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AL East Notes: Faucher, Bader, Orioles

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The Rays have been dealing with various injuries to their rotation this season, forcing them to do a bit of improvising. Tyler Glasnow has been dealing with an oblique strain and has yet to make his season debut. Zach Eflin was placed on the injured list last week due to back tightness and it was reported this week that Jeffrey Springs is expected to require Tommy John surgery. Those injuries have led to prospect Taj Bradley coming up to join the rotation and now right-hander Calvin Faucher will move in from the bullpen. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports that Faucher will start tomorrow’s game, with the plan being to stretch him out to four innings.

Faucher, 27, was a Twins draftee who came over to the Rays alongside Nelson Cruz in the deal that sent Joe Ryan and Drew Strotman to Minnesota. Faucher didn’t make any starts while a Twins’ prospect but has made a few since switching teams, though they’ve all been of the “opener” variety, none of them longer than three innings. He has 30 major league innings under his belt at this point between last year and this one, registering a 5.10 ERA with a 19.6% strikeout rate, 8.7% walk rate and 41.2% ground ball rate.

It’s not an especially impressive line, but the Rays have had success turning overlooked relievers into useful starters in recent years. Drew Rasmussen was once a first round draft talent but his stock faded due to injuries and he wound up in Milwaukee’s bullpen before the Rays acquired him and gave him a starting opportunity that he ran with. Springs was a 30th round pick with a middling résumé but broke out with the Rays. He parlayed his breakout last year into a four-year extension, though the aforementioned Tommy John has put a sour note on that story for now. Faucher has fared better in the minors, with a 2.98 ERA in 63 1/3 Triple-A innings.

Rasmussen, Bradley and Shane McClanahan have three rotation spots taken now, with Eflin likely to return this weekend to give them a fourth starter. The club is off today but won’t have another off-day until May 15th. They could continue using Faucher as a fifth starter if he fares well but could also use bullpen days with bulk guys like Josh Fleming and Yonny Chirinos to keep them going until Glasnow’s ready to return. He hasn’t started a rehab assignment yet but also hasn’t been placed on the 60-day IL, suggesting a return before the end of May is still on the table. If Faucher can turn into a useful piece for them in any capacity, it would help to somewhat salvage a rare trade dud from Tampa. Cruz struggled badly after the deal while Ryan has thrived since joining the Twins.

Some other notes from around the AL East…

  • Yankees’ manager Aaron Boone tells reporters, including Bryan Hoch of MLB.com, that center fielder Harrison Bader should begin a rehab assignment tomorrow with the Double-A Somerset Patriots. Bader has been a Yankee since being acquired from the Cardinals last year but has been limited to just 14 regular season games and nine postseason games so far. He had plantar fasciitis at the time of the deal last year and then suffered an oblique strain in spring this year. An elite defensive outfielder, Bader should take over as the primary center fielder once healthy, though he’ll need some time to get his swing back after missing most of Spring Training. Most of the starts in center have gone to Aaron Judge so far, with Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Aaron Hicks also getting some. Bader’s return should allow Judge to return to a less-demanding corner spot. With Giancarlo Stanton likely out for the next six weeks, the third outfield job could be juggled between Hicks, Franchy Cordero, Willie Calhoun and Oswaldo Cabrera, though one of them may need to be cut from the roster somehow to make way for Bader.
  • Orioles’ manager Brandon Hyde told reporters, including Jake Rill of MLB.com, that righties Mychal Givens and Dillon Tate could begin minor league rehab assignments next week. Neither pitcher has made their season debut yet, as Tate has been dealing with a flexor strain and Givens a knee injury. Tate has a 3.97 ERA over 179 career innings with the O’s, striking out just 19.4% of batters faced but getting grounders at a 58.1% clip. Givens, meanwhile, has a 3.40 ERA in his career, getting grounders on just 37.9% of balls in play but striking out 28.4% of batters faced. Once healthy, they should give a boost to the Baltimore relief corps. Tate is making $1.5MM this year in his first arbitration season, with the club able to retain him via arb twice more. Givens signed with the club on a one-year deal, though there’s a $6MM mutual option for 2024. If he declines his end, there’s a $1MM buyout, whereas the buyout will be $2MM if he triggers it but the O’s decline.

Cubs Place Jameson Taillon On IL With Groin Strain

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The Cubs announced to reporters, including Jordan Bastian of MLB.com, that right-hander Jameson Taillon has been placed on the 15-day injured list with a “mild to moderate” left groin strain. Taillon had been the scheduled starter for tonight’s game against the Dodgers but righty Javier Assad has been recalled and will take the ball instead.

Taillon, 31, joined the Cubs over the offseason on a four-year, $68MM deal. That came on the heels of a strong two-year run with the Yankees, where he made 61 starts over 2021 and 2022, tossing 321 2/3 innings. He posted a 4.08 ERA in that time along with a 21.9% strikeout rate, 5.7% walk rate and 37.1% ground ball rate. That solid stretch did much to undo an injury-prone label that previously surrounded Taillon. He underwent Tommy John surgery as a prospect in 2014 and underwent the procedure a second time in 2019. But in both instances, he returned and posted good results, leading to his current career ERA of 3.85 over 801 2/3 innings.

This groin strain has popped up seemingly out of nowhere as Taillon, as mentioned up top, was scheduled to start tonight’s game until this news broke. Just this past weekend, he tossed five scoreless innings against the same Dodgers club he was set to face tonight. It’s unclear if he felt the injury that night or perhaps during a bullpen session in between then and now.

Regardless of how or when it happened, the Cubs will now have to play without Taillon for however long he’s out, which will be at least two weeks with this IL placement. The rotation has been a strength for the club in the early going this year, as their collective 2.66 ERA ranks third among all major league clubs, helping them jump out to an 11-6 start. Marcus Stroman and Justin Steele have excellent ERA figures of 0.75 and 1.44, respectively, while Drew Smyly and Hayden Wesneski have decent marks of 4.70 and 4.15.

Those four will now be joined by Assad for the time being. He posted a strong 2.66 ERA in the minors last year between Double-A and Triple-A, helping him make his major league debut. Between last year and this year, he has a 4.07 ERA in 42 major league innings thus far. He’ll look to bring some of that minor league success to the bigs and keep the Chicago rotation in good shape, at least until one of Taillon or Kyle Hendricks is able to return.

Kenta Maeda Hit By Comebacker On Ankle, X-Rays Negative

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3:40pm: It seems like the worst-case scenario has been avoided, as Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com reports that the X-rays showed no breaks and that Maeda is walking around without the ankle even being wrapped up.

2:46pm: Twins righty Kenta Maeda departed today’s game after two innings upon being struck on the ankle by a comeback line drive off the bat of Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran. Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press tweets that he’s undergoing x-rays.

Maeda was able to compose himself and remain upright long enough to gather the ball, make the throw to first base and record an out, but he dropped immediately after making the play. Twins trainers tended to Maeda thereafter, and he was eventually able to walk off the field with minimal assistance (video link).

The 35-year-old Maeda was making just his third start in his return from 2021 surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow. He’s been mostly sharp, posting a 4.15 ERA in 13 innings with a terrific 13-to-1 K/BB ratio (23.1 K%, 1.9 BB%). His fastball hasn’t quite been back to where it was in his Cy Young runner-up showing back in 2020 — sitting 91.8 mph then versus 90.4 mph now — but Maeda’s command has been strong.

Maeda’s start against the Red Sox came after just two innings today, which will leave a relatively taxed Twins bullpen to cover quite a bit of work. Long reliever Brent Headrick is unavailable after picking up a three-inning save in last night’s MLB debut, and the Twins used five relievers in an extra-inning affair the night prior. Emilio Pagan came on in relief of Maeda and immediately served up six runs on seven hits in his first frame, so Minnesota is surely reluctant to allocate many (or any) innings today to leverage relievers at this point. A position player could well end up taking some lumps on the mound today at some point.

If Maeda needs to miss any time, the Twins have a handful of already MLB-tested options in Triple-A St. Paul, led by right-hander Bailey Ober. He’s pitched to a 3.82 ERA in 31 starts for Minnesota over the past two seasons and is out to a strong start with the Saints in Triple-A this year, logging a 2.55 ERA through four starts. Other options include right-hander Louie Varland, who made a spot start for Maeda last week when the Twins skipped him in the rotation to afford him some early extra rest, and righty Simeon Woods Richardson, who made his MLB debut late in the 2022 season.

Yankees Sign Kole Calhoun To Minor League Deal

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The Yankees announced Thursday that they’ve signed free-agent outfielder Kole Calhoun to a minor league contract. Calhoun, a client of PSI Sports Management, spent spring training with the Mariners but opted out of his minor league deal late in camp.

Calhoun, 35, hit .250/.314/.281 in 35 trips to the plate with Seattle this spring and is looking to rebound from a tough pair of seasons in 2021-22. Over that two-year span, the longtime Angels right fielder slashed just .208/.269/.343 in 606 trips to the plate between the Diamondbacks and the Rangers.

Prior to that ugly stretch, however, Calhoun was a generally productive regular (mostly in Anaheim but also with the 2020 Diamondbacks). From 2013-20, he posted a combined .249/.324/.431 batting line (106 wRC+) while regularly playing solid defense and providing a bit of value on the bases. At his best, Calhoun would walk in around 10% of his plate appearances with a lower-than-average 21% strikeout rate, although those rates cratered in 2021-22, when he walked at a 6.9% clip against a dismal 29.2% strikeout rate.

Calhoun does have a 33-homer season to his credit, though it came in the juiced-ball season back in 2019. His career-high outside that year is 26 back in 2015, and he averaged about 20 round-trippers per year — even popping 16 big flies in 54 games with the D-backs during the shortened 2020 campaign. He has a Gold Glove to his credit (2015), though as his defensive ratings have dipped in his mid-30s, his overall career numbers in 9240 innings of right field work have dipped a bit below average. He carries a career total of -4 Defensive Runs Saved, for instance.

Yankee corner outfielders have been unproductive on the whole this season, as Aaron Judge has spent the bulk of his time in center for a second straight season. Oswaldo Cabrera, Aaron Hicks and Franchy Cordero have combined to hit .219/.275/.297 while serving as Yankee left fielders, and the quintet of Cordero, Judge, Cabrera, Giancarlo Stanton and Willie Calhoun have combined to bat .191/.222/.441 while playing right field (thanks largely to an early power surge from Cordero). Even with Judge raking and Cordero hitting four home runs before falling into a lengthy slump, Yankees outfielders have combined for a .226/.282/.426 batting line thus far. And Stanton, who’s batted .269/.296/.558 with four homers this year, is now on the shelf for upwards of six weeks.

The newly signed Calhoun may not ultimately prove to make an impact — two full seasons have elapsed since his last productive showing — but it’s hardly a surprise to see the Yankees adding some affordable depth, given Stanton’s injury and the general level of struggles they’ve seen from their current corner options. The Yankees assigned him to their Florida Complex League squad to get back up to speed after nearly a month away from game action, but presumably Calhoun will be in Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre before long.

Reds, Rangers Join Teams Seeking Overdue Rights Fees From Diamond Sports

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The Diamond Sports Group bankruptcy continues, with a handful of new teams seeking missed payments. According to reports from Daniel Kaplan of the Athletic and Alden González of ESPN, the Rangers and Reds joined an MLB motion seeking overdue rights fees this week.

MLB first filed that motion in early April on behalf of the Twins and Guardians. Diamond, the corporation which operates the Bally Sports networks that carry local broadcasts for nearly half of major league teams, informed those clubs it wouldn’t meet its scheduled payments on April 1. The D-Backs filed a separate motion shortly thereafter seeking missed rights payments.

Diamond apparently also recently failed to meet its obligations to the Rangers and Reds. Despite the missed payments, the Bally Sports networks have continued to operate and carry local broadcasts in each market through the season’s first few weeks. Kaplan reports that the Rangers’ deal calls for Diamond to pay the team $111MM this season. The precise value of the first missed payment is unknown.

González writes that the Reds’ situation is a bit different from those of the other clubs. The Reds have an ownership stake (the precise extent of which is unreported) along with Diamond in the Bally Sports Ohio network that carries games in Cincinnati. As a result, they’re bucketed separately from the other franchises involved in the litigation. According to González, Diamond entered into a 15-day window to meet its obligations to the Reds, beginning Monday. If it fails to do so, the team would be able to get out of the deal and turn in-market local broadcasting responsibilities over to MLB.

The other clubs will have to wait a while longer for resolution. The bankruptcy court has scheduled a hearing for May 31 to consider MLB’s motion for those teams’ overdue fees. Diamond is expected to continue all broadcasts until then. The Reds’ partial ownership offers a potentially quicker endpoint in their case, though that’s only if Diamond doesn’t meet its obligations to them in the intervening two weeks.

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has stated on numerous occasions that the league is prepared to take over local broadcasting for teams whose contracts are defaulted. For any local broadcasting deals that fall through, MLB would be able to make games available in-market through streaming and cable platforms free of blackout restrictions.

White Sox Notes: Moncada, Sheets, Burger

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The White Sox recently placed third baseman Yoán Moncada on the 10-day injured list due to back soreness, and it seemed like maybe he would be able to quickly return. He had already missed a few games as the club was deciding whether or not to send him to the IL, suggesting it was a fairly borderline case. With the ability to backdate an IL move by three days, it seemed reasonable to expect him to return after a week of rest, but manager Pedro Grifol tells reporters, including Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times, that Moncada will likely be sent on a rehab assignment.

“He’s getting better, but there’s a process to this thing,” Grifol said. “Now he’s missed significant time to where there’s going to be some added stuff to his progression and his return.” He also says that “Third base is a reactionary position; there’s some diving involved; there’s a lot of movement” and that “there’s a good possibility that he will [go on a rehab assignment].”

Injuries have become a bit of a running theme for Moncada over the past couple of years. He made multiple trips to the IL last year due to a right oblique strain, a right hamstring strain and then a left hamstring strain. He was limited to 104 games on the year and a paltry .212/.273/.353 batting line when healthy enough to take the field. He launched out of the gates here in 2023 by hitting .308/.325/.564 in the early going but that progress has now been stalled by these back issues and his return might now be kicked a little further down the road than initially expected.

The IL stints of Moncada, Eloy Jiménez, Tim Anderson and Hanser Alberto have opened up opportunities for other players on the roster, such as Jake Burger and Gavin Sheets. James Fegan of The Athletic recently profiled the pair, who have become close such close friends that they’ve started referring to themselves collectively as “Shurger,” even joking about selling split jerseys or T-shirts.

Both players have made the most of their recent opportunities with offensive outbursts. Burger has smacked five home runs already in just 11 games, currently sporting a video game batting line of .276/.353/.862 and a 219 wRC+. Sheets’ line isn’t quite as gaudy but it’s still an impressive .310/.429/.414 for a 149 wRC+. However, like many White Sox players of recent years, the offensive potency has come with defensive questions, with Fegan highlighting an error made by Burger against the Orioles and a misplay made by Sheets against the Twins recently.

This was also an issue for the White Sox last year, as first baseman Andrew Vaughn was pushed to an outfield corner, with his poor defensive work out there undoing a lot of what he provided at the plate. The club let José Abreu walk in free agency in order to put Vaughn back at first, but they still have Jiménez as the designated hitter most days, meaning anyone else in the lineup needs to play the field on a regular basis somewhere. “I think he wears more of it because there were some guys out of position last year, and the team wore it, right?” Grifol said to Fegan about Sheets playing the outfield. “And the organization wore it. And maybe that’s what’s a part of it. I don’t know, I don’t know what people think. I know what we evaluate and what we see, and the work we see being done. And it doesn’t mean he’s going to go out there and have a great defensive game. He might not. He might make an error, he might make two. It doesn’t change the fact that we have confidence in him playing the outfield. If we didn’t, he wouldn’t be playing out there.”

Sheets has a career tally of -8 Defensive Runs Saved and -7 Outs Above Average in the outfield, along with a -7.0 from Ultimate Zone Rating. But with his hot bat, it seems like the club will keep trying to run him out there on occasion, though he’s clearly fourth on the outfield chart behind Luis Robert Jr., Andrew Benintendi and Óscar Colás. Burger’s been taking the hot corner while Moncada is out of action, where his career numbers are -6 DRS, -6 OAA and -2.1 UZR. Getting Moncada back would surely be an upgrade in this department, as he has career figures of +1 DRS, +8 OAA and 15.8 UZR at the hot corner. Burger’s bat should keep him in the lineup regardless, but he won’t be able to maintain a 55.6% HR/FB rate all year long.

Coming into the season, many viewed the White Sox’ roster as one that had plenty of top level talent but shaky depth that could be exposed by a few key injuries. The season is still in its early stages but the club hasn’t done much to shake that reputation. They’ve seen multiple lineup regulars and key relievers hit the injured list, leading to a 7-12 start that they will hope to climb out of in the weeks to come.

Mariners Outright Tommy Milone

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Veteran left-hander Tommy Milone went unclaimed on outright waivers following this past weekend’s DFA, and the Mariners have assigned him to Triple-A Tacoma, per MLB.com’s transactions log. He has enough Major League service time to reject the assignment if he chooses, though Milone spent a good chunk of the 2022 season in Tacoma as well and re-signed with the Mariners organization over the winter, so he’s clearly comfortable there.

The 36-year-old Milone made a spot start for Seattle this past weekend, holding the visiting Rockies to just one run through 4 2/3 innings. With that start, the well-traveled lefty has now logged time in each Major League season dating back to 2011.

Milone was a regular in the rotation for the A’s and Twins for a few years earlier in his career, making 113 starts with a solid 4.16 ERA from 2012-16 between Oakland and Minnesota. He’s since become more of a journeyman southpaw, donning seven more big league uniforms since 2017 and posting a combined 5.77 ERA in 260 2/3 innings through a series of bullpen stints, spot starts and occasional relief appearances at the MLB level.

All in all, Milone has piled up 949 big league innings for nine different teams, pitching to a collective 4.59 ERA in parts of 13 big league seasons. He’s accrued more than eight years of Major League service time in the process.

Assuming Milone indeed sticks with the Mariners, he’ll provide them some depth both in the rotation and in the bullpen. He’s spent parts of ten seasons in Triple-A and has a lifetime 3.24 ERA in 497 innings there — including a tidy 2.68 ERA in 40 1/3 innings with Tacoma just last year.

MLB’s transactions log also indicates that the Mariners re-signed righty Konner Wade a few days back, and he indeed just started last night’s game in Tacoma. The 31-year-old Wade had a brief MLB look with the 2021 Orioles but has otherwise spent his career grinding through the minor leagues. He spent the 2022 season in Tacoma, making 23 starts and pitching to a 5.60 ERA in 115 2/3 innings there. Wade, a seventh-round pick of the Rockies back in 2013, has a career 4.42 ERA in Triple-A.

Carlos Carrasco Diagnosed With Bone Spur In Elbow

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The Mets placed right-hander Carlos Carrasco on the injured list earlier this week due to inflammation in his throwing elbow. The diagnosis got a little more clarity yesterday when the club announced to reporters, including Will Sammon of The Athletic, that Carrasco has a bone spur in his right elbow. He’ll be shut down for three to five days and then reevaluated. Manager Buck Showalter had previously informed reporters, including Sammon, that Carrasco would get an injection of some kind to try to alleviate the situation. Mike Puma of The New York Post reports that the hope is for the injection to allow Carrasco to continue pitching in two weeks, but he could be facing surgery otherwise.

This isn’t the first time Carrasco has been down this road, as he had surgery to remove a bone fragment from his pitching elbow in October of 2021. That was a different situation in terms of timing, however, as he then had an entire offseason to recover. Now that the 2023 campaign is in its early stages, the impacts of a surgery would be larger. It seems that he and the club are still hoping he can avoid going under the knife, but it would be a concerning development if he does ultimately require the procedure, given the overall state of the club’s rotation.

On paper, the Mets came into the year with a strong rotation, but one without certainty. It was set to be headlined by Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander, who are 38 and 40 years old, respectively. Then there was 34-year-old José Quintana and 36-year-old Carrasco, as well as Kodai Senga, who is only 30 but making the adjustment from Japan’s once-a-week pitching schedule to the more arduous North American system. There was plenty of talent there but also plenty of reasons to expect bumpy sections on the road to October.

Now just a few weeks into the season, there’s been plenty of wobbles already. Verlander has yet to debut due to a teres major strain while Quintana is out until July due to rib surgery. Carrasco made three starts before landing on the shelf but wasn’t very effective. Now Scherzer is facing a potential suspension after yesterday’s controversial sticky stuff ejection. He’s planning to appeal a suspension if he’s ultimately given one, but if it’s upheld or he ultimately drops the appeal, the Mets will have to play shorthanded for the duration of his absence as players suspended for on-field violations aren’t allowed to be replaced on the roster.

Despite all of this turmoil, the Mets are holding their own with a 12-7 record so far. For now, the rotation consists of Scherzer, Senga, Tylor Megill and David Peterson, leaving them one short of a typical five-man mix. Senga is starting today but it’s not currently known who’s taking the ball tomorrow. José Butto made a spot start this week but was optioned after, meaning he can’t come back for 15 days unless someone else gets placed on the injured list. Elieser Hernández hasn’t pitched yet in the majors or minors this year due to a shoulder strain. Dylan Bundy was signed to a minor league deal a few weeks ago and made his first Triple-A start this week, though he was torched for nine runs in 4 1/3 innings.

Joey Lucchesi might get a call at some point since he’s on the 40-man roster and stretched out, tossing 6 2/3 scoreless innings in his most recent Triple-A start. He missed all of 2022 recovering from Tommy John surgery but has been an effective starter in the past. He made 56 starts for the Padres in 2018 and 2019, posting a 4.14 ERA with a 24.6% strikeout rate, 8% walk rate and 46% ground ball rate. Injuries have limited him to a few ineffective outings in the years since, but he has a 2.30 ERA through three Triple-A starts so far this year.

With the club blasting through their depth options in the early going, they’ve decided to stretch out Denyi Reyes, per Sammon. He had been pitching well out of the bullpen for the big league club, throwing 6 1/3 scoreless innings so far, but he was optioned yesterday to get some work as a starter in Triple-A and provide the Mets with another depth option. He had some success as a starter as a prospect in the lower levels of the minors but didn’t really thrive when he reached higher levels, gradually getting push to more bullpen work. His only Triple-A action came in the Orioles’ system last year, where he posted a 7.17 ERA over 10 starts and five relief appearances.

Given all of these moving parts, the Mets would surely prefer Carrasco can return after a brief rest period, as opposed to needing surgery and requiring a longer absence. He’s dealt with various injuries throughout his career but generally returns to effectiveness when healthy. Last year, he made 29 starts for the Mets and posted a 3.97 ERA with a 23.6% strikeout rate, 6.4% walk rate and 46% ground ball rate. The Mets had to decide between $14MM club option to keep him around and a $3MM buyout, ultimately deciding to trigger the option. He’s set to become a free agent for the first time at the end of this year, having twice signed extensions with Cleveland before getting traded to the Mets alongside Francisco Lindor.

Guardians Option Brayan Rocchio

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April 20: The Guardians announced that Rocchio has been optioned back to Triple-A, opening a roster spot for right-hander Enyel De Los Santos, who’s returning from the paternity list. Based on Rocchio’s quick return to Columbus, it seems the Guards are confident that Rosario and/or Freeman can both avoid a trip to the injured list. Rocchio didn’t get into yesterday’s game, but he’ll get a day of big league service out of the quick turnaround and head back to Triple-A in preparation for a legitimate opportunity at the MLB level.

April 19, 10:08am: The Guardians have recalled Rocchio and optioned right-hander Hunter Gaddis to Triple-A Columbus back in his place. Zack Meisel of The Athletic tweets that Rocchio may only stay on the big league roster for a day or two. However, both Rosario (back) and Freeman (shoulder) are currently banged up and unavailable, so Rocchio will provide some needed middle infield depth alongside Gimenez and Arias. If either Rosario or Freeman winds up requiring an IL stint, however, Rocchio would stick around longer.

The Guardians will need to make another roster move to bring up a starter for Monday, when Gaddis would’ve gotten the ball.

9:15am: The Guardians are calling up top infield prospect Brayan Rocchio, reports Daniel Álvarez Montes of El Extra Base (Twitter link). He’ll be in Detroit for today’s game, though it’s worth noting that Rocchio is not in the team’s starting lineup that was just released minutes after the report. Gabriel Arias is starting at shortstop, as Amed Rosario has been sidelined the past few games due to back troubles. Speculatively speaking, Rocchio would be a sensible addition if an IL stint has been deemed necessary for Rosario, particularly since Rocchio is already on the 40-man roster.

Rocchio, 22, signed as an amateur out of Venezuela at 16 and has steadily risen through Cleveland’s system while drawing a good bit of fanfare for his hit tool and defensive skill set. He currently ranks as the game’s No. 54 prospect at FanGraphs, No. 69 at MLB.com and No. 74 at Baseball America. The Athletic’s Keith Law ranked Rocchio as high as No. 22 in all of baseball prior to the start of the 2023 season, touting him as a potentially above-average defender at shortstop with a good hit tool and enough power to pop 15 to 20 home runs per season.

Rocchio had a strong showing in Double-A Akron in 2022, batting .265/.349/.432 with 13 home runs in 432 plate appearances. That earned him a promotion to Triple-A late in the season. Then 21 years of age and facing much more advanced competition, Rocchio posted a tepid .234/.298/.387 slash in 152 trips to the plate down the stretch in Columbus.

The 2023 season has gotten out to a much better start, however. Rocchio has appeared in 15 games, taken 70 turns at the dish and turned in a stout .344/.414/.459 with nearly as many walks (eight) as strikeouts (nine). He’s up to a total of 222 Triple-A plate appearances with just a 13.5% strikeout rate dating back to last year, displaying the bat-to-ball skills that have helped make him a touted prospect and that have come to be a hallmark of the Cleveland organization in recent seasons.

Cleveland has a crowded middle infield mix, with Rosario locked in at shortstop and Andres Gimenez entrenched at second base. Rosario is a free agent following the season, which could pave the way for a potential move of the recently extended Gimenez back to his natural shortstop, but regardless of Gimenez’s alignment, the Guardians have a wealth of options should Rosario sign elsewhere this offseason. Beyond Rocchio and the aforementioned Arias, the Guardians also have well-regarded young players in Tyler Freeman, Jose Tena and Angel Martinez, each of whom has reached at least Double-A. Freeman is currently on the big league roster but dealing with a shoulder issue.

Rocchio’s absence from today’s lineup could merely stem from the fact that the Guardians have a day game and he needs to travel to join the team. It’s also possible that he’s merely being called up for a quick depth stint while the team evaluates the health of Rosario and Freeman. Given his prospect status and long-term potential with the club, there’d be little sense in bringing him to the big leagues for any substantial period of time if he doesn’t have a path to regular at-bats.

The Opener: Tatis, Scherzer, Donaldson

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As everyone digests last night’s likely relocation news regarding the A’s, here are three other things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. Tatis Returns

Padres superstar Fernando Tatis Jr. is expected to return to the major league club today after serving an 80-game suspension for PED usage. Tatis, who is slated to be the club’s everyday right fielder following the signing of Xander Bogaerts to man shortstop this past offseason, missed the entire 2022 season between the aforementioned suspension and a trio of surgeries: two to repair a fracture in his left wrist and one on his left shoulder after it sent him to the injured list twice during the 2021 campaign.

Despite his injury and suspension-related woes since the end of the 2021 season, Tatis figures to be an impact player for a scuffling Padres team. San Diego is currently in third in the NL West with a 9-11 record and will surely appreciate a jolt from Tatis, particularly given the struggles of fellow phenom Juan Soto in left field.

2. What’s next for Scherzer?

Mets ace Max Scherzer was ejected from his start yesterday after three innings of work thanks to a failed foreign substance check. That ejection comes with a mandatory 10-game suspension during which the club is not allowed to replace Scherzer on the roster, though MLB has not announced any discipline to this point. Scherzer intends to appeal the suspension if and when it is levied and insists the substance on his hand was a legal combination of rosin and sweat.

Scherzer, a slam-dunk future hall of famer with three Cy Young awards, 3210 strikeouts and a 3.12 ERA (135 ERA+) under his belt for his career, has scuffled a bit in the early going this season, posting a 3.72 ERA and 5.65 FIP far below his usual standards. Should he miss time due to a suspension, right-hander Kodai Senga will be the last member of the club’s projected 2023 starting rotation standing, with each of Jose Quintana, Justin Verlander, and Carlos Carrasco currently on the injured list. Jose Butto, Joey Lucchesi, and Denyi Reyes are among the potential options to take Scherzer’s turn in the rotation should he be suspended.

3. Donaldson Undergoes MRI

Yankees third baseman Josh Donaldson underwent an MRI on his right hamstring yesterday after a setback in his rehab process. Donaldson, 37, appeared to be on the verge of returning to the big league club prior to his setback, but now will be shutdown for an indeterminate amount of time. More info on the severity of Donaldson’s setback and his new timetable for return could become available ahead of the club’s game this afternoon.

Donaldson struggled in five games this season, recording just two hits and a walk while striking out six times in 17 plate appearances prior to his current IL stint. While that’s a minuscule sample size, Donaldson’s offensive struggles date back to last season, when he hit .222/.308/.374 and posted a 97 wRC+ that marked the first below-average full season of his career with the bat. The Yankees still have a plethora of infield options at their disposal, with DJ LeMahieu, Oswald Peraza, Oswaldo Cabrera, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa all capable of mixing and matching in the infield alongside Anthony Volpe at shortstop and Anthony Rizzo at first base.

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