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Cardinals To Recall Jordan Walker

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The Cardinals are planning to recall top outfield prospect Jordan Walker from Triple-A Memphis, reports Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat (Twitter link). He’ll be back in the majors for Friday’s series opener in Pittsburgh. The Cards will presumably announce their corresponding active roster move tomorrow.

Walker returns for a second MLB stint. The 21-year-old broke camp with St. Louis and started in right field on Opening Day. He wasn’t completely overmatched in his first month. Walker made headlines for a 12-game hitting streak early on and hit a roughly league average .274/.321/.397 through 20 contests.

Nevertheless, St. Louis made the decision to send him back to the minors at the end of April. Walker’s defensive marks weren’t good and his solid slash line belied mounting chase and ground-ball rates at the dish. The demotion wasn’t especially alarming considering Walker’s youth and that St. Louis had jumped him directly from Double-A to the majors in the first place.

While the former first-round pick got off to a bit of a slow start in Memphis, he’s turned things on of late. Walker is hitting .267/.376/.433 over his past 23 games, drawing free passes at a robust 11.9% clip against a decent 21.1% strikeout rate. His 44.6% grounder percentage in Triple-A is well shy of the 60.4% rate at which he put the ball on the ground in the majors.

The Cardinals determined he’s ready for another look at the highest level. St. Louis’ outfield has thinned over the past few weeks. Tyler O’Neill and Dylan Carlson both landed on the injured list since Walker was optioned. O’Neill seems without a clear return timetable as he battles lingering back issues.

Utilityman Brendan Donovan has gotten the bulk of the right field work lately but can bounce around the diamond. Primary left fielder Alec Burleson has struggled to a .237/.289/.397 line on the year, including a meager .245/.293/.340 showing in May. The Cardinals are carrying Óscar Mercado on the MLB roster as a depth outfielder but have only given him five starts since selecting his contract two weeks ago. Mercado’s ability to back up Lars Nootbaar in center field gives him more defensive value than Burleson, though the Cards gave Tommy Edman his first career start there earlier in the week.

Walker will surely be in the lineup on a regular basis now that he’s back in the majors, probably most directly impacting Burleson’s playing time. While he’ll again be paid at the MLB minimum rate and collect service time, the option is likely to push back his path to free agency. Walker spent over a month in the minors and won’t get the 172 days on an MLB roster that’d get him a full service year this season.

Unless he earns “bonus” service time by finishing in the top two in NL Rookie of the Year balloting, he won’t be on track to reach free agency until after the 2029 season. If he’s in the majors from here on out, he’d qualify for early arbitration as a Super Two player following the ’25 campaign. Future minor league assignments could alter that path, of course. This is the first of three years in which Walker can be optioned.

Upcoming Club Option Decisions: NL East

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We’re roughly a third of the way through the 2023 season. Players have had a couple months to build something of a performance track record that’ll play a role in their future contracts. With that in mind, MLBTR will take a look over the coming days at players whose contracts contain team or mutual options to gauge the early trajectory for those upcoming decisions.

Over the past few days, we’ve looked at the NL West and NL Central. Closing out the Senior Circuit:

Atlanta Braves

The Braves and Morton have had a productive relationship for the past few years. He’s signed a series of successive one-year contracts and served as an effective mid-rotation presence. A home run spike resulted in a 4.34 ERA last season but the Braves remained confident in Morton’s still-strong velocity and strikeout and walk numbers. They’ve gotten exactly what they’ve expected from the 39-year-old. He has a 3.59 ERA with a solid 24.5% strikeout rate and is still averaging north of 95 MPH on his fastball. If Morton maintains this form for a full season and wants to continue playing, it stands to reason Atlanta would have interest in bringing him back.

Rosario re-signed on a two-year contract after his 2021 postseason heroics helped Atlanta to a title. He’s always been a streaky performer, however, and the past two seasons haven’t been effective. Rosario hit just .212/.259/.328 in 80 games last year. There was some hope a corrective eye surgery could enable a bounceback but he’s only been slightly better in 2023. Rosario carries a .239/.269/.405 line in 171 trips to the plate. The Braves could pursue left field upgrades via trade this summer and are likely to cut Rosario loose at the end of the season.

d’Arnaud has been a quality catcher for Atlanta for the past few seasons. Last year’s .268/.319/.472 showing didn’t stop the Braves from a blockbuster acquisition of Sean Murphy, who is playing at a down-ballot MVP pace through two months. That pushed d’Arnaud into a backup/designated hitter role for which he’s arguably overqualified.

A concussion has limited d’Arnaud to 17 games thus far. He’s hitting .297/.318/.406 over 66 trips to the plate. An $8MM price point is solid value if the veteran continues to perform at his recent levels. Even with Murphy entrenched as Atlanta’s franchise backstop, the Braves were comfortable keeping d’Arnaud around as a highly-priced #2 option. They could do so again in 2024 or exercise the option and look to trade him this winter, as the Brewers did with second baseman Kolten Wong last offseason.

McHugh inked a two-year free agent deal over the 2021-22 offseason. He was brilliant in year one, throwing 69 1/3 innings of 2.60 ERA ball with a 27.6% strikeout rate. He hasn’t come close to that form through this season’s first couple months. McHugh’s 3.54 ERA through 20 1/3 frames is respectable, but he’s punched out a meager 11.6% of opponents against a personal-worst 10.5% walk rate. The option price isn’t exorbitant and McHugh could yet pitch his way into it being exercised. He’ll need to miss more bats, though.

It’s a somewhat similar story with Yates. He signed a buy-low free agent deal in the middle of a Tommy John rehab during the 2021-22 offseason. Yates made a brief return late last season but hasn’t gotten an extended stretch of action until 2023. He’s missing bats on a solid 12.7% of his offerings and has an above-average 29.1% strikeout rate.

The righty’s control hasn’t come back yet, however. He’s walked 17.4% of opposing hitters and is relying on a .214 batting average on balls in play to keep his ERA at 3.26. Whether he can dial in the strike-throwing as he gets more reps probably determines if the Braves keep him around on a net $4.5MM decision.

Miami Marlins

Cueto signed an $8.5MM guarantee with Miami on the heels of a bounceback showing with the White Sox. It was an odd fit on a Marlins club with ample rotation depth and it hasn’t yet panned out. The 37-year-old got through just one inning in his season debut before suffering a biceps injury. He subsequently sprained his left ankle while on a minor league rehab stint and is on the 60-day injured list. Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald relayed on Tuesday that he’s up to 40 pitches in a bullpen session. A return probably isn’t too far off, but Cueto hasn’t made an impact thus far.

Miami acquired Barnes from the Red Sox in a change-of-scenery swap for Richard Bleier at the end of January. He’s off to a fine but not overwhelming start in his new environs. Over 21 innings, the righty reliever has a 3.43 ERA with near-average strikeout and walk numbers. His average fastball velocity is at a career-low 93.3 MPH, though, and he’s only getting swinging strikes at an 8% clip. Barnes looks more like a competent middle reliever than an All-Star closer at this stage of his career. The $5.75MM gap between the option value and the buyout price will probably prove a little too much for the Marlins.

New York Mets

Canha had a productive first season in Queens after signing a two-year free agent deal. He hit .266/.367/.403 over 542 plate appearances last year. He’s been off to a slower start in 2023, posting a .242/.324/.386 line with four homers — a league average performance by measure of wRC+. Canha picked things up in May after a tough April and still holds an everyday corner outfield role, although he’s increasingly hitting at the bottom of the lineup.

The $9.5MM gap between the option value and the buyout isn’t a huge price to pay for a solid everyday outfielder. That’s especially true for the Mets. This one remains to be determined based on Canha’s summer performance.

Escobar was another two-year signee just prior to the lockout. He was coming off a 28-homer showing in 2021 and has some defensive flexibility. Escobar has hit at a roughly league average level as a Met, showing his typical blend of above-average power with low walk totals. That includes a .244/.289/.433 showing over 98 plate appearances this year.

Brett Baty has taken over the primary third base job, pushing Escobar into a depth role off the bench. He’s a solid utility option and by all accounts a beloved clubhouse presence but the net $8.5MM call is likely pricey for a player in that kind of role.

Acquired from the Rays over the offseason, Raley has been a solid situational bullpen arm in Queens. He owns a 2.95 ERA over 18 1/3 innings with better than average strikeout and walk numbers (25.6% and 7.7%, respectively). Raley doesn’t throw especially hard but he misses bats at a league average clip. He’s been hit around by left-handed hitters in a small sample this year but kept them to a .155/.200/.282 line in 76 plate appearances in 2022. The $4.25MM call is a reasonable price point for an effective middle innings arm. If Raley keeps up this pace, there’s a decent chance the Mets bring him back.

Note: Víctor Robles and Jon Berti each signed arbitration contracts that contained 2024 club options. They’d remain eligible for arbitration next season even if the options are declined and have accordingly been excluded from this list.

César Hernández Exercises Opt-Out In Mariners Deal

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Infielder César Hernández has opted out of his minor league deal with the Mariners, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post.

June 1 is a popular date for opt-outs on minor league contracts, as five other players triggered similar clauses earlier today. Once the opt-out is triggered, the club usually has a window of 48 or 72 hours to either add the player to their 40-man roster or else lose them to free agency. At this point, it’s not publicly known how long the Mariners will have to decide about Hernández or which way they would be leaning. First baseman Mike Ford triggered an opt-out earlier today but it was reported shortly thereafter that the M’s will be adding him to their roster tomorrow.

Hernández, 33, is a veteran who first debuted with the Phillies in 2013. He spent many years in Philadelphia as a solid everyday player at second base, providing both offense and defense roughly around league average. From 2015 to 2019, he got into 732 games over those five seasons. He only hit 45 home runs but walked at a solid 10.1% rate and only struck out in 18.5% of his trips to the plate. His .278/.355/.388 batting line amounted to a wRC+ of 100, indicating he was exactly league average in that time, while he also swiped 79 bags in that stretch.

Since then, things have been a little less consistent for him. He had an unusual power spike in 2021, hitting 21 home runs but his batting average fell to .232. Last year, his power vanished as he hit only one homer all year and his average ticked up but only to .248. He had to settle for a minor league deal with the Tigers this winter but didn’t make the club out of spring and was released, perhaps due to an automatic opt-out he had as an Article XX(B) free agent.

He landed with the Mariners on another minor league deal and has been with Triple-A Tacoma for the past two months. He hasn’t hit any home runs in his 43 games with the Rainiers but he did walk in 22.6% of his plate appearances. He hit .272/.436/.336 overall for a 107 wRC+ and stole seven bases. He played mostly second base but also saw some time at third, shortstop and center field.

The Mariners are pretty set at most of those positions, with Julio Rodríguez in center, Eugenio Suárez at third and J.P. Crawford at short. But Hernández’s primary position of second base is a little less secure. Kolten Wong was the everyday option coming into the season but he’s hitting a paltry .157/.252/.185 this year. He’s gradually been ceding playing time to José Caballero, who has a solid .240/.366/.360 line so far, but in just 93 plate appearances in his first 31 major league games.

Perhaps those factors could cause the M’s to consider adding Hernández to their roster. If not, he’ll head out to the open market and see what other opportunities might be available to him.

Marlins Return Rule 5 Pick Nic Enright To Guardians

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The Marlins have returned right-hander Nic Enright to the Guardians, per Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase. Enright had been selected by the Marlins from the Guardians in the Rule 5 draft but was designated for assignment on Monday. Today’s transaction indicates he cleared waivers in recent days. The Guardians will not have to add him to their 40-man roster.

Enright, 26, was a 20th round selection of Cleveland in the 2019 draft. He got a brief professional debut in rookie ball that year before the minor leagues were wiped out by the pandemic in 2020. He then split his 2021 between High-A and Double-A, tossing 58 relief innings between those two levels with a 3.41 ERA. He struck out 38.4% of batters faced while walking just 5.7%. Last year was split between Double-A and Triple-A, as Enright finished the season with a combined 2.88 ERA at those two levels, striking out 33.7% of opponents against a 5.4% walk rate.

The Marlins decided it was worth taking a shot on him and nabbed him in the Rule 5 draft in December. Shortly after that, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, relaying the news himself in February. He began the season on the 15-day injured list and was transferred to the 60-day version in early April. He began a rehab assignment about a month ago but it seems the Marlins weren’t going to be able to find room for him on their roster.

Any of the other clubs in the league could have claimed him off waivers, but doing so would have meant following the standard Rule 5 guidelines, meaning they would not have been able to send Enright to the minors. It seems none of them were willing to do so, allowing the Guardians to welcome him back to their organization as non-roster bullpen depth. He will presumably head to Triple-A Columbus and continue working towards his major league debut.

Mike Ford Exercises Opt-Out In Mariners Deal

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First baseman Mike Ford has exercised an opt-out clause in his minor league deal with the Mariners, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. The club will now have 48 hours to add him to their roster or else he will become a free agent. June 1 is a popular date for opt-outs on minor league deals, with four other players triggering clauses earlier today.

Ford, 30, signed a minor league deal with the Mariners over the winter and has spent all of 2023 in Triple-A so far. He has been absolutely crushing the ball for the Rainiers, having hit 13 home runs in 49 games. He’s walked in 16.1% of his plate appearances while striking out in only 14.2% of them. Although the club plays in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, his huge .302/.427/.605 batting line amounts to a wRC+ of 143, indicating he’s been 43% better than league average.

With that excellent performance, it’s hardly a shock that he’s willing to return to the open market. The Mariners have a couple of days to decide whether to give him a shot, but doing so would be somewhat complicated. For one thing, Ford is out of options, meaning he would need to be added to the active roster.

He is also limited to first base and designated hitter at this point in his career, which gives the club fewer opportunities for slotting him into the lineup. Ty France has played first base for the vast majority of Seattle’s games this year, hitting a solid .262/.338/.407 for a wRC+ of 114. The designated hitter slot has been a rotation, often used to get one of the club’s many outfielders into the lineup. With Julio Rodríguez, Jarred Kelenic, Teoscar Hernández, AJ Pollock and Taylor Trammell all in the mix, that’s five guys for four spots.

It’s also no guarantee that Ford would be able to bring his Triple-A success to the majors, as he’s often tantalized with strong results on the farm but struggled in the big leagues. In 365 Triple-A contests for his career, he has 74 home runs and a .263/.363/.493 batting line. In 151 major league games, he has 20 home runs but an overall line of just .201/.301/.387. The Mariners could give him another shot at big league pitching, but doing so would likely squeeze out someone like Pollock or Trammell. It’s possible that could lead to an offensive boost but would also come with diminished defensive flexibility.

If the M’s don’t give Ford a roster spot, he will see if there are better opportunities for him elsewhere. He would be competing with other first basemen like Luke Voit and Jesús Aguilar, who were each recently designated for assignment and likely to end up released. Those players have longer major league track records than Ford but he can at least point to strong results this year, unlike them. Ford also has just over two years of major league service time, meaning he could be cheaply retained for future seasons via arbitration if he finally breaks out.

Edwin Díaz Targeting Late-Season Return

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Mets closer Edwin Díaz has been on the injured list all season after undergoing knee surgery in March but is still hoping for a return later in the season. “If everything keeps going how it’s going, we’ve got a chance to pitch,” he tells Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. “The trainers and doctors will decide, but I feel great. Let’s see what’s coming for us.”

Díaz was pitching for his native Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic when he closed out the quarterfinal game, knocking out the Dominican Republic squad. The celebratory atmosphere quickly turned somber as Díaz crumpled to the ground in obvious pain and needed a wheelchair to be removed from the field. He underwent surgery the next day to repair the patellar tendon in his right knee and was given an expected recovery timeline of eight months, though some players can return in around six months in rare cases.

The two-month difference between the expected timeline and the optimistic timeline is significant since the surgery took place in mid-March. If Díaz were to be healthy after the expected eight-month time frame, it would be the middle of November and he would miss the entire season. But getting on the quicker path could mean a return in the middle of September, just in time for the final weeks of the schedule and a potential postseason run.

At this point, it’s still too early to say whether that will be attainable or not. Díaz himself admits that it will ultimately be up to the trainers and doctors, depending on how things proceed over the next three months or so. But the fact that it’s still on the table is surely good news for the Mets and their fans. “My scar is looking good,” Díaz says. “My knee is doing well, responding really well to all the exercise. We’re happy.”

Díaz has been one of the better relievers in baseball in his career, already racking up 205 saves before he turned 29 back in March. 2022 was arguably his best season to date, as he posted a 1.31 ERA over 62 innings, striking out an incredible 50.2% of batters faced while walking 7.7% and getting grounders at a 46.9% rate. He was slated to reach free agency after that but he and the club agreed to a new deal the day after the World Series ended, before he had officially hit the open market. The five-year, $102MM deal set a new record, the largest guarantee ever secured by a relief pitcher.

Without Díaz, the bullpen hasn’t been a strong point for the Mets. Their relievers have a collective 4.19 ERA on the season, a mark that puts them 20th out of the 30 clubs in the league. David Robertson has done well in the closer’s role, collectiving 10 saves while registering a 1.48 ERA, but Díaz coming back and bumping Robertson into a setup role would only make the whole group stronger. With the Mets likely to be in a tight playoff race as the season goes along, the progress of Díaz will be a fascinating storyline to keep an eye on.

Phillies Place Alec Bohm On Injured List, Select Drew Ellis

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1:45pm: The Phillies plan to play Clemens at first base against right-handed pitching and platoon him with Ellis for the time being, manager Rob Thomson said following the team’s formal announcement of the moves (link via Lauber). Bryce Harper hasn’t yet been cleared to throw to bases, so while he’s continuing workouts to acclimate to first base, he’s not an option yet. Sosa will get the majority of the reps at the hot corner while Bohm is shelved.

As for Bohm’s recovery, Thomson declined to offer a specific timetable, stating only that the Phillies “want to make sure it’s knocked out and it doesn’t come back, so however long that takes.” The Phillies designated outfielder Cal Stevenson for assignment to open roster space for Ellis.

9:21am: The Phillies will select the contract of infielder Drew Ellis from Triple-A Lehigh Valley and place fellow infielder Alec Bohm on the 10-day injured list, reports Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link). Yesterday, Bohm underwent an MRI on an ailing hamstring that has kept him out of the past few games. The Phillies have a full 40-man roster, so they’ll need to make a corresponding move in order to get Ellis to the big league level.

Following Rhys Hoskins’ season-ending ACL tear in spring training and Darick Hall’s thumb surgery in early April, Bohm has taken the lion’s share of playing time at first base for the injury-plagued Phillies (though he’s still logged plenty of action at the hot corner as well). Bohm has turned in a solid, if unspectacular .265/.321/.403 while grading out as a below-average defender at both infield corners. It’s not yet clear how much time he’ll be expected to miss, but in his stead, the Phils will likely turn to utilityman Kody Clemens at first base. The newly selected Ellis and utilitymen Edmundo Sosa and Josh Harrison figure to see time at third base.

Clemens, 27, came over from the Tigers in the Gregory Soto trade this offseason and has batted .268/.333/.479 with four homers in 78 plate appearances. He’s done so while striking out at a hefty 28.2% rate, so it could be tough for him to maintain that average, but he’s elevating the ball consistently (46.9% fly-ball rate, 24.5% line-drive rate) and making plenty of hard contact (90.1 mph average exit velocity), lending some credence to the power output.

It’s worth noting that Hall, who like Clemens bats left-handed, embarked on a minor league rehab assignment two days ago. He’s out to a 3-for-9 start with the Phillies’ High-A affiliate, and while the team likely wants him to get more than nine plate appearances after undergoing surgery to repair a torn ligament in his thumb, Hall could be a big league option in the very near future. The 27-year-old slugger showed an all-or-nothing skill set in 2022 when he made his big league debut and hit .250/.282/.522 with nine dingers in just 142 plate appearances.

Ellis, 27, has seen big league time with the D-backs and Mariners across the past two seasons but signed a minor league deal with the Phillies over the winter. He’s batted just .141/.270/.212 in a tiny sample of 100 MLB plate appearances, walking at a hearty 11% clip against a more concerning 34% strikeout rate. He’s posted huge numbers while splitting time evenly between the Phillies’ Double-A and Triple-A clubs in 2023, with a .269/.380/.628 slash and eight long balls in just 78 plate appearances.

Defensively, Ellis has primarily been a third baseman, though he’s gathered experience at other spots as well. In recent years, he’s seen playing time at first base (344 innings), second base (275 innings) and even a few brief appearances at shortstop (19 innings). Like Sosa and Harrison, he’s a right-handed hitter, so there’s no neat platoon possibility at the hot corner. However, he could serve as a righty complement to Clemens and/or Hall at first base while Bohm mends, and if he can carry over any of that power display to the Majors, he could earn some additional at-bats across the diamond.

Yankees Activate Stanton, Donaldson, Kahnle; Rodon Transferred To 60-Day IL

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1:32pm: The Yankees have now formally announced the full slate of moves. Stanton, Donaldson and Kahnle have all been reinstated from the injured list, while Cabrera, Cordero and Krook have been optioned. They indeed transferred Rodon to the 60-day IL to open a spot on the 40-man roster for Kahnle. Again, that’s a formality and doesn’t impact Rodon’s eligibility to return. He’s already missed more than 60 days, and the “60-day” term of his IL stint is retroactive to his initial placement on the injured list.

10:57am: The Yankees announced this morning they’ve optioned outfielders Oswaldo Cabrera and Franchy Cordero and reliever Matt Krook to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. (Jack Curry of the YES Network first reported Cabrera’s forthcoming demotion last night.) As Chris Kirschner and Brendan Kuty of the Athletic write, that clears the way for New York to formally reinstate Giancarlo Stanton, Josh Donaldson and Tommy Kahnle from the injured list before tomorrow’s series opener against the Dodgers.

Kahnle is coming back from the 60-day IL and will require a 40-man roster spot, though that can be opened by transferring Carlos Rodón to the 60-day IL. Rodón has already missed more than two months, so that transfer would be a strictly procedural move that doesn’t affect his return eligibility.

Cabrera is the most notable of the players being sent out. He was New York’s Opening Day left fielder and has started 41 of 58 games overall. The majority of his time has been spent in the corner outfield, though he’s also logged some action at each of the non-first base infield spots.

While Cabrera has shown plenty of defensive flexibility, he’s not offered much at the plate. He owns just a .195/.246/.292 line with a trio of home runs over 168 trips. Cabrera logged a similar amount of playing time last season but had a more formidable .247/.312/.429 showing as a rookie. In light of his sophomore slump, the Yankees will send him back for a reset against upper minors pitching.

Paired with Aaron Hicks’ recent release, Cabrera’s demotion leaves left field to some combination of Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Jake Bauers and Willie Calhoun. Stanton may eventually log some corner outfield reps as well, but manager Aaron Boone said yesterday he’ll break back in as a strict designated hitter for the first few weeks (via Kirschner). The club wants to be cautious about his responsibilities after a near six week absence due to a strained left hamstring.

Stanton had connected on four home runs in 13 games over the season’s first couple weeks. He returns to build on a .269/.296/.558 slash line. The former NL MVP has topped 30 homers in each of the last two seasons.

He’s not the only veteran right-handed bat returning to Boone’s lineup. Donaldson has been out for nearly the entire season thanks to a balky right hamstring. He’s gotten into just five games, a disappointing start to what he’d hoped what be a bounceback second season in the Bronx. Donaldson hit only .222/.308/.374 last year but Boone has already indicated he’ll be back in the lineup on an everyday basis once healthy. That should push DJ LeMahieu back into a multi-positional role after he’s been mostly at the hot corner of late.

Kahnle will be making his first appearance during his second MLB stint as a Yankee. The veteran righty returned to the Bronx on a two-year, $11.5MM free agent deal. He’d thrown just 12 2/3 innings for the Dodgers last season but showed mid-90s velocity and excellent ground-ball numbers in that brief look. Kahnle had been delayed by biceps soreness earlier in the season but has returned to throw five innings over as many outings on a minor league rehab appearance.

Rockies Place Kris Bryant On Injured List

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The Rockies announced Thursday that outfielder Kris Bryant has been placed on the 10-day IL (retroactive to May 31) with a bruised left heel. Bryant was out of the lineup yesterday after fouling a ball off his left foot in Tuesday’s game. Outfielder/designated hitter Charlie Blackmon was reinstated from the bereavement list in a corresponding move.

It’s the first IL stint of the season for Bryant but the fourth since signing a seven-year deal with the Rockies. He missed time late last season due to plantar fasciitis in this same foot and was also shelved due to back troubles.

The former NL Rookie of the Year and MVP is putting the ball in play and drawing walks at above-average rates so far in 2023, but he hasn’t yet delivered much in the way of power. Bryant has just five homers and six doubles in 214 plate appearances this season, giving him a .111 ISO (slugging minus batting average) that’s 50 points below the league average. Overall, the 31-year-old is hitting .263/.346/.374 with a 9.8% walk rate and 17.3% strikeout rate.

Bryant has moved across the outfield grass from left to right field in 2023, accommodating fellow free-agent signee Jurickson Profar. He’s already totaled a career-high 317 innings in right field, but defensive metrics have panned his work there (-7 Defensive Runs Saved, -3 Outs Above Average). It’s certainly possible that his slate of injuries over the past year has hampered his range and contributed to those poor marks. After ranking in the 71st percentile of MLB players in average sprint speed as recently as 2021, Bryant sat in the 50th percentile in 2022 and is in just the 35th percentile so far in 2023, per Statcast. He also ranks in the 17th percentile of big leaguers in terms of Statcast’s outfield jump metric.

With Bryant on the shelf, the Rockies will likely go with an outfield alignment of Profar, Brenton Doyle and Randal Grichuk from left to right. Their bench currently has backup catcher Austin Wynns, utility infielder Alan Trejo and corner infielders Mike Moustakas and Elehuris Montero, which doesn’t leave them with a traditional fourth outfielder. However, Nolan Jones — who’s mostly played first base since his recall — can slot into an outfield corner, as can the veteran Blackmon. Grichuk, meanwhile, has ample experience in center field, should Doyle need a day off or need to exit a game due to injury.

Phillies Designate Cal Stevenson For Assignment

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The Phillies announced Thursday that they’ve designated outfielder Cal Stevenson for assignment. He’d only just been claimed off waivers last week, but with Alec Bohm heading to the injured list — as was reported this morning — the team needed to open a roster spot to select the contract of infielder Drew Ellis from Triple-A.

The 26-year-old Stevenson was a tenth-round pick by the Blue Jays in 2018 and has already thrice been traded in his professional career: from Toronto to Houston in the Derek Fisher deal, from Houston to Tampa Bay for Austin Pruitt, and from Tampa Bay to Oakland for Christian Bethancourt. He’s now on his third DFA of the 2023 season alone, having gone from Oakland to San Francisco to the Phillies via that process. Stevenson has had minimal big league experience, both this season (0-for-12 in San Francisco) and in his young career (.145/.259/.188 in 83 plate appearances).

Down in the minors, he’s been a much more productive hitter. Stevenson touts a .267/.378/.380 batting line with seven home runs and 21 steals in 26 attempts. He’s walked at a hefty 15% clip in Triple-A against a lower-than-average 19.5% strikeout rate. Stevenson can play all three outfield spots, though the bulk of his work has come in center field. The Phils likely claimed him in hopes of rostering a true fourth outfield option while the injured Cristian Pache mends, but health concerns elsewhere on the roster prompted them to quickly change course.

The Phillies will have a week to trade Stevenson or attempt to pass him through outright waivers. Given his defensive abilities, on-base track record and remaining minor league options, there’s a decent chance that another team in need of some outfield depth will take a look at Stevenson, either via a small trade or a waiver claim. If the Phils can succeed in passing him through waivers, however, they’d be able to retain him in Triple-A as a depth option. Stevenson doesn’t have the service time or prior outright needed to reject an outright assignment.

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