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Archives for April 2025

Juan Brito To Miss 8 To 12 Weeks Due To Thumb Surgery

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Guardians infielder Juan Brito underwent surgery today on his right thumb to address a high-grade ligament sprain and is expected to miss 8 to 12 weeks. Tim Stebbins of MLB.com was among those to relay the news and noted that Brito suffered the injury sliding into third base last Thursday. Brito is on the 40-man roster but on optional assignment. He will likely be placed on the minor league injured list. The club could recall him and place him on the major league 60-day IL to open a 40-man roster spot, but doing so would mean giving Brito major league pay and service time.

Brito, 23, was acquired from the Rockies in the November 2022 trade which sent Nolan Jones to Colorado. Brito was added to Cleveland’s 40-man roster at the time of that trade. Jones later came back to the Guardians last month in the swap that sent Tyler Freeman to the mountains.

Not that there’s ever a good time to have surgery and miss several months, but this is perhaps an especially unfortunate time for Brito to be out of action. He is in his final option year, meaning he’ll be out of options in 2026, though it’s possible the Guardians would eventually be granted a fourth option. A player is eligible for a fourth option if they have exhausted the first three and still have less than five “full seasons”. A full season is defined as one in which the player was active in the majors or minors for at least 90 days. It appears that Brito didn’t have his first “full season” until 2022, so he would only have four seasons even if he heals up in time to hit 90 days here in 2025.

Still, option status aside, 2025 was perhaps Brito’s best chance to playing time in Cleveland since he’s primarily a second baseman. The Guardians opened up playing time at that spot by trading Andrés Giménez to the Blue Jays in the winter. In the long run, prospect Travis Bazzana likely has a claim to that job, but not immediately. He came into 2025 with just 27 games at High-A as the extent of his professional experience. He has added 16 Double-A games so far this year.

Brito has always put up good numbers in the minors but hasn’t yet been called up to the big leagues. A switch-hitter, he has shown good plate discipline skills, often walking almost as much as he strikes out. He can also provide a bit of pop and speed. Since the start of 2024, he has appeared in 160 Triple-A games. In that time, he has 17 stolen bases, 23 home runs, a 13.7% walk rate and a 15.9% strikeout rate. His .259/.369/.447 batting line leads to a wRC+ of 117. FanGraphs ranked him as the #78 prospect in all of baseball coming into this year.

Defensively, he has played all over the infield and a bit of right field. However, he’s not considered especially strong in terms of his glovework, despite that versatility. This year, he’s been kept at second and first base so far.

For now, Brito will be focused on rehabbing his thumb. It will be interesting to see where he stands when he gets back. The Guards have been splitting their second base playing time between Gabriel Arias and Daniel Schneemann, who are both playing well. Arias has a .270/.321/.486 line and 133 wRC+ while Schneemann is at .229/.308/.457 and a 123 wRC+. Bazzana is hitting well at Double-A and it’s possible he could move to Triple-A or even the majors this year.

For the Guards, they will have a bit less infield depth for the coming weeks, though they already have a number of infielders on the active roster. They have José Ramírez and Brayan Rocchio as their regulars at third and shortstop. Kyle Manzardo and Carlos Santana are sharing first base and the designated hitter spot. As mentioned, Arias and Schneemann are covering second. Will Wilson is also on the roster as a bench infieler. Utility guy Ángel Martínez is currently covering center field while Lane Thomas is injured, but he’s capable of playing on the dirt as well.

If another injury pops up, the healthy position players on the 40-man but not on the active roster are outfielders Will Brennan, Petey Halpin and Johnathan Rodríguez. If an infielder gets hurt in the next few months, perhaps the club would bring up one of those outfielders and have Martínez move to the infield. Or perhaps Bazzana will be in Triple-A and knocking on the door by then.

Photo courtesy of Samantha Madar, Imagn Images

Poll: Should Nick Pivetta’s Hot Start Be Believed?

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Right-hander Nick Pivetta languished for quite some time on the free agent market after he turned down a Qualifying Offer from the Red Sox in search of a multi-year deal. The 32-year-old wound up being one of the final pitchers to come off the board this winter. He ultimately signed with the Padres on a four-year, $55MM pact that comes with some protection for the club against Pivetta undergoing significant elbow surgery. That relatively low-cost deal seemingly wouldn’t have been difficult for another club to beat this offseason, and so far Pivetta has made the rotation-needy clubs who passed on him look foolish.

In his first five starts this year, Pivetta has pitched to a 1.20 ERA across 30 frames. He’s struck out 27.0% of his opponents, walked just 6.3%, and made it through seven full innings in the majority of his appearances. For years, Pivetta has been viewed around baseball as a potential breakout arm with electric stuff despite never quite putting it together across a full season in the majors, with a career 4.66 ERA and 4.30 FIP. That led the Phillies to deal him to the Red Sox back in 2020, and that led Boston brass to shuffle Pivetta between the bullpen and rotation during the 2023 season. Even his best seasons with the Red Sox from 2021 to 2024 saw him pitch to a middling 4.33 ERA and 4.20 FIP. Could the veteran’s long-anticipated breakout have finally arrived in his first year with San Diego?

The possibility cannot be dismissed out of hand. After all, Pivetta’s success has come in spite of two his his five starts coming against the Cubs, who sport the NL’s best offense and the most runs scored in all of baseball to this point in the calendar. His first start against Chicago was a lackluster one, with three runs allowed in three innings of work, but his second time facing the club saw him strike six batters out while walking just one with one run allowed in six innings of work. Combine that with the seven scoreless innings he twirled against the Tigers and their own top-10 offense in the sport so far, and it’s hard to say Pivetta has coasted through an easy schedule so far this year.

With that being said, there hasn’t been much in the way of drastic changes. Pivetta’s 27.0% strikeout rate and 6.8% walk rate this year are both better than his career norms, but weaker than last year’s figures of 28.9% and 6.3% respectively. His fastball velocity also remains virtually unchanged from last year, when he posted a fairly pedestrian 4.14 ERA and 4.07 FIP across 145 2/3 innings of work. That lack of tangible change is a potential red flag that suggests this dominance won’t continue, as are Pivetta’s .205 BABIP allowed, 88% strand rate, and 2.9% home run-to-fly ball ratio.

All of those figures as well out of line with not only Pivetta’s career norms but what can be expected for MLB hurlers in general. Pivetta’s HR/FB is particularly noteworthy, however, as home runs have been the righty’s primary bugaboo throughout his career. Pivetta has allowed the fifth highest number of home runs since he arrived in the majors back in 2017 among all pitchers. Among those with at least 800 innings of work since then, Pivetta’s home run rate is also the fifth-highest, while his home run-to-fly ball ratio is ninth-highest. The long ball has always been what’s held Pivetta back throughout his career, but he’s allowed just one home run in his first five starts.

While this year’s level of home run suppression is all but impossible to imagine being sustainable, the underlying metrics do suggest that Pivetta has done better than usual in terms of keeping the barrel off the ball. His 8.1% barrel rate so far this year would be the lowest he’s posted in any season since 2018 if maintained over a full season, and he’s currently sporting a 37.8% hard-hit rate that would be his lowest since 2019. Combine that with the lowest average exit velocity and highest infield fly ball rate of his career, and it’s not hard to see why Pivetta’s allowing less home runs than ever. Regression back to the mean must be expected, but there’s at least some signs that the veteran could allow fewer homers this year than he has in any of his previous full seasons of work.

On yet another hand, there are generally more home runs in the warmer months. It’s perhaps not a coincidence that Pivetta’s career splits form a sort of bell curve, with his ERA lower in the spring and fall but higher in the summer. He has a career 4.01 ERA in March/April, then 4.34 in May, 4.66 in June, 5.11 in July, 6.02 in August, then 3.84 in September/October. As the weather heats up, all pitchers have a harder time keeping the ball in the park, which could be especially noteworthy for Pivetta.

Do MLBTR readers believe in his strong start or is the right-hander going to come back down to Earth eventually? Have your say in the poll below:

Twins Outright Diego Cartaya

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The Twins have sent catcher Diego Cartaya outright to Triple-A Saint Paul, per Dan Hayes of The Athletic. There was no previous indication that he had been removed from the roster but it appears the club quietly put him on waivers recently. Their 40-man roster count drops to 39.

The Twins may have some specific plan for the roster spot they just opened but it’s also possible they just figured now was a good time to get Cartaya through waivers unclaimed. Once a top prospect, his stock was already at a low point to start this year, thanks to some subpar numbers at the plate in 2023 and 2024. He’s out to a horrendous start here in 2025, with a .080/.207/.200 line through seven Triple-A contests. He has struck out in 18 of his 29 plate appearances, an awful rate of 62.1%.

As of a few years ago, Cartaya was in the Dodgers’ system and one of the top prospects in the league. Baseball America had him as high as #18 overall going into the 2023 season. At that point, he had a combined .269/.380/.502 batting line and 136 wRC+ in his minor league career. He battled a number of injuries in that time, particularly in his back, but the results were clearly there when he was on the field.

But it’s been a downhill slide since then. Over the 2023 and 2024 seasons, he hit .205/.300/.371 in the minors for an 81 wRC+. The Dodgers, who had added him to their 40-man in November of 2022, designated him for assignment in January of this year when they signed Hyeseong Kim. He was flipped to the Twins for minor league right-hander Jose Vasquez.

As of a few months ago, his stock was down enough that he lost his roster spot with the Dodgers, but there was evidently still enough league-wide interest that the Twins gave up a minor leaguer to skip the waiver queue. But after his dreadful start this year, it appears the league’s view of him has dropped even further. 29 teams passed on the chance to grab him off waivers and stash him in Triple-A.

For the Twins, they have Ryan Jeffers and Christian Vázquez as their big league catchers. Should an injury situation pop up, Jair Camargo is still on the 40-man and playing at Triple-A. Cartaya will give them some non-roster depth and try to play his way back into a spot. Players need a previous career outright or three years of service time to have the right to reject an outright assignment. Cartaya has no major league service yet and this is his first career outright, so he’ll have to stick with the Saints.

Photo courtesy of Chris Tilley, Imagn Images

Padres Option Kyle Hart

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1:25pm: The Padres have now officially announced that they have optioned Hart and recalled Bergert.

10:25am: Per AJ Cassavell of MLB.com, the club will indeed go with a four-man rotation for a while. Bergert is expected to be recalled as the corresponding move. He will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game. Since he’s been acting as a starter in Triple-A, he will presumably fill a long relief role with the big league club.

10:10am: The Padres have optioned left-hander Kyle Hart to Triple-A El Paso, according to the club’s transactions tracker at MLB.com. No corresponding move is listed but they will presumably bring up another pitcher before tonight’s game.

The club took a flier on Hart this winter, signing him to a one-year deal with a $1.5MM guarantee. That was a bet on his performance in Korea last year. His previous track record in affiliated ball wasn’t great but he had good results with the KBO’s NC Dinos in 2024. He logged 157 innings over 26 starts with a 2.69 earned run average, 28.8% strikeout rate, 6.7% walk rate and 46% ground ball rate. It’s never a guarantee that a pitcher can transfer those kinds of results to North American ball, but the Friars had rotation needs and a tight budget, so it was an understandable bet to make.

At the start of camp, the Padres had four rotation spots spoken for by Dylan Cease, Michael King, Yu Darvish and Nick Pivetta. Hart was part of a competition for the fifth spot alongside Randy Vásquez, Matt Waldron and Stephen Kolek. In the spring, Darvish landed on the IL to start the season due to elbow inflammation, opening a second spot. The competition was also thinned out when Waldron suffered an oblique strain.

That led to Vásquez and Hart both securing rotation spots to open the season. Hart has made five starts thus far, tossing 21 innings with 14 earned runs, leading to an ERA of 6.00. His 6.7% walk rate is quite good but his 17.8% strikeout rate and 33.3% ground ball rate are both subpar marks.

Vásquez has been better at preventing runs but with less impressive stuff under the hood. He has a 3.97 ERA through his five starts but with an 8.9% strikeout rate and 16.8% walk rate. He hasn’t allowed a home run yet, despite a subpar 39.2% ground ball rate, perhaps suggesting he’s walking a tightrope. His 6.94 SIERA certainly doesn’t expect him to maintain his current run prevention.

Hart, on the other hand, has allowed six home runs already. SIERA, which expects such things to normalize over time, gives Hart a 4.57 so far this year. Regardless, these are small samples and Hart hasn’t been overpowering. The Padres have decided to send him to El Paso, at least for a few starts. Optional assignments for pitchers come with a 15-day minimum, so Hart won’t be able to come back until the club’s series against the Rockies May 9th to 11th.

It’s possible the decision was motivated by the schedule. The Padres were off yesterday and then have further off-days on Monday and Thursday next week. Perhaps they will go with a four-man rotation for a while. They will play six straight from May 2nd to 7th, which will be before Hart can come back. They could use a spot start or a bullpen game to get through that stretch and then bring Hart back up, if they so choose.

It’s also possible that the club could explore Hart as a reliever. Though his results have been uneven so far, lefties are slashing just .100/.100/.100  against him in the early going. Righties, on the other hand, have a monster .333/.386/.698 line. His changeup, a pitch usually used to neutralize hitters with the platoon advantage, has allowed a .533 batting average. Perhaps transitioning to a lefty specialist role would be a good move, though these are tiny samples and this is entirely speculative.

It’s also possible the Padres want to get a look at Kolek. He has a 6.38 ERA through five starts for El Paso but it’s possible to look beyond that and see encouraging signs elsewhere. The Chihuahuas play in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, which always requires a grain of salt. Kolek has a .358 batting average on balls in play and 62.9% strand rate, which are both to the unlucky side. His 18% strikeout rate isn’t great but he has kept walks down to a tiny 3.6% level while getting grounders on 56.6% of balls in play. Ryan Bergert is another option on the 40-man roster. He has a 5.16 ERA at El Paso but with a 23.5% strikeout rate and 9.8% walk rate.

More information on the club’s plans will likely be forthcoming soon. Time will tell if this is just a brief reset for Hart during a light portion of the club’s schedule or a more meaningful pivot. At least for the next few days, they will likely operate with a longer bullpen with two off-days in the next week.

Photo courtesy of David Frerker, Imagn Images

Javier Assad Shut Down With Grade 2 Oblique Strain

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Cubs manager Craig Counsell provided Jordan Bastian of MLB.com an update today on injured right-hander Javier Assad. Assad recently suffered a Grade 2 strain of his left oblique and will be shut down. Counsell didn’t provide a specific timeline but even moderate strains can lead to absences of weeks or even months, so Assad won’t be returning to the club in the near term.

It’s an unfortunate blow for Assad and the Cubs. The right-hander’s battle with this oblique problem goes back months now. Way back in early February, just as camp opened, it was reported that he was experiencing some side tightness. He was eventually diagnosed with a mild strain of his left oblique and started the season on the 15-day injured list.

Not too long ago, he seemed on track for a fairly quick return. He started a rehab assignment by tossing 3 1/3 innings for Triple-A Iowa on April 15th. But in his second rehab outing, on April 22nd, he experienced some renewed soreness after tossing four innings in that game. Earlier this week, Counsell said that Assad would be heading to Chicago for some further tests, which apparently found this strain.

Prior to this setback, he seemed on the cusp of a return to the big league team. That timing would have worked out well for the Cubs, as they recently lost Justin Steele to UCL surgery. Instead, the Cubs will have to proceed without Steele or Assad for at least a few weeks.

Swingman Colin Rea stepped up take a rotation spot when Steele hit the IL. His first start saw him go 3 2/3 against the Dodgers, allowing one run. He then went 4 2/3 against the Diamondbacks, again allowing just one earned run. He got up to 69 pitches in that latter start, so he’s close to fully stretched out at this point.

As of a few weeks ago, it seemed likely that Assad was going to bump Rea back to a long relief role. Now that Assad is going to stay on the shelf a while longer, that will presumably allow Rea to hold a rotation job for the foreseeable future. The other four spots are taken by Shota Imanaga, Matthew Boyd, Jameson Taillon and Ben Brown.

It’s less than ideal but the Cubs seem to be in a decent position to weather these injuries. Imanaga and Boyd both have ERAs under 3.00 so far, while Taillon and Brown are both under 5.00. As mentioned, Rea has only allowed one earned run in each of his two starts. Should a need for another starter arise, the Cubs have a couple of former first-round picks in Iowa. Jordan Wicks hasn’t clicked in the majors yet but is a former top prospect. Cade Horton hasn’t yet cracked the majors but is one of the top pitching prospects in the league and has a 1.06 Triple-A ERA this year. They also have veteran Chris Flexen at Iowa on a minor league deal and he has an ERA of 0.40 through four starts.

It was reported last week that the club planned to use internal options to cover for Steele’s absence. Those plans surely included Assad but this new injury likely won’t change the short-term goals. There will surely be intriguing pitching options available at the trade deadline but they’re harder to get now. While some clubs will eventually pivot into sell mode, most are still clinging to hopes of contention at this point. A free agent like Spencer Turnbull wouldn’t provide any immediate help, as he would need a few weeks of ramping up after missing spring training.

The Cubs will likely proceed with their current rotation, though the plans could perhaps be changed by future injuries or one of the guys in Iowa forcing their way into the picture. Assad could be back in the mix later in the year but the Cubs would also be justified in being cautious in the wake of this setback.

Photo courtesy of Kyle Ross, Imagn Images

Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript

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MLBTR’s Anthony Franco held a live chat, exclusively for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers!

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The Opener: Ragans, Mets, Pitchers’ Duel

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As the 2025 regular season continues, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world headed into the weekend:

1. Ragans nursing groin issue:

The Royals swept their doubleheader against the Rockies yesterday, but the pair of wins came at a cost when southpaw Cole Ragans was pulled from his start after just three innings due to left groin tightness. The lefty is set to undergo additional testing today to determine the severity of the issue, at which point we’ll likely know more about if he’s going to miss significant time or be back on the mound in relatively short order. Ragans has pitched to a lackluster 4.40 ERA across his six starts this season, but the underlying metrics look phenomenal nonetheless as he’s struck out 35.9% of his opponents while walking just 7.0%, leaving him with a 2.69 FIP. That wouldn’t be easy production to replace at the front of the rotation, though Luinder Avila and Noah Cameron are in Triple-A and already on the 40-man roster as potential depth options.

2. Will the Mets’ streak continue?

The Mets have won seven games in a row, giving them an 18-7 record overall that’s good for the best in baseball. They hold a relatively commanding five-game lead over the Phillies in the NL East currently that’s all the more impressive given the early point in the calendar, and at 6:45pm local time this evening they’ll go for eight straight wins when they take on the Nationals. Right-hander Kodai Senga will be on the mound and looking to build upon a brilliant first four starts this year during which he’s posted a 0.79 ERA and a 2.89 FIP while striking out 23% of his opponents. Opposite Senga on the mound will be Nationals righty Jake Irvin, who has offered D.C. solid mid-to-back of the rotation results so far with a slightly above-average 3.68 ERA across five starts but a somewhat lackluster 4.66 FIP in 29 1/3 innings of work.

3. Pitchers’ duel in Los Angeles:

A match-up between two of the league’s top starters is always intriguing, but tonight’s game between the Pirates and Dodgers in L.A. figures to stand out even among other potential pitchers’ duels. At 7:10pm local time, Dodgers righty Yoshinobu Yamamoto will take the mound opposite Pirates right-hander Paul Skenes. The two most talented rookie pitchers in all of baseball last year are now emerging among the early potential front-runners for this year’s NL Cy Young award. Yamamoto has put the shoulder injury that cost him much of his debut season entirely behind him as he’s posted a microscopic 0.93 ERA in five starts, pairing it with a 2.02 FIP and 35.2% strikeout rate. Skenes, meanwhile, is building on last year’s dominant NL Rookie of the Year campaign with a 2.87 ERA, a 2.00 FIP, and 25.4% strikeout rate in his own five starts to this point in the season.

The D-backs’ Late-Blooming Slugger

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The D-backs moved on from Joc Pederson this past offseason, bidding farewell to a slugger who made 132 appearances at designated hitter for them in 2024 and turned in an outstanding .275/.393/.515 slash in 449 plate appearances. Pederson was limited to 42 plate appearances against left-handed pitching but was a mainstay in the lineup against right-handed opponents. He torched righties at a .281/.392/.531 clip -- 54% better than league average, by measure of wRC+.

Arizona spent more than anyone expected this past offseason, but the vast majority of that spending came in the form of their stunning six-year, $210MM signing of right-hander Corbin Burnes. That marked the largest contract in franchise history, helping push payroll to record levels. The rest of the front office's moves were understandably on the smaller side, at least in terms of financial commitment. A trade for Josh Naylor replaced Christian Walker at first base for about half the 2025 price (and one-sixth of the overall financial commitment). Re-signing Randal Grichuk cost another $5MM. Relievers Kendall Graveman and Jalen Beeks signed for under $2MM apiece.

Pederson's two-year, $37MM deal with the Rangers was announced on the same day as Burnes' deal with the Diamondbacks. Based on the totality of Arizona's offseason, it'd be fair to presume that signing both simply wasn't in the budget. Perhaps, however, the D-backs felt comfortable moving on from Pederson because they bought into the out-of-the-blue breakout from another lefty slugger on the roster.

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Braves Outright Jose Suarez

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The Braves outrighted lefty José Suarez to Triple-A Gwinnett, relays David O’Brien of The Athletic. Atlanta had designated him for assignment on Monday when they acquired Scott Blewett.

Suarez landed with the Braves a month ago. Atlanta and the Angels agreed on a change-of-scenery swap for Ian Anderson. It didn’t work for either team. Suarez has gone unclaimed on waivers, while Anderson is in limbo after the Halos designated him for assignment last night.

The 27-year-old Suarez made three appearances before the DFA. He managed 7 1/3 innings of three-run ball, but he walked a tightrope to do so. Suarez issued free passes to seven of 30 batters faced while recording only five strikeouts. While he only allowed three hits, more than half the batted balls against him were hit at an exit velocity of at least 95 MPH.

Suarez looked like a capable back-end starter for the Angels between 2021-22. His production has tanked since then, as he carries a 6.56 earned run average over the past three seasons. He lost a good chunk of the ’23 campaign to a shoulder strain, and he spent time in Triple-A last year after being waived by the Halos.

While Suarez could have declined this assignment in favor of free agency, he would have forfeited what remains of his $1.1MM salary to do so. He’ll head to Gwinnett as long relief depth and try to pitch his way back onto the big league roster. He’d become a minor league free agent at season’s end if the Braves don’t call him back up.

Royals Notes: Caglianone, Ragans, Marsh

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Royals top prospect Jac Caglianone is playing right field for Double-A Northwest Arkansas tonight. It’s the first career outfield work for the lefty power hitter, who had played exclusively first base since being drafted with the #6 overall pick last summer. Caglianone had been a two-way star at the University of Florida, but his only defensive work for the Gators also came at first.

It’s an interesting development considering the Royals have (yet again) gotten very little production from their outfield. Kansas City outfielders were hitting .191/.252/.280 going into play on Thursday. They’re second from the bottom in MLB in all three slash stats — ahead of the White Sox in batting average and slugging, while leading the Braves in on-base percentage. They’re tied for the major league low with four home runs.

That’s not a new problem. MLBTR’s Steve Adams wrote about the Royals’ longstanding outfield woes in a post for Front Office subscribers last May. In the nearly full calendar year since then, their outfield has hit .225/.282/.364 in more than 1700 plate appearances. GM JJ Picollo acknowledged in February the front office was disappointed they were unable to land a significant upgrade during the offseason.

The Royals ran an Opening Day outfield of MJ Melendez, Kyle Isbel and Hunter Renfroe for the second straight season. They shook things up by optioning Melendez last week. Drew Waters has drawn into the lineup instead. He’s playing well in a tiny sample, but he’s a career .233/.307/.400 hitter who has fanned in a third of his big league plate appearances. Renfroe has followed last year’s .229/.297/.392 showing with a dismal .164/.258/.200 slash through 62 trips to the dish.

Caglianone topped 30 home runs in each of his final two seasons at Florida. He struggled over 29 High-A games after the draft, but he’s out to a much stronger start this season. He owns a .300/.374/.529 line with four homers and doubles apiece at Double-A. If he’s not quite on the radar for a major league call yet, a midseason promotion isn’t far-fetched. College hitters selected in the upper half of the first round often reach the big leagues during their first full professional season. Two such players, Cam Smith and Nick Kurtz, are already in the majors.

The path would be a lot cleaner if Caglianone can play a passable right field. Vinnie Pasquantino is the everyday first baseman. While they don’t have a set DH, Salvador Perez sees a good amount of time there to keep him in the lineup when he’s not catching. Caglianone could run his fastball into the upper 90s as a pitcher, so he certainly has the arm strength. The far bigger question is whether he’s mobile enough to play anywhere other than first. He’s listed at 6’5″, 250 pounds and unsurprisingly grades as a below-average runner on scouting reports. It appears the Royals will at least gauge his outfield ability in the minors.

In more immediate news, the team is awaiting word on Cole Ragans. The star left-hander came out of this afternoon’s start after three innings, during which he allowed four runs to Colorado. Anne Rogers of MLB.com writes that Ragans was hampered by left groin tightness and will go for further testing tomorrow.

The Royals have used a rotation comprising Ragans, Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha, Kris Bubic and Michael Lorenzen all year. Kyle Wright and Alec Marsh could have pushed Lorenzen for the fifth starter spot, but they each opened the season on the injured list. Marsh has battled shoulder soreness dating back to the offseason. He was shut back down a few weeks ago after suffering renewed discomfort, but skipper Matt Quatraro told reporters that he’ll restart a throwing program tomorrow (link via The Associated Press).

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