Reds Activate Mike Moustakas From Injured List
The Reds reinstated third baseman Mike Moustakas from the 60-day injured list this afternoon. He’s in the lineup tonight against the Pirates, hitting fifth and starting at third base. Utilityman Mike Freeman was optioned to Triple-A Louisville to clear an active roster spot. To create 40-man roster space, Cincinnati transferred reliever Michael Feliz from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list.
It’s a welcome time for Cincinnati to get Moustakas back, as they enter play today having closed the gap on the Padres to 3.5 games in the race for the National League’s final Wild Card spot. It’ll be Moustakas’ first game action in nearly three months, as the 32-year-old landed on the shelf with a right heel issue on May 20. He embarked on a minor league rehab assignment a few weeks later but re-aggravated the injury in mid-June.
Before the injury, Moustakas was hitting at a decent but unspectacular level. He’s managed a .241/.337/.437 line over 104 plate appearances after putting up a .230/.331/.468 mark last season, his first in Cincinnati. The Reds signed Moustakas with hopes of moving the longtime third baseman over to second. With Jonathan India now in the majors and performing very well at the keystone, Moustakas has played exclusively in the corner infield in 2021.
That’ll continue to be the case, albeit with a twist relative to earlier in the season. The Reds opened the year with Moustakas at third and Eugenio Suárez at shortstop. Suárez struggled mightily in his move up the defensive spectrum, though, and kicked back over to third after Moustakas went down (with Kyle Farmer getting the bulk of playing time at short). The generally-productive Suárez has had a miserable season at the plate as well, and he’s now set to lose some playing time. Manager David Bell told reporters (including Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer) that the Reds will platoon the lefty-hitting Moustakas and right-handed Suárez, at least for the immediate future.
Suárez was one of the game’s top power threats between 2018-19, when he hit .277/.362/.550 and popped a combined 83 home runs. That lofty offensive output fell to league average last season, and he owns a .177/.260/.379 mark over 438 plate appearances this year. Suárez has hit another 22 homers, but he’s striking out at a career-worst 30.4% clip while walking in 8.9% of his trips to the plate, his lowest rate since 2016.
With the Reds in a playoff race, it makes sense to curtail Suárez’s workload a bit as he continues to struggle. He’s still under contract for $11MM per season from 2022-24 under the terms of the extension he signed in March 2018. It stands to reason he’ll get another extended look at some point, but installing Moustakas into the lineup against right-handed pitching should give the offense a boost in the short term.
Feliz’s transfer to the 60-day IL is a formality, as he has been out since June 8 with a right elbow sprain. He’s out for sixty days from the time of his original placement, so he’ll be eligible for activation whenever he’s ready to return. Feliz is currently rehabbing with Louisville, so he should be back in relatively short order. That’s also true of fellow bullpen mate Lucas Sims, who could be back with the big league club as soon as this weekend, according to Bell (via Nightengale).
Rays Place Randy Arozarena On Covid List, Recall Jordan Luplow
The Rays announced Friday that they’ve placed outfielder Randy Arozarena on the Covid-19-related injured list and recalled fellow right-handed-hitting outfielder Jordan Luplow from Triple-A Durham. The league’s 2021 health-and-safety protocols stipulate a seven-day absence for close contacts.
Arozarena, 26, has been on a tear over his past 14 games, hitting at a .404/.443/.842 clip with six homers, five doubles and a triple in 61 trips to the plate. The 2020 postseason sensation has had a strong year all-around at the plate, turning in a .268/.344/.458 batting line that’s about 25 percent better than league average when weighted for his home park and league, by measure of wRC+.
With Arozarena away from the team for the immediate future, the Rays will turn to the recently acquired Luplow, who came over from Cleveland alongside righty reliever DJ Johnson in a trade that sent pitching prospect Peyton Battenfield back to the Indians. Luplow, 27, will be making his team debut the first time he steps into a game setting for Tampa Bay.
But while this’ll be Luplow’s first action with the Rays, it’s hardly his first exposure to the big leagues. He comes to the organization with more than three years of MLB service time, spread across parts of five seasons between Pittsburgh and Cleveland. Luplow is a lifetime .222/.327/.452 hitter in the Majors but offers a skill set the Rays have often maximized: platoon excellence and generally strong defensive ratings in the outfield corners (with the ability to play center in a pinch). Patrick Kinas of NBC Sports tweets that Luplow has been getting some workouts in at first base, as well.
Luplow has had some uncharacteristic struggles against left-handed pitching in a small sample of 65 plate appearances so far in 2021, but over the course of his career, he’s quietly been one of baseball’s most powerful hitters against southpaws. That’s not hyperbole, either. Despite this year’s struggles, Luplow is a career .251/.371/.556 hitter when holding the platoon advantage. Focusing in only on his 2017-20 production, Luplow is a .275/.379/.603 hitter against lefties (154 wRC+).
The average isn’t especially high, and his OBP against lefties is strong but not elite, but Luplow’s .328 ISO (slugging minus batting average) in that stretch ranked fourth among 282 hitters with at least 250 plate appearances against lefties. The only names ahead of him are J.D. Martinez, Giancarlo Stanton and Nolan Arenado — impressive company for a player who has been a largely anonymous part-time outfielder.
The Rays can control Luplow for three more seasons after the 2021 campaign, so if he’s able to rediscover that form against lefties and right the ship in the season’s final months, he could be a long-term bench option for the Rays. He’d be a cost-effective one, at that, as Luplow’s part-time role suppresses his counting stats and will limit his earning power in arbitration. This offseason will mark his first time going through that arbitration process.
Cubs Promote Greg Deichmann, Place Jason Heyward On Injured List
The Cubs have placed outfielder Jason Heyward on the 10-day IL due to a left hand injury and recalled outfield prospect Greg Deichmann for his Major League debut, per a club announcement.
Deichmann, 26, only recently joined the organization when he was traded over from the A’s in the deal that send lefty Andrew Chafin to Oakland. He’s had a slow start in seven Triple-A games with the Cubs, but his overall body of work this season has been quite strong; in 285 plate appearances, Deichmann is batting .291/.425/.439 with four homers, 16 doubles, three triples and eight steals (in ten tries). He’s walked at a gaudy 18.9 percent clip that’s more than double the current MLB average and punched out at a 22.8 percent rate that would sit below today’s MLB average.
That keen eye at the plate is one of Deichmann’s calling cards and one of the reasons he’s been a fairly well regarded prospect in the A’s system despite not yet tapping into his considerable raw power. Deichmann has drawn a free pass in 13.2 percent of his career minor league plate appearances since being selected out of Louisiana State University by the A’s in the second round of the 2017 draft.
While Deichmann has never topped 11 home runs in a minor league season, he did swat nine long balls in just 95 plate appearances in the 2019 Arizona Fall League. He ranks as the Cubs’ 20th prospect at MLB.com and at FanGraphs, where Eric Longenhagen puts a hefty 70 grade (on the 20-80 scale) on his raw power. Deichmann has been used exclusively in right field this year, though he saw very brief spells at first base and in center earlier in his career. He’s not a burner on the bases or in the outfield, but scouting reports peg him for an average or slightly better arm.
Moving forward, Deichmann has the makings of a left-handed-hitting corner outfielder with some pop and strong OBP skills, though given his sub-.600 OPS against lefties over the past three minor league seasons, he may benefit from a platoon partner. The Cubs can certainly afford to give him consistent at-bats for the rest of the season, particularly with Heyward on the injured list. At the moment, Deichmann joins Ian Happ and Rafael Ortega in a largely overhauled Cubs outfield scene.
There’s no indication as to how long Heyward is expected to miss, but there ought to be room for a two-month Deichmann audition even if it’s a minimal absence for the soon-to-be 32-year-old Heyward. In 284 plate appearances this season, he’s batted just .198/.271/.322. The Cubs still owe Heyward a $22MM salary in both 2022 and 2023.
Dodgers, Nick Tropeano Agree To Minor League Deal
The Dodgers have agreed to a deal with veteran right-hander Nick Tropeano, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. Tropeano, a client of the Bledsoe Agency, rejected an outright assignment from the Mets in favor of free agency earlier in the week. It’s a minor league deal between the two parties, MLBTR has learned.
Tropeano, 30, will give the Dodgers some depth both in the rotation and the bullpen. The right-hander is no stranger to Southern California, having spent parts of five seasons in the Angels organization earlier in his career. Tropeano tallied 195 2/3 frames for the Halos from 2015-19, missing a season-plus in the middle due to Tommy John surgery but generally faring well when healthy (4.51 ERA, 4.48 SIERA, 21.5 strikeout percentage, 9.3 percent walk rate).
Since leaving the Halos organization, Tropeano has bounced between several teams without a lengthy look at the MLB level, but he’s pitched quite well in limited action both in 2020 and 2021. In 23 2/3 innings split between the Pirates, Giants and Mets across the past two seasons, Tropeano has logged a 1.52 ERA with an even 21 percent strikeout rate and a seven percent walk rate. He’s also pitched to a 2.18 ERA in 20 2/3 Triple-A frames between the top affiliates for the Giants and Mets so far in 2021.
Tropeano has pitched exclusively out of the bullpen in his brief Pittsburgh, San Francisco and New York stints dating back to 2020, but he’s had several multi-inning outings along the way. His final big league appearance for the Mets was a two-inning effort that saw him tally 37 pitches, and he’s since had a pair of three-inning relief outings in Triple-A for the Mets, topping out at 54 pitches. Tropeano has made 39 big league starts to go along with 15 relief appearances, so he could certainly be stretched out as a fifth starter candidate or at least a long relief option for the Dodgers in short order.
The Dodgers aren’t expecting Clayton Kershaw back until September now, and their recent pickups of Cole Hamels (one-year deal) and Danny Duffy (trade) were both made knowing that neither would be an option in the short term. Hamels needs to build up arm strength after sitting out the season to date, while Duffy was acquired midway through a stint on the injured list due to a forearm strain. He’s expected back mid-month. Tropeano gives the Dodgers a more immediate option to plug into the staff at a time when Kershaw and Tony Gonsolin are on the injured list and Trevor Bauer is on administrative leave.
Clayton Kershaw Likely Out Until September
There’d been some recent hope that Dodgers lefty Clayton Kershaw could make it back to the mound in the near future. The three-time Cy Young winner is on the IL with forearm inflammation but had progressed to throwing a bullpen session and was slated to throw a 60-pitch simulated game. Manager Dave Roberts, however, said recently that Kershaw was dealing with “residual soreness” following his latest session, and the skipper now tells reporters that he expects Kershaw to return “sometime in September” (Twitter link via Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times).
It’s been nearly a month since Kershaw initially landed on the injured list, and one can only imagine that the uncertainty surrounding his current status was a driving factor in the Dodgers’ decision to aggressively pursue rotation help over the past week. President of baseball ops Andrew Friedman and his staff have acquired Max Scherzer and Danny Duffy via trade, and they’ve also signed Cole Hamels to a Major League deal for the remainder of the season.
Duffy and Hamels, like Kershaw, are down-the-road additions. Duffy is on the injured list for a second time this season owing to a forearm strain and is likely out until the middle of this month. Hamels, meanwhile, needs to build up arm strength before returning to a Major League mound. He pitched just 3 1/3 innings for the Braves in 2020 due to shoulder and triceps injuries.
For the time being, they’ll lean on Scherzer, Walker Buehler and Julio Urias in the top three spots of the rotation. Former Cy Young winner David Price, who’d been in the bullpen, will start tonight for the fifth time since Kershaw went on the injured list. His most recent outing had been a one-inning relief stint on Aug. 1, but he tossed 64 pitches on July 29 and 74 pitches on July 23, so he’s still fairly well stretched out.
At 65-44, the Dodgers are tied with the Brewers for the second-best record in baseball. No club has a better run differential than L.A.’s mark of +164. Unfortunately for the Dodgers, the only team in the game with a better record is the first-place Giants, who lead the NL West by a margin of four games as of this writing. Slotting Scherzer in alongside Buehler and Urias gives the Dodgers an outstanding top three on which to rely, but Kershaw’s absence still looms large.
The 33-year-old Kershaw is in the midst of yet another excellent season, having pitched to a 3.39 ERA in 106 2/3 frames. That earned run average, incredibly, is his “worst” since his rookie season in 2008, but Kershaw is also sporting his best strikeout percentage (30.1) since 2016 and the fifth-lowest walk percentage (4.5) of any Major League pitcher with at least 100 innings this season. He’s in the final season of a three-year, $93MM contract and is scheduled to become a free agent at season’s end.
Yankees Nearly Traded Luke Voit Before Deadline
The Yankees came very close to trading Luke Voit before last week’s trade deadline, Andy Martino of SNY reports. The Yankees discussed three potential deals involving Voit, per the report, one of which fell apart just before the deadline when the trade partner in question backed out of the swap.
With no trade coming together, Voit’s role on the Yankees has rather surprisingly become unclear. Despite the fact that the 30-year-old slugger paced the Majors with 22 home runs last summer and has generally been a well above-average hitter from the moment he arrived on the scene in the Bronx, the 2021 campaign has been something of a nightmare. Voit has endured three IL stints thanks to a torn meniscus, a strained oblique and a bone bruise in his knee, and he’s managed a tepid .241/.328/.370 output in 122 plate appearances when healthy.
Voit’s offense looked to be coming around in the weeks between his two most recent IL stints. From June 22 through July 11, he tallied 72 plate appearances and turned in a .281/.361/.453 batting line with two homers, three doubles and a triple. However, the Yankees acquired Anthony Rizzo at the trade deadline and already have a crowded designated hitter scene now that Joey Gallo has been added to an outfield mix that also includes Aaron Judge, Brett Gardner and Giancarlo Stanton. Per Martino, the team has at least discussed the possibility of optioning Voit to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre — a notion that not long ago would’ve seemed unthinkable.
With Rizzo now entrenched at first base and Giancarlo Stanton slotting in as the designated hitter most nights, there’s suddenly no room for Voit in the lineup. The Yankees are also currently employing a short bench of just three players, making positional flexibility more important than usual. Voit’s only time away from first base was a single inning in right field in 2018.
Rizzo is a free agent at year’s end, which could potentially open the door for Voit to retake his position at first base and in the lineup next year — assuming the team doesn’t again explore the market for Voit this winter. Voit, after all, would figure to have plenty of value to other clubs this offseason if the Yankees ultimately move in another direction. He’s due a raise on this year’s $4.7MM salary, but his injuries and the ensuing lack of counting stats will suppress the total of that raise. Voit is also controlled through the 2024 season, so an interested club could look to buy low in hopes of securing a longer-term option at first base.
In the short term, Voit began a rehab assignment in Triple-A on Tuesday and work to get back into game shape after a month on the injured list. Whether he immediately returns to the Yankees after that remains to be seen.
Nationals Notes: Scherzer, Turner, Soto, Staff
Prior to becoming a member of the Dodgers, there were rumors that the Red Sox were “in the mix” of the Max Scherzer sweepstakes. However, it doesn’t seem as if talks got very far, according to Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo. When asked about the report that Scherzer was willing to waive his no-trade rights to join Boston’s rotation, Rizzo said, “We never got that close to a deal with the Red Sox so that was never a question that was posed to him,” according to Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com, relaying an interview with Rizzo on 106.7 The Fan.
Some other notes from DC…
- Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports that the Nats’ last extension offer to Trea Turner was for six years, $100MM. Heyman also says that the Nats didn’t make another offer in the spring of 2021, as had been reported. This would have been fairly close to the six-year, $120MM extension Xander Bogaerts signed with the Red Sox in April of 2019. Although Bogaerts was just a year away from free agency then, whereas Turner would have been three years away in March of 2020. Betting on himself seems to have paid off for Turner so far. His salary in 2020 was $7.45MM, though that was prorated to around $2.75MM with the shortened season. This year, he’s making $13MM and will be in line for a hefty arbitration raise in 2022. He could then go into free agency as a 29-year-old, having already banked around $35MM of that $100MM.
- Juan Soto “felt something in his knee” in tonight’s game, manager Dave Martinez tells various reporters, including Bobby Blanco of MASN. After a trade deadline fire sale, Soto was the figurative last man standing, staying put and watching Scherzer and Turner walk out the door, as well as Josh Harrison, Yan Gomes, Kyle Schwarber and others. The lefty is having yet another excellent season, with a wRC+ of 144 and 3.1 fWAR. But since the team has seemingly already waved the white flag on the season with the aforementioned fire sale, they can afford to be cautious with their remaining star if any issues arise.
- Martinez also says five members of his staff that tested positive for COVID-19 have been cleared to rejoin the club, according to Gene Wang of The Washington Post. These positive tests were part of the same outbreak that sent Trea Turner and Daniel Hudson to the IL last week.
Mariners Notes: Thomas, Sheffield, Dunn
The Mariners have outrighted Dillon Thomas, according to a club announcement.
The outfielder was initially selected by the Rockies in the fourth round of the 2011 draft. After a decade in the minor league systems of the Rockies, Brewers and Mariners, the 28-year-old was finally selected to a big league roster earlier this year. Unfortunately, he was only able to play four games, accumulating nine plate appearances, striking out in seven of them and getting one hit. His Triple-A numbers this year are solid, slashing .273/.379/.458, good enough for a wRC+ of 110.
Other notes from Seattle…
- Justus Sheffield will begin a rehab assignment tomorrow, according to Jen Mueller of ROOT Sports. Sheffield has been out almost a month with both a flexor strain and an oblique strain. Before going on the IL, Sheffield was struggling to replicate his solid 2020 season. After 55 1/3 innings of 3.58 ERA ball last year, the lefty has logged 73 2/3 innings this year with his ERA having ballooned up to 6.48.
- Mueller also provides an update on Justin Dunn. Though this one is not as encouraging, as Dunn has not begun throwing off a mound yet. The righty has been on the IL since mid-June with a shoulder strain. The 25-year-old was enjoying a breakout season before the injury, throwing 50 1/3 innings with an ERA of 3.75. He had also increased his strikeout rate and reduced his walk rate, compared to last year.
Reds Sign Ender Inciarte To Minor League Deal
The Reds signed Ender Inciarte to a minor league deal, according to a club announcement. The outfielder was recently designated for assignment and then released by the Braves. He will now report to the Triple-A Louisville Bats and attempt to earn his way back up the show.
That seems to be a somewhat unlikely scenario at this point, given that the Reds already have superior outfield options such as Nick Castellanos, Jesse Winker, Tyler Naquin and Aristides Aquino. The return of Nick Senzel, who is currently on a rehab assignment, would only further crowd the picture and make it harder for Inciarte to barge his way in.
Inciarte’s offence was near league average for the first six years of his career. From 2014 to 2019, his wRC+ was never higher than 100 and never lower than 86 in a given season. Combined with his excellent defence, that made him a valuable player, contributing 14.2 fWAR in that time. But since then, his production has fallen off a cliff, with a wRC+ of 48 since the start of the 2020 season.
This is a no-risk move for Cincy because Inciarte’s salary is being paid by Atlanta as part of the five-year extension they signed with him after the 2016 season. Even if Cincinnati eventually calls him up to the big leagues, they will only have to pay him the prorated league minimum, with that amount being subtracted from what Atlanta pays.
Rockies’ Chris Owings To Miss Remainder Of 2021 Season
Rockies utilityman Chris Owings will miss the rest of the 2021 season after undergoing surgery to insert a pin in his injured left thumb, manager Bud Black told reporters (including Thomas Harding of MLB.com). The 29-year-old has been on the 10-day injured list since July 20 and seems likely to wind up on the 60-day IL whenever Colorado needs to clear a 40-man roster spot.
It’s a difficult development for Owings, who also missed three months earlier this year on account of an injury to the same thumb. He went on the IL in mid-April, returned to action in late June, but ended up back on the shelf a few weeks later. Altogether, Owings will only pick up 50 plate appearances this season. A hamstring issue kept him to just 44 trips to the dish in 2020 as well, making for a frustrating couple years in Colorado.
Owings has appeared in the big leagues in every season since 2013, compiling a cumulative .243/.288/.372 line in a little under 2400 plate appearances. The longtime Diamondback is slated to hit free agency this winter and should find interest from teams on potential minor league deals if he returns to health.