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Marlins Outright Rosell Herrera, Peter O’Brien

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The Marlins announced that they’ve outrighted outfielder Rosell Herrera and infielder/outfielder Peter O’Brien to Triple-A New Orleans. Having been outrighted in the past, O’Brien could reject the assignment in favor of free agency, but he’ll stay in the organization, Wells Dusenberry of the Sun Sentinel suggests.

The Marlins designated Herrera for assignment this past Wednesday to make room for the acquisition of outfielder Cesar Puello. A former Royal and Red, the 26-year-old Herrera had chances to prove himself with the Marlins before they cut him. Herrera batted just .200/.288/.314 in 119 plate appearances in the majors this season, though, leading the Marlins to ax him from their roster.

O’Brien, whom the Marlins acquired from the Dodgers in June 2018, hasn’t been able to consistently put his big power to use in the majors. While the 28-year-old journeyman’s a .257/.316/.507 hitter in 1,358 Triple-A plate appearances, he has only slashed .209/.275/.434 in 200 major league attempts. O’Brien batted .167/.255/.262 in 47 PA this year before Miami designated him.

Marlins Place Rule 5 Pick Riley Ferrell On Outright Waivers

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The Marlins have placed Rule 5 pick Riley Ferrell on outright waivers, per Jake Kaplan of The Athletic (via Twitter). Other organizations will have a chance to claim him; otherwise, he’ll be offered back to the Astros.

Ferrell seemed on track to crack the Marlins’ roster out of camp, but the former third-round pick ended up being forced to the injured list to open the season. He was shifted to the 60-day IL, so was not occupying a 40-man roster spot, but would have needed one upon his activation.

Despite some stops and starts in his rehab work, Ferrell has thrown 10 1/3 innings of 0.87 ERA ball over seven appearances. He allowed just three base hits, but also managed only eight strikeouts against six walks. Evidently, the Marlins weren’t sufficiently impressed to give Ferrell his first MLB opportunity.

Marlins Designate Peter O’Brien

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The Marlins have designated corner infielder/outfielder Peter O’Brien for assignment, per a club announcement. His roster spot was needed to make way for righty Zac Gallen, whose promotion is now official.

O’Brien had been on optional assignment for much of the year. To clear an active roster spot, the team optioned hurler Jeff Brigham.

While the Fish entered the year resolved to give O’Brien a shot, he just didn’t hit enough to stay in the big leagues. The 28-year-old carried a 135 wRC+ in a 22-game stint last year but dropped to 45 in his 47 plate appearances in the present campaign. He was slashing a healthier .278/.361/.556 with five home runs in 61 trips to the dish at Triple-A.

MLB Draft Signings: 6/19/19

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Here’s a look at the latest noteworthy draft signings, with the newest moves at the top of the post.  Click here for the full list of slot values and draft pool bonuses, and you can find prospect rankings and scouting reports from Baseball America’s Top 500,  Fangraphs’ Top 200, MLB.com’s Top 200, and the Top 50 of ESPN.com’s Keith Law….

  • The Red Sox announced the signing of second-round pick Matthew Lugo on Tuesday. The high school shortstop from Puerto Rico will receive $1.1MM, a fair amount more than the $929,800 slot value accompanying the 69th pick, Jim Callis of MLB.com tweets. FanGraphs’ Kiley McDaniel and Eric Longenhagen ranked the 18-year-old Lugo as the 26th-best player available entering the draft, writing he has “50 or 55 tools across the board.”
  • The Marlins have agreed to sign fifth-round right-hander Evan Fitterer to a deal worth far more than slot value, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports. Fitterer will earn $1.5MM, even though his pick (No. 141) called for a bonus in the $390K range. Callis and Jonathan Mayo write that the 18-year-old high schooler from California “reminds some of a young Kyle Hendricks, perhaps with a bigger fastball, but with a similar feel to pitch.”

Marlins Acquire Cesar Puello

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The Marlins have acquired outfielder Cesar Puello from the Angels, per a club announcement. Cash considerations are going to Los Angeles for the recently-designated Puello.

That explains the just-reported move to designate Rosell Herrera. In other news, the club placed starter Pablo Lopez on the 10-day injured list, as anticipated. Southpaw Jose Quijada will take the open roster spot for the time being. The club will ultimately still need to find a space for hurler Zac Gallen, who is slated to be promoted tomorrow.

The Fish have little to lose in giving a shot to Puello, who surprised in fill-in duty for the Halos. He slashed .390/.500/.683 in fifty plate appearances after racking up a .299/.434/.507 line in his 166 trips to the plate at Triple-A. Once considered a prospect of note, Puello has received only limited MLB opportunities but carries a .844 OPS in over fifteen hundred attempts at the highest level of the minors.

Marlins To Designate Rosell Herrera

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The Marlins will designate utilityman Rosell Herrera for assignment, per Craig Mish of MLB Network on Sirius XM (Twitter link). Corresponding moves aren’t yet known.

Herrera, a 26-year-old switch-hitter, has yet to make good on his former prospect promise. He’s now a .225/.286/.316 hitter through 421 career MLB plate appearances.

Marlins To Promote Zac Gallen, Place Pablo Lopez On IL

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The Marlins are reportedly planning to promote righty Zac Gallen for his first MLB start. Craig Mish of MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM confirms some quality Reddit sleuthing (Twitter links). He’ll take the ball tomorrow in place of Pablo Lopez, who is headed to the injured list.

Gallen has been among the most intriguing hurlers in the minors thus far in 2019. He’s now through 91 1/3 innings of 1.77 ERA ball over 14 starts, with an impressive tally of 112 strikeouts against just 17 walks. While he has certainly shown legitimate potential at times in the past, that’s a new level of productivity for the 23-year-old.

Things are certainly headed in an interesting direction for a player who arrived in Miami without a ton of fanfare. He was a notable, but not overly hyped piece of the swap that sent outfielder Marcell Ozuna to the Cardinals. Gallen came over with Sandy Alcantara, whom he’ll now join on the Marlins staff.

As exciting as it is to get a look at Gallen at the MLB level, it’s unfortunate that his ascent comes with uncertainty for Lopez. Mish says (Twitter link) that shoulder concerns appear to have spurred the IL placement. There’s no indication at this point whether it’s a serious malady; it seems that’s just what is being assessed at the moment.

East Notes: Syndergaard, Giles, Eovaldi, Herrera, Marlins

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The Mets are optimistic the right hamstring strain that sent starter Noah Syndergaard to the 10-day injured list Sunday isn’t serious, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com relays. Syndergaard said Monday he’s in “tip-top” shape, while manager Mickey Callaway announced the right-hander’s dealing with a “low-grade” strain. Additionally, Callaway suggested righty Wilmer Font could take Syndergaard’s next turn in New York’s rotation. The 29-year-old Font has managed a 4.43 ERA/5.25 FIP with 5.31 K/9 and 3.98 BB/9 in 20 1/3 innings since the Mets acquired him from the Rays on May 6.

Here’s more from the East Coast…

  • Blue Jays closer Ken Giles went to the IL on June 12 with right elbow inflammation, an ominous-sounding injury for a pitcher. However, the Blue Jays don’t expect him to stay on the IL past the 10-day mark, manager Charlie Montoyo said Monday (via Scott Mitchell of TSN). That’s especially good news for Toronto considering Giles could be one of the game’s top trade chips leading up to the July 31 deadline. The hard-throwing 28-year-old has upped his stock this season with a brilliant 1.08 ERA/1.18 FIP, 15.12 K/9 against 2.52 BB/9, and 11 saves on 12 chances across 25 innings.
  • Injured Red Sox righty Nathan Eovaldi played catch for the first time since June 4 on Monday, but there’s still no timetable for his return, per Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe. Eovaldi underwent right elbow surgery April 21. The hope then was that Eovaldi would only miss four to six weeks, but the bicep soreness he has dealt with this month has delayed a comeback.
  • Major League Baseball announced Monday it has extended Phillies center fielder Odubel Herrera’s administrative leave through July 1. This is the second time MLB has taken this action since it originally placed him on leave May 28, a day after Herrera was arrested on a simple assault charge relating to a domestic violence incident. MLB previously extended Herrera’s leave through today back on June 3.
  • Marlins southpaw Caleb Smith could return from the IL as early as this weekend, Craig Mish of FNTSY Sports Radio tweets. Smith went to the IL with left hip inflammation June 7. He was a much-needed bright spot for the club before then, evidenced by a 3.41 ERA/4.21 FIP with 11.18 K/9 and 2.73 BB/9 over 66 frames.

Health Notes: Zimmermann, Nimmo, Marlins, Smith, Wood, Dozier

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Tigers right-hander Jordan Zimmermann, currently on the mend after suffering a UCL sprain, looks to be nearing his return, writes Chris McCosky of the Detroit News. On Thursday, Zimmermann threw 4 2/3 innings in a rehab start for Triple-A Toledo, coming away pleased with the 69 pitches he threw and declaring his readiness to rejoin the Major League rotation for his next start. Whether that will actually come to fruition is up to the Tigers’ brass, though manager Ron Gardenhire seemed hesitant to welcome back a pitcher whose limited workload could lead to more bullpen days, which the team is trying to avoid. Regardless, the 33-year-old’s return looks to be just around the corner, certainly a promising development for a team that has had to patch together a starting staff after withstanding injuries to four-fifths of its Opening Day rotation.

Here are the latest updates on other injuries from around baseball…

  • Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo is going to consult more specialists about the bulging disc in his neck, tweets Tim Healey of Newsday. Nimmo has been sidelined with that same injury since May 20, and the latest is a troubling development for an organization that has been maligned for its handling of players’ injuries. At this time, there is still no timeline for when Nimmo might be cleared to return.
  • Marlins left-hander Caleb Smith has been cleared to begin a throwing program, tweets Joe Frisaro of MLB.com. Smith landed on the 10-day IL on June 7 thanks to inflammation in his left hip, but it doesn’t appear that the injury will keep him out much longer, as Smith is on track to return in late June. The 27-year-old southpaw has quietly emerged as a promising starter for the Marlins, having struck out 82 batters in 62 innings of work. Over the last two seasons in Miami, Smith has posted an impressive 3.83 ERA in 143 1/3 innings.
  • Hunter Dozier will spend the next three days rehabbing with the Royals’ Double-A affiliate, according to Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com, who adds that Dozier will later join Triple-A Omaha after the birth of his child. The next step following that is to work his way back to the MLB club, which is good news for the Royals, who originally tabbed Dozier to return in late June. It looks like that timeline is still a realistic target for the third baseman, who has emerged as one of Kansas City’s few untouchable pieces and an All-Star candidate in the American League.
  • Another promising update for the Reds, with left-hander Alex Wood nearing a rehab assignment, per C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic, who tweets that the southpaw has a live BP session on Tuesday, which could lead to a minor-league rehab stint if all goes well. Wood, 28, has been dealing with lower back soreness that has put his Reds debut on hold. However, it looks as if that time could come around the All-Star break for the former Dodger.

Marlins Place Jose Urena On 60-Day IL

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3:14pm: An MRI revealed a herniated disc in Urena’s back, Wells Dusenbury of the Sun Sentinel was among those to tweet.

1:07pm: Marlins right Jose Urena is hitting the shelf for the foreseeable future, with the club announcing that he’s going to the 60-day injured list. Urena is said to be dealing with a left lower back strain.

It’s a bit of a surprising turn of events for the starting pitcher, who had been scheduled to start on Wednesday before hitting the 10-day IL. At the time, there wasn’t much indication that he’d be sidelined for a lengthy stretch. The injury is evidently more severe than is apparent from the basic description of a lower back issue.

Given the timing, Urena won’t be eligible to return from the IL until mid-August. That all but eliminates him as a summer trade target. The 27-year-old hadn’t been in top form, with a 4.70 ERA in 74 2/3 innings, but he turned in consecutive sub-4.00 ERA campaigns in the prior two seasons. With his steady mid-to-upper nineties fastball velocity, Urena could have been an interesting swingman for the right contender.

Urena is earning $3.2MM this year as a 3+ service-class arbitration player. That leaves two more arb-eligible campaigns to come. The injury will sap his ability to procure a significant raise next fall, so it’s still plausible to imagine the Marlins tendering him a contract. Whether that’ll be a sensible approach will depend upon Urena’s recovery and showing upon his return,

This move represents the corresponding 40-man roster transaction for the club’s previously reported decision to select the contract of Yadiel Rivera. He’ll help fill in for Martin Prado while the veteran infielder is sidelined.

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