NL East Notes: Soto, Fried, Guillorme
Juan Soto was placed on the injured list on April 20, so the Nationals have already been without their superstar hitter beyond the 10-day minimum as Soto works his way back from a strained left shoulder. However, manager Davey Martinez updated reporters (including Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com) about Soto’s progress today, noting that Soto has started throwing from 120-foot distances. The next step is for Soto to throw to particular bases, and Zuckerman suggests that if Soto goes through this drill on Monday’s off-day, the outfielder could potentially be activated in time for Tuesday’s game with the Braves.
Throwing is the only real roadblock to Soto’s return, as Martinez said the slugger doesn’t feel any discomfort while swinging. As a result, Soto has been staying sharp at the plate by “hitting off that velo machine, we’ve got machines that throw breaking balls,” Martinez said. Soto was in the process of another big season (.300/.410/.460) in his first 61 plate appearances before heading to the injured list.
More from the NL East…
- The Braves plan to activate Max Fried from the IL so the southpaw can start Wednesday’s game against the Nationals, The Athletic’s David O’Brien tweets. Fried suffered a right hamstring strain while running the bases in an April 13 game against the Marlins that saw Fried allow seven earned runs over four innings of work. After finishing fifth in NL Cy Young voting last season, Fried has struggled to an 11.45 ERA over his first 11 innings of the 2021 campaign.
- Luis Guillorme looks good enough in his recovery from a right oblique strain that the Mets are hopeful he can return after the minimum 10 days on the injured list, manager Luis Rojas told reporters (including Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News). The return of utilityman Guillorme could be particularly helpful to a Mets team that saw third baseman J.D. Davis leave last night’s game due to a hand sprain — Davis also isn’t in tonight’s lineup. Guillorme’s return isn’t quite imminent, however, since his IL placement was only retroactive to April 29. Over the small sample size of 91 plate appearances, Guillorme has hit .333/.440/.413 over the 2020 and 2021 seasons, though he is primarily known for his infield versatility.
Injury Notes: Mondesi, Gonsolin, Strasburg, Solis
The Royals have stormed out of the gate with a 16-9 start to take an early lead in the AL Central. That’s in spite of the absence of shortstop Adalberto Mondesi, who was placed on the injured list just before the regular season kicked off due to a right oblique strain. There’s still no timetable for the 25-year-old’s return to game action, but he made a notable step in his rehab process this week. Mondesi recently participated in a batting practice session, per manager Mike Matheny (via Anne Rogers of MLB.com). Royals’ shortstops (primarily Nicky Lopez) have hit .254/.325/.338 in Mondesi’s absence, which is tied for twelfth in park-adjusted offense (90 wRC+) at the position.
Some more injury situations around the league:
- Dodgers righty Tony Gonsolin has also yet to make his regular season debut- in his case, on account of inflammation in his throwing shoulder. Gonsolin has progressed to working off a mound, though, throwing a 20-pitch bullpen session earlier this week (via Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register). The 26-year-old has emerged as another potential quality rotation option for Los Angeles, working to a 2.60 ERA/4.11 SIERA across his first 20 MLB appearances (14 starts) between 2019-20. Even before the injury, though, Gonsolin was slated to start this season in the bullpen on account of the Dodgers’ incredible rotation depth.
- Stephen Strasburg threw approximately 30 pitches in a bullpen session this morning, Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com was among those to note. It’s the right-hander’s first mound work since he was placed on the injured list two weeks ago with inflammation in his pitching shoulder. Washington still hasn’t offered a ton of clarity as to when Strasburg is expected to return to game action. The former World Series MVP has been limited to two unproductive starts so far this year.
- Astros right-handed pitching prospect Jairo Solis will be out approximately three months after undergoing surgery to remove loose bodies from his elbow, per Jake Kaplan of the Athletic (Twitter link). It’s a disappointing development for a young hurler who missed the entire 2019 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Entering the year, FanGraphs’ Kevin Goldstein called Solis a potential future top 100 prospect, but this latest development will wipe out at least a good chunk of his 2021 minor-league season. Solis, ranked 16th among Astro farmhands by Baseball America, was added to the 40-man roster last offseason.
Nationals Activate Jon Lester
2:00pm: The Nationals officially announced that Lester has been reinstated from the injured list. The team optioned righty Steven Fuentes to open a spot on the 26-man roster and moved southpaw Luis Avilan to the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Avilan will miss the 2021 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
8:50am: Veteran left-hander Jon Lester will be activated from the injured list and make his 2021 debut (and Nationals debut) tonight against the Marlins, reports Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post. Corresponding roster moves are still being sorted out.
Lester, 37, signed a one-year deal worth $5MM to step into the Nats’ rotation this winter. His trajectory to their active roster has been impeded multiple times, however. The southpaw underwent surgery to remove his thyroid gland early in Spring Training after experiencing abnormal levels of fatigue and having that course of treatment recommended by multiple doctors. He then was one of several Nationals players to land on the Covid-19 list amid the team’s early-season outbreak.
A five-time All-Star and three-time World Series champion, Lester recently wrapped up a six-year, $155MM contract with the Cubs and will now suit up for the fourth team of an exceptional career. Unlike so many big-money free-agent contracts, Lester’s proved to be a worthwhile investment for the Cubs. His production waned in the final years of the deal, particularly in 2020, but he was every bit the ace they hoped he be early on. Lester carried a 3.33 ERA through the contract’s first four years, including a superlative 2.44 mark during 2016’s World Series-winning season. He finished second in NL Cy Young voting that year and was dominant in the playoffs, earning NLCS MVP honors along the way.
The Nationals know they’re not getting the same Lester, but they’ll hope that he can continue to serve as a workhorse rotation stabilizer, throwing competitive innings behind a high-priced and high-profile trio atop the rotation. That trio of Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin was expected to be the team’s strength in 2021, but instead their inconsistency has been one of the primary drivers of Washington’s struggles as a team.
Scherzer is sitting on a terrific 3.00 ERA and is still posting elite K/BB numbers, but it’s been an uneven road. He’s mixed in a pair of poor outings with three utterly dominant starts. The end results are solid, though, and he’s easily the least worrisome of the Nats’ top three.
Strasburg has thrown just 10 innings so far in 2021 and is currently on the 10-day injured list with a bout of inflammation in his right shoulder. There’s no clear timeline for his return, but he’s already past the 10-day minimum and a return does not appear to be on the immediate horizon.
Corbin has been the most troublesome of the team’s rotation triumvirate. He was lights-out against the Cardinals back on April 20, but his other three starts have been outright nightmares. The lefty was absolutely torched for 10 runs (nine earned) in two innings by the D-backs on April 15, and he’s yielded a combined 10 runs through 8 1/3 innings in his other two starts. Overall, Corbin is lugging a 10.47 ERA through 16 1/3 frames. His velocity has ticked up about a mile per hour in his two most recent outings, including that excellent start against the Cardinals (six shutout innings), so the Nats can only hope that he’s begun to turn the corner.
Given the ups and downs throughout the Washington rotation at the moment, there’s perhaps a bit more expectation placed on Lester’s shoulders than most would’ve expected heading into the season. Lester is no stranger to weighty expectations, of course, but he’ll be looking for a rebound of his own after logging a career-worst 5.16 ERA in 61 innings last season. He said during Spring Training that the improved energy levels he felt post-thyroidectomy were higher than he’d felt in years, which could be a source of some optimism regarding a bounceback effort in 2021.
Latest On Anibal Sanchez
April 29: Sanchez is still evaluating his options and will throw a four-inning bullpen on Friday, Rosenthal tweets. He wants to build up to the 100-pitch mark before he signs anywhere.
April 28: Sanchez is planning to sign this week and could settle on a team as early as tomorrow, reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post (Twitter link).
April 23: The Yankees, Phillies, Marlins, Tigers, Diamondbacks and Blue Jays were among the teams at Sanchez’s showcase this morning, Heyman tweets.
April 21: Sanchez will throw yet another bullpen session for teams this Friday, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. He worked out for clubs in the offseason and reportedly turned down a couple offers, opting instead to see how health-and-safety protocols played out. He then worked out for teams early in the season but suffered the aforementioned finger laceration midway through his bullpen.
April 20: Free-agent righty Anibal Sanchez has been working out for clubs around the league and is drawing interest from several of his former employers, per The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. The Braves, Nationals and Marlins have all looked into Sanchez, whose last bullpen session was truncated by a laceration on his middle finger that ought to have healed up by now. There’s interest from a couple of AL clubs as well, per Rosenthal.
Interest from any of the clubs linked to Sanchez this morning makes plenty of sense, given the pitching situations on each of the three. The Braves have recently placed Max Fried and Drew Smyly on the injured list, where they’ve joined Mike Soroka, whose recovery timeline recently hit a setback. None of the injuries is thought to be especially long-term, but the team’s depth has been tested early on.
The Nationals placed Stephen Strasburg on the injured list this week and have watched as left Patrick Corbin has been crushed by opposing lineups (15 earned runs in 6 1/3 innings). Last night’s rough start from Joe Ross only added fuel to the fire, sending the team’s collective rotation ERA to a disastrous 6.24 that ranks last among all big league teams. Currently, Max Scherzer is the only Nats pitcher who has started more than one game and has an ERA south of 5.00.
Meanwhile, Marlins righties Sixto Sanchez and Elieser Hernandez have dealt with injuries early in the 2021 season. They’re also carrying a pair of Rule 5 right-handers, Zach Pop and Paul Campbell, who have been hit hard in their first exposure to big league pitching.
Sanchez, 37, didn’t sign over the winter and is coming off a rough 2020 showing. The veteran right-hander was tagged for a 6.62 ERA in 53 innings with the Nationals last summer, although he’s only a season removed from 166 innings of 3.85 ERA ball during his first season with Washington.
Nationals’ Luis Avilan Undergoes Tommy John Surgery
APRIL 28: Avilan has undergone the procedure, per Martinez (via Camerato). The 31-year-old is planning to rehab and continue his career.
APRIL 19: Avilan has decided to undergo Tommy John surgery, Martinez told reporters (including MASNsports.com’s Mark Zuckerman).
APRIL 17: Nationals left-hander Luis Avilan suffered a tear in his left UCL, and the veteran reliever is now going to “weigh his options” in deciding how to address the injury, manager Davey Martinez told MLB.com’s Jessica Camerato and other reporters.
“He’s got options whether to sit out and see if it heals or, when you talk about a UCL, it usually has Tommy John surgery,” Martinez said. “I feel awful, as we always do when somebody gets hurt. But we wish him well and wish him a quick recovery, whichever way he decides to go.”
The injury occurred on Thursday, when Avilan tossed two shutout innings in Washington’s 11-6 loss to the Diamondbacks. It was seemingly a solid bounce-back outing after a brutal inning of work (six earned runs allowed) against the Cardinals two days earlier, though it now might result in a significant setback to Avilan’s career.
Avilan signed a minor league contract with the Nats in December, and locked in a $950K salary after he made the team’s Opening Day roster. After posting solid numbers over his first seven MLB seasons, Avilan struggled to a 5.06 ERA over 32 innings with the Mets in 2019 and then a shoulder problem limited him to 8 1/3 innings with the Yankees in 2020. The Nationals are the seventh different team of Avilan’s ten-year career in the bigs.
The Nats placed Avilan on the 10-day injured list yesterday, and even if Avilan opts against TJ surgery, he’ll still need quite a bit of recovery time (and likely a shift to the 60-day IL) before returning to the mound. In the worst-case event of a Tommy John procedure, Avilan faces a layoff of 13 to 15 months.
With Avilan sidelined, closer Brad Hand and Sam Clay are the only left-handers in the Nationals’ bullpen. Seth Romero and Ben Braymer are also on the 40-man roster, though Braymer could be seen more as rotation depth.
Jerry Blevins Announces Retirement
Veteran reliever Jerry Blevins has retired from baseball, he announced Tuesday on Twitter (click here to read his statement). The left-hander had been with the Mets on a minor league contract.
Now 37 years old, Blevins entered the pros as a 17th-round pick of the Cubs in 2004. He never pitched for the Cubs, however, as they traded him to the Athletics as part of a deal for catcher Jason Kendall in 2007. Blevins debuted in the majors that year, which began a fairly long run in Oakland. He stuck with the A’s through 2013 and notched ERAs ranging from 2.48 to 3.70 in four different seasons as a member of the club.
Despite his solid production in an A’s uniform, they moved on from him heading into 2014, sending Blevins to the Nationals for outfielder Billy Burns. That proved to be the lone season in Washington for Blevins, whom the Nationals traded to the Mets for outfielder Matt den Dekker before the 2015 campaign.
Blevins missed almost all of his first season as a Met because of a fractured pitching arm, but he returned to deliver outstanding results over the next two years. In a 91-inning span from 2016-17, Blevins put up a 2.87 ERA with a 30.6 percent strikeout rate and a 9.9 percent walk rate. However, Blevins couldn’t replicate that success in 2018 – his last year with the Mets – and then reunited with the A’s on a minor league deal in the ensuing offseason. Oakland wound up trading Blevins to Atlanta before the 2019 season, which will go down as his final year in the majors. Although Blevins threw 32 1/3 frames of 3.90 ERA ball that season, he couldn’t make it back to the bigs on a minors deal with the Giants in 2020 or with the Mets this season.
In all, Blevins appeared in parts of 13 MLB seasons and posted a 3.54 ERA with 508 strikeouts in 495 1/3 innings. Blevins was especially tough on lefties, whom he held to a weak .213/.270/.313 line. MLBTR congratulates Blevins on a very solid career and wishes him the best in his post-playing days.
Quick Hits: Red Sox, Diamondbacks, Nationals
The Red Sox have a decision looming regarding Danny Santana. The infielder/outfielder has an opt-out clause in his contract that will allow him to become a free agent if he’s not promoted to the Majors by April 30th, writes Rob Bradford of WEEI. Santana didn’t sign with Boston until early March, and a foot infection slowed his ramp-up further.
The switch-hitting utility fielder certainly fits the mold of the present-day Red Sox as a guy who can play all over the diamond. The 30-year-old has spent the most time up the middle at short and center, but he has appeared everywhere on the diamond except pitcher and catcher. He’d be right at home on a roster that also includes “supersubs” Enrique Hernandez and Marwin Gonzalez. Bradford suggests Santana could replace scuffling outfielder Franchy Cordero if the Red Sox decide to make a move. Cordero – one of the pieces acquired in the Andrew Benintendi trade – has hit just .200/.265/.244 in his first 49 plate appearances with a whopping 46.9 percent strikeout rate, and he does have two options remaining. Here’s the latest from elsewhere around the game…
- Madison Bumgarner and Zac Gallen put on a show today. In a doubleheader against the Braves, the pair of Diamondbacks’ hurlers kept the Braves to one hit, zero runs, two walks, and 13 strikeouts in 14 combined scoreless innings. MLB.com’s Mark Bowman writes that it was the fewest hits ever by a team in a doubleheader, per the Elias Sports Bureau. Bumgarner, who had an 8.68 ERA entering the game, tossed an unofficial no-hitter in game two. Because it was only a seven-inning affair, the MLB rule books states that Bumgarner’s effort doesn’t count officially as a no-hitter, but rather as a “notable achievement.” That could change soon, as MLB and Elias will look at the issue and decide if a rule change is necessary, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (via Twitter).
- Juan Soto will be eligible to come off the injured list as early as Friday, and he’s begun hitting off a tee to prepare, per Mark Zuckerman and Al Galdi on the Nats Chat Podcast. Unfortunately, that doesn’t address the issue. Soto’s shoulder was bothering him most when he was throwing, so he’ll have to cross that hurdle before returning, they note.
East Notes: Andujar, Nelson, Smith, Turner
The Yankees announced a pair of roster moves after today’s 7-3 loss to the Indians. For starters, they optioned Nick Nelson to their alternate site. The 25-year-old right-hander appeared in six games, once as an opener, giving up 10 earned runs in 8 1/3 innings. The demotion comes after a two-inning, three-earned-run outing in today’s ballgame. In addition, the Yankees activated third baseman Miguel Andujar from the injured list and optioned him to their alternate site. Andujar was beset by a bout of carpal tunnel syndrome in his right wrist. Slowed largely by injures, the 26-year-old has hit just .193/.219/.257 across 114 plate appearances since his breakout rookie season in 2018. Let’s stay on the East Coast, but move over to the Senior Circuit…
- The Mets activated right-hander Drew Smith from the injured list and optioned him to their alternate site, per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com (via Twitter). The 27-year-old has been spotty, but intriguing in small samples for the Mets. Though he made just eight appearances last year, he has logged 35 innings in 35 appearances with a 4.11 ERA/4.08 FIP going back through 2018. Injuries have been the bugaboo for Smith, who missed all of 2019 after undergoing Tommy John surgery. His shoulder has been the issue of late, though hopefully, with some time at the alternate site, Smith can prove his readiness and soon get back to a big league mound.
- Star shortstop Trea Turner was removed from today’s game after getting plunked in the arm. He has a contusion on his left forearm, but testing came back negative, per Jesse Doughtery of the Washington Post (via Twitter). Turner may miss a game, but it sounds as if the Nats expect him to be okay. That’s critical for the Nationals, as Turner has taken over as their 3-hole hitter with Juan Soto on the shelf. The speedy shortstop looks at home in the middle of the order with a 120 wRC+ and 1.0 bWAR produced through 75 plate appearances prior to today’s game.
Pitching Notes: Corbin, Odorizzi, Tepera, Ohtani
Patrick Corbin was the subject of some trade discussions this winter, as ESPN.com’s Buster Olney (subscription required) reports that the Nationals had talks with other teams about the veteran left-hander. It isn’t clear whether the Nats initiated these talks or if other teams were exploring Corbin’s availability, or if any of these discussions were anything beyond standard offseason “checking-in” types of conversations. It could be that teams were trying to buy low on Corbin in the wake of a down year that saw him post a 4.66 ERA, 20.3% strikeout rate, and a career-low 90.2 mph average fastball velocity over 65 2/3 innings. Between 2020’s shortened season and Corbin’s stint on the COVID-related injury list this April, it makes it hard to gauge whether or not Corbin’s struggles last year and in the early days of the 2021 season are truly due to a decline.
Trading Corbin would have been quite the pivot for a Washington team that planned on contending in 2021. It’s possible the Nats could have looked to add Major League-ready pieces rather than prospects in any Corbin deal, or perhaps moved the southpaw for a comparably high-priced proven veteran. Corbin is owed $106MM from 2021-24 in the four remaining seasons of his original six-year, $140MM free agent deal from the 2018-19 offseason. The topic of a Corbin trade could be worth revisiting of the Nationals don’t get into the playoff race and become sellers at the trade deadline, though Corbin’s contract would seemingly make him one of the less-likely Nats players to be dealt, considering how D.C. has so many rental players available.
More pitching-related items…
- Jake Odorizzi is being examined today after having to leave yesterday’s game after just five pitches. More will be known when tests are complete, but Astros GM James Click gave an optimistic view on the injury during an interview on the team’s pregame radio show today (hat tip to Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle). “The initial read yesterday was more of a muscle cramp in the pronator muscle, which is not the flexor mass,” Click said.
- The Cubs announced that Ryan Tepera‘s three-game suspension was reduced to two games on appeal, and the right-hander will begin serving his suspension today. Tepera’s suspension was issued earlier this month after an incident that saw Tepera throw behind the Brewers’ Brandon Woodruff.
- We’ll conclude this edition of Pitching Notes with an item on…an outfielder, sort of. Shohei Ohtani played an inning of left field, moving from DH to the grass at the end of the Angels‘ 16-2 loss to the Astros yesterday. As Angels manager Joe Maddon told MLB.com’s Daniel Guerrero and other reporters, the move was made “out of necessity” due to a short-handed bench and outfielder Anthony Bemboom getting called to the mound for an inning of mop-up duty. There has often been speculation that Ohtani could be deployed in the outfield as a way of keeping him in the lineup and opening up Anaheim’s DH spot, but Maddon stressed that using Ohtani as a position player is “not part of the plans” going forward. Maddon did note, however, that Ohtani “is such a great athlete…I’m telling you he could do it.”
Latest On Jonathan Lucroy
Free agent catcher Jonathan Lucroy has turned down a few minor-league offers in hopes of landing an MLB opportunity, reports Robert Murray of FanSided (Twitter link). The 34-year-old has been on the open market since electing free agency after he was outrighted off the Nationals’ roster last week.
Lucroy is obviously far removed from his days as one of the sport’s premier backstops, having struggled to a .248/.315/.350 line with declining defensive metrics between 2017-19. He only played in one game for the Red Sox last season and unsurprisingly had to settle for a non-roster invitation to Spring Training with the White Sox over the winter.
The veteran backstop performed well this spring, but Chicago turned to younger options to back up Yasmani Grandal. Lucroy hit the open market and signed with the Nationals, who were down their presumptive catching tandem of Yan Gomes and Alex Avila due to COVID-19 spread within the organization. He made the Opening Day roster and played in five games, going 5-14 with a double and two strikeouts. Shortly after Gomes and Avila cleared health and safety protocols, though, Washington designated Lucroy for assignment.
The veteran cleared waivers and again hit free agency, but Nationals manager Dave Martinez expressed interest in bringing him back (presumably on a minor-league deal). It seems Lucroy and his representatives at Excel Sports Management remain willing to hold out for a more direct path back to the majors for now.
Murray suggests the Yankees, Blue Jays and Athletics as potential fits for Lucroy, although it’s unclear if any of those clubs have expressed interest. New York only has two catchers on the 40-man roster but current backup Kyle Higashioka is off to an incredible start to the season. Toronto is in the opposite situation. The Jays have four catchers on the 40-man, but their current big league options (Alejandro Kirk and Danny Jansen) haven’t played well early on. The A’s have a pair of 40-man options (Austin Allen and the struggling Aramís García) who could back up starter Sean Murphy. Lucroy spent the 2018 season with Oakland.