Braves Activate Darren O’Day
The Braves have activated right-hander Darren O’Day from the 60-day injured list. The team created a 40-man roster spot by recalling catcher Alex Jackson from Triple-A and then placing Jackson the 60-day IL himself, ending his 2019 season. Outfielder Adam Duvall was also called up from Triple-A.
O’Day is in position to make his first appearance in a Braves uniform, and his first MLB appearance of any kind since June 26 when the veteran reliever was still a member of the Orioles bullpen. O’Day underwent hamstring surgery a few days after that last outing, but was still dealt to Atlanta as part of a six-player deal at the 2018 trade deadline, as O’Day’s inclusion was largely just a salary dump on Baltimore’s part. After suffering forearm problems in Spring Training, however, O’Day has missed all of the 2019 season, and only returned to minor league action on August 23 for the first of four rehab outings.
One of the game’s most underrated relievers from 2012-15, O’Day’s numbers took a step back from outstanding in those four seasons to merely solid over the next three. While he still delivered a 3.56 ERA, 3.44 K/BB rate, and 11/4 K/9 over 111 1/3 IP for the Orioles in 2016-18, O’Day was also plagued by the long ball, as his HR/9 spiked to a 1.4 average over those three seasons. It doesn’t necessarily auger well for a pitcher entering the homer-crazy 2019 baseball season, especially one coming back after over a year’s absence.
Since the Braves do have a healthy seven-game lead in the NL East, however, the team has the flexibility to work O’Day back into the mix in low-pressure situations. If he reveals any of his old form, he could even be a darkhorse contender to earn a spot on Atlanta’s postseason roster. The Braves’ bullpen has been something of a question mark for much of the season, though the trade deadline additions of Shane Greene and Mark Melancon have helped stabilize matters (after some initial bumps). If nothing else, O’Day is hoping for a strong finish to give him some kind of jumping-off point as he enters the free agent market this winter.
Rays To Promote Kean Wong
1:39PM: The Rays have officially called up Wong, and moved left-hander Jose Alvarado to the 60-day injured list to create roster move.
8:35AM: The Rays will call up utilityman Kean Wong, The Athletic’s Josh Tolentino reports (Twitter link). Wong — the younger brother of Cardinals second baseman Kolten Wong — isn’t on the 40-man roster, so the Rays will have to make another move prior before the 24-year-old prospect’s contract is officially selected.
It will mark the Major League debut for Wong, who was a fourth-round pick for Tampa Bay in the 2013 draft. Originally selected as a second baseman, Wong also began to see some time as a third baseman, and then over the last two seasons has expanded his defensive repertoire to include shortstop and all three outfield positions.
This type of versatility will have Wong fit right into a Rays lineup that values multi-positional ability. Wong is also a left-handed hitter, giving a bit more balance amongst the middle infield options. Wong, Eric Sogard, and Joey Wendle all hit from the left side, while Matt Duffy, Daniel Robertson, and everyday shortstop Willy Adames are all right-handed bats.
MLB.com doesn’t rank Wong within the top 30 prospects in the deep Tampa farm system, though he punched his ticket to the big leagues with a breakout season at the plate. Wong hit .307/.375/.464 with 10 homers over 506 plate appearances for Triple-A Durham this season. The power surge is of particular note, as Wong’s previous high in slugging percentage was a .406 mark in 2018.
While Wong is far from the only Triple-A player to suddenly start mashing in 2019, it provides some evidence that he’ll be able to hit MLB pitching, which was the biggest question mark facing Wong’s prospect status. Even counting his big 2019 numbers, he still has an overall modest .287/.342/.383 slash line over 3052 career PA in the minors.
Aaron Sanchez To Undergo Season-Ending Shoulder Surgery
Aaron Sanchez won’t pitch again this season, as Astros GM Jeff Luhnow told reporters (including Mark Berman of KRIV Fox 26) that the right-hander is set to undergo shoulder surgery next week. The nature of the procedure or Sanchez’s recovery timeline isn’t yet known, as Luhnow said more details will be forthcoming after the surgery takes place.
Sanchez was already on the injured list (dating back to August 21) due to a sore right pectoral muscle, and though the severity of his shoulder problem isn’t yet established, it represents yet another troubling injury absence for the 27-year-old. Sanchez was plagued with a variety of blister, nail, and finger problems in 2017-18, and also missed over two months due to finger surgery in 2018.
These injuries derailed what was looking like a career on the rise, as Sanchez posted a league-best 3.00 ERA in 2016 for a Blue Jays team that reached the American League Championship Series. Since the end of that season, however, Sanchez has a 5.29 ERA, 7.4 K/9, and 1.54 K/BB rate over 272 1/3 innings for Toronto and Houston, as he has been unable to regain his past form even when healthy.
The Jays dealt Sanchez to the Astros as part of a four-player deal at the trade deadline, and the prevailing thought was that Sanchez could blossom with a change of scenery, particularly given how the Astros had proven to be adept at reviving pitchers’ careers or taking them to another level in recent years. This seemed like the case almost immediately, as Sanchez’s first start as an Astro saw him toss six hitless innings as part of a combined no-hitter.
After following that start up with another strong outing, however, Sanchez struggled over his next two starts, and his first season for Houston will finish with a 4.82 ERA, 7.7 K/9, and 1.78 K/BB rate over 18 2/3 innings. While it’s a small sample size, Sanchez’s home run problems (already an issue in Toronto) worsened, as he surrendered five homers over those 18 2/3 frames.
Sanchez as seen as a potential relief weapon out of the Astros’ pen in October (he excelled in a similar role during the 2015 Blue Jays’ postseason run). Since Sanchez is no longer an option, it adds another question mark to an increasingly troubled Astros relief corps as the club approaches the playoffs. Ryan Pressly, Collin McHugh, and Brad Peacock are all on the IL, while closer Roberto Osuna has been rather homer-prone himself. It remains to be seen how healthy and effective the relievers will be to back up the all-world starting quartet of Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole, Zack Greinke, and Wade Miley.
Looking long-term, if the surgery require a long recovery period, Sanchez could even be in danger of being non-tendered by Houston in the offseason. He will be arbitration-eligible for a third and final time this winter, though he won’t carry a big price tag, after Sanchez made just under $1.271MM in 2019. With only a modest raise forthcoming, the Astros could decide to tender Sanchez a contract just to see what they can get from him next year, or perhaps work out a two-year extension to keep him into the fold for 2021 should Sanchez miss a large portion of the 2020 season.
George Springer To Miss Time With Mild Concussion
TODAY: The official diagnosis on Springer is a mild concussion, Luhnow told reporters (including MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart). The Astros hope to have Springer back in action by early next week, assuming he is medically cleared.
Sept. 4: Astros president of baseball operations Jeff Luhnow appeared on the Sean Salisbury Show on SportsTalk 790 AM today (audio link) and indicated that while things are “looking positive” following initial tests, the nature of head and neck injuries makes it difficult to draw conclusions until 24 to 48 hours have passed. It doesn’t sound like there’ll be any definitive status update on Springer’s condition until the hours leading up to tomorrow’s game.
Sept. 3: Astros center fielder George Springer was carted of the field in tonight’s game following a collision with the center-field wall, and manager A.J. Hinch said after tonight’s game that Springer is being evaluated for a head injury and will travel back to Houston with the club tonight (Twitter link, with video, via MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart). For the time being, the Astros are listing Springer as day-to-day, but he’s still slated to undergo a series of additional tests.
Springer made an outstanding grab of a deep drive to center field off the bat of Ryan Braun, but fell to the ground hard and appeared to strike his head against the base of the wall at Miller Park (video link). Hinch and several teammates were with Springer as he lay on the warning track for a few minutes until the cart arrived to help him off the field. Right fielder Josh Reddick said after the game that Springer never lost consciousness and seemed alert following the collision (video link via McTaggart).
First place in the AL West is a veritable certainty for the Astros at this point, given their 10-game lead over second-place Oakland, but a concussion or any other head injury of note for Springer would be of significant concern with postseason play set to begin in roughly a month. The 29-year-old Springer has been among the league’s most productive hitters, posting a .297/.389/.573 batting line with 30 homers, 19 doubles and three triples despite missing nearly a month with a hamstring injury earlier in the season.
Houston’s lineup went through a spell where it was without several key players due to injury, but the Astros were nearly at full strength entering play tonight. Carlos Correa remains sidelined by a back injury but hit off a tee earlier today (Twitter link via the Houston Chronicle’s Chandler Rome). He’s expected to return in the relatively near future, but Springer’s now-uncertain status gives the Houston organization and its fans another key injury situation to monitor.
AL West Notes: Angels, Laureano, Piscotty, Crawford
The relationship between Scott Boras and Angels owner Arte Moreno is a notable subplot of the Halos’ plans to upgrade their starting pitching this winter, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal writes (subscription required). There has been some level of friction between Moreno and Boras ever since the Angels came up short in their pursuit of free agent and Boras client Mark Teixeira in the 2008-09 offseason. This isn’t to say that the two sides haven’t worked together since, as current Angels such as Noe Ramirez and top prospect Jo Adell are all represented by the Boras Corporation, and the Angels have signed Boras clients like Ryan Madson and Matt Harvey to notable deals in recent years.
Still, the modest Madson/Harvey contracts are a far cry from what it would take to sign one of the several Boras clients at or near the top of the free agent pitching market — i.e. Gerrit Cole, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Dallas Keuchel, and (if he opts out of his contract) Stephen Strasburg. Even beyond the Boras clients, Rosenthal notes that Los Angeles also couldn’t come to terms with any upper-tier free agent arms the team pursued last winter, leading the Angels towards their ill-fated strategy of signing players like Harvey to one-year contracts. Beyond free agency, Rosenthal wonders if the Halos could trade for pitching by offering from a farm system that is heavy on position-player talent, if not necessarily elite talent (besides Adell) in the eyes of most prospect rankings.
More from around the AL West…
- Ramon Laureano is on track to return from the injured list during the Athletics‘ upcoming series with the Tigers, A’s manager Bob Melvin told media (including Ron Kroichick of the San Francisco Chronicle). A stress reaction in his right shin has kept Laureano out since July 28, cutting short a white-hot hitting streak that had seen the outfielder post a 1.264 OPS over his previous 93 plate appearances. For the season as a whole, Laureano has a .284/.334/.518 slash line and 21 homers in 419 PA, and he’ll reclaim his usual center field role upon his return. Laureano’s activation will help an Oakland outfield that has been further depleted by the loss of Stephen Piscotty to an ankle sprain. Piscotty hit the IL on August 25 and has yet to begin baseball activities, Melvin said, so it isn’t known when Piscotty could return to the lineup. [UPDATE: Laureano will return on Friday, Melvin told the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser and other media members]
- Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford will miss roughly two weeks due to a hamstring strain, GM Jerry Dipoto told the Seattle Times’ Ryan Divish and other media. Crawford was diagnosed with a Grade 1 strain, which is the lowest level of severity, though “some areas of the strain [are] nearing a Grade 2,” Divish writes. It isn’t out of the question that Crawford’s season could be over, as Dipoto said the M’s “won’t push” Crawford if any complications arise. Acquired as the young centerpiece of the trade that sent Jean Segura to the Phillies last winter, Crawford has a .241/.322/.397 slash line over 338 plate appearances in his first season as a Mariner.
Pablo Sandoval Undergoes Tommy John Surgery
Pablo Sandoval‘s season officially came to an end, as the Giants announced that infielder underwent both Tommy John surgery and a more minor arthroscopic procedure yesterday to remove loose bodies from his right elbow. Given the usual TJ recovery period for position players, Sandoval won’t be ready for the start of the 2020 season, though exactly how much time he’ll miss isn’t yet known.
Though Sandoval went on the injured list in mid-August and the Tommy John diagnosis has been known for a couple of weeks now, the Giants activated him on September 1 so the longtime fan favorite could get one final at-bat in front of the Oracle Park faithful. It’s quite possible this could end up as the final appearance for Sandoval in the orange-and-black, though given that his injury recovery will certainly limit his free agent options, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Sandoval re-sign with San Francisco sometime next year, once he has a clearer idea of when he’ll be back in action.
There’s certainly evidence that the 33-year-old can still be a productive player, as Sandoval is finishing up his best season in years. The Kung Fu Panda hit .268/.313/.507 with 14 homers over 296 plate appearances, good for a 109 wRC+ that marks Sandoval’s first season of above-average run production since 2014. He also capably handled spot duty at both corner infield spots, and even contributed a scoreless inning on the mound.
Injury Notes: Dyson, Cueto, Polanco, Dominguez, Morejon
The Twins are waiting to see how reliever Sam Dyson responds to some time off to deal with recurring biceps soreness. Chief baseball officer Derek Falvey discussed the matter with reporters including Phil Miller of the Star Tribune (Twitter link). It’s an effort to “get out ahead” of things, says Falvey. The Twins need their most significant trade deadline acquisition at top form with a major postseason clash beckoning. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been himself since coming over. Dyson owns a 7.15 ERA in a dozen appearances in Minnesota.
More injury updates from around the game …
- Giants right-hander Johnny Cueto, on the mend from 2018 Tommy John surgery, experienced a setback in his most recent rehab outing, tweets Kerry Crowley of the San Jose Mercury News. He’ll be reevaluated in the next few days but won’t be an option for the team as soon as originally hoped. Manager Bruce Bochy had previously put a tentative date of Sept. 8 on a return for Cueto, but that no longer appears to be a plausible timeline. Back tightness, rather than arm issues, has caused the revised timeline. While there’s still hope that Cueto will make it back to the big-league bump this season, the organization will surely avoid any unnecessary risks.
- A few Pirates outfielders won’t return to action this year, as Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports (Twitter links). Gregory Polanco will receive platelet-rich plasma injections in a bid to spur healing in his troublesome shoulder. That’ll be a key situation to monitor in the offseason for the Pittsburgh organization. Jason Martin now has his own shoulder malady to deal with: a separation suffered yesterday. He’s expected to miss the rest of the year. Infielder Kevin Kramer will come up to the active roster due in part to Martin’s absence. Though Bucs righty Mitch Keller was hit in the wrist with a batted ball yesterday, he was able to play catch today. his timeline isn’t clear, but that certainly seems like promising news.
- The Phillies got some promising news on righty reliever Seranthony Dominguez, who has at times seemed destined to miss the rest of the season. Despite a recent scare, he has shown enough progress in his elbow health to resume throwing, manager Gabe Kapler told reporters including Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philly (via tweet). It’s still not clear that Dominguez will have enough time to ramp up and return to active duty, though perhaps there’s still an outside shot.
- Padres southpaw Adrian Morejon will not make it back to the bigs in 2019, Dennis Lin of The Athletic tweets. That’s not to say that the widely hailed 20-year-old isn’t making progress. His injured shoulder is in good enough shape to allow Morejon to resume throwing. Though he struggled quite a bit in limited MLB action, Morejon has generally shown all the skills that made him a consensus top-100 leaguewide prospect. He’ll likely again factor into the San Diego plans next season, though he’ll do so without much of an innings base to work from. Morejon has not yet thrown more than 65 1/3 frames in a given campaign and fell shy of that mark this year.
Yankees Health Updates: Severino, Betances, Andujar, Urshela, Stanton
Rumor has it that the Yankees have dealt with a few bites of the injury bug this year. Here’s the latest on the health front …
- It’ll be a big day for the Yanks on Friday. Two key righties — Luis Severino and Dellin Betances — will each take the ball for the club’s Trenton affiliate. Neither has pitched in the big leagues yet this year, but both could be key late-season additions for the AL East champions-to-be. It’s still anyone’s guess what these hurlers will be able to contribute.
- Third baseman Miguel Andujar has been undergoing physical therapy since his season-ending shoulder surgery back in May and will begin participating in full baseball activities next week (Twitter link via Laura Albanese of the New York Daily News). Andujar expects to be at 100 percent come Spring Training next season. The talented 24-year-old figures to play a major role in the club’s near-future plans, though he’ll be returning to a different situation than the one he left.
- Of more immediate concern at the hot corner is Gio Urshela, who has been out with a groin injury. He’s likely to jump right back into the lineup after the ten-day minimum, skipper Aaron Boone indicated to reporters including James Wagner of the New York Times (Twitter link). The 27-year-old Urshela has outdone Andujar, slashing .331/.370/.555 with 18 long balls in 414 plate appearances.
- And then there’s long-lost slugger Giancarlo Stanton, who’s still nursing a knee injury. While the 29-year-old’s anticipated output has improbably been replaced by a rotating cast of unlikely heroes, it’d still be nice to get him back for the postseason. Stanton has finally picked up some “momentum,” per Boone (via Lindsey Adler of The Athletic, on Twitter). The outfielder/DH is slated to face live pitching at the club’s Florida facility. His timeline remains unclear, but it seems there’s finally some light at the end of the tunnel.
Phillies Release Drew Anderson
The Phillies announced today that they have released right-hander Drew Anderson after he cleared waivers. He had been designated for assignment recently.
Anderson, a 25th-round pick in 2012, has had success at times as a starter in the upper minors. But he has struggled in limited MLB action, coughing up 18 earned runs on 29 hits in 21 total frames.
It has been a rough overall campaign for Anderson, who has been sidelined since late June and was ineffective before that. Over 11 starts at the Triple-A level, he managed only a 5.77 ERA with 7.4 K/9 against 5.0 BB/9.
Dodgers Health Updates: Verdugo, Muncy, Hill, May
With the NL West sewn up, the Dodgers have two primary goals down the stretch: secure home-field advantage throughout the postseason and get to full health. Here are the latest updates from manager Dave Roberts on a few key players, as MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick was among those to cover on Twitter:
- Back soreness has halted the rehab work of outfielder Alex Verdugo. He had seemingly been nearing a return from an oblique injury. Now, per Roberts, Verdugo may head back to the club’s Arizona facility to receive further treatment. Verdugo had emerged as an important part of the Los Angeles outfield mix, even commanding time against left-handed pitching. On the year, he owns a strong .294/.342/.475 batting line with a dozen long balls. Verdugo has also graded as a plus defender and is capable of lining up anywhere in the outfield. It’s completely unclear at this point what kind of timeline to anticipate for the new malady.
- In more promising news, infielder Max Muncy is participating in baseball activities. He has already taken groundballs and will soon resume swinging. That represents fast progress for a player who recently suffered a fractured wrist. The club’s optimism regarding the severity of the injury has thus far been justified. Needless to say, the Dodgers will be focused on ensuring Muncy’s readiness for the postseason. The 29-year-old is carrying a big .253/.375/.525 batting line on the year. His left-handed bat is all the more important given Verdugo’s uncertainty.
- Southpaw Rich Hill is prepared to take the bump against live batters later this week, which could set the stage for a return as soon as next week. The plan remains for Hill to come back as a reliever. It seems the flexor tendon strain that sidelined the veteran hurler has recovered fully, though it remains to be seen what sort of form he’ll show upon his return. Hill almost certainly won’t be at full strength in the postseason, but he will have a few weeks to build up innings. He’ll surely play an interesting role in the L.A. playoff effort, with his showing also destined to impact his forthcoming free agency. The 39-year-old was outstanding (2.55 ERA in 53 innings) before going down with the injury.
- As for prized young hurler Dustin May, it seems awfully promising that he was able to throw a simulated inning today. The team still isn’t sure what will come next for the right-hander, who was drilled by a comebacker over the weekend but seems to have avoided serious injury. As in the above cases, the Dodgers will proceed with caution — all the more so given that the 21-year-old is considered a major future asset.