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Dakota Bacus

Minor MLB Transactions: 3/30/21

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The latest minor moves from around baseball…

  • Shortly after the Mariners released righty reliever Matt Magill, the team brought him back on a two-year minors pact, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com tweets.  Magill has appeared in the majors in parts of five seasons (including with the Mariners in 2020), and put up a 4.63 ERA in 149 2/3 innings with strikeout, walk and groundball rates that have rated below average.  His season came to a premature end last September when he underwent arthroscopic shoulder surgery.
  • Nationals first baseman Jake Noll and right-hander Dakota Bacus went unclaimed on the waiver wire and have been reassigned to minor league camp, as per a team announcement.  The duo were both recently designated for assignment.  The 27-year-old Noll has received 30 MLB plate appearances with Washington and batted .276/.300/.345 in that tiny sample, while also hitting .285/.327/.410 over 489 PA at the Triple-A level.  Bacus, meanwhile, yielded 10 runs through 11 1/3 innings in his MLB debut last year. The 2012 ninth-rounder has had a respectable ERA and strong ground-ball rate at virtually every minor league stop but has never missed bats at a high rate or limited walks all that effectively.  Both players will stick with the Nats as depth options.
  • Right-hander Kevin McCarthy will remain in the Red Sox organization, MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo tweets.  The former Royal’s minor league contract with the Sox included an upward mobility clause that would have enabled him to leave the organization had he not earned a 40-man roster spot, but McCarthy will now report to Triple-A.  McCarthy appeared in only five games in 2020 but the groundball specialist was a steady member of the Royals pen from 2017-19, posting a 3.65 ERA and 59.5% grounder rate over 177 1/3 innings (154 games) in that three-season stretch.

Nationals Select Luis Avilan’s Contract, Designate Dakota Bacus

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Left-hander Luis Avilan has made the Nationals’ roster, manager Davey Martinez told reporters (including The Athletic’s Maria Torres and Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com).  To create 40-man space for Avilan, the Nats have designated righty Dakota Bacus for assignment.  Right-hander Rogelio Armenteros and left-hander Seth Romero were also optioned to Triple-A as Washington continues to pare down its roster.

A veteran of nine big league seasons, Avilan is now in position to officially suit up for his seventh different team.  The southpaw was a reliable bullpen arm for the Braves and Dodgers from 2012-17, though he has run into increasing problems as his soft contact percentages, and home run rates have wrong directions over the last three seasons.  After posting a 6.3% homer rate in his first seven seasons, Avilan’s number jumped to 18.5% over 32 innings with the Mets in 2019 and then 22.2% in his brief 8 1/3 inning-stint with the Yankees last season.

Avilan was hampered by some shoulder problems in 2020, so it’s certainly possible that he’ll regain his old effectiveness with better health in the Washington bullpen.  Avilan and closer Brad Hand are the only lefty relievers projected to make the Nationals’ Opening Day roster, as fellow 40-man roster members Romero and Sam Clay look to begin the season at Triple-A.  (T.J. McFarland was also in camp on a minor league deal but was released yesterday.)

Bacus made his big league debut in 2020, posting a 7.94 ERA over 11 1/3 relief innings for the Nationals before his rookie season was cut short by a flexor strain.  Originally acquired from the A’s in the Kurt Suzuki trade of August 2013, Bacus is a groundball specialist who posted a 3.53 ERA and 19.56% strikeout rate over 609 2/3 career minor league innings, converting into a full-time relief role during the 2016 season.

Nationals Place Dakota Bacus On IL, Recall James Bourque

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The Nationals have placed Dakota Bacus on the 10-day disabled list with a right flexor strain. James Bourque has been recalled to take his roster spot, per the team.

Bacus, 29, made his major league debut this season for Washington to meandering results. He’s appeared in 11 games for a 7.94 ERA/5.44 FIP across 11 1/3 innings. Bacus started the year out strong with four scoreless appearances, but he’s been called upon a lot this season, and his last couple of appearances went particularly poorly. Still, outside of a couple of blowups, Bacus did a nice job stepping up when he wasn’t necessarily a Plan A option for manager Dave Martinez coming into the season.

Of course, very little has gone as planned for the Nationals this season, and that includes the bullpen. Sean Doolittle – once a stalwart of the Nats’ pen – has seen his struggles from the tail end of 2019 carry over to this season with a 7.11 ERA. Daniel Hudson has continued to pitch fairly well despite a bloated 7.35 ERA, though he, like Bacus, has been overtaxed. He’s also blown three saves in definitive fashion. On the plus side, Tanner Rainey (2.08 ERA, 17 1/3 innings) brought his triple-digit heat to high-leverage innings and established himself as a setup option for the Nats.

Bottom line: Stephen Strasburg being lost for the season and Joe Ross opting out thinned the Nationals’ pitching corps. Struggles in the rotation from Erick Fedde and Anibal Sanchez spilled over into the bullpen and put a lot of innings on the Nats’ bullpen arms.

They’ll get a fresh one now to help out in Bourque. The 27-year-old has been featured at the tail end of Nationals’ top-30 prospect lists. He’s made two appearances so far this season at the tail end of July, providing 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. Between Double-A and Triple-A in 2019, Bourque logged 64 innings across 47 appearances with a 4.22 ERA, 12.1 K/9, and 5.1 BB/9.

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