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Koda Glover

Teams Announce Final Non-Tenders

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We’ve been tracking the day’s arbitration decisions in the run-up to tonight’s deadline, which has produced a bevy of last-minute calls. In addition to those already covered elsewhere (with all projected salary figures from MLBTR/Matt Swartz projections) …

  • The Padres announced they have non-tendered Miguel Diaz and Pedro Avila. Neither hurler had yet been eligible for arbitration, so this amounts to no more than a roster cleanup. Avila had already been designated for assignment. Diaz, meanwhile, saw extensive action as a Rule V pick in 2017 but has only sporadically logged MLB time since.
  • Relievers Javy Guerra and Koda Glover were non-tendered by the Nationals, per a club announcement. Guerra would have cost a projected $1.3MM. Glover announced earlier today that he would retire.
  • The Red Sox non-tendered infielder Marco Hernandez and reliever Josh Osich, per a team announcement. Neither projected at big dollars — $700K and $1.0MM, respectively — but obviously the club felt it could put the roster spots to better use on other players.
  • The Blue Jays have non-tendered relievers Derek Law and Jason Adam, along with backstop Luke Maile. Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca (via Twitter) and Scott Mitchell of TSN (on Twitter) were on the news. Law projected at $1.3MM, while Maile was in line for a $800K payday. Adam is still pre-arb eligible.
  • The Giants announced today that they have non-tendered outfielder Joey Rickard ($1.1MM projection), southpaw Tyler Anderson ($2.625MM), and righty Rico Garcia (pre-arb). Both Anderson and Garcia were claimed from the division-rival Rockies after the end of the 2019 season.
  • In addition to other moves earlier today, the Braves have non-tendered catcher John Ryan Murphy and outfielder Rafael Ortega. Each provided depth down the stretch in 2019 for the Atlanta organization. Murphy would’ve been owed a projected $1.2MM, while Ortega remains shy of arbitration eligibility.
  • A host of players were non-tendered by the Royals, per a club announcement. Righty Jesse Hahn was cut loose along with infielders Humberto Arteaga, Cheslor Cuthbert and Erick Mejia. Among these players, Hahn (projected $900K) and Cuthbert ($1.8MM) have the most MLB experience. With these 40-man trimmings, the K.C. org should be able to place some claims and/or make Rule 5 selections in the coming weeks.
  • Righties Ian Gibaut and Wei-Chieh Huang are each heading to free agency after being non-tendered by the Rangers. Neither is anywhere near the service time needed for arbitration eligibility, so this was just an opportune time for the Texas org to drop them from the MLB roster.

Koda Glover Announces Retirement

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In a surprising and saddening development, Nationals reliever Koda Glover has announced that he’s retiring as a player at just 26 years of age. Injuries have ravaged the former eighth-round pick’s promising career and limited him to just 55 1/3 innings since making his Major League debut as a 23-year-old back in 2016.

Glover had Tommy John surgery before he was even drafted by the Nationals and has also battled a torn labrum in his hip, repeated back and shoulder troubles and, in 2019, a forearm strain that generated concerns about yet another elbow surgery.

“I write to you all today with great despair, that I will be announcing my retirement from professional baseball,” Glover writes. “I have experienced a number of injuries the past three years and I believe it is time to step away from my playing career. I have loved this game from the moment I took my first steps and I will continue to love it for the rest of my life.” His statement goes on to thank the Nationals organizations, its fans, and the coaches and teammates who’ve impacted him throughout his brief career.

Glover was heralded by managerial legend Dusty Baker as the Nationals’ potential closer of the future, and given his possession of a fastball that averaged better than 96 mph and a wipeout slider, it’s easy to see why Baker wasn’t alone in thinking that. Glover did save eight games for the Nationals in 2017, but injuries never allowed him to reach even 20 innings in a big league season — and they surely contributed to some of his struggles on the mound as well. Glover revealed after the 2016 season that he’d been pitching through a torn labrum in his hip, and he pitched through rotator cuff issues the following year.

Overall, he’ll be forced to step away from the game after pitching 55 1/3 innings with nine saves, a 4.55 ERA and a 42-to-21 K/BB ratio. His retirement will open a spot on the Nationals’ 40-man roster — it’s now at 31 players — and will only further underscore the team’s need for bullpen help. Best wishes to Glover in whatever path he chooses to pursue in his post-playing days.

Nationals Shut Down Koda Glover Following Setback In Rehab

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In what has become an all-too-familiar refrain for Nationals fans, right-hander Koda Glover has suffered a setback in his rehab from a forearm strain and will be shut down entirely for the next six weeks, manager Dave Martinez told reporters Thursday (link via Sam Fortier of the Washington Post). Glover received a platelet-rich plasma injection at the recommendation of Dr. James Andrews after experiencing elbow pain in a recent throwing session.

Once touted as the Nationals’ potential closer of the future, Glover has instead seen his career punctuated by a series of prolonged absences due to injury. Since his debut in 2016, the now-26-year-old Glover has missed time due to a torn labrum in his hip, multiple shoulder injuries and a lower back injury as well. High as the organization’s expectations for Glover have been, he’s managed to tally just 55 1/3 innings as a big leaguer dating back to 2016. In that time, the former eighth-round pick has a 4.55 ERA (4.00 FIP) with 6.8 K/9, 3.4 BB.9, 0.81 HR/9, a 41.4 percent ground-ball rate and an average fastball velocity of 96.2 mph.

Despite that minimal workload, Glover has spent enough time on the Major League disabled list/injured list to qualify for arbitration eligibility this offseason. While some might peg him as a potential non-tender candidate, there’d be little risk in retaining him. His lack of innings, particularly in his platform 2019 campaign, would make his raise rather minimal. Glover also has a pair of minor league options remaining, which enhances his appeal moving forward. And the Nationals, who carry MLB’s worst bullpen ERA, aren’t exactly in a position to be parting with any relievers they believe to be talented — even if Glover’s absence has contributed to the current state of the Washington bullpen.

NL East Injury Notes: Hunter, Glover, Soroka, Victor Victor

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The Mets have had a few notable health issues arise early in camp, with Todd Frazier (link) and Jed Lowrie (link) each coming down with maladies. But they aren’t alone in that regard. Here are injury notes from the remaining four teams in the National League East:

  • Phillies setup man Tommy Hunter has been diagnosed with a Grade 1 flexor strain in his right forearm and won’t throw for two weeks, manager Gabe Kapler told reporters Tuesday (Twitter link via the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Matt Breen). Hunter, 32, missed the first month of the 2018 season due to a hamstring strain and now looks to be in some degree of jeopardy as pertains to Opening Day 2019, though if he’s cleared to resume activities in two weeks’ time, he could potentially be built back up in time for the regular season. Hunter, owed $9MM in the second season of a two-year contract, pitched to a 3.80 ERA with 7.2 K/9, 2.1 BB/9 and 0.8 HR/9 in 64 frames of relief when healthy last season.
  • Similarly, the Nationals got more bad news on right-hander Koda Glover, who is being shut down for the time being due to a forearm strain in his right arm, as Mack Zuckerman of MASNsports.com writes. The Nats, by all accounts, love Glover’s potential but have been unable to keep him on the field over the past two seasons, as he’s been shelved by back, hip and shoulder injuries. Once looked at as a potential closer of the future in D.C., Glover has managed just 35 2/3 innings at the MLB level across the past two seasons. Despite only having pitched a total of 55 1/3 innings in the Majors, Glover already has more than two full seasons of MLB service time given his lengthy DL stays. On the plus side, the 25-year-old’s MRI revealed no damage to his elbow ligament. Glover expressed confidence that the issue will ultimately prove minor, though only time will tell whether that will ultimately be the case.
  • Braves righty Mike Soroka will pick up the ball again on Thursday, skipper Brian Snitker told reporters including David O’Brien of The Athletic (via Twitter). The hope surely is that a week or so of rest will allow his shoulder discomfort to subside. If not, it stands to reason that the Atlanta organization’s medical staff will order up an even lengthier timeout and further medical examination. Soroka is hoping for a healthy 2019 after his promising debut campaign was cut short by shoulder troubles.
  • An MRI revealed that Marlins prospect Victor Victor Mesa suffered a Grade 1 hamstring strain when beating out a possible double-play grounder in Sunday’s Grapefruit League contest, per a team announcement. While that’s the lowest grade of strain, Mesa will be sidelined for a bit and has been reassigned to minor league camp as a result. Manager Don Mattingly called the injury disappointing (link via MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro), given that the Miami organization had hoped to get Mesa as many at-bats as possible in big league camp as it gets a first extended look at his skill set. Mesa will likely head to Class-A Advanced or Double-A for his first taste of professional ball in the States, Mattingly added.

Nationals Koda Glover Leaves Game With Elbow Tightness

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Koda Glover’s health struggles continued in his first appearance of the spring today. He left the game with elbow tightness and will have to be re-evaluated on Monday, per Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post. As of right now, there is no indication as to the severity of Glover’s discomfort. 

Glover managed only 22 pitches to four batters before being replaced by Austen Williams. It’s another unfortunate setback for Glover, who missed most of the last two seasons with injuries to his back, hip and shoulder. Coming into the 2017 season he was a significant piece of the Nats’ bullpen puzzle and the potential closer of the future. A hip impingement sent him to the injured list for two weeks at the end of April of that year, but when he returned, he recorded five saves over a spotless nine appearances in May. He totaled 8 saves on the year before a back injury put him on back on the shelf for the rest of the season.

Remember, Glover’s injuries paired with Blake Treinen’s ineffectiveness led the club to trade for Sean Doolittle and Ryan Madson. Doolittle has become a vocal leader in the clubhouse and community while locking down the ninth inning – when healthy. Of course, that deal cost the Nationals Jesus Luzardo, a Baseball America top-10 prospect as of today, and Treinen would figure things out in a major way while with Oakland.

None of which, obviously, falls on Glover, though one can only imagine it would be reassuring for the Nationals were he and Doolittle to stay healthy and productive enough to secure the high-leverage portions of baseball games in 2019. For that to happen, Glover will first need to get healthy. He felt good coming into the game, and this spring was the strongest he’d felt in awhile, per Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com. Unfortunately, any feel good comeback story is again on hold for the Nats and Glover, who turns 26 in April.

For his career, Glover has appeared in parts of three seasons, totaling 63 appearances out of the pen, a 4.00 FIP and 2.00 strikeout-to-walk ratio. For the Nationals, they should have enough even if Glover is out long-term, with Trevor Rosenthal, Kyle Barraclough, Justin Miller, Wander Suero from the right side, as well as starters Austin Voth, Erick Fedde, Joe Ross, and Kyle McGowin who could be move to the bullpen if they aren’t needed in the rotation.

Nationals Place Kelvin Herrera On DL, Recall Koda Glover

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3:50pm: An MRI revealed no structural damage in Herrera’s shoulder, Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post tweets.

1:45pm: The Nationals announced today that they have placed reliever Kelvin Herrera on the 10-day disabled list with a right rotator cuff impingement. He’ll be replaced by Koda Glover, who’ll make his MLB season debut.

Needless to say, this represents a disappointing development for a Nats club that already failed to capitalize on a chance to make up some ground in the division yesterday. The club lost a game that Max Scherzer started, with Herrera surrendering the go-ahead runs before leaving the mound with a trainer.

The loss of Herrera is particularly worrying with first-choice closer Sean Doolittle already on the shelf. That said, the 28-year-old has not dominated to the extent expected when the Nationals picked him up earlier in the season from the Royals.

Over 17 innings in D.C., Herrera has allowed nine earned runs on 23 hits with 7.9 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9. His 1.824 WHIP sits quite a bit higher than the elite 0.818 mark he carried earlier in the year with the Kansas City organization.

This represents the latest change in the composition of the relief corps. Beyond the temporary absences of Herrera and Doolittle, the Nats recently parted ways with Brandon Kintzler and Shawn Kelley while adding Greg Holland and now Glover.

Though Glover has been seen as a potentially significant late-inning contributor by the organization, he has faced some roadblocks. He was carrying a 5.12 ERA last year, despite much more promising underlying numbers, when he went down with back and arm issues.

Glover’s next MLB appearance will be his first since June 10th of last year. He has shown some promising signs of late, however, throwing eight innings of 2.25 ERA ball with a 10:2 K/BB ratio thus far at Triple-A Syracuse.

Minor MLB Transactions: 7/22/18

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The latest minor moves from around baseball…

  • Braves utilityman Danny Santana has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Gwinnett, per Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The Braves designated Santana on Thursday, less than a month after they selected his contract. The 27-year-old Santana has hit .279/.300/.539 with 11 home runs in 232 Triple-A plate appearances this season, but he has only managed a .179/.281/.286 line in 32 major league PAs. Santana was similarly woeful between Minnesota and Atlanta last year, when he batted .202/.243/.357 in 178 attempts.
  • The Nationals announced that they’ve reinstated reliever Koda Glover from the 60-day disabled list and optioned him to Triple-A Syracuse. The move gives the Nationals a full 40-man roster, and it puts Glover in better position to return to the majors in the near future. Glover, who served as Washington’s closer for some of last season, combined for 39 innings from 2016-17 and registered a 5.08 ERA/3.72 FIP with 7.62 K/9 and 2.54 BB/9. The hard-throwing 25-year-old hasn’t pitched in the majors this season on account of right shoulder issues, though he could be up soon, Dan Kolko of MASN tweets.
  • Rays right-hander Ryan Weber cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Durham, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Weber, whom the Rays designated July 14, has already been outrighted twice this season. The 27-year-old has spent the majority of the campaign in Durham, where he has recorded a sterling 2.05 ERA with 6.27 K/9, 2.05 BB/9 and a 51.9 percent groundball rate in 74 2/3 innings. The St. Petersburg native has scuffled with his hometown club, however, as he has yielded three earned runs on five hits and two walks (one strikeout) over a small sample of 5 1/3 frames.
  • The White Sox have released outfielder Mason Robbins, James Fegan of The Athletic tweets. Robbins, 25, had been with the organization since it selected him in the 25th round of the 2014 draft. He only recorded a .688 OPS during his time in Chicago’s system and was even poorer this year as a member of its Triple-A team, with which he batted .265/.289/.367 in 226 plate appearances.

NL East Notes: Blair, Chen, Glover, Pivetta

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Braves righty Aaron Blair is dealing with a shoulder injury and is headed to see Dr. James Andrews for an evaluation on Monday, tweets David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. O’Brien’s colleague, Gabe Burns, had previously tweeted that Blair could miss “significant time” with the injury, though the specifics of the issue aren’t yet known. The 25-year-old Blair was viewed as a largely MLB-ready starter when the Braves picked him up from the D-backs alongside Ender Inciarte and Dansby Swanson in the Shelby Miller blockbuster, but he’s struggled to a 7.89 ERA in 73 big league innings thanks largely to shaky control and a susceptibility to home runs. Blair has a career 4.36 ERA with 7.6 K/9 against 3.9 BB/9, and while he may not have been viewed as an immediate piece of the rotation, a notable absence will thin out Atlanta’s rotation depth to an extent.

Some more notes from the division…

  • The Marlins announced last night that left-hander Wei-Yin Chen was able to throw three shutout innings in an extended Spring Training game. Chen didn’t allow a hit or a walk and picked up one strikeout as he tossed 35 pitches in the rehab outing. The results, of course, are largely inconsequential. The key takeaway, rather, is simply that Chen is throwing at all. The southpaw suffered a partial tear of the UCL in his left elbow back in 2016 and was limited to just 33 frames by injury in 2017. Late last season, skipper Don Mattingly revealed that the organization wasn’t sure whether Chen would be able to pitch in 2018 at all. The Marlins owe the veteran lefty more than $50MM over the next three seasons, so any progress toward a return to the hill is significant plus for the team. It’s also worth noting that J.T. Realmuto caught three innings and took three at-bats in an extended spring game, per the team. He’s reportedly eyeing a return to action next week.
  • MASNsports.com’s Byron Kerr tweets that Nationals reliever Koda Glover is making some progress in his return from shoulder troubles. Glover, who was briefly the team’s closer in a 2017 season marred by back and hip injuries, opened the year on the 60-day DL after a spring MRI revealed inflammation in his right shoulder. He’s now throwing from 75 feet though, which is at least a step in the right direction for a young power arm for whom the organization has quite a bit of hope. The outlook on Joaquin Benoit is less optimistic, as Kerr notes that the veteran has yet to begin throwing. Washington added Benoit late this spring — not long after Glover’s MRI, in fact — but he quickly went down with a forearm strain and opened the season on the DL himself.
  • Phillies righty Nick Pivetta has somewhat quietly been one of the team’s biggest surprises of the year thus far, as Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia observes. The right-hander spoke after his most recent quality outing about how last year’s struggles — a 6.02 ERA in 133 innings — have helped prepare him for better success in 2018. “I worked hard with [pitching coach Rick Kranitz] and everybody not trying to be so perfect in the strike zone,” said Pivetta. “I think that really has carried over this year and it’s been good so far.” Manager Gabe Kapler praised Pivetta for improving his concentration level since the beginning of Spring Training, his willingness to attack up in the zone with his fastball and his ability to throw his curveball for a strike when needed.

Injury Updates: Kinsler, Hughes, Nationals

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The latest on some injury situations from around baseball…

  • Angels manager Mike Scioscia told The Athletic’s Pedro Moura and other reporters that Ian Kinsler has been battling some groin tightness and may not be able to play on Opening Day.  Zack Cozart has played second base in each of the last two nights for Anaheim and could potentially fill the role during the season if Kinsler is out, though that would leave a vacancy at Cozart’s expected position of third base.  It isn’t yet known if Kinsler will require any DL time, though Kaleb Cowart would be the probable replacement since he is already on the 40-man roster and could most easily slide into the infield mix.
  • The Twins will place right-hander Phil Hughes on the disabled list to begin the season, manager Paul Molitor told reporters (including The Athletic’s Dan Hayes).  Hughes is still recovering from a left oblique strain, and there is a chance he could be ready to return when the Twins need a fifth starter on April 11.  Hughes is looking to rebound after two seasons marred by thoracic outlet syndrome procedures, and if he doesn’t end up in Minnesota’s rotation, he could potentially step into a long relief role.
  • The Nationals made a series of expected DL placements today, announcing that Daniel Murphy and Joaquin Benoit will begin the season on the 10-day disabled list.  Right-hander Koda Glover will be placed on the 60-day DL, thus opening a roster spot for Miguel Montero, whose contract was officially selected.  Montero was already told over the weekend that he would be breaking camp as the Nats’ backup catcher, and in making the 25-man roster will now earn $1.3MM for the season as per the terms of his minor league contract with the team.  Murphy is still recovering from knee surgery last fall, Benoit has a forearm strain and Glover has been bothered by shoulder issues.

East Notes: Walker, Reed, Nationals, Orioles, Rays

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Neil Walker’s one-year, $4MM deal with the Yankees seems like one of the better bargains achieved by a team in an unprecedentedly slow offseason for free agents, and Ken Davidoff of the New York Post looks back to last offseason when the infielder was discussing a longer-term pact with the Mets. At some point last winter, the Mets floated a three-year extension for Walker that would’ve been worth “about” $42MM, per Davidoff. Presumably that would include the 2017 season, during which he was already set to be paid $17.2MM, as it seems unlikely both that the Mets would offer three new years with Walker returning from back surgery and equally unlikely that Walker’s camp would reject said notion (though that’s just my own speculation). If that number is indeed accurate, Walker will obviously come out behind ($21.2MM over the first two of those three seasons), though certainly no one saw this type of free-agent freeze coming. Davidoff adds that Walker’s camp tried to reignite those “contentious” discussions later in the winter, but the Mets declined.

Regarding his own free agency this past offseason, while there were some early rumblings connecting him and the Pirates, Walker tells reporters that there’s “no validity” to those rumors and that he and his agents “didn’t hear from them once the entire offseason” — even when it was clear recently that he’d come at a rather affordable rate (via Elizabeth Bloom of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).

More out of the game’s Eastern divisions…

  • Addison Reed tells Alex Speier of the Boston Globe that playing for the Red Sox and pitching at the hallowed grounds of Fenway Park exceeded his expectations in 2017, adding: “…and I expected it to be pretty damn good.” However, Reed openly admits that a return to Boston wasn’t high on his list as he headed into free agency this winter. While he had nothing against the Red Sox and spoke glowingly of the organization, his preference was to end up with a Midwest team. (Speier notes that his wife is from Ohio.) Reed achieved that feat by landing a two-year deal with the Twins, and while he took a shorter deal than most predicted, it seems possible that that outcome was in part due to his self-imposed geographic limitations.
  • Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo acknowledged to reporters today that right-hander Koda Glover’s shoulder is taking longer to heal than the team anticipated (Twitter link via Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post). Glover’s uncertain status notwithstanding, Rizzo doesn’t feel the team needs to go outside the organization for additional bullpen help, Janes notes. The GM said he likes what he’s seen from right-handers Trevor Gott and Austin Adams this spring, and the Nats of course have deepened their bullpen over the past nine months with the acquisitions of Ryan Madson, Sean Doolittle, Brandon Kintzler and, earlier this spring, Joaquin Benoit.
  • Janes also tweets that Rizzo was adamant that the Nationals “would never” keep top outfield prospect Victor Robles in a bench role. While many Nats fans may be hoping that the ballyhooed 20-year-old can make the roster in a reserve capacity, Rizzo’s comments further reinforce the idea that the Nats will keep Robles in a regular role with Triple-A Syracuse until an everyday opening presents itself at the big league level.
  • The Orioles’ roster further took shape yesterday with the news that outfielder Joey Rickard has been optioned to Triple-A and veteran infielder Ruben Tejada was assigned to minor league camp. Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com looks at the team’s utility infielder opening, noting that Engelb Vielma, Luis Sardinas and Danny Valencia are all candidates. While Valencia, of course, doesn’t have shortstop experience, the O’s have two viable shortstop options on the roster in Manny Machado and Tim Beckham. Kubatko adds that the O’s could take a look at Erick Aybar if he doesn’t make the Twins’ roster this spring, and he notes that Baltimore could also pursue a reunion with Ryan Flaherty if he does not break camp with the Phillies.
  • Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tackles a host of Rays roster scenarios as he strives to project the 25-man unit that’ll break camp for Opening Day. Interestingly, he paints veteran lefty Dan Jennings as a potential trade candidate and doesn’t project him to make it to the Opening Day roster, instead projecting starting pitching prospects Yonny Chirinos and Ryan Yarbrough (a fellow lefty) to crack the Opening Day bullpen. Topkin runs through playing time scenarios in the outfield and all around the infield, so Rays fans in particular will want to take a look at one of the more educated guesses you’ll come across for how things will shake out between now and Opening Day.
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