Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Masahiro Tanaka Diagnosed With Mild Flexor Mass Strain

By | at

Yankees ace Masahiro Tanaka has been diagnosed with a slight flexor mass strain in his right forearm and won’t throw for the next five days, manager Joe Girardi told reporters, including Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News (Twitter link). Tanaka’s injury obviously means that he’ll miss at least one start, though pitching coach Larry Rothschild emphasized that there’s nothing wrong with the right-hander’s ulnar collateral ligament (via ESPN New York’s Andrew Marchand). Tanaka suffered a minor tear of the UCL during his rookie season but never underwent Tommy John surgery and has seemingly recovered (or at the very least has pitched through it without issue).

The loss of Tanaka, even for one start, is a difficult pill for the Yankees to swallow as their dwindling Wild Card hopes now look a bit more bleak. New York currently sits two and a half games back in the AL Wild Card race, but they’re trailing both Wild Card holders (Baltimore and Toronto) as well as the Tigers, Astros and Mariners in that race. Tanaka himself feels that the injury won’t be season-ending, telling reporters that he believes he’ll be able to “come back strong” before year’s end (Twitter link via MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch).

If, however, Tanaka isn’t able to return to the hill, it’ll only add another layer of uncertainty to the Yankees’ rotation picture heading into an offseason where starting pitching will almost certainly be a focus for general manager Brian Cashman and his staff. The Yankees can currently only pencil in Tanaka, Michael Pineda and CC Sabathia to next year’s rotation, and while that trio somewhat incredibly has combined to make 89 starts so far this season, there are notable injury concerns with each of the group, making it difficult to assume they’ll be able to replicate that feat in 2017. Beyond those veterans, the Yankees have inexperienced (and, in some cases, inconsistent) arms like Luis Severino, Chad Green, Bryan Mitchell and Luis Cessa as rotation options, but that group of seven doesn’t figure to be enough depth to survive a season, let alone to contend for an AL East title.

Steven Matz Scratched Due To Shoulder Discomfort, Unlikely To Start Again In 2016

By | at

Not long after declaring Steven Matz ready to go for Friday’s start, the tables have turned, as the Mets have scratched the left-hander due to lingering discomfort in his left shoulder, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post (links to Sherman on Twitter). Furthermore, general manager Sandy Alderson stated that with so few games remaining on the schedule, it’s unlikely that Matz will be able to take the hill for another regular season start, per Sherman.

It’s now been nearly six weeks since Matz took the mound on Aug. 14, making it difficult to envision a scenario where he’d be able to ramp back up in time to make any kind of impact on the Mets’ postseason roster — if the Mets are able to hang on in the National League Wild Card race. The flare-up in Matz’s shoulder means that the Mets will be without him, Jacob deGrom (elbow surgery) and Matt Harvey (thoracic outlet syndrome surgery) in the event that the team reaches the postseason. Right-hander Gabriel Ynoa is set to step into Matz’s spot in the rotation tomorrow, but the postseason rotation, if necessary, would now seemingly consist of Noah Syndergaard, Bartolo Colon and one of Seth Lugo, Robert Gsellman or Ynoa. Of that bunch, Lugo has been the most effective and would represent the leading candidate to join the rotation in a theoretical NLDS appearance.

Alderson indicated to Sherman that surgery doesn’t appear to be necessary on Matz’s shoulder, though it’s been a foregone conclusion for months that he’ll need to go under the knife in order to remove a bone spur from his left elbow following the season. If, as Alderson indicated, this ends the season for Matz, the 25-year-old southpaw will finish with a 3.40 ERA, 8.8 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 in 132 1/3 innings. Certainly, he’ll hope to be able to take on a greater workload in 2017, though concerns about Matz’s durability are nothing new. The 141 innings he threw between the minors and Majors last season represent a career-high for Matz.

Pitcher Injury Notes: Wendelken, Matz, Kazmir, Salazar, Wright, Solis

By | at

Athletics righty J.B. Wendelken is likely to undergo Tommy John surgery, as Joe Stiglich of CSNBayArea.com reports. The 23-year-old, who came over as part of last winter’s Brett Lawrie trade, had received scattered major league work in Oakland, allowing 14 earned runs with a dozen strikeouts and nine walks over 12 2/3 innings. He showed more promise at Triple-A, with a 4.11 ERA and 12.7 K/9 in his 46 frames, but he also experienced control problems (5.1 BB/9) for the first time in his professional career.

Here are some more pitching health notes:

  • The Mets plan to put lefty Steven Matz on the hill tomorrow after he showed well in a bullpen session yesterday, MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo tweets. “He looked very good,” said manager Terry Collins. “He looked nice and easy.” New York’s most recent attempt to ease a starter back into the rotation did not end well, and the team is certainly hoping for a smoother transition this time around. If he can stay healthy, Matz would represent a key asset over the final ten days of the regular season as well as a hopeful postseason berth beyond that.
  • While their own rotation health situation is generally on the upswing, the Dodgers will be looking to see whether southpaw Scott Kazmir can hold up in a major league start, as MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick tweets. The 32-year-old last appeared a month ago and carries a 4.59 ERA in 135 1/3 innings on the year. He’ll follow Brett Anderson, who goes today, as the team looks to assess its options for the playoffs.
  • Also facing postseason roster decisions with a key arm are the Indians, who are hoping that righty Danny Salazar can return — albeit as a reliever, per MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian. Salazar is still not ready for mound work, but has begun rebuilding arm strength in hopes that he can be ready for a possible relief role in the ALDS. For now, it’s still a measured process. “If he starts to feel real good, they can speed it up,” said manager Terry Francona.
  • It’s unclear whether the Red Sox will give serious consideration to using right-hander Steven Wright in the postseason, if he’s able to return, but there’s some hope that he’ll soon present that option. As Scott Lauber of ESPN.com tweets, Wright is set to meet up with the team and may be ready for a pen session as he continues to test his balky shoulder.
  • It’s also not apparent what plans the Nationals may have for left-handed reliever Sammy Solis, who has been sidelined with his own shoulder troubles. But it seems he’s now making forward progress, as Dan Kolko of MASN tweets that Solis felt good after a 25-pitch session on the mound. He could soon face hitters, which might pave the way for a return to the majors right at the end of the regular season, conceivably making him a playoff option.

Pirates Acquire Phil Coke

By | at

The Pirates have acquired lefty Phil Coke from the Yankees for cash considerations, the teams announced. Pittsburgh will need to make a 40-man roster move to accommodate the acquisition.

Coke, 34, made three major league appearances earlier in the year for New York, but has spent the bulk of the season at Triple-A. Though he has pitched almost exclusively as a reliever for most of his big league career, Coke made 11 starts during his time at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

On the year, Coke threw to a 2.96 ERA over 70 frames at the highest level of the minors. He compiled 7.8 K/9 against 2.7 BB/9, with 68 hits and just three home runs recorded against him.

It’s a bit unclear what Pittsburgh plans to do with Coke, though he will indeed be headed for the major league roster. He could conceivably take a start or two in an effort at a Rich Hill-like metamorphosis, or may just log some frames from the pen. The Pirates are technically still alive in the Wild Card race, but only barely. Coke will again be a free agent at season’s end.

Nationals Initiated Extension Talks With Wilson Ramos

By | at

8:46am: The team’s offer was for “a bit more” than the three-year, $30MM figure that Heyman suggests, per Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post (via Twitter).

7:57am: The Nationals initiated extension talks with catcher Wilson Ramos, according to Jon Heyman of Fan Rag. Initial chatter, however, has not led to more extensive discussions.

While Ramos has stated that he would invite a chance to re-up with the team, but evidently the preliminary offer was not enough to get things going. Washington opened the bidding at around three years and $30MM, per Heyman.

That does indeed sound like rather a low amount, though it would be right in line with what the Pirates promised Francisco Cervelli earlier this year to keep him from reaching the open market. Of course, that pact took place before much of the season had occurred, meaning that Cervelli was avoiding the risk of an injury or a performance downturn harming his stock — which, it turns out, is just what happened.

Ramos, by comparison, has already absorbed most of the risk, boosting his own earning power substantially with a huge season. As I recently examined, the 29-year-old has a strong case for a five-year deal at a rather lofty average annual value. Many teams are hunting for a backstop, and Ramos now stands out rather clearly as the top available free agent at that position. Though his offensive production has dipped somewhat of late, the overall output (.303/.352/.491, 21 home runs) remains immense for his position.

It’s not clear whether talks will be revisited at some point before Ramos qualifies for free agency, but Heyman calls that a “long shot.” That’s not terribly surprising, as both sides are surely focused on the task at hand with the postseason beckoning. We have seen late-breaking, pre-free-agency extensions — the Giants’ pact with Hunter Pence stands out — so that possibility can’t be ruled out entirely. On the other hand, the Nats have previously moved on from core players like Jordan Zimmermann and Ian Desmond when new contract discussions were not fruitful.

Latest On Bryce Harper

By | at

THURSDAY: In the latest twist on this story, Janes reports that Rizzo held a sit-down with Harper, manager Dusty Baker, and trainer Paul Lessard in order to determine whether there was something he was not aware of. Per the report, Harper denied that he was dealing with any injury and Lessard said he had not treated Harper in the shoulder/neck area since he sat out a handful of games earlier this year. Further, says Janes, Harper stated that he had not told Verducci anything to the contrary.

Janes wisely sought out agent Scott Boras for comment on the matter, given his high-profile involvement in the health-related situations of several other major clients. But Boras declined to comment in this case, citing HIPAA laws. That federal health information protection statute obviously does not forbid disclosure or discussion of medical information where consent is obtained from the individual in question.

The report suggests that the Nationals genuinely do not know where the reports are coming from and still have no reason to believe that Harper is dealing with a shoulder injury. As Janes notes, Rizzo’s statements on the matter seem to indicate that he is relying upon what the club’s star is telling him. “Rizzo has effectively tied his own credibility to Harper’s,” she writes, “a strong statement of trust in the 23-year-old’s honesty.”

TUESDAY: Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated reported for a second time today that reigning National League MVP Bryce Harper is playing through a shoulder injury that is severely hampering his ability to perform at the plate, and, as Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post writes, the Nationals have once again vehemently denied that Harper is playing through a notable injury. Verducci reported similar news last month, prompting GM Mike Rizzo to call the report inaccurate. Harper, Janes notes, wouldn’t confirm or deny the report when approached today and simply refused to comment on it entirely.

Verducci cites “a source close to Harper” in writing that at the peak of the issue, Harper was scarcely able to throw the ball 40 feet and points out that Harper was playing abnormally shallow in right field this past weekend. According to Verducci, Harper has been playing through the issue since early July, and the SI scribe quotes manager Dusty Baker stating “the shoulder thing” has been bothering Harper. Baker, however, adamantly insisted to Janes that he was misrepresented in the column and was referencing the previous neck injury that cost Harper five games in August when he spoke to Verducci this past weekend.

“That’s totally inaccurate,” said the Nationals’ skipper. “I don’t know where they got that from. … Bryce said it didn’t come from him. Nobody really knows where it comes from because it’s not on the injury report. The trainer said no. We treated that shoulder already in the past. If I did make a mistake it was because it’s in his neck, which is connected to his shoulder.” Baker conceded that at the time Harper was held out of the lineup for those five games, his throwing was hindered. But Baker also insisted that Harper is healthy and able to throw right now, pointing to the fact that Braves third base coach Bo Porter held several runners at third this weekend rather than testing Harper’s typically strong arm.

Nationals GM Mike Rizzo, meanwhile, once again stated to Janes that Harper is healthy and added that he checked with Harper himself in light of the report and was told that there’s no issue. Said Rizzo: “I just talked to the player again because of the new stuff that came out, and he says it’s the 4-5 days he had with the neck. That’s it.”

Whether there’s an injury at play or Harper’s productivity is simply lacking due to mechanics or another reason, the drop-off in 2016 has been notable. Harper slugged his way to MVP honors last season when he hit .330/.460/.649 with 42 homers, and he carried an OPS north of 1.000 as deep into the 2016 season as May 22. That’s an admittedly arbitrary endpoint, but Harper is hitting a pedestrian .235/.343/.398 in 96 games since that time. While his patience at the plate is eminently visible — he’s walked in at least 13 percent of his plate appearances each month the 2016 season — he’s showing a fraction of his previous power. Since the All-Star break, just 8.5 percent of Harper’s fly balls have left the yard. That’s a significant drop-off from the 18.6 percent mark he posted in the first half, and it’s a precipitous drop from the staggering 27.3 percent HR/FB rate he posted in 2015.

Verducci’s column breaks down the various ways in which a shoulder and/or neck injury could be impacting Harper’s swing at the plate, whereas Janes’ column has further quotes on the matter and further analysis of comments from Baker and Rizzo. Those looking for a greater level of detail on the reported injury and the team’s denial of said ailment are encouraged to check out both pieces in their entirety.

Extension Candidate: J.D. Martinez

By | at

The Tigers discussed a long-term contract with J.D. Martinez last offseason before settling on a shorter multi-year pact.  Martinez’s two-year, $18.5MM deal allowed the two sides to avoid arbitration, settling the outfielder’s salaries for both his second and third years of arbitration eligibility.  With Martinez now just over a year removed from free agency in the 2017-18 offseason, Tigers GM Al Avila will surely re-engage Martinez’s agents at RMG Baseball about an extension that will keep the slugger in the Motor City for years to come.

Martinez missed just under seven weeks due to a fracture in his right elbow, a somewhat fluky injury that interrupted an otherwise outstanding season.  He entered Wednesday’s action hitting .317/.384/.556 (all of which would be career highs) with 21 homers over 469 plate appearances, plus his 151 wRC+ ranks among the top ten hitters in the sport in that metric of total batting productivity.  He is also on pace for a career-best walk rate, as well as his lowest strikeout rate in four years.  Since joining the Tigers as an unheralded minor league signing during Spring Training 2014, Martinez has done nothing but rake, delivering a .907 OPS over 1606 PA in a Detroit uniform.

J.D. MartinezMartinez expressed an interest in being “a Tiger for life” last winter, though his asking price has surely gone up in the wake of his third straight huge season.  He has extra leverage in the form of financial security (over $21.5MM in career earnings by the end of next season) and the fact that he’d be in line for a monster contract in the 2017-18 free agent market.  If he duplicates his 2014-16 numbers, JDM will have the most earning potential of any hitter in that year’s free agent class.  Carlos Gonzalez has a longer track record but he is two years older than Martinez and hasn’t been as impressive of late; the Royals trio of Lorenzo Cain, Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas can’t be considered locks for huge money based on their problems in 2016; Justin Upton has also struggled this season and may not choose to opt out of his own contract with the Tigers next winter.

Upton’s situation looms as a major factor in the talks between Martinez and the Tigers.  Upton has only recently started to hit after a dreadful first half, so he’d need a big rebound year in 2017 to consider opting out.  If he chooses to remain in his contract, the Tigers will owe Upton $88.5MM through the 2021 season.  That is a sizeable chunk of payroll that, based on this year’s numbers, Detroit would surely prefer to allocate towards keeping Martinez in the fold.

Read more

Edinson Volquez Hopes To Return To Royals, Will Mull Mutual Option

By | at

Royals righty Edinson Volquez says that he hopes to stay with the Royals past the present season, Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star reports (Twitter links). The veteran hurler suggested that he is tempted to exercise his end of a $10MM mutual option, though he said he’ll need to assess the market and discuss the matter with his agent after the season.

It would be fairly surprising if Volquez does elect to trigger the mutual option, which would force K.C. to decide whether to pay him a hefty $3MM buyout or take on the full $10MM obligation. We’ve heard suggestions, after all, that the club is weighing whether to issue Volquez a $16.7MM qualifying offer — which would certainly presume that he has already passed on the option.

Both of those possibilities tee up the question of how to value the 33-year-old, who is fresh off of a solid outing yesterday but has otherwise been dreadful for quite some time now. Volquez’s earned run average last sat under 4.00 when the calendar flipped from May to June, and it has steadily risen ever since as he has coughed up 78 earned runs and allowed a .294/.360/.472 batting line over his last 114 1/3 innings. As things stand, Volquez owns a 5.25 ERA over 181 2/3 total frames on the season, with 6.6 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 to go with a 52.1% groundball rate.

That’s not exactly a sterling platform for free agency, but there are some silver linings. First and foremost, Volquez has been a rock, making over 30 starts in each of the last five seasons. And his average fastball velocity is holding firm at over 93 mph. ERA estimators have never really been in love with him, even when he was posting strong results in each of the last two seasons, but they largely view his current season as a continuation — with variances in strand rate, BABIP, and home run susceptibility largely explaining the different bottom-line marks.

It also bears note that the coming market lacks for rotation talent, not just at the top but also in the depth department. Clubs in search of solid innings will be lining up for arms like Volquez, who seems rather likely to find guaranteed money that exceeds the value of his mutual option. That being said, the qualifying offer could prove tempting, if issued, particularly since declining it would mean entering the market with draft compensation. It remains to be seen whether the Royals will be willing to risk that large a chunk of the organization’s payroll.

Trevor May Diagnosed With Stress Fracture In Back

By | at

Twins righty Trevor May has been diagnosed with a stress fracture in his back, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press reports. His specific condition was diagnosed as a “pars defect” by specialist Dr. Robert Watkins.

It seems that the injury has been present for some time, with Watkins telling May that it had already undergone “cycles of healing” that never completed. “I just kept pitching on it and probably shouldn’t have,” said May. “It was an injury that was a little more serious than I thought it was.”

The 26-year-old said that he anticipates that an offseason of rest will cure the ailment, which is apparently similar to what Lucas Duda has struggled to return from this year. In May’s case, the hope is that he can rest for the remainder of the calendar year before undergoing a strength program and beginning to throw early in 2017.

May has shown plenty of promise despite an unsightly 5.27 ERA in 42 2/3 innings. Working exclusively from the bullpen, he has racked up 12.7 K/9 (with a 13.2% swinging strike rate) against 3.6 BB/9 while sitting at nearly 94 mph with his average fastball.

Home runs have been a problem — May has allowed homers on 15.2% of his flyballs and at a clip of nearly one-and-a-half per nine innings — but the overall numbers seemingly bode well. Of course, there’s an argument to be made that he ought to be given a chance to stick in the rotation before a relief role is set in stone. Regardless the Twins seem to have a useful arm on hand so long as May can progress as hoped from the back issue.

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top