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Jake Faria

Brewers To Place Zack Davies On IL, Promote Jake Faria

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The Brewers will place righty Zach Davies on the 10-day injured list, per Robert Murray of The Athletic (Twitter links). His precise injury situation isn’t yet clear, but it seems he’s dealing with some sort of back ailment.

Also heading off of the active roster is right-hander Aaron Wilkerson, who was optioned to Triple-A. Joining the big-league club are recently acquired Jake Faria and fellow righty Devin Williams, with MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy (via Twitter) reporting the latter’s promotion. Williams will need to be added to the 40-man roster.

Losing Davies is tough news for a Milwaukee club that’s as far out of first place as it has been all year (four games) after a four-game skid. While Davies has had a few rough outings of late, he has paced the team in starts made (23) and innings (122 2/3) while working to a solid 3.74 ERA with 5.7 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9.

ERA estimators have been predicting regression for Davies for some kind. But the Brewers had every reason to keep running him out there and hoping he could continue to generate results, at least until his velo began to droop of late.

It still isn’t known how the club will account for the open rotation spot. Faria has spent time in a starting capacity this year but has been working of late as a reliever. Williams has functioned exclusively in the pen this season. It’s possible recently acquired southpaw Drew Pomeranz could work as a starter (or, at least, in some kind of multi-inning capacity).

Brewers, Rays Agree To Swap Aguilar, Faria

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The Rays and Brewers have agreed to a trade sending first baseman Jesus Aguilar from Milwaukee to Tampa Bay, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports (Twitter links). Milwaukee is acquiring right-hander Jake Faria in return.

Jesus Aguilar | Michael McLoone-USA TODAY Sports

Aguilar, 29, is in the midst of a down season at the plate but was an All-Star who bashed 35 home runs as recently as 2018. The 26-year-old Faria, similarly, looked to be a pitcher on the rise with a terrific rookie campaign in 2017 but has struggled to replicate that success in 2018-19.

Both players are fairly logical change-of-scenery candidates whose skill sets more closely align with the current needs of their new organizations. The Brewers have been hit hard by pitching injuries this season and currently have three rotation pieces on the injured list. The Rays, meanwhile, have been searching for a right-handed bat for quite some time and were linked to Aguilar more than a week ago.

It’s been a tough season for Aguilar, whose outstanding .274/.352/.539 output in 2018 has given way to a woeful .225/.320/.374 slash line in 2019. Aguilar’s strikeout and walk rates have both improved, but his line-drive, fly-ball and hard-hit rates have all taken a step back. That said, Statcast still likes Aguilar as a potential bounceback candidate based on the quality of the contact he’s made, as his expected wOBA of .342 dwarfs his actual .304 wOBA. He’s swinging a hot bat in the month of July as well, raking at a .298/.346/.574 clip in a small sample of 52 plate appearances.

Jake Faria | Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports

Faria debuted with the Rays in ’17 and immediately contributed 86 2/3 innings of 3.43 ERA ball while averaging 8.7 K/9 against 3.2 BB/9 with a 38.3 percent ground-ball rate as a 23-year-old. It wasn’t an elite arrival on the big league scene, but it was certainly heartening enough to view him as a potential long-term piece in the rotation.

Instead, however, Faria’s K/BB rates trended in the wrong direction in 2018 as he limped to a 5.40 ERA in 65 MLB frames. He’s moved to the bullpen this year and allowed three runs in 10 MLB innings. As a reliever with Triple-A Durham, he’s logged 45 2/3 innings of 2.17 ERA ball with a 54-to-19 K/BB ratio.

Both players arrive in their new organizations as potential long-term fits. Aguilar will be arbitration-eligible for the first time this winter and can be controlled through the 2022 season. Faria hasn’t reached two years of big league service yet but quite likely will before the end of the year. Assuming he accrues the remaining time he needs, Faria would be arbitration-eligible after the 2020 season and controllable through 2023.

Rays Select Contract Of Andrew Kittredge

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The Rays have selected the contract of righty Andrew Kittredge, Juan Toribio of MLB.com was among those to tweet. He’ll take the active roster spot of fellow reliever Jake Faria, who was optioned down to Triple-A.

Kittredge, 29, had posted strong results in the upper minors and in a 2017 MLB debut. But he ended up being outrighted off of the 40-man roster at the end of the 2018 campaign after a rough extended showcase in the majors. All told, he carries a 6.04 ERA in 53 2/3 frames at the game’s highest level.

Thus far in 2019, Kittredge owns a sparkling 1.93 ERA with 13.3 K/9 and 1.4 BB/9 in his 37 1/3 innings at Triple-A. That’s enough to earn him another shot in the bigs, though he’ll have to perform better this time around to hold down a spot.

For the Rays, the move won’t require a 40-man roster spot because lefty Jose Alvarado remains on the restricted list. He is back in the United States after taking time away to deal with an undisclosed family matter in his native Venezuela. (Also via Toribio, on Twitter.) Alvarado will spend at least some time throwing at the Rays’ spring facility before he’s considered again for the MLB roster.

Rays Notes: Faria, Robertson, Glasnow

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The Rays have recalled right-hander Jake Faria from Triple-A Durham while demoting infielder Daniel Robertson, the team announced. 

Faria makes his second appearance with the club this season, the first resulting in a scoreless two-inning outing against the Red Sox on April 20th. He has otherwise notched better-than-usual strikeout rates in Triple-A this season (11.6 K/9) along with a 4-1 record and 5.41 ERA across 15 games (6 starts).

Faria gave the Rays 86 2/3 strong innings of 3.43 ERA baseball across 14 starts in 2017, but an abdominal strain cost him some time and limited him to just three appearances apiece in August and September. He started ten games with a less rousing 5.48 ERA to start 2018, but a left oblique strain landed him on the 60-day injured list. He has since fallen down the pecking order amidst a loaded Rays pitching contingent, but he’ll have an opportunity here to serve as one of manager Kevin Cash’s many long men out of the pen.

For Robertson, the demotion is a disappointing turn for the one-time Oakland farmhand. After accruing 2.4 fWAR and a well-above-average 127 wRC+ in 2018, Robertson slumped in 2019 while concentrating more of his defensive time at third base. Robertson’s .205/.310/.284 is a far cry from his 2018 output. His approach has remained relatively stable (10.8 BB%, 24.6 K%), but his power has all but evaporated (.080 ISO). While power hardly figures to be a prominent part of his game, a sub-.300 slugging percentage makes him borderline unplayable for the Rays in a tightly-contested AL East.

In recovery news, Tyler Glasnow’s comeback trail kicks off today as the Rays plan to have him throwing off a mound to a catcher closer than the traditional 60 feet 6 inches, tweets MLB.com’s Juan Toribio. Glasnow could throw a bullpen session as early as Wednesday, but nothing has changed as of yet regarding his recovery timetable. Given his placement on the 60-day injured list, Glasnow’s earliest date of reinstatement is July 12th.

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