Tigers Claim Marcos Diplan
The Tigers announced Monday that they’ve claimed right-hander Marcos Diplan off waivers from the Twins. In order to make room on the 40-man roster, Detroit placed left-handed reliever Daniel Stumpf on the 60-day injured list due to a left elbow strain.
Minnesota picked up Diplan in a minor July swap with the Brewers, sending cash to Milwaukee after Diplan had been designated for assignment. The 22-year-old righty never pitched in a big league game with the Twins before being designated for assignment himself this past weekend when Minnesota added hard-throwing prospect Jorge Alcala to its MLB roster.
Diplan, in fact, has never pitched at the big league level or even progressed beyond Double-A. He appeared in 38 games between the Double-A affiliates for the Twins and Brewers, totaling 68 2/3 innings of 4.85 ERA ball with 9.6 K/9 against 5.8 BB/9. Diplan was ranked among the Brewers’ 10 to 20 best prospects back in 2017 but has seen his stock dip in recent seasons. As Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen wrote back in ’17, he has an above-average fastball that runs up to 95 mph and a pair of inconsistent but at-times above-average secondary pitches in his changeup and slider.
Control has clearly been an ongoing issue for Diplan, who has averaged nearly five walks per nine innings pitched in his professional career. He has a minor league option remaining beyond the current season, however, and given the total lack of certainty in the Detroit bullpen, there’ll be ample opportunities for him in 2020 if he sticks on the 40-man roster over the course of the offseason.
Orioles Announce Baseball Operations Hires, Promotions
The Orioles announced a series of front office moves Monday, headlined by the hiring of Matt Blood as the team’ new director of player development. Blood has worked previously as the director of player development and baseball innovations with the Rangers and as an area scout in the Cardinals organization. In his new role, Blood “will spearhead staff recruitment, technology programs, and player development strategies throughout the minor leagues,” the Orioles announced.
“Matt has an unrivaled network when it comes to identifying up-and-coming talent, and his his knowledge of the latest trends in the player development sphere will help to keep us on the forefront of this critical area,” general manager Mike Elias said of Blood.
Baltimore also announced several internal promotions. Mike Snyder, who’d previously served as the team’s director of Pacific Rim operations, has been named the Orioles’ new director of pro scouting. Assistant director of scouting Brad Ciolek has been named the team’s new supervisor of domestic scouting operations. Baseball systems developer Di Zou has been named manager of baseball systems and “will continue to assume a growing role in building out the Orioles’ digital workspaces and analytics capabilities.” Scouting administrator Hendrik Herz and baseball ops assistant Chad Tatum have been appointed to the newly created roles of scouting analysts, wherein they will “evaluate amateur players for the draft using video, data and in-person evaluations.”
Tigers Notes: E-Jax, Reyes, Norris, Castro, Minor League Staff
Edwin Jackson‘s on-field performance in his second stint with the Tigers hasn’t given fans much to cheer about — 8.58 ERA in 35 2/3 innings — but catcher Grayson Greiner called Jackson’s experience “invaluable,” when talking with MLB.com’s Jason Beck about the veteran right-hander’s role as a mentor. And while one would expect teammates to voice support for Jackson, Beck adds that a member of the opposing dugout also heaped praise onto Jackson. Orioles skipper Brandon Hyde called Jackson “one of my top five teammates I’ve ever been around” — a reference to the pair’s days together with the Cubs. “He’s a total pro and a class act, and there’s a reason why he’s been around so long and people want to have him around and always give him an opportunity, because he’s such a great guy,” said Hyde.
Whether that makes Jackson worthy of a roster spot on a rebuilding team when his struggles on the mound have been so pronounced is another debate — one the Tigers will surely have internally this winter. Beck notes that Detroit could have interest in re-signing Jackson to a minor league contract. Doing so would at least bring him to Spring Training with the team’s young players and could give them a veteran to bridge the gap to promising pitching prospects like Casey Mize, Matt Manning, Tarik Skubal and others — if he makes the roster.
More out of the Motor City…
- Positive strides made by the trio of Victor Reyes, Daniel Norris and Harold Castro late in the 2019 season have most likely solidified their place on the 2020 roster, Chris McCosky of the Detroit News writes. Reyes, 25 next month, looked wholly overwhelmed as a Rule 5 pick in 2018, but he’s delivered a .299/.333/.415 slash line with a pair of homers, 14 doubles, three triples and six steals in 237 plate appearances since being recalled in 2019 — all while playing above-average defense in center. The Tigers began limiting Norris to three-inning outings last month, and he’s responded with a 3.86 ERA and a 21-to-7 K/BB ratio in 21 innings of work. He’s still been far too homer-prone in that time, but it’s an encouraging step forward for the former top prospect, who’ll likely command only a modest raise on this year’s $1.2MM salary in arbitration this winter. As for Castro, the 25-year-old has hit at a .305/.320/.399 clip in 333 plate appearances, although his paltry 2.7 percent walk rate and a .383 average on balls in play call into question the sustainability of that production.
- Lynn Henning of the Detroit News reports that the Tigers have fired six minor league coaches, including Double-A hitting coach Brian Harper and minor league field coordinator Bill Dancy. The Tigers are still deciding the fate of Triple-A manager Doug Mientkiewicz, who is currently under contract through the 2020 season. Double-A skipper Mike Rabelo could be a potential replacement option for Mientkiewicz if Detroit opts not to bring him back, Henning adds.
AL West Notes: Robles, Mathis, Astros
Right-hander Hansel Robles has been a bright spot in what has become another disappointing season for the Angels, writes Maria Torres of the Los Angeles Times. Robles boasts a 1.25 ERA over his past 40 games — tops among AL pitchers with at least 40 innings in that time — and recently set down 27 consecutive hitters over one particularly dominant stretch. Considering that the Angels acquired him via waivers last year, Robles’ emergence as a dominant arm in the ‘pen is a particularly positive development. The Mets designated Robles for assignment last June, with manager Mickey Callaway explaining at the time that the “adjustments” Robles needed to make to find consistency were “looking more and more difficult.” With the Halos, however, Robles has refocused on a split-changeup that the Mets pushed him away from. “The movement he gets on it, the shape that he gets on it, his ability to locate it pretty consistently,” pitching coach Doug White said to Torres, “guys have to be ready for 98 and then the changeup comes and it’s really hard to hit.”
Robles leads the Angels with 21 saves and has pitched to a 2.36 ERA with 9.0 K/9, 2.1 BB/9, 0.66 HR/9 and a 38 percent ground-ball rate. He’ll get a nice raise on this year’s $1.4MM salary in arbitration over the winter and can is under team control through the 2021 season.
More from the division…
- Jeff Mathis has had a nightmarish season at the plate, hitting just .158/.209/.224, but the Rangers don’t appear to have any plans to move on from the veteran backstop, per Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Texas signed Mathis to a two-year deal due to his superlative defensive reputation, and manager Chris Woodward lauded the 36-year-old’s work behind the plate and his clubhouse presence. “I would definitely speak up if they were thinking about not bringing him back,” said Woodward. “I would speak against that because what he means to the clubhouse is a lot.” While there’s no quantifiable measure of Mathis’ impact on the clubhouse, the defensive metrics that have long suggested he’s an elite backstop have trended in the other direction. Mathis received negative pitch-framing grades for the first time in 2019, and his -1 Defensive Runs Saved is his only negative mark since 2006. His 17 percent caught-stealing rate is well below the 27 percent league average. At the plate, no player with 200-plus plate appearances has posted a wRC+ lower than Mathis (2). The Rangers owe him $3MM next season, but one could hardly fault them for contemplating a change even if Woodward were to protest.
- The Astros are sending slugger Colton Shaver to the Arizona Fall League to work as a catcher, Jake Kaplan of The Athletic reports (subscription required). Houston’s 39th-round pick in 2017, Shaver ascended to Double-A this season despite that lackluster draft status, and his power and walk rate were hard to overlook. While Shaver’s average suffered because of a 32 percent strikeout rate, he still hit .223/.357/.500 with 15 home runs in an extremely pitcher-friendly Texas League. Shaver has played primarily first base in the pros and was a frequent designated hitter in college at BYU, but he played catcher up until college and approached the Astros about working at the position this past spring. He caught 29 games in the minors this season and will attempt to continue the transition in the AFL. Houston’s system is thin on catching prospects, so a successful transition would be a notable boost for both Shaver and the Astros organization.
Minor MLB Transactions: 9/16/19
We’ll start the week by tracking some minor moves throughout the league…
- The Rays released middle infielder Tyler Ladendorf from their Triple-A club over the weekend, and he quickly re-signed with the High Point Rockers of the independent Atlantic League, per an announcement from the Rockers. The 31-year-old, who would’ve been a free agent at season’s end anyhow, asked the organization for an early release, tweets Greer Smith of the High Point Enterprise. Ladendorf spent much of the season playing for the Rockers and performed well (.268/.350/.450), but he inked a minor league pact with the Tampa Bay organization in late July. He appeared in only nine games with Triple-A Durham, going 2-for-27 in that brief return to affiliated ball. Ladendorf was the Twins’ second-round pick out of Howard College back in 2008 and was flipped to the A’s a year later in the trade that brought Orlando Cabrera to Minnesota. He’s a career .255/.324/.342 hitter in parts of nine Triple-A seasons, and he also appeared in 53 big league games with Oakland in 2015-16.
Indians Recall Bradley Zimmer
2:11pm: This move is now official.
12:16pm: The Indians are “expected” to recall outfielder Bradley Zimmer from Triple-A Columbus, tweets Zack Meisel of The Athletic. He’ll join righty James Karinchak as a late September call-up for an Indians club that is hosting the division-leading Twins for a pivotal three-game series this weekend. Cleveland currently trails Minnesota by 3.5 games.
It’ll be the first time that Zimmer, 26, has been on the active Major League roster since last June, when he incurred a shoulder injury that eventually required surgery and an eight- to 12-month recovery timetable. The 2014 first-round pick has played in 15 minor league games, including an impressive .364/.440/.636 run in six games with Columbus.
Zimmer debuted to great fanfare with the 2017 Indians. Heralded as a top prospect for most of the interim between that 2014 draft and his MLB debut, he announced his presence with a .308/.388/.518 slash through his first 100 plate appearances before fading badly with greater exposure to MLB pitching. Over his final 229 plate appearances that season, Zimmer hit .212/.271/.327 and struck out at a 30.5 percent clip. He couldn’t snap out of that funk in 2018, either, hitting .226/.281/.330 through 114 plate appearances prior to injuring his shoulder.
Zimmer returns to a vastly different outfield mix than the one he left. At the time of his injury, none of Oscar Mercado, Franmil Reyes, Yasiel Puig, Jake Bauers or Jordan Luplow were even in the organization. And while Puig is a free agent at season’s end, the rest of that group is controllable for the foreseeable future. That’s also true of speedster Greg Allen and the currently injured Tyler Naquin, which further complicates Zimmer’s path back to a prominent role with the team. He’s likely to be utilized in a limited capacity down the stretch, given that glut of outfield options, so he may have a difficult time making an impression on the club’s decision-makers this month. Zimmer does have a minor league option remaining beyond the 2019 season, so the club can send him to Triple-A next spring if that’s determined to be the best course of action.
MLBTR Chat Transcript
Click here to read a transcript of Friday’s chat with MLBTR’s Steve Adams.
AL East Notes: Alford, Orioles, Chacin
Longtime Blue Jays prospect Anthony Alford will be out of options next spring, increasing his urgency to make an impression with the club, Laura Armstrong of the Toronto Star writes. That said, opportunities in a crowded Toronto outfield aren’t necessarily easy to come by. Manager Charlie Montoyo said this week that he plans to “try to play him just like anybody else,” Armstrong notes, but the sheer volume of outfielders will inherently limit Alford’s time on the field.
The Jays also have Teoscar Hernandez, Derek Fisher, Billy McKinney and Jonathan Davis vying for playing time in addition to Randal Grichuk, who signed a five-year contract earlier this year. Furthermore, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. could soon return the injured list. Alford has seen time in parts of three seasons but still has just 24 games in the Majors to his credit — during which he has not been productive. The former two-sport star also slashed a rather lackluster .259/.343/.411 in Triple-A this season. Injuries and his time in football have played a role in limiting Alford’s development, who indeed needs to make a favorable impression at the MLB level sooner rather than later.
More from the AL East…
- The Orioles, too, are trying to evaluate their long-term outfield mix by getting as looks at Austin Hays, DJ Stewart and Mason Williams this month, as explored by MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko. The club views Hays as a potential opening day center field candidate next season, Kubatko notes. Hays made his MLB debut as a 21-year-old in 2017 but played only about a half season’s worth of games in 2018 and 2019, thanks in part to a fractured ankle that required surgery. Prior to his debut, Hays was one of the fastest-rising prospects in all of baseball, and it seems the organization hasn’t soured on him even after a regime change in the front office. Kubatko adds that the Orioles would like to keep Williams, a former top prospect with the Yankees, in the organization this offseason, so it seems he’ll have a chance to stick on the 40-man roster. Stewart, meanwhile, posted big numbers in Triple-A but was also limited by ankle and concussion issues. Beyond that, GM Mike Elias spoke to Kubatko about the difficulty of evaluating players based on Triple-A results at a time when changes to the baseball have clearly skewed the offensive environment.
- Jhoulys Chacin has thrown well with the Red Sox since signing a minor league deal there, writes Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe, who wonders if the righty could be making a case for a job next season. The Red Sox’ lack of pitching depth proved to be a significant flaw in 2019, and Chacin would represent a low-cost option who has fit in well with his new teammates. Abraham recounts the story of how Chacin came to be with the Sox, outlining a pressure-filled bullpen session that served as an audition for the veteran righty. “They wanted to see me pitch and said maybe they would give me an opportunity,” Chacin recalls. “I had 30 pitches to show them what I could do.” Since passing that test and landing a roster spot, Chacin has tossed 5 2/3 shutout innings with two hits, three walks and seven strikeouts.
Digging Into The Cubs’ Looming Decision On David Phelps
When David Phelps signed with the Blue Jays this past offseason, his $2.5MM contract contained a club option for the 2020 season initially that was valued at $1MM — a likely reflection of the fact that his performance and general health were question marks coming off Tommy John surgery. Unsurprisingly, the contract allowed for him to boost the value of that option with a solid showing in 2019.
Activated from the IL on June 17 and traded to the Cubs on July 30, Phelps has been terrific for both teams, working to a combined 3.18 ERA with a 30-to-12 K/BB ratio in 28 1/3 innings (33 appearances). When he took the mound for the 30th time in 2019, he boosted the value of his 2020 option from that initial $1MM baseline to $3MM. He’s also already earned $500K of incentives and will earn another $250K when he makes his 35th appearance. If Phelps takes the ball seven more times before the end of the regular season, he’ll again boost the value of his option, this time to $5MM, and secure another $350K bonus.
The level at which his 2020 option settles is of particular intrigue because that will also determine the amount of incentives available to him next year. Phelps’ contract came with three different possible tiers of incentives, each of which was based on the option’s ultimate value. MLBTR has learned some of the specifics surrounding those incentive packages. If his option is valued at $3MM (i.e. he appears in 39 or fewer total games), Phelps would be able to earn an additional $2.75MM in appearance-based bonuses: $250K for reaching 25, 30 and 35 games as well as $400K for reaching 40, 45, 50, 55 and 60 games.
Were he to reach that 40-appearance threshold in 2019 and boost the value of the option to $5MM, he’d be able to earn an additional $1.5MM in appearance-based bonuses: $150K for reaching 25, 30 and 35 games as well as $210K for reaching 40, 45, 50, 55 and 60 games. Both tiers contain added incentives for games finished, but the Cubs’ signing of Craig Kimbrel doesn’t bode well for Phelps’ chances of an extended run as the team’s closer.
All of those factors will be weighed by the Cubs when they determine whether to bring Phelps back for the 2020 season, as will the fact that they stand to see a large chunk of their ‘pen depart via free agency. Brandon Kintzler, Pedro Strop, Steve Cishek, Derek Holland, Xavier Cedeno, Tony Barnette and Brandon Morrow (who didn’t throw a pitch in 2019) are all off the books at season’s end.
From a pure performance standpoint, Phelps has improved as the season has worn on. His fastball averaged 92.1 mph with the Jays but is up to 92.8 mph with the Cubs. That’s still less than the 94.4 mph he averaged prior to Tommy John surgery, but the life on that heater does seem to be coming back. Phelps also managed just a 5.4 percent swinging-strike rate in Toronto but has seen that rate leap to 11.1 percent in Chicago — a rate that would represent a career-high. He’s also benefited from a sky-high 98.6 percent strand rate with the Cubs, though, which no pitcher can be expected sustain over a larger body of work. Phelps has held righties in check nicely (.232/.311/.377) but struggled against opposing lefties (.263/.349/.553).
Phelps’ usage over the regular season’s final couple of weeks will be worth monitoring, as it may ultimately play a large role in determining whether he’s back with the team in 2020 or searching for a new deal in free agency this winter. Neither the $3MM or $5MM price point is any sort of back-breaker, particularly with a fair bit of money coming off the books. But the Cubs also likely want to maintain as much flexibility as they can, and tacking on an extra $2MM to Phelps’ option is probably something they’d like to avoid, if possible, unless they’re planning to decline the option either way. There’s no buyout on the option, so this’ll be a straight $3MM or $5MM decision, depending on how many more times Phelps takes the ball prior to Sept. 29.
Brandon Woodruff Expected To Return Within A Week
It hasn’t been a good week for the Brewers on the injury front (obviously), but they’re on the verge of getting one of their best arms back from the IL, general manager David Stearns tells Adam McCalvy of MLB.com (Twitter link). Right-hander Brandon Woodruff threw to hitters yesterday, and the organization is “very pleased” with how Woodruff looked in that session. Stearns adds that the expectation is that Woodruff will be able to pitch in a big league game “sometime within the next week.”
Woodruff, 26, hasn’t pitched in a game since July 21 due to what is clearly a rather significant oblique strain. He’s been rehabbing for a bit now but won’t have the luxury of ramping back up with a minor league affiliate, so he could be used in short stints his first few times out, McCalvy adds. There’s not much time to build him back up to a full starter’s workload, though perhaps if the Brewers secure a Wild Card spot and advance into divisional play, he’d be an intriguing multi-inning weapon either out of the ‘pen or in a truncated (by design) starting capacity.
Prior to landing on the IL, Woodruff had been the Brewers’ most valuable starter. Through 20 trips to the hill and 117 2/3 innings, he’d turned in a 3.75 ERA with averages of 10.4 K/9, 2.2 BB/9 and 0.92 HR/9 to go along with a 43.6 percent ground-ball rate. Woodruff’s 11.6 percent swinging-strike rate and 33.5 percent opponents’ chase rate were both improvements over the 2018 campaign, as was his 96.2 mph average fastball velocity.
Fielding-independent metrics and Statcast both loved Woodruff’s work on the mound as well. He logged a 3.09 FIP and 3.46 xFIP while generally excelling at limiting hard contact. Woodruff’s average opponents’ exit velocity was in the 93rd percentile among big league hurlers at just 85.7 mph, and only five percent of MLB starters limited opponents in terms of barreled-ball rate.
The Brewers have rattled off six consecutive wins and suddenly find themselves tied with the Cubs for the second Wild Card spot in the National League. Not only that, they’re just four games back of the Cardinals for the NL Central lead and have a three-game series in St. Louis set to begin tomorrow. It doesn’t sound like Woodruff will factor prominently into that series, but his looming return is all the more important to the Brewers now that they’re squarely back in both the Wild Card and division races with 17 games to play.