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Archives for April 2025

MLB Mailbag: Rushing, Phillies, Tucker, Giants, Rockies

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This week's mailbag gets into Dalton Rushing's future with the Dodgers, the Phillies' rotation, Kyle Tucker's earning power, the Giants' offense, the Rockies' potential run at history, and much more.

Matthew asks:

Since they've played Dalton Rushing in the outfield and 1st base, why don't they position him at 3rd? Johnny Bench played 3rd and catchers sometimes make a good transition to that position.

Rushing is said to have "above-average arm strength" and "reliable hands," per Baseball America.  He never did dabble at third base at the University of Louisville, despite spending his first two years there backing up Henry Davis at catcher.  This year at Triple-A, Rushing has spent 102 innings at catcher, 26 at first base, and one in left field.  Rushing did see ample time at both catcher and left in 2024.

It's usually a lack of range that results in a catcher moving to first base rather than third.  BA noted a 28.4 feet per second sprint speed for Rushing in Triple-A last year, so he's faster than most MLB third basemen.  Of course, sprint speed is not range, and I just don't know how Rushing would rate in that regard at third.

Johnny Bench never really did make the transition to third base.  He only topped 319 1/3 innings there once, when he reached 858 2/3 as a 34-year-old in 1982.

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MLBTR Podcast Mailbag: Red Sox, Alonso, Tigers, Tanking, And More!

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to answer your questions, including…

  • Should the Red Sox trade Triston Casas and move Trevor Story to first base when Marcelo Mayer comes up? (1:30)
  • Does Rafael Devers of the Red Sox need a change of scenery? (10:00)
  • Should the Mets extend Pete Alonso now? (12:30)
  • What can the Mets do about their bullpen? (16:40)
  • Should fans of the Tigers temper the excitement or embrace the season as something special? (19:55)
  • Should MLB bring back a livelier ball since hitters seem broadly overmatched by pitchers? (28:30)
  • There have been a lot of historically bad teams in recent years. What can be done to discourage tanking? (39:00)
  • Is there any way that the Braves can trade Jurickson Profar? (52:30)

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Matt Marton, Imagn Images

Braves Release Chasen Shreve

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The Braves recently released Chasen Shreve from his minor league contract (h/t to Matt Eddy of Baseball America). The veteran lefty is again a free agent.

Shreve signed a non-roster deal with Atlanta in January. It was a return to the organization that drafted him in 2010 and with which he made his big league debut more than a decade ago. He received an invite to major league Spring Training but was reassigned to the minors after three appearances. Shreve has worked exclusively in relief as a big leaguer, but he pitched out of the rotation at Triple-A Gwinnett.

The 34-year-old started four of five outings with the Stripers, working four frames in each start. The results weren’t good, as he allowed 15 runs (11 earned) over 17 1/3 innings. He struck out 12 against five walks while allowing 21 hits, three of which left the yard. His fastball averaged what would be a career-low 88.8 MPH, though that’s not all that surprising with the rotation move. His fastball sat around 90 MPH during his relief work last season.

Shreve made one MLB appearance as a member of the Rockies last year. He tossed a scoreless inning. That extended his streak to 11 consecutive years logging some major league action. Shreve spent most of the ’23 season in the big leagues. He combined for 50 appearances between the Tigers and Reds, working to a 4.63 ERA across 44 2/3 frames.

While his big league appearance came with Colorado, Shreve played for a trio of Triple-A affiliates last year. He spent time in the Rangers, Yankees and Rox systems. Shreve turned in a cumulative 2.62 earned run average across 34 1/3 innings. He fanned a strong 26.7% of opponents against a slightly higher than average 9.2% walk percentage. He got swinging strikes at a near-14% clip. That could get him attention on another minor league deal from teams seeking lefty relief depth.

Tigers, Nick Margevicius Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Tigers reached agreement with left-hander Nick Margevicius on a minor league deal, relays Chris McCosky of The Detroit News. The 6’5″ southpaw had been pitching in the Mexican League with the Tecos de los Dos Laredos.

Margevicius, 28, pitched in the majors each season from 2019-21. He suited up with both the Mariners and Padres, combining for a 6.12 earned run average in 110 1/3 innings. He split the following two seasons between the upper levels of the Seattle and Atlanta farm systems. Margevicius signed in Taiwan last year and worked to a 2.82 ERA with 86 strikeouts over 108 1/3 frames. He made the move to Mexico last winter.

The Mexican League is a tough landing spot for a pitcher. Margevicius pitched well over two starts there, though, allowing just two runs in 10 1/3 innings. While he only struck out seven of 42 opponents, he limited free passes (three walks and one hit batter) while managing solid overall results. It was enough to get him back to affiliated ball for the first time since 2023. He’ll look to improve upon a 4.55 ERA in 369 2/3 minor league innings over five seasons.

Jake Diekman Signs With American Association’s Lincoln Saltdogs

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The Lincoln Saltdogs of the independent American Association announced last week that they have signed veteran left-hander Jake Diekman. The southpaw is a Nebraska native and spoke to Chase Matteson of 10/11 News about the homecoming.

“Pitch in front of my family, my friends,” Diekman said, “people who haven’t really watched me pitch in a while, yeah, it’ll be fun.” Diekman also spoke about the opportunity to impart some wisdom to the younger players on the team.

Now 38, Diekman pitched in the majors in each season from 2012 to 2024. He generally found success with a high number of strikeouts, working around a large number of walks. He has logged 602 1/3 innings in the big leagues with a 3.91 earned run average, 28.7% strikeout rate, 13.4% walk rate and 46.9% ground ball rate. He earned 19 saves and 187 holds along the way.

With the Mets last year, his ERA jumped to 5.63 and he was released in August. He stayed unsigned until the winter, when he landed a minor league deal with Atlanta. He was in camp with them as of last month, but they released him ahead of Opening Day.

Diekman has decided to land closer to home. He was born and raised in Wymore, Nebraska, which is about an hour’s drive from Lincoln. The Saltdogs start their season just over a week from now, on May 9th. Perhaps Diekman will pitch well enough to get offers to return to affiliated ball, but he might also be content to be back in his home state and around some familiar faces.

Photo courtesy of Gregory Fisher, Imagn Images.

Paul DeJong Likely Out Until All-Star Break

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Nationals infielder Paul DeJong is on the 10-day injured due to a fractured nose he suffered when an errant pitch hit him in the face. Manager Dave Martinez tells Spencer Nusbaum of The Washington Post that he probably won’t be back until around the All-Star break.

“I think now they said about a month before he can actually do any activities,” Martinez said. “Hopefully we get him back sometime around the All-Star break, but we’ll see. I mean, only time will tell now. So it’s just about healing with him right now.”

It was April 15th when DeJong suffered the aforementioned HBP. As seen in the video from MLB.com, a pitch from Mitch Keller sails up and in and hits DeJong in the face. Though he was able to walk off the field after that scary situation, he was visibly bleeding and had to hold a towel to his face. Last week, Martinez told reporters that DeJong would undergo surgery on his nose, per Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com. Per Jon Heyman of The New York Post, that surgery would take place on April 28th, repairing his sinuses and orbital plate.

In the wake of that surgery, it seems DeJong is still a month away from getting back in any kind of action. Assuming that comes to pass, he’ll spend the month of June ramping up activities before going out on a rehab assignment, which could put him in line to return at some point in July.

The Nationals likely signed DeJong with the hope of trading him midseason. DeJong was flipped prior to the deadline in each of the past two seasons. The Cardinals traded him to the Blue Jays in 2023, getting minor league righty Matt Svanson in return, though his performance tanked with Toronto. He was released, landed with the Giants, struggled some more and was released again. He bounced back with the White Sox last year and was traded to the Royals, with the Sox netting right-handed pitching prospect Jarold Rosado in the swap.

Washington wrapped up its fifth straight losing season in 2024, with no clear short-term answer at third base. Prospect Brady House is the hopeful long-term answer, though he struggled in his first taste of Triple-A in 2024. The Nats signed DeJong to a one-year, $1MM deal this winter. Ideally, he could have played well for a few months, enough to be traded again. At that point, perhaps House would have been able to take over for the second half.

Things haven’t gone according to that script thus far. DeJong hit .204/.246/.278 through his first 57 plate appearances, striking out in 42.1% of them. With this injury absence, he won’t have too much time to improve that line before the July 31st trade deadline. Even though he’s had modest trade value in recent years, his performance has been highly volatile. He has a 32.1% strikeout rate dating back to the start of 2023. He has 38 home runs in that time but his combined .217/.266/.387 line leads to a 79 wRC+.

Since DeJong hit the IL, José Tena has been the regular at the hot corner. He’s hit .286/.302/.381 for a wRC+ of 88 this year. It wouldn’t be a shock to see House called up at some point, as he’s hitting .297/.363/.485 for a 127 wRC+ in Triple-A this year. On the other hand, his .400 batting average on balls in play will surely come down and he’s striking out in 29.2% of his plate appearances.

Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images

Mets’ Danny Young May Require Tommy John Surgery

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Tommy John surgery is on the table for Mets reliever Danny Young, manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters (including Tim Healey of Newsday). The Mets placed the left-hander on the 15-day injured list this afternoon with an elbow sprain.

The team hasn’t made the final determination, but Young is in for an extended absence. An elbow sprain involves at least some degree of ligament stretching or tearing. The damage is sufficient enough that it may require surgical repair, though it stands to reason that Young will go for multiple opinions before making a decision of that magnitude. If he does go under the knife, he’d not only miss the rest of this season but the majority of next year as well.

Young signed a minor league deal with New York during the 2023-24 offseason. They selected his contract that April. He has held his 40-man roster spot since then. Young worked as an up-and-down reliever throughout the ’24 season. He worked to a 4.54 ERA over a career-high 37 2/3 big league frames. That was Young’s final option year. The Mets have needed to keep him in the big leagues this season. He’s pitched 10 times, allowing five runs (four earned) with a strong 13:3 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He’s collected four holds.

A.J. Minter and Young have been the only left-handers in Mendoza’s bullpen this season. Within the past few days, they’ve each not only gone on the injured list but are facing potential season-ending absences. Minter sustained a severe lat strain over the weekend and is weighing potential surgery himself. They re-signed Brooks Raley, but he’s multiple months away as he rehabs last May’s Tommy John procedure. The only healthy left-handed pitchers on New York’s 40-man roster are starter David Peterson and Brandon Waddell, who was called up today for spot work as a bulk arm behind an opener.

Anthony Gose and Génesis Cabrera are the only lefties on the Triple-A roster. Both pitchers are missing bats with scattershot command, which aligns with their overall track records. Gose has had more success in terms of run prevention, but neither is well suited for a leverage role. Even with Raley hopefully serving as a late-season reinforcement, lefty relief figures to be a target area for the Mets over the coming weeks. The handful of rebuilding clubs — the Rockies, White Sox and Marlins — don’t have much to offer in that regard, so an early-season trade of significance seems unlikely.

Regardless of whether he requires surgery or “only” needs an extended shutdown, Young will probably move to the 60-day injured list at some point. If he has surgery, the Mets may look to outright him off the 40-man roster at the beginning of the offseason.

Phillies To Activate Ranger Suarez On Sunday

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Ranger Suárez has made four rehab starts since beginning a minor league assignment three weeks ago. That includes 4 2/3 innings of one-run ball for Triple-A Lehigh Valley over the weekend. After building to 78 pitches, he’ll make his return to the majors this weekend. Manager Rob Thomson told reporters (including Lochlahn March of The Philadelphia Inquirer) that Suárez will be activated to start against Arizona on Sunday.

That may push Philadelphia to a six-man rotation. Thomson acknowledged yesterday that the Phils were considering moving to a six-man staff rather than bumping anyone to the bullpen (link via Noah Levick of NBC Sports Philadelphia). Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Jesús Luzardo, Cristopher Sánchez and Taijuan Walker have combined for every Phils start this season.

Walker was the one who would have been ticketed for the bullpen had Suárez been healthy. He’d be the candidate to move back to relief, but he has pitched fairly well through his first five starts. Walker owns a 2.78 ERA across 22 2/3 innings. His 20% strikeout rate and 10% walk percentage are each a little worse than average, but he has allowed two or fewer runs in all but one of his outings. Walker has found a little extra velocity relative to last season. He’s averaging 92 MPH on both his four-seam and sinker after sitting around 91 a year ago.

Luzardo, Wheeler and Sánchez have all been excellent. Nola has struggled while operating with diminished velocity, but his rotation spot clearly isn’t any jeopardy. The Phils have already confirmed that Suárez will return to the rotation, while Sánchez’s recent forearm soreness seemingly amounted to nothing. The question is essentially whether the Phils feel Walker will be more valuable in a long relief role or taking the ball every sixth day.

Walker will make at least one more start. He’s tabbed as the probable pitcher tomorrow against Brad Lord in their series finale against Washington. Wheeler and Sánchez have gone over the past two days. The Phils will run with Luzardo, Nola and Suárez against the D-Backs. They’re off on Monday before a stretch of nine game days.

While the rotation has been a strength, Philadelphia’s relief group has struggled. Their bullpen entered play Wednesday with a 5.25 ERA that was better only the Nationals’ 7.47 mark. No bullpen has blown more leads than Philadelphia’s eight. José Alvarado, Matt Strahm and Tanner Banks (to a lesser extent) are the only Phils relievers who have pitched well. Righties Orion Kerkering and Jordan Romano, both of whom have worked in high-leverage spots, have each had particularly poor starts. Walker is unlikely to be an impact relief weapon, but he’d give Thomson another option in the middle to late innings if they move him back to the bullpen after tomorrow.

Mariners Sign Bryan Shaw To Minor League Deal

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The Mariners signed veteran right-handed reliever Bryan Shaw to a minor league deal yesterday. The team never formally announced it, but Shaw’s signing appears on their transaction log at MLB.com and the righty pitched in last night’s game for Triple-A Tacoma.

Shaw’s return to the Mariners organization — he also pitched for Seattle in 2020 — didn’t go particularly well. He retired only one of the five batters he faced, allowing a hit and three walks (one intentional) to the others. The 37-year-old right-hander had previously yielded five earned runs in 1 2/3 innings for the Reds’ top affiliate in Louisville before being cut loose.

Shaw pitched only four big league innings last year, his fewest single-season total since making his MLB debut with the Diamondbacks in 2011. It’s been several years since his peak as an iron man in Cleveland’s bullpen, but the well-traveled Shaw was an effective middle reliever as recently as 2023 with the White Sox. He tossed 45 2/3 innings that year and recorded a respectable 4.14 ERA with a 21.1% strikeout rate and 8.9% walk rate.

From 2013-17, Shaw tied lefty Tony Watson for the MLB lead among relievers at 358 2/3 innings. Shaw’s 378 total appearances during that time were by far the most in MLB. He wasn’t just a rubber arm, either; in those 358 2/3 innings, Shaw logged a 3.11 ERA and ranked third among all relievers with 110 holds (in addition to nine rogue saves). He’s had more shaky seasons than good ones in the time since that peak run. It seems fair to presume that Shaw’s nearly unrivaled workload took some toll on his arm, but it’s worth noting that he still has only one appearance on the MLB injured list in his entire career: a three-week stint due to a calf strain with the Rockies in 2018.

Tyler Glasnow To Be Shut Down 10 to 14 Days

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The Dodgers placed right-hander Tyler Glasnow on the 15-day injured list due to shoulder inflammation this week. It seems he’ll be out longer than that. Manager Dave Roberts tells Sonja Chen of MLB.com that Glasnow will be shut down from throwing for 10 to 14 days and will be re-evaluated from there.

It’s a different outlook compared to just two days ago. When Glasnow landed on the IL on Monday, Roberts downplayed the severity. He said that Glasnow was merely dealing with “overall body soreness” but didn’t have anything structurally wrong with his shoulder.

A shutdown period of 10 to 14 days means that Glasnow will be gone longer than that. Even if he’s cleared to resume throwing at that time, he would have to ramp back up and perhaps make a few rehab starts in the minor leagues.

Glasnow has a reputation for strong work on a rate basis but he’s never logged bulk innings. He got to 134 frames last year, a personal high despite it being his ninth major league season. Elbow problems, including 2021 Tommy John surgery, have often been the culprit. He’s also had some back and oblique issues over the years, with this shoulder inflammation the latest problem.

It seems the Dodgers will have to assume that they won’t have Glasnow for at least a few weeks, perhaps longer, depending on how he responds in the next 10 to 14 days. They started the season with Glasnow in the rotation alongside Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Roki Sasaki and Dustin May.

The group has thinned since then. Snell hit the IL after just two starts, due to inflammation in his throwing shoulder. The Dodgers also thought that was a relatively minor issue, though Snell was eventually shut down due to ongoing soreness. Glasnow is now in a somewhat similar boat, with an uncertain path back from a shutdown period.

Tony Gonsolin started the season on the IL due to a back injury but was reinstated today. He gives the club a fourth starter alongside May, Yamamoto and Sasaki. The Dodgers are off tomorrow, which will give the staff a bit of a breather, but they play ten straight after that.

Ben Casparius and Yoendrys Gómez are both currently in the bullpen and capable of working multiple innings. Justin Wrobleski, Bobby Miller, Landon Knack and Matt Sauer are currently on optional assignment but have been up with the big league club at times to help out and could do so again.

Clayton Kershaw is on a rehab assignment but is also on the 60-day IL, meaning he can’t rejoin the club for a few more weeks. Shohei Ohtani is theoretically going to return to the mound at some point this year, though it’s unclear how the Dodgers plan to have him ramp up while also serving as the designated hitter, or when that will be. He underwent UCL surgery late in 2023 and didn’t pitch last year. He also required arthroscopic shoulder surgery on his non-throwing arm just after the club’s World Series victory in the fall.

It’s possible the club will be getting Glasnow, Snell, Kershaw and Ohtani back into the mix in the coming weeks or months but there’s not much clarity in there and the team will have to patch things together until then, likely with some spot starts or bullpen games, or perhaps one of their depth guys will get a longer rotation audition. The Dodgers are also keeping Yamamoto and Sasaki on the weekly pitching schedule preferred in Japan, which will increase the likelihood of creative solutions.

Photo courtesy of Jerome Miron, Imagn Images

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