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Royals Place Nick Anderson On Release Waivers

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The Royals released veteran reliever Nick Anderson, according to the transactions log at MLB.com. Anne Rogers of MLB.com tweets that the right-hander is currently on release waivers. If he goes unclaimed, he’ll hit free agency in the coming days.

Kansas City pushed Anderson out of their bullpen last weekend when they acquired Hunter Harvey. With more than five years of major league service, Anderson had the ability to decline any minor league assignments while retaining his $1.575MM salary. That led the Royals to release him after the DFA.

The Royals took a flier on Anderson in a cash trade with the Braves last offseason. Atlanta evidently wasn’t planning to keep him via arbitration, but K.C. swung a deal to bring him in just before the non-tender deadline. Anderson made 37 appearances and tossed 35 2/3 innings, his heaviest MLB workload since his dominant 2019 rookie year. The 34-year-old posted a reasonable 4.04 earned run average, but his peripherals weren’t great.

Anderson got swinging strikes on a modest 9.8% of his offerings. That resulted in a subpar 19% strikeout rate. His 9.8% walk percentage was a bit higher than average. It’s not great aggregate production, although Anderson’s strikeout and walk numbers had started to come around in recent weeks. He had nearly as many walks (12) as strikeouts (13) through the end of May. Since the calendar flipped to June, Anderson punched out 16 hitters while only issuing a trio of free passes in 15 appearances. That coincided with a home run spike, however, and the front office decided to push him out of a scuffling relief group.

Once an elite late-game weapon for the Rays, Anderson missed most of the 2021-22 seasons to elbow injuries. Tampa Bay cut him loose after the ’22 campaign. Anderson hasn’t been the same force he was back in 2019, but he was an above-average reliever for the Braves as recently as last season. He turned in a 3.04 ERA while striking out more than a quarter of opponents across 35 appearances. A shoulder strain ended his year around the All-Star Break.

If Anderson clears waivers, any team could sign him for the prorated portion of the $740K minimum. Kansas City would be on the hook for the rest of his salary. It’s not out of the question he secures a major league contract and jumps right into another team’s MLB bullpen. If he does find an MLB job, Anderson would remain under arbitration control through 2025.

Reds Sign No. 2 Overall Pick Chase Burns

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The Reds announced this evening that they’ve officially signed second overall pick Chase Burns. MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis reports (on X) the the right-hander received a $9.25MM signing bonus. While that’s a bit shy of the $9.79MM slot value, it’s the largest signing bonus in draft history. Burns edges past the $9.2MM which Paul Skenes secured as last year’s first overall pick.

It’s possible that record will only stand for a few days. Burns is the first player from this year’s top 10 to sign. First overall pick Travis Bazzana (and potentially #3 selection Charlie Condon) could land a loftier bonus in the coming weeks. That won’t be of much concern to Burns, the first pitcher to come off the board last week. While Burns was widely expected to be the top pitcher selected, he was a slightly surprising pick at #2. Condon and West Virginia infielder JJ Wetherholt — who “slipped” to the Cardinals at #7 — were marginally ahead of Burns on most public rankings heading into the draft, largely because of the heightened injury risk for pitchers.

ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel and Keith Law of the Athletic each had Burns as the #5 player in the class. FanGraphs slotted him sixth, while Baseball America ranked him fourth. All four publications had Burns and Arkansas lefty Hagen Smith as the top two pitchers in some order.

Burns was a high-profile draft prospect as a high schooler back in 2021. Teams weren’t willing to meet his asking price at the time, leading the 6’3″ righty to the University of Tennessee. Burns had two strong seasons in Knoxville and transferred to Wake Forest for his draft year. He started 16 times for the Demon Deacons, firing 100 innings with a 2.70 earned run average. Burns fanned nearly half the batters he faced and easily led Division I pitchers with 191 strikeouts. Smith was second in the nation with 161 punchouts. He kept his walk rate to a 7.7% clip and finished his college career with a 40% strikeout rate against a 7.6% walk percentage.

With that level of dominance, it’s not surprising that prospect evaluators suggest Burns has a top-of-the-rotation ceiling. Reports credit him with an upper-90s fastball that can run as high as 100 or 101 MPH. That pitch and his wipeout slider have each gotten 70 or 80 grades on the 20-80 scouting scale. Burns’ curveball and changeup are a bit behind the fastball/slider combination and scouting reports point to some effort in his delivery, but there’s not much question about his ability to stick as a starter. Both Law and McDaniel note that he could move quickly through the minors.

Cincinnati selected another Wake Forest righty, Rhett Lowder, in the top 10 a year ago. They’re hopeful that duo will join Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo and Andrew Abbott as part of a homegrown starting staff. There’s injury risk with any group of young pitchers and the Reds will need more than five starters on an annual basis, but that quintet could be the nucleus of one of the sport’s best rotations if things break right over the next couple seasons.

A’s To Promote Jacob Wilson

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The Athletics are calling up top infield prospect Jacob Wilson, reports Martín Gallegos of MLB.com (X link). Last year’s sixth overall pick has posted incredible numbers through his first full professional season. Oakland has two vacancies on the 40-man roster and optioned Armando Alvarez yesterday to create an active roster spot. No corresponding move is required.

Wilson is the fifth player from the 2023 first round to reach the big leagues. The Angels pushed Nolan Schanuel there last summer, while Wyatt Langford, Paul Skenes and Hurston Waldrep have made their debuts this season. Wilson only needed 72 minor league games to convince the A’s that he is prepared for a look at MLB arms.

The A’s selected the righty-hitting Wilson — the son of former All-Star Jack Wilson — after a standout college career at Grand Canyon University. Wilson hit .412 with 19 walks and a laughable total of five strikeouts over 49 games during his junior season. While he certainly wasn’t facing the caliber of pitching that players like Langford and Dylan Crews saw in the SEC, scouts have never doubted that his contact skills would translate.

Whether Wilson would make enough hard contact to be an impact hitter was more debatable. How well the profile will translate against MLB pitching remains to be seen, but he hasn’t had any problem hitting for power in the minors. Wilson tore through Double-A pitching, connecting on 13 doubles and a trio of homers in 22 games. He hit .455/.473/.705 over 93 plate appearances to earn a bump to Triple-A Las Vegas in May. An injured list stint briefly held him back, but he has continued to rake since returning in June.

Over 19 Triple-A contests, Wilson hit .398/.444/.639 with seven walks and only three strikeouts. He popped another four homers and eight doubles. Between the top two minor league levels and a brief rehab stint in rookie ball, he owns an eye-popping .438/.475/.687 batting line in 200 plate appearances this season.

The A’s have used Wilson exclusively at shortstop. There’s little reason for a rebuilding Oakland team not to give him a shot to stick there. The A’s have been running with 27-year-old rookie Max Schuemann at the position for the last two weeks. Schuemann has a league average .245/.339/.347 slash line. That’s decent production, but the former 20th round draftee isn’t going to stand in Wilson’s way. The A’s could kick Schuemann over to third base while Abraham Toro is on the injured list, cutting into the playing time for Brett Harris in the process.

Wilson’s massive numbers vaulted him up to #19 on Baseball America’s most recent ranking of the sport’s Top 100 prospects. He opened the season in the #76 spot. MLB Pipeline ranked him 68th before Opening Day and has nudged him up to #50 at this point. Wilson meets the prospect criteria to potentially earn a full service year if he manages to finish in the top two in Rookie of the Year balloting, though that’ll be a tough task with less than half the season to play. The A’s would not receive a bonus pick if Wilson were to win Rookie of the Year since they didn’t call him up in time to accrue a full year of service in the traditional manner — spending 172 days on the MLB roster.

Barring a top-two Rookie of the Year finish, Wilson will be under team control for six seasons beyond this one. He’s not likely to qualify for arbitration until the 2027-28 offseason. A future assignment back to the minor leagues could delay that trajectory.

Rockies Outright Josh Rogers

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The Rockies have sent left-hander Josh Rogers outright to Triple-A Albuquerque, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment earlier this week. He has the right to elect free agency but it’s not yet clear if he has chosen to do so.

Rogers, 30, began the year with the Rockies on a minor league deal. He started the year with nine Triple-A starts, posting a 5.44 earned run average in those outings in the Pacific Coast League. He only struck out 14.6% of opponents but kept his walk rate down to a tiny 4.4% rate.

The Rockies added him to their roster at the end of May as the club needed some innings. Austin Gomber was scratched from his start on May 27, leaving the club to deploy a bullpen game, with Rogers allowing two runs in five frames that day.

He eventually made four other appearances and was sitting on a 6.75 ERA when he landed on the 15-day injured list due to a left shoulder rotator cuff strain. He was reinstated from the IL July 14 and optioned to the minors, getting designated for assignment the next day.

The lefty will now have to decide whether to report to Albuquerque or head to the open market. If he sticks with the Rockies, there might be opportunities opening up on the staff later in the year. The club is one of the clearest sellers at 34-63 and they could perhaps move guys like Gomber, Cal Quantrill or others. If they do end up flipping a pitcher or two, they may need some help covering innings in the final few weeks of the season.

He had previously appeared in the big leagues with the Orioles and Nationals. His work with Colorado this year has bumped his career totals to 97 1/3 innings over 35 big league appearances, with a 5.55 ERA, 10.9% strikeout rate and 8.8% walk rate.

Abner Uribe Undergoes Season-Ending Knee Surgery

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Brewers right-hander Abner Uribe announced on his Instagram that he underwent season-ending knee surgery, as relayed on X by Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “Unfortunately the 2024 season has come to an end for me,” the post says.

It was reported just over a month ago that Uribe would require surgery to fix a right lateral meniscus tear in his knee. At the time, it wasn’t known what kind of return timeline he would be looking at, as it would depend on what doctors found once the procedure began. President of baseball operations Matt Arnold said it could have been something as mild as “a light cleanup” but that evidently hasn’t come to pass and he won’t be able to return again in 2024.

Uribe, now 24, had a strong debut with the Brewers in 2023. He tossed 30 2/3 innings, allowing just 1.76 earned runs per nine. His 15.7% walk rate was certainly on the high side but he also punched out 30.7% of batters faced and got grounders on 53% of balls in play.

But 2024 has been more tumultuous. It started out well for Uribe, as closer Devin Williams required a stint on the injured list and the Brewers gave Uribe a shot in the role. His first three appearances this year all resulted in him recording a save, but things got rockier from there. His results tapered off and he also received a six-game suspension for his part in a brawl with the Rays.

Uribe was optioned to the minors on May 1, the same day he received that suspension. At that point, despite the strong start to the year, he had a 6.91 ERA through 14 1/3 innings. He was still getting lots of ground balls but his 21.2% strikeout rate was well below last year’s pace and his already-problematic walk rate jumped even higher to 18.2%.

His six-game suspension was reduced to four games but he hasn’t yet served it. Suspensions for on-field violations require the team to play a man short, so the Brewers still have to find some time in the future to recall Uribe and have him on the roster serving his suspension while they play shorthanded. Until then, the suspension will remain hanging over him in a state of limbo.

On top of his shaky performance, the suspension and getting sent to the minors, Uribe now has to focus on a lengthy injury rehab. Because he was injured on optional assignment, he’s not currently collecting major league pay or service time. Since he’s out for the year, the Brewers could recall him at some point and transfer him to the 60-day injured list. Doing so would open up a 40-man roster spot for them, but it would also require them to give Uribe that big league pay and service time.

He came into this year with 86 days of service and added another 34 earlier this year, putting him at 120. It takes 172 days for a player to roll over a year, so he’s 52 shy of that right now. There are 73 days left in the 2024 season. He is burning his second option year here in 2024 but will still have one option remaining for the future.

White Sox Release Jared Walsh

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The White Sox released Jared Walsh from his minor league contract, according to the MLB.com transaction log. The former All-Star first baseman heads back to free agency.

Walsh broke camp with the Rangers while Nathaniel Lowe was injured. The lefty hitter turned in a .226/.317/.321 line in 60 plate appearances spanning 17 games. Texas designated Walsh for assignment and sent him back to free agency once Lowe was ready for reinstatement. The White Sox signed him a week later and sent him to Triple-A Charlotte.

While it was a sensible depth pickup, Walsh hasn’t produced against minor league pitching over the last couple months. He has gone down on strikes at a 36.9% clip. Even with a robust 12.1% walk rate and eight home runs, the whiffs resulted in a meager .185/.289/.415 slash. That wasn’t going to be enough to earn a look even on a clear rebuilding team.

Walsh was a middle-of-the-order presence for the Angels between 2020-21, connecting on 29 homers in the latter campaign. He hasn’t been the same player over the past three years. That’s largely on account of injury, as Walsh’s ’22 season was cut short by thoracic outlet syndrome. He has struggled to make contact against both MLB and Triple-A pitching since returning. Walsh fanned at a near-35% clip in Triple-A with the Angels last season. He has struck out more than 37% of the time in the majors since the start of last season, hitting .159/.250/.293 over his most recent 176 big league plate appearances.

Padres Select Tirso Ornelas

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The Padres have selected outfielder Tirso Ornelas to their 40-man roster, MLBTR has confirmed. The move was previously listed on the club’s transactions tracker at MLB.com. The Padres have had an open spot on their 40-man roster since Yu Darvish was placed on the restricted list earlier this month, so no corresponding move will be required at this time.

Ornelas, 24, was an international signing out of Mexico, with the Padres giving him a $1.5MM signing bonus back in 2016. He put up a strong showing in Rookie ball in 2017, hitting .276/.399/.408 and getting himself some attention from prospect evaluators.

Baseball America listed him as the #31 prospect in the club’s system going into 2018 and he was on that outlet’s top 30 list for three years after that. FanGraphs ranked him as the #116 prospect in all of baseball going into 2019, highlighting his natural abilities at the plate.

Ornelas had a dismal year in 2019, slashing .217/.303/.279 across Rookie ball and High-A. Going into 2020, Eric Longenhagen at FanGraphs mentioned some swing changes that had negative results, but he still gave Ornelas praise and ranked him 19th in the system.

More recently, Ornelas seems to have gotten things back on track. After the minors were canceled in 2020, Ornelas put up some passable numbers in 2021 and 2022. Last year, he had a great showing in Double-A, with 11 home runs in 72 games. He also walked at a 14.1% clip and was only struck out in 18.9% of his plate appearances. His .284/.381/.473 line at that level translated to a wRC+ of 126.

He also got into 55 Triple-A games last year with less success, as his .285/.358/.425 line at that level led to a 96 wRC+ in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. But he’s been far better at that level here in 2024, with 12 home runs through 74 contests, a 10.3% walk rate and 17.1% strikeout rate. His .316/.390/.515 batting line is 24% better than league average, per wRC+.

It hasn’t been a straight line but Ornelas has found a winding road to the majors since being signed by the Padres almost a decade ago. Just a few days back, Longenhagen and Travis Ice released their list of top Padres’ prospects for this year at FanGraphs with Ornelas in the #12 slot. The report suggests the Statcast data isn’t as impressive as the raw numbers with Ornelas, but still he’s still viewed as a viable big leaguer.

Ornelas has played a bit of center field and first base but has mostly been in the outfield corners in his career. The Padres have Fernando Tatis Jr. on the injured list due to a right femoral stress reaction. Per Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune on X, Tatis has begun playing catch and swinging a bat but he still has some hurdles to clear before he can rejoin the club.

Without Tatis, the Friars have a corner outfield mix consisting of Jurickson Profar, David Peralta and Bryce Johnson. Profar is having a stunning career year at the age of 31 and is firmly implanted in left field. Peralta was just below league average at the plate over the 2021-23 period and is hitting .250/.313/.330 in 2024 for a wRC+ of 90. Johnson has mostly been in a bench role, with just one start since July 2.

Perhaps Ornelas can carve out some playing time in there during the final few months of 2024 or in the long term. Peralta and Profar are both impending free agents, so there’s lots of room next to Tatis and Jackson Merrill in the future outfield plans.

Mets To Sign Logan Porter To Major League Deal

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The Mets and catcher Logan Porter are in agreement on a major league deal, according to Ari Alexander of KPRC 2 on X. The deal for the Gaeta Sports Management client is pending a physical. Porter has options and won’t necessarily be added to the active roster, but it appears he’ll get a 40-man spot. The Mets will need to open a spot there to make the move official.

Porter, 29, spent most of his career with the Royals until recently. An undrafted free agent signed by Kansas City in 2018, he got a brief look in the majors last year, getting into 13 games. He was non-tendered at season’s end and re-signed with the Royals on a minor league deal.

He was acquired by the Giants about a month ago in a cash deal, but he triggered an opt-out clause on Tuesday. The Giants could have kept him by adding him to their roster but it appears they let him go and now the Mets will be the ones to give him that roster spot.

Porter hit just .194/.324/.323 in the majors last year, though in a brief sample of 38 plate appearances. His work on the farm has been far more impressive, as he has slashed .277/.401/.466 in his 1,766 minor league plate appearances. That translates to a 131 wRC+, indicating he’s been 31% better than league average.

That includes a line of .293/.390/.500 and a 127 wRC+ this year, though in uneven fashion. He hit .319/.428/.575 with the Royals but then put up a line of .253/.329/.387 after being traded to the Giants. However, that latter line was in just 85 plate appearances and the overall work appears to have been good enough to interest his new club.

The Mets currently have a tandem of Francisco Alvarez and Luis Torrens handling their catching duties at the major league level. Alvarez was one of the top prospects in baseball not too long ago and has handled himself well in the majors thus far, having hit .231/.305/.450 in his career for a 110 wRC+ with strong defensive grades as well. Torrens joined the club six weeks ago and has been killing it in that time, with a line of .283/.333/.547 and 149 wRC+ since becoming a Met. That’s far better than his career line of .231/.292/.367 but the Mets will probably ride the hot hand for as long as they can.

But those two are the only catchers on the 40-man roster. Once Porter’s deal becomes official, they will have some optionable depth on hand if either Alvarez or Torrens suffer an injury. Porter has a full slate of options and only a handful of service days, meaning he could be a long-term piece for the Mets if he holds onto his roster spot. Porter also has some first base and third base experience, which could help him carve out a utility role at some point down the line as long as he keeps hitting.

White Sox To Promote Brooks Baldwin

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The White Sox are planning to select the contract of infielder Brooks Baldwin before the season resumes tomorrow, reports Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times. He’s not on the 40-man roster, but the South Siders have a vacancy there after recently designating catcher Martin Maldonado for assignment.

Baldwin, 23, is a 2022 12th-round pick who generally hasn’t been considered to be among the system’s best prospects. He’s dramatically improved his stock this season, however, tearing through the Double-A level with a .322/.386/.441 slash in 319 plate appearances. That prompted a bump up to the Triple-A level, and while Baldwin’s stay there will only last eight games, nothing during that brief run with Charlotte derailed the momentum he’d established in Birmingham. In 35 trips to the plate with the Knights, Baldwin hit .345/.441/.655 with a pair of homers and more walks (five) than strikeouts (just two). Overall, the switch-hitter boasts a .324/.391/.460 slash with a 16.4% strikeout rate and 9.3% walk rate between the Sox’ top two minor league affiliates this season.

While he’s bounced all over the diamond in 2024, logging time at all three infield positions left of first base and in left field, Baldwin has been primarily a shortstop. The Sox have been going with veteran Paul DeJong there in the big leagues, and while he hasn’t exactly been a standout performer, the longtime Cardinal has belted 16 homers and turned in a passable .226/.274/.423 slash in 329 plate appearances. DeJong, however, is a clear trade candidate in the next 12 days as a reasonably productive veteran playing for a last-place team on a one-year, $1.75MM deal.

Baldwin could eventually get a run at shortstop or at second base. Chicago recently optioned Lenyn Sosa to Triple-A, and defensive-minded Nicky Lopez isn’t going to serve as a roadblock to playing time for a potential long-term piece like Baldwin. Lopez has played fine defense at second but batted .240/.297/.287 in 285 plate appearances. He’s a trade candidate himself, thanks to his plus glove at multiple positions, but the Sox could also just move Lopez into a utility role. Lopez is controlled into next year but will be a non-tender candidate, as he’ll be owed a raise on this year’s $4.3MM salary in his final trip through the arbitration process. The Sox also just signed Nick Senzel to play third base, hoping another change of scenery can bring about better production for the former No. 2 overall pick.

Whatever alignment the Sox settle on, Baldwin should get substantial run in the season’s final two and a half months. It’s possible, if not likely, that this will be just one of many auditions in that time. The Sox are sure to trade several players on the roster over the next 12 days, and those will largely be replaced by in-house prospects (the Senzel signing notwithstanding). Colson Montgomery, widely considered the ChiSox’ top prospect (and one of the top overall prospects in baseball) might have been considered for a promotion at this point had he not struggled to a .212/.328/.373 slash in 346 Triple-A plate appearances this season. Third base prospect Bryan Ramos has also struggled of late in the minors. Both rank among Chicago’s best prospects and both could be up eventually in the second half, but Baldwin’s production has apparently been too loud for Sox brass to ignore.

The Rockies May Have Found A Long-Term Answer In Center Field

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The Rockies are headed to another last place finish. Overall, the only sources of intrigue are how active they’ll be as deadline sellers and whether they’ll place below the Marlins as the worst team in the National League. That doesn’t negate the possibility of individual development. For a second straight year, Colorado looks like they’ve developed a regular in the outfield amidst a generally rough season.

Last season’s success story was fourth-place NL Rookie of the Year finisher Nolan Jones. While his follow-up has not gone as planned, Colorado has gotten much better production out of another of his second-year outfield mates. Brenton Doyle seems to be turning the corner from an all-glove center fielder to a balanced, above-average everyday player.

One could argue that Doyle had a successful rookie season in his own right. It didn’t match up to Jones’ debut campaign, but Doyle looked like one of the sport’s 5-10 best outfield defenders from the time he was called up. He posted eye-popping grades (+19 Defensive Runs Saved, 15 runs above average by Statcast measurement) in a little more than 1000 innings. He earned a well-deserved Gold Glove.

Stellar as Doyle was defensively, both FanGraphs and Baseball Reference graded him marginally above replacement in 2023. Among regulars, he was probably the least productive hitter in the majors. Doyle ranked last among 212 hitters (minimum 400 plate appearances) with a .250 on-base percentage. His .203 average was sixth-worst and he was in the bottom-10 in slugging percentage as well.

Unlike other players with similar rate stats, Doyle played half his games at Coors Field. The park-adjusted wRC+ metric rated Doyle 57 percentage points below league average offensively. That was worst in the majors among regulars by a wide margin. Tim Anderson was next closest at 40 points below average.

The Rockies had reason to believe Doyle would take a step forward offensively. He went to Division II Shepherd University. Doyle certainly wasn’t facing many professional-caliber arms at that level. He was nevertheless a generally productive minor league hitter, albeit with significant strikeout issues. Doyle is a good athlete who drew praise from prospect evaluators for plus or better raw power. His approach and pure hit tool have always been the biggest concerns, but he had the kind of profile that could lead a team to believe he’d blossom later than most players.

Doyle seems to have done just that in his age-26 season, likely progressing even beyond Colorado’s expectations. He heads into the season’s unofficial second half with a .276/.343/.471 slash line across 377 plate appearances. His 15 homers are already five more than he managed over 431 trips to the plate last season. Doyle hasn’t merely improved from one of the league’s worst hitters to a competent option in the bottom third of a lineup. His offense has jumped from the bottom of the league to better than average. Bud Black gave him some run at the top of order last month and had him in the middle third of the lineup going into the All-Star Break.

An improved process is arguably even more encouraging than the results themselves are. Doyle hasn’t simply ridden a streak of batted ball luck to good numbers. His .338 average on balls in play is .043 points higher than last year’s mark, but it’s not a number that screams for regression. Doyle is an elite runner who hits the ball fairly hard and plays in the sport’s biggest home park. He should be able to maintain a higher-than-average BABIP.

The much bigger driver has been Doyle’s improved strike zone discipline. The righty hitter has both become more selective and taken a massive step forward with his contact skills. As a rookie, Doyle made contact 79% of the time he swung at a pitch inside the strike zone, a bottom-20 mark in the majors. He’s north of 86% this year, slightly higher than the 85.3% league average. Doyle has dramatically improved his contact rates against breaking stuff and is chasing pitches off the plate less often than he did a year ago.

That translates to a vastly improved strikeout and walk profile. After going down on strikes an untenable 35% of the time last season, he’s punching out at a much more passable 24.9% rate. His walks are up from 5.1% to a decent 8.8% mark. No one would confuse Doyle for Juan Soto, but average strike zone numbers are more than sufficient. There’s never been much question about Doyle’s power or athleticism. He’s a fantastic defender. If he can maintain even a fringe-average hit tool, he has an All-Star ceiling.

As is the case with most Rockies players, Doyle has pronounced home/road splits. He has done an inordinate amount of his offensive damage at Coors Field. He’s hitting .346/.407/.588 with a 20.8% strikeout rate over 173 plate appearances at home. Doyle’s road production (.217/.289/.372 with a 28.4% strikeout percentage across 204 PAs) is mediocre. His road numbers are at least partially weighed down by a modest .267 BABIP, though, and his strikeout and walk profile has improved no matter the setting.

With regard to pitcher handedness, Doyle has been above-average against both lefties (.289/.359/.470) and righties (.272/.338/.472). His walk rate is steady regardless of platoon matchups, though he’s been more strikeout prone against righties (26.7%, compared to 19.6% versus southpaws). Doyle has also hit for more power against right-handers, however, which has helped to mitigate some of the extra swings and misses. Any way you slice it, he’s been a quality hitter regardless of opponent.

Whether Doyle can maintain or build off his early-season promise is one of the biggest second half storylines in Colorado. The Rox may not have much to play for as a team, but they’re looking for players to establish themselves. Colorado has Ezequiel Tovar locked in at shortstop and can keep Ryan McMahon at the hot corner for three more seasons. Doyle is in his first full MLB campaign and can be controlled for five years after this one. He has shown the talent to join Tovar, McMahon and hopefully Jones as part of the position player core. Maintaining this newfound approach would only increase the organization’s confidence that Doyle fits with that group.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

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