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NL Notes: Cubs, Mets, Nationals

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Ben Zobrist started the majority of the Cubs’ regular-season games at second base in 2016, but Javier Baez is now in the process of becoming the team’s everyday option at the keystone, writes Patrick Mooney of CSN Chicago. Baez started all 17 of the Cubs’ playoff games at second last fall and has opened 2017 by lining up there in four of five contests, which has pushed Zobrist into a super-utility role. Manager Joe Maddon isn’t ready to declare Baez the Cubs’ starter at second, largely because of “all the versatility” the team’s position players possess. However, he admitted that “pretty much what you’ve seen to this point, I think, is like a good indicator of what we’re going to be able to do with everybody being healthy.”

More on two other potential National League contenders:

  • Although Travis d’Arnaud is not among the 10 Mets who are scheduled to hit free agency after this season, this is nonetheless a crucial year for the catcher, observes Joel Sherman of the New York Post. The Mets will need to allocate a large portion of their offseason spending to positions other than catcher next winter, meaning they’d like to avoid having to upgrade behind the plate. The club eschewed free agent catchers this past winter in order to give d’Arnaud another chance to establish himself as a legitimate starter. That came in spite of the fact that the former top prospect has consistently dealt with injury problems, and he only hit .247/.307/.323 in 276 plate appearances last season. The 28-year-old was quite useful in 2015, though (albeit over only 268 PAs), and still regards himself a long-term piece for the Mets. “Big time,” said d’Arnaud, who’s controllable via arbitration through 2019.
  • Shortstop Trea Turner departed the Nationals’ loss to the Phillies on Saturday with a hamstring issue, but it seems he dodged a major injury. Manager Dusty Baker only expects Turner to miss a couple days, Dan Kolko of MASN was among those to report (Twitter link). That’s the lone good news of the night for the Nationals, who were on the wrong end of a football-like score (17-3) in Philadelphia.
  • Right-hander Jeremy Guthrie got the start for the Nationals on Saturday, his first major league action since 2015, but probably won’t be long for their rotation. Baker stated before the game, via Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com, that the demoted Joe Ross “will be back.” The skipper also insisted Ross and Guthrie aren’t competing for the fifth spot in the Nats’ rotation. Regardless, Guthrie didn’t exactly make his case for the role. In a nightmarish showing, the 38-year-old yielded 10 earned runs on six hits and four walks over just two-thirds of an inning. Ross will be eligible to return to the majors next week.

Mets Select Paul Sewald, Designate Ty Kelly

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The Mets have announced a roster swap, selecting the contract of righty Paul Sewald. He’ll take the spot of infielder Ty Kelly, who was designated for assignment.

Sewald, 26, threw to a 3.29 ERA over 65 2/3 innings last year at Triple-A. He racked up a healthy 11.0 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9 in his first attempt at the highest level of the minors. Sewald was also rather impressive this spring, when he allowed just seven hits and four earned runs in 14 1/3 innings, with a 12:5 K/BB ratio.

As for Kelly, he’ll make way for another pen arm as the club attempts to keep its rotation fresh. The 28-year-old reached the majors for the first time last year, slashing .241/.352/.345 in his 71 plate appearances. He spent most of the year at the hitter-friendly confines of Triple-A Las Vegas, where he batted an excellent .328/.409/.435 with 38 walks and just 42 strikeouts over 316 trips to the plate.

Mets Have Looked At Doug Fister

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The Mets “have looked at” right-hander Doug Fister, reports Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports in his latest NL notes roundup, but Fister is still holding out for a Major League contract, he adds. Even if he received the guaranteed deal he’s seeking, Fister would almost assuredly have to report to the minors for a tune-up after not pitching at all during Spring Training.

The Mets have seen both Steven Matz (flexor strain) and Seth Lugo (partial UCL tear) go down with injuries, thus thinning out their pitching depth. Their rotation still carries plenty of firepower, as Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey, Robert Gsellman and Zack Wheeler all appear healthy. Theoretically, Fister could eventually step into Wheeler’s slot, as the Mets want to limit Wheeler’s innings in 2017 after he missed each of the past two seasons due to injury. Then again, one of Matz or Lugo could claim that spot if they’re able to return to health in the relatively near future.

The 33-year-old Fister logged a lackluster 4.64 ERA with 5.7 K/9, 3.1 BB/9 and a 45.3 percent ground-ball rate with the Astros last season. He’s seen his velocity dip from the 89-90 mph range to the 86-87 mph range in recent seasons, though he certainly remains a durable arm, as evidenced by the 32 starts he made last season (180 1/3 innings pitched). And given the level of talent at the top end of the New York rotation, the Mets may not need much more than someone that can reliably take the ball every fifth day.

Signing Fister to a Major League deal, though, would require the Mets to open a 40-man roster spot right now despite the fact that Fister wouldn’t be ready to step onto a big league mound for awhile. That could be accomplished by transferring one of their injured players to the 60-day DL — David Wright, Matz or Lugo are all on the 10-day DL at present — but the team may not want to close off the possibility of any of those names returning sooner than that.

Even if nothing comes to fruition between the Mets and the veteran right-hander, it seems that New York is keeping an eye out for rotation depth. Heyman notes that they also looked at former Met Mike Pelfrey following his release from the Tigers, though Pelfrey elected to ink a minor league deal with the White Sox, where he has an easier path to the big league roster. And Newsday’s Marc Carig tweeted at the time of the Lugo injury that the Mets would likely be looking for arms that they could stash in the minors.

East Notes: Lugo, Price, Cabrera, De Leon, Rays

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While Mets righty Seth Lugo doesn’t believe he’ll ultimately require surgery for his partially torn UCL, GM Sandy Alderson is calling it “a possibility,” as MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo reports. The veteran executive also notes that there’s optimism from the medical experts that Lugo can avoid going under the knife, but it does seem notable that the potential for a procedure is being publicly acknowledged. New York will hope for the best — Lugo could resume throwing in as few as two weeks — but will need to account for the possibility of a more significant absence. The club will at least keep an eye out for some starting pitching depth after learning of the partial UCL tear suffered by righty Seth Lugo, according to Marc Carig of Newsday (via Twitter).

Here’s more from the game’s eastern divisions:

  • Red Sox lefty David Price is back on the mound, though it doesn’t seem he’s back to pitching yet, as Evan Drellich of CSNNE.com reports. After a long-toss session, he took the hill to throw to a standing catcher, which represents the latest step forward. “The most encouraging thing is each throwing session he goes through, he comes out feeling good physically,” says Farrell, who added that the team will continue to push Price forward incrementally.
  • Braves righty Mauricio Cabrera has been cleared to begin throwing, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman tweets. The high-octane youngster has been dealing with arm fatigue, relegating him to the DL to open the year. It’s still unclear how long it’ll take to get him back to the majors, but it seems there’s continued optimism that the layoff isn’t anything to worry about in the long run. Still, the Braves will likely continue to take a cautious course before adding Cabrera back to the late-inning mix.
  • The Rays have placed righty Jose De Leon on the minor-league DL, as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports. Flexor mass discomfort is to blame, though the club says the issue has already been resolved. Still, with De Leon set to face an innings limit in his first season with his new organization, he’ll ramp up slowly before heading on assignment to Triple-A.
  • St. Petersburg mayor Rick Kriseman laid out the city’s plan for the Rays to build a new ballpark on the existing site of Tropicana Field, as Charlie Frago and Mark Puente of the Tampa Bay Times report. As the story notes, “financial details” remain unknown, though Kriseman suggested that the money side can be managed. The plan set forth is based upon the premise that broader development of the Trop site, in conjunction with a new park, could open avenues for revenue for the club, the municipality, and local businesses.

Mets Sign Desmond Jennings To Minor League Deal

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The Mets have signed outfielder Desmond Jennings to a minor league contract and assigned him to Triple-A Las Vegas, tweets James Wagner of the New York Times. Jennings, a client of the Boras Corporation, spent Spring Training with the Reds but was released late in camp.

Jennings, 30, hit .195/.300/.415 with two home runs and two steals in his 18 games with Cincinnati this spring — an apparent continuation of the struggles that’ve plagued him in recent seasons. Once one of the game’s top overall prospects based on a promising blend of power and speed, Jennings’ career has been slowed significantly by leg injuries, including knee surgery back in 2015.

After hitting .249/.327/.402 in just under 2000 plate appearances from 2011-14; along the way he hit between 10 and 14 homers and racked up between 15 and 31 steals in each of those four campaigns. Since that time, though, Jennings owns an anemic .222/.295/.347 batting line in 333 trips to the plate.

It’s not clear that Jennings is a reliable option in center field anymore — the Rays shifted him to left field in 2015, though some of that was due to Kevin Kiermaier’s emergence — but Jennings does have experience there. He also provides the Mets with a potential right-handed complement to a rather left-leaning collection of outfielders, including Curtis Granderson, Jay Bruce and Michael Conforto. Of course, it’s far from certain that Jennings will ever surface in the bigs with the Mets, though he’s headed to a very hitter-friendly environment, which shouldn’t hurt his chances at rediscovering some confidence and getting into a good offensive groove at the plate.

Minor MLB Transactions: 4/4/17

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Here are the day’s minor moves from around baseball…

  • The Mets have signed infielder Josh Rodriguez to a minor league contract, tweets Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. The 32-year-old Rodriguez, who briefly appeared in the Majors with the 2011 Pirates, will be returning for his third tour of duty with the Mets, having also spent the 2012-13 seasons and the 2015 season in their system. Rodriguez spent the 2016 campaign with the Athletics’ Triple-A affiliate, hitting .263/.381/.420 with nine homers in 342 plate appearances. The versatile Rodriguez has more than 4,000 career innings at shortstop, more than 2300 at second base and nearly 2000 at third base. He’s also had more brief stints in the outfield and at first base. He’ll head to Triple-A Las Vegas this season.
  • The Athletics have released first baseman Rangel Ravelo, reports Baseball America’s Matt Eddy (via Twitter). The 24-year-old Ravelo was one of four players the A’s acquired in the trade that sent Jeff Samardzija to the ChiSox, but he showed very little at the plate in 2016 despite spending the year in the hitter-friendly Triple-A Pacific Coast League. In 416 trips to the plate, Ravelo batted .262/.334/.395 with eight homers and 23 doubles. Ravelo lost his 40-man spot over the winter when Oakland signed Matt Joyce to a two-year contract.
  • Eddy also tweets that the Dodgers have released 2013 first-rounder Chris Anderson. The right-hander had a strong run in the Class-A Midwest League after being selected 18th overall back in ’13, but he struggled in each of the next two seasons and was shifted to the bullpen last year. In 67 1/3 innings between the Dodgers’ Class-A Advanced and Double-A affiliates, Anderson logged a disappointing 4.81 ERA with a troubling 51-to-46 K/BB ratio. His control worsened in the Arizona Fall League, where he was rocked for 22 earned runs on 28 hits and 12 walks with 11 strikeouts in 16 2/3 frames.
  • Another former top pick, White Sox outfielder Keenyn Walker (No. 47 overall in 2011), was also released recently, according to Eddy (Twitter link). Now 26 years of age, Walker never climbed beyond the Double-A level in parts of six seasons in the White Sox organization. Last year, he slashed .240/.330/.340 in 374 plate appearances with Double-A Birmingham, and he’s a career .206/.303/.283 hitter at that level.

Seth Lugo Diagnosed With Slight UCL Tear

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3:25pm: The Mets have issued a statement on Lugo’s injury, noting that he will be shut down for the next two weeks before beginning a throwing program. “Surgical repair of the UCL is still a possibility, depending on the results of the PRP, rest and throwing program,” the Mets add at the conclusion of the release.

11:39am: Mets righty Seth Lugo has been diagnosed with a “slight” tear in the ulnar collateral ligament of his pitching elbow, according to Marc Carig of Newsday (via Twitter). He is, however, not expected to require surgery. Instead, the current plan calls for a platelet-rich plasma injection followed by rest.

While a more significant tear to the UCL would obviously represent much worse news, it’s still a major loss for the Mets. Lugo had figured to represent a top-quality swingman after his excellent work in 2016. Instead, he’ll join Steven Matz on the shelf for at least a significant chunk of the season’s first half.

Lugo, 27, had gone largely without note until breaking through to the majors last year. He ended up providing 64 innings of 2.67 ERA pitching in 17 appearances — eight of them starts — while allowing just 49 base hits to go with 6.3 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9. Despite allowing hard contact at a 38.4% clip, Lugo managed to hold opposing hitters to a .230 batting average on balls in play.

Whether Lugo’s 2016 success is sustainable remains to be seen, but the Mets had hoped to find out by having him on hand to help out. Particularly with Matz also battling injury issues, the club’s depth has taken a hit early on.

Obviously, any UCL injury immediately raises the specter of a Tommy John procedure, but that’s not always the case. For one thing, many pitchers rest and then pitch through sprains (which are themselves slight tears). For another, there are a variety of alternative treatments and procedures currently rising in popularity. Given the preliminary diagnosis that has been reported thus far, it’s impossible to know how long Lugo might be sidelined.

It’s worth noting, too, that it’s not clear whether Lugo has actually suffered a recent injury. As James Wagner of the New York Times notes (Twitter links), it hasn’t yet been determined (if it’s possible to at all) whether Lugo has simply experienced inflammation from a preexisting issue. While the distinction may not matter much for his rehab course, it could conceivably change the way the medical staff assesses his susceptibility to further injury moving forward.

Latest On Mets’ Pitching Injuries

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The Mets enjoyed a solid Opening Day win today on the back of a strong performance from starter Noah Syndergaard. But there are some new health concerns for the team’s pitching staff — though their gravity isn’t yet clear.

Syndergaard himself departed after six innings with a blister, as Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News writes. It’s not expected to be a major issue, but the team is looking to get out ahead of things by giving him an added day of rest. Blisters can turn into significant injuries, to be sure, but there’s no reason at this point to think it’s more than a minor issue to be managed.

There’s more worry with lefty Steven Matz, who is already on the DL with elbow inflammation. The team’s position remains that he has been cleared of structural damage, as Marc Carig of Newsday reports, but Matz provided further information on the issue. He says that he has been diagnosed with a flexor tendon strain, which would seem to be a distinct injury from the bone chips that he had surgically removed over the offseason. Regardless, his timeline will surely be dictated by how he feels and what kind of progress the doctors observe, but the news adds to the 25-year-old’s growing list of arm ailments in his young career.

In theory, any such gaps in pitching coverage were to be covered by Seth Lugo, who filled in with aplomb last year. But as John Harper of the New York Daily News reports, manager Terry Collins hinted after today’s game that there may be some concern with Lugo’s status. “We lost Seth Lugo today for a period of time,” said Collins, who later added that “it’s going to be a couple of weeks, for sure,” before Lugo is able to return. There are no known details to this point, but clearly the Mets are anticipating that they won’t be able to use the 27-year-old for at least some fairly significant stretch.

In light of these new concerns, Collins stressed the need to maintain the health of the current five-man rotation, which explains the proactive move to get Syndergaard extra rest. As Harper notes, resurgent righty Rafael Montero — who’s currently operating out of the MLB bullpen — now seems to occupy a position of much greater importance than had been anticipated. If there’s a silver lining to this early test of the organization’s pitching depth, it’s that they had so much to begin with, so the current roster is still stocked with high-quality starters.

Minor MLB Transactions: 4/2/17

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Sunday’s minor moves…

  • The White Sox have selected the contracts of three offseason minor league signings – infielder/outfielder Cody Asche, catcher Geovany Soto and right-handed reliever Anthony Swarzak. The 26-year-old Asche was once a well-regarded prospect with the Phillies, but he scuffled to a .240/.298/.385 line in 1,287 plate appearances with the club from 2013-16. Soto, who’s in his second stint with the White Sox, has typically served as a capable offensive catcher, and has thrown out would-be base stealers at a league-average rate, though his pitch-framing numbers have declined in recent seasons. Swarzak, meanwhile, has created intrigue this spring with an uptick in velocity. The 31-year-old threw harder than usual with the Yankees last season, and he logged terrific strikeout and walk rates of 9.0 and 2.03, respectively, per nine innings. However, a bloated home run-to-fly ball ratio (27.8 percent) led to a 5.52 ERA in 31 frames.
  • The Twins have selected catcher Chris Gimenez’s contract and placed reliever Glen Perkins on the 60-day disabled list, according to Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press (Twitter link). The 34-year-old Gimenez has a history in Cleveland, including last season. His time there helped him land a minor league pact with the Twins, whose new front office head, Derek Falvey, used to work for the Tribe. Gimenez, a lifetime .218/.297/.335 hitter in 776 PAs, has garnered slightly negative reviews as a framer and will back up the defensively adept Jason Castro in Minnesota. As for Perkins, the Twins’ former (and future?) closer, the three-time All-Star is continuing to rehab from the shoulder surgery he underwent last June. Perkins threw just two innings in 2016.
  • The Indians have released left-hander Tim Cooney, who sat out of all last season because of shoulder problems and has dealt with a forearm strain this spring. Cleveland claimed Cooney off waivers from the Cardinals in November, a year after Cooney debuted in the majors and impressed across 31 1/3 innings and six starts. All told, Cooney registered a 3.16 ERA, 8.33 K/9 and 2.87 BB/9.
  • The Orioles have selected veteran outfielder Craig Gentry’s contract. The 33-year-old’s fate was reportedly tied to Rule 5 outfielder Aneury Tavarez, whom the Orioles returned to the Red Sox on Sunday. Gentry’s reemergence looked highly improbable a couple years ago, when he contemplated retirement after suffering a sixth concussion. He also only picked up limited major league experience over the past two seasons, and the Angels released him last year after he dealt with a spine injury. At his best, Gentry brought a solid blend of offense, defense and baserunning as a member of the Rangers from 2012-13. The right-handed hitter will now serve as a platoon option for a Baltimore team with lefty-swinging corner outfielders in Seth Smith and Hyun Soo Kim.
  • The Mets have selected the contract of infielder Ty Kelly, who’s back on their 40-man roster after the team designated him for assignment in February. Kelly could have ended up elsewhere at that point, but he ultimately cleared waivers. The 28-year-old made his big league debut with New York last season, hitting .241/.352/.345 in 71 trips to the plate.
  • The Reds have selected the contract of outfielder Patrick Kivlehan, who joined the organization as a waiver claim last September. Kivlehan debuted in the majors last year and picked up 24 plate appearances between San Diego and Cincinnati. The 27-year-old has mostly played at the Triple-A level, where he has slashed .255/.308/.477 in a combined 915 plate appearances with the Seattle, Texas and San Diego organizations.
  • The Marlins have selected the contract of first baseman/outfielder Tyler Moore, whom they signed to a minor league deal in December. Moore spent 2012-15 as a member of the NL East rival Nationals, with whom he hit .228/.281/.401 in 649 PAs. The 30-year-old was with another of the Marlins’ division rivals, the Braves, last season, but he didn’t make it to the majors. Instead, Moore was with Triple-A Gwinnett, where he batted just .229/.276/.375 over a small sample of PAs (106).

Roster Notes: Brewers, Mets, Royals, Red Sox, Rangers

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The Brewers are down to 24 players after demoting relievers Tyler Cravy and Rob Scahill on Saturday, but general manager David Stearns declined to address whether he’ll add a player from outside the organization, writes Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Both Cravy and Scahill are unhappy that they didn’t earn the 25th spot, per Haudricourt, with Cravy claiming he could seek “a 9 to 5 job where I get treated like a human, at this point.” Continued the 27-year-old: “It would just be nice to have the honesty straight up front instead of, ‘Hey, you’re competing for a job,’ then literally out-compete everyone and be told, ‘Sorry, we have other plans.’ “It says a lot about the integrity, or lack thereof, of the guys running the show, but what are you going to do?”

While Cravy isn’t sure if he’s willing “to play for guys who treat you like this,” Stearns seemed to chalk the right-hander’s comments up to frustration. “Tyler, in particular, went through this last year,” said Stearns. “He made the trip with us (to play Class AA) Biloxi and was sent out at Biloxi. Dealing with this two years in a row is not a pleasant experience. We’re sensitive to that.”

More of the latest roster news:

  • Mets righty Seth Lugo will begin the season on the 10-day disabled list with a tired arm, reports Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. Lugo doesn’t have any structural damage, relays DiComo, who notes that Rafael Montero will claim a spot in the bullpen for as long as he’s out. Lugo spent most of the spring vying for one of the two vacancies in the Mets’ rotation, but the team chose Robert Gsellman and Zack Wheeler over him Thursday.
  • The Royals have optioned infielder/outfielder Whit Merrifield to Triple-A, meaning Christian Colon has won a bench job in Kansas City. Merrifield was easily the better of the two last season, having hit .283/.323/.392 to Colon’s .231/.294/.293, but the latter is out of options and could have ended up with another organization had KC demoted him.
  • With Josh Rutledge on the shelf because of a hamstring injury, the Red Sox have tabbed first baseman/outfielder Steve Selsky for a reserve job. As a right-handed hitter, Selsky is a better fit for the role than the lefty-swinging Marco Hernandez, whom the Red Sox optioned to Triple-A. Selsky, a January waiver claim from the Reds, is likely to platoon at first with the left-handed Mitch Moreland, as Hanley Ramirez (shoulder) still isn’t healthy enough to play the field.
  • Righty Mike Hauschild has made the Rangers’ Opening Day roster, according to TR Sullivan of MLB.com. The Rangers took Hauschild from the AL West rival Astros in December’s Rule 5 draft. The 27-year-old is now in line to make his major league debut, having spent the previous five years in the minors after going to Houston in Round 33 of the 2012 amateur draft. He worked exclusively as a starter at Triple-A over the past two seasons and posted a 3.33 ERA, 7.9 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 in 227 1/3 innings.
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