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Blue Jays Select Ryan Dull

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The Blue Jays have selected the contract of right-hander Ryan Dull and recalled right-hander Yennsy Diaz for the final few games of the season, tweets Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. Dull and Diaz will give the Blue Jays some extra arms to serve as reinforcements for a bullpen that has thrown 27 innings across the past three games thanks to a 15-inning marathon Monday and a series of openers being utilized. In order to make room for Dull on the 40-man roster, the Jays put Lourdes Gurriel Jr. on the 60-day injured list. Gurriel underwent an appendectomy this week and wasn’t expected to return before Sunday’s season finale.

This marks the latest roster move for Dull in a roller coaster couple of months. The veteran righty has bounced from Oakland to San Francisco to New York to Toronto on waivers since the beginning of August and finally cleared waivers within the past week after he was designated by the Jays. Dull didn’t appear in the big leagues with Toronto before being designated for assignment and sent outright off the 40-man roster. He’ll now have a chance to suit up as a Blue Jay and log a few extra days of big league service to close out the year, though he’ll quite likely be removed from the 40-man roster once again when the season concludes.

Brian Cashman On Yankees’ Deadline Interest In Marcus Stroman

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Considering the bevy of rumors linking Marcus Stroman to the Yankees before July’s trade deadline, it wasn’t a surprise rebuilding Toronto sent the right-hander to New York during the summer. It was, however, unexpected that Stroman ended up with the Mets instead of the Yankees.  It turns out the Yankees’ interest in Stroman – although real – wasn’t especially high, general manager Brian Cashman reveals to Yahoo Sports’ Wallace Matthews in a quality piece profiling the longtime executive.

“We were interested in Stroman but we didn’t think he would be a difference-maker,” Cashman said. “We felt he would be in our bullpen in the postseason.”

That’s an eyebrow-raising quote in regards to Stroman, who was plenty effective in the Yankees’ division – the American League East – from 2014-18. Despite Stroman’s successful track record, his remaining year and a half of affordable team control and the Yankees’ apparent need for starters, they held firm when the Jays “were demanding” outfielder Clint Frazier in a package for the hurler, Matthews reports. Frazier drew plenty of rumored interest from around the league before the deadline, at which point he was languishing in the minors, but he stayed put. While Frazier’s latest recall didn’t come until rosters expanded at the beginning of this month, he has picked up some starts of late as the Yankees’ outfield deals with injuries to Aaron Hicks and Mike Tauchman.

Whether the Yankees were right to seemingly prioritize Frazier over Stroman is up for debate. No matter which side you’re on there, it’s hard to have complete confidence in the AL East winners’ rotation – something they didn’t address at the deadline –  as the playoffs approach. The Yankees just lost Domingo German for the season because of a domestic violence investigation (though Cashman obviously couldn’t have foreseen that), and CC Sabathia will end his illustrious career in the bullpen after a rough, injury-plagued regular season as a starter. Sabathia’s fellow aged lefty, J.A. Happ, has joined him in struggling for most of this year, but Happ has rounded back to form lately. Even better than Happ’s recent success? Ace Luis Severino just debuted last week after a season-long battle with injuries, and James Paxton has been on a roll since mid-August.

In the event the Yankees need four starters in a postseason series, Severino, Paxton, Masahiro Tanaka (who hasn’t been great in 2019) and Happ will present their four best traditional options. While there’s a strong case that Stroman’s preferable to at least one member of that quartet, the Yankees didn’t regard him as enough of an upgrade to surrender significant young talent for him over the summer.

Jays Notes: Gurriel, Vlad

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  • Blue Jays outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. is out for the rest of the year with appendicitis, manager Charlie Montoyo told Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet and other reporters. While Gurriel struggled during a truncated second half (he just came back from a month-long absence because of a strained left quad), this will go down as an encouraging season for the 25-year-old. Gurriel slashed .277/.327/.541 line and swatted 20 homers in 343 PA, and he acquitted himself decently in his first experience as a major league outfielder (minus-2 Defensive Runs Saved, plus-0.3 Ultimate Zone Rating).
  • Third baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr., yet another young Blue Jays building block, surprised over the weekend when he suggested via an interpreter he has never lifted weights. It turns out that isn’t the case, though. Guerrero clarified his prior remarks on Monday, telling Alexis Brudnicki of MLB.com and other media through an interpreter: “They wrote that I never lifted weights before. That sounds like ’before’ — never even in the Dominican, the States, with the team, and that wasn’t what I was saying. I was very clear, and I said that I never lifted weights in the offseason in Dominican Republic. I did a lot of other things, conditioning things, but weights at the gym, never did it before” (Sportsnet’s Arash Madani, whom Guerrero made his comments to last week, has the full transcript of their original conversation). Guerrero went on to state that he’ll add a weight program to his regimen this offseason in order to better prepare for the grind of a 162-game schedule. The 20-year-old has played in a professional-high 133 games between the majors and minors this season, including 120 with Toronto.

Guerrero Jr. To Alter Athletic Regimen

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  • In a somewhat more humorous note to conclude tonight’s news, Sportsnet’s Arash Madani passes along an eyebrow-raising nugget concerning Blue Jays rookie Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Guerrero Jr., it seems, doesn’t owe his prodigious power to an intensive weight room regimen: “I’ve never worked out at the gym before,” Guerrero Jr. told Madani. “I’ve never lifted weights before.” While it’s roundly mystifying to consider that “Vladito” has achieved phenomenal athletic fame without ever committing himself to either a ’leg’ or ’upper body’ day, it still may be disconcerting to Jays fans taking a sidelong glance at the youngster’s to-this-point suspect defense. Vlad Jr. has logged a -4 DRS figure in 792 innings at third base this year, with 17 errors to his credit. Guerrero Jr. tells Madani that he will be newly committing himself to weight training this offseason with the intent of remaining at third base moving forward.

Jays Notes: Smoak, Quinones

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  • 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.
  • 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.

Blue Jays Claim Breyvic Valera, Designate Ryan Dull

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The Blue Jays announced that they’ve claimed infielder Breyvic Valera off waivers from the Yankees and, to create room on the 40-man roster, designated right-hander Ryan Dull for assignment. Toronto claimed Dull himself off waivers from the Yankees just two days ago. He’d yet to pitch in a game for the Jays.

The Yankees claimed Valera, 27, off waivers from the Giants back in May. He appeared in a dozen games for New York and hit .219/.324/.313 in a small sample of 37 plate appearances. The well-traveled Valera has appeared with four different big league teams in the past three seasons, having also spent time with the Orioles, Dodgers and Cardinals in addition to his minor league time with the Giants organization. He was one of the five players the Dodgers sent to Baltimore in last summer’s Manny Machado blockbuster, though it was clear even at the time that Valera wasn’t considered a vital piece for that trade, in which outfield prospect Yusniel Diaz was the headliner.

Dull, 29, has bounced from the A’s, to the Giants, to the Yankees and the Blue Jays via waivers in the past six weeks alone. The righty hasn’t had success in the Majors or in Triple-A this season, but he’s only a few seasons removed from looking like a quality bullpen piece in Oakland. While Dull has been tagged for 17 earned runs through just 11 1/3 innings in the big leagues this year and also has a 5.29 ERA across three Triple-A affiliates, he was one of Oakland’s best relievers back in 2016. That year, he tossed 74 1/3 innings of 2.42 ERA ball with nearly a strikeout per frame and just 1.8 BB/9. He’s since been hampered by shoulder and knee problems, but Dull has some MLB success and a minor league option remaining, so he could still land elsewhere via yet another waiver claim. If not, he’ll be able to elect free agency at season’s end.

Justin Smoak’s Strange Season

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Justin Smoak’s time with the Blue Jays is all but certain to come to an end when Toronto plays its final game this season. The rebuilding Jays will want to get a look at Rowdy Tellez, who has already begun to cut into Smoak’s playing time, and Smoak is set to become a free agent for the first time in his career.

As far as contract seasons go, Smoak surely can’t be thrilled with his results. He’s hitting .206/.342/.398 with 21 home runs on the year. At a time where seemingly everyone in the league has morphed into a power hitter, Smoak has cleared the fences 17 fewer times than he did in his 38-homer 2017 season. Waning playing time and a brief stint on the injured list have impacted that total, but the overall results aren’t ideal with free agency looming.

Smoak’s season, though, is also among the stranger you’ll come across when sifting through this year’s class of free agents. No one likes a .206 batting average, of course, but there’s also quite a bit to like about Smoak’s 2019 campaign. His 16.1 percent walk rate is the highest of his career by a long shot and is the sixth-highest of any qualified hitter in baseball. Smoak’s strikeout rate (21.1 percent) is down more than five percent from its 2018 level and is the second-best mark of his career. Only eight qualified hitters in baseball — Mike Trout, Alex Bregman, Mookie Betts, Joey Votto, Carlos Santana, Shin-Soo Choo, Tommy Pham and Daniel Vogelbach — have chased fewer pitches outside the strike zone than Smoak and his 22.9 percent clip. He ranks in the top 30 in terms of pitches per plate appearance (4.10). He’s been extremely disciplined at the plate.

A notable portion of Smoak’s struggles could be tied up in the fact that he’s had some poor luck on balls in play (.220). When looking into particularly egregious BABIP erosion, it’s common to see some trends that would portend to fewer balls dropping for hits — an uptick in infield flies, for instance, or for a player with Smoak’s skill set, perhaps a sharp increase in ground-balls. That hasn’t been the case, though. Smoak’s seven percent infield-fly rate is the second-lowest of his career, and his 36.9 percent ground-ball rate is actually down nearly three percent from 2018. His line-drive rate, correspondingly, is up nearly three percent. His fly-ball rate is right in line with his past four seasons.

So perhaps Smoak simply isn’t making good contact anymore? Not the case. Smoak’s overall percentage of balls hit at 95+ mph is down from 41.9 percent last year to 38.9 percent in 2019, but he’s upped his average exit velocity, improved his launch angle and very slightly improved his barrel rate, per Statcast. Smoak’s expected batting average of .242 and his expected slugging percentage of .472 (also via Statcast) dwarf his actual output. Among hitters with at least 100 plate appearances, the -.041 difference between Smoak’s actual wOBA (.325) and his expected wOBA (.366) is the ninth-largest. Put another way: Statcast considers Smoak among baseball’s unluckiest hitters in 2019. Not great timing for a player who’s about to hit free agency.

Of course, a poor season can’t be entirely blamed on rotten luck. Some of the struggles in terms of batting average are tied to aggressive shifting against Smoak — particularly when he hits left-handed (where he’s vastly better than from the right side). Smoak is MLB’s fourth-most shifted player when he bats lefty, and teams are shifting him 12 percent more often than in his monster 2017 season. As such, it’s barely been worth the effort for him to leave the box when he puts the ball on the ground. (I joke for the sake of hyperbole — run out your grounders, kids!)

Smoak is hitting .139 on grounders as a lefty and a ghastly .105 from the right side. Shifts are becoming more aggressive, more universally adopted and more precise; that’s going to hurt your plodding first basemen of the world, and Smoak is no exception. He’s already top-25 among qualified hitters in terms of fly-ball rate, but it’s easy to argue that he should strive to elevate even more. It’s also worth noting that Smoak is hitting .583 on line-drives, which sounds nice but is substantially south of the league average (.686) and his career rate (.711). Shifting likely plays a role there as well — but to a lesser extent. That’s one area where he seems likely to improve moving forward.

Given the leaguewide uptick in shifts over the past few years and Smoak’s decreasing speed, he’s probably never going to hit .270 like he did in 2017 (.270/.355/.529). But Smoak is also still making good contact and is more patient at the plate than he’s ever been before. He’s only been narrowly above replacement level this year by measure of wins above replacement, but there’s good reason to expect his bat to bounce back in 2020. The free-agent market has been particularly harsh for first base/DH types in recent winters, which could lead to someone getting themselves a nice bargain on Smoak.

Bo Bichette Dealing With Possible Concussion

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  • Standout Blue Jays rookie Bo Bichette left the team’s game against Baltimore on Thursday after getting hit in the helmet with a pitch. The Blue Jays removed Bichette for precautionary concussion testing, per Sportsnet’s Arash Madani, who adds that the club will reevaluate the 21-year-old shortstop Friday. Bichette has burst on the scene since his late-July promotion, having slashed .311/.358/.571 with 11 home runs in his first 212 major league PA. The Jays are way out of contention, but Bichette’s among the reasons they could return to relevance soon, so they’re certain to proceed with caution in regards to his health.

Blue Jays Claim Ryan Dull

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The Blue Jays have claimed right-handed reliever Ryan Dull off waivers from the Yankees, per announcements from both teams. Lefty Tim Mayza, who suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament over the weekend, was transferred to the 60-day injured list in a corresponding roster move.

Dull, 29, has bounced from the A’s, to the Giants, to the Yankees and now to the Blue Jays via waivers in the past six weeks alone. The righty hasn’t had success in the Majors or in Triple-A this season, but he’s only a few seasons removed from looking like a quality bullpen piece in Oakland. While Dull has been tagged for 17 earned runs through just 11 1/3 innings in the big leagues this year and also has a 5.29 ERA across three Triple-A affiliates, he was one of Oakland’s best relievers back in 2016. That year, he tossed 74 1/3 innings of 2.42 ERA ball with nearly a strikeout per frame and just 1.8 BB/9.

Injuries have hit Dull rather hard since that breakout campaign. A knee injury limited him to a total of 45 2/3 innings in 2017, and shoulder trouble hindered him in 2018. Multiple clubs have been willing to dedicate a roster spot to taking a shot at getting Dull back into form, though, and the Jays will now try their hand. Dull does have a minor league option remaining beyond the current season, so the Jays could certainly carry that experiment over to the 2020 campaign if they’re willing to carry Dull on the roster all winter. He’ll be arbitration-eligible this offseason but played the 2019 season on just an $860K salary, so his price tag wouldn’t be prohibitive.

Matt Shoemaker Interested In Re-Signing With Blue Jays

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Over his first 5 starts this season–his first in a Toronto uniform–righty Matt Shoemaker was one of the best pitchers in the AL East. Though likely benefitting from a .183 BABIP, Shoemaker’s 1.57 ERA across those first 28.2 innings was likely even more than GM Ross Atkins bargained for when the club signed the embattled pitcher to a one-year, incentive-laden $3.5MM contract back in December.

Of course, those five starts were only prelude to yet another unfortunate Shoemaker injury, as the veteran suffered an ACL tear on Apr. 20 that ended his season prematurely. Though 2019 didn’t turn into the fairytale campaign he might have hoped, Shoemaker now tells TSN’s Scott Mitchell that both the pitcher and the Toronto front office seem to have some interest in giving it another go in 2020 (link). “We’ve had some small discussion showing my interest,” Shoemaker told Mitchell, “To be completely honest with you, I’d like to be here and I’d like to be here long term.”

In a subsequent tweet, which is speculation of his own, Mitchell adds that Toronto may be wise to simply offer the 32-year-old Shoemaker another one-year deal in the area of $3.5MM–although he figures that the attachment of a club option for 2021 may be prudent for the Jays this time around (Twitter link). At first glance, that seems like relatively sound reasoning from the Canadian reporter.

After all, it was mostly a litany of previous injuries that suppressed Shoemaker’s value heading into 2018-2019 free agency. In 2016, the righty was hit by a comebacker in the head–an incident which ultimately led to brain surgery. After battling back from that ordeal, Shoemaker was sidetracked by issues with his throwing arm in 2017 and 2018. All told, the righty hasn’t surpassed the 100-inning threshold since 2016–but there’s no arguing with the Michigan native’s track record when he has indeed been healthy enough to toe the rubber.

Through 98 career starts and 573.2 innings, Shoemaker owns 3.81 ERA, 3.93 FIP, 8.06 K/9, and 2.17 BB/9 numbers–more-than-respectable marks for a man who went undrafted in 2008 out of Eastern Michigan University. If Atkins and his cadre are confident enough in Shoemaker’s April showing to believe that his arm issues are truly behind him, it may indeed make sense to run it back one more time in 2020–assuming that rehab on his injured knee continues to progress well.

 

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