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Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Injury Notes: Paxton, Hale, Hicks, Vlad Jr.

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Yankees ace James Paxton exited his final start of the season on Friday after just one inning because of left glute tightness, per MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch. Paxton’s removal was a precautionary measure, and were it not for the looming postseason matchup with the Twins, Paxton likely could have pitched through what he described as “dull soreness.” The rotation is New York’s biggest question mark going into the playoffs, and Paxton is clearly a key piece. He’s 15-6 with a 3.82 ERA/3.87 FIP across 150 2/3 innings for the season, landing fairly close to career marks both in terms of efficiency and durability. Paxton’s status as the likely ALDS game one starter is not at present affected by his early departure on Friday, though he will certainly be monitored closely, and one would think it might affect the amount of leash given him in the ALDS opener. In other injury news heading into Saturday’s action…

  • The Yankees PR department announced David Hale’s reinstatement from the 60-day injured list. Hale, 32, had a strong start to the season going 3-0 with a 2.89 ERA/3.30 FIP across 19 innings. He last pitched on July 26 against the Red Sox, finishing a strong month of July when he posted a 2.63 ERA. Hale has a part in two major storylines of the Yankees season, both as a resident of the overfull trainer’s room, and as one of the many unsung contributors to their 2019 success.  Aaron Hicks, meanwhile, was moved to the 60-day injured list. It’s been mostly a lost season for Hicks, who nonetheless contributed 1.2 bWAR in 59 games when healthy via a .235/.325/.443 line with 12 home runs.
  • Rookie fan favorite Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was scratched from today’s lineup with right knee soreness, tweets Ben Nicholson-Smith of sportsnet.ca. If Vlad Jr. misses both of the Blue Jays final games, he’ll finish his rookie season with a .272/.339/.433 line across 123 games while notching 15 home runs and 69 RBIs. His 105 wRC+ is not perhaps the world-breaking debut that many expected, but in effort and showmanship, Vlad Jr. more than held his own. His performance at the home run derby will go down as the defining moment of his rookie season, where he showed the national audience more than enough to justify the hype of the past few seasons.

AL East Notes: Moreland, Jays, Hays

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First baseman Mitch Moreland’s time with the Red Sox is on the verge of ending, Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe suggests. The soon-to-be free agent is likely on his way out of Boston in favor of a “younger and cheaper” option, per Abraham, who lists Michael Chavis and prospect Bobby Dalbec as immediate possibilities. While Moreland’s position, age (34) and production won’t lead to a particularly lucrative trip to free agency, he’s not fretting about the open market right now. “It was bad the last two times I went into free agency and I came out of it with a job,” Moreland told Abraham. “I’m not really worried about it yet. I just want to enjoy this last week with these guys. It’s a great group. I’ll worry about the rest when I get there.” Moreland, who has earned $18.5MM on a pair of deals with the Red Sox since 2017, is finishing up an injury-limited year. He owns a .246/.325/.502 line with 18 home runs in 317 plate appearances thus far.

  • 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.
  • After a couple injury-ravaged years, it appears outfield prospect Austin Hays is working his way into the Orioles’ season-opening plans for 2020. Hays has only played a couple weeks in the majors this year, but he has made the most of it, as Steve Melewski of MASNsports.com writes. Indeed, with a .314/.364/.627 line and four home runs in 55 PA since his Sept. 7 call-up, the 24-year-old is “making a really strong case that he can play here,” manager Brandon Hyde told Melewski. It’s not just Hays’ marvelous late-season offensive production that has turned heads, though, as Hyde noted “he’s shown us that he can play center field defense.”

AL Notes: Yankees, Miley, Vladito

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Joel Sherman of the New York Post had an interesting profile today of a Yankees pitching staff at a crossroads (link). After losing Domingo German and Dellin Betances to suspension and injury, respectively, over the past several days, the AL East-champion Bombers find themselves with a pitching picture very much in flux. “I don’t look at it as frustrating,” pitching coach Larry Rothschild told Sherman. “I look at it as a problem to solve. We have to figure out what we are going to do. You would love to have those two guys obviously. But we don’t, so we have to move forward.” As Sherman points out, German’s loss may be particularly impactful, as his multi-inning ability may force skipper Aaron Boone to opt for a 13-man pen in the playoffs instead of a 12-man pen.

While Chad Green, J.A. Happ, Tommy Kahnle, Adam Ottavino, James Paxton, Luis Severino, Masahiro Tanaka, Aroldis Chapman, and Zack Britton are all ’locks’ for the postseason staff, the final spots are more of a toss-up after the team’s loss of German and Betances. Luis Cessa, Cory Gearrin, Tyler Lyons, Stephen Tarpley, Ben Heller, and Jonathan Loaisiga are names floated by Sherman as possibilities to round out Boone’s October pen corps.

More notes from around the AL this Saturday eve…

  • The Astros are facing what the Houston Chronicle’s Chandler Rome deems a “full-fledged fourth starter crisis” after another uninspiring performance from the previously steady Wade Miley (link). In Saturday’s game against the Angels, Miley failed to complete more than one inning for the third time in four starts. The 32-year-old Miley had looked to be a coup for the Astros front office after signing a one-year/$4.5MM deal this offseason, with a 3.06 ERA through his first 156 innings this year. Unfortunately, the calendar’s turn to September has spelled doom for Miley, who has allowed 18 earned runs in 7 ⅓ September innings. Manager A.J. Hinch is voicing somewhat of a hedged belief in the experienced lefty: “We’re going to figure it out,” manager A.J. Hinch told Rome. “He’s going to be really effective for us. But given the time, it’s a difficult time to assess because he’s got one start left before we need to make some decisions.” Looking back, regression was probably coming for Miley all along, as those first 156 innings were undermined by a .263 BABIP and 4.36 FIP mark.
  • 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.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Could Return This Week

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Blue Jays rookie third baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. could be back in the Toronto lineup in short order, as Jon Morosi of MLB Network relays that the 20-year-old Canada native could return for this week’s tilt with the Dodgers (link). The team has apparently indicated that Vlad Jr.’s status is more “day-to-day than week-to-week”.

After tweaking his knee while fielding a groundball, Guerrero Jr. went for MRI testing–testing that ultimately showed only minor inflammation. After Padres rookie Fernando Tatis Jr. was shut down for the season following a back injury, there was trepidation that even a moderate issue would similarly spell the end of Vladito’s rookie campaign. About that rookie campaign, it’s fair to say that on-field results have been mixed–though ultimately very encouraging for a player of his age.

Across a sizable sample of 386 at-bats, Guerrero Jr. has slashed .274/.345/.464, while wRC+ indicates that he has been 13 percent better than a league-average hitter. When not inside the batter’s box, however, the infielder has shown some warts that the Jays surely hope will iron out as he matures, including a -4.4 BSR measurement on the bases and generally subpar defense as evidenced in part by his -4 DRS mark. The Blue Jays enter play in Los Angeles today with a 52-75 record.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Headed For MRI

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Sunday: Fortunately, Guerrero won’t need an IL stint, manager Charlie Montoyo tells Mitchell (via Twitter). Guerrero’s MRI showed inflammation, but, in the words of the rookie, “nothing major.” He’ll miss only a few days and hopes to return to the lineup “very soon,” Mitchell adds.

Saturday: Heralded Blue Jays rookie Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was removed from today’s contest with the Mariners due to what the team has called “left knee discomfort”. “Vladito” exited the game after making a diving grab on a ground ball at third base in the top of the second inning, and it appears the move may have been more than precautionary–manager Charlie Montoyo informed TSN’s Scott Mitchell that Guerrero Jr. will undergo an MRI on Sunday (link).

Receiving an MRI is hardly a surefire sign that a player is going to miss significant time, but it also stands to figure that the revelation of even a minor knee issue could spell the end of the 2019 season for the talented third sacker. The Jays currently sit in development and evaluation mode as they play out the string in what will most likely be their second consecutive losing season. Guerrero Jr.–perhaps the team’s most prized prospect of the century, if not ever–would not be an asset to treat with anything less than the utmost caution.

If Guerrero Jr. does indeed make it back to action in the coming days, he will look to build on a more-than-respectable rookie campaign. His .275/.345/.465 batting line corresponds with a 114 wRC+–a mark that ties him with veterans Nolan Arenado and Eduardo Escobar for 18th among third basemen with 250-plus at-bats this year. Of course, that he was hurt on a defensive play should add some extra concern to the situation for Toronto moving forward. Listed at 6’1, 200-lb measurements of questionable veracity, there has long been speculation that Vlad Jr.’s stocky-yet-powerful frame would welcome an eventual move to DH or first base. Regardless of his long-term role with the org, Jays fans will likely wait with bated breath for news of tomorrow’s MRI results.

Blue Jays Promote Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

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April 26: The Blue Jays have made Guerrero’s promotion official. His contract has been formally selected from Triple-A Buffalo, per a team announcement. Infielder Richard Urena was optioned to Triple-A to open a spot on the active roster.

April 24: It’s celebration time in Toronto. Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo announced to reporters following today’s game that the organization will promote uber-prospect Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to the Major Leagues on Friday (Twitter link via Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet). He’ll make his Major League debut in Friday’ series opener against the visiting Athletics.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. | Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The promotion for Guerrero comes after nearly a year of anticipation. Outcry for the organization to promote the vaunted young slugger began last year when he was utterly laying waste to Double-A pitching as a 19-year-old. Guerrero logged a laughable .402/.449/.671 slash in 266 plate appearances at the Double-A level before moving up to Triple-A where he posted a similarly ridiculous .336/.414/.564 slash. That otherworldly performance, at such a young age, unsurprisingly made Guerrero the No. 1 overall prospect on the rankings of Baseball America, MLBPipeline.com, Fangraphs and Baseball Prospectus.

Toronto, however, has been determined to push back Guerrero’s free agency as far as is reasonably possible. For Guerrero, that meant being passed over for a September call-up despite a dominant season in the upper minors, and it surely would have meant he’d open the season at Triple-A even were it not for an oblique injury that serendipitously gave the Jays an actual reason to keep him off the Opening Day roster.

Along the way, Jays leadership made the standard-issue vague claims about how Guerrero needed to work on his defense, his baserunning and learning to be the “best possible teammate” he could be while dodging persistent questions about manipulating Guerrero’s service time. It wasn’t even two months ago that general manager Ross Atkins made the questionable claim that he simply did “not see him as a Major League player” yet. (Guerrero, it seems, learned a lot in the 11 minor league contests he played this year.)

To be clear, the Blue Jays aren’t doing anything nefarious or against the rules; they’re exploiting a system that encourages them to make just this type of business-driven move in a year they’re not expecting to compete. The Cubs took this route with Kris Bryant, the Braves did so with Ronald Acuna Jr., and numerous other young stars have seen their arrival in the big leagues pushed back for similar reasons. It’s not a universal tactic, as evidenced by Eloy Jimenez, Pete Alonso and Fernando Tatis Jr., but it’s certainly a common one. Such service time machinations will continue to be a storyline so long as the current service time/arbitration system remains in place, though it’s possible that the league and the MLBPA will explore alterations as they work toward a new collective bargaining agreement beginning prior to the 2022 season.

Service time considerations aside, the promotion of Guerrero marks the beginning of a new era in Toronto. The majority of the core that brought the Jays to the ALCS in both 2015 and 2016 has since departed. Edwin Encarnacion, Jose Bautista, Josh Donaldson, David Price, Kevin Pillar, R.A. Dickey, Mark Buehrle, Marco Estrada and J.A. Happ have all landed elsewhere, and it’s likely that the Jays will look into moving each of Justin Smoak, Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez this summer.

However, Guerrero is a potential cornerstone piece for the organization — one who’ll eventually be followed by the likes of Bo Bichette, Nate Pearson, Cavan Biggio and others as Toronto looks to lay a new foundation in the ever-competitive AL East. Other potential pieces of that puzzle have already begun to get a taste of the Majors, with Rowdy Tellez, Danny Jansen and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. all receiving some experience at the game’s highest level.

The position played by Guerrero in the long term is far from set in stone. While the claim that Guerrero’s need for defensive improvement was the reason for keeping him in the minors was never legitimate, questions about his glovework are valid. Scouting reports have long pegged him as a sub-par option at third base, and it’s possible he’ll have to slide across the diamond to first base or even settle in as a primary designated hitter at some point in his early or mid 20s. The Jays surely hope that his defense can improve with some help from the big league coaching staff and continued reps in the Majors, but the 6’2″, 250-pound Guerrero may simply not be a long-term option at his natural position. Regardless of his defensive upside (or lack thereof), though, Guerrero’s prodigious bat should quickly establish him as one of the game’s brightest young stars.

Given the timing of his promotion, Guerrero will be under control for the Blue Jays through at least the 2025 season, although it’s possible that the Jays will explore the same type of early-career extension the White Sox were able to achieve with Jimenez (if they haven’t already begun to do so). Guerrero will be a slam-dunk Super Two player, assuming he’s not optioned back to the minors at any point, as he’ll finish out the 2019 campaign with 158 days of service.

Prospect Notes: Hernandez, Sheffield, Senzel, Bichette, Vlad Jr., Luzardo

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Here’s the latest on some prospects of note from around the game:

  • The Red Sox brought up top pitching prospect Darwinzon Hernandez for his first taste of the majors, with Alex Speier of the Boston Globe first reporting the move. Hernandez, a 22-year-old from Venezuela, still needs to iron out his command but has shown some impressive swing-and-miss capabilities. It was on display tonight, as he allowed five baserunners but also racked up four strikeouts in 2 1/3 innings in relief.
  • Left-handed pitching prospect Justus Sheffield will join the Mariners on Friday for his first action with his new club, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times reports on Twitter. He’s expected to piggyback with Yusei Kikuchi for a start; it’s possible he’ll be dropped back to Triple-A thereafter, though that’s not yet clear. While he already has 13 days of MLB service on his odometer, Sheffield won’t be able to reach a full year of service even if he stakes a permanent claim to a big-league roster spot. Sheffield hasn’t been himself thus far at Triple-A, carrying an 11:14 K/BB ratio through 18 1/3 innings.
  • It’s possible the Reds will soon welcome top prospect Nick Senzel to the majors. As Fletcher Page of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports, Senzel is back in the lineup at Triple-A after recovering from a sprained ankle. There’s no guarantee that he’ll be promoted in the near-term, but the organization doesn’t have much cause to hesitate at this point. Senzel can no longer achieve a full year of MLB service in 2019; the club is sitting at five games under .500 and can’t wait long to make its move. Once Senzel gets his timing down and gets comfortable in the outfield — he’s lined up in center field tonight for Louisville — he’ll likely be called up.
  • The Blue Jays got some unwelcome news on exciting infield prospect Bo Bichette. Robert Murray and Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic first reported on Twitter that Bichette had suffered a broken hand. As Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca tweets, the fracture was to the second metacarpal of his left hand. Widely considered one of the game’s very best prospects, Bichette will now need to get back to health before he can begin pressing for a major-league promotion. Meanwhile, anticipation grows that teammate Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will soon get the call; Eric Longenhagen of Fangraphs tweets that some around the game anticipate it’ll come this week.
  • Top Athletics prospect Jesus Luzardo is beginning to work back toward the hill, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports (Twitter links). He’s moving from 75 feet to 90 feet tomorrow, so it’s still rather early in his progression back from shoulder soreness. Slusser estimates that it could take four to six weeks before the prized southpaw could be ready for game action. In all likelihood, he won’t be seen as a candidate for a MLB promotion until he has at least a few Triple-A starts under his belt and the club feels confident there aren’t any lingering issues with the joint.

AL East Notes: Snell, Pedroia, Jays, Vlad Jr.

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The latest from around the AL East…

  • Blake Snell continues to be on pace for a quick return from the 10-day IL, as the Cy Young Award winner told reporters (including Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times) that he felt good following a bullpen session on Saturday.  A fractured toe sent Snell to the injured list last week, though the southpaw could potentially be pitch on Wednesday, his first eligible day to be activated.  Since the Rays have an off-day on Thursday, however, the team could also wait until Friday to activate Snell, just to make sure the ace is entirely recovered and ready to go.  More details could be known on Monday, as manager Kevin Cash said Snell could throw another bullpen that day.
  • Dustin Pedroia is also hopeful of a minimum IL stint as he recovers from his latest knee problem, telling media (including Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald) that his injury was “just a weird freak thing” rather than a more serious setback.  The Red Sox second baseman explained that his cleat caught in the dirt while he was swinging during Wednesday’s game, leading to an ominous-sounding popping feeling in his knee when it failed to turn along with the rest of his body.  Given that knee injuries have limited to Pedroia to just nine games since the start of the 2018 season, he admitted that the pop “more kind of scared me than anything….We’re going to let it calm down for a few days and it should be all right. It just twisted the wrong way.”  Given Pedroia’s recent injury history, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Sox wait beyond the 10-day minimum to activate him from the IL.  In the opinion of Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe, the team should give Pedroia more minor league rehab time before his return, as Pedroia had only a four-day stay in the minors during his first rehab stint this season and looked shaky at the plate once he reached Boston’s MLB roster.
  • Speculation continues to swirl over when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will be promoted to the Blue Jays’ roster, now that more than enough days have elapsed on the service-time calendar for the Jays to gain an extra year of control over the star prospect.  Guerrero was slowed by an oblique injury suffered during Spring Training, though he hasn’t looked any worse for wear in his return to the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons, posting a whopping 1.324 OPS over his first 20 plate appearances.  The Jays would like to see Guerrero play in three consecutive games as part of his recovery process, though as MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm notes, this has yet to happen due to multiple rainouts on Buffalo’s schedule.  Assuming the Bisons get some good weather on their four-game series in Syracuse this week, Chisholm speculates that April 26 would seem to be the earliest potential date for Guerrero’s Toronto debut, when the Blue Jays begin a series against the Athletics at Rogers Centre.

Blue Jays Notes: Roster Moves, Pitching Health, Prospects

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While there’s not much hope of the Blue Jays contending in 2019, that doesn’t mean it’ll be a quiet season. There has been some early-season roster maneuvering already in Toronto and more could ensue in the course of the campaign.

The latest:

  • With Alen Hanson and Socrates Brito reporting for duty, the Jays have a pair of new position players to work into the mix. Whether either or both have staying power remains to be seen, but the out-of-options players would need to be exposed to waivers if they’re not held on the active roster. To create space, the Jays optioned back outfielder Anthony Alford (who’s evidently not yet in line for a real look at the majors) and hurler Sean Reid-Foley. Lefty Thomas Pannone is jumping into the rotation vacancy, though he may ultimately just be keeping that spot warm.
  • The Toronto pitching staff will at some point feature bounceback candidate Clay Buchholz. As MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm reports (links to Twitter), he’s one of several hurlers on the mend. Buchholz has already built up to sixty pitches and may be ready for the majors in the next ten days or so. Relievers Ryan Tepera and Ryan Borucki are also working back from injuries; the former seems to be on Buchholz’s timeline while the latter could return by the end of April. Meanwhile, David Phelps has resumed throwing as he tries to work back from Tommy John surgery. His timeline is not apparent at present.
  • Much of the intrigue this year will come from the young talent trying to force its way onto the MLB roster. No player has more hype than Vladimir Guerrero Jr., though he’s only one of several top prospects with obvious ability and intriguing MLB bloodlines. Vladito is also still working back from an oblique injury. He’s set to launch a rehab assignment this evening, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca tweets, with a Class A stop to open the season.
  • The possibility of an early (even pre-MLB) extension for Guerrero or other top Jays prospects seems interesting. GM Ross Atkins discussed that possibility recently, as Emily Sadler of Sportsnet.ca writes, though he didn’t really tip his hand on the likelihood of such a deal. If anything, he seemed to downplay such a scenario (at least in the immediate term). “It happens with a lot of discussion, a lot of interaction, a lot of back-and-forth,” said Atkins of extensions for younger players, “and what’s important to a player and what’s important to an organization has to line up and those risks are very different.” Regardless of contract possibilities, the Jays are still preparing to face multiple near-term promotion questions. On that issue, Atkins struck much the same tone he has previously, saying: “We want to have the most well-rounded and complete player as possible, but we’re not going to wait for that. We’re going to do the best of our ability to balance that.”

Injury Notes: Wendle, Blue Jays, Braves

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The Rays announced Monday that they’ve placed second baseman Joey Wendle on the 10-day injured list due to a strained left hamstring and recalled Christian Arroyo from Triple-A Durham in his place. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, who first reported the moves, tweets that Wendle has a “moderate” strain that the player himself described as “not too, too bad.” Wendle won’t know how long he’s going to be shelved until he tests the injured leg in a few days’ time, though. The 28-year-old Wendle finished fourth in AL Rookie of the Year voting in 2018 after hitting .300/.354/.435 with seven homers, 33 doubles, six triples and 16 stolen bases. The Tampa Bay infield has plenty of depth between Brandon Lowe, Daniel Robertson and the newly recalled Arroyo, though Wendle was quietly one of the team’s better all-around players in 2018.

A bit more from the division…

  • The Blue Jays announced that they’ve put lefty Clayton Richard on the 10-day IL due to a stress reaction in his left knee. In a corresponding move, right-hander Sean Reid-Foley has been recalled from Triple-A and will start tonight’s game for Toronto. The Jays didn’t provide a timeline for Richard’s return, but a stress reaction has the potential to keep him sidelined for a substantial period. In Reid-Foley, Toronto will be getting another look at one of its more promising young arms; the 23-year-old was the team’s second-round pick back in 2014 and pitched to a combined 3.26 ERA with 10.5 K/9 against 3.4 BB/9 in 129 2/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A last season.
  • Beyond that move, the Jays revealed a wide-ranging series of medical updates Monday afternoon. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. began taking some at-bats in extended Spring Training games this weekend, tweets Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. He’ll still need to get back into his routine at third base and play in some rehab games before he emerges as an option at the MLB level. TSN’s Scott Mitchell tweets that Clay Buchholz will throw tomorrow and could start for Triple-A Buffalo on April 7, which signals that the veteran righty is on track to join his new club sooner rather than later. Ryan Tepera and Ryan Borucki are throwing ’pen sessions, meanwhile, and could return by month’s end. Bud Norris’ timeline is less concrete, per Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. Norris is still throwing in the 90-91 mph range — well south of his usual mid-90s heat. He did get a late start by signing in mid-March, so he’ll continue to build up arm strength without a set return date in focus just yet.
  • David O’Brien of The Athletic tweets that the Braves plan to active southpaw A.J. Minter on Thursday — the first day he’s eligible. (Minter’s IL stint was backdated the maximum three days at the start of the season.) Mike Foltynewicz could join the rotation as soon as April 14 after making a pair of rehab outings, O’Brien adds. Right-hander Darren O’Day, unfortunately, is shutting down for a “couple weeks” due to ongoing forearm issues. Given that update, it seems as though it’ll be tough for the veteran O’Day to be ready before month’s end. O’Day missed the majority of the 2018 season due to a hyperextended elbow.

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