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Marcus Stroman To Be Shut Down For Several Weeks

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Cubs right-hander Marcus Stroman will be totally inactive for at least a few weeks, as the pitcher himself told reporters including Bruce Levine of 670 The Score. Further details are provided by Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune and Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic.

Stroman landed on the injured list in early August due to right hip inflammation and he was expected to return earlier this week. He experienced some soreness in his rib cage that was eventually diagnosed as a rib cartilage fracture, preventing him from returning as hoped. No details on his timeline were initially provided and the path forward still seems uncertain, but it appears he will have to be focused on healing for at least a few weeks.

The whole ordeal is obviously quite frustrating for Stroman, who says he still doesn’t know how or when the injury occured. He relays that he threw a bullpen when the club was in Toronto on the weekend and felt a bit “crampy” but nothing terribly unusual. He then took part in some infield practice, a normal thing for him, but then had difficulty breathing after a cool-down period. He flew back to Chicago and went straight to an emergency room, where he eventually underwent an MRI that found the fracture.

Honing in on the diagnosis hasn’t helped much yet. “I can’t be too active,” Stroman said. “It’s not like I can do too much right now. I’ve talked to several doctors and I guess the best thing is it has to kind of heal itself. Hopefully a few weeks. I can’t go anywhere. I can barely turn right now. Breathing is tough at some points, to sit for long periods of time is pretty difficult.”

There’s still plenty of unknowns about how things will progress from here, with Stroman saying he’s taking things one day at a time to see how his body reacts, but it’s fair to wonder if his season is now in jeopardy. Even a limited shutdown period of a couple of weeks would take him into September and would likely require a rehab assignment of some kind at that point, when there will only be about a month left on the schedule. Anything that pushes beyond that would tighten his window even further and perhaps increase the amount of rehabbing necessary.

The Cubs are firmly in the mix of the playoff race in the National League, currently just half a game out of a Wild Card spot. Given how cloudy Stroman’s outlook is, they will likely have to operate under the assumption he may not be back this year. They currently have a rotation of Justin Steele, Kyle Hendricks, Jameson Taillon and Javier Assad in four spots. Manager David Ross indicated that Drew Smyly, recently moved to the bullpen, would likely return to the rotation to replace Stroman. Should another injury arise, the club has Hayden Wesneski, Ben Brown and Caleb Kilian as depth options.

For Stroman, this continues to dampen a season that was previously on track to be one of the best of his career. Through June 20, his earned run average was a tiny 2.28. He then hit a rough patch, allowing 30 earned runs in his next 30 innings, causing his ERA to jump to 3.85 before he landed on the injured list.

When he was at that high point a couple of months ago, he seemed like a lock to trigger his opt-out this winter, leaving behind the one year and $21MM left on his contract. Even with this injury, he would likely still be able to top that guarantee with another multi-year deal, though his earning power will undoubtedly be diminished relative to where it was in June. If the club is able to make a deep postseason push, that would obviously increase his chances of getting back on the mound, but the likelihood of that won’t be known for a while.

Reds Targeted Brady Singer at Trade Deadline

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The Reds reportedly targeted Royals starting pitcher Brady Singer at the trade deadline, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Needless to say, their efforts were unsuccessful, as Cincinnati’s only move at the deadline was to trade for Athletics reliever Sam Moll.

It’s no surprise that the Reds were searching for starting pitching. Entering the deadline, their starters had a 5.21 ERA, and four-fifths of their Opening Day rotation was either on the injured list or had already been released. According to a report from Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, the Reds were even willing to trade Jonathan India, once thought to be an untouchable piece of their core, to acquire young, controllable pitching. They were also linked to Eduardo Rodriguez and were said to be scouting the Mets, possibly with interest in Max Scherzer or Justin Verlander.

The 27-year-old Singer meets the young and controllable criteria better than any of those veterans; he is under team control through 2026. Furthermore, unlike Rodriguez, Scherzer, and Verlander, he doesn’t have any no-trade protection in his contract, so he couldn’t have vetoed a deal to the borderline-contending Reds. In other words, he made good sense as a target for Cincinnati on a relatively thin trade market.

Singer looked like a solid, mid-rotation starter right out of the gate in 2020, pitching to a 4.06 ERA in 12 starts. However, he ran into trouble down the stretch in 2021, posting a 5.70 ERA in the second half. The Royals moved him to the bullpen to open the 2022 season but quickly changed their minds, sending him to Triple-A to ramp back up into a starting role. Upon his return from the minors, he looked better than ever, putting up a 3.11 ERA and 3.43 SIERA in 24 games.

Unfortunately, Singer ran into another rough patch at the start of the 2023 campaign. After 15 starts, he was sporting a 6.34 ERA and 4.67 SIERA in 76 2/3 innings pitched. Since that day, however, the right-hander has turned things around once again. In nine outings, he has a 3.05 ERA and 3.90 SIERA while averaging nearly 6 2/3 innings per game. He cut his walk rate without sacrificing strikeouts, and he’s allowing far less hard contact, too. That’s exactly the kind of pitcher he looked like last season.

Ultimately the Royals were not compelled to trade Singer. He had only just begun to reverse his fortunes by the deadline, and Kansas City had little reason to sell low on such a promising arm. He still has three years of arbitration eligibility ahead of him, and it’s possible the Royals could be competitive in the AL Central within that time. If not, they still have ample opportunity to find a trade.

Similarly, the Reds weren’t facing any pressure to make a major deal. With so many talented young players under team control for the next several years, their competitive window is just beginning to open. They could have used another starter for the stretch run, but surely they were hesitant to add a pitcher who had struggled most of the season.

If Singer continues to succeed over the next six weeks, the Reds might be inclined to check back in with the Royals this winter. Cincinnati has several promising arms on the roster, including Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, Andrew Abbott, Graham Ashcraft, and Lyon Richardson, but this team could certainly use a more established starter to anchor the rotation. The Reds have one of the better farm systems in the game (N0. 12 at Baseball America, No. 5 at MLB Pipeline), while the Royals have one of the worst (No. 29 at BA and MLB Pipeline), so Cincinnati should have all the necessary pieces if they decide to make a deal.

Angels Designate Chad Wallach For Assignment, Transfer Anthony Rendon To 60-Day IL

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The Angels announced a series of roster moves today, including the previously-reported selection of prospect Nolan Schanuel. They also reinstated catcher Logan O’Hoppe from the 60-day injured list. One active roster spot was opened by first baseman C.J. Cron being placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to August 16, due to low back inflammation. Chad Wallach was designated for assignment, opening a spot on both the active and 40-man rosters. To open a second spot on the 40-man, third baseman Anthony Rendon was transferred to the 60-day injured list.

Wallach, 31, signed a minor league deal with the Halos in the offseason and had his contract selected in April when O’Hoppe landed on the injured list due to a torn labrum in his shoulder. Wallach has been sharing the catching duties with Matt Thaiss since then, generally performing well by backup catcher standards.

He struck out in 34.2% of his plate appearances and only batted .209, but he hit seven home runs in just 149 plate appearances. His 84 wRC+ indicates he was 16% below average overall, but catchers generally produce less at the plate, as the league’s backstops have a collective wRC+ of 89 this year. He’s been graded as a decent defender this year, with +1 Defensive Runs Saved and framing marks close to average.

But just as he joined the roster as O’Hoppe went to the injured list, he now departs as O’Hoppe is activated. The Halos will be hoping that O’Hoppe can pick up right where he left off, as he was hitting .283/.339/.547 before the shoulder injury. The club will put Wallach on waivers in the coming days, since the trade deadline is now in the rearview mirror. If any other team were to put in a claim, they could control him for two more years via arbitration. If he were to clear, he has enough service time to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency.

As for Rendon, he was placed on the injured list in mid-July due to a left shin contusion after fouling a ball off his leg. An MRI in the days after that IL placement revealed a deep bone bruise and he was shut down at that point. Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reported this week that Rendon had yet to resume baseball activities. Once healthy, he’ll presumably need to get back into game shape with some kind of rehab assignment after this layoff.

Today’s transfer means he’s ineligible to return until 60 days from his initial IL placement, which would be the second week of September. Whether he’s ultimately able to return late in the year or not, this will go down as another frustrating campaign due to health reasons. Signed to a seven-year, $245MM deal after 2019, he has yet to play in 60 games in a season as an Angel, with just 43 so far this year. The first year of the contract wasn’t his fault, as the pandemic eventually led to a truncated 60-game schedule. But he’s made frequent IL trips in three straight seasons now.

Since the start of 2021, he’s played just 148 total games over that three-year stretch, going on the IL due to a left groin strain, left knee contusion, left hamstring strain, right hip impingement, right wrist surgery, another left groin strain and now this left shin contusion/bone bruise. He’s hit .235/.338/.363 in that time for a wRC+ of 97.

Mariners Planning To Use a Six-Man Rotation

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At some point in the coming days, the Mariners are planning to shift to a six-man rotation, president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto told Adam Jude of The Seattle Times. Despite season-ending injuries to Robbie Ray, Marco Gonzales, and Easton McGee, the Mariners boast one of the deepest rotations in baseball. As Dipoto put it, “Our one through six in the starting rotation … can pitch with anybody in the league.” That being said, most of Seattle’s starting pitchers are young and inexperienced; in other words, they could benefit from some extra rest.

The current starting five consists of Luis Castillo, George Kirby, Bryce Miller, Logan Gilbert, and Emerson Hancock. Bryan Woo is expected to return from the injured list and rejoin the rotation early next week (Twitter link). Of those six, only Castillo and Gilbert had pitched a full major league season before this year. Miller, Hancock, and Woo are rookies, while Kirby, still just 25 years old, is on pace to pitch his first qualified season. He threw 130 innings last year in his rookie campaign.

As Jude reports, the Mariners plan to go with a six-man rotation once Woo comes back from the IL. He could have supplanted Hancock, who has struggled in his first two big league starts (5.40 ERA, 9.8% strikeout rate), but it seems Seattle is comfortable giving the top prospect a longer leash. However, Dipoto did mention that the team might “piggyback” Woo and Hancock down the stretch after trying out a six-man rotation for a week or two.

Additional rest will be most beneficial for Seattle’s young arms, but it should help the rest of the rotation, too. Castillo has been one of the more durable starters in baseball over the last six years, making 158 starts with a 3.58 ERA. Only six pitchers have thrown more innings in that time, so he could certainly use some time off. The same goes for Gilbert, who had thrown 338 2/3 big league innings before his 26th birthday. Since making his debut in 2021, he ranks tenth in the majors in starts and 15th in innings pitched. Dipoto acknowledged that Castillo, Gilbert, and Kirby will have to shoulder plenty of responsibility should the Mariners make the playoffs, and some extra rest now should help them stay fresh for a potential postseason run.

However, while this arrangement will benefit everyone in the rotation, it will make things harder on the bullpen. If the Mariners carry six starting pitchers, they will only have room for seven relievers on the 26-man roster. Furthermore, it’s not as if Seattle’s young starters have been pitching especially deep into games. Woo and Hancock are averaging exactly five innings per start, while Miller is averaging five and a third. Castillo, Kirby, and Gilbert are averaging about six innings per start, but those three will pitch less often with a six-man rotation. Thus, the bullpen will have a heavier load to carry for as long as the six-man rotation experiment lasts.

Thankfully for Seattle, they have one of the best bullpens in baseball. Mariners relievers rank second in ERA and third in FanGraphs WAR, and they’ve still had excellent results since losing closer Paul Sewald, pitching to a 1.89 ERA since the trade deadline. Moreover, they have essentially been using a seven-man bullpen as it is. Andrés Muñoz, Matt Brash, Trent Thornton, Tayler Saucedo, Justin Topa, Isaiah Campbell, and Gabe Speier have combined to pitch 45 2/3 of the 47 2/3 innings the Mariners bullpen has thrown since August 1. The Mariners will be counting on those seven to handle a difficult workload for the next while, but eventually, they should get some relief if Woo and Hancock do, in fact, move into a piggyback arrangement.

Gonzales and Ray are expected to rejoin the club at some point in 2024, at which point the Mariners will have an embarrassment of riches in the starting rotation. Gonzales is under team control through 2025, while Ray is signed through 2026. Castillo, meanwhile, is signed through 2027 with a vesting option for 2028. Gilbert is also under team control through 2027, Kirby through 2028, and the rookies through at least 2029 (pending further optional assignments).

With so many capable starters (and so many arms that will need a 40-man spot over the winter), there’s a good chance Dipoto will look to make a trade. The Mariners were reportedly willing to consider dealing one of their starting pitchers this summer, and they’ll have a better opportunity to do so over the offseason. The Cardinals, who have a surplus of young hitters but not nearly enough pitching, could be an interesting trade partner. They will be looking to add multiple starters this winter, and they were already linked to Gilbert earlier this year.

Cubs Claim Edwin Uceta

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The Cubs have claimed right-hander Edwin Uceta off waivers from the Mets, reports Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune. He’s been optioned to Triple-A Iowa. Chicago had a pair of vacancies on its 40-man roster, so a corresponding move wasn’t necessary. Uceta was designated for assignment in New York earlier this week.

The 25-year-old Uceta now joins his fifth organization in the past eight months. He’s bounced from the D-backs, to the Tigers, to the Pirates, to the Mets and now the Cubs since January — all via waiver claim.

Uceta’s overall numbers both in the minors and in the big leagues aren’t particularly impressive, though the frequency with which he’s been claimed on waivers points to the fact that scouts and analysts remain intrigued by his raw potential. He’s tossed three scoreless innings in the big leagues this season but carries an unsightly 5.80 ERA in 40 1/3 total innings between the Dodgers, Diamondbacks and Mets.

Things have been better in Triple-A, though his results have hardly been elite there. In 83 1/3 innings, he’s posted a 4.64 ERA and walked 13.4% of his opponents — albeit with a strong 29.6% strikeout rate. Uceta has has long shown an ability to miss bats, and while he doesn’t possess a blistering fastball, he’s averaged between 93-94 mph in the big leagues and shown good ability to spin the ball.

Uceta has missed the bulk of the 2023 season after undergoing surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. However, he recently wrapped up a minor league rehab assignment and was reinstated from the 60-day injured list by the Mets. He should be healthy and ready to go with the Cubs’ top affiliate in Iowa. Uceta is in his final minor league option season, so while he can bounce  between Triple-A and the Majors for the remainder of the season, he’ll need to be on the big league roster next year or else passed through waivers before he can be sent down.

Dodgers, Kolten Wong Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Dodgers have agreed to a minor league deal with veteran second baseman Kolten Wong, per their transaction log at MLB.com. The PSI Sports Management client has been assigned to Triple-A Oklahoma City.

Wong, 32, signed a two-year, $18MM contract with the Brewers in the 2020-21 offseason. Milwaukee picked up a $10MM club option for the 2023 season last November but ultimately traded the second baseman to Seattle in a deal that netted Jesse Winker and Abraham Toro. The deal hasn’t panned out for either party; Wong struggled to the point that he was released earlier this month, while Winker has spent considerable time on the injured list and struggled to a .199/.320/.247 output when healthy. Toro has hit well in 21 plate appearances for the Brewers but has spent the majority of the season in Triple-A Nashville.

The Mariners acquired Wong in hopes of adding a productive left-handed bat who could hold down the fort at second base for at least one season. Wong had perhaps the two best offensive seasons of his career with the Brewers in 2021-22, batting a combined  .262/.337/.439 with 29 home runs, 56 doubles, six triples and 29 steals in 989 trips to the plate.

Wong, a two-time Gold Glove winner who was once regarded as the sport’s premier defender at his position, had an uncharacteristically shaky season on the defensive end of the game in 2022, however. Last year’s 17 errors were more than he’d committed in the three prior seasons combined and tied a career-worst mark from 2015 — his second big league season. Statcast pegged him at 10 outs below average with the glove.

While Wong scaled back the errors in Seattle, he still drew below-average grades defensively, and the offensive gains he’d made in Milwaukee evaporated. The Mariners gave him a surprising amount of leash, but in 216 plate appearances he’s been one of the game’s least effective hitters in 2023, batting .165/.241/.227 with a career-worst 21.7% strikeout rate and a career-low 85.8 mph average exit velocity.

The Mariners will remain on the hook for the rest of Wong’s $10MM salary, so the Dodgers would only owe him the prorated league minimum for any time he spends on the Major League roster. With a resurgent performance from Jason Heyward in right field and with David Peralta bouncing back from a dismal start to the season in left, Los Angeles has been able to move Mookie Betts to the infield to handle the bulk of the workload at second base since struggling top prospect Miguel Vargas was optioned. Between Betts, Vargas, Amed Rosario, Chris Taylor and prospect Michael Busch, the Dodgers are hardly lacking for depth at second base. Still, Wong will give them some extra insurance in the event of injuries. And, if the Dodgers can get him back on track, he’s signed with the organization early enough (i.e. prior to Sept. 1) to be eligible for postseason play — should they succeed in restoring him to prior form.

Reds Release Luke Weaver

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August 18: The Reds have officially released Weaver, the team announced on Friday. He is now a free agent.

August 16: The Reds have designated starting pitcher Luke Weaver for assignment, the team has announced. They have recalled Alan Busenitz from Triple-A Louisville to take his place on the 26-man roster.

The Cardinals selected Weaver in the first round of the 2014 draft, and he spent the first five years of his professional career in the Cardinals organization. Following the 2018 season, he was one of three players sent to the Diamondbacks in exchange for Paul Goldschmidt, famously one of the more lopsided trades in recent memory. In his first three seasons with Arizona, Weaver was an average starting pitcher (4.45 ERA, 4.19 SIERA), but he missed significant time with injuries in 2019 and 2021.

In 2022, the Diamondbacks moved him to the bullpen, where he posted a 3.55 ERA in 11 appearances. He was traded to the Royals at the deadline and continued to pitch out of the ’pen for Kansas City. The Royals non-tendered him after the season rather than paying him an estimated $3MM in arbitration.

As a free agent, Weaver signed a one-year, $2MM contract with the Reds. He missed the first three weeks of the 2023 season nursing a strained elbow flexor and struggled upon his return, posting a 6.87 ERA in 97 innings pitched. His underlying numbers are slightly better (4.78 SIERA, 5.75 xERA), but it’s impossible to deny that the 2023 season has gone poorly for the 29-year-old. He has failed to escape the fifth inning in 12 of his 21 starts, and his strikeout rate has fallen to a career-worst 19%.

The Reds will need to place Weaver on outright waivers within seven days. The right-hander has more than five years of MLB service time, which means that if he clears waivers, he will have the option to reject an outright assignment to the minor leagues without sacrificing any salary remaining on his contract.

Hunter Greene, who has been out since mid-June with hip soreness, is expected to make his return this weekend, when he can take what would have been Weaver’s next turn in the rotation. Still, the Reds will need one additional starting pitcher. They have gotten by with a four-man rotation since August 7, when Lyon Richardson was optioned to Triple-A. However, after an off-day on Thursday, they’ll play 20 games in the next 20 days. Brett Kennedy is expected to make a start in the coming days, according to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Ben Lively will also be a candidate to join the rotation when he finishes his rehab stint at Triple-A.

The Reds have had tough luck in the rotation this year. Greene and Nick Lodolo have spent significant time on the IL, as have Justin Dunn and Connor Overton, while veterans Weaver and Luis Cessa have struggled. Cincinnati’s starters have a 5.34 ERA on the season and a 6.35 ERA in August, which goes a long way toward explaining why the Reds have a negative run differential despite boasting an offense that has scored the fourth-most runs in the National League. If this team makes the playoffs, it will be thanks to their offense, not their pitching. Still, they’ll need more from their rotation to pull ahead in a tight NL race.

Reds Sign Chasen Shreve To Minor League Deal

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The Reds have signed veteran reliever Chasen Shreve to a minor league contract, according to the transaction log on MLB.com. He has been assigned to the Triple-A Louisville Bats.

Shreve agreed to a minor league deal with the Tigers this offseason and made the major league roster out of spring training. He made 47 appearances for the club before being DFA’d, pitching to a 4.79 ERA in 41 1/3 innings pitched. Despite his high ERA, he posted a 3.66 SIERA and the best strikeout-to-walk ratio of his career. Even more impressive, his 33.9% chase rate ranks in the 92nd percentile of MLB pitchers, per Baseball Savant. Nevertheless, he was designated for assignment to make room for Will Vest on the Tigers’ 26-man roster. Detroit is still on the hook for Shreve’s salary, so Cincinnati will only have to pay him the prorated portion of the league minimum for any time he spends on the MLB roster.

The Reds will be the seventh organization Shreve has played for since he was drafted by the Braves in 2010. He will report to Triple-A, but the southpaw will serve as valuable depth for the major league club. With Reiver Sanmartin out for the season, the Reds only have two left-handed relievers on the 40-man roster: Alex Young and Sam Moll. Young has pitched well this year, putting up a 2.96 ERA in 53 games, while Moll has done excellent work since he was acquired from the Athletics at the trade deadline, pitching to a 2.35 ERA in his first seven appearances. Still, Cincinnati will be glad to have some veteran depth at Triple-A. Since Shreve was acquired before the September 1 deadline, he will be eligible for the Reds’ postseason roster should the team make the playoffs.

The Reds bullpen has struggled over the past month, with a 4.85 ERA and 0.0 FanGraphs WAR in 27 games. They have blown four saves in 13 chances and lost seven of 11 decisions in that time. As the Reds compete for the NL Central crown (or a Wild Card berth), they’ll hope to see their bullpen return to its first-half form. Over the team’s first 95 games, Reds relievers posted a 3.86 ERA and ranked sixth in baseball with 3.5 fWAR.

The Opener: Winn, Bichette, Milestones

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As we gear up for the weekend, here are three things to watch around baseball…

1. Winn set for big league debut:

The Cardinals selected the contract of infielder Masyn Winn last night, and he’ll make his big league debut today against Joey Lucchesi and the Mets. Selected with the No. 54 overall pick in the 2020 draft, the 21-year-old Winn is widely regarded as one of the sport’s most promising prospects, ranking No. 30 overall at Baseball America, No. 32 at MLB.com and No. 47 at FanGraphs. A sensational athlete and former two-way player, Winn focused solely on his development as an infielder in 2021. He’s soared through the minors, spending the entire season to date in Triple-A despite just turning 21 at the end of spring training. He’s more than five years younger than the average player in a .288/.359/.474 batting line with 18 home runs, 15 doubles, seven triples and 17 stolen bases in 498 plate appearances. Scouting reports tout his above-average hit tool, plus speed and 80-grade arm at shortstop. And, given that he’s still somewhat recently honed in on the position-playing side of his game, there’s still a chance for him to grow into some more power as well.

2. Bichette return:

Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette has now played in a pair of minor league rehab games, serving as the designated hitter for Triple-A Buffalo on Wednesday before playing shortstop in the Bisons’ game yesterday. Bichette’s previously ailing knee doesn’t appear to be bothering him, as he pounded an opposite-field two-run homer in his first plate appearance Thursday and potentially finished up a brief two-game rehab stint with a 4-for-5 showing. The Jays haven’t formally reinstated Bichette just yet, though they’d previously informed beat writers that the hope was for him to play one rehab game as a designated hitter and one as a shortstop before evaluating him for a possible return this weekend. Even if Bichette heads back to Buffalo for another game or two, it seems likely he’ll be back this weekend — with a return in tonight’s series opener against the Reds a distinct possibility.

3. McCutchen, Altuve approaching notable milestones:

Multi-time All-Stars Andrew McCutchen and Jose Altuve are both closing in on key milestones, with the latter standing a particularly good chance at reaching an impressive round number this weekend. Altuve is sitting at 1,997 career hits and will look to become just the 297th player to ever tally 2,000 hits in his big league career. He’ll look to do so in a road series against the Mariners, squaring off against Bryce Miller, Logan Gilbert and Emerson Hancock along the way. Meanwhile, another former MVP who also collected his 2,000th hit this season, Andrew McCutchen, is three long balls shy of becoming just the 158th player in MLB history to swat 300 homers. The 36-year-old will face off against Twins starters Pablo Lopez, Sonny Gray and Dallas Keuchel this weekend in Minnesota. Reaching 300 this weekend after connecting on only 10 homers all season to date seems unlikely, but Cutch could still chip away at the milestone and seems likely to get there at some point in the near future.

Cardinals Select Masyn Winn

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The Cardinals announced they’ve selected the contract of top shortstop prospect Masyn Winn. In a corresponding move, St. Louis is placing center fielder Lars Nootbaar on the 10-day injured list with a lower abdominal contusion, tweets John Denton of MLB.com. The Cardinals already had two vacancies on the 40-man roster.

Winn was St. Louis’ second-round pick out of a Texas high school three years ago. The canceled minor league season kept him from playing in a professional game until 2021. Winn has rapidly climbed the minor league ladder, spending most of last season in Double-A at age 20. He stole 28 bases while hitting .258/.349/.432 in 86 games against generally older competition, cementing himself as one of the sport’s top prospects heading into last winter.

The Cards assigned Winn to Triple-A Memphis this year. He has spent the entire season there, posting a .283/.356/.465 batting line in 494 plate appearances. The slash stats are aided by an offense-heavy Triple-A environment. Of the 107 International League hitters with 300+ trips to the plate, Winn ranks 57th in on-base percentage and 43rd in slugging.

That production is partially weighed down by a very slow start to the year. Winn hit only .223/.287/.321 in April but has an OPS of .763 or better in every subsequent month. The right-handed hitter has feasted on southpaws, hitting .353/.425/.639 with the platoon advantage. His production against same-handed pitching is more modest — .258/.331/.401 — but that’s a small concern for a 21-year-old hitter at the top minor league level.

Winn has shown advanced contact skills, drawing walks at a decent 8.9% clip while striking out in only 16.8% of his plate appearances. He has connected on 17 home runs, 15 doubles and seven triples and gone 17-19 in stolen base attempts.

In addition to those promising offensive traits, Winn has a chance to be an impact middle infield defender. Prospect evaluators credit him with elite arm strength and the athleticism to stick at shortstop. While the Cards gave him 25 starts at the keystone in Memphis to broaden his flexibility, Winn has logged more than 2300 professional innings at shortstop.

Given the well-rounded profile and his upper minors success despite being so young, Winn is unanimously regarded as one of the top minor league talents. Baseball America ranked him the game’s #30 prospect on their recent update; Kiley McDaniel of ESPN slotted him 16th on his own refresh of the sport’s top prospects earlier in the week. Evaluators peg Winn’s power potential as solid-average while praising the rest of his profile.

The 5’11” infielder is generally viewed as the Cards’ potential long-term starting shortstop. St. Louis dealt Paul DeJong to the Blue Jays at the deadline. Tommy Edman has been the primary shortstop of late but is capable of moving around the diamond. Nootbaar will be out of action for at least the next week and a half after fouling a ball off his groin last night, while second baseman Nolan Gorman hit the 10-day IL this afternoon because of a lower back strain. Edman can cover the keystone or center field while the Cards give Winn regular run at shortstop over the season’s final six-plus weeks.

Along with the injuries to Nootbaar and Gorman, the calendar itself opened a path to Winn’s promotion. Players enter a season with rookie eligibility so long as they’ve spent fewer than 46 days on an MLB active roster and tallied 130 or fewer big league at-bats. Beginning Friday, there’ll be 45 days left in the regular season. Assuming the Cards limit his playing time to keep him from topping 130 at-bats, he’ll retain his rookie eligibility into 2024.

Before 2022, a player’s rookie status wouldn’t matter much to clubs in timing their promotions. The Prospect Promotion Incentive in the ’22 collective bargaining agreement now makes that a factor in some cases. A position player who had appeared on at least two Top 100 lists at BA, ESPN and MLB Pipeline the preceding offseason can earn his club a bonus draft choice if a) the team carries them on the MLB roster for a full service year and b) the player wins Rookie of the Year or finishes top three in MVP voting during his pre-arbitration seasons.

Winn will certainly meet the prospect criteria next winter. Whether the Cardinals carry him on the MLB roster for all of 2024 and if he plays well enough to merit award consideration can’t yet be known. By waiting until August 18 to bring him up, however, the Cardinals are keeping that possibility open (again assuming Winn stays under 131 at-bats through season’s end).

If he’s in the majors through year’s end, Winn will conclude this season with 45 days of service. He won’t be eligible for arbitration until after the 2026 campaign at the earliest and is controllable through at least 2029. Future assignments to the minors could push that trajectory back further.

The more immediate focus for both Winn and the club will be on his initial exposure to big league pitching. He’ll have a month and a half to try to stake an early claim to the shortstop job heading into 2024. St. Louis has Edman, Gorman and Brendan Donovan (who’s out for the season after undergoing elbow surgery) also in the middle infield mix. If Winn puts a strong foot forward over the coming weeks, perhaps that’d increase the front office’s willingness to part with a middle infielder in an offseason trade as they look for ways to overhaul three-fifths of their rotation.

Katie Woo of the Athletic first reported Winn’s promotion.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

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