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Brandon Waddell

Cardinals Activate Miles Mikolas

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The Cardinals announced Friday that right-hander Miles Mikolas has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list and will start tonight’s game. St. Louis placed right-hander Ryan Helsley on the 10-day injured list with a stress reaction in his right elbow, opening a spot on the active roster. Meanwhile, lefty Brandon Waddell has been placed on the Covid-19 injured list, tweets Zachary Silver of MLB.com, which opens a spot on the 40-man roster.

Tonight’s start is not only just Mikolas’ second appearance of the season — it’s second appearance overall dating back to the 2019 season. The right-hander parlayed an excellent three-year stint in Japan into a two-year, $15.5MM deal with the Cardinals, and he showed well enough in his return to MLB that the Cards signed him to a four-year, $68MM extension that spanned the 2020-23 seasons. Forearm surgery wiped out Mikolas’ entire 2020 season, however, and he’s spent the bulk of the current season on the injured list with continued forearm troubles.

Since returning to the Major Leagues in 2018, Mikolas has pitched quite well, logging a collective 3.45 earned run average with an 18.4 percent strikeout rate, a minuscule 3.9 percent walk rate and an above-average 48.4 percent ground-ball rate. Mikolas made the 2018 All-Star team and pitched well enough that season to land a sixth-place finish in National League Cy Young voting.

He’ll return to a Cardinals rotation that has been hammered by injuries throughout the summer but is now getting as close to full strength as it’s been in quite some time. Jack Flaherty returned to the staff a week ago after missing two months with an oblique tear, and the Cards hope to get Kwang Hyun Kim back from the 10-day injured list sooner than later. He made a rehab start just yesterday.

Flaherty and Mikolas join cornerstone Adam Wainwright and trade deadline newcomers J.A. Happ and Jon Lester in the rotation for now as the Cardinals do their best to chase down the second National League Wild Card spot. St. Louis has won seven of its past ten games to trim its deficit to three and a half games.

Cardinals Designate Scott Hurst For Assignment

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The Cardinals have activated Brandon Waddell from the IL and designated Scott Hurst for assignment, per a club announcement. Waddell was optioned and placed on the COVID-IL in mid-July. He will remain with the Triple-A club in Memphis. Hurst’s designation was required to open up a spot on the 40-man roster. (Players on the COVID-IL do not use a roster spot.)

Hurst, a 25-year-old outfielder, had his contract selected by the club in mid-April. He got into just seven games with only five hitless plate appearances before being optioned. His Triple-A performance has been less than ideal on the season, producing a slash line of .186/.289/.270 in 251 plate appearances across 59 games.

Despite those numbers, it’s possible he could be claimed off waivers by a team with an eye on the future. He is still young, can be optioned to the minors and comes with years of team control. However, if he clears waivers, he would not have enough service time to reject an outright assignment and would stay in the Cardinals organization.

Cardinals Claim Brandon Waddell, Outright Tyler Webb

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The Cardinals have claimed lefty Brandon Waddell off waivers from the Orioles, per announcements from both teams. Additionally, St. Louis lefty Tyler Webb has cleared outright waivers and been assigned to Triple-A Memphis. Both clubs now have a full 40-man roster.

St. Louis becomes Waddell’s third team of the 2021 season. A former Pirates prospect, Waddell opened the year with the Twins, but the Orioles claimed him off waivers last month. Between Pittsburgh, Minnesota and Baltimore, Waddell has logged 8 1/3 innings over the past two seasons, allowing seven runs (six earned) on twelve hits and six walks with just three strikeouts.

Obviously, Waddell hasn’t found success at the big league level yet, but he’s continued to attract interest from teams. He’s shown the ability to spin his low-90s fastball and mid-80s slider at high rates during his limited MLB time. Waddell has also posted impressive minor league numbers up through Double-A, although he’s only managed a 6.02 ERA in parts of three Triple-A seasons.

Waddell could be an option to replace Webb as a lefty relief option for St. Louis. The Cards designated the 30-year-old for assignment earlier this week after a dreadful start to the season. Webb doesn’t have the requisite service time to reject an outright assignment. He’ll instead report to Memphis and look to work his way back into the major league mix at some point.

Orioles Make Several Roster Moves

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The Orioles announced a flurry of moves this afternoon, including the news that infielder Domingo Leyba has been claimed off waivers from the Diamondbacks and optioned to Triple-A Norfolk.  Infielder Ramon Urias and right-hander Travis Lakins have been called up from Norfolk, and righty Hunter Harvey has been activated off the 60-day injured list.

To create roster space, right-hander Shawn Armstrong and lefty Brandon Waddell were designated for assignment.  (Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reported earlier today that Waddell was being DFA’ed.)  Additionally, infielder Pat Valaika was placed on the bereavement list.

Leyba was designated for assignment just two days ago.  The 25-year-old went hitless (with two walks) in 24 plate appearances for Arizona this season, following a very respectable .807 OPS over his first 30 career big league PA in 2019.  This wide range of production comes on the heels of a solid .290/.347/.434 slash line in 2624 PA in the minors as part of the Diamondbacks’ and Tigers’ farm systems since 2013.  Leyba put up particularly big numbers with Arizona’s Triple-A team in 2018-19, though the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League environment might have played a role considering his more modest career output in previous years.

Harvey suffered a left oblique strain in mid-March, and is now set to finally make his 2021 debut.  Injuries have pretty much been the story of Harvey’s career since being selected 22nd overall in the 2013 draft, as his MLB resume consists of only 15 total innings in 2019-20.  Even that small sample size still hints at some promise, however, as Harvey’s fastball sits in the high 90’s and he has struck out 17 of his 63 batters faced.  Orioles manager Brandon Hyde told The Athletic’s Dan Connelly and other reporters that Harvey will be used in a variety of bullpen roles, with seemingly no concession made to his injury history — he’ll be deployed “like a regular piece in the bullpen,” Hyde said.

Since being claimed off waivers from the Mariners in April 2019, Armstrong has been something of a workhorse out of the Baltimore pen, appearing in 85 games and tossing 89 1/3 innings.  The results weren’t always there, however, as Armstrong had a 5.34 ERA during his stint in the orange and black.  Armstrong is out of minor league options, so the O’s had no choice but to designate him and expose him to a potential waiver claim.

Waddell was a waiver pickup himself, selected by the Orioles off of the Twins’ roster in early May.  He has pitched in only one game for the O’s and two games for Triple-A Norfolk, as Kubatko notes that Waddell was delayed by the intake process required by COVID-19 protocols.  A longtime member of the Pirates’ minor league system, Waddell has seen MLB action with the Bucs, Twins, and Orioles over the last two seasons, with a 6.48 ERA over 8 1/3 total career innings in the big leagues.

Orioles Option Travis Lakins, Recall Brandon Waddell

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The Orioles optioned right-hander Travis Lakins to Triple-A on Sunday, recalling Brandon Waddell to take his roster spot, per Rich Dubroff of Baltimorebaseball.com.

Lakins seemed to have made himself an indispensable piece of Baltimore’s bullpen in 2020 with a 2.81 ERA over 25 2/3 innings. The former Boston reliever has been less stellar this season through 16 appearances covering 14 2/3 innings. The 26-year-old owns a 7.36 ERA/6.42 FIP and 41.9 percent groundball rate. He’s neither striking out many hitters (17.9 percent strikeout rate) nor limiting free passes enough (16.4 percent walk rate).

Waddell was only recently claimed from the Minnesota Twins. A former starter in the minors, Waddell saw a jump in his strikeout rate as he began transitioning into a relief role during the 2019 season. The 26-year-old southpaw has just 7 1/3 innings of Major League experience split between the Twins this season and the Pirates in 2020.

Twins Place Byron Buxton On Injured List, Recall Trevor Larnach

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The Twins are placing Byron Buxton on the injured list with a hip strain, per Phil Miller of the Star Tribune (via Twitter). Trevor Larnach will be added to the roster with an opportunity to make his Major League debut. Larnach was not on the 40-man roster, so to make room, the Twins designated Brandon Waddell for assignment.

This is a potentially devastating bit of news for the Twins, who are off to an 11-19 start despite tremendous production from Buxton. Buxton has long been an injury concern, but losing him now is particularly difficult. It’s a Grade 2 strain that will keep Buxton out for “weeks,” notes Miller. Buxton has been among the most explosive players in the game, slashing .370/.408/.772 with nine home runs in 98 plate appearances. He has put up 2.7 bWAR, 2.4 fWAR, and a 228 wRC+ in less than a month of playing time.

Jake Cave is in the lineup for Buxton in tonight’s game, but the Twins are likely to employ a dynamic outfield crew for the next couple of weeks. Larnach and Kyle Garlick will have their opportunities in the corners, but neither project as centerfield capable. Max Kepler may be called upon to captain the outfield in Buxton’s stead. Kepler has 134 games of centerfield experience throughout his career, though he appears there only twice in 2020.

Alex Kirilloff, meanwhile, received a cortisone injection in his wrist, but only time will tell when he is able to return, per Betsy Helfand of the Pioneer Press (via Twitter). Luis Arraez is more likely to help in the near term, as he appears close to returning after suffering a concussion, tweets Miller. Arraez could see time in the corner. Regardless, Cave and Kepler figure to be the Twins’ centerfielders until Buxton returns.

Twins Place Alex Kirilloff On Injured List, Activate Miguel Sano

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The Twins announced that they’ve placed outfielder/first baseman Alex Kirilloff on the 10-day injured list due to a right wrist sprain and reinstated Miguel Sano from the injured list in his place. Kirilloff’s IL placement is retroactive to May 4. Minnesota also optioned lefty Brandon Waddell to Triple-A St. Paul and recalled fellow southpaw Lewis Thorpe, who’ll start tonight’s game.

It’s an ill-timed setback for the Twins and for the 23-year-old Kirilloff, a former first-round pick and consensus Top 50 overall prospect in MLB who’d been their hottest hitter of late. Kirilloff was called up for an audition two weeks ago, and while he got out to a miserable 0-for-15 start, he’d finally begun to see his huge hard-contact rates bear fruit.

Kirilloff homered four times in the Twins’ series victory over the Royals this past weekend and came back with a pair of doubles Monday against the Rangers. Over his past seven games, Kirilloff had put together a blistering .321/.333/.857 batting line with seven extra-base hits and 11 runs knocked in.

The team has yet to provide a timetable for when the promising slugger might return to the club. Manager Rocco Baldelli rather vaguely told reporters yesterday that that the injury “doesn’t appear to be the most minor of things,” adding that Kirilloff would see a specialist (link via Meagan Ryan of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune). It’s particularly concerning given that Kirilloff endured multiple IL stints in 2019 due to problems in that same right wrist.

Sano has been out for a bit more than two weeks due to a hamstring strain. He opened the season in a dreadful slump, going just 5-for-45 to begin the 2021 campaign. Sano has walked at what would (obviously) be a career-best 22.4 percent clip and has actually cut back on his prolific strikeout rate through his first 58 plate appearances, but some of those punchouts have simply been swapped out for pop-ups; he’s already up to six infield flies this year.

Twins Select Brandon Waddell, Place Brent Rooker On Injured List

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The Twins will place outfielder/first baseman Brent Rooker on the 10-day injured list with a cervical strain in his neck and select the contract of left-hander Brandon Waddell from their alternate training site today, the club announced. Hard-throwing young righty Edwar Colina was transferred from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL to open a spot on the 40-man roster for Waddell. Colina is dealing with inflammation in his right elbow.

Rooker, 26, was the No. 35 overall pick back in the 2017 draft and has had some rough luck early in his big league career. He burst onto the scene with a .316/.381/.579 slash through seven games last summer before sustaining a fractured forearm when he was hit by a pitch. That injury ended his season, and Rooker will now head back to the injured list after just appearing in just three games in 2021.

Rooker is a bat-first prospect who isn’t likely viewed as the team’s long-term answer in left field, but his power bat is still expected to get a legitimate audition when he’s healthy. He can shift between first, left field and DH, and given that his most recent minor league work in 2019 produced a .282/.399/.530 batting line in 67 games between Double-A and Triple-A, it’s not hard to see why the organization is bullish on him. The Twins did not give an immediate indication as to how long the new injury is expected to sideline Rooker.

As for the 26-year-old Waddell, an eventual big league audition with the Twins appeared likely after the former Pirates farmhand turned heads in Spring Training. Waddell yielded five runs in 9 1/3 innings, but he also struck out 15 of the 36 hitters he faced (41.7 percent) and showed what the Twins felt was a demonstrably improved arsenal. Minnesota claimed him off waivers from Pittsburgh at the end of the 2020 season and managed to sneak Waddell through waivers in late February, but his absence from the 40-man roster proved brief.

Waddell has a pair of minor league options remaining, so the Twins will be able to send him down to their alternate site in St. Paul without exposing him to waivers for a second time. For now, he’ll join Taylor Rogers and Caleb Thielbar as a third lefty in manager Rocco Baldelli’s bullpen.

Minor MLB Transactions: 2/13/21

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Some minor league moves from around the sport…

Latest Moves

  • The Cardinals have signed outfielder Matt Szczur to a minor league deal that contains an invite to their big league Spring Training camp, NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Jim Salisbury reports (via Twitter).  Szczur hit .231/.312/.355 over 667 plate appearances with the Cubs and Padres from 2014-18 but he hasn’t since returned to the majors.  The 31-year-old signed minor league contracts with the Diamondbacks prior to the 2019 season and the Phillies prior to 2020, with Philadelphia releasing Szczur back in June.

Earlier Today

  • The White Sox signed infielder Marco Hernandez to a minor league contract back in January, as originally noted by the transactions page for Triple-A East (formerly the International League).  Hernandez was released by the Red Sox in August, ending a six-year stint in the Boston organization that saw Hernandez hit .265/.300/.342 over 271 plate appearances in parts of three MLB seasons.  He was part of Boston’s 60-man player pool but didn’t see any big league action in 2020.  Hernandez played mostly second base with the Red Sox but he also has experience at third base and shortstop, so he will be competing for a utility infield job in Chicago’s camp.
  • The Angels announced that left-hander Dillon Peters was outrighted Triple-A at clearing waivers.  Peters will be invited to the team’s Spring Training camp after being designated for assignment last week.  The southpaw pitched in just one MLB game in 2020, getting hit for four runs (three earned) over 1 2/3 innings for the Angels.  A groundball specialist while coming up in the Marlins’ farm system, Peters has a 5.83 ERA and only a 16.7K% over 132 2/3 career Major League innings with Miami and Anaheim.
  • Diamondbacks left-hander Taylor Guilbeau has been outrighted to Triple-A, the team announced.  Guilbeau cleared waivers after being designated for assignment last week, and he will also be invited to Arizona’s big league Spring Training camp.  Guilbeau posted a 2.70 ERA over 20 MLB innings with the Mariners from 2019-20, with the D’Backs acquiring the grounder specialist on a waiver claim in October.
  • The Twins announced that southpaw Brandon Waddell has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A after being designated for assignment last Thursday.  Waddell has been invited to the Twins’ Major League Spring Training camp.  A fifth-round pick for the Pirates in the 2015 draft, Waddell made his MLB debut in 2020, tossing 3 1/3 innings over two games with Pittsburgh.  Minnesota claimed Waddell off waivers from the Pirates in October.

Twins Claim Kyle Garlick, Designate Brandon Waddell

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The Twins have claimed outfielder Kyle Garlick off waivers from the Braves, per a team announcement. Left-hander Brandon Waddell was designated for assignment in order to open a space on the 40-man roster.

It’s the latest stop in a growing list of organizations for Garlick, 29, whose stay with the Braves will only prove to last for a few days. Garlick was the Dodgers’ 28th-round pick back in 2015, but in the past calendar year he’s been traded to the Phillies, claimed by the Braves and now claimed by the Twins.

Minnesota still needs a 40-man spot to make Alex Colome’s one-year deal final, so it’s far from a sure thing that Garlick will last on the roster for too long. It’s fairly common for clubs to claim a player and then try to pass him through outright waivers shortly thereafter — thus allowing the team to retain him without committing a 40-man roster spot.

Garlick spent most of the 2020 season at the Phillies’ alternate site in Lehigh Valley, though he did appear in a dozen games at the MLB level. He went just 3-for-22 with a double and seven strikeouts in that time, however. Garlick showed a bit of promise with the Dodgers in 2019 when he made his big league debut and hit .250/.321/.521 with three long balls and four doubles in a small sample of 53 plate appearances. He’s a career .281/.332/.568 hitter in 645 Triple-A plate appearances and does have a minor league option remaining as well.

As for the 26-year-old Waddell, he was a 2015 fifth-rounder by the Pirates out of Virginia. He made his MLB debut last year with Pittsburgh and tossed 3 1/3 innings with a pair of strikeouts and walks apiece. The Twins claimed him off waivers back on Oct. 30.

Waddell has a strong track record up through the Double-A level and was solid at Triple-A in 2018 as well. Like most Triple-A pitchers in 2019, however, his season was an unmitigated disaster as offensive levels spiked to all-time highs in that league amid the widely held belief that the ball was juiced. (Triple-A adopted the same ball used in MLB that season.) Even after being clobbered for 59 runs in 61 innings of Triple-A ball that year, Waddell has a 4.12 ERA in 478 minor league frames with a 20.4 percent strikeout rate and a 9.8 percent walk rate. He’s not a huge strikeout pitcher but induces grounders at an above-average clip and has two minor league options remaining.

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