Injury Notes: Richards, Turner, Drew, Zych, Cishek, Price, Hill, Baez
Angels righty Garrett Richards may be due for a longer DL stint than had first been expected, as Pedro Moura of the Los Angeles Times reports. Richards has yet to pick up a ball since going down with a biceps strain. Given the time he has already missed, and the lack of progress thus far, it seems increasingly likely that some kind of rehab stint could be required. There’ll no doubt be some added caution taken given that Richards is only just returning from a lengthy rehab of a UCL injury. The Halos are going with J.C. Ramirez in his stead; he’ll take the ball to start a game in the big leagues for the first time tonight, as J.P. Hoornstra of the Orange County Register writes.
- The Nationals are still waiting to determine a timeline for shortstop Trea Turner to return, as Byron Kerr of MASNsports.com writes. Manager Dusty Baker suggested that the club is willing to allow Turner plenty of rest to ensure that there isn’t a larger setback. The hope, though, is that it isn’t a significant injury. Of course, fellow infielder Stephen Drew — Turner’s would-be replacement — also went down with a hammy strain. He’s more or less in the same boat, it seems. “There’s no timetable,” said Drew. “But I’ll do the best I can to get back as soon as possible.” While it’s hardly the Nats’ preference, they’ll at least get a good look at youngster Wilmer Difo in the meantime.
- Righty Tony Zych is back in action for the Mariners, with the club announcing he has been activated from the 10-day DL. Southpaw Dillon Overton is heading out on optional assignment to open a roster spot. Shoulder issues hampered Zych last year and forced him into surgery, but he’ll look to regain the excellent form he showed in 2015 — which would be quite welcome for a Seattle club that is off to a dreadful start. Meanwhile, Steve Cishek is nearing a rehab assignment and could be back in the majors, too, after he makes three or four appearances, MLB.com’s Greg Johns tweets.
- The Red Sox are beginning to chart a course for lefty David Price, as Jen McCaffrey of MassLive.com reports. It’s possible that Price could be ready to face live hitters in a few days, with a rehab assignment representing the next likely step. McCaffrey suggests that he’ll require at least four outings in the minors, meaning it could still be another month until Price is back in Boston.
- Southpaw Rich Hill of the Dodgers is slated for a return on Sunday, as Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times tweets. Per Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register (via Twitter), the hope was that Hill’s blister wouldn’t prove too problematic during a pen session yesterday. It seems that he has come through unscathed, so he’ll step back into the rotation for L.A.
- Meanwhile, the Dodgers have activated setup man Pedro Baez, who missed most of camp after being struck on the thumb by a batted ball. The 29-year-old righty continued to show swing-and-miss stuff last year, and somewhat quietly has compiled a 3.08 ERA over 149 MLB frames, with 9.7 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9, over his three years in the majors. Despite four strong appearances thus far (no runs on one hit and one walk with six strikeouts), Josh Fields is headed to Triple-A to make way for Baez.
Orioles Acquire Paul Fry For Int’l Pool Slot, Designate Parker Bridwell
5:42pm: The teams have announced the deal, which sends an international signing bonus allocation — slot #105 of the 2016-17 period, which is worth $198K in spending capacity — to Seattle. Baltimore has designated righty Parker Bridwell to clear roster space.
5:25pm: The Orioles have acquired lefty Paul Fry from the Mariners, as Rich Dubroff of PressBoxOnline.com tweets. Fry, 24, was designated recently by Seattle.
Baltimore has continued to tweak its pitching mix of late, and now the organization has another optionable arm on hand. Fry spun 55 Triple-A frames of 2.78 ERA ball last year. Though he retired 10.6 batters per nine vi strikeout, he also permitted 5.1 free passes per nine on the year. Fry has yet to appear at the major league level.
Injury Notes: Kaprielian, Ross, Beltre, Bush, Gutierrez, Bailey, M’s
Yankees pitching prospect James Kaprielian is weighing whether or not to undergo surgery, GM Brian Cashman told reporters including Erik Boland of Newsday (Twitter links). Cashman didn’t make clear just what surgical options might be on the table for the 23-year-old, who is said to have experienced elbow pain recently, but all the hints suggest it could be a significant injury. “The rehab process has not been successful,” said Cashman, “so he’s facing some decisions.” Kaprielian also dealt with elbow problems last year, limiting his ability to gain minor-league experience, but there were still suggestions that the 2015 first-rounder might factor at the MLB level this year.
Here’s more on some health situations from around the game:
- The Rangers have provided some updates on several players, all via T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com (links to Twitter). Righty Tyson Ross will need to hold off on his rehab for a bit after experiencing upper back spasms. While it doesn’t appear as if there’s any broader concern, it will slow his timeline by at least a week. Meanwhile, Adrian Beltre‘s new calf injury will likely cost him enough time to be measured in weeks rather than days, per assistant GM Mike Daly. Understandably, the club is charting a cautious course with the veteran, who had been nearing his return from calf issues before suffering another strain in a different area of the muscle. Finally, the team will wait to see how setup man Matt Bush responds to an injection before determining whether he’ll need a DL stint for his sore shoulder.
- Dodgers outfielder Franklin Gutierrez is headed to the 10-day DL with a hamstring strain, as Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times reports (Twitter links). He’ll be replaced for the time being by Trayce Thompson, but skipper Dave Roberts says it’s expected to be only a one-to-three-week layoff.
- The Angels have placed righty Andrew Bailey on the 10-day DL to rest his inflamed shoulder, per a club announcement. He’ll be replaced on the active roster by fellow righty Daniel Wright. It’s not yet clear just how long Bailey will be down. For Wright, this’ll be his third call-up to the majors; he saw action last year with both the Reds and Angels, working both as a stater and from the pen.
- Mariners righty Tony Zych could be nearing a return, as Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune reports, with Steve Cishek not farm behind him. It remains to be seen whether Zych will head to the MLB roster, as he could also be optioned. Manager Scott Servais praised the righty’s form after a sim game, saying he looked “very sharp.”
Mariners Outright Casey Fien, Recall Evan Marshall
The Mariners announced that they’ve outrighted reliever Casey Fien to Triple-A Tacoma, thus removing him from the 40-man roster. Fien’s spot on the 25-man roster will go to fellow right-handed reliever Evan Marshall, who has been recalled from Tacoma.
While the move also opens a 40-man spot, that’ll be accounted for, too. Minor league outfielder Boog Powell has been reinstate from the restricted list after serving an 80-game suspension for a failed PED test.
The 33-year-old Fien had a fairly solid bounceback run last year with the Dodgers, leading to a MLB deal with Seattle over the winter. It’s not immediately clear whether that contract includes language allowing the team to escape the full $1.1MM salary that it carried; per the reporting at the time, it came with a minor-league split salary.
Things didn’t go quite as hoped for Fien in the early going. In five outings, he was tagged for seven earned runs on seven hits (two of them long balls) and three walks, while logging five strikeouts. He was still showing a 93 mph average fastball, though, and was missing bats (16.9% swinging-strike rate) in his brief stint, so it wouldn’t be too surprising to see him back up — whether or not it’s with the M’s — at some point this year.
Marshall, who’l soon turn 27, was claimed recently off waivers. GM Jerry Dipoto is a long-time fan of the sinkerballer, who’s looking to return to the success he showed as a rookie back in 2014. Marshall hasn’t yet regained traction in the majors since suffering a scary skull fracture, but it seems he’ll get a shot at locking down a role in Seattle.
AL West Notes: Bush, Cashner, Mariners, A’s
Rangers setup man Matt Bush is headed back to Texas to have the sore AC joint in his shoulder examined and to receive an injection for the pain, per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. While that sounds ominous for an already banged-up Rangers club, Grant notes that the team currently believes that Bush will avoid a trip to the disabled list. Bush dealt with a similar issue at times in 2016, per the report, so it’s not entirely new issue. That said, even a brief absence for Bush thins out a Rangers relief corps that has struggled greatly in the season’s early stages. Closer Sam Dyson has had a nightmarish start to the year, yielding a staggering 11 runs on 11 hits (two homers) and three walks in just three innings of work. Dyson coughed up a five-run lead to the Angels in the ninth inning last night while Bush was deemed “unavailable” by manager Jeff Banister. Given Dyson’s catastrophic meltdown and Bush’s ailing shoulder, it wouldn’t be a surprise to Jeremy Jeffress and/or Tony Barnette get some save opportunities in the near future.
More notes out of Arlington and the rest of the AL West…
- Rangers right-hander Andrew Cashner feels that he’s ready to join the rotation after throwing five shutout innings in an extended Spring Training game, writes Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The Rangers, though, have yet to make a decision on whether to activate the oft-injured righty. Texas may elect to give Cashner another rehab outing in an effort to further build up some arm strength, which would make sense given the current state of the bullpen. As Wilson notes, being able to exceed 100 pitches would be preferable in an ideal scenario, as that’d spare the Rangers’ relief corps some extra work. Righties Dillon Gee, Nick Martinez and Eddie Gamboa could make a spot start in the interim, Wilson adds.
- The Mariners will have a few roster moves to make today, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times notes (Twitter links). Outfielder Boog Powell is set to be reinstated after receiving an 80-game suspension for a failed PED test late last June, and Seattle will need to open a 40-man spot to accommodate him. Additionally, Divish reports that the Mariners are slated to promote right-hander Evan Marshall from Triple-A Tacoma to get a fresh arm into their ‘pen.
- Though the Athletics opened the season with a closer-by-committee approach, that committee has narrowed to include just two pitchers, manager Bob Melvin said yesterday on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (Twitter link). Per Melvin, left-hander Sean Doolittle and right-hander Santiago Casilla will share ninth inning duties and be called upon based on the matchups the A’s are facing heading into the final inning. That means that righties Ryan Madson (last year’s primary closer) and Ryan Dull will each function primarily as setup men.
Mariners Designate Paul Fry, Select Mike Freeman, Place Jean Segura On DL
5:28pm: Mariners manager Scott Servais tells reporters that Segura’s hamstring strain is mild, and the team expects him to return in the minimum 10 days (Twitter link via MLB.com’s Greg Johns).
4:47pm: The Mariners announced that they’ve placed Jean Segura on the 10-day disabled list due to a strained hamstring. Infielder Mike Freeman‘s contract has been selected from Triple-A Tacoma, while left-hander Paul Fry has been designated for assignment to clear a spot on the 40-man roster.
[Related: Updated Seattle Mariners Depth Chart]
Segura sustained his injury yesterday against Houston, per the Mariners’ release. The 27-year-old was acquired alongside right fielder Mitch Haniger in the trade that sent Taijuan Walker to the Diamondbacks this offseason and had gotten off to a strong start in his new environs. In eight games (35 plate appearances) as a Mariner, Segura has batted .313/.353/.406 with a homer and three stolen bases. With Segura sidelined for the near future, it seems likely that utilityman Taylor Motter will step up and play shortstop.
Freeman, 29, made his Major League debut in 2016 but received just 24 plate appearances between the D-backs and the Mariners, who claimed him off waivers from Arizona last summer. In 503 Triple-A plate appearances last year, the former 11th-round draft pick hit .314/.285/.419 with four homers, 23 doubles and six triples. Those numbers, tallied across 104 games, bear a striking resemblance to the second baseman/outfielder’s career marks in 298 contests: .314/.376/.424. He was off to a 4-for-12 start to the 2017 season in Triple-A.
The 24-year-old Fry had made just one appearance with Triple-A Tacoma this season but is coming off a fine year with Seattle’s top minor league affiliate. Last season, the former 17th-rounder logged 55 innings with a 2.78 ERA, 10.6 K/9 and 5.1 BB/9. Lofty strikeout numbers are nothing new for Fry, who has a career 11.0 K/9 rate in his minor league career. However, Fry has also struggled to some extent with control throughout his career (3.7 BB/9), especially against upper-level competition.
Injury Notes: Bradley, Posey, Segura, Osuna, Desmond, Gray/Bassitt, Weaver
The Red Sox have placed center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. on the 10-day DL, as Ian Browne of MLB.com was among those to report. Bradley was diagnosed with a knee sprain caused by a misstep while running the bases. An MRI did not reveal more significant damage, so the hope is he won’t miss much more than the minimum.
Let’s check in on a few health situations of note from around the game …
- Giants star Buster Posey departed the club’s game today after being struck in the head by an errant pitch, but thankfully indications are he escaped any significant injury. As Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News writes, Posey passed a concussion test and told teammates he was fine. That’s not conclusive, of course, but for now the team does not plan to make a roster move to fill in for the stellar backstop, as Baggarly further notes on Twitter.
- Mariners shortstop Jean Segura was also pulled today with an injury, though it doesn’t appear to be a major concern. Manager Scott Servais told reporters, including MLB.com’s Greg Johns (Twitter link), that it’s a “very mild” hamstring issue. For now, at least, the key offseason addition won’t be headed for the DL, with Servais calling him day to day.
- The Blue Jays anticipate that closer Roberto Osuna will be able to return to action tomorrow, as Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca reports. The excellent young reliever opened the year on the 10-day DL owing to a cervical spasm, though that placement was backdated. He made it through a sim game and now seems ready to return to the majors — where he’ll try to pick up where he left off in a strong 2016 season.
- There are several important Rockies players still working back from injury, and Nick Groke of the Denver Post has the latest. Ian Desmond, Tom Murphy, and David Dahl all seem to be progressing, with the trio possibly slated to return by the end of the month. Desmond, who’ll suit up at first base for the first time when he’s ready, seems to have the clearest progression at this point. Per Groke, Desmond will start to throw and field at some point this week.
- Athletics righties Sonny Gray and Chris Bassitt are making strides in their rehabs, as Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Grey’s lat strain is healing well enough that he was able to work up to 35 pitches from the bullpen today. That could leave him on track to return tot he majors before April is out, per the report. Bassitt, meanwhile, is on the cusp of a rehab stint, though Slusser notes that he’s likely to take a full month in the minors since he’s working back from a year-long layoff owing to Tommy John surgery.
- Though he’s currently stashed at Triple-A, Cardinals righty Luke Weaver is a key piece of the organization’s depth (and future rotation plans). He is headed for a DL stint with lower back stiffness, as MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch reports on Twitter. At present, it’s not clear what kind of an absence is anticipated.
Minor MLB Transactions: 4/9/17
Sunday’s minor moves…
- The Mariners have released outfielder James Ramsey, whom they acquired in a trade with the Dodgers last summer. Ramsey didn’t see any major league action with the Mariners, instead picking up 110 plate appearances with Triple-A Tacoma, and still hasn’t cracked the bigs since the Cardinals selected him in the first round of the 2012 draft. The 27-year-old Ramsey, who has also been in the Indians organization, owns a .256/.337/.404 batting line in 1,027 Triple-A plate appearances.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Yankees, Rockies, L. Robert, Orioles, Mariners
Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez left Saturday’s game in Baltimore with a right biceps strain, per a team announcement. There’s no timetable for his return, tweets FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal, but it’s worth noting that Angels righty Garrett Richards landed on the 10-day disabled list Friday with a right biceps strain. It’s possible Sanchez’s injury will be more severe, of course, which would be a terrible development for the Yankees. The 24-year-old deservedly entered the season with significant hype surrounding him after hitting an astounding .299/.376/.657 with 20 home runs in 229 plate appearances as a rookie in 2016.
More from Rosenthal:
- When it comes to potentially acquiring starting pitching help this summer, the Rockies could be a team to watch, says Rosenthal (video link). Colorado might have enough young talent to swing a deal for White Sox left-hander Jose Quintana or Athletics right-hander Sonny Gray, posits Rosenthal, who notes that Baseball America regards its farm as the 10th-best system in the majors (ESPN’s Keith Law ranks it an even better ninth).
- The White Sox, Astros, Padres, Reds and Cardinals are the teams with the most interest in highly touted outfield prospect Luis Robert, reports Rosenthal. If he’s cleared to sign by June 15, the 19-year-old will go down as the last Cuban amateur to sign for big money – should the new collective bargaining agreement rules remain in place for a while, that is. Ben Badler of Baseball America has reported on multiple occasions that the White Sox are the favorites to land Robert. Unlike the ChiSox, all of the Astros, Padres, Cardinals and Reds have already exceeded their 2016-17 international bonus pools.
- With Manny Machado, Zach Britton and Adam Jones slated to become free agents after next year, the Orioles might look far different on the field by the 2019 season. Changes could be coming off the field, too, as both GM Dan Duquette and manager Buck Showalter will also see their contracts expire when the 2018 campaign concludes, per Rosenthal. Showalter isn’t looking to leave Baltimore, according to Rosenthal, though he’ll turn 61 next month, leading to questions as to whether he’ll transition to a front office job sometime soon.
- The Mariners’ competitive window might only stay open through next season, observes Rosenthal, who points out that Nelson Cruz, Jean Segura, Drew Smyly, Hisashi Iwakuma and Leonys Martin are scheduled to hit free agency after the 2018 campaign. General manager Jerry Dipoto made it clear over the winter that the Mariners are in “win-now” mode, which makes sense considering those soon-to-be free agents, not to mention that integral players such as Robinson Cano, Kyle Seager and Felix Hernandez are either in their 30s or will be soon. The Mariners don’t have a deep farm system, either, as both Baseball America and Law place it in the majors’ bottom 10.
AL West Notes: Gray, Bassitt, Singleton, Mariners, Angels
Athletics right-hander Sonny Gray threw a 25-pitch bullpen session yesterday, during which he utilized all of his pitches and threw at a 100 percent effort level, writes Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. He’s slated for another ‘pen session on Friday — the next step in his rehab of a strained lat muscle that caused him to be shut down for most of Spring Training. Gray will throw one or two more bullpen sessions in total, then throw to live hitters once or twice before embarking on a rehab assignment (where he’ll likely make two minor league starts), per Slusser.
Slusser adds a bit more good news for A’s fans as well, noting that right-hander Chris Bassitt looks to be ahead of schedule in his recovery from 2016 Tommy John surgery. Bassitt will throw to hitters today and is nearing a minor league rehab assignment of his own, though he’ll need a considerably longer rehab stint than Gray due to the nature of their injuries.
More from the AL West…
- Astros first baseman Jon Singleton has been pushed all the way back to Double-A to open the season, as Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle writes. While the move was made to ensure he is able to receive consistent playing time, that obviously suggests he’s behind others — most notably, A.J. Reed — in the depth chart. Unlike Reed, Singleton is also without a 40-man spot at present, though his contract, which runs through 2018 and includes three option years thereafter, surely provides at least some incentive for the organization to move him to the majors if circumstances warrant.
- Drew Smyly received a platelet-rich plasma injection on Tuesday, Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto told the media (link via Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune). That procedure doesn’t impact the team’s expected recovery, however, which Dipoto still pegs at six to eight weeks. “Six weeks until he begins throwing. Eight until we anticipate we can make a better judgment on when he’ll rejoin the club,” Dipoto said. Fellow left-hander Ariel Miranda was tabbed as the first line of defense in the wake of Smyly’s injury, and he’ll make his first start of the season tomorrow.
- The Mariners‘ claim of right-hander Evan Marshall stems, in part, from familiarity on the part Dipoto, the general manager told reporters, including Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. “He was actually a draft pick from my final year with the Diamondbacks,” Dipoto explains. “…He has a very heavy sinker that will touch 96 mph. His velocity will be in that 94ish range. He has a very high rate of ground balls, last year was 57 percent, which is pretty consistent with his career norm.” Marshall, 27, posted an outstanding 2.74 ERA with 9.9 K/9, 3.1 BB/9 and a 60.7 percent ground-ball rate as a rookie in 2014. Since that time, he’s struggled in the Majors, though one has to wonder how much those troubles were impacted by a skull fracture that he sustained when he was hit by a line drive — an injury that required surgical repair and cost him a significant chunk of the season.
- Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register spoke to Angels outfielder Ben Revere about his reserve role with the team and the difficulty of trying to reestablish oneself as a player that can be relied on every day while receiving only limited at-bats. Revere isn’t down on himself after losing out on the left field job despite a vastly superior spring to that of starter Cameron Maybin. “No matter what happens, if I go the whole year being a backup, I’m going to try to get No. 9 (Maybin) to have the best year of his career,” Revere says. “…Spring training doesn’t mean a damn thing. It’s all about performing when it counts. It starts now.”
- Fletcher also suggests, once again, that the Angels could be forced to make some type of roster move to alleviate the first base mix once Luis Valbuena returns from an injury next month. Valbuena figures to receive the bulk of the time at first base, leaving the Halos with a pair of right-handed-hitting complements in the form of C.J. Cron and Jefry Marte. While it was Marte who drew the start last night despite a lefty pitcher being on the hill, manager Mike Scioscia tells Fletcher that the decision to start Marte was merely a means of getting him into the lineup early in the season without asking him to sit for too long.