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Archives for June 2024

Astros Place Kyle Tucker On Injured List

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11:30pm: Houston will recall Joey Loperfido to take Tucker’s place on the active roster, reports Brian McTaggart of MLB.com (on X). Loperfido debuted earlier this season and hit .333/.381/.436 with a homer in 14 games.

8:36pm: The Astros have placed star outfielder Kyle Tucker on the 10-day injured list with a right shin contusion, tweets Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle. The move is retroactive to June 4, meaning Tucker could return a week from now. Houston didn’t immediately announce a corresponding roster move or provide a timetable for his return.

Tucker was injured in Monday’s win over the Cardinals. He fouled a ball off his leg and had to be removed from the game. While the two-time All-Star was on crutches postgame, testing didn’t reveal any fractures. That led the Astros to keep him on the active roster for a few days even though he wasn’t healthy enough to play. He evidently needed more time than the team initially hoped, sending him to the shelf.

It’s probably no coincidence that Houston placed Tucker on the IL just before tonight’s game. A team is allowed to backdate an IL stint by up to three days. Tucker had already been out since June 4. If the Astros had waited into the weekend to put him on the shelf, they’d have pushed back his first possible return date.

The injury halts a fantastic start to the season. Tucker has been a superstar for a few years and has taken his game to new heights in 2024. He has already hit 19 homers across 262 plate appearances. He’s running a .266/.395/.584 batting line with 46 walks against 41 strikeouts over 60 games. If healthy, he should coast to a third consecutive All-Star Game and looks on track to beat last year’s fifth-place finish in MVP balloting.

Despite Tucker’s massive numbers, the Astros head into this weekend’s set against the Angels with a 28-35 record. Their efforts to dig out of that hole will be complicated by the loss of their best player for at least a week. Houston plugged Yordan Alvarez into left field tonight against Griffin Canning, freeing the DH spot for Yainer Diaz and getting Victor Caratini into the lineup at catcher. Trey Cabbage is starting in right field for the second consecutive game.

In other injury news, the Astros announced this afternoon that starters Cristian Javier and José Urquidy each underwent Tommy John surgery (X link via Chandler Rome of the Athletic). Rome had previously reported that Javier would be undergoing TJS on Thursday. Urquidy’s status wasn’t as clear. While the team announced on Wednesday that he was headed for a season-ending elbow procedure, it wasn’t known whether he’d require a full Tommy John or a modified internal brace repair. Both pitchers seem likely to be out past the 2025 All-Star Break. Urquidy, who would be a free agent after ’25, could be non-tendered next winter.

Guardians Outright Estevan Florial

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The Guardians announced Friday afternoon that outfielder Estevan Florial cleared waivers after being designated for assignment last week. Florial accepted an outright assignment and will report to Triple-A Columbus. He remains in the organization without holding a spot on the 40-man roster.

Acquired from the Yankees over the offseason, Florial broke camp with Cleveland despite a rough Spring Training. His offensive struggles carried into the regular season. Florial tallied 111 trips to the plate but limped to a .173/.264/.367 line while striking out 36.9% of the time. After hitting three home runs in the season’s first month, he turned in a .120/.200/.240 slash in 55 trips to the plate during May.

Florial was once a highly-regarded prospect in the New York farm system. Evaluators were intrigued by his power, speed and patient plate approach. Florial has well below-average pure contact skills, though, resulting in big strikeout tallies both in the upper minors and against MLB pitching. He played in 48 games over parts of four seasons in the Bronx, hitting .209/.313/.296 while fanning 41 times in 134 plate appearances (a 30.6% rate).

This is the second time in Florial’s career that he has cleared waivers. New York outrighted him last April and kept him in Triple-A for most of the 2023 season. The 26-year-old hit 28 homers and stole 25 bags with a .284/.380/.565 line in 482 plate appearances. Florial has never had any problem turning in strong results in the minors, though even last year’s huge slash came with an alarming 29.9% strikeout rate.

Alek Manoah To Undergo UCL Surgery

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Alek Manoah will undergo surgery to repair the UCL in his throwing elbow on June 17, Blue Jays manager John Schneider told reporters (X link via Shi Davidi of Sportsnet). Doctors won’t know whether he’ll need to undergo a full Tommy John or the slightly less invasive internal brace procedure, but either surgery will end his 2024 season and sideline him well into next year.

Manoah left his start against the White Sox on May 29 with elbow soreness. His velocity was down early in that appearance and he winced on his final pitch of the evening. TSN’s Scott Mitchell reported shortly thereafter that Manoah was headed for a second opinion — typically an ominous sign that initial evaluation suggested surgery could be necessary.

That’ll unfortunately come to pass, likely costing the former All-Star more than a year of game reps. A former first-round pick and top prospect, Manoah looked the part of a budding ace between 2021-22. Over his first season and a half in the majors, he turned in a 2.60 ERA while punching out almost a quarter of batters faced over 51 starts. Manoah finished third in AL Cy Young balloting during his sophomore campaign thanks to a sterling 2.24 mark in 196 2/3 innings.

The last two seasons have been far more challenging. Manoah couldn’t find his form in 2023. He was tagged for nearly six earned runs per nine over 19 starts, leading the Jays to option him to the minors on two separate occasions. While he’d been searching for a rebound in 2024, health intervened. Manoah was delayed by shoulder soreness in Spring Training and began the season on the injured list. He made his season debut on May 5 and was out to a decent start. In five outings, he worked to a 3.70 ERA with a 25.2% strikeout rate across 24 1/3 innings.

Manoah has between two and three years of major league service. He’ll be eligible for arbitration for the first time next offseason and is under team control through 2027. The internal brace surgery typically involves a roughly year-long rehab process. Tommy John procedures usually last 14-16 months. If he requires the latter operation, his ’25 season could be in jeopardy.

Toronto will need to figure out a solution for the fifth rotation spot. They’re fairly well set in the top four with Kevin Gausman, Yusei Kikuchi, José Berríos and Chris Bassitt. Righty Bowden Francis occupied the fifth starter role during Manoah’s season-opening IL stint. He was rocked in two starts and quickly moved back to the bullpen. Francis spent around six weeks on the injured list before returning this week. He tossed 3 1/3 innings of four-run ball behind Trevor Richards in a bullpen game.

The Jays used a few Richards-led bullpen games late last summer while Manoah was trying to work through mechanical issues. That doesn’t feel like a sustainable solution for a couple months. Offseason pickup Yariel Rodríguez could step back into the starting five. The Cuban right-hander has been on the IL since April 30 with thoracic spine inflammation. He’s on a rehab stint at Triple-A Buffalo, where he tossed three innings on Wednesday. Rodríguez has started four games in his first season in Canada but has yet to throw more than four innings or surpass 20 batters faced.

Toronto, which sits three games back in the AL Wild Card mix at 30-32, could find itself in the market for starting pitching at the deadline. They’d be joined by upwards of a dozen teams in that regard. If the Jays fall out of the playoff picture, they’d be in position to market one of the top rental arms (Kikuchi). They’re one of the more interesting borderline contenders to follow over the next six weeks.

Taylor Ward Drawing Trade Interest

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The Angels have begun “listening to inquiries” on players on the roster and one of them is outfielder Taylor Ward, according to Robert Murray of FanSided. Earlier this week, Jeff Passan of ESPN listed Ward and fellow outfielder Jo Adell as plausible trade candidates but said that general manager Perry Minasian is “asking for giant returns” for either of those two.

It’s unsurprising that the Angels are exploring a selloff this summer. Despite the departure of Shohei Ohtani in free agency, the club still made an attempt to field a competitive roster here in 2024. That has not panned out, thanks to some injuries and some underperformance. Face of the franchise Mike Trout has been on the injured list more than a month due to knee surgery. The club’s biggest offseason acquisition, Robert Stephenson, required Tommy John surgery and will miss the entire campaign. Players like Anthony Rendon, Brandon Drury and Chase Silseth are also on the IL. Meanwhile, Reid Detmers struggled enough to get optioned down to the minors while guys like Mickey Moniak and Nolan Schanuel have also underwhelmed.

All of those elements have combined to chip away at whatever chances of competing the club may have had at the start of the schedule. They are currently 24-38, 11 games back in the American League West and nine back of the final AL Wild Card spot. The FanGraphs Playoff Odds have the Angels down to a 0.6% shot at the postseason while the Baseball Prospectus PECOTA Standings have them down to a 0.1% sliver of a chance.

Last summer, the club was hovering around contention and decided to go for it while they still had a few months of Ohtani left. That ended up being a mistake and several players they acquired at the deadline wound up on waivers, but the move for this year is much easier. Minasian and his team will look to acquire some younger players that can help bolster the farm system and help in future seasons.

Ward is a sensible candidate for such a trade. He can still be retained for two seasons via arbitration but the Halos will have a hard time getting back into contention in that time frame, given that they have a poorly-regarded farm system. On top of that, Ward is a bit on the older side for a guy in his arbitration years since he was a late bloomer. He’ll turn 31 in December and will be on the cusp of his 33rd birthday by the time he reaches free agency.

But all that should make him appealing to clubs looking for an upgrade in the present. Ward has 11 home runs this year and his walking at a solid 9.7% clip. His .253/.322/.445 batting line translates to a wRC+ of 116, indicating he’s been 16% above league average this year. That aligns with previous seasons as well, with Ward having hit .265/.346/.449 over the 2021-23 campaigns for a 121 wRC+.

Defensively, Ward is no slouch either, having racked up three Outs Above Average in his career. His tally of -12 Defensive Runs Saved is less impressive but that metric has had him closer to league average since the start of 2023. He’s making a modest $4.8MM salary this year and, as mentioned, has two years of club control remaining beyond this one.

That salary could fit into the budget of just about any club and the extra control would make him appealing even to clubs that may be looking beyond 2024 to the next two seasons. With his strong work at the plate and solid defense, there should be plenty of clubs calling the Angels about him.

The Phillies have the best record in the National League but the outfield is a relative weak spot, with Brandon Marsh on the injured list while Nick Castellanos and Johan Rojas are struggling at the plate. The Royals are 37-26 despite getting almost no contributions from their outfield, something that MLBTR’s Steve Adams recently explored in a piece for Front Office subscribers. The Mariners are leading the AL West but their offense is struggling so much that they recently fired their offensive coordinator and took a cheap flier on Víctor Robles. Atlanta’s looking for outfield help with Ronald Acuña Jr. out for the rest of the year. The Cardinals, Dodgers, Rangers, Diamondbacks and plenty of others could make sense as well.

A controllable position player can bring back plenty of value. Just over a month ago, the Marlins were able to trade Luis Arráez to the Padres for a four-player package. One of them, Woo-Suk Go, has already been outrighted off the roster, but they also got three intriguing youngsters who are each now listed in the top 10 Miami prospects at Baseball America. Ward is a few years older than Arráez and is arguably not the same level of hitter, but Ward brings an extra year of control and his salary is less than half the $10.6MM that Arraez is making this year.

With the expanded postseason and several teams hovering around .500, it has been theorized that there could be a seller’s market this summer. With the Halos clearly out this year, they could be in a good position to take advantage, with Ward one of their best chances to do so.

Rangers To Designate Derek Hill For Assignment

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The Rangers are recalling infielder Davis Wendzel from Triple-A Round Rock to give them some infield cover. Corey Seager is day-to-day after leaving Wednesday’s game with hamstring soreness. In a corresponding move, outfielder Derek Hill will be designated for assignment. Jeff Wilson of Rangers Today relayed the moves on X. The team’s 40-man roster tally drops to 39.

Hill is out of options, so Texas couldn’t send him back to Triple-A without the DFA. It’s an unfortunate situation for the speedster, who gets squeezed out by the need for another infielder. Hill signed a minor league contract over the offseason and was selected onto the MLB roster at the end of May. He appeared in five games, including a pair of starts in right field. Hill went 2-9 with a walk and a stolen base in what marked his fifth year logging MLB time.

A first-round pick of the Tigers in 2014, Hill played sporadically with Detroit. He combined for a .240/.291/.339 line in 95 games over parts of three seasons. Hill made a brief appearance with the Nationals a year ago, appearing in 13 games between late June and the early part of July. He’s a plus runner who can play all three outfield positions. He has never provided much in the batter’s box against MLB pitching though.

To his credit, the 28-year-old has been a productive Triple-A hitter. Hill owns a .295/.354/.502 slash in nearly 900 trips at the top minor league level. That includes a robust .333/.387/.659 showing over 142 plate appearances with Round Rock this season. Hill’s 6.3% walk percentage and near-25% strikeout rate were pedestrian, but he connected on eight homers, four triples and 10 doubles (albeit in a hitter-friendly setting).

The Rangers will have a few days to gauge possible trade interest. It’s likelier he’ll land on outright waivers by next week. Hill has cleared waivers a couple times in his career and would have the ability to elect free agency if he does so again.

Texas evidently doesn’t anticipate placing Seager on the injured list, at least for the moment. He is out of the lineup tonight against the Giants. Josh Smith moves over to shortstop while Ezequiel Duran handles third base against Logan Webb and the Giants.

Brewers Reportedly Promoting Carlos Rodriguez

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The Brewers are going to promote right-hander Carlos Rodriguez, according to Spanish-language reports from Edgard Rodriguez (X link) and Fernando Rayo of 8 Deportivo out of Nicaragua (links from X one and two). The Nicaraguan hurler is not on the club’s 40-man but will need to be added before he starts Tuesday’s game against the Blue Jays.

Rodriguez, now 22, was a sixth-round pick of the Brewers in 2021. He made his professional debut in 2022, tossing 107 2/3 innings between Single-A and High-A. He allowed 3.01 earned runs per nine frames while striking out 30.1% of hitters and giving out walks at a 9.3% rate.

That launched him onto the prospect radar, with Baseball America ranking him #14 in the system going into 2023 and FanGraphs putting him in the #20 slot. He spent most of last year in Double-A with one start in Triple-A late in the year. He tossed a combined 128 1/3 innings with a 2.88 ERA, 29.3% strikeout rate and 10.6% walk rate.

Here in 2024, he’s been back at Triple-A, having thrown 62 2/3 innings so far. His 5.17 ERA isn’t especially impressive but he’s looked better as the season has gone along, with a 2.83 ERA in six starts since the start of May. That strong showing will get him up to the big leagues for the first time.

The Brewers have put both Joe Ross and Robert Gasser on the injured list in recent weeks, further compounding a growing injury problem for the rotation. Brandon Woodruff is going to miss the entire season due to shoulder surgery and Wade Miley required Tommy John surgery not too long ago. DL Hall and Jakob Junis have each been on the IL for a while as well.

Tobias Myers is starting tonight’s game and should be followed by Freddy Peralta, Bryse Wilson and Colin Rea in the games after that. Rodriguez will then take the hill on Tuesday, which could perhaps be for a spot start or maybe a lengthier stay in the majors, perhaps depending on how he fares.

As for the 40-man roster spot, it’s possible that Gasser could relinquish his to Rodriguez, depending on how things develop in the next few days. The lefty was placed on the IL earlier this week with a left flexor strain. Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel relayed an update on X today from manager Pat Murphy. Gasser apparently has damage “in the back of his elbow” and has been recommended for surgery by Dr. Neal ElAttrache. But this apparently contrasts with another opinion the club got, so the lefty will be getting a third perspective.

Brewers Notes: Rotation, Adames, Uribe

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Rotation help looked like a potential area of deadline focus for the Brewers even heading into the season, and that was before a veritable avalanche of injuries left their starting staff in shambles. Milwaukee currently has Wade Miley, Jakob Junis, Robert Gasser, DL Hall and Joe Ross on the big league injured list alongside Brandon Woodruff. Miley (Tommy John surgery) and Woodruff (2023 shoulder surgery) won’t pitch again this season.

That series of health woes has left Milwaukee with a patchwork rotation comprised that features only three set members at the moment: staff ace Freddy Peralta, journeyman Colin Rea and swingman-turned-starter Bryse Wilson. The Brewers announced earlier today that righty Tobias Myers will start tonight’s game and has since optioned lefty Aaron Ashby to Triple-A (clearing way for the selection of righty James Meeker’s contract). They’ll feature plenty of “TBA”s in the near future when looking at upcoming pitching matchups.

Incredibly, the Brewers are not only still in first place but have a relatively commanding 5.5-game lead over the division at the moment. Still, it’s wholly unsurprising to see FanSided’s Robert Murray suggest that starting pitching will be a major point of focus for Milwaukee’s front office in the weeks leading up to next month’s trade deadline. Murray writes that the Brewers “considered” righty Mike Clevinger in free agency before the 33-year-old re-signed with the White Sox on a one-year deal.

Milwaukee’s level of interest in Clevinger following four shaky White Sox starts and an IL placement for elbow inflammation isn’t clear, but he’d be a reasonable low-cost pickup — both in terms of salary ($3MM base) and cost of acquisition. Clevinger has pitched 16 innings with a 6.75 ERA, a 19.2% strikeout rate and an 11.5% walk rate. He did not complete five innings in any of his four starts with the Sox prior to being placed on the 15-day IL in late May. There’s still seven weeks for him to get healthy and get back to his 2023 form, when he tossed 131 1/3 innings of 3.77 ERA ball (4.28 FIP, 4.81 SIERA). If Clevinger can indeed right the ship, the offseason interest from Milwaukee will be an interesting point to keep in mind, but for now the Brew Crew is surely trying to find more immediate upgrades.

Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel also writes within his latest mailbag that Milwaukee is likely to pursue pitching depth at the deadline. That’s only natural, but Hogg also fields multiple questions on the trade candidacy — or lack thereof — of Willy Adames. Milwaukee’s shortstop is just months from reaching the open market, and the Brewers have in the past been willing to trade from the big league roster in the midst of contending pushes as a means of stockpiling future talent. Their 2022 trade of Josh Hader, in particular, is the most prominent instance of this.

That said, Hogg paints a trade of Adames as unlikely, citing a recent interview with Brewers owner Mark Attanasio wherein he acknowledged that the team has not only received trade offers but compelling ones for Adames in the past — as recently as this offseason. “…[T]here may have been some merit to build for the future,” Attanasio said of the offers received for Adames. The club’s owner also touted Adames as one of the heartbeats of the clubhouse, however. And, as Hogg rightly notes, Adames is a slam-dunk qualifying offer candidate at season’s end — one who’ll surely sign a large enough contract to net the Brewers a comp pick at the end of the first round — if he indeed signs elsewhere.

The previously mentioned injury problems for the Brewers don’t stop in the rotation. Milwaukee has been without outfielder Garrett Mitchell and, even more critically, star closer Devin Williams all season. Young fireballer Abner Uribe took over some of Williams’ closing duties early in the season and had a strong start, tossing 12 1/3 innings with a 3.65 ERA, a 27% strikeout rate and three saves to begin the season. Uribe was torched for five runs in two-thirds of an inning against the Yankees in late April and gave up another run against the Rays three days later before being sent to Nashville to work shaky command that had led to a glaring 18.2% walk rate.

Now, however, Uribe is also on the shelf. He recently sustained a knee injury and was placed on the minor league injured list, general manager Matt Arnold revealed to MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy. Uribe is slated to undergo an MRI next Tuesday, at which point the club will surely have further updates on his status.

Reds Shut Down Brandon Williamson’s Rehab Assignment

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Reds lefty Brandon Williamson hasn’t pitched in the majors this season due to a shoulder strain he suffered back in spring training. He’d been out on a minor league rehab stint and looked to be nearing a potential return, but things have now hit a snag. The Reds announced today that Williamson has been pulled back from his rehab assignment — but not reinstated to the roster. Rather, he’s remaining on the injured list.

That typically indicates a setback, and shortly after the announcement, manager David Bell indeed announced to the Reds beat that Williamson is experiencing continued discomfort in his ailing shoulder (X link via Charlie Goldsmith of the Cincinnati Enquirer). He’ll be shut down for at least the next seven days while the Reds see how his shoulder responds and evaluate their options.

It’s poor timing for Williamson, who looked as though he might have a rotation spot to fight for upon his return. Cincinnati optioned struggling righty Graham Ashcraft to Triple-A Louisville yesterday, creating an opening in the rotation behind Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, Frankie Montas and Andrew Abbott. The Reds have other options to fill that spot — Nick Martinez and Carson Spiers among them — but Williamson’s apparent setback is a most unwelcome development, given that he’s an intriguing young arm and potential building block for the staff.

Williamson, selected by the Mariners out of TCU in the second round of the 2019 draft, went from Seattle to Cincinnati as part of the swap sending Eugenio Suarez and Jesse Winker to the M’s. The 6’6″ southpaw was ranked among the game’s top 100 prospects by Baseball America at the time of the trade and wound up making his MLB debut with the Reds last year. In 23 starts, he pitched to a respectable 4.46 ERA, though that number is perhaps skewed by a rough arrival in the majors.

Williamson posted a 5.82 ERA through his first eight starts but rebounded with 78 1/3 innings of 3.79 ERA ball in his final 15 trips to the hill. After posting lackluster strikeout and walk rates of 17% and 9.9%, respectively, in those first eight outings, the Minnesota native settled in with stronger marks of 21.6%  and 6.9% in the season’s final three months. It was a strong finish to his season, and when adding in 34 Triple-A frames to his 117 MLB innings, Williams closed out the year with a career-high 151 frames. Between his late performance and his lack of workload concerns, it seemed as though he’d pitched is way onto the Reds’ starting five — or at the very least into the conversation.

Any such arrival will now be further delayed. The Reds haven’t provided further details, but it’s obviously a worrisome sign when a pitcher who’s missed more than two months with a shoulder strain reports discomfort on the heels of a fourth rehab appearance. Presumably, the Reds will provide further details at some point next weekend or early in the following week. For now, Williamson will continue to accrue big league pay and service time on the 60-day injured list. He entered the season with 139 days of MLB service and has already reached one year, placing him on course to reach arbitration after the 2025 season as a Super Two player and free agency after the 2029 campaign.

Craig Counsell Discusses The Cubs’ Struggling Catchers

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The Cubs have received dismal production from the catcher position this year, a topic that manager Craig Counsell openly discussed recently, as relayed by Sahadev Sharma in an article at The Athletic.

“Frankly, our catchers’ offense has been a struggle,” manager Counsell said. “We’re going to need to have better offense from our catchers to have a good offense. To have spots in your lineup that aren’t producing stops rallies.”

The Cubs have given all of their playing time behind the plate this year to Yan Gomes and Miguel Amaya, but both are hitting poorly, as Counsell admitted. The 36-year-old Gomes has plenty of good seasons on his résumé, hitting double-digit home runs eight times, but he has just two long balls this year. He has a 23.5% strikeout rate in his career, which is roughly average, but is currently being punched out at a 40% clip and has a batting line of .148/.176/.235. The 25-year-old Amaya isn’t quite as bad but his .194/.255/.274 line isn’t pretty either.

The problems don’t stop with the offense, as laid out by Sharma. Gomes has -6 Defensive Runs Saved this year and negative framing marks from FanGraphs, Statcast and Baseball Prospectus, while Amaya is hovering close to league average in those categories. The running games has also been a problem, with the Statcast catcher throwing leaderboard featuring ranking Amaya as one of the worst among qualified backstops while Gomes is in the middle of the pack. As Sharma highlights, the Cubs have caught just 13% of attempted base stealers, which has them tied for last in that department.

As noted by both Counsell and Sharma, pitchers play a role in that part of the game, but catchers obviously do as well. “Our catchers, you have to help to do that,” Counsell said. “You have to have help to be good at that. I think we’re going to continue to try to do a better job helping those guys be successful there.”

With struggles on both sides of the ball, the Cubs might have to think about making some kind of change. Clubs are sometimes reluctant to make midseason alterations to the roster at the catcher position due to the challenge of a new backstop having to learn the pitching staff in short order, but Sharma reports that Counsell doesn’t have those hesitations.

Actually pulling off such a switch would be somewhat complicated, as neither Amaya nor Gomes can be optioned to the minors. Amaya has exhausted his option years and has long been seen as the proverbial catcher of the future for the Cubs, meaning they likely don’t want to lose him based on a few rough months, especially when he’s likely to grow in time. “Big league at-bats for Miguel are a great teacher right now,” Counsell said. “At his experience level, he will improve.”

Gomes is far older and an impending free agent, but the Cubs are committed to him financially. They signed him to a two-year, $13MM deal going into 2022, with a $6MM club option for 2024. Gomes had a solid season in 2023, prompting the Cubs to trigger that option. Given his struggles and that salary, he would have no trade appeal, so the Cubs would likely have to eat that money and release Gomes if they wanted to pivot. Carrying three backstops would technically be possible but would involve bumping someone like David Bote or Patrick Wisdom from the roster and therefore cutting into the club’s depth at other positions.

Despite the challenges, it seems like Counsell is open to some kind of change. The Cubs could possibly find help from within, as Alí Sánchez is in the organization on a minor league deal and playing well. He has stepped to the plate 121 times for Triple-A Iowa this year and drawn a walk in 14% of those while hitting three home runs, leading to a line of .262/.372/.437 and a 113 wRC+. He has a sliver of major league experience and hit well in Triple-A last year with Arizona, slashing .311/.375/.492.

The Cubs could also look outside the organization to the trade market, but the options there may be limited. The Blue Jays are struggling a bit this year and have impending free agent Danny Jansen. He is very talented, something that MLBTR’s Anthony Franco recently highlighted, but the Jays are still in the playoff race. Jeff Passan of ESPN reported this week that the club isn’t planning to commit to either buying or selling until the All-Star break, which is still over a month away. Players like Carson Kelly of the Tigers or Victor Caratini of the Astros could make sense, but like the Jays, those clubs probably want to wait a few more weeks before deciding to sell useful players. Elias Díaz makes sense as a trade candidate on paper but the Rockies are notoriously reluctant to part with players even when logic supports such a move. Martín Maldonado of the White Sox is probably attainable but is playing worse than either Amaya or Gomes this year, with a batting line of .076/.124/.120.

Perhaps the Cubs will wait and see if Gomes or Amaya can put together a good stretch in the next month or so and then move to the trade market if that doesn’t happen. There’s some sense in such a path but also risk. The club is in the thick of an incredibly tight National League playoff race. Atlanta has a pretty firm grip on the top Wild Card spot but there are nine clubs within three games of each other in the battle for the final two. Despite a 31-32 record, the Cubs are atop that pile at the moment but it’s a situation where every game matters. This is something the Cubs know well as they finished 2023 just one game behind the final postseason spot.

Brewers Select James Meeker

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The Brewers announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander James Meeker. Left-hander Aaron Ashby was optioned to Triple-A Nashville in a corresponding move. The club already had a vacancy on its 40-man roster, which is now full.

Meeker makes it to the big leagues for the first time at an unusually old age, as he turned 29 in March. That’s a reflection of his unusual path to get to the majors. He pitched for the University of Delaware through 2018 but didn’t get drafted and headed to the Indy Ball circuit. He bounced around for a few years but impressed the Brewers enough to get a minor league deal late in 2021.

In 2022, he tossed 64 1/3 innings between High-A and Double-A, allowing just 2.38 earned runs per nine frames. He only struck out 21.3% of batters faced but limited walks to a 6.3% clip and got grounders on roughly half the balls that opponents put in play.

Last year, the results were fairly similar. He tossed 93 innings over 36 appearances in Double-A and Triple-A, including eight starts in an ill-fated move to the rotation. Despite some poor results in those starts, he still finished the year with a 3.39 ERA, 20.6% strikeout rate, 3.8% walk rate and lots of grounders again.

Here in 2024, he has again split his time between Double-A and Triple-A. He has 27 innings on the year between those two levels with a 2.67 ERA. His walk rate has jumped to 10.9% but he’s also getting more punchouts, up to 27.3%, while still keeping the ball on the ground. He’ll give the club an extra arm in the bullpen and will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game.

The Brewers have placed Joe Ross and Robert Gasser on the injured list in the past few weeks, thinning their rotation depth. Ashby was recalled a couple of days ago to make a spot start but has quickly been sent down to get a fresh arm onto the big league staff.

Tobias Myers is taking the ball tonight with Freddy Peralta, Bryse Wilson and Colin Rea likely to follow in the days to come. They would need a fifth starter by Tuesday, unless they plan to do some kind of bullpen game. Janson Junk was just optioned recently and there’s a 15-day minimum before he’s allowed to return, unless directly replacing a player going on the IL. Ashby is now in a similar position. Jakob Junis is on a rehab assignment but only tossed two innings in his first outing and may be built up further before being reinstated. Prospect Jacob Misiorowski is pitching well in the minors but hasn’t yet reached Triple-A and isn’t on the 40-man roster.

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