Adam Eaton Targeting Return In Six Weeks
Though last week’s unexpected ankle surgery for Nationals outfielder Adam Eaton created a potential long-term issue for the Nats to navigate, the outfielder explained to reporters today that he believes he can return from the disabled list in six weeks’ time (Twitter link via Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com). Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post adds that the cast is coming off Eaton’s ankle today (Twitter links). She also notes that Eaton revealed he dislocated and did additional damage to his ankle last year on the same play in which he suffered a season-ending ACL tear.
A return in six weeks would still allow Eaton to play a bit more than half the season for the Nats, which is no small boost to the team’s aspirations of capturing yet another division title in the NL East. While Eaton has been limited to just 31 games since being acquired by the Nationals in a 2016 Winter Meetings blockbuster with the White Sox, he’s been terrific when healthy enough to take the field. In 140 plate appearances, he’s batted .308/.400/.508 with four homers, 10 doubles and a triple.
The fact that Eaton is set to return in a relatively short window likely rules out any possibility of the Nationals taking to the trade market to pursue an upgrade. Once Eaton is able to return to the Nats, they’ll be able to trot out a strong outfield of Michael A. Taylor, Eaton and Bryce Harper, with Brian Goodwin, Howie Kendrick and Matt Adams on hand as reserve options. For the time being, Taylor should continue to hold down the center field gig, with Adams and Kendrick platooning in left field.
Should additional injuries arise or should Eaton incur a setback in his recovery, the Nats also have top prospect Victor Robles waiting in the wings in Triple-A, though he’s been on the shelf himself due to a hyperextended elbow. Top prospect Juan Soto is rapidly ascending through the minor league ranks, though he only just reached Double-A and isn’t likely to be considered a candidate for a promotion anytime soon, despite his otherworldly production early in the 2018 campaign.
Nationals Select Mark Reynolds, Ryan Zimmerman Headed For DL
3:00pm: The Reynolds and Zimmerman moves are official, and the Nationals have also moved reliever Joaquin Benoit to the 60-day DL. The right-handed Benoit, whom the Nats signed to a one-year, $1MM deal in free agency, hasn’t pitched yet this season on account of a forearm strain.
12:39pm: Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post tweets that Mark Reynolds has been spotted in the Nationals’ clubhouse, implying that the club has selected his contract and is likely to move Ryan Zimmerman to the disabled list. Indeed, Dan Kolko of MASN tweets that Reynolds is on the lineup card for today’s game while Zimmerman’s name is absent. Washington signed Reynolds to a minors deal early in April.
Despite a reasonably good .267/.352/.487 batting line with 30 homers last season, the 34-year-old Reynolds wasn’t able to attract a suitor for a major league deal this past offseason. More mysterious is the fact that Reynolds ended up signing a minors deal with the Nationals of all teams, as they already had Matt Adams and Zimmerman and haven’t got the benefit of a DH slot in the lineup.
It appears that he’ll get a big-league opportunity for now, though it’s not clear for how long. Zimmerman reportedly suffered a back injury during Wednesday’s game, and since the move is retroactive to Thursday he’ll be able to return as soon as May 20th. That would likely leave Reynolds the odd man out, considering Adams’ torrid pace.
The 33-year-old Zimmerman enjoyed a strong bounce-back season last year, posting 3.3 fWAR while crushing 36 homers in 576 plate appearances to go along with a whopping 136 wRC+. But he’s followed that up with an uninspiring .217/.280/.409 batting line to date and will now need to rest up a bit before he gets a chance to turn those numbers around.
Nationals Place Matt Wieters On DL, Select Contract Of Spencer Kieboom
As expected, the Nationals have placed catcher Matt Wieters on the 10-day DL with a hamstring strain. He’ll be replaced on the active roster by backstop Spencer Kieboom, as the Talk Nats blog first reported on Twitter.
While Kieboom was previously on the Nats’ 40-man, he was bumped off the roster last spring. The Nats have selected his contract again to facilitate his move back to the active roster.
Clearing a 40-man spot wasn’t a challenge with so many injured players susceptible of moving to the 60-day DL. The Nationals made that move with outfielder Adam Eaton, who recently underwent ankle surgery and is expected to be out of commission for quite some time. Since he has been out since early April anyway, his timeline will not be impacted. (D.C. fans looking for a silver lining will note that this decision leaves Daniel Murphy eligible to return before the end of May, though it’s still not clear he’ll be ready by that point.)
At this point, it’s still unclear just what sort of absence the Nats ought to expect from Wieters. The injury has been announced as being to his hamstring, but there was some concern his knee may have incurred damage. It is not known at this point whether the joint is still an area of concern.
The 27-year-old Kieboom, who’s the older brother of Nats prospect Carter Kieboom, drew a walk in his lone prior MLB plate appearance. He has not hit all that much in the upper minors — his .250/.337/.333 slash thus far in 2018 is representative — but does possess solid plate discipline and contact skills (lifetime 8.4% walk rate and 19.2% strikeout rate). Kieboom has long been regarded as a quality defender, too, so he’s a suitable option at least for fill-in duty.
Whether or not Wieters is shelved for a significant time, the Nationals’ questions behind the dish are only getting more pressing. The club is now facing some firm challenges from within the NL East while dealing with the absences of Murphy and Eaton. Though both Wieters and now-starter Pedro Severino have produced at approximately league average offensively to this point of the season, there’s reason in both cases to suspect the output will lag over the course of the season. While the team will surely also be looking for pitching depth at the deadline, the situation behind the plate stands out as being the other area of the roster ripest for upgrade. That’s all the more true since Wieters is set to depart after the current season, meaning the Nats still need to find a near and long-term solution.
Nationals Notes: Wieters, Soto, Outfield
Matt Wieters sustained a leg injury when rounding first base after hitting a single and will undergo an MRI this morning, writes Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post. It’s not clear if the damage is specific to his hamstring or something in his knee. Wieters told reporters that he felt something “behind [his] knee, kind of go a little bit.” The veteran switch-hitter has been more productive so far in 2018 than he was in 2017, hitting .231/.342/.385 through his first 76 plate appearances. While he’s still not the hitter he was in his best years with the Orioles, the loss of Wieters for any period would put the Nationals in a bind. He’s one of just two catchers on the 40-man roster now that the Nationals released Miguel Montero last month and placed Jhonatan Solano on the 60-day DL (depth chart). Either journeyman Tuffy Gosewisch or longtime Nats farmhand Spencer Kieboom seem likely to have his contract selected from Triple-A this weekend, as Janes notes that Wieters has already been deemed unavailable for tonight’s game and will “almost certainly” land on the DL for a second time this season.
More on the Nats…
- Outfield prospect Juan Soto, perhaps the quickest rising star of any prospect early in the 2018 season, was bumped from Class-A Advanced to Double-A yesterday. The 19-year-old Soto opened the year in Class-A and was moved to Class-A Advanced after just 16 games. His stay in High-A only lasted another 15 games though, as Soto obliterated pitchers there before somewhat incredibly homering and hitting a double in last night’s Double-A debut as well. Soto has raked at an otherworldly .373/.477/.817 clip across three levels so far, belting 13 homers, nine doubles and four triples while walking more often than he’s struck out (26-to-21 BB/K ratio).
- Janes also writes that the Nationals don’t expect to make a splashy move to acquire an outfielder in the wake of yesterday’s ankle surgery for Adam Eaton. Skipper Dave Martinez said that Matt Adams and Howie Kendrick will platoon for the majority of left field at-bats, listing Andrew Stevenson and a mending Brian Goodwin as additional options for the organization. Soto won’t be rushed to the big leagues, Janes notes, and fellow top outfield prospect Victor Robles is still working his way back from a hyperextended elbow. But Eaton could be closer to returning by the time clubs are willing to start selling off legitimate outfield upgrades, and the Nats have some depth right now as it is. Janes suggests within her column that the Nats may even subtract outfielder Moises Sierra from the roster at some point to open a spot for Mark Reynolds to come up from Triple-A. (It’s worth noting that jettisoning the struggling Sierra would also represent a means of opening a spot for a catcher to be added to the 40-man roster tonight.)
Adam Eaton Undergoes Ankle Surgery
Nationals center fielder Adam Eaton underwent arthroscopic surgery on his injured left ankle today, reports Jack Magruder of FanRag Sports (Twitter link). Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post had reported yesterday that Eaton was visiting a specialist in Wisconsin, and that evaluation revealed a “cartilage problem” that necessitated the operation, per Magruder. Eaton remains in a walking boot, and there is not presently a timetable for his return, per Magruder.
More specifically, Janes adds (via Twitter) that three different doctors were unable to see the source of pain in Eaton’s ankle on either MRIs or bone scans, but the scope revealed a tear in his chondral flap, explaining the pain he’d been experiencing. MASNsports.com’s Dan Kolko tweets that Eaton’s ankle will be immobilized for a week, but a return this season is still “in play.”
The ankle procedure is yet another roadblock in Eaton’s short career with the Nationals since being traded over from the White Sox during the 2016 Winter Meetings. The fleet-footed outfielder missed the majority of the 2017 campaign when he tore the ACL in his left knee early last year, and he played in just eight games with the Nats in 2018 before injuring his ankle on a foot-first slide.
When healthy, Eaton has been nothing short of brilliant for the Nats, hitting .308/.400/.508 in 140 trips to the plate, but he’s unfortunately been able to suit up only 31 times for the organization. Of course, the very reason that the Nationals were willing to part with three highly touted pitching prospects — Reynaldo Lopez, Lucas Giolito and Dane Dunning — in order to acquire Eaton was that he was controlled so affordably and for such a long time. They’ll still have plenty of time to reap value from their investment in the 29-year-old, as he’s locked up through the 2021 season at a total of $34.4MM (with the final $20MM of that sum coming in the form of two club options for 2020-21).
[Related: Washington Nationals depth chart]
With Eaton now sidelined for the foreseeable future, the Nats will continue to utilize Michael A. Taylor in center field, with Bryce Harper in his customary right field. Left field has been manned by a platoon of hot-hitting Matt Adams and Howie Kendrick of late, though the Nats also have Andrew Stevenson and Moises Sierra on the big league roster as outfield options at present, with Rafael Bautista in Triple-A as another 40-man option. Top prospect Victor Robles is also on the 40-man roster, but he’s nursing an elbow injury at the moment, and the Nats don’t want to recall him unless he’s able to receive everyday at-bats.
East Notes: Betts, Eaton, Phillies, Clippard
Mookie Betts tells WEEI’s Rob Bradford that nothing has changed on his end regarding a potential extension with the Red Sox, as the 25-year-old still has no intention of discussing a long-term deal during the season. Controlled for just two years beyond the current campaign, Betts’ increasing proximity to free agency and his continually elevated level of play have priced a theoretical extension out of bargain territory and into a massive financial undertaking, as Bradford examines. Certainly, that’s the case with any young star as he navigates through the arbitration process, but Betts already has one record arbitration payday in his back pocket, and he’s turning in the best season of his young career thus far. The $30MM annual rate that Jose Altuve secured on his recent extension with the Astros seems like an increasingly relevant comp, if not a baseline, Bradford posits in highlighting the difficulties that the Sox could face in locking up their brightest young star.
More from the game’s Eastern divisions…
- Adam Eaton‘s ankle injury doesn’t appear to be healing as well as the Nationals’ might’ve hoped, as Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post reports that Eaton is traveling to Wisconsin to be evaluated by a specialist. He’ll meet with orthopedic surgeon Robert Anderson, currently on the Green Bay Packers’ medical staff but also a renowned surgeon who has worked with high-profile athletes ranging from Steph Curry to Cam Newton to Derek Jeter. Eaton has been on the disabled list for nearly a month after suffering an ankle injury on a slide early in the 2018 season.
- The Phillies announced tonight that they’ve activated right-hander Ben Lively from the 10-day disabled list and optioned him to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. The 26-year-old Lively opened the season in Philadelphia’s rotation but struggled to a 6.85 ERA in 23 2/3 innings before landing on the disabled list with a back strain. In his absence, fellow righty Zach Eflin stepped into the rotation and has been outstanding in two starts, yielding a run on seven hits and three walks with 13 strikeouts in 12 2/3 innings. He’ll remain in the rotation over Lively for now, and as MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki noted yesterday, a continued hot streak from Eflin could force the Phils to make some tough decisions. GM Matt Klentak has already stated that Jerad Eickhoff will be in the rotation when he returns from the DL later this month, thus pitting Eflin against righties Vince Velasquez and Nick Pivetta for the final two rotation spots behind Aaron Nola and Jake Arrieta. Of course, things can change quickly in the coming weeks, either with a downturn in Eflin’s performance or another injury elsewhere on the roster.
- With Roberto Osuna on administrative leave and under league investigation, the Blue Jays turned to Tyler Clippard with their first save opportunity. Jays manager John Gibbons deployed setup men Seung Hwan Oh, John Axford and Ryan Tepera in the middle innings on Wednesday evening with his team trailing before handing the ninth inning over to Clippard, who worked a scoreless inning with a pair of strikeouts. While Wednesday’s sequence of events doesn’t necessarily anoint Clippard the closer during Osuna’s absence, it does at least suggest that he’s the early favorite for the role. Signed to a minor league deal this March, Clippard has given the Jays 19 1/3 innings of 1.40 ERA ball with 10.2 K/9, 4.2 BB/9 and 1.4 HR/9. He’s running up a staggeringly low 18.6 percent ground-ball rate, however, which could well be a portent for further homer troubles down the line. As a reminder for fantasy players, you can track ninth-inning situations throughout the game by following MLBTR’s @CloserNews account on Twitter and by utilizing Jason Martinez’s closer depth chart over at Roster Resource.
Nationals Activate Anthony Rendon
After nearly a month on the disabled list, Anthony Rendon has been activated and is hitting second in today’s lineup, the Nationals announced. He’s been out since mid-April after sustaining a hairline fracture in his toe when he fouled a ball into his foot. To make room on the active roster, the Nats optioned infielder Adrian Sanchez to Triple-A Syracuse.
The 27-year-old Rendon turned in a relatively quiet MVP-caliber season in 2017 when he hit .301/.403/.533 with 25 homers and 41 doubles in addition to terrific defense at third base. He’ll be the first of several key bats to return to a Nationals lineup that is still missing second baseman Daniel Murphy and outfielder Adam Eaton.
Prior to his injury, Rendon had gotten off to a solid .286/.355/.411 start with a homer and four doubles in 62 trips to the plate. He’ll rejoin the Nationals’ lineup at a time when the team is righting the ship after a slow start (in no small part due to the absence of those three aforementioned bats). The Nats have snapped off six straight wins to pull their record above the .500 mark, putting them right back in the mix in a perhaps surprisingly competitive NL East.
NL Notes: Harvey, Braves, Rendon, Hedges, Lamb, Reyes
After deciding to designate Matt Harvey for assignment, the Mets are now sorting out exactly how his tenure with the organization will come to an end. Initial trade discussions seem not to be generating much traction, per Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter), who says that the team is offering to “eat a significant amount” of the remainder of Harvey’s salary in hopes of securing something in return. Somewhat unsurprisingly, the response from rival officials has to this point been that they’d prefer simply to pursue Harvey if he passes through waivers. If that occurs, he’ll surely either be released or decline an outright assignment, at which point he’d be a free agent who could sign for a pro-rated version of the league minimum, leaving the Mets on the hook for the balance of the $5.6MM he’s owed.
More from the National League:
- New Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos has been discussing his team’s promising start with quite a few outlets of late as excitement has mounted. He largely credited the prior regime with “outstanding” work in accumulating and developing talent in a chat with Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Anthopoulos also says he’ll be “open-minded to do things” if the team is in position to push for the postseason at the trade deadline, though he notes there’s still quite a lot of baseball to be played before making any final assessments of where the 2018 roster may be headed. In comments to MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM (via Twitter), Anthopoulos did note that payroll constraints and an ongoing focus on the future would continue to weigh significantly in the team’s decisionmaking.
- Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon acknowledged after his rehab appearance today that he has a hairline fracture in his injured toe, as Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post tweets. That explains his somewhat extended absence after fouling a ball off of his foot. The important thing for the Nats, though, is that Rendon seems to be ready to be activated as the club attempts to extend a six-game winning streak.
- The Padres have a plan in place for assessing the balky elbow of catcher Austin Hedges, as Dennis Lin of The Athletic reports on Twitter. He’ll be given a week or ten days of rest before it’s decided whether he needs to undergo an MRI. Hedges hit the DL recently with a bout of tendinitis. It seems the hope remains that the issue will resolve itself with some down time. Hedges has struggled at the plate in 2018, hitting at a .173/.235/.293 clip to open the season.
- Diamondbacks third baseman Jake Lamb received an MRI and cortisone shot after reporting continued discomfort in his injured left shoulder, per MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert (Twitter links). That said, the belief is that this will not constitute a significant setback. It’s still disappointing to hear that Lamb is not yet back to health, as the club no doubt hoped he’d already be nearing a return at this point. Given his extended absence, it stands to reason that he’ll require some rehab time once he is cleared for game action. Fortunately for the Snakes, Daniel Descalso has filled in admirably.
- Prized Cardinals righty Alex Reyes is prepared to begin a rehab assignment next week, as MLB.com’s Joe Trezza writes. As he works back from Tommy John surgery, the high-octane hurler is said to be working in the upper nineties and looking good. That’s great news for the Cards, though the team is expected to handle Reyes with care as he ramps up fully. It’s still not clear how the organization will deploy the 23-year-old, who showed ample promise in his 2016 debut, once he is ready to return. But he’s building up as a starter and figures to be a valuable addition to the MLB roster in any role when he is activated.
NL East Notes: Straily/Chen, Mets, Braves, Murphy
The Marlins activated righty Dan Straily yesterday, meaning he and fellow starter Wei-Yin Chen are each now officially back in the team’s rotation. The initial results were somewhat mixed, unsurprisingly. Straily managed just one strikeout while allowing four earned runs on six hits and four walks in four frames; Chen was much more effective, limiting the damage to one earned on four hits and two free passes, though he retired only three batters by strikeout in his 5 1/3 innings. From a health perspective, though, the returns are quite promising. Both hurlers worked in their typical velocity ranges and will have several months to build value in advance of the trade deadline. Whether either will be moved remains to be seen, but both could be interesting chips in their own ways. Straily could be an appealingly affordable plug-in for the right contender, perhaps returning some young talent to the rebuilding Miami org. As for Chen, the $42MM guarantee left on his contract beyond the present season remains a major impediment to any trade. But if he can show he’s effective and healthy, perhaps the Marlins can find a taker for some of that cash.
Here’s more from the NL East, which is shaping up to be quite a bit more interesting than most anticipated at the outset of the season:
- Though the Mets continue to pace the division, the race is only just getting started. Managing a roster all season long, particularly in the pitching department, could be a key to determining how things shake out. MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo addresses a host of reader questions, focusing on the club’s variety of swingmen. He suggests that Matt Harvey, Robert Gsellman, and Seth Lugo will likely continue working from the pen unless and until there’s a need for more than a spot start in the rotation. At that point, it seems, the organization could choose among them when the time comes.
- Likewise, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman answers some queries from Braves fans. Of particular interest, he provides a gauge on what kind of cash the organization may have to spend in the coming winter. Bowman says he has been told there’ll be at least $50MM in payroll capacity to work with for 2019, which is certainly a rather hefty sum for a team that is not among the bigger spenders around the game. Just how much is ultimately utilized, and how it’s allocated, is obviously far from being clear. As Bowman notes, the team will be gather information on its assets and needs all season long, even as it tries to extend a promising start to the year.
- Meanwhile, the Nationals continue to try to hold things together with several key cogs still on the mend. Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com has the latest on the injury front. Second baseman Daniel Murphy, who’s recovering from offseason knee surgery, made an appearance at Nats Park, but his status remains unclear at present. He’s set to be evaluated by the team’s medical staff before the next steps are determined. It’d be a surprise if a return is imminent for Murphy; fellow infielder Anthony Rendon, though, is likely not far from making it back from a toe injury. He may require a brief rehab stint but is expected to head back to the active roster in relatively short order. In other Nats news, the club has dipped into its farm to add another fresh arm. Righty Wander Suero will come up for his first MLB action, with Austin Voth optioned back to Triple-A without having made an appearance.
NL East Notes: Cespedes, Soroka, Braves, Rendon
Yoenis Cespedes made an early exit from today’s Mets/Padres game, as the outfielder left during the third inning with a thumb injury. Cespedes suffered the injury while making a headfirst slide during a steal of third base, and remained in the game for the rest of the Mets’ turn at bat before being replaced by Brandon Nimmo in the bottom half of the inning. The injury is just a day-to-day issue for now, though it is certainly another unwelcome problem in what has already been a tough start to the 2018 season for the New York outfielder. Cespedes entered today’s action hitting just .218/.279/.416 with a league-high 43 strikeouts. [UPDATE: Cespedes tells MLB.com’s Tim Powers and other media that he believes he’ll miss three days recovering from the injury, or two games given New York’s off-day on Monday. X-rays were negative on Cespedes’ thumb and he is likely to undergo an MRI on Monday.)
Some more from around the NL East…
- Braves pitching prospect Mike Soroka was scratched from a Triple-A start today since he could be needed for his big league debut this week, David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes, depending on the health of Julio Teheran and Anibal Sanchez. Teheran’s outing on Friday was cut short by tightness in his upper right trapezius, though the Braves are hopeful that he’ll be able to make his scheduled start on Wednesday. Sanchez, meanwhile, is tentatively slated to return from a hamstring injury and be activated from the DL in time for Saturday’s start. Both Teheran and Sanchez felt good after bullpen sessions on Sunday, and Sanchez will also throw in a simulated game on Tuesday before a decision is made about his status. Soroka, the 28th overall pick of the 2015 draft, is a consensus top-35 prospect according to preseason rankings from Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus, Fangraphs, and MLB.com. He has continued to display that promise in his first taste of Triple-A ball this year, with a 1.99 ERA, 9.5 K/9, and a 4.8 K/BB rate over 22 2/3 innings at the top of the minor league pyramid. It’s likely that Soroka wouldn’t get an extended stint in the majors quite yet if he was promoted this week, though he is a prime candidate for a longer look later this season once rosters expand.
- In a video update for FOX Sports (Twitter link), Ken Rosenthal believes Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos will be his usual aggressive self on the trade front if Atlanta is in contention at the deadline, though Anthopoulos doesn’t seem likely to deal multiple prospects. While the Braves have a deep farm system, this pipeline of young and affordable talent is crucial to both the club’s rebuild and its financial situation — Rosenthal notes that the Braves “are saddled by debt.” Anthopoulos already eschewed trading from that prospect depth last winter, though it will be interesting to see what moves he does make if the Braves continue to keep pace in the NL East.
- Anthony Rendon is “very close” to returning from his toe injury, Nationals manager Dave Martinez told MASNsports.com’s Mark Zuckerman and other reporters. Rendon was eligible to be activated from the DL today, though he remained sidelined and Martinez said that the activation may not come on Monday, either. On a more positive note, Martinez said that Rendon went through fielding, running, and hitting drills today with no issue. The team still has to decide whether a short rehab stint is needed since Rendon has been out of action for over two weeks.