Cubs, Vinny Nittoli Agree To Major League Deal
The Cubs and right-handed reliever Vinny Nittoli are in agreement on a major league contract, reports ESPN’s Jeff Passan. The Gaeta Sports Management client was recently designated for assignment by the A’s and elected free agency over an outright assignment to Triple-A. Chicago will need to open a spot on its 40-man roster once the addition of Nittoli is official.
Nittoli, 33, spent time with the Cubs’ Triple-A club in Iowa last year but never received a call to the big leagues despite pitching well in Des Moines. He’s out of minor league options, so he’ll jump right onto the big league roster this time around, however, as the Cubs hope to catch lightning in a bottle on another DFA reclamation in their bullpen after hitting paydirt on righty Tyson Miller.
A 25th-round pick by the Mariners back in 2014, Nittoli is the embodiment of a journeyman reliever who has persevered through the prototypical minor league grind. He made his MLB debut at age 29 in 2020, more than six years after being drafted as a senior sign out of Xavier, and has spent time in the minors or big leagues with one-third of the teams in Major League Baseball. Even after exhausting all three of his minor league options and logging big league time in each of the past four seasons, Nittoli has just 14 2/3 MLB innings and 52 days of MLB service to his name.
It’s a small sample, but Nittoli has pitched well in that time. He’s held opponents to five runs on 13 hits, five walks and a pair of hit batsmen with 10 strikeouts along the way — good for a 3.07 earned run average. That run-prevention mark in a small sample greatly outpaces the career 4.73 ERA Nittoli has put together in five Triple-A seasons (177 innings). That said, Nittoli’s Triple-A strikeout rate of 30.5% is far better than what he’s managed in the big leagues, while his 8.5% walk rate in Triple-A is right in line with his 8.2% mark in the majors.
The Cubs have now signed Nittoli twice — this time putting him directly on the MLB roster — so they’re clearly intrigued by the well-traveled righty. Nittoli changed up his pitch mix last year, scrapping a 92-93 mph four-seamer for a cutter that sits around 90 mph as his primary offering. With Oakland, he paired that pitch with a slider that averaged 83.2 mph and threw a handful of sinkers and changeups as well.
After an 18-12 start to the season, the Cubs have been reeling for the better part of two months. They’ve followed a 10-18 showing in May with a 9-14 showing in June and now sit seven games below .500 — last in the National League Central. They’re what should be a manageable five games back in the NL Wild Card chase, but given the leaguewide mediocrity in the Senior Circuit, that actually puts them third from last in the chase. They’d need to vault a whopping seven teams to claim the third Wild Card spot, as of this writing.
Chicago’s bullpen has been a major culprit in their struggles. Cubs relievers have a collective 4.52 ERA that sits 24th in the majors. Their 24.4% strikeout rate is a strong mark, landing eighth in MLB, but only the Rangers bullpen (11.9%) has issued walks at a higher rate than the Cubs’ 11.3% — and only four teams (Blue Jays, Rays, Angels, White Sox) have surrendered homers more frequently.
Certainly, making a low-risk bet on a 33-year-old with a strong track record of missing bats in the upper minors isn’t going to magically cure all those deficiencies, but it’s sensible to see the Cubs taking some action at a time when the trade market is still in its infancy. The aforementioned parity in the NL — and things are bunched only a bit less tightly in the AL — has left very few clear-cut sellers with just over a month until the July 30 deadline. Currently, there are nine teams within five games of a Wild Card spot between the two leagues. With few clubs wanting to part with major league help given their proximity to a potential postseason spot, there aren’t many options for teams like the Cubs as they look for ways to upgrade the roster.
Mets Outright Joe Hudson
June 27: Hudson cleared outright waivers and has been assigned to Triple-A Syracuse, tweets Anthony DiComo of MLB.com.
June 24: The Mets have designated catcher Joe Hudson for assignment, per a team announcement. His spot on the roster will go to fellow backstop Luis Torrens, who has been reinstated from the paternity list.
The journeyman Hudson was selected to the Mets’ roster earlier this month in advance of the team’s London showdown against the Phillies. He only wound up appearing in one major league game, however, and he did not take an appearance at the plate.
This brief stint was the 33-year-old Hudson’s first appearance on a major league roster since 2020. He’s tallied 18 games in the majors over the course of a 13-year pro career, picking up 33 plate appearances in that short time. Hudson is 5-for-30 with a double, two walks and six strikeouts in the majors. The former sixth-rounder is a career .229/.333/.398 hitter in six Triple-A seasons — including a .237/.392/.441 showing in 21 games with the Mets’ Syracuse affiliate this year.
The Mets will have a week to attempt to pass Hudson through outright waivers, trade him or release him.
Yankees Outright Victor Gonzalez, Clayton Andrews
7:06pm: New York also outrighted lefty reliever Clayton Andrews, per the transactions log at MLB.com. The Yankees had designated him for assignment last week when they signed Tim Hill. Andrews, 27, has only made one big league appearance this year. He has logged 24 2/3 frames in Scranton, allowing a 5.84 earned run average. The former Brewer has managed solid strikeout and grounder rates but walked more than one-fifth of batters faced.
New York has outrighted Andrews twice this season. Players with multiple outrights have the ability to elect free agency instead of heading back to Triple-A. It’s not clear whether he will do so.
2:51pm: The Yankees announced Wednesday that left-hander Victor Gonzalez passed through outright waivers unclaimed and has been assigned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He was designated for assignment last week. The southpaw has enough big league service time to reject the assignment but not enough to retain the remainder of his $860K salary upon electing free agency, so he’ll likely accept the assignment.
Gonzalez, 28, came to the Yankees alongside minor league infielder Jorbit Vivas in an offseason trade that sent minor league infielder Trey Sweeney back to the Dodgers. His time on the big league roster didn’t go as hoped. While Gonzalez posted a solid 3.86 earned run average in 23 1/3 frames, he did so while issuing more walks (13.4%) than strikeouts (11.3%). He continued to post terrific ground-ball numbers (55.1%), but this is the fourth straight season his strikeout rate has dropped. His 93.3 mph average velocity on his once 95-mph sinker also marked a career-low.
Debuting with the Dodgers back in 2020, Gonzalez looked like a potential bullpen powerhouse. Armed with that then-95-mph bowling ball sinker, he pitched 20 1/3 innings of 1.33 ERA ball with an excellent 28.7% strikeout rate against a microscopic 2.5% walk rate — all while inducing grounders at a mammoth 69.2% clip.
Injuries have hobbled him since that debut and sapped his repertoire, however. He’s dealt with plantar fasciitis, knee troubles and most notably a bout of elbow inflammation that eventually led to arthroscopic surgery. In three and a half seasons since that outstanding debut effort, Gonzalez has combined for a total of 136 innings (majors and minors included).
Gonzalez was out of minor league options, so the Yankees had no choice but to designate him for assignment if they wanted the chance to send him to the minors. He’ll now head to Triple-A and try to earn another look later in the season. He’d need to be re-added to the 40-man roster for that to happen, of course. Failing that, Gonzalez will have the right to become a minor league free agent at season’s end, given his status as a player with three-plus years of service who was outrighted off a 40-man roster.
Astros, Omar Narvaez Agree To Minor League Deal
The Astros have agreed to a minor league deal with catcher Omar Narvaez, reports Ari Alexander of KPRC-2. The ISE client was recently released by the Mets midway through the second season of a two-year, $15MM contract. New York remains on the hook for the rest of this season’s $8MM salary. Houston would only owe Narvaez the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the roster (which would be subtracted from the Mets’ obligations).
Narvaez was a quality regular with the White Sox, Mariners and Brewers for the bulk of the time from 2018-22 and even grabbed an All-Star nod with the ’21 Brewers. Over that five-year span, the now-32-year-old backstop slashed .254/.337/.397. His defensive grades were poor in Chicago and Seattle, but the Brewers have a knack for maximizing catcher defense (framing in particular) and helped the veteran catcher overhaul his skills behind the dish. Statcast pegged him at 19 runs above average behind the plate during his time in Milwaukee.
Unfortunately for Narvaez, his time with the Mets was a flop. He hit .211/.283/.297 during his first season, making it an easy call to exercise what was an $8MM player option for the 2024 campaign. This year has been even worse, as Narvaez batted .154/.191/.185 with a bottom-of-the-barrel 22.2% hard-hit rate in 69 trips to the plate.
The Astros just lost backup Victor Caratini to a strained hip flexor that will sideline him for at least the next three to four weeks. They called up Triple-A backstop Cesar Salazar to pair with young Yainer Diaz in Caratini’s place, but the organizational catching depth beyond that point is quite thin. Narvaez will give the Astros some experienced depth in Sugar Land and could get a look in the majors if either Diaz or Salazar incurs an injury in the next few weeks — or in the event that Salazar, a 28-year-old rookie, struggles significantly.
Twins Notes: Paddack, Festa, Canterino, Bullpen
The Twins placed righty Chris Paddack on the 15-day injured list yesterday due to fatigue in his right shoulder, but the right-hander made clear in a follow-up interview that he’s not concerned about any potential injury (link via Bobby Nightengale of the Minneapolis Star Tribune). “This isn’t pain or discomfort,” said Paddack, who’s in his first season full season back from the second Tommy John surgery of his career. “This is fatigue.”
Paddack expanded that while his general approach is that he wants the ball at every opportunity, he also felt the need to listen to his body and “not be a hero” after a recent dip in his fastball velocity and feelings of a “dead arm.” The 28-year-old righty has tossed 78 1/3 innings this season — already his most since 2021 and in fact more than he pitched in 2022-23 combined (majors and minor league rehab work included). Some fatigue and workload management was to be expected, and the recent drop in velocity prompted the team to make a move.
Notably, Nightengale adds that manager Rocco Baldelli confirmed Paddack will return to the rotation once he’s reinstated from the injured list. There’s no plan to shift the right-hander to a relief role at this time, though he thrived in that setting down the stretch and in the postseason with the Twins last year when he tossed a combined 8 2/3 innings and allowed three runs on seven hits and a walk with a hefty 14 strikeouts. Paddack’s fastball sat at a career-high 95.5 mph last year in relief, per Statcast, and he was frequently touching the upper 90s in the playoffs.
Perhaps a return to that role could be in play down the line (speculatively speaking), but the organization will continue starting him for now. Paddack has a 5.29 ERA in 15 starts, due largely to a pair of ugly outings at Camden Yards (nine runs) and at Yankee Stadium (seven runs).
In the short term, the Twins will need to plug someone into the fifth spot in their rotation. KSTP’s Darren Wolfson reports that Minnesota will start reliever Ryan Jensen today at Triple-A instead of top prospect David Festa, presumably setting the stage for Festa to make his big league debut tomorrow in Arizona. (Note: I misread the team’s game log yesterday and incorrectly wrote that Festa had pitched too recently to be an option; my apologies for the error.)
The 24-year-old Festa has been sharp in Triple-A this season, pitching to a 3.77 ERA with a huge 35.1% strikeout rate, a 9.7% walk rate and a strong 45.5% grounder rate. While his walk rate could stand to come down a few ticks, it’s worth pointing out that Festa has improved considerably in that regard as the season has progressed. After walking an alarming 20% of his opponents through his first four starts, he’s slashed his walk rate to 6.7% — including zero walks over his past two outings. His strikeout rate has improved a bit as he’s honed his command, sitting at 37.3% in his 10 most recent outings.
Festa is considered one of the Twins’ best — if not their best — pitching prospects. He sits at No. 99 on MLB.com’s recently updated top-100 list and is the game’s No. 93 prospect over at FanGraphs. He’s been a nice development story for the Twins as a 13th-round pick in 2021 who signed for a $125K bonus. Minnesota will need to add Festa to the 40-man roster if he is indeed called upon for his debut, but they have an open spot at the moment anyhow (and righty Brock Stewart has already been on the 15-day IL for nearly 60 days in the event that they need a second space anytime soon).
While Festa’s progress toward the big leagues is a big positive, the Twins’ former top pitching prospect, Matt Canterino, has had yet another setback, per Nightengale. The 26-year-old righty is headed for an MRI on his shoulder after experiencing discomfort in a recent bullpen session. Canterino, the No. 54 overall pick back in 2019, has dominated minor league opponents when healthy, evidenced by a career 1.48 ERA and 39.1% strikeout rate since being drafted.
Unfortunately, between the pandemic-canceled 2020 season and repeated injuries, he’s only been able to pitch 85 innings in total. He most recently underwent Tommy John surgery in 2022 and has yet to get back into a minor league game since that time. He’s on the Twins’ 40-man roster and is in the first of three minor league option years, so they needn’t yet consider cutting him loose to open a spot, but it’s another frustrating setback for the talented but oft-injured righty.
There’s better news on a pair of injured Twins relievers, however. The aforementioned Stewart pitched a bullpen session three days ago and will do so again today and on the 29th, per Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com. The former Dodgers prospect has been a revelation since joining the Twins on a minor league deal, pitching 41 innings of relief with a 0.66 ERA and 34.8% strikeout rate dating back to last season. He’s been out since early May with a shoulder injury.
As for righty Justin Topa, whom the Twins acquired in the offseason Jorge Polanco trade, he’s slated to throw a bullpen session in early July, per Park. The right-hander suffered a 25% tear of the patellar tendon in his knee during spring training, Park notes, but was recommended for a platelet-rich plasma injection and rest rather than surgery. Twins trainer Nick Paparesta detailed that Topa will then ramp up through the All-Star break before being reevaluated. A second-half return remains in play for the righty, who pitched 69 innings of 2.96 ERA ball for the Mariners in 2023 and is under team control with the Twins through 2026.
Rockies Outright Geoff Hartlieb
Right-hander Geoff Hartlieb cleared waivers after being designated for assignment by the Rockies, per a club announcement. He’s been assigned outright to Triple-A Albuquerque. As a player who’d previously been outrighted in his career, Hartlieb had the right to reject the assignment in favor of free agency, but a source tells MLBTR he’ll accept the outright and return to Triple-A.
The 30-year-old Hartlieb pitched nine innings out of the Colorado bullpen and was tagged for nine runs during his short time with the club. He fanned seven batters, walked four and kept the ball on the ground at a 40.6% clip. While the raw run-prevention numbers obviously weren’t encouraging, Hartlieb sported a career-high 97.1 mph on his heater, per Statcast — a notable uptick from the career 95.9 mph mark he carried into the season. His sinker (95.7 mph vs. 94.3 mph career average) and slider (87 mph vs. 84 mph) also had pronounced velocity increases. Additionally, Hartlieb introduced a new cutter that sat at 92.8 mph.
For now, Hartlieb will head back to the Isotopes to continue working on his new-look arsenal. He’s pitched to a 5.61 ERA in a hitter-friendly setting there but carries a solid overall track record at the Triple-A level, including a nice showing with the Marlins’ affiliate last year (3.63 ERA in 44 2/3 frames). In 205 1/3 innings of Triple-A work, Hartlieb has a 4.21 earned run average while fanning 24.8% of his opponents against a 10% walk rate.
Given the general state of the Rockies’ bullpen (collective 5.73 ERA and 4.52 SIERA — both last in MLB) and the potential for some trades of relievers (impending free agent Jalen Beeks, in particular), there’s a decent chance that Hartlieb could get another big league look later this summer. In parts of five MLB seasons between the Pirates, Mets, Marlins and Rockies, the former 29th-round pick carries a 7.37 ERA with a 20% strikeout rate, a 14.4% walk rate and a 47.9% ground-ball rate.
MLBTR Chat Transcript
Click here to read a transcript of Tuesday’s chat with MLBTR’s Steve Adams.
Reds Place Nick Lodolo On Injured List, Recall Yosver Zulueta For MLB Debut
The Reds announced Tuesday that they’ve placed lefty Nick Lodolo on the 15-day injured list due to a blister on his left index finger and recalled righty Yosver Zulueta in his place. If Zulueta gets into a game, he’ll be making his MLB debut. Francys Romero first reported early this morning that Zulueta was being called up for his debut.
The 26-year-old Lodolo’s IL placement is retroactive to yesterday. He lasted just 4 2/3 innings in that start and issued four walks in his shakiest start in over a month. While injuries like blisters and cracked fingernails can seem minor on the surface, they can often make it difficult for a pitcher to properly grip his pitches, depending on their placement. A blister on the fingertip of the index finger would make it particularly difficult for Lodolo to execute his curveball, which he’s thrown at a 28% clip this season. He’ll let the issue cool down for the next couple weeks in hopes of a quick return.
Lodolo has been the Reds’ most effective starter this season, pitching to a 2.96 ERA in 70 innings. He’s fanned 25.1% of his opponents against a sharp 6.5% walk rate. This will be his third IL placement of the season, having previously missed time due to minor groin and calf injuries. He’s also spent time on the 60-day injured list in each of the past two seasons, owing to back and calf injuries.
With Lodolo shelved for what’ll presumably be a relatively brief stay on the IL, the Reds’ rotation will be down to Hunter Greene, Andrew Abbott, Frankie Montas and Carson Spiers. Right-hander Graham Ashcraft, who was optioned to Triple-A earlier this month, has tossed consecutive quality starts since being sent down and yielded a total of four runs in 12 innings with a 12-to-2 K/BB ratio. He could be in the mix to come back to the big league roster in short order and step into Lodolo’s vacated rotation spot, but for the time being the Reds will add Zulueta to give their bullpen an extra arm.
Zulueta, 26, has pitched in 23 games this season and logged 30 2/3 innings of 2.93 ERA ball with a strong 28.3% strikeout rate and elite 60.5% ground-ball rate — but also an ugly 14.5% walk rate. The right-hander came to the Reds via an Opening Day waiver claim after he’d been designated for assignment. In parts of three seasons at the Triple-A level between the two organizations, the Cuban-born righty has a 3.71 ERA, 26.2% strikeout rate and 15.4% walk rate.
Twins Place Chris Paddack On Injured List
The Twins announced Tuesday that they’ve placed right-hander Chris Paddack on the injured list with shoulder fatigue. Right-hander Ronny Henriquez has been recalled from Triple-A St. Paul in his place. Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press tweets that Paddack informed the team after his most recent start that he’s been experiencing a dead arm recently.
Some fatigue for Paddack should come as little surprise. The 28-year-old righty pitched only 18 1/3 innings last year (minors and postseason included) in his return from 2022 Tommy John surgery — a procedure that limited him to just 22 1/3 frames that season. He’s already surpassed his combined 2022-23 innings total with this year’s 78 1/3 frames.
It’s been an up-and-down season for Paddack in his first full year since his second career Tommy John surgery. Overall, his 5.29 ERA looks rather grim, but that number is heavily skewed by two disastrous outings: a nine-run drubbing in Baltimore during his third start of the season and a seven-run showing at Yankee Stadium earlier this month. On the other end of the spectrum, Paddack has a pair of 10-strikeout gems this season. He’s been a boom-or-bust option for manager Rocco Baldelli throughout the year, but Paddack will take a seat for at least the next two weeks after yielding a combined eight runs in his past seven innings of work across two starts (both of which came against a lackluster Oakland lineup).
With Paddack on the shelf, the Twins will have an opening in the fifth spot of the rotation behind Pablo Lopez, Joe Ryan, Bailey Ober and Simeon Woods Richardson. Paddack’s spot is set to come up on Thursday, though the Twins just had an off-day, which could allow them to start Ober on regular rest that day. St. Paul righties Caleb Boushley and Randy Dobnak would also be on full rest (Dobnak would need to be added to the 40-man roster) if the Twins want to give Ober an extra day after throwing a complete game his last time out.
Other depth options like Louie Varland and top prospect David Festa both pitched within the past couple days, likely ruling them out for Thursday — but either could be an option for subsequent starts, depending on how long Paddack is out. There’s no timetable for Paddack’s return at present, though the lack of a strain or any other notable injury doesn’t create immediate concern of a protracted absence. The right-hander is in the second season of a three-year, $12.5MM extension he signed while rehabbing from that Tommy John procedure. That deal bought out Paddack’s final two arbitration seasons as well as his first free-agent year.
Royals Prioritizing Bullpen Help Over Outfield Bat
The Royals have been linked to both bullpen and outfield help in recent weeks. General manager J.J. Picollo has gone so far as to publicly acknowledge a desire to improve in both areas in advance of next month’s trade deadline. At the moment, however, it seems the two needs are not viewed as equally necessary. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that Kansas City is currently prioritizing relief help over its search for additional outfield talent.
Royals relievers currently rank 21st in the majors with a 4.37 earned run average but sit last in baseball with a well below-average 17.7% strikeout rate from their bullpen. Kansas City’s 10% walk rate from the ‘pen is also the seventh-worst mark in MLB, and their 93.6 mph average fastball this season is tied for 28th overall. Based on Picollo’s prior comments in an appearance on Jayson Stark’s podcast, adding the type of power arm they’re lacking could be of particular interest (though that’s just my own inference/speculation, to be clear). “I’ve talked in the past about strikeouts,” Picollo said at the time. “We’re more of a matchup bullpen without necessarily the big power.”
Things have been particularly dicey of late. As the Royals have fallen in the AL Central standings in the midst of a 3-11 swoon, their bullpen has been a key culprit. Kansas City relievers are lugging an ugly 5.31 ERA over the past 14 days while punching out just 15.7% of their opponents and surrendering a woeful 1.99 homers per nine innings pitched (far and away the highest mark in the sport, leading 29th-ranked San Diego’s 1.75 HR/9 in that span).
The Royals had hoped that offseason additions Chris Stratton and Will Smith would join righty James McArthur, who was one of MLB’s most dominant relievers over the final few weeks of the 2023 season, in bolstering the 2024 bullpen. That hasn’t panned out.
Smith has pitched better of late, helping to nudge his ERA just under 5.00, but he’s been working in lower-leverage spots since late April. It’s a similar story with Stratton, who began the year working the seventh and eighth innings with regularity before dropping to the fifth, sixth and seventh amid a handful of rough meltdowns. He’s recently been throwing well and returned to some setup work, however. McArthur has rattled off four straight scoreless outings but still has a 6.35 ERA dating back to May 1 and a 4.70 earned run average overall.
With that group struggling, Kansas City has been linked to a handful of relievers known to be available — Chicago’s Michael Kopech and Miami’s Tanner Scott among them. They’re also tinkering with some in-house options in an effort to see if they can upgrade the ‘pen internally. Starter Kris Bubic is on a rehab assignment working his way back from last year’s Tommy John surgery but will work in a relief capacity once he completes is rehab window.
It’s still early in trade season, although that doesn’t rule out a deal coming together. The Padres already acquired Luis Arraez back in early May, clearly illustrating the Marlins’ willingness to sell at any point. We’re also coming up on the one-year anniversary (June 30) of the Royals themselves trading Aroldis Chapman to the Rangers in a deal that netted them current top starter Cole Ragans.
While the Royals’ more immediate priority may be adding a reliever (or multiple relievers), it bears repeating that Picollo has been candid about his desire to add a bat — ideally one that can handle both the infield and the outfield. A left-handed bat, specifically, seems prudent for the righty-heavy Royals. Kansas City’s outfield, led by the trio of MJ Melendez, Kyle Isbel and Hunter Renfroe, has been the least productive unit in baseball this season. In addition to placing Renfroe on the injured list, the Royals just yesterday optioned struggling corner outfielder/DH Nelson Velazquez to Triple-A Omaha.
A trade for an outfielder feels almost inevitable, and adding one who’s controlled beyond the current season would be particularly helpful. As I explored here in greater depth last month, the Royals have struggled immensely to develop outfielders internally; they’ve received little to no production from homegrown outfielders since the departures of now-retired former All-Stars Lorenzo Cain and Alex Gordon.