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Rockies Place German Marquez On Injured List

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The Rockies are placing righty German Marquez on the 15-day injured list, Marquez himself told reporters prior to today’s game (Twitter link via Danielle Allentuck of the Denver Gazette). Marquez, who exited yesterday’s game due to forearm discomfort, has avoided any structural damage it seems. An MRI revealed only inflammation in his ailing forearm, but he’ll still be shelved for a bit to allow for some rest. A more precise timetable for his recovery has not yet been provided by the team. Corner infielder/outfielder Nolan Jones has been recalled from Triple-A to take Marquez’s spot on the active roster for now.

Marquez and lefty Kyle Freeland have been the Rockies’ only two effective starters thus far in the season, and an absence for him will place even further strain on a starting staff that has combined for a 5.07 ERA in its first 60 1/3 frames. Lefty Austin Gomber and righties Ryan Feltner and Jose Urena have combined to allow 24 runs in 25 1/3 innings over their collective six starts so far in 2023.

The Rockies’ options beyond Marquez are relatively thin. Antonio Senzatela is already on the injured list while rehabbing from last year’s ACL tear, and southpaw Ryan Rolison is rehabbing from last summer’s shoulder surgery. Relievers Ty Blach and Connor Seabold are both stretched out for multiple innings already and both have experience as starters. Triple-A righties Peter Lambert and Noah Davis are on the 40-man roster. Lambert has missed significant time due to injury in recent years and hasn’t had much success at the big league level. Davis has just one Major League frame under his belt.

Marquez has been the team’s most consistent starter since 2017, pitching to a cumulative 4.38 ERA in 991 1/3 frames over 169 starts during that time. He’s been one of the game’s most durable starters in that stretch, ranking fourth among all MLB pitchers in terms of games started.

Marquez is playing out the final guaranteed season of a five-year, $43MM contract extension he agreed to back in April of 2019. He’s earning a $15MM salary this season, and the Rox hold a $16MM club option over him with a $2.5MM buyout. So long as he’s healthy, that option seems like a fairly straightforward decision to exercise.

Mariners Select Darren McCaughan, Designate Brennan Bernardino

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11:01am: The Mariners announced that they’ve selected the contract of McCaughan. To open space on the active roster, righty Jose Rodriguez was optioned to Triple-A. Lefty Brennan Bernardino has been designated for assignment to open space on the 40-man roster.

Bernardino, 31, parlayed a strong showing in the Mexican League into his big league debut with Seattle in 2022. The lefty had been out of affiliated ball since a 2019 run in the minors with Cleveland but posted a 2.20 ERA in 32 2/3 frames with Triple-A Tacoma last season. He yielded three runs in 2 1/3 innings during his brief MLB debut but remained on Seattle’s 40-man roster throughout the winter.

Unfortunately, the 2023 season has begun on a sour note for the journeyman southpaw. In six innings, he’s been slammed for 11 runs (eight earned) on 13 hits, a walk and a hit batter. Two of those hits have been home runs. Bernardino still possesses a strong 11-to-1 K/BB ratio in his brief showing this year, but the bottom-line results are nevertheless unsightly.

The Mariners will have a week to trade Bernardino or attempt to pass him through outright waivers.

10:55am: The Mariners are expected to select the contract of right-hander Darren McCaughan from Triple-A Tacoma, tweets Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. He’ll give them a fresh arm in the bullpen after a stretch of games in which they’ve leaned heavily on their relief corps.

The 27-year-old McCaughan has spent his entire career in the Mariners organization. Selected in the 12th round of the 2017 draft, he briefly appeared with Seattle in 2021, tossing nine innings but being tagged for eight runs. He’s spent parts of five seasons with Triple-A Tacoma, pitching to a 4.97 ERA with a 20.9% strikeout rate and an excellent 5.6% walk rate in 331 1/3 frames. He’s been tagged for six earned runs in 10 innings so far in 2023.

McCaughan has worked almost exclusively out of the rotation in his pro career and made two starts in Triple-A thus far, but the Mariners will presumably turn to him as a potential long man in the ’pen in the event of a short start from Logan Gilbert today. Seattle has an off-day Thursday, which should further help in giving what’s presently a taxed bullpen a bit of a breather. Dating back to Friday, the Mariners’ bullpen has racked up 22 2/3 innings over the course of five games, owing to a combination of extra-innings contests and short starts from the rotation. McCaughan’s last start came on April 7, so he’s fully rested and would be able to give the Mariners several innings today if needed.

Seattle’s 40-man roster is currently full, so they’ll need to make a corresponding roster move in order to get McCaughan to the big league roster.

Twins Promote Edouard Julien

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April 12: The Twins formally announced that Julien has been recalled from Triple-A St. Paul. He’ll make his big league debut today at second base, Twins vice president of communications Dustin Morse tweets.

April 11: The Twins are promoting Edouard Julien before tomorrow’s game against the White Sox, reports Aaron Gleeman of the Athletic (Twitter link). That’ll be the corresponding move for the placement of Joey Gallo on the 10-day injured list.

It’s the first major league call for Julien. An 18th round pick out of Auburn in 2019, he signed for a well overslot $493K bonus after a down sophomore season. He’s significantly elevated his stock in pro ball. Julien has been an excellent offensive player throughout his time in the minors. He hit .267/.434/.480 in 2021, his first full minor league season after the cancelation of the previous campaign. The left-handed hitter spent all of last year with Double-A Wichita, raking at a .300/.441/.490 clip with 17 home runs over 508 plate appearances.

Julien showed top-end patience at the plate. His 19.3% walk rate was more than double the MLB average. That willingness to work deep counts translated to a slightly higher than average 24.6% strikeout percentage, though it’s a tradeoff with which the Twins are surely comfortable given Julien’s huge on-base marks.

The Quebec native played for Canada during this spring’s World Baseball Classic. He was assigned to Triple-A St. Paul to open this season. Julien has picked up right where he left off, collecting eight hits and seven walks through his first 36 plate appearances. He’s homered twice and doubled over his first eight games at the top minor league level.

Over the winter, Julien generated some top prospect attention. ESPN and FanGraphs placed him near the back of their respective Top 100 lists, while he finished just outside the Top 100 at Baseball America. Prospect evaluators unsurprisingly praise his plate discipline and strong left-handed power potential. He’s widely expected to be a productive offensive player at the MLB level.

Julien’s defensive profile is more spotty. He’s split his time between second base, left field and first base in the minors. Evaluators have offered bearish reviews on his glove at the keystone, suggesting he’s better suited for left field or first base long term. With Gallo’s injury vacating first base, it seems likely Julien will break in primarily there.

The Twins added Julien to their 40-man roster last offseason to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. They won’t need to make any additional moves to call him up. The 23-year-old still has three minor league option years remaining, so the Twins can shuttle him between the majors and St. Paul as needed.

While Julien didn’t break camp with the MLB club, he’s still in position to potentially secure a full service year in 2023. Players need to accrue 172 days on the big league roster to reach one year. Julien would narrowly meet that cutoff if he’s in the majors for good, though any optional assignment back to the minors would keep him shy of a full season. The Twins aren’t in position to recoup any draft compensation for his promotion, as he only appeared on the preseason Top 100 list at one of ESPN, Baseball America and MLB Pipeline.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Shohei Ohtani Breaks 50-Year-Old Nolan Ryan Record, Shuts Down Nationals In 2-0 Win

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On Tuesday night, Shohei Ohtani took the mound for the third time this season and tossed seven shutout innings to lead the Los Angeles Angels to a 2-0 win against the Washington Nationals.

The Japanese two-way superstar struck out six and held the Nats to just one hit in another dominant outing. The right-hander has improved to 0.47 ERA and 24 Ks in 19 innings, only giving up a single allowed run in his three starts. He’s struck out 32% of batters faced, while he’s been a bit wild in the early going with a 16 BB%. The advanced stats are also impressive, holding hitters to just .150 xBA and .196 xSLG.

This was Ohtani’s tenth consecutive start with two or fewer runs given up, setting a new franchise record and surpassing Nolan Ryan’s nine-game streak set back in 1972-1973.

Sho-Time has another impressive streak going. According to ESPN Stats and Info, this is Ohtani’s 7th straight start dating back to last season with 3 or fewer hits allowed in at least 5 innings pitched. The 7-game streak is tied for the second-highest all-time behind Jacob DeGrom’s 8-game record set in 2021. Ohtani will get the chance to tie DeGrom’s record in his next outing.

Ohtani still sees room for improvement despite his impressive start to the season. “If you just look at the results on paper it looks great, but I haven’t really had too many 1-2-3 innings,” said Ohtani, through his interpreter Ippei Mizuhara. 

It was a surprisingly efficient outing for the 2021 AL MVP, who is still overcoming his early season control struggles. He finished the game at 92 pitches despite giving up a combined six walks and HBP. He seemed to struggle with the umpire’s strike zone, and the usually calm-demeanored right-hander was more expressive and would turn his head in confusion when he did not get calls on borderline pitches. 

Although he struggled with his control, Ohtani was able to keep hitters off-balance by changing speeds and shapes on his pitches. According to Baseball Savant’s pitcher report, Nats hitters made contact with 28 of Ohtani’s pitches, but only three were hit hard into fair territory. 

Angels manager Phil Nevin said that Ohtani’s in-game adjustments have been impressive. “He’s added some shapes to his pitches. The adjustments he’s making in-game and between starts are what great pitchers do,” said the Halos skipper. “He got some pitches tonight that we haven’t seen and [Ohtani was] very effective.” 

Fans usually think of overpowering 100mph fastballs when Ohtani’s on the mound, but it was another game where Ohtani leaned heavily on his sweeper. He threw his sweeper 51 times in this game, 55% of his total pitches, and got five whiffs. It’s a small sample size, but Ohtani’s sweeper usage has dramatically from 37.4% last season to up to 49% and the pitch has the run value of -6.

The game plan and approach isn’t the only part of Ohtani’s game that is evolving. The average horizontal movement of Ohtani’s sweeper has increased from 14 inches in 2022 to 17.6 inches this year. The movement of his sweeper caught the attention of fans on Twitter after The Pitching Ninja posted a clip of an Ohtani sweeper with 20 inches of break.

Ohtani will get his first day off tonight, as the Angels try to effectively manage his heavy workload. His next projected start is against the Boston Red Sox next Monday, April 17th, at 11:10 EST. 

The Opener: Prospect Debuts, Seager, MLBTR Chat

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As the MLB season continues to move swiftly along, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. Prospects set to make MLB debuts:

The big news of the prospecting world is that top Rays pitching prospect Taj Bradley is expected to make his MLB debut today in a start against the Red Sox. The Rays, of course, have opened the season on a historic tear, winning their first eleven games in a row. Bradley will be tasked with preserving that win streak against Chris Sale tonight at 5:40pm CT. Bradley has a 2.66 ERA in 317 2/3 minor league innings of work, including at 3.82 ERA in 82 innings of work at the Triple-A level. He currently ranks as the game’s No. 42 prospect at Baseball America.

Looking beyond Bradley, two AL Central prospects could make their MLB debuts today. The Twins are set to call up top infield prospect Edouard Julien to replace Joey Gallo on the active roster ahead of their 12:10pm CT game against the White Sox this afternoon. Julien, BA’s No. 97 overall prospect, has a phenomenal .437 OBP in the minors to this point in his career, fueled by a 20.2% walk rate. He’s opened the season with a .290/.421/.548 slash and a pair of homers in his first 38 plate appearances with Triple-A St. Paul.

Meanwhile, Guardians right-hander Peyton Battenfield is slated to start this afternoon’s game against the Yankees and righty Clarke Schmidt at 12:10pm CT. Battenfield isn’t considered one of the organization’s premier prospects, but he was very solid in 28 Triple-A starts last year, posting a 3.63 ERA with a 17% strikeout rate and a walk rate of 8.9%.

2. Seager update expected today:

Rangers shortstop Corey Seager left yesterday’s game with hamstring tightness, and manager Bruce Bochy said the team expects to know more about the severity of Seager’s injury and his potential timetable for return today. The Rangers’ star was off to a hot start to open the season, slashing .359/.469/.538. Ezequiel Duran and Josh H. Smith are among the potential options to fill in at shortstop for the Rangers if Seager misses any time. Marcus Semien has spent the bulk of his career at shortstop, but Bochy said last night that he’d likely keep Semien at second base should Seager be sidelined (Twitter link via Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News).

3. MLBTR Chat:

Yesterday, MLBTR’s Steve Adams fielded questions during a live chat (transcript here). If you still have unanswered questions about your favorite team or the league as a whole in the early going of the season, MLBTR’s Anthony Franco will be hosting another chat this evening. You can submit a question in advance here, and you can use the same link to check back in and participate live once the chat begins.

In addition, the second episode of the MLB Trade Rumors podcast is now available! MLBTR’s Simon Hampton hosts MLBTR’s Steve Adams as they answer listener questions and discuss the undefeated Rays, recent prospect promotions, and the Angels’ bullpen. You can listen to today’s episode on Spotify or Apple Podcast.

Rays Promote Taj Bradley, Place Zach Eflin On IL

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The Rays have placed right-hander Zach Eflin on the 15-day injured list due to back tightness, per broadcaster Neil Solondz. Pitching prospect Taj Bradley has been recalled to take his place and will make his major league debut on Wednesday. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times previously reported that these moves were imminent. Eflin’s IL placement is backdated to April 8, per Topkin.

Bradley, 22, was selected by the club in the fifth round of the 2018 draft. Since that time, he has continued to impress on the farm, moving up the minor league ladder and prospect lists. He pitched in Rookie Ball in 2018 and 2019, but then saw the minor leagues canceled by the pandemic in 2020. He split the following season between Class-A and Class-A Advanced, throwing 103 1/3 innings with a 1.83 ERA, 31% strikeout rate and 7.8% walk rate. Last year, he went through Double-A and Triple-A, tossing 133 1/3 frames with a 2.57 ERA, striking out 26.5% of batters faced while walking just 6.2%.

Bradley is currently considered the #42 prospect in the game by Baseball America, #18 by MLB Pipeline, #60 by ESPN, #52 by Keith Law of The Athletic and #37 by FanGraphs. He was eligible for the Rule 5 draft in December but the Rays made the easy decision to add him to their 40-man roster to prevent him from being selected. That means he already has a roster spot but he’ll be making his MLB debut tomorrow.

The Rays are off to an incredible 10-0 start here this season, with their pitching playing a large role in that. They’ve only allowed 18 runs in those 10 games, easily the fewest in baseball with the Brewers next on the list at 26. Tampa’s schedule has been on the weaker side thus far, with their first nine games coming against the Tigers, Nationals and A’s, three of the worst teams last year. Nonetheless, they’ve gotten great results from their rotation, even with Shane Baz recovering from Tommy John surgery and Tyler Glasnow on the IL with an oblique strain. Shane McClanahan, Jeffrey Springs, Drew Rasmussen and Eflin have all been great so far this season. Josh Fleming got roughed up in his first start but tossed four scoreless innings behind an opener in his second appearance.

Bradley will now check into that group for Eflin, at least for the time being. Solondz relays that manager Kevin Cash and Eflin both expect the latter to have a minimal stay on the IL, which would mean he’d only miss a couple of starts. The righty hasn’t exactly been a paragon of health in his career, as recurring knee issues have limited his workload over the years. He’s only once thrown 130 innings in a season, which was the 163 1/3 frames he tossed in 2019. He tells Topkin that he’s dealt with this back issue in the past and isn’t too concerned.

If those expectations come to pass and Eflin returns in a couple weeks, then it’s possible Bradley gets sent back down to Triple-A. That will likely depend on his performance, as well as that of Fleming and the health of the entire crew. There’s also the return of Glasnow on the horizon, which seems to potentially be slated for mid-May.

If it ends up coming to pass that Bradley sticks with the big league club for the rest of the season, he will be able to earn a full year of service time, just barely. A major league season is 187 days long but a player needs only to spend 172 of those in the majors, or on the injured list, in order to earn a full “year” of service time. Bradley has missed 12 days of the season thus far, giving him just enough time to creep over the one-year line, though getting optioned later in the year will obviously impact that trajectory.

In the event he does get that full year, he will be eligible for the prospect promotion incentive. As part of the most recent collective bargaining agreement, if a player has less than 60 days of service time and is on two out of the three top 100 prospects lists from Baseball America, ESPN and MLB Pipeline then earns a full year of service as a rookie, they become PPI eligible. If they then win Rookie of the Year or finish in the top three in MVP or Cy Young voting before reaching their arbitration years, they can net their club an extra draft pick. This already happened once when Julio Rodríguez won American League Rookie of the Year last year, getting the Mariners an extra draft pick after the first round. Bradley is on all three of those prospect lists and is therefore in the mix for earning PPI eligibility this year.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Braves, Nick Margevicius Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Braves recently signed left-hander Nick Margevicius to a minor league contract, as noted by Chris Hilburn-Trenkle of Baseball America. He’s been assigned to the club’s Florida complex, per the transactions tracker at MLB.com.

That’ll presumably be a temporary stop for Margevicius to build into game shape before eventually reporting to Triple-A Gwinnett. From there, he’ll look to work his way back to the majors for the first time in two years. Margevicius pitched at the big league level between 2019-21, suiting up with the Padres and Mariners. The former 7th round draftee has started 22 of 32 big league outings, posting a 6.12 ERA over 110 1/3 innings.

Margevicius doesn’t throw hard. His fastball generally sits a little below 90 MPH. He’s shown excellent control in his minor league career, walking a mere 4.4% of opposing hitters. His 8.1% walk rate at the major league level is closer to average, but the lack of free passes has helped him manage a decent 4.04 ERA across 301 minor league innings.

Much of that success came earlier in his career. Margevicius was diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome in May 2021, ending his season after just 12 appearances. He lost his spot on Seattle’s 40-man roster last May and went unclaimed on waivers. Sent outright to Triple-A Tacoma, he struggled to a 7.53 ERA across 49 innings. His 20.3% strikeout rate and 7.6% walk percentage weren’t too far from average but a massive .422 batting average on balls in play against him led to plenty of runs crossing the plate.

Seattle released the Rider product early in Spring Training. After a few weeks on the open market, he joins the third organization of his professional career. He’ll add some rotation and/or long relief depth to the upper levels of the Atlanta system once he’s built into game shape.

German Marquez Diagnosed With Forearm Strain, No Significant Structural Damage

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10:47pm: Márquez expects to be placed on the 15-day injured list, he said after tonight’s loss to the Cardinals (relayed by Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post).

9:24pm: Rockies starter Germán Márquez was sent for an MRI after leaving yesterday’s start with tightness in his forearm. Imaging revealed a muscle strain but no significant structural damage, Thomas Harding of MLB.com reports.

It’s a relief there are apparently no structural issues that would raise the specter of surgery. Nevertheless, it’s hard to envision Márquez avoiding the injured list after the revelation of a forearm injury. The Rockies haven’t yet made a roster move or provided any kind of timetable for his recovery.

Márquez is the top pitcher on the Rockies’ staff. He’s allowed eight runs in 16 1/3 innings this season but struck out 13 while issuing only two walks. The Venezuelan-born hurler had a down 2022 season, allowing nearly five earned runs per nine over 31 starts. Between 2017-21, he worked to a 4.25 ERA with an above-average 24% strikeout rate.

Rotation depth is a major concern for Colorado. Antonio Senzatela is still recovering from last summer’s torn ACL. Beyond Márquez and Kyle Freeland, the Rox currently have José Ureña, Ryan Feltner and Austin Gomber rounding out the starting five. Ureña and Feltner, in particular, have been hit hard in their first two starts. Long reliever Connor Seabold and Peter Lambert appear to be the top options to step into the rotation should Márquez miss any time.

It’s a crucial season for Márquez, who’s in the final guaranteed year of his contract. The Rockies aren’t expected to compete for a playoff spot and could listen to offers on players closer to the trade deadline. A healthy Márquez would be a target for a number of clubs, though Colorado has steadfastly refused interest in previous summers. They could well do so again, as the Rox hold a $16MM option on his services that comes with a $2.5MM buyout for next season. The net $13.5MM call is strong value if the right-hander is healthy. That calculus could change if he’s forced to miss a notable chunk of this season with a forearm issue but the timeline remains to be determined.

Twins Place Joey Gallo On Injured List

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The Twins placed Joey Gallo on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to April 8, shortly before tonight’s matchup with the White Sox. The first baseman/outfielder is dealing with a right intercostal strain.

It doesn’t seem all that serious, as Gallo was participating in drills this evening. He told reporters he felt he was “in a good spot” physically tonight, though the club has evidently decided to proceed with caution (via Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com). That’d seem to suggest there’s a good chance he won’t require much or any more time than the minimal week off.

Gallo signed a one-year free agent deal last offseason. The Twins were hoping he could bounceback from a tough year and a half split between the Dodgers and Rangers. The two-time All-Star opened his Minnesota tenure with a fantastic week. Gallo has five hits (including three home runs) and a pair of walks over his first 20 plate appearances as a Twin.

A Gold Glove caliber outfielder, Gallo has primarily played first base with Minnesota. That’s because Alex Kirilloff opened the year on the injured list as he rehabs from last year’s season-ending wrist procedure. It seems both Kirilloff and second baseman Jorge Polanco are closing in on their season debuts, however. They’re each on rehab assignments with Low-A Fort Myers and should return to the majors within the next week or two.

Minnesota is playing tonight’s game a man down. They didn’t make a corresponding roster move today, although it’s possible they turn to one of their top prospects tomorrow. Aaron Gleeman of the Athletic notes that Edouard Julien was yanked from tonight’s game for Triple-A St. Paul shortly after Gallo’s IL placement was announced. Julien, ranked by Baseball America as the sport’s #97 overall prospect, was added to Minnesota’s 40-man roster last offseason. The Auburn product hit .300/.441/.490 in Double-A last season and is off to a .276/.417/.517 start in eight games in St. Paul.

Brewers Place Brandon Woodruff On Injured List

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The Brewers announced they’ve placed star hurler Brandon Woodruff on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to April 8, due to shoulder inflammation. Janson Junk has been recalled from Triple-A Nashville to take the vacated active roster spot.

Woodruff is coming off a strong start against the Cardinals on Saturday. He threw 5 1/3 scoreless innings in an eventual shutout win, tallying 84 pitches. He didn’t respond as hoped between appearances, though, and the Brewers will put him on the shelf. Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel tweets that the club is hopeful it’ll be a minimal stint, which would cost him two starts.

The right-hander lost a month last season to a high ankle sprain. He’s never previously spent time on the IL with an arm-related injury as a major leaguer. He’s topped 100 innings in each of the past three full schedules and make a full slate of 13 starts during the shortened 2020 campaign. Woodruff tallied 153 1/3 frames last year in spite of the ankle sprain, taking the ball 27 times.

Woodruff had been tabbed to start tomorrow’s game in Arizona. It now seems that’ll fall to Junk, who’d be making his team debut. Acquired from the Angels in the Hunter Renfroe trade over the winter, Junk opened the year on an optional assignment to Nashville. He’s thrown ten innings of one-run ball there, striking out seven while walking three. The righty started six of seven MLB appearances with the Halos between 2021-22, posting a 4.74 ERA over 24 2/3 frames.

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