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Ronald Acuna Jr. Leaves Game Due To Abdominal Strain
9:50PM: Acuna has an abdominal strain, according to MLB.com’s Mark Bowman (Twitter link). A decision about an injured list placement will come tomorrow.
7:48PM: Braves superstar Ronald Acuna Jr. left tonight’s game against the Cubs in the fourth inning “due to pain in his lower abdominal muscles,” the team announced.
Acuna drew a walk to begin the fourth inning, and then “appeared to tweak something” (as per MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian) while diving back to the bag on a pickoff attempt. After advancing to second base on a Freddie Freeman walk, Acuna was visited by the Braves trainer but remained in the game, and later had to dive across the plate to score on a Travis d’Arnaud fly ball. For the bottom of the fourth, Ehire Adrianza took Acuna’s spot in right field and Johan Camargo entered the game to take over for Adrianza at second base.
More will be known about Acuna’s status after he undergoes tests, but needless to say, both Atlanta fans and the entire baseball world at large are holding their breath that the injury is a minor one. After establishing himself as one of the sport’s best players in his first three MLB seasons, Acuna is already drawing NL MVP buzz after hitting an extraordinary .419/.486/.887 with seven home runs over his first 72 plate appearances.
Should Acuna have to miss any time, he’ll join fellow outfielders Cristian Pache and Ender Inciarte on the injured list. The shorthanded Braves still have Marcell Ozuna in left field, but might have to rely on some combination of Guillermo Heredia, Adrianza, Camargo, or Austin Riley to handle the other two outfield positions in the interim. Atlanta does have several experienced options at its alternate training site (including Phil Ervin, Abraham Almonte, and Terrance Gore), as well as top prospect Drew Waters.
Monday’s Twins-Athletics Game Postponed
7:34PM: The Twins’ latest round of COVID-19 testing came back negative, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports (via Twitter). If tomorrow’s tests are also negative, the team will depart for Oakland with the intention of playing the Tuesday doubleheader.
1:37PM: Major League Baseball has confirmed the postponement of tomorrow’s game. A Tuesday doubleheader has been tentatively scheduled.
1:29PM: Athletics manager Bob Melvin told reporters this afternoon it is his understanding tomorrow’s game between the Twins and Athletics will be postponed (via Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press). The hope is the two teams will be able to return to action on Tuesday, with a doubleheader to make up Monday’s game a possibility.
The Twins’ past two games against the Angels were postponed due to the spread of a COVID-19 variant among the Minnesota clubhouse. To date, three Minnesota players (including Andrelton Simmons and Kyle Garlick) and a staff member have tested positive. The Twins are continuing to monitor for further viral spread.
Minnesota and Oakland were originally scheduled for a three-game series from April 19-21. Both teams have a scheduled off day on Thursday.
West Notes: Ohtani, Posey, Owings, Long
Shohei Ohtani has been scheduled to start Tuesday’s game against the Rangers, the Angels announced today. The two-way star has pitched just once this season due to a blister on the middle finger of his throwing hand, but he threw three bullpen sessions this week of increasing pitch volume, topping out at a 30-pitch bullpen on Saturday.
With no further issues in the wake of these sessions, Ohtani will look to build on an inconsistent first start that saw him allow one earned run over 4 1/3 innings against the White Sox on April 4, but with five walks and two hits allowed. While Ohtani has been kept off the mound, the blister hasn’t slowed down his red-hot bat, as Ohtani is hitting .333/.370/.706 with four home runs in 54 plate appearances.
More from both the AL West and NL West..
- It isn’t yet known if Buster Posey will require an injured list placement, as Giants manager Gabe Kapler said the catcher will be re-evaluated on Monday. Speaking to reporters (including Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle and The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly) before and after today’s game with the Marlins, Kapler said pre-game that there was some swelling in Posey’s left elbow, but during the post-game noted that the swelling had lessened. Posey left Saturday’s game in the seventh inning after being hit by a pitch, and x-rays were negative on the catcher’s elbow.
- The Rockies moved Chris Owings from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day injured list earlier today, as Owings will have to undergo surgery on his left thumb. Manager Bud Black told The Athletic’s Nick Groke and other reporters that Owings will need at least eight weeks of recovery time. Owings’ injury was initially diagnosed as a left thumb sprain when he was first placed on the IL last week, but the veteran utilityman is now going to end up missing a big chunk of the 2021 campaign.
- After undergoing surgery last September to fix a stress fracture in his right shin, Mariners utilityman Shed Long continues to make some progress on the recovery trail. Manager Scott Servais updated reporters (including Jen Mueller of Root Sports) on Long, saying that he is still having difficulty making changes of direction on his shin and making stops when running, though Long is able to run and sprint without any problems. It isn’t yet known when Long might be ready to make his 2021 debut.
Cubs Activate Austin Romine, Outright Tony Wolters
TODAY: Wolters cleared waivers and has been outrighted to the Cubs’ alternate training site, the team announced.
APRIL 14: The Cubs announced Tuesday that they’ve reinstated catcher Austin Romine from the 10-day injured list and designated fellow backstop Tony Wolters for assignment in order to open a spot on the roster. Romine was sidelined by a knee sprain partway through Spring Training, prompting the Cubs to bring Wolters in on a big league deal.
Romine, 32, inked a one-year, $1.5MM deal over the winter and is expected to serve as the primary backup option to Willson Contreras. He hit just .238/.259/.323 in 135 plate appearances with the Tigers in 2020 but is only a year removed from a more impressive .281/.310/.439 output with the Yankees.
Wolters, 28, appeared in three games with the Cubs and went hitless in five trips to the plate. He spent most of Spring Training with the Pirates but opted out of that deal after Pittsburgh went with waiver claim Michael Perez as the backup to starter Jacob Stallings. Wolters spent the 2016-20 seasons as the Rockies’ primary catcher and posted a tepid .238/.323/.319 batting line in that time (57 wRC+, 61 OPS+), although he’s known more for his glove than his bat.
The Cubs will have a week to trade Wolters, pass him through outright waivers or release him.
Starling Marte Leaves Game Due To Possible Oblique Injury
Marlins outfielder Starling Marte left today’s game in the middle of a ninth-inning plate appearance due to what appeared to be an injury to his side or oblique area. After the first two pitches of the at-bat, Marte grabbed at his side, and was taken out of the game after being observed by manager Don Mattingly and a team trainer.
Speaking to The Miami Herald’s Jordan McPherson and other reporters after the game, Mattingly said that Marte wanted to keep playing, but the skipper opted to be cautious.
“He’s a big part of what we do. He’s that cog in the offense, defense, on the bases….That’s the reason to pull him out of the game,” Mattingly said. “You don’t want to lose this guy for six weeks. It could be a couple weeks. It could be 10 days. It could be five days. We want it to be the minimum.”
While Marte will undergo further testing to determine the extent of the injury, Mattingly comments seem to indicate that the center fielder will miss at least some time, and likely make a trip to the 10-day injured list. If the injury is indeed oblique-related, it would be the third such injury of Marte’s career, though the first two IL stints (in 2012 and 2018) didn’t keep Marte out of action for too long.
Nonetheless, any setback is an unfortunate interruption to Marte’s superb start, as he had a .310/.414/.483 slash line and two home runs over his first 70 PA of the season. Magneuris Sierra is the most probable candidate to step into center field duty if Marte does have to miss an extended amount of time, and Miami could also call up Lewis Brinson or Monte Harrison from the alternate training site.
Latest On Cubs, Javier Baez
The status of extension talks between the Cubs and each of Javier Báez, Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo has been one of the biggest stories surrounding the team over the past couple years. There were some public discussions between the Cubs and Báez during the 2019-20 offseason, and Buster Olney of ESPN now sheds light on those discussions.
The Cubs offered Báez an extension “in the range of $180MM” after the 2019 season, Olney reports. Of course, the two-time All-Star declined that proposal and the sides haven’t yet managed to come to terms on a multi-year deal. The Cubs and Báez ultimately settled on a $10MM salary to avoid arbitration in 2020 (prior to proration) and agreed on an $11.65MM deal for 2021 this past offseason.
There are plenty of obstacles standing in the way of Báez securing such a lofty deal at this point. Revenue losses due to the intervening COVID-19 pandemic affected plenty of teams’ willingness to spend this past winter, the Cubs chief among them. Chicago opened 2021 with an estimated payroll just shy of $148MM, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts, far below their $203MM outlay in the season before the pandemic. Shedding salary was no doubt a factor in the decision to trade Yu Darvish to the Padres in a deal with very little recent precedent.
Even more significantly, though, Báez’s personal production has cratered since that offseason. At the time of the reported offer, the star shortstop was coming off a two-year run in which he’d hit .286/.321/.544 (123 wRC+) while playing high-end defense. He’d earned All-Star selections in both 2018 and 2019 and finished as the National League MVP runner-up in the first of those years. It’s easy to see why the Cubs felt comfortable investing in Báez long-term and why the player was willing to bet on himself continuing to perform at an elite level.
That’s not what’s happened, at least to this point. Over the past two years, Báez is hitting just .201/.241/.376 in 291 plate appearances. Controlling the strike zone has never been his calling card, but Báez’s 2.7% walk rate and 34.4% strikeout rate in that time are untenable figures. The 28-year-old has continued to play a strong shortstop, but his 63 wRC+ is fourth-worst among the 190 players to take at least 200 plate appearances over the last two years.
There had been some hope Báez could rebound from his 2020 struggles in a longer, more normal season. His bottom line results have indeed been better (albeit still below-average) thanks to the four home runs he’s popped. But Báez’s underlying process metrics are equally or more concerning. His 44.6% strikeout rate is up twelve points relative to last season, while his walks have fallen even further.
Most concerning, Báez has made contact on less than half his swings (48.7%) in this season’s early going. For reference, he connected on a little more than two-thirds of his cuts during his peak years, and even made contact at a 64.2% clip last year. Only Sam Hilliard has a lower contact rate among the 259 players with 30+ plate appearances, with every other hitter in the league putting the bat on the ball at least 54.9% of the time.
There’s plenty of time for Báez to right the ship, but he’ll need to make significantly more contact in the coming months if he’s to secure a massive deal from the Cubs or any other team. The two sides remain in contact, with Báez reiterating in February he hopes to work out an extension with Chicago rather than go elsewhere in free agency.
White Sox Place Lance Lynn On Injured List
3:47 pm: The team is hopeful Lynn will only need to miss one start, per Fegan (via Twitter).
3:24 pm: The White Sox are placing right-hander Lance Lynn on the injured list with a strained right trapezius muscle, retroactive to April 17, James Fegan of the Athletic was among those to relay (Twitter link). Reliever Zack Burdi is being recalled from the alternate training site in a corresponding move.
Chicago acquired Lynn from the Rangers over the winter in one of the biggest offseason moves for any team. The 33-year-old (34 next month) has given the Sox everything they could’ve asked for over his first three starts, tossing 19.2 innings of 0.92 ERA/2.36 SIERA ball, striking out 27 against only two walks. The White Sox didn’t announce a timetable for his potential return.
With Lynn sidelined, Chicago figures to lean on a rotation of Lucas Giolito, Dallas Keuchel, Dylan Cease, Michael Kopech and Carlos Rodón. Kopech is slated to start this evening’s game against the Red Sox.
East Notes: McHugh, Orioles, Nationals, Sanchez, Jays
The Rays placed reliever Collin McHugh on the 10-day injured list with a back strain, relays Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link). Fellow righty Chris Mazza, who had recently been optioned, was recalled to take his place in the bullpen. It’s yet another injury for the Rays’ relief core, which had already lost Nick Anderson, Chaz Roe and Pete Fairbanks in the season’s early going. McHugh, signed to a one-year deal over the offseason, has pitched 5.1 innings for Tampa Bay to this point, allowing eight runs (six earned) but striking out five with just one walk issued.
More out of the AL and NL East:
- Orioles outfielder Austin Hays looks likely to be activated from the injured list on Tuesday, writes Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. The 25-year-old was placed on the IL a little less than two weeks ago due to a hamstring strain, but it seems he’ll make a return in short order. Hays has played in exhibition games at the alternate training site in each of the past two days without issue, Kubatko notes. The Orioles also optioned right-hander Dean Kremer to the alternate site after his start last night in Texas, per Kubatko. A pair of scheduled off days obviate the need for a fifth starter, so Baltimore recalled Cole Sulser to add to the relief corps for now.
- Nationals manager Dave Martinez provided updates on a pair of sidelined pitchers this afternoon (via Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com). Starter Jon Lester will throw an 80-pitch simulated game on Tuesday as he builds up strength from a stint on the COVID-19 injured list. Lester is the only Washington player who remains sidelined from the team’s coronavirus situation at the beginning of the year. Reliever Will Harris, meanwhile, threw a 26-pitch bullpen session this morning and is again scheduled to do so Tuesday. The veteran righty has yet to make his season debut after undergoing surgery in late March.
- The Nationals also remain in contact with the representatives for free agent right-hander Aníbal Sánchez, reports Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post (Twitter link). The veteran, who pitched for Washington from 2019-20, had been expected to sign earlier this month but he cut his finger during a showcase for teams, delaying those plans.
- The Blue Jays placed reliever Jordan Romano on the injured list on Thursday, but the team is hopeful he’ll return when first eligible April 25, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet was among those to note (Twitter links). Fellow righty Tyler Chatwood should also return in short order, while flamethrower Nate Pearson is in line to throw live batting practice Tuesday as he builds back from the groin injury that has delayed his season debut.
Dodgers Place Gavin Lux On Injured List, Activate Brusdar Graterol
The Dodgers are placing second baseman Gavin Lux on the 10-day injured list with right wrist soreness, retroactive to April 16, Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times and Juan Toribio of MLB.com were among those to pass along. Infielder Sheldon Neuse is being recalled to take his place on the active roster. Additionally, right-hander Brusdar Graterol is being activated from the injured list, with fellow reliever Alex Vesia optioned out in a corresponding move.
Lux is having issue swinging a bat, manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register), but the Dodgers don’t believe he’ll be in for lengthy absence. Roberts noted he expects Lux to be in position to return when first eligible for activation on April 26. The Dodgers will turn to Neuse, who was acquired from the Athletics over the offseason, this afternoon to make his team debut.
Like Neuse, Graterol is in position to play for the first time this season. The fireballing reliever was delayed in camp but returns to the bullpen a couple weeks into the regular season. He tossed 23.1 innings of 3.09 ERA/3.70 SIERA ball last season.
To clear 40-man roster space for Graterol’s activation, the Dodgers placed right-hander Ashton Goudeau on waivers, where he was claimed by the Rockies. Goudeau actually broke into the majors with Colorado last season, tossing 8.1 innings over four games. He’s since bounced between a handful of teams on waivers, going from the Rockies to the Pirates to the Orioles to the Giants before landing in Los Angeles. Now, he’ll head back to the Rockies in hopes of sticking on a roster. To clear 40-man roster space for Goudeau, Colorado transferred utilityman Chris Owings (thumb) to the 60-day injured list.
