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Archives for April 2024

Mariners Notes: Urias, Woo, Miller

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Mariners infielder Luis Urias exited last night’s game after taking a 94 mph fastball of his left wrist, but the Mariners announced that he’s been diagnosed with a contusion. X-rays on the wrist were negative, per MLB.com, and he’ll be considered day-to-day for the time being.

The 26-year-old Urias has gotten out to a .160/.300/.400 start this season, striking out 11 times in 30 plate appearances (36.7%) — an uncharacteristically high rate for a player who entered the season with a career 21.6% strikeout rate.

The Mariners entered the season envisioning a platoon of the righty-swinging Urias and lefty-hitting Josh Rojas — a more contact-oriented pairing than the more boom-or-bust nature of since-traded third baseman Eugenio Suarez. Rojas has been one of the team’s bright spots, hitting .311/.392/.422 (148 wRC+) in 51 trips to the plate thus far. Only four of those plate appearances have come against lefties, but if Urias is sidelined for a bit, Rojas could get some more reps against southpaws. Seattle doesn’t have many lefty opponents on the immediate horizon, though they’re slated to face Andrew Heaney on Thursday.

Elsewhere on the injury front, the M’s are getting closer to welcoming righty Bryan Woo back to the staff. The right-hander made his first minor league rehab appearance with Triple-A Tacoma last night, and as broadcaster Mike Curto points out, pitched three perfect innings while fanning five of his nine opponents.

Woo’s fastball ranged from 91-95 mph, per Curto, which is down from last year when he averaged 95.2 mph on his heater. That said, it’s also the first rehab start for a right-hander who’s yet to pitch this season while waiting for some elbow inflammation to calm down, so that’s not necessarily a massive red flag just yet. It’d be natural if he built closer to that velocity as he continued to ramp up over what could be multiple rehab starts between now and his activation.

In place of Woo in the rotation, Seattle has been relying on former top-10 pick Emerson Hancock, who’s posted a 6.10 ERA through four starts, although the vast majority of the damage came in one tough outing against the Brewers. Hancock has yielded a combined seven earned runs through 17 1/3 innings in his other three appearances but was lit up for an eight spot in just 3 1/3 innings that day. He’s sporting a well below-average 16.7% strikeout rate but also an exceptional 3.3% walk rate. Hancock is the least established arm in Seattle’s rotation, trailing Luis Castillo, George Kirby, Logan Gilbert and Bryce Miller — so he’s likely to be the odd man out if everyone’s healthy when Woo returns.

Miller, in particular, has impressed the Mariners this year. He’s pitched to an electric 1.85 ERA with a 26.1% strikeout rate and 7.6% walk rate in 24 2/3 innings. Miller recently chatted with Adam Jude of the Seattle Times about his incorporation of a new splitter into his repertoire — a pitch that’s been flat-out dominant for the 25-year-old righty so far. Miller has thrown his new pitch at a 19.4% clip this season, finishing off 24 plate appearances with the pitch. Those 24 plate appearances have resulted in 21 outs — eight of them strikeouts — and yielded only three singles. Both Gilbert and Kirby began throwing splitters last season, and Miller has leaned on his teammates for advice and guidance when looking to master his new pitch.

“It kind of has a mind of its own sometimes, but I’ve been able to command it really well,” Miller tells Jude of his new weapon. “So, I’m really happy with it and I think it’s opened up a lot of things for me [against] lefties and righties.”

White Sox Designate Zach Remillard For Assignment

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3:35pm: The Sox have now made it official, selecting Mendick and designating Remillard for assignment. They also reinstated John Brebbia from the injured list and optioned right-hander Nick Nastrini and infielder Lenyn Sosa to Triple-A Charlotte. Nastrini’s option means they will need another starter later this week.

11:15am: The White Sox will designate infielder Zach Remillard for assignment in order to open a spot on the roster for fellow utilityman Danny Mendick, reports Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times. Van Schouwen first reported last night that Mendick’s contract would be selected prior to today’s game.

It’s the second DFA of the calendar year for Remillard, whom the White Sox designated back in January but selected back to the 40-man roster nine days ago. Now 30 years old, Remillard has spent his entire career in the White Sox organization after the team selected him in the tenth round of the 2016 draft.

Remillard has seen big league time in each of the past two seasons, albeit in fleeting fashion. He tallied 160 plate appearances last year and another five this season. Overall, he’s a .250/.292/.316 hitter in that limited sample. Remillard posted a nice .280/.373/.400 slash in 491 plate appearances during his 2022 run in Triple-A Charlotte, but those numbers dipped in 2023 and he’s out to a dismal .120/.224/.160 start through his first 58 Triple-A appearances so far in 2024.

While Remillard has primarily played third base in his professional career (2356 innings), he’s also logged time at shortstop (1646 innings), at second base (961 innings), at first base (696 innings), in left field (333 innings), in right field (133 innings) and in center field (76 innings).

The White Sox will have a week to trade Remillard, pass him through outright waivers or release him. Because he was outrighted after clearing waivers back in January, he’d have the right to reject a second outright assignment in favor of free agency if he goes unclaimed a second time.

Rays Place Pete Fairbanks On Injured List

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The Rays announced that they have placed right-hander Pete Fairbanks on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to April 19, with a “nerve related issue”. Right-hander Kevin Kelly was recalled from Triple-A in a corresponding move. Prior to the official announcement, Kristie Ackert of The Tampa Bay Times reported that Fairbanks was headed to the IL with a nerve-related condition.

There’s very little information on what exactly the issue is or how long Fairbanks is expected to be out. It was reported yesterday that Fairbanks was unavailable for the past two days due to an illness and “a little bit of a dead arm” on Saturday. Perhaps that’s part of the reason why he hasn’t been able to get on a roll this year and will now be out of action for an unknown amount of time.

Regardless of the severity, the news is obviously not good for the Rays, as Fairbanks has been one of the better relievers in the league over the past few years. He started 2024 in rough form, allowing seven earned runs in his first seven innings, but in an obviously small sample size.

Fairbanks has a 3.46 earned run average in his career and has been even better in recent seasons. Over 2022 and 2023, he posted a 2.08 ERA in 69 1/3 innings. He struck out 39.1% of batters faced in that time while walking 8.5% of them and getting grounders on 50.4% of balls in play. Among pitchers with at least 60 innings pitched over those two years, only Edwin Díaz, Jacob deGrom and Félix Bautista had a higher strikeout rate, with none of that group matching Fairbanks in terms of inducing grounders.

Between those two seasons, the Rays signed Fairbanks to a three-year, $12MM extension to cover his three arbitration years, with a club option giving them an additional year of control. Injuries have occasionally been an issue for him, as he only tossed 24 innings in 2022 due to shoulder issues. Last year, he spent time on the IL due to forearm inflammation and hip inflammation but still logged 45 1/3 frames and racked up 25 saves.

The Rays are generally good at cobbling together a pitching staff on the fly but they are being especially challenged this year. Shane McClanahan, Jeffrey Springs and Drew Rasmussen all underwent elbow surgery last year and are still out of action. Shane Baz is still out of action after undergoing Tommy John surgery back in 2022, having not yet pitched this year due to an oblique issue. Taj Bradley is on the IL with a pectoral strain.

Subtracting one of the club’s best relievers will only compound the problem. Until Fairbanks can get back to the club, pitchers like Jason Adam, Phil Maton and Colin Poche will probably taken on the high-leverage assignments. The Rays are above .500 at 12-11 but that record actually places them last in the extremely competitive A.L. East.

Royals Select Tyler Duffey

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1:35pm: The Royals announced that Duffey’ contract has indeed been selected from Omaha. Left-hander Anthony Veneziano was optioned to open a spot on the active roster.

Regarding Lyles, the team understandably hasn’t disclosed the nature of his personal matter, but it sounds as though he could be in for a notable absence. Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports that he’ll “likely be sidelined for some time.”

9:05am: Veteran right-handed reliever Tyler Duffey will join the Royals for tonight’s game against the visiting Blue Jays, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. The team will need to formally select Duffey’s contract.

Kansas City already has an open spot on its 40-man roster. The team announced over the weekend that right-hander Jordan Lyles has been placed on the temporarily inactive list to tend to an undisclosed personal matter. Their transaction log at MLB.com further specifies that Lyles has now been moved to the restricted list — a procedural move that’ll open a 40-man roster spot while he’s away from the club. The 33-year-old Lyles has had a nice start to his season, tossing five shutout innings after moving from the rotation to the ’pen. He’s fanned three hitters and allowed only two hits and two walks.

Duffey, also 33, was a staple in the Twins’ relief corps from 2017-22 and peaked as a high-end setup option in Minnesota from 2019-21. Over that three-year period, he tossed 144 innings with a 2.89 ERA while punching out 29.8% of his opponents. Duffey’s fastball dipped in 2022, however, and his results slipped along with that loss of velocity. He yielded a jarring eight home runs in 44 innings while pitching to a 4.91 ERA before being designated for assignment and cut loose. Duffey pitched two innings out of the Cubs’ bullpen last season but spent the rest of the year with their Triple-A affiliate in Iowa, where he posted a 3.47 ERA in 49 1/3 frames.

The Royals signed Duffey to a minor league contract over the winter. Upon reporting to spring training he had a health scare, when his intake physical revealed a cancerous mole on his shoulder. The right-hander underwent a procedure to remove that melanoma, and he’s thankfully been cancer-free since — though at the time he revealed the issue to reporters, he noted that he’d be receiving routine checks for the foreseeable future.

Duffey has had a nice start to his season in Triple-A Omaha, pitching 8 1/3 innings and allowing three runs (3.24 ERA). He’s walked too many hitters, dishing out a free pass to five of his 37 opponents (13.5%), but he’s also whiffed 10 (27%) and kept the ball on the ground at a hearty 54.5% clip.

Submit Your Questions For A Mailbag Episode Of The MLB Trade Rumors Podcast!

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On the MLB Trade Rumors podcast, we’ll frequently answer questions from our readers and listeners. With the offseason news now firmly in the rearview mirror and the trade deadline still months away, the current baseball news is mostly about on-the-field results and injuries.

We’ll use this liminal space to try to answer as many listener questions as possible. If you have a question about the ongoing 2024 season or anything else related to baseball, we’d love to hear from you!  You can send your questions to mlbtrpod@gmail.com.

Also, if you want to hear your voice on the podcast, send us your question in audio form and we might play it.  iPhone users can find instructions on how to do so here.

In the meantime, don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Twins Option Louie Varland, Select Ronny Henriquez

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The Twins announced a series of moves today, activating outfielder Max Kepler from the injured list and selecting the contract of right-hander Ronny Henriquez. Those two will take the roster spots of right-hander Louie Varland and catcher Jair Camargo, who have been optioned. Right-hander Daniel Duarte was transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot for Henriquez.

The Minnesota rotation has shifted quite a bit since last year, as Sonny Gray, Kenta Maeda and Tyler Mahle all reached free agency after the 2023 season. Mahle was already out of the picture after undergoing Tommy John surgery in May of last year, but the departures of Gray and Maeda left big holes relative to late last year.

The club acquired Anthony DeSclafani in the winter to take one rotation spot and it was hoped the remaining innings could be taken up by a healthy Chris Paddack or continued development from Varland. Unfortunately, none of three plans have worked for the Twins thus far. DeSclafani required flexor tendon surgery last month, which will keep him on the injured list for the entire year. Meanwhile, Paddack has an earned run average of 8.36 so far this year while Varland is even higher at 9.18.

The Twins’ faith in Varland wasn’t totally without merit, as he showed some encouraging signs last year. He tossed 68 innings for the big league club, striking out 25.1% of batters faced while walking just 6%. His ERA was up at 4.63 thanks to allowing 16 home runs, a 21.1% rate of fly balls leaving the yard. That was about double league average, which is part of the reason why his 3.77 SIERA was almost a full run lower than his ERA. He also had a 3.97 ERA in his Triple-A work last year.

Here in 2024, he’s already allowed six homers in just 16 2/3 innings, a massive 35.3% rate. That would naturally regress going forward, which is why his 4.30 SIERA this year is less than half of his ERA, but that doesn’t entirely wave away his results so far this season. Varland’s strikeout rate has dropped to 20.7% and his walk rate to 10.3%, both significantly worse than last year. After yesterday’s start, where Varland didn’t make it through the third inning, manager Rocco Baldelli was noncommittal about Varland sticking in the rotation.

“We have a whole lot of things we have to talk about,” Baldelli said, per Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic. “We have to have really almost anything on the table right now to find a way to improve.” He also said: “We’re going to have to be open to making roster moves and finding new ways to use players and figure some things out.”

Those rotation struggles have played a big part in the Twins limping out of the gate this year. The defending division champions are currently 7-13, putting them in a distant fourth place in the early going. They will obviously have to get the group in better shape as the season rolls along to get back in contention, and that starts with giving Varland a breather in the minors.

He’ll head to Triple-A and look to get himself back in good form. The length of his optional assignment could potentially impact him from a service time perspective, depending on when he comes back and for how long. He came into this season with 108 days of service time, meaning he needs to accrue 64 days this year to get to 172 and hit the one-year mark.

The Twins could have Paddack, Pablo López, Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober throw the next four games but will need someone to retake Varland’s spot by Friday at the latest. It’s possible that will be Simeon Woods Richardson, who came up to start one game of the club’s doubleheader on April 13. Brent Headrick and Matt Canterino are also on the 40-man roster but the former is on the IL with a forearm strain and the latter has been dealing with a rotator cuff strain and hasn’t pitched in the minors yet this year.

For now, Henriquez takes a spot on the roster and could give the club a multi-inning option out of the bullpen. He has thrown 13 1/3 Triple-A innings over seven appearances so far this year with a 4.05 ERA, striking out 14 opponents while giving out just two walks.

He has 11 2/3 innings of major league experience, which came with the Twins in 2022, but he struggled in the minors last year and was non-tendered. The Twins re-signed him to a minor league deal and he’ll now rejoin the roster, giving a fresh arm to a bullpen that had to cover a lot of innings after Varland’s poor start yesterday. Henriquez still has an option and can be sent back down to Triple-A at a later date without having to be exposed to waivers.

As for Duarte, it was reported over the weekend that he would require season-ending elbow surgery, so his move to the 60-day IL was an inevitability.

Mets Designate Michael Tonkin For Assignment

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The Mets have designated right-hander Michael Tonkin for assignment and optioned righty Grant Hartwig to Triple-A Syracuse, per a team announcement. It’s the second time they’ve designated Tonkin for assignment within the season’s first three and a half weeks. The Mets traded him to the Twins for cash last time, only to claim him back off waivers from Minnesota late last week when the Twins also designated him. The roster spots for Tonkin and Hartwig will go to right-hander Sean Reid-Foley and lefty Josh Walker. Reid-Foley is returning from the 15-day IL, while Walker is being recalled from Syracuse.

Tonkin’s second Mets stint last only two appearances and three innings. The 33-year-old righty pitched both Saturday and Sunday, allowing a pair of runs over three innings. He’s logged nine innings in the majors this season, yielding six earned runs (plus another six unearned) on 10 hits, four walks and four hit batters with 11 strikeouts.

Tonkin spent the 2023 season in the Braves’ bullpen, logging a 4.28 ERA, 24.2% strikeout rate and 9.1% walk rate in 80 innings. That set a new career-high MLB workload for the journeyman right-hander, who owns a career 4.44 ERA (4.54 FIP, 3.70 SIERA) with a 23.1% strikeout rate, 8% walk rate and 39.5% grounder rate in 235 1/3 big league innings between Minnesota, Atlanta and New York. Tonkin has also pitched in the D-backs and Brewers systems in addition to stints with the independent Atlantic League’s Long Island Ducks, the Mexican League’s Toros de Tijuana, and the Nippon-Ham Fighters in Japan.

As with Tonkin’s prior DFAs, he’ll either be traded, passed through outright waivers or released within the next week. He’d have the option to reject an outright assignment to Triple-A in the event that he goes unclaimed, though doing so would require forfeiting the remainder of the salary on the $1MM split major league contract he signed over the winter.

The Opener: Casas, White Sox, Giants

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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. Casas to undergo testing:

The Red Sox suffered a huge blow over the weekend as the club placed first baseman Triston Casas on the 10-day injured list due to a left rib strain. The 24-year-old is reportedly set to undergo an MRI in Boston today to determine the extent of his injury as well as a potential timetable for his return, but manager Alex Cora already told reporters yesterday that he was “concerned” that the youngster may be facing a lengthy absence.

If Casas does end up missing considerable time, it would put Boston’s offense in a difficult position. While certain key offensive pieces like Vaughn Grissom, Rafael Devers, and Tyler O’Neill could be returning to the lineup in the coming days, Casas has gotten out to a .244/.344/.513 start (137 wRC+) and swatted six homers in 90 plate appearances. Bobby Dalbec is perhaps the most likely candidates to take over at first base for the Red Sox in the short-term, though it’s possible the club makes additional roster moves to supplement their waning positional depth in the coming days.

2. Mendick to be selected:

Reporting last night indicated that the White Sox are expected to make a change to their bench mix ahead of this evening’s game against the Twins in Minnesota, with veteran infielder Danny Mendick joining the big league roster. Infielder Lenyn Sosa is set to be optioned out to make room for Mendick on the active roster, but an additional corresponding move will be necessary to clear space on the club’s 40-man.

Mendick, 30, was a 22nd-round pick by the White Sox in 2015 and spent parts of four seasons in the majors with the club before departing for the Mets in free agency last year. He returned this winter on a minor league deal and figures to offer Chicago some versatility off the bench in spite of a meager .242/.298/.354 slash line for his career.

3. White to join the Giants:

Right-hander Mitch White is slated to join the active roster in San Francisco prior to the Giants’ game against the Mets at Oracle Park this evening, as noted by Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. White is already on the club’s 40-man roster, but the Giants will need to make an active roster move to accommodate the righty prior to tonight’s game.

White’s arrival comes on the heels of the Giants making a cash deal with the Blue Jays over the weekend to acquire the 29-year-old. It’s a homecoming for White in more ways than one, as the Bay Area native will return to the NL West after pitching for the Dodgers in parts of three seasons from 2020 to 2022. He posted a solid 3.58 ERA and 3.87 FIP during his time with L.A. but struggled badly upon joining the Blue Jays, with a 7.26 ERA in 65 2/3 innings despite a decent 4.10 FIP.

Astros Place Cristian Javier On 15-Day Injured List

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Right-hander Cristian Javier has been scratched from his scheduled start against the Nationals this afternoon and will be placed on the injured list, Astros manager Joe Espada told reporters (including Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle). Right-hander Hunter Brown will take the ball against the Nationals today in Javier’s stead, while righty Spencer Arrighetti is being recalled to replace Javier on the club’s active roster.

Javier has been a rare bright spot in what has been a brutal start to the 2024 campaign for the 7-15 Astros. None of that can be pinned on the 27-year-old righty, however, as Javier has dominated to the tune of a 1.54 ERA and a 3.66 FIP in 23 1/3 innings of work across four starts so far this season. Unfortunately, he’ll now take a seat for at least 15 days, though Espada indicated (as relayed by Kawahara) that the goal of Javier’s placement on the injured list was simply to “give him time” to recover, suggesting a fairly short absence could be on the table.

Even if Javier’s trip to the injured list is a fairly short one, it’s still tough news for the Astros. The club just returned veteran ace Justin Verlander from the injured list last week, and now Javier will join Framber Valdez, Jose Urquidy, Luis Garcia, and Lance McCullers Jr. on the shelf for the time being. Of that group, only Valdez appears to be nearing a return. The lefty was placed on the injured list earlier this month due to elbow soreness but avoided a more serious injury, with Kawahara relaying that Espada even left the door open to Valdez returning to the club’s rotation sometime this week to pitch alongside Verlander and J.P. France against the Cubs at Wrigley Field.

If Valdez can return in the coming days, it should be a fairly seamless transition into the rotation with off-days on Monday and Friday allowing the club additional flexibility if necessary. The southpaw made just two starts prior to going on the injured list at the beginning of the month but looked good in both of them, pitching to a 2.19 ERA with a 3.55 FIP and 10 strikeouts in 12 1/3 innings of work.

Should Valdez need a bit longer before he’s ready to be activated, the Astros figure to turn to Arrighetti to make a start at some point. The 24-year-old rookie made his MLB debut earlier this season and struggled badly in two starts, allowing nine runs on 11 hits and five walks in just seven innings of work, though he did manage to notch eight strikeouts. If Arrighetti doesn’t end up being needed to make a start in the coming days, the Astros could instead look to use him to bolster a bullpen that has posted a worrisome 5.29 ERA to this point in the 2024 season, better than only the Rays among AL clubs.

White Sox To Select Danny Mendick’s Contract

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The White Sox will select the contract of infielder Danny Mendick prior to tomorrow’s game with the Twins, Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times reports (X link).  Infielder Lenyn Sosa will be optioned to Triple-A to make room on the 26-man roster, and another transaction will need to be made to make space for Mendick on the 40-man.

Mendick is a familiar face on the South Side, as he made his big league debut with the White Sox in 2019 and hit .251/.309/.366 over 446 plate appearances from 2019-22.  He played mostly second base and shortstop in a utility capacity, while also seeing sporadic action as a third baseman and in both corner outfield spots.  A torn ACL in June 2022 ended not just Mendick’s 2022 season but also his tenure in Chicago, as the Sox non-tendered him that winter.

The Mets inked Mendick to a one-year, $1MM big league deal and he hit .185/.232/.277 in 69 PA and 33 games of part-time action in 2023.  Mendick then reunited with the White Sox on a minor league contract, and he has booked a ticket back to the Show thanks to one of the biggest hot streaks of his professional career.  The 30-year-old has homered in each of his last five games with Triple-A Charlotte, and is hitting an absurd .317/.388/.817 over 67 PA this season.

While nobody expects Mendick to keep up this kind of production against big league pitching, the White Sox can’t be faulted for going with the hot hand given the dire state of their lineup.  Sosa is one of several Chicago players producing next to nothing at the plate, and Mendick might well cut into the playing time of starting second baseman Nicky Lopez (who is batting only .176/.288/.176 in 61 PA).  Shortstop Paul DeJong is also day-to-day after being hit on the elbow by a pitch in Saturday’s game, so Lopez could slide over to shortstop with DeJong out and open up the keystone for Mendick entirely.

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