Injury/Rehab Notes: Steckenrider, Davis, Strickland, Middleton
The Marlins placed righty Drew Steckenrider on the 10-day injured list due to inflammation in his right elbow last night, and Andre Fernandez of The Athletic tweets that the 28-year-old righty is undergoing further testing in Miami today. Entering the season, Steckenrider looked poised to hold down a significant role in the Miami relief corps. The offseason addition of Sergio Romo to the bullpen gave him some immediate competition for saves, but Steckenrider was in line for a prominent late-inning gig regardless of what inning he pitched most frequently. Through the first 99 1/3 innings of his big league career in 2017-18, Steckenrider posted a 3.35 ERA with 11.6 K/9, 4.1 BB/9 and 1.0 HR/9. Steckenrider, though, struggled through a rough second half last year and hasn’t looked right this season, pitching to a 6.28 ERA in 14 1/3 frames. After allowing seven homers all of last season and just 11 dating back to 2017, he’s served up six long balls already. His velocity has held up, and he isn’t necessarily having trouble throwing strikes (3.1 BB/9). However, Steckenrider is falling behind hitters more than he has in the past and seems to be struggling to locate within the zone.
Some more injury updates of note…
- Slugger Khris Davis departed last night’s game due to “lingering effects from the left hip contusion he suffered on Sunday in Pittsburgh,” the Athletics announced. There’s no word on whether Davis will require any additional absence at this point, though he already sat out a pair of games with that issue before last night’s early exit. Last year’s home run leader is hitting .227/.306/.477 with 10 long balls on the season so far. His health status will be worth keeping an eye on, as his availability could directly impact Kendrys Morales‘ place on the roster now that Matt Olson has returned from the injured list.
- Mariners right-hander Hunter Strickland has been cleared to resume throwing, writes Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. Strickland opened the season as the closer in Seattle and picked up a pair of saves with two perfect outings in his first two appearances. He was torched for three runs in his third appearance of the season, though, and landed on the injured list due to a strained lat that’ll sideline him more than two months when all is said and done. As Divish notes, Strickland had to restart his entire throwing program, so there’s no guarantee that he’ll be ready for activation when his 60-day minimum window is met on June 5. The Mariners have tried out Anthony Swarzak in the ninth inning with Strickland on the shelf, but he’s blown three of his past four save opportunities. Lefty Roenis Elias, too, has been in the mix for saves and has thrown more effectively.
- Angels righty Keynan Middleton had a minor setback in his rehab from Tommy John surgery last week but has resumed throwing, general manager Billy Eppler told reporters yesterday (link via Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times). Middleton ramped up his throwing a bit too aggressively and had to scale back his rehab for a week, but he’s still on track for a return for a midsummer return (late June or sometime in July). A healthy Middleton would only add to a relief corps that features plenty of quality arms even with Cody Allen struggling. Ty Buttrey has emerged as one of the American League’s most impressive young relievers, and he’s but one of four Halo relievers averaging at least 10.7 K/9 with a sub-3.00 ERA on the season. The flamethrowing Middleton averaged 96.7 mph on his heater and logged a 3.43 ERA with a 15 percent swinging-strike rate in 76 career innings before undergoing surgery last season.
The Marlins’ Rotation Mix Is Getting Interesting
It’s easy to pile on the Marlins, whose late-Loria era contention efforts fell flat and left a roster mess. There have been a few debatable decisions under the Derek Jeter regime as well, though it’s only fair to wait before issuing any kind of final judgment on the team’s divestment of several high-quality young position players. Predictably, the team is the worst in the National League by a rather comfortable margin.
There are some silver linings in the area of the rotation, though, and it’s worth shining a light on them. There are some genuinely interesting arms at or near the majors. In the right light, you can even make out the outlines of a pitching core that could form the platform for a contender.
The two biggest pieces were both picked up via trade. Initially, the deal that brought in Caleb Smith (link) was notable mostly because it cost the Fish pop-up prospect Mike King. But Smith was under-the-radar solid in a half-season of MLB rotation work and has trended way up thus far in 2019. Through his first seven starts of the new year, Smith owns a 2.11 ERA with 11.8 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 over 42 2/3 innings. A bit of regression may be in order, but the breakthrough seems to be real. The southpaw is carrying a hefty 16.7% swinging-strike rate through increased usage of his offspeed offerings.
Smith’s showing has overshadowed the promising work of Pablo Lopez, who’s posting 9.2 K/9 against 2.1 BB/9 with a 4.03 ERA through 38 frames in seven starts. There’s lots to like about the contact Lopez is generating with his four-pitch mix. He’s allowing hard contact at a meager 28.8% rate while drawing swings and misses at a sturdy 11.5% clip. Meanwhile, he’s inducing grounders 51.0% of the time and infield flies on 15.6% of the balls put in play against him. No wonder ERA estimators think he’s due for positive regression. Lopez came to the organization as a little-hyped piece in the 2017 David Phelps trade (link).
Indy ball find Trevor Richards already showed off his filthy changeup last year. He’s trending up in the ERA department (4.10 vs. 4.42) but has taken a bit of a dive in his peripherals. Still, he has improved to a strong 13.1% swinging-strike rate. Richards should continue to be a useful back-end starter and will still be shy of arbitration eligibility at the end of the season. Jose Urena isn’t turning in his best work right now, but has turned in two sub-4.00 ERA seasons and is still pumping 96 mph heat. There’s a bit more upside in the powerful right arm of Sandy Alcantara, a key piece of the Marcell Ozuna deal (link), though he’s also yet to fully harness his talent. At 23 years of age, he’s learning on the fly.
That covers the present rotation mix. Only Urena is in arbitration, who is still controllable for two more seasons beyond the present. It’s hardly an elite unit, but it’s got some legitimately interesting and potentially high-value arms.
Waiting in the wings is one of the most intriguing players in the organization. Zac Gallen also came in the Ozuna deal but wasn’t nearly as hyped. The 23-year-old had a solid showing last year in his first full season at Triple-A but has taken things to a new level thus far in 2019. Through 40 1/3 frames over six starts, he’s carrying a 1.12 ERA with 10.7 K/9, 1.1 BB/9, and a 49.4% groundball rate. And Gallen isn’t alone. Elieser Hernandez, a Rule 5 pick who unsurprisingly struggled in the bigs last year, has been humming as well. He’s sporting a 1.16 ERA in 31 innings over his own half-dozen starts, with 12.5 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9. Nick Neidert, who came in the Dee Gordon deal (link), has struggled to open the year but could be a near-term option if he can bounce back. Jordan Yamamoto, Jorge Guzman, and Jordan Holloway are other fairly well-regarded prospects rising through the system and possessing 40-man spots.
The highest-upside arms are still a ways off from the majors, though that likely suits the timeline just fine. Sixto Sanchez, the crown jewel of the J.T. Realmuto trade (link), is widely considered the organization’s top prospect and a potential front-line starter. Many saw that kind of upside from recent first-round draft pick Braxton Garrett before his career was interrupted by Tommy John surgery. He’s showing swing-and-miss stuff right now at the High-A level, though he has a ways to go to reestablish himself. Fellow former first-rounder Trevor Rogers is off to a solid start in his second full professional season.
So, we can see that the Marlins have found a few hidden gems — even if they’ve also failed to hit many immediately obvious home runs with their highest draft picks (ahem, Tyler Kolek) and biggest trade pieces. They’ve also unearthed one of the most interesting relievers in baseball in Nick Anderson.
Silver linings, of course, are all the more visible because they stand out against the darkness surrounding them. In this case, there’s more to the story than the general organizational malaise. The rotation picture itself is interesting not only for what’s there, but for what isn’t.
Even as they were busy gathering up some of the surprising arms listed above, the Marlins parted with a stomach-turning collection of MLB arms. Anthony DeSclafani and Andrew Heaney haven’t been as valuable as their talent level would suggest owing to injuries, but still would be nice assets to hold. Brad Hand was another dearly departed pitcher, though he thrived as a reliever after failing to stick as a starter in Miami.
But it really stings to consider four other recent departures: Luis Castillo (link); Chris Paddack (link); Domingo German (link); Trevor Williams (link). Rather remarkably, all of those former Marlins farmhands rank among the fifteen most valuable starters in all of baseball (by measure of fWAR) in the early going in 2019.
NL East Notes: Mets, Rosario, Nats’ Injuries, Marlins, Cooper
Amed Rosario‘s defensive struggles have emerged as a point of concern for the scuffling Mets, who will weigh what to do with the shortstop if he can’t correct his errors soon. Ken Davidoff of the New York Post outlines the problem, writing that general manager Brodie Van Wagenen, who has been aggressive in his first year at the helm, cannot afford to keep Rosario in the lineup for much longer when his lackluster defense could cost the club crucial wins. Rosario, just 23 years of age, is still a developing player and sustained reps could be the best remedy to his early-season challenges. However, a competitive Mets team that finds itself in the thick of a heated division race may run out of patience with Rosario, who is not hitting enough to quell the defensive concerns. To be sure, Davidoff notes that Rosario went eight straight games without an error before Saturday, when his two errors didn’t help the Mets’ cause in a marathon loss to the Brewers. The Mets are not yet considering a demotion—it will take another week or more before that becomes a serious possibility, per Davidoff—but Rosario could get a few days off if he can’t correct things in the next few games. Rosario has already accumulated -11 DRS—last season, he checked in at -16—and the Mets have Adeiny Hechavarria and Luis Guillorme as backup options, if it comes to that.
Here’s the latest news from around the NL East…
- Nationals right-hander Erick Fedde will be deployed as a reliever moving forward, writes Mark Zuckerman of MASN. After an impressive 4-inning outing against the Padres last week—his first Major League relief appearance—the club has decided that he will continue to work out of the bullpen in Double-A rather than returning to the Harrisburg rotation. The plan is for Fedde to rejoin the Nationals soon, in hopes that he will help remedy a bullpen that has arguably been the worst in the Majors.
- The Nationals will have to work around yet another injury, as Matt Adams was placed on the 10-day IL with a left shoulder strain on Saturday, recalling infielder Jake Noll. Meanwhile, the team will certainly welcome a piece of good news: Anthony Rendon is expected to rejoin the team on Tuesday, when he is eligible to return from his stint on the injured list, per Todd Dybas of NBC Sports. Rendon had been dealing with an elbow contusion that refused to heal, but he was finally able to take swings, indicating that a return is on the horizon.
- The Mets’ bullpen took another hit on Saturday, as southpaw Luis Avilan was placed on the 10-day IL with elbow tightness, according to Tim Healey of Newsday. Avilan, who has posted a dismal 9.28 ERA in 2019, joins fellow bullpen arms Jeurys Familia and Justin Wilson on the injured list. Tim Peterson and Tyler Bashlor were promoted to replace Chris Flexen and Ryan O’Rourke, both of whom were optioned to the minors. Flexen took Avilan’s place for Saturday’s game because Peterson and Bashlor were unavailable.
- In a stroke of bad luck, Marlins OF/1B Garrett Cooper finds himself once again on the injured list, this time with a left hand contusion, writes Joe Frisaro of MLB.com. After a calf strain held him out of action for a month, Cooper returned on April 30, only to be hit in the hand by a pitch, causing the injury. Peter O’Brien has been recalled from Triple-A to replace Cooper, who has been limited to just 4 appearances so far this season.
Marlins Option Lewis Brinson, Activate Garrett Cooper
The Marlins have optioned down struggling outfielder Lewis Brinson, as MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro was among those to tweet. He’ll be replaced on the active roster by Garrett Cooper.
It’s quite a disappointing outcome for Brinson as he prepares to celebrate his 25th birthday. The hope was that he’d have translated his obvious abilities into MLB production by this point. At the moment, Brinson has one year and 58 days of MLB service on his odometer, meaning he can only stay in the minors for 39 days if he’s to crack two full years of MLB service by season’s end.
Brinson turned in a disappointing first season in Miami after arriving as a major part of the Christian Yelich swap. Things have gotten even worse in 2019, as Brinson’s already meager power and walk numbers have cratered yet further.
All told, Brinson is sitting on a .190/.240/.321 slash line with a 30.4% strikeout rate and 4.8% walk rate through 543 plate appearances at the game’s highest level. That’s a fair sight shy of what he has produced over a similar stretch at Triple-A: .342/.398/.560 with 18 home runs and 18 steals in 497 plate appearances. And it’s well short of expectations for a player long tabbed as one of the twenty or so best prospects in baseball.
As for the 28-year-old Cooper, he’ll hope to finally get back to full health and stay that way. He was sidelined most recently with a calf strain. The Marlins have hoped for some time to give him an opportunity to prove he’s capable of hitting in the majors, but he has played in only 36 total games at all levels since joining the organization via trade in the 2017-18 offseason. Cooper will likely see time in the corner outfield and at first base.
NL East Notes: d’Arnaud, Anderson, Kieboom
The Mets‘ decision to cut Travis d’Arnaud so early in the season calls into question the decision to ever tender him a contract in the first place, Joel Sherman of the New York Post opines in a lengthy look at the process. The team’s stance is that it has spent the past two months — Spring Training included — evaluating d’Arnaud, though he’s received only 25 big league plate appearances in part due to a stint on the IL. General manager Brodie Van Wagenen simply stated a belief that Tomas Nido, recalled to replace d’Arnaud, “makes us better.” The defensive-minded Nido does give the team a glove-first backup to a more bat-first primary catcher in Wilson Ramos, though that much was always apparent — even from the time the Mets tendered d’Arnaud a $3.52MM contract while he worked his way back from Tommy John surgery. Van Wagenen asserted that he has no regrets about tendering d’Arnaud and added that he couldn’t let “a few dollars shortchange” the team or d’Arnaud from an opportunity to get a look at him this season, though as Sherman points out, those “few dollars” seem all the more costly given ownership’s track record of spending at a lesser level than one would expect from a team in the game’s largest market. More broadly, the column looks at whether d’Arnaud was a scapegoat of sorts and whether any reactionary moves might follow.
More out of the NL East…
- Just a month into the season, the Marlins have “at least temporarily” moved Brian Anderson from third base back to right field, Jordan McPherson of the Miami Sun-Sentinel reports. The organization’s stance heading into the season was that Anderson would move back to his natural position, but manager Don Mattingly acknowledged that right field “turned into kind of a mess,” thus prompting the switch. Miami entered the season hoping that a combination of Garrett Cooper, Peter O’Brien, Austin Dean and Rosell Herrera could hold down the fort in right, however, so it’s hardly a surprise that the club ran into troubles there. The 28-year-old, 6’6″, 230-pound Cooper entered the season with all of 125 professional innings in right field and profiles better at first base, while O’Brien (also 28) is years removed from being an interesting power prospect with substantial defensive question marks. Mattingly wouldn’t comment on how long Anderson will be in the outfield, but the lack of solid in-house alternatives suggests that Anderson’s full-time move back to the hot corner won’t be anything close to “full-time” after all.
- Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post looks at the timing of Carter Kieboom‘s promotion in an attempt to determine what prompted the Nationals to make the move when they did. While Kieboom’s promotion ensures that he won’t be able to tally the 172 days of MLB service needed to reach one full year of service, Dougherty points out that service time considerations haven’t been a factor in the past when the Nats promoted star prospects like Bryce Harper, Victor Robles and Juan Soto. Rather, he speculates that perhaps Trea Turner‘s timeline is closer to the eight-week time period than originally hoped, and the lack of offense from shortstop proved glaring. As for what’ll become of Kieboom, who has already homered twice, when Turner returns from his broken index finger, GM Mike Rizzo didn’t out keeping the 21-year-old Kieboom around. While Rizzo stated that Turner would return to shortstop once healed, he also indicated that the club could find a way to keep Kieboom on the big league roster at that point. The Nats kept Soto at the MLB level last year when he was initially promoted as an injury replacement, so there’s some recent precedent for that type of path. Turner is also still weeks away from a return, and it’s possible that other injuries on the roster will create a clearer opening for Kieboom to stick at the big league level even with Turner at shortstop.
AL Central Notes: Mize, Carrasco, Soler
The Tigers announced Thursday that top pitching prospect Casey Mize has been promoted to Double-A Erie. Mize, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 draft, tore through an early assignment to Class-A Advanced, posting a comical 0.35 ERA with a 25-to-1 K/BB ratio in 26 innings of work prior to the promotion. The former Auburn ace, clearly miles ahead of the competition he faced at that first stop, looks to be on a relatively fast track to the big leagues. The 21-year-old (22 on May 1) totaled 128 1/3 innings between college ball and the minor leagues last season, so he may not even be on all that aggressive of an innings cap (although surely the Tigers will exercise some degree of caution as pertains to his workload). Widely regarded as one of the game’s best overall prospects, Mize could put himself in the conversation for a big league promotion this summer or in early 2020, at the latest, assuming things go smoothly in Double-A and Triple-A.
More from the division…
- An MRI revealed no damage in the ailing knee of Indians right-hander Carlos Carrasco, Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes. Carrasco tweaked the knee in his most recent start against the Marlins while covering first base on a grounder, and while he finished that frame (the fourth), he didn’t return for the fifth. The righty told skipper Terry Francona that the knee had begun to tighten up, and the Cleveland manager understandably opted to go the cautious route. Carrasco is in line to make his next scheduled start on Sunday and seemingly won’t have any limitations placed on him.
- The Royals are cognizant of the fact that Jorge Soler‘s work in right field is a work in progress, at best, but the organization plans to continue giving him opportunities to improve, MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan writes. It seems the team believes there’s better glovework to be unlocked with more reps, with Soler possessing the physical tools needed to man the position. The coaching staff is stressing the need for him to take better routes to the ball — particularly when it’s hit over his head. There’s little doubt that Soler’s upside would be maximized by playing on the grass regularly, rather than serving solely as a DH, though he has already logged more than two thousand MLB innings in the outfield without mastering the gig. He’s also pacing the American League with 39 strikeouts and carrying a .288 on-base percentage, which arguably represent larger concerns. Soler is under contract through 2020 under the international free agent contract he originally signed out of Cuba. The out-of-options 27-year-old will be eligible for arbitration for one season thereafter.
NL East Notes: Pivetta, Brinson, Jennings, Arano
Phillies right-hander Nick Pivetta sat down with The Athletic’s Meghan Montemurro for a candid interview about the difficulty of being optioned to Triple-A and the path he knows he needs to take back to the Majors (subscription required). The 26-year-old expressed disappointment in what he felt was “an early send-down,” though he made clear he respects the decision and understands what he has to improve upon to return. The Phils made no promises about the length of his minor league stay, Montemurro notes, suggesting that Pivetta’s fate is largely in his own hands. Perhaps most interestingly, Pivetta spoke about the emotional conflict of being sent to the minors and having his job taken by close friend Jerad Eickhoff. “That’s the brutality of what is baseball,” Pivetta explained. “Your best friends and guys that have really helped you out, they come up and they take your jobs and you can’t feel hardship against those guys because they’re your friends. … The road he had to come back is extraordinary and it’s a feat and it’s a great thing for him. So I’m not ever going to feel down about that.” The interview serves as a good reminder of the oft-overlooked human component of roster transactions we see on a daily basis.
Here’s more from the NL East…
- A demotion to Triple-A New Orleans could be looming for Marlins outfielder Lewis Brinson if he’s not able to quickly right the ship at the plate, writes Joe Frisaro of MLB.com. The former top prospect struggled through much of the 2018 season but gave Marlins fans hope with a huge Spring Training performance. However, he’s now mired in a disastrous 1-for-27 tailspin over his past 11 games, having punched out 16 times in that span. Even more troubling, as Frisaro points out, is the fact that Brinson has just one hit against a breaking pitch all season.
- The Nationals have assigned just-inked southpaw Dan Jennings to the club’s Double-A affiliate, Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post tweets. Heading to the penultimate stop of the minors doesn’t mean that the 32-year-old is far from the majors; to the contrary, it puts him much closer to Nationals Park — in Harrisburg, PA instead of the club’s Triple-A outpost in Fresno, CA. Jennings owns a 2.96 ERA over 344 career innings in the majors; given the present state of the Nats’ pen, he figures to be called up in fairly short order.
- It still isn’t clear what’s going on in the inflamed elbow of Phillies righty Victor Arano. He’s due soon for an MRI, but first needs an ultrasound to assess what precise type of imaging to pursue, manager Gabe Kapler tells reporters including Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link). The 24-year-old Arano had been off to an interesting start to the season, racking up seven strikeouts against two walks in 4 2/3 innings with an eye-popping 25.0% swinging-strike rate. It’s a small sample, to be sure, but nevertheless a promising development for a young reliever who already showed ample promise last year. He and the Phillies will obviously hope that the elbow issue turns out to be minor.
Marlins Select Jon Berti
Per a team release, the Marlins have selected IF/OF Jon Berti to the 40-man roster and optioned OF Austin Dean to AAA-New Orleans. Righty Riley Ferrell was transferred to the 60-day IL to make room for Berti.
Berti, 29, signed a minor-league deal with Miami in the offseason after eight seasons spent on the Toronto farm. After an excellent showing with AA-New Hampshire last season, where he slashed .314/.399/.498 as a way-old-for-the-level 28-year-old, Berti was gifted with a late-season, 15-plate appearance cameo for the Jays.
Berti’s lit the southern division of the Pacific Coast League ablaze thus far, slashing a ridiculous .286/.490/.486 over his first 49 plate appearances, and the Marlins will hope the utilityman can at least approximate his otherworldly plate-discipline figures in his second MLB stint.
Dean again struggled in his second MLB Marlins stint this season, slashing just .227/.217/.455 with a 39.1% K rate over the season’s first 23 plate appearances. The 25-year-old does have a strong upper-minors track record, though further seasoning seems in order.
Marlins Fire Hitting Coach Mike Pagliarulo
The Marlins announced after tonight’s game that they have fired hitting coach Mike Pagliarulo from his post, as MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro as among those to report (Twitter link). He’ll be replaced by Jeff Livesey on an interim basis, with the role of assistant hitting coach to be filled by Eric Duncan.
Pagliarulo had taken the helm in advance of the 2016 season, marking his first MLB coaching role. The former big-league third baseman had previously worked as a Triple-A hitting coach. Livesey, the former assistant hitting coach with the Pirates, was added to the Miami staff before the current campaign. Duncan, once a lauded Yankees prospect, never made it to the majors but had been moving up the chain as a hitting coach in the New York farm system.
President of baseball operations Michael Hill explained the decision (via Wells Dusenberry of the Sun Sentinel, on Twitter), calling the Marlins “an easy team to pitch to.” With the organization determining that “the necessary adjustments” hadn’t been made, it was decided that “it was time for a new voice and subsequently a change needed to be made.”
While expectations were low for the Marlins entering the season, the club has certainly scuffled more than might have been hoped. Through 680 plate appearances, Miami hitters were carrying a cumulative .216/.275/.332 batting line with the league’s second-worst walk rate (6.6%) and fourth-lowest wRC+ (65).
Marlins Select Isaac Galloway
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.