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Phillies Announce NLCS Roster

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The Phillies’ convincing defeat of the Braves in the NLDS has earned Philadelphia its first trip to an NLCS since 2010. As they head to San Diego with a trip to the World Series on the line, they will bring largely the same roster that they used in the NLDS. Their only change will return righty reliever David Robertson to the bullpen in exchange for fellow right-hander Nick Nelson.

Right-Handed Pitchers

Left-Handed Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Robertson returns to the Phillies’ postseason bullpen after suffering somewhat of a freak injury during the Wild Card round. Whilst celebrating Bryce Harper’s second-inning home run in Game 2 against the Cardinals, Robertson jumped in the air and strained his calf. He received an injection of platelet-rich plasma and sat out all of the NLDS. By virtue of his inclusion on the NLCS roster, however, Manager Rob Thompson has signaled that Robertson is completely ready to pitch. On Monday, Thompson stated that Robertson would be left off the roster if he was not a “full go,” per Alex Coffey of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Robertson has been an important part of Philadelphia’s bullpen since he was acquired from the Cubs at the deadline. In 23 1/3 innings with the Phillies, he has posted a 2.70 ERA, a 30.3% strikeout rate, and has picked up six saves. Robertson pitched the eighth inning of Game 1 of the Wild Card Series, where he set the Cardinals down in order and struck out two.

Zack Wheeler will get the ball in Game 1 for the Phillies, as they look to make their first World Series since 2009.

Rockies, Hitting Coach Magadan Agree To Part Ways

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The Colorado Rockies announced Thursday morning via Twitter that they have agreed to “mutually part ways” with hitting coach Dave Magadan. Additionally, the Rockies also announced that the rest of their coaching staff, including manager Bud Black, will return for 2023 with the exception of third base/infield coach Stu Cole, who has been reassigned to a minor league staff position.

This news follows a 2022 campaign in which the Rockies endured plenty of offensive struggles. This season, Colorado ranked 10th in total runs scored of any club in the NL (698) and hit the third fewest home runs of any NL team (139), despite playing in one of MLB’s friendliest hitting environments. These figures represent a significant drop from the Rockies’ outputs in 2021 (739 runs, 182 HR’s). Statcast is not kind to Colorado’s offense either, ranking both their 2022 team Barrel% and average exit velocity as the third lowest in the NL. During the four seasons over which Magadan presided over the Rockies’ offense, Colorado’s runs per game, team batting average, and team slugging percentage have all seen consistent, marked declines.

After a notable sixteen-year playing career, Magadan broke into the big leagues as a coach when he joined the Red Sox as their hitting coach in the fall of 2006. Boston made notable improvements at the plate during Magadan’s first season, increasing their team batting average, on-base, and slugging on their way to their 2007 championship. Magadan would continue on to serve as the Red Sox hitting coach until 2012. He then spent 2013-2015 as the hitting coach of the Rangers and 2016-2018 in the same role with the Diamondbacks before he was hired by the Rockies in December of 2018.

Cole has been apart of the Rockies’ organization since 1995. After managing at Colorado’s High-A, Double-A, and Triple-A affiliates, Cole was finally named to the roster of big league coaches in 2012 as the Rockies’ third base coach. As an infield coach, Cole worked with the infielders of a Rockies defense that committed the fifth most errors in all of baseball in 2022.

Though there will be no further changes to the Rockies coaching staff, Magadan’s exit and Cole’s reassignment signal a desire for some changes in leadership in Colorado. If general manager Bill Schmidt and his staff remain intent on contending in 2023, there will need to be broader changes to the roster over the coming months.

Yankees ALDS Notes: Rotation, Peralta, Holmes, Carpenter

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In the wake of the news that Aroldis Chapman will not be named to the Yankees’ ALDS roster for skipping a mandatory team workout, notes about other Yankees have helped clarify how the Bronx Bombers will prepare to take on the Guardians:

  • Gerrit Cole will be getting the start in Game 1 of the ALDS in New York on Tuesday night, manager Aaron Boone announced. Cole will be followed by Nestor Cortes and Luis Severino in games 2 and 3, respectively. Boone stated that he considered different alignments for his starting rotation, but ultimately decided on Cole for the opener. Boone added that the Yankees are likely to opt for a three man rotation of Cole, Cortes, and Severino for the ALDS, considering the series’s unique schedule, which features an off day between the first and second games. The extra off day will allow Cole to pitch Game 4 on full rest.
  • Clay Holmes is going to face hitters on Monday, in what he hopes will be a final tune up for the ALDS, reports Meredith Marakovits of YES (via Twitter). Holmes has battled a strain in his right shoulder since the end of September and was last used on September 26. Holmes said that his most recent bullpen felt “free and easy” and that his velocity was good. It remains to be seen whether or not Holmes will be used as a closer in the ALDS, given his second half struggles. Holmes accumulated a 4.84 ERA during the second half, a far cry from his dominant first half, during which he logged a 1.31 ERA.
  • Wandy Peralta will be ready and back in the Yankees bullpen for the ALDS, Marakovits reports (via Twitter). Peralta hit the 15-day IL retroactive to September 19 with thoracic spine tightness. Peralta, a left hander, has been one of New York’s most effective relievers, posting a 2.72 ERA in 56 1/3 innings. Peralta projects to be particularly important if the Yankees are to quiet the bats of Guardians lefties, like Andres Giminez and Steven Kwan. He has held lefties to an OPS of .422 in 2022. With Chapman off the roster, Peralta and Lucas Luetge figure to be the Yankees only left-handed options out of the bullpen.
  • Matt Carpenter expects to be ready to play in the ALDS, reports Bryan Hoch of MLB.com (via Twitter). Carpenter has been hitting, running bases, and took some grounders at first base on Sunday. After a sensational 47-game summer stretch in which Carpenter slugged 15 home runs and hit .305, the veteran infielder suffered a broken left foot on a foul ball. If Carpenter plays as a designated hitter against the Guardians, it is possible that Giancarlo Stanton will spend some time in the outfield, where he has not played since July 21.

Blue Jays Notes: Stripling, Guerrero Jr., Schneider

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The Blue Jays enter the offseason on the heels of one of the most epic collapses in postseason history. Toronto led the Mariners by a score of 8-1 in the sixth inning of Game 2 of their Wild Card series before Seattle rallied for nine runs in the final four innings en route to a 10-9 series-clinching victory. Saturday’s Game 2 is only the third playoff game ever in which a team came back to win from a deficit of seven runs or more, and holds the record for the largest deficit surmounted in a playoff comeback by a road team.

As the Mariners head to Houston to take on their division rivals in the ALDS, the Blue Jays head into the offseason with a decent idea of what their roster will look like in 2023. Toronto’s current active roster only contains four players, Anthony Bass, David Phelps, Ross Stripling, and Jackie Bradley Jr., who will be free agents this offseason. Since Bradley Jr.’s .524 OPS with the Blue Jays will probably not warrant another opportunity in Toronto, Ross Stripling is the free agent that will receive the majority of the front office’s attention.

Stripling was fantastic in his role as a rotation replacement for Hyun-Jin Ryu, who went down in June with a UCL injury that ultimately resulted in Tommy John surgery. Over 24 starts for the Jays, Stripling accumulated a 2.92 ERA and struck out 100 batters, while walking only 14. Ryu’s injury will likely keep him out for most, if not all of 2023, depending on the speed of his recovery. It seems possible, then, that Stripling could return to Toronto on a multi-year deal and fill a spot in their rotation long-term, since Ryu’s contract expires after 2023.

On the bullpen side, Bass is coming off his finest big-league season in which he posted a cumulative 1.54 ERA out of the bullpen in 70 1/3 innings split between the Miami Marlins and the Blue Jays. Toronto has a $3 million option on Bass for 2023, which they are almost sure to pick up. Phelps also had a fine 2022 out of the ’pen for the Jays, logging a 2.83 ERA in 63 2/3 innings. If they are unable to retain Phelps, they may seek external bullpen help from what is shaping up to be a fairly rich market for free agent relievers.

From a positional perspective, much of the Blue Jays’ offseason discourse will center around locking up their young stars long-term. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will head into his second year of arbitration, and is due for a big pay raise. Guerrero Jr. has said publicly that he is “open” to a long-term extension with the Jays and that he hopes “something can be done” during this offseason. Keeping their franchise cornerstone in Toronto is going to require Jays ownership to dole out the largest contract in franchise history. A theoretical extension for Guerrero Jr., age 23, ought to take him well into his mid-30’s and would dwarf the $150 million in total cash handed to George Springer two years ago. Bo Bichette, who is entering his first year of arbitration, is another extension candidate that the Jays would surely love to keep in Toronto.

The biggest question surrounding Toronto’s offseason is not one regarding players, but of their manager. John Schneider was named interim manager after Charlie Montoyo was fired on July 13. Under Schneider, the Jays went 46-28 and went from holding a half game lead for the third and final AL wild card spot to securing the first wild card spot by a two-game margin. According to Mitch Bannon of SI.com (via Twitter), there is overwhelming support from Blue Jays players for Schneider to return as their manager. Third baseman Matt Chapman was vocal about his support for Schneider after the Jays Game 2 loss, saying that Schneider is “great” for the Jays and “understands the pulse” of the players (via Twitter).

Regardless of whether or not Schneider returns to manage the Blue Jays, Toronto’s roster looks primed to compete for another postseason spot in 2023.

Mariners To Select Brian O’Keefe

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The Seattle Mariners have selected the contract of catcher Brian O’Keefe from Triple-A Tacoma, reports Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times (Twitter link). In a corresponding move, M’s catcher Curt Casali has been placed on the paternity list.

This will be the first major league action for O’Keefe, age 29, who was drafted in the seventh round by the Cardinals in 2014. After spending five seasons in St. Louis’s system, O’Keefe was picked by Seattle in the 2019 Rule 5 minor league draft. He spent two years in the Mariners farm system before electing free agency at the conclusion of the 2021 season, where he eventually agreed to stay with the M’s on a minor league deal. With Casali out of action for at least 24, but no more than 72 hours, O’Keefe will join the big league club for the first time in his nine seasons as a pro.

O’Keefe has spent all of his 2022 campaign at Triple-A Tacoma, where he has had one of his finest minor league seasons. Thus far, he has hit 13 home runs and posted a productive .253/.330/.449 slash in 352 plate appearances. More than seventy-five percent of O’Keefe’s 2022 appearances for Tacoma have been at catcher, where Baseball Prospectus rates him as an excellent framer, with the rest coming as a designated hitter.

Casali is all but assured to rejoin the Mariners as soon as his time on the paternity list ends. If Seattle is going to keep O’Keefe on the active roster beyond Casali’s return, they will have to make room for him. The M’s 40-man roster is currently full, and the only obvious 60-day IL candidate is lefty reliever Ryan Borucki, who has already been out since August 8th.

Pirates Outright Michael Chavis, Greg Allen

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The Pirates are outrighting infielder Michael Chavis and outfielder Greg Allen to Triple-A Indianapolis, according to the MLB.com transactions log. Chavis and Allen were both designated for assignment on Monday in order to make room for catcher Jose Godoy and third baseman/left fielder Miguel Andujar, who Pittsburgh recently claimed off waivers from the Yankees.

Chavis was drafted in the first round by the Red Sox in 2014, and was Boston’s second-ranked prospect according to Baseball America before being called up to the big leagues in late April of 2019. He had a strong rookie season in Boston, swatting 18 homers and driving in 58 runs in 95 games. After posting a weak 64 wRC+ in 2020, Chavis bounced between Triple-A Worcester and the Red Sox before being traded to the Pirates for lefty reliever Austin Davis. In 2022, Pittsburgh gave Chavis another chance to play every day. His ability to play first, second, and third base kept him in the lineup, even though he slashed a weak .229/.265/.389. Chavis, age 26, still may have some time to develop into a steady big leaguer yet. His career 37.4% hard hit rate is reason for optimism, though clubs will want to see some improvement in his 31.7% career K% if he is going to get another shot in the big leagues.

Like Chavis, Allen too will have to improve at the plate if he is going to stick in the majors. Originally a Guardians’ sixth rounder, Allen spent parts of the 2017-2020 seasons with Cleveland before being shipped to San Diego as part of the Mike Clevinger package. After a cup of coffee with the Yankees in 2021, Allen was claimed off waivers by Pittsburgh, where he posted a bleak .186/.260/.271 in 46 games with the Pirates in 2022. Though his career wRC+ of 72 leaves a lot to be desired, Allen rates highly as a left fielder and has proven himself a capable base stealer, swiping 21 bags in just 95 games in 2018. Allen, age 30, is arbitration eligible for the first time next season, meaning that he will likely have to demonstrate some marked improvement as a hitter before a club will give him an opportunity.

Now that both Chavis and Allen have accumulated three years of major league service time and are not on a 40-man roster, they can become free agents after the 2022 season.

Sean Doolittle Plans To Pitch In 2023

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Lefty reliever Sean Doolittle plans to continue his playing career in 2023, he old Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post earlier this week. Doolittle, a veteran of eleven big league seasons and a free agent at the conclusion of the 2022 season, expressed his hope he can return to the Nationals.

“I really would like a do-over,” said Doolitte, who only appeared in six games in 2022 before being shut down with an elbow sprain that would lead him to undergo an internal brace procedure in July. “I realize that there’s a lot that I have to do on my end to even have that be a possibility. But hopefully January or ahead of camp in February, I can show them that I’m healthy and come in and compete for a spot.”

Doolittle first became a member of the Nationals in 2017 when he was dealt from Oakland to Washington at the deadline. He departed via free agency in 2021 but returned last offseason on a new free agent deal. In parts of five years as a National, Doolittle has appeared in 153 games, compiled a 2.92 ERA, has struck out 28.5% of batters faced, and appeared as an All-Star in 2018.

Though he only threw 5 1/3 innings in 2022, he allowed merely one of the seventeen batters he faced to reach base. He told Dougherty that if his recovery goes according to plan, he will throw bullpen sessions in January in order to amass data that he intends to use to solicit interest from teams, including the Nationals.

It is unclear whether the Nationals, who are currently in no position to compete but should have ample opportunity in their bullpen, would be interested in a reunion. Doolittle, on the other hand, was very clear with Dougherty about where he would like to play. “That would be amazing,” Doolittle said of a potential sixth season in Washington. “That would be best-case scenario, for sure, for so many different reasons.”

Sixto Sanchez To Undergo Shoulder Surgery, Expected To Be Ready For Spring Training

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Marlins righty Sixto Sanchez is set to undergo arthroscopic bursectomy surgery on his throwing shoulder on October 5th, Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald reports (via Twitter). Sanchez, currently Miami’s eleventh-ranked prospect according to MLB.com, is expected to be ready for Spring Training 2023.

Sanchez’s upcoming surgery represents another setback in what has become a multi-season recovery for a player who was previously ranked as the #6 prospect in the league by Baseball America. Originally signed by the Phillies in 2015 as an international free agent out of the Dominican Republic, Sanchez was acquired by Miami in the 2019 deal that sent J.T. Realmuto to Philadelphia. He debuted in August of the COVID-shortened season and initially appeared to be as good as advertised, striking out 29 batters while only walking five in his first 32 innings of work. By the end of the 2020 season, Sanchez had accumulated a 3.46 ERA over seven starts, had averaged 98.8 mph on his power sinker, and had demonstrated above-average control (seven percent walk rate). He finished seventh in NL Rookie of the Year voting.

The upcoming procedure will be Sanchez’s second in as many seasons. He underwent surgery to repair a small tear in the posterior capsule of the same shoulder in July of 2021 after the Marlins shut him down for more than a month due to shoulder discomfort. After missing all of 2021, Sanchez had begun to finally show some signs of progress in July of 2022, but was plagued with more shoulder discomfort after a simulated game in August. He then received a cortisone shot to aid his recovery, and had even resumed playing catch at 60 feet before he was scheduled for his second surgery.

If he is able to recover in time to rejoin the Marlins rotation by the start of 2023, he will fit nicely into one of the most talented young rotations in baseball. At age 24, Sanchez still has the potential to be a highly-effective big league starter for years to come. From a front office perspective, Sanchez has the potential to be another key cost-controlled rotation piece for the Miami, as he has not yet accumulated a year’s worth of big league service time. He’s spent the past couple seasons on the minor league injured list, so he hasn’t accrued any MLB service during his rehab time.

Of course, Sanchez must first make a complete recovery from the nagging shoulder injury that has derailed his previous two seasons. Both Sanchez and the Marlins surely hope that the upcoming procedure will help put his injury woes firmly in the rearview mirror. He’ll go into 2023 looking to throw his first major league pitch in three years.

Pitching Notes: Berrios, Giolito, Eovaldi, Minor

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The Toronto Blue Jays may have some difficulty carving out a role for José Berríos in their postseason rotation. Gregor Chisholm of the Toronto Star pointed out in a Thursday opinion piece that in a scenario that sees the Jays go to a third game in the AL Wild Card Series, Berríos could find himself coming out of the bullpen.

Berríos has not been the pitcher Toronto had hoped he would be since the club gave him the second largest contract in franchise history in terms of total value last offseason. Nearly a season into his seven-year, $131 million extension, the twenty-eight year old right-hander has struggled to turn out quality outings with any consistency. Excluding a rough rookie season, Berríos is posting career worsts in ERA, WHIP, K/9, HR/9, BABIP, and HardHit%. He is also not trending in the right direction, accumulating a 6.92 ERA in the month of August and conceding six earned runs in just two innings to the Rays on Thursday night.

Alek Manoah and Kevin Gausman are the presumptive choices for the Jays’ first two games of the best-of-three Wild Card Series. If that series goes to a decisive third game, barring injury, manager John Schneider will likely face a choice between starting Ross Stripling, who has had an excellent 2022, or Berríos.

More on other pitching situations from around the league…

  • White Sox righty Lucas Giolito is another tenured AL ace that has not pitched to his potential in 2022. His 5.05 ERA, 1.477 WHIP, and 9.9 H/9 are his worst since he broke out in 2019. After a September 16th start in which he gutted out 4 2/3 innings of one run ball, Giolito told James Fagan of The Athletic that his stuff was “obviously just like, not really there,” as it has been for most of the season. He continued on to cite a lack of fastball velocity as a chief contributor to his 2022 struggles. Giolito’s four-seam velocity has averaged 92.9 mph this season, a full 1.5 mph slower than his 2019 peak. The Sox can retain him for one more season via arbitration before he is scheduled to reach free agency as a 29-year-old, with Giolito surely hoping to find a way to have a better campaign in his platform year.
  • Nathan Eovaldi, who will be a free agent this offseason, alluded to his desire to re-sign with the Red Sox in an interview with Chad Jennings of The Athletic. “I love being here,” Eovaldi said. “It’s the front office, it’s the coaching staff, the training staff. Here, they all want to win.” It is unclear whether the 32-year old fits into Boston’s future plans. The Red Sox are on the precipice of a potentially turbulent offseason in which Eovaldi and DH J.D. Martinez are free agents and the contracts of superstars Rafael Devers and Xander Bogaerts have yet to be resolved. Boston’s uncertain future, in addition to the fact that Eovaldi spent so much of his 2018 pact with the Red Sox on the IL, casts some doubt on the notion that Red Sox will share Eovaldi’s interest in a reunion. However, with Rich Hill and Michael Wacha both headed into free agency as well, the club will certainly be looking to fill some rotation holes for 2023.
  • Reds lefty Mike Minor told Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer that he is considering retirement at the conclusion of the 2022 season. “I’d have to feel good, and I’d have to want to play and want to be away from my family again,” Minor said. Three years removed from an All-Star nod with the Rangers, Minor battled injuries for the first two months of 2022. In total, he has thrown 98 innings to the tune of a 6.06 ERA for a non-competitive Reds team. Minor will face free agency this offseason should he elect to return to the big-leagues for a 12th year.

Braves Place Spencer Strider On IL With Oblique Strain

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The Atlanta Braves announced they have placed starting pitcher Spencer Strider on the 15-day IL with a strained left oblique muscle, backdated to September 21st. RHP Alan Rangel will be recalled in a corresponding move. The Braves have also reinstated Ehire Adrianza from the 10-day IL and have optioned infielder Rylan Bannon to Triple-A Gwinnett.

Strider has been nothing short of sensational for Atlanta in 2022. Slotted as a bullpen arm to start the season, Strider dominated in relief, posting a 2.22 ERA in 24 1/3 innings out of the ’pen. The Braves transitioned the rookie to the rotation in May 30, where he has been one of the most effective starters in baseball. In 107 1/3 innings over 20 starts, Strider has held opponents to a .183 BA and a minuscule .274 slugging. He was named NL Rookie of the Month in July and has amassed 202 strikeouts between his work in the bullpen and the rotation, good for fourth in the senior circuit.

Strider’s move to the IL follows a brilliant outing on September 18th against the Phillies, in which he struck out 10 batters and gave up one run over six innings. He left the game with a tender left oblique, which prompted the Braves to preemptively push back his next start as a precaution. Strider will remain on the IL until the final day of the regular season, calling his readiness for the postseason into question should he suffer any setbacks. For the time being, it seems likely that right-hander Bryce Elder will continue to fill Strider’s spot in the rotation, as he did when Strider was initially pushed back. Alan Rangel will be recalled to account for the Braves’ hole in their pitching matrix. Rangel has started 26 games in 2022 for Double-A Mississippi and has accumulated a 5.26 ERA.

It will be a massive loss for Atlanta if Strider is unable to pitch in the postseason. This will hold especially true if the Braves are unable to win the NL East and are forced to compete in one of the NL Wild Card Series, where a 1-2 punch of Strider and Max Fried would be particularly formidable. Should Strider not be available for the Wild Card Series, the Braves rotation figures to be Fried in Game 1, Kyle Wright in Game 2, and Charlie Morton in the decider. There is also the scenario in which Strider, without the luxury of a traditional minor league rehab process, comes out of the bullpen for Atlanta for one or more postseason series. Regardless of what transpires, Brian Snitker and his staff will have their hands full as they balance the Braves’ immediate postseason aspirations with the future health of their budding ace.

Adrianza will return to Atlanta’s bench after being placed on the 10-day IL with a left quad strain. The 33-year old utility infielder began 2022 with the Nationals before being returning to the Braves via a trade deadline swap. Adrianza has only logged eight at-bats for the Braves since his arrival in August, collecting a singular hit. Adrianza takes the place of infielder Rylan Bannon, who the Braves claimed off waivers in August. Bannon only played in one game during his time with the Braves and made no plate-appearances.

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