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Astros, Andrew Knapp Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Astros are in agreement on a minor league pact with catcher Andrew Knapp, the club informed reporters (including Chandler Rome of the Athletic). He’ll report to Triple-A Sugar Land.

Knapp had been released from a minor league pact with the Tigers last week. The switch-hitting backstop had a respectable 70-game run with their top affiliate in Toledo, hitting .253/.337/.397 through 267 plate appearances. He struck out in just over a quarter of his trips but walked at a solid 10.1% clip.

While he didn’t get to the majors in Detroit, the former second-round draftee has seen a fair bit of MLB action. Knapp has played parts of six campaigns, five of which came in Philadelphia. He got brief stints with each of Pittsburgh, Seattle and San Francisco last year. In 325 career games, Knapp is a .209/.310/.313 hitter. Statcast has given him below-average grades for his framing and blocking. He has a modest 18.8% caught stealing rate at the MLB level but has cut down a solid 28.2% of baserunners this year in Triple-A.

Knapp brings plenty of experience as a non-roster option in the upper minors. There’s little need for catching help at the big league level, where Martín Maldonado is ensconced as the top option and backup Yainer Diaz is having a strong rookie season. The only other catcher on the 40-man roster is César Salazar, a 27-year-old with 13 games of big league experience. Knapp adds a veteran presence as injury insurance. Since he’s in the organization before September 1, he’d be eligible for postseason play if the Astros qualify.

AL West Notes: Brantley, Heim, Ohtani

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It has been over a year since Michael Brantley underwent shoulder surgery and even longer (June 26, 2022) since the veteran slugger appeared in a big league game.  However, Brantley’s long recovery process may finally be nearing an end, as Astros GM Dana Brown told 790 AM’s Robert Ford in a radio interview today (hat tip to Danielle Lerner of the Houston Chronicle) that Brantley might begin a minor league rehab assignment within a week’s time.  “This was the time where we really started to grind [Brantley] a little bit where he got sore and the fact that he’s pushing through this, there’s no soreness,” Brown said.  “He’s feeling really good, this feels like a special moment to try get that left-handed bat back….So hopefully he continues to feel well.”

The Astros were confident enough in Brantley’s recovery to sign him to a one-year, $12MM free agent deal last winter, though an initial expectation of an Opening Day return was delayed a season-opening stint on the injured list.  Brantley was then expected back early in May except another setback shut down his rehab entirely, and he had to briefly shut things down again July after restarting his hitting work in June.  Brown’s comments today provide some fresh optimism, but considering Brantley has yet to face live pitching, it may still be a while before he is fully ramped up and ready for MLB competition.  Speculatively, Brantley might be on track for a September return if all goes well, which could provide the Astros with a nice boost for the stretch run and perhaps into the playoffs.

More from the AL West…

  • The Rangers activated catcher Jonah Heim from the 10-day injured list today, and optioned Sam Huff to Triple-A in the corresponding move.  After a left wrist tendon strain sent Heim to the IL on July 27, he returns within the 2-3 week recovery timeline that was initially projected at the time of his placement.  Heim’s outstanding performance in the first half earned an All-Star nod, though his absence hasn’t slowed the Rangers down at all, in part because Mitch Garver has also been hitting up a storm in a part-time catching role.  Even if Heim’s wrist problem limits him to being a left-handed batter rather than a switch-hitter, Garver’s presence should guard Texas against any sort of offensive dropoff behind the plate.
  • Shohei Ohtani will skip his next scheduled start due to arm fatigue, Angels manager Phil Nevin told the Associated Press and other media.  Ohtani was initially slated to face the Rangers on Wednesday, but due to what Nevin described as “some normal arm fatigue that happens at times,” the Halos will now hold Ohtani’s next start back until a series with the Reds that begins on August 21.  The arm issue won’t prevent Ohtani from his usual regular DH duty, and the two-way superstar underlined that point by hitting a home run (his 41st of the season) in the Angels’ 2-1 victory over the Astros today.

Astros Place Jose Abreu, Phil Maton On Injured List

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The Astros announced that first baseman Jose Abreu has been placed on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to August 10), and that right-hander Phil Maton has been placed on the 15-day IL.  Abreu is dealing with lumbar spine inflammation while Maton has a right elbow contusion.  Infielder David Hensley and left-hander Parker Mushinski were called up from Triple-A in corresponding moves.

Abreu’s back has been an issue for both the last few days, and for much of the season, as he revealed to The Athletic’s Chandler Rome (Twitter links) and other reporters today.  The IL placement seemed to be sparked when an MRI revealed the inflammation, and Abreu received two cortisone shots to help ease the discomfort.

The back problem continues what has been a rough debut season for the veteran first baseman in Houston.  After signing a three-year, $58.5MM free agent contract with the Astros last winter, Abreu has stumbled to a .234/.291/.343 slash line and 10 homers over 464 plate appearances.  Abreu and the Rockies’ Jurickson Profar each have a 75 wRC+, tied for the lowest wRC+ of any player in baseball with at least 450 PA in the 2023 campaign.

It has been a surprising result for a player who was so consistently productive over his nine previous seasons with the White Sox, and yet Abreu made a point of not using his back problems as an excuse, telling Rome and company “this is not a justification for the hitter I’ve been for the past four months.”

The Astros selected Jon Singleton’s contract from Triple-A earlier this week, and the former top prospect will continue to get a good chunk of the first base playing time while Abreu is sidelined.  Hensley and Mauricio Dubon could also chip in, though Houston might also opt to use Yainer Diaz more often at the cold corner, when Diaz isn’t catching.  The rookie has hit very well in his first extended taste of MLB action, and the Astros have been using first base and the DH spot to keep Diaz in the lineup when Martin Maldonado is behind the plate.

Maton was hit in the elbow by a line drive in Friday’s game, which forced him to make an early exit from his relief outing.  Rome reports that initial x-rays didn’t show a fracture, but Maton will undergo more x-rays and an MRI in due course.

Injuries have plagued Houston’s rotation all season, but the bullpen has been relatively healthy, and a big reason why the Astros have been able to largely withstand their thinned-out starting staff.  Maton has enjoyed a very solid campaign, posting a 3.04 ERA and an above-average 26.2% strikeout rate.  Though Maton isn’t a hard thrower and his walk rate is below average, he has elite spin rates and his fastball and curveball, and his 23.1% hard-hit ball rate is the lowest in the majors.

The Astros can only hope that the further scans don’t reveal a more serious problem for Maton, as the club needs their bullpen to keep contributing during the playoff push.  Houston already added to their relief depth in acquiring Kendall Graveman at the trade deadline, a move that looks even shrewder now that Maton will miss at least the next 15 days.

Astros Outright Bligh Madris

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Aug. 10: Madris went unclaimed on waivers and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Sugar Land, tweets Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle.

Aug. 8: The Astros announced that outfielder Bligh Madris has been designated for assignment. His roster spot will go to Jon Singleton, whose selection was reported yesterday.

Madris, 27, has been bounced on and off the Houston rosters this year, both the active and 40-man versions. Acquired from the Tigers in an offseason cash deal, he didn’t make the Astros out of Spring Training and was designated for assignment on Opening Day. He cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A, sticking in the organization. He was added back to the club’s roster in June but was put into just 12 games in a span of over one month before being optioned a couple of weeks ago.

Between his stint with the Astros this year and the Pirates last year, he’s hit just .173/.248/.252 in 153 major league plate appearances. He’s generally fared much better in the minors, including a line of .243/.357/.442 in Triple-A this year. Though in the offensively-charged environment of the Pacific Coast League, that amounts to a wRC+ of just 92.

With the trade deadline now in the past, the Astros will have no choice but to place Madris on outright waivers or release waivers. Since he was previously outrighted, he would have the right to reject a second such assignment in favor of electing free agency. Though this year hasn’t been amazing, he hit .297/.366/.510 in the minors last year and still has a couple of option years, including this one, as well as less than a year of service time. He could potentially be a long-term depth piece for any club willing to give him a 40-man roster spot.

Astros Notes: Tucker, Abreu, Rotation

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The Astros and right fielder Kyle Tucker discussed a long-term contract in the offseason and into spring training, but no deal was reached by the time the season got underway, and general manager Dana Brown noted at the time that negotiations were “paused” for the time being. Brown piqued the fan base’s interest in his weekly appearance on 790 AM’s Sean Salisbury Show that he’s optimistic the two sides will work out a deal and that Tucker will spend his career with the Astros. He later clarified, however, that talks have yet to resume since being put on hold (link via Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle).

The 26-year-old Tucker has delivered in spades both on his lofty draft status (No. 5 overall in 2015) and his top-prospect billing. Already a two-time All-Star and a 2022 Gold Glove winner, he’s in the midst of perhaps the finest season of his exceptional young career. In 113 games and 481 plate appearances, Tucker has slashed .296/.377/.517 with 21 home runs, 28 doubles and 24 stolen bases (in 27 attempts). He’s just one steal shy of last year’s career-high mark, and he’s on pace for his third consecutive 30-homer season. This year’s 11.6% walk rate is easily a career-high mark, while his 12.9% strikeout rate is both a personal low and the ninth-lowest mark among all qualified big league hitters.

Tucker entered the 2023 season with 3.079 years of big league service and will finish at 4.079, leaving him arbitration-eligible for another two seasons. Given his age, draft/prospect pedigree and general excellence to date, there’s little reason to expect any sort of downturn in the near future. Were Tucker to naturally reach free agency by accruing six years of MLB service, he’d do so heading into his age-29 season — and likely in position to command a contract in excess of $200MM.

The Astros haven’t necessarily shied away from large payroll commitments, but they’ve typically preferred to mitigate the length of any high-priced deals. Jose Altuve’s extension promised him five years and $151MM on top of the remaining two years and $12.5MM on his prior contract. Yordan Alvarez’s six-year, $115MM contract is the longest handed out under owner Jim Crane. That deal covered all three of Alvarez’s arbitration seasons and three would-be free agent years. Tucker is already playing his first arb year on a $5MM salary and will be due a substantial raise this offseason.

Any extension for Tucker would presumably need to top Alvarez’s deal by a good margin — not only in terms of overall guarantee but in terms of length. The six-year term Alvarez landed would cover Tucker’s age-27 through age-32 seasons and set him up for free agency in advance of his age-33 season. It stands to reason that a player of his caliber would more likely be seeking a deal of eight-plus years in length, particularly now that he’s only two seasons removed from hitting the open market in prime position for a mega-deal.

For now, Brown stressed that the focus is squarely on attempting to overtake the Rangers for the lead in the American League West and to engineer another deep postseason run. Tucker will play a focal part of those efforts, of course, but the ’Stros were dealt some potentially difficult news regarding another key contributor following last night’s game. Manager Dusty Baker told reporters this morning that first baseman Jose Abreu reported discomfort in his lower back following yesterday’s game (Twitter link via Joe Trezza of MLB.com). He’ll be evaluated further this weekend.

Abreu’s first season in Houston has been a forgettable one overall, but the former Rookie of the Year and MVP looked to be rediscovering his form earlier in the summer. After floundering to a .211/.276/.260 slash through his first two months, Abreu came roaring back with a .288/.330/.484 output over his next 200 plate appearances. While not quite his peak form, that was 22% better than league-average, by measure of wRC+, and Abreu looked well on his way to quieting concerns brought about by his sluggish start to the season.

Unfortunately, his production has cratered once again. Abreu has just three hits in his past 39 trips to the plate and has fanned at an uncharacteristic 28.2% clip in that time. It’s unclear how long his back has been ailing, but the recent downturn after an impressive performance in June and July could well be related to the apparent injury with which he’s dealing. The season-long numbers are still ugly (.234/.291/.343), but losing the June/July version of Abreu is a notable hit to any lineup.

Of course, for as many potent bats as the Houston lineup has featured in recent years, elite starting pitching has been a hallmark of Astros clubs throughout their recent peak. The trade deadline return of Justin Verlander should only help to continue that legacy, but the reacquisition of Verlander won’t necessarily cost someone his spot on the starting staff.

Trezza writes that the Astros are likely to move to a six-man rotation, at least for the time being, keeping rookie right-hander J.P. France in the mix. Calling baseball an “earn-it business,” Baker emphasized that France has indeed earned his spot and will stay on turn moving forward.

It’s hard to argue with that characterization. The 28-year-old France has turned in 95 innings of 2.75 ERA ball since making his big league debut earlier this season, emerging as a godsend in the wake of season-ending injuries to Lance McCullers Jr. and Luis Garcia. France has had some modest fortune on balls in play (.277 BABIP) and probably can’t continue stranding 81% of his baserunners — league average is 72% — but he’s looked the part of a solid big league starter even when accounting for some potential regression.

Keeping France in the rotation will have other benefits beyond his own performance. Hunter Brown is nearing last year’s total workload with seven weeks of the season yet to play out. Jose Urquidy just returned from a months-long absence due to a shoulder injury. Cristian Javier has been pitching better of late, but he hit a wall midsummer and had his spot in the rotation skipped heading into the All-Star break. Keeping France on the starting staff alongside Verlander, Brown, Javier, Urquidy and Framber Valdez will help the Astros to manage Brown’s workload and exercise caution, as necessary, with Urquidy and Javier.

Athletics Claim Spenser Watkins

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The A’s have claimed right-hander Spenser Watkins off waivers from the Astros, as first reported by Jessica Kleinschmidt (Twitter link). He’ll been assigned to Triple-A Las Vegas for the time being. Houston designated Watkins for assignment over the weekend when Jose Urquidy was reinstated from the 60-day injured list.

Watkins, 30, has a bit of major league experience but has been stuck in the minors all year. He tossed 160 innings for the Orioles over 2021 and 2022, allowing 5.85 earned runs per nine innings in that time. He only struck out 13.7% of batters faced but his 6.9% walk rate was quite strong.

This year, the O’s optioned him to Triple-A Norfolk at the end of Spring Training. He spent about a month on the minor league injured list and had only tossed 26 innings for the Tides with a 7.27 ERA by mid-June. He was designated for assignment and flipped to the Astros for cash. He tossed 20 1/3 innings for Triple-A Sugar Land with a 9.74 ERA, before getting his second DFA of the year this past weekend.

The results this year haven’t been great, but it’s likely not quite as bad as his combined 8.35 ERA would indicate. His .386 batting average on balls in play and 55.4% strand rate are both on the unlucky side of average, leading to a 5.27 FIP that’s much more palatable. The most recent chunk of his season was also spent in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, which likely didn’t do him any favors.

The A’s are the worst team in baseball, with a 32-81 record and .283 winning percentage. Their pitching staff has a collective 5.82 ERA that’s easily the worst in the majors. Watkins can provide them with a depth arm that has a bit of major league experience under his belt. He’s in his final option year and will be out of options next season, though he’s yet to reach arbitration and can potentially be controlled for five seasons beyond this one.

Astros To Select Jon Singleton

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The Astros are set to select the contract of first baseman Jon Singleton from Triple-A Sugar Land, Singleton himself tells Kristie Rieken of the Associated Press (Twitter link). He’s on his way to join the team in Baltimore. A corresponding 40-man roster move will need to be announced, though Houston already opened a spot on the 26-man roster by optioning Corey Julks to Triple-A earlier today.

The 31-year-old Singleton reached the Majors earlier this season with the Brewers — his first MLB stint since his original run with the Astros in 2014-15. Prior to making his MLB debut, Singleton inked a five-year, $10MM extension with the Astros that included a trio of club options. Both parties took some criticism from detractors, with Singleton in particular drawing flak for potentially selling himself short. In hindsight, taking the deal looks to have paid off; Singleton batted just .171/.290/.333 with the ’Stros in multiple stints before being released in 2018.

That was the first of three full seasons in which Singleton was out of baseball entirely. He turned up in the Mexican League during the 2021 season and hit well enough to draw looks with the Brewers on minor league contracts in both 2022 and 2023. Though he went just 3-for-29 with the Brewers in his return to MLB action earlier this year (to say nothing of a 34% strikeout rate), Singleton has turned in a combined .289/.409/.567 slash between the Triple-A affiliates for Milwaukee and Houston this season. He’s walked at an exceptional 17.3% clip against just a 20.6% strikeout rate between those two stops.

Houston has been on the lookout for extra left-handed bats for much of the season. Michael Brantley has yet to return to the lineup after signing a one-year, $15MM deal over the winter, as multiple setbacks have popped up in his rehab from shoulder surgery. Yordan Alvarez missed more than a month of the summer with an oblique strain, though he’s back in the lineup and again serving as a middle-of-the-order masher. GM Dana Brown said in the weeks leading up to the trade deadline that he’d love to add a left-handed bat, but no deal ever materialized, so the organization will turn to an old friend and look for a late-blooming breakthrough to help balance out an extremely righty-heavy roster.

Astros Option Corey Julks; Jon Singleton Promotion Under Consideration

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The Astros announced Monday that they’ve optioned struggling outfielder Corey Julks to Triple-A Sugar Land. Houston is off for the day, so a corresponding move wasn’t announced, but general manager Dana Brown said just yesterday that the club has been considering a promotion of former top prospect Jon Singleton (link via Chandler Rome of The Athletic). Houston would need to open a spot on the 40-man roster for Singleton if he is indeed called up.

Julks, 27, has been on Houston’s roster since Opening Day but has seen his playing time dwindle in recent weeks as the roster has gotten healthier and as his own production has waned. The 2017 eighth-rounder had a string of four consecutive multi-hit games in early July, but after collecting 11 hits in four days, he’s gone just 3-for-54 in his past 19 games (15 starts).

Julks hit .289/.333/.418 through his first 249 plate appearances this season but did so in large part because of a bloated .365 average on balls in play. That good fortune has completely evaporated (.071 BABIP during this slump), and the rookie outfielder is now hitting just .245/.299/.353 on the season (with a .306 BABIP that’s right in line with league average levels). He’s striking out at a higher-than-average 23.5% mark, while his 7.1% walk rate, 87.7 mph average exit velocity and 34.9% hard-hit rate are all lower than average.

The Astros have been without much in the way of left-handed bats throughout the season, thanks to multiple setbacks in Michael Brantley’s return from shoulder surgery and an oblique strain that sent Yordan Alvarez to the injured list for more than a month. Singleton could give the ’Stros a left-handed bat to help balance things out — if he can sustain any semblance of the minor league production he’s shown this year.

Singleton, 31, is a former Astros top prospect who took considerable flak for signing a five-year, $10MM extension with multiple club options before setting foot in the Majors. Critics at the time lamented that the young slugger had sold himself short, but in retrospect Singleton may well be glad he took that deal. No one can say precisely how things would’ve panned out at he declined the offer, but a then 22-year-old Singleton hit just .171/.290/.333 in multiple auditions with the Astros before eventually being released four years later, in 2018.

Out of baseball entirely from 2018-20, Singleton raked in the Mexican League in 2021 and parlayed that performance into minor league deals with the Brewers in 2022 and again this year. Milwaukee even brought Singleton back to the Majors earlier this season — his first MLB action since 2015. That promotion came on the heels of a .258/.384/.483 slash in Triple-A, but Singleton went just 3-for-29 with 11 strikeouts in 32 plate appearances during his brief time as a Brewer. He signed back with the Astros after being released and has since been on a tear in Triple-A.

In 148 trips to the plate with the Space Cowboys, Singleton has batted .333/.446/.692 with a dozen home runs, seven doubles, a 17.6% walk rate and a 23% strikeout rate. For a team that’s been seeking a left-handed bat for some time now, there’s little harm in giving Singleton at least a short-term look — particularly when at least one member of the bench group is struggling to the extent Julks has been of late.

Notably, Rome writes that Brown implied a trade for a left-handed bat never got all that close. Brown indicated that the teams with which he inquired were typically seeking a player of Houston’s Major League roster, and he was not inclined to “weaken our club while we were trying to strengthen our club.” The summer trade market was particularly thin on lefty bats. Switch-hitters Jeimer Candelario (a better right-handed hitter), Josh Bell and Carlos Santana were moved, as was utilityman Jace Peterson, but generally speaking it was a pitching-heavy slate of players that changed hands this summer.

Astros Activate Jose Urquidy From 60-Day IL

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The Astros have activated right-hander Jose Urquidy from the 60-day injured list, as noted by The Athletic’s Chandler Rome. To make room for Urquidy on the 40-man and active rosters, the Astros optioned left-hander Parker Mushinski to Triple-A and designated right-hander Spenser Watkins for assignment.

Urquidy, 28, made just six starts this season prior to going on the injured list with what was initially described as shoulder discomfort at the beginning of May. Urquidy was initially expected to be ready around the All-Star break, but fell behind that timetable as he has spent the past three weeks on a minor league rehab assignment, during which time he has posted a 4.50 ERA across four starts at the Double-A and Triple-A levels. Prior to going on the shelf, Urquidy had struggled to open the 2023 campaign, with a 5.20 ERA, 5.62 FIP, and a diminished 18.7% strikeout rate across 27 2/3 innings of work.

Despite his struggles and injuries this season, Urquidy’s return is nonetheless surely a relief for the Astros. With Urquidy, Luis Garcia and Lance McCullers Jr. all on the shelf throughout the 2023 campaign to this point, the Astros have been forced to rely on youngsters like JP France, Brandon Bielak, and Ronel Blanco to fill in alongside regulars Framber Valdez and Cristian Javier. With the return of Justin Verlander at the trade deadline and now Urquidy’s return from the injured list, the club’s rotation of Valdez, Verlander, Javier, Urquidy and rookie Hunter Brown is now firing on all cylinders. The Astros currently hold an AL Wild Card spot and figure to attempt to catch the AL West-leading Rangers over the next two months, with 2.5 games separating the division rivals.

Clearing the way for Urquidy’s return to the active roster is Mushinski, who sports a 2.79 ERA in 9 2/3 innings of work out of the Astros’ bullpen this season. Going forward he’ll return to the club’s Triple-A affiliate in Sugar Land, where he sports a 2.86 ERA in 22 innings of work this season, as he awaits his next big league opportunity. Meanwhile, Watkins appears poised to exit the Astros organization just six weeks after the club acquired him in a cash deal with the Orioles. Watkins never made an appearance with the big league club in Houston, but he has previous big league experience in the form of 39 appearances (30 starts) with the Orioles between 2021 and 2022, during which he posted a 5.85 ERA and 4.97 FIP in 160 innings of work.

The Astros will now have seven days to waive or release Watkins, who they will have the option of assigning outright to Triple-A in the event he is successfully passed through waivers. That being said, it’s certainly possible a rival club in need of rotation depth could see value in Watkins as an optionable starter who can be stashed in the minors as a potential fill-in option down the stretch.

Astros Release Blake Taylor, Joe Perez

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The Astros informed reporters (including Chandler Rome of the Athletic) that they’ve released reliever Blake Taylor and infielder Joe Perez. Both players had cleared outright waivers this afternoon. Rather than retain them at Triple-A Sugar Land, Houston elected to move on entirely.

Taylor made 92 appearances for Houston between 2020-22. The southpaw was generally successful at keeping runs off the board, working to a 3.06 ERA through 79 1/3 innings. Neither his 19.1% strikeout rate nor 12.6% walk percentage were particularly impressive, though, and Taylor had increasingly been pushed to low-leverage work.

He’d spent all of 2023 on optional assignment to Sugar Land. The 27-year-old carried a 5.15 ERA over 36 2/3 frames there, walking over 13% of batters faced against a modest 14.9% strikeout rate. He lost his roster spot earlier this week when Houston snagged Jake Cousins off waivers from Milwaukee.

Perez was the roster casualty from the Justin Verlander trade. The 23-year-old has one major league appearance, which came as a pinch-hitter last season. A former second-round pick, the righty-hitting Perez has a below-average .255/.328/.399 slash over 357 Triple-A plate appearances this year. Prospect evaluators have credited the 6’1″ corner infielder with promising raw power but swing-and-miss concerns. He’s gone down on strikes at a lofty 27.2% clip this season.

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