Nationals Place Ryan Zimmerman On 10-Day IL, Select Michael Blazek
The Nationals have placed first baseman Ryan Zimmerman on the 10-day injured list. He’s dealing with an ongoing bout of plantar fasciitis.
As anticipated, the D.C. organization has also selected the contract of righty Michael Blazek. To create a 40-man opening, reliever Justin Miller was shifted to the 60-day injured list.
In other roster tweaks, the Nats have recalled outfielder Andrew Stevenson. To open the additional active roster spot, right-hander Kyle McGowin was optioned down.
Zimmerman already missed a lengthy stretch owing to the nagging foot issue. The 34-year-old has endured a rough campaign when he has been available, though he had been on a nice run this month. It seems Zimmerman will look to let the flare-up die down and return to action once he’s able to tolerate the pain, as Britt Ghiroli of The Athletic tweets. It stands to reason that Matt Adams will pick up the bulk of the playing time while Zimmerman is down, with Howie Kendrick likely stepping in against lefties.
As for Blazek, he’s now formally back in the bigs for the first time since 2017. He has a solid 28:10 K/BB ratio in 26 Triple-A innings, but has also coughed up 16 earned runs in that span. With the Nats continuing to search far and wide for passable relief pitching, they’ll give the 30-year-old a shot to get his career back on track. Blazek owns a 4.39 ERA through 123 career MLB innings.
Latest On Max Scherzer
TODAY: Nationals GM Mike Rizzo told reporters (including Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post) that he is “reasonably confident” Scherzer will come off the injured list this week. As Dougherty notes, this projection carries some extra weight coming from Rizzo, who “is usually resistant to putting even loose timelines on injuries.”
FRIDAY: The Nats’ mid-season revival has been driven by exceptional starting pitching — particularly from the ever-dependable Max Scherzer. His unholy tear through the rest of the league was halted only by an unfortunate back issue that has cropped up, forcing a recent injured-list placement.
Scherzer provided an update today to reporters including Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com (via Twitter). What had been believed to be a mid-back strain is in fact an inflamed bursa sac in his back/shoulder area (formally, “scapulothoracic bursitis”). He’s throwing off flat ground while waiting for a cortisone shot to take effect.
It’s clear at this point that Scherzer will not pitch before the weekend is out. But he suggests that he ought to be ready to go in relatively short order thereafter. It’ll all depend upon the efficacy and speed of the treatment. Much as the Nats would love to have him back on the bump right away, they’ll need to be cautious of avoiding a larger problem.
It’s more or less impossible to overstate just how good Scherzer has been of late. Since the start of June, he has made seven starts, over which he has allowed just five earned runs on 29 hits in 52 innings. Scherzer has compiled an absurd 79:6 K/BB ratio in that span.
Even if he never threw another pitch in D.C., Scherzer’s blockbuster free agent contract would go down as a huge success. He has already thrown over one thousand innings of 2.65 ERA ball for the Nats, racking up over thirty wins above replacement in less than five full seasons. That he remains an outstanding pitcher with appealing (albeit not inexpensive) remaining guaranteed seasons is testimony to how unusually well that deal has turned out for the team.
As talented and driven as Scherzer is, no small portion of his value is connected to his ability to stay in good health. That has allowed him not only to fill up innings, but to do so at top speed. If the Nats are to chase down the Braves, or otherwise make noise in the postseason by entering through the Wild Card, they’ll need their ace in all his furious glory.
It goes without saying that Scherzer is irreplaceable. But the Nats may need to find another rotation piece over the next twelve days, particularly if there’s any concern that they may need to go a stretch without Scherzer. At present, Austin Voth and Erick Fedde account for the fifth rotation spot. Relying on those hurlers, with scant 40-man depth otherwise (Kyle McGowin, Joe Ross), would be dangerous. There’s no indication that Jeremy Hellickson is going to be an option at any point in the near future.
We already know the Nats will be looking for bullpen arms. But it’ll be interesting to see whether and how they approach the starting pitching market. Perhaps a swingman type would make sense as a partial hedge against a rotation need, without putting too many resources into a spot that may not need to be fully addressed.
Nationals Place Austin Voth On IL, Recall Joe Ross
The Nationals have placed right-handed pitcher Austin Voth on the 10-day injured list and have recalled pitcher Joe Ross, according to Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post. Voth is dealing with bicep tendinitis; his IL placement comes retroactive to Thursday.
Voth, 27, has emerged as a capable starter for the Nationals, making four starts and posting a serviceable 4.35 ERA through 20 2/3 innings of work. He’s managed to strike out almost a batter per inning, accumulating 20 K’s compared to just 6 walks. He’ll hit a bump in the road with the injury, and the Nats will be down their fifth starter for at least ten days, but the good news is that Max Scherzer may be nearing a return to the rotation.
Ross, meanwhile, has spent the last month playing out an assignment in the minor leagues after a disappointing showing with the Big League team. Since being converted to a reliever, the 26-year-old has worked to a miserable 11.05 ERA in 17 outings, fueled in part by a walk rate that has ballooned to 11.5%, by far the worst mark of his career, which has spanned parts of five seasons. Those struggles earned him a demotion to Triple-A, where he has made eight starts and posted a 4.28 ERA.
Dougherty goes on to note (via Twitter) that relief pitcher Michael Blazek is expected to join the Nats’ active roster in the near future, and was considered to be added today. However, it looks as if the club intends to option Ross in the near future to make room for Blazek, who hasn’t appeared in a Major League game since 2017.
Pitcher Notes: Scherzer, Bundy, Turnbull, Garrett, Alexander
With summer storms peppering much of the country today, we’ve got our own torrent of pitcher-related news to sort through. Out of D.C., we hear from MLB.com’s Jamal Collier that Nationals ace Max Scherzer threw 15 pitches off of a mound this afternoon (Twitter link). The superlative hurler has been dealing with inflammation in the bursa sac under his right shoulder blade and hasn’t appeared in a game since a seven-inning win against the Royals on July 6th. That Scherzer is throwing again–and could possibly throw another bullpen on Monday–is a sign that he apparently took well to a recent cortisone shot in his ailing back. Given the notoriously fickle nature of back injuries, the Nats are likely to be over the moon at this positive step in Scherzer’s recovery.
The latest on a few other waylaid hurlers…
- The Orioles’ Dylan Bundy will apparently come off the injured list as soon as he is eligible, with MLB.com’s Joe Trezza reporting that the righty will start Tuesday in Arizona (link). Bundy, who has never really delivered on the promise that was conferred upon him when he was selected 4th overall in the 2011 draft, has a 5.28 ERA and 5.32 FIP in 92 innings this year. He has been on the shelf since July 13th with right knee tendinitis.
- Chris McCosky of the Detroit News has reported on separate channels that Tigers starter Spencer Turnbull has suffered a back injury that will usher him to the IL. Apparently, Turnbull, who has put together a quietly effective 2019 campaign, experienced a strain during a workout Friday–a strain that persisted in a post-workout game of catch (Twitter link). In a subsequent piece, McCosky cogently points out that this injury could actually serve as a convenient means of limiting Turnbull’s innings–the 26-year-old was expected to pitch around 140 frames this year and had already logged 98.2 entering the weekend (link).
- Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports that the Reds will welcome back two bullpen stalwarts with the activation of Amir Garrett and Raisel Iglesias from the injured list and paternity list, respectively (Twitter link). Garrett has been sidelined since July 4th with a left lat strain–an injury he presumably incurred from striking out most of the league this season en route to a 13.14 K/9 rate across 37 innings. To accommodate these moves, the Reds optioned righties Jimmy Herget and, as MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon reported, Matt Bowman (link).
- In concerning news, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has relayed to Ken Gurnick of MLB.com that veteran reliever Scott Alexander has been shut down for foreseeable future with a “nerve and thumb problem” (link). Alexander has been solid in 17-plus innings for Los Angeles this year, but injuries have been a prominent theme. Originally sidelined in June with a forearm ailment, issues with Alexander’s thumb have subsequently followed, and this latest language regarding his nerve is certainly ominous from a medical perspective. The lefty has posted a 3.63 ERA on the season.
Nationals Interested In Shane Greene, Sam Dyson
Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said Friday the club’s going into the July 31 trade deadline seeking controllable talent, especially in the bullpen. Already connected to relievers Mychal Givens and Jake Diekman so far this month, a couple more late-game arms are now on the Nationals’ radar. The club is interested in Tigers closer Shane Greene and Giants setup man Sam Dyson, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports.
Not only are Greene and Dyson thriving in 2019, but they’re under wraps via the arbitration process through next season. Greene’s currently on a $4MM salary, while Dyson is making $5MM. There’s plenty of value in both cases, but if acquiring either would force the Nationals to give up prized shortstop prospect Carter Kieboom, it’s not going to happen. The Nats haven’t been willing to include Kieboom “in any deal,” according to Jamal Collier of MLB.com, and the Tigers were unsurprisingly turned down when they asked for Kieboom in exchange for Greene.
Widely regarded as one of the game’s premier prospects, the 21-year-old Kieboom would indeed be a big ask for a year-plus of a reliever, even though the Nationals are desperate for bullpen help. Despite having been weighed down by one of the majors’ worst relief groups from the get-go this year, the Nationals have gotten off to a 51-45 start and hold a one-game lead over the NL’s No. 1 wild-card spot.
With the Giants also in contention (they’re just 3 1/2 back of the Nats), acquiring Dyson could be difficult for Washington. Regardless, based on his performance this season, the 31-year-old Dyson would be an enormous get for the Nats’ relief corps. The right-hander has logged a sterling 2.68 ERA/2.67 FIP with 8.81 K/9, 1.15 BB/9 and a 55.1 percent groundball rate over 47 innings.
The 30-year-old Greene, also a righty, has put up similarly impressive numbers this season as the Tigers’ closer. Not only has Greene saved 22 of 24 chances, but he has recorded an eye-popping 1.03 ERA across 35 frames. Like Dyson, Greene’s strikeout, walk and grounder numbers are terrific. He has fanned 9.51 and walked 2.57 batters per nine, adding a 53.9 percent grounder mark for good measure. As we noted earlier this week, there’s quite a bit of good fortune baked into Greene’s output, but he has nonetheless impressed in 2019. And unlike San Francisco, Detroit’s way out of contention, making it almost a lock the Tigers will deal Greene by the deadline.
Nationals To Select Michael Blazek
The Nationals will select right-hander Michael Blazek‘s contract from Triple-A Fresno on Sunday, Jamal Collier of MLB.com tweets (Grant Paulsen of 106.7 The Fan was first to report the news). Adding Blazek will require corresponding 40- and 25-man moves.
Blazek’s just over two months into his tenure with the Washington organization, which signed him to a minor league contract May 13. Since joining Fresno’s roster, the 30-year-old Blazek has posted an ugly 5.54 ERA with a paltry 22.9 percent groundball rate in 26 innings, though he has struck out 9.69 batters per nine while walking 3.46.
Assuming Blazek winds up seeing action with the Nationals, it’ll be his first major league experience since he threw 8 2/3 innings with the Brewers two years ago. A 35th-round pick of the Cardinals in 2007, Blazek amassed 123 frames of 4.39 ERA/4.98 FIP pitching with 7.61 K/9, 4.32 BB/9 and a 42.7 percent groundball rate as a member of the Redbirds and Brewers from 2013-17. It’s not the most appealing track record, but the playoff-contending Nationals are continuing to leave no stone unturned in their search for much-needed bullpen help.
Checking In On Largest One-Year Deals: Pitchers
Seven months after signing right-hander Matt Harvey to an $11MM guarantee, the Angels are moving on from the floundering former ace. By my count, Harvey’s one of eight pitchers to receive at least $5MM on a one-year contract since the winter. It’s an arbitrary amount, but as you’ll see below, most of the game’s other fairly expensive short-term hurlers also haven’t lived up to their paydays so far in 2019. To the Angels’ chagrin, Harvey’s not the lone free-agent signing of theirs on this list.
Dallas Keuchel, SP, Braves ($13MM):
- Unlike the other members of this group, Keuchel was not a winter pickup for his team. He instead went without a club until early June, owing to a steep asking price and a qualifying offer hanging over his head, before accepting the Braves’ one-year offer. The former Cy Young winner with Houston has been a mixed bag in his first month in Atlanta, though it’s worth pointing out he didn’t have the benefit of a spring training. The 31-year-old southpaw has taken the ball six times for the Braves and notched a 3.58 ERA with a 2.87 BB/9 and a 57.7 percent groundball rate, all of which are appealing. Conversely, Keuchel’s 5.23 FIP and 5.26 K/9 through 37 2/3 innings may be cause for alarm.
Trevor Cahill, SP/RP, Angels ($9MM):
- Cahill was a low-cost signing entering 2018 for the Athletics, who profited from the 110 effective innings the right-hander gave them as part of a patchwork rotation. The Angels expected something similar this season, but the Cahill addition has blown up in their faces thus far. Cahill was so disappointing as a member of the Halos’ starting staff that they moved him to a relief position several weeks back. Neither role has suited the 31-year-old in 2019, evidenced by his 6.56 ERA/6.20 FIP with 6.81 K/9 and 3.09 BB/9 across 70 innings.
Cody Allen, RP, Angels ($8.5MM):
- Yet another regrettable investment for the Angels, Allen lost his place in the organization a month ago and then had to settle for a minor league contract with the Twins. Allen joined the Angels off a mediocre-at-best 2018 with the Indians, but he was an imposing late-game reliever in the preceding years. The Angels were banking on Allen revisiting his halcyon days. Instead, they got a 6.26 ERA/8.39 FIP over 23 innings from the righty. Allen did fan upward of 11 hitters per nine in that span, but he also walked almost eight, induced groundballs at a measly 19.7 percent clip, gave up nine home runs, and experienced a drop in velocity for the second straight season.
CC Sabathia, SP, Yankees ($8MM):
- It was no surprise Sabathia and the Yankees stayed together last winter for the final season of the potential Hall of Famer’s career. The 38-year-old lefty has since repaid the Yankees with 82 innings of 4.06 ERA ball and 8.45 K/9 against 3.07 BB/9. Sabathia’s 5.29 FIP and 4.77 xFIP are much less encouraging, but it’s worth noting he also outpitched those metrics in the prior couple years after reinventing himself as a soft-contact specialist. While Sabathia’s average exit velocity against has gone up more than 2 mph since last year, per Statcast, he still ranks in the league’s 88th percentile in terms of hard-hit rate.
Derek Holland, SP/RP, Giants ($7MM):
- The former Ranger and White Sox revived his career with the Giants last season after they took a flier on him on a minor league pact. That led the Giants to bring back Holland on a guaranteed deal, but the move hasn’t worked out. Holland began the season with seven starts and 32 innings of 6.75 ERA/6.44 FIP pitching, which forced the Giants to demote him to their bullpen in the first half of May. The 32-year-old has done better as a reliever since then, though he still hasn’t been particularly good. Through 33 frames, Holland has recorded a 4.09 ERA/5.03 FIP with 7.64 K/9 against 4.09 BB/9.
Trevor Rosenthal, RP, Nationals ($7MM):
- Rosenthal’s similar to Allen as a former standout closer whose career has gone in the tank recently. The Rosenthal signing went so poorly for the Nationals that they released him toward the end of June. The flamethrowing Rosenthal was a stud at times for the Cardinals from 2012-17, but he underwent Tommy John surgery in the last of those seasons and sat out all of 2018. In his return to the majors with the Nationals this year, Rosenthal logged an unfathomable 22.74 ERA with 21.32 BB/9 in 6 1/3 innings. He also spent more than a month on the injured list with a viral infection while on Washington’s roster. After the Nats cut Rosenthal, he caught on with the Tigers on a minor league contract. The 29-year-old is now back in the majors with rebuilding Detroit, having tossed a pair of scoreless innings and posted two strikeouts and two walks as a Tiger.
Tyson Ross, SP, Tigers ($5.75MM):
- As has often been the case during Ross’ career, an injury – an elbow issue this time – has largely kept him from contributing. Ross hasn’t taken a major league mound since May 10, nor does it look as if a return is imminent. Before landing on the shelf, Ross, 32, put up an ugly 6.11 ERA/5.99 FIP with 6.37 K/9 and 4.58 BB/9 in 35 1/3 frames. Ross was serviceable last year between San Diego and St. Louis, however, so the Tigers were likely hoping he’d perform similarly over this season’s first few months and turn into a trade chip around the July 31 deadline. That dream died weeks ago.
Mike Rizzo On Nationals’ Deadline Plans
Nationals president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo took to the airwaves to discuss his organization’s approach to the upcoming trade deadline. The audio from MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM is available on Twitter.
Unsurprisingly, the long-time D.C. baseball ops leader says that the front office will work for the rest of the month to “try and improve our club.” Any other approach would’ve been quite a surprise given that the Nats entered the season with expectations of contending and have scraped and clawed their way into that status after a brutal start.
The Nationals are sitting in Wild Card position and 5.5 games back of the Braves entering play today. While the postseason position is promising, there’s still a lot of work to do — especially in the division.
Rizzo did seem to suggest that the club won’t be especially motivated to pay up for pure rental players. As he put it:
“We’d like to improve ourselves this year but also for the future. When you’re giving away the assets that you have to give away at the trade deadline, you kind of like to get a little bit of control in the players that you acquire.”
It’s doubtful the club will scratch targets off its list entirely because they are slated to reach free agency at season’s end. But it appears the Washington organization will be disinclined to part with its best farm pieces for short-term pieces.
In terms of need, Rizzo unsurprisingly anointed the bullpen as the area most in need of improvement. “Our priority is going to be on pitching,” he said, “probably bullpen arms that could give us some veteran leadership and possibly shorten the game up for our starting rotation.” The Nationals have already been linked to relievers Mychal Givens (link) and Jake Diekman (link). It seems likely they’ll come away from the trade period with multiple new pen pieces.
Washington’s Yan Gomes Acquisition Isn’t Working Out
The Nationals were one of eight teams whose catchers posted a sub-replacement fWAR in 2018, which led general manager Mike Rizzo to make over the position entering this season. Rizzo said goodbye to Matt Wieters and Pedro Severino, the Nationals’ primary catchers last year, and brought in Kurt Suzuki in free agency and Yan Gomes in a trade with the Indians. Both pickups looked fine on paper, and Suzuki has played pretty well through the first four months into the season. Gomes, on the other hand, has been stunningly bad.
Set to turn 32 this Friday, Gomes was a valuable backstop in Cleveland, where he totaled 13.7 fWAR from 2013-18. But Gomes has taken massive steps back in D.C., where he has accounted for minus-0.2 fWAR and mustered an unsightly .202/.298/.290 batting line with three home runs in 208 plate appearances. Gomes’ 54 wRC+ is barely more than half the 101 he managed last year with the Tribe, and his .087 ISO ranks ninth worst in the majors among 262 hitters who have amassed at least 200 trips to the plate.
To make matters worse, Gomes hasn’t been the same caliber of defender he was just a year ago, when he ranked as one of Baseball Prospectus’ premier catchers (including in the pitch-framing department). Although Gomes has thrown out a strong 36 percent of would-be base stealers – up from 29 percent in 2018 – BP regards the Washington version as a below-average backstop and a subpar framer. Meanwhile, Statcast only puts Gomes’ in the majors’ 36th percentile when it comes to stealing strikes.
Statcast also thinks little of Gomes’ offense, placing him in the 26th percentile or worse in hard-hit rate, average exit velocity, expected slugging percentage, expected batting average and expected weighted-on base average. There isn’t a huge difference between Gomes’ xwOBA (.276) and real wOBA (.261), which suggests a major rebound isn’t coming at the plate. FanGraphs offers even more bad news, noting Gomes’ hard-hit percentage (25.2) has dropped exactly 18 points since 2018 and ranks third last in the majors. Gomes is hitting far more ground balls and far fewer line drives than he did a year ago, which predictably hasn’t been a recipe for success.
If you’re holding out for encouraging signs, there are a few, starting with Gomes’ K/BB ratio. He has struck out in 23.1 percent of plate appearances, down from 25.8 percent or more in each of the previous four seasons. Moreover, Gomes’ walk rate, 10.1 percent, is a career best and almost doubles his lifetime mark (5.4). He’s also swinging and missing less than he has in recent years and making much more out-of-zone contact than ever. And Gomes’ .258 batting average on balls in play, a 37-point decrease from his lifetime figure (.295), indicates he has dealt with some poor fortune this year.
Even if Gomes’ BABIP does normalize as the season goes on, odds are the Nationals aren’t going to get the 2018 All-Star version they wanted. To this point, Gomes has surprisingly been a less valuable player than right-hander Jefry Rodriguez, whom the Nationals traded to the Indians for him and who hasn’t exactly been a world-beater in his own right. The Nats also parted with outfield prospect Daniel Johnson, a 24-year-old who has notched quality numbers in his first Triple-A action this season, and young infielder Andruw Monasterio.
Waving goodbye to Rodriguez, Johnson and Monasterio to acquire Gomes was an understandable decision for Washington at the time, but the move hasn’t yielded dividends thus far for the playoff hopefuls. Unless Gomes revisits his prior form during the final couple months of the campaign, the Nationals may buy him out in the offseason in lieu of exercising a $9MM club option for 2020.
Mychal Givens Drawing Trade Interest
The Orioles made their first of what will likely be several trades over the weekend when they dealt Andrew Cashner to the Red Sox, and Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports that closer Mychal Givens is drawing interest and is “definitely” available — a departure from recent seasons under previous front office management. The Phillies and Nationals, in particular, have interest in Givens, per the report. Obviously, a deal with the Nats would be difficult to hammer out when the two clubs continue to be embroiled in the ongoing dispute over MASN television rights fees.
Givens’ 2019 numbers are pedestrian at first glance. The right-hander’s 4.50 ERA is wholly unremarkable, and even last season’s 3.99 mark hardly generates excitement. Front offices aren’t going to put much stock in earned run average when evaluating a pitcher, however, particularly amid 2019’s home run deluge. Givens entered the season having averaged well less than a homer per nine innings pitched in his career, but he’s served up eight long balls in 36 innings in 2019. That’s led to a spike in his ERA, but it’s of some note that nine of the 18 earned runs he’s given up this year were surrendered in a combined two outings (a four-run meltdown in June and a five-run outing in May — both fueled by homers).
Looking beyond his ho-hum ERA, Givens offers a fair bit of intrigue. First and foremost, this year’s 12.8 K/9 and 34.5 percent overall strikeout rate are easily career-best marks. He’s also sporting a career-high 15.3 percent swinging-strike rate and 32 percent opponents’ chase rate on out-of-zone pitches. Givens’ 95.1 mph average fastball is right in line with his career rate, and the spin rate on that heater checks into the 77th percentile among MLB hurlers.
A rudimentary look at Givens’ splits reveals what many would expect to be the case: his home park hasn’t done him any favors. Six of the eight long ball surrendered by Givens have come at Camden Yards. On the road, opponents have managed an awful .185/.286/.315 output against him.
Digging a bit deeper, opposing hitters have posted a .350 weighted on-base average (wOBA) against Givens, but that’s almost entirely a function of the aforementioned home run issues. He’s yielded just a .217 batting average and a .304 on-base percentage thus far on the season. Based on the quality of contact he’s allowed, Statcast projects an expected wOBA of just .297 — significantly lower than the league average of .324 (excluding pitchers).
With any trade candidate, the player’s contract plays a sizable role in driving trade interest. In the case of Givens, the Orioles are in an advantageous position. He’s earning a minimal $2.15MM in 2019 and is controlled via arbitration through the 2021 season. With only about $890K of this season’s salary yet to be paid out, Givens is affordable for any contender and can also be viewed as a relatively long-term option, both of which should fuel interest between now and July 31. He may not be as appealing a trade chip as teammate Trey Mancini, but Givens is the highest-valued asset the Orioles seem decidedly likely to move.