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Marco Hernandez To Undergo Shoulder Surgery

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Red Sox infielder Marco Hernandez will undergo surgery to repair his injured left shoulder on Friday and is likely to miss the remainder of the regular season, tweets Tim Britton of the Providence Journal. Hernandez has been on the disabled list due to a left shoulder subluxation since May 4.

The 24-year-old Hernandez hasn’t solidified himself as a regular big league contributor to this point in his career, but he’s been a useful utility option for the Sox since making his MLB debut last year. In 61 games and 116 plate appearances, Hernandez has batted .284/.328/.349, and he’s logged time at second base, shortstop and third base in the Majors.

[Related: Boston Red Sox depth chart]

Hernandez’s season-ending injury further thins out a depleted third base mix for the Sox. In addition to Hernandez, both Brock Holt and Pablo Sandoval are on the disabled list, leaving Deven Marrero and Josh Rutledge to split third base duties for the time being in Boston. Hernandez will now accrue a full year’s worth of Major League service in 2017, and the ability to move him to the 60-day disabled list will give Boston a bit of flexibility with the 40-man roster.

As for Boston’s third base alternatives, it doesn’t seem that the 28-year-old Holt is especially close to returning to action; Britton also tweeted that the versatile 28-year-old was removed from his rehab assignment due to the fact that he wouldn’t be ready for activation within the requisite 20-game window. He’s being shut down for another five days as he continues to deal with the aftereffects of a concussion. Sandoval, meanwhile, is on a rehab assignment in Triple-A but is out of the lineup today due to illness, per Britton.

Marco Hernandez Weighing Shoulder Surgery

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Red Sox infielder Marco Hernandez is weighing surgery that would probably keep him out for the rest of the season, as Tim Britton of the Providence Journal was among those to report (Twitter links). While nothing has been decided, manager John Farrell suggested that the surgical route was increasingly likely.

Hernandez, 24, has played a surprisingly important role for Boston in the early going. Before hitting the DL, he had taken sixty plate appearances while helping to fill in at third base and also seeing action at short and second. Hernandez is hitting just .276/.300/.328 over that span.

While the Sox will be disappointed to lose the flexibility represented by Hernandez, if he does indeed go under the knife, the news doesn’t come at the worst possible time. Boston has welcomed back Josh Rutledge, whose early-season absence opened the door for Hernandez, with Pablo Sandoval and Brock Holt also on the way back.

Hernandez came to Boston as the player to be named later in the deal that sent Felix Doubront to the Cubs at the 2014 trade deadline. He finally gained traction after arriving with his new organization, moving into the upper minors and then reaching the majors for the first time last year.

Roster Notes: Brewers, Mets, Royals, Red Sox, Rangers

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The Brewers are down to 24 players after demoting relievers Tyler Cravy and Rob Scahill on Saturday, but general manager David Stearns declined to address whether he’ll add a player from outside the organization, writes Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Both Cravy and Scahill are unhappy that they didn’t earn the 25th spot, per Haudricourt, with Cravy claiming he could seek “a 9 to 5 job where I get treated like a human, at this point.” Continued the 27-year-old: “It would just be nice to have the honesty straight up front instead of, ‘Hey, you’re competing for a job,’ then literally out-compete everyone and be told, ‘Sorry, we have other plans.’ “It says a lot about the integrity, or lack thereof, of the guys running the show, but what are you going to do?”

While Cravy isn’t sure if he’s willing “to play for guys who treat you like this,” Stearns seemed to chalk the right-hander’s comments up to frustration. “Tyler, in particular, went through this last year,” said Stearns. “He made the trip with us (to play Class AA) Biloxi and was sent out at Biloxi. Dealing with this two years in a row is not a pleasant experience. We’re sensitive to that.”

More of the latest roster news:

  • Mets righty Seth Lugo will begin the season on the 10-day disabled list with a tired arm, reports Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. Lugo doesn’t have any structural damage, relays DiComo, who notes that Rafael Montero will claim a spot in the bullpen for as long as he’s out. Lugo spent most of the spring vying for one of the two vacancies in the Mets’ rotation, but the team chose Robert Gsellman and Zack Wheeler over him Thursday.
  • The Royals have optioned infielder/outfielder Whit Merrifield to Triple-A, meaning Christian Colon has won a bench job in Kansas City. Merrifield was easily the better of the two last season, having hit .283/.323/.392 to Colon’s .231/.294/.293, but the latter is out of options and could have ended up with another organization had KC demoted him.
  • With Josh Rutledge on the shelf because of a hamstring injury, the Red Sox have tabbed first baseman/outfielder Steve Selsky for a reserve job. As a right-handed hitter, Selsky is a better fit for the role than the lefty-swinging Marco Hernandez, whom the Red Sox optioned to Triple-A. Selsky, a January waiver claim from the Reds, is likely to platoon at first with the left-handed Mitch Moreland, as Hanley Ramirez (shoulder) still isn’t healthy enough to play the field.
  • Righty Mike Hauschild has made the Rangers’ Opening Day roster, according to TR Sullivan of MLB.com. The Rangers took Hauschild from the AL West rival Astros in December’s Rule 5 draft. The 27-year-old is now in line to make his major league debut, having spent the previous five years in the minors after going to Houston in Round 33 of the 2012 amateur draft. He worked exclusively as a starter at Triple-A over the past two seasons and posted a 3.33 ERA, 7.9 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 in 227 1/3 innings.

AL East Notes: Yankees, Duffy, Sucre, Rutledge, Smith, Price

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The rotation picture is slowly coming into focus for the Yankees, who still haven’t made clear who’ll round out their staff. As George A. King III of the New York Post reports, though, the organization has decided that Adam Warren will open the year in the bullpen while Luis Cessa will start out in the minors. That leaves four remaining possibilities for the final two rotation jobs: Luis Severino, Bryan Mitchell, Chad Green, and Jordan Montgomery. While Montgomery has produced intriguing numbers in the upper minors last year as well as during camp this spring, he’s considered a “long shot,” per the report.

Here’s more news out of the AL East:

  • There’s some positive news for Rays shortstop Matt Duffy, who received a clean MRI on his still-ailing heel, Topkin tweets. But there’s still no timeline for his return with camp about to break. Given the delayed healing thus far, it seems likely the club will exercise plenty of caution. Meanwhile, the Rays have informed catcher Jesus Sucre that he’ll be on the active roster, as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports on Twitter. He’ll function as the backup to the just-acquired Derek Norris, with Luke Maile and Curt Casali heading to Triple-A for depth.
  • While the focus has been on the pitching staff, it appears the Red Sox will be dealing with a few tough roster questions on the position-player side to open the year. Infielder Josh Rutledge is likely to start the year on the DL with a hamstring issue, skipper John Farrell told reporters including Tim Britton of the Providence Journal (Twitter links). What’s of added intrigue here is the fact that first baseman Mitch Moreland has been sent home with the flu, while Hanley Ramirez appears likely to be limited to DH duties. It seemed Rutledge had been slated to back up Moreland at the position; now, the club may be forced to press someone else into duty — Marco Hernandez and Steve Selsky were suggested as possibilities to take Rutledge’s roster spot — at least in a reserve function. Of course, it’s worth bearing in mind that this is likely only a short-term issue.
  • As for the Red Sox’ pitching, there are a few minor updates worth noting. Righty Carson Smith is backing down a bit on his Tommy John rehab after experiencing tightness following his first pen session, Britton reports. It’s considered more a typical part of the process than any kind of setback. Starter David Price, meanwhile, is continuing a long-toss program (two days on, one day off) for the time being, Britton tweets. It’s not clear just when or how the team will decide to ramp things up for the lefty.

Quick Hits: Pagan, Tigers, Giants, M. Upton, Rangers, Brewers, BoSox

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The expectation is that free agent outfielder Angel Pagan will choose his next team in the coming days, reports Jim Bowden of ESPN.com. The Tigers are among the clubs that have shown interest in Pagan, according to both Bowden and Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press. However, a Pagan-Tigers union “doesn’t sound like a real possibility,” per Fenech (Twitter link). While Bowden also relays that the Giants are in on Pagan, Andrew Baggarly of the Bay Area News Group tweets otherwise.  Pagan, of course, spent the previous half-decade in San Francisco.

More from around the majors as Opening Day draws closer:

  • It’s likely that outfielder Melvin Upton Jr. will make the Blue Jays, but it’s not a lock, according to Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com. The last spot on the team figures to go to either Upton, whom Toronto acquired last summer from San Diego, or out-of-options middle infielder Ryan Goins. While Upton will make $16.45MM in 2017, the final season of the five-year, $75.25MM contract he signed with the Braves in 2012, the Padres are on the hook for most of that money. The Blue Jays only took on $5MM of the remaining $22MM-plus Upton had coming his way when they traded for him. The 32-year-old was amid a decent season at that point, but he closed the campaign by slashing just .196/.261/.318 in 165 plate appearances as a Jay.
  • The Rangers are in talks with right-hander Dillon Gee about restructuring his contract, writes Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. Gee, who has an opt-out for Wednesday, is in line to make a guaranteed $2MM if he takes the last spot in the Rangers’ bullpen. That’s unpalatable to the Rangers, who might want to send Gee to the minors during the season; however, Gee would be able to refuse such an assignment because of service time and still collect the $2MM. Grant suggests the two sides should work out a minor league split, meaning Gee would earn a prorated $2MM in the majors and a lesser salary in the minors.
  • First baseman Jesus Aguilar has made the Brewers’ roster, reports Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Twitter link). Aguilar cracking Milwaukee’s roster seemed like a long shot at the outset of camp, but the February waiver wire pickup from the Indians has since recorded a video game-like, major league-best 1.395 OPS in 54 spring at-bats. The right-handed, out-of-options Aguilar could pair with fellow first baseman Eric Thames, a lefty-swinger, to give the Brewers a powerful tandem at the position.
  • Red Sox infielder Marco Hernandez came up as a trade candidate last week, when it appeared he had no place on the club’s roster, though an injury to Rule 5 pick Josh Rutledge may have created room. Rutledge suffered a strained left hamstring Tuesday, and Hernandez could be the beneficiary, notes Scott Lauber of ESPN.com. The problem is that the Red Sox want a right-handed hitter to complement corner infielders Mitch Moreland and Pablo Sandoval, but Hernandez is a lefty.

AL Notes: Hernandez, Anderson, Mariners

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Red Sox infielder Marco Hernandez has hit very well this spring but has no obvious role with the team, so he could be traded, Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald writes. The 24-year-old Hernandez has batted .405/.488/.730 in Spring Training, but he has little chance of breaking camp with the team because he’s a lefty hitter, like utilityman Brock Holt, and the team prefers a righty. Hernandez, who the Red Sox acquired prior to the 2015 season as a PTBNL in the Felix Doubront deal, batted .309/.343/.444 in Triple-A and .294/.357/.373 in 56 plate appearances while shuttling back and forth between the minors and Majors last year. “[T]his is an everyday player if you really start to break him down and look at what he’s capable of doing,” says manager John Farrell. “Yet he’s in a group that’s talented, that’s deep, so finding his place is ongoing.” Here’s more from the American League.

  • Former slugger and current vice president of baseball operations Brady Anderson is a source of tension within the Orioles organization, writes FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal in a detailed feature that’s revealing about the ways players and coaches think about the roles of team front office members. Anderson’s duties with the club include coaching, working on the team’s strength and conditioning program and helping determine player transactions, meaning he has influence in a number of seemingly disparate areas. He’s also close with owner Peter Angelos. Former pitching coach Dave Wallace cites Anderson’s “total autonomy and really no accountability” as a problem for the Orioles, and both Wallace and former bullpen coach Dom Chiti (who are both now with the Braves) cite Anderson’s presence as reasons they left the organization. Former catcher Matt Wieters also describes Anderson’s blurring of the boundaries between executive and coach as an issue for the club. “Brady was a great player for a long time. He was a member of that clubhouse,” says Wieters. “At the same time, when you get into the season, the 25 guys in that clubhouse are who you want in that clubhouse.”
  • The Mariners are no strangers to analytics, but they also value old-school approaches to player evaluation, MLB.com’s Doug Miller writes. Manager Scott Servais, for example, highlights veteran catcher Carlos Ruiz’s work this spring with pitchers, including 23-year-old Max Povse, who spent the 2016 season at the Class A+ and Double-A levels but has thrived so far in camp. “Max Povse comes out after four innings [thinking], ’Jeez, I never had to shake off a pitch tonight. Never had to think about it,'” says Servais. “You can’t measure it, but it’s there and it’s really important to a winning team.”

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