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Giants Outright Willie Calhoun

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The Giants have outrighted outfielder Willie Calhoun to Triple-A Sacramento, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. Calhoun was designated for assignment on Sunday.

Calhoun, 27, was once a highly-touted prospect of the Dodgers, cracking Baseball America’s top 100 in 2017. It was that year that the Dodgers traded him to the Rangers as the headliner of the deal that brought Yu Darvish to Los Angeles. However, a combination of injuries, underperformance and optional assignments have prevented Calhoun from establishing himself at the major league level. He’s only played more than half of an MLB season once, just barely reaching that threshold by getting into 83 games in 2019.

Earlier this year, he was optioned to the minors by the Rangers and publicly expressed a desire to be traded. Just over a month later, he was designated for assignment but cleared waivers and was outrighted. Since Calhoun has over three years of MLB service time, he could have rejected the outright assignment and elected free agency. However, since he has less than five years of service time, he would have had to forfeit the remainder of his $1.3MM salary. A couple weeks later, he finally departed the Rangers organization via a trade to the Giants.

The change of scenery seemingly served Calhoun well, as he hit .299/.386/.465 for Sacramento, registering a wRC+ of 115 in 41 games. That was enough to get him selected to the big league club last week, though he was designated for assignment after just nine plate appearances across four games.

It’s unclear whether Calhoun has accepted this outright assignment or elected free agency, though Calhoun should be able to return to the open market at season’s end regardless. All players with more than three years of MLB service time that have been outrighted off of their club’s 40-man roster can elect free agency at season’s end, meaning Calhoun can head to the open market shortly unless he accepts the assignment and is re-added to the roster in short order.

Twins Place Sonny Gray On IL With Hamstring Strain

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The Twins announced that they have placed right-hander Sonny Gray on the 15-day injured list due to a right hamstring strain. His roster spot will go to fellow righty Trevor Megill, who has been reinstated from the COVID IL. Additionally, righty Dereck Rodriguez, who was designated for assignment on the weekend, has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A.

Gray, 32, started yesterday’s game against the Guardians but was pulled after throwing just 44 pitches in two innings. Though Gray could technically return on the last day of the season, October 5, it’s quite likely that this will conclude his 2022 campaign.

Acquired from the Reds in a March trade, Gray was very good when healthy enough to take the mound. He made two other trips to the IL, one for a hamstring strain in April and another for a pectoral strain in June. Around those injuries, he made 24 starts and threw 119 2/3 innings with a 3.08 ERA, 24% strikeout rate, 7.4% walk rate and 44.5% ground ball rate.

That has sort of been the story for the Twins as a whole as well, as they seemed to be the best team in the AL Central for much of the year until mounting injuries dragged them down. They had a lead as big as 5.5 games in late May, but have since slid down to third place, seven games back of the Guardians and three behind the White Sox. Given that their postseason chances are effectively gone at this point, it makes logical sense to let Gray put his feet up for the next little bit as opposed to taking a chance on making his injury worse. Gray joins 17 of his teammates on the IL, bringing the club’s total to 18.

Minnesota’s rotation is now left with Joe Ryan, Dylan Bundy, Bailey Ober and Josh Winder, leaving one spot to be filled. It’s possible that rookie Ronny Henriquez, who threw 73 pitches after Gray’s departure yesterday, could just step in, though that remains to be seen.

Gray is in the final guaranteed season of the extension he signed with the Reds back in 2019, though there’s a $13.1MM club option for 2023. That’s a bargain price for a pitcher of Gray’s caliber, making it a fairly easy decision for the Twins to exercise it and bring him back for 2023.

Canada Reportedly Planning To Drop Vaccine Requirement For Travellers September 30

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According to a report from Eric Atkins and Robert Fife of The Globe and Mail, the government of Canada is planning to drop its COVID-19 vaccine requirement for people entering the country by September 30.

If this reports eventually proves true, it will have significant ramifications for the sporting world, especially with the hockey and basketball seasons both set to begin in October. For the baseball world, this will primarily impact the Blue Jays and their opponents, with Toronto being the only Canadian team in Major League Baseball.

The requirement, which went into effect in January of 2022, prevented travellers who had not been vaccinated against COVID-19 from entering the country. This meant that any player who had not received the vaccine could not cross the border for games played in Toronto. It was reported back in March that such players would be placed on the restricted list and would not receive pay or service time while absent from the club. This led to various batches of transactions throughout the season, with most teams placing at least a couple of players on the restricted list in advance of games set to be played north of the border. The most extreme example was the Royals, who were without 10 players when they faced the Blue Jays in July.

Though the 2022 baseball season is nearing its conclusion, this could have an impact on the tail end of it. The Blue Jays finish the regular season in Baltimore but host the Red Sox from September 30 to October 2. Beyond that, the Blue Jays are likely to qualify for the postseason, currently in possession of the top American League Wild Card spot. This season will feature an expanded 12-team postseason for the first time, as agreed to under the terms of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement. In this new format, the top two division winners in each league will get a bye past the first round. The remaining teams will face off in best-of-three contests, with the lowest-seeded division winner and top Wild Card team each playing host for all three games (if necessary). Should the Jays hang onto their current seeding, or if they advanced beyond the Wild Card round, their opponents will no longer have to worry about key players being unavailable for those games due to their unwillingness to get vaccinated.

Yankees Place Frankie Montas On IL With Shoulder Inflammation

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The Yankees announced that right-hander Frankie Montas has been placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to September 17, due to right shoulder inflammation. In a corresponding move, outfielder Harrison Bader was reinstated from the injured list, a move that had been previously reported.

Montas, 29, was acquired from the A’s just prior to the trade deadline in early August. He had dealt with some shoulder inflammation in July and ended up missing just over two weeks. He received a cortisone shot and returned to make two more starts for the A’s before the deadline. The Yankees were evidently not satisfied enough with the results to go ahead and pull the trigger on the deal.

Unfortunately, the move to the Bronx hasn’t gone smoothly for Montas so far. Though he had a 3.18 ERA at the time of the trade, he’s registered a 6.35 mark since donning the pinstripes. His 25.8% strikeout rate with Oakland has been replaced by a 17.8% mark with the Yankees. It’s possible that the shoulder issue is playing a role in all of this, as his fastball velocity dipped in July, perked back up in August, before dipping again here in September. Montas tells Marly Rivera of ESPN that the current issue is similar to what he experienced last time and he has received another cortisone shot. Manager Aaron Boone spoke to the media (video from Rivera) and said that Montas will be shut down from throwing for about 10 days and could still ramp back up for starter’s work in what’s left of the season.

The last time Montas went down this path, he pitched on July 21, his first start since July 3. In that return start, he threw 53 pitches over three scoreless innings. He followed that up with 78 pitches over five innings on July 26 and then was traded before his next start. With just over two weeks now remaining on the schedule, that leaves a tight window for Montas to return, assuming he’s even able to follow a similar schedule this time around.

For the Yankees, this will put a dent in their rotation depth for the remainder of the season and potentially into the postseason, depending on how Montas heals. Despite a rough second half, they still have a 5.5-game lead over the Blue Jays in the AL East and are well-positioned to earn a bye past the first round of the playoffs. That would give them more time to get Montas built back up, assuming they are able to hang on over the coming weeks. In the short term, the Yankees are expected to get Luis Severino back from his own IL stint tomorrow, per MLB.com, while Boone says that Domingo Germán will be rejoining the rotation on Saturday, per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. Those two will slot into the rotation alongside Gerrit Cole, Nestor Cortes and Jameson Taillon. In the long term, though Montas was acquired with the hope of being a key contributor for the Yanks in the playoffs, it’s now uncertain how much of a role he will play there.

Maury Wills Passes Away

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The Dodgers announced today that three-time World Series champion Maury Wills has passed away. He was 89 years old.

Wills had an incredibly impressive career, spanning 14 different big league seasons. He debuted as a shortstop with the Dodgers in 1959 at the age of 26. He played in 83 games that season and then six more in the World Series, with the Dodgers hoisting the trophy after defeating the White Sox. In 1960, Wills’ got to play a full season for the first time, stealing 50 bases. That was the first of what would eventually wind up as a six-year run as the top basestealer in the National League, with at least 35 in each year of that period and a whopping 104 in 1962. That 104 mark was the modern era single-season MLB record at the time, which stood until Lou Brock swiped 118 in 1974. It wasn’t just the running game that was impressive that year. Wills also batted .299, hit 13 doubles, 10 triples, six long balls and scored 130 runs. He was voted the National League Most Valuable Player that year, just ahead of Willie Mays.

Wills was with the Dodgers through the 1966 season, winning two more titles in 1963 and 1965. He also grabbed Gold Glove awards in 1961 and 1962 and played in seven All-Star games over five seasons, as there were two games in each of 1961 and 1962. He then went on to play two season for the Pirates, before being selected in the expansion draft for the newly-formed Montreal Expos. He was traded back to the Dodgers in June of 1969 and stuck with them through the end of the 1972 season.

After his playing days were over, Wills spent some time as a broadcaster before trying his hand as a manager. He was hired to manage the Mariners partway through the 1980 season, though his time as skipper was not very successful and ultimately brief. The M’s went 20-38 over the remainder of the 1980 campaign and then started 6-18 in 1981. He was fired at that point and wasn’t given another shot in the dugout, leaving him with a managerial record of 26-56.

Ultimately, Wills will surely be remembered for his incredible base stealing prowess. Across 1,942 career games, he stole 586 bases, a mark that puts him 20th on the all-time list of basestealers. He also scored 1,067 runs and notched 2,134 hits, including 177 doubles, 71 triples and 20 home runs. He earned three World Series rings, seven All-Star appearances, two Gold Glove awards and an MVP award. MLBTR sends our condolences to his family, friends and loved ones.

Cardinals Option Nolan Gorman

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The Cardinals announced late last night that infielder Nolan Gorman has been optioned to Triple-A Memphis. Fellow infielder Juan Yepez was recalled from Memphis in his place.

It’s the first trip back to the minors for Gorman, who entered the season ranked among the sport’s top 50 prospects heading into the 2022 season. Gorman captivated Cards fans with a Herculean run through Triple-A prior to his initial promotion, raking at a .308/.367/.677 clip and belting 15 home runs in just 147 plate appearances. Upon his initial promotion, he delivered on the considerable hype surrounding his bat, slugging three homers in his first 11 games and carrying an OPS north of 1.100 in that time. Gorman cooled but was solid through the All-Star break.

It’s been a struggle for the 22-year-old as the season has worn on, however. He’s hit just .207/.273/.388 in the second half — including a grisly .150/.227/.250 with a 39.4% strikeout rate over the past month. Gorman has long been considered a bat-first prospect, and it’s worth noting that he moved from third base to second base once the Cardinals acquired Nolan Arenado, so Gorman’s current position is still relatively new to him. That said, both Defensive Runs Saved (-5) and Outs Above Average (-11) are quite down on his glovework through the first 549 innings of his career there.

Some early struggles in the career of a 22-year-old isn’t any great surprise, and Gorman still figures to be a key part of the Cardinals’ future moving forward. For now, he’ll be in Triple-A for at least 10 days, as he can only return sooner than that if he’s replacing an injured player. From a service time vantage point, Gorman won’t finish the current season with a full year (nor would he have even if he’d remained on the roster through season’s end). He’ll still be controllable for at least the 2028 season, though with 122 days of service under his belt, he could wind up reaching arbitration a year early as a Super Two player, if he accrues full years of service time in 2023-24. The more pressing short-term question is simply one of whether he’ll return this season and whether he’ll be a part of the team’s postseason roster.

With Gorman optioned out, second base seems likely to belong to Brendan Donovan for the time being. A rookie himself, the 25-year-old Donovan never generated the same prospect fanfare as Gorman but has nonetheless turned in a strong .282/.391/.373 batting line through 418 plate appearances to begin his big league career. Donovan has nowhere near the same level of power (or much power at all), but he’s walked at a hearty 12.4% clip while showing good bat-to-ball skills and proving to be a tough strikeout (15.6%).

In the long-term outlook, Donovan profiles best as a Swiss army knife who can play nearly any position at a capable level. He’s already logged time at all four infield spots and in both outfield corners this year, drawing particularly strong marks in small samples at the hot corner. Like Gorman, he’s controllable another six seasons, as he’ll finish the 2022 campaign about a week shy of a full year of service time. That’ll make him a slam-dunk Super Two player, barring future optional assignments, placing him on pace for arbitration following the 2024 season.

Previewing The 2022-23 Free Agent Class: Catchers

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There’s only two weeks left in the regular season, and half the league is all but officially out of postseason contention at this point. All 30 teams are assuredly looking ahead to the offseason to some extent, and that’s all the more true for the clubs that are merely playing out the string. Identifying free agent targets is a big part of that offseason prep work, so it’s worth taking an early look at the players who’ll be available on the open market.

Over the coming weeks, MLBTR will go around the diamond to preview the free agent class. We’ll begin today with the backstops, a group that seemed rather deep entering the 2022 season but has since seen most of its membership struggle through subpar years.

Top of the Class

Contreras is the unquestioned top player on this year’s catching class. He’s one of the game’s preeminent offensive backstops, eclipsing 20 home runs in each of the past three full seasons. Contreras hits a lot of ground-balls and has a fair bit of swing-and-miss to his game, but his exit velocities and hard contact rates are consistently well above average. That’s also true of his bottom-line results. Through 462 plate appearances, Contreras carries a .246/.351/.471 line that shatters the .229/.297/.370 mark compiled by catchers around the league. He’s tailed off a bit in the second half after an All-Star first few months, but he has a multi-year track record as one of the better hitting catchers in the game.

The concerns with Contreras lie on the other side of the ball. He owns a solid arm, but public pitch framing metrics have never been enamored with his work. Reports leading up to the trade deadline suggested some teams were wary of adding him midseason, questioning his ability to adapt to and manage a new pitching staff on the fly. That’s perhaps not as concerning for teams considering a free agent pursuit — Contreras would have part of the offseason and Spring Training to connect with his pitchers — but there was ostensibly enough worry about his game-calling acumen that no team met the Cubs lofty asking price this summer. How much one should read into Contreras not being traded is tough to tell, but it will have a tangible effect on his free agent market. He’s now eligible for the qualifying offer, which he’ll surely receive and reject. Any signing team will have to surrender a draft choice to bring him aboard, which wouldn’t have been the case if he were moved midseason, since players traded midseason are ineligible for a QO.

Regulars

A longtime member of the Red Sox, Vázquez was dealt to the Astros midseason. He’s assumed more of a 1b/backup role there behind Martín Maldonado, but he was a regular in Boston and will likely be viewed as such by any team that signs him this offseason. Vázquez is a solid two-way catcher, an above-average defender who’s generally competent with the bat. He’s rated as a high-end pitch framer throughout his career, although his numbers have been roughly average the past two years. He’s typically solid at cutting down opposing base-stealers, and he’s drawn strong reviews for his game management and leadership in a clubhouse. Vázquez isn’t an impact hitter, but he puts the ball in play and consistently runs strong batting averages. His .275/.318/.396 line is about average overall but clearly above-average for a catcher, and he’s capable of holding his own at the bottom third of a lineup. Vázquez may not have a standout skill, but he’s a well-rounded player who’d be an upgrade for a fair number of teams.

Narváez has had an atypical career. He’s had individual seasons as a well above-average hitter, a quality left-handed bat with excellent plate discipline and strong contact skills. He earned a reputation as a bat-first player during his early days with the White Sox and Mariners, both because of his productivity at the dish and his dismal pitch framing marks behind it. Since being traded to Milwaukee heading into the 2020 season, Narváez has flipped the script. He’s rated as a dramatically better receiver — one of the sport’s best, in fact — but been a below-average hitter in two of three years. That includes 2022, where he’s stumbled to a .214/.301/.324 line with just four homers in 269 plate appearances. Narváez has shown the ability to be one of the league’s better catchers on both sides of the ball, just never at the same time.

Hedges has never hit, but he’s been a primary catcher in San Diego and Cleveland for the past half-decade based on his excellent glove. He’s an outstanding pitch framer who’s thrown out an above-average 30% of attempted basestealers for his career. The Guardians are among the league’s best teams at preventing runs, and they’ve trusted Hedges with guiding their talented pitching staffs for two-plus seasons. Among regulars, Hedges may be the least productive offensive player in MLB though. He’s hit below .180 for four straight years, not topping a .255 on-base percentage or a .315 slugging mark in any of those seasons. There’ll probably be teams willing to live with the lack of output at the plate because of Hedges’ defensive reputation, but he makes plenty of outs at the bottom of a lineup.

Acquired from the Yankees to serve a hybrid catcher/DH role in Minnesota, Sánchez has gotten a fair bit of defensive work due to a Ryan Jeffers thumb fracture. He has an excellent arm but has been much maligned for his work as a receiver. Sánchez’s pitch framing metrics this season are a hair above-average, but he’s struggled in that regard in prior years and consistently has trouble blocking balls in the dirt. While he’s been alright for Minnesota defensively, he hasn’t lived up to his reputation as a bat-first player. He’s hitting .213/.279/.382 over 420 plate appearances, connecting on 14 home runs but struggling to reach base for a third consecutive season. Sánchez’s early-career days as an impact bat in the Bronx are now well in the rearview mirror, but he still offers more pop than most catchers.

The Tigers acquired Barnhart from the Reds at the start of last winter, believing they’d solidified a position of need with a respected veteran. Unfortunately for both Barnhart and Detroit, he’s posted the worst season of his career. Over 277 trips to the plate, he has only one homer and a .209/.274/.256 slash. Barnhart has always been a below-average hitter, but this year’s on-base and slugging marks are easily career lows. He’s a good defender who’s highly regarded for his ability to handle a pitching staff, a broadly similar player to Hedges but two years older and with a more solid than elite pitch framing track record.

Zunino has shown high-end potential at his best. Consistently excellent defense gives him a high floor, but he’s also shown more offensive upside than most of the glove-first players on the market. That includes a 2021 campaign in which he blasted 33 home runs and slugged .559. Even with a strikeout rate in excess of 35%, Zunino was a quality hitter and very valuable all-around player. Had he replicated his 2021 production, he’d likely have been the #2 catcher on the market this winter, but his 2022 campaign was a disaster. He hit .148/.195/.304 in only 36 games before being diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome that required season-ending surgery. He’s expected to be ready for Spring Training, but it’s tough to know what to make of a player coming off that kind of platform year.

Pérez’s story isn’t too dissimilar from Zunino’s. A career-long regular, he was set to reprise that role in 2022 but had the year mostly wiped out by injury. In his case, it was a left hamstring strain that necessitated surgery. He played in just 21 games, his first season with the Pirates after a career spent in Cleveland. Pérez is a Gold Glove caliber defender at his best, but he’s typically been a well below-average hitter. He did connect on 24 homers in 2019, but he has a .171/.269/.295 mark in parts of three seasons since then.

Backups/Depth

Chirinos opened the season as Baltimore’s starting catcher, but he lost the job when Adley Rutschman was called up midseason. He struggled badly early on, and he carries only a .178/.266/.278 line over 204 plate appearances on the year. He’s consistently rated as a below-average receiving catcher.

Designated for assignment by the Red Sox last week, Plawecki finished his time in Boston with a disappointing .217/.287/.287 showing across 175 plate appearances. He’d hit well in limited action as Vázquez’s backup from 2020-21, but he’s been a below-average offensive player for the bulk of his career. He’s had a very tough time throwing out attempted basestealers, but he’s a capable receiver.

A career-long #2 catcher, Casali brings a decent right-handed power bat to the bench. He strikes out a lot but offers a solid blend of plate discipline and power. Casali lost a chunk of this season to an oblique strain and has a .211/.310/.331 line between the Giants and Mariners. He’s typically slightly below-average at both controlling the run game and pitch framing.

Suzuki has 15 years of big league experience, including a good run as a regular. A productive bat-first catcher in his prime, he’s struggled for two straight seasons with the Angels. He carries a .179/.263/.299 line over 152 trips to the plate this year.

Romine has split the 2022 campaign between three teams, suiting up with the Angels, Cardinals and Reds. He’s been a depth option at all three spots, and he owns just a .181/.211/.295 mark over 111 plate appearances. Romine was a productive backup for the Yankees early in his career, but he’s settled into journeyman status while struggling offensively since leaving New York.

Another glove-first journeyman, León had a very good 2016 season with the Red Sox but has otherwise been a well below-average hitter. He’s not hit above .200 or slugged north of .300 in any of the past five seasons. León has spent most of 2022 in Triple-A, but he’s appeared in 32 big league games with the Guardians and Twins.

Castro was a solid regular for a while with the Astros and Twins, compensating for high strikeout totals with excellent walk rates and pitch framing marks. He had a productive 2021 season as a backup after returning to Houston on a free agent deal, but this year has been a disaster. Castro hit .115/.205/.179 over 34 games and eventually underwent season-ending surgery on his left knee. He told reporters in Spring Training he’d consider retirement after this season (link via Brian McTaggart of MLB.com). It remains to be seen how the disappointing trajectory of his 2022 campaign plays into that decision.

The well-regarded Vogt returned to Oakland, where he’d been a productive fan favorite in the middle of the last decade, for the 2022 campaign. He’s bounced between catcher, first base and designated hitter but owns just a .168/.251/.315 line over 171 plate appearances. It’s his third consecutive well below-average season.

Note: Yadier Molina is playing on a one-year contract with the Cardinals and will technically qualify for free agency at season’s end. He’s already declared 2022 will be his final season, so he’s been excluded from this list in anticipation of his retirement.

* Listed ages are the player’s age for the 2023 season. All stats through play September 18.

NL Central Notes: Ashby, Lauer, Peralta, Thompson, Newcomb

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The Brewers are planning to activate left-hander Aaron Ashby to start tomorrow’s game, tweets Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. Ashby went on the IL August 22 due to shoulder inflammation and will now return after just under a month. The southpaw likely won’t be ticketed for extended duty at first as he hasn’t ventured out onto any kind of rehab assignment. He spoke to McCalvy about the decision, saying that he has been feeling good in recent bullpen sessions, getting up to around 30 pitches.

The Brewers are in a tight postseason race, currently sitting two games behind the Phillies for the final National League Wild Card spot with just over two weeks remaining in the regular season. Given that narrow timeframe, it seems the club has opted to try and get Ashby back on the mound quicker than perhaps they would have under different circumstances. With Eric Lauer and Freddy Peralta also landing on the IL in recent weeks, the club’s rotation has been a bit snakebit recently, which might have also motivated the club to get aggressive with Ashby’s return. Lauer and Peralta could get back into the mix soon as well, with McCalvy relaying that Lauer could return on Friday, though in a short stint similar to Ashby. Peralta might be a bit behind those two, having just started mound work today.

Through 96 1/3 innings on the year, Ashby has a 4.58 ERA with a very strong 27% strikeout rate and 55.6% ground ball rate. However, he’s been held back by a 10% walk rate and a 19.7% HR/FB rate.

Other notes from around the division…

  • Just like the Brewers, the Cubs will also be bringing back one of their starters for truncated work down the stretch. Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune relays word from manager David Ross that right-hander Keegan Thompson will be activated in the coming days to pitch out of the bullpen. Thompson has had a solid sophomore effort here in 2022, throwing 104 1/3 innings so far with a 3.97 ERA, 20.5% strikeout rate, 8.3% walk rate and 40% ground ball rate. His campaign was interrupted by low back tightness, sending him to the IL a month ago. With the season winding down and the Cubs well out of contention, they will let Thompson throw a bit more at the big league level before the offseason arrives.
  • Left-hander Sean Newcomb, designated for assignment by the Cubs on the weekend, has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A, per Montemurro. That’s hardly surprising, given that Newcomb already cleared waivers earlier this year and has an ERA of 8.78 for the season. Players who have been previously outrighted or those with over three years of MLB service time are eligible to reject outright assignments and elect free agency. Newcomb qualifies on both counts, meaning he could head to the open market if he so chooses, though it’s unclear at this point if he’s made a decision in that regard.

Marlins Shut Trevor Rogers Down For Rest Of Season

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Marlins left-hander Trevor Rogers tells Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald that he will be shut down for the remainder of the season. The southpaw left Saturday’s start due to an injury that has now been diagnosed as a lat strain. Although it’s only a Grade 1 strain and thus minor, there’s not enough time left in the season to heal up and return to action.

Rogers, 24, made a brief MLB debut in 2020 and followed that up with an excellent 2021 campaign. He threw 133 innings last year with a 2.64 ERA, 28.5% strikeout rate, 8.4% walk rate and 40.1% ground ball rate. He finished second in the National League Rookie of the Year voting, behind only Jonathan India.

It seemed like the Marlins had yet another talented young starting pitcher in their stable but it’s been a very disappointing season here in 2022, with just about every element of his game taking a downturn. Through 107 innings, he has a 5.47 ERA, 22.2% strikeout rate, 9.4% walk rate and 42% ground ball rate. It’s possible that health has been a factor, as he spent about a month on the injured list earlier this year due to back spasms and now has this lat strain. Regardless, it’s surely not the campaign that he or the Marlins would have hoped for.

In the short-term, the Marlins can survive for a few weeks with a four-man rotation of Sandy Alcantara, Pablo Lopez, Edward Cabrera and Jesus Luzardo. They have an off-day on Thursday and another on Monday, meaning they won’t strictly need a fifth starter until the start of October.

In the long run, the club will have to decide how much they want to pencil Rogers into their plans. The Marlins are reportedly thinking about trading from their rotation surplus this offseason as a way to give a boost to next year’s lineup. Rogers is a potential candidate himself, though his stock is surely at a low point right now relative to a year ago. It might be worthwhile for the club to hope for better results next year and allow his trade value to rebound, though it’s also possible they consider him the most expendable of its current group. Each of the four aforementioned hurlers are sporting an ERA under 4.00 this year and none of them will reach free agency this winter. Despite his down season, Rogers has four years of club control remaining after this one and has yet to reach arbitration. That would make him an intriguing trade target for any club who believes 2022 was a blip and that 2021 was closer to his true form.

Rogers hasn’t yet been formally placed on the injured list but surely will be as soon as the club needs his roster spot. Since he won’t be returning this year, they could place him on the 60-day IL and use his 40-man roster spot for a waiver claim or to promote someone within the system for a cup of coffee down the stretch.

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