Cubs’ Riley Martin To Miss Eight Weeks
Cubs rookie Riley Martin hit the injured list with what was originally described as elbow inflammation this weekend, but the left-hander has now been diagnosed with a flexor strain, per Marquee’s Taylor McGregor. He’s expected to miss around eight weeks, which would sideline the 28-year-old southpaw into late June.
It’s a tough development for both Martin and the Cubs. The 2021 sixth-rounder was added to the 40-man roster back in November in order to shield him from the Rule 5 Draft after he’d posted a 2.69 ERA and 30.7% strikeout rate in 63 2/3 Triple-A frames last year. He was recalled to the majors for his big league debut early this month. Martin’s first few weeks in MLB couldn’t have gone much better. He appeared in eight games and totaled 8 1/3 innings, holding opponents to a pair of runs (2.16 ERA) on five hits and two walks with 10 punchouts.
Martin’s flexor strain is the latest in a mounting number of bullpen injuries for a Cubs team that has also lost Porter Hodge (UCL surgery), Daniel Palencia (lat strain), Hunter Harvey (triceps inflammation) and Caleb Thielbar (hamstring strain) in recent weeks. Hodge’s season is over. Palencia’s lat strain isn’t on his throwing side, so he should be able to return within the next couple weeks. There’s been no indication that Thielbar or Harvey will require lengthy absences.
Even if each of Palencia, Thielbar and Harvey is back at some point in mid-May, it’s a worrisome number of injuries. The Cubs also lost Phil Maton for a couple weeks due to tendinitis in his knee. He returned last night but was tagged for two runs in an inning of work — his fourth straight appearance in which he was charged with two earned runs. Maton’s ERA on the young season sits at a sky-high 14.40, so it seems clear he hasn’t been functioning at 100% to this point.
In addition to both Thielbar and Martin being sidelined, the Cubs are also without 26-year-old lefty Jordan Wicks, who’s on the IL due to elbow inflammation. Left-handed relief is an area of some depth for the Cubs, and veteran Hoby Milner (who signed a one-year deal in free agency this winter) is still healthy, giving skipper Craig Counsell at least one experienced option. Ryan Rolison is currently on the roster as a second lefty, but the former Rockies prospect was a January waiver claim who’s yet to solidify himself in the majors. He’s pitched four scoreless innings so far as a Cub but has fanned only one of the 13 batters he’s faced.
Martin’s timetable makes him a candidate to move to the 60-day injured list the next time the Cubs need a roster spot. It’s feasible he’ll be able to return just inside a 60-day window, but that likely won’t dissuade the Cubs from making the move, given a difference of just a few days between his best-case scenario and that 60-day term. In the meantime, he’ll accrue major league service time and major league salary.
The Opener: Bazzana, Yesavage, Vargas
The Dodgers walked off the Marlins on Monday night. Manager Dave Roberts emptied his bench to spur the comeback. Catcher Dalton Rushing pinch-hit for Santiago Espinal, walking and scoring the game-tying run. If the game didn’t end on a base hit by Kyle Tucker, the defensive alignment would’ve been interesting in extras. Roberts confirmed to reporters (including Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic) that it would’ve been Rushing at first base, Max Muncy at second base, and Freddie Freeman at third base.
1. Bazzana gets the call
The Guardians are expected to promote second baseman Travis Bazzana for Tuesday’s matchup against the Rays. The top overall pick in the 2024 draft was off to an excellent start at Triple-A, posting a 152 wRC+ across 117 plate appearances. MLB Pipeline ranks Bazzana as the No. 1 prospect in the Cleveland organization and No. 16 overall. The infielder is slated for everyday reps at the keystone, where the club has struggled to find consistent production. Utilityman Daniel Schneemann has hit well in minimal time at the position, but Juan Brito has struggled to a .176/.250/.255. Brayan Rocchio wasn’t much better, though he’s heated up since moving to shortstop after the Gabriel Arias injury. Bazzana should have plenty of runway to stake his claim to the second base gig.
2. Yesavage makes his return
Blue Jays right-hander Trey Yesavage is slated to make his season debut against the Red Sox. The 2025 postseason star has been sidelined with a shoulder impingement. Yesavage hasn’t exactly dominated during his rehab assignment, posting a 7.50 ERA in 12 innings between Single-A and Triple-A, but the punchouts have been there (28.6% strikeout rate). Yesavage will rejoin a Toronto rotation desperate for healthy arms. The club just lost Max Scherzer to forearm and ankle injuries. He joins Jose Berrios, Shane Bieber, and Cody Ponce on the IL. Yesavage maxed out at 71 pitches during his rehab stint, so he shouldn’t be expected to go more than five innings in his return. He’ll face off against another exciting young AL East arm, with Payton Tolle on the other side.
3. Vargas on improbable run
Diamondbacks utility player Ildemaro Vargas has gone from versatile journeyman to one of the best hitters in the league this season. The 34-year-old just launched four home runs and knocked in 12 en route to NL Player of the Week honors. Vargas is slashing an absurd .367/.383/.722 through 82 plate appearances. He’s riding a 20-game hit streak. Vargas has already matched his career high with six home runs, a mark he set back in 2019 in his first stint with Arizona. It’s hard to imagine Vargas continuing this torrid stretch, but the underlying stats largely back it up. He ranks in the 99th percentile for xBA and in the 89th percentile for xSLG.
Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images
Guardians To Select Travis Bazzana
The Guardians are reportedly promoting 2024 first overall pick Travis Bazzana. He should debut tomorrow and take over as the everyday second baseman. They’ll open an active roster spot by optioning Juan Brito. Cleveland still has an opening on the 40-man roster after waiving Kolby Allard a couple weeks ago, so no other move is necessary.
Cleveland’s middle infield has been in flux since Gabriel Arias went down with a left hamstring strain three weeks ago. That moved Brayan Rocchio from second base to shortstop. The Guardians promoted Brito after the Arias injury, but the 24-year-old second baseman struggled after collecting five hits in his first three games. Brito had just four hits in 39 at-bats over his next 12 contests. He also committed four errors across 123 1/3 innings.
That opened the door for Bazzana’s first major league look. The Australian-born infielder is out to a strong .287/.422/.511 start over 24 games with Triple-A Columbus. He has taken walks at a huge 17.9% clip against a league average 21.4% strikeout rate. Bazzana only has two home runs, but he has already tallied 11 doubles and a pair of triples. He’s also 8-10 in stolen base attempts.
Bazzana’s advanced hit tool and extremely patient approach have been his calling cards dating back to his college days at Oregon State. He was expected to be one of the quickest players from his draft to the majors. Instead, Chase Burns, Nick Kurtz, Cam Smith, JJ Wetherholt, Jac Caglianone, Christian Moore, Trey Yesavage, Carson Benge and even Konnor Griffin (a high school draftee) were all 2024 first-rounders who got to the big leagues before he did.
That’s at least partially due to health. A pair of oblique injuries limited Bazzana to 77 games between the top two minor league levels last season (plus seven rehab contests at the Arizona complex). It was understandable the Guardians wanted him to open the season in Triple-A. They probably should have swapped him in for Brito earlier than they have this April, however.
It’s a moot point now, as Bazzana joins Chase DeLauter as touted rookies in Stephen Vogt’s lineup. He has been a full-time second baseman in the minor leagues and could see time at the keystone and designated hitter. That’d allow them to use hot-hitting utility player Daniel Schneemann more frequently in left field against right-handed pitching. George Valera has started slowly since returning from a season-opening calf strain, while the switch-hitting Angel Martínez has better career numbers against lefties.
Bazzana comfortably meets the criteria to qualify for the Prospect Promotion Incentive. He entered the season among the top 25 minor league talents at each of MLB Pipeline, Baseball America and ESPN. He was a little lower on preseason rankings from FanGraphs and Keith Law of The Athletic but still easily a consensus Top 100 prospect.
It’s beyond the point at which Bazzana can accrue a full service year through time spent on the MLB roster. He would earn a full year of service time if he places within the top two in AL Rookie of the Year voting. It’ll be a challenge to compete with Kevin McGonigle, Munetaka Murakami, Carter Jensen and teammates DeLauter and Parker Messick among what could be an excellent AL rookie class. The Guardians would not be eligible for an extra draft choice if Bazzana wins Rookie of the Year because they waited beyond the second week of April to call him up.
If Bazzana sticks on the MLB roster, he’d be a lock to qualify for early arbitration as a Super Two player after 2028. The Guardians will hope he hits the ground running and solidifies his hold on the second base job. If not, future optional assignments to the minor leagues could change his service trajectory. Arias’ initial 4-8 week recovery timeline left open a potential May return. He should be a utility player but could reclaim the shortstop job and push Rocchio back to second if Bazzana struggles in his first look at big league pitching.
Jeff Passan of ESPN first reported the Bazzana promotion. Zack Meisel of The Athletic reported the Brito demotion. Image courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images.
Reese McGuire Elects Free Agency
Catcher Reese McGuire elected free agency after clearing outright waivers, as first reflected on the MLB.com transaction tracker. The White Sox designated him for assignment over the weekend.
McGuire was on the Sox’s roster for around a month. He was in camp with Milwaukee on a minor league contract but didn’t have a path to an MLB job after the Brewers signed Gary Sánchez to back up William Contreras. McGuire opted out at the end of Spring Training and pulled a big league deal from the White Sox.
The 31-year-old appeared in 11 games, hitting .172 without an extra-base hit across 34 plate appearances. He also had a tough time defensively, committing two passed balls and failing to throw out any of 15 base stealers. The pitching staff probably shoulders some of the blame for the latter issue. McGuire has a reasonably strong arm and threw out an above-average 26% of runners last season in a backup role with the Cubs.
In any case, the White Sox weren’t wedded to McGuire as a backup catcher. He has appeared for four teams, including two separate stints with the Sox, over a career spanning parts of nine seasons. They were paying him a $1.2MM salary, a little above the league minimum.
Players who have more than five years of MLB service time ordinarily can refuse a minor league assignment while retaining their full salary. However, some fringe roster players will sign contracts that include advance consent clauses. Barring injury, those deals aren’t fully guaranteed until 45 days into the regular season.
If McGuire’s deal contained such a clause, the Sox save a couple hundred thousand dollars by swapping him out for Drew Romo, who was selected from Triple-A to replace him. Edgar Quero remains the primary catcher as long as Kyle Teel is on the injured list.
McGuire will likely look for a minor league contract elsewhere. He was reasonably productive on the other side of Chicago last year, popping nine homers in 44 games for the Cubs. McGuire owns a .246/.292/.369 slash line in a little over 1200 career plate appearances.
Yankees To Place Giancarlo Stanton On Injured List
The Yankees are placing Giancarlo Stanton on the 10-day injured list with a “low-grade” strain of his right calf, manager Aaron Boone told reporters (relayed by Erik Boland of Newsday). They can backdate the placement to April 25.
New York recalled Jasson Domínguez to serve as the designated hitter in tonight’s 4-2 win over the Rangers. They played with 14 position players and only 12 pitchers after optioning struggling starter Luis Gil on Sunday. That means they’ll probably recall a reliever tomorrow as the corresponding move for the Stanton IL placement.
Stanton tweaked his calf on Friday while running the bases. The Yankees gave it a few days before making the IL move. Between that and Boone specifying that it’s of a low-grade variety, it doesn’t seem the club anticipates an extended absence. Stanton will need at least another week before he’s able to return to action.
It’s the first injury of the 2026 season for Stanton. He has required at least one IL trip in every year since 2018 and hasn’t reached 500 plate appearances in a season in five years. The Yankees surely anticipated at least one injury absence from the five-time All-Star.
Stanton is out to a league average start at the plate. He’s hitting .256/.302/.422 with a trio of home runs through 96 plate appearances. The power numbers are down in the early going, but Stanton still ranks at the top of the league in bat speed and exit velocity. Even if repeating last season’s .273/.350/.594 slash would be a tough ask, he should remain an impact power threat when he’s able to take the field.
This should open the DH spot for Domínguez, at least against right-handed pitching. He got the nod tonight against Jack Leiter and went 1-4 in his season debut. The Yankees face two more right-handers, Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi, to close that three-game series. The switch-hitting Domínguez has been much better from the left side in his career and would be the sensible choice to start those games.
The complicating factor is that the Yankees are expected to welcome Anthony Volpe back from the injured list this week. That’ll push José Caballero to a utility role and someone off the big league bench — presuming they don’t want to stick with a 12-man pitching staff. Ben Rice hasn’t caught all season and is destroying the ball as the primary first baseman. They may not want to mess with that arrangement by optioning J.C. Escarra and making Rice the backup catcher.
They could option Domínguez back to Triple-A, but he’s probably not benefiting much from destroying mediocre minor league pitching. He was squeezed off the season-opening roster simply because the Yankees couldn’t find a path to getting him everyday playing time, which is now open at DH as long as Stanton is on the shelf.
That could instead point to them designating a veteran role player for assignment once Volpe returns. Randal Grichuk broke camp in a short side platoon outfield role and is hitting .194 without a home run over 33 plate appearances. Paul Goldschmidt has had a slow start as well but figures to have a longer leash in his second season in the Bronx on a $4MM contract.
Red Sox Add Interim Coaches To Staff
8:10pm: The Boston Globe’s Tim Healey writes that John Soteropoulos, who had been on Cora’s staff as assistant hitting coach, will technically be a lead hitting coach. It’ll nevertheless be mostly a collaborative group that includes Simonetty and Hetzler. Tracy indicated they’re also planning to promote Low-A hitting coach Nelson Paulino to work with the MLB group. The 53-year-old Paulino has coached minor league hitters in the Boston system for nearly three decades.
1:10pm: The Red Sox announced that they have added three new coaches to their staff today. José David Flores is now the interim bench coach. Pablo Cabrera is the interim first base coach/outfield instructor. Jack Simonetty has been hired as an interim hitting assistant. Chris Cotillo of MassLive first reported the news on Flores and Simonetty while Alex Speier of The Boston Globe was first on Cabrera.
The moves are in response to the stunning Red Wedding-style massacre that occurred in Baltimore this weekend. The Sox fired manager Alex Cora as well as his hitting coach Peter Fatse, assistant hitting coach Dillon Lawson, bench coach Ramón Vázquez, third base/outfield coach Kyle Hudson, and major league hitting strategist Joe Cronin. Also, run prevention coach Jason Varitek is being reassigned to a different role within the organization.
Some of those positions were quickly filled, at least on an interim basis. Chad Tracy was called up from the minors to take over as interim manager. Chad Epperson became interim third base coach. Collin Hetzler was added to the hitting staff. That still left the overall coaching group far lighter than before, but today’s additions effectively get the staff back to previous levels.
Flores, 55, has a decent amount of previous MLB coaching experience. He was infield coordinator for the Cubs from 2012 to 2017. He was the first base coach for the Phillies in 2018, then served as third base coach in Baltimore for the next two seasons. The Sox hired him to work as bench coach for Triple-A Worcester, a job he held from 2022 to 2024. He was promoted to the big league staff as first base coach going into last season.
The other two hirees are far less experienced and are joining a big league staff for the first time. Cabrera, 28, was hired by the Red Sox in 2023 to work as a coach for Double-A Portland. He then worked as defensive coach in the club’s Fort Myers complex, before getting promoted to infield/outfield defensive coordinator for this season.
Simonetty, 26, was hired as a video and technology associate for Worcester in 2023. His title was player development associate in 2024. Last year, he served as assistant hitting coach for Single-A Salem. He began this year as hitting coach for the Florida Complex League Red Sox.
The Sox will now play the majority of the 2026 season with a big chunk of the staff being hired mid-season for interim roles. Whether any of them can stick around depends on what happens in the coming months and who is in charge in 2027.
Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images
The Marlins Should Make A Change Behind The Plate
Agustín Ramírez was the worst defensive catcher in the majors last year. The Marlins haven’t yet given up on him but perhaps they should. They have one of the top catching prospects knocking on the door and there’s an open path for them to surge into contention this year.
31 different catchers caught at least 600 innings in 2025. J.T. Realmuto led the way with 1151 1/3, almost double the 605 2/3 caught by Ramírez. Despite catching notably fewer innings than most of the catchers in this sample, Ramírez led the pack with ten errors. He allowed 19 passed balls, which was more than twice as much as the next person on that list, as no one else allowed more than nine. He was also behind the plate for 36 wild pitches, which are technically the fault of pitchers, but a good catcher can occasionally save his teammates from those. Four of those 31 catchers allowed a few more wild pitches but all in larger sample sizes. In short, if Ramírez was catching, the ball was at the backstop a lot.
Those traditional stats aligned with more advanced ones. Ramírez was credited with minus-14 Defensive Runs Saved. Only Salvador Perez, at minus-15, was worse than him in that column. The Fielding Run Value stat at FanGraphs had him last at minus-12. Statcast credited him with minus-13 catching runs, ahead of only Edgar Quero. Baseball Prospectus was less down on him overall, having him merely as one of the 13 worst catchers, but they were the one outlet that didn’t like his framing work.
Presumably, the Marlins have been willing to tolerate this in the hopes that there’s a path to improvement. Ramírez has been a very strong hitter in the minors and could be an asset if his defense got to more passable levels. He put up a combined line of .268/.357/.473 at various rungs of the minors from 2023 to 2025, leading to a 128 wRC+. His 11.5% walk rate and 18.4% strikeout rate were both strong figures and he hit 46 home runs in 1,120 plate appearances.
But his bat hasn’t quite clicked in the majors yet, perhaps due to him focusing so much on trying to improve his defense. Ramírez did hit 21 home runs last year but with a low batting average and poor walk rate, leading to a lopsided line of .231/.287/.413. That resulted in a 91 wRC+, indicating he was nine percent below league average. That’s not bad for a catcher since backstops tend to be about ten points below par, but it’s not great when considering his glovework.
Going into 2026, there was an argument for moving Ramírez to a role as a first baseman and designated hitter. Moving to first would require some work but Ramírez did play the position some in the minors. Though Ron Washington will tell you moving to first is not easy, catching is considered the most rigorous position on the field and playing anywhere else would afford Ramírez more ability to focus on his hitting.
All of that is especially true when considering the presence of Joe Mack, who is one of the top catching prospects in the league. He is considered to be a very strong defender behind the plate. He reached the Triple-A level in 2025, getting into 99 games. His offense is considered more questionable than his defense but he slashed .250/.320/.459 for a 107 wRC+ with the Jumbo Shrimp last year. He was added to the 40-man roster in November to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft.
The Fish could have gone with Mack and bumped Ramírez to first base, a position that was fairly open. They didn’t go that way. They have continued to stick with Liam Hicks and Ramírez as their catching duo, splitting the time almost equally. Ramírez has been behind the plate for 122 innings, compared to 123 for Hicks. Hicks is doing fine, pairing adequate defense with a .314/.354/.523 line in the early going this year, though he’s not great with the running game.
Ramírez, on the other hand, hasn’t shown many signs of improvement. His 122 innings caught this year are about a fifth of last year’s 605 2/3. He already has four errors, almost half the ten he had last year. That’s tied with Quero for the league lead. He has allowed three passed balls, a better pace than last year but not by much. Francisco Alvarez is the only guy with more, at four. Ramírez has been behind the plate for nine wild pitches already, a worse pace than last year. Only Logan O’Hoppe and Drew Millas have allowed more. FanGraphs and Statcast have soured on his framing a bit, though in a very small sample.
The Ramírez/Hicks pairing impacts their pitchers in other ways as well, as neither is great as controlling the running game. The Fish allowed 191 stolen bases last year, easily the most in the majors. The Astros were a distant second on that list with 157. Miami only caught 24 attempted steals on the year. Technically, that was higher than the 23 that the Royals nabbed, but that was because K.C.’s catchers were run on far less, only allowing 47 steals. So far in 2026, the Marlins have allowed 37 steals, again the most in the majors. They’ve only caught three.
Catchers can sometimes provide value in other ways which are difficult to measure, such as working with a pitching staff. Even there, it’s hard to give the Ramírez and Hicks much credit. Starting last year, the Marlins began calling pitches from the dugout. Ramírez and Hicks might still be doing something in terms of communication and providing confidence but it’s fair to say they’re impacting intangibles less than catchers on other teams.
The offense from Ramírez also continues to lag, as he is currently sporting a .235/.303/.367 line and 84 wRC+ this year. It’s a small sample but he’s now up to 694 career plate appearances with a .231/.290/.406 line and 90 wRC+.
Mack, meanwhile, continues to do well in Jacksonville. In his first 83 plate appearances for the Jumbo Shrimp this year, he has three home runs and a huge 19.3% walk rate. Even with a subpar .267 batting average on balls in play, he has a .224/.373/.388 line and 115 wRC+ this year.
Perhaps there are service time considerations at play. Mack is a consensus top 100 prospect in the league. The Fish could have put him on the Opening Day roster and made him eligible to earn the club a bonus draft pick as part of the prospect promotion incentive. They opted not to do that. At this point, they probably are thinking about the flip side of the PPI. Eligible players who are not promoted in the first few weeks of the season can be awarded a full year of service retroactively if they finish in the top two of rookie of the year voting.
If that were to happen, it would be the worst of both worlds for the Marlins, in a sense. They would not get a bonus pick and their window of club control over Mack would be a standard six, as opposed to being juiced to six-plus. From the team’s perspective, you’d ideally not be in that middle spot.
But the downside of keeping Mack down is that the major league club is likely worse off. With prospects, there are no guarantees of immediate success, so it can’t just be assumed that Mack will boost the big league squad. But since a big part of his appeal is his defense, he should be a lock to at least be an upgrade over Ramírez in that regard. On offense, perhaps he would struggle with the promotion, but it’s not as though Ramírez is crushing the ball so far this year.
The Marlins have received a combined .192/.248/.279 line from the DH spot this year, resulting in a 47 wRC+ which places them ahead of just the Pirates and Rockies. Putting Ramírez in there, and having him focus less on catching, could theoretically be good for the lineup.
And turning back to the PPI situation, there’s also some space opening up. Sal Stewart has nine home runs, a .291/.385/.602 line and 1.2 wins above replacement, in the eyes of FanGraphs. JJ Wetherholt is at 1.1 fWAR and Moises Ballesteros at 0.9. On the pitching side, Nolan McLean is at 1.3 fWAR and Rhett Lowder 1.0. It’s theoretically possible for Mack to come up and have a monster finish while some of those other guys struggle, but getting into the top two of voting is going to be tough when those guys already have a decent head-start.
On top of all that, there’s a window for the Marlins to have a special season. On paper, they came into the year as the fourth-best team in the division, in the eyes of most evaluators. But the Phillies and Mets are both out to awful starts. It’s still early, and the Marlins are only four games clear of those two clubs. But since the Mets and Phillies are 9-19 right now, there’s a real chance they can’t climb back into contention and end up selling at the deadline. In that situation, the Marlins would still have to battle the other N.L. clubs for a wild card spot, since it feels like Atlanta will run away with the division, but Miami’s chances feel a bit better than a few weeks ago even if they’re only 13-15.
Even putting aside the early-season standings, which could change in a hurry, this feels like a move the Marlins should make. All signs point to Mack being the long-term answer behind the plate. Ramírez, meanwhile, would seemingly be better served as a bat-first player. Perhaps the Marlins are hoping that another club will take a chance on Ramírez as a catching project, which would allow them to use him in a deadline deal, but it’s hard to envision that when progress isn’t really being made.
Photo courtesy of Mady Mertens, Isaiah J. Downing, Jim Rassol, Imagn Images
Tanner Murray Suffers Shoulder Fracture
White Sox manager Will Venable announced (as reported by Scott Merkin of MLB.com) that Tanner Murray suffered a dislocation (h/t James Fegan of Sox Machine) and shoulder fracture that will require surgery, with an expected 4-6 month recovery timetable. Murray injured himself laying out for a CJ Abrams flyball in the top of the tenth inning of yesterday’s 2-1 Nationals win. The White Sox have placed Murray on the 10-day IL
The 26-year old Murray made his MLB debut this season with the White Sox after a half-decade working up the ranks in Tampa Bay’s organization. Drafted in the fourth round out of UC Davis in 2020, Murray looked quite good at Single-A Charleston in 2021 before struggling somewhat at High-A Bowling Green the following year.
His 2023, spread across three levels, was successful, but Murray’s performance at the upper levels of the minors left something to be desired. He had arguably his strongest showing in 2024: a .290/.328/.424 line in 470 plate appearances at Double-A Montgomery, good for a park and league adjusted 121 wRC+ (100 is average), but a below-average 2025 at Triple-A Durham (.241/.299/.400 in 572 PAs for an 81 wRC+) curtailed his ascent to the majors.
Last offseason, Murray became one-half of the White Sox return (alongside Everson Pereira) for righties Yoendrys Gómez and Steven Wilson. This time, Murray’s Triple-A showcase with Charlotte (in an admittedly small 30 PAs) was stupendous: a .304/.467/.609 line, good for a 177 wRC+. That was enough to convince Chicago to give the 26-year-old rookie his first taste of MLB action.
In terms of tools, Murray profiles more as a jack-of-all trades. He likely lacks the offensive upside to be an everyday starter. He hit only .214/.281/.321 (58 wRC+) in his first 33 MLB PAs, but his defensive versatility offers flexibility at the end of the bench. Roughly half of his appearances have come in left field for the White Sox, but he has also been able to effectively cover third base and short (his primary defensive homes in the minors) at the big league level in a small sample.
Can Chase Dollander Defeat Coors Field?
Rockies right-hander Chase Dollander fired seven scoreless innings to earn a win against the Mets on Sunday. The outing lowered his April ERA to a pristine 1.29. He’s piled up 34 strikeouts over 28 innings this month. Sunday’s outing was the first traditional start of the season for Dollander. He’d pitched exclusively out of the bullpen to begin the year, typically as a bulk reliever following an opener.
Dollander’s win over the Mets came at Citi Field. It was his fifth appearance on the road this season, compared to just two games at Coors Field. The young righty has been able to tame the hitter-friendly venue so far. Dollander allowed a run over 4 1/3 innings at home against the Phillies in his second outing of the season. He limited the Padres to a run across six innings early last week, piling up nine strikeouts. Colorado scored one run total in Dollander’s two home games, saddling him with the loss both times.
The Rockies took Dollander with the ninth overall pick in the 2023 draft. MLB Pipeline ranked him as the No. 2 prospect in the system in 2024, behind only infielder Adael Amador. Dollander struck out minor leaguers at a healthy 33.9% clip that season. The hard-throwing righty debuted with the Rockies last year. The results were brutal in basically every regard. Dollander struggled to miss bats, failed to find the strike zone consistently, and was frequently barreled. His 6.52 ERA was backed by an xFIP and SIERA near 5.00.
Dollander has taken a step forward in multiple areas in his second attempt as a big leaguer. He’s added a tick to his fastball, which was already extremely hard for a starter. Dollander’s four-seamer is sitting at 99 mph this year, ranking fourth among all pitchers. He’s more than doubled his sinker usage, contributing to a well-above-averge 51.9% groundball rate. Despite the increase in sinkers, Dollander has a strong 13.4% swinging-strike rate.
Keeping the ball on the ground while getting ample whiffs is a great recipe for success. Dollander’s 55.7% hard-hit rate stands out as a red flag, but it’s not turning into damage due to the type of batted balls he’s permitting. Only 8.9% of the contact against Dollander has been pulled in the air. Hard-hit balls on the ground and to the opposite way are generally going to lead to better outcomes for a pitcher than pulled air contact.
Colorado brought in Paul DePodesta to run baseball operations this offseason. He’s tasked with reviving a club that hasn’t won 70 games since 2021. The organization is currently in a seven-year playoff drought. DePodesta’s tenure is off to a solid start. The Rockies are just three games under .500 after sweeping the Mets over the weekend. The acquisitions of TJ Rumfield (trade) and Troy Johnston (waiver claim) have been additive, as has the signing of Tomoyuki Sugano. The Johnston addition came shortly before the DePodesta hire was announced, but it’s still part of what looks to have been a productive winter. DePodesta didn’t draft Dollander, of course, but his regime will be in charge of the righty’s development. The decision to initially use Dollander behind an opener, whether it came from manager Warren Schaeffer or the front office, proved fruitful.
Coors Field remains the most difficult place to pitch in the league. Per Statcast, it has a 112 overall Park Factor over the past three seasons, which ranks first by a significant margin. Chase Field is second on the list at 105. Colorado’s stadium ranks first in park effect for runs, OBP, hits, singles, and doubles, which makes sense given the spacious dimensions. The thin air in Denver also limits the effectiveness of breaking balls, forcing pitchers to reconsider their arsenals.
The Rockies have had the occasional pitcher break through with a productive season, despite the difficult home environment. Kyle Freeland finished eighth in ERA with a 2.85 mark in 2018. Jon Gray had a pair of sub-4.00 ERA seasons in the late 2010s. Jorge De La Rosa and Jhoulys Chacin formed a formidable duo in 2013, each posting sub-3.50 ERAs over 30+ starts. ERA is far from the only relevant pitching stat, but it’s a reliable marker for a successful season in a venue that boosts run production like no other.
Ubaldo Jimenez stands out as one of the only starters to have extended success in Colorado. He’s the name that gets whispered whenever a Rockies pitcher brushes up against relevance. The righty entered the rotation on a full-time basis in 2008. He racked up 16.8 WAR (per Baseball Reference) over the next three seasons. The walks were a bit high, but Jimenez limited damage with the help of a diverse arsenal. The 2010 campaign was his masterpiece. Jimenez posted 221 2/3 frames of a 2.88 ERA with nearly a strikeout per inning. He earned an All-Star selection and finished third in NL Cy Young voting. Jimenez had better numbers on the road, but not by much. He held opponents to a .661 OPS and a .294 wOBA in 101 2/3 innings at Coors Field.
Jimenez was the rare pitcher to perform worse after leaving Colorado. He had one good year after getting traded to Cleveland, but didn’t find much success beyond his Rockies tenure. Jimenez did provide what would seem to be a viable blueprint for surviving at Coors Field: above-average velocity, a diverse arsenal, and a pitch mix that isn’t overly reliant on breaking balls. Dollander checks those boxes. He uses a changeup instead of a splitter, but the rest of the repertoire lines up with peak Jimenez. It’s around 60% four-seamer/sinker, 12% changeup, and then a smattering of breaking balls (slider/curveball/sweeper). Dollander has also improved his walk rate to 6.9%. Even in Jimenez’s stellar 2010, he issued free passes at a double-digit clip.
Dollander is just 28 appearances into his big-league career. It’s a seven-game sample of positive results. There’s plenty of season left for him to succumb to the Colorado conditions, which aren’t limited to home games. Rockies players also have to adjust to leaving the Denver altitude for road trips. But the formula is there for Dollander to conquer Coors Field.
Photos courtesy of Wendell Cruz, Denis Poroy, Gary A. Vasquez, Imagn Images
Mets Claim Eric Wagaman
The Mets announced that they have claimed infielder Eric Wagaman off waivers from the Twins and optioned him to Triple-A Syracuse. Minnesota had designated him for assignment last week. The Mets had a 40-man vacancy and don’t need to make a corresponding move. The Mets also announced that they have signed outfielder Austin Slater and designated outfielder Tommy Pham for assignment, moves that were reported yesterday.
Wagaman, to his credit, didn’t have a whole lot left to prove in the upper levels of the minors at one time. Drafted by the Yankees in 2017 out of Orange Coast CC, Wagaman had a slow and steady climb up the affiliate ranks, but he started to show some big league promise between 2022-2024. His worst “full season” line was a .258/.346/.468 line, good for a league-and-park-adjusted 123 wRC+ (100 is average) in 266 plate appearances spread between High-A Hudson Valley and Double-A Somerset in 2022. His work was even better the following year with Somerset: a .320/.355/.500 showing for a 146 wRC+ in 136 PAs. Perhaps due to his then-age (25), defensive limitations, or limited offensive upside, the Yankees passed on adding Wagaman to their 40-man roster to protect him during the Rule 5 Draft.
The Angels, however, saw enough to warrant a potential return to Orange County for the Mission Viejo native, adding him in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 Draft. While his numbers at Triple-A Salt Lake were less promising, the Angels granted him a cup of coffee in September 2024. His big league results, in 74 PAs, were uninspiring: a .250/.270/.403 line for a 87 wRC+ with little defensive or baserunning upside. Wagaman’s strong plate discipline also backslid, and without average power at a bat-first position, the Angels found little incentive to keep rostering him and elected to non-tender Wagaman, sending him to free agency.
The Marlins pounced with a major-league contract for 2025. In 514 PAs, Wagaman was able to somewhat rediscover his plate discipline at the major league level, but the power and contact quality further waned. Ultimately, his .250/.296/.378 line and 85 wRC+ didn’t look much different than his 2024 sample, but a below-average bat at an offense-first position was untenable. Miami cut bait with Wagaman following the 2025 campaign. The Twins were next in line for Wagaman’s services after an offseason swap, but after a poor showing (48 wRC+ with a 33.8 strikeout rate) in 74 PAs at Triple-A St. Paul, he was designated for assignment.
For now, Wagaman will look to regain his footing at Triple-A Syracuse while he awaits his next chance at the bigs. The Mets would certainly take any offensive boost they can at this point: they’ve scored the fewest runs in all of MLB. While Wagaman profiles best defensively as a first baseman, he’s shown some versatility covering the outfield corners and third base. Left field and third base are spoken for by Juan Soto and Bo Bichette, respectively, but Wagaman could be insurance for offseason signing Jorge Polanco (currently on the shelf with a wrist contusion) alongside Mark Vientos or in the right field mix with Tyrone Taylor, utilityman Brett Baty, and the newly acquired Slater.
There’s upside here for the Mets if the bat can come around: Wagaman’s controllable until 2031 and, perhaps more importantly, has all three option-years remaining. For a major league club that is currently starved for offense and seems open to shaking up the roster at the periphery among a league worst start, Wagaman represents a low-risk move that could potentially pay dividends.