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Angels Place Jose Soriano On Injured List, Outright Cole Tucker

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The Angels placed starter José Soriano on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to June 17, with an abdominal infection. Los Angeles is off tonight, so they didn’t immediately reveal the corresponding move. The Halos also announced that Cole Tucker went unclaimed on waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Salt Lake after being designated for assignment on Monday.

Soriano has been a rare bright spot in a rough season. Los Angeles transitioned the hard-throwing righty to the rotation this year. It was a gamble, as Soriano had been one of the club’s better relievers as a rookie. The second-year hurler has taken well to the starting role. In 72 1/3 innings, he carries a 3.48 earned run average. While Soriano’s strikeout rate has plummeted from last year’s 30.3% clip to a modest 20.3% mark, he has offset that with a drastic uptick in grounders.

Among pitchers with 50+ innings, only Framber Valdez has run a higher ground-ball rate than Soriano’s 60.2% clip. The Angel hurler has also trimmed his walk rate by almost three percentage points. This year’s 9.5% walk percentage still isn’t great, but it has been sufficient for Soriano to work to mid-rotation results. He has held huge velocity in extended stints, averaging 97.8 MPH on his sinker.

Tucker, 27, signed a minor league deal in April. He hit well in 10 games for Salt Lake to earn an MLB look a couple weeks later. Tucker didn’t carry that success over in 25 contests for the Halos. Over 57 trips to the plate, he hit .180/.263/.300 while striking out nearly 30% of the time. A former first-round draftee of the Pirates, Tucker has played in the majors in six consecutive seasons. He owns a .213/.266/.316 batting line over 536 plate appearances between Pittsburgh, Colorado and Los Angeles.

This is the fourth career outright for Tucker. He has the right to test free agency each time he clears waivers. The Angels didn’t announce whether he’ll rejoin Salt Lake or head back to the open market in search of a minor league opportunity elsewhere.

Jesús Tinoco Elects Free Agency

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7:05pm: Tinoco’s transactions log at MLB.com indicates that he indeed chose to become a free agent.

3:45pm: The Rangers announced that right-hander Jesús Tinoco has been assigned outright to Triple-A Round Rock. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment earlier this week. He has the right to elect free agency though it’s not clear if he has chosen to do so.

Tinoco, 29, signed a minor league deal with Texas in the offseason and posted some encouraging results for the Express. He tossed 21 1/3 innings for that club, allowing 3.80 earned runs per nine. His 11.2% walk rate was on the high side but he got ground balls at a 47.1% clip and struck out 30.3% of batters faced.

He was selected to the big league roster on May 23 but his results tailed off from there. He threw 10 major league innings for the Rangers but allowed nine earned runs in that time. He struck out nine opponents but gave out seven walks. Since he’s out of options, the club’s only way to remove him from the active roster was to remove him from the 40-man as well.

Tinoco has generally been able to rack up strikeouts on the farm but less so in the majors. Dating back to the start of 2021, he has a 4.60 ERA in the minors while striking out 26.3% of batters faced. In that same time frame, he has a 5.34 ERA in the big leagues with an 18.8% strikeout rate.

He will now have to decide whether to return to Round Rock or pursue opportunities elsewhere. The fact that he cleared waivers shows that no club is willing to give him a major league spot right now but he shouldn’t have trouble getting another minor league opportunity somewhere.

Nationals Release Robert Gsellman

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The Nationals have released right-hander Robert Gsellman, according to Talk Nats on X. The righty had been pitching for Triple-A Rochester but is now a free agent and can be signed by any club.

Gsellman, 30, signed a minor league contract with the Nats in the offseason and has been pitching in a swing role for the Red Wings. He tossed 36 innings over 17 appearances, including four starts. Unfortunately, he allowed 35 earned runs in that time, leading to an ugly earned run average of 8.75.

That’s obviously not great and surely led the Nats to move on, but the underlying numbers suggest he wasn’t nearly as bad as all that. His 20.1% strikeout rate and 11.2% walk rate were both subpar, but not by much, while his 45.6% ground ball rate was pretty decent. But his .373 batting average on balls in play and 49.7% strand rate were both far to the unlucky side, which is why his 4.83 FIP with the Red Wings was actually pretty normal.

Gsellman has 366 innings of major league experience, mostly with the Mets but most recently with the Cubs. In that time, he has a 4.60 ERA, 18% strikeout rate, 7.8% walk rate and 48.3% ground ball rate.

Other than the ERA, his Triple-A stats this year have been pretty close to his previous work. Given that a number of teams around the league are dealing with mounting pitching injuries, it’s possible some club sees him as the same guy he was coming into the year and brings him aboard via another minor league deal.

Mariners Sign Rob Kaminsky To Minor League Deal

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The Mariners have signed left-hander Rob Kaminsky to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. The southpaw has been assigned to Triple-A Tacoma and will give the club some non-roster depth.

Kaminsky, 29, has a small amount of major league experience, having pitched for the Cardinals in 2020. He appeared in five games that year with a 1.93 earned run average in a small sample of 4 2/3 innings. He lost his roster spot later that year and has been limited to minor league deals in subsequent seasons.

For the most part, his minor league results have involved few strikeouts but lots of ground balls. From 2021 to 2023, he tossed 78 innings in the minors with a 4.96 ERA. His 21.4% strikeout rate in that time was subpar but he got opponents to hit the ball into the dirt around half the time.

This year, Kaminsky made two appearances for the Staten Island Ferry Hawks of The Atlantic League, tossing 6 2/3 innings. He struck out five but also allowed five walks. Last month, he retweeted some footage of himself pitching at Driveline, with his fastball seeming to get above 92 miles per hour and his secondary offerings in the mid-to-high 80s. In his brief big league stint, Statcast had his fastball averaging 91.6 mph, his knuckle curve at 84.9 mph and his changeup at 83.1 mph.

The M’s have had some bullpen injuries this year, with each of Matt Brash, Jackson Kowar, Gregory Santos and Gabe Speier on the injured list. Brash and Kowar each had Tommy John surgery and won’t be coming back this season. Tayler Saucedo is the only lefty in the big league bullpen at the moment. The Mariners are plenty familiar with Kaminsky as he was in their system the previous two seasons, so have tapped him for an extra left-hander in the minors.

Dodgers GM: Betts And Yamamoto Injuries Won’t Impact Deadline Plans

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The Dodgers were recently dealt a couple of significant blows, with both Mookie Betts and Yoshinobu Yamamoto slated for lengthy stays on the injured list. General manager Brandon Gomes addressed the injuries recently, per Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times, saying that the club was unlikely to alter their deadline plans as a reaction. “I actually don’t think it meaningfully changes anything at this point,” Gomes said, “With the expectation that those guys are gonna be back for the postseason.”

Betts was hit by a pitch on his hand and suffered a fracture, with an expected recovery time of six to eight weeks. Yamamoto has a more nebulous timeline with his strained rotator cuff, though the club is expecting him back at some point this season.

Those are obviously significant losses. Betts has more walks than strikeouts this year and has ten home runs as well, leading to a line of .304/.405/.488 and a 158 wRC+. He has done all that while essentially learning shortstop on the fly, having just been handed the job during Spring Training. Despite limited big league experience at the position, he seems to be doing a passable job. Outs Above Average has him at -4 this year but Defensive Runs Saved puts him at +4. FanGraphs has credited him with 3.5 wins above replacement so far on the season, second in the National League to his teammate Shohei Ohtani. Yamamoto, meanwhile, has an earned run average of 2.92 through his first 14 major league starts.

Subtracting those two players from the roster will undoubtedly have an impact on the club’s overall talent level, but it’s understandable that the Dodgers don’t plan to panic and completely change course. The club currently sports a record of 46-30 and the only club above .500 in the National League West. Each of the Diamondbacks, Giants and Padres are just below .500, with each of those three being either 9 or 9.5 games back.

That gives the Dodgers plenty of breathing room and pretty strong odds of winning the division, even with the injury challenges. The Playoff Odds at FanGraphs give them a 92.5% chance of taking the West while the PECOTA Standings at Baseball Prospectus are even more bullish at 95.8%. Both of those outlets give the club around a 99% chance of getting some kind of playoff spot.

With that comfortable position in the standings, the club is likely going to be focusing on whatever moves put their club in best position to win games in October, as opposed to the interim. Going out to grab an innings eater for the back end of the rotation might stabilize things for the next few months but such a pitcher wouldn’t be a big factor in a playoff series when clubs can shorten their rotations to three or four pitchers.

Even without Yamamoto and Walker Buehler, who also landed on the injured list recently with a minor issue, the Dodgers currently have a healthy rotation of consisting of Tyler Glasnow, Bobby Miller, Gavin Stone and James Paxton. They have Clayton Kershaw, Dustin May and Kyle Hurt as options to come off the injured list later this year, as well as Yamamoto. Landon Knack is on the 40-man roster and pitching in Triple-A, potentially coming up to replace Buehler. River Ryan, one of the club’s top prospects, was recently reinstated from the minor league injured list and is pitching in Triple-A as well.

With all of those potential starters, they should be able to find a way to get through the regular season. The larger question will be whether there’s enough for a strong postseason rotation. Glasnow has been great this year but has a lengthy injury history. He’s never topped 120 innings in a major league season and is currently at 93. Yamamoto is now a question mark. Buehler has a 5.84 ERA on the year and is now on the shelf. Miller’s ERA is at 6.00 and he just came off the IL. Paxton and Stone have respective ERAs of 3.65 and 3.01 but less impressive peripherals.

While that group is likely enough to get the club into the postseason, their deadline moves will understandably be focused on how it will play once they get there. In his article, Harris suggests the Dodgers will be focused on high-impact starters, with Garrett Crochet of the White Sox and Jesús Luzardo of the Marlins listed as hypothetical examples. Though as he points out, both of those pitchers have multiple years of control and their respective clubs will set lofty asking prices.

At shortstop, the thinking is likely similar, as the club can get by for now with Miguel Rojas taking over for Betts. Rojas is an excellent fielder who has normally been unimpressive at the plate, with a career slash line of .259/.312/.357. He’s having a strong season, however, with a .288/.333/.449 line in 2024. Perhaps that will regress a bit as he moves from a part-time role to a full-time gig, but he could still be a serviceable shortstop with a numbers a bit lower than that.

It wouldn’t be a surprise to see the club monitor the middle infield market in the weeks to come while Betts is out, as plenty of other players are struggling. Gavin Lux has received plenty of playing time at second base but is hitting .212/.261/.283 this year. Chris Taylor has moved between the infield and outfield but is sitting on a dismal line of .115/.211/.177. Enrique Hernández has also been in a multi-positional role and has better numbers than Taylor but his .201/.277/.309 line isn’t great either. Cavan Biggio was brought aboard for some extra infield cover with Max Muncy out of action but he’s hitting just .197/.325/.276 on the year between the Blue Jays and Dodgers.

Looking ahead to the postseason, it’s possible that Betts and Rojas could be the primary middle infield tandem if Betts is back and Rojas stays in good form, but the club may not rely on Rojas like that on account of his career numbers. Perhaps that will lead the club to make some kind of middle infield move between now and the end of July, but that was likely the case even before Betts got hurt.

Per the piece from Harris, the Dodgers are willing to put Betts back at shortstop later in the year but haven’t made a final decision. If they want a more experienced option at the position and want to upgrade on Rojas, it’s unclear who could be available. Harris lists Willy Adames and Bo Bichette as theoretical fits but also notes the difficulties in acquiring each. The Brewers have a healthy lead in their division, which likely means Adames is staying. As for Bichette, even if the Jays fall out of the race, there are reasons not to trade him. He’s having a down year and is currently on the IL, so the Jays may not want to sell low. With another year left on his contract, they may prefer to hold if they can’t get what they feel is fair value.

Other speculative shortstop targets may not be too appealing. The White Sox will certainly make Paul DeJong available and he’s having a nice bounceback year, but he still strikes out a ton and has been prone to long periods of ineffectiveness in the past. The Marlins would love to get something from Tim Anderson but he’s performing even worse than he did last year. Ha-Seong Kim is an impending free agent but the Padres are hovering in the playoff race and surely would prefer not to trade him to their division rival.

Astros To Promote Jake Bloss

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11:23am: Manager Joe Espada confirmed that Bloss will be called up to start Friday’s game, per Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle on X.

11:05am: The Astros are expected to promote pitching prospect Jake Bloss from Double-A to the majors, per a report from Chandler Rome and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The young righty will be making his major league debut by starting Friday’s game. He is not yet on the club’s 40-man roster, so a corresponding move or moves will be required.

It’s an incredibly quick rise to the majors for Bloss, who was just drafted last summer. He will be celebrating his 23rd birthday on Sunday, two days after his planned major league debut. The Astros selected him in the third round out of Georgetown University and he was able to make his professional debut shortly thereafter. He made seven appearances last year between the Complex League and Single-A, tossing 18 2/3 innings with a 2.89 earned run average.

Coming into this year, Baseball America ranked him the #8 prospect in the club’s system, noting that he mixes a fastball with a curveball, a slider and a changeup, with the curve being the standout secondary offering. Keith Law of The Athletic put him in the #12 slot.

Here in 2024, Bloss has seemingly raised his stock with some good results. The Astros initially sent him to High-A but his four good starts there prompted a quick promotion to Double-A. He’s made 12 starts combined between those two levels with a 1.74 ERA in 62 innings. He has benefited from .181 batting average on balls in play that he won’t be able to maintain, but his 25.8% strikeout rate is strong and his 9% walk rate around par.

FanGraphs didn’t release their list of top Astros prospect for 2024 until June 11, so they were able to give more weight to this season’s performance. They moved Bloss up to the #2 slot in the organization and said he is “trending up and tracking like a mid-rotation starter.” He has also snuck onto their top 100 list, currently listed in the #99 spot. As noted in the report from Rome and Rosenthal, general manager Dana Brown has been singing the praises of Bloss recently.

While there’s plenty to like about Bloss, the aggressive move to skip him over Triple-A and to the majors after so little professional experience is a reflection of the significant rotation struggles that the Astros have been dealing with this year.

Each of Luis Garcia and Lance McCullers Jr. underwent elbow surgery last year, so the club knew they couldn’t expect anything from those two in the first half of 2024. But since the season has started, the injury situation has gotten worse. Both José Urquidy and Cristian Javier required Tommy John surgery, knocking both of them out of action for the rest of the year. Justin Verlander started the season on the injured list due to right shoulder inflammation and is now back on the shelf due to neck discomfort. J.P. France has been battling shoulder problems all year and is on the minor league injured list.

Framber Valdez had a brief stint on the IL as well but has been pretty close to his usual self. Ronel Blanco has stepped up and been a huge help but the group has been flimsy apart from that. Hunter Brown had a 9.78 ERA through the end of April, though he has been much better lately and has brought that number down to 4.72. Spencer Arrighetti was pushed into action but has an ERA of 6.37 through his first 12 major league starts. Blair Henley was called up for a spot start earlier in the year but it went about as poorly as possible, as he recorded just one out and allowed five earned runs.

Bloss will now be thrown into that mix to see if he can get major league hitters out, in spite of his youth and limited track record. Whether it’s just a spot start or if he is sticking around will likely depend on various factors. The Astros have two off-days next week and could perhaps survive with a four-man rotation for a while once they make it through this weekend. If Verlander can be back after a brief IL stint as hoped, he could be back by the time they next need a full five-man set.

Perhaps that points to this just being a one-off outing for Bloss, though Arrighetti may not be guaranteed to stick around based on his results. However it plays out, it’s an exciting week for Bloss but also highlights what a rough season it has been for the Astros so far. Thanks in part to their rotation struggles, they are 34-40 and 6.5 games out of a playoff spot.

Yankees Sign Tim Hill

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The Yankees announced that they have signed left-hander Tim Hill to a one-year deal. Fellow lefty Clayton Andrews has been designated for assignment in a corresponding 40-man move. Andrews was on optional assignment, so the club will still need to make a move to get Hill onto the active roster once he reports to the team. Jeff Passan of ESPN reported Hill’s impending signing on X prior to the official announcement. Hill was released by the White Sox earlier this week, meaning the Yanks will only have to pay him the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the roster.

Hill, 34, is a veteran ground ball pitcher who signed with the White Sox in the offseason. That one-year deal guaranteed him $1.8MM as the Sox were surely hoping to have him serve as a solid veteran presence in a relief corps that had been thinned out by trades.

But the topline results were poor, as Hill made 27 appearances for Chicago with a 5.87 earned run average. The Sox decided to move on, designating him for assignment last week. Since Hill had more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment while keeping his money, he was released and went to the open market.

Despite the poor ERA, there are reasons why the Yankees would still be intrigued. Hill has always been a ground ball guy, with a 60.5% rate of wormburners in his career. For context, the major league average is usually around 43% or so and is at 42.6% this season. Hill’s numbers in that department have actually been better than ever, as he has had 65.6% of balls in play go into the dirt while with the Sox.

But a lot of them were finding holes, as he has a massive .436 batting average on balls in play for the year. That’s well beyond his .310 career BABIP and this year’s .287 league average. That might have something to do with the poor defenders on the White Sox. That club has a collective -19 Outs Above Average on the year, which is better than just four other teams. Defensive Runs Saved is way more pessimistic, as the Sox are in dead last with a score of -49. The second-worst club by that metric is the Rays at -28.

Hill’s 11% strikeout rate is subpar but it’s understandable that the Yankees perhaps expect some better results going forward. If he can keep making opponents pound the ball into the ground but with some better defense and better luck, the ERA should come down. It’s for those reasons that his 3.45 FIP and 3.89 SIERA are far more attractive.

It’s a fairly low-risk gamble for the Yankees to take. Since the Sox released Hill, they remain on the hook for most of what’s left of his salary. The Yanks will pay him the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the roster, with that amount subtracted from what the Sox pay, and easily can move on at any point if it doesn’t work out.

As noted by Passan, the Yankees’ bullpen could use some help. They have had Scott Effross, Lou Trivino and Jonathan Loáisiga on the injured list for most or all of the season, while Nick Burdi and Ian Hamilton recently joined them. Last night, Gerrit Cole came off the injured list and tossed 62 pitches over four innings against the Orioles. The game eventually went to ten innings with the Yanks using six different relievers. They don’t have another off-day until Monday, so Hill will give the club a fresh arm for a fairly weary bullpen.

Andrews, 27, has only been a Yankee for a short time. He came up as a Brewers prospect but that club designated him for assignment in February. The Yankees acquired him in a small trade and then passed him through waivers in early April, though he was added back to the roster just over a month later.

In between those transactions, the lefty has made just one appearance at the big league level. Back on May 21, he was put into a game against the Mariners and then proceeded to allow a Luke Raley home run, hit Cal Raleigh with a pitch and strike out Mitch Haniger before being replaced.

He’s spent most of his time in Triple-A, tossing 24 2/3 innings with a 5.84 ERA. His 25.9% strikeout rate and 51.8% ground ball rate at that level are both strong but he’s also given out walks at an awful rate of 20.4%, as well as hitting two batters and throwing two wild pitches. That lack of control has been an issue for Andrews before and has likely contributed to bumping him off the Yankees’ roster.

They will now have a week to trade him or pass him through waivers. Despite the wildness, some other club might be enticed by the strikeouts and ground balls like the Yankees were, especially since Andrews can still be optioned for the rest of this year and one more season. If he were passed through waivers unclaimed, he would have the right to elect free agency by virtue of his previous outright.

The Opener: Rickwood Field, Abrams, Toro

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As the 2024 regular season continues, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. MLB at Rickwood Field to Honor Willie Mays:

The Giants and Cardinals are set to face off this evening in a game at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama scheduled for 6:15pm local time. The game, which will be televised nationally on FOX, was initially scheduled as a tribute to the Negro Leagues and their storied history but has taken on additional meaning after the recent passing of MLB legend Willie Mays earlier this week. Mays briefly played a professional in the Negro Leagues during the 1948 season as a member of the Birmingham Black Barons, appearing in 13 games for the club as a 17-year-old in the midst of a season where the Black Barons went on to capture the NAL pennant before losing the final Negro League World Series to the Homestead Grays in five games.

The Black Barons (and, by extension, Mays) called Rickwood Field their home ballpark. First established in 1910, it’s the oldest professional ballpark in the US and two years older than Fenway Park in Boston. More than 75 years after the last Negro League game was played there, Major League play returns to Rickwood Field tonight as St. Louis and San Francisco face off with right-handed youngsters Andre Pallante and Keaton Winn on the mound. Tonight’s game will (as relayed by The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal) feature the first entirely black crew of umpires in AL/NL history and figures to celebrate not only the storied history of the Negro Leagues, but also the life and career of Mays.

2. Abrams to undergo MRI:

Nationals shortstop CJ Abrams was scratched from yesterday’s lineup against the Diamondbacks due to what manager Davey Martinez told reporters (including those at MLB.com) was being termed discomfort in his left wrist. Martinez went on to add that Abrams wasn’t sure what was causing the discomfort, and that the club planned to send their young star for an MRI to ensure all was well. The 23-year-old Abrams has enjoyed a breakout season with the Nationals this year as he’s slashed an impressive .261/.313/.478 with 10 stolen bases and 11 home runs in 66 games this year. That strong slash line comes in spite of a difficult month of May where Abrams hit just .205/.216/.304 in 27 games.

Abrams’s breakout campaign has helped the Nationals to be surprisingly competitive this season, as the club is currently tied with the Cardinals for the second of three NL Wild Card spots despite a lackluster 36-37 record. A significant stretch of time without Abrams would be a brutal blow to the Nationals’ odds of holding onto that position, as his 1.2 fWAR leads the club’s positional corps. Nasim Nunez took over for Abrams at shortstop yesterday and could be the club’s top option to fill in if Abrams requires a trip to the injured list.

3. Toro battling shoulder soreness:

A’s infielder Abraham Toro is dealing with a bout of shoulder soreness, as noted by MLB.com’s Martin Gallegos yesterday. The issue first cropped up during Oakland’s doubleheader against the Twins on Sunday and has caused him to miss each of the past two games. As relayed by Gallegos, Toro was scheduled to meet with team doctors to discuss how to handle the injury but manager Mark Kotsay told reporters after the game that he had no update on Toro’s status and that more information about the infielder would be available today.

Toro, 27, has had a decent season with the A’s this year. He’s posted a roughly average slash line of .256/.298/381 in 71 games for the club this year while splitting time between first base, second base, third base, and left field throughout the year. In the aftermath of the club’s decision to designate J.D. Davis for assignment earlier this week, it appeared likely that Toro would be handed the keys to third base full time, although with Toro now possibly injured, Oakland will have to find a new solution at the hot corner. Infielder Tyler Nevin has handled third base duties so far during Toro’s absence and could be the club’s long-term answer there if Toro misses further time, although rookie third baseman Brett Harris is also on the 40-man roster after getting a 17-game cup of coffee in the majors earlier this year.

Kyle Bradish Undergoes Tommy John Surgery

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Orioles general manager Mike Elias informed reporters that right-hander Kyle Bradish underwent Tommy John surgery with an internal brace today. He’ll be out for the rest of this year and part of 2025 as well. Danielle Allentuck of the Baltimore Banner was among those to relay the news on X. Additionally, left-hander Danny Coulombe had bone chips removed from his elbow, per Allentuck on X. The southpaw could return this year but is likely out until September.

The Bradish news is a brutal blow for the club’s rotation. He had a tremendous breakout season with the O’s last year, making 30 starts with a 2.83 earned run average. He struck out 25% of batters faced, limited walks to a 6.6% rate and got grounders at a 49.2% clip.

Things got scary here in 2024, as Bradish was diagnosed with a sprain of his UCL in mid-February. The club initially tried non-surgical interventions and seemed to have some success. Bradish was given a platelet-rich plasma injection and was showing “accelerated healing” by early March, per Bradish himself.

Things seemed to accelerate fairly normally from there. Bradish was able to start a rehab assignment by the second week of April and was reinstated from the injured list in early May. He made eight starts for the big league club with a 2.75 ERA. But he landed back on the injured list last week, again due to a sprain of his UCL, with surgery apparently unavoidable this time around.

In hindsight, it would be easy to dismiss the past four months as simply delaying the inevitable, but pitchers have suffered UCL injuries and avoided surgery before. Masahiro Tanaka was diagnosed with a partially torn UCL in 2014, for instance, but never got it repaired and went on to pitch between 150 and 200 innings in each of the five following seasons. Seth Lugo was also found to have a slight tear in 2017 but didn’t go under the knife. More recently, Triston McKenzie was diagnosed with a UCL sprain last summer but has made 14 starts for the Guardians this year.

Given the 14 to 18 months of recovery that are generally needed after Tommy John surgery, pitchers and teams usually prefer to exhaust non-surgical options before surrendering to the surgeon’s table. The O’s and Bradish believed they had a path open to them and tried to take it, but unfortunately couldn’t make it work in this instance.

This is now the third starting pitcher that the Orioles have lost to season-ending UCL surgery this year, as both Tyler Wells and John Means went down this road before Bradish. Despite those losses, the rotation has been a strength overall. Baltimore starter’s have a combined ERA of 3.03 this year, which trails only the Yankees and Phillies. But maintaining such a position without those three will be a challenge.

As of now, the O’s are left with Corbin Burnes, Grayson Rodriguez, Cole Irvin, Cade Povich and Albert Suárez in the rotation, but it seems fair to expect the O’s to pursue additions prior to the July 30 deadline. Povich has just two major league starts under his belt so far. Irvin has a 3.03 ERA on the year but is only striking out 17.9% of batters faced. His 4.16 SIERA this year and his career ERA of 4.24 perhaps suggest some regression is coming. Suárez has a 2.05 ERA but is a 34-year-old journeyman with a 19.7% strikeout rate and 81.9% strand rate.

Dean Kremer should be rejoining that group shortly, as he is on the injured list but currently on a rehab assignment. However, he’s more of a solid back-end guy, with an ERA of 4.35 in his career and a mark of 4.32 this year. In terms of depth options, Levi Stoudt was just claimed off waivers but has a 6.92 ERA in Triple-A this year. Bruce Zimmermann is on the 40-man but hasn’t pitched since mid-May. Jonathan Heasley is also on the roster but has been working as a swingman in the minors.

Last week, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported that the club would be waiting until closer to the deadline to decide on their starting pitching approach. With Bradish now out for the year, that will presumably increase their desire to pursue starting pitching in the months to come. In the meantime, Bradish will be transferred to the 60-day injured list whenever the O’s need his roster spot. He’ll spent the rest of the year on the shelf and will qualify for arbitration this offseason as a Super Two player.

The news on Coulombe isn’t as bad but is still significant. The lefty has a career ERA of 3.57 and that mark is just 2.68 since joining the O’s prior to the 2023 season. He has thrown 77 1/3 innings since coming to Baltimore, striking out 28.5% of batters faced while limiting walks to a 5% clip.

He landed on the IL a week ago due to left elbow inflammation and it now seems he’s going to miss several months, leaving the Orioles with Cionel Pérez, Keegan Akin and Nick Vespi as southpaws in their bullpen.

Like Bradish, Coulombe will be a candidate to be moved to the 60-day IL whenever the O’s need a roster spot for someone else. The two sides avoided an arbitration hearing by agreeing to a one-year deal with a club option in January. That option has a $4MM base salary and escalators that start at 50 appearances. He’s made 29 appearances so far this year but won’t be able to get that number up to 50 if he’s out until September. He will cross six years of service by the end of the season and be a free agent if the O’s decline that option.

Rangers’ Jose Corniell To Undergo UCL Surgery

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Rangers pitching prospect Jose Corniell is out for the season. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News writes that the 20-year-old righty will undergo surgery to repair the UCL in his throwing elbow. It’s unclear if he’ll require a full Tommy John reconstruction or the modified internal brace procedure.

In either case, it’ll cost him all of 2024 and shelve him well into next season. Corniell has spent the entire season on the minor league injured list while attempting to rehab the issue without surgery. That unfortunately proved unsuccessful. It’s a tough follow-up to a season that put Corniell more firmly on prospect radars. The Dominican-born hurler — whom Texas initially acquired from the Mariners in 2020 for Rafael Montero — turned in a 2.92 earned run average in A-ball a season ago. He punched out nearly 30% of opponents against a 7.8% walk rate over 101 2/3 innings.

The Rangers added Corniell to their 40-man roster last winter. Texas was concerned that another team (likely a rebuilding club) could grab him in the Rule 5 draft and try to stash him in the bullpen even though he’d yet to pitch above High-A. Corniell will continue to count against the 40-man while he’s on the minor league injured list.

If they’re willing to pay him at the the prorated $740K MLB minimum rate, Texas could place Corniell on the 60-day IL to open a roster spot. He’d need to be reinstated over the offseason, though the Rangers could elect to non-tender him with an eye towards bringing him back on a minor league deal instead.

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