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Nationals Designate Rafael Martin For Assignment

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The Nationals have designated right-hander Rafael Martin for assignment, per a team announcement. As was previously reported, his spot on the Nationals’ 40-man roster will go to outfielder Ryan Raburn.

Martin, 33, debuted with the Nationals organization back in 2011 but didn’t crack the majors until 2015. Over the previous two seasons, Martin combined for 16 innings out of the Nats’ bullpen and, despite an excellent strikeout rate (16.88 per nine) and a decent walk rate (3.88), logged a 4.50 ERA. So far this year, Martin has tossed 24 1/3 frames with the Nationals’ Triple-A squad and recorded a 5.18 ERA, 7.77 K/9 and a 1.85 BB/9.

Nationals To Place Jayson Werth On DL, Select Ryan Raburn

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The Nationals will send left fielder Jayson Werth to the disabled list, reports Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post (on Twitter). Infielder/outfielder Ryan Raburn will take Werth’s place, Janes suggests, though adding him would put the Nationals over the 40-man limit.

Werth fouled a ball off his left foot during the Nationals’ loss to the Athletics on Saturday, and although he was on crutches Sunday, his injury doesn’t seem significant, tweets Janes. That’s a relief for a Washington club that’s already without its Opening Day center fielder, Adam Eaton, who’s unlikely to play again this season after he tore his left ACL at the end of April.

As Eaton was before landing on the shelf, the 34-year-old Werth has been a quality contributor for the Nationals’ elite offense this season. Playing the final season of the seven-year, $126MM contract he signed with the Nationals in December 2010, Werth has posted a .262/.367/.446 line with eight home runs in 196 plate appearances.

In Werth’s absence, the Nats have Raburn, Brian Goodwin and Adam Lind, primarily a first baseman, as candidates to play left field. Raburn, whom Washington acquired from the White Sox on May 26, has the most major league outfield experience of the three. The 36-year-old owns a respectable .253/.317/.436 line in 2,665 big league PAs and got off to a nice start this season with the White Sox’s Triple-A affiliate, hitting .277/.419/.434 in 105 trips to the plate. Raburn hasn’t been as successful at Triple-A with the Washington organization (.261/.269/.478), but he has only totaled 26 PAs since the trade.

Injury Notes: Werth, Travis, Verlander

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Updates on some developing injury situations from today’s action….

  • Jayson Werth fouled a ball off his left foot on Saturday and was seen on crutches in the Nationals clubhouse following today’s game.  Manager Dusty Baker told MASNsports.com’s Mark Zuckerman (Twitter link) and other reporters that X-rays were negative on Werth’s foot but the situation was “not looking good for” the veteran outfielder.  After two down seasons, Werth has rebounded to hit .262/.367/.446 over 196 PA this year, and a DL stint would further hamper a Washington outfield that has already lost Adam Eaton for the season.
  • X-rays were negative on Devon Travis’ left hand after the Blue Jays second baseman was hit by a Luis Severino pitch in the seventh inning of today’s 3-2 Jays victory.  Travis finished the inning on the basepaths and then left the game.  The club will monitor the situation to see if Travis requires a DL stint, though he seems likely to miss at least a couple of games given his painful description of the injury.  “I thought I broke it. It was really scary. My hand was throbbing so bad, I couldn’t really open it or close it — and I definitely wasn’t about to slide on it and lift myself up on it,” Travis told MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson and other media.  Travis has a .257/.285/.437 overall slash line for his roller-coaster of a season, as he followed up a dreadful April (.388 OPS) with a red-hot May (1.019 OPS).
  • Justin Verlander left during the third inning of today’s 7-4 Tigers win due to groin tightness, a move manager Brad Ausmus said was precautionary in nature (as per MLive.com’s Evan Woodbery and other reporters).  Verlander will undergo an MRI just to make sure there isn’t any significant damage, and Ausmus feels the ace should make his next start, though it could be pushed back a day due to an off-day in Detroit’s schedule.  Verlander is off to a slow start to the 2017 season, with a 4.63 ERA and career highs in BB/9 (4.24) and hard-hit ball rate (34.2%) through 70 innings.

NL East Links: Kemp, Cespedes, Mets, Glover, Baker, Phillies

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Matt Kemp has been such a boost to the Braves lineup that Mark Bradley of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution doesn’t see the team shopping Kemp as a deadline trade chip.  Kemp is 32, is a limited defensive outfielder and has a hefty remaining salary owed through the 2019 season, yet Bradley feels the veteran has made himself a near-indispensable part of the roster.  Kemp has been outstanding since joining the Braves last season, including a .345/.381/.608 slash line and 10 homers in 181 PA this year.  Bradley also notes that Freddie Freeman’s production improved with Kemp hitting behind him, which gives Kemp even more value.

Some notes from around the NL East…

  • Mets GM Sandy Alderson said there wasn’t any new updates on Yoenis Cespedes’ DL situation, which leads the New York Post’s Adam Rubin to doubt whether Cespedes will be able to return to action this week.  Cespedes’ rehab stint for a hamstring injury was interrupted by some soreness in his long bothersome right quad muscle, and he has yet to resume full running, though he has been jogging.  Alderson had previously said that Cespedes could potentially return for DH duty when the Mets are in Texas for an interleague series with the Rangers this week, though that timeline seems tenuous at this point.
  • Also from Rubin, he reports that the Mets “aren’t likely” to go after relievers Bobby Parnell and Ernesto Frieri.  The two right-handers recently opted out of minor league deals (Parnell with the Royals, Frieri with the Yankees) and are now free agents.  Parnell, of course, has a notable history with the Mets, pitching for the club from 2008-15 and serving as the team’s closer in 2013.
  • Though rookie Koda Glover has looked excellent as the Nationals’ closer, Thomas Boswell of the Washington Post argues that the Nats should still pursue an experienced ninth-inning man before the trade deadline.  Glover is still an unproven commodity with some durability questions and the Nationals’ bullpen is lacking in overall depth, plus Glover could still excel as a setup man down the stretch.
  • The Nationals’ pen is also one of many topics covered in a reader mailbag piece from Jorge Castillo and Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post, with Castillo feeling that the Nats will indeed obtain a reliever at the deadline.  It may not necessarily be a big-name closer, however, given how Glover continues to perform over the next two months.
  • From that same mailbag item, Janes writes that there don’t appear to be any extension talks between Dusty Baker and the Nationals, though that could be a function of ownership’s stance against making lengthy commitments to managers.  It seems that both sides want to continue the relationship and all signs point towards Baker returning in 2018 (assuming the Nats continue to win, of course), though Janes notes that the team will have to pay market price for Baker given the success the Nationals have enjoyed in his tenure.
  • Despite the Phillies’ struggles, GM Matt Klentak reiterated to MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki and other media that the team hasn’t altered its approach to promoting its top minor league position players.  The likes of J.P. Crawford, Roman Quinn, Rhys Hoskins and others at Triple-A could provide the Phils with a boost or at least give the youngsters some experience at the big league level as part of the team’s overall rebuilding process.  The Phillies aren’t going to promote their prospects, however, until there is a clear opportunity for regular playing time and until each player is fully prepared for the majors.  “To expose players to the big league level before they’re ready isn’t doing them any favors, nor is it doing the organization any favors. We have to constantly balance that,” Klentak said.

Heyman’s Latest: Managers, Quintana, Royals, Cubs, Holland, Bush

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There’ve been an average of 3.4 in-season managerial firings since the 2007, writes Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports in the intro to his latest weekly notes column, but the 2017 campaign may be the rare year where all 30 Opening Day skippers are still at the helm of their respective teams at the conclusion of the regular season. Heyman notes that while there’s been plenty of fan and/or media criticism of high-profile managers like John Farrell (Red Sox) and Terry Collins (Mets), no manager seems to be on a particularly hot seat at the moment. He also runs down a list of nearly half the managers in the league and examines their chances of being dismissed, though again, the primary takeaway is that most seem to be rather safe.

Some highlights from both his American League and National League roundups…

  • The GM of a rival club tells Heyman that he doesn’t think the shaky start to the season for White Sox lefty Jose Quintana will negatively impact his trade value all that much. While some have suggested that the Sox missed an opportunity to move him this offseason, there are of course still three and a half very affordable years on Quintana’s contract, and his 8.95 K/9 rate is actually a career-best. In more loosely related ChiSox news, he notes that Brett Lawrie is still waiting for his ailing foot to get back to full health before seeking out a new team.
  • Though the Royals recently lost Danny Duffy for the next six to eight weeks, they’re still planning to see if there’s one more run with their longstanding core for the time being. A sale from Kansas City still looks likely to me, given that the Royals have the worst record in the American League and plenty of potential rental pieces to market this summer. It’s worth noting, though, that even with the worst record in the AL, they entered play today a relatively manageable six games back from the division lead and from a Wild Card spot.
  • The Diamondbacks have sent out indications that they’re planning to wait until the last minute to determine whether they’re going to add pieces prior to the non-waiver deadline or sell off some shorter-term assets. Arizona is currently a half-game back of the NL West division lead and is in possession of a Wild Card slot at the moment, though it seems that the new front office is understandably not looking to react rashly to the team’s hot start.
  • With both Jake Arrieta and John Lackey set to hit free agency (and a shaky mix in the five-spot in the rotation), the Cubs are likely to pursue at least two starters following the 2017 season, per Heyman. He lists Marco Estrada and Derek Holland as some semi-speculative picks, noting that one exec from another club feels they fit the mold of arms the Cubs are likely to eye. Chicago, of course, is certainly a candidate to add some rotation help this summer and could well pick up an arm controllable beyond the current season, which would impact their offseason trajectory.
  • The Nationals and Rangers were among the teams to make a play for Greg Holland, Heyman writes, but only the Rockies were willing to take the significant risk of including a vesting player option worth as much as $15MM. Washington GM Mike Rizzo was actually on board with the concept of a vesting player option, but Nationals ownership, on the other hand, was not. The Rangers didn’t come as close in talks as the Nats did, he adds. Holland’s $15MM player option will trigger once he finishes 30 games or appears in 50 (the former will happen first), and barring an injury he seems like a lock to turn that down and reenter free agency in search of a four- or five-year pact.
  • Jeb Bush’s departure from the potential Marlins ownership group he’d been assembling with Derek Jeter was due to a disagreement over who’d be the “control person,” Heyman writes. Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald recently reported that Bush was set to commit less than $20MM to the sale, and Heyman now adds that Bush was on the hook for just $10MM of his own money, which would understandably make him a curious choice as the point person in the group. It’s still not known how much Jeter is planning to invest if his group is selected, but the Marlins were apparently aware that Bush could be leaving the group and remain interested in working out an agreement with Jeter and his investors.

MLB Announces Suspensions For Harper, Strickland

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TODAY: Harper’s ban was knocked down to three days upon appeal, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets.

YESTERDAY: Following last night’s brawl, Major League Baseball has announced suspensions for Giants righty Hunter Strickland and Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper. As Joel Sherman of the New York Post first tweeted, Strickland will receive a six-game ban, while Harper will miss four contests.

Both players have appealed their sentences. They’ll also each pay undisclosed fines, per the league announcement.

The fracas occurred when Strickland plunked Harper in the hip in the first pitch of his plate appearance. The latter charged the mound, with both players landing punches before things were broken up.

While the two hadn’t even squared off in years, the last time they did it was under dramatic circumstances. Harper, of course, swatted two long home runs off of Strickland in the 2014 NLDS.

While Strickland did not admit to any intent after the game, the commissioner’s office nevertheless found that he had intentionally struck Harper with the pitch. Per the league’s announcement, his actions were responsible for “inciting the bench-clearing incident and fighting.” As for Harper, one of the game’s most visible players, the ban was announced for “charging the mound, throwing his helmet and fighting.”

While Harper will officially sit for less games, the punishment will hurt the Nats more than it does the Giants. The former will lose a fair bit of production from one of the game’s best hitters, while the latter will miss out on only a few innings from a quality reliever. That imbalance is ripe for some criticism, though it’s also something of a matter of perspective. If the punishment is intended primarily for the player rather than the team, then perhaps it’s not as skewed as it might otherwise appear. The bigger question, perhaps, is whether suspensions of this length provide sufficient deterrent value at all.

Nationals Release Joe Nathan

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The Nationals have released veteran righty Joe Nathan, according to the International League transactions page. He requested to be released from his minor-league deal with the team, Chris Cotillo of SB Nation reports (Twitter links).

It seems that Nathan, 42, may be preparing to retire, though there’s still no clear indication that he has made a decision. He evidently was not in line to receive a call-up from the Nats, despite the generally poor performances they’ve received from their relief corps.

Nathan was off to a rough start at Triple-A Syracuse.  Over 16 innings, he had allowed 11 earned runs on 19 hits. While Nathan recorded a reasonably healthy tally of 15 strikeouts, he also issued eight walks.

Even if he doesn’t end up making it back to the big leagues, the former All-Star closer authored a rather remarkable comeback story. He underwent Tommy John surgery early in the 2015 season, returning to make ten appearances late in the 2016 campaign for the Cubs and Giants.

9 Budget Free Agent Hitters Off To Strong Starts

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Mining the free agent ranks for good value remains an art, with the potential for rather significant rewards. While it’s unusual for a team to find a true gem — think Justin Turner — there is quite a lot of potential for adding impact in part-time roles.

We already looked at some minor-league signees who have impacted their organizations’ bullpens. Now, let’s check in on some hitters who signed for little but have been rather useful through about two months of action:

  • Alexi Amarista, INF, Rockies — The 28-year-old has helped cover for the injured Trevor Story, and he’s doing more than just keeping the team afloat. Through 69 trips to the plate, he’s hitting .338/.348/.515. There’s obviously quite a lot of room for regression baked in — Amarista has drawn just one walk and carries a .412 BABIP — but he’s been a big help for the emerging Rockies team at the meager cost of $1.25MM.
  • Daniel Descalso, INF, Diamondbacks — After Colorado let the utilityman go over the winter, Descalso landed only $1.5MM despite a solid 2016 season. That has worked out just fine for Arizona, which has received 92 plate appearances of .218/.337/.410 hitting from the veteran, who is walking at a 13.0% clip and succeeding despite a .250 BABIP.
  • Chris Iannetta, C, Diamondbacks — Also earning a meager $1.5MM, Iannetta has helped the DBacks feel better about the decision to allow Welington Castillo to walk. Though the typically patient Iannetta is walking at about half of his career rate, he’s driving the ball like never before. Over eighty plate appearances, Iannetta has smacked six long balls and owns a .288 isolated slugging mark.
  • Franklin Gutierrez, OF, Dodgers — Taking home a modest $2.6MM salary, Gutierrez has been quite productive when healthy. While Los Angeles will only ask him to play a limited role, the team will be thrilled if he can keep producing at a .257/.350/.429 rate the rest of the way.
  • Austin Jackson, OF, Indians — After settling for a minor-league deal over the winter, Jackson came with low expectations. But he made the Opening Day roster and owns a .273/.327/.523 batting line that points back to his days as one of the game’s more promising young players.
  • Adam Lind, 1B, Nationals — Lind languished on the market along with a variety of other sluggers, eventually scoring just $1.5MM to function as a lefty complement to Ryan Zimmerman at first base. While the Nats have received plenty of production from Zimmerman, the team is also enjoying Lind’s robust output off the bench. He owns a .340/.400/.604 slash over sixty plate appearances, with as many walks as strikeouts (10.0% apiece).
  • Mark Reynolds, 1B, Rockies — Expected to land on the bench after returning to Colorado on a minors deal, Reynolds was thrown into a more significant role when Ian Desmond opened the year on the DL. He has responded with outstanding production: .313/.388/.555 with 13 home runs in 206 plate appearances.
  • Kurt Suzuki, C, Braves — At just $1.5MM, Suzuki has been quite the bargain. He’s outhitting most of the league’s catchers in his 88 plate appearances, with a .257/.379/.457 slash. Interestingly, Suzuki is walking 11.4% of the time — nearly double his typical levels — while also hitting for good power (.200 ISO).
  • Chase Utley, INF, Dodgers — The former star took home just $2MM in exchange for his services this year, and seemed ready to take a smaller role on the Dodgers’ bench. After a slow start, though, he has begun to deliver. 125 plate appearances into the season, he’s batting .252/.347/.430 with three dingers and three steals — the type of production not seen since back in 2013, when he was still with the Phillies.

Injury Notes: Polanco, Pedroia, Happ, Mets, Nats, Palka

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The Pirates seemingly made it through a scare today after outfielder Gregory Polanco was carted off the field following a collision with the wall. As Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review first tweeted, Polanco escaped with only a sprained ankle. Still, the severity isn’t quite clear and may not be until the joint responds overnight. As Stephen Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tweets, Polanco did require a walking boot after the game.

Here are some more injury updates from around the game:

  • Some fears were seemingly put to rest for Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia after an X-ray on his wrist came back clean, as Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald was among those to report. But Pedroia, who was injured in a collision while running to first base, has yet to undergo an MRI. The team is sending him back to Boston for a closer look tomorrow morning, with his status to be assessed thereafter.
  • The Blue Jays will welcome back starter J.A. Happ from the DL tomorrow, as Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca reports on Twitter. Happ, 34, was sidelined after his third start of the year with elbow inflammation. He had recorded twenty strikeouts against four walks in his first 16 innings on the year after racking up 195 frames of 3.18 ERA ball in 2016.
  • There are some updates on notable injured Mets players, courtesy of Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News. Closer Jeurys Familia says he is “feeling good” and thinks he can resume throwing within about two weeks — possibly setting up a return as soon as late August. Both Steven Matz and Seth Lugo, meanwhile, will take additional rehab starts before returning to the majors. They are said to be slated for the rotation, with Robert Gsellman expected to move to the bullpen. Meanwhile, star outfielder Yoenis Cespedes is looking at another week or ten days before he’s back, though the team is treading carefully. The current issue — not his hamstring, for which he originally went on the DL, but his quadriceps — is apparently tied to the injury that kept Cespedes out of action for a stretch last year.
  • As for the division-rival Nationals, the bench got some good news today. Stephen Drew made it back from the DL today after a long layoff for a hamstring strain, as Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com reports. And it seems that Chris Heisey may be ready to return much more quickly than seemed likely when it was learned that he had a torn biceps tendon. Heisey is already on a rehab assignment, in fact, since it turns out he can essentially play through the injury. As manager Dusty Baker put it: “Boy, if you’re going to get hurt, I guess you gotta hurt something that you really don’t need.”
  • Twins outfield prospect Daniel Palka is out “indefinitely” after suffering a fractured left index finger, as Triple-A Rochester PR official Nate Rowan tweets. The 25-year-old has shown big-time power in the minors, but also swings and misses with some frequency. He has yet to conquer the highest level of the minors; through 171 plate appearances this year, he owns a .261/.316/.452 batting line with eight long balls.

NL East Notes: Wright, Nationals, Hand, Phillies

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David Wright’s last game was on May 27, 2016, which means that over a year has passed since the star third baseman has taken the field for the Mets.  As Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News writes, Wright’s absence is heavily felt both on the field and inside the Mets clubhouse.  Since Wright was recently shut down from throwing during his recovery from a shoulder impingement, it doesn’t look like Wright will return any time soon.  Wright played in just 75 games in 2015-16 thanks to spinal stenosis and neck surgery, and given the seriousness of these injuries, it’s no surprise that there has been retirement speculation, though Wright himself has said that he enjoys the process and is hopeful of a return.

Here’s the latest from around the NL East…

  • The Nationals are one of many teams who have interest in Padres southpaw Brad Hand, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports (Twitter link).  Reports from earlier this week indicated that that Padres were getting a lot of trade buzz about Hand, who has posted a 2.00 ERA, 11.7 K/9 and 3.18 K/BB rate in 27 innings this season.  It isn’t surprising that Washington is one of the teams in the mix given the Nats’ bullpen issues this season — Nationals relievers entered the day with a cumulative 5.17 ERA, the highest bullpen ERA in baseball.
  • The Phillies haven’t seen much return on their offseason strategy of adding veterans on short-term deals, Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes.  Joaquin Benoit, Clay Buchholz, Jeremy Hellickson, Howie Kendrick, and Michael Saunders have all been either injured or largely ineffective in the season’s first two months.  While this isn’t a huge competitive concern to the rebuilding Phils, Gelb notes that if these veterans continue to struggle, it could lead to questions about the evaluation process used by GM Matt Klentak’s front office to pursue these players.
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