The Opener: Festa, Turnbull, Guardians, Royals
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
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
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
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
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.
Yankees Acquire J.D. Davis
The Yankees announced this afternoon that they’ve acquired infielder J.D. Davis and cash considerations from the A’s in exchange infielder Jordan Groshans. Davis had been designated for assignment by the A’s earlier this week. The Yankees transferred right-hander Nick Burdi to the 60-day injured list in order to make room for Davis on the 40-man roster.
Davis, 31, signed with the A’s in late spring after the Giants released Davis during Spring Training in order to get out from under most of the $6.9MM salary he had been awarded in arbitration over the winter. He managed to secure a guarantee of just $2.5MM from Oakland, a far cry from his previously-awarded arbitration salary even after factoring in the roughly $1.1MM in termination pay he received from San Francisco.
After that late spring controversy, Davis went on to appear in 39 games with the A’s where he slashed a roughly league-average .236/.304/.366 in 135 trips to the plate while splitting time between first base, third base, and DH. While his offensive numbers this year leave something to be desired, Davis’s positional versatility and track record as an above-average hitter make him a perfect fit for the Yankees’ current needs.
The club lost starting DH Giancarlo Stanton to the injured list earlier today, and first baseman Anthony Rizzo was also placed on the shelf not long ago due to a fractured forearm. Rookie Ben Rice has scuffled a bit in his first few games replacing Rizzo at first base, while the club has no obvious alternative to Stanton as an everyday DH in-house. Even at third base, where the club is currently relying on the combination of Oswaldo Cabrera and DJ LeMahieu, New York has gotten a wRC+ of just 78 — this ranks second-worst of all AL third-base units, ahead of only the White Sox.
Enter Davis, who entered the 2024 season with five consecutive seasons of solid production with the Mets and Giants. Since the start of the 2019 season, Davis has slashed a solid .265/.349/.438 with a wRC+ of 118. While he’s struck out a 27.1% clip during that time, he’s walked at a healthy 10% rate while flashing 20-homer power. That sort of production would be a major upgrade for a Yankees club that has generally struggled to produce offense outside of the outfield this year even before losing Stanton for at least the short-term. Davis seems likely to slide into the everyday DH role for the Yankees while Stanton is unavailable, but could also spell Rice at first base against left-handed pitching and even contribute at third alongside LeMahieu and Cabrera.
On days where Davis is playing the infield, the Yankees could offer Aaron Judge or Juan Soto the opportunity to get a half-day of rest as a DH and improve the club’s outfield defense by inserting glove-first center fielder Trent Grisham into the mix. When Stanton eventually returns to reclaim regular DH, the Yankees could pick and choose from Davis, Rice, Cabrera, and LeMahieu based on how everyone is performingt. That being said, if Davis can even maintain his production as an Athletic in the Bronx he should be a shoe-in for at least semi-regular playing time around the Yankees infield even after Stanton’s eventual return.
In exchange for Davis’ services, the Yankees are sending Groshans to Oakland. The 24-year-old’s stint in the Yankees organization was a relatively brief one, as the club claimed him off waivers from the Marlins back in February. He was outrighted off their 40-man roster in early March and has struggled to this point in the 2024 season with a .232/.310/.281 slash line while playing all four infield spots in 50 games split between the Double- and Triple-A levels. That follows a similarly rough performance at Triple-A with Miami last year; in 528 plate appearances across 125 games in 2023, Groshans slashed a paltry .244/.339/.330 with just six home runs.
Despite Groshans’ struggles over the past two seasons, it’s not hard to see why the A’s would be willing to give the youngster a shot. After all, the infielder was the 12th overall pick in the 2018 draft by the Blue Jays and received plenty of top prospect buzz earlier in his career, including a stint as a consensus top-50 prospect in the sport back in 2021. That pedigree combined with Groshans’ stronger numbers at the Double-A level earlier in his career provide some reason for optimism that he could contribute at the big league level at some point.
That possibility is surely an attractive one for an Oakland club that has struggled to find a consistent option at third base this year while cycling between Davis, Abraham Toro, and Tyler Nevin at the position. Toro will be out until at least the All-Star break recovering from a hamstring strain, leaving even more opportunity for Groshans to win some playing time at the hot corner.
Cardinals Notes: Arenado, Siani, Contreras, Nootbaar
TODAY: Arenado received a pain-killing injection in his forearm today, Marmol told John Denton and other reporters today. It isn’t yet clear if Arenado will need an IL stint, but he wasn’t available for pinch-hitting duties in today’s game.
JUNE 22: Cardinals star Nolan Arenado departed the club’s win over the Giants in the eighth inning today due to discomfort in his left forearm, as noted by MLB.com’s John Denton. Notably, that’s not the same arm that Arenado suffered an elbow contusion on after being struck by a pitch from Marlins right-hander Huascar Brazoban earlier this week. More information was not made available following tonight’s game beyond the fact that Arenado would be evaluated further tomorrow.
It’s an unfortunate turn of events in the midst of what has been a difficult season for the 33-year-old veteran, who is slashing just .260/.315/.375 with a 99 wRC+. That would be Arenado’s first below-average offensive performance in a 162-game season since his rookie campaign back in 2013. He’s paired that lackluster offense with surprisingly pedestrian glovework at third base, where he’s been worth +0 Outs Above Average and -5 Defensive Runs Saved. That’s a far cry from the fielding he offered at the position earlier in his career, when he won the NL Gold Glove award at third base in ten consecutive seasons from 2013 to 2022.
Even with that diminished production this year, however, the loss of Arenado would still be a tough blow for the Cardinals should he end up missing time due to his injury. Not only is he just two seasons removed from a campaign where he was a finalist for the NL MVP award, but the eight-time All Star is the club’s only clear solution at third base given the present construction of the lineup. While former top prospect Jordan Walker came up as a third baseman and is currently in the minors, the 22-year-old has struggled both in Triple-A and at the big league level this year and converted to the outfield full time last year making him an unlikely choice to take over for Arenado in the case of an injury.
Super-utility bat Brendan Donovan has played the hot corner at times, but he’s settled in as the club’s regular left fielder in the absence of Lars Nootbaar. It’s possible that Donovan could slide over to third base and open up left field for Dylan Carlson, but perhaps a more likely scenario would see the Cardinals rely more heavily on bench bats Brandon Crawford and Jose Fermin to fill in for Arenado at third. That’s especially true given the fact that center fielder Michael Siani also exited today’s game due to an injury, though Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat relayed after the game that x-rays on Siani’s ribs after he hit the ground hard on a diving play in the outfield came back negative. The 24-year-old appears to have avoided a major injury, but even a day-to-day issue would at least temporarily weaken the club’s outfield depth noticeably.
As for Nootbaar, the 26-year-old has been sidelined by an oblique strain since the end of May. Jones relays that he appears to be making progress in his rehab but the outfielder has not yet even begun to take batting practice, instead only hitting off a tee at this stage in the process. That would seem to indicate that Nootbaar, who will surely require a rehab assignment before he can return to action, isn’t going to be returning to the club’s positional mix any time soon to provide Marmol additional flexibility as he fills out the club’s lineup card in the wake of Arenado’s and Siani’s possible injuries.
One piece of good news for Cardinals fans is the impending return of star catcher Willson Contreras, who Marmol told reporters (including Jones) will catch seven innings for Triple-A Memphis tonight before DH’ing tomorrow’s game. As Jones notes, Contreras caught for the Redbirds yesterday and Marmol acknowledged that seeing how the 32-year-old held up after catching back to back games was the last major box the club needed to check regarding Contreras’s rehab.
Contreras has been out since early May with a broken forearm and was initially expected to miss ten weeks due to the injury, but the backstop has long since clearly been ahead of that schedule and seems like he could factor into the club’s plans before the end of the month. The slugger posted an excellent .280/.398/.551 slash line in 31 games for the Cardinals this year before being sidelined by the injury and could provide a boost to an offense that has posted a collective wRC+ of just 95 to this point in the season.
A’s Select Aaron Brooks
4:02PM: Jimenez has a Grade 2 oblique strain and is expected to miss 6-8 weeks, MLB.com’s Martin Gallegos writes (X link).
11:51AM: The A’s announced this morning that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Aaron Brooks. Brooks will take the place of righty Dany Jimenez on the active roster, who the club placed on the 15-day injured list with a left oblique strain.
Brooks, 34, signed with the A’s on a minor league deal over the winter and was called up last month to help fill out the club’s rotation mix amid a number of injuries to key veterans such as Alex Wood, Ross Stripling, and Paul Blackburn. That first stint in the majors saw the righty post a 5.82 ERA with a 5.59 FIP in 21 2/3 innings of work across four starts with a strikeout rate of just 10% against a 6% walk rate. Brooks found himself DFA’d earlier this month when right-hander Luis Medina was activated from the 60-day IL, but remained with the club after being assigned outright to Triple-A and will now get another opportunity in the majors, albeit this time in a long relief role.
Despite his lackluster results earlier this year, it’s at least feasible to imagine the righty showing off a stronger performance in his second stint in the big leagues this season. After all, he’s a veteran of six major league seasons who has compiled 56 appearances and 32 starts in the majors during that time as a back-end starter and long reliever who enjoyed some success overseas while pitching in the Korea Baseball Organization from 2020-21. He’s also posted a solid 4.30 ERA in 52 1/3 innings of work at the Triple-A level this year despite the inflated offensive environment of the Pacific Coast League.
Brooks will take the roster spot of Jimenez, who has been a decent middle reliever this season for the club this season. In 23 2/3 innings of work, Jimenez has pitched to a solid 3.04 ERA with a decent 20% strikeout rate. Those solid results have come in spite of extreme wildness, however. The right-hander has walked an eye-popping 17.1% of batters faced this year, a trend consistent with the righty’s career numbers. Since making his A’s debut back in 2022, Jimenez has posted a solid 3.32 ERA (118 ERA+) but has never posted a walk rate below 12.4% in a season, while walking 14.5% of batters faced overall while in an Oakland uniform.
Now sidelined for the foreseeable future with an oblique strain, Jimenez figures to work his way back into the big league relief mix once healthy. With pieces like Lucas Erceg, T.J. McFarland, and Austin Adams likely to attract interest from clubs in need of bullpen help this summer, it’s possible that the A’s will have plenty of room for Jimenez if he returns following the trade deadline even in the likely event that the club holds onto superstar closer Mason Miller.
Yankees Place Giancarlo Stanton On 10-Day Injured List
3:26PM: Stanton confirmed to Hoch and other reporters that he did get a PRP shot today, and estimated that he’ll spend about four weeks on the IL.
3:10PM: Stanton might receive a PRP injection but the strain is considered “mild,” Boone told MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch and other reporters. The Yankees don’t yet have a timeline on when Stanton might return to action.
9:42AM: The Yankees announced this morning that they’ve placed slugger Giancarlo Stanton on the 10-day injured list. Infielder Oswald Peraza was recalled to the big league roster in the corresponding move, as first reported by El Extrabase’s Daniel Alvarez-Montes last night.
Stanton, 34, departed yesterday’s game against the Braves in the top of the sixth inning after feeling tightness in his left hamstring while running the bases earlier in the game. Manager Aaron Boone indicated to reporters (including The Athletic’s Brandon Kuty) after the game that Stanton was scheduled to undergo tests today to determine the severity of the issue but noted that Stanton was in “good spirits” and that the club was hopeful the issue wasn’t too serious. The results of Stanton’s testing today are not yet known, although the club evidently believes that he’ll need to miss at least the next ten days before he can return to action. Being cautious with Stanton, who has a long history of lower half injuries throughout his career, is understandable given the risk of aggravating the hamstring further if he were to attempt to play through the injury.
Even so, it’s a frustrating turn of events for both Stanton and the Yankees given the veteran’s resurgence at the plate to this point in the season. Long one of the game’s most feared sluggers, Stanton posted relatively pedestrian numbers over the past two seasons, slashing just .202/.286/.442. That production was only good for a 103 wRC+ that’s essentially league average, and not particularly close to the value the Yankees were surely hoping to get from a full-time DH who they pay an average of $25MM to annually. The veteran’s production in 69 games this season has been far closer to what the Yankees are surely hoping for from him, as he’s impressed with a .246/.302/.492 slash line (126 wRC+) while crushing 18 home runs in just 281 trips to the plate.
New York will have to go without that strong production in the middle of their lineup for at least the foreseeable future, delivering another blow to an offense that has generally struggled to produce outside of star sluggers Juan Soto and Aaron Judge. Stanton shelved, it’s possible the Yankees could look to improve their outfield defense by placing Trent Grisham in center field, kicking Judge back over to his native right field while allowing Soto to move into a DH role. Grisham has struggled to a wRC+ of just 71 at the plate this year, though his quality work with the glove could still make him a more attractive option than more frequently relying on Oswaldo Cabrera (78 wRC+) or DJ LeMahieu (51 wRC+) outside of their current role splitting time at third base.
Taking Stanton’s place on the roster is Peraza, who has been sidelined for almost the entire season to this point due to a shoulder strain. In 28 games at the Triple-A level since returning from injury, Peraza has struggled to a .178/.313/.215 slash line that suggests he’s unlikely to be the solution for replacing Stanton’s production offensively, although the former consensus top-50 prospect would likely be the club’s best defensive option at third base and could free LeMahieu and Cabrera up for more frequent appearances at DH or first base, where youngster Ben Rice has been getting his first taste of big league action while Anthony Rizzo recovers from a fractured forearm.
Blue Jays Claim Jose Cuas Off Waivers From Cubs
The Cubs announced this afternoon that right-hander Jose Cuas has been claimed off waivers by the Blue Jays. Cuas was designated for assignment earlier this week in order to make room for righty Ethan Roberts on the club’s 40-man roster. The move puts Toronto’s 40-man roster at capacity.
Cuas, who will celebrate his 30th birthday later this week, made his big league debut with the Royals back in 2022 but was traded to the Cubs in exchange for outfielder Nelson Velazquez at the trade deadline last summer. He was a decent middle reliever for the Royals during his time in Kansas City, pitching to a 4.08 ERA (106 ERA+) with a 4.41 FIP in 79 1/3 innings of work for the club between the 2022 and ’23 campaigns. Unfortunately for both Cuas and the Cubs, the wheels began to come off for the sidearming righty upon his arrival in Chicago last year.
While his 3.04 ERA in 27 appearances for the Cubs down the stretch last summer was actually fairly strong, it came with concerning peripherals. His strikeout rate dipped from a strong 27.1% during his time with the Royals last year to a worrisome 19% in Chicago, while his walk rate simultaneously ballooned from a manageable 10% figure in Kansas City all the way up to 14% for the north siders. While a strong 55.6% groundball rate allowed Cuas to keep the damage to a minimum, he was no longer looking the part of a quality middle relief option.
Things took an even worse turn for Cuas in 2024 when his groundball rate plummeted to just 31%. While his walk rate dropped down to a career-best 9.2% figure, that came at least in part as a result of opposing hitters teeing off Cuas pitches with a 14.3% barrel rate and a 45.2% Hard Hit rate. While Cuas’s strikeout rate crept back up to a more acceptable 21.5% this year, that still wasn’t enough to stop the right-hander from surrendering 12 runs (11 earned) in 13 1/3 innings of work for the Cubs this year, leaving him with a 7.43 ERA and a 5.99 FIP.
Despite those deep struggles during his time in Chicago, it’s not hard to see why the Blue Jays would want to take a chance on the righty. After all, when Cuas’s arsenal is working well, his sinker/slider combo allows him to strike out around a quarter of the batters he faces while keeping walks to a clip of around 10% and eliciting grounders on around half of his batted balls. That’s certainly the profile of a valuable pitcher, even though Cuas has not been able to put it all together at the big league level yet during his career.
Even if he isn’t able to reach that potential, the right-hander still provides the Blue Jays with an optionable relief arm on a minimum salary who can be shuttled from Triple-A to the majors as necessary. That’s a valuable commodity for any bullpen, but especially for a Blue Jays bullpen that has posted a league-worst 4.83 FIP to this point in the 2024 campaign. Should the club turn to Cuas at some point, he’d likely factor into the middle relief mix alongside the likes of Zach Pop and Genesis Cabrera.