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Troy Tulowitzki Undergoes Surgery On Both Heels

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April 2: Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi tweets that Tulowitzki’s surgeries were performed today, and the Blue Jays were informed that all went well.

March 30: Blue Jays shortstop Troy Tulowitzki is slated to undergo surgery to remove bone spurs from both of his heels, Toronto GM Ross Atkins tells reporters including Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter links). The procedure will occur on Monday, MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm adds on Twitter.

Tulowitzki could be back in eight weeks if all goes swimmingly, meaning we almost certainly won’t see Tulowitzki in a MLB uniform until June. But it’s much more concerning in the broader context of the 33-year-old’s recent injury history.

Hamstring and ankle injuries limited the five-time All-Star to just 66 contests in 2017. That’s just the latest in a long line of problems for Tulowitzki. Since the start of the 2012 season, he has averaged just 98 contests annually.

The other area of concern is just what the Jays can expect out of Tulo even when he is at full strength — or, as close to it as he’ll get at this point. The former star hasn’t produced big value at the plate since 2014. While he turned in roughly average offensive work in the two seasons that followed, he slashed just .249/.300/.378 in his 260 plate appearances last season.

While they await Tulotwitzki’s return, the Jays will presumably rely on recent acquisitions Aledmys Diaz and Gift Ngoepe. That’s not optimal, though perhaps Diaz offers a bit of upside given the quality 2016 campaign he turned in. Yangervis Solarte, who was also picked up over the offseason, is also capable of playing short — though he has done so sparingly in the majors.

This post has been corrected to reflect that the bone spurs being removed are in Tulowitzki’s heels, not his ankles.

Injury Notes: Musgrove, Mercer, Wieters, Cruz, Realmuto, Yankees

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The Pirates announced today that right-hander Joe Musgrove has been placed on the 10-day disabled list due to a muscle strain in his right shoulder. Righty Clay Holmes, who’d previously been returned to Triple-A after serving as the 26th man for yesterday’s doubleheader, has been recalled. (Holmes’ optional assignment needn’t be for the typical 10-day minimum, as he’s replacing an injured player.) As MLB.com’s Adam Berry notes, the move seemed somewhat curious at first, as Musgrove had said he felt good physically not long before the announcement. But testing ended up revealing a strain, leading to the roster move.

Musgrove’s DL placement is retroactive three days, so he can be activated on April 9. In his place, the Pirates could turn to one of Steven Brault or Tyler Glasnow to start in Musgrove’s place on Thursday. At present, it doesn’t seem that the injury is serious. Musgrove was slowed by some shoulder troubles in Spring Training, so it seems the Bucs are just being cautious early in the season. Pittsburgh will also need to evaluate shortstop Jordy Mercer, who exited after jamming his finger into the bag when diving back to first on a pickoff attempt. The Pirates, so far, have only said that Mercer left the game with right hand/finger “discomfort.”

Some more injury news from around the league…

  • The Nationals recalled catcher Pedro Severino from Triple-A and placed Matt Wieters on the disabled list with a “mild left oblique strain.” Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post first reported today that Wieters was dealing with some type of injury and that Severino was headed to Atlanta in the event that Wieters needed a DL stint (Twitter links). Janes noted that Wieters didn’t take batting practice yesterday on his off day and “looked uncomfortable” throwing the ball back to the mound when catching warm-up pitches between innings for Nats starters. Both Wieters and Severino are coming off down seasons in 2017, as is Washington’s current backup, Miguel Montero.
  • The Mariners are leaning toward placing Nelson Cruz on the 10-day disabled list so they can have a full bench for their upcoming interleague series, manager Scott Servais said today in an appearance on Brock & Salk on 710 ESPN in Seattle (Twitter link via 710’s Brent Stecker). Cruz suffered an ankle injury when slipping on the dugout steps after a two-run homer over the weekend and had an MRI, though the results of that test haven’t been announced yet.
  • Marlins catcher J.T. Realmuto has progressed to the point where he’s been cleared to resume catching drills, tweets MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro. However, Frisaro cautions that Realmuto will probably still require “a few more weeks” before he’s able to return from the lower back injury that landed him on the disabled list to open the 2018 campaign. Chad Wallach, Tomas Telis and Bryan Holaday have been doing the catching in Realmuto’s absence.
  • The Yankees announced today that they’ve voided right-hander Ben Heller’s optional assignment to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and instead placed him on the Major League 10-day disabled list with a bone spur in his right elbow. There’s no immediate timetable provided for Heller’s return, though he’ll benefit from being on the MLB disabled list instead of the minor league DL, as he’ll now gain big league service time (and be paid the pro-rated portion of the league minimum) while sidelined.

Braves Select Contract Of Anibal Sanchez, Designate Miguel Socolovich

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The Braves announced on Monday that they’ve selected the contract of veteran righty Anibal Sanchez and designated right-hander Miguel Socolovich for assignment to clear a spot on the 40-man and 25-man rosters. Additionally, the Braves added trade acquisition Carlos Perez to the active roster and cleared room by placing righty Josh Ravin on the 10-day DL with a viral infection. The Braves acquired Perez from the Angels over the weekend in a straight-up swap for infielder Ryan Schimpf.

Sanchez, 33, will look to revitalize a career that has gone south in recent seasons. Signed to a five-year, $80MM contract by the Tigers in the 2012-13 offseason, the right-hander vastly outperformed his salary in the first two seasons of that deal, taking home an American League ERA title in 2013 and turning in a strong 2014 campaign as well. However, the final three seasons of that pact quickly turned into a disaster for the Tigers, as Sanchez’s effectiveness quickly evaporated.

From 2015-17 with the Tigers, Sanchez logged a total of 415 2/3 innings and surrendered 262 earned runs (5.67 ERA) on 462 hits (85 homers) and 131 walks. The righty still shows a penchant for missing bats (8.2 K/9 over the final three years of the deal, 8.9 K/9 in 2017), but his ground-ball rate has eroded and he’s become stunningly homer prone.

He’ll eventually slot into the rotation behind Julio Teheran, Mike Foltynewicz, Sean Newcomb and Brandon McCarthy and serve as a bridge to one of Atlanta’s many impressive young arms in the upper levels of the minor leagues. For now, though, Sanchez is likely to work out of the ’pen due to the fact that Atlanta doesn’t need a fifth starter for another week or so.

Socolovich’s time with the Braves will be extremely brief. His contract was only selected this past Friday, though reports at the time even indicated that it was likely to be a short-term move. Socolovich did get into one game with the Braves, during which he tossed two perfect innings with a pair of punchouts. Prior to this abbreviated Atlanta stint, the 31-year-old spent three seasons in the Cardinals organization, totaling 66 1/3 innings of relief. With the Cards, Socolovich logged a 3.80 ERA with 7.7 K/9, 2.6 BB/9 and a 44.1 percent ground-ball rate.

Mariners Outright Cameron Perkins

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The Mariners announced on Monday that outfielder Cameron Perkins has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Tacoma, thus reducing the team’s 40-man roster count to a total of 38 players.

Seattle claimed the 27-year-old Perkins off waivers from the Phillies back in December. A former sixth-round pick in Philadelphia (2012), Perkins made his big league debut in 2017 but struggled through 97 plate appearances, hitting .182/.237/.273 with a homer, five doubles and 23 strikeouts against five walks. Perkins is a career .270/.323/.393 hitter in parts of three Triple-A seasons, and he has nearly 900 innings of experience in center field — in addition to more than 1300 innings at each corner slot.

Marlins Designate Severino Gonzalez For Assignment

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The Marlins announced that they’ve designated right-hander Severino Gonzalez for assignment to clear a spot on the roster for right-handed pitching prospect Trevor Richards, who will make his MLB debut and start tonight’s game against the Red Sox.

Gonzalez’s stint with the Marlins will last just one day. Miami selected his contract yesterday to provide some pitching depth, but Gonzalez didn’t get into the game and now won’t have the opportunity to do so in the near future. The Marlins will have seven days to trade Gonzalez or place him on outright waivers. Because Gonzalez has already been outrighted once in his career, he’d have the right to elect free agency if he does pass through waivers unclaimed.

The former Phillies prospect has an unsightly 6.68 ERA in 66 big league innings — albeit with a considerably more impressive 62-to-14 K/BB ratio. Gonzalez hasn’t posted especially impressive ERA marks in the minors, but he’s long displayed very strong control numbers as he’s ascended through the minor league ranks.

Both MLB.com and Baseball America ranked the 24-year-old Richards as Miami’s No. 22 prospect. In 146 innings between Class-A Advanced and Double-A last season, Richards worked to a pristine 2.53 ERA with 9.7 K/9 against 1.8 BB/9 with a ground-ball rate well north of 50 percent. Both scouting reports on Richards peg him as a consistent strike-thrower who’ll pound the zone without overpowering stuff, and each suggests that he could settle in either as a back-of-the-rotation starter or a long reliever.

Diamondbacks Outright Yasmany Tomas

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April 2: Tomas has cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Reno, the team announced Monday.

March 31: The Diamondbacks have placed outfielder Yasmany Tomas on outright waivers, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports. The move will open up a spot on Arizona’s 40-man roster, which had been at capacity.

A former star in Cuba, Tomas has been a letdown since immigrating to the majors on a six-year, $68.5MM guarantee entering the 2015 season. With around $46MM of that money still coming his way, the 27-year-old Tomas is a strong bet to clear waivers. Given that he has three years of service time, Tomas could refuse an outright assignment in favor of free agency, but as Piecoro notes, he’s unlikely to do so because it would mean vacating the contract.

The Diamondbacks previously optioned Tomas to Triple-A entering the season, even though they had just lost starting outfielder Steven Souza Jr. to the disabled list with a pectoral strain. That was clearly a damning sign for Tomas, who has struggled mightily in both the offensive and defensive facets of the game during his Diamondbacks tenure.

While Tomas did belt 31 home runs 563 plate appearances back in 2016, he still wasn’t far above the league average as a hitter that year, evidenced by a 109 wRC+. On the whole, the right-hander has slashed just .268/.307/.462 (98 wRC+) with 48 long balls in 1,169 PAs. He has been significantly worse in the field, meanwhile, having posted minus-30 Defensive Runs Saved and a minus-23.3 Ultimate Zone Rating.

Tomas’ combination of underwhelming offense and horrid defense has led to a sub-replacement level career fWAR (minus-1.4) and likely a stay in the minors for the foreseeable future.

Royals Claim Abraham Almonte, Designate Miguel Almonte For Assignment

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The Royals have claimed outfielder Abraham Almonte off waivers from the Indians and designated right-hander Miguel Almonte for assignment, tweets MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan. Cleveland had designated the former of the two for assignment when setting its Opening Day roster.

Abraham Almonte, 28, was on the outside looking in of a jam-packed outfield mix in Cleveland. He’ll have a clearer path to playing time in Kansas City, where Jon Jay, Alex Gordon, Jorge Soler and Paulo Orlando comprise the primary outfield unit in the Majors in the wake of Jorge Bonifacio’s 80-game PED suspension. The switch-hitting Almonte had a strong half-season showing for the Tribe in 2015 but missed half the 2016 campaign due to an 80-game PED suspension and hit just .249/.304/.384 in 389 plate appearances from 2016-17.

As for Miguel Almonte, who’ll turn 25 on Wednesday, the hard-throwing righty has long ranked as one of the Royals’ top organizational prospects, but his star has faded in recent seasons. He’s tossed 10 2/3 innings in the Majors between 2015-17, but he’s yet to establish himself at the game’s top level. Injuries have played a massive role in stalling the younger Almonte’s development. Last season, he threw just two innings with Kansas City’s Triple-A affiliate in Omaha, and Flanagan tweets today that Almonte had been ticketed for the minor league disabled list to open the season due to posterior shoulder soreness.

Orioles Trade Stefan Crichton To Diamondbacks

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The Orioles announced that they’ve traded right-hander Stefan Crichton to the Diamondbacks in exchange for a player to be named later or cash. Crichton was one of four right-handers designated for assignment by the Orioles on Opening Day as they created roster space for veterans Colby Rasmus, Danny Valencia, Craig Gentry and Pedro Alvarez.

Crichton, 26, debuted with the Orioles last year, though he tossed just 12 1/3 innings in the Majors. In that brief sample, he yielded 11 runs on a whopping 26 hits and four walks with eight strikeouts and a 46 percent ground-ball rate. The former 23rd-rounder did average better than 94 mph on his heater in the bigs, though, and he logged a strong 3.02 ERA with 9.4 K/9, 2.1 BB/9 and 0.38 HR/9 in 47 2/3 Triple-A innings. He has a pair of minor league options remaining, so the D-backs can shuttle him back and forth between Reno and the Majors this year and next, if they wish, without needing to worry about exposing him to waivers.

Rangers Select Contract Of Bartolo Colon; Tommy Joseph Accepts Outright Assignment

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The Rangers announced Monday that they’ve selected the contract of veteran right-hander Bartolo Colon and optioned fellow righty Nick Gardewine to Triple-A. To clear a spot on the 40-man roster for Colon, Texas moved righty Ricardo Rodriguez from the 10-day DL to the 60-day DL. Additionally, Texas announced that Tommy Joseph has cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Double-A Frisco.

Texas will turn to Colon, 44, to start tonight’s game in Oakland. The timeless veteran inked a minor league pact with the Rangers this offseason and delivered strong results in Spring Training, working to a 3.00 ERA with a 10-to-2 K/BB ratio in 18 innings of work. He’ll join Cole Hamels, Mike Minor, Doug Fister and Matt Moore in the Texas rotation as he looks to continue a career that, upon taking the hill tonight, will have spanned parts of 21 seasons.

Colon split the 2017 season between the Braves and the Twins, struggling badly in Atlanta before rebounding, to an extent, in Minnesota. “Big Sexy” turned in a 3.94 ERA and a 38-to-11 K/BB ratio through his first 10 starts with the Twins before fading and yielding 19 runs in his final 18 1/3 frames (over the life of five starts).

While the season, on the whole, wasn’t a good one for Colon, the popular righty is only a season removed from tossing 191 2/3 innings with a 3.43 ERA, 6.0 K/9 and 1.5 BB/9 with the 2016 Mets. In fact, from 2013-16 with the A’s and Mets, Colon averaged 195 innings per season with a 3.59 ERA, twice making the All-Star team (2013 and 2016) and twice pacing his league in BB/9 (2015-16). He’s one of many veteran arms the Rangers bought low on in the offseason in hopes of catching some lightning in a bottle.

For Colon, the opportunity is not without significance. He’s spoken many times about what it would mean to him to tally another four wins and move into the all-time lead for wins by a Dominican-born pitcher, overtaking Hall of Famer Juan Marichal. Colon is also less than two months away from his 45th birthday, and if he can keep his remarkable career going to that point, he’ll fulfill a promise to his late mother in which he told her he’d pitch until age 45.

Joseph, meanwhile, has struggled to get on base in each of his two big league seasons and saw his overall offensive output decline in 2017. In total, he’s a .247/.297/.460 hitter in 880 PAs, but as an OBP-challenged slugger with significant defensive limitations, his appeal around the league was unsurprisingly somewhat limited. He’ll give Texas some depth at first base, though with Joey Gallo and Ronald Guzman ahead of him on the depth chart at first base and Shin-Soo Choo slated for regular DH work, it might take an injury or two to create a clearer opportunity for Joseph to return to the Majors.

Minor MLB Transactions: 4/2/18

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Here are Monday’s minor moves from around the league…

  • The Red Sox picked up catcher Mike Ohlman from the Rangers in exchange for cash, Baseball America’s Matt Eddy reports in a comprehensive rundown of late-spring releases, trades and signings. The 27-year-old made his Major League debut with Toronto last year but collected just 13 plate appearances over the life of seven games. An 11th-round pick of the Orioles back in 2009, Ohlman has logged a respectable .758 OPS in 518 Triple-A plate appearances thus far in his minor league career. He’ll give Boston some depth behind the plate, though the Sox are largely set in that capacity with Christian Vazquez, Sandy Leon and Blake Swihart all on the 25-man roster.
  • Veteran right-hander Logan Ondrusek is joining the Dodgers on a minor league contract, per Eddy. The 33-year-old didn’t pitch professionally in 2017 but does have 277 big league innings under his belt, spanning the 2010-16 seasons. Ondrusek last appeared in the Majors with the 2016 Orioles, when he allowed seven runs in a tiny sample of 6 1/3 innings. For his career, he has a 4.03 ERA, 7.1 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 in the Majors, though he’s posted much better numbers in Triple-A and in Japan.
  • Eddy also notes that the Dodgers have cut ties with righty Jordan Jankowski. The 28-year-old got his first taste of the big league in 2017, tossing 4 1/3 frames for the Astros before landing with the Dodgers via waiver claim. Jankowski has averaged 11.9 strikeouts per nine innings in 177 1/3 Triple-A frames in his career, though he’s struggled with control since being selected in the 34th round of the 2012 draft as well.

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