NL West Notes: Lincecum, Van Slyke, Story, Heston
Free-agent right-hander Tim Lincecum has built up his endurance to the point where he’s throwing 70 pitches on the time frame of a five-man rotation, reports MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (links to Twitter). Lincecum recently threw at the Giants‘ Spring Training complex in Arizona, Heyman notes, adding that Lincecum has also pitched “a few other places.” That bit of into shouldn’t necessarily be construed as a workout for the Giants, as Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle writes that Lincecum has been granted use of the Giants’ facility more as a courtesy than anything else. Heyman notes that a Lincecum showcase is “expected soon,” though it should be noted that that’s been the steady refrain out of the Lincecum camp for the better part of three months. Lincecum is one of the more intriguing unsigned names in baseball, but there’s no way of truly classifying a front-runner to sign him and no way of knowing when he’s likely to get back onto a big league mound until he auditions for teams. For now, Schulman notes, Lincecum’s representatives are going out of their way to keep scouts away from his throwing sessions until he’s ready for that showcase.
More from the NL West…
- Dodgers outfielder Scott Van Slyke won’t be cleared for baseball activities until next week, tweets Andy McCullough of the L.A. Times, and he could miss as much as another month with the back problem that has kept him from game action since April 10. Van Slyke hit the DL a bit more than a week ago after making just 10 plate appearances this season. He’s the latest in a slew of Dodgers outfielders to be shelved, as both Andre Ethier and Carl Crawford are on the DL as well. (Crawford, though, was sent on a minor league rehab assignment today.)
- In light of Trevor Story‘s outstanding start to the season, Dave Cameron of Fangraphs explores the legitimacy of his power using exit velocity and launch angle. Cameron and Baseball Prospectus’ Russell Carleton have pointed out that while bottom-line results in this type of a sample size are often mirages, batted ball trends such as these take less time to stabilize. Story leads the league in balls hit at 105+ mph with a launch angle of greater than 20 degrees, and while he’s not likely to continue to hit them at such a prolific rate, Cameron writes that it’s unlikely that Story has lucked his way into this type of company on the leaderboards. Acknowledging Story’s enormous strikeout rate and likely dip in overall production, Cameron concludes that while this overall type of production won’t continue, there’s a case to be made that Story’s power is realer than some skeptics believe.
- The Giants optioned right-hander Chris Heston to Triple-A yesterday, and Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News spoke to manager Bruce Bochy about the difficulty of the move for Heston, who of course tossed a no-hitter for the Giants last season. Heston went from the 2015 rotation to a long relief role with San Francisco this season, and the Giants will hope that stint in the Triple-A rotation can help get his mechanics back on track. “It’s never easy, making a move like this,” said Bochy. “The best thing is for Chris to get his groove back.” Baggarly notes that part of the reason for stretching Heston out is also to shield the Giants in case of a sudden need in the rotation. It’s worth noting that Matt Cain and Jake Peavy have each struggled tremendously in their first three starts of the season.
Eric Sogard Undergoes Knee Surgery
Athletics infielder Eric Sogard is undergoing left knee surgery at the moment, manager Bob Melvin told reporters, including Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter link). Last week, Sogard informed the media that doctors had found loose bodies in his knee and would likely undergo surgery. Sogard said he’s played through pain in his knee the past couple of years, but he’s reached the point where surgery is required. Dr. James Andrews is performing the operation, tweets John Hickey of the Bay Area News Group.
At the time the injury was made known to the public, Sogard was expected to be out six to eight weeks, though a definitive timeline won’t be known until the operation is completed and the club makes some form of announcement. Losing Sogard for an extended period does thin out the Athletics’ infield depth, but as is so often the case in Oakland, the club has enough players that are capable of handling multiple spots to cover in his absence. Jed Lowrie (second base) and Marcus Semien (shortstop) currently comprise the middle-infield duo for Melvin’s team. While the bench lacks a true backup shortstop, Lowrie has plenty of experience and could slide across the infield should a need arise, with Chris Coghlan then presenting an alternative at second base. Should the A’s need to tap into their minor league system to bolster the big league club’s infield depth, versatile Tyler Ladendorf is on the 40-man roster and has played shortstop, second base, third base and all three outfield spots in his minor league career.
Sogard, 29, has spent parts of the past six seasons with the A’s and seen semi-regular playing time in each of the past three. While he’s not a particularly productive bat (career .239/.295/.313 batting line), Sogard is an excellent defensive second baseman that can also handle both shortstop and third base. He’s controllable through the 2017 season via the arbitration process, although with a $1.5MM salary in 2016, he could potentially arise as a non-tender candidate depending on the severity of his injury and/or the extent to which his bat can improve following a pair of difficult years at the plate.
Minor MLB Transactions: 4/20/16
Here are the day’s minor moves:
- The Padres have selected the contract of second baseman Jemile Weeks and transferred lefty Buddy Baumann to the 60-day disabled list, per a club announcement. Weeks will step into the roster spot of infielder Cory Spangenberg, who has been placed on the 15-day disabled list due to a left quad strain. Weeks, 29, is a former first-round pick and the younger brother of veteran infielder Rickie Weeks, who is currently suiting up for the division-rival Diamondbacks. The younger Weeks was a fairly promising prospect with the A’s but hasn’t panned out at the big league level. He’s followed up a promising rookie campaign (.303/.340/.421 in 437 PAs in 2011) with a combined .226/.307/.311 in 574 plate appearances in parts of four seasons since that time.
Earlier Moves
- Righty Logan Kensing has accepted an assignment to Triple-A with the Tigers after clearing outright waivers, MLB.com’s Jason Beck reports on Twitter. The veteran reliever hasn’t seen much MLB action of late, and only lasted 4 2/3 with Detroit before losing his roster spot. But the 33-year-old obviously feels as if another call-up could be in the future, as he could have elected free agency and looked for another organization. Over parts of nine MLB seasons, Kensing has compiled 181 2/3 innings of 5.70 ERA pitching with 7.8 K/9 against 4.9 BB/9.
Phillies Designate James Russell, Select Contract Of Andrew Bailey
The Phillies have designated southpaw James Russell for assignment, as Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com first reported on Twitter. Philadelphia has also announced that it has selected the contract of righty Andrew Bailey to replace him.
Both Russell and Bailey were brought in on minor league deals over the winter. The former was earning at a $1.5MM rate. It’s not known how much Bailey stands to make at the major league level, but the move will render his May 1 opt-out opportunity moot.
Russell, 30, was off to a rough start to the year. In 4 1/3 innings over seven appearances, he had allowed nine earned runs on nine hits and five free passes (to go with four strikeouts). On the positive side, Russell’s swinging strike rate is up to a career-best 13.8% — though that comes in quite a limited sample and without the results to match.
As for the Bailey, the promotion gives him yet another shot at reinvigorating his career. The 31-year-old has been rather dominant at Triple-A in the early going, registering ten strikeouts against a pair of walks while permitting one earned run in his five innings. He struggled with control last year in a brief stint with the Yankees, though, and hasn’t been healthy and effective over a full major league season since way back in 2011.
Red Sox Designate Edwin Escobar
The Red Sox have designated lefty Edwin Escobar for assignment, per a club announcement. His 40-man spot was needed for the club to add righty William Cuevas to the active roster.
Boston will be forced to expose Escobar to waivers, if it can’t first work out a trade, because of a need for fresh arms at the major league level. In addition to Cuevas, Noe Ramirez will be coming back up as Joe Kelly hits the DL. Infielder Marco Hernandez is heading down to Pawtucket on optional assignment to clear room for Ramirez.
Escobar, who’ll soon turn 24, came to the Sox along with Heath Hembree from the Giants in the 2014 Jake Peavy trade. Though he was added to San Francisco’s major league roster before the 2013 season, he has only made two major league appearances; this is his final optionable year.
Though he has previously received some top-100 prospect consideration, Escobar hasn’t been terribly impressive since coming to Boston. Last year, he worked to a 5.07 ERA in 49 2/3 Triple-A innings while seeing time as both a reliever and a starter. He issued 25 walks against just 24 strikeouts in that span — a far cry from the impressive K:BB ratios he sported at times earlier in his minor league career.
Matt Klentak Discusses Dartmouth College: MLBTR College Series
MLBTR continues a series of interviews with top baseball executives about their college years. We’ll ask about why those chose their school, memorable moments, their favorite professor, important connections made, college learnings they still use today, etc.
We’ve already spoken to Reds GM Dick Williams and Cubs GM Jed Hoyer. Next up in our question-and-answer series is Philadelphia Phillies Vice President and General Manager Matt Klentak – a graduate of Dartmouth College.
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Matt, thanks for talking to MLBTR. You earned an economics degree from Dartmouth College in 2002. Why did you choose Dartmouth?
“There were a few things about Dartmouth that jumped out right away. No. 1, just walking around campus – it’s one of the most beautiful campuses in the country. On top of that, it obviously had a very strong academic reputation. And Coach (Bob) Whalen did an excellent job recruiting me and selling me on their baseball program. So it was really a combination of the three factors – the campus and the community environment, the academics, and the baseball program.”
What other schools were you considering?
“I looked at a few different schools. I initially looked at some schools down south with top baseball programs, but I ultimately realized I wasn’t going to play much there. I might have been able to go there and make the team, but I wasn’t going to see a lot of action on the field. Once I realized that, I started to shift my focus to programs in the northeast where I might be able to play more regularly. I looked at a variety of the schools in the northeast, but ultimately settled on Dartmouth.”
Being in an Ivy League school, academics definitely took precedence over athletics. What was it like playing in that type of an environment – where it was school first?
“My dad always talked to me about the fact that baseball wasn’t – by itself – going to open up doors for me. It was going to be a combination of baseball and academics. He said it to encourage me to take school seriously back in junior high and high school. It turned out that he was right. Ultimately, my success at Dartmouth was a combination of baseball and academics. Managing the Dartmouth workload and playing Division I baseball – that was a challenge. It really forced the student-athletes to be disciplined and to prioritize their time management. The academic demands required a great deal of studying and homework. And the baseball program had its own demands. But I think that the student-athletes learned about the importance of time management.”
Thinking back to your freshman campaign, what do you remember about your first year on campus?
“It was exciting. It was the first time I was living away from home, and everything was new. Meeting lots of new people. Learning about what it takes to play baseball at the Division I level. Learning how to manage academics and baseball at the same time. Everything was new. Everything was exciting. And there were challenges you were facing for the first time in your life that you never experienced living at home. Ultimately, it can be very satisfying when you find you achieved some success.”
You earned your degree in economics, and that has suited you well in baseball. If you had to choose all over again, would that have been your major – or would you have gone another route?
“I think I would have chosen economics. I think any major is going to teach a student to think critically and to improve their writing skills. There were a lot of majors that would have interested me. I think economics was the right balance for me of objective thinking and mathematics. It was the right balance for my interests and my skill set.”
What important connections did you make at Dartmouth that helped you as moved forward into a baseball career?
“First and foremost, I’m still to this day very close to my college coach, Bob Whalen – and I stay in touch with him. Whenever I can, I get out to see the Dartmouth baseball team play. While I was there, I was teammates with Bryn Alderson – who works for the Mets. His father is Sandy Alderson. I had a chance to get to know the Alderson family, and they have been helpful to me in my baseball career. I met Jim Beattie while I was there; at the time, he was a general manager. As importantly as anything, I became friends – and in many cases, best friends – with my teammates, who I’m still in touch with to this day. A number of them work in the baseball industry.”
Any players on opposing teams that you came across that went on to become important connections for you?
“There’s a nice group of baseball executives that played in the Ivy League at the same time. I’m not trying to just name GMs, but there’s (Colorado GM) Jeff Bridich, who played at Harvard. (Cleveland GM) Mike Chernoff played at Princeton. (Oakland GM) David Forst was at Harvard. (Boston GM) Mike Hazen was at Princeton. (Oakland assistant GM) Dan Kantrovitz was at Brown. And (MLB senior VP) Peter Woodfork was at Harvard as well. That’s a pretty good group.”
***Read more after the break …
Rockies Acquire Cody Decker
The Rockies have acquired first baseman Cody Decker from the Royals, according to announcements from both teams. Cash considerations are going back in return.
Decker, 29, has minimal major league experience but was long a solid producer in the upper minors in the Padres’ organization — where he spent his entire career before signing with the Royals as a minor league free agent. Best known for his entertaining antics — particularly those involving former teammate Jeff Francoeur — Decker is also a quality hitter. Indeed, he’s been quite consistent, posting OPS tallies ranging between .819 and .865 in every MiLB season dating back to 2010.
There’s a fair bit of swing and miss to his game, but Decker has also shown a strong walk rate and good power, with several twenty home run campaigns under his belt. The issue, of course, is that he’s limited defensively. Though Decker has filled in at times at third base and the corner outfield in recent years, he’s spent the vast majority of his time at first base.
AL Central Notes: Kepler, Latos, Dyson, Soria, McCann
ESPN.com’s Jim Caple provides some interesting background on Twins prospect Max Kepler, ranging from his professional ballet-dancing parents to his unlikely introduction to the game of baseball in Germany. Needless to say, the old ballgame still doesn’t have a very high profile in the European nation, but it may surprise some to learn that there’s a fairly notable niche of enthusiasts. As Kepler puts it, “I think since I started playing as a small kid, when it was mainly Americans who were playing baseball, now it’s actually Germans who are starting to play.” No doubt, Kepler’s own career could have a significant impact in driving future growth. (By the way, if you’re interested in the topic, check out this MLBTR podcast episode from last fall, when I chatted with Euroball expert Josh Chetwynd.)
Here’s more from the American League Central:
- Mat Latos has paid huge dividends to the White Sox cin his first three starts for the organization, as Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune writes. Since signing for just $3MM in an effort to rebuild his career, Latos has spun 18 1/3 innings in which he’s allowed just six hits and one earned run. While there are plenty of indicators suggesting that Latos hasn’t been quite as dominant as those results would suggest, and his velocity is back down, he’s been in the zone more than ever before and has still managed to induce a lot of easy outs (35.3% soft contact rate; 11.8% line-drive rate).
- The Royals activated Jarrod Dyson from the DL yesterday after he missed the first several weeks of the season with a strained oblique. Manager Ned Yost says he’ll be deployed in a “loose platoon” with Paulo Orlando, Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star tweet. Of course, the left-handed-hitting speedster figures to get a solid majority of the action in that arrangement.
- Meanwhile, the Royals‘ vaunted bullpen hasn’t been quite the well-oiled machine thus far in 2016 that it was in the recent past, as Dodd explores. Really, it’s mostly a matter of some early struggles from Joakim Soria, who has allowed six earned runs on ten hits and five walks over his first seven frames. Notably, he’s only managed to get hitters to chase pitches out of the zone 14.7% of the time, which is less than half his career rate. For now, at least, the club isn’t ready to move him out of the primary set-up job, though Kelvin Herrera and Luke Hochevar have both looked strong. “Our roles are set until we need to change our roles,” Yost says.
- The Tigers received fairly promising news on the injury front yesterday, as manager Brad Ausmus noted in an appearance on MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM (Twitter link). Catcher James McCann‘s absence is expected to land “on the shorter side of the two to four week timetable” that he’d been given for a sprained ankle. (Though it’s fair to note that Jarrod Saltalamacchia has filled in admirably in his stead.) Also, outfielder Cameron Maybin is nearly ready to make his season debut, opening up some options with Anthony Gose off to a slow start.
Joe Kelly To Be Placed On DL With Shoulder Impingement
The Red Sox have placed right-hander Joe Kelly on the 15-day disabled list with a right shoulder impingement, manager John Farrell told reporters, including the Providence Journal’s Tim Britton (Twitter link), following tonight’s game. Kelly left the game in the first inning after facing just four batters and walking two of them. He’ll join left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez on the disabled list and further deplete the Sox’ rotation for the time being, though it’s not clear exactly how long Kelly will be sidelined. The taxing night on the relief corps, though, will likely lead to another move for the BoSox, as Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald tweets that Farrell said the club will discuss making an additional roster move to offer some reprieve to a beleaguered bullpen that worked 9 1/3 innings of relief in tonight’s 10-inning game.
A timetable on Kelly, or at least further details on the matter, should be available in the coming days, but Scott Lauber of ESPN Boston tweets some potential context for the ailment, noting that Kelly’s teammate, Travis Shaw, tells him that he went more than four weeks without even throwing a ball upon being diagnosed with an impingement in his own right shoulder last October. Of course, it’s entirely possible that Kelly will face a shorter layoff from throwing, but Farrell did concede that it “looks like he’s going to miss some time,” Britton tweets.
The Sox do have a number of alternatives to step into Kelly’s spot in the rotation, and it’s also worth noting that Rodriguez is nearing a minor league rehab assignment, as he’s said to be slated for a 70- to 75-pitch appearance in an extended Spring Training game on Saturday. In the interim, the Sox will have David Price, Clay Buchholz, Rick Porcello and Steven Wright in their rotation, and that quartet could be joined by one of Roenis Elias, Henry Owens or Brian Johnson — each of whom is currently in the rotation at Triple-A Pawtucket and is on the 40-man roster. Owens pitched most recently (yesterday), so his current schedule would seem to align the best with the big league club’s need for a fifth starter, which will arise on Sunday in Houston.
East Notes: Kelly, Ozuna, Harper, Inciarte, Sox
Red Sox right-hander Joe Kelly left tonight’s start in the first inning after walking two of the first four men he faced. As Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald writes, Kelly has been diagnosed with a right shoulder impingement, though little else beyond that point is known. Boston has already been without left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez, who had been expected to fill one of the spots at the back of the rotation but suffered a patellar subluxation during Spring Training. It remains to be seen if Kelly will require a DL stint, though it’s worth noting that Rodriguez is slated to throw 70 to 75 pitches in an extended Spring Training game this weekend, as Scott Lauber of ESPN Boston tweets, and he could progress to a rehab stint if all goes well in that outing.
More from Major League Baseball’s Eastern divisions…
- Marlins center fielder Marcell Ozuna drew trade interest from the Reds, Indians, Mariners, Rangers and Orioles this offseason, reports Jim Bowden of ESPN in listing 10 players that stand out as change-of-scenery candidates. The Marlins sought big-league-ready starting pitching to insert into their rotation in any deal, though, and when no one offered up a pitcher that met their desires, the club instead turned to the free-agent market and signed left-hander Wei-Yin Chen to a five-year deal (with an opt-out clause). Bowden also notes that both manager Don Mattingly and hitting coach Barry Bonds were interested in holding onto Ozuna, believing that they could help him rebound to his 2014 levels.
- Thomas Boswell of the Washington Post opines that the time is now for the Lerner family, who own the Nationals, to step up and make a record-setting extension offer to Bryce Harper. Boswell notes that in addition to proving himself on the field with last season’s dominant MVP campaign, Harper has proven to have matured as well, taking the initiative to bury the hatchet with Jonathan Papelbon even after Papelbon took the blame for last season’s dugout altercation with Harper. Boswell acknowledges that Harper and agent Scott Boras, of course, may not be amenable to a long-term deal. However, a “career contract” that shatters Giancarlo Stanton‘s record $325MM pact with the Marlins could potentially grab his attention. The Post scribe adds that the Nats right now have about as much leverage as they’ll ever have, as Harper’s current MLB earnings are still relatively minimal, the club is contending and he’s nearly three full seasons from free agency.
- The Braves could be without center fielder Ender Inciarte for another two weeks, writes David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Manager Fredi Gonzalez tells O’Brien that an “optimistic” timeline for Inciarte would be late April or early May, though Gonzalez says he’s not certain how much the club will push its newly acquired center fielder and lineup catalyst. Rookie Mallex Smith and veteran Drew Stubbs have been patrolling center field in Inciarte’s absence, though neither has hit much.
- WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford spoke to Red Sox manager John Farrell about his working relationship with new president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski. Farrell said that while he’s aware of some front offices that play a larger role in daily lineup decisions, Dombrowski isn’t involved at that level (nor did Alex Anthopoulos when Farrell managed in Toronto or Dombrowski’s predecessor, Ben Cherington, in Boston, he added). Farrell said that he doesn’t consider his relationship with Dombrowski to be drastically different than with his previous bosses, though he did note that his conversations with Dombrowski are in-person more often due to Dombrowski’s larger travel schedule.