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East Notes: Yankees, H. Harvey, Soroka, Cespedes

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It turns out top prospect Justus Sheffield might not be the next minor league pitcher in line to join the Yankees’ rotation, as Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports in his latest video that the club nearly promoted 23-year-old Jonathan Loaisiga for a spot start during a doubleheader, until rain altered their schedule. Rosenthal notes that Loaisiga had never pitched above Low-A ball until this season. It seems like he’s met little resistance this year, though, as he’s posted a 3.13 ERA this season while striking out 10.96 batters per nine against an equally impressive 1.17 walks per nine. Of course, plenty could change by the next time the Yankees need another starter. It’s certainly worth noting that promoting Sheffield last Monday might have improved his chances of making the Super Two cut, had he impressed enough to stick in the rotation from there on out. There will certainly be some entertaining suspense surrounding this situation from here forward.

Other items fresh off the East coast…

  • Orioles prospect Hunter Harvey was scratched from his most recent Double-A start due to a shoulder injury, Dan Connoly of baltimorebaseball.com reports. Harvey’s dealt with plenty of injury issues in his career already, and this latest case (described as “posterior shoulder instability) has left him on an unknown timetable to return to the rotation. Harvey also had Tommy John surgery on his throwing elbow in 2016. Even when on the field, he hasn’t been particularly impressive this year. His 5.57 ERA across 32 1/3 innings on the season is an eyesore.
  • Rookie Mike Soroka is set to come off the DL and start Wednesday for the Braves, reports David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. O’Brien adds that manager Brian Snitker plans to hold Soroka to a pitch count of 85-90. Soroka is widely considered to be one of the best right-handed pitching prospects in the game, and he’s backed that up by pitching to a 2.77 FIP in three starts this season while striking out more than a batter per inning.
  • Injury news isn’t looking so good for a division rival, however, as the Mets’ Yoenis Cespedes reportedly left his rehab start tonight with tightness in his right quad. He’ll be re-evaluated tomorrow, but even a small setback is certainly discouraging; Cespedes has been riddled with injuries since signing a four-year, $110MM pact with New York following the 2016 season.

Yankees Place Masahiro Tanaka On DL

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The Yankees have placed right-hander Masahiro Tanaka on the disabled list with mild strains of both hamstrings, according to the team, which recalled infielder Ronald Torreyes in a corresponding move. Tanaka suffered the injuries on the base paths during the Yankees’ game against the Mets on Friday, forcing him to depart after five quality innings. He’s now the second member of New York’s season-opening rotation on the DL, joining lefty Jordan Montgomery, who’s out for the year.

Tanaka will miss “weeks,” manager Aaron Boone told Bryan Hoch of MLB.com and other reporters, though it’s unclear whom the Yankees will call on in his absence to join Luis Severino, CC Sabathia, Sonny Gray and Domingo German in their rotation. Two Double-A prospects – Domingo Acevedo and Jonathan Loaisiga – as well as Luis Cessa (who’s nearing a return from the DL, Brendan Kuty of NJ.com tweets) and A.J. Cole seem to be their most realistic 40-man options. The club has an open 40-man spot, however, and could take advantage of that by selecting the likes of Justus Sheffield, Chance Adams or David Hale from Triple-A.

Yankees Sign First-Rounder Anthony Seigler

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The Yankees have signed their first-round pick, 23rd overall choice Anthony Seigler, George A. King III of the New York Post reports. The high school catcher’s bonus is worth $2.815,900, the exact value of the pick, Jim Callis of MLB.com tweets.

Seigler, an 18-year-old Georgia native, ranked among the top 50 prospects entering the draft, according to FanGraphs (28th), Baseball America (41st), ESPN’s Keith Law (43rd) and MLB.com (46th). Seigler’s “agile behind the plate, has a quick transfer that helps his arm play as plus at times and shows promise as a receiver and pitch framer,” per MLB.com, which likens him to Austin Barnes of the Dodgers. Barnes has shown an ability to play second base, and Seigler also has the athleticism to line up at the keystone, according to MLB.com.

Offensively, the switch-hitting Seigler is a contact hitter capable of using all fields, and he could develop into a double-digit home run threat, MLB.com notes. He’s also relatively fast for a catcher. Interestingly, like major leaguer Pat Venditte (also of the Dodgers), Seigler has switch-pitching capability. He brings upper-80s heat and equal effectiveness from both sides, though he’ll sink or swim in the pros as a catcher.

Masahiro Tanaka To Undergo MRI On Hamstrings

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Yankees right-hander Masahiro Tanaka left his start against the Mets on Friday after five innings because of stiffness in both hamstrings. He’ll undergo an MRI on Saturday to determine the severity of the issue, though odds are he’ll require a stint on the disabled list, Randy Miller of NJ.com suggests. Tanaka suffered the injury on the bases, thus cutting short a performance in which he allowed one run on one hit and a walk and struck out eight. The 29-year-old’s amid a second straight underwhelming season from a run prevention standpoint (4.58 ERA), but losing him would still be a significant blow for the starter-needy Yankees, who already lost lefty Jordan Montgomery for the season (and some of 2019) earlier this week.

Jordan Montgomery Undergoes Tommy John Surgery

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June 7: The Yankees announced that Montgomery underwent Tommy John surgery today, adding that Dr. Christopher Ahmad also discovered a loose bone chip that was removed as well.

June 5: Yankees left-hander Jordan Montgomery, who has been on the 10-day disabled list with an elbow strain for a bit more than a month, will undergo Tommy John surgery on Thursday this week, the team announced to reporters (Twitter link via MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch).

Obviously, the news comes as a blow to a Yankees club that was already likely to be in the market for rotation help on the summer trade market. With Montgomery now out of action for the balance of the 2018 season and a significant portion of the 2019 season as well, that need will only be emphasized more strongly by general manager Brian Cashman and his staff.

[Related: New York Yankees depth chart]

The 25-year-old Montgomery entered Spring Training 2017 as a dark-horse candidate for a rotation spot but forced his way into the organization’s plans and appeared to seize a long-term rotation spot with a very strong rookie showing. In 155 1/3 innings last year (29 starts), Montgomery notched a 3.82 ERA with 8.3 K/9 against 3.0 BB/9 and 1.2 HR/9. He started six games for the Yankees in 2018, working to a 3.62 ERA in 27 1/3 innings, though his final outing lasted just one inning, and he’s been on the DL since.

Montgomery will still accrue service time in both 2018 and 2019 as he mends on the 60-day disabled list. By the time he’s likely to be healthy enough for a full season of work in the rotation (2020), he’ll quite likely have gone through the arbitration process for the first time as a Super Two player. Montgomery entered the season with 153 days of Major League service time, so he’ll be at two years, 153 days once the 2019 season wraps up. That makes him a virtual lock for Super Two designation, and he’ll be controllable for the Yankees all the way through the 2023 campaign.

With Montgomery now done for the year, the Yankees will continue to lean on Domingo German in the fifth spot of their rotation for the foreseeable future. He’ll fall in line behind Luis Severino, Masahiro Tanaka, Sonny Gray and CC Sabathia, though it’s possible that the Yankees will ultimately turn to another option in the five-spot — at least until a presumptive trade acquisition comes together.

German, 25, threw six no-hit innings in his first MLB start back on May 6, but he’s been rocked for 19 earned runs in 21 innings since that time. Top pitching prospect Chance Adams has struggled with the Yankees’ top affiliate this season, though lefty Justus Sheffield has been more impressive and could conceivably earn a look in the coming weeks as the Yankees plot a new trajectory in the wake of Montgomery’s unfortunate diagnosis.

Yankees Option Tommy Kahnle

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The Yankees announced after Game 1 of today’s doubleheader that they’ve activated right-hander Adam Warren from the 10-day disabled list and optioned right-hander Tommy Kahnle to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

The decision to send Kahnle to the minors would’ve seemed unfathomable following the 2017 season. The flamethrowing righty was a huge part of a July blockbuster with the White Sox and pitched to a combined 2.59 ERA with 13.4 K/9, 2.4 BB/9 and 0.57 HR/9 with a 40.7 percent ground-ball rate in 62 2/3 innings. Kahnle trailed only Craig Kimbrel, Kenley Jansen and teammate Chad Green in terms of K-BB%, and his 16.7 percent swinging-strike rate was the eighth-best of any qualified reliever in baseball.

So far, 2018 has been an entirely different story for the 28-year-old Kahnle, however. His average fastball velocity plummeted from 97.9 mph to 95 mph, and while that’s still plenty of heat, the near-three mile per hour drop is concerning all the same. Kahnle spent more than a month on the disabled list due to tendinitis in his right shoulder, and he’s allowed seven runs on six hits and a troubling 10 walks in nine innings when healthy. In addition to those 10 free passes, Kahlne has also snapped off a pair of wild pitches and seen his first-pitch strike rate drop from 62.1 percent in 2017 to 52.3 percent in 2018.

While it seems likely to be a short-term stay, the potential for service time ramifications does exist. Kahnle entered the season with just three years, 15 days of big league service time, meaning he’d need 157 days of service in 2018 to reach four years of service time and stay on track to become a free agent following the 2020 season. If he spends more than a month in the minors, that timeline would change, though it seems reasonable to expect the Yankees are hoping for a minimal stay in Scranton to get Kahnle’s command back on track.

Yankees Release Oliver Perez

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The Yankees have released veteran lefty Oliver Perez, according to Bryan Hoch of MLB.com (via Twitter). He had joined the organization on a minors deal right at the start of the season after spending spring camp with the Reds.

Perez, 36, received a June 1st opt-out date by virtue of being an Article XX(B) free agent. He spent the past two years with the Nationals, making 114 appearances but throwing only 73 total innings of 4.81 ERA ball with 10.5 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9.

Thus far in 2018, Perez has allowed just four earned runs in his 12 1/3 frames at Triple-A. He has recorded 13 strikeouts against three walks in that span. While there wasn’t an opening for him in the New York pen, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the 15-year MLB veteran sign on with another organization that has a greater opportunity available.

Should Yankees Consider J.A. Happ?

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  • For all the speculation surrounding the Yankees and Cole Hamels, Joel Sherman of the New York Post argues that J.A. Happ should be every bit as much on New York’s radar this summer — if not more. Happ, unlike Hamels, doesn’t have a no-trade clause that includes the Yankees, and he’s also earning a more reasonable $12MM this season that aligns with the team’s luxury tax goals. Moreover, though, Sherman notes that Happ simply isn’t separated by Hamels in terms of talent as much as the pair’s reputation would suggest. The 36-year-old reinvented himself following a 2015 trade to the Pirates, and he’s posted better numbers in recent years (and again in 2018) than Hamels. The general thinking extends well beyond the Yankees, of course. If the Blue Jays decide to make Happ available to other teams this July, the southpaw would be one of their most attractive rental chips and would fit on virtually any contender looking to bolster its rotation.

Yankees Outright Ryan Bollinger

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  • The Yankees have outrighted left-hander Ryan Bollinger to Double-A, per a team announcement. Bollinger had a short stint with the Yankees, who selected his contract in time for Wednesday’s game against the Rangers and then optioned him afterward. The well-traveled 27-year-old will continue in Trenton, where he has logged 20 innings this season and posted a microscopic ERA (.90) with 5.9 K/9 against 1.8 BB/9.

Yankees Notes: Hamels, Montgomery

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The Rangers may trade left-hander Cole Hamels in the next couple months, and “it looks like the Yankees could be interested,” Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe writes. Although the Yankees are among 20 teams on Hamels’ no-trade list, the 34-year-old suggested earlier this week that he wouldn’t block a move to a contender. New York certainly looks as if it’ll contend all season, which would appeal to Hamels, and the team figures to end up acquiring him or another legitimate starter at some point this summer. General manager Brian Cashman pointed to his pitching staff as an area that he could address Saturday, before Sonny Gray continued his disappointing season with an ugly start against the Angels.

Regardless of whether the Yankees go outside for help, they should get back a rotation reinforcement, lefty Jordan Montgomery, in the coming weeks. Montgomery, who has been out since May 2 with an elbow strain, is “progressing” without any issues, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com tweets. The second-year man is three-plus weeks into a potential six- to eight-week absence, and he had been in the midst of another effective season prior to going down. Righty Domingo German has served as a Montgomery fill-in for three starts, the first of which went swimmingly and the next two rather poorly.

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