Mets To Place Taijuan Walker On 10-Day IL
4:55pm: McWilliams and Tarpley are on the COVID list, Healey tweets.
4:46pm: The team has officially placed Walker and fellow hurlers Sam McWilliams and Stephen Tarpley on the IL, Thosar relays. New York also activated outfielder Cameron Maybin, whom it acquired from the Cubs on Tuesday.
4:06pm: The Mets will place right-hander Taijuan Walker on the 10-day injured list, Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News was among those to report. Walker is dealing with tightness in his left side.
The Mets now have four notable starters on the IL, with Walker joining Jacob deGrom (right side tightness), Noah Syndergaard (Tommy John surgery recovery) and Carlos Carrasco (hamstring strain) on the shelf. Nevertheless, the Mets have gone 20-16 and are in possession of a one-game lead in the National League East.
For his part, Walker – whom the Mets signed to a two-year, $20MM guarantee in free agency – has more than held his own in 2021. The former Mariner, Diamondback and Blue Jay, 28, has pitched to a 2.05 ERA over eight starts and 44 innings. That’s obviously going to be difficult production to replace, but the Mets seem hopeful Walker won’t miss much time, per manager Luis Rojas (via Tim Healey of Newsday).
Keone Kela Undergoes Tommy John Surgery
Padres right-handed reliever Keone Kela underwent Tommy John surgery on Wednesday, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com tweets. Kela will miss the rest of this season and a sizable portion of 2022 as a result. However, because he underwent a TJ procedure, Kela will have an $800K club option for next year kick in.
Formerly with the Rangers and Pirates, the 28-year-old Kela joined the Padres on a one-year, $1.2MM guarantee in the offseason. Kela wound up throwing 10 2/3 innings of eight-run (six earned) ball with 13 strikeouts against three walks before the Padres placed him on the injured list on May 8 with a right forearm strain.
This will go down as another injury-shortened season for Kela, who hasn’t thrown more than 29 2/3 frames in a campaign since 2019. Kela has recorded a rather impressive 3.33 ERA in 227 1/3 innings, but it will unfortunately take quite some time for the 28-year-old to return to a major league mound.
Cubs DFA Tony Wolters, Select P.J. Higgins
The Cubs made a change at their backup catcher spot today, selecting P.J. Higgins from Triple-A and designating veteran Tony Wolters for assignment, per Jordan Bastian of MLB.com (via Twitter).
Higgins joined the Cubs as a 12th-round pick in 2015, and he hasn’t yet played in the majors. The 28-year-old has batted .273/.359/.370 with 21 home runs in 2,014 minor league plate appearances. He’ll take over as the Cubs’ backup catcher behind Willson Contreras.
Wolters, 28, signed a minor league contract with the Cubs in March. The former Rockie opened this season with a .125/.276/.125 line in 30 trips to the plate before the Cubs designated him. He’s a lifetime .236/.322/.315 batter with seven HRs in 1,262 PA in the bigs.
Giants Activate Donovan Solano, Place Wilmer Flores On 10-Day Injured List
The Giants have activated Donovan Solano from the 10-day injured list, placing Wilmer Flores on the injured list in his place, per Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group (via Twitter). Flores has a right hamstring strain.
The Giants have gone without Solano since placing him on the IL in late April with a calf injury. Solano, who was very effective as a Giant from 2019-20, got off to a nice start this year with a .300/.333/.380 line in 54 trips to the plate before landing on the shelf.
Of course, with Solano returning and Flores going on the IL, it’s one step forward and one back for the Giants’ infield. Flores has struggled this year (.219/.308/.343 in 120 PA), but he’ll join Tommy La Stella as another second base capable-player on the IL for San Francisco.
Padres Reinstate Fernando Tatis Jr., Eric Hosmer From COVID-19 Injured List
The Padres reinstated Fernando Tatis Jr. and Eric Hosmer from the COVID-19 injured list prior to tonight’s game, per the team. In corresponding moves, John Andreoli was returned to Triple-A and Tucupita Marcano was optioned.
Tatis Jr. last appeared in a game on May 9th. Hosmer didn’t miss quite as much time, having last played on May 11th. Both are back in the lineup for tonight’s game. While they were out, Andreoli was appearing in the Majors for the first time since 2018. He had appeared in every game since the 11th before sitting out last night’s contest, mostly serving as a defensive replacement in the outfield. Though he only stepped to the plate seven times, the 30-year-old managed a double, a walk, and a couple of runs scored.
Marcano, just 21-years-old, is a promising infield prospect for the Padres, pushed into action this year due to the myriad injuries to Tatis. He has seen game action 18 times, slashing .207/.303/.241 in 33 plate appearances. The Padres hope that Tatis can settle in for good now after a start-and-stop first part of the season. Tatis has appeared in just 26 of the Padres first 43 games, though he’s been his usual alectric self when active. Tatis has posted a 135 wRC+ with nine home runs and a .313 ISO.
Braves Acquire Kevan Smith, Designate Jeff Mathis
The Braves have acquired catcher Kevan Smith from the Rays in exchange for cash, per a team announcement. Tampa Bay had designated him for assignment earlier in the week. In a corresponding move, Atlanta designated veteran backstop Jeff Mathis for assignment.
The Braves catching situation has been in constant flux since the injury to Travis d’Arnaud. The 38-year-old Mathis went 0-for-9 in his three games of work, striking out five times and failing to reach base. Of course, his value proposition is on the defensive side of the ball, not with the bat.
As for Smith, he is 1-for-4 this season with the Rays, his second season with Tampa after previously seeing time with the Angels and White Sox. For his career, Smith owns a .271/.320/.383 across 751 plate appearances since 2016.
In other moves, the Braves activated Grant Dayton from the 10-day injured list and optioned Tucker Davidson to Triple-A, per the Athletic’s David O’Brien (via Twitter). Davidson made a spot start against the Mets yesterday. In just his second career start, the southpaw gave up three runs on five hits across six innings of work. He walked one while striking out five. The Braves ultimately lost the game by the score of 4-3.
Dayton will return to the bullpen, the fifth lefty in manager Brian Snitker’s pen. He has made nine appearances totaling nine innings and giving up five runs. He does have a solid 10-to-3 strikeout-to-walk ratio in this small sample of work.
Twins Place Michael Pineda On Injured List, Select Luke Farrell
The Twins have placed right-hander Michael Pineda on the 10-day injured list and selected the contract of right-hander Luke Farrell from Triple-A St. Paul in a corresponding roster move. Pineda was scratched from his most recent outing after undergoing a procedure to remove an abscess from his thigh, and he’ll now head to the injured list to continue mending. The Twins had an open 40-man spot after designating righty Derek Law for assignment yesterday.
This will mark Farrell’s second stint with the Twins in 2021. Signed to a minor league contract over the winter, the journeyman righty and son of former Red Sox skipper John Farrell tossed a scoreless frame earlier this year while the Major League roster was dealing with a Covid-19 outbreak. He’s pitched 4 2/3 innings for the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate and allowed one run on two hits and two walks with nine punchouts.
Farrell, 29, has a 4.92 ERA, a 24.4 percent strikeout rate and a bloated 12.7 percent walk rate in 64 big league frames compiled between five teams. He’s worked primarily as a starter in the minors, where he has a 4.15 ERA in 266 2/3 Triple-A frames and a 3.25 mark in 113 2/3 Double-A innings. The Twins have been using him as a reliever over in St. Paul, however, and that’s where he’ll be ticketed with the MLB club.
There’s no definitive word on how lengthy an absence Pineda is expected to require, but nothing right now suggests it’ll be a significant absence. Any absence at all is another blow to a reeling Twins team that is, rather shockingly, the worst in MLB so far in 2021. Pineda has been one of the team’s bright spots, pitching to a 2.79 ERA with the second-best strikeout percentage (25.3 percent) of his career and a characteristically strong 6.3 percent walk rate. If the Twins can’t dig themselves out of this hole — they’d need a 2019 Nationals-esque run to do so — the veteran Pineda could well find himself on the trade market this summer, as he’s slated to become a free agent at season’s end.
Phillies’ JoJo Romero To Undergo Tommy John Surgery
Phillies left-hander JoJo Romero will undergo Tommy John surgery and miss the remainder of the 2021 season, manager Joe Girardi announced to reporters (link via Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia). He’ll undergo the procedure next week and miss a good portion of the 2022 season as well.
The 24-year-old Romero hasn’t yet had much success at the big league level yet, surrendering 16 earned runs on 25 hits and six walks with 18 punchouts in 25 2/3 innings. But he’s regarded as one of the organization’s more promising young arms, placing 13th among Phillies farmhands at FanGraphs and 21st at Baseball America. Romero has tallied 392 2/3 innings in the minors since being selected in the fourth round of the 2016 draft, pitching to an overall 3.69 ERA with a 21.7 percent strikeout rate, an 8.1 percent walk rate and a hearty 53.2 percent ground-ball rate. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen tabs him as a possible multi-inning reliever for the Phils.
Romero’s season-ending injury allowed the Phillies to move him to the 60-day injured list and free up a 40-man roster spot for infielder Ronald Torreyes, who returned from the Covid-19 list last night and delivered a two-run, pinch-hit double in Philadelphia’s win over Miami.
Mike Trout To Miss 6-8 Weeks With Calf Strain
In devastating news for the Angels, superstar center fielder Mike Trout will miss six to eight weeks as a result of the right calf strain he suffered Monday, Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times reports. The Angels have placed Trout on the 10-day injured list and recalled lefty Jose Quijada to take his spot on the roster for the time being.
It couldn’t get much worse than this for the Angels, who again haven’t been able to capitalize on Trout’s excellence this year. Already mired in a six-year playoff drought, the Angels are off to a subpar 18-22 start despite Trout’s best efforts. The 29-year-old future Hall of Famer has slashed .333./.466/.624 with eight home runs over 146 plate appearances, and he leads all qualified position players in wRC+ (199) and fWAR (2.5).
Unfortunately, this will go down as another injury-shortened year for Trout, who after averaging 158 games per season from 2013-16 averaged just 129 games from 2017-19. Trout also missed seven games in the shortened 2020 season, which amounts to roughly 12 percent of the season.
As a result of this news, baseball fans won’t have the privilege of watching Trout again until July or later, and his absence will obviously weaken the Angels’ lineup to a significant extent. There’s simply no realistic way to suitably replace Trout, the game’s preeminent player for several years. The Halos have used Scott Schebler and Juan Lagares in center when Trout hasn’t played this year, but they pale in comparison to the eight-time All-Star and three-time MVP.
The Angels do a pair of touted outfield prospects in Jo Adell and Brandon Marsh, either of whom could come up with Trout unavailable, though that’s unlikely to happen in the immediate future, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register tweets. Adell has fanned 21 times in 57 Triple-A plate appearances (36.8 percent), while Marsh has still only logged six total games in Triple-A to this point in his career. While he’s 6-for-22 with a trio of extra-base hits in that time, Marsh has punched out nine times in 29 plate appearances (31 percent), and it seems the Angels feel he could yet benefit from additional development time.
Minor MLB Transactions: 5/18/21
The latest minor moves from around the game…
- The Twins have released right-hander Glenn Sparkman, Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com tweets. The 29-year-old, a former Blue Jay and Royal, signed a minor league contract with the Twins last winter after appearing in the majors in each of the previous four seasons. Sparkman has registered a 5.99 ERA/5.41 SIERA with a 13.5 percent strikeout rate against a 7.5 percent walk rate in 180 1/3 innings. He has notched a far superior 3.51 ERA over 84 2/3 Triple-A frames, including three innings of one-run ball this year.