Pirates Place Joe Musgrove On 10-Day Injured List
The Pirates have placed right-hander Joe Musgrove on the 10-day injured list due to inflammation in his right triceps, per a club announcement. The team didn’t offer a timetable on a potential return.
Acquired in the trade that sent Gerrit Cole to Houston, the now-27-year-old Musgrove has established himself as a useful rotation piece in Pittsburgh. From 2018-19, the former top prospect racked up 285 2/3 innings with the Bucs, pitching to a 4.28 ERA (3.75 FIP) with averages of 8.1 K/9, 1.9 BB/9 and 1.04 HR/9. The overall return on that blockbuster that landed Musgrove in Pittsburgh hasn’t been great, but Musgrove himself has provided plenty of value already — and he’s still controlled through the 2022 season.
The length of Musgrove’s absence will be especially worth monitoring given that we’re already less than three weeks from the 2020 trade deadline (Aug. 31). A healthy Musgrove, because of that aforementioned club control, could be an appealing trade piece to any number of clubs that have had injuries in their rotation.
The 3-13 Pirates have zero designs on contending in 2020, and with the playoff field expanded to 16 teams, it stands to reason that the few pure sellers out there would see plenty of demand for their players — particularly those controlled beyond the 2020 season. Parting with meaningful young talent to rent a player for perhaps as little as one month could be a tough thing for buyers to do, but any team that acquired Musgrove would be doing so for another two seasons beyond the current campaign.
Musgrove’s numbers in 2020 don’t look particularly appealing, although it’s a sample of just three starts that is skewed by a recent drubbing at the hands of a Twins lineup which ranks fifth in the Majors in runs scored. Interested clubs would be judging Musgrove on more than those three starts alone, and his overall 4.45 ERA and 4.03 FIP in 300 1/3 frames as a Pirate are plenty appealing. He’s obviously not a dramatic front-of-the-rotation upgrade, but with so many clubs just needing solid mid-rotation contributors as injuries have piled up elsewhere, Musgrove would generate legitimate interest if this triceps issue proves minor.
Pirates Claim Nick Tropeano
The Pirates announced Tuesday that they’ve claimed right-hander Nick Tropeano off waivers from the Yankees, who had designated him for assignment over the weekend. Tropeano has been optioned to the Pirates’ alternate training site.
Tropeano, 30 this month, has pitched in parts of five big league seasons, compiling a 4.51 ERA with 8.0 K/9, 3.6 BB/9 and 1.57 HR/9. He was at one point a fairly well-regarded prospect in the Astros and Angels organizations, but injuries have slowed his career. Tropeanos had Tommy John surgery that cost him all of the 2017 season, and he has since battled shoulder and elbow troubles that have limited him to 182 innings between the minors and big leagues.
Last season, Tropeano was hit hard in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League , posting a 5.87 ERA in 79 2/3 frames. Offense was elevated in that already hitter-friendly league, however, just as it was in the Majors thanks to alterations to the ball’s composition. Prior to last year’s ugly results, Tropeano had a career 3.67 ERA in 223 Triple-A frames. He’ll give the Bucs some depth for their rotation and a possible long relief option.
Cardinals-Pirates Series Postponed; Cardinals Expect Additional COVID-19 Positive
August 9: This week’s series between the Cardinals and Pirates has been postponed in its entirety, as first reported by Jon Heyman of MLB Network. As a result, the Cardinals have had 15 consecutive postponements and will have just 46 days to make up 55 games if they are to play the entire 2020 schedule. In addition, Heyman reports that the Cardinals are expected to reveal “at least one” additional positive COVID-19 test after yesterday’s round of testing.
MLB officially announced the cancellation with a press release that reads: “Major League Baseball announced today that the upcoming three-game series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Pirates, scheduled for Monday through Wednesday at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, has been postponed. In light of the most recent positive test results, MLB and the Club believe it is prudent to conduct additional testing while players and staff are quarantined before the team returns to play. More information regarding the Cardinals’ resumption of play will be announced later in the week.”
August 8, 9:57 PM: It’s been confirmed by Jeff Passan and Jason Mackey (via Twitter). The Cardinals and Pirates’ Monday meeting has been postponed.
6:17 PM: The St. Louis Cardinals have been told that they won’t be coming together again as a team for at least 3-5 days, per The Athletic’s Mark Saxon (via Twitter). Obviously, the implication here is that their upcoming series with the Pittsburgh Pirates will be canceled. Major League Baseball has not made an official announcement as of yet.
Cardinals players will continue with personal workouts for the time being – they haven’t seen game action in over a week. The Cardinals last saw the diamond on Wednesday, July 29th in a 3-0 loss to the Twins. They are likely to go more than two weeks before returning to the field. While most of the rest of the league is pushing towards (or already past) the quarter mark for the season, the Cardinals are stuck on a 2-3 record after dealing with the second major clubhouse outbreak of coronavirus since the game’s reboot. It remains unclear how/when/if the Cardinals will be able to make up the missed games.
Obviously, containing the virus is priority A through Z right now for the Cardinals, who released the names of 8 players who have tested positive for COVID-19. They have the benefit of the Marlins’ experience from earlier this season, but there’s no tried-and-true approach to handling an internal outbreak of this scale. There are, of course, protocols in place, but the nature of COVID-19 leaves a great deal of general uncertainty.
The Pirates will get a couple of days off after facing a scare of a different sort in their game with the Tigers today. Phillip Evans and Gregory Polanco collided on a pop fly in four territory resulting in Evans leaving the game on a stretcher, per Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. It was described as a scary scene, and we will update you on Evans’ condition with a full post as more information about his current status is revealed. Polanco stayed in the game.
As of right now, it does appear that the Pirates (and Cardinals) will have the next couple of days off. The Pirates were scheduled to be in St. Louis on Monday night to begin a three-game series.
Braves Add Robbie Erlin To Active Roster
TODAY: The Braves announced that Erlin has been activated onto the big league roster. Sobotka had been optioned to the minor league site but is now quickly back with the club to serve as the extra player for today’s doubleheader.
AUGUST 7: The Braves announced that they have claimed left-hander Robbie Erlin off waivers from the Pirates. In other moves, the Braves placed right-hander Chris Martin on the 10-day injured list with an esophageal constriction and recalled RHP Chad Sobotka.
The 29-year-old Erlin had been in limbo since Pittsburgh designated him Aug. 2. He threw 3 1/3 innings of two-run ball for the club before it bounced him. Erlin was a quality prospect with the Padres during his younger days, but he has only managed a 4.58 ERA across 108 appearances (38 starts) and 316 1/3 innings since he debuted in 2013. To Erlin’s credit, though, he has logged a very solid 3.57 FIP with 7.2 K/9 and 1.79 BB/9 as a major leaguer.
Erlin could step into the Braves’ bullpen, which will suddenly go without one of its most prominent options in Martin, whom the team re-signed to a two-year, $14MM contract in free agency. Martin, 34, threw four innings and allowed one earned runs on two hits and one walk (three strikeouts) before his IL placement.
Pirates Place Phillip Evans On 45-Day IL; Promote Jose Osuna, Brandon Waddell
10:09AM: The Pirates have officially placed Evans on the 45-day injured list. The Bucs also announced the Mears option, the Osuna call-up, and the selection of Waddell’s contract.
8:55AM: Evans will likely miss the rest of the season after suffering a broken jaw and a concussion, Mackey reports.
8:33AM: The Pirates will be calling up infielder/outfielder Jose Osuna and left-hander Brandon Waddell from their alternate training site, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports (Twitter links). Righty Nick Mears will be one of the players being sent to make room on the active roster, a day after Mears tossed an inning of relief to mark his Major League debut.
While no formal announcement has yet been made by the Pirates, Phillip Evans is surely headed to the injured list in the wake of yesterday’s brutal collision with teammate Gregory Polanco. Evans and Polanco were both chasing for a fly ball in foul ground during the sixth inning of Pittsburgh’s 11-5 loss to the Tigers, and ran into each other at full speed with Evans’ head taking the full brunt of Polanco’s elbow and forearm. Evans appeared to be conscious, though he was taken off the field in a stretcher and taken to hospital for evaluation.
Osuna is back on the Bucs’ roster for the second time this season, having already appeared in six games for the club before being optioned to the alternate camp on Thursday. Experienced at both corner infield and outfield positions, Osuna has shown flashes of promise over his 256 MLB games, and generated some roughly league-average offense (99 OPS+, 97 wRC+) with his .264/.310/.456 slash line and 10 home runs over 285 PA in 2019.
Waddell was only added to the Pirates’ 60-man player pool on Friday, and another transaction will be forthcoming in order for the Bucs to make room for him on their 40-man roster. The southpaw is set to make his Major League debut a little over five years after being selected out of the University of Virginia with a fifth-round pick in the 2015 draft. Waddell has a 4.12 ERA, 2.07 K/BB rate, and 8.0 K/9 over 478 innings in Pittsburgh’s farm system, starting 85 of his 115 games. It’s possible Waddell could just be getting a cup of coffee on the roster (like Mears) as the Pirates continue to cycle through pitchers, though the Bucs’ almost team-wide pitching struggles could provide opportunity for Waddell to gain a foothold in the big leagues.
Pirates Select Yacksel Rios
The Pirates have selected the contract of righty Yacksel Rios. Fellow right-hander Michael Feliz was moved to the 45-man injured list.
Rios was outrighted off of the 40-man roster in late June. The 27-year-old will now get another shot. He owns a 6.20 ERA through 65 1/3 total MLB frames over the past three seasons.
It’s obviously somewhat ominous news to see Feliz move right onto the lengthier injury list. He came down with forearm issues yesterday. Clearly, the team anticipates a rather lengthy absence for the 27-year-old.
Pirates Acquire Tyler Bashlor From Mets
The Pirates have acquired right-handed pitcher Tyler Bashlor from the Mets in exchange for cash considerations, reports Tim Healey of Newsday. The Pirates have designated LHP Robbie Erlin for assignment in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster.
Bashlor, 27, tossed 54 relief innings for the Mets between 2018-19. They were generally uninspiring, as he managed just a 5.33 ERA/6.18 FIP in that span. However, Bashlor averaged a strong 95.6 MPH on his four-seam fastball last season with top-of-the-scale spin. The Bucs will take a low-cost flier to see if they can translate those promising traits into a few more whiffs.
Erlin, meanwhile, managed only two relief appearances in Pittsburgh after breaking camp with the club. The Pirates will have a week to trade, release or outright the former Padre starter.
Pirates Place Mitch Keller, Michael Feliz On 10-Day Injured List
The Pirates placed right-handers Mitch Keller and Michael Feliz on the 10-day injured list, the club announced. Keller is dealing with left side discomfort while Feliz is suffering from right forearm discomfort. Right-hander Cody Ponce and southpaw Sam Howard were called up to fill the two spots on the 30-man active roster.
Keller and Feliz both left the Pirates’ 4-3 loss to the Cubs on Saturday. Keller tossed 2 2/3 innings before bouncing a pitch to Willson Contreras and promptly asked for a trainer visit to the mound before leaving the game. Feliz also made an immediate departure in the eighth inning, following a pitch to Jason Heyward.
Keller’s injury hints at a possible oblique strain, and even minor oblique problems have been known to sideline players for at least a couple of weeks. If the strain ends up being more severe, Keller’s entire season could possibly be in jeopardy. Feliz’s issue is perhaps even more ominous considering how forearm injuries can sometimes lead to Tommy John surgery, though he doesn’t have a past history of forearm or elbow issues.
Losing the two pitchers is a big hit to a Pirates team that is already short on reliable pitching options. In the bigger picture, Keller’s injury might also present a significant setback to one of the team’s top young assets, as Keller has been a consensus top-100 prospect for the last four years. He didn’t impress in his first Major League action last season (a 7.13 ERA over 48 innings), though the 24-year-old was still slated to be a major part of Pittsburgh’s rotation plans both in the present and in the future.
Feliz may still be best known for being part of the four-player package sent to the Pirates from the Astros in the January 2018 Gerrit Cole trade, though the righty quietly delivered some solid bottom-line numbers in 2019. Feliz posted a 3.99 ERA, 2.70 K/BB rate, and an 11.7 K/9 over 56 1/3 innings, having some problems with home runs (1.8 HR/9) but also limiting opposing batters to just a 29.2% hard-hit ball rate.
Both Ponce and Howard will be making their debuts on the Pirates’ roster. Howard posted a 5.87 ERA over 23 innings with the Rockies in 2018-19 before being claimed off waivers during the offseason. He moved exclusively to relief pitching in 2019 after mostly working as a starter in his five previous pro seasons in Colorado’s farm system, and Howard has also displayed some reverse-splits tendencies over his career.
In Ponce’s case, this will be his first time in the big leagues. A second-round pick for the Brewers in the 2015 draft, Ponce came to Pittsburgh as the return for Jordan Lyles last July, and Ponce owns a 3.83 ERA, 3.36 K/BB rate, and 8.0 K/9 over 418 2/3 minor league innings. He has worked as both a starter and reliever in the minors, so Ponce could potentially get some rotation work for the Bucs either as a proper starter or as part of a piggyback system.
Minor MLB Transactions: 7/28/20
Some of the latest minor transactions from around baseball…
- The Pirates selected left-hander Miguel Del Pozo on Tuesday, per a team announcement. The move accompanied injured list placements for two righties – Kyle Crick (lat muscle strain) and Clay Holmes (forearm strain) – as well as a recall for RHP Geoff Hartlieb. Del Pozo, who joined the Pirates on a minor league contract last offseason, was crushed in his major league debut with the Angels in 2019, when he allowed 11 earned runs on 10 hits in 9 1/3 innings. His woes continued Tuesday when he failed to retire any of the four Brewers he faced. Del Pozo walked three, gave up a double and was charged with two earned runs. The Pirates still came out on top, however, with Hartlieb as the winning pitcher.
- The Phillies announced that infielder Arquimedes Gamboa has cleared waivers and been outrighted off their 40-man roster. The 22-year-old has been part of the organization since 2015, and he’ll remain a Phillie after no one else claimed him. Gamboa, who has topped out in Double-A ball, owns a .213/.298/.296 line in 1,621 plate appearances in the minors.
Pirates Activate Gregory Polanco
The Pirates have activated outfielder Gregory Polanco from the injured list. To create space, the team optioned Jason Martin to the team’s alternate training site.
Polanco had been sidelined by COVID-19. Thankfully, it seems he has recovered and is back to full health.
The Bucs will be glad to see the outfielder back in action. He has looked at times like a potential star but struggled quite a bit while battling injuries in 2019. Polanco is owed $11MM next year with successive club options thereafter.