NL Central Notes: Martinez, Hamels, Diaz
Carlos Martinez‘s right shoulder is a major source of uncertainty for the Cardinals right now, as the righty was in camp with his arm in a sling yesterday following a platelet-rich plasma injection. Martinez was already halfway through a two-week shutdown when he received the injection, and the Cardinals indicated yesterday that said injection could push his timeline for throwing back another week. There’s been ample talk of Martinez pitching in a relief capacity this season, but Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch quotes Martinez as plainly and confidently stating, “I’m going to start, man.” Because Martinez won’t resume throwing until mid-March, it seems virtually impossible for him to build up to a starter’s workload by the team’s season opener on March 28. As such, if there is indeed a plan for Martinez to work in the rotation, he’d need to start the season on the injured list. As Hummel writes, that’d open the door for one of Dakota Hudson or Austin Gomber to step into the starting five to begin the season. Manager Mike Shildt praised both Hudson and Gomber when discussing potential rotation options with Hummel.
Elsewhere in the NL Central…
- Asked about his future in the game Wednesday, Cubs lefty Cole Hamels told a flock of reporters that he has zero intention of retiring anytime soon (Twitter link via MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand). There’s been little reason to think that Hamels, who just turned 35 in December, would give serious consideration to retirement, but his answer was nonetheless entertaining and telling of his goals. Hamels gave a blunt “Hell no!” when asked if he’s considered retirement and voiced a desire to play until he’s 45 years old, noting that he was a teammate of ageless wonder Jamie Moyer early in his career. Hamels had a rocky start to the season with the Rangers in 2018 but was revitalized by a trade to Chicago, as he pitched to a brilliant 2.36 ERA with 8.7 K.9, 2.7 BB/9, 0.7 HR/9 and a 47.7 percent grounder rate in 76 1/3 innings with the Cubs (12 starts).
- Pirates catcher Elias Diaz is battling a viral illness, and it’s questionable whether he’ll be ready for Opening Day, as Nubyjas Wilborn of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes. Pirates director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk said that Diaz will be shut down from baseball activity for “a couple of weeks.” The 28-year-old Diaz quietly enjoyed somewhat of a breakout season in 2018, hitting .286/.339/.452 with 10 homers and a dozen doubles in just 277 plate appearances. He’s still firmly behind Francisco Cervelli on the team’s depth chart, but with Cervelli entering the final season of his current contract, the 2019 campaign could be a proving grounds for Diaz as he eyes the starter’s job in 2019. Presumably, 29-year-old Jacob Stallings would serve as Cervelli’s backup early in the year if Diaz isn’t ready to go, as he’s the only other catcher on Pittsburgh’s 40-man roster. The Bucs have minor league veteran Steven Baron in camp on a minor league deal as well.
Central Notes: Martinez, Braun, Diaz, Twins
A few notes from MLB’s Central divisions as the majority of tonight’s games come to a close…
- Cardinals right-hander Carlos Martinez will not be investigated by the league in connection to the civil lawsuit that has reportedly been filed against him by a Florida woman, reports ESPN’s Mark Saxon. Per Saxon’s source, Martinez’s case falls outside of the domestic violence policy’s jurisdiction, and beyond that, no police report was ever filed in connection with the matter. Martinez tells Saxon that he doesn’t consider the issue to be a distraction, noting that it’ll be handled by his agent and his lawyer.
- On the heels of a recent Ken Rosenthal report pertaining to Ryan Braun‘s potential trade candidacy, Fangraphs’ Dave Cameron speculates on a handful of clubs that could make sense as a trade partner for the Brewers. The Red Sox, White Sox and Nationals, Cameron opines, are the three best fits for Braun, though there are reasons that each club would struggle to fit Braun into the books and onto the roster. Cameron makes a reasonable case for each team, noting that Braun would deepen Boston’s bench by pushing Brock Holt to a super-utility role, and he’d be an upgrade in Chicago as well, where Avisail Garcia is effectively a replacement-level placeholder on a win-now club. Cameron concedes that the Nationals are somewhat of a stretch, but it’s hard to argue with Braun serving as an upgrade over Jayson Werth and/or Ryan Zimmerman, and pairing him with Bryce Harper in the middle of the lineup would give the Nats an imposing middle of the order duo.
- The Pirates announced earlier this week that top catching prospect Elias Diaz would undergo surgery on his right elbow, but there were no further details and no timeline provided by the club. MLB.com’s Adam Berry adds some context to the report, tweeting that Diaz underwent a debridement of his throwing elbow and is currently expected to miss seven to nine weeks while recovering from the injury. While that’s still bad news for the organization, it’s fortuitous that Diaz’s ulnar collateral ligament remained intact and that he seemingly has a strong chance of returning before the 2016 season comes to a close.
- The Twins got a first-hand look at Luke Gregerson as he closed out an Astros win over them last night, but Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports that Minnesota wasn’t far off from seeing quite a bit more of Gregerson. The right-hander tells Berardino that the Twins pursued him heavily as a free agent in the 2014-15 offseason prior to his signing with Houston. Gregerson, of course, wouldn’t comment on the specifics of Minnesota’s offer, but he did tell Berardino that the Twins came “pretty close” to Houston’s offer of $18.5MM over a three-year term. The tipping point for Gregerson, it would seem, may have been Houston’s willingness to let him serve as the team’s closer, which he said made their offer “hard to pass up.” Said Gregerson: “I think if the situation was a little different, I think it would have definitely been able to work out. I’m happy where I ended up.”
Injury Notes: Zych, Perez, Diaz, Orioles, Skaggs
The Mariners announced tonight that right-hander Tony Zych has been placed on the disabled list due to right shoulder tendinitis (retroactive to May 2). In his place, Steve Johnson‘s contract has been selected from Triple-A Tacoma. The loss of Zych is significant for the Mariners, as the 25-year-old has quietly been a dominant relief arm in the Majors since being recalled last season. In 30 1/3 innings at the Major League level, Zych has posted a 2.67 ERA, 12.8 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 with a 51.5 percent ground-ball rate. While he’s far from a household name, Zych has averaged 95.7 mph on his heater in the Majors and rates 14th among MLB pitchers (min. 30 innings) in terms of K%-BB% dating back to last season. There’s yet to be any word on the length of his absence, and manager Scott Servais said today (via the Tacoma News Tribune’s Bob Dutton, on Twitter) that Zych is returning to Seattle to have his shoulder examined. A corresponding 40-man roster move was not necessary due to yesterday’s outright of right-hander Joe Wieland.
Some other notable injury news from around the league…
- Indians catcher Roberto Perez suffered a fractured thumb while making a tag at the plate on Odubel Herrera over the weekend, and he now faces the possibility of surgery, writes MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian. The team will wait three days before having Perez’s hand re-evaluated, which will let the swelling around the thumb subside and lead to a clearer analysis of the injury. Manager Terry Francona offered a somewhat optimistic outlook, telling the media that a surgical procedure might not come with a considerably lengthier recovery timeline than a simple rest-and-rehab approach. Adam Moore has been called up from Triple-A to serve as the backup to Yan Gomes in the meantime, and if Cleveland is on the lookout for additional catching depth, Texas did designate former Indians backstop Chris Gimenez for assignment earlier today.
- The Pirates will lose one of their top prospects, catcher Elias Diaz, to right elbow surgery, per a club announcement. As Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes, the club didn’t disclose the type of operation, though he notes that Diaz has previously been dealing with pain on the lateral side of his right (throwing) elbow. Both the club and Diaz himself have said previously that they don’t believe his ulnar collateral ligament is an issue, which would take Tommy John surgery off the table. Diaz, it would appear, had the surgery earlier today, as he shared a post-op photo with Dr. James Andrews on his Instagram.
- Neither J.J. Hardy nor the Orioles are publicly putting a timeline on his recovery from a fractured left foot, writes CSN Mid-Atlantic’s Rich Dubroff. Per Dubroff, Hardy will be in a walking boot for the next two to three weeks, which would seem to make the shorter end of the reported four to eight week recovery timetable seem a bit aggressive. As Hardy explains to Dubroff, he didn’t initially believe the injury to be serious after fouling a ball into his left foot. However, as the game progressed, his foot tightened up and the pain worsened.
- Also of note for Orioles fans: Dubroff tweets that left-handed reliever Jeff Beliveau, signed to a minor league deal this offseason while recovering from shoulder surgery, has been activated and assigned to Baltimore’s Class-A Advanced affiliate to begin his progression back to consideration for the big league roster. Beliveau, 29, posted a 2.63 ERA in 24 innings with the division-rival Rays back in 2014 but has scarcely pitched since that time due to a torn labrum. The Orioles believe he can help the big league club later this year, Dubroff adds.
- Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times tweets that an examination of Angels left-hander Tyler Skaggs confirmed that the rehabbing southpaw is dealing with tendinitis in his biceps. Skaggs, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery, won’t throw for a week and will be re-evaluated at that time to see if he can begin his rehab work.
NL Central Notes: Diaz, Kang, Cards, Hazelbaker, Cubs
The Pirates have shut down top catching prospect Elias Diaz due to concern over lingering soreness in his right elbow, tweets Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Diaz is seeking “multiple opinions” on the injury, but as Stephen J. Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tweets, there’s concern about structural damage. The 25-year-old Diaz spent last season at Triple-A Indianapolis, where he batted .271/.330/.382 in 363 plate appearances. Baseball America, MLB.com and Keith Law of ESPN rank Diaz as the Pirates’ No. 10, No. 8 and No. 14 prospect, respectively. Each of the scouting reports notes that his defensive prowess gives him a high floor, but his bat, too, has come around recently and given him a chance to be an everyday catcher at the Major League level.
More from the NL Central…
- There’s better news on injured Pirates infielder Jung Ho Kang, as MLB.com’s Adam Berry tweets. Kang has been cleared to play extended Spring Training games without any restrictions or limitations. He’s played five innings on consecutive days to this point but can now take his progress another step further. Kang is recovering from torn ligaments in his knee suffered late in the 2015 campaign when he was injured on a takeout slide by then-Cubs utilityman Chris Coghlan.
- Turning to another Diaz within the NL Central, MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch writes that the strong early play of Aledmys Diaz has probably taken away some playing time from Spring Training signee Ruben Tejada, who is nearing his regular season Cardinals debut after straining his left quadriceps in the team’s Grapefruit League finale. “We signed Ruben to give us depth,” GM John Mozeliak tells Langosch. “One of the things we wanted to do was allow Diaz to play. At the time, the thinking was to give him at-bats at Memphis and let him continue to grow. Well, guess what? That didn’t happen. He had to come here and now he’s getting a chance to play at the Major League level and he’s taking full advantage of that.”
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports spoke to Mozeliak, Cardinals outfielder Jeremy Hazelbaker and agent Joe Bick (who represents Hazelbaker) about the 28-year-old’s improbable journey from being released by the Dodgers in May 2015 to being one of the biggest stories of the early 2016 season. While Hazelbaker, who entered play today 10-for-19 with two homers and two steals, is of course due to come back down to Earth, he did make some notable adjustments to his swing mechanics upon signing a minors deal with St. Louis last season, which may have contributed to the best minor league numbers of his career. Hazelbaker was a minor league free agent at season’s end and received quite a few offers, and Mozeliak admits that the club gambled somewhat by not promising him the 40-man roster spot Hazelbaker and Bick sought. The Cards did offer him a hefty minor league salary, and injuries to Tejada and Tommy Pham created an opportunity on the big league roster. After thinking his career could be over last May, Hazelbaker says he has a vastly different outlook on the game. “I treat every game like it’s my last,” says Hazelbaker. “The last diving catch I’m going to have, the last flyball, the last stolen base or at-bat … that’s kind of how I go about it now.”
- Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein and his staff could have assembled one of the most disciplined teams ever, writes Fangraphs’ August Fagerstrom. While these Cubs won’t walk as much as some clubs did during higher-offensive eras like the late 90s and early 2000s, walks in today’s game are exponentially harder to come by. Fagerstrom looks at the Cubs’ early walk rate and uses ZiPS and Steamer projections relative to those numbers for the rest of the league to note that the Cubs are three standard deviations above the mean and are as far from the second-place team (Oakland) as that team is from the 11th-place team. Wearing pitchers down with a disciplined approach has long been a trademark of Epstein clubs, Fagerstrom notes, and this year’s team is no exception.
Francisco Cervelli Open To Extension With Pirates
Pirates catcher Francisco Cervelli is open to a long-term contract with the club, reports Travis Sawchik of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. While the notion of a player being open to locking in millions of guaranteed dollars isn’t always headline news, Cervelli’s willingness to sign long-term is more notable, as he’s one season away from hitting free agency, where he’d join Matt Wieters as one of the top catchers on the open market.
Sawchik reports that Cervelli’s asking price is roughly three years and $39MM — a sum that would’ve seemed considerably more lofty a year ago, prior to Cervelli’s breakout 2015 campaign. Last season marked the first time in his career that Cervelli remained healthy for a whole season and served as a team’s everyday backstop, and the results were excellent. Cervelli’s age-29 season yielded a .295/.370/.401 batting line with a career-high seven home runs. The numbers are particularly impressive when juxtaposed with the mere .238/.302/.376 batting line that Major League catchers averaged in 2015 and with his standout receiving skills. While Cervelli struggled to some extent in limiting the running game (22 percent caught-stealing rate), Cervelli trailed only Yasmani Grandal in terms of pitch-framing value, per Baseball Prospectus. Meanwhile, StatCorner.com ranked him as the game’s top pitch-framer.
The $39MM figure (which would begin in 2017, as Cervelli is already signed at $3.5MM in 2016) would be significant for the Pirates, who have long dealt with payroll constraints, but we’ve seen the catching market place a premium on defense in recent years, as evidenced by Russell Martin‘s $82MM contract with the Blue Jays and, conversely, by the fact that Wilin Rosario opted for a deal in the Korea Baseball Organization upon hitting the open market, despite carrying a significantly more powerful bat than the average catcher.
As Sawchik notes, the team is faced with a decision regarding Cervelli. Pittsburgh has two of the game’s top-rated catching prospects in the form of Reese McGuire (the No. 4 catching prospect in baseball, per Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com) and Elias Diaz (No. 6 on that same list). Baseball America rated the duo as the Pirates’ No. 6 (McGuire) and No. 10 (Diaz) prospects back in November, and both are nearing Major League readiness. McGuire figures to open the season at the Double-A level, and Diaz received a taste of the Majors last September after slashing .271/.330/.382 as a 24-year-old at the Triple-A level.
The Pirates could conceivably let Cervelli walk after the season — perhaps making him a qualifying offer with a strong enough performance — and then hand the reins over to one of the promising up-and-comers. On the other hand, prospects are no sure thing, and Cervelli looked every bit the part of a high quality starting catcher last season. Were he extended, the club could also utilize Diaz and/or McGuire as highly appealing trade chips in order to address other deficiencies throughout the roster as they arise. Either catcher could also serve as Cervelli’s backup, though the club did just ink fellow defensive standout Chris Stewart to a two-year deal with a third-year option.
Payroll considerations figure to heavily impact the Pirates’ ultimate course of action. While the club will shed a fair bit of payroll next offseason when Mark Melancon reaches free agency, the team will likely need to add to its bullpen to replace Melancon, and beyond that, ace Gerrit Cole will reach arbitration eligibility following the 2016 season. The three years of a theoretical Cervelli extension would coincide with Cole’s three arbitration seasons and with two of the same seasons for right fielder Gregory Polanco, further complicating matters for Pittsburgh. The Pirates will also need to make a call on newcomer Jon Niese‘s $10MM and $11MM club options for the 2017 and 2018 seasons. And looking even further down the road, the future of franchise face Andrew McCutchen has to be considered, although McCutchen is controlled through 2018 as it as, at which point he’ll be 32, so that issue isn’t as immediate a concern for the Bucs.