Trevor Bauer Was Subject Of Previous Protection Order
Trevor Bauer was the subject of an ex parte temporary civil stalking protection order sought by and granted to an Ohio woman in June of 2020, according to a report by Gus Garcia-Roberts and Molly Hensley-Clancy of The Washington Post. The order was in effect until dismissed by the petitioner that July 23. According to the Post’s report:
“An Ohio woman sought the order in June 2020 after repeated threats from the then-Cincinnati Reds pitcher, according to her lawyer and records separately obtained by The Post. Photographs independently obtained by The Post also show bruises on the woman’s face and blood in her eyes, which her attorney said was caused by Bauer punching and choking her during sex without consent. Those allegations are similar to ones made by a woman in Los Angeles this summer when she applied for a temporary restraining order.”
The Post report details an alleged incident from 2017, when Bauer was with the Indians. The authors elaborate:
“A police report obtained by The Post shows that in 2017, during an incident at Bauer’s apartment, the Ohio woman attempted to show officers photos of injuries to her eyes that she said were caused by Bauer, who played for Cleveland at the time.” The woman’s attorney tells the Post she specified to police at the time that those injuries were the alleged result of Bauer choking her without consent during sex. According to the Post, Bauer was the one who initially called police that night, telling officers the woman had assaulted him — an allegation she denied. Additionally:
“The Post also obtained copies of messages Bauer allegedly sent the woman, which her lawyers said prompted her to seek an order of protection. ‘I don’t feel like spending time in jail for killing someone,’ reads one. ‘And that’s what would happen if I saw you again.'” The Post also obtained photos of injuries the woman sustained, which her lawyer tells The Post she says “were from Bauer striking her without her consent during sex in 2018,” in the words of the Post writers.
The ex parte nature of the order indicates it was granted without hearing from Bauer’s side. (That’s also true of the temporary restraining order granted against Bauer in California to which the Post alluded). Ohio law allows petitioners to obtain a restraining order against individuals who have caused the petitioner to believe they “will cause physical harm to the other person or a family or household member of the other person or cause mental distress to the other person or a family or household member of the other person,” so long as the petitioner can demonstrate good cause — including, but not limited to, a threat of bodily harm. Court records don’t specify any allegations made against Bauer at that hearing.
MLB placed Bauer on paid administrative leave in July 2021 after the Pasadena Police Department began investigating the assault allegations made by the woman in California. Bauer’s administrative leave period was extended through August 20 this week, an agreement between MLB and the MLB Players Association. The parties are set for a multi-day hearing (during which Bauer will have an opportunity to respond to the woman’s allegations) next week on the status of the California TRO.
Under the terms of the joint MLB-MLBPA Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy, Major League Baseball has the authority to issue discipline regardless of whether criminal charges are ultimately filed. An MLB spokesperson is quoted in the piece as saying that “MLB takes these and all allegations very seriously,” but that they can’t comment because of the ongoing investigation. The Post reports that an MLB investigator was seeking information related to the 2017 incident in early July.
Chelsea Janes, also of The Washington Post, says that the Dodgers declined to comment on whether or not they were aware of this previous allegation before signing Bauer in February of 2021. A spokesman for the Indians told the Post the team didn’t have any knowledge of the incident in 2017.
Bauer, on his own Twitter account, addressed the allegations with a statement from himself as well as one from his representatives. Additionally, “In a statement to The Post, Bauer’s lawyer and agent, Jon Fetterolf, and agent Rachel Luba called the allegations of physical abuse against Bauer ‘categorically false.'”
For the full details, read the Washington Post article and Bauer’s response.
Giants Sign Brandon Crawford To Two-Year, $32MM Extension
The Giants announced they’ve agreed to terms on a two-year contract extension with shortstop Brandon Crawford. It’s a $32MM deal, with Crawford slated to receive matching $16MM salaries between 2022-23. The three-time All-Star had been slated to reach free agency at the end of the season. Crawford is represented by Wasserman.
The deal will tack on another two seasons for Crawford, who turns 35 years old in January, in orange and black. The Giants selected the Bay Area native in the fourth round of the 2008 draft after a standout career at UCLA. He made his big league debut three years later and has been an organizational fixture ever since. Crawford has been San Francisco’s starting shortstop for the past decade, contributing to the franchise’s 2012 and 2014 World Series titles.
While Crawford broke in as a light-hitting defensive specialist, he put together three consecutive solid seasons with the bat from 2014-16, earning the NL’s Silver Slugger award for shortstops in the second of those years. Beginning in 2017, he started to fall off at the plate and eventually bottomed out with a .228/.304/.350 line in 2019. Crawford looked destined to end his career as a bottom-of-the-order type, but he’s posted a remarkable turnaround over the past two seasons.
The left-handed hitter bounced back to put up a quality .256/.326/.465 line in 2020. It might’ve been easy to waive that away as a small sample in the shortened season, but he’s been an absolute force at the plate this year. Crawford enters play Friday carrying a .296/.364/.540 mark with nineteen home runs over 371 plate appearances.
That’s far and away the best offensive showing of his career, and it’s among the best production of any player in baseball. Crawford’s 139 wRC+ suggests he’s been 39 percentage points more productive than the league average hitter after accounting for Oracle Park’s pitcher-friendly nature. That’s the #27 mark among the 282 hitters with 200+ plate appearances. At shortstop, only Fernando Tatís Jr. has been better at the plate.
Crawford’s not making much more contact or drawing many more walks than he has over the prior few seasons. He’s simply hitting the ball harder more consistently. Crawford’s 44.7% hard contact rate is his best mark since 2015, up nearly ten percentage points over his run of poor offense from 2017-19. His barrel rate (essentially how often Crawford hits the ball hard at a launch angle conducive to power) is up to 14.4% — easily his highest clip since Statcast became public in 2015 and a 90th percentile mark leaguewide. He’s hitting more fly balls generally, and it’s no coincidence he’ll certainly surpass his previous career best in homers (21).
Equally as important, Crawford has shown no signs of decline on defense. He’s always been among the game’s most sure-handed defenders, and that hasn’t changed despite his age. Statcast has credited the three-time Gold Glove award winner with 10 outs above average this season, a mark that trails only Nick Ahmed, Francisco Lindor, Matt Chapman, Nicky Lopez and Andrelton Simmons among infielders. Crawford’s reputation and advanced metrics suggest he’s still among the game’s premier defenders.
Crawford’s production on both sides of the ball is a huge reason the Giants have surprisingly posted the league’s best record. Between his stellar production, longstanding importance to the organization, and previous ties to the Bay Area, it’s little surprise both sides were motivated to get a deal done.
Even after signing Crawford, the Giants have an abundance of future payroll space. Evan Longoria ($19.667MM), Tommy La Stella ($5.25MM) and Jake McGee ($2.5MM) are the only other players with guaranteed contracts on the books next season. For a franchise that has previously pushed payroll up near $200MM, there’s plenty of breathing room for president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi and the rest of the front office.
That abundance of financial flexibility reflects the huge crop of potential free agents in San Francisco, though. Like Crawford, catcher Buster Posey and first baseman Brandon Belt are franchise cornerstones having great seasons. Posey’s contract comes with a $22MM club option for 2022 ($3MM buyout), while Belt is scheduled to reach free agency at the end of the year. So is staff ace Kevin Gausman, as well as rotation mates Anthony DeSclafani, Alex Wood and Johnny Cueto. (Cueto has a $22MM club option that looks likely to be bought out). Deadline acquisition Kris Bryant will be one of the top position players on the market.
There’s obviously quite a bit on the offseason to-do list for Zaidi and general manager Scott Harris. They’ve started their winter work early by ensuring that Crawford returns at shortstop. There’s a good chance this extension solidifies Crawford as a one-franchise player. Last month, he told John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle he could consider retirement a couple years from now.
“As a competitor, I don’t ever want there to be a year like, ‘Oh, yeah, this is the end for him,’” Crawford told Shea. “I want to still be a good player the last year of my career. That’s why I’d say, ‘Yeah, at least a couple of more years would be nice.’ I don’t want to be 39 or 40 and feel I can’t move around anymore at short. I still want to be a good shortstop when I decide to hang it up.”
Crawford’s previous extension, signed in November 2015, contained a full no-trade clause. This deal does not, but that’s presumably because such a provision was unnecessary. Crawford reached ten years of major league service in June. With it, he locked in full no-trade rights as a 10-and-5 player (one with ten years of MLB service, the last five of which have come with the same team).
The signing removes one of the best-performing impending free agents from next winter’s market. There’s been a huge amount of attention on the star-studded shortstop class, which will include Carlos Correa, Corey Seager, Trevor Story, Marcus Semien and Javier Báez. Crawford has been as or more productive than all of them this year. His age was always going to keep him from landing any sort of mega-deal, but Crawford could’ve been a target for immediate contenders needing a shortstop. Instead, he’ll forego the open market to stick with the only organization he’s ever known.
Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area was first to report the deal’s specific terms. Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Mets Place Javier Baez On Injured List
The Mets announced they’ve placed infielder Javier Báez on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to August 12, with back spasms. Travis Blankenhorn has been recalled from Triple-A Syracuse to take his place on the active roster.
New York acquired Báez from the Cubs in the hope that he could hold down shortstop while Francisco Lindor recovered from a right oblique strain. Unfortunately, Báez has appeared in just ten games as a Met before landing on the IL himself. There’s no indication he’s facing an especially long-term absence, but any missed time is an unwelcome development for a team that sits half a game behind the Phillies in a tight NL East race.
It’s been a confounding season for Báez, who is ticketed for free agency at the end of the year. The 28-year-old has blasted 24 home runs over 398 plate appearances, posting a big .230 isolated power (slugging minus batting average). He’s continued to rate as a plus defensive shortstop and baserunner as well, again demonstrating his longstanding ability to impact the game in myriad ways.
The power output has come with a highly concerning approach, though. Báez has always been a free-swinger, but he’s chasing more often and making less contact than ever before. His 62.3% contact rate is the second-lowest (better only than Mike Zunino’s) among the 223 hitters with 250+ plate appearances this year. Báez’s 36.4% strikeout rate, meanwhile, is third-highest among that same group (trailing only Zunino and Bobby Dalbec). Overall, his .241/.285/.470 line split between Chicago and New York is exactly league average by measure of wRC+, although Báez has gotten to that production in anything but an average way.
Jacob deGrom Won’t Resume Throwing For At Least Two More Weeks
Jacob deGrom hasn’t thrown since a July 30 setback in his recovery from elbow inflammation prompted a two-week shutdown. With that initial shutdown having passed, there’d been some hope deGrom could restart his throwing program in the coming days. That, however, won’t be the case.
Mets manager Luis Rojas told reporters (including Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News) that deGrom’s shutdown will last at least another two weeks. Rojas stressed that deGrom isn’t dealing with structural damage and that the inflammation is improving. That said, it’s apparently not progressing quickly enough for him to begin throwing again before late August, at the earliest.
Hope remains that deGrom will be able to return to the majors at some point this year. That window of opportunity’s dwindling, though, with just seven weeks remaining in the regular season. In a best case scenario, deGrom begins a throwing program two weeks from now. He’ll need some time to build up arm strength before he can embark upon a minor league rehab assignment.
The Mets could expedite that rehab process by building deGrom up to work in shorter stints, just as they’re leaning towards brining Noah Syndergaard back as a relief weapon. In such a scenario, deGrom could still serve as a starting pitcher, but scheduling constraints make it unlikely New York will have the luxury of building deGrom up to work 100+ pitches with regularity for the stretch run.
Needless to say, losing the best pitcher in baseball has dealt a tough blow to the Mets. deGrom looked to be coasting to his third career Cy Young Award (and potentially the NL MVP award) early in the season. Over fifteen starts, the 33-year-old tossed 92 innings of 1.08 ERA/1.74 SIERA ball.
Despite a series of injuries to key position players, the Mets remained in first place in the NL East for much of the early summer — thanks largely to deGrom’s absurd level of dominance. A bout of forearm tightness sent him to the injured list on July 18, though. The accompanying elbow inflammation is now set to cost him at least a significant chunk of the season’s second half.
The Mets have fallen on hard times in recent weeks. New York has gone 11-13 since placing deGrom on the IL, with the rotation posting a disappointing 5.71 ERA/4.74 SIERA over that time. The skid — coupled with the Phillies’ recent hot streak — has put the Mets a half game back of Philadelphia and a half game up on the Braves in a tightly-contested division race.
Obviously, there’s still plenty of opportunity for the Mets to take ahold of the division. They’ll have to go at least a majority of the stretch run without their ace, though, leaving New York relying on a starting staff including Marcus Stroman, Carlos Carrasco, Tylor Megill, Taijuan Walker, Rich Hill and Trevor Williams.
That’s still a talented group, but there’s also a fair bit of uncertainty. Stroman has been excellent all year, and the unheralded Megill has stepped up with 45 innings of 3.20 ERA/3.80 SIERA ball over his first nine big league starts. (Tim Britton of the Athletic explored Megill’s rapid rise in the organization this morning in a piece that should be of interest to Mets fans). The veteran group at the back of the rotation comes with plenty of question marks, though.
Carrasco has only made three starts this year because of a hamstring tear. He’s a highly accomplished pitcher at his best, but it remains to be seen if the 34-year-old will be able to pitch at his peak level down the stretch. Walker began the year well but he’s been hit hard over his past five starts. Hill has pitched well overall but seen his swinging strike rate plummet recently, and Williams struggled with the Cubs and has only made a single MLB appearance for the Mets to date.
Cardinals Activate Jack Flaherty
3:39 pm: St. Louis announced that Flaherty has been activated from the IL, as expected. LeBlanc landed on the 10-day IL to create an active roster spot. To create space on the 40-man roster, St. Louis placed minor league right-hander Johan Quezada on the 60-day injured list earlier this week, notes Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat (Twitter link).
10:50 am: After more than ten weeks on the injured list due to a severe oblique strain, Jack Flaherty is slated to make his return to the Cardinals tonight, as recently noted by multiple reports (including Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch). He’ll take the mound to open the Cards’ series against the Royals. The Cardinals will need to make 26-man and 40-man roster moves to accommodate Flaherty’s reinstatement.
Flaherty told reporters last week that he planned to pitch during the just-completed series against the Pirates, but he’ll instead take the mound a day later. His return gives the Cards their best starter after a couple months of patching the rotation in piecemeal fashion, together with journeyman pickups and a heavy reliance on some young arms that may need more development time (e.g. Johan Oviedo).
Prior to his injury, Flaherty was in the midst of a strong bounceback effort following a down year in 2020. He’d made 11 starts, tallied 62 frames and pitched to a 2.90 ERA with better-than-average strikeout and walk rates (26.3 percent and 7.8 percent, respectively). He’s made three rehab starts and built up to as many as 75 pitches in his most recent outing.
Since Flaherty went on the injured list, Cardinals starters rank 17th in the Majors with a 4.54 ERA and 21st with a 4.71 FIP. Those numbers have actually improved recently with excellent work from the seemingly ageless Adam Wainwright and June signee Wade LeBlanc. However, LeBlanc just exited yesterday’s start with left elbow pain and is headed back to St. Louis for imaging work to evaluate the injury, per Katie Woo of The Athletic (Twitter link). The Cards also recently lost Kwang Hyun Kim to another injured list stint — this one for inflammation in his left elbow. Kim has twice missed time this season due to back troubles.
Flaherty’s return should pair him with Wainwright and deadline pickups J.A. Happ and Jon Lester in the rotation while the team awaits word on LeBlanc’s elbow and hopes for a swift return for Kim. It’s also possible that right-hander Miles Mikolas, who has made just one appearance in 2020-21 thanks to a series of forearm injuries, could return within the next week. He’s been progressing through a minor league rehab assignment of his own.
While the Cardinals’ pitching injuries and the questionable depth they carried into the season look to have sunk their division hopes — St. Louis is 11 games back from the division-leading Brewers — they’re still at least on the periphery of the NL Wild Card scene. The Cards are six and a half games back from the second Wild Card and would need to leapfrog each of the Braves, Mets, Reds and Padres in order to seize that spot.
That’s obviously a tall order, but it’s not entirely out of the realm of possibility. The Cardinals play each of those clubs at least three times between now and season’s end, and they also have another seven games apiece against stripped-down Cubs and Pirates rosters. They’re a clear playoff long shot, but this is the healthiest their rotation has looked in months.
Red Sox Designate Marwin Gonzalez For Assignment, Activate Kyle Schwarber
The Red Sox are reinstating trade deadline acquisition Kyle Schwarber from the injured list, manager Alex Cora announced to reporters Friday (Twitter link via MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo). In order to clear roster space for Schwarber, who’s making his team debut tonight, Boston has designated infielder/outfielder Marwin Gonzalez for assignment.
Gonzalez, 32, found a rather frigid market for his services in free agency this past offseason, lingering on the market until inking a one-year, $3MM deal in Boston on the heels of a poor 2020 showing in Minnesota. The versatile switch-hitter posted just a .211/.286/.320 slash in 199 plate appearances with the Twins last year and hasn’t been able to improve upon that in 2021, batting just .201/.282/.285 in a larger sample of 271 trips to the plate.
Gonzalez has, at times, been an average or better offensive contributor, but his lone standout season at the plate came during the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal in 2017. Gonzalez posted a massive .303/.377/.530 batting line with a career-high 23 home runs in 515 plate appearances. He’s hit just .240/.310/.376 in nearly 1500 plate appearances since that season.
Defensively, Gonzalez has played solidly around the diamond in Boston, where he’s logged time at all four infield positions and both corner outfield slots. Gonzalez has more than 1000 career innings played at all four infield positions and in left field (plus another 402 in right field).
Given that he’s still owed about $839K of this year’s $3MM base salary and has produced a lowly .206/.284/.300 batting line in his past 470 MLB plate appearances, Gonzalez is a lock to go unclaimed on waivers. He’ll become a free agent at that point and be able to sign with any team for the prorated league minimum. Any pay he receives from another club would be deducted from the remainder of the salary still owed to him by the Red Sox.
Schwarber is now in line to make his team debut. The slugger rode an absurd month of June to a .253/.340/.570 line over 303 plate appearances with the Nationals. He suffered a significant hamstring strain in early July and landed on the injured list. Washington fell out of contention not long thereafter and traded away a huge swath of players before the deadline — including Schwarber, who’s an impending free agent. Now that he has returned to health, Schwarber figures to get plenty of run at first base, a position he’s never played in the major leagues, with Boston.
Cubs Release Jake Arrieta, Designate Kyle Ryan For Assignment
The Cubs have requested unconditional release waivers on right-hander Jake Arrieta, per a team announcement. That move comes amid a series of transactions, as Chicago has also placed catcher Willson Contreras on the 10-day injured list with a sprained knee, reinstated catcher Austin Romine from the 60-day injured list, selected the contract of right-hander Ryan Meisinger from Triple-A Iowa, and designated lefty Kyle Ryan for assignment.
It’s been a miserable season for Arrieta in his return to Chicago. The former Cy Young winner got out to a nice start, working to a 2.57 ERA through April 25, but he’s been tattooed for 58 runs in 58 1/3 innings since that time. Opponents have racked up 91 hits, including 19 home runs, during that stretch. Last night’s outing was particularly non-competitive; Arrieta yielded seven runs in the first inning and ultimately departed after four frames with eight Brewers runs on the board.
The Cubs signed Arrieta to a one-year, $6MM deal over the winter with the hope that the injury troubles which plagued him during his three years with the Phillies were behind him. He’s avoided any notable arm troubles, but Arrieta’s fastball is sitting at a career-low 90.8 mph on the year and he’s seen across-the-board declines in swinging-strike rate, chase rate, home-run rate and walk rate. This marks the sixth straight season that he’s seen his ERA increase from the prior season.
Arrieta is still owed the balance of that $6MM salary — about $1.71MM between now and season’s end. He’s a lock to clear release waivers and become a free agent, but any team that signs him thereafter would only owe him the prorated league minimum for the remainder of the year. That sum would then be subtracted from the balance owed to him by the Cubs.
As for Contreras, the knee troubles that are currently hobbling him are believed to be minor. President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer told reporters this morning that the move was “precautionary” in nature (Twitter link via the Chicago Tribune’s Paul Sullivan). He’s seemingly not expected to require a lengthy stay on the injured list.
Romine, who has logged just six games and nine place appearances this season due to a left wrist sprain, will presumably pick up the bulk of the catching work in place of Contreras. The veteran 32-year-old was the Yankees’ backup catcher from 2016-19 before signing with the Tigers as a free agent for the 2020 season. He’ll now get the opportunity to team up with his brother, Andrew, for the first time in the big leagues. The Cubs inked Andrew to a minor league pact at the end of Spring Training and recently selected him to the Major League roster.
Meisinger, 27, has a 5.70 career ERA, albeit in a tiny sample of 23 2/3 innings between the Orioles and the division-rival Cardinals. He’s spent the 2021 season thus far with the Cubs’ top affiliate in Iowa, pitching to a 4.25 ERA with a huge 34.4 percent strikeout rate but also a concerning 12.2 percent walk rate (in addition to three hit batters).
The 29-year-old Ryan, meanwhile, has struggled to a 6.75 ERA in 13 1/3 innings this year. It’s the second straight season of struggles for Ryan, who posted similarly discouraging numbers in 15 2/3 frames with the 2020 Cubs.
That said, Ryan has been excellent in 25 innings of Triple-A ball this season, logging a 2.52 ERA with a 24-to-7 K/BB ratio. He’s also not terribly far removed from a 2019 season that saw him toss 61 frames of 3.54 ERA ball as one of the Cubs’ most heavily used relievers.
With the trade deadline in the rearview mirror, Ryan will be placed on either outright or release waivers in the coming days and be made available to all 29 other clubs. He’s playing on an $800K salary, so he’ll cost a bit more than the league minimum, but Ryan has a bit of track record and can be optioned for the remainder of the season, so he’d be a solid enough depth pickup for a team in need of some southpaws in the bullpen.
Chris Davis Announces Retirement
Orioles first baseman Chris Davis has announced his retirement from baseball. In a statement issued via the team, Davis said:
After an extended time dealing with my injury and recent hip surgery, I informed the Orioles about my decision to retire effective today. I want to thank the Orioles partnership group, led by the Angelos family, the Orioles organization, my teammates and coaches, the University of Maryland Children’s Hospital with whom I will continue to involved following my retirement and, of course, Birdland. Thank you for all the many memories I will cherish forever.
The Orioles issued a statement of their own, thanking Davis for the 11 years he’s given to the organization and his considerable charity work in the Baltimore community:
Athletes have the power to change lives and better their communities, and Chris and his family have done just that. We admire their dedication to those most in need, with hundreds of hours of community work completed, millions of dollars donated, and countless other charitable efforts performed, often without fanfare. For every inning played and home run hit, hour of service completed and amount donated, the Davis family has made an immeasurable impact on our city and on Orioles baseball. We send our best wishes to Chris, his wife Jill, and their daughters Ella, Evie, and Grace, each of whom will forever be part of our Orioles family.
The announcement from Davis comes at a time when he still has one year remaining on the franchise-record, seven-year, $161MM contract he signed with the Orioles in the 2015-16 offseason. That contract calls for a $23MM salary to be paid to Davis next year, and MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports he’ll still receive that salary (Twitter links). As part of the agreement to pay out that final year, however, he’s agreed to some form of restructuring, per Heyman.
Davis’ deferral-laden contract had originally pushed out $6MM of his $23MM salary each year. He’d been set to receive $3.5MM payments on July 1 each year from 2023-32 and $1.4MM payments on July 1 from 2033-37.
While there’s no change to Davis’ 2021 salary and deferrals, a source tells MLBTR that the size of the 2022 deferral will increase from that previously scheduled $6MM mark. He’ll now have about half of next year’s salary deferred and paid out over the three subsequent years, further stripping down the payroll in 2022, lowering the present-day value of the contract and allowing them to free up a 40-man roster spot sooner than originally scheduled. Davis, meanwhile, will still get the full $23MM, albeit a bit more slowly than originally called for. He’ll also retain his benefits and insurance with the Orioles through the 2022 season.
It was a massive commitment to Davis, who was at the time one of the premier sluggers in all of baseball. Davis led the Majors twice — 53 in 2013 and 47 in 2015 — and was baseball’s top home run hitter by a wide margin in the four years leading up to that contract. From 2012-15, Davis hit 159 home runs, was eight more than Edwin Encarnacion‘s second-place mark of 151 and a whopping 24 more than Nelson Cruz, who was third-highest with 135.
Strikeouts were a clear concern for Davis, whose 2014 season looked to be a red flag. He slashed just .196/.300/.404 that year while fanning in 33 percent of his plate appearances. A huge rebound campaign in 2015, however, saw Davis turn in a .262/.351/.562 slash and position himself for a major payday upon reaching the open market.
The move hasn’t paid off, of course. Davis swatted 38 home runs in the first season of the contract but did so with a diminished overall .221/.332/.459 batting line. His production dipped below the league average in 2017 and continued a steady decline in subsequent years. Davis hasn’t batted above .200 or posted an OBP above .300 since 2017, and his hip condition has prevented him from taking the field at all in 2021. On the whole, he’s batted just .196/.291/.379 in 2118 plate appearances since putting pen to paper on that extension.
Injuries played a notable role in his decline, as in addition to the current hip issue he’s also spent time on the shelf with forearm, oblique, back and knee injuries. It’s been the recurring hip troubles that proved insurmountable, however. Davis has been bothered by left hip pain for years and underwent arthroscopic surgery earlier this season in hopes of putting the issue behind him. Unfortunately, doctors determined that Davis’ hip condition was degenerative, per Dan Connolly of The Athletic (Twitter link), leaving little to no chance of him returning to the condition necessary to take the field.
Davis will be remembered in many circles more for the ill-fated contract than his legacy on the field, which is frankly a bit of a shame. While his peak wasn’t especially lengthy, he spent a half decade as the league’s leading home run hitter and posted a combined .249/.340/.518 batting line in that time. The three-true-outcomes skill set which Davis embodied has grown increasingly common and increasingly polarizing in recent years, but even his detractors would have a hard time denying that during that five-year run, Davis was among the game’s most prominent offensive players.
That 2012-16 run coincided with some of the Orioles’ best years in recent memory, as the O’s made three postseason appearances along the way and reached the American League Championship Series in 2014.
In the end, Davis will retire as a career .233/.315/.459 hitter with 295 home runs, 228 doubles, five triples, 19 stolen bases, 707 runs scored and a 780 runs batted in. He made an All-Star team, won a Silver Slugger Award and finished third in 2013 MVP voting.
Fernando Tatis Jr. Preparing To Play Outfield
Fernando Tatis Jr. was placed on the injured list 10 days ago, and it seemed as though the Padres star was perhaps closer to a season-ending surgery on his bothersome shoulder than a return to the field. Now, however, it looks as if Tatis has once again recovered enough from his latest shoulder issue that he’ll be able to get back into San Diego’s lineup, and a new position appears to be in the works.
Rather than take any grounders at his normal shortstop position, Tatis has instead been working out as an outfielder, with Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune writing that the Padres are planning to shift Tatis between center field and right field when he returns from the 10-day IL. Tatis took batting practice on the field yesterday, so if he continues to progress well, it seems like he might not be far away from yet another fairly quick recovery from what seemed to be a serious injury.
While surgery seems inevitable, Tatis and the Padres hope that the procedure can wait until after the season, and the move to the outfield will theoretically help reduce wear-and-tear on Tatis’ shoulder in the interim. There doesn’t appear to be any concern over how Tatis will be able to handle the position change from a defensive standpoint, as Padres outfield coach Wayne Kirby had rave reviews of Tatis’ workouts.
“His instincts are impeccable. He shouldn’t have any problem,” Kirby said about Tatis as an outfielder. “His speed will make up for whatever he doesn’t read. If he makes a false move, I’m sure he can make an adjustment.”
Tatis would play every day in center or right field, leaving Trent Grisham still getting the bulk of everyday assignments at the other position, while Tommy Pham and Wil Myers might end up splitting time in left field. (Myers has almost exclusively played outfield for the last four seasons, but given his past work at first base, he could possibly also find some at-bats in a platoon with Eric Hosmer.) With Tatis playing on the grass, Jake Cronenworth would remain as the regular shortstop and Adam Frazier would remain at second base, with Ha-Seong Kim as the backup infielder. It wouldn’t be what the Padres anticipated as their regular lineup down the stretch, yet the new alignment might be necessary to keep Tatis healthy.
It could also open up some interesting possibilities for the team heading into 2022, since Pham is a free agent this winter and San Diego could opt to just keep Tatis in the outfield if he takes to the new role as smoothly as Kirby imagines. Cronenworth could remain as the everyday shortstop in that scenario, and top prospect CJ Abrams is expected to make his MLB debut at some point in 2022. Or, since there are plenty of star shortstops available in this winter’s free agent class, the aggressive Padres front office could explore another high-profile acquisition. The Padres may also have another lineup spot to work with if the National League adopts the designated hitter.
Noah Syndergaard Likely To Work In Relief Upon Return From Injured List
The Mets have been without Noah Syndergaard over the past two seasons as a result of his March 2020 Tommy John surgery. He’d embarked upon a minor league rehab assignment in May, but renewed elbow inflammation forced the club to shut him down for an additional six weeks.
Syndergaard is throwing again in hopes of a late-season return, but it seems the setback has cost him a chance at making it back as a starter. General manager Zack Scott suggested this evening the team is hoping to get the hard-throwing righty back as a reliever at some point next month (via Anthony DiComo of MLB.com).
Allowing Syndergaard to work in shorter stints upon his return would reduce the amount of time he’ll need to ramp up arm strength in preparation. The 28-year-old still hasn’t begun a rehab assignment, and he’ll surely need multiple weeks to build back up even if he’s working toward a bullpen workload. With a little less than eight weeks remaining in the season, it seems the club would rather shorten that process and get Syndergaard back in some capacity as quickly as possible.
The Mets got good work from the starting rotation early in the season, but that hasn’t been the case in recent weeks. Since July 18 — when New York placed Jacob deGrom on the injured list due to forearm inflammation — Mets starters have a 5.79 ERA that ranks 26th leaguewide. Marcus Stroman and Tylor Megill have pitched well lately, but Taijuan Walker has been bombed over his past five starts and Rich Hill hasn’t missed bats since being traded to New York.
deGrom was shut down from throwing for two weeks following his own setback on July 30. The two-time Cy Young award winner is still hoping to pitch this season, but he’s facing similar time pressures as Syndergaard. There’s no indication at this point that the Mets are considering bringing deGrom back as a reliever as well. That said, there’s still plenty of uncertainty regarding his projected timetable.
The Mets’ rotation woes have contributed to a disastrous few weeks that has seen them fall to third place in the NL East. New York is still only 2.5 games back of the Phillies (and a half game behind the Braves), so there’s plenty of opportunity to right the ship. Getting some sort of contributions from Syndergaard — even if it’s not in the role hoped for entering the season — would be a nice boon to their chances of climbing back atop the division.
The final two months of the year are also critical to Syndergaard personally. He’s slated to hit free agency at the end of the season. His late-season form will certainly have an effect on the market he’ll find. Before the injury woes, Syndergaard looked like one of the top starting pitchers in this year’s class thanks to a 3.73 ERA/3.25 FIP between 2018-19.