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Nationals Activate Will Harris, Place Sam Freeman On Injured List

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The Nationals have announced a pair of corresponding bullpen moves. Righty Will Harris, who had been sidelined with a groin injury, was activated from the injured list.

To create an active roster opening, the Nats placed southpaw Sam Freeman on the IL. He suffered a flexor mass strain in last night’s contest. Manager Dave Martinez explained that understanding the full scope of the injury will have to await further examination.

While it’s disappointing to lose Freeman after he made seven scoreless appearances, the Nationals are surely glad to have Harris back in the fold. Soon to turn 36, Harris inked a sizable deal in the offseason. He has to this point taken the ball only twice in D.C.

Final Offers For Mets Due At End Of Month

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The timeline for a prospective sale of the Mets has gained clarity. Final bids are due by the end of August, according to Scott Soshnick of Sportico.

There’s more to it than scratching out a number on a piece of paper, of course. As Soshnick explains, August 31st will also represent the point by which a bidding group must be firmed up with verifiable financial resources.

We haven’t seen much chatter on the Mets sale process in recent weeks. There was more gossip than news when last we checked in, including a strongly disputed report about the involvement of Sheldon Adelson and further sports celebrity support for the bidding group fronted by Alex Rodriguez.

While it remains unclear now who’ll come away with the New York club, the process is now set to reach a critical stage. At least five groups are known to be in pursuit, with varying degrees of interest and financial clout. Even as the Mets try to make a September run at the postseason in the final campaign under current ownership, the Wilpons and their advisors will be sifting through bids and deciding who’ll control the next phase of the organization.

NL East Notes: Nationals, Mets, Braves

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Nationals star Stephen Strasburg missed the beginning of the season with a nerve issue in his right hand, but it didn’t shelve him for long. The reigning World Series MVP made his season debut last Sunday, though the Orioles roughed him up for five earned runs on seven hits in 4 1/3 innings. It turns out that Strasburg may not have been at full strength during that outing, as manager Dave Martinez revealed Wednesday (via Byron Kerr of MASNsports.com) that the 32-year-old is still dealing with tingling in his hand. “I was a little bit concerned,” admitted Martinez, who added that “we will definitely have to keep an eye on it.” Strasburg’s scheduled to face Baltimore again on Friday, at least for now.

  • Oft-injured Mets infielder Jed Lowrie will undergo injections in his ailing left knee, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com tweets. The Mets won’t have a timeline for a potential 2020 debut for Lowrie until they see how those injections affect him. At this point, though, it’s clear the Mets can’t count on Lowrie to emerge as a late-season reinforcement. The club’s decision to sign him to a two-year, $20MM contract before 2019 has been an abject failure, as Lowrie has appeared in just nine games since.
  • The Braves aren’t expecting either second baseman Ozzie Albies or first baseman Matt Adams to return next week, manager Brian Snitker said Wednesday (via David O’Brien of The Athletic). Both players have been on the injured list since Aug. 5 (Albies for a wrist issue, Adams for a hamstring problem), though Albies is obviously the more important member of the club. After all, Albies turned in terrific seasons in 2018 and ’19 as a full-timer in the Braves’ lineup. They’ve primarily gone to Johan Camargo and Adeiny Hechavarria at the keystone in Albies’ absence.
  • Southpaw reliever Sam Freeman left the Nationals’ loss to the Mets on Wednesday with a flexor strain, Britt Ghiroli of The Athletic relays. There’s “a level of concern” over the injury, per Martinez, especially because Freeman underwent Tommy John surgery in the past. Freeman, whom the Nats signed to a minor league contract in free agency, has tossed five scoreless innings for them this year.

Latest On Matt Harvey

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Former Mets ace Matt Harvey may not be far from a return to the major leagues, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com writes. Now with the Royals, Harvey will throw an intrasquad game Thursday, after which the club will evaluate whether it should promote him to the bigs. General manager Dayton Moore has been encouraged by what he has seen from Harvey, whom the Royals signed to a minor league contract in late July.

“He’s throwing well,” Moore said (via Flanagan). “And he’s a guy who can serve a variety of roles for us. He can be a starter, he can be a long man, he might even be able to help us in the back of the bullpen. We’ll see.”

Harvey peaked with the Mets from 2012-15, a period in which he gave the club front-line production, but the Dark Knight also missed a full season (2014) because of Tommy John surgery. While Harvey bounced back brilliantly from that procedure, he hasn’t been able to rebound from the thoracic outlet syndrome surgery he underwent in 2016. For the most part, Harvey struggled mightily with the Mets, Reds and Angels over the previous three seasons. He hasn’t pitched in the majors since July 7, 2019, as a member of the Angels, and he finished last season on a minors pact with the Athletics.

Although his career has fallen off a cliff, there was no real harm in taking a low-cost chance on Harvey from the rebuilding Royals’ standpoint. If he ever does don their uniform, it’ll be intriguing to see how the 31-year-old fares.

Latest On Ronald Acuna Jr.

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AUG. 12: Acuna missed the Braves’ loss to the Yankees on Wednesday, and manager Brian Snitker said he’ll sit out their series against the Marlins from Friday to Sunday, per Bowman. Acuna is dealing with inflammation.

AUG. 11: The Braves made outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. a late scratch before their game against the Yankees on Tuesday because of left wrist discomfort. He’ll undergo further evaluation in New York on Wednesday, Mark Bowman of MLB.com tweets.

Acuna attributes this injury to a recent slide, per Bowman, and it’s not yet clear whether it’s serious. Regardless, it’s obvious Acuna isn’t someone the Braves can do without for long – especially during a 60-game season. The all-world 22-year-old had his best game of the campaign Sunday, a 4-for-4, two-home run rampage against the Phillies which drove up his numbers after an early season slump. In all, Acuna has slashed .258/.372/.515 (145 wRC+) with four homers in 78 plate appearances.

The Acuna-less Braves went with an outfield alignment of Adam Duvall, Ender Inciarte and Marcell Ozuna in their series-opening loss to the Yankees. They also have Nick Markakis and Austin Riley on hand if Acuna misses time, but losing him would be a nightmare scenario for a Braves club that’s already shorthanded. Mike Soroka, Cole Hamels, Ozzie Albies and Chris Martin rank as the most prominent members of the team who are currently on the injured list.

Red Sox Place Andrew Benintendi On Injured List

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9:45pm: Benintendi will probably miss more than 10 days, manager Ron Roenicke told Alex Speier of the Boston Globe and other reporters.

6:56pm: The Red Sox have placed left fielder Andrew Benintendi on the 10-day injured list with a right rib cage strain, per a team announcement. The club recalled right-hander Ryan Weber from its alternate training site in a corresponding move.

Benintendi’s IL placement continues what has been an abysmal start to 2020 for the typically sturdy producer. A former star prospect, the 25-year-old Benintendi combined for a line of .277/.354/.442 (109 wRC+) with 51 home runs, 52 steals and 9.0 fWAR in 2,052 plate appearances. So far this season, though, Benintendi has failed to hit a homer and batted an unsightly .103/.314/.128 (47 wRC+) across 52 PA, owing in part to a 32.4 percent strikeout rate that sits 13-plus percent above his lifetime figure. Benintendi has also seen his hard-contact rate plummet, and while he has never been a major power threat, his paltry .026 ISO represents a sharp decline and ranks third to last among 169 hitters who have racked up at least 50 trips to the plate.

Thanks in part to Benintendi’s drop-off, the Red Sox have opened 2020 at 6-11 – good for last in the AL East. They figure to go with a regular outfield alignment of Kevin Pillar, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Alex Verdugo while Benintendi’s unavailable. Pillar and Verdugo have been fairly productive so far, though Bradley has joined Benintendi in coming out of the gates slowly.

Rays Outright Kevan Smith

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The Rays have outrighted catcher Kevan Smith, the team announced. He cleared waivers after recently being designated for assignment.

With the move, the Tampa Bay organization will retain Smith on its 60-man player pool. Bringing him back up would require a 40-man move, however.

Smith received only a pair of plate appearances before he was dropped. The 32-year-old has seen at least some time on a big league roster in each of the past five seasons. In 710 total trips to the plate at the game’s highest level, he owns a .273/.320/.382 batting line.

Rangers Add Ricky Vanasco & Cole Winn To 60-Man Pool

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The Rangers announced today that Ricky Vanasco and Cole Winn have each been added to the club’s 60-man player pool. Both are right-handed hurlers; neither has a 40-man roster spot.

It’s unlikely that either of these two young pitchers will have a real shot at earning a 2020 call-up. The move is probably intended to get them some work in the absence of a minor-league season.

Winn is a well-known prospect already, having landed with the Rangers with the 15th overall pick in the 2018 draft. The 20-year-old ran into some struggles at the Class A level in 2019, pitching to a 4.46 ERA with 8.5 K/9, 5.1 BB/9, and a 46.5% groundball rate in 68 2/3 innings. But those numbers reflected a rough early showing as well as a much more promising run in his final dozen starts of the year.

Vanasco, a former 15th-round pick, has drawn more attention for his work in the Texas organization than his promise upon entry. He showed intriguing arm strength and strikeout ability in low-A and Class A play last year, running up better than 13 strikeouts per nine while allowing less than two earned per nine at both levels.

Asdrubal Cabrera Changes Representation

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Nationals infielder Asdrubal Cabrera has changed representation and hired Gene Mato of Mato Sports Management, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets. MLBTR has made note of the switch in our Agency Database.

The well-traveled Cabrera joined the Nationals last August after the Rangers released him. Texas signed Cabrera to a one-year, $3.4MM contract before 2019, but it cut ties with him after he managed a subpar .235/.318/.393 line across 368 plate appearances in its uniform. The switch-hitting Cabrera then came alive as a member of the Nationals, slashing .323/.404/.565 in 146 PA. Cabrera’s down-the-stretch production helped the Nationals to the playoffs, and though he struggled in the postseason, the club still won its first-ever World Series championship.

After Washington took home the title, Cabrera returned to free agency and sat on the open market for a couple months. However, the Nationals ultimately re-signed the 34-year-old to a $2.5MM pact for this season. The move has paid off for the Nationals, as Cabrera is off to a .326/.380/.674 start with three home runs over 50 trips to the plate.

Joe Kelly Suspension Reduced On Appeal

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Dodgers reliever Joe Kelly has succeeded in appealing his eight-game suspension. The ban will now span five contests. Jared Carrabis of Barstool Sports first reported the news on Twitter, with Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel of ESPN.com confirming that report (via Twitter).

Kelly was suspended after a well-publicized bench-clearing incident during a game with the Astros. He was deemed to have thrown in the area of the head of Houston third baseman Alex Bregman. The suspension also reflected Kelly’s taunting thereafter.

More recently, Kelly hit the injured list with inflammation in his right shoulder. He’ll still need to serve out his suspension once he’s ready for activation, though it seems possible the Dodgers will be able to manage the timing to blunt the impact of the ban.

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