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Phillies Notes: Marsh, Pache, Alvarado

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Phillies outfielder Brandon Marsh was activated from the 10-day injured list earlier today, prior to the club’s appearance against Washington in tonight’s Little League Classic. Marsh’s return to the lineup is excellent news for Philadelphia, as the 25-year-old has slashed an excellent .281/.367/.460 (122 wRC+) in 361 trips to the plate while playing strong defense in center field this season. While Marsh was on the shelf, he was filled in for in center field admirably by youngster Johan Rojas, who has slashed a roughly league average .286/.337/.390 in 86 plate appearances while playing excellent defense in center.

With Marsh back on the roster, he figures to return to the everyday role he occupied prior to his injury. That leaves Rojas set to spend more time on the Phillies’ bench going forward, though manager Rob Thomson has indicated previously that using both Marsh and Rojas in the outfield could be on the table as a way to get both players’ bats into the lineup while also greatly improving the club’s overall outfield defense. Such an arrangement would likely come at the expense of at-bats for Jake Cave, but Cave hasn’t made things easy for Thomson himself, posting a superb .333/.359/.639 slash line in August while splitting time between the outfield and first base.

Further complicating the club’s logjam is the eventual return of Cristian Pache, who boasts elite outfield defense and showed flashes of the offensive potential that once made him a top prospect in 53 trips to the plate for the Phillies prior to going on the injured list last month. While rostering all three of Pache, Cave, and Rojas simultaneously would be all but impossible for the Phillies to manage, that eventuality has seemingly been put off, at least for the time being. As noted by the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Alex Coffey, Thomson told reporters that Pache is dealing with hip tightness, and the 24-year-old former top prospect’s timetable for return is currently unclear.

While Pache appears to be out of commission for the foreseeable future, the club offered better news on the pitching side of things, as MLB.com notes that left-hander Jose Alvarado is expected to rejoin the club tomorrow. Alvarado has been on the injured list since early July with left elbow inflammation, his second IL stint this season for the ailment. Despite the nagging injury, Alvarado has been nothing short of dominant when healthy enough to take the mound, with a 1.38 ERA, 2.30 FIP, and a 36.4% strikeout rate in 26 innings of work this season. In returning, Alvarado seems poised to join the late-inning mix for the Phillies ahead of closer Craig Kimbrel.

Phillies Interested In Right-Handed Hitting Outfielders

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With just over a week until Opening Day, the bench group in Philadelphia is beginning to come into focus. As discussed by The Athletic’s Matt Gelb, the Phillies view each of backup catcher Garrett Stubbs, and utilitymen Edmundo Sosa and Josh Harrison as locks to make the roster. With Bryce Harper slated to begin the season on the injured list as he rehabs from Tommy John surgery, the Phillies have no set, everyday DH, leaving them with effectively five seats on the bench. With three locked in, two spots remain available for the Phillies to fill.

Gelb notes that the Phillies are interested in acquiring a right-handed fourth outfielder to complement the starting outfield trio of Kyle Schwarber, Brandon Marsh, and Nick Castellanos, but there are plenty of internal candidates also capable of securing one of the remaining bench jobs: utilitymen Scott Kingery, Dalton Guthrie, and Kody Clemens are joined by outfielder Jake Cave and first baseman Darick Hall in the hunt for a spot on the Philadelphia bench to open the season.

All five players have relatively secure spots in the organization headed into the season: Guthrie, Clemens, Cave, and Hall all are on the 40-man roster with minor league options remaining, while Kingery is not on the 40-man roster but is set to remain in the organization during the final year of his ill-fated six-year, $24MM extension he signed with the Phillies ahead of the 2018 season, before he had taken a big league at-bat. Without fear of losing any of these players by not dedicating an Opening Day roster spot to them, the Phillies have plenty of flexibility in making their final decisions about which players to roster.

Looking at external options, the best right-handed fourth outfield option remaining unsigned is likely Albert Almora. Almora played in 64 games for the Reds in 2022 with solid defense at each of the three outfield spots, but struggled at the plate as he slashed just .223/.282/.349 in 235 plate appearances, good for just a 71 wRC+. That seems to be about in line with what a club should expect from Almora should they sign him for this season, given his career 80 wRC+ drops to 71 when looking at his performance since the start of the 2018 season.

While the pickings are currently slim on the free agent market, it remains possible that a player squeezed off their current club’s roster could be made available either by trade or by opting-out of their current minor-league pact and returning to the free agent market. Jake Marisnick, Monte Harrison, and Michael Hermosillo are among the numerous players around the league for whom that is a possibility as Spring Training draws toward a conclusion.

If the Philies are unable to find anyone outside of the organization to their liking, both Kingery and Guthrie are right-handed hitters with experience at all three outfield spots. Kingery has had a better spring to this point that Guthrie, as the former has raked to a .394/.459/.515 line this spring that far outshines Guthrie’s .250/.273/.375 line. With that being said, Guthrie has advantages of his own. As previously mentioned, he already has a 40-man roster spot, while Kingery would require a corresponding move to roster. Additionally, Guthrie raked in his first taste of big league action last season, posting a whopping 184 wRC+ in his fourteen-game cup of coffee that earned him a spot on the postseason roster during Philadelphia’s NL championship run.

It’s also worth noting that Kingery has largely struggled in his major league opportunities to this point in his career, with his already mediocre 73 wRC+ in 325 career games mostly buoyed by a 2019 season where he was league average at the plate (100 wRC+) in 500 plate appearances. Since then, Kingery has posted a brutal wRC+ of just 21, indicating he’s been 79% worse than league average at the plate in 52 big league games since the start of the 2020 season. Given his long-lasting struggles, it would be understandable if the Phillies were hesitant to trust his torrid spring.

Assuming the Phillies would like another left-handed bat on the bench in addition to Stubbs, the spot that doesn’t go to one of Kingery, Guthrie, or an external fourth outfielder would likely go to one of Hall, Clemens, or Cave. All three have raked in Grapefruit League play, but one separator could be that Clemens has by far the most positional flexibility of the three. Cave is confined to the outfield while Hall is limited to first base and the DH slot while Clemens has experience in the four corner spots and at second base, though Gelb indicates that the Phillies don’t see Clemens as a factor at the keystone.

That being said, Cave has the advantage of a long track record of major league experience, with 335 big league games under his belt to this point and a career wRC+ of 92, though he posted just an 81 in 54 games with the Twins last year. While the most defensively limited of the three options, Hall is the most interesting bat of the three, as he posted a 119 wRC+ in 101 Triple-A games last year before carrying that success into the big leagues, where he slashed .250/.282/.550 with a wRC+ of 120. For a team set to start the season without Harper, it’s possible that Hall’s lefty power might be too attractive to pass up, even with his defensive limitations.

While pairing Hall with one of Guthrie or Kingery certainly seems like an attractive option for the Phillies right now, an external addition or injury could certainly change that over the course of the next week or so, to say nothing of the reality that all five internal options seem sure to get major league opportunities at some point this year as the roster churns through the regular season.

Phillies Notes: Harper, Outfield, Nola

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Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski recently made an appearance on Philadelphia radio station WIP-FM, with Alex Coffey of the Philadelphia Inquirer relaying some of his comments on Twitter.

One key storyline for the Phillies this year will revolve around Bryce Harper. The star outfielder was diagnosed with a torn ulnar collateral ligament in May of last year, which prevented him from throwing but allowed him to serve as the designated hitter. His continued presence in the lineup helped the club earn a Wild Card berth and eventually make it all the way to the World Series. After that, he did finally undergo Tommy John surgery in November, with the club announcing at that time they expected him to be out until the around the All-Star break.

Everything with that plan still seems to be in order, with Dombrowski saying that Harper’s rehab has gone well up to this point. Harper is expected to start swinging a bat around the end of March and could be back in the lineup around the time of the All-Star festivities, as initially projected.

One fallout of that Harper situation is that the Phils will have an open designated hitter slot for the first half but Harper will take it over once he’s able. The club could theoretically look outside the organization to find another bat to fill the void, but they apparently feel good enough about their internal candidates that Dombrowski doesn’t anticipate a “big acquisition”. He listed Alec Bohm, Rhys Hoskins and J.T. Realmuto as candidates to take over some time in that slot.

Bohm and Hoskins are set to man the corners in Philly just as they’ve done in previous seasons. However, neither is considered an especially strong defender. Bohm has logged 2,280 2/3 innings at third base in his career but has accumulated -36 Defensive Runs Saved, -11 Outs Above Average and a -2.8 score from Ultimate Zone Rating. Hoskins, meanwhile, has 4,195 innings at first base with -7 DRS, -12 OAA, though a positive 5.4 score from UZR. Backup infielders Kody Clemens, Edmundo Sosa and Dalton Guthrie could get some extra time in the field while Bohm and Hoskins get some DH at-bats. Clemens has played both corners and second base in the majors thus far while Sosa has played the three positions to the left of first base and Guthrie has played second and third. Realmuto is considered an excellent defender but catchers can’t crouch behind the plate every day. Since he’s also a great hitter, it makes sense to use the DH spot to get him into the lineup more frequently.

In the outfield, the everyday regulars figure to be Nick Castellanos, Kyle Schwarber and Brandon Marsh. Neither Castellanos or Schwarber are considered great defenders on the grass, which would make them DH candidates as well. Even if that does end up coming to pass, Dombrowski feels good about the depth they have, mentioning Guthrie and Jake Cave. Given they feel good about their depth options, Dombrowski says they’re “basically set” while adding that further depth could always be added via a minor league deal.

Looking to the future, the Phillies have a great unknown in their rotation since Aaron Nola is now in the final year of his contract. “It’s something we’d like to do,” Dombrowski said about a Nola extension. “We want Aaron to be in the organization for a long time, no question. We love him. We love his abilities. I know he likes it in Philadelphia. So that’s something that will be in our mind… It’s never easy to be able to get done but we’d love to keep Aaron in the organization for a long time.”

Nola, 30 in June, is about to begin his ninth MLB season and so far has a 3.60 ERA through 1,288 1/3 innings. He’s struck out 27.5% of batters faced while walking 6.5% of them, and he’s kept the ball on the ground at a 47.9% clip. Since his 2015 debut, his 29.9 fWAR is the sixth-most of any pitcher in the league. It’s no surprise then that the club would like to keep him around, since he’s one of the few true aces in the league. Of course, that excellent work also means he won’t be cheap. Some recent free agent deals for excellent starting pitchers have gone well into nine-figure territory, with Jacob deGrom recently getting $185MM and Carlos Rodón $162MM. It doesn’t sound like anything is particularly close between Nola and the Phillies, but if they truly want him back for next year and beyond, it will surely require adding another hefty contract to their books.

Phillies Claim Jake Cave

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The Phillies have claimed outfielder Jake Cave off waivers from the Orioles, per announcements from both teams. The addition of Cave brings Philadelphia’s 40-man roster to a total of 38 players.

Cave, who’ll turn 30 on Sunday, never suited up in a game for the Orioles. Baltimore had claimed him off waivers from the Twins earlier this season and apparently tried to sneak him through waivers themselves in hopes of keeping him without allocating a 40-man roster spot to the longtime Twins backup.

Cave has appeared in parts of five big league seasons, all coming with the Twins, who acquired him from the Yankees in a 2018 trade that sent Luis Gil to New York. Cave was an outstanding fourth outfielder for the Twins in 2018-19, appearing in 163 games, taking 537 plate appearances and batting .262/.329/.466 with 21 homers, 27 doubles and four triples.

In 2020, Cave’s production fell off, however, and he’s never regained his form. Over the past three seasons, he’s turned in a tepid .206/.252/.352 batting line while punching out in 32.4% of his plate appearances. As is so often the case, injuries are at least partly to blame for the downturn in production; Cave landed on the injured list with a fracture in his lower back in May of 2021 and missed multiple months as a result of the injury.

Cave was arbitration-eligible this offseason, but the Orioles proactively signed him to a split Major League contract for the 2023 season. That contract, which contains different rates of pay for time in the Majors versus time in Triple-A, was surely signed by the Orioles with an eye toward getting Cave through waivers and keeping him as a depth piece. The O’s opted for the same tactic with catcher Anthony Bemboom and had success with it, passing him through waivers mere weeks after agreeing to terms on a 2023 contract. It (clearly) did not work that way in the case of Cave.

The general idea behind such a move is seemingly to offer slightly larger rates of pay that both discourage other teams from claiming depth options the Orioles value and hope to stash in the upper minors and to also encourage those players to accept outright assignments. Both Bemboom and Cave have previously been outrighted and thus are thus able to refuse outright assignments, but the larger rates of pay on the split deal serve as incentive to instead accept the outright. (Since neither player has five years of Major League service, refusing the outright assignment in favor of free agency would mean forfeiting any money owed to them on that split deal, and a new contract with a new team would likely come at a lower rate.)

Instead, for Cave, things will work out even better, as he’ll land on a team that perhaps has greater designs on carrying him on its MLB roster. He’s capable of playing all three outfield spots, has some power and will give the team a potential late-game defensive option in lieu of sluggers Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos when both are in the lineup and starting in the outfield corners. It’s possible the Phillies will try to pass Cave through waivers themselves or designate him for assignment if they acquire someone they deem to be a better option as a backup outfielder, but for now, Cave appears likely to occupy a spot on manager Rob Thomson’s bench in 2023.

Orioles, Jake Cave Avoid Arbitration

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The Orioles announced that they have agreed to terms with outfielder Jake Cave on a contract for 2023. The financials of the deal are not yet publicly known. Nathan Ruiz of The Baltimore Sun reports that it’s a split contract, meaning Cave’s salary will be dependent on how much time he spends in the majors. Additionally, the club announced that right-hander Chris Ellis and catcher Aramis Garcia both rejected an outright assignment and elected free agency.

Cave, 30 next month, was originally drafted by the Yankees but was traded to the Twins before making his major league debut. He spent at least some time with the Twins in each of the past five seasons. His first few campaigns were quite encouraging, as Cave hit .262/.329/.466 over 2018 and 2019, producing a wRC+ of 111. It’s been a rough go since then, however, with Cave’s line dropping to .206/.262/.351 since the start of 2020. That amounts to a wRC+ of only 70 in that stretch.

Cave was outrighted in the 2021-22 offseason and spent most of his time in Triple-A before being selected back to the bigs in August. He had encouraging results for St. Paul, hitting .273/.370/.509 for a wRC+ of 130 in 85 games, though he wasn’t able to bring that up to the big league team.

Nonetheless, Baltimore must have been intrigued, as they grabbed Cave off waivers in mid-October. That was after the season was done, meaning Cave has yet to suit up for the O’s. He was projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for a salary around $1.2MM, though he and the club will steer clear of a hearing by agreeing to a figure well ahead of time.

Cave still has one option year remaining, which it seems the O’s intend to use given the split nature of his deal. The current Baltimore outfield consists of Cedric Mullins, Austin Hays, Anthony Santander and Kyle Stowers. The club also has a highly-regarded outfield prospect in Colton Cowser, who finished 2022 at Triple-A and could be ready for an MLB debut in 2023. In order to accommodate Cowser, it’s possible that the O’s swing a trade of one of their existing outfielders. Since prospects often take some time adjusting to MLB pitching, it’s sound strategy to have an experienced depth option like Cave on hand. Stowers also has just 34 games in the big leagues on his ledger and isn’t a lock to hold down a job going forward, adding another reason to prioritize a depth option.

As for Ellis and Garcia, they were each outrighted off Baltimore’s roster on the weekend but were eligible to elect free agency. In Garcia’s case, he has more than three years of MLB service time whereas Ellis qualified for free agency by having a previous career outright.

Orioles Claim Jake Cave, Designate Jake Reed

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The Orioles have claimed outfielder Jake Cave off waivers from the Twins, according to the MLB.com transactions tracker. Baltimore is designating reliever Jake Reed for assignment in a corresponding move. Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com confirms the news (Twitter link).

Cave has played parts of five big league seasons, all of them with Minnesota. He was initially drafted by the Yankees but dealt to the Twins before making his major league debut in 2018. The former sixth-round pick played well in part-time action during his first two seasons, hitting 21 home runs over 163 games. He’s had a tougher go over the last three seasons, largely due to increasing issues making contact. Dating back to the start of the 2020 campaign, Cave owns a .206/.262/.351 line in 478 trips to the plate.

The Twins ran Cave through outright waivers last offseason, but he made it back to the majors in early August. He posted a .213/.260/.384 showing with five homers in 54 games, swinging through 17% of pitches he saw. It wasn’t a great big league showing, but the 29-year-old had been very impressive during a longer run with Triple-A St. Paul. Cave popped 14 homers in 373 plate appearances with the Saints, posting an overall .273/.370/.509 line. His 24.9% strikeout rate was still a bit higher than average, but he showed solid power and walked at a strong 11.5% rate.

Cave adds some left-handed hitting outfield depth to Baltimore’s ranks, at least for the moment. He has a fair bit of experience at all three spots on the grass, although public metrics haven’t been fond of his work in center field. He’s a career .243/.314/.430 hitter against right-handed pitching, and he’s been essentially unplayable (.210/.240/.352) in 230 plate appearances against southpaws.

With between three and four years of major league service time, Cave is eligible for arbitration through 2024. He’s projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for a $1.2MM salary if tendered a contract. It’s possible Baltimore still elects to non-tender him next month (perhaps with hopes of re-signing him to a cheaper or minor league deal), but they’ll add him to the 40-man roster for the time being. Cave still has one minor league option year remaining, so the O’s could keep him at Triple-A Norfolk next year if he holds his spot on the 40-man.

Reed is a recent waiver claim himself, having been added from the Dodgers five weeks ago. The low-slot righty made eight appearances with the O’s, allowing six runs (four earned) in 5 2/3 innings. He suited up with three different teams overall in 2022, also pitching for the Mets and Dodgers. Between the trio of clubs, the 30-year-old posted a 7.02 ERA with a modest 16.9% strikeout rate in 16 2/3 frames.

Despite his lack of major league success, Reed has been a fairly frequent target for teams once he’s hit the waiver wire. That’s in large part thanks to his solid Triple-A track record, as he owns a 3.84 ERA through parts of six seasons at that level. Reed has fanned an above-average 25.6% of batters faced there while walking 9.5% of opponents.

Reed will hit the waiver wire again in the coming days. Like Cave, he still has an option year remaining and could serve as a depth player if another team were to put in a claim. If he passes through the wire unclaimed, he’d have the right to refuse an outright assignment and elect free agency based on his minor league service time.

Twins Transfer Miguel Sano To 60-Day IL

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The Twins announced to reporters today, including Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, that Miguel Sano has been transferred to the 60-day injured list after they “found something” on the MRI on his knee. His roster spot went to Jake Cave, who was selected to the big league club. The Twins also designated Aaron Sanchez for assignment, per Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com, whose roster spot when to the recently-acquired Michael Fulmer. In a third pair of transactions, Jharel Cotton was designated for assignment to make room on the roster for Jorge Lopez, acquired in an earlier trade, per Dan Hayes of The Athletic.

Sano, 29, has been a fearsome slugger in the Minnesota lineup since his debut in 2015. He has 162 home runs and a career batting line of .234/.326/.382, wRC+ of 115. However, this year has gone about as poorly as could have been imagined, as Sano began the year with a .093/.231/.148 line through 17 games before suffering a knee injury. He recently returned from a lengthy stretch on the injured list, getting into three more games before landing back on the IL again July 30. He will now be unable to return until 60 days from that date, which would be late September, raising the possibility that his season could be done.

If that’s the case, that could end his time with Minnesota. As part of an extension signed prior to the 2020 campaign, the Twins hold a $14MM option over his services for 2023 with a $2.75MM buyout. Based on his lost season and the Twins getting quality first base production from Jose Miranda and Luis Arraez, they might just opt for the buyout.

As for Cave, 29, he was outrighted at the end of the last season but has been mashing in Triple-A this year. In 84 games on the season, he has 14 homers and a batting line of .273/.370/.509, wRC+ of 131. With Byron Buxton nursing a minor injury, Cave will compete with Nick Gordon, Kyle Garlick and Mark Contreras for playing time on the grass.

As for Sanchez, 30, he was selected to the roster just yesterday to make a spot start and has quickly been dispatched. With the Twins acquiring Tyler Mahle today, the rotation is back to full strength, featuring Mahle, Joe Ryan, Sonny Gray, Dylan Bundy and Chris Archer. Sanchez also made seven starts for the Nationals earlier this year before getting DFA’d, clearing waivers, electing free agency and signing a minor league deal with the Twins. Should he clear waivers again, he would have the right to elect free agency once more.

As for Cotton, 30, he’s bounced on and off the Twins’ roster all season, with this being his third DFA of the year. In each of the previous two instances, he cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to the minors. In 35 MLB innings this year, he has a very nice 2.83 ERA, but without the underlying numbers to back it up. His 29.5% ground ball rate, 21.5% strikeout rate and 11.1% walk rate are all worse than league average. As such, all of the advanced pitching metrics feel he deserves worse than that ERA.

Twins Claim Trevor Megill, Outright Jake Cave

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The Twins announced Tuesday that they’ve claimed righty Trevor Megill off waivers from the Cubs and sent outfielder Jake Cave outright to Triple-A St. Paul after he went unclaimed on waivers.

Megill, 28 this weekend, was hammered for 22 runs in 23 1/3 innings with Chicago during his MLB debut last season, but he posted a strong 26.1% strikeout rate against a 7.0% walk rate. Megill averaged 96.5 mph on his heater while showing high-end spin rates on both that four-seamer and his breaking ball. The 6’8″ righty has also whiffed 32% of his opponents in Triple-A and has a pair of minor league option years remaining — both of which surely appealed to Minnesota.

The corresponding subtraction of Cave from the 40-man roster comes not two weeks after he agreed to an $800K contract for the upcoming season. Of course, arbitration deals of that nature aren’t fully guaranteed, and the Twins could potentially cut Cave loose anytime between now and the halfway point of Spring Training and be on the hook for only 30 days’ salary (about one sixth of the contract). That number would jump to 45 days’ pay in the second half of camp and would become fully guaranteed if Cave made the Opening Day roster.

That would require Cave being added back to the 40-man roster, however, which doesn’t appear likely without a big showing in Spring Training. The 28-year-old Cave was productive in his first two years with the Twins, 2018-19, hitting at a combined .262/.329/.466 clip through 537 plate appearances while playing all three outfield slots. He’s dealt with repeated back injuries, including a fracture, in the two seasons since that time, and the resulting .202/.263/.332 output is underwhelming, to say the least.

Cave could have rejected the assignment and opted to become a free agent, but doing so would’ve required forfeiting the salary on that contract. Darren Wolfson of 1500 SKOR North tweets that Cave’s contract was a split deal with an $800K salary in the Majors and $300K in the minors.

Twins Designate Willians Astudillo, Charlie Barnes For Assignment

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The Twins are designating utilityman Willians Astudillo and left-hander Charlie Barnes for assignment, the club announced. Additionally, left-hander Devin Smeltzer and outfielder Kyle Garlick have cleared outright waivers. Minnesota added six prospects to the 40-man roster in advance of tonight’s deadline for Rule 5 draft protection: Royce Lewis, Jose Miranda, Blayne Enlow, Cole Sands, Chris Vallimont and Josh Winder.

Minnesota also announced that they’ve agreed to terms on a deal with outfielder Jake Cave on a major league contract. He’ll make $800K, reports Darren Wolfson of SKOR North (Twitter link). Cave had been projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for a $1.1MM salary via arbitration. It’s not uncommon to see players on the non-tender bubble (as Cave appeared to be) agree to salaries for a bit lower than projected in advance of the non-tender deadline, however.

Amidst this large flurry of Twins transactions it’s the one jettisoning Astudillo that may grab the most attention. While the 30-year old didn’t quite get it done at the plate this past season, producing a .236/.259/.375 slash, his Twins tenure has often left fans looking past his offensive contributions. Dating back to his 2018 debut with the Twins, Astudillo has lined up at every position except for shortstop, providing adequate defense and pitching as admirably as one can expect in mop-up duty (including a 2.25 ERA in four 2021 innings). The multi-talented Astudillo is now all but certainly headed for free agency, though a reunion with the Twins later in the offseason isn’t yet out of the question.

Barnes, 26, is a soft-tossing lefty and former fourth-rounder who made his big league debut out of necessity to help soak up some innings in an injury-ruined season for the Twins’ rotation. He was clobbered for a 5.92 ERA while striking out just 20 of the 175 batters he faced. The Twins now have a week to trade Barnes or attempt to pass him through outright waivers.

Also gone from the roster are Smeltzer, a former Dodger prospect who came to the Twins in the Brian Dozier trade, and Garlick, an offseason waiver claim last winter who played a platoon role in Minnesota early this season. Smeltzer logged a 3.86 ERA through 49 innings during the 2019 season, his debut campaign, but has battled injuries and seen his performance dip in the two years since. He missed nearly the entire 2021 season due to elbow troubles.

Garlick, meanwhile, hit .232/.280/.465 with five homers and eight doubles in just 107 plate appearances. He hit 10 extra-base hits (four homers, six doubles) in just 63 plate appearances against lefties but spent the majority of the season on the injured list himself.

Most of the Twins’ additions are wholly unsurprising. Lewis was the No. 1 overall pick in 2017 and, despite missing the season due to an ACL tear, was never going to be exposed to the Ryle 5 Draft. Miranda was the Twins’ minor league player of the year and posted video-game numbers in the minors, hitting his way into Top 100 consideration. Winder has battled injuries but might be Minnesota’s top pitching prospect based on stuff alone. Enlow was an overslot third-rounder who has had his own injury troubles but is still held in high regard. Sands and Vallimont both rank among the Twins’ more promising arms themselves, even though Vallimont had a down year in 2021. The former Marlins righty, acquired in the trade that brought Sergio Romo to Minnesota and sent first baseman Lewin Diaz to Miami, is a potential fourth/fifth starter who’s reasonably close to MLB readiness.

Injury Notes: Nationals, Twins, Braves

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Nationals catcher Yan Gomes left yesterday’s ballgame in the second inning with what appeared to be a strained oblique, per Bobby Blanco of MASNsports.com. Losing Gomes would be a significant blow for the Nationals, who already placed his backup, Alex Avila, on the injured list earlier this week. Yadiel Hernandez would currently be the Nats’ emergency catcher, though a roster move could come later today if Gomes is expected to miss any amount of time. Tres Barrera is the other option currently on the active roster. He figures to start today’s ballgame at the very least. The Nats could try to get by with just Hernandez backing up Barrera for the next couple of days with the All-Star break starting on Monday.

Now, let’s check on a couple other injury updates from around the game…

  • Twins catcher Mitch Garver caught a bullpen session on Friday. Both Garver and Jake Cave could begin rehab assignments in Triple-A next week, writes MLB.com’s Do-Hyoung Park (via Twitter).Cave’s return would be particularly notable for the Twins, so long as Kyle Garlick, Rob Refsnyder, and Byron Buxton all remain on the injured list. Rookies Gilberto Celestino and Nick Gordon have been pushed into action in centerfield, where the 28-year-old Cave has seen the majority of his playing time over his four years with Minnesota. Cave started slowly at the dish this season, slashing just .167/.239/.262 in 93 plate appearances before a back injury sent him to the injured list on May 15th. He will be eligible for activation after the All-Star break.
  • Speaking of Refsnyder and Garlick, manager Rocco Baldelli touched on their progress as well, Park adds. Refnsyder could be nearing a return from a hamstring strain, but Garlick hasn’t made much progress. He could still be facing surgery. Garlick has been out for the past month with a sports hernia after logging a perfectly average 100 wRC+ in 107 plate appearances.
  • Braves right-hander Mike Soroka recently underwent successful surgery to repair a torn Achilles for the second time since he last appeared in the Majors, per The Athletic’s David O’Brien (via Twitter). It was Soroka’s third surgery in total. Soroka figures to be out until at least July 2022, though an official timetable for his recovery has not yet been made public.
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