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NL Notes: Marte, Cardinals, Cruz

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The Mets issued an official statement on Starling Marte’s fractured right middle finger, saying that a recent CT scan “showed improved healing,” and that the center fielder “will continue baseball activities as tolerated.”  This counts as good news, considering that Marte had to halt his first try at baseball activities last week, due to continued discomfort in his finger.  Marte hasn’t played since his finger was hit by a Mitch Keller pitch on September 6.

It remains to be seen if Marte will be able to make it back before the end of the regular season, let alone by his stated target date of Friday, when New York begins a critical three-game series with the Braves that could decide the NL East.  The Mets have continued to play well (a 12-6 record) since Marte was last in the lineup, but obviously having the All-Star center fielder back will boost the Mets’ chances of both capturing the division and potentially winning the World Series.  There hasn’t yet been any indication that Marte could miss any postseason action, but he’ll have less time to heal if the Mets have to settle for a wild card, and don’t receive a first-round bye.

More from the National League…

  • The Cardinals announced that Miles Mikolas and Jose Quintana will start on Tuesday and Wednesday in the team’s two-game series against the Brewers.  A sweep would clinch the NL Central for St. Louis, who have a commanding 6.5-game lead over Milwaukee but naturally want to get the division fully settled before looking ahead to the playoffs.  Since the Cardinals are a virtual lock to be the NL’s third seed, they’ll have to play in the wild card round, thus giving manager Oliver Marmol a lot to consider about how to best line up his postseason rotation.  Basically, everything is still to be decided, Marmol told Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and other reporters, including the possibility that the Cards might opt with something close to a standard five-man rotation (assuming they advance past the wild card series, of course).  The recent of struggles of Jordan Montgomery and Adam Wainwright — who is also battling a “dead arm” — have also added to the discussion, and St. Louis also has two remaining off-days in the regular season schedule.
  • In other Cardinals updates, Marmol told MLB.com’s John Denton and other reporters that it may be possible for both Jordan Hicks and Tyler O’Neill to be activated from the injured list before the postseason.  Hicks hasn’t pitched since September 14 due to neck spasms and fatigue in his right arm, but he is set to begin a throwing program on Tuesday.  O’Neill will also begin a running program on Wednesday, as he trise to make it back from a hamstring strain that sent him to the 10-day IL on September 17.
  • Oneil Cruz made two errors in the Pirates’ 8-3 loss to the Cubs today, giving the rookie shortstop 15 errors over 73 games this season at the position.  It made for some unfortunate timing for Pirates GM Ben Cherington, who said in his pregame radio interview (hat tip to Kevin Gorman of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review) that “I see no reason why [Cruz] can’t play shortstop at high level at the major-league level.  I believe he can do it.  Time will tell.  And he’ll tell us.”  Evaluators have long been skeptical about whether or not the 6’7″ Cruz will eventually need a position change, though for the rebuilding Pirates, there really isn’t any reason for the team to not give Cruz a long look at shortstop before deciding if a change is necessary.  Cruz has also played in a handful of games in left field in the minors (and one game in left field in the bigs), which seems like it would be his eventual fallback position if he can’t stick at shortstop.

List Of All-Star Roster Replacements

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7:25PM: Freddie Freeman is also joining the NL roster, as the league announced that the Dodgers first baseman is replacing Starling Marte.

4:04PM: The league announced that the Cardinals’ Miles Mikolas has now been added to the NL roster, taking the spot of Brewers righty Corbin Burnes.

July 17, 1:15PM: The Mariners have announced that Ty France will be joining the festivities as well. MLB later announced the addition as well, noting that he is replacing Mike Trout. With Trout not taking part, Byron Buxton will move into the starting center fielder role for the American League.

10:05AM: MLB has announced three more additions, with one of them being the previously reported addition of Williams. The other two are closers: Liam Hendriks of the White Sox and Jordan Romano of the Blue Jays. Those three will replace Gerrit Cole, Justin Verlander and Max Fried.

July 16, 11:01PM: Brewers reliever Devin Williams has also been named to the NL roster, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports (Twitter link).

7:11:PM: Four replacements were announced to the All-Star rosters, taking the spots of four other players who won’t be part of the Midsummer Classic.  Dodgers left-hander Tyler Anderson, Padres infielder Jake Cronenworth, and Braves third baseman Austin Riley will be joining the National League’s team, while Blue Jays second baseman Santiago Espinal has been named to the American League’s roster.

Espinal is replacing Jose Altuve, who was hit in the knee by a pitch on Thursday.  Altuve sat out Friday’s action and is back in the Astros lineup tonight as the DH, but even though he is well enough to play, Altuve and the Astros will use the All-Star break to get the second baseman fully back to 100 percent.  Altuve had been voted in as the AL’s starter at second baseman, but now the Guardians’ Andres Gimenez take over as the starter for Tuesday’s game.

Jazz Chisholm was voted as the NL’s starting second baseman, but the Marlins standout will also be missing the game due to his lower back injury.  Chisholm has been on the 10-day injured list since June 28, but he has been working out at the Marlins’ spring camp, and taking part in baseball activities.  There isn’t a set timeline for Chisholm’s return, but the team is hopeful Chisholm can be activated for the start of the second half.  With Chisholm out, Jeff McNeil becomes the NL’s new starter at the keystone, while Cronenworth will take over the backup infield role.

Giants lefty Carlos Rodon is also battling injury, opening the door for Anderson to receive the first All-Star nod of his seven-year career.  Rodon has both a blister and a split nail on the middle finger of his throwing hand, and told  Henry Schulman and other reporters that he is skipping the ASG in order to give the injury time to properly heal.  There isn’t yet any indication that Rodon might require a visit to the injured list, and since Rodon last pitched on Thursday, he’ll receive at least a full week off between starts.

Riley was perhaps the most prominent omission from the original All-Star roster, given how the Braves slugger has posted some huge numbers over the first half.  However, as it often the case with “snubs,” the situation sorted itself out once other players started to drop out.  Riley will be taking the place of Nolan Arenado, as the Cardinals third baseman will use the break to rest a lingering back problem.

Cardinals Activate Miles Mikolas

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The Cardinals announced Friday that right-hander Miles Mikolas has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list and will start tonight’s game. St. Louis placed right-hander Ryan Helsley on the 10-day injured list with a stress reaction in his right elbow, opening a spot on the active roster. Meanwhile, lefty Brandon Waddell has been placed on the Covid-19 injured list, tweets Zachary Silver of MLB.com, which opens a spot on the 40-man roster.

Tonight’s start is not only just Mikolas’ second appearance of the season — it’s second appearance overall dating back to the 2019 season. The right-hander parlayed an excellent three-year stint in Japan into a two-year, $15.5MM deal with the Cardinals, and he showed well enough in his return to MLB that the Cards signed him to a four-year, $68MM extension that spanned the 2020-23 seasons. Forearm surgery wiped out Mikolas’ entire 2020 season, however, and he’s spent the bulk of the current season on the injured list with continued forearm troubles.

Since returning to the Major Leagues in 2018, Mikolas has pitched quite well, logging a collective 3.45 earned run average with an 18.4 percent strikeout rate, a minuscule 3.9 percent walk rate and an above-average 48.4 percent ground-ball rate. Mikolas made the 2018 All-Star team and pitched well enough that season to land a sixth-place finish in National League Cy Young voting.

He’ll return to a Cardinals rotation that has been hammered by injuries throughout the summer but is now getting as close to full strength as it’s been in quite some time. Jack Flaherty returned to the staff a week ago after missing two months with an oblique tear, and the Cards hope to get Kwang Hyun Kim back from the 10-day injured list sooner than later. He made a rehab start just yesterday.

Flaherty and Mikolas join cornerstone Adam Wainwright and trade deadline newcomers J.A. Happ and Jon Lester in the rotation for now as the Cardinals do their best to chase down the second National League Wild Card spot. St. Louis has won seven of its past ten games to trim its deficit to three and a half games.

NL Injury Notes: d’Arnaud, Ynoa, Flaherty, Mikolas, Sims, Antone, Senzel

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The Braves are planning to activate Travis d’Arnaud from the 60-day injured list this week, possibly on Tuesday when the team begins a series with the Reds.  Manager Brian Snitker told reporters (including Gabriel Burns of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution) that d’Arnaud is slated to catch all nine innings of a minor league rehab game tomorrow, representing a final step in his recovery from surgery to repair a thumb ligament.  A Silver Slugger winner in 2020, d’Arnaud hasn’t played since May 1 of this season, contributing to Atlanta’s near-total dearth of production from the catcher position.

Huascar Ynoa is also working his way back from a broken hand, as Snitker said the righty threw 68 pitches in his most recent rehab outing on Friday, and is scheduled to toss roughly 85 pitches in his next outing.  With a 3.02 ERA over nine starts and 44 2/3 innings, Ynoa was a nice surprise for Atlanta’s rotation prior to his injury, and he could be used as either a starter, long reliever, or both upon his return to the active roster.

More injury updates from around the National League…

  • “I’m going to pitch in Pittsburgh,” Jack Flaherty told Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and other reporters, indicating that he plans to return from the 60-day IL during the Cardinals’ upcoming series with the Pirates from August 10-12.  A left oblique strain put Flaherty on the IL on June 1, leaving the Cards without their ace for a big chunk of the season.  Miles Mikolas is also tentatively scheduled to return for next weekend’s series against the Royals, as Mikolas is working through a minor league rehab assignment of his own.  Mikolas missed the entire 2020 season due to flexor tendon surgery, then made just one start in May before heading back to the IL due to forearm tightness.
  • Some bullpen reinforcements look to be on the way for the Reds, as Lucas Sims might be activated from the 10-day IL on Sunday, and Tejay Antone could be ready sometime this week.  Both relievers went on the injured list in the final week of June — Sims with a sprained right elbow, and Antone with a right forearm strain.  Reds manager David Bell told Bobby Nightengale of The Cincinnati Enquirer and other reporters that Sims has “a pretty strong chance” of returning tomorrow, while Antone’s timeline is more tentative since he was only scheduled to begin his rehab assignment today.  “We want to get him back as quick as we can, but we want to do it in a way that is best for Tejay, and we can have him for the rest of the year and he doesn’t have to deal with this anymore at all, even next year or beyond,” Bell said.
  • Nick Senzel’s status is even more uncertain, as Bell said Senzel is “still not recovering exactly how we would want him to” after a week of rehab games.  Senzel underwent arthroscopic knee surgery at the end of May, and was initially given a recovery timeline of 4-6 weeks.  Things are open-ended enough that Bell said Senzel might return to the Reds within a couple of days if he shows improvement, but for now, the oft-injured Senzel is once again sidelined.

Cardinals Not Planning To Sell

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At 44-47, the Cardinals currently sit in fourth place, nine games behind the Brewers for the National League Central lead. But the Cardinals aren’t ready to tear it down and start shedding trade assets. It’s not at all likely that the Cardinals become sellers this July, despite their current place in the standings, per The Athletic’s Katie Woo (via Twitter). Of course, that’s not unusual for the Cardinals, one of the most stable and competitive franchises in the game.

In terms of their chances for contention in 2021, nine games isn’t an inconceivable margin to overcome, though leapfrogging the three teams ahead of them might be as much of a challenge. That said, the Cubs do seem likely to sell, and therefore slip further down the standings as we move into August and September. The Cardinals are also 8.5 games out of a wild card spot, however, so there’s no clear path to a postseason spot.

That said, there are some reinforcements on the way. Both Miles Mikolas and Jack Flaherty threw bullpens yesterday, per Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat (via Twitter). Mikolas made just one start this year, but he’s been a productive member of the rotation in years past. Flaherty, of course, could be a difference-maker if he’s able to return from his torn oblique.

Jordan Hicks, however, may not return this season, notes Jones. Hicks has been out with elbow inflammation since May 2nd, and there’s still no telling when he might be ready to take the hill again. Given Hicks’ injury history, this latest chapter is particularly disheartening for the 24-year-old flamethrower.

Pitching hasn’t necessarily been the issue for the Cardinals, however. With 360 runs scored, they’ve outscored just the Mets and Pirates, and they are tied with Cleveland for 26th in the Majors with a 88 wRC+. They rank 25th with a .379 SLG and 26th with a .302 OBP. They’re putting the ball in play — 21.9 percent strikeout rate is tied for third-lowest in the Majors — but those balls are largely being turned into outs, as they’re also third-lowest by BABIP with a .272 team batting average on balls in play.

While the Cardinals are built around their pitching and defense, it’s safe to assume they expected more from the offense. They are healthy as a unit now, however, so perhaps the Cardinals expect a second half surge. Regardless, outside of a few veterans like Yadier Molina, Adam Wainwright, Andrew Miller and Kwang Hyun Kim, most of the Cardinals’ roster is controlled beyond this season, so it’s not wholly unreasonable to avoid a sell-off, even if their playoff odds, at the moment, are a slim 1.8 percent, per Fangraphs.

NL Central Notes: Wong, Cardinals, Pirates

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Brewers second baseman Kolten Wong left last night’s game after three innings due to a left oblique strain, after striking out swinging in what ended up as his final at-bat of the game.  Brewers manager Craig Counsell told MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy and other reporters that “at this point, it’s day to day.  It’s not bad, but it’s concerning because it’s the same spot” that Wong previously felt a strain earlier this season.  That initial oblique issue sent Wong to the injured list and caused him to miss 11 games in April.

Wong has been a strong part of Milwaukee’s success this season, delivering his usual stellar glovework at second base while hitting .280/.343/.441 (114 OPS+, 115 wRC+) over 178 plate appearances.  Ideally, Wong could avoid the IL altogether, but even another relatively minimal absence would count as a minor victory considering how oblique injuries can often be longer-term problems.  Keston Hiura, Luis Urias, or Daniel Robertson are fill-in options at second base if Wong indeed has to miss significant time, but none can match Wong’s all-around contributions.

Some more injury updates from around the NL Central…

  • With Miles Mikolas and Jordan Hicks both on the injured list, Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak told reporters (including Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat) said the “best case” scenario is to have both right-handers back in August.  Mikolas is roughly 3-5 weeks from being re-evaluated after receiving a stem cell injection as he works his way back from forearm tightness, while Hicks is out until at least July 1 after being placed on the 60-day IL due to elbow inflammation.  Given that both hurlers have had significant long-term injury absences prior to these current health issues, the Cards will surely be as cautious as possible in bringing either Mikolas or Hicks back into action, despite the team’s pitching needs.
  • Max Moroff is considering surgery to address his ailing left shoulder, after the Cardinals infielder went on the 10-day IL with a shoulder subluxation last week.  If Moroff doesn’t opt for surgery, he’ll still be out of action for at least 4-6 weeks.
  • Pirates GM Ben Cherington hinted last week that outfield prospect Travis Swaggerty was leaning towards shoulder surgery, and the team announced yesterday (hat tip to The Athletic’s Rob Biertempfel) that Swaggerty indeed went under the knife and will miss the rest of the season.  Swaggerty is expected to be fully recovered in roughly five months, though it’s still a tough setback for the 10th overall pick of the 2018 draft.
  • Jose Soriano has also hit an injury speedbump, as the Pirates right-hander experienced “recurrent elbow discomfort” while on a minor league rehab assignment.  Soriano underwent Tommy John surgery in February 2020, though the Bucs still picked him off the Angels’ roster with the first pick in last December’s Rule 5 draft.  Despite the missed time, MLB Pipeline still ranked Soriano 24th among all Pirates prospect, highlighting his 70-grade fastball and a 55-grade curve.

Cardinals To Re-Evaluate Miles Mikolas In 4-6 Weeks

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Cardinals right-hander Miles Mikolas left his start on May 22 with forearm tightness, leading to concerns that he would need Tommy John surgery. That won’t be the case, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat was among those to report, but the Cardinals will have to go without Mikolas for the foreseeable future. Mikolas received a stem cell injection to address calcification in his flexor tendon, and he’ll be re-evaluated in four to six weeks.

The Cards expect Mikolas to pitch again this season, per Jones, but the recovery timeline suggests he’s a long way from taking the mound again. Even if he’s ready to go four to six weeks from now, Mikolas will still need time to build his arm strength back up, meaning St. Louis might not see him until sometime in July or August. The team has already gone almost the whole season without Mikolas, who made just the one start and lasted four innings. He missed all of 2020 after undergoing flexor tendon surgery and began this season behind schedule because of shoulder problems.

The Cardinals signed Mikolas, now 32, to a four-year, $68MM extension in 2019 after what looked like a breakout campaign in the previous season. Mikolas was effective again that year, but the deal didn’t kick in until last season. So, because of the injuries that have hampered Mikolas, the gamble hasn’t gone in the Cardinals’ favor at all thus far. He’s under their control through 2023 at annual salaries of $15.75MM.

Even without Mikolas, the Cardinals made the playoffs in 2020, and the National League Central leaders are on pace to do so again this year. The Cardinals’ starters rank a respectable 11th in the majors in ERA (3.63), though the group – largely Jack Flaherty, Kwang-hyun Kim, Adam Wainwright, Carlos Martínez and John Gant – has been closer to middle of the pack with respect to peripheral numbers.

Cardinals Place Miles Mikolas On 10-Day IL Due To Forearm Tightness

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MAY 24: Mikolas will visit Dr. James Andrews on Wednesday for a second opinion, Jones tweets.

MAY 23: Mikolas has been placed on the 10-day injured list, the Cardinals announced.  Right-hander Junior Fernandez was called up from Triple-A in a corresponding move.

MAY 22, 9:38 pm: Mikolas is headed for an MRI tonight, manager Mike Shildt told reporters (including Jeff Jones of the Belleville News Democrat).

8:03 pm: Cardinals righty Miles Mikolas left this evening’s start against the Cubs before the fifth inning after a visit from the trainer. The team later announced he was removed with right forearm tightness. Daniel Ponce de Leon was called on to replace him.

Mikolas’ start today marked his return to a big league mound for the first time in nineteen months. He missed the entire 2020 season after undergoing surgery to repair the flexor tendon in his right forearm. Expected to return at the start of this year, Mikolas ultimately wound up delayed nearly two months by a shoulder issue. Any pitcher exiting in the middle of a start with forearm tightness is concerning, since that can often be a precursor to Tommy John surgery. Given Mikolas’ recent injury history, it’s especially alarming.

The 32-year-old did make three successful rehab starts with Triple-A Memphis before getting back on a big league mound. In this evening’s game, Mikolas’ fastball was in the 89-92 MPH range, topping out at 92.7 MPH. That’s below the 93-94 MPH he averaged on his heater in 2018-19, although it hadn’t seemed particularly surprising his velocity would be down a bit given his long layoff from pitching.

The Cardinals already had a five-man starting staff of Jack Flaherty, Kwang-hyun Kim, Adam Wainwright, Carlos Martínez and John Gant before Mikolas’ return. If this latest issue ends up forcing him back to the injured list, those players figure to continue taking the ball every fifth day.

Cardinals Activate Miles Mikolas From Injured List

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The Cardinals have activated Miles Mikolas off the 10-day injured list, and the right-hander will start against the Cubs tonight.  Righty Seth Elledge was sent to Triple-A to open up a 26-man roster spot for Mikolas.

October 11, 2019 marked the last time Mikolas appeared in a big league game, as he allowed one run over six innings in Game 1 of the 2019 NLCS.  Flexor tendon surgery caused Mikolas to miss the entire 2020 season, and then shoulder problems delayed his return until today.

This isn’t the first time Mikolas’ Major League career has been interrupted, as he headed to Japan following the 2014 season and revived his stock with three outstanding seasons with the Yomiuri Giants.  After signing a two-year, $15.5MM deal with the Cardinals in the 2017-18 offseason, Mikolas took that new form back into MLB, finishing sixth in NL Cy Young Award voting in 2018.

That success led to another contract with St. Louis, as Mikolas signed a four-year extension worth $68MM.  Since that extension started with the 2020 season, however, Mikolas has yet to throw even a single pitch since that new deal kicked in, making it a questionable investment to date for the Cards’ front office.  Still, there is plenty of time for Mikolas to still deliver, and his return should further bolster the Cardinals’ pitching staff.

Jack Flaherty, Kwang Hyun Kim, and John Gant have all been very solid for the Cards this season, while Carlos Martinez and Adam Wainwright have been a little more inconsistent.  St. Louis plans to use a six-man rotation for the time being, unless plans change due to other injuries.

Latest On Miles Mikolas

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Cardinals right-hander Miles Mikolas began a Triple-A rehab assignment this week, and it seems likely he’ll make his 2021 major league debut soon. Mikolas said his last rehab start should be May 16 or 17, after which he figures to return to the majors, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat tweets.

The Cardinals have gone the past year-plus without Mikolas, who missed 2020 as a result of a flexor tendon surgery and hasn’t pitched this season because of shoulder issues. Mikolas’ health woes have been rather unfortunate for the Cardinals, who haven’t gotten much bang for their buck on the four-year, $68MM extension they signed him to prior to the 2019 campaign. They gave Mikolas that deal on the heels of a tremendous 2018 season in which he logged a 2.83 ERA with an 18.1 percent strikeout rate and a 3.6 percent walk rate across 200 2/3 innings.

Of course, despite his recent injury problems, the Cardinals have received plenty of value from Mikolas since they lured him from Japan on a two-year, $15.5MM guarantee going into 2018. Mikolas owns a 3.46 ERA and a meager 3.9 percent walk rate across 384 2/3 frames with the Cardinals, so they’ll be glad to welcome him back.

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