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Braves Select Jeff Mathis, Place Alex Jackson On Injured List

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The injury that landed Travis d’Arnaud on the 10-day injured list yesterday appears much worse than originally expected. Per David O’Brien of the Athletic (via Twitter), further testing remains on the docket, but the Braves know enough to move d’Arnaud to the 60-day injured list today, per the team. In addition, Alex Jackson, who replaced d’Arnaud in yesterday’s game, has also landed on the injured list with a strained left hamstring.

Just like that, the Braves have undergone a complete line change at the catching position. Along with William Contreras, the Braves selected the contract of Jeff Mathis. The veteran defensive specialist joined Atlanta on a minor league contract at the end of March. It is not hyperbole to label the 38-year-old Mathis a defensive savant behind the plate. His defensive wizardry has propped up a 16-year career despite a paltry .194/.253/.300 batting line across 3,006 plate appearances.

Interestingly, the Braves also have Tyler Flowers lurking within the organization. Flowers took on a strategic role with the Braves this season helping to integrate analytics into in-game preparation for the Braves’ catchers. While it’s largely assumed that the 35-year-old’s playing career is done, both Flowers and the Braves left open the possibility that he could return to active duty this season. Certainly, the ranks are thinning in Atlanta, and speculatively speaking, they must be considering whether it might be time to give serious consideration to a Flowers return.

For now, however, it seems Contreras will get the bulk of the playing time in Atlanta. The 22-year-old went 4-for-10 in a cup-of-coffee last season. Fangraphs had him as the sixth-ranked prospect in Atlanta’s system prior to this season. He is the younger brother of Cubs’ standout Willson Contreras.

 

Brewers Acquire Jacob Nottingham For Cash Considerations

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Let the circle be complete. The Brewers have acquired catcher Jacob Notthingham from the Mariners for cash considerations, per the Mariners (via Twitter). The Brewers designated Notthingham for assignment this past Wednesday, at which point the Mariners claimed him off waivers. But with Omar Narvaez headed to the injured list, the Brewers once again found themselves in need of a catcher. Nottingham did not appear in a game for the Mariners.

Nottingham has been placed on the Brewers’ active roster. He’ll make his season debut today against the Dodgers. Mario Feliciano, meanwhile, has been optioned back to Triple-A after little more than a day on the active roster, per Will Sammon of the Athletic (via Twitter). Feliciano walked and scored a run in his debut yesterday.

As for the Mariners, they pick up a little bit of cash for the honor of holding Nottingham’s rights for a couple of days. Seattle DFA’ed Nottingham themselves yesterday, so there’s little reason not to send Nottingham back to Milwaukee.

The Latest On Jonathan India, Mark Payton, Michael Lorenzen

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The Reds will activate Jonathan India and return him to their active roster today. Mark Payton will be optioned back to their alternate site, per Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer (via Twitter). While on the roster, Payton has been utilized more-or-less solely as a pinch-hitter, going one-for-seven with a walk and a strikeout in ten games.

India has been out for just a couple of days, last appearing in a game on April 26th. India just went on the injured list on April 30th without an injury designation, which suggests his placement could have been COVID-19 related. India also took a pitch to the head last Sunday, but he passed all the necessary medical tests at that time, per Nightengale. The Reds’ rookie second baseman has hit .239/.316/.358 over 79 plate appearances.

In his absence, Nick Senzel has returned to second base with Tyler Naquin stationed in center. While there was a time when it seemed Senzel would be the Reds’ second baseman of the future, Friday’s game was his first-ever start at the position in the Majors. Senzel is slated to start at second again today, though presumably, India will take the position back shortly.

In other Reds’ news, Michael Lorenzen will begin his rehab shortly after responding well to PRP treatment (platelet-rich plasma). It’s still a long road back for Lorenzen, however. Manager David Bell set a timeline of a couple of months for Lorenzen’s return, per Nightengale (via Twitter). The athletic 29-year-old was moved to the 60-day injured list in mid-April because of an ongoing shoulder strain.

Shane Greene Drawing Interest

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Though it’s surprising that right-hander Shane Greene remains on the free agent market a month into the season, the former Brave is engaged in ongoing deliberations with multiple teams, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network (via Twitter).

Heyman doesn’t give any indication as to who the interested parties might be, but there are any number of teams that could use another arm for the bullpen. Greene certainly has the experience to be an asset. The seven-year veteran owns a 4.38 career ERA/4.07 career FIP in 444 innings over 313 career games. He made 33 starts for the Yankees and Tigers over the first three seasons of his career, but settled in as a high-leverage reliever after that.

Though Greene saved 65 games for the Tigers from 2016 to 2019, the 32-year-old took on a setup role once transferred to a contender in Atlanta. The Braves deployed Greene most often in the eighth inning. In the year and a half since he was acquired from the Tigers for Joey Wentz and Travis Demeritte, Greene posted a 3.27 ERA/3.87 FIP over 51 1/3 innings for the Braves.

Injury Notes: Yardley, Brewers, Kirk, Stripling

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Prior to Saturday’s game, the Brewers placed right-hander Eric Yardley on the 10-day injured list (placement retroactive to April 30) due to a right shoulder strain.  An extreme grounder specialist, Yardley posted a 1.80 ERA over 35 innings with the Padres and Brewers in 2019-20, but struggled to a 5.73 ERA over his first 11 innings of 2021.

Yardley is the seventh pitcher and the 16th player overall on an incredibly crowded Milwaukee injured list.  Despite missing so many key players, the Brewers are still 16-10 and in first place in the NL Central, though one wonders if the loss of healthy manpower will eventually catch up to the team.  MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy provided a rundown of known or estimated return dates for the 16 players, with a few unknowns based on a lack of information (such as Corbin Burnes’ placement on the COVID-19 injured list).

More on some injury situations from around baseball…

  • Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk left Saturday’s game due to left hip flexor discomfort.  Kirk was just 24 hours removed from his biggest performance of the season, hitting two homers in the Jays’ 13-5 victory over the Braves on Friday.  For the year, Kirk is hitting .225/.326/.475 over 46 PA, good for a 127 wRC+.  Danny Jansen would assume starting duties in Kirk’s absence, and since Toronto has an open 40-man roster spot, Reese McGuire or veteran Juan Graterol could be selected to the roster in the event of an IL visit for Kirk.  (Riley Adams and Gabriel Moreno are the only catchers on the 40-man but neither has any MLB experience.)
  • In better injury news for the Blue Jays, manager Charlie Montoyo told reporters (including Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith) that Ross Stripling is expected to start against the Braves on Sunday.  Stripling hasn’t pitched since April 8 due to a flexor strain, and given his absence, his outing tomorrow is probably likely to be limited to a few innings rather than a full starter’s workload.

Jordan Hicks Leaves Game Due To Right Arm Tightness

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9:56PM: Hicks was experiencing soreness and inflammation in his elbow, manager Mike Shildt told MLB.com’s Ryan Herrera and other reporters.

9:28PM: Cardinals right-hander Jordan Hicks left tonight’s game due to what the team described as “right arm tightness.”  Hicks began the seventh inning and allowed a hit over two-thirds of an inning before leaving the game.  As per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch via Twitter, “Hicks had a noticeable wince and flex of the arm” after tossing his final pitch.

The Cards’ announcement specified that Hicks was removed for precautionary reasons, though that preliminary diagnosis of arm tightness is certainly cause for concern given Hicks’ injury history.  The righty underwent Tommy John surgery in June 2019 and didn’t pitch at all in 2020 — he opted out of the season due to COVID concerns as a sufferer of Type 1 diabetes, and Hicks’ rehab may have kept from returning to the mound altogether before the regular season was out.

St. Louis hasn’t rushed Hicks back by any stretch, limiting him to middle relief outings and set-up duty rather than save situations.  To date, Hicks also hasn’t pitched on consecutive days.

It’s been something of a mixed bag for Hicks in the 10 innings pitched since his long layoff.  He has a 5.40 ERA/5.91 SIERA that can be largely attributed to a tough outing against the Reds on April 23, as Hicks has a 2.79 ERA over his other nine appearances.  Hicks has thus far been among the best in the game at limiting hard contact, and Hicks has technically lost a bit of velocity by his high standards, but it’s probably fair to say that he isn’t exactly in decline with “only” a 99.4mph average fastball after averaging in the triple digits in the 2018-19 seasons.  On the downside, Hicks’ his 24.4% strikeout rate is almost exactly league average, and he has as many walks (10) as strikeouts.

Blue Jays Acquire Paxton Schultz From Brewers

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The Blue Jays have acquired right-hander Paxton Schultz from the Brewers, according to a Jays team announcement.  The move completes a past move between the two clubs, as Schultz is the player to be named later in the February trade that saw Derek Fisher head from Toronto to Milwaukee.

Schultz was a 2019 draft pick, selected in the 14th round by the Brewers out of Utah Valley University.  He mostly worked as a starter in college, though he has thus far worked out of the bullpen for 15 of his 17 pro games.

Schultz posted a 3.86 ERA over 23 1/3 innings in rookie ball in 2019, but since the 2020 minor league season was canceled, he was one of six Milwaukee prospects sent to the Australian Baseball League as per the team’s partnership with the ABL’s Brisbane Bandits.  The righty got to appear in eight games with Brisbane, posting a 3.29 ERA over 17 1/3 innings and posting a 17-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Pennsylvania Notes: Hayes, Goodwin, Howard, Realmuto

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The latest on the Keystone State’s two MLB teams…

  • Pirates GM Ben Cherington provided reporters (including Kevin Gorman of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review) with an update on Ke’Bryan Hayes, saying that the third baseman hasn’t yet started to swing a bat, but is still “feeling improvement” in his bothersome wrist.  Hayes has been sidelined since the second game of the season and has already been dealt with one setback in his recovery process.  Cherington didn’t give a timetable on a potential return for Hayes, though he will be joining the Pirates on their upcoming road trip from May 3-9.
  • Brian Goodwin wasn’t on the list of names slated for the Pirates’ preliminary Triple-A roster, and Cherington told The Athletic’s Rob Biertempfel that the team hopes to have the situation with Goodwin’s opt-out clause settled in a day or two.  Goodwin’s minor league deal with the Bucs contains an opt-out clause in May, and it remains to be seen if that opt-out date could be extended, or if Goodwin could leave the organization, or even if Goodwin could be called up to the Pittsburgh roster.  Gregory Polanco, Bryan Reynolds, and utilityman Phillip Evans comprise the team’s first-choice starting outfield mix, with utilityman Wilmer Difo and recent waiver claim Ka’ai Tom on the bench.  The veteran Goodwin would certainly represent a more experienced, outfield-only presence on the roster, and Goodwin can play all three positions.  As per the terms of the minor league deal, Goodwin would earn $1.6MM if he made Pittsburgh’s active roster.
  • The Phillies announced earlier this week that top pitching prospect Spencer Howard was going to be stretched out for a rotation spot, though president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski provided a bit more detail on Howard’s role to Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer and other reporters.  Howard might technically start a game, but “we’re talking about giving him two-, three-, maybe even a four-inning type of thing,” Dombrowski said.  “But we’re not talking about stretching him out to those number of innings where you consider him as a starting-starting pitcher, per se.”  Between Howard’s health history and the lost 2020 minor league season, the Phillies are being careful with their young hurler’s arm, targeting him for an unspecified innings limit in 2021.  The Phils initially aimed to use Howard as a reliever this season, but plans changed given the lack of production from the fourth and fifth spots in the team’s rotation.
  • J.T. Realmuto has been out of the Phillies’ starting lineup for two straight games due to a sore left hand.  The catcher suffered the injury while trying to block a wild pitch in Thursday’s game, with the ball hitting the heel of Realmuto’s hand.  It isn’t yet known how much more time Realmuto will miss, though it might not be too serious a situation, considering Rafael Marchan was optioned back to the alternate training site earlier today — Realmuto and Andrew Knapp are the only catchers on Philadelphia’s 26-man roster.

Mariners Designate Jacob Nottingham

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The Mariners have designated catcher Jacob Nottingham for assignment, the team announced.  Right-hander Wyatt Mills was called up from the alternate training site in a corresponding move.

It’s the second DFA in a little over a week for Nottingham, who was only just claimed by Seattle off the Brewers’ roster on April 28.  Nottingham might now be moving on without ever officially appearing in a Mariners uniform if another team makes a claim.  (Given how Milwaukee just lost starting catcher Omar Narvaez to the injured list, one wonders if the Brewers could reunite with their former backstop.)  Nottingham is out of minor league options, which is why neither the Mariners or Brewers could simply stash him in the minors.

The 26-year-old Nottingham has a .203/.306/.432 slash line over 85 career plate appearances in the majors, appearing in 30 games total with Milwaukee from 2018-20.  A sixth-round pick for the Astros in the 2013 draft, Nottingham played in the minors with the Astros and Athletics before going to the Brewers as part of the Khris Davis trade in February 2016.

Mills was a third-round pick for Seattle in the 2017 draft, and is a local product who hails from Spokane and attended Gonzaga.  MLB Pipeline ranks him as the 22nd-best prospect in the Mariners’ farm system, with Mills showing some extra intrigue after displaying a velocity bump (up to 97mph) in Arizona Fall League play.  Mills has “primarily relied on a fastball-slider combination to miss bats and generate a ton of groundouts,” according to Pipeline, with “high spin rates” on both pitches.  Mills has a 3.57 ERA over 126 minor league innings, all as a relief pitcher.

Rockies Place Antonio Senzatela On 10-Day Injured List

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The Rockies announced that righty Antonio Senzatela has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a right groin strain.  Left-hander Lucas Gilbreath has been called up from the alternate training site in the corresponding move.

The injury compounds a tough beginning to the season for Senzatela, who has a 5.76 ERA through six starts.  The ERA is perhaps a bit deceptive, as he allowed seven runs over 3 1/3 innings in his first outing of the season and a 4.10 ERA in in his five outings, though Senzatela’s Statcast metrics aren’t terribly impressive.  The grounder specialist has his typically strong ground-ball rate (52.4%) but his 13.1% strikeout rate is among the league’s lowest.  Senzatela’s arsenal has made him a decent back-of-the-rotation option for Colorado over the last three seasons, and he had a 3.44 ERA over 73 1/3 frames in 2020.

It isn’t known if Senzatela will miss much time beyond the minimum 10 days, and with Kyle Freeland already on the IL, Colorado is facing an early test of its pitching depth.  In filling Senzatela’s rotation spot, the Rockies could turn to Jhoulys Chacin on the big league roster, or perhaps Jose Mujica, Ryan Castellani, or Antonio Santos from the minor leagues.  Veteran Ivan Nova was also recently signed to a minors deal.

Gilbreath isn’t likely an option, since MLB Pipeline’s scouting report notes that the Rockies moved Gilbreath to a relief role in 2020.  A seventh-round pick for Colorado in the 2017 draft, Gilbreath has a 5.35 ERA and 21.6% strikeout rate over 303 minor league innings, none above the high-A level.  Gilbreath has started 59 of his 66 career games down on the farm, but his two-pitch combo of a plus fastball and slider could make him better suited to bullpen work going forward.  Pipeline ranks Gilbreath as the 26th-best prospect in the Rockies’ farm system.

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