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Mariners Recall Mallex Smith, Option Shed Long

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Mallex Smith’s time in the minors didn’t last long. Less than two weeks after being optioned to Triple-A Tacoma, Smith has been recalled by the Mariners. In his place, infield prospect Shed Long was optioned to Tacoma.

It was a brief but perhaps much-needed respite for Smith, who got out to an awful .165/.255/.247 start to the season as Seattle’s regular center fielder. The slow start likely hasn’t done much to sway the organization’s hope that Smith can be a long-term option in center field, and it’s possible that his 10-game run in Tacoma provided just the reset he needed. In 48 Triple-A plate appearances, Smith hit .333/.375/.467 with a homer, three doubles and a perfect seven steals in seven tries. Most encouraging of all, he struck out just four times after punching out at an alarming 30 percent rate through his first 110 MLB plate appearances.

The 23-year-old Long, meanwhile, will go back to Tacoma and continue to receive the type of regular reps that weren’t available to him on the big league roster. Recalled as an injury replacement last week, Long appeared in just three games with the Mariners and went hitless in 11 plate appearances. He’s far too important to their long-term outlook to be languishing in a seldom-used bench role, so the decision to send him back to Tacoma, where he hit .276/.350/.504 in 32 games prior to his promotion, makes perfect sense. He’ll quite likely be back later this season and is will at some point have the opportunity to win an everyday role with the Mariners — likely at second base.

Someone Should (Finally) Put Andrew Cashner In Their Bullpen

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Back in 2017, Andrew Cashner posted a solid 3.40 ERA in 28 starts and parlayed that into a two-year, $16MM deal in Baltimore despite the fact that he ranked at the bottom of the league in terms of strikeout rate and swinging-strike rate in the season leading up to free agency. The contract almost seemed destined to be a misstep, and his 2018 campaign indeed looked regrettable. Cashner logged a 5.29 ERA with 5.8 K/9, 3.8 BB/9, a career-high 1.49 HR/9 and a career-low 40.4 percent ground-ball rate. His once blazing fastball checked in at a pedestrian average of 92.4 mph.

Andrew Cashner

On the heels of that showing, the new Orioles front office, led by former Astros assistant GM Mike Elias, was understandably interested in clearing Cashner’s salary off its books. Cashner, after all, has a $10MM vesting option for the 2020 season that kicks in if he reaches 187 frames this year, and while that’d be a career-high for him, it’s not out of the realm of possibility. Given that context, it wasn’t much of a surprise when The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported earlier this week (subscription required) that Baltimore was willing to eat virtually all of Cashner’s 2019 salary in Spring Training to facilitate a trade. Obviously, nothing came together.

The 2019 season is only a quarter through, but Cashner suddenly looks more like a passable fifth starter than he did a year ago. Through 48 1/3 innings, he’s averaged 7.5 K/9 against 3.4 BB/9 with a revitalized 51.7 percent grounder rate. His velocity is actually up to 93.5 mph on average, and Cashner’s 9.2 percent swinging-strike rate is the highest it’s been since way back in 2012. Cashner is throwing more four-seamers and more changeups, and he’s generally received more positive results. A contending club with a thin rotation could probably acquire Cashner for little more than a bit of salary relief and use him fifth starter. The upside in that scenario is minimal, however, and Cashner’s vesting option would be a deterrent for any interested team.

The more intriguing scenario would be for one of the many bullpen-needy teams — the Braves, Twins, Red Sox, Dodgers, Brewers or even the Cubs (his original club) — to acquire Cashner and drop him directly into the bullpen. This isn’t exactly a revolutionary concept. Putting Cashner in the bullpen has been a suggestion for years (hence this post’s title). But it’s also a fact that there are very few teams willing to sell at this point in the season, and the ones who are willing to do so would put a high price on most bullpen targets given the short supply of available arms in mid May. That’s unlikely to be the case with the Orioles and Cashner. Elias & Co. know full well that they’ll be summer sellers, and they’d be happy to shed whatever they can of the $5.89MM that remains on Cashner’s 2019 salary.

Beyond that is the fact that there’s some evidence to suggest that Cashner would thrive in shorter stints. Opponents are hitting just .212/.272/.347 against Cashner the first time through the order so far in 2019, and he’s struck out 24.7 percent of the hitters he’s faced the first time through as well. Cashner’s velocity will quite likely tick up even further in shorter stints, which could help him to improve on that ability to miss bats, but he’s already sporting a 3.50 xFIP when facing opponents for the first time in a game. That alone is worthy of intrigue, particularly given the minimal cost of acquisition. Putting Cashner in the ’pen also mitigates any concern about his vesting option, and while he may prefer to work as a starter and have a chance to lock in that 2020 salary, he’d set himself up for a solid payday next winter if he can thrive in a multi-inning relief role.

This time of year, there are far more clubs looking for bullpen help than there are arms available. That’s not going to enhance Cashner’s trade value much — the O’s probably won’t get much beyond some salary relief — but the lack of available alternatives should still lead teams to explore the idea of finally converting him into a full-time reliever.

Injured Athletics Hurlers Making Progress

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Several injured Athletics pitchers are on the march back to the majors, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Whether they’ll make it in time to help draw the team back into the postseason race remains to be seen.

Jharel Cotton is furthest along among those sidelined with long-term maladies. He’s slated to launch a rehab assignment on Friday in his effort to return from Tommy John surgery, which means he could be pitching from a big-league mound by mid-June.

The 27-year-old Cotton hasn’t appeared in competitive action since the 2017 campaign, his first full go at the MLB level. He managed only a 5.58 ERA in 129 innings, with 28 long balls largely to blame. Still, he has long been seen as a potentially solid back-of-the-rotation big-league hurler.

There’s an even more talented trio of lefties also grinding through the rehab process as well. Former first-rounder A.J. Puk just threw his first simulated game, which is quite a notable step in his own TJ recovery. He could be an option as soon as July, Slusser indicates, with Sean Manaea (shoulder surgery) and Jesus Luzardo (rotator cuff strain) potentially being available after the trade deadline.

This glance at the injured list serves as a reminder of how much talent the Oakland organization has been forced to go without in the early going. Unfortunately, it seems as if the club will need to claw back into the race before it receives much in the way of reinforcement.

The rotation hasn’t been the sole cause of the A’s slow start, but there are certainly some issues. The three veteran offseason signees haven’t exactly thrived. Outside of his no-hitter, Mike Fiers has struggled. Marco Estrada did the same before going down with an injury. Brett Anderson has been solid but is hardly a dominant rotation piece. There are mixed results otherwise. Frankie Montas is pitching quite well and Chris Bassitt has shown some promise in a four-start sample, but Aaron Brooks has been homer-prone and Daniel Mengden’s first start of the year didn’t go well.

Tigers Recall Dawel Lugo

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The Tigers have called up infielder Dawel Lugo, per a club announcement. He’ll take the roster spot created when the team optioned out third baseman Jeimer Candelario.

In addition to stepping into Candelario’s roster spot, Lugo will evidently also take over as the team’s regular third baseman. Manager Ron Gardenhire told reporters, including MLB.com’s Jason Beck (Twitter link), that the organization is “bringing [Lugo] up here to play, not to sit.”

The 24-year-old Lugo had a crack at the majors last year, but struggled to a .213/.267/.309 slash in 101 plate appearances. He also didn’t hit much at Triple-A last year, finishing the season with a marginal .269/.283/.350 batting line and just three long balls in 523 plate appearances.

That was a disappointing showing for a player who had finished the prior two campaigns with double-digit dinger tallies. The Tigers were obviously hoping for more when they acquired Lugo from the Diamondbacks as a significant part of the return for star slugger J.D. Martinez.

Lugo still opened the year rated as the 17th-best player on the Tigers’ farm. And he has ticked up quite a bit in the early going. Through 140 plate appearances at Triple-A Toledo, Lugo carries a .341/.393/.468 slash with a pair of long balls. He has walked at a 7.9% rate — hardly elite, but better than he has ever shown over a full season. Lugo is succeeding mostly by stinging the ball to the tune of a .402 batting average on balls in play. He won’t sustain that sort of level over a full season in the bigs. It’ll be interesting to see whether he can keep trending up in the walk department and make enough good contact to be a productive big-league hitter.

Brewers To Place Manny Pina On IL, Recall Jacob Nottingham

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The Brewers announced after last night’s game that catcher Manny Pina will be headed to the 10-day injured list with a hamstring injury. He’ll be replaced on the active roster by fellow receiver Jacob Nottingham, per MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy (via Twitter).

It’s not clear how long Pina will be sidelined, but he’ll need to use his time away to work on more than just his hamstring. Soon to turn 32, Pina has struggled to a .133/.220/.244 slash to open the season — well shy of the palatable offensive numbers he carried over the prior two campaigns.

Pina’s role has unsurprisingly been reduced in the wake of the addition of Yasmani Grandal, who’ll continue to see the bulk of the action behind the dish. Grandal will now be supplemented by Nottingham, a 24-year-old who enjoyed a cup of coffee last season.

Nottingham originally came to Milwaukee in the swap that sent slugger Khris Davis to the A’s. (Before that, he landed in the Oakland organization in the July 2015 Scott Kazmir trade.) At the time, he was seen as a bat-first catching prospect with real potential. He has struggled at times in the upper minors, though he was productive last year at Triple-A and was graded by MLB.com as the Brewers’ 16th-best prospect over the winter. Nottingham is slashing .247/.351/.395 in 94 plate appearances at San Antonio thus far in 2019.

Twins Option Trevor Hildenberger, Will Select Austin Adams

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The Twins announced following Wednesday’s game that they’ve optioned struggling righty Trevor Hildenberger to Triple-A Rochester. While no corresponding move was announced, La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that the Twins are set to select the contract of right-hander Austin Adams from Rochester. SKOR North’s Darren Wolfson tweeted earlier in the afternoon that Adams was a potential replacement option. Because Adams is not on the 40-man roster, Minnesota will need to make an additional move to accommodate the promotion.

Hildenberger, 28, was a significant factor in the Twins’ 2017 Wild Card run when he emerged as a late-blooming rookie and turned in a 3.21 ERA with 9.4 K/9 against 1.3 BB/9 in 42 innings of work down the stretch. He largely maintained that pace with a 3.33 first-half ERA in 2018 before cratering in the season’s second half when he allowed 27 runs in his final 27 innings of work.

The 2019 has been a smaller-scale replica of that 2018 campaign; Hildenberger allowed just two runs on nine hits and four walks with 11 strikeouts in 9 2/3 innings in April but has been clobbered for 11 runs in just 4 2/3 innings this month. While he’s never thrown hard, it’s also not a good sign that the righty’s average fastball is down 1.2 mph from last year’s levels (dipping from 89.6 mph to 88.4 mph). In fairness to Hildenberger, he’s been plagued by a sky-high .460 average on balls in play, which certainly hasn’t helped his cause. For now, he’ll look to right the ship in a lower-pressure setting and return to help the club later in the season.

As for Adams — not to be confused with the former Nationals reliever of the same name whom the Mariners acquired earlier this month — it’ll be the 32-year-old’s first big league action since the 2016 season. Adams was a 2009 fifth-round pick of the Indians and spent parts of three seasons (2014-16) in the Cleveland ’pen, meaning Twins chief baseball officer Derek Falvey, a former Indians AGM, is likely quite familiar with the righty.

He hasn’t had much success in the Majors outside of a 3.78 ERA in 33 2/3 innings with the 2015 Indians, but Adams is currently sporting a 28-to-6 K/BB ratio in 14 innings of work with Triple-A Rochester. He’s been tagged for three homers in that time and has a 4.50 ERA on the whole, but the K/BB ratio and Adams’ whopping 58.5 percent ground-ball rate are genuinely intriguing. Perhaps most intriguing of all is the fact that the Twins and Mariners will square off in a four-game series beginning tomorrow, thus setting the stage for an Austin Adams vs. Austin Adams bullpen showdown.

Tigers Option Jeimer Candelario

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The Tigers announced after tonight’s game that they’ve optioned third baseman Jeimer Candelario to Triple-A Toledo. A corresponding roster move will be announced tomorrow, per the team.

It’s a disappointing turn of events for the 25-year-old Candelario, whom the Tigers hoped could solidify himself as their third baseman of the future. Acquired in the 2017 trade that sent Justin Wilson to the Cubs, Candelario burst onto the scene in Detroit late that summer, hitting .330/.406/.468 down in 106 plate appearances down the stretch. While the 2018 season was an uneven one for the switch-hitter, he still managed to swat 19 homers, 28 doubles and three triples.

The 2019 season simply hasn’t been a good one for Candelario, who went 0-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts in tonight’s game. He’s hitting .192/.285/.288 with a still-strong 10.9 percent walk rate but an elevated 27.9 percent strikeout rate. More troubling is that Candelario’s power has simply evaporated. He’s hitting more line-drives and fly-balls than he did in 2018 but hasn’t seen the corresponding uptick in exit velocity or hard-hit rate that one would prefer to accompany such trends.

With Candelario down in Toledo for a reset, the door will open for hot-hitting Ronny Rodriguez to see more reps at third base. The 27-year-old utilityman has turned in a blistering .296/.341/.667 batting line with six homers, eight doubles and a pair of triples through just 88 plate appearances since joining the Tigers this year. He’s seen action all around the infield, but the demotion of Candelario opens a clear path to regular at-bats and a regular position for Detroit should they prefer to provide him with a more stable role. Of course, Rodriguez has thrived in a jack-of-all-trades capacity, so it’s possible that while he’ll see an uptick in time at the hot corner he’ll still also be used to spell others around the infield.

Miguel Andujar To Undergo Season-Ending Shoulder Surgery

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The Yankees announced tonight that third baseman Miguel Andujar will undergo surgery to repair the labrum tear in his right shoulder next Monday. He’s expected to miss the remainder of the 2019 season.

The team and fans alike had huge hopes for Andujar, who finished second in 2018 American League Rookie of the Year voting, but his 2019 campaign will unfortunately come to an end after just a dozen games and 49 plate appearances. The 23-year-old originally landed on the injured list after just three games and missed the entire month of April as well as some time in early May before opting to return in an attempt to play through the injury.

Andujar, though, went just 3-for-34 at the plate with a walk and nine strikeouts in his brief return to the active roster before being placed back on the IL. Yankees skipper Aaron Boone said yesterday that Andujar was once again weighing his options and planned to talk them over with his family, though the decision apparently didn’t take all that long this time around.

The injury to Andujar is the most serious the Yankees have faced in a season that has already been permeated by health woes, but the team currently has both Gleyber Torres and DJ LeMahieu healthy as well as Gio Urshela playing the best baseball of his professional career. The club eventually hopes to have both Troy Tulowitzki and Didi Gregorius back in the infield mix as well, and if that happens, they’ll still have a strong mix of options to pair with first baseman Luke Voit in rounding out the infield.

That said, the impact of losing a bat that produced a .297/.328/.527 batting line with 27 homers, 47 doubles and a pair of triples a year ago can’t be understated. Andujar was a key middle-of-the-order presence for last year’s 100-win Yankees club, and while there’s no shortage or internal options to replace him on a fully healthy club, it’s also unlikely that any of the alternatives can match that level of offensive output. Whoever shoulders the load at third base for the remainder of the season will likely be a defensive upgrade over Andujar, who struggled with the glove last season.

Andujar will still accrue Major League service time while he finishes out the season on the injured list, and he’ll cross the two-year mark in the months to come. He won’t be eligible for arbitration until after the 2020 season and won’t be a free agent until the 2023-24 offseason. The Yankees, meanwhile, will be able to easily open a 40-man roster spot by transferring him to the 60-day injured list the next time a need arises.

Carlos Torres Opts Out Of Padres Deal

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Veteran right-handed reliever Carlos Torres has opted out of his minor league contract with the Padres, MLBTR has learned.

Torres, 36, inked a minor league pact with the Padres back in January, and while he struggled in Spring Training, he’s had a solid start to his season in Triple-A El Paso. Through 25 1/3 frames, Torres is sporting a 2.49 ERA with a 23-to-10 K/BB ratio and a 50.7 percent ground-ball rate.

Torres has appeared in the Majors in each of the past eight seasons and in 10 of the past dating back to 2009. While he tossed only 9 2/3 innings in the Majors last year, all with the Nationals, he was a big league regular from 2012-17, pitching to a 3.73 ERA with 7.9 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 in a total of 449 innings between the Rockies, Mets and Brewers. Over that stretch, Torres averaged 56 appearances and 75 innings per season. It was a small sample of work, but last year’s 93 mph average fastball was actually an improvement over his career average of 91.7 mph.

Given his track record at the MLB level, solid showing to this point in the Pacific Coast League and the sheer number of clubs eyeing bullpen depth, Torres should be able to latch on with another club’s Triple-A affiliate at the very least.

Zack Greinke, Taijuan Walker Headed For MRIs

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The D-backs may have enjoyed a comfortable win this afternoon, but it’s quickly become a stressful day for the club and its fans due to a series of injuries. Zack Greinke and David Peralta both exited today’s game early, and The Athletic’s Zach Buchanan tweets that right-hander Taijuan Walker is slated to undergo an MRI after experiencing shoulder soreness in a rehab appearance in extended Spring Training.

The team announced during the game that Peralta departed due to tightness in his right trapezius muscle, while manager Torey Lovullo revealed postgame that Greinke will undergo an MRI on Friday after experiencing abdominal tightness. Greinke had cruised through 7 2/3 shutout innings before grimacing after a pitch in the eighth inning and calling a trainer out to the mound. He departed before throwing another pitch.

Any absence for Greinke would be significant for a D-backs club that is four games over .500, firmly in the NL Wild Card mix and still within four games of the NL West lead. His near shutout Wednesday dropped his season ERA to 2.78, and he’s complemented that mark with averages of 8.6 K/9, 1.1 BB/9 and 1.1 HR/9. And although his velocity has continued to dwindle as he pitches into his mid 30s, Greinke has adjusted and served as a high-quality starter and workhorse in recent seasons; the 35-year-old tossed 410 innings between the 2017-18 regular seasons with near-identical ERAs of 3.20 and 3.21.

Fortunately, with regard to Peralta, Lovullo suggested that his outfielder will be okay with some treatment (Twitter link via Buchanan). The D-backs have an off day tomorrow, and to this point there’s been no mention of a possible IL trip for Peralta. Through 192 plate appearances, the 31-year-old is hitting .318/.359/.531 with six home runs, 16 doubles and a pair of triples — a strong followup to last year’s breakout 30-homer, .293/.352/.516 showing.

As for Walker, the setback is unsettling for an organization that hoped he’d eventually return to the rotation this summer. The 26-year-old right-hander is working back from 2018 Tommy John surgery and had progressed to pitching in a game setting. The fact that his shoulder is the problematic area suggests that there’s no immediate cause for concern in his surgically repaired elbow, though that’s not really any kind of consolation — particularly given that Walker has previously dealt with shoulder issues in his career.

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