MLBTR Originals

Over the past couple of days, Jeff Todd has highlighted some of the early returns on minor league signings from the offseason and Spring Training, as pertains to starting pitchers and position players. It’s obviously early to glean too much from such investments, and that’s all the more true when it comes to relief pitchers, most of whom have worked fewer than 15 innings thus far in the season. That said, there are still several minor pickups who have played a relatively sizable role through the season’s first five weeks.

A look at some of the most oft-used arms (10+ innings pitched)…

• Fernando Salas & Jorge De La Rosa, Diamondbacks: Salas (17 1/3 innings) and De La Rosa (10 1/3 innings) have combined to yield just four runs through their 27 2/3 frames this season. Neither is missing many bats, and De La Rosa has issued as many walks as strikeouts (six), but it’s hard to argue with the bottom-line results they’ve delivered to date. Salas leads all minor league signees in terms of relief innings thrown thus far in the 2018 season.
• Hector Santiago, White Sox: Santiago tossed 16 innings of 3.38 ERA ball out of the Chicago ’pen before shifting into a starting role and logging 4 2/3 frames in his first outing. In all, he has a 3.48 ERA in 20 2/3 innings of work with 20 strikeouts, though he’s also issued 10 walks and hit two batters. The control issues could come back to haunt the Sox, but he’s been a useful depth add so far in 2018.
• Tyler Clippard & John Axford, Blue Jays: Clippard (15 1/3 innings) and Axford (14 innings) have combined for 29 1/3 frames of sub-2.00 ERA ball, with each yielding just three runs on the season. Clippard has issued eight walks and has seen his extreme fly-ball tendencies become even more pronounced, which has caused fielding-independent metrics to forecast some regression. Axford boasts a 14-to-4 K/BB ratio and 52.6 percent ground-ball rate.
• Kevin Jepsen, Rangers: Jepsen has soaked up 14 innings for the Rangers, albeit with a pedestrian 4.50 ERA and as many walks (seven) as strikeouts. Texas has had plenty of injuries both in the rotation and the bullpen, so his spot seems safe for now.
• Dylan Floro, Reds: Through 11 2/3 innings, Floro has been dominant in the Cincinnati bullpen. He’s logged an impressive 11-to-2 K/BB ratio (one of those walks was intentional) and run up a sensational 66.7 percent ground-ball rate when allowing hitters to put the ball in play. Floro has quadrupled the frequency of his changeup, jumping from a 4.5 percent usage rate to more than 18 percent in 2018 (largely at the expense of his fastball), and the early results are obviously very promising.
• Drew Hutchison, Phillies: Hutchison has given the Phils 11 1/3 innings and a 3.18 ERA so far, with an 11-to-6 K/BB ratio and a grounder rate just north of 53 percent. The control could be better, but he’s been a solid enough pickup that can be counted upon for multiple innings of relief work. He also provides the club with some rotation depth after starting in Spring Training, though the longer he works in shorter relief stints the less likely he is to make any spot starts.
• Bruce Rondon, White Sox: Rondon has had a pair of nightmarish outings but is unscored upon in seven of nine relief appearances this year. He’s showing the velocity that tantalized the Tigers for so long (96.9 mph average fastball velocity) and an ability to miss bats (14 strikeouts, 16.3 percent swinging-strike rate), but control remains an issue (six walks, one hit batter, two wild pitches). His 5.06 ERA in 10 2/3 innings isn’t impressive, but he figures to get a longer look.
• Matt Belisle, Indians: The veteran Belisle finished out the 2017 on a strong run with the Twins but didn’t carry that over to his new gig with the Indians. In 10 2/3 innings, he allowed six runs before being designated for assignment yesterday. Belisle walked just one batter in his short time with Cleveland, though he also hit a pair of batters and whiffed just four hitters while averaging 89.8 mph on his fastball.
• Blaine Boyer, Royals: The 36-year-old had a nice run with four teams from 2014-17 after a two-year MLB hiatus, but he’s had a dismal start to his Royals tenure. In 10 innings, Boyer has surrendered 19 runs (15 earned) on 17 hits and eight walks with three strikeouts. He’s given up four homers as well.

Certainly, there are other names that will become factors in due time. Jonny Venters’ call to the Majors from the Rays after five years lost to multiple arm surgeries is a feel-good story for any baseball fan. Carlos Torres, Brooks Pounders, Matt Magill and Casey Lawrence are among the minor league signees who’ve recently emerged at the big league level, while recognizable veterans like Josh Edgin (Orioles), Xavier Cedeno (White Sox), Jeanmar Gomez (White Sox), Edward Mujica (Cardinals), Oliver Perez (Yankees) and Sean Burnett (Marlins) have thrown rather well in Triple-A to this point in the young season.

We checked in yesterday on the position players that have carved out major roles despite signing minor-league deals over the winter. Today, we’ll turn to the hurlers, where it’s generally more difficult — but hardly impossible — to find serviceable assets in the rotation than in the bullpen.

These pitchers have to this point filled rotation slots with their organizations despite inking non-roster deals entering the season (presented by order of innings pitched):

• Tyson Ross, Padres: Thus far, Ross has been a jackpot signing for the Pads. He won’t be cheap if he keeps performing, as his deal includes a base salary of $1.75MM with another $4.25MM in potential incentives, but that’s still plenty reasonable given what Ross has shown thus far. The 31-year-old has rediscovered much of his pre-injury ability to miss bats and currently owns a 3.28 ERA with 10.1 K/9, 3.3 BB/9, and a 47.3% groundball rate through 35 2/3 innings. Oh, and he very nearly threw a no-hitter.
• Bartolo Colon, Rangers: The ageless wonder was just named the Rangers’ player of the month, if you’re looking for a concise explanation of how things are going for both player and team. He’s allowing less than a walk per nine while carrying a .225 BABIP-against. That’s not really sustainable, but while Statcast suggests some good fortune, it also indicates that Colon is legitimately drawing poor contact (.251 wOBA vs. .326 xwOB).
• Derek Holland, Giants: Though he’s coughing up 5.76 earned runs per nine and has only averaged five innings in his five outings, Holland is filling an important need for the Giants and has probably thrown better than the results. He owns a 25:11 K/BB ratio, after all, and fielding-independent pitching metrics value him as a more serviceable hurler thus far (4.57 FIP, 4.61 xFIP, 4.33 SIERA). Holland can earn up to $4MM if he reaches all his incentives.
• Jeremy Hellickson, Nationals: After signing late and getting up to speed, Hellickson has stepped into the Nats rotation and been a useful fifth starter. He’s not getting many strikeouts, and his FIP numbers look more like Holland’s, but he has worked to a 4.11 ERA over 15 1/3 innings. Unless injury or a trade acquisition intervened, Hellickson will have a chance to maintain his role. He’s earning $2MM with another $4MM possible via incentive pay.
• Anibal Sanchez, Braves: Sanchez spent camp with the Twins after agreeing to a non-guaranteed MLB deal. He collected the portion that was guaranteed when he was released late in camp and shortly thereafter joined the Braves on a minors arrangement. While he’s currently working back from the DL, and will need to hold off impressive youngster Mike Soroka and others, Sanchez has been rather impressive in Atlanta. He has allowed just two earned runs in 14 innings while recording 14 strikeouts and six walks, with a swinging-strike rate (11.2%) that sits near his career peak.

A few other minor-league signees have taken starts, such as Miguel Gonzalez, but no others have produced useful results over a relatively sizable number of innings. That could still change, of course. Wade Miley is up for the Brewers, while Brett Anderson is slated to take the hill for Oakland tonight. A few other hurlers — Kris Medlen is a candidate to step up for the D-backs next week — could press for rotation opportunities before long.

With one month of the season in the books, we’ll check in on how this winter’s crop of minor-league signees is faring, starting on the position-player side. It’s fairly common to see quite a few relief pitchers emerge from the ranks of non-roster invitees to make Opening Day rosters and even earn significant bullpen roles. Hitters, though, tend to face a tougher path to playing time.

Every so often, there’s a gem — J.D. Martinez, anyone? — but for the most part, teams are hoping that some of the players they ink to minors pacts will help with depth and stability over the course of a long season. Here are the biggest contributors to date (by order of most to least plate appearances):

• Ryan Flaherty, INF, Braves: The long-time utility infielder broke out early after landing with the Atlanta organization right at the start of the season. He has started to cool but still owns an appealing (albeit almost certainly unsustainable) .300/.398/.400 slash line in his 93 plate appearances. With Johan Camargo back from the DL and Jose Bautista on the way, though, Flaherty’s window of opportunity promises to narrow significantly.
• Pedro Alvarez, DH, Orioles: If there’s a player who may have earned himself a much bigger role, it could be Alvarez. With the struggling, injury-riddled O’s desperate for any spark, he has swatted six long balls and posted a .237/.357/.576 slash over seventy plate appearances. It’s still anyone’s guess exactly how the Baltimore roster will evolve over the season, but the 32-year-old Alvarez ought to keep earning chances if he keeps hitting and might even end up becoming a bit of a trade asset.
• Abraham Almonte, OF, Royals: The 28-year-old can be a handy asset if he’s hitting at close to a league-average rate, which is just what he’s done for Kansas City. It’s hard to imagine Almonte functioning as more than a fourth outfielder for the Royals, barring injury or trade, but he could get a significant chance at MLB action over the course of what is shaping up to be a season to forget in K.C.
• Gregor Blanco, OF, Giants: Now that he’s back in the bay, Blanco has returned to doing what he does best: getting on base at surprisingly useful levels while providing sometimes excellent baserunning and solid glovework at all three outfield positions. He has been a quality reserve outfielder in the past and now has perhaps earned the presumption of a roster spot the rest of the way in 2018, though he’ll need to keep performing to fend off some younger players as the season progresses.
• Danny Valencia, 3B, Orioles: Valencia has earned a surprising amount of playing time owing to injuries but has not exactly produced compelling results through 17 games of action. He’s also not considered a quality fielder or baserunner. But it’s only fair to note that Valencia has likely been striking the ball much better than his three home runs and .204/.291/.429 batting line would suggest. He’s carrying only a .206 BABIP and a .301 wOBA that lags far behind the .350 xwOBA that the quality of his contact predicts.

Beyond this group, things thin out even further. Rajai Davis and Moises Sierra have received fairly significant time with the Indians and Nationals, respectively, but have contributed next to nothing with the bat. A.J. Ellis, Bryan Holaday, and Jose Lobaton have been marginal-hitting reserve backstops, while players such as Cliff Pennington and Ryan Goins have similarly provided backup infield gloves without hitting enough to stake anything but temporary claims to jobs.

Of course, the results will change as the season goes on. Perhaps next time we check in, there’ll be some interesting new names to consider … after all, such notable veterans as Bautista (Braves), Jayson Werth (Mariners), and Melky Cabrera (Indians) are all in the pipeline of their respective teams after striking minors deals in recent weeks.

The original version of this post mistakenly included reference to Alcides Escobar, who in fact signed a MLB deal his winter with the Royals.