Padres Designate Matt Wisler
The Padres announced that they’ve designated right-hander Matt Wisler for assignment. They’re replacing him on the 25-man roster with righty Robert Stock, who’s up from Triple-A El Paso.
Wisler’s in his second stint with the Padres, though his designation could once again lead him elsewhere. Formerly a well-regarded prospect, Wisler initially left the Padres in April 2015, when the Friars sent him to the Braves in a deal for closer Craig Kimbrel and outfielder Melvin Upton Jr. Wisler lasted into 2018 with the Braves, who traded him to the Reds in July to acquire outfielder Adam Duvall, before returning to San Diego this past April in a swap for righty Diomar Lopez.
Now 26 years old, Wisler saw his first action with the Padres this season before his DFA, logging an unimpressive 5.28 ERA over 29 innings and 21 appearances. Wisler has, however, posted a 4.11 FIP with 10.55 K/9, 3.1 BB/9 and a 43.4 percent groundball rate in the majors this year. Including his days with the Braves and Reds, Wisler has pitched to a 5.18 ERA/4.83 FIP with 6.74 K/9, 2.92 BB/9 and a 36.8 percent grounder rate in 367 big league frames.
Pitcher Notes: Vazquez, Brewers, Luzardo, White Sox, Padres
The Brewers expressed interest in Pirates closer Felipe Vazquez last summer, though talks didn’t go anywhere, Robert Murray of The Athletic reports. The left-handed Vazquez would have teamed with Brewers southpaw Josh Hader and righty Jeremy Jeffress to form a nigh-unhittable relief trio on paper, perhaps one that could have pushed the club over the top in the National League. He remains a Pirate, though, and the Vazquez-less Brewers fell to the Dodgers in a seven-game NLCS last year. Milwaukee may call its division rival again this year about Vazquez (if the Brewers haven’t already), but it’ll continue to be incredibly difficult for anyone to pry him out of Pittsburgh.
- Rehabbing Athletics lefty Jesus Luzardo threw five innings and 66 pitches at the Triple-A level Thursday. He’ll extend to six innings and 90 pitches Tuesday, according to Martin Gallegos of MLB.com. The highly touted 21-year-old prospect hasn’t gotten to debut in the majors yet because of a shoulder strain he suffered late in the spring, but the hope is he’ll burst on the scene next month to bolster the playoff-contending A’s rotation. The club needs Luzardo’s assistance, having lost ace Frankie Montas to an 80-game performance-enhancing drug suspension a week ago.
- At 6 1/2 games back of a wild-card spot, the White Sox may be closer to playoff position than expected this season. However, general manager Rick Hahn unsurprisingly isn’t going to mortgage the future for short-term pitching help prior to the deadline, Bruce Levine of 670 The Score writes. Asked Friday about adding an established starter in the next month, Hahn said: “”I wouldn’t say you can count on additions at the deadline that will be short-term fixes. Our focus going to remain long term.” Hahn admitted Chicago “would like to add controllable starting pitching,” but he quickly noted that’s a goal for every team in the game. Below-average starting pitching has prevented the White Sox from making a more serious playoff push this year. While Lucas Giolito has been tremendous, the team hasn’t gotten respectable production from any of its other starters.
- Injured Padres reliever Aaron Loup will return in “late August, early September if things go well,” manager Andy Green said Friday (via AJ Cassavell of MLB.com). It’s clear this will go down as a mostly lost season for Loup, whom the Padres signed to a one-year, $1.2MM contract entering the campaign. The 31-year-old lefty has been on the injured list since April 9 because of a forearm strain. Loup was effective in a small sample of work before then, throwing 3 1/3 scoreless innings of two-hit ball with five strikeouts against one walk.
Franmil Reyes Hires Boras Corporation
Padres outfielder Franmil Reyes has hired the Boras Corporation as representation, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports. As always, you can find the latest agency information in MLBTR’s Agency Database.
Reyes debuted with the Padres in 2018 and has since shown off impressive power. The 23-year-old has already slugged 36 home runs in 546 plate appearances, including 20 long balls in 261 PA this season. Thanks largely to his prolific HR-hitting ability, Reyes has put together an above-average line of .263/.319/.511 (119 wRC+) during his first 162 games in the majors.
Because he’s still relatively new to MLB, Reyes may not be in position to take advantage of Boras’ expertise for a while. Reyes isn’t on schedule to reach arbitration until after 2021 or free agency until the conclusion of the 2024 season. Of course, the Padres and Reyes could still discuss an extension in the meantime.
If Reyes continues producing and earning minimal salaries over the next couple seasons, his skill set could pay well in arbitration. Plate appearances, home runs and runs batted in are driving forces in the arbitration process. While Reyes is faring nicely in two of those departments, he hasn’t been an RBI machine thus far. Reyes has totaled 67 for his career and, even though he’s on a 40-HR track this year, is on pace to knock in fewer than 75 runs.
Injury Notes: Astros, A. Reyes, Cain, Dodgers, Lamet
Astros right-hander Corbin Martin is dealing with “a potentially serious elbow injury,” Brian McTaggart of MLB.com writes. Martin suffered the injury during a start for Triple-A Round Rock on Sunday. MLB.com’s 48th-ranked prospect, Martin made his major league debut earlier this season when the Astros were looking for a fifth starter, though he wasn’t able to lay claim to the spot. The 23-year-old made five starts and posted a 5.59 ERA with 8.84 K/9 and 5.59 BB/9 in 19 1/3 innings before the Astros optioned him back to the minors.
- Cardinals righty Alex Reyes has been diagnosed with a strained pectoral muscle that will cost him to two to three starts, according to president of baseball operations John Mozeliak (via Mark Saxon of The Athletic). It’s the latest in a growing line of injuries for the touted Reyes, who, largely because of health issues, hasn’t been able to stay in the majors since his 2016 debut. The 24-year-old has spent almost all of this season at Triple-A Memphis, where he has recorded a 7.39 ERA with 12.21 K/9 and 7.71 BB/9 in 28 innings (10 appearances, seven starts).
- Brewers center fielder Lorenzo Cain underwent cryptotherapy on his right thumb Tuesday, but it should only keep him out a couple days, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com relays. Cain has undergone the procedure on a few occasions during his career, per McCalvy, who notes the 33-year-old has been battling pain for weeks. That likely helps explain Cain’s surprising decline in production. One of the majors’ most valuable players from 2017-18, Cain’s off to a .253/.314/.357 start in 331 plate appearances this year.
- The Dodgers are hopeful shortstop Corey Seager will return immediately after next month’s All-Star break, manager Dave Roberts said Tuesday (via Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times and Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register). Seager would end up missing about a month in that scenario, having gone to the IL with a left hamstring strain June 13. Meanwhile, fellow Dodgers infielder David Freese‘s injured hamstring is “not responding like we’d hoped,” Roberts revealed. Nevertheless, the Dodgers are optimistic Freese – who just hit the shelf over the weekend – will come back prior to the break.
- The Padres could soon have “a serious conversation” about whether to add rehabbing righty Dinelson Lamet to their rotation, per manager Andy Green (via AJ Cassavell of MLB.com). The team’s “getting more and more excited about that concept” of plugging in Lamet, who’s mending from April 2018 Tommy John surgery and may only be one more rehab start from heading back to San Diego. The 26-year-old’s first major league start of the season could come as early as July 4, Cassavell reports. Lamet showed promise in his only big league season, 2017, during which he logged a 4.57 ERA with 10.94 K/9 and 4.25 BB/9 in 114 1/3 innings.
Minor MLB Transactions: 6/25/19
Keeping track of Tuesday’s minor moves from around baseball…
- The Padres announced that right-handed reliever Kazuhisa Makita has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Double-A Amarillo. This is the second time the Padres have outrighted Makita, which gives him the right to elect free agency, but that would mean leaving what’s left of his $1.9MM salary on the table. The Padres inked the Japanese submariner to a two-year, $3.8MM contract entering 2018, but it hasn’t worked out for either side thus far. The 34-year-old Makita struggled in the majors last season and hasn’t pitched in the bigs at all in 2019. Makita has instead worked at the Double-A level, where he has put up a 3.82 ERA with 8.6 K/9 and 1.7 BB/9 in 37 2/3 innings.
- The Marlins have released righty Ben Meyer, Wells Dusenbery of the Sun Sentinel tweets. To this point, Meyer has spent his whole career with the Marlins since they chose him in the 29th round of the 2015 draft. The 25-year-old’s nightmarish production in the majors in 2018 and with Triple-A New Orleans this season sealed his fate with the organization. In his MLB debut last year, Meyer registered a 10.42 ERA/6.42 FIP with 4.26 K/9 and 6.63 BB/9 over 19 innings. Meyer then notched a 7.43 ERA/6.90 FIP with 9.0 K/9 against 5.57 BB/9 in 63 Triple-A frames this season before Miami said goodbye to him.
- The Rangers’ top affiliate in Nashville has released infielder Nolan Fontana, per the Pacific Coast League transactions page. Texas was the third AL West organization for the 28-year-old Fontana, a 2012 second-round pick of the Astros who also played for the Angels. Fontana racked up his only 35 major league PA with the Angels from 2017-18. He has hit .230/.350/.357 in 1,639 PA at the Triple-A level.
Quick Hits: Pujols, Dodgers, Haniger, Dipoto, Bichette
On July 31, 2000, the Padres and Cardinals swung a trade deadline deal that sent Heathcliff Slocumb and prospect Ben Johnson to San Diego in exchange for catcher Carlos Hernandez and minor league utilityman Nate Tebbs. The swap is little more than a footnote in team history, though it could’ve been a far more legendary trade had Johnson been replaced with another prospect who was on the Padres’ radar — Albert Pujols. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch details the intriguing history of that would-be deal, and how the Cardinals front office had to make a decision between including Pujols (a famously unheralded 13th-round pick in the 1999 draft) or Johnson, a much more highly-touted fourth-rounder from that same draft. Pujols showed so much promise in his early pro career, however, that the team ultimately decided to move Johnson and spend more time evaluating a potential hidden gem. “I really didn’t want to give up Ben, either, but that’s why you always have your top guys scout your own system,” said Walt Jocketty, then the Cardinals’ general manager. “You have to know your own, like Pujols. There was no way we could trade him. No way, just based on what our guys had seen in a short period of time. They said, ‘I think he’s going to be something special – or has a chance to be.’ When I saw it myself, it was obvious.”
Here’s more from around the baseball world…
- Even with Rich Hill on the IL for an undetermined period of time, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman isn’t planning to make starting pitching a particular focus at the trade deadline. “I don’t see it being an area where we spend a lot of energy,” Friedman told reporters, including Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register. “Could that change? Of course. But I don’t expect it right now. We don’t expect it to be an area of need.” In fact, Friedman didn’t think his team had any obvious weak spots, which perhaps isn’t a surprise given the Dodgers’ league-best 54-25 record. Instead, the front office will look out for “impact players,” since such additions are “what moves the needle in October.”
- In an interview on “The Front Office” on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (audio link), Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto reiterated that his trade deadline efforts will be directed towards moving veteran players. Younger and more controllable members of the Seattle roster are less likely to be moved, since they are part of what Dipoto hopes “is a very quick turnaround” within 12-18 months. “Some of the guys that we do have here that attract the most trade attention, particularly guys like Mitch Haniger, they’re critical to our growth. So at some point, you do have to build around something,” Dipoto said.
- With Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Cavan Biggio now in the majors, speculation is swirling in Toronto about when Bo Bichette could make his Blue Jays debut. A consensus top-12 prospect in the sport prior to the season, Bichette has a .256/.316/.453 slash line and three homers over 96 Triple-A plate appearances in 2019, while missing over six weeks due to a fractured hand. As a result, Jays GM Ross Atkins told Sportsnet.ca’s Ben Nicholson-Smith that Bichette still needs a bit more seasoning in his first stint at the Triple-A level. “We’d really like to see some time in triple-A and have him get his legs under him and have a good strong foundation before we have that discussion [about a promotion],” Atkins said. For comparison’s sake, Nicholson-Smith notes that Biggio had 174 PA and Guerrero 162 PA for Triple-A Buffalo before getting the call to the Show.
Pitcher Notes: J. Hicks, Phillies, Astros, Padres, A’s
The latest on a slew of major league hurlers…
- Cardinals closer Jordan Hicks is dealing with right triceps tendinitis, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweets. Hicks will undergo additional tests Sunday. One of the last things the Cardinals need is a long absence for the 22-year-old Hicks, who has put up a 3.14 ERA/3.17 FIP with 9.73 K/9, 3.45 BB/9, a whopping 67.2 percent groundball rate and 14 saves on 15 chances in 28 2/3 innings this season. Hicks is the hardest thrower in baseball, which has certainly aided in his success.
- Phillies relievers David Robertson and Tommy Hunter are progressing toward returns, according to Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer. While Robertson hasn’t yet embarked on a rehab assignment, the hope is that he’ll rejoin the Phillies’ bullpen before the All-Star break. Robertson has been out since mid-April with a flexor strain in his right elbow. Meanwhile, Hunter’s in the early stages of a rehab stint. Hunter’s also working back from a right flexor strain, which has kept him out all season. The Phillies have guaranteed $41MM to Robertson and Hunter over the past two offseasons, but they’ve gotten just 6/2 3 innings from them this year (all from the former).
- The Astros could activate righty Collin McHugh from the injured list Tuesday, per Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle. McHugh has been out since May 21 with right elbow discomfort. On the other hand, rehabbing reliever Joe Smith won’t return until after the All-Star break, manager A.J. Hinch said. Smith’s still on the mend from the left Achilles surgery he underwent last December.
- Padres righty Dinelson Lamet could return next week, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes. The 26-year-old Lamet hasn’t pitched in the majors since undergoing Tommy John surgery in April 2018. Lamet was then coming off his own lone season in the majors, in which he registered a 4.57 ERA/4.35 FIP with 10.94 K/9 against 4.25 BB/9 across 114 1/3 innings and 21 starts.
- The Athletics’ pitching staff, reeling from ace Frankie Montas‘ suspension, may get righties Marco Estrada and Jharel Cotton back soon. Estrada, on the injured list since April 17 because of a lumbar strain in his back, threw his first bullpen Saturday since going on the IL, per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. He could be a second-half option for the Athletics, according to Slusser. Cotton’s on track to begin a rehab assignment after the All-Star break, Slusser tweets. Cotton had been making encouraging progress in his recovery from March 2018 Tommy John surgery before he had to undergo a hamstring procedure earlier this month.
Padres To Recall Chris Paddack
Padres ace Chris Paddack, optioned to the minors June 12, will return to start in the majors this Saturday, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
It was an eyebrow-raising decision when the Padres demoted Paddack a week ago, though the move quickly became understandable when it was revealed they did it to give him a breather. The 23-year-old right-hander has already pitched 65 2/3 innings this season, which comes close to the professional-high 90 frames the former Tommy John surgery recipient amassed in the minors in 2018.
One of the game’s elite prospects entering the season, Paddack has lived up to the billing thus far. He owns a 3.15 ERA/3.73 FIP with tremendous strikeout and walk rates (9.87 K/9 and 1.78 BB/9) through the first 12 starts and 65 2/3 innings of his major league career. But Paddack has stumbled somewhat since the outset of May, when his ERA sat at just 1.55, which likely played into the Padres’ decision to send him to the Single-A level on a short-term basis.
Upon Paddack’s return, he’ll rejoin a team which continues to hang around the National League’s playoff race. Winners of four in a row, the Padres are only 2 1/2 games back of the NL’s second wild-card spot at the moment.
Padres Sign Third-Rounder To Record Bonus
The Padres have signed third-round pick Hudson Head, the 84th selection in this year’s draft, to a $3MM bonus, Jim Callis of MLB.com reports. That’s a colossal payday relative to Head’s slot, which came with a value of $721,900, and represents a record bonus for a third-rounder.
Head’s a high school outfielder from Texas who fell short of where the Padres picked him, according to prominent draft pundits. FanGraphs (No. 90), MLB.com (No. 122) and Baseball America (No. 128) all placed the ex-Oklahoma commit below 85th. But Head, 18, has an “advanced feel for hitting” and “could wind up with solid or better tools across the board,” Callis and Jonathan Mayo write.
The Padres entered this year’s draft with the league’s eighth-highest bonus pool, $10,758,900, which gave them room to splurge on Head. The club previously used a large portion of that money on sixth overall pick C.J. Abrams, whom it inked to a below-slot deal worth $5.2MM.
Padres Designate Kazuhisa Makita
The Padres announced that they’ve designated right-handed reliever Kazuhisa Makita for assignment. His roster spot will go to lefty Logan Allen, whom the Padres have officially selected from Triple-A El Paso.
Makita lasted just one day on the Padres’ roster, as they selected him from Double-A Amarillo on Monday. Makita didn’t appear in San Diego’s win over Milwaukee then, but he did log a solid amount of action out of the Padres’ bullpen last year.
After emigrating from Japan on a two-year, $3.8MM contract heading into the 2018 season, the submarining Makita stumbled to a 5.40 ERA/4.85 FIP with a 20.2 percent groundball rate in 35 major league innings last year. Makita did record 9.51 K/9 against 3.09 BB/9 in that span, but the Padres still booted him from their 40-man roster last offseason. The 34-year-old hasn’t been lights-out this season at the Double-A level, where he has posted a 3.82 ERA with 8.6 K/9 and 1.7 BB/9 in 37 2/3 frames.