Rays To Promote Tommy Romero
The Rays are promoting right-hander Tommy Romero to the big-league squad, per Jeff Passan of ESPN (via Twitter). Romero will make his debut whenever he first appears in a game.
Passan notes that Romero’s stay may not be long, which would certainly follow Tampa’s pattern of giving promising arms a taste of Major League action without overcommitting. The 24-year-old Romero may not be a household name, but he is one of many promising arms on their way to contributing this season. He was the 18th-ranked prospect in the system per MLB.com and 21st by Baseball America, while Fangraphs was less bullish, placing him 32nd in the system.
The discrepancy largely lies in the fact that Romero is a spin rate darling who only recently has seen a jump in velocity. Regardless, Romero has consistently posted solid numbers in the minors, including a 2.61 ERA across 110 1/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A last season. Like many Rays arms, Romero is likely to begin in a swingman or multi-inning relief role.
In a corresponding move, southpaw Ryan Yarbrough will head to the 10-day injured list, per John Romano of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter). Yarbrough suffered a minor groin injury, which is not expected to be serious. He did not appear in the Rays’ opening series sweep of the Orioles. Luis Patino is set to take the hill tomorrow as the Athletics come to town.
Yarbrough serves a bit of a unique role for the Rays, as perhaps their most traditional innings-eater over the past four seasons. The Rays, of course, don’t usually prescribe to the “innings-eater” role, instead pulling starters early and not shying away from utilizing relievers in a piggyback or multi-inning role. Yarbrough led the team in innings pitched last season with 155 innings over 30 appearances (21 starts). He was second in innings pitched during each of the 2020, 2019, and 2018 seasons.
NL Central Notes: Happ, Cardinals, Sims, Solano, Castillo, Minor
Cubs left fielder Ian Happ was removed from today’s 9-0 win over the Brewers after being hit in the left kneecap by a Trevor Gott pitch during the seventh inning. X-rays were negative, as Happ told NBC Sports Chicago’s Tim Stebbins and other reporters after the game. “It’s going to be pretty stiff [Sunday], I’m sure, but right now it’s not too bad,” Happ said. It would seem as if Happ is questionable for tomorrow’s lineup, and since the Cubs don’t play on Monday, Happ has some more time to heal up and receive further treatment to determine if an IL trip could be necessary.
The Cubs/Brewers series has thus far seen seven batters hit by pitches over two games, which has some a frequent occurrence in recent meetings between the two division rivals. The result was a skirmish that saw both benches and bullpens empty after Andrew McCutchen was hit by a Keegan Thompson pitch in the eighth inning, but ultimately nothing but harsh words were exchanged.
More from the NL Central…
- Busch Stadium is known as a pitcher-friendly ballpark, and the Cardinals have added to this built-in run suppression by creating a tremendous defensive roster. As Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch examines, the club has embraced this to the point of deciding against moving in the walls at their ballpark, even after commissioning a study to examine the possible impact. “We started to think we may have an edge here with this particular configuration,” chairman Bill DeWitt III said. “In theory, a bigger ballpark, more balls in play, a defense that catches anything — why don’t we put this on ice and see how things develop? We have an elite defense and we’re contemplating doing something that might minimize the impact of that defense. Let’s not.” Goold’s piece breaks down some of the findings of the study, with the Cards looking at how potential alterations to any of the dimensions would affect everything from fan experience to on-field performance.
- Reds manager David Bell provided reporters (including MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon) with several updates on injured players over the last two days. Lucas Sims is on pace to head to Triple-A this week after throwing a live BP session at the team’s extended Spring Training camp, and Bell set April 20 or 22 as the target dates for Sims’ likely return. Donovan Solano is out with a left hamstring injury, but Boone said Solano has been doing some running drills and even took some swings during some simulated game sessions.
- Mike Minor and Luis Castillo both began the season on the IL due to shoulder soreness, and while Castillo was initially thought to have the quicker return of the two, Minor has now seemingly moved ahead after throwing a 35-pitch simulated game on Friday. Minor could now be ready for Triple-A work or at least another sim game, while Castillo still has to get a second bullpen session under his belt. In terms of projections, the Reds are now aiming for Castillo to be back by late April, while Minor could make his debut closer to the middle of the month.
Injury Notes: Pollock, La Stella, Sanchez, Borucki, Pearson
A.J. Pollock left today’s game with what the White Sox announced as right hamstring tightness. Pollock had just singled, but seemed to tweak his hamstring while making the turn around first base, and had to be replaced for a pinch-runner. While Pollock’s lengthy injury history (including a right hamstring strain that sidelined him for over two weeks last September) gives particular concern to any new issues, Pollock told The Athletic’s James Fegan and other reporters after the game that today’s injury wasn’t nearly as severe as last season’s hamstring problem.
As it happens, Pollock was already set to miss some time. The outfielder and his wife are expecting their second child, and Pollock was scheduled to go on paternity leave tomorrow. He’ll use the absence to rest his hamstring and hopefully avoid become the latest White Sox player to hit the injured list. Garrett Crochet has been lost for the season due to Tommy John surgery, while the 10-day IL features Lance Lynn, Yoan Moncada, Joe Kelly, Yermin Mercedes, and Ryan Burr, plus Lucas Giolito is now also set to miss at least his next two starts.
More injury updates from around baseball…
- There is “no set in stone timeline at this point” for when Tommy La Stella might return from the injured list, Giants manager Gabe Kapler told MLB.com’s Maria Guardado and other reporters. La Stella underwent Achilles surgery in October and is still feeling some soreness, though he told media that doctors have said this isn’t unusual. Despite the lack of clarity, the Giants did consider using La Stella as a DH to begin the season, so it would seem like he is relatively close to playing. “It was just one of those things where we wanted to make sure that we weren’t sacrificing the long-term success in this process for short-term gains now and make sure I’m set up to be good to go for the rest of the season,” La Stella said.
- Anibal Sanchez could miss his scheduled start Monday, as the Nationals right-hander has been dealing with neck soreness. The Nats already pushed Sanchez’s start back to give him time to heal, but as MASNsports.com’s Mark Zuckerman writes, the club now may need to turn to either the bullpen, or possibly a minor league call-up like Josh Rogers or Aaron Sanchez to take the start. In Aaron Sanchez’s case, the Nationals would have to first clear a 40-man roster spot to select his minor league contract.
- Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo updated reporters (including TSN’s Scott Mitchell) about sidelined pitchers Ryan Borucki and Nate Pearson. Borucki is on the 10-day IL with a right hamstring strain, but came out of a two-inning simulated game feeling well. Pearson is set to start light throwing after missing time due to mononucleosis, but because Pearson missed a significant portion of Spring Training, Mitchell writes that the right-hander is “essentially starting from scratch” from a preparation standpoint. As such, it might not be until at least mid-May that Pearson is fully ramped up.
AL Central Notes: Royals, Singer, Lynch, Tigers, Peralta, Pineda, Twins
The Royals finalized their season-opening rotation yesterday, with manager Mike Matheny telling reporters (including Alec Lewis of the Athletic) that southpaw Daniel Lynch will claim the final spot behind Zack Greinke, Brad Keller, Kris Bubic and Carlos Hernández. Notably, that means right-hander Brady Singer — who has started all 39 of his MLB appearances — is set to work out of the bullpen initially. Matheny indicated the Royals still view Singer and righty Jackson Kowar as starting pitchers long-term, but it’ll be Lynch who gets the nod for now.
It’s a bit of a surprising move, as Singer is coming off the better season. Neither hurler had a good ERA in 2021, but Singer had a better strikeout and ground-ball rate than Lynch while issuing slightly fewer walks. Lynch generated a slightly higher whiff rate, but Singer was among the league’s best pitchers at picking up called strikes. Some evaluators raised concerns during Singer’s prospect days about whether his below-average changeup and lower arm slot could diminish his ability to turn a lineup over multiple times, but he’s not shown marked second or third times through the order splits in his career thus far. Injuries and/or underperformance to the front five figure to give Singer another rotation look in the near future.
More pitching updates from around the division:
- The Tigers are planning to use Wily Peralta in relief this season, writes Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free-Press. The righty started 18 of 19 appearances with Detroit last year, posting a solid 3.07 ERA but an underwhelming 14.4% strikeout rate. The Tigers brought Peralta back on a minor league contract this spring. He seems likely to get another big league call fairly soon, but he was delayed in reporting to Spring Training because of visa issues and is set for further ramp-up work in the minors. The Tigers added Michael Pineda on a one-year big league deal to assume the final rotation spot behind Eduardo Rodríguez, Casey Mize, Tarik Skubal and Matt Manning. Pineda — held up by visa concerns of his own — consented to be optioned to Triple-A Toledo to open the year for more build-up time, giving Tyler Alexander the #5 spot for the season’s first couple weeks. Pineda tossed three innings for the Mud Hens yesterday, and Petzold notes he’s likely to make two more appearances there before being recalled to the majors.
- The Twins made a last-minute addition to their rotation before Opening Day, acquiring Chris Paddack from the Padres in a deal that involved four MLB players changing hands. Minnesota already had a starting five of Sonny Gray, Joe Ryan, Dylan Bundy, Bailey Ober and Chris Archer lined up, and manager Rocco Baldelli told reporters (including Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com) the Twins will roll with a six-man starting staff to open the season. Active rosters are expanded from 26 to 28 through April, giving teams flexibility to carry plenty of arms. Minnesota is also carrying top prospects Josh Winder and Jhoan Duran on the Opening Day roster, with both working in relief. Duran is expected to remain in that role (where he shined in two innings during his MLB debut this afternoon); Winder could be a rotation option down the line, and Baldelli said Winder could shoulder as much as five innings during an appearance out of the ‘pen in the early going (Park link).
Quick Hits: Deadline, Davis, Miller
The 2022 trade deadline will be set for Tuesday, August 2 at 6:00 pm EST, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (Twitter link). As previously reported, the new collective bargaining agreement gives Major League Baseball the authority to set each season’s deadline on any date between July 28 and August 3. In the past, the deadline has typically fallen in late July. MLB has been reluctant to set it on a weekend, preferring to avoid the potential awkwardness associated with conducting a large swath of trades at a time when there’s a slate of afternoon games ongoing.
This year, July 30-31 fall on a weekend. It always seemed likely MLB would push the deadline back to at least August 1 because of that, and they’ve elected to wait until the second of the month. The start to the regular season was delayed a week because of the lockout, so setting the deadline towards the back of the allotted window gives teams an extra couple days to evaluate their place in the standings during a slightly compressed schedule.
Some more notes from around the game:
- Joe Davis is set to take over as the play-by-play broadcaster for World Series coverage on Fox, reports Andrew Marchand of the New York Post. The 34-year-old has been the Dodgers television play-by-play man for the past five seasons, taking over in the L.A. booth after legendary broadcaster Vin Scully retired. Davis has also called some national broadcast games for Fox in recent years, both during the regular season and occasional playoff games when previous Fox lead broadcaster Joe Buck was unavailable. Buck had been the play-by-play voice of the World Series for each of the last 21 years, originally pairing with Tim McCarver before more recently teaming with John Smoltz. Buck recently left Fox to join ESPN, however, and the network will promote Davis to pair with Smoltz on World Series broadcasts moving forward.
- Longtime big league hurler Andrew Miller announced his retirement last month, wrapping up a 16-year MLB career that included a pair of All-Star appearances and top ten finishes in Cy Young voting. That came as a bit of a surprise, not least because Miller had taken on an active role during the lockout as a member of the MLB Players Association’s executive subcommittee. In a recent chat with the PA’s Jerry Crasnick, Miller explained why he assumed an active role in the union. “I got lucky in the sense that I got elected to be the team rep in Miami. Once that happens, you start to meet people and make connections and see the inner workings and appreciate how important the union is — what they can do for players even on things a lot of people probably think of as minor issues. They mean a lot to the individual player, and to be able to help guys through that helped me understand that side of the game. Once you get invested and get to know the people, it’s almost like a second team that you’re a part of.” Miller and Crasnick also chat about plenty of non-labor topics, including his transition from the rotation to the bullpen, his most memorable seasons and teammates, and his post-playing goals.
Mets Notes: Scherzer, deGrom, Nimmo
Max Scherzer is set to throw a bullpen session on Tuesday, Mets manager Buck Showalter told Newsday’s Tim Healey and other reporters. Right hamstring tightness kept Scherzer out of a scheduled seven-inning intrasquad game on Saturday, which was supposed to be Scherzer’s last bit of spring work before the beginning of the regular season.
The ace has already tossed 11 Grapefruit League innings, so his arm might already be built up enough should he get through Tuesday’s bullpen without any ill effects. It is also possible that the Mets might opt for some extra caution, and either push Scherzer’s first start back at least a few days, or maybe even sideline him with a backdated IL visit just to be completely sure that the 37-year-old is fully ready.
Scherzer’s health has taken on an greater import for the Mets in the wake of Friday’s news that Jacob deGrom will miss probably at least the first two months of the season after an MRI revealed a stress reaction in his right scapula. The Mets begin play on April 7 with seven straight games (a four-game series against the Nationals and then a three-game series against the Phillies), so there aren’t any off-days to provide breathing room for the pitching staff.
DeGrom and Scherzer had been penciled in for the first two games of the schedule, with Chris Bassitt, Carlos Carrasco, and Taijuan Walker then slated to follow in the rotation. Rather than disrupt this planned routine, if Scherzer can’t pitch on April 7, any of Tyler Megill, David Peterson, or Trevor Williams could start the first two games, or New York could even opt for a bullpen game. Of course, the Mets are also known to be on the lookout for more starting pitching help, so a new face might suddenly emerge to help fill out the rotation picture.
DeGrom met with reporters (including The New York Post’s Mike Puma) today to discuss his injury, and unsurprisingly, his “level of frustration is really high right now” over another lengthy stint on the injured list. A forearm injury ended deGrom’s 2021 season on July 7, cutting short an incredible year that saw deGrom post an 1.08 ERA over 92 innings.
If there is any silver lining, deGrom is confident that his stress reaction won’t be a lingering problem: “Structurally everything looks fine, so once the bone heals then we’ll be ready to go and build up from there and hopefully be healthy for the rest of the year.” As such, deGrom reiterated that he is still planning to exercise the opt-out clause in his contract after the season, and test the open market.
Most pitchers with this recent injury history would be more hesitant over walking away from a guaranteed $30.5MM in 2023, plus maybe another $32.5MM in 2024 via a Mets club option. However, if deGrom is healthy and pitches like his usual self when he returns to the mound, he’ll surely land a more lucrative multi-year commitment. As The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal pointed out, $12MM of deGrom’s 2023 salary would also be deferred, so opting out would allow deGrom to land more up-front money in a new contract.
In other Mets contract news (or lack thereof), Puma reports that there hasn’t been any discussion between the club and Brandon Nimmo‘s representatives about a contract extension. Nimmo has stated multiple times that he would be interested in working out a long-term deal as he enters his final season before free agency. In general, most players prefer to not let talks carry on beyond Opening Day, so there might not be a lot of time left for a deal to get done if Nimmo adheres to this rough deadline.
Nimmo has been one of baseball’s more quietly productive players in recent years, hitting .266/.393/.445 with 47 home runs over 1695 career PA. This translates to a very impressive 131 OPS+ and 134 wRC+, but the key statistic might be the relatively small amount of plate appearances, as Nimmo has been beset by multiple injuries. It could be that the Mets have held off on extension talks in order to see if Nimmo can finally put together a lengthy stretch of playing time in 2022, though if he does stay healthy, Nimmo might then be tempted to test the free agent market.
Padres Notes: Clevinger, Abrams, Paddack, Weathers
Mike Clevinger is battling soreness in his right knee and is expected to begin the season on the 10-day injured list, Padres manager Bob Melvin told reporters (including Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune). Clevinger has made only one appearance this spring, and lasted only 1 2/3 innings.
The IL placement “allows us to kind of smooth things out and slow it down some,” Melvin said. “We don’t feel like it’s a significant thing, but it actually might be a little bit of a blessing because it did feel like we were kind of rushing him a little bit.”
It has already been a lengthy absence from a big league mound for Clevinger, who underwent Tommy John surgery in November 2020 and subsequently missed all of last season. The Padres were already planning to ease him back into action on limited innings, pairing Clevinger with another pitcher in piggyback fashion. It seems likely that the team might still pursue this strategy when Clevinger does return, though the extra recovery time could allow Clevinger to start a bit deeper into games.
San Diego has enough of a pitching surplus to withstand Clevinger’s absence, particularly after Sean Manaea was acquired from the A’s earlier today. However, rumors continue to swirl about the possibility that the Friars could trade from their pitching depth to facilitate another deal, and the Padres reportedly came close on a four-player swap with the Mets yesterday that would’ve seen Eric Hosmer, Chris Paddack, and Emilio Pagan all sent to New York for Dominic Smith.
That trade would’ve been largely about getting luxury tax relief from Hosmer’s contract, though the Padres have also pursued other big-ticket moves to add talent. San Diego has long been rumored to have interest in the Pirates’ Bryan Reynolds, and USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports that the Padres offered two arms in Paddack and Ryan Weathers in exchange for the All-Star outfielder. That wasn’t enough for the Pirates, as talks were scuttled when Pittsburgh additionally wanted top prospect C.J. Abrams added to the trade package.
While Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller has been willing to deal notable prospects in the past, he has mostly resisted trading any of the true upper-tier names from his farm system. As a consensus top-15 prospect in baseball, Abrams fits that billing, even coming off an injury-shortened 2021 season. The Pirates are known to be seeking a major return in exchange for Reynolds, so while Abrams is a justifiable ask for a player of Reynolds’ proven ability, it remains to be seen if the Padres (or any team) would be willing to trade away a blue-chip minor league talent.
In fact, the door remains open on Abrams contributing to the Padres’ own big league roster as early as Opening Day. Abrams has been hitting well this spring, and with Fernando Tatis Jr. set to miss as much as the first three months of the season, there is a vacancy at Abrams’ natural shortstop position. Abrams has also been playing at second base, and Melvin has suggested that he could get some reps in the outfield as well, acting as some center field depth behind Trent Grisham.
It would be an aggressive promotion considering that Abrams has only played 42 games of Double-A ball, and has never played at Triple-A. That said, the Padres didn’t shy away from putting Tatis on their Opening Day roster in 2019, and that was even before the new Collective Bargaining Agreement introduced the “Prospect Promotion Incentive,” which allows teams to potentially gain an extra draft pick if a top prospect spends an entire season on the active roster and has a high finish in awards balloting.
Returning to the pitching rumor mill, Paddack drew some attention from New York’s other team last month, when the Yankees and Padres were discussing Luke Voit in trade talks. SNY’s Andy Martino reports that the Yankees initially wanted Paddack in return for Voit, before finally settling on a less-experienced hurler in prospect Justin Lange.
AL East Notes: Pearson, Borucki, Harvey, Judge, Meadows, Rays, Pollock
The Blue Jays are dealing with some injury concerns in their bullpen, as Nate Pearson is dealing with a non-COVID illness and Ryan Borucki left yesterday’s game with discomfort in his right hamstring. Jays manager Charlie Montoyo told Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith (Twitter link) and other reporters that Borucki will undergo an MRI. More will be known about Borucki’s situation when the MRI results are in, but for Pearson, his illness has limited him to only two appearances thus far in Grapefruit League action.
In all likelihood, Pearson’s illness will keep him from making Toronto’s Opening Day roster. While this issue seems less serious than the other injuries that have sidelined the righty over the last two years, it represents yet another setback for the former top prospect. As for Borucki, the southpaw has been a pretty solid reliever when healthy, though he missed almost all of the 2019 season due to elbow problems and over two months of last season with a forearm strain. If another IL stint is required for Borucki, Tim Mayza will be the only left-hander in the Jays’ projected bullpen, which could open the door for Anthony Kay, Tayler Saucedo, or Andrew Vasquez to break camp.
More from around the division….
- The Orioles are considering re-signing Matt Harvey, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports (Twitter link). Harvey struggled to a 6.27 ERA over 127 2/3 innings with Baltimore last season, a performance that didn’t lead to any publicly-known interest in his market this winter. Harvey’s situation is further clouded by the possibility of a suspension of at least 60 games. A new deal would surely take the form of a minor league contract, and if Harvey is suspended, he’ll need some extra time anyway to get ramped up to pitch.
- There doesn’t appear to be much new on the extension front between Aaron Judge and the Yankees, as The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports that the two sides aren’t close to an agreement. Judge has stated that he doesn’t want negotiations to continue after Opening Day, so it seems as though quite a bit of progress will have to be made over just five days’ time.
- Also from Rosenthal, he reports that the White Sox proposed a trade to the Rays that would’ve seen Austin Meadows head to Chicago in exchange for Craig Kimbrel. Though Tampa Bay has reportedly been discussing Meadows in other trade talks, the Rays turned down the Kimbrel offer, which isn’t a surprise considering that the closer’s $16MM salary for 2022 would’ve taken up an outsized portion of Tampa’s limited payroll.
- The White Sox ended up dealing Kimbrel to the Dodgers yesterday for another outfielder in AJ Pollock. Beyond Chicago’s talks with the Rays, there is another AL East connection to that swap, ESPN’s Buster Olney tweets that the Red Sox were one of the teams interested in Pollock. The right-handed hitting Pollock would’ve been a nice balance for Boston’s current corner outfield tandem of Alex Verdugo and Jackie Bradley Jr., both of whom swing from the left side. Beyond just a platoon split, Pollock would’ve been mostly an everyday option, but the Red Sox seem committed to Bradley getting more of a regular share of outfield duty even though Bradley is coming off a dreadful season at the plate.
Roster Notes: Nationals, A’s, Royals
Andrew Stevenson of the Nationals has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A, per the team. Stevenson can provide solid defense and baserunning, but those aren’t particular needs for a Washington team planning to start Lane Thomas and Victor Robles alongside superstar Juan Soto. Yadiel Hernandez and Gerardo Parra are the pure outfielders remaining in camp with a chance to win the fourth outfielder spot, while Ehire Adrianza is also capable of playing in the grass. As for Stevenson, he will have 48 hours to accept his assignment or elect free agency. Let’s check in on some other roster updates from around the game…
- The A’s have optioned southpaw Sam Selman to Triple-A, per the team, lowering the number of players in camp to 38. Selman appeared in each of the past three seasons with the Giants, but also made 18 appearances with the Angels after being acquired as part of the Tony Watson deal. Oakland later claimed Selman off waivers. He’ll continue to serve as bullpen depth in Oakland for the time being.
- The Royals announced a handful of minor league assignments today. Colten Brewer, Jose Cuas, Brad Peacock and Arodys Vizcaino; infielders Gabriel Cancel, Iván Castillo, Clay Dungan and Vinnie Pasquantino; and outfielders Dairon Blanco, Brewer Hicken and JaCoby Jones were all assigned to minor league camp.
West Notes: Angels, Detmers, Mariners, Lewis, Elias, Rockies, Freeland
Reid Detmers will open the season in the Angels six-man rotation, per Jeff Fletcher of the SoCal News group (via Twitter). Detmers made five starts in 2021 to mixed results, but the Angels have high hopes that the 22-year-old will develop into a rotation staple. For now, he’ll join Shohei Ohtani, Noah Syndergaard, Patrick Sandoval, Michael Lorenzen, and Jose Suarez in manager Joe Maddon’s rotation. There’s a fair amount of injury concern in the group, but it’s also one of the higher ceiling units the Angels have started with in the rotation during Maddon’s tenure. As with most seasons, the Angels hopes for contention will hinge largely on the success of this group. Elsewhere out west…
- Neither Kyle Lewis nor Roenis Elias will be ready to make the Mariners’ opening day roster, per Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. Elias is coming back from Tommy John surgery, and he hasn’t appeared in a big league game since September of the 2019 season. As for Lewis, the Mariners are taking their time bringing back the 2019 Rookie of the Year. The next step for Lewis’ rehab will be to begin serving as the designated hitter in minor league games, notes Divish, with manager Scott Servais pegging Lewis’ return as being about a month behind the rest of the squad.
- Kyle Freeland will get the ball on opening day for the Rockies, per Danielle Allentuck of The Gazette. It will be his second time as the Rockies’ opening day starter, having done so in 2019 as well. No Rockies starter has ever made three opening day starts for the club. The 28-year-old has put together 191 1/3 innings of 4.33 ERA/4.64 FIP over the past two seasons after a disastrous 2019 campaign.