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MLB Weekend Roster Roundup: Myers, Panik, Puig, Zobrist

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ROSTER MOVES BY TEAM
(April 28th-April 29th)

NATIONAL LEAGUE

  • ATLANTA BRAVES | Depth Chart
    • Activated from 10-Day DL: SP Luiz Gohara
      • Gohara was optioned to Triple-A.
    • Released: Peter Bourjos 
      • Bourjos had cleared waivers after being designated for assignment.
  • MILWAUKEE BREWERS | Depth Chart
    • Role change: P Brent Suter has been moved to the bullpen to make room in the starting rotation for Wade Miley, who will be promoted from the minors on Wednesday.

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AMERICAN LEAGUE

  • BALTIMORE ORIOLES | Depth Chart
    • Promoted: OF Joey Rickard
      • Rickard was in the starting lineup on Saturday and Sunday. He will be optioned to the minors on Monday.
    • Optioned: RP Tanner Scott
  • BOSTON RED SOX | Depth Chart
    • Activated from 10-Day DL: SP Steven Wright
      • Wright was placed on the restricted list as he serves a 15-game suspension.

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FUTURE EXPECTED MOVES

Poll: Should MLB Shorten The Baseball Season?

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Most readers have probably already caught wind of the suggestion that MLB should shave a few games off the incredibly long season. But fewer readers probably realize that it’s actually a topic that’s gained some very real momentum. In a lengthy piece on the subject, Jayson Stark of The Athletic dives into this issue, at one point revealing that the topic of a 158-game season actually made it to the “bargaining table” in the negotiations leading up to the 2011 labor agreement. In 2016, MLB actually did some extensive research on the potential effects of a 154-game season due to a suspicion that the players might bring it up, but the union apparently didn’t bring it up; they were focused on other issues.

While eight games might seem like a trivial percentage of the season, it could actually pose a significant reduction in revenue for MLB clubs. According to statista.com, the Yankees brought in about $278MM in ticket revenue during the 2017 season. A 5% reduction in games would mean losing out on nearly $14MM in ticket sales, not to mention they’d be worth 5% less in terms of a television contract.

Of course, the Yankees are an extreme example in that regard; small market clubs make much, much less on an annual basis when it comes to ticket sales. As such, it’s not surprising to learn that twenty-two MLB clubs reportedly had little or no objection to a 154 season; it seems that a vocal eight-team minority would have likely proved a holdup in negotiations.

It’s also easy to imagine that cutting player salaries would be one of the first orders of business in the event of a shortened season. After all, it’s unfair to expect ownership to pay players the same amount for playing 5% fewer games. While Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo seems to be sympathetic to the idea of making less money in order to play a more comfortable season, it seems awfully likely that there’d be some ruckus from at least some of the players. With all the recent pushback over the idea of something as simple as a pitch clock, you can bet that there’d be some loud voices where millions of dollars are concerned.

The benefits to a shorter season, though, are numerous and logically sound. Stark makes a great point when mentioning that beginning the season in the third week of April rather than the final days of March would lop off a dramatic majority of the games played in uncomfortably cold weather; weather that makes the games less enjoyable for both the players and the fans who come out to the ballpark. It’s fair to imagine that the number of injuries and illnesses increase as a result of playing in extreme cold. The number of postponements due to inclement weather also complicate the season schedule.

Concurrently, a shorter season would mean a better chance that the final games of the playoffs could conclude before cold weather sets in. Stark also suggests a longer All-Star break, as well as making all Mondays off-days. From my vantage point, it’s a bit confusing to see how all these things could be implemented with a reduction of only eight games, even if Stark does mention the idea of a few planned doubleheaders scattered throughout the season.

Perhaps one of the most important benefits to a shortened season with more days off is the health and energy of the players. Stark suggests that pitcher injuries could be reduced, which makes plenty of sense. Not only would fewer games make for fewer physically taxing stretches of baseball, but it would also allow players more time to rest and recuperate from smaller nagging injuries without putting their respective teams at a disadvantage.

On a grander scale, this kind of change could have an impact on gameplay and even roster makeup. More intermittent days off would likely allow teams to get by without a fifth starter for large stretches of the season, potentially eliminating many starting pitcher jobs around the league. It could also allow teams to feel more comfortable rolling with one fewer reliever for extended stretches, and it certainly makes sense to think that teams wouldn’t be forced to reach into their vertical depth at Triple-A for a fresh bullpen arm as often as they are now. Basically, while a shorter season could mean a more comfortable job for the players, it could also make for a game in which a small number of pitchers begin to lose their jobs in favor of bench bats or late-inning defensive replacement types.

With all this in mind, what do you think? Should MLB shorten the baseball season to 154 games, or keep things the way they are? (Poll link for app users)

MLB Daily Roster Roundup: Bogaerts, Flowers, Miller, Suarez

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ROSTER MOVES BY TEAM
(April 26th-April 27th)

NATIONAL LEAGUE

  • COLORADO ROCKIES | Depth Chart
    • Reinstated from suspension: OF Gerardo Parra
      • Parra played LF and batted 6th on Friday.

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AMERICAN LEAGUE

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FUTURE EXPECTED MOVES

Offseason In Review: Philadelphia Phillies

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This piece is part of MLBTR’s 2017-18 Offseason In Review series.  Click here to read the other completed reviews from around the league.

Following their fifth consecutive losing season, the Phillies added some talented veteran pieces to supplement an exciting young core. While they’re far from a perfect ballclub, their winter moves have likely shortened their rebuilding period.

Major League Signings

Trades and Claims

Extensions

Notable Minor League Signings

Notable Losses

Needs Addressed

It’s been a trying half-decade for the Phillies fan base. After being spoiled by nine consecutive winning seasons (including a World Series championship), they’ve watched their beloved ballclub limp to .500 or worse finishes in each of the six years since 2012, including a 66-96 record in 2017. Perhaps the front office had begun to feel pressure to put a winning product on the field, or perhaps the timing was just right; either way, GM Matt Klentak and crew made a couple of surprising headliner moves worth being excited about.

Four free agent acquisitions served to add about $65MM to the 2018 payroll. While that may seem like a lot for a team that still looked to be in rebuild mode, the Phillies only had about $30MM on the books before those moves. For a ballclub that routinely spent $138MM or more on player salaries between 2010 and 2015, it’s almost as though they had to spend that money on at least something. In fact, Philadelphia would have opened the season with its lowest payroll since 2002 (!!) had it not been for the last-minute signing of Arrieta. For reference, that’s before Ryan Howard and Chase Utley had even reached the major leagues. One could say that the Phillies addressed a need simply by avoiding a controversially-low spend level at the season’s outset.

That said, it’s fair to wonder how much the 32-year-old righty moves the needle for the Phillies now or in the future. In spite of a hot start, the Phillies don’t seem particularly likely to keep up with the Mets or Nationals all season. Furthermore, Arrieta has exhibited a steady decline since his otherwordly 2015 Cy Young campaign and doesn’t look likely to deliver value on the $45MM he’s owed from 2019-2020. It’s even conceivable that the Phillies could consider flipping him this summer if he’s outperforming the rest of the roster, in essence flexing their financial muscle in order to add more MLB-ready (or MLB-adjacent) young talent, though that’d mean opening another near-future rotation hole.

Regardless, the additions of Arrieta and first baseman Santana allow the Phillies to put a competitive team on the field for the first time in many years. The additions of Hunter and Neshek came at a premium annual price tag but will bring veteran depth to an otherwise youthful relief unit. While they’re still far from a complete club, the Phillies have patched a few holes and given the fans more reason to come to the ballpark.

More importantly, they avoided committing to lengthy contracts in making these improvements. Santana and Arrieta are only on the books for three years, meaning if either contract goes bad, it won’t necessarily detract from the club’s next contention window in a major way. Interestingly enough, it’s almost as though Klentak and co. did just enough this offseason to show Phillies fans a clear light at the end of the tunnel without limiting their flexibility to spend big in the coming years.

Not to be lost on Phillies fans was a subtle move the franchise made to pave the way for shortstop prospect J.P. Crawford. The trade of Galvis to the Padres allows Crawford everyday playing time; it also cleared an unnecessary salary obligation while adding an intriguing young pitcher to the farm system in Enyel De Los Santos. While the 22-year-old right-hander didn’t seem to be an especially exciting addition at the time of the swap, his hot start in Triple-A has opened some eyes already by striking out a whopping 22 batters in 13.2 innings (three starts) en route to a 1.98 ERA.

The club filled its managerial opening with Gabe Kapler, whose only managerial experience was a year with the Red Sox A-ball affiliate. His greenhorn status showed early on in the season with some questionable pitching management, which he responded to responsibly by drawing up a few bullpen usage guidelines. A string of positive outcomes has re-focused the attention on the more promising aspects of Kapler’s non-traditional approach to his new job, which will surely be examined closely all year long.

The Phillies also placed a strong bet on the talent of Scott Kingery, signing him to a six-year, $24MM extension that allowed the club to promote him for opening day without worrying about service time considerations. Primarily a second baseman by trade, he’ll play all over the field for the time being. He’s one of just two players ever to ink a contract extension before ever playing a day in the major leagues (Phillies brass will hope he pans out better than Jon Singleton), and a triad of club options can keep him in Philadelphia through 2026 for an annual average of $14MM if they’re all exercised. The bold move allows the club to gain cost control over a high-ceiling player during years when they’re a strong bet to be competitive, and indeed helps extend that control through a few would-be free agent seasons without a pricey commitment.

Questions Remaining

If there’s an arguable shortcoming in Philadelphia’s offseason efforts, it could be that the club was not able to extend club control over more of their young core. There’s certainly a lot of variability in the extension process; a player has to be willing to get a deal done, after all. But while it’s not known exactly how much effort the club made to lock up players like Aaron Nola, Rhys Hoskins, Nick Williams or Jorge Alfaro, it’s a bit disappointing that they weren’t able to get more pacts hammered out. On the other hand, there was no real urgency to get a deal done, particularly for the latter three, and the front office may prefer to see how things play out in some cases. While the Kingery deal has a lot of financial upside and was certainly an exciting maneuver, it’s certainly not the norm for a club to hand out long-term pacts to players with less than a year of service time.

The more interesting aspect of the terrain ahead for the Phillies is how they’ve set themselves up for the coming offseason. As I mentioned above, they’ve subtly managed to add headliner free agent talent without limiting impacting flexibility for their long-term future. That means they’re still potentially in play for names like Manny Machado, Bryce Harper, Dallas Keuchel, Patrick Corbin, Craig Kimbrel, and Clayton Kershaw in the coming winter, all of whom could significantly move the needle during their impending competitive window.

In the near term, though, the most interesting subject of note is how the Phillies will proceed with players such as Maikel Franco. Kingery’s already received 57 defensive innings at third base, and although that’s only about six games’ worth of playing time, it comes out to nearly a third of the young season. At the time of the extension, the Kingery deal seemed to spell doom for fellow infielder Cesar Hernandez, but as he’s off to a roaring start with a .431 on-base percentage in 102 plate appearances, it looks like Franco (who has a career .300 OBP in over 1,700 career PA) could be the one whose job is in jeopardy over the long run.

While the overall depth and quality of the MLB roster looks much better than it did this time last year, it’ll also take quite a few positive developments to allow sustained contention. Talented young players such as Crawford, Williams, Alfaro, Kingery, Andrew Knapp, and Aaron Altherr have yet to fully establish themselves at the game’s highest level. Though all signs point to continued stardom for Rhys Hoskins, he’ll also need to adapt as pitchers focus on ways to retire him while working to improve his defense following a challenging shift to left field. Santana, Crawford, and Odubel Herrera — the team’s best-established position players — will need to play at or near their peak levels if the club’s hot start is to be carried all the way into September. And Kapler will have to perform a delicate balancing act in allocating playing time.

The pitching results have been quite promising early, but there’s also uncertainty there. Will Nola and Vince Velasquez stay healthy (and will Jerad Eickhoff return to full strength)? Can Nick Pivetta continue to tamp down on the free passes and sustain his promising start to the year? Will Arrieta continue to outperform his peripherals? And how will the depth hold up once it’s tested? And in the bullpen, which has endured absences from Hunter and Neshek early on, there’s plenty to like but also plenty of risk in a group of youthful arms. Edubray Ramos and Victor Arano have been awfully impressive thus far in 2018, but neither has yet proven capable of dominating over a full MLB campaign. Closer Hector Neris is getting the job done but not exactly dominating. And there has already been some turnover in the middle-relief unit. In the aggregate, the arrow points up in the pitching department, but it’s not hard to see where some cracks could form over the course of a long season.

Overview

The Phillies’ offseason moves helped put a more competitive team on the field, and the sun appears to be rising on their return to playoff contention. There’s still some fog about the dawn of the new era, though. Plenty of uncertainty surrounds any group of young prospects, and Arrieta and Santana alone as free agent acquisitions can’t guarantee contention.

How would you grade the Phillies’ offseason work? (Poll link for app users)

MLB Daily Roster Roundup: Acuña, Beckham, Beltre, Thames

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ROSTER MOVES BY TEAM
(April 25th)

NATIONAL LEAGUE

  • LOS ANGELES DODGERS | Depth Chart
    • Activated from 10-Day DL: RP Yimi Garcia
      • Garcia was optioned to Triple-A.
  • PITTSBURGH PIRATES | Depth Chart
    • Signed: 1B/OF Jose Osuna (26th man for double-header)
      • Osuna played RF and batted 6th in game 2.

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AMERICAN LEAGUE

  • BALTIMORE ORIOLES | Depth Chart
    • Placed on 10-Day DL: INF Tim Beckham (strained groin)
      • Beckham could require surgery and would possibly miss at least 6-7 weeks.
    • Added to 25-man roster: INF/OF Jace Peterson
      • Peterson played 2B and batted 9th in his Orioles’ debut.

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FUTURE EXPECTED MOVES

Offseason In Review: St. Louis Cardinals

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This is the latest entry in MLBTR’s 2017-18 Offseason In Review series.  Click here to read the other completed reviews from around the league.

The Cardinals brass made a concerted effort to improve their roster through retooling and talent consolidation this offseason. They’ll hope those tweaks can help them get back to the playoffs after missing them in back-to-back seasons.

Major League Signings

Trades and Claims

Notable Minor League Signings

Notable Losses

Cardinals 25-Man Roster & Minor League Depth Chart; Cardinals Payroll Overview

Needs Addressed

The Cards entered the offseason facing the pressure of a roster crunch; myriad players would soon become vulnerable to the Rule 5 Draft, and spots on the 40-man were already prime real estate. They lost right-hander Luis Perdomo two years prior, and would need to navigate the process carefully to prevent losing valuable players such as Alcantara, Tyler O’Neill, Oscar Mercado, Derian Gonzalez and Austin Gomber.

Through some clever maneuvering, the Cardinals managed to entirely avoid being targeted during the draft’s major league phase. Alcantara, along with a pair of pitching prospects, went to the Marlins in exchange for Ozuna, while the latter four players of concern earned protection by way of addition to the expanded roster. Ozuna’s acquisition gave the Redbirds a formidable outfield trio, making Piscotty and Grichuk more luxury than necessity. Because of that, and with the safety net of outfield prospects Harrison Bader and O’Neill, they were able to flip Piscotty and Grichuk to fill a need in the bullpen and pad their farm depth.

It’s worth mentioning that while Ozuna was certainly a high-profile addition who should prove a marked improvement over Piscotty or Grichuk, he’s somewhat of a consolation prize in the Giancarlo Stanton sweepstakes. The birds made a strong run at Stanton over the offseason, and indeed seemed to have made an offer the Marlins liked. Unfortunately for both clubs, the reigning NL MVP and MLB homer champ had no interest in going to St. Louis; he chose not to approve a deal to the Cardinals and ultimately found his way to the Yankees instead.

As the now-infamous free agent freeze continued through December, the most daunting task for St. Louis was to find stability for the back end of a bullpen that had lost Trevor Rosenthal midseason to Tommy John surgery, and saw three more relievers depart in free agency. Part of this was addressed relatively early on with the Gregerson signing, and with the acquisition of Leone from the Blue Jays for Grichuk in mid-January. When Bud Norris’ price tag had fallen far enough, the team seized yet another opportunity by nabbing him on the cheap.

But even at this point, the club’s job of patching up its relief corps could only be given a B grade at best. The Birds still lacked a truly reliable shutdown presence; this only became more glaring when Gregerson began to deal with injuries during spring training. Leone didn’t exactly have an extensive MLB resume, and it would be fair to describe Norris’ 2017 season as up-and-down.

Greg Holland | Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY SportsThe result of these circumstances was a game of free-agent chicken with free agent closer Greg Holland. Though the two seemed to be an obvious match throughout the majority of the offseason (which I briefly mentioned in both Holland’s Free Agent Profile and our Offseason Outlook for the club), the Cardinals went on record multiple times saying that they weren’t interested in a lengthy commitment to a reliever. Holland’s market failed to develop as he and agent Scott Boras had hoped after he declined both a $15MM player option and a $17.4MM qualifying offer, and subsequently turned up his nose at a Rockies offer reportedly in the range of the three-year, $52MM deal Wade Davis ended up signing. Ultimately the Cardinals won the stare-down, as they ended up locking Holland into a one-year, $14MM deal that was less than all three of the pacts he’d rejected across the previous months.

The Cardinals didn’t just need relievers, though. With the subtraction of Lance Lynn (and reported lack of interest in bringing him back), they needed to fill at least one hole in the rotation, or else rely heavily on both the oft-injured Adam Wainwright and unproven prospect Jack Flaherty. They opted for the former, and did so creatively by signing Mikolas, who was fresh off another impressive performance in Japan in 2017.

Though they didn’t need to tinker with their infield much, the Cardinals addressed a long-term need by inking shortstop Paul DeJong to a six-year, $26MM extension. He certainly earned that deal after leading the club in homers last season despite not getting a promotion until mid-May. It didn’t come as much of a surprise; as I mentioned in the offseason outlook for the Cards, they’ve got a track record of extending players before they hit free agency, and DeJong seemed a prime target for one of those pacts.

Questions Remaining

It would be a stretch to claim that the Cardinals have any glaring weakness remaining. But at the same time, it would be tough to make the case that any one area of their roster stands out as a strength. Their outfield, infield and bullpen could all be described as above average, while the rotation seems stable enough. But outside of the Reds, the NL Central is unlikely to be a pushover. The Cardinals have neither the offense to out-slug the Brewers, nor the pitching to out-duel the Cubs.

If they do have a strength, it’s offensive depth. St. Louis has a strong pair of outfield prospects (Bader, O’Neill) and a group of infielders that can play multiple positions, which has already proved useful this season during Jedd Gyorko’s temporary absence. Luke Voit and Yairo Munoz aren’t top-end talent but could certainly step in and perform at least passably if called upon.

Jack Flaherty | Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY SportsPerhaps the most concerning issue facing the Cardinals right now is the club’s starting pitching depth, or lack thereof. With Adam Wainwright back on the shelf, the Cardinals are already being forced to use their most viable depth option in Jack Flaherty. Top prospect Alex Reyes could return from Tommy John surgery in late May or early June, but the Cardinals reportedly plan to use him out of the ’pen for at least part of his first season since going under the knife.

Outside of swingman John Gant, none of their other decent pitching prospects have more than a handful of innings’ worth of experience beyond the Double-A level. If the Cards end up in a position where they’re forced to turn to Gant or Gomber for more than a spot start, there’s likely to be some white-knuckling on the part of the front office and in the club’s dugout.

Overview

In essence, the Cardinals were able to check off every item on their to-do list over the course of the offseason. While Ozuna was probably the only acquisition that could be considered splashy, each individual move they made served to solve a problem with a reasonable solution. An outgoing pitcher was replaced with one who projects to do just as well. Four strong bullpen arms were added to replace three free agent relievers and one lost to injury. They began with a surplus of outfielders, which they essentially consolidated to add a more talented one. And while one could argue that they only marginally improved the team this winter, they’re certainly likely to see improvements from a number of talented young players.

How would you grade the Cardinals’ offseason? (Poll link for app users)

MLB Daily Roster Roundup: Buehler, Garcia, Lauer, Perez

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ROSTER MOVES BY TEAM
(April 23rd-April 24th)

NATIONAL LEAGUE

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AMERICAN LEAGUE

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FUTURE EXPECTED MOVES

Knocking Down The Door: Adames, Ferguson, Kingham, Kopech, Poche

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The 2018 debut of “Knocking Down The Door” is here!

Over the next four months, I will be identifying Minor Leaguers who I believe are putting themselves in position to earn a big league call-up in the near future. Walker Buehler and Gleyber Torres would’ve gotten serious consideration had they not already been promoted. Many others who make this list will get never get the call. Ask Chance Adams, who made this list in 2016 and 2017.

Here’s a look at five Minor Leaguers who are currently “Knocking Down The Door” to the Major Leagues.

Willy Adames, INF, Rays (Triple-A Durham) | Rays Depth Chart

Willy Adames | Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The Rays didn’t get a great immediate return from the trade that sent away one of the best pitchers in baseball, David Price, nearly four years ago. Nick Franklin never panned out, and Drew Smyly made 49 starts in two and a half seasons before being flipped for outfielder Mallex Smith and lefty Ryan Yarbrough. Smith and Yarbrough are both on the roster now and controllable for years, and the trade could soon pay additional dividends with the 22-year-old Adames closing in on the Majors.

After hitting for the cycle Monday, Adames is slashing .345/.441/.582 in the first 16 games of his second Triple-A season. Year one wasn’t overly spectacular, though Adames was one of the league’s younger players at 21 years of age, and did have some very productive stretches. His strong start to year two, however, has to have the Rays’ infielders on notice. A current 10-for-22 hot streak could help the light-hitting Adeiny Hechavarria deflect any current thoughts of Adames taking his starting shortstop job. Second baseman Joey Wendle (.867 OPS) and fill-in third baseman Daniel Robertson, who went 4-for-4 on Sunday, are also doing what they can to extend Adames’ Triple-A tenure.

In all likelihood, Adames will be in the Majors very soon. The only question is where he’ll play. While he should be able to make a quick transition to second base, he’s played all but 21 games in his career at shortstop (10 games at third base in the Dominican Summer League and 11 games at second base in ’17). With Hechavarria in the last year of his contract and the Rays unlikely to compete for a playoff spot, Tampa Bay could look to trade him or move him into a part-time role where he could help mentor Adames.

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Drew Ferguson, OF, Astros (Triple-A Fresno) | Astros Depth Chart

The combination of Derek Fisher, Marwin Gonzalez and Jake Marisnick appeared to be a sufficient stopgap for top prospect Kyle Tucker, who would presumably need at least a few months in Triple-A before taking over as the team’s starting left fielder. But despite a strong start by the Astros, they’ve gotten very little production out of the Fisher-Gonzalez-Marisnick trio. While Tucker is doing just fine early on in his first Triple-A season (.270/.360/.392) and Tony Kemp continues to be productive (.324/.427/.405), it’s the 25-year-old Ferguson who is making the most noise.

The former 19th-round pick is slashing .362/.457/.580 with two homers, five doubles and nine multi-hit games. He might not be the long-term answer in left field, but he could certainly give a spark to the Houston offense, particularly the bottom third of the order.

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Nick Kingham, SP, Pirates (Triple-A Indianapolis) | Pirates Depth Chart

It was three years ago that Kingham was closing in on an MLB rotation spot. After allowing one run through five innings in an early May start at theTriple-A level and striking out the leadoff man in the sixth, though, he exited the game with elbow discomfort.

Kingham underwent Tommy John surgery a few weeks later and didn’t return until late in the 2016 season. Despite making 19 starts in Triple-A last year, he never quite made a push for a big league call-up. But after four starts into what is his fourth season in the International League, it appears he’s finally back on track. The 26-year-old pitched five shutout innings with 10 strikeouts in his 2018 debut, followed it up with back-to-back quality starts and another strong outing on Sunday (5 2/3 IP, ER, 6 K).

While Steven Brault has done a decent job filling in as the No. 5 starter, he could possibly give the Pirates a bigger boost as a multi-inning lefty out of the ’pen. The same could be said for Joe Musgrove, a setup man with the World Champion Astros, who was slated to the be the team’s No. 5 starter before landing on the disabled list with a shoulder injury. But that all depends on whether Kingham can lock down a rotation spot once he’s given a chance. And he deserves a chance.

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Michael Kopech, SP, White Sox (Triple-A Charlotte) | White Sox Depth Chart

A prospect of Kopech’s caliber isn’t necessarily waiting for a big league spot to open for him. When he’s ready, the White Sox will make room soon thereafter. But the need for a spot starter in Saturday’s double-header and an injury to Miguel Gonzalez—his spot is being filled by Chris Volstad on Tuesday and will come up again on Sunday—could at least force them to decide if the 21-year-old is ready now.

One of the best pitching prospects in the game, Kopech has a 4.4 BB/9 and 11.6 K/9 since being drafted by the Red Sox with 33rd pick in the 2014 draft. But in six Triple-A starts (three at the end of ’17 and three in ’18), he’s shown more control (3.0 BB/9) while maintaining his high strikeout rate. In his most recent start, the right-hander walked one and struck out 10 in five innings of work. He’s yet to reach 100 pitches in any of his three starts—he surpassed that total five times in ’17—but as long as he continues to throw strikes consistently, he should be able to navigate past the fifth inning on a regular basis against MLB hitters.

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Colin Poche, RP,  Dbacks (Double-A Jackson) | Diamondbacks Depth Chart

There is “dominant,” and then there’s whatever Poche has done in his first eight innings in Double-A. The 24-year-old lefty has allowed just one hit and one walk. Of the 24 batters he’s retired, he’s struck out 19. Left-handed hitters have yet to put a ball in play against him. He’s struck out all seven.

Keep in mind that another Diamondbacks lefty, Gabriel Moya, also had great success in Double-A last season (0.82 ERA, 14.2 K/9 in 43.2 IP). But instead of getting the call-up for Arizona’s playoff run, he was traded to the Twins in July for backup catcher John Ryan Murphy. In other words, the front office wasn’t all that impressed with Moya despite him making this list a month earlier. Still, it’s impossible to ignore what Poche has done thus far. He should be able to help the D-backs at some point in 2018.

“Knocking Down the Door” is a weekly feature that identifies minor leaguers who are making a case for a big league promotion.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Poll: What Should The Mets Do With Matt Harvey?

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Since allowing just one hit across five innings of work against the Phillies in his season debut, Matt Harvey has seemingly reverted back to his 2017 form. He’s allowed at least four earned runs in each of his last three starts, lasting just five innings in two of them. While it’s a good sign that Harvey’s walk rate is down, he’s been prone to the long ball (four homers allowed so far) and hasn’t been particularly impressive in the strikeouts department (7.29 K/9).

It’s an unfortunate extension of Harvey’s recent track record. Since coming off the disabled list in September of last season, the righty sports a cataclysmic 8.72 ERA, and there aren’t any real reasons for optimism surrounding the 29-year-old’s performance. He’s struck out just 30 batters across 43 1/3 innings of work since that time, and he’s allowed at least four runs in six of his nine starts while lasting more than five innings just once. For those interested in pitcher records, Harvey is 1-6 during that time.

It’s becoming more and more clear with each outing that Harvey seems unlikely to turn things around. He was once among the games elite arms and seemed likely to earn nine figures in his then-distant free agent foray, and although a late-2013 Tommy John surgery put that in serious question, he managed to bounce back with an outstanding 4.4 fWAR campaign in 2015. 2016, however, was the start of a tailspin, and Harvey managed to pitch just 92 2/3 innings in both 2016 and 2017 with just 143 total strikeouts and 119 earned runs allowed. With this season’s terrible start, we’re almost to the point where it’s worth asking the question, “Will Harvey pitch himself out of the majors this season?”

While that seems a bit extreme, the subject of bumping Harvey from the rotation has certainly been broached. Jason Vargas is set to return to the rotation soon, and Harvey’s the obvious candidate to give up his spot if performance is the determining factor. Reporters recently asked Harvey if he’d give his consent to be optioned to the minors (he can’t be optioned without his permission due to his five-year MLB tenure), but he wouldn’t comment on the subject.

A more likely scenario would be for the 14-5 Mets to make Harvey a reliever. For his part, Harvey isn’t thinking about a move to a bullpen, and recently told reporters that he considers himself a starting pitcher. In reality, what Harvey considers himself to be doesn’t really matter if he can’t get outs, so the Mets will have a big decision in the impending days.

Many struggling starters have benefitted greatly from a move to the bullpen, and it doesn’t seem likely at this point that Harvey will revive his career as a starter. However, a miraculous return to his 2013/2015 form would provide the Mets with a huge boost to their seemingly strong playoff chances. What do you think New York should do in regards to their former ace? (Poll link for app users)

 

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