This article is part of our The Z Files series.
With the news Yoenis Cespedes is done for the season and Bryce Harper's return isn't imminent, I thought it would be a good idea to go check on some players that have been out awhile and gauge their chances of helping down the stretch, as well as how their club will make room for their return. Please note, I'm focusing on players who have been out for more than a couple weeks. The site does a great job tracking all injured players.
J.J. Hardy, SS, Baltimore Orioles: Hardy hasn't played since hurting his wrist June 18. To help fill the void, the Orioles acquired Tim Beckham. Initially, the plan was for Hardy to reclaim his job as starting shortstop, with Beckham sliding into a utility role. However, something happened on the way to Camden Yards as Beckham has crushed it in Baltimore, sporting a .385/.409/.685 triple slash with his new club. Let's be honest; no one is waiting with bated breath for Hardy to come back and bolster their offense. The concern is Beckham losing playing time. Beckham can play second and third as well, but of course that's where Jonathan Schoop and Manny Machado hang out. That said, the club will want to carve out some playing time for Hardy, so at minimum, I can see Mark Trumbo grabbing his mitt and roaming in right field against southpaws, clearing designated hitter for Beckham – or perhaps Machado or Schoop, keeping their bats in the
With the news Yoenis Cespedes is done for the season and Bryce Harper's return isn't imminent, I thought it would be a good idea to go check on some players that have been out awhile and gauge their chances of helping down the stretch, as well as how their club will make room for their return. Please note, I'm focusing on players who have been out for more than a couple weeks. The site does a great job tracking all injured players.
J.J. Hardy, SS, Baltimore Orioles: Hardy hasn't played since hurting his wrist June 18. To help fill the void, the Orioles acquired Tim Beckham. Initially, the plan was for Hardy to reclaim his job as starting shortstop, with Beckham sliding into a utility role. However, something happened on the way to Camden Yards as Beckham has crushed it in Baltimore, sporting a .385/.409/.685 triple slash with his new club. Let's be honest; no one is waiting with bated breath for Hardy to come back and bolster their offense. The concern is Beckham losing playing time. Beckham can play second and third as well, but of course that's where Jonathan Schoop and Manny Machado hang out. That said, the club will want to carve out some playing time for Hardy, so at minimum, I can see Mark Trumbo grabbing his mitt and roaming in right field against southpaws, clearing designated hitter for Beckham – or perhaps Machado or Schoop, keeping their bats in the lineup with Beckham in the field. The loser in this scenario is Craig Gentry, hurting only those in deep AL-only formats. Baltimore is slated to face three straight left-handers starting Sunday, so we should learn quickly if my idea holds water. For what it's worth, Baltimore plays the Yankees and Red Sox at the end of September, both of which sport lefty-heavy rotations.
Andre Ethier, OF, Los Angeles Dodgers: Ethier will be joining the Dodgers on Sept. 1, having missed the entire season to this point with a herniated disc. Even with Joc Pederson toiling for Triple-A Oklahoma City, there isn't a role for Ethier save for pinch hitting and the occasional start to keep the troops fresh for the playoffs. While we're with the Dodgers, Chris Taylor need not be worried. Pederson has registered a .382 OPS on the farm. By comparison, Taylor's OBP is .376.
Carlos Correa, SS, Houston Astros: Barring a setback, Correa's on pace to return to the Astros by the end of Labor Day weekend. The club's primary objective is to have everyone fresh for the playoffs, but they wouldn't mind securing home-field advantage through the American League Championship Series. The team is in the driver's seat, though Cleveland and Boston are both well within range, so it still behooves Houston to field their best lineup. But what is the best lineup? Alex Bregman and Yulieski Gurriel have been solid the past month. Marwin Gonzalez has scuffled lately but overall has enjoyed a nice campaign. To me, the most likely scenario is Bregman continuing to play regularly, with Gonzalez, Gurriel and Beltran losing a couple of games a week, eating into the playing time of Derek Fisher and Jake Marisnick. Circling back to Correa, he was in the midst of an outstanding season, one worthy of first-round consideration in 2018 drafts. Recent history with similar thumb injuries suggests once Correa knocks of the rust, he should be able to pick up where he left off. That is, don't worry about a drop in power.
Johnny Cueto, SP, San Francisco Giants: Cueto has express the desire to not only come back this year, but stay with the club next season and not exercise his opt out. He'll be granted the first part after the Giants announced their intent to activate him to start Friday night. Personally, I'm not counting on anything from the veteran in September and will treat him as an SP4 in 2018. Granted, his 2017 performance could be health related and he certainly deserves the benefit of the doubt based on his track record. However, while I don't want to have any knee-jerk reactions to this odd season, one repercussion will be to not to get cute with my SP1-SP3. The margin of error drafting pitching the past few years has vaporized. Cueto is a floor guy, as opposed to ceiling. I'm a proponent of team construction and not just drafting name, stats or value in a vacuum. With Cueto in the past, I would feel safe grabbing a couple of high strikeout but risky hurlers. Examples heading into 2017 would've been Robbie Ray and Danny Salazar. If the risky play fails, Cueto still buffers ratios. Now, though, if Cueto also struggles, not only am I chasing lost strikeouts, but ratios are also affected. I just don't have the same confidence I can deploy Cueto in that matter.
Garrett Richards, SP, Los Angeles Angels: With the Angels in the thick of the AL Wild Card hunt, Richards could offer the Halos a much-needed shot in the arm. On Wednesday night, he made his first rehab start since hurting his bicep opening week. The righty hit 96 on the gun, tossing two scoreless frames and allowing five hits with a pair of punch outs. He'll need at least one more, probably two more, rehab starts before rejoining the big club. Obviously, there's no way of telling how he'll do, but the velocity is promising. It doesn't hurt that Richards works half his games in a pitcher' park and will have an outstanding defense up the middle behind him. When he does come back, I'm cautiously optimistic Richards can make a difference down the stretch.
Justin Bour, 1B, Miami Marlins: Last week, I reviewed the Double-A and Triple-A teams in playoff contention, for the purpose of knowing which prospects may not come up when rosters first expand. Something else to keep in mind is teams with affiliates in the playoffs can use that for rehab for injured players. Bour is one such case, as Double-A Jacksonville is leading their division in the Southern League. There's still no timetable for his return, but the Marlins likely want to give Bour a shot at the three homers he needs to set a career high. Before getting hurt, Bour was well on his way to a career season, already meeting 2016 expectations. If he's available on your waiver wire, he's a nice stash, even if he only plays the final couple of weeks.
Matt Harvey, SP, New York Mets: I've been leery of Harvey all season, and remain such as he returns over the weekend. He threw 72 pitches in his last rehab effort and will likely be capped around 90 on Saturday. In his last two rehab outings he worked a total of seven frames, with five whiffs and two walks while allowing five earned runs on nine hits. I'll pass. For those waiting on Harvey's teammate Noah Syndergaard, it appears the club wants him to come back this season, but he's likely only going to get a handful of appearances as a reliever. This isn't official, but those holding onto Syndergaard hoping for a couple of outings late in September may want to look elsewhere.
Before I call it a day, here's a huge hat tip to RotoWire's outstanding notes team as they're responsible for a lot of the information presented. If you have a question on anyone currently on the shelf, believe me, you won't find any better updates than right here on the player pages.
