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Archives for September 2019

Rays Designate Aaron Slegers For Assignment

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The Rays announced that they’ve designated right-hander Aaron Slegers for assignment. His spot on the 40-man roster will go to right-hander Cole Sulser, whose previously reported selection to the MLB roster is official.

Sleger, who stands at a towering 6’10”, pitched just three innings for the Rays this season and spent the rest of the year in Triple-A Durham. The former Twins farmhand totaled 112 1/3 innings there, pitching to a 5.05 ERA with 6.4 K/9, 2.2 BB/9, 1.76 HR/9 and a 41.5 percent ground-ball rate. While those results are unsightly, that’s been the case for the majority of Triple-A pitchers in 2019, as the adoption of the Major League ball has led to an explosion of home runs in the International League and Pacific Coast League alike.

Prior to the 2019 season, the 26-year-old Slegers carried a much more respectable 3.54 ERA through 233 innings at the Triple-A level. Slegers’ strikeout, walk and ground-ball rates in seasons past have been roughly in line with this year’s rates, but he’s never endured anywhere near this level of home run issues in the past. Slegers has a minor league option year remaining beyond 2019, so it’s possible that another club in need of some pitching depth will take a look at the big righty.

Yankees Trade J.P. Feyereisen To Brewers

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The Brewers have acquired minor league right-hander J.P. Feyereisen from the Yankees in exchange for minor league infielder Brenny Escanio and international bonus pool space, per announcements from both clubs. Both Feyereisen, 26, and Escanio, 16, were eligible to be traded by virtue of the fact that neither has been on a 40-man roster at any point in 2019.

New York originally acquired Feyereisen alongside Clint Frazier and Justus Sheffield in the the trade that sent left-hander Andrew Miller to Cleveland back in 2016. The 2014 16th-round pick needs to be added to the 40-man roster this winter, lest he be eligible for selection in the Rule 5 Draft, and this trade likely signifies that the Yankees didn’t feel they had room to do so.

That’s not for any lack of performance on the part of Feyereisen; to the contrary, in fact, he’s had a terrific season with the Yankees’ top affiliate in Scranton. Through 61 1/3 innings, the righty has pitched to a 2.49 ERA with 13.8 K/9, 4.6 BB/9, 0.88 HR/9 and a 36.7 percent ground-ball rate. That’s Feyereisen’s third tour in Triple-A, but he’s yet to receive a call to the bigs despite owning a collective 3.12 ERA and 195-to-76 K/BB ratio in 164 2/3 frames at that level.

The Yankees have prided themselves on ludicrously deep bullpens in recent seasons, and that depth hasn’t made it any easier for Feyereisen (and other potentially deserving arms) to crack the Major League roster. He’ll have a clearer path to the Majors in Milwaukee, though it’s not clear if the Brewers plan to bring him to the Majors. Even if the Brewers do promote him, the fact that the Feyereisen acquisition didn’t occur until September would render him ineligible for postseason play, should Milwaukee qualify.

The amount of bonus money acquired by the Yankees wasn’t specified, though international allotments must be traded in blocks of at least $250K. The international funds acquired here were the primary get for the Yanks, as Escanio was a relatively low-profile signing just two months ago on July 2 when this year’s international signing period kicked off. The Yankees spent the vast majority of their international pool to sign top outfield prospect Jasson Dominguez, and their lack of additional funds acquired to this point ultimately cost them the opportunity to sign another well-regarded outfield prospect: Jhon Diaz.

While it was reported on July 2 that Diaz had agreed to a roughly $1MM bonus with the Yankees, the organization needed to acquire additional pool allocations in order to make that agreement a reality. Just last week, though, Diaz signed with the Rays for a similar amount. With the Yankees having dedicated roughly $5MM of their $5.398MM pool to Dominguez, today’s deal will help them to further explore the market for remaining talent.

Orioles Activate Mark Trumbo, Designate Tom Eshelman For Assignment

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The Orioles announced Monday that they’ve activated designated hitter Mark Trumbo from the 60-day injured list. In order to clear space on the 40-man roster, right-hander Tom Eshelman has been designated for assignment.

Trumbo, 33, hasn’t appeared in the Majors since last August due to a knee injury that ultimately required surgical repair. He’s endured a lengthy and grueling rehab in an effort to get back to the field before his three-year, $37.5MM contract expires at season’s end. Trumbo recently acknowledged that his future in the game very much depends on how his knee responds to his return; while the veteran slugger expressed interest in continuing his playing career if he can get back to feeling the way he did a few years ago, the pain in his knee has at least made him contemplate whether he’ll be able to continue beyond the current campaign.

Trumbo was quite good in his first season with the O’s back in 2016, hitting .256/.316/.533 (122 OPS+) with a league-leading 47 home runs in an All-Star showing. That prompted the former Baltimore front-office regime to re-sign Trumbo to the aforementioned three-year pact. The first year of that deal was largely disappointing, though he was in the midst of a solid rebound in 2018 (.261/.313/.452, 109 OPS+) when his knee troubles reached their breaking point.

The 25-year-old Eshelman, meanwhile, was acquired from the Phillies back on June 10 in a deal that sent international bonus allotments to Philadelphia. Eshelman, who was drafted by the Astros when current Orioles GM Mike Elias was Houston’s scouting director, made 10 big league appearances with Baltimore and another seven in Triple-A, though the cumulative results weren’t especially impressive. The 2015 second-rounder logged a 4.70 ERA with 6.6 K/9, 1.6 BB/9 and 1.4 HR/9 in 38 1/3 innings with Triple-A Norfolk but was lit up for a 6.50 ERA with a 22-to-11 K/BB ratio and a dozen homers allowed in 36 MLB frames. Fielding-independent metrics weren’t much more optimistic on his results — 7.33 FIP, 5.93 xFIP, 5.54 SIERA — and because post-July trades have been eliminated, Eshelman will now become available to all 29 other clubs on outright waivers.

Rays Select Cole Sulser, Recall Anthony Banda

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The Rays are set to select the contract of right-hander Cole Sulser from Triple-A Durham, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter links). They’ll also call up southpaw Anthony Banda as a September addition to their expanded roster — marking the former top prospect’s first big league action since undergoing Tommy John surgery last year. Tampa Bay will need to make a 40-man roster move to accommodate Sulser’s promotion.

Sulser will be getting his first call to the big leagues after grinding through parts of seven minor league seasons. The 29-year-old, originally drafted in the 25th round by the Indians back in 2013, joined the Rays organization as part of the three-team offseason deal that sent Edwin Encarnacion to Seattle, Jake Bauers to Cleveland and Yandy Diaz to Tampa Bay.

Given his age, Sulser unsurprisingly isn’t considered to be among the Rays’ top prospects, but he’s nevertheless enjoyed a terrific season in Durham. Through 66 innings, he’s tallied a 3.27 ERA with 12.1 K/9, 3.3 BB/9, 0.55 HR/9 and a 31.6 percent ground-ball rate. Sulser is no stranger to working multiple innings, as those 66 frames have come across a total of just 49 appearances. He’s “started” four games in Durham this season, though he’s functioned as an opener on each occasion; none of those four appearances lasted more than two innings in length. Sulser will give the Rays some additional depth in the ’pen and perhaps an option to open a game or two in front of a bulk pitcher such as Ryan Yarbrough, should the Rays feel comfortable with such an alignment.

As for Banda, who recently turned 26, he’s had mixed results since he and his newly repaired ulnar collateral ligament got back on the mound in late June. The lefty began his road back with a series of one- to two-inning stints and has since stretched himself out further. He’s totaled 33 1/3 innings with an ugly 6.09 ERA, but his results have improved over the past month, as well. Banda pitched to a 4.74 ERA with an 18-to-6 K/BB ratio in 19 August innings, and his most recent outing was his longest and arguably most successful: a five-inning effort in which he allowed a pair of runs on four hits and a walk with six punchouts.

Banda’s future with the Rays could very well be in the rotation — or at least in a Yarbrough-esque modified long relief role — but it remains to be seen how the Rays will utilize him down the stretch. They’ll surely keep a watchful eye on his workload, as the former top 100 prospect has the potential to be a significant contributor to their club in 2020 and beyond. At the very least, he’ll be a candidate to make some multi-inning relief appearances in the season’s final month. With a strong enough showing, he could even tempt the Rays into considering him for a postseason roster spot;

Astros Promote Kyle Tucker

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Top outfield prospect Kyle Tucker will headline the Astros’ September call-ups, per Jake Kaplan of The Athletic (Twitter links). He’ll be joined by catcher Garrett Stubbs and left-hander Cionel Perez at the big league level today. Infielder/outfielder Myles Straw could be recalled later this week, too, once he’s met the 10-day minimum requirement for an optional assignment.

This won’t be the big league debut for Tucker, who ascended to the Majors as a 21-year-old in 2018. Tucker tallied only 72 plate appearances last season, though, and didn’t immediately distinguish himself in the sparse playing time he was allotted. He’s had another strong showing in Triple-A this season — albeit not as strong as last season’s .332/.400/.590 output through 100 games. That said, Tucker did recently polish off a 30-30 season with Round Rock; through 536 plate appearances this season he batted .266/.354/.555 with 34 long balls and 30 steals.

Tucker, 22, ranked inside the top 20 prospects in Major League Baseball on the midseason rankings of Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus, Fangraphs, MLB.com and ESPN. He’s widely regarded as a potentially plus hitter with plus raw power who can cover enough ground in the outfield to play any of the three slots — though right field is typically believed to be his best position.

Houston’s outfield mix is crowded with Michael Brantley, George Springer, Josh Reddick and Jake Marisnick all in the fold, but Tucker should get some opportunities to showcase himself as a potential long-term piece in that outfield rotation and, perhaps, for a playoff roster spot. Each of Brantley, Springer, Reddick and Marisnick is signed or controlled through 2020, so there’s no immediate opening for next season unless the club makes some type of outfield move in the offseason. However, president of baseball operations Jeff Luhnow has steadfastly declined to include Tucker in trade proposals for the past two years, suggesting that Tucker is indeed viewed as a likely building block for the ’Stros.

Looking to the other call-ups, Stubbs will give the Astros a bit of depth behind the dish, joining Robinson Chirinos and Martin Maldonado as a third option. The 26-year-old also has a bit of outfield experience but isn’t likely to factor into that equation much — if at all. He batted .240/.332/.397 in 235 plate appearances with Round Rock this season. The 23-year-old Perez, like most pitchers, struggled in this season’s high-octane offensive environment in Triple-A, working to a 5.36 ERA with 8.2 K/9, 4.6 BB/9, 1.15 HR/9 and a 53.2 percent ground-ball rate in 47 innings. Houston doesn’t currently have a left-hander in the ’pen, so despite the fact that Perez has missed time with a forearm issue, he’ll join the club and give manager A.J. Hinch an option. Straw, 24, has batted .233/.353/.291 in 103 plate appearances with the Astros in 2019 and hit .322/.393/.396 with a homer and 19 steals in 309 Triple-A plate appearances.

Latest On Seranthony Dominguez

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Phillies right-hander Seranthony Dominguez has spent much of the 2019 season trying to avoid Tommy John surgery, though an upcoming medical examination could finally send the former closer under the knife.  As manager Gabe Kapler told NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Jim Salisbury and other reporters, Dominguez will be examined by the head of the Phillies medical staff this week after the righty experienced elbow soreness during his most recent throwing session.

Dominguez has been sidelined since early June, and it seemed like surgery was all but assured after tests revealed a damaged ulnar collateral ligament.  Instead, Dominguez opted for a PRP treatment after a consultation with Dr. James Andrews, in the hopes that the reliever could potentially heal in time for a return before season’s end.  Now, “one would suspect that surgery is a strong possibility” if Dominguez is still sore after all this time, Salisbury writes.

After bursting into the majors with an impressive 2018 rookie season, Dominguez’s performance took a step back, though he was still largely an effective reliever over 24 2/3 frames for the 2019 Phillies.  Dominguez posted a 4.01 ERA, 10.6 K/9, 54.5% grounder rate, and 2.42 K/BB, though an increased homer rate and big BABIP jump (.220 in 2018 to .323 in 2019) conspired to boost the 24-year-old’s ERA over a full run beyond his 2.95 mark from last season.

Though Dominguez wasn’t expected to factor into save situations quite as often, the Phillies were still excited to see what the homegrown product with the 97.8 mph fastball could do in his sophomore campaign.  Instead, Dominguez was one of a seemingly endless string of injured Philadelphia relievers, and should Tommy John surgery indeed be his fate, he’ll also miss the entire 2020 season.

NL Central Notes: Jeffress, Kela, Baez, Darvish, Suarez, Reds

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The Brewers released Jeremy Jeffress today, but before parting ways with the former All-Star, Milwaukee tried shopping the reliever within the NL Central.  The Athletic’s Robert Murray reported back in July that the Brewers and Pirates were discussing a trade that involved Keone Kela, and Murray reports today that a Jeffress-for-Kela swap was floated between the division rivals, though “talks never gained traction.”

While the Bucs were (and possibly still are) open to moving Kela in trade negotiations, the controversial right-hander isn’t necessarily a totally expendable piece for the Pirates, whereas Jeffress was clearly no longer in Milwaukee’s plans, as GM David Stearns indicated today to Murray and other reporters.  While Stearns left the door open for a potential reunion with Jeffress down the road, the reliever was hampered by a lack of trust in his splitter and a loss of velocity, possibly due to a heavy workload in 2018 or a shoulder injury that sidelined him for most of Spring Training.  “I think his arsenal changed this year.  That’s something that’s been well documented, not only with the fastball velocity but with the loss of a pitch that had become extremely important in his repertoire,” Stearns said.  “When you lose a pitch, you have to become a different pitcher and it’s certainly possible that Jeremy can become a different pitcher and be effective. We just didn’t see it consistently enough to count on him at any point this year.”

Here’s more from around the NL Central…

  • The Cubs received a twin dose of injury scares on Sunday when Yu Darvish was scratched from his start due to right forearm tightness.  In that same game, Javier Baez suffered a sore neck and a jammed left thumb after sliding into Orlando Arcia’s knee during a third-inning steal of second base.  Baez stayed in the game before being removed in the seventh, and while he may miss a game or two, x-rays were negative on his hand and the shortstop expects to be fine.  Darvish’s injury is more ominous, particularly since the righty has been dealing with the issue for his last five outings, as pitching coach Tommy Hottovy and manager Joe Maddon told reporters (including MLB.com’s Russell Dorsey).  Despite the late scratch, Maddon thinks Darvish will be ready to make his next turn in the rotation.  Needless to say, the Cubs can’t afford to lose any key contributors given the tight status of both the NL Central and NL wild card races.
  • Eugenio Suarez left the Reds’ 5-3 win over the Cardinals tonight after being hit on the left hand during a fifth inning plate appearance.  Suarez will be evaluated tomorrow after the swelling subsides.  The third baseman has continued to be an offensive force for the Reds (.261/.342/.546 with 40 home runs in 568 plate appearances) despite a worrying spike in swing-and-miss, as Suarez has a league-high 161 strikeouts.
  • The Reds’ pitching has gone from a major weakness in 2018 to a strength in 2019, and while some new acquisitions like Sonny Gray and (the since-traded) Tanner Roark played a part in that improvement, Cincinnati’s biggest addition might have been pitching coach Derek Johnson.  C. Trent Rosecrans and Eno Sarris of The Athletic (subscription required) break down how several of the Reds’ arms have changed their tactics from last season now that they’re under Johnson’s tutelage.

Minor MLB Transactions: 9/1/19

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Wrapping up minor league moves from around the game…

  • The Pirates outrighted Rookie Davis off their 40-man roster, as per John Dreker of Pirates Prospects.  The move was made to clear 40-man space for the Bucs’ upcoming September promotions, which Dreker says will take place after Triple-A Indianapolis finishes its season on Monday.  Davis will remain at Triple-A, where he has spent most of the season apart from a five-game stint on Pittsburgh’s MLB roster in May and June.  Davis has a 5.64 ERA, 1.82 K/BB rate, and 6.8 K/9 over 52 2/3 IP for Indianapolis, though his season has been abbreviated by a 60-day IL stint due to forearm and hand issues.   Perhaps best known for being part of the four-prospect package sent from the Yankees to the Reds in the original Aroldis Chapman trade in 2015, Davis has an 8.05 ERA over 34 2/3 Major League innings.

Reyes Moronta Suffers Season-Ending Shoulder Injury

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Reyes Moronta’s season is over, as the Giants right-hander has suffered a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder.  (Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle was among those to report the news.)  It isn’t yet known if Moronta will undergo surgery, though it is being considered.

Such an outcome isn’t unexpected given Moronta’s extreme reaction last night upon suffering the injury.  After throwing a pitch to Luis Urias in the sixth inning of last night’s 4-1 Giants loss to the Padres, Moronta fell to the ground in obvious pain, and needed a few minutes to recover before leaving the field.

Depending on the severity of the tear and other details regarding the injury, surgery could potentially keep Moronta on the IL for a very lengthy time, perhaps to the extent of putting his entire 2020 season in jeopardy.  Sean Manaea, Arodys Vizcaino, and Jimmy Nelson are a few recent example of pitchers who underwent similar labrum procedures, with Manaea returning to the mound just today after missing over a year, and Nelson representing more of a worst-case scenario since he missed over a season and a half of action.  Again, it won’t be known if Moronta is looking at a similar timeframe given the specifics of his own tear, though obviously he, the Giants, and the doctors will explore whether or not the injury could heal without surgical intervention.

The news brings an unfortunate end to a second consecutive season of very solid work for Moronta out of the Giants’ bullpen.  The hard-throwing righty posted a 2.86 ERA, 11/1 K/9, and 2.12 K/BB rate over 56 2/3 innings this season, following a 2.49 ERA over 65 frames in 2018.  Walks have been a continual problem for Moronta, as his 5.2 BB/9 is one of the chief reasons advanced metrics are less impressed by his work (3.57 FIP, 4.84 xFIP, 4.30 SIERA this season), though he has done an admirable job of keeping the ball in the park during the homer-happy 2019 season — Moronta’s 6.5 % homer rate is the sixth-lowest of any pitcher in baseball with at least 50 innings pitched this year.

Moronta is a homegrown Giants product, signed out of the Dominican in 2010 as a 17-year-old free agent.  He has worked almost exclusively as a reliever during his pro career, and was in line to assume a larger role in San Francisco’s bullpen given how the Giants already parted ways with some veteran relievers at the trade deadline, and face the potential loss of Will Smith to free agency this winter.

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