Notes

Injury Notes: Smith, Edman, Garcia, Aranda

By Anthony Franco | June 26, 2024 at 10:43pm CDT

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

By Steve Adams | June 26, 2024 at 10:10am CDT

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

By Darragh McDonald | June 24, 2024 at 1:47pm CDT

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

By Mark Polishuk | June 23, 2024 at 7:00pm CDT

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

By Nick Deeds | June 23, 2024 at 5:20pm CDT

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

By Nick Deeds | June 22, 2024 at 10:35pm CDT

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.

Padres Notes: Campusano, Tatis, Profar

By Nick Deeds | June 22, 2024 at 7:52pm CDT

The Padres placed catcher Luis Campusano on the 10-day injured list today with a thumb contusion, per a team announcement. Catcher Brett Sullivan was recalled to the big league roster in a corresponding move. Fortunately, Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune relays that the Padres don’t expect Campusano’s stay on the shelf to be a long one as it likely won’t require more than a minimum stay of ten days.

After a 2023 season where Campusano was limited to just 49 games by injuries but appeared to break out at the plate with a .319/.356/.491 slash line (good for a 134 wRC+), the former top prospect’s 2024 campaign has been somewhat disappointing. He’s appeared in 66 of the club’s games this year but has mustered only a .234/.282/.371 slash line, which even in the game’s current deflated offensive environment is good for a wRC+ of just 89. That’s hardly a terrible mark for a catcher, but it’s nonetheless a far cry from the offensive output San Diego was surely hoping for after Campusano flashed the ability to be a star-level bat behind the plate when healthy enough to take the field last year.

With the 25-year-old sidelined for the time being, veteran backup Kyle Higashioka figures to step in as the club’s regular behind the plate while Campusano heals up. That leaves backup duties to Sullivan, 30, who had a three-game stint with the Padres earlier this year after making his MLB debut with the club last season. In a 33-game cup of coffee with San Diego last year, Sullivan struggled to a .210/.244/.284 slash line in 86 trips to the plate and appeared to be below average defensively behind the plate both in terms of framing and controlling the running game, although he does have a reputation as a solid blocker.

While Campusano was the only player the Padres placed on the shelf today, he’s not the only member of their starting lineup nursing an noteworthy injury. As MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell explored last night, both Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jurickson Profar exited yesterday’s game against the Brewers due to injuries. Profar departed due to tendinitis in his left knee that he’s been dealing with throughout the season to this point, while Tatis left because of a left triceps contusion, though Cassavell notes that he also appeared to be favoring his right quad, which he notes the young star has been playing on despite an injury for weeks.

Both players were out of the lineup today, though Profar told reporters (including Cassavell) today that he would be available off the bench for today’s game against Milwaukee and that he’s been managing the injury successfully to the point where it isn’t getting worse. Manager Mike Shildt, for his part, indicated to reporters last night that the club wasn’t especially concerned about either Profar or Tatis and that both believed they could play through their current ailments.

It’s easy to see why the Padres wouldn’t want to lose either player to the injured list. In 80 games this season, Tatis has looked good with a .279/.354/.468 slash line (139 wRC+) with eight stolen bases, while Profar leads all NL hitters with a .415 on-base percentage and sports an even more impressive 162 wRC+ as the club’s everyday left fielder. With the duo standing out as perhaps the club’s two biggest run producers in a strong lineup that also features Manny Machado, Luis Arraez, and Jackson Merrill, it’s hard to measure how difficult things could get for the Padres if they were to lose Profar and Tatis for a significant period. After all, that strong offense has only translated to a 40-40 record to this point in the season that leaves them in the mix for an NL Wild Card spot among a group of eight teams that are within three games of .500.

AL East Notes: Duran, Romano, Orioles, Abreu

By Mark Polishuk | June 22, 2024 at 3:11pm CDT

The Red Sox haven’t yet discussed a contract extension with Jarren Duran, the outfielder told MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo earlier this week, though Duran doesn’t seem bothered by the lack of talks. “I’m just here to play baseball. If they come talk to me, then they come talk to me, but I’m just enjoying playing baseball with this team,” Duran said. The Sox aren’t exactly on a ticking clock, as Duran doesn’t reach arbitration eligibility until this coming winter, though he will likely qualify for Super Two status and thus earn a fourth arbitration year.

That extra arb year could make things very lucrative for Duran, given how has continued to up his game in 2024. He has hit .280/.347/.478 over 350 plate appearances this season, just about matching the numbers he posted over 362 PA in 2023. When combined with his excellent baserunning and solid defense in left and center field, Duran has generated 3.1 fWAR, a number topped by only eight players this season.

Considering how Duran struggled in his first two big league seasons, it isn’t surprising that the Red Sox wanted a little more data beyond just 2023 to make sure that Duran’s breakout was for real. Signing Duran to an extension will be a lot more expensive now than it would’ve been last winter, yet it still might allow the Red Sox to gain some certainty over Duran’s escalating arb salaries, and add another year of control or two over a player they might now view as a longer-term building block. That said, Duran’s age could also be a factor, as he turns 28 in September, and so Boston already has him arb-controlled through his age-31 season.

Nats Notes: Deadline, Winker, Hassell, Wood, Crews

By Steve Adams | June 17, 2024 at 4:15pm CDT

The Nationals have received trade interest in veterans Kyle Finnegan, Hunter Harvey and Lane Thomas but haven’t considered dealing any veteran pieces just yet, reports Jon Morosi of MLB Network. Washington, even with a sub-.500 record (35-36), is tied with the Padres for the final Wild Card spot in the National League at the moment and has not yet made a determination on how to approach this year’s trade deadline, Morosi adds.

It’s sensible for teams to inquire with the Nats, who entered the season as a playoff long-shot after spending the past two years in a rebuilding pattern. The Nats have outplayed expectations thanks to myriad factors (e.g. breakouts from MacKenzie Gore, Jake Irvin and Trevor Williams; a stronger-than-expected debut for lefty Mitchell Parker; a big step forward by CJ Abrams; a rebound by Jesse Winker). Those positive developments, plus widespread mediocrity in the National League, have thrust the Nationals into postseason conversations in mid-June. Williams’ recent flexor strain is a big damper on the team’s solid showing this year, but it’s only natural that GM Mike Rizzo and his staff aren’t yet ready to concede that they’ll be deadline sellers.

The next six weeks will be pivotal for the Nats. Holding the status quo or even playing winning ball between now and July 30 could push the Nationals to function as buyers. They may not be keen on dealing prospects for short-term rentals in a season like this, but targeting some names with multiple years of club control remaining feels plausible. On the other side of the coin, if the Nats fall a few games back in the standings and/or incur further injury problems of note, then listening on short-term veterans would be far likelier.

All three of the names listed by Morosi are controlled only through the 2025 season. Finnegan and Harvey would both draw widespread interest among contenders, given the perennial demand for bullpen help among playoff hopefuls. Harvey, in particular, has been dominant with a 28.3% strikeout rate and 5.5% walk rate en route to a 2.75 ERA. Finnegan leads the team with 20 saves and a terrific 1.78 ERA, though he’s benefited hugely from a microscopic .157 BABIP and a sky-high 94.7% strand rate — neither of which feels sustainable long-term.

Thomas drew interest at last summer’s trade deadline, but he’s likely someone the Nats value more than many of the teams seeking to acquire him. Washington reportedly priced him like an everyday player on last summer’s trade market — which is also how they use him — but Thomas carries enormous platoon splits and could be seen by other clubs as a player best deployed in a timeshare. He’s batting .327/.390/.588 against lefties this season (166 wRC+) but has an awful .196/.256/.330 output against righties (65 wRC+). His career splits aren’t quite that dramatic but are quite stark: .305/.364/.524 versus left-handers (141 wRC+) compared to .223/.290/.392 versus right-handers (86 wRC+).

The next few weeks will be pivotal for Rizzo and his lieutenants as they chart a course for this year’s deadline planning. If the Nats fall several games out of the race, all three of the names listed by Morosi could feasibly hit the market, and they likely wouldn’t be alone. Third baseman Nick Senzel and reliever Derek Law are also only controlled through 2025 as well. Veterans Dylan Floro and Eddie Rosario are free agents at the end of the current season, as are the aforementioned Williams and Winker.

Speaking of Winker, he had an injury scare over the weekend when he felt knee pain after taking a big turn at first base, slamming on the brakes and (unsuccessfully) diving back to the bag. He exited the game two innings later. Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com reports that Winker underwent an MRI that thankfully came back clean. He’s listed as day-to-day for now.

Winker, 30, isn’t hitting for much power this season but is drawing walks at his typically lofty rate (13.4%) and has made significantly better contact than he did over the past two seasons in a pair of down years with the Mariners and Brewers. He’s batting .265/.378/.390 with six homers and ten doubles through 268 plate appearances. Like Thomas, he’s better utilized in a platoon setting but has been an everyday player in Washington. Winker, to his credit, has a roughly league-average .239/.345/.338 slash in 84 plate appearances against fellow lefties, but he’s a career .210/.325/.338 hitter (89 wRC+) in left-on-left situations, compared to .279/.383/.467 (130 wRC+) against righties.

Eventual trades of Winker, Rosario and/or Thomas could open the door for any number of Nationals farmhands at the big league level. One near-MLB-ready option, Robert Hassell III, doesn’t seem as though he’ll be an option anytime soon, however. The Nats placed Hassell on the minor league injured list last week, and TalkNats.com reports that he’s dealing with another wrist injury and that the team plans to proceed cautiously. Hassell has had multiple wrist injuries in the past, including a broken hamate bone that necessitated surgery.

One of the most notable prospects acquired in the Nationals’ blockbuster trade of Juan Soto to the Padres, Hassell opened the season with a .278/.369/.369 slash in 215 plate appearances at the Double-A level. Those numbers don’t jump out, but they’re about 14% better than average in his currently pitcher-friendly environment, by measure of wRC+. They’re also a sizable step forward from the .225/.316/.324 batting line recorded by Hassell at the same minor league level last year (476 plate appearances).

Both Hassell and uber-prospect James Wood are on the minor league injured list at the moment — the latter due to a hamstring strain. Wood, in particular, could be an option to make his big league debut later this summer, with Andrew Golden of The Washington Post relaying on X today that Wood could return to game action this week. But Hassell could force his way into that conversation as well if he’s cleared to return sooner than later and continues to show improvement over last season. His prospect stock has taken a notable hit since the time of that swap, but he’s maintained strong plate discipline (11.6% walk rate) and cut his strikeout rate from last year’s alarming 31.9% to a far more palatable 21.4% in 2024.

Dylan Crews will also be in the mix, as he’s being promoted to Triple-A, per @PROducerIOTB on X. That’s come on the heels of Crews hitting .274/.343/.446 in Double-A this year while stealing 15 bases.

Blue Jays Notes: García, Rodríguez, Lukes

By Darragh McDonald | June 17, 2024 at 10:45am CDT

Blue Jays right-hander Yimi García departed yesterday’s game after calling for the trainer in the middle of an at-bat. After the game, manager John Schneider told reporters that García has some soreness in his right elbow, with Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet among those to relay the news on X.

In the coming days, García and the club will surely be evaluating the situation to see how it develops. Elbow issues are always concerning for a pitcher but losing García for any amount of time would not be ideal for Toronto. The bullpen has been a surprising weak point for the club this year, with the relief corps having a collective 4.69 earned run average this year, which is ahead of just the White Sox, Angels and Rockies.

Jordan Romano is currently on the injured list with right elbow inflammation, his second such IL stint already this year, and posted a 6.59 ERA in his 15 outings between those IL stints. Erik Swanson struggled badly enough to get optioned to the minors and hasn’t course corrected down in Buffalo. He had a 9.22 ERA with the Jays before getting sent down and has an 8.22 mark in his nine Triple-A appearances this year.

With those two being injured and struggling, and Chad Green also spending some time on the IL, García has stepped up as the club’s best reliever this year. He has five saves and ten holds with a 2.57 ERA, 34.6% strikeout rate and 6.5% walk rate.

If García were to need a stint on the IL, that would further deplete the club’s struggling bullpen. Green has a 1.76 ERA this year and might have to step into the closer’s role, though he’s currently skirting by with a .176 batting average on balls in play and 100% strand rate, neither of which are sustainable. His 21.8% strikeout rate is below league average and well below his career rate of 32.1%.

Aside from García and Green, the only other reliever on the active roster with an ERA under 4.00 is Trevor Richards at 3.09. However, his 24.8% strikeout rate and 10.9% walk rate are more passable than outstanding and he’s also benefited from a low BABIP of .143.

The group is already in a tenuous spot and that will be even more true if García needs to miss some time. If it turns out he has a significant elbow issue, that would also be poor timing for him on a personal level. The 33-year-old is having arguably the best full season of his career and is in the final year of his contract, heading to free agency this winter. If he can overcome this soreness and keep putting up good numbers, he’ll be set up nicely for a strong market but any kind of lingering health problem could negatively impact that.

On the rotation, the Jays seem to be on the verge of getting Yariel Rodríguez back. He is currently on the injured list and has been rehabbing, but Francys Romero reports on X that the righty is travelling to join the Jays today. Rodríguez probably won’t be reinstated immediately, as he just threw 79 pitches in a rehab outing yesterday and won’t be available for a few days, but he could rejoin the roster later in the week.

Alek Manoah went on the IL a couple of weeks ago and it was later reported that he would require season-ending UCL surgery. The Jays have four rotation spots taken by José Berríos, Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt and Yusei Kikuchi but have been sort of patching the last spot together without Manoah in the past few weeks. Bowden Francis has taken three turns as a bulk pitcher, with one official start and two outings behind an opener. The first outing wasn’t great, as he allowed four earned runs in 3 1/3 innings against the Orioles, but he then tossed four scoreless in each of the next two, against the Athletics and Guardians.

Francis may now be bumped to a long relief role in the bullpen with Rodríguez taking over the fifth spot. Rodríguez posted a 4.11 ERA in four starts earlier this year before landing on the IL with thoracic spine inflammation. He has since made six rehab appearances with a 1.93 ERA and 36.5% strikeout rate, though a 15.9% walk rate suggests there might be a bit of rust.

On the position player side, the Jays lost a bit of depth last week. Outfielder Nathan Lukes underwent surgery on the UCL in his left thumb, per Shi Davidi of Sportsnet on X. His timeline is unclear, with Davidi simply relaying that the outfielder is expected back later in the year.

Lukes was hitting a tremendous .333/.406/.480 in Triple-A this year, production which translates to a 134 wRC+. The Jays have been dipping into their farm lately to try to find more offense, calling up Spencer Horwitz and Addison Barger while jettisoning Cavan Biggio and Daniel Vogelbach. With Lukes hitting well, perhaps he would have garnered some consideration for a promotion as well, but that won’t be on the table while he’s recovering from surgery.

The Jays will have a bit less outfield depth for the time being but have plenty of options on the active roster. George Springer and Daulton Varsho are playing every day with Davis Schneider and Kevin Kiermaier getting sprinkled in as well. Infielders Addison Barger, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Spencer Horwitz and Ernie Clement all have varying degrees of outfield experience as well and could move out there if needed.

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