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Injured Athletics Hurlers Making Progress

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Several injured Athletics pitchers are on the march back to the majors, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Whether they’ll make it in time to help draw the team back into the postseason race remains to be seen.

Jharel Cotton is furthest along among those sidelined with long-term maladies. He’s slated to launch a rehab assignment on Friday in his effort to return from Tommy John surgery, which means he could be pitching from a big-league mound by mid-June.

The 27-year-old Cotton hasn’t appeared in competitive action since the 2017 campaign, his first full go at the MLB level. He managed only a 5.58 ERA in 129 innings, with 28 long balls largely to blame. Still, he has long been seen as a potentially solid back-of-the-rotation big-league hurler.

There’s an even more talented trio of lefties also grinding through the rehab process as well. Former first-rounder A.J. Puk just threw his first simulated game, which is quite a notable step in his own TJ recovery. He could be an option as soon as July, Slusser indicates, with Sean Manaea (shoulder surgery) and Jesus Luzardo (rotator cuff strain) potentially being available after the trade deadline.

This glance at the injured list serves as a reminder of how much talent the Oakland organization has been forced to go without in the early going. Unfortunately, it seems as if the club will need to claw back into the race before it receives much in the way of reinforcement.

The rotation hasn’t been the sole cause of the A’s slow start, but there are certainly some issues. The three veteran offseason signees haven’t exactly thrived. Outside of his no-hitter, Mike Fiers has struggled. Marco Estrada did the same before going down with an injury. Brett Anderson has been solid but is hardly a dominant rotation piece. There are mixed results otherwise. Frankie Montas is pitching quite well and Chris Bassitt has shown some promise in a four-start sample, but Aaron Brooks has been homer-prone and Daniel Mengden’s first start of the year didn’t go well.

Jesus Luzardo Hires MVP Sports Group

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Athletics pitching prospect Jesus Luzardo has hired MVP Sports Group to represent him, according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter). The move comes less than a year since Luzardo’s previous agency change.

Luzardo is nursing back to health after suffering a rotator cuff strain this spring. He has been throwing for several weeks but has yet to embark upon a rehab assignment.

He’d likely be in the majors had it not been for the unfortunate injury, which broke a string of positive developments for the 21-year-old hurler. Seen as a rising young hurler when he was dealt to the A’s in the summer of 2017, Luzardo soared up prospect ranking lists with a superlative 2018 campaign.

Entering the current campaign, he was seen as a consensus top-twenty leaguewide prospect and was graded seventh overall by Baseball America.  Luzardo seemed poised for the big leagues after netting 15 strikeouts in 9 2/3 spring innings.

Luzardo should represent an option for the A’s once he’s able to get back to full health and ramp back up, but the delayed start to the year has obviously slowed his ascent. In addition to the missed chances (and missed service time) early this season, Luzardo will not have an opportunity to build upon his single-season innings tally (109 1/3 last year). That could lead to some workload restrictions next year.

As always, you can find the latest representation information in MLBTR’s Agency Database.

Prospect Notes: Hernandez, Sheffield, Senzel, Bichette, Vlad Jr., Luzardo

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Here’s the latest on some prospects of note from around the game:

  • The Red Sox brought up top pitching prospect Darwinzon Hernandez for his first taste of the majors, with Alex Speier of the Boston Globe first reporting the move. Hernandez, a 22-year-old from Venezuela, still needs to iron out his command but has shown some impressive swing-and-miss capabilities. It was on display tonight, as he allowed five baserunners but also racked up four strikeouts in 2 1/3 innings in relief.
  • Left-handed pitching prospect Justus Sheffield will join the Mariners on Friday for his first action with his new club, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times reports on Twitter. He’s expected to piggyback with Yusei Kikuchi for a start; it’s possible he’ll be dropped back to Triple-A thereafter, though that’s not yet clear. While he already has 13 days of MLB service on his odometer, Sheffield won’t be able to reach a full year of service even if he stakes a permanent claim to a big-league roster spot. Sheffield hasn’t been himself thus far at Triple-A, carrying an 11:14 K/BB ratio through 18 1/3 innings.
  • It’s possible the Reds will soon welcome top prospect Nick Senzel to the majors. As Fletcher Page of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports, Senzel is back in the lineup at Triple-A after recovering from a sprained ankle. There’s no guarantee that he’ll be promoted in the near-term, but the organization doesn’t have much cause to hesitate at this point. Senzel can no longer achieve a full year of MLB service in 2019; the club is sitting at five games under .500 and can’t wait long to make its move. Once Senzel gets his timing down and gets comfortable in the outfield — he’s lined up in center field tonight for Louisville — he’ll likely be called up.
  • The Blue Jays got some unwelcome news on exciting infield prospect Bo Bichette. Robert Murray and Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic first reported on Twitter that Bichette had suffered a broken hand. As Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca tweets, the fracture was to the second metacarpal of his left hand. Widely considered one of the game’s very best prospects, Bichette will now need to get back to health before he can begin pressing for a major-league promotion. Meanwhile, anticipation grows that teammate Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will soon get the call; Eric Longenhagen of Fangraphs tweets that some around the game anticipate it’ll come this week.
  • Top Athletics prospect Jesus Luzardo is beginning to work back toward the hill, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports (Twitter links). He’s moving from 75 feet to 90 feet tomorrow, so it’s still rather early in his progression back from shoulder soreness. Slusser estimates that it could take four to six weeks before the prized southpaw could be ready for game action. In all likelihood, he won’t be seen as a candidate for a MLB promotion until he has at least a few Triple-A starts under his belt and the club feels confident there aren’t any lingering issues with the joint.

AL West Notes: Straw, James, Luzardo

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Ever-seeking new ways to expand their depth, the Astros recently approached outfield prospect Myles Straw about taking some groundballs at shortstop, per The Athletic’s Jake Kaplan. Straw was understandably surprised at first, even skeptical, but lo and behold, he has evenly split his time between center and short through ten games at Triple-A Round Rock. Straw, 24, ranks as the #16 prospect in Houston’s system per MLB.com, #17 per Fangraphs. Outfield depth in Triple-A and the Astros’ past success with utility players like Marwin Gonzalez and Yuli Gurriel may be driving the Straw experiment, but it’s a win-win for team and player, as it behooves both sides to maximize Straw’s chances of making an impact at the big league level. Even though Straw is already arguably their best defensive outfield prospect, diversifying his defensive profile will certainly increase his odds of finding a permanent role on a major league roster, should the experiment prove fruitful. More from the AL West…

  • Josh James has stumbled out the gate this season, but he’s focused on repeating his delivery and finding a consistent rhythm from which to pump his 100+ mph fastball into the zone, per Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle. The 26-year-old flame-throwing righty has surrendered seven earned runs in only eight innings of work through six appearances out of the Houston pen (7.88 ERA). Wildness has been an issue (6.8 BB/9) as has the long ball (3 HR allowed, 3.4 HR/9) – but gaudy strikeout numbers are also par for the course for James (12.4 K/9). The K-rate provides some statistical backing to James’ hopes that more consistent mechanics could fix his control issues and unlock some real potential – he clearly has the stuff to stick the landing in the pros. A strained right quad injury shortened his Spring Training, which time and again has proved complicating for pitchers trying to find their sea legs, so to speak, early in a new campaign.
  • On a similar note, A’s top prospect Jesus Luzardo will need to essentially go through an entire Spring Training period of his own if/when he starts throwing, per the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser. Luzardo was shut down on March 21st because of a sore left shoulder, and he has yet to resume throwing, though he could do so any day now. A’s manager Bob Melvin reports that Luzardo “feels absolutely fantastic” and “wants to throw,” but it’s unlikely he sees the major leagues before at least mid-season. Given his youth and potential, Oakland will no doubt track him carefully as he builds back shoulder strength for the stretch run.

Athletics Shut Down Luzardo For 4-6 Weeks; Olson To Be Evaluated For Hand Injury

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The Athletics have received some unwelcome injury news in the past 12 hours or so, as general manager David Forst revealed prior to Tuesday’s game against the Mariners in Tokyo that top pitching prospect Jesus Luzardo will be shut down for four to six weeks due to a strain in the rotator cuff of his left shoulder (link via the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser).

That’s not all, however, as Oakland announced following today’s game that first baseman Matt Olson exited the game due to discomfort in his right hand. He’ll be further evaluated when the team returns to the United States. As Slusser reports (via Twitter), however, there’s some cause for genuine concern regarding Olson, who felt pain when fouling off a pitch and is now having difficulty gripping a bat.

Luzardo, 21, had emerged as a candidate to break camp in the Athletics’ rotation on the heels of a strong spring in which he allowed one earned run with a 15-to-4 K/BB ratio in 9 2/3 innings. Regarded as one of baseball’s elite pitching prospects by Baseball America, MLB.com, Fangraphs, ESPN and Baseball Prospectus, Luzardo reached Triple-A as a 20-year-old in 2018. He skyrocketed across three levels in the Oakland system, pitching to a collective 2.88 ERA with 10.6 K/9 against 2.5 BB/9 in 109 1/3 innings of work.

Slusser further reports that the A’s were in touch with righty Edwin Jackson about a reunion earlier this spring and suggests that the Luzardo injury could rekindle those talks. At present, the Oakland rotation consists of Mike Fiers, Marco Estrada, Brett Anderson and some combination of Chris Bassitt, Frankie Montas and Aaron Brooks. There’s depth in the form of recently optioned Daniel Mengden, Paul Blackburn and Tanner Anderson, but the A’s could be without top starter Sean Manaea all season following a September shoulder procedure. Other rotation options, including Jharel Cotton, Daniel Gossett and top prospect A.J. Puk are still mending from 2018 Tommy John surgery.

Beyond Jackson, there are still a few recognizable names who’ve yet to sign for the 2019 campaign. While few would expect Oakland to make a splash of Dallas Keuchel magnitude, none of Bartolo Colon, James Shields or Yovani Gallardo have signed yet. There will also be several veterans who took minor league deals this winter opting out of those deals in the coming days if they’re not assured a 25-man roster spot, and the A’s could opportunistically look to bolster their depth by exploring that market.

As for Olson, any sort of fracture or other significant injury would be a huge early-season blow to the A’s. The 24-year-old (25 next week) hit .247/.335/.453 with 29 home runs and 33 doubles while playing all 162 games for the A’s in 2018. He also won a Gold Glove Award in his first full MLB campaign, tallying 14 Defensive Runs Saved and recording an 11.6 Ultimate Zone Rating.

Mark Canha could step into regular at-bats should Olson require a short-term trip to the injured list, though if Olson is expected to be out for a longer period of time, the open market does still have a few notable first-base options. Lucas Duda opted out of his minor league deal with the Twins yesterday and would represent a logical platoon partner for Canha, while veteran Logan Morrison remains unsigned after undergoing season-ending hip surgery last year.

AL West Notes: Encarnacion, Ohtani, Athletics, Davidson

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Veteran slugger Edwin Encarnacion is expected to open camp with the Mariners after trade talks surrounding him failed to gain traction, per Jon Morosi of MLB.com (Twitter link). Seattle GM Jerry Dipoto is expected to continue exploring potential deals over the course of Spring Training as needs arise throughout the league, he notes. Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times wrote over the weekend that interest in Encarnacion had faded. Encarnacion, among the game’s steadiest sluggers, has one year remaining on his three-year, $60MM contract and is almost certainly limited to American League clubs at this point of his career. An injury to a contender’s DH this spring could create some additional interest in Encarnacion, but a trade at this juncture doesn’t seem all that likely.

More from the division…

  • Angels manager Brad Ausmus addressed the health of right-hander/designated hitter Shohei Ohtani today (Twitter link via Jeff Fletcher of the Southern California News Group). While Ausmus didn’t want to get too specific in terms of providing a timeline for Ohtani’s return to the club following Tommy John surgery, the first-year Halos skipper indicated that the team expects Ohtani back at some point in May. He’ll be strictly limited to DH duties, of course, and it’s not yet clear exactly how often the Angels plan to get Ohtani’s bat into the lineup in the early stages of his recovery. One can imagine that the team will want to be particularly cautious, but the Angels will also want Ohtani in the lineup as often as possible after he hit .285/.361/.564 with 22 homers in just 367 plate appearances last season.
  • Matt Chapman underwent thumb and shoulder surgeries this offseason, but the budding Athletics star looks to be on track for the season, writes Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Chapman took 50 swings in a batting cage Monday, and while he might be limited early in camp, the expectation is that he’ll be ready for the season opener. Perhaps more interesting, Slusser writes in another column that the organization has “no qualms” about putting top prospect Jesus Luzardo in the rotation on Opening Day if he’s deemed the best option. If that is indeed the organization’s stance, it’s a departure from the manner in which many clubs think. Luzardo, just 21, is considered to be among the game’s most elite pitching prospects, ranking inside the game’s 20 best all-around prospects on multiple publications. Last year, at just 20 years old, he skyrocketed from Class-A Advanced to Triple-A, working to a combined 2.88 ERA with 10.6 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 over the course of 109 1/3 innings. Presently, the A’s will have Mike Fiers, Marco Estrada and Brett Anderson (assuming he passes his physical) in the rotation, with a pair of spots up for grabs, barring further additions.
  • Infielder Matt Davidson chatted with MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan about his role with the Rangers this coming season. Davidson, signed as a corner infielder/reliever, indicated that he’s not expecting to be one of the team’s top seven or eight relievers. Rather, he’s aiming to be an option to pitch in the same capacity he did with the White Sox last year — as a mop-up reliever in blowout games. “I want to be the pitchers’ best friend,” said Davidson. “Nobody wants to go in when it is a 7-0 blowout. I want to be the guy that helps them out.” Davidson did toss three shutout innings last season, and it’s not out of the question entirely that he pitches more effectively than some would expect if given a few more opportunities. However, it sounds as if the early plan is for him to try to make the club as a bench piece and emergency option on the mound more than any type of regular bullpen piece.

Quick Hits: Perez, Luzardo, D’Backs

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A few items from around the baseball world as we head into the new week…

  • “There is interest on both sides for a reunion” between the Indians and left-hander Oliver Perez, Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports, though Hoynes doesn’t expect a deal (if any) to happen for at least a month.  Perez is one of many veteran relievers who may be somewhat stuck in limbo until later in the offseason as teams try to wait out the market, though the southpaw figures to draw another Major League contract based on his strong performance in 2018.  After spending Spring Training and the first two months of the season on minors contracts with the Reds and Yankees, Perez landed in Cleveland and posted a 1.39 ERA, 6.14 K/BB rate and an 11.97 K/9 over 32 1/3 innings, posting dominant numbers against both left-handed and right-handed batters.  Even expecting some regression, Perez at worst looks like he could be a LOOGY type.  Outside of closer Brad Hand, Tyler Olson is the only other left-handed reliever in the Tribe’s pen, so there’s certainly a case for Perez to return.
  • Left-handed pitching prospect Jesus Luzardo is drawing raves from both inside and outside the Athletics organization, the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser writes, leading to increased speculation that he could begin the season on Oakland’s Major League roster.  The 21-year-old Luzardo jumped from high A-ball to Triple-A in 2018, posting a combined 2.88 ERA, 10.6 K/9, and 4.3 K/BB rate over 109 1/3 total innings.  Those numbers did include a 7.31 ERA over 16 Triple-A frames, however, and two rival scouts felt Luzardo needed a bit more minor league seasoning.  (Left unsaid were any service time considerations the A’s might have about gaining an extra year of team control over the top prospect.)  On the other hand, Luzardo’s widely-praised poise and makeup makes him seem like a good candidate to at least mentally handle the jump to the big leagues, and his talent could also be too much to ignore.  “I don’t see any way he can’t break [camp] with us,” special assistant Grady Fuson said, also favorably comparing Luzardo to several past Athletics arms.  “He’s one of the best things to come along here in a while.  If you take our own history, he has better stuff than [Mark] Mulder. He’s got better heat than [Barry] Zito. You could kind of compare him to Gio Gonzalez at the same point, but with much, much better command.”
  • With the Diamondbacks mired in a disappointing season back in August 2016, the Dave Stewart-led front office proposed a five-year rebuilding plan for the team, the Athletic’s Zach Buchanan reports (subscription required).  Largely compiled by former assistant GM Bryan Minniti, two of the plan’s main components involved trading Paul Goldschmidt and exploring an extension with shortstop Jean Segura, which created an immediate contrast to what the D’Backs actually did when Stewart was replaced by current GM Mike Hazen — Segura was the one dealt as part of a noteworthy trade with the Mariners, while Goldschmidt was kept in the fold for two more seasons, leading the Snakes to a postseason berth in 2017.  The piece is well worth a full read for a look at this potential alternate history of Arizona baseball, as Buchanan weighs the pros and cons of whether it would’ve been wiser for the D’Backs to begin a rebuild then as opposed to the semi-retooling that the club has undergone this offseason.  Of course, as one source mentioned to Buchanan, Stewart might not have been the best GM to entrust with a rebuild, given how his front office was often criticized for its approach to acquiring and evaluating minor league talent.

Athletics’ Jesus Luzardo Hires Scott Boras

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Athletics prospect Jesus Luzardo recently changed representation and is now a client of the Boras Corporation, as ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick first reported via Twitter.

Luzardo, 20, has had a meteoric rise in 2018 and is among the game’s more highly regarded prospects, having ascended from Class-A Advanced all the way up to Triple-A this season. Along the way, he’s pitched to a combined 2.88 ERA with 10.6 K/9 against 2.5 BB/9 and allowed just seven homers in 109 1/3 innings of work.

Luzardo was considered a high-risk prospect, and perhaps still is, when the A’s acquired him alongside Blake Treinen in the July 2017 trade that sent Sean Doolittle and Ryan Madson from Oakland to Washington. He’d undergone Tommy John surgery prior to being drafted in the third round by the Nats in 2016 and, at the time of the trade, had pitched just 13 2/3 professional innings. That trade could scarcely have worked out better for the A’s at this point, as Treinen has stepped up as an elite reliever in his own right, while Luzardo could be knocking on the door of a big league promotion next season as a 21-year-old.

The A’s don’t currently have many Boras clients on the roster, though Luzardo joins two of the team’s best players, Matt Chapman and Sean Manaea, in that regard. The change in representation has been reflected in MLBTR’s Agency Database, which contains representation info on upwards of 3,000 Major League and Minor League players. If you see any notable errors or omissions, please let us know via email: mlbtrdatabase@gmail.com.

Latest On Athletics’ Rotation

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The Athletics have lost a pair of rotation pieces in the past three days, placing lefties Sean Manaea (3.59 ERA, 160 2/3 innings) and Brett Anderson (4.02 ERA, 65 innings) on the disabled list due to a shoulder injury and a forearm strain, respectively. Since being placed on the DL on Sunday, Manaea has been determined to be suffering from tendinitis in his rotator cuff, manager Bob Melvin told reporters today (Twitter links via Jane Lee of MLB.com). He’s been shut down from throwing, and the A’s aren’t certain yet whether he’ll pitch again in 2018. Meanwhile, Anderson is set to undergo additional testing to evaluate his injury.

However, despite that pair of notable losses, the A’s aren’t likely to make a trade for a starter in advance of Friday’s deadline for postseason eligibility, tweets Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. If there was any doubt based on that report, Oakland general manager David Forst went on record with Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle and, while he didn’t expressly rule out an addition, he characterized any such move as decidedly unlikely.

“We said when got Mike Fiers and Fernando Rodney how lucky we were that guys like that were available and we were able to make the deals,” said Forst. “And I don’t know if there is anything available outside the organization that can help us at this time.”

A look at the list of players known to have cleared revocable trade waivers reveals names such as Gio Gonzalez, Alex Cobb, Andrew Cashner, Francisco Liriano and Jordan Zimmermann as options to be freely traded. All five of those hurlers have under-performed to varying extents in 2018, and Cobb, Casnher and Zimmermann each come with undesirable contractual obligations beyond the current season. It’s possible, of course, that other arms have cleared or are currently on revocable trade waivers, but it doesn’t sound as though Forst and the A’s are keen on adding from outside the organization based on what’s currently available.

Internal options are the preferred route, it seems, but Forst made clear that top prospect Jesus Luzardo won’t be called upon to step into the starting mix. The 20-year-old Luzardo is among the game’s most highly regarded prospects, but he’s two and a half years removed from Tommy John surgery (March 2016) and has already seen an increase from 43 1/3 innings in 2017 to 109 1/3 innings in 2018. He’s made a rapid ascent to Triple-A, but his workload and importance to the Athletics’ long-term outlook are both understandable reasons for the Oakland brass to have some trepidation when weighing a potential promotion for Luzardo.

Forst indicated to Slusser that expanded September rosters could allow the A’s to utilize a bullpen-heavy approach to patching together the pitching staff. The Rays have already aggressively employed a bullpen-forward tactic in 2018, using relievers as “openers” and frequently leaning on bullpen days in lieu of a more traditional starting rotation. Such an arrangement is one of multiple approaches the A’s could contemplate when plotting out the remainder of the season. Relievers Yusmeiro Petit, Lou Trivino and Emilio Pagan are already accustomed to recording more than three outs per appearance.

[Related: Oakland Athletics depth chart]

For the time being, Oakland will plug right-handers Frankie Montas and Daniel Mengden into a starting staff that also includes Fiers, Trevor Cahill and Edwin Jackson. Chris Bassitt is the lone remaining healthy option on the 40-man roster, as the Athletics’ depth has been ravaged by injuries in 2018. Right-handers Kendall Graveman, Daniel Gossett and Jharel Cotton have all undergone Tommy John surgery, as has top left-handed pitching prospect A.J. Puk. Meanwhile, Andrew Triggs is on the 60-day DL due to a nerve injury, while Paul Blackburn has missed the past month-plus due to elbow issues.

Dee Gordon Among Players Moving To Rep 1 Agency

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Mariners center fielder Dee Gordon is among the notable players that will be joining Rep 1 Baseball, the agency announced today. Veteran agent Nate Heisler has joined the Rep 1 ranks as a vice president, bringing with him an array of clients.

In addition to Gordon, the players going with Heisler to his new agency include major leaguers Liam Hendriks and Chase Whitley. Several prospects are coming along as well, includingJesus Luzardo and Jacob Pearson.

Gordon is obviously the most notable name on this list. He’s also under contract through at least 2020, pursuant to the extension he inked with the Marlins back in 2016. Now with the Mariners following a December swap, Gordon has been tasked this winter with moving from his accustomed middle infield role into center field in Seattle.

Hendriks is earning $1.9MM this year and will qualify for arbitration one final time at season’s end. Whitley, also a reliever, recently agreed to a $800K deal in his first trip through the arb process. Among the younger players, Luzardo has received top-100 leaguewide prospect billing.

Rep 1 Baseball already represents such prominent major leaguers as Edwin Encarnacion and Miguel Montero. Its new clients are reflected in MLBTR’s Agency Database.

An earlier version of this post indicated that Twins prospect Nick Gordon was also changing representation, as Rep 1 announced. A report from Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter) now indicates that the younger Gordon will remain with the Beverly Hills Sports Council.

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