Brewers Claim Vladimir Gutierrez
The Brewers have claimed right-hander Vladimir Gutierrez off waivers from the Marlins, tweets Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. He’s been optioned to Triple-A Nashville. Miami designated Gutierrez for assignment earlier in the week.
Gutierrez, 28, was a high-profile prospect out of Cuba who signed for a $4.75MM bonus (plus a 100% tax on that sum) with the Reds back in 2016. He wound up pitching just 150 2/3 innings between 2021-22 in Cincinnati, logging a 5.44 ERA with worse-than-average strikeout and walk rates of 17.3% and 10.4%, respectively. As a prospect, he was touted as having a solid heater with a potentially plus slate of secondary offerings (curve, slider, changeup) — but he’s yet to find much consistency in the majors.
Were it not for a ligament tear that necessitated Tommy John surgery, Gutierrez might’ve gotten more of a look in Cincinnati. He briefly returned to throw a few minor league frames late last year but became a minor league free agent after the season and signed a minors contract in Miami. The Marlins selected him to the roster to add some length to an overworked bullpen but designated Gutierrez for assignment after he tossed three innings of long relief. The Fish needed to clear roster space for another fresh arm, lefty Kent Emanuel, who followed nearly the same track: three innings of long relief in his first appearance followed by an immediate DFA to bring in yet another fresh arm (Matt Andriese).
Francys Romero tweets that the Brewers plan to get Gutierrez two or three starts down in Nashville to further stretch him out. At that point, they’ll consider him for starts at the big league level. Milwaukee’s rotation is more unsettled than at any point in recent memory, as Brandon Woodruff required September shoulder surgery that’ll cost him most of the 2024 season and Corbin Burnes was traded to the Orioles in a late-offseason blockbuster. Veteran Wade Miley, who returned on a one-year deal, has been slowed by a shoulder impingement. Prospect Robert Gasser, arguably the top minor league arm in the system, is currently on the injured list due to a bone spur in his elbow.
At the moment, the Brewers are going with Freddy Peralta, Jakob Junis, Colin Rea, DL Hall (acquired in the Burnes trade) and Joe Ross in a patchwork rotation. The return of Miley will help solidify things for the Brew Crew, but Gutierrez will give them another option with some MLB experience who could potentially work his way into the rotation mix.
NL Notes: Pham, Contreras, Cabrera, Garrett, Uhlman
Multiple reports over the offseason indicated that the Padres had interest in signing Tommy Pham, with the most recent of these items coming in mid-March, when USA Today’s Bob Nightengale wrote that San Diego had interest in Pham on a one-year deal worth around $3MM or $4MM. Opening Day has now come and gone with Pham still a free agent, but Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports that the Padres still have interest, though they are wary that signing Pham wouldn’t leave much flexibility for future in-season moves while still remaining under the luxury tax threshold.
RosterResource projects a current tax number of around $223.6MM for San Diego, while Cot’s Baseball Contracts has a notably higher projection of $231MM. It is important to note that these sites and others are only making estimates, while teams have their own internal mechanisms for calculating a luxury tax figure (and the league its own set of calculations to determine the final number at the end of the season). The Padres seem intent on resetting their tax payor status and staying under the $237MM threshold, so if they have reservations about signing Pham for $3-4MM, that perhaps might indicate their internal number is closer to Cot’s figure than RR’s figure. That said, it could also be a negotiating tactic on the Padres’ part to seek out a larger bargain on Pham, as the outfielder is undoubtedly eager to get onto the field.
More from around the National League…
- X-rays were negative on Willson Contreras‘ left hand, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol told Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat and other reporters. Contreras was hit by a pitch on Wednesday and didn’t play in today’s 8-5 win over the Marlins, but the hope is that he can play in the Cards’ next game on Saturday, either as a DH or as a catcher. Contreras already has two homers and a .979 OPS over his first 25 plate appearances of the young season, as he enters the second year of his five-year, $87.5MM pact with St. Louis.
- Eury Perez‘s Tommy John surgery has dealt another blow to the Marlins‘ injury-riddled rotation, but some help might be on the way. Edward Cabrera and Braxton Garrett are each scheduled to make two Triple-A rehab starts before being activated from the 15-day injured list, as per the Marlins’ updates to MLB.com and other media today. Cabrera already made one 43-pitch rehab start on March 31, and his next outing is planned for Friday. Garrett’s slated outing on April 7 will be the first of two starts, and his most recent work took place in an extended Spring Training game back on Tuesday. Both starters are recovering from impingements in their throwing shoulders.
- Returning to the Padres, manager Mike Shildt told reporters yesterday that longtime assistant GM Fred Uhlman Jr. was resigning his position. President of baseball operations A.J. Preller discussed Uhlman’s decision with Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune, saying that Uhlman’s duties had been re-assigned to others over the last few months, and that Uhlman had stayed in his job during “this transitional period.” Uhlman has been with San Diego since 1995 and an assistant GM since 1996, acting as a constant within the front office even as the Padres have hired and fired multiple general managers during his long tenure. Josh Stein is the only other person in the front office with an assistant GM title, though Preller said the Padres don’t plan to replace Uhlman in the near future.
Marlins Claim Otto López From Giants
The Marlins have claimed infielder/outfielder Otto López off waivers from the Giants, per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. The Giants had designated him for assignment earlier this week when they selected Nick Avila. The Marlins announced the claim and that they have transferred righty Eury Pérez to the 60-day injured list in a corresponding move. It was reported earlier that Pérez will require Tommy John surgery and miss the remainder of the season.
López, 25, provides some speed and a great deal of defensive versatility but it’s unknown how much he will hit. In each of the past five years, he has been able to get his stolen base total in the minors into double digits. He’s also bounced around the field to play the three infield spots to the left of first base and each of the three outfield slots.
On offense, he definitely puts the bat on the ball but the power is very limited. From the start of 2021 to the present, he’s had 1,273 minor league plate appearances and hit just 10 home runs but his 16.4% strikeout rate is quite low. He’s slashed .288/.355/.396 in that time for a wRC+ of 101.
López came up as a Blue Jays prospect but was designated for assignment when that club signed Yariel Rodríguez a couple of months ago. He was traded to the Giants for cash but got bumped off that club’s roster this week.
The Marlins effectively had a roster spot to burn with the news of Pérez requiring surgery and they will now use it to fill in some of the utility depth they sacrificed when they traded Jon Berti to the Yankees last week. López still has an option remaining so the Marlins could send him to Triple-A for regular at-bats or bring him to the big league squad to give them some cover at multiple positions around the diamond.
Eury Perez To Undergo Tommy John Surgery
Touted young Marlins righty Eury Perez will undergo Tommy John surgery and miss the 2024 season, president of baseball operations Peter Bendix announced to reporters this morning (X link via Christina De Nicola of MLB.com). He’ll have the surgery on Monday.
Perez made his big league debut last season at just 20 years of age. He didn’t show his youth, bursting onto the MLB scene with 91 1/3 innings of 3.15 ERA ball. The towering 6’8″, 220-pound righty fanned a hearty 28.9% of his opponents against a solid 8.3% walk rate. Opponents batted under .200 on each of Perez’s slider, curveball and changeup. He averaged 97.4 mph on his heater and turned in a gaudy 15.7% swinging-strike rate that checked in third among all big league pitchers (min. 90 innings) — trailing only Spencer Strider and Tyler Glasnow.
Everything looked to be falling into place for Perez to emerge into stardom. That may still be the case, but he’ll now have a 14- to 16-month recovery period — and given his importance to the franchise’s long-term outlook, it stands to reason that the Marlins will err on the side of caution.
Perez was initially diagnosed with elbow inflammation during spring training. Surgery was not recommended following his original MRI in mid-March. But inflammation and swelling can at times be significant enough to mask underlying structural damage. Whether that’s the case here or whether Perez suffered the ligament damage in a subsequent bullpen session isn’t clear and might ultimately never be known.
Craig Mish of SportsGrid and the Miami Herald tweets that Perez threw a scheduled bullpen session on Tuesday and felt tightness in his elbow while also experiencing a drop in velocity. That led to a follow-up wave of imaging which revealed the ligament tear and prompted the surgery recommendation. Perez will now spend the 2024 season on the major league 60-day IL, accruing big league pay and big league service time. He’s under club control through the 2029 season.
The Marlins’ once-vaunted collection of young starting pitching has seen its share of setbacks, and that enviable stock is now running thin. Sandy Alcantara, the 2022 National League Cy Young winner, underwent Tommy John surgery last October and will miss the 2024 season. Pablo Lopez was traded to the Twins in the Jan. 2023 Luis Arraez swap. Lefty Jake Eder was traded to the White Sox last summer in a deal bringing slugger Jake Burger back to Miami. Max Meyer (Tommy John surgery), Sixto Sanchez (shoulder surgery), Dax Fulton (internal brace surgery) have all had major injury setbacks. Left-hander Braxton Garrett and righty Edward Cabrera, both expected to open the 2024 season in the rotation, instead landed on the 15-day IL due to shoulder impingements.
Given that gobsmacking slate of injuries, the Marlins have opened the season with a patchwork group of starters. Hometown kid Jesus Luzardo has stepped up as the staff ace, and he’s been followed by Trevor Rogers, Ryan Weathers and reliever-turned-starter A.J. Puk. Meyer is recovered from his 2022 Tommy John procedure and has stepped into the rotation early on. He’ll presumably be on an innings limit, but the former No. 3 overall pick has long been a highly touted prospect himself.
Between the current starting five, Garrett and Cabrera, the Marlins still have enough talent to piece together a strong rotation. The depth has been severely compromised, however, and it’s arguable that Perez was their most talented healthy arm heading into the season — or at least the second-most talented, behind Luzardo. For a Marlins team that has begun the season in a catastrophic 0-7 slump, word of Perez’s injury only furthers the sense of dread surrounding the club at the moment.
Marlins Designate Kent Emanuel For Assignment, Select Matt Andriese
The Marlins announced Thursday that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Matt Andriese from Triple-A Jacksonville and designated lefty Kent Emanuel for assignment in a corresponding move. Miami also optioned infielder Jonah Bride to Jacksonville, opening an active roster spot for infielder Emmanuel Rivera, whom they acquired from the D-backs on Tuesday.
Emanuel, 31, was selected to the roster himself earlier this week when Miami designated right-hander Vladimir Gutierrez for assignment. Like Gutierrez, he worked one long relief outing — three innings, four hits, four runs, three walks, two strikeouts — to help spare an overworked bullpen and will now be designated for assignment in favor of a fresh arm.
Emanuel has just 20 2/3 innings of MLB experience under his belt, including this recent brief stay with the Fish. The former third-rounder (Astros, 2013) has a 3.92 ERA and 15-to-7 K/BB ratio in that time. Emanuel pitched well at the Triple-A level in 2019 and 2022 but struggled there with the Pirates organization in 2023. He’s in his final minor league option year, so a new club could acquire him and send him to Triple-A without needing to worry about first passing him through waivers.
The 34-year-old Andriese will be making his first big league appearance since 2021 if and when he takes the ball for the Marlins. Like Emanuel and Gutierrez before him, he could be in for a short stay on Miami’s roster, as the overworked bullpen for a winless Marlins club could find itself in need of a fresh arm yet again in the near future. And, if Andriese enters the game, it’ll likely be in a multi-inning relief setting, which will render him unavailable in the short-term.
Andriese appeared in the big leagues in every season from 2015-21, logging 509 innings of 4.63 ERA ball along the way. The bulk of that work came with the Rays, for whom he pitched 339 innings with a 4.30 ERA, 20.4% strikeout rate and 6.2% walk rate from 2015-19. Andriese spent the 2022 season with Japan’s Yomiuri Giants. He was with the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate last year but never got a look in the majors.
Padres Tried To Trade For Luis Arraez, Jesus Luzardo
A year after spending north of $400MM in free agency, the Padres spent a total of $50MM on free agents this offseason, adding just $9.35MM to the 2024 payroll. Indeed, in an effort to slash the budget, president of baseball operations A. J. Preller made most of his biggest acquisitions on the trade market. The Padres added Michael King, Jhony Brito, Kyle Higashioka, Randy Vásquez, and Drew Thorpe from the Yankees in exchange for Juan Soto and Trent Grisham, and several months later, they used Thorpe as one of the headlining pieces in a trade for White Sox starter Dylan Cease. They also brought in Enyel De Los Santos from the Guardians in exchange for Scott Barlow.
However, those weren’t the only notable trades Preller pursued. Throughout the offseason, the Padres were reported to have shown interest in dealing for ace pitcher Corbin Burnes and outfielders Sal Frelick and Jarren Duran. Now, you can add Luis Arraez and Jesús Luzardo to that list of targets. According to Ken Rosenthal and Dennis Lin of The Athletic, the Padres made “a strong offer” for Arraez this spring, and they might have been even more interested in Luzardo – at least until they dealt for Cease in mid-March.
While it never seemed all that likely the Marlins would part with Luzardo this offseason, he was the subject of significant trade interest. The Yankees, Dodgers, and Orioles were all reported to have checked in on the southpaw. Like all three of those clubs, the Padres were seeking starting pitching this winter, so it hardly comes as a shock that they had their on eye Luzardo. The 26-year-old made 32 starts last year with a 3.58 ERA and 208 strikeouts. His 3.69 SIERA would have led the Padres rotation, while many of his other numbers would have ranked second behind the now-departed Blake Snell. With a $5.5MM salary for 2024 and three full seasons of team control remaining, he was an ideal trade candidate, especially for a team looking to reduce payroll while still fielding a competitive roster.
That the Padres were so interested in Arraez is much more surprising. Like Luzardo, he is a young but proven player with a salary well below his value on the open market. However, he was not the subject of any substantive trade rumors over the winter. Moreover, he plays the infield, arguably the only area San Diego didn’t need to upgrade. While the Padres were linked to several outfielders on the free agent and trade markets, the Padres seemed set with Jake Cronenworth at first base, Xander Bogaerts at second, Ha-Seong Kim at shortstop, and, eventually, Manny Machado at third. That doesn’t leave much room for another All-Star infielder.
As Rosenthal and Lin suggest, the Padres might have hoped to trade Cronenworth and play Arraez at first. However, Cronenworth’s seven-year, $80MM contract that began this season simultaneously makes him inexpensive (in terms of annual salary) yet still rather difficult to trade. Alternatively, the Friars might have been more worried about Machado’s ability to play third base this year than they let on. They could have been planning to move Bogaerts back to shortstop, slide Kim over to third, and plug Arraez in at second. When Machado was healthy enough to return, Arraez could have taken over primary DH duties. Finally, it’s possible Preller simply saw an opportunity to add a star talent on a low salary and chose to make an offer and figure the rest out later. Too much talent is hardly a bad problem to have, and the Padres seem to like stockpiling infielders.
Rosenthal and Lin do not suggest Miami was actively shopping Arraez. However, their report implies that Preller’s offer was enough to tempt Marlins president of baseball operations Peter Bendix. Needless to say, Bendix didn’t pull the trigger, but according to Rosenthal and Lin, that was largely because he “feared [the Marlins] could not adequately replace Arraez.” The report does not address how close the Padres might have come to landing Luzardo before ultimately acquiring Cease; it’s not clear if Bendix ever seriously considered sending Luzardo to San Diego.
The Fish aren’t off to a good start if they’re hoping to contend in 2024. Still, they’re under no immediate pressure to trade either Arraez or Luzardo, arguably their two best (healthy) players. Arraez has another year of arbitration eligibility remaining in 2025, while Luzardo will be eligible for arbitration through the 2026 campaign.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports
MLBTR Podcast: Baseball Is Back, Will Smith’s Extension, Mike Clevinger And Jon Berti
The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.
This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…
- The Dodgers and Will Smith signing an extension (3:30)
- The White Sox re-sign Mike Clevinger (9:30)
- Live reaction to the breaking news of Joey Bart being traded from the Giants to the Pirates (16:25)
- The Yankees acquiring Jon Berti in a three-team trade with the Rays and Marlins (22:05)
Plus, we answer your questions, including…
- Let’s say it’s trade deadline time and the Diamondbacks are basically a longshot to make the playoffs and want to dump payroll. Do you think there could be a reunion for Jordan Montgomery to be traded to the Rangers? The contract is right with the option or does he have a no-trade clause? (31:40)
- Are international free agents eligible for extensions right away or is there a certain waiting period? I ask this because of the impending Roki Sasaki situation. Could he sign with an MLB team next year and play that first year for peanuts knowing that he has a handshake mega deal agreement in place that kicks in the following year? (34:10)
- Is there a particular reason that you can’t trade a draft pick in the MLB the same way you can in leagues like the NFL? I know you there is a system in place for trading competitive balance picks, but I mean for just normal picks. I ask because I am a Mets fan and a Gators fan and it hurts that Jac Caglianone probably isn’t going to fall to 18. (41:55)
Check out our past episodes!
- A Live Reaction To The Jordan Montgomery Signing, Shohei Ohtani’s Interpreter, And J.D. Martinez Joins The Mets – listen here
- Mutiny In The MLBPA, Blake Snell Signs With The Giants And The Dylan Cease Trade – listen here
- Injured Pitchers, Brayan Bello’s Extension, Mookie Betts At Shortstop And J.D. Davis – listen here
The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!
Marlins Acquire Emmanuel Rivera, Designate Jacob Amaya
The Marlins announced Tuesday that they’ve acquired infielder Emmanuel Rivera from the D-backs in exchange for cash. Shortstop Jacob Amaya was designated for assignment to open a spot on the 40-man roster.
Rivera, 28 in June, is coming off a lackluster season in 2023 but seemed on the verge of a breakout in the prior two years. In 2021, while with the Royals, he first reached Triple-A and hit .286/.348/.592 in his first 63 games at that level.
In 2022, he did well at Triple-A again, hitting .307/.388/.520. He couldn’t immediately carry that over to the big leagues, hitting .243/.294/.378 in 309 plate appearances for the Royals in 2021 and 2022, translating to a wRC+ of 85. But he was traded to the Diamondbacks at the 2022 deadline for right-hander Luke Weaver and hit .227/.304/.424 for the Snakes after the deal, producing a wRC+ of 104 in that time.
In 2023, he continued mashing in Triple-A, hitting .330/.395/.598 there. In the bigs, however, he slashed .261/.314/.358 for a wRC+ of 83. He burned his last option last year and is now out of options. He stuck with the Diamondbacks through the winter but didn’t make the Opening Day roster and got squeezed off the 40-man.
For the Marlins, they will take a shot on Rivera and hope that his continually strong Triple-A production can start to filter up to the majors. He’s considered a strong defender at third, with nine Defensive Runs Saved and two Outs Above Average, with the ability to play first as well.
The Fish have Jake Burger as their regular at the hot corner but he’s not considered great with the glove, -11 DRS and -14 OAA, so Rivera could perhaps spell him in the field on occasion. Rivera has also hit .273/.327/.410 against lefties in his big league career compared to .233/.293/.364 against righties so perhaps could be used against southpaws while Burger goes to first base or the designated hitter spot. Corner outfielders Jesús Sánchez and Nick Gordon are both lefties with notable platoon splits, so perhaps they could be shielded a bit.
As for Amaya, 25, he’s long been considered a strong defender but the big question has been how much he can hit. Acquired from the Dodgers just over a year ago in the Miguel Rojas trade, he made his major league debut last year and got two singles in his first nine plate appearances. He hit .252/.345/.407 in Triple-A last year for a wRC+ 89.
He has just one minor league option remaining so it may be something of a make-or-break year for him. The Marlins will have one week to trade him or pass him through waivers. Given his solid defensive reputation, he could appeal to clubs with questions about their shortstop depth, especially since Amaya can be kept in the minors for the rest of the season.
Marlins Select Kent Emanuel, Designate Vladimir Gutierrez
The Marlins announced Monday that they’ve selected the contract of lefty Kent Emanuel from Triple-A Jacksonville. Right-hander Vladimir Gutierrez, who was just selected to the big league roster prior to Sunday’s game, was designated for assignment to open a roster spot.
It’s a quick turnaround for Gutierrez, who returned to the majors Sunday for the first time in two years after undergoing Tommy John surgery as a member of the Reds. He tossed four innings of long relief and was tagged for three runs on three hits and a pair of walks with four strikeouts. He’d been called up with Miami needing some length in the bullpen following a grueling first three games of the season for the relief corps, and while the right-hander filled the role that was asked, he’ll be removed from the 40-man roster to get another fresh arm up for today’s game. Gutierrez wouldn’t have been available for a couple days after that workload yesterday.
Gutierrez, 28, was a high-profile prospect out of Cuba who signed for a $4.75MM bonus (plus a 100% tax on that sum) with the Reds back in 2016. He wound up pitching just 150 2/3 innings between 2021-22 in Cincinnati, logging a 5.44 ERA with worse-than-average strikeout and walk rates of 17.3% and 10.4%, respectively. As a prospect, he was touted as having a solid heater with a potentially plus slate of secondary offerings (curve, slider, changeup) — but he’s yet to find much consistency in the majors. The Marlins will have a week to trade Gutierrez, attempt to pass him through outright waivers, or release him.
Emanuel, 31, has 17 2/3 big league innings under his belt, all of which came with the 2021 Astros. Houston selected him out of UNC in the third round of the 2013 draft. The 6’4″ lefty impressed in his first MLB cup of coffee, posting a 2.55 ERA with a 19.1% strikeout rate, a 5.9% walk rate and a sizable 50% grounder rate. A UCL injury led to surgery in the summer of 2021. He didn’t require a full Tommy John procedure but had an internal brace surgery that wiped out the rest of that ’21 season.
Because he had the less invasive UCL operation, Emanuel was back on the mound for 58 1/3 minor league innings in 2022. He pitched well (2.64 ERA, 52-to-8 K/BB ratio) but didn’t get a look in the big leagues. He spent the 2023 season in the Pirates organization and posted solid K-BB marks but an ugly 6.12 ERA, working primarily as a starter, due in part to a sky-high .370 average on balls in play and some uncharacteristic susceptibility to home runs (1.39 HR/9, 18.1% HR/FB ratio).
As with Gutierrez, Emanuel will give the Marlins some more length in the ‘pen — and as with Gutierrez, it could be a short stay on the MLB roster for him if he pitches multiple innings and the Fish want to get another rested arm into the bullpen.
Injury Notes: Lodolo, Cabrera, Garrett, Perez, Means, Bradish
Nick Lodolo looked sharp today in the first of two planned Triple-A rehab starts. The Reds southpaw allowed one run in five innings and 77 pitches of work, while striking out eight and allowing two hits and three walks. After missing most of the 2023 season due to a stress reaction in his left tibia, Lodolo was still feeling some leg soreness this spring, so the Reds started him on the 15-day injured list in order to better ease Lodolo’s path back to action. Assuming he is feeling healthy after today’s outing and his next rehab start, Lodolo is slated to make his season debut for the Reds on April 10.
More on other pitchers working towards getting healthy….
- Edward Cabrera also began the season on the 15-day IL, as the Marlins righty was sidelined with an impingement in his throwing shoulder. As noted by MLB.com, Cabrera threw 39 pitches in a intrasquad scrimmage game earlier this week and a 20-pitch bullpen session on Friday, so the next step is a minor league rehab assignment that begins with a Triple-A start today. It isn’t yet known how many rehab outings Cabrera might need before he is activated, though of the Marlins’ multiple injured starters, he appears closest to a return. Braxton Garrett is slated to throw a bullpen session today as he works his way back from his own shoulder impingement, and Garrett intends to be back in action before the end of April. El Extra Base’s Daniel Alvarez-Montes (X link) notes that Eury Perez threw 20 pitches in a bullpen session today, with Perez on the road to recovery after being waylaid by elbow soreness in Spring Training.
- While rehab starts are about getting comfortable and working out pitches rather than pure results, John Means had a shaky showing in first rehab start today with Triple-A Norfolk. The Baltimore Sun’s Matt Weyrich was among those to relay the news that Means gave up seven runs on six hits and a walk over the 32-pitch outing. Orioles manager Brandon Hyde told MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko and other reporters yesterday that Means’ is “going to be close to 30 days” in Norfolk, as in the maximum length for rehab assignments. Means missed almost all of the 2022 and 2023 seasons recovering from Tommy John surgery, and the O’s didn’t include him on their playoff roster due to what was reported as elbow soreness at the time. As Kubatko notes, the Orioles are now referring to the injury as a left forearm strain, which only adds to the extreme caution Means and the O’s are taking in slowly ramping up the southpaw’s workload.
- A sprain in Kyle Bradish‘s right UCL created concerns that Bradish might also miss an extended amount of time, but the Orioles right-hander seems to be making good progress as he is also taking a careful approach to his rehab. As relayed to Kubatko and other media, Bradish threw all of his pitches over a 35-pitch bullpen session yesterday. While he “feels really good” in the aftermath of this bullpen, Bradish and Hyde didn’t commit to any kind of timeline about when Bradish will start building towards a return to the active roster.