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Orioles Outright Mickey Jannis

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The Orioles announced that right-hander Mickey Jannis has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Norfolk. He’d been designated for assignment earlier in the week.

Jannis will remain in the organization as high minors depth. The 33-year-old has had a strong season with the Tides, working to a 2.92 ERA across 24 2/3 innings. His strikeout and walk rates (13% and 10%, respectively) are uninspiring, but that’s generally to be expected for a knuckleballer.

That quality Triple-A work earned Jannis the briefest of looks at the big league level earlier this week. He was selected to the roster and made his MLB debut on Wednesday. Jannis was called on for a few innings of mop-up work against the Astros, the league’s top lineup. He didn’t fare well, as Houston tagged him for seven runs on eight hits (including three homers) and four walks. At the very least, Jannis did record his first major league strikeout, punching out Yordan Álvarez.

Freddy Galvis Out One-To-Two Months

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JUNE 27: Galvis has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a right quadriceps strain, the team announced. Urias and Leyba were each recalled from Norfolk, as was outfielder Ryan McKenna. Righty Konner Wade and utilityman Stevie Wilkerson were optioned in corresponding moves.

Galvis will miss between one and two months, manager Brandon Hyde told reporters (including Steve Melewski of MASNsports.com). That casts serious doubt about his trade candidacy. Galvis would need to return at the very early end of that projected timetable to be healthy by the July 30 deadline. Players on the injured list can still be traded, but a veteran role player like Galvis never looked likely to bring back a highly impactful return, and contenders’ interest in acquiring him would be dealt a serious blow if he’s still on the IL come deadline day.

JUNE 26: Freddy Galvis was carted off the field during today’s loss to the Blue Jays. The team described the injury as right quadriceps discomfort. A roster move appears likely to follow, with Galvis heading to the injured list, per Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com.

Along with being one of the Orioles’ more vocal veteran leaders, the well-respected, glove-first shortstop was a potential trade piece for GM Mike Elias. With little more than a month before the trade deadline, Baltimore will have to wait and see about the severity of Galvis’ injury to know whether he might still be considered a trade chip. Galvis has been worth 0.9 rWAR while slashing .246/.304/.411 in 273 plate appearances.

In the meantime, Pat Valaika took over at shortstop today, while Ramon Urias or Domingo Leyba seem most likely to get the call from Triple-A for more regular playing time. For what it’s worth, neither Urias nor Leyba was in the starting lineup for Triple-A Norfolk tonight, notes Kubatko, suggesting one or both could be on the way to Buffalo. The Orioles play a day game against the Blue Jays tomorrow.

AL East Notes: Mancini, Kirk, Anderson, McKay, Kluber

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In a bit of good news for Orioles’ fans, Trey Mancini will participate in this year’s Home Run Derby, per The Athletic’s Dan Connolly (via Twitter). Mancini should provide some feel-good coverage for the 2021 All-Star festivities. Having missed last season while being treated for stage 3 colon cancer, Mancini has returned to lead the Orioles with a .260/.337/.466 triple-slash line with 14 home runs and 52 runs batted in, good for a 121 wRC+. Let’s check in with the other clubs in the AL East…

  • Alejandro Kirk has joined the Blue Jays’ Triple-A club in Trenton with the possibility of returning from the injured list as early as July 1, per Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca (via Twitter). Kirk must first prove himself ready in Triple-A. After making the team out of spring training, Kirk has been out since May 2nd with a flexor strain. The Jays have also been without starter Danny Jansen for almost three weeks now. Riley Adams, who has three options remaining, will head back to Trenton whenever Kirk is ready.
  • Nick Anderson threw his second bullpen session for the Rays, and he appears on track for an August return. per Adam Berry of MLB.com (via Twitter). Anderson’s value as a bullpen ace is well-known after last year’s breakout campaign — 0.55 ERA in 16 1/3 regular-season innings. The Rays leaned hard on Anderson to get them to the World Series: he appeared in both games of the Wild Card sweep of the Blue Jays, two of the five games in their ALDS win over the Yankees, and three more apiece in the ALCS and World Series.
  • Brendan McKay is in line for a 30-pitch bullpen soon, Berry also notes, and if that goes well, he’ll start to build his strength up to a starter’s workload. McKay last appeared in competitive action in 2019, when he threw 49 innings at the big-league level with a 5.14 ERA/4.03 FIP.
  • The Yankees don’t expect to get Corey Kluber back until August at the earliest, but it could be as late as September, per MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch (via Twitter). Kluber gave the Yankees exactly what they’d hoped in his ten starts: 3.04 ERA/3.77 FIP in 53 1/3 innings. Unfortunately, he also realized their fears when he suffered a shoulder strain that will ultimately knock him out for more than half the year.

 

MLB Suspends Blue Jays Alek Manoah Five Games For Hitting Maikel Franco With Pitch

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TODAY: After starting yesterday, Manoah has dropped his appeal and will begin his suspension.  Since the Blue Jays have an off-day Monday, Manoah likely won’t miss a start during his five games off.

JUNE 22: Major League Baseball announced that Blue Jays right-hander Alek Manoah has been suspended for five games and fined an undisclosed amount for “intentionally throwing” at Orioles third baseman Maikel Franco during last Saturday’s start in Baltimore. He is appealing the ban.

After surrendering back-to-back home runs to Ryan Mountcastle and DJ Stewart, Manoah hit Franco on the elbow with a 94 MPH fastball in the fourth inning of Saturday’s game. Franco took exception and jawed at Manoah, leading the benches to empty. Manoah was ejected by first base umpire Jerry Meals.

Additionally, Toronto manager Charlie Montoyo has been suspended for one game as a result of Manoah’s actions. He’ll serve his punishment tonight, sitting out the Jays game against the Marlins.

Orioles Return Rule 5 Pick Mac Sceroler To Reds

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The Orioles have returned right-hander Mac Sceroler to the Reds organization.  The Orioles selected Sceroler away from the Reds with the fifth pick of last December’s Rule 5 draft, but after Baltimore designated Sceroler for assignment earlier this week, the O’s had to offer him back to Cincinnati when no team claimed Scheroler off waivers.

Prior to this season, Sceroler had never pitched above the high-A level since being a fifth-round pick for Cincinnati in the 2017 amateur draft.  Sceroler had to spent the entire 2021 season on the Orioles’ active roster for the team to officially secure his rights, but he ended up pitching in just five MLB games due to spending almost two months on the injured list with right shoulder tendinitis.

Sceroler’s first taste of the majors didn’t go well, as he posted a 14.09 ERA over 7 2/3 innings, with seven walks and six home runs allowed in that brief sample size.  He’ll now head to the Reds’ Triple-A affiliate in Louisville, though it’s worth noting that Sceroler also struggled (16.62 ERA) in 4 1/3 innings for Baltimore’s Triple-A team while he was rehabbing his shoulder this season.

The Orioles have traditionally made frequent use of the Rule 5 Draft to add young talent to the roster, with Anthony Santander, T.J. McFarland, Ryan Flaherty, and Joey Rickard the most notable names acquired via the Rule 5.  Right-hander Tyler Wells is the lone remaining 2020 selection who is still on Baltimore’s active roster, and Wells has looked quite good in his rookie season, posting a 4.01 ERA, 31.3% strikeout rate and 6.0% walk rate over 33 2/3 innings out of the Orioles’ pen.

2021 Amateur Draft Rumors: Pirates, Mayer, Orioles, Mock Drafts

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The 2021 amateur draft begins on July 11, and with the later date comes more time for analysis, predictions, smokescreens, rumors, and possible major changes up and down teams’ draft boards.  With this in mind, there is naturally quite a bit of uncertainty over which prospects will land with which teams, as a real consensus has yet to develop in almost every single spot in the first round.

Baseball America’s Carlos Collazo, The Athletic’s Keith Law, MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis, and ESPN.com’s Kiley McDaniel have all published new mock drafts within the last week, and one constant emerged between the four pundits — the Pirates taking California high school shortstop Marcelo Mayer with the first overall (1-1) pick.  It isn’t a sure thing by any means, however, as the Pirates are said to be focused “only on position players at this point,” according to Law, so such candidates as Louisville catcher Henry Davis (Callis cites Davis as Pittsburgh’s apparent “Plan B”) or high school shortstops Jordan Lawlar and Khalil Watson could still be in the mix.  Collazo also believes the Pirates are considering Vanderbilt right-hander Jack Leiter.

The Pirates’ $14,394,000 draft bonus pool is the highest of any team, and they plan to maximize value by drafting a player at 1-1 who is thought to be less willing to insist on the full slot price $8,415,300 slot price for the first overall pick.  “I think that’s what Pittsburgh’s pick will come down to: taking the one that is clearly cheaper to sign,” McDaniel writes, which certainly isn’t welcome news to Pirates fans long frustrated by the team’s unwillingness to spend.

That being said, many teams have deployed the strategy of spreading around their draft bonus money in the past.  The most famous example was the Astros’ pick of Carlos Correa (seen as a slight reach at the time) first overall in 2012, and Houston signed Correa to a below-slot bonus and then using that saved money to sign 41st-overall pick Lance McCullers Jr. to an above-slot deal.  It also isn’t like Mayer would be a controversial choice at 1-1, considering that MLB Pipeline ranks him first on their top 250 draft prospects list, and McDaniel’s most recent prospect ranking has Mayer second overall.

While Mayer looks like the favorite at the moment, it is quite possible the perceived price tags could still fluctuate in the next three weeks.  For instance, the three pundits all note that the Tigers love Mayer, so he isn’t likely to fall beyond Detroit at the third overall pick if the Pirates and Rangers (who pick second) both pass.  As McDaniel observes, this impacts Mayer’s leverage in potential negotiations with the Pirates, since the young shortstop can be reasonably certain of at least landing a bonus in range of the $7,221,200 slot price attached to the third overall pick.

There is no consensus whatsoever in the mock drafts after a hypothetical Pirates/Mayer 1-1 pick, so if Pittsburgh went in another direction, the draft boards would be entirely blown up.  To give you an idea of the wide range of scenarios, here is the list of players cited by Callis, Collazo, Law and McDaniel as possibilities for each team drafting in the top eight, along with which pundit selected which prospect for each top-eight team in their mock draft.

  • 1. Pirates: Mayer (Callis/Collazo/Law/McDaniel), Henry Davis, Jordan Lawlar, Khalil Watson, Jack Leiter
  • 2. Rangers: Leiter (Callis), Lawlar (Collazo/Law), Davis (McDaniel), Kumar Rocker, Mayer, Watson….in a contrast to the other three pundits, Callis writes that Texas has Lawlar and Davis “on the back burner” behind Watson, Mayer, and Leiter.  “Watson has real heat at this spot,” Collazo writes.
  • 3. Tigers: Mayer, Jackson Jobe (Callis/Collazo), Leiter (Law), Brady House (McDaniel), Lawlar, Watson, possibly Rocker “as a big maybe” in Collazo’s words
  • 4. Red Sox: Lawlar (Callis), Davis (Law), Leiter (Collazo/McDaniel)….Collazo doesn’t believe Leiter would fall beyond Boston at fourth overall,
  • 5. Orioles: Davis (Callis), Colton Cowser (Law), Watson (Collazo/McDaniel), House, Harry Ford, either of Mayer/Lawler if they happened to fall….Baltimore is widely expected to take a college position player at an under-slot price, as a way of keeping money in reserve to go over-slot on other picks.
  • 6. Diamondbacks: Rocker (Callis), Davis (Collazo), Watson (Law), Lawlor (McDaniel), Jobe
  • 7. Royals: Watson (Callis), Rocker (Collazo/Law/McDaniel)….this is another minor consensus area, as Law and McDaniel believe that Rocker isn’t likely to fall beyond Kansas City.  “The market for Rocker is weirdly specific,” Law writes, citing the Rangers, Red Sox, Royals, Nationals, and Mets as perhaps the only true interested parties.  Of course, Callis projected the D’Backs to take Rocker at sixth overall, so Arizona could also be a candidate for the Vanderbilt righty.
  • 8. Rockies: House (Callis/Collazo/Law), Benny Montgomery (McDaniel), Jobe

All four mock drafts are well worth reading in full, to get a sense of what the 29 teams with first-round picks are generally targeting this year or have historically looked for in past drafts.  (The Astros aren’t included, as they lost their first-rounder as part of their punishment for the sign-stealing scandal.)

For more on the prospects themselves, you can check out the aforementioned lists from McDaniel and MLB Pipeline, Baseball America’s top 500 list, or some of the individual writeups from the Sports Info Solutions blog on such top college players as Florida outfielder Jud Fabian, Wake Forest right-hander Ryan Cusick, UCLA shortstop Matt McClain, and Mississippi right-hander Gunnar Hoglund.

Orioles Designate Mickey Jannis For Assignment, Select Konner Wade

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The Orioles announced Friday that they’ve selected the contract of righty Konner Wade from Triple-A Norfolk and designated right-hander Mickey Jannis for assignment in a corresponding move. The O’s also optioned righty Dean Kremer to Norfolk and recalled lefty Alexander Wells.

Jannis was just selected to the major league roster earlier this week. The 33-year-old made his MLB debut Wednesday night against the Astros, but it didn’t go well. He worked 3 1/3 innings of mop-up relief but was tagged for seven runs on eight hits (including three homers), issuing four walks while striking out just one. It was a nightmare outing to be sure, but it also came against a Houston lineup that has been far and away the best in baseball this year. Before that tough debut, the knuckleballer earned a big league look by pitching to a 2.92 ERA in 24 2/3 innings with Norfolk. The O’s will have a week to trade him or place him on waivers.

The designation of Jannis frees up Wade to make a late-career MLB debut of his own. A 7th-round pick out of the University of Arizona in 2013, Wade has spent the past seven seasons climbing the minor league ladder. Most of that time was spent in the Rockies and Red Sox systems, but the 29-year-old signed a minor league deal with Baltimore over the winter. He’s spent the entire year in Norfolk, where he’s tossed 31 innings of 3.48 ERA ball, mostly as a multi-inning reliever. Wade has never been one to miss many bats, and that hasn’t changed this year (16.4% strikeout rate). But the righty also has a long history of quality strike-throwing, and that’s continued in 2021 (4.9% walk rate).

Kremer has spent much of the year in the O’s rotation. He’s struggled mightily, though, pitching to a 7.25 ERA with worse than average strikeout and walk numbers (20% and 10.7%, respectively) over 49 2/3 innings. That’s a disappointing follow-up to a decent four-start MLB look in 2020 for Kremer, who’s long been seen as one of the more promising pitchers in the Baltimore system.

Wells is a decently-regarded prospect in his own right. The 24-year-old doesn’t throw hard or miss bats, but he owns some of the best control in the minors. He has a 5.63 ERA across 32 Triple-A frames this season. Wells will be making his major league debut whenever he gets into a game.

Mets Claim Chance Sisco

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The Mets have claimed catcher Chance Sisco off waivers from the Orioles, per team announcements from both clubs. The Orioles had designated him for assignment last week. The Mets moved J.D. Davis to the 60-day injured list to clear a roster spot for Sisco, who has been optioned to Triple-A Syracuse for the time being.

Today’s claim brings to an end Sisco’s tenure with the Orioles, who selected him in the second round of the 2013 draft. The left-handed hitting backstop raked up through Double-A over the next few seasons, eventually earning himself a place on top prospect lists. Baseball America ranked Sisco among the back half of the league’s top 100 minor league talents entering the 2017 and 2018 campaigns, with the expectation that Sisco would cement himself as a bat-first regular behind the dish.

To this point, however, Sisco hasn’t carried that offensive promise over to the highest level. He tallied 598 major league plate appearances with Baltimore over the past five seasons, managing just a cumulative .199/.319/.339 line. He’s popped sixteen home runs and walked at a strong 10.2% clip, but Sisco has become increasingly strikeout prone as he’s climbed to the highest level. He’s gone down on strikes in 32.3% of his MLB plate appearances. Advanced defensive metrics have panned his work behind the plate, which was also a concern for some scouts as he worked his way up the ladder.

While Sisco hasn’t yet proven a valuable big leaguer, there’s little harm for the Mets in placing a claim on an obviously talented player. He’s still just 26 years old and has a decent .264/.352/.421 slash line in 805 career plate appearances at Triple-A. As mentioned, he can also be optioned for the remainder of the year, so the Mets can keep him in Syracuse as high minors’ depth if he remains on the 40-man roster all season.

Davis’ transfer to the 60-day IL is largely a procedural move. It rules him out for 60 days from the time of his initial IL placement (May 3). He’ll be eligible to return on July 1. General manager Zack Scott told reporters (including Tim Britton of the Athletic) earlier this week that Davis could embark on a minor league rehab assignment within a week or two.

AL East Injury Notes: Means, Arroyo, Walls, Borucki

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Orioles manager Brandon Hyde told MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko and other reporters that John Means is slated to return “at some point right after the All-Star break.”  Means hit the 10-day injured list on June 6 due to a shoulder strain, and his timeline wasn’t entirely clear at the time of the placement.  For now, Means is able to play catch, and will gradually work his way up to readiness over the next few weeks.

Though it’s good news that a projected return date is in place, the timing confirms that Means won’t be participating in the All-Star Game, and the left-hander certainly looked like a strong candidate for his second All-Star selection based on his first two months of work.  A return shortly after the July 12-15 All-Star break would allow time for Means to show that he is healthy for any teams interested in a deal prior to the July 30 trade deadline, though since Means is controlled through the 2024 season, there isn’t any immediate pressure on the Orioles to move Means unless a great offer comes along.

More on other injury situations from around the AL East…

  • The Red Sox placed Christian Arroyo on the 10-day IL due to a right knee contusion, with the placement backdated to June 21.  Michael Chavis was called up from Triple-A in the corresponding move.  Arroyo left Sunday’s game after a collision with teammate Enrique Hernandez, though x-rays were negative on what the club described as a bone bruise in his right shin.  Arroyo has hit a solid .264/.324/.432 over 138 plate appearances while getting the bulk of playing time at second base this season, though this is his second trip to the IL, after missing two weeks in May with a hand contusion after being hit by a pitch.
  • The Rays placed shortstop Taylor Walls on the 10-day IL (retroactive to June 23) due to right wrist tendinitis, and right-hander Drew Rasmussen has been called up to take Walls’ spot on the active roster.  Walls told Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times and other reporters that he received a cortisone shot after trying to play through the injury for around two weeks, and he doesn’t expect to miss time beyond the minimum 10 days.  Walls made his MLB debut just over a month ago, and he has posted a respectable 95 OPS+ while hitting .222/.337/.333 over his first 95 big league plate appearances.  The Rays have used Walls as their starting shortstop since his promotion, though now that star prospect Wander Franco is on the roster, Franco is likely to get the bulk of time at the position while Walls is out.  Given how the Rays mix and match players around the diamond, Walls probably isn’t in danger of getting Wally Pipp’d by Franco, who made his own debut on Tuesday as Tampa’s starting third baseman.
  • Ryan Borucki is slated to throw a bullpen session on Friday, Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo told Sportsnet’s Arden Zwelling and other reporters.  Borucki hasn’t pitched since May 7 due to a left flexor strain, and while the southpaw was tentatively scheduled to return sometime before the end of June, Montoyo didn’t commit to any firmer timeline.  “We’ll see how he does….If he throws a good bullpen, then we’ll go from there,” Montoyo said.

Orioles Select Mickey Jannis

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The Orioles announced they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Mickey Jannis. Fellow righty Mac Sceroler was designated for assignment to create active and 40-man roster space.

Jannis’ promotion will be welcome news to fans of a unique pitch that has fallen out of vogue in recent seasons. The 33-year-old is a knuckleballer, and he’ll become the first of that ilk to appear in the majors in 2021 if he gets into a game. According to Statcast, there have been twelve knuckleballs thrown in MLB this season, but they come with an asterisk. All twelve “knucklers” were thrown by White Sox utilityman Danny Mendick during a mop-up appearance against the Red Sox in April. (Jannis was featured in a 2019 article about the league’s declining usage of the knuckleball by Ben Lindbergh of the Ringer).

Today’s news also marks the culmination of a long personal journey for Jannis. A 44th-round pick in 2010 out of Cal State-Bakersfield, he’s pitched in parts of eight minor league seasons and four years of independent ball. He reached Triple-A in the Mets system but didn’t get to the majors with New York. Signed to a minors pact with Baltimore over the winter, Jannis earned his first big league promotion with a strong start at Triple-A Norfolk. Across 24 2/3 innings with the Tides, he’s pitched to a 2.92 ERA. As might be expected from a knuckleballer, he hasn’t missed many bats (13% strikeout rate) and has issued a fair amount of walks (10%) but he’s only given up one home run this season.

Sceroler, 26, was selected out of the Reds organization in last December’s Rule 5 draft. He’s logged his first 7 2/3 MLB innings in 2021, but they’ve not gone well. Sceroler has been tagged for fifteen runs (twelve earned) in that limited time. He’s punched out a decent eleven hitters but also issued seven walks and given up a staggering six homers.

As a Rule 5 draftee, Sceroler had to stick on the active roster (or injured list) all season if the O’s wanted to retain his contractual rights. He’ll now be exposed to waivers. If he goes unclaimed, Baltimore will have to offer him back to the Reds, who wouldn’t need to dedicate him a 40-man roster spot.

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