Brewers’ John Curtiss Suffers UCL Tear
Aug. 12: Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel writes that Curtiss is getting a second opinion, but Tommy John surgery indeed seems to be on the table.
Aug. 11: The Brewers announced that right-hander John Curtiss has been diagnosed with a torn UCL in his throwing elbow. The reliever left his appearance against the Cubs last night with elbow soreness, and he’s unfortunately suffered a significant injury. The team didn’t specify the severity of the injury, nor did they make any mention of Tommy John surgery. It’s possible that Curtiss is still exploring alternative means of treatment, but it seems he’s in for an extended absence no matter which course of action he chooses.
Curtiss has made just six appearances with Milwaukee after being acquired from the Marlins in a deadline-day swap. He was blown up for five runs in his team debut, but Curtiss had better results in his five other contests and has had a strong season overall. The 28-year-old tossed 44 1/3 innings of 3.45 ERA ball between Miami and Milwaukee, following up on a quality campaign with the Rays in 2020. Going back the past two seasons, he has a 2.86 ERA across 69 1/3 frames. His 24.1% strikeout rate is league average, but he’s been excellent at avoiding free passes (5.2% walk rate) after struggling with wildness throughout much of his minor league career.
Milwaukee hasn’t specified a timeline for Curtiss’ recovery, but it would be very surprising if he didn’t miss the rest of this season. Should he ultimately require a Tommy John procedure, he’d very likely be sidelined for the entire 2022 campaign as well. Curtiss won’t reach arbitration eligibility until 2023, so there’d be little financial cost for Milwaukee in holding onto him even if he requires a lengthy rehab process. Curtiss would have to occupy a spot on the 40-man roster throughout the winter if the Brew Crew want to ensure they retain his rights long-term, though.
For the time being, Curtiss has been placed on the 10-day injured list, as has lefty Angel Perdomo (lower back strain). The Brewers activated righty Justin Topa from the 60-day IL and recalled southpaw Hoby Milner from Triple-A Nashville, with Topa’s reinstatement filling the 40-man roster. The 30-year-old hasn’t pitched all season on account of a flexor tendon strain.
Mets To Sign Josh Reddick
The Mets are signing veteran outfielder Josh Reddick to a minor league contract, reports Anthony DiComo of MLB.com (Twitter link). Reddick was released by the Diamondbacks on Monday.
Reddick signed a minors deal with the D-Backs over the winter and was selected to the big league roster in mid-May. His stint in Arizona wasn’t especially productive, though, as the left-handed hitter posted a career-worst .258/.285/.371 line over 158 plate appearances. With the last place D-Backs wanting to give a longer look to younger players on the roster, they designated Reddick for assignment last week.
Disappointing 2021 showing aside, there’s no risk for the Mets in adding Reddick on a minor league deal. The veteran has generally been a productive hitter over the course of his career, and he was a league average bat as recently as last season with the Astros. The Mets’ starting outfielders — Dominic Smith, Brandon Nimmo and Michael Conforto — all hit left-handed, but New York’s bench is stocked with righty bats. Reddick joins Mark Payton and Khalil Lee as high minors options the Mets could call on if they’re looking to add a left-handed hitter to the outfield mix.
Because he signed before August 31, Reddick would be eligible for the Mets’ postseason roster if New York were to qualify. The Mets’ win over the Nationals — coupled with the Phillies’ likely loss to the Dodgers tonight — figures to pull them within a game of the Phils and Braves for the lead in the NL East.
Injured List Activations: Schmidt, Frankoff, Blandino
A trio of players were reinstated from the 60-day injured list and optioned to their teams’ respective Triple-A affiliates.
- The Yankees activated right-hander Clarke Schmidt and optioned him to Scranton-Wilkes/Barre. The 25-year-old is one of the game’s better pitching prospects, but he’s been sidelined all year by an elbow strain. Schmidt, who briefly made his big league debut last season, tossed 8 2/3 innings on a rehab assignment and will continue to build up in the minors. Because of last year’s canceled minor league season, Schmidt has still yet to pitch at the Triple-A level. A 40-man roster spot was opened when reliever Clay Holmes was placed on the COVID-19 injured list due to virus-like symptoms.
- The Diamondbacks activated right-hander Seth Frankoff and optioned him to Reno. The move fills Arizona’s 40-man roster. Frankoff signed a minor league deal over the winter and was selected to the big league club in April. The 32-year-old made four appearances and tossed 14 2/3 innings of 9.20 ERA/5.72 SIERA ball before landing on the IL with forearm soreness in early June.
- The Reds reinstated infielder Alex Blandino and optioned him to Louisville. Reliever Art Warren was transferred from the 10-day to the 60-day IL to create a 40-man roster spot. Blandino, who has been out since June 5 with a fractured right hand, has a .200/.317/.257 line across 82 plate appearances this season. Warren landed on the IL with a left oblique strain on July 15. He’s now out until at least mid-September.
Red Sox Move Garrett Richards To Bullpen
The Red Sox are transferring right-hander Garrett Richards to the bullpen, manager Alex Cora told reporters (including Christopher Smith of MassLive). His rotation spot will be filled by Chris Sale, who is expected to make his first appearance in two years on Saturday against the Orioles.
The Sox signed Richards to a one-year, $10MM guarantee over the offseason. (The deal also contains a club option currently valued at $10.25MM — with potential escalators — for the 2022 campaign, but Richards’ struggles this year make it likely he’ll be bought out instead). The hope was that Richards would solidify a starting rotation that looked to be one of the weak points on the roster. Things haven’t played out that way, as the 33-year-old worked to a 5.22 ERA/5.02 SIERA over 22 starts before losing his rotation spot.
Few pitchers in baseball seemed more affected by MLB’s midseason decision to enforce the prohibition against foreign substances than Richards, who acknowledged he’d previously used a sunscreen/rosin combination. Through games on June 15 — the date MLB announced their impending crackdown — Richards had a decent 4.09 ERA/3.85 FIP over 70 1/3 frames. In his nine starts since, the righty has a 7.20 ERA/7.45 FIP. Along the way, he’s worked to incorporate a changeup while cutting back on the usage of his curveball, which saw a rather precipitous decline in spin (albeit from a top-of-the-league 3100-3300 rpm range to a still high 2800-3000 rpm band).
That’s not to say Richards’ disappointing few months was solely the result of the foreign substance crackdown — nor was his prior success specifically because of sticky stuff. Richards’ strikeout and walk rates were worse than average even early in the season. His strong run prevention was largely on the strength of his ability to keep the ball in the yard, but the pendulum has swung completely in the opposite direction of late.
Richards allowed just five home runs through his first 13 starts, with a tiny 8.2% HR/FB rate in that time; since then, he’s been tagged for thirteen longballs on a 24.1% HR/FB rate. It’s certainly possible his diminished stuff plays a role in that — his four-seam fastball has been much more hittable since its spin dropped in June — but he’s likely also been prone to some poor luck on fly balls after benefitting from good fortune earlier in the year.
Whatever the specific cause, Richards’ recent struggles became severe enough for the Sox to reduce his role for the stretch run. Boston also bumped Martín Pérez from the rotation last week in favor of Tanner Houck, shaking up the starting staff as the team continues to struggle. The Red Sox have gone just 9-14 since the All-Star Break, falling five games back of the Rays in the AL East (not including tonight’s near-certain win over Tampa Bay). Boston holds a 1.5 game advantage over the Yankees for the American League’s final Wild Card spot.
Blue Jays Place Ross Stripling On Injured List, Select Connor Overton
The Blue Jays announced they’ve placed right-hander Ross Stripling on the 10-day injured list with a left oblique strain. Trent Thornton is being recalled from Triple-A Buffalo, while the Jays selected the contract of right-hander Connor Overton. To create 40-man roster space for Overton, Toronto designated righty Patrick Murphy for assignment.
Stripling has been a regular in the Jays starting five for much of the season. He’s made twenty appearances (nineteen starts) and worked 93 1/3 innings of 4.34 ERA/4.21 SIERA ball. Stripling has bounced back a bit from a 2020 season that saw him post a 5.84 ERA between the Dodgers and Jays, but he’s yet to regain the above-average form he showed during his best years in Los Angeles.
Toronto has been rolling with a six-man rotation recently. With Stripling out, it seems Hyun-jin Ryu, José Berríos, Robbie Ray, Alek Manoah and Steven Matz will get the ball more frequently over the coming days. The team didn’t provide a timetable on Stripling’s potential return.
Overton will be making his major league debut when he first gets into a game. Selected by the Marlins in the 15th round of the 2014 draft out of Old Dominion, Overton was released the following season. He’d go on to spend time in the Nationals’ and Giants’ organizations but didn’t get to the big leagues with either club.
The 28-year-old hooked on with the Jays on a minor league contract over the winter. He’s had a great season with the Bisons, working to a 2.03 ERA over 57 2/3 frames as a swingman. Overton has worked multiple innings in 17 of his 21 appearances in Triple-A, so he’ll serve as a long relief option for manager Charlie Montoyo. He’s never run particularly high strikeout rates, but Overton has been adept at avoiding walks and keeping the ball on the ground this season.
It’s a bit of a surprise to see the Jays designate Murphy, who will find himself on waivers in the coming days. The 26-year-old has long been regarded as one of the more talented pitching prospects in the organization, but a series of injuries has impeded his progress up the ladder. Murphy has had brief stints in the majors in each of the past two seasons, working 15 1/3 innings of 3.52 ERA ball.
While his peripherals in that limited work haven’t been particularly impressive, he’s averaged north of 96 MPH on his sinker. Murphy has typically posted groundball rates approaching or exceeding 50% at each minor league level. A starting pitcher throughout much of that time, Murphy has worked exclusively out of the bullpen this season. He’s in his final minor league option year, so any team that claims him could keep him in Triple-A through the end of the season but would have to break camp with him beginning in 2022.
Giants Place Johnny Cueto On Injured List
The Giants have placed starter Johnny Cueto on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to August 9, with a right flexor strain. Infielder Thairo Estrada has been recalled from Triple-A Sacramento to take his place on the active roster. Cueto’s injury is minor, manager Gabe Kapler told reporters (including Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group), with the team hoping he’ll return after missing just one start.
Cueto has rather quietly put together a solid season for the first-place Giants. The 35-year-old has tossed 104 innings over nineteen starts, working to a 3.89 ERA/4.22 SIERA. That’s an unexpected bounceback since the two-time All-Star struggled in 2020 after missing large chunks of the 2018 and 2019 seasons recovering from Tommy John surgery. Cueto has seen a bit of an uptick in his swinging strike rate relative to the past few seasons, and he’s had some of the best control of any pitcher in the league. The righty’s 5.5% walk rate is fourteenth-lowest among the 78 hurlers with 100+ innings pitched this year.
With Aaron Sanchez designated for assignment over the weekend, the Giants’ rotation depth has thinned out in recent days. Anthony DeSclafani is expected to return from the IL when first eligible to start on Friday, Kapler told reporters. He’ll rejoin Kevin Gausman, Alex Wood and Logan Webb in the starting five. The Giants don’t have an off day until next Thursday, so they might have to turn to Sammy Long or Tyler Beede to cover for Cueto’s missed time over the next week.
MLBTR Chat Transcript
Click here to read a transcript of Wednesday’s chat with MLBTR’s Steve Adams.
Tigers Select Renato Nunez, Place Akil Baddoo On 7-Day IL
The Tigers have selected the contract of infielder Renato Nunez, recalled infielder Zack Short from Triple-A Toledo and placed outfielders Akil Baddoo and Derek Hill on the injured list, per a club announcement. Baddoo is heading to the seven-day concussion list, while Hill has been placed on the 10-day IL with a ribcage contusion. Hill and Baddoo sustained their injuries on a frightening, full-speed collision at the wall in left-center field in yesterday’s win over the Orioles.
This will be the second big league stint of the season for Nunez, who hit .148/.207/.444 with a pair of homers in 29 plate appearances earlier in the year. The 27-year-old went unclaimed when Detroit placed him on waivers earlier in the year, and he accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Toledo, where he’s batted .291/.383/.585 (153 wRC+) with 20 home runs, 14 doubles and a pair of triples in 311 plate appearances.
The second big league stint could prove to be something of a longer-term audition for Nunez, who has a decent big league track record at the dish. From 2018-20, he posted a .250/.316/.457 batting line with 51 homers in 1076 plate appearances between Oakland and Baltimore. Nunez’s power production in Baltimore resulted in a good bit of surprise among fans when the O’s placed him on waivers prior to Dec. 2020’s non-tender deadline, but no team claimed the slugger, whose defensive limitations and sub-par on-base percentage have sapped some of the value that power brings to the table. That said, he’ll now get another run with the Tigers, who’ll have the option of controlling him all the way through 2024 if he impresses enough.
As for the 22-year-old Baddoo, the injury throws a wrench into his hopes for a late Rookie of the Year push. Baddoo was a surprising pick by the Tigers in the Rule 5 Draft, having missed most of the 2019 season due to Tommy John surgery and spending the 2020 season recovering. He hadn’t played at either the Double-A or the Triple-A levels, but he’s shown barely any signs of rust, hitting at a .267/.333/.467 pace with 10 home runs, 18 doubles, six triples and 14 stolen bases. He wasn’t necessarily a Rookie of the Year favorite, but Baddoo, Randy Arozarena, Luis Garcia and Cole Irvin are among the AL rookies who could’ve conceivably separated themselves with a big finish.
There’s no word on how long Baddoo will be sidelined, as it’s difficult to project recovery timetables for concussions and concussion-like symptoms. He’ll spend at least a week on the shelf, though, and he’ll automatically be moved to the 10-day IL if he’s not ready for reinstatement once 10 days have passed.
Hill, meanwhile, had been in line for his first real look in center field at the big league level. Through 87 plate appearances, the former first-rounder was batting .250/.345/.316 with a home run, a triple and six steals. As with Baddoo, there’s no projected timetable for his recovery. With Baddoo and Hill both joining Daz Cameron on the injured list, the Tigers will look to Robbie Grossman, Victor Reyes and perhaps Harold Castro or Nunez in the outfield.
Nationals Select Sean Nolin
The Nationals announced Wednesday that they’ve selected the contract of left-hander Sean Nolin from Triple-A Rochester. Fellow southpaw Sam Clay was optioned to Rochester to open a spot on the 26-man roster, while a 40-man roster spot was opened by transferring right-hander Stephen Strasburg from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL. Strasburg recently underwent season-ending thoracic outlet surgery.
Remarkably, this call to the big leagues will mark Nolin’s first big league action in nearly six years. The now-31-year-old lefty tossed 29 innings as a September call-up with the A’s that season — his lone action in Oakland after coming over alongside Kendall Graveman, Brett Lawrie and Franklin Barreto in the trade that sent Josh Donaldson to Toronto.
As one might imagine given Nolin’s inclusion in a swap of that magnitude, the left-hander was once a rather well-regarded prospect. Baseball Prospectus tabbed him among the game’s 100 most promising minor leaguers headed into the 2013 season. That ranking came on the heels of a 2.04 ERA in 101 1/3 combined innings between Class-A Advanced and Double-A, and he followed it with 110 1/3 frames of 2.77 ERA ball split between Double-A and Triple-A the following season.
A promising future for Nolin was largely derailed by injuries, however. Nolin underwent “bilateral core surgery” in the 2014-15 offseason — the same procedure Luke Voit had after the 2019 campaign — and he subsequently injured his shoulder about six weeks after returning. Nolin made it back to the mound in 2015 for that previously mentioned September run, but he was designated for assignment over the winter and landed with the Brewers. Things went from bad to worse in Milwaukee, as Nolin tore his left UCL during Spring Training and eventually required Tommy John surgery.
That injury and surgery wiped out Nolin’s 2016 and 2017 campaigns, and he went on to bounce about the game in journeyman fashion. He’s since pitched with the Rockies, Mariners and White Sox in addition to stints in the independent Atlantic League, in Mexico and in Japan, where he spent the 2020 season with the Seibu Lions.
Nolin didn’t fare especially well overseas, but he’s been effective in his return to affiliated ball. In 47 1/3 innings with the Nationals’ Rochester affiliate, he’s notched a 3.80 earned run average with a 26 percent strikeout rate and a 7.5 percent walk rate while keeping the ball on the ground at an above-average 47.7 percent clip. Nolin doesn’t even have two years of Major League service time, so if he can parlay this improbable opportunity into a lasting place in the Washington ‘pen for the remainder of the season, he could be an option for the Nats well beyond the 2021 season.
Diamondbacks Claim J.B. Wendelken
The D-backs have claimed right-hander J.B. Wendelken off waivers from the Athletics, reports FanSided’s Robert Murray (via Twitter). The A’s designated him for assignment just yesterday.
It’d have been surprising for a team in the Diamondbacks’ position — dismal bullpen, No. 1 waiver priority, multiple open 40-man spots — to pass on Wendelken. The right-hander hasn’t had a great season in Oakland, but his work leading up to the 2021 campaign was quite strong.
From 2018-20, Wendelken pitched 74 1/3 innings for the A’s, working to a 2.30 ERA with a strong 26.4 percent strikeout rate and a very solid 8.4 percent walk rate. The righty also thrived in terms of limiting hard contact, yielding an 86.6 mph average exit velocity, a 30.6 percent overall hard-hit rate and just a 2.1 percent barrel rate. Fielding-independent pitching metrics weren’t quite as bullish as his baseline ERA (3.04 FIP, 3.72 SIERA) but still generally agreed that Wendelken was a solid reliever.
The 2021 season hasn’t gone quite as well, but Wendelken has pitched to a respectable 4.32 ERA in 25 frames. His 22.2 percent strikeout rate is his lowest since a brief rookie debut in 2016, and his 11.1 percent walk rate is a career-high. Still, the 28-year-old has continued to limit hard contact effectively, and his swinging-strike and chase rates have actually improved over their 2020 marks.
Wendelken will be arbitration-eligible for the first time this winter, and the D-backs can control him through the 2024 season via that arbitration process. He’s out of minor league options, so he’ll have to stick on the big league roster, but based on his past 100 innings in the Majors, there’s reason to think he can stick.
It’s always possible that Wendelken’s strikeout and walk tendencies continue to trend in the wrong direction, but there’s no reason for the last-place D-backs to pass on a risk-free flier. Arizona relievers rank second-to-last in the Majors with a combined 5.41 ERA, so Wendelken is an upgrade even if he doesn’t quite return to his peak form.