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Marlins Place Jesus Luzardo On Injured List With Forearm Strain

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The Marlins have placed lefty Jesus Luzardo on the 15-day injured list due to a left forearm strain, reports Christina De Nicola of MLB.com. The move is retroactive to May 12. Lewin Diaz has been recalled in a corresponding move.

This is a worrisome development for both Luzardo and the club as forearm strains are often a precursor to Tommy John surgery. However, no further details have been released about the severity of Luzardo’s injury or what the next steps will be in terms of diagnosis or treatment. Those looking for optimism can turn to the starter himself, who spoke to De Nicola, characterizing the move as precautionary and saying that it doesn’t feel the same as before he had Tommy John in high school.

Luzardo was a much-hyped prospect as he approached the majors while with the Athletics, with Baseball America considering him to be one of the top 10 prospects in the league in both 2019 and 2020. However, he struggled to live up to all of that hype in his first tastes of MLB action. Last year, he had a 6.87 ERA with the A’s and got himself demoted to Triple-A, before being sent to the Marlins in the Starling Marte trade.

This year, the 24-year-old had been showing signs of improvement, putting up an ERA of 4.03 over six starts. His 13.4% walk rate is certainly on the high side, but he’s paired that with an excellent 34.5% strikeout rate.

Regardless of how long Luzardo is out, the Marlins will have to reach into their pitching depth to shore up their rotation. De Nicola relays that Cody Poteet will move from the bullpen to cover Luzardo’s scheduled start tomorrow. He made seven starts for the club last year with a 4.99 ERA, but has a miniscule 0.55 ERA over eight relief appearances so far this season. It will be difficult for him to maintain that going forward, however, as he currently has a .214 BABIP, 93.8% strand rate and 0% HR/FB rate, all numbers that are sure to regress towards the mean.

The club has options on the 40-man roster that could be recalled for the next turn through the rotation, including Edward Cabrera, Braxton Garrett and Jordan Holloway. Sixto Sanchez is also on the roster but not currently a realistic option. He missed the entirety of 2021 due to a shoulder injury that he’s still trying to work back from. Another option would be Max Meyer, considered by many to be the team’s best prospect and one of the top 100 in the league. He’s off to a great start this year, throwing 36 1/3 innings in Triple-A with a 2.97 ERA, 29.5% strikeout rate, 6.8% walk rate and 53.4% ground ball rate. He’s not currently on the 40-man roster and would require a corresponding move.

Grant Dayton To Opt Out Of Minors Deal With Marlins

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Marlins left-hander Grant Dayton is planning to exercise his minor league contract’s opt-out clause on Sunday, FanSided’s Robert Murray reports (via Twitter).  As per the usual structure of minors deals, the Marlins could retain Dayton by selecting his contract to the Major League roster, but it doesn’t appear as though the club is willing to make that move.

Dayton has a 3.43 ERA over 102 1/3 career innings in the majors, and left-handed hitters haven’t had much success (.169/.256/.331) against Dayton’s offerings.  However, Dayton has been plagued by a 13.6% career home run rate, as well as multiple injuries.  A Tommy John surgery cost him all of the 2018 season, and Dayton also missed substantial time in 2019 (foot fracture) and 2021 (shoulder inflammation) campaigns.  That latter injury limited Dayton to only 13 innings last year for the World Series champion Braves.

As Triple-A Jacksonville this year, Dayton helped his case for a call-up by posting a 2.51 ERA, 8.5% walk rate, and a huge 37.3% strikeout rate over 14 1/3 innings.  However, it seems like Miami is satisfied with the left-handed relief depth they already have in Tanner Scott, Steven Okert, and (currently on the COVID-IL) Richard Bleier.  As Murray notes, Dayton figures to generate interest as a free agent, and could find a quicker path back to the majors on a team in more dire need of some left-handed help

Rays Acquire Josh Roberson To Complete Louis Head Trade

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The Rays announced to members of the media, including team broadcaster Neil Solondz, that they have acquired right-handed pitcher Josh Roberson as the player to be named later in the trade that sent Louis Head to the Marlins.

Roberson, 26, was selected by the Marlins in the 12th round of the 2017 draft, despite having had Tommy John surgery before the draft. As he’s climbed up the minor league ladder, he’s racked up huge strikeout numbers but also a fair share of walks. Last year, across four different levels of the minors, he threw 45 innings with a 6.40 ERA, 31.2% strikeout rate and 13.2% walk rate. So far this year, between A-ball and Double-A, he’s thrown 6 2/3 innings with a 6.75 ERA, ten Ks but also eight walks and a couple of wild pitches. A year ago, Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs ranked Roberson the 33rd-best prospect in the Miami system, highlighting his “very nasty” breaking ball. (FanGraphs hasn’t yet released their Marlins prospect list for this year.) The Rays will try to sprinkle some of their magic dust on him in order to try to improve that control and turn him into another weapon for their pitching staff.

As for Head, he’s had good results for the Marlins so far this year, despite concerning peripherals. In a small sample of ten innings on the year, his ERA is a tidy 1.80. Last year’s 23.9% strikeout rate has dropped to 16.3% this year, with his walk rate jumping from 6.7% to 11.6%. He has been getting more worm burners, though, with his ground ball rate jumping from 31.1% to 40%.

Injured List Placements: Naylor, Wendle, Mountcastle

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Catching up on some recent injury news…

  • The Guardians made a handful of roster moves on Friday, with Josh Naylor going onto the COVID-related injury list, per Mandy Bell of MLB.com. Headed in the other direction was Yu Chang, who landed on the COVID IL a month ago. The club also recalled Richie Palacios and optioned Kirk McCarty. On Wednesday, the Guardians had their game against the White Sox postponed after multiple positive tests among their coaching staff. The next day, seven staff members were placed in COVID protocol in relation to this outbreak. It seems that this has extended to Naylor, though it’s unclear if he has been shelved due to a positive test, showing symptoms or contact tracing. The first baseman/outfielder has been excellent so far this year, hitting .347/.377/.611 for a wRC+ of 191 through 20 games. With Naylor absent last night, the club slid Owen Miller from second to first and used Andres Gimenez and Amed Rosario up the middle.
  • The Marlins placed Joey Wendle on the 10-day injured list yesterday with a right hamstring strain, retroactive to May 12, per their transactions tracker at MLB.com. In a corresponding move, Brian Anderson was activated off the COVID IL. The 40-man roster had a couple of vacancies and is now at 39, though Jon Berti and Richard Bleier remain on the COVID list and will need roster spots when they return. Losing Wendle is certainly a hit for the Marlins, as he has started this season hot. Through 25 games, he’s hitting .304/.368/.456, 140 wRC+. He’s also added four steals and good defense to accumulate 1.2 wins above replacement already, according to FanGraphs. However, it’s possible that the return of Anderson can make it close to a wash, as he was hitting .262/.385/.385 before landing on the IL, producing a wRC+ of 131.
  • The Orioles announced yesterday that first baseman Ryan Mountcastle was placed on the 10-day injured list with a left wrist forearm strain, retroactive to May 11. Jorge Lopez returned from the bereavement list in a corresponding move. Mountcastle’s production is down a few ticks relative to last year, but still above league average. In 2021, he hit .255/.309/.487 for a wRC+ of 111. This year, he’s moved to .268/.299/.402, wRC+ of 104. He seems to be taking a more contact-oriented approach, at least in this small sample of 28 games. His swing percentage is up on pitches inside and outside the zone, but his contact rates have also gone up in both cases. As a result, his walk and strikeout rates are both down relative to previous years. That’s led to a drop in slugging, though that’s also been a trend across the league so far this year. With Mountcastle out, Trey Mancini and Tyler Nevin will likely cover first base for him.

Marlins Activate Dylan Floro

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The Marlins announced that they have activated right-handed pitcher Dylan Floro from the injured list. Infielder Joe Dunand was optioned to Triple-A Jacksonville in a corresponding move.

Floro has missed the entirety of the season so far, having been shelved during Spring Training with some arm soreness. This was later diagnosed as right rotator cuff tendinitis, which landed Floro on the injured list as the season began in April. Acquired from the Dodgers prior to the 2021 season, Floro somewhat quietly had an excellent campaign in Miami last year. In 64 innings out of the bullpen, his ERA was 2.81, along with a 23% strikeout rate, 9.3% walk rate and 49.2% ground ball rate. He notched 15 saves and 11 holds as a key piece of the team’s bullpen.

Without Floro in the mix, the club has turned to Anthony Bender as its primary closer this year. Although he’s notched six saves, he’s also blown a pair, putting up an ERA of 4.91 so far in the young season. His 28.7% strikeout rate from last year has dipped to 21.7% so far this year, though this is a small sample of just 11 innings. Regardless of how the roles shake out, if Floro is able to replicate his success from last year, he should be a boon to the team’s relief corps. As a whole, the Miami bullpen has a 3.05 ERA, placing them 7th in the league.

Marlins Select Erik Gonzalez

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The Marlins selected infielder Erik González onto the major league roster before yesterday’s game against the Padres. Reliever Richard Bleier was placed on the COVID-19 injured list in a corresponding move.

Whenever González gets into a game, it’ll be his seventh consecutive year with some MLB action. Originally an Indians’ prospect, the Dominican Republic native bounced on and off the big league roster with Cleveland between 2016-18. Regarded as a fairly promising young player, he was blocked out of the regular infield by the trio of Francisco Lindor, Jason Kipnis and José Ramírez. González didn’t perform especially well when given opportunities, and Cleveland traded him to the Pirates over the 2018-19 offseason.

He spent three years with the Bucs, getting a little more run than he’d had in Cleveland. Between 2019-21, the right-handed hitter accrued roughly the equivalent of one full season of playing time. He managed just a .236/.268/.324 line in that time, making a fair amount of contact but hitting plenty of ground-balls and only walking in 4.3% of his plate appearances. The Pirates outrighted González off their 40-man roster last August, and he elected minor league free agency at the end of the year.

The Fish signed the 30-year-old to a minors deal during the lockout. He’s gotten off to a scorching .392/.417/.526 start in 103 plate appearances, although that’s in large part due to an unsustainable .481 batting average on balls in play. Nevertheless, González is a solid defender all around the dirt and can offer some insurance behind Miami’s primary infield of Jesús Aguilar, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Miguel Rojas and Joey Wendle.

Miami brought up both González and Joe Dunand over the weekend after losing infield options Brian Anderson and Jon Berti to the COVID list. Bleier became the third player in as many days to land on the shelf, subtracting perhaps skipper Don Mattingly’s most trusted late-game lefty from the mix. Bleier, who signed a two-year extension during Spring Training, has allowed four runs in 8 2/3 innings with six strikeouts and a pair of walks in 2022.

Marlins Place Jon Berti On Injured List, Select Joe Dunand

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The Marlins have placed utilityman Jon Berti on their injured list, and selected the contract of infielder Joe Dunand from Triple-A.  No specifics were given about Berti’s IL placement, and as with Brian Anderson’s placement to Miami’s IL yesterday, it would seem like Berti’s absence is related to COVID-19.

Berti is off to a fantastic start, hitting .300/.440/.550 over his first 50 plate appearances.  While Berti was roughly a league-average hitter in 2019-20, he is better known for his versatility — already this season, Berti has seen time  at shortstop, left field, second base, and third base, iin addition to pinch-hitting and pinch-running work.  This multi-positional skillset has made Berti a very useful bench piece over his four seasons in Miami, and allowed the Marlins at times to keep a shortened bench and add an extra arm to the bullpen.

Dunand can bring at least some of that versatility, with lots of experience as a third baseman and shortstop (and a handful of games at first base) over his five minor league seasons.  For tonight’s game against the Padres, Dunand is in the starting lineup at third base, set for his MLB debut.

A second-round pick for the Marlins in the 2017 draft, Dunand hasn’t hit much in the minors, and isn’t listed as one of Miami’s top 30 prospects by either Baseball America or MLB Pipeline.  A lack of offense has limited Dunand’s potential, but the 26-year-old Miami native (who is the nephew of Alex Rodriguez) has hit better at Triple-A this year, batting .255/.368/.426 over 57 PA.

Marlins Place Brian Anderson On Injured List

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The Marlins announced to reporters, including Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald, that Brian Anderson has been placed on the injured list. No designation for Anderson’s placement was given, suggesting he’s likely on the Covid-related injured list. Bryan De La Cruz has been recalled to take his place on the roster.

With no further information coming from the club, it’s unclear if Anderson tested positive or if he’s been placed on the IL due to experiencing symptoms or because of contact tracing. Under the league’s 2022 health-and-safety protocols, players who test positive are subject to a 10-day absence from the club, though it’s possible to be reinstated in less time if the player has gone 24 or more hours without a fever, received a pair of negative PCR tests, and been given approval from a team physician and the MLB/MLBPA joint committee (a panel of one league-appointed and one union-appointed physician). Players who are experiencing symptoms but do not test positive can return in shorter order if their symptoms abate.

Anderson had an excellent three-year run with the Marlins from 2018 to 2020, hitting .266/.350/.436 for a 115 wRC+ in that time. Last year, injuries limited his playing time and his production, as he only got into 67 games and hit just .249/.337/.378, 99 wRC+. This year, however, has been a tremendous bounceback thus far. 20 games into the campaign, he’s walked at an incredible 14.7% rate and produced a batting line of .258/.387/.387, 135 wRC+. That progress will have to be put on hold for the time being.

Although primarily a third baseman in recent years, Anderson is also capable of playing the outfield corners. With the acquisition of Joey Wendle, he’s been spending a bit more time on the grass this year. In his absence, De La Cruz will join an outfield mix that consists of Jorge Soler, Jesus Sanchez and Avisail Garcia. De La Cruz has largely been coming off the bench as a late-game replacement this year but has been making the most of his time. In 25 plate appearances across 16 games, he’s hit .316/.440/.474, 168 wRC+. Despite those excellent numbers, he was optioned to Triple-A yesterday when the club needed a fresh arm for the bullpen. However, players are allowed to return after a stay less than the 10-day minimum option length if they are replacing a player going on the IL, as is the case here.

NL East Notes: Bassitt, Harper, Marlins, Meyer, Ramirez

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Both Chris Bassitt and Mets GM Billy Eppler declined to comment on whether any contract extension talks had taken place between the two sides, though a source tells The New York Post’s Joel Sherman that “nothing has been explored yet.”  Since Bassitt is slated to become a free agent after the season, it would be a little surprising to see him sign an extension before testing the market for the first time, particularly since the righty is building a strong case for a pricey multi-year contract this winter.  Over his first 31 innings in a Mets uniform, Bassitt has a 2.61 ERA, 28.1% strikeout rate, and 6.6% walk rate.

Locking up Bassitt would help the Mets solidify their 2023 rotation, as Jacob deGrom, Carlos Carrasco, and Taijuan Walker could all be free agents this winter.  An extension would also allow Bassitt and the team to avoid the shorter-term problem of an arbitration hearing set for May 23.  While this could be the 33-year-old Bassitt’s best (or only) chance to sign a big multi-year deal, he might prefer to just stay in New York if the Mets were to offer him such a deal right now, and the Mets have certainly shown they’re willing to spend for premium talent.  For his part, Bassitt said that he has enjoyed pitching for the Mets and that he’d be open to extension talks.

More from around the NL East…

  • Bryce Harper has been bothered by a mild right elbow strain for several weeks now, though MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki tweets that “nothing really has changed” following Harper’s latest visit with a team doctor.  It isn’t known when Harper will try throwing again, so the reigning NL MVP will continue to serve as the Phillies’ designated hitter.  Harper hasn’t played right field since April 16, but has still been productive (.288/.307/.542 with three home runs) over 62 plate appearances as a DH-only player.
  • Elieser Hernandez allowed five earned runs in four innings against the Diamondbacks today, boosting the struggling Marlins right-hander’s ERA to 6.66 over 24 1/3 innings this season.  This outing won’t end speculation about whether the Marlins could promote top prospect Max Meyer to replace Hernandez in the rotation, and Barry Jackson and Craig Mish of The Miami Herald write that the Fish are likelier to use Meyer as a starter than as a reliever whenever Meyer gets the call for his MLB debut.  “The organization still is a big believer in Hernandez,” according to Jackson/Mish, but that doesn’t mean the Marlins couldn’t opt to move Hernandez to the pen to accommodate Meyer.  A trade also can’t be ruled out, since Hernandez has drawn interest from other teams in the past.  For now, Meyer could be Miami’s top choice for an immediate rotation fill-in, since Braxton Garrett, Edward Cabrera, and Sixto Sanchez are all rehabbing injuries.
  • Also from Jackson and Mish, the Marlins were among the teams who talked with the Guardians about a possible Jose Ramirez trade prior to Ramirez’s new contract extension.  “No serious discussions took place” between Cleveland and Miami, and it was known that the Guards were asking for a huge return in any deal.  The Marlins’ young pitching depth arguably made them one of the teams that could have realistically met the Guardians’ big asking price, though it’s all a moot point now that Ramirez has been extended.

Marlins Designate Shawn Armstrong For Assignment

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The Marlins announced they’ve designated reliever Shawn Armstrong for assignment. Miami also optioned bullpen arm Zach Pop to Triple-A Jacksonville. The moves satisfy the requirement to cut active rosters from 28 to 26, and Armstrong’s designation brings Miami’s 40-man roster total to 39.

A designation was the only way to remove Armstrong from the big league roster. Like many of the players who have lost their 40-man spots in recent days, he is out of minor league option years. Once the Fish determined that Armstrong wasn’t going to stick in the majors, they had no choice but to risk losing him on waivers.

Armstrong made seven appearances during the season’s first month. He served up ten runs (eight of them earned) in 6 2/3 innings, striking out five while issuing three walks. The 31-year-old had a longer run in the majors last year, tallying 36 frames of 6.75 ERA ball between the Orioles and Rays. Outrighted by Tampa Bay at the end of the season, he hooked on with Miami via minor league deal in Spring Training and cracked the Opening Day roster.

While Armstrong hasn’t gotten great results at the MLB level over the past couple seasons, he posted excellent numbers in Triple-A last year. The righty has also averaged a personal-high 94.9 MPH on his fastball thus far in 2022. If another team doesn’t take a shot on Armstrong via waivers in the coming days, he’d have the right to refuse a minor league assignment by virtue of his previous career outrights.

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