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Julian Fernandez

NL Injury Notes: Zimmerman, Gennett, Fernandez

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Back on April 21st, Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman launched a pair of solo home runs in a 5-0 win over the Miami Marlins, putting him one RBI away from a cool one thousand in his career. Nearly seven weeks later, Zimmerman still sits on the precipice of that milestone as plantar fasciitis has put his season on hold. “It’s been probably one of the more frustrating things I’ve gone through,” Zimmerman says of the heel injury, per Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post. Though Zimmerman has resumed baseball activities – namely, batting practice and fielding drills – the next step is being able to run comfortably. Howie Kendrick’s preternatural .325/.359/.583 mark through 151 at-bats helps mitigate Zimmerman’s long-term absence, as does the presence of his planned platoon partner Matt Adams (.245/.277/.481). Still, the man dubbed “Mr. Walkoff” in DC has appeared in every season the Nationals have been in existence, and he has the potential to buoy an offense that has generally floated near the middle of the pack. Years of injuries and a rock-bottom 2016 dimmed Zimmerman’s star, but in stretches he still resembles the ballplayer of his youth. For those of you who don’t remember, Zimmerman was a force, a .279/.343/.475 career hitter with 1,756 hits, 267 home runs, and of course, 999 career RBIs. For reference, Zimmerman, now 34, is listed as Manny Machado’s fifth-most similar batting comp through age-25 per Baseball-Reference.

  • Scooter Gennett’s long-awaited 2019 debut may be right around the corner for the Reds, per MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon. He’s been taking grounders and batting practice, but now he’s running the bases as well, meaning activation from the IL could happen sometime in the next couple of weeks. The current plan has him heading to the team’s complex in Goodyear, Arizona next Wednesday, aiming to start a rehab assignment shortly thereafter. With his first foray into free agency on the horizon, Gennett’s pocketbook may face the harshest affects of the injury, as the team itself has benefited from the surprising play of Derek Dietrich as a fill-in. Gennett, 29, owns a career .289/.331/.456 line with back-to-back 20-homer seasons coming into 2019. Jose Peraza may be facing a cut in playing time upon Gennett’s return, as their intended-starting-shortstop has hit only .211/.272/.331, marks that should land him behind Dietrich, Gennett, and Jose Iglesias on the eventual depth chart.
  • Marlins right-hander Julian Fernandez has been shut down indefinitely with elbow discomfort, per Wells Dusenbury of the Sun Sentinel (via Twitter). The 6’6″ 23-year-old Dominican has not pitched above Single-A, and he hasn’t pitched at all since the 2017 season after missing all of last year with a UCL tear that led to Tommy John. When he does pitch, he possesses a 100mph fastball that has teams drooling over the potential upside, despite his recent inability to stay on the field. The Marlins claimed him off waivers from the Giants, who filched him from the Rockies with the 2nd selection of 2017’s Rule 5 draft. Given that he seems unlikely once again to reach the requirement of 90 days on the active roster, Fernandez could eventually be offered back to the Rockies.

 

Marlins Sign Sergio Romo

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Feb. 15: The Marlins have formally announced the signing. To make room on the 40-man roster, young right-hander Julian Fernandez, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery, was placed on the 60-day injured list.

Feb. 12: The Marlins are in agreement on a one-year contract with veteran reliever Sergio Romo, pending a physical, reports Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com (via Twitter). Romo will be guaranteed $2.5MM and can earn additional money on top of that via incentives. Talks between Miami and the veteran righty were reported by Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic and Jon Heyman of MLB Network earlier this afternoon. Romo is represented by Meister Sports.

Sergio Romo | Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Set to turn 36 early next month, Romo will give the Marlins a veteran anchor to pair with younger less-experienced arms such as Drew Steckenrider, Adam Conley and Tayron Guerrero late in games. While he helped the Rays to pioneer the “opener” strategy last season, Romo’s best work with Tampa Bay came in his more familiar role as a reliever and closer. When pitching out of the ’pen for the Rays, Romo turned in a solid 3.88 ERA with 9.8 K/9, 2.3 BB/9 and a 34.3 percent ground-ball rate.

Home runs were somewhat of an issue for Romo, an extreme fly-ball pitcher, as he served them up at an average of 1.47 per nine innings pitched. However, he also maintained a 13 percent swinging-strike rate and generated a swing on a third of the out-of-zone pitches he threw to opponents — both strong marks that create some optimism about his ability to continue missing bats. A move to the National League — specifically to the cavernous Marlins Park — should help to curtail some of the troubles he had with the long ball last year.

While the Marlins could yet leave the ninth inning open for competition between Romo, Steckenrider and Guerrero in camp, it’s fair to call the veteran Romo the favorite to close games in Miami. He tallied 25 saves for Tampa Bay a year ago and has compiled 109 saves across an 11-year Major League career.

If he can once again thrive in a ninth-inning capacity for the Marlins, his tenure with the organization could prove to be a short one. While Romo’s market was oddly tepid in free agency — the Twins and Rangers were reportedly willing to offer him a minor league deal, while the Blue Jays were interested at the MLB level — the demand for affordable bullpen help is always at its greatest leading up to the non-waiver trade deadline. Given that the Marlins are the clear cellar dwellers in a stacked NL East division, Miami seems likely to make Romo available to other clubs in need of relievers this summer.

Marlins Claim Julian Fernandez

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The Marlins announced that they’ve claimed right-hander Julian Fernandez off waivers from the Giants. Their 40-man roster now has 36 players.

The Giants selected Fernandez, 22, out of the Rockies organization with the second pick in the 2017 Rule 5 Draft. However, the right-hander suffered a UCL tear in Spring Training and underwent Tommy John surgery in early April. He never pitched in a regular-season game for the Giants, instead spending the season on the 60-day disabled list.

Fernandez should be recovered early in the 2019 season, but he’ll retain his Rule 5 eligibility next season after spending the year on the disabled list. Miami will technically be able to give him a month-long run in the minors as an injury rehab stint, but after that he’d need to be called up and spend 90 days on the active roster or else be put through waivers and offered back to the Rockies. That makes him somewhat of a long shot to actually stick with the Marlins, though as a team that won’t be in the playoff picture next season, they’re the type of club that can afford to carry an intriguing arm of this nature.

In 58 innings with Class-A Asheville in 2017, Fernandez worked to a 3.26 ERA with 8.8 K/9, 2.8 BB/9 and a 47.6 percent ground-ball rate. More than his numbers to date, however, the Marlins are betting on Fernandez’s huge velocity (as were the Giants). He’s been clocked in triple digits with his heater when healthy.

2017-18 Rule 5 Draft Update

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When we last checked in on this year’s crop of Rule 5 players, there were a combined 11 players — six on active rosters and five on the Major League disabled list — still with their new organizations. That number has fallen to nine, with six players (albeit a different mix) still active in the Majors, plus another three hanging around on the DL. The number could shrink again in the near future, as several of the remaining Rule 5-ers are seldom used pieces, and at least two teams will soon likely have to make a call.

Active Big Leaguers

  • Victor Reyes, OF, Tigers (from D-backs): Reyes has received only 38 plate appearances since our last Rule 5 roundup, hitting .211/.211/.342 in that span. He’s picked up a pair of triples and a double, his first extra-base hits in the Majors, but is hitting just .196/.196/.304 on the season as a whole. The Tigers barely use Reyes, outside of pinch-running and late-game defensive switches, but the longer they commit to hanging onto him, the less likely it becomes that they return him to Arizona. At this point, they’ve played more than a third of the season with an effective 24-man roster, so they seem likely to see this through.
  • Brad Keller, RHP, Royals (from D-backs, via trade w/ Reds): The 22-year-old Keller hasn’t picked up many strikeouts (5.9 K/9) and hasn’t displayed elite control (3.3 BB/9), but he’s sporting a 57.9 percent ground-ball rate in 35 innings for Kansas City — including three starts. He boasts a 2.31 ERA thus far in 2018, though his 0.26 HR/9 mark and 82.2 percent strand rate seem poised to regress. Nonetheless, he’s performed well enough to date that there’s no reason for the Royals to consider cutting ties.
  • Burch Smith, RHP, Royals (from Rays, via trade w/ Mets): Smith, on the other hand, is a more complicated case for GM Dayton Moore and his staff. The 28-year-old is currently lugging a 6.49 ERA to the mound with him after surrendering 10 runs in his past 7 1/3 innings. Smith has racked up 28 strikeouts in 26 1/3 innings, but he’s also issued 18 walks and hit two batters. Beyond that, seven of the 26 hits he’s allowed with Kansas City have cleared the fence.
  • Pedro Araujo, RHP, Orioles (from Cubs): Araujo was one of four players in Spring Training with the Orioles who came with Rule 5 status, but he’s the last to remain on their MLB roster. (Anthony Santander, who missed much of last season due to injury, fulfilled his Rule 5 requirements last monthM and was optioned to Triple-A.) Araujo was torched for four runs last night, including a pair of homers, and he now has a 7.71 ERA in 28 innings with the O’s. That’s not exactly a surprise considering the fact that he skipped both Double-A and Triple-A, and to his credit, Araujo has punched out 29 hitters in his 28 frames (albeit against 18 walks and two hit batters). Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun wrote this morning that Araujo’s roster spot could be in jeopardy with Zach Britton coming off the disabled list.
  • Carlos Tocci, OF, Rangers (from Phillies, via trade w/ White Sox): Texas stashed Tocci, 22, on the disabled list with a hip contusion for more than a month and rode his rehabilitation window as long as possible. Since being activated on June 2, Tocci hasn’t logged a single plate appearance. The Rangers’ season looks to be lost, so they may as well hang onto Tocci if they believe he has any shot at a future in the organization. He’s just 2-for-25 in 14 games this season and has struggled in Triple-A, but Tocci was productive for the Phillies’ Double-A club last season and hit well in Double-A during last month’s rehab assignment, too.
  • Elieser Hernandez, RHP, Marlins (from Astros): Hernandez has allowed just 10 earned runs through 23 innings for a 3.91 ERA, but he’s also picked up just 10 strikeouts and yielded five homers. Hernandez, 23, has shown strong control (four walks), but he looks quite hittable through his brief run with Miami so far. As with each team listed in this section, though, they can certainly afford to hang onto him.

On the Disabled List

  • Julian Fernandez, RHP, Giants (from Rockies): Fernandez underwent Tommy John surgery back in April. He’ll accrue MLB service time while spending the season on the 60-day disabled list and will retain his Rule 5 status heading into 2019, if the Giants wish to hang onto him all offseason.
  • Nick Burdi, RHP, Pirates (from Twins via trade w/ Phillies): The Pirates picked up Burdi knowing he’d miss much of the 2018 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery, and he’s yet to throw in the minors. That said, Burdi is a former supplemental-round pick who was selected toward the top of the draft thanks to an 80-grade heater that regularly touches triple digits. If he can get healthy enough to pitch this season, the Bucs will have a free look at a tantalizing power arm.
  • Brett Graves, RHP, Marlins (from Athletics): The Marlins placed Graves on the 60-day disabled list with an oblique strain back on Opening Day, so he’s yet to pitch in the Majors. He has, however, recovered to the point where he’s begun pitching on a minor league rehab assignment. The results haven’t been pretty. Graves has a 6.23 ERA with a 16-to-7 K/BB ratio and four hit batters in 17 1/3 innings between Class-A Advanced and Double-A. He’s also nearing the end of his 30-day rehab window. His first rehab appearance came back on May 17, so the Marlins have less than a week to determine whether to bring Graves up to the Majors or run him through waivers and offer him back to Oakland.

Returned to Original Organization

Giants’ Julian Fernandez To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

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Giants right-hander Julian Fernandez will undergo Tommy John surgery on Thursday, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area was among those to report. San Francisco previously placed Fernandez on the 60-day disabled list earlier this week.

The 22-year-old Fernandez has never even pitched above the Single-A level, nor is he a high-end prospect. But the news is particularly noteworthy because Fernandez was a Rule 5 pick last December, when the Giants snatched him from the NL West rival Rockies with the No. 2 selection. The fact that Fernandez will now undergo this procedure means he’ll rack up a year of service time and earn a a major league-minimum salary ($545K) in the process. As MLBTR’s Mark Polishuk noted earlier this week, that could be a minor nuisance for San Francisco, which has little wiggle room as it works to stay under the $197MM competitive balance tax threshold.

During 7 1/3 spring innings with the Giants, Fernandez yielded a whopping 11 earned runs on 10 hits and five walks, with an eye-opening 12 strikeouts. Fernandez was far more effective at preventing runs last year in 58 innings with the Rockies’ Single-A affiliate, as he logged a 3.26 ERA/3.09 FIP with 8.84 K/9 and 2.79 BB/9.

Giants Place Mark Melancon On Disabled List, Select Gregor Blanco

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2:55pm: Melancon spoke to reporters about his injury today and described the pain he’s feeling as similar to the pain he felt last season when a pronator strain limited him to 30 innings (Twitter link via Kerry Crowley of the San Jose Mercury News). More troubling is the fact that the right-hander revealed he cannot throw from more than 30 feet without experiencing pain.

Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area tweets that Melancon said he felt pain all spring when pitching, but the discomfort increased substantially when he attempted to pitch on consecutive days. He’ll see a specialist when the Giants are in Los Angeles.

11:11am: The Giants announced that they’ve placed Mark Melancon on the 10-day disabled list, retroactive to March 26, with a flexor strain in his right elbow. San Francisco also placed Rule 5 pick Julian Fernandez on the 60-day DL to open the season, clearing a 40-man spot to select the contract of outfielder Gregor Blanco, who’ll officially return for another stint with the Giants. With Melancon on the shelf, the Giants will likely look to Sam Dyson and Hunter Strickland as potential ninth-inning options.

It’s not yet clear how long Melancon will be sidelined, though he missed a significant portion of the 2017 season — his first with the Giants after signing a then-record four-year, $62MM contract — due to a pronator strain in his right forearm. Melancon posted a 4.50 ERA in just 30 innings with the Giants last season, though his peripheral numbers were considerably better, and fielding-independent metrics were far more bullish than his more rudimentary ERA (3.22 FIP, 3.24 SIERA).

Blanco, 34, was a mainstay with the Giants from 2012-16 before jumping to the D-backs last offseason. He impressed with a .303/.405/.576 slash in 43 plate appearances this spring, but he’s struggled to a .234/.323/.333 batting line across the past two big league campaigns. He’ll give manager Bruce Bochy some depth across the board in the outfield and a potential left-handed complement to Austin Jackson, Hunter Pence and/or Andrew McCutchen when needed.

Blanco’s addition to the roster means the Giants prospect Steven Duggar will open the season in the minors, though the organization hopes that Duggar will force his way into the mix later this season and hold down a long-term spot in the outfield.

Latest On Giants’ Pitching Injuries

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The injury bug has continued to attack Giants pitching, as manager Bruce Bochy told reporters (including NBCSports.com’s Alex Pavlovic and Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group) that right-hander Julian Fernandez has suffered a UCL sprain and is headed to the disabled list.  Furthermore, closer Mark Melancon’s availability for Opening Day could be in question, as his arm is still bothering him after making back-to-back appearances last Thursday and Friday.

Fernandez was selected out of the Rockies’ farm system in last December’s Rule 5 Draft, and would’ve had to remain on San Francisco’s 25-man roster all season or else be offered back to Colorado.  Placing Fernandez on the DL would keep him in the Giants organization for now, though the larger concern is the 22-year-old’s health status.  The timeline for such UCL injuries vary greatly due to the severity of the sprain, though Fernandez will likely be sidelined for at least a few months.

If Fernandez did require Tommy John surgery, that procedure would have an interesting big-picture impact on the Giants.  As The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly observes, Fernandez would be placed on the Major League disabled list and clock a year of service time while recovering from a TJ procedure, and he would also earn the $545K minimum salary.  Even that small payroll addition would be an added stress for a Giants team that has very little space under the $197MM luxury tax threshold, after the team made a point this offseason of somewhat limiting its spending to get under the threshold and reset its tax overage counter.  That $545K would be an expense that the Giants weren’t planning to make at all for Fernandez, as he struggled (13.50 ERA) over 7 1/3 spring innings and potentially could’ve been considered not worthy of a 25-man spot.

Melancon’s back-to-back outings marked the first time he’d pitched in consecutive days this spring, as the veteran reliever continues his recovery from forearm surgery last September.  Needless to say, any further soreness is a red flag for both he and the team, though Bochy said that Melancon’s roster status wouldn’t be determined until after he tests his arm further by playing catch over the next day or two.  Melancon has been bothered by some arm fatigue throughout camp and pitched in just five games throughout Spring Training as the team tried to bring him along slowly.

The closer is trying to rebound after a disappointing and injury-marred first season in San Francisco that saw him post a 4.50 ERA over 30 innings.  If Melancon does go on the disabled list, the Giants could turn to setup men Hunter Strickland or Tony Watson for save situations, or potentially again use Sam Dyson as closer as they did in 2017.  Dyson, however, has struggled through a very rough spring.

It has already been a brutal spring health-wise for the Giants, with Madison Bumgarner (fractured finger) and Jeff Samardzija (strained pec) both going down with injuries that have badly stretched the team’s pitching depth.  GM Bobby Evans told Baggarly and other reporters that “I anticipate we will remain internal” in regards to finding replacements, though Evans is open to the idea of potentially adding new pitchers.

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