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Giants Place Darin Ruf On 10-Day IL, Activate Alex Dickerson

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The Giants have placed first baseman/outfielder Darin Ruf on the 10-day injured list due to a right oblique strain.  The placement is retroactive to September 20.  Alex Dickerson has been activated from his own 10-day IL stint to replacement Ruf on San Francisco’s active roster.

This is the second time Ruf has been on the injured list this season, as he missed just under a month earlier in the year due to a right hamstring strain.  If Ruf’s has a low-level oblique strain, he might very well be able to return to action in the minimum 10 days.  However, if Ruf has a Grade 2 strain or worse, or if he simply has a setback in his recovery from a mild strain, it could impact his availability for the Giants’ postseason roster.

Missing Ruf for even 10 days will be a blow for the Giants as they try to hold off the Dodgers for the NL West lead.  One of many unheralded players who have emerged as huge contributors for San Francisco, Ruf has hit .270/.383/.513 with 20 home runs over an even 400 plate appearances since the start of the 2020 season.  Ruf saw a lot of action at first base in Brandon Belt’s absence, and in left field as the right-handed hitting side of the Giants’ ever-shifting outfield platoons.

It has been quite a return to Major League Baseball for Ruf, who broke into the Show in impressive fashion with the Phillies in 2012-13, but his production trailed off over the next three years.  Ruf then went to the Samsung Lions of the Korea Baseball Organization and revitalized his career, hitting .313/.404/.564 with 86 homers over his 404 games in Daegu.

San Francisco will look to replace Ruf’s right-handed bat with a lefty swinger in Dickerson, though Dickerson is looking to re-establish his own status as a hidden gem on the Giants’ roster.  After some big numbers in his first two seasons in the Bay Area, Dickerson has hit a more modest .235/.303/.426 over 304 PA in 2021, though he has hit a career-best 13 homers.  Dickerson’s performance has surely been hampered by injuries, as he previously spent time on the IL with a right shoulder impingement and back tightness this year prior to this current absence for a right hamstring strain.  Dickerson will return after just shy of three weeks on the injured list with this latest problem.

GM Mike Hazen Discusses Diamondbacks’ Season, Defense, Marte

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Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen spoke with The Athletic’s Zach Buchanan (multiple links), The Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro and other reporters on Tuesday about several topics related to the team’s rough season, though Hazen demurred about the broad decision facing the team when asked if the D’Backs were planning to rebuild or if they would try to contend in 2022.

“I am going to punt that question for 13 more days,” Hazen said, referring to the very end of the regular season.  In general, Hazen and other team officials are still in discussions and meetings about the state of the franchise in the wake of Arizona’s disastrous 48-104 record.  The D’Backs are currently tied with the Orioles for the worst record in baseball, and “we need to understand exactly what’s happened and how it’s happened.”

Naturally, multiple factors combined to turn 2021 into a nightmare year for the Diamondbacks, so there is no shortage of analysis that needs to take place within the Arizona front office.  Since Hazen’s interview on Tuesday, however, one notable decision has already been made, as Hazen announced this afternoon that manager Torey Lovullo has been signed to a contract extension that will run through the 2022 season, with a club option for 2023.

Hazen said Tuesday that the fault for the Diamondbacks’ issues didn’t lie with Lovullo or any one person, and took his own share of responsibility: “The job I’ve done should be scrutinized fairly heavily.  As much as we’ve talked about others, we should be talking about me.”  Hazen’s own contractual status isn’t publicly known, as the terms of his multi-year extension in September 2019 weren’t announced.  Hazen’s original deal ran until the end of the 2020 season, and it is fair to guess that at least two or three additional years were added in this new contract.

Off-the-field concerns also certainly play a role in Hazen’s future.  He took a physical leave of absence from the team in June in order to spend time with his family and care for his wife, Nicole, as she battles brain cancer.  Hazen praised his front office colleagues (assistant GMs Amiel Sawdaye and Mike Fitzgerald, and special assistant Allard Baird) for their work, and he noted that “I feel like I’ve done my job to the best of my ability and locked into the same things I’ve locked into before.”

One organizational aspect that seems likely to change is how the Diamondbacks approached their need for defensive versatility, as Hazen said “I do think that we probably have” had players playing out of their ideal position too often.  “If we’re playing guys out of position, if we’re asking guys to do too much, if the level of preparation for three different guys is not possible for four or five guys, all those things are things we’re going to have to work through,” the GM said.

While every team strives to have a flexible roster complete with multi-position options, injuries and a lack of performance forced several D’Backs players into unfamiliar roles in 2021.  The results have been mediocre at best, as the Diamondbacks are 18th of 30 teams in UZR/150 (-1.1), 21st in Outs Above Average (-10), and tied for 28th in Defensive Runs Saved (-48).

That said, “it is the easiest thing in my mind that we have a chance to go into this offseason and — fix is the wrong word, I don’t know exactly what’s broken — lock down on being a good defensive team,” Hazen said.  “We have that within our capability….I think we’ve pushed that [moving players around the diamond] to the limit and I think you’ve seen the dam break a little bit this year.  I do think we have to start honing in on who is going to thrive in that setting and who would be better off locking down one spot.  Those are going to be part of the conversations we’ll be having.”

This could extend to the Diamondbacks’ best player, Ketel Marte.  Hazen implied that Marte would mostly stick at one position in 2022, which would appear to be second base based on Marte’s recent comments to Lovullo.  Marte has played mostly at the keystone in both 2018 and 2020, but the D’Backs have used him primarily as a center fielder this year, and also as a shortstop in the past.  From a defensive standpoint, Marte has looked far more solid as a second baseman than at other positions, so Arizona might simplify matters by just using Marte every day at second base next year.

Whether Marte will be on the Diamondbacks’ roster at all might be a matter of some debate.  If the D’Backs did look to embark on a rebuild, Marte (who is controlled through 2024 on a pair of club options) would be a prime trade chip, though he wasn’t moved at this past trade deadline, as Hazen said in June that the team was looking to keep its core group of talent together.  That perspective might well change as the offseason begins, should the D’Backs indeed decide that an overhaul is needed, or perhaps if another team simply makes an offer for Marte that Hazen feels is too good to pass up.

Diamondbacks Extend Torey Lovullo

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Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo will remain with the team after signing a contract extension, GM Mike Hazen told reporters.  Lovullo’s previous contract was set to expire following the 2021 season, but his new deal is guaranteed through the 2022 season with a club option for 2023.

Hazen recently told reporters that he hoped to have a decision made about Lovullo’s future before the season was over, and the skipper has now received a bit more security heading into what might be a tumultuous offseason in Arizona.  The D’Backs are tied with the Orioles for the worst record in baseball (48-104), as Arizona has followed up a rough 2020 season with an outright disaster of a 2021 campaign.

So many things have gone wrong for the D’Backs over the last two years that Lovullo is hardly to blame for all of the team’s problems, though the extension also can’t be viewed as a huge vote of confidence.  With only one more guaranteed year added, Lovullo’s lame-duck status could very well continue deep into the 2022 campaign, as Hazen and the front office have given themselves some flexibility in determining the manager’s role amidst many other large questions about the future direction of the franchise.

The Diamondbacks’ struggles over the last two seasons have sunk Lovullo’s record as manager to 333-365, though it wasn’t long ago that Lovullo was drawing widespread praise for his work in Arizona’s dugout.  Lovullo built a strong reputation as a minor league manager in the Indians organization and then as a coach with the Blue Jays and Red Sox (also serving as Boston’s interim manager for the last month and a half of the 2015 season) before being hired by the D’Backs following the 2016 season.

Lovullo’s first season with Arizona saw him win NL Manager Of The Year honors while leading the Snakes to a 93-69 record and a victory over the Rockies in the NL Wild Card game.  While that remains Lovullo’s lone postseason trip as manager, the Diamondbacks also had winning records in both 2018 and 2019.

Between a widespread array of injuries and under-performance from so many players up and down the roster, Lovullo hasn’t had much to work with, particularly in the bullpen.  Hazen made a point of observing the Diamondbacks’ 9-29 record in one-run games, noting that while the team is still coming up short, the fact that they’re staying competitive is some testament to how the D’Backs are still responding to Lovullo even while playing out the string.

Athletics Reinstate Chris Bassitt From Injured List

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TODAY: Bassitt has been officially reinstated from the injured list, the A’s announced.  Left-hander Sam Moll was moved to the paternity list to create roster space for Bassitt.  In another move, Oakland released the recently-DFA’ed Aramis Garcia.

TUESDAY, 7:34 pm: Bassitt will indeed start Thursday’s game against the Mariners, manager Bob Melvin told reporters (including Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle).

9:43 am: As the Athletics try to keep their playoff hopes alive, they could receive a boost that looked unlikely just a few weeks ago. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweeted recently that the A’s are targeting Thursday for right-hander Chris Bassitt’s return to the club. Shayna Rubin of the San Jose Mercury News reported last night that Bassitt tossed a 30-pitch bullpen session yesterday — his fourth throwing session since being cleared to throw off a mound.

A return to the field for Bassitt would make for a feel-good moment regardless of any potential impact on the postseason race. The baseball world took a collective gasp when Bassitt was struck in the face by a 100 mph line-drive back on Aug. 17. The right-hander remained down on the field for several minutes as he was tended to by the medical staff. He was eventually carted off the field with a towel covering his face. Bassitt sustained multiple facial fractures that had to be stabilized via surgery, but he avoided a concussion and any damage to his vision or his eye.

It was a frightening scene that quite obviously called into question whether Bassitt would be able to return to the field at all in 2021. Immediate questions were more focused on his overall well-being, but just over a month later, he now remarkably appears to be on the cusp of pitching in a big league game again.

Manager Bob Melvin said last night (via Rubin) that the team isn’t sure what type of role Bassitt would have upon returning. Based on the length of his recent bullpen session and simulated games, it doesn’t seem likely that Bassitt would jump right back into the workhorse rotation role he’d held down prior to the injury. That said, he’s clearly stretched out enough to go multiple innings, so he could make some abbreviated starts down the stretch, serve as a scheduled long man behind an opener, or even just operate as a multi-inning bullpen option as the situation dictates.

Prior to his injury, the 32-year-old Bassitt was in the midst of a career year for the A’s. He’d made 24 starts, averaging just shy of 6 1/3 innings per outing and completing six frames in 17 of those 24 trips to the hill. Along the way, he’d notched an impressive 3.06 ERA with a strong 25.3 percent strikeout rate and an excellent 5.8 percent walk rate through a total of 150 innings. He’s still fourth on the A’s in terms of total innings pitched, trailing Frankie Montas, Sean Manaea and Cole Irvin.

It’s been a tough stretch for the A’s since the injury to Bassitt. The team is 14-16 in the 30 games without him, and Oakland starters have combined for a 4.47 ERA in his absence — ranking just 17th in the Majors during that stretch. That 4.47 mark is due almost entirely to the excellent work of Montas over his past six outings (1.89 ERA, 38 innings pitched). The A’s have leaned on Manaea, Irvin, Paul Blackburn and James Kaprielian to start the team’s remaining games, but each of them has an ERA of 4.94 or worse since Bassitt’s injury.

The A’s aren’t technically eliminated from winning the division just yet, although at seven games back, their chances of doing so are all but nonexistent. Oakland’s best path to the postseason will be to secure the second Wild Card spot in the American League. That spot currently belongs to the Blue Jays, who lead the Yankees by a half game, the A’s by two games and the Mariners by three games.

Ryan Pressly Reaches Vesting Threshold, Guarantees 2022 Salary

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Astros closer Ryan Pressly made his 60th appearance of the season in yesterday’s 9-5 win over the Angels, thus reaching an important contractual milestone.  As noted by The Houston Chronicle’s Chandler Rome, the Astros’ $10MM club option on Pressly’s services for 2022 has now vested into a fully guaranteed deal.

The original terms of Pressly’s two-year extension with the Astros guaranteed the reliever at least $17.5MM in new money, plus a $7MM club option for 2022.  That $7MM figure rose to $10MM once Pressly appeared in his 40th game of the 2021 season, and the option automatically vested if Pressly made 60 or more appearances in both the 2020 and 2021 campaigns.  Due to the shortened nature of the 2020 season, Pressly’s threshold for last season was adjusted to 23 games, and the right-hander hit that benchmark in Houston’s third-last game of the 60-game regular season schedule.

In all likelihood, Pressly’s option would’ve been a very easy call for the Astros to make even if he hadn’t reached the vesting threshold.  The 32-year-old has been one of the best relievers in baseball this year, delivering a 2.19 ERA/2.35 SIERA over 61 2/3 innings and converting 25 of 27 save chances.  As per the Statcast metrics, Pressly’s 33.2% strikeout rate and 5.0% walk rate are each in the 94th percentile, while his chase rate and spin rates on both his curveball and his 95.4mph fastball are in even more elite status (Pressly ranks first among all qualified pitchers in curve spin).  To top it off, Pressly’s 54.8% grounder rate was also the best of his nine MLB seasons.

This now makes four consecutive seasons of elite work for Pressly, acquired by the Astros from the Twins in a deadline deal in 2018.  Already a strong setup man, Pressly has emerged as Houston’s top ninth-inning option over the last two seasons, which only further enhanced his value to the bullpen.  Pressly has been named to the AL All-Star team in both 2019 and 2021.

With Pressly’s salary now officially on the books, the Astros have $101.9MM committed to nine players (Pressly, Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, Michael Brantley, Lance McCullers Jr., Jake Odorizzi, Pedro Baez, Martin Maldonado, and Jason Castro).  That number will almost surely rise to $109.9MM for 10 players, since Yuli Gurriel’s $8MM club option looks very likely to be exercised considering Gurriel’s impressive numbers.  The team will have plenty of major holes to fill considering Carlos Correa, Zack Greinke, and the injured Justin Verlander will all be free agents, but since the Astros reset their luxury tax number and began this season with a payroll just shy of $188MM, Houston should have plenty of room to spend this winter.

Latest On Padres’ Front Office

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TODAY: Ryley Westman has been promoted from director of player development to farm director, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel (Twitter link).  Amateur scouting director Mark Conner has also been reassigned to a special assistant role, as international scouting director Chris Kemp will now assume Conner’s old duties.

SEPTEMBER 21: The Padres have decided not to renew the contract of farm director Sam Geaney, reports Dennis Lin of the Athletic. Geaney departs the organization after spending nearly seven years leading the club’s minor league system.

Geaney was hired in October 2014, just a couple months after the Padres tabbed A.J. Preller to lead baseball operations. The team made an ill-fated attempt to contend in Preller’s first year at the helm before committing to a significant teardown and rebuild. That process involved trading established big leaguers for prospects and a significant financial outlay in the international amateur market, leading to the construction of a farm system that was perhaps the game’s best for a couple years.

That rebuild began to bear fruit in 2019, when players like Fernando Tatís Jr. and Chris Paddack made their big league debuts. The team still struggled, but that changed in 2020. The Friars went 37-23 in last year’s shortened season, making the playoffs for the first time in fourteen years. In addition to bringing aboard talented young players like Tatís, Trent Grisham and Jake Cronenworth, Preller and the front office aggressively pursued star players in free agency and trade over the past few seasons. Eric Hosmer and Manny Machado had been brought aboard on huge free agent deals, while San Diego built a star-studded rotation via trade, landing Blake Snell, Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove (in addition to the since-injured Mike Clevinger) from other organizations.

That series of bold strikes had a few effects. It thinned out the once-vaunted farm system significantly. Luis Patiño, who went to the Rays in the Snell deal, was perhaps the only truly elite young talent sent away. But San Diego parted with a collection of generally well-regarded players, dealing a blow to the minor league depth. Still, that seemed a price worth paying to build a fantastic big league roster, and the Padres entered the 2021 campaign with extraordinarily high expectations.

Early in the season, San Diego looked well on their way to meeting those lofty goals. They won 32 of their first 50 games; by late May, their chances of making the postseason were approaching 99% in FanGraphs’ estimation. Things have changed dramatically since that high water mark, with the club particularly struggling coming out of the All-Star Break. The Padres have gone just 23-33 in the season’s second half, entering play tonight with a 76-73 record that places them four games behind the Cardinals in the race for the National League’s final Wild Card spot (with the Reds also a game above them in the standings). Their playoff chances — considered a near-lock a few months ago — have plummeted to 3.4%.

Given that collapse, there’s been plenty of speculation recently about potential staffing changes that would go beyond Geaney’s dismissal. Preller, who was promoted to president of baseball operations and extended through 2026 in February, doesn’t seem likely to be in much danger. But alterations to the coaching staff could be a more realistic possibility, and the team will at least have one notable coaching decision to make this coming offseason.

The Padres fired pitching coach Larry Rothschild on August 23, bumping bullpen coach Ben Fritz to the position on an interim basis. That hasn’t brought about any sort of immediate turnaround, as Padres hurlers rank just 22nd in ERA (4.90) and 15th in SIERA (4.20) since making the change. This winter, they’ll need to determine whether to hand the job to Fritz permanently.

Recent days have also brought about some speculation regarding second-year manager Jayce Tingler’s future in the organization. Over the weekend, Ken Rosenthal, Lin and Britt Ghiroli of the Athletic and Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune separately reported that Tingler, whose contract runs through 2022, is facing increased scrutiny within the clubhouse. Both outlets report that some members in the organization have questioned whether Tingler — a 40-year-old skipper in his first managerial job — has done enough to command the respect of the locker room.

Clubhouse frustration boiled over publicly on Saturday, when Tatís engaged in respective shouting matches in the dugout with bench coach Bobby Dickerson and Machado. Tingler had previously been ejected from the game, and development coach Ryan Flaherty intervened to break up the argument.

It’s certainly no surprise that frustration is mounting in the organization, given the manner in which the team’s play has fallen off. But Rosenthal, Lin and Ghiroli suggested some with the team see the spat as a microcosm of a broader leadership void. Acee, meanwhile, reported that some members of the clubhouse have desired Tingler’s dismissal for a while — and would continue to do so even if the team rights the ship and manages an improbable playoff push over the season’s final couple weeks. Both pieces present a detailed look into a seemingly messy situation and are worth full perusals.

Despite that reported discord, it’s by no means a fait accompli that Tingler’s managing his final few games in San Diego. Acee cautions that some players in the clubhouse still stick by the skipper, instead expressing frustration with what they believe to be other players’ excuses for the team’s underperformance. Both the Athletic and the Union-Tribune note that Preller and Tingler, who previously worked together in the Rangers’ front office, are very close personal friends, leading some to question whether Preller would be willing to dismiss Tingler.

It’s also impossible to pin down precisely how much blame Tingler actually deserves for the team’s struggles. As mentioned, the Padres were quite successful last season, Tingler’s first at the helm. This year, the roster has been hit hard by injuries, particularly on the pitching side. Clevinger was lost to a Tommy John surgery over the offseason. Fifth starter Adrián Morejón required the same procedure in April. Darvish, Paddack and Snell have all missed some amount of time due to injury; Paddack and Snell remain on the IL. Top prospect MacKenzie Gore, expected to be a potential big league option entering the season, struggled significantly in the minors and hasn’t proven ready for a call-up.

That’s led the Padres to look for buy-low pickups in recent weeks, with the team signing Jake Arrieta and Vince Velasquez after they’d been released by other clubs. That came on the heels of a trade deadline in which the front office failed to bolster the rotation, despite reported pursuits of Max Scherzer and José Berríos. (Arrieta was designated for assignment this evening after struggling over four starts).

The Friars weren’t completely inactive. They landed second baseman Adam Frazier and reliever Daniel Hudson only to see those players’ performances unexpectedly crater. But this extremely aggressive front office’s inability to land any rotation help was one of the more surprising takeaways immediately after the deadline, and it’s proven to be a significant storyline for the team in the second half.

For now, the Padres have tried to tamp down speculation about the future as they focus on the season’s final couple weeks. Tingler pushed back on the idea that he’d lost the respect of the clubhouse when speaking with reporters (including Bob Nightengale of USA Today) this evening. Machado and Tatís conducted a joint press conference tonight in which they claimed they’ve put Saturday’s incident behind them (video from Annie Heilbrunn of the Union-Tribune). It seems unlikely there’ll be any significant shakeup in San Diego while the season’s ongoing, but the Padres’ staffing decisions could prove to be one of the more important things to watch in the early portion of the upcoming offseason.

No Current Discussions Between Mets, Billy Beane

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There’s already been plenty of speculation regarding the Mets’ search for a president of baseball operations. They’ve been very loosely tied to notable names like Theo Epstein, Josh Byrnes, Chris Antonetti, and Derek Falvey in recent weeks, and chatter has picked up over the past few days about a potential run at another marquee executive: Athletics president of baseball operations Billy Beane.

Last week, Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic opined that the Mets should make a run at both Beane and A’s manager Bob Melvin with a plan to install Beane atop the baseball operations department and to bring Melvin in to replace Luis Rojas as manager. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman has somewhat vaguely suggested that Beane is “on the Mets’ radar” in the past few days (Twitter links), though as he notes, there’s no guarantee the interest would be reciprocated.

Andy Martino of SNY reports the Mets would indeed be willing to consider the Beane/Melvin pursuit. However, he adds that there have not yet been any discussions between the Mets and Beane regarding his interest in making that jump, nor have the Mets been in contact with the A’s about potentially granting Beane permission to interview for a position with New York.

It’s not especially surprising to hear whispers that Mets president Sandy Alderson could pursue Beane, who was a protégé of his during the 1990s.  Beane succeeded Alderson as baseball operations leader of the A’s in 1997 when the latter took a position in the commissioner’s office. The two have remained close in the more than two decades since, and Alderson even returned to the A’s in an advisory capacity between his pair of stints with the Mets (as general manager from 2010-18 and since last offseason as president).

Alderson has been running day-to-day baseball operations in Queens this month. Last offseason’s GM hire Jared Porter was fired a few weeks into his tenure after revelations that he’d previously sexually harassed a reporter. Acting GM Zack Scott has been on administrative leave since September 2 because of a DWI arrest. That’s forced Alderson to assume a more demanding role, but he’s planning to step back into a broader team president role next season while relinquishing daily baseball operations tasks to whoever he and owner Steve Cohen tab as the next president of baseball operations.

It’s fairly typical for teams to refuse to allow front office personnel who remain under contract to interview with other clubs for lateral positions. Beane is already Oakland’s president of baseball operations and owns an approximate 1% stake in the franchise, so it’s difficult to envision the Mets presenting him a loftier title than the one he already possesses. (Beane would have to divest that ownership share in the A’s if he joined another MLB team). That said, it’s also plausible A’s ownership would make an exception to that general rule and allow Beane to interview for a lateral move — both out of respect for his accomplishments with the club and because general manager David Forst has long been viewed as Beane’s successor-in-waiting. Forst is “not considered a possibility” for the Mets, Martino writes.

Of course, there’d be no chance of a Beane/Melvin pairing in Queens if those two are uninterested in a change of scenery. Rumors about Beane departing the A’s to join a larger-market, high-payroll club have swirled for the better part of two decades, but he’s remained in Oakland to this point. Melvin has been A’s manager since the middle of the 2011 season, and the club exercised an option in June to bring him back for the 2022 season. Beane and Melvin have clearly been comfortable in the Bay Area and part of a steady leadership contingent in the organization for some time. It’s possible one or both would prefer to stay where they are, even in spite of the allure of a larger payroll and the chance to work with Alderson in New York.

Much remains to be determined in the Mets’ front office search. It’s at least easy to glean from initial reports that Cohen and Alderson are setting their sights high, targeting well-known and respected executives with plenty of experience running baseball operations departments elsewhere.

Jack Flaherty Expected To Return Friday

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The Cardinals, surging toward a playoff berth with a prodigious September winning streak, will get another boost to their postseason hopes this weekend. Opening Day starter Jack Flaherty is expected to be activated from the injured list to start the second game of Friday’s doubleheader, manager Mike Shildt told reporters tonight (Twitter links via Katie Woo of The Athletic). Flaherty isn’t fully stretched and will be more of an opener than a traditional starter, but his return is a notable development for a Cardinals club that now finds itself with a commanding lead on the second Wild Card spot in the National League.

Flaherty missed more than two months this summer with a severe oblique strain, and his return to the club lasted just three games before he went back on the shelf with a shoulder strain on Aug. 25. He’ll be returning without a minor league rehab assignment, though Flaherty has been throwing bullpen sessions as he works back toward the big league roster. Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat tweeted this past weekend that Flaherty had thrown around 30 fastballs in a recent session, and Shildt said just yesterday that Flaherty had warmed up in the ’pen before throwing 15 or so pitches to live hitters on the field (video link via Bally Sports Midwest).

It’d be a surprise to see Flaherty go more than a couple of innings, but Friday’s outing could help to build him up a bit more for a lengthier outing sometime next week. He may not be fully stretched out by the time a theoretical postseason series would start, but Flaherty would presumably be a multi-inning option in some capacity early on — with a chance to build up further should the Cardinals make a deep run on the heels of their recent momentum.

It’s been another strong year for Flaherty when he’s been healthy enough to take the mound. The 25-year-old owns a 3.08 ERA with sharp strikeout and walk rates — 26.1 percent and 7.7 percent, respectively — through 76 innings so far on the season.

In similarly encouraging news for Cards fans, Shildt revealed in tonight’s media session that Dakota Hudson was scratched from a scheduled rehab start in Triple-A Memphis in case the club needs to activate him from the injured list over the next 48 hours (link via Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch).

Hudson, who owns a 3.17 ERA in 241 big league innings dating back to his 2018 debut, hasn’t pitched this season after undergoing Tommy John surgery late in the 2020 campaign. He was viewed as a long shot to make it back this year, but he’s now pitched 18 2/3 innings of 0.96 ERA ball across three minor league levels. Hudson pitched five innings in each of his two most recent outings and tossed 68 pitches on Sept. 17 in his lone appearance at the Triple-A level so far. Given that workload, he’d seemingly be an option to make a more conventional spot start and work on a pitch count, if needed, although he could certainly work as a multi-inning relief option as well.

Orioles To Retain Manager Brandon Hyde

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The Orioles will retain manager Brandon Hyde for at least the 2022 season, reports Dan Connolly of The Athletic. The 2021 season marked the final guaranteed contract on his original three-year deal to manager the O’s, but Connolly reports that the Orioles and Hyde quietly agreed to an extension last offseason that runs through at least the 2022 season.

There’d been at least some speculation about Hyde’s job status, given his original contract was set to expire. MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko wrote recently, however, that the “expectation” was for Hyde to return in 2022, and it appears that will indeed be the case.

Hyde’s first three seasons at the helm haven’t been punctuated by many victories. The Orioles are just 127-246 since he was hired. Of course, there’s little sense in judging a manager on wins and losses when it’s clear that the front office isn’t making much of an effort to put a winning product on the field. The Orioles set out on the early stages a rebuild in the final few months of former general manager Dan Duquette’s tenure, trading Manny Machado, Zack Britton and others in the summer of 2018. Duquette was dismissed not long after, and ownership tabbed Astros assistant general manager Mike Elias as his replacement.

Elias hired Hyde as a successor to former manager Buck Showalter, but he’s gone on to continue that rebuilding effort that was set in motion by Duquette & Co. The most notable moves under Elias’ watch have been trades of some of the few remaining veterans on the roster — Dylan Bundy, Mychal Givens and Alex Cobb among them. The only free agents the Orioles have signed to Major League deals under the current regime are Freddy Galvis, Jose Iglesias, Nate Karns and Maikel Franco (in addition to some minor league deals for veterans like Matt Harvey, Wade LeBlanc, Tommy Milone and Felix Hernandez). Both Galvis and Iglesias were traded before their contracts expired. (Karns and Franco surely would have been as well, had those signings panned out as hoped.)

Given that Elias inherited a depleted farm and proceeded to strip down an already threadbare MLB roster, it’s not a surprise that Hyde doesn’t have much to show as far as wins and losses go. By all accounts, however, he’s been a steadying presence amid persistent roster turnover, and it’s certainly hard to ignore the manner in which some young players have begun to blossom under his watch and the watch of his coaching staff.

Cedric Mullins is in the midst of a breakout season and now looks like a possible cornerstone piece. Austin Hays had a productive August and has enjoyed a massive month of September thus far. Ryan Mountcastle recently swatted his 30th homer and could get some down-the-ballot Rookie of the Year votes, even if he’s not a favorite to actually win the award. John Means has broken out as a rock-solid starter to lead an otherwise inexperienced and struggling pitching staff. None of those successes can be pinned upon the manager/coaching staff alone — player development is an organization-wide effort — but it’s Hyde and his lieutenants who are working most directly with that blossoming young talent on a day-to-day basis.

Looking ahead, it seems unlikely that the 2022 season will be a turning point in terms of a return to contention. The Orioles aren’t expected to spend heavily in free agency this winter, and while they have several intriguing young players — and more on the very near horizon — the AL East is a stacked division. In all likelihood, the Orioles won’t be aiming to contend, in earnest, until 2023 at the earliest.

Still, it’s a vote of confidence in Hyde that he’s being entrusted with another key developmental season in 2022, when top-ranked MLB prospect Adley Rutschman is expected to debut along with other ballyhooed youngsters, including top-ranked pitchers DL Hall and Grayson Rodriguez. Time will tell whether the O’s decide he’s the right person to helm the ship as the rebuild draws to an actual close, but the new contract is ostensibly a step in that direction.

Giants Select Scott Kazmir

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Sept. 22: The Giants have formally announced the selection of Kazmir’s contract. Righty Jay Jackson was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento to open a spot on the active roster.

Sept. 21: The Giants are planning to bring southpaw Scott Kazmir back to start tomorrow night’s game against the Padres, manager Gabe Kapler told reporters (including Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle). Kazmir is not on the 40-man roster, but San Francisco opened a spot by passing reliever Reyes Moronta through outright waivers this afternoon.

Kazmir returns for his second big league try this season. The veteran signed a minor league deal with San Francisco over the offseason and completed a remarkable comeback effort by earning a big league call in late May. He picked up his first big league action in five years this spring, but Kazmir made just three appearances (including two starts) before being designated for assignment. He worked seven innings over those three games, allowing five runs on eight hits (including three homers) and a walk while striking out seven.

After being outrighted off the 40-man roster, Kazmir joined the U.S. National Team at the Tokyo Olympics this summer. He made just one start there, tossing five scoreless innings in a win over the Dominican Republic. He returned to the Giants’ top affiliate in Sacramento after the conclusion of international competition and has made six starts for the River Cats over the past month. He’s worked 52 2/3 frames in Triple-A this season altogether, posting a 4.61 ERA with strikeout and walk rates (22.1% and 8.3%, respectively) not far off the league average.

Johnny Cueto remains on the injured list, leaving the Giants a man short in the rotation behind Kevin Gausman, Anthony DeSclafani, Logan Webb and Alex Wood. Kazmir will get another opportunity to step into that role. San Francisco entered play tonight up one game on the Dodgers in the NL West. They’ll close out the week with road series against the Padres and Rockies before returning home to host the D-Backs and Padres to end the regular season.

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