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Orioles Claim Shawn Armstrong

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4:41pm: Per a team release, the Orioles have optioned right-handed pitcher Luis Ortiz to Triple-A Norfolk to make room for Armstrong on the active roster.

1:37pm: The Orioles have claimed right-handed pitcher Shawn Armstrong off waivers from the Mariners, per Greg Johns of MLB.com. Armstrong had been designated for assignment after the Mariners promoted Justus Sheffield. Armstrong will replace catcher Jesus Sucre on the 40-man roster. Sucre was recently designated for assignment by the Orioles. Roch Kubatko of MASN adds that Armstrong, who is out of minor league options, will be placed on Baltimore’s active roster.

For the Orioles, the addition of Armstrong essentially represents a swap for pitcher Mike Wright, who was recently designated for assignment and subsequently acquired by the Mariners in a minor trade.

Though he has struggled mightily early in 2019, Armstrong’s career numbers resemble those of a serviceable relief pitcher. He has appeared in 57 career games, striking out 56 batters in 61 2/3 innings and posting a 3.65 ERA. However, he has never appeared in more than 21 games in any season since breaking into the Major Leagues with the Indians in 2015. Walks have at times been an issue for the right-hander, having walked three batters in 3 2/3 innings this season. The 28-year-old joins an Orioles bullpen that has had great difficulty suppressing the long ball early this season. Though the O’s have given plenty of pitchers opportunities to claim a bullpen role, few have been able to provide steady production. Baltimore will look for Armstrong to solidify himself as a relief option for the rebuilding club.

Indians Option Greg Allen, Recall Jordan Luplow

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The Indians have optioned outfielder Greg Allen to Triple-A, according to Mandy Bell of MLB.com. To take Allen’s place on the active roster, the team has recalled outfielder Jordan Luplow.

It’s been an abysmal start to the season for Allen, 26, who finds himself mired in a slump to the tune of a .325 OPS, having struck out 14 times in 42 plate appearances and walking just twice. His struggles have compounded the Tribe’s outfield problem, which has lacked for production outside of Leonys Martin. It’s an unfortunate turn for Allen, who flashed potential in 91 games with the Indians last year. However, a ballclub that intends to win games cannot afford to continue giving plate appearances to a struggling young player in hopes that he breaks out of a slump. Allen will be given ample opportunity in Columbus to right himself and return to form with hopes that he can contribute to a playoff team later in the season.

The Indians will turn to Luplow in hopes that he will offer a boon to their faltering outfield. Luplow represents a right-handed option for an Indians outfield that features Martin, Jake Bauers, Tyler Naquin, and Carlos Gonzalez—all left-handed hitters. While Luplow started slow with the Major League club and was quickly optioned to the minors, he only received 17 MLB plate appearances before the demotion and has dominated Triple-A pitching since then. Though he boasts an impressive minor-league track record, he has thus far failed to put it together at the Major League level, though inconsistent playing time may in part be to blame: he has only received 207 scattered PAs between Pittsburgh and Cleveland since debuting in 2017.

Dodgers Activate Rich Hill, Place Caleb Ferguson On IL

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The Dodgers have officially activated veteran southpaw Rich Hill to make his 2019 debut, per Ken Gurnick of MLB.com. To make room for Hill on the active roster, left-handed pitcher Caleb Ferguson has been placed on the 10-day injured list with an oblique injury. Hill will make his first start of the young season in Sunday’s game against the Pirates.

The injury is the latest in what has been a frustrating start to the 2019 season for Ferguson. A cursory glance at his 3.26 ERA does not tell the whole story. In fact, Ferguson has had trouble preventing home runs and walks, having conceded 8 bases no balls and 3 home runs in just 13 innings of work. Despite the similar 3.49 ERA in 2018, Ferguson enjoyed considerably more success in those two departments last season, when he allowed a more respectable 1.5 HR/9 and 2.2 BB/9, to go along with 10.8 K/9.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles will gladly welcome back the 39-year-old Hill, who has been an integral part of the club’s stellar starting rotation since he joined the club in 2016. To be sure, the Dodgers’ pitching staff has fared just fine without Hill, but he represents the latest boon to a rotation that began the season with both Hill and ace Clayton Kershaw on the shelf. Hill’s return gives the Dodgers seven realistic options to start, though it’s unclear just how his arrival will shake up the rest of the Dodgers’ starters. Kenta Maeda is certainly an option to move to the bullpen, and is probably the most likely to do so with both Ross Stripling and Hyun Jin Ryu performing well behind stalwarts Kershaw and Walker Buehler. Julio Urias, who has also enjoyed an encouraging start to the season, has already been moved to the bullpen. Surely, these are good problems to have for the first-place Dodgers, who find themselves with bountiful options in the event that another starter suffers an injury.

Diamondbacks Designate Matt Koch

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The Diamondbacks have designated right-hander Matt Koch for assignment and recalled righty Jon Duplantier from Triple-A Reno, the team announced.

Koch has been with the Diamondbacks since they acquired him from the Mets in a 2015 trade centering on Addison Reed, but the former has since struggled in the majors. Dating back to his 2016 debut, Koch owns a 4.88 ERA/5.99 FIP with 4.95 K/9, 2.23 BB/9 and a 42.2 percent groundball rate in 125 1/3 innings (36 appearances, 16 starts). Koch got off to a brutal start over 20 frames this year prior to his designation, as he logged a 9.15 ERA with 3.92 K/9, which offset an impressive walk rate (1.74).

The 28-year-old Koch has also fallen flat at the Triple-A level, where he carries a 5.79 ERA with 5.0 K/9 and 2.0 BB/9 in 146 innings. And he’s out of minor league options, which further takes away appeal.

Quick Hits: Cards, Martinez, Reyes, Royals, Goodwin, Yanks, Ellsbury

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Cardinals right-hander Carlos Martinez, whose injured shoulder has kept him out of action this year, is “expected” to return at some point next month, Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes. “I feel so much better. Right now I’m 85 percent, 90 percent,” Martinez declared. “In two weeks … I think I’m going to be great. When I come back to the major leagues, I’m going to be 100 percent.” The electrifying 27-year-old has flashed front-line starter potential during his career, but thanks in part to his own wishes, he’ll work out of the Cardinals’ bullpen when he comes back. However, Martinez’s goal is to rejoin the Redbirds’ rotation after the All-Star break, Hummel relays. Meanwhile, though there’s no official timetable for fellow banged-up Cardinals righty Mike Mayers’ return, he’s aiming for July. The reliever went to the injured list April 16 with a strained lat.

More from St. Louis and a couple other big league cities…

  • Martinez and Mayers certainly aren’t dealing with embarrassing injuries, but the same isn’t true for teammate Alex Reyes. The prized 24-year-old suffered a fractured left pinky after punching a wall following his most recent Triple-A start, general manager Michael Girsch told Derrick Goold of the Post-Dispatch and other reporters Sunday. Reyes will now head to the Cardinals’ facility in Jupiter, Fla., to continue building his arm up, though this injury likely leaves the righty at least a month from returning to St. Louis, per Goold.
  • Outfielder Brian Goodwin was on release waivers a month ago, when the Royals cut him in favor of Lucas Duda. All Goodwin has done since then is slash .333/.430/.556 in 87 plate appearances as a member of the Angels, making him one of the game’s elite hitters in the early going. The Royals could end up ruing their decision to part with Goodwin, but manager Ned Yost and GM Dayton Moore explained to Lynn Worthy of the Kansas City Star that they don’t regret the choice. Yost noted that Goodwin has struggled as a pinch hitter, which played a part in the Royals’ decision to release him, and observed that “it just made more sense” to have the lefty-swinging Duda and the righty-batting Frank Schwindel (who’s now in the minors) as pinch-hitting options and Terrance Gore as another bench choice. The Royals also had plenty of other outfield possibilities, notes Worthy, who points out Goodwin didn’t exactly make a case for a roster spot during an unproductive spring with KC.  “There probably wouldn’t have been a lot of at-bats for him,” said Moore, who suggested he’s happy Goodwin found a better opportunity elsewhere.
  • Injuries continue to haunt forgotten but well-compensated Yankees outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury, who last appeared in a game Oct. 17, 2017. Manager Aaron Boone said Saturday (via George A. King III of the New York Post) that Ellsbury is “dealing with different things,” “a number of little things that continue to pop up,” and “certainly” won’t return in the near term. The 35-year-old Ellsbury has battled a litany of health problems over the past couple seasons, including plantar fasciitis in 2019. The Yankees owe Ellsbury $21MM salaries through 2020 and can then cut the cord on him with a $5MM buyout.

Braves Acquire Jerry Blevins

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The Braves have acquired left-handed reliever Jerry Blevins from the Athletics, Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets. Oakland announced that it will receive cash or a player to be named later in return. Atlanta subsequently selected Blevins’ contract, optioned Wes Parsons to Triple-A Gwinnett and transferred reliever Arodys Vizcaino to the 60-day injured list.

An Athletic earlier in his career, Blevins never made it back to Oakland this year after returning to the organization on a minor league contract in the offseason. The 35-year-old instead tossed 10 2/3 innings of 1.69 ERA ball with 13.5 K/9 and 3.38 BB/9 with the A’s Triple-A affiliate.

Blevins had to settle for a role in the minors after a trying 2018 as a member of the Mets, with whom he posted a 4.85 ERA, 8.65 K/9 against 4.64 BB/9, and a measly 21.8 percent groundball rate. Difficulty retiring same-handed hitters played into Blevins’ struggles last year, a season in which he declined sharply after a largely impressive run with the A’s, Nationals and Mets. From 2016-17, his first two full seasons in New York, the soft-tossing Blevins managed a stingy 2.87 ERA with 11.97 K/9, 3.86 BB/9 and a 43.3 percent grounder mark across 91 innings. He was tough on both left- and right-handed hitters in the first of those two seasons, though the latter teed off on him in 2017.

Blevins will now join an Atlanta bullpen which is in dire straits, having limped to the majors’ eighth-highest ERA (4.74) with its worst walk rate (5.87 per nine) and second-worst fWAR (minus-0.7) this season. In the Braves’ estimation, the fact that lefties Jonny Venters and Jesse Biddle are on the injured list and fellow southpaw A.J. Minter has been awful helped create a need for Blevins.

Orioles Designate Jesus Sucre, Place Alex Cobb On IL

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As part of a series of roster moves, the Orioles have designated catcher Jesus Sucre for assignment and placed right-hander Alex Cobb (lumbar strain) on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to Saturday. The team also recalled Sucre’s replacement, catcher Austin Wynns, as well as righties Branden Kline and Luis Ortiz from Triple-A Norfolk, and optioned righty Jimmy Yacabonis.

Sucre made the Orioles’ season-opening roster after signing a minor league deal with the rebuilding team in the offseason, though the light-hitting 30-year-old’s production has fallen short even by his standards. Sucre batted a meager .210/.269/.242 with no home runs in 67 plate appearances prior to his designation. Defensively, while Sucre has always been adept at throwing out runners and has caught 4 of 8 would-be base thieves in 2019, he has been a bottom-of-the-barrel framer this season and has given up an AL-worst three passed balls.

As with Sucre, this season has been tough sledding for Cobb, who has struggled to live up to the four-year, $57MM commitment Baltimore’s prior regime made in him entering 2018. Not only has Cobb pitched to a dreadful 10.95 ERA/11.81 FIP and yielded an eye-popping nine home runs in a three-start, 12 1/3-inning span this season, but this is the second time a lumbar strain has sent him to the IL. The injury previously shelved the 31-year-old for two weeks.

White Sox Place Eloy Jimenez, Nate Jones On IL

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The White Sox announced that they have placed outfielder Eloy Jimenez (high right ankle sprain) and reliever Nate Jones (right elbow inflammation) on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to Saturday in both cases. The club recalled left-hander Aaron Bummer and righty Thyago Vieira in corresponding moves.

There’s no timetable for the return of Jimenez, whom the White Sox will re-evaluate in two weeks, Bruce Levine of 670 The Score tweets. They’re left to hope the 22-year-old makes it back in relatively short order thereafter, and Jimenez seems optimistic that will be the case.

“Yeah, it feels much better,” he said Sunday (via Scott Merkin of MLB.com). “The first day, I couldn’t even walk. Now, I feel better. I can walk better. There’s no pain a lot now, just a little bit.”

Jimenez is one of the keys to Chicago’s rebuild, someone the team signed to a six-year, $43MM guarantee before he ever set foot on a major league diamond. And though Jimenez has gotten off to a slow start as a rookie, having hit .241/.294/.380 with three home runs in 85 plate appearances, that subpar production shouldn’t dampen the enthusiasm about his long-term outlook.

Jones’ latest ailment is troubling considering the laundry list of injuries, including to his pitching arm, he has battled during his career. Now 33, Jones has been among the game’s finest relievers at times, though this season has been another story. While Jones owns a 3.48 ERA and a 51.7 percent groundball rate in 10 1/3 innings, he has accompanied those respectable figures with a dip in velocity and declining strikeout, walk and swinging-strike rates (8.71 K/9, 6.1 BB/9, 9.1 percent).

Mets Designate Travis d’Arnaud

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The Mets have designated catcher Travis d’Arnaud for assignment, per a team announcement. His 25-man roster spot will go to fellow catcher Tomas Nido, whom the Mets recalled from Triple-A Syracuse.

This decision figures to conclude what has largely been a disappointing New York tenure for d’Arnaud, a Met since they acquired him in a 2013 blockbuster with the Blue Jays. Then among baseball’s elite prospects, d’Arnaud was one of the key pieces of the Mets’ return for knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, who also netted them right-hander Noah Syndergaard. Unlike Syndergaard, though, d’Arnaud hasn’t blossomed into a high-end major leaguer.

While d’Arnaud impressed early as a Met, combining for 6.1 fWAR and a .252/.317/.442 line with 25 home runs in 689 plate appearances from 2014-15, his numbers have fallen off since then. Dating back to 2016, d’Arnaud has slashed .239/.292/.381 with 21 HRs and 2.6 fWAR in 693 PA, thanks in part to a slew of injuries. The 30-year-old has missed at least 50 games in each of his seasons, including all but four contests in a 2018 campaign that was ruined by Tommy John surgery on his right elbow.

On the heels of that procedure, the Mets and rookie general manager Brodie Van Wagenen turned elsewhere for a starting catcher this past offseason. The club signed Wilson Ramos to a two-year, $19MM contract, which could have made d’Arnaud expendable on a team that also had Nido and the since-traded Kevin Plawecki at the time. The Mets kept d’Arnaud around at a now-guaranteed $3.515MM salary in his final year of arbitration eligibility, though, but decided to cut him after he opened the season with just two hits (both singles) in 25 plate appearances.

The Mets will owe d’Arnaud approximately $2.955MM if someone doesn’t take him off their hands, Joel Sherman of the New York Post notes, though it’s possible a trade will come together if his potential tantalizes a club. After all, d’Arnaud was reasonably productive during his previous season, 2017, and has earned solid marks behind the plate during his career.

West Notes: Kinsler, Godley, K. Seager

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Ian Kinsler’s run as the Padres’ regular second baseman (and perhaps his time on their roster) may be nearing an end, a source tells Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune. The Padres signed the highly accomplished Kinsler to a two-year, $8MM guarantee in the offseason, no doubt expecting him to serve as a quality stopgap prior to the Luis Urias era. Instead Kinsler has slashed a ghastly .141/.221/.256 through 86 plate appearances. While a .148 batting average on balls in play suggests fortune hasn’t been on the 36-year-old’s side, his expected weighted on-base average (.216) matches his real wOBA (.216) and ranks as the game’s fifth-worst mark. Now, thanks to Kinsler’s inadequate production, the Padres may be on the verge of turning to Greg Garcia as a bridge to Urias. The Padres optioned Urias to Triple-A El Paso last Sunday after he hit just .083/.241/.125 in 29 major league PA, but the 21-year-old top prospect has torched minor league pitching with a .357/.413/.786 slash in 46 attempts.

  • The Diamondbacks will discuss whether to drop right-hander Zack Godley from their rotation, manager Torey Lovullo told Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic and other reporters Saturday. Lovullo’s comments came on the heels of Godley’s latest clunker, in which he yielded five earned runs on four hits and three walks over 2 2/3 innings in a blowout loss to the Cubs. Having surrendered four or more earned runs in four of six starts this year, Godley’s ERA sits at an untenable 7.58, thanks in part to declining strikeout, walk and groundball rates (7.58 K/9, 5.46 BB/9, 41.3 GB%). The 29-year-old entered the campaign off a respectable two-season run in which he logged a 4.10 ERA with 9.45 K/9, 3.62 BB/9 and a 51.6 percent grounder rate across 333 1/3 frames, making his 2019 output all the more concerning. Demoting Godley to the minors likely isn’t on the table for the Diamondbacks, as a team could claim the out-of-options hurler on waivers. If the D-backs do remove Godley from their rotation, though, Piecoro names Matt Andriese, Taylor Clarke and Jon Duplantier as potential replacements.
  • The Mariners have begun the season an excellent 18-12 without third base mainstay Kyle Seager, who underwent surgery on his left hand in mid-March. But the 31-year-old’s recovery is going smoothly, as he took ground balls for the first time Saturday and said (via Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times) that he’s “ahead of schedule” and not feeling any pain. Still, Seager will be out until at least May 25, the first day he’s eligible to come off the 60-day injured list. The Seager-less M’s have turned to Ryon Healy and Dylan Moore at third to mixed results.

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