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Giants Place Joey Bart On 10-Day IL, Recall Sean Hjelle

By Nick Deeds | April 2, 2023 at 11:46am CDT

The Giants are placing catcher Joey Bart on the 10-day injured list and recalling Sean Hjelle from Triple-A, according to MLB.com’s Maria Guardado. Bart was previously reported to be dealing with back tightness and has been diagnosed with a mild back strain. Susan Sussler of the San Francisco Chronicle notes that Bart is expected to miss minimal time.

Though he excelled in the lower levels of the minor leagues after being picked second overall in the 2018, advancing from rookie ball all the way to Double-A in just 130 games, Bart has struggled at the major league level since his debut during the shortened 2020 season, posting a .222/.294/.351 slash line in 408 plate appearances in the the big leagues while striking out 38% of the time. While Bart figures to get another opportunity to establish himself as the long-term catcher for the Giants this season, that will now have to be put on hold while he nurses his injury.

With Bart sidelined for the time being, the Giants are down to two catchers on their active roster, with Roberto Perez being backed up by Rule 5 pick Blake Sabol. Sabol had been playing in the outfielder while the Giants were rostering three catchers with Austin Slater and Mitch Haniger on the injured list, but now figures to see more time behind the plate as San Francisco looks to figure out if he can stick on the roster long-term. That should open up playing time for the likes of JD Davis, Matt Beaty, and Bryce Johnson.

That opens the door for Hjelle to join the big league roster. Hjelle, 25, is routinely considered to be among San Francisco’s top 10 prospects. He made his major league debut last season, and though he struggled in terms of results with a 5.76 ERA in 25 innings of work, that figure is inflated by a .400 BABIP. Hjelle’s 24.3% strikeout rate, 7.0% walk rate, and 3.51 FIP all indicate his performance was much stronger than the top level results would otherwise imply. With the Giants flush in rotation options, Hjelle is likely ticketed for the bullpen, though he could be used in a multi-inning role as he was last season, when seven of his eight appearances saw him face 12+ batters.

Phillies Sign Jeff Hoffman To Minor League Contract

By Nick Deeds | April 2, 2023 at 10:37am CDT

Right-hander Jeff Hoffman has signed a minor league contract with the Phillies, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post. The Phillies have added him to their Triple-A roster. According to Heyman, Hoffman will make $1.3MM in the majors and has opt-outs available to him on May 1 and July 1.

Hoffman, the 9th overall pick of the 2014 draft, began his career as a member of the Blue Jays before being traded to the Rockies as part of the Troy Tulowitzki trade. He made his major league debut with the Rockies in 2016, but struggled to a 4.88 ERA and 6.27 FIP in 31 1/3 innings. Though he continued to see playing time in a swing role over the next four seasons, Hoffman never found his footing in Colorado, ending his time with the Rockies with a 5.68 ERA and 5.34 FIP in 230 2/3 innings. The right-hander was then traded to the Reds ahead of the 2021 season in exchange for reliever Robert Stephenson.

In Cincinnati, Hoffman’s career began to turn around. His well below average 18.8% strikeout rate with Colorado climbed to 23.3% with the Reds, though his walk rate also rose to a worrisome 12.8%. Still, in 117 2/3 innings of work with the Reds from 2021-2022, Hoffman posted a 4.28 ERA and 4.86 FIP, good for a 108 ERA+. His best performance came in last season, when the Reds began to use him almost exclusively as a reliever. In 2022, Hoffman posted the first sub-4.00 ERA of his career, with his 3.83 figure standing as 17% better than league average by ERA+.

Hoffman signed with the Twins earlier this offseason, though the club later granted him his release just before Opening Day when it became clear he would not make the club’s roster to start the season. That led Hoffman to Philadelphia, where he figures to serve as depth for the starting rotation with Ranger Suarez, Andrew Painter, Nick Nelson, and Cristopher Sanchez all opening the season on the injured list. With Matt Strahm having stepped into the rotation from the bullpen to fill the vacancy left by Suarez, Hoffman or left-hander Michael Plassmeyer figures to be the next man up should the Phillies suffer another rotation injury.

Nationals Place Corey Dickerson On 10-Day IL, Recall Stone Garrett

By Nick Deeds | April 2, 2023 at 10:12am CDT

The Nationals placed left fielder Corey Dickerson on the injured list with a left calf strain and recalled left fielder Stone Garrett, the team announced. Dickerson left yesterday’s game due to “tightness” in his left calf and underwent an MRI earlier today that revealed the strain. Dickerson, 34 in May, previously missed a month of the 2022 season after suffering a left calf strain with the Cardinals in early June. He figured to be a regular fixture in Washington’s outfield this season alongside Victor Robles and Lane Thomas, but now the Nationals will turn to Garrett with Dickerson headed for the IL.

Garrett, 27, made his major league debut with the Diamondbacks last season, slashing .276/.309/.539 with 4 home runs in 27 games with the club, good for a wRC+ of 131. That strong production at the plate was paired with concerning underlying metrics, however, as Garrett posted an astronomical .370 BABIP while striking out in 32.1% of his plate appearances and walking in just 3.6%. Those concerns led Arizona to leave Garrett off the 40-man roster headed into the offseason, allowing him to depart for free agency and sign a major league deal with Washington. Garrett then came into camp this spring with a chance to make the team, but posted a .653 OPS in 18 spring games.

It seems unlikely Garrett will be able to replace the production of Dickerson, a career 112 wRC+ hitter who has struck out in just 20.4% of plate appearances in his 1,035 game major league career. That said, Garrett did manage an identical 112 wRC+ in 103 games at Triple-A last year. The Nationals will hope that Garrett’s considerable power can make up for his high strikeout rate, particularly against the left-handed pitchers he holds a platoon advantage over. Garrett joins Robles, Thomas, and Alex Call as outfielders on the club’s active roster, though Ildemaro Vargas, Michael Chavis, Joey Meneses, and Dominic Smith all have experience in the outfield as well.

NL Notes: Giants, Hendricks, Lewis

By Nick Deeds | April 2, 2023 at 9:41am CDT

Giants manager Gabe Kapler recently discussed the club’s current catching situation following San Francisco’s signing of Gary Sanchez on a minor league deal, telling reporters (including Maria Guardado of MLB.com) that the club views the Sanchez signing as “a good opportunity for us to add some depth on a guy that we feel like has a chance to make a contribution at the Major League level at some point.”

If Sanchez is going to contribute to the major league Giants this season, it will likely come before May 1, when he will have the opportunity to opt out of his deal with the club if he hasn’t already been added to the team’s active roster. Still, that outcome certainly seems to be within the realm of possibility. Though the Giants opened the season with three catchers on their roster, the Giants have previously indicated that their current catching situation may not stick deep into the season.

Rule 5 pick Blake Sabol’s positional versatility will hold less value when outfielders Austin Slater and Mitch Haniger are ready to return from the injured list. Meanwhile Joey Bart, who the Giants selected with the second overall pick of the 2018 draft, has struggled all throughout his MLB career to this point. He’s posted a wRC+ of just 84 in 133 big league games, with a whopping 38% strikeout rate. Kapler noted Bart could still be significant part of the club’s future in spite of his past struggles saying “it’s absolutely the best outcome” if the 26 year-old is able to establish himself as the Giants’ everyday catcher going forward. However, with Bart dealing with back tightness to open the season and the club’s fluid catching situation, it’s an open question whether or not he’ll be able to do that early in this season.

All that potentially opens the door for Sanchez, a bat-first catcher who Kapler notes has been improving on defense in recent years and could complement the glove-first Roberto Perez nicely in a potential catching tandem, should the Giants indeed shift to a roster that features only two catchers later this season.

Cardinals Notes: Contreras, Nootbaar, Gallegos, Wainwright

By Nick Deeds | April 2, 2023 at 8:03am CDT

Cardinals manager Oli Marmol provided a litany of injury updates yesterday to reporters, including Lynn Worthy of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Among those was an update on catcher Willson Contreras, who took a 103 mph sinker from Cardinals flamethrower Jordan Hicks off his knee in the season’s opener on Thursday and had to be helped off the field. Both x-rays and an MRI came back negative, and Contreras said he could return to the lineup as soon as today after briefly catching warm-up pitches for Jack Flaherty between innings on Saturday.

Contreras, 31 in May, was the Cardinals’ biggest addition of the offseason on a five-year, $87.5MM deal. Prior to signing with St. Louis, Contreras was the everyday catcher for the division rival Cubs since his debut during the 2016 season, posting a 118 wRC+ in seven seasons and racking up three All Star appearances. One of those All Star selections came during the 2022 campaign, which was the best of Contreras’s career: in 113 games, Contreras posted a career low 21.1% strikeout rate and career highs in both wRC+ and fWAR despite a career-low BABIP of just .270.

In signing Contreras, the Cardinals appear to have found their replacement not only to Yadier Molina behind the plate, but also to the thump Albert Pujols provided their lineup in 2022. Given his importance to the club, it’s surely a relief for St. Louis that Contreras’s leg injury is not particularly serious. Andrew Knizner started behind the plate in Saturday’s game, with Taylor Motter and Brendan Donovan among the possible options to catch on an emergency basis while Contreras was unavailable.

Mariners Place Robbie Ray On 15-Day Injured List

By Mark Polishuk | April 1, 2023 at 11:04pm CDT

5:44PM: Ray suffered a Grade 1 strain, Mariners manager Scott Servais told reporters (including MLB.com’s Daniel Kramer). The team’s plan is to shut Ray down for two weeks and then re-evaluate after that period of daily treatment, with a rough timeline of 4-6 weeks until Ray’s eventual return from the IL. Ray told media that he began to develop some flexor pain during the second inning of yesterday’s game.

3:24PM: Left-hander Robbie Ray has been placed on the Mariners’ 15-day injured list due to a left flexor strain. Southpaw Gabe Speier was called up from Triple-A to take Ray’s spot on the active roster.

Ray made his season debut last night and only lasted 3 1/3 innings, allowing five runs (three earned) on four hits and five walks. Even with Ray’s history of control issues, the five walks is probably the biggest indicator that something wasn’t quite right with Ray, and he threw 91 pitches over his 3 1/3 frames of work. The Mariners have yet to publicly comment on the severity of Ray’s injury or a possible return timeline, but it would certainly seem like he’ll miss more than the minimum 15 days just out of pure caution in dealing with injuries in the forearm or elbow area.

After Ray won the AL Cy Young Award as a member of the Blue Jays in 2021, Seattle inked him to a five-year, $115MM free agent contract in the following offseason. Ray’s first season as a Mariner wasn’t up to the level of his 2021 performance but it was still solid, as the southpaw posted a 3.71 ERA, 27.4% strikeout rate, and a slightly below-average 8% walk rate. Ray continued to allow a lot of hard contact, but that has been the norm throughout his MLB career.

Just three days into the 2023 season, the Mariners have already had to deal a notable rotation injury, after getting through 2022 with a remarkable run of health from its starters. While the M’s have four off-days between today and April 25, the construction of their schedule means they will need a fifth starter in Ray’s absence, though Seattle has a very qualified replacement in Chris Flexen. Trade rumors swirled around Flexen (and Marco Gonzales) for much of the offseason, though the Mariners’ decision to hang onto their starting depth is now looking wise in hindsight, especially if Ray is facing any kind of extended absence.

Speier is now set to make his first appearance in a Seattle uniform, after being claimed off waivers from the Royals last November. Speier is also the only left-handed pitcher in a bullpen stacked with right-handed relievers, so Speier’s inclusion will add some balance to the relief mix. A veteran of four MLB seasons, Speier has a 3.83 ERA over 40 career innings with the Royals, appearing in rather sporadic fashion for Kansas City since making his debut in the Show in 2019.

Injury Notes: Dickerson, Whitlock, Gonsolin, Haniger, Slater

By Mark Polishuk | April 1, 2023 at 9:37pm CDT

Corey Dickerson left today’s game due to tightness in his left calf, and Nationals manager Davey Martinez told reporters (including Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com) that the outfielder will receive an MRI tomorrow. This isn’t the first time that Dickerson has dealt with such an injury, as a strain in his left calf cost him about a month of Dickerson’s 2022 season with the Cardinals.

Washington signed Dickerson to a one-year, $2.25MM deal over the offseason, adding a left-handed veteran to their mix of right-handed hitting and mostly less-experienced young outfielders. Dickerson was slated to get the bulk of work in left field whenever a righty starter was on the mound, and considering how the Nats are rebuilding, Dickerson will likely be shopped at the trade deadline if he is performing well. Of course, staying healthy is the first step, and Dickerson and the Nationals can only hope that tomorrow’s MRI doesn’t reveal anything serious.

More on other injury situations from around the majors…

Garrett Whitlock made a Triple-A rehab start yesterday, and Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters (including The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey) that Whitlock is planned for one more outing with Double-A Portland on Thursday. Assuming all goes well, the Sox would then activate Whitlock from the 15-day injured list for his next outing and his 2023 debut. The right-hander needed a little more time to prepare following hip surgery last September, thus necessitating the IL visit at the start of the season. The Red Sox are planning to use Whitlock as a full-time member of the starting rotation this year, after hip problems interrupted his first stint in the rotation in 2022.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya and other reporters that Tony Gonsolin is intended to throw a bullpen session on Sunday and then a live batting practice session at the team’s extended spring camp on Wednesday. Gonsolin suffered an ankle sprain in early March and is expected to need until late April to return to the L.A. rotation, but the righty appears to be making good progress in recovery.
The Giants provided media (including MLB.com’s Maria I. Guardado) with several updates on injured players, including the news that Mitch Haniger and Austin Slater will both be re-evaluated this week in San Francisco when the Giants begin their first homestand of the year. Both players began the season on the 10-day IL, with Haniger dealing with a Grade 1 oblique strain and Slater a hamstring strain. A more concrete timetable might be known after next week’s check-ins, though the team did have some hope that Haniger (who suffered his strain on March 10) would be ready for Opening Day, and Slater was given an initial estimate of a 3-4 week recovery period. Slater is starting to progress to baseball activities in his rehab, so it would appear he has a chance of returning within that initial window.

Minor MLB Transactions: 4/1/23

By Mark Polishuk | April 1, 2023 at 8:35pm CDT

The latest minor moves from around the league…

The Guardians outrighted right-hander Jason Bilous to Triple-A. Bilous was designated for assignment in advance of Opening Day, but he cleared waivers and will now remain in Cleveland’s organization. The Guards themselves claimed Bilous off waivers from the White Sox in February after the Chicago also DFA’ed the righty off its 40-man roster. Bilous has posted some good strikeout totals but also a lot of walks and not much overall success in the upper minors, with a 5.81 ERA over 148 2/3 innings at Double-A and then a 10.23 ERA in 22 frames with Triple-A Charlotte last year.

NL East Notes: Verlander, Wright, Keuchel, Plawecki

By Mark Polishuk | April 1, 2023 at 7:34pm CDT

Justin Verlander’s tenure with the Mets got off to an unfortunate start when the veteran righty was placed on the 15-day injured list due to a teres major strain. The injury was described as “low-grade” in the Mets’ initial release, and a source tells SNY TV’s Andy Martino that Verlander’s strain is “very minor.” More will officially be known when Verlander undergoes a follow-up MRI next week, but it does seem like the ace might be able to be activated from the IL when first eligible. That could mean a home start against the Padres on April 11 or 12, or just out of added precaution, the Mets might wait to activate Verlander until April 14 when the team visits Oakland.

Offseason Review Chat Transcript: Toronto Blue Jays

By Mark Polishuk | April 1, 2023 at 7:27pm CDT

In association with MLBTR’s Offseason In Review post about the Blue Jays, we held a Toronto-centric live chat with readers. Click here to read the transcript.

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