Padres Claim Tyler Webb
The Padres announced that they have claimed southpaw Tyler Webb off waivers from the Brewers. Webb will report to Triple-A, while Dinelson Lamet (who is slated for Tommy John surgery) will be shifted to the 60-day DL to create a 40-man roster spot.
Milwaukee designated Webb for assignment last week, and the 27-year-old will now join his third different organization in less than a year. Webb was selected by the Yankees in the 10th round of the 2013 draft, and he made his MLB debut in the pinstripes last season before being traded to the Brewers last July for Garrett Cooper. Webb ended up tossing eight innings for New York and Milwaukee in his first taste of Major League action, and he’ll join Buddy Baumann as San Diego’s top minor league choices for a left-handed bullpen arm. Southpaw relievers Kyle McGrath and Robbie Erlin currently have places on the 25-man roster, as well as closer Brad Hand.
Webb has worked primarily as a reliever throughout his pro career, only making five starts in 156 career minor league appearances. Over 264 2/3 frames in the minors, Webb has a 3.64 ERA, 11.2 K/9, and a 4.45 K/BB ratio.
Brewers Designate J.J. Hoover
The Brewers have designated righty J.J. Hoover for assignment, per a club announcement. Milwaukee cleared another roster spot by optioning outfielder Brett Phillips.
These departures will make way for the addition of two new righties to the active roster. Junior Guerra and Jorge Lopez are both coming up to supplement the pitching staff.
[RELATED: Updated Brewers Depth Chart]
Hoover did not make the Milwaukee Opening Day roster out of camp, but was brought up just a week into the season. He ended up coughing up a game-ending home run last night. Even if the Brewers were willing to look past that performance, the club needed fresh arms and evidently decided that Hoover was the most expendable player on the roster.
The move could cost the Brewers the chance to hang onto Hoover, who turned in a solid performance this spring. In his 10 1/3 frames, he allowed just one run on six hits, though he also recorded only five strikeouts. He also filled some useful innings last year for the Diamondbacks, posting a 3.92 ERA with 11.8 K/9 (on a career-high 12.0% swinging-strike rate) and 5.7 BB/9 in 41 1/3 innings.
Instead, the team will give Lopez a shot at helping to bolster a relief unit that has worked more innings than those of all but three other teams. He spent most of 2017 as a swingman at the Double-A level, working to a 4.25 ERA with 9.1 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9. With a background as a starter, Lopez can perhaps offer some length to the Milwaukee pen.
Guerra, meanwhile, is scheduled to start tonight’s game. The 33-year-old struggled last year after his astounding, late-career breakout in 2016. But he turned in a strong showing in camp and a nice first outing at Triple-A. The Brewers would obviously love to see Guerra return to something like the form he showed in ’16, when he ran up a 2.81 ERA in 121 2/3 innings, after watching their rotation limp to a 4.92 ERA through its first dozen collective starts on the season.
Brewers Place Christian Yelich on 10-Day DL
After letting him sit out a few games with a minor oblique injury, the Brewers have elected to place outfielder Christian Yelich on the 10-day DL. In a corresponding move, the team has recalled right-hander Taylor Williams from Triple-A Colorado Springs.
During Yelich’s absence, it seems likely that Domingo Santana will fill in for him in the outfield. Yelich was off to a hot start for the 2018 season; he’s hit .385/.407/.577 across 27 plate appearances for the Brew Crew with one long ball and five runs driven in. The 26-year-old has played at least 155 games in consecutive seasons, a streak that will now officially come to an end with the news that he’ll miss at least the ten-day minimum.
Yelich, of course, was perhaps the Brewers’ biggest offseason addition. The club sent top prospects Lewis Brinson and Isan Diaz, along with two other minor-leaguers, to Miami in order to bring the young slugger to Milwaukee. He sports a career .291/.366/.433 batting line across his first 2,839 plate appearances, with 60 homers and a 121 wRC+.
Quick Hits: Duffy, Melky, Indians, Brewers, Giants
Royals left-hander Danny Duffy was a popular name in trade rumors during the offseason, but he ended up staying put. Duffy remains a trade candidate, however, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. It would take “the right package of prospects” to land the 29-year-old Duffy, Cafardo writes. Duffy’s under control through 2021 for a total of $60MM. He’s off to a rough start this year – albeit over two just two appearances – having allowed eight earned runs on 10 hits and five walks (with eight strikeouts) in 9 2/3 innings.
More from around the game…
- There are teams interested in signing free-agent outfielder Melky Cabrera to a minor league deal, per Cafardo. It’s unclear, though, whether the 33-year-old would be open to signing a minors pact. An inability to contribute in the field or on the base paths have likely been the main culprits for Cabrera’s unemployment, and it doesn’t help that he hit an uninspiring .285/.324/.423 (98 wRC+) across 666 plate appearances between the White Sox and Royals in 2017.
- Indians outfielder Lonnie Chisenhall suffered a right calf injury Saturday and will likely head to the disabled list, manager Terry Francona told Joe Noga of cleveland.com and other reporters. Chisenhall previously missed 45 games last year with a right calf issue, notes Noga, who adds that the Indians could recall Tyler Naquin from Triple-A to take his place. Naquin went to the minors Friday to make room for the just-activated Michael Brantley.
- Left-handed reliever Dan Jennings‘ deal with the Brewers is worth $750K, and it includes up to $1.075MM more in games pitched incentives, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. Jennings, whom the Rays released before the season, has already made five appearances and tossed 5 1/3 innings with Milwaukee. Thus far, he has allowed one run on four hits, with three strikeouts against two walks.
- Giants righty Jeff Samardzija is aiming to make his season debut around April 19, Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group writes. In the meantime, the plan is for Samardzija to pitch in extended spring training Monday and then make a minor league rehab start. The 33-year-old innings-eater has been out since late March with a strained pectoral muscle. Thanks to Samardzija’s injury and ace Madison Bumgarner‘s broken left pinkie, the Giants are without two of their best starters.
Brewers Select J.J. Hoover’s Contract, Designate Tyler Webb
The Brewers have selected the contract of veteran right-hander J.J. Hoover, according to a team press release. In corresponding moves to create 25-man and 40-man roster space, righty Brandon Woodruff was optioned to Triple-A and left-hander Tyler Webb was designated for assignment.
After a rough 2016 season, Hoover signed a minors contract with the Diamondbacks in January 2017 and ended up getting his career back on track with a decent year in the desert. Hoover posted a 3.92 ERA and 11.76 K/9 over 41 1/3 innings for the D’Backs, though his effectiveness was belied by some control problems (5.66 BB/9) and trouble keeping the ball in the park (15.2% home run rate). Batters did manage quite a bit of solid contact against Hoover (35.3% hard-hit ball rate), though the righty may have also had some bad luck in his results, as evidenced by a .367 BABIP and a 84.1% strand rate.
Hoover was projected by MLBTR to earn $1.6MM through the arbitration process last winter, but the D’Backs instead non-tendered him. The Brewers inked Hoover to a minor league deal in January that, since Hoover has now reached the big league roster, will pay the 30-year-old $1.1MM in guaranteed salary, plus another $1.65MM is available in incentives.
Hoover does have some closing experience dating back to his days with the Reds, and it’s possible he could snag a save opportunity or two as part of the closer committee the Brewers will employ with Corey Knebel on the disabled list. In the short term, however, Hoover’s arrival may just represent a need for a fresh arm, as Milwaukee’s bullpen ranks third in baseball with 36 2/3 innings pitched during this young season. Woodruff made two appearances out of the pen, though he also started last night’s game, allowing two runs in 3 2/3 innings of work. Junior Guerra may be the top candidate for a recall the next time the Brewers need a fifth starter, as the team continues to explore its options at the back end of the rotation.
Webb made his MLB debut last season, pitching eight innings for the Brew Crew over nine appearances and posting a 5.63 ERA. Webb has spent much of his career in the Yankees organization, minus a brief stint with the Pirates when they selected him in the 2016 Rule 5 Draft, but the left-hander was returned to New York prior to the season. The Brewers acquired Webb last summer in a trade that sent first baseman Garrett Cooper to the Yankees. Webb has worked as a reliever in all but five of his 167 career minor league games, posting a 3.64 ERA and a very strong 11.2 K/9 and 4.45 K/BB rate.
Corey Knebel Suffers Hamstring Injury, Will Be Placed On DL
TODAY: The DL placement is now official, with the team calling the injury a strain. Knebel will miss at least six weeks, manager Craig Counsell tells MLB Network Radio (Twitter link). The Brewers plan to share closing opportunities among a variety of players rather than declaring one single replacement.
Young righty Adrian Houser is heading up to the active roster. Originally acquired in the 2015 deal that sent Carlos Gomez to Houston, Houser had fallen off the radar a bit owing to Tommy John surgery. It’ll be interesting to see how he performs and how much of an opportunity he’ll receive.
YESTERDAY: 10:20pm: MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy tweets that Knebel will be placed on the disabled list and will undergo an MRI to evaluate the extent of the damage tomorrow morning.
10:16pm: Brewers closer Corey Knebel exited Thursday night’s game with what looked to be a hamstring injury. Upon making a pitch to Cubs infielder Tommy La Stella with two outs in the ninth inning, Knebel dropped to the ground and immediately clutched his left hamstring — the same hamstring which, as noted by the Milwaukee broadcast, prompted Knebel to exit a Cactus League game early in Spring Training.
Knebel, who was getting some work in after going a week between appearances, made his way to the clubhouse with a pair of athletic trainers and was unable to put weight on his leg as he was helped off the field.
The 26-year-old Knebel broke out as one of the best relievers in the National League last season when he saved 39 games and logged a 1.78 ERA with an otherworldly 14.9 K/9 against 4.7 BB/9 in 76 innings of work. The 2018 season represents what would be his first full season as a big league closer, though any serious injury would obviously throw a wrench into that plan.
The Brewers have several options who could step into the ninth-inning spotlight; veteran Matt Albers has pitched the eighth inning three times already this season. Josh Hader has been dominant in a bullpen role since moving into that spot last season, though limiting his role to save situations would leave the team with only one southpaw setup option. Veteran righty Jeremy Jeffress, of course, is no stranger to closing out games for the Brewers and could conceivably be a candidate to step into that role as well. Fellow right-hander Jacob Barnes has been pitching in a setup capacity since last season and has demonstrated an ability to miss plenty of bats in his own right.
NL Central Notes: Greene, Wainwright, Holland, Pham, Brewers
Reds prospect Hunter Greene, the No. 2 pick in last year’s draft who wowed scouts with triple-digit velocity in addition to his potential as an infielder, will begin the season exclusively as a pitcher, Cincinnati director of player development Jeff Graupe tells Jon Morosi of MLB.com (Twitter link). However, while the ballyhooed 19-year-old won’t be hitting to begin the year, the organization is not “closing the door on developing him offensively,” Graupe adds. Virtually every scouting report heading into the draft suggested that Greene’s upside on the mound was higher anyhow, though there was nonetheless some thought to developing him as a two-way player at least in the early portion of his career. Greene made three starts in Rookie ball last season and appeared in seven games as a DH.
Here’s more from the division…
- The Cardinals announced that Adam Wainwright will be activated from the 10-day disabled list on Thursday and start the team’s game against the Diamondbacks. In a corresponding move, top prospect Jack Flaherty has been optioned to Triple-A Memphis. Wainwright opened the season on the shelf due to a strained left hamstring. He’ll be looking to bounce back from an uncharacteristic season in which he struggled to a 5.11 ERA in 123 2/3 innings.
- Cardinals general manager Mike Girsch spoke with Mike Ferrin of MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM about the team’s late signing of closer Greg Holland (Twitter link, with audio). While the Cards were in touch with agent Scott Boras about Holland as far back as the GM Meetings, nothing between the two sides became serious until late in camp. “It really wasn’t until the last week or 10 days of Spring Training when it became more apparent that there might actually be a possibility of finding some common ground,” said Girsch. “…His expectations were changing, and our willingness to find someplace that we could make something happen made it so we could actually get something done.” Notably, Girsch said that Luke Gregerson‘s injuries didn’t play much of a role in the decision to add Holland, as he’s not dealing with arm troubles and is only expected to be out for a few weeks. More important, it seems, was the length of the contract. Girsch notes that the Cards have some younger arms “who are future back-of-the-bullpen arms” that aren’t far from big league readiness.
- Tommy Pham chatted with MLB.com’s Bill Ladson about his rise to prominence and his ongoing battle with keratoconus — an eye disorder characterized by the progressive thinning of the cornea. Interestingly, Pham said he gives a huge amount of credit to current Astros GM Jeff Luhnow, who, during his days in the Cardinals front office, was the first to set up the initial test that diagnosed Pham with his condition. “He just always believed I was too good of an athlete to struggle in this game,” said Pham. “…I hit a lot of home runs, but I struck out a lot, and Jeff thought it was my vision rather than my actual swing. … sure enough, he was right.”
- Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel provides a host of updates on some injured Brewers (all links to Twitter). Veteran lefty Wade Miley, who signed a minor league deal last month, is playing catch but likely a month away from returning from the groin injury that sidelined him. Both Miley and lefty Boone Logan, who is dealing with a triceps injury, are hoping to begin throwing off a mound next week. Ace Jimmy Nelson, meanwhile, is hoping to throw from a mound by the end of the month. As for catcher Stephen Vogt, he hopes to throw by the end of the week after recently being cleared by doctors, but he’s still a few weeks from returning. When he does, the Brewers will have to make a call on what to do with Vogt and Jett Bandy, as both are out of minor league options and behind Manny Pina on the depth chart.
Brewers Sign Andres Blanco
The Brewers have agreed to a minors deal with infielder Andres Blanco, according to a club announcement. He’ll head to Triple-A to take the team’s open third base job there.
Blanco, who’ll soon turn 34, had been cut loose by the Giants at the tail end of Spring Training. He was limited during camp by injury and never got much of a shot at a fairly crowded utility infield competition in San Francisco.
Between 2014 and 2016, Blanco provided the Phillies with a surprising .274/.337/.457 cumulative batting line. But he ran into a wall in 2017, ending the year with an ugly .192/.257/.292 output in his 144 trips to the plate.
Quick Hits: Braun, Kemp, Brewers, Dodgers, BoSox, Mancini, Saunders
A trade rumor centering on Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun and Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp made the rounds Saturday evening on social media, but “there’s nothing to it,” according to Milwaukee general manager David Stearns. While the executive told Adam McCalvy of MLB.com and other reporters that he doesn’t normally respond to rumors, he felt the need to shoot this one down publicly. “You guys know my policy, I don’t like commenting on this type of stuff,” he said. “But given that I don’t want this to be any sort of distraction, I’ll say when I first read it, I thought maybe someone was making an early April Fool’s joke.” The Dodgers reportedly showed serious interest in Braun in the past, but “there’s nothing clearly relevant” this time around, per Stearns.
More from around the majors…
- It could be a month before Red Sox reliever Tyler Thornburg joins the team’s bullpen, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski told WEEI on Saturday (via Ian Browne of MLB.com). Thornburg remains on the comeback trail from the thoracic outlet syndrome surgery he underwent last June. The 29-year-old, whom the Red Sox acquired from the Brewers in a December 2016 deal that also involved third baseman Travis Shaw, still hasn’t pitched in a meaningful game for Boston.
- With pre-arb players Paul DeJong Scott Kingery, Ketel Marte all having signed contract extensions recently, Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun wonders if the Orioles could try to lock up outfielder Trey Mancini. The 26-year-old slugger, who has five seasons of control left (including three arb-eligible years), told Meoli that the aforementioned extensions make for “an interesting trend. I’ve definitely taken notice of that, and I’m sure there’s probably been some more offers to other guys that nobody has heard about and they didn’t take them. You don’t know what goes on. But it is pretty interesting what’s going on there.” While there’s no indications that the Orioles and Mancini have actually discussed a long-term deal, Meoli suggests a five-year, $22MM to $24MM pact would be reasonable for the player at this stage. Power pays well in arbitration, Meoli points out, and Mancini’s coming off a rookie year in which he hit 24 homers and batted .293/.338/.488 in 586 trips to the plate.
- Free-agent outfielder Michael Saunders has gotten four offers since the Royals released him a week ago, and he’s expected to sign with a new club soon, Jon Heyman of FanRag tweets. Saunders, 31, lasted a month with Kansas City, which added him on a minor league pact. He was unable to secure a big league deal in the offseason (or make KC’s roster during the spring) after batting a paltry .202/.256/.344 (56 wRC+) in 234 PAs between Philadelphia and Toronto in 2017.
Brewers Sign Dan Jennings, Move Jimmy Nelson To 60-Day DL
FRIDAY: The deal has been announced. Milwaukee opened a 40-man spot by shifting righty Jimmy Nelson to the 60-day DL. That will mean he can’t debut until the end of May, though he was not expected back before then anyway.
First baseman/DH Ji-Man Choi — whose eye-opening spring surprisingly earned him a MLB roster spot — was optioned to create room on the active roster.
WEDNESDAY: The Brewers are in agreement with left-hander Dan Jennings, pending a physical, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter link). I’m told it’s a Major League pact for the veteran southpaw.
The ACES client was released by the Rays earlier this week, and Tom Haudicourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel suggested earlier tonight that the Brew Crew was pursuing an external pitching addition that could carry 25-man roster implications (Twitter links). Specifically, Haudicourt implied that Ji-Man Choi, who won a spot on the Brewers’ Opening Day roster but has an option remaining, could be sent to Triple-A early in the season once this deal is finalized.
Jennings, 31 next month, was somewhat surprisingly cut loose by the Rays earlier this week. He’d agreed to a $2.375MM salary with Tampa Bay earlier this winter, avoiding arbitration, and the Rays’ decision to cut him loose means they’ll be on the hook for about $584K of that sum (45 days’ termination pay). He’ll pocket that sum in addition to the guarantee to which he agreed on his new deal with the Brewers.
The decision to cut Jennings had been speculated upon but was nonetheless somewhat of an eye-opener, as the veteran southpaw posted a strong 3.45 ERA with 7.3 K/9, 4.5 BB/9 and a 59.8 percent ground-ball rate in 62 2/3 frames between the White Sox and Rays last season. Opposing lefties hit just .213/.323/.306 in 128 plate appearances against Jennings. Moreover, the Rays traded at least a somewhat notable prospect, first baseman Casey Gillaspie, in order to acquire Jennings.
He’ll now join a Brewers bullpen that saw its left-handed depth take a hit with an injury to fellow veteran Boone Logan, who looks likely to miss six or more weeks with a strained triceps muscle.. As an added bonus, Jennings enters the year just a single day shy of five years of MLB service. Because of that, the Brewers will be able to control him through the 2019 season via arbitration as opposed to just the 2018 season.
All told, Jennings will bring to the Brewers a veteran arm with a career 2.90 ERA, 7.3 K/9, 4.1 BB/9 and a 55.2 percent ground-ball rate to a Brewers’ bullpen that also features closer Corey Knebel and setup men Jeremy Jeffress, Josh Hader, Matt Albers and Jacob Barnes.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.