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Rangers Place Edinson Volquez On 45-Day Injured List

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The Rangers announced Thursday that right-hander Edinson Volquez has been placed on the 45-day injured list after suffering a right oblique strain in his most recent appearance. With only 47 days remaining in the regular season, that will likely put an end to his 2020 campaign.

Volquez, 37, returned to Texas on a minor league deal this winter after pitching 16 innings for them in 2019. He openly pondered the possibility of retiring last summer, suggesting that he hoped to get back on the mound with the Rangers late in the season and then call it a career. At the time, it seemed Volquez was simply hoping to go out on his own terms, but he clearly felt strong enough last September to give things another go in 2020. He cracked the club’s Opening Day roster and has pitched 5 2/3 innings while allowing three runs, although virtually all the damage against him came in one ugly outing.

What’s next for Volquez isn’t clear. The right-hander has been limited to just 21 2/3 big league frames over the past three seasons after undergoing his second career Tommy John surgery late in the 2017 season while pitching for the Marlins. To this point, he’s amassed 1546 1/3 Major League innings while pitching to a 95-89 record with a 4.45 ERA and 1323 strikeouts. Volquez was an All-Star in a 2008 campaign that saw him finish fourth in NL Rookie of the Year voting, and he’s pitched in parts of three postseasons — including as a key member of the Royals’ World Series-winning rotation in 2015.

Braves Outright Scott Schebler

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The Braves announced that outfielder Scott Schebler went unclaimed on waivers and has been outrighted to their alternate training site in Gwinnett. Because he’s been assigned to the alternate training site, Schebler remains in the 60-player pool and is eligible to rejoin the club at a later date this season.

Atlanta acquired the 29-year-old Schebler from the Reds in exchange for cash after Cincinnati designated him for assignment. He received just one plate appearance with the Braves before being designated a second time.

It wasn’t long ago that Schebler was a 30-homer bat for the Reds. He swatted 30 long balls and hit .233/.307/.484 back in 2017 as the primary right fielder in Cincinnati, but the composition of their outfield has turned over considerably since that time. Schebler was used in a more limited role in 2018 but still hit well (.255/.337/.439, 17 homers). Shoulder troubles completely tanked Scheber’s 2019 season, however. He eventually underwent labrum repair surgery after hitting just .123/.253/.222 in 95 Major League plate appearances and .216/.274/.325 in 212 Triple-A plate appearances. He’ll work with the club’s alternate roster in Gwinnett while hoping for another chance at the big league level now that his shoulder is back up to strength.

Jeff McNeil Removed On Cart After Collision

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3:54pm: McNeil has been diagnosed a bone contusion, manager Luis Rojas told reporters after the game (Twitter link via The Athletic’s Tim Britton). He’s not expected to require a trip to the injured list. He’ll be evaluated again tomorrow before any final decisions are made, though.

2:45pm: Initial X-rays on McNeil’s knee have come back negative, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets. However, McNeil will still undergo an MRI for further evaluation.

12:27pm: Mets utilityman extraordinaire Jeff McNeil was carted off of the field after suffering an apparent leg injury in today’s game. He crashed into the outfield wall after making a sensational running catch.

Needless to say, there’s no indication at this point of the seriousness of the injury. McNeil attempted to leave on his own power but ultimately required additional medical attention. Any lasting absence for McNeil, of course, would be a brutal blow to an already reeling Mets club. He hasn’t shown the pop that he displayed in 2019 or even in 2018, but McNeil entered play hitting .293/.358/.362 through his first 67 trips to the plate in 2020.

The Mets have already lost Noah Syndergaard for the season due to Tommy John surgery, while Marcus Stroman has opted out of the 2020 campaign citing health and safety concerns. Also on the injured list for the Mets are Robinson Cano, Jed Lowrie, Jake Marisnick, Eduardo Nunez, Rene Rivera and Michael Wacha.

Red Sox Claim Christian Arroyo

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The Red Sox announced that they’ve claimed infielder Christian Arroyo off waivers from the Indians, who’d designated him for assignment last week. Boston’s 40-man roster and 60-man player pool are now full.

Still just 25 years of age, Arroyo was a 2013 first-round pick by the Giants who is now joining his fourth big league club. San Francisco initially traded him to Tampa Bay — when current chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom was a senior VP of baseball ops with the Rays — in the Evan Longoria swap. Arroyo went to Cleveland alongside righty Hunter Wood in a 2019 deadline deal.

The right-handed-hitting Arroyo has appeared in 71 big league games and tallied 251 plate appearances, though he has only a .215/.280/.342 slash to show for it. Arroyo, however, is a career .298/.359/.487 hitter in 418 Triple-A plate appearances, and he comes to the BoSox with experience at shortstop (2574 innings), third base (1257 innings) and second base (519 innings).

At his prospect peak, Arroyo was known as a hit-over-power player at the plate with a strong throwing arm but questionable range at shortstop. That’s not an issue for the Red Sox, who have Xander Bogaerts entrenched at short with Rafael Devers similarly locked in at third base.

The outlook at second base is far murkier, though, given Dustin Pedroia’s now years-long knee troubles. Jose Peraza was signed to a cheap one-year deal this winter and has paired with Rule 5 pick Jonathan Arauz and Tzu-Wei Lin to handle the workload at second base. That trio, though, has combined for a disastrous .224/.235/.299 slash. Arroyo adds another option to the pile, and it’s hard to imagine he’d offer much of a downgrade from that collective output. He’s out of minor league options, so he’ll need to remain on Boston’s active roster or else be designated for assignment once again.

Brewers Announce Series Of Roster Moves

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The Brewers made a host of moves Thursday, perhaps most notably optioning lefty Eric Lauer to their alternate training site. Milwaukee also placed righty Justin Grimm on the 10-day injured list due to a laceration on his right index finger. In a pair of corresponding moves, lefty Angel Perdomo was recalled from the alternate site and righty Drew Rasmussen’s contract was selected to the MLB roster. In order to open space on the 40-man roster for Rasmussen, the Brewers transferred right-hander Ray Black from the 10-day IL to the 45-day IL.

Lauer, 25, was acquired along with Luis Urias in the trade that sent Zach Davies and Trent Grisham to the Padres back in November. He was a constant presence in the Padres’ rotation from 2018-19, but he’s gotten out to a tough start in his first few appearances as a Brewer. Lauer has made a pair of starts and one relief appearance thus far but yielded 13 runs in 9 1/3 frames. Lauer’s 2 2/3-inning relief appearance could hardly have gone better — he whiffed six hitters in a scoreless effort — but he’s been hit hard by the Reds and Twins in two subsequent starts.

The 26-year-old Perdomo has a strong minor league track record but ran into a roadblock in last year’s supercharged offensive atmosphere in Triple-A (5.17 ERA in 54 frames). Despite the bloated ERA, though, Perdomo still punched out 86 hitters in those 54 innings of work. He’ll give skipper Craig Counsell a fourth lefty out of the ’pen, joining Josh Hader, Brent Suter and Alex Claudio. His first appearance in a game will mark his Major League debut.

Rasmussen is also slated to make his first MLB showing. The 25-year-old averaged 11.6 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9 while working to a 3.15 ERA through 74 1/3 innings across three minor league levels last year. That marked the lone season of professional experience for the 2018 sixth-rounder, who’ll now jump directly from Double-A to the big leagues after impressing the club both in Summer Camp and at the alternate training site.

As for Black, it seems as though he’s now in danger of another season-ending injury. The flamethrowing righty brings triple-digit heat and outrageous minor league strikeout numbers, but he’s simply been unable to stay healthy enough to establish himself in the Majors. Black went on the injured list due to a rotator cuff strain to begin the season, and today’s move to the 45-day IL suggests that the club doesn’t expect him back anytime soon.

Phillies Designate Edgar Garcia, Place Adam Haseley On Injured List

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The Phillies announced Thursday that right-hander Edgar Garcia has been designated for assignment, while center fielder Adam Haseley has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a left wrist sprain. The moves pave the way for the promotion of top prospect Alec Bohm, whose first call to the big leagues was reported earlier in the day. He’s batting sixth for the Phils tonight and playing third base.

The loss of Haseley for at least the immediate future likely means Scott Kingery and Roman Quinn will share time in center field. Bohm, the No. 3 pick in the 2018 draft, should get a legitimate audition at the hot corner, which will mean Jean Segura seeing extra time at second base. Haseley had been out to a hot start in 10 games, slashing .333/.364/.429 in 22 trips to the plate. Since debuting in 2019, the 2017 first-rounder has posted a .272/.327/.399 slash while playing quality defense in the outfield. Kingery’s versatility helps to cushion the loss, but the Phils will obviously be hoping for an abbreviated absence for the promising 24-year-old.

Garcia, meanwhile, hasn’t pitched in the Majors this year. The 22-year-old made his big league debut with last year’s Phillies, compiling 39 innings but pitching to an ugly 5.77 earned run average. Walks were a huge flaw for Garcia, who whiffed 45 hitters in that time but also yielded 26 free passes (in addition to four wild pitches). He does have strong numbers in the upper minors and a minor league option remaining beyond 2020, so it’s possible another club could take a look at Garcia either in a small trade or as a waiver claim.

Pirates Designate Miguel Del Pozo For Assignment

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The Pirates announced Thursday that left-hander Miguel Del Pozo has been designated for assignment. The move opens a spot on the 40-man roster for closer Keone Kela, who has officially been reinstated from the Covid-19 injured list.

Del Pozo, 27, has seen time in the Majors in both of the past two seasons — last year with the Angels — but been clobbered for 18 runs on 17 hits and 16 walks in just 13 innings. He’s punched out 13 hitters in that time, but his overall results obviously haven’t earned him any type of staying power. Del Pozo has respectable numbers up through the Double-A level but has yet to find success in Triple-A or the Majors. The Pirates will have a week to either trade him, release him or look to pass him through outright waivers.

Kela’s return was announced by manager Derek Shelton yesterday. He’ll step right into the closer’s role for a Pirates club that has gone 3-13 to begin the season. Long a high-quality reliever, Kela is a free agent at season’s end and figures to be traded in the coming weeks so long as he remains healthy.

MLB To Facilitate Alternate Training Site Data Sharing

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Major League Baseball is developing a plan to allow interested teams to share information about players participating in alternate training sites. Kiley McDaniel of ESPN.com reported the news (Twitter links), noting that it has not yet been initiated.

At this point, it appears that about twenty of MLB’s thirty teams will participate in the initiative. They’ll have the chance to share both data recordings and video. It’s intended to help teams assess players in the absence of games or any in-person scouting.

It stands to reason that this effort will help increase the potential for summer trades. Teams typically gather information right up until the mid-season trade deadline, but there’s a near-dearth of that activity at the moment except for players actually playing in the majors.

There’s no doubt that this plan is imperfect, but it seems at least to be a worthwhile workaround effort. The fact that every team won’t participate is notable. It’ll be interesting to see how that shapes the run-up to the trade deadline.

Nationals Promote Seth Romero, Place Sean Doolittle On IL

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The Nationals have selected the contract of pitching prospect Seth Romero. Veteran reliever Sean Doolittle was moved to the 10-day injured list with right knee fatigue.

This isn’t quite how the Nats hoped things to shake out early, but the team’s supply of southpaw relievers has now been exhausted. The team placed Sam Freeman on the IL earlier today.

Details of Doolittle’s injury aren’t yet known. The placement surely also reflects his difficulties on the mound. He has made it through three total innings in five appearances, coughing up five earned runs while recording only two strikeouts. Doolittle’s velocity has fallen off a cliff, declining three full ticks on average versus 2019.

When the Nats picked Romero in the first round of the 2017 draft, there were whispers that the team might speed him through the system for a near-term relief role. It took some time, and required a few ups and downs but he’s now headed to the majors to work out of the pen.

Romero has averaged 13.1 K/9 in the minors, but that’s in a minimal sample of 47 1/3 innings. His 2019 campaign was wiped out entirely by Tommy John surgery, though that’s now nearly two years in the rearview mirror.

In the long run, the hope surely remains that Romero will turn into a rotation piece. For now, the Nationals need to address the immediate need and will give him a shot to carve out a place on the pitching staff.

Phillies To Promote Alec Bohm

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The Phillies have decided to promote top prospect Alec Bohm, per Meghan Montemurro of The Athletic (via Twitter). Bohm was already in the team’s 60-man player pool but will require a 40-man roster spot. He follows fellow blue-chipper Spencer Howard in getting his first shot at the bigs.

Bohm, 24, was the third overall pick of the 2018 draft. To this point he has made good on that lofty selection status. Bohm slugged his way up to Double-A last year, where he slashed .269/.344/.500 with 14 long balls and a 38:28 K/BB ratio over 270 plate appearances.

There wasn’t much doubt as to Bohm’s readiness for the majors heading into 2020. He finished up his ’19 effort with a strong showing in the Arizona Fall League and came into camp hoping to force his way into the immediate MLB plans.

While it was never likely the Phils would start Bohm’s service clock on Opening Day, he was obviously a part of the club’s plans for the present campaign. With the team lagging in the standings out of the gates, and little time to dally, it’s time to see if he can make the final step in his development and turn into a productive major leaguer.

Just how the Phils will line up with Bohm on the roster remains to be seen. He may not play everyday out of the chutes; unlike a typical season, he won’t be missing development opportunities in a minor-league campaign. But with Rhys Hoskins and Scott Kingery scuffling at the plate, and a fair bit of positional flexibility available to work with, the team could give Bohm room to run as a regular at the hot corner and let others battle for the lesser remaining chances.

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