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Jarlin Garcia

Giants Announce Multiple Roster Moves

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In addition to a trade this morning, the Giants have made a series of roster moves ahead of this afternoon’s matchup with the Dodgers (first reported by Maria Guardado of MLB.com). They’ll make a few tweaks to the pitching staff, reinstating left-hander Jarlin Garcia from the 60-day injured list and adding veteran Trevor Cahill to the taxi squad. To make room, Andrew Suarez has been optioned to the team’s alternate training site and infielder Abiatal Avelino was designated for assignment.

The Giants will rejigger their bullpen, adding Garcia, who was on the injured list with an undisclosed illness, and subtracting Suarez. Garcia, 27, will get his first shot with his new club after spending the first three years of his career with the Marlins. He emerged as a valuable lefty in Miami, notching a 4.29 ERA in 170 innings of work. He got work as both a starter and reliever, though he’s likely to settle firmly into a relief role.

Cahill, meanwhile, might be on the cusp of a promotion to the big league club, after news of Jeff Samardzija’s placement on the injured list yesterday. He figures to be one of the foremost options to replace Samardzija in the starting rotation for the foreseeable future.

Avelino, acquired in the 2018 trade that sent Andrew McCutchen to the Yankees, will see his Giants tenure come to a swift end, having appeared in just 10 games for the MLB club. The Giants will have a week to either trade, release, or place Avelino on outright waivers. At just 25 years old, and with plenty of remaining team control, Avelino could be a worthwhile pickup for a team in search of infield depth. His offensive track record in the minors is not especially strong, but his last two seasons in the upper minors have undoubtedly been his best.

Health Notes: W. Calhoun, Nats, Tanaka, Giants, Royals

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The Rangers are awaiting MRI results on outfielder Willie Calhoun, per Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Calhoun left the team’s practice Tuesday with tightness in his right hip flexor, leading the Rangers to fear he has a strain that could shelve him for Opening Day, Wilson writes. That would be a blow to the Rangers’ offense, which benefited from Calhoun’s .269/.323/.524 line and 21 home runs last season, as well as the second notable injury he has dealt with in recent months. The first one was much scarier, though, as Calhoun suffered a fractured jaw on a hit by pitch during spring training.

Here’s more health news from around the league…

  • Nationals outfielders Juan Soto and Victor Robles have been isolated since last week because of coronavirus protocols, but fortunately, it appears the two are nearing a return to the field. Soto and Robles may be in line to rejoin the team Wednesday or Thursday, according to Britt Ghiroli of The Athletic.
  • In a frightening scene back on July 5, Yankees right-hander Masahiro Tanaka suffered a mild concussion when he took a line drive off the bat of teammate Giancarlo Stanton. Tanaka offered a positive update Tuesday, however, saying through an interpreter (via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com): “Right now, I have no symptoms at all. I’m able to get back in all the training, so I think I feel very fortunate in a very unfortunate event.” Tanaka does still seem likely to start the season on the 10-day injured list, Hoch reports, but he shouldn’t miss much time if he continues progressing.
  • Giants left-hander Jarlin Garcia is expected to be a participant in camp Wednesday, Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic tweets. Garcia has been on the IL for undisclosed medical reasons since last Thursday.
  • The Royals won’t have infielder Kelvin Gutierrez when the season opens. He’s dealing with a Grade 2 UCL sprain and will be re-evaluated in two weeks, Lynn Worthy of the Kansas City Star reports. A fairly well-regarded prospect, the 25-year-old Gutierrez made his major league debut last season with a .260/.304/.356 line in 79 plate appearances.
  • Nationals batting practice pitcher Ali Modami has opted out of the season, manager Dave Martinez announced Tuesday (via Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post). While Modami isn’t in a high-profile position, he has been a popular figure in the Nationals’ clubhouse since he got the job in 2011, as Dougherty and Yahoo Sports’ Tim Brown detailed last season. “He is great,” former Nat Jayson Werth said to Brown. “Just a gem.” First baseman Ryan Zimmerman, who has also opted out of the season, told Brown, “That guy probably throws more baseballs than anybody I’ve ever known.”

Giants Place Billy Hamilton, Jarlin Garcia On Injured List

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The Giants have placed outfielder Billy Hamilton and left-hander Jarlin Garcia on the injured list, manager Gabe Kapler told reporters Thursday (Twitter link via Kerry Crowley of the San Jose Mercury News). Kapler could not specify beyond acknowledging that the moves were for “medical purposes.”

The immediate speculation will gravitate toward COVID-19, though it’s certainly possible that one or even both are dealing with other issues. Teams generally disclose injury details, but broader medical concerns that force players away from the field are often kept vague. It should also be pointed out that even when a player is placed on the COVID-19 IL, that does not necessarily indicate he has tested positive. Players can be placed on the IL after exhibiting symptoms or coming into contact with someone who has tested positive. The exact circumstances surrounding the IL placements of Hamilton and Garcia are unknown, but the hope, as always, is that both can return to the field swiftly and in good health.

Both Hamilton and Garcia are newcomers to the Giants organization. Hamilton, the longtime Reds center fielder, is among baseball’s fastest players and brings a superlative glove to a team that plays in one of the game’s most cavernous stadiums (Oracle Park). He signed a minor league deal with an invite to Major League Spring Training back in the offseason but was widely expected to win a roster spot from the early days of camp.

The 29-year-old Hamilton batted just .218/.289/.275 in 353 plate appearances between the Royals and Braves last year, but he was flat-out excellent in the field, as usual. Despite playing a career-low 826 innings in the field, Hamilton logged eight Defensive Runs Saved, a 7.9 Ultimate Zone Rating and seven Outs Above Average (per Statcast).

Garcia, meanwhile, was claimed off waivers in February. The 27-year-old was somewhat of a surprise DFA by the Marlins, as he’d pitched to a 3.02 ERA in 50 2/3 frames the prior season. Garcia’s peripheral numbers weren’t quite as pretty; he posted a 3.77 FIP and 4.74 xFIP while averaging 6.9 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9. Garcia also benefited from a .248 average on balls in play, although that’s right in line with his career mark to date. Even if there’s some regression in store down the line, he’s controllable for another four seasons, so it’s easy to see why the Giants were happy to take a risk-free flier on the southpaw.

NL West Notes: Martin, Giants, Ubaldo

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Right-hander Corbin Martin, one of four players the Astros sent to Arizona in the Zack Greinke blockbuster, had been on the Diamondbacks’ radar for awhile, writes Zach Buchanan of The Athletic (subscription required). They’d first targeted him in the 2017 draft and again in trade talks with the ’Stros centered around Paul Goldschmidt — but Houston wasn’t keen on including him in such a deal. At the time, Martin was 22 and fresh off 122 innings of 2.51 ERA ball between Class-A Advanced and Double-A, while Goldschmidt only had a year of control left.

Martin made his MLB debut in 2019 but underwent Tommy John surgery in July and was suddenly on the shelf for a win-now Astros club. Thus, D-backs GM Mike Hazen inquired again, and the Astros were more willing to listen the second time around. A package of Martin, J.B. Bukauskas, Seth Beer and Josh Rojas (plus plenty of cash to help offset Greinke’s salary) got the job done. Martin may not be an option for the Snakes until 2021, but he’s a second-rounder with a career 2.58 ERA in the minors who has ranked on Top 100 lists in both of the past two offseasons, making him an intriguing piece down the road. D-backs and Astros fans alike will want to check out the piece for thoughts from Hazen and assistant GM Amiel Sawdaye on the club’s longstanding interest in Martin.

Some more out of the NL West…

  • The Giants’ release of veteran lefty Jerry Blevins only increased the odds of southpaws Jarlin Garcia and Wandy Peralta making the club, notes Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. Both pitchers hurled five shutout innings when exhibition games were still being played — Garcia with an 8-to-1 K/BB ratio and Peralta with a 10-to-4 mark. Given that Garcia is out of minor league options, he’d appear a particularly likely candidate to secure a spot in the ’pen, although there’s certainly room for both. The Giants claimed both lefties off waivers, with Peralta coming over from the Reds in September and Garcia coming over from the Marlins over the winter. Each has had some success in the Majors and is controllable all the way through the 2023 season should things pan out in the Bay Area.
  • Baseball’s shutdown put Ubaldo Jimenez’s comeback attempt with the Rockies on hold, but the right-hander is open to pitching in the minors if play is able to resume, writes Nick Groke of The Athletic in an excellent column on Jimenez’s unexpected bid to revive his career (subscription required). As Groke details, Jimenez received a “fringy” Major League offer in the 2017-18 offseason but opted to stay home in the Dominican with his pregnant wife and soon-to-be-born child. This offseason, wanting to take one last shot, he called Rockies VP of international scouting Rolando Fernandez about using the team’s complex in the Dominican to refine his mechanics. That eventually turned into a solid Dominican Winter League stint, a minor league deal with the Rox and several weeks serving playing the role of wise old sage to younger Rockies pitchers like German Marquez. Manager Bud Black tells Groke that Jimenez was sitting around 91 mph with his heater early in camp. A comeback at age 36 is a long shot but would make for one heck of an in-season storyline to root for.

Giants Claim Jarlin Garcia, Designate Burch Smith

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The Giants have claimed southpaw Jarlin Garcia off waivers from the Marlins. In a corresponding move, righty Burch Smith was designated for assignment.

It’s not surprising at all to see these two teams line up on a transaction of this nature. The Giants have claimed pitcher after pitcher under president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi, quite often going on to attempt to slip them through waivers. And the Marlins have dropped a variety of interesting but not-yet-established relief pitchers this winter, with quite a few landing on other 40-man rosters.

Garcia was rather successful last year, compiling 50 2/3 innings of 3.02 ERA ball. He lacks eye-popping strikeout numbers, but does get a solid number of groundballs and was quite successful at limiting hard contact. Garcia also found equal success against right and left-handed hitters in 2019, though fielding-independent pitching measures suggested he was much more effective when facing southpaw swingers.

As for Smith, he was added through the waiver wire last August. The 29-year-old had some effective outings last in the year with San Francisco but has obviously yet to show he’s a reliable MLB relief option. Over 135 2/3 career innings at the game’s highest level, Smith carries a 6.57 ERA with 9.5 K/9 and 5.0 BB/9.

Marlins Designate Jarlin Garcia, Jose Quijada

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The Marlins announced today that they have designated southpaws Jarlin Garcia and Jose Quijada for assignment. Their roster spots will go to Brandon Kintzler and Matt Joyce, whose signings are now official (see here and here).

Young hurlers continue to fly off the Miami 40-man roster. The club vowed to compile a strike-throwing relief corps entering the 2020 season, but it remains surprising to see so many pitchers flowing out — most of them to this point landing on other MLB rosters via claim or trade.

Garcia, 27, is entering his final pre-arbitration season after working to a 3.02 ERA over 50 2/3 innings in 2019. He managed only 6.9 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9, but did post a 46.9% groundball rate and had success at preventing home runs (0.71 per nine, 7.8% HR/FB). Garcia was exceptionally difficult for MLB hitters to square up; he held them to a 31.8% hard-hit rate that sat in the 84th percentile among pitchers leaguewide.

The 24-year-old Quijada had struggled quite a bit last year in his first taste of the majors. He was bombed for a 5.76 ERA in 29 2/3 innings, allowing 10 long balls on a whopping 34.5% HR/FB rate. But Quijada also showed he could get MLB hitters to swing and miss, as he has in the upper minors, by producing a 14.0% swinging-strike rate.

Marlins’ Bullpen Reportedly Earning Attention Of Scouts

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According to a report from MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro, several scouts were in attendance for Saturday night’s game between the Marlins and Mets, presumably with an interest in observing several Miami relievers.

Though Frisaro did underscore that the participation of New York starter Noah Syndergaard in tonight’s affair likely had much to do with the heavy scouting presence at Marlins Park, he also proposed that a few interesting Miami arms could be of particular interest to competitive clubs.

Entering tonight’s game, the Marlins’ bullpen had posted a collective 2.25 ERA since June 1st, which was tied with the Braves and A’s for the third-best mark in the Majors in that span. It’s difficult to say which of Miami’s bullpen pieces would be most attractive to an acquiring club, but Frisaro points to Austin Brice, Jarlin Garcia and Nick Anderson as possible trade chips.

It is conceivable that an in-the-race team could buy into the 1.88 ERA of the 27-year-old Brice,  but only if they were to overlook his slightly less pristine underlying marks, which include a 4.39 xFIP. Jarlin Garcia could make for a solid LOOGY candidate for most teams, but his 6.30 career K/9 indicates that he isn’t the type of arm that typically elicits a ton of trade value.

Anderson could make for the club’s most appealing late-inning trade bait. The 6’5 righty is generating a prodigious number of strikeouts in his first big league campaign (13.85 K/9), turning to a 95-mph fastball in addition to a heavily used curveball. After giving up a decisive two-run dinger to Robinson Cano tonight, Anderson’s ERA sits at 4.46, but FIP (2.99) thinks much more highly of his 2019 work. The 29-year-old, whom Miami acquired from Minnesota this past November, is controllable for five years beyond the 2019 season.

Marlins Select Isaac Galloway

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The Marlins have selected the contract of outfielder Isaac Galloway as part of a minor early-season roster shake-up. Also joining the active roster is lefty Jarlin Garcia.

Shortstop JT Riddle was dropped back down on optional assignment. The club opened the other necessary roster spot by placing righty Austin Brice on the 10-day IL with gastroenteritis.

Galloway battled for ten seasons in the minors before finally debuting last year in Miami. The 29-year-old lost his 40-man spot this spring but earned his way back up by popping four long balls in his first forty plate appearances at Triple-A to open the present season.

Marlins Select Drew Rucinski, Option Jarlin Garcia

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The Marlins have selected right-handed reliever Drew Rucinski’s contract from Triple-A New Orleans, according to the team. The club optioned lefty Jarlin Garcia to New Orleans in a corresponding move.

Rucinski, whom the Marlins added on a minors deal over the winter, began the season with a 2.52 ERA, 7.6 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 in 25 innings prior to his promotion. The 29-year-old previously saw major league action with the Angels (2014-15) and Twins (2017), combining for a 7.23 ERA in 18 2/3 frames.

Garcia ranks third among Marlins pitchers in innings (51), but they chose to demote him after he managed a 4.41 ERA, 5.65 K/9 and 3.71 BB/9 in 12 appearances and six starts. That’s not what either party had in mind when the 25-year-old Garcia no-hit the Mets over six innings on April 11 and then held the Yankees’ elite offense to one hit in five frames on April 17.

NL East Notes: Phillies, Neshek, Marlins, Garcia, Straily

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The Phillies remain interested in adding to their rotation before the season starts, though they’re not going to make any lengthy commitments, Todd Zolecki of MLB.com writes. Both general manager Matt Klentak and president Andy MacPhail (via Matt Breen of Philly.com) have indicated this week that the Phillies aren’t going to splurge on a long-term starter, in large part because they aren’t quite ready to push for a playoff spot, Zolecki notes. The team would be willing to pay more on a shorter contract, Zolecki relays, and Klentak revealed that doing so “is something we talk about frequently.” But if the Phillies aren’t able to land another starter in the coming weeks, Klentak insists they’ll be content to turn to in-house options.

  • Reliever Pat Neshek returned to the Phillies in free agency over the winter, agreeing to a two-year, $16.25MM pact. It turns out that the 37-year-old could have made more money elsewhere. “We didn’t really wait for other teams,” Neshek said this week (via Zolecki). “I probably left a little bit more on the table from other teams. Well, I know I did because a team called me after I agreed [with the Phillies]. Their first offer was better, but it was a comfort thing. I was really happy with the offer. I didn’t want to wait and see anything else.” Neshek was only in Philadelphia for a few months last year before the team traded him to the Rockies in July, but it’s clear both he and the Phillies enjoyed their first go-round.
  • Although left-hander Jarlin Garcia led Marlins relievers with 68 appearances as a rookie in 2017, the club plans to deploy him as a starter this season, manager Don Mattingly told Joe Frisaro of MLB.com and other reporters. “Jarlin will be a starter this year,” said Mattingly, who believes that moving the 25-year-old to the rotation is “probably the best for his development.” Assuming Miami sticks to that plan, Garcia will be part of a rotation that currently features just two locks (Dan Straily and Jose Urena).
  • Straily is one of the best players left on a rebuilding Miami team that has jettisoned several household names (Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich, Marcell Ozuna and Dee Gordon) since last season and could still deal catcher J.T. Realmuto. But unlike Realmuto, who’d prefer to play elsewhere, Straily’s fine with the franchise’s direction. Straily said this week that he’s “glad” certain players who didn’t want to continue as Marlins are gone, likely referring to Stanton and Yelich, per Frisaro. Regarding the Marlins’ high-profile trades, Straily added: “I really, I guess, kind of agree with what happened. All the moves they’ve made. I really feel the pieces they’ve brought in, this might flip around a little quicker.”
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