NL West Notes: Padres, Hughes, Stripling, Duplantier
The Padres‘ acquisition of Phil Hughes was clearly more about acquiring the Twins‘ competitive balance draft pick than the pitcher himself, and GM A.J. Preller and scouting director Mark Conner spoke to MLB.com’s A.J Cassavell about the swap. Preller told Cassavell that he’s been calling every team that received pick in the competitive balance lottery on a near-weekly basis in an attempt to acquire an additional selection — something that’s long been a priority but was magnified in 2018 after San Diego surrendered a pick to sign Eric Hosmer. “The game now is about making your money work for you,” said Preller. “…You have to figure out what’s the best bang for your buck. Having the extra pick gives you more options.”
The move was met by excitement from Conner and his scouts, who’ll now not only have an extra pick (No. 74 overall) but an additional $812,200 in their draft pool. The Padres, of course, spent considerably more than that to obtain the pick, relieving the Twins of just over $7.6MM of Hughes’ salary. While it seems a shrewd (albeit expensive) pickup of a resource with limited availability, not every organization agrees; one exec from another club told FanRag’s Jon Heyman last week that the Padres were “insane” for taking on that much of the remaining contract to obtain the pick.
More from the division…
- Ross Stripling, who looks to be in the midst of a breakout season with the Dodgers, spoke to Pedro Moura of The Athletic about the role that data and analytics have played in his emergence (subscription required). The 28-year-old righty has turned in a ridiculous 1.68 ERA with 11.0 K/9, 2.1 BB/9, 0.56 HR/9 and a 47.6 percent ground-ball rate in 48 1/3 innings for the Dodgers so far in 2018. Stripling’s success is derived in large part from advance scouting of opposing lineups and taking deep dives into hitters’ strengths and weaknesses. Specifically, Stripling discusses the importance of knowing the quality of contact a hitter will make against pitch types in various portions of the strike zone. “I don’t care about average,” said Stripling. “I just want to know where he pulls the ball at 100 mph. I’m a believer in limiting slug, which is basically limiting exit velocity.” Moura’s column takes a long look not only at Stripling’s sudden success, but also his amateur days, his childhood fascination with baseball statistics and his path to professional baseball.
- The D-backs have had rotten luck with injuries at the big league level in 2018, and it’s apparently extending to the farm system as well. Zach Buchanan of The Athletic tweets that the team’s top prospect, right-hander Jon Duplantier, is dealing with biceps tendinitis and has been shut down from throwing for at least a week. The 23-year-old Duplantier has dominated in Double-A this year, working to a 2.52 ERA with 10.4 K/9, 2.8 BB/9, 0.5 HR/9 and a 59.8 percent ground-ball rate in 35 2/3 innings. He’s currently ranked as the game’s No. 50 overall prospect over at Baseball America and No. 65 overall at MLB.com.
Dodgers To Select Caleb Ferguson
The Dodgers are set to select the contract of left-handed pitching prospect Caleb Ferguson, as J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group tweets. The news first got out, it seems, when Ferguson’s mother announced it on Facebook (though Hoornsta notes that he’s confirmed the promotion himself as well). The Dodgers have a full 40-man roster, so they’ll need to make a corresponding move to add him to the roster.
[Related: Los Angeles Dodgers depth chart]
Ferguson, 21, entered the season ranked 15th among Dodgers farmhands, per Jonathan Mayo and Jim Callis of MLB.com. Tommy John surgery in high school caused him to drop to the 38th round of the draft, but he’s steadily risen through the Dodgers’ minor league ranks as he’s mended and rebuilt his arm strength. After dominating Double-A opponents with a 1.38 ERA, 40 strikeouts and 10 walks through 39 innings, Ferguson was moved up to Triple-A for a brief eight-inning stint before now ascending to the game’s highest level.
The addition of Ferguson will give Los Angeles an option to start on Wednesday this week. The Dodgers currently have an entire rotation’s worth of talent on the DL (and a very good rotation, at that) with Clayton Kershaw, Kenta Maeda, Rich Hill, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Julio Urias all on the shelf at at the moment. As such, if Ferguson is indeed called upon to start, he’ll step into the rotation alongside Alex Wood, Ross Stripling and fellow rookies Walker Buehler and Dennis Santana. It could be a simple spot start regardless, as the Dodgers have a pair of off-days next week that’ll allow them to skip the fifth spot in the rotation.
Quick Hits: Hanley, Trumbo, Bellinger, Peavy, Red Sox, Draft
Hanley Ramirez is getting interest from “multiple teams” since officially becoming a free agent, the Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo tweets. It isn’t any surprise that the veteran slugger is drawing some attention, particularly since he’d be available at a prorated minimum salary while the Red Sox cover the approximately $14.5MM remaining on Ramirez’s contract. Considering the low price tag, any number of teams could have interest — consider that the Orioles, who are already loaded with first base/DH candidates, have already been linked to Ramirez. It was only weeks ago that Ramirez was one of the league’s hottest hitters (posting a .330/.400/.474 slash line over 110 plate appearances in March and April) before he fell into a deep slump that led to his release from the Sox.
Some more from around the baseball world…
- Last winter, the Orioles “checked on” any trade interest in Mark Trumbo, MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko reports. It isn’t stated how much interest existed, though one can imagine it was a pretty thin market, given that Trumbo was coming off a rough 2017 season and is owed $26MM in 2018-19. Trumbo has a decent .292/.320/.427 slash line over 100 PA, though he has only two homers and missed all of April recovering from a quad strain. The O’s seem primed to be deadline sellers, though they’d likely have to eat some money to facilitate a Trumbo deal. (Incidentally, he also has a seven-team no-trade clause.)
- The slumping Cody Bellinger hasn’t started two of the Dodgers‘ last three games, as manager Dave Roberts talked to reporters (including Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register) about how the reigning NL Rookie Of The Year is trying to adjust to being pitched differently as well as some bad breaks at the plate. “He’s doing everything right as far as the preparation. The results just haven’t been there,” Roberts said. “So as a young player, he’s constantly trying to make adjustments. You get to a point where you wonder if you’re ever going to get a hit. All players go through that at some point in time.” Roberts wasn’t ready to say that a brief minor league stint might eventually be in the cards for Bellinger, who is hitting only .225/.298/.413 with eight homers over his first 238 plate appearances.
- In the latest on Jake Peavy‘s comeback attempt, the veteran righty will hold a private workout for teams sometime in June, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe reports. After sitting out the 2017 season to deal with personal issues, Peavy had been working out and planning to have a showcase in early May, though he said a few weeks ago that he wanted to consult with his children before deciding on a comeback.
- Also from Cafardo’s piece, he notes that tomorrow’s amateur draft carries particular import for a Red Sox farm system that has been thinned out by trades in recent years. Between those losses, Jay Groome‘s Tommy John surgery and Michael Chavis‘ PED suspension, Boston doesn’t seem to have enough young trade chips to make a splash at the deadline. “Let me put it this way, there isn’t anyone in their farm system that a team would say, ‘I have to have that guy.’ Not saying they don’t have anything to make a deal, but they don’t have enough to make a major deal,” one AL scout tells Cafardo. Of course, it remains to see if the Sox will necessarily be looking for a blockbuster upgrade given that the roster is already in very good shape and cruising towards a postseason berth.
- With the first round of the draft less than 24 hours away, Baseball America has released its latest mock draft of the first 35 picks. Auburn right-hander Casey Mize is still seen as the favorite to go to the Tigers with the first overall pick, with Mize unlikely to fall beyond the Giants (at the No. 2 pick) if Detroit goes go in another direction. Interestingly, Baseball America’s executive editor JJ Cooper (Twitter link) hears from multiple sources that “it is more likely now than it was any time up to now” that the top three picks will be Georgia Tech catcher Joey Bart (Tigers), California high schooler Cole Winn (Giants) and then Mize to the Phillies third overall. Still, there is “only a small chance” of this scenario playing out, and the likeliest scenario is still Mize going to the Tigers.
Dodgers Claim P.J. Conlon
The Dodgers have claimed left-hander P.J. Conlon off waivers from the Mets; the club announced the move. Conlon will be assigned to Triple-A Oklahoma City, and left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu has been transferred to the 60-day DL in order to make room on the 40-man roster.
Conlon hasn’t exactly impressed in his first taste of big league action; he’s allowed seven earned runs in his first two big league starts spanning just 5 2/3 innings. The Mets apparently didn’t need to see much more, as they designated him for assignment on Thursday in order to clear room to add a pair of right-handers to the roster. Juan Lagares was also transferred to the 60-day disabled list at that time.
Even in Triple-A last season, Conlon pitched to a whopping 6.58 ERA in 39 2/3 innings spanning eight starts. A mid-round pick of the Mets back in 2015, Conlon rocketed up the minor league ladder to make his MLB debut while spending no more than one year at each level of the minors. It’s almost curious that the Mets gave up on Conlon without ever giving him more than ten starts above the Double-A level, particularly given his serviceable results at Double-A in 2017.
The Dodgers have some rotation issues of their own, and Conlon could provide some decent minor-league depth. After all, they just learned they’ll be without fellow lefty Clayton Kershaw for another month (though obviously Conlon wouldn’t be much of a consolation prize in that regard).
Dodgers Place Clayton Kershaw On 10-Day DL
6:06pm: Manager Dave Roberts suggests that there’s at least a preliminary expectation that Kershaw will miss over a month of action, Moura tweets.
5:22pm: Star Dodgers hurler Clayton Kershaw returned from the disabled list to start yesterday, but he’s now headed right back to the shelf, as Pedro Moura of The Athletic was among those to indicate on Twitter and the team has now announced. Kershaw has been diagnosed with a lower back strain, as Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times tweets.
It’s really not surprising to hear that Kershaw will need at least at least a brief additional respite. He reported a tight back yesterday that required an MRI and kept him from traveling with the club. During his five innings of action, Kershaw never topped 90 mph with his fastball, which is hardly a promising sign.
At the moment, there’s no firm indication as to the seriousness of Kershaw’s new injury concern. His prior DL stint this year was for biceps tendinitis, but he has dealt with back troubles in the past two years, including a five-week absence last year for an injury with the same description as this one. Until we learn more, though, there’s no way to know how long Kershaw will be down. And the length of the absence will surely be tied to his progress.
Kershaw is hardly the Dodgers’ only injured starter, which complicates matters in the near term. The club just brought up youngster Dennis Santana for his first taste of the majors to help account for the missing arms. Now, righty Brock Stewart will be recalled to take the open spot on the active roster.
Marlins Acquire Peter O’Brien
The Marlins have acquired first baseman Peter O’Brien from the Dodgers in exchange for cash, tweets Matthew DeFranks of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. It’s a homecoming of sorts for O’Brien, a Miami-area native, though he’s been assigned to the team’s Double-A affiliate in Jacksonville for the time being. He wasn’t on the Dodgers’ 40-man roster, so no corresponding move is necessary for the Marlins.
O’Brien, 27, came up through the Yankees minor league system as a catcher noted for his tremendous power, but he’s bounced all over the diamond thanks to questionable defensive skills and has ultimately settled in at first base. He’s had a rough start to the season with the Dodgers’ Double-A affiliate, hitting .150/.241/.390. While he’s shown his typical brand of impressive power, clubbing seven homers in 112 plate appearances, he’s also struck out at a 38.9 percent pace so far.
The Marlins will be the seventh organization for O’Brien, who went from the Yankees to the D-backs in the 2014 Martin Prado trade and has since bounced from the D-backs to the Royals, Reds, Rangers and Dodgers in a series of smaller trades and waiver claims. He’s a career .176/.228/.446 hitter in 79 Major League plate appearances and has slashed .254/.306/.495 in 1162 plate appearances at the Triple-A level.
Clayton Kershaw To Undergo MRI On Back
Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw threw five useful innings today in his return from the DL, but the outing did not end quite as hoped. He’s headed for an MRI after experiencing back tightness during the outing, skipper Dave Roberts tells reporters including Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter links).
Though the outlooks remains entirely unknown, it has already been decided that Kershaw will not accompany the team on its upcoming road trip to Denver. That’s not surprising given the nature of the problem, to be sure, but neither would it be a shock to see Kershaw end up going back on the DL if there’s any concern at all about his health.
This sort of uncertain, early injury news arises with some frequency, but the backdrop here is hardly common. Kershaw, who had been out with biceps tendinitis, has dealt with back problems in recent years. The health of his back was, entering the present season, perhaps the only real question facing the game’s greatest active pitcher.
The stakes are high for all involved. For the Dodgers, the presumption of a healthy Kershaw was a key factor in the team’s pre-season designation by many as a favorite to return to the World Series. With a middling start to the season, he’s all the more important. Meanwhile, baseball’s preeminent southpaw is pitching in advance of an anticipated first entry onto the free-agent market at season’s end. He has long been expected to opt out of the final two years and $65MM of the extension he signed back in 2014.
Clearly, the full picture is not yet known. But there are signs both concerning and somewhat promising. Kershaw had already shown reduced fastball velocity before hitting the DL, averaging 92.1 mph with his four-seamer to open the year. Though he mustered five innings of one-run ball this evening, he was topping out at just 90 mph — quite a notable drop-off. That said, the balky back offers something of an explanation. In his comment after the game, Kershaw suggested that the back issue is more comparable to the less-serious problems he dealt with last year than those that set him back for a longer stretch in the prior campaign, as DiGiovanna notes on Twitter.
For now, it’s enough to say that there are more questions facing Kershaw than anyone hoped for when the season got underway. Even before tonight’s outing, he was allowing more homers than usual (1.43 per nine) while his swinging-strike rate sat at 11.7%, well off the level he had worked (14.1% or better) over the prior four seasons. The results have still largely been there, as they were again tonight, but it is certainly concerning that he’s again headed in for an examination after only just making it back to the majors.
Dodgers Activate Clayton Kershaw
The Dodgers announced that they’ve reinstated left-hander Clayton Kershaw from the disabled list and created a roster spot by optioning switch-pitcher Pat Venditte to Triple-A Oklahoma City. Kershaw, who’s been out since May 1 due to biceps tendinitis in his left arm, will start tonight’s game against the visiting Phillies.
The three-time NL Cy Young winner and five-time NL ERA leader will return to the Dodgers’ rotation just one day after right-hander Kenta Maeda landed on the disabled list with a right hip strain. It’s been an ongoing struggle for the Dodgers to keep their starting staff healthy so far this season, as Maeda is joined on the disabled list by lefties Rich Hill and Hyun-Jin Ryu. Fortunately for the Dodgers, Kershaw’s absence proved to be shorter than his DL trips for back injuries in each of the past two seasons.
Kershaw will step back into the starting mix alongside Alex Wood, rookie sensation Walker Buehler and the breakout righty Ross Stripling. While that may not be a rotation mix the Dodgers anticipated having to lean upon in 2018, the quality of that group serves as a testament to the depth that the Dodgers seem to have a knack for cultivating on a yearly basis.
While the Dodgers’ early struggles garnered plenty of national media attention, they’ve quieted the narrative that their season was on the brink of being lost by rattling off 10 wins in their past 13 contests. Los Angeles is still three games south of the .500 mark, but the collapse of the former NL West-leading Diamondbacks has opened a door for the Dodgers, who now sit 3.5 games back from the Rockies, who suddenly find themselves in first place.
A healthy Kershaw will go a long way toward continuing their recent success, though there are clearly some longer-term implications here for both Kershaw and the team. Kershaw has the ability to opt out of the remaining two years of his contract at season’s end, and he’s all but certain to do so. While the Dodgers clearly possess the financial firepower to match or top virtually any offer another team can make to Kershaw, the price of a new contract with the Dodgers or another club will be impacted in no small part by his ability to put this injury behind him and return to his status as one of the game’s elite arms.
Dodgers Release Danny Espinosa
The Dodgers have released veteran infielder Danny Espinosa from their Triple-A club, tweets Ken Gurnick of MLB.com. He’d signed with the organization on a minor league pact back in early May.
Espinosa, who turned 31 last month, has bounced all over the league since opening the 2017 season with the Angels. The longtime Nationals infielder was released by the Halos last July, and has since had brief stints with five other organizations: the Rays, Mariners, Yankees, Blue Jays and Dodgers (though he only appeared in the Majors with Tampa Bay and Seattle).
Espinosa’s time with the Dodgers organization will prove to be brief, as he appeared in just 19 games with their Triple-A affiliate in Oklahoma City and batted .150/.203/.267 with a pair of homers but a 36.9 percent strikeout rate. Espinosa has long carried a strong defensive reputation and did slug 24 homers for the Nationals as recently as 2016, but he’s struggled mightily at the plate both in 2017 and again so far in 2018.
Dodgers Promote Dennis Santana, Place Kenta Maeda On Disabled List
6:55pm: Maeda has been placed on the 10-day disabled list after an MRI confirmed that he has a mild hip strain, per a club announcement, which also confirmed Santana’s promotion. The Dodgers did not provide a timeline for Maeda’s return from the DL.
2:05pm: The Dodgers are slated to promote young righty Dennis Santana, as the pitching prospect announced on his own Twitter account. He was already on the 40-man roster but has never previously appeared at the MLB level.
Santana, 22, originally signed out of the Dominican Republic as an infielder but has long since worked exclusively as a pitcher. He was placed on the MLB roster over the winter to protect him from the Rule 5 draft.
Already an increasingly intriguing name to prospect hounds before the start of the current season, Santana has increased his stock with a good showing in 2018. Through ten starts — eight at Double-A and a pair at Triple-A — he carries a 2.54 ERA with 11.8 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9.
At present, it is not entirely clear how the Dodgers will utilize the live-armed youngster. He could conceivably make a start or two, fulfill a rotation spot for a lengthier stretch, or step into the bullpen. His performance will obviously help dictate those decisions, as will health developments regarding the rest of the staff.
The Dodgers, of course, have dealt with some rather significant injury issues with their rotation. Clayton Kershaw, Rich Hill, and Hyun-jin Ryu are already on the DL, and they could soon have additional company.
Veteran righty Kenta Maeda is set for an MRI today on his ailing hip, which forced him out of yesterday’s start early. It’s possible that Maeda will need a trip to the DL, per skipper Dave Roberts. (Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register was among those to tweet the news on Maeda.)
Clearly, the Dodgers will be hoping for a quick bounce back from Maeda, who has recorded 11.7 K/9 against 3.1 BB/9 in his 52 1/3 innings on the year. While his ERA edged north to 3.61 after yesterday’s shortened effort, fielding-independent metrics value him as a rather dominant starter (2.84 FIP / 3.06 xFIP / 3.19 SIERA).