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Dodgers Notes: Alexander, Bellinger, Kahnle

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Scott Alexander won’t be returning this season, per Jorge Castillo of the LA Times (via Twitter). Alexander has been out since July 20 because of shoulder inflammation. The southpaw has been a reliable presence out of the Dodgers pen for the past four seasons, tossing 111 innings with a 3.49 ERA/4.24 FIP over that span.

Tommy Kahnle is also done for the year, per Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register. Kahnle has been recovering from Tommy John surgery, and there was some thought that he might be well enough to return this season, but that’s no longer the case. Of course, the Dodgers signed him to a two-year deal with this possibility fully in mind. The plan remains to get him healthy and ready for the start of 2022.

Cody Bellinger’s season soldiers on, though it’s hardly gone as planned. Beyond the almost comically disastrous .159/.237/.291 triple slash line, Bellinger has struggled to stay healthy going all the way back to last year’s World Series. He’s now dealing with a non-displaced rib fracture, suffered in an outfield collision with converted infielder Gavin Lux, per The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya. He missed 53 days earlier this season with a fractured fibula and a little more than a week with a hamstring strain.

Bellinger appears likely to play through this injury and avoid another stint on the injured list, though given that he’s hitting just .073/.174/.122 in September, a bit of rest might be preferable for the Dodgers. Chris Taylor is certainly capable of handling centerfield in the short term, though Taylor himself has been banged up of late.

Besides, the fact that Lux was playing left field at all speaks to where the Dodgers are at right now in terms in their available outfielders. And for all his struggles at the plate, Bellinger is a viable defensive centerfielder, putting up 3.0 OAA, -2 DRS, and 1.2 UZR.

A’s Place Daulton Jefferies On 10-Day Injured List, Return James Kaprielian To Rotation

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The A’s placed righty Daulton Jefferies on the 10-day injured list with right elbow ulnar neuritis and recalled southpaw Sam Moll to claim his roster spot, per the team. Jefferies was supposed to start today, but the injury unfortunately delays his joining the rotation.

James Kaprielian, who was demoted to the bullpen in favor of Jefferies, will now step back into the rotation for his regular turn on the bump. Kaprielian will presumably need to turn around his performance quickly in order to make the most out of this second chance. The Athletics hopes that Chris Bassitt will be back in the rotation shortly, which could again send Kaprielian to the pen.

Kaprielian’s overall numbers this season are decent: he’s posted 1.3 rWAR/1.0 fWAR over 20 starts totaling 105 1/3 innings. Those numbers with his 4.02 ERA/4.46 FIP make for a serviceable rotation arm, if not one guaranteed innings on a first division squad. Over his past eight stars, however, he’s been tagged for a 6.51 ERA/5.01 FIP, prompting the move to the bullpen.

As for Moll, he returns for his third stint in the Majors this season. The 29-year-old Tennessee native has made just four appearances over his first couple of turns upstairs, though he’s done well in the short sample, keeping opponents scoreless over 4 2/3 innings.

Giants Activate Alex Wood, Designate Chadwick Tromp For Assignment

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The Giants have activated starter Alex Wood from the injured list, per MLB.com’s Maria I. Guardado. Sammy Long was optioned to Triple-A and Chadwick Tromp has been designated for assignment.

Wood should slide right back into the rotation for the final few weeks of the season while auditioning for a spot in the playoff rotation. The 30-year-old southpaw has put together a resurgent year for the NL West leaders, making 23 starts and logging 125 2/3 innings with a 4.08 ERA/3.71 FIP. Despite a couple of trips to the injured list, this is the healthiest Wood has been over a full season since 2018.

Tromp has been a regular member of the Giants’ catching rotation, though clearly behind Buster Posey, Curt Casali, and Joey Bart in the hierarchy. Still, the 26-year-old has made 82 plate appearances for the Giants over the past two seasons.

Long has both started and relieved this season, taking five turns in the rotation and appearing seven times in relief. He has a 5.53 ERA/4.22 FIP across 40 2/3 innings with relatively average peripherals across the board: 21.6 percent strikeout rate, 8.5 percent walk rate, and 39.2 percent groundball rate.

MLB Suspends Mike Wright, Tony La Russa

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Major League Baseball has levied a three-game suspension against the White Sox’ Mike Wright for intentionally throwing at Shohei Ohtani, per Jack Harris of the LA Times (via Twitter). Manager Tony La Russa was also given a one game suspension, which he is serving tonight. Impressively, La Russa’s ejection was the 91st of his career.

The suspension stems from a three-pitch incident in which Wright missed badly on consecutive balls, eventually plunking Ohtani in the leg with the third offering. Wright has appealed his suspension, so he will continue to be available for the time being.

The 31-year-old Wright has made nine appearances for the White Sox this year, his first in Chicago. Though he did not appear in the Majors in 2020, he made appearances in every season from 2015 through 2019, mostly with the Orioles. He made nine appearances with the Mariners in 2019 after being acquired via trade. In total, Wright has a 5.87 ERA/5.20 FIP across 271 1/3 big league innings.

Indians Notes: Francona, Jones, Bieber

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Indians manager Terry Francona stepped away from the team in July to undergo a hip replacement and left foot surgery, and president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti updated reporters (including MLB.com’s Mandy Bell) on the skipper’s progress today.  Francona has now undergone both procedures, and is recovering in Cleveland with plans for him to soon return to his home in Arizona for further convalescence.  Most importantly, Francona is “recovering well,” according to Antonetti, and “his mindset is in a much better place than he was a couple of months ago.”

While Francona’s health remains the priority, Antonetti also said that the manager has already begun making some plans for the 2022 team.  There wasn’t any question that Francona would be welcomed back for his 10th season in Cleveland’s dugout if he was able, and the prospects of that return are looking a bit brighter now that Francona’s procedures have taken place.  “We continue to plan looking at ’22 with Tito as our manager.  If at some point that changes, we’re going to have to reconsider and relook at things at that point.  But we have no reason to think that will be the case,” Antonetti said.

More from the soon-to-be Guardians….

  • Antonetti also provided reporters (including The Athletic’s Zack Meisel) with updates on some injured Cleveland players, including the news that top prospect Nolan Jones will probably undergo ankle surgery.  Jones was placed on the minor league injured list at the start of September with a high ankle sprain, and this procedure will help Jones be be fully healthy for the start of Spring Training.  Jones has played the entire season at Triple-A Columbus, hitting .238/.356/.431 with 13 home runs over 407 plate appearances.  Jones is ranked among the top 100 prospects in the sport by both MLB.com (69th) and Baseball America (75th).
  • Shane Bieber’s second rehab start is scheduled for tomorrow, when the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner is expected to throw 55-60 pitches or four innings of work for the Columbus affiliate.  Bieber has been out of action for more than two months due to a shoulder strain, though he tentatively appears to be on pace to get back to the Indians roster before the season is over.

Miguel Rojas Reaches Vesting Threshold, Guarantees 2022 Contract

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TODAY: Rojas hit the 500-PA threshold last night, so his $5.5MM salary is officially guaranteed for 2022.

SEPTEMBER 17: Two years  ago, almost to the day, Marlins shortstop Miguel Rojas inked a two-year, $10.25MM extension that bought out his final arbitration year and first free-agent season. The contract carried a $5.5MM vesting option for the 2022 season, and as the Miami Herald’s Jordan McPherson points out, that option will likely vest this weekend — perhaps as soon as tonight. Rojas’ $5.5MM salary for the 2022 season becomes guaranteed if he reaches 500 plate appearances in 2021, and he’ll enter play tonight at 496 plate appearances on the year.

The contract looked plenty affordable at the time and has been nothing short of a bargain for the Fish, as Rojas has improved at the plate and continued to play high-end defense at shortstop. In 160 games over the life of the contract, he’s hitting .278/.342/.421 with a dozen homers, 39 doubles, four triples and 17 stolen bases (in 20 tries). The rate stats are a bit inflated by an uncharacteristic power surge in last year’s shortened season, but even this year’s .270/.327/.400 mark is a bit better than league average, by measure of wRC+ (102).

On the defensive side of the coin, Rojas has been excellent. He’s committed just 13 errors in that span of 160 games, and newer defensive metrics all agree that he’s been sharp. Since the beginning of the 2020 season, Rojas has been credited with six Defensive Runs Saved and a hearty 9.3 Ultimate Zone Rating. Statcast’s Outs Above Average isn’t quite as bullish put still rates him as a positive defender at plus-1.

When Rojas’ option does officially vest, he’ll become only the second player on the Marlins with a guaranteed contract for the 2022 season, joining reliever Anthony Bass, who’s set to earn $3MM next year. Miami has some players in line for arbitration raises, which will add to that modest total.

Right-handers Sandy Alcantara, Pablo Lopez and Elieser Hernandez are among the team’s first-time eligibles in arbitration. Dylan Floro, Garrett Cooper and Brian Anderson are all up for their second arbitration raises. Richard Bleier and Jesus Aguilar are up for their third and final raises. Aguilar figures to be the most expensive, as he’s due a raise on a $4.35MM salary. That said, even he doesn’t seem likely to eclipse $7.5MM or so, making it a relatively light class on the whole.

Suffice it to say, while the Marlins aren’t ever going to be mistaken for a high-payroll club, they’ll have some money to splash around with this winter. Miami spent roughly $63MM payroll in 2021, per Roster Resource’s Jason Martinez. The combination of Rojas, Bass and that arbitration class shouldn’t clock in at much more than $40MM. Second-year general manager Kim Ng ought to have some resources to strengthen this club via free agency or by taking on some salary on the trade market.

Turning back to Rojas, he again made clear to McPherson that he hopes to play in Miami well beyond the 2022 campaign — a stance he’s expressed in the past. That’ll be up to the front office and ownership, of course, and while Ng declined to discuss any possible extension talks with McPherson, she had nothing but positives to say about Rojas and what he means to the club.

“He really does embody all the things that we look for in a player to represent the organization, to represent the sport and that is a big compliment,” Ng said of Rojas. “…If all players had Miggy’s character and outlook, we’d be ecstatic.”

Cardinals Release Brandon Dickson

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TODAY: The Cardinals announced that Dickson has been released.

SEPTEMBER 8: The Cardinals announced that reliever Brandon Dickson has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Memphis. St. Louis designated him for assignment earlier this week.

Dickson rather remarkably made it back to the majors as a September call-up last week. The 36-year-old logged his first big league action since 2012 on Wednesday after spending the 2013-20 seasons in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. Dickson’s two big league outings didn’t go as he’d intended, however, as he served up three runs on five hits in two innings.

The right-hander will now return to Memphis, where he made eleven appearances earlier in the year. Dickson only posted a 9.58 ERA over 10 1/3 innings there, coughing up four home runs in that limited time. While his return to affiliated ball hasn’t yet yielded quality results, Dickson earned his way back with a strong body of work in Japan, as well as 3 1/3 innings of one-run ball for the U.S. National Team at this year’s Summer Olympics.

Rays Place Kevin Kiermaier On COVID List, Select Joey Krehbiel

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1:43PM: Rays manager Kevin Cash told reporters (including The Tampa Bay Times’ Marc Topkin) that Kiermaier is receiving another COVID test today, and already tested negative during the Rays’ series against the Blue Jays earlier this week.  The team’s feeling is that Kiermaier likely has a non-COVID sickness.

12:03PM: The Rays have placed outfielder Kevin Kiermaier on the COVID-related injury list.  Right-hander Joey Krehbiel’s contract has been selected from Triple-A to take Kiermaier’s spot on the active roster.

The official announcement from the team says that Kiermaier has been sidelined due to “general illness/symptoms,” without mention of a positive test.  Of course, league protocols stipulate that positive COVID-19 tests don’t need to be publicly announced without the player’s permission.  Kiermaier’s placement could simply be precautionary in nature while he recovers from a non-COVID illness, so he could be back on the field in only a day or two.

Kiermaier has previously visited the regular injured list twice this season, though both stints (for a quad strain and a wrist sprain) ended up being pretty close to the 10-day minimum in terms of missed time.  The 31-year-old is hitting .247/.310/.369 with four home runs over 355 plate appearances this season, and is having what has become a typical Kiermaier year — slightly below-average offense, and superb defense.  Kiermaier’s center field glovework has been as stellar as ever, thus making him a 2.0 fWAR player over 110 games even factoring in his 89 wRC+.

After tossing three innings over two games with the Diamondbacks in 2018, Krehbiel is now back for another taste of the Show.  Originally a 12th-round pick for the Angels back in the 2011 draft, Krehbiel has worked almost exclusively as a reliever over his 10 minor league seasons, and struggled once hitting the Triple-A level in Arizona’s farm system in 2018-19.

Krehbiel signed a minor league deal with Tampa Bay this past offseason, and has posted some much more intriguing numbers at Triple-A Durham.  The righty has a 4.19 ERA over 43 innings, plus a 29.5% strikeout rate and 5.1% walk rate, with the improved control being particularly notable since walks were an issue for Krehbiel in his past Triple-A action.  Given how the Rays cycle through relief arms, Krehbiel might only be in for another cup of coffee in the majors, or the Rays might give Krehbiel some extra work while saving other relievers for the postseason.

Rockies Select Ryan Vilade, Designate Bernardo Flores Jr.

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The Rockies announced that they have selected the contract of outfield prospect Ryan Vilade from Triple-A.  Left-hander Bernardo Flores Jr. was designated for assignment and righty Ryan Feltner was optioned to Triple-A in corresponding moves.

Vilade places fifth on MLB Pipeline’s ranking of the Rockies’ top prospects, and the 2017 second-round pick is now set to make his Major League debut.  Vilade has hit .286/.339/.420 with seven homers over 447 plate appearances for Triple-A Albuquerque this year, which marked his first experience at the Triple-A level.

With rather modest power numbers in the hitter-friendly environs of the former Pacific Coast League, Vilade has yet to fully tap into the power potential cited in Pipeline’s scouting report.  With increased strength paired alongside “solid bat-to-ball skills and an advanced approach” at the plate, Vilade could be a candidate to hit 25-30 home runs per year at the big league level.  Playing in Denver’s thin air could very well help unlock that extra pop, and the Rockies figure to give Vilade a good chunk of playing time over the season’s final two weeks.

Vilade is in Colorado’s lineup as the starting left fielder today, and this figures to be his primary position going forward.  He was originally drafted as a shortstop, however, and he has also seen work as a third baseman, first baseman, and at the other two outfield positions.  Developing into a multi-position type would only help the 22-year-old Vilade’s future prospects, giving him more chances to stick somewhere in the Rockies’ everyday lineup.

Flores was claimed off waivers from the Cardinals back in June, and he has spent much of his time in the Rockies’ organization on the Triple-A injured list.  The southpaw’s only MLB game of the 2021 season came on May 5, when he faced three batters without recording an out in a 7-2 Cardinals loss to the Mets.

A seventh-round pick for the White Sox in 2016, Flores made his MLB debut with two innings for Chicago last season.  The grounder specialist has a 3.42 ERA over 473 1/3 career innings in the minors, but with only a 6.68 ERA in 33 2/3 frames at Triple-A.

Reds Place Jesse Winker, Shogo Akiyama On 10-Day Injured List

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Just a day after returning from the 10-day injured list, Jesse Winker is heading back to the IL due to the same intercostal strain that sidelined him for over a month.  The Reds announced that both Winker and fellow outfielder Shogo Akiyama have been placed on the 10-day IL, with Akiyama suffering from a right hamstring strain.  The two open roster spots will be filled by outfielder TJ Friedl (whose contract was selected from Triple-A), and right-hander Art Warren, who was activated from the 60-day IL.

Winker was hit by a Brusdar Graterol pitch in the eighth inning of last night’s 3-1 win over the Dodgers, and had to be removed from the game for a pinch-runner.  Reds manager David Bell indicated that the swing prior to the HBP may have been the cause of Winker’s re-aggravation, but whatever the cause, Winker will now again miss time given this crucial stretch of the Reds’ season.

Given the timing, it is certainly possible that Winker might not play again in 2021.  He’ll miss at least the next 10 days, and even if he is able to return after this second intercostal issue, the Reds might not want to risk further injury if the team is already out of the playoff race.  This is technically the third time that Winker has been sidelined with this intercostal injury, as he missed a few games prior to his first IL stint in an attempt to solve the problem through some rest, before again being hampered when returning to action.

It’s a terrible break for both Winker and the Reds, as Winker’s bat is a major reason why Cincinnati is even in the postseason race.  Winker has 24 home runs and a .305/.394/.556 slash line over 485 plate appearances, with a 151 wRC+ that ranks fifth among all players with at least 450 PA.

Winker and Akiyama join Tyler Naquin (bruised ribs) on the IL, leaving the Reds suddenly thin in the outfield.  Aristides Aquino and Max Schrock have been serving as a left field platoon in Winker’s absence, with Delino DeShields getting action along with Naquin and Akiyama in center field.  With Akiyama now out, it opens the door for Friedl to make his Major League debut as the Reds play some of their most important games of the season.

Friedl joined the Reds as an undrafted free agent in 2016, and he has worked his way through the system up to the Triple-A level this year, where he has batted .264/.357/.422 with 12 homers in 448 PA.  Baseball America ranked Friedl 22nd on their midseason list of the top 30 prospects in Cincinnati’s farm system.  Friedl has experience at all three outfield positions and has spent the bulk of his time in center, so he could essentially slide right into Akiyama’s spot as a left-handed hitting complement to DeShields.

Warren’s return might also be no small matter for a Reds bullpen that is eager for fresh arms.  Warren posted a 1.88 ERA over 14 1/3 innings before being placed on the injured list due to an oblique strain back on July 15.  The right-hander has posted some big strikeout numbers since the start of the 2018 minor league season, which earned him a brief look on the Mariners’ roster during the 2019 season.  The Rangers claimed Warren from the Mariners after last season, and Cincinnati then acquired Warren in a trade with Texas last January.

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