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Archives for April 2024

Braves Activate Ozzie Albies

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The Braves announced Friday morning that they’ve reinstated Ozzie Albies from the 10-day injured list. The star second baseman is expected to be back in the lineup for today’s game. It’s a rather remarkable recovery for a player who spent just the 10-day minimum on the injured list after suffering a fractured big toe when he was hit by a pitch on April 15. Albies is returning to the club without a rehab assignment, though he took batting practice throughout the week.

Whether there’ll be any lingering effects remains to be seen, but Albies has gotten out to an excellent start in 2024. Through 15 games and 70 trips to the plate, he’s slashing .317/.386/.492 with a pair of homers, a pair of steals and just a 12.9% strikeout rate. If the foot injury doesn’t provide any more problems for him, he’s laid the foundation for an excellent follow-up effort to a career year at the plate in 2023, which saw Albies pop a personal-best 33 home runs and bat .280/.336/.513 in 660 plate appearances.

Atlanta won’t need to make any corresponding moves to get Albies back onto the roster. The Braves announced yesterday that infielder David Fletcher passed through waivers unclaimed and had been assigned outright to Triple-A Gwinnett. He’d been on the big league roster, so that paved the way for Albies’ reinstatement.

In 787 games since debuting with the Braves as a 20-year-old back in 2017, Albies is a .273/.326/.479 hitter with 133 home runs and 78 stolen bases. The three-time All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger winner is in the sixth season of a seven-year, $35MM contract extension he signed back in April of 2019. He’s earning $7MM this year and next, and the Braves hold a pair of $7MM club options on him for the 2026-27 campaigns.

The Opener: Martinez, Pitchers’ Duel, Rizzo

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As the 2024 season continues, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world headed into the weekend:

1. Martinez to debut:

The Mets are expected to activate veteran slugger J.D. Martinez for his club debut today, as manager Carlos Mendoza indicated earlier this week. The club won’t need to make a 40-man move to accommodate Martinez but will need to clear space on the active roster prior to tonight’s game against the Cardinals. Martinez, 36, lingered on the free agent market deep into Spring Training but ultimately landed in Queens on a one-year deal just before Opening Day.

Despite that relatively modest contract, Martinez was among the most fearsome hitters available in free agency this winter. A six-time All-Star and three-time Silver Slugger award winner, the veteran has a .293/.359/.550 slash line since he first joined the Tigers more than a decade ago. The 2023 season saw Martinez revamp his swing to prioritize power over contact, and it resulted in him slugging .572 with 33 homers in just 113 games for the Dodgers last year. That power production should allow Martinez to transform a Mets lineup that offers little in the way of slugging outside of first baseman Pete Alonso.

2. Early season pitchers’ duel in Boston:

The Cubs are set to open a three-game set against the Red Sox in Fenway Park at 7:10pm local time this evening, and two of the league’s best performers to this point in the 2024 campaign are set to face off on the mound. Boston is set start Kutter Crawford, whose 0.66 ERA in 27 1/3 innings of work this season is the lowest among all right-handed starters in the majors (min. 20 innings). Meanwhile, Chicago will counter with offseason addition Shota Imanaga, whose 0.84 ERA in 21 1/3 frames is the lowest among all lefty starters with that same qualifier this season. While each hurler’s start to the 2024 season has been surprisingly dominant, both appear to have mostly earned that strong production to this point in the season; Imanaga’s 2.06 FIP leads all starters, while Crawford’s 2.26 figure is only bested by Tanner Houck among righty starters.

3. Rizzo approaching milestone:

Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo has struggled somewhat early in the 2024 campaign, slashing just .242/.312/.354 in 109 trips to the plate. He’s heated up in recent days, however, slashing .294/.333/.647 with two home runs in his past five games. In addition to bringing his season line closer to league average, Rizzo’s pair of long balls have put a notable milestone in sight. With 298 homers now under his belt, just two more will make him the 161st member of the 300 home run club in MLB history.

With the Yankees headed to Miller Park for a three-game set against the Brewers this weekend, Rizzo could be in prime position to reach the milestone in the coming days. The 34-year-old slugger is plenty familiar with the Brewers’ ballpark from ten seasons with their division-rival Cubs and is a career .243/.319/.482 hitter with 17 homers in 314 trips to the plate in his time hitting in Milwaukee. In addition to his solid track record against the Brewers, Rizzo will benefit from park factors this weekend: Miller Park has the fifth-most homer-friendly ballpark in the majors for left-handed batters in recent years per Statcast, just behind Rizzo’s home ballpark of Yankee Stadium.

The A’s Overpowering Closer

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In what’ll be another rough season for the A’s, the front office is looking for young players to establish themselves as key long-term pieces. In the first few weeks, no one has shown more promise in that regard than Mason Miller.

Miller was a third-round pick in 2021. His stuff had taken a major step forward during his final collegiate season. As The Athletic’s Stephen Nesbitt wrote last week, Miller had a hard time keeping on weight and maintaining his strength until he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 2018. While the primary concern was in allowing Miller to navigate a serious health condition, learning how to manage the issue permitted the 6’5″ righty to rapidly bulk up. His velocity spiked into the mid-upper 90s, leading the A’s to roll the dice on his upside.

Injuries essentially robbed Miller of traditional minor league development. He lost almost all of the 2022 season to shoulder issues. He had pitched all of 28 2/3 professional innings before the A’s called him up last April. He had an impressive four-start debut before reporting forearm soreness. Testing revealed a mild UCL sprain and the A’s shut him down for a few months. Miller returned in September, working 2-3 inning stints to finish the year. He closed his rookie campaign with a 3.78 ERA in 33 1/3 innings.

Oakland GM David Forst announced early in the offseason that Miller would work out of the bullpen in 2024. Forst suggested it wasn’t a permanent switch. Rather, the A’s were using the 25-year-old in shorter stints in an effort to keep him healthy before a move back to the rotation in 2025. While they certainly had high hopes that his power arsenal would translate, Miller has surpassed even the loftiest expectations in the first few weeks.

Including tonight’s four-out save in the Bronx, Miller is up to 11 1/3 innings of two-run ball. He has successfully locked down all six of his save chances. After allowing two runs in his season debut against the Guardians, he has rattled off eight straight scoreless outings. Four of those have been perfect innings in which he has recorded multiple strikeouts.

Miller has punched out 23 of 45 opposing hitters, the highest strikeout rate in the majors. His already eye-popping stuff has leveled up in short bursts. Miller’s fastball is sitting in the 100-101 MPH range. Both the heater and his upper-80s slider have been essentially untouchable.

Even in a minuscule sample, it doesn’t seem outlandish to call Miller one of the top relievers in MLB. The quality of the arsenal is self-evident. He’s missing bats at the levels we’ve seen from the likes of Edwin Díaz, Félix Bautista and Andrés Muñoz. Given his injury history, one can question whether he’ll be able to stay healthy all season. There’s no reason to doubt his talent.

Miller fell just shy of the cutoff for a full service year in 2023. The A’s control him for six seasons. He’ll qualify for early arbitration as a Super Two player during the 2025-26 offseason. That’ll allow him to go through the arb process four times instead of the standard three, yet Miller could stick with the A’s through the ’29 campaign.

Opposing teams will probably try to convince Forst to put Miller on the trade block this summer, but it’s hard to see any realistic way that he gets moved. Even rebuilding clubs rarely trade relievers with the kind of talent that he possesses when they’re in their pre-arbitration seasons. That’s before considering that the A’s presumably still intend to give him a chance to compete for a rotation spot next year. If Miller turns in a full season as a top 3-5 reliever in the sport, perhaps they’d consider him too valuable to take out of the bullpen, but there’s nothing to suggest their long-term plans have changed at this point.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Orioles Notes: Means, Suarez, Perez, McKenna

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The Orioles could soon welcome John Means back for his season debut. Manager Brandon Hyde told reporters yesterday the O’s were considering activating Means to start on Sunday against the A’s (X link via the Baltimore Sun’s Matt Weyrich). The left-hander has been on the injured list all year, as the team opted to build him up slowly this spring. While Means made four starts late last year in his return from Tommy John surgery, he experienced residual elbow soreness that kept him off the postseason roster.

Means would likely have found himself on some kind of innings limit after throwing 31 2/3 combined frames between 2022-23. With that in mind, the O’s opted against pushing him this spring. The 2019 All-Star has started five games at Triple-A Norfolk on a rehab stint. The results have not been good, as he’s allowed 18 runs over 11 2/3 innings. The O’s probably aren’t especially concerned, though, as the southpaw’s primary focus has been building his workload. He got to 79 pitches over 4 1/3 innings on Tuesday.

If Baltimore decides to give Means one more rehab appearance, righty Albert Suárez would likely take the ball on Sunday. The 34-year-old has twirled 11 1/3 scoreless innings in two starts since the O’s selected his contract last week. Suárez couldn’t have asked for much better in his return to the big leagues for the first time in seven years. Whether it’ll be enough to hold a roster spot once Means is ready isn’t clear, but Suárez has outpitched fellow back-end arms Dean Kremer and Cole Irvin in a very limited look.

Despite the long layoff between his big league appearances, Suárez is out of options. Baltimore can’t send him back to Norfolk without first exposing him to waivers. Irvin is also out of options, but the O’s could theoretically send Kremer down if they want to ensure all three pitchers stay in the organization.

They could also nudge one of those players to the bullpen. Baltimore’s roster flexibility is limited in that regard as well, though. Five of the eight current members of their bullpen — Craig Kimbrel, Danny Coulombe, Mike Baumann, Jacob Webb and recent trade pickup Yohan Ramírez — can’t be sent down. Neither Yennier Cano nor Keegan Akin are going to be optioned. Unless the O’s were to option grounder specialist Dillon Tate, they could soon need to DFA one of their out-of-options arms.

That might happen once lefty Cionel Pérez returns to the big league club. He landed on the 15-day IL with a moderate oblique strain shortly after Opening Day. The Orioles sent him to Norfolk on a rehab stint yesterday, suggesting he’ll be back in the next week or two. Pérez, who is also out of options, turned in a 3.54 ERA behind a massive 60.7% ground-ball percentage over 53 1/3 innings last season.

The news out of Norfolk isn’t all injury related. Ryan McKenna was assigned outright after clearing waivers at the start of the regular season. Danielle Allentuck of the Baltimore Banner tweets that the career-long outfielder has started taking reps at second base in an effort to expand his defensive flexibility. While McKenna has not appeared there in a game yet, successfully acclimating to the infield could give him a better chance of cracking a loaded Baltimore bench at some point during the season.

D-Backs Sign Chris Ellis To Minor League Deal

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The Diamondbacks have signed right-hander Chris Ellis to a minor league contract. The deal was announced by the Atlantic League’s Long Island Ducks, with whom Ellis had been slated to pitch. Ellis is one of two players signed from the Ducks today, as veteran righty Dan Straily landed with the Cubs on a minor league deal.

Ellis, 31, is a former third-round draftee who has appeared in parts of three big league campaigns. Originally selected by the Angels out of Ole Miss, he was dealt to the Braves alongside Sean Newcomb in the Andrelton Simmons trade. Atlanta subsequently moved him to the Cardinals as part of a package for Jaime García, but Ellis peaked at Triple-A in the St. Louis system.

He made his big league debut with a lone appearance for the Royals in 2019. It’d take two more years for him to get a somewhat longer look, as he logged 29 1/3 frames between the Rays and Orioles. Ellis turned in a 2.15 ERA but had a below-average 19.6% strikeout rate and an elevated 11.6% walk percentage. He started two games for the O’s the following year, allowing five runs over 4 1/3 innings. He promptly underwent season-ending shoulder surgery and was outrighted off the roster at the end of that season.

Ellis sat out the entire 2023 campaign. He’s apparently healthy enough to get back on the mound and figures to join Triple-A Reno as non-roster rotation depth. The Diamondbacks have taken a few hits to their rotation in recent weeks. Eduardo Rodriguez will be out at least into late May because of a Spring Training lat injury. Ryne Nelson was knocked out for at least a few weeks by a comebacker. The biggest hit came earlier this week, as Merrill Kelly looks to be in for a lengthy absence due to a shoulder strain. That pushed Tommy Henry and Slade Cecconi into the starting five behind Zac Gallen, Jordan Montgomery and Brandon Pfaadt.

Braves Outright David Fletcher

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6:09pm: Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports (on X) that Fletcher’s deal contains an advance consent form that allows Atlanta to send him to the minors. Even though he has surpassed the five-year service threshold, he would forfeit what remains of his salary if he elects free agency. He’ll therefore report to Gwinnett and try to play his way back to the majors.

1:50pm: The Braves announced Thursday that veteran infielder David Fletcher went unclaimed on waivers and has been assigned outright to Triple-A. Fletcher entered the season with 4.168 years of service time, meaning he needed only four days to reach the five-year mark. He accomplished that during his eight-day stretch on the 40-man roster, meaning he now has the five years of service needed to reject an outright assignment and retain his salary. He’s being paid a guaranteed $6MM this season and is still owed $6.5MM in 2025 and at least a $1.5MM buyout on a 2026 club option.

Fletcher, 29, appeared in five games with the Braves and tallied nine plate appearances, going 2-for-8 with a pair of singles. His subtraction from the 40-man roster likely signals the looming return of second baseman Ozzie Albies, who’s been on the injured list with a fractured toe but is expected to return to the active roster for this weekend’s series.

Fletcher came to the Braves amid a series of convoluted offseason trades that saw them effectively purchase Jarred Kelenic from the Mariners. Atlanta took on the underwater contracts of both Evan White and Marco Gonzales to get Kelenic, sending back righty Jackson Kowar (on whom they’d taken a flier in a trade with the Royals) and former second-round pick Cole Phillips, who’s yet to pitch since being drafted due to injury. Gonzales was traded to the Pirates, with the Braves absorbing three quarters of his $12MM salary. White was traded to the Halos for Fletcher and Max Stassi (on an underwater contract himself) in another financially-motivated swap; Stassi was then quickly flipped to the White Sox for a player to be named later. Atlanta covered all but the league minimum on Stassi’s remaining salary (a net of about $6.26MM for the Braves).

After all that, it’s possible Fletcher will now simply move on. The Braves initially appeared set to use the versatile, defensive-minded veteran as their primary utility infielder. However, Atlanta wound up instead signing Luis Guillorme to fill that role later in the offseason. Guillorme will now slide back into a bench role after filling in for Albies at second base, leaving Fletcher without a clear path to playing time. If he does reject the assignment, other teams in need of infield help could take a look at Fletcher and would only owe him the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the roster. That sum would be subtracted from what the Braves owe him.

Fletcher signed a five-year, $26MM extension with the Angels on the heels of a .298/.356/.395 showing from 2019-20 — a productive stretch at the plate during which he fanned at a tiny 10.1% clip and played superb defense between three infield spots (second base, third base, shortstop). He’s since floundered at the dish, however, batting just .259/.295/.326 in 999 plate appearances. Fletcher’s bat-to-ball skills have actually improved (8.6% strikeout rate), but his quality of contact has plummeted and rendered him an unimpactful player in the batter’s box.

Astros To Activate Framber Valdez On Sunday, Option J.P. France

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Astros manager Joe Espada informed members of the club’s beat, including Chandler Rome of The Athletic, that left-hander Framber Valdez will be activated off the injured list to start Sunday’s game against the Rockies in Mexico City. Rome also reports (X link) that right-hander J.P. France will be optioned in a corresponding move.

The news is obviously great for Valdez personally. He and the club got a scare when he landed on the injured list earlier this month due to soreness in his throwing elbow. It’s always a concerning element when a pitcher’s throwing elbow is injured but a number of high-profile pitchers requiring season-ending surgery this year only heightened the worry.

Thankfully, it seems Valdez avoided a really serious injury. He started throwing again shortly after being placed on the IL and will now be quickly activated, just barely over the 15-day minimum and without requiring a rehab assignment.

The news is also great for the team, as the Astros have been scrambling to fill their rotation all season along. They came into they year knowing they would be without Lance McCullers Jr. and Luis Garcia, since they each underwent significant elbow surgeries last year and won’t be available until midseason at the earliest. But the rotation was further thinned out during Spring Training when Justin Verlander and José Urquidy each landed on the injured list.

Valdez then landed on the injured list a few weeks ago, further depleting the rotation mix. Verlander returned to health and rejoined the club about a week ago, but then Cristian Javier swapped places with him, landing on the IL due to neck discomfort. Now that Valdez is back, he’ll slot into the rotation next to Verlander, Ronel Blanco, Hunter Brown and Spencer Arrighetti.

France being sent down registers as a surprise. He’s certainly not out to an amazing start to the season, with a 7.46 earned run average through five starts. But he did quite well last year, with a 3.83 ERA in 136 1/3 innings. He may have been challenged to maintain those kinds of results going forward, as his 17.4% strikeout rate was a bit below average last year, but he’s actually increased his strikeout rate to 18.2% this year.

His struggles in the early going could perhaps be a bit based on luck. His .289 batting average on balls in play last year has ticked up to .321 this season, while his strand rate has gone from 76.7% to 62.2%. His 5.52 FIP and 4.95 SIERA both suggest he deserved to have slightly better results than what he actually got.

Beyond looking at France in a vacuum, it’s also surprising to see him as the corresponding move when considering the other options. Both Brown and Arrighetti still have options and each has allowed more earned runs than innings pitched this year. Brown had a 9.68 ERA through five outings while Arrighetti has a 10.97 ERA through three.

A deeper look perhaps sheds some light on the decision, however. Arrighetti has struck out 25.9% of batters faced, far more than France. His 12.1% walk rate is certainly on the high side but he’s also been victimized by a .500 BABIP and 52.8% strand rate. His 3.81 FIP and 4.04 SIERA are actually quite serviceable.

Brown’s rate stats for the year aren’t amazing but his numbers are also heavily skewed by one nightmare outing in which he allowed nine runs on 11 hits against the Royals while only recording two outs. Perhaps the Astros are giving him the benefit of the doubt since he had a 26.8% strikeout rate, 8.3% walk rate and 52.4% ground ball rate last year. Perhaps the club will speak on their reasoning in the coming days.

The diminished rotation is a huge reason why the Astros are out to its worst start in years. They are currently 7-19, the worst club in the American League apart from the White Sox. Their starters have a collective 5.21 ERA, which is better than just the White Sox and Rockies out of the 30 MLB clubs. Valdez has a 3.38 ERA in his career and should help stabilize the group as long as he’s pitching like his usual self. If Javier and Urquidy are able to come back soon, that could further strengthen things.

Elsewhere on the roster, the team is allowed a 27th man for the Mexico City Series, though it has to be a position player. Per Brian McTaggart of MLB.com, the Astros will have first baseman/outfielder Trey Cabbage as their extra body.

It’s unclear if the Astros intend to have Cabbage around for just the games in Mexico or a longer stay, but it will perhaps be a situation worth monitoring since the club has been getting atrocious production from the first base spot this year. Earlier this week, MLBTR’s Anthony Franco took a look at the struggles of José Abreu, who is now hitting .065/.132/.081 on the year. Jon Singleton has started in Abreu’s place a few times lately. His line of .244/.326/.293 is far better than Abreu’s but is still below average, translating to a 88 wRC+.

Cabbage has generally hit a ton in the minors but also had his share of strikeout problems, a trend that has continued this year. Acquired from the Angels in the offseason, Cabbage has struck out in 31.9% of his Triple-A plate appearances this year and also walked in 23.1% of them. He has three home runs and is hitting .271/.440/.486 for a 137 wRC+ while also stealing seven bases. That’s pretty similar production to his time in Triple-A last year, when he hit 30 home runs, stole 32 bases and struck out 30% of the time.

A Potential Positive Development On The White Sox’ Roster

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Most baseball fans are surely aware that not a lot is going right for the White Sox. They are currently 3-22, the worst record in baseball. But there are some hopeful signs with at least one player on the roster: catcher Korey Lee.

Now 25 years old, Lee was a first-round pick of the Astros, selected 32nd overall in 2019. As he climbed up the minor league ladder, he earned a reputation as a glove-first catcher. In terms of his offense, he clearly had some power but the production was fairly hollow apart from that.

In 2022, he played in 104 Triple-A games and hit 25 home runs. However, he also struck out 28.5% of the time and only walked at an 8.1% clip. Since he was playing for the Sugar Land Space Cowboys in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, his .238/.307/.483 batting line only translated to a wRC+ of 90.

That production was 10% below league average overall but is around par for a catcher. He also got to make his major league debut that year but clearly did not get out to a roaring start in the big leagues. His first 26 plate appearances led to a batting line of .160/.192/.240.

He was sent back to Sugar Land in 2023 and took a step back. He got into 68 games for the Space Cowboys and hit just five home runs. He lowered his strikeout rate to 24.8% but his walk rate also ticked down to 5.6%. His .283/.328/.406 line led to a wRC+ of 77.

In spite of the tepid offense, the Sox decided to take a shot on him. When trading Kendall Graveman at last year’s deadline, they flipped him to the Astros for Lee straight up. His bat did not improve in the immediate aftermath of that deal. He hit .255/.309/.275 in Triple-A, striking out 40% of the time, and then .077/.143/.138 in the majors.

Coming into 2024, Lee still had an option remaining and the Sox clearly intended to use it. They grabbed a couple of more experienced catchers in Martín Maldonado and Max Stassi and were seemingly going to break camp with that pair, as Lee was optioned on March 20. But then Stassi required an Opening Day stint on the injured list due to hip inflammation, so Lee was recalled.

So far, the results have been good at the major league level. We’re talking about 46 plate appearances over 17 games, so small sample size caveats definitely apply, but Lee is slashing .279/.326/.465 for a wRC+ of 129. His 6.5% walk rate is a bit below average but he’s also only striking out a 19.6% clip so far.

Looking under the hood also shows some encouraging signs. Lee has a barrel rate of 9.7% thus far, almost triple the 3.3% rate he had over 2022 and 2023. His expected batting average, on-base and slug are all up.

Perhaps the most encouraging development is in the plate discipline department. He had previously swung at 36.9% of pitchers outsize the zone but has dropped that number to 29.1% this year. Even when he does chase, he’s missing less, as his 69.6% contract rate outsize the zone is a big jump from his previous rate of 51.3%.

On pitches in the zone, he’s up to an 86.8% swing rate compared to 78% in his previous seasons. His called strike rate was 11.6% coming into the year but is down to 8.2% this season. He had a 15.8% swinging strike rate in the majors in the previous two years, and even higher in Triple-A, but is at 13.6% so far this year.

This is obvious baseball stuff, but swinging at more pitches in the zone and chasing less, while also whiffing less often, is going to lead to fewer strikeouts. Again, it’s a very small sample size but it’s progress in the area that has been Lee’s biggest weakness.

Scouting reports on Lee have long highlighted that he has a cannon for an arm and is a strong blocker. Perhaps there’s still some room to grow in terms of framing but the overall defensive package is considered to be above average. At the plate, the power has been there but the strikeouts were a concern. Whether he can continue to show the positive signs from the early weeks of this season will be something for the Sox to monitor.

In the short term, it’s possible the Sox may have a difficult decision to make. Stassi started a rehab assignment early in the year but was injured again after a backswing hit his hand, per Scott Merkin of MLB.com. He hasn’t yet resumed his rehab assignment but will presumably be ready to rejoin the team at some point.

Perhaps they would consider optioning Lee to the minors when Stassi is back, but cutting Maldonado should also be on the table. He has a strong reputation in the league for his work with pitchers but he’s approaching his 38th birthday and is awful at the plate. He hit .183/.260/.333 for the Astros over the past three seasons and is down to a line of .048/.091/.071 so far this year.

Even if they value Maldonado’s intangibles enough to overlook that offense, moving on from Stassi could also be a consideration. He was acquired from Atlanta in the offseason with that club paying Stassi’s salary down to the league minimum, meaning the Sox aren’t financially committed to Stassi in any way.

In the long term, it will be quite nice for the Sox is Lee can hang onto this improved plate discipline. He came into this year with just 71 days of service time. Assuming he stays with the big league club for the rest of the year, the Sox will still be able for five more seasons after this one.

He seems destined to be joined on the roster by Edgar Quero at some point. Acquired from the Angels in the trade that sent Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo López to the Angels, Quero is effectively the inverse to Lee, as he is considered to be more of a bat-first catcher.

In 1,190 minor league plate appearances thus far in his career, Quero has drawn walks in 15% of them while only striking out at an 18.8% clip. He’s also hit 33 home runs and slashed .280/.407/.458. At Double-A this year, he already has five home runs and has a line of .294/.387/.627 for a 197 wRC+. Since he spent all of last year in Double-A as well, a promotion to Triple-A should be imminent. He’s currently ranked the #58 prospect in the whole league by FanGraphs while Keith Law of The Athletic recently gave him the #67 spot.

The glove-first Lee and the bat-first Quero should make for a nice pairing behind the plate for the Sox if all goes according to plan. Lee hits from the right side while Quero is a switch hitter. The inverse profiles should allow the club to deploy them situationally, depending on whether offense or defense is preferred on a given day or a given situation. Almost no club has an everyday catcher these days, so the Sox could split the playing time, with the designated hitter slot also giving them a way to have both in the lineup with regularity. If one of these two backstops takes a step forward and is ahead of the other, the team could tip the scales of the playing time accordingly.

For fans of the Sox, there’s not a lot to feel good about in the present. That means looking to the future is the best bet at finding hope or even just a reason to follow the team. When it comes to the catching depth, there seems to be a bit of sunshine peeking out over the horizon.

Yankees Claim Michael Tonkin, Designate McKinley Moore

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The Yankees announced that they have claimed right-hander Michael Tonkin off waivers from the Mets. He had been designated for assignment by the Mets earlier this week. To open a roster spot for Tonkin, right-hander McKinley Moore was designated for assignment.

Tonkin, 34, has been getting passed around the league so far this year. He was non-tendered by Atlanta at the end of last season and then signed a major league deal with the Mets. Shortly after the season started, he was designated for assignment and went to the Twins on a cash deal but then returned to the Mets on waivers. Now he’s on the move yet again and will join the Yankees.

Amid all those transactions, he has managed to throw nine innings on the year. He’s allowed six earned runs for a flat earned run average of 6.00, which obviously isn’t too impressive, but the peripherals are solid. He has struck out 23.9% of batters faced while walking 8.7% of them and keeping 44.4% of balls in play on the ground, with all of those rate stats coming in fairly close to league averages.

With Atlanta last year, he tossed 80 innings over 45 appearances. He had a 4.28 ERA in that time, as well as a 23.1% strikeout rate, 7.1% walk rate and 38.3% ground ball rate. He’s clearly an attractive enough bullpen arm that teams keep grabbing him but he’s also out of options and keeps getting squeezed.

Since he’s out of options, the Yankees will need to make room for him on the active roster whenever he reports to the team. Of their bullpen arms, Ian Hamilton, Ron Marinaccio and Cody Morris all have options and could be sent down. Hamilton isn’t likely the one to be packing his bag since he’s entered a high-leverage role for the Yankees. He had two saves and five holds last year and has already added four more holds this year.

To get Tonkin onto the 40-man, the Yankees have bumped off Moore. He’s only been with the Yanks a short time, having been claimed off waivers from the Phillies in February. He has made two appearances for the Triple-A club but walked six of the nine batters he faced.

That continues a pattern of control problems for the righty. He walked 23.8% of batters faced in his major league debut last year. In his 20 1/3 innings of minor league work in 2023, he struck out 40.7% of batters faced but also gave free passes to 24.2% of them.

The Yankees will now have one week to trade McKinley or pass him through waivers. The control problems will obviously be a concern to other teams but Moore’s also struck out 32.6% of batters faced throughout his entire minor league career. He averaged 97.2 miles per hour on his fastball during his MLB debut last year while also throwing a sweeper and a changeup. He still has a couple of options and could perhaps appeal to a club looking for a long-term project.

Cubs, Dan Straily Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Cubs have agreed to a minor league contract with veteran right-hander Dan Straily, reports Craig Mish of SportsGrid and the Miami Herald. Straily had recently signed on with the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League, but he’ll change course and instead return to affiliated ball on a non-guaranteed pact with one of his former clubs. The agreement between the two parties is still pending a physical.

The 35-year-old Straily has spent the past four season with the Lotte Giants of the Korea Baseball organization, although he also had a brief run with the Diamondbacks’ Triple-A club in 2022. His time in the KBO produced a 3.29 ERA in 503 innings, as Straily whiffed 23.4% of his opponents against an 8.4% walk rate. His 2023 season wasn’t his best, however; he posted a 4.37 ERA over the first half of the season before being cut loose.

Prior to that stretch of overseas success, Straily pitched eight seasons in the big leagues, splitting his time between the A’s, Marlins, Reds, Cubs, Orioles and Astros. He had a fair bit of success, albeit in inconsistent fashion. From 2016-17, Straily posted a 4.01 ERA with a 21.3% strikeout rate and 8.5% walk rate in 373 innings between Miami and Cincinnati. Overall, he has a lifetime 4.56 ERA in 803 1/3 big league frames.

The Cubs already have a fair bit of pitching depth, but they also have Justin Steele, Kyle Hendricks and Drew Smyly — who’s been working in a relief capacity this season — on the injured list. At the moment, the rotation includes Shota Imanaga, Jameson Taillon (who just returned from the IL himself), Javier Assad and Jordan Wicks. Ben Brown and Luke Little have also started games this season. Straily becomes the second notable veteran starter to join the Cubs organization on a minor league deal in recent weeks. Right-hander Julio Teheran also inked a minors pact with the Cubs after being cut loose by the Mets and is currently in the Triple-A rotation in Des Moines.

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