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IL Transactions: Matz, VerHagen, Lynch, De Jong

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The Cardinals activated left-hander Steven Matz off the 15-day injured list today, as Matz was slated to start the Cardinals’ game against the Reds before the contest was rained out.  Matz will now have to wait until after the All-Star break to make his official return to the field, as he has been sidelined since May 22 due to a shoulder impingement.  With the Cards in need of rotation help, a healthy and effective Matz would be a major boost to the team, as both sides must hope that this two-month absence can essentially be a restart on Matz’s season.  After signing a four-year, $44MM free agent deal with St. Louis in November, Matz stumbled out of the gate with a 6.03 ERA over his first 37 1/3 innings in a Cardinals uniform.

To create room on the active roster, St. Louis placed right-hander Drew VerHagen on the 15-day IL with a right hip impingement.  A similar injury sent VerHagen to the injured list for a little over three weeks earlier this season, and the righty was just activated from another IL stint (due to shoulder problems) earlier this week.  With all of these health issues, it perhaps isn’t surprising that VerHagen has only a 6.65 ERA over 21 2/3 innings, with walks and home runs being particular issues for the 31-year-old.  VerHagen is another offseason signing for the Cards, joining the team on a two-year, $5.5MM deal after spending the previous two seasons pitching in Japan.

More comings and goings off the injured list from around the league…

  • The Royals placed left-hander Daniel Lynch on the 15-day IL, as Lynch is again dealing with a blister problem.  Lynch had already been sent to the IL with that same blister issue on June 24, and he was activated earlier this week and made two abbreviated starts before returning to the sidelines.  It has been a difficult season for Lynch, who has a 5.05 ERA and a wealth of troubling Statcast metrics over 15 starts and 71 1/3 innings.  Lynch’s IL placement was part of a busy day of roster moves for the Royals, who sent 10 players (Angel Zerpa, Nick Pratto, Gabe Speier, Collin Snider, Brewer Hicklen, Michael Massey, Freddy Fermin, Nate Eaton to Triple-A; Sebastian Rivero and Maikel Garcia to Double-A) to the minors in the aftermath of their series in Toronto.  This clears the way for the return of 10 Kansas City players, who were placed on the restricted list due to their non-vaccinated status.
  • The Pirates placed righty Chase De Jong on the 15-day IL due to tendinitis in his left knee, and Bryse Wilson (today’s starting pitcher against the Rockies) was called up from Triple-A in the corresponding move.  Another knee injury is perhaps a red flag for De Jong, who underwent surgery on that same left knee last year.  The surgery cut short De Jong’s first season in Pittsburgh, but after signing another minor league deal with the Bucs this past winter, De Jong has rebounded to post a 2.06 ERA over 35 relief innings in 2022.

Royals Add Nick Pratto, Seven Others To Major League Roster

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The Royals announced Thursday that they’ve recalled top first base prospect Nick Pratto from Triple-A Omaha as one of eight players joining the Major League roster. Also coming to the Majors are catcher Sebastian Rivero, infielder Maikel Garcia and lefty Angel Zerpa, who’ve been recalled from Double-A Arkansas. Additionally, the Royals selected the contracts of infielder/outfielder Nate Eaton, catcher Freddy Fermin, outfielder Brewer Hicklen and infielder Michael Massey from Omaha.

The deluge of additions comes in conjunction with the previously announced slate of ten current Royals heading to the restricted list in advance of the team’s road series against the Blue Jays, where travel restrictions prevent unvaccinated athletes from entering Canada. Andrew Benintendi, Dylan Coleman, Hunter Dozier, Cam Gallagher, Kyle Isbel, Brad Keller, MJ Melendez, Whit Merrifield, Brady Singer and Michael A. Taylor are all now formally on the restricted list.

As MLB.com’s Anne Rogers tweets, the roster spots of starting pitchers placed on the restricted list (i.e. Singer, Keller) cannot be filled until four days after they last pitched, per MLB rules, which explains the discrepancy between eight players being added versus the ten who went on the restricted list.

The Royals indicated in today’s announcement that they expect to add “up to two more players” to the big league roster over the course of the series. They’ll make another addition tomorrow and another on Sunday. Any players whose contracts were selected to the 40-man roster for this series can be returned to Triple-A without first needing to clear waivers, due to their status as Covid-19-related replacements.

Pratto’s promotion is the most notable of the bunch. The 14th overall pick in the 2017 draft, the California high school product slowly progressed up the minor league ladder. He had an awful 2019 showing in High-A, and the cancelation of the following minor league season dealt his prospect stock a hit heading into 2021. The lefty hitter rebounded in a huge way last year, blasting 36 home runs in a season split between the minors top two levels. That came with some alarming strikeout numbers, but Pratto’s combination of power and huge walk totals was enough to put him firmly in top prospect consideration. He entered the season as Baseball America’s #43 overall farmhand.

Assigned to Omaha to open this year, Pratto has essentially picked up where he left off. He’s hit 17 more longballs and drawn walks at a massive 15.1% clip, but he’s fanned in over 30% of his trips to the plate. The end result — a .240/.374/.484 line through 337 plate appearances — is still excellent. The Royals nevertheless brought up fellow top prospect Vinnie Pasquantino ahead of Pratto, seemingly preferring he get a long leash to iron out the strikeout concerns in the upper minors. It’s very possible he’ll head back to Omaha after the Jays’ series, but Kansas City fans will at least get their first glimpse at a player they hope eventually develops into a middle-of-the-order bat.

It’ll almost certainly be a brief stint for the group of players temporarily added to the 40-man roster. Hicklen was called up briefly as a COVID replacement earlier in the season. Fermin, Massey and Eaton all have opportunities to make their big league debuts in the coming days. Fermin, a former international signee out of Venezuela, is hitting .242/.357/.422 with Omaha this season.

Massey, a fourth-round pick out of Illinois in 2019, was recently named the #8 prospect in the Kansas City system by Baseball America. He owns a .348/.408/.630 line with six homers in 24 games since being bumped up to Omaha last month, and he’ll almost certainly land a permanent 40-man roster spot by next offseason (when Kansas City would need to add him to keep him from being selected in the Rule 5 draft). Eaton is a former 21st-round pick out of VMI. BA recently slotted him 29th in the farm system in recognition of his .329/.388/.591 showing with the Storm Chasers.

Royals Place Zack Greinke On 15-Day Injured List

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The Royals announced a flurry of roster moves this afternoon, adding four players (outfielder Kyle Isbel, right-handers Arodys Vizcaino and Jose Cuas, and left-hander Foster Griffin) to the active roster, sending three (left-hander Gabe Speier and right-handers Matt Peacock and Zack Greinke) to the injured list, and returning one (outfielder Brewer Hicklen) to Triple-A Omaha.  Of the four activated, Isbel was reinstated from the injured list, Griffin was recalled from Triple-A, and Vizcaino and Cuas were each selected from Triple-A, meaning that they were also added to the club’s 40-man roster.

Greinke is the only one of the three IL players who is going to the 15-day IL with a designated issue, implying that Peacock and Speier are on the COVID-related injury list.  Isbel had also been on the COVID list due to virus symptoms, though it ended up being a non-COVID illness that sidelined the outfielder for four days.

Greinke is suffering from a right flexor strain, and the veteran righty recently told MLB.com’s Anne Rogers and other reporters that he has been dealing with related soreness for “a little bit.”  While any injury in the forearm or elbow area is a red flag, Greinke added that he has been dealing with some degree of elbow problems for years, so it’s possible that a 15-day absence might be all it takes for Greinke to heal up.

The injury could explain Greinke’s lack of success in his last four starts, as the former Cy Young Award winner has a 9.50 ERA in his last 18 innings of work.  His ERA now sits at 5.05 over 51 2/3 innings, with only a minuscule 11.2% strikeout rate.  Between this lack of whiffs and a lot of hard contact allowed, there isn’t much to like about Greinke’s numbers apart from his typically excellent walk rate (4.5%).

Vizcaino is on the verge of his first MLB appearance since the 2019 season, when he tossed four innings for the Braves before undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery.  The veteran didn’t return to the field at all until 2021, when he tossed 7 2/3 innings with the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate, and Vizcaino then inked a minor league with the Royals this past winter.

After essentially three full years off, it’s hard to know what to expect from Vizcaino in his return to the Show, though he was a very capable bullpen arm for Atlanta in his heyday.  He has also looked quite good with Triple-A Omaha, posting a 1.76 ERA and 29.7% strikeout rate in 15 1/3 innings.  Vizcaino’s 9.4% walk rate is a little on the high side, but actually an improvement over his career 10.8% walk rate at the big league level.

The 27-year-old Cuas has finally reached the majors after a pro career that has seen him bounce around the minors and independent leagues, and change his position entirely from infielder to pitcher.  An 11th-round draft pick by the Brewers in 2015, Cuas wasn’t getting anywhere as a position player, but his fortunes changed after converting to relief pitching in 2018.  Over 126 2/3 career innings in the minors, Cuas has a 2.63 ERA, with a sidearm delivery and a sinker-slider combo that induces a lot of grounders and a good amount (22.22%) of strikeouts.

Royals Place Amir Garrett, Kyle Isbel On Injured List

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The Royals announced a series of roster moves today, with left-handed pitcher Amir Garrett and outfielder Kyle Isbel both going on the injured list. No designation was given for their IL placement, which suggests they are going on the COVID-related IL. Right-hander Dylan Coleman has been recalled to take one of the spots on the active roster, with outfielder Brewer Hicklen’s contract being selected for the other.

After previously spending his entire career with the Reds, Garrett was sent to KC in a March trade and has thrown 13 2/3 innings for his new team with a 4.61 ERA. It’s been a strange campaign for the southpaw so far, as his 29.1% strikeout rate is fairly similar to last year’s mark, but his walk rate has shot up to 20%. That’s much higher than his 13.5% mark last year, which was already above league average. He’s been able to limit the damage due to not allowing a homer yet on the year and also having an unsustainable .148 BABIP. With Garrett out, Gabe Speier is now the only lefty in the team’s bullpen.

Isbel got his first taste of the big leagues last year, hitting  .276/.337/.434 for a 109 wRC+ in 28 games. He’s taken a step back this season, with his line currently sitting at .276/.295/.345, 84 wRC+. He and Michael A. Taylor have gotten most of the center field starts this year, but both are now on the COVID-IL. Dairon Blanco was selected to the roster last week to replace Taylor, with Isbel now being replaced by Hicklen.

No indication was given as to whether Garrett or Isbel has tested positive for COVID. Players can be placed on the COVID-related IL for positive tests, experiencing symptoms or for contract tracing purposes. Under the league’s 2022 health-and-safety protocols, players who test positive are subject to a 10-day absence from the club. It’s possible to be reinstated in less time if the player has gone 24 or more hours without a fever, received a pair of negative PCR tests, and been given approval from a team physician and the MLB/MLBPA joint committee (a panel of one league-appointed and one union-appointed physician).

Hicklen, 26, was selected by the club in the seventh round of the 2017 draft. After some strong performances in the minors, he got himself onto the radar of prospect watchers, with Baseball America putting him on their list of the top 30 KC prospects in 2019 and the following two years as well. Last year, he reached Double-A for the first time, putting up a line of .243/.346/.434. That amounts to a wRC+ of 110, though his best asset is his speed, as evidenced by his 40 steals last year. This year, he got the bump to Triple-A and has hit .266/.350/.455 for a wRC+ of 117, though his already-high strikeout rate has jumped up to 38.8%. The speed is still there, though, as he’s already swiped 11 bags in 42 games. He’s in the Royals’ lineup tonight, batting ninth and playing center field, making his major league debut.

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