As the 2024 regular season continues, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world headed into the weekend:
1. Lowder to debut:
The Reds are poised to promote their first-round pick from last year’s draft, right-hander Rhett Lowder, to the majors today for a start against the Brewers this evening. Lowder, 22, was a consensus top-60 prospect entering the 2024 campaign and has made good on that ranking with his performance this year. In 108 2/3 innings of work spread across 22 starts and three levels of the minors this season, he’s struck out a strong 25.3% of opponents while walking just 5.4% and posting a solid 3.64 ERA. Since Lowder will be called up to the majors to start the second game of today’s doubleheader (scheduled for 6:40pm local time), the club won’t need to make room for the righty on the active roster as he can simply be appointed as their 27th man for today’s game. Even so, a corresponding move will be necessary to create space on the 40-man roster for Lowder.
2. Angels roster moves incoming:
Lowder isn’t the only prospect set to debut this weekend, as a pair of Angels pitchers are set to be promoted to the big league roster as well: left-hander Samuel Aldegheri and right-hander Caden Dana. Aldegheri, 23 next month, is a native of Verona, Italy who was shipped to Anaheim as part of the return in the deal that brought right-hander Carlos Estevez to Philadelphia at the trade deadline. The lefty has struggled in four starts since joining the Angels organization but now figures to get a taste of big league action opposite Mariners hurler George Kirby (3.48 ERA). Dana, meanwhile, is set to debut on Sunday opposite Mariners youngster Bryce Miller (3.23 ERA). The club’s 11th-round pick in the 2022 draft, Dana has impressed in 135 2/3 innings of work at Double-A this year with a 2.52 ERA and a 27.4% strikeout rate. Both Aldegheri and Dana will require the Halos to make corresponding moves on the 40-man and active rosters prior to their respective starts.
3. Mize returning:
Former first overall pick Casey Mize was off to a solid start with the Tigers this year in his first big league action since 2022 before a hamstring strain sidelined him back in June. Today is the first day he’s eligible to return from the 60-day injured list, however, and while Detroit manager A.J. Hinch would not explicitly confirm their plans regarding the righty’s return to action he told reporters (including Chris McCosky of The Detroit News) that “There’s no way to activate him sooner than Friday. Friday, we don’t have a starter.”
In the seemingly likely event that Mize takes the available start today against the Red Sox, the Tigers will need to clear spots on the 40-man and active rosters in order to accommodate the right-hander’s return. Mize was pitching fairly solidly prior to his injury and should provide a boost to the Tigers rotation upon his return. While his 4.26 ERA was relatively pedestrian (99 ERA+), it’s worth noting that his 3.69 FIP and 4.04 xFIP both suggest that he was pitching better than those results at the time of his injury, although a strikeout rate of just 16.8% is somewhat concerning.
Interested to see Lowder’s big league debut.
I’ll pay for your ticket if you wanna deal with the heat. He’s starting game 2 tonight
Is it a date?
I have a good friend with season tickets so I am already covered but thanks for the offer.
I got rejected 🙁
This one belongs to the Reds, I love that ballpark in Cincy… Just so damn hot there right now. Lived in Dayton area for a while… Live a bit further north on 75 now so I like to go to Cleveland now during the Ohio cup
Not convinced this latest rebuild by Cincinnati is actually gonna even produce a Playoff berth. Rushing Lowder up and risking him getting shelled and never regaining confidence reeks of desperation for a team with a lot of young dudes well into their years of control.
Management reacts with desperation as a general rule rather than actual pre-planning with good roster construction. We have seen this back to the Benson trade where they gave up two recent second round picks right before the season. The free agents they signed the past offseason was a continuation, one of which, Candelario, they didn’t actually need.
A lot of this is to keep the payroll under 100 million for the owner as we saw with the deals at mid-season with no needed adds whatsoever. But a smart GM finds ways to work around obstacles.
Nah the reek of desperation you smell is coming from the Angels side of the article.
@nukeg
Its the last month of a very losing season. Teams out of contention always bring up young players to see how they handle things. But please, go ahead and call the Angels desperate. If they were desperate they would have brought up Dana at least a month ago.
Surprised not to see Amed Rosario placed on waivers by the Reds to open up the 40-man spot for Lowder. With other IF depth including Santiago Espinal and Spencer Steer, there’s really no reason to keep Rosario while the Reds play out the string. Or maybe he’s already on waivers and it’s just not public.
I don’t really disagree with the logic, but why even pick Rosario up in the first place then?
The Reds were still in the NL wildcard mix when they claimed him, just a few games back of the last spot. They’ve done nothing but lose ground since then.
Not to mention that they’ve just lost their top 3 starting pitchers to the IL (Greene, Abbott and Lodolo).
Looks like Rosario remains safe… For now
Nick Krall is desperate to keep his job…
GM’s who do what the Owner tells them to do rarely get fired. As long as he doesn’t spend money that matters he’s got a job. Kind of like Manfred. and the Owners.
I remember last year how the guys picked up on waivers didn’t last until the end of the season. No need to expect it will be any different this time around.
They should unstall turnstiles in that clubhouse.
The Reds fans can cheer louder with Lowder. Change my mind.
Mmmmmk
They might switch from 5-Star Chili to Lowder Chowder.
Time to make Joey the new Manager and or GM and or hitting coach. Now.
Larkin to Manager…GM I dunno but Krall has been unimpressive with his moves including offseason.
Don’t trust Larkin. He shouldn’t even be in the announcers booth.
Must win for tigers today
Don’t look now,, but they’re only 1.5 games behind the Mariners for the third wild card spot! Taking 2 of 3 from Boston would move the Tigers ahead of the BoSox. My expectations are pretty low, but they’ve been playing fun and loose baseball for almost a month. I’m more excited about what the youngsters mean for the future than the prospect of edging into the playoffs.
5 behind Minnesota for the third Wild Card & they can’t tie, they must pass them.
1.5 games behind Boston
1/2 game behind Seattle
You’re right. Bad math on my part.
Still not holding my breath.
Just being in contention this late in the year is good for the youngish. The pressure they face now may be helpful when we finally start to contend.
Must Lose for Seattle, Boston, Minnesota, K.C. & Cleveland everyday.
Let’s be honest about Casey Mize. #1 overall pick. Based on his current resume …. Mize is a bust. He has a chance to rise above that. Just don’t see how he stays healthy enough for that to happen. Joey Bart …. Nick Madrigal …. Nolan Gorman … Jarred Kelenic ….. A whole lot of busts in the 2018 draft.
Not close to a “busy” The average number one pick isn’t a world beater. He has had ok numbers. Plus, it isn’t his fault they drafted him number 1
So Aldegheri is from Verona, Italy, setting of a most famous Shakespeare play. However, it doesn’t say whether he pitched for the Montagues or the Capulets.
Will he turn out to be Romeo, or Juliet?
They both died, so what’s your point?
The point is at the tip of a SABR.
En garde!
Where art thou, my OPS+?
I figure 87 wins is the goal. Must win like 8 of 9 vs white Sox, Oakland, Colorado
Tigers sure could use a healthy Mize and Olson, down the stretch…..
Keeping my fingers crossed for the Motorcitykitties !!
Olson has 0 chance of coming back
In two more years the Tigers can move on from Mize. He won’t ever cost much, and he may get moved before then, but hey. I hope he can help the team while he”s here.
Lowder’s promotion is a calculated move by the Reds, banking on his solid strikeout and walk rates translating to the majors. The Angels’ decision to debut both Aldegheri and Dana this weekend suggests a strategic shift toward evaluating their young arms under real pressure, while Mize’s potential return could be a data point for Detroit—his FIP and xFIP suggest there’s more to his game than the ERA shows, but that low strikeout rate is a red flag that needs addressing.
First season back from TJ (plus back surgery for Mize) is always a crapshoot. See Jack Flaherty in 2023 and Walker Buehler this year about that. More important is whether Mize can put it together next year. He has good velo, but command of the splitter has been off this year. Also has a decent knuckle curve to go with an ok slider. The improved fastball velo and feel for the splitter are keys to his success. Next year we’ll see if he has top-of-the-rotation stuff, bottom-of-the-rotation stuff, or just fringy starter stuff.
Unless Harris uses him as a trade chip.
“Meanwhile” needs to start the sentence. As a conjunctive adverb, it can’t come in the middle between commas.