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Injury Notes: Darvish, Perez, Cain, Wright

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As expected, the Rangers have announced that they’ve activated Yu Darvish from the disabled list. To clear space for him on the active roster, they shipped slugger Joey Gallo to Triple-A Round Rock. Darvish will start tonight in his first appearance since undergoing Tommy John surgery and missing the entire 2015 season. Previously, of course, Darvish was one of the game’s most dominant starters, leading the AL in strikeouts (277) and K/9 (11.9) and finishing second in Cy Young balloting in a brilliant 2013 season before succumbing to injury. It will be interesting to see how he fares tonight in his first regular-season action since August 2014. Here are more notes on injuries.

  • Catcher Salvador Perez left the Royals’ game against the White Sox today after colliding with third baseman Cheslor Cuthbert, Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star reports. He had to be helped off the field. Via Dodd on Twitter, manager Ned Yost says Perez has a quad contusion and that there’s no structural damage to his knee, although he’ll have an MRI tomorrow. Losing him for an extended period would be tough for the Royals — his offense this season (.282/.314/.503) has provided plenty of value even independent of the work he does with the Royals’ pitchers, and the Royals also recently learned that another key player, Mike Moustakas, would be out of the season after tearing his ACL.
  • The Giants have announced that they’ve placed starter Matt Cain on the 15-day DL with a hamstring strain and recalled fellow righty Chris Stratton to take his place on the active roster. 2016 has proven to be yet another frustrating season for Cain, who currently has a 5.20 ERA, 6.4 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 in 53 2/3 innings this year after struggling through an injury-riddled 2015 campaign. For now, Stratton will likely serve as a long reliever, as Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News suggests. Stratton, the 20th overall pick in the 2012 draft, was pitching in the rotation at Triple-A Sacramento, where he’d posted a 6.02 ERA, 6.2 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9 in 52 1/3 innings.
  • David Wright is out the lineup Saturday due to neck pain, and the Mets have at least some concern about the situation, ESPN’s Adam Rubin writes. The concern might be that the issue could be related to Wright’s chronic spinal stenosis, although Mets GM Sandy Alderson won’t speculate about the matter until he knows more. Wright has collected 164 plate appearances this season and has generally been effective, batting just .226 but with a solid on-base percentage (.350) and seven home runs.

Mets Acquire James Loney From Padres

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The Mets have acquired first baseman James Loney from the Padres for cash considerations, the Padres have announced. Loney had an opt-out in his minor-league deal with the Friars, although the move that brings him to New York is a trade. The bulk of Loney’s $8MM 2016 salary will be paid by the Rays, who signed him to a three-year deal prior to the 2014 season and then released him in early April.

MLB: Spring Training-Tampa Bay Rays at Toronto Blue JaysThe Mets were on the lookout for a first baseman with Lucas Duda out for a significant stretch due to a stress fracture in his back. Loney was an obvious potential target, and many speculated from the beginning that the Mets could pursue him. That appears to be exactly what they did. Earlier this week, the New York Post’s Joel Sherman reported that the Mets had at least some degree of interest.

Loney was hitting .342/.373/.424 with the Padres’ Triple-A affiliate in El Paso. He previously played in ten MLB seasons, spending time with the Dodgers, Red Sox, and Rays, while compiling a career .285/.338/.411 line. While he’s mostly retained his ability to hit for average as his career has progressed, though, his power numbers have dwindled — he once regularly hit ten to 15 home runs a season, but last year with the Rays he hit just four while posting a .357 slugging percentage. Once a plus defensive first baseman, his fielding numbers have taken a tumble as well, with both UZR and DRS marking him as significantly worse in the last two seasons than he was in 2011 through 2013.

Given the Mets’ need, though, and the fact that the cash return the Mets will send the Padres is presumably nominal, it’s no surprise that the team pursued him despite his flaws. He’s a longtime starter who has experience and some level of on-base ability. The team can also potentially protect the lefty hitter by using Eric Campbell at first against lefty starters.

Adam Rubin of ESPN reported that Loney was headed to the Mets and that the deal was a trade (Twitter links). Jon Heyman tweeted that the Padres would receive cash considerations in return.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

East Notes: Herrera, Rule 5, Red Sox, Mets

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Odubel Herrera’s brilliance has been a key to the Phillies’ surprising success so far this season, and his emergence since being selected in the 2014 Rule 5 Draft highlights the way the Rule 5 has changed in recent years, Matthew Trueblood of Baseball Prospectus writes. One reason players like Herrera, Delino DeShields and Ender Inciarte have been available in the Rule 5 in recent years is that teams seem to prefer protecting players who have power, making low-power but potentially high-OBP players available. Also, the emergences of players like those listed above (as well as Hector Rondon, Mark Canha, Logan Verrett and so on) suggests there’s enough talent in the game for MLB to withstand expansion without significantly diluting its talent level — leaving aside the complex question of what markets the league should expand to. Here’s more from the East divisions.

  • The Red Sox’ terrific 2011 draft class has become the franchise’s foundation, Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal writes. The team had four of the first 40 picks in that draft, and used them to select Jackie Bradley and Blake Swihart, as well as Matt Barnes and Henry Owens. That group alone would have made the draft a good one, but the Sox also snagged Mookie Betts, Travis Shaw and Noe Ramirez in the later rounds. Bradley fell to the Sox at No. 40 in part because of a wrist injury that held him back in his junior year at South Carolina. Bradley was a gamble, and not all gambles on talented players whose stock have fallen work out — MacPherson mentions 2012 first-rounder Deven Marrero, and I might add 2010 39th overall pick Anthony Ranaudo, whose stock fell prior to the draft due to an elbow injury. Bradley, though, was a steal, and he, Betts and the rest of the Sox’ 2011 class looked poised to lead the organization forward.
  • The Mets have no plans to use outfielder Michael Conforto at first base with Lucas Duda on the shelf, ESPN’s Adam Rubin tweets. “Right now Michael has a lot on his plate and I don’t need to add more to it,” says manager Terry Collins. The team is currently weighing its options in the wake of Duda’s injury, and has shown at least some interest in James Loney. MLBTR’s Jeff Todd recently listed potential first base solutions the Mets could pursue.

Latest On Mets’ First Base Search

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Mets GM Sandy Alderson said today that the club is “not ruling anything out externally” as it deals with a significant injury to first baseman Lucas Duda, as ESPNNewYork.com’s Adam Rubin reports. Assistant GM John Ricco suggested recently that the club wasn’t content with what it has in house.

While the Mets are obviously interested to see what’s out there, Alderson suggested that there isn’t much urgency. “We’ll continue to monitor what’s available,” he said. “We haven’t at this point decided that we’re just going to go with what we have.”

One possibility that many have mentioned is to make a play for James Loney. He’s an established veteran with a high-on-base approach who’s playing well at Triple-A in the Padres organization, and New York has been said to have at least some “curiosity” in him.

New York has been scouting Loney, per Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter), but it certainly doesn’t appear that the team has rushed out to get him. Loney is not the only player that the club is looking at, according to that report. I recently ran down the different ways the team could go about filling the void, with Loney featuring as one of the most obvious options but far from the only one.

While it’s early to be dealing, Alderson called a trade “doable.” Nevertheless, he warned that it wouldn’t be easy to find and acquire the right piece. “The circumstances have to be right,” said the veteran executive. “Whether it’s doable or not is one thing. Actually pursuing it and trying to identify something is something else.”

NL East Notes: Howard, Harvey, Mets, Prospects

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Ryan Howard’s spot on the Phillies’ roster has been a consistent source of speculation for the past three to four seasons, but despite the fact that he’s having a career-worst year in the final season of his contract, GM Matt Klentak implied in an appearance on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (Twitter link) that Howard isn’t in danger of losing that spot. “He’s a threat to change the game with a home run every time he steps in the box,” said Klentak to hosts Jody McDonald and Cliff Floyd. “As long as that’s the case, he’ll be in there.” Howard is batting just .160/.226/.359 in 146 plate appearances, though he does have eight homers on the year.

A couple more from the NL East…

  • Mets assistant GM John Ricco was also a guest on MLB Network Radio recently (audio link), where he discussed Matt Harvey’s status in the rotation. “We have a team that’s built to go to the World Series, and we have to think about what’s best for the team,” said Ricco. “But right now, we believe the best thing for the team is getting Matt back on track, and the best way to do that is to keep him in the big leagues working with [pitching coach] Dan Warthen. We saw some positive signs the other night, in terms of the metrics we look at.” Asked specifically which metrics that statement referenced, Ricco explained that in addition to the traditional eye test from the coaching staff, technology provides quantifiable data on Harvey’s arm angle, arm extension, release point and other mechanically inclined metrics, which give the Mets confidence that he’s making some strides.
  • Newsday’s Marc Carig writes that with the struggles of Kevin Plawecki and injury to Travis d’Arnaud, the Mets could eventually be forced into looking for catching help on the summer trade market. Ricco spoke to Carig and defended both backstops, asserting that both have proven to be above-average offensive players in the past. Plawecki, however, has batted just .210/.282/.288 in 356 big league plate appearances — a far cry from his .262/.318/.392 batting line in 260 Triple-A plate appearances. And d’Arnaud, of course, has consistently struggled to stay off the disabled list throughout his big league tenure. Carig speculates that Jonathan Lucroy would be a strong fit for the Mets, and it’s hard to argue with the logic. Lucroy could even help out at first base in the absence of Lucas Duda, as he has appeared in 43 games there across the past four seasons.
  • Phillies right-hander Mark Appel has been placed on the minor league disabled list with a strained right shoulder, tweets Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Appel, the former No. 1 overall pick acquired by the Phillies in this offseason’s Ken Giles blockbuster, has been experiencing diminished velocity of late, Breen notes. The extent of the injury is unclear, but it appears possible that the shoulder has been bother Appel for a few starts; he’s allowed 15 earned runs in his past 16 1/3 innings after getting off to a nice start with the Phillies’ Triple-A affiliate.
  • ESPN’s Keith Law has published an updated list of the game’s Top 25 prospects (Insider subscription required and recommended), and it’s headlined by a pair of NL East prospects: Nationals right-hander Lucas Giolito (No. 1) and Phillies shortstop J.P. Crawford (No. 2). Law provides some insight into each of the 25 names on his ranking and also lists five honorable mentions that narrowly missed the cut.

Injury Notes: A-Rod, Teixeira, Shelby, C.J., Forsythe, Flores

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Alex Rodriguez is back in the Yankees’ lineup after a quick rehab stint, but fellow veteran slugger Mark Teixeira is still out. It remains to be seen whether Teixeira will eventually require a DL stint, but for now he’s simply taking some time and waiting for a cortisone shot to take effect, as MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch tweets. An MRI seemingly cleared him of any new neck issues, ESPNNewYork.com’s Andrew Marchand tweets, so it seems to be an optimistic outlook. Meanwhile, the Yanks have placed southpaw Chasen Shreve on the DL while his left shoulder is checked out, Hoch also tweets.

Here are a few more injury notes from around the game:

  • Shelby Miller continues to be limited by a finger injury, Diamondbacks manager Chip Hale said today, as Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports. Already struggling on the hill, Miller’s difficulties were exacerbated when he scraped his hand on the dirt in his follow-through. Hale “still not where we’d like it to be,” which Piecoro suggests could set the stage for a DL stint. The 25-year-old owns an unsightly 7.09 ERA in 45 2/3 innings on the season, with just thirty strikeouts to go with 29 walks. When asked whether Miller could be sent to the minors, GM Dave Stewart didn’t reveal much but also didn’t rule out the idea, as Jack Magruder of Fanragsports.com tweets. “We want to get him on track the best way we can,” said Stewart. “We will figure it out and do what’s needed.”
  • Angels southpaw C.J. Wilson made his rehab debut yesterday, as Pete Marshall of the Orange County Register writes. The 35-year-old is one of several hurlers filtering back up towards the majors for the Halos, which could eventually lead to some interesting roster decisions. For now, he says his command and mechanics were in a good place, and didn’t suggest that his balky left arm was a problem. It’s certainly promising that Wilson was able to work up to 56 pitches while lasting into the fifth inning. He hopes to make it back to the majors by early to mid-June.
  • Also potentially returning in the middle of next month is Logan Forsythe of the Rays, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter). His shoulder has improved to the point where he’s able to take grounders, leading to some hope that he could join the Rays at some point after they wrap up an upcoming road trip.
  • Mets infielder Wilmer Flores appears ready for activation after a rehab game at Double-A, Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com tweets. The 24-year-old was off to a slow start, with a .180/.255/.280 slash, before heading to the DL with a hamstring strain. New York lost first baseman Lucas Duda, and Flores could conceivably be part of the solution — with the team’s trade plans somewhat dependent upon how much it trusts Flores and other internal options.

NL East Notes: Harvey, Cespedes, Beimel, Kelley

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Mets manager Terry Collins put a swift end to speculation on Matt Harvey’s immediate future, at least for the time being. The righty will make his next scheduled start, as Mike Puma of the New York Post was among those to report. “We saw some real positive things early in the game [Tuesday] night,” Collins told the media. “When he hit a wall in the fifth inning, I said I wasn’t surprised. I told Matt about it, I said I was proud of the fact the way he prepared for it and we saw some positive things early in the game.” Collins maintains that the Mets are focused on the big picture with Harvey, saying that the right-hander is “too big a piece to write him off” or to be put in the bullpen. MLBTR readers weighed in this morning on what the Mets should do, with a slight plurality preferring to see the club skip a Harvey start rather than maintaining the status quo or taking more drastic action.

A few more notes on the NL East…

  • Yoenis Cespedes has been as good as anyone could have hoped since returning to the Mets, and Ken Davidoff of the New York Post wonders whether there’s any chance of the sides getting back together on a new deal. Cespedes seems well on his way to returning to the open market via his opt-out clause, of course, having gotten off to a tremendous start to the season in advance of a considerably weaker free agent class than the one in which he found himself last winter. The 30-year-old is batting .309/.387/.678 and leading the National League in OPS, slugging percentage and RBIs while holding the MLB lead with 15 home runs. Assistant GM John Ricco said that there’s been no talk between the two sides about working out a new deal, though he also acknowledged: “There’ll be a time and place for that and I think when that time comes, we’ll see what happens.” Davidoff suggests multiple hypothetical offers the Mets could make to Cespedes now, though the slugging outfielder could ultimately find himself positioned as the top free agent on the market, especially now that division-rival Stephen Strasburg is off the market following a seven-year extension.
  • Left-hander Joe Beimel had a visit with Dr. James Andrews after his recent minor league agreement with the Marlins fell through due to physical concerns, reports ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick (links to Twitter). Andrews gave Beimel’s shoulder and elbow a clean bill of health, though clearly there was something that gave Miami some degree of pause. Of course, for a 39-year-old veteran of 13 big league seasons, it wouldn’t be surprising to see some degree of wear and tear in his arm. Beimel has pitched well with the Mariners across the past two seasons, working to a combined 3.12 ERA in 92 1/3 innings and holding lefties to a .226/.281/.381 batting line and whiffing nearly 18 percent of the same-handed opponents he faced in that time.
  • Nationals right-hander Shawn Kelley has quietly been one of the game’s most dominant relievers in recent years, writes MLB.com’s Mike Petriello. As Petriello notes, the Nationals’ new setup man, who signed a three-year contract in free agency this winter, has the lowest ERA in baseball across the past calendar year, and while some may think his dominance has come out of nowhere, he’s actually been strong dating back to 2013, Petriello points out. Only 11 pitchers registered a higher strikeout percentage in that time. Kelley is enjoying his best season yet, and while he hasn’t altered his pitch selection much, Petriello explains that Kelley has significantly improved the command of his fastball, moving the pitch more to the edge of the zone as opposed to the center of the plate, resulting in more strikeouts and more pop-ups. The bottom-line result for Kelley has been a 1.13 ERA with a 22-to-3 K/BB ratio in 16 innings this season

Braves Claim Dario Alvarez

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The Braves have claimed southpaw Dario Alvarez off waivers from the Mets, Adam Rubin of ESPN.com reports on Twitter. Alvarez had recently been designated for assignment.

The 27-year-old has been roughed up in limited MLB action over the last two years. He’s scuffled this year at Triple-A, too, though Alvarez has recorded 27 strikeouts against ten walks in his 15 1/3 innings and has posted better results in the past.

Injury Notes: Pagan, Chirinos, Athletics, Mets

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The Giants announced today that left fielder Angel Pagan has been placed on the 15-day disabled list due to a left hamstring strain — the same issue which already cost him nearly two weeks of action earlier this season. In his place, the team has recalled outfielder Jarrett Parker from Triple-A. Pagan has had a productive start to the season, batting .275/.338/.383 with a pair of homers and five stolen bases. That’s a notable improvement over last year’s production in 133 games, though this also marks the fourth DL stint for Pagan since 2013 — the start of his current four-year, $40MM contract. The 27-year-old Parker is hitting .281/.366/.615 with 13 homers at the Triple-A level this season and slashed an impressive .347/.407/.755 in a brief 54-plate-appearance promotion last September, with the bulk of that damage coming in a three-homer game in Oakland on Sept. 26.

A few more notable injury updates from around the league…

  • Rangers catcher Robinson Chirinos is ahead of schedule in his rehab and could beat his initial timeline of 10-12 weeks, reports Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (on Twitter). Chirinos, on the disabled list due to a fractured forearm, could return the first day that he is eligible, on June 9, according to Wilson. Of course, catcher has been a surprisingly productive position for Texas even in the absence of their starting backstop; the trio of Bryan Holaday, Bobby Wilson and the since-traded Chris Gimenez have batted .260/.323/.473 with six homers entering play tonight.
  • The Athletics received good news on a pair of injured players on Monday, as Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle writes. Right-hander Henderson Alvarez has been cleared to resume playing catch after previously giving the team a scare when some discomfort in his rehabbing right shoulder led the club to order an MRI. His timeline to return has certainly been slowed a bit by the setback, but it would appear that he’s avoided a more significant injury. Beyond that, right fielder Josh Reddick won’t require surgery to repair his fractured left thumb, meaning he’ll be able to return to the club within five to six weeks as opposed to seven or eight weeks.
  • ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin writes that Travis d’Arnaud began throwing yesterday at his home in California and is expected to report to the Mets’ Spring Training facility this week, where he’ll ramp up his rehab. The 27-year-old d’Arnaud has played in only 13 games this season, and Kevin Plawecki has struggled in his absence, batting .193/.287/.277. Mets catchers have been among the least productive in baseball this season, making d’Arnaud’s return to the club particularly important for the Mets. Rubin also writes that Zack Wheeler has resumed throwing off a mound and is targeting a July 1 return from Tommy John surgery.

Mets Have “Some Curiosity About” Padres’ James Loney

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The Mets have at least “some curiosity about” Padres first baseman James Loney, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post (Twitter links). Loney’s representatives at the Legacy Agency are expected to contact the club today to see if there’s a fit.

While Loney remains under control of the Padres, he’s reportedly able to opt out of his contract if a major league opportunity arises with another organization. As I explained this morning in breaking down New York’s options with Lucas Duda sidelined, Loney looks to be one of the most viable targets for the club.

Playing at Triple-A to open the year, Loney owns a .333/.368/.417 slash over 155 plate appearances with two home runs and just ten strikeouts to go with his nine walks. That’s not a terribly surprising batting line for the 32-year-old, who is a somewhat atypical hitter for a first baseman. Over his decade of major league experience, Loney has slashed .285/.338/.411, relying on average and low strikeout tallies to make up for a lack of pop.

Loney has also generally graded out well with the glove, though defensive metrics viewed him as a slightly below-average performer at first in each of his last two major league seasons. He also won’t require any kind of payroll hit beyond the league minimum, as the Rays released him this spring when trade partners failed to materialize. Tampa Bay remains obligated for his $8MM salary.

With San Diego rostering both Wil Myers and Brett Wallace, it doesn’t appear as if the Padres will be motivated to move Loney up to keep him in the organization. Wallace is hardly untouchable, but his salary is guaranteed and he’s capable of playing third base. On the other hand, as ESPN.com’s Buster Olney has noted on Twitter, San Diego would have the option of elevating Loney if another team offers him a big league job, which also means the club could potentially extract some trade value.

The Mets will, no doubt, consider alternatives. The left-handed-hitting Loney wouldn’t make much sense on the roster when Duda returns, after all, and it’s probably worth at least checking to see if there’s a better match elsewhere. As covered in the above-linked post, there are a lot of possibilities out there, though ultimately a low-risk fill-in would make plenty of sense.

One hypothetical candidate, Nick Swisher of the Yankees, does not appear to be a fit. Sherman notes that the Mets don’t have interest in the veteran, who has continued to post meager numbers at Triple-A.

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