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Phillies Select José Ruiz

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The Phillies announced that right-hander Yunior Marté has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to right shoulder inflammation. Right-hander José Ruiz was selected to the roster in a corresponding move. The Phils already had a vacancy on the 40-man since they designated Ricardo Pinto for assignment earlier this week.

Ruiz, 29, signed a minor league deal with the Phillies in the offseason. He’s already tossed 11 innings for Triple-A Lehigh Valley with a 1.64 earned run average. He has struck out 31% of batters faced so far while walking just 7.1%.

That’s a small sample size, of course, but Ruiz also has some decent work on his major league track record. He tossed more than 60 innings for the White Sox in both 2021 and 2022, with a combined 3.80 ERA in that time. His 10.8% walk rate in that stretch was a tad high but he also punched out batters at a strong 24.4% clip.

Last year wasn’t as successful for the righty. He was lit up in his first four outings for the Sox, allowing nine earned runs, and got designated for assignment. He was flipped to the Diamondbacks and tossed 40 2/3 innings for that club with a middling 4.43 ERA. He was outrighted off their roster at the end of July and spent the last few months of the year at Triple-A Reno, posting a 4.10 ERA in 26 1/3 innings.

He reached free agency at the end of the year, which led to his minor league deal with the Phils. Since he’s been posting good results, he’ll get a chance to come back to the majors and fill in for Marté. Ruiz is out of options and therefore can’t be easily sent back down to the minors later in the year. But he has less than four years of MLB service time, meaning he could be retained beyond this season if he sticks on the roster all year long.

Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript

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MLBTR writer Anthony Franco held a live chat today exclusively for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers! Anthony fielded questions on the Reds, Braves, Blue Jays, Cubs, A's and Padres, among others. He also took questions on how he'd reorder the 2019 draft class, the Red Sox's early-season success, the Rangers' pitching plans, and which division is the sport's weakest.

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Cardinals Place Steven Matz On Injured List Due To Back Strain

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The Cardinals announced that left-hander Steven Matz has been placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to May 1, due to a lower back strain. Right-hander Kyle Leahy was recalled in a corresponding move.

The Cards signed the southpaw to a four-year, $44MM deal going into 2022 but they’ve gotten little return on that investment so far. Matz battled shoulder issues for much of 2022 and only tossed 48 innings with a 5.25 earned run average. Last year, he struggled out of the gate and got moved to the bullpen. He got in a good groove and retook a rotation spot as they played out the string on a lost season, finishing strong enough to have a 3.86 ERA by season’s end.

The club was surely hoping he could carry some momentum from that solid finish into 2024, and he did for a brief moment. After three starts, Matz had allowed just three earned runs and had a 1.80 ERA. But he’s allowed 16 earned runs in his three most recent outings, swelling his ERA to 6.18 for the year.

Per Katie Woo of The Athletic (X link), an issue cropped up with Matz’s back after his April 23 outing. The club had an off-day on April 25 and then a rainout April 29, which meant Matz got some extra rest before taking the ball again on April 30. It was hoped that the extra time would help him get beyond the back problem, but that didn’t come to pass. His velocity was down in that last start and he was pulled after allowing four earned runs in 3 1/3 innings. He was sent for an MRI yesterday, per Woo on X, and it seems the club has decided to put Matz on the shelf for at least a couple of weeks.

That will leave the club with Sonny Gray, Lance Lynn, Kyle Gibson and Miles Mikolas as healthy starters, but they will need a fifth at some point. As of today, the Cards are playing 13 games in a row before their next off-day.

Drew Rom was recently transferred to the 60-day injured list and won’t be an option. Matthew Liberatore could be considered but he’s been in the bullpen and isn’t stretched out. Zach Thompson was in the big league rotation before being being moved to the bullpen and then optioned to the minors. He tossed 3 2/3 innings in his most recent Triple-A start.

Sem Robberse and Adam Kloffenstein are each stretched out at Triple-A on on the 40-man, though Kloffenstein has a 5.93 ERA this year. Robberse is in much better form with a 1.77 ERA through six Triple-A starts, though he just started last night and likely wouldn’t be called up before Tuesday. Prospects Gordon Graceffo and Michael McGreevy are also stretched out in Triple-A, but neither is on the 40-man and they both have worse results than Robberse so far.

Who Could The Angels Trade This Summer?

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The Angels came into 2024 hoping to compete, despite losing Shohei Ohtani to free agency, but it’s not going well so far. It’s usually unwise to pour dirt on a club’s grave so early in the season, but the odds were against them even before the 2024 campaign started. They have piled up a few losses while Mike Trout is once again facing a significant absence, narrowing whatever contention window they had.

The Playoff Odds at FanGraphs gave them a 16.9% chance of making the playoffs prior to any games being played. Now that the club is 11-20 and Trout is set to miss weeks due to surgery to repair a torn meniscus, those odds have slimmed. As of this morning, their chances of cracking the postseason are down to 2.6%. The PECOTA Standings at Baseball Prospectus are even more pessimistic, giving the Halos just a 0.3% shot.

Barring a miracle in the next few months, they are going to be deadline sellers in the months to come. There could be some speculation about Trout being available, but that’s a complicated situation. He has full no-trade protection and has said he wants to stay in Anaheim. Even if he changes his mind and wants out, facilitating a deal won’t be easy. Despite his immense talents, he actually has negative trade value right now. He is about to turn 33 years old, is making $35.45MM annually through 2030 and has frequently been injured in recent years.

The Angels would be in a tough spot, as they would likely want some notable prospect return in trading a face-of-the-franchise player like Trout, but they would have to swallow a significant portion of the deal to make that happen. On top of that, Trout’s no-trade clause means they would have to factor in his preferences, perhaps narrowing their options and reducing their leverage. Given how convoluted the factors are, a Trout trade isn’t likely to come together hastily, especially since he’s currently hurt.

On top of Trout, there are others who aren’t likely to be moved. Anthony Rendon has a massive salary and hasn’t been healthy in years. Robert Stephenson recently underwent Tommy John surgery and is out until the middle of next year, at least. Players like Logan O’Hoppe, Zach Neto and Nolan Schanuel are still in their pre-arbitration years, giving the club little reason to move them.

But that still leaves them with quite a few options that could hold appeal around the league:

Luis Rengifo

Rengifo is currently hitting .326/.376/.465 this year for a 142 wRC+. That’s at least partly a mirage because he won’t be able to sustain a .377 batting average on balls in play all season. But even with a bit of regression, he’d be on track for his third straight year of above-average offense. He hit a combined .264/.315/.436 over 2022 and 2023, with a 103 wRC+ in the first of those two seasons and a 114 wRC+ last year.

Defensively, Rengifo can play all over the diamond. He has spent time at the three infield positions to the left of first base, as well as all three outfield slots. He’s not considered especially strong at any one spot, but the ability to move around will help him fit in with other clubs. The fact that he’s a switch-hitter gives him extra versatility.

Financially, Rengifo is making just $4.4MM this year and can be controlled via arbitration for next year as well. Even if a club has financial concerns due to the competitive balance tax or lack of TV revenue, he won’t break the bank.

Carlos Estévez

Estévez is out to a rough start this year with a 6.23 ERA, but the numbers are good just about everywhere else. He is striking out 29.4% of batters faced on the year and hasn’t yet issued a walk. The runs are scoring at least partially due to a tiny strand rate of 48.4%. His 3.83 FIP and 2.70 SIERA point to him being the same lockdown reliever he has been in previous years.

The righty has a 4.51 career ERA but spent his entire career in Colorado until last year. He secured a two-year, $13.5MM deal with the Angels going into 2023. His first season in Anaheim saw him rack up 31 saves while punching out 27.8% of opponents, though walking 11% of them. He should be one of the better rental relievers available this summer. He’s making a salary of $6.75MM this year.

Tyler Anderson

Anderson’s up-and-down career is in a bit of an upswing right now, at least in terms of results. Through six starts this year, he has a 2.23 earned run average. But with a .194 BABIP and 90.9% strand rate, he likely won’t be able to keep that up. His 4.76 FIP and 4.80 SIERA suggest regression is coming, as his 18.5% strikeout rate and 10.3% walk rate are both subpar.

The lefty secured a three-year, $39MM deal with the Halos going into 2023. He had a 4.62 ERA through 2021 but then posted a 2.57 ERA with the Dodgers in 2022. That led to his deal with the Angels, but he regressed immediately with a 5.43 ERA last year. Though his results will likely dip a bit as the year goes on, pitching is always in demand at the deadline and the Angels could be able to eat some of his salary to get a deal done. His contract pays him $13MM annually and runs through the end of 2025.

Griffin Canning

Health has been the big question mark for Canning, but he showed positive development in that department last year. He missed the 2022 season entirely but then appeared in 24 games in 2023 — 22 of them starts — while logging 127 innings. All of those figures were career-highs. Beyond the quantity, the quality was also encouraging. He had a 4.32 ERA on the year with a 25.9% strikeout rate and 6.7% walk rate.

Unfortunately, things have backed up in 2024. Through six starts, he has struck out just 15.9% of opponents while walking 9.1%, leading to a 7.45 ERA. A 56.1% strand rate isn’t helping him, but even his 5.48 FIP and 4.96 SIERA aren’t amazing. He’ll have to get things back on track in the months to come but would have some appeal if he did. Because of the missed injury time, he’s making a modest $2.6MM salary this year and has one more arbitration season remaining in 2025.

Patrick Sandoval

Sandoval’s ERA is up at 5.91 this year, but the numbers under the hood are more encouraging. His 10.8% walk rate is a bit high, but he’s striking out 25.7% of batters faced and getting grounders on 47.3% of balls in play. Were it not for a .396 BABIP and 57.5% strand rate, he’d be in better shape, which is why he has a 3.17 FIP and 3.83 SIERA.

He’s a bit less of an obvious trade candidate since he’s controlled through 2026. He’s making $5.025MM this year and will have two more arb seasons before he’s slated for free agency. The Halos could hold him if they think they can compete again in that window, but his trade value will only decline going forward as his control window shrinks and his salary keeps rising.

Taylor Ward

Ward is in the same service bucket as Sandoval, meaning he has two years of control beyond this one. He’s had a bit of a stop-and-go career due to injuries but is often in good form when healthy. He already has seven home runs this year and is slashing .278/.313/.492 with a 126 wRC+. Going back to the start of 2021, he’s hit .267/.343/.453 for a 122 wRC+.

Similar to Sandoval, the Halos don’t have to move Ward, but there’s an argument for it. He’s making $4.8MM this year and will be in line for a healthy raise if he keeps hitting homers. Since his health has been so mercurial, they might be tempted to strike while the iron is hot, cashing him in for younger players if he stays healthy through July.

Matt Moore

Moore is continuing to enjoy a nice second act to his career after moving from the rotation to the bullpen. Since the start of 2022, he’s made 125 appearances with a 2.35 ERA, 26.9% strikeout rate, 9.8% walk rate and 40% ground ball rate.

His strikeout rate has dipped to 21.3% this year, but in a small sample of 12 appearances. His 3.97 ERA is more passable than it is exciting and he’s making $9MM on the year. But every contender is looking for bullpen upgrades at the deadline and Moore will have suitors, especially since he’s left-handed.

Brandon Drury

Drury parlayed a 28-homer breakout in 2022 into a two-year, $17MM deal to suit up for the team he grew up cheering for. The first season went well, as he launched another 26 home runs last year while bouncing between multiple positions, but he’s out to a dreadful start here in 2024. He has battled some hamstring tightness and migraines while hitting just .176/.245/.235.

Those nagging injuries are surely playing a part in his struggles, as is a .209 BABIP. He could be due for a turnaround if his health and batted-ball fortune both improve. If that comes to pass, he could fit on multiple clubs around the league. He has played all four infield positions and the outfield corners in his career, so various teams could find a way to squeeze him in.

Luis García

Somewhat similar to Estévez, García is allowing more runs than he seemingly deserves. He has struck out 28.3% of opponents this year while walking just 5.7% and keeping 54.3% of balls in play on the ground, leading to a 2.52 FIP and 2.38 SIERA. But a strand rate of just 39.7% has helped push some runners across the plate, leading to a 5.54 ERA.

He’s a 37-year-old veteran and won’t fetch a huge return, but each contender needs bullpen help. He’s making just $4.25MM on a one-year deal and has a decent track record. Since the start of 2021, he has a 3.77 ERA, 23.8% strikeout rate, 7.3% walk rate and 55% ground ball rate.

Adam Cimber

Cimber had a pretty solid run in 2021 and 2022, pitching over 70 innings in each of those seasons with a combined ERA of 2.53. He only struck out 18.8% of batters faced in that time, but he only walked 5% of them while his submarine delivery helped him produce a 47.9% ground ball rate and lots of weak contact.

He was hurt for a lot of 2023 and his ERA shot up to 7.40 when he was on the mound. The Angels took a shot on a bounceback which has mostly gone well so far, as Cimber has a 3.14 ERA this year. His 11.1% walk rate is uncharacteristically high, as he’s never finished a season above 7.8% in that department. If he can shake off the rust and rein in his control, perhaps he’ll be back in 2021-22 form in the months to come. He’s making just $1.65MM this year and could fit in the budget of any club.

———————

The Angels could also push further, depending on what their long-term plans are. Reid Detmers and Jo Adell haven’t yet reached arbitration yet, but they will this coming winter. Adell has struggled so much over the years but is in good form so far this year, which may tempt the Angels to listen to offers on him now in case he turns into a pumpkin. He’s slashing .290/.338/.565 for a 152 wRC+, with his 26.5% strikeout rate a big improvement compared to previous years.

Parting with Detmers could be painful since he seems to be breaking out this year. He has a 3.12 ERA, 26.6% strikeout rate, 7.2% walk rate and 44% ground ball rate. With three more years of control beyond this one, there’s no rush to move him. But if the club is planning a significant rebuild, those years might be wasted in Anaheim. If they decide to pull the trigger, he would fetch a haul.

Twins, Adam Plutko Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Twins signed veteran right-hander Adam Plutko to a minor league contract, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. The CAA client will presumably head to Triple-A St. Paul once he’s built up, but he wasn’t with a team in spring training and could thus need some work at the team’s spring complex before joining an affiliate.

The 32-year-old Plutko spent the past two seasons pitching in the Korea Baseball Organization — for the LG Twins, coincidentally — and pitched quite well overseas. Through 285 1/3 innings out of LG’s rotation, he worked to a 2.40 ERA with a 21.7% strikeout rate, a 6% walk rate and a 46.5% ground-ball rate.

Prior to that run in the KBO, Plutko pitched in parts of five big league seasons between Cleveland and Baltimore, logging a 5.39 ERA in 273 2/3 innings while pitching both out of the rotation and in a long relief role. He’s fanned 17% of his big league opponents against a 7.2% walk rate. Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey worked in Cleveland’s front office from the time Plutko was drafted in 2013 until his eventual hiring in Minnesota following the 2016 season, so he should be quite familiar with Plutko.

Plutko gives the Twins some low-cost depth at a time when they’ve already seen their rotation thinned out. Righty Anthony DeSclafani underwent season-ending flexor surgery before Opening Day, and young right-hander Louie Varland struggled in his initial rotation look after showing promise in his first 22 MLB appearances in 2022-23.

Rookie Simeon Woods Richardson has stepped into the rotation and pitched well in three starts, but Minnesota’s options behind Woods Richardson and Varland aren’t plentiful. Left-hander Brent Headrick is on the 60-day injured list in the minors due to a forearm strain. Top prospect David Festa has pitched to a 2.18 ERA in Triple-A, but he’s also posted a 14.8% walk rate and has all of 33 career innings north of the Double-A level. Right-hander Randy Dobnak has an ERA just shy of 6.00 through his first six appearances of the season. Plutko doesn’t have a great big league track record, but he’ll add a needed depth option that’s had some recent success overseas.

The Opener: Brewers, Cubs, Eovaldi, Mets

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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 heading into the weekend:

1. Series Preview: Brewers @ Cubs

The Brewers and Cubs are at the front of the pack in the NL Central with respective records of 19-11 and 19-13. That one-game gap in the standings means that this weekend’s three-game set between the clubs at Wrigley Field could allow Chicago the opportunity to take the lead over Milwaukee or allow the Brewers to take a more commanding lead in the divisional race.

This afternoon’s game will see youngster Hayden Wesneski (0.87 ERA) make his second start of the season after moving out of a multi-inning relief role to cover for injured rookie Jordan Wicks. Wesneski will take the ball opposite right-hander Joe Ross (5.40 ERA) at 1:20pm local time this afternoon. Saturday’s game will feature Brewers youngster Tobias Myers (4.50 ERA) facing Cubs veteran Jameson Taillon (1.50 ERA). Javier Assad (1.97 ERA) is expected to take the mound for Chicago on Sunday, and Milwaukee has announced staff ace Freddy Peralta (3.21 ERA) as their probable starter for the game amid a five-game suspension for throwing at Rays outfielder Jose Siri. Peralta is currently appealing.

2. Eovaldi to undergo MRI:

The Rangers’ rotation may have been dealt a major blow yesterday when veteran right-hander Nathan Eovaldi exited his start against the Nationals in the sixth inning due to a bout of right groin tightness. As noted by Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News, manager Bruce Bochy told reporters that the club is “being cautious” with the 34-year-old, and that he may “need some rest” before returning to the rotation. Grant adds that an MRI has been scheduled for today to determine the severity of Eovaldi’s injury.

Eovaldi has excelled with a 2.61 ERA and a solid 3.55 FIP across seven starts this season. In the event of an IL placement, the Rangers could turn to Jack Leiter or Owen White could take the ball in Eovaldi’s stead, though both former top prospects struggled in cups of coffee at the big league level earlier this season.

3. Mets 40-man move incoming:

The Mets are set to begin a three-game set against the Rays today, and Game 2 of the series tomorrow will mark the big league debut of one of the club’s top pitching prospects. Right-hander Christian Scott has emerged as a consensus top-100 prospect after posting a 3.20 ERA with an excellent 38.3% strikeout rate in five starts at the Triple-A level this year, and he’ll be promoted to the big leagues to take the ball opposite Rays righty Zack Littell (3.27 ERA) on Saturday.

The Mets will need to make corresponding moves to accommodate Scott on both the 40-man and active rosters. The transaction to clear space on the 40-man roster could be telling regarding the timetable of veteran lefty Brooks Raley, who is facing a potentially lengthy absence due to an elbow issue that may ultimately require surgery. If the Mets expect Raley to be out until July, they could transfer him to the 60-day IL to make room for Scott without needing to risk losing a player from the organization.

MLB, Roku In Talks Regarding Sunday Morning Broadcasts

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Major League Baseball is in “advanced talks” with the streaming company Roku about hosting Sunday morning broadcasts this season, writes Andrew Marchand of the Athletic. Joe Flint of the Wall Street Journal first reported two weeks ago (on X) that Roku was a potential option to carry the Sunday morning games.

MLB introduced the Sunday morning game as part of a streaming deal with Peacock in 2022. The NBC streaming service walked away from that agreement a few weeks ago. Marchand writes that Peacock wanted to renegotiate the fee to pay the league roughly $10MM per season, well below the annual $30MM price it paid for the first two years. It isn’t how clear how much the Roku talks, if agreed upon, would pay the league.

Whatever the specifics, MLB evidently finds the negotiations with Roku more promising than Peacock’s recent offers had been. If talks between MLB and Roku result in a deal, the service would have exclusive broadcasting rights to a Sunday game starting at either 11:30 am or shortly after noon EDT. No other games would start before 1:30 pm that day, so the Roku game would be the sole contest for a couple hours. Peacock had 19 such broadcasts last year ranging from late April to early September. Marchand writes that Roku may take a reduced number — at least in 2024 — because five weeks of the season have already passed.

MLB has an ongoing partnership with Apple TV+ that broadcasts two Friday night games exclusively on that streaming service. That deal reportedly pays the league $85MM per season. The Roku deal would certainly be far less lucrative, reflecting both the different time slot and increased uncertainty about the broadcasting landscape.

The Diamond Sports Group bankruptcy made the future of regional sports networks a large storyline of the offseason. While the conglomerate survived to carry local broadcasts for 12 teams in 2024, questions remain about its long-term viability.

Diamond found itself back in the news this week after failing to reach agreement on a new deal with Comcast (link via ESPN’s Alden González). The distributor pulled Diamond’s Bally Sports networks off its channels as a result, leaving its subscribers without access to in-market broadcasting in cities where Diamond has the rights. MLB’s RSN deals with Diamond prevent the league from lifting blackouts for fans affected by the Diamond/Comcast dispute. That leaves fans affected with little recourse but to hope for Comcast and Diamond to eventually work out an agreement.

Gavin Williams Resumes Throwing Program

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Guardians starter Gavin Williams has resumed a throwing program after he was reevaluated on Wednesday, manager Stephen Vogt told reporters (X link via Mandy Bell of MLB.com). Williams came out of today’s throwing session without pain.

It’s an encouraging development after last week’s ominous news that Williams was being shut down after experiencing discomfort in his elbow. The second-year righty has been on the injured list all season after battling elbow soreness in Spring Training. He received an anti-inflammation injection last week that seemingly addressed whatever was ailing him.

The Guardians will certainly proceed with caution as Williams builds arm strength. Cleveland hasn’t released a specific timeline when he might be ready to embark on a rehab assignment. Clearly, getting into a throwing routine is a meaningful step towards working back to game action.

Williams is arguably the best of Cleveland’s trio of highly-touted pitchers who debuted last year. The 23rd overall pick in the 2021 draft, he quickly developed into one of the game’s most talented pitching prospects. The Guards promoted Williams in June. In his first 18 MLB starts, he turned in a 3.29 ERA over 82 innings. The East Carolina product fanned a solid 23.5% of opponents while picking up whiffs on more than 12% of his pitches. Despite a 10.7% walk rate that’s higher than ideal, it was a strong debut showing. Tanner Bibee and Logan Allen also turned in sub-4.00 ERA performances in their first seasons.

Cleveland’s rotation nevertheless feels a bit more tenuous than it has in prior years. The Guardians lost Shane Bieber to Tommy John surgery after two starts. Triston McKenzie has subpar strikeout and walk rates in his return from last season’s UCL sprain. Carlos Carrasco, who made the Opening Day roster after signing a minor league deal, has a 6.59 ERA through six starts. Allen has allowed seven homers and has an earned run average above 5.00 through his first seven appearances. Ben Lively has been excellent in three outings, but he went unclaimed on waivers as recently as last offseason.

Reinstalling Williams alongside Bibee at the top of the staff would be a major boost. The Guardians have thrived despite the rotation questions, thanks in large part to one of MLB’s best bullpens. They’re tied with the Orioles for the American League’s best record at 20-11. Cleveland leads an AL Central that surprisingly has four teams sitting at least four games above .500.

The Twins’ Quietly Elite Catcher

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For years in Minnesota, the catching position was the strongest on the roster. Hometown kid and former No. 1 overall pick Joe Mauer went from ballyhooed prospect to three-time batting champion and 2009 American League MVP. He solidified the spot for a decade, hitting .323/.405/.469 in more than 5000 plate appearances from 2004-13.

When concussions forced Mauer over to first base, the Twins turned things over to a series of veterans as they struggled to develop an in-house replacement. Kurt Suzuki and Jason Castro both inked multi-year deals to serve as the starting catcher in Minnesota. Those contracts actually panned out reasonably well; Suzuki hit .263/.316/.364 in three seasons and made the 2014 All-Star team. Castro hit .229/.325/.390 in his three seasons and provided elite defense. Along the way, the Twins succeeded in developing one high-end offensive catcher — Mitch Garver — but struggled to keep him healthy. Garver was eventually traded to the Rangers for Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Ronny Henriquez. Kiner-Falefa was then immediately flipped to the Yankees alongside Josh Donaldson in a swap that netted the Twins Gary Sanchez and Gio Urshela (while shedding the remainder of Donaldson’s $92MM contract).

Somewhat lost in the shuffle during that catching carousel was 2018 second-rounder Ryan Jeffers. The UNC-Wilmington product had a nice debut showing in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, slashing .273/.355/.436 in a small sample of 62 plate appearances. Jeffers, however, fanned in more than 30% of his plate appearances that year and experienced even more pronounced contact issues in the two subsequent seasons.

From 2021-22, he hit just .203/.277/.384 with a 32.4% strikeout rate. The power was apparent (21 homers, .182 ISO in 529 plate appearances), but Jeffers’ contact issues rendered him a well below-average hitter. The Twins, in win-now mode after a strong 2022 campaign, signed veteran Christian Vazquez to a three-year, $30MM deal that generally aligned with market expectations.

Heading into the 2023 season, Jeffers wasn’t relegated to a traditional backup role, but there was a clear expectation that he and Vazquez would be in a timeshare behind the plate — likely with the defensively superior Vazquez handling a bit more of the workload. Through the season’s first few months, that’s precisely how things played out, too. Vazquez received 202 first-half plate appearances to Jeffers’ 157. Vazquez provided his typical brand of elite defense but hit just .210/.287/.265 in that time. Jeffers, on the other hand, hit .256/.357/.421 — numbers more in line with his intriguing rookie showing from 2020.

Following the All-Star break, the balance of playing time tilted in the other direction. It was Jeffers who found his name called more often, picking up 178 plate appearances to Vazquez’s 153. While Vazquez improved a bit offensively in the season’s second half, Jeffers saw his production soar to heights not seen by a Minnesota catcher in years. In the final two-plus months of the season, the 26-year-old mashed at a .294/.379/.549 clip and belted 10 homers. By measure of wRC+, that was 54% better than the league-average hitter. And considering catchers tend to be about 12% worse than the average hitter, Jeffers’ breakout was all the more eye-catching.

It didn’t appear to be simple small-sample noise, either. Jeffers made notable gains in his contact ability, fanning at a reduced (but still higher-than-average) 26.4% clip post-break last season. That includes a strikeout rate of just 17.1% in the season’s final month. While he didn’t suddenly reduce his chase rate on pitches off the plate, Jeffers took a noticeably more aggressive approach overall and seemed to benefit from it. His 50.3% overall swing rate in September was markedly higher than the 43.7% of pitches at which he’d offered in the five months prior. He’d previously made contact on 57.5% of his chases off the plate and 82.2% of his swings within the strike zone; those jumped to 71.4% and 87.8%, respectively, in the final month of play.

We’re now five weeks into the 2024 season, and Jeffers has picked up right where he left off last September. He’s hitting .300/.393/.556 on the season and has already popped five homers in his 107 plate appearances. His 16.8% strikeout rate is an easy career-low. The more aggressive approach he showed late last year remains in place, as he’s swinging at a 47.4% clip with better contact off the plate and within the zone that he’d shown prior to last September.

Jeffers has made himself veritably indispensable in the Twins’ lineup. He’s appeared in 27 of their 30 games: 14 at catcher and 11 at designated hitter. Manager Rocco Baldelli has begun to bat Jeffers in the top-third of his lineup with regularity. Seventy percent of his plate appearances have come while batting first, second or third this year. Jeffers has long pounded left-handed pitching (career .267/.362/.487), but he’s now hitting .285/.368/.489 against righties dating back to Opening Day 2023 — a wild improvement over the .185/.256/.361 slash he posted versus righties from 2020-22.

And, for all the talk about Vazquez’s defense earlier, it should be noted that Jeffers is hardly a slouch himself in that regard. Statcast was down on his ability to block balls in the dirt last season (five blocks below average), but Jeffers has routinely drawn positive overall grades from Defensive Runs Saved. He’s been better than average in that regard in each other season of his big league career, however, and Jeffers has been an average or better pitch framer in his career as a whole, per both FanGraphs and Statcast. He has a slightly below-average caught-stealing rate in his career, but much of that stems from an ugly 13% caught-stealing rate as a rookie. Jeffers nabbed 25% of thieves in 2023 (league-average was 21%) and is 1-for-5 in 2024 (23% is league-average).

Since last season, there are 75 big league catchers who’ve tallied at least 100 plate appearances. Jeffers’ 146 wRC+ leads the pack by a massive margin; the Contreras brothers check in at 133 (William Contreras) and 132 (Willson Contreras) and stand as the No. 2 and 3 entrants on that list. Yes, it’s still only a sample of 442 plate appearances for Jeffers, but he’s been far and away the best-hitting catcher in the majors going back to last year, quietly topping stars like Will Smith, Adley Rutschman, Sean Murphy and the Contreras brothers on a per-plate-appearance basis. Granted, Jeffers isn’t going to top WAR leaderboards because of his more even timeshare with Vazquez and lesser defensive skills to names like Murphy, Rutschman, Patrick Bailey and others — but he’s nevertheless stepped out as one the game’s premier hitters at his position.

Perhaps the Vazquez addition took some pressure off Jeffers, but the breakout at the plate and the Twins’ efforts to scale back payroll this past offseason do combine to make that signing look superfluous. Vazquez is a flat-out elite defender, but he’s hitting .222/.273/.309 in 421 plate appearances as a Twin. For a team that was up against some pretty noticeable payroll constraints from ownership in the offseason, that $10MM-per-year salary could certainly be allocated in a more efficient way.

That’s not to disparage Vazquez; had Twins ownership merely allowed the front office to maintain last year’s roughly $155MM payroll, his salary wouldn’t even be all that cumbersome to manage — and there’s surely intangible benefit to him working with Jeffers and with the team’s pitching staff. Still, the Twins spent relatively heavily to install a starting-caliber option behind the dish, only to see one of their young, in-house options emerge as the cornerstone backstop they’d been seeking all along.

Jeffers remains highly affordable for the Twins, earning just $2.425MM this season in his first trip through arbitration. He’s well on his way to earning a major raise on top of that salary if he can continue to hit as he has going back to Opening Day 2023. He’ll be arb-eligible twice more and is controllable through the 2026 season. As a Boras Corporation client, Jeffers doesn’t stand out as the likeliest candidate to sign a long-term deal, but it’s hard to imagine the Twins wouldn’t be interested in hammering out some kind of deal to keep him in Minneapolis longer than he’s currently slated to stay.

Braves Acquire Jimmy Herget

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The Braves have acquired reliever Jimmy Herget from the Angels for cash considerations, both teams announced. Atlanta had an opening on the 40-man roster after waiving David Fletcher last week. They optioned Herget to Triple-A Gwinnett, so no further move was necessary.

Herget has been with the Halos since 2021. Los Angeles inked the sidewinding righty to a minor league deal that August and selected his contract two weeks later. Herget logged 14 appearances with a 4.30 ERA down the stretch and held his spot on the 40-man roster. The South Florida product followed up with a career year in 2022. He tossed a personal-high 69 innings with a 2.48 ERA, striking out 23.7% of opponents against a tidy 5.6% walk rate.

A spike in home runs the following season led the Halos to shuffle Herget between Anaheim and Triple-A Salt Lake. He allowed 4.66 earned runs per nine over 29 MLB innings and turned in a similar 4.68 mark over 32 2/3 frames in the Pacific Coast League. The Angels overhauled their bullpen last offseason, pushing Herget back to Salt Lake to open this season.

The 30-year-old has made 10 appearances with the Bees, tossing 11 1/3 innings. He has allowed seven runs (five earned) on 10 hits. Herget has only issued one walk, but opponents have connected on four homers in the early going. The Angels designated him for assignment over the weekend when they selected Zac Kristofak onto the MLB roster. (Kristofak was himself DFA yesterday when the Angels selected Willie Calhoun.)

Herget is in his final option year, meaning the Braves can keep him in Gwinnett for the rest of the season without putting him on waivers. He owns a 3.47 ERA in 142 2/3 major league innings between the Reds, Rangers and Angels.

Atlanta has a strong relief group without much in the way of roster flexibility. Of the eight relievers in the current MLB bullpen, only one (Dylan Lee) can be optioned. Herget joins Ray Kerr and Daysbel Hernández on optional assignment, while Ken Giles and Jackson Stephens are among the non-roster bullpen pieces in Gwinnett.

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