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Walker Buehler

NL West Notes: Buehler, Padres, Melancon, D-backs

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Dodgers right-hander Walker Buehler has pitched his way into the club’s rotation for the foreseeable future, manager Dave Roberts told Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register and other reporters Saturday (Twitter link). Although Buehler is a past Tommy John surgery recipient who hasn’t yet thrown 100 innings in a professional season, his workload isn’t the Dodgers’ primary concern at the moment. “Right now we need to win games,” Roberts said of a potential innings limit for Buehler, who has combined for 29 between the majors and minors in 2018. The 23-year-old Buehler is regarded as one of the game’s elite pitching prospects, and he has lived up to the hype during his first three major league starts this season. Not only has Buehler tossed 16 innings of 1.13 ERA ball with 10.69 K/9 and 3.94 BB/9, but he was on the hill for the first six frames of the Dodgers’ combined no-hitter against the Padres on Saturday. His emergence has been especially timely for an LA team that just lost starter Hyun-Jin Ryu until the second half of the season.

  • Buehler and three relievers combined to fan 13 hitters Saturday, thus contributing to the Padres’ league-high strikeout rate (27.3 percent) and second-worst swinging-strike percentage (12.6). Padres manager Andy Green has seen just about enough, as Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune relays. “It’s well-known that we’ve punched out way too much,” Green said. “We’re at a point in time with hitters here where your opportunity will pass you by if you don’t make an adjustment and start putting the ball in play. The opportunity will start going to somebody else. We’ll continue to churn if we can’t get the job done.” Thanks in part to their swing-and-miss ways, the Padres are off to an 11-22 start – their worst since 2012, notes Acee, who suggests they could soon promote high-end middle infield prospect Luis Urias. The 20-year-old Urias, who has slashed .298/.416/.417 in 101 Triple-A plate appearances this season, would perhaps give San Diego’s offense a much-needed jolt.
  • Giants closer Mark Melancon threw a 20-pitch bullpen session Saturday and then informed reporters (including Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle) that he’s aiming to return from the 60-day disabled list May 25, when he’s first eligible (Twitter link). Melancon hasn’t pitched at all this season, the second of a four-year, $62MM deal, on account of a flexor strain in his right elbow. Nevertheless, the Giants’ bullpen has fared better statistically than it did in 2017, and fill-in closer Hunter Strickland has performed respectably in Melancon’s place.
  • Diamondbacks righty Kris Medlen had an ugly outing Friday in his first major league outing since 2016, allowing seven earned runs on nine hits and four walks in a loss to the Astros. The veteran lost his 25-man roster spot Saturday when the D-backs optioned him to Triple-A in favor of righty Braden Shipley, per a team announcement. Fortunately for Arizona, whose rotation will go without Robbie Ray (oblique strain) for several weeks and Taijuan Walker (Tommy John surgery) for the rest of the year, an intriguing reinforcement is making progress. Righty Shelby Miller, who’s on the mend from the TJ surgery he underwent last year, could pitch in an extended spring training game next week, manager Torey Lovullo told Richard Morin of the Arizona Republic and other reporters Saturday. Miller threw live batting practice Friday – and that went “very, very good,” per Lovullo – and is slated for a bullpen session Tuesday.

Hyun-Jin Ryu Out Until Second Half; Walker Buehler Joining Dodgers’ Rotation

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12:37pm: The diagnosis is brutal for the Dodgers, as Roberts revealed to reporters that Ryu won’t return before the All-Star break (Twitter links via Pedro Moura of The Athletic). The injury sounds rather gruesome. Roberts explained that a muscle in Ryu’s groin tore completely off the bone.

Ryu will be replaced in the rotation by top prospect Walker Buehler (Twitter link via Andy McCullough of the L.A. Times). J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group adds that Buehler is on an innings limit, however, so he although he will nominally be the team’s fifth starter, he may not technically start every fifth day.

12:12pm: The Dodgers announced that they’ve placed left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu on the 10-day disabled list with a left groin strain and optioned infielder Breyvic Valera to Triple-A on Thursday. In a pair of corresponding moves, utilityman Tim Locastro and right-hander Yimi Garcia have been recalled from Triple-A.

The press release didn’t include any sort of timetable for Ryu’s return, though manager Dave Roberts said after last night’s game that the strain was a “pretty good” one and called the injury a “big loss” for the team, which doesn’t exactly exude optimism regarding a minimal DL stay for Ryu. Roberts is hardly exaggerating when he calls any absence for Ryu significant, as the 31-year-old has dominated opposing lineups in 2018, working to a 2.12 ERA with 10.9 K/9, 3.0 BB/9, 0.9 HR/9 and 56.7 percent ground-ball rate in 29 2/3 innings.

Garcia, 27, will give the Dodgers the potential for a quality boost to the relief corps in what will be his first MLB action since undergoing Tommy John surgery back in 2016. Garcia possesses a 3.12 ERA with 9.7 K/9, 1.4 BB/9, 1.2 HR/9 and a 30.6 percent grounder rate in 75 innings at the Major League level and looked to be an emerging key cog in the L.A. bullpen before incurring his torn ligament. So far in Triple-A, he’s allowed three runs in 7 2/3 innings of work and picked up seven strikeouts without issuing a walk.

Locastro, 25, has experience at both middle-infield slots and in the outfield corners. He has just one MLB plate appearance under his belt but was off to a fast start in Triple-A, hitting .342/.448/.507 there. Valera, 26, has similarly impressive Triple-A numbers this season and was hitless in four MLB plate appearances. Locastro, though, has more recent experience at shortstop, so it seems he’s viewed as the better option to help provide depth in Corey Seager’s absence for the time being.

Dodgers Select Contract Of Daniel Hudson, Option Walker Buehler

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6:29pm: MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick tweets that the expectation is that Buehler will return to the club Saturday and serve as 26th man in the Dodgers’ doubleheader against the Giants, starting one of the two games.

5:41pm: The Dodgers announced tonight that they’ve added veteran right-hander Daniel Hudson to the 40-man roster and brought him up to the Majors. Top prospect Walker Buehler, who tossed five shutout innings for the Dodgers yesterday, was optioned to clear a spot on the 25-man roster. Los Angeles had 39 players on its 40-man roster prior to adding Hudson, so no corresponding 40-man move was necessary.

The veteran Hudson joined the Dodgers on a minor league pact back on April 2 after being cut loose by the Rays at the end of Spring Training. Tampa Bay will be responsible for paying the bulk of Hudson’s $5.5MM salary, with the Dodgers owing him only the pro-rated league minimum for time spent on the big league roster.

Hudson, 31, is coming off a mediocre season with the Pirates, during which he totaled 61 2/3 innings and averaged 9.6 K/9 against 4.8 BB/9 with 1.0 HR/9 en route to a 4.38 ERA. He’s demonstrated impressive velocity since moving to the bullpen after his second Tommy John surgery, and while Hudson has shown flashes of brilliance over the past three seasons, the aggregate results have been fairly pedestrian.

Hudson opened the season with 4 2/3 shutout innings early in Triple-A, and the Dodgers will hope to catch lightning in a bottle with him in similar fashion to the manner in which they struck gold on Brandon Morrow last year. Of course, L.A. isn’t shy about quick roster turnover, so if another roster need arises, it’s also possible that Hudson’s stay with the team will be an abbreviated one.

[Related: Los Angeles Dodgers depth chart]

Buehler, 23, will head back to the minors and continue to work in the rotation, though it stands to reason that he’ll likely be back with the Dodgers later this year. The former first-rounder (24th, 2015) is generally regarded as one of the game’s elite pitching prospects but still has just a total of 36 innings at the Triple-A level under his belt (in addition to 14 1/3 MLB frames). Rich Hill tossed a four-inning simulated game today and will rejoin the rotation Monday (Twitter link via Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times) so there’s no long-term spot in the rotation for Buehler to occupy. When Hill returns, he’ll join Clayton Kershaw, Alex Wood, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Kenta Maeda in the starting five.

Dodgers’ Walker Buehler To Start Monday

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The Dodgers will recall right-hander Walker Buehler from Triple-A Oklahoma City and start him against the Marlins on Monday, according to a team announcement. It’ll be the first major league start for the 23-year-old Buehler, one of the most highly regarded pitching prospects in baseball.

Buehler, who has quickly ascended the ranks since the Dodgers chose him 24th overall in the 2015 draft, already comes with some big league experience. He made eight appearances out of the Dodgers’ bullpen toward the end of the regular season last year. It was a rough stint for Buehler, who allowed eight earned runs on 11 hits and eight walks in 9 1/3 innings.

While Buehler clearly struggled in Los Angeles in 2017, there were some positive signs, namely a high-90s heater that helped him rack up 12 strikeouts. He has consistently shown off that strikeout prowess in the minors, including early this season at Triple-A. Thus far, Buehler has fanned 16 (against four walks) and logged a 2.08 ERA over 13 innings. Buehler has only hit the five-inning and 80-pitch marks once in three starts in 2018, though, Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register notes.

The Dodgers are accustomed to receiving short outings from the oft-injured Rich Hill, whose place Buehler will take for the time being after the veteran went on the disabled list with a finger issue earlier this week. The rest of the Dodgers’ rotation – Clayton Kershaw, Alex Wood, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Kenta Maeda – looks set at the moment, so this could be a short stay in the majors for Buehler. But he’s clearly the Dodgers’ highest-upside depth starter, ranking as their top prospect at MLB.com and the outlet’s 12th-best farmhand overall, and could emerge as a significant factor soon enough.

Dodgers Designate Fabio Castillo

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The Dodgers have designated righty Fabio Castillo for assignment, J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group tweets. A 40-man roster spot was needed for the team’s activation of top pitching prospect Walker Buehler.

Castillo, 28, earned his first trip to the majors this year, though he made only two appearances over the weekend. He has spent most of the season pitching in the upper minors, working to a 4.04 ERA with 8.7 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 over 91 1/3 innings split between Double-A and Triple-A.

Dodgers To Promote Walker Buehler

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The Dodgers will promote top pitching prospect Walker Buehler for his first taste of the majors on Wednesday, manager Dave Roberts told reporters including J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group (Twitter link). Los Angeles will need to open a 40-man spot to make the addition.

Buehler, 23, starred at Vanderbilt before the Dodgers took him with the 24th overall pick of the 2015 draft. He underwent Tommy John surgery just after becoming a professional, but has steadily raised his stock since finally taking the hill late last year.

Prospect analysts were already excited by Buehler before the 2017 season, as he entered some top-100 lists despite a track record that went just five innings deep. Buehler has rewarded that and then some so far in his first full campaign as a pro.

Buehler opened the year at the High-A level, but quickly earned a promotion after overwhelming the competition there. He then turned in 11 quality starts at Double-A, recording a 3.49 ERA with 11.8 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9.

By the time Buehler was nearing a move to the highest level of the minors, he was streaking up the mid-season prospect charts. Baseball America listed him 17th among all prospects leaguewide, with ESPN.com’s Keith Law tabbing him the 11th-best pre-MLB player.

Los Angeles has slowed things down a bit as Buehler nears one hundred frames on the season. He has moved to a relief role at Oklahoma City — where he hasn’t been quite as dominant — and will remain in the pen upon reaching the majors.

Whether or not this stint will be more than an opportunity for Buehler to dip his toes in the water remains to be seen, though it’s perhaps not inconceivable that the talented youngster could force his way into postseason roster consideration. Regardless, now that he’s taking up residence on the 40-man roster, it’s clear that he’ll factor into the team’s pitching plans for 2018 (and well beyond). Since he’ll only pick up about 25 days of service, Los Angeles will still be able to manage his accumulation of service time moving forward to the extent that the club wishes to delay his entry into arbitration and free agency.

Quick Hits: Ziegler, Young, Buehler, Dodgers

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Here’s the latest from around baseball…

  • “It appears” as if Marlins closer Brad Ziegler has cleared August trade waivers, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe writes.  This means that Miami would be free to deal Ziegler to any team.  Ziegler is owed roughly $1.25MM remaining this season and $9MM in 2018, and prior to the trade deadline, the Marlins were reportedly willing to eat a large portion of that contract.  Ziegler, however, has only allowed runs in two of his last 22 appearances and he has pitched especially well since taking over as Miami’s closer.  Given that the Fish are now within striking distance of an NL wild card berth, it also isn’t clear if the team is still in selling mode.
  • Also from Cafardo’s piece, Chris Young is hopeful of re-signing with the Red Sox this winter but he implies there hasn’t been much talk about an extension.  “It’s been a good relationship but I’m not sure about their plans,” Young said.  The veteran outfielder is in the final year of a two-year, $13MM deal with Boston signed in the 2015-16 offseason, and after a strong 2016 season, Young has actually delivered slightly below-replacement level production (-0.2. fWAR) thanks to an offensive and defensive dropoff.  Young has long been known as a lefty-masher, though he has only a .614 OPS against southpaws this year (though, curiously, an .833 OPS against righties).  Young turns 34 in September but will probably get consideration from the Red Sox and several other teams for a backup or platoon outfield role.
  • Walker Buehler’s last six appearances for Triple-A Oklahoma City have come as a relief pitcher, adding to the widely-held speculation that the top Dodgers prospect will make his big league debut in September to help the team’s bullpen down the stretch (and perhaps in the postseason).  Manager Dave Roberts, however, tells Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times and other reporters that the team that Walker’s future has yet to be determined.  “He’s transitioning to this new role.  We’re very sensitive to having guys here who fit a certain role and have a purpose, and we haven’t made that decision with Walker,” Roberts said.
  • From that same DiGiovanna piece, Cody Bellinger reported “no pain” in his sprained right ankle after going through workouts and batting practice.  The star rookie’s injury was thought to be mild when he hit the DL on last Tuesday (with a back-dated placement to August 20), and Bellinger indeed looks on pace to return when first eligible on Wednesday.  In other Dodgers injury news, Brandon McCarthy made his first rehab start on Friday as he looks to return from a month-long DL stint due to a blister problem.  According to Roberts, McCarthy is still “multiple rehab starts” away from returning to the Dodgers rotation.

Pitching Rumors: Gray, Verlander, Darvish, Dodgers, Straily

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With the non-waiver deadline a week from today, here’s a look at some of the talk pertaining to the top names available on the pitching market…

  • MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand writes that the Mariners could be considering a run at Sonny Gray. Though intradivision trades are rare, GM Jerry Dipoto has already made multiple trades within the division (including the Danny Valencia trade with Gray’s Athletics), Feinsand observes. (Additionally, A’s president Billy Beane has also dealt with division rivals more frequently than most presidents/GMs). One obstacle, of course, would be the Mariners’ farm system. Seattle has already dealt Tyler O’Neill to the Cardinals for Marco Gonzales, and the M’s acquired David Phelps for a four-prospect package headlined by well-regarded young outfielder Brayan Hernandez as well. Feinsand notes that Gray would very likely require the Mariners to part with top prospect Kyle Lewis, though there’d need to be additional prospects in any package, and it’s not clear if Seattle could cobble together a bid that would top the rest of the field.
  • The Tigers are “aggressively shopping” Justin Verlander, Feinsand hears, but Detroit also “doesn’t appear willing to eat much” of Verlander’s remaining contract to facilitate a deal. Feinsand spoke to one American League GM that termed most of the talks regarding Verlander as “idle conversation,” though that GM also predicted that the former Cy Young winner will be moved by next Monday’s deadline.
  • The Dodgers were interested in Rangers ace Yu Darvish even before Clayton Kershaw’s back injury, writes Jon Morosi of MLB.com. The timetable for Kershaw’s return, once determined, will further impact their level of interest in Darvish and other arms on the market. Morosi hears that among Dodgers’ top prospects, the team is most attached to right-hander Walker Buehler, who has already ascended to Triple-A and could conceivably help the club in 2017. Texas, meanwhile, would likely target two of the Dodgers’ top four prospects (Buehler, Yadier Alvarez, Alex Verdugo and Willie Calhoun), per Morosi, which is a steep but largely unsurprising ask with the Rangers seemingly on the fence about whether to move Darvish at all.
  • The Marlins are missing an important opportunity to try to convince a team to overpay for right-hander Dan Straily, opines Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Teams like the Cubs, Twins, Brewers and Mariners are all on the hunt for controllable arms, and Straily is controlled through 2020 with very solid numbers dating back to Opening Day 2016. The paucity of quality arms available could allow the Fish to accelerate their rebuild by cashing in on Straily, but the Marlins are instead shopping only their relievers and “perhaps Dee Gordon,” according to Sherman.

Trade Chatter: Iglesias, Reds, Royals, Asdrubal, Mariners, Dodgers, Astros

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Though Raisel Iglesias’ name has somewhat frequently been mentioned on the rumor circuit, Reds general manager Dick Williams tells Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer that he’s not marketing his closer to other teams. That doesn’t mean that Williams won’t listen to offers on the 27-year-old, but the GM’s comments suggest that a trade isn’t especially likely “[I]f somebody really gave you an opportunity to improve your franchise, you’d have to consider it,” said Williams of listening to offers on Iglesias. “But I really like a lot of the pieces we have, and I see us not that far from being competitive if we can get some of these young pitchers to turn the corner. If I were to trade him, you’d want something back that could help us real soon.”

Some more trade chatter to kick off Thursday morning…

  • From that same piece, Williams tells Buchanan that he’s more open-minded when it comes to dealing impending free agents such as Zack Cozart, Drew Storen and recently injured Scott Feldman. The knee injury that landed Feldman on the disabled list seems particularly unfortunate, as Buchanan reports that the Reds had received trade interest in Feldman prior to that issue. His timetable for a return isn’t yet known. There’s technically time for him to be activated before the deadline if it proves to be short-term in nature, though one can imagine that most interested parties would prefer to see him make a start before moving forward with a trade. Buchanan also speculates on the possibility of a Tony Cingrani trade, noting that he’s pitching well and controlled for two more seasons, while Cincinnati has quite a few younger arms it’d like to take a look at in the ’pen.
  • The Royals are once again struggling, having dropped seven of their past 10 games, but ESPN’s Buster Olney hears that they’re not deviating from their course as deadline buyers. Kansas City has been hopeful of adding two “cost-efficient” starting pitchers and are also looking into adding a reliever. It’d take a total collapse between now and the deadline for the Royals to change course and sell off their impending free agents, Olney adds.
  • Olney also tweets that the Mets would improve their chances of finding a trade partner for Asdrubal Cabrera by playing him at third base. Rival evaluators are hopeful of seeing him at that position before making a determination, per Olney, and it now appears likely that the Mets will accommodate them. Newsday’s Marc Carig reports that Cabrera is set to begin taking grounders at the hot corner, and manager Terry Collins confirmed as much to Carig’s colleague, David Lennon (Twitter link).
  • The Mariners “appear willing” to trade outfield prospect Tyler O’Neill this summer, reports Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune. The 22-year-old O’Neill entered the season ranked among the game’s 50 or so best prospects on several notable lists (Baseball America, MLB.com, Baseball Prospectus) but got off to a poor start to the season in Triple-A. He’s recovered with a 1.127 OPS over his past 26 games to bring his batting line back up to a respectable .241/.326/.462, but Dutton notes that the emergence of Mitch Haniger and Ben Gamel has the M’s more open to a deal. Despite the presence of that duo, however, Seattle hasn’t shown an inclination to deal top organizational prospect Kyle Lewis.
  • ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick writes that the Dodgers and Astros have put themselves in such strong position that neither strongly needs to make a move prior to the trade deadline. However, both Dodgers president Andrew Friedman and Astros GM Jeff Luhnow are viewed as extremely opportunistic types and figure to look at ways to upgrade their roster anyhow. Crasnick classifies the Dodgers’ interest in Orioles closer Zach Britton as “legitimate” but notes that they’re a bit cautious due to his 2017 forearm issues. Ken Rosenthal wrote yesterday that L.A. is reluctant to part with prospects Alex Verdugo and Walker Buehler in trades, and Crasnick echoes that statement while also adding righty Yadier Alvarez to the list. While the three aren’t quite “untouchable,” none of the three seems especially likely to go. As for the Astros, they’ll continue looking for a starter that could join the playoff rotation behind Dallas Keuchel and Lance McCullers, though they, too, could look instead to a late-inning lefty like Britton or Detroit’s Justin Wilson.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Dodgers, Morrow, Astros, Mets, Yankees

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Some highlights from the latest notes piece from Ken Rosenthal of MLB Network and FOX Sports (mostly via his Facebook page, due to FOX’s bizarre decision to go video-only in its web coverage of baseball)…

  • The $192MM that the Dodgers spent to retain Kenley Jansen, Justin Turner and Rich Hill this offseason was largely a measure against having to make an aggressive splash at the trade deadline for a second consecutive season, Rosenthal writes. The Dodgers don’t want to part with either top outfield prospect Alex Verdugo or top pitching prospect Walker Buehler, as both could help the team this season (Verdugo in the case of an outfield injury, Buehler as a September callup in the bullpen). If they’re to make a trade involving high-ceiling prospects, the Dodgers prefer to deal from the lower levels of their system, where those high-upside names aren’t quite so close to the Majors. The Dodgers would like to add an impact left-handed reliever, but “[are] wary of overpaying for 15-20 innings of a pitcher who will have zero impact on them winning the division.”
  • One tweet from Rosenthal a couple of days ago that flew under our radar: the Dodgers are open to dealing either Brandon Morrow or Sergio Romo to create an opening for the potential addition of  a lefty reliever. While Romo’s numbers look decidedly unappealing despite a promising strikeout rate — 6.12 ERA, 11.2 K/9, 4.3 BB/9, 2.5 HR/9 — Morrow has been quietly excellent in an admittedly small sample. Through 15 2/3 innings, Morrow has allowed just four runs on a dozen hits with a gaudy 20-to-2 K/BB ratio. Seemingly healthy once again, Morrow’s average fastball velocity has soared to 97 mph, and he’s earning just the pro-rated portion of a $1.25MM base salary this season. The injury history and limited 2017 sample limit his overall value, but the 32-year-old could be viewed by some as an intriguing pickup.
  • The Astros, too, would like to add a left-handed reliever and may find more of a difference-maker in that pursuit than in seeking rotation upgrades, Rosenthal writes in his column. If the Astros don’t land Sonny Gray, they’ll likely at least look at rotation rentals, but they’d have to be convinced that whoever they acquire is an upgrade over Charlie Morton and/or the returning Collin McHugh. A more definitive upgrade would be easily apparent in the ’pen.
  • The Mets are willing to include cash in trades of veterans in order to net better prospects in trades, Rosenthal reports. Specifically, he mentions Jay Bruce and Asdrubal Cabrera. New York, for instance, knows it’d be on the hook for the $2MM buyout on Cabrera’s $8.5MM club option either way and would likely be willing to include that sum in a potential trade. They’d also be willing to pay down some of the remaining $5.26MM on Bruce’s salary, recognizing that said sum is a significant amount for many clubs to add at the midway point of a season. Other rentals the Mets have include Curtis Granderson ($6.07MM remaining), Addison Reed ($3.13MM) and Lucas Duda ($2.93MM). It’s worth noting that Rosenthal didn’t specifically mention Granderson, Reed or Duda by name.
  • Rosenthal also tweets that one reason the Yankees shifted course and acquired Todd Frazier, David Robertson and Tommy Kahnle from the White Sox is due to the high asking prices they encountered when seeking rotation upgrades. The Yanks are still on the lookout for starting pitching upgrades — both rental pieces and controllable assets, he adds.
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