Brewers Sign Raimel Tapia
Outfielder Raimel Tapia, who was recently released by the Red Sox, has signed with the Brewers, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The Brewers will need to make corresponding moves to get Tapia onto their 40-man and active rosters for tonight’s game.
Tapia, 29, has spent many years as a contact-oriented hitter with a bit of speed. He was non-tendered by the Blue Jays after last season and signed a minor league deal with the Red Sox. Tapia made Boston’s Opening Day roster and spent a bit over two months with the club, performing at expected rates, give or take.
His 9.6% walk rate and 19.6% strikeout rate this year were both a bit better than league average, but he hit just one home run. That led to a .264/.333/.368 batting line and 92 wRC+, indicating he was 8% below league average overall. That wasn’t far off from his .265/.292/.380 line and 90 wRC+ with the Jays last year. Meanwhile, his outfield defense was considered around average while he stole six bases.
Despite that generally solid performance, Tapia was nudged out in Boston by some crowding in the outfield picture. Adam Duvall‘s injury paved the way for Jarren Duran to get himself some more big league playing time, which he has done well with, hitting .282/.337/.435 on the year for a 107 wRC+. Rob Refsnyder has also been playing well in a reserve role behind regulars Alex Verdugo and Masataka Yoshida. With Duvall’s return from the IL imminent, Tapia was designated for assignment just over a week ago.
Tapia’s deal with the Sox paid him a $2MM salary. Since he has over five years of major league service time, he would have had the right to reject an outright assignment while retaining all of that, so the club simply released him. That leaves them on the hook for the remainder of that cash, allowing the Brewers to now pay him the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the roster, with that amount subtracted from what the Sox will pay.
The Brewers have dealt with a few hits to their outfield mix this season, as each of Garrett Mitchell, Jesse Winker and Tyrone Taylor is currently on the injured list. That has left them with Joey Wiemer, Christian Yelich and Brian Anderson getting most of the reps lately, with Blake Perkins backing them up. Perkins is in his first major league season and is hitting just .200/.250/.333 through 34 plate appearances thus far. It’s possible that Tapia nudges Perkins back to the minors, though Anderson is also capable of playing third base and joining the rotating infield picture alongside Luis Urías, Owen Miller, Andruw Monasterio and Abraham Toro.
NL Central Notes: Stroman, Taylor, Reds
Starting pitcher Marcus Stroman has repeatedly stressed his desire to sign a long-term extension with the Cubs, even as he could reach free agency after this season on the heels of a career year. Stroman, who can opt-out of the final one year and $21MM left on his contract at season’s end, has posted a sensational 2.42 ERA (184 ERA+) through 14 starts with a 21.7% strikeout rate that would be the best of his career over a full season while also managing a fantastic 61% groundball rate. Those fantastic numbers figure to make Stroman a worthy addition to any rotation, but Chicago seems uninterested in getting a deal done at the moment. As Stroman himself relayed on Twitter that both he and his agent have made “multiple attempts” to engage the club’s front office in extension negotiations, but the Cubs were uninterested in exploring a deal for the time being.
In a conversation with The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney, Stroman elaborated further on the situation, telling Mooney that “We’ve been going to the front office from spring training, very open that I want to be here. We’ve continued those thoughts. Up until now, there’s been nothing from their side. No offers, no talks, really, at all.” Stroman goes on to make clear that there isn’t tension between him and the front office, despite the fact that his camp’s desire for negotiations having been largely rebuffed to this point.
It’s possible that the club’s hesitance has to do with their position in the standings. The club is 28-36, good for fourth place in the NL Central and 5.5 games out of a playoff spot. While their weak division does provide them some semblance of hope for contention, it’s nonetheless easy to imagine the Cubs selling for the third straight deadline. If they opted to go down that path, Stroman would likely be their most attractive trade piece. In fact, Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic recently identified Stroman as an ideal fit for the Giants as trade season approaches, while noting that San Francisco actually finished second in free agent bidding for Stroman’s services when he signed his current three-year, $71MM deal with Chicago prior to the 2022 campaign.
More from around the NL Central…
- Brewers outfielder Tyrone Taylor is set to receive a cortisone shot in his right elbow, manager Craig Counsell told reporters (including Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.) Counsell noted that the injection comes after Taylor received multiple opinions on the elbow sprain that’s kept him on the shelf for the past two weeks. After posting a 106 wRC+ in 250 career games headed into the 2023 campaign, it’s been a brutal season for Taylor, who has slashed just .160/.179/.240 (8 wRC+) while being limited to just 27 games due to the ongoing elbow issues. With Taylor on the shelf, the club has Blake Perkins backing up an outfield trio of Christian Yelich, Joey Wiemer, and Brian Anderson.
- The Reds are still without their usual starting outfield, even after activating center fielder TJ Friedl from the 10-day injured list yesterrday, as left fielder Jake Fraley was placed on the shelf with a right wrist contusion in a corresponding move. While Friedl is enjoying a career season, with a .315/.365/.479 slash line in 43 games this year, the club is sure to miss the contributions of Fraley nonetheless, who has posted a wRC+ of 114 in 123 games since joining the club prior to the 2022 season. With Fraley on the shelf, the Reds figure to use the likes of Stuart Fairchild and Will Benson in the outfield corners.
MLBTR Trade Rumors Podcast: Elly De La Cruz, Manoah’s Demotion and Surgery for DeGrom
Episode 10 of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.
This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss:
- The promotion of Elly De La Cruz (2:05)
- The demotion of Alek Manoah (9:15)
- Tommy John surgery for Jacob deGrom (14:40)
- Our new series highlighting the best recent trade returns on rental players (19:10)
Plus, we answer your questions, including:
- If Kevin Kiermaier can stay healthy and remain productive, what kind of contract is he looking at in free agency? (22:20)
- Could Corbin Burnes realistically be traded by the deadline? If so, what teams would likely make a push for him? (26:50)
- What could the Cubs do with Marcus Stroman? (30:45)
Check out our past episodes!
- The Wide-Open NL Wild Card Race, Returning Pitchers and Cast-Off Veterans – listen here
- The Mets are turning things around, and how serious are the Mariners, Marlins and Diamondbacks? – listen here
- The Cardinals’ U-Turn on Willson Contreras, Mitch Keller’s breakout, and the state of the Padres – listen here
Brewers Option Brice Turang, Reinstate Willy Adames
The Brewers announced today that shortstop Willy Adames has been reinstated from the seven-day concussion list, with infielder Brice Turang optioned to Triple-A in a corresponding move.
Adames had a scary incident over a week ago when he was struck in the head by a foul ball while sitting in the dugout. He was sent to hospital for testing but seemed to avoid any serious injuries as he didn’t suffer any fractures and resumed baseball activities a few days later, which has allowed him to return after an absence of under two weeks.
The roster casualty of his return is Turang. Now 23, the youngster has been considered one of the top 100 prospects in the league at times during his rise to the majors. Baseball America gave him the #88 slot going into 2021 but didn’t have him on their list in the past two years. FanGraphs was still bullish coming into 2023, giving him the #65 slot in their preseason top 100.
The Brewers traded away Kolten Wong this winter, which opened the door for Turang to take over the second base job next to Adames. Unfortunately, his first taste of the big leagues hasn’t gone well. He’s struck out in 27.1% of his plate appearances while walking at just a 6.2% clip. His .205/.254/.307 batting line amounts to a wRC+ of just 52. He does have nine steals in 12 tries and has solid defensive grades at the keystone, but that batting line is clearly untenable.
He’ll now get a chance to get back into a groove in the minors, which will likely delay his path to free agency and perhaps arbitration. Since he cracked the Opening Day roster this year, he was on track to get a full year of service time but will now fall short of that as long as he spends 20 days in the minors.
With Turang gone, the second base duties will likely fall to some combination of Luis Urías, Owen Miller, Andruw Monasterio and Abraham Toro. Urías was just activated from the injured list and Toro was just recalled from the minors a week ago but Miller is hitting .313/.350/.463 on the season while Monasterio is at .350/.435/.550 in his first eight major league games.
Best Deadline Rental Returns In Recent History: Honorable Mentions
The calendar has flipped to June, and more than one-third of the season is in the rearview mirror. While there’s still plenty of time for the standings to change in dramatic fashion — just ask the 2022 Phillies or 2019 Nationals — the “early” portion of the season is a bit behind us. As the weather heats up and playoff pictures begin to take a more definitive shape, the baseball world inherently turns its focus to a few things: the looming All-Star Game, the upcoming amateur draft and, of course, the annual trade deadline.
June trades of note are admittedly rare — particularly over the past ten years or so — but we’re fast approaching the portion of the season where trade needs, potential trade candidates and many other deadline-adjacent minutiae begin to crystallize. It’s common for fans of rebuilding and/or underperforming clubs to begin to wonder just what sort of returns their favorite team might be able to eke out for veteran players with dwindling club control.
Some of the most common questions we’re asked in chats at MLBTR these days center around what a team might be able to get for a certain player — rentals in particular. Names like Lucas Giolito, Cody Bellinger, Jordan Montgomery and Jeimer Candelario were just a few readers asked me about this past week. To be clear, it’s not a given that all or even any of those specific names will change hands in two months’ time (or sooner), but it’s obviously a hot topic that’s on people’s minds.
As such, it only seemed natural to take a look back through recent history and look at some high-profile trades of rental players and see which panned out the best for the team selling off the veteran player in question. Over the next couple weeks, we’ll roll out a look at the ten “best” returns for rental players in recent trade deadline history.
A few caveats of note! At times, it can take three, four, five years or even longer for a team to begin reaping the benefits from such a deal. An immediate return isn’t always apparent, particularly when you’re only selling two months of a player or players. As such, we’re not considering trades completed at last year’s deadline for our top ten, even though they could well prove excellent as soon as 2024 or 2025. It’s simply too soon to evaluate those swaps. Also, these rankings are subjective; they’re not based on a hard-and-fast WAR criteria or anything of the sort. If you think we should’ve ranked No. 7 higher and No. 4 lower, let us know. It’s all part of the fun.
While I said we’re omitting last year’s deadline from our top ten, that doesn’t mean we’ll completely ignore the results of the 2022 deadline. To kick off the series, here’s a quick look at three honorable mentions from 2017-21 as well as a handful of 2022 trades that will be worth keeping an eye on in the years to come. Present-day impact of these 2022 trades has either been minimal or nonexistent, but each brought the “selling” team some nearly MLB-ready help that could be impactful as soon as this season. These honorable mentions and 2022 swaps aren’t ranked — they’re just sorted alphabetically by the last name of the player who was traded.
Let’s begin!
Honorable Mentions
Orioles acquire RHPs Dillon Tate, Cody Carroll and LHP Josh Rogers from the Yankees in exchange for LHP Zack Britton (7/24/18)
Two-thirds of this return for Baltimore wound up making little to no impact, but the acquisition of Tate, a former No. 4 overall draft pick, wound up paying dividends. Though Tate isn’t the rotation piece the Rangers hoped for when drafting him or the Yankees envisioned when acquiring him for Carlos Beltran, he’s emerged as a quality setup man at Camden Yards. The O’s gave Tate just ten starts after the trade before moving him to the bullpen, and while his rookie effort in 2019 left plenty to be desired, he’s since pitched quite well.
Dating back to 2020, Tate has a 3.65 ERA in 158 innings of relief, adding 25 holds and eight saves along the way. Tate’s 19.1% strikeout rate is below-average, but his 6.8% walk rate is better than average and his 57.9% grounder rate is outstanding. In 2022, he pitched to a pristine 3.05 ERA through 73 2/3 frames, tallying five of those saves and 16 of those holds. A forearm strain has kept Tate out of action this year, however.
Tate isn’t peak Britton and likely never will be, but trading two months of an elite reliever and winding up with six years of club control over an above-average reliever isn’t a bad outcome for Baltimore. As for the Yankees, they got the tail end of Britton’s prime. He notched a 2.88 ERA in 25 innings down the stretch and re-signed on a three-year deal with a fourth year option (that had to be exercised after the contract’s second season to prevent a Britton opt-out). Britton posted a sub-2.00 ERA in both 2019 and 2020, but he pitched just 19 innings over his final two years in New York due to injuries.
Rays acquire LHP Jalen Beeks from the Red Sox in exchange for RHP Nathan Eovaldi (7/25/18)
Few could’ve predicted what an impactful trade this would end up being at the time it was made. At the time of the swap, Eovaldi was in his first season back from Tommy John surgery and had pitched 57 innings of 4.26 ERA ball for Tampa Bay. He’d long intrigued teams with his power arsenal but was inconsistent and carried a career ERA that more or less matched that season total.
Eovaldi took off in Boston, however, tossing 54 frames of 3.33 ERA ball as the Sox marched to the postseason, where he cemented his status in Red Sox lore. Eovaldi was a star that October, tossing 22 1/3 innings of 1.61 ERA ball with a 16-to-3 K/BB ratio. Those are impressive numbers on their own, but they only tell part of the tale. Eovaldi won his first two starts of the playoffs before moving to the bullpen and picking up a pair of holds. But it was Game 3 of the World Series, where Eovaldi gutted out six innings of relief in an 18-inning marathon and finished out the game, that many will remember. The Dodgers wound up winning when Eovaldi’s 97th (!) pitch out of the bullpen was deposited in the seats by Max Muncy, but he saved the Boston bullpen with six innings of one-run ball that night. The Sox went on to win the World Series in five games.
As for the Rays, they came away with a lefty who’d come up through Boston’s system as a starter but would be used in a jack-of-all-trades role in St. Petersburg. Beeks has served as a long reliever, a setup man and an opener in parts of five seasons with Tampa Bay, totaling 258 innings of 4.12 ERA ball along the way. He’s been the type of versatile arm whose value can’t be neatly encapsulated in what looks like an otherwise modest WAR total. Beeks has handled just about any role the Rays could ask, and he’s generally been effective in doing so. He’s not a star, but he’s been an important member of their pitching staff for a half decade now and is still under team control through the 2024 season.
Tigers acquire RHP Reese Olson from the Brewers in exchange for LHP Daniel Norris (7/30/21)
The 23-year-old Olson made his big league debut on Friday when he stepped into the Detroit rotation to take the spot of the injured Eduardo Rodriguez. As far as debuts go, it was nearly as good as a young pitcher could ask for. Olson carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning before being tagged for a pair of runs and departing five frames of two-run ball in the books.
Olson isn’t regarded among the sport’s top 100 prospects and isn’t even universally considered to be among the Tigers’ top 10 prospects, but he’s missed bats consistently in the upper minors and is regarded as a potential long-term rotation piece if he can improve upon the command of his fastball. Scouting reports at Baseball America, FanGraphs, The Athletic and MLB.com praise Olson’s secondary pitches, particularly his changeup, which he’s begun using effectively even in right-on-right situations.
Detroit has seen a lot of turnover in the baseball operations department since this trade, but former GM Al Avila, AGM David Chadd and others will be in line for some praise if the Tigers get a viable big leaguer in exchange for two months of the veteran Norris, who was sitting on a 5.38 ERA in 36 2/3 innings at the time of the deal. Norris had been tough on lefties, and the Brewers surely felt they could coax a higher level of performance out of him with some tweaks. That didn’t happen, however, as Norris was rocked for a 6.64 ERA in Milwaukee, walking 15 of the 63 batters he faced (23.8%) and serving up five homers in 20 1/3 frames (2.2 HR/9).
2022 Deadline Swaps to Watch
Pirates acquire RHP Johan Oviedo, INF Malcom Nunez from the Cardinals in exchange for LHP Jose Quintana, RHP Chris Stratton (8/2/22)
Yes, technically this isn’t a pure rental. Stratton had an additional year of club control, and that surely factored into the return. But he was also sitting on a 5.09 ERA at the time of the deal, and this was largely a trade centered around getting Quintana to land some much-needed rotation help in St. Louis.
The Cardinals got just what they wanted out of this deal — and then some. Quintana stepped into the rotation and not only solidified the staff but pitched to a brilliant 2.01 ERA in 62 2/3 frames down the stretch. The lefty was so excellent that St. Louis wound up tabbing him as the Game 1 starter in last year’s National League Division Series. Quintana had signed a one-year, $2MM deal in the offseason and was acquired as a back-end starter but pitched like an ace. The script doesn’t get much better for the acquiring team.
That said, this trade also has the makings of a winner for Pittsburgh. The 25-year-old Oviedo has been inconsistent but shown flashes of brilliance with the Bucs. He’s throwing fewer fastballs and more breaking pitches — particularly more curveballs, which has been an extremely effective offering for him through 11 starts. Oviedo’s 4.50 ERA in 58 innings looks pretty pedestrian, but he’s upped his ground-ball rate and improved his velocity even in a rotation role. He’s allowed one or zero runs in six of his 11 starts this year. The Pirates can control Oviedo for four more years beyond the current season, and if he’s a legitimate starter or even a multi-inning relief piece, that’ll be a fine return for their modest Quintana flier. Nunez, meanwhile, hit .286/.381/.476 in Double-A following the trade and is at .255/.338/.369 in 160 Triple-A plate appearances this year.
Cubs acquire RHP Ben Brown from the Phillies in exchange for RHP David Robertson (8/2/22)
Robertson was one of the most in-demand relievers — or trade candidates in general — at last year’s deadline, and the rebuilding/retooling Cubs needed to get their return right. So far, it looks like they’ve done just that. Brown is out to a sensational start in the upper minors this year, pitching to a combined 2.63 ERA with a 35.5% strikeout rate against a less-appealing 11.7% walk rate. Baseball America ranked him sixth among Cubs prospects heading into the season, and The Athletic’s Keith Law called him a “heck of a get for two months of a 37-year-old reliever.” FanGraphs currently has him ranked 87th on their top-100 prospect list, and MLB.com moved him into its top-100 just this morning.
Despite Brown’s wide-reaching acclaim, the Phillies might not even regret making the swap. Robertson struggled with his command following the trade but still posted 22 1/3 innings of 2.70 ERA ball and saved six games for Philadelphia down the stretch in a tight Wild Card race that saw them edge out the Brewers by exactly one win. The Phillies needed every single victory, and if they’d held onto Brown and targeted a different reliever(s), who knows whether they’d have reached the playoffs? Were it not for Robertson — who pitched 7 2/3 innings of one-run ball in the playoffs — the Phils may never have experienced J.T. Realmuto‘s NLDS inside-the-parker, Rhys Hoskins‘ four-homer NLCS, or Bryce Harper‘s iconic NLCS-clinching bomb.
Angels acquire OFs Mickey Moniak, Jadiel Sanchez from the Phillies in exchange for RHP Noah Syndergaard (8/2/22)
This trade might not have gone as well as the Phillies hoped. Syndergaard was decent down the stretch, pitching to a 4.12 ERA in 10 appearances, nine of them starts. He started just twice in the postseason and made one relief appearance. Syndergaard pitched like a fourth or fifth starter but saw his already diminished velocity and strikeout rate step even further back following the trade. Again, the Phils needed every last win to get to the playoffs, though, so it’s hard to say they’d definitively have done anything different. They won six of Syndergaard’s nine starts and also picked up the victory in the lone game they used him out of the bullpen, when he tossed two scoreless frames.
At least thus far, Angels fans can’t complain about the return. Moniak isn’t going to sustain a .429 batting average on balls in play, but he’s hitting .327/.340/.694 in 50 plate appearances. The BABIP and a 34% strikeout rate scream for regression, but the former 1-1 pick has already hit as many homers through 50 trips to the plate with the Halos (four) as he did in 167 with the Phillies. He’s played good defense, run well and given some hope that he can carve out a role moving forward.
Red Sox acquire INF Enmanuel Valdez, OF Wilyer Abreu from the Astros in exchange for C Christian Vazquez (8/1/22)
Trading Vazquez was part of a disjointed Red Sox trade deadline that saw Boston trade away their longtime catcher and lefty reliever Jake Diekman while also acquiring Eric Hosmer and Tommy Pham. It wasn’t clear that their 2023 roster was improved, and the decision to hold onto other trade targets while adding Pham’s salary left them just over the luxury tax line (thereby reducing their compensation for qualifying offers extended to Xander Bogaerts and Nathan Eovaldi).
Digression aside, the swap might prove beneficial to the Sox in the long run. Valdez has already made his big league debut, and although his bat faded after a hot start, he’s still sporting a passable .244/.292/.422 batting line (91 wRC+) in his first 97 big league plate appearances. He’s picked up four homers, four doubles and three steals (in four tries) while subbing in at second base in the wake of a slew of middle-infield injuries. Valdez posted absolutely massive numbers in 205 Double-A plate appearances last year (.357/.463/.649) before moving up to Triple-A and hitting .265/.327/.488.
Abreu, meanwhile, was added to the 40-man roster over the winter and is hitting .264/.379/.479 in 40 Triple-A games so far. He’s regarded as a potential plus outfield defender, and his success in Triple-A and status on the 40-man roster mean the Red Sox could possibly have two MLB contributors within a year or so of trading Vazquez.
It’s hard to say anything moves the 2022 Astros made “didn’t work out,” as the team won the World Series in the end. But Vazquez took a backseat to Martin Maldonado both in the regular season and the playoffs, hitting just .250/.278/.308 in 108 regular-season plate appearances following the swap (plus .235/.316/.235 in just 19 playoff plate appearances).
Brewers Reinstate Luis Urías, Transfer Darin Ruf To 60-Day IL
3:55pm: In addition to the laceration, Ruf has a non-displaced fracture of his patella, per Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. The expected recovery timeline is six to eight weeks, leading to today’s transfer.
3:30pm: The Brewers announced a series of roster moves today, reinstating infielder Luis Urías from the 60-day injured list. Fellow infielder Mike Brosseau was optioned to open a spot on the active roster. To open a spot on the 40-man, first baseman Darin Ruf was transferred to the 60-day IL.
Urías, 26, played in Milwaukee’s Opening Day game this year but hurt his left hamstring in that contest. He was diagnosed with a strain and it was estimated that he would miss six to eight weeks. He was eventually transferred to the 60-day injured list and now returns after a slightly longer absence than that initial estimated time frame.
In the past couple of seasons, he has established himself as a solid and versatile member of the club. Over 2021 and 2022, he hit 39 home runs and slashed a combined .244/.340/.426 for a wRC+ of 111. He was also able to bounce around the infield, slotting in at the three positions to the left of first base as needed.
His recent absence led to greater playing time for certain utility players, one of which was Brosseau. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to take advantage of the opportunity, hitting .205/.256/.397 so far this year for a wRC+ of 75. Other players like Owen Miller and Andruw Monasterio have fared better this year, leading to Brosseau getting squeezed out today. Assuming Urías is able to get back to his previous form, the swap should be a positive one for the club.
The move could potentially impact Brosseau’s path to free agency, as he came into the season with three years and 31 days of service time. If he were to spend more than a month in the minors, it could prevent him from reaching the four-year mark this season. But he also might find himself at risk of being non-tendered at season’s end anyway since he’s making $1.4MM this year and would be in line for an arbitration raise for next season.
As for Ruf, he suffered a laceration on his knee last week when he was chasing after a foul ball and collided with the rolled-up tarp. He was placed on the 10-day IL on the weekend but it seems the issue is serious enough that he’ll need to miss a couple of months. Ruf had just joined the club a couple of weeks ago and effectively replaced the now-released Luke Voit as the right-handed platoon partner for the lefty-swinging Rowdy Tellez. The club recently called up first baseman Jon Singleton, though he also swings from the left side.
Players like Miller, Brian Anderson and Abraham Toro have a small amount of first base experience and bat from the right side, with Toro being a switch-hitter. Perhaps one of them could attempt to take that short-side platoon role. Tellez could also play on a more everyday basis as his career splits aren’t that drastic. He’s hit .237/.308/.486 against righties for a 110 wRC+ and .242/.313/.396 against lefties for a 93 wRC+.
Brewers Notes: Urias, Adames, Woodruff, Lauer, Bush
MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy relayed a series of significant updates regarding injured Brewers players this morning. Most encouragingly, the Brewers expect to welcome both infielder Luis Urias and shortstop Willy Adames back from the injured list this week.
Urias, who suffered a hamstring strain on Opening Day and hasn’t played since, is expected to rejoin the club on Tuesday as they begin a homestand against the Orioles. Acquired in the trade that sent Trent Grisham to San Diego prior to the 2020 season, Urias has been a key piece of the club’s infield picture for several seasons now, particularly since his offensive breakout in 2021. Since the beginning of the 2021 season, Urias has slashed a solid .243/.339/.424 (111 wRC+) with a 20.6% strikeout rate and a 10.8% walk rate in 1,046 trips to the plate.
Adames, meanwhile, has been on the 7-day concussion IL since getting struck with a foul ball in the dugout last week. McCalvy notes that the current plan is for Adames to play DH for High-A Wisconsin today before moving on to Triple-A Nashville. After two games in Nashville, Adames figures to be activated from the injured list on Thursday.
After the Brewers acquired Adames partway through the 2021 season, the then-25-year-old shortstop raked for the club in 99 games for the rest of the season, with a .285/.366/.521 slash line that was 36% better than league average by measure of wRC+. Adames followed up that performance in 2022 with a solid 109 wRC+ in 139 games, but struggled prior to his placement on the IL this season, slashing a below-average .205/.292/.384 in 51 games.
Still, the Brewers figure to be bolstered significantly by the return of their two most reliable infielders. Andruw Monasterio, Owen Miller, and Brian Anderson have all produced solid results in the infield while Urias and Adames have been on the shelf. Assuming the Brewers look to keep all three of them on the active roster even after the duo returns this week, it’s possible the club will look toward the likes of Brice Turang, Mike Brosseau, and Abraham Toro when clearing space for Adames and Urias on the active roster. Each of those three infielders (as well as both Monasterio and Miller) are optionable, leaving Milwaukee with plenty of options as they look to make roster decisions in the coming days.
While the updates on Adames and Urias are encouraging, the same unfortunately cannot be said regarding ace right-hander Brandon Woodruff. The 30-year-old righty made just two starts this season before going on the injured list with a subscapular strain in his right shoulder, which came with an initial timeline that figured to see him return later this month. McCalvy notes that Woodruff’s timetable for return has been pushed back, however, as the righty has yet to progress to throwing off a mound, leaving the Brewers to target a return around the All Star break for their ace.
The setback for Woodruff is a tough blow to the Brewers, who have since lost Wade Miley and Eric Lauer from their rotation to injuries (in addition to Aaron Ashby, who has yet to pitch this season after undergoing shoulder surgery). What’s more, Woodruff’s co-ace Corbin Burnes has had a somewhat pedestrian season to this point by his lofty standards, posting a 3.75 ERA (113 ERA+) and a 4.59 FIP across twelve starts while striking out 22.8% of batters faced.
Speaking of Lauer, the left-hander and reliever Matt Bush are both expected to head to Triple-A for rehab assignments on Tuesday. Lauer struggled mightily in nine appearances (eight starts) this season prior to going on the IL due to an impingement in his non-throwing shoulder, with a 5.48 ERA and a 6.73 FIP in 42 2/3 innings of work. Bush also struggled in nine games prior to hitting the IL with tendinitis in his right rotator cuff allowing seven runs on four homers and six walks in just 7 2/3 innings of work.
Brewers Place Tyrone Taylor, Darin Ruf On 10-Day Injured List
Prior to today’s 10-8 win over the Reds, the Brewers placed outfielders Tyrone Taylor and Darin Ruf on the 10-day injured list. Taylor (whose placement is retroactive to June 2) is dealing with a right elbow sprain, while Ruf has a laceration on his right knee. In corresponding moves, Milwaukee called up Blake Perkins from Triple-A, and as reported yesterday, Jon Singleton‘s contract was selected from Triple-A.
The new faces delivered today, as Perkins hit a grand slam to help the Brewers score the victory in Cincinnati. However, losing Taylor and Ruf further thins the Brewers’ depth, as the club now has 14 players (six of them position players) on the injured list. It isn’t yet known when either player could be back, as Bally Sports’ Sophia Minnaert notes, since Ruf’s laceration is quite severe and Taylor will undergo tests to determine the nature of his elbow problem.
Taylor first sprained his right elbow in late February, which kept him out of action for Spring Training and delayed his 2023 debut until May 2. Whether due to the lost spring prep time, lingering elbow soreness, or both, Taylor has badly struggled at the plate, hitting only .160/.179/.240 over 78 plate appearances. It’s a big dropoff for a player who had a solid .241/.303/.453 slash line over 729 PA of part-time duty in 2019-22, and it seemed like Taylor might have been in line for a larger role given the rather unsettled nature of Milwaukee’s outfield.
Ruf just signed the Brew Crew in the middle of May, coming to Milwaukee after he elected free agency rather than accept an outright assignment to the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate. Stepping into a first base platoon as the right-handed hitting complement to Rowdy Tellez, Ruf also wasn’t hitting much (.531 OPS) over his first 30 PA for Milwaukee before he badly cut his knee during Friday’s game. Ruf was chasing a foul ball when he collided with the tarp rolled up on the sidelines at the Great American Ballpark.
NL Central Notes: Steele, Votto, Adames, Miley, Velasquez
Cubs fans received some positive news regarding left-hander Justin Steele yesterday. The 27-year-old hurler was pulled from his start on Wednesday after just three innings of work due to forearm tightess and underwent an MRI on Thursday to determine the severity of the issue. As noted by MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian on Twitter, Steele described the result of the MRI as “good news” and said that the plan is for him to play catch today before determining the path forward. With that being said, WSCR-AM’s Bruce Levine notes that a source considers Steele “likely” to miss his next start, which he would otherwise be on schedule take Tuesday against the Angels.
After securing a spot in the starting rotation to open the 2022 campaign, Steele ended last season looking like an above-average, mid-rotation or better starter over 24 starts, posting a 3.18 ERA, 3.20 FIP, 24.6% strikeout rate, 9.8% walk rate, and 51.2% groundball rate in 119 innings of work. Only budding Rays ace Shane McClanahan managed to post a higher strikeout rate while maintaining a groundball rate over 50% last year. What’s more, Steele has managed to build on his strong first season as a regular starter for the this season, with a 2.65 ERA that’s only bested by rotation-mate Marcus Stroman and Braves youngster Bryce Elder in the National League.
The news that his forearm strain isn’t anything serious and he’s unlikely to miss significant time is surely a relief for a Cubs team that has relied on the young lefty to carry their pitching staff alongside Stroman, with the duo representing 18 of the club’s 25 quality starts in 2023. With that said, it seems likely that right-hander Hayden Wesneski will fill in for Steele in the event the injured left-hander does miss a start. Wesneski struggled to a 4.81 ERA and 5.65 FIP this season after earning the fifth spot in the club’s rotation with a dominant performance in spring training, leaving the Cubs to remove him from the rotation when Kyle Hendricks returned to the mound from injury.
More from around the NL Central:
- According to MLB.com, Brewers shortstop Willy Adames has resumed baseball activities for the first time since he was struck by a foul ball in last week’s game against the Giants, landing him on the 7-day concussion IL. Adames is currently working out with the the club’s High-A affiliate rather than joining the club on their flight to Cincinnati in order to avoid the wear-and-tear of air travel, according to manager Craig Counsell. The club plans to decide whether or not Adames, who has struggled to a 84 wRC+ in 51 games this season, needs a minor league rehab assignment before he can return to big league action later this weekend. In the meantime, they figure to continue going with a combination of Brice Turang, Owen Miller, and Andruw Monasterio up the middle.
- Sticking with the Brewers, MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy notes that left-hander Wade Miley is making good progress on his rehab from a posterior serratus strain. While he was initially expected to be shelved for six to eight weeks, McCalvy reports that if Miley is able to avoid any setbacks he’s currently set to return from the IL after just four weeks after throwing a bullpen session on Thursday. Miley posted eight solid starts for the Brewers prior to his injury as the veteran lefty threw 41 2/3 innings of 3.67 ERA baseball.
- Reds first baseman and future Hall of Famer Joey Votto is set to begin a rehab assignment with the club’s Triple-A affiliate in Louisville today, per MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon. Votto has been on the shelf since he underwent surgery on his rotator cuff back in August, and posted a wRC+ of just 92 in 91 games prior to the surgery. Still, he figures to share first base and DH duties with Spencer Steer upon his return to big league action.
- Right-hander Vince Velasquez was activated from the injured list and returned to the Pirates‘ rotation just last week, but immediately felt discomfort in his right elbow and returned to the injured list. According to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, his current IL-stay will not be a short one, as the veteran is expected to be transferred to the 60-day IL in the near future. Velasquez had pitched well for the Pirates across eight starts this season prior to his injury, with a 3.86 ERA in 37 1/3 innings. Velasquez’s return to the IL leaves the club with a rotation of Mitch Keller, Roansy Contreras, Johan Oviedo, Rich Hill, and Luis Ortiz.
Brewers To Select Jon Singleton
The Brewers are selecting the contract of first baseman Jon Singleton, reports Robert Murray of FanSided (Twitter link). Milwaukee has an opening on the 40-man roster after releasing Luke Voit this week, so they’ll only need to make a corresponding 26-man move.
It sets the stage for Singleton’s first major league action in nearly eight years. A top prospect during his days in the Astros’ farm system a decade ago, he signed a $10MM extension before reaching the majors. Singleton debuted midway through the 2014 campaign but slumped to a .168/.285/.335 line over 362 plate appearances. He’d get into 18 games the following year, with what seemed to be his final MLB appearance coming in October 2015.
After a season and a half in the upper minors, Singleton was hit with a third career suspension for a failed drug of abuse test. The Astros released him and he was out of the sport entirely for a couple seasons. Singleton has since spoken about his struggle with marijuana addiction. After a few years away, he began a comeback in Mexico in 2021. A monster showing there led Milwaukee to add him on a minor league deal for 2022.
Singleton has spent the past season-plus with the Brewers’ top affiliate in Nashville. He hit .219/.374/.439 there last season. The Brewers re-signed him and carried him on the 40-man roster for a spell over the offseason before waiving him on the eve of Spring Training. He returned to the organization on a new minor league deal and is hitting well for the Sounds.
In 48 games, Singleton owns a .259/.387/.489 line. He’s connected on ten home runs, walked at a stellar 17.5% clip and kept his strikeouts to a lower than average 19.3% rate. Singleton showed plenty of patience and power last season as well but he’s putting the ball in play far more consistently this year. He’s sliced his strikeout percentage more than eight points from 27.7% year over year.
As a result, Singleton earns a promotion that marks a huge moment in an incredible comeback effort. He returns to the big leagues a few months shy of his 32nd birthday having overcome the personal hurdles about which he’s been open. Now that he’s back in the majors, he’ll add a left-handed first base/designated hitter option to Craig Counsell’s bench. The Brewers have Rowdy Tellez and Darin Ruf in a first base platoon. The latter suffered a leg laceration in this evening’s game, however, raising the possibility of an injured list stint.