Pitcher Notes: Ohtani, Urena, Cole
Shohei Ohtani threw what Los Angeles Times reporter Maria Torres described as a “high-intensity bullpen session” on Saturday, and one spectator, Angels manager Brad Ausmus, walked away impressed. “He looked easy and free,” Ausmus said. “He threw about 40 pitches, I think. He was good. No complaints, so that’s good.” Ohtani relayed through an interpreter that he was throwing up to 82 mph during the pre-game workout, which, in his estimation, places him at about the “80%” point in his recovery process from Tommy John surgery. Of course, the Japanese import is known for ratcheting fastballs well in excess of 80 mph, so the Los Angeles org will likely have to wait until 2020 to see their prized two-way talent back on a big league mound.
More pitcher-focused frottages from around the web…
- There are few sports-related injuries that are conceivably more painful than a herniated disc, but, after two months spent recovering from such an injury, Marlins starter Jose Urena is soldiering onward in his recovery, according to a report from Wells Dusenbury of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Urena, a veteran of five big league seasons, threw a bullpen session yesterday that manager Don Mattingly described as “really good”. According to the skipper, the team expects their homegrown hurler to return to the team in September, possibly in a bullpen capacity.
- According to a tweet from Mandy Bell of MLB.com, the Indians have placed pitcher AJ Cole on the 10-day injured list, with a recall of pitcher Hunter Wood as a consequent move (link). Cole, a 27-year-old righthander, has been generally effective out of the Cleveland pen this year. His 10.38 K/9 rate over 26 innings has helped catalyze a solid 3.81 ERA rate, although his strikeout-geared repertoire could go a long way toward explaining the shoulder impingement that has now landed him in injury trouble. On the year, Cole has thrown a slider on 45.9% of his offerings, far, far above the usual 15% usage rate generally seen among pitchers utilizing that breaking ball in their repertoire.
Closer Updates: Jansen, Giles, Kimbrel
Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen has received the dreaded “vote of confidence” from skipper Dave Roberts, as detailed in a report from the Orange County Register’s Bill Plunkett. Following a blown save in Friday’s game against Arizona, Jansen has five blown saves in 2019–matching his combined total from 2017 and 2018. Despite the big righty’s career-high 3.83 ERA entering play Saturday, Roberts seemed generally nonplussed at the prospect of a Jansen demotion. “Do I have any concerns? No,” Roberts told Plunkett. “He’s a guy that I know for us to win 11 games in October, we need him. I know he’ll get there.”
As Plunkett points out, Jansen has responded to his 2019 struggles by altering his repertoire. Typically a flamethrower with a 90% usage rate on his cutter, Jansen has implemented a slider at an 11.3% clip in 2019–his highest rate on that offering since 2016. “Certainly throughout the early part of his career, he just overpowered the league and there was some unfamiliarity there. Now you’ve got to continue to evolve,” Roberts said.
More developments from the world of late-inning lynchpins…
- Blue Jays hurler Ken Giles has been dealing with a balky elbow for several weeks and could end up on the injured list in the coming days. Manager Charlie Montoyo told Scott Mitchell of TSN that Giles’ arm isn’t “bouncing back” after a July cortisone shot that was intended to quell inflammation surrounding the elbow, and admitted that the team is having a “conversation” about what to do next in regard to Giles. At 49-71, the Blue Jays don’t figure to close many relevant ballgames down the season’s homestretch, but it stands to reason that Giles’ lingering injury would be of concern to a Blue Jays front office that opted not to deal the talented closer at July’s trade deadline. Across 37 innings, Giles has logged identically fantastic ERA and FIP marks of 1.95.
- Cubs closer Craig Kimbrel hit the injured list five days ago with knee inflammation, but he could rejoin the team for this week’s upcoming series with the Phillies, per Gordon Wittenmeyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. Kimbrel is expected to “test” his knee with a bullpen session in Philadelphia, although it is unlikely that he will be activated when first eligible on Wednesday. After Steve Cishek‘s IL placement this afternoon, Cubs fans will certainly be clamoring for Kimbrel’s recovery.
Cishek To Injured List With Hip Issue
Hip inflammation will send Cubs reliever Steve Cishek to the injured list, according to a report from MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian. Bastian’s report characterizes Cishek’s ailment as “minor”, but one that has nonetheless been a hindrance to the righty in his last several appearances.
Cishek, a veteran of 556 MLB games, has been a solid member of the Chicago relief corps since signing a two-year/$13MM accord with the club in December of 2017. In 54 appearances in 2019, the Massachusetts native has recorded a 3.58 ERA, despite underlying metrics that indicate that he has been the beneficiary of some good luck to this point.
So far in 2019, the Chicago bullpen has seen more movement than O’Hare International–following this injured list placement, Pedro Strop and Tyler Chatwood are the only active relievers left from the Cubs’ Opening Day lineup. It doesn’t appear, however, that Cishek will be sidelined for a long period, and the club may soon welcome back Craig Kimbrel in time for its upcoming series against the Phillies.
Angels Release Jose Briceno
According to a morning announcement from the PR Department of the Angels, 26-year-old catcher Jose Briceno has been released from the organization following his waiver clearance. After a 46-game big league debut with the Anaheim-based club in 2018, Briceno had been stationed with the Salt Lake Bees of the Pacific Coast League for the entirety of 2019. This move comes in conjunction with the reinstatement of Andrew Heaney from the injured list, and the send-down of pitcher Jaime Barria.
Given the constant demand for passable catching options at the game’s highest level, it would not be a shock to see Briceno latch on with a big league club looking for battery depth–that is, of course, if only Briceno can prove he’s healthy. As it is, the Venezuelan-born catcher has been sidelined for the majority of the Triple-A season with shoulder issues, following a 2018 campaign in which he logged a respectable 91 wRC+ as a member of the Angels.
Mariners Reinstate Dee Gordon, Option Court
Infielder Dee Gordon is back in the lineup for Seattle this evening, following the team’s announcement of his activation from the 10-day injured list. In a corresponding move, utilityman Ryan Court has been optioned to Triple-A Tacoma.
It’s been a season to forget for GM Jerry Dipoto‘s “reimagined” Seattle crew, with the northwestern outfit limping to a 48-69 record entering play Saturday. As such, it’s difficult to see the Mariners having much to gain from the reinstallation of the 31-year-old Gordon, who, in this phase of his career, offers little aside from a light bat and some still-flight feet. The second baseman, who has been sidelined since July 22nd with a left quad strain, has hit .280/.306/.367 (81 wRC+) in 2019, his second season with Seattle. It is worth noting that a good late-season showing from Gordon could, in theory, help DiPoto’s chances of offloading the veteran in the offseason; Gordon will make $13.5MM in 2020, the last guaranteed season of a 5-year/$50MM deal signed in 2016 with the Miami Marlins.
Court’s initiatory stint in the big leagues granted him just 18 at-bats with Seattle. The 31-year-old has amassed over 3000 at-bats at the minor league level and is a career .275/.366/.430 hitter within the developmental ranks.
Jose Castillo Out For Season With Torn Hand Ligament
Per MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell, promising Padres reliever Jose Castillo will miss the remainder of the 2019 season with a torn hand ligament (Twitter link). No surgery will be required, although this is certainly bitter news for a San Diego organization in sore need of bullpen aid.
After a solid 2018 debut in which the lefthanded Venezuelan logged a 3.29 ERA (2.64 FIP) in 38.1 innings, San Diego was likely looking for Castillo to develop into a viable bridge to vaunted closer Kirby Yates. Unfortunately, Castillo was sidelined for the entirety of 2019 with a left forearm flexor strain, until his activation this week. It was in his very first appearance back with the club on Thursday that Castillo exited a game with what at the time was believed to be a finger blister. As it turns out, the problem may end up being much more severe than the primary diagnosis indicated.
In a conference with The Athletic’s Dennis Lin, Padres manager Andy Green explained that the “pulley system” that straps a tendon in the middle finger to the bone was torn in Castillo’s hand (Twitter link). It is fair to speculate that Castillo’s return to the 60-day list will follow in due course.
Francisco Cervelli To Begin Rehab Assignment As Catcher
The Pirates’ Francisco Cervelli, who’d reportedly given up catching after the latest in a series of debilitating concussions in late May, will begin a rehab assignment tomorrow with Double-A Altoona behind the plate, per mlb.com’s Adam Berry.
Cervelli, 33, walked back on his initial declaration a few days later, and has since expressed a fervid desire to return to his natural habitat. Pirates director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk noted Thursday that the longtime backstop would need final clearance from both the commissioner’s office and MLBPA, in addition to the Pirates’ own set of team doctors, to resume play behind the dish, though it appears such approval is mere formality at this point.
After a seven-year start to his career as backup for the Yankees, Cervelli came into his own in 2015 with the Pirates, slashing .295/.370/.401, good for 5.9 fWAR (a recently-inflated number buoyed by controversial pitch-framing statistics) in near-full-time play for the 98-win Buccos. An assortment of injuries has limited the Venezuelan to mostly part-time duty over the last four seasons, though he’s been wonderfully productive when healthy. An always-discerning eye (his walk percentage peaked at an exceptional 14.2% in 2016) has slipped a bit this year – strikeouts up, walks way down – and, coupled with bad luck on balls in play, has resulted in the 12-year-vet’s least productive major league season.
Still, Cervelli’s just a year removed from a 125 wRC+, 2.6 fWAR line in just 104 games, so it would greatly behoove the slumping Pirates to see what juice can still be squeezed from his once-ripe profile behind the dish. There’s been no word on the duration of the free-agent-to-be’s prospective rehab, or when Cervelli himself would like to return to the field, but it’s certainly a positive development regardless for a club who’s been hot on a silver linings trail after falling out of the race mid-July.
Trevor Rosenthal Clears Waivers, Elects Free Agency
Reliever Trevor Rosenthal, designated for assignment Wednesday by the Tigers, has cleared waivers and elected free agency, the club reports.
Rosenthal began his disastrous 2019 campaign in Washington after signing a one-year deal that guaranteed him $7MM. The longtime St. Louis relief ace, who’d seen his command yo-yo between shaky and adequate in his six-year Cardinal tenure, suddenly couldn’t find the plate at all in his first appearances after a return from Tommy John. The 29-year-old walked a frightening 15 men in just 12 appearances (6 1/3 IP) for the club, many of which were cut short before even an out was recorded.
Another free-market go-round ended swiftly in late June when the righty agreed to a minor league pact with Detroit. Despite six hardly propitious outings at Triple-A Toledo, the Tigers added Rosenthal to their post all-star bullpen in hopes of a rebound. His first few outings were promising – Rosenthal walked just three and set down five in four one-inning appearances – but the wild hairs regrew as the weeks passed: the 2015 All-Star walked multiple batters in four different outings for the Tigers before his dismissal on Wednesday.
Rosenthal’s 98.0 MPH average fastball velocity is actually the second-highest of his career, though his bat-missing ways have mostly been teased out, at least compared to the sky-high rates of years bygone. There may still be a team or two out there who believes it can fix the righty this season, though perhaps it’s in the best interest of all involved to delay such a project ’til the outset of the 2020 campaign.
Rays Sign Dylan Cozens To Two-Year Minor League Deal
The Rays have signed former Phillies OF Dylan Cozens to a two-year minor-league deal, Josh Tolentino of The Athletic reports.
The hulking Cozens, 25, has missed much of the ’19 season with a toe injury that ultimately required surgery in mid-May. Prior to hitting the shelf, the former second-round pick had slashed .167/.333/.462 for Triple-A Lehigh-Valley, with an extreme 20.2% BB/ 42.4% K plate-discipline profile.
Cozens, who’s had trouble finding a position throughout his minor-league tenure with the Phils, famously smashed 40 homers in 134 2016 games in AA-Reading’s bandbox of a park. After a too-aggressive approach early in his minor league career, the lefty’s tightened things up, posting walk rates above 10% in each of the last four seasons. In a 44 plate-appearance cameo for last season’s Phils, Cozens posted just a 58 wRC+ while punching out nearly 55% of the time.
Twins Acquire Ian Miller From Mariners
Today, 12:38 PM: The Mariners will receive cash considerations in return, per the team.
FRIDAY, 11:56 PM: The Twins are set to acquire outfielder Ian Miller from the Mariners, per Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times (via Twitter). The precise return isn’t known, but Divish indicates it’s not expected to be significant.
Because he isn’t playing on a MLB deal, Miller can still be dealt. The 27-year-old, a former 14th-round pick, is still looking for his first taste of the majors. Miller has been plying his trade in the upper minors in the Seattle system since 2015.
Divish indicates that the chief interest for the Twins lies in Miller’s baserunning abilities, and that makes sense. He is an accomplished base thief, with 237 bags snatched over seven professional seasons.
Miller is less accomplished with the bat, with a .699 career OPS through just under three thousand total plate appearances. He’s sporting a bit of a power surge this year, with a .272/.354/.453 slash and 11 long balls (easily a career high) over 441 plate appearances. But that’s still slightly below the mean for Pacific Coast League hitters.