Giants Place Hunter Pence On Disabled List
The Giants have placed right fielder Hunter Pence on the disabled list with a strained right hamstring, manager Bruce Bochy told reporters prior to today’s game (via Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle). Pence missed about a week late last month due to a balky hamstring but returned to the lineup over the weekend. However, he came up lame in an attempt to run out a grounder last night and was unable to even finish running to first base. He underwent an MRI this morning, after which Bochy told the media: “Unfortunately, he did a pretty good job on it. That’s a shame.” In other words, Schulman notes, Pence is dealing with a severe strain, which almost certainly rules out a speedy return to the lineup. Surgery has not yet been discussed, though Pence’s MRI still needs to be reviewed by team physician Kenneth Akizuki.
For the time being, the Giants have recalled outfielder Mac Williamson to take Pence’s place on the roster. The 25-year-old Williamson is currently sporting a fairly robust .287/.316/.503 batting line with Triple-A Sacramento, though it’s unreasonable to ask him to fill Pence’s shoes from a production standpoint at the big league level. Pence is currently batting .298/.375/.486 with seven homers on the season, but he’ll now join the Giants’ other corner outfielder, Angel Pagan, on the disabled list with a similar injury. That leaves the NL-West-leading Giants with an outfield mix of Denard Span, Gregor Blanco and the inexperienced duo of Williamson and Jarrett Parker. Brandon Belt could potentially see some time in left field as well; he’s logged just one inning there this season but played 96 innings out there in 2015 and has 355 big league innings at the position.
While there’s no definitive timetable on Pence’s absence, a prolonged stint on the disabled list would invite trade speculation. Pagan is said to be coming along nicely in his rehab and could return to the club sometime next week, Schulman notes, which could lessen the immediate need for some outfield help. However, Pagan doesn’t provide the same offensive skill set, despite a solid .275/.338/.383 batting line at the time of his most recent injury, and he’s also been very prone to injury over the past four seasons with San Francisco. It’s early in the summer still, but MLBTR’s Jeff Todd did recently compile a list of 10 of the game’s likeliest trade candidates while also mentioning several others to monitor as the deadline approaches.
Quick Hits: Pence, Kelly, Profar, Gray
Giants right fielder Hunter Pence left tonight’s game after re-aggravating a hamstring injury that plagued him for much of the past two weeks, and he’s headed for an MRI in the morning, writes Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle. The extent of the injury won’t be known until tomorrow morning, but Pence was unable to even finish running to first base on a grounder to third base in the fourth inning. Pence is hitting .298/.375/.486 with seven homers in 208 trips to the plate this season, and any prolonged absence for him would be a tough pill for San Francisco to swallow. Were he to require a stint on the disabled list, he’d end up alongside fellow outfielder Angel Pagan, who is on the DL with the same injury. Jarrett Parker is already on the roster due to Pagan’s injury, and Mac Williamson is an obvious candidate to come up and fill Pence’s 25-man roster spot if necessary.
A few more notes from around the game…
- The Red Sox optioned right-hander Joe Kelly to Triple-A following a brutal start against the Orioles on Wednesday. Kelly last just 2 2/3 innings and was tagged for seven earned runs on seven hits and three walks with just one strikeout. That difficult outing and an 8.46 ERA notwithstanding, Kelly was caught off-guard by the move, writes Tim Britton of the Providence Journal. “Obviously I didn’t see it coming,” the right-hander said. “I’m just going to go down there and try to continue to get better at commanding the baseball…. I’ve got to try to get my mechanics right and get that fastball command where it was a couple starts ago and to where it needs to be.” Manager John Farrell said that Kelly is “blessed with a golden arm and tremendous stuff” but lacks execution on his pitches. As Britton points out, Clay Buchholz struggled in relief on Wednesday, while Henry Owens, Sean O’Sullivan and Roenis Elias all have their own red flags about them. For the time being, Noe Ramirez is taking Kelly’s roster spot. Boston can skip the fifth spot in its rotation entirely the next time it comes up due to an off day on the schedule.
- Jurickson Profar has been impressive while filling in for the suspended Rougned Odor, but Rangers manager Jeff Banister cast some doubt on whether he’ll remain with the club following Odor’s activation on June 4, as Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram writes. “In Jurickson’s case, I think the concern and need with him is the everyday process,” said Banister. “When you haven’t played every day for two years, getting the body back up to speed to play every day and continue to play every day, we need to make sure we monitor that.” Banister said that four games a week would be enough to keep Profar on the big league roster, but as Wilson writes, Texas isn’t keen on putting him in the outfield or at third base, and getting him four starts per week between the two middle infield positions and at DH could be tough. Profar went 2-for-5 with a double tonight and is hitting .357 since his recall from Triple-A.
- Sonny Gray‘s target date for a return to the Athletics‘ rotation is June 10, writes Joe Stiglich of CSNBayArea.com. Gray is slated for a bullpen session Thursday and a rehab start on Saturday at Class-A Stockton, and assuming all goes well, his stay on the disabled list will be a fairly abbreviated one. Gray hit the DL back on May 22 with a strained trapezius muscle, and the A’s are undoubtedly hoping that some time off will help him return to form; Gray has logged a dismal 6.19 ERA this season while displaying the worst control of his career, averaging 4.5 walks per nine innings and unloading a league-high nine wild pitches through his first 48 innings of work.
Injury Notes: Dodgers, Joseph, Romo, Perkins, Minor
The Dodgers will place left-hander Alex Wood on the 15-day disabled list with soreness in his left elbow and will recall fellow lefty Julio Urias from Triple-A just a few days after optioning him back to the minors, reports Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times (via Twitter). McCullough tweets that Wood’s injury is not structural, though he informed the team earlier in the day that he’s has some lingering soreness in his triceps. It’s not entirely certain that Urias will step into the rotation for Wood, McCullough notes. That decision will be impacted by righty Kenta Maeda, who has some swelling in his right hand after being hit by a comeback line drive over the weekend.
A few more notes on some injury situations from around the league…
- The Orioles have placed backup catcher Caleb Joseph on the 15-day disabled list after he underwent surgery for a testicular injury sustained over the weekend when he took an unfortunately placed foul ball, tweets Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun. Encina wrote earlier in the day that the injury was sustained on a foul tip in the eighth inning of yesterday’s contest. As MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko writes, the O’s have recalled Francisco Pena from Triple-A, and he’ll receive an equal workload to the one that had been shouldered by Joseph. In other words, Matt Wieters‘ workload will not increase in light of Joseph’s absence. “We’re not going to start pushing up his load and jeopardize something down the road,” said manager Buck Showalter of Wieters. “He may feel differently, but we’ll take it day to day. Shouldn’t change anything about that, but we’ll see.”
- Giants right-hander Sergio Romo has had a setback in his rehab from a flexor strain in his right elbow, manager Bruce Bochy told reporters (Twitter links via Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle). Romo has been experiencing tenderness in his right elbow, which prompted the Giants to order an MRI on their longtime late-inning reliever. On the positive side, Schulman notes that the MRI didn’t reveal any structural damage. However, he’ll still be backed off for four to five days, making it unlikely that he’ll be back with the team anytime soon.
- Twins closer Glen Perkins suffered a setback in his return from a shoulder injury earlier this month, but assistant GM Rob Antony told reporters, including Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star Tribune (Twitter link), that Perkins’ throwing program since that time has been going well. The Minnesota native and career-long Twin will throw his first mound session since hitting the DL back on April 13 this coming Saturday. He’s pitched in just two games this season — a significant factor the Twins’ season-long bullpen woes.
- Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star writes that Royals left-hander Mike Minor returned to Kansas City today to have his surgically repaired left shoulder checked out by the Major League training staff. Minor, who signed a two-year deal this winter on the heels of the aforementioned surgery, has been dealing with some fatigue in that shoulder. Manager Ned Yost said the team doesn’t consider the injury to be serious at this time and isn’t calling the fatigue a setback, though as Dodd notes, he’s just over a week away from the end of his 30-day rehab window, which comes to a close on June 9.
Minor MLB Transactions: 5/31/16
Baseball America’s Matt Eddy runs down the week’s minor moves. Among those that haven’t yet appeared here at MLBTR:
- Minor league infielder Ryan Dent has been released by the Cubs. Now 27, Dent was taken 62nd overall in the 2007 draft by the Red Sox. He’s never managed to show a consistent bat in the minors, but caught on with a Chicago organization that’s now run by former Boston GM Theo Epstein. Dent was unable to effect a turnaround, however, and now finds himself looking for a new opportunity.
- The Giants released southpaw Mike Kickham, per Eddy. Kickham, 27, made three starts and 11 relief appearances with San Francisco between 2013 and 2014, though he was hit hard in the big leagues. He’s bounced around since and has not recovered the promise that he showed at times in the minors. This year, Kickham had thrown 10 2/3 innings at Double-A, allowing eight earned runs on twenty hits and four walks to go with just seven strikeouts.
Minor MLB Transactions: 5/30/16
Here are the latest minor moves from around baseball, with the newest transactions at the top of the post…
- Infielder Reid Brignac has been outrighted to Triple-A by the Braves after clearing waivers, David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports on Twitter. The 30-year-old has seen only scattered action in recent seasons, but appeared in over 200 games over 2010 and 2011 with the Rays. All told, Brignac owns a .219/.264/.309 slash line in 951 plate appearances over parts of nine seasons in the big leagues.
- The Diamondbacks optioned slugging outfield prospect Peter O’Brien back to Triple-A, the club announced. Left-hander Edwin Escobar will be called up to start today’s game. O’Brien’s latest stint with the D’Backs ended up lasting just a few days and consisted of a single pinch-hit appearance on Friday. Ranked as the No. 7 prospect in Arizona’s system, O’Brien has put up big numbers at Triple-A Reno over the last two seasons, and he already has 12 homers in 182 Triple-A plate appearance this year. Escobar was claimed off waivers from the Red Sox last month and will be making his first Major League start. His previous experience in the bigs consists of two relief innings with Boston in 2014.
- The Giants released southpaw Mike Kickham, Baseball America’s Matt Eddy reports. Kickham was originally drafted by San Francisco in 2010 and appeared in 14 games with the Giants in 2013-14, which were thus far his only tastes of the major leagues. The lefty spent 2015 bouncing between the Cubs, Mariners and Rangers organizations before signing a minor league deal with the Giants this past winter. Kickham has a 4.17 ERA, 7.8 K/9 and 1.83 K/BB over 561 1/3 innings in the minors, with 100 of his 117 career games coming as a starting pitcher.
- Earlier this week, the Tigers released outfielder Nate Schierholtz. The veteran signed a minor league contract with Detroit last winter. Schierholtz has a .253/.302/.405 slash line over 2275 career PA with the Giants, Phillies, Cubs and Nationals from 2007-14. He spent the 2015 season playing in Japan, an experience Schierholtz discussed with MLBTR’s Zach Links during Spring Training.
NL Notes: Cueto, Leake, Nats, Bucs, Phillies
Despite signing a six-year, $130MM deal with the Giants in the offseason, right-hander Johnny Cueto‘s excellence in San Francisco has somehow flown under the radar, writes Sarah Langs of ESPN.com. Not only has Cueto pitched to a 2.38 ERA across 75 2/3 innings this year, but he has done it while giving the Giants length, as Langs writes. Cueto is tied for the league lead with superstars Clayton Kershaw and Chris Sale in complete games (three), and he’s second to Kershaw in seven-inning starts (nine). His changeup has been particularly dominant, as Cueto has induced swings and misses a career-best 44 percent of the time with it. Batters have hit a paltry .175 against the pitch and Cueto has fanned 29 hitters while deploying it with two strikes, which ranks behind only Stephen Strasburg. When batters have put Cueto’s changeup in play, they’ve hit it on the ground 74 percent of the time.
More from the National League:
- Righty Mike Leake potentially could have signed with the Nationals before inking a five-year, $75MM deal with the Cardinals over the winter, but he told Bill Ladson of MLB.com that the timing wasn’t right. Leake, an Arizona native, was hoping to join the Diamondbacks when the Nats pursued him. “The Nationals came into the process during that time. It was almost bad timing. I was still feeling something out. I respected that the Nationals came early and tried to get me early. It just didn’t seem right at the time,” said Leake, who considers Nationals manager Dusty Baker a “big-time mentor” thanks to their time together in Cincinnati from 2010-13.
- Pirates skipper Clint Hurdle didn’t shoot down the idea of moving right-hander Juan Nicasio to the bullpen when asked about it Sunday, tweets Travis Sawchik of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Nicasio, who has 77 big league innings in relief under his belt, will continue in the rotation for now. However, with the Super Two cutoff nearing, it stands to reason his spot could soon be in jeopardy if the Bucs go the expected route and promote top prospects Tyler Glasnow and Jameson Taillon. Nicasio put himself in danger of a demotion by following a solid April with four mediocre to poor May starts. The 29-year-old allowed 15 earned runs on 28 hits in 20 May innings, though he did pick up 18 strikeouts against six walks. All told, Nicasio owns a 4.79 ERA, 9.00 K/9 and 3.45 BB/9 through 47 frames.
- Phillies manager Pete Mackanin has “been conscious of” the team’s offensive shortcomings all season, he said after their 4-1 loss to the Cubs on Saturday (via Cody Stavenhagen of MLB.com). “You look at the Cubs, the Tigers, they’ve got the home run. They’ve got power. They have threats to do damage. We haven’t been able to do that,” he stated. Only the Braves have hit fewer home runs than the Phillies, whose team ISO is also second from the bottom (again, only Atlanta’s is worse). The Phillies are also 29th in runs scored (take a wild guess who’s last), but Mackanin is nonetheless confident they can continue staying in games because of their pitching. Thanks to their rotation and late-game relievers like Jeanmar Gomez, Hector Neris and David Hernandez, the Phillies are a respectable 26-23 and have gone a terrific 14-4 in one-run games. Having such resounding success in close affairs will only become more difficult without improved offensive production, however.
Injury Notes: Darvish, Perez, Cain, Wright
As expected, the Rangers have announced that they’ve activated Yu Darvish from the disabled list. To clear space for him on the active roster, they shipped slugger Joey Gallo to Triple-A Round Rock. Darvish will start tonight in his first appearance since undergoing Tommy John surgery and missing the entire 2015 season. Previously, of course, Darvish was one of the game’s most dominant starters, leading the AL in strikeouts (277) and K/9 (11.9) and finishing second in Cy Young balloting in a brilliant 2013 season before succumbing to injury. It will be interesting to see how he fares tonight in his first regular-season action since August 2014. Here are more notes on injuries.
- Catcher Salvador Perez left the Royals‘ game against the White Sox today after colliding with third baseman Cheslor Cuthbert, Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star reports. He had to be helped off the field. Via Dodd on Twitter, manager Ned Yost says Perez has a quad contusion and that there’s no structural damage to his knee, although he’ll have an MRI tomorrow. Losing him for an extended period would be tough for the Royals — his offense this season (.282/.314/.503) has provided plenty of value even independent of the work he does with the Royals’ pitchers, and the Royals also recently learned that another key player, Mike Moustakas, would be out of the season after tearing his ACL.
- The Giants have announced that they’ve placed starter Matt Cain on the 15-day DL with a hamstring strain and recalled fellow righty Chris Stratton to take his place on the active roster. 2016 has proven to be yet another frustrating season for Cain, who currently has a 5.20 ERA, 6.4 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 in 53 2/3 innings this year after struggling through an injury-riddled 2015 campaign. For now, Stratton will likely serve as a long reliever, as Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News suggests. Stratton, the 20th overall pick in the 2012 draft, was pitching in the rotation at Triple-A Sacramento, where he’d posted a 6.02 ERA, 6.2 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9 in 52 1/3 innings.
- David Wright is out the lineup Saturday due to neck pain, and the Mets have at least some concern about the situation, ESPN’s Adam Rubin writes. The concern might be that the issue could be related to Wright’s chronic spinal stenosis, although Mets GM Sandy Alderson won’t speculate about the matter until he knows more. Wright has collected 164 plate appearances this season and has generally been effective, batting just .226 but with a solid on-base percentage (.350) and seven home runs.
Injury Notes: Pagan, Chirinos, Athletics, Mets
The Giants announced today that left fielder Angel Pagan has been placed on the 15-day disabled list due to a left hamstring strain — the same issue which already cost him nearly two weeks of action earlier this season. In his place, the team has recalled outfielder Jarrett Parker from Triple-A. Pagan has had a productive start to the season, batting .275/.338/.383 with a pair of homers and five stolen bases. That’s a notable improvement over last year’s production in 133 games, though this also marks the fourth DL stint for Pagan since 2013 — the start of his current four-year, $40MM contract. The 27-year-old Parker is hitting .281/.366/.615 with 13 homers at the Triple-A level this season and slashed an impressive .347/.407/.755 in a brief 54-plate-appearance promotion last September, with the bulk of that damage coming in a three-homer game in Oakland on Sept. 26.
A few more notable injury updates from around the league…
- Rangers catcher Robinson Chirinos is ahead of schedule in his rehab and could beat his initial timeline of 10-12 weeks, reports Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (on Twitter). Chirinos, on the disabled list due to a fractured forearm, could return the first day that he is eligible, on June 9, according to Wilson. Of course, catcher has been a surprisingly productive position for Texas even in the absence of their starting backstop; the trio of Bryan Holaday, Bobby Wilson and the since-traded Chris Gimenez have batted .260/.323/.473 with six homers entering play tonight.
- The Athletics received good news on a pair of injured players on Monday, as Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle writes. Right-hander Henderson Alvarez has been cleared to resume playing catch after previously giving the team a scare when some discomfort in his rehabbing right shoulder led the club to order an MRI. His timeline to return has certainly been slowed a bit by the setback, but it would appear that he’s avoided a more significant injury. Beyond that, right fielder Josh Reddick won’t require surgery to repair his fractured left thumb, meaning he’ll be able to return to the club within five to six weeks as opposed to seven or eight weeks.
- ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin writes that Travis d’Arnaud began throwing yesterday at his home in California and is expected to report to the Mets‘ Spring Training facility this week, where he’ll ramp up his rehab. The 27-year-old d’Arnaud has played in only 13 games this season, and Kevin Plawecki has struggled in his absence, batting .193/.287/.277. Mets catchers have been among the least productive in baseball this season, making d’Arnaud’s return to the club particularly important for the Mets. Rubin also writes that Zack Wheeler has resumed throwing off a mound and is targeting a July 1 return from Tommy John surgery.
NL Notes: Howard, Blanco, Urias, Peavy
In light of the Phillies‘ surprising start to the season, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports kicks off his latest 10 Degrees column by writing that the Phillies can ill afford to continue carrying Ryan Howard and his .161/.233/.381 batting line. The “loyalty-vs.-pragmatism” battle which the Phillies currently face would be easier to ignore if the Phillies were toiling in or near the cellar of the NL East as many anticipated, but the club has other options at first base and is no longer playing Howard regularly. Even against right-handed pitching, Howard is hitting just .163/.246/.385 in 118 plate appearances, making it fair to question his viability even as a platoon option. Passan also revisits the Phillies’ puzzling decision to sign Howard to a five-year, $125MM extension in the first place despite the fact that he was already under control for two more seasons (and his age-31 campaign).
Here’s more from the NL…
- Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer spoke to Phillies manager Pete Mackanin about the importance of utility infielder Andres Blanco to the club. “There might be guys that are better, but as far as all-around defense, hitting, clubhouse character, this guy has been a special player for us,” said Mackanin. “It’s a tough role. It’s tough to find.” Blanco keeps four gloves — infield, outfield, first base mitt and catcher’s mitt — in his locker in order to be ready in any role and draws rave reviews from his teammates for his attitude and his production in his role. The 32-year-old has batted .286/.351/.491 in 372 plate appearances as a part-time player with the Phils dating back to 2014 and is earning his first seven-figure salary this season after agreeing to a $1.45MM deal this winter. As Breen notes, it’s a considerable bump up from the $3,000 signing bonus he took as a 16-year-old out of Venezuela when the Royals were the lone Major League club to make him an offer at all.
- Dodgers GM Farhan Zaidi isn’t tipping his hand as to when lefty Julio Urias will be promoted to the Majors, writes Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register. Zaidi said the 19-year-old top prospect will be in a Dodgers uniform “at some point” but elected to leave it at that for the time being. Manager Dave Roberts tells Plunkett that despite Urias’ dominance of Triple-A hitters at such a young age, he hasn’t lobbied with the front office to have the left-hander added to what has been an inconsistent Major League bullpen. The Dodgers have reportedly been considering Urias as a bullpen option, which could help them continue to gradually increase his workload, Plunkett notes. To this point in his career, Urias has never thrown more than six innings in a start or more than 87 2/3 innings in a season, so his workload is understandably a concern. Urias has already thrown 41 innings this year, including a streak of 27 shutout innings that is still intact.
- Giants manager Bruce Bochy tells Alex Pavlovic of CSN Bay Area that he doesn’t have a leash on Jake Peavy despite the right-hander’s considerable struggles in 2016. There was some hope that Peavy may have turned a corner after a solid start in Arizona last weekend, but he lasted just 1 2/3 innings and surrendered five runs on Friday, causing his ERA to balloon to 8.21. “I think he’s close,” said Bochy. “The stuff is fine. He’s healthy and he’s close. He’s just got to be a little more consistent with execution.” The Giants have maintained that stance on Peavy and fellow right-hander Matt Cain throughout the duo’s problems this year. Cain has indeed turned a corner over his past three starts, but it’s hard not to wonder how long the Giants will stick with Peavy if he cannot undergo a similar resurgence in the very near future.
AL East Notes: Gallardo, Erasmo, Hill, Miller
Yovani Gallardo threw a bullpen session this morning, the first time he has thrown off a mound since hitting the DL a month ago with shoulder tendinitis. Gallardo and Orioles manager Buck Showalter told reporters (including MLB.com’s Fabian Ardaya) that the righty could toss another bullpen and then a simulated game later this week, though much will depend on how Gallardo is feeling in the wake of today’s session. Here’s more from around the AL East…
- Erasmo Ramirez has been a boon to the Rays in an old-school “fireman” relief role, able to pitch multiple innings at any point late in a game. R.J. Anderson of CBSSports.com explores why Ramirez has been an ideal fit for this role and how the Rays’ usage of the righty could inspire other teams to turn their own relievers into firemen.
- It looks like the Red Sox made a mistake in letting Rich Hill get away in free agent last winter given how the veteran has pitched since joining the A’s, Peter Gammons writes in his latest GammonsDaily.com piece. With the A’s struggling and Hill standing out as possible deadline trade bait, Gammons suggests the Sox could re-acquire Hill to bolster the back half of their rotation.
- The Hill-to-Boston scenario is also explored by ESPN’s Buster Olney in his latest subscription-only column, and he also opines that Yankees setup man Andrew Miller would be a great fit for the Giants. Miller is signed through 2018 so San Francisco would gain a long-term bullpen piece to guard against any of all of their top relievers (Santiago Casilla, Javier Lopez, Sergio Romo) leaving in free agency this winter. Miller’s availability could depend on whether or not the Yankees are still in a pennant race themselves, though Olney notes that New York has enough elite bullpen depth to shop Miller or Aroldis Chapman even if the club is in contention.
- In other AL East news from earlier today, the Blue Jays have made Drew Storen available and the Red Sox are prepared to spend on midseason upgrades if necessary.