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Nationals Select Yadiel Hernandez

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The Nationals are selecting the contract of outfielder Yadiel Hernandez after placing veteran Howie Kendrick on the injured list yesterday, manager Dave Martinez announced to reporters today (Twitter link via Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post). The team’s recent DFA of Wilmer Difo left them with a vacancy on the 40-man roster.

Whenever Hernandez gets into a game, it’ll mark the MLB debut for the 32-year-old. A high-quality performer for los Cocodrilos de Matnzas in the Cuban National Series from 2009-14, Hernandez defected from Cuba back in 2015 and began the lengthy process of establishing himself as a free agent for Major League clubs. He signed with the Nats for $200K more than a year after leaving Cuba and spent the 2017-19 seasons climbing through their minor league system.

That rise through the Nats’ farm included a monstrous .324/.406/.604 showing in Triple-A last year (139 wRC+), during which Hernandez slugged 33 homers, 22 doubles and a triple while going 7-for-12 in stolen base attempts. We don’t see too many soon-to-be 33-year-old rookies of note, but Hernandez has performed at a high level in Cuba’s top league and throughout three full minor league seasons, so he’ll carry a bit more intrigue than the standard journeyman receiving a September cup of coffee.

Giants Place Pablo Sandoval On Release Waivers

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1:00pm: The Giants announced that Sandoval has been placed on release waivers.

12:32pm: The Giants are designating infielder Pablo Sandoval for assignment today, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports (Twitter links). The move will create space for fellow veteran Justin Smoak, who signed with the Giants yesterday.

Sandoval, 34, lasted just two and a half seasons in Boston under an ill-fated five-year deal but surprised many with a resurgent showing upon returning to the Giants after being cut loose. From 2018-19, Sandoval tallied 548 plate appearances over 200 games with his original club, hitting .259/.311/.466 with 23 homers, 33 doubles and a triple. The pendulum swung in the opposite direction in 2020, however, as Sandoval has logged a miserable .220/.278/.268 slash through 90 trips to the plate.

The 33-year-old Smoak hasn’t exactly fared well in 2020 himself, hitting just .186/.262/.381 in 126 plate appearances with the Brewers before being released. Even amid those struggles, however, Smoak has shown much more power at the dish and a better walk rate. He’s been more prone to strikeouts than Sandoval but gives the Giants a better defensive option at first base and more pop on days he serves as designated hitter or a late-game pinch-hitter.

With Sandoval hitting well in 2018-19 and Hunter Pence returning after a resurgent year with his hometown Rangers, Giants fans might’ve had visions of one last productive run from the fan-favorite duo that fueled so much of their “Even Year” dynasty from 2010-14. Both Pence and the Panda struggled mightily in what now looks to have been their San Francisco farewell tours, however, leaving their futures within the game somewhat up in the air.

Had the Giants been languishing in the NL West cellar, perhaps they’d have kept Sandoval around to close out the season. San Francisco, though, has rattled off five straight wins to surge back to current possession of the No. 7 playoff seed in this year’s expanded postseason format. It’s in some ways reminiscent of last year’s July hot streak. Last year’s club wasn’t able to sustain the pace and convert that hot streak into a playoff berth, but the 2020 Giants will look to parlay their current 8-2 stretch into the organization’s first playoff berth since 2016.

Rangers Promote Sam Huff

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11:40am: The Rangers have formally selected Huff’s contract, per a team announcement. Outfielder Scott Heineman was optioned to the alternate training site to open a spot on the active roster.

10:40am: The Rangers are set to promote catching prospect Sam Huff to the Major League roster in the wake of Jose Trevino’s left wrist injury, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports (via Twitter). Manager Chris Woodward acknowledged last night that promoting Huff was at least something the team would discuss (Twitter link via T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com).

Huff, 22, entered the season ranked as the game’s No. 99 prospect at Baseball America — the infusion of 2020 draftees has since pushed him off the list — and currently ranks second among the organization’s prospects there. He ranks 75th overall at MLB.com. Other outlets, such as FanGraphs, aren’t as bullish given questions about his ability to stick behind the dish and his lofty strikeout rates. There’s no questioning Huff’s raw power, however, which draws 70 grades on the 20-80 scale in most scouting reports.

A seventh-round pick back in 2016, Huff split the 2019 season between Class-A and Class-A Advanced, where he hit a combined .278/.335/.509 with 28 homers, 22 doubles, a pair of triples and six steals (albeit in a dozen attempts). He’s been an average or better offensive producer at every minor league stop — well above average, in most cases — and boasts a career 34 percent caught-stealing rate thanks to a plus arm that generally receives 60 grades.

On the negative side of the coin, Huff has punched out in 29.7 percent of his minor league plate appearances to date and walked at just a 7.3 percent clip. MLB.com’s scouting report notes recent improvements in his framing and footwork but also observes that only five players as large as the 6’5″, 240-pound Huff have ever caught 300 games in the Majors. Given that lack of precedent, a broad range of outlooks is to be expected.

Huff has yet to play a game against Double-A pitching, so Major League opposition should present a particularly formidable test. Even if Huff returns to the minors at some point, the club is hopeful that he can emerge as a viable long-term piece of the puzzle. The Rangers have leaned heavily on 36-year-old veteran Robinson Chirinos since 2014 (last year’s one-year departure for the Astros notwithstanding), but Texas traded him to the Mets at the deadline.

The hope at one point may have been that Trevino could’ve been next in line, but he’s now 27 years of age and yet to produce in the upper minors or at the MLB level. Broadly speaking, the Rangers have lacked a top-tier catching prospect for quite some time. Huff is their most well-regarded young backstop in recent memory, and he’ll now get his first big league audition over the next few days. If he sticks in the Majors, he’d be controllable all the way through the 2026 season and wouldn’t be arbitration-eligible until the 2023-24 offseason, but further optional assignments could alter those timelines.

White Sox Place Dallas Keuchel On Injured List

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The White Sox have placed lefty Dallas Keuchel on the 10-day injured list and recalled righty Reynaldo Lopez from their alternate training site in his place, per a team announcement. Keuchel is dealing with back spasms. His placement on the IL is retroactive to Sept. 7, so he could return in as little as a week. That appears to be the hope, as it was already known that Keuchel’s next start would be skipped because of this issue. Given that expectation, it’s not entirely surprising to see an IL stint to bring in a fresh arm.

Chicago’s three-year, $55.5MM investment in Keuchel has paid off in spades thus far. Prior to going on the injured list, the 32-year-old was in the midst of perhaps his best run since capturing the 2015 American League Cy Young Award. Through 53 1/3 frames this year, Keuchel has worked to a 2.19 ERA and 3.14 FIP with 5.4 K/9, 2.0 BB/9, 0.34 HR/9 and a 56 percent ground-ball rate. He’s never managed to limit home runs at this rate, so there may be some regression coming on that front, but Keuchel still looks better than he’s been since that Cy Young win.

Lopez was only just optioned to the White Sox’ Schaumburg site last week. The former top prospect simply hasn’t performed well enough to be one of the team’s top rotation options over the past two seasons. Dating back to Opening Day 2019, Lopez carries a dismal 5.53 ERA and 5.18 FIP in 193 2/3 innings. He started four games for the Sox in 2020 before being optioned out, but he lasted only 9 2/3 innings overall. In that short time, he yielded 11 runs (nine earned) on 14 hits, eight walks and a hit batter with 10 strikeouts.

Lucas Giolito, Dylan Cease and Dane Dunning currently lead an impressive core of young ChiSox starters, and veteran Gio Gonzalez was just activated from the injured list earlier this week. Assuming Keuchel’s injury doesn’t worsen, he could return for the finale of a pivotal series against the division-rival Twins next Thursday. The Sox also play four games in Cleveland from Sept. 21-24, and if Keuchel is able to make it back for the finale against the Twins, he’d line up to start the second game of an equally important series against the Indians.

Bo Bichette Nearing Return

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The 24-19 Blue Jays are firmly in possession of a postseason spot at the moment, and an already-strong roster could soon get a major reinforcement. MLB.com’s Jon Morosi tweets that young shortstop Bo Bichette could return from the injured list in tie for this weekend’s series against the Mets. Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet tweeted yesterday that Bichette was 2-for-3 in a simulated game Tuesday before taking four plate appearances and playing six inning at shortstop in another sim game Wednesday.

Bichette, 22, has been nothing short of amazing through his first 60 big league games, hitting .323/.366/.595 with 16 homers, 22 doubles and eight stolen bases through 276 trips to the plate. He was particularly remarkable in 14 games this season before suffering a knee sprain, as he’d slashed .361/.391/.672 through his first 64 plate appearances. The Jays are off today, but a return tomorrow could mean Bichette returns for as many as 17 games to close out the regular season.

In Bichette’s absence, the Blue Jays have relied on the trio of Santiago Espinal, Joe Panik and recent trade acquisition Jonathan Villar have worked to hold down the fort at shortstop — with mixed results. Panik has hit quite well since Bichette went down (.327/.444/.423), though he’s spent more time at his customary second base than on the other side of the bag at shortstop. Espinal carries a .282/.326/.359 slash in 44 plate appearances dating back to Bichette’s injury. Villar, the most established player of the bunch, has struggled to a .194/.306/.194 slash in 33 plate appearances over his eight games in Toronto.

With 17 games remaining on the schedule and none against the division-leading Rays, the Blue Jays are a long shot to overtake Tampa Bay for the division lead. However, they’ll follow up this weekend’s three-game series against the Mets with three games at Yankee Stadium, and they still have another four-game set against the Yankees later this month. With the Yanks trailing the Jays by two games and seven contests between the two clubs still to come, Bichette’s impending return carries all the more consequence.

NL Injury Notes: Pham, Smyly, Turner, Pirates

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Padres outfielder Tommy Pham is less than a month out from a broken hamate bone, but he’s making rapid progress. Pham resumed live on-field batting practice today, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports on Twitter. The 32-year-old had been off to a sluggish start to the year but will still have some time to make his presence felt as the Pads try to angle for postseason position.

More injury updates from the National League …

  • The Giants are preparing to welcome back southpaw Drew Smyly tomorrow, manager Gabe Kapler tells reporters including John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter). It’ll be interesting to see what the veteran hurler can deliver down the stretch. Though he hasn’t been available for many innings, he turned in a few interesting outings that hinted at a resurgence.
  • While there’s little reason to rush, the Dodgers are close to activating rehabbing third baseman Justin Turner. Manager Dave Roberts told reporters including Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register (Twitter link) that Turner still hasn’t put his tender hamstring through the full paces. Nevertheless, the club expects to have him active within the week, though Turner could initially function as a DH.
  • The Pirates provided a few pitching rehab updates, some more promising than others (via MLB.com’s Adam Berry, on Twitter). Mitch Keller (side injury) and Jameson Taillon (Tommy John) are each throwing sim games, while reliever Keone Kela is now participating in mound work. It’s still unclear how much MLB action each of those hurlers will be capable of late this year, but that’s generally encouraging news. The situation is different for fellow righty Yacksel Rios, who remains sidelined by shoulder woes. He was shut down after symptoms flared up.

American League Injury Updates: Piscotty, Cobb, Keuchel, Pearson

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Here are the latest updates on a few injury situations from around the American League …

  • The Athletics will go a few days without full participation from outfielder Stephen Piscotty, as Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle covers on Twitter. (He’s pinch running as we speak.) Thankfully, it seems there’s reason to hope he’ll bounce back quickly after receiving a cortisone shot to his balky wrist. Piscotty has turned in a useful but hardly world-beating .264/.308/.438 batting line on the season.
  • Orioles righty Alex Cobb is days away from a return, with outfielder Austin Hays seemingly not far behind, as skipper Brandon Hyde tells reporters including Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (Twitter link). Cobb’s absence is as yet not fully explained; the quick turnaround could indicate that he had to step away owing to coronavirus protocols. Regardless, it’s good news that he’s expected to jump right back into active duty.
  • The White Sox don’t appear overly concerned with the health status of lefty Dallas Keuchel. He’ll plan to miss a start after taking an early exit from his last outing due to lower back issues, but that’s expected to be the extent of the missed time, as Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times and others mentioned on Twitter. Keuchel has thus far justified the South Siders’ faith in signing him, running up 53 1/3 innings of 2.19 ERA ball.
  • Exciting young Blue Jays hurler Nate Pearson is likely not going to build back to a full starter’s role, skipper Charlie Montoyo told reporters including MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm (Twitter links). That’s sensible for a variety of reasons. For one thing, there really isn’t much time to ramp him up. For another, it’s not clear that’d be the right role after Pearson ran into some early MLB struggles. The firmly contending Toronto outfit can certainly make use of Pearson in a relief role while still getting him valuable work at the game’s highest level.

60-Man Player Pool Additions: 9/9/20

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Here are the latest players added to their team’s 60-man player pool …

  • Hurlers Penn Murfee and Ian McKinney are now a part of the Mariners’ 60-man group, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times tweets. The 26-year-old Murfee had a strong 2019 showing, producing good numbers at the High-A level and then dominating Arizona Fall League hitters. It’s possible he could be an option at the MLB level if he shows well at the alternate training site. The same holds true of McKinney, 25, who joined Murfee as a productive member of the Modesto rotation last year. McKinney is a 2013 draftee who joined the Seattle organization as a minor-league free agent in advance of the 2019 season.
  • The Rays brought aboard a pair of youngsters in righty Seth Johnson and infielder Ford Proctor, as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times covers on Twitter. The 40th overall pick of the 2019 draft, Johnson hasn’t pitched above the Rookie ball level and is likely being added for developmental purposes. Proctor, 23, is a 2018 third-rounder who has shown strong on-base ability but little power in the low minors. He appeared this year in the Constellation Energy League, knocking out a healthy .346/.500/.679 slash in 28 games.
  • The Padres have added youngster Owen Caissie to their pool at just 18 years of age, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca reports via Twitter. It’s quite the vote of confidence in the recent second-round pick, who obviously won’t be expected to make his professional debut this year at the MLB level. The Canadian outfielder will get some excellent experience at the Friars’ alternate training site before joining an affiliate in 2021.

Latest On Jed Lowrie

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It doesn’t appear Mets infielder Jed Lowrie will end up playing for the club this year, Tim Britton of The Athletic relays. The regular season is only a couple weeks from ending, but manager Luis Rojas said Wednesday he’s not sure whether Lowrie is participating in baseball activities.

“I don’t know what he’s doing,” Rojas said of Lowrie, who Britton notes has been eligible to come off the 45-day injured list for a week.

Lowrie has missed all but nine games since last season as a result of leg problems, including to his left knee this year. Since signing a two-year, $20MM contract with the Mets before 2019, Lowrie has totaled zero hits over eight plate appearances. That obviously wasn’t what the Mets had in mind when they picked up the switch-hitting Lowrie, now 36, off two straight healthy and highly impressive seasons with the Athletics.

Lowrie spent his best seasons in Oakland at second and third base (primarily the keystone), but New York hasn’t been without solutions at those positions during his prolonged absence in 2020. The Mets have mostly given second to a resurgent Robinson Cano and third to J.D. Davis, while Jeff McNeil and Luis Guillorme have been among those to fill in at those spots when necessary. The club’s still a disappointing 19-24, but it’s certainly not because Lowrie has been unavailable. And after back-to-back frustrating seasons, it seems likely the Mets will wave goodbye to Lowrie in free agency during the upcoming winter, ending what has been a regrettable union for the club.

Marlins Designate Justin Shafer For Assignment

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The Marlins announced that they’ve designated right-hander Justin Shafer for assignment and reinstated infielder Isan Diaz from the restricted list. The club sent Diaz to its alternate training site, and it also added outfielder Connor Scott to its 60-man player pool.

The 27-year-old Shafer joined the Marlins via waivers from the Reds in late July, when Miami was dealing with a team-wide COVID-19 outbreak. Shafer came to the team as someone with a 3.75 ERA in 48 major league innings, all with the Blue Jays, but his Marlins tenure has gone terribly so far. He threw 5 2/3 innings of eight-run ball while allowing eight hits and eight walks (against four strikeouts) before they designated him.

Scott, the Marlins’ 15th-ranked prospect at MLB.com, was the 13th overall pick in the 2018 draft. The 20-year-old topped out last season at High-A, where he batted .235/.306/.327 with one home run in 111 plate appearances.

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