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Red Sox Move Garrett Richards To Bullpen

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The Red Sox are transferring right-hander Garrett Richards to the bullpen, manager Alex Cora told reporters (including Christopher Smith of MassLive). His rotation spot will be filled by Chris Sale, who is expected to make his first appearance in two years on Saturday against the Orioles.

The Sox signed Richards to a one-year, $10MM guarantee over the offseason. (The deal also contains a club option currently valued at $10.25MM — with potential escalators — for the 2022 campaign, but Richards’ struggles this year make it likely he’ll be bought out instead). The hope was that Richards would solidify a starting rotation that looked to be one of the weak points on the roster. Things haven’t played out that way, as the 33-year-old worked to a 5.22 ERA/5.02 SIERA over 22 starts before losing his rotation spot.

Few pitchers in baseball seemed more affected by MLB’s midseason decision to enforce the prohibition against foreign substances than Richards, who acknowledged he’d previously used a sunscreen/rosin combination. Through games on June 15 — the date MLB announced their impending crackdown — Richards had a decent 4.09 ERA/3.85 FIP over 70 1/3 frames. In his nine starts since, the righty has a 7.20 ERA/7.45 FIP. Along the way, he’s worked to incorporate a changeup while cutting back on the usage of his curveball, which saw a rather precipitous decline in spin (albeit from a top-of-the-league 3100-3300 rpm range to a still high 2800-3000 rpm band).

That’s not to say Richards’ disappointing few months was solely the result of the foreign substance crackdown — nor was his prior success specifically because of sticky stuff. Richards’ strikeout and walk rates were worse than average even early in the season. His strong run prevention was largely on the strength of his ability to keep the ball in the yard, but the pendulum has swung completely in the opposite direction of late.

Richards allowed just five home runs through his first 13 starts, with a tiny 8.2% HR/FB rate in that time; since then, he’s been tagged for thirteen longballs on a 24.1% HR/FB rate. It’s certainly possible his diminished stuff plays a role in that — his four-seam fastball has been much more hittable since its spin dropped in June — but he’s likely also been prone to some poor luck on fly balls after benefitting from good fortune earlier in the year.

Whatever the specific cause, Richards’ recent struggles became severe enough for the Sox to reduce his role for the stretch run. Boston also bumped Martín Pérez from the rotation last week in favor of Tanner Houck, shaking up the starting staff as the team continues to struggle. The Red Sox have gone just 9-14 since the All-Star Break, falling five games back of the Rays in the AL East (not including tonight’s near-certain win over Tampa Bay). Boston holds a 1.5 game advantage over the Yankees for the American League’s final Wild Card spot.

Blue Jays Place Ross Stripling On Injured List, Select Connor Overton

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The Blue Jays announced they’ve placed right-hander Ross Stripling on the 10-day injured list with a left oblique strain. Trent Thornton is being recalled from Triple-A Buffalo, while the Jays selected the contract of right-hander Connor Overton. To create 40-man roster space for Overton, Toronto designated righty Patrick Murphy for assignment.

Stripling has been a regular in the Jays starting five for much of the season. He’s made twenty appearances (nineteen starts) and worked 93 1/3 innings of 4.34 ERA/4.21 SIERA ball. Stripling has bounced back a bit from a 2020 season that saw him post a 5.84 ERA between the Dodgers and Jays, but he’s yet to regain the above-average form he showed during his best years in Los Angeles.

Toronto has been rolling with a six-man rotation recently. With Stripling out, it seems Hyun-jin Ryu, José Berríos, Robbie Ray, Alek Manoah and Steven Matz will get the ball more frequently over the coming days. The team didn’t provide a timetable on Stripling’s potential return.

Overton will be making his major league debut when he first gets into a game. Selected by the Marlins in the 15th round of the 2014 draft out of Old Dominion, Overton was released the following season. He’d go on to spend time in the Nationals’ and Giants’ organizations but didn’t get to the big leagues with either club.

The 28-year-old hooked on with the Jays on a minor league contract over the winter. He’s had a great season with the Bisons, working to a 2.03 ERA over 57 2/3 frames as a swingman. Overton has worked multiple innings in 17 of his 21 appearances in Triple-A, so he’ll serve as a long relief option for manager Charlie Montoyo. He’s never run particularly high strikeout rates, but Overton has been adept at avoiding walks and keeping the ball on the ground this season.

It’s a bit of a surprise to see the Jays designate Murphy, who will find himself on waivers in the coming days. The 26-year-old has long been regarded as one of the more talented pitching prospects in the organization, but a series of injuries has impeded his progress up the ladder. Murphy has had brief stints in the majors in each of the past two seasons, working 15 1/3 innings of 3.52 ERA ball.

While his peripherals in that limited work haven’t been particularly impressive, he’s averaged north of 96 MPH on his sinker. Murphy has typically posted groundball rates approaching or exceeding 50% at each minor league level. A starting pitcher throughout much of that time, Murphy has worked exclusively out of the bullpen this season. He’s in his final minor league option year, so any team that claims him could keep him in Triple-A through the end of the season but would have to break camp with him beginning in 2022.

Giants Place Johnny Cueto On Injured List

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The Giants have placed starter Johnny Cueto on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to August 9, with a right flexor strain. Infielder Thairo Estrada has been recalled from Triple-A Sacramento to take his place on the active roster. Cueto’s injury is minor, manager Gabe Kapler told reporters (including Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group), with the team hoping he’ll return after missing just one start.

Cueto has rather quietly put together a solid season for the first-place Giants. The 35-year-old has tossed 104 innings over nineteen starts, working to a 3.89 ERA/4.22 SIERA. That’s an unexpected bounceback since the two-time All-Star struggled in 2020 after missing large chunks of the 2018 and 2019 seasons recovering from Tommy John surgery. Cueto has seen a bit of an uptick in his swinging strike rate relative to the past few seasons, and he’s had some of the best control of any pitcher in the league. The righty’s 5.5% walk rate is fourteenth-lowest among the 78 hurlers with 100+ innings pitched this year.

With Aaron Sanchez designated for assignment over the weekend, the Giants’ rotation depth has thinned out in recent days. Anthony DeSclafani is expected to return from the IL when first eligible to start on Friday, Kapler told reporters. He’ll rejoin Kevin Gausman, Alex Wood and Logan Webb in the starting five. The Giants don’t have an off day until next Thursday, so they might have to turn to Sammy Long or Tyler Beede to cover for Cueto’s missed time over the next week.

Tigers Select Renato Nunez, Place Akil Baddoo On 7-Day IL

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The Tigers have selected the contract of infielder Renato Nunez, recalled infielder Zack Short from Triple-A Toledo and placed outfielders Akil Baddoo and Derek Hill on the injured list, per a club announcement. Baddoo is heading to the seven-day concussion list, while Hill has been placed on the 10-day IL with a ribcage contusion. Hill and Baddoo sustained their injuries on a frightening, full-speed collision at the wall in left-center field in yesterday’s win over the Orioles.

This will be the second big league stint of the season for Nunez, who hit .148/.207/.444 with a pair of homers in 29 plate appearances earlier in the year. The 27-year-old went unclaimed when Detroit placed him on waivers earlier in the year, and he accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Toledo, where he’s batted .291/.383/.585 (153 wRC+) with 20 home runs, 14 doubles and a pair of triples in 311 plate appearances.

The second big league stint could prove to be something of a longer-term audition for Nunez, who has a decent big league track record at the dish. From 2018-20, he posted a .250/.316/.457 batting line with 51 homers in 1076 plate appearances between Oakland and Baltimore. Nunez’s power production in Baltimore resulted in a good bit of surprise among fans when the O’s placed him on waivers prior to Dec. 2020’s non-tender deadline, but no team claimed the slugger, whose defensive limitations and sub-par on-base percentage have sapped some of the value that power brings to the table. That said, he’ll now get another run with the Tigers, who’ll have the option of controlling him all the way through 2024 if he impresses enough.

As for the 22-year-old Baddoo, the injury throws a wrench into his hopes for a late Rookie of the Year push. Baddoo was a surprising pick by the Tigers in the Rule 5 Draft, having missed most of the 2019 season due to Tommy John surgery and spending the 2020 season recovering. He hadn’t played at either the Double-A or the Triple-A levels, but he’s shown barely any signs of rust, hitting at a .267/.333/.467 pace with 10 home runs, 18 doubles, six triples and 14 stolen bases. He wasn’t necessarily a Rookie of the Year favorite, but Baddoo, Randy Arozarena, Luis Garcia and Cole Irvin are among the AL rookies who could’ve conceivably separated themselves with a big finish.

There’s no word on how long Baddoo will be sidelined, as it’s difficult to project recovery timetables for concussions and concussion-like symptoms. He’ll spend at least a week on the shelf, though, and he’ll automatically be moved to the 10-day IL if he’s not ready for reinstatement once 10 days have passed.

Hill, meanwhile, had been in line for his first real look in center field at the big league level. Through 87 plate appearances, the former first-rounder was batting .250/.345/.316 with a home run, a triple and six steals. As with Baddoo, there’s no projected timetable for his recovery. With Baddoo and Hill both joining Daz Cameron on the injured list, the Tigers will look to Robbie Grossman, Victor Reyes and perhaps Harold Castro or Nunez in the outfield.

Nationals Select Sean Nolin

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The Nationals announced Wednesday that they’ve selected the contract of left-hander Sean Nolin from Triple-A Rochester. Fellow southpaw Sam Clay was optioned to Rochester to open a spot on the 26-man roster, while a 40-man roster spot was opened by transferring right-hander Stephen Strasburg from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL. Strasburg recently underwent season-ending thoracic outlet surgery.

Remarkably, this call to the big leagues will mark Nolin’s first big league action in nearly six years. The now-31-year-old lefty tossed 29 innings as a September call-up with the A’s that season — his lone action in Oakland after coming over alongside Kendall Graveman, Brett Lawrie and Franklin Barreto in the trade that sent Josh Donaldson to Toronto.

As one might imagine given Nolin’s inclusion in a swap of that magnitude, the left-hander was once a rather well-regarded prospect. Baseball Prospectus tabbed him among the game’s 100 most promising minor leaguers headed into the 2013 season. That ranking came on the heels of a 2.04 ERA in 101 1/3 combined innings between Class-A Advanced and Double-A, and he followed it with 110 1/3 frames of 2.77 ERA ball split between Double-A and Triple-A the following season.

A promising future for Nolin was largely derailed by injuries, however. Nolin underwent “bilateral core surgery” in the 2014-15 offseason — the same procedure Luke Voit had after the 2019 campaign — and he subsequently injured his shoulder about six weeks after returning. Nolin made it back to the mound in 2015 for that previously mentioned September run, but he was designated for assignment over the winter and landed with the Brewers. Things went from bad to worse in Milwaukee, as Nolin tore his left UCL during Spring Training and eventually required Tommy John surgery.

That injury and surgery wiped out Nolin’s 2016 and 2017 campaigns, and he went on to bounce about the game in journeyman fashion. He’s since pitched with the Rockies, Mariners and White Sox in addition to stints in the independent Atlantic League, in Mexico and in Japan, where he spent the 2020 season with the Seibu Lions.

Nolin didn’t fare especially well overseas, but he’s been effective in his return to affiliated ball. In 47 1/3 innings with the Nationals’ Rochester affiliate, he’s notched a 3.80 earned run average with a 26 percent strikeout rate and a 7.5 percent walk rate while keeping the ball on the ground at an above-average 47.7 percent clip. Nolin doesn’t even have two years of Major League service time, so if he can parlay this improbable opportunity into a lasting place in the Washington ’pen for the remainder of the season, he could be an option for the Nats well beyond the 2021 season.

Diamondbacks Claim J.B. Wendelken

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The D-backs have claimed right-hander J.B. Wendelken off waivers from the Athletics, reports FanSided’s Robert Murray (via Twitter). The A’s designated him for assignment just yesterday.

It’d have been surprising for a team in the Diamondbacks’ position — dismal bullpen, No. 1 waiver priority, multiple open 40-man spots — to pass on Wendelken. The right-hander hasn’t had a great season in Oakland, but his work leading up to the 2021 campaign was quite strong.

From 2018-20, Wendelken pitched 74 1/3 innings for the A’s, working to a 2.30 ERA with a strong 26.4 percent strikeout rate and a very solid 8.4 percent walk rate. The righty also thrived in terms of limiting hard contact, yielding an 86.6 mph average exit velocity, a 30.6 percent overall hard-hit rate and just a 2.1 percent barrel rate. Fielding-independent pitching metrics weren’t quite as bullish as his baseline ERA (3.04 FIP, 3.72 SIERA) but still generally agreed that Wendelken was a solid reliever.

The 2021 season hasn’t gone quite as well, but Wendelken has pitched to a respectable 4.32 ERA in 25 frames. His 22.2 percent strikeout rate is his lowest since a brief rookie debut in 2016, and his 11.1 percent walk rate is a career-high. Still, the 28-year-old has continued to limit hard contact effectively, and his swinging-strike and chase rates have actually improved over their 2020 marks.

Wendelken will be arbitration-eligible for the first time this winter, and the D-backs can control him through the 2024 season via that arbitration process. He’s out of minor league options, so he’ll have to stick on the big league roster, but based on his past 100 innings in the Majors, there’s reason to think he can stick.

It’s always possible that Wendelken’s strikeout and walk tendencies continue to trend in the wrong direction, but there’s no reason for the last-place D-backs to pass on a risk-free flier. Arizona relievers rank second-to-last in the Majors with a combined 5.41 ERA, so Wendelken is an upgrade even if he doesn’t quite return to his peak form.

Braves Activate Travis d’Arnaud, Designate Kevan Smith

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The Braves announced Wednesday morning that they’ve reinstated catcher Travis d’Arnaud from the 60-day injured list and opened a spot on the roster by designating fellow backstop Kevan Smith for assignment.

The 32-year-old d’Arnaud played in just 23 games this season before undergoing surgery to repair a ligament in his thumb. It wasn’t an especially productive start to the campaign for d’Arnaud, who batted just .220/.253/.341 in 87 plate appearances. However, the veteran backstop posted a mammoth .321/.386/.533 line with nine homers and eight doubles in 187 plate appearances for the Braves in 2020.

The 2021 season is the second of a two-year, $16MM deal inked by d’Arnaud in the 2019-20 offseason. He signed that deal on the heels of a breakout .263/.323/.459 run through 92 games with the Rays. All told, over the past three seasons, the former No. 37 overall pick and longtime top prospect has combined for a healthy .266/.325/.448 batting line. That’s about six percent better than league average, by measure of wRC+, but it’s particularly hearty output for a catcher. Dating back to 2019, the average catcher has been about 12 percent worse than league average at the plate.

Atlanta gets its starting catcher back at a pivotal juncture, as the Mets have begun to fade after a nearly three-month run atop the division. Both the Braves and the Phillies have overtaken the Mets, and it’s now Philadelphia that holds a one-game lead over Atlanta and a two-game lead over New York. A healthy d’Arnaud will go a long ways toward improving the Braves’ lineup, as neither Smith nor deadline acquisition Stephen Vogt has provided much of anything with the bat since joining the organization.

Smith, 33, came to the Braves with a solid enough track record at the plate — .272/.321/.384 in 726 plate appearances from 2016-20 — but hasn’t been able to come close to his former levels of production. In 101 plate appearances with the Braves, he’s mustered a tepid .165/.248/.198 batting line with a 28.7 percent strikeout rate that is more than 10 percent higher than his career mark. The Braves will put Smith on outright waivers or release waivers within the next week.

White Sox Place Carlos Rodon On 10-Day Injured List

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The White Sox announced Wednesday that they’ve placed lefty Carlos Rodon on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to Aug. 8, due to left shoulder fatigue. Right-hander Matt Foster is up from Triple-A Charlotte to take his spot on the active roster. Chicago also announced that catcher Yasmani Grandal, who’s been out since early July after undergoing surgery to repair a torn tendon in his knee, will begin a minor league rehab assignment with Double-A Birmingham.

Rodon, 28, had been lined up to start tomorrow’s Field of Dreams game against the Yankees, but that start will now instead go to righty Lance Lynn. The South Siders haven’t provided a firm timeline for Rodon’s recovery, but manager Tony La Russa tells reporters he expects it to be longer than a minimum stint on the IL (Twitter link via ESPN 1000’s Connor McKnight). Notably, Rodon has a history of shoulder troubles. He underwent shoulder surgery back in 2017 and missed most of the 2020 campaign with shoulder pain as well.

The ChiSox have had the American League Central more or less wrapped up for quite some time now, so there’s little sense in rushing Rodon back. His absence won’t seriously hinder the team’s commanding 10.5-game lead in the Central, and the team’s focus is surely on making sure he’s at full strength to close out the regular season and play a pivotal role in the postseason rotation.

Rodon serving as a key to the Sox’ postseason starting staff would’ve seemed far-fetched, to say the least, not long ago. The White Sox non-tendered Rodon last December after a pair of injury-ruined seasons in 2019-20 that saw Rodon combine for a grisly 5.74 ERA in 42 1/3 frames.

That non-tender looked to end Rodon’s time with the Sox, but just shy of two months later, he returned on a one-year, $3MM deal. It wasn’t the most well-received signing in recent memory among White Sox fans, but Rodon has proved any naysayers wrong by not only rebounding to previous levels but instead rising to new heights entirely, as recently explored by MLBTR’s Anthony Franco.

The 2021 version of Rodon has been the overpowering ace that the Sox perhaps hoped he’d eventually become when selecting him with the No. 3 overall draft pick back in 2014. Through 19 starts this season, Rodon has pitched 109 2/3 innings of 2.38 ERA ball while fanning an outstanding 36.2 percent of his opponents against a very tidy 6.8 percent walk rate. He’s bumped his average fastball velocity to a career-high 95.8 mph, fanned 10 or more hitters on five occasions and thrown a no-hitter that was very nearly a perfect game.

Along the way, Rodon has cemented himself as one of the team’s frontline starters, joining the aforementioned Lynn among the league’s more dominant hurlers. Rodon’s ERA is sixth-best among pitchers with at least 100 innings thrown — Lynn leads the way at 2.04 — and no pitcher in baseball has whiffed a higher percentage of his opponents (again, min. 100 innings pitched).

The injury shouldn’t impact the White Sox’ chances of reaching the postseason. However, Rodon himself would be best-served with a quick return to full strength, as he’s set to return to the free-agent market this winter. The dominance he’s shown to date should already position him for a hefty multi-year contract, but a lengthy absence may give teams some pause — particularly given the deep free-agent class and the number of alternative options on the market. He’ll already be viewed much differently than when the Sox cut him loose back in December, but a quick return and healthy finish would make for an even more bullish outlook.

Marlins’ Jose Devers Undergoes Shoulder Surgery

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Marlins infielder Jose Devers underwent surgery yesterday to repair a labrum tear in his right shoulder, tweets Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald. He’d been on the injured list since mid-June and will now miss the remainder of the 2021 season.

Devers, 21, entered the season ranked tenth among Marlins farmhands at Baseball America and made his big league debut back on April 24. He appeared in 21 games but tallied just 46 plate appearances, batting .244/.304/.317 along the way. It was an aggressive jump for Devers, who played just 33 games at Class-A Advanced in 2019, didn’t have the benefit of a minor league season in 2020, and made his debut before the Triple-A campaign even kicked off in early May. Devers did play in a dozen Triple-A games in between a pair of big league stints, hitting .231/.250/.308 in 41 plate appearances at the top minor league level.

Acquired in the Giancarlo Stanton trade with the Yankees, Devers has never been viewed as a likely offensive force. He’s a fleet-footed, contact-oriented hitter with no real power of which to speak and strong defensive skills up the middle. Devers has hit just one professional home run, which came as a 17-year-old with the Yankees’ Gulf Coast League affiliate back in 2017, and has a .071 career ISO (slugging percentage minus batting average).

Between that lack of pop and the presence of Jazz Chisholm and Miguel Rojas in the middle infield, Devers’ role in 2022 (and likely moving forward) could be that of a utility infielder. The Marlins will probably want to get him some more minor league playing time next season, given his general lack of experience in the upper minors.

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