Brian Anderson To Undergo Shoulder Surgery
Marlins third baseman Brian Anderson will undergo surgery next week to repair a subluxation in his left shoulder, the team informed reporters (including Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald). The team is hopeful he’ll be ready for Spring Training in 2022.
Anderson was already expected to be out for the rest of this season, and Craig Mish of the Herald reported last week that surgery was a possibility. It’s the second shoulder subluxation of the season for Anderson, who also missed two and a half months earlier in the year with a similar issue. Coupled with a brief IL stint for an oblique strain, those injuries limited Anderson to 264 plate appearances. The 28-year-old hit .249/.337/.378 with seven home runs in that time.
It was the least productive season of Anderson’s four-year big league career. He entered the year as a career .266/.349/.431 hitter. Along with his reliable defense at the hot corner, Anderson had been one of the Marlins’ more consistent performers. While his walk and strikeout rates weren’t meaningfully changed this year, his power production and batted ball metrics took a step back — perhaps in part due to his ongoing shoulder issues.
Anderson will be eligible for arbitration a second time this offseason. He agreed to a $3.8MM salary last winter and is slated to go through the process twice more before reaching free agency after the 2023 season. The Marlins and Anderson had discussed potential extension terms in the past, but new general manager Kim Ng said last winter that she preferred to evaluate Anderson’s 2021 season before reengaging in talks. With Anderson coming off a campaign diminished by injury, it seems the front office will continue to proceed year-by-year through the arbitration process for the time being.
Red Sox Select Kaleb Ort
The Red Sox announced a series of roster moves before this evening’s game against the White Sox. As expected, shortstop Xander Bogaerts has been reinstated from the COVID-19 injured list. Hard-throwing reliever Darwinzon Hernández has been activated from the 10-day IL, while the club selected fellow bullpen arm Kaleb Ort. In corresponding moves, starter Chris Sale was placed on the COVID-19 IL after testing positive for the virus and reliever Austin Davis was placed on the paternity list. Additionally, infielder Jonathan Araúz has been placed on the COVID IL. He’s experiencing virus-like symptoms but has continued to test negative, relays Chris Cotillo of MassLive (Twitter link).
Ort is up to make his major league debut. The right-hander went undrafted out of Aquinas College in 2016. He signed with the Diamondbacks but was released not long after and then latched on with the Yankees. Ort spent the past few seasons in the New York system, but the Red Sox added him in the minor league phase of last offseason’s Rule 5 draft.
Assigned to Worcester, Ort has pitched well at the minors’ top level to earn the call. The 29-year-old has worked 43 1/3 innings of 3.12 ERA ball with the WooSox, striking out a very strong 30.4% of batters faced. Ort has had issues with his control throughout his pro career, but his 10.3% walk rate this season is only marginally above the league average for relievers.
Hernández is back after missing a little more than five weeks with a right oblique strain. The southpaw has a 3.44 ERA in 34 frames of relief despite an elevated 16.9% walk percentage. That’s largely thanks to his quality 29.9% strikeout rate, a continuation of Hernández’s lofty punch out and walk totals throughout his big league career.
MLB Suspends Nationals’ Sean Nolin, Dave Martinez
5:59 pm: Nolin has apparently elected not to appeal after all. He’ll begin serving his ban tonight, Jessica Camerato of MLB.com was among those to relay.
5:18 pm: Major League Baseball announced that Nationals left-hander Sean Nolin has been suspended five games for “intentionally hitting” Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman with a pitch during Wednesday night’s game. Nolin, who also received an undisclosed fine, is appealing the suspension. He’ll remain on the roster until his appeal is heard.
Additionally, MLB suspended Washington manager Dave Martinez for one game as a result of Nolin’s actions. Martinez, who also received an undisclosed fine, will serve his ban during tonight’s game against the Pirates.
In the first inning of Wednesday’s start in Atlanta, Nolin threw a first-pitch fastball behind Freeman’s back. His second pitch of the plate appearance — also a fastball — hit Freeman in the right hip. Nolin was then ejected by home plate umpire Lance Barksdale.
The night before, Braves’ closer Will Smith hit Nationals star Juan Soto with a pitch. It seems that Nolin threw behind and then hit Freeman as a retaliatory measure, although he denied doing so intentionally. After the game, Nolin told reporters (including Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com) he simply had trouble gripping the baseball.
Nolin made his return to the majors this season for the first time since 2015. Over five starts, the 31-year-old has worked 17 2/3 innings of 5.60 ERA ball.
Diamondbacks Promote Seth Beer
4:54 pm: The team has officially announced Beer’s promotion. Infielder Drew Ellis was optioned to Triple-A Reno in a corresponding move.
3:21 pm: The Diamondbacks are planning to select first base prospect Seth Beer to make his major league debut during this weekend’s series against the Mariners, reports Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. Arizona already had a vacancy on the 40-man roster after releasing righty Seth Frankoff earlier in the week.
Beer was a first-round pick of the Astros back in 2018. The left-handed hitter had a monstrous three-year run at Clemson leading up to the draft, and he’s continued to mash in pro ball. Beer has hit well at every minor league level over the past couple seasons, with that success continuing after he was traded to Arizona in July 2019 as part of the Zack Greinke blockbuster. (The three other players Arizona acquired — utilityman Josh Rojas and right-handers J.B. Bukauskas and Corbin Martin — have also reached the majors).
After spending last season at the D-Backs’ alternate training site, Beer was assigned to Triple-A Reno this year. Over 435 plate appearances there, the 24-year-old owns a .287/.398/.511 line with sixteen home runs. Those numbers are aided by a hitter-friendly environment, but Beer’s production still checks in twenty-six percentage points above the Triple-A West league average. Coupled with his previous track record of success, there’s little left for Beer to prove against minor league arms.
Despite his draft pedigree, Beer isn’t regarded as an elite prospect due to concerns about his limited defensive value. Baseball America slotted him seventeenth in the Arizona system on their midseason update, praising his offensive acumen while questioning whether Beer could develop into even a serviceable defender at first base. Many expect the National League to adopt the designated hitter in 2022 as part of the next round of collective bargaining negotiations, and few would seemingly stand to benefit more from a potential NL DH than Beer.
The Diamondbacks would have had to add Beer to the 40-man roster this offseason or else risk losing him in the Rule 5 draft. They’ll get an early look at a potential long-term option as they play out the string on a terrible year. Beer could seemingly take some playing time from the struggling Christian Walker, who has hit just .234/.308/.356 in 373 trips to the plate.
Red Sox To Activate Xander Bogaerts From Injured List
The Red Sox are planning to activate star shortstop Xander Bogaerts from the COVID-19 injured list before this evening’s game against the White Sox, reports Chris Cotillo of MassLive (Twitter link). He has been out since testing positive for the virus on August 31.
Boston has held their own in Bogaerts’ absence, going 5-4 over that nine-game stretch. Bogaerts was one of ten Red Sox players to test positive as the virus has spread throughout the clubhouse. While he and Kiké Hernández have now made it back to action, a good portion of the roster remains on the virus-related IL. Indeed, that spread continued to impact the club as recently as this afternoon, when it was announced that ace Chris Sale tested positive.
Bogaerts is arguably the most important player the Red Sox were without during their outbreak. The three-time All-Star has a fantastic .298/.366/.501 line over 519 plate appearances this season, making him one of the more valuable position players in the league. He returns at a time when the Sox hold a one-game advantage over the Yankees for the American League’s top Wild Card spot, with the Blue Jays just half a game behind New York.
Yankees Designate Sal Romano For Assignment
The Yankees announced they’ve designated Sal Romano for assignment. The move creates active and 40-man roster space for Michael King, who has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list.
It was a very brief stay in the majors for Romano, whose contract was just selected yesterday. The right-hander allowed a run on two hits while recording two outs in last night’s loss to the Blue Jays before being bumped from the roster. It’s the fourth time Romano has been designated for assignment this year, as he’s also been waived by the Reds, Yankees previously, and Brewers. Between the three clubs, the 27-year-old owns a 5.84 ERA in 24 2/3 innings, with below-average strikeout (14%) and ground-ball (40.2%) rates but a fine 8.8% walk percentage.
The Yankees will now place Romano on waivers in the next few days. He’s out of minor league option years, so any team that claims him would have to keep him on the active roster or else place him on waivers themselves. If he passes through unclaimed, Romano would have the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency.
King hasn’t pitched since July 8 because of a right middle finger contusion. The 26-year-old has been solid in a swing role for the Yankees this season, working to a 3.72 ERA with decent strikeout and walk numbers over fourteen appearances (including six starts).
Red Sox Outright Taylor Motter
Sept. 10: Motter was not claimed on waivers and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Worcester, the Red Sox announced Friday
Sept. 7: The Red Sox announced a series of roster moves before this evening’s game against the Rays. Utilitymen Kiké Hernández and Danny Santana were both reinstated from the COVID-19 injured list. To open active roster space, outfielder Franchy Cordero was optioned to Triple-A Worcester while infielder Taylor Motter was designated for assignment.
Hernández was the first player on the Red Sox to test positive amidst the recent viral spread that has affected a sizable chunk of the roster. He’s also the first player to return from that group, and he’ll take his customary place atop the lineup this evening. Signed over the offseason to a two-year deal, Hernández has put together one of the better seasons of his career in his first year in Boston. The 30-year-old owns a .258/.346/.465 line over 483 plate appearances.
Motter was claimed off waivers from the Rockies last Thursday to bolster the infield depth with Hernández, Santana, Xander Bogaerts and Yairo Muñoz all on the COVID IL. He’ll lose his roster spot after just three games with a couple of the original options returning. While internal players selected as COVID replacements can be bumped from the active and 40-man rosters without being made available to other teams, those acquired from outside the organization (like Motter) still need to stick on the 40-man or be exposed to waivers.
While Motter hasn’t gotten much of a big league look this season, he posted fantastic numbers with the Rockies’ top affiliate in Albuquerque. Over 265 plate appearances with the Isotopes, Motter hit .335/.460/.759 with 24 home runs and matching strikeout and walk rates (18.5%). That strong showing — coupled with his positional versatility — could pique the interest of another club once he lands on waivers.
While the Red Sox have begun to get some players back from the COVID IL, it wasn’t unanimously positive news on that front. Starting pitcher Nick Pivetta, who landed on the IL last Sunday, has tested positive for the virus, manager Alex Cora revealed to reporters (including Alex Speier of the Boston Globe). The positive test will keep another key player for Boston out of action for at least the next week-plus. The Red Sox enter play tonight holding a three-game advantage over the Blue Jays and Mariners in the American League Wild Card race.
MLB, MLBPA Agree To Extend Trevor Bauer’s Administrative Leave Through Postseason
Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association have agreed to extend the administrative leave of Dodgers right-hander Trevor Bauer through the end of the World Series, reports ESPN’s Jeff Passan (Twitter thread). MLB Network’s Jon Heyman suggested earlier this morning that Bauer’s leave was likely to be extended through season’s end.
The agreement between the league and the players’ union does not come in the wake of new information and is largely a procedural move. Bauer hasn’t pitched in a game since late June and would’ve been unlikely to have sufficient time to ramp up again even if a resolution in his case appeared near. There’s no indication, however, that a resolution is on the horizon.
A Los Angeles judge recently denied a permanent restraining order to the woman who has accused Bauer of sexually assaulting her, although that was a civic hearing that is separate from the still-ongoing criminal investigation. The judge ruled that Bauer did not pose a future threat to the alleged victim, but that ruling was not a determination of criminal culpability (or lack thereof).
Criminal charges have not yet been filed against Bauer, nor has he been declared guilty or not guilty. The Pasadena Police recently turned over its findings to the Los Angeles County District Attorney, whose office is still reviewing all of the evidence. Notably, Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times tweets that the DA’s office has not yet determined whether criminal charges will formally be filed.
Major League Baseball is in the midst of its own investigation into these allegations as well as a separate set of accusations from an Ohio woman, stemming from an alleged incident last summer. Commissioner Rob Manfred has the ability to suspend Bauer even if criminal charges are not brought forth. Presumably, the league is waiting on the criminal investigation into Bauer to play out before announcing its own decision.
Bauer was originally placed on paid administrative leave back on July 2. It’s not a punitive measure but is instead implemented to allow Major League Baseball to look into incidents that fall under the purview of the Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse policy agreed upon by MLB and the MLBPA. Administrative leave is typically only extended in seven-day increments and must be jointly agreed upon by the league and the union. The two parties have agreed to extend Bauer’s leave each Friday since his original leave was announced, but given the proximity to the end of the regular season and the ongoing nature of investigations, an agreement has now been reached to formally close the book on his 2021 season.
Rays Prospect Cole Wilcox Undergoes Tommy John Surgery
Top Rays pitching prospect Cole Wilcox underwent Tommy John surgery on Wednesday this week, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link). That’ll quite likely wipe out his entire 2022 campaign.
Wilcox, 22, came to the Rays as one of the key young pieces in the trade that sent lefty Blake Snell to San Diego. He was a third-round pick, selected No. 80 overall, just last summer — although that draft placement is somewhat misleading. Wilcox, a draft-eligible sophomore last summer, was widely viewed as a first-round talent but slipped down the draft board due to signability concerns. The Friars gave him a $3.3MM signing bonus — a record number for a third-round selection.
The Padres added Wilcox to their 60-man player pool last year and let him work out with at their alternate site over the course of the summer, but last year’s nixed minor league season meant that the former Georgia Bulldogs righty didn’t make his professional debut until this year with the Rays’ Class-A affiliate. Wilcox looked every bit like a first-round talent when cruising through A-ball lineups. In 44 1/3 innings, he pitched to a 2.03 ERA with an impressive 29.9 percent strikeout rate and an incredibly low 2.9 percent walk rate.
Wilcox only recently turned 22, so he’ll still be just 23 years of age when he returns to the mound — presumably early in the 2023 campaign. Obviously, it’s not ideal for a promising young pitcher to effectively lose two seasons of development (2020 and 2022, in this case), but Wilcox has age on his side. Assuming he’s able to pitch a mostly full season in 2023, he’ll likely be added to Tampa Bay’s 40-man roster in the 2023-24 offseason, as he’d otherwise be eligible for the Rule 5 Draft that winter.
Even with Wilcox sidelined next season, the Rays have an impressive crop of rising young arms to tap into both in 2022 and in 2023. Luis Patino (also acquired in the Snell deal) and Shane McClanahan have already made an impact at the MLB level, and top prospect Shane Baz likely isn’t too far behind. Right-hander Seth Johnson, like Wilcox, has yet to pitch beyond Class-A, but the 2019 No. 40 overall selection has upped his prospect stock with an outstanding showing in A-ball this season.
Tampa Bay did trade away a pair of nearly MLB-ready arms — Joe Ryan and Drew Strotman — in order to acquire Nelson Cruz, but it seems we can scarcely go a year without a pop-up pitching prospect or two in the Rays’ perennially deep farm system garnering national attention. Recent trades and the loss of Wilcox notwithstanding, the Rays still boast a deep farm system that’ll continue to be ranked among the game’s best.
Chris Sale Tests Positive For Covid-19
Red Sox Chris Sale has tested positive for Covid-19 and will not make his scheduled start Sunday, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com (via Twitter). He’ll be placed on the Covid-19-related injured list, joining eight other Red Sox players who have either tested positive or are in protocol due to the recent team outbreak in Boston.
Major League Baseball’s health-and-safety protocols for the 2021 season stipulate that Sale will be away from the club for at least 10 days, further straining a rotation that has been heavily impacted by the team’s outbreak. Both Nick Pivetta and Martin Perez are currently on the Covid-related injured list, which has prompted recent starts from Kutter Crawford and Brad Peacock. Perez has been on the IL since Aug. 30 and could be nearing a return, and the Sox also currently have Eduardo Rodriguez, Nathan Eovaldi and Tanner Houck in the rotation. The Boston Globe’s Peter Abraham further reports that it’s also possible Pivetta could be activated to make Sale’s start Sunday.
The 32-year-old Sale missed the bulk of the 2021 season as he worked his way back from Tommy John surgery but has been excellent in five starts since rejoining the team. He’s yet to pitch beyond the sixth inning but carries a 2.52 ERA with a 27.5 percent strikeout rate and 5.5 walk percent rate — both quite strong marks — in his first 25 innings since being activated.
The Red Sox have a fairly tenuous hold on the top Wild Card spot in the American League, leading the Yankees by a margin of just one game. Three more teams — Toronto, Seattle and Oakland — are within two games of that second Wild Card spot and within three games of Boston’s top spot. The Sox have managed to remain in competition despite an outbreak that has seen 10 players test positive since late August.
Sale’s positive test comes less than 24 hours after Red Sox right fielder Hunter Renfroe controversially claimed in a WEEI radio appearance with Lou Merloni and Christian Fauria that Major League Baseball had told the Red Sox to “stop testing and just treat the symptoms” (Twitter link with audio). Asked in a follow-up to confirm that MLB had instructed the Red Sox to stop testing, Renfroe replied with a simple, “Yes.”
Both Major League Baseball and the Red Sox moved quickly to refute the claim. Julian McWilliams and Kate McInerny of the Boston Globe cited a league spokesperson who called Renfroe’s claim “completely wrong and inaccurate,” while the team issued a statement indicating it has “been following MLB’s COVID-19 protocols all season long.” The Red Sox added that they have “continued to test and [the league’s] medical staff has been very supportive.”
Renfroe has not further addressed his comments, and there’s been some speculation that he misconstrued the league’s policy of reduced testing frequency for vaccinated, asymptomatic players, which went into place back in June. Under those updated protocols, vaccinated players are not tested for the virus unless they either display symptoms or are deemed a close contact from a person known to have tested positive.