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Injured List Transactions: Beck, Robertson, Saucedo
Rockies outfielder Jordan Beck suffered a fracture in his left hand while making a diving catch of a Nick Castellanos line drive in Colorado’s 8-4 loss to Philadelphia on Saturday. The injury naturally forced Beck out of the game, and the Rockies placed him on the 10-day injured list today, with outfielder Sean Bouchard called up from Triple-A in the corresponding move. Beck told reporters (including the Denver Post’s Patrick Saunders) that he’ll undergo more tests today, and might then have a better idea of his recovery timeline.
Beck has been Colorado’s everyday left fielder since he made his MLB debut on April 30, as the Rox have wanted to take a long look at the top-100 prospect. It hasn’t been a smooth transition for Beck, who was hitting only .190/.198/.316 with 30 strikeouts over his first 81 plate appearances in the big leagues. The broken hand only adds to these woes, though getting to bank Major League service time while on the IL might represent some small silver lining for the 23-year-old.
Some other comings and goings from injured lists around baseball….
- The Cardinals placed right-hander Nick Robertson on the 15-day IL (retroactive to May 23) and called up righty Andre Pallante from Triple-A Memphis. Robertson is dealing with inflammation in his throwing elbow, but he told Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat (X link) that he doesn’t believe the injury is too serious. St. Louis acquired Robertson from the Red Sox as part of the trade package for Tyler O’Neill last December, and he has posted a 4.38 ERA over 12 1/3 innings out of the Cardinals’ bullpen. A .364 BABIP and three homers allowed have inflated Robertson’s ERA, as his walk (3.8%) and strikeout (26.9%) rates have been impressive.
- The Mariners reinstated left-hander Tayler Saucedo from the 15-day IL, and created roster space by optioning righty Eduard Bazardo to Triple-A. Saucedo returns after missing just shy of three weeks due to a hyperextension of his right knee. After emerging as a solid member of Seattle’s bullpen last year, Saucedo has been even better this season, with a 2.70 ERA and 52.8% grounder rate over his first 14 appearances and 13 1/3 innings in 2024.
Royals Place Michael Massey On 10-Day Injured List
The Royals placed second baseman Michael Massey on the 10-day injured list today (retroactive to May 25) due to a ligament sprain in his lower back. Infielder Nick Loftin was called up from Triple-A Omaha in the corresponding move.
This is the second time Massey’s bad back has sent him to the IL, as his season debut was delayed until April 19 because of a similar injury that cropped up during Spring Training. Massey made an early exit from Friday’s 8-1 victory over the Rays due to back soreness and he didn’t play yesterday, so K.C. manager Matt Quatraro felt a roster move was necessary.
“We are at a point where he wasn’t feeling great today. It’s been a couple of days and we have another day game tomorrow,” Quatraro told the Kansas City Star’s Jaylon Thompson and other reporters. “We got to make a move to kind of put him on a course to get better and is more sustainable than going day to day.”
It would seem like Massey will miss longer than the minimum 10 days in order to fully rest up and try to put the back problem behind him, and he might also seek out a specialist to see if any longer-term solution is necessary. Loftin and Adam Frazier handled second base duty during Massey’s previous IL stint, and that figures to be the case again, even if it will be hard for the duo to match Massey’s underrated all-around production.
One of the unsung stars of the Royals’ unexpected surge into contention, Massey has hit .294/.306/.529 with six home runs over 110 plate appearances. Between this 124 wRC+ and solidly above-average glovework at second base, Massey has generated 0.8 fWAR in his 29 games this season, already topping his 0.7 fWAR over 181 games in 2022-23. While his modest hard-hit ball rates and .309 xwOBA indicate that some regression is inevitable, Massey has drastically reduced his strikeout rate from his first two MLB seasons, and is hitting for much more power.
Red Sox Release Vladimir Gutierrez
The Red Sox announced that Vladimir Gutierrez has been released. The right-hander had been pitching at Triple-A Worcester since he was acquired from the Brewers last month, though he was designated for assignment and then outrighted off Boston’s 40-man roster earlier this month.
Because Gutierrez has previously been outrighted in his career, he had the option to reject that assignment and opt into free agency. He chose to stick with the Sox at that point but now finds himself on the open market anyway, as the righty simply didn’t seem to be in the team’s plans. Gutierrez didn’t help his case with a 9.00 ERA over eight innings in Worcester, as he allowed more walks (12) than strikeouts (eight) over his five appearances.
Gutierrez could now potentially join his fourth different organization in as many months. He inked a minor league deal with the Marlins during the offseason, and has since been designated for assignment three times — once apiece by Miami, Milwaukee, and Boston. Gutierrez has seen some big league action this season, with a 6.75 ERA in four innings for the Marlins before he was DFA’ed and then claimed off waivers by the Brewers at the start of April.
Those four innings represented Gutierrez’s first time on a Major League mound since 2022, as Tommy John surgery sidelined him for the entirety of the 2023 season apart from 6 1/3 minor league innings in the Reds’ farm system. Formerly a highly-regarded pitching prospect during his time in Cincinnati’s minor league ranks, Gutierrez debuted in the Show in 2021 and finished eighth in NL Rookie of the Year voting after posting a 4.74 ERA in 114 innings. Home runs and control became greater issues for him in 2022, however, as Gutierrez struggled to a 7.61 ERA in 36 2/3 innings before the TJ procedure brought his tough year to an early end.
Orioles Acquire Thyago Vieira
The Orioles and Brewers have announced a three-player trade that will see the O’s land right-handers Thyago Vieira and Aneuris Rodriguez. Milwaukee will receive minor league righty Garrett Stallings in return.
Vieira is the only member of the trio with any Major League experience, as the Sao Paulo native has a 6.18 ERA over 51 career innings in the Show. He appeared in parts of the 2017-19 seasons with the Mariners and White Sox before spending the next three seasons in Japan, and then returning to North American baseball via a minors deal with the Brewers in the 2022-23 offseason.
After making two appearances with Milwaukee’s big league roster last year, injuries opened up more opportunity for Vieira this season, though he didn’t exactly capitalize. The right-hander posted a 5.64 ERA over 22 1/3 innings for the Crew, allowing six home runs and walking 12.3% of batters. Despite a big fastball with regular high-90s velocity, Vieira has yet to translate that heat into high-level strikeout volume, as he whiffed a decent but unspectacular 23.6% of batters faced this season.
Between that velocity and solid numbers in NPB and with the Brewers’ Triple-A affiliate in 2023, it isn’t hard to see why the Orioles might have an interest in seeing if Vieira might still be a late bloomer at age 31. A classic case of a hard thrower with control issues, Vieira’s potential is obvious if the O’s can figure out a way for the righty to harness his stuff. The Brewers have had a lot of success in helping unheralded pitchers unlock their ability in recent years, though the team opted to move on by designating Vieira for assignment earlier this week.
Rodriguez is more of a longer-term lottery ticket of a prospect, as the righty is still a few weeks away from his 20th birthday. His pro experience has been limited to two seasons in the Dominican Summer League and some rookie ball action this year, with a cumulative 3.67 ERA over 83 1/3 total innings.
Stallings was a fifth-round pick for the Angels in the 2019 draft, and he came to Baltimore’s organization as part of the return in the December 2020 trade that sent Jose Iglesias to Los Angeles. Stallings has a 5.41 ERA, 23.1% strikeout rate, and 6.48% walk rate over 379 1/3 career minor league innings. That includes a 5.52 ERA in 101 innings of Triple-A work, as he has pitched as both as a starter and a reliever at Baltimore’s top affiliate in each of the last two seasons.
Mets Acquire Pablo Reyes From Red Sox
The Mets have acquired utilityman Pablo Reyes from the Red Sox in exchange for cash considerations, as announced via the MLB.com transactions wire. Reyes was designated for assignment at the end of April but cleared waivers and was outrighted to Boston’s Triple-A affiliate.
This marks the second time that Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns has acquired Reyes, as Reyes signed a minor league deal with the Brewers in January 2021 when Stearns was still in charge of Milwaukee’s front office. Reyes played in 58 MLB games for the Brew Crew during the 2021-22 seasons before landing in Boston, with a brief stopover with the A’s sandwiched in between.
Reyes has hit .249/.309/.349 over 572 Major League plate appearances, suiting up in six of the last seven MLB seasons (an 80-game PED suspension kept Reyes off the field entirely in 2020). A career-high 185 of those plate appearances came just last season, as Reyes got into 64 games with the Sox as part of the team’s revolving door at both middle infield positions. Reyes hit .287/.339/.377 in those 185 PA, translating to a 93 wRC+ since Reyes’ lack of power undermined his solid batting average and on-base numbers.
Defensive versatility has been Reyes’ calling card moreso than his bat, as he has gotten at least a bit of action at every position on the diamond except catcher over the course of his Major League career. However, he has exclusively played as an infielder (and occasional mop-up pitcher in blowouts) since the start of the 2022 season. The Mets traded Zack Short to the Red Sox a few weeks ago and just released Joey Wendle earlier this week, so Reyes fills New York’s need for utility infield help. Francisco Lindor and Jeff McNeil are locked into everyday duty in the middle infield roles while Brett Baty has seen most of the third base work despite struggling at the plate, and Mark Vientos has been hitting well in a bid to stick in the majors and cut into Baty’s playing time.
Since Reyes is out of minor league options, the Mets will have to keep him on the active roster unless they first designate him for assignment before trying to send him to Triple-A. In the event that Reyes clears waivers and is then outrighted off the 40-man, he has the right to elect free agency rather than accept that assignment, since he has been previously outrighted in his career.
Beltway Notes: Wood, Thomas, Wells, Webb
One of the chief questions surrounding the Nationals this season is when star prospect James Wood could be making his Major League debut, though that debate might be put on hold while Wood overcomes a minor injury. Wood left Thursday’s Triple-A game with tightness in his right hamstring, and Nats manager Davey Martinez told reporters (including Andrew Golden of the Washington Post) that the removal was precautionary in nature.
We could learn as early as today whether or not this injury is serious enough to merit a stint on the seven-day minor league IL, or if Wood could potentially be ready to go after another day or two of rest. Naturally the team is going to be as cautious as possible with Wood given that, if healthy, he seems to be forcing the issue of a call-up. Acquired from the Padres as part of the Juan Soto trade package in 2022, Wood was a consensus top-15 prospect in baseball even before he started obliterating Triple-A pitching. The 21-year-old is hitting .355/.465/.596 over 202 plate appearances with Triple-A Rochester, with nine homers and 10 steals (in 11 tries).
More from the Nationals and the Orioles…
- It has now been a month since a Grade 2 MCL sprain sent Lane Thomas to Washington’s 10-day injured list, and Martinez told Golden and company that Thomas will be re-evaluated this weekend. This could potentially mean an activation from the IL, or perhaps just a move up to Triple-A games in the next stage of Thomas’ rehab assignment. Thomas has already played in four games with Double-A Harrisburg, and Martinez said that Thomas has been a little sore but otherwise feeling okay in his return to action. Thomas was off to a slow start (.184/.250/.253) over his first 96 PA of the season, but the outfielder was the Nationals’ most consistent hitter in 2023, with 28 homers and a .268/.315/.468 slash line over 682 PA.
- The Orioles’ pitching depth has again become a talking point with John Means and Dean Kremer both hitting the 15-day injured list in the last few days. Tyler Wells has been on the IL since mid-April due to elbow inflammation, and the righty will start playing catch this week, manager Brandon Hyde told reporters (including Matt Weyrich of the Baltimore Sun). This represents something of a restart of Wells’ recovery program, as Wells was shut down with more soreness after attempting some catch at the start of May. Given the setback, it would appear as though Wells is still several weeks away from a return to the 26-man roster, as he’ll need to ramp up before even starting a minor league rehab assignment. Wells has a solid 3.93 ERA over 222 1/3 innings for Baltimore over the last two seasons, working mostly as a starter though some struggles cost him his rotation spot last year.
- Right-hander Nathan Webb will miss the rest of the 2024 season after undergoing left Achilles tendon surgery, as Webb himself announced on his Instagram page. Webb underwent Tommy John surgery in spring 2023 and was slated to return to the mound around midseason. “I was only a few weeks away from getting into games after rehabbing….however, the good news is that I will make a full recovery and be 100 percent ready for Spring Training 2025,” Webb wrote. The latest injury won’t impact Webb’s status with the Orioles, as the club signed him to a two-year minor league contract last October with the understanding that Webb would already be missing a big chunk of the 2024 campaign. The 26-year-old Webb has yet to make his MLB debut, and he has a 6.11 ERA over 268 minor league innings in the Royals’ farm system.
Athletics Place Ross Stripling On 15-Day IL, Designate Brandon Bielak
The A’s announced that right-hander Ross Stripling has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to a strained right elbow. Right-hander Brandon Bielak has also been designated for assignment, opening up a 40-man roster spot for Jack O’Loughlin, whose promotion was reported earlier today. In addition to selecting O’Loughlin’s contract from Triple-A, the Athletics also called up righty Tyler Ferguson from Triple-A to take the other 26-man roster spot.
Stripling allowed six runs over 3 2/3 innings in yesterday’s 6-3 loss to the Astros. Even if it is fair to assume that the elbow strain impacted Stripling’s performance in some fashion, it was another in a string of tough outings for the veteran, as he has a 5.82 ERA across 55 2/3 innings and 11 starts for Oakland. His SIERA is a somewhat more palatable 4.66 and Stripling hasn’t enjoyed any batted-ball (.359 BABIP) or strand rate (56.4%) luck, plus his .328 xwOBA is well below his .364 wOBA. The righty’s 4.8% walk rate has been excellent and he has done a very good job of limiting hard contact, though his 13.9% strikeout rate ranks in only the seventh percentile among all pitchers.
Even if the results have been spotting, Stripling has been able to take the ball every fifth day, which is the kind of stability the A’s were hoping to receive when they acquired him in an offseason trade with the Giants. It was widely expected that the Athletics would also be shopping Stripling in advance of the trade deadline, yet this injury now casts doubt on that scenario, and potentially Stripling’s availability for the remainder of the season. More will be known about the severity of the elbow sprain soon, though it is worth noting that Stripling underwent a Tommy John surgery back in 2014 when he was pitching in the Dodgers’ farm system.
The more immediate impact of Stripling’s injury is that Oakland is now down yet another starting pitcher. Paul Blackburn (stress reaction in his right foot), Alex Wood (rotator cuff tendonitis), and Joe Boyle (lower back strain) are already all on the 15-day IL, meaning that of the five A’s pitchers who have made the most starts in 2024, JP Sears is the only fit hurler of the group. O’Loughlin has been a regular starter at Triple-A Las Vegas and will join Sears, Mitch Spence, Joey Estes, and Aaron Brooks in the makeshift rotation. The Athletics have off-days on each of the next two Mondays to allow for some flexibility in figuring out the pitching staff, and in perhaps buying time until at least one of their injured starters is healthy.
Given the short-handed rotation, it seems surprising that the A’s are parting ways with Bielak just nine days after acquiring the righty in a trade with the Astros. Bielak has a 3.18 ERA over 5 2/3 relief innings since coming to the Athletics, and while he has worked exclusively as a reliever over 13 total appearances for Oakland and Houston this season, he started 13 of his 15 games with the Astros in 2023.
Bielak’s Statcast numbers have been troubling in each of the last two seasons, so he might be fortunate to have even the 4.11 ERA he has posted over 103 innings since Opening Day 2023. Still, for a team that is so thin on starting pitching at the moment, designating a swingman with MLB experience puts even more pressure on the Athletics’ internal arms to pick up the slack. The A’s weren’t able to simply move Bielak to Triple-A since he is out of minor league options, and it is possible another team might again look to work out a trade or just claim Bielak in his latest trip to DFA limbo.
Rays Place Josh Lowe On 10-Day Injured List
The Rays announced that outfielder Josh Lowe has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a right oblique strain, with a retroactive placement date of May 23. In the corresponding move, right-hander Chris Devenski has been activated from the 15-day IL after missing almost exactly a month due to tendinitis in his right knee.
Lowe made an early exit from Wednesday’s game because of what was described at the time as a right side strain, though a follow-up MRI didn’t reveal anything out of the ordinary. Nevertheless, it isn’t surprising that the Rays will be cautious and send Lowe to the IL given that he already missed over a month of the season with another oblique strain. Between that first oblique strain and hip inflammation, Lowe missed most of Spring Training and didn’t make his season debut until May 6.
In between his two trips to the IL, Lowe hit .240/.296/.440 with two homers over 54 plate appearances. This translated to a respectable 108 wRC+, though it was still well below the 131 wRC+ Lowe delivered while hitting .292/.335/.500 with 20 homers and 32 stolen bases over 501 PA in 2023. Tampa Bay was hoping Lowe would again be a big contributor to the lineup, and his absence for much of the season has been a factor in the Rays’ overall underwhelming offensive performance.
Lowe had been receiving regular center-field duty against right-handed pitching, but the combination of Jose Siri and Jonny DeLuca (both right-handed batters) should again handle the bulk of center field work while Lowe is away. Randy Arozarena made a few appearances in center field earlier this week and might again factor into the mix depending on how the Rays shuffle their outfield at-bats. Harold Ramirez’s playing time diminished when Lowe and Jonathan Aranda returned from the IL, but with Lowe again sidelined, Ramirez might again get some work on the grass if Arozarena is shifted into center field on at least a part-time basis.
Devenski has allowed five homers in only 14 innings pitched this season, resulting in a 7.71 ERA for the veteran reliever. Keeping the ball in the park has long been a challenge for Devenski throughout his career, though he showed some improvement in this regard after he first signed with the Rays last August, while posting a 2.08 ERA in nine appearances and 8 2/3 innings with the team. This was enough for Tampa to re-sign Devenski to a one-year, $1.1MM free agent deal this past winter, but the club hasn’t yet gotten much return on even that modest contract.
White Sox Notes: Robert, Trades, Ramos, Leone
Luis Robert Jr. began a minor league rehab assignment this week with two games in the Arizona Complex League, and the outfielder will soon be headed to Triple-A Charlotte, White Sox manager Pedro Grifol told MLB.com and other media. “He’ll have that Minor League day off on Monday, get a workout in and then he’ll start playing his Charlotte games on Tuesday,” Grifol said. “We’ll see after that. I think probably by the middle of next week or something like that, he’ll be cleared with his leg, and then it becomes [at-bats] and timing and stuff like that.”
While there’s still some fluidity within this timeline, it does seem like Robert is perhaps a week or so away from returning to Chicago’s lineup. Robert suffered a Grade 2 hip flexor strain in the first week of April, and given his past history of hip injuries, there was an initial concern that Robert could be facing an extended layoff — another flexor strain cost Robert almost three months of the 2021 season. However, this latest injury ended up being less serious, and Robert appears to be on pace with the six-week recovery timeline that GM Chris Getz floated in mid-April.
Injuries have been a dominant theme of Robert’s MLB career, though the outfielder’s star potential has been evident whenever he has been able to take the field. Robert hit .264/.315/.542 with 38 homers and 20 steals over a career-high 595 plate appearances and 145 games last season, finally staying healthy long enough to deliver a top-quality season. Between his offensive production and solid defense, Robert generated 4.9 fWAR in 2023, a number topped by only 16 position players in all of baseball.
Assuming that Robert returns soon and continues this good form, more trade rumors will inevitably surface as the deadline approaches. As per the terms of the contract extension he signed with the Sox prior to his MLB debut, Robert is owed roughly $8.6MM for the remainder of this season, $15MM in 2025, and then the White Sox have club options on his services for both 2026 and 2027 (each worth $20MM with a $2MM buyout).
The rebuilding Sox have no bigger trade chip than Robert, though Getz didn’t sound too motivated to move Robert when asked about his availability last offseason. In comments to Kyle Williams of the Chicago Sun-Times and other reporters yesterday, Getz again signaled that the White Sox are generally open for business on everyone, but “some players on the team that I think make a little more sense than others” to be dealt by the deadline.
“We’re open on players on our club just because we know we’ve got to make strides to get back to being a competitive team here in the AL Central,” Getz said. “We’ve got our pro scouts monitoring other clubs’ prospects closely….The minor leagues are the strongest avenue to improve your Major League club. We are excited about what we are building at the minor league level, and we are going to look for opportunities to add to our group. We look forward to July and the opportunity to insert more talent into our group.”
Getz will surely be looking for a premium return in any Robert trade, which could impact the outfielder’s chances of being moved at the deadline or perhaps in the offseason. If questions about Robert’s health persist among potential suitors, Getz could hang onto Robert in the hopes that two more healthy and productive months throughout the remainder of the 2024 campaign would help clear any doubts about his readiness. Waiting until the winter could also open up Robert’s trade market to more teams, even though his added years of contractual control means that his deadline market wouldn’t necessarily be limited just to this season’s contenders.
Even if the White Sox don’t pull the trigger on swapping Robert, there are plenty of other players up and down the roster that might traded by the July 30 deadline in a variety of big and little deals. A veteran rental reliever like Dominic Leone could be a natural candidate to be moved in a low-level transaction, yet Leone’s trade value is pretty minimal right now after another trip to the injured list.
Chicago placed Leone on the 15-day IL yesterday (with a retroactive placement date of May 21) due to inflammation in his throwing elbow. That placement came almost immediately after another 15-day IL stint due to back tightness, and Leone made just one in-game appearance in between those two stops on the injured list. Grifol expressed hope that Leone would again be able to return after just the minimum 15 days, as “everything came back clean and clear” on Leone’s elbow after testing.
Beyond just the injury problems, Leone also has a 7.04 ERA over 15 1/3 innings. His career-long troubles with the home run ball have again surfaced, as the right-hander has allowed four homers over his 15 1/3 frames, as well as an ungainly 15.7% walk rate. It thus far hasn’t been remotely the bounce-back Leone was hoping for after he joined the White Sox on a minor league deal this past winter, coming off a 4.67 ERA in 54 combined innings with the Mets, Angels, and Mariners in 2023.
The White Sox called up righty Justin Anderson from Triple-A as the corresponding move for Leone yesterday, and brought another familiar face back to the active roster today when third baseman Bryan Ramos was reinstated from the 10-day IL. Outfielder Zach DeLoach was optioned to Triple-A to create roster space for Ramos, who will miss just a minimum amount of time after being sidelined with a left quad strain.
Before the injury, Ramos hit .281/.294/.344 over the first 34 plate appearances of his big league career. Ramos was receiving everyday work at third base and should resume that role upon his return, as the White Sox seem eager to explore his potential as a possible third baseman of the future. The Sox promoted Ramos to the big league straight from Double-A, and Ramos hadn’t received any Triple-A playing time until two games with Charlotte during his just-completed minor league rehab assignment.
