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Quick Hits: Pujols, Harvey, Bundy, Anderson

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The idea of Albert Pujols playing one final season in a Cardinals uniform always seemed a bit fanciful, considering that Paul Goldschmidt now occupies first base in St. Louis, and that Pujols’ dropoff in production created doubt that he would even play beyond the 2021 season.  However, Pujols has had a bit of a revival as a specialist against left-handed pitching, crushing southpaws to the tune of a .302/.336/.635 slash line and 13 home runs over 134 plate appearances this season.

As Benjamin Hochman of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes, signing Pujols in 2022 has some baseball value to a Cardinals team that may have a DH spot to work with in next year’s lineup.  That is on top of the natural symbolism of bringing Pujols back for what would be his 22nd — and quite possibly final — MLB season in what Yadier Molina has already announced will be his own final season.  If Adam Wainwright also re-signs with the team and decides to hang it up next winter (which is no sure thing given how well Wainwright continues to pitch), the 2022 season will carry a storybook feel for an entire era of Cardinals baseball, as well as a renewed charge towards another title.

More from around baseball…

  • The Orioles placed Matt Harvey on the 10-day injured list due to inflammation in his right knee.  O’s manager Brandon Hyde told reporters (including BaltimoreBaseball.com’s Rich Dubroff) that Harvey will undergo testing on the knee, and it isn’t yet known if the veteran right-hander will be able to pitch again this season.  After signing a minor league deal with the Orioles in the offseason, Harvey ended up spending the entire year on Baltimore’s big league roster, and the oft-injured righty has tossed 127 2/3 innings over 28 starts.  That is the silver lining amidst an otherwise tough season results-wise, as Harvey has a 6.27 ERA/4.84 SIERA and one of the lower (16.7%) strikeout rates in the league, not to mention some poor hard-hit ball numbers.
  • Dylan Bundy is “very confident” that he’ll be able to return to the Angels before the season is through, the right-hander told The Orange County Register’s Jeff Fletcher and other reporters.  Wednesday saw Bundy throw his first bullpen session since being placed on the 10-day IL with a shoulder strain back on August 25, and Bundy said the plan is for another bullpen on Saturday.  It remains to be seen if Bundy will be able to build up enough strength to make it back, or if he has already thrown his last pitch as an Angel, considering Bundy is a free agent this winter.  “As far as free agency, the only thing I’m thinking about is not being on the IL at the end of the year,” Bundy said.  Bundy has struggled to a 6.06 ERA/4.55 SIERA over 90 2/3 innings,
  • “I don’t have a lot of conversations with them on that front,” Brian Anderson told MLB.com’s Christina De Nicola and other reporters about extension talks with the Marlins.  General manager Kim Ng said last December, soon after her hiring, that she wanted a season to personally evaluate Anderson before deciding on a potential extension.  By that standard, Anderson hasn’t done much to impress, hitting only .249/.337/.378 and being limited to 264 plate appearances in an injury-riddled year.  Anderson is currently considering multiple options in regards to an ongoing shoulder problem, and surgery is a possibility, with Anderson prioritizing playing as close to a full season as possible in 2022.  The Marlins control Anderson’s rights through the 2023 season, so an extension could still be in the cards if he is able to recover and get back to his old form next year.

Marlins Designate Ross Detwiler, Select Eddy Alvarez

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The Marlins announced that left-hander Ross Detwiler has been designated for assignment.  The move opens up space for Eddy Alvarez to join Miami’s roster for the first time this season, as the infielder’s contract has been selected from Triple-A Jacksonville.

After working as a low-strikeout, groundball specialist for his first 12 Major League seasons, Detwiler flipped the script in 2021 after inking a one-year deal with Miami last winter.  Detwiler’s increased use of a slider has elevated his strikeout rate to 28% over 45 1/3 frames for the Marlins, exactly double the 14% strikeout rate he carried over the rest of his career.  Detwiler’s grounder rate has also dropped to 39.7% (from 47% prior to 2020).

Unfortunately for Detwiler, he hasn’t had much luck this season.  While he has a 3.38 SIERA and .299 xwOBA, his actual ERA (4.96) and wOBA (.328) are much less flattering.  He has worked almost entirely as a relief pitcher this season while making five “starts” as an opener, and two of those outings were responsible for much of the damage to Detwiler’s ERA.  If you subtract the 3 2/3 innings and 13 runs allowed over those two rough starts (July 7 against the Dodgers and July 19 against the Nationals), Detwiler has a 2.59 ERA over his remaining 41 2/3 innings of work.

Given this overall solid track record, it is a little surprising to see Detwiler hit the DFA wire, though the Marlins might simply want to give some opportunity to younger pitchers.  It seems quite possible that another club (perhaps a contender looking for left-handed relief depth) will claim Detwiler away from Miami.  Detwiler wouldn’t be eligible for postseason play since he would be joining a new team after August 31, though he could certainly help a team on the bubble get into the playoffs.

A waiver claim would mean absorbing the approximately $108K remaining on Detwiler’s original $850K salary for the season, but that is hardly a hefty sum to add to a payroll, unless a team is in a major luxury tax crunch.  If Detwiler isn’t claimed, he has the right to reject an outright assignment from the Marlins and choose free agency.

Alvarez made his MLB debut last season, appearing in 12 games with his hometown Marlins and hitting .189/.268/.216 over 41 plate appearances.  Perhaps best known for his two-sport exploits, Alvarez was an accomplished speed skater who won a silver medal as part of the U.S. 5000m relay team at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.  Alvarez compounded that success by winning a silver medal as a member of the American baseball team at this year’s Summer Olympics in Tokyo, making him just the sixth athlete in history to capture medals in different sports at both the Winter and Summer Games.

Marlins Claim Taylor Williams Off Waivers From Padres

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The Marlins announced they’ve claimed reliever Taylor Williams off waivers from the Padres. In a corresponding move, Miami designated infielder Deven Marrero for assignment.

Williams has pitched in the majors in each of the past five seasons. The right-hander broke in with the Brewers in 2017 and landed with the Mariners last year after three seasons with Milwaukee. San Diego acquired Williams late last season but he made just one appearance down the stretch. The 30-year-old pitched in five games with the Padres this April, working 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball with six strikeouts and three walks. He landed on the injured list with right knee inflammation midway through the season’s first month, though, and he remained on the IL until September 1.

The Friars designated Williams just a couple days after reinstating him from the IL. He’s out of minor league option years, meaning San Diego had to expose him to waivers in order to remove him from the active roster. The Marlins stepped in to add Williams for almost no cost, but they’ll too now have to keep him in the majors of risk losing him on waivers themselves.

Over the course of his career, Williams has a 5.17 ERA in 92 1/3 innings of relief. His strikeout and walk rates (24.3% and 10.5%) are right around league average for bullpen arms, and he’s induced whiffs on a solid 12.9% of his career offerings. Those peripherals suggest Williams could yet settle in as a decent middle relief option, at the very least. If the Fish keep him on the roster, he can be controlled through 2024 via arbitration.

Miami has now designated Marrero five times this year. The Marlins have selected him to the 40-man roster whenever the club finds itself in need of additional infield depth, but he hasn’t stuck on the big league roster for long. Marrero cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Jacksonville each of the previous four times, so it seems likely he’ll stick around in the high minors yet again.

Marlins Outright Austin Pruitt

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Marlins right-hander Austin Pruitt went unclaimed on waivers and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Jacksonville, per the team’s transactions log at MLB.com. He was designated for assignment Friday. It’s the second time since acquiring Pruitt prior to the trade deadline that Miami has passed him through waivers.

Pruitt, 32, has the service time to reject the assignment in favor of free agency. However, with the regular-season calendar winding down and a $617,500 salary that checks in a bit north of the league minimum — he’d forfeit the remainder of his guarantee by electing free agency — Pruitt may simply ride out the season with the Marlins’ top minor league affiliate or hope to be added back to the 40-man roster. If he’s not on the 40-man roster at the end of the season, he’ll have the opportunity to elect free agency then, as an outrighted player with three-plus years of MLB service time.

The Marlins acquired Pruitt alongside outfielder Bryan De La Cruz in the trade that sent Yimi Garcia to the Astros, but De La Cruz was the team’s primary target in that deal. Pruitt has pitched well in a limited sample with the Fish, holding opponents to one run on four hits and no walks with four strikeouts in 4 2/3 big league frames. He’s been sharp in Triple-A, too, with just four runs and a 10-to-1 K/BB ratio through 11 innings of work.

Pruitt has spent most of the 2021 season on the 60-day injured list as he recovered from Sept. 2020 surgery to repair a fracture in his elbow. That elbow trouble last year kept him off the mound for the entirety of the shortened 2020 campaign. In 207 Major League innings, most of which came with the Rays from 2017-19, Pruitt has a 4.83 ERA with a below-average 17.2 percent strikeout rate, an excellent 5.7 percent walk rate and an above-average 48.5 percent ground-ball rate.

Marlins Designate Austin Pruitt For Assignment

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The Marlins have designated right-hander Austin Pruitt for assignment, Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald was among those to relay. The move opens space on the active and 40-man rosters for reliever Paul Campbell, who has been activated from the COVID-19 injured list.

It’s the second time this season the Fish have designated Pruitt, whom they acquired alongside Bryan de la Cruz from the Astros in the Yimi García trade shortly before the deadline. Pruitt cleared waivers the first time and was selected back to the big league roster not too long after. He has made four relief appearances for Miami, tossing 4 2/3 innings of one-run ball with four strikeouts and no walks.

Pruitt will now find himself back on the waiver wire, where the league’s 29 other teams will again have the opportunity to pick him up. The 32-year-old signed a $617.5K contract to avoid arbitration last winter, so he’s making just slightly more than the league minimum. Any claiming team would owe Pruitt the remainder of that salary (approximately $109K) for the season’s final month. If he were to pass through unclaimed, he’d have the right to elect free agency in lieu of an outright assignment.

In addition to swapping out Pruitt for Campbell, the Marlins will also add Zach Thompson to the bullpen. The 27-year-old has started all thirteen of his big league appearances but is moving to the relief corps for the stretch run, manager Don Mattingly informed reporters (including Daniel Álvarez Montes of ElExtraBase). That’s the role Thompson filled with Triple-A Jacksonville before his early-June promotion. All eight of his outings with the Jumbo Shrimp came in relief.

Miami will move forward with a starting group of Trevor Rogers (who returned from the restricted list yesterday), Sandy Alcantara, Jesús Luzardo, Elieser Hernández and top prospect Edward Cabrera. That’s an extremely exciting and talented group that figures to be the backbone of future Marlins’ clubs that should be more competitive than they’ve been this season. And that’s not even counting Sixto Sánchez and Max Meyer, who haven’t pitched in the majors this year (Sánchez due to injury, Meyer because it’s his first pro season) but have immense promise themselves.

Thompson isn’t as well-regarded as that group of high-octane arms, but he looks to be a great find himself. Signed to a minor league deal last offseason after spending seven seasons in the White Sox organization, Thompson has pitched well in his first big league look. The right-hander has worked 62 2/3 innings of 3.16 ERA ball. He has been the beneficiary of some batted ball luck and only has a 20.2% strikeout rate, but Thompson has also thrown a fair amount of strikes and generated whiffs at a decent 11.6% clip.

With that performance, Thompson should have solidified his spot on the 40-man roster over the upcoming offseason. He looks like a solid back-of-the-rotation option who could again be called upon as a starter in the event of injuries or underperformance next year. For now, the bullpen transition will help to keep his workload in check. Thompson’s 77 2/3 innings between Triple-A and the big leagues this year is his highest single-season total since he worked 93 1/3 frames in High-A back in 2017.

Every Team’s Initial September Callups

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The limit on active roster players expanded from 26 to 28 today, as the calendar flipped to September. Every team announced at least two additions to the big league club (some teams made three or more due to injured list placements). Here’s a recap of today’s spate of transactions:

Marlins’ Jake Eder To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

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Marlins pitching prospect Jake Eder has been diagnosed with a torn ulnar collateral ligament and will undergo Tommy John surgery to repair the damage, Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald reports. The procedure will quite likely wipe out Eder’s entire 2022 campaign.

Miami has amassed one of the deepest and most enviable collections of young pitching in all of baseball, but the loss of Eder puts a notable dent in that promising bumper crop. The 22-year-old Eder has seen his stock skyrocket since being selected out of Vanderbilt in the fourth round of last summer’s draft, with multiple publications now listing him among the game’s 100 best prospects.

After the canceled 2020 season, Eder jumped directly into Double-A to begin his professional career and has dominated despite an aggressive assignment after a nearly year-long layoff from pitching in a competitive setting. He’s totaled 71 1/3 innings in Pensacola thus far and pitched to a pristine 1.77 ERA with a huge 34.5 percent strikeout rate, a 9.4 percent walk rate and a strong 50.3 percent ground-ball rate. Baseball America ranked Eder as the sport’s No. 68 prospect on its updated midseason rankings, and MLB.com listed the left-hander at No. 81 on its own summer reranking of the game’s best farmhands.

Eder’s immediate success might have made him a candidate for a promotion to the big leagues as early as 2022. Instead, he’ll spend the season rehabbing with an eye toward getting back on the mound to begin his age-24 campaign in 2023. Even with Eder sidelined, however, the Marlins are still deep in young arms who’ve either found big league success or been ranked among the game’s most promising prospects.

Sandy Alcantara and Pablo Lopez have solidified themselves as quality big league hurlers and each can be controlled another three seasons. Left-hander Trevor Rogers has been one of the best pitchers in the National League this season. Jesus Luzardo and Elieser Hernandez have both had some big league success but are seeking more consistency. Sixto Sanchez missed the 2021 season due to injury but is viewed as a key long-term piece of the rotation after a strong debut effort in 2020. Hard-throwing righty Edward Cabrera ranks among the game’s best prospects and impressed in his own MLB debut last week. Twenty-seven-year-old righty Zach Thompson has been an outstanding find for the Marlins on a minor league deal. Righty Max Meyer, the No. 3 pick in 2020, has dominated in Double-A. Lefty Braxton Garrett is viewed more as a depth arm at this point, but he was the No. 7 overall pick back in 2016. Prospects like Dax Fulton and Eury Perez (not to be confused with former big league outfielder Eury Perez) are also well-regarded, but further from the big leagues.

The injuries to Sanchez and now Eder serve as a reminder of the inherent risk associated with any pitching prospect, but there are few clubs that can boast such a deep collection of talented arms. That should serve the Marlins well both in terms of their 2022 pitching staff and also with their approach to the offseason trade market. The Marlins are known to be on the lookout for long-term options both at catcher and in center field, and that impressive stockpile of controllable pitching figures to serve them well in that endeavor, even with some injuries impacting the group.

NL Injury Notes: Moustakas, Lopez, Contreras

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Mike Moustakas left tonight’s game due to right hip tightness, replaced by Asdrubal Cabrera at third base to begin the bottom of the second inning.  Moustakas struck out in his lone plate appearance (in the top of the second) and Bobby Nightengale of The Cincinnati Enquirer noted that Moustakas “hopped on his left leg a couple of times” following a game-opening single from Miguel Rojas.  This was one of four balls hit in Moustakas’ direction during what ended up as a five-run inning for the Marlins en route to their 6-1 win over the Reds.

The severity of the hip problem isn’t known, though the 2021 season has already been an injury-marred campaign for the veteran infielder.  Moustakas has played in only 45 games due to missing more than 11 weeks due to a right heel injury, which eventually necessitated a trip to the 60-day injured list.  The result is a .216/.309/.417 slash line and six home runs through 162 plate appearances, and a 92 wRC+ that would count as the Moose’s lowest since the 2014 season.  Cabrera was claimed off waivers just yesterday to help the Reds’ infield depth, though he could be in line for quite a bit more playing time if Moustakas’ hip issue results in another IL visit.

More injury updates from around the National League…

  • Pablo Lopez was scratched from a scheduled rehab start on Thursday and is now returning to Miami, Marlins manager Don Mattingly told reporters (including MLB.com’s Christina De Nicola).  A right rotator cuff strain sent Lopez to the injured list (retroactively) on July 14, yet even with just over a month remaining in the season, Mattingly didn’t commit to the idea of potentially shutting Lopez down.  “Nothing more than…just slowing him down, making sure we’re careful with him.  Sounded like a minor setback for sure,” Mattingly said.  “Probably not minor to Pablo, who’s wanting to get going.  But I know the medical staff’s going to be careful with him.”  Lopez has posted a 3.03 ERA/3.50 SIERA over 101 innings for Miami this season, with above-average strikeout (27.1%) and walk (6.1%) rates and strong hard-hit ball numbers.
  • Willson Contreras is expected to begin a minor league rehab assignment within a few days’ time, Cubs manager David Ross told The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney and other reporters.  Contreras has been on the 10-day IL since August 12 due to a sprained right knee.  One of the few veterans still on the roster following the Cubs’ trade deadline fire sale, Contreras is enjoying another solid season, hitting .226/.333/.417 with 17 homers over 403 plate appearances.

Marlins Sign Cody Carroll

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The Marlins signed reliever Cody Carroll to a minor league contract this week, according to the MLB.com transactions tracker. He has been assigned to their Florida Complex League affiliate but figures to report to Triple-A Jacksonville some time soon. Carroll was released by the Orioles a few weeks ago.

A well-regarded bullpen prospect coming up in the Yankees’ system, Carroll was part of the group New York sent to Baltimore in the 2018 Zack Britton deal. He made his major league debut that August and made fifteen appearances down the stretch. He missed almost the entire 2019 campaign recovering from back surgery and was bombed in three appearances last season before being outrighted off the 40-man roster. Carroll owns a dismal 13.74 ERA over 19 career big league frames.

Before his release, he spent the 2021 campaign with the Orioles’ top affiliate in Norfolk. The 28-year-old posted a 5.57 ERA in that hitter-friendly environment. While Carroll struck out a solid 25.6% of batters faced, he also issued walks at an elevated 12.2% clip and served up five home runs in 21 innings — a continuation of trouble with the long ball that has plagued him in the majors as well.

Carroll’s time in Baltimore obviously didn’t go as he’d intended, but he posted great numbers up through Double-A in the New York organization. There’s no risk for Miami in taking a look to see if he can recapture some of the form he showed at the lower levels and work his way back to the big leagues down the stretch.

Marlins Designate Bryan Mitchell For Assignment

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The Marlins are designating right-hander Bryan Mitchell for assignment, Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald was among those to relay. The move creates an active roster spot for top pitching prospect Edward Cabrera, who has officially been recalled to make his major league debut tonight against the Nationals. Mitchell’s designation also creates a vacancy on the 40-man roster, which now sits at 39.

Miami selected Mitchell to the big league club last week. He’s since made two appearances, tossing four innings of two-run ball out of the bullpen. He struck out four batters while issuing one unintentional walk in that time. That brief showing marked Mitchell’s first big league work in three years, as he hadn’t made it back to the majors after struggling to a 5.42 ERA over 73 innings with the 2018 Padres.

In the intervening seasons, Mitchell has bounced around between a few organizations. He’s spent most of the past couple years at Triple-A, and that’s been true in 2021 as well. Mitchell signed with the Phillies and began the year with their top affiliate in Lehigh Valley. He was released with a 6.04 ERA and a mediocre 20:16 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 28 1/3 frames with the IronPigs. But Mitchell has looked better after landing with the Marlins on a minors pact. He tossed twelve innings of four-run ball with fourteen strikeouts and six walks for Triple-A Jacksonville to earn the long-awaited call back to the majors last week.

Mitchell will now find himself on waivers over the coming days. If he passes through unclaimed, he’d have the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency because he has previously been outrighted in his career.

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