Reds Activate Tyler Mahle, Place Jesse Winker On IL
The Reds have activated right-hander Tyler Mahle from the injured list and sent outfielder Jesse Winker to the IL (retroactive to Monday) with a cervical strain, the team announced. Mahle will head to Triple-A Louisville.
Mahle missed just over a month with a hamstring injury. Prior to that, the 24-year-old gave the Reds 102 1/3 innings and 19 starts of 4.93 ERA/4.31 FIP ball. Those numbers don’t look impressive, though Mahle also recorded 9.32 K/9 against 2.29 BB/9 and posted a solid 45.6 percent groundball rate at the same time. He’ll hope that production, not to mention whatever he does the rest of the season (if he returns to the Reds), will help him earn a place in the club’s rotation next year. The group figures to welcome back Luis Castillo, Sonny Gray, Trevor Bauer and Anthony DeSclafani then, while Kevin Gausman could join Mahle in pushing for the last spot.
Winker, meanwhile, represents another of Cincinnati’s promising young players. In his most extensive big league action to date, the 26-year-old has slashed .269/.357/.473 (113 wRC+) with 16 home runs, 38 unintentional walks and 60 strikeouts over 384 plate appearances this season. The lefty-swinging Winker hasn’t been a legitimate option this year versus southpaws, though, as he has hit just .163/.280/.163 against them in 50 PA.
Angels Outright Adalberto Mejia
The Angels announced that they’ve outrighted left-hander Adalberto Mejia to Triple-A Salt Lake after he cleared waivers. Mejia hasn’t been outrighted in the past, nor does he have the service time to reject an assignment in favor of free agency, so he’ll stay in the organization.
This has been a wild season for Mejia, a member of the Twins, Angels (twice) and Cardinals in 2019. The Angels designated the former top 100 prospect for assignment Wednesday after his major league struggles continued in his second go-around in their uniform. The 26-year-old has thrown 7 1/3 innings of six-run (five earned) ball in a Halos uniform this season.
Since he debuted in the majors in 2016, Mejia has pitched to a 4.79 ERA/4.64 FIP across 148 1/3 innings (51 appearances, 25 starts). Mejia has logged 7.58 K/9, 4.31 BB/9 and a 36.3 percent groundball rate in that span.
Angels Shut Down Griffin Canning For Remainder Of Season
The Angels announced today that they have shut down rookie right-hander Griffin Canning. He’s said to be dealing with mild inflammation in his right elbow.
That general diagnosis was already known. Canning was placed on the injured list yesterday. What wasn’t clear then is the newly announced course of action, which is obviously intended to avoid any further problems down the stretch.
The team did not expressly specify in its announcement whether there is any concern regarding underlying structural issues. But some reporters, including Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register (Twitter link), have suggested that’s the appropriate interpretation of the comment. If so, that’s rather promising news for an important organizational asset.
Regardless, it’s a disappointing and all-too-familiar way for the season to end for a Halos hurler. The club has endured a seemingly endless array of injuries to starters in recent seasons.
Canning won’t wrap things up as hoped, but he still turned in an impressive initial showing. After three outstanding starts at Triple-A, he worked to a 4.58 ERA with 9.6 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 in 90 1/3 MLB innings. Canning proved he can induce whiffs in the majors, sporting a 13.8% swinging-strike rate, and seems likely to be a quality and cost-controlled big league starter for years to come — so long as he can stay healthy.
Brandon Lowe Out For Remainder Of Season
The Rays were hit with rough news today, as manager Kevin Cash informed reporters that infielder Brandon Lowe will not be able to return this season. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times covered the news on Twitter.
Out since early July with a shin injury, Lowe had been tracking towards a return on a rehab assignment. Unfortunately, he suffered a strained quadriceps. It seems the new malady is severe enough to preclude a late-season rebound.
Lowe will join fellow infielder Yandy Diaz on the shelf for the rest of the 2019 campaign. The two had been among the club’s best offensive performers before going down. While the Tampa Bay organization has quite a few alternatives on hand, it’s obviously disappointing to see two bright young players taken out of commission instead of contributing to what promises to be a thrilling final five weeks of action.
MLB Will Not Allow Players To Participate In Venezuelan Winter Ball
Major League Baseball has decided to preclude affiliated players — both major and minor-leaguers — from participating in the Venezuelan Winter League, according to Jared Diamond and Kejal Vyas of the Wall Street Journal. The move was made in an effort to comply with the economic sanctions imposed by the United States earlier this year.
It isn’t immediately clear whether there’s still some hope of a change in the situation before the winter league launches in October. There have been some recent developments in the political situation that could have an impact, though there’s no indication that the relevant sanctions — those that largely bar U.S. individuals and businesses from economic interaction with Venezuela — are going to be lifted any time soon.
Per the report, the league is engaging with the U.S. government in a bid to understand just what it can and cannot do to comply with the sanctions. Notably, there will be no bar to Venezuelan players who wish to travel back to their home country. But it seems they and others (including, presumably, many players who are not United States citizens) will not be able to participate in game action.
MLB players participate in winter leagues in Venezuela and other locations through agreements involving the leagues, MLB, and the MLB Players Association. Just how the situation will proceed remains to be seen. The ongoing humanitarian crisis and political turmoil in Venezuela has obviously weighed heavily on players hailing from that nation. The situation has also presented difficulties for teams operating there, as Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic explored earlier this year (subscription link), impeding scouting and player development functions.
Mets Designate Ruben Tejada
The Mets announced today that they have designated infielder Ruben Tejada for assignment. He’ll make way for righty Chris Flexen, who was recalled.
Tejada’s latest stint with the New York org has to this point been a feel-good reunion story. But the 29-year-old has only been given nine plate appearances over his brief time in the big leagues and hasn’t yet reached base.
It’s possible Tejada will remain with the Mets, but that won’t be up to the team. Every other team in baseball will have a shot at claiming him. If he clears waivers, Tejada will have the right to elect free agency.
Despite a scant recent track record in the majors — he was last a notable contributor in 2015 — Tejada has shown a bit of a spark this year in the upper minors. Over 304 Triple-A plate appearances leading up to his promotion, he slashed a hefty .330/.408/.476 with six long balls.
Braves Reportedly Expected To Sign Francisco Cervelli
Just-released Pirates backstop Francisco Cervelli evidently won’t spend much time on the open market. He is slated to ink a deal with the Braves, according to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (via Twitter). Whether it’s of the major or minor-league variety isn’t known.
Cervelli still must clear release waivers before he’ll be able to sign a new deal. But that’s really just a formality, given that he’s still owed the balance of his $11.5MM salary — about $2.4MM. The Braves will only owe him the league minimum rate for any time spent on the MLB roster, with the Bucs paying the rest.
While it seemed at one point earlier this year that Cervelli would not attempt to return to catching duties, he emphatically quashed that concept and has donned the mask on a rehab assignment. Now, he’ll help the Braves cover for the recent loss of Brian McCann. Whether Cervelli will immediately join Tyler Flowers on the MLB roster isn’t known. It’s also possible that the club will tap John Ryan Murphy for that job and then bring up Cervelli once rosters expand.
Cervelli has hit well on his recent rehab stint, but that’s a limited sample against minor-league pitching. He was far from his peak form to begin the season, turning in 123 plate appearances of .193/.279/.248 hitting before he hit the injured list. With a rising chase rate and swinging-strike rate, declining average exit velocity, and worsening strikeout-to-walk numbers (25.2% K vs. 7.3% BB), the poor output was well-deserved.
The Braves will have to hope there’s more left in the tank. Cervelli has been a solid-two-way catcher for quite some time. Just last year, he was able to turn in a healthy .259/.378/.431 slash line with a dozen home runs. Regardless of the outlook with the bat in hand, the Atlanta organization is obviously interested in adding some veteran depth behind the dish. Better options aren’t likely to present themselves over the next week — after which time it will not be possible to acquire a postseason-eligible player. By picking up Cervelli, the club will add another layer of protection in the event that McCann is slow to return.
Pirates Release Francisco Cervelli
The Pirates announced today that they have released catcher Francisco Cervelli. The 33-year-old had been attempting to work his way back from a concussion.
Today’s move represents a disappointing end to to Cervelli’s generally excellent tenure in Pittsburgh. He has been with the organization since 2015, blossoming from a former Yankees reserve into a high-quality full-time backstop.
GM Neal Huntington issued a statement on the matter, as MLB.com’s Adam Berry covers on Twitter. The club’s top baseball operations decisionmaker explained:
“Out of respect and appreciation for Francisco, we have chosen to honor his request to be released in order for him to pursue an opportunity that potentially gives him a chance at more playing time, as well as an opportunity this season to compete in the postseason.”
Cervelli is owed $11.5MM this season — far too much to make him an appealing waiver-claim target. Instead, the Bucs will continue to pay the remainder, less a pro-rated portion of the league minimum for whatever portion of the season he spends on another MLB roster.
That deal didn’t always seem like dead weight. At the time the three-year, $31MM extension was signed — thus keeping Cervelli from testing free agency before the 2017 season — it looked to be an excellent value for the club. Cervelli ended up missing much more time due to injury than anticipated, but was still able to turn in 404 plate appearances of .259/.378/.431 hitting last year. Over his five total seasons in Pittsburgh, he carried a 100 OPS+ — making him a precisely league average hitter, which is a nice rate of production for a well-regarded defensive catcher.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
D’Backs Notes: Ray, Lamb, Ahmed
The latest from Arizona…
- Robbie Ray threw a bullpen session on Tuesday and is on track to be activated off the injured list when first eligible on Sunday. (Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic was among those to report the news.) A lower back spasm sent Ray to the IL on August 15, and while the southpaw’s back has been something of a recurring issue lately, Ray feels the 10-day minimum absence was a long enough break to correct the problem. Ray is scheduled to start the Diamondbacks’ game against the Brewers on Sunday, and he’ll be a welcome addition to an Arizona team that is battling to stay in the wild card race.
- It has been a trying couple of years for Jake Lamb, who played only 56 games in 2018 due to shoulder surgery, and has been limited to just 50 games this season after a quad strain kept him on the IL for almost the entire first half. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Lamb has yet to get into a rhythm, hitting .211/.346/.391 with five homers over 156 PA. Despite these struggles, Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen told the Athletic’s Zach Buchanan (subscription required) that he expects Lamb to get on track, and reacted with surprise when asked if Lamb could potentially be a non-tender candidate. “Wow, I wouldn’t anticipate that being a consideration for him,” Hazen said. Lamb is making $4.825MM this season, so a projected raise won’t be too large for Lamb’s final year of arbitration eligibility. There’s not much financial risk for the D’Backs in retaining Lamb to see if he can regain the form that saw him hit 59 homers in 2016-17, and make the NL’s All-Star roster in 2017.
- Nick Ahmed is slated to hit free agency after the 2020 season, though Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic suggests that the shortstop is the team’s best extension candidate, and that the D’Backs should look to keep Ahmed in the fold. Long regarded as one of baseball’s best defenders, Ahmed has taken a significant step forward at the plate this season, hitting .271/.333/.465 with 17 homers over 497 plate appearances. While this only grades out as roughly league-average production (101 wRC+, 103 OPS+), Ahmed had only a .229/.279/.368 slash line in 1584 PA prior to 2019, with a 67 wRC+ and 69 OPS+. Given that Ahmed’s offensive numbers are still modest, it could pave the way for an extension at a reasonable price for the team, and Ahmed might prefer some contractual security rather than test the market heading into his age-31 season. Ahmed is earning $3,662,500 this season and is set for a healthy raise on that figure in his final trip through the arbitration process this offseason.
Angels Place Griffin Canning On IL With Elbow Inflammation
TODAY: The Angels announced that left-hander Jose Suarez will be recalled from Triple-A to start Friday’s game against the Astros.
YESTERDAY: The Angels have placed right-handed pitcher Griffin Canning on the 10-day injured list with right elbow inflammation, according to Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. It’s the same issue that landed the 23-year-old rookie on the injured list in early August.
As Maria Torres of the Los Angeles Times notes, manager Brad Ausmus was unable to say whether the latest injury would mark the end of Canning’s season. The Angels skipper went on to characterize the injury as only “mild inflammation,” telling reporters (including Fletcher) that there are “no concerns that it’s anything more than inflammation.”
Amid a frustrating season for the Angels, Canning has been one of the few bright spots, especially in a pitching staff that has endured more than its fair share of injuries. Despite debuting at the end of April, Canning leads the team in games started, pitching 90 1/3 innings in the Majors. He’s worked to 4.58 ERA while striking out 96 batters—while his numbers aren’t stellar, Canning offers considerable value to a team, and at just 23, there’s certainly room for more here.
Per Torres, Canning will undergo an MRI after returning to Los Angeles. Indeed, it may be wise for the Angels to exercise caution with their promising youngster. With their playoff hopes all but erased, there’s a case to be made that Canning should be shut down in hopes of preventing any further injury to his throwing elbow. Ausmus and general manager Billy Eppler have been careful to manage Canning’s workload in his debut season: he’s approaching the 113 1/3 inning mark he totaled last season.