Here are today’s minor moves from around the league.
- The White Sox have announced that they’ve placed righty Reynaldo Lopez on the 10-day DL with a strained back. To take his place on the active roster, they’ve selected the contract of veteran righty Danny Farquhar. The extent of Lopez’s injury is unclear, although he left Thursday’s game with soreness in his ribcage, as MLB.com’s Scott Merkin notes. Farquhar pitched 35 innings in Tampa Bay’s bullpen earlier this season, posting a 4.11 ERA, 8.5 K/9 and 5.7 BB/9 before being released.
- The Blue Jays have announced that they’ve selected the contract of lefty T.J. House, optioning lefty Tim Mayza to Triple-A Buffalo to clear space. The 27-year-old House had pitched 130 2/3 innings in Buffalo’s rotation, posting a 4.27 ERA, 7.2 K/9 and 4.3 BB/9, though he’s expected to pitch in relief in this stint in the big leagues. He appeared in the Majors with Cleveland each of the last three seasons, making 18 big-league starts in 2014.
- The Jays also announced that they outrighted catcher Mike Ohlman to Buffalo. Ohlman was pressed into duty after a series of injuries to Jays catchers (including Russell Martin, Miguel Montero and Luke Maile) but was designated for assignment when Montero returned last week. The 26-year-old Ohlman collected 13 plate appearances with the Jays this year.
- The Cardinals have announced that they’ve selected the contract of righty Josh Lucas, optioning fellow righty Mike Mayers (who allowed five runs against Pittsburgh yesterday) to Triple-A Memphis to clear space. The 26-year-old Lucas is a former 21st-round pick and took a slow path through the minors, but he’s generally fared well since converting to relief in 2014, and this year he’s posted a 3.34 ERA, 10.3 K/9 and 1.4 BB/9 in 56 2/3 innings with Memphis.
- The Mariners have signed lefty Ashur Tolliver to a minor-league deal, according to an announcement from the Double-A Arkansas Travelers, to whom he’s been assigned. This will be Tolliver’s second stint with the Travelers — he briefly pitched for them last season, when they were an Angels affiliate. The Astros released Tolliver last week after he posted a 7.13 ERA, 7.1 K/9 and an alarming 8.4 BB/9 in 35 1/3 innings of relief with Triple-A Fresno. The 29-year-old has pitched brief big-league stints for Baltimore and Houston the past two seasons.
- The Phillies have announced that they’ve outrighted righty Pedro Beato to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. They designated Beato for assignment when they selected Pedro Florimon’s contract last week. Beato pitched just once for the Phillies before heading to the DL with a hamstring strain. He’s posted a 3.65 ERA, 6.9 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9 in 49 1/3 innings in Lehigh Valley’s bullpen this year.
- The Athletics have outrighted righty Zach Neal, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets. The A’s designated Neal on Wednesday when they added lefty Sam Moll to their roster. The 28-year-old Neal struggled in 14 2/3 innings with the big club, posting a 7.98 ERA and five home runs allowed, albeit with ten strikeouts and just one walk. He has pitched 74 innings this year for Triple-A Nashville (including making 12 starts), with a 4.99 ERA and just 4.3 K/9, although with a very good 1.0 BB/9.
Neal! Like this pitcher attitude when delivering!… He will be back with a very young but talented A’s team…
Hitters love him too
Good for the Jays to select TJ House. He was a good pitcher a few years ago. Hopefully he is all the way back to his form from the Cleveland days. I am getting a little tired of all these prospects or AAA caliber players the Jays are trying to use as big leaguers.
It appears the White Sox will now attempt to move yet another veteran reliever by the August 31st revocable waiver deadline in Danny Farquhar. They were able to add him to the 25-man active roster because they still had ample space on their 40-man reserve roster in the wake of all their recent trades of veterans for prospects.
That being said, the White Sox will have to address the starting rotation with Reynaldo Lopez now on the disabled list for at least 10 days in the midst of a concentrated schedule of games that will have the club playing 11 contest over the next 10 days. Highly regarded prospect Lucas Giolito was already officially announced as a starter for one of Monday’s doubleheader games versus the Twins so he will likely remain in the rotation and not merely be their allowed 26th player.
Lopez’ next scheduled start was to be next Tuesday so the White Sox will need to accommodate that spot with either recently demoted starter Mike Pelfrey or another pitcher from AAA Charlotte, perhaps Tyler Danish or Carson Fulmer who are each members of their 40-man roster. The organization is lacking any current veteran starting options at AAA but they still have a host of experienced relievers available for recall.
The organization’s top pitching prospect Michael Kopech was just promoted from AA to AAA but would be a highly unlikely promotion to the MLB roster in 2017. He’s already nearing his innings limit this season and MLB service time issues would be another concern facing the White Sox. I would expect Kopech to be shut down at the conclusion of Charlotte’s season in early September, get an invite to spring training as a non-roster invitee and begin the 2018 season as the Knights top starting pitcher. I wouldn’t anticipate Kopech making his MLB debut before May of next season and more likely not until later in the summer and beyond the Super-two threshold date in order for the organization to gain an extra year before his arbitration eligibility.
Good analysis. With twelve days left in the Rick Hahn garage sale, Farquhar and Gonzalez are likely the last two marketable pitchers. Holland has been too unreliable.
The rehab center for relievers in Charlotte still has Al Albuquerque, Steve Johnson, Mark Lowe, and Jean Machi. One member of this motley crew will likely get a call in September to burn innings, if Farquhar and Gonzalez are traded.
The rotation in September may include Danish, Fuller, Giolito and Lopez, each with innings limits.
Some contender might find some use for Derek Holland. Despite his poor stats as a starter the last couple of months the southpaw still holds decent splits versus left-handed hitters and may yet be a useful veteran piece in the bullpen as a lefty specialist or long reliever.
The list of disabled starting pitchers also continues to grow with the Dodgers Yu Darvish hitting the DL as I post and the Cubs Jon Lester achieving the same status yesterday. Miguel Gonzalez’ limited value as a back end rotation piece may continue to peak as August 31st approaches. Even Holland has 3 more scheduled starts for the White Sox this month, including tonight’s in Texas versus the Rangers, to potentially reclaim some of his lost value as a SP.
Holland’s stats tonight vs. the Rangers will surely have GMs lining up to grab him…. 7 runs, 6 hits, 4 walks in 2.2 innings screams “valuable veteran” every time.
Yeah, he was staked to a 5 run lead in the first inning versus his former team and threw batting practice until finally being replaced in the third inning. The rest of the pitching staff didn’t fare much better in the White Sox 17-7 shellacking.
It will be refreshing to see both Lucas Giolito and Carson Fulmer take the mound as starters next week as the White Sox continue to promote their top prospects from AAA Charlotte. It was painful at times watching the Cubs rebuild and figures to be no different with the White Sox in the next couple of seasons but it beats the mediocrity Chicago fans had to endure prior to those undertakings.
Fulmer stinks on ice right now. The guy may wind up being a bullpen/closer type but as a starter, he looks godawful
Fulmer – spellcheck struck again.
Fulmer – spellcheck strikes again.
Fulmer – spellcheck strikes again.
Not the only thing! You’re also stuck in repeat mode like Tom Cruise and Jake Gyllenhaal. lol
Your repetitive reliance on spellcheck is not going to get you Rave Reviews……
What do I have to do to get the Cardinals to call up one of their better prospects. Flaherty? Montgomery?
Be patient because they won’t be rushed to the majors. Expect to see both when rosters expand in September