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Mariners Notes: Garver, Santos, Speier

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The Mariners had an injury scare this evening as catcher Mitch Garver was strike in the wrist by a pitch from Twins right-hander Joe Ryan during this afternoon’s game and exited with what Seattle termed a right wrist contusion. As noted by MLB.com’s Daniel Kramer, manager Scott Servais told reporters after the game that x-rays on Garver’s wrist came back negative, but that the club doesn’t plan on making a decision about next steps regarding the 33-year-old until Tuesday given the club has tomorrow off.

Garver came to the Mariners on a two-year, $26MM deal over the offseason. The longtime catcher had gradually seen more and more of his time come at DH during his tenure with the Rangers and joined Seattle ticketed for a regular role at DH while occasionally spelling Raleigh behind the plate as well. Things haven’t exactly gone according to plan for Garver half a season into his Mariners tenure, however, as he’s slashed just .172/.291/.353 in 71 games this year. While he’s hit for decent power and walked at an excellent 13.5% clip, the combination of a massive 30.9% strikeout rate and his deflated .214 BABIP have left him below average overall with a wRC+ of just 90. That’s certainly passable production from a catcher, but far more is to be expected from a player who is essentially being paid to be a full-time DH.

The potential injury comes as a particularly frustrating time for the Mariners as Garver had begun to heat up in the month of June. In 91 trips to the plate this month entering play tonight, Garver had slashed a much more palatable .187/.319/.453 with a 122 wRC+. That improved production is generally backed up by solid peripherals, as well; Garver’s strikeout rate, while still elevated, has dipped to a more manageable 28.6% this month, and he’s walked at an enormous 16.5% clip. A BABIP of just .200 suggests that further positive regression could be in store for Garver, though it now seems possible that will have to wait depending on how much his wrist heals in the coming days.

Even in the event that Garver requires only a few days off, it’s possible the Mariners will look to make some sort of short-term roster move. After all, he and Raleigh are the only two catchers on the club’s active roster, meaning the club could be forced into a tough situation if Raleigh were to get hurt while Garver is down. The Mariners have Seby Zavala and Michael Perez as depth catching options at Triple-A, though neither is currently on the club’s 40-man roster.

In more positive Mariners news, a pair of key relievers appear to be making their way towards a return to action. Adam Jude of The Seattle Times relayed recently that, according to GM Justin Hollander, right-hander Gregory Santos is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment on Tuesday. Meanwhile, MLB.com’s Injury Tracker notes that lefty Gabe Speier is set to throw a bullpen session that same day.

The impending return of the two hurlers is excellent news for the Mariners. Santos, in particular, figured to handle late-inning duties for the club alongside closer Andres Munoz and veteran set-up man Ryne Stanek after the club swung a trade with the White Sox to acquire him just before the start of Spring Training. Unfortunately, that deal has yet to bear fruit as Santos has been sidelined the entire season to this point after suffering a lat strain in mid-March. He could prove to be an impactful arm for the Mariners in leverage situations once healthy enough to take the mound in the big leagues, however, as shown by his 3.39 ERA and 2.65 FIP in 66 1/3 innings of work with Chicago last year.

As for Speier, the lefty has missed the past month with rotator cuff issues but was in the midst of a frustrating 2024 season prior to his injury. In 22 appearances with Seattle this year, the lefty has struggled to a 6.06 ERA in spite of peripheral numbers that remain mostly solid. Speier has struck out a strong 29.3% of batters faced this year but has dealt with some poor fortune on batted balls and sequencing, as demonstrated by an elevated .325 BABIP allowed and an unsustainable strand rate of just 61.3%, far below the typical 70-75% range for the average hurler.

Not all of Speier’s struggles have been self-inflicted, of course; the lefty has allowed free passes at a worrying 13.3% clip this year, a massive change from the 5.1% walk rate he posted with the Mariners last season when he posted a 3.79 ERA and 3.35 FIP in 69 games. The Mariners will surely be hoping that’s the version of Speier they get back once he’s healthy enough to return, which MLB.com suggests is unlikely to be until after the All Star break.

Tigers Notes: Flaherty, Brieske, Baez

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The Tigers’ signing of right-hander Jack Flaherty has proved to be one of the best moves of the 2023-24 offseason through the first half of play this year. The 28-year-old has looked nothing short of fantastic since signing with Detroit on a one-year deal over the offseason. In 89 innings of work across 15 starts, Flaherty has posted a solid 3.24 ERA (129 ERA+) with a 3.04 FIP.

That’s a quality performance that virtually any club would like to have at the front to middle of their rotation, but his underlying metrics have been even more elite. Flaherty has struck out an eye-popping 33% of batters faced while walking just 4% this year, giving him the league’s second-highest K-BB% behind only White Sox lefty Garrett Crochet. While home runs- which have been an issue that has plagued Flaherty throughout his career- have remained an issue as 18.3% of his fly balls have left the yard this year, the right-hander has also generated grounders at a full-season career best clip of 44.2%. All of that has combined to give Flaherty an MLB-best xFIP of 2.29 and a SIERA of 2.45 that trails only Crochet.

Unfortunately for the Tigers, they aren’t particularly well-positioned to make the most out of Flaherty’s time in the organization. While fans in Detroit are surely dreaming on the right-hander pairing with Tarik Skubal at the front of a playoff rotation, the Tigers are sitting at a record of just 37-45 headed into the second half. The AL Central division already appears more or less out of reach for the club as they’ve fallen 15.5 games behind the Guardians, and even an AL Wild Card berth would take a herculean climb up the standings as the club currently sits 7.5 games behind the Royals for the third Wild Card spot.

Between that reality and the fact that Flaherty would surely be the most attractive rental pitcher moved at the deadline if the Tigers were to deal him, it may seem like a forgone conclusion that the right-hander will be changing teams next month. That might not be the case, however, as Chris McCosky of The Detroit News reported earlier this week that president of baseball operations Scott Harris and his front office are preparing not just for a potential sell-off, but also for a hypothetical scenario where the Tigers look to add at the deadline.

While the club’s weak position in the standings makes that possibility appear extremely unlikely at first blush, McCosky notes that the club figures to have plenty of control over its own destiny between now and the trade deadline on July 30. Prior to that date, Detroit will square off against the Guardians ten times and the Twins six times. That could give Detroit plenty of opportunities to not only cut into their massive deficit in the AL Central, but also make up ground in the AL Wild Card race; Minnesota holds the second of three spots and currently sits eight games ahead of the Tigers in the standings.

Even as the Tigers have an interesting opportunity to play their way into contention over the final month before the deadline, however, it still appears more likely than not that Flaherty is pitching in another uniform when the calendar flips to August. If that comes to pass, the Tigers will need another arm to step into the rotation alongside Skubal, Reese Olson, Casey Mize, and Kenta Maeda. According to McCosky, that next man up was once thought to be right-hander Matt Manning, but the club’s first-round pick from the 2016 draft has struggled to a 6.00 ERA at the Triple-A level since last being optioned to the minors and has pitched to below-average numbers across five spot starts in the big leagues this year.

That, per McCosky, could lead the club to consider right-hander Beau Brieske for a rotation spot at some point. While the Tigers haven’t formally broached the possibility of swinging between the bullpen and the rotation with Brieske, the right-hander would reportedly be the top option for the role should the club decide to utilize a pitcher in that role. Looking at the righty’s work during his time with the club, it’s easy to see why that would be the case.

Brieske, 26, was a 27th-round pick by the Tigers in the 2019 draft but made it to the big leagues fairly quickly, starting 15 games in the majors during the 2022 season to roughly league average results. He’s been used almost exclusively out of the bullpen since then and has taken to the role particularly well this year as he’s posted a 2.35 ERA (180 ERA+) and a 2.24 FIP with a 24.4% strikeout rate in 13 multi-inning relief appearances totaling 23 innings of work. Those strong multi-inning performances have seen Brieske throw as many as 53 pitches in relief over three innings of work, making him a prime candidate to move into the rotation from a workload perspective.

In other Tigers news, Hinch told reporters (including McCosky) this evening that veteran shortstop Javier Baez, who has been shelved since early this month due to lumbar spine inflammation, is not only improving but has reached point of feeling “the best he’s felt with his back in some time.” Hinch noted that the Tigers are hoping to get the 31-year-old out on a rehab assignment next week with an eye toward a return prior to the All Star break, which begins on July 15. The veteran has struggled to a .183/.209/.247 slash line in 53 games with the Tigers this year, but despite that meager offensive contribution the Tigers still figure to look forward to his return because even that offense is still an improvement over the bat of Ryan Kreidler, who has replaced Baez in the lineup and is currently slashing just .148/.258/.148 in 13 games with the club while filling in for the veteran.

Giants Notes: Snell, Harrison, Cobb

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The Giants have suffered a tough run of injuries to their starting rotation of late, and with six starters on the injured list only Logan Webb and Jordan Hicks are currently in the San Francisco rotation as true full-time starters, although Spencer Howard and Hayden Birdsong have filled in to allow the Giants to cobble together a four-man rotation. Fortunately, it appears that could be changing in the near future as Shayna Rubin of the San Francisco Chronicle reported earlier today that southpaws Blake Snell and Kyle Harrison are both making progress towards returns from injuries.

Of the pair, Harrison appears to be closer to a return. The southpaw found himself shelved a little less than two weeks ago due to a right ankle sprain, although the issue proved minor enough that it appears he’ll be ready to return after something close to a minimum stay on the shelf. Per Rubin, the club’s current plan is for Harrison to throw a bullpen session on Wednesday before eyeing a start sometime during the club’s road trip against the Braves and Guardians that wraps up on July 8. That should leave the Giants to turn over the rotation just once more before Harrison rejoins the group.

After making seven starts with the club down the stretch last year, Harrison stepped into the club’s rotation on Opening Day this year alongside Webb, Hicks, Snell, and Keaton Winn. The 22-year-old has generally performed decently in what will be his first full big league season with a roughly league average 3.96 ERA and matching 3.95 FIP through 77 1/3 inning of work spread across 14 starts. While the lefty has only struck out 20.6% of batters faced this year, he’s limited walks to a strong 6.7% clip while generating grounders at a decent 42.1% rate. While the lefty’s pedigree certainly suggests that he could take a step forward at some point, even that stable back-end production would be a huge boost to a San Francisco rotation that has gotten the second-fewest innings out of its starting rotation in the majors this year.

Snell, meanwhile, appears likely to rejoin the Giants after Harrison but has a more concrete plan for his return in place. Per Rubin, the reigning NL Cy Young award winner is scheduled to make a final rehab start on Wednesday before rejoining the rotation on July 10 against the Blue Jays. After being limited to just six starts in the first half by multiple groin injuries while struggling to a 9.51 ERA and 4.63 FIP across those 23 2/3 innings of work where he was healthy enough to take the mound, both Snell and the Giants are surely hoping that the lefty can turn his season around when he returns to action.

While San Francisco was surely hoping for more when they inked Snell to a two-year, $62MM contract back in March, it’s not at all difficult to imagine the southpaw, who boasts a 2.72 ERA and 3.17 FIP with a 31.7% strikeout rate in 56 starts from 2022-23, turning things around in the second half and helping to anchor the top of the Giants rotation alongside Webb. Given his tough start to the season, it’s nearly impossible to imagine Snell opting out of the second year of his deal at this point barring a sensational second half on the level of the one he enjoyed last year, when he posted a 1.43 ERA and 3.12 FIP in his final 15 starts of the season.

Meanwhile, veteran right-hander Alex Cobb is also working his way back from injury after undergoing hip surgery last offseason that delayed his start to the 2024 campaign. He was expected to rejoin the Giants at some point in May, but ended up halting his throwing program due to discomfort in his shoulder in the middle of last month. The righty finally appears poised to get into game action, however, as Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle noted this afternoon that Cobb is set to make a rehab start with Single-A San Jose tomorrow.

That’s a key step for the 36-year-old as he looks to return to action for the Giants. The veteran righty has been a very valuable asset for the club in recent years when healthy enough to take the mound, pitching to a 3.80 ERA and a 3.41 FIP in 301 innings of work since the start of his Giants tenure back in 2022. He and veteran lefty Robbie Ray could both impact the club’s rotation at some point later this season, offering internal rotation depth as the season wears on and they get closer to returns from their respective injuries.

Red Sox Notes: Casas, Hendriks, Mata

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In an odd moment of miscommunication earlier this month, Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas told reporters earlier this month that he had begun to take dry swings while rehabbing torn cartilage in his midsection. That was exciting news regarding the 24-year-old’s progress, but MassLive’s Sean McAdam noted earlier this week that Casas’s previous comments do not appear to have been entirely accurate.

“Oh, no, just in my mind,” Casas said (as relayed by McAdam) when asked to elaborate on his previous comments about taking swings. “Without a bat, just in my head. I’ve taken thousands of at-bats like that. I feel great.”

Despite Casas’s previously reported step towards swinging a bat apparently having been entirely imaginary, McAdam noted that the slugger had truly resumed swinging on Wednesday, when he swung a bat 20 times after an MRI the previous day revealed that his ribcage had healed properly. As noted by MassLive’s Christopher Smith earlier today, manager Alex Cora told reporters that Casas has subsequently ramped up to 30 swings and is feeling some “general soreness” as he kicks back into gear and prepares for his return to the majors. Cora went on to suggest that the soreness may not impact Casas’s timeline much, adding that he might resume swinging as soon as tomorrow and could continue to do some baseball activity today. Despite the soreness not being much of an issue, however, Cora suggested that it’s unlikely that the first baseman will return to action in the majors before the All Star break.

Thats not necessarily shocking, given the fact that Casas hasn’t seen game action since late April and will surely need a rehab assignment to get back up to speed. While that post-All Star break target is a far cry from the July 2nd date Casas floated for his return earlier this month, its not necessarily surprising that he would be about two weeks behind that schedule given the fact that he didn’t start swinging a bat until about two weeks after he first indicated he was resuming doing so.

Regardless of the unusual situation, Casas’s return is sure to provide a shot in the arm for a Red Sox club that has enjoyed a 10-4 record over their last 14 games. Despite that strong recent performance vaulting them firmly into the AL Wild Card mix alongside teams like the Royals and Twins, Boston’s offense has posted a relatively pedestrian wRC+ of just 102 since Casas went down with injury, and Dominic Smith has slashed a paltry .209/.308/.317 (78 wRC+) in 47 games filling in for Casas at first base. That’s a far cry from the production the young slugger offered when healthy in the first month of the season, as Casas will boast a .244/.344/.513 slash line on the season when he returns to the lineup, although that came in a sample size of just 90 trips to the plate.

Casas isn’t the only potentially impactful piece who’s on the road to recovery from injury. Veteran closer Liam Hendriks, who the Red Sox signed to a two-year, $10MM guarantee over the winter, underwent Tommy John surgery back in August of last year when he was still a member of the White Sox but has long been targeting a return to the big league mound around or shortly after this year’s trade deadline, which has been set for July 30. Hendriks has been making solid progress in that pursuit, as Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic reported that after throwing a 15-pitch bullpen session earlier this week he followed it up with a 20-pitch bullpen yesterday. McCaffrey added that Hendriks said that he was “feeling good” following yesterday’s and that the plan is for him to move up from two bullpen sessions to three next week before determining next steps beyond that.

Seeing as Hendriks has already resumed throwing, it seems likely that he would be on pace to return sometime in August as previously expected. While the 35-year-old was limited to just five innings of work last year between his aforementioned Tommy John surgery and a battle with Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma that caused him to miss the first half of the season, the veteran hurler has long been regarded as one of the league’s top bullpen arms. From 2019 to 2022, Hendriks pitched to a sensational 2.26 ERA (188 ERA+) and 2.13 FIP while striking out an eye-popping 38.8% of batters faced in a combined 239 innings of work. Adding a player with that sort of resume to a bullpen that’s already employs Kenley Jansen and Chris Martin in the late innings could make for a lethal three-headed monster at the back of the Red Sox bullpen down the stretch if Hendriks is able to stay on track and return healthy.

Joining Hendriks in working his way back from a largely lost 2023 season is right-hander Bryan Mata, who pitched just 27 innings last year due to a strained teres major muscle. The right-hander and former top prospect for the Red Sox has yet to make his big league debut, but is a particularly interesting case given the fact that he is out of options and will need to either be added to the club’s active roster or subjected to waivers once healthy enough to return to action. It’s long been considered unlikely that Mata would clear waivers without being claimed by another club, meaning that 30 days after Mata begins a rehab assignment, the Red Sox will need to make a decision regarding his future in the organization.

As noted by Smith earlier this afternoon, Mata began a rehab assignment for the club earlier this month and reached the Triple-A level on Thursday. The right-hander impressed in 2 2/3 innings of work as his fastball reached 97.8 mph, though he surrendered two runs on two hits and a walk during the appearance. He’ll follow that performance up with another rehab start with Worcester this coming Tuesday. That pattern figures to continue for the remainder of his rehab assignment, as Cora told reporters (including Smith) that the club plans to keep Mata on a starter’s schedule but limit him two or three innings per appearance.

While Mata hasn’t enjoyed much success amid injury-marred campaigns in 2023 and 2024, it’s not hard to see why the Red Sox would want to keep the righty in the fold. After all, it was just two seasons ago when the youngster dazzled with 83 innings of work spread across four levels of the minors that saw him post a 2.49 ERA while striking out 30.3% of batters faced. If he can post anything close to those numbers in the majors, even in a bullpen role, he would surely be a valuable asset to the Red Sox as they attempt to chase their first playoff appearance since 2021.

Injury Notes: Smith, Edman, Garcia, Aranda

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The Mets placed reliever Drew Smith on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to June 24, before tonight’s win over the Yankees. The right-hander is dealing with an elbow sprain. It’s not yet clear how long he’ll be out or whether there’s a chance he’ll need to undergo surgery. It’s the second IL stint of the season for Smith, who missed around six weeks between late April and the start of June with shoulder soreness.

While there’s never a good time for a pitcher to battle shoulder and elbow concerns, it’s particularly poor timing in Smith’s case. The 30-year-old is a few months from his first trip to the open market. Smith misses enough bats to have a decent shot at a multi-year deal if he’s healthy. Between 2021-23, he combined for a 3.38 ERA while striking out more than a quarter of opposing hitters across 143 2/3 innings. That comes with a few more walks and home runs than ideal, but the former third-rounder has generally looked the part of a solid setup option. Smith has been effective this season when healthy, turning in a 3.06 ERA with 23 strikeouts over 17 2/3 frames.

A few more injury updates around the game:

  • The Cardinals have been without Tommy Edman all season. The versatile switch-hitter has had a longer than expected rehab after undergoing right wrist surgery last October. As he’d finally begun ramping up baseball activity, Edman hit another snag. Manager Oli Marmol told reporters this afternoon that Edman sprained an ankle while fielding a ground ball (relayed on X by Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat). While there’s nothing to suggest it’s a significant sprain, his rehab will be halted for at least a few days. Edman was slated to enter the season as the everyday center fielder. Michael Siani has taken hold of the position on the strength of his glove, but he hasn’t provided much offensively. Cardinal center fielders — mostly Siani, Victor Scott II and Dylan Carlson — entered play Wednesday with an MLB-worst .198/.241/.259 batting line through 268 plate appearances.
  • Astros starter Luis Garcia is likely to begin a rehab assignment with the team’s Florida Complex League affiliate this weekend (via the MLB.com injury tracker). He’s expected to throw two innings in what will be his first game action since undergoing Tommy John surgery last May. Garcia is coming up on 14 months since the procedure. He’ll likely need upwards of a month before he’s ready for MLB action but could be an option for Houston around or shortly after the trade deadline. Getting Garcia back would be the rare piece of positive injury news for an Astro rotation that has lost Cristian Javier, José Urquidy and JP France to season-ending surgeries.
  • The Rays’ infield depth took a hit this week when Jonathan Aranda landed on the minor league injured list. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports (on X) that the left-handed hitter suffered an oblique strain and will be down between four and six weeks. Aranda has appeared in 18 big league contests with Tampa Bay this season, hitting .213/.288/.319 through 52 trips to the plate. He’s hitting .189/.336/.295 with a massive 37.9% strikeout rate in Triple-A. While Aranda hasn’t hit big league pitching in scattered looks over the last three seasons, this year’s Triple-A struggles are uncharacteristic. The 26-year-old is a career .312/.411/.535 hitter in more than 1000 plate appearances at that level. He’s in his final minor league option season and could find himself on the roster bubble next winter.

Twins Notes: Paddack, Festa, Canterino, Bullpen

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The Twins placed righty Chris Paddack on the 15-day injured list yesterday due to fatigue in his right shoulder, but the right-hander made clear in a follow-up interview that he’s not concerned about any potential injury (link via Bobby Nightengale of the Minneapolis Star Tribune). “This isn’t pain or discomfort,” said Paddack, who’s in his first season full season back from the second Tommy John surgery of his career. “This is fatigue.”

Paddack expanded that while his general approach is that he wants the ball at every opportunity, he also felt the need to listen to his body and “not be a hero” after a recent dip in his fastball velocity and feelings of a “dead arm.” The 28-year-old righty has tossed 78 1/3 innings this season — already his most since 2021 and in fact more than he pitched in 2022-23 combined (majors and minor league rehab work included). Some fatigue and workload management was to be expected, and the recent drop in velocity prompted the team to make a move.

Notably, Nightengale adds that manager Rocco Baldelli confirmed Paddack will return to the rotation once he’s reinstated from the injured list. There’s no plan to shift the right-hander to a relief role at this time, though he thrived in that setting down the stretch and in the postseason with the Twins last year when he tossed a combined 8 2/3 innings and allowed three runs on seven hits and a walk with a hefty 14 strikeouts. Paddack’s fastball sat at a career-high 95.5 mph last year in relief, per Statcast, and he was frequently touching the upper 90s in the playoffs.

Perhaps a return to that role could be in play down the line (speculatively speaking), but the organization will continue starting him for now. Paddack has a 5.29 ERA in 15 starts, due largely to a pair of ugly outings at Camden Yards (nine runs) and at Yankee Stadium (seven runs).

In the short term, the Twins will need to plug someone into the fifth spot in their rotation. KSTP’s Darren Wolfson reports that Minnesota will start reliever Ryan Jensen today at Triple-A instead of top prospect David Festa, presumably setting the stage for Festa to make his big league debut tomorrow in Arizona. (Note: I misread the team’s game log yesterday and incorrectly wrote that Festa had pitched too recently to be an option; my apologies for the error.)

The 24-year-old Festa has been sharp in Triple-A this season, pitching to a 3.77 ERA with a huge 35.1% strikeout rate, a 9.7% walk rate and a strong 45.5% grounder rate. While his walk rate could stand to come down a few ticks, it’s worth pointing out that Festa has improved considerably in that regard as the season has progressed. After walking an alarming 20% of his opponents through his first four starts, he’s slashed his walk rate to 6.7% — including zero walks over his past two outings. His strikeout rate has improved a bit as he’s honed his command, sitting at 37.3% in his 10 most recent outings.

Festa is considered one of the Twins’ best — if not their best — pitching prospects. He sits at No. 99 on MLB.com’s recently updated top-100 list and is the game’s No. 93 prospect over at FanGraphs. He’s been a nice development story for the Twins as a 13th-round pick in 2021 who signed for a $125K bonus. Minnesota will need to add Festa to the 40-man roster if he is indeed called upon for his debut, but they have an open spot at the moment anyhow (and righty Brock Stewart has already been on the 15-day IL for nearly 60 days in the event that they need a second space anytime soon).

While Festa’s progress toward the big leagues is a big positive, the Twins’ former top pitching prospect, Matt Canterino, has had yet another setback, per Nightengale. The 26-year-old righty is headed for an MRI on his shoulder after experiencing discomfort in a recent bullpen session. Canterino, the No. 54 overall pick back in 2019, has dominated minor league opponents when healthy, evidenced by a career 1.48 ERA and 39.1% strikeout rate since being drafted.

Unfortunately, between the pandemic-canceled 2020 season and repeated injuries, he’s only been able to pitch 85 innings in total. He most recently underwent Tommy John surgery in 2022 and has yet to get back into a minor league game since that time. He’s on the Twins’ 40-man roster and is in the first of three minor league option years, so they needn’t yet consider cutting him loose to open a spot, but it’s another frustrating setback for the talented but oft-injured righty.

There’s better news on a pair of injured Twins relievers, however. The aforementioned Stewart pitched a bullpen session three days ago and will do so again today and on the 29th, per Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com. The former Dodgers prospect has been a revelation since joining the Twins on a minor league deal, pitching 41 innings of relief with a 0.66 ERA and 34.8% strikeout rate dating back to last season. He’s been out since early May with a shoulder injury.

As for righty Justin Topa, whom the Twins acquired in the offseason Jorge Polanco trade, he’s slated to throw a bullpen session in early July, per Park. The right-hander suffered a 25% tear of the patellar tendon in his knee during spring training, Park notes, but was recommended for a platelet-rich plasma injection and rest rather than surgery. Twins trainer Nick Paparesta detailed that Topa will then ramp up through the All-Star break before being reevaluated. A second-half return remains in play for the righty, who pitched 69 innings of 2.96 ERA ball for the Mariners in 2023 and is under team control with the Twins through 2026.

Injury Notes: Luplow, Brown, Darvish

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Outfielder Jordan Luplow, who signed a minor league deal with the Phillies in March, is done for the year with a right knee ACL tear. The account @Kram207 was among those to relay the info on X.

Luplow has mostly been a small-side platoon guy in his career, as the right-handed hitter has a line of .227/.338/.495 against lefties over several seasons. This year, he had stepped to the plate 254 times at the Triple-A level with a line of .255/.343/.450. His splits were closer to even with the IronPigs, though in a small sample of 184 plate appearances against righties and 70 against lefties.

Perhaps there would have been a path to playing time in the Philadelphia outfield. Johan Rojas struggled enough to get optioned down to the minors. Brandon Marsh and David Dahl are lefties with notable platoon splits. The right-handed counterparts in their platoons are Whit Merrifield and Cristian Pache, who are both struggling.

With this season-ending injury for Luplow, that won’t be an option for the Phils to even consider anymore. Perhaps Edmundo Sosa will be a factor on the grass, since he has a bit of experience out there and played well while Trea Turner was on the IL. The Phils don’t have a lot of holes heading into the July 30 trade deadline but adding an intriguing righty bat to the bench could be one target, especially with Luplow no longer there as a depth option.

Some other notable injury updates from around baseball…

  • The Cubs placed right-hander Ben Brown on the injured list a couple of weeks ago with a neck strain, though subsequent reporting provided the more ominous-sounding diagnosis of a stress reaction in his neck. The timeline was and is murky, but Brown was able to throw from 90 feet recently, per Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune. Brown says that he was told at the time of his diagnosis that he’s already through the worst of his ailment. Montemurro describes the prognosis as a “two- to three-month burnout period,” with the first month being the worst. Brown and Jordan Wicks hit the IL within a week of each other, thinning the Cubs rotation and forcing Kyle Hendricks back into a starting role. The club is 37-41 but that still has them two games out of a playoff spot in the weak NL race. The club will try to ramp Brown up from here as long as there are no symptoms and hopefully get him back into the mix as his body allows. He has a 3.58 ERA on the year through 55 1/3 innings.
  • The Padres are another club in that NL race with some rotation injuries but Yu Darvish will be back tomorrow, with AJ Cassavell of MLB.com relaying the word from manager Mike Shildt on X. Darvish had made 11 starts with a 3.20 ERA before landing on the IL with a left groin strain. He and Joe Musgrove landed on the shelf at the same time, forcing the club to use less experienced hurlers like Randy Vásquez and Adam Mazur. With Mazur posting an ERA of 7.10 in his first four starts and getting optioned recently, the return of Darvish should give the San Diego rotation a boost. The Friars are 41-41 and currently holding the final Wild Card spot in the National League, but there are seven clubs within three games of them.

Mets Notes: Marte, Reid-Foley, Senga

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Starling Marte left Saturday’s 8-1 loss to the Cubs midway through the second inning due to soreness in his right knee, and he will undergo an MRI on Monday to explore what has been a nagging problem for the Mets outfielder.  As MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo writes, Marte has been battling knee discomfort for about three weeks, with the Mets giving Marte a few extra off-days in that stretch to see if the extra rest could correct the problem.

“I thought we’ve been doing a pretty good job, especially with our communication with him and him being honest with me and all of us,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza told DiComo and other reporters.  “That’s why there’s been days where he’s been off when he felt like he could have played….But as of late, that knee continues to bother him. We’ve just got to wait and see what we’re dealing with.”

The Mets don’t play on either Monday or Thursday this week, as they get a pair of off-day sandwiched around their two-game interleague series with the Yankees.  DiComo feels that this relatively light schedule might allow the Mets to put Marte on the 10-day injured list, which would both give him time to fully rest up while sitting out less games than he’d normally have to miss in a fuller schedule.  That said, the Mets could also view these built-in off-days as a chance to let Marte rest without the benefit of an actual IL placement, so he might not have to miss 10 full days’ worth of action.

It seems likely that the club will first wait and see what the MRI says before making a decision, as if tests reveal an actual injury, Marte will obviously have to miss time regardless of any schedule.  Despite the bad knee, Marte’s production hasn’t been slowed down, as he is hitting .304/.360/.457 with one home run over 50 plate appearances in the month of June.  Marte’s hot bat has been one reason the Mets have surged back into the playoff picture, as New York has won 12 of its last 16 games.

Another Met headed for an MRI is Sean Reid-Foley, as the right-hander was placed on the 15-day IL yesterday (retroactive to June 20) due to an impingement in his throwing shoulder.  A similar injury sidelined Reid-Foley at the start of the season and prevented him from making his 2024 debut until April 22.  Talking to the New York Post’s Mike Puma and other reporters yesterday, Reid-Foley described the latest injury as “kind of the same stuff — it’s kind of in the front of the shoulder again.   I don’t have X-ray vision or MRI vision, but I would say it’s probably an impingement.”

Even with these shoulder problems bookending his season, Reid-Foley has been one of the Mets’ best relievers this season, with a 1.66 ERA and a 27.8% strikeout rate over 21 2/3 innings.  A 3.86 SIERA is perhaps a better reflection of Reid-Foley’s production when factoring in his high 15.6% walk rate and the good fortune of his .255 BABIP, especially since Reid-Foley is a grounder specialist (60.8% groundball rate).  Still, that bottom-line 1.66 ERA has still been a big help within an overall inconsistent New York bullpen, so losing Reid-Foley for any length of time is a setback for the club.

In other Mets injury news, Kodai Senga took an important step ahead in his injury rehab, as he had a live batting practice session of 22 pitches today.  Senga is tentatively slated for another live BP later this week, but he’ll first reconvene with the team medical staff in New York.

It has been a long road back for Senga, who hasn’t yet pitched this season since suffering a moderate capsule strain his right shoulder during Spring Training.  He had a live BP session in late April and seemed to be progressing towards a return in late May (once his 60-day IL stint was over), but he then took time to work on some mechanical issues, and then suffered a triceps injury that required a shutdown period and a cortisone shot.

Senga had already been ruled out until after the All-Star break, and considering the amount of ramp-up work it will take for him to be fully ready to pitch, it would seem early-to-mid August might be the earliest we see the right-hander make his 2024 debut.  If the Mets can stick around in the wild card race, getting Senga back would be quite a nice boost to the Amazins’ playoff chances, if he returns at anything close to his 2023 form.

Cardinals Notes: Arenado, Siani, Contreras, Nootbaar

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TODAY: Arenado received a pain-killing injection in his forearm today, Marmol told John Denton and other reporters today.  It isn’t yet clear if Arenado will need an IL stint, but he wasn’t available for pinch-hitting duties in today’s game.

JUNE 22: Cardinals star Nolan Arenado departed the club’s win over the Giants in the eighth inning today due to discomfort in his left forearm, as noted by MLB.com’s John Denton. Notably, that’s not the same arm that Arenado suffered an elbow contusion on after being struck by a pitch from Marlins right-hander Huascar Brazoban earlier this week. More information was not made available following tonight’s game beyond the fact that Arenado would be evaluated further tomorrow.

It’s an unfortunate turn of events in the midst of what has been a difficult season for the 33-year-old veteran, who is slashing just .260/.315/.375 with a 99 wRC+. That would be Arenado’s first below-average offensive performance in a 162-game season since his rookie campaign back in 2013. He’s paired that lackluster offense with surprisingly pedestrian glovework at third base, where he’s been worth +0 Outs Above Average and -5 Defensive Runs Saved. That’s a far cry from the fielding he offered at the position earlier in his career, when he won the NL Gold Glove award at third base in ten consecutive seasons from 2013 to 2022.

Even with that diminished production this year, however, the loss of Arenado would still be a tough blow for the Cardinals should he end up missing time due to his injury. Not only is he just two seasons removed from a campaign where he was a finalist for the NL MVP award, but the eight-time All Star is the club’s only clear solution at third base given the present construction of the lineup. While former top prospect Jordan Walker came up as a third baseman and is currently in the minors, the 22-year-old has struggled both in Triple-A and at the big league level this year and converted to the outfield full time last year making him an unlikely choice to take over for Arenado in the case of an injury.

Super-utility bat Brendan Donovan has played the hot corner at times, but he’s settled in as the club’s regular left fielder in the absence of Lars Nootbaar. It’s possible that Donovan could slide over to third base and open up left field for Dylan Carlson, but perhaps a more likely scenario would see the Cardinals rely more heavily on bench bats Brandon Crawford and Jose Fermin to fill in for Arenado at third. That’s especially true given the fact that center fielder Michael Siani also exited today’s game due to an injury, though Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat relayed after the game that x-rays on Siani’s ribs after he hit the ground hard on a diving play in the outfield came back negative. The 24-year-old appears to have avoided a major injury, but even a day-to-day issue would at least temporarily weaken the club’s outfield depth noticeably.

As for Nootbaar, the 26-year-old has been sidelined by an oblique strain since the end of May. Jones relays that he appears to be making progress in his rehab but the outfielder has not yet even begun to take batting practice, instead only hitting off a tee at this stage in the process. That would seem to indicate that Nootbaar, who will surely require a rehab assignment before he can return to action, isn’t going to be returning to the club’s positional mix any time soon to provide Marmol additional flexibility as he fills out the club’s lineup card in the wake of Arenado’s and Siani’s possible injuries.

One piece of good news for Cardinals fans is the impending return of star catcher Willson Contreras, who Marmol told reporters (including Jones) will catch seven innings for Triple-A Memphis tonight before DH’ing tomorrow’s game. As Jones notes, Contreras caught for the Redbirds yesterday and Marmol acknowledged that seeing how the 32-year-old held up after catching back to back games was the last major box the club needed to check regarding Contreras’s rehab.

Contreras has been out since early May with a broken forearm and was initially expected to miss ten weeks due to the injury, but the backstop has long since clearly been ahead of that schedule and seems like he could factor into the club’s plans before the end of the month. The slugger posted an excellent .280/.398/.551 slash line in 31 games for the Cardinals this year before being sidelined by the injury and could provide a boost to an offense that has posted a collective wRC+ of just 95 to this point in the season.

Dodgers Notes: Kershaw, May, Graterol

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Longtime Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw has been sidelined for the entirety of the 2024 season to this point after undergoing shoulder surgery over the offseason, but recently began a rehab assignment as he eyes a potential return sometime next month. That rehab assignment has already hit a snag, however, as manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register) today that the veteran southpaw has felt “a little bit of soreness” in the aftermath of his rehab start for the club’s High-A affiliate in Rancho Cucamonga earlier this week.

That soreness continued today for the veteran lefty when he threw a light bullpen session, and Roberts indicated that the club is considering pushing back his next rehab start- which is currently scheduled for Tuesday- depending on how he feels in the coming days. Kershaw is expected to play catch tomorrow, and how he feels after that session could determine whether or not the Dodgers go ahead with the planned outing. The potential setback is a frustrating one, as a relatively speedy return by Kershaw would be hugely impactful for a rotation that recently lost both Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Walker Buehler to the injured list.

Those injuries left the Dodgers to turn to rookie right-hander Landon Knack in the fifth starter role behind Tyler Glasnow, Bobby Miller, Gavin Stone, and James Paxton. Outside of that group of five, however, the club is lacking in starting depth meaning further injuries could prove problematic for the club. Even setting aside L.A.’s quickly evaporating rotation depth, it’s worth noting that the 36-year-old lefty is almost assuredly one of the club’s five best starters to begin with; after all, the future Hall of Famer hasn’t posted an ERA north of 3.55 since his rookie campaign back in 2008 and managed to put together a 2.46 ERA across 24 starts last year despite playing through shoulder issues.

Roberts also provided more positive injury updates to reporters (including Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times) this evening regarding right-handers Dustin May and Brusdar Graterol. The manager indicated that both pitchers have begun to throw bullpen sessions and called the sessions “promising.” While the timelines for each player’s return are still unclear, Roberts expressed confidence that both would return to action before the 2024 season comes to a close.

May, 26, has had a frustrating MLB career to this point. The righty debuted late in his age-21 season back in 2019 and enjoyed some success over his first two big league campaigns, with a 2.98 ERA and 3.96 FIP in 90 2/3 innings of work, first out of the bullpen in 2019 and then as a member of the rotation during the shortened 2020 campaign. May went on to win the World Series with L.A. during the pandemic-shortened campaign while pitching out of the bullpen during the postseason but returned to the rotation in 2021.

Unfortunately, he made it just five starts into the 2021 campaign before undergoing Tommy John surgery and has not put together a wire-to-wire big league season since. While the right-hander has pitched to an impressive 3.21 ERA and 3.59 FIP since the start of the 2021 campaign, he’s also been limited to just 101 innings across 20 starts during that time by the aforementioned Tommy John and a flexor tendon procedure he underwent in last July. It’s not clear whether the Dodgers hope to return May to the rotation upon his return to action or if he’ll be ticketed for the bullpen, but if healthy he figures to be an impactful arm for the club in whatever role he takes on.

As for Graterol, the 25-year-old hurler has been one of the club’s most reliable relievers since he was acquired from the Twins prior to the 2020 season. In 173 2/3 innings of work for the club since then, Graterol has pitched to an exceptional 2.69 ERA with a 3.24 FIP. He’s struck out just 18.9% of batters faced during that time but has generated an extraordinary 62.5% groundball rate as a Dodger while limiting free passes to just a 5.5% rate. Graterol figured to once again factor into the club’s high-leverage plans at the back of the bullpen this year until those plans were scuttled by a shoulder injury during Spring Training that eventually led the club to shut the righty down in late April. Should he return before the end of the season, he’d likely return to the back of the club’s bullpen alongside closer Evan Phillips.

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