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Athletics Designate Zach Neal For Assignment

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The A’s announced Friday that they’ve designated righty Zach Neal for assignment and placed fellow righty Zach Jackson on the 15-day injured list with a flexor tendon strain. That pair of moves clears a spot for the selection of righty Lucas Erceg’s contract. Oakland acquired Erceg from the Brewers in exchange for cash earlier in the week and will put him right onto the MLB roster.

Neal, 34, returned to the Majors for the first time in five years when the A’s called him up last week. He’s appeared in two games and allowed a total of three runs on four hits (two homers) and no walks with three strikeouts. That marks his second stint with Oakland, as he was also with the A’s back in 2016-17. Neal tossed one lone inning for the 2018 Dodgers and spent the 2019-21 seasons pitching for the Seibu Lions of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. His first NPB season was a strong one, but he struggled in two subsequent years and was also hit hard with the Rockies’ Triple-A affiliate in 2022.

Overall, Neal has 89 big league innings and a 5.06 ERA with just an 11% strikeout rate but a minuscule 1.9% walk rate. He’s a heavy ground-ball pitcher who’s had some success in Triple-A, last year’s rough showing with the Rockies organization (6.87 ERA in 116 2/3 innings) notwithstanding. The A’s will have a week to trade him or pass him through outright waivers. Neal would have the ability to reject the assignment in favor of free agency, as he’s been outrighted previously in his career.

Word of a flexor strain for Jackson is tough for the A’s, given that Jackson was one of just two members of the team’s Opening Day bullpen who’d survived to this point. He’s pitched 18 innings of 2.50 ERA ball thus far, fanning 28.7% of his opponents against an admittedly unsightly 12.5% walk rate. Even with that ugly walk rate, Jackson has been a bright spot in an Oakland bullpen that has used a stunning 21 relievers so far this year. The timeline on his recovery hasn’t been provided yet, flexor tendon injuries are rarely accompanied by short-term absences.

Erceg will become the 22nd A’s reliever of the young season whenever he takes the mound. He’s a 2016 second-round pick who drafted by the Brewers as a third baseman but eventually moved to the mound in 2021. Erceg was a reliever in college as well, so the shift wasn’t entirely foreign to him. He’s taken to the mound reasonably well, given the long layoff between his college pitching career and his debut on the mound in pro ball.

The 28-year-old Erceg pitched to a 3.43 ERA in 39 1/3 Triple-A frames following a promotion there last year, fanning just under a quarter of his opponents (24.7%) against a bloated 13.5% walk rate. He’s had a rougher go in 2023, evidenced by a 6.46 earned run average in just 15 1/3 frames.

However, six of the 11 earned runs he’s allowed came in one catastrophic appearance against the Braves’ top affiliate on May 10, wherein Erceg didn’t record an out. He’s been generally solid otherwise, and his 23.9% strikeout rate and 14.9% walk rate are at least within the vicinity of last year’s rates. He’ll obviously still need to cut down on his walks if he’s to have any sustained success on the mound, but the paper-thin A’s are strapped enough for pitching depth that they’ll give him the chance to do so at the big league level for now.

A’s Acquire Lucas Erceg From Brewers

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The A’s announced this evening they’ve acquired minor league reliever Lucas Erceg from the Brewers for cash. The 28-year-old was not on Milwaukee’s 40-man roster and will not immediately go on the Oakland 40-man.

A San Jose native, Erceg entered the professional ranks as Milwaukee’s second round pick in 2016. He was a third baseman at the time and generated a fair amount of attention from prospect evaluators early in his career. After multiple seasons of offensive struggles in the upper minors, he gradually fell off the prospect radar. He was sitting on a .223/.270/.379 batting line as a 26-year-old in Double-A two seasons ago when he and the organization agreed to transition to pitching.

Erceg has spent the past two and a half seasons pitching in the upper minors. As one might expect, his results have been mixed. Erceg has missed bats around a league average rate but struggled to throw strikes consistently. That’s understandable for someone who’s new to pitching full-time but has translated into a 5.07 ERA over 124 1/3 minor league frames.

The right-hander has allowed 15 runs (11 earned) over 15 1/3 frames with Triple-A Nashville this season. He’s fanned 16, walked ten and induced grounders at an excellent 53.8% rate. While Erceg clearly still isn’t a finished product, Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs named him the #32 prospect in the Milwaukee farm system last offseason. According to Longenhagen, Erceg’s fastball sits in the 96-99 MPH range. The A’s will take a flier on his power arm and lofty ground-ball totals in spite of the overall performance inconsistency.

As with much of the roster, Oakland’s bullpen has been among the league’s worst. The A’s entered play Wednesday with the highest bullpen ERA (6.64) and lowest strikeout rate (18%). Erceg won’t step immediately into that mix but should have a clearer path to an MLB job than he would’ve in Milwaukee if he can find success in Triple-A.

Brewers To Place Wade Miley On IL With Lat Strain

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3:05pm: The Brewers have now officially placed Miley on the IL, recalling righty Jake Cousins in a corresponding move.

9:34am: Brewers lefty Wade Miley departed  last night’s game in the second inning after throwing just 22 pitches. It was later announced that he has a left lat strain and will be placed on the 15-day injured list, per Adam McCalvy of MLB.com (Twitter links).

At this point, it’s not known who will take Miley’s roster spot or how long he’ll be out of action, with the southpaw undoubtedly set for further testing in the days to come. But even a mild lat strain usually requires about two to three weeks of recovery time, meaning Miley will likely be looking at more than a minimum stint on the injured list.

Miley was off to a solid start to the year, proceeding in his low-strikeout ways, succeeding by inducing soft contact. Through eight starts, he has a 3.67 ERA despite a modest 14% strikeout rate. But his 5.3% walk rate is excellent and Statcast pegs his average exit velocity in the 73rd percentile among qualified pitchers and his hard hit rate in the 76th.

Losing Miley for a few weeks will present a challenge to a Milwaukee club that is already dealing with a few other injuries to its rotation. Brandon Woodruff has a subscapular strain and isn’t expected back before late June, Jason Alexander has a shoulder strain of his own and is on the 60-day IL, while Aaron Ashby had shoulder surgery and may not be able to pitch this year at all.

That will leave the Brewers with Corbin Burnes, Freddy Peralta, Eric Lauer and Adrian Houser in the four rotation spots and a question mark for the final slot. It’s possible that they recall Colin Rea, who had been with the club in recent weeks until Houser returned from his groin strain. Rea has a 5.52 ERA in 31 innings this year over six starts and one relief appearance. He was only optioned a few days ago but would be eligible to return quicker than the standard 15-day minimum if he’s the corresponding move for Miley going on the injured list. Janson Junk is also on the 40-man roster and has a 3.86 ERA in Triple-A this year. He was called up to make a spot start in April but allowed four earned runs on seven hits and two walks in 4 2/3 innings.

Non-roster options would include Robert Gasser, who is one of the club’s top pitching prospects and is at the Triple-A level, but he has a 5.17 ERA there this year. Thomas Pannone is with the club on a minor league deal, having started the year in the Triple-A bullpen but getting stretched out recently. He has a 2.04 ERA through 17 2/3 innings there. Either of these two or any other non-roster option would require a corresponding move to get them onto the 40-man.

Brewers Designate Gus Varland For Assignment

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The Brewers have designated right-hander Gus Varland for assignment, reports Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. His roster spot will go to righty J.B. Bukauskas, per Hogg.

Varland, 26, was selected from the Dodgers in the most recent Rule 5 draft. He made Milwaukee’s Opening Day roster and was able to make six appearances by the middle of April, with a 2.70 ERA in that time. Unfortunately, the last of those appearances saw him get struck by a comebacker off the bat of Manny Machado. Although X-rays were negative, Varland was placed on the 15-day injured list the next day with a right hand contusion.

He was reinstated from the injured list last week but his most recent appearances haven’t gone well. His first stint off the IL saw him walk three batters, hit another and allow one hit across 1 1/3 innings but he managed to escape without any earned runs crossing the plate. He wasn’t so lucky last night, as he was torched for nine earned runs in two thirds of an inning, spiking his season ERA to 11.42.

Now that he’s been designated for assignment, the Brewers will have a week to trade him or pass him through waivers. If any other club were to acquire him, they would still be bound by the Rule 5 framework, meaning they have to keep Varland in the majors or on the IL all season long in order to retain his future rights. If he goes through waivers unclaimed, he will be offered back to the Dodgers.

Injury Notes: Seager, Buehler, Maeda, Hiura

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Rangers shortstop Corey Seager is expected to be activated prior to tonight’s game, per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. The 29-year-old Seager, playing in the second season of a decade-long $325MM contract, has missed the past month due to a hamstring strain. He burst out of the gates with a .359/.469/.538 showing through his first 49 trips to the plate and went 2-for-8 with a double, a walk and no strikeouts in a brief three-game rehab assignment at Double-A. In Seager’s absence, 23-year-old Ezequiel Duran has filled in admirably at shortstop, batting .293/.328/.474 on the season, though his bat has cooled off in the past week or so. Manager Bruce Bochy has been impressed enough that he’s pledged to find “creative” ways to keep Duran in the lineup frequently even after Seager’s return.

A few more injury situations of particular note to keep an eye on around the league…

  • Right-hander Walker Buehler is with the team at Dodger Stadium and will throw in the bullpen for the Major League staff to take a look at his progress in recovering from Tommy John surgery, tweets Juan Toribio of MLB.com. Walker is still a ways from being an option in the big leagues. The 28-year-old’s surgery was performed late last August, and the general expectation surrounding him has been that he’ll at best be an option in the final month or so of the season. Still, the fact that Buehler has already had multiple bullpen sessions in Arizona and is slated for more mound work this week at Dodger Stadium is encouraging for both the Dodgers and their fans.
  • The Twins hope that right-hander Kenta Maeda can resume throwing off a mound by the end of the week, tweets Dan Hayes of The Athletic. Maeda hit the injured list with a triceps strain after being tattooed for 10 runs in three innings against the Yankees. He’d previously allowed six runs on 12 hits with a 12-to-1 K/BB ratio in 13 innings (4.15 ERA) after missing the entire 2022 season. The Twins’ rotation depth has been tested early, with Bailey Ober and Louie Varland stepping in for the injured Maeda and Tyler Mahle (Tommy John surgery). A healthy Maeda would again give the Twins six candidates for rotation work, but injuries tend to sort these issues out. And, if everyone is healthy at the same time, the Twins could opt to use Maeda in relief as a means of monitoring his workload after not throwing a pitch last season.
  • Brewers infielder Keston Hiura, currently playing with their Triple-A club, will miss several weeks due to a posterior cruciate ligament injury in his left knee, tweets Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. Hiura won’t require surgery, but the expectation is that he’ll be out of game action until late next month. It’s a tough blow for the former top prospect, who was hoping to play his way back onto the big league roster after clearing outright waivers earlier this year. He’s out to a .331/.396/.678 start with a dozen home runs through 134 plate appearances with Nashville this season and has trimmed his strikeout rate there to 24.6%. Hiura has had similar stretches in Triple-A before, however, and his familiar strikeout woes have regularly resurfaced upon being promoted back to the big leagues. He batted .226/.316/.449 with the Brewers last year (115 wRC+), but because of a staggering 41.7% strikeout rate, he needed a .355 average on balls in play to get to that middling .226 batting average.

Brewers Sign Darin Ruf, Place Luke Voit On IL

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The Brewers announced they have signed first baseman/outfielder Darin Ruf to a one-year contract. Right-hander Brandon Woodruff was transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the 40-man roster while first baseman Luke Voit was placed on the 10-day injured list with a strained neck to get Ruf onto the active roster. Additionally, the club optioned righty Colin Rea and recalled fellow righty Trevor Megill.

Ruf, 36, has had some success as a lefty-mashing specialist in his career, though he’s been struggling a bit over the past year. After a successful stint in the KBO League from 2017 to 2019, he returned to North America by signing with the Giants prior to 2020. In that shortened season and the subsequent campaign, he hit .272/.381/.519 in 412 plate appearances for a 142 wRC+, including a .275/.390/.579 line and 156 wRC+ against southpaws.

Last year, his overall line dipped to .216/.328/.373, which led to a passable 104 wRC+ but that was obviously not as strong as his previous work. After a trade to the Mets, his production cratered, as he mustered a paltry .152/.216/.197 line the rest of the way. The Mets held onto him through the winter but designated him for assignment at the end of Spring Training. Ruf then returned to the Giants and hit a solid .261/.370/.348 in a tiny sample of nine games before landing on the injured list due to wrist inflammation. He was later reinstated from the IL and designated for assignment when the club selected shortstop prospect Casey Schmitt.

Ruf cleared waivers and elected free agency. Since the Mets initially released him, they are still on the hook for the majority of Ruf’s salary, which is $3MM this year along with a $250K buyout on a 2024 option. The Brewers will only owe him the prorated league minimum for any time Ruf spends on the roster, with that amount subtracted from what the Mets pay. That makes it a fairly low-risk move, at least from a financial perspective, as the Brewers see if Ruf can get back to the excellent form he showed a few years ago.

He will effectively be replacing Voit on the roster as the club’s right-handed hitting first baseman/designated hitter. Voit was signed to a one-year, $2MM deal for this season but has slumped to a .221/.284/.265 showing so far this year for a wRC+ of just 55. Once one of the most potent power hitters in the league, he led the league in homers in the shortened 2020 season before various injuries seemed to slow him down. He hit an average-ish .230/.314/.412 for a wRC+ of 105 over 2021 and 2022 while bouncing from the Yankees to the Padres and Nationals, going on the injured list for an oblique strain and ongoing knee problems. The Brewers gave him a shot this year but he hasn’t been able to capitalize on it just yet and he might have to battle Ruf for his roster spot whenever his neck strain subsides.

As for Woodruff, his transfer to the 60-day IL doesn’t come as a surprise. He was diagnosed with a Grade 2 subscapular strain in his right shoulder in April and isn’t expected back until late June. He’ll now be ineligible to return until 60 days from his initial IL placement of April 8, which would be early June. Since he wasn’t expected to return until after that point anyway, this transfer was an inevitable formality.

NL Notes: Dodgers, Lauer, Sanchez, Crawford

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Dodgers right-hander Noah Syndergaard threw a 50 pitch bullpen session yesterday, testing a cut on his right index finger that caused him to depart his last start after just one inning. Syndergaard is currently slated to start Monday’s game against the Twins, though JP Hoonstra of the Orange County Register notes that the club plans to pivot to youngster Gavin Stone in the event that Syndergaard is not cleared by Dodgers medical staff. Manager Dave Roberts tells reporters (including Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic) that the plan is for Syndergaard to start tomorrow followed by Clayton Kershaw on Tuesday, though Stone was scratched from his Triple-A start today, a fact which Roberts did not comment on. As noted by Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register, Kershaw may go on the bereavement list following the death of his mother yesterday, but Roberts says Kershaw currently plans on making that decision following Tuesdays start.

Syndergaard, who signed a one-year deal with the Dodgers this past offseason, has struggled in LA to the tune of a 6.12 ERA in 32 1/3 innings of work this season. A .333 BABIP and a strand rate of just 64.3% indicate some of Syndergaard’s woes can be chalked up to bad luck, but it’s clear that the 30-year-old right-hander is scuffling beyond that, as his 14.8% strikeout rate is the worst of his career, as is his 38.4% groundball rate if you exclude the 2021 campaign where he pitched just two innings.

Stone, who made his MLB debut earlier this month, is one of the top prospects in a highly-rated Dodgers farm system. The 24-year-old scuffled in his first taste of big league action, allowing five runs (four earned) on eight hits and two walks over four innings while striking out just one. Despite the rocky start to his big league career, Stone figures to be a major part of the club’s future given the uncertainty in the Dodgers’ rotation following this season, as each of Syndergaard, Julio Urias, and Kershaw could depart after the 2023 campaign.

As for Kershaw, the future Hall of Famer is off to another phenomenal start in his age-35 season, with a 2.36 ERA (188 ERA+) and 3.53 FIP in 49 2/3 innings. Though Kershaw has been dominant all throughout his career, he’s required more and more time on the injured list in recent years; through eight starts in 2023, however, Kershaw has been both healthy dominant as he looks to make more than 22 regular season starts in a season for the first time since 2019.

More from around the National League…

  • The Brewers are set to skip Eric Lauer’s start during the coming turn through the rotation, as noted by Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. For the time being, Lauer will work out of the bullpen. Counsell wouldn’t comment on plans for the longer-term beyond the current turn through the rotation, though Hogg notes that the Brewers hope the move will help Lauer recapture his 2021 form, when he posted a 3.19 ERA in 118 2/3 innings of work. As Hogg notes, Lauer’s struggles go back to last summer, as the 27-year-old lefty has posted a 4.49 ERA in his last 26 starts, with 27 home runs allowed during that time. Lauer’s sojourn to the bullpen figures to make room for right-hander Colin Rea to remain in the rotation for the time being.
  • More details have become available on the minor league deal between the Mets and catcher Gary Sanchez, as The Athletic’s Will Salmon reports that Sanchez has an opt-out in his deal on May 19. That gives New York just a few more days of Sanchez’s guaranteed services in the minors before he can test free agency again to look for a better opportunity elsewhere. Sanchez has raked through four games at Triple-A Syracuse, with six walks and six hits (including a home run) against just five strikeouts in 19 plate appearances. The Mets have suffered a rash of injuries behind the plate, leaving the club with Michael Perez backing up top prospect Francisco Alvarez.
  • Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford was activated from the 10-day IL today, as noted by Maria Guardado of MLB.com. While he’s slotted into the lineup at shortstop, he recently spoke to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale regarding his future. Crawford, whose contract with the Giants is up at season’s end, admits that he’s not sure if he will continue playing beyond 2022, and both manager Gabe Kapler and infield prospect Casey Schmitt have spoken glowingly about Crawford’s willingness to assist Schmitt in his transition to the big leagues. Crawford, the last player standing from the Giants’ trio of World Series championships in the 2010s, is hitting just .169/.244/.352 in 78 plate appearances with the club this season.

Brewers Activate Adrian Houser

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The Brewers have activated right-hander Adrian Houser, who will start today’s game against the Giants, as noted by Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. To make room for Houser on the active roster, the Brewers have optioned right-hander Tyson Miller to Triple-A.

Houser, 30, has been a staple of Milwaukee’s pitching staff since the start of the 2019 season, working primarily as a member of the rotation but with occasional appearances out of the bullpen as well. Over the past four seasons, Houser has paired strong campaigns in 2019 and 2021 (where he posted excellent ERA+ marks of 120 and 128, respectively) with difficult campaigns in 2020 and 2022 (with below-average ERA+ marks of 86 and 83, respectively). Overall, that leaves him with a 4.02 ERA, 5% above average by measure of ERA+, and a 4.24 FIP in 412 1/3 innings of work since the 2019 campaign began.

Houser was forced down Milwaukee’s depth chart over the course of this past season, with Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff, Eric Lauer, Freddy Peralta, Wade Miley, and Aaron Ashby all seemingly preferred rotation options headed into the season. Unfortunately for the Brewers, Ashby was sidelined before the season began by shoulder surgery, while Houser himself struggled with groin tightness and began the season on the IL as well.

That left the club with little depth behind the five regular members of the rotation, and when Woodruff was sidelined by a shoulder strain the club was forced to turn to temporary solutions such as Colin Rea, who has posted a 4.73 ERA and 5.27 FIP in five starts for Milwaukee this season. With Houser now off the IL, he figures to step into the rotation and provide stability behind Burnes, Lauer, Peralta, and Miley while Woodruff is on the mend.

As for Miller, the 27-year-old right-hander posted a solid 1.93 ERA in three appearances as a multi-inning reliever with the club and figures to act as pitching depth for the Brewers going forward, able to work both out of the bullpen and the rotation. Meanwhile, Rea seems likely to move to the bullpen with Houser joining the rotation, filling Miller’s role as the bullpen’s long man.

Brewers Notes: Woodruff, Houser, Taylor

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Brewers GM Matt Arnold told reporters, including MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy, that ace right-hander Brandon Woodruff’s recent MRI result was “very positive relative to what it could have been.” Arnold went on to note that the club hopes to have Woodruff back on the mound in the majors by the end of June.

Woodruff was diagnosed earlier this month with a Grade 2 subscapular strain in his throwing shoulder, which the club immediately indicated would require a prolonged stint on the injured list. Two weeks later, we have a clearer picture of how long Woodruff will be on the shelf, with the right-hander likely missing about ten weeks of big league action in total if he avoids any setbacks.

One of the game’s best pitchers, the 30-year-old Woodruff has posted a 3.02 ERA and 3.06 FIP in 581 2/3 innings since the start of the 2018 season. He’s been even better since the start of the 2021 season (when he finished top 5 in NL Cy Young award voting) with a 2.72 ERA, 3.02 FIP, 30.1% strikeout rate and 6.4% walk rate in 344 innings of work. He was off to another great start in 2023 prior to his injury, with just one run allowed in 11 1/3 innings over his two starts.

With Woodruff on the shelf, the Brewers have opted for a rotation of Corbin Burnes, Wade Miley, Freddy Peralta, Eric Lauer, and Colin Rea. It’s possible that group is set to change in the near future, however, as Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel notes that right-hander Adrian Houser is set to be activated from the IL at some point during the club’s coming road trip. His role has yet to be decided, but Hogg speculates that he will be used as a starter, likely taking over Rea’s spot in the rotation.

Houser has spent his entire major league career with the Brewers, posting a 3.97 ERA (106 ERA+) in 428 innings of work in the big leagues. The best season of his career came in 2021, when he posted a 3.22 ERA (128 ERA+) in 142 1/3 innings of work. Houser struggled badly last season, however, posting a 4.73 ERA that clocked in as 17% below league average by measure of ERA+. Still, the 30-year old right-hander is a solid back-end starter who’s also made 30 career appearances out of the bullpen in the majors, and will help to shore up the club’s rotation depth when activated.

Hogg also notes that outfielder Tyrone Taylor is close to returning, and could be in play to return at the beginning of the aforementioned road trip. A second round pick by Milwaukee in the 2012 draft, Taylor has missed the beginning of the 2023 campaign with an elbow strain, but has been a solid option in the outfield for the Brewers for several years now. Since his debut in 2019, has posted a solid 106 wRC+ in 250 career games, including a 102 wRC+ last season, when he played a career high 120 games. Taylor figures to slot back into the Milwaukee outfield upon his return, helping cover for the loss of Garrett Mitchell to shoulder surgery.

Brewers Acquire Trevor Megill

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The Twins have traded right-hander Trevor Megill to Milwaukee, according to a team announcement by the Brewers, who will be sending a player to be named later and cash to Minnesota in exchange for Megill’s services. Megill has been assigned to Triple-A by Milwaukee, and that the club transferred outfielder Garrett Mitchell to the 60-day injured list to make room for Megill on the 40-man roster.

A third round pick by the Cardinals in the 2014 draft, Megill made his MLB debut in 2021 as a member of the Cubs. He struggled badly in 23 2/3 innings, however, posting an 8.37 ERA and 5.61 FIP before being designated for assignment by Chicago at the end of the season. He was claimed off waivers by the Twins and has remained in the organization ever since. In 2022, he posted much better numbers than he had on the north side. His 4.80 ERA in 45 innings of work was still below average by measure of ERA+ (81), but he struck out 25% of batters faced while walking 8.7%, leading to a solid 3.29 FIP.

Megill figures to be bullpen depth for a Brewers club that has gone without Aaron Ashby this season and recently put right-handers Matt Bush and Gus Varland on the 15-day IL. Even in spite of those injuries, however, the Brewers’ bullpen is top 5 in the majors by measure of ERA so far this season, meaning Megill may need to wait until an injury makes a spot available for his first opportunity in Milwaukee.

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