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Archives for February 2025

Reds Looking For Further Rotation Depth

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The Reds have bolstered their pitching staff in several ways this winter, making a qualifying offer to Nick Martinez (which the righty accepted), acquiring Brady Singer from the Royals and also bringing veteran southpaw Wade Miley back for a second stint as he finishes off the rehab from last April’s Tommy John surgery. Even with those additions, Cincinnati is still on the lookout for additional arms to add to its starting pitching mix, reports FanSided’s Robert Murray (video link). The club has been looking to bring someone in on a minor league deal/non-roster invite to camp, but Murray suggests big league deal for one of the remaining free agent arms is at least possible.

Both left-hander Andrew Abbott and top prospect Rhett Lowder are a bit behind schedule thus far in camp for the Reds. Abbott has been on a slower buildup after his 2024 season was truncated by a shoulder strain. Lowder had some elbow soreness pop up during his offseason throwing last month.

Neither Abbott nor Lowder is believed to be dealing with any kind of serious injury, but having a pair of rotation hopefuls behind schedule isn’t an ideal way to start camp. That’s especially true given the lengthy injury history of fellow starter Nick Lodolo, who dealt with shoulder troubles as a prospect before landing on the 60-day IL due to back and hamstring injuries in his first two MLB seasons in 2022-23. Lodolo avoided the 60-day IL in 2024 but was place on the 15-day IL on four occasions owing to calf, groin and finger injuries.

At present, the Reds’ rotation is fronted by Hunter Greene, with Singer, Martinez and Lodolo all but assured spots. Abbott would be the lead candidate for the other rotation spot if healthy by Opening Day; he posted 138 innings of 3.72 ERA ball last year, pushing his career totals to 247 1/3 innings with a 3.78 ERA, 22.4% strikeout rate and 9.2% walk rate. The 2021 second-rounder has started 46 games for the Reds over the past two seasons and generally looks to have solidified his place on the starting staff.

Other rotation candidates for the Reds include Graham Ashcraft, Carson Spiers and Lyon Richardson. All three are on the 40-man roster. Ashcraft has had rotation opportunities in three different big league seasons but hasn’t truly cemented himself as a starter in any of them. He’s also coming off a rough 2024 where he was limited to 77 1/3 big league frames due to pain in his right elbow. Spiers has a nice Triple-A track record, but the 27-year-old has been tagged for a 5.64 ERA in 103 2/3 MLB frames. Richardson has been torched in a much smaller MLB sample (18 runs in 17 1/3 innings) but posted decent results in Triple-A last year.

Connor Phillips is also on the 40-man roster, but he’s coming off an 8.01 ERA in 19 Triple-A starts during which he walked more than 15% of his opponents. Top prospect Chase Petty isn’t on the 40-man but held his own in the upper minors last year (4.20 ERA, 22.4 K%, 10.2 BB%). If he can continue at that pace or even improve upon it, he’ll probably make his debut at some point in 2025.

The free agent market has been largely picked over, but veterans Jose Quintana, Kyle Gibson, Lance Lynn and Spencer Turnbull are all unsigned. Old friends Anthony DeSclafani and Alex Wood are seeking rebound efforts and stand as potential NRI candidates.

Poll: Who Will Be The Cubs’ Fifth Starter?

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As Spring Training gets underway, teams routinely find themselves dealing with unfortunate surprise injuries that can force a change in plans. That may prove to have been the case for the Cubs when presumed fifth starter Javier Assad was diagnosed with an oblique issue at the outset of camp. Given that the strain Assad is reportedly suffering from is mild, he hasn’t been ruled out for Opening Day. With that being said, The Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma discussed the club’s rotation outlook yesterday and suggested that the Cubs may not push Assad to be ready for Opening Day.

If Assad were to open the season on the injured list, that would leave the door wide open for another player to take that final rotation spot, and even if he’s healthy Assad seems to be less firmly locked into the rotation than Shota Imanaga, Justin Steele, Jameson Taillon, or Matthew Boyd. Fortunately for the Cubs, they have the starting pitching depth necessary to cover for Assad if he’s injured and consider other options even in the event that he’s healthy. Though they’ll only need two starting pitchers for their two-game set against the Dodgers in Tokyo that predates the normal start of the regular season, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Cubs wanted to have a good idea of what their rotation was going to look like entering that first series of the year.

If he’s healthy, Assad remains easy to bet on for the job. After all, the right-hander delivered 29 solid starts for the Cubs in 2024, pitching to a 3.73 ERA in 147 innings of work. Those are fairly impressive numbers for a back-end starter, but it’s worth noting they also come with notable red flags: Assad wore down badly throughout the year after a hot start, with a 4.84 ERA from June onward and an ugly 6.86 ERA down the stretch in September last year. In addition to those deep struggles later in the season, the right-hander also posted lackluster peripherals with a 4.64 FIP, a strikeout rate of just 19.4%, and a hefty 9.9% walk rate. That’s one of the 10 worst seasons by K-BB% and one of the 15 worst seasons by FIP in all of baseball last year among pitchers with as many innings as Assad.

Should Assad’s combination of spring injuries and second-half struggles give the Cubs enough pause to turn to someone else on Opening Day, it’s possible that offseason addition Colin Rea could be the first to get the call. Rea, 34, signed with the Cubs last month on a one-year, $5MM pact. The righty had a brief stint with the Cubs during the shortened 2020 season, but spend the past two seasons in Milwaukee as a back-end starter for the Brewers. The right-hander posted a 4.40 ERA and 4.82 FIP in 58 appearances over the past two seasons, 42 of which were starts.

Rea posted a higher FIP (4.75) and a lower strikeout rate (18.9%) than even Assad did last year, but he made up for that gap in effectiveness with volume. Rea posted 167 2/3 innings of work for the Brewers last year between 27 starts and five relief appearances, and showed the ability to pitch deep into games as he did so with 19 starts lasting longer than five innings, 11 of which went at least six and five of which saw him pitch into the seventh inning. That ability to pitch into the seventh sets Rea apart from his competitors, as all of the other pitchers mentioned who started an MLB game in the majors last year combined for just two seven-inning starts in 2024. Rea is also notable as the only pitcher discussed here who is both already on the 40-man roster and cannot be optioned to the minor leagues, meaning he’s all but assured a spot in either the Opening Day rotation or bullpen so long as he’s healthy.

While Assad and Rea may be the frontrunners for the job, there are certainly other options worth considering. Chief among those may be right-hander Ben Brown, who stepped into a rotation role with the Cubs early last year and looked good doing so. Brown’s rookie campaign saw him post a 3.58 ERA and 3.11 FIP with an excellent 28.8% strikeout rate. Those are fantastic numbers for any pitcher, but it’s particularly impressive for a 24-year-old getting his feet wet in the majors for the first time.

Unfortunately, Brown’s debut season was limited to just 55 1/3 innings in total, as he was shut down in June due to what Sharma reports turned out to be an osteoma, which is a benign tumor made of bone growing on an existing piece of bone. Brown appears to be healthy and ready to go for the 2025 season and is likely the pitcher with the highest upside the Cubs could turn to for their final rotation job, but his lack of big league experience and long layoff could make the club hesitant to immediately plug him into the rotation.

Another legitimate contender for the role could be southpaw Jordan Wicks, the club’s first-rounder from the 2021 draft and a former top-100 prospect. Wicks has yet to find success at the big league level in 80 2/3 innings of work across 18 appearances (17 starts), with a 5.02 ERA and a nearly matching 5.05 FIP. Like Brown, Wicks also missed much of the 2024 season due to injuries which, in his case, consisted of forearm and oblique issues. That combination of big league struggles and injury history seem to suggest the 25-year-old might be best suited to start the season at Triple-A, but his peripheral numbers were quite strong last year before he got bit by the injury bug as demonstrated by his 25.9% strikeout rate against an 8.3% walk rate in five starts before hitting the IL for the first time.

The aforementioned quartet aren’t the only plausible options, but they’re by far the most likely. Top prospect Cade Horton is a potential front-of-the-rotation arm who would be an exciting addition to the club’s staff, but he suffered a lost season in 2024 due to a subscapularis strain and is all but certain to get more reps in at Triple-A before making the jump to the majors. Non-roster invitees Brad Keller and Chris Flexen are veteran depth pieces who have served as viable back-end starters in recent years, but Keller appears to be getting work in as a reliever this spring while Flexen offers a similar profile to Rea but with lesser results and no guaranteed contract. Nate Pearson was discussed as a potential starting option over the offseason but has success in relief with the Cubs last year pitched just one inning of relief in his first spring appearance.

Who do MLBTR readers think the Cubs will turn to in order to round out the rotation? Will Assad return healthy and effective from his oblique issue to lock down the role? Will the club prioritize Rea due to volume and roster considerations, or go with a higher-upside pitcher like Brown or perhaps Wicks? Have your say in the poll below:

Salary Details For Several Minor League Deals

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Every offseason, the primary focus for baseball fans is on trades and free agent activity. Naturally, major league free agent signings garner the majority of the attention and generate the most buzz. Minor league signees come with less fanfare, typically with good reason. They tend to be older veterans who are looking to extend their playing careers or perhaps younger names looking to rebound from an injury or a disappointing showing the prior season (sometimes the prior few seasons).

As spring training progresses, we’re seeing an uptick in minor league signings. Free agents who’ve lingered on the market and felt their leverage in negotiations dry up begin to concede and accept non-guaranteed pacts to get to camp in hopes of winning a roster spot.

Salary details for minor league signees isn’t as prominently reported on as it is for players signing guaranteed big league deals. The Associated Press just published a list of free agent signings throughout the winter, including within salary details for a handful of (mostly) recent minor league signings. Many of the salaries reported by the AP were already known and reflected here at MLBTR, but the report does include more than two dozen previously unreported base salaries for players on minor league deals. Here’s a quick rundown (player salary links point back to prior MLBTR posts detailing that minor league signing):

Blue Jays: Jacob Barnes, RHP, $1.4MM | Ryan Yarbrough, LHP, $2MM

Braves: Curt Casali, C, $1.25MM | Buck Farmer, RHP, $1MM

Brewers: Manuel Margot, OF, $1.3MM | Mark Canha, 1B/OF, $1.4MM

Cubs: Brooks Kriske, RHP, $900K | Travis Jankowski, OF, $1.25MM | Chris Flexen, RHP, $1.5MM

Diamondbacks: Garrett Hampson, INF/OF, $1.5MM | Scott McGough, RHP, $1.25MM

Dodgers: Luis Garcia, RHP, $1.5MM

Giants: Lou Trivino, RHP, $1.5MM

Mariners: Shintaro Fujinami, RHP, $1.3MM | Trevor Gott, RHP, $1.35MM

Padres: Yuli Gurriel, 1B, $1.35MM ($100K higher than initially reported)

Rangers: Nick Ahmed, SS, $1.25MM | Jesse Chavez, RHP, $1.25MM | David Buchanan, RHP, $1.375MM | Kevin Pillar, OF, $1MM

Red Sox: Matt Moore, LHP, $2MM

Royals: Luke Maile, C, $2MM | Ross Stripling, RHP, $1.75MM

White Sox: Brandon Drury, INF/OF, $2MM | Mike Clevinger, RHP, $1.5MM

A few things bear emphasizing. First, this is clearly not a comprehensive list of minor league signings throughout the league — nor is it even a comprehensive list of the listed teams’ non-roster invitees to camp. Secondly, many of these sums are of little consequence to the team. They’re not even guaranteed, after all, and even if a player makes the Opening Day roster and earns the full slate of his minor league salary, most of these salaries aren’t going to carry significant payroll ramifications.

That’s not true across the board, though. For instance, the Rangers are fully intent on remaining under the $241MM luxury tax threshold. At present, RosterResource projects them at $235.7MM of luxury obligations. Opting to select the contract of Buchanan or Chavez rather than allocating those innings to pre-arbitration players who’s being paid at league-minimum levels (or a few thousand dollars north of it) would inch the Rangers’ CBT number forward. They’re not going to hit the tax line even in if they wind up adding multiple NRIs to the actual roster, but selecting their contracts will further narrow the resources president of baseball ops Chris Young will have at his disposal for midseason dealings.

The Red Sox, meanwhile, are effectively seated right at the tax threshold. RosterResource has them with $241.4MM of luxury considerations. Team president Sam Kennedy said after signing Alex Bregman that he expects his team will be a CBT payor in 2025. As things stand, the Sox could duck back under that threshold, but selecting the contract of Moore, Adam Ottavino (also $2MM) or another prominent NRI would further signal ownership’s willingness to return to luxury tax status for the first time since 2022.

There’s probably no getting back under the tax line for the Blue Jays, who currently have a $273.3MM CBT number. However, the front office would presumably like to avoid reaching $281MM in tax obligations, as that’s the point at which Toronto’s top pick in the 2026 draft would be dropped by ten spots. In-season trades will have more of an effect on their tax number than decisions on NRIs like Barnes, Yarbrough, Eric Lauer and others, but it bears mentioning that the Blue Jays are around $8MM shy of what many clubs consider to be the most detrimental impact of straying to deep into CBT waters.

How Will Reds Divide Third Base Playing Time?

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The infield was a big reason for the Reds’ disappointing 2024 season. Regarded as the club’s strength entering Spring Training, it thinned quickly when Matt McLain suffered a shoulder injury and Noelvi Marte was hit with a PED suspension. By the end of camp, the Reds needed to trade for utilityman Santiago Espinal to backfill depth.

Cincinnati infielders hit .243/.313/.409 last season, which ranked 20th in park-adjusted offense. That’s despite a superstar performance at shortstop from Elly De La Cruz. Their .236/.303/.384 slash from the other three infield spots placed fifth from the bottom by measure of wRC+. Only the White Sox, Pirates, Rockies and Angels got less out of those positions.

McLain is back and will be the everyday second baseman, which Cincinnati ensured with the Jonathan India/Brady Singer swap at the beginning of the offseason. De La Cruz is obviously locked in at shortstop. The corner infield is much more up in the air. Signing Austin Hays theoretically allows new manager Terry Francona to bring Spencer Steer back onto the dirt as his primary first baseman. That decision may depend on who’s playing the hot corner, which is arguably the key question for the Reds to sort out this spring.

Jeimer Candelario was the unquestioned starter this time a year ago. Cincinnati inked the switch-hitter to a three-year, $45MM free agent deal. He was coming off a .251/.336/.471 showing between the Nationals and Cubs. That marked Candelario’s third strong season within the last four years. The Reds expected that to continue. Instead, he hit .225/.279/.429 during his first season in Cincinnati. While he connected on 20 homers, he had a career-worst walk rate (5.8%) and on-base percentage. Candelario also graded poorly defensively, leading to a sub-replacement level performance.

Candelario’s roster spot isn’t in jeopardy. His performance was probably impacted by a knee issue through which he played for a good chunk of last season. The Reds wouldn’t have cut bait after one season of a three-year deal even if he’d simply underperformed while at full health. That said, they’re less likely to stick with him as a regular third baseman if he doesn’t turn things around quickly.

That presumably played a role in the Gavin Lux trade. Cincinnati acquired the former top prospect from the Dodgers for outfield prospect Mike Sirota and the 41st pick in the upcoming draft. After missing all of 2023 to an ACL tear, Lux had a league average .251/.320/.383 slash with 10 homers in 487 plate appearances last season. The in-season splits were dramatic. Lux had a terrible first half, caught fire coming out of the All-Star Break, then didn’t hit during L.A.’s World Series run. The second half numbers might hint at a greater offensive ceiling, but he’s nearly 1500 plate appearances into his career and has been an average hitter (.252/.326/.383).

Average offensive production would be an upgrade over what Candelario provided last season. The bigger question is whether Lux can handle third base. He moved off shortstop because of throwing accuracy concerns. Lux didn’t start a game anywhere other than second base last year. He has six career innings as a third baseman from one game in 2021 (in which he made two throwing errors). He hasn’t started a regular season game on the left side of the infield in four years.

Mark Sheldon of MLB.com wrote last week that the Reds intend to move Lux around the infield during Spring Training. He could eventually see time in the outfield as well, though Francona indicated they’d have him solely on the infield at the beginning of camp. Lux and Francona each expressed confidence in his ability to make all the necessary throws, though that’s obviously something he’ll need to continue to prove in games.

Lux has minor league options remaining, but the Reds wouldn’t have given up two decent assets and taken on a $3.325MM arbitration salary if they didn’t expect him playing a key role. He’ll be on the MLB roster. If that’s not as the regular third baseman, he’d bounce around in a utility capacity and potentially work as a designated hitter. Cincinnati’s bench is otherwise heavily right-handed, so Lux’s lefty bat could provide balance.

Marte and Christian Encarnacion-Strand have less established MLB roster spots. They were each highly-touted prospects, Marte in particular, whose stocks tanked in 2024. Marte was banned for the season’s first 80 games after testing positive for Boldenone. He had a terrible second half upon his reinstatement. He hit .210/.248/.301 with a 31% strikeout rate and a meager 3.7% walk percentage over 242 plate appearances. He’ll need to dramatically hone in his plate discipline to tap into the power that made him a top prospect. At 23 years old, he’s far from finished, but it’s tough to see him winning an MLB job out of camp.

Encarnacion-Strand had an impressive half-season in 2023. He hit 13 homers with a .270/.328/.477 slash as a rookie. That earned him the Opening Day first base job last year. His season never really got off the ground. Encarnacion-Strand hit .190 with a .220 OBP over 29 games. A fracture in his right hand sent him to the injured list in early May. He attempted to rehab but required season-ending surgery six weeks later. It’s easy to write last year off as an injury-related anomaly, but he’s an unlikely long-term answer at third base. Prospect evaluators have panned his defense, with most projecting him as a first baseman. Even if he gets back on track offensively, he’s likely to see most of his action at first or DH.

The Reds have a few other third base options — none of whom are likely to push for the job early in the season. Espinal is back as a glove-first infielder. His .247/.300/.348 slash over the past two years points to a utility role. Cincinnati selected Cooper Bowman from the A’s in the Rule 5 draft. He has been a second baseman for most of his career and has 53 professional innings at the hot corner. Even if he sticks on the MLB roster, it’d be in a developmental capacity. Steer and Rece Hinds each played third in the minors but moved off the position for defensive reasons. Prospect Tyler Callihan is on the 40-man roster but has only four career Triple-A games.

How will the Reds divvy up playing time at the hot corner this season?

 

The Opener: Nationals, Blanco, Effross

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As Spring Training continues, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. Nationals 40-man move incoming:

The Nationals reportedly agreed to a new deal with right-hander Kyle Finnegan yesterday after non-tendering him back in November. However, the one-year, $6MM pact is not yet official. In order for the deal to become official, the Nationals will have to create a space on their 40-man roster for Finnegan. The Nats have already put both Josiah Gray and Mason Thompson on the 60-day injured list this spring, and have no other obvious candidates to miss the first two months of the season. Given that, they’ll likely need to designate a player for assignment or work out some sort of minor trade in order to clear a roster spot for Finnegan. That transaction is likely to come in the near future, as the club will surely want to get Finnegan into camp as soon as possible.

2. Blanco undergoes MRI:

Royals outfielder Dairon Blanco was scratched from the club’s spring lineup earlier this week due to soreness in his right Achilles tendon. According to MLB.com’s Anne Rogers, initial x-rays came back showing nothing of particular concern, but Kansas City still sent Blanco for an MRI exam yesterday. Those results figure to be available as soon as today, at which point a timeline for Blanco’s return to baseball activities can be established. The soon to be 32-year-old slashed .258/.308/.392 in 88 games for the Royals last year and currently appears likely to serve as Kyle Isbel’s platoon partner in center field for Kansas City this season. Should Blanco miss significant time, Joey Wiemer or Drew Waters could be tapped to step into that role instead.

3. Effross to undergo testing:

Yankees right-hander Scott Effross has struggled to stay on the field since being acquired from the Cubs at the 2022 trade deadline for righty Hayden Wesneski (who later went on to be part of the Kyle Tucker trade this offseason). Effross, 31, has appeared in just 16 games since first donning a Yankees uniform. Tommy John surgery shut him down in 2022, and back surgery kept him out for the majority of the 2024 campaign. The righty has managed just 74 2/3 innings of work in the majors but has been excellent when healthy, with a 2.89 ERA and 2.86 FIP for his career.

A healthy Effross would be a key part of New York’s bullpen, but unfortunately the injury bug appears to have bitten him again. According to Greg Joyce of the New York Post, Effross left his most recent spring appearance after throwing just one pitch yesterday due to what Aaron Boone described to reporters (including Joyce) as a hamstring issue. Effross is set to undergo testing to determine the severity of the problem, but anything more than a mild strain could rule the righty out for Opening Day.

Facing My Heroes: The Day I Struck Out Ichiro Suzuki Twice

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Editor’s Note: Brandon Beachy had a relatively brief but highly memorable career, rising from undrafted free agent to a key — at times overpowering — member of the Braves’ rotation. Injuries derailed Beachy’s career, but he retired with a 14-12 record and 275 2/3 innings of 3.36 ERA ball under his belt. Beachy was at his best from 2010-12, when he made 41 starts with a pristine 3.07 ERA and plus strikeout/walk rates alike. Nearly two years ago to the day, Brandon was kind enough to take some time to host a chat with MLBTR readers. We’ve asked him about contributing some occasional writing for the site, and we’re thrilled that he’s taken us up on the offer.

A couple of years ago, I did a Q&A with readers that MLBTR owner Tim Dierkes said was well received. He asked if I’d be interested in doing some writing, and after a little consideration, I figured I’d give it a shot. We’ll see how it goes.

For my first piece, I want to talk about what it was like to face one of baseball’s greatest hitters: Ichiro Suzuki. As an undrafted free agent signing with the Atlanta Braves in 2008, I worked my way through the minors and made my Major League debut in September 2010. I had some success but unfortunately dealt with multiple elbow injuries that ultimately ended my career sooner than I’d hoped. Still, I had some incredible experiences, and facing Ichiro on June 27, 2011, is one of the most memorable.

Preparation

I want to set the scene by briefly describing my process and preparation. The day after my starts I would come in early, get my flush running in, and get into the gym. I’d then go through yesterday’s start pitch by pitch. Roger McDowell was very influential on me. The results mattered of course, but some of my toughest self-scouting days came after quality starts or even scoreless outings. I had days where I felt I had just gotten lucky after executing rather poorly. I would track all my fastballs and how often I hit my spot. I believed in the long run that process-oriented approach would yield the results I wanted in the long run.

Day 2 is when I started looking ahead at my next opponent. I’d look over their roster, see who was hot at the time, and dive into their numbers a little bit. I wanted to know two things on each hitter:

  1. What and where (i.e. pitch type, location) did they struggle that could be a putaway opportunity for me?
  2. Against which pitch type and where within the zone did they do their damage?

Balancing this with pitching to your own strengths was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed this side of the competition.

The First At-Bat (YouTube link)

Back to June 27, 2011. I was throwing to Brian McCann, one of the best catchers a young pitcher could ask for. Mac was huge comfort blanket for me. He knew the hitters inside and out and was extremely perceptive to hitters’ swings and subtle changes.

Ichiro was leading off, and I started with a fastball up in the zone. He flared it foul down the left-field line. I was a four-seam, high-spin-rate guy before that became a widely discussed metric. I typically attacked hitters with my fastball early and often.

I missed with my next fastball to even the count at 1-1. I went back at him with another fastball, 93 mph, a little over the plate. He fouled it off. I got away with these a lot early in games especially. McCann had relayed things hitters had told him about my fastball just having a little extra gear than it appeared. McCann was great at using this to get me into favorable counts, and I trusted his guidance.

By this point, I thought Ichiro had a read on me—he knew what I was throwing and was adjusting accordingly, it seemed. Looking back I don’t think he ever started cheating to get to the fastball. He would’ve been content wasting them away all night long.

Next, I threw a well-located 95 mph fastball down and away. Ichiro was one of the best ever at this, and wasted another good pitch, just fouling them off instead of taking the strike. So McCann called for a changeup, a great pitch on the outer part of the plate. Ichiro appeared fooled by it but recognized it enough to keep his hands back, on plane and fouled it off to the right side.

Then came one of my favorite pitches of my entire career. McCann doubled up on the changeup here. After the way he kept his hands back on the last one I knew it couldn’t be the same. Mac set up on the chalk of the right-handed batter’s box to help illustrate this to me.

I threw a four seam changeup to match the spin of my fastball. I worked daily to try to stay perfectly behind this pitch so that it would mimic the fastball exactly. On this next pitch I intentionally got way inside of the ball, running it left to right out into the other batter’s box. Ichiro swung and missed. It was a huge moment—a small victory in the battle against one of the toughest outs in baseball.

The Second At-Bat (YouTube link)

In the third inning, we were up 1-0 with two outs and nobody on—an ideal time to face a hitter of Ichiro’s caliber. I started him off hard away, and again, he fouled it off, clearly tracking my fastball well. I missed off the edge with another fastball, bringing the count to 1-1.

McCann went back to the changeup. I threw a good one down and away, but Ichiro did what he does best—he kept his hands back just long enough to barrel it up and shoot it up the middle for a single. He was never the type of hitter who needed perfect timing; his ability to adjust mid-swing was second to none. This “good” pitch played into his hands well.

The Third At-Bat (YouTube link)

By the fifth inning, the game was tied, and I had a runner on third with two outs. The stakes were higher. After inducing a pop out for the second out, Mac visited the mound before Ichiro came to the plate. He was great in these settings. Always incredibly encouraging and helping me focus. A lot of times he would just ask what I wanted for first pitch, which is what I think was discussed here. I missed up with a fastball to start, then threw another over the plate that he swung through. Looking back, I can now see that I don’t think Ichiro had been on my fastball all day. He’d fouled them off repeatedly, but with glancing blows, not square dangerous swings.

At a 1-1 count, McCann called for another changeup, but he set up way outside, almost in the other batter’s box recalling the pitch I had struck him out on in the first inning. I again got way inside the release of it, and it ran sharply to the right and out of the zone. Ichiro, recognizing changeup, committed to the pitch expecting one like he had singled last at bat — swung and missed. Now I was ahead 1-2.

Then McCann made the call that sealed it. Instead of another changeup, he called for a slider down and in—a pitch Ichiro hadn’t seen yet. I threw a good one, and he swung over the top as it bounced into the dirt. Strike three. I got out of the inning unscathed, thanks to McCann’s pitch calling and conviction in the way he set up. These nonverbal cues put me at ease giving me not just the pitch he wanted and the location, but the purpose behind it.

The Takeaway

Earlier that year, I sat with Chipper Jones and a group of hitters, probably McCann included. Chipper was always generous with his time, and he’d invited me to always listen in and would even tailor conversations to help me understand from a pitcher’s perspective. One thing he told me stuck: “Maybe one or two guys in each lineup are truly thinking the game—picking pitches, playing chess at the plate.” The rest just go execute against. Ichiro was definitely one of those guys.

Facing a legend like Ichiro was an incredible challenge. He wasn’t just reacting to pitches—he was playing the chess game at an elite level. Early in the game, he wasn’t selling out for my fastball; he was waiting for something off-speed. Striking him out twice in the same game felt surreal, but it came down to a combination of sequencing, execution, and trust in my catcher.

Looking back, moments like these are what made my time in the big leagues so special. Sitting in the dugout after the game, icing my arm, I couldn’t help but think, I just struck out Ichiro Suzuki twice. It was one of those “I can’t believe I’m here” moments that I’ll always cherish.

Baseball is full of small battles within the larger game. Sometimes, you win those battles, and sometimes you don’t. In this instance, I believe I benefited from giving up what was ultimately a harmless single in the 3rd inning. Striking a pro hitter out is always a good feeling. Fooling someone or overpowering them are fun. My favorites though were times like these with Ichiro, where I gave them what I believe they wanted and used their aggression and wits against them.

After my playing career ended, I decided to bet on myself again—this time in business ownership through franchising. I wanted control over my time after years of being told where to be and when. Franchising was the right fit for me, and I believe it’s a great path for many athletes making the transition, as well as anyone looking for a new opportunity.

Now, while running my own business, I also help others navigate franchising as a consultant—a guide, coach, and advocate for those exploring their next step. My service is free, and I’m always happy to talk franchising, baseball, or anything in between. Feel free to reach out at Brandon@whatsnextfranchising.com.

Rangers Notes: Rocker, Eovaldi, Langford

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Rangers righty Kumar Rocker made his Spring Training debut today against the Royals. The results weren’t good — he allowed four runs in his inning of work — but that’s inconsequential this early in camp.

As Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News writes, manager Bruce Bochy and GM Chris Young have left open the possibility for Rocker to break camp. That might require an injury elsewhere in the rotation, however, as it seems Rocker enters Spring Training sixth on the depth chart. Texas has a veteran top four: Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, Tyler Mahle and Jon Gray. The fifth spot could come down to a battle between Rocker and left-hander Cody Bradford — with the latter potentially having the leg up.

“We’re going to see where we come out of camp, where we are from a medical standpoint, who’s healthy, how guys have thrown the ball, but (Rocker is) certainly one that is in our plans,” Young said. “We just can’t tell you exactly how at this point.” The third overall pick in the 2022 draft, Rocker earned a brief debut last September. He started three games, allowing six runs (five earned) through 11 2/3 innings. The 6’5″ righty recorded 14 strikeouts with an excellent 13.3% swinging strike rate. It’s an exceedingly small sample, but he looks capable of missing bats at the highest level.

Rocker averaged 96 MPH on his heater, while opponents had few answers for his slider. The latter pitch may already be one of the game’s top breaking balls. Baseball America graded the slider as a plus-plus offering (70 on the 20-80 scale) while ranking Rocker among their top 20 prospects. The 25-year-old will certainly be a factor at some point this season, though it remains to be seen how the Rangers want to handle his workload. Rocker underwent Tommy John surgery in 2023 and has all of 19 professional appearances under his belt. He has tallied fewer than 30 innings between Double-A and Triple-A. Rocker carved up minor league hitters upon returning from the surgery, working to a 1.96 ERA with 55 strikeouts in 36 2/3 frames over 10 appearances.

The 27-year-old Bradford has almost the polar opposite approach. He’s a soft-tossing lefty who relies on a plus changeup and elite command. Despite lacking huge stuff, Bradford turned in a 3.54 ERA with a solid 22.7% strikeout rate over 76 1/3 innings last season. A back injury cost him three months, but he was a quietly productive starter when healthy. Both Rocker and Bradford have minor league options remaining. While Dane Dunning remains on hand as well, he’s likelier to pitch in long relief after a rough ’24 season.

There’s no doubt about Eovaldi’s role. He’ll be back in the top half of the rotation after re-signing on a three-year, $75MM free agent deal. The 13-year MLB veteran has been incredibly consistent, turning in a sub-4.00 ERA in five straight seasons. That hasn’t stopped him from using exhibition play to tinker with his arsenal.

Eovaldi told reporters last week that he has been working on a two-seam fastball throughout the offseason (link via Kennedi Landry of MLB.com). The righty confirmed that he used it a few times in his Spring Training debut on Friday against Kansas City. Brooks Baseball tracked five of his pitches as sinkers (which is the two-seam fastball) over two innings. Eovaldi has had a five-pitch mix for most of his career: four-seam, splitter, cutter, curveball and a slider that he only throws against right-handed hitters. He told Landry and other reporters that he’ll continue to work on the two-seam, which he wants to run up and in against righty batters to keep them off the splitter lower in the zone.

One player who has yet to get his exhibition season underway: second-year left fielder Wyatt Langford. Jeff Wilson of DLLS Sports was among those to report last week that Langford was being held back from baseball activities for a few days after being diagnosed with a mild oblique strain. Bochy maintained that the Rangers consider this a minor setback and anticipate that Langford will be ready for Opening Day. He’ll look to build off a solid rookie season in which he hit .253/.325/.415 with 16 homers across 557 plate appearances.

JB Bukauskas To Undergo Season-Ending Lat Surgery

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Brewers reliever JB Bukauskas will undergo lat surgery, reports Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. The procedure comes with a 9-10 month recovery timeline, so it’ll end his season.

Bukauskas was in camp as a non-roster invitee after Milwaukee outrighted him off the 40-man last month. The 28-year-old righty spent most of last season on the 60-day injured list. He tossed six innings of one-run ball. A lat injury sent him to the IL in the middle of April and wound up being a season ender. That unfortunately flared up yet again in camp and will cost him the entire ’25 campaign.

A 2017 first-round pick, Bukauskas has made 33 major league appearances between three teams. He has a 5.04 earned run average over 30 1/3 innings. He has gotten grounders on an impressive 53.2% of batted balls, but injuries have prevented him from carving out a consistent bullpen role. Within the past few years, Bukauskas has lost time to an elbow strain, a teres major (shoulder) injury, and multiple significant lat issues.

Since he is not on the 40-man roster, Bukauskas will spend the year on the minor league IL. He’ll qualify for minor league free agency next winter, when he’ll hopefully get healthy and look to catch on somewhere with a non-roster Spring Training invite.

The Long-Term Catching Trade Market

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For teams looking for help behind the plate, free agency hasn’t been much help lately. As shown in MLBTR’s Contract Tracker, last winter’s biggest deal went to Mitch Garver. The Mariners gave him $24MM with the plan of making him a primary designated hitter. Apart from him, Victor Caratini topped the class with $12MM. This offseason, Kyle Higashioka led the pack with $13.5MM.

Next winter’s class could be better, but probably not significantly so. J.T. Realmuto has been one of the better backstops in the game in the past decade but will be 35 years old by the start of the 2026 season. He also might just re-sign with the Phillies. Danny Jansen could have a bounceback on his one-year deal with the Rays this season, but he will still have a checkered injury history and a dismal 2024 campaign tamping down interest. Jose Trevino will draw interest from his excellent defense but he doesn’t hit much.

The 2026-27 class has some potentially attractive options in Alejandro Kirk, Ryan Jeffers, Tyler Stephenson and Jonah Heim, but they’ve all had inconsistent careers, so it’s anyone’s guess how they’ll look two seasons from now.

The trade market seems to be far more interesting as the current prospect pipeline is loaded with catchers. Baseball America’s Top 100 list features 11 backstops. The FanGraphs list has 16, MLB Pipeline 14, ESPN 12 and Keith Law of The Athletic 15.

Not all prospects work out and some of these catchers will end up getting moved to a corner position. But with many of these clubs already having a controllable backstop in the big leagues, future logjams are distinctly possible. Teams these days are generally fine having two catchers in a timeshare, but guys can still get squeezed onto the trade block. Gabriel Moreno didn’t have a path to playing time in Toronto a few years ago and got flipped to the Diamondbacks. Atlanta made Sean Murphy their primary catcher and sent William Contreras to Milwaukee. The Red Sox recently included Kyle Teel in the Garrett Crochet trade, presumably because they feel good about Connor Wong holding down the position for the next four years. The Yankees have Austin Wells, which allowed them to send Agustín Ramírez to the Marlins in the Jazz Chisholm Jr. trade.

Let’s take a look at some other clubs who could theoretically make a catcher available in the coming years, depending on how things develop. This list is subjective, so feel free to cook me in the comments if I missed one that you like. Teams sorted alphabetically.

Braves

As mentioned, Atlanta felt good enough about Murphy that they were willing to let Contreras go. They also made a big bet on Murphy by signing him to a six-year, $73MM extension shortly after acquiring him. The first year of the deal was excellent but Murphy’s results tailed off significantly in 2024, which has been a source of frustration for Atlanta fans as Contreras has thrived in Milwaukee.

Murphy now has footsteps behind him, as Drake Baldwin is considered one of the top catching prospects in the league. He’s already knocking on the door of the majors, having played in 72 Triple-A games last year. He walked in 15.6% of his plate appearances at that level while striking out just 16.2% of the time and hitting 12 home runs. His .298/.407/484 slash translated to a 135 wRC+.

With four years and $60MM left on the Murphy deal, plus a $15MM club option for 2029, Atlanta could look to flip Murphy and open a path for Baldwin. Though Murphy will have to bounce back in order to make that a possibility. If they can’t find good value on a Murphy deal, then perhaps Baldwin could follow Contreras and be the next catching prospect traded out of Atlanta. In either case, Chadwick Tromp currently projects as the backup to whoever the long-term #1 is.

Brewers

As mentioned, William Contreras has been thriving since being traded to Milwaukee. He has slashed .285/.366/.462 for a 128 wRC+ over the past two years. His previously-maligned defense has improved significantly. He is controlled via arbitration through 2027. The backup job will likely go to Eric Haase this year, with Jorge Alfaro in camp as a non-roster invitee.

They also have Jeferson Quero, one of the top catching prospects in the league, knocking on the door. Though he’s only 22 years old now, he likely would have made his major league debut last year as a 21-year-old if it weren’t for a bite from the injury bug. In 2022, Quero appeared in 90 Double-A games as a 20-year-old. He started 2024 at Triple-A but suffered a subluxation in his right shoulder in the first game of the season. That led to surgery to address a torn labrum, wiping out the remainder of the campaign.

If he can stay healthy in 2025, Quero should be lurking in Triple-A. After missing essentially an entire season, the Brewers will probably want to keep him there for a while to get back into game shape. However, he’s already been on the 40-man for over a year now and is down to two option seasons. With Contreras under club control for three more seasons, things might get tight over time.

Cardinals

As part of their 2025 reset, the Cardinals are moving on from Willson Contreras as their catcher. Despite signing him to a big five-year deal, they never seemed to like his work behind the plate and even moved him off the position for a time in 2023. It seems they hoped to trade him this winter but he wasn’t willing to waive his no-trade clause, so he’ll move to first base instead, likely seeing time at designated hitter as well.

That will allow Iván Herrera and Pedro Pagés to get the playing time this year. Herrera has been a top ten prospect in the Cards’ system for years. He’s hit .263/.389/.437 in the minors over the past four years for a 121 wRC+. He finally got some decent big league playing time last year and responded with a .301/.372/.428 line and 127 wRC+. Pagés doesn’t have the same prospect pedigree but is a solid defender and fine secondary catcher.

Herrera have five seasons of club control and Pagés six. The Cards also have a borderline top 100 catching prospect in Jimmy Crooks. A fourth-round pick from 2022, he played 90 games at Double-A last year, meaning he should be slated for Triple-A work in 2025. Of the aforementioned top 100 lists, only FanGraphs had him on there, but that outlet described him as “a glove-first catcher who does enough on offense to be the primary guy.”

Cubs

Going into 2025, the Cubs are are slated to have Miguel Amaya and Carson Kelly as their catching duo. Amaya was once a notable prospect himself. Held back by some injuries, he is now out of options but seems to have solidified himself as a capable big leaguer. He’ll turn 26 in March and still has five years of club control remaining. Kelly is a solid veteran who just signed a two-year deal with the Cubbies this offseason.

Hanging around below them will be Moisés Ballesteros. He has hit .279/.366/.452 for a 128 wRC+ in his minor league career thus far. That includes 68 games at the Triple-A level last year, when he was just 20 years old.

His defense isn’t as highly rate as his offense, however. He has played some first base on the farm and there are those who feel he is destined to end up there. But he’s also only 21 and has reportedly improved his conditioning. The Cubs have a controllable first baseman in Michael Busch, as well as Seiya Suzuki likely to be the regular designated hitter, so things might get crowded one way or another.

Diamondbacks

As mentioned up top, Gabriel Moreno was squeezed out of playing time with the Jays and got sent to Arizona, where he’s been the primary backstop for the past two years. He’s under club control for another four years. José Herrera is likely to be the backup this year.

The club also has Adrian Del Castillo firmly in the mix. He put up a huge line of .312/.399/.603 in Triple-A last year. Even in the hitter-friendly context of the Pacific Coast League, his 144 wRC+ points to him being well above average. He also got into 25 major league games and hit .313/.368/.525.

His defense isn’t regarded as highly as his bat, so a move to a first base/designated hitter role down the line is possible, though he hasn’t played any first base yet. The Snakes have more of a path to playing time there with Christian Walker and Joc Pederson departing in free agency. They acquired Josh Naylor to cover first but he will hit the open market after the upcoming season.

Dodgers

The Dodgers have had Will Smith as their primary catcher for a while and it doesn’t seem like that will change anytime soon. About this time last year, he and the club agreed to an extension that will keep him in Los Angeles through 2033. Moving out from behind the plate won’t be possible for a while with Shohei Ohtani locked into the designated hitter spot through 2033. First baseman Freddie Freeman is signed through 2027. The club also has Austin Barnes as the backup, though he’s in the final year of his deal. Hunter Feduccia is on the 40-man and could perhaps take over for Barnes next year.

Hovering around all this is Dalton Rushing, one of the top prospects in the game. He’s hit .273/.410/.520 for a 153 wRC+ in his minor league career, which includes 37 Triple-A games. The Dodgers have given him some playing time at first base and left field to give him a better path to the big leagues. But that is arguably a waste of his skills behind the plate and he might be better utilized headlining a blockbuster trade.

Guardians

Going into 2025, Bo Naylor should be the regular behind the plate in Cleveland. His bat regressed in 2024 but he was still a useful contributor thanks to his defense. He’s under club control for another five years. Glove-first veteran Austin Hedges will be back to serve as Naylor’s partner.

Waiting in the wings is Cooper Ingle. A fourth-round pick from 2023, he has slashed .303/.426/.466 for a 153 wRC+ in his minor league career thus far. That includes 25 Double-A games last year, so getting to Triple-A in 2025 is a distinct possibility.

Ingle was only a part-time catcher at Clemson and is still considered an unfinished project defensively, but he showed enough development in 2024 that prospect evaluators think he’s viable to stick back there. The Guards might be patient with him but he should be ready for the majors well before Naylor is approaching free agency.

Mariners

The Mariners have Cal Raleigh, one of the best catchers in the game today. He can be retained via arbitration through 2027. Mitch Garver and Blake Hunt are candidates to be in the backup spot.

The club also has Harry Ford, one of the top catching prospects in the league. The 12th overall pick from 2021, he’s hit .261/.404/.418 for a 129 wRC+ in his minor league career thus far. He spent all of last year at Double-A, getting into 116 games, and should be in Triple-A this year. He’s also stolen at least 23 bases in each of the past three seasons.

However, his stock is down a bit after a mixed 2024. There are some questions about whether he has the defensive chops to stick behind the plate. He got some time in left field last year and the early reviews weren’t favorable. While his offense has been good overall, he had diminished power in 2024, leaving him as more of an on-base guy. That’s a harder profile to pull off if he moves to an outfield corner or first base.

Marlins

In the short term, the catching situation behind the plate in Miami is rough. Nick Fortes currently projects as the starter despite a career batting line of .222/.275/.344. Liam Hicks, a Rule 5 pick who hasn’t played higher than Double-A, could be the backup.

But in the long term, things look much better. Both Agustín Ramírez and Joe Mack have shown up on top 100 prospect lists. Ramírez got into 68 Triple-A games last year and is already on the 40-man, meaning he may arrive first. He has hit .270/.361/.476 for a 127 wRC+ over the past four years, coming over to the Marlins in the aforementioned Chisholm trade.

Mack was selected 31st overall in 2021 and hit .252/.338/.468 for a 137 wRC+ last year, mostly in Double-A. He’s considered the stronger defender, so perhaps both can exist on the same roster down the road, with Ramírez spending some time at first base and/or designated hitter.

Orioles

It was a bit of a slog for Adley Rutschman in 2024, as his numbers tailed off badly in the second half. But that won’t change the fact that he’s the #1 catcher in Baltimore. The former first overall pick is strong at the plate and behind it, with three years of club control remaining. Gary Sánchez will be supporting him in 2025 after signing a one-year deal.

The question is how Samuel Basallo fits into the picture. He is one of the top prospects in baseball, with each of the aforementioned top 100 lists having him in the top 20. FanGraphs has him fifth overall and Keith Law third. He’s hit .286/.364/.477 for a 134 wRC+ in his minor league career. He just turned 20 years old in August. He spent most of last year at Double-A and also got into 21 Triple-A games.

There are some concerns around Basallo’s defense, which could push him to first base. He did play a bit of first last year, though that was partially due to a stress fracture in his right elbow. Despite being incomplete as a defender, many believe he still has lots of potential behind the plate due to his talent and youth.

Padres

Many in the industry view Ethan Salas as the catcher of the future in San Diego. He doesn’t turn 19 until June but will likely be the club’s regular at Double-A this year. His defense is already considered elite. His offensive numbers have been less impressive but that may be because the Friars have been incredibly aggressive in sending him to levels where he’s far younger than his competition.

Salas coming up and taking the job in the future would only be a problem if Luis Campusano gets back on track. Himself a former hyped-up catching prospect, Campusano seemed to finally break out in 2023 by hitting .319/.356/.491. That gave him plenty of run in 2024 but he responded with a dismal .227/.281/.361 performance. His defense was also poor, making him a sub-replacement level player for the year. The Padres went with Kyle Higashioka and Elias Díaz by the end of the year, leaving Campusano off their playoff roster.

Due to budgetary constraints in San Diego, Campusano should get a chance at redemption in 2025. He projects to share the catching duties with veteran Díaz, who was brought back via a modest deal this offseason. Campusano has less than three years of service time, meaning he can be controlled through 2028 if he gets things going again this year.

Pirates

Going into 2023, the Pirates had both Henry Davis and Endy Rodríguez on Baseball America’s Top 100 list. It seemed possible that two of them would be battling for the future catching job in Pittsburgh, but a lot has changed since then.

Rodríguez made his major league debut in 2023, with good defense but subpar offense. UCL surgery then wiped out his entire 2024 season. Davis didn’t seize the job while Rodríguez was out. He has a massive .290/.409/.535 line in the minors but has hit just .191/.283/.307 against major league pitching. His defense is also considered a tick behind that of Rodríguez.

The Bucs acquired Joey Bart early last season after he had been designated for assignment by the Giants, which turned into a great pickup. Around a couple of IL stints, Bart hit .265/.337/.462 in 80 games for the Pirates last year.

Bart is out of options and should have an Opening Day job locked in. Davis and Rodríguez can still be optioned but neither has much left to prove on the farm. They can also play other positions but Rodríguez seems likely to get a lot of value from his defense behind the plate. Davis hasn’t yet hit enough in the big leagues to justify a corner outfield spot. Jason Delay is also on the 40-man roster, though he’s also optionable. There are still many ways this could all play out but all of these guys are under club control for three more years or longer, so there could be a squeeze down the road.

Royals

The Royals have had Salvador Perez handling most of their catching duties for over a decade now. He’s entering the final guaranteed year of his contract but there’s a $13.5MM club option for 2026 with a $2MM buyout, making it a net $11.5MM decision. As Perez has started spending more time at first base or as the designated hitter, Freddy Fermin has taken a decent chunk of the playing time. He’s under club control through 2029.

The club also has a pair of notable catching prospects on the way, with both Carter Jensen and Blake Mitchell have appeared on some of the aforementioned top 100 lists. Jensen, 21, was a third-round pick in 2021. He’s hit .235/.361/.401 for a 117 wRC+ in his minor league career. There have been questions about his defense but he’s made positive strides there. He appeared in 41 Double-A games last year, so getting to Triple-A in 2025 should be doable with a major league debut not out of the question.

Mitchell, 20, was the eighth overall pick in 2023. He has slashed .226/.374/.405 for a 131 wRC+ in the minors thus far. He only got to High-A for five games late in 2024. His 2025 is also going to be delayed by hamate surgery, so he’s clearly behind Jensen when it comes to near-term MLB readiness.

Perez is about to turn 35 but the Royals seem well positioned to pivot to the next era. Fermin has been a decent complement and can be kept around for another five seasons. With two top prospects on the way, perhaps the Royals might find themselves with a logjam, even without Perez.

Tigers

The Tigers have Jake Rogers as their primary catcher. He’s considered to be above average on defense. His offense is a bit shakier as he strikes out a bunch and doesn’t walk much, but he does have some power, with 31 homers over the past two seasons. He’s under club control through 2026.

There’s a chance Dillon Dingler could push him for some big league playing time. A former notable prospect, Dingler hit just .167/.195/.310 in his first 87 plate appearances at the major league level. However, he’s put up big numbers in the minors before, including a .308/.379/.559 line in Triple-A last year. He has less than a year of service time and still has two minor league options.

Detroit also has two notable catching prospects, as both Thayron Liranzo and Josue Briceño are on some of the aforementioned top 100 lists. Liranzo, 21, was acquired from the Dodgers in the Jack Flaherty deal. There are some questions about his work behind the plate but he has hit .254/.381/.475 for a 137 wRC+ in his minor league career. He spent all of last year at High-A and should be at Double-A in 2025.

Briceño, 20, has hit .283/.367/.439 for a 119 wRC+ in his minor league career. He didn’t catch a ton in 2024 but that was seemingly due to a knee injury as opposed to any concerns about his abilities back there. He got healthy by the end of the year and then went to the Arizona Fall League, putting up a massive .433/.509/.867 slash and winning MVP honors. He hasn’t yet reached the High-A level, so he’s a step or two behind Liranzo.

Rogers is only under club control for another two seasons, but by the time that clock runs out, it’s possible that Dingler, Liranzo and Briceño are all jockeying for position on the depth chart. If a few things go right, it’s possible the Tigers will have more catchers than they need.

White Sox

The White Sox have been aggressively rebuilding for a while now, trading away just about every viable major leaguer on the roster for prospects. Those many trades have returned three notable catching prospects. At the 2023 deadline, they added Korey Lee via the Kendall Graveman trade and Edgar Quero in the Lucas Giolito/Reynaldo López deal. More recently, Kyle Teel was one of the highlight pieces in the Garrett Crochet trade.

Lee, 26, has hit just .188/.227/.313 in his major league career thus far with rough defensive grades to boot. However, he was considered a top 100 guy not too long ago and could get back on track. The Sox should be able to give him lots of runway to try, since near-term competition won’t be possible after their historically bad 2024.

Even if Lee’s prospect shine is gone, the others still have it. Quero, 22 in April, has slashed .280/.397/.452 for a 132 wRC+ in his minor league career. Teel, 23, has hit .301/.404/.444 for a 141 wRC+. Both players have reached Triple-A, with Quero having played 26 games there and Teel 28. Either or both could plausibly be in the majors this year.

Teel is considered a stronger defender than Quero, so perhaps the latter will end up getting pushed out from behind the plate. Or perhaps the Sox will decide that using the trade block to bolster another part of the roster is the best path forward.

D-Backs, Brandon Bielak Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Diamondbacks are in agreement with Brandon Bielak on a minor league contract, reports Ari Alexander of KPRC 2. Bielak elected minor league free agency after being waived by the A’s late last fall.

Bielak has pitched in parts of five MLB seasons as a swingman. He spent the first four-plus years with the Astros, a tenure highlighted by his 3.83 ERA across a career-high 80 innings in 2023. Houston carried the out-of-options righty in their bullpen early last year. He struggled to a 5.71 ERA in 10 appearances, leading the Astros to designate him for assignment. They dealt him to the A’s in a cash trade a few days later.

The A’s only kept Bielak on their roster for nine days. They designated him for assignment themselves and ran him through outright waivers. He stuck with the club in Triple-A, where he allowed over six earned runs per nine in 66 2/3 innings. The A’s brought him back up for a couple weeks in September. He concluded the year with a 5.16 ERA with a well below-average 16.4% strikeout percentage over 29 2/3 MLB frames.

Bielak hasn’t missed many bats in the majors. He has an average 22.5% strikeout rate with a 4.42 ERA in parts of five Triple-A campaigns. He’s versatile enough to work as rotation or long relief depth. Arizona’s rotation is deep, so Bielak’s better path to a roster spot is in the bullpen. Barring a late-offseason trade, Jordan Montgomery is likely to begin the year as the long man for skipper Torey Lovullo.

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