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Rockies Activate Chris Iannetta, Designate Drew Butera

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The Rockies have designated catcher Drew Butera for assignment, per MLB.com’s Thomas Harding (Twitter link). His place on the active roster will be taken by Chris Iannetta, who has been activated from the injured list.

Butera helped fill in for Iannetta, which is just why he was brought in on a minors deal over the winter. He managed only three hits and a walk over 19 plate appearances. Offensive output isn’t the reason that Butera has managed to appear in the majors in each of the past ten seasons. His sturdy presence behind the dish will ensure that he lands back at Triple-A with the Rockies or perhaps with another organization.

Iannetta ended up missing just over two weeks with a strained lat muscle. The 36-year-old will be looking to bounce back from a poor start with the bat this year, which followed a subpar 2018 campaign. He’s earning $4.15MM this year; his contract includes a $4.25MM club option for 2020 ($750K buyout).

Craig Gentry Retires

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Outfielder Craig Gentry, a veteran of 10 big league seasons, has retired at the age of 35, agent Bob Garber tells MLBTR. Gentry was with the Giants during Spring Training and signed a minor league contract with the Rockies last month. He played in only three games with Colorado’s Triple-A affiliate (and collected seven hits), however, before deciding to spend more time with his family rather than pursue a return to the Majors.

Though he was never a star or even an everyday player, the fleet-footed Gentry enjoyed a solid run as a defensive-minded platoon outfielder with the Rangers and A’s from 2011-14 — during which time he hit .278/.353/.355 with four homers, 35 doubles, nine triples and 75 steals. Paired with his strong glovework in the outfield, that performance checked in at 8.5 wins above replacement, per Fangraphs, and 9.6 WAR according to Baseball-Reference. Most recently, Gentry appeared in 145 games with the Orioles from 2017-18, hitting at a .265/.326/.362 clip in a familiar reserve outfielder’s role.

Gentry’s career will come to a close with a .262/.333/.339 batting line in 601 MLB games and 1402 plate appearances between the Rangers, A’s, Angels and Orioles. Defensive metrics were always bullish on him, as evidenced by a career +53 Defensive Runs Saved mark and a +31.9 Ultimate Zone Rating across all three outfield slots. The 2006 10th-round pick earned about $7MM in his playing career. Best wishes to Gentry in his post-playing days.

Rockies Acquire James Pazos

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The Rockies have acquired lefty James Pazos from the Phillies, the clubs announced. Infielder Hunter Stovall is heading to the Philadelphia organization in return.

Pazos was designated for assignment recently by the Phils. He’ll head onto the Colorado 40-man roster but does not have to be added to the active roster.

Soon to turn 28, Pazos landed with the Phils in the Jean Segura swap this past offseason. Things didn’t turn out as hoped in Philadelphia, leading to a surprisingly quick DFA. He failed to win a big-league pen job after a rough camp and has continued to struggle at Triple-A to open the season.

That showing came after some curious developments last year. Pazos had previously sported 96 mph heat and a good slider, but saw the fastball velo dip even as he went to that pitch almost exclusively last year. His swinging-strike rate fell by nearly 25%.

Despite the recent issues, it’s easy to see why the Rockies decided to roll the dice. Pazos carries a 3.54 ERA through 112 MLB frames, with 9.3 K/9 against 3.5 BB/9 and a 47.8% groundball rate. He has been effective against both lefties and righties. And he’s optionable, which creates some additional flexibility.

On the other side of this swap is the 22-year-old Stovall. He was a 21st-round draft pick last year but has performed well thus far as a professional. After hitting ten home runs in 199 plate appearances at the Rookie ball level last year, he’s off to a .281/.414/.439 slash with as many walks as strikeouts (a dozen apiece) in seventy Class A plate appearances. Whether he can combine the power and patience remains to be seen.

Injury Notes: Murphy, Olson, Meadows

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Rockies first baseman Daniel Murphy is ahead of schedule in his rehab and is expected to be activated in the near future, manager Bud Black said Tuesday in an appearance on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (Twitter link, with audio). While Black said that Murphy was unlikely to be activated for tonight’s game, the skipper called Murphy’s return “imminent,” assuming one final evaluation of his fractured finger checks out. “Probably not. We’re probably going to give him the day,” Black said when asked about potentially activating Murphy on Tuesday. “He had three days in [Triple-A] Albuquerque. We figure we’ll get him back in Denver, reevaluate the finger and then make a decision tomorrow or the next day what direction we’re going to go with Daniel.” Black added that Murphy didn’t feel any pain or discomfort in his rehab games or after the fact.

A couple more health-related notes on key players…

  • First baseman Matt Olson could be back with the Athletics by mid-May, manager Bob Melvin told reporters Monday evening (Twitter link via John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle). The 25-year-old has been out since mid-March after fracturing his hamate bone on a swing during Oakland’s two-game set against the Mariners in Tokyo. Kendrys Morales and Mark Canha have stepped in as the Athletics’ two first base options in lieu of Olson. Morales, acquired just prior to the league-wide Opening Day, hasn’t provided anything at the plate to this point, batting just .179/.277/.250 in 65 plate appearances this year. Canha’s .242/.422/.455 slash has been terrific, though history shows that his right-handed bat is best deployed in platoon situations. Neither player can match Olson’s defensive prowess, either; Olson won a Gold Glove at first base last year and posted a sensational mark of +14 Defensive Runs Saved.
  • Rays outfielder Austin Meadows won’t require surgery to repair his sprained thumb, manager Kevin Cash revealed last night (link via Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times). Meadows will have his thumb immobilized for the next 10 days, per Cash, who put a timeline of roughly three weeks on Meadows’ return. “Good thing is he can keep his legs in shape, he can keep his throwing arm in shape,” said Cash of the injury. Meadows, 23, is off to a ridiculous .351/.422/.676 start to the season and has belted 11 extra-base hits (six homers, four doubles, one triple) in his 83 plate appearances.

Rockies Place Kyle Freeland On 10-Day IL

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The Rockies announced today that southpaw Kyle Freeland has been placed on the 10-day inured list with a blister. He’ll be replaced by fellow southpaw Tyler Anderson, who was activated from his own stint on the IL.

It had been hoped that the blister to Freeland’s left middle finger wouldn’t require any time on the shelf, but it seems not to have responded quite as well as had been hoped. Blisters can become major problems for pitchers, though there’s no reason at this point to think Freeland’s will turn into a long-lasting issue.

The news comes as a mild disappointment for a club that has been on a nice run of late. Freeland, 25, finished fourth in the Cy Young voting last year and is a key rotation cog for Colorado. Then again, it may not amount to much at all; with his IL placement backdated to April 19th, he could in theory will miss only a single start. That’s just what the southpaw is hoping for, Nick Groke of The Athletic tweets.

As for Anderson, the 29-year-old will be looking to bounce back after experiencing knee inflammation and throwing two rough outings to open the year. He hasn’t reached the heights some might have hoped for a first-round pick, but has been useful for the Rox since reaching the majors in 2016. Anderson showed a worrying velocity drop of nearly 2 mph to open the current campaign; that’s something to watch now that he’s back in action.

NL West Notes: Padres, Giants, Bellinger, Bettis, McFarland

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We’re all wondering how MLB’s decision to axe the August trade period will influence the way the in-season trade market unfolds. An even bigger rush at the end of July is one obvious possibility; perhaps also there’ll be an increase in early-season trade activity. It has long been fairly rare for significant assets to be moved before well in advance of the trade deadline. The Padres are now reaping the rewards of their decision to market assets early back in 2016, as MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell wrote recently. Nabbing Fernando Tatis Jr. was a nifty trick, of course. As Cassavell writes, both teams were intrigued by his obvious physical talent. The Friars able to pry him loose from the pitching-needy White Sox in part because he simply hadn’t yet appeared in game action. After a productive draft, the club targeted pop-up prospect Chris Paddack, gaining his rights when the Marlins couldn’t wait to secure the services of Fernando Rodney. Interestingly, as Cassavell explains, the Padres’ other notable haul of talent that summer came in the June draft. The club wielded a multitude of picks that year because it chose not to sell the prior summer, instead securing draft compensation for departing free agents Justin Upton and Ian Kennedy.

More from the NL West:

  • It’s interesting to consider that prior San Diego mid-season sell-off in relation to this year’s Giants club. If any team could be in position to own the early-summer market, it’s a San Francisco outfit that’s laden with veteran pitching and largely unburdened of immediate expectations to compete. The club’s bullpen has been outstanding in the early going while the rotation has seen solid openings from several elder statesmen. Nearly every member of the staff could be a plausible trade chip; indeed, the Giants have a collection of arms that could suit just about any rival’s needs. In the rotation, postseason hero Madison Bumgarner, long-time workhorse Jeff Samardzija, steady lefty Derek Holland, and higher-ceiling southpaw Drew Pomeranz. On the relief side, southpaw Will Smith continues to pitch like a relief ace, while fellow lefty Tony Watson remains a quality situational asset. Righties Sam Dyson and Mark Melancon are trending up and have ample late-inning experience, while Nick Vincent is an underrated middle relief piece. For Giants fans wondering about the future under president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi, the most fascinating pitcher of all may be Trevor Gott, a waiver claimee who’s suddenly generating swinging strikes at a near-elite level (14.7%) after ramping up the use of a four-seam fastball he introduced last season. With pitching problems already rising up for several contenders, Zaidi and co. could be in position for a memorable summer of swapping.
  • Star Dodgers first baseman/outfielder Cody Bellinger exited last night’s game early after being hit by a pitch near his right knee. As MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick reports, x-rays were negative and it seems that Bellinger has escaped any kind of serious injury. The young slugger, who has been on a tear to open the season, may still need some time to recuperate and receive treatment. But there’s no indication that a trip to the IL will be necessary.
  • The Rockies have bumped veteran right-hander Chad Bettis to the bullpen, as Nick Groke of The Athletic was among those to tweet. It seems likely his new role will dovetail with the return of Tyler Anderson from a stint on the injured list. Soon to turn 30, Bettis was also bumped to the pen for seven outings last year, though he still took twenty starts. He has struggled to an 8.78 ERA over his first 13 1/3 innings of the 2019 campaign, with eight walks to go with nine strikeouts and twenty base hits already on the ledger. Bettis is earning $3.35MM this year in advance of a final season of arbitration eligibility. In other news out of Colorado, the club seems likely to place outfielder Noel Cuevas on the 10-day injured list after he came down with a quad strain, manager Bud Black told reporters including Kyle Newman of the Denver Post (via Twitter).
  • Lefty T.J. McFarland is on the mend for the Diamondbacks, MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert reports. He’ll launch a rehab effort tomorrow as he seeks to finish off a return from a bout of shoulder inflammation. Once he’s deemed ready, McFarland will join Andrew Chafin as a southpaw combo in the D-Backs pen. The 29-year-old produced strong results last year after several rough seasons, working to a 2.00 ERA over 72 frames. Though he carried a typically uninspiring blend of 5.3 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9, McFarland also posted an eye-popping 67.9% groundball rate.

Rockies Select Drew Butera, Place Chris Iannetta On 10-Day IL

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The Rockies announced today that backstop Drew Butera’s contract was selected from Triple-A. He’ll take the active roster spot of fellow receiver Chris Iannetta, who was placed on the 10-day inured list with a strained lat muscle.

In other roster moves, the club announced that outfielder Noel Cuevas and righty Antonio Senzatela are also joining the big league club. Outfielder Yonathan Daza and righty Yency Almonte were optioned down to make way.

It’s not clear at this point how severe an injury Iannetta is dealing with, but it’s hardly promising to see him go down. He’s the latest veteran position player to hit the IL, further downgrading an already terrible offensive outlook for the Colorado organization.

Butera has loads of MLB experience and represents a worthwhile insurance policy to cash in. But he’s known far more for his sturdy presence behind the dish than his work with the bat in hand. The 35-year-old is a .201/.258/.299 lifetime hitter in the majors.

Poll: Slow-Starting Playoff Contenders

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The Red Sox, Yankees, Cubs and Rockies were among the majors’ most successful clubs in 2018, when the quartet comprised 40 percent of the league’s playoff bracket. No one was better than the Red Sox, who rolled to 108 regular-season wins before steamrolling the Yankees, Astros and Dodgers in the postseason en route to their latest World Series title. The Yankees, despite their loss to archrival Boston, enjoyed a more-than-respectable year in which they notched 100 victories. And Colorado knocked out Chicago in the National League wild-card game, a battle of two 90-plus-win teams, before succumbing to Milwaukee in the divisional round.

Given the excellence those clubs displayed last year, it would have been fair to expect each of them to earn playoff berths again in 2019. Instead, while we’re just a couple weeks into the season, all of those teams have tripped out of the starting block, having combined for 19 wins in 58 games. They’re the only members of last year’s playoff field that are under .500 at this point.

Boston, whose roster is almost the same as its title-winning version (sans relievers Craig Kimbrel and Joe Kelly), dropped a game to the lowly Orioles on Saturday. Fifteen contests into the season, the Red Sox have already lost 10 times – something they didn’t do until Game 35 a year ago. Neither their all-world offense nor their high-end pitching staff from 2018 have come close to replicating those performances thus far, and questions have swirled around ace Chris Sale. Signed to a five-year, $145MM extension before the season, Sale’s velocity – which began dropping amid an injury-limited 2018 – has continued to plummet. Unsurprisingly, the 30-year-old’s effectiveness has waned as his fastball has lost power. Not only has Sale allowed an earned run per inning across 13 frames, but one of baseball’s all-time strikeout artists has fanned just eight batters.

Maybe Sale is battling a physical issue, but the Yankees are dealing with plenty of their own. Eleven of their players, including standouts Luis Severino, Giancarlo Stanton, Gary Sanchez, Didi Gregorius, Miguel Andujar, Aaron Hicks and Dellin Betances are on the IL. The majority of that group won’t be back in the near future – or perhaps until 2020 in the case of Andujar – while Severino, Gregorius, Hicks and Betances haven’t suited up yet this year. With so many integral contributors unavailable, the Yankees have started 6-8. That would be less concerning if not for their inability to capitalize on an easy early season schedule. The Yankees have played 11 games against the Orioles, Tigers and White Sox, all of whom are regarded as bottom feeders, and only won six of those matchups. The AL East rival Rays (11-4) have taken advantage, evidenced by their 4.5-game lead on New York and their six-game edge over Boston.

Over in the NL, the Cubs – on the heels of a widely panned offseason – have sputtered to a 5-9 showing and a four-game deficit in the Central, which could be one of the majors’ most competitive divisions. Although cornerstone hitters Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, Anthony Rizzo and Kyle Schwarber haven’t resembled their best selves, the Cubs’ offense has still done well statistically. Their pitching has been abysmal, on the other hand. Yu Darvish, who’s in Year 2 of a huge contract, continues to perform nothing like the pitcher he was pre-Chicago, while the bullpen the Cubs did little to bolster over the winter has looked predictably vulnerable.

Speaking of vulnerable, the Rockies have christened their season with the majors’ worst record (3-12) and its last-ranked run differential (minus-36). If the Rockies are going to overcome their horrific start to pick up their third straight playoff appearance, they’ll need far more from their position players. Their hitters have put together a woeful 37 wRC+ and minus-2.6 fWAR, both of which easily rank last in the game. Injuries have played a part, as regulars David Dahl, Daniel Murphy and Ryan McMahon are all on the IL. Meanwhile, the Rockies’ primary offensive catalysts – Nolan Arenado, Trevor Story and Charlie Blackmon – have all been duds so far. Those three won’t stay down forever, though, and Colorado’s starting staff also has the talent to rebound from its early season mediocrity. But the Rockies can’t afford to let this skid continue to fester, especially considering they’re stuck in a division with the perennial champion Dodgers. Realistically, it’s wild card or bust for the Rockies, but rallying to steal one of those two spots in a crowded NL won’t be easy.

While it would be unwise to panic on April 13, there are more reasons for concern than expected in all of these teams’ cases. Then again, the same was said last year about the Dodgers, who began 16-26 on their way to 92 wins and another pennant. The Red Sox, Yankees, Cubs and Rockies can take solace in that, perhaps, but do you believe any of them are already in serious trouble?

(poll link for app users)

Rockies Sign Craig Gentry To Minors Deal

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Per mlb.com’s transaction page, the Rockies have signed OF Craig Gentry to a minor league deal. The 35-year-old outfielder was signed by the Giants in mid-February, but ostensibly had been released at some point near the end of Spring Training. Gentry’s already reported to Triple-A Albuquerque, where he went 2 for 5 in last night’s 10-3 defeat at the hands of Tacoma.

Gentry remains one of the few active players – along with perhaps Jarrod Dyson of the Diamondbacks and Alex Gordon of the Royals – to sustain elite outfield defense well into his mid-thirties. Never a full-time regular at a position with any of the four organizations with whom he’s been a part, Gentry’s still managed to post 54 defensive runs saved in just over 3,330 innings since his debut in 2009. Though he’s failed ever to show much power (a career .339 slugging percentage in 1402 big-league plate appearances), Gentry’s always been a solid on-base threat, with a .333 career OBP responsible for the bulk of his career 85 wRC+ line.

At the very least, he’ll be a solid late-inning option for a Colorado club that’s relied on aging and inexperienced veterans at the position over the last few seasons. Ian Desmond is the latest to try his hand, but the veteran former first baseman has plunged even further into an ever-widening abyss at the plate. The club apparently doesn’t trust the injury-prone David Dahl or the wiry Raimel Tapia at the position, and already punted incumbent Charlie Blackmon over to right, so Gentry seems a prime option to give MLB’s toughest center field a crack.

Health Notes: Trout, Jeffress, Murphy, Tuivailala, Volquez

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It doesn’t seem as if the Angels will end up needing to place superstar Mike Trout on the injured list. The club indicated in an announcement today that he’s recovering well after tweaking his groin muscle recently, with an MRI showing that the swelling is subsiding and Trout “report[ing] daily improvement.” Another medical review is scheduled for Sunday. It’s not known whether Trout could be activated thereafter, but a decision will need to be made sooner than later. While the club obviously prefers not to go without him any longer than necessary, the worst outcome would be for Trout to make things worse by rushing back.

More on the injury front from around the game:

  • Late-inning man Jeremy Jeffress is expected to return to the Brewers after one more rehab outing, skipper Craig Counsell tells reporters including Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (Twitter link). Jeffress has been moving at about the pace that was hoped when it was announced he’d open the year on the injured list with a somewhat balky shoulder. He has been knocked around a bit on his rehab assignment, though that’s hardly the focus. Jeffress says he’s gaining velocity and feeling stronger as he goes. He’ll soon get the chance to try to replicate his magnificent 2018 season.
  • Rockies first baseman Daniel Murphy will not require surgery to repair his fractured left index finger, Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post reports on Twitter. That seems generally promising, if only because it’s always preferable to avoid the risks of a procedure. It’s not clear exactly how long he’ll be sidelined; at last look, the club expected he’d be out of commission through at least the end of the month, but that seems like the bare minimum. Whatever the duration, it’ll be more than desirable for a team that currently sports the league’s worst offense.
  • While there’s still no precise timeline, a return to action is now in sight for Mariners reliever Sam Tuivailala. He’s still at least a month away from the majors but is nearing live BP sessions, MLB.com’s Greg Johns reports via Twitter. The 26-year-old hurler, who is working back from a torn Achilles, appears to be a bit ahead of schedule as compared to expectations last fall. He still has a fair number of additional hurdles yet to clear, of course, but it’s generally promising for the increasingly interesting M’s.
  • The Rangers still lack clarity regarding the severity of the elbow injury to veteran starter Edinson Volquez. For now, the plan is to put him on the shelf for the next four to six weeks before bringing him in for imaging and a medical review, Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram was among those to cover (Twitter link). It’s a bit of an unusual situation, but it seems the hurler preferred to wait; the team agreed since he’d be sidelined regardless and the results would be more reliable after swelling has gone down. Volquez has suggested he’ll retire if he has again blown out his ulnar collateral ligament. If that’s not necessary, he could presumably return to pitch this year in Texas. It seems we’ll all wait a while longer to learn the outcome.
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