Red Sox Designate Austin Brice For Assignment
The Red Sox announced they’ve designated reliever Austin Brice for assignment. The move clears 40-man roster space for the previously-reported promotion of top outfield prospect Jarren Duran.
It’s the second time this season the Sox have designated Brice for assignment. The righty passed through waivers in May and remained in the organization. Between his pair of big league stints, Brice has made 13 appearances and tossed 13 2/3 innings of 6.59 ERA ball with subpar strikeout and walk rates (18.8% and 10.9%, respectively). It’s the second consecutive down year for Brice, who joined Boston on the heels of a solid 2019 campaign with the Marlins.
The Red Sox will have a week to trade Brice or expose him to waivers. He accepted an outright assignment after clearing waivers two months ago, but rejecting that assignment would’ve meant forfeiting the remainder of his $870K salary. Should he pass through outright waivers a second time in his career, Brice could elect free agency while still collecting all of his remaining guaranteed money.
Blue Jays Receive National Interest Exemption To Return To Canada On July 30
The Blue Jays announced they’ve received a national interest exemption from the Canadian government to return in time for their July 30 homestand. Shi Davidi of Sportsnet (Twitter link) reported the news shortly before the formal announcement.
The Jays will host the Royals in the Rogers Centre two weeks from now in the first game at their home ballpark in nearly two full calendar years. Border closures resulting from COVID-19 have kept the Jays from returning home in either of the past two seasons. They played the abbreviated 2020 campaign in Buffalo, the home of their Triple-A affiliate. They began this season hosting games at their Spring Training complex in Dunedin before relocating to Buffalo at the beginning of June.
July 30 will mark one of the more momentous dates in recent Jays’ history. After their three-game set against the Royals that weekend, Toronto will host series against the Indians, Red Sox and Angels through mid-August. Their final “homestand” in Buffalo — this weekend against the Rangers and early next week with the Red Sox — commences tonight before a seven-game road trip.
It remains to be seen whether the plan will require some sort of “bubble” format for players on the Jays and visiting clubs who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19. It stands to reason more details will become clear upon a formal announcement of approval from the Canadian government.
Giants Select Jay Jackson
The Giants announced this afternoon they’re selecting the contract of reliever Jay Jackson. To create space on the 40-man roster, San Francisco transferred third baseman Evan Longoria from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list. To create active roster space, infielder Jason Vosler was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento.
Additionally, staff ace Kevin Gausman has been placed on the family medical emergency list. Righty Logan Webb was recalled to start tonight’s game against the Cardinals in his place.
Jackson returns to the majors for the first time since 2019. That year, he made 28 appearances out of the Brewers bullpen. Across 30 1/3 innings, the hard-throwing righty pitched to a 4.45 ERA/3.57 SIERA. Jackson showed legitimate swing-and-miss stuff, racking up whiffs on 17.7% of his offerings and striking out hitters at a fantastic 35.6% clip. He also had some obvious control issues, though, walking 13.6% of batters faced that season.
The 33-year-old spent part of the 2020 campaign with the Chiba Lotte Mariners of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball before returning to the U.S. last summer. He signed a minors deal with San Francisco in January and has earned his way back to the big leagues with a fantastic start to the season in Sacramento. Jackson has made eight appearances with the River Cats and tossed eleven scoreless innings, punching out a whopping 48.6% of opponents against a minuscule 2.7% walk rate.
Longoria landed on the IL on June 6 with a left shoulder sprain. He’s now ineligible to come back until 60 days have passed since that original placement — not today’s transfer date — so he can return during the first week of August. It seems there’s some chance he’ll do so, as manager Gabe Kapler told reporters (including Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle) that Longoria’s doing well in his recovery. It has been an incredible bounceback season for the 35-year-old, who is hitting .280/.376/.516 over 186 plate appearances.
Astros Activate Carlos Correa, Austin Pruitt
The Astros have reinstated shortstop Carlos Correa and right-hander Austin Pruitt from the injured list in advance of tonight’s game against the White Sox. Correa had been on the COVID-19 IL, while Pruitt was on the 60-day IL all year after undergoing elbow surgery last September.
The Astros had a pair of vacancies on the 40-man roster, so no corresponding moves were necessary in that regard. However, they will need to make a 40-man move whenever left-hander Brooks Raley, who also landed on the COVID IL last week, returns. To clear active roster space, infielder Taylor Jones was optioned to Triple-A Sugar Land.
Correa’s having an incredible platform season, hitting .288/.385/.510 over 358 plate appearances while playing high-end defense at shortstop. Pruitt, meanwhile, will be making his first major league appearance since 2019 (and his Astros’ debut) whenever he enters a game. Houston acquired the righty from the Rays over the 2019-20 offseason, but the elbow issues that eventually required surgery kept him from pitching last year. He worked to a 4.87 ERA/4.23 SIERA across 67 appearances (ten starts) with Tampa Bay from 2017-19.
Braves Place Ian Anderson On Injured List
The Braves announced today that right-hander Ian Anderson has been placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to July 13, with right shoulder inflammation. To replace him on the active roster, righty Touki Toussaint has been reinstated from the 60-day IL. Touissant will rejoin the 40-man roster, which had a vacancy but is now full.
An IL stint for Anderson has seemed likely for a few days, as manager Brian Snitker said earlier this week he was headed for further testing after experiencing some shoulder tightness. The diagnosis of inflammation rather than any sort of structural damage is certainly a relief, but Snitker told reporters (including Mark Bowman of MLB.com) he’d be shut down from throwing for seven to ten days.
Anderson hasn’t pitched at the superlative level of his 2020 rookie season, but he’s still having a solid campaign. The 23-year-old has worked 96 innings of 3.56 ERA/4.14 SIERA ball with strikeout and walk rates (24.3% and 9.7%, respectively) not far from league average.
It seems Toussaint will step into Anderson’s spot in the rotation, as Snitker said he’s scheduled to get the ball for next Tuesday’s game against the Padres (via David O’Brien of the Athletic). That’ll mark his season debut, as the 25-year-old landed on the IL at the end of Spring Training due to a shoulder strain. Toussaint tossed 95 innings between 2018-20, managing a 5.97 ERA with an average 24.3% strikeout percentage but an elevated 14.3% walk rate.
Athletics Designate Frank Schwindel For Assignment
The A’s announced they’ve reinstated first baseman Mitch Moreland from the COVID-19 injured list. To open space on the active and 40-man rosters, fellow first baseman Frank Schwindel has been designated for assignment.
Moreland landed on the COVID IL on July 4. The left-handed hitter now returns to his designated hitter/first base role, where he’s been a bit disappointing to this point. Moreland is hitting .238/.286/.388 with six home runs across 175 plate appearances this season, a downturn from his .265/.342/.551 mark split between the Red Sox and Padres in 2020.
Schwindel was selected to the big league roster late last month. He struggled in a very brief look of twenty plate appearances before being removed. Oakland will now have a week to trade the 29-year-old or expose him to waivers. Schwindel has very little big league experience under his belt, but the right-handed hitter has mashed at a .317/.362/.630 clip with sixteen homers over 207 plate appearances with Triple-A Las Vegas this season.
Yankees Select Three Players, Place Luke Voit On Injured List
The Yankees announced a series of roster moves before this evening’s game against the Red Sox. New York selected the contracts of outfielder Greg Allen, catcher Rob Brantly and infielder Hoy Jun Park (previously reported). As expected, All-Star outfielder Aaron Judge, third baseman Gio Urshela and catcher Kyle Higashioka landed on the COVID-19 injured list. (Manager Aaron Boone implied this afternoon all three players had tested positive for the virus as part of its spread within the Yankees clubhouse).
Additionally, first baseman Luke Voit has been placed on the 10-day IL, retroactive to July 13, with left knee inflammation. Fellow first baseman Chris Gittens was recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to take his active roster spot.
Allen and Brantly each have a decent amount of big league experience, although neither has played in the majors to this point in 2021. Allen, a switch-hitting outfielder, suited up for the Indians and Padres between 2017-20. He’s only managed a tepid .239/.298/.343 line across 618 MLB plate appearances, but he’s an elite runner capable of covering all three outfield spots. The 28-year-old has had a strong season with Scranton, hitting .272/.409/.369 over 128 trips to the dish, drawing 15 walks and rather remarkably reaching base via hit-by-pitch nine times.
Brantly, a lefty-hitting backstop, has appeared in parts of six major league seasons for four different clubs. He appeared in one game with the Giants last year but hasn’t accrued more than 36 MLB plate appearances in any single season since 2013. The 32-year-old has hit a stellar .270/.391/.477 with six homers in 133 plate appearances with the RailRiders this year and will be on hand as Gary Sánchez’s backup while Higashioka is on the shelf.
As part of the 2021 health and safety protocols, players selected to the big league roster as replacements for players landing on the COVID-19 injured list can be removed from the 40-man roster without being exposed to waivers. Thus, each of Allen, Brantly and Park can be taken off the 40-man and returned to Scranton without being offered to other teams upon the returns of Judge, Urshela and Higashioka.
Voit’s IL placement is unrelated to the Yankees’ COVID-19 situation. It’s the third stint of the season for the slugging first baseman, who’s had a disappointing 2021 campaign because of health woes. The diagnosis of left knee inflammation is particularly alarming since Voit began the season on the IL after undergoing surgery to repair a meniscus tear in the area. (His second stint was due to an oblique strain). Voit will undergo a lubricating injection and is looking at potential platelet-rich plasma treatment, Boone told reporters (including Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). The team didn’t provide a timetable for his return, but it seems he could be looking at another significant absence given the skipper’s comments.
That should leave first base to Gittens, who was selected to the roster during Voit’s second IL stint earlier this year. The 27-year-old didn’t perform well over his first 25 MLB plate appearances, but he’s had a downright monstrous season in Triple-A. The right-handed hitting slugger has mashed at a .359/.519/.718 clip across 104 plate appearances with the RailRiders this year.
Mets Designate Billy McKinney For Assignment
The Mets announced they’ve designated outfielder Billy McKinney for assignment. The move creates active and 40-man roster space for third baseman J.D. Davis, who has been resinated from the 60-day injured list as expected.
New York acquired McKinney from the Brewers in late May amidst a series of injuries in the outfield. Between the two teams, the left-handed hitter has picked up 202 plate appearances and compiled a .213/.282/.415 line with eight home runs. That’s right in line with his career .225/.288/.430 mark (91 wRC+) over parts of four seasons at the big league level. McKinney has flashed some of the power potential that once made him a fairly well-regarded prospect, but he’s been a little too prone to strikeouts (26.3% career rate) and hasn’t drawn enough walks (7.8%) to cement himself as a regular corner outfield option for clubs to this point in his career.
New York will have a week to trade McKinney or expose him to waivers. He’s out of minor league option years, so any team that acquires the 26-year-old would have to keep him on the active roster or again make him available to other teams.
Latest On Yankees’ COVID-19 Situation
JULY 16: Testing today has turned up zero new positive cases, manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including Alex Speier of the Boston Globe and Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). However, Boone added that six Yankees players have been confirmed positive within the past week and are expected to miss at least ten days, suggesting that follow-up testing on Judge, Urshela and Higashioka has confirmed their positive results. Friday’s game against the Red Sox will be played, with yesterday’s postponement to be made up as part of a doubleheader on August 17.
JULY 15, 5:20 pm: Judge is indeed the Yankees All-Star in question, The Boston Globe’s Pete Abraham reports (via Twitter). Gio Urshela, and Kyle Higashioka are the other two Yankees in COVID protocol, ESPN’s Buster Olney tweets.
JULY 15, 5:05 pm: Rafael Devers and other Red Sox All-Star representatives were asked to undergo additional COVID-19 testing after being told that one of the Yankees’ All-Star reps tested positive, ESPN’s Marly Rivera (Twitter links) reports. This would indicate at least one of Aaron Judge, Aroldis Chapman, or Gerrit Cole — Cole was replaced on the All-Star roster but was still present during festivities.
JULY 15, 3:39 pm: Tonight’s game between the Red Sox and Yankees has been postponed due to a COVID-19 situation within the Yankees’ clubhouse, as originally reported by The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (Twitter link). Major League Baseball released an official announcement about the postponement, noting “positive COVID-19 tests within the New York Yankees organization.” There isn’t yet any word about a make-up date for tonight’s contest, and it isn’t yet known if any other games in the scheduled four-game series could be in jeopardy.
Speaking with The Athletic’s Lindsey Adler (all links to Twitter) and other reporters, Yankees GM Brian Cashman said the club has six ongoing COVID-19 cases, all of players. Cashman confirmed that the three players currently on the Yankees’ COVID-related injury list (left-handers Nestor Cortes Jr. and Wandy Peralta, and righty Jonathan Loaisiga) all tested positive for the virus, while three other potential cases are pending confirmation of positive results. ESPN’s Marly Rivera reports that “at least two” of the positive COVID tests were delivered by Yankees position players.
Most importantly, Cashman indicated that the cases appear to be asymptomatic, saying “As of right now, everybody is ok.” The Yankees as a whole have passed the league’s mandated 85% vaccination rate , though Cashman said that only “most” of the six players had received vaccines. Cortes, Peralta, and Loaisiga had all been vaccinated.
Cortes and Peralta were placed on the COVID-19 list earlier today, while Loaisiga’s placement came back on July 10. Loaisiga has yet to rejoin the team from their road trip in Houston, Cashman said, as the right-hander has been quarantined.
This is the second time the Yankees have been hit with a COVID outbreak this season, after eight players and coaches tested positive for the virus back in May. (New York manager Aaron Boone told Adler and other reporters today that Gleyber Torres‘ positive test at the time was actually a false positive.) That outbreak didn’t result in any postponed games, as while COVID-IL placements have still been rather common this season, today’s Red Sox/Yankees matchup is the only the eighth game of the season to be postponed for COVID-related reasons. The other seven postponements all took place prior to April 19.
Nationals Sign Rene Rivera To Major League Deal
The Nationals announced they’ve signed veteran catcher René Rivera to a major league contract. Fellow backstop Jackson Reetz was optioned to Triple-A Rochester. Additionally, Washington reinstated infielder Jordy Mercer from the injured list. Space for Rivera on the 40-man roster was opened when Starlin Castro was placed on administrative leave this afternoon.
Washington will be Rivera’s second team of the 2021 campaign. The 37-year-old backstop was selected to the Indians roster in early May and spent a little less than two months in Cleveland before being designated for assignment. The Indians released him last week.
Rivera tallied 63 trips to the plate with Cleveland, hitting at a respectable .236/.300/.400 level with a pair of home runs. He struck out at an alarming 38.4% rate, though, and Cleveland elected to move forward with their expected battery of Roberto Pérez and Austin Hedges once those two players returned from stints on the injured list.
Of course, the Nats aren’t signing Rivera for his bat. He’s hit just .221/.273/.355 (71 wRC+) across 1614 plate appearances at the major league level. Rivera’s appeal is in his defensive abilities. He’s a 13-year major league veteran who’s well regarded for his work with pitching staffs. Rivera has typically rated as an above-average pitch framer over the course of his career, and he’s cut down attempted basestealers at a fantastic 36.3% clip at the major league level.
That quality glove and veteran aptitude is obviously of appeal to a Nationals team that had been relying on the younger duo of Reetz and Tres Barrera behind the plate. Both members of their desired battery — Alex Avila and Yan Gomes — landed on the 10-day IL earlier this month. Avila is dealing with bilateral calf strains, while Gomes has been held back by an oblique strain.