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Injured List Transactions: DeSclafani, Solano, Buehler

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The Giants reinstated starter Anthony DeSclafani from the 60-day injured list this evening. He’ll get the nod tonight against the Braves, his first appearance since April 21. The righty made three starts in April, allowing nine runs through 13 1/3 innings before hitting the IL due to right ankle inflammation. DeSclafani tossed 167 2/3 frames of 3.17 ERA ball last season and was re-signed on a three-year free agent deal over the winter.

In a corresponding move, San Francisco placed reliever José Álvarez on the 15-day IL due to lower back tightness. The Giants also recalled righty Sam Delaplane and placed him on the MLB 60-day IL to free a spot on the 40-man roster. Delaplane, whom the club added to the 40-man earlier this month, is still working his way back from an April 2021 Tommy John procedure. He won’t be able to pitch in a major league game until at least mid-August and has yet to make his MLB debut. Delaplane will collect MLB service time and be paid the prorated $700K league minimum salary while on the major league injured list.

The latest on a pair of other IL moves with 40-man roster implications:

  • The Reds activated Donovan Solano from the 60-day injured list. He’ll make his team debut whenever he gets into a game. Signed to a $4.5MM free agent deal, the righty-hitting infielder suffered a left hamstring injury that cost him the first couple months of the season. Solano is coming off a three-year stretch with San Francisco in which he hit .308/.354/.435, and he figures to see some time at second and third base in Cincinnati. With the Reds having fallen into last place in the NL Central, it’s possible they’ll look to flip the 34-year-old for salary relief and/or a minimal prospect return before the trade deadline. Starter Nick Lodolo was transferred to the 60-day IL to clear a 40-man roster spot. That’s a procedural move backdated to the time of Lodolo’s initial IL placement on April 25, so he’ll be eligible to return by the end of the week. The southpaw has been out with a back strain but started a rehab assignment at Triple-A Louisville over the weekend.
  • The Dodgers transferred star Walker Buehler from the 15-day to the 60-day injured list. That opens 40-man roster space for newly-acquired outfielder Trayce Thompson, whose contract was selected as expected. Buehler is dealing with a flexor strain in his forearm and is targeting a late August or early September return, making the transfer an inevitability. To clear active roster space for Thompson, reliever Caleb Ferguson went on the 15-day IL with forearm tendinitis. The left-hander downplayed any long-term concern about the issue when speaking with reporters this afternoon (via Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register). Ferguson, who missed all of 2021 recovering from Tommy John surgery, has tossed five scoreless innings over six appearances.

Injury Notes: Zunino, Buehler, Woodruff

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The Rays have been without backstop Mike Zunino for a week, as he landed on the injured list with left shoulder inflammation last Friday. The club has worked to pin down the diagnosis in recent days, and manager Kevin Cash indicated yesterday that Zunino may be dealing with thoracic outlet syndrome (via Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times). He’ll receive a Botox injection in hopes of alleviating the symptoms, and the club expects to have a more defined treatment program by next week.

If the injection doesn’t have the desired effect, it’s possible Zunino would need surgery to address the issue. A thoracic outlet procedure would come with a months-long rehab process and end his 2022 campaign. TOS surgery has become more prevalent around the league in recent years, although it’s been a far more common issue for pitchers than for position players. The Rays have relied on a Francisco Mejía – René Pinto pairing behind the dish in Zunino’s absence, and a long-term or season-ending issue could inspire them to turn to the trade market for help. Tampa Bay could arguably stand to upgrade even if Zunino is able to rehab and work his way back quickly, as the impending free agent is hitting only .148/.195/.304 through 36 games this season.

The latest developments on some other notable injury situations around the game:

  • The Dodgers placed Walker Buehler on the injured list last week after the righty was diagnosed with a flexor strain in his forearm. Shortly after landing on the shelf, Buehler underwent an arthroscopic procedure to remove a bone spur from his elbow, he told reporters this week (via Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register and Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times). The two-time All-Star indicated he’s been pitching through the spur for years and decided it best to remove it while he’s already shut down from throwing because of the flexor issue. The procedure isn’t expected to affect his recovery timeline, and Buehler reiterated he expects to be back on a major league mound 10-12 weeks from now. It’s not clear whether he’ll have enough time to build up as a prototypical starter for the stretch run, but if all goes as planned, he should be available as a postseason weapon for manager Dave Roberts.
  • Brewers starter Brandon Woodruff will join Triple-A Nashville for a rehab start tomorrow, tweets Will Sammon of the Athletic. It’ll be the first of two likely minor league appearances before the right-hander is set to return to American Family Field. Woodruff has been out since suffering a right high ankle sprain in late May. While he recovered quite quickly from the leg issue, he was dealt a bit of a setback when a battle with Raynaud’s syndrome — a condition that causes decreased blood flow to a person’s fingers — resulted in some numbness on his throwing hand. Fortunately, he was able to restart a throwing program within days and is apparently in good enough shape to progress to game action.

Walker Buehler Likely Out Two To Three Months With Flexor Strain

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11:58PM: Buehler will be shut down from throwing for 6-8 weeks, Roberts told Jack Harris and other reporters, as the MRI revealed a flexor strain.  While Buehler will have to rebuild his arm strength almost from scratch afterwards, Roberts does believe the righty will be able to pitch again in 2022.

4:30PM: After Walker Buehler left yesterday’s game with discomfort in his right elbow, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya and The L.A. Times’ Jack Harris) that Buehler will be placed on the 15-day injured list.  The team has officially announced the transaction, listing Buehler’s placement as due to a right forearm strain.

Buehler is currently undergoing an MRI to determine the extent and nature of the injury, but Roberts said that the right-hander will miss “a good bit of time.”  Right-hander Michael Grove will be called up to take Buehler’s place on the active roster.  Buehler underwent Tommy John surgery in 2015, and though he has avoided any serious elbow/forearm issues since, it is naturally a concern to see Buehler again sidelined with any sort of related injury.  More will be known once the MRI results are revealed, as it isn’t yet clear if Buehler’s season (or beyond) could possibly be in jeopardy.

At the very least, the Dodgers will have a big vacancy to fill in the starting rotation, even if Buehler hasn’t been quite his ace-level self in 2022.  Buehler has a 4.02 ERA over 65 innings, with a very solid 6.2% walk rate but a below-average 21.2% strikeout rate and underwhelming Statcast numbers.  The biggest problem is Buehler’s four-seam fastball, which was at times a dominant plus pitch in 2018-21, but batters have been teeing off on the four-seamer this year.  The velocity has dropped off to an average of 95.2mph, though it isn’t that far below Buehler’s career average velo of 96.1mph on his four-seamer.

The Dodgers could have a rotation replacement for Buehler in relatively short order, as Roberts said that Andrew Heaney is set for another rehab start on Tuesday and could be activated from the IL for the Dodgers’ game with the Guardians on June 19.  Los Angeles also has off-days on both Monday and Thursday, so a fifth starter won’t be immediately necessary in the short term.

In the bigger picture, of course, losing Buehler for a significant amount of time will certainly increase the Dodgers’ focus on adding starting pitching at the deadline.  While L.A. has gotten its typically strong results from its rotation this year, pitching was already expected to be a target area, to add more depth and quality to the starting five.  President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman hasn’t been shy about adding major names (including such star pitchers as Max Scherzer or Yu Darvish) to the roster at past trade deadlines, so anything from depth additions to blockbuster deals could be on the table for the Dodgers prior to August 2.

Buehler is sidelined just as Clayton Kershaw returns from his own IL stint, leaving the Dodgers still short of their ideal top of the rotation.  Kershaw, Julio Urias, Tony Gonsolin, Tyler Anderson, and Heaney now form the current starting five, with Dustin May (TJ surgery) and Danny Duffy (flexor tendon surgery) expected to return at some point later in the season.  Pitchers like Grove, Ryan Pepiot, and Mitch White have also gotten some spot starts this season, and could be called upon again for more rotation work or potentially relief roles depending on how the club opts to deploy any of these hurlers.

Injury Notes: Buehler, Junis, Longoria, Kershaw

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Walker Buehler left his start for the Dodgers last night after just 70 pitches due to right elbow discomfort, per the team. It’s not an encouraging development for the first-place Dodgers. The Giants took the ballgame 7-2, but they didn’t come away unscathed either, with both starter Jakob Junis and Evan Longoria leaving the game due to injury as well. There has been no official diagnosis for any of the three injured players.

On the plus side for the Dodgers, they expect to activate Clayton Kershaw from the injured list today, per The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya (via Twitter). The veteran southpaw had an excellent first five starts before landing on the injured list. Kershaw’s back has kept him out for little more than a month, but he returns owning a 1.80 ERA/2.27 FIP over 30 innings with a stunning 32-to-3 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Depending on the diagnosis for Buehler’s injury, it could mean a quick return from Triple-A for Mitch White, who was optioned on Friday. White had been in the rotation since the end of May, making four turns through the rotation. Combined with his time in the bullpen, White has posted a 3.86 ERA/3.72 FIP in 25 2/3 innings this season.

Dodgers To Start Walker Buehler In NLCS Game 6

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The Dodgers have announced that Walker Buehler will get the start in tonight’s crucial Game 6 of the National League Championship Series.  Buehler will take the ball in place of Max Scherzer, who was initially slated to start but was scratched yesterday.

Buehler didn’t look sharp in Game 3 against the Braves, allowing two earned runs (and four runs total) on six hits and three walks over 3 2/3 innings.  He’ll now take the ball again on only three days’ rest, working on short rest for just the second time in his career, and the second time this postseason.  Los Angeles deployed Buehler for both Games 1 and 4 of the NLDS, and also on three days’ rest, Buehler held the Giants to one earned run over 4 1/3 innings of work.

Since this is the only instance of Buehler pitching on short rest, it is hard to say whether or not his shaky performance in Game 3 (which came a week after Game 4 of the NLDS) was due to after-effects from having only three days to recover and prepare between starts.  Surely the Dodgers would have felt much more comfortable having Buehler fully rested for a potential Game 7, though given how the Dodgers have more or less used an “all hands on deck” philosophy with their postseason pitching mix, it wouldn’t have been shocking if Buehler had been used to record some key outs in relief of Scherzer in Game 6.

That possible scenario didn’t come to pass, however, as Scherzer continues to be bothered by the “dead arm” that plagued him in his Game 2 start against the Braves.  Scherzer was pitching for the third time in six days in that outing, after he had thrown 110 pitches in Game 3 of the NLDS against the Giants, then came into Game 5 as a closer to seal the series with a scoreless ninth inning.  Returning to the mound three days later against Atlanta, Scherzer threw 79 pitches in 4 1/3 innings, giving up two runs on a walk and four hits (though with seven strikeouts).

In the big picture, Buehler is type of ace a team would love to have on the mound for a possible elimination game, except for the X-factor of how the short rest could impact his work.  It remains to be seen exactly how long of a leash Buehler will receive from manager Dave Roberts, as while Buehler is an ace, the Dodgers don’t have any margin for error being down 3-2 in the series.  Pulling Buehler after, for example, another 3 2/3 innings will leave a lot of outs for the Dodgers bullpen to cover, especially since Joe Kelly has already been removed from the NLCS roster due to injury, and Justin Bruihl’s availability may also be in question due to arm soreness.

Using Buehler tonight also raises the question of how the Dodgers will handle the pitching in a potential Game 7, though obviously L.A. just wants to win tonight before worrying about tomorrow’s issues.  Julio Urias (Game 4’s starter after pitching in relief in Game 2) would also be working on short rest if he pitched in Game 7, though since the Dodgers have already had two bullpen games in this series, normal starter/reliever roles would quite likely be thrown out the window in a Game 7 scenario.  It also isn’t known if Scherzer will be available for any action at all, even a one-inning appearance.

2021 Arbitration Hearing Results & Post-Deadline Agreements

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January 15 was the deadline for teams and arbitration-eligible players to officially submit salary figures for the 2021, and by the time the day was done, only 13 players didn’t reach agreement on a contract.  The majority of teams now adhere to the “file or trial” strategy, meaning that no further negotiations on a one-year deal will take place between the arbitration deadline and a hearing with an arbiter, which theoretically puts pressure on players to get a deal done if they are wary about taking their case to a third party.

“File and trial” tactics didn’t stop the Astros and Carlos Correa from agreeing to a one-year deal for just the 2021 season, which is also Correa’s last year before gaining free agent eligibility.  We also saw three multi-year deals reached, all from the greater Los Angeles area — the Dodgers reached two-year deals with Walker Buehler and Austin Barnes, while the Angels inked a two-year pact with Shohei Ohtani.

This left nine unresolved cases that went all the way to a hearing (held over Zoom) between an arbiter, the player, his representative(s), and front office personnel arguing the team’s side.  The teams won five of the nine hearings, continuing the very narrow edge teams have held over players in arb cases in recent years — over the last 99 arbitration hearings, teams hold a 51-48 record over players.

For the full list of every salary for every arbitration-eligible player this offseason, check out the MLB Trade Rumors Arb Tracker.  Sticking to the 13 players with unresolved cases from January 15, here’s the rundown…

Avoided Arbitration, One-Year Contract

Avoided Arbitration, Multi-Year Contract

Arbitration Hearings, Won By Player

Arbitration Hearings, Won By Team

Dodgers Reach 2-Year Arbitration Deal With Walker Buehler

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The Dodgers have inked a new contract with righty Walker Buehler, but it won’t expand upon the team’s control rights. Per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter links), the deal will resolve Buehler’s arbitration case by guaranteeing him $8MM over the next two seasons.

MLBTR had projected Buehler to earn in the $2.3MM to $3.1MM range for the 2021 campaign. The contract provides a $2.75MM salary along with a $3.25MM rate of pay for 2022. That latter number is obviously light, which is why Buehler will also enjoy a $2MM signing bonus.

The Dodgers gain cost certainty and avoid a hearing with a critical young player. In exchange for sacrificing some contractual upside, Buehler will lock in some serious career earnings and gain some long-term protection from injury.

Buehler will also retain a chance to boost his earnings through escalator provisions. Per Rosenthal, the deal calls for Buehler to earn an additional $500K upon reaching each of six games started thresholds (14, 16, 18, 20, 24, 28). Cy Young voting outcomes can also bump the payday: $1.125MM for a win or $625K for a top-three finish.

The 26-year-old Buehler reached arbitration eligibility as a Super Two player. He’ll have two more arb-eligible campaigns to go after this deal runs out. The sky is the limit on his earning power for those seasons and beyond. Through 365 2/3 career innings to date, Buehler owns a 3.15 ERA with a 28.6% strikeout rate and 6.3% walk rate.

Dodgers Planning To Start Walker Buehler In Game 3

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The Dodgers are planning to start Walker Buehler in Game 3 of the World Series on Friday, manager Dave Roberts informed reporters (including Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times). The 26-year-old last pitched on Saturday, so he’ll be on an extra day of rest when he next takes the ball. He’ll likely be opposed by Rays’ righty Charlie Morton.

A Game 3 start would also position the L.A. ace to pitch on regular rest in a potential Game 7. Buehler has been lights-out so far this postseason, allowing just four runs in 19 innings. In his most recent start, he helped the Dodgers stave off elimination by blanking the Braves across six frames.

More immediately, though, that leaves the NL champions searching for options on Wednesday. Clayton Kershaw will start Game 1 tomorrow, but the Game 2 pitching outlook is murkier. Tony Gonsolin, Julio Urías and Dustin May each picked up starts during the NLCS, but all three were pressed into action in Game 7 against Atlanta. Presumably, one of that trio will return on two days’ rest to take the ball Wednesday, but it’s unlikely any would be able to work particularly deep into that game.

Dodgers Plan To Start Walker Buehler In Game 6 Of NLCS

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The Dodgers, down 3-1 to the underdog Braves in the NLCS, are facing elimination heading into Game 5 on Friday. If the Dodgers do force a Game 6, though, they’ll use right-hander Walker Buehler as their starter, J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group was among those to report.

Los Angeles has already turned to Buehler once in its series against Atlanta, which beat him in Game 1 by a 5-1 score. That wasn’t necessarily Buehler’s fault, though, as he turned in five innings of one-run ball with seven strikeouts, five walks and three hits allowed. He has generally been effective in this year’s playoffs, evidenced by a 2.77 ERA in 13 innings, and is coming off a regular season in which he registered a 3.44 ERA/4.36 FIP with 10.31 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 over eight starts and 36 2/3 frames.

Of course, the Buehler news will prove to be moot if the Dodgers don’t extend the series Friday. They’re turning to fellow young gun Dustin May in Game 5, while the Braves will rely on their bullpen as they try to close out the series.

Dodgers Notes: Buehler, Pitching Staff, Rios

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Dodgers manager Dave Roberts spoke with reporters (including Ken Gurnick of MLB.com and Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times) this evening. Roberts rounded up the team’s thinking as they approach their upcoming NL Championship Series matchup with the Braves.

Walker Buehler will get the start in Game 1, as he did in the NL Division Series opener with the Padres. Despite being nagged by a blister toward the end of the regular season, Buehler managed 95 pitches against San Diego. He should be capable of shouldering a similar workload tomorrow evening, Roberts said. Nevertheless, Los Angeles is considering adding a fifteenth pitcher to the roster. This year’s Championship Series carry the possibility of playing seven games in a seven day span, so the Dodgers are understandably looking into lengthening the pitching staff.

Whether the Dodgers add an extra pitcher could also depend upon the health status of designated hitter Edwin Ríos. The 26-year-old has mashed in limited MLB playing time over the past couple seasons but was left off the Division Series roster due to a groin issue. Ríos has progressed to running and taking live plate appearances, per Roberts, giving him a shot at making the NLCS roster. If Ríos does return, he’d likely be limited to pinch hitting, the skipper added.

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