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A’s To Promote Jack O’Loughlin

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The A’s are set to call up left-hander Jack O’Loughlin, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports (via X).  The corresponding move isn’t yet known.

O’Loughlin is a veteran of six minor league seasons, all in the Tigers’ farm system prior to his minor league deal to join the Athletics this past winter.  The 24-year-old Adelaide native has also played in parts of four seasons in the Australian Baseball League, and pitched on Australia’s roster during the last World Baseball Classic.  This unique career path has now taken O’Loughlin to Oakland and to the doorstep of his Major League debut.

His time in Detroit’s farm system never resulted in any big league call-ups, as O’Loughlin’s 4.78 ERA over 86 2/3 innings with Triple-A Toledo last season wasn’t enough to catch the Tigers’ attention.  Somewhat unusually, O’Loughlin has never played any Double-A ball, as the Tigers promoted him from high-A West Michigan to Toledo last season without a stop in between.  After catching on with the Athletics this past offseason, O’Loughlin has pitched exclusively at Triple-A Las Vegas, posting a 5.12 ERA over 38 2/3 innings, starting eight of his 10 appearances.

As always with Pacific Coast League numbers, a deeper look is required given the league’s hitter-friendly nature.  O’Loughlin hasn’t been helped by a .371 BABIP or a 17.5% home run rate, and the latter statistic stands out as particularly PCL-generated considering that O’Loughlin has done a pretty good job of keeping the ball in the park earlier in his career.  His 9.3% walk rate isn’t anything special but he has missed bats to the tune of a 25.6% strikeout rate.

It seems likely that the A’s will give O’Loughlin a look as a starting pitcher, given how Oakland is trying to navigate several injuries within the rotation.  Paul Blackburn, Alex Wood, and Joe Boyle have all been placed on the 15-day IL within the last three weeks, resulting in starts for journeyman Aaron Brooks as well as rookie Mitch Spence and Joey Estes.  There would appear to be plenty of opportunity here for O’Loughlin to stick around in the majors if he pitches decently well and eats enough innings until the Athletics start to get some of their personnel back.

Mets Notes: Senga, Peterson, Houser, Alvarez

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Kodai Senga underwent an MRI on Friday and was diagnosed with triceps inflammation, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters (including Dan Martin of the New York Post).  Senga received a cortisone shot to deal with the issue and will be shut down from throwing for the next 3-5 days.

The news represents another setback for Senga, who has yet to pitch this season after suffering a moderate posterior capsule strain in his right shoulder during Spring Training.  Senga’s rehab process didn’t have any formal timeline attached, as the most recent reports indicated that he was first working on his mechanics before embarking on any clear ramp-up regiment.  Senga was supposed to toss a bullpen session on Friday before the triceps discomfort shelved that plan.

If there is any silver lining, Mendoza noted that Senga’s shoulder and elbow looked good in the MRI scan, so the triceps area seems to be the only concern at this point.  However, Senga and the Mets will now have to wait out this shutdown period before again re-evaluating the righty’s status.

Senga is already on the 60-day injured list and obviously won’t be activated when he hits the 60-day threshold this coming week, and it would now seem like he might not make his 2024 debut until perhaps after the All-Star break.  Assuming he emerges from this shutdown period feeling better, Senga’s rehab assignment will still take at least a month given that he has to essentially start his preparation from scratch after missing all of Spring Training.  From the Mets’ perspective, surely they weren’t going to take any risks with their ace righty’s health anyway, but there’s even less of a rush to get Senga back onto a big league mound since New York is 21-29 and doesn’t look like a contender.

An inconsistent rotation has been a big reason behind the Amazins’ lackluster record, as only five teams have a worse rotation ERA than the collective 4.59 posted by Mets starters.  Some potential help could be on the way since David Peterson is nearing the end of his 60-day IL stint, and he made his second and potentially final Triple-A rehab start last night. Peterson has a 2.79 ERA over 9 2/3 innings in those two rehab outings, tossing 81 pitches in his first start and then 89 pitches last night.

Peterson underwent hip surgery last November, necessitating a season-opening stint on the 60-day injured list given the procedure’s recovery timeline of 6-7 months.  It seems as though Peterson has gotten through his rehab in good form, so barring any last-minute health issues, the left-hander appears to be on track to be activated from the injured list this week.

Over four seasons and 333 innings for New York, Peterson has a 4.51 ERA while starting 64 of his 80 appearances.  While nobody expects Peterson to step in and be a savior for the struggling rotation, Peterson might at least represent an upgrade over Adrian Houser, who Mendoza said could be moved back to the bullpen.  Houser has a 7.88 ERA in 37 2/3 innings this season, starting his first six games before a shift to the relief corps, and was then inserted back into the rotation as the Mets moved to a six-man staff during a busy stretch of the schedule.  Things didn’t go smoothly for Houser in his return to starting duty, as he allowed six earned runs over five innings in the Mets’ 10-4 loss to the Guardians on May 21.

In another injury update, catcher Francisco Alvarez is expected to take batting practice today for the first time since undergoing thumb surgery back on April 23.  (MLB.com was among those to report the news.). Alvarez was given an eight-week recovery timeline, so it’s a good sign that he is already feeling better enough to face any sort of live pitching.  He has also been taking some pitches behind the plate, catching with a splint inside of his glove — a process that is likely to continue for at least some time after Alvarez returns to action.  The former top prospect was hitting .236/.288/.364 in 59 plate appearances prior to his torn thumb ligament, and this lengthy injury rehab has already drastically reduced what was supposed to be Alvarez’s second full Major League season.

Nationals Release Stephen Nogosek

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The Nationals have released Stephen Nogosek, according to the right-hander’s MLB.com profile page.  Nogosek signed a minor league deal with Washington during the offseason but will now return to the open market after a rough stint at Triple-A Rochester.

Over 11 appearances and 15 2/3 innings with the Red Wings, Nogosek posted a 9.77 ERA with 18 walks against only 15 strikeouts.  While Nogosek’s control has been spotty over his eight pro seasons, the situation has greatly worsened in the last two seasons, as the righty also had an 18.18% walk rate over 36 combined innings at the Triple-A and Double-A levels in 2023.  This issue surely contributed to the Mets’ decision to designate Nogosek for assignment last June, and why the Diamondbacks didn’t give him a look on the big league roster after signing him to a minors deal in the wake of his departure from New York.

Nogosek’s control problems haven’t really manifested themselves at the big league level, over a sample size of 57 1/3 innings in parts of four MLB seasons.  Debuting with the Mets in 2019, Nogosek has a 5.02 ERA over his 33 career appearances in the Show, with an 8.9% walk rate and 22% strikeout rate.  Home runs have been Nogosek’s biggest sticking point against Major League hitters, who have taken him yard 14 times over those 57 1/3 frames of work.  Nogosek had generally done a pretty good job of keeping the ball in the park in the minors, yet his home run issues cropped up at Triple-A this season with five homers allowed during his brief time in Rochester.

The 29-year-old now returns to the open market in search of another minor league deal, and hopefully a fresh start in another organization.  Nogosek is out of minor league options, which adds another layer of complication to his efforts to find a new contract and stick in a big league bullpen.

Cubs Promote Luis Vazquez

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May 21: The Cubs have now officially promoted Vazquez, with Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times among those to relay the full slate of moves on X. Swanson was also activated off the injured list while Mastrobuoni and Pete Crow-Armstrong were optioned in corresponding moves.

May 19: The Cubs are promoting infield prospect Luis Vazquez to the majors, according to ESPN’s Jorge Castillo (who also happens to be Vazquez’s cousin).  The 24-year-old Vazquez will be making his MLB debut whenever he appears in his first game.

Since the Cubs’ next game isn’t until Tuesday, Vazquez’s call-up seems tied to Nico Hoerner’s health status.  Hoerner hasn’t played since last Monday due to a balky hamstring, and while the Cubs were hopeful Hoerner would be able to play Tuesday, it could be that the team decided that an official injured list stint was necessary to get Hoerner fully recovered.  Dansby Swanson is also already on the IL recovering from a knee sprain and was expected to be activated on Tuesday, so it is possible Vazquez could be joining the Cubs if there has been some unknown setback in Swanson’s recovery.

Whatever the case, the door has been opened for Vazquez to get his first shot at the big leagues.  A 14th-round pick for the Cubs in the 2017 draft, Vazquez didn’t do much at the plate until last season, when he batted a combined .271/.361/.456 with 20 home runs over 528 plate appearances almost evenly split between Double-A and Triple-A.  The hot hitting has continued into this season, as Vazquez has slashed .270/.369/.409 with three homers across his 164 PA with Triple-A Iowa.

This breakout year led the Cubs to put Vazquez on their 40-man roster last November in advance of the Rule 5 Draft, and for some extra attention from the pundits — MLB Pipeline has Vazquez ranked as the 13th-best prospect in Chicago’s farm system, while Baseball America has him 14th.  As per Pipeline’s scouting report, Vazquez was able to straighten out his swing and make better contact after learning to lower his hands at the plate, thus unlocking some extra power potential.  Between these improvements and Vazquez’s highly-touted defense, both Pipeline and BA think Vazquez now has a path to a Major League role as a versatile bench player.

Vazquez’s glovework and throwing arm each merit 60s on the 20-80 scouting scale, and as Pipeline puts it, “he’s so good at short that Chicago rarely has deployed him at other positions.”  Vazquez does have some experience at second and third base and shouldn’t have much trouble at either position given his shortstop capability, making him an interesting utility option for the Cubs on at least a temporary basis.  Miles Mastrobuoni and Nick Madrigal have been filling the middle infield roles with Swanson and Hoerner out, and if both players are indeed back on Tuesday, Mastrobuoni could find himself relegated back to Triple-A to create room for Vazquez’s promotion.

White Sox Designate Brad Keller For Assignment

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May 20: The team has now formally announced both moves. Keller’s weeklong DFA window will begin today.

May 19: The White Sox are designating right-hander Brad Keller for assignment, James Fegan of Sox Machine reports (links to X).  Dominic Leone is being activated from the 15-day injured list to take Keller’s spot on the active roster.

After three increasingly rough seasons with the Royals, Keller caught on with Chicago on a minor league deal over the offseason and that contract was selected to the big league roster at the end of April.  Keller’s five games in a Sox uniform have consisted of two starts and three relief appearances, and his most recent outing saw him allow five earned runs to the Yankees over four innings of work in yesterday’s 6-1 Chicago loss.

That boosted Keller’s ERA to 4.86 over 16 2/3 total frames, with an underwhelming 17.7% strikeout rate and an okay 7.9% walk rate.  Keller’s 56.1% grounder rate is impressive but he has also benefited from a .231 BABIP and been hit hard when he hasn’t been able to keep the ball on the ground.  Over his small sample size of work, Keller has allowed five home runs, including four from the Yankees yesterday.

To be fair, Keller had a 2.84 ERA in his 12 2/3 innings before facing New York, and he is hardly the first pitcher to have problems with the dangerous Yankees lineup.  While this move might seem like something of a quick trigger from the White Sox, it could be that the team is looking to open a rotation spot for Jared Shuster, who has looked very sharp in multi-inning relief outings this season.  Since the Sox are obviously looking ahead to 2025 and beyond, they could simply see more value in letting Shuster pitch more meaningful innings now, and parting ways with a veteran like Keller who isn’t in their long-term plans.

It should be noted that Keller’s 2023 season was cut short by thoracic outlet syndrome, and he underwent TOS surgery last October.  While the procedure has led to diminished results for many pitchers in their returns to the mound, Keller’s work to date has been somewhat promising, and his numbers could improve once he gets more fully comfortable in the aftermath of such a notable surgery.

This means that Keller could certainly draw some attention on the waiver wire from any team looking for a quick influx of innings in the rotation or the bullpen.  The White Sox could work out a trade or might let Keller go on waivers entirely without any return.  If he clears waivers, Keller has enough MLB service time to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency.

Leone will return after just the minimum 15 days after dealing with some back tightness.  The veteran right-hander has struggled to a 6.75 ERA in 14 2/3 innings out of Chicago’s bullpen this season, and has already allowed 11 walks and four home runs.

Injury Notes: Garcia, Bradford, Pagan, Chandler

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Adolis Garcia and Marcus Semien collided in pursuit of a fly ball in shallow right field in Saturday’s game, leaving Garcia with a sore forearm that kept him out of Sunday’s game.  The issue was serious enough that Garcia underwent an MRI, but manager Bruce Bochy told MLB.com’s Kennedi Landry (X link) and other reporters that the outfielder received “pretty good” results from the tests.  Since the Rangers don’t play on Monday, the team is hopeful that another day of rest will have Garcia ready for the start of their series Tuesday against the Phillies.

Garcia has a solid 117 wRC+ over 192 plate appearances this season, though his .251/.297/.491 slash line is obviously power-heavy.  While Garcia has 11 homers and is making lots of hard contact, his strikeout and walk rates are both far below the league average, and his 5.7% walk rate is in particular a sharp drop from his 10.3% number in 2023.  Despite these concerns, Garcia has still been one of the better hitters in a Texas lineup that has struggled to follow up on its huge numbers from its championship season.

More injury updates from around baseball…

  • Sticking with the Rangers, Cody Bradford told Landry and other reporters that the stress fracture in his rib isn’t improving, even if the injury is no longer causing him pain.  Bradford has been shut down from throwing for the time being, and it isn’t yet known how long this shutdown might extend his recovery timeline.  Bradford hasn’t pitched since April 10 due to a lower back strain that led to his initial placement on the 10-day injured list, but the rib fracture was discovered near the end of April, and it was expected that Bradford would likely miss the rest of May.  The left-hander had a sterling 1.40 ERA in his first 19 1/3 innings of the season, but his injuries have made him one of an incredible six starting pitchers on the Rangers’ IL.
  • Emilio Pagan had to be removed from the Reds’ 3-2 loss to the Dodgers today after the reliever felt some pain in his triceps area.  “It felt like my triceps overstretched right in the middle,” Pagan said told MLB.com and other media, though “it wasn’t sharp pain. It wasn’t a grab.”  Pagan will be examined by team doctors during the Monday off-day, but an initial round of tests created some hope that the issue isn’t serious.  Pagan’s 54.2% hard-hit ball rate is among the highest in baseball and he is having his usual trouble keeping the ball in the park, but the right-hander has limited the damage to a 4.19 ERA over 19 1/3 innings thanks to an outstanding strikeout rate.
  • Pirates pitching prospect Bubba Chandler has been placed on the seven-day IL at Double-A due to forearm tightness, as assistant GM Steve Sanders relayed in an interview on 93.7 radio (hat tip to Justin Guerriero of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review).  Chandler was a third-round pick for the Bucs in the 2021 draft, and he is ranked 57th by Baseball America and 66th by MLB Pipeline in their current lists of the sport’s top prospects.  The righty had 3.10 ERA over his first 20 1/3 innings of the Double-A season but was hit hard in his last two outings, perhaps in relation to the forearm issue.

Cardinals To Promote Ryan Loutos

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The Cardinals are calling up right-hander Ryan Loutos, according to the WashU Baseball Updates X feed.  The team will need to make adjustments to both its 26-man and 40-man rosters, as Loutos isn’t on the Cards’ 40-man.

This will be the first MLB exposure for Loutos, a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis who signed with the Cards as an undrafted free agent in 2021.  It means that the 25-year-old has now beaten the vast majority of players from that draft class to the majors, marking another step in Loutos’ unusual baseball career.  As Geoff Pontes of Baseball America wrote in a 2022 interview with the right-hander, “the Cardinals coveted Loutos as much for his potential fit as a front office candidate as they did for his skill as a baseball player.”  Loutos is a computer science major who has already been working with the Cardinals’ analytics department.

In terms of on-field contributions, Loutos pitched pretty well in 2022 before struggling to a 6.40 ERA over 71 2/3 relief innings at Triple-A Memphis in 2023.  Loutos had a solid 24.1% strikeout rate but also a 11.3% walk rate, and that latter number has actually gotten worse to the tune of a 13.6BB% this season.  However, Loutos also hasn’t allowed any homers, has generated a 50% grounder rate, and upped his K% to 27.3% in posting a 1.72 ERA in 15 2/3 frames for Memphis in 2024.

It was enough to merit Loutos a ticket to the Show, even if it might be just a short-term stint to provide a fresh arm to the St. Louis bullpen.  The Cardinals have leaned pretty hard on their pen over the last few games, so some extra help could be required when the Cards begin a series Monday with the hot-hitting Orioles.

Braves Reinstate Pierce Johnson, Jackson Stephens Elects Free Agency

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TODAY: Stephens has again rejected the outright assignment and opted for free agency, the Braves announced.

MAY 18: The Braves announced that right-hander Pierce Johnson has been reinstated from the 15-day injured list.  Now recovered from some elbow inflammation, Johnson will take the roster spot of Jackson Stephens, who has been outrighted to Triple-A Gwinnett.

Johnson’s initial IL placement was backdated to May 1, so the reliever will end up missing only slightly beyond the 15-day minimum stint.  As noted by MLB.com’s Mark Bowman (X link), Stephens’ status seems to have played a role in Johnson not being immediately reinstated when first eligible, as it gave a bit of extra time for Stephens to pass through waivers.  There hadn’t been any public indication that Stephens had been designated for assignment before today’s outright announcement.

Over his first 12 innings of the 2024 season, Johnson had a 3.00 ERA, 32% strikeout rate, 10 percent walk rate, and a 58.6% grounder rate.  Control has long been Johnson’s chief issue as a big league pitcher, as he carried an 11.5% walk rate across his 137 2/3 innings with three different teams from 2017-22.  That number spiked to a 13.3% in 39 innings with the Rockies last season, and a 6.00 ERA before Johnson’s career was turned around in a deadline trade to Atlanta.  Johnson delivered an exceptional 0.76 ERA as well as a 5.6% walk rate and 36% strikeout rate in 23 2/3 innings for the Braves, immediately cementing his place as a key member of the bullpen mix.  The Braves were impressed enough to offer Johnson a two-year, $14.25MM contract extension to keep him from testing free agency.

Since Stephens is out of minor league options, the Braves have repeatedly cycled him through the DFA/outright process in order to send him to Triple-A.  Stephens has usually elected for free agency in this scenario (as is his right as a player who has previously been outrighted off a 40-man roster) only to re-sign with Atlanta on a new minors contract.  It seems quite likely that history could repeat itself here, if Stephens wants to first test the market out of due diligence if nothing else, before returning to his role as a depth arm in the Braves’ system.

Amidst the constant transactions, Stephens has pitched pretty well since initially joining the Braves in the 2021-22 offseason.  He has a 3.52 ERA across 69 total innings, with 53 2/3 of those frames coming in 2022 since he missed a good chunk of last season due to injuries.

Braves Interested In Zach Eflin

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The Braves are “keeping a close eye on” Zach Eflin as a potential trade target prior to the deadline, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale writes.  Rotation help has been circled as a likely need for Atlanta ever since Spencer Strider was lost for the season to an internal brace surgery, and Eflin stands out as a potentially intriguing choice for several reasons.

First and foremost, Eflin is again pitching well in terms of bottom-line results, with a 4.12 ERA over 10 starts and 59 innings.  The right-hander continues to be among the best control specialists in the game with a sterling 1.6% walk rate, though there are some red flags in other notable categories.  Eflin is again among the league leaders in barrels even if his barrel rate is only slightly below average, but his hard-hit ball rate (41.6%) and strikeout rate (17.9%) are also both subpar.  He was well above average in both categories in 2023, when Eflin’s first season in Tampa Bay resulted in a sixth-place finish in AL Cy Young Award voting.

A contender like the Braves won’t necessarily be scared off by Eflin’s 2024 numbers, as they are very familiar with Eflin’s work after dealing with him as a division rival during Eflin’s years with the Phillies.  Durability might also be a concern given Eflin’s long history of knee problems, but he tossed 182 2/3 innings last year between the regular season and playoffs, and had only a brief IL stint due to a bad back.

These are all good reasons why the Rays themselves might naturally want to keep Eflin in their own rotation as they continue to vie for another postseason berth.  Tampa Bay is 11-6 in its last 17 games, a hot streak that has gotten the club back up to a 25-23 record after a mediocre April.  Eflin has also been a stabilizing force in a rotation beset by injuries, even if some reinforcements are on the way.  Ryan Pepiot could return from the 15-day IL this week in his recovery from a leg contusion, Shane Baz (currently on a rehab assignment) and Jeffrey Springs are tentatively expected to return from Tommy John surgery rehab in July or August, and Drew Rasmussen is on roughly the same timeline after he went an internal brace procedure last July.

If at least one of Springs, Baz, or Rasmussen is already back by the deadline and the Rays are comfortable with the recovery status of the others, it is possible Tampa Bay might feel comfortable counting on these internal arms to help fill the gap created by trading Eflin.  It is a risk that most teams might not take, and yet as always with the Rays, payroll could be a factor in their decision-making.  Eflin is in the second season of a three-year, $40MM contract that was paid out as $11MM in both 2023 and 2024, and then $18MM in 2025.  (He also receives a $1MM bonus in the event of a trade.)

Moving Eflin would allow the Rays to avoid the backloaded final portion of that contract, and get the remainder of Eflin’s 2024 salary also off the books.  Even if Eflin isn’t dealt at the deadline, it stands to reason that the Rays might explore moving him this offseason, similar to how the club dealt Tyler Glasnow to the Dodgers last winter before Glasnow was owed $25MM in 2024 under the terms of his previous contract.

Acquiring Eflin would also have some interesting payroll implications for a Braves team whose projected luxury tax number (as per RosterResource) sits at approximately $272.5MM.  This is already well into the second tax tier and not far off the third tier that begins at $277MM.  Atlanta hasn’t been shy in spending big in pursuit of another World Series title, but crossing the $277MM threshold carries the secondary penalty of a 10-slot drop for the Braves’ first selection in the 2025 draft.  Eflin being controlled through 2025 might carry some particular for the Braves, however, as Max Fried and Charlie Morton will both be free agents this winter.

Alex Anthopoulos and Erik Neander are two of the most creative executives in baseball, so any number of interesting Atlanta/Tampa trades could be devised that would perhaps allow Eflin to change teams while also allowing the Braves to stay under that third luxury tax tier.  The Rays could eat a larger portion of Eflin’s contract in order to obtain a better prospect return from the Braves, or perhaps a third team could be brought into the talks to balance things out.

Atlanta’s rotation has still been pretty solid even without Strider, as Braves starters entered Sunday with a combined 3.44 ERA (tenth-best in baseball).  Fried, Morton, Chris Sale, and Reynaldo Lopez have all been good to great, though Sale’s durability is always a question mark and Lopez (who has a sparkling 1.34 ERA) is in his first season as a full-time starter since 2020, and he hasn’t tossed more than 66 innings in a season since 2019.  Bryce Elder is the fifth starter and Darius Vines, Allan Winans, Huascar Ynoa, and top prospects AJ Smith-Shawver and Hurston Waldrep provide additional depth, though a pitcher like Eflin could be more of a proven commodity for a team with championship aspirations.

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