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Indians Acquire Oliver Drake From Brewers

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Right-hander Oliver Drake, whom the Brewers designated for assignment on Tuesday, has been traded to the Indians for cash considerations. The move was announced by Milwaukee via its Twitter account. The Indians have yet to announce a corresponding move.

On the surface, it’s not difficult to understand why the Brewers designated Drake for assignment; he sports an alarming 6.70 ERA on the season while walking a whopping 8 batters in just 12 2/3 innings on the young season. But while the walk rate is certainly a valid concern, the bloated ERA can be blamed in part on an absurd .400 batting average on balls in play against the righty. That’s been one contributing factor towards a 59.1% strand rate; league average usually sits around 70-72%, while Drake’s career average comes in just under that range at 67.7%. In short, he certainly has nobody to blame but himself for the runners he put on base via free passes, but he’s also suffered from some considerably poor fortune as far as those runners crossing the plate.

The positive signs offer some encouragement for Drake’s outlook with his new club. His 10.66 K/9 so far is a career-high mark, about a batter per nine above his career rate of 10.11. He’s also induced ground balls from 52.9% of opposing hitters this season, which sits just outside the top 25% of qualified relievers in MLB. And while Drake’s 6.70 ERA on the year is an eyesore, his 2.70 FIP is a much more palatable figure and suggests he’s likely to make some improvements in the run-prevention arena.

If he can just improve his control a bit, it’s certainly possible the Indians could end up with another surprise diamond in the rough, as they did last year with both Nick Goody and Tyler Olson. That would be a welcome sigh of relief for a club that’s feeling the pains of losing relief ace Andrew Miller to the DL; their bullpen sports an ERA north of nine in his absence and has shuffled through a small army of relievers in the past four days alone (as MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian recently noted). Regardless of whether Drake can perform at a high level, it’s a low-risk move for a club in desperate need of some stability in its relief corps.

NL Central Notes: Happ, Kang, Norris, Reds, Davies

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Despite Ian Happ’s alarming struggles at the plate — he’s hitting .233/.282/.384 with a mammoth 46.2 percent strikeout rate through 78 plate appearances — Cubs skipper Joe Maddon says the team is not discussing the possibility of optioning the young switch-hitter to Triple-A Iowa (link via Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times). Per Maddon, the 23-year-old is frustrated by his lack of contact but handling the struggles quite well. Maddon acknowledges that it’s difficult to get all of his young hitters into the lineup but maintains that the best place for Happ to right the ship at the plate is with the big league club for the time being.

More from the division…

  • Jung Ho Kang has reported to the Pirates’ Spring Training facility in Bradenton, Fla., writes Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Manager Clint Hurdle explains that the plan for Kang is to get him into game shape over the course of the next month — he’ll remain on the restricted list and won’t be paid or accrue service time during that period — as he prepares for in-game action. “There will be no game activity until we get his arm in shape, his legs in shape, get him swinging, get our people to look at him and evaluate him and then go from there,” says Hurdle. Kang is preparing for a return to the Pirates after sitting out the 2017 season upon being convicted of a third DUI in his native South Korea and subsequently being unable to acquire a work visa.
  • Given Greg Holland’s disastrous start to the 2018 season, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny confirmed today that Bud Norris is his closer for the time being, as Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes. “It’s Bud’s game right now,” said Matheny after effusing praise for the manner in which the veteran Norris has performed in high-leverage spots while ascending to the ninth-inning role. “But we’re going to have to have other people to pitch the end of the game. There are going to be times when Bud’s down and times when we need to put Bud in a little earlier and he needs help.” There’s no indication as to when Holland might be given another try in save situations, though with Norris boasting a terrific 1.72 ERA and 22-to-2 K/BB ratio through his first 15 2/3 innings of the season, he’s likely earned himself a reasonably lengthy leash in the the ninth inning.
  • The fate of the Reds’ rebuild is in the hands of a group of starting pitchers that have yet to prove capable at the big league level or even, in some cases, in the upper minors, writes John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer. As Fay notes, the Reds have a fairly promising group of position players in the big leagues (plus an elite prospect on the cusp in Nick Senzel), but none of their pitching prospects have established themselves. As Brandon Finnegan, Luis Castillo, Tyler Mahle and Sal Romano endure struggles in the Majors, alternatives such as Robert Stephenson, Cody Reed and Jackson Stephens are floundering in the minors. Fay notes that the organization’s plan had been to expand payroll next offseason and fill some holes via free agency as the nucleus of the next contending Reds team emerged, but that of course won’t have any impact if the team can’t overcome an increasingly problematic inability to develop starters.
  • The Brewers announced tonight that righty Zach Davies is going on the 10-day disabled list due to some inflammation in his right rotator cuff. However, with two off days coming in the next week, the team added that it only expects Davies to miss one start. A corresponding move will be made tomorrow. The 25-year-old Davies has started off the 2018 season with a 4.24 ERA, 6.6 K/9, 3.2 BB/9, 1.32 HR/9 and a 48 percent ground-ball rate through his first 34 innings. His placement on the DL is retroactive to April 30, so he can be activated in a week’s time.

Brewers Select Wade Miley’s Contract, Designate Oliver Drake

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The Brewers announced that they’ll formally select the contract of left-hander Wade Miley prior to tomorrow’s game and designate right-hander Oliver Drake for assignment to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Miley, who signed a minor league deal with the Brewers but opened the season rehabbing a groin injury, will be added to the Brewers’ rotation now that his rehab assignment has been completed.

The 31-year-old Miley has made three rehab starts with Milwuakee’s Double-A affiliate, totaling 11 2/3 innings and allowing four earned runs on a dozen hits and two walks with 14 strikeouts. The former D-backs/Red Sox/Mariners/Orioles southpaw is coming off a dreadful stint with the O’s, having limped to a 5.75 ERA  in a season-plus in Baltimore, but he’s posted a 35-to-10 K/BB ratio in the Brewers organization between Spring Training and his rehab stint (31 2/3 innings).

[Related: Milwaukee Brewers depth chart]

He’ll join a Milwaukee rotation that includes Chase Anderson, Zach Davies, Jhoulys Chacin and Junior Guerra for the time being as they await the return of Jimmy Nelson from shoulder surgery. Miley is stepping into the rotation spot of fellow southpaw Brent Suter, who has already been moved to the bullpen in advance of the widely anticipated addition of Miley to the starting mix.

Drake, meanwhile, has gotten off to a miserable start to his 2018 season, yielding nine runs on 14 hits and eight walks in 12 2/3 innings. To his credit, he’s punched out 15 hitters in that time and induced grounders at a well-above-average 52.9 percent clip while not allowing a home run. The righty has totaled 102 1/3 innings in the Majors between the Orioles and Brewers, averaging better than 10 strikeouts per nine innings with solid ground-ball tendencies, though he’s been haunted by shaky control and a strand rate that falls quite a bit below the league average.

Central Notes: Moustakas, Kang, Matheny, Brewers

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Some rumblings from around both the AL and NL Central….

  • Mike Moustakas looks like a prime candidate for a deadline trade, though in a video for FOX Sports (Twitter link), Ken Rosenthal cautions that the Royals could face some difficulties in finding a trade partner.  For one, there aren’t any contenders with an obvious need at third base, though injuries can certainly change that equation.  One rival executive tells Rosenthal that it can be hard to trade a single-position rental player like Moustakas at the deadline.
  • Jung Ho Kang’s impending return to the Pirates “is probably his last chance with us,” GM Neal Huntington said on his weekly radio show with Joe Block (hat tip to MLB.com’s Adam Berry).  Kang received a work visa earlier this week and is preparing to rejoin the Pirates organization after spending all of 2017 on the restricted list following a DUI conviction in South Korea.  Should the infielder face any more off-the-field issues, things “are not going to go well for” Kang with the team, Huntington said.  It isn’t any surprise that Kang is on a very short leash given his past history, and he very well could be entering his last few months with the Bucs regardless of how he might perform if and when he returns to the majors.  It doesn’t seem likely that the Pirates will exercise their $5.5MM club option on Kang’s services for 2019, barring a major turn-around.
  • While closer Corey Knebel has been on the DL, the Brewers’ adoption of a fully situational bullpen has been a big success, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes.  Manager Craig Counsell has been deploying his pitchers simply as “out-getters,” in his words, and not worrying about using specific arms in specific roles.  Entering today’s play, Brewers relievers had a cumulative 2.50 ERA (third-best in baseball) despite heavy usage, as the team has the fourth-most bullpen innings of any club in the league.  This outstanding relief effort has helped the Brewers offset some pretty middling numbers from the starting rotation.
  • With Mike Matheny set to manage his 1000th game on Tuesday, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch looks at how Matheny has handled the pressure and expectations of his six-plus seasons running the Cardinals’ dugout.  Despite Matheny’s 559-440 record, he has faced criticism from some corners of the St. Louis fanbase for not having either the consistent success (particularly after consecutive non-playoff seasons) or the openness to publicly discuss decisions as former skipper Tony La Russa.  Behind closed doors, however, Matheny has been praised for his leadership and teaching skills.  “He’s got a lot of talents….He has it all covered,” Michael Wacha said.  “Whenever he talks in front of a group of people that group of people is leaning in, listening to what he’s saying. He carries that confidence that he knows he belongs where he is.”

Brewers To Add Wade Miley To Roster

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The Brewers will add left-hander Wade Miley to their roster, according to a team announcement. He’ll start Wednesday’s game in Cincinnati, thus sending fellow southpaw Brent Suter to the bullpen. Milwaukee will have to make corresponding 40- and 25-man moves by then.

The Brewers had been facing a weekend deadline to either promote Miley to their roster or release him back into free agency. The decision was supposed to come back in late March, but the team was able to put it off after Miley went to the disabled list with a slight groin tear. The 31-year-old, who inked a minors pact in the offseason and will now earn a $2.5MM salary in the majors, looked like a decent bet to earn a rotation spot before his injury. He’ll now do so at the expense of Suter, who made six starts prior to Sunday and registered a 5.34 ERA/3.81 FIP, 6.53 K/9 against 2.08 BB/9, and a 32 percent groundball rate during that 30 1/3-inning span.

Like Suter this year, Miley has struggled to prevent runs recently. He posted ERAs in the fives over the previous two seasons – one divided between Seattle and Baltimore, the other solely with the Orioles – leading to an inability to secure a major league contract over the winter. At his best, Miley was a capable workhorse with the Diamondbacks and Red Sox from 2012-16, a period in which he ranked 14th in the majors in innings (958 1/3) and logged a 4.17 ERA/3.86 FIP with 7.12 K/9, 2.73 BB/9 and a 48.5 percent grounder mark.

Miley will now join a Brewers rotation that has managed the game’s eighth-best ERA (3.64), though the unit ranks a far less encouraging 18th in fWAR. Regardless, the hopeful playoff contenders have fared nicely in the early going (16-12) despite not having their 2017 ace, Jimmy Nelson, who’s working back from September shoulder surgery.

NL Notes: Puig, Straily, Reds, Brewers, Mets

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Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig will go for X-rays after fouling a ball off his left foot Saturday and leaving the team’s game against the Giants, Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times was among those to report. An injury to Puig could open the door for highly touted outfield prospect Alex Verdugo, who McCullough notes is on the Dodgers’ taxi squad for their doubleheader in San Francisco. Verdugo, 21, collected 25 plate appearances in his first major league action in 2017. He hasn’t gotten off to a great start at the Triple-A level this year (.276/.309/.474 – good for a 98 wRC+ – over 81 PAs), though Puig also hasn’t exactly been on fire up to now. The 27-year-old has hit an unsightly .193/.250/.250 (43 wRC+) in 96 PAs on the heels of a bounce-back 2017.

As we await word on Puig, here’s more from around the NL:

  • Marlins right-hander Dan Straily will likely make his 2018 debut Monday against the Phillies, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com suggests. Straily, arguably Miami’s best starter, has been on the DL all season with a forearm injury. The 29-year-old is coming off back-to-back respectable campaigns, including 2016 with Cincinnati, and could perhaps emerge as a trade chip for the Marlins if he’s healthy and effective as the season progresses.
  • Righty Luis Castillo was a key part of a Reds-Marlins trade in 2017 that also involved Straily, and the former has struggled mightily this year after looking like a potential long-term cog last season. The Reds are now working to fix Castillo, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com details. “They all agree that his arm angle has changed a little bit,’ interim manager Jim Riggleman said of pitching coach Danny Darwin, bullpen coach Ted Power and coach Derrin Ebert. “His hand is maybe not getting on top of the ball like it needs to. What that does, is it causes the ball to flatten out instead of sink. Hitters love that when the ball moves [flat] across the plate instead of having some sink. It’s kind of running right into their barrel.” Hitters have indeed barreled up against Castillo, who has seen his ERA rise from 3.12 in 2017 to 7.85 this year. Along the way, the 25-year-old has experienced a velocity drop and allowed more hard contact, Sheldon explains in a piece that’s worth checking out in full. It’s been a discouraging development for the Reds, who haven’t had much success developing front-line pitching from within.
  • Brewers southpaw Wade Miley, out since late March with a slight groin tear, made his third and final rehab start Friday. The Brewers now must decide within the next two days whether to add Miley to their roster or release him, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com writes. If the Brewers do keep Miley, whom they signed to a minor league deal over the winter, they could option starter Brent Suter or reliever Brandon Woodruff to Triple-A to make room, McCalvy notes. But it’s “a tough decision” because Milwaukee’s staff has fared well thus far without Miley, manager Craig Counsell admitted.
  • The Mets have activated left-hander Jason Vargas from the disabled list and optioned righty Jacob Rhame to Triple-A in a corresponding move. Vargas is set to take on San Diego on Saturday in his first start of 2018 after signing a two-year, $16MM deal in free agency. The 37-year-old, who logged a 4.16 ERA/4.67 FIP across 179 2/3 innings as a Royal in 2017, missed nearly the entire month of April after suffering a fracture in his right hand in late March. Vargas is in his second stint with the Mets, having previously been a member of the organization in 2007.

Injury Notes: Buxton, Sano, Ervin, Knebel, Williamson

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Byron Buxton has a hairline fracture in his left toe, Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports on Twitter. According to Hayes, the Twins hopes to have a better idea on his return timeline by the end of the homestand. As Hayes wrote previously, the team has missed Buxton while he’s been sidelined; seven of the club’s eight wins have come with the speedster patrolling center field. It’s worth noting, though, that while Buxton has played typically great defense in the outfield grass, he’s scuffled to a .195/.233/.244 batting line at the plate.

More injury notes from around the league…

  • Speaking of the Twins, Miguel Sano will sit out today’s game due to hamstring tightness (h/t Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com). Sano, who owns a .450 slugging percentage on the season with five homers and a 40% K rate, barely ran out a ground ball in his last at-bat during yesterday’s game. It’s unclear how long he’ll need to rest. Meanwhile, there’s a positive sign for the Twins: Ervin Santana is making progress and has already practiced throwing his change-up, according to Hayes. He’s reportedly close to throwing off a mound. The club will be anxiously awaiting his return, as their starters as a group sit in the bottom half of MLB in ERA and FIP and dead last in innings pitched.
  • Brewers closer Corey Knebel is very excited about his progress with his hamstring strain, Tom Haudricort of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel tweets. He’ll reportedly throw one more bullpen session before heading out on a rehab assignment. It seems likely that Knebel will be able to return by mid-May. Josh Hader, Matt Albers and Jacob Barnes have closed out games in his absence, collecting six saves; that group has combined for a sub-1.25 ERA on the season, so Knebel’s return will make for a truly formidable late-inning crew.
  • It looks as though Giants outfielder Mac Williamson will avoid the concussion DL, as manager Bruce Bochy expects him to start tomorrow (h/t Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic). There was a fear that Williamson might have suffered a concussion after a collision with the outfield wall on Tuesday, but the 27-year-old appears to have dodged any serious injury. Williamson already has three homers for San Francisco in just 19 plate appearances.

Eric Thames Undergoes Surgery For Torn Thumb Ligament

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FRIDAY: Thames underwent surgery and is expected to be sidelined for six to eight weeks, the club announced.

WEDNESDAY, 2:51pm: Milwaukee GM David Stearns tells reporters that Thames will likely require surgery, though that determination is not yet finalized (Twitter link via Adam McCalvy of MLB.com). The team still expects to have Thames back in the fold for a “significant” portion of the 2018 campaign, Stearns further adds.

2:39pm: The Brewers announced Wednesday that first baseman/outfielder Eric Thames has been placed on the 10-day disabled list due to a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb. Right-hander Brandon Woodruff has been recalled from Triple-A to fill Thames’ spot on the roster.

Milwaukee didn’t provide a timeline for Thames’ absence, though this type of injury has cost players anywhere from six to eight weeks in the past and typically requires surgical repair. Yadier Molina (twice), Mike Trout, Bryce Harper and Dustin Pedroia are among the notable names to have experienced a UCL tear in the thumb over the past few seasons.

Thames, 31, was off to a terrific start in Milwaukee, hitting a robust .250/.351/.625 with seven homers and three doubles through his first 74 plate appearances of the season. He sustained the injury when making a diving stab at first base in the eighth inning of last night’s game, tweets Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

The loss of a slugger hitting as well as Thames has been to open the season stings for the Brewers, of course, though Milwaukee has a considerable amount of corner depth to help soften the blow. Many fans and pundits, myself included, were surprised to see the Brewers hang onto all of their outfielders and first baseman Jesus Aguilar after adding both Lorenzo Cain and Christian Yelich this offseason. But, their decision to do so could now allow the Brewers to shift Ryan Braun to first base more often while deploying a strong outfield mix of Yelich, Cain and Domingo Santana. Aguilar, too, seems likely to see some increased reps at first base with Thames out for what could be an absence of two months.

Brewers Outright Alec Asher

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Right-hander Alec Asher has cleared waivers and been assigned outright to Triple-A Colorado Springs after being designated for assignment last week, as first reflected on the MLB.com Transactions page. He’ll remain with the organization and hope to pitch his way into consideration for a look in the Majors later this season.

The 26-year-old Asher has appeared in 36 big league games over the past three seasons, 18 of them starts, splitting his time between the Phillies (2015-16) and Orioles (2017). Baltimore designated him for assignment when setting its Opening Day roster, and was claimed by the Dodgers and then the Brewers before ultimately clearing the third time he was attempted to be put through waivers.

Last year with the Orioles, Asher totaled 60 innings with a 47-to-23 K/BB and 5.25 ERA. While the righty demonstrated an ability to pitch out of both the rotation and bullpen in multi-inning stints, he also served up 10 homers in last year’s 60 frames. He’ll head to Triple-A with a 3.74 ERA, 6.3 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 in 173 1/3 innings of work at that level (including a brief three-inning appearance with the Dodgers this year).

Brewers Acquire Tyler Saladino, Designate Alec Asher

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The Brewers have acquired infielder Tyler Saladino from the White Sox, per a club announcement. Cash will go to Chicago in the swap.

Milwaukee has designated recently acquired righty Alec Asher for assignment to create roster space. He’ll either continue his tour of the league via waiver wire or end up finally clearing and being outrighted. To this point in the season, Asher has already been placed on waivers by both the Orioles and Dodgers, though he’s obviously yet to clear.

Saladino, 28, has been a heavily used reserve on the South Side since the start of the 2015 season. He has had his moments, particularly during a solid 2016 campaign, but in the aggregate has only managed a .231/.281/.330 slash in 863 total plate appearances. Of course, he’s valued more for his versatile fielding ability and will provide the Brewers organization with some depth in that regard. Saladino has played all over the infield in addition to cameos at all three outfield spots. Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating are particularly bullish on his work at second base and third base, though he’s no stranger to shortstop, either, having logged 429 big league innings there.

[Related: Updated Brewers depth chart and White Sox depth chart]

Saladino entered the season with two years, 87 days of Major League service time, meaning he’ll likely be arbitration eligible if he spends any meaningful amount of time on the Brewers’ Major League roster. He does have two minor league option seasons remaining (including 2018), though, so it’s possible that he still falls shy.

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