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Michael Soroka To Start Monday For Braves

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9:34PM: Atlanta manager Brian Snitker confirmed to reporters that Soroka will indeed start Monday’s game.  The Braves are optioning Rodriguez to Triple-A to create space for Soroka on the active roster.

1:23PM: Michael Soroka hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since August, 2020, but an almost three year wait to return looks set to be over Monday with a series of transactions suggesting he’ll be called up to start tomorrow against the Athletics.

The Braves scratched Soroka from his start at Triple-A today, and as MLB.com’s Mark Bowman draws attention to, the Braves decision to option Dylan Dodd and replace him with Dereck Rodriguez adds further weight to the idea that Soroka will be the one called upon. And if any further evidence was needed, Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos was on SirusXM radio today and said Soroka is the “next guy up the next time we need a starter,” before adding that the next time is “tomorrow.”

Soroka, the 28th pick back in 2015, was a quality young starter for the Braves before injuries derailed things. Between 2018-20, he made 37 starts of 2.86 ERA ball, the bulk of which came during the 2019 season when he finished sixth in NL Cy Young voting.

Since the 2020 season, it’s been a wretched run for Soroka. A ruptured achilles tendon set him up for a year long recovery, and just as he was nearing a return to action that achilles blew out again and left Soroka facing another lengthy rehab process. After recovering from that he saw some time at Triple-A towards the back end of the 2022 season but never made it to the big leagues, as he was shut down with shoulder fatigue. He entered spring training competing for a spot in Atlanta’s rotation but a hamstring strain put him behind and he was optioned to the minor leagues to start the season.

He’s made eight starts at Triple-A this season, working to a 4.33 ERA and averaging about 4 1/3 innings per start. It’ll certainly be a much anticipated return to a big league mound for Soroka when he does pitch tomorrow.

Pirates Place Vince Velasquez On 15-Day IL

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After making just one start since returning from injury, the Pirates have sent right hander Vince Velasquez back to the injured list with right elbow discomfort and recalled right hander Cody Bolton.

Velasquez threw just two innings his return from a three week layoff due to elbow discomfort yesterday, giving up four earned runs against the Mariners before being removed from the game. There’s obviously a lot of concern when a player is sent to the IL almost immediately after returning, and Velasquez relays to Pirates reporters (including Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) that he’ll take a bit longer to rest his elbow. Just what that timeline looks like is unclear, but it seems safe to assume that Velasquez will be out a bit longer than the three weeks he missed in May.

It’s a shame for the Bucs and Velasquez, who was enjoying a nice first season in Pittsburgh. Prior to getting knocked around yesterday, Velasquez had made seven starts of 3.06 ERA ball for the Pirates this season. That was a bright start for a player who has often flashed promising stuff, but has struggled to lock down a rotation spot in recent years. Between 2020-22, Velasquez made 37 starts and 24 relief appearances for the Phillies, Padres and White Sox, pitching to a 5.61 ERA, so this was clearly a step forward with the Bucs.

As Justice delos Santos of MLB.com mentions, GM Ben Cherington told 93.7 The Fan radio that the team had planned to shift Roansy Contreras to the bullpen before Velasquez’ injury, but it now seems those plans will be shelved and Contreras will remain in the rotation, with Bolton going to the pen.

Bolton has made a handful of appearances for the Pirates this year, pitching six innings across three appearances and giving up three earned runs. At Triple-A Indianapolis he owns a 2.08 ERA in 17 1/3 relief innings.

Angels Select Ben Joyce

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The Angels announced that they have called up hard throwing right hander Ben Joyce to the big leagues. To make room, left hander Matt Moore has been placed on the 15-day IL with a right oblique strain, and Austin Warren has been transferred to the 60-day IL.

Joyce has been working at Double-A this season, where he’s posted a 4.60 ERA over 15 2/3 innings, combining a 34.3% strikeout rate with an 18.3% walk rate. His calling card is undoubtedly the fastball, which as touched 105 mph in the past. Joyce ranked 19th on Keith Law’s Angels prospect rankings for The Athletic, with Law stating “he doesn’t have an average second pitch or particularly good command of the fastball … He’ll have to develop his slider to be a big-league reliever.”

That’s seemed to shine through in his minor league numbers, with Joyce walking more than seven batters every nine innings so far this season.  There’s obviously a big step up from Double-A to the big leagues, but it’ll be fascinating to see how such a hard thrower goes against the increased competition.

Joyce will be replacing one of the Angels’ best relievers in Moore. The left hander has worked to a 1.44 ERA through 25 innings for the Angels, following on from his impressive season in 2022 for the Rangers. Moore has reverse splits for a left hander, with left handed hitters going .250/.333/.625 against him while right handers have struggled to a .117/.194/.167 line against the veteran. There’s no timetable yet for Moore’s recovery, but he’ll miss at least the next two weeks as he recovers. 

Royals Place Josh Taylor On Injured List

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The Royals announced that they’ve placed left hander Josh Taylor on the 15-day IL with left shoulder impingement syndrome and activated left hander Daniel Lynch. Lynch will start today’s game against the Nationals in Kansas City.

Taylor had limped to an 8.15 ERA over 17 2/3 innings this season, but was perhaps a little more unfortunate than that mark suggests. He owns a very high .409 BABIP and had been striking out batters at a quality 31.3% clip, so perhaps his performance was somewhat better than the ERA.

Acquired by the Royals this winter in the Adalberto Mondesi trade with the Red Sox, Taylor arrived in Kansas City with a career 3.69 ERA over 102 1/3 big league innings in Boston. He missed the entire 2022 season with a back injury, but his track record suggests there is certainly some talent in the left hander. Like many left handers, Taylor is far better against same sided batters, holding them to a .196/.277/.272 line as opposed to a .283/.367/.446 line against right handed hitters.

Lynch was activated to make his season debut for the Royals as he returns from a rotator cuff strain suffered in spring training. The 26-year-old former first round pick has made 42 starts for the Royals over the past two years, putting together a 5.32 ERA with a 19.4% strikeout rate and a 9.1% walk rate, both marks that fall slightly below the league average.

Quick Hits: Stroman, Maeda, Orioles, Barreto

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Cubs starter Marcus Stroman remains hopeful of finding a long term contract extension with the Cubs, with the veteran telling Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic that a trade away from Wrigley would “bother” him.

“At this point in my career, I’m so open to anything. But it would bother me a bit, just because I feel like I do love it here, as far as the city, the organization from the top down, the fans,” Stroman said.

Stroman is the middle of another quality campaign, posting a 2.95 ERA through 11 starts. That mark comes with a 9.1% walk rate and a 21.3% strikeout rate.

It’s already been reported that Stroman and the Cubs had preliminary extension talks in the spring, and while Rosenthal adds that the Cubs are open to a new deal, it does not appear that anything is imminent. The Cubs, in the midst of an 8-19 run, would seem to be trending towards selling at the deadline and Stroman may well be a valuable trade chip for them.

Stroman holds a $21MM player option for 2024 but would appear to be on track to opt out of that and test the open market. It’s also worth noting that the Cubs can’t tender a qualifying offer to Stroman, as he already took one (and accepted it) from the Mets.

Here’s some more bits and pieces from around the sport:

  • The Orioles are one team that certainly are not trending towards being sellers, and Orioles general manager Mike Elias says they’re “preparing to be buyers”, per Jacob Calvin Meyer of the Baltimore Sun. While there’s quite a bit of time before trade season really heats up, it should come as no surprise that the 33-19 Orioles will be adding. Despite having a hugely promising young roster, the O’s have resisted pushing the chips in, opting to sell at last year’s deadline before making only modest additions this past winter. The team has made a notable step forward this year though, and perhaps that’ll be enough to encourage Elias to be a bit more aggressive on the trade market.
  • Some help is on the way for the Twins, with Kenta Maeda and Caleb Thielbar to start rehab assignments this week, per Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com. Maeda made just four ugly starts for the Twins this season before hitting the shelf with a triceps strain, giving up 16 earned runs in as many innings. The Twins rotation has done well in Maeda and Tyler Mahle’s (Tommy John surgery) absence, and it’s possible the team could use him in relief at least to begin with. Thielbar has been out since early May with an oblique strain, and his return will give the team another left handed option in the bullpen. Thielbar was off to a nice start to the season, working to a 1.80 ERA in 10 innings.
  • The Nationals have released Franklin Barreto, per the Talk Nats podcast. The former A’s and Angels infielder joined Washington on a minor league deal but hit just .202/.282/.455 in 111 plate appearances at Triple-A. A former top-100 prospect, Barreto never hit in the big leagues, compiling a .175/.207/.342 line over parts of four seasons in the big leagues.

MLB Trade Rumors Podcast: Mets’ Catching Conundrum, Mariners, Diamondbacks

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Episode 8 of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Simon Hampton is joined by Will Sammon of The Athletic to discuss:

  • The Mets’ start to the season (1:44)
  • What they’ll do with Francisco Alvarez and Gary Sanchez once Tomas Nido and Omar Narvaez return from the IL (5:31)
  • Where they could look to improve at the trade deadline (10:18)
  • The mood in their clubhouse as they overcome a slow start to the season (14:24)

Then, Simon is joined by Darragh McDonald of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss:

  • What’s going on with the Mariners lineup, and could they move on from Kolten Wong and AJ Pollock? (19:41)
  • Can the Marlins maintain their solid start to the season, and would they consider buying at the deadline? (24:54)
  • What makes the Diamondbacks such a strong team this year? (29:25)

Check out our past episodes!

  • The Cardinals’ U-Turn on Willson Contreras, Mitch Keller’s breakout, and the state of the Padres – listen here
  • Willson Contreras, the Rays’ success, what’s happening with the Astros – listen here
  • White Sox trade candidates, Red Sox options for improvements, managers on the hot seat – listen here

Yankees Designate Aaron Hicks For Assignment

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12:34pm: The Yankees have announced the move, and confirmed they’ve added Greg Allen to the active roster in his place.

12:27pm: The Yankees have designated veteran outfielder Aaron Hicks for assignment, reports Greg Joyce of the New York Post. While the Yankees are yet to make the move official, it’ll likely make room for the team to activate outfielder Greg Allen, who they acquired from the Red Sox last night.

It’ll be a costly move for the Yankees, with Hicks still owed $19.57MM by way of $9.8MM salaries in 2024-25, and a $1MM buyout on a $12.5MM club option for 2026. He’ll also be owed the remainder of his $10.8MM salary in 2023. Hicks will now be exposed to waivers, but his struggles this year and the remaining money owed make it a near certainty he goes unclaimed. Instead, the Yankees could offer to eat the remainder of his contract and try and trade him to another team, or he could be released once he clears waivers.

It’s been a challenging start to the season for Hicks, who’s slashed just .188/.263/.261 with a single home run in 76 plate appearances. He’d fallen down the pecking order in New York, with the team often favoring infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa for starts in the outfield over him. He’s also walking at the rate at his worst rate since 2016, striking out more and defensive metrics haven’t looked favorably on his work in left field this season.

Hicks, 33, was a 14th overall pick by the Twins back in 2008. He was a consensus top-100 prospect coming through the minors in Minnesota’s organization, and made his debut as a 23-year-old in 2013. He struggled that year, and would never really get going over the next three seasons with the Twins, slashing .225/.306/.349 over 247 games between 2013-15. By 2015, the Twins were ready to move on and flipped him to New York in a deal for catcher John Ryan Murphy.

While his struggles continued in his first season in the Bronx, Hicks found his groove in 2017, slashing .266/.372/.475 with 15 home runs over 361 plate appearances. Injuries restricted him to just 88 games that year, but he again impressed in 137 games in 2018, posting a .248/.366/.467 line with 27 home runs and doing enough to earn some down-ballot AL MVP votes.

Hicks’ blend of power, walks and lack of strikeouts, not to mention his solid glove in center field was enough for the Yankees to hand Hicks a seven-year, $70MM extension prior to the 2019 season, preventing him from reaching free agency the following winter. While at the time that looked like a solid rate for a player who’d just come off a 4.3 fWAR season, Hicks’ play deteriorated over the course of the deal.

In the four seasons between 2019-22, he’d be worth just 3.1 fWAR. A lot of that was down to injuries, as Hicks missed time in 2019 to back and flexor strains and appeared in just 59 games, while a 2021 wrist injury saw him appear in just 32 games that year. He did return fit in 2022, playing 130 games, but he hit just eight home runs as he struggled to find his power following wrist surgery. While he continued to walk at a decent clip, his declining power saw him hit just .216/.330/.313, while he also lost the center field job.

He did still contribute 1.4 fWAR in 2022, largely thanks to his walks and improved defense after being moved to left field. Nonetheless, the Yankees entered the past off-season with a bit of speculation over Hicks’ future. The optimistic view was that another year removed from wrist surgery would be enough for Hicks to regain his power and become a positive contributor to the lineup, while the pessimistic view was that Hicks’ declining play and advancing age meant his best years were permanently in the rearview mirror.

Now, after struggling over the first few months of the season, he’ll be made available to the rest of the league. It’s possible that a change of scenery is what’s needed for Hicks, who has been the target of plenty of criticism from Yankees fans in recent years.

Presuming he clears waivers, Hicks will be a cheap addition for any team as the Yankees are still on the hook for the remainder of his contract. In Hicks’ defense, he had started to hit a little better in recent times, putting up a .286/.375/.524 line over his last 24 plate appearances. He had also hit lefties at a .278/.381/.333 rate, and while both those lines are pulled from very small sample sizes he could make sense for a team wanting a cheap platoon bat.

Image credit: USA Today Sports

A’s Place Drew Rucinski On 15-Day Injured List

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Drew Rucinski has landed on the 15-day IL (retroactive to May 17) with a stomach illness, the A’s announced. In his place, the team has recalled right hander James Kaprielian, who is scheduled to start tomorrow’s match.

Rucinski, 34, returned to the US on a one-year, $3MM deal with a $5MM club option for next season after a successful time in Korea. It hasn’t been an enjoyable return though, as the veteran has made just four starts for Oakland, working to a 9.00 ERA. He’s struck out just 6.3% of batters and walked 14.7%, while giving up five home runs in 18 innings. It’s a disappointing return for a player who worked to a 3.05 ERA over 121 starts in four seasons in Korea.

While 15 days out seems like quite a bit for a stomach illness, it’ll at least give the A’s and Rucinski some time to work on any issues he’s been experiencing that’s led to this poor start in Oakland. He’ll be eligible to return to the team in early June.

Kaprielian’s put up similarly disappointing numbers, working to a 10.17 ERA in 23 big league innings this year. The 29-year-old former top-100 prospect has performed a lot better in a limited sample at Triple-A, giving up just a single earned run in 8 1/3 innings at the highest level of the minors.

Injury Notes: Glasnow, Voit, Jimenez, Hendriks

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Rays starter Tyler Glasnow is getting closer and closer to a return, with the right hander set to make one final rehab start at Triple-A tomorrow before presumably being ready to come of the IL and join the big league club, as Kristie Ackert of the Tampa Bay Times reports. That could mean he makes his season debut at some stage during the Rays current home stand, presumably during the series with the Dodgers.

Glasnow missed the majority of the 2022 season while recovering from a Tommy John procedure, and hasn’t pitched this season due to an oblique injury. Of course, the Rays have done just fine in his absence, compiling a 33-13 record and sitting atop the American League. Yet Glasnow’s return will be a welcome boost to the Rays, who already have starters Shane Baz and Jeffrey Springs on the IL due to Tommy John surgery, while Drew Rasmussen is also expected to miss significant time.

Injuries have plagued Glasnow’s career, but he’s been a dominant force when on the mound. Since the Rays acquired him from the Pirates in 2018, Glasnow’s made 50 starts and worked to a 3.05 ERA while striking out about a third of batters he faces. He’s playing out this season on a $5.3MM salary, and is due a $25MM salary in 2024 before becoming eligible for free agency.

Here’s a couple more notes on injured players:

  • The Brewers announced that Luke Voit will begin a rehab assignment at Triple-A Nashville tonight. Voit has been on the IL since Monday with a strained neck. That means he still can’t return until later in the week, but the fact that he’s starting a rehab assignment already suggests he’ll be ready to come off the IL as soon as he’s eligible. Voit has struggled to a .221/.284/.265 line without a home run in 74 plate appearances with the Brewers this year. That’s come with a troubling 36.5% strikeout rate and a 5.4% walk rate, both numbers that are in the wrong direction from previous seasons.
  • White Sox outfielder Eloy Jimenez is “ahead of schedule” in his recovery from an appendectomy procedure, manager Pedro Grifol relays to reporters (including James Fegan of The Athletic). It was reported on Thursday that Jimenez hoped to return to the White Sox lineup by next weekend, and Grifol’s comments would seem to put such a timeline very much in play. Jimenez appeared in 25 games before hitting the IL, slashing .258/.321/.423 with four home runs. Much has been made of Chicago’s struggles to start the season, and the return of Jimenez will be a significant boost as they look to get themselves back into contention. Grifol also updated reporters on Liam Hendriks’ progress, telling reporters he will face hitters again in a live BP session over the next week. The veteran closer is cancer free and has already pitched in a handful of games on a rehab stint at Triple-A, so it stands to reason that he could be activated sometime soon. In any case, it’ll be one of the season’s feel good stories to see Hendriks back on the mound whenever he does return.

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