NL Roster Notes: Bautista, Perdomo, Gonzalez, Mac/Pence
The Braves don’t intend to take a long time deciding whether to bring up recent signee Jose Bautista, Michael Hoad of Sportsnet.ca writes. GM Alex Anthopoulos says that the club is “optimistic [Bautista is] going to have an opportunity to come up,” so it seems the expectation is that the former star will indeed get a shot. He’ll be looking for a return to form at the plate even as he makes a surprising return to third base after nearly a decade spent mostly in the outfield. But Anthopoulos did note that he hasn’t made any promises of a MLB promotion, so it seems that Bautista will at least have to show something to get a crack at boosting a Braves team that is off to a nice start.
Here are a few notes on some National League players who are already slated to move onto or off of a major league roster:
- The Padres have optioned righty Luis Perdomo, per a club announcement, with reliever Kirby Yates being activated from the DL to take his roster spot. Though he showed a good bit of promise last year, Perdomo has been tagged for 13 earned runs in 14 innings in his first four starts of the 2018 campaign. Though he has given up quite a lot of hard contact, the resulting .510 batting average on balls in play surely seems like an outlier. Beyond the performance considerations, the move helps the team manage a roster that has quite a few moving parts.
- Marlins pitching prospect Merandy Gonzalez is heading to the majors for the first time, as MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro writes. Skipper Don Mattingly says he’ll use his new hurler as a long relief option for the time being. Gonzalez is a starter by trade, and has some long-term hopes of working in a big-league rotation, but at the moment is appealing mostly because he offers the possibility of filling some innings and is already on the 40-man. Miami added Gonzalez in the trade that sent reliever A.J. Ramos to the Mets last summer.
- There’s nothing official yet, but Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic tweeted the “informed speculation” that outfielder Mac Williamson will join the Giants tomorrow. There are still some complications, but the 27-year-old has clearly played his way to a call-up. In fifty trips to the plate at Triple-A, he’s hitting a ridiculous .487/.600/1.026 with six home runs. Meanwhile, veteran Hunter Pence has managed only one extra-base hit, nine singles, and two walks in his 61 MLB plate appearances. It seems he will be headed to the DL with a thumb issue.
Marlins Activate J.T. Realmuto
The Marlins announced today that they’ve activated catcher J.T. Realmuto from the 10-day disabled list. Realmuto, who opened the season on the shelf due to a lower back contusion, went 3-for-3 with a homer in his lone rehab game and will jump right into the mix in Miami, as he’s in the lineup tonight. Fellow catcher Chad Wallach was optioned to Triple-A New Orleans to clear a spot on the roster.
Realmuto, 27, was the subject of a cavalcade of trade rumors this offseason as the Marlins tore down the majority of their roster, trading away stars Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich, Dee Gordon and Marcell Ozuna. Realmuto’s agent reportedly made it clear to the club that he, too, would prefer a trade, but he instead remains on hand as perhaps the lone star left on a new-look roster.
Miami is off to a 4-12 start to the season, though the return of Realmuto should help to bolster the lineup. The 27-year-old has steadily improved in each of his seasons at the big league level and is now widely considered to be one of the game’s top all-around backstops. Last year, in a career-high 579 plate appearances, Realmuto hit .278/.332/.451 with 17 homers and eight steals while also controlling the running game well (32 percent caught-stealing) and delivering strong pitch-framing marks.
The Marlins control Realmuto through the 2020 season, and given the turnover elsewhere on the roster, it stands to reason that he could once again come up in trade talks this summer. MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro reported the other day that the Fish don’t have any current desire to shop Realmuto, though that could change, of course, if enough contending clubs are in need of catching help this summer. At the very least, one has to imagine that Miami president of baseball ops Michael Hill and the rest of the Marlins’ front office will be open-minded about the possibility of a trade — especially given the team’s poor start and their likely status as the NL East’s cellar dweller in 2018.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Realmuto, Moustakas, Machado, Donaldson
The Mets made repeated inquiries on Marlins catcher J.T. Realmuto during the offseason, says Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic in a video tweet. They also asked the Marlins about Starlin Castro. However, at that point in the winter, the club had just traded Christian Yelich to the Brewers, and they had also unloaded the contracts of Dee Gordon, Giancarlo Stanton and Marcell Ozuna; they weren’t looking to cut any more salary at that moment in time. While the Mets are prepared to roll with Tomas Nido and Jose Lobaton for now, Rosenthal suggests that the club could attempt to revisit Realmuto discussions at some point.
More from Rosenthal…
- Although it’s early, Rosenthal suggests that Mike Moustakas looks like a hot trade candidate, citing his physical condition and low salary as selling points for the Royals third baseman. According to GM Dayton Moore, Moustakas is “running as well as he ever has.” Rosenthal figures that Kansas city will be among the most active trade deadline sellers in July, and could also dangle southpaw Danny Duffy, second baseman Whit Merrifield and closer Kelvin Herrera.
- The shifting power structure of Orioles ownership might affect the way the club approaches a potential Manny Machado trade, should they end up willing to deal him. Peter Angelos was always opposed to making trades with the division-rival Yankees, but the younger Angelos’ might not place such a restriction on the concept. There are a number of other reasons to throw cold water on the idea of a Machado-to-Yankees swap, as Rosenthal notes, such as the presence of Brandon Drury and the Yankees’ possible focus on pitching. Still, the idea seems more plausible now that Peter Angelos’ sons are more active in the running of the club.
- One rival executive estimates that there are “tens of millions” of dollars riding on the health of Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson‘s shoulder. Rosenthal posits that the former AL MVP will be much less valuable as a free agent if there are questions surrounding his ability to play third base; much of his value lies in his defensive prowess. Being viewed as a first base/DH type for the bulk of his remaining career could eliminate some NL teams as suitors, and it doesn’t help that Donaldson is about to turn 33.
East Notes: Sox, Ohtani, G. Torres, Hellickson, Realmuto, Mets
Angels phenom Shohei Ohtani will start against the Red Sox on Tuesday. If the Sox had their druthers, though, it would be the other way around, per Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald. Boston, like just about every other major league team, courted Ohtani during his brief foray into free agency over the winter. The club showed Ohtani a 25-minute video presentation that prominently featured former Red Sox starter/slugger Babe Ruth, the most successful two-way player of all-time, as a recruiting tool. Ohtani is aiming to make a Ruthian impact as both a pitcher and a hitter in the majors, and so far he’s thriving on both ends. The Red Sox would have given Ohtani the opportunity to capitalize on his unique talents, as Silverman details, though he eliminated them (and most other clubs) from the process pretty quickly. “I wish we were in a position where we could have tackled that challenge,” said president Dave Dombrowski. “We liked him a great deal, we thought very highly of him. I thought he was a legitimate two-way player.” Silverman’s piece, which contains more quotes from Dombrowski and senior vice president of personnel Allard Baird (who scouted Ohtani extensively from 2012-17), is worth checking out in full.
More from the East Coast…
- Right-hander Jeremy Hellickson could take the ball for the Nationals on Monday when they open a series against the division-rival Mets, Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com suggests. Righty A.J. Cole is penciled in at the moment, though signs are pointing to Hellickson making his Nats debut, Zuckerman explains. Promoting Hellickson, whom Washington signed to a minors deal before the season, would require the team to add him to its 40-man roster and jettison someone else. That wouldn’t be the out-of-options Cole, per Zuckerman, who expects him to move to the bullpen in the event of a Hellickson call-up. The 31-year-old Hellickson, a veteran of 197 starts, will earn a $2MM salary if he lands a spot with the Nats.
- Manager Aaron Boone told Marc Carig of The Athletic and other reporters Sunday that it’s “possible,” albeit “not necessarily” probable, the Yankees will promote top prospect Gleyber Torres during the upcoming week. The Yankees would gain an extra year of control over the infielder by waiting until April 18 to promote him, though general manager Brian Cashman insisted during spring training that the team’s not concerned about that. Torres has made his case for a call-up at the Triple-A level since last year, having hit .333/.407/.496 in 135 plate appearances. If the 21-year-old does join the Yankees soon, he could be a factor at both second and third base.
- The Marlins’ best player, catcher J.T. Realmuto, is closing in on his 2018 debut. Realmuto, out since late March with a lower back injury, could rejoin the Marlins at the start of their nine-game road trip Monday, manager Don Mattingly informed Steve Dorsey of MLB.com and other reporters. And third baseman Martin Prado is “progressing” in his recovery from a left hamstring strain, per Mattingly, who added that the veteran could begin a rehab assignment soon. Prado, like Realmuto, hasn’t played yet this season.
- The Mets activated first baseman Dominic Smith from the DL on Sunday and optioned him to Triple-A Las Vegas, Tim Healey of Newsday tweets. The former top 100 prospect had been dealing with a strained quad since the outset of spring training, thus putting the kibosh on his chances of winning a job in camp. Smith, 22, is now behind Adrian Gonzalez, Wilmer Flores (and maybe others) in the Mets’ first base pecking order.
Marlins Select Contract Of J.B. Shuck, Place Garrett Cooper On 60-Day DL
The Marlins announced on Friday that they’ve selected the contract of outfielder J.B. Shuck from Triple-A New Orleans. To clear room on the 40-man roster, first baseman/outfielder Garrett Cooper has been moved from the 10-day DL to the 60-day DL. Outfielder Braxton Lee was optioned to New Orleans to create a 25-man spot for the veteran Shuck.
Cooper recently landed on the disabled list when he was hit on the wrist by a pitch, and while the initial injury report out of Miami was a contusion, it seems that the injury is likely worse than that given today’s shuffle. Indeed, MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro tweets that Cooper has been diagnosed with a partially torn wrist tendon sheath.
That’s obviously unfortunate news for the 27-year-old, who had a clear path to a full-season showcase with the Fish. The rebuilding Marlins organization acquired Cooper over the winter from the Yankees and had planned to give him a shot at earning time in the corner outfield while also backing up Justin Bour at first base.
Cooper put himself on the map with a surprising minor-league breakout last year, leading to his acquisition by the Yankees and first crack at the majors. In his first 54 plate appearances at the game’s highest level, nine of which came early this season, he carries a .300/.333/.440 batting line.
The 30-year-old Shuck, meanwhile, will help fill in for at least the time being. He failed to spend any time in the majors last year, instead turning in 475 plate appearances of .259/.325/.368 hitting at Triple-A with the Twins organization. In just over a thousand trips to the plate in the majors, Shuck carries a .251/.299/.328 batting line with eight home runs.
NL East Notes: Blair, Chen, Glover, Pivetta
Braves righty Aaron Blair is dealing with a shoulder injury and is headed to see Dr. James Andrews for an evaluation on Monday, tweets David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. O’Brien’s colleague, Gabe Burns, had previously tweeted that Blair could miss “significant time” with the injury, though the specifics of the issue aren’t yet known. The 25-year-old Blair was viewed as a largely MLB-ready starter when the Braves picked him up from the D-backs alongside Ender Inciarte and Dansby Swanson in the Shelby Miller blockbuster, but he’s struggled to a 7.89 ERA in 73 big league innings thanks largely to shaky control and a susceptibility to home runs. Blair has a career 4.36 ERA with 7.6 K/9 against 3.9 BB/9, and while he may not have been viewed as an immediate piece of the rotation, a notable absence will thin out Atlanta’s rotation depth to an extent.
Some more notes from the division…
- The Marlins announced last night that left-hander Wei-Yin Chen was able to throw three shutout innings in an extended Spring Training game. Chen didn’t allow a hit or a walk and picked up one strikeout as he tossed 35 pitches in the rehab outing. The results, of course, are largely inconsequential. The key takeaway, rather, is simply that Chen is throwing at all. The southpaw suffered a partial tear of the UCL in his left elbow back in 2016 and was limited to just 33 frames by injury in 2017. Late last season, skipper Don Mattingly revealed that the organization wasn’t sure whether Chen would be able to pitch in 2018 at all. The Marlins owe the veteran lefty more than $50MM over the next three seasons, so any progress toward a return to the hill is significant plus for the team. It’s also worth noting that J.T. Realmuto caught three innings and took three at-bats in an extended spring game, per the team. He’s reportedly eyeing a return to action next week.
- MASNsports.com’s Byron Kerr tweets that Nationals reliever Koda Glover is making some progress in his return from shoulder troubles. Glover, who was briefly the team’s closer in a 2017 season marred by back and hip injuries, opened the year on the 60-day DL after a spring MRI revealed inflammation in his right shoulder. He’s now throwing from 75 feet though, which is at least a step in the right direction for a young power arm for whom the organization has quite a bit of hope. The outlook on Joaquin Benoit is less optimistic, as Kerr notes that the veteran has yet to begin throwing. Washington added Benoit late this spring — not long after Glover’s MRI, in fact — but he quickly went down with a forearm strain and opened the season on the DL himself.
- Phillies righty Nick Pivetta has somewhat quietly been one of the team’s biggest surprises of the year thus far, as Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia observes. The right-hander spoke after his most recent quality outing about how last year’s struggles — a 6.02 ERA in 133 innings — have helped prepare him for better success in 2018. “I worked hard with [pitching coach Rick Kranitz] and everybody not trying to be so perfect in the strike zone,” said Pivetta. “I think that really has carried over this year and it’s been good so far.” Manager Gabe Kapler praised Pivetta for improving his concentration level since the beginning of Spring Training, his willingness to attack up in the zone with his fastball and his ability to throw his curveball for a strike when needed.
Marlins Sign Dustin McGowan To Minor League Deal
The Marlins have finalized their minor league deal with right-hander Dustin McGowan, per Baseball America’s Matt Eddy. SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo and MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro reported last week that the Fish were in talks with the ACES client on a new minor league deal after he was released by the Rays in Spring Training. Presumably, McGowan will head to Triple-A for the time being.
McGowan, 36, spent the 2016-17 seasons with the Marlins. In that time, he totaled 144 2/3 innings of 3.86 ERA ball with 7.9 K/9, 3.7 BB/9 and 1.2 HR/9 with a 53 percent ground-ball rate. A starter early in his career with the Blue Jays, McGowan has worked almost entirely out of the bullpen since 2013 — often tossing more than one inning per appearance — and logged a 4.08 ERA in 275 2/3 frames in that time.
[Related: Miami Marlins depth chart]
Miami entered the season with Brad Ziegler as its closer and a pair of quality setup pieces behind him in the form of Kyle Barraclough and Drew Steckenrider. Jarlin Garcia‘s move into the rotation, though, has only further muddled the bullpen picture behind that trio. Junichi Tazawa is missing bats early in the season but has also walked six batters (albeit two intentionally) in 7 2/3 innings. And the group of Tayron Guerrero, Odrisamer Despaigne, Chris O’Grady and Tyler Cloyd, each presently in the Miami relief corps, comes with little in the way of certainty.
McGowan probably won’t make any starts for the Marlins — he has just one start since 2015 — but his ability to work longer stints in relief makes him a sensible depth add for a Miami club with a thin bullpen mix and a highly inexperienced rotation.
Minor MLB Transactions: 4/11/18
Here are Wednesday’s minor moves from around the league…
- Right-hander Jacob Turner has cleared waivers and been assigned to Triple-A New Orleans by the Marlins, tweets Joe Frisaro of MLB.com. Turner, 26, was designated for assignment over the weekend after yielding 10 runs on 13 hits and five walks through his first 5 2/3 innings to open the season. The former top prospect has previously been outrighted in his career, so he had the opportunity to reject the assignment in favor of free agency, though it doesn’t seem as though he’s chosen to go that route. He’ll give a thin Marlins pitching staff some depth at the Triple-A level, where has a 4.17 ERA in 336 1/3 career innings to go along with averages of 6.7 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9.
Marlins Release Brian Ellington
The Marlins have released right-hander Brian Ellington, as the MLB.com transactions page reflects. He had been designated for assignment recently after missing time in camp due to biceps tendinitis.
Ellington, 27, has a blistering fastball and increasingly showed an ability to miss some bats over his three years in the majors. But he also allowed more hard contact, home runs, and walks in 2017 than he had in the prior two campaigns.
Though he maintained a 2.64 ERA through his first 58 MLB innings, that all hit the skids last year. In his 44 2/3 frames in 2017, Ellington worked to a 7.25 ERA with 9.7 K/9 but also 7.1 BB/9 while allowing seven home runs.
Marlins Select Tyler Cloyd’s Contract, Designate Jacob Turner
The Marlins announced (via the team’s media info account on Twitter) that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Tyler Cloyd from Triple-A New Orleans. In a corresponding move, the team has designated right-hander Jacob Turner for assignment.
The 30-year-old Cloyd joined the Marlins this offseason on a minors pact. He made just a single relief appearance for the Mariners in 2017. Prior to that, he hadn’t appeared in the majors since the 2013 season, during which he pitched 60 1/3 innings across 13 appearances (11 stats). Cloyd’s season stats were ugly overall; he gave up more earned runs more often than he struck out hitters, ending the year with a 6.56 ERA. Since then, he’s bounced around with the Triple-A affiliates of the Indians, Yankees and the aforementioned Mariners.
Turner, 26, has never quite lived up to his pre-2009-draft billing, which prompted the Tigers to select him ninth overall. Fangraphs pegs him as performing below replacement level in each of the past three seasons, while Baseball Reference believes him to have been roughly replacement level last year but worth nearly two wins below replacement in the two seasons prior combined. Though he made Miami’s opening day roster out of spring training, the righty gave up a startling ten earned runs across just 5 2/3 innings spanning four relief appearances to start the year.