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Rockies Notes: Bullpen, Rotation, Dahl

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Just last year, the Rockies’ bullpen ranked in baseball’s bottom third, coming in 21st in baseball with a 2.2 fWAR. So far this year, their relievers are the best in the game using that same metric, with a 1.4 fWAR and a 2.80 ERA that’s remarkable considering the context in which they pitch. The Denver Post’s Nick Groke explains the bullpen’s transformation, beginning with the signings of Greg Holland and Mike Dunn last winter. “Greg Holland and Mike Dunn have been fabulous for the mentality of the bullpen,” says manager Bud Black. “They have made a marked difference with the professionalism of that group. There’s no doubt they have set the standard.” So far, the pair have combined for 11 1/3 scoreless innings, and Dunn has performed very well despite his signing receiving lukewarm reviews from commentators. As Groke points out, Holland and Dunn look like far better gambles so far than Chad Qualls and Jason Motte were in 2015-16 (Qualls is currently hurt; the Rockies recently released Motte, and he signed a minor-league deal with the Braves.) Of course, it’s very early in the season.

More on the Rockies, who improved to an NL West-best 8-5 on Saturday:

  • With top starter Jon Gray set to miss at least a month with a foot injury, the Rockies figure to turn to one of Jeff Hoffman, German Marquez or Harrison Musgrave to fill the void, writes Thomas Harding of MLB.com. Veteran swingman Chris Rusin has more major league starting experience than any of them, but he isn’t in contention to reenter the Rockies’ rotation because they like the value he provides to their bullpen, Black indicated. The 24-year-old Hoffman and the 22-year-old Marquez are among the premier prospects in the game, with Baseball America ranking the former 36th and the latter 53rd, and the two garnered some big league experience last season. While the 25-year-old Musgrave hasn’t yet cracked the bigs, nor does he carry a high-end prospect pedigree, he did come close to winning a job with the Rockies during the spring, notes Harding.
  • Outfielder David Dahl, on the shelf since early March with a stress fracture in his ribcage, feels healthy enough to return, but the Rockies are taking a cautious approach with the 23-year-old, per Groke. Dahl won’t be able to swing a bat until at least next week, as the Rockies first want to see the results from the MRI bone scan he’ll undergo April 21. “Honestly, I’ve been saying I’m ready to play. But they said you can feel good, but it still might not be healed,” said Dahl. “They want to make sure the bone scan comes back and it shows it’s healed.” If the scan yields good news, it should put Dahl on track to make his 2017 debut in May.

Rangers Outright Tanner Scheppers

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The Rangers have announced that they’ve activated righty Andrew Cashner (triceps) from the 10-day DL. To clear roster space, they’ve optioned righty Nick Martinez to Triple-A Round Rock and outrighted righty Tanner Scheppers to Triple-A Round Rock, removing him from their 40-man roster. Cashner is set to make his Rangers debut tonight against the Mariners.

The 30-year-old Scheppers was a first-round pick in 2009 and showed glimpses of potential with the Rangers, routinely throwing in the mid-90s and generally performing well in his first two years in the big leagues, 2012 and 2013. He was the Rangers’ Opening Day starter in 2014, but he ended up missing portions of 2014 and 2015 with elbow and knee injuries. Since then, he’s struggled to reestablish himself in the Rangers’ bullpen, and his peripherals haven’t been nearly as impressive as his velocity. Injuries continued to bother him, as well — he missed much of the 2016 season after having surgery on his left knee. He had begun this season on the 10-day DL with abdominal discomfort and had made two rehab appearances with Round Rock.

Cafardo’s Latest: Braun, Mariners, Diamondbacks, Red Sox, Fister

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Here’s the latest from Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe:

  • The Dodgers and Brewers have remained in contact over a potential deal involving Ryan Braun, Cafardo reports. Last summer, the two sides reportedly engaged in serious talks about a deal involving Braun and Yasiel Puig. Trades involving big-name players don’t typically take place early in the season, although it’s worth noting that, at last check, the Dodgers were not one of the teams restricted by Braun’s no-trade clause, and that he will receive ironclad no-trade protection when he becomes a 10-and-5 player May 24.
  • The Mariners could start selling talent early if they don’t improve after starting the season 3-8, Cafardo writes. Should the Mariners become sellers, I’d speculate that potential trade candidates could include Danny Valencia, Carlos Ruiz, Jarrod Dyson, Yovani Gallardo and Steve Cishek, all of whom are eligible (or potentially eligible) for free agency after this season. Players like Marc Rzepczynski, Leonys Martin and even Nelson Cruz and Jean Segura could also be subjects of speculation.
  • New Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen isn’t certain about when, or whether, the team will put veterans like Zack Greinke on the market. “We haven’t tackled the long-term outlook yet,” he says. “You see what you have when you get to the June 1 marker. We’ll ask, ‘What are we looking to do to improve the club? What can we do to improve the club? Where are we at overall with our organization?’ That’s what we’re going to talk about. We’re not looking too far down the road at present.” Hazen, of course, inherited a Diamondbacks team that won 69 games last season, although it should be noted that they’re currently 7-4 and in first place in the NL West at this very early point in the year.
  • The Red Sox have missed 85 player days due to illness since 2011, most in the Majors. Those 85 days cost the team approximately $3.9MM in salaries. At the start of the season, the team was dealing with a flu outbreak, leading other teams to take precautions when sharing a clubhouse or stadium with the Red Sox — the Twins asked the Tigers to fumigate their visitors’ clubhouse after following the Red Sox as guests at Comerica Park, and the Rays brought air purifiers for their series at Fenway this weekend.
  • Doug Fister remains a free agent mostly because teams feel his stuff is “marginal,” and that he therefore isn’t worth the big-league deal he seeks. Colby Lewis, too, is available, and has lately only received lukewarm interest. Those pitchers could find homes if hurlers from other teams get hurt, although, at this point, Fister would almost certainly need to start the season in the minors anyway to build up to being able to make big-league starts.

Roster Notes: Tigers, Marlins, Mets, Braves, Padres, Indians

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Here are a few roster moves from around the game:

  • The Tigers announced that, after Friday’s game, they optioned righty William Cuevas to Triple-A Toledo and promoted righty Warwick Saupold to take his place. Cuevas made his 2017 big-league debut Friday and didn’t make a good impression, giving up four runs over just a third of an inning. Saupold was off to a good start for Toledo, allowing just two runs and three walks while striking out nine over 10 2/3 innings.
  • After a 16-inning ballgame depleted the Marlins bullpen, the club has called up southpaw Jarlin Garcia, as Tim Healey of the Sun Sentinel reported. Righty Nick Wittgren was sent back down to Triple-A on optional assignment in a corresponding move.
  • Miami’s opponent in that marathon game, the Mets, also dipped into their farm for an arm. New York announced that Sean Gilmartin will take a spot in the pen. Utilityman T.J. Rivera will be optioned for the time being, though he seems likely to return once the pitching staff gets back on its feet.
  • Braves outfielder Matt Kemp, meanwhile, is slated to return on Wednesday from a hamstring issue, David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets, meaning he’d only miss the ten-day minimum. Meanwhile, Atlanta has called up righty Luke Jackson for his first stint with the club. Fellow right-hander Jason Hursh was optioned to create an opening.
  • The Padres have also done some roster tweaking, activating catcher Hector Sanchez from the 7-day concussion DL and also calling back righty Kevin Quackenbush. The club also announced that Jabari Blash and Jake Esch were optioned to make way on the active roster. While Blash has been outrighted off the 40-man in the past, and was only recently re-added when he was recalled, he’ll hold onto his spot for the time being while reporting to Triple-A.
  • The Indians have swapped a pair of righties, with the club announcing that Nick Goody will come up and Shawn Armstrong will head down. The move gave the team a fresh arm after Armstrong threw 49 pitches Thursday. Goody pitched two scoreless innings in his 2017 big-league debut last night.

Mark Shapiro Not Looking To “Overhaul” Blue Jays Despite 1-9 Start

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The Blue Jays 1-9 start is their worst in the history of the franchise. Team president and CEO Mark Shapiro says, though, that he isn’t planning significant changes at this time, as Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi writes.

“Less than 10 games in, this is not the time to start looking at external help,” says Shapiro, issuing the standard line executives (mostly correctly) use when their teams struggle in April. “There may be a time and a place when you start to think about that, but you’re not going to replace five hitters.”

Indeed, teams are rarely willing to make big trades in April, either as buyers or sellers, and teams’ early-season problems can be misdiagnosed due to sample-size issues. The Blue Jays have scored just 2.8 runs per game thus far, and Devon Travis, Russell Martin, Jose Bautista and Steve Pearce in particular have struggled. With what would appear to be a good veteran lineup, though, that could change in time. Shapiro says the team is now focused on making the most of the talent it has.

“When it goes collectively as badly as it does right now with our offence, a lot of what we’re dealing with is we need to get to a point where guys stop trying to do too much and stop trying to take responsibility for it individually,” says Shapiro.

And as Shapiro also notes, the team’s pitching has been capable. The team has gotten good performances thus far from Marcus Stroman and relievers Joe Biagini, Joe Smith, Ryan Tepera and Aaron Loup in particular, and J.A. Happ currently has 17 strikeouts and no walks despite posting a 5.40 ERA in the early going.

“Not everything is wrong,” says Shapiro. “We’re pitching well, dominant at times, there are a lot of good things going on both in the rotation and in our bullpen and we’re playing good defense. We’re not looking at overhauling the entire team.”

The Blue Jays do have their share of both short- and long-term issues — they recently had to place superstar Josh Donaldson on the DL with a calf injury, and the team’s somewhat unwieldy reliance on veterans (including Donaldson, Martin, Bautista, Pearce, Kendrys Morales, Troy Tulowitzki, Marco Estrada, Francisco Liriano, Happ and Jason Grilli) creates pressure on the team to succeed now. It might be unwise, however, for the Jays to overreact to the ten-game slump that has started their season.

5 Key Stories: 4/8/17 – 4/15/17

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Here are five key stories from this week at MLBTR.

James KaprielianYankees struggle with injuries. It was a bad week for the health of young Yankees players. Righty pitching prospect James Kaprielian will undergo Tommy John surgery next week, while catcher Gary Sanchez recently headed to the DL with a biceps strain. In happier Yankees news, lefty Jordan Montgomery made his big-league debut this week after winning a spot in the team’s rotation.

Giants sign Melvin Upton Jr. The Giants agreed to a minor-league deal with Melvin Upton Jr., who eventually could bolster their struggling outfield. The Rays, meanwhile, did not pursue Upton, preferring to give opportunities to another veteran, Peter Bourjos.

Orioles add relief help, deal international bonus spending rights. The Orioles made a series of small deals this week, bolstering their core of potential relief arms but inviting criticism for their approach to the international amateur market. First, they acquired Damien Magnifico from the Brewers for the rights to $885,300 in international bonus spending. They made a separate trade with the Brewers, sending another reliever, righty Oliver Drake, to Milwaukee for a player to be named or cash. They then nabbed lefty Paul Fry from the Mariners, but gave up another $198K in international bonus spending rights in the process. The moves continued the Orioles’ recent trend of acquiring potentially helpful pitching in minor transactions, but also continued a recent trend of seeming neglect of the international amateur free-agent market.

Carlos Correa lays out conditions for extension. Astros phenom Carlos Correa’s agent said he would not consider a pre-free-agency extension, although Correa himself offered a somewhat different view, saying he would consider a deal if it was favorable financially. Correa also said he would no longer consider a deal once he hit arbitration, which he is set to do following the 2018 season.

More minor moves. Other key minor transactions from this week: The Tigers signed first baseman James Loney to a minor-league deal; the Orioles re-signed outfielder Michael Bourn to a minor-league deal; the Dodgers acquired righty Joe Gunkel from Baltimore for a player to be named or cash; the Nationals re-signed righty Joe Nathan to a minor-league deal and designated veteran starter Jeremy Guthrie for assignment; the Braves signed righty Jason Motte to a minor-league deal; and the Blue Jays claimed infielder Ty Kelly from the Mets. Outfielder Brennan Boesch also appeared set to retire.

West Notes: Dipoto, Richards, Cashner, Bush, Morse, Bradley

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Mark Feinsand of MLB.com provides an interesting interview with Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto that’s well worth a full read. The topics range from the impact of Statcast to Dipoto’s seemingly insatiable appetite for trades.

Here’s more from the game’s western divisions:

  • We checked in earlier tonight on Angels righty Garrett Richards, and there’s more news on that front. GM Billy Eppler says that the current concern is an ongoing lack of strength in Richards’s biceps, as Pedro Moura of the Los Angeles Times reports (Twitter links). Though cervical disc issues apparently aren’t at the root — an MRI came back clean — it seems that’ll need to be resolved before Richards can return to the hill.
  • The Rangers will finally get a chance to see what they have in righty Andrew Cashner. He’s slated to make his first start for the team tomorrow, as Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News tweets. Cashner, who signed a one-year make-good deal over the winter, was set back by biceps tendinitis in camp.
  • There was other good news on the injury front for the Rangers. As Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram writes, key reliever Matt Bush could return to action as soon as this weekend. He has seemingly responded well to a cortisone shot in his shoulder, though the club is waiting a bit longer to make sure he’s pain free before putting him back on the rubber.
  • Giants outfielder Michael Morse is nearly ready to take the field at Triple-A after rehabbing his hamstring, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports on Twitter. Indeed, Morse may be prepared for MLB action in just ten days, per the report. It’s unclear as yet what San Francisco’s plans are for the veteran, but he’d clearly represent an alternative to Chris Marrero if the club decides to make a change. Though Marrero has had a productive game tonight, including his first big league homer, he has struggled out of the gates.
  • The Diamondbacks are still weighing just how to use Archie Bradley, who has shown resurgent form this year, as Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports. Bradley’s outstanding early work from the bullpen — no runs, ten strikeouts, and just two walks over 6 2/3 frames — has manager Torey Lovullo wondering how best to maximize the former top starting prospect. For now, it seems, Bradley is likely to continue working as a longman, but the skipper suggested that the young righty could begin to enter in higher-leverage spots. It’s worth noting that Bradley is now averaging 95.7 mph with his fastball after sitting just over 92 in his prior two MLB campaigns, though of course that’s probably aided in part by his move to a relief role.

Minor MLB Transactions: 4/14/17

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

  • Righty Casey Fien has accepted a Triple-A assignment with the Mariners after clearing outright waivers, as Bob Dutton and TJ Cotterill of the Tacoma News Tribune report (Twitter links). Fien, who said it was an easy call to remain in the organization, was designated after a few rough outings. But the 33-year-old still has plenty of life to his fastball and was registering swings and misses, and he figures to be one of the first players up if a need rises.
  • The Angels have selected the contract of righty Deolis Guerra, as Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register tweets. Clearing a 40-man spot wasn’t difficult, as the club was able to shift rehabbing lefty Andrew Heaney to the 60-day DL. Soon to turn 28, Guerra pitched to a 3.21 ERA with 6.1 K/9 and 1.2 BB/9 last year, but nevertheless lost his 40-man spot over the winter. He is out of options, so he’ll have to stick on the active roster or face a DFA.
  • The Rays have selected the contract of outfielder Shane Peterson, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link). Peterson will take the place of Mallex Smith, who is headed to the 10-day DL with a hamstring injury. To clear a spot on the 40-man roster, right-hander Brad Boxberger has been transferred from the 10-day DL to the 60-day DL. The 29-year-old Peterson saw MLB time with Oakland in 2013 and with Milwaukee in 2015, hitting a combined .225/.322/.346 over the life of 234 plate appearances. Peterson has plenty of action at all three outfield slots and has a very strong .298/.383/.470 batting line in 418 Triple-A games (1808 plate appearances). His stay with the Rays could be a brief one, though, as Colby Rasmus will soon resume his minor league rehab assignment. As for Boxberger, he’s dealing with a flexor strain, Topkin reported last week, and now won’t be eligible to return to the big league roster until June.

Would Carlos Correa Consider An Early-Career Extension?

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TODAY: Correa tells Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle that he wasn’t aware of his agent’s comments and provided a somewhat different outlook, noting that he’d be “more than glad to listen” if approached with an offer. While Correa said that he has an open mind, and emphasized that he isn’t focused on a long-term deal, he did suggest that there’s something of a time limit on his willingness to consider signing away free-agent years.

“I’m not shutting the door,” he said. “The price has got be right, you know what I mean? And it’s got to be early. Once I get to arbitration there’s no turning back.”

YESTERDAY: Carlos Correa “is never going to do an [early] multiyear contract,” agent Greg Genske tells Jon Heyman of Fan Rag. The 22-year-old, who has already established himself as a star, is instead content to go year to year for the time being. Indeed, a “friend” tells Heyman that Correa’s “mentality has always been that he’s going to play it out.”

The organization’s decision to renew Correa at the league minimum in each of the last two years probably doesn’t help things, but that doesn’t seem to be the main driver here. (Per Heyman, Houston was offering around $565K this year and might have gone a bit higher, but Correa was willing to take the hit rather than agreeing to a price tag with which he didn’t agree.) Instead, as Heyman notes, the fact that he has already lined up significant sponsorship deals helps ensure that there’ll be plenty of earnings even if he suffers an injury or surprising performance downturn.

It’s worth noting, too, that Correa took home a $4.8MM bonus when he was taken first overall in the 2012 draft, which means he had already locked up life-changing money before reaching the majors. And though he probably won’t reach arbitration eligibility until 2019 — with 1.119 years of service entering the year, he’s unlikely to qualify as a Super Two player next winter — his early performance levels all but assure he’ll be richly compensated from that point forward.

Perhaps it’s still possible that the sides could end up exploring an extension at some point in the future, when Correa reaches arbitration and begins nearing free agency. Whether or not the minor salary squabbles impact that remain to be seen, but in all likelihood future arb discussions will be of greater import. Most important of all, of course, will be the willingness of Correa to forego a chance to test the open market when he’ll be entering only his age-27 season in 2022.

For the time being, Correa and the ’Stros will continue to enjoy what has thus far been a highly productive relationship. Correa carried a .276/.354/.475 batting line with 42 home runs in just over one thousand plate appearances entering the current season, making him one of the best-hitting shortstops in all of baseball. While there’s currently a bumper crop of shortstops sprouting around the game, some of whom rate as more talented defenders, Correa is undeniably a top-quality all-around talent who rates as one of the best young players in baseball.

Injury Notes: Richards, Turner, Drew, Zych, Cishek, Price, Hill, Baez

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Angels righty Garrett Richards may be due for a longer DL stint than had first been expected, as Pedro Moura of the Los Angeles Times reports. Richards has yet to pick up a ball since going down with a biceps strain. Given the time he has already missed, and the lack of progress thus far, it seems increasingly likely that some kind of rehab stint could be required. There’ll no doubt be some added caution taken given that Richards is only just returning from a lengthy rehab of a UCL injury. The Halos are going with J.C. Ramirez in his stead; he’ll take the ball to start a game in the big leagues for the first time tonight, as J.P. Hoornstra of the Orange County Register writes.

  • The Nationals are still waiting to determine a timeline for shortstop Trea Turner to return, as Byron Kerr of MASNsports.com writes. Manager Dusty Baker suggested that the club is willing to allow Turner plenty of rest to ensure that there isn’t a larger setback. The hope, though, is that it isn’t a significant injury. Of course, fellow infielder Stephen Drew — Turner’s would-be replacement — also went down with a hammy strain. He’s more or less in the same boat, it seems. “There’s no timetable,” said Drew. “But I’ll do the best I can to get back as soon as possible.” While it’s hardly the Nats’ preference, they’ll at least get a good look at youngster Wilmer Difo in the meantime.
  • Righty Tony Zych is back in action for the Mariners, with the club announcing he has been activated from the 10-day DL. Southpaw Dillon Overton is heading out on optional assignment to open a roster spot. Shoulder issues hampered Zych last year and forced him into surgery, but he’ll look to regain the excellent form he showed in 2015 — which would be quite welcome for a Seattle club that is off to a dreadful start. Meanwhile, Steve Cishek is nearing a rehab assignment and could be back in the majors, too, after he makes three or four appearances, MLB.com’s Greg Johns tweets.
  • The Red Sox are beginning to chart a course for lefty David Price, as Jen McCaffrey of MassLive.com reports. It’s possible that Price could be ready to face live hitters in a few days, with a rehab assignment representing the next likely step. McCaffrey suggests that he’ll require at least four outings in the minors, meaning it could still be another month until Price is back in Boston.
  • Southpaw Rich Hill of the Dodgers is slated for a return on Sunday, as Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times tweets. Per Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register (via Twitter), the hope was that Hill’s blister wouldn’t prove too problematic during a pen session yesterday. It seems that he has come through unscathed, so he’ll step back into the rotation for L.A.
  • Meanwhile, the Dodgers have activated setup man Pedro Baez, who missed most of camp after being struck on the thumb by a batted ball. The 29-year-old righty continued to show swing-and-miss stuff last year, and somewhat quietly has compiled a 3.08 ERA over 149 MLB frames, with 9.7 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9, over his three years in the majors. Despite four strong appearances thus far (no runs on one hit and one walk with six strikeouts), Josh Fields is headed to Triple-A to make way for Baez.

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