Notes

AL Notes: Urias, Ortiz, Romano, Red Sox, Springs

By Mark Polishuk | April 15, 2023 at 9:00pm CDT

Ramon Urias is in concussion protocol after a scary incident in the Orioles’ 7-6 loss to the White Sox today. Urias was hit in the head by a Kendall Graveman fastball in the seventh inning of the game, but fortunately the infielder was able to leave the field under his own power. At the very least, Urias certainly doesn’t look like he’ll be playing in Sunday’ game, and it remains to be seen if a stint on the seven-day concussion-related injury list is necessary. Urias had a single and two walks prior to his HBP today, boosting the Gold Glover’s slash line to a productive .250./.388/.400 over his first 49 plate appearances of the season.

Infielder Joey Ortiz would be the roster replacement if Urias is sidelined, as MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko was among the reporters who noted that Ortiz was removed from the lineup for Triple-A Norfolk tonight. Since the Orioles don’t play on Monday, it’s possible the club might not make a roster move prior to Sunday’s game, in order to give Urias more time to recover and undergo further examination in the hopes that an IL stint could be avoided. Ortiz has yet to make his MLB debut, and is yet another talented youngster from Baltimore’s farm system — both MLB Pipeline and Baseball America included Ortiz near the end of their preseason top-100 prospect lists.

NL East Notes: Scherzer, Arcia, Sosa, Suarez, Harper

By Mark Polishuk | April 15, 2023 at 7:16pm CDT

Max Scherzer was scheduled to start for the Mets on Sunday against the Athletics, but Jose Butto will now take the hill tomorrow and Scherzer will be pushed to Wednesday. Mets manager Buck Showalter told the New York Post’s Mike Puma (Twitter links) and other reporters that Scherzer has some “lingering soreness” in his side, though Scherzer said that scans of the area below his scapula didn’t reveal any structural damage.

Butto was tentatively expected to receive a spot start at some point during the Mets’ road trip, so today’s news seems mostly precautionary in nature, notwithstanding Scherzer’s injury history. There might also be a bit of gamesmanship at play, since rather than face the struggling A’s, Scherzer is now lined up to face the Dodgers on Wednesday in a game with more implications on the NL playoff race.

Pitching Notes: Woodruff, Verlander, Wainwright

By Simon Hampton | April 15, 2023 at 9:39am CDT

Brewers starter Brandon Woodruff had an MRI on his right shoulder and remains shut down until doctors map out a path forward, manager Craig Counsell relayed to Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The team has already placed Woodruff on the IL.

There was initial hope that it’d just be a short stint on the IL, and that hasn’t been ruled out yet, but obviously the uncertainty over how best to proceed is a little concerning. Woodruff made another strong start to the season, giving up just one earned run across two starts and 11 1/3 innings. An injury for any length of time would be a significant blow to the Brewers, who have made a strong start to the season.

Woodruff has blossomed into one of the game’s better starting pitchers in recent years, compiling a 2.97 ERA across 94 starts since the 2019 season. While he did miss some time for a high ankle sprain last year, he’s never missed time in the big leagues with an arm-related injury.

Here’s a few more notes:

Sonja Chen of MLB.com relays an update from Mets manager Buck Showalter on injured starter Justin Verlander. The veteran is scheduled for a bullpen in Florida, and then if that goes well he’ll throw another side before facing live batters. Once he’s ticked off those, he could be ready for a Mets debut. Verlander hit the shelf after suffering a low-grade strain of the teres major muscle towards the end of spring training. While there’s no firm timetable for his return just yet, it does appear that Mets fans won’t have to wait too much longer to see their star off-season recruit make his debut. The 40-year old Verlander signed with the Mets on a two-year, $86.67MM deal this winter after making 28 starts of 1.75 ERA ball for the Astros last year.
John Denton of MLB.com tweets that Cardinals veteran Adam Wainwright threw a 50-pitch simulated game prior to last night’s game against the Pirates at Busch Stadium. Wainwright is working his way back from a groin injury suffered in spring training. It’s not entirely clear what the next step for Wainwright is, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him go and make a rehab start at some point. The 41-year old has remained a steady presence in the Cardinals’ rotation, making 32 starts in each of the past two seasons and working to a combined 3.37 ERA. Jake Woodward made a strong start against the Pirates last night, but he would appear the likeliest to drop out of the rotation once Wainwright returns.

Red Sox Notes: Duvall, Bello, Paxton

By Simon Hampton | April 15, 2023 at 8:00am CDT

Adam Duvall’s hot start to the season was cruelly halted when he sustained a distal radius fracture in his left wrist. There was relief initially that Duvall wouldn’t require surgery, but it still appears it’ll be a lengthy recovery time, with Duvall telling Alex Speier of the Boston Globe that he won’t be able to swing the bat for six weeks.

“[It’s] maybe six weeks before I can swing again. I’m going to keep running and keep throwing to stay in shape,” Duvall said.

It’s still hard to pinpoint exactly when Duvall might be ready to return to action, but certainly six weeks plus time to build back up again would suggest a return well into the summer. Duvall, a lifetime .233/.292/.472 hitter, went 15-for-33 over his first eight games of the season, slugging four home runs while manning center field for the Red Sox.

It’s a much shorter timeline for starter Brayan Bello to return to the team. The youngster is slated to return on Monday against Shohei Ohtani and the Angels on Boston Marathon day, per Speier. Bello was slowed this spring discomfort in his elbow. Such discomfort is usually hugely alarming in a young pitcher, but it seems it was in fact minor and Bello will only miss the first few weeks of the season.

Bello worked to a 4.71 ERA over 57 1/3 innings last year with a 20.5% strikeout rate and a 10.1% walk rate. Bello was tagged for a .404 opponent BABIP, which suggests he might expect to be a little more fortunate in that department over a larger sample size, and indeed his FIP sat at 2.94.

It’ll be intriguing to see how Boston’s rotation shapes up over the next few weeks. Bello’s return will likely be followed by veteran James Paxton, who made another minor league rehab start as he works his way back from a hamstring injury. According to Speier, manager Alex Cora expects Paxton to make at least one more rehab start, but it seemingly won’t be long before he too can be activated from the IL.

Since 2020, Paxton has made just six starts for the Yankees and Mariners, getting tagged for a 6.65 ERA in that small number as he battled injury. He signed with the Red Sox last season, but Tommy John recovery and a lat strain prevented him from ever taking to the mound. He exercised a $4MM player option ahead of the 2023 campaign, but the hamstring injury sustained in spring training delayed his debut.

When he does return the Red Sox will have some decisions to make in their rotation. Chris Sale and Corey Kluber likely aren’t going anywhere, which would leave Tanner Houck, Nick Pivetta and Garrett Whitlock as the options to be forced out. The Sox seemed determined to give Whitlock a shot at becoming a starter, but if he struggles he might be an easy option to return to a relief role where he found tremendous success. Of course, given the injury history of a number of Boston’s starters, it’s possible all of this just figures itself out or they opt to go with a larger rotation to reduce the workload on their arms.

Injury Notes: Cueto, Kelly, Acevedo

By Darragh McDonald | April 13, 2023 at 10:21pm CDT

Right-hander Johnny Cueto departed his first outing for the Marlins after recording just three outs and was later placed on the 15-day injured list with biceps tightness. The club hasn’t provided any updates on his expected return timeline but Barry Jackson and Craig Mish of the Miami Herald provided a pessimistic update this week, reporting that Cueto could be out of action for several weeks.

That still doesn’t provide much clarity, though it does at least indicate that the 37-year-old Cueto seems ticketed for more than a minimum stay on the IL. That’s a frustrating development for the club, who just signed Cueto to a one-year, $8.5MM deal this offseason. It now seems possible that the veteran could miss a decent chunk of the campaign. He’s coming off a strong 2022 season, but injuries have had an impact on him in previous years. He only made 13 starts over 2018 and 2019 combined due to an ankle injury and Tommy John surgery. He then struggled in 2020 before having improved results over 2021 and 2022.

Without Cueto, the Marlins should still have a good rotation consisting of Sandy Alcantara, Edward Cabrera, Jesús Luzardo, Trevor Rogers and Braxton Garrett, though the depth will be weaker as long as Cueto is out of the picture. The club has a $10.5MM option for his services in 2024 that comes with a $2.5MM buyout. How they feel about that net $8MM decision will surely be impacted by when he returns and how effective he looks at that point.

Some other injury notes from around the league…

The Red Sox announced earlier today that they recalled right-hander Kutter Crawford while placing fellow righty Zack Kelly on the 15-day injured list with right elbow inflammation. Chris Cotillo of MassLive reported on the moves prior to the official announcement. Kelly was removed from yesterday’s game in obvious distress, both physical and emotional, alternating between grabbing at his elbow area and hiding his face in his hands. “Definitely emotional for two reasons,” Kelly said to Cotillo after the game. “One, because I care. I care about this game, these guys and I enjoy doing this. Two, just all the s*** I went through to get here. It’s just a lot. Whenever something like that happens, you get emotional about it.” Kelly, 28, was an undrafted free agent who toiled away in the minors for many years before finally reaching the big leagues last year. He posted a 3.95 ERA over 13 appearances in 2022 and had a 3.68 mark through six games here in 2023. More information will surely come after Kelly and the club do further testing, but it’s a concerning development for a guy who has obviously walked a long road to make it to the big leagues.
The Athletics placed right-hander Domingo Acevedo on the 15-day injured list yesterday. It seems it was an unfortunate freak accident that led to this move, as manager Mark Kotsay told Joe Trezza of MLB.com that Acevedo slipped walking into the dugout on Monday and suffered a left back strain. It’s unclear how long he will be out of action, but the issue is significant enough that Acevedo underwent an MRI, with those results still not publicly known. The 29-year-old righty had a solid season last year, posting a 3.33 ERA over 70 appearances for the A’s, striking out 21.8% of opponents while walking just 6.4%. He has a 13.50 ERA this year, but in a small sample of just five appearances. His return to action will become more clear once the club gets a chance to examine his MRI results.

Rockies Notes: Rotation, Senzatela, Rolison

By Anthony Franco | April 12, 2023 at 10:41pm CDT

The Rockies were dealt a hit to their rotation this week. Germán Márquez left Monday’s start with a forearm strain that necessitated a 15-day injured list placement. While he and the club have downplayed their concern based on an MRI that didn’t reveal any significant structural issues, they’ll have to plug a short-term vacancy in the starting five.

Manager Bud Black addressed the situation with reporters this afternoon (relayed by Patrick Lyons of DNVR). Black pointed to righties Noah Davis, Peter Lambert and Karl Kauffmann as candidates to assume the vacant spot. All three are currently in Triple-A Albuquerque. Lambert and Davis were optioned there to start the season, while Kauffmann was assigned there as a player who is not currently on the 40-man roster.

Davis made his MLB debut last season with one relief outing. He spent the bulk of the year starting for Double-A Hartford, where he put up a 5.54 ERA over 26 starts. The 25-year-old struggled with walks and home runs but punched out more than a quarter of opponents at the level. He’s walked seven and struck out six over three starts in Albuquerque.

Lambert, also 25, logged 95 big league innings between 2019-21. The former second round pick was once a reasonably promising prospect. He struggled to a 7.48 ERA in his first 21 MLB starts, though, and injuries have robbed him of most of the last three seasons. Lambert has allowed three runs with three strikeouts and walks apiece in 4 1/3 Triple-A innings this year.

Kauffmann has yet to make his big league debut. He split last year between Hartford and Albuquerque, pitching to a solid 4.06 ERA over 15 starts at the former stop. He allowed more than six earned runs per nine innings over 13 outings upon being bumped up to the top minor league level. The 25-year-old has allowed eight runs in nine frames there this year.

Rotation depth has been a concern for the Rockies since the season opened. Beyond Márquez, only Kyle Freeland was an established member of the season-opening starting five. José Ureña and Austin Gomber posted middling numbers last year, while the Rockies turned to Ryan Feltner in the fifth spot. That’s in part because Antonio Senzatela is still rehabbing from the ACL tear he suffered last summer, though he’ll take a notable step forward this week.

Danielle Allentuck of the Denver Gazette tweets that Senzatela will make his first rehab start on Friday. He’s scheduled to toss two innings in a complex league game. The Rockies have maintained they expect Senzatela back on the Coors Field mound sometime in May and it seems he’s still on track for that target.

Meanwhile, left-hander Ryan Rolison threw a side session yesterday without issue, as reflected on the MLB.com injury tracker. He’s progressing towards game action. Colorado’s first round draftee in 2018, the southpaw is on the 40-man roster but hasn’t yet reached the majors. Rolison underwent shoulder surgery last June. He could be in line for his MLB debut at some point this season after starting ten games in Triple-A last year.

Yankees Notes: Rodón, Severino, Bader

By Darragh McDonald | April 11, 2023 at 5:45pm CDT

Yankees left-hander Carlos Rodón has yet to make his debut with the club, having spent the early parts of the season on the injured list due to a forearm strain. It was reported last week that he was set to progress towards throwing live batting practice but manager Aaron Boone says Rodón was recently delayed by some back tightness, per Talkin’ Yanks. That has set his progress back by at least a few days.

Rodón is capable of being one of the best pitchers on the planet when healthy, as evidenced by his 2.88 ERA and 33.4% strikeout rate last year over 178 innings. However, he’s had difficult staying healthy for extended stretches. In his eight major league seasons, last year was only the second time he reached the 140-inning plateau. Nonetheless, the Yanks took a shot on him by signing him to a six-year, $162MM deal.

That put Rodón into a high-upside but volatile rotation that has seen three of its members start the season on the injured list, as right-handers Luis Severino and Frankie Montas are also on the shelf. That’s led to Gerrit Cole and Nestor Cortes being joined by depth options like Domingo Germán, Clarke Schmidt and Jhony Brito. Despite those issues, the club is still holding its own with a 6-4 record thus far, but they’ll surely be better off once Rodón is healthy and can jump back in. The Yanks would undoubtedly love to have him back as soon as possible but will likely avoid rushing him at this time of year, prioritizing his long-term health with many months still remaining on the schedule. Boone tells Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News that Rodón will throw another bullpen tomorrow and characterized an April return as “a little aggressive.”

Speaking of Severino, he is also trying to work his way back from the injured list, as mentioned. Severino suffered a lat strain towards the end of March, just as the season was set to kick off. He threw a bullpen session yesterday, per Erik Boland of Newsday, and came out of it feeling good. He says he hasn’t felt his injury in over a week, which is an encouraging sign. Much like Rodon, Severino’s career has been a mix of excellent results and injury absences. He topped 190 innings in both 2017 and 2018, though tossed only 18 total frames over 2019-2021 and 102 last year. But when healthy enough to take the mound, he’s posted a 3.39 career ERA, 27.2% strikeout rate, 6.9% walk rate and 45.9% ground ball rate. His return timeline will undoubtedly come into focus as he continues ramping up in the near future.

Boone also provided Talkin’ Yanks with an update on Harrison Bader, as relayed by Brendan Kuty of The Athletic. The outfielder has been dealing with an oblique strain for about a month and has yet to debut this season. Boone says he progressed to full hitting machine batting practice and could start a rehab assignment next week. Injuries have been an ongoing issue for Bader in his time as a Yankee, as he was already on the IL with plantar fasciitis when they traded for him last year. He eventually returned and played 14 regular season games, along with nine more in the playoffs.

Bader has been around league average at the plate in his career, as his .245/.317/.405 batting line amounts to a wRC+ of 97. However, his defense is very well rated, already accruing 48 Defensive Runs Saved, 59 Outs Above Average and has a grade of 42.1 from Ultimate Zone Rating. All three of those figures place him in the top 10 among all outfielders in the league from 2017 to the present.

In Bader’s absence, most of the playing time has gone to Aaron Judge, with a couple of starts along going to Isiah Kiner-Falefa, while the corner outfield duties have been split between Giancarlo Stanton, Franchy Cordero, Oswaldo Cabrera and Aaron Hicks. Once Bader comes back, he figures to push Judge back into a corner, potentially putting a dent in the playing time of that group.

Phillies Notes: Painter, Sanchez, Hoskins

By Anthony Franco | April 10, 2023 at 10:03pm CDT

The Phillies entered the season shorthanded in the rotation. That’s in large part because of an injury to Andrew Painter, a top pitching prospect who entered camp in a battle for the final starting spot. That was put on hold when Painter was diagnosed with a sprain of the UCL in his throwing elbow in mid-March.

Philadelphia predictably shut the highly-touted righty down. He spent around five weeks on a no-throw program before playing catch for the first time today, tweets Matt Gelb of the Athletic. It’s the first step in Painter’s throwing program, which the Phils will assuredly take with plenty of caution. There’s still not much clarity on the 20-year-old’s overall recovery timetable but it’s notable that he’s again begun throwing.

Painter is on the minor league injured list and not yet on the 40-man roster. He still hasn’t thrown a pitch at Triple-A, with five Double-A starts late in the 2022 season representing his only regular season action in the upper minors. While he was in consideration for an MLB job out of camp, he’ll almost certainly spend some time in the minors to build his pitch count once he’s ready for game action down the line.

Losing Painter all but assured Bailey Falter of a rotation spot. The Phils then lost Ranger Suárez to the IL, pushing Matt Strahm from the bullpen into the rotation. Southpaw Cristopher Sánchez might have gotten the nod over Strahm had he not also gotten hurt in Spring Training. Sánchez has been battling triceps soreness and opened the year on the IL. His injury doesn’t seem especially serious, as he’s been throwing bullpen sessions in recent days.

Sánchez will report to Triple-A Lehigh Valley tomorrow for a rehab assignment, according to the MLB.com injury tracker. He’s expected to log three innings for the IronPigs. Sánchez working in a multi-inning capacity will give the Phils some needed depth behind their current starting five of Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, Taijuan Walker, Falter and Strahm.

Of course, the spring injuries weren’t limited to the pitching staff. The toughest blow the Phils were dealt this spring came when they lost slugger Rhys Hoskins to an ACL tear in his left knee. That seems likely to cost him the entire 2023 season but the Phillies have refrained from officially declaring him out for the year.

Hoskins met with reporters today, the first time he’d addressed the media since the injury. The 30-year-old first baseman expressed continued hope he could play a part in a potential postseason run (link via Dan Gelston of the Associated Press). “I’m going to do everything in my power to give myself an opportunity that if and when we are playing in late October, I have a chance to contribute to that.”

The injury opened a season-opening path to playing time at first base for Darick Hall. That audition proved unfortunately brief, as Hall suffered a thumb injury last week and will soon undergo surgery. The Phils now have a loose platoon arrangement between Kody Clemens and Alec Bohm (with Edmundo Sosa taking third base when Bohm slides across the diamond) at the position.

Injury Notes: McKenzie, Hernandez, Suarez

By Darragh McDonald | April 10, 2023 at 1:35pm CDT

Guardians right-hander Triston McKenzie was shut down two weeks ago with a strain of the teres major muscle in his throwing shoulder. The club provided an update to reporters today, including Ryan Lewis of the Akron Beacon Journal, relaying that McKenzie would start a throwing program this week. His ultimate return will depend on how that throwing program goes.

McKenzie had a tremendous breakout season last year, posting a 2.96 ERA over 191 1/3 innings, striking out 25.6% of opponents while walking just 5.9%. He also made two postseason starts for the Guards last year with a 3.27 ERA over 11 innings. He’ll be looking to build on that strong campaign but will have to get healthy first. The two-week shutdown period appears to have helped alleviate the injury, allowing him to start building towards a return.

Despite the recent injury, McKenzie was listed as one of several players the Guardians were trying to sign to extensions. In the end, they got a deal done with Andrés Giménez and Trevor Stephan but not McKenzie. He will qualify for arbitration for the first time after this season and is slated for free agency after 2026. Hunter Gaddis took over McKenzie’s rotation spot in the wake of the injury, with mixed results so far. He allowed four earned runs over 3 2/3 innings against the Mariners in his first outing, but then tossed six shutout innings against the A’s in his second turn.

Some other injury situations from around the majors…

Royals right-hander Carlos Hernández departed last night’s game accompanied by the trainer, as relayed by Anne Rogers of MLB.com, who noted that the issue appeared to be his hamstring. The hard-throwing Hernandez has averaged around 97 mph in his career thus far but has mixed results to show for it. He had a 3.68 ERA in 2021 but that number jumped to 7.39 last year. The latter figure was likely affected by some bad luck, given his .339 batting average on balls in play and 59.4% strand rate. He has started well here in 2023 with a 2.45 ERA in a small sample of 3 2/3 innings. The status of his health is still unclear at the moment, with updates surely to be revealed in the coming days.
Padres right-hander Robert Suarez began the season on the injured list due to elbow inflammation and doesn’t appear close to a return. Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports that Suarez has had his progression slowed because he “felt something” while playing catch recently. It’s not certain what the issue is or how long Suarez will be delayed, but it’s not an ideal start to his new contract. After many years in Japan, Suarez played for the Padres last year and posted a 2.27 ERA while striking out 31.9% of batters faced. He opted out of his contract but re-signed with the Friars on an aggressive five-year, $46MM pact. With Suarez out of action, the club has been giving its high-leverage work to pitchers like Josh Hader, Luis Garcia and Steven Wilson.

Rays Notes: Glasnow, Fleming, Walls

By Nick Deeds | April 9, 2023 at 9:02pm CDT

Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times noted yesterday that starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow is making progress in his rehab from an oblique strain he suffered this spring. Glasnow, who’s in the first year of the two-year extension he signed with the Rays last summer, has managed just 6 2/3 innings of work since he underwent Tommy John surgery partway through the 2021 season and hasn’t broken 100 innings in a season since 2018. When he is on the mound, however, he’s among the most dominant starters in the game, with a 2.75 ERA (152 ERA+) in 212 2/3 innings of work since the start of the 2019 season with a phenomenal 36% strikeout rate.

Topkin notes that Glasnow is set to begin throwing off a mound this week, and that the Rays hope he will be built up to 5 innings around the middle of May. That puts him slightly behind the six-to-eight week timeframe that was announced alongside Glasnow’s diagnosis at the end of February, though when he does return he’ll join a rotation of Jeffrey Springs, Shane McClanahan, Drew Rasmussen, and Zach Eflin that has been dominant to open the 2023 season, with those four starters having combined for a 1.29 ERA in their first seven starts of the season.

As phenomenal as that front four has been, there’s more questions surrounding the fifth spot in the rotation, at least until Glasnow returns to solidify it. Lefty Josh Fleming received the first start of the season in that spot, though Kristie Ackert of the Tampa Bay Times notes that he won’t be starting tomorrow’s game against the Red Sox after allowing five runs on ten hits in three innings of work to the Nationals, with the club instead set to give the ball of lefty Jalen Beeks as an opener, taking advantage of the club’s well-rested bullpen. Beeks, who had a 2.80 ERA in 61 innings last year, made seven starts for the club in 2022. That being said, the lefty went longer than two innings just once all season, in a relief appearance that lasted 2 1/3 innings.

While the club appears to be set up well regarding the pitching staff, there’s reason for concern on the other side of the ball, as the day after center fielder Jose Siri went on the injured list with a strained hamstring, it now appears possible that shortstop Taylor Walls may join him. Walls suffered an injury to his elbow on Friday and hasn’t played this weekend, with Ackert noting the club plans to send him for imaging on Monday. If Walls requires a stint on the injured list, Ackert notes that infielder Jonathan Aranda is traveling with the team and will likely step in to take over Walls’s roster spot. Walls struggled with the bat in 2022, slashing a meager .172/.268/.285 in 142 games.

Aranda, who was among the Rays’ top prospects prior to losing rookie eligibility in 2022, struggled in his MLB debut, slashing just .192/.276/.321 in 32 games. Aranda has always torn the cover off the ball in the minor leagues, however, with a career .915 OPS in 111 career games at the Triple-A level. A potential injured list stint for Walls could also open up playing time for Vidal Brujan, who was added to the roster in the wake of Siri’s injury. Brujan was among the top prospects in the sport when he made his debut in 2021, but in 62 games from 2021-2022, the young switch-hitter failed to establish himself at the major league level. Still, he has 223 career steals in the minors and experience in all three outfield spots in addition to third base, second base, and shortstop, leaving him as a valuable utility option should he prove himself capable of hitting in the major leagues.

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