CarterHud

    The Philadelphia Phillies have placed 2B Cesar Hernandez on the 10-day DL with a left oblique strain.

     Hernandez, 27, has a .277 batting average, five homers, 14 RBIs and six steals in 259 Plate Appearances. He has a career .280 average, 13 homers, 102 RBIs and 43 stolen bases in 1589 Plate Appearances, all for the Phillies.

    To replace Hernandez, the Phillies activated RHP Joaquin Benoit from the 10-day DL.

    Benoit, 39, has a 3.68 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 22 innings this year, with one save. He has a career 3.79 ERA with 1031 strikeouts and 52 saves in 1040.1 innings for the Phillies, Toronto Blue Jays, Seattle Mariners, San Diego Padres, Detroit Tigers, Tampa Bay Rays and Texas Rangers.

        The Milwaukee Brewers have placed utility infielder (now their starting second baseman) Jonathan Villar on the 10-day DL with a back strain.

         Villar, 26, has a .213 batting average, six homers, 26 RBIs and 14 steals in 248 Plate Appearances. He has a career .253 batting average, 35 homers, 135 RBIs and 118 stolen bases in 1585 Plate Appearances for the Brewers and Houston Astros.

         To replace Villar, the Brewers recalled their number one prospect, OF Lewis Brinson from Colorado (AAA).

         Brinson, 23, has never played in the majors. He has a batting average of .312, six homers and 25 RBIs and seven steals in 204 Plate Appearances for Colorado this year. He has a minor league career batting average of .283 with 82 homers, 299 RBIs and 92 stolen bases in 2246 Plate Appearances in the Brewers and Texas Rangers organization. The Brewers acquired him midseason in 2016 as a piece for catcher Jonathan Lucroy. He\’s ranked as the 13th best prospect in Major League Baseball.

     The Philadelphia Flyers have signed defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere to a six year, $27 million extension. That is an AAV (average annual value) of $4.5 million.

     Gostisbehere, 24, scored 39 points (7 goals and 32 assists) in 76 games this season. He led the Flyers to the postseason in 2015-16 with 46 points (17 goals and 29 assists) in 64 games. That\’s 85 points (24 goals and 61 assists) in 142 career games (he played in 2 more games in 2014-15). He scored four points (all assists) in three games for team North America (Americans and Canadians age 23 or younger), which led North American defensemen.

     Gostisbehere now has the second highest cap hit among Flyers defenseman, to the overpayed Andrew MacDonald ($5 mil). UFAs Michael Del Zotto and Nick Schultz are the only other unsigned defensemen. Gostisbehere\’s college teammate Mike Vecchione, Nick Cousins and Roman Lyubimov are the only other unsigned RFAs. He\’ll be a UFA after the 2023-24 season, the second longest on the team to RW Jakub Voracek.

        The Houston Astros have placed ace LHP Dallas Keuchel on the 10-day DL with neck discomfort.

         Keuchel, 29, has struck out 69 batters in 75.2 innings this year. He leads the league in ERA (1.67) and wins (9). He has a career 3.60 ERA with 736 strikeouts in 914.2 innings, all for Houston. In 2015, Keuchel won the AL Cy Young award.

         \”Dallas was scratched last night due to his illness and not feeling right as he warmed up. We sent him back to Houston to see our doctors and for evaluation,\” Astros GM Jeff Luhnow said via text. \”He still has some neck discomfort from his prior injury that has returned so he will not make his next start. We do not have a timetable for his return.\”

          Keuchel becomes the 4th Astros starter on the DL currently, joining Collin McHugh (elbow), Charlie Morton (lat strain) and Joe Musgrove (shoulder).

           The Astros also called up their top prospect, RHP Francis Martes from Fresno (AAA), and transferred McHugh to the 60 day DL. Martes, 21, has struggled this year with a 5.29 ERA in eight starts. He\’ll be most likely used in a long relief role. MLB Pipeline ranks him as the 15th best prospect overall.

     The Los Angeles Kings have locked up right winger Tyler Toffoli, signing him to a three year extension. The AAV is $4.6 million, and $13.8 million altogether. It\’s a similar deal to what teammate and left winger Tanner Pearson got at 4 years, $15 million.

    \”Signing both Pearson and Toffoli was a top priority for us this summer,\” Kings GM Rob Blake told the Los Angeles Times. \”Both are core players who will help us with leadership in the locker room and both can move forward with confidence knowing they will be here for years to come.\”

       Toffoli, 25, scored career highs in goals (31) and points (58) in 2015-16, but a knee injury kept him to just 3 games in 2016-17, where he scored 34 points (16 goals and 18 assists). He\’s scored 175 points (84 goals and 91 assists) in 293 career NHL games, all for the Kings. They drafted him 47th overall (2nd round) in the 2010 NHL draft.
 
        In his rookie season of 2013-14, Toffoli scored 14 points in 26 playoff games en route to a Stanley Cup victory.

        With Pearson and Toffoli signed, that leaves defenseman Kevin Gravel and forwards Andy Andreoff and Nick Shore as the remaining unsigned RFAs for the Kings.