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Ender Inciarte Begins Rehab Assignment

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Injured Braves outfielder Ender Inciarte is officially on the path back to the majors. He launched a rehab assignment today, per a club announcement.

Inciarte will start things off with the club’s High-A affiliate. The Braves will surely exercise some caution in ramping him up. Back injuries can linger, as has already occurred in this particular case.

So long as Inciarte’s back doesn’t start barking again, he ought to move fairly swiftly back up the chain. The Braves ought to have at least a few weeks to see how Inciarte looks and fits on the MLB roster before making final deadline decisions.

As I argued about a month back, the left-handed-hitting center fielder still figures to be a useful piece for the Atlanta roster now and into the future. It’s hard to see Inciarte re-taking his everyday role, but he’d still fill a significant niche if he can get the bat going upon his return.

That said, his ultimately activation will still pose tough roster and playing-time questions. Austin Riley is still slugging, though his on-base numbers are sagging, while reserves Johan Camargo, Charlie Culberson, and Matt Joyce are all hitting quite well. It’s a good problem to have for the division-leading Braves.

Cubs Place Tony Barnette On Restricted List

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The Cubs announced today that righty reliever Tony Barnette has been placed on the restricted list, as Patrick Mooney of The Athletic was among those to tweet. He had been pitching at Triple-A on optional assignment.

GM Jed Hoyer says that “Tony is sort of reevaluating things with his family right now.” The veteran hurler evidently was not enthused at the prospect of continuing to work in the minors, with The Cub Reporter first on the news (Twitter link).

Barnette, 35, signed a low-cost, one-year deal that includes a club option. He has thrown the ball well at Triple-A, with a 2.31 ERA and 12:2 K/BB ratio in 11 2/3 innings. But Barnette has received only two MLB appearances this year.

While the news will seemingly leave the Cubs without a depth piece, it’ll also open a 40-man roster spot. Since Barnette is promised only $750K this year, cost considerations are of limited moment.

Red Sox Select Contract Of Trevor Kelley

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The Red Sox announced today that they will select the contract of righty Trevor Kelley in advance of tomorrow’s contest, as Alex Speier of the Boston Globe first reported. An active roster spot was opened by optioning fellow right-hander Mike Shawaryn.

The 25-year-old Kelley was a 36th-round pick in 2015 and was left unprotected from the Rule 5 draft last winter. He has generally succeeded in the minors with low home run and hefty infield fly rates. The soft-tossing sidearmer has been devastating against lefty hitters at Triple-A this year, holding them to a collective .077/.172/.115 slash. Kelley has allowed just four earned in 37 2/3 innings this year for Pawtucket, with 34 strikeouts and 12 walks.

There are a few other roster maneuvers out of Boston as well. Infielder Tzu-Wei Lin was activated from the IL and optioned. Corner utilityman Steve Pearce will remain on the shelf; his lower back issue evidently isn’t progressing as hoped, as his rehab assignment was cut off. Finally, Sam Travis is going back to Triple-A after 26th-man service in London.

Brewers Sign Drew Smyly

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The Brewers announced today that they have signed southpaw Drew Smyly to a minor-league deal. He had previously been designated for assignment and then released by the Rangers.

Smyly is due $7MM in total this year, but that cost will all be borne by the Texas organization except for any pro-rated portion of the league minimum that Smyly may command if he’s called up. It’s essentially a zero-risk roll of the dice for the Milwaukee outfit. The southpaw will jump into the club’s Triple-A rotation, per GM David Stearns (via Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, on Twitter).

The once-strong starter is still only thirty years of age — he just celebrated his birthday, in fact — but hasn’t turned in a healthy and effective campaign in quite some time. He was good in limited action in 2015, struggled through thirty starts in 2016, and then missed all of the ensuing two seasons.

Smyly was able to take the mound this year after a lengthy rehabilitation from Tommy John surgery. And he had his fastball back at his typical ~91mph level. But Smyly was having no success fooling big league hitters, who banged 19 home runs in his 51 1/3 innings. He carries an 8.42 ERA with a 52:34 K/BB ratio on the season.

Tyler Skaggs Passes Away At 27 Years Of Age

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Tyler Skaggs passed away today at 27 years of age, according to an announcement from the Los Angeles Angels. Tonight’s scheduled game against the Rangers has been postponed. MLBTR joins all those around the game in mourning his untimely loss.

The Angels organization issued a statement as follows:

“It is with great sorrow that we report Tyler Skaggs passed away earlier today in Texas. Tyler has, and always will be, an important part of the Angels Family. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Carli and his entire family during this devastating time.”

According to a press release from the Southlake Police Department (Twitter link), officers were summoned to the team hotel early this afternoon. They found Skaggs “unresponsive and he was pronounced deceased at the scene.” The department stated that, “at this time, no foul play is suspected.” Neither is suicide suspected to be the cause of death, the department later released (via Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register).

Skaggs graduated from California’s Santa Monica High School. He began his professional career with the hometown Angels organization, which selected him in the first round of the 2009 MLB draft — just months after the tragic passing of Halos pitcher Nick Adenhart. Skaggs was traded to the Diamondbacks organization and made his MLB debut in Arizona in July of 2010. He was traded back to the Angels in December of 2013 and had played for the L.A. team ever since.

This season was the seventh in which Skaggs had logged innings at the game’s highest level. He was finally been on track for a fully healthy season after so many prior campaigns were marred by (or lost altogether to) injury. Skaggs took the ball on Monday, making his 96th MLB start. In 520 2/3 career innings, he pitched to a 4.41 ERA.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Reds Designate Zach Duke

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The Reds have designated lefty Zach Duke for assignment, per a club announcement. He’ll be replaced on the active roster by righty Jimmy Herget, who’ll be in line to make his MLB debut.

Duke, 36, seemed like a nice free agent buy at a $2MM price point. He only carried a 4.15 ERA in 2018, but generally looked solid in most peripheral measures and dominated opposing lefties (.220/.283/.319).

Unfortunately, the bottom has fallen out in the veteran southpaw’s 15th MLB campaign. Duke’s typically double-digit swinging-strike rate has collapsed to 7.3% as his chase rate has plummeted to 23.5%. With hitters laying off of most everything out of the zone, Duke has fared quite poorly in the K/BB department with 18 apiece through 23 1/3 innings.

The Reds obviously ran out of hope of finding a solution, deciding instead to give a shot to the 25-year-old Herget. He was added to the 40-man over the winter but has yet to appear in the bigs. Through 37 2/3 frames this year at Triple-A, his second effort at the highest level of the minors, he’s carrying a 3.58 ERA with 10.5 K/9 and 5.7 BB/9.

Report: Yankees Uninterested In Dealing Clint Frazier For Rental

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SUNDAY: Beyond just rental players, the Yankees also don’t want to deal Frazier for a pitcher who is only controlled through the 2020 season, as per FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal (video link).  This would seemingly remove such popular trade candidates as Toronto’s Marcus Stroman or Cleveland’s Trevor Bauer from consideration in a potential Frazier deal, unless this is a case of the Yankees aiming as high as they can in initial trade talks.

FRIDAY: While the Yankees are willing to discuss young outfielder Clint Frazier in trade talks, Andy Martino of SNY.tv reports that they have no interest in sending him out for a rental player. At least, that’s the word the team is putting out to other organizations at the moment.

Frazier has become a popular topic of discussion in New York since his recent demotion to make way for just-acquired slugger Edwin Encarnacion. Despite slashing a healthy .283/.330/.513 with 11 home runs in 209 plate appearances, Frazier was again dropped back to Triple-A.

It’s not clear that the talented 24-year-old has a path back to a significant role with the Yankees in the near term. With Aaron Judge set to return and Giancarlo Stanton already back in action, the roster is brimming with righty sluggers.

That’s not to say that the Yanks won’t value Frazier. Owner Hal Steinbrenner has spoken highly of the young slugger, though that’s hardly an assurance that Frazier is off limits. The organization is obviously aware of the value of maintaining depth, even if it seems like a bit of a luxury, and Frazier is optionable this season and next.

It still feels like an opportune moment to cash in Frazier, who has hit enough to hold plenty of appeal despite some highly visible defensive miscues and a dust-up with the media. Even if he’s allowed to cross the threshold to his second full year of MLB service, Frazier will be controllable for four more campaigns beyond the present.

Given all the countervailing considerations, the Yankees’ reported position on Frazier makes sense — at this stage of the proceedings, at least. This market’s top rental pieces are perhaps not of overwhelming enough quality to warrant such an outlay. Then again, we have seen even more controllable, higher-end talents shipped out for the right rental scenarios. (The Yanks were notable beneficiaries of just such a swap.) And it’s worth bearing in mind that a few organizations — the Giants, especially, though they could be joined by others — possess multiple intriguing trade assets that could conceivably be packaged together to boost the appeal to the Bronx Bombers. (There’s precedent for that kind of swap, as well.)

Giants Claim Joey Rickard, Place Nick Vincent On 60-Day IL

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The Giants have claimed outfielder Joey Rickard from the Orioles, per a club announcement. He had been designated for assignment recently.

To create 40-man roster space, the club placed reliever Nick Vincent on the 60-day injured list. He has been sidelined for nearly a month already with a pec strain.

Rickard will become the latest outfielder to get a look with the San Francisco organization, though he could open up his tenure at Triple-A. He’s a .245/.299/.372 hitter through 924 career plate appearances in the majors.

As for Vincent, this move seems to take away any hope that he’d be a mid-summer trade piece for the Giants. Vincent had a great start to the year before hitting a rough patch in his last several outings. Even if he’s able to get back to health, the veteran righty won’t be eligible for activation until just before the trade deadline.

Mets Not Expected To Make Managerial Change

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Though the fading Mets axed a pair of pitching coaches yesterday, reports indicate that skipper Mickey Callaway is likely to remain at the helm through season’s end. Mike Puma of the New York Post said yesterday that Callaway is considered safe barring a full-blown devolution of the season, while Andy Martino of SNY.tv writes much the same today.

It wasn’t long ago that Callaway was said to be on the hot seat. But GM Brodie Van Wagenen came in with a vote of confidence and hasn’t backed down publicly since in his support for the skipper. Puma writes that COO Jeff Wilpon “remains [Callaway’s] strongest backer in the organization.” Since Wilpon writes the checks, there won’t be a change at the helm of the dugout unless he says so.

Things certainly haven’t improved since they last came to a head in mid-May. The club has hovered at .500 ball since, but that hasn’t helped jump-start a move in the standings. The Mets sit five games under the mean and nine games back of the Braves. They were just passed by a Nationals team that dug a deeper hole but has been on a nice run of late.

None of that is terribly encouraging. The club remains in need of some kind of jolt — or just better, more consistent across-the-board play. But it seems the Mets’ top brass has decided that canning Callaway isn’t likely to spur improvement. Van Wagenen issued another public vote of confidence in the wake of the pitching coach change, saying that Callaway “has my full-blown confidence.”

There’s certainly an argument to be made that a managerial change isn’t the right way to go, though one could’ve said the same of the interim step of swapping out coaches. And it’s frankly not clear what can be done at the moment. As Marc Carig of The Athletic wrote this morning (subscription link), the “brunt of th[e] failure rests on the shoulders of Van Wagenen.” The new GM’s early moves haven’t worked out as hoped; now, he’ll have to deal with a complicated roster situation.

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