Tigers Skipping Jack Flaherty’s Start Due To Back Discomfort
The Tigers scratched Jack Flaherty from tomorrow’s scheduled start against the Twins. The right-hander remained in Los Angeles after his start against the Angels last Thursday to receive an injection to treat back soreness, writes Chris McCosky of the Detroit News.
For the moment, it doesn’t seem the situation is concerning. Manager A.J. Hinch told the Detroit beat on Tuesday afternoon that the team remains confident he’ll avoid the injured list (relayed on X by Cody Stavenhagen of the Athletic). McCosky reports that the Tigers are targeting next week’s home series against the Guardians for Flaherty to take the ball.
A team skipping a pitcher’s start to treat a minor back issue wouldn’t ordinarily be noteworthy. Yet Flaherty’s health is of utmost importance with less than a month before the trade deadline. Detroit lost on Tuesday to fall nine games below .500. They’re all but assured of going into deadline season as at least soft sellers. It stands to reason they’ll be reluctant to move players whom they have under control for multiple years. They should deal their most appealing impending free agents. Flaherty tops the list.
Detroit’s decision to sign Flaherty to a one-year, $14MM pillow contract was one of the best moves of the 2023-24 offseason. Despite a rocky outing in his most recent appearance, he carries a 3.24 ERA over 15 starts. Flaherty has punched out 33% of batters faced behind an excellent 14.2% swinging strike rate. He has walked a career-low 4% of opposing hitters. He should get his first All-Star nod this summer.
Assuming he’s healthy, Flaherty figures to find himself in plenty of trade rumors coming out of the Midsummer Classic. He’ll almost certainly be the best rental starting pitcher on the market. MLBTR slotted Flaherty as the #3 pitcher on our ranking of the upcoming free agent class last week. The players above him, Corbin Burnes and Max Fried, aren’t getting traded.
Beyond Flaherty, the rental rotation market could include the likes of Yusei Kikuchi, Michael Lorenzen, Jose Quintana and Frankie Montas. As the best impending free agent starter available, Flaherty could net the Tigers a prospect package headlined by a borderline Top 100 caliber talent. If they don’t trade him, Detroit could make him a qualifying offer at the end of the season. Assuming Flaherty signed elsewhere for at least $50MM, the Tigers would get a pick after the first round in the 2025 draft. Detroit should nevertheless find a prospect package within the next few weeks that they consider more valuable than the draft choice.
Keider Montero will get the ball tomorrow in Flaherty’s absence. As first reported by Jason Beck of MLB.com (on X), Detroit is recalling the rookie righty less than a week after optioning him. That’s only permissible if Montero is replacing a player on the roster who is headed to the injured list. That won’t be Flaherty but right-hander Casey Mize, who is ticketed for the 15-day IL after suffering a left hamstring strain in his start on Sunday. The former first overall pick owns a 4.23 ERA despite a modest 16.8% strikeout rate over 16 starts in his return from Tommy John surgery.
Tyler Mahle Begins Rehab Stint
Tyler Mahle saw his first official game action as a member of the Ranger organization tonight. Texas assigned the offseason signee to Triple-A Round Rock to begin a rehab assignment. Mahle threw two scoreless innings on 19 pitches in his first appearance since he underwent Tommy John surgery last May.
Texas inked the righty to a two-year, $22MM guarantee in December. Mahle is making $5.5MM this year and is due a $16.5MM salary for next season. The backloaded term reflected the fact that Mahle would miss the first few months of the 2023 season. His recovery process has gone smoothly thus far, opening the possibility he could make it to Globe Life Field not long after the July 30 trade deadline.
Mahle looked to be coming into his own as a mid-rotation starter in Cincinnati a few seasons ago. Between 2021 and the ’22 trade deadline, he turned in a 3.99 ERA over 52 starts. Mahle fanned 27% of opposing hitters against a solid 8.6% walk rate over that stretch. Despite pitching in a difficult home environment, he looked the part of a #3 starter. The Twins bought into that impressive form, sending Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Spencer Steer and Steve Hajjar to the Reds for the final year and a half of Mahle’s arbitration control.
That proved one of the more regrettable deadline deals in recent history. Injuries essentially derailed Mahle’s tenure in Minnesota from the beginning. Shoulder issues limited him to four starts down the stretch in ’22. Mahle looked to be in good form at the start of the next season. He carried a 3.16 ERA with a 27.5% strikeout rate over five starts before his elbow gave out. The surgery marked a sour end to the impending free agent’s time in the Twin Cities.
If Mahle can rediscover the form he showed before the injuries, he’d be a major boost to the Texas rotation. The Rangers had hoped to stay afloat in the first half before welcoming back Max Scherzer, Mahle, and eventually Jacob deGrom from the injured list. They haven’t performed at the level they were expecting. They’re still seven games below .500 after tonight’s shutout victory over the Padres. Texas is seven and a half games back of the division-leading Mariners and for the final Wild Card spot held by the Royals.
While the defending champions have clearly underperformed, that’s not so much about their injury-riddled rotation. The starting pitching has held up about as well as the front office could have anticipated. The far bigger issue has been a lineup where only Josh Smith has played above preseason expectations. Corey Seager and Rookie of the Year favorite Wyatt Langford have picked things up after slow starts, but the overall offense hasn’t been good enough.
The Rangers have a few more weeks to clarify their deadline trajectory. Mahle himself will not be a trade candidate, but Texas has a number of impending free agents they could consider moving if they don’t turn things around quickly. If the Rangers play their way within a few games of a postseason spot, upgrading the bullpen and deepening the outfield could be priorities.
Dodgers Sign Alan Trejo To Minor League Deal
The Dodgers signed infielder Alan Trejo to a minor league contract and assigned him to Triple-A Oklahoma City, tweets Triple-A broadcaster Alex Freedman. Dodgers Daily first reported last night (on X) that the L.A. native had agreed to a minor league contract with Los Angeles.
Trejo, 28, became a free agent after being designated for assignment by the Rockies last week. A former 16th round pick by Colorado out of San Diego State, he changes organizations for the first time in his career. Trejo cracked the MLB roster for the first time early in the 2021 season. He has appeared in each of the last four seasons, working mostly in a utility capacity. He logged his most significant action a year ago, hitting .232/.288/.343 over 82 contests.
A right-handed hitter, Trejo has never been a huge offensive threat. He owns a .228/.276/.334 line in 469 MLB plate appearances. That includes a .143/.182/.143 slash with 15 strikeouts and two walks through 28 games this year. He has slightly above-average grades for his defensive work at second and third base, however. Trejo also has 263 1/3 frames of shortstop experience, where public metrics have rated him a bit below average.
The ability to play competent or better defense throughout the infield appeals to a Dodger team that’s currently without Mookie Betts and Max Muncy. The Dodgers have pushed Miguel Rojas into regular shortstop work. Cavan Biggio, Chris Taylor and Enrique Hernández are multi-positional options who are picking up work at third base. Gavin Lux remains the starter at second base despite a .221/.270/.301 showing on the year. Trejo doesn’t provide much more of an offensive ceiling, but he’s an experienced option who can cover at all three positions.
Diamondbacks Place Jordan Montgomery On Injured List
The D-Backs shook a few things up in advance of their series with the Dodgers. Arizona reinstated catcher Gabriel Moreno from the 10-day injured list and designated backup Tucker Barnhart for assignment. (Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reported those forthcoming moves over the weekend.) The Snakes placed starter Jordan Montgomery on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to June 29, on account of right knee inflammation. Arizona also optioned young infielder Blaze Alexander to Triple-A Reno. Center fielder Alek Thomas is back from the 10-day IL, while the D-Backs recalled righty Gavin Hollowell to take a spot in the bullpen.
Montgomery has had a nightmarish season. The veteran southpaw agreed to terms on a $25MM pillow contract just before Opening Day. As with fellow late signee Blake Snell, he has had significant struggles with that abbreviated ramp-up. Montgomery agreed to head to Reno for a few starts as a tune-up. He was recalled in mid-April but hasn’t found anything close to his typical form.
Over 13 starts, Montgomery carries a 6.03 ERA in 65 2/3 innings. He’s striking out a well below-average 15.1% of opposing hitters. Montgomery had punched out more than 21% of batters faced in each of the previous three seasons. He allowed fewer than four earned runs per nine in each year while combining for a 3.48 ERA over 94 starts. The average velocity on his sinker is down from its customary 93 MPH range to 91.7 MPH.
It’s impossible to know how much of Montgomery’s struggles are attributable to the unconventional start to the season. It seems fair to presume that has played some role. Whatever the primary cause, Montgomery hasn’t provided anything close to the kind of production Arizona envisioned. The D-Backs hoped he’d step in as a mid-rotation replacement after Eduardo Rodriguez suffered a Spring Training lat strain. Instead, he’s been arguably the weakest point in a starting staff that remains the team’s biggest question mark.
Arizona recently welcomed Zac Gallen back from the injured list. They’re still without Rodriguez and Merrill Kelly. Righty Brandon Pfaadt has been solid, but the D-Backs haven’t gotten much out of Slade Cecconi and Ryne Nelson. They’ll need to find a fifth starter this week, as Arizona doesn’t have another off day until the All-Star Break. That might be righty Cristian Mena. Alex Weiner of AZ Sports tweets that Mena is with the big league club in Los Angeles, though he’s not yet on the roster. Acquired from the White Sox for Dominic Fletcher over the winter, the 21-year-old Mena has a 4.90 ERA with a 24.4% strikeout rate in 16 Triple-A starts. Joe Mantiply will kick off a bullpen game tonight; Montgomery had been slated to start tomorrow’s contest.
On the position player side, Moreno and Thomas draw back into the lineup. The former had a minimal IL stay with a thumb sprain. He’ll return to his role as the primary catcher. Barnhart’s DFA means the D-Backs will stick with José Herrera in the #2 catching role. Thomas has missed the bulk of the season because of a hamstring strain. He played in only four games before going down. That pushed Corbin Carroll into center field. Carroll should move back to right field, which could cut into the playing time for Jake McCarthy and Randal Grichuk.
It pushes Alexander off the MLB roster for the time being. The 25-year-old logged a good chunk of playing time at shortstop while Geraldo Perdomo was on the shelf. Upon Perdomo’s return, manager Torey Lovullo suggested he’d get Alexander more playing time at third base while cutting into Eugenio Suárez’s workload. Alexander got regular run for about two weeks but fell into a slump, hitting .138 without an extra-base knock in 33 plate appearances. Suárez has started five of the past six games at the hot corner. With Kevin Newman playing reasonably well as a utility option who cannot be optioned, the D-Backs send Alexander back to Reno for more consistent playing time.
Josiah Gray Headed For Further Testing With Elbow Discomfort
The Nationals are dealing with a worrisome situation regarding one of their top pitchers. Josiah Gray told reporters that he came out of his most recent rehab start with elbow discomfort and fatigue (X link via Andrew Golden of the Washington Post). He’ll head for additional testing. Manager Dave Martinez indicated they’ll hold off on that imaging until around the All-Star Break (relayed on X by The Post’s Spencer Nusbaum).
Gray has been on the injured list since the second week of the season. He went on the shelf on April 9 with what the team called a forearm strain. The right-hander has missed nearly three months but appeared to be nearing a return. He’d begun a rehab assignment on June 9 and has made five starts in the minors in recent weeks. Gray was likely ticketed for one final rehab outing next weekend before rejoining the MLB rotation.
Those plans are on hold as the Nats hope for encouraging test results. Even if testing doesn’t reveal any kind of structural damage, the club will assuredly be very cautious in building Gray’s throwing program back up. Gray likened the discomfort to the soreness he initially felt in April, raising the possibility of another extended absence.
This clearly hasn’t been the desired follow-up to the righty’s first All-Star season. Gray turned in a 3.91 earned run average while logging 159 innings (second on the team behind Patrick Corbin’s 180 frames) a year ago. While Gray’s production tailed off down the stretch, it was a generally encouraging season for the former top prospect.
The Nats have patched together a reasonably productive rotation despite absences to both Gray and Trevor Williams, who hasn’t pitched in over a month because of a muscle strain in his forearm. Washington ranks 12th with a 3.90 ERA from its starters. They’re in the bottom third of the league with a 21.3% strikeout rate but have generally shown decent control and done a solid job keeping the ball on the ground.
MacKenzie Gore has turned in a 3.47 ERA with a strong 27.2% strikeout rate in the best season of his young career. Jake Irvin and rookie Mitchell Parker have each managed an earned run average in the low-3.00s despite middling strikeout numbers. Parker, in particular, has shown surprisingly strong control after struggling with walks throughout his minor league days. DJ Herz, who stepped into the rotation since Williams went down, has been inconsistent but has flashed bat-missing ability through his first five MLB starts.
Corbin is on his way to his fourth consecutive season allowing more than five earned runs per nine. The veteran southpaw was better in June than he’d been through the first couple months, though he still posted a 4.71 ERA in 28 2/3 innings. His rotation spot might have been in jeopardy if Gray were healthy, but he figures to get a longer leash after the latter’s setback.
The Nationals have dropped seven of their last 10 and fallen towards the back of the group of mid-level teams in the National League. They’re 39-45, tied with the Reds and narrowly ahead of the Cubs but behind five teams for the NL’s last Wild Card spot.
While it doesn’t seem they’ll put themselves in position to acquire impactful rotation help at the deadline, they’ll at least have the opportunity to play their way into buying. They’re amidst a three-game series with the Mets. After that, they’ll take on the Cardinals, Mets, Brewers, Reds, Padres and St. Louis again before kicking off a set with the D-Backs heading into the deadline. Apart from Milwaukee, all those teams are jumbled in the Wild Card mix.
Giants Claim Kolton Ingram From Cardinals
The Giants have claimed lefty reliever Kolton Ingram off waivers from the Cardinals and optioned him to Double-A Richmond, the team announced. San Francisco also reinstated outfielder Mike Yastrzemski from the 10-day injured list and optioned right-hander Landon Roupp. The Giants had an opening on the 40-man roster after designating Spencer Howard for assignment over the weekend. St. Louis had DFA Ingram on Sunday.
So continues a nomadic year for Ingram, who hasn’t actually pitched in the majors this season. The 27-year-old southpaw has nevertheless been a part of six organizations this calendar year. Since being designated for assignment by the Angels when the Halos signed Aaron Hicks in January, he has gone to the Tigers, Mets, Rangers, Cardinals and now Giants via waivers.
Up to this point, Ingram has spent the entire season in Triple-A. He owns a 4.26 ERA across 25 1/3 innings. Teams have remained intrigued by him as a depth option despite a mediocre strikeout and walk profile. Ingram owns an average 22.8% strikeout percentage while walking a massive 16.7% of batters faced at the top minor league level this season.
The Giants will keep him out of the Pacific Coast League for the moment, sending him back to Double-A. Ingram has an excellent 2.46 earned run average in 102 1/3 career Double-A frames. He has a 3.66 mark over 59 innings in parts of three seasons in Triple-A. Ingram has only logged a cup of coffee in the big leagues, tossing 5 1/3 innings of seven-run ball with the Halos last year.
Taylor Rogers and Erik Miller are the lefty duo in Bob Melvin’s bullpen. The Giants briefly called up Raymond Burgos to make his MLB debut before sending him outright off the 40-man roster a few days ago. Ethan Small would occupy a 40-man spot when healthy, but he’s been on the injured list all season after suffering a Spring Training oblique strain.
Andrew Knapp Granted Release From Rangers
The Rangers released Andrew Knapp from his minor league deal. Jeff Wilson of Rangers Today tweets that the veteran catcher triggered an opt-out clause in the contract.
Knapp, 32, had spent the entire season with Triple-A Round Rock. The switch-hitting backstop turned in a .292/.374/.444 slash line with a robust 11.8% walk rate against a 24.4% strikeout percentage. He connected on six homers, 13 doubles and one triple across 254 plate appearances. While Knapp no doubt benefitted from the hitter-friendly nature of the Pacific Coast League, it’s a solid showing for a depth catcher.
The Rangers have three catchers on their 40-man roster: Jonah Heim, Andrew Knizner and Sam Huff. Heim has underperformed this season but isn’t in any danger of losing his starting job after an excellent ’23 campaign. Texas will stick with Knziner, who signed for $1.825MM over the winter, as the backup. The former Cardinal has limped to a .147/.169/.206 slash over 30 games, but the Rangers evidently still prefer him to Knapp. Huff has spent almost all of the season on optional assignment to Triple-A, where he’s striking out at a 31.7% rate.
A former second-round pick of the Phillies, Knapp spent the 2017-21 seasons in Philadelphia. He bounced between a trio of teams in 2022 and hasn’t gotten to the majors over the last year and a half. The Cal product is a career .209/.310/.313 hitter across 325 big league games. He has appeared in parts of six seasons at the Triple-A level, turning in a .257/.337/.410 slash. Public defensive metrics have never been especially high on his receiving skills, but Knapp’s decent offensive track record in Triple-A should at least get him another minor league opportunity.
Cubs Sign Jake Hager To Minor League Deal
The Cubs signed infielder Jake Hager to a minor league contract over the weekend. Hager appeared in one game for their complex affiliate in Arizona. According to the transaction log at MLB.com, he’s now headed to Triple-A Iowa.
A right-handed hitter, Hager has 42 games of major league experience between the Mets and Diamondbacks. He hit .197/.307/.224 with 31 strikeouts in 89 plate appearances in limited action between 2021-22. Hager spent most of last season in Triple-A with Arizona. He had a down year, running a .245/.301/.415 slash in the Pacific Coast League, and was released in August.
Hager was the 32nd overall pick of the 2011 draft coming out of high school. He has appeared in parts of seven seasons at Triple-A across five organizations (not including Chicago). In just over 500 games there, he owns a .242/.301/.389 line. Hager has spent most of his time in the minors at shortstop, though he also has ample experience at both second and third base (with scattered appearances in the outfield).
Chicago lost some minor league infield depth when Nick Madrigal broke his hand a few weeks ago. They’re light on experienced Triple-A infielders, making Hager a straightforward fit as a depth option.
Mike Hazen Discusses D-Backs’ Deadline
The majority of the National League is tightly bunched in the middle of the standings. The defending pennant winners are right among that group, carrying a 41-43 record that has them two and a half games back of the Cardinals for the final Wild Card spot. The Mets are a half-game ahead of Arizona as the NL’s top non-playoff team, while another five clubs sit fewer than three games behind them.
As with most of those borderline contenders, Arizona’s deadline approach is going to be heavily determined by how they play over the next four weeks. General manager Mike Hazen made that clear in a chat with reporters this afternoon, saying he’s hopeful that the team puts itself in a position to add before July 30.
“My desire is for us to be in a position to buy at the deadline and improve this team to push to the playoffs,” Hazen said (link via Steve Gilbert of MLB.com). “It’s obviously been a struggle here for the first half of the season. We haven’t played consistent enough.” The GM qualified that some of that underperformance is attributable to injuries (especially on the pitching staff), but he also noted that the lineup hasn’t been as consistent as he believes it to be capable of.
The offense has been solid but not overwhelming. The D-Backs rank ninth in the majors in scoring. They’re hitting .250/.321/.398 as a team. Arizona is in the back half of the top 10 in both batting average and on-base percentage and sits 14th in slugging. Ketel Marte, Christian Walker and Joc Pederson have driven most of that offense. Jake McCarthy and Randal Grichuk have been solid, while Lourdes Gurriel Jr. has rebounded from a rough May with an excellent performance over the past few weeks.
That said, it’s easy to understand why Hazen feels there’s untapped upside. Corbin Carroll picked things up in June after a terrible first couple months, but he still hasn’t played to the massive potential he showed as a rookie. Arizona was without shortstop Geraldo Perdomo for a few weeks, pressing Kevin Newman into action there. Third baseman Eugenio Suárez hasn’t played up to expectations after coming over from the Mariners in an offseason trade.
A good but not great performance from the lineup hasn’t been enough to overcome a rotation that has the fourth-worst ERA in the majors. That’s largely because the group hasn’t been at full strength. Eduardo Rodriguez still hasn’t made his team debut after sustaining a Spring Training lat strain. Zac Gallen missed a month because of a hamstring strain before returning over the weekend. Merrill Kelly will be out into August thanks to a mid-April shoulder injury.
Any team would have a hard time weathering the loss of arguably its three best starting pitchers. The problems can’t be entirely chalked up to injury though. Signing Jordan Montgomery just before Opening Day hasn’t worked out, as the southpaw has allowed 6.03 earned runs per nine across 13 starts. Arizona’s lack of upper minors rotation depth has again been exposed with Ryne Nelson, Slade Cecconi and Tommy Henry all getting hit hard. Presumptive fourth starter Brandon Pfaadt has been the only consistent presence, working to a 4.28 ERA over a team-leading 103 innings.
The D-Backs invested heavily over the offseason on the heels of their surprising run to the World Series. They brought back Gurriel and added Rodriguez, Montgomery and Pederson. They’d clearly prefer to make another playoff push rather than move veteran pieces. Should they remain within a team or two of the final postseason spot, they’d be positioned to do that. Things would become more questionable if the Snakes stumble this month and are jumped by a few of the teams that are narrowly behind them at the moment.
“It’s going to be where are we down relative to how many teams are above us,” Hazen said of deciding whether to buy or sell. “Like last year, as we slipped down around the deadline, I think we got to like two or three out and we had two or three teams above us. That’s a dynamic you can overcome. If you start getting too far down and buried behind and needing three, four or five teams to lose and you win, that’s not a good spot to be in. I think if we have a glimmer of where it’s at, my gut will be to continue to add to this team.”
If they’re in position to buy, strengthening the pitching staff would probably be the priority for a second straight summer. The D-Backs are hopeful of Rodriguez and Kelly contributing in the second half, though both pitchers will be coming off extended absences. Even if they’re each healthy and join Gallen and Pfaadt in the rotation, the front office could look for an upgrade over Montgomery. The D-Backs came up empty in their search for rotation help at last year’s deadline. Without a reliable fourth starter during their playoff run, Hazen conceded in October that he regretted not landing rotation help.
The front office did pull off one major pitching acquisition at the ’23 deadline, landing Paul Sewald to lock down the ninth inning. Sewald is again pitching well. Like virtually every contender, Arizona could try to deepen the middle relief group in front of their veteran closer and the setup trio of Justin Martinez, Kevin Ginkel and Ryan Thompson. Bringing in another left-hander to nudge Joe Mantiply down the leverage hierarchy would be ideal.
Matt Bowman Opts Out Of Deal With Mariners
Reliever Matt Bowman exercised an opt-out clause in his minor league deal with the Mariners, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post (X link). Seattle granted him his release rather than call him to the MLB bullpen.
That sends Bowman back to free agency, a fairly common occurrence over the past few weeks. He decided to test the open market after successive designations by the Diamondbacks and Mariners. Bowman inked minor league deals with Seattle both times. He was called to the majors once during his first stint but didn’t get a call since signing his most recent contract a couple weeks ago. The 33-year-old sinkerballer has pitched six times with Triple-A Tacoma over the last two weeks, surrendering four runs through eight innings.
Bowman had fired six innings without allowing an earned run for the Twins’ top affiliate in April. He has surrendered five runs (four earned) with 18 strikeouts and three walks across 16 Triple-A frames on the season. He hasn’t matched that at the major league level, where he has given up nine runs with a 10:7 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 15 frames.
It has been a few years since Bowman held down a long-term stop in a major league bullpen. He’s putting together a second straight solid Triple-A campaign after turning in a 3.99 ERA with a 51.9% ground-ball rate in 49 appearances for the Yankees’ top affiliate a year ago. Bowman should quickly land another minor league contract now that he’s again on the free agent market.