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Orioles Activate Jordan Westburg, Ramon Urias

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The Orioles announced this morning that they’ve activated infielders Jordan Westburg and Ramon Urias from the 15-day Injured List. Outfielder Daniel Johnson and infielder Livan Soto were optioned to Triple-A in order to make room for the duo’s return on the active roster. Both Westburg and Urias are in the club’s starting lineup for today’s game against the Tigers, with Westburg batting second and playing second base while Urias bats eighth and plays third base.

The reinforcements are greatly appreciated for an Orioles club that that has posted a wRC+ of just 95 in September and ranks 17th in the majors since the start of August, when Westburg was first placed on the IL after suffering a hand fracture on July 31. The 25-year-old was a revelation for Baltimore in 101 games before hitting the shelf, building upon a solid but unspectacular rookie campaign in 2023 to slash .269/.317/.497 (131 wRC+) with 18 homers and 25 doubles in just 420 trips to the plate this year while splitting time between second and third base.

That strong performance quickly turned Westburg into an anchor for the Orioles lineup alongside superstar Gunnar Henderson and veteran slugger Anthony Santander and allowed him to pick up the slack for catcher Adley Rutschman, whose league average performance (104 wRC+) this year is the worst of his career to this point. Westburg’s emergence also made it easier for the club to take things slow with top prospect Jackson Holliday’s adjustment to the big leagues as he’s struggled through his first taste of big league action. With Westburg providing an above-average bat at both second and third base as needed, the Orioles were able to spend much of the early part of the season mixing and matching between Jorge Mateo at the keystone and Urias at the hot corner, with Westburg taking over whichever position was open on any given day.

Speaking of Urias, the 30-year-old has once again excelled in a part time role for the Orioles this year with a .252/.327/.427 slash line (117 wRC+) in 275 trips to the plate this year across 95 games, albeit with some questionable work at the hot corner that’s a far cry from the strong defensive performance that earned him a Gold Glove award back in 2022. Still, Urias’s return to the club’s infield should help further boost an offense that will now be able to rely less on Holliday, who has improved somewhat in his second stint at the big league level but is still hitting just .195/.253/.342 (69 wRC+) with a 30.9% strikeout rate in 49 games since rejoining the big league club at the end of July in place of Mateo, whose season ended due to elbow surgery. In particular, Urias’s return figures to help protect Holliday from left-handed pitching, against whom he’s struck out 36.6% of the time with a wRC+ of just 33 since returning to the big leagues two months ago.

Meanwhile, Johnson and Soto head to Triple-A. It was a brief return to big league action for Johnson, who went 0-for-1 in his lone game with Baltimore yesterday but had previously appeared in 35 games with Cleveland during the 2020 and ’21 seasons. The 29-year-old is now headed back to Triple-A, where he’s slashed a decent .259/.320/.448 in 500 trips to the plate this year. He’ll be joined in the minors by Soto, who was claimed off waivers from the Angels by the Reds this offseason but appeared in just one game with Cincinnati before being dealt to Baltimore at the trade deadline alongside outfielder Austin Slater. Since joining Baltimore, Soto has done well in a bench role with a .462 on-base percentage in 13 trips to the plate. While Soto sports an excellent .351/.400/.494 slash line in the majors for his career, that line comes from just 87 plate appearances across the past three seasons. The 24-year-old is a career .266/.362/.385 hitter at the Triple-A level, which is likely more representative of his true talent level.

Latest On Diamondbacks’ Stadium Renovation Negotiations

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Tensions seem to be rising between the Diamondbacks and local officials as the sides negotiate a lease extension for the club at Chase Field in Phoenix before the current lease runs out in 2027. Back in February, team ownership appeared to be frustrated with the lack of progress in negotiations, and things appeared to escalate recently when club president and CEO Derrick Hall criticized a recent proposal from the county during a local radio interview, as discussed by AZFamily’s David Baker.

During the interview, Hall described the offer from the county as “ridiculous,” adding that the proposed lease extension would expect the team to pay upwards of $150MM for stadium upgrades without public funding. Said proposal from the county would come with a 50-year term and keep the Diamondbacks in Arizona until at least 2034, as the club would have the right to terminate the lease with three years’ notice starting in 2032.

Sasha Hupka of the Arizona Republic notes that a major sticking point in the negotiations is the fact that the D-Backs are seeking funding to renovate the ballpark and construct an entertainment district similar to the one surrounding Atlanta’s Truist Park. Hupka notes that the club and Maricopa County (which owns Chase Field) are currently “tens of millions of dollars apart” in negotiations over how much the team should invest in leasing and developing land around the ballpark for said entertainment district, including a proposed investment of $200MM if the team is allowed to develop mixed-use property on the Chase Field site. Hall criticized that proposal during the interview as well, noting that the deal would hamper the team’s development goals around the ballpark.

“They say they won’t allow us to even talk about that opportunity and ‘unlock’ that opportunity and possibility until we’ve put nearly $200 million into the ballpark,” Hall said of the team’s desire to build restaurants, shops, and hotels surrounding Chase Field. “Again, they’re not even putting a penny.”

The lack of public funding for stadium renovations in the county’s proposal also appears to be a major point of contention. The current lease stipulates that the team controls maintenance of the ballpark, and Hupka notes that both sides are in agreement on that continuing in a hypothetical lease agreement. While the club controls that maintenance, however, the club appears to want public funding for that maintenance that goes beyond the agreement from 2018 that gave the club control over maintenance at Chase Field. Baker notes that same deal funnels $2MM of the $2.25MM annual sum that the D-Backs pay to the county in rent and fees into an account reserved for covering stadium maintenance costs.

Regardless of whose responsibility it is to pay for maintenance, all sides agree that the ballpark has seen better days since it was built in 1998. Issues with the stadium’s retractable roof, which cannot be operated while fans are inside the ballpark, and a lack of air conditioning are at the forefront of problems with Chase Field that are in obvious need of repair, but Hupka notes that the team has previously indicated they aren’t willing to invest in upgrading the facility without a lease extension in place. Per Hupka, the club has put just $14.5MM toward stadium repairs since the 2018 agreement putting them in control of maintenance was put into place, a far cry from the more than $46MM Maricopa County invested in repairs from 2005 to 2017.

As part of a lease extension deal, the Diamondbacks are hoping to secure a tax recollection deal that would funnel tax revenue from the D-Backs’ operations (including state taxes on the salaries of players and staff) towards stadium maintenance. As Hupka notes, Spring Training’s Cactus League is already among the beneficiaries of the Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority, which is primarily fueled by a tax recollection deal with the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals and also funds the Cardinals’ stadium.

That sort of tax recollection deal would require approval from Arizona’s state government, separate from the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors that Diamondbacks have been sparring with to this point. With a major election coming up in November, officials both from the county and the D-Backs previously indicated that they hoped to hammer out a deal before the end of the year in order to avoid the possibility of changes in county or state leadership causing a setback in the negotiations. That no longer seems feasible, however, as recent comments from the team describing the current state of Chase Field as “shameful” prompted a letter from Board of Supervisors Chairman Jack Sellers.

“We find the recent remarks from the team that the stadium’s condition is ’shameful’ confusing and troubling,” Sellers wrote. “Reports of falling concrete and excessive heat are an indication that the party responsible for the structure may not be taking the steps necessary to maintain a safe and friendly environment.”

Given the friction between the current board and D-Backs officials, the club may at this point prefer to wait out the current administration and hope for a more favorable negotiating environment in January, when Hupka notes that three of the board’s five current members are set to depart the board after either declining to run for re-election or, in the case of Sellers, losing a primary election. With that being said, holding out for a potentially more favorable group of county officials to negotiate with runs the risk of the state government’s makeup changing during the upcoming elections, leaving the club with a less favorable climate in which they’ll be pushing their tax recollection plans.

Reds Activate Hunter Greene, DFA Alan Busenitz

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The Reds announced this morning that they’ve activated right-hander Hunter Greene from the 15-day injured list ahead of his scheduled start against the Pirates later today. Right-hander Alan Busenitz was designated for assignment in order to clear a roster spot for Greene. The club’s 40-man roster now stands at 39.

Greene, 25, signed a six-year extension with the Reds in April of last year that keeps the right-hander under club control through the 2029 season. His first year after signing that extension was a somewhat lackluster one as he pitched to a 4.82 ERA (97 ERA+) while being limited to just 112 innings of work by injuries. The youngster has turned things around in a big way with a breakout performance this year, however, and in doing so has become a major bright spot in an otherwise disappointing season for fans in Cincinnati.

In 143 1/3 innings of work to this point in the year, Greene has posted a incredible 2.83 ERA (155 ERA+) while striking out an excellent 27.8% of batters faced. Some of Greene’s good results have been thanks to good fortune on his part, as demonstrated by a deflated .243 BABIP for opposing hitters and the fact that just 6.6% of the hurler’s fly balls have left the yard for home runs this year despite his home ballpark being the most homer-happy field in the majors. With that being said, advanced metrics are also generally impressed with Greene as demonstrated by his 3.41 FIP and 3.76 SIERA. It’s a season that could even earn Greene some down-ballot attention in NL Cy Young award voting this year, as his aforementioned sterling ERA trails only Chris Sale and Zack Wheeler among NL starters with at least 140 innings of work this year.

Whatever chance Greene may have had at the award was put to bed by a trip to the IL due to elbow soreness back in August, however. A subsequent MRI revealed no structural in a huge relief for the club, but inflammation in the hard-throwing righty’s elbow has still kept him on the shelf for more than a month. His time on the shelf has ended now, though, and with just a few games left in the regular season Greene is slated this afternoon to go toe-to-toe with another up-and-coming ace in the NL Central: Pirates righty Paul Skenes, who has posted an eye-popping 2.07 ERA with a 32.2% strikeout rate in 126 frames this year.

As for Busenitz, the 34-year-old righty has pitched briefly for the Reds in each of the past two seasons. In seven innings of work for the club last year, he looked quite good with a 2.57 ERA and 2.29 FIP, but things have taken a turn for the worse this year as he’s surrendered seven runs (six earned) on nine hits while striking out three across four innings of work in the majors. Things have gone better for him at Triple-A, however, where he’s posted a decent 4.07 ERA in 66 1/3 innings of work this year. Assuming Busenitz isn’t claimed off waivers, he’ll likely head to free agency either in the coming days or this November and search for a fresh minor league deal on the open market.

Diamondbacks Notes: Kelly, Nelson

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The Diamondbacks suffered an injury scare during their game against the Brewers this evening when right-hander Merrill Kelly walked off the mound after five innings due to what Arizona brass later indicated was a bout of cramping in his right calf.

As noted by Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic, that’s the second time in three starts that Kelly has exited early due to a cramping issue, after he departed his start on the 11th after just four innings due to cramping in his right hamstring. Cramping doesn’t seem to be an immediately concerning injury for the 35-year-old veteran to be suffering from but the fact that Kelly has had two starts cut short due to the issue, both of which involved his lower right leg, in such short order is somewhat worrisome for a Diamondbacks club that both has its eyes on a second consecutive postseason run and has not yet clinched its spot in the playoffs.

After an excellent 2023 season where he pitched to a 3.29 ERA and 3.85 FIP in 30 regular season starts before dominating with a 2.25 ERA in four starts during the club’s pennant-winning playoff run, Kelly got off to a similarly strong start early this year with a 2.19 ERA and 3.78 FIP through the middle of April, but was promptly sidelined by a teres major strain that wound up keeping him on the shelf for the majority of the season. The right-hander finally returned to action last month but hasn’t been nearly as successful since returning from injury.

In seven starts spanning 38 1/3 innings of work prior to tonight’s game, Kelly has surrendered a 5.17 ERA with a 5.44 FIP while striking out just 17% of opponents. That’s a worrisome dip for a pitcher who punched out more than a quarter of batters faced just last year, and it’s further exacerbated by Kelly’s sudden penchant for the long ball; prior to tonight’s shortened scoreless outing, Kelly had surrendered eight home runs since returning from the IL. Only six qualified starters have surrendered more homers in that time. Tonight’s five innings of shutout baseball seemed to represent a step in the right direction for Kelly with the postseason just over the horizon, so long as he remains healthy enough to pitch.

With Zac Gallen sure to front the club’s playoff rotation, an injury to Kelly that prevents him from starting postseason games for Arizona would seemingly line lefty Eduardo Rodriguez and youngster Brandon Pfaadt up to start behind Gallen in the playoffs, though (much like Kelly) Rodriguez has struggled since coming off the IL last month while Pfaadt has a 7.58 ERA in September. Both pitchers seem more likely to start playoff games for the Diamondbacks than lefty Jordan Montgomery, who has struggled to a 6.23 ERA and 4.59 FIP since he signed with the club back in March and was demoted to the bullpen late last month.

Fortunately, the club could have another option. As noted by MLB.com’s Injury Tracker, the club remains optimistic that right-hander Ryne Nelson will be able to return from the injured list prior to the end of the season next week. The righty was placed on the shelf last weekend due to shoulder inflammation but was scheduled to throw a bullpen session today and is first eligible to return to action on September 26. The 26-year-old has impressed in his second season as a regular starter for Arizona, with a roughly league average 4.33 ERA and a stronger 3.76 FIP in 147 2/3 innings of work this year. Should Nelson return from the injured list next week as expected, he’ll be able to join the club’s postseason rotation and give the Diamondbacks some flexibility if Kelly’s exit this evening proves serious.

Braxton Garrett Suffers Setback In Elbow Rehab

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Marlins left-hander Braxton Garrett was seemingly poised to be activated from the injured list to start tomorrow’s game against the Braves, but MLB.com’s Christina De Nicola was among those to note that the southpaw suffered a setback in his rehab today that will bring his 2024 season to a close. Garrett reportedly “felt something” in the back of his elbow after throwing a bullpen session yesterday, and the lefty is now set to undergo testing and turn his attention towards a healthy return to the mound in 2025.

The 2024 season has been one to forget for Garrett. The 27-year-old southpaw seemed poised to enter the season as one of the club’s most promising starters after pitching to a solid 3.63 ERA (124 ERA+) with a near-matching 3.64 FIP in a combined 247 2/3 innings of work for the Marlins over the previous two seasons. Unfortunately, no such successful campaign came to fruition as the lefty dealt with shoulder issues that sidelined him for the first six weeks of the season.

Upon returning to the club’s rotation on May 12, Garrett’s performance was mixed with several starts where he was shelled despite strong peripheral numbers with occasional dominant performances mixed in such as his four-hit, complete-game shutout of the Diamondbacks in his third start of the year. Overall, the lefty pitched to a lackluster 5.35 ERA in 37 innings of work across seven starts this year despite fantastic peripheral numbers, including a 2.5% walk rate and a 51.3% ground ball rate that gave him a 3.82 FIP and a 3.46 SIERA for his work this year.

It’s possible that his results would’ve eventually caught up to his strong peripherals had he been able to pitch more this season, but the lefty was placed on the injured list in late June due to elbow soreness that was eventually diagnosed as a forearm flexor strain. That proved to be his final start in the majors this year, though he began a rehab assignment earlier this month and had carved up minor league opponents with 15 strikeouts across 10 2/3 innings of work before suffering yesterday’s setback, suggesting his repertoire was in a relatively good place despite the long layoff.

Unfortunately, that layoff now figures to get even longer. While the results of Garrett’s testing have not yet been made clear, the club is now looking towards the 2025 season for the lefty’s return to action. With a 57-97 record, it’s been a disastrous season in Miami but the club does have some reasons to expect improvement next year, such as the excellent start Connor Norby has gotten off to since being acquired from the Orioles at the trade deadline back in July as well as the returns of Sandy Alcantara, Eury Perez, Jesus Luzardo, and now Garrett from the injured list.

With four above-average starting pitchers set to return to action next year after making anywhere from zero to 12 starts for the club this season, it’s not hard to imagine Miami turning things around in relatively short order if they can improve an offense that has few long-term pieces in place besides Norby, Xavier Edwards, Jake Burger and perhaps Kyle Stowers.

Phillies Notes: Hays, Turnbull, Painter

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Now that the Phillies have officially clinched a spot in the postseason, manager Rob Thomson spoke to reporters (including Alex Coffey of The Philadelphia Inquirer) earlier today about the club’s plans for the postseason roster. Per Coffey, the club appears to be leaning towards a 12-man pitching staff and an expanded bench for the playoffs this year.

Garrett Stubbs, Edmundo Sosa, Kody Clemens, Weston Wilson, and Cal Stevenson currently make up the club’s bench mix. Stubbs and Sosa are all but guaranteed spots on the postseason bench as the club’s backup catcher and primary utility infielder respectively, but if the club plans to utilize a five-man bench in the postseason then there are still three spots up for grabs. In addition to Clemens, Wilson, and Stevenson, Coffey notes that recently-optioned infielder Buddy Kennedy could be in the mix for a spot on the postseason bench as well.

Perhaps most notably, outfielder Austin Hays also figures to factor into the club’s bench conversation this postseason despite having spent the entire month of September to this point on the IL due to a kidney infection. Hays began a rehab assignment at Triple-A earlier today and while that rehab stint only figures to last two days with the Triple-A season set to end tomorrow, Thomson indicated to reporters (including Coffey) that the club isn’t concerned about the lack of in-game reps due to the fact that, if the Phillies secure a bye through the Wild Card round as they currently seem poised to do, Hays would be able to get plenty of at-bats in intra-squad games during that layoff prior to the NLDS.

Hays, 28, started the season with the Orioles but was dealt to the Phillies in the trade that sent right-hander Seranthony Dominguez to Baltimore ahead of the trade deadline back in July. Overall, he’s been a roughly league average bat this year with a .254/.305/.388 slash line (96 wRC+), though he was above average before slumping in Philadelphia as he adjusted to a bench role. With that said, he’s still an excellent source of offense against left-handed pitching, as demonstrated by his sensational 166 wRC+ against southpaws this season. That could make him a perfect platoon partner of sorts for Brandon Marsh, who the Phils have worked to protect from same-handed pitching for much of the year.

If Hays joins Sosa and Stubbs on the club’s bench, that would leave two spots available for the other four names that seem to be in discussion. Stevenson has enjoyed semi-regular playing time in a platoon with Johan Rojas in center field over the past month and could continue in a similar role into the playoffs, while Clemens has the strongest record of the group as a pinch hitter this year and could therefore be an attractive option as well. That being said, both Wilson and Kennedy could be viable alternatives if the club prefers more right-handed options on the bench beyond Sosa and Hays.

Set to join Hays on a rehab assignment tomorrow is right-hander Spencer Turnbull, who MLB.com’s Injury Tracker notes is expected to start the season finale at Triple-A before continuing his rehab at the club’s complex in Florida. It’s a step in the right direction for the 32-year-old, who has been shelved since late June due to a lat strain but could still return to the club during the postseason. The right-hander was nothing short of excellent for the Phillies in a swing role early this year, pitching to a 2.65 ERA with a 3.85 FIP in 54 1/3 innings of work.

Speaking of injured right-handers, Coffey noted that top pitching prospect Andrew Painter could be in the conversation to participate in the Arizona Fall League as he works his way back from Tommy John surgery, per president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski. Painter has been throwing to live hitters in the club’s Florida complex, but Dombrowski noted that the club has avoided making a firm decision on his availability for the AFL so as to not put pressure on the 21-year-old to get ahead of himself in his rehab.

The club’s top pitching prospect and a consensus top-30 prospect in the sport, Painter was in the conversation for the club’s Opening Day roster after a dominant Spring Training last year but ended up undergoing Tommy John surgery before being sidelined by injuries and eventually going under the knife. The youngster figures to be ready to return in time for the 2025 season, but a return this fall in Arizona would be an encouraging development for a youngster who has lost plenty of reps over the past two seasons due to injury.

Cardinals Place Sonny Gray On 15-Day Injured List

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Veteran right-hander Sonny Gray’s first season with the Cardinals has come to a close, as the club has placed him on the 15-day injured list due to flexor tendonitis in his right forearm. Right-hander Kyle Leahy was recalled to replace Gray on the big league roster, and rookie Michael McGreevy is currently slated to take Gray’s place in the rotation as noted by Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat.

Gray, 34, joined the Cardinals after signing a three-year, $75MM deal with the club on the heels of a dominant 2023 season that saw him post an MLB-best 2.83 FIP as a member of the Twins and finish second in AL Cy Young award voting to Yankees ace Gerrit Cole. Gray’s start to the season was slightly delayed by injury but he started strong overall, with a 2.60 ERA and 2.84 FIP in his first nine starts with the club that made it look as though Gray might be able to deliver more of the dominance that he flashed in Minnesota with St. Louis this year.

The results have left something to be desired for Gray ever since the calendar flipped to June, however, as he posted a 4.92 ERA in a 15-start stretch from early June to late August before managing to finish the season strong with a 2.55 ERA and 1.91 FIP in his final four starts of the year. That leaves him with a relatively pedestrian 3.84 ERA overall in 166 1/3 innings of work, though the underlying metrics suggest he’s been a good bit better than that. After all, even that aforementioned stretch of 15 starts where Gray struggled saw him post a solid enough 3.63 FIP while striking out an excellent 29.3% of his opponents. Looking at his full season stats, he’ll end the year with a 3.13 FIP that ranks seventh-best in the majors, a 30.3% strikeout rate that’s tied with Tarik Skubal for the second-best figure in the big leagues behind likely NL Cy Young award winner Chris Sale, and 3.8 fWAR that’s good for seventh-most among NL pitchers this year.

Unfortunately, those promising peripheral numbers neither translated to elite production on the field for Gray nor wins for a Cardinals club that was recently eliminated from playoff contention and has a 77-77 record with eight games left to go in the regular season. With that being said, those strong underlying numbers do provide reason for optimism that better days ought to be ahead for the veteran in the future. That’s good news for fans in St. Louis, as Gray is sure to be a key fixture of the club’s starting five next year. As noted by Jones, Gray underwent an MRI recently that came back clean and would likely still be pitching if the Cardinals remained in the playoff hunt. That makes it seem unlikely that Gray’s current ailment will have any sort of impact on him when camp opens up for Spring Training next year.

Looking ahead to 2025, Gray figures to anchor a rotation that seems likely to include deadline addition Erick Fedde, veteran innings eater Miles Mikolas, and youngster Andre Pallante but still features some uncertainty due to the fact that the club holds team options on the services of both Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn for next year. While both veterans have been perfectly serviceable back-end arms for the Cardinals this year, with the aforementioned quartet and Steven Matz all expected to return in 2025 it would hardly be a shock to see the club decline the options of one or both players in search of an upgrade to either the rotation or lineup elsewhere on the market.

As for replacing Gray in the short term, Leahy returns to the club’s roster as a multi-inning relief option after posting a 4.02 ERA and 3.62 FIP in 47 innings of work earlier this year. Meanwhile, McGreevy made his big league debut in a spot start back in July and impressed with seven innings of one-run ball and currently sports a 0.90 ERA in ten innings at the big league level along with a 4.02 ERA in 27 starts at Triple-A this year.

Rangers Place Max Scherzer On 15-Day Injured List

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The Rangers announced today that they’ve placed veteran right-hander Max Scherzer on the 15-day injured list due to a strained left hamstring. Right-hander Gerson Garabito was recalled to take Scherzer’s place on the active roster. Scherzer was scheduled to start tonight’s game against the Mariners, but that start will go to right-hander Dane Dunning instead.

The news brings to an end Scherzer’s 2024 season. In all, Scherzer managed just nine starts and 43 1/3 innings of work this year, the first time since his rookie year back in 2008 where he pitched less than 145 1/3 innings in a 162-game season. His results weren’t especially dominant even when healthy enough to take the mound, either. His 92.6mph average on his fastball was the lowest of his career, while a 22.6% strikeout rate, 3.95 ERA (100 ERA+), and a 4.18 FIP were all closer to pedestrian than elite. Since being acquired from the Mets in exchange for infield prospect Luisangel Acuna last summer, the veteran righty has pitched to a 3.57 ERA with a 3.79 FIP in 88 1/3 innings of work for Texas.

Those may turn out to be the only innings Scherzer pitches in a Rangers uniform. The future Hall of Famer’s contract in Texas runs only through the end of the current campaign, and he now appears ticketed for another trip through free agency. Scherzer celebrated his 40th birthday back in July and has dealt with a number of injury concerns this year ranging from offseason back surgery to nerve irritation in his throwing hand and triceps area on different occasions, but that hasn’t stopped the veteran from planning to continue pitching next year.

Even on the heels of the first injury-marred campaign of his career, Scherzer’s overall resume speaks for itself: the veteran boasts more than 3400 strikeouts in his career to go with eight career All-Star appearances, three Cy Young award wins, and three additional years wherein he was a finalist for the awards. The right-hander hasn’t posted an ERA north of 4.00 or a below-average ERA+ since 2011, and since then he sports a 2.95 ERA and 3.00 FIP, to say nothing of his career 3.78 ERA and 28.8% strikeout rate in the postseason and the two World Series rings he’s earned as a result of those 143 innings of work in the playoffs over the years. Still, at Scherzer’s age and coming off a platform season that raised plenty of questions about his ability to act as the workhorse starting pitcher he was throughout his 30s now that he’s entering his 40s, it’s not entirely clear what sort of market awaits the veteran ace in free agency.

Texas has exciting young arms like Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter coming up from the farm system to join a 2025 rotation corps that includes Dunning, Jacob deGrom, Jon Gray, Cody Bradford, and Tyler Mahle, but a return to the Rangers certainly can’t be ruled out. After all, Scherzer is likely to be joined in heading for free agency by Nathan Eovaldi, Andrew Heaney, and Jose Urena. That quartet has combined to start 74 of the Rangers’ 154 games to this point in the season, or nearly half of the club’s contests. Given the combination of youth and lengthy injury histories at play in Texas’s current rotation group headed into next year, it would hardly be a surprise to see the club prioritize adding at least one arm to help carry the load of the departing starters.

Of course, a player with Scherzer’s storied resume could easily draw interest from plenty of other clubs in the league the league. The right-hander’s former teams in Detroit and D.C. are both seemingly ready to take the next step after lengthy rebuilding periods and could benefit from adding a veteran arm to their young rotations, and Scherzer’s hometown Cardinals appear likely to try and revamp their rotation mix behind staff ace Sonny Gray after their second-straight disappointing season. Given the ace’s talent when healthy and the fact that his age and recent injury history appear likely to limit him to a short-term deal, there’s countless teams that could reasonably be positioned to take a chance on the 40-year-old future Hall of Famer this winter.

The Opener: Soto, Tigers, Orioles, Pitchers’ Duel

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With the final week of the regular season just over the horizon, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world headed into the weekend:

1. Soto undergoing testing:

Yankees superstar Juan Soto had a scary moment during the club’s game against the Mariners yesterday when he slid hard into the right field wall while making a catch in the outfield. Soto stayed on the ground briefly but got up and resumed play shortly thereafter. As noted by MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch, the initial diagnosis on Soto’s knee was a contusion but the Yankees are still sending the phenom for x-rays to make sure there isn’t a more serious issue at play. The addition of Soto over the offseason completed transformed the Yankees’ lineup headed into the 2024 campaign, and the 25-year-old star has delivered with an incredible .286/.418/.575 slash line in 149 games this year. The Yankees clinched a spot in the postseason earlier this week, meaning they’ll be able to afford the pending free agent plenty of rest ahead of the postseason should that prove necessary.

2. Series Preview: Tigers @ Orioles

The Tigers have emerged as baseball’s most fascinating story this September as they’ve surged to a 11-5 record this month that’s allowed them to catch a flailing Twins club that’s gone 7-11 since the start of the month, leaving the two teams tied in the final AL Wild Card spot. Minnesota won the season series over Detroit and holds the tiebreaker between the two clubs, however, meaning that if the Tigers are to close out their surprise run to the postseason they’ll need to keep winning games, including a tough three-game set this weekend against the Orioles in Baltimore. Meanwhile, the Orioles have plenty of incentive to make the road as difficult as possible for the Tigers as they could clinch a playoff spot in front of their home crowd this weekend with a sweep.

Detroit has not yet announced their starter for tonight’s game, but the series will kick off at 7:05pm local time tonight with Corbin Burnes (3.06 ERA) on the mound for the Orioles. Tomorrow, right-hander Reese Olson (3.50 ERA) will take on lefty Cade Povich (5.74 ERA in 14 starts) and the series will wrap on Sunday with an as-of-yet undetermined starter on the mound for Detroit against breakout journeyman Albert Suarez (3.60 ERA).

3. Pitchers’ Duel in Texas:

Two of the league’s most talented starters are set to face off at Globe Life Field this evening when the Mariners send youngster George Kirby to the mound to face Jacob deGrom in the veteran’s second start since returning from Tommy John surgery. Kirby, 26, has had a down year by his lofty standards thanks to a brutal six-start stretch that began in mid-August where he saw his ERA balloon from 3.13 to 3.77 thanks primarily to a whopping nine home runs surrendered in 31 innings of work. He bounced back from that rare tough stretch in his most recent start, however, blanking the very same Rangers club he’s set to face tonight with seven scoreless innings that saw him allow just one hit in a 7-0 victory over the club in Seattle last week.

Also making his second consecutive start against the same club is deGrom, who struck out four in 3 2/3 scoreless innings of work against Seattle during his season debut last week. It was just deGrom’s 33rd start since the start of the 2021 season as the veteran ace has battled injury after injury in recent years, but on a rate basis he’s been the most effective starter in all of baseball over that time with a microscopic 1.99 ERA and an even strong 1.60 FIP in 190 1/3 combined innings of work that have seen him punch out 42.8% of opponents.

The Opener: Ohtani, NL Wild Card, Twins

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After the Yankees and Brewers punched their tickets to the postseason yesterday, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world today:

1. Ohtani approaches 50-50:

$700MM man and two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani entered the 2024 season unable to pitch after undergoing elbow surgery last September, leaving him to act as a pure DH this season (for now, at least). That reality seemingly suggested that the rest of the National League would be able to avoid being overshadowed by the Dodgers’ new star in the first year of his contract, but Ohtani appears poised to make history in a new way: by becoming the first MLB player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a single season.

It’s a feat that could propel Ohtani to another kind of history—the first MVP award win for a full-time DH—and with ten games to go in the regular season Ohtani is tantalizingly close to the milestone with 48 home runs and 49 steals. He’ll look to take another step toward history this afternoon in Miami, with first pitch scheduled for 4:40pm local time.

2. Key matchups for NL Wild Card contenders:

The NL Wild Card race has tightened up, with the Mets (84-68) and Diamondbacks (84-68) now tied in the standings while occupying the second and third spots. The Braves (82-70) are also still in the thick of the race, currently sitting two games behind Arizona and New York. Today could provide Atlanta the opportunity to make up ground in the race, as both the Mets and Diamondbacks are scheduled to begin series against tough opponents.

The Snakes are headed to Milwaukee for a set against a Brewers club that just clinched the NL Central, while a Phillies club that hopes to punch its own ticket to the postseason is headed for an evening game in Queens. Meanwhile, the Braves will have ace Chris Sale on the mound for a game against the Reds and rookie Julian Aguiar (4.88 ERA in six starts). The 35-year-old Sale will be looking to put the finishing touches on his resume for the NL Cy Young Award and inch closer to a possible pitching triple crown: Sale leads the majors with a 2.35 ERA and is tied for the major league lead with 17 wins this year. He’s just two strikeouts short of the MLB lead with 219 to Tarik Skubal’s 221, and just one behind Dylan Cease’s 220 strikeouts for the National League lead.

3. Twins barely holding on:

The Twins (80-72) have struggled badly down the stretch this year with a 5-10 record in their last 15 games. Those struggles have opened the door for a surging Tigers club (80-73) to force its way into contention for the AL Wild Card spot with an exactly inverted 10-5 record in their own last 15 games. With Detroit off today, the Twins will either either extend their lead to a full game or fall into a tie. Although Minnesota does hold the tiebreaker after winning the season series between the two clubs, the Twins surely don’t want the race getting any tighter.

To prevent that, they’ll have to best an 88-65 Guardians team that has started to run away with the AL Central and appears likely to enter the postseason with a bye through the Wild Card round. Cleveland won yesterday’s game between the two clubs in a one-run heartbreaker that extended to extra innings. The Twins will send rookie Simeon Woods Richardson (4.08 ERA in 26 starts) to the mound against struggling Guardians rookie Joey Cantillo (4.99 ERA in six starts). The game is scheduled for 1:10pm local time.

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