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Charlie Blackmon Plans To Exercise 2022-23 Player Options

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Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon isn’t making any plans to leave Denver, as Blackmon told reporters (including Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post) that he is going to exercise the player options on his contract for both 2022 and 2023.  An official decision about Blackmon’s 2022 plans will come soon after the World Series, and Blackmon doesn’t have to make a decision on his 2023 option until after next season, should he change his mind in the next 12 months.

In exercising his 2022 option, Blackmon will earn $21MM next season, and there wasn’t much doubt he would choose to prefer that big guaranteed payday over a visit to the free agent market.  Blackmon entered Game 162 hitting .269/.349/.409 with 13 home runs over 581 plate appearances, his least-productive full season by OPS (.759), OPS+ (95) and wRC+ (94) since becoming a regular with Colorado in 2013.

At age 35 and coming off that lackluster platform season, there wasn’t much chance Blackmon could find anything on the open market that would top the minimum $31MM in guaranteed money he has coming his way in 2022-23.  Blackmon’s original extension with the Rockies has already earned him $63MM, and after the $21MM salary for 2022, he stands to make at least $10MM via the 2023 player option.  That 2023 figure could end up being worth as much as $18MM should Blackmon hit various escalators based on plate appearances and MVP votes.

The Rockies inked Blackmon to that extension in April 2018, keeping Blackmon in the fold before his scheduled trip to free agency in the 2018-19 offseason.  Over the extension’s three guaranteed years, Blackmon has contributed a .295/.357/.489 slash line and 51 homers over 1462 PA, but most of that damage came in 2019.

His decline over the last two seasons doesn’t bode well for Colorado’s chances of getting an acceptable return on that $21MM investment for next year.  Blackmon’s hard-contact numbers have dropped, and opposing teams have been heavily deploying shifts to neutralize the left-handed hitting Blackmon over the last two seasons.

Previewing 2021-22 Opt-Out Clauses & Player Options

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Next year’s free-agent class is a legitimately star-studded group even when focusing only on true free agents who’ll hit the market due to service time or an expiring contract. But the class has the potential to become even stronger depending on the play of this year’s collection of veterans who have opt-out clauses and player options in their contracts. Their performance over the next five months will determine whether they opt for another trip to the free-agent market or simply stick with the remaining salary guaranteed to them on their existing deals.

We’re about a sixth of the way through the season, so it’s worth taking an early look at how this group is faring…

Nolan Arenado, 3B, Cardinals (can opt out of remaining six years, $179MM): Arenado, who was always a better hitter at Coors Field, is yet another example of the manner in which home/road splits are overstated with regard to Rockies players. The 30-year-old is now playing his home games at Busch Stadium and still raking at a .279/.336/.507 clip with top-notch defense at the hot corner. Arenado has stated that he plans “to be a Cardinal the rest of the way” and said there is a “very, very high” chance that will forgo the opt-out clause in his contract. After the Cardinals tacked a year and $15MM onto the original five years and $164MM he had remaining on the deal, there’s less incentive for him to test the market.

Trevor Bauer, RHP, Dodgers (can opt out of remaining two years, $62MM): While some might balk at the notion of Bauer opting out when he’s guaranteed a whopping $45MM next year on this front-loaded contract, the opt-out wouldn’t really be about 2022 — it’d be about improving upon the total guarantee. Right now, if Bauer were to suffer an injury in 2022, he’d have a $17MM player option for the 2023 season. If he opts out this winter, however, he could aim to negotiate something similar to or greater than his original three-year, $102MM guarantee with the Dodgers. Bauer could still secure a huge salary in year one of a new contract but give himself a greater safety net against injury or decline. He also won’t have a qualifying offer to deal with this time and would be entering what most expect to be a market with more teams willing to spend. With a 2.50 ERA, 34.7 percent strikeout rate and 7.3 percent walk rate, the current NL strikeout leader is enjoying the kind of start that will make him think about it.

Nick Castellanos, OF, Reds (can opt out of remaining two years, $34MM): If Castellanos keeps hitting anywhere near this pace, that opt-out clause will assuredly be exercised. His age-29 season has kicked off with an outstanding .303/.346/.607 slash, and he already has 18 extra-base hits (nine homers, eight doubles, one triple) in just 126 plate appearances. Castellanos fizzled after a similarly electric start in 2020, so we’ll have to see if he maintains — but he’s one of the best hitters on the planet right now.

Charlie Blackmon, OF, Rockies ($21MM player option for 2022; $10MM player option for 2023): The Colorado fan favorite has come to life after a woeful start to the 2020 season. Over his past 13 games, Blackmon is hitting .319/.396/.447 with more walks than strikeouts. That surge still only has his season line up to .222/.328/.343 in 125 plate appearances, though, so Blackmon has plenty of work to do before he’d even consider opting out of a $21MM payday in what will be his age-35 season.

J.D. Martinez, OF/DH, Red Sox ($19.375MM player option for 2022): An ugly 2020 season had many wondering whether Martinez was beginning to decline. It seems safe to stop wondering. The first few weeks of the 2021 season have been some of the finest of JDM’s career; offense around the league is down, but he apparently didn’t get the memo, as he’s destroyed opposing pitchers at a .331/.416/.632 clip. His  10 dingers give him a share of the MLB lead. While there were some conflicting reports on the number of opt-outs in his contract at the time of the deal, MLBTR confirmed this week that Martinez has a $19.375MM player option for the 2022 season on his deal, so he’s controlling his own fate, so to speak. If he keeps hitting like this, why wouldn’t he test the market again (or at least parlay his performance into an extension in Boston)?

Jackie Bradley Jr., OF, Brewers ($11MM player option for 2022): The Bradley signing hasn’t panned out for the Brewers just yet. No one should be surprised to hear that Bradley has excellent defensive ratings through his first 260 innings in center field, but he’s hitting a mere .175/.242/.316 in 124 plate appearances. Bradley didn’t sign until a few weeks into Spring Training, and we’ve seen plenty of late signees start slowly in the past, but so far things aren’t going great.

Jurickson Profar, INF/OF, Padres ($6.5MM player option for 2022; $7.5MM player option for 2023): Profar hasn’t been anywhere near the hitter he was in 2020, slashing just .234/.333/.308 through 128 trips to the plate. The investment in Profar was always a risk. He was one of the least-productive hitters in the National League for the first month of the 2020 season and only salvaged his year with a blistering .375/.398/.534 showing in his final 93 plate appearances. That well-timed hot streak rather stunningly earned him a three-year guarantee and multiple opt-out opportunities, and he’ll need some more of that magic if he’s going to consider walking away from the $14MM he’s still owed beyond 2021. Profar is currently on the Covid-related IL for contact-tracing purposes.

Kevin Pillar, OF, Mets ($2.9MM player option for 2022): Pillar entered the season with a sub-.300 OBP for his career, and he’s not doing that mark any favors in 2021. We’re only looking at 66 plate appearances, but his .254/.288/.381 output looks more like his below-average career line than last year’s stronger showing. Pillar found a pretty frosty market for his services even on the heels of last summer’s .288/.336/.462 performance, so if he doesn’t turn things around at the plate, it wouldn’t be a shock to see him pick up the option.

Justin Wilson, LHP, Yankees ($2.3MM player option for 2022; Yankees hold $7.15MM club option/$1.15MM buyout if Wilson declines): Wilson has served up a pair of homers, walked five batters, hit a batter, and yielded a total of six runs in 8 2/3 innings. He also opened the year on the IL due to shoulder soreness, and his average fastball velocity is down at 93.7 mph after sitting at 95.1 mph in each of the past two seasons. A reliever with Wilson’s track record can turn things around in a hurry, but it hasn’t been the start he or the team envisioned. If Wilson exercises his player option, it triggers a 2023 club option valued at $500K over the league minimum, meaning he’d only do so with a particularly poor year on the mound.

Brett Gardner, OF, Yankees ($2.3MM player option for 2022; Yankees hold $7.15M club option/$1.15MM buyout if Gardner declines): The Yankees lifer hasn’t shown much life at the plate in 2021, hitting .190/.284/.238 in 75 turns at the dish. He has just one multi-hit game to his credit so far in 2021 and is being used in his most limited role ever.

Darren O’Day, Yankees, RHP ($1.4MM player option for 2022): The 38-year-old O’Day has been great for the Yankees through nine innings, but he’s currently on the injured list due to a strained rotator cuff in his shoulder. As long as he comes back and demonstrates his health, he should be expected to decline his option in favor of a $700K buyout. He’s only securing himself an additional $700K if he picks the option up — barely more than the current league minimum (which could very well rise in the offseason CBA talks).

Dellin Betances, RHP, Mets ($1-3MM player option depending on number of games pitched): Betances needs to reach 60 games pitched in 2021 for his player option to be valued at $2MM and 70 games for it to check in at $3MM. So far, he’s pitched one. It’s all but certain to be a $1MM player option on the righty, who may still take the deal given how catastrophic the last few years have been. Betances is on the 60-day IL with a shoulder impingement at the moment, and since Opening Day 2019, he’s totaled just 13 2/3 innings due to injuries.

Beyond this group, there’s also a conditional player option in the Mariners’ deal with left-hander Yusei Kikuchi. Seattle has until three days after the World Series wraps up to decide whether it wants to exercise a quartet of one-year, $16.5MM options on Kikuchi — a total of four years and $66MM. All four must be exercised together. If they do not make that sizable investment, Kikuchi then has a one-year, $13MM player option for the 2022 season on which he must decide.

At least based on Kikuchi’s career numbers in MLB, it seems unlikely that the Mariners would pick up their end of the deal. He’s compiled a 5.22 ERA through his first 246 1/3 big league innings. That said, Kikuchi saw a major velocity spike in 2020 that he’s actually improved upon again in 2021. Fielding-independent metrics were much more bullish on him than ERA in 2020 (3.30 FIP, 3.37 xERA, 3.78 xFIP, 4.34 SIERA), and this year’s current 4.30 ERA is respectable. He’s also sporting career-bests in swinging-strike rate, opponents’ chase rate, walk rate and ground-ball rate.

It’s still a long shot that the Mariners will pick up all four years on Kikuchi, who’ll turn 30 in June. However, that may simply set him up for a return to the market. It’s certainly plausible that he pitches well enough to command more than the $13MM salary on his player option but less than the four years and $66MM on the Mariners’ end of the arrangement.

Gold Glove Nominees Announced

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The 2020 Rawlings Glove Glove Award finalists have been released, with the Cubs netting the most nominations with seven. The Mets, Nationals, Phillies, Brewers, Rays, and Red Sox were shut out.

The awards for defensive prowess will be handed out based on defensive metrics alone this year, since managers and coaches weren’t able to see players outside their regional bubble. Moving to a metrics-based system, even for a year, certainly make for interesting television, especially since these awards can make an impact on arbitration cases. Considering the uncertainty of a 60-game season, awards could carry greater weight than usual in those proceedings, thought that’s just speculation. Without further ado, here are this year’s nominees:

AL Pitcher

NL Pitcher

AL Catcher

NL Catcher

AL First Base

NL First Base

AL Second Base

NL Second Base

AL Third Base

NL Third Base

AL Shortstop

NL Shortstop

AL Left Field

NL Left Field

AL Centerfield

NL Centerfield

AL Right Field

NL Right Field

Nicky Lopez of the Royals was originally left off the list, but he is in fact a nominee at second base, one of four nominations at the keystone in the American League. It’s the only position with four nominations.

There are a few other interesting things of note. Perennial candidates like Andrelton Simmons and Matt Chapman did not make the list this year due to shortened seasons, nor did last season’s Outs Above Average leader Victor Robles. Both Gurriel brothers earned nominations this year, with the younger Lourdes (LF) joining perennial candidate Yuli (1B).

There are also a couple of largely part-time players that made the cut, like Hoerner of the Cubs and Mendick for the White Sox. Neither was the everyday second baseman, but they did reach the inning minimum of 265 total defensive innings. They qualified at second because that’s where they played the most innings. Mendick, for example, registered just 226 innings at second, but with 27 innings at third and 15 at shortstop, he ended the year with 268 total defensive innings played.

Catchers required a minimum of 29 games, which is how we got a pair of White Sox catchers making the top-3. Pitchers had to throw a minimum of 50 innings.

The winners will be selected using the SABR Defensive Index and announced on November 3rd, per sabr.org.

Charlie Blackmon Rejoins Rockies

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Outfielder Charlie Blackmon arrived at Coors Field on Monday for Summer Camp, Nick Groke of The Athletic tweets. It’s an especially notable and encouraging development after Blackmon tested positive for the coronavirus three weeks ago.

Blackmon, a four-time All-Star, explained how he’s doing and expressed hope that he’ll be in Colorado’s lineup when its season starts July 24, saying (via Thomas Harding of MLB.com): “I feel great. I have felt that way for at least a couple of weeks now. I had a day and a half of symptoms. After that I started feeling much better. I want to be ready for Opening Day. That’s a pretty short period of time.”

Of course, if the Rockies are going to pull off a surprise playoff run in 2020, it stands to reason they’ll need a healthy Blackmon. The 34-year-old turned in yet another quality offensive season in 2019, in which he slashed .314/.364/.576 (125 wRC+) with 32 home runs in 634 plate appearances to further cement himself as one of the Rockies’ most important contributors.

Aside from Matt Kemp, a recent minor league signing, Blackmon is by far the most proven outfield-capable player the Rockies have. David Dahl, Raimel Tapia, Sam Hilliard, Garrett Hampson and Yonathan Daza are also on their 40-man roster, but only the injury-plagued Dahl has fared well offensively over a large sample of major league plate appearances.

Charlie Blackmon, 2 Other Rockies Test Positive For Coronavirus

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Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon, left-hander Phillip Diehl and righty Ryan Castellani have tested positive for the coronavirus after recently working out at Coors Field, Kyle Newman of the Denver Post reports. Only one of the three showed symptoms, though his identity is unknown.

Aside from Blackmon, Diehl and Castellani, the other players who have been working out at the stadium tested negative. As a result of the positive tests, which Newman writes “came late last week,” the facility has been closed for the week.

Even though Major League Baseball and the players reached an agreement on health and safety protocols Tuesday, paving the way for a 60-game regular season, this is another reminder of how challenging it will be for all involved to get through the campaign unscathed.

Blackmon, a four-time All-Star, is the highest-profile major leaguer to date who we know has tested positive for COVID-19. However, Colorado certainly isn’t the only team that has been affected by it. Just in the past few days, the virus has also impacted the Phillies, Yankees, Angels, Astros, Giants and Blue Jays, not to mention at least a few unnamed clubs.

Rockies Notes: Monfort, Murphy, Hilliard

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The Rockies lost 91 games in 2019, and they haven’t signed a single major league free agent, but Chairman and CEO Dick Monfort predicts a 94-win season in Colorado, per The Denver Post’s Kyle Newman. That would be a franchise high for the Rockies, who thrice have won 90 games but never exceeded 92. And of course, they have yet to capture their first NL West crown. Let’s stick with the Rockies…

  • Monfort cites the 2007 to 2009 Rockies as precedent for his projection, who sandwiched a pair of playoff teams around an 88-loss unit in 2008. The core of the Rox’ 91-win team from 2018 remains largely intact (for now) with Nolan Arenado, Trevor Story, and Charlie Blackmon leading the offense, while Jon Gray, German Marquez and Kyle Freeland front the rotation. Of course, questions abound for that group, from performance to health to Arenado’s recent comments about the team. The Rockies were a top-10 unit by measure of runs scored even in 2019, so a turnaround isn’t impossible. Significant, wholesale improvements from the pitching staff would have to figure heavily in a turnaround after the staff ranked 29th in the majors with a 5.58 ERA in 2019.
  • Daniel Murphy will be a key player to watch in 2020, writes Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. Murphy seemed like a great fit for Coors Field heading into 2019, but an injury slowed the start of his season and the offensive numbers never really surfaced. Murphy doesn’t bring a plus glove at first base, so his contribution needs to come with the bat. A .279/.328/.452 line was his lowest mark across the board since 2015.
  • Of the young players, Sam Hilliard has a chance to break into the everyday lineup, per MLB.com’s Thomas Harding. The lefty masher put up a 1.006 OPS in 27 games last year, an impressive audition. He’s a candidate to take the strong end of a platoon with Ian Desmond in left. Hilliard will have to prove he can make enough contact to see his name on the lineup card daily, but with his combination of speed and power, the physical gifts are there.

Rockies Reportedly “Would Listen To Offers” For Charlie Blackmon

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With the Rockies’ fortunes sinking during a brutal stretch of play in the run-up to the trade deadline, MLB.com’s Jon Morosi reports that the organization “would listen to offers” for star outfielder Charlie Blackmon. It’s not clear at this point whether any such discussions have occurred.

At first glance, it seems rather unlikely that a deal will end up coming to fruition. The Rockies have positioned themselves as a win-now franchise in recent years by hammering out monster extensions with Blackmon and Nolan Arenado, inking a less-costly but still-significant deal with starter German Marquez, and drawing several free-agents (chiefly, Ian Desmond and a procession of relievers) with contracts that depreciated like new luxury cars rolling off the lot. The Colorado payroll sat at a record $145MM this season and already has hefty money on the books (before arb raises and other additions) for the next few years: $120MM+ for 2020, $82.8MM for 2021, and over $60MM for the ensuing two seasons. Dealing Blackmon would significantly harm the near-term outlook in the midst of a contention window that the team has already largely committed to.

Then again, perhaps there’s a shot here at a bit of a mulligan. The somewhat extended financial position is of obvious concern given the top-heavy state of the roster. Blackmon, Nolan Arenado, Trevor Story, and David Dahl make up a nice group of position players to build around. Marquez and Jon Gray are a solid duo of young starters, with Scott Oberg and Carlos Estevez looking like quality, controllable relief arms this year. But that’s less than a third of the roster. Seven Rockies players have produced at least 1.0 fWAR this year (including Oberg but not Estevez); no other man on the roster has exceeded 0.5. Even as several of the free-agent acquisitions have gone south, the club has seen a few hiccups from promising young players trying to figure out the majors. And then there was the collapse of starter Kyle Freeland.

The picture has changed quite a bit since the Rockies acted decisively to keep Blackmon from testing free agency at the end of the 2018 season, and then did the same with Arenado after a Wild Card campaign. That’s true both of the team and of the veteran outfielder, who is owed $21MM this season as well as in 2020 and 2021. The deal includes a $21MM player option for the 2022 season and a floating-value player option for the final contemplated campaign. From a starting point of $10MM, that final option can move up to $18MM depending upon plate-appearance and MVP-voting results over the other seasons of the deal.

The Rox are in a bind through no fault of Blackmon, who has been the team’s best hitter. Through 381 plate appearances, he’s carrying a .319/.365/.602 batting line with 23 home runs. That translates to a strong 132 wRC+. Blackmon has been an excellent hitter for past four seasons and obviously has maintained his ability to square up the baseball. That said, he has outperformed the expectations of Statcast based upon his batted-ball data, with a .403 wOBA but only a .347 xwOBA, though that has also been true in each of the three prior campaigns. It’s also notable that Blackmon’s never-exceptional walk rate is down to 5.5%. That matter links up to another possible concern: Blackmon has posted yawning home/road splits this year. While the numbers are less dramatic over the full course of his career, no small part of Blackmon’s overall success has come from a whopping lifetime .378 BABIP at Coors Field.

While the hitting output and outlook remain mostly positive, the cracks are beginning to show in the other areas of Blackmon’s game. He was already moved out of center field after grading terribly there last year. The UZR and DRS grading systems remain pessimistic about his work in the corners in 2019, with Statcast’s outs-above-average and outfielder jump measures also taking a dim view of Blackmon’s glovework. Likewise, Blackmon is no longer a stolen-base threat or even a positive-value performer on the basepaths by measure of Fangraphs’ BsR grade. Statcast identifies a clear drop in his foot speed and percentile rank among MLB runners. These developments may not directly implicate his eye, bat speed, and reflexes at the plate, but they’re also of note from a hitting perspective because Blackmon is so heavily dependent upon reaching base via contact to maintain his on-base numbers.

So, should we add Blackmon to the top of the list of available trade deadline targets? There’s some reason to think the Rockies could make him available, though it’d be awfully tough to deal such a popular player and it would hardly solve the team’s payroll predicament in one fell swoop. Presumably, the club would want any acquiring team to take on most or all of the remaining money owed to Blackmon while also coughing up young talent. There’d surely be interest, but given the above-noted concerns, it’s also easy to imagine some trepidation from the market. Morosi speculatively considers the Rangers, Reds, and Cardinals as organizations that might conceivably target Blackmon, but it’s not hard to come up with reasons to believe each of those organizations would be hesitant to meet the Rockies’ presumptive asking price. Ditto other potential trade matches. The veteran outfielder also has 15-team no-trade protection, which could complicate matters. All things considered, it’s interesting to contemplate the possibilities but it still feels rather unlikely that Blackmon will end up on the move.

Rockies Activate Blackmon & Davis, Designate Chris Rusin For Assignment

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The Rockies have activated outfielder Charlie Blackmon and closer Wade Davis from the injured list, the club announced. Lefty Chris Rusin was designated for assignment to create one roster opening, with utilityman Garrett Hampson optioned for another.

The Colorado club will obviously be glad to welcome back two of its most-established veteran players. Neither required a lengthy absence, but any time away is more than the Rockies can afford. A recent run has the team three games over .500, but it’s still staring at a yawning ten-game chasm with the division-leading Dodgers on the other side.

Rusin only just returned to the majors after opening the year on the IL with back issues. He has not looked great. He was bombed in his first two outings, surrendering four earned runs on five hits while recording only three outs. And he’s already coming off of a messy 2018 effort in which he was torched for a 6.09 ERA.

Still, the peripherals suggested better last year. And Rusin was a strong performer in 2017, when he threw 85 innings of 2.65 ERA ball. Of course, he not only managed a typically strong 58.5% groundball rate that year but also produced a career-best 12.7% swinging-strike rate. He hasn’t come close before or since. Thus far in 2019, Rusin’s velocity is down and he hasn’t generated grounders (in the majors and during his rehab assignment).

The timing may feel a bit rushed at first glance, particularly for a player who is earning $1,687,500 (with one more year of arbitration control remaining). It makes more sense when you tabulate Rusin’s service time. He entered the season with 4.092 years on the ticker; with 71 more accrued to this point, he’s sitting just nine days shy of reaching five full years of service. At that point, he’d be able to reject an outright assignment without sacrificing the remainder of his salary. By making the move now, the Rockies can either shed the remaining obligation (if he’s claimed or rejects an assignment) or stash Rusin at Triple-A and try to work out the kinks.

Charlie Blackmon Likely To Return Friday

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The Rockies will activate outfielder Charlie Blackmon from the 10-day injured list Friday, Kyle Newman of the Denver Post suggests. Meanwhile, the Rockies lost left-handed reliever Mike Dunn to the 10-day IL on Thursday (retroactive to June 3) because of left AC joint inflammation and transferred fellow southpaw Harrison Musgrave to the 60-day IL, per a team announcement. Musgrave’s 40-man spot went to righty Peter Lambert, who shut down the Cubs in a 3-1 win in his major league debut.

Although Blackmon’s one of their most valuable players, the Rockies (32-29) ripped off 10 wins in 15 games as he sat out with a right calf strain. Colorado’s just half a game behind a wild-card spot thanks to that impressive run, and Blackmon’s return should help the team’s cause as it pushes for a third straight playoff berth. The 32-year-old Blackmon slashed .300/.356/.565 (126 wRC+) with 10 home runs in 219 plate appearances before landing on the shelf.

The IL placement for Dunn, 34, is the latest negative development in a long line of them since he joined the Rockies on an ill-fated contract going into the 2017 campaign. The injury’s all the more troubling given that Dunn missed most of last season with an AC joint issue that required surgery in September.

Now in the last season of his three-year, $19MM deal, Dunn has pitched to a 5.19 ERA/4.83 FIP in 17 1/3 innings. Overall as a Rockie, Dunn has thrown 84 2/3 frames and logged a 5.53 ERA/4.88 FIP with 8.82 K/9, 5.53 BB/9 and a 35 percent groundball rate.

Health Notes: Mets, Moreland, Phillies, Blackmon

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A few notable health updates from around the majors…

  • The Mets activated infielder/outfielder Jeff McNeil from the 10-day injured list Tuesday. Both McNeil (hamstring strain) and Robinson Cano (quad strain) went to the shelf May 23, though the latter’s return date remains “to be determined,” ESPN.com writes. Unlike Cano, who’s amid a tough first season with the Mets, McNeil has thrived in 2019. The contact-hitting 27-year-old has slashed .329/.412/.453 with 16 unintentional walks and 22 strikeouts in 194 plate appearances.
  • Red Sox first baseman Mitch Moreland could come off the IL as early as Friday, according to Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe. The lefty-swinging Moreland was put on the list May 29 because of a lower back strain, temporarily halting a powerful start to the season for the 33-year-old. Moreland’s a .228/.320/.550 hitter (121 wRC+) with a Red Sox-best 13 home runs and a team high isolated power mark (.322) through 172 trips to the plate.
  • Phillies right-hander Zach Eflin is set for a quick return after landing on the IL on May 31. Eflin, who has been down with mid-back tightness, will start for Philadelphia on Friday, Matt Gelb of The Athletic tweets. Eflin posted an impressive 3.02 ERA and walked fewer than two per nine in 11 starts and 65 2/3 innings before his IL placement. At the same time, though, he struck out fewer than seven per nine and put up a mediocre 4.34 FIP.
  • Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon could begin a rehab assignment Wednesday, per Thomas Harding of MLB.com. Blackmon last played May 23 because of a right calf problem. Even though he’s one of their cornerstones, the Rockies have stormed to a 9-2 record without Blackmon.
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