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John Nogowski

Giants Sign John Nogowski To Two-Year Minors Contract

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The Giants have signed first baseman John Nogowski to a minor league contract that runs through the 2022 season, NBC Sports Bay Area’s Jessica Kleinschmidt reports (Twitter links).  Nogowski wasn’t on the open market for very long, as he was only released by the Pirates three days ago.

After making his MLB debut with a one-game cup of coffee with the Cardinals in 2020, Nogowski played in 19 more games with St. Louis this year before the Cards dealt him to Pittsburgh in July.  Nogowski posted an 1.074 OPS over his first 53 plate appearances with his new team, but he fell back to earth after that tremendous start, and finished with a .677 OPS over his 123 PA in a Pirates uniform.  For the season as a whole, Nogowski has hit .233/.301/.310 with one home run over 143 PA.

Nogowski is no stranger to the Bay Area, as he spent his first three pro seasons in the Athletics’ organization after being selected in the 34th round of the 2014 draft.  The 28-year-old has posted some solid numbers over his minor league career, particularly in terms of on-base percentage — Nogowski’s .269/.388/.423 slash line over 680 PA at the Triple-A level is a bit better than his overall career numbers as a minor leaguer.

Given the Giants’ knack for revitalizing hitters, it might not be surprising to see Nogowski translate those minor league numbers into production at the big league level.  Albeit in the small sample size of 147 PA in the majors, Nogowski has a very high 87.8% contact rate, so there is some interesting potential if Nogowski is able to improve the quality of that contact.

Nogowski has primarily been a first baseman during his career but has played a few games in the outfield, giving him a bit of the positional flexibility that the Giants prefer.  Looking at San Francisco’s right-handed hitting bench options, Nogowski can provide depth if Donovan Solano leaves in free agency, or if the Giants wanted to move on from arbitration-eligibles like Austin Slater or Darin Ruf (though Ruf in particular has had an excellent season).  While the Giants have a number of quality bench or platoon players, the club might be looking to stockpile even more depth should the National League adopt the DH for 2022 and beyond.

Pirates Release John Nogowski, Ka’ai Tom

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The Pirates have released first baseman John Nogowski and outfielder Ka’ai Tom, relays Mike Persak of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Twitter link). Both players had been with Triple-A Indianapolis after being outrighted last month. Each of Nogowski and Tom would have qualified for minor league free agency this offseason if not reselected to the 40-man roster before the end of the year. The Pittsburgh front office evidently determined neither player was in line for a promotion, so they’ve elected to cut both loose a few weeks early.

Pittsburgh acquired Nogowski from the division-rival Cardinals for cash considerations in early July. He tallied 143 plate appearances with Pittsburgh but scuffled after a hot start, ultimately posting just a .233/.301/.310 line. After being outrighted to Indianapolis, Nogowski hit an impressive .259/.406/.352 with thirteen walks and only ten strikeouts in 69 plate appearances. The right-handed hitter has shown that strong on-base ability throughout much of his minor league career, and he owns a .269/.388/.423 slash over 680 career trips to the dish at Triple-A.

Tom has spent the bulk of his career in the Indians’ organization. The A’s selected him in the Rule 5 draft last winter but bumped him from the big league roster after just nine games. The Pirates claimed Tom off waivers and gave him a bit more run, but the 27-year-old only managed a .152/.308/.261 showing in 117 plate appearances with the Bucs. Pittsburgh designated him for assignment and passed him through waivers.

Rule 5 draftees have to be kept on the MLB roster (or injured list) for the entirety of their rookie season or offered back to their original organization. The Pirates offered Tom back to Cleveland once he cleared waivers, but the Indians declined to bring him back into the system. He instead reported to Indianapolis but continued to struggle, hitting .190/.299/.310 in 67 plate appearances before being released.

Pirates Designate John Nogowski For Assignment

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The Pirates are designating first baseman John Nogowski for assignment, manager Derek Shelton told reporters (including Kevin Gorman of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review). Pittsburgh has also finalized their signing of first baseman/corner outfielder Yoshi Tsutsugo to a major league contract. He’ll be active for tonight’s game against the Dodgers.

Pittsburgh picked up Nogowski from the division rival Cardinals for cash considerations last month. He hit well in his first couple weeks with the Bucs but has seen his bat crater recently. Altogether, Nogowski has compiled just a .233/.301/.310 line over 143 plate appearances split between St. Louis and Pittsburgh this year.

Nogowski will find himself on waivers in the next few days. The 28-year-old has had a tough season but he’s an accomplished minor league hitter. Nogowksi owns a .270/.386/.431 line in parts of two Triple-A seasons and has a .295/.380/.424 mark in three years at Double-A. That high minors track record could pique the interest of another club. Nogowski still has another minor league option year remaining, so any claiming team could move him between the majors and Triple-A through the end of the 2022 season if they keep him on the 40-man roster.

Cardinals Trade John Nogowski To Pirates For Cash Considerations

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The Cardinals have traded first baseman John Nogowski to the Pirates in exchange for cash considerations, per the teams. St. Louis had recently designated Nogowski for assignment.

The move kicked off a series of roster changes for the Pirates. For starters, to make room for Nogowski, the Pirates designated Geoff Hartlieb for assignment, notes MLB.com’s Jeff Jones (via Twitter). They also placed Ka’ai Tom on the 10-day injured list because of a lower back strain and recalled right-hander Kyle Keller from Triple-A.

The Cardinals made their own flurry of roster moves today, but here they were simply moving on from a somewhat-limited player without a role. Nogowski surprisingly made the Cardinals’ Opening Day roster because of a strong spring. As a first baseman on a roster with Paul Goldschmidt and Matt Carpenter, however, the only role available to Nogowski was as a right-handed power bat off the bench. He went 1-for-18, walking once while only striking out twice. A bone bruise placed Nogowski on the injured list from April 23rd to May 18th.

With the Pirates, the 28-year-old can server as a right-handed compliment to Ben Gamel, with Phillip Evans moving from first base to the outfield. As we near the trade deadline, more playing could very well open up in Pittsburgh as well.

Hartlieb, 27, has a 7.71 ERA through four games with the Pirates. He will now be exposed to waivers. Keller, 28, returns to the big league club with three appearances and a 8.10 ERA to his name so far — though in only 3 1/3 innings. Keller has been very productive in Triple-A, where he has a 1.95 ERA over 18 1/3 innings with a stellar 43.7 percent strikeout rate and minuscule 4.2 percent walk rate. If those numbers translate at all to the Majors, the Marlins would have a quality arm to deploy from the bullpen.

Cardinals Select Roel Ramirez, Designate John Nogowski

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The Cardinals are selecting right-hander Roel Ramírez and recalling lefty Brandon Waddell to the big league roster, general manager John Mozeliak told reporters (including Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat). Righties Jake Woodford and Seth Elledge have been optioned to Triple-A Memphis to clear active roster space. To open a 40-man roster spot for Ramírez, St. Louis is designating first baseman John Nogowski for assignment.

Ramírez went from the Rays to the Cards as part of the 2018 Tommy Pham trade. He made a cameo at the big league level last season, making his MLB debut against the White Sox. It didn’t go well, as Ramírez yielded six runs on as many hits (including a staggering four homers) while recording just two outs. He was designated for assignment before he got another major league opportunity.

The 26-year-old Ramírez has now pitched his way back to the bigs, where he’ll hope to find more success this time around. He’s tossed 27 innings across 18 appearances as a multi-inning reliever with Memphis this year, working to a 4.67 ERA with slightly better than average strikeout (25.2%), walk (7.5%) and groundball (49.3%) numbers.

Woodford has worked in a similar multi-inning relief capacity at the major league level this year. He’s being optioned to build up as a potential starting pitcher, Mozeliak said. In 2019, his last full minor league season as a starter, the 24-year-old tossed 151 2/3 frames of 4.15 ERA ball with Memphis. Woodford’s peripherals that year weren’t especially impressive, and he’s struggled over his MLB time coming out the bullpen. St. Louis has been hit hard by injuries and underperformance in the rotation, though. They’ve scoured the market for potential upgrades, but Woodford will stretch back out as a potential internal option.

Nogowski has picked up 24 plate appearances at the MLB level over the past two years. They’ve not gone well, and the 28-year-old has slumped to a .195/.304/.297 line over 148 trips to the dish in a hitter-friendly Triple-A West environment in 2021. It’s been a difficult season for Nogowski, but he’d previously been a very productive offensive player in the minors. Through parts of seven minor league seasons, Nogowski has compiled a .281/.370/.404 mark, including a .295/.413/.476 line with Memphis in 2019. The Cardinals will have a week to trade him or place him on waivers.

Mozeliak also revealed that St. Louis has released outfielder Matt Szczur from his minor league contract (via Zachary Silver of MLB.com). The 31-year-old hit just .186/.236/.382 in 112 plate appearances with Memphis.

Cardinals Place Kwang Hyun Kim, Justin Williams On 10-Day IL

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The Cardinals have placed left-hander Kwang Hyun Kim and outfielder Justin Williams on the 10-day injured list, manager Mike Shildt told reporters.  Kim left his start last night due to lower back tightness, while Williams is dealing with a stiff neck.  Righty Angel Rondon (as reported earlier today) and first baseman John Nogowski have been called up from Triple-A to fill the roster spots.

A similar back problem sidelined Kim during Spring Training and kept him from making his 2021 debut until April 17.  The 32-year-old’s second Major League season has been pretty solid, as Kim has overcome some lackluster peripheral numbers to post a 4.05 ERA/4.25 SIERA over 40 innings of work.  Kim’s current injury doesn’t seem as serious as his earlier injury, Shildt told MLB.com’s Katie Woo and other reporters, so the team is hoping a minimal 10-day stint will correct the issue.

A quick return from Kim would certainly help a St. Louis rotation that is already without Jack Flaherty and Miles Mikolas due to injuries.  Johan Oviedo is slated to start today, and Shildt said that Rondon will be used as a long reliever for the time being.  The Cardinals have off-days on both Monday and Thursday this week, so if Kim is indeed only out for 10 days, the team might not need a replacement starter at all.

Injuries in the outfield have led to a lot of playing time for Williams this season, as he has appeared in 51 of the Cardinals’ 58 games.  Williams is hitting only .160/.270/.261 in 137 plate appearances, and when combined with some below-average defense, Williams has been a sub-replacement level (-0.8 fWAR) performer.  Prior to this season, Williams had appeared is only four MLB games over parts of two seasons with St. Louis and Tampa Bay.

Cardinals Finalize Opening Day Roster

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The St. Louis Cardinals have set their roster for opening day, per MLB.com’s Jeff Jones, Derrick S. Goold of the St.Louis Post-Dispatch and others (Twitter links). John Nogowski, Austin Dean, Edmundo Sosa, and Jake Woodford will be on the roster, while Lane Thomas and Kodi Whitley become two of the final cuts. Goold lists the final opening day roster here.

Nogowski required a strong spring to make the roster, as the 28-year-old first baseman doesn’t bring a lot of utility to the roster. He did exactly that, however, slashing .379/.526/.586 in spring action. He’ll be the first right-handed bat off the bench. With Matt Carpenter on hand to serve as Paul Goldschmidt’s primary backup, it’s hard to imagine Nogowski seeing much action in the field.

The Thomas demotion might have the most impact, as without him, the Cardinals don’t have a true centerfielder on the roster. The Cards are all-in on rookie Dylan Carlson as their man in the middle until Harrison Bader returns from injury. Justin Williams and Austin Dean will be among the players replacing Carlson in right. Tommy Edman, who won the starting second base job, could also see time in right while Carpenter or Edmundo Sosa step in at the keystone. Starting left fielder Tyler O’Neill, meanwhile, is most likely to backup Carlson in center.

Woodford, 24, wins a spot in the bullpen on the strength of a 1.04 ERA this spring. Whitley, 26, heads to the minors to begin the season. Woodford can serve as a long man out of the pen, which may be important given the uncertainty in the back end of the rotation where Carlos Martinez, John Gant, and Daniel Ponce de Leon will take their turns until Miles Mikolas and/or Kwang Hyun Kim return. From the left side, Tyler Webb and Genesis Cabrera join Andrew Miller in the bullpen.

NL Central Notes: Pirates, Cards, Reds, Brewers

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Here’s the latest from the National League Central:

  • Pirates manager Derek Shelton expects recently signed right-hander Trevor Cahill to break camp with the team, Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic relays. “I don’t plan on him staying behind in Florida,” Shelton said of Cahill, whom the Pirates inked to a one-year, $1.5MM guarantee earlier this month. The Pirates aren’t yet sure which role Cahill will fill when the season starts, though. The well-traveled 33-year-old has amassed 225 starts in 352 appearances, and he’s coming off a season divided between starting and relieving with the Giants. Cahill wound up with 26 innings of 3.24 ERA ball and posted an excellent 29.2 percent strikeout rate, but he also walked 13.2 percent of the batters he faced, recorded a 4.38 SIERA and logged a personal-worst 33.3 percent groundball rate.
  • John Nogowski has made himself a surprising candidate for a roster spot in Jupiter with the Cardinals, per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The 28-year-old first baseman has an uphill climb ahead of him even after hitting .391/.533/.522 in 30 plate appearances this spring. Thanks to his limited defensive utility, however, there may not be an avenue for the Florida native to make the roster. The Cardinals would basically have to resolve themselves to keeping a roster spot solely for pinch-hitting duties. With Paul Goldschmidt set at first and Matt Carpenter also on the roster, Nogowski wouldn’t even necessarily be the first left-handed bat off the bench. Because of the injuries in the rotation, the Cardinals could choose to go with a four-man bench to help fill the innings, deepening the need for versatility from their bench bats. Also working against Nogowski is that he has two option years remaining, whereas Justin Williams, another left-handed bat, has none. If Carpenter, Williams, and backup catcher Andrew Knizner all make the roster, the Cardinals will still need someone capable of backing up Paul DeJong at shortstop. Tommy Edman would be the backup shortstop if another infielder is not added to the Opening Day roster.
  • The Reds are considering using Tejay Antone as a multi-inning option out of the bullpen, writes C.Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic. Whenever he pitches, the Reds are going to lean on Antone. They don’t expect to get as much length out of their starters as they had in 2020, feeding the thinking that Antone might be most impactful as an innings eater out of the bullpen. Pitching coach Derek Johnson stressed the importance of the bullpen, saying:“I don’t look for our starters to necessarily go out and give us six or seven every time. I think it’d great when and if they do, and that’ll be a bonus, but I do think our games — like they have in the last couple of years — they have been won or lost, a lot of times, in the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth inning. Our bullpen has to be solid if we’re going to have a chance.” Amir Garrett and Lucas Sims, two of their prime bullpen arms, have been slow in making their spring debuts, which could also play a part in the Reds’ using Antone in relief.
  • As long as he’s healthy, Daniel Robertson appears to be a sure bet to earn a roster spot with the Brewers as a utility player, according to Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. Robertson, who doesn’t have any minor league options remaining and was out the past couple of days because of a knee issue, returned to Milwaukee’s lineup Monday. The ex-Ray and Giant signed a one-year, $900K deal with the Brewers in free agency.
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