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NL Notes: Knebel, Phillies, Cain, Garcia

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Recently-minted Phillies manager Rob Thomson told Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia today that Corey Knebel is out as the team’s closer, for the time being. Signed to a one-year $10MM deal this past offseason, Knebel hasn’t demonstrated the same sharpness he did in last year’s campaign with the Dodgers. While this season’s 3.24 ERA through 25 innings is plenty respectable, his 20.7% strikeout rate is far from his career average while his 14.4% walk rate ranks amongst the worst in the league. Knebel’s four blown saves also stand as the highest mark in the league at the moment.

After a messy May, the Phillies have surged with an 11-2 record thus far in June, bringing their season record above .500 to 32-31. Despite the recent hot stretch, the Phillies remain eight and a half games back of the first place Mets in their division and three and a half games back of the last NL wild card spot. A closer-by-committee approach figures to help the team stay in their groove, with Seranthony Dominguez and Brad Hand representing steadier options than Knebel thus far.

Some other Wednesday items from the Senior Circuit…

  • After optioning Mickey Moniak on Tuesday, the Phillies appear set to roll with a platoon of Matt Vierling and Odúbel Herrera in center field. The Athletic’s Matt Gelb speculates how the team may upgrade that arrangement given the feeble production from the first two players thus far, plus the questions that have plagued Herrera dating back to his 2019 suspension. Gelb lists Michael A. Taylor, Ramón Laureano, and Victor Robles as realistic trade targets for the club should they seek to plug a defense-first option between corner outfielders Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos. The center field platoon’s production will be worth monitoring through the summer, as the Phillies have holes in the infield and bullpen as well but may not possess enough financial or prospect capital to address all three areas.
  • One center fielder who isn’t an option for the Phillies, or perhaps for any team much longer, is Lorenzo Cain. Speaking with Andy McCullough of The Athletic, the 36-year-old Brewer acknowledged the likelihood that this season may very well be his last in the major leagues. The two-time All-Star remains a strong defensive player and as affable a clubhouse personality as any, but admits to difficulties in elevating his offense at the ten-year mark of his career. To that end, a .168/.223/.226 showing through 41 games has already begun to cost him some playing time this season. For now though, President of Baseball Operations David Stearns remains in Cain’s corner, citing Cain’s defense and contributions to four straight years of playoff baseball in Milwaukee as reasons to exhibit patience.
  • Nationals manager Dave Martinez has an update on another 2015 World Series champ, stating that Opening Day shortstop Alcides Escobar will return in a utility role when he completes his current rehab assignment. 22-year-old Luis García will be given some leash at the position after his hot start to the year at the Triple-A (.899 OPS in 42 games) and Major League (.829 OPS in 13 games) levels. Neither player profiles as a defensively elite shortstop at this point in their careers, so Escobar’s current OPS of .552 figures to cut into the playing time of other slow-starting veterans’ around the infield (Maikel Franco, .669 OPS; Cesar Hernandez, .646 OPS) over the youngster looking to establish himself.

Phillies Select Yairo Munoz, Option Mickey Moniak

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The Phillies have selected the contract of infielder Yairo Munoz from Triple-A Lehigh Valley and optioned center fielder Mickey Moniak back to Lehigh Valley in a corresponding 26-man roster move. Infielder Jean Segura was transferred from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the 40-man roster for Munoz. Segura suffered a broken finger a couple weeks back and is expected to miss up to 12 weeks of action as a result.

Munoz, 27, is hitting .319/.345/.454 in 172 plate appearances with the IronPigs so far in 2022. A solid utilityman with the Cardinals back in 2018, he’s struggled to recreate that year’s .276/.350/.413 output at the big league level. Munoz has consistently hit well against Triple-A pitching, though, and he’ll give the Phillies some additional infield cover with Segura, Johan Camargo and Nick Maton all on the injured list.

As for Moniak, the 24-year-old former No. 1 pick hasn’t gotten it going at the plate after getting a late start to the season due to a fractured hand suffered in Spring Training. He’s hit just .160/.250/.160 in a tiny sample of 25 plate appearances, and the Phils will give him a reset in Triple-A to try to get back on track there. At this point, it’s unlikely that Moniak ever matches the expectations so often associated with the top overall pick in the draft, but that doesn’t rule him out as a potentially useful contributor to the Phillies — either in 2022 or further down the road.

Phillies Designate James Norwood For Assignment

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The Phillies announced Monday that right-hander James Norwood has been designated for assignment in order to open a spot on the roster for fellow right-hander Michael Kelly, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A Lehigh Valley. The Phils also reinstated catcher Rafael Marchan from the 60-day injured list and optioned him to Triple-A.

Acquired from the Padres in an offseason deal that sent minor league infielder Kervin Pichardo to San Diego, Norwood has pitched 17 1/3 innings of relief out of the Philadelphia bullpen but has been tagged for 17 earned runs in that time. The damage hasn’t been confined to one or two poor outings, either, as Norwood has yielded runs in eight of his 20 appearances on the season so far. Overall, he’s yielded 24 hits (two of them homers) and nine walks while punching out 22 batters.

Norwood is out of minor league options — a large reason he was designated by the Padres in the first place — so the Phils couldn’t send him down without first designating him for assignment. They’ll have a week to try to trade him or pass him through outright waivers now. The former seventh-rounder has a decent track record in Triple-A, a fastball that averages just under 97 mph and a splitter that gets him plenty of chases and whiffs. Add in a decent track record in the upper minors, and it’s not out of the question that another bullpen-needy club would want to speculate via waiver claim or perhaps a small trade.

As for the 29-year-old Kelly, he’ll make his big league debut whenever he steps onto the mound for the first time. It’s the culmination of a 11-year baseball odyssey for the 2011 No. 48 overall pick. Originally selected by the Padres, Kelly also spent time with the Orioles, Astros and the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs of the independent Atlantic League before joining the Phillies as a minor league free agent this winter. He’s pitched to a lackluster 5.00 ERA in 18 innings with the IronPigs so far, but Kelly has also punched out 33.8% of his opponents in that time.

Tigers Acquire Michael Mariot From Phillies For Cash Considerations

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The Tigers and Phillies got together on a trade today. The Phillies sent Triple-A right-hander Michael Mariot to the Tigers in exchange for cash considerations, per MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki (via Twitter).

Mariot, 33, has not appeared in the Majors since 2016. He has 44 career appearances to his name – all out of the bullpen – between the Royals and Phillies from 2014 to 2016. With the Phillies, he made 25 appearances with a 5.85 ERA/5.96 FIP across 21 2/3 innings during that 2016 season.

Since that time, Mariot has bounced around the league, spending time with the Phillies, Royals, Padres, and Reds, but not yet making it back to the bigs. He may have that opportunity with the Tigers, who have seen their big league rotation limited by injuries. Mariot, meanwhile, has made 11 starts in Triple-A this season, pitching to a 4.64 ERA over 52 1/3 innings.

Phillies Outright Scott Kingery

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The Phillies announced they’ve sent infielder Scott Kingery outright to Triple-A Lehigh Valley after he cleared waivers. Philadelphia needed to clear an active roster spot for Zack Wheeler, who’d been on paternity leave. Outrighting Kingery rather than merely optioning him also opens a spot on the 40-man roster, which now sits at 39.

Philadelphia just selected Kingery to the big league club on Tuesday. He appeared in one game as a defensive replacement but didn’t tally an at-bat before losing his roster spot. Bryson Stott and Didi Gregorius started all three games in the middle infield positions, and it seems the Phils are comfortable with Matt Vierling as a utility option while Johan Camargo is on the injured list.

Kingery has appeared in only 52 MLB games since the start of the 2020 season, hitting .144/.204/.250 in 143 trips to the plate. That’s obviously not the kind of production the organization envisioned from the former top prospect, who at one point looked as if he’d cement himself as their long-term second baseman. Instead, Kingery’s strong offensive numbers from the early part of his minor league career have never really carried over at the big league level.

The Phils signed the University of Arizona product to a six-year, $24MM guarantee shortly before he made his MLB debut. He’s under contract through 2023, making $6.25MM this season and $8.25MM next year. The Phils technically control him through 2026 via a trio of subsequent club options, but it’d take a massive turn of fortune over the next year and a half for the team to consider exercising any of those.

As a player with between three and five years of MLB service time, Kingery technically has the right to refuse an outright assignment in favor of free agency. Doing so would require forfeiting the remainder of the money on his deal, however, so he’ll certainly instead head back to Lehigh Valley. The 28-year-old is hitting .185/.297/.296 across 64 plate appearances with the IronPigs.

Giants Option Joey Bart To Triple-A, Acquire Austin Wynns From Phillies

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12:30pm: Wynns is indeed being selected to the 40-man roster, MLBTR has learned.

11:40am: The Giants announced Wednesday that they’ve optioned catcher Joey Bart to Triple-A Sacramento. They’ve also acquired catcher Austin Wynns from the Phillies organization in exchange for lefty Michael Plassmeyer and cash, according to announcements from both teams.

Wynns wasn’t on the Phillies’ 40-man roster, and the Giants have yet to indicate that he’ll be selected to their own 40-man. Curt Casali is now the only catcher on San Francisco’s big league roster, so they’ll either need to make a move to formally select Wynns’ contract or else call up another catcher from their minor league system. Michael Papierski is the only other catcher on the Giants’ 40-man roster.

The decision to option Bart comes on the heels of some prolonged offensive struggles for the former No. 2 overall draft pick. The now-25-year-old Bart had a fast start to the season, going 6-for-18 with a pair of homers and four walks through his first six games, but he’s fallen into a dreadful slump. Over his past 30 games (24 of them starts), Bart is hitting just .111/.256/.194 with a staggering 45.3% strikeout rate.

Given the magnitude of those struggles, it’s not a huge surprise to see Bart sent down. The Giants will hope that a return trip to Sacramento can prove to be the catalyst for a turnaround. Bart has long ranked not only as one of the Giants’ best prospects but as one of the very best prospects in all of baseball, and president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi has been quick to voice confidence in Bart’s long-term outlook. Zaidi tells Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter link) that the Giants “still think Joey is an everyday catcher” but felt it prudent to give him “a little bit of a reset” following such a difficult stretch at the plate.

Bart entered the season with 112 days of Major League service time, meaning he needed another 60 days on the active roster or big league injured list to reach one full year of service and remain on his same arbitration (post-2024) and free agency (post-2027). He’s already accrued 62 days, so even if he were to stick in the minors for the remainder of the season, he’s still logged enough time to cross into that one-plus service bracket.

As for the 31-year-old Wynns, he’ll give the Giants an experienced backup option. Wynns, the Orioles’ 10th-round pick back in 2013, spent parts of three seasons in the big leagues with the O’s, batting a combined .216/.255/.326 in 331 plate appearances. He’s thrown out 32% of attempted base thieves in his big league career, and while his pitch-framing marks are below average, he’s been solid in terms of blocking balls in the dirt, per Baseball Prospectus.

Wynns inked a minor league contract with the Phillies over the winter and opened the season with their Triple-A affiliate in Lehigh Valley. Despite his lackluster big league numbers and a pedestrian Triple-A track record, he’s been one of the best hitters in the Triple-A International League so far, hitting at a ridiculous .365/.504/.500 clip. Wynns has hit three homers, five doubles and drawn a walk in just under 21% of his 134 plate appearances thus far. It’s not a huge sample of playing time, but it’s hard not to be impressed by any player reaching base at greater than a 50% clip in a span of 33 games.

Wynns obviously can’t be expected to sustain that pace, but there’s little else he can do to earn himself a big league promotion. That probably wasn’t going to happen in Philadelphia, where J.T. Realmuto is entrenched as the main catcher, but Wynns has a more clear path to playing time with the Giants, even if Casali is likely to function as the starter moving forward.

In exchange for Wynns, the Phillies will pick up the 25-year-old Plassmeyer — a 2018 fourth-rounder (Mariners) who went to the Rays as part of the Mike Zunino trade and has since gone to the Giants in return for righty Matt Wisler. Plassmeyer opened the 2022 season with the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate and has been hit hard, logging a 7.38 ERA in through 46 1/3 innings. He’s been extremely homer-prone this year in that hitter-friendly setting (2.91 HR/9) and has quite uncharacteristically walked 11.3% of his opponents.

Prior to the 2022 season, Plassmeyer looked the part of an upper-minors strike thrower who could be on the cusp of a look in the big leagues. Kevin Goldstein and Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs listed him near the back of their Top 39 prospects in the Giants’ system this winter, noting that the 6’2″ southpaw has an average changeup and breaking ball to go along with outstanding command. The lack of a true plus offering and a pedestrian 89-91 mph fastball give Plassmeyer a back-of-the-rotation outlook, but if the Phils can get his once-plus command back on track, he could be a depth option in the near future.

Phillies Select Scott Kingery

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The Phillies announced this afternoon they’ve selected infielder Scott Kingery back onto the major league roster. Utilityman Johan Camargo has been placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to June 6, due to a right knee strain in a corresponding move. Philadelphia already had an opening on the 40-man roster.

Kingery returns to the majors for the first time since being outrighted off the 40-man last June. The designation for assignment and subsequent outright was the culmination of a few seasons of struggles. Kingery hit at a league average level (.258/.315/.474) during the offensively-charged 2019 campaign, but he’s otherwise struggled mightily at the plate as a big leaguer. He’d posted well below-average numbers as a rookie in 2018, and he’s hit .144/.204/.250 in 143 trips to the plate since his sophomore campaign.

That’s certainly not how the Phillies had envisioned his career progressing. A former second-round pick, Kingery tore through the minor leagues over his first couple seasons of pro ball. Baseball America ranked the University of Arizona product as the game’s #31 prospect in advance of his rookie year, and the Philadelphia front office signed him to a six-year, $24MM guarantee a couple weeks before his major league debut. That investment hasn’t panned out as hoped, but the 28-year-old will get another opportunity to try to solve big league arms.

Kingery, who is making $6.25MM this season under the terms of the aforementioned extension, has gotten off to a rough start with Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Through 16 games, he’s hitting .185/.297/.296 while striking out in 34.4% of his plate appearances. That kind of swing-and-miss has been an unexpected issue for Kingery since 2018, as he’s never developed into the potential plus hitter some prospect evaluators anticipated. He’ll step into a second base mix that lost Jean Segura for a few months to finger surgery and has seen Nick Maton and Camargo hit the IL in recent days.

Camargo, signed to a one-year deal over the winter, has seen more playing time than envisioned because of Segura’s injury and Bryson Stott’s struggles. He got off to a nice start but had slumped of late, and he lands on the IL owner of a modest .246/.310/.338 line. Stott and Didi Gregorius figure to assume the bulk of the playing time up the middle, with Kingery on hand as a depth option.

Cubs, Phillies Expected To Pursue Marquee Shortstops This Offseason

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The most recent offseason featured a huge crop of star free agents, with the five top-tier shortstops being one of the most exciting elements, as Corey Seager, Carlos Correa, Marcus Semien, Javier Baez and Trevor Story all reached the open market at the same time. In about five months’ time, another offseason will begin, and though the crop of available shortstops won’t be quite as strong, it still has the potential to be noteworthy.

MLBTR recently released its first Free Agent Power Rankings for the upcoming winter, and although red-hot outfielder Aaron Judge nabbed the top spot, he was followed by three shortstops in the 2, 3 and 4 slots: Carlos Correa, Trea Turner and Xander Bogaerts. (Correa and Bogaerts both have opt-outs that they are expected to trigger.) In today’s column from Bob Nightengale of USA Today, he reports that the Cubs could be big spenders this winter, naming those three shortstops as their primary targets. “I guarantee you they’re going to get one of them,” an unnamed veteran general manager tells Nightengale, who also says that several executives are predicting the Phillies to be sitting at this table as well.

Cubs manager David Ross recently spoke about letting Nico Hoerner serve as the team’s primary shortstop for the remainder of the year, though he’s also spent a decent amount of time at second base, as well as occasionally lining up at third base and in the outfield. It seems the club may be leaning towards a big addition at shortstop and bumping Hoerner over to second base next year.

After a big trade deadline fire sale in 2021, the Cubs were expected to have a fairly quiet offseason this past winter. However, they surprised many people by making a few somewhat aggressive moves. They didn’t land any of the big five shortstops, though they did give out multi-year deals to Seiya Suzuki, Marcus Stroman and Yan Gomes.

The club is currently sporting a record of 23-31, six games back of the final playoff spot. There’s still time for them to gain some ground, though it’s also possible they go into the trade deadline as sellers this year. But regardless of how they fare for the remainder of this season, they should have spending power this winter. Suzuki is the only player currently under contract for the 2025 season, although the Cubs also have a $7MM club option for David Bote that year. Stroman’s contract runs through 2024, though he can opt out after the 2023 season. Kyle Hendricks and Yan Gomes could also be free agents after 2023, as they have options for 2024.

In short, there’s not a lot preventing the club from making a big splash this winter if they want to. According to Cot’s Baseball Contracts, the team ran out Opening Day payrolls in the vicinity of $200MM from 2016 to 2019, but got that number below $150MM last year and this year. Jason Martinez of Roster Resource pegs their 2023 payroll at $94MM at the moment, then just $50MM in 2024 and $20MM in 2025. Arbitration-eligible players will add to those numbers, but not by a lot. If they want to be aggressive in getting out of this rebuild/retool/whatever period, the opportunity is there.

The Phillies, however, are in a very different situation. They had a very aggressive offseason, giving out big contracts to both Nick Castellanos and Kyle Schwarber, pushing the club beyond the luxury tax line for the first time. Despite that aggressiveness, they’ve struggled over the first third of the season, going into today’s action with a record of 24-29, 4 1/2 games behind the Giants for the final NL Wild Card spot.

There was some speculation that they would dive into the shortstop sweepstakes this past winter, though they ultimately decided to stick with the in-house options of Didi Gregorius and prospect Bryson Stott. Gregorius is currently on the IL due to a sprained knee, but was performing okay before that. His .288/.338/.356 line amounts to a 97 wRC+, slightly below league average but much better than the 68 wRC+ he had last year. Regardless, he’s a free agent after this year, giving the club an opening next year. Stott could theoretically fill that void, though he’s struggled in his first taste of MLB action. Through 27 games, he’s hitting just .157/.222/.217 for a wRC+ of just 26. If the Phils were to go out and nab a big fish in free agency, Stott could spend more time in the minors or perhaps shift over to another infield position to try and force his way into the lineup, having played some second and third base as well.

Despite getting into luxury tax territory this year, the club should be able to be aggressive again next winter with many contracts coming off the books. Martinez puts their 2023 payroll at $129MM, well shy of this year’s $232MM, though that doesn’t include a $17MM option for Jean Segura, the $16MM option for Aaron Nola or salaries for arbitration-eligible players, including Rhys Hoskins. Regardless of whether they can turn their 2022 season around, it seems they may keep their foot on the gas pedal going forward, as they look to snap a postseason drought that goes back to 2011.

Roman Quinn Elects Free Agency

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TODAY: Quinn cleared DFA waivers, and the Phillies announced that Quinn has elected to become a free agent rather accept an outright assignment to Triple-A.

JUNE 1: The Phillies announced a series of roster moves Wednesday, placing second baseman Jean Segura on the 10-day injured list due to a fractured right index finger, recalling lefty Cristopher Sanchez and infielder Nick Maton from Triple-A Lehigh Valley, and designating outfielder Roman Quinn for assignment. The team announced after last night’s game that Segura had fractured his finger.

Quinn, 29, scored the walk-off run from second base on a cringeworthy Dodgers error earlier this season, but his blistering speed hasn’t been enough to offset his general lack of production at the dish. In 40 plate appearances, he’s hitting just .162/.225/.289 with 15 punchouts (37.5%). He’s had similar struggles dating back to the 2019 season, batting a combined .200/.278/.315 through 340 plate appearances with the Phillies, who’ll now have a week to trade the former second-rounder, pass him through outright waivers or release him.

The loss of Segura is a tough one for a Phillies club that is floundering through another disappointing season. The 32-year-old veteran has been solid at the plate, hitting .275/.324/.407 with six home runs and eight stolen bases, and he’s been one of the team’s only average-or-better defenders (by measure of Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average).

In Segura’s absence, the Phils can turn to Maton or utilityman Johan Camargo, with struggling prospect Bryson Stott taking increased reps at shortstop. Maton had a hot start in his MLB debut last year but saw his bat wilt en route to a .256/.323/.385 output over 131 big league plate appearances. He’s hitting .241/.360/.462 so far in Triple-A this year. Camargo similarly had a strong start in 2022 but has faded of late; he’s now hitting .248/.318/.350 on the season.

Injury Notes: Clevinger, Kittredge, Kremer, Gregorius

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The Padres announced that right-hander Mike Clevinger has been reinstated from the injured list, with outfielder Brent Rooker being optioned in a corresponding move. After a lengthy absence from the majors while recovering from Tommy John surgery, Clevinger had to return to the IL after just three starts due to a triceps strain. Thankfully, he only required a minimum stay on the shelf and is quickly back on the roster, starting today’s game.

While many teams around the league are dealing with mounting injuries to their pitching staffs, the Padres now have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to their starting rotation. Clevinger joins Yu Darvish, Sean Manaea, Joe Musgrove, MacKenzie Gore and Blake Snell, with Nick Martinez likely getting bumped into a long-relief role. The club is off to a great start, sporting a record of 32-21, just three games back of the Dodgers in the NL West. The strength of their rotation has played a big role in that, as their collective 3.11 ERA is fourth-best in all of baseball, trailing only the Yankees, Dodgers and Astros.

Some other IL reinstatements from around the league…

  • The Rays announced that righty Andrew Kittredge has been reinstated from the injured list, with fellow righty Calvin Faucher being optioned to make room for him. Kittredge was slowed by some lower back tightness but is able to return after a minimum stay on the injured list. Last year, he threw 71 2/3 innings with a 1.88 ERA, 27.3% strikeout rate, 5.3% walk rate and 53.5% ground ball rate. That success earned him a key role in the bullpen, as he eventually earned eight saves and seven holds. He wasn’t able to continue that this year, possibly due to this back injury. Over 18 innings, his ERA is an even 3.00, with a 19.7% strikeout rate and 44.2% grounder rate, though he’s limited walks to just 1.5% of batters faced.
  • The Orioles reinstated righty Dean Kremer from the injured list today, with fellow righty Denyi Reyes being optioned in a corresponding move. Kremer landed on the injured list back in April due to an oblique strain. He is starting today’s ballgame for the O’s, which will be his season debut. His MLB time has been on the rough side so far, as his career ERA is currently 6.84 through 72 1/3 innings. However, while rehabbing from this injury, he’s thrown nine scoreless innings in the minors with a whopping 18 strikeouts against just two walks.
  • The Phillies announced that they have reinstated Didi Gregorius from the IL, with Nick Maton trading places with him, heading to the IL due to a right shoulder sprain. Gregorius returns after about a month on the IL due to a left knee sprain. Prior to that, he was hitting .288/.338/.356 on the season. The resulting 97 wRC+ indicates that his bat has been about 3% worse than league average, though it’s still a big improvement over last year’s wRC+ of 68. Maton was just recalled a few days ago to provide help in the middle infield when Jean Segura landed on the IL, but will now join him on the shelf after just two games. Without those two options, it’s likely that Gregorious, Bryson Stott and Johan Camargo will now share the middle infield duties.
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