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Nationals Notes: Kieboom To Start At Third, Denaburg Out, Cavalli In

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Speaking to a handful of DMV-area reporters, Nationals’ manager Davey Martinez said that he expects Carter Kieboom to be the starting third baseman, MASN’s Mark Zuckerman, and Todd Dybas of NBC Sports were among those reporting. It’s a bit of a surprising revelation from Martinez, as last we heard, Kieboom wasn’t even a sure thing to make the Opening Day roster. At the same time, most projections had the 22-year-old making his play for the hot corner by August, surely, so it might be that not much has changed in terms of organizational outlook. More on this and the other goings-on around Nats’ camp…

  • One change that might have affected the Nats’ plan for Kieboom, however, was Ryan Zimmerman opting out for the season. Without Zimmerman, there seems to be plenty of at-bats to go around the remaining veteran contingent of Nationals’ infielders. First base should fall to a strict platoon between Howie Kendrick and Eric Thames, while the off-day first baseman is also likely to split time at DH with Asdrubal Cabrera. Starlin Castro, then, would handle second base relatively full-time while occasionally being spelled by either Cabrera or Kendrick. The Nationals tend to let their prospects play full time, so if Kieboom keeps the starting role through Opening Day, he’s likely to get more-or-less the full slate of 60 games to prove he deserves it.
  • Updating some numbers for us, Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post mentions that the Nationals have about 49-50 guys in camp right now of the 58 currently named to the player pool. That said, the Nats’ are widely expected to add first-round pick Cade Cavalli to their 60-man player pool shortly, per TalkNats. The Nats have a few open spots on their roster now that a number of players have opted out for the season (Ryan Zimmerman, Joe Ross, Welington Castillo).
  • As the Cavalli addition presupposes, the Nats have chosen to include most of the organization’s highest-regarded prospects in the 60-man player pool. That group would have included Mason Denaburg, were he not out for the season recovering from offseason surgery, per Stephen G. Mears of TalkNats. The 6’4″ former catcher ranks eighth on the Nats’ top prospect list per Baseball America. He was the Nats’ top draft choice in 2018, though he’s managed just 20 1/3 innings of pro ball since then.

60-Man Roster Notes: Orioles, Phillies

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As teams continue to get health and travel reports, many have slots left to fill on their 60-man rosters, so we’ll use this post throughout the day to track the minor changes.

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  • The Orioles added Evan Phillips to their 60-man roster, per MASN’s Roch Kubatko. Baltimore gave themselves more leeway than most, however, and they still have 15 slots available on their 60-man roster. The Maryland native made 25 appearances out of the Orioles’ bullpen in 2019, pitching to a 6.43 ERA/3.96 FIP. Phillips joined the Baltimore organization from Atlanta as part of the Kevin Gausman/Darren O’Day trade from deadline day 2018.
  • The Phillies added two catchers to their 60-man roster, per Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Henri Lartigue and Logan O’Hoppe will bring the Phillies’ total number of catchers to five. Lartigue, 25, hit .136/.259/.248 in 78 games in Double-A last year. O’Hoppe, 20, went to the Phillies in the 23rd round of the 2018 draft. In Low-A in 2019, the New York native hit .216/.266/.407. The pair of catchers are presumably in camp to spread the defensive workload. J.T. Realmuto, Andrew Knapp, and Deivi Grullon are far better bets to see any game time once the season opens.

Freddie Freeman, Three Other Braves Test Positive For COVID-19

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A quartet of Atlanta Braves tested positive for COVID-19: Freddie Freeman, Pete Kozma, Touki Toussaint, and Will Smith, per Sportscaster Kelly Crull. Though the teams do not have to release the names of the players who test positive for coronavirus, in this case, the players consented to have their names released in order to spread awareness.

Smith and Toussaint are asymptomatic at this time. Freeman tested negative upon intake, but started developing symptoms before workouts were to begin, per The Athletic’s David O’Brien. Since it appears Freeman caught the virus while at Braves’ camp, this will be an important situation to track.

Not to mention, it’s possibly a blow to the Braves on-field expectations for 2020. There’s no telling how severe a case Freeman is dealing with, and even after he’s back to full health, he’ll need to pass the new protocols to return to play. Freeman, 30, is the longest-tenured member of the Braves. When he made his debut in 2010, Chipper Jones, David Ross, Derek Lowe, Jason Heyward, Tim Hudson, Craig Kimbrel, and Brian McCann were still a part of the team.

Though it seems like he’s been around forever, Freeman still produces like a superstar. He hit .295/.389/.549 even while dealing with an elbow injury that sapped him of some power.

Smith, meanwhile, could return earlier if he remains asymptomatic, but it’s important to remember that anybody appearing without symptoms who test positive could simply be pre-symptomatic, at which point there’s no telling yet what kind of timetable for a return might be. Smith was to be an important piece of Atlanta’s bullpen after joining the club from San Francisco via free agency. As the Giants’ closer last year, Smith went 6-0 with 34 saves and a 2.76 ERA/3.23 FIP over 60 games.

Toussaint had an outside shot at winning a spot in the Atlanta bullpen, though he figured to join the big league club at some point during the season as he has in each of the past two campaigns. Kozma was to serve as a depth infield option after playing all of 2019 for the Tigers’ Triple-A club.

NL Notes: Camp Delays, Dodgers, Cardinals, Gallegos, Health Updates, Senzel, Hamels

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Expect delayed arrivals to camp to become somewhat of a recurring story early in training camp as players attempt to clear the many hurdles to return to play. The Dodgers, for instance, will be missing a few players at the start of camp, though manager Dave Roberts wasn’t able to name specific players, per J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group. Likewise, the Cardinals will be missing reliever Giovanny Gallegos, who is delayed in his return from Mexico, per Anne Rogers of MLB.com. The Cardinals have not given a specific reason for his delay, per The Athletic’s Mark Saxon. Rather than speculate on reasons for the holdup, let’s check in on some health updates from around the league…

  • Nick Senzel’s had a banged-up rookie season, appearing in 104 games with a .256/.315/.427 slash – but he’s ready to go for his sophomore campaign. His first season ended early when a torn labrum required Senzel to get shoulder surgery. That injury is fully recovered now, but only just now, as Senzel reported having throwing pain as recently as a month ago, per Bobby Nightengale of The Enquirer. Senzel may not have a steady defensive home when play begins, but he figures to be an everyday presence in the Reds’ lineup regardless, especially with the DH now in play.
  • Cole Hamels was never going to get a full Spring Training, not once a shoulder injury took him out of commission for a few months. The 36-year-old knows that the four-week leadup to the newly-rebooted 2020 season isn’t exactly the same, not at his age, but he plans to be ready to contribute, per Mark Bradley of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Said Hamels: “It’s not as if I’m going to go out there expecting to pitch seven to nine innings. There’s going to be a gradual buildup process, and there’s going to be guys who will be able to piggyback on you, like in a high school or a college season. All that really matters is putting up zeroes. If you can put up two or put up five zeroes, that’s really helping the team, more so than (other pitchers) having to pick up and try to eat a lot of innings.” 

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2020 Amateur Draft Signings: 7/3/20

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Here are the latest draft deals …

  • The Dodgers have agreed to a $1,622,500 bonus with third-rounder Jake Vogel, Jim Callis of MLB.com tweets. That’s over a million north of the slot value of the 100th overall pick, so clearly the high-school outfielder represented a draft priority for his home-state club. Vogel had been ticketed for UCLA. Keith Law of The Athletic was most bullish on his outlook, rating him the 77th overall prospect. Law emphasized Vogel’s speed, defense, and quality hitting outlook while noting that he’ll likely always be limited by a lack of power.
  • Likewise, the Indians struck a big deal with a California outfielder plucked in the third round. Petey Halpin inked for $1.525MM, well north of the $610,800 pool allocation. He had been slated to play at the University of Texas. Eric Longenhagen of Fangraphs placed Halpin as the 59th-best prospect in the draft class while Law ranked him 50th. While there’s obviously a good deal of talent, it seems scouts are still a bit unsure exactly how Halpin will develop in the long run. Law calls him a “high school outfielder who might move to a corner but doesn’t have clear corner-outfielder power.”
  • A true two-way prospect, second-round draft choice Casey Schmitt has agreed to a $1,147,500 bonus with the Giants, Callis reports on Twitter. The San Diego State product is said to have possible routes to the majors as a power-hitting third baseman and/or solid relief arm. Baseball America ranked him 76th overall on its board. Also landing with the Giants is supplemental second-rounder Nick Swiney. Callis tweets that he’s set to earn $1.2MM ($976,700 slot value). Law was the high man by Swiney by a fair sight, grading him the 22nd overall talent in the draft pool. It’s all a question whether you believe in the strides Swiney showed before the 2020 collegiate campaign was cut short.

Luis Madero Tests Positive For COVID-19

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Giants right-hander Luis Madero has tested positive for COVID-19, as Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic was among those to cover via Twitter. He consented to the release of the medical information.

Madero, 23, was claimed and outrighted back in the pre-coronavirus days of Spring Training. That familiar grab-and-stash roster tactic has worked for the Giants since Farhan Zaidi came to town, though it’s expected to be utilized less frequently in 2020.

The Giants previously revealed that outfielder Hunter Bishop had tested positive as well. He’d have been a part of the 60-man player pool. Otherwise, Madero is the only player that was identified as being infected upon reporting for the launch of Summer Camp.

Fortunately, there’s no indication at this point that Madero is dealing with particularly concerning symptoms. He’ll need both to recover physically and register two negative tests before he’s able to get back to the 60-man activities.

Madero likely didn’t have a real shot at earning a big-league gig out of the gates, but he surely could be a candidate for a chance at the majors at some point this season if he performs well. He has at times looked like a legitimate MLB prospect, but has also endured some rough patches. One of those came last year at Double-A, where he worked to a 5.72 ERA with 7.5 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 in 89 2/3 innings.

Cleveland Indians To Consider Name Change

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In the wake of the potential forthcoming name change of the NFL’s Washington Redskins, the Cleveland Indians appear to be approaching a reckoning of their own. The organization issued a statement on the matter, first disclosing it to Zack Meisel and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (subscription link) and then publishing it on Twitter.

While the “Indians” moniker hasn’t drawn quite as much ire as the Washington football club’s nickname, there has been pressure on the baseball club for quite some time. Much of the scorn focused on the team’s “Chief Wahoo” logo, which was finally sidelined for its offensive depiction of Native Americans.

No doubt the Cleveland organization saw the writing on the wall and recognized the merits of moving now. High-visibility corporate pressure finally forced the hand of the long-time D.C. NFL institution, but the obvious financial motivation left the club looking all the more craven.

The Indians attempted to walk a line in their official statement, hinting that the name change was already under consideration while also acknowledging that the immediate impetus was tied to “recent social unrest”:

“We have had ongoing discussions organizationally on these issues. The recent social unrest in our community and our country has only underscored the need for us to keep improving as an organization on issues of social justice. With that in mind, we are committed to engaging our community and appropriate stakeholders to determine the best path forward with regard to our team name.”

There’s no commitment just yet, but The Athletic cites “a source familiar with the club’s thinking” for the proposition that the organization is “prepared to consider changing the team name more seriously than they have before.”

Certainly, it would be difficult to walk this back now and hang onto the moniker for the long haul. Taking this approach does perhaps have the advantage of buying some time and avoiding the sudden crunch facing the Washington football club. It sounds as if the Cleveland organization will launch a process of some kind to make a final determination on the old nickname and a potential replacement.

Tommy Pham Tests Positive For COVID-19

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The Padres announced today that outfielder Tommy Pham has tested positive for the coronavirus, as AJ Cassavell of MLB.com was among those to cover on Twitter. Pham authorized release of his personal medical information. Fortunately, he’s said to be asymptomatic at the moment.

Pham, 32, has yet to suit up for a regular season game with the Padres. He was a key offseason acquisition for the San Diego organization, which is hopeful that Pham will continue to perform like the under-the-radar star he has been in recent years.

It’s good that the Padres were able to catch Pham’s condition before he entered the clubhouse and came into direct contact with all his teammates. He’ll be quarantined for the time being to avoid any possibility of transmission.

Hopefully, Pham will continue to experience no or limited symptoms. But in order to get into Summer Camp and get ready for the season, he’ll have to register negative for COVID-19 in two consecutive tests. That could well delay his availability for the coming season.

The Friars are also awaiting the arrival of closer Kirby Yates, another key piece of the picture in 2020. He is said to be dealing with a “non-COVID-related family issue,” but the expectation is that he’ll be able to get to work in the coming days.

MLB & MLBPA Announce Initial Coronavirus Testing Results

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MLB and the MLB Players Association have jointly announced the results of the initial round of coronavirus testing. The league says that 31 players and seven staff members tested positive out of 3,185 total people tested.

At first glance, the ~1.2% rate of positivity is lower than might have been feared. It does not appear that any previously identified cases are included in the numbers, but the results seem generally promising regardless.

That said, the results also highlight the ongoing challenges. Nineteen of thirty teams had at least one positive test. While the idea was to catch any incoming infections before they could spread, that ratio goes to show the extent to which the virus could yet permeate the league if it’s able to gain any footholds.

Clearly, baseball isn’t out of the woods yet when it comes to successfully staging a 2020 season. But it was possible to imagine a world where a large volume of positive tests would’ve thrown up an immediate roadblock.

There are some caveats here. It is not entirely clear, but stands to reason that the league was testing for active infection. Some players may already have recovered from an infection. When comparing to nationwide numbers, it’s important to understand the distinction. Then there’s the fact that all MLB participants just undertook travel, which could pose risk of later-emerging infections that weren’t yet evident upon arrival.

Having a reasonably manageable starting point certainly represents an important first step. But the real work is yet to come. Preventing the introduction of new sources of infection will require near-universal precautions for the duration of the season.

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