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Jesse Winker

NL Central Notes: Indians, Reynolds, Winker, Brach, Hayes, Escobar

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The Indians were known to be looking at outfield help in the lead-up to the trade deadline, and The Athletic’s Zack Meisel reports that Cleveland checked in on a pair of major NL Central names — the Tribe spoke to the Pirates about Bryan Reynolds, and with the Reds about Jesse Winker.  It isn’t known if any serious talks took place about potential deals, or if the Indians were just doing their due diligence and were quickly rebuffed.

The Pirates are reportedly viewing Reynolds as a building block and aren’t looking to move him (at least for anything less than a gigantic offer).  As for the Reds, it wasn’t even certain if they were going to be deadline sellers at all, even though Cincinnati had only a 39-40 record at the end of June.  However, the Reds have gone 32-21 since July 1 and now hold a 1.5-game lead over the Padres for the second NL wild card slot.  Given how Winker has developed into one of the game’s best bats, it’s safe to assume the Reds won’t be very open to offseason trade inquiries about his services, short of any “too good to be true” proposals.

More from the NL Central…

  • Speaking of Winker, the slugger has recently started some baseball activities as he continues to work his way back from an intercostal strain.  Reds manager David Bell told The Cincinnati Enquirer’s Bobby Nightengale and other reporters that Winker has begun throwing and strengthening exercises, and he’ll start swinging a bat sometime this week.  Nightengale writes that Winker is “is still a couple of weeks away” from being activated from the 10-day injured list, after Winker was first placed on the IL on August 16.
  • Also from Bell’s update to reporters, Brad Brach should begin a minor league rehab assignment this week.  A right shoulder impingement sent Brach to the IL on August 8.  Brach signed a minors contract with the Reds in May, and he has posted a 5.59 ERA over 29 relief innings since joining the big league roster.
  • X-rays were negative on Ke’Bryan Hayes’ right hand after the Pirates third baseman left today’s game with a hand contusion, manager Derek Shelton told reporters (including The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Jason Mackey).  Hayes was replaced at third base for the top of the eighth inning during the Bucs’ 4-3 win over the Cardinals.  Fortunately, the injury appears to just a day-to-day situation for the rookie, who has already missed two months of the season due to a wrist injury.  Over 312 plate appearances, Hayes has a modest .246/.317/.370 slash line and five home runs this year.
  • Eduardo Escobar was playing catch on the field prior to today’s Brewers game, The Athletic’s Will Sammon reports (via Twitter).  Escobar was retroactively placed on the 10-day IL due to a right hamstring strain on August 23, and was given an initial recovery timeline of 10-14 days.  After being acquired in a trade with the Diamondbacks, Escobar appeared in only 21 games with his new team before being sidelined.  Escobar was Arizona’s All-Star representative this season, and he has hit .252/.307/.473 with 24 homers over 489 combined PA with the D’Backs and Brewers.

Reds Place Jesse Winker On Injured List

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AUGUST 19: Cincinnati manager David Bell told reporters (including Mark Sheldon of MLB.com) this afternoon the team does not expect Winker will be ready to return when first eligible next Thursday. Bell didn’t provide any specifics as to when the Reds do believe Winker can make it back on the field, although he noted that the 28-year-old hasn’t yet begun baseball activities.

AUGUST 16: The Reds have placed outfielder Jesse Winker on the 10-day injured list, per a team announcement. Top infield prospect Jose Barrero has been summoned from Triple-A Louisville to take his spot on the active roster.

Winker, 28 tomorrow, recently missed three games due to this same intercostal discomfort and aggravated the injury upon returning to the lineup yesterday. He exited the game after just three innings.

Even a 10-day absence for Winker would be a notable blow to the Reds, who trail the Padres by two and a half games in the hunt for the second National League Wild Card spot. The All-Star left fielder has long been a quality bat but is in the midst of a breakout 2021 campaign. Through 481 plate appearances, he’s logged a .307/.395/.560 batting line with a career-high 24 home runs, an NL-best 32 doubles, a triple and a stolen base. Winker’s 235 total bases lead the National League.

The Reds are deep in outfield options to help cover Winker’s absence. Aristides Aquino and Shogo Akiyama figure to step up and shoulder the bulk of the extra work, joining Tyler Naquin and Nick Castellanos in the outfield. Even with that depth in place, however, there’s no means of simply replacing Winker’s production, which ranks among the game’s elite. His 152 wRC+ is tied for sixth among qualified hitters.

Cincinnati could have called up rehabbing outfielder Nick Senzel, but the presence of Aquino and Akiyama gives them enough cover in the outfield that they’re comfortable turning to a more concrete answer at another position of need: shortstop. The Reds have been playing utilityman Kyle Farmer there with regularity in recent weeks, but his bat has gone cold over his past 10 games. Barrero, meanwhile, is regarded as one of the game’s top overall prospects, ranking 15th on Baseball America’s midseason Top 100. He’ll allow Farmer to return to a utility role and bounce around the diamond.

Even for those who’d argue that outfield is still a bigger need given Farmer’s play over the past six weeks, the simple fact is that Barrero has outperformed Senzel in Louisville. Senzel is hitting .286/.316/.429 in 10 games since setting out on his rehab assignment, while Barrero has turned in a .303/.378/.532 batting line on the season. Since the calendar flipped to August, he’s posted an excellent .292/.358/.625 slash. Given their status as the top threat to the Padres’ hold on the second Wild Card spot, the Reds are understandably going with the more productive of the two potential replacement options for Winker. Senzel still figures to return before long — barring a setback — but Barrero has earned the spot for now.

This will be the second big league look for Barrero, who went by Jose Garcia after he initially signed but adopted his mother’s last name as a tribute to her after she passed away earlier this season. Barrero went 13-for-67 without an extra-base hit in 68 plate appearances for the Reds during the 2020 shortened season, although some struggles were to be expected after he made the jump from A-ball to the Majors due to the lack of a minor league season last summer. Now, with some additional seasoning under his belt, the Reds will get a better look at a player whom they hope can emerge as their shortstop of the future.

Barrero accrued 92 days of Major League service time during the 2020 season — service time was prorated last year — and would need another 80 days to reach a full year. There are only 49 days left on the 2021 schedule, so he can’t reach that threshold, though if he’s in the big leagues to stay he’ll quite likely qualify as a Super Two player now (assuming the current Super Two and arbitration systems remain in place in the next collective bargaining agreement). As it stands, he’d be controllable via arbitration all the way through the 2027 season.

Injury Notes: Winker, Lindor, Phillies, Brewers

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Jesse Winker’s return to the Reds lineup was short-lived, as the outfielder left today’s game prior to the bottom of the third inning.  Winker went 0-for-2 with two flyouts in his first two plate appearances before re-aggravating the mild intercostal strain that sidelined him for Cincinnati’s previous two games.  A previous MRI didn’t reveal any damage, though manager David Bell told reporters (including The Athletic’s C. Trent Rosecrans) that Winker will be re-evaluated prior to tomorrow’s game against the Cubs.

While the Reds are in the thick of the wild card race, the team will surely be careful with one of their top bats to prevent a longer-term injury.  Winker has hit .307/.395/.560 with 24 home runs over 481 plate appearances this season, and he entered today’s action as the NL leader in doubles (32) and total bases (235).  The Reds are in the midst of a grueling stretch of 29 games over 30 days, so there isn’t any built-in time for Winker to really get a break, and a trip to the injured list might be necessary to fully correct the issue.

More on other injury situations from around baseball…

  • Francisco Lindor participated in just about a full range of baseball activities prior to today’s game against the Dodgers, and Mets manager Luis Rojas told reporters (including MLB.com’s Bill Ladson) that Lindor could potentially be activated off the injured list when New York begins its next homestand on August 24.  Lindor will travel with the Mets on their road trip and continue to work out, so the club will monitor his progress and then determine whether a minor league rehab assignment is necessary, or if Lindor could return to the active roster without the benefit of any minor league tuneup games.  A Grade 2 oblique strain sent Lindor to the IL on July 17, so even a return by that Mets homestand would be a pretty decent turn-around time for the shortstop, given how more severe oblique problems can sometimes linger.
  • Zach Eflin (right knee tendinitis) threw a live batting practice session today, while Vince Velasquez (right middle finger blister) and Sam Coonrod (forearm tendinitis) threw live BP sessions yesterday.  The Phillies pitchers are at different stages in their recoveries, and Velasquez and Coonrod will each begin minor league rehab assignments on Tuesday.  Eflin’s next step could be another simulated session before he starts his own rehab assignment, though the right-hander told NBC Sports’ Jim Salisbury and other reporters that he “felt great” during today’s 28-pitch session.
  • The Brewers are almost all the way out of a COVID-19 outbreak on their roster, and two of the remaining sidelined players (Adrian Houser and Jandel Gustave) are nearing returns.  As Brewers manager Craig Counsell told The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Todd Rosiak and other reporters, Gustave is working out with the team and Houser is expected to join the club when the Brew Crew begin a series with the Cardinals on Tuesday.

MLB Announces All-Star Starters

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Major League Baseball announced the starting lineups for the 2021 All-Star Game this evening. The starting lineups are determined by fan vote. This year’s All-Star Game will take place in Coors Field on Tuesday, July 13. The starting pitchers and reserves will be announced at a later date.

National League

American League

*On the 60-day injured list

Reds Activate Shogo Akiyama From Injured List, Shuffle Defensive Alignment

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The Reds announced Friday that they’ve reinstated outfielder Shogo Akiyama from the 10-day injured list and put Joey Votto on the injured list in his place. Votto is expected to be out three to four weeks after fracturing his thumb in yesterday’s game. Akiyama has yet to play in 2021 due to a hamstring injury.

Perhaps of more interest to Reds fans will be the new-look defensive alignment the team is rolling out in the wake of Votto’s injury and Akiyama’s return. They’ll open this weekend’s series against the Indians with Mike Moustakas sliding over to first base in Votto’s place, while Nick Senzel moves from center field to second base. Eugenio Suarez is back at third base today, with Kyle Farmer stepping in for him at shortstop. Tyler Naquin is in Senzel’s customary center field, and Akiyama is getting a day in left while Jesse Winker serves as the designated hitter.

This particular alignment obviously won’t be the norm in Votto’s absence, as the Reds won’t have the DH in most of the games they play over the next month. But Moustakas sliding over to first base and Senzel moving from a crowded outfield into the infield could be frequently featured tactics. Second baseman Jonathan India has ample experience at third base, of course, so it’s possible we’ll see a frequent infield of India, Suarez, Senzel and Moustakas. Meanwhile, the Reds will rotate Winker, Naquin, Nick Castellanos and Akiyama in the outfield. Presumably, with the first three all hitting so well to begin the year, they’ll be viewed as the starting trio.

That said, the club surely still has hope of a better performance for Akiyama in is second season at the MLB level. The former Seibu Lions star signed a three-year, $21MM deal with Cincinnati in the 2019-20 offseason, and while he got on base at a nice clip last year, he struggled to hit for much average or power. The now-33-year-old Akiyama batted .245/.357/.297 with six doubles, a triple, no home runs and seven steals (10 attempts) through his first 183 big league plate appearances.

NL Notes: Reds/Cardinals Brawl, Castellanos, Padres, Baez

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Outfielder Nick Castellanos was issued a two-game suspension for his part in Saturday’s brawl between the Reds and Cardinals, the league announced.  Castellanos was the only player suspended, and he is appealing his two-game ban.  Fines were issued to three players on each team — the Reds’ Castellanos, Jesse Winker and Eugenio Suarez, and the Cardinals’ Jordan Hicks, Yadier Molina, and Nolan Arenado.

The incident developed after Cards pitcher Jake Woodford hit Castellanos with a pitch during a fourth-inning at-bat.  Castellanos wasn’t pleased by the HBP, and picked up the ball and held it in Woodford’s direction as he went to first base.  Later in the inning, Castellanos scored from third on a wild pitch, and celebrated the run by standing over Woodford (who was covering home plate) and flexing.  This led to the benches clearing, and a lot of shoving and heated words between the two NL Central rivals.

More from the division….

  • The Padres hope to have Trent Grisham back in center field when they travel to play the Rangers on April 9, manager Jayce Tingler told Jim Duquette of MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (via Twitter).  Grisham has been out of action since suffering a hamstring strain during a Spring Training game on March 11, though he did play in some simulated games at the end of camp.  Austin Nola isn’t quite as far along in his rehab from a fractured left middle finger, but he could soon get some plate appearances at the Padres’ alternate training site.
  • The Cubs drafted Javier Baez with the ninth overall pick of the 2011 draft, a selection that has proven to be a winner even though Baez was one of many notable players taken in an unusually star-studded first round.  As Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune writes, the Cubs were set on Baez as their pick, though they were eyeing Jose Fernandez and C.J. Cron as Plan B options if Baez was selected by one of the eight teams picking in front of Chicago.  Tim Wilken, the Cubs’ director of amateur scouting at the time, said that the club would have taken Baez even if another star shortstop prospect in Francisco Lindor was still on the board — it ended up being a moot point, as Cleveland took Lindor with the eighth overall pick, just ahead of Baez and the Cubs at ninth.

Players Avoiding Arbitration: 1/15/21

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The deadline to exchange arbitration figures is today at 1pm ET. As of this morning, there were 125 arbitration-eligible players who’d yet to agree to terms on their contract for the upcoming 2021 season. Arbitration is muddier than ever before thanks to the shortened 2020 schedule, which most believe will lead to record number of arb hearings this winter. Be that as it may, it’s still reasonable to expect dozens of contractual agreements to filter in over the next couple of hours.

We’ll highlight some of the more high-profile cases in separate posts with more in-depth breakdowns, but the majority of today’s dealings will be smaller-scale increases that don’t radically alter a team’s payroll or a player’s trade candidacy. As such, we’ll just run through most of today’s agreements in this post.

I’ve embedded MLBTR’s 2021 Arbitration Tracker in the post (those in the mobile app or viewing on mobile web will want to turn their phones sideways). Our tracker can be sorted by team, by service time and/or by Super Two status, allowing users to check the status on whichever groups of players they like. You can also check out Matt Swartz’s projected arbitration salaries for this year’s class, and we’ll do a quick sentence on each player’s agreement at the bottom of this post as well, with the most recent agreements sitting atop the list.

Today’s Agreements (chronologically, newest to oldest)

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Reds Activate Tyler Mahle, Place Jesse Winker On IL

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The Reds have activated right-hander Tyler Mahle from the injured list and sent outfielder Jesse Winker to the IL (retroactive to Monday) with a cervical strain, the team announced. Mahle will head to Triple-A Louisville.

Mahle missed just over a month with a hamstring injury. Prior to that, the 24-year-old gave the Reds 102 1/3 innings and 19 starts of 4.93 ERA/4.31 FIP ball. Those numbers don’t look impressive, though Mahle also recorded 9.32 K/9 against 2.29 BB/9 and posted a solid 45.6 percent groundball rate at the same time. He’ll hope that production, not to mention whatever he does the rest of the season (if he returns to the Reds), will help him earn a place in the club’s rotation next year. The group figures to welcome back Luis Castillo, Sonny Gray, Trevor Bauer and Anthony DeSclafani then, while Kevin Gausman could join Mahle in pushing for the last spot.

Winker, meanwhile, represents another of Cincinnati’s promising young players. In his most extensive big league action to date, the 26-year-old has slashed .269/.357/.473 (113 wRC+) with 16 home runs, 38 unintentional walks and 60 strikeouts over 384 plate appearances this season. The lefty-swinging Winker hasn’t been a legitimate option this year versus southpaws, though, as he has hit just .163/.280/.163 against them in 50 PA.

Injury Notes: Ozuna, Gyorko, Winker, Longoria

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The latest on some injury situations from around baseball…

  • Marcell Ozuna isn’t sure when he’ll be able to return to the Cardinals lineup, MLB.com’s Anne Rogers writes, as the outfielder is still battling swelling in his right hand.  As a result, Ozuna “hasn’t been able to test his grip strength much.”  Ozuna suffered a fractured middle finger (and also jammed several other fingers) in late June, and there isn’t a clear idea as to when he’ll be ready to play again, though the team is hopeful the slugger will be back before the end of July.  Ozuna had hit .259/.331/.515 with 20 homers over his first 326 plate appearances this season.
  • Also from Rogers’ piece, Cardinals manager Mike Shildt told reporters that Jedd Gyorko will be out of action until at least the middle of August, and potentially not until the start of September.  While a back problem was the initial cause of Gyorko’s injured list that began on June 8, his return was delayed by a left calf strain, and then minor surgery on his right wrist.  He also started the year on the IL due to a right calf strain suffered during Spring Training.  With only 38 games and 62 plate appearances under his belt for the year, it’s beginning to look like a lost season for Gyorko in what might well be his final season in St. Louis.  The Cardinals will surely take the $1MM buyout of their club option on Gyorko’s services for 2020 rather than pay him $13MM.
  • Reds outfielder Jesse Winker left today’s game in the middle of an at-bat due to injury.  After swinging at a pitch, Winker told reporters (including MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon) that “my lower left back, side area tightened up.  I was feeling some tightness in my right rib cage as well.”  The problem first arose during his initial swing in the plate appearance, Winker added.  He will undergo tests tomorrow to further access the damage, though if Winker has suffered an oblique injury, he would be facing an absence of several weeks.  The 25-year-old has a .250/.328/.462 slash line and 13 home runs over 290 PA with Cincinnati this season, playing mostly against right-handed pitching (and with some drastic splits, including a .428 OPS in his only 39 PA against lefties).  Should Winker miss time, a platoon of Derek Dietrich and Phillip Ervin in left field would seem to be the Reds’ likeliest response.
  • X-rays were negative on Evan Longoria’s left foot after the third baseman left after four innings of today’s Giants game due to plantar fasciitis.  Longoria told Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle and other reporters that he has been dealing with the nagging problem since last season.  The Giants are scheduled for a double-header against the Rockies on Monday and Longoria hopes to play in the second game, though he will get an MRI in the morning to access the damage.  Plantar fasciitis could explain Longoria’s overall struggles since coming to San Francisco in the 2017-18 offseason, though he has quietly been roughly a league-average (102 OPS+, 101 wRC+) hitter this year in the wake of a recent hot streak.  While a .241/.318/.446 slash line is a marked improvement over Longoria’s 2018 numbers, it still ranks as disappointing considering his track record and hefty contract.

NL Central Notes: Reds, Winker, Dozier, Martinez

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As they ramp back up following some holiday downtime, the Reds are still looking at external center field candidates, president of baseball operations Dick Williams tells Mark Sheldon of MLB.com. However, Williams expresses confidence that in-house options like Scott Schebler and Phil Ervin can handle center field if needed, and he also lists top prospect Nick Senzel as a possibility there. “If this is the group we go into camp with, I think we’d be open-minded there,” said Williams of his current outfield mix. “But between now and Spring Training, we’ll continue to look at ways to address that area.” Cincinnati already has Matt Kemp, Yasiel Puig, Schebler, Ervin and Jesse Winker as options in the outfield.

Regarding Winker, who has posted a terrific .299/.397/.460 slash through his first 136 MLB games, Williams indicated that the Reds still view him as an everyday option or, at the very least, “a very consistent regular contributor.” Winker’s playing time could be cut into by the additions of veterans Kemp and Puig, though he’s coming off surgery in his non-throwing shoulder, so perhaps some additional rest would prove beneficial.

Here’s a bit more from the NL Central…

  • The Brewers “like” free-agent second baseman Brian Dozier, writes Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic in his latest notes column (subscription required), though there’s no clear indication that the two sides have had any substantial talks to this point. Bringing Dozier into the fold would give Milwaukee a potential short-term bridge to prospects Keston Hiura and Mauricio Dubon while affording the longtime Twins slugger to rebuild some value in the wake of a poor 2018 season which was hindered by knee troubles. From 2014-17, Dozier hit .254/.338/.476 and averaged 32 homers per season, but he faceplanted with a .215/.305/.391 slash between Minnesota and Los Angeles last year.
  • Rosenthal also writes that one executive from a rival club feels the Cardinals are becoming decreasingly likely to move Jose Martinez in a trade this winter. The late-blooming 30-year-old has hit .309/.372/.478 with 31 homers, 44 doubles and a triple through his first 915 MLB plate appearances since debuting in 2016, though his pronounced defensive shortcomings at first base and in the outfield have made him a potential trade candidate. That, of course, hardly precludes a trade, but it seems the Cards may be more keen on keeping Martinez as a bench bat now that they don’t need to rely on him for a full slate of games following the acquisition of Paul Goldschmidt. Martinez only has two years and 27 days of Major League service time, leaving him a year shy of arbitration eligibility and giving the Cardinals another four seasons of club control before he can become a free agent. Given that Martinez isn’t likely to earn much more than $600K in 2019, the Cardinals aren’t under any sort of pressure to move him unless they receive immediate MLB-ready help at a position of greater need.
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