty Framber Valdez will pitch out of the bullpen for the last few weeks of the year. The young lefty has toggled between the rotation and the bullpen throughout the year, and results have been decidedly better as a reliever: he’s posted a 3.90 ERA out of the bullpen, compared to an unsightly 7.07 mark as a starter.

Here are some other notes from around the baseball landscape…

  • Also from Houston, injured Astros shortstop Carlos Correa, currently on the injured list experiencing back soreness, took batting practice at Minute Maid Park today, tweets McTaggart—the first time he’s done so since the injury. He also took ground balls on the field, indicating that the 24-year-old could embark on a rehab assignment in the next few days. However, it’s worth mentioning that the Astros’ two active minor-league affiliates could be eliminated from postseason play before Correa can join them, in which case the star shortstop would have to settle for live batting practice. All things considered, it’s a positive sign that one of the team’s cornerstones could return in time for the postseason.
  • Nationals catcher Kurt Suzuki underwent an MRI Sunday morning after feeling some discomfort in his right elbow last night, per the Washington Post’s Jesse Dougherty. In a later update, Dougherty tweets that the MRI showed nothing more than inflammation in the elbow, leaving Suzuki day-to-day. Presumably, Suzuki will be good to go for the beginning of the Nats’ series in Minnesota. Suzuki missed Sunday’s series finale against the Braves and he will enjoy an off day Monday before kicking off a series against the Twins on Tuesday. Suzuki, who’s slugged 16 home runs this year, has combined with the Yan Gomes to form a solid catching duo for the playoff-hopeful Nationals. It seems that the Nationals got the best possible news regarding Suzuki’s elbow, which shouldn’t necessitate an extended absence for the veteran.
  • The chances of Mariners star outfielder Mitch Haniger returning this season look to be fading, tweets Greg Johns of MLB.com. The 28-year-old received a second opinion on his strained lower back, which set back his recovery from a ruptured testicle suffered earlier this year. Those injuries have limited the All-Star to just 63 games this year, a number that likely won’t budge after that second opinion yielded no new information. It seems that at this point, there would need to be a unexpected breakthrough in order for Haniger to see the field again in 2019.
  • Twins center fielder Byron Buxton, who hasn’t made a plate appearance since August 1 thanks to a left shoulder injury, may not hit again this season, manager Rocco Baldelli told reporters including Dan Hayes of the Athletic. The oft-injured outfielder is set to travel to California to visit a shoulder specialist. While we’ll have to wait and see what comes of that, Buxton may be henceforth limited to a role as a pinch-runner and late-inning defensive substitute. It’s an unfortunate development given Buxton’s progress as a hitter: in 2019, he’s enjoyed the best offensive season of his career, slashing .262/.314/.513 with ten home runs in just 87 games.

 

Twins Acquire Ryan LaMarre

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The Twins announced they have acquired outfielder Ryan LaMarre from the Braves in exchange for cash considerations. He’ll be added to the club’s 40-man roster, tweets Dan Hayes of the Athletic. As Hayes notes, LaMarre won’t be postseason-eligible as a player acquired from outside the organization after September 1. Nevertheless, LaMarre is still eligible to be traded because he signed a minor-league contract with the Braves’ organization. As we’ve discussed at MLBTR in the past, the July 31 trade deadline applies only to players on major-league contracts.

It’ll be the second Twins stint for the 30 year-old, who got into 43 games with Minnesota last season before they designated him for assignment. After wrapping up 2018 with the White Sox, LaMarre was cut loose and sent back to the open market, where he signed with the Braves on the aforementioned minor-league pact last November. LaMarre was productive for the Braves Triple-A affiliate in Gwinnett, slashing .311/.380/.477, albeit with a .416 BABIP. He also started 44 games in center field for the Stripers, so he’ll give the Twins a center field capable depth piece for the regular season’s final month.

LaMarre will take the 40-man spot of Michael Pineda, who was suspended for the rest of the season yesterday.

Michael Pineda Receives 60-Game PED Suspension

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Minnesota Twins right-handed pitcher Michael Pineda has been suspended for 60 games for violating MLB’s drug policy, reports Jon Heyman of MLB Network. He’ll miss the remainder of the season and is not eligible for postseason play.

Per Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com, the 30-year-old Pineda tested positive for hydrochlorothiazide, a diuretic on MLB’s list of banned substances. Though that diuretic itself is not a performance-enhancing drug, it is often used in conjunction with PEDs for a masking effect. ESPN’s Jeff Passan adds that Pineda was initially tagged with an 80-game ban—standard procedure for first-time offenders—but an appeal brought that number down to 60 after providing evidence that the substance in Pineda’s system was not used as a masking agent for PEDs.

After undergoing Tommy John surgery in July 2017, Pineda caught on with the Twins on a two-year deal worth $10MM. Forced to sit out the entire 2018 season, Minnesota knew that it was only paying for one healthy season of Pineda, and his rebound has certainly been a respectable one. Though by no means a top-tier starter, he’s added depth to a Twins rotation that desperately needed it. He’s slotted in as the Twins third-best starter, posting a 4.01 ERA while racking up 146 innings for a playoff team. This year, he’s struck out 140 batters compared to just 28 walks, good for a clean 5.00 K:BB ratio.

His numbers have been even better over the last three-plus months, though, as it presumably took some time for the ex-Yankee to regain his feel for pitching after a lost season. Since the calendar turned to June, Pineda is sporting a sterling 3.10 ERA while striking out more than a batter per inning. During that stretch, he has indeed been the most reliable Minnesota starter.

However, that production will now be absent from any October games, with the suspension rendering Pineda ineligible for postseason play. That represents a considerable blow for the Twins, whose rotation has greatly benefited from the solid second-half presence of Pineda. Jose Berrios and Jake Odorizzi are an All-Star pairing, and Pineda would have given the Twins the makings of a respectable playoff rotation.

Instead, Kyle Gibson and Martin Perez will be relied upon to comprise half of that unit. Though Gibson and Perez have been valuable to the Twins in their own right, both have graded out a notch below Pineda, a disparity that could be magnified in a short series where pitching is often king. Gibson, currently on the injured list, is the more reliable of that duo: his 4.04 FIP compares favorably to Pineda’s and he owns a better track record of solid production. Perez, meanwhile, has made considerable adjustments to increase his staying power, though he still struggles with command and inconsistency. He is sporting just a 1.98 K:BB ratio to go with a 4.75 ERA.

Pineda issued a statement regarding his suspension through the MLB Players Association.

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