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Mets’ Michael Conforto Diagnosed With Concussion

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7:28pm: Carlos Gomez was removed from tonight’s Triple-A game, leading MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo to speculate that the Mets will purchase Gomez’s contract before Friday’s game.

5:27pm: Mets outfielder Michael Conforto suffered a concussion after a scary collision with teammate Robinson Cano during today’s game.  Both Conforto and Cano were chasing after a Howie Kendrick fly ball near the right field line when their signals got crossed, causing Cano to accidentally elbow Conforto in the head.

Conforto was immediately removed from the game, and will head back to New York for further observation, as manager Mickey Callaway told reporters (including Newsday’s Tim Healey) after the game.  Conforto will be sidelined for at least a week, as per the league’s seven-day concussion IL policy.

The 26-year-old was off to a fantastic start in 2019, hitting .271/.406/.521 with nine home runs over his first 180 plate appearances.  As per the advanced metrics, Conforto even had room to grow, as his .387 wOBA still trailed behind his .405 xwOBA.  Between this hot hitting and an above-average defensive showing as New York’s everyday right fielder, Conforto has already amassed 1.6 fWAR, tying him with Nolan Arenado for 18th among all players.

With Conforto out of action, the Mets could be further shorthanded in the outfield for at least a day or two since Jeff McNeil also left today’s game with abdominal tightness.  The good news in McNeil’s case is that the injury doesn’t seem serious, as he told reporters (including The Athletic’s Tim Britton) that he has faced similar issues before in the wake of multiple hernia operations.

Speaking with WFAN’s Mike Francesca this afternoon (hat tip to SNY.tv’s Steve Gelbs), Callaway said that J.D. Davis will handle left field duties on Friday, indicating that McNeil will miss at least one game.  As for the longer-term absence of Conforto, the Mets have Keon Broxton and Juan Lagares on the 25-man roster, though both have struggled badly at the plate.  Veterans Carlos Gomez, Gregor Blanco, and Rajai Davis are all on hand at the Triple-A level, though any of that trio would need to be added to the 40-man roster.

It’s hard to necessarily forecast anything until we know the severity of Conforto’s injury, as concussion symptoms can potentially linger.  If he faces an absence of weeks rather than days, the Mets might want to consider giving Dominic Smith another look in left field, as the team hasn’t allowed him any outfield work this year, Newsday’s David Lennon writes.  Smith offers far more hitting upside than any of the Mets’ other backup outfielders, and while Smith has hit very well in limited playing time this season, his spot at first base has been blocked by rookie sensation Pete Alonso.

Miguel Andujar To Undergo Season-Ending Shoulder Surgery

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The Yankees announced tonight that third baseman Miguel Andujar will undergo surgery to repair the labrum tear in his right shoulder next Monday. He’s expected to miss the remainder of the 2019 season.

The team and fans alike had huge hopes for Andujar, who finished second in 2018 American League Rookie of the Year voting, but his 2019 campaign will unfortunately come to an end after just a dozen games and 49 plate appearances. The 23-year-old originally landed on the injured list after just three games and missed the entire month of April as well as some time in early May before opting to return in an attempt to play through the injury.

Andujar, though, went just 3-for-34 at the plate with a walk and nine strikeouts in his brief return to the active roster before being placed back on the IL. Yankees skipper Aaron Boone said yesterday that Andujar was once again weighing his options and planned to talk them over with his family, though the decision apparently didn’t take all that long this time around.

The injury to Andujar is the most serious the Yankees have faced in a season that has already been permeated by health woes, but the team currently has both Gleyber Torres and DJ LeMahieu healthy as well as Gio Urshela playing the best baseball of his professional career. The club eventually hopes to have both Troy Tulowitzki and Didi Gregorius back in the infield mix as well, and if that happens, they’ll still have a strong mix of options to pair with first baseman Luke Voit in rounding out the infield.

That said, the impact of losing a bat that produced a .297/.328/.527 batting line with 27 homers, 47 doubles and a pair of triples a year ago can’t be understated. Andujar was a key middle-of-the-order presence for last year’s 100-win Yankees club, and while there’s no shortage or internal options to replace him on a fully healthy club, it’s also unlikely that any of the alternatives can match that level of offensive output. Whoever shoulders the load at third base for the remainder of the season will likely be a defensive upgrade over Andujar, who struggled with the glove last season.

Andujar will still accrue Major League service time while he finishes out the season on the injured list, and he’ll cross the two-year mark in the months to come. He won’t be eligible for arbitration until after the 2020 season and won’t be a free agent until the 2023-24 offseason. The Yankees, meanwhile, will be able to easily open a 40-man roster spot by transferring him to the 60-day injured list the next time a need arises.

Braves To Promote Austin Riley

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The Braves will promote top position-player prospect Austin Riley to the majors, according to David O’Brien of The Athletic (subscription link). Ender Inciarte is expected to be placed on the injured list with back tightness; the corresponding 40-man move isn’t yet known.

With the move, the Braves are adding a player who entered the season graded as a consensus top-fifty prospect. Riley was listed as high as 22nd overall, by Baseball America. He has moved up the boards since with an impressive offensive onslaught.

The 22-year-old Riley has turned in 162 plate appearances of .299/.377/.681 hitting with 15 home runs thus far at Triple-A. He has also drawn 18 walks to go with 31 strikeouts, representing a notable improvement for a player who has shown some swing and miss in the past.

While Riley’s long-term fit is probably at third base, he began seeing time in the corner outfield recently. That clearly set the stage for a call-up, though it came a bit sooner than might have been anticipated.

Joining the majors today will mean that Riley can earn as many as 138 days of MLB service this season. That could set him up for eventual Super Two qualification, if he’s able to hang onto his roster spot permanently.

It’ll be interesting to see how the Braves manage things once they’re at full health. There could be some roster and playing time crunches. If so, the club will no doubt consider it a good problem to have.

Now that he’s in the majors, Riley will have the chance to drive the decisionmaking. Inciarte might return in a reduced role. Matt Joyce could be bumped from the roster, though he’s performing quite well in a limited capacity. Utilityman Johan Camargo can be optioned. Josh Donaldson will remain entrenched at third base this year and remains a qualifying-offer candidate at season’s end, but Riley could spell the veteran at times.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Yankees Acquire Kendrys Morales

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The Yankees announced that they’ve acquired first baseman/designated hitter Kendrys Morales from the Athletics in exchange for cash or a player to be named later. In order to open a spot on the 40-man roster, New York transferred righty Jonathan Loaisiga from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day injured list.

Kendrys Morales | Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Morales, 35, was designated for assignment by the Athletics yesterday. Oakland had picked him up early in the season after losing first baseman Matt Olson to a hand injury for more than a month. However, the veteran Morales struggled quite a bit in limited time with the A’s, hitting at a .204/.310/.259 clip and connecting on just one home run. With Olson and fellow first baseman Mark Canha healthy in Oakland alongside designated hitter Khris Davis, there simply wasn’t a place on the Athletics’ roster for the struggling Morales.

That’s not necessarily the case up in the Bronx, however. While Luke Voit has solidified himself as the team’s primary first baseman, the outfield/designated hitter mix is considerably less certain. Morales could see fairly regular time at DH in the short term, leaving the Yankees with a starting outfield of Brett Gardner, Aaron Hicks and Clint Frazier, while Cameron Maybin shifts into a reserve role. Although Morales’ 2019 production has been nonexistent, he’s just a year removed from a respectable .249/.331/.438 batting line and is a combined .270/.330/.465 hitter dating back to the 2009 season — when he first established himself as a Major League regular.

Of course, that alignment isn’t anywhere near what the Yankees had envisioned heading into the season, but the team’s jaw-dropping list of injuries has been well documented by now. Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Miguel Andujar, Greg Bird, Troy Tulowitzki and Didi Gregorius are all on the injured list, while Aaron Hicks was only just activated from the IL and has yet to make his season debut. To their credit, despite that slate of injuries, the Yankees are hitting .253/.333/.430 (104 wRC+) as a team and rank right in the middle of the pack in terms of total runs scored among MLB clubs.

Brewers Promote Keston Hiura

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12:34pm: Hiura’s promotion is official, along with the corresponding moves to open roster space.

9:33am: The Brewers will promote exciting second base prospect Keston Hiura, according to Robert Murray of The Athletic (Twitter link). Precise timing and corresponding roster moves aren’t yet clear.

Hiura, 22, entered the present season as a consensus top-twenty prospect leaguewide. Baseball Prospectus was particularly bullish, ranking him sixth. If the promotion occurs in advance of today’s game, Hiura can accrue as many as 139 days of service this year, setting him up for potential future Super Two qualification.

The ninth overall pick of the 2017 draft, Hiura has done nothing but hit since becoming a professional. That’s more or less what was expected out of the UC-Irvine product, who was seen as a highly advanced college batter. But he has perhaps exceeded expectations with a breakout start to the 2019 season.

Through 147 plate appearances this year at the highest level of the minors, Hiura carries a hefty .333/.408/.698 slash line with 11 long balls. It’s not entirely surprising to see the power emerging, though this is certainly whole new level of pop for a player who tallied 13 homers in 535 total plate appearances last year. That power surge comes as part of a PCL-wide jump, though Hiura still owns an impressive 164 wRC+.

That’s not to say that there aren’t any concerns at all.  Hiura has boosted his walk rate a bit, topping ten percent for the first time, but doesn’t draw a notable number of free passes. And he’s carrying a 27.2% strikeout rate this year, a significant step up from his prior levels and a potential area of concern as he adapts to MLB pitching.

Hiura isn’t seen as a particularly impressive defender, and does have a history of elbow woes, though he’s generally expected to provide solid-enough glovework at second base. Just how the Brewers will allocate playing time will be interesting to observe. Mike Moustakas will presumably continue to see more time at third base, creating added uncertainty for the struggling Travis Shaw.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

White Sox Announce Season-Ending Surgeries For Rodon, Jones, Adolfo

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The White Sox have announced a brutal trio of injury updates this afternoon, as James Fegan of The Athletic was among those to cover (links to Twitter). Lefty Carlos Rodon, righty Nate Jones, and propect Micker Adolfo are all slated for season-ending surgeries.

Rodon is headed in for Tommy John surgery on Wednesday. That outcome had been expected after the procedure was recommended recently. If all goes well, the 26-year-old could return at some point during the 2020 season.

The White Sox are paying Rodon $4.2MM this year, his second of four seasons of arbitration eligibility. With seven starts under his belt in 2019, Rodon has likely done enough to nudge that rate forward at least a bit, but won’t be due a significant raise. The former first-rounder has had some worrying health problems in recent years, but this will represent the most significant disruption to his career.

As for Jones, it’s another disappointing turn for a reliever whose career has been sidetracked by a never-ending barrage of injuries, including a prior TJ procedure (among others). The 33-year-old underwent surgery yesterday to address a flexor mass injury in his right forearm. He has averaged less than 25 innings annually since the start of the 2014 season.

Jones remains controllable under the extension he signed in late 2015, which includes successive club options that include a $1.25MM buyout. The 2020 option was to be valued at either $3.75MM or $5.15MM, depending upon whether Jones had certain elbow procedures prior to 2018. He did not have another Tommy John surgery but did undergo a nerve repositioning procedure; whether the clause was triggered depends upon the precise language of the contract, which does not appear to have been reported.

Though he’s an outfielder rather than a pitcher, Adolfo has seen his own burgeoning career thwarted to this point by elbow troubles (among other injuries). He underwent TJS last year and worked back to health in time to take 95 plate appearances this season at Double-A (functioning only as a DH). His latest elbow work will require a four-to-six month break from baseball activities. GM Rick Hahn added that Adolfo will receive a fourth option year due to the health woes, which will make it easier for the club to hang onto him while he works back to health yet again.

Athletics Designate Kendrys Morales For Assignment

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The Athletics have designate first baseman/designated hitter Kendrys Morales for assignment, manager Bob Melvin announced Monday in an appearance on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (Twitter link, with audio). His spot on the active roster will go to Mark Canha, who has been activated from the injured list.

“Unfortunately, we had to let him go,” Melvin said of the decision to designate Morales. “I’ll tell you what, this guy, maybe he didn’t put up great numbers, but this is a terrific teammate. Yesterday, he didn’t play, and there’s a lot of speculation about him going away, and all he’s doing is rooting for every guy we have on every pitch. … Unfortunately, we don’t have room for him right now, and somebody’s going to pick him up. I know that, but boy, we really enjoyed our time with him. He’s a real pro.”

It was indeed a struggle for Morales, 35, during his limited time with the A’s. Oakland acquired him in late March after losing Matt Olson to a hand injury, and Morales saw pretty regular playing time at first base and DH. However, in his 126 plate appearances with the organization, he hit just .204/.310/.259 with one home run.

Morales drew his share of walks and didn’t strike out at a high clip, but the veteran slugger wasn’t able to produce enough at the plate for the organization to consider retaining him as a bench bat now that Olson is back in the lineup. With Olson and Canha both healthy and Khris Davis entrenched at designated hitter, there’s not much of a role in Oakland for Morales at this point.

The Athletics will have a week to trade or release Morales. Though he played the field in Oakland, most clubs will look at him as a pure DH option, so he’s likeliest to land with an American League club. The Indians have been mixing at matching throughout their lineup all season and parted ways with Hanley Ramirez already, while the Twins are evaluating Nelson Cruz for a potential injury. Morales could also latch on with a non-contender who hopes to bring in a veteran leader that can mentor a younger, developing core of players.

Tyler Glasnow Out 4-6 Weeks With Mild Forearm Strain, Andrew Velazquez Recalled

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Tyler Glasnow has been placed on the 10-day injured list after being removed from his start yesterday with forearm soreness. An MRI returned a mild forearm strain, better than a potential elbow issue as was the fear, though Glasnow is expected to miss four to six weeks of action, as reported by both MLB.com’s Juan Toribio (via Twitter) and Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter links). Andrew Velazquez will be recalled to take Glasnow’s roster spot.

While this isn’t the worst case scenario for the Rays, it’s certainly disappointing to see Glasnow out for an extended period. As Jeff Todd pointed out yesterday at the time of the injury, Glasnow’s production has aligned with expectations for the first time this season, his first full season in Tampa after being acquired in the Chris Archer deal. Still only 25-years-old, the hard-throwing, 6’8″ righty has bull-rushed opponents with an average 96.6 mph heater, 10.24 K/9 to only 1.68 BB/9, while limiting impact contact with only 3.8% of at-bats resulting in an extra-base hit, a number that ranks second in the American League.

Andrew Velazquez, 24, joins the club in the short-term from Triple-A, where he’s worked a batting line of .290/.347/.495. He is as well-suited for the Rays as a player can be, providing tremendous versatility via speed, switch-hitting and the ability to play all over the diamond. In just 13 games with the big league club last year, Velazquez managed time at every position except pitcher, catcher, and first, while twice being used a pinch-runner and once at designated hitter. While he did not rank among the Rays’ top 30 prospects per MLB.com, the New York native has cut down on his strikeouts through 101 plate appearances so far this season, and while it’s still early, his versatility should provide more opportunity enough to stick in the bigs at some point.

As for the rotation, there will be increased pressure on Blake Snell and Charlie Morton, the other two rotation stalwarts for a roster that largely relies on a pitching-by-committee approach. At 48 1/3 innings, Glasnow heads to the injured list as the Rays leader in innings pitched so far this season. Yonny Chirinos has pitched well both as a starter and a follower, including an efficient 7 1/3 innings in his last start against Baltimore. Jalen Beeks has also given the Rays quality innings in a long man/follower role, with a 2.48 ERA in ten games averaging almost three innings per outing. With a 12-man pitching staff at present, the Rays are likely to maintain a fluid approach to roster construction in the near-term.

Rays Acquire Travis d’Arnaud

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6:26pm: This move is now official. Infielder Matt Duffy was shifted to the 60-day injured list to create 40-man space; the team will wait to make a corresponding active roster move.

6:03pm: The Rays have struck a deal with the Dodgers to acquire catcher Travis d’Arnaud, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter). Cash considerations will go to Los Angeles in return.

This represents the continuation of d’Arnaud’s already disjointed season. After working back to health in the wake of Tommy John surgery, he opened up as the Mets’ backup backstop but was dumped at a surprisingly early juncture.

The Dodgers signed the out-of-options d’Arnaud as a righty bench bat with designs on trying him at other positions, but instead pivoted quickly to today’s move. d’Arnaud is now slated to help fill in while the Rays deal with injuries to their top two backstops (Mike Zunino and Michael Perez).

Perhaps it’s not surprising to see these organizations showing interest in d’Arnaud as a fill-in and possible bounceback performer. He was long considered quite talented and has at times been a quality-hitting catcher. Best of all, the New York club is on the hook for d’Arnaud’s $3.52MM salary (less a pro-rated portion of the league minimum) so it’s a virtual free-ride for other outfits.

There’s no reason to think that the Dodgers soured on d’Arnaud after watching him take just one plate appearance, though perhaps they weren’t enthralled by what they saw when they worked him out at first base and left field. Perhaps the team was simply willing to let him go because there was a clear opportunity for him in Tampa Bay and because it was just as interested in utilizing other players to fill out the roster.

Mariners Promote J.P. Crawford, Shed Long

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2:33pm: The move is now official. Moore was placed on the 10-day IL and righty Chasen Bradford was optioned to create roster space.

10:49am: The Mariners are promoting young infielders J.P. Crawford and Shed Long in advance of this weekend’s series against the Red Sox, per Corey Brock of The Athletic (Twitter link). Both players are on their way to Boston to join the club. The pair of promotions comes after Dee Gordon exited Thursday’s game against the Yankees after taking a fastball to the wrist. Infielder Dylan Moore, too, is being hampered by a wrist injury and had been slated to undergo testing to determine the root of the issue.

Both Crawford and Long are considered potential long-term pieces in the Seattle infield. Each arrived in the organization this winter as part of general manger Jerry Dipoto’s whirlwind of trades to “re-imagine” the roster moving forward. Crawford, the 16th pick in the 2013 draft, was long considered to be the Phillies’ shortstop of the future and for years ranked among the game’s top 20 overall prospects. However, he was the key piece acquired by Seattle in the trade that sent Jean Segura to Philadelphia, and it’s now the Mariners who hope that Crawford can lock down the shortstop position for the foreseeable future. He’s not ranked among the organization’s top prospects due to the fact that he has too much big league service time to technically be considered a prospect anymore, but the organization nevertheless views him as a vital long-term cog.

Long, meanwhile, will be making his MLB debut the first time he gets into a game and is widely considered to be one of Seattle’s best farmhands. The Mariners thought highly enough of Long to trade last season’s second-round pick, outfielder Josh Stowers, to the Yankees in a straight-up swap for him back in January — barely seven months after the draft. The Yankees had just acquired Long as part of the trade that sent Sonny Gray to Cincinnati, though the Mariners’ interest in Long predated that three-team swap. He’s played second base, third base and left field with the Mariners organization this season, though second base or left field seems to be his likeliest long-term home. Long draws praise for above-average power and speed, and he has a track record of drawing walks at a healthy clip to help offset a strikeout rate in the 22 to 23 percent range.

To this point in the season, the 24-year-old Crawford is hitting .319/.420/.457 with three homers, seven doubles, three steals and nearly as many walks (19) as strikeouts (25) through 138 plate appearances in Triple-A Tacoma. The 23-year-old Long, meanwhile, is hitting .276/.350/.504 with five homers, 10 doubles and four triples while posting 14 walks against 31 strikeouts (also in 138 plate appearances).

The arrival of both well-regarded young infielders likely signals a trip to the injured list for Gordon and/or Moore, and given how important they are to the Mariners’ future, both will probably be afforded everyday at-bats. That’ll likely cut into the playing time of Tim Beckham, although the veteran infielder’s bat has predictably cooled after a torrid start to the season. Beckham hit .410/.477/.846 through his first 10 games but has turned in just a .206/.260/.361 batting line with a 35.5 percent strikeout rate in 104 plate appearances since.

From a service-time vantage point, even if both infielders stay in the Majors from this point forth, the Mariners will control Crawford for five years beyond the 2019 campaign and control Long for six. Crawford came into the season with a year and 20 days of MLB service under his belt, but there are only 144 days remaining in the 2019 campaign, so he can’t reach the 172-day mark he’d need to cross the threshold into two full years of Major League service time. The promotion could very well put both players on track for Super Two status, which would make them both eligible for arbitration four times rather than three — Crawford beginning after the 2020 season and Long beginning after the 2021 campaign. All of that, of course, could change depending on whether either is optioned back to Tacoma.

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