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Angels Claim Kean Wong

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The Angels announced Tuesday that they’ve claimed infielder Kean Wong off waivers from the Rays. Wong, the younger brother of Cardinals second baseman Kolten Wong, was designated for assignment over the weekend. The Angels transferred right-hander Griffin Canning from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day injured list in order to open a spot for Wong on the roster.

Wong, 24, was the Rays’ fourth-round pick back in the 2013 draft and made his MLB debut earlier this month, going 3-for-14 in a six-game cup of coffee. He spent the rest of the season with Triple-A Durham, where he logged his second consecutive above-average season at the plate. After hitting .282/.345/.406 with nine homers, 23 doubles, three triples and seven steals in 2018, Wong turned in a .307/.375/.464 slash with 10 homers, 29 doubles, six triples and six steals in 2019. Offense was elevated throughout the league in Triple-A this season, but Wong’s output checked in at 16 percent better than league average, as measured by wRC+.

While he’s primarily been a second baseman in his minor league career, Wong has begun to see time at third base and in the outfield — mostly the corners but also 24 innings in center — over the past couple of seasons. Defensive versatility is a hallmark of the Rays organization, and familiarizing himself with multiple spots on the diamond obviously increased Wong’s chances of cracking a deep Rays roster. Now, that versatility will help in affording him more opportunities with a new organization.

Wong ranked 40th in an absolutely stacked Rays farm system heading into the season, per Kiley McDaniel and Eric Longenhagen of Fangraphs. Their scouting report pegs Wong as more of a utility option than an everyday player, but he’ll aim to prove himself capable of handling a prominent role with the club over the next few days and possibly next spring, if he survives the offseason on the Angels’ 40-man roster. The Angels control Tommy La Stella for another season and also have Zack Cozart under contract through the 2020 campaign. But La Stella might not make it back to the field in 2019 after suffering a fractured tibia in early July, and Cozart’s Angels tenure has been absolutely decimated by injuries of his own

Younger options like David Fletcher and Matt Thaiss have seen action at second and third in lieu of those injured veterans, but Wong would add another versatile candidate to the mix for playing time. As somewhat of a bonus, he brings a left-handed bat to an Angels roster where the majority of the team’s regulars hit from the right side. Wong’s contract was selected to the MLB roster for the first time earlier this month, meaning he’ll have all three of his minor league option years remaining beyond the 2019 season.

Turner, Pham, Osuna To Be Represented By Newly Formed Agency

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Long-time MLB player representative Greg Genske has formed a new agency along with former Ballengee executive Alex Hicks, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network (via Twitter). The new outfit will be known as GEM Agency and will initially feature several former Genske clients.

According to Heyman, three notable players who’ll start out under the GEM roof: Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner, Rays outfielder Tommy Pham, and Astros reliever Roberto Osuna. All had previously been represented by Genske. Turner will be a free agent after the 2020 campaign, when Pham and Osuna will be entering their final seasons of arbitration eligibility.

This move comes after a period of immense upheaval following the purchase of Genske’s former outfit, The Legacy Agency, by Gatemore Capital Management. The ensuing maneuvering, including Genske’s firing, have led to various splinter agencies, representatives moving to other firms, and the re-badging of Legacy as GSE Worldwide. It wasn’t exactly an orderly transition. Genske initiated litigation regarding the matter, which is still pending in California.

As always, these latest moves are reflected in MLBTR’s Agency Database.

Rays Activate Brandon Lowe, Designate Kean Wong

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The Rays have activated rookie Brandon Lowe from the 60-day injured list. Fellow infielder Kean Wong has been designated for assignment to open 40-man roster space. Lowe is hitting fifth in today’s lineup and playing second base.

Lowe’s return is a welcome sight for Rays’ fans. He last played July 2, when he went down with a bone bruise on his shin from a foul ball. After experiencing difficulty moving laterally for weeks, Lowe embarked on a minor-league rehab assignment in August, where he strained a quad. Initially believed to be season-ending, Lowe has somewhat remarkably returned for the season’s final seven games.

The timing couldn’t be better for a Rays’ club that sits a game up on Cleveland for the AL’s final postseason spot entering play today. Any hope Tampa has at making a playoff run involves the Wild Card, as the Yankees have officially sewn up the AL East. Tampa sits two games behind Oakland for the AL’s top Wild Card position.

The return of Lowe for the season’s final week (and potential postseason play) gives the Rays one of their most impactful bats. The 25-year-old was slashing .276/.339/.523 (128 wRC+) at the time of his injury, perhaps the frontrunner for AL Rookie of the Year. That honor will almost certainly go to Yordan Álvarez now, but Lowe nevertheless looks like a key piece in Tampa short and long-term.

Lowe’s slash line is inflated by a .381 batting average on balls in play and masks a concerning 33.9% strikeout rate, so it’s difficult to imagine he’ll remain this productive at the dish. That said, Lowe’s 90.7 MPH average exit velocity is quite strong, so he should continue to be a bona fide power threat even if his on-base numbers drop off some moving forward. For a quality baserunner and versatile defender capable of playing second base, that’s more than enough to be a key piece on a contender.

Wong, 24, is also a left-handed hitting second baseman, although he’s not generally viewed as anywhere near the caliber of player Lowe is. Nevertheless, he’s been productive in the high minors for quite some time, seemingly a victim of the Rays’ crowded infield mix. He got his first big league call this September after slashing .307/.375/.464 in 506 plate appearances in his third season with Triple-A Durham. Wong, the younger brother of Cardinals’ second baseman Kolten Wong, comes with a clean slate of team control and option seasons. Between that roster flexibility, his defensive profile and high-minors offensive track record, it would be surprising if another organization with a little more uncertainty in the infield didn’t take a flier on him on the waiver wire.

Injury Notes: Suzuki, Adams, Lowe, Freeland

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Nationals catcher Kurt Suzuki returned to the D.C. lineup tonight for the first time in nearly two weeks, logging a pinch-hit, bases-clearing double in the 10th inning of a game against the Marlins. Though he’s back to swinging a stick for the Wild Card-contending Nats, it isn’t as if he’s altogether healed from the elbow issues that first sidelined him on Sept. 7. As he told Mark Zuckerman of MASN Sports, Suzuki is simply going to have to play through pain if he wishes to help his club into October. “Shoot, I’m 35 years old. I’m going to be 36 (on Oct. 4),” the catcher said. “If I get hurt, knock on wood, it’s not going to be just a little rest thing…At the same time, I don’t know how many times I’m going to have the opportunity to get to the playoffs.”

If Suzuki’s ongoing presence is a question of pain tolerance, the Nats should be sure to have plenty of aspirin on hand for the veteran backstop. After all, his .260/..319/.473 line (100 wRC+) through 301 plate appearances this year is vastly superior to the output offered by teammate Yan Gomes in 2019 (.221/.316/.370 slash in 329 plate appearances).

More notes about athletes dealing with their own share of September pain…

  • As noted by Greg Johns of MLB.com, Mariners reliever Austin Adams crumpled into a heap after tweaking his knee while covering first base in tonight’s game against the Orioles (link). Adams, 28, had to be helped off of the field by trainers. After kicking around the Angels and Nationals organizations since being drafted in 2012, Adams had appeared to find a comfortable home with Seattle in 2019. In his first prolonged big league exposure, the righty has logged a whopping 15.06 K/9 rate in 31.2 innings this year, with solid ERA (3.98) and FIP (3.12) indicators.
  • Rays youngster Brandon Lowe was back in uniform and manning second base today–albeit only in a sim game. Still, manager Kevin Cash thinks the rookie is almost ready to return from a left quad strain that has sidelined him since being injured in a rehab appearance in late July. “He’s close,” Cash told Juan Toribio of MLB.com (link). “I saw a video of him going first to third, and he’s running a lot better. I’m not going to say he’s back to his normal speed yet — he’s going to have to manage that whenever he does get activated — but we’re encouraged that the at-bats have been really good, the defense has been really good, it’s just running and getting out of the box and us having enough trust in him that he can manage that.” Lowe hasn’t played since July 2nd, when leg issues first befell him. Because Lowe is on the 60-day IL, the team would have to clear a 40-man spot to facilitate his return.
  • Rockies starter Kyle Freeland has been activated by the club and started tonight’s game against the Dodgers. Logging two scoreless innings in something of an “opener” capacity this evening, Freeland penned something of a modestly positive chapter in what has been an otherwise forgettable 2019 saga. With a sky-high 6.98 ERA (6.13 FIP) in 99.1 innings entering tonight’s game, Freeland has been a chief culprit in Colorado’s ’19 pitching woes. Interestingly, Jeff Saunders of the Denver Post penned a column today examining baseball’s offensive explosion in 2019, citing Freeland as one player who will be difficult to evaluate this offseason in part because of the possible “juiced” quality of this year’s baseball (link). Said Saunders: “In my opinion, the  “juiced baseball” really hurt Rockies left-hander Kyle Freeland this season. I’m not making excuses for Freeland’s 6.98 ERA and 25 home runs served up in 20 starts, because he was clearly off his game and his mechanics were out of whack. But I also think it’s true that Freeland became a little gun shy because his slider wasn’t breaking as it should and he gave up a number of cheap home runs.” There may be some merit to this thinking. Freeland posted a 22.9% HR/FB rate this season while home run records were shattered league-wide.

Rays Activate Yonny Chirinos

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The Rays have activated right-hander Yonny Chirinos from the 10-day injured list, according to Juan Toribio of MLB.com. He’s been on the shelf since early August, when inflammation to his middle finger forced him to the injured list.

Chirinos has enjoyed a nice sophomore season, blossoming into a full-time starter for the Rays. He was able to provide nice insurance against the injury to Tyler Glasnow and has been a reliable part of the Rays pitching staff.

In his age-25 season, Chirinos has given the Rays 126 2/3 quality innings, tallying a 3.62 ERA and a 4.16 FIP, striking out 7.8 batters per nine innings while averaging 2.0 walks. He’s settled nicely into a role as a regular starter, a change of pace after serving as a “follower” in his rookie year and for the first few outings of 2019.

However, there hasn’t yet been any indication whether Chirinos will return as a starter or reliever. He offers some flexibility, so it could go either way, but don’t expect him to offer the same length that he provided prior to the injury. As fellow starters Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell likewise work their way back from injuries, they have been strictly limited in their workloads, meaning that Chirinos could serve as a solid multi-inning option behind that pairing.

While Chirinos hasn’t posted the most promising peripheral numbers, his results have been nonetheless impressive, and the Rays will certainly welcome all the help they can get as they aim for a Wild Card berth.

AL East Notes: Torres, Jays, Rays, Red Sox

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Another day, another alarming health situation for the Yankees. Second baseman Gleyber Torres left the team’s game against Toronto on Friday after slipping on the outfield grass and potentially suffering an injury to his right knee (video via MLB.com). Torres initially stayed in the game in the wake of his fourth-inning fall, but the Yankees removed him after the sixth. Injuries to stars has been one of the main themes of the Yankees’ season, but they’ve weathered all of them en route to 100 wins and an American League East championship. The Yankees are still playing for homefield advantage throughout the postseason, though, and will obviously aim for a World Series title once the playoffs arrive. With that in mind, New York can ill afford to lose one of the best middle infielders in baseball in the 22-year-old Torres. [UPDATE: Torres “felt a little weak in his lower legs,” manager Aaron Boone told Bryan Hoch of MLB.com and other reporters. He’ll get checked out Saturday.]

Here’s more from the division…

  • Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun profiles Justin Smoak’s evolution into a clubhouse leader and mentor for the Blue Jays’ wave of upstart talents. Cavan Biggio and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. are among the teammates who effuse praise for Smoak and the impact he’s already had on their young careers. “He’s a guy who has a relationship with every single guy in this locker room, no matter if they’re an up-and-down guy or if they’re playing every day,” Biggio says of Smoak. “It just shows how much he emphasizes being a good teammate and it just shows the kind of person he is overall.” Smoak fondly reminisces of the 2015-16 playoff runs and discusses how he and his family have come to consider Toronto a second home, though he also sounds like a veteran who recognizes the writing on the wall. MLBTR examined the pending free agent’s 2019 season earlier Friday.
  • The Rays are likely to activate right-hander Yonny Chirinos from the injured list Sunday, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. Chirinos has been a starter for most of the year (a solid one at that), but he’ll work as a reliever for at the least the initial part of his return, according to Topkin. The Rays have been without Chirinos since they placed him on the IL on Aug. 5 with an inflamed middle finger on his pitching hand.
  • The Red Sox are “likely” to shut injured infielder Michael Chavis down for the season, per Steve Hewitt of the Boston Herald. Chavis will next take the field during winter ball in Puerto Rico, Hewitt adds. An oblique strain has kept the 22-year-old Chavis out of action since Aug. 11, and it appears his rookie campaign will end with a .254/.322/.444 line and 18 home runs in 382 plate appearances.
  • Blue Jays minor league righty Luis Quinones received an 80-game suspension after testing positive for the performance-enhancing drugs Nandrolone, John Lott of The Athletic reports. The ban will take effect at the beginning of the 2020 season. The 21-year-old Quinones was a 34th-round pick of the Jays this past June who produced stellar results in 36 2/3 innings between the rookie and low-A levels. He wrapped up his first professional season with a 2.95 ERA and 14.0 K/9 and 4.7 BB/9.

Health Notes: Hill, Pham, Nats, Padres

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Let’s check in on a few notable health situations from around the majors…

  • Dodgers southpaw Rich Hill’s strained left MCL looked like a possible season-ender when it happened last week, but the 39-year-old will manage to rejoin the club before the playoffs. The plan is for Hill to take a major league mound again next Tuesday, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com tweets. Although he has missed a substantial amount of time this year, Hill has yet again been one of the Dodgers’ most effective starters in 2019. It’s unclear how much length he’ll be able to give the team for the rest of the season, though. Manager Dave Roberts told Gurnick and other reporters that the Dodgers’ pitching situation for Game 4 of the NLDS – which Hill had been lined up to start – looks “cloudy.” The team expects to take an “unconventional” route with its pitching staff in that contest, Roberts added. Of course, if the Dodgers sweep their first-round opponent in three games, it’ll prove to be a moot point.
  • If the Rays weren’t in the American League playoff race, banged up outfielder Tommy Pham would “one thousand percent” have shut it down for the season by now, he said (via Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times). Pham’s dealing with injuries to his right hand and elbow that don’t figure to heal until the offseason, and he hasn’t been a consistent presence in the Rays’ lineup lately as a result. But Pham has nonetheless been productive in his recent appearances and throughout the season, as he owns a .276/.373/.455 line with 20 home runs and 22 stolen bases (25 attempts) in 616 plate appearances.
  • Nationals catcher Kurt Suzuki has been out with right elbow troubles since Sept. 7, and a return still doesn’t look imminent. While Suzuki is able to hit and catch again, he remains “days away” from receiving clearance to throw, Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com writes. Suzuki seems optimistic he’ll be back sometime soon, but meanwhile, the playoff-contending Nats will continue to rely almost exclusively on Yan Gomes behind the plate.
  • The Padres have shut 20-year-old reliever Andres Munoz down for the season, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. The rookie righty tossed a professional-high 58 2/3 innings this season between the majors and minors, more than doubling the previous best of 24 2/3 he logged at the lower levels a year ago. Munoz impressed in 23 frames with the Padres this season, as he notched a 3.91 ERA/3.17 FIP with 11.74 K/9 against 4.3 BB/9. Plus, as Acee points out, Munoz’s average fastball velocity of 99.9 mph sits second in the league.

Latest On Yonny Chirinos, Brandon Lowe

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The Rays’ pitching staff has gotten a couple major injury reinforcements back in recent days as the club attempts to earn an American League wild-card spot. Right-hander Tyler Glasnow returned from a months-long absence Sept. 8, while lefty Blake Snell came back Tuesday after sitting for several weeks. Righty Yonny Chirinos, out since Aug. 4 with middle finger inflammation on his pitching hand, isn’t far away from rejoining those two, Juan Toribio of MLB.com relays. Chirinos’ 40-pitch simulated game Monday “went really well,” according to manager Kevin Cash, who added “there’s a good chance” his next outing will come in the majors.

Like Glasnow and Snell, Chirinos has been one of the Rays’ most reliable starters in 2019. The 25-year-old has recorded a 3.62 ERA/4.17 FIP with 7.82 K/9 against 1.99 BB/9 in 126 2/3 innings (23 appearances, 17 starts). However, it’s not yet clear whether Chirinos will return as a starter or a reliever, per Toribio. Either way, Chirinos doesn’t figure to give the Rays a great deal of length. Notably, Glasnow has worked in two- to three-inning stints in a pair of appearances since his comeback, while Snell threw just 26 pitches against the Dodgers in his first start since July.

Meantime, the Rays will continue to go without injured infielder Brandon Lowe through at least their upcoming homestand, Toribio reports. That runs from Sept. 20-25, so if Lowe does get back on the field this regular season, he’ll play in a maximum of three more games. It would arguably be a bonus for Tampa Bay to receive anything more from Lowe, though, as he not long ago looked as if his shin issue would definitely prevent him from playing again this season.

Lowe hasn’t taken the field since July 2, and though Cash said his timing at the plate and infield work are back to normal, he’s not yet able to run at full strength. Whether or not we have seen the last of the 25-year-old Lowe this season, his rookie campaign will go down as an eminently successful one. Lowe slashed .276/.399/.523 with 16 home runs and 2.5 fWAR in 307 plate appearances before the injury interruption.

Rays Activate Blake Snell

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Rays left-hander Blake Snell is set to make his long-awaited return from the injured list, the team announced. Snell will start for the Rays in a road game against the Dodgers on Tuesday, and his activation will give the club a franchise-record 38 active players.

The Rays have been without Snell since July 25, when it became apparent the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner would need arthroscopic surgery to remove a loose body from his elbow. To that point, Snell had only performed like the dominant force he was a year ago on a sporadic basis, but he has nonetheless been a significant asset this season. The 26-year-old fired six shutout innings with 10 strikeouts in his most recent start July 21, helping him to a 4.21 ERA/3.40 FIP with 12.12 K/9 and 3.12 BB/9 across 101 frames in the campaign. Snell’s strikeout rate ranks fifth among all major leaguers who have amassed at least 100 innings this year.

Despite the long-term absences of Snell and fellow starters Tyler Glasnow (who returned from the IL on Sept. 8) and Yonny Chirinos (out since Aug. 4), the Rays have continued to hold an AL wild-card spot. They’re a game back of Oakland for the league’s No. 4 seed and one and a half up on Cleveland in the race for its final postseason position. The return of Snell should only increase the Rays’ chances of clinching their first playoff berth since 2013, though he probably isn’t going to give the team a lot of innings in his first game back from the IL.

Minor MLB Transactions: 9/16/19

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We’ll start the week by tracking some minor moves throughout the league…

  • The Rays released middle infielder Tyler Ladendorf from their Triple-A club over the weekend, and he quickly re-signed with the High Point Rockers of the independent Atlantic League, per an announcement from the Rockers. The 31-year-old, who would’ve been a free agent at season’s end anyhow, asked the organization for an early release, tweets Greer Smith of the High Point Enterprise. Ladendorf spent much of the season playing for the Rockers and performed well (.268/.350/.450), but he inked a minor league pact with the Tampa Bay organization in late July. He appeared in only nine games with Triple-A Durham, going 2-for-27 in that brief return to affiliated ball. Ladendorf was the Twins’ second-round pick out of Howard College back in 2008 and was flipped to the A’s a year later in the trade that brought Orlando Cabrera to Minnesota. He’s a career .255/.324/.342 hitter in parts of nine Triple-A seasons, and he also appeared in 53 big league games with Oakland in 2015-16.
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