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Injury Notes: Dickerson, Whitlock, Gonsolin, Haniger, Slater

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Corey Dickerson left today’s game due to tightness in his left calf, and Nationals manager Davey Martinez told reporters (including Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com) that the outfielder will receive an MRI tomorrow.  This isn’t the first time that Dickerson has dealt with such an injury, as a strain in his left calf cost him about a month of Dickerson’s 2022 season with the Cardinals.

Washington signed Dickerson to a one-year, $2.25MM deal over the offseason, adding a left-handed veteran to their mix of right-handed hitting and mostly less-experienced young outfielders.  Dickerson was slated to get the bulk of work in left field whenever a righty starter was on the mound, and considering how the Nats are rebuilding, Dickerson will likely be shopped at the trade deadline if he is performing well.  Of course, staying healthy is the first step, and Dickerson and the Nationals can only hope that tomorrow’s MRI doesn’t reveal anything serious.

More on other injury situations from around the majors…

  • Garrett Whitlock made a Triple-A rehab start yesterday, and Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters (including The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey) that Whitlock is planned for one more outing with Double-A Portland on Thursday.  Assuming all goes well, the Sox would then activate Whitlock from the 15-day injured list for his next outing and his 2023 debut.  The right-hander needed a little more time to prepare following hip surgery last September, thus necessitating the IL visit at the start of the season.  The Red Sox are planning to use Whitlock as a full-time member of the starting rotation this year, after hip problems interrupted his first stint in the rotation in 2022.
  • Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya and other reporters that Tony Gonsolin is intended to throw a bullpen session on Sunday and then a live batting practice session at the team’s extended spring camp on Wednesday.  Gonsolin suffered an ankle sprain in early March and is expected to need until late April to return to the L.A. rotation, but the righty appears to be making good progress in recovery.
  • The Giants provided media (including MLB.com’s Maria I. Guardado) with several updates on injured players, including the news that Mitch Haniger and Austin Slater will both be re-evaluated this week in San Francisco when the Giants begin their first homestand of the year.  Both players began the season on the 10-day IL, with Haniger dealing with a Grade 1 oblique strain and Slater a hamstring strain.  A more concrete timetable might be known after next week’s check-ins, though the team did have some hope that Haniger (who suffered his strain on March 10) would be ready for Opening Day, and Slater was given an initial estimate of a 3-4 week recovery period.  Slater is starting to progress to baseball activities in his rehab, so it would appear he has a chance of returning within that initial window.

Giants Acquire Matt Beaty From Royals, Grant Stephen Piscotty His Release

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The Giants set their Opening Day roster, announcing that they’ve acquired first baseman/outfielder Matt Beaty from the Royals in exchange for cash and selected him directly to 40-man roster. He’ll be with the club for Opening Day. San Francisco also selected the contract of catcher Roberto Perez and granted non-roster outfielder Stephen Piscotty his release.

Additionally, the Giants optioned righty Sean Hjelle to Triple-A and placed outfielder Luis Gonzalez (back surgery) and lefty Thomas Szapucki (left arm neuropathy) on the 60-day injured list. Outfielders Mitch Haniger (oblique strain) and Austin Slater (hamstring strain) were placed on the 10-day injured list, and righty Luke Jackson (recovering from 2022 Tommy John surgery) has been placed on the 15-day injured list.

Beaty, 30 in April, was originally drafted by the Dodgers in 2015, so he and current Giants president of baseball ops Farhan Zaidi — formerly the Dodgers’ GM — overlapped in Los Angeles. He hit fairly well in parts of three seasons with L.A., batting .262/.333/.425 in 556 plate appearances, but a 2022 trade to the Padres didn’t yield the results San Diego hoped. In just 47 plate appearances last year, Beaty went 4-for-43 and drew just two walks, resulting in a .093/.170/.163 batting line. He signed a minor league deal with the Royals and hit .343/.378/.629 in 37 plate appearances.

Perez will join Joey Bart and Rule 5 pick Blake Sabol as catching options for manager Gabe Kapler, and he’ll in fact get the start in Opening Day (with Sabol lining up in left field). The 34-year-old is a premium defender behind the plate but has never provided much with the bat, outside of a 24-homer showing during 2019’s juiced-ball season. That season accounted for 24 of Perez’s 55 career home runs, and he’s batted just .171/.269/.295 in 97 games since that time. He opened the 2022 season as the Pirates’ primary catcher but wound up being limited to 21 games after a torn hamstring required season-ending surgery in May.

Piscotty, 32, had a big showing this spring, hitting .320/.270/.440, albeit in a small sample of 27 plate appearances. The longtime A’s outfielder has seen his production drop off in recent seasons, with just a .214/.270/.352 slash over the past three seasons. Injuries have played a significant role in that downturn, as Piscotty has time with ankle, wrist and calf issues along the way. His peak season came in 2018, when he batted .267/.331/.491 with a career-high 27 home runs for Oakland. He’ll now be free to explore other opportunities in free agency.

NL West Notes: Hudson, Nelson, Slater

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Dodgers reliever Daniel Hudson will begin the year on the injured list, per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic. The right-hander hasn’t pitched since June of last year, when a torn ACL ended his 2022 season early. It was reported a few weeks ago that he had also developed some ankle tendinitis over the winter. It seems he still has some work to do before getting back to health.

“There have been days where it’s just, I feel like a baby giraffe sometimes,” Hudson tells Ardaya. “Just trying to get my body — it just feels different — trying to get my body used to moving the way it did. Sometimes it just doesn’t feel like it’s moving the right way.”

Even after that torn ACL, the Dodgers had enough faith in Hudson to sign him to an extension late last year. That new deal effectively triggered their $6.5MM club option for 2023 but also added a $6.5MM club option for 2024, with incentives that could take the value up to $7.3MM. He made 25 appearances before the injury last year, posting a 2.22 ERA with a 30.9% strikeout rate, 5.2% walk rate and 53.4% ground ball rate. While the Dodgers would surely love to get that level of production back in their bullpen, it seems they will have to be patient. In the meantime, the high leverage innings will likely to go pitchers like Evan Phillips, Alex Vesia and Brusdar Graterol.

Some more notes from the National League West…

  • The Dodgers took a gamble on right-hander Jimmy Nelson by signing him to a $1.2MM major league deal recently. Over the past five years, he has generally been either injured or ineffective, but he did have one flash of brilliance in that time. In 29 innings in the 2021 season, he posted a 1.86 ERA while striking out 37.9% of batters faced. The control was definitely a concern, as he walked 11.2% of batters faced, but he was incredibly effective nonetheless. Unfortunately, Tommy John surgery in August wiped out the latter parts of that year and all of 2022. In ramping up for 2023, the control seems to be a problem once again, as he’s issued 11 walks in just five spring outings. Ardaya reports that the Dodgers are considering putting Nelson on the injured list to start the season in order to give him more time to get into a groove. Nelson has well over five years of service time and can’t be optioned without his consent, so an IL stint and rehab assignment could be a way to allow that to happen. It’s unclear whether Nelson is experiencing any kind of injury or soreness after the lost season, but he clearly needs to refine his command and the Dodgers would hardly be the first team to cite a vague injury in order to get a player on the injured list.
  • Giants outfielder Austin Slater was diagnosed with a strained hamstring on the weekend. While the club didn’t provide an estimated recovery timeline, Evan Webeck of The Mercury News reports that Slater was given a timeline of three-to-four weeks before he can return to play. With Opening Day now just over a week away, Slater will undoubtedly start the season on the injured list. This means the club will have at least two outfielders on the IL when the season begins, as Luis González will miss roughly the first half of the season due to back surgery. Mitch Haniger could make for a third outfielder on the shelf since he has an oblique strain, but it’s still unclear if he’ll be ready for Opening Day. This will test the club’s depth behind the likely front three of Mike Yastrzemski, Michael Conforto and Joc Pederson. In order to potentially address the issue, catcher Blake Sabol and infielder Brett Wisely have been getting more outfield reps of late. Webeck also mentions that Bryce Johnson is in the running. He’s a natural outfielder but isn’t currently on the roster, though he could potentially take the spot of Gonzalez, who is sure to be transferred to the 60-day IL at some point.

Austin Slater Suffers Strained Hamstring

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Giants outfielder Austin Slater has suffered a strained hamstring, manager Gabe Kapler told reporters, including Evan Webeck of Mercury News. It’s not known yet how this injury affects Slater’s status for Opening Day, now just 12 days away. Slater’s injury is another blow to the Giants’ outfield depth chart, with Mitch Haniger already recovering from an oblique strain and in doubt for Opening Day himself.

Haniger and Slater have not been officially ruled out of Opening Day, so it remains possible that both could feature. Yet should both miss time, the team’s depth in the outfield would take a bit of a hit. Joc Pederson, Michael Conforto and Mike Yastrzemski would likely line up as the starting three outfielders, likely opening up the DH spot for another option, such as J.D. Davis.

This development could also open the door for non-roster invitee Stephen Piscotty to make the team out of camp as a bench outfielder. The former Athletic and Cardinal has had a solid spring, slashing .333/.391/.476 going into Saturday’s games. It’s been a few seasons since he was an above-average MLB player, but he could give the Giants a solid veteran option until Slater and/or Haniger return. Rule 5 pick Blake Sabol might’ve been another option for the Giants as he spent time in the outfield in the minors, but it’s been reported that they view him as strictly a catcher.

Slater, 30, slashed .264/.366/.408 with seven home runs for the Giants last season. He appeared in 125 games last season, largely handling center field but also spending time in the corners. The signings of Conforto and Haniger looked set to relegate him to a bench role this season, but the latter’s oblique strain had initially made him a good chance to start on Opening Day.

Quick Hits: Rangers, Slater, Groshans, Cabrera

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The start of spring training always brings plenty of reports of players experiencing ’tightness’ or ’discomfort’, and while many of those wind up being rather minor, the Rangers in particular are dealing with plenty of seemingly minor ailments this spring, as Levi Weaver of The Athletic reports.

Star winter signing Jacob deGrom was experiencing left-side tightness early in camp, but is scheduled to now throw his first live bullpen session on Wednesday, as Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports. Fellow off-season recruit Nathan Eovaldi is also experiencing some left-side tightness, and is taking a few days off. Jon Gray was a late scratch from Friday’s spring game with back tightness, while Jake Odorizzi is dealing with arm fatigue and is a bit behind in his schedule. It doesn’t stop there, as Jose LeClerc and Owen White are both feeling neck tightness.

There doesn’t appear to be a great deal of concern within the Rangers, and instead it seems the team is just being extra cautious so early in the spring. “When we started spring, in addressing the pitchers especially, we said, ‘Hey, in the early part here, let us know. Anything going on, we don’t want any major setbacks. We can back off at this time.’ Spring training can be pretty long, so in the early part, you’re going to be a little bit more cautious,” manager Bruce Bochy said Friday.

Here’s some more bits and pieces from around baseball:

  • Austin Slater had an MRI on his elbow but it came back clear, according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. The Giants announced during the week that Slater would rest for a week with elbow neuritis. The news that the MRI is clear is certainly a positive one for Slater, and it seems it won’t be long before he’s able to make his spring debut for the team. Slater hit .242/.337/.392 with seven home runs across 259 plate appearances for San Francisco last season, and looks set to serve as a bench bat for the Giants with Joc Pederson, Mitch Haniger, Michael Conforto and Mike Yastrzemski to get the bulk of the outfield reps.
  • The Marlins are giving youngster Jordan Groshans time at first base this spring, as Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald reports. Groshans typically handled the other infield spots coming up through the minors, and spent just 40 previous innings at first. Groshans is on the fringes of cracking Miami’s opening day roster, but if he can show he can handle first adequately it would certainly provide a boost to his chances. A first round pick by the Blue Jays in 2018, Groshans came over to the Marlins in the Anthony Bass deal last year. He got a brief cup of coffee in the big leagues, hitting .262/.308/.311 across 65 plate appearances. With Garrett Cooper, Joey Wendle, Luis Arraez and Jean Segura fairly well locked in as Miami’s infield starters, there’s no obvious path to a starting job there but the Marlins bench is a lot less certain, providing Groshans with a solid chance to stick on the active roster to begin the season.
  • Speaking of positional changes, the Yankees are planning to give Oswaldo Cabrera some time in center field this spring, Aaron Boone told the YES Network’s broadcast during today’s game against the Rays. Cabrera impressed during his rookie year, posting a respectable .247/.312/.429 line with six home runs across 171 plate appearances. Yet it was his defense that really stood out, as Cabrera, an infielder for almost all of his career, took to the outfield extremely well, earning nine Defensive Runs Saved for his work on the grass. That’s put him firmly in the race with Aaron Hicks, Estevan Florial and Rafael Ortega to be the Yankees’ opening day left fielder. It does seem more likely he winds up in a utility role though, covering the infield, corner outfield spots, and now, perhaps, center field.

Austin Slater Shut Down Due To Elbow Injury

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The Giants announced to reporters, including Maria I. Guardado of MLB.com, a few health updates on players in camp. One of those updates was that outfielder Austin Slater has right elbow neuritis and will not throw or hit for a week, after which he will be re-evaluated. Slated has yet to appear in a game this spring after being scratched from the club’s opener.

At this point, it’s unclear how long the club expects Slater to be out of action. It will surely depend on how things progress over the next week of inactivity. At that point, there will only be about three weeks until Opening Day. Even if the week of rest gets Slater back to health, he will have a short ramp-up before the regular season gets underway.

Slater, 30, has emerged as a key piece of the Giants’ roster in recent years. Over the past three seasons, he’s hit 24 home runs and stolen 35 bases. He struck out in 26.5% of his plate appearances but also drew walks at an 11.4% clip. His .256/.353/.428 batting line in that time amounts to a 118 wRC+, indicating he’s been 18% better than league average.

Defensively, he’s spent time in all three outfield spots but has primarily been deployed up the middle over the past two seasons, with advanced defensive metrics split on his effectiveness there. Defensive Runs Saved is the most bearish, giving him -9 last year. Ultimate Zone Rating also had him in the negative range but Outs Above Average comes in at +2 over 2021 and 2022 combined.

The Giants should have a different outfield mix this year, as they signed both Mitch Haniger and Michael Conforto, in addition to re-signing Joc Pederson. Those three were likely going to cover the corners and the designated hitter slot, leaving the right-handed-hitting Slater and lefty Mike Yastrzemski to platoon in center. Slater has been noticeably better against southpaws in his career, producing a line of .285/.377/.468 for a wRC+ of 132. Against righties, his line is .227/.313/.336 and a wRC+ of 82. As for Yaz, he’s hit .247/.334/.485 against righties for a 120 wRC+ in his career but has a line of .227/.303/.406 and a 93 wRC+ against lefties.

If Slater needs to miss some time, it will leave Yaz alone in center. That should be fine in the short-term, even if it makes it harder for the club to shield him from lefties. But it would leave the Giants thin at the position overall, since Luis González is out with a lower back strain and won’t be ready for Opening Day. Conforto and Haniger have some center field experience but neither since 2019. Given they’ve each dealt with significant injuries since then, it’s unlikely the club would want to throw them into the more-demanding position. Pederson also has experience there but grades as a poor fielder even in a corner. Heliot Ramos is on the 40-man but struggled badly at the plate last year. Bryce Johnson is in camp as a non-roster invitee though he also didn’t hit much last year either.

If the club ultimately deems it necessary to look outside the organization for some extra center field depth, players like Albert Almora and Jackie Bradley Jr. are still available in free agency. While Bradley hits left-handed, Almora’s right-handed bat could potentially platoon with Yaz.

NL West Notes: Drury, Slater, Gilbreath

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The Padres placed infielder Brandon Drury on the seven-day concussion injured list, retroactive to September 3, prior to today’s matchup with the Diamondbacks. Catcher Jorge Alfaro has been activated from the 10-day IL to take the vacated active roster spot. Drury was hit in the head by a Dustin May curveball on Friday. He remained on the active roster over the weekend but hasn’t played since then, and he’s apparently still battling concussion-like symptoms. The 30-year-old is eligible to return as soon as Saturday, although his specific recovery timetable is unclear.

Acquired as part of San Diego’s massive trade deadline, Drury has struggled through his first month in Southern California. While he’s connected on five home runs as a Padre (including a grand slam in his first at-bat), he’s hitting only .220 with a .262 on-base percentage over 107 plate appearances since the trade. That’s a notable dip from the excellent .274/.335/.520 line he posted through the first four months of the year as a member of the Reds. Despite the drop in production, Drury has remained an everyday player for a Friars team battling for a Wild Card spot. The season’s final month is also important for him personally, as he’s slated to hit the open market at the end of the year.

Let’s check in on a couple other injury situations within the division:

  • The Giants placed outfielder Austin Slater on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to yesterday, with a left hand sprain. Reliever Yunior Marte is up from Triple-A Sacramento to take the roster spot. Part of a matchup-heavy outfield in San Francisco, Slater has emerged as a highly productive role player when in the lineup for manager Gabe Kapler. He’s hitting .267/.378/.396 over 286 plate appearances this season, his third straight above-average campaign. The righty-hitting Slater carries a .257/.357/.424 line dating back to the start of 2020, including a massive .284/.389/.497 showing against left-handed pitching. Luis González has been in the lineup each of the past four days as Slater has nursed the injury that’ll now send him to the IL.
  • Rockies reliever Lucas Gilbreath is being shut down for the season, reports Danielle Allentuck of the Colorado Springs Gazette (Twitter link). The left-hander is on the injured list with a flexor strain in his throwing elbow, and he’s headed for a platelet-rich plasma injection. Allentuck adds that Gilbreath’s offseason work will be delayed by the issue, but the expectation is that he’ll avoid surgery and should be ready for Spring Training. Gilbreath has been a trusted relief option for skipper Bud Black this year, getting into 47 games and working 43 innings. He posted a 4.19 ERA with above-average strikeout (26.2%) and ground-ball (46.7%) marks, but he battled some control inconsistency.

Giants Designate Stuart Fairchild For Assignment, Option Sean Hjelle, Reinstate Austin Slater

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The Giants have made a number of roster moves today, optioning Sean Hjelle to Triple-A, reinstating Austin Slater from the injured list, and designating Stuart Fairchild for assignment, per John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter). In addition, Sam Delaplane was added to the 40-man roster and assigned to Class A San Jose. Delaplane is rehabbing from Tommy John surgery.

Slater is the biggest name here in terms of experience. The 29-year-old outfielder was off to a solid start to the season through 34 games before being placed on the injured list. Slater returns to the active roster boasting a .250/.388/.391 triple-slash line through 80 plate appearances. The on-base percentage jumps off the page, buoyed by a solid 18.8 percent walk rate against a 26.3 percent strikeout rate. With just a 10.5 percent walk rate for his career, Slater showed improved discipline thus far, though in a small sample.

The towering 6’11” Hjelle logged four innings while giving up two earned runs in his first bit of Major League action. The former 2nd round pick has served exclusively as a starter in Triple-A, making nine starts with a 5.49 ERA over 41 innings. Baseball America rates Hjelle as the Giants’ 20th-ranked prospect.

Fairchild has already seen time this season with the Mariners and Giants after being drafted by the Reds and making his Major League debut with the Diamondbacks. Fairchild can play all three outfield spots. The 26-year-old outfielder will now be available to the other 29 teams through waivers.

Tender Deadline Signings: 11/30/21

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With the deadline to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players looming tonight at 8pm ET — the MLBPA and MLB jointly agreed to move the deadline up a couple days due to the looming expiration of the collective bargaining agreement — we’ll likely see a slew of arbitration-eligible players signing one-year deals.

It’s commonplace for a large batch of players to sign deals in the hours leading up to the tender deadline. “Pre-tender” deals of this nature often fall shy of projections due to the fact that teams use the looming threat of a non-tender to enhance their leverage. Arbitration contracts at this juncture are often take-it-or-leave-it propositions, with the “leave it” end of that arrangement resulting in the player being cut loose. Given the widely expected lockout, there could be more incentive than usual for borderline non-tender candidates to take those offers rather than being cast out into free agency just hours before a transaction freeze is implemented.

As a reminder, arbitration contracts are not fully guaranteed. In a typical year, a team can cut a player on an arb contract at any point before the halfway point in Spring Training and only be responsible for 30 days’ termination pay (about one-sixth of the contract). Releasing a player in the second half of Spring Training bumps the termination pay to 45 days of his prorated salary.

MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected salaries for each team’s arbitration-eligible players last month, although for many of the players listed below, this isn’t so much avoiding arbitration as it is avoiding a non-tender. Here’s a look at today’s agreements…

  • The Yankees have agreed to deals with infielder Gio Urshela and right-hander Domingo German, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (Twitter links). Urshela will make $6.55MM, while German has agreed to a $1.75MM deal. Urshela has two seasons of control remaining; German is controllable for three years. Urshela is coming off a .267/.301/.419 showing while playing third base and shortstop. German tossed 98 1/3 innings of 4.58 ERA ball.
  • The Twins have signed three arbitration-eligible pitchers, per reports from Feinsand and Darren Wolfson of SKOR North (on Twitter). Right-hander Jharel Cotton signed for $700K, reliever Caleb Thielbar lands $1.3MM and reliever Tyler Duffey signs for $3.8MM. Thielbar and Duffey were both productive members of the Minnesota relief corps in 2021. Cotton was recently claimed off waivers from the Rangers.
  • The Giants have agreed to terms with outfielder Austin Slater on a $1.85MM deal, reports Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic (Twitter link). The 28-year-old (29 next month) appeared at all three spots on the grass while hitting .241/.320/.423 over 306 plate appearances in 2021.
  • Reliever Emilio Pagan and the Padres have agreed on a $2.3MM deal, reports Rosenthal (on Twitter). The 30-year-old worked 63 1/3 innings of 4.83 ERA/3.93 SIERA ball this past season.
  • The Diamondbacks agreed to a $2MM deal with left-hander Caleb Smith, reports Zach Buchanan of the Athletic (via Twitter). The 30-year-old posted a 4.83 ERA/4.68 SIERA across 113 2/3 innings in a swing capacity in 2021.

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Giants Activate Wilmer Flores, Austin Slater

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The Giants have activated Wilmer Flores and Austin Slater from the injured list, and both players are in today’s starting lineup against the Cubs.  Right-hander John Brebbia and left-hander Caleb Baragar were optioned to Triple-A to create roster room.

Slater is back after spending a week on the concussion-related IL.  Back on September 4, the outfielder was concussed after crashing into the wall while trying to catch a Trea Turner home run.  Fortunately, Slater is back in pretty short order, and he’ll resume his part-time role on San Francisco’s depth chart.  Slater has hit .227/.313/.395 over 288 total plate appearances this season, with much of that damage coming against southpaws — Slater has a .263/.364/.480 slash line and eight home runs in 176 PA against left-handed pitching.

Flores also has a well-earned reputation as a lefty-masher, though he has a comparatively modest .273/.316/.438 slash line in 136 PA against southpaws this year.  Between that production and similar numbers against righties, Flores is batting .249/.319/.438 with 17 homers in 389 total PA in 2021.

After suffering a left hamstring strain on September 2, Flores is back after missing only the minimum 10 days, beating manager Gabe Kapler’s initial expectation that Flores would be out “a couple of weeks.”  Hamstring injuries have been a persistent issue for Flores for much of the year, and he also missed 10 days with a right hamstring strain in May.

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