Injury Notes: Garrett, Davis, Lowe, Verlander
The Marlins have been without left-hander Braxton Garrett all season. A shoulder impingement sent the 26-year-old to the injured list to begin the year. Garrett seemed to be nearing a return to the majors after throwing six innings in a rehab start for Triple-A Jacksonville last week, but he has run into a bit of a setback. Manager Skip Schumaker told reporters that Garrett felt a “dead arm” when throwing a bullpen session today (link via Christina De Nicola of MLB.com).
That isn’t believed to be related to the shoulder injury, yet it could push back his return all the same. Schumaker said Garrett will go for further testing. Getting the former #7 overall pick back in fairly short order would be a needed boost for a club that is off to the worst start in franchise history (3-14). Garrett was a key piece of the rotation a year ago, working 159 2/3 innings with a 3.66 ERA.
A few other injury notes:
- The A’s placed J.D. Davis on the 10-day injured list shortly before tonight’s game against the Cardinals. The third baseman has a right adductor strain. Speedy outfielder Esteury Ruiz was recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas in his place. Davis has gotten the nod at the hot corner for 14 of Oakland’s first 16 contests. He’s off to a slow start, hitting .196/.255/.373 with a lofty 29.1% strikeout rate. Manager Mark Kotsay turned to Abraham Toro at third base tonight.
- Rays outfielder Josh Lowe could be nearing his season debut. Skipper Kevin Cash said that Lowe will head out on a rehab stint with Triple-A Durham on Thursday (link via Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times). Lowe was delayed early in camp by inflammation in his left hip. As he worked back from that issue, he strained his right oblique. That knocked him out of game action for a month. Lowe is coming off a breakout season, having hit .292/.335/.500 with 20 homers and 32 steals in 501 plate appearances. The Rays have used Richie Palacios and Amed Rosario in a right field platoon with Lowe on the shelf. They’ve each hit well in the early going, but they’re both capable of bouncing around the diamond once Lowe is ready to return to the lineup.
- Justin Verlander has one final hurdle to clear before he’ll make his season debut. Astros manager Joe Espada told reporters that the three-time Cy Young winner will throw a bullpen session tomorrow (X link via Chandler Rome of the Athletic). If that goes according to plan, Verlander will be reinstated from the 15-day injured list for this weekend’s series in Washington. The 41-year-old is coming off a four-inning rehab stint with Double-A Corpus Christi, in which he threw 78 pitches.
White Sox, Tommy Pham Agree To Minor League Contract
April 15: MLB.com’s Juan Toribio reports (on X) that the Sox and Pham have indeed reached an agreement. The veteran outfielder will be guaranteed a $3MM base salary for time spent in the majors and can earn an additional $1.5MM in performance bonuses. Pham would be able to request his release if he’s not called to the majors by April 25, tweets Rosenthal. There’s a $500K assignment bonus if Pham gets traded, per Rosenthal.
April 14: The White Sox and Tommy Pham are close to an agreement on a minor league deal, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports. The non-guaranteed nature of the contract is something of a technicality due to the fact that Pham is out of minor league options. Since Pham will need some time to properly ramp up to the regular season, starting him in the minors gives the White Sox more flexibility to call him up whenever he is ready.
The Padres, Pirates, and Diamondbacks were all linked to Pham at various points during the offseason, and 10 teams reportedly checked in on the veteran outfielder early in November. The White Sox were also known to be interested in Pham’s services, as USA Today’s Bob Nightengale first noted just under a month ago. However, Opening Day came and went without Pham finding a new contract, and Rosenthal notes that Chicago might have been motivated to finally close a deal after losing Eloy Jimenez, Yoan Moncada, and Luis Robert Jr. to the injured list.
Assuming that a deal is finalized and Pham reaches the active roster as planned, the White Sox will be the eighth different team the outfielder has played for over what will be an 11th Major League season. While his production has been inconsistent over the last four of those seasons, Pham hit well just last year, batting .256/.328/.446 over 481 combined plate appearances with the Mets and Diamondbacks. He also ran hot-and-cold during Arizona’s playoff run, but Pham had huge performances for the D’Backs in the NLDS and in the World Series.
Pham turned 36 last month, and some off-the-field issues have perhaps contributed to his semi-journeyman status despite generally solid numbers over the years. That said, Pham was one of many veteran free agents who remained on the market for a long time, and ended up signing for much less than expected. This cold market impacted not just some of the bigger names available (Blake Snell, Cody Bellinger, Jordan Montgomery, etc.), but perhaps hit hardest for more mid-tier players like Pham.
As Brandon Belt described things in a recent interview, interested teams seemed to universally view him as a backup plan this winter, and it is fair to wonder if the same applied to Pham. If other teams found other outfielders, or (perhaps more importantly) outfielders willing to play for lesser salaries, it left fewer and fewer opportunities for Pham to land a suitor. Rosenthal notes that Pham was “waiting for an offer he felt was commensurate with his value,” so price seems to have been a factor.
It could be that Pham’s time in Chicago ends up being pretty short, since if he hits well, he’ll undoubtedly get a lot of attention from contenders at the trade deadline. The White Sox already look like sellers after a dreadful 2-13 start to the season, and moving a short-term veteran bat like Pham could be just one of many trades GM Chris Getz could make before the deadline is over.
Until then, Pham could just slide into a regular role as the right-handed hitting complement to Andrew Benintendi in left field, or with Gavin Sheets at DH. Chicago signed Robbie Grossman to a minors deal in late March and Grossman has already become essentially an everyday player in either corner outfield slot, so Pham could also eat into that playing time.
Marlins Outright Matt Andriese
Marlins righty Matt Andriese cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Jacksonville, according to the MLB.com transaction log. He has the service time to decline the assignment in favor of free agency, although it isn’t clear if he’ll do so.
Andriese could well decide to stick with the organization after signing a minor league deal over the winter. The 34-year-old got back to the majors this spring for the first time since 2021. Miami called upon Andriese for a trio of relief outings, during which he tossed five innings of three-run ball. He fanned eight without issuing a walk but surrendered a pair of home runs. Miami designated him for assignment on Saturday when they recalled Calvin Faucher to get a fresh arm in the bullpen.
Miami called Andriese to the majors before he had a chance to pitch in Triple-A this season. He spent all of last year at the top minor league level, working 93 2/3 frames with the Dodgers’ affiliate. Andriese scuffled to a 6.05 ERA in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. His 18.6% strikeout rate was below the league average, although he showed strong control by walking fewer than 6% of opponents.
Ken Holtzman Passes Away
The Cubs announced that former big league left-hander Ken Holtzman passed away recently. Per an obituary from Benjamin Hochman of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Holtzman had been hospitalized for the past three weeks due to heart problems. He was 78 years old.
Holtzman was born in St. Louis in 1945. He attended the University of Illinois and was selected from there by the Cubs in the 1965 draft. It didn’t take him long to get to the big leagues, with the Cubs calling him up later that same year.
He only made three appearances in 1965 but got a more proper debut in 1966. He made 34 appearances for the Cubs, 33 starts, and tossed 220 2/3 innings with a 3.79 earned run average. In 1967, he was serving in the National Guard and only able to pitch on weekends, but he made the most of his time in that limited role. He made 12 starts and went 9-0 that year, posting a 2.53 ERA in 92 2/3 innings.
With his military obligations completed, he was able to return to a full-time role. 1968 was the first of nine straight seasons in which he made at least 30 appearances and tossed at least 195 innings. Those Cubs teams of the late ’60s and early ’70s were pretty decent, finishing above .500 each year from ’67 to ’72, but not making the playoffs in any of them. Holtzman was a key component of those clubs, taking the ball and posting generally solid results. That included a no-hitter that he tossed against the Braves in 1969 and another against the Reds in 1971.
Prior to the 1972 season, Holtzman was traded to the Athletics for fellow southpaw Rick Monday. The move to Oakland seemed to suit Holtzman. From 1972 to 1975, he tossed at least 255 1/3 innings in each season with his ERA never finishing higher than 3.14. He was selected to the All-Star team in ’72 and ’73 and the A’s won the World Series in three straight years from ’72 to ’74, with Holtzman playing a big part in those titles. Over those three years and in 1975, he pitched in 13 postseason games with a 2.30 ERA in 70 1/3 innings. He even hit a home run in the ’74 series, with the DH not being implemented in the World Series until 1976.
Holtzman was traded to the Orioles prior to the 1976 season and then to the Yankees in the middle of that campaign. He stayed with the Yanks for a while as his playing time faded, getting traded back to the Cubs midway through the ’78 campaign. He made 23 appearances in 1979 with a 4.59 ERA in what eventually proved to be his last season.
His entire big league career resulted in 451 appearances with a 174-150 record and a 3.49 ERA. He pitched two no-hitters, made a couple of All-Star teams and won three rings. Per Hochman, Holtzman has the most wins for a Jewish pitcher in MLB history, with his 174 just ahead of the 165 wins of Sandy Koufax.
MLBTR joins the rest of the baseball community in sending our condolences to the Holtzman family, as well as his many friends and fans around the game.
Robert Stephenson Being Evaluated For Elbow Soreness
The Angels are dealing with a bit of a scare involving offseason signee Robert Stephenson. The righty reliever departed Saturday’s Triple-A rehab outing after facing one hitter (whom he walked). While details are still sparse, the team told reporters this afternoon that he’s headed for further testing after experiencing soreness in his throwing elbow (X link via Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com).
Stephenson has spent the entire season on the injured list, but the elbow issue seems to be new. His original IL placement came as a result of some shoulder discomfort that arose during Spring Training. The abbreviated rehab appearance was his first official game action as a member of the Los Angeles organization.
The Halos signed Stephenson to a three-year, $33MM pact that represented their biggest investment of the winter. While they more or less overhauled the entire bullpen, Stephenson was the only player to whom they made a multi-year commitment. They envisioned him stepping in as a high-end setup arm in front of Carlos Estévez, but his Angels tenure has gotten off to a rocky start. Stephenson was arguably the best reliever in MLB for the final few months of the 2023 season. After being traded from the Pirates to the Rays in early June, he threw 38 1/3 innings of 2.35 ERA ball with a massive 42.9% strikeout rate.
It’s far too soon to know whether he’s in danger of missing significant time. If there is a long-term elbow issue, however, it could have an impact on Stephenson’s contract status. His three-year deal includes a provision that the Halos would receive a $2.5MM club option for the 2027 campaign if he suffers an elbow ligament injury that knocks him out of action for 130+ days.
Nationals Promote Mitchell Parker
April 15: Washington officially recalled Parker to start tonight’s game. The Nats also brought up catcher Drew Millas from Triple-A Rochester and placed Keibert Ruiz on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to April 12, because of the flu. Washington also reinstated Nick Senzel from his season-opening IL stint and optioned infielder Trey Lipscomb.
April 14: The Nationals will call up left-hander Mitchell Parker on Monday to make his Major League debut. Grant Paulsen of 106.7FM Radio (X link) reported the news earlier today, and Nats manager Davey Martinez confirmed to reporters that Parker will start Washington’s game against the Dodgers. Right-hander Amos Willingham was optioned to Triple-A today, which makes room for Parker on the 26-man roster.
Parker was a fifth-round pick for the Nats in the 2020 draft, and was added to the team’s 40-man roster last November in advance of the Rule 5 draft so another club couldn’t select the 24-year-old. MLB Pipeline ranks Parker as the 21st-best prospect in Washington’s farm system, while Baseball America puts the southpaw 29th.
The strikeout potential has always been there for Parker, who has a 28.88 K% over his 329 2/3 career minor league innings. Parker’s top pitch is a 55-grade fastball that averages roughly 93mph with a ton of break, and he also has a plus curveball that works particularly well as a complement to his fastball. However, controlling either of these pitches or his other offerings has been Parker’s biggest challenge, as his 11.6% walk rate is on the high side. Parker has pitched in only four Triple-A games, with an underwhelming 7.53 ERA over those 14 1/3 innings with Rochester.
Some evaluators feel his ultimate future is in the bullpen, but Parker has started 72 of his 76 games in the minors, and the Nationals figure to at least give him a trial run as a starter before deciding on a possible turn to relief pitching. Facing the star-studded Dodgers lineup is quite a way to hit the ground running as a big leaguer, but Parker will get an opportunity as the Nats are still figuring out how to manage their rotation.
Josiah Gray was placed on the 15-day injured list last Tuesday, leaving MacKenzie Gore, Trevor Williams, Patrick Corbin, and Jake Irvin as the District’s starting four. It seems possible that Jackson Rutledge might’ve gotten the call ahead of Parker, but Rutledge might not be 100 percent after being hit by a comebacker earlier this week.
Dodgers To Recall Ricky Vanasco, Landon Knack For MLB Debuts
The Dodgers are planning to recall right-handers Ricky Vanasco and Landon Knack from Triple-A Oklahoma City this week, reports Fabian Ardaya of the Athletic. Should either pitcher get into a game, they’d be making their respective major league debuts.
Knack and Vanasco are both on the 40-man roster, so the Dodgers would only need to make corresponding active roster moves to bring them up. Knack has actually accrued a few days of major league service, as he was in the L.A. bullpen for their season-opening set against the Padres in Seoul. He didn’t get into a game and was optioned before the team’s domestic opener.
An East Tennessee State product, Knack was a second-round senior sign in 2020. He has worked as a starter throughout his minor league career, turning in a solid 3.44 ERA over 243 professional innings. That includes a stellar 2.51 mark over 22 appearances between Double-A Tulsa and OKC last season. Knack has taken the ball three times in Triple-A this year, posting a 16:4 strikeout-to-walk ratio while allowing seven runs through 15 2/3 frames. Baseball America ranked him the #11 prospect in the system this winter, pointing to a future as a back-of-the-rotation starter.
Vanasco did not appear among L.A.’s top 30 prospects. However, the Dodgers liked him enough to sign him to a major league deal this offseason. That came a few months after L.A. had run him through outright waivers but within two weeks of his qualifying for minor league free agency for the first time.
The 25-year-old is a former Ranger draftee who once ranked among the better prospects in the Texas farm system. Control issues pushed him to the bullpen last season, but Vanasco has shown swing-and-miss stuff. He posted a 2.78 ERA with a near-32% strikeout percentage over 32 1/3 minor league frames last season. Vanasco has fanned eight hitters in four innings of Triple-A work this year, although he’s also walked six.
Cubs Place Seiya Suzuki On Injured List Due To Oblique Strain
The Cubs announced to reporters, including Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune, that outfielder Seiya Suzuki has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a right oblique strain. Fellow outfielder Alexander Canario has been recalled in a corresponding move.
At this point, it’s unclear exactly how severe the injury is, but it’s undoubtedly bad news for the Cubs. For one thing, even mild oblique strains usually lead to absences of multiple weeks. Since Suzuki has been one of the club’s hottest hitters so far this year, it’s doubly frustrating that he’s now on the shelf. Suzuki suffered an oblique strain in Spring Training last year, on his left side, and missed the first few weeks of the season.
Through 15 games this year, Suzuki already has three home runs and has produced a batting line of .305/.368/.525 for a wRC+ of 139. Michael Busch is the only other guy on the club who is getting regular playing time and producing more than that. Those two along with Dansby Swanson are the only regulars with a wRC+ above the 100 average. Despite the tepid offense, the Cubs have managed to go 9-6 so far this year but will now have to try to continue winning without Suzuki’s bat in the lineup.
Canario, 24 next month, got to make his major league debut last year but was put into just six games. He’s generally done a lot of hitting in the minors but with plenty of strikeouts as well. Shoulder and ankle injuries limited him to just 53 minor league games last year, but he hit nine home runs and slashed .273/.356/.488 in those, along with strikeouts in 27.5% of his plate appearances.
So far this year, he has reduced his strikeout rate to 24.6% in his 61 plate appearances at the Triple-A level. He has also walked at a strong 13.1% rate and hit .269/.377/.481. It’s a fairly small sample size but it nonetheless shows some encouraging progress for the young outfielder.
Whether the Cubs plan on having him take regular playing time in Suzuki’s absence remains to be seen. The club could perhaps use an outfield alignment of Ian Happ, Cody Bellinger and Mike Tauchman while using Garrett Cooper in the designated hitter slot and keeping Canario on the bench. Christopher Morel could also be moved from third base to designated hitter, with Nick Madrigal getting more time at the hot corner. But given the struggles up and down the lineup, perhaps there’s a path for Canario to earn himself some more playing time if he make good use of whatever opportunities he’s given initially.
Marlins Select Jhonny Pereda
The Marlins announced they’ve selected catcher Jhonny Pereda onto the major league roster. He fills in for Christian Bethancourt, who is headed to the 10-day injured list, retroactive to April 14, as he battles a viral illness. Miami already has an opening on the 40-man roster after designating Matt Andriese for assignment over the weekend.
It’s an early birthday gift for Pereda, who turns 28 on Thursday. He reaches the big leagues for the first time after more than a decade in the minor leagues. The Venezuela native initially signed with the Cubs during the 2012-13 international amateur period. He got to Double-A in the Chicago system six years later before being traded to the Red Sox. Pereda didn’t reach the majors in Boston and became a minor league free agent after the 2021 season.
The right-handed hitter has bounced around via minor league free agency over the past few years. He spent 2022 in Triple-A with the Giants and joined the Reds last season. Pereda turned in an excellent .325/.405/.468 batting line in 68 games with Cincinnati’s Triple-A team but never got an MLB call. He inked another minor league pact — this time with the Fish — in January.
Miami assigned Pereda to Triple-A Jacksonville. He has played in eight games, collecting nine hits and five walks over his first 32 plate appearances. That brings his career slash at the top minor league level to a strong .294/.383/.404 in parts of four seasons. That was enough to make him the first one up in the event of an injury or illness to either of the catchers on Miami’s active roster.
Bethancourt and Nick Fortes had been the only backstops on the 40-man roster. With Bethancourt needing some time off, the Fish had to go to a non-roster player to back Fortes up. Pereda will fill that role for at least a week, likely getting a chance to make his MLB debut in the process. Neither Fortes nor Bethancourt has contributed much for the Marlins as they’ve limped to a 3-13 start. Miami has gotten by far the worst production in the league out of their catchers thus far: an .063/.100/.083 line over 51 trips to the plate.
Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase first reported the Marlins were selecting Pereda and placing Bethancourt on the IL.
Padres Sign Donovan Solano To Minor League Deal
The Padres have signed veteran infielder Donovan Solano to a minor league deal, per Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Solano will report to the club’s Arizona facilities for now but will presumably move to a higher affiliate after getting in a delayed Spring Training of sorts.
Solano, 36, has somewhat quietly been a very effective utility guy over the past five seasons. After playing in the majors from 2012 to 2016, Solano was stuck in the minors for 2017 and 2018. He made it back to the show with the Giants in 2019 and spent three years with them.
He got into 236 games in those three years, one of which was the shortened 2020 season, and hit .308/.354/.435. His 5.8% walk rate was below average but he was also tough to strike out, a rate of just 18.8%. He did that while providing the club with plenty of defensive versatility, bouncing between shortstop, second base and third base.
The past two years have seen him sign one-year deals, first with the Reds and then with the Twins, largely producing in a similar manner. He has a combined slash line of .296/.355/.413 from 2019 through 2023, which translates to a wRC+ of 112, indicating he’s been 12% better than the league average hitter. He didn’t play shortstop at all in the past two years but added first base into his repertoire.
Given the generally solid offense and his ability to bounce around the infield, it’s a bit surprising that he has lingered on the open market this long. There was a rumor in January that the Twins were interested in bringing him back to Minnesota but his winter was quiet apart from that.
It would appear that Solano was another victim of an offseason that wasn’t kind to many players. Stars like Blake Snell, Cody Bellinger, Matt Chapman and Jordan Montgomery had to settle for short-term deals well below expectations while even guys at the lower tiers struggled. Late in the winter, position players like Amed Rosario, Gio Urshela, Michael A. Taylor, Adam Duvall, Randal Grichuk and others signed deals for $4MM or less.
That will work to the Padres’ benefit, as they’ve now brought aboard a talented infielder without having to commit a roster spot. The financial components of the deal aren’t known but Solano probably won’t be guaranteed much even if he is eventually added to the roster.
The Friars have had a bit of a rotating infield picture over the past few months. It was reported at the start of Spring Training that Xander Bogaerts would be moving from shortstop to second base, with Ha-Seong Kim taking over at short. Manny Machado had elbow surgery in the offseason that had prevented him from taking his normal third base position, but he has been serving as the designated hitter.
With Machado not able to take the field, the third base playing time has been split between Tyler Wade, Eguy Rosario and Graham Pauley. Pauley was making his major league debut but scuffled enough to get optioned after just seven games. Rosario has two home runs in his 13 games this year but his 39.1% strikeout rate is on the worrying side. Wade has spent many years as a speed-and-defense utility guy who doesn’t hit much and he’s currently batting .222/.317/.250 this year.
Machado will eventually return to the third base spot, which will lead to reduced infield playing time, though that will also open up the designated hitter slot. Perhaps Solano would make sense on the club at that time, as he could provide depth at multiple infield spots while providing the club with a bit more offense than someone like Wade while striking out less than Rosario.