Pirates Designate Chase De Jong For Assignment
The Pirates announced that outfielder Canaan Smith-Njigba has been recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis. In a corresponding move, right-hander Chase De Jong was designated for assignment. Their 40-man roster count is now down to 37.
De Jong, 29, has bounced on and off the Pirates’ roster since signing a minor league deal in January of 2021. He had his contract selected that year but spent much of the campaign on the injured list and was outrighted at season’s end. He returned on another minor league deal in 2022 and ended up having a nice season in Pittsburgh. He had his contract selected in April and eventually posted a 2.64 ERA in 71 2/3 innings.
That was enough for him to keep his roster spot through the winter, though there were reasons to suspect it wasn’t fully sustainable. His .222 batting average on balls in play and 86.3% strand rate were both on the fortunate side, leading to a 4.74 FIP and 4.38 SIERA. His luck has swung the other way this year in a small sample, as he has a .308 BABIP and 51.1% strand rate, leading to a 13.50 ERA in 11 1/3 innings. Beyond the luck, his 20.1% strikeout rate from last year is down to just 11.7% so far this year, while he’s also allowed six homers in that short time frame.
The righty was already designated for assignment in May, after which he cleared waivers and was outrighted to Indianapolis. He had the right to elect free agency based on previous career outrights but opted to accept and got his roster spot back a few days ago. He made one appearance since then, allowing six earned runs in two innings on Tuesday. Based on his rough season, it now seems possible that the same sequence of events will play out again, with De Jong being put on waivers and clearing. If that comes to pass, he would once again have the right to elect free agency but might simply accept an outright assignment like he did a few weeks ago.
Pirates Outright Chris Owings
Pirates utility player Chris Owings has gone unclaimed on waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Indianapolis, according to the transactions log at MLB.com. The veteran infielder has the right to decline the assignment in favor of minor league free agency; it’s unclear whether he’s done so.
Owings signed a minor league deal with the Bucs over the offseason. He got out to a strong .273/.360/.523 start in 13 games with Indianapolis. The Pirates selected his contract midway through May, marking the 11th consecutive year in which he reached the highest level. Owings saw only sporadic action, collecting just four hits (all singles) while punching out 12 times in 25 plate appearances. He was designated for assignment over the weekend.
An everyday middle infielder early in his career with the D-Backs, Owings has settled in as a well-traveled depth player over the past few seasons. He’s suited up for five clubs in as many years since leaving Arizona. Going back to the start of the 2019 campaign, he’s a .174/.254/.287 hitter in 131 big league contests.
Owings has never been a particularly imposing offensive threat. He’s made his mark with defensive flexibility and solid production in the upper minors. He carries a career .306/.347/.482 line over parts of eight Triple-A campaigns.
Pirates Notes: Cruz, Davis, Rodriguez, Hedges
The Pirates hammered out the largest contract in franchise history this spring, ending the long-running Bryan Reynolds saga with a $100MM extension. Shortly after finalizing that deal, owner Bob Nutting said the Bucs were hoping to get long-term contracts done with other players.
Nutting didn’t tip his hand as to which players the Bucs were interested in signing, though it’s easy to speculate about potential candidates. Shortstop Oneil Cruz is one option, as the 6’7″ infielder has hit 19 home runs in his first 98 big league games.
Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that the Pirates and Cruz’s representatives at Vayner Sports had discussed a longer-term deal during Spring Training. According to Mackey, talks never got particularly close and seem to have been tabled during the season.
That’s hardly a huge concern. Cruz entered the season with less than one year of service time. He won’t reach free agency until after the 2028 campaign and seems unlikely to qualify for arbitration before 2026. There’s plenty of time to rekindle talks down the line. Even if nothing ever comes together, the Pirates can keep him around for the bulk of the decade.
The more immediate concern is Cruz’s health. The 24-year-old broke his left ankle nine games into the season. He underwent surgery that came with a four-month recovery timeline, putting his projected return sometime in August. Manager Derek Shelton said over the weekend that Cruz’s rehab remains on schedule, while the young slugger reiterated he expects to return this season (link via Justice delos Santos of MLB.com).
Without Cruz, the Pirates have used a rotating cast at shortstop. Rodolfo Castro and Tucupita Marcano have split the bulk of the reps while Ji Hwan Bae and Chris Owings (who was recently designated for assignment) have also factored in. They’ve done a solid job offensively. Bucs’ shortstops entered play Monday with a .254/.336/.398 line that placed them in the top half of the league in all three slash stats. It’s been a struggle on the other side of the ball, however. Both Defensive Runs Saved and Statcast’s Outs Above Average have rated Pirates’ shortstops among the two worst defensive groups this year.
Cruz isn’t without defensive questions himself. He’s faced some predictable skepticism about whether he’ll be able to stick at shortstop given his height and extremely long levers. His massive power-speed upside made him a top-tier prospect in spite of those questions, though, and the Bucs are surely hoping he’ll contribute to a potential playoff push down the stretch.
Pittsburgh has plenty more young talent approaching the major league level. Their rebuild has led to one of the game’s deeper organizational pipelines, which will be further strengthened when they pick first overall this summer. It’s the second time in three years they’re at the top of the draft.
In 2021, the Bucs tabbed Louisville catcher Henry Davis with the top selection. Two years later, he’s reached the highest minor league level. The Pirates promoted Davis to Triple-A Indianapolis yesterday, a deserved bump after he mashed at a .284/.433/.547 clip in Double-A Altoona.
Davis joins 23-year-old Endy Rodríguez — an arguably even more talented prospect — as catchers with Indianapolis. General manager Ben Cherington addressed the enviable “problem” of having two young players of that caliber sharing reps in Triple-A (link via Rob Biertempfel of the Athletic). Cherington indicated it’d be a roughly even split of playing time behind the dish, with both players also seeing time at other positions.
Davis has gotten some work in right field this year. Rodríguez has played left field and second base in the past but been limited to catcher or first base in 2023. Cherington noted that neither is being considered for a full-time position switch, as any non-catching work is primarily a means of getting both in the lineup concurrently.
While many Pirates’ fans are surely pining for a look at one of those young players at the major league level, Cherington pushed back against the possibility of an imminent call-up. He expressed confidence in the duo of Austin Hedges and Jason Delay as a defensive pairing.
Hedges, signed to a $5MM free agent contract, is generally regarded as one of the sport’s best defensive backstops. He annually draws elite marks for his pitch framing and ability to block balls in the dirt. Hedges has been solid at controlling the running game and is routinely praised for his management of a pitching staff. That acumen is enough for teams to overlook a lack of offensive contributions, as he’s among the sport’s least effective hitters on an annual basis. He owns a .179/.240/.221 line through his first 110 plate appearances as a Pirate.
Delay has a much better .310/.359/.437 slash on the season, though he’s unlikely to sustain anything approaching his current .404 batting average on balls in play. He’s gotten solid marks from Statcast for his pitch framing over the past two seasons, however. So long as the Pirates are using Hedges as the primary catcher, it’s sensible to keep the 28-year-old Delay as the #2 option while letting Davis and Rodríguez play regularly in Triple-A.
Best Deadline Rental Returns In Recent History: Honorable Mentions
The calendar has flipped to June, and more than one-third of the season is in the rearview mirror. While there’s still plenty of time for the standings to change in dramatic fashion — just ask the 2022 Phillies or 2019 Nationals — the “early” portion of the season is a bit behind us. As the weather heats up and playoff pictures begin to take a more definitive shape, the baseball world inherently turns its focus to a few things: the looming All-Star Game, the upcoming amateur draft and, of course, the annual trade deadline.
June trades of note are admittedly rare — particularly over the past ten years or so — but we’re fast approaching the portion of the season where trade needs, potential trade candidates and many other deadline-adjacent minutiae begin to crystallize. It’s common for fans of rebuilding and/or underperforming clubs to begin to wonder just what sort of returns their favorite team might be able to eke out for veteran players with dwindling club control.
Some of the most common questions we’re asked in chats at MLBTR these days center around what a team might be able to get for a certain player — rentals in particular. Names like Lucas Giolito, Cody Bellinger, Jordan Montgomery and Jeimer Candelario were just a few readers asked me about this past week. To be clear, it’s not a given that all or even any of those specific names will change hands in two months’ time (or sooner), but it’s obviously a hot topic that’s on people’s minds.
As such, it only seemed natural to take a look back through recent history and look at some high-profile trades of rental players and see which panned out the best for the team selling off the veteran player in question. Over the next couple weeks, we’ll roll out a look at the ten “best” returns for rental players in recent trade deadline history.
A few caveats of note! At times, it can take three, four, five years or even longer for a team to begin reaping the benefits from such a deal. An immediate return isn’t always apparent, particularly when you’re only selling two months of a player or players. As such, we’re not considering trades completed at last year’s deadline for our top ten, even though they could well prove excellent as soon as 2024 or 2025. It’s simply too soon to evaluate those swaps. Also, these rankings are subjective; they’re not based on a hard-and-fast WAR criteria or anything of the sort. If you think we should’ve ranked No. 7 higher and No. 4 lower, let us know. It’s all part of the fun.
While I said we’re omitting last year’s deadline from our top ten, that doesn’t mean we’ll completely ignore the results of the 2022 deadline. To kick off the series, here’s a quick look at three honorable mentions from 2017-21 as well as a handful of 2022 trades that will be worth keeping an eye on in the years to come. Present-day impact of these 2022 trades has either been minimal or nonexistent, but each brought the “selling” team some nearly MLB-ready help that could be impactful as soon as this season. These honorable mentions and 2022 swaps aren’t ranked — they’re just sorted alphabetically by the last name of the player who was traded.
Let’s begin!
Honorable Mentions
Orioles acquire RHPs Dillon Tate, Cody Carroll and LHP Josh Rogers from the Yankees in exchange for LHP Zack Britton (7/24/18)
Two-thirds of this return for Baltimore wound up making little to no impact, but the acquisition of Tate, a former No. 4 overall draft pick, wound up paying dividends. Though Tate isn’t the rotation piece the Rangers hoped for when drafting him or the Yankees envisioned when acquiring him for Carlos Beltran, he’s emerged as a quality setup man at Camden Yards. The O’s gave Tate just ten starts after the trade before moving him to the bullpen, and while his rookie effort in 2019 left plenty to be desired, he’s since pitched quite well.
Dating back to 2020, Tate has a 3.65 ERA in 158 innings of relief, adding 25 holds and eight saves along the way. Tate’s 19.1% strikeout rate is below-average, but his 6.8% walk rate is better than average and his 57.9% grounder rate is outstanding. In 2022, he pitched to a pristine 3.05 ERA through 73 2/3 frames, tallying five of those saves and 16 of those holds. A forearm strain has kept Tate out of action this year, however.
Tate isn’t peak Britton and likely never will be, but trading two months of an elite reliever and winding up with six years of club control over an above-average reliever isn’t a bad outcome for Baltimore. As for the Yankees, they got the tail end of Britton’s prime. He notched a 2.88 ERA in 25 innings down the stretch and re-signed on a three-year deal with a fourth year option (that had to be exercised after the contract’s second season to prevent a Britton opt-out). Britton posted a sub-2.00 ERA in both 2019 and 2020, but he pitched just 19 innings over his final two years in New York due to injuries.
Rays acquire LHP Jalen Beeks from the Red Sox in exchange for RHP Nathan Eovaldi (7/25/18)
Few could’ve predicted what an impactful trade this would end up being at the time it was made. At the time of the swap, Eovaldi was in his first season back from Tommy John surgery and had pitched 57 innings of 4.26 ERA ball for Tampa Bay. He’d long intrigued teams with his power arsenal but was inconsistent and carried a career ERA that more or less matched that season total.
Eovaldi took off in Boston, however, tossing 54 frames of 3.33 ERA ball as the Sox marched to the postseason, where he cemented his status in Red Sox lore. Eovaldi was a star that October, tossing 22 1/3 innings of 1.61 ERA ball with a 16-to-3 K/BB ratio. Those are impressive numbers on their own, but they only tell part of the tale. Eovaldi won his first two starts of the playoffs before moving to the bullpen and picking up a pair of holds. But it was Game 3 of the World Series, where Eovaldi gutted out six innings of relief in an 18-inning marathon and finished out the game, that many will remember. The Dodgers wound up winning when Eovaldi’s 97th (!) pitch out of the bullpen was deposited in the seats by Max Muncy, but he saved the Boston bullpen with six innings of one-run ball that night. The Sox went on to win the World Series in five games.
As for the Rays, they came away with a lefty who’d come up through Boston’s system as a starter but would be used in a jack-of-all-trades role in St. Petersburg. Beeks has served as a long reliever, a setup man and an opener in parts of five seasons with Tampa Bay, totaling 258 innings of 4.12 ERA ball along the way. He’s been the type of versatile arm whose value can’t be neatly encapsulated in what looks like an otherwise modest WAR total. Beeks has handled just about any role the Rays could ask, and he’s generally been effective in doing so. He’s not a star, but he’s been an important member of their pitching staff for a half decade now and is still under team control through the 2024 season.
Tigers acquire RHP Reese Olson from the Brewers in exchange for LHP Daniel Norris (7/30/21)
The 23-year-old Olson made his big league debut on Friday when he stepped into the Detroit rotation to take the spot of the injured Eduardo Rodriguez. As far as debuts go, it was nearly as good as a young pitcher could ask for. Olson carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning before being tagged for a pair of runs and departing five frames of two-run ball in the books.
Olson isn’t regarded among the sport’s top 100 prospects and isn’t even universally considered to be among the Tigers’ top 10 prospects, but he’s missed bats consistently in the upper minors and is regarded as a potential long-term rotation piece if he can improve upon the command of his fastball. Scouting reports at Baseball America, FanGraphs, The Athletic and MLB.com praise Olson’s secondary pitches, particularly his changeup, which he’s begun using effectively even in right-on-right situations.
Detroit has seen a lot of turnover in the baseball operations department since this trade, but former GM Al Avila, AGM David Chadd and others will be in line for some praise if the Tigers get a viable big leaguer in exchange for two months of the veteran Norris, who was sitting on a 5.38 ERA in 36 2/3 innings at the time of the deal. Norris had been tough on lefties, and the Brewers surely felt they could coax a higher level of performance out of him with some tweaks. That didn’t happen, however, as Norris was rocked for a 6.64 ERA in Milwaukee, walking 15 of the 63 batters he faced (23.8%) and serving up five homers in 20 1/3 frames (2.2 HR/9).
2022 Deadline Swaps to Watch
Pirates acquire RHP Johan Oviedo, INF Malcom Nunez from the Cardinals in exchange for LHP Jose Quintana, RHP Chris Stratton (8/2/22)
Yes, technically this isn’t a pure rental. Stratton had an additional year of club control, and that surely factored into the return. But he was also sitting on a 5.09 ERA at the time of the deal, and this was largely a trade centered around getting Quintana to land some much-needed rotation help in St. Louis.
The Cardinals got just what they wanted out of this deal — and then some. Quintana stepped into the rotation and not only solidified the staff but pitched to a brilliant 2.01 ERA in 62 2/3 frames down the stretch. The lefty was so excellent that St. Louis wound up tabbing him as the Game 1 starter in last year’s National League Division Series. Quintana had signed a one-year, $2MM deal in the offseason and was acquired as a back-end starter but pitched like an ace. The script doesn’t get much better for the acquiring team.
That said, this trade also has the makings of a winner for Pittsburgh. The 25-year-old Oviedo has been inconsistent but shown flashes of brilliance with the Bucs. He’s throwing fewer fastballs and more breaking pitches — particularly more curveballs, which has been an extremely effective offering for him through 11 starts. Oviedo’s 4.50 ERA in 58 innings looks pretty pedestrian, but he’s upped his ground-ball rate and improved his velocity even in a rotation role. He’s allowed one or zero runs in six of his 11 starts this year. The Pirates can control Oviedo for four more years beyond the current season, and if he’s a legitimate starter or even a multi-inning relief piece, that’ll be a fine return for their modest Quintana flier. Nunez, meanwhile, hit .286/.381/.476 in Double-A following the trade and is at .255/.338/.369 in 160 Triple-A plate appearances this year.
Cubs acquire RHP Ben Brown from the Phillies in exchange for RHP David Robertson (8/2/22)
Robertson was one of the most in-demand relievers — or trade candidates in general — at last year’s deadline, and the rebuilding/retooling Cubs needed to get their return right. So far, it looks like they’ve done just that. Brown is out to a sensational start in the upper minors this year, pitching to a combined 2.63 ERA with a 35.5% strikeout rate against a less-appealing 11.7% walk rate. Baseball America ranked him sixth among Cubs prospects heading into the season, and The Athletic’s Keith Law called him a “heck of a get for two months of a 37-year-old reliever.” FanGraphs currently has him ranked 87th on their top-100 prospect list, and MLB.com moved him into its top-100 just this morning.
Despite Brown’s wide-reaching acclaim, the Phillies might not even regret making the swap. Robertson struggled with his command following the trade but still posted 22 1/3 innings of 2.70 ERA ball and saved six games for Philadelphia down the stretch in a tight Wild Card race that saw them edge out the Brewers by exactly one win. The Phillies needed every single victory, and if they’d held onto Brown and targeted a different reliever(s), who knows whether they’d have reached the playoffs? Were it not for Robertson — who pitched 7 2/3 innings of one-run ball in the playoffs — the Phils may never have experienced J.T. Realmuto‘s NLDS inside-the-parker, Rhys Hoskins‘ four-homer NLCS, or Bryce Harper‘s iconic NLCS-clinching bomb.
Angels acquire OFs Mickey Moniak, Jadiel Sanchez from the Phillies in exchange for RHP Noah Syndergaard (8/2/22)
This trade might not have gone as well as the Phillies hoped. Syndergaard was decent down the stretch, pitching to a 4.12 ERA in 10 appearances, nine of them starts. He started just twice in the postseason and made one relief appearance. Syndergaard pitched like a fourth or fifth starter but saw his already diminished velocity and strikeout rate step even further back following the trade. Again, the Phils needed every last win to get to the playoffs, though, so it’s hard to say they’d definitively have done anything different. They won six of Syndergaard’s nine starts and also picked up the victory in the lone game they used him out of the bullpen, when he tossed two scoreless frames.
At least thus far, Angels fans can’t complain about the return. Moniak isn’t going to sustain a .429 batting average on balls in play, but he’s hitting .327/.340/.694 in 50 plate appearances. The BABIP and a 34% strikeout rate scream for regression, but the former 1-1 pick has already hit as many homers through 50 trips to the plate with the Halos (four) as he did in 167 with the Phillies. He’s played good defense, run well and given some hope that he can carve out a role moving forward.
Red Sox acquire INF Enmanuel Valdez, OF Wilyer Abreu from the Astros in exchange for C Christian Vazquez (8/1/22)
Trading Vazquez was part of a disjointed Red Sox trade deadline that saw Boston trade away their longtime catcher and lefty reliever Jake Diekman while also acquiring Eric Hosmer and Tommy Pham. It wasn’t clear that their 2023 roster was improved, and the decision to hold onto other trade targets while adding Pham’s salary left them just over the luxury tax line (thereby reducing their compensation for qualifying offers extended to Xander Bogaerts and Nathan Eovaldi).
Digression aside, the swap might prove beneficial to the Sox in the long run. Valdez has already made his big league debut, and although his bat faded after a hot start, he’s still sporting a passable .244/.292/.422 batting line (91 wRC+) in his first 97 big league plate appearances. He’s picked up four homers, four doubles and three steals (in four tries) while subbing in at second base in the wake of a slew of middle-infield injuries. Valdez posted absolutely massive numbers in 205 Double-A plate appearances last year (.357/.463/.649) before moving up to Triple-A and hitting .265/.327/.488.
Abreu, meanwhile, was added to the 40-man roster over the winter and is hitting .264/.379/.479 in 40 Triple-A games so far. He’s regarded as a potential plus outfield defender, and his success in Triple-A and status on the 40-man roster mean the Red Sox could possibly have two MLB contributors within a year or so of trading Vazquez.
It’s hard to say anything moves the 2022 Astros made “didn’t work out,” as the team won the World Series in the end. But Vazquez took a backseat to Martin Maldonado both in the regular season and the playoffs, hitting just .250/.278/.308 in 108 regular-season plate appearances following the swap (plus .235/.316/.235 in just 19 playoff plate appearances).
Pirates Select Chase De Jong
The Pirates have selected the contract of right-hander Chase De Jong, per a team announcement. To make room for De Jong on the active roster, Yerry De Los Santos has been optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis. No corresponding 40-man roster move was necessary to accomodate De Jong, as the Pirates had open space on the 40-man roster, which now stands at 38.
A second-round pick by the Blue Jays in the 2012 draft, De Jong has fashioned a career for himself as a journeyman reliever since his big league debut with the Mariners in 2017, when he posted a 6.35 ERA in 28 1/3 innings of work. Following his time in Seattle, De Jong joined the Twins and Astros organizations before arriving in Pittsburgh on a minor league deal in January of 2021. Since then, he’s pitched to a 2.70 ERA in 43 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level while posting a 4.33 ERA 124 2/3 innings of work at the big league level.
That includes a brutal start to his 2023 campaign, where De Jong posted a 10.61 ERA in 9 1/3 innings of work with identical 10.6% strikeout and walk rates. That led the Pirates to designate De Jong for assignment last month, though he eventually accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A, paving the way for today’s return to the roster. De Jong figures to join Angel Perdomo and Yohan Ramirez in covering the middle innings for the Pirates going forward.
As for De Los Santos, the 25-year-old returns to Triple-A just one day after being recalled to the roster for his 2023 debut. De Los Santos recorded two outs for the Pirates in yesterday’s game while recording a strikeout and a walk. He’ll return to Indianapolis and act as bullpen depth going forward.
Pirates Designate Chris Owings For Assignment, Select Angel Perdomo
The Pirates announced a series of roster moves this morning as the club selected the contract of left-hander Angel Perdomo and recalled right-hander Yerry De Los Santos to the big league club. In corresponding moves, infielder Chris Owings was designated for assignment while right-hander Cody Bolton was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis.
Perdomo, 29, has not pitched in the majors since 2021 after making a 2 2/3 inning MLB debut for the Brewers in 2020. In 19 2/3 career innings in the big leagues, Perdomo sports a 8.24 ERA and 6.43 FIP. While he’s struck out a strong 33.7% of batters faced over that time, his massive 23.5% walk rate has held him back from being a quality big league reliever to this point. While Perdomo has posted a strong 2.47 ERA at the Triple-A level since the start of the 2022 season, it’s been accompanied by continued control issues, as evidenced by his 15.3% walk rate in that timeframe. The Pirates are clearly hoping Perdomo can harness his excellent stuff to contribute to the bullpen alongside fellow lefties Rob Zastrynzy and Jose Hernandez.
De Los Santos, on the other hand, made his big league debut for the Pirates last season, posting a 4.91 ERA and 4.01 FIP in 26 appearances. Now 25, he figures to help the likes of Perdomo and Yohan Ramirez cover the middle innings for the Pirates bullpen.
On the other end of things, the moves likely bring Owings’s time with the Pirates to an end. A former first round pick by the Diamondbacks in the 2009 draft, Owings signed with the Pirates this past offseason on a minor league deal, eventually being selected to the roster in early May after initially being re-assigned to the minor leagues after failing to make the roster out of spring training. Owings appeared in ten games for the Pirates, with 12 strikeouts, no walks, and four hits (all singles) in 25 trips to the plate.
Though Owings has not managed to find regular playing time at the big league level since leaving the Diamondbacks in 2019, he’s appeared in parts of 11 big league seasons thanks in large part to his versatility, which has allowed him to appear in every defensive position throughout his big league career except for first base and catcher.
Meanwhile, Bolton heads to Indianapolis less than two weeks before his 25th birthday. A sixth-round pick by the Pirates in the 2017 draft, Bolton saw considerable success in the lower levels of the minors and was considered one of the better prospects in the Pirates organization early in his professional career. Unfortunately, he struggled with his command in 2022 at the Triple-A level, with a 12.4% walk rate in 75 2/3 innings split between the rotation and the bullpen. Nonetheless, he made his big league debut earlier this season, but in five appearances in the majors, Bolton has struggled to a 12.83 ERA in just eight innings of work. He figures to act as depth in Triple-A going forward as he tries to get things back on track.
NL Central Notes: Steele, Votto, Adames, Miley, Velasquez
Cubs fans received some positive news regarding left-hander Justin Steele yesterday. The 27-year-old hurler was pulled from his start on Wednesday after just three innings of work due to forearm tightess and underwent an MRI on Thursday to determine the severity of the issue. As noted by MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian on Twitter, Steele described the result of the MRI as “good news” and said that the plan is for him to play catch today before determining the path forward. With that being said, WSCR-AM’s Bruce Levine notes that a source considers Steele “likely” to miss his next start, which he would otherwise be on schedule take Tuesday against the Angels.
After securing a spot in the starting rotation to open the 2022 campaign, Steele ended last season looking like an above-average, mid-rotation or better starter over 24 starts, posting a 3.18 ERA, 3.20 FIP, 24.6% strikeout rate, 9.8% walk rate, and 51.2% groundball rate in 119 innings of work. Only budding Rays ace Shane McClanahan managed to post a higher strikeout rate while maintaining a groundball rate over 50% last year. What’s more, Steele has managed to build on his strong first season as a regular starter for the this season, with a 2.65 ERA that’s only bested by rotation-mate Marcus Stroman and Braves youngster Bryce Elder in the National League.
The news that his forearm strain isn’t anything serious and he’s unlikely to miss significant time is surely a relief for a Cubs team that has relied on the young lefty to carry their pitching staff alongside Stroman, with the duo representing 18 of the club’s 25 quality starts in 2023. With that said, it seems likely that right-hander Hayden Wesneski will fill in for Steele in the event the injured left-hander does miss a start. Wesneski struggled to a 4.81 ERA and 5.65 FIP this season after earning the fifth spot in the club’s rotation with a dominant performance in spring training, leaving the Cubs to remove him from the rotation when Kyle Hendricks returned to the mound from injury.
More from around the NL Central:
- According to MLB.com, Brewers shortstop Willy Adames has resumed baseball activities for the first time since he was struck by a foul ball in last week’s game against the Giants, landing him on the 7-day concussion IL. Adames is currently working out with the the club’s High-A affiliate rather than joining the club on their flight to Cincinnati in order to avoid the wear-and-tear of air travel, according to manager Craig Counsell. The club plans to decide whether or not Adames, who has struggled to a 84 wRC+ in 51 games this season, needs a minor league rehab assignment before he can return to big league action later this weekend. In the meantime, they figure to continue going with a combination of Brice Turang, Owen Miller, and Andruw Monasterio up the middle.
- Sticking with the Brewers, MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy notes that left-hander Wade Miley is making good progress on his rehab from a posterior serratus strain. While he was initially expected to be shelved for six to eight weeks, McCalvy reports that if Miley is able to avoid any setbacks he’s currently set to return from the IL after just four weeks after throwing a bullpen session on Thursday. Miley posted eight solid starts for the Brewers prior to his injury as the veteran lefty threw 41 2/3 innings of 3.67 ERA baseball.
- Reds first baseman and future Hall of Famer Joey Votto is set to begin a rehab assignment with the club’s Triple-A affiliate in Louisville today, per MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon. Votto has been on the shelf since he underwent surgery on his rotator cuff back in August, and posted a wRC+ of just 92 in 91 games prior to the surgery. Still, he figures to share first base and DH duties with Spencer Steer upon his return to big league action.
- Right-hander Vince Velasquez was activated from the injured list and returned to the Pirates‘ rotation just last week, but immediately felt discomfort in his right elbow and returned to the injured list. According to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, his current IL-stay will not be a short one, as the veteran is expected to be transferred to the 60-day IL in the near future. Velasquez had pitched well for the Pirates across eight starts this season prior to his injury, with a 3.86 ERA in 37 1/3 innings. Velasquez’s return to the IL leaves the club with a rotation of Mitch Keller, Roansy Contreras, Johan Oviedo, Rich Hill, and Luis Ortiz.
Duane Underwood Jr. Accepts Outright Assignment With Pirates
Pirates reliever Duane Underwood Jr. has accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Indianapolis, tweets Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The right-hander went unclaimed on waivers after being designated for assignment last weekend.
This was the likeliest outcome following Underwood’s DFA. He and the Pirates had agreed to a $1.025MM contract to avoid arbitration over the offseason. Underwood has between three and five years of MLB service time, meaning he could’ve chosen free agency but would’ve had to surrender that guaranteed money to do so.
It has been a tough start to the season for the 28-year-old. Underwood logged 24 1/3 innings over 20 appearances but stumbled to a 5.18 ERA. He struck out a below-average 14% of opponents against a lofty 11% walk rate. Underwood has never had pinpoint control but he’s typically had more success missing bats. He fanned 22% of batters faced in 57 1/3 innings last year and carried a career 22.5% strikeout percentage into this season.
Given his slow start and a salary that’s a bit higher than the league minimum, it’s not surprising he went unclaimed on waivers. Underwood will head to Triple-A for the first time since 2019 (aside from one appearance there on a rehab stint last year) and try to find his form. He’d qualify for minor league free agency at the end of the season if the Pirates don’t add him back to the 40-man roster.
Rays Acquire Robert Stephenson From Pirates
1:05pm: The Pirates have now announced the deal and that Williams has been assigned to Triple-A Indianapolis. Infielder Mark Mathias has been recalled to take Stephenson’s spot on the active roster.
12:20pm: The Rays have acquired right-hander Robert Stephenson from the Pirates, reports Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic. Minor league shortstop Alika Williams is heading the other way.
Stephenson, 30, came up as a starting pitcher for the Reds but has been converted to relief work over the past few years. The initial results of the bullpen move were positive, as he posted a 3.76 ERA over 57 appearances in 2019. Things took a downturn in the shortened 2020 season, however, with his ERA shooting up to 9.26 in 10 appearances that year. Prior to 2021, the Reds flipped him to the Rockies in exchange for Jeff Hoffman.
He then bounced back with a solid season in Denver, putting up a 3.13 ERA in 2021. He struggled again in 2022, running up a 6.04 ERA through August before he was designated for assignment and landed with the Pirates. He was able to finish on a high note with a 3.38 ERA in ten appearances for the Bucs down the stretch.
Here in 2023, he began the season on the injured list due to elbow inflammation but was able to return in the middle of April. He’s since made 18 appearances but has a 5.14 ERA in those. He’s still getting punchouts at a similar rate but his control seems to have fallen off this year. He struck out 26.8% of opponents from 2019 to 2022 and walked 7.9% but those figures are 27.9% and 13.1% this year.
That’s a small sample size but Stephenson has shown himself to be fairly inconsistent in his career, with notable swings in his effectiveness. Nonetheless, the Rays will take a shot on helping him harness his stuff. Given their track record of helping flawed pitchers get the best of their arsenals, it wouldn’t be a total shock to see Stephenson get back on track in Tampa.
Despite their reputation for producing an endless stream of quality relievers, they have had some bullpen struggles this year. They have five relievers currently on the injured list, which is putting a strain on their depth. The relief group as a whole has a collective 4.32 ERA on the season, a mark that places them 22nd out of the 30 clubs in the league. They have been looking in various places for reinforcements, including calling up several arms from their own system as well signing Jake Diekman after he was released by the White Sox. Now they will add Stephenson as well to see if he can be part of the solution as they try to hold onto the top spot in the cutthroat AL East. He will just be a short-term piece, however, since he’s slated for free agency this winter.
As for Williams, 24, he was the 38th overall selection in the 2020 draft. He has generally been considered one of Tampa’s top 30 prospects in the past few years, with his speed and defense standing out as his best qualities. The key question has been whether or not his bat would allow him to complement those skills. So far, the results there have been somewhat tepid. He hit .267/.312/.375 in 2021 across three different levels, producing a wRC+ of 86. Last year, he got his line up to .249/.353/.377 for a wRC+ of 104, spending most of his time in High-A. He’s been in Double-A this year, hitting .237/.314/.417 for a wRC+ of 101.
Williams isn’t a star prospect but he comes with a solid floor given his athletic abilities. Any offensive development would be a nice bonus for the Bucs, not a bad outcome for a struggling reliever that they grabbed off waivers less than a year ago.
Upcoming Club Option Decisions: NL Central
We’re roughly a third of the way through the 2023 season. Players have had a couple months to build something of a performance track record that’ll play a role in their future contracts. With that in mind, MLBTR will take a look over the coming days at players whose contracts contain team or mutual options to gauge the early trajectory for those upcoming decisions.
This series kicked off with the NL West last night. Today, we move to the Central.
Chicago Cubs
- Kyle Hendricks: $16MM team option ($1.5MM buyout)
Hendricks has only made two starts this season. The sinkerballer was diagnosed with a capsular tear in his throwing shoulder last August. That required a lengthy rehab process that lingered into this month. The former ERA champion hadn’t been nearly as effective in the two years leading up to the shoulder issues as he was over his first seven seasons. Going back to the start of the 2021 campaign, he owns a 4.75 ERA over 274 2/3 innings. Between that back-of-the-rotation production and the injury, the Cubs seem likely to reallocate the $14.5MM difference between the option price and the buyout.
- Yan Gomes: $6MM team option ($1MM buyout)
Gomes signed a two-year guarantee with Chicago going into the 2022 campaign. Initially tabbed to pair with Willson Contreras, he’s gotten the majority of the playing time alongside Tucker Barnhart this season. Gomes struggled to a .235/.260/.365 line in 86 games during his first season on the North Side. He’s playing better this season, hitting six home runs with a .273/.297/.445 batting line over his first 118 trips to the plate. The $5MM decision is a reasonable price for a veteran backstop hitting at that level, even if Gomes is more of a timeshare player than a true regular at this stage of his career.
- Brad Boxberger: $5MM mutual option ($800K buyout)
Boxberger signed with Chicago after being bought out by the Brewers. The righty has had a tough first couple months. He allowed nine runs with a 13:9 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 14 2/3 innings. He hit the 15-day injured list with a forearm strain a couple weeks ago. Boxberger is throwing again but figures to miss a decent chunk of action. This is trending towards a Cubs’ buyout.
Cincinnati Reds
- Joey Votto: $20MM team option ($7MM buyout)
Votto is a franchise icon. He’s played his entire 17-season career in Cincinnati and it’s hard to envision him in another uniform. If he’s to stick with the Reds beyond this year, though, it’d almost certainly be at a cheaper price point than the option value. Votto had a below-average .205/.319/.370 batting line last season and hasn’t played this year as he works back from last August’s rotator cuff surgery.
- Wil Myers: $12MM mutual option ($1.5MM buyout)
Myers’ first season as a Red hasn’t gone as planned. The offseason signee has started his Cincinnati career with a .189/.257/.283 batting line with three home runs over 141 plate appearances. Perhaps he’ll play well enough this summer the Reds can recoup something in a trade around the deadline. Cincinnati isn’t going to exercise their end of this option short of a massive turnaround, though.
- Curt Casali: $4MM mutual option ($750K buyout)
Casali is part of a three-catcher group in Cincinnati. The veteran backstop has only a .157/.259/.157 line in 60 trips to the plate during his second stint as a Red. The club looks likely to decline their end of the option for the journeyman backstop.
Milwaukee Brewers
- Justin Wilson: $2.5MM team option ($150K buyout)
Wilson underwent Tommy John surgery last June. The Brewers signed him to a big league deal with an eye towards the second half and potentially the ’24 campaign. He’s on the 60-day injured list. This one’s still to be determined.
Pittsburgh Pirates
- Jarlín García: $3.25MM team option (no buyout)
García landed in Pittsburgh after being non-tendered by the Giants last winter. His Bucs’ tenure hasn’t gotten off the ground. He suffered a biceps injury in Spring Training, was shut down from throwing entirely for more than a month, and has spent the year on the 60-day injured list. There’s no public clarity on his status.
St. Louis Cardinals
- Paul DeJong: $12.5MM team option ($2MM buyout)
Six weeks ago, this looked like a no-brainer for the Cardinals to buy out. DeJong’s offensive production had absolutely nosedived since 2020. He hit only .196/.280/.351 in over 800 plate appearances between 2020-22. He struggled so badly last season the Cards optioned him to Triple-A for a spell.
The Cards continued to resist calls to move on from DeJong entirely, however. The front office has held out hope he could recapture the productive offensive form he showed through his first few seasons. They’ve been rewarded for their patience to this point in 2023. DeJong has had a surprising resurgence, popping eight home runs in 31 games. His bat has faded a bit in May after a scorching April, but the overall .234/.311/.495 line is 21 percentage points above league average by measure of wRC+. DeJong’s defense has always been above-average, and the offensive bounceback has gotten him back in the starting lineup at shortstop.
DeJong will need to maintain this form over an extended stretch before the Cards get to a point where it’s worthwhile to trigger the option. Tommy Edman and top prospect Masyn Winn are in the organization as potential replacements. Yet DeJong is performing better than any of the impending free agents in a weak shortstop class. That there’s a chance the front office might have to think about this one is a testament to his strong start.