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Injury/Rehab Notes: Tulo, Lamb, Jeffress, Heaney

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Yankees shortstop Troy Tulowitzki exited Tuesday’s game with a left calf strain and will “almost certainly” head to the injured list, manager Aaron Boone tells reporters (Twitter link via the YES Network’s Jack Curry). If and when Tulo does hit the IL, he’ll bring the Yankees’ total to a staggering 11 players on the shelf, including two left-side infielders in as many days. Third baseman Miguel Andujar went on the injured list due to a labrum tear yesterday, and with both him and Tulowitzki out of the picture, the Yankees will be relying on a mix of Gleyber Torres, DJ LeMahieu and Tyler Wade around the infield. Young Thairo Estrada is already on the 40-man roster and could get a call to help provide some depth while Tulowitzki is out. There’s no firm timetable for Tulo just yet.

Some more notable health updates from around baseball…

  • Diamondbacks infielder Jake Lamb pulled up lame while legging out a double in this afternoon’s game, and the early diagnosis is a strained left quadriceps, per The Athletic’s Zach Buchanan (Twitter link). Lamb will undergo an MRI tomorrow to further evaluate the severity of the injury. If Lamb is to miss time with the injury, the D-backs can increase Christian Walker’s role at first base and perhaps mix in Alex Avila a bit as well. The 28-year-old Lamb has gotten off to a slow start in 2019 as he looks to rebound from a 2018 campaign that was ruined by shoulder troubles.
  • Brewers righty Jeremy Jeffress is slated to begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A San Antonio tomorrow, tweets MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy. He’s been sidelined with some weakness in his shoulder but hasn’t been diagnosed with any structural damage or significant injury. Jeffress has been building strength since being slowed down in mid-March and will test out his shoulder over a series of appearances with San Antonio. President of baseball operations David Stearns recently suggested that mid or late April could be a reasonable return date for Jeffress, whose importance to the team only increased with the revelation that Corey Knebel will miss the entire 2019 season as he recovers from Tommy John surgery.
  • The Angels announced yesterday that a CT scan revealed “chronic changes to the elbow” in left-hander Andrew Heaney. Ominous as that sounds, Heaney will be cleared to resume a throwing program within the next week to 10 days. He’s also undergoing a cortisone shot to help combat the discomfort in his elbow. The good news for the Angels is that there seemingly wasn’t any evidence of structural damage regarding Heaney’s ulnar collateral ligament. Heaney has yet to appear in a game this season and was limited to just 1 2/3 innings early in Spring Training, so even once he does resume a throwing program, he’ll still be several weeks from surfacing as an option in the Halos’ rotation.

Miguel Andujar Hopes To Avoid Surgery For Shoulder Injury

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While the threat of surgery remains, Yankees third baseman Miguel Andujar says he does not believe he’ll need to go under the knife, as Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News reports. Andujar has already been placed on the 10-day injured list.

Andujar, 24, says his shoulder still feels strong and that he has received promising results from initial physical tests. He’s slated for “physical therapy,” with a reevaluation due “in a couple weeks.”

Ackert chatted with a shoulder expert who provides some information regarding the typical rehab course for this sort of injury — what the club has characterized as a small labrum tear. It seems the likely process will be to establish range of motion in the joint and then begin strengthening.

There are still hurdles, but it seems there is a legitimate hope that Andujar will not require a procedure that would end his season prematurely. Throwing will likely be a loftier challenge than hitting, given the nature of the injury, so it’s also at least theoretically possible that Andujar will be able to return in a DH capacity before he’s fully prepared to man the hot corner.

Miguel Andujar Diagnosed With Labrum Tear

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The Yankees placed infielder Miguel Andujar on the 10-day injured list, as first reported by Jack Curry of the YES Network (Twitter link). He’ll be replaced on the active roster by Tyler Wade.

It emerged after testing that Andujar has suffered a “small labrum tear,” manager Aaron Boone conveyed to reporters including MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch (Twitter link). The injury, which was suffered when Andujar dove back to the bag on a pick-off attempt, could require season-ending surgery. While the club will first attempt non-surgical treatment, it’s clearly a significant injury that will need to be handled with care.

It’s the second injury-related loss of the day for the Yanks, who already put star slugger Giancarlo Stanton on the shelf. The organization does have some intriguing depth options, but it obviously would prefer to have its first-choice lineup on the field as much as possible in a highly competitive American League East. For the time being, solid veteran DJ LeMahieu will step in at the hot corner, but that’ll take him out of the rotation at the other infield spots.

The long-term repercussions are even more worrying. Andujar, 24, was one of baseball’s best rookies last year. While he’s a work in progress defensively, Andujar posted a healthy .297/.328/.527 slash and launched 27 home runs in his first full season as a big-leaguer.

Yankees Place Giancarlo Stanton On Injured List

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2:45pm: Manager Aaron Boone tells reporters that Stanton initially felt discomfort following a swing in Sunday’s game against the Orioles (Twitter link via James Wagner of the New York Times). A postgame MRI revealed a Grade 1 strain. While an exact timetable isn’t known, Stanton will be out longer than the minimum 10 days. The YES Network’s Jack Curry tweets that Stanton will be shut down entirely for the next 10 days. The organization’s hope is that he can return before the end of April.

10:05am: The Yankees announced Monday that they’ve placed outfielder/designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton on the 10-day injured list due to a left biceps strain. In his place, Clint Frazier has been recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. There’s no word yet from the team on the severity of Stanton’s injury or how long he is expected to be out of action.

There was no clear indication that Stanton was dealing with an injury early in the season. The slugger has a pair of hits in eight official at-bats so far but has also drawn a walk in seven of his 15 plate appearances on the young season, giving him a .600 on-base percentage through three games. The injury is a tough early blow to a Yankees club that already is already without Luis Severino, Aaron Hicks, Dellin Betances, Didi Gregorius and CC Sabathia to open the season. New York torched the Orioles in the season opener but dropped the next two games to lose the year’s first series. They’ll face the Tigers, the Orioles a second time (in Baltimore) and then the Astros (in Houston) over the next 10 days without Stanton in the fold.

With Stanton now shelved alongside Hicks and Jacoby Ellsbury, the Yankees will lean on Brett Gardner, Aaron Judge, Frazier and Mike Tauchman in the outfield mix for at least their next three series (barring any waiver claims or other additions). The injury to Stanton should allow the club to more easily work both Luke Voit and Greg Bird into the lineup at times, and it could also present some more at-bats for offseason acquisition DJ LeMahieu.

The 24-year-old Frazier, meanwhile, will get an early opportunity to rebuild some stock after a 2018 season that was marred by ongoing concussion symptoms. The longtime top prospect received only 41 plate appearances in the Majors, though he certainly held his own, batting .265/.390/.353. In 242 minor league plate appearances last season, Frazier posted an outstanding .305/.388/.562 batting line.

Diamondbacks Return Rule 5 Pick Nick Green To Yankees

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The Diamondbacks will return Rule 5 selection Nick Green to the Yankees, per a Yankees team announcement (Twitter link). After clearing waivers, Green, who turns 24 tomorrow, will rejoin his former club, having fallen short of the Diamondbacks’ Opening Day roster.

Green’s problems in spring training stemmed from a lack of control, as he walked 11 batters in 13 1/3 innings. Green was chosen by the D-Backs in the Rule 5 Draft after a successful season at High-A, in which he posted a 3.28 ERA in 115 1/3 innings. Green will now return to the Yankees organization, though the team is not required to place him on its 40-man roster.

Yankees Acquire Mike Tauchman From Rockies

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Per a team release, the Yankees have acquired OF Mike Tauchman from Colorado for lefty Phillip Diehl. Left-hander Jordan Montgomery was placed on the 60-day IL to make 40-man room for the outfielder.

Tauchman, 28, has just 69 MLB plate appearances under his belt despite a monster minor-league performance over the last two seasons. With AAA-Albuquerque in 2018, Tauchman slashed .323/.408/.571 with an outstanding 12.7% BB/14.9% K plate-discipline profile. ZiPS projects the lefty, who could see time at all three outfield spots for New York, to post a solid 96 wRC+/1.9 WAR season over 513 plate appearances in 2018.

Diehl, 24, moved to the bullpen full-time in the New York farm last season, to mostly excellent results. He didn’t crack the team’s top 30 prospects at either Baseball America or MLB.com, but if his 14.61 K/9 at high-A Tampa is any indication, the lefty’ll certainly be on the radar of the Rockies brass.

AL East Notes: Red Sox, Duffy, Rays, Sabathia

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After chronicling some Blue Jays notes earlier today, let’s take a look around the rest of the American League East…

  • “Unless something completely unanticipated happened,” Dave Dombrowski figures the Red Sox will halt all extension talks by Opening Day, the team president of baseball operations told the media (including Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com).  Most players like to have any negotiations wrapped up before the actual games begin, with Dombrowski also citing his preference for a lack of distractions.  Xander Bogaerts, Rick Porcello, and potentially J.D. Martinez (if he exercises an opt-out clause) are all scheduled for free agency after the season.  Talks with Bogaerts earlier this winter failed to materialize into an extension, while the Sox hadn’t yet discussed a new contract with Porcello as of late February.  Of course, the Red Sox already took care of one major 2019-20 free agent by inking Chris Sale to a new deal that will keep the southpaw in Boston through the 2024 season.
  • Rays third baseman Matt Duffy is likely headed to the IL to begin the season, manager Kevin Cash told reporters (including Eduardo A. Encina and Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times).  Duffy has been bothered by a hamstring problem for much of the spring, and will have tests done after he was a late scratch from today’s game lineup.  The versatile Rays shouldn’t have much of a problem filling in for Duffy in the short term, as Joey Wendle, Yandy Diaz, and Daniel Robertson are all options at third base.  Encina and Topkin also think that Duffy’s injury could open the door for Guillermo Heredia to break camp with the team, unless the Rays choose to use the roster spot on an extra pitcher.
  • The Yankees are considering including C.C. Sabathia on their Opening Day roster in order to immediately get the veteran lefty’s five-game suspension out of the way, George A. King III of the New York Post writes.  Sabathia is already slated for a stint on the injured list as he recovers from an offseason angioplasty and a knee operation, though he would head to the IL after the first five games are up.  The downside for the Yankees is that they would have to play with just 24 active players during the course of Sabathia’s suspension, though there is an off-day within those first five games if any pitchers need some early recovery.

AL Notes: Gio, Armstrong, Herrera, Tepera/Axford

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Newly minted Yankees lefty Gio Gonzalez says it was an easy choice to join the New York organization, as George A. King III of the New York Post and MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch cover (Twitter links). The offer from the Yanks “was pretty much” the only one he got all winter long, says the veteran southpaw. It has been quite some  time since Gonzalez has had to fight for a roster spot and a big-league paycheck, but he says it’s “a pretty great opportunity” that he “can’t be ungrateful” for. If he cracks the roster, Gonzalez will play for a $3MM base salary and would also take home $300K for each game started.

Here’s more from the American League …

  • Mariners righty Shawn Armstrong is heading to the injured list with a grade 1 oblique strain, MLB.com’s Greg Johns reports. He says he’ll be patient in allowing thing to heal, but didn’t hide his anger at hitting the shelf just before the season began. (Anderson flew to Japan believing he would be ready to roll, but the issue was worse upon arrival.) Armstrong, 28, is still hoping that this’ll be the season he fully establishes himself in the majors. He has seen action in four seasons but has yet to be entrusted with more than 21 appearances in a given campaign. Armstrong turned in sub-2.00 ERA performances at both Triple-A (in 56 innings) and the majors (14 2/3 innings) in 2018.
  • The White Sox may not go long without new reliever Kelvin Herrera, Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times writes. The veteran hurler, who’s working back from a Lisfranc fracture in his left foot, hasn’t yet fully ramped things up but seems on track to get back to being a high-powered relief arm early in the new season. “I will probably be in full shape by April something or May,” he says.
  • It seems there’s some new potential for late-camp movement with the Blue Jays roster. Skipper Charlie Montoyo says that righty relievers Ryan Tepera and John Axford have turned up with elbow pain that is being looked at more closely, as Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca reports (Twitter link). Those injuries are among the factors that could leave the Toronto organization with more 40-man roster room to work with — but also more 25-man roster needs to address — than had been anticipated, MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm notes on Twitter.

Dellin Betances Will Begin Season On Injured List Due To Shoulder Impingement

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Yankees right-hander Dellin Betances will open the 2019 season on the injured list due to an impingement and inflammation in his right shoulder, general manager Brian Cashman announced to reporters Tuesday (Twitter links via the YES Network’s Jack Curry).

There’s no set timetable for when Betances might rejoin the big league bullpen. To this point in Spring Training, the right-hander’s fastball velocity has been sitting in the upper 80s and low 90s — a far cry from the 98 mph he’s averaged across the past two seasons. While all of that sounds ominous, the situation may not be as dire as Yankees fans fear; Betances will only require three to five days of rest before he attempts to resume throwing — a timeline that’s not indicative of a serious injury.

And, fortunately for the Yankees, if there’s one area in which they can withstand an injury, it’s the bullpen. Even with Betances sidelined early in the season, the Yankees will still have Aroldis Chapman, Zack Britton, Adam Ottavino, Chad Green and Jonathan Holder at the back of a deep and talented bullpen.

For Betances, the timing of the issue is highly unwelcome. The 30-year-old is entering his final season of club control and is set to become a free agent following the 2019 season. He’s earning $7.125MM this season and has been among the game’s most dominant bullpen weapons over the past half decade, compiling a 2.22 ERA with 14.6 K/9, 3.9 BB/9 and just 0.6 HR/9 over 373 1/3 regular-season innings.

Yankees Sign Gio Gonzalez

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The Yankees have bolstered their pitching depth in a substantial way, adding veteran left-hander Gio Gonzalez. General manager Brian Cashman announced to reporters Tuesday that Gonzalez has passed his physical and reported to camp (Twitter link via MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch). Rather stunningly, the contract is a minor league deal that reportedly comes with a $3MM base salary in the Majors and pays Gonzalez an additional $300K per start (topping out at $12MM). He can also opt out of the contract on April 20.

Gio Gonzalez } Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

This outcome was hard to foresee when the market opened. While Gonzalez hardly seemed likely to break the bank, he’s an accomplished, still-useful, exceptionally durable starter. MLBTR graded him the 27th-best free agent available and predicted a two-year, $24MM contract.

As it turns out, many mid-level free-agent starters have failed to land that second promised year. And Gonzalez will still need to earn his way onto the MLB roster. Even if he makes it, he’ll be playing on a base rate of pay that lags a long list of other rotation pieces that signed this winter.

Gonzalez, 33, was long a highly valuable starter with the Athletics and Nationals. While he was often chided for inconsistency on a start-by-start basis, he was one of the steadiest hurlers in the majors in the aggregate for a lengthy span. Between 2010 and 2017, Gonzalez threw over 1,500 innings of 3.41 ERA ball, only once failing to make thirty starts in a season.

As recently as 2017, Gonzalez was capable of a sub-3.00 ERA, 200+ inning campaign. Even then, his peripherals reflected a decline in his stuff. Over the past two seasons, Gonzalez’s fastball has sat just over the 90 mph line. He still generated a 9.5% swinging-strike rate last year, right at his career average, but surrendered more hard contact and more home runs than he did in his prime.

Despite the downturn, Gonzalez remained a sturdy MLB hurler in 2018. He contributed 171 frames and ended with a 4.21 ERA. Gonzalez struggled in two postseason outings but provided the Brewers with five useful starts down the stretch after a late-season trade.

While his earning upside was always going to be limited by his age and reduced repertoire, it’s hard to fathom this outcome. It’s certainly possible that other teams offered guaranteed deals with less overall earning capacity. Even that’s unclear at this point, though.

The Yankees, it seems, don’t necessarily even plan to utilize Gonzalez to fill in while Luis Severino works back from his injury issues. Per the New York Post’s Joel Sherman (Twitter links), the club seems inclined to rely upon a trio of young hurlers — Luis Cessa, Domingo German, Jonathan Loaisiga — before turning to Gonzalez. That could certainly change before the opt-out date. But it’s notable that the deeply established southpaw will evidently be working just to obtain an MLB opportunity, particularly with so many teams preparing to rely upon untested pitchers at the outset of the season.

It also remains to be seen just when Gonzalez will even be ready to join the Yankees’ rotation. Manager Aaron Boone said Tuesday that Gonzalez made 80 pitches in a simulated game just yesterday and could appear in the Yankees’ Grapefruit League game on March 23 (Twitter link via Hoch). He still isn’t likely to be ready for the season opener, though, which point to an early April debut, at the earliest.

Jon Heyman of MLB Network reported the sides were close to a deal (via Twitter). Sherman reported that it was a minor league pact (Twitter link), while The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal added financial details (via Twitter). Heyman added further details regarding the contract’s heavy slate of incentives (via Twitter).

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