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Cubs Place Michael Fulmer On 15-Day Injured List

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The Cubs placed right-hander Michael Fulmer on the 15-day injured list due to a right forearm strain, according to Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times (X link).  Righty Daniel Palencia was called up from Triple-A in the corresponding move.

This is the second time in less than a month that a forearm strain has sent Fulmer to the IL, as he only returned earlier this week from a previous stint that sidelined him from August 25 to September 11.  Fulmer tossed two-thirds of an inning last Monday in what amounted to his only appearance in his return from the injured list.

Given the timing and nature of the injury, it would certainly seem like Fulmer’s 2023 season could be over.  Manager David Ross stated that Fulmer had been trying to pitch through some discomfort prior to his first IL trip, and if that forearm discomfort has continued, Fulmer will surely be held out beyond the 15-day minimum for precautionary reasons if nothing else.  With the Cubs in the wild card race, Fulmer might possibly be an option for a postseason roster if Chicago does make it into the playoffs, but that isn’t likely to be known until Fulmer undergoes another set of tests.

Fulmer has previously undergone both a Tommy John surgery and an ulnar nerve transposition surgery in his career, so he is unfortunately no stranger to significant arm problems.  This could give the Cubs and Fulmer even more reason for caution, and these late-season IL stints might certainly hamper Fulmer’s market as a free agent this winter.

The righty has a 4.42 ERA over 57 innings for Chicago this season, with a mediocre 11.8% walk rate standing out as Fulmer’s biggest problem.  This lack of control has undermined some other good numbers for Fulmer, as he has an above-average 27.4% strikeout rate and been among the game’s best at limiting hard contact.

Losing Fulmer is another blow to a Cubs bullpen that already lost closer Adbert Alzolay to a forearm strain earlier this week.  In need of relief help for the playoff push, the Cubs will be using Marcus Stroman out of the bullpen for at least a little while until Stroman fully ramps up after a lengthy stint on the injured list.  While Chicago’s relief corps has been solid overall this season, they’ll face a challenge with this makeshift approach over the regular season’s final weeks.

Red Sox Notes: Casas To IL, Dalbec Recalled, Kluber Shut Down

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The Red Sox have placed first baseman Triston Casas on the 10-day IL with right shoulder inflammation, the team announced. In a corresponding move, Bobby Dalbec has been recalled from Triple-A Worcester. In other Red Sox news, starting pitcher Corey Kluber was scratched from his rehab appearance at Triple-A this afternoon. He has been shut down for the remainder of the season, the club revealed to reporters (including Ian Browne of MLB.com).

Casas is in the midst of an excellent rookie campaign, putting up an .856 OPS with 24 home runs. He leads the Red Sox in walk rate and on-base percentage and has been Boston’s best hitter by wRC+. He has been especially hot in the second half, posting a 1.031 OPS since the All-Star break. The 23-year-old is one of only seven AL rookies to qualify for the batting title, and among that group, he ranks first in numerous offensive categories, including OPS, wRC+, and xwOBA. He is likely to earn some down-ballot support for Rookie of the Year, although Gunnar Henderson remains the clear favorite to take home the hardware.

Unfortunately, a sore right shoulder could spell the end of Casas’s season. His IL placement is retroactive to September 15, which means he could return on September 25 at the earliest. By that point, the Red Sox will only have six games remaining, and it’s highly unlikely they’ll be in contention for a Wild Card spot. If Casas returns to full strength, his team would surely love to have him for those final two series, but they have no reason to rush him back.

Taking his place on the active roster will be Dalbec, who has spent most of the 2023 season at Triple-A after a poor major league showing in 2022. Dalbec was phenomenal during a brief cup of coffee in 2020, hitting eight home runs in 23 games. He followed that up with a solid campaign in 2021, posting a .792 OPS and a 106 wRC+ in 133 contests. However, he had a rough time the following year. His OPS fell by more than 100 points and his power seemed to disappear.

Dalbec opened the 2023 season at Triple-A, and he has come up only briefly on a few occasions throughout the year. He has impressive numbers with Worcester – 33 home runs, a .938 OPS, and a 131 wRC+ – although he has underwhelmed in ten games at the major league level, going 2-for-12 with eight strikeouts. The Red Sox will hope he can access his power with the big league club to fill the void in the lineup that Casas left behind.

Kluber was scheduled to make his third rehab appearance at Triple-A on Saturday, but the Red Sox scratched him from the game. He will continue his rehab work at home but will not pitch for Boston again this season. The veteran right-hander has been on the injured list with shoulder inflammation since mid-June.

A two-time Cy Young Award winner, Kluber enjoyed a mini-renaissance with the Rays last season, making 30 starts for the first time since 2018. However, he has struggled tremendously in his age-37 campaign, pitching to a 6.26 ERA in nine starts and a 9.45 ERA in six appearances out of the bullpen. His contract contains an $11MM team option for 2024, although it is highly unlikely the Red Sox will exercise the option.

Rays Select Tristan Gray

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2:45pm: The Rays have officially selected Gray to the major league roster and placed Walls on the paternity list. In a corresponding move, Greg Jones has been recalled from Triple-A and placed on the 60-day IL, opening up a spot for Gray on the 40-man roster. Jones has not played since July 22 due to a hamstring injury.

12:32pm: The Rays are planning to select the contract of infielder Tristan Gray from Triple-A Durham, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. He will be taking his spot on the active roster from Taylor Walls, who is going on the paternity list. The Rays will need to make a corresponding move to add Gray to the 40-man roster.

Gray joined the organization in 2018 as part of the trade that sent Corey Dickerson to the Pirates. He has spent the past three years at Triple-A with the Durham Bulls, where he has played all four infield positions. He also occasionally played the outfield corners during his time in college. Indeed, Gray’s defensive versatility is his strongest asset. His bat is serviceable but unexceptional; he has slashed .233/.299/.472 across his three seasons at Triple-A. He has demonstrated impressive power but poor plate discipline, hitting 69 home runs and 59 doubles but striking out in more than 30% of his trips to the plate.

It seems likely that Osleivis Basabe will cover for Walls as the primary shortstop, while Gray takes Basabe’s job as a utility infielder. Basabe has struggled lately, slashing .094/.171/.125 over his last 12 games, but he remains one of the top prospects in the Rays organization, and the team should give him every chance to succeed. He previously started at shortstop while Walls was on the injured list recovering from a strained oblique.

That being said, the Rays are set to face two right-handed pitchers this weekend in Baltimore, Grayson Rodriguez and Dean Kremer, which could give the lefty-batting Gray a leg up. Whatever his role, the 27-year-old long-time minor leaguer will strive to impress in his big league debut.

Rockies Outright Cole Tucker

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For the second time this season, Rockies infielder/outfielder Cole Tucker went unclaimed on waivers and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Albuquerque, per the transaction log at MiLB.com. Tucker was designated for assignment earlier in the week. Because he’s already been outrighted once, he’ll have the option of rejecting this assignment in favor of free agency.

The 27-year-old Tucker joined the Rockies on a minor league deal over the winter and has twice been selected to the Majors, though he’s only tallied 10 plate appearances (during which he’s gone 4-for-8 with a walk and a hit by pitch). He’s spent the rest of the season in Albuquerque, where’s he’s appeared in 70 games and batted .280/.391/.407 in 321 plate appearances.

Selected by the Pirates with the No. 24 overall pick back in 2014, Tucker was considered one of Pittsburgh’s top prospects for the better part of five years but has yet to put things together in the Majors. He’s played in 159 big league games and tallied 479 plate appearances across parts of five seasons, but he has just a .216/.266/.318 batting line to show for it. His .250/.350/.382 batting line in four Triple-A campaigns is a clear improvement but still doesn’t stand out in and of itself. Tucker had top-of-the-scale sprint speed when he debuted in 2019 (90th percentile of MLB players, per Statcast). He’s slowed a bit, dropping from an average of 28.8 feet per second to 28.3 ft/sec, but that’s still good enough to rank in the 75th percentile of MLB players.

Tucker has primarily been a shortstop in his professional career, with more than 5500 innings at the position (including his minor league work). The Pirates and Rockies began bouncing him to other positions in recent years in order to improve his versatility. He’s since logged at least 375 innings at each of second base, center field and right field, with briefer stints at first base, third base and in left field.

Angels Select David Fletcher, Jared Walsh

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The Angels announced a series of roster moves today, selecting infielders David Fletcher and Jared Walsh. To open active roster spots for those two, the club optioned outfielder Jordyn Adams and infielder Kyren Paris. To open spots on the 40-man roster, they transferred infielder/outfielder Luis Rengifo to the 60-day injured list and designated right-hander Gerardo Reyes for assignment.

Both Walsh and Fletcher looked like potential building blocks for the club not too long ago, but both of fallen off considerably in recent years. Walsh hit 38 home runs in 176 games over 2020 and 2021, slashing .280/.338/.531 for a wRC+ of 130. Unfortunately, significant health issues have prevented a significant obstacle to him since then. He underwent thoracic outlet syndrome surgery last year and has been dealing with headaches and insomnia this year, hitting just .202/.265/.353 over the past two seasons. He was outrighted in August and has a batting line of .217/.360/.375 in Triple-A this year.

Despite those struggles, he’ll get a chance to play out the string over the final weeks of the season with the Halos out of contention. He’s making a salary of $2.65MM this year and would be eligible for arbitration again this winter, though the Angels may not tender him a contract unless they have reason to expect he can get back to the form he showed in 2020-2021.

Fletcher hit .319/.376/.425 in the shortened 2020 season, wRC+ of 121, which was enough for the Angels to give him a contract extension going into the following year. In April of 2021, he and the club agreed to a five-year deal with a $26MM guarantee, though his production fell off immediately. He’s hit just .258/.292/.325 since the start of 2021 for a wRC+ of 69.

Twice this year, the club has passed Fletcher through waivers and outrighted him to Triple-A Salt Lake. Since he has over three years of major league service time, he could have rejected either of those assignments and elected free agency. However, since he’s still shy of five years of service, doing so would mean forfeiting what’s left of his contract, which runs through 2025. Naturally, he decided to accept in both instances.

He will still be shy of that five-year mark at season’s end, meaning the Halos could outright him again this winter and keep him around as depth without him taking up a roster spot. In the minors this year, he has a batting line of .330/.382/.428 that looks good at first glance but is par in the Pacific Coast League, translating to a wRC+ of 100. He’s generally considered a strong defender, so he could be valuable even with average offense at the big league level, though he’s been well beneath that in recent years.

Reyes signed a minor league deal with the club in the offseason and had his contract selected in June. He has an earned run average of 7.45 in his eight major league appearances and 6.25 in his 33 Triple-A appearances. He’ll be out of options next year, giving him less roster flexibility going forward.

As for Rengifo, it was reported last week that he won’t be able to return this year due to a bicep tendon rupture, making today’s transfer an inevitable formality.

It’s possible there are luxury tax implications to these moves, as it was reported earlier this month that the club remained narrowly above the lowest threshold of the competitive balance tax. Since then, they have tried to further cut their CBT number by putting catcher Max Stassi on the restricted list and putting outfielder Randal Grichuk on waivers a second time. Fletcher and Walsh each already had their salaries for this year locked in, so bringing them back up doesn’t add any payroll. But Adams and Paris will no longer be receiving major league pay after being optioned, which will trim a small amount of spending from the club’s ledger.

Getting under the CBT line could have implications for the club since the compensatory draft pick they would receive in the event Shohei Ohtani signs elsewhere after rejecting a qualifying offer would be significantly better. There are also compounding penalties for paying the tax in consecutive years, meaning that ducking under now would lessen their penalties if they were to go over again next year.

Whether the club pays the tax or not won’t be officially known until later in the year. Roster Resource estimates the Angels’ tax number at $229MM whereas Cot’s Baseball Contracts pegs it at $237MM. The lowest threshold of the CBT is $233MM this year.

Mets Claim Anthony Kay From Cubs

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The Mets have claimed left-hander Anthony Kay off waivers from the Cubs, reports Jesse Rogers of ESPN. The latter club had designated the lefty for assignment earlier this week. The Mets already had a vacancy on their 40-man roster and won’t need to make a corresponding move. The Mets have sent Kay to Triple-A for now, per Abbey Mastracco of the New York Daily News.

Kay, now 28, returns to his original organization. The Mets selected him with the 31st overall pick in 2016 but traded him to the Blue Jays alongside Simeon Woods Richardson in the 2019 Marcus Stroman deal. The lefty got brief looks at the big league level while with the Jays but wasn’t able to establish himself and was placed on waivers, getting claimed by the Cubs in the winter.

Between the Jays and the Cubs, Kay has thrown 82 innings scattered over the past five major league seasons. He has an earned run average of 5.60 in that time, along with a 22.3% strikeout rate, 12.1% walk rate and 42.2% ground ball rate. He’s generally fared better in the minors, which continues to be the case this year. He has a 4.10 ERA in 37 1/3 Triple-A innings, striking out 31.1% of hitters and keeping the ball on the ground at a 52.4% rate. Those numbers are both strong, though his 13.7% walk rate is still concerning.

Kay will be out of options next year, but the Mets can keep him as a depth arm for now. If he manages to hang onto his roster spot through the winter, he can still be retained for five more seasons after this one.

Orioles Select Heston Kjerstad

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The Orioles announced a series of roster moves today, selecting the contract of outfielder Heston Kjerstad and recalling right-hander Bryan Baker from Triple-A Norfolk. To open active roster spots for those two, outfielder Ryan McKenna and left-hander Nick Vespi were optioned to Norfolk. To open a spot for Kjerstad on the 40-man, infielder/outfielder Terrin Vavra was recalled from Norfolk and placed on the 60-day injured list with a strained right shoulder.

Of all the moves, the most significant is the promotion of Kjerstad, as it’s yet another instance of the O’s promoting a highly-touted prospect to their major league club. The past six years have seen the club endure a significant rebuild, finishing last in the American League East four times, losing 108 games or more in three of those. That’s allowed them to build a pipeline of young talent that has started to feed into for the big league team. Youngsters like Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson, Grayson Rodriguez and others have helped the club jump to a record of 91-54, the best such mark in the American League this year.

Kjerstad, 24, was taken with the second overall pick in 2020. His professional debut was delayed by myocarditis, which prevented him from taking part in any official game action in 2021. He split last year between Single-A and High-A, hitting a combined .309/.394/.457 between those two levels. This year, he’s gone through Double-A and Triple-A with a combined slash of .303/.376/.528, which translates to a wRC+ of 132.

The outfielder is currently considered the #44 prospect in the league by Baseball America, #24 by MLB Pipeline, #49 by ESPN and #56 by Keith Law of The Athletic. FanGraphs doesn’t currently provide specific rankings beyond the 50 Future Value guys on the 20-80 scouting scale, but Kjerstad is one of many unnumbered 45+ guys that are lumped together around the back half of the top 100. He’s considered a bat-first prospect, with his power his standout tool, but it’s expected he can be a fine corner outfielder from a defensive standpoint.

It was reported last night that a promotion of Kjerstad was possible, in conjunction with Ryan Mountcastle battling a shoulder injury. Mountcastle hasn’t landed on the injured list as of yet, but it seems Kjerstad will push into the mix regardless. Mountcastle has been the regular option at first base, but perhaps his injury means Ryan O’Hearn takes over that spot and spends less time in the outfield corners. That would perhaps leave Kjerstad, Anthony Santander, Aaron Hicks and Austin Hays splitting the duties of left field, right field and designated hitter. Kjerstad also played some first base in the minors and could be a factor there.

The O’s are about to begin what may be their most important series of the regular season. The Rays are just two games back in the East division and the two clubs are set to face off in a four-game series that starts tonight in Baltimore. Both teams are sure to make the postseason but the division winner will secure a bye through the first round, making the distinction significant. Kjerstad isn’t in the starting lineup tonight but should make his debut at some point in the next few weeks and might even secure himself a spot on the postseason roster.

With so little time left in the season, Kjerstad won’t be able to exhaust his rookie status and will therefore still be on prospect lists in the upcoming offseason. That means he will still be eligible for the “prospect promotion incentives” that are present in the current collective bargaining agreement. That could allow the O’s to recoup a bonus draft pick in the future, depending on how Kjerstad fares in awards voting going forward.

As for Vavra, he was with the big league club earlier this year but has been on optional assignment since early June. While in the minors, he missed over two months from mid-June to late August, when he began a rehab assignment. The club informed reporters last week, including Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com, that Vavra’s rehab was being shut down for further testing. There’s not much detail on his injury or timeline but it seems his season is over, based on today’s transfer.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Reds Place Tejay Antone On Injured List, Select Carson Spiers

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The Reds announced Thursday morning that they’ve placed right-hander Tejay Antone on the 15-day injured list due to discomfort in his right elbow. Cincinnati also reinstated righty Ben Lively from the Covid-related injured list and selected the contract of right-hander Carson Spiers from Double-A Chattanooga. Right-hander Connor Phillips who’d been up as a Covid-related replacement player, has been returned to Triple-A Louisville.

Antone, 29, only just returned from a two-year absence stemming from Tommy John surgery earlier this month. He’s pitched 5 2/3 effective innings, but the right-hander left last night’s game with a trainer after experiencing discomfort in that surgically repaired  elbow. While Antone downplayed the issue to an extent after the game, it seems the Reds have deemed a pause on his throwing is needed. There’s still technically enough time remaining on the schedule for Antone to return to the mound in the final three games of the season, but given the timing of the IL placement and minimal days left on the schedule, it’s possible his season will be over.

A healthy Antone is one of the most underrated relievers in the game. He’s only appeared in parts of three big league seasons, thanks largely to those health troubles, but in 74 2/3 innings dating back to 2020, the righty boasts a 2.41 ERA, 32.4% strikeout rate and 49.4% ground-ball rate. Antone has been a bit wild, walking 10.7% of his opponents in his young career, but the results are impressive all the same. The obvious hope for any player following an IL placement is that a major injury can be avoided, but it’d be particularly disheartening to learn of anything severe for Antone after he only just completed a two-year grind back to a Major League mound.

As for the 25-year-old Spiers, he’s already made his big league debut, allowing seven runs in seven innings between two appearances earlier this month. However, he was only on the roster as a Covid-related substitute player and was returned to Triple-A on Sunday. That process didn’t require him to be optioned or passed through waivers. Now, he’s been formally selected to the Major League roster, meaning he’ll be subject to standard option rules moving forward.

Aside from his brief MLB look earlier this month, Spiers has spent the entire season in Double-A. An undrafted signee out of Clemson following the shortened 2020 draft, he’s pitched 83 innings of 3.69 ERA ball with the Reds’ Chattanooga affiliate, whiffing 29.2% of his opponents against an 11.3% walk rate.

Lively, 31, hasn’t pitched in a game since Aug. 26. The right-hander enjoyed a solid three-year run in the Korea Baseball Organization from 2019-21 before returning to affiliated ball on a minor league deal with the Reds for the 2022 season. He re-upped with Cincinnati over the most recent offseason and this year reached the Majors for the first time since throwing one lone inning with the 2019 Royals. He’s pitched in 15 games (12 starts) for the Reds and eaten up 76 2/3 innings, albeit with a lackluster 5.17 ERA. To his credit, that number is skewed by one objectively calamitous start, wherein the Reds left Lively out there to take a 13-run beating in four innings against the Cubs. Lively has a 3.83 ERA in his other 14 appearances.

Cardinals Select Juniel Querecuto

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The Cardinals announced that infielder Nolan Gorman has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a right hamstring strain, with fellow infielder Juniel Querecuto selected to take his place on the active roster. The club already had a vacancy on its 40-man roster and won’t need to open a spot there.

Querecuto, 30, has a sliver of major league experience, having played four games for the Rays in 2016. Since then, he’s signed minor league deals with the Giants, Diamondbacks and Reds without getting back to the big leagues.

He joined the Cards on a minor league deal in the offseason and has been with Triple-A Memphis this year. In 440 plate appearances over 106 games for the Redbirds, he’s hit 13 home runs and walked in 9.1% of his plate appearances. The run-scoring environment is quite high in the International League this year, so his .269/.343/.418 line looks solid at first glance but translates to a wRC+ of 91. But he also stole 12 bases in 13 tries, as well as suiting up at the three infield positions to the left of first base and spending some time in the outfield.

The Cards now have three positions players on the injured list, with Gorman joining Brendan Donovan and Dylan Carlson. As the club plays out the string on a lost season, Querecuto can bounce around the diamond as needed. If he hangs onto his roster spot, he still has a full slate of options and just a few days of service time.

As for Gorman, he left last night’s game with hamstring tightness and the club will let him rest for at least 10 days. They haven’t provided any updates about the severity of his injury, but since they are out of contention and there’s just over two weeks left on the schedule, it’s possible his season is over. Although he has struck out in 31.9% of his trips to the plate this year, he’s also walked at a strong 11.4% clip and hit 27 home runs.

Royals Outright Tyler Cropley

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Sept. 13: Cropley passed through waivers unclaimed and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Omaha, the Royals announced Wednesday. He’ll remain in the organization, as he does not have the prior outright or three years of MLB service needed to reject an assignment.

Sept. 11: The Royals announced that catcher Tyler Cropley has been designated for assignment. His roster spot will go to Logan Porter, whose upcoming promotion was reported yesterday.

The club has Salvador Perez as its main backstop but was also giving plenty of playing time to Freddy Fermin this year, with Perez spending some time at first base of late. Unfortunately, Fermin suffered a fracture in his right middle finger, forcing the Royals to find another backup. MJ Melendez came up as a catcher but doesn’t seem to be considered a realistic option there. Back in May, manager Matt Quatraro said they were going to keep him in the outfield in order to let him focus on his hitting and he hasn’t been behind the plate since.

Cropley had his contract selected on the weekend but has now been quickly designated for assignment without getting into a game, replaced by Porter. Prior to being selected Cropley was in Double-A while Porter was in Triple-A. On the surface, it’s a strange move to have added Cropley before Porter and then pivot two days later, but it’s possible it’s related to the schedule. The Royals were in Toronto this weekend and it has been speculated that Cropley had his passport ready to go while Porter did not. That’s not confirmed but it would make sense of why Cropley was selected and then quickly removed from the roster once the club crossed back over the Canadian border.

Whatever the reasons, Cropley got a very brief taste of major league life, albeit as a passive observer. Since the trade deadline has now passed, he will be placed on waivers in the coming days. In 43 Double-A games this year, he’s hit .234/.329/.359 for a wRC+ of 86.

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