Brewers Designate Yadiel Rivera For Assignment
The Brewers announced Friday that they’ve designated infielder Yadiel Rivera for assignment in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for right-hander Aaron Wilkerson, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A Colorado Springs. Wilkerson was acquired from the Red Sox in the 2016 trade that sent Aaron Hill to Boston.
Rivera, 25, has appeared in just one game for Milwaukee this season thanks in part to improved infield depth that has helped the team contend in 2017. While Rivera saw action in 35 games last year and tallied 71 plate appearances with a .212/.235/.273 slash, the Brewers have instead relied upon other options in utility infield capacities. In addition to the acquisition of Travis Shaw and the emergence of Orlando Arcia, veteran Eric Sogard has provided significant value in a utility role. Last year’s primary shortstop, Jonathan Villar, has also been on hand all season and bounced around the diamond, as has fellow utilityman Hernan Perez.
Beyond the new-look infield mix in Milwaukee, Rivera simply hasn’t performed in the minors this season. Despite playing in a very hitter-friendly Colorado Springs/Pacific Coast League environment, he’s posted a meek .218/.282/.314 batting line through 414 plate appearances in Triple-A this year. Those struggles aren’t exactly new for Rivera, who has enjoyed some success in Double-A but has yet to thrive at the top minor league level.
Wilkerson doesn’t rank among the Brewers’ top 30 prospects — not surprising for a player that is 28 years old — but has enjoyed a terrific season with Milwaukee’s Double-A club. Through 142 1/3 innings, the former unsigned draft pick and indy ball discovery has pitched to a 3.16 ERA with 9.0 K/9, 2.3 BB/9 and a 36.2 percent ground-ball rate. Wilkerson’s first appearance with the Brewers will be his Major League debut — no small feat for a player that spent two seasons on the independent circuit before even getting a look in Lo-A ball with the Red Sox at the age of 25.
AL Central Notes: Gibson, Santana, Kipnis, Abreu, Merrifield
Though right-hander Kyle Gibson at one point looked like a clear non-tender candidate for the Twins this offseason, his revitalized performance in the season’s second half makes it look far likelier that he’ll return. The 29-year-old former first-rounder limped to a ghastly 6.29 ERA with 5.9 K/9, 4.3 BB/9 and a 51.1 percent ground-ball rate through the season’s first half and was even optioned to Triple-A Rochester back in May. However, he’s logged a brilliant 2.83 ERA with 7.3 K/9, 1.8 BB/9 and a 50.6 percent grounder rate in 54 innings across his past nine outings.
Asked by 1500 ESPN’s Darren Wolfson on his latest podcast if Gibson would be tendered a contract this winter (audio link, with Levine joining around the 27-minute mark and discussing Gibson at 37 minutes), Levine replied: “Starting pitching — and quality starting pitching — is at a premium. … Depth is tantamount. We are aspirational of being a playoff-relevant team moving forward. Those types of teams need to have a wealth of starting pitching options, and I think Kyle Gibson has established himself as very much a part of that equation moving forward for the Minnesota Twins.” Gibson is earning $2.9MM in 2017, and while there’s still of course time for things to change, it sounds like he’ll be retained and earn a slight raise on that figure for the 2018 campaign.
More from the AL Central…
- Indians slugger Carlos Santana admits to Zack Meisel of The Athletic that he put a significant amount of pressure on himself early this season as he entered a contract year. Santana struggled badly through the first 10 weeks or so of the 2017 campaign, but he credits first-year teammate Edwin Encarnacion — who had a tumultuous free-agent experience himself last winter — for getting his mind into a better place and turning his season around at the plate. “He told me to keep playing baseball and enjoy the (season) and play hard every day and don’t think about it,” says Santana. “He is a good influence for me and my mind.” Meisel notes that Santana hopes to remain in Cleveland — FanRag’s Jon Heyman wrote the same yesterday, as he has at various points this year — though the Indians will have some tough roster decisions to make with relatively limited finances. (A second deep playoff run, of course, wouldn’t hurt their financial outlook.)
- Jason Kipnis is expected to start in center field for the Indians as soon as this Sunday, per Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Bradley Zimmer‘s season-ending injury created an opening, and it was reported earlier this week that Kipnis would get a look there in his place. A center fielder in his college days, Kipnis isn’t exactly unfamiliar with the position, though it’s been seven years since Cleveland moved him to second base. Manager Terry Francona tells Hoynes that the training staff has to sign off on the decision still, though he adds that it’d be a surprise if they didn’t, given how healthy Kipnis has looked recently as he nears the end of his rehab from a hamstring injury.
- Jose Abreu has made it clear that he hopes to remain with the White Sox even amid the team’s rebuild, writes MLB.com’s Phil Rogers. Chicago values his leadership and productive bat, Rogers notes, and he wonders if the team would make a four- or five-year offer to Abreu to keep him around this offseason. There’s no indication that there have been any actual extension negotiations between the two sides, though Rogers suggests that both Abreu and Avisail Garcia could make sense as longer-term pieces in Chicago.
- Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star took an excellent look at the remarkable late blooming of Royals second baseman Whit Merrifield. As Dodd points out, Merrifield is one of just seven players in the past 50 years to debut after his 27th birthday and compile five wins above replacement in his first two seasons. The others on that list were all established stars in other countries before coming to the United States (e.g. Ichiro Suzuki, Jose Abreu, Hideki Matsui). Dodd tracks Merrifield’s minor league career, noting that he was passed on entirely in the Rule 5 Draft along the way. It’s a must-read column that is rife with quotes from GM Dayton Moore, Merrifield’s coaches from his amateur days, several of Merrifield’s teammates and, of course, Merrifield himself. Now 28 years old, Merrifield has broken out with a .285/.324/.463 batting line, 17 homers, 29 steals and quality defense at second base — likely cementing himself in the Royals’ lineup for the 2018 season and beyond.
Nationals Notes: Harper, Glover, Drew
The Nationals have the NL East locked up, but there are still several question marks surrounding their eventual playoff roster. Some health updates on the NL East champs…
- Bryce Harper wouldn’t speculate on a return date when speaking to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (subscription required and recommended), but the Nats anticipate that he’ll be ready for the postseason. Harper ran on the warning track yesterday, and hitting coach Rick Schu tells Rosenthal that the team will fly players up from its instructional league in West Palm Beach to get Harper some at-bats against live pitching. (Harper and the Nats don’t want to use the team’s current pitchers for that, so as to preserve all arms for the postseason.) “If I can feel good about running on my knee, that’s the biggest thing,” said Harper. “I’ll hunt pitches, hunt the ones I can hit. You’re never going to be ‘ready-ready’ until you get those at-bats.”
- Right-hander Koda Glover, who served as the team’s closer earlier this season, tweeted yesterday that he won’t be able to return from a right shoulder impingement yesterday. However, Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post reports that there’s not yet any indication that the injury will require offseason surgery for the 24-year-old. Janes notes that Sean Doolittle, Ryan Madson, Brandon Kintzler, Matt Albers and Oliver Perez look like locks to make the roster, while the final bullpen spots are a bit murkier. She also runs down each of the team’s remaining options and some reasons for and against each. As for Glover, his season will come to a close with just 19 1/3 innings in the books. He logged a mere 5.12 ERA in that time and has a 5.08 ERA in 39 career big league frames, though the Nats seemingly remain bullish on the hard-throwing righty’s long-term potential.
- The Post’s Jorge Castillo writes that while Stephen Drew will very likely require offseason surgery to repair an abdominal muscle that he tore off the bone, Drew is still working toward a late-September return. “I’m going to give every opportunity to myself to be able to play,” said the 34-year-old Drew. “And if I can’t do, I’ll tell whoever. I’ll tell these guys. For now, our goal is to see how we progress and go from there.” Manager Dusty Baker tells Castillo that it would be “a miracle” if Drew is able to return to the field this season, given his injury. As Castillo points out, Drew would hardly be a lock for the postseason roster even if he could return when eligible on Sept. 24 (or any point thereafter), as Wilmer Difo has emerged as a quality bench option for Baker.
MLB Daily Roster Roundup: Price, Miller, Felix, Tseng
ROSTER MOVES BY TEAM (9/13- 9/14)
NATIONAL LEAGUE
- CHICAGO CUBS | Depth Chart
- Promotions: SP Jen-Ho Tseng (contract purchased)
- Designated for assignment: RP Pierce Johnson (Story)
- CINCINNATI REDS | Depth Chart
- Placed on 10-Day DL: RP Drew Storen
- PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES | Depth Chart
- Promotions: SP Henderson Alvarez (contract purchased)
- Alvarez will start on Sunday.
- Placed on 60-Day DL: OF/1B Daniel Nava (strained back)
- Promotions: SP Henderson Alvarez (contract purchased)
- ST. LOUIS CARDINALS | Depth Chart
- Activated from DL: INF Jedd Gyorko
- Gyorko is not expected to play regularly with Matt Carpenter continuing to play 3B and Jose Martinez at 1B. He did not play on Wednesday or Thursday.
- Activated from DL: INF Jedd Gyorko
- SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS | Depth Chart
- Acquisitions: INF Engelb Vielma claimed off waivers from Minnesota Twins
- Transferred to 60-Day DL: 1B/OF Michael Morse
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AMERICAN LEAGUE
- BOSTON RED SOX | Depth Chart
- Activated from DL: P David Price
- Price is expected to be used as a multi-inning reliever, beginning this weekend.
- Activated from DL: P David Price
- CLEVELAND INDIANS | Depth Chart
- Activated from DL: RP Andrew Miller
- Miller pitched a scoreless 7th inning with his team behind by a run in Thursday’s game.
- Activated from DL: RP Andrew Miller
- DETROIT TIGERS | Depth Chart
- Reinstated from Paternity Leave List: SS Jose Iglesias
- Iglesias played SS and batted 9th on Wednesday and Thursday.
- Reinstated from Paternity Leave List: SS Jose Iglesias
- HOUSTON ASTROS | Depth Chart
- Injured: OF Jake Marisnick (fractured thumb) is expected to miss 6-8 weeks following surgery.
- Suspended 5 games: SP/RP Mike Fiers (story)
- MINNESOTA TWINS | Depth Chart
- Activated from DL: SP Adalberto Mejia
- Mejia will start on Saturday vs. Toronto.
- Activated from DL: SP Adalberto Mejia
- SEATTLE MARINERS | Depth Chart
- Activated from DL: SP Felix Hernandez
- Hernandez started Thursday and allowed 1 ER in 3 2/3 IP on 3 H and 0 BB with 3 K.
- Activated from DL: SP Felix Hernandez
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FUTURE EXPECTED MOVES
- KCR: SP Danny Duffy will likely be activated from DL on Sunday September 17th, according to Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com. | Royals Depth Chart
- SEA: SP James Paxton will be activated from DL on Friday September 15th, according to Bob Dutton of the Tacoma Tribune News. | Mariners Depth Chart
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NOTABLE REHAB ASSIGNMENTS
- SP Scott Kazmir, LAD (9/4)
- SP Noah Syndergaard, NYM (9/2)
- SP Nathan Eovaldi, TB (9/10)
- SP Jacob Faria, TB (9/10)
*Rehab start date listed in parentheses.
Quick Hits: Pitch Clock, Otani, New Defensive Metric, Velocity
The age of the MLB pitch clock may be upon us soon. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported on Tuesday (subscription required and recommended) that MLB and the players’ union are working towards an agreement that could bring such a rule change to the major-league level as soon as next season. However, it’s also possible that the pitch clock could be introduced gradually over several years; the conversation is still in its early stages.
The potential for pitch clocks has been the subject of much controversy over the past couple of season, and began receiving test runs in Double-A as early as the 2015 season. The main reason is simple: the pace of play in baseball feels slow to younger generations, and Rob Manfred and his office are making wide-ranging attempts to take minutes off the game. We’ve seen small attempts towards this goal already, such as pitchers no longer needing to throw a baseball in order to intentionally walk a batter.
There are mixed feelings among players about the idea of a pitch clock. Jon Lester, for instance, has vocalized his distaste for years, complaining that it would take the “beauty” and “cat and mouse game” away from the pitcher-hitter battle (as ESPN Chicago’s Jesse Rogers wrote a couple of years back). However, many pitchers at the minor-league levels said they found the pitch clocks did not impact them negatively. Regardless, Rosenthal writes that Manfred seems “convinced” that such changes are necessary, which makes it seem as though the introduction of pitch clocks is not a matter of “if”, but “when”. The piece is a great read, providing insight into the nuances and challenges of the discussion at hand.
More from around the majors…
- Two-way Japanese phenom Shohei Otani‘s potential earnings are severely by MLB’s international signing restrictions. But could teams circumvent those regulations by promising an early-career extension as part of their original signing agreement? Fangraphs’ Dave Cameron explores the hypothetical scenarios, suggesting that after one full year of service time — assuming Otani lives up to the hype — it’d be tough for the league to intervene with a contract extension so long as it carried some historical precedent. (Clubs do, after all, almost always attempt to secure young players on long-term deals.) A team would need to maintain plausible deniability, but the promise of an early-career extension could be a powerful incentive for Otani to join their club. With the ability to throw 100 mph and smack 400-foot homers, Ohtani could easily be a franchise icon, so it’s possible that some teams are already working on their “second offers” to him.
- While finding exact ways to quantify defensive value remains a difficult task, MLB.com’s Mike Petriello introduces a new metric intended to do just that by leveraging Statcast’s catch probability data: Outs Above Average (OAA). Twins center fielder Byron Buxton leads Major League outfielders in OAA, which is a counting metric that assigns value based on every catch made or not made over the course of a season. Petriello explains the metric in detail, but in essence, OAA gives credit for every catch made (+0.01 for making a catch to which Statcast assigns a 99% catch probability, +0.75 for making a catch with a 25% catch probability, and so forth) while also subtracting credit for catches not made (-0.01 for not making the 99% catch, -0.25 for not making the 25% catch, -0.75 for not making a 75% catch, etc.). Buxton has been 23 “outs above average” this season, while Atlanta’s Ender Inciarte checks in second (+17) and Tampa Bay’s Kevin Kiermaier is tied for fifth (+11) despite missing two months.
- Tyler Kepner of the New York Times wrote an interesting piece about how Kyle Boddy of Driveline Baseball has helped aspiring and current big league pitchers increase their velocity, including Indians right-hander Trevor Bauer and Marlins righty Dan Straily. Driveline’s training center reportedly has young pitchers throwing with weighted balls, and captures their biomechanics with high-speed cameras. The article is a long read but well worth the time.
Minor MLB Transactions: 9/14/17
Here are the day’s minor moves from around the league…
- Left-hander Onelki Garcia has cleared waivers after being designated for assignment and been sent outright to the Royals‘ Triple-A affiliate, tweets MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan. Garcia, 28, made a pair of appearances — one start, one relief outing — with the Royals in what was his first Major League action since 2013, though the results weren’t pretty. In six innings, the southpaw yielded nine earned runs (13.50 ERA) on the strength of a dozen hits and five walks with two strikeouts. Garcia has appeared in just three big league games, though he owns a 4.24 ERA with 9.3 K/9 against 4.3 BB/9 in parts of five minor league seasons.
MLB Suspends Mike Fiers For Five Games
Major League Baseball announced Thursday that Astros right-hander Mike Fiers has been suspended for five games and fined an undisclosed amount after throwing behind Luis Valbuena‘s head during last night’s game against the Angels (video link). Fiers is not appealing his suspension, which will take effect tonight. After starting last night’s game, Fiers wouldn’t have been able to throw for the next three to four days anyhow, so the suspension will likely only cost him one appearance (be it a relief outing or an additional start in McCullers’ place).
[Related: Houston Astros depth chart]
Fiers made a spot start in place of Lance McCullers, who was dealing with arm fatigue, and was ambushed early by the Halos, who put up eight runs in the first two innings. Valbuena hit a two-run homer to cap off a five-run first inning and, as he’s done throughout his career, celebrated with a rather emphatic bat flip. Fiers, apparently, took exception to his former teammate’s display and let a 90 mph pitch sail behind Valbuena’s head in his next at-bat. Fiers wasn’t ejected — though the home plate umpire warned both benches — and Valbuena ultimately responded by ripping the next pitch into the right-field corner for a double.
Fiers explained to reporters that he has no hard feelings toward his former teammate and didn’t intend to hit him but rather to send a message after he felt he was disrespected (link via Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle).
The 32-year-old Fiers has pitched to a 5.22 ERA with 8.6 K/9 against 3.6 BB/9 through 153 innings in 2017 while earning a $3.45MM salary after avoiding arbitration last offseason. He’ll be arbitration-eligible again this winter and is controllable through the 2019 campaign.
Jake Marisnick To Undergo Surgery On Fractured Thumb
Astros outfielder Jake Marisnick suffered a fractured right thumb when sliding head-first into second base in last night’s game and will undergo surgery tomorrow, the team announced. He’ll require a six- to eight-week recovery, according to the Astros, which seems likely to put an end to his 2017 season even if Houston makes a deep playoff run.
[Related: Houston Astros depth chart]
The loss of Marisnick, 26, will put an end to what has in many ways been a breakout campaign for the fleet-footed outfielder. While Marisnick’s glovework in the outfield doesn’t rate as highly as it has in past seasons (+2 Defensive Runs Saved; -4 Ultimate Zone Rating), his .243/.319/.496 batting line and 16 home runs make the 2017 campaign far and way his most productive offensive year. Marisnick is still far too prone to strikeouts (34.7 percent), but his overall output has been markedly better than the league average on a rate basis (121 OPS+, 116 wRC+).
While he’s been slumping a bit lately and hasn’t been an everyday player for most of the season, his absence will thin out the Astros’ outfield mix. Derek Fisher, George Springer, Josh Reddick and Cameron Maybin figure to see the bulk of the playing time in the outfield moving forward. The loss of Marisnick makes Houston’s move to claim Maybin off waivers look all the more important, as his right-handed bat and considerably above-average speed give him a similar skill set that will help offset Marisnick’s absence.
Giants Claim Engelb Vielma
3:13 pm: Vielma has been claimed by the Giants, Darren Wolfson of KSTP News reports via twitter.
The former Twins infield prospect adds a bit of depth to a Giants team that has been in dire need of a defensively-minded backup infielder lately. Both Kelby Tomlinson and Orlando Calixte have been underwhelming with the glove this season, so if Vielma can develop even a replacement-level offensive skillset, his defensive wizardry could make him a solid utility option for San Francisco.
2:54 pm: Recently-designated Twins infielder Engelb Vielma has been claimed off waivers by an unknown National League club, tweets Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
Vielma was designated for assignment by the Twins on Tuesday in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for lefty reliever Gabriel Moya. The switch-hitting shortstop has yet play in the majors. In 314 plate appearances at AAA this year, he put up an unimpressive .206/.233/.260 batting line.
In spite of his poor hitting, it makes sense that an organization would have interest in Vielma. He has been rated as the Twins’ best defensive minor-league infielder for multiple years, and could serve as an excellent defensive replacement or utility option. It’s possible he could still carve out a path to the majors, but he’d need to make major improvements with the bat.
Vielma, a 23-year old native of Venezuela was first added to the Twins’ 40-man roster this past offseason in order to protect him from the rule five draft after he managed to get on base at a .344 clip between High-A and Double-A in 2016.
MLBTR Chat Transcript: Braves OF, Kipnis, Otani, Phillies
Click here to read a transcript of today’s chat with host Jeff Todd.