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Cardinals Keeping Matthew Liberatore In Rotation, Steven Matz Working From Bullpen

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The Cardinals are keeping left-hander Matthew Liberatore in their rotation, manager Oli Marmol informed the team’s beat this afternoon (relayed by Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch). St. Louis is officially moving Steven Matz to the bullpen for the time being as the club is returning to a five-man starting staff after briefly using a six-man rotation.

Liberatore has started two of three appearances since being recalled in the middle of May. He’s had middling results, allowing six runs with a 9:6 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 11 innings. The 23-year-old had pitched very well in Triple-A Memphis earlier in the year. Over eight outings, he had a 3.13 ERA. Liberatore fanned over 30% of batters faced in the minors and induced grounders on exactly half the batted balls he allowed.

In addition to those solid minor league results, the former first round draftee is working with improved raw stuff. He’s averaging 95.2 MPH on his fastball and 77.2 MPH on his curveball this season, each of which is up 2-3 ticks from last year. That hasn’t yet translated to more whiffs at the major league level but he’d gotten swinging strikes on an excellent 14% of his offerings in Triple-A.

Liberatore has impressed the organization enough to stick alongside Jordan Montgomery, Adam Wainwright, Miles Mikolas and Jack Flaherty in the rotation. That’s paired with a second straight down year for Matz, who heads to relief not even halfway through a four-year, $44MM free agent contract.

Matz logged only 48 innings in his first season as a Cardinal. A shoulder impingement and an MCL tear in his left knee combined to keep him to 15 outings. He posted a 5.25 ERA in that stretch thanks largely to an elevated home run rate but posted more encouraging strikeout and walk numbers. Matz had punched out 26.1% of opponents against a 4.8% walk rate. The Cards hoped those peripherals and better health would result in a bounceback 2023 showing.

That hasn’t materialized thus far. Matz’s homer rate has dropped but he hasn’t found better results. He’s posted a 5.72 ERA as a starter with his strikeout rate dropping to 19.4%. Opponents are hitting .324/.384/.505 in 232 plate appearances. The Cards turned to Matz for multi-inning relief for the first time on Monday. He tossed 2 2/3 frames of one-run ball with four punchouts and added an extra mile per hour to his fastball.

Marmol noted the club is hopeful Matz can pitch his way back into the rotation down the line. Injuries and/or struggles from Liberatore could open that door before too long. For now, though, the veteran southpaw will be available out of the bullpen. Matz is making $10MM this season and will collect respective $12MM salaries from 2024-25.

Forrest Whitley Out 3-4 Months With Lat Strain

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Astros minor league pitcher Forrest Whitley has been diagnosed with a lat strain and will miss between three and four months, the club announced today (relayed by Chandler Rome of the Athletic). That timetable puts his 2023 campaign in jeopardy.

It’s the latest brutal blow for a player who was once among the sport’s top prospects. Whitley was a first round draftee in 2016 and looked like a potential top-of-the-rotation starter early in his pro career. Baseball America ranked the 6’7″ hurler among the sport’s ten most promising minor leaguers in both 2018 and ’19.

Things have unfortunately gone sharply downhill since then. Whitley was suspended for a violation of the minor league drug program in 2018, keeping him to eight starts that year. He battled shoulder issues the next season, then was kept out of game action by the pandemic cancelation of the minors in 2020. Whitley underwent Tommy John surgery in Spring Training 2021 and only returned towards the tail end of last season.

Whitley opened this year back in Triple-A Sugar Land. He surrendered a 5.70 ERA over 30 innings while struggling to throw strikes. Whitley’s 23.7% strikeout rate was solid but he walked nearly 13% of opposing hitters. He’s had scattershot command the past few years, though that’s not especially surprising since the injuries have prevented him from staying on the mound consistently.

The Astros added Whitley to the 40-man roster after the 2020 season to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. He has still yet to reach the majors. This is his third minor league option year. Most players can only be sent to the minors in three separate seasons before being exposed to waivers. Exceptions are sometimes made for players who’ve spent a significant chunk of time on the injured list, however. Whitley would seem a prime candidate for a fourth option. That likely won’t be known until next offseason.

Houston will have to weigh whether it’s worth keeping Whitley on the 40-man regardless. They could clear a spot in-season by placing him on the MLB 60-day IL and paying him a major league salary for time spent rehabbing. There’s no injured list over the offseason and Whitley will be five years removed from the peak of his prospect stock if he doesn’t return this season.

Orioles Acquire Jose Godoy From Yankees

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The Yankees have traded minor league catcher José Godoy to the Orioles, according to an announcement from New York’s Triple-A affiliate. While there were no specifics on the return, transactions of this nature tend to see a nominal amount of cash sent the other way. Godoy is not on the 40-man roster, so no additional move was necessary.

Godoy, 28, signed a minor league deal with New York in late March. He’d spent Spring Training with the Angels but was cut loose before the season started. He suited up 11 times with the Yankees’ Scranton/Wilkes-Barre affiliate, hitting .270/.341/.514 in 41 trips to the plate. He hadn’t played in a game since May 7 and has spent the past few weeks on the development list (typically used to send non-injured players to an organizational complex).

A left-handed hitter, Godoy has 26 MLB games under his belt. He’s divided those among three teams, logging cups of coffee with each of the Mariners, Pirates and Twins. The Venezuela native is a .271/.324/.412 hitter in parts of four Triple-A campaigns.

The Orioles have a pair of Triple-A catchers — Anthony Bemboom and Maverick Handley — on the minor league injured list. Godoy joins Mark Kolozsvary in Norfolk as a healthy non-roster depth option. The Yankees recently optioned Ben Rortvedt to take the majority of their Triple-A catching work.

Padres Select Alfonso Rivas, Activate Manny Machado

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The Padres announced they’ve selected first baseman/corner outfielder Alfonso Rivas onto the big league roster. San Diego also activated Manny Machado from the 10-day injured list, placed designated hitter Nelson Cruz on the 10-day IL with a right hamstring strain, and optioned outfielder José Azocar to Triple-A El Paso. In order to open a 40-man roster spot for Rivas, catcher Luis Campusano has moved from the 10-day to the 60-day IL.

Rivas signed a minor league deal with the Padres over the winter. The Chula Vista native had previously appeared in the big leagues with the Cubs. He impressed in an 18-game rookie showing in 2021 but struggled over a longer stretch of play last year. The lefty-swinging Rivas has a .247/.331/.322 line with four home runs and a lofty 30.7% strikeout rate against MLB pitching.

Chicago released Rivas in January. He secures another MLB look with his hometown club following a huge showing in Triple-A. Rivas is hitting .319/.440/.571 over 200 trips to the dish in El Paso. He’s taken a walk in a massive 17% of his plate appearances with a lower than average 18.5% strikeout percentage. Minor league success is nothing new for the University of Arizona product. Rivas is a career .294/.398/.434 hitter below the MLB level.

With Cruz landing on the IL, the Padres had room to add another bat. Rivas joins Matt Carpenter and Brandon Dixon as bat-first options off the bench. Cruz, signed to a $1MM deal over the winter, hasn’t made the impact the team had expected. The veteran slugger owns only a .238/.270/.381 mark over 111 trips to the plate.

Middling production towards the bottom of the lineup has been an issue for San Diego. The Friars rank 23rd in run scoring, leading to a 26-30 record that has them in fourth place in the National League West. Machado has an uncharacteristic .231/.282/.372 line himself, and his tough season continued when he suffered a tiny fracture in his hand on a hit by pitch a couple weeks ago. That cost him around two weeks of action.

Campusano has been out since mid-April with a left thumb injury. He underwent surgery last month and isn’t expected back until the All-Star Break. His IL transfer backdates to the April placement and there was no way he’d return in the next couple weeks. That makes this no more than a procedural transaction.

Guardians Place Cal Quantrill On Injured List

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The Guardians have placed starter Cal Quantrill on the 15-day injured list due to shoulder inflammation, tweets Zack Meisel of the Athletic. Aaron Civale was reinstated from the IL to take his spot in the rotation. Cleveland also placed first baseman Josh Bell on the paternity list and recalled rookie infielder Brayan Rocchio from Triple-A Columbus.

Quantrill received an injection in his shoulder and will be shut down from throwing for a few days, per Mandy Bell of MLB.com (Twitter link). It’s not clear how long he’ll be out of action, though the shutdown could suggest it’s more than the minimal two weeks. While the Guardians will clearly be disappointed to lose one of their starters, the injury could explain some uncharacteristic struggles.

The right-hander has allowed a 5.61 ERA over 11 starts. Quantrill had kept his ERA below or around 3.00 in each of the preceding two seasons. This year’s velocity isn’t any different but he’s missing bats on a career-low 7.2% of his pitches. Quantrill’s past two starts have been particularly ineffective, as he’s respectively served up six and eight runs while failing to get out of the fifth inning.

In Quantrill’s place, the Guardians are welcoming back two veteran arms in the coming days. Civale starts tonight in Minnesota. It’s his first appearance since April 7. He missed just under two months with an oblique strain. Civale posted a 4.92 ERA in 20 starts last season.

Right-hander Triston McKenzie is listed as the probable starter for Sunday afternoon’s matchup with the division-leading Twins. McKenzie hasn’t pitched in the majors this season thanks to a Spring Training shoulder strain. He’s made three rehab starts with Columbus, allowing five runs in 10 1/3 frames. McKenzie is on the 60-day injured list and will need to return to the 40-man roster. Cleveland will have to make a corresponding move in that regard on Sunday.

Mets Acquire Vinny Nittoli

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4:29pm: Both teams announced the trade. Chicago receives cash in return.

7:40am: The Mets have acquired right-handed reliever Vinny Nittoli in a trade with the Cubs, per MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo. The return headed back to the Cubs is currently unknown, though it’s presumably relatively minor. The deal comes on the heels of Nittoli exercising an opt-out clause in his minor league deal with the Cubs yesterday. DiComo notes that Nittoli will be placed on New York’s 40-man roster, though the club could opt to option him to the minors once added. The Mets have two open spots on their 40-man roster, so no corresponding move will be necessary to add Nittoli.

Nittoli, 32, has just three innings of experience in the big leagues. In his MLB debut for the Mariners in 2021, Nittoli allowed two runs on two walks and a home run in one inning while striking out one. He would return to the majors in 2022, posting two scoreless innings for the Phillies across two appearances.

Outside of his major league appearances, Nittoli is a well-traveled journeyman, with time spent in the Mariners, Phillies, Blue Jays, Diamondbacks, Twins, Yankees, and Cubs organizations in addition to the independent American Association and the Mexican Pacific Winter League. In 657 1/3 innings across all professional levels, Nittoli has posted a solid 3.77 ERA.

Nittoli’s results have been far less inspiring at the Triple-A level, where he has posted a 4.92 ERA in 131 2/3 innings of work. That said, his numbers have improved for the Cubs this season, as the right-hander has posted a solid 3.48 ERA in 20 2/3 innings with a 24.4% strikeout rate and 7.8% walk rate.

Those numbers clearly intrigued the Mets, who made the decision to add him to the 40-man roster as a depth option for the club’s bullpen, which has seen mixed results this season outside of a phenomenal start from closer David Robertson. Should Nittoli be added to the club’s active roster, the right-hander figures to handle the middle innings alongside the likes of Tommy Hunter, Jeff Brigham, and Dominic Leone.

Royals Listening To Trade Offers On Scott Barlow

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The Royals are listening to trade offers on reliever Scott Barlow, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. It doesn’t appear as though they are actively shopping him but it’s noteworthy that they seem open to considering trade scenarios.

There are several reasons why a deal would make plenty of sense, one of which is the performance of the Royals this year. The club is out to a dismal 17-39 start, a record worse than every club in the majors except for the Athletics. They’re already 16 games out of the Wild Card race and 12.5 back of the Twins in the weak American League Central division. That makes them one of the few obvious sellers with the expanded postseason making most clubs at least marginal contenders.

Then there’s Barlow himself, who has been serving as an effective reliever in Kansas City for the past few years. Since debuting in 2018, he’s made 259 appearances with a 3.16 ERA, 29% strikeout rate, 9.3% walk rate and 42.7% ground ball rate. He has kept earned runs off the board at an even better rate in recent years, as he had a 2.42 ERA in 2021 and a tiny 2.18 mark last year. His ERA has jumped to 3.86 here in 2023 but his 3.34 FIP is actually lower than his 3.62 from last year. He has bumped his strikeout rate from 26.6% in 2022 to 33.7% this year but his walks also jumped from 7.6% to 12.8%. All of that has come with increased leverage work, as he racked up a combined 40 saves over 2021 and 2022 and six more so far this year.

Barlow, 30, wouldn’t be a pure rental since this is his second of three arbitration seasons, meaning he can still be retained for 2024. That means the Royals don’t strictly have to trade him, as they could decide to keep him around and hope for better results next year. Even if the club didn’t return to contention, there would be another opportunity to trade him at next year’s deadline, though he would have less value when being marketed for one postseason run instead of two. Relievers are often prone to fluctuations in performance, not to mention the ever-present injury risk with all pitchers. If they were to hold onto him, they would run the risk of a dip in performance or an injury diminishing his trade value even further. Taking that into consideration, there would certainly be an argument for pulling the trigger now.

There’s also the fact that just about every contending club could fit another reliever or two into their bullpens, especially one as talented as Barlow, meaning the Royals would have no shortage of suitors. The righty is making an affordable $5.3MM this year and would be in line for a raise next year. They still have a couple of months before the August 1 trade deadline to suss out his market, but Barlow looks like one of the clearer trade candidates this summer.

Mariners Select Mike Ford

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June 2: Ford’s selection is now official with the Mariners announcing the move today.

June 1: The Mariners are selecting the contract of first baseman Mike Ford, reports Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times (Twitter links). He adds that the move won’t be official until tomorrow but outfielder Taylor Trammell has already been optioned as the corresponding move. The club already had a 40-man roster vacancy and won’t require another move to open a spot there. Ford had triggered an opt-out in his minor league deal earlier today, giving the club 48 hours to add him to the roster or else lose him to free agency, though they’ve quickly taken the former route.

Ford, 30, gets back to the majors thanks to a torrid stretch on the farm to start this year. He signed a minor league deal with the Mariners in the winter and has 13 home runs through 49 Triple-A games so far. He’s been playing in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League but his .302/.427/.605 batting line still amounts to a 143 wRC+, indicating he’s been 43% better than league average at the plate overall. He has a 16.1% walk rate and a strikeout rate of just 14.2%.

The lefty-swinger has posted strong results in the minors before, having hit .263/.363/.493 over 365 Triple-A games for his career. But his attempts to handle major league pitching haven’t gone as well, as he’s hit .201/.301/.387 in 468 plate appearances dating back to 2019. He’s never really been given a lengthy chance, however, as he’s yet to get into more than 50 games in a big league season.

The Mariners will see if he can provided a needed jolt to their offense. The club is collectively hitting .228/.308/.381 for a wRC+ of 97. The designated hitter slot has been especially disappointing, with the club getting a collective .148/.248/.295 line out of that position. That translates to a wRC+ of 56, the worst such mark in the majors. There hasn’t been any set player in that role, as the club has largely used it to give more at-bats to their many outfielders, with Julio Rodríguez, Jarred Kelenic, Teoscar Hernández, AJ Pollock and Taylor Trammell all getting some time there. Since Ford is only really capable of playing first base and the M’s have Ty France there, Ford could take some plate appearances away from that outfield group.

Of course, the one who is most obviously squeezed out of playing time is Trammell, as he’s now headed down to the farm. He’s somewhat similar to Ford in the sense that he’s always struggled in the majors despite crushing in the minors. He’s hitting .133/.278/.333 for Seattle this year and has a .168/.269/.370 line in his big league career, striking out in 37% of his plate appearances. In Triple-A, however, he’s hit .285/.377/.495 across three different seasons. He’ll now head back there to try to get into a good groove.

The transaction is potentially significant for Trammell as he has just one option season remaining. Once he spends 20 days in the minors, that means he will officially burn that final option here in 2023 and will be out of options in 2024.

Cardinals Place Lars Nootbaar On IL With Back Injury

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The Cardinals announced that outfielder Lars Nootbaar has been placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to May 30, with a lower back contusion. His roster spot will go to fellow outfielder Jordan Walker, whose recall was reported yesterday.

Nootbaar, 25, goes to the IL for the second time this season. He landed on the shelf in early April due to a left thumb contusion. He returned in the middle of April but has sat out the past few days with back spasms, which allowed the club to backdate today’s IL stint. That means he could potentially return in a week but it will leave the club noticeably short-handed in center field in the meantime.

The Cards traded away Harrison Bader last year, seemingly confident in finding an internal replacement in center field from either Tyler O’Neill, Dylan Carlson or Nootbaar. All three of them had previous experience at the position and have been given some more time there this year, but now all three of them are on the injured list at the same time. O’Neill has been out close to a month due to a lower back strain and doesn’t seem to have made much progress in getting healthy again. Carlson has been out of action about two weeks due to an ankle injury and has yet to begin a rehab assignment.

The club is coming off unusual back-to-back off-days, meaning their most recent contest was on Tuesday. In that game, Tommy Edman went out to play center field and could perhaps continue in that role for the next week. After Tuesday’s game, he’s now up to 13 major league innings at the position. He was the club’s shortstop earlier in the year but Paul DeJong has since taken over while bouncing back from a few miserable seasons at the plate. Óscar Mercado is another option for center field work and is hitting .333/.357/.444 this year. But that’s in a small sample of 28 plate appearances and his career batting line is a far more modest .238/.291/.389.

Hopefully, the week off is enough for Nootbaar to return to action as he’s a strong all-around contributor. In 208 career games, he’s hit 23 home runs and walked in 14.2% of his plate appearances. His .241/.347/.427 batting line amounts to a wRC+ of 118. He’s also stolen 11 bases and has strong grades for his outfield defense.

Rays Designate Ben Heller For Assignment

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The Rays announced that they have designated right-hander Ben Heller for assignment. His 40-man roster spot will go to Robert Stephenson, who was acquired in a trade today. The club will also need to open an active roster spot for Stephenson whenever he reports to the team.

Heller, 31, signed a minor league deal with the Rays this winter. He had his contract selected a little over a week ago but was optioned back to Triple-A before getting into a game. He’s tossed 27 1/3 innings over 18 appearances for the Bulls this year with a 3.95 ERA, 26% strikeout rate, 6.1% walk rate and 49.4% ground ball rate.

The right-hander has 31 games of major league experience, all of which came with the Yankees. Those were scattered across the 2016 to 2020 time frame, with Heller never topping 10 appearances in any individual campaign. He has a career 2.59 ERA, though with a .253 batting average on balls in play and 98.4% strand rate, both of which are unsustainably lucky. He was cut loose prior to the 2021 season then signed a minor league deal with the Diamondbacks but a stress reaction in his elbow cost him that entire season. He was with the Twins on a minor league deal last year but was only able to make seven appearances.

The Rays will now have one week to trade Heller or try to pass him through waivers. He is in his final option season and has been getting decent results in Durham. Given the number of pitching injuries around the league, it wouldn’t be a shock if some clubs were interested in nabbing Heller for some extra bullpen depth. Since he has over three years of major league service time, he would have the right to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency in the event he clears waivers.

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