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AL West Notes: Felix, Lowrie, Cahill, Skaggs, Calhoun, Listach

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Mariners fans in particular will want to read up on the club’s faded ace, Felix Hernandez, in this piece from Scott Miller of Bleacher Report. The veteran hurler has taken his downfall hard, but he’s still working to rediscover the magic that once made him one of the game’s very best pitchers. Of course, his lost fastball velocity means the odds are long; it’s still in full retreat despite the fact that Hernandez says his “body feels good” after dealing with injuries over the past two seasons. It’s a well-conceived and well-paced story — at once deep and, refreshingly, not unnecessarily lengthy — with some notable observations from current and former M’s personnel and others close to Hernandez.

More from the AL West:

  • Athletics second baseman Jed Lowrie acknowledged today in an appearance on MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM (Twitter link) that he has had some contact with the club about staying on past the present season. The team’s interest in maintaining the relationship has been known for some time, but it’s interesting nevertheless to hear Lowrie address the matter. To this point, Lowrie says, talks haven’t moved past an initial expression of interest. But he says he likes it in Oakland and believes he fits the club well, so it certainly sounds as if the good vibes flow in both directions. No doubt that’s due in some part to the immense success both player and team have found this year. It’s a second-straight eyebrow-raising season at the plate for Lowrie, who owns a healthy .276/.360/.455 slash since the start of the 2017 campaign. He has set himself up for an interesting trip onto the open market — if nothing comes together first with the A’s.
  • In yet more unwelcome health news for the Athletics, righty Trevor Cahill has gone down with a rhomboid muscle strain, as Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The upper-back ailment comes at an uncomfortable proximity to the postseason, though it seems as if the expectation is he won’t miss more than a single start. To be sure that things aren’t more serious, Cahill is headed in for an MRI.
  • Angels southpaw Tyler Skaggs was able to work up to a 48-pitch sim game today, skipper Mike Scioscia tells reporters including Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register (via Twitter). It’s still not clear whether he’ll return to the majors this year, though that figures to be a topic of discussion in the coming days. The 27-year-old, who is rehabbing from an adductor strain, is looking to extend his personal-best 116 2/3-inning, 3.78 ERA showing on the season. Whether or not he’s able to do so, Skaggs has impressed and now seems to be one of the club’s best bets to provide quality frames in 2019 — if he can stay healthy. Skaggs will likely command a nice raise in his second-to-last trip through the arbitration process after earning $1,875,000 this year.
  • It’s still not clear when Rangers prospect Willie Calhoun will get his first real crack at the big leagues. As T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com writes, Calhoun had seemed likely to see much more action in the 2018 season. Instead, after a relatively tepid season at the plate at the Triple-A level, Calhoun is seeing scattered time late this season. It seems the organization still wants to see more from the key piece of last year’s Yu Darvish swap before clearing the way. Beyond his known deficiencies in the field and on the bases, manager Jeff Banister seemingly hinted that there are some strength and conditioning steps that the youngster could take to improve.
  • In other Mariners news, the club will part ways with Triple-A skipper and longtime big leaguer player Pat Listach, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times recently tweeted. That’ll put an end to a four-year run at Tacoma for the former infielder, who has at times been mentioned as a future MLB managerial candidate.

Injury Notes: Stroman, Braves, Ozuna, Tropeano

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Blue Jays right-hander Marcus Stroman “probably” won’t pitch again in 2018, manager John Gibbons told reporters today (Twitter links via Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet). He’s been slowed by a blister on his pitching hand of late and simply won’t have enough time to build back up for a return. Stroman last appeared on Sept. 3 — his only appearance since Aug. 17 — and lasted just 1 2/3 innings. If his season does indeed prove to be over, it’ll go down as a forgettable one for the righty. In 102 1/3 innings, Stroman has posted a dismal 5.54 ERA with 6.8 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9, though his elite ground-ball tendencies and a fluky low strand rate have led fielding-independent metrics to paint a more optimistic picture (3.91 FIP, 3.84 xFIP, 4.04 SIERA). Stroman will be arbitration-eligible for the third time this winter as a Super Two player and will earn a modest raise on this year’s $6.5MM salary. He’s controlled through the 2020 season.

Some more notable injury updates from around the league…

  • The NL East-leading Braves should have Arodys Vizcaino back in action on Friday of this week, per Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter links), but righty Jose Ramirez won’t pitch again this season. Vizcaino hasn’t pitched since mid-July due to a shoulder issue and was moved to the 60-day DL earlier this month when the Braves made a series of moves to accommodate September roster expansion. They’ll need to make a 40-man move to accommodate Vizcaino’s return; Ramirez, already on the 60-day DL with a shoulder problem of his own, won’t be that move. Meanwhile, David O’Brien of The Athletic tweets that third baseman Johan Camargo exited tonight’s game due to groin tightness. The team will likely have additional information available either after the game or tomorrow morning.
  • Mark Saxon of The Athletic takes a look at the shoulder troubles that have plagued Marcell Ozuna all season (subscription required). Saxon notes that Ozuna has had difficulty with day-to-day tasks such as taking off a sweatshirt in recent weeks and has played through discomfort all season. Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak again acknowledged that the team was aware of some ongoing shoulder troubles with Ozuna when trading for him but felt, if anything, they’d impact his throwing from the outfield — not his offense. Still, Mozeliak says surgery has not been recommended for Ozuna, so it seems he’ll hope rest, rehab and perhaps physical therapy this offseason can help. To his credit, Ozuna has absolutely raked at a .333/.371/.615 clip in his past 143 PAs even while playing through that pain.
  • The Angels are shutting down right-hander Nick Tropeano for the season, tweets Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. The right-hander’s rehab stint was recently halted, and Fletcher adds that he’ll undergo a platelet-rich plasma injection in his right shoulder in hopes of avoiding offseason surgery. Three separate trips to the DL for shoulder issues limited Tropeano to just 76 innings in 2018, and he struggled to a 4.74 ERA with 7.6 K/9 against 3.7 BB/9 in that time. Those 76 frames were actually a career-high for the 28-year-old Tropeano, whose career has been proliferated by injuries — most notably Tommy John surgery in 2016. He’ll be arbitration-eligible for the first time this winter.

Albert Pujols To Undergo Elbow Surgery

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Having already undergone season-ending knee surgery, Angels first baseman Albert Pujols is slated for another procedure. As Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times was among those to tweet, Pujols will have bone spurs removed from his right elbow.

It is not clear whether the new procedure will really alter the timeline for recovery that Pujols was already subject to by virtue of the work to his problematic knee. The esteemed veteran says he expects to have a mostly typical offseason in terms of preparation for the 2019 season.

Be that as it may, it’s hard not to wince at the emergence of another malady for the once-feared slugger. Pujols, 38, has been a shell of his former self — even of his reduced, early-Angels-period self — over the past two seasons. In that span, he’s carrying a meager .243/.287/.397 batting line through 1,134 plate appearances.

While he has swatted 42 long balls since the start of 2017, that hardly makes up for the anemic on-base percentage. Indeed, it makes it difficult to utilize a MLB roster spot on a player who’s limited to first base and DH duties. Needless to say, the remainder of his contract — $87MM for the next three seasons — does not appear to represent an appealing commitment.

Nevertheless, Pujols has as much talent as any hitter in baseball history, so perhaps there’s still a glimmer of hope that he can find a way to contribute late in his career. Plus, this isn’t really an entirely new problem for Pujols, though that’s a fact that perhaps cuts both ways. He underwent a similar clean-up procedure in the 2009-10 offseason and ended up turning in his final truly epic offensive season in the ensuing campaign.

For his part, the surefire future Hall-of-Famer says he’s optimistic about being able to line up at first base a fair bit in 2019. On the one hand, that would create space for him to get in the lineup, given that Shohei Ohtani figures to command much of the time as the DH. On the other, it’s arguable that Pujols ought to be utilized in a much more limited role than he has been in recent years. Carrying both of those players will be particularly difficult with Ohtani unlikely to take the mound for the entirety of the 2019 season, but perhaps the Halos will find a creative way to get a left-handed-hitting corner infielder into the mix to help make it work.

Quick Hits: Gore, Trout, Zobrist, Orioles

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After spending parts of five seasons in the big leagues, Terrance Gore finally collected his first Major League hit, notching a single during the Cubs’ 10-3 loss to the Nationals yesterday in the first game of a double-header.  Though Gore has appeared in 55 games since the start of the 2014 season, he has only 16 career plate appearances due to his exclusive usage as a pinch-runner and late-inning defensive sub.  Gore’s speed made him a valuable roster piece during the Royals’ two postseason runs in 2014 and 2015, and he’ll likely see similar work for the Cubs down the stretch this season and potentially into October.

Here’s more from around the baseball world…

  • The Angels are expected to approach Mike Trout about an extension this winter, which The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (subscription required) feels could determine whether or not the team would ever consider trading the game’s best player.  Management has been adamantly opposed to the thought of dealing Trout in the past, and the general feeling is that Arte Moreno wouldn’t okay a Trout trade as long as he owns the Angels.  If Trout declines an extension or gives an indication that he’ll test free agency when his current contract is up after the 2020 season, however, Rosenthal feels that the Angels “would know where they stood” in counting the superstar outfielder as part of their long-term plans.  The Halos could still just aim to build around Trout over the next two seasons or, conceivably, at least think about the possibility of a trade that could instantly add a lot of young talent to the Angels’ organization.  “One of the best talents in the history of the game is rarely explored in the market. A team might be willing to do something absolutely insane to acquire him. We just don’t know,” one rival executive said about a potential Trout trade.
  • As you might expect, Ben Zobrist has no regrets about signing with the Cubs in the 2015-16 offseason, the veteran super-utilityman tells The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney.  The decision has already led to one World Series ring for Zobrist, and unlike his other suitors that winter (a list that includes the Giants, Mets, and Nationals), the Cubs are still postseason contenders in 2018.  Zobrist has strongly rebounded from a down year in 2017 to hit .313/.387/.458 over 443 PA for the Cubs this season, so it’s fair to say that the team is also quite satisfied in its decision giving Zobrist a four-year, $56MM deal that winter.
  • The Orioles are lacking in multi-positional players, Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun writes, giving the team yet another area to address as it enters a rebuild period.  Not even any of the players acquired by the O’s in their deadline deals looks like a candidate for such a role in the future, though the team will be looking at what Jonathan Villar, Breyvic Valera, and Steve Wilkerson can do at multiple positions.

West Notes: Trout, D-backs, Acuna, Giants, Hundley, Holland

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The out-of-contention Angels have arguably wasted another year of control over baseball’s best player, center fielder Mike Trout, with whom they still haven’t even won a playoff game since his rookie campaign in 2012. But even though Trout’s team control is dwindling (2019 is the penultimate year of his contract), the Angels should continue trying to win with the future Hall of Famer – not trade him – Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times opines. While Trout would warrant a massive return in a trade, Shaikin argues that even the best prospects aren’t sure bets to produce in the majors or avoid injuries, using the package the White Sox received from the Red Sox for Chris Sale in 2016 as an example.

Of course, as opposed to shopping Trout – which, despite the Angels’ struggles, has always looked incredibly improbable – the Halos could try to keep him for the long haul. Trout is fond of Anaheim, Shaikin notes, though he writes that there aren’t any compelling reasons for the player to ink a contract extension now. Asked Friday about the possibility of signing a new deal, Trout told Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register:  “I don’t know. It’s up to them. Obviously you’ve got to finish out the season and worry about it in the offseason. I don’t want to worry about it right now.” Trout added that his main objective is to win, and while that hasn’t happened in Anaheim, he didn’t throw its front office under the bus. Rather, he rightly suggested that injuries have played a huge role in the Angels’ disappointing season.

Here’s the latest on a couple other West-based teams:

  • Twenty-year-old Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna may be on his way to joining Trout as an elite player, which is a difficult reality for the Diamondbacks, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic explains. The Venezuelan-born Acuna signed with the Braves for a $100K bonus four years ago, but before that, the Diamondbacks believed they were on the verge of adding him for $80K. Junior Noboa, the Diamondbacks’ vice president of Latin American operations, revealed to Piecoro that the two sides reached an agreement in the Dominican Republic. However, rules state a player must officially sign in his home country, and by the time Acuna returned to Venezuela, the Braves had made a stronger offer, according to Noboa. “They accepted it before I could come back with another offer,” Noboa said of Acuna’s camp. Acuna disagrees with Noboa’s version of the story, as he said through an interpreter Thursday: “There was a difference between what was promised and what was eventually settled upon. They gave me an initial number and then afterwards that wasn’t it. That’s why I wasn’t on board with signing.” Regardless, as Piecoro notes, Acuna was not a superstar prospect when he chose Atlanta over Arizona. Thus, whether he’d have developed into the player he is now had he signed with a different team is anyone’s guess.
  • The Giants would be wise to re-sign upcoming free agents Nick Hundley and Derek Holland, opines The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly, who writes that re-upping the former “figures to be a top priority” (subscription required). Hundley’s approaching the end of his second season in San Francisco, where he has backed up star catcher Buster Posey. It’s no surprise the Giants are prioritizing the position, though, considering Posey underwent season-ending hip surgery last month and could miss the start of next year. Offensively, the 35-year-old Hundley has made a case for a new deal by hitting a passable .235/.294/.407 (90 wRC+) in  245 PAs. On the other hand, Baseball Prospectus has Hundley ranked among the majors’ worst defensive backstops this season. Holland, a minor league signing last winter, has been a major bargain for the Giants. After his career went into a tailspin with the Rangers and White Sox from 2015-17, the soon-to-be 32-year-old has bounced back to log a 3.54 ERA/3.87 FIP with 8.96 K/9 and 3.54 BB/9 in 152 2/3 innings (31 appearances, 27 starts).

Shohei Ohtani Says Hasn’t Decided On TJ, Will Finish 2018 Season As Hitter

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Angels star Shohei Ohtani says he’s yet to decide whether to undergo Tommy John surgery following the recent recommendation that he do so, as Jeff Fletcher of the Southern California News Group was among those to report (Twitter links). He has made the call, however, to finish out the 2018 season as a hitter rather than undergoing the procedure now.

While it still seems likely that Ohtani will end up receiving a replacement ulnar collateral ligament, he certainly does not appear to be anxious to get things over with. That would allow him to play for another three weeks, albeit at the cost of shortening the breathing room to get ready for the 2019 season.

If Ohtani does have the UCL procedure, of course, he wouldn’t be able to pitch next year regardless. And he’ll have a lengthy span to ready for the 2020 campaign. But the difference of three weeks could certainly impact his ability to participate fully in Spring Training and be fully prepared to function as a hitter at the start of the 2019 campaign.

Notably — albeit unsurprisingly — Ohtani also made clear he has no intentions of abandoning his two-way approach to the game. Given his superlative performances as a pitcher and hitter, prior efforts to function in both capacities, and the fact that he only just reached his 24th birthday, that seemed all but a foregone conclusion even before he weighed in.

Outrighted: Bruce Maxwell, Osmer Morales

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Here are today’s outright assignments, which come in the wake of a wide slate of 40-man roster moves at the outset of September…

  • Athletics catcher Bruce Maxwell cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Nashville, the team announced via press release. Maxwell, 27, has been a lightning rod for criticism following his decision last season to take a knee during the National Anthem and his offseason arrest for aggravated assault. Though Athletics brass gave Maxwell a public vote of confidence as his court proceedings were ongoing, the Oakland organization ultimately bumped Maxwell down the depth chart by signing Jonathan Lucroy. On the field, Maxwell has struggled through a terrible season, hitting .182/.207/.309 in a small sample of 58 Major League plate appearances and just .219/.300/.281 through 200 PAs at the Triple-A level.
  • The Angels announced that right-hander Osmer Morales cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Salt Lake. Morales, 25, received an extremely brief call to the Majors, appearing in just one game, facing two batters, and recording one out. He’ll head back to the minors and hope for a lengthier audition in the future. The righty had solid numbers in 50 1/3 innings in Triple-A last season but was rocked for a 6.44 ERA with 8.2 K/9, 5.0 BB/9 and 1.4 HR/9 in 102 innings with Salt Lake this season.

Tommy John Surgery Recommended For Shohei Ohtani

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Sept. 6: Though Tommy John surgery would prevent Ohtani from pitching in 2019, Angels general manager Billy Eppler left no doubt that the Halos still view him as a two-way player in the long run when speaking to reporters in a conference call (link via the OC Register’s Jeff Fletcher).

“We do still see him as a two-way player,” said Eppler. “Shohei has demonstrated the ability to be impactful on both sides of the baseball and that is something that we, and I don’t want to speak for every other team, but I think every team would want impact in the batter’s box and on the mound.”

Eppler didn’t want to commit to the possibility of Ohtani serving as a regular designated hitter for the Angels next year. However, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports spoke with four surgeons who “regularly repair torn UCLs,” with each expressing the belief that Ohtani can indeed serve as the Angels’ DH next season — even while recovering from Tommy John surgery. Certainly, each case is unique, but Passan’s column provides a detailed walkthrough of just how and why those medical professionals believe it to be possible.

And, if there was any question as to whether Ohtani can make an impact at the plate as his right elbow mends, the 24-year-old may have given the most emphatic answer possible last night; just hours after the announcement that surgery was recommended, Ohtani went 4-for-4 with a pair of home runs, a walk and a stolen base (video link).

Sept. 5: Tommy John surgery has been “recommended” for Angels starter/DH Shohei Ohtani after an MRI revealed additional damage to his ulnar collateral ligament, the club announced (h/t Jeff Fletcher of the Southern California News Group, on Twitter). It is not yet certain whether he will undergo the surgery, but it certainly sounds as if that will be the case.

Ohtani, 24, has amply justified the hype that formed when it became clear he’d be coming to the majors in advance of the 2018 season. Though some questions formed during his showing in Spring Training, Ohtani has been outstanding both on the mound and at the plate.

While Ohtani has continued to knock the cover off the ball since being diagnosed with a second-degree UCL sprain earlier this year, that development led to obvious concern as to his outlook as a pitcher. He was able to make it back for one outing, showing his typical upper-nineties heat before suddenly dropping off in the third inning.

Whether or not the additional UCL damage occurred during the outing, the fact is that Ohtani will almost certainly miss the entirety of the 2019 season — as a pitcher, that is. Typically, position players are able to return from this particular injury on a much shorter timeline.

It’s important to bear in mind here just why Ohtani was put back on the hill late in a season in which the club was already out of contention. Having received platelet-rich plasma and stem cell treatment, and completed a course of rest and rehabilitation, Ohtani was deemed ready to test the ligament. Had Ohtani instead waited until next spring to take the bump, only then to find that it could not withstand full-throttle pitching, then the recovery timeline would have prevented him from hitting for much or all of the 2019 season and perhaps forced his pitching rehab to push into the 2020 campaign.

The good news for the Angels here is that they are still playing with house money so far as Ohtani is concerned. Because he chose to cross the Pacific before he was eligible to sign outside of the existing MLB international spending caps, he has been limited to a relatively meager signing bonus and the MLB minimum salary. The organization still possesses five full seasons of control beyond the present one.

Still, it’s another hugely disappointing injury for an organization that has had more than its fair share of late. Having already dealt with numerous pitching injuries in recent seasons, this year’s Halos roster went without players such as Zack Cozart, Garrett Richards, and Matt Shoemaker for long stretches. While Shoemaker is now back on track to be a factor in 2019, Richards will hit the open market after succumbing to TJS this summer. The Angels’ front office will face a difficult task in putting together a competitive rotation.

Looking ahead for Ohtani, the news will no doubt re-spark the debate as to whether he would be able to perform as both a pitcher and a hitter at the game’s highest level. Some may now wonder whether that effort will be shelved. But it’s frankly hard to imagine either player or team desiring to cut short what has thus far been an unbelievably successful attempt. In his first attempt at the major leagues, Ohtani has turned in 274 plate appearances of .276/.355/.547 hitting, with 16 home runs and six steals, along with 51 2/3 innings of 3.31 ERA pitching, supported by 11.0 K/9 against 3.8 BB/9.

If anything, perhaps, Ohtani and the Halos will need to assess just how to allow him to perform with the bat in 2018 without jeopardizing his throwing rehab. With nearly six months to go before camp opens, there’s plenty of time for a plan to be mapped out. Though we’ll all be robbed of a chance to see Ohtani’s amazing two-way spectacle for the time being, there’s still reason to hope he’ll be able to resume the grand experiment in 2020.

Angels Select Joe Hudson, Release Nolan Fontana

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The Angels announced Tuesday that they’ve selected catcher Joe Hudson’s contract from Triple-A Salt Lake and created a spot on the 40-man roster by requesting release waivers on infielder Nolan Fontana. Additionally, the Halos called up outfielders Jabari Blash and Michael Hermosillo from Salt Lake.

Hudson’s promotion was necessitated by a pair of moves the Angels made earlier this summer — the trade of Martin Maldonado to the division-rival Astros as well as the Braves’ claim of Rene Rivera on revocable trade waivers. (The Angels opted to let Rivera and his remaining salary go.)

The 27-year-old Hudson doesn’t have the youth or track record to be deemed a prospect, but since being traded from the Reds to the Angels for cash back on June 30, he’s hit well in Double-A and Triple-A — admittedly in minuscule samples. Hudson notched a .970 OPS in seven games with the Angels’ Double-A club before moving up to Triple-A and hitting .311/.380/.478 in 101 PAs. He’s also drawn solid framing marks over the past couple of seasons in the minors and has a career 43 percent caught-stealing rate.

Fontana, also 27, was placed on release waivers after hitting .234/.397/.414 in 191 plate appearances with the Angels’ Triple-A club this season. He’s been on the minor league disabled list since late July due to a hand injury, though, and was a candidate to be outrighted off the 40-man roster following the season anyhow. The former second-round pick was once a fairly well-regarded prospect in the Astros’ system and has consistently demonstrated strong plate discipline skills in the minors.

Angels Claim Luke Farrell, Designate Osmer Morales

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The Angels have claimed righty Luke Farrell off waivers from the Cubs, per a club announcement. To create space on the 40-man roster, the Halos designated Osmer Morales for assignment.

Tonight’s starter, Matt Shoemaker, also needed a 40-man spot after returning from the 60-day DL. He’ll change places with first baseman/DH Albert Pujols, who was shifted to the 60-day DL after undergoing season-ending surgery recently.

Farrell, 27, was knocked off the Cubs’ 40-man roster recently to make way for some preferred late-season roster assets. He has managed only a 5.17 ERA through 31 1/3 MLB frames on the season, though he did post 11.2 K/9 (on the basis of a much-improved 11.4% swinging-strike rate) to go with 4.6 BB/9.

As for the 25-year-old Morales, he recently made his first MLB appearance but obviously did not have a clear place in the organization’s near-future plans. In 102 innings at Triple-A this year, he carried a 6.44 ERA with 8.2 K/9 against 5.0 BB/9.

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