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Anibal Sanchez Announces Retirement

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Longtime big league starter Aníbal Sánchez took to Instagram this evening to announce his retirement. The 39-year-old wraps up a career in which he appeared in parts of 16 big league campaigns.

“Throughout these past 17 years in Major League Baseball, God has given me the opportunity to live wonderful moments on and off the field,” Sánchez wrote. “Baseball has been my great passion since I was a child, and I am extremely grateful to have been able to make that dream a reality.” He goes on to thank his teammates, coaches, managers, scouts, franchise owners and agents at Mato Sports Management, as well as his family, friends and the fans who supported him along the way.

“Today begins a new chapter where I hang up the glove and uniform to pursue my other passions,” Sánchez concluded. “I retire as a major league player; however, I will always be close to the sport I love. See you soon.”

Sánchez began his professional career with the Red Sox as an amateur signee out of Venezuela during the 2000-01 international period. Within a few years, he pitched his way to Double-A and rated as one of the top pitching prospects in the Boston system. Over the 2005-06 offseason, the Sox dealt him alongside Hanley Ramírez and two more minor leaguers to the Marlins to bring in ace Josh Beckett.

Florida called him to the majors for the first time the following June. Sánchez hit the ground running as a 22-year-old, tossing 114 1/3 innings of 2.83 ERA ball over his first 18 appearances. He threw a no-hitter in just his 13th career start, completing the feat in a six strikeout outing against the Diamondbacks that September. Sánchez finished that year ninth in NL Rookie of the Year voting.

Injuries dogged the right-hander over the next few seasons. He didn’t make more than 16 starts in any of the three years between 2007-09. Fortunately, he returned to health for his first full big league campaign in 2010. Sánchez would make 32 starts with a sub-4.00 ERA in both 2010 and ’11. He was on that pace again in 2012, working to a 3.94 ERA over 19 starts as an impending free agent for a noncompetitive Miami team. The Tigers acquired him in a deadline blockbuster, adding Sánchez and second baseman Omar Infante for a package headlined by former first round pick Jacob Turner.

Sánchez was excellent down the stretch to help Detroit to an AL Central title. He pitched three quality starts in as many outings during that year’s postseason, helping the Tigers to a pennant. The Tigers brought him back on a five-year free agent deal with an $80MM guarantee over the offseason.

Detroit was immediately rewarded with the best season of Sánchez’s career. He worked 182 innings of 2.57 ERA ball over 29 starts. He won the AL ERA title and topped the Junior Circuit with a 2.39 FIP. Sánchez finished fourth in Cy Young balloting and helped the club to a repeat division title. The Tigers came up a round short of the World Series that time around, though Sánchez contributed 12 innings of four-run ball during the AL Championship Series.

The veteran hurler turned in another productive showing in 2014, working to a 3.43 ERA in 126 frames on another division-winning Detroit team. His production fell off thereafter, as his ERA jumped each season between 2015-17. He finished his Detroit tenure with a 6.41 season that led them to decline a 2018 club option. Sánchez made an unexpected resurgence upon landing with the Braves on a minor league deal in 2018. He cracked the MLB club and provided Atlanta a 2.83 ERA over 136 2/3 innings to help them to an NL East title.

That rebound earned Sánchez a multi-year contract in his return trip to free agency. He jumped to the Nationals on a two-year, $19MM pact that paid off incredibly in the first season. He made 30 starts with a 3.85 ERA in the regular season. The Nats made the playoffs as a Wild Card club and embarked on a run to the first championship in franchise history. Sánchez was a productive contributor as the #4 starter, highlighted by 7 2/3 scoreless innings to stake Washington to a series lead against the Cardinals in the first game of the NLCS.

Sánchez posted middling numbers during the shortened season and sat out 2021 entirely. He returned last year on another run with a now-rebuilding Washington club, turning in a 4.28 ERA in 14 outings. It was a respectable finish to a lengthy, accomplished run at the highest level.

All told, Sánchez leaves the game with a 4.06 ERA in a little more than 2000 big league innings. He had seven seasons with 100+ innings and fewer than four earned runs per nine. Sánchez won 116 games and struck out a little under 1800 hitters. He chipped in a 2.93 ERA through 61 1/3 postseason innings across three franchises, helping two teams to a pennant and one to a championship. Baseball Reference valued his career around 28 wins above replacement, while FanGraphs pegged him closer to 31 WAR. He banked just over $103MM in earnings.

Congratulations to Sánchez on an excellent career and all the best in his post-playing days.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. To Miss 4-6 Weeks With Turf Toe

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The Marlins announced to reporters, including Craig Mish of the Miami Herald, that outfielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. will be placed on the 10-day injured list due to turf toe. Manager Skip Schumaker says Chisholm will miss approximately 4-6 weeks, per Mish.

The news comes as an unfortunate blow to the Marlins, as Chisholm is one of the key players on their roster. He left Saturday’s game after colliding with the wall while attempting a catch and postgame X-rays were negative, but it was reported the next day that he would be sent to see a specialist. It seems that the issue was more serious than initially expected, as he will now miss a decent chunk of time dealing with the ailment.

Chisholm, now 25, had a breakout season with the Marlins last year. He hit 14 home runs and stole 12 bases in 60 games while hitting .254/.325/.535 for a wRC+ of 139. Unfortunately, a stress fracture in his back put him on the injured list in July and limited him to just those 60 contests.

The club then made the surprising decision to move Chisholm from second base to center field this year, installing Luis Arraez at the keystone instead. Defensive metrics have given Chisholm strong grades at his new position in the early going this year, though he hasn’t yet been able to get into a good groove at the plate, slashing just .229/.291/.403 in 2023 for a wRC+ of 91 thus far.

The timing of this injury is unfortunate for the Marlins as they already have a couple of other outfielders on the injured list. Jesús Sánchez just landed there on the weekend due to a right hamstring strain while Avisaíl García has been out for a couple of weeks with lower back tightness. García will begin baseball activities in the next few days, per Christina De Nicola of MLB.com, but doesn’t seem especially close to a return.

The club will now have to spend the next stretch of their schedule triply shorthanded in the outfield and without their primary center fielder for more than a month, in all likelihood. Garrett Hampson has played center on Sunday and is in there again tonight, though he’s a career .236/.296/.373 hitter. He’s off to a stronger .262/.294/.431 start this year but he’s currently riding a .364 batting average on balls in play while striking out in 29% of his plate appearances and walking just 2.9% of the time.

Hampson figures to be flanked by Bryan De La Cruz and Peyton Burdick in the corners until García or Sánchez can return. Jorge Soler could get in the mix from time to time but he’s been serving as the designated hitter most days.

Marlins Place A.J. Puk On 15-Day Injured List

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The Marlins are placing A.J. Puk on the 15-day injured list, as the left-hander is dealing with some nerve irritation in his left elbow.  A corresponding move hasn’t yet been announced and it might not come until Tuesday, since Miami has an off-day on Monday.  Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald (Twitter link) guesses that JT Chargois might replace Puk, as Chargois is completing a rehab assignment after missing just over a month with an oblique strain.

Puk’s last appearance was on May 10, and manager Skip Schumaker told the Herald’s Andre Fernandez and other reporters prior to today’s game that Puk had been dealing with a “dead arm.”  The designation of nerve irritation sheds some new and concerning light on the issue, as while it could be that Puk might be back to normal after 15 days, there is no real timeline for nerve-related injuries.

It’s another troubling injury setback for Puk, as Tommy John surgery cost him all of the 2018 season as a prospect in the Athletics’ farm system, and he didn’t pitch in 2020 due to shoulder problems that eventually required a surgery.  Puk carried a lot of promise as a starter during his way up the minor league ladder, yet his health problems led the A’s to use him only as a reliever.  In his first full MLB season, Puk looked mostly excellent in posting a 3.12 ERA over 66 1/3 relief innings for the A’s in 2022.

That good form has continued into Puk’s first year in Miami, as the Marlins dealt JJ Bleday (another former top prospect) to Oakland for Puk back in February.  Though the Marlins considered using Puk as a starter, they instead opted to use him as their primary closer, with strong results.  Puk has a 3.07 ERA and a wealth of impressive secondary metrics over 14 2/3 innings with the Marlins, including a 29.2% strikeout rate and 4.6% walk rate that are both well above the league average.  Batters haven’t been able to make much hard contact against Puk’s offerings, as his 2.4% barrel rate is among the best in MLB.

Dylan Floro got the save in today’s 3-1 win over the Reds, and he is likely the favorite for ninth-inning work in Puk’s absence given how Floro finished the 2020 season as Miami’s closer.  The Marlins could also take a situational approach to save situations, with any of Floro, Andrew Nardi, Huascar Brazoban, Tanner Scott, or Matt Barnes getting a crack at closer duties based on in-game scenarios.

It’s been a tough couple of days health-wise for the Marlins, as while Garrett Cooper returned from the 10-day IL today, Miami has lost both Jesus Sanchez and now Puk to the injured list.  Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s status is also to be determined, as Schumaker said the center fielder will visit a specialist about a case of turf toe.  Chisholm suffered the injury in yesterday’s game after a collision with the outfield wall in pursuit of a fly ball.

Marlins Activate Garrett Cooper, Place Jesus Sanchez On 10-Day IL

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The Marlins have made a pair of roster moves this morning, as noted by MLB.com’s Christian De Nicola. First baseman Garrett Cooper has been activated from the 10-day injured list, while outfielder Jesus Sanchez was placed on the 10-day IL with a right hamstring strain. Sanchez’s placement on the IL is no surprise after he left yesterday’s game with a hamstring injury.

Sanchez, 25, was in the midst of a hot stretch that had made him one of the club’s best hitters this season, with his 150 wRC+ only topped by second baseman Luis Arraez among the club’s hitters. Sanchez has been heavily platoon-protected so far this season, however. The lefty slugger has stepped to the plate against same-handed pitchers just five times so far this year, though he does have two hits, including a home run, in those limited opportunities. While no timetable has been announced for Sanchez’s return, it seems certain that the youngster will miss more than the minimum 10 days.

Taking over for Sanchez on the active roster is Cooper, who earned his first All Star appearance last season. Cooper, who posted a .271/.352/.443 slash line (good for a 123 wRC+) in 852 plate appearances across the 2020-2022 campaigns, hadn’t quite lived up to those standards this season prior to going on the IL with an ear infection.. In 98 plate appearances in 2023, Cooper has slashed .272/.306/.413 with a 97 wRC+ that hovers just below the league average.

Cooper figures to primarily spend time at first base and DH, spots Yuli Gurriel and Jorge Soler currently occupy. That being said, both Cooper and Soler have outfield experience, so either player could also factor into the outfield alongside Bryan De La Cruz, Jon Berti, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. while Sanchez is on the shelf.

Jazz Chisholm, Jesus Sanchez Leave Game Due To Injuries

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The Marlins’ 12-0 streak in one-run games came to an end today, as Miami dropped a 6-5 result to the Reds.  However, the loss may have had a bigger-picture cost, as outfielders Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Jesus Sanchez both had to make early exits due to injuries.

Sanchez’s day lasted just one inning, as he suffered a sore right hamstring while making a diving catch on a Tyler Stephenson fly ball in the top of the first, and was replaced in right field by Peyton Burdick for the top of the second inning.  Chisholm made his own attempt at a highlight catch in the eighth, but collided with the wall while in full pursuit of a Henry Ramos fly ball that landed for a double.  After staying down for a few minutes while examined by trainers, Chisholm left the game and was replaced by Garrett Hampson in center field.  The team later announced that Chisholm suffered a contusion on his right foot.

Sanchez will undergo an MRI to determine the severity of the injury, though a trip to the injured list seems like it will be in order considering how the outfielder has been dealing with hamstring problems for a few days.  He had to leave Wednesday’s 5-4 win over the Diamondbacks due to a hamstring soreness, but after Thursday’s off-day, it appeared as though Sanchez was okay after pinch-hitting in Friday’s game and then returning to the starting lineup today.

After getting off to a very slow start, Sanchez has been one of baseball’s hitters over the last few weeks, with a 1.185 OPS over his last 42 plate appearances.  This hot streak has boosted his season slash line to .290/.364/.551, with 72 of his 77 PA coming against right-handed pitching.  While the Marlins are still using Sanchez in a platoon capacity, he has certainly carved out a valuable role for himself on a team in sore need of offense.

X-rays were negative on Chisholm’s foot, so as ugly as his collision initially looked, the center fielder might have avoided any serious damage.  A trip to the IL can’t be ruled out if Chisholm’s foot experiences swelling or soreness in the next couple of days, but he did tell reporters after the game that his foot was feeling somewhat better.  We might not have an answer on his status until Tuesday, since it seems likely that Miami will sit Chisholm for Sunday’s game and the Marlins then have an off-day Monday.

Chisholm is hitting a modest .229/.291/.403 over 159 PA this season, though he does have seven home runs and 14 steals in 16 chances.  While this offensive production is below average, the Marlins’ experiment of moving Chisholm from second base to center field seems to be working out, depending on what public defensive metric you prefer.  Both the Outs Above Average (+3) and UZR/150 (+6.6) metrics are fans of Chisholm’s glovework, though the Defensive Runs Saved metrics grade Chisholm with -4 DRS.  Of course, today’s situation also highlights some of the injury risk posed by the position switch, even if Chisholm also dealt with plenty of injuries while working as an infielder.

Losing two regular outfielders would be a blow to any team, but Miami is already thin on the grass with Avisail Garcia and Garrett Cooper both on the 10-day IL.  Cooper is at least closer to a return from his inner infection, as he started a minor league rehab assignment on Friday.  Burdick, Jorge Soler, and utilitymen Hampson and Jon Berti can all play the outfield on at least a short-term basis, and Joey Wendle has outfield experience even though he has played exclusively as an infielder since the start of the 2020 season.  Looking further down the depth chart, Jerar Encarnacion is the only other outfielder on the Marlins’ 40-man roster.

Marlins Select Eury Perez, Designate Chi Chi Gonzalez For Assignment

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The Marlins have officially selected top prospect Eury Perez to both the active and 40-man rosters. The 20-year-old right-hander will start tonight’s game against the Reds. To clear room for Perez on the roster, Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald notes that the club has designated right-hander Chi Chi Gonzalez for assignment.

The move comes as little surprise, as Perez’s pending promotion had been reported earlier this week. A consensus top 10 prospect in the entire sport, Perez will skip the Triple-A level entirely and make his MLB debut less than a month after celebrating his 20th birthday. So far this season, Perez has posted a 2.32 ERA, 35.9% strikeout rate, and 51.6% groundball rate through six starts at the Double-A level.

Making room on the roster for Perez is Gonzalez, a former first round pick by the Rangers in the 2013 draft. Gonzalez made his MLB debut in 2015, but over seven seasons in the major leagues has struggled to match the promise of his former top prospect status, with a career 5.64 ERA in 287 1/3 innings of work. Having been used primarily as a starter throughout most of his career, Gonzalez has found some success with the Marlins as a reliever in 2023, albeit in a microscopic sample. In 2 2/3 innings of work with Miami this season, Gonzalez has allowed one run on four hits while striking out two and walking one.

Should Gonzalez go unclaimed on waivers, he will have the option to reject an outright assignment to the minor leagues, both as a player with more than three years of service time and as a player who has already received an outright assignment in the past.

Marlins To Promote Eury Pérez

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The Marlins announced to reporters, including Craig Mish of the Miami Herald, they are calling up pitching prospect Eury Pérez. He’ll take the ball for Friday’s game. He’s not currently on the 40-man roster and will require a corresponding move to be added.

Both this move and Pérez himself are unique in a few respects. The promotion is an aggressive one given that the right-hander only just turned 20 years old last month and has yet to pitch in Triple-A. That makes him unusually young for a major league debut, with JJ Cooper of Baseball America pointing out Pérez is about to be the youngest starting pitcher in the majors since Julio Urías in 2016. The pitcher himself is also unique in terms of his size, listed at 6’8″ and 220 pounds.

Signed as an international amateur out of the Dominican Republic in July of 2019, he wasn’t able to make his professional debut until over a year later since the minor leagues were canceled by the pandemic in 2020. The Marlins sent him to Single-A to begin 2021 and he dominated in his 15 starts there. He posted a 1.61 ERA in 56 innings, striking out 36.9% of opponents while walking 9.5% and getting grounders at a 36.4% clip. He was then given the ball for five High-A starts at the end of the year, posting a 2.86 ERA in those.

Going into 2022, he was already considered by many observers to be one of the better pitching prospects in the league, but he continued to raise his stock. Despite just being 19 years old for most of last year, he made 17 starts at the Double-A level. He posted a 4.08 ERA in those along with a 34.1% strikeout rate, 8% walk rate and 41.4% ground ball rate.

Coming into 2023, the youngster was unanimously considered to be one of the best prospects in the league. Baseball America ranked him #7 overall and he’s since moved up to #6. MLB Pipeline had him at #13 and he’s now in the top 10. He was #4 at FanGraphs, #6 at ESPN and Keith Law of The Athletic had him at #10. The reports highlight his fastball, which he can not only ramp up to triple digits but also command exceptionally well. Most observers agree that his changeup is his best secondary pitch, though his slider and curveball both get good reviews as well. By all accounts, Pérez has the ingredients to be a future ace and he keeps proving it. Through his six Double-A starts this year, he has a 2.32 ERA, 35.9% strikeout rate, 7.7% walk rate and 51.6% ground ball rate.

That being said, not all prospects hit the ground running as soon as they reach the majors and it’s not something that should be expected for even the top names. That’s especially true for Pérez given his youth and relative inexperience. His entire professional track record consists of just 186 innings at this point, including just 77 last year, and none of that was at Triple-A. He’s yet to truly test his stuff against big league caliber hitters and it remains to be seen how many innings the Marlins will let him rack up this year. Nonetheless, it will be very exciting to see how the gamble pays off for them.

The club has had a strong rotation for many years and felt good enough about their options that they traded Pablo López to the Twins this winter in order to obtain Luis Arraez. However, they’ve been dealing with a few challenges this year, as both Trevor Rogers and Johnny Cueto are on the injured list with uncertain return timelines. Jesús Luzardo is having a nice season so far but Sandy Alcantara hasn’t quite been his Cy Young self, while Braxton Garrett and Edward Cabrera have each posted middling results so far.

Pérez will now step into that mix and see how he fares, with his performance likely to have some impact on whether this is a brief cup of coffee or if he’s up for good. Since the season is over a month old at this point, Pérez won’t be able to accrue a full year of service time the old fashioned way, though the new collective bargaining agreement affords him a path to get there. A player with less than 60 days of service time who is on two of the top 100 prospect lists at BA, MLB or ESPN will get a full year of service, regardless of the time they spend on the roster, if they finish in the top two in Rookie of the Year voting. Pérez was on all three of those lists and is therefore eligible, but it will be a challenge to rank that highly given the late start. He’ll be competing with players like Corbin Carroll and James Outman who have already had plenty of time to bank stats this year.

Even if he finished the year shy of the one-year mark, his youth would still put him on a good trajectory. If he’s up for good, he would almost certainly qualify for arbitration as a Super Two player after the 2025 campaign and be on pace for free agency after 2029, which would be his age-26 season. Future optional assignments could push those targets further into the future, though he could also reach free agency after 2028 by succeeding in getting that full year here in 2023.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Sixto Sanchez Experienced Minor Shoulder Soreness, Marlins Targeting Second-Half Return

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The Marlins have been without Sixto Sánchez for nearly three years. The one-time top prospect and headliner of the J.T. Realmuto trade has had his career thrown off track by injuries. Shoulder problems have been the main concern, as Sánchez has twice undergone shoulder surgery since July 2021.

That extended layoff has left Sánchez without a particularly clear recovery timetable. While he’d expressed some optimism at the start of the offseason he’d be ready for Spring Training, it became apparent by February a midseason return was the best-case scenario. That has seemingly been pushed back a little further, as the team informed reporters that Sánchez experienced some shoulder soreness following an extended Spring Training outing last week (via MLB.com injury tracker).

This particular issue doesn’t seem all that worrisome. Sánchez has already returned to playing catch this week, according to MLB.com. It’s nevertheless a subpar development for a pitcher who is hoping to get back into affiliated games this year. Barry Jackson and Craig Mish of the Miami Herald write the organization views August or September as a viable target date for Sánchez’s return to minor league games. It’s clear he’s not an option in the immediate future and at least raises some question about whether the 24-year-old will be able to pitch in an MLB game this season.

Given Sánchez’s repeated setbacks, it’s not surprising Jackson and Mish report that Miami no longer views him as an integral part of their long-term pitching plans. Sánchez is still young and controllable for six seasons but he’ll go almost three years between regular season appearances. Even once he’s able to return, there’s no guarantee he’ll do so with high-octane stuff.

Sánchez averaged 98.5 MPH on his four-seam and 96.6 MPH on his sinker during his seven-start MLB debut back in 2020. The righty told reporters this spring he’d lost almost 50 pounds over the offseason, though, and the organization has taken its time to allow him to build his conditioning after so many stops and starts in his rehab.

The Fish could also soon face some pressure from a roster management perspective. They’ve kept him on the 40-man roster throughout his rehab. That’s a testament to his ceiling but also limits their flexibility somewhat. While they could place him on the 60-day injured list during the season, doing so would require paying him the MLB minimum salary (at which they’ve thus far balked). There is no IL over the offseason, so he’d have to count against the 40-man tally during the winter.

More pressing is that the Fish have used their option years to keep Sánchez on the minor league IL. Most players can only be optioned in three separate seasons in their careers. Exceptions are sometimes made to grant a fourth option year when a player has missed an extended chunk of action. The Marlins received a fourth option on Sánchez for 2023. There’s no such thing as a fifth option, however, so the Marlins won’t be able to send Sánchez back to the minors next season unless they first pass him through waivers.

Marlins Activate Joey Wendle, Option Xavier Edwards

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The Marlins have activated infielder Joey Wendle from the injured list ahead of this afternoon’s game against the Cubs, as noted by Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald. To make room for Wendle on the active roster, the Marlins optioned infielder Xavier Edwards to Triple-A.

Wendle was expected to be the club’s starting shortstop coming into the season, though he ultimately played just four games, striking out twice and walking once without recording a hit in nine plate appearances before going on the injured list with an intercostal strain on April 4. The 33-year-old Wendle has a career wRC+ of 100, but has struggled to a slash line of just .254/.293/.352 (84 wRC+) in 105 games since he was acquired by Miami from the Rays prior to the 2022 campaign.

After a little over a month on the injured list, Wendle has returned to the Marlins, though he won’t start at shortstop today over Jon Berti, who has filled in admirably in the infield for the Marlins while Wendle was on the shelf. In 111 plate appearances this season, Berti has hit a solid .270/.327/.370 (95 wRC+) while playing shortstop, second base, and third base for the Marlins this season. Though Berti has just five steals so far this season, it’s worth noting that he lead the majors last year with 41 steals, providing plenty of value on the basepaths in addition to his versatility and roughly league average bat.

With Luis Arraez and Jean Segura entrenched at second and third base, respectively, Wendle and Berti figure to share time at shortstop going forward while also filling in elsewhere in the lineup as needed. While both Wendle and Berti are primarily infielders, each has outfield experience as well. That could prove valuable for the Marlins, as the club’s outfield has mustered a collective wRC+ of just 85 so far in 2023, the fourth worst figure in the National League.

As for Edwards, the former top prospect will head back to the minor leagues with just six big league plate appearances under his belt. In those appearances, Edwards recorded a hit and a scored a run while striking out once. Edwards figures to join Jacob Amaya and Jordan Groshans as upper level infield depth for the Marlins in the minor leagues going forward this season. In 20 games at the Triple-A level for the Marlins this season, Edwards has slashed a solid .306/.427/.361, good for a 116 wRC+.

Marlins Designate Devin Smeltzer, Select Chi Chi Gonzalez

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The Marlins have designated lefty Devin Smeltzer for assignment, the team announced. His spot on the roster will go to right-hander Chi Chi Gonzalez, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A Jacksonville. It’s the second time in the past week that the Marlins have designated Smeltzer for assignment. He cleared waivers the first time around and was immediately selected back to the MLB roster.

Smeltzer returned to the roster to give the Marlins some length out of the bullpen and provided just that, albeit without particularly encouraging results. He tossed 3 2/3 innings of relief in yesterday’s blowout loss to the Braves but was tagged for three runs on three hits — two of them home runs. That rocky outing bumped his season-long ERA to an unsightly 6.89.

The broader track record with Smeltzer is more encouraging. From 2019-22 with the Twins, he logged 140 innings of 3.99 ERA ball, working both out of the rotation and the bullpen at times. Smeltzer has never missed many bats, evidenced by a career 16.3% strikeout rate, but his 6.3% walk rate is solid. As with his last DFA, Smeltzer will be traded or placed on outright waivers again within a week’s time. He’s been previously outrighted, so if he goes unclaimed, he’d have the option of electing free agency and exploring other opportunities.

Like Smeltzer did this week, the 31-year-old Gonzalez will give the Marlins a long relief option to help spare a taxed bullpen. The former first-round pick has settled into a journeyman role, starting five games between three teams (Twins, Yankees, Brewers) in 2022. Miami will be the sixth big league organization for Gonzalez, who’s opened the year with a 4.54 ERA through six starts and 33 2/3 innings at Jacksonville. Gonzalez is out of minor league options, so he could face a similar fate to Smeltzer and righty Johan Quezada, both of whom have been cycled through the final bullpen spot over the past week.

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