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Archives for July 2019

Orioles Acquire Asher Wojciechowski

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The Orioles have acquired right-hander Asher Wojciechowski from the Indians in exchange for cash, per announcements from both teams. He’s been assigned to Triple-A Norfolk for the time being, although the O’s are listing a TBD for tomorrow night’s game, which would align with Wojciechowski’s schedule. He last started for Cleveland’s Triple-A club on June 26. MLB.com’s Joqe Trezza tweets that Dylan Bundy had been slated to pitch tomorrow night, and no reason has been given as to his apparent scratch from that start.

Wojciechowski, 30, has pitched to a 3.61 ERA with 8.7 K/9 against 3.3 BB/9 in 84 2/3 innings of Triple-A ball so far in 2019. Like many other pitchers in Triple-A this season, he’s been exceptionally home-run prone after the league switched the baseball. Wojciechowski has averaged two long balls per nine innings pitched, prompting fielding-independent metrics like FIP (5.80) and xFIP (5.50) to paint an uglier picture. It should be noted that homers have been a longstanding issue for Wojciechowski, but he’s never struggled with them to this extent in the minors.

Wojciechowski isn’t a stranger to the big leagues, having pitched 78 2/3 innings in the Majors between the Astros in 2015 and the Reds in 2017. Like recently acquired Tom Eshelman, who’ll start tonight for the O’s, Wojciechowski is something of a familiar face for Baltimore GM Mike Elias, whose time in the Houston front office overlapped with Wojciechowski’s four years in the Astros organization. The 6’4″ righty has yet to find much big league success (6.44 ERA), but he’s averaged better than a strikeout per inning in the Majors. In 635 career innings of Triple-A ball, Wojciechowski has a 4.27 ERA with 7.8 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9.

Orioles Select Tom Eshelman

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The Orioles announced Monday that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Tom Eshelman from Triple-A Norfolk. Lefty Josh Rogers, who is sidelined with a UCL injury, was transferred to the 60-day IL to open a spot on the 40-man roster. The Orioles have listed Eshelman as their probable starter tonight.

Baltimore acquired the 25-year-old Eshelman from the Phillies back on June 10 in exchange for international bonus allocations that the Phils used to sign Australian pitching prospect Josh Gessner. In 20 innings since being acquired by Baltimore, Eshelman has a 4.05 ERA with 11 strikeouts and six walks. Eshelman was originally drafted by the Astros when Mike Elias, now the Orioles’ general manager, was the scouting director in Houston. In all, the righty has pitched to a 4.46 ERA with 7.2 K/9 against 2.0 BB/9 in 74 2/3 minor league innings this season.

The Orioles have gotten disastrous results out of the final two spots in their rotation this season, with each of Dan Straily, Davis Hess and Alex Cobb throwing poorly in their time with the club. All-Star John Means and righties Andrew Cashner and Dylan Bundy have ranged from surprisingly excellent (Means) to generally serviceable (Bundy), but there are questions beyond that trio. Given the uncertain state of the rotation, Eshelman would seem to have a chance to carve out a long-term spot for himself if he can impress his new organization.

Rays Rumors: Smith, Deadline, McKay, Montreal Plan

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The Rays’ recent slump has seen them go 7-13, including a four-game sweep at Yankee Stadium, thus dropping them down the standings in the AL East rather precipitously. Tampa Bay had a half-game lead over New York as recently as June 10, but the Rays suddenly face a seven-game deficit in the division. As such, the team has had to “back off its trade pursuits,” Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports (subscription required). Tampa Bay still holds a Wild Card position in the AL, so it’s not as if the team will operate as a seller this month, but teams are often less aggressive at the deadline when they believe they’re playing for a one-game playoff as opposed to a guaranteed berth in the division series. Giants closer Will Smith had been a “primary target” for the Rays, Rosenthal adds, but it’s not clear if they’ll aggressively pursue him now.

Tampa Bay faces a critical stretch of games over the next few weeks, as they’ll play the eight times Yankees and the hapless Orioles seven times in their next 15 games. That’ll provide ample opportunity to either climb back into the division race but could also create a near-insurmountable gap if New York once again dominates the series. The outcome of the Rays’ next stretch of games will likely go a long way in dictating how strongly they’ll pursue bullpen upgrades in trade talks with the Giants and other sellers.

More on the Rays…

  • Top prospect Brendan McKay opened his Major League career with five perfect innings this weekend, which was (obviously) enough to earn him another start at the big league level. MLB.com’s Juan Toribio writes that the Rays will make a decision after that game whether to keep McKay in the Majors or send him back to Triple-A Durham. It’s possible that Tampa Bay could option McKay to get a fresh arm for the final couple of games leading into the All-Star break, even if the plan is to recall him shortly after the break and plug him right back into the rotation. The former No. 4 overall pick doesn’t look like he has much left to prove in the minors after posting a combined 1.22 ERA in 66 1/3 innings of Double-A and Triple-A work, but his workload figures to be closely monitored; McKay has thrown 72 1/3 innings in 2019 after tossing just 78 1/3 innings in all of 2018.
  • The Rays’ proposed timeshare between St. Petersburg and Montreal was met with a heavy dose of skepticism and negative fan reaction, but Rays leadership remains committed to the idea, writes Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Rays owner Stuart Sternberg and president Brian Auld feel that split-city arrangements will eventually become more commonplace in professional sports. President Matthew Silverman also spoke of how the still-theoretical alignment would impact the team’s payroll, believing it could push the Rays to a middle-of-the-pack organization in that regard. “If this comes to fruition, we’re going to have more resources, and more resources means a higher payroll, and a higher payroll is good for all players within baseball,” said Silverman. There are still innumerable hurdles to be cleared, but as Topkin examines at length, the proposal appears to be more a plan that genuinely intrigues Rays leadership than a ploy to increase leverage in preexisting stadium talks.

Astros To Select Jose Urquidy

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The Astros will select the contract of right-hander Jose Urquidy, who’ll be called up to start for them tomorrow, president of baseball operations Jeff Luhnow announced to reporters Monday (Twitter link via Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle). His promotion will require a 40-man roster move, but Houston won’t announce that transaction until tomorrow.

Urquidy, 24, wasn’t considered to be among Houston’s top tier of prospects heading into the season but has elevated his status with a solid showing in his first career action at both the Double-A and Triple-A levels. The righty missed the 2017 season due to Tommy John surgery but returned to pitch 57 1/3 innings of 2.35 ERA ball in Class-A last season. This year, he’s posted a combined 3.40 ERA with 12.2 K/9, 1.8 BB/9 and 0.94 HR/9. Urquidy is more of a fly-ball pitcher, so drawing his first MLB assignment at Coors Field isn’t necessarily ideal, but he’s been incredibly stingy with the long ball throughout his minor league career (20 homers in 297 innings).

Urquidy ranks 29th among Houston farmhands at MLB.com. Their scouting report pegs his fastball in the low 90s and topping out at 95 mph while praising a plus changeup and noting that his curveball needs some refinement. He’d have been Rule 5 eligible this offseason anyhow, so he was likely to be added to the 40-man roster one way or another between now and December. The ’Stros don’t have an obvious 60-day IL candidate at the MLB level to open a 40-man roster spot for Urquidy. The team has been carrying a pair of out-of-options players in Tyler White and Tony Kemp, and Houston also saw 40-man right-hander Dean Deetz struggle in Triple-A this year before going down with an injury in late May.

Pirates GM Downplays Possibility Of Felipe Vazquez Trade

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Rumors of trading their star players are commonplace for the payroll-conscious Pirates, whose front office has been forced into tough decisions for budgetary reasons on numerous occasions in the past. This year, there have already been rumors of teams with interest in standout closer Felipe Vazquez — understandably so, given his excellence — but general manager Neal Huntington strongly downplayed the possibility of moving Vazquez in a radio appearance with Greg Brown on 93.7 FM The Fan this weekend.

“We will continue to look for ways to improve this organization,” said Huntington. “Felipe Vazquez is, in our minds, one of the best, if not the best young left-handed reliever in the game. He has the potential to contribute to us for this and four more years. Our expectation and anticipation is that Felipe will be closing out playoff games, be it this year or in the future with us.”

That’s the second time in the past month that Huntington has expressed a focus on adding to the club rather than trading contributors for longer-term assets. Huntington also points out within the interview that the Bucs are facing a critical stretch wherein they’ll play 20 of 23 games against divisional foes. The other three in that span are against the Phillies, whom Pittsburgh is chasing in the NL Wild Card race. Certainly, one can imagine that in the event of a nosedive in those 23 games, the Pirates could adopt a longer-term approach to this year’s trade deadline. That said, Huntington’s comments regarding Vazquez seem to indicate that even if the team were to sell off some pieces this summer, the lefty wouldn’t be among them.

Vazquez, 28 on Friday, signed an extremely club-friendly contract extension in January 2018, agreeing to a four-year deal worth a guaranteed $22MM plus a pair of $10MM club options for a fifth and potentially sixth season. He’s earning just $4MM in 2019 (with about $1.98MM of that still to be paid out) and will earn guaranteed salaries of $5.25MM and $7.25MM in 2020-21. There’s no looming free agency or imminent hike in salary that would serve as motivation for the Pirates to deal the lefty even if they fall further back than their current five-game deficit in the NL Central.

Vazquez himself is the product of a trade that was made under more conventional conditions. Back in 2016, with Mark Melancon just months from free agency, the Pirates shipped him to the Nationals in exchange for Vazquez and Taylor Hearn (later traded to the Rangers in the Keone Kela deal). Since being acquired by Pittsburgh, Vazquez has pitched to a 2.25 ERA with 80 saves and 11.7 K/9 against 3.1 BB/9 in 207 2/3 innings of work. He’s saved 19 games so far in 2019 while recording a minuscule 1.80 ERA and notching a career-best 14.1 K/9.

Quick Hits: Realmuto, Dominguez, Edwards, McKay

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J.T. Realmuto was removed during the sixth inning of Sunday’s 13-6 Phillies win over the Marlins after feeling tightness in his left hamstring, Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes.  The issue arose while Realmuto was running the bases during a seven-run inning for the Phils, and the blowout nature of the game may have also contributed to the early exit, since Realmuto said the injury wasn’t serious.  The All-Star catcher described the problem as “just a little standard tightness thing,” and manager Gabe Kapler felt Realmuto would likely be fine for the Phillies’ next game on Tuesday.  Realmuto has yet to really catch fire since coming to the Phillies from Miami in a blockbuster trade, as his 95 wRC+ (off a .265/.319/.431 slash line in 310 PA) represents his lowest numbers since 2015.  Still, Realmuto’s .353 xwOBA far outpaces his actual .320 wOBA, so his production is likely to improve as long as he keeps up the quality contact.

Some more stray items as we head into July…

  • Also from Breen, Seranthony Dominguez will receive a re-evalution of his damaged right UCL on Wednesday.  This is the latest step in Dominguez’s quest to avoid Tommy John surgery, as the Phillies right-hander instead opted for a platelet-rich plasma treatment.  If everything checks out on Wednesday, Dominguez could begin throwing at the beginning of next week.
  • Cubs right-hander Carl Edwards Jr. is set to begin a Triple-A rehab assignment, ESPN.com’s Jesse Rogers tweets.  Edwards has been on the IL (retroactively) since June 10 due to a left thoracic strain.  2019 has been a tale of two seasons for Edwards, who allowed six runs over his first 1 2/3 innings of the season and was demoted to the minors, though he then delivered a 2.03 ERA over 13 1/3 frames after being recalled.
  • Two-way star Brendan McKay made his debut on the mound for the Rays on Saturday, though it isn’t yet known if McKay will also get any plate appearances at the Major League level, MLB.com’s Juan Toribio writes.  “We’ve expressed that I don’t think the at-bats are going to come as consistent for him over the next week or so, but if there’s an opportunity to get him in there where we feel it fits with his workload, then we’ll do that,” Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said.  McKay is set to start again on Friday, though in the interim, he’ll be both going through his usual pre-start routine and also getting some swings in, both during batting practice and in the Tropicana Field.  While McKay’s pitching was more developed than his hitting in the minor leagues, McKay did hit .265/.400/.551 over the small sample size of 60 plate appearances at Triple-A this season.

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