Cubs Place Craig Kimbrel On IL; Anticipate Month-Long Absence For Contreras
The Cubs got some unwelcome injury news today on two fronts. Closer Craig Kimbrel was placed on the 10-day IL with a knee injury, while further examination revealed that catcher Willson Contreras is expected to miss about a month of action. ESPNChicago.com’s Jesse Rogers covered the news (links to Twitter).
Righty Duane Underwood Jr. is coming up to replace Kimbrel on the active roster. The hope, clearly, is that it won’t be a lengthy absence for the recently added veteran.
All that’s really known at the moment is that Kimbrel is dealing with inflammation, though it seems he has already been cleared of major structural issues with an MRI. The veteran hurler says he’s confident he’ll be ready to return after the minimum absence.
Kimbrel has already saved nine games for the Cubbies. But the new relationship has been a bit rocky. In 12 2/3 innings, Kimbrel has already coughed up four home runs. He has exhibited a clear loss of velocity and sports a 17:8 K/BB ratio (a 15.0% K%-BB% is less than half his career average), though he’s still managing a strong 16.5% swinging-strike rate that’s right at his career mean.
Hopefully, the Chicago org will welcome back an even better version of Kimbrel once he has taken a brief respite and sorted out his knee. The team is facing a rather more worrying situation with its top backstop.
Contreras suggested that he expects at least four weeks on the shelf, as Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Tribune reports (Twitter links). He indicated that he’ll be taking a cautious recovery path — no doubt a good idea given the timing. While there’s every reason to believe Contreras will be fully healed in time for the stretch run and postseason, it’d only take one setback to put that at risk.
It stands to reason that the Cubs will be on the hunt for another receiver — a search that’ll be complicated by the new August acquisition rules. The club had Martin Maldonado briefly, but shipped him on to the Astros before the trade deadline. At present, Victor Caratini and Taylor Davis are holding down the fort.
Brewers To Place Zack Davies On IL, Promote Jake Faria
The Brewers will place righty Zach Davies on the 10-day injured list, per Robert Murray of The Athletic (Twitter links). His precise injury situation isn’t yet clear, but it seems he’s dealing with some sort of back ailment.
Also heading off of the active roster is right-hander Aaron Wilkerson, who was optioned to Triple-A. Joining the big-league club are recently acquired Jake Faria and fellow righty Devin Williams, with MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy (via Twitter) reporting the latter’s promotion. Williams will need to be added to the 40-man roster.
Losing Davies is tough news for a Milwaukee club that’s as far out of first place as it has been all year (four games) after a four-game skid. While Davies has had a few rough outings of late, he has paced the team in starts made (23) and innings (122 2/3) while working to a solid 3.74 ERA with 5.7 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9.
ERA estimators have been predicting regression for Davies for some kind. But the Brewers had every reason to keep running him out there and hoping he could continue to generate results, at least until his velo began to droop of late.
It still isn’t known how the club will account for the open rotation spot. Faria has spent time in a starting capacity this year but has been working of late as a reliever. Williams has functioned exclusively in the pen this season. It’s possible recently acquired southpaw Drew Pomeranz could work as a starter (or, at least, in some kind of multi-inning capacity).
Rays Place Yonny Chirinos On 10-Day IL
The Rays announced today that righty Yonny Chirinos is headed to the 10-day injured list with an inflamed middle finger in his pitching hand (via MLB.com’s Juan Toribio, on Twitter). Fellow right-hander Austin Pruitt is coming up to take the open roster spot.
Details of the injury aren’t fully clear, but it seems the Tampa Bay org is anticipating a reasonably lengthy absence. Chirinos will be shut down for at least two weeks’ time, with skipper Kevin Cash announcing that Chirinos is expected to be sidelined for more than a month, as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports (Twitter links).
After a strong debut showing in 2018, the 25-year-old Chirinos has thrown 126 2/3 innings of 3.62 ERA ball this year. He’s average 7.8 K/9 and 2.0 BB/9 with a 43.8% groundball rate. Those peripherals don’t exactly leap off the page, and Statcast numbers indicate the results may be on the fortunate side (.286 wOBA-against vs. .318 xwOBA-against). Still, Chirinos has impressed.
Chirinos has been an increasingly important part of a Rays staff that has lost two key starters to injury. There’s still no update on Tyler Glasnow; last we heard, there was increasing concern he might not make it back this year. As for Blake Snell, he told reporters (including Topkin) that his bone-chip removal procedure went well. His precise timeline won’t begin to gain clarity until the inflammation in his elbow subsides.
Reds Place Derek Dietrich On IL, Select Brian O’Grady, Designate Blake Trahan
The Reds announced a series of moves today, driven by ongoing shoulder inflammation for infielder Derek Dietrich. He’ll head to the 10-day injured list.
To fill the opening, the Cincinnati organization selected the contract of first baseman/outfielder Brian O’Grady. That necessitated a 40-man opening, which was created by designating infielder Blake Trahan for assignment.
It isn’t known how long the Redlegs expect to go without Dietrich, who has been in a cold spell for some time now. He remains a key piece for the team, particularly after Scooter Gennett was sent packing at the deadline.
In Dietrich’s steady, O’Grady will receive his first shot at the majors. The 27-year-old has appeared in exactly 100 games this year at Triple-A, slashing .277/.351/.562 and popping 27 long balls. That’s a big power outbreak for the former eighth-round draft pick, even after accounting for the wild offensive environment in the International League.
As for the 25-year-old Trahan, who received a cup of coffee last year, the bat just hasn’t come around. He’s carrying an ugly .230/.280/.324 line in 323 plate appearances at the highest level of the minors. The 2015 third-rounder has failed to produce at a league-average rate in the upper minors in prior seasons.
Marlins Make Flurry Of Roster Moves
The Marlins announced Monday that they’ve officially promoted top prospect Isan Diaz for his MLB debut (as had been previously reported), recalled Lewis Brinson from Triple-A New Orleans and selected the contract of right-hander Robert Dugger. Miami also placed infielder Neil Walker (sprained index finger) and outfielder Cesar Puello (left hip flexor strain) on the 10-day injured list, activated righty Ryne Stanek for his team debut and optioned right-hander Kyle Keller to New Orleans.
In Diaz, the Marlins will get their first look at one of the key pieces in the Christian Yelich blockbuster. Diaz currently ranks between 86th and 90th on the midseason top prospect rankings of MLB.com (86), Fangraphs (89) and Baseball America (90). He’s clobbered Triple-A pitching at a .305/.395/.578 clip, belting 26 homers, 21 doubles and two triples along the way. Originally drafted as a shortstop, he profiles better at second base from a defensive standpoint, and the Marlins hope he can be a long-term piece in the infield. Scouting reports generally suggest that his plus raw power and solid plate discipline give him a reasonable chance of being an offensive-minded everyday second baseman.
Brinson, of course, was the headliner in that Yelich swap but has yet to cement himself as a regular in the Miami outfield in parts of two seasons with the club. Since his most recent demotion to Triple-A, though, Brinson has turned in a .270/.361/.510 batting line with 16 home runs and 16 steals. That only translates to nine percent better than the league average in the ridiculous Pacific Coat League hitting environment (109 wRC+), but Brinson’s solid productivity has earned him another look. Strikeouts continue to be an issue (100 in 339 Triple-A plate appearances), but he’s demonstrated the speed and power that have long made him such an intriguing prospect.
Dugger, meanwhile, came to the Marlins in the trade that sent Dee Gordon to the Mariners. He began the season with 70 2/3 innings of 3.31 ERA ball with 9.3 K/9, 2.7 BB/9, 0.76 HR/9 and a 45.6 percent ground-ball rate in Double-A. Like so many pitchers, Dugger has been blown up in Triple-A, with a 9.34 ERA and seven home runs allowed in 35 2/3 innings since a midseason promotion. (Generally speaking, onlookers should take Triple-A stats with more of a grain of salt than ever before, given the bloated offensive numbers throughout the league.) That’s not to say that Dugger is a premium prospect, however. He ranks near the back of Miami’s top 30 prospects (24 at MLB.com, 27 at Fangraphs) and is most optimistically viewed as a back-of-the-rotation starter, though scouting reports on him also point to a possible future in relief.
It’ll also be interesting to see how Miami ultimately opts to utilize Stanek, whom they acquired alongside prospect Jesus Sanchez in a trade sending righties Nick Anderson and Trevor Richards to the Rays last week. Stanek has been the Rays’ most prolific opener since the team adopted that tactic last season and generally enjoyed favorable results. In 122 innings from 2018-19, Stanek has recorded a 3.17 ERA with 10.5 K/9, 3.5 BB/9 and 1.1 HR/9.
Stanek has pitched in late-inning situations in addition to his work as an opener, and the general fluidity of the Miami bullpen situation could serve as an avenue for Stanek to receive some save opportunities. The Marlins traded closer Sergio Romo to the Twins, and Anderson (traded for Stanek) was the presumptive heir apparent in the ninth inning. Drew Steckenrider has experience in the role but has been injured much of the season. Stanek, meanwhile, boasts a fastball that averages better than 97 mph and can reach triple-digit velocity readings, so he certainly has prototypical closer’s stuff if Miami chooses to try him at the end of games rather than the beginning.
Giants Claim Ryan Dull
Athletics right-hander Ryan Dull was claimed off outright waivers by the Giants on Monday, the teams announced. Dull has been optioned to Triple-A Sacramento for the time being. San Francisco’s 40-man roster is now full.
Dull, 29, was designated for assignment over the weekend when the A’s claimed Dustin Garneau from the Angels. He’s been up and down with Oakland over the past five seasons, pitching to a collective 4.08 ERA with 8.7 K/9 against 2.6 BB/9 in 167 2/3 innings of work. Dull’s best year came with the 2016 A’s, when he logged 74 1/3 frames of 2.42 ERA ball, but he’s been hampered by knee and shoulder injuries since that time. In a total of 76 1/3 big league innings dating back to 2017, Dull owns a lackluster 5.66 ERA with a 74-to-27 K/BB ratio.
Following the trades of Mark Melancon, Sam Dyson, Drew Pomeranz and Ray Black, the Giants’ bullpen depth had been fairly depleted. Dull will give them an immediate 40-man option, should a need arise, and he’ll join fellow newcomer Carlos Torres (who signed a minor league deal earlier today) as some replenished depth in the minor league ranks.
Reds Claim Kevin Gausman
1:00pm: The teams have announced the move. Atlanta also announced that Mike Foltynewicz is up from Triple-A Gwinnett, so he’ll take Gausman’s spot in the rotation.
12:25pm: The Reds have claimed right-hander Kevin Gausman off outright waivers from the Braves, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN.com (via Twitter). That’s not to be mistaken with the now-defunct revocable August trade waivers, to be clear. The claim means that Gausman is now a member of the Reds, who by claiming him are agreeing to take on the remainder of the right-hander’s $9.35MM salary — a sum of about $2.815MM between now and season’s end.
Cincinnati is obviously banking on a return to form following a change of scenery, as Gausman is mired in the worst season of his big league career. The former No. 4 overall draft pick (Orioles, 2012) joined Atlanta last season in a deadline trade that saw Atlanta take on the remainder of Darren O’Day‘s salary while also shipping out international bonus allotments and minor leaguers Brett Cumberland, JC Encarnacion, Bruce Zimmermann and Evan Phillips.
Gausman performed admirably down the stretch in 2018 and was a big part of the Braves’ rotation (2.87 ERA in 59 2/3 innings), but he’s been among the league’s least effective pitchers in 2019. Through 80 innings, he’s pitched to a 6.19 earned run average with 9.6 K/9, 3.0 BB/9, 1.35 HR/9 and a career-low 37 percent ground-ball rate.
There’s little denying that Gausman has had his share of poor fortune in 2019. His .345 average on balls in play is well north of both his career mark (.313) and the league average (.299), and his 59.3 percent strand rate appears fluky and due for some positive regression toward his lifetime mark of 74.1 percent. Fielding-independent metrics peg him as a candidate for considerable improvement (4.20 FIP, 4.40 SIERA, 4.47 xFIP).
Gausman’s average fastball velocity (93.8 mph) is down from its 95 mph peak, however, and he’s allowing line drives at a career-worst 24.7 percent clip. Opposing hitters are barreling up Gausman’s offerings at a higher rate than ever before, per Statcast, and the increased number of hard-hit balls in the air has come back to bite him.
The Reds don’t appear to have an immediate need for starting pitching, with Luis Castillo, Trevor Bauer, Sonny Gray, Anthony DeSclafani and Alex Wood all in the rotation at the moment. It’s possible that Cincinnati could utilize Gausman out of the bullpen or deploy a six-man rotation to keep their arms fresh down the stretch.
The move could very well have been made with an eye toward 2020 as well — as was the case with their acquisition of Bauer. Gausman is controllable via arbitration for the third and final time this winter, although at present he looks like a potential non-tender candidate. Still, perhaps a strong showing to the season will convince the Cincinnati front office that Gausman is deserving of the $10MM+ salary he’d command in arbitration this offseason. If he is able to return to form, Gausman would slot in fourth behind the formidable trio of Bauer, Castillo and Gray.
Giants, Carlos Torres Agree To Minor League Deal
The Giants have agreed to a minor league contract with right-hander Carlos Torres, MLBTR has learned (Twitter link). He’ll head to Triple-A Sacramento for the time being and will also have an opt-out date toward the end of the month.
Torres, 36, allowed five runs in six innings with the Tigers earlier this season but has had a solid season in Triple-A across three different organizations. He spent the month of July in the Twins organization and was selected to the MLB roster late last month, but he was designated for assignment before appearing in a game. Torres rejected an outright assignment with Minnesota and headed back to the open market.
In 48 1/3 frames in Triple-A this year, he’s pitched to a combined 2.79 ERA with 7.8 K/9 against 3.4 BB/9 between the Tigers, Twins and Padres organizations. Beyond that, Torres has a rather lengthy track record of solid work at the MLB level. While he only tossed 9 2/3 innings with the Nationals last season, Torres turned in a combined 3.52 ERA in just under 400 innings between the Mets and Brewers from 2013-17. His career strikeout and walk rates in the Majors are similar to the ones he’s posted in Triple-A this season, and Torres has typically generated grounders at an average or better rate (excluding the first two seasons of his career back in 2009-10).
The Giants plan to stretch Torres out a bit in Sacramento, perhaps with an eye toward giving them a multi-inning option at some point over the season’s final few weeks. Following the trades of Sam Dyson, Mark Melancon, Drew Pomeranz and Ray Black prior to last week’s deadline, there’s a bit of room on the San Francisco pitching staff should Torres acquit himself well in his fourth organization of the season.
AL West Notes: Mazara, Mariners, K. Calhoun
Nomar Mazara has gone from an expected foundational piece with the Rangers to a platoon outfielder whose future is somewhat up in the air, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News writes. Texas is committed to getting lengthy looks at Willie Calhoun and Scott Heineman in the outfield, and when Joey Gallo returns from the IL, he’ll reenter the outfield mix as well. Mazara, meanwhile, has the worst OBP against left-handed pitching of any qualified hitter in the AL and ranks near the bottom in terms of average and slugging as well. He’s nearing the conclusion of his fourth full year in the big leagues, and while he’ll likely put together his fourth 20-homer season — he’s at 15 presently — he’s never produced even a league-average offensive season based on OPS+ or wRC+. He’ll be arbitration-eligible for the second time this winter and earn a raise on this year’s $3.3MM salary. Texas has some in-house alternatives and the ability to spend in free agency, and Mazara drew some interest prior to the July 31 trade deadline. It’d be painful to sell low on the former top prospect, but it’s clear that his stock has dropped considerably.
Some more news and notes from the AL West…
- Asked during a conference call about the Mariners‘ plans in free agency this winter (link via Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times), general manager Jerry Dipoto replied: “We don’t expect to go into the offseason scouring the free-agent market at the top of the food chain.” That shouldn’t be a particularly surprising stance for anyone to see, as the Seattle club has made it abundantly clear that its rebuild will be a multiyear process. With Felix Hernandez‘s contract coming off the books and just over $86MM committed to next season’s payroll at present, the Mariners will have plenty of money to spend, but those funds seem likelier to be allocated to stopgaps, potential summer trade chips and/or mid-range free agents than to any top-tier talent. As Divish points out, Seattle would have overpay (substantially, most likely) in order to sway any free agent to join a club that just lost 90-plus games and is publicly rebuilding.
- The Mariners will consider moving to a six-man rotation in the near future, MLB.com’s Greg Johns writes. Well-regarded pitching prospects Justus Sheffield and Justin Dunn, acquired in the offseason deals for James Paxton and Edwin Diaz, respectively, will likely join the club by September. Felix Hernandez, too, could return in September. Such an arrangement could help Seattle in monitoring the workload of rookie Yusei Kikuchi and also preventing Marco Gonzales from a radical increase in his innings count from 2018. Sheffield was given a reprieve from the comically hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League recently and has dominated Double-A opposition with a 1.64 ERA and 65-to-14 K/BB ratio in 60 1/3 innings of work. Dunn has also spent the year in Double-A, compiling 100 1/3 innings of 3.59 ERA ball with 10.7 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9.
- Angels right fielder Kole Calhoun knows that with Jo Adell looming, the team has an affordable alternative to his $14MM club option, but he tells Mik DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times that he’s focused more on his current play than his contractual status. “I’m worried about playing now, and what happens will happen,” said Calhoun. “[Adell] is definitely a great player. He’s a young guy, and we’ll see how he continues to develop, but the talent is there. He’s going to be a big league player for a long time.” Calhoun has been the Angels’ primary right fielder since 2014 and, with the exception of a down season in 2018, has been a generally underrated player. Still, it’s questionable whether the Angels or another club would value him at a net $13MM — the option has a $1MM buyout — in advance of his age-32 season. Free agents entering their mid-30s haven’t fared well in recent years, and corner bats in particular have struggled on the open market. Calhoun’s case is surely helped by the fact that a good bit of his value is tied to his glove and a 10.2 percent walk rate across the past four seasons.
Orioles Outright Nate Karns
Right-hander Nate Karns cleared waivers after being designated for assignment by the Orioles and was sent outright to Triple-A Norfolk, per the International League’s transaction log. Karns does have enough service time to reject the assignment in favor of free agency, but doing so would mean surrendering the remainder of this season’s $800K salary, so he’ll likely remain with the organization.
Karns, 31, was the Orioles’ only Major League signing of the 2018-19 offseason, but he hasn’t been healthy enough to factor into the team’s plans in the Majors. A forearm strain landed Karns on the injured list in early April and has proved difficult to move past. He’s tallied just 5 1/3 innings in the Majors this season, with another 10 1/3 innings pitched on a minor league rehab assignment. Karns didn’t allow a run in his tiny stretch of MLB work, but he’s yielded 10 runs on 10 hit and 10 walks with five strikeouts during his rehab efforts.
Back in 2015, Karns tossed 147 innings of 3.67 ERA ball for the Rays and looked to be an interesting, controllable piece of their staff. He was traded to the Mariners in the Logan Morrison deal, however, and then flipped to the Royals for Jarrod Dyson after struggling in his lone Seattle season. Karns pitched 45 1/3 innings with Kansas City before undergoing thoracic outlet surgery and missing the entire 2018 season. At this point, he’s spent time on the 60-day IL in each of the past four big league seasons.