A’s Notes: Estes, Lopez, Harris, Newcomb
A’s right-hander Joey Estes has undergone surgery to address a herniated disc in his lower back, according to the MLB.com injury tracker. That obviously ends his season a month after he landed on the 15-day injured list. Estes had just been recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas a few days before suffering the injury. He tossed four scoreless innings out of the bullpen against the Mariners on August 24.
That’ll go down as Estes’ only MLB appearance since April. The 23-year-old opened the season in Mark Kotsay’s rotation. Estes was tagged for six runs in each of his first two starts and immediately lost his active roster spot. The A’s optioned him and he spent the majority of the season in Vegas. Estes took the ball 17 times in the Pacific Coast League. He surrendered 5.51 earned runs per nine across 80 innings in that difficult setting.
A 16th-round pick by the Braves in 2019, Estes signed for an overslot $500K out of high school. Atlanta traded him to the A’s as arguably the fourth piece of the Matt Olson return shortly after the ’22 lockout. Shea Langeliers is the only player from that group who has panned out. Cristian Pache and Ryan Cusick have been cut loose.
Estes has occupied a 40-man roster spot since being called up at the tail end of 2023. He took the ball 25 times and logged 127 2/3 innings last year, but he posted an ERA above 5.00 with a modest 17% strikeout rate. Estes still has one minor league option year remaining. He’s not a lock to hold his 40-man spot throughout the winter. If he does, the A’s could send him back to Las Vegas as rotation depth.
Jacob Lopez has a much better chance of securing an Opening Day rotation spot. The 27-year-old southpaw has had a solid first season in Sacramento. The A’s acquired Lopez as part of the offseason deal that sent hard-throwing righty Joe Boyle to Tampa Bay. Lopez has fanned 28.3% of batters faced through 92 2/3 innings. While his 4.08 earned run average doesn’t jump off the page, he carried a 3.28 mark into his most recent start on August 24. Lopez was blasted for nine runs in two innings that day and landed on the injured list with a flexor strain thereafter. It’s fair to conclude he wasn’t pitching at anything close to full strength.
Unlike Estes, Lopez may be able to get back on the mound before the end of the season. The injury tracker notes that the rookie lefty threw a bullpen session yesterday while traveling with the team to Boston. The A’s are keeping open the possibility that Lopez makes an appearance during their final series against the Royals next weekend. That’d probably be a relief outing or very abbreviated start but would allow Lopez to enter the offseason with some positive momentum rather than finishing the year with a season-ending forearm injury.
The A’s are playing out their fourth consecutive losing season (barring a 9-0 finish to get to .500). Yet for the second straight year, they’ve had an encouraging second half. The A’s have had a winning record in each of the past three months. They’re 31-24 with a +66 run differential since the All-Star Break. Most of the credit goes to a talented offensive core. That’s not the entire explanation, as the A’s have quietly gotten excellent work out of a patchwork bullpen despite trading Mason Miller.
Since the deadline, the A’s have an MLB-best 2.81 earned run average from their relief group. They’re middle of the pack in strikeouts, walk rate, and whiffs. They’ve certainly benefited from an MLB-low .247 average on balls in play, but it’s still impressive production from an inexperienced group. Only Sean Newcomb, a journeyman brought in from Boston in a late May DFA trade, has even two years of service time among A’s relievers.
As MLB.com’s Theo DeRosa wrote this week, the A’s have found that success without many set roles. They haven’t had a designated closer since the Miller trade. Hogan Harris has picked up his first four career saves to lead the team over that stretch. He’s one of five relievers — Newcomb, Michael Kelly, Tyler Ferguson and Osvaldo Bido being the others — to record at least one save. (Bido’s was of the three-inning variety in a blowout victory.)
Harris, a pure reliever this season for the first time in his career, has become Kotsay’s most trusted leverage arm. He carries a 3.30 ERA with a solid 23.3% strikeout rate across 60 innings. Harris’ command comes and goes, but he looks like a solid bullpen piece whom the A’s have under club control for another five seasons.
Meanwhile, Newcomb has turned back the clock with his best season since at least 2019. The former first-round pick owns a 1.75 ERA while striking out a quarter of opponents over 51 1/3 innings since the A’s reacquired him. His 7% walk rate is the best of his career, and he has been lights out (0.96 ERA in 28 frames) in the second half. Newcomb will be a free agent and has certainly pitched his way to a major league deal after settling for a non-roster contract with the Red Sox last winter.
Blue Jays Outright Ryan Borucki
The Blue Jays announced that lefty reliever Ryan Borucki has been outrighted to Triple-A Buffalo. He went unclaimed on waivers after being designated for assignment on Monday.
Borucki had sufficient service time to decline a minor league assignment. He probably would’ve remained unsigned for the rest of the season had he chosen free agency. Manager John Schneider said Monday that Borucki was hoping to stick with the organization (relayed by Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet). That’ll come to fruition after he accepted the outright assignment.
Toronto signed Borucki to a minor league contract late last month after he was released by the Pirates. The Jays selected his contract a little over a week later. Borucki managed 4 1/3 scoreless frames across four appearances, though he walked four of the 19 hitters he faced. The southpaw tossed 30 2/3 innings for the Bucs earlier in the season, working to a 5.28 earned run average. He had middling strikeout and walk numbers but got ground-balls at a 55% clip.
The Jays are familiar with Borucki, whom they drafted out of high school more than a decade ago. That came under a previous front office, but he spent his first four and a half MLB seasons with Toronto under the current regime. Brendon Little and Eric Lauer are the two southpaws in John Schneider’s bullpen. Mason Fluharty, Justin Bruihl and Easton Lucas are on the 40-man roster and on optional assignment. Borucki no longer carries a 40-man spot but that’s largely because he could not be optioned. The Jays might still view him as their third-best lefty reliever and could bring him back if Little or Lauer suffer an injury.
Dodgers Re-Sign Matt Sauer To Minor League Deal
The Dodgers re-signed Matt Sauer to a minor league contract, per the MLB.com transaction log. He has been assigned to Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Sauer was on the Dodgers’ 40-man roster last week. Los Angeles designated him for assignment and released him on September 10. It’s not entirely clear why they opted for a release rather than an outright. Speculatively speaking, it’s possible that Sauer was nursing some kind of minor injury that made him ineligible to be placed on outright waivers. It’s immaterial now, as he’s back in the system without holding a spot on the 40-man roster.
The 26-year-old Sauer signed an offseason minor league contract and cracked L.A.’s roster for the season-opening Tokyo Series. Sauer has made 10 appearances in a long relief role. He owns a 6.37 ERA with an 18.6% strikeout rate through 29 2/3 innings. A former second-round pick of the Yankees, Sauer has worked out of the rotation in Triple-A. He has allowed just under six earned runs per nine despite serviceable strikeout and walk numbers over 18 appearances.
Unless this is a two-year contract, Sauer will return to minor league free agency at the beginning of the offseason if the Dodgers don’t add him back to the 40-man roster. He could provide relief depth for the final week of the regular season.
The Dodgers hold a 2.5 game lead on the Padres in the NL West. They’re very unlikely to catch the Brewers or Phillies for a top two seed in the National League. That means they’ll need to play in the Wild Card series even if they lock up the division.
It’s possible they secure the #3 spot with a few games remaining on the regular season schedule. There’s only one off day before the Wild Card series begin. That means the Dodgers would probably use lower-leverage arms for their final regular season series in Seattle to have their pitching staff as fresh as possible going into the postseason. That could open an opportunity for a multi-inning arm like Sauer to log some work in the final game or two.
Angels Place Jose Soriano On Injured List With Forearm Contusion
The season is over for Angels starter José Soriano. The Halos placed the righty on the 15-day injured list with a right forearm contusion. Lefty Sam Aldegheri was recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake in a corresponding move.
Soriano was struck in the arm by a comebacker from Milwaukee’s Jake Bauers last night. The ball came off the bat at 107.4 MPH. Soriano immediately exited the game. X-rays did not reveal any fractures, but the injury was significant enough that he won’t be able to make his final two starts. That won’t mean much to an Angels team that is officially resigned to a 10th consecutive losing season.
The only potential impact on the standings is that it takes Soriano out of consideration to start against the Astros in the final weekend. The hard-throwing sinkerballer would have lined up to start Tuesday’s series opener against the Royals. That would have put him on schedule for the finale against the Astros next Sunday. That game may be relevant with Houston currently tied with the Mariners for the top spot in the American League West.
Soriano’s season concludes with a 4.26 earned run average in 31 starts. He’s second on the team behind Yusei Kikuchi with 169 innings. Soriano and Kikuchi have been the Halos’ two best starting pitchers overall, though they’ve each had rough second halves after stronger starts. Soriano is the sport’s top ground-ball specialist, at least among starting pitchers. His 97 MPH sinker has led to a massive 65.3% grounder rate. That’s almost six percentage points above the second-highest mark in MLB (minimum 100 innings).
The 26-year-old fell 11 days shy of qualifying for arbitration as a Super Two player last offseason. He’ll earn his first significant pay raise next winter and is under club control for three more seasons. Soriano should be assured of a rotation spot going into next year. That’d also be true of Kikuchi barring an unlikely trade that allows the Angels to shed the remaining two years and $42MM on his contract. The Angels will probably need to make three acquisitions over the winter.
Kyle Hendricks and Tyler Anderson are impending free agents. Jack Kochanowicz was one of the least effective starters in the majors. The Halos have given a handful of starts to each of Victor Mederos, Caden Dana and Mitch Farris. They’ll be in the mix for back-end or relief jobs but shouldn’t be in the projected starting five. That’s also true of the 24-year-old Aldegheri, who’ll probably make his first two MLB starts of the season next week. Aldegheri has been shelled in a pair of big league relief appearances but turned in a 3.72 ERA over 23 Double-A starts this year.
Diamondbacks Release Anthony DeSclafani
The D-Backs released veteran righty Anthony DeSclafani, according to the MLB.com transaction tracker. He’d been designated for assignment on Monday. DeSclafani had more than enough service time to refuse a minor league assignment, so a release was inevitable.
DeSclafani was pitching in Triple-A with the Yankees when Arizona signed him to a big league contract in the middle of June. He initially worked out of long relief and was promoted to the rotation when the Snakes traded Merrill Kelly at the deadline. That lasted only three starts, as DeSclafani suffered a thumb injury in the middle of August and was sent to the injured list. He missed a month and was pushed back to the bullpen since returning. Nabil Crismatt has stepped into the fifth starter job.
The 35-year-old DeSclafani pitched twice after coming back from injury. He gave up five home runs (six runs overall) in 5 2/3 frames over those two outings. He carries a 5.12 ERA across 38 2/3 innings on the season overall. While his strikeout and walk numbers are serviceable, the recent home run barrage led the Snakes to make a change.
At this point, there’s no real reason for DeScalfani to look for another landing spot in 2025. He’ll be limited to minor league offers over the winter if he intends to continue pitching.
MLB Abandons Plans For 2026 London Series
Major League Baseball will no longer proceed with plans for the London Series in 2026, the league announced (link via Ronald Blum of The Associated Press). MLB had intended to play a two-game series between the Yankees and Blue Jays at London Stadium on June 13-14 next year. Those games are listed as a home series for the Blue Jays, so they’ll presumably take place back at the Rogers Centre.
The series will no longer occur because of a scheduling conflict. London Stadium is the home venue of West Ham United F.C., the city’s Premier League club. The Premier League runs through the final week of May. West Ham’s last home match is on May 24. MLB did not feel that left enough time to convert the venue to a baseball field. Fox, which was scheduled to carry the game, could not accommodate any delays because of its commitments to broadcasting World Cup matches later in the month.
MLB has scheduled a few games outside the United States and Canada as part of its World Tour initiative. It kicked off the London Series in 2019 with a two-game set between the Yankees and Red Sox. The following season’s games were canceled because of the pandemic. MLB scheduled series there in 2023 (Cubs vs. Cardinals) and ’24 (Mets vs. Phillies). This year’s only international series outside Canada was the season-opening two-game set between the Dodgers and Cubs at the Tokyo Dome in late March. The collective bargaining agreement permitted MLB to schedule games in San Juan, Paris, and Mexico City as well. However, the league decided not to pursue any of those plans for financial reasons.
It is expected there will still be one international series in 2026. The Padres and Diamondbacks have had reported discussions about playing in Mexico City early in the year. While MLB has not made an official announcement, the league scheduled a two-game set between those clubs on April 25 and 26 that comes with an off day on each side. That’s currently listed as a home series for the D-Backs but would apparently be played in Mexico if the details are finalized.
Sandy Alcantara Is Finding His Old Form
The Marlins were expected to trade Sandy Alcantara at the deadline. The former Cy Young winner had returned from the Tommy John surgery that wiped out his 2024 season. The hope was that he'd immediately recapture his ace form, demonstrate that over his first 18-20 starts, and be the prize of the summer rotation market.
Alcantara's return didn't go anywhere near that smoothly. His velocity was back, but he struggled to throw strikes or miss bats. He allowed over eight earned runs per nine innings in April and May. He showed flashes in June and July but remained up-and-down. Miami's deadline calculus became whether to sell low on their longtime ace -- a move that would've been more about cutting his $17MM salaries through 2026 than netting a huge prospect return. Given the organizational history, no one would've been surprised if they'd gone that route.
They instead decided to hold Alcantara and were only modest sellers overall. Miami dealt third catcher Nick Fortes to Tampa Bay and flipped platoon outfielder Jesús Sánchez to Houston for a three-player package. In addition to Alcantara, Edward Cabrera, Kyle Stowers, Anthony Bender and Calvin Faucher all stayed.
Miami was willing to cover what remained of Alcantara's 2025 salary to take a couple more months to get him on track. That has paid off. The 30-year-old righty has looked more like his old self. He's showing better control than he did in April and May. The improved efficiency has allowed him to work deeper into games. His stuff has gotten sharper as the season has progressed. That'll all be very encouraging as the Marlins field new trade offers in the offseason.
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Royals To Place Ryan Bergert On Injured List With Forearm Tightness
Royals starter Ryan Bergert is headed to the 15-day injured list, manager Matt Quatraro told reporters (via Anne Rogers of MLB.com). The rookie right-hander reported forearm tightness during his standard bullpen session between starts. It’ll bring an early end to the 25-year-old’s debut season.
Michael Lorenzen, who tossed an inning in relief of Cole Ragans during tonight’s win over Seattle, will start on Friday against the Blue Jays. A series of rotation injuries sealed the Royals’ fate on the outside of the playoff picture. Ragans made his first start in more than three months. Seth Lugo has been out for three weeks with a back issue. An off-field concussion cost Michael Wacha a start. The Royals have dropped to 76-76 and figure to be officially eliminated from postseason contention by the end of the weekend.
As a result, they’ll play things cautiously with Bergert. Kansas City acquired him and Stephen Kolek from the Padres for backup catcher Freddy Fermin in an under-the-radar deadline deal. Bergert allowed one or two runs in each of his first six starts in a K.C. uniform. His final two outings were less impressive. The Guardians tagged him for eight runs in 3 1/3 frames on September 8, and he surrendered three runs in four innings in Philadelphia on Saturday.
It’s not the manner in which Bergert hoped to close the year. He had a promising season overall, turning in a 3.66 ERA while striking out 22.6% of batters faced over 76 1/3 innings. The West Virginia product has yet to reach a year of service time. Assuming he’s healthy, he’ll head into Spring Training with a shot at his first Opening Day roster. K.C. currently has a projected rotation of Ragans, Lugo, Wacha, Kris Bubic and Noah Cameron going into next season. Bergert, Kolek, Alec Marsh and Bailey Falter could compete alongside an offseason acquisition or two to be the top depth arm in the event of a Spring Training injury.
Rangers To Activate Tyler Mahle On Friday
The Rangers will activate Tyler Mahle from the 60-day injured list for Friday’s series opener against the Marlins. He is listed as the probable starter against a yet to be announced pitcher for Miami. Texas has a full 40-man roster and will need to designate someone for assignment or transfer one of Marcus Semien, Nathan Eovaldi or Sam Haggerty to the 60-day injured list.
Mahle makes his return from a three-month shoulder injury. He landed on the injured list in the middle of June and was diagnosed with a rotator cuff strain a few weeks later. Mahle was shut down entirely for a few weeks and went over two months without getting into a game. He began a rehab assignment at Triple-A Round Rock in the beginning of September. He was bombed for five runs in an inning during his first appearance. He has since reeled off 6 1/3 scoreless frames with nine punchouts and three hits.
Texas will get a pair of starts from Mahle to finish the season. He’ll take on Miami and then one of Minnesota or Cleveland in the final week. It’s probably too late to make a difference in the playoff picture. The Rangers entered the week within a game and a half of a playoff spot. They had a chance to make up ground on the Astros, who were holding the last Wild Card position.
Houston instead ripped off a three-game sweep that probably drives the nail in the coffin. Texas has fallen 4.5 back of the Red Sox and Mariners (now tied for the AL’s last two Wild Card spots) with nine games to play. They’re two games behind the Guardians, who have the best chance to unseat one of the American League’s top six teams. The Rangers probably need to go at least 8-1 to have a shot at a playoff berth.
Mahle made 14 starts earlier in the season. He pitched to a 2.34 earned run average through 77 innings despite a modest 18.2% strikeout percentage. The 30-year-old righty has been injured for the majority of his two-year free agent deal. Texas knew Mahle would miss the first half of last season as he rehabbed from a May 2023 Tommy John procedure. He returned last August but only made it through three starts before being shut down for the year with shoulder discomfort.
Even if Mahle’s return doesn’t make a significant dent in the standings, he’ll welcome the opportunity to take on a pair of big league lineups before he heads back to free agency. He’ll be limited to one- or two-year offers again because of the durability questions. Mahle’s velocity has been down a tick in his Triple-A rehab work, though that’s probably attributable to his abbreviated ramp-up as he tried to get back on the mound for a playoff push.
On the minor league side, Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News writes that Kumar Rocker is scheduled to throw two innings for Round Rock tomorrow. The former third overall pick has not pitched in a Triple-A game since August 7. Texas instead has had him work on changing his release point outside of a game setting for the past six weeks. The Rangers are leaving the door open to recalling Rocker to the MLB roster before the end of the season. He opened the year in the rotation but was knocked around for a 5.74 ERA in a frustrating follow-up to last year’s promising return from Tommy John surgery.
Angels Outright Chad Wallach
September 17: Wallach cleared waivers and has been outrighted back to Salt Lake, the Angels announced this afternoon.
September 15: The Angels announced a few roster moves during tonight’s off day. Logan O’Hoppe is back from the seven-day concussion list, leaving the club to designate catcher Chad Wallach for assignment. Los Angeles also announced that infielders Scott Kingery and Niko Kavadas cleared waivers and were outrighted to Triple-A. MLBTR covered the Kavadas outright this morning.
O’Hoppe went down a week ago when he was struck on the head by a Jacob Wilson backswing. The Halos called up Sebastian Rivero to back up Travis d’Arnaud, who stepped into the starting catching role. A few days later, d’Arnaud landed on the injured list with his own concussion symptoms. The Angels were forced to call up Wallach, the #4 backstop on the organizational depth chart. Rivero started all three games behind the dish in the weekend series in Seattle.
Wallach made one appearance as a defensive replacement. He caught the final two innings on Friday after Jo Adell pinch hit for Rivero in the top of the seventh. That was the 33-year-old’s first major league action since 2023. Wallach spent all of last year with the Halos’ Triple-A team in Salt Lake. He divided this season between the top affiliates of the Rangers and Angels, hitting .251/.321/.439 across 251 plate appearances.
The Angels will place Wallach on waivers this week. There’s a good chance he goes unclaimed and accepts a minor league assignment to spend the final two weeks of the regular season in Salt Lake. He’ll qualify for minor league free agency at year’s end if he’s not on a 40-man roster.
Kingery was designated for assignment on Saturday when the Angels called up Denzer Guzman. The former Phillies second baseman has cleared waivers three times this season. He hit .148 in 19 games during his first big league action in three years. He’ll also be a minor league free agent at year’s end unless the Angels call him back up before then.