Pitcher Notes: Fried, Eovaldi, A. Wood, Brewers, Rangers
Braves southpaw Max Fried exited his start Monday with a blister on his left index finger, David O’Brien of The Athletic writes (subscription link). The Braves will re-evaluate Fried on Tuesday, per O’Brien, who points out blister issues have “plagued” the 25-year-old in the past. Blisters can be serious enough to lead to injury list stints, though Fried is optimistic he’ll avoid an IL placement. The Braves’ 58-37 record and 7 1/2-game lead in the National League East have come thanks in part to Fried. He turned in five shutout innings in a victory over Milwaukee on Monday, giving him a 4.08 ERA/3.86 FIP in 103 2/3 frames on the season.
The latest on a few other hurlers…
- Red Sox soon-to-be closer Nathan Eovaldi will embark on a rehab stint Wednesday or Thursday, likely with Triple-A Pawtucket, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe tweets. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said Saturday that Eovaldi could rejoin Boston’s staff sometime this week. Eovaldi, who has been out since late April because of right elbow surgery, will be pitching in a full-time relief role for the first time in his career when he returns. The 29-year-old has started in 152 of 160 appearances thus far.
- Reds lefty Alex Wood will make his third Triple-A rehab appearance Wednesday, when he’ll throw four innings and 60 to 65 pitches, per Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer. It’s a good sign for Wood, whom back problems have stopped from pitching in in the majors in 2019. His return, if it comes, could be a boon for a Cincinnati team that isn’t waving the white flag on a playoff push despite a 43-48 record.
- The Brewers placed right-hander Corbin Burnes on the injured list Monday because of shoulder irritation, recalling fellow righty Burch Smith from Triple-A San Antonio to take his place. The club put Burnes on the shelf in the wake of his most recent blowup Sunday, when he allowed four earned runs on four straight hits and failed to retire a batter in a loss to the Giants. Even though the 24-year-old Burnes has struck out just better than 13 batters per nine innings this season, struggles preventing home have led to an ineffectual 9.00 ERA/6.12 FIP across 46 frames. Burnes didn’t give up any homers Sunday, but he has allowed HRs on an astounding 39 percent of fly balls this season.
- Rangers pitching prospect Yerry Rodriguez is done for the season because of a UCL sprain in his right elbow, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News relays. The club will shut Rodriguez down for six to eight weeks and then re-evaluate him. Rodriguez, who entered the season as FanGraphs’ 14th-ranked Rangers prospect, notched a brilliant 2.08 ERA/3.16 FIP with 10.38 K/9 against 2.57 BB/9 in 73 2/3 Single-A innings this season.
Minor MLB Transactions: 7/15/19
We’ll kick off the week with a handful of minor moves from around the league…
- The Mets have released right-handed reliever Arquimedes Caminero from their Triple-A affiliate, as first noted on the International League transactions log. The flamethrowing 32-year-old generated solid results with the Pirates in 2015-16 before signing on to pitch with Japan’s Yomiuri Giants in 2017-18. His return to the U.S. didn’t go smoothly, however, as he’s posted a 5.09 ERA in 17 2/3 with the Mets’ top affiliate in Syracuse. Caminero logged 15 strikeouts but also surrendered 10 free passes, continuing to display some of the control issues that plagued him during his last MLB run. In 155 big league frames, Caminero has a 3.83 ERA with 8.3 K/9, 4.0 BB/9 and a fastball that has averaged 97.6 mph.
- Left-hander Zac Curtis has been released by the Rangers, according to the Pacific Coast League transactions log. Curtis, who just turned 27, went from the D-backs to the Mariner as a lower-profile piece in the Mitch Haniger/Jean Segura for Ketel Marte/Taijuan Walker swap. He’s bounced to the Phillies and the Rangers since that swap, appearing in the big leagues with each team along the way. Curtis re-signed with Texas after being outrighted this past winter, but he’s had a nightmare season in the hitter-friendly PCL. Despite racking up 40 strikeouts in 30 1/3 innings, Curtis has been hammered for an 8.90 ERA due to 25 free passes, four hit batters and a whopping 10 home runs allowed. Prior to this season, Curtis had a solid Triple-A track record, although he’d also issued 35 walks in 38 MLB innings, so the alarming control issues aren’t exactly an out-of-the-blue development.
AL West Notes: Astros, Bailey, Santana, Rangers
Pitching is on the Astros‘ mind as the AL West leaders approach the trade deadline, and both starters or relievers could be on the menu, GM Jeff Luhnow told The Athletic’s Jake Kaplan (subscription required). “It all depends on whether or not we’re able to acquire a starter and what that means for the rest of the rotation and maybe when [Brad] Peacock’s going to come back and be healthy and all of that,” Luhnow said. “So, there are a lot of variables. But we’ve never ruled out looking at relievers. In fact, several of the pitchers that we have on our wish list are relievers.”
As Luhnow mentioned, Peacock’s injury status adds another question mark to a rotation that was already in need of at least one more starter. While Houston has been linked to any number of big-name starters on the rumor mill, acquiring a reliever would add pen depth, and also perhaps allow the Astros to experiment with using an opener and bulk pitcher for one of the rotation spots, rather than a full-time starter. For the short term, Luhnow figured his team will have to get though something of a pitching crunch over the next few days, though “we talked to a couple clubs about some players who might fit in.”
More from around the division…
- The trade that brought Homer Bailey from the Royals to the Athletics “came together kind of quickly this morning,” Oakland GM David Forst told MLB.com’s Martin Gallegos and other media, as Forst initially contacted the Royals about Bailey only “a few days ago.” Bailey was actually scheduled to start today for Kansas City, and was only told of the deal while he was doing his pregame warmup pitches in the bullpen. Bailey adds at least one veteran arm to Oakland’s pitching mix, and while the A’s hope to get some of their injured younger hurlers back soon, the club hasn’t closed the door on more trades. “We’ll keep an eye on starters, but we have a lot of conversations going on for relievers right now,” Forst said.
- Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times answered several Mariners-related questions as part of a reader mailbag, and in regards to a question about Domingo Santana, Divish opines that the M’s should be open to trade offers at the deadline or in the offseason. After a rough 2018, Santana has regained his 2017 hitting form in Seattle, and he is also controlled through 2021 via arbitration. With this in mind, Divish feels the Mariners should explore selling high on Santana, since he may not fit into the club’s long-term rebuild plans and doesn’t offer any defensive help.
- Rangers prospect Anderson Tejeda will miss the rest of the season due to a shoulder injury, according to The Athletic’s Levi Weaver (Twitter link). Tejeda was ranked as the 93rd-best minor league in the sport by Baseball Prospectus prior to the season, though Tejeda’s year at high-A ball was halted on May 29 after he hurt his shoulder while sliding into a base. An international signing in 2014, the Dominican middle infielder has a .265/.332/.452 slash line and 45 home runs over 1672 professional plate appearances. MLB.com ranks Tejeda as the third-best prospect in the Rangers’ system, citing his good glovework at shortstop and a “plus-plus” throwing arm.
Rays, Rangers Swap Nick Solak, Peter Fairbanks
The Rangers have acquired INF/OF Nick Solak from Tampa for righty Peter Fairbanks, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.
Solak, 24, has slugged 17 homers for Triple-A Durham so far this season, though his .266/.353/.485 line checks in just 11 percent above the league average in the rocket-powered International League. The utility man sits at #93 on FanGraphs’ latest update of the game’s top prospects, with the site especially lauding his makeup, versatility, and power/speed combo. An addition to the 40-man roster would have been necessary for the former Yankee farmhand this offseason, and with the club already possessing of Joey Wendle, rookie-of-the-year candidate Brandon Lowe, Christian Arroyo, Willy Adames, Daniel Robertson, Matt Duffy, Mike Brosseau, Yandy Diaz, and up-and-comer Vidal Brujan in roles that would mirror Solak’s eventual place on the roster, a move did seem prudent.
Fairbanks, 25, brought his super-charged fastball to Arlington for the first time this season. The 6’6 righty struggled big-time with command in his short Ranger stint, walking seven in just 8 2/3 IP, to go with four homers allowed, but did flash world-beating stuff over that span (15 K, 97.2 MPH average fastball velocity). The two-time Tommy John survivor has logged just 43 minor-league innings since a transition to the bullpen in 2017, a sample which hasn’t held back plaudits from evaluators around the game. FanGraphs describes the flame-thrower as an “impact relief piece,” grading his fastball/slider combo as one of the best for burgeoning relief prospects across the minors.
Fairbanks’ll head to Triple-A Durham, per Topkin, where he’ll bolster an already-staunch register of high-leverage pieces in the Tampa ‘pen. Even without effective seasons from lynchpins Diego Castillo and Jose Alvarado, the Tampa ‘pen reigns FIP-supreme in MLB this season, with an AL-best 45.5% grounder rate.
The assignment for Solak is as-yet unclear, but he’d seem to represent a perfect right-side complement to Nomar Mazara, Shin-Soo Choo, or Asdrubal Cabrera, all of whom have slumped badly against southpaws this season. Rougned Odor, he of the dreadful 63 wRC+, has actually been far better against same-side hurlers this season, so perhaps the club pans to slot in Solak full-time at the keystone in his place.
Rangers Not Ruling Out Mike Minor Trade
Rangers president of baseball operations Jon Daniels indicated today that he is not willing to rule out a trade of top starter Mike Minor, as TR Sullivan of MLB.com was among those to cover on Twitter.
While Daniels also made clear he isn’t particularly inclined to move the organization’s best pitcher, it’s notable that he’s adopting such an open stance on the subject at this point of the season. With just over two weeks to go until the trade deadline, the Rangers are still sitting just 2.5 games out of Wild Card position. Though the eight-game gap in the division likely can’t be bridged, it’s not inconceivable that the Texas club will be in shouting distance by the end of the month.
All things considered, it’s a practical and realistic position to take for the Rangers’ top baseball decisionmaker. When he addressed the club’s deadline stance a month ago, Daniels said he intended to “stay true to our mind-set of trying to balance, continue to place a priority on the next few years.” He wouldn’t be swayed much by the standings, he further indicated, explaining: “overall we know which direction we’re going in.”
For an organization that hopes to reload with young talent while remaining competitive in the near-term, this has been a bit of a dream season. Not only has the club hit on several (but not all) free-agent investments, and seen strides from some (again, not all) key young players, it has put itself in position for a legitimate run at a playoff spot.
As for Minor … he fits somewhere in the middle on all fronts. Signed to a three-year deal before the 2018 season, he has outperformed all expectations. The $9.5MM salary he’s due this year and next seems to be a bargain now that Minor is through 117 innings of 2.54 ERA ball on the season. While the Rangers would like to continue enjoying Minor’s presence atop a rotation that still has quite a few questions, the chance of cashing in obviously tantalizes as well.
There’s one other possibility, of course: an extension. But Minor is 31 years of age and has a worrying history of arm maladies. Whether or not he’d be amenable to sorting out a new deal isn’t clear, but the Rangers would no doubt need to tread carefully for a contract to present a clear value proposition. At this point, it seems hard to view the possibility of an extension as a significant factor.
Ultimately, Daniels indicates more that he’s open to listening to offers than preparing to shop the veteran lefty. There’s a notable difference there, at least in theory. But the key question will arise at the point of decision. Will the Texas organization stand on a hefty asking price or will it ultimately take the best reasonable offer it’s able to procure?
Lone Star Notes: Correa, Diaz, Bregman, Pence, Smith
Major League Baseball’s two Texas-based teams officially got the second half of the season underway Thursday. Led by another terrific performance from right-hander Lance Lynn, who struck out 11 in seven shutout innings, the Rangers coasted to a 5-0 victory over the Astros. Both teams’ rosters were missing some key components because of injuries. Here’s the latest on a handful of those players…
- Astros shortstop Carlos Correa and infielder Aledmys Diaz could start rehab assignments next week, according to Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. A fractured rib sent Correa to the injured list May 27, halting a great start to the season for the 24-year-old star. Diaz (left hamstring strain) went to the IL the same day as Correa. Their absences have had significant consequences for a few of the Astros’ other infielders. With neither Correa nor Diaz around to man short, the Astros have often turned to franchise third baseman Alex Bregman, leaving the hot corner for first baseman Yuli Gurriel and first for Tyler White.
- Speaking of Bregman, he departed in the third inning Thursday after a hard grounder off the bat of Shin-Soo Choo took an unkind hop and struck Bregman in the chin. Bregman left the field bloodied and received four stitches, manager A.J. Hinch said (via McTaggart). It’s unclear whether Bregman will sit out any time going forward. The club replaced him at short with Myles Straw.
- Rangers designated hitter/outfielder Hunter Pence restarted a rehab assignment at the Double-A level Thursday, T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com reports. Pence played DH and will likely do the same Friday. After that, the Rangers hope to activate him over the weekend, per manager Chris Woodward. The 36-year-old Pence’s renaissance season came to a pause when he hit the IL on June 17 with a Grade 2 right groin strain. Pence then suffered a setback in his first rehab game July 1, causing the team to briefly shut him down.
- More from McTaggart, who writes that reliever Joe Smith could rejoin the Astros’ bullpen as early as Sunday if he doesn’t incur any setbacks in the meantime. The 35-year-old right-hander has spent the past several months working back from the ruptured left Achilles tendon he suffered in a December workout. Smith, who’s in the last season of a two-year, $15MM contract, logged a 3.74 ERA with 9.07 K/9 and 2.36 BB/9 across 45 2/3 innings in 2018.
Minor MLB Transactions: 7/10/19
We’ll track Wednesday’s minor moves throughout baseball here…
- The Rangers announced that corner infielder Patrick Wisdom has cleared outright waivers and been assigned to Triple-A Nashville. The 27-year-old went 4-for-26 with a double in a brief nine-game stint with Texas and has scuffled to a .199/.310/.389 slash in 259 plate appearances with Nashville this season. However, Wisdom mashed at a .288/.363/.480 clip in 421 PAs with the Cardinals’ top affiliate last season. The former supplemental-round pick has a generally solid track record in Triple-A and will stick around with the Texas org as a depth option in the event of further injuries at the MLB level.
Earlier Moves
- The Tigers announced that right-hander Austin D. Adams cleared waivers and was sent outright to Triple-A Toledo. Not to be confused with the Mariners reliever of the same first and last name (Austin L. Adams) the 32-year-old Adams returned to the big leagues in 2019 for the first time since 2016 but hasn’t experienced much in the way of success. In 16 2/3 innings between the Twins and Tigers, Adams has a 7.02 ERA with 14 strikeouts, 13 walks and four homers allowed. He logged an impressive 28-to-6 K/BB ratio in 18 innings with Minnesota’s Triple-A club earlier this year and has a lifetime 3.64 ERA and 10.1 K/9 at that level. Adams has previously been outrighted, so he’ll have the option of rejecting the assignment in favor of free agency, although a threadbare Tigers ‘pen that looks likely to lose Shane Greene via trade in the next three weeks could present Adams a viable path back to the Majors later in the year.
AL West Notes: Astros, Pence, Harvey, Mariners
The Astros will have a difficult decision to make after the All-Star break, when they will need to find a fifth starter to join the current group. As The Athletic’s Jake Kaplan writes (subscription required), Houston has gotten by with only four starters lately, thanks to a schedule that has afforded the team some well-timed off days. Corbin Martin would ideally be the guy to step up, but his season was cut short by an elbow injury. As Kaplan notes, the Astros are widely expected to target starting pitching at the trade deadline, so whoever is chosen will only need to hold down the fort for the next few weeks. With the addition of a fifth starter, of course, someone will lose their roster spot, and that may just be Tony Kemp. Kemp has seen his role diminish of late, receiving only sparing playing time while fellow bench bats Myles Straw and Tyler White fill more essential spots. Notably, Kemp is out of options, meaning that he will need to clear waivers if the Astros would like to demote him while keeping him in the organization.
- It doesn’t look like Rangers designated hitter Hunter Pence will be ready to return to game action immediately following the All-Star break, according to TR Sullivan of MLB.com. As Sullivan notes, Pence, who is recovering from a right groin strain, has yet to get to back to running full speed. Pence hasn’t appeared in a game for the Rangers since the middle of June, when he landed on the injured list. A minor-league signing last winter, Pence has been a revelation for Texas, emerging as a force in the middle of the lineup. His efforts earned him a spot on the All-Star roster, though he won’t be able to participate thanks to the injury.
- After the break, the Angels expect to welcome Matt Harvey back to the starting rotation, according to Jeff Fletcher of the Southern California News Group. On Sunday, he made a start for Triple-A Salt Lake, striking out seven batters in 3 1/3 innings of work. An upper back strain has prevented the veteran from pitching in the Majors since late May. When he has pitched for the Halos, though, the results have not been good: he’s worked to an unsightly 7.50 ERA in 10 starts and has thus far failed to live up to the $11MM contract he received in the offseason. Of course, he’ll have the rest of the season to reverse that, and he certainly has the talent to boost the playoff-hopeful Angels into the Wild Card conversation.
- Mariners right-handed pitcher Dan Altavilla will avoid Tommy John surgery after receiving the results from an MRI, tweets Greg Johns of MLB.com. That MRI showed no damage to Altavilla’s UCL, though he did endure a flexor strain in his elbow. To be sure, there’s nothing encouraging about elbow injuries, but the silver lining is that Altavilla won’t need to undergo Tommy John. Altavilla landed on the injured list after he “felt something in his forearm” while pitching on Friday.
Rangers Select Pedro Payano, Option Locke St. John
The Rangers have selected the contract of right-hander Pedro Payano. Lefty Locke St. John has been optioned to Triple-A. Patrick Wisdom was designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for Payano.
New York native Payano will make his major league debut for the Rangers. He has primarily been a starter in the minors, 121 starts versus 27 appearances out of the pen, relying on deception and pitch diversity to make his living. In 15 appearances between Double-A and Triple-A this season, Payano, 24, went 5-3 with a 3.91 ERA, especially turning it on with the Triple-A Nashville Sounds (2-2 3.08 ERA). Payano isn’t a major innings eater, though he certainly could fill the role of a long man, if not taking a turn or two in the rotation.
St. John appeared in five games for the Rangers since June 25, largely holding his own until the Twins blew him up last night for three runs on four hits in an inning of work. In four appearances previous, St. John, 26, had surrendered just one run on two hits across 4 1/3 innings.
As for Wisdom, he’ll hit the waiver market after a disappointing tenure in Texas. The former first round pick of the Cardinals started the season playing more-or-less everyday between the infield corners in Texas, but a .154/.185/.192 line across those 9 games in April was all the Rangers needed to see. Back in Triple-A, Wisdom fared better, but not by much, hitting .199/.310/.399 across 259 plate appearances.
West Notes: Yordan, Angels, Rangers, Padres
Rookie sensation Yordan Alvarez garnered some first base experience during his time in the minors, but the Astros have no intention of trying him there in the majors this year, per Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle. The team wasn’t “comfortable” with Alvarez’s performance at first in the minors, according to manager A.J. Hinch. Thanks in part to that, the Astros will stick with the hot-hitting Yuli Gurriel as their starter, with Rome noting Aledmys Diaz will serve as the backup when he comes off the injured list. Alvarez will continue as a designated hitter/left fielder, a role which has suited him well during what has been a brilliant introduction to the majors. Through his first 69 plate appearances, the 22-year-old has slashed .317/.406/.733 (196 wRC+) with seven home runs.
More from the majors’ West divisions…
- The Angels received an encouraging second opinion this week on infielder Zack Cozart‘s problematic left shoulder, manager Brad Ausmus revealed (via Dave Sessions of MLB.com). The doctors “seem to be narrowing it down to a couple things it could be, and I guess the MRI is to further narrow that down,” Ausmus said. Cozart has been down since May 28 with inflammation in his shoulder, a joint that also cost him a significant chunk of 2018. He underwent season-ending surgery on a torn labrum last season, ending his first year with the Angels after just 58 games. Cozart will visit Dr. Neal ElAttrache, who performed his surgery a year ago, for more imaging tests Friday, Sessions relays.
- The Rangers were within a week of summoning reliever Matt Bush back to the majors before he was diagnosed with a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports. Bush had been rehabbing a prior UCL injury all season, but this week’s news means he’ll wind up missing the entire campaign and surely a large portion of 2020. The Rangers plan on sticking with in-house relievers to help fill Bush’s void in the immediate term, according to Wilson, though he suggests the injury will place a greater urgency on the club to acquire outside help before the July 31 trade deadline.
- Padres left-handed reliever Jose Castillo – out all season because of a flexor strain – could be one bullpen session away from restarting a rehab assignment, manager Andy Green said Thursday (via AJ Cassavell of MLB.com). The 23-year-old was pitching in what was supposed to be his final rehab appearance June 10 when he suffered a setback. Castillo was a quietly outstanding piece of the Padres’ bullpen as a rookie in 2018, when he pitched to a 3.29 ERA/2.64 FIP with 12.21 K/9 and 2.82 BB/9.