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Giants Notes: Snell, Harrison, Cobb

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The Giants have suffered a tough run of injuries to their starting rotation of late, and with six starters on the injured list only Logan Webb and Jordan Hicks are currently in the San Francisco rotation as true full-time starters, although Spencer Howard and Hayden Birdsong have filled in to allow the Giants to cobble together a four-man rotation. Fortunately, it appears that could be changing in the near future as Shayna Rubin of the San Francisco Chronicle reported earlier today that southpaws Blake Snell and Kyle Harrison are both making progress towards returns from injuries.

Of the pair, Harrison appears to be closer to a return. The southpaw found himself shelved a little less than two weeks ago due to a right ankle sprain, although the issue proved minor enough that it appears he’ll be ready to return after something close to a minimum stay on the shelf. Per Rubin, the club’s current plan is for Harrison to throw a bullpen session on Wednesday before eyeing a start sometime during the club’s road trip against the Braves and Guardians that wraps up on July 8. That should leave the Giants to turn over the rotation just once more before Harrison rejoins the group.

After making seven starts with the club down the stretch last year, Harrison stepped into the club’s rotation on Opening Day this year alongside Webb, Hicks, Snell, and Keaton Winn. The 22-year-old has generally performed decently in what will be his first full big league season with a roughly league average 3.96 ERA and matching 3.95 FIP through 77 1/3 inning of work spread across 14 starts. While the lefty has only struck out 20.6% of batters faced this year, he’s limited walks to a strong 6.7% clip while generating grounders at a decent 42.1% rate. While the lefty’s pedigree certainly suggests that he could take a step forward at some point, even that stable back-end production would be a huge boost to a San Francisco rotation that has gotten the second-fewest innings out of its starting rotation in the majors this year.

Snell, meanwhile, appears likely to rejoin the Giants after Harrison but has a more concrete plan for his return in place. Per Rubin, the reigning NL Cy Young award winner is scheduled to make a final rehab start on Wednesday before rejoining the rotation on July 10 against the Blue Jays. After being limited to just six starts in the first half by multiple groin injuries while struggling to a 9.51 ERA and 4.63 FIP across those 23 2/3 innings of work where he was healthy enough to take the mound, both Snell and the Giants are surely hoping that the lefty can turn his season around when he returns to action.

While San Francisco was surely hoping for more when they inked Snell to a two-year, $62MM contract back in March, it’s not at all difficult to imagine the southpaw, who boasts a 2.72 ERA and 3.17 FIP with a 31.7% strikeout rate in 56 starts from 2022-23, turning things around in the second half and helping to anchor the top of the Giants rotation alongside Webb. Given his tough start to the season, it’s nearly impossible to imagine Snell opting out of the second year of his deal at this point barring a sensational second half on the level of the one he enjoyed last year, when he posted a 1.43 ERA and 3.12 FIP in his final 15 starts of the season.

Meanwhile, veteran right-hander Alex Cobb is also working his way back from injury after undergoing hip surgery last offseason that delayed his start to the 2024 campaign. He was expected to rejoin the Giants at some point in May, but ended up halting his throwing program due to discomfort in his shoulder in the middle of last month. The righty finally appears poised to get into game action, however, as Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle noted this afternoon that Cobb is set to make a rehab start with Single-A San Jose tomorrow.

That’s a key step for the 36-year-old as he looks to return to action for the Giants. The veteran righty has been a very valuable asset for the club in recent years when healthy enough to take the mound, pitching to a 3.80 ERA and a 3.41 FIP in 301 innings of work since the start of his Giants tenure back in 2022. He and veteran lefty Robbie Ray could both impact the club’s rotation at some point later this season, offering internal rotation depth as the season wears on and they get closer to returns from their respective injuries.

Alan Trejo Elects Free Agency

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The Rockies announced this afternoon that infielder Alan Trejo has cleared outright waivers and opted to elect free agency rather than accept an outright assignment to the minor leagues. While Trejo does not have the requisite three year of service time typically necessary to reject the assignment, he was nonetheless able to do so after being outrighted previously back in January.

Trejo, 28, was a 16th-round pick by Colorado in the 2017 draft but didn’t make his big league debut until 2021, when he served as an up-and-down utility depth option for the Rockies around the infield. Trejo hit just .217/.260/.326 (36 wRC+) in 50 trips to the plate spread across 28 games that saw him split time between second base and shortstop. He enjoyed a bit more action the following year and had a career season at the plate, hitting a roughly league average .271/.312/.424 (92 wRC+) in 135 plate appearances, once again as a bench player. Much of that playing time came when Trejo was made one of the club’s September call-ups that year, and he slashed .291/.341/.468 in 24 games.

That hot September (combined with an early-season injury to Brendan Rodgers) earned Trejo a larger role for the 2023 season, but he found himself unable to capitalize on it as his offense came crashing back to Earth fairly quickly. While he received 227 plate appearances across 83 games that year, Trejo posted a lackluster slash line of .232/.288/.343 (56 wRC+). The infielder’s struggles reached the point where the Rockies decided to option him to the minors in early June of last year, and while he returned in July to post a slightly improved .221/.306/.379 slash line across his final 41 games, 2024 proved to be his worst performance yet as the 28-year-old hit just .142 with a .182 on-base percentage and zero extra-base hits across 67 plate appearances for the Rockies.

That brutal performance in 2024 was enough for Colorado to decide to part ways with Trejo, and the club designated him for assignment yesterday in order to make room for infielder Aaron Schunk on the club’s roster. The Rockies’ second-rounder from the 2019 draft, Schunk figures to fill a similar role on the roster as Trejo did, sacrificing the ability to play shortstop for stronger offensive numbers. That left the Rockies to place Trejo on waivers, where he went unclaimed by all 29 other clubs. Now a free agent for the first time in his career, Trejo figures to search for a minor league deal in an organization light on middle infield depth. While the infielder has never hit much in the majors, his glovework has generally been well-received by defensive metrics, as indicated by his +2 Outs Above Average in part time duty with the Rockies last year.

Red Sox Notes: Casas, Hendriks, Mata

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In an odd moment of miscommunication earlier this month, Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas told reporters earlier this month that he had begun to take dry swings while rehabbing torn cartilage in his midsection. That was exciting news regarding the 24-year-old’s progress, but MassLive’s Sean McAdam noted earlier this week that Casas’s previous comments do not appear to have been entirely accurate.

“Oh, no, just in my mind,” Casas said (as relayed by McAdam) when asked to elaborate on his previous comments about taking swings. “Without a bat, just in my head. I’ve taken thousands of at-bats like that. I feel great.”

Despite Casas’s previously reported step towards swinging a bat apparently having been entirely imaginary, McAdam noted that the slugger had truly resumed swinging on Wednesday, when he swung a bat 20 times after an MRI the previous day revealed that his ribcage had healed properly. As noted by MassLive’s Christopher Smith earlier today, manager Alex Cora told reporters that Casas has subsequently ramped up to 30 swings and is feeling some “general soreness” as he kicks back into gear and prepares for his return to the majors. Cora went on to suggest that the soreness may not impact Casas’s timeline much, adding that he might resume swinging as soon as tomorrow and could continue to do some baseball activity today. Despite the soreness not being much of an issue, however, Cora suggested that it’s unlikely that the first baseman will return to action in the majors before the All Star break.

Thats not necessarily shocking, given the fact that Casas hasn’t seen game action since late April and will surely need a rehab assignment to get back up to speed. While that post-All Star break target is a far cry from the July 2nd date Casas floated for his return earlier this month, its not necessarily surprising that he would be about two weeks behind that schedule given the fact that he didn’t start swinging a bat until about two weeks after he first indicated he was resuming doing so.

Regardless of the unusual situation, Casas’s return is sure to provide a shot in the arm for a Red Sox club that has enjoyed a 10-4 record over their last 14 games. Despite that strong recent performance vaulting them firmly into the AL Wild Card mix alongside teams like the Royals and Twins, Boston’s offense has posted a relatively pedestrian wRC+ of just 102 since Casas went down with injury, and Dominic Smith has slashed a paltry .209/.308/.317 (78 wRC+) in 47 games filling in for Casas at first base. That’s a far cry from the production the young slugger offered when healthy in the first month of the season, as Casas will boast a .244/.344/.513 slash line on the season when he returns to the lineup, although that came in a sample size of just 90 trips to the plate.

Casas isn’t the only potentially impactful piece who’s on the road to recovery from injury. Veteran closer Liam Hendriks, who the Red Sox signed to a two-year, $10MM guarantee over the winter, underwent Tommy John surgery back in August of last year when he was still a member of the White Sox but has long been targeting a return to the big league mound around or shortly after this year’s trade deadline, which has been set for July 30. Hendriks has been making solid progress in that pursuit, as Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic reported that after throwing a 15-pitch bullpen session earlier this week he followed it up with a 20-pitch bullpen yesterday. McCaffrey added that Hendriks said that he was “feeling good” following yesterday’s and that the plan is for him to move up from two bullpen sessions to three next week before determining next steps beyond that.

Seeing as Hendriks has already resumed throwing, it seems likely that he would be on pace to return sometime in August as previously expected. While the 35-year-old was limited to just five innings of work last year between his aforementioned Tommy John surgery and a battle with Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma that caused him to miss the first half of the season, the veteran hurler has long been regarded as one of the league’s top bullpen arms. From 2019 to 2022, Hendriks pitched to a sensational 2.26 ERA (188 ERA+) and 2.13 FIP while striking out an eye-popping 38.8% of batters faced in a combined 239 innings of work. Adding a player with that sort of resume to a bullpen that’s already employs Kenley Jansen and Chris Martin in the late innings could make for a lethal three-headed monster at the back of the Red Sox bullpen down the stretch if Hendriks is able to stay on track and return healthy.

Joining Hendriks in working his way back from a largely lost 2023 season is right-hander Bryan Mata, who pitched just 27 innings last year due to a strained teres major muscle. The right-hander and former top prospect for the Red Sox has yet to make his big league debut, but is a particularly interesting case given the fact that he is out of options and will need to either be added to the club’s active roster or subjected to waivers once healthy enough to return to action. It’s long been considered unlikely that Mata would clear waivers without being claimed by another club, meaning that 30 days after Mata begins a rehab assignment, the Red Sox will need to make a decision regarding his future in the organization.

As noted by Smith earlier this afternoon, Mata began a rehab assignment for the club earlier this month and reached the Triple-A level on Thursday. The right-hander impressed in 2 2/3 innings of work as his fastball reached 97.8 mph, though he surrendered two runs on two hits and a walk during the appearance. He’ll follow that performance up with another rehab start with Worcester this coming Tuesday. That pattern figures to continue for the remainder of his rehab assignment, as Cora told reporters (including Smith) that the club plans to keep Mata on a starter’s schedule but limit him two or three innings per appearance.

While Mata hasn’t enjoyed much success amid injury-marred campaigns in 2023 and 2024, it’s not hard to see why the Red Sox would want to keep the righty in the fold. After all, it was just two seasons ago when the youngster dazzled with 83 innings of work spread across four levels of the minors that saw him post a 2.49 ERA while striking out 30.3% of batters faced. If he can post anything close to those numbers in the majors, even in a bullpen role, he would surely be a valuable asset to the Red Sox as they attempt to chase their first playoff appearance since 2021.

Giants Place Thairo Estrada, Wilmer Flores On Injured List

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The Giants announced this evening that they’ve placed infielders Thairo Estrada and Wilmer Flores on the 10-day injured list. Estrada was sent to the shelf with a left wrist sprain and the latter was shelved with knee tendonitis. In corresponding moves, the club has called up infielder Tyler Fitzgerald and activated first baseman Lamonte Wade Jr. from the 10-day injured list.

It’s been a difficult year at the plate for both Estrada and Flores, both of whom have posted below-average offensive numbers after being among the club’s most productive players last year. On the heels of a 3.6 fWAR season where he posted fantastic defensive metrics and a 101 wRC+, Estrada has hit just .231/.264/.376 in 311 trips to the plate this year despite nearly identical peripheral numbers to his 2023 campaign. While his .259 batting average on balls in play may initially appear to be a clear indication that positive regression could be on the way for the 28-year-old, it’s worth noting that the infielder’s .279 wOBA actually outpaces his expected figure of .270.

As for Flores, the 32-year-old was coming off a fantastic 2023 campaign in a semi-regular role with the club last year where he slashed .284/.355/.509 (136 wRC+) in 454 trips to the plate while splitting time between first, second, and third base as well as the DH slot. Flores has found himself in a similar role to this point in the Giants’ season, albeit one that has seen him play first base almost exclusively while Wade was on the shelf. Flores’s plate discipline numbers are still excellent, as he’s walked at an 8.8% clip while striking out just 13.2% of the time, but he’s seemingly completely lost his power stroke. After crushing 23 home runs last year, he’s hit just four in 227 trips to the plate this season as his barrel rate has dipped from 7.8% to just 5.7% this year.

It’s not currently clear how long either player figures to be out of action, but the stays on the shelf should offer both veterans the opportunity to reset ahead of the second half, where both they and the Giants will surely be hoping for better results. Wade’s activation from the IL makes him a fairly clean replacement for Flores at first base, although it’s somewhat trickier for the club to replace Estrada.

Brett Wisely and Nick Ahmed had been acting as a platoon tandem at shortstop while Estrada manned the keystone on a daily basis, but with Fitzgerald entering the mix it’s less clear how that playing time will shake out. The 26-year-old has hit a respectable .273/.333/.409 in 28 games with the Giants to this point in the year, but he has just 106 total plate appearances under his belt since making his big league debut last season. It appears likely that Ahmed could see an uptick in playing time at shortstop as Wisely takes some starts at second base, while Fitzgerald could mix in at both positions in addition to the outfield and first base in a utility role.

Tonight’s news isn’t entirely bleak for the Giants, as they’ll surely be excited to return Wade to the starting lineup. The 30-year-old has been on the shelf since late May due to a hamstring strain but was among the very best hitters in all of baseball this year at the time of his injury. He’ll return to the starting lineup with a fantastic .333/.470/.426 slash line (166 wRC+) that makes up for the relative lack of power with an eye-popping 19.9% walk rate. If Wade manages to play at anything close to that level going forward this season, he’ll surely provide a major shot in the arm for a Giants offense that has ranked just 20th in the majors with a 97 wRC+ since Wade was placed on the shelf.

Astros Outright Blair Henley

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The Astros outrighted right-hander Blair Henley to Triple-A Sugar Land this afternoon, as noted by The Athletic’s Chandler Rome on X. The 27-year-old rookie does not have the requisite service time or previous outright on his resume necessary to reject the assignment, meaning he’ll return to the minor leagues to act as non-roster depth for Houston going forward.

Henley was drafted by the Astros in the seventh-round of the 2019 draft but had his development thrown off course early in his professional tenure. He made just one appearance in an Astros uniform in 2019 before the minor league season was cancelled in 2020, and he returned in 2021 to make just five appearances before undergoing Tommy John surgery. The rehab process after going under the knife caused him to miss not only the remainder of the 2021 campaign but all of 2022, and Henley entered the 2023 season as a 26-year-old in Double-A with just six professional games under his belt.

The righty’s results left something to be desired in that first wire-to-wire professional season, as he surrendered a 5.06 ERA in 106 2/3 innings spread across 25 appearances, including 17 starts. Henley’s 22.3% strikeout rate was decent enough, but an 11.1% walk rate left something to be desired even as he generated groundballs at a strong 51.2% clip. There was some unfortunate luck (including a strand rate of just 64.4%) baked into Henley’s results at Double-A, however, and his 4.48 FIP painted a much more encouraging picture of his performance headed into 2024.

Those solid peripheral numbers were enough to earn Henley a promotion to Triple-A entering this season, and the right-hander showed improvement in terms of results through 13 starts at the level. In 60 innings of work, Henley pitched to a 4.50 ERA that essentially matched his peripherals from the previous season. Unfortunately, a look under the hood at Henley’s performance suggests that he had actually regressed by just about every measure. His groundball rate dipped to 48% and his strikeout rate dropped to just 19.2% while his walk rate ballooned up to an unsightly 13.2%. Perhaps most concerning was his struggles with the long ball, as he allowed nearly a quarter (24.4%) of his fly balls to leave the yard for home runs during his first stay in Sugar Land.

Despite those worrisome peripherals, the Astros were undeterred from calling the right-hander up to the big leagues back in April, both because his Triple-A debut had gone relatively well (he struck out six and allowed three runs in five innings of work) but also because the club was without both Justin Verlander and Framber Valdez in the rotation at the time. Those rotation woes have only gotten worse since then, as the Astros are currently relying on a four-man rotation of Valdez, Ronel Blanco, Hunter Brown, and Spencer Arrighetti with the rest of their rotation depth currently on the shelf.

Even that dire rotation situation wasn’t enough for the Astros to give Henley another spot start in the majors after a brutal debut, however. That spot start in early April saw Henley surrender five runs on four hits, three walks, and a hit batsman while recording just one out and failing to record a strikeout. That leaves Henley with a career 135.00 ERA and 39.16 FIP at the big league level. Both of those figures would surely come down if the rookie were to get another opportunity in the majors, but it appears that Henley will have to right the ship at the Triple-A level before Houston gives him another look at the highest level.

The Opener: Festa, Turnbull, Guardians, Royals

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With the 2024 season now past the halfway point, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. Festa to debut:

The Twins are set to select the contract of right-hander David Festa prior to their game against the Diamondbacks this afternoon. Festa, 24, was a 13th-round pick by the Twins in the 2021 draft but has seen his stock skyrocket since he was drafted to become a top-100 prospect in the game. In 17 starts at the Triple-A level, Festa has pitched to a 3.63 ERA with an outstanding 33.8% strikeout rate in 72 innings of work.

Festa will bring that bat-missing arsenal to Arizona, where he’ll pitch opposite left-hander Jordan Montgomery (5.71 ERA) in a game set to begin at 12:40pm local time. Before that can happen, the Twins will need to make a corresponding move to clear space for Festa on the active roster. Minnesota already has a vacant spot on its 40-man roster to accommodate Festa’s promotion.

2. Turnbull to undergo testing:

Phillies right-hander Spencer Turnbull made his return to Comerica Park for the first time since leaving the Tigers yesterday, but his start was cut short after just three innings of one-run ball due to soreness in his right shoulder. Turnbull told reporters (including Matt Gelb of The Athletic) after the game that he doesn’t consider the issue to be a serious one and is hopeful that he’ll be able to make his start next week. However, the Phillies are set to send him for additional testing this morning before they make that call.

The 31-year-old Turnbull has posted an excellent 2.65 ERA split between the rotation and bullpen this year, and he’s already filling in as a starter for injured righty Taijuan Walker. If Turnbull ends up joining Walker on the injured list, the Phillies will have to tap into further into their depth to round out the rotation. Much of the starting staff in Triple-A has struggled, though righty Michael Mercado has pitched quite well and was recently called up to make his MLB debut in the bullpen. Others on the 40-man roster with MLB experience include righty Nick Nelson and lefty Kolby Allard, though neither has fared well in the minors.

3. Series Preview: Guardians @ Royals

A series between division rivals that could impact the AL playoff picture begins this evening when the Guardians head to Kauffman Stadium for a four-game set against the Royals. Both clubs have emerged as surprise contenders in the first half and spent much of the season vying for the AL Central lead. That dynamic has shifted in recent weeks, however, as Kansas City has struggled to a 9-14 record in the month of June to fall behind the Twins in the standings. The Guardians have seen their success continue with a 13-8 record.

That leaves the Royals tied with the Red Sox for the final AL Wild Card spot, while Cleveland still holds a comfortable eight-game lead in the division. A big series for Kansas City could reinforce their spot in the AL postseason picture while significantly chipping away at their deficit in the Central. Victory for the Guardians could see them pad their lead further while potentially pushing the Royals out a playoff spot headed into the second half. Tonight’s game, which is scheduled for 7:10pm local time, will pit Guardians righty Ben Lively (3.03 ERA) against Royals veteran Michael Wacha (4.07 ERA). The rest of the series will see the Royals send right-hander Alec Marsh (4.40 ERA), lefty Cole Ragans (3.03 ERA), and righty Seth Lugo (2.29 ERA) to the mound opposite Guardians hurlers Triston McKenzie (4.66 ERA), Tanner Bibee (3.50 ERA), and Logan Allen (5.72 ERA), respectively.

The Opener: Doubleheader, Giants, Marlins

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As the 2024 regular season continues, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. Doubleheader in St. Louis:

A game between the Cardinals and Braves was rained out on Tuesday, and the lost contest will be made up today in a split doubleheader. Game 1 is scheduled for 12:20pm local time while Game 2 is scheduled for 6:20pm, with fans who had tickets to Tuesday night’s postponed game eligible to use them during today’s evening contest, per MLB.com.

Game 1 will see Cardinals veteran Kyle Gibson (3.44 ERA) take on Atlanta righty Reynaldo Lopez, who has dominated to a 1.57 ERA and 25.9% strikeout rate across 13 starts this year. As noted by Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Game 2 will see the Braves promote right-hander Bryce Elder from the minor leagues to face Cardinals righty Andre Pallante. Elder enjoyed success with the club in the rotation last year but has struggled across five starts in the big leagues this season with a 6.36 ERA and 5.39 FIP in 23 2/3 innings of work. Pallante has also had his fair share of struggles, as the 25-year-old sports a 5.23 ERA in 14 games split between the rotation and bullpen this year, including a 4.76 ERA through five starts.

2. Giants promoting pitching prospect:

Giants prospect  Hayden Birdsong will make his big league debut this evening in Game 3 of the club’s four-game set against the Cubs. Birdsong, a 22-year-old righty, was the club’s sixth-round pick in 2022 and has subsequently emerged as one of the better prospects in their farm system. He dominated Double-A with a 2.05 ERA and a 30.7% strikeout rate in 48 1/3 innings. The righty’s results haven’t been quite as impressive in two starts since being promoted to the Triple-A level, but he’ll now depart the inflated offensive environment of the Pacific Coast League for the majors. Birdsong is not yet on the 40-man roster, meaning a corresponding move will be necessary before the game starts at 6:45pm local time.

3. Marlins hurler to debut:

The Giants aren’t the only club calling up a rookie pitcher for a start that will serve as a big league debut today. The Marlins are set to select the contract of righty Valente Bellozo. The 24-year-old has not typically been regarded as a high-end prospect throughout his career and has struggled somewhat in 11 appearances split between the Double-A and Triple-A levels this season with a 5.02 ERA across 52 frames. While he’s struck out 25.4% of batters faced and walked just 6.7%, Bellozo has had a problem with the long ball. In his 11 appearances he’s allowed a whopping ten homers (1.73 HR/9). He’ll square off with Royals righty Alec Marsh (4.40 ERA) amid a massive slate of rotation injury for the Marlins.

Austin Wynns Accepts Outright Assignment With Reds

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June 25: Wynns cleared waivers and has accepted an outright assignment back to Louisville, tweets Charlie Goldsmith of the Cincinnati Enquirer.

June 23: The Reds announced this morning that they’ve designated catcher Austin Wynns for assignment. The move opens up a spot on the active roster for infielder Livan Soto, who has been recalled to the majors from Triple-A.

Wynns, 33, was brought up to the majors by the Reds on Friday to act as a third catcher behind Tyler Stephenson and Luke Maile while Stephenson has been day-to-day with an unknown issue. Evidently, whatever concern the club had regarding Stephenson has passed as the 27-year-old returned to the starting lineup behind the plate today after pinch hitting in yesterday’s game. The catcher is now set to depart the Reds without having made an appearance at the big league level for the club.

The 33-year-old got his start in pro ball as a tenth-round pick by the Orioles back in 2013. He made his big league debut with Baltimore in 2018 and served as a backup for the club behind the plate in parts of the 2018, ’19, and ’21 seasons. He hit just .216/.255/.326 during that time but was generally regarded as a solid defender behind the plate. The Orioles outrighted Wynns off their 40-man roster shortly after the 2021 season concluded, allowing him to test free agency. He found a minor league deal with the Phillies in relatively short order but was swapped to the Giants in June of 2022 and was selected to the club’s 40-man roster when the Giants demoted former top prospect Joey Bart to Triple-A.

Wynns found some success with the Giants in 2022 as he broke out with the bat, slashing a decent .241/.315/.356 (93 wRC+) across 177 plate appearances in that time. Despite that solid success, Wynns nonetheless found himself outrighted off the roster in San Francisco last January. He accepted that outright assignment with the club and found himself added back to the 40-man roster in early April of last year when Roberto Perez was sidelined by a rotator cuff strain, but made it into just one game before being designated for assignment. Wynns briefly caught on with the Dodgers later that month but was designated for assignment once again in early May. His tour of the NL West continued when he was claimed off waivers by the Rockies, and that turned out to be a more permanent home for the veteran as he remained with Colorado through the end of the season, appearing in 45 games but hitting just .214/.273/.282 in that time.

Once again on the open market after being outrighted off the Rockies’ 40-man last October, Wynns found a split big league deal with the Reds back in December and remained with the club even after being outrighted to the minors in January. Looking ahead, Cincinnati will have one week to either trade the journeyman or attempt to pass him through waivers and outright him back to the minor leagues. Although Wynns would have the ability to reject that outright assignment, it seems as though he would be unlikely to do so given the nature of his split contract with the club, which offers him a $300K salary in the minor leagues.

As for Soto, the infielder appeared in 22 games with the Angels between 2022 and 2023 and made the most of that playing time, slashing .375/.414/.531 over the course of his 71 big league trips to the plate. Soto nonetheless found himself designated for assignment by the Angels this past offseason, and he was claimed multiple times by both the Orioles and Angels throughout the early stages of the season before he was finally claimed by the Reds in early April after what proved to be an eventful winter for the 24-year-old. The youngster’s unsustainable .469 BABIP at the big league level suggests that he won’t be able to keep that fantastic slash line up in his third stint in the big leagues, but even Soto’s .292/.384/.385 slash line at the Triple-A level this year would make him a useful bench piece for the Reds infield mix.

The Opener: Reynolds, Woo, MLBTR Chat

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As the 2024 regular season approaches its midpoint, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. Reynolds nearing season-best streak:

Bryan Reynolds has been putting up fantastic numbers in recent weeks. Since the calendar flipped to June, the switch-hitter has slashed .357/.419/.643 and collected a hit in 21 straight games. While the Pirates have largely failed to take advantage of Reynolds’s hot streak, with a record of just 11-10 in June, the outfielder nonetheless enters play today on the cusp of establishing the longest hitting streak of the 2024 campaign so far, beating out Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe, whose streak last month ended at 21 games. Reynolds and the Pirates will take on the Reds in Cincinnati at 7:10pm local time this evening. Cincinnati will send righty Hunter Greene (3.35 ERA) to the mound to take on Pittsburgh righty Mitch Keller (3.11 ERA).

2. Woo to undergo MRI:

It’s been a season fraught with injury concerns for young Mariners right-hander Bryan Woo, and that continued yesterday when he exited his start against the Rays yesterday after throwing just 60 pitches due to what the club has termed right hamstring tightness. As noted by MLB.com’s Injury Tracker, Woo is set to undergo an MRI to determine the severity of the issue before the club determines whether or not he’ll require a trip to the IL.

The 24-year-old Woo has dominated to the tune of a 1.77 ERA and 2.71 FIP in 40 2/3 innings of work this year but has been limited to just eight starts due to elbow inflammation and tightness in his forearm. Right-hander Emerson Hancock appears to be the most likely candidate to step into the rotation in Seattle if Woo ends up missing time. The former sixth-overall pick made his big league debut last year and struggled across eight starts in the majors earlier this year with a 4.79 ERA and 5.67 FIP in 41 1/3 innings of work.

3. MLBTR Chat today:

It’s been an eventful week around the majors. One of the top hitting prospects in baseball was suspended for nearly all of the 2024 season’s remainder. The Yankees added some a corner infield bat. With just over a month to go until the July 30 trade deadline, two notable lefties who might’ve otherwise been available went down with injuries. If you have any questions about the upcoming deadline or your team’s direction with July just over the horizon, MLBTR’s Steve Adams will host a live chat with readers today at 1pm CT. You can click here to ask a question in advance, and that same link will allow you to join in on the chat once it begins or read the transcript after it is completed.

The Opener: Contreras, Orioles, Fry

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Here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. Contreras to return:

The Cardinals are set to activate Willson Contreras from the injured list today, manager Oli Marmol told reporters yesterday (link via MLB.com’s John Denton). The final step before Contreras will be officially activated is a medical evaluation upon joining the club in Atlanta today. The news caps off a surprisingly fast return to action for Contreras, who was initially expected to miss ten weeks after suffering a fractured arm when he was struck by a swing from Mets DH J.D. Martinez.

Contreras is now set to return nearly a month ahead of schedule, and it couldn’t come at a better time for the Cardinals. The St. Louis club surged back into postseason contention during Contreras’ absence and will now plug the same bat that hit .280/.398/.551 in their first 31 games back into the lineup. Contreras’ return also dovetails with a recent injury to young Ivan Herrera, who had been filling in behind the plate but is now on the shelf with a back injury. That’s left the Cardinals with a third-string catching duo of Pedro Pages and Nick Raposo in recent days.

2. Orioles roster move incoming:

The Orioles will recall outfielder Heston Kjerstad to the major leagues today for what will be his third stint with Baltimore. The 25-year-old top prospect has hit just .205/.286/.364 in 50 trips to the plate in the big leagues but has torn up the Triple-A level. In 56 games this year, the former No. 2 overall pick has slashed .301/.397/.601 with 31 extra base hits (16 homers) in 258 plate appearances.

In order to make room for Kjerstad, the Orioles will need to make a corresponding move. Typically, that move could simply come in the form of optioning another player to the minors, but the Orioles’ bench lacks optionable players aside from veteran outfielder Austin Hays, who’s been on a hot streak (.333/.380/.569) since returning from the injured list last month. MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko suggested yesterday that the club could designate utilityman Nick Maton for assignment to make room for Kjerstad, but there’s no official word from the team just yet.

3. Guardians update on Fry?

The Guardians suffered a tough blow yesterday when slugger David Fry was pulled after the second inning due to inflammation in his elbow, as noted by The Athletic’s Zack Meisel. Meisel adds that Fry is currently being considered day-to-day by the club. MLB.com’s Injury Tracker adds that Fry was set to be evaluated further after yesterday’s game and that the Guardians hope to know more about his status today.

Much of the Guardians’ success on offense can be attributed to Fry, who has slashed an otherworldly .312/.429/.526 (172 wRC+) while splitting time between catcher, DH, first base, left field, right field and even third base for Cleveland. There’s no replacing that blend of production and defensive versatility, but if Fry lands on the IL, the Guardians could turn to top prospect Kyle Manzardo to take over Fry’s spot in the first base/DH mix while Bo Naylor and Austin Hedges take on a more traditional role as a catching tandem.

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