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Pirates’ JT Brubaker, Mike Burrows Receiving Second Opinions On Elbow Injuries

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Pirates director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk met with the team’s beat this afternoon (relayed by Rob Biertempfel of the Athletic). According to Tomczyk, right-handers JT Brubaker and Mike Burrows are each headed for second opinions after suffering elbow injuries. Burrows landed on the minor league injured list today with a sprain of his UCL.

It’s not a surprising development in Brubaker’s case. Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette first reported last week that Brubaker was weighing whether to undergo Tommy John surgery. That he’s now headed for a second opinion wouldn’t appear to bode well for his chance of avoiding going under the knife, though the club hasn’t definitively stated whether surgery is likely.

Brubaker had been one of Pittsburgh’s more durable arms over the past few seasons. He finished second on the team in innings in 2022 and topped 120 frames in each of the last two years. Brubaker has never posted an ERA better than last year’s 4.69 mark, but he’d shown decent strikeout and walk numbers while handling right-handed hitters reasonably well. If healthy, there was never much doubt he’d have secured a spot towards the back of the starting five again to enter the year.

That was put on hold this spring. Brubaker reported discomfort in his forearm/elbow area and was immediately shut down. The Bucs quickly placed him on the 60-day injured list, ruling him out at least until the end of May. With surgery seemingly a strong consideration, it’s possible he won’t be a factor at all this season.

Burrows hasn’t yet reached the major league level. An 11th round pick in 2018, the Connecticut native has been one of the Bucs’ more interesting pitching prospects. Baseball America slotted him ninth among Pittsburgh farmhands last offseason, praising his fastball-slider combination and solid control. BA suggests he could be a back-of-the-rotation starter if his changeup develops, although he’d probably be better suited for a bullpen role if he can’t find an average or better third pitch.

Pittsburgh added Burrows to the 40-man roster over the offseason to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. He started the year on optional assignment to Triple-A Indianapolis. After throwing five innings of one-run ball in his first outing, he was pulled in the second inning of his following appearance. Even if he can avoid surgery, the 23-year-old figures to be out for an extended period after imaging revealed some damage to the elbow ligament.

Burrows will continue to count against Pittsburgh’s 40-man roster while on the minor league injured list. If the Bucs wanted to clear a roster spot, they could recall him and place him on the major league 60-day IL. That’d require paying him at the prorated MLB minimum rate of $720K and allow him to accrue major league service.

Pirates Claim Eli Villalobos From Marlins

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The Pirates announced they’ve claimed reliever Eli Villalobos off waivers from the Marlins and optioned him to Triple-A Indianapolis. The righty had been designated for assignment over the weekend. In a corresponding move, Pittsburgh transferred shortstop Oneil Cruz to the 60-day injured list.

Villalobos has yet to make his major league debut. The 6’4″ hurler was added to Miami’s 40-man roster at the start of last offseason to keep another team from selecting him in the Rule 5 draft. It was a strong development for the Long Beach State product, who’d entered the professional ranks as a 14th-round pick in 2019. He earned the roster spot on the heels of a strong 2022 campaign in the upper minors.

Between Double-A Pensacola and Triple-A Jacksonville, Villalobos posted a 2.86 ERA over 78 2/3 innings. He’d punched out an excellent 32.7% of batters faced against a serviceable 9.3% walk percentage. He also induced ground balls at a better than average clip at both stops. Once he’d secured the 40-man spot, he looked like a short-term bullpen option in Miami.

The 25-year-old had a disastrous first few days of this season however. Optioned to Jacksonville out of camp, he’s surrendered six runs in three appearances totaling 4 2/3 frames. Villalobos has walked and struck out seven batters apiece. It was an exceedingly small sample but enough to squeeze him off the roster when the Fish needed a spot for long reliever Devin Smeltzer over the weekend.

Pittsburgh was operating with a de facto vacant roster spot. Cruz fractured his ankle on Sunday and underwent surgery that’s likely to sideline him at least into August. That made it a formality he’d wind up on the 60-day IL whenever the Bucs wanted to add someone else. Villalobos becomes the early beneficiary and will head to Indianapolis as bullpen depth. He has a full slate of minor league option years remaining and can shuttle on and off the MLB roster for the foreseeable future if he’s able to get back on track in his new organization.

Mets Claim Seth Elledge From Braves

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The Braves announced that right-hander Seth Elledge has been claimed off waivers by the Mets. The righty had been designated for assignment last week. The Mets also announced the move, relaying that Elledge has been optioned to the minors and that left-hander José Quintana has been transferred to the 60-day injured list in a corresponding move.

Elledge, 27 next month, has a small bit of major league experience. In a strange coincidence, he tossed 11 2/3 innings for the Cardinals in 2020 and again in 2021, posting a 4.63 ERA in both years. He was outrighted after the latter of those two seasons, becoming a free agent.

He signed a minor league deal with Atlanta last year and pitched well. In 46 1/3 Triple-A innings, he had a 3.88 ERA, 33.7% strikeout rate and 8.6% walk rate. That latter figure was probably the most significant, as control has been an issue for him throughout his career. The only other time he had a lower walk rate at any level was the 7.1% rate he had over 15 A-ball appearances in 2017. Most of his other stints have seen him push towards or beyond double digits.

That performance wasn’t enough to get him a big league call during the season, but the club did add Elledge to their roster in November to prevent him from becoming a free agent again. Since he still had options remaining, they were likely hoping to utilize him as depth, shuttling him to the big leagues and back to the farm as needed. However, they’ve added a great number of players to their roster in the early parts of the season, with Kevin Pillar, Jesse Chavez, Ehire Adrianza, Jared Shuster, Dylan Dodd and Danny Young all getting added in recent weeks. Those moves all eventually led to Elledge getting nudged off the roster.

For the Mets, they had a roster spot that was essentially freely available. It was reported back in the middle of March that Quintana would need rib surgery that will keep him from returning until at least July. That made his transfer to the 60-day injured list an inevitable formality and allowed them to grab an intriguing player like Elledge. Their bullpen has been hit hard by injuries already this year, with Edwin Díaz, Bryce Montes de Oca and Sam Coonrod are all on the 60-day IL while Tommy Hunter and Stephen Ridings are on the 15-day version. Elledge will head to the minors for now but could be called upon whenever the big league club needs a fresh arm.

Cubs Notes: Assad, Suzuki

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The Cubs optioned righty Javier Assad to Triple-A yesterday when recalling outfielder Nelson Velasquez, and Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune tweets that the current plan for Assad is to stretch him out for rotation work down in Iowa. Manager David Ross didn’t rule out Assad returning in a bullpen role for the big league club at some point, but the 25-year-old Assad impressed as a starter both in the minors and the big leagues last season.

Last season, Assad split his time between Double-A, Triple-A and the Majors. He logged a combined 2.66 ERA, 24.8% strikeout rate and 7.8% walk rate in 108 1/3 minor league frames, with all but two of his 23 appearances coming out of the rotation. In nine big league appearances, Assad made eight starts and turned in an overall 3.11 ERA through 37 2/3 frames. His 18.1% strikeout rate and 12% walk rate were well off his minor league pace, and that ERA looks generally unsustainable without some gains in one or both areas, but it was an impressive debut regardless. He also tossed 5 2/3 shutout innings for Mexico during the World Baseball Classic, fanning six opponents against just one walk.

As things stand, there’s no open spot in the rotation for Assad. Marcus Stroman, Justin Steele, Jameson Taillon, Drew Smyly and fellow 25-year-old Hayden Wesneski have those five starting spots locked down. Veteran Adrian Sampson and righty Caleb Kilian have both struggled in their first pair of Triple-A starts, however, and while that alone may not change their status as the next men up in the event of an injury, it’d become a greater concern if those struggles prove to be prolonged. Stretching Assad back out gives the Cubs a potentially viable alternative. Kyle Hendricks’ recovery from 2022 shoulder surgery is also worth monitoring, but he’s still building up and is not yet facing live hitters.

Turning to the lineup, it seems the Cubs could welcome back a key bat soon, as Ross also laid out a best-case scenario that sees Seiya Suzuki return to the club as soon as this weekend (Twitter link via Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Sun-Times). Suzuki has played in a pair of minor league games and tallied seven plate appearances already. A return this weekend would leave him a bit shy of the total number of plate appearances he’d pile up over the course of a full spring training, but he could still have 20-30 trips to the plate under his belt if he plays regularly with Iowa this week and is activated at some point this weekend.

An oblique strain suffered in the early stages of spring training kept Suzuki on the shelf throughout Cactus League play and into the regular season. Signed in the 2021-22 offseason to a five-year, $85MM contract, the now-28-year-old right fielder turned in a solid .262/.336/.433 batting line with 14 home runs, 22 doubles, a pair of triples and nine stolen bases (in 14 attempts) as a Major League rookie last year. A quality batted-ball profile and strong finish to his ’22 season led to some optimism that the longtime NPB star could take a step forward in his sophomore MLB campaign, but those efforts have been placed on hold for the season’s first couple weeks.

White Sox Place Tim Anderson On Injured List

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The White Sox announced Tuesday that shortstop Tim Anderson has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a sprain in his left knee. He’s expected to miss between two and four weeks of action, per the team. Infielder Lenyn Sosa is up from Triple-A Charlotte to take Anderson’s spot on the active roster.

Anderson appeared to suffer the injury during yesterday’s game against the Twins, when he attempted to corral an errant throw from Hanser Alberto in a poorly executed rundown between second and third base (video link). He originally remained in the game and finished out the inning, but Anderson was later lifted for a pinch-hitter.

The 29-year-old Anderson is out to a nice start, batting .298/.327/.404 and a perfect 5-for-5 showing in stolen bases to begin his 2023 campaign. His injury will likely slide Elvis Andrus over to shortstop or possibly open the door for Sosa to take some reps at the position. If it’s indeed Andrus taking the reins at short, as he did in 2022 when Anderson was injured, then second base reps will fall to a combination of Sosa, Alberto and Romy Gonzalez.

Any absence is notable for Anderson, who’s steadily been one of the best-hitting shortstops in the game for the past four years. Dating back to 2019, Anderson has posted at least a .301 batting average, .338 on-base percentage and .395 slugging percentage in every season. He’s a collective .317/.346/.471 hitter in just shy of 1700 plate appearances dating back to 2019, and his 122 wRC+ in that time (indicating he’s been 22% better than an average hitter after weighting for home park and league run-scoring environment) trails only six other shortstops: Fernando Tatis Jr., Xander Bogaerts, Trea Turner, Carlos Correa, Bo Bichette and Corey Seager.

Injuries have regularly hampered the White Sox over the past several seasons, and Anderson now becomes the second key member of the lineup on the injured list, joining slugger Eloy Jimenez, who’s expected to be sidelined into late April with a low-grade hamstring strain. The Sox are also currently missing relievers Liam Hendriks, Garrett Crochet, Joe Kelly and Matt Foster.

The Sox made the easy call to pick up a $12.5MM option on Anderson at the end of the 2023 season, and they’ll have a $14MM option or $1MM buyout over his 2024 campaign as well. Given Anderson’s overall track record, it’s hard to imagine Sox buying him out. The presence of that option at least makes it worth keeping a close eye on how Anderson recovers from this issue, but a one-year deal at that rate remains a relative bargain for a player of his caliber, so long as he’s healthy.

Ian Anderson To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

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11:02am: Anderson will indeed undergo Tommy John surgery, Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel of ESPN report (via Twitter). He’ll miss the remainder of the 2023 season.

Because Anderson was diagnosed with the injury after being optioned and making a start with Gwinnett, he’ll presumably head to the minor league injured list for now. However, if the Braves need to open a 40-man roster spot at any point, he can be recalled from Gwinnett and placed on the Major League 60-day IL.

That move, however, would entitle Anderson to big league service time. He started the year with two years and 46 days of MLB service, so if he spends 126 days or more on the MLB injured list, he’ll surpass three years of Major League service time, pushing up his path to free agency. If he spends fewer than 126 days on the big league injured list, he’d remain under club control for an additional four seasons.

10:56am: The Braves placed Ian Anderson on the minor league injured list due to an elbow issue last week, and while the team hasn’t formally announced a diagnosis or treatment plan, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman tweets that Tommy John surgery is a possibility for the right-hander. That’d of course point to a ligament issue for Anderson, though the extent and placement of any damage would impact the eventual course of treatment.

Regardless of the outcome, if surgery is indeed a consideration, that’s indicative of an absence of note for Anderson, a former No. 3 overall pick (2016) and Rookie of the Year candidate who has fallen out of Atlanta’s rotation picture in the wake of some 2022 struggles. Anderson, still just 24 years old, broke out with a combined 3.25 ERA in 160 2/3 innings between the 2020-21 seasons, grabbing hold of a rotation spot in Atlanta and staking a claim to a long-term place on the starting staff.

The 2022 season, however, marked a step back in just about every facet of Anderson’s game. The righty was tagged for an unsightly 5.00 ERA in 111 2/3 innings as his fastball velocity, strikeout rate, walk rate, ground-ball rate, exit velocity and hard-hit rate all trended in unfavorable directions. Anderson was also tagged for 13 earned runs in 21 2/3 Triple-A innings last season, and he followed a rocky 2023 spring training (five earned runs on five hits and eight walks in 7 1/3 innings) with a disastrous first outing with Triple-A Gwinnett. In his lone appearance of the 2023 season there, Anderson faced nine batters and yielded three home runs and two walks while also being charged with a pair of wild pitches.

If Anderson indeed needs surgery — be Tommy John surgery, an internal brace or any other type of elbow procedure — that’ll provide the Braves with a notable blow to their rotation depth. Atlanta has been without Kyle Wright thus far, though he’s slated to make his season debut today. Ace Max Fried is currently on the injured list owing to a hamstring strain. Charlie Morton and Spencer Strider have two starting spots spoken for, and Bryce Elder has delivered a pair of strong outings as well. Rookie southpaws Jared Shuster and Dylan Dodd have both been hit hard in their MLB debuts (two starts apiece).

As things stand, the Braves can hope for a swift return from Fried, which would set the stage for a rotation of him, Strider, Wright, Morton and Elder, with Shuster and Dodd continuing to develop in Gwinnett. Oft-injured righty Michael Soroka is also hoping for a big league return and is in the Gwinnett rotation, but he’s building up his pitch count presently and threw just 38 innings between the minors and big leagues combined from 2020-22. Soroka is on the mound this morning and has already tossed two innings for Gwinnett as of this writing, but it remains to be seen when he’ll be considered for the Major League staff.

The Opener: Wright, Marquez, MLBTR Chat

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As the regular season continues, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. Wright to make season debut:

Braves right-hander Kyle Wright figures to make his season debut today, starting this evening’s game against the Reds. Wright was slowed during camp due to shoulder soreness, but dominated for Atlanta in 2022, posting a 3.19 ERA (128 ERA+) with a 3.58 FIP in 180 1/3 innings of work, a performance strong enough to earn him downballot votes in NL Cy Young Award voting. To make room for Wright on the 26-man roster, the club will need to make a corresponding move of some sort before tonight’s game. Wright figures to help stabilize a Braves rotation that has battled injuries and uncertainty early in the 2023 season, with Max Fried suffering a hamstring strain during his first start of the season and rookie southpaws Jared Shuster and Dylan Dodd both struggling in their first taste of big league action.

2. Marquez to be reevaluated:

Rockies right-hander German Marquez left his start yesterday after just 62 pitches due to forearm tightness. While both Marquez himself and manager Bud Black expressed optimism that the issue is a minor one, any discomfort in a pitcher’s forearm is cause for concern. While it’s unknown if Marquez will undergo any imaging at this point, the plan is for right-hander to be reevaluated today. Should Marquez miss any time, Peter Lambert and Noah Davis are both possible options to take his turn in the rotation. Both are already on the 40-man roster and are stretched out as starters in Triple-A.

3. MLBTR Chat today:

If the beginning of the regular season has spurred any questions in your mind about your favorite team or the league as a whole, MLBTR’s Steve Adams is holding a live chat with readers at 1pm CT today. You can click here to ask a question in advance, join in live once the chat begins, or read the transcript once the chat is complete.

In addition, the next episode of the MLB Trade Rumors podcast is set to release tomorrow morning. MLBTR readers are encouraged to submit questions to be answered on the podcast by sending an email to mlbtrpod@gmail.com. In the meantime, don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Adam Duvall Diagnosed With Fractured Wrist, Will Not Require Surgery

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Red Sox center fielder Adam Duvall has been diagnosed with a distal radius fracture in his left wrist, manager Alex Cora announced to reporters Monday (Twitter link via Ian Browne of MLB.com). He’ll be placed on the 10-day injured list for now, with the expectation that he’ll miss several weeks of action. The team does not yet have an exact timetable for his expected recovery, though Cora told reporters that Duvall will not require surgery (via Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe). Infielder Bobby Dalbec is up from Triple-A Worcester in place of Duvall, and utilityman Rob Refsnyder started tonight’s game in center field.

Duvall exited yesterday’s game after making a diving play in the outfield, appearing to injure the same left wrist on which he had season-ending surgery a year ago. He’s been not only the Red Sox’ hottest hitter but one of the hottest bats in all of baseball, opening the season with a .455/.514/1.030 batting line and four home runs in 37 trips to the plate.

While no one can be expected to continue on at that pace — Duvall is a career .233/.292/.472 hitter — there were still some encouraging gains in this season’s early showing. Duvall’s 25.6% chase rate on pitches of the plate is the lowest of his career and an improvement by 10 percentage points over his career mark, and his 85.5% contact rate dwarfs his career mark of 74.2%. Unsurprisingly, given the early improvements in his approach, Duvall’s 13.5% strikeout rate is less than half his career 28.3% mark.

With Duvall sidelined, it’ll likely fall to Refsnyder and Raimel Tapia to man things in center field. Refsnyder will get the first crack at that tonight, with the Sox facing left-hander Jalen Beeks in tonight’s date with the undefeated Rays. Moving forward, it’s reasonable to expect the left-handed-hitting Tapia to get the majority of looks on the larger half of what looks like a conventional platoon. If the Sox want to shift Enrique Hernandez from the infield back to the outfield, he’d be another option in center.

The injury is tough for Duvall not only because it’ll derail his hot start but also due to the nature of his contract. Duvall is a free agent after the season, having inked a one-year, $7MM contract over the winter and was hoping for a healthy, productive campaign to line him up for a multi-year deal next winter. His contract also contains up to $3MM worth of incentives based on plate appearances. Duvall earns $500K bonuses for reaching each of 350, 400, 450 and 500 plate appearances, as well as a $1MM bonus upon reaching 550 trips to the plate. Duvall’s broken wrist all but assures that he won’t reach the very top end of that bonus structure, though depending on how quickly he’s able to return, he could still have a chance to reach those first couple milestones.

German Marquez Leaves Start With Forearm Tightness

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Rockies hurler Germán Márquez left tonight’s win over the Cardinals after just five innings and 62 pitches. He’d come out to warm up in the sixth but called out the trainer and gestured toward the outside of his forearm. Postgame, manager Bud Black called the issue forearm tightness (link via Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post).

It’s far too early for the Rox to have a definitive diagnosis. Black expressed hope the issue isn’t serious and didn’t rule out the possibility of Márquez making his next start. Thomas Harding of MLB.com tweets that Márquez also downplayed his concern, though he noted he’s also experienced some forearm tightness between his starts. Whether he’ll be able to avoid the injured list will be clearer after he undergoes further evaluation tomorrow.

Forearm tightness is an ominous diagnosis for any pitcher. It can be a precursor to ligament or muscular damage in the forearm/elbow area. That doesn’t inherently mean Márquez’s issue is serious, of course, but it’ll be cause for concern for Colorado until there’s more clarity on what’s causing the discomfort.

Márquez is the top pitcher on the Rockies’ staff. He’s allowed eight runs in 16 1/3 innings this season but struck out 13 while issuing only two walks. The Venezuelan-born hurler had a down 2022 season, allowing nearly five earned runs per nine over 31 starts. Between 2017-21, he worked to a 4.25 ERA with an above-average 24% strikeout rate.

Rotation depth is a major concern for Colorado. Antonio Senzatela is still recovering from last summer’s torn ACL. Beyond Márquez and Kyle Freeland, the Rox currently have José Ureña, Ryan Feltner and Austin Gomber rounding out the starting five. Ureña and Feltner, in particular, have been hit hard in their first two starts. Long reliever Connor Seabold and Peter Lambert appear to be the top options to step into the rotation should Márquez miss any time.

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