Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Yankees Rumors

Yankees To Promote Randy Vásquez

By | at

The Yankees are promoting right-hander Randy Vásquez to the majors, with the righty telling reporters such as Bryan Hoch of MLB.com that he’ll be starting tomorrow’s game. That will be his major league debut. He’s already on the 40-man roster but will require an active roster spot between now and then.

Vásquez, 24, was an international amateur out of the Dominican Republic, signing with the Yanks in 2018. He started his professional career in rookie ball in 2018 and 2019, before the minor leagues were canceled by the pandemic in 2020. He followed that up with a strong 2021 wherein he shot from Single-A to High-A and then Double-A. He tossed 107 1/3 innings across those levels with a 2.52 ERA, striking out 28.6% of opponents while walking 8.4%. That showing caused Baseball America to rank him the #12 Yankee prospect going into 2022.

Last year, he spent the entire season at Double-A, making 25 starts and tallying 115 1/3 innings. He had a 3.90 ERA, 24.2% strikeout rate, 8.3% walk rate and 48.3% ground ball rate. In November, the club gave him a spot on the 40-man roster to prevent him from being selected in the Rule 5 draft. That solid showing got him bumped to #9 on the BA list of top 30 farmhands in the system.

This year, he’s been in Triple-A, making nine starts on the year so far with a 4.85 ERA in 42 2/3 innings. He has a healthy 25.5% strikeout rate and 46% ground ball rate but is walking 11.7% of batters faced on the year.

It’s possible that this will be just a spot start for Vásquez, as Domingo Germán’s 10-game sticky stuff suspension will be over in a couple of days. Once he’s able to return, he should slot back into the rotation next to Gerrit Cole, Nestor Cortes, Luis Severino and Clarke Schmidt. Schmidt has an ERA of 6.00 so far this year and still has an option, so there’s perhaps some chance Vásquez bumps him out. However, Schmidt has solid peripherals but an unlucky .386 batting average on balls in play and 62.7% strand rate. His 4.39 FIP and 3.82 SIERA suggest that regression to the mean might push his ERA down a bit.

Yankees Notes: Donaldson, Rodon

By | at

The Yankees have only gotten five games out of Josh Donaldson this season, as he’s been hobbled by a hamstring strain for the remainder of the current campaign. Manager Aaron Boone said yesterday, however, that a minor league rehab stint for Donaldson is “imminent,” which would signal a return to the lineup in the near future (Twitter links via The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner). Whenever Donaldson is cleared to return, Boone added that expects the 37-year-old to be an everyday player.

Many Yankee fans will surely bristle at that notion. The former American League MVP has largely underwhelmed since coming to the Bronx alongside Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Ben Rortvedt in a trade that sent Gio Urshela and Gary Sanchez to the Twins. Donaldson hit just .222/.308/.374 in 546 plate appearances last season, though he continued to rate well on the defensive side of the game, drawing +7 marks from both Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average. In the five games Donaldson has played so far in 2023, he went 2-for-16 with a double, a walk and six strikeouts.

In Donaldson’s absence, DJ LeMahieu has drawn the bulk of the starts at third base. The 34-year-old LeMahieu is still a ways off his peak performance with the Yankees in 2019-20, but his .250/.320/.406 slash in 178 plate appearances this year is solid nonetheless. Of course, LeMahieu is plenty capable of playing first base and second base as well, and he also hits enough to factor in at designated hitter on days he’s not in the field. Even with Donaldson playing regularly at third base, Boone could still work LeMahieu into the lineup on a near-regular basis by rotating him through those four spots in the lineup.

While many Yankee fans have been ready to move on from Donaldson for the better part of a year, it’s understandable if the Yanks at least want to take a look at how he fares in his return from the injured list. He’s owed a $21MM salary this season and the $8MM buyout on next year’s $16MM option regardless, and as previously noted, last year’s defensive showing was strong. Donaldson also put the ball in play at an average of 90.7 mph last year and saw 43% of his batted balls leave the bat at 95-plus miles per hour.

At the same time, it’s fair to question just how long a leash Donaldson will be granted if he struggles out of the gate. The Yankees have won eight of their past ten games to boost their record to 30-20, but they’re still five games behind the division-leading Rays. They gave fellow veteran Aaron Hicks about a quarter of the season before designating him for assignment, though Hicks only tallied 76 plate appearances and appeared in 28 games during that time. Still, Hicks was signed through the 2025 season — albeit at a lower annual rate — whereas Donaldson is inked only through season’s end. The total financial commitment to both players is comparable.

Turning to another high-priced, injured veteran — Boone added that the organization’s hope is for Carlos Rodon to be able to throw off a mound at some point this week (Twitter link via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). Rodon hasn’t thrown a pitch for the Yankees since signing his six-year deal over the winter, owing largely to a forearm strain but also to some back discomfort that popped up while he was rehabbing that initial injury.

Even if the 30-year-old Rodon is able to throw off a mound without issue, a return would still be a ways down the road. The lefty would likely need multiple bullpen sessions before then facing live hitters in a simulated setting and eventually making multiple minor league rehab appearances. It’s hard to envision him completing that cycle in anything less than a month.

AL Notes: Whitlock, Red Sox, McCullers, Naylor, Donaldson

By | at

Garrett Whitlock threw 79 pitches in a Triple-A rehab start today, and Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters (including The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey) that Whitlock will be activated from the 15-day IL in time to start Saturday’s game against the Diamondbacks.  Whitlock’s return won’t push anyone out of the rotation for now, as Cora said that Boston will use six starters over their six games this week, sandwiched around Thursday’s off-day.  The team will re-assess the pitching situation after this full turn through a six-man rotation, Cora said, taking advantage of another off-day on May 29 to reset the staff as necessary.

Between injuries and inconsistency, Boston has had one of the weaker rotations in baseball, though Chris Sale, James Paxton, and Brayan Bello have all been sharp lately.  Cora has said in the past that the Sox plan to keep Whitlock as a starter, leaving Tanner Houck and Corey Kluber as the potential odd men out if the club does adopt a traditional five-man pitching staff.  Houck’s secondary numbers are at least better than his 5.48 ERA would indicate, but it has been a rough season all-around for Kluber, whose ERA has ballooned to 6.26 over 41 2/3 innings after he was hit hard in tonight’s start against the Padres.  Kluber signed a one-year (plus a 2024 club option) contract worth a guaranteed $10MM in the offseason, but that deal is already looking like a misfire given the veteran’s struggles.

More from the American League…

  • The Astros believe Lance McCullers Jr. can return “probably somewhere closer to the All-Star break, or after,” GM Dana Brown said in a radio interview on SportsTalk 790 AM (hat tip to MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart).  There’s still some fluidity “depending on whether we can get him built up to start,” Brown noted.  While not the clearest of timelines, it does represent some kind of target for McCullers, who hasn’t pitched this season after suffering a forearm strain early in Spring Training.  Jose Urquidy is also tentatively expected to return from the injured list around the All-Star break, which could give the Astros a badly needed one-two boost to their depleted rotation.
  • The Guardians called up Bo Naylor as the 27th man for their double-header with the Mets today, with Naylor going hitless in two plate appearances in the first game.  This was Naylor’s first call-up of the 2023 season, after the catching prospect made his MLB debut with five games in 2022.  Despite some mediocre numbers at throwing out baserunners at Triple-A this season, Naylor told Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer and other reporters that “I feel I’m progressing well.  I had a lot of work at [Triple-A] Columbus on some transfer stuff.  It continues to progress every day.  As of late it’s shown pretty well.”  It remains to be seen when Naylor might get a longer look at the big league level, yet given how badly Cleveland’s offense has struggled, an argument can definitely be made that Naylor is already the best catching option in the organization.  Naylor is hitting .257/.391/.507 over 184 PA at Triple-A, while the Guards’ catching quartet of Mike Zunino, Cam Gallagher, Meibrys Viloria, and David Fry are all badly struggling at the plate.
  • Now that the Yankees have designated Aaron Hicks for assignment, speculation has begun that Josh Donaldson could potentially join Hicks on the waiver wire when Donaldson is activated from the 10-day IL.  The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner looks at some of the reasons why it may be time for the Yankees to part ways with the former AL MVP, most simply the fact that DJ LeMahieu looks like a more productive third base option than Donaldson right now, and LeMahieu won’t have a regular place to play once Donaldson and Giancarlo Stanton are healthy.  Even though the Yankees would have to eat the roughly $23.16MM in remaining salary owed to Donaldson, Kirschner writes that “for a team that makes as much money as the Yankees, it’s a rather minuscule amount that will make the roster fit more seamlessly if they decide it’s time to cut him loose.”

Yankees Activate Luis Severino

By | at

The Yankees have activated right-hander Luis Severino from the 15-day IL, the team announced. The move corresponds with last night’s announcement that right-hander Jhony Brito had been optioned to Triple-A. Severino is set to start against the Reds this morning.

The 29-year-old Severino has immense talent, as shown by a 3.18 ERA, a 3.01 FIP, and 11 fWAR accumulated between 2018 and 2019. Unfortunately, Severino has struggled with his health since the end of the 2019 season, having thrown just 120 innings since then. 102 of those innings came last season, his first full season back from Tommy John surgery. While Severino was effective in his return from surgery, with a 3.18 ERA and 3.70 FIP, he continued to battle injuries last season as a lat strain caused him to miss two months of the 2022 campaign. While Severino appeared to be healthy headed into the spring, the right-hander suffered another lat strain just before Opening Day, leaving him to make his 2023 regular season debut nearly two months into the season.

Severino’s return is a breath of fresh air for a Yankees rotation that has struggled to find production outside of ace Gerrit Cole. Both Carlos Rodon and Frankie Montas have yet to throw a pitch for the Yankees this year, while Nestor Cortes has joined youngsters Clarke Schmidt and Brito in struggling to ERAs over 5.00 so far this season. Right-hander Domingo German has been solid, with a 3.75 ERA over nine starts, but was recently suspended for violating the league’s foreign substance policy.

Additionally, Severino’s contract expires at the end of this season, making his 2023 performance the platform on which he’ll build his case to potential suitors in free agency after the season ends. The 2023 free agent class, headlined by two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani, figures to be fairly deep in terms of pitching, with the likes of Sonny Gray, Julio Urias, Lucas Giolito, and Aaron Nola among those expected to hit the market following the current campaign.

With Severino back in action, Brito will head to Triple-A with a 5.58 ERA and 5.56 FIP in 40 1/3 innings of work so far in 2023. Brito mostly struggled in his time with the major league club, striking out just 16.9% of batters while walking 10.1%. The walk rate is of particular concern, given Brito’s ability to avoid the free pass in the minor leagues, with a 7.7% rate in 112 2/3 innings split between Double-A and Triple-A last year standing as his highest mark in a season coming into 2023. Even in spite of his struggles, Brito figures to continue to provide depth to the Yankees rotation when necessary throughout the season.

Yankees Designate Aaron Hicks For Assignment

By | at

12:34pm: The Yankees have announced the move, and confirmed they’ve added Greg Allen to the active roster in his place.

12:27pm: The Yankees have designated veteran outfielder Aaron Hicks for assignment, reports Greg Joyce of the New York Post. While the Yankees are yet to make the move official, it’ll likely make room for the team to activate outfielder Greg Allen, who they acquired from the Red Sox last night.

It’ll be a costly move for the Yankees, with Hicks still owed $19.57MM by way of $9.8MM salaries in 2024-25, and a $1MM buyout on a $12.5MM club option for 2026. He’ll also be owed the remainder of his $10.8MM salary in 2023. Hicks will now be exposed to waivers, but his struggles this year and the remaining money owed make it a near certainty he goes unclaimed. Instead, the Yankees could offer to eat the remainder of his contract and try and trade him to another team, or he could be released once he clears waivers.

It’s been a challenging start to the season for Hicks, who’s slashed just .188/.263/.261 with a single home run in 76 plate appearances. He’d fallen down the pecking order in New York, with the team often favoring infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa for starts in the outfield over him. He’s also walking at the rate at his worst rate since 2016, striking out more and defensive metrics haven’t looked favorably on his work in left field this season.

Hicks, 33, was a 14th overall pick by the Twins back in 2008. He was a consensus top-100 prospect coming through the minors in Minnesota’s organization, and made his debut as a 23-year-old in 2013. He struggled that year, and would never really get going over the next three seasons with the Twins, slashing .225/.306/.349 over 247 games between 2013-15. By 2015, the Twins were ready to move on and flipped him to New York in a deal for catcher John Ryan Murphy.

While his struggles continued in his first season in the Bronx, Hicks found his groove in 2017, slashing .266/.372/.475 with 15 home runs over 361 plate appearances. Injuries restricted him to just 88 games that year, but he again impressed in 137 games in 2018, posting a .248/.366/.467 line with 27 home runs and doing enough to earn some down-ballot AL MVP votes.

Hicks’ blend of power, walks and lack of strikeouts, not to mention his solid glove in center field was enough for the Yankees to hand Hicks a seven-year, $70MM extension prior to the 2019 season, preventing him from reaching free agency the following winter. While at the time that looked like a solid rate for a player who’d just come off a 4.3 fWAR season, Hicks’ play deteriorated over the course of the deal.

In the four seasons between 2019-22, he’d be worth just 3.1 fWAR. A lot of that was down to injuries, as Hicks missed time in 2019 to back and flexor strains and appeared in just 59 games, while a 2021 wrist injury saw him appear in just 32 games that year. He did return fit in 2022, playing 130 games, but he hit just eight home runs as he struggled to find his power following wrist surgery. While he continued to walk at a decent clip, his declining power saw him hit just .216/.330/.313, while he also lost the center field job.

He did still contribute 1.4 fWAR in 2022, largely thanks to his walks and improved defense after being moved to left field. Nonetheless, the Yankees entered the past off-season with a bit of speculation over Hicks’ future. The optimistic view was that another year removed from wrist surgery would be enough for Hicks to regain his power and become a positive contributor to the lineup, while the pessimistic view was that Hicks’ declining play and advancing age meant his best years were permanently in the rearview mirror.

Now, after struggling over the first few months of the season, he’ll be made available to the rest of the league. It’s possible that a change of scenery is what’s needed for Hicks, who has been the target of plenty of criticism from Yankees fans in recent years.

Presuming he clears waivers, Hicks will be a cheap addition for any team as the Yankees are still on the hook for the remainder of his contract. In Hicks’ defense, he had started to hit a little better in recent times, putting up a .286/.375/.524 line over his last 24 plate appearances. He had also hit lefties at a .278/.381/.333 rate, and while both those lines are pulled from very small sample sizes he could make sense for a team wanting a cheap platoon bat.

Image credit: USA Today Sports

Yankees, Michael Feliz Agree To Minor League Deal

By | at

The Yankees have agreed to a minor league contract with reliever Michael Feliz, the Leones de Yucatán of the Mexican League announced yesterday (Twitter link). According to the MLB.com transaction tracker, Feliz has first been assigned to the organization’s Florida complex. After some time there building up, he’s likely to head to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Feliz had signed with Yucatán over the offseason. He pitched nine times and tallied 8 1/3 innings in the Mexican League, allowing just one run with an excellent 13:2 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Along the way, the 29-year-old impressed Yankees’ scouts to get another look in the affiliated ranks.

No stranger to affiliated ball, Feliz has appeared in parts of 12 minor league campaigns. He was a prospect of some regard in the Astros’ farm system and made his major league debut with Houston in 2015. The righty was on and off the MLB roster for the next few seasons before being dealt to the Pirates as part of the Gerrit Cole trade return. He had the best season of his career with Pittsburgh in 2019, tossing 56 1/3 innings of 3.99 ERA ball while punching out 30.6% of opposing hitters.

The past few seasons haven’t been as effective. Feliz has struggled to throw strikes consistently and bounced around the league in journeyman fashion. He’s suited up for Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Boston (on two separate occasions) and Oakland going back to 2021. He’s thrown a total of 31 MLB innings over the last three-plus years while bouncing around on waivers.

Feliz’s only major league work last season was a 3 1/3-inning relief outing for the Red Sox. Feliz otherwise spent the year in Triple-A, splitting the season between Boston’s and Minnesota’s affiliates. He worked to a 2.74 ERA over 49 1/3 combined innings, striking out a solid 26.4% of batters faced against a 9.6% walk rate.

Yankees Acquire Greg Allen From Red Sox

By | at

8:28pm: New York officially announced the acquisition of Allen in exchange for minor league right-hander Diego Hernandez and cash. Hernandez, an 18-year-old native of Mexico, signed with New York as an undrafted free agent last year. He spent 2022 in the Dominican Summer League, starting five of 12 games.

7:17pm: The Yankees are acquiring outfielder Greg Allen from the Red Sox, reports Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe (Twitter link). Allen had been in the Boston organization on a minor league contract. Abraham adds the trade was due to an upward mobility clause in Allen’s deal which required the Red Sox to either promote him or trade him if another club offered an immediate big league roster spot.

While neither team has yet announced the trade, that suggests Allen is likely to step onto New York’s MLB roster in the next couple days. The Yankees will have to create a spot on the 40-man roster, though that can be done by transferring Carlos Rodón to the 60-day injured list. IL transfers are backdated to the time of the original placement (in Rodón’s case, Opening Day) and there’s no chance he’ll be ready for MLB action by next week.

Once official, it’ll be Allen’s second stint as a Yankee. The switch-hitting outfielder appeared in 15 games for New York two years ago. He played well, hitting .270/.417/.432 over 48 trips to the plate. Allen’s modest pre-2021 track record led the Yankees to place him on waivers despite that small-sample production. The Pirates claimed him and kept him on the roster for the majority of last season, but he slumped to a .186/.260/.271 line with a 31.3% strikeout rate in 134 trips to the plate. That brought his career slash to .232/.299/.336 in exactly 800 plate appearances over four teams.

Pittsburgh ran Allen through waivers at the end of the year. He caught on with the Red Sox on an offseason minor league pact and has impressed over 37 games for their Triple-A affiliate in Worcester. He’s hitting .250/.407/.388 in 151 trips to the plate. Allen has walked at a robust 13.9% clip and kept his strikeouts to a far more manageable 19.2% rate than he had in the majors last season. He’s also gone a staggering 23-23 in stolen base attempts. No other minor league player has run more often without yet being thrown out.

Allen has always had plus speed and strong basestealing instincts. He’s 45-53 in that regard in his major league career, an excellent 84.9% success rate. The introduction of more favorable rules for baserunners (larger bases, a pitch clock and pickoff limitations) should only make things easier for him in that regard. Allen’s athleticism hasn’t translated into universally strong defensive grades, however. Public metrics have pegged him as an above-average corner outfielder but given him mixed reviews over his 966 major league innings in center field.

The 30-year-old is out of minor league option years. Assuming the Yankees add him to the MLB roster, they’ll have to keep him in the majors or designate him for assignment. He’ll add another veteran depth outfielder behind Aaron Judge and Harrison Bader. New York has tried a number of different players in left field, giving the bulk of that time to Oswaldo Cabrera and Aaron Hicks. None of Cabrera, Hicks, Willie Calhoun nor Isiah Kiner-Falefa has contributed much offensively. Cabrera is the only member of that group who still has remaining minor league options.

Rule 5 Draft Update: May 2023

By | at

It’s been more than a months since we last checked in on this year’s group of Rule 5 draftees and how they’re faring around the league. Fifteen players were selected in the 2022 Rule 5 Draft — those unfamiliar with the event can read up on the specifics here — and since last check there have been a few notable developments among the group. Let’s take a look…

Currently on a Major League Roster

Thaddeus Ward, RHP, Nationals (from Red Sox)
Since last update: 7 1/3 innings, 4.91 ERA, 3 hits, 1 HR, 9 BB, 7 K
Overall 2023 numbers: 14 2/3 innings, 4.91 ERA, 8 H, 2 HR, 24.2% strikeout rate, 21% walk rate, 51.5% ground-ball rate

Since last check in early April, Ward has had a three-walk appearance in which he pitched just one inning and a four-walk appearance in which he only recorded two outs. His command has been among the worst in baseball, as only two pitchers (min. 10 innings) have walked a greater percentage of their opponents: twice-DFA’ed right-hander Javy Guerra and injured Rockies righty Dinelson Lamet.

At last check, Ward was struggling with that command but still had fanned more than 30% of his opponents. He’s seen his strikeout rate, swinging-strike rate, opponents’ chase rate and average fastball all dip over the past five weeks. The Nationals have done a decent job hiding him — he’s appeared in just 25% of their games — and with a projected playoff chance under 1%, they might not care about the rough performance. Ward was one of the Red Sox’ top pitching prospects before a more than two-year layoff due to the canceled 2020 minor league season and 2021 Tommy John surgery. He posted a 2.28 ERA, 31% strikeout rate and 8.9% walk rate in 51 1/3 minor league innings in last year’s return effort. The Nationals are rebuilding anyway, and as long as they still like Ward’s stuff, they can afford to let him take his lumps in the big leagues even though he entered the season with just 41 innings above A-ball.

Ryan Noda, 1B/OF, Athletics (from Dodgers)
Since last update: 103 plate appearances, .221/.417/.416, 2 HR, 22.3% walk rate, 31.1% strikeout rate
Overall 2023 numbers: 140 plate appearances, .215/.400/.421, 4 HR, 8 2B, 1 3B, 1 SB, 21.4% walk rate, 32.1% strikeout rate

The only five hitters in baseball with more walks than Noda’s 30 are Juan Soto, Adley Rutschman, Ian Happ, Matt Olson and Max Muncy. All but Muncy have more plate appearances. Noda’s massive walk rate leads MLB’s 171 qualified hitters … but his 32.1% strikeout rate is also tied for the seventh-highest. A whopping 56% of his plate appearances have ended in either a walk, strikeout or home run, making the 27-year-old the embodiment of a three-true-outcome player.

The strikeouts may be tough to watch, but Noda’s .400 OBP is tied for tenth among qualified hitters. He’s picked up 13 extra-base hits, is sitting on a strong .206 ISO (slugging percentage minus batting average) and boasts a 140 wRC+ despite his low batting average. Defensive metrics feel he’s been a competent, if not slightly above-average first baseman. Noda is getting on base 40% of the time he comes to the plate, and there’s no way the A’s (or any team) would take him off the roster as long as he’s doing that.

Jose Hernandez, LHP, Pirates (from Dodgers)
Since last update: 11 innings, 4.09 ERA, 9 hits, 2 HR, 2 BB, 14 K
Overall 2023 numbers: 17 1/3 innings, 3.12 ERA, 15 hits, 2 HR, 27.5% strikeout rate, 4.3% walk rate, 38.3% ground-ball rate

Injuries to Jarlin Garcia and Rob Zastryzny — who was activated today — left Hernandez as the lone lefty option in Derek Shelton’s bullpen, but Hernandez has handled the role just fine. The Orioles tagged him for a pair of runs in an appearance that saw him record just one out last week, but Hernandez has generally been sharp despite skipping Triple-A entirely.

Hernandez is averaging just under 96 mph on his fastball, and his 12.5% swinging-strike rate is better than the league average. He’s picked up a pair of holds for the Pirates and his 23.2 K-BB% ties him for 28th among 192 qualified relievers. He’s given up too much hard contact (89.9 mph average exit velocity, 40.4% hard-hit rate), but he looks the part of a useful big league reliever right now and shouldn’t be in any danger of losing his roster spot.

Blake Sabol, C/OF, Giants (from Pirates)
Since last update: 66 plate appearances, .323/.364/.565, 4 HR, 6.1% walk rate, 39.4% strikeout rate
Overall 2023 numbers: 100 plate appearances, .280/.330/.473, 5 HR, 3 2B, 2 SB, 5% walk rate, 38% strikeout rate

Sabol has been on fire since our early-April look at the Rule 5’ers who made their Opening Day rosters, though he’s benefited from a mammoth .500 BABIP along the way. Still, the four long balls in that time show impressive pop, and the Giants have given him looks in both left field and at catcher.

Sabol has above-average sprint speed, exit velocity and hard-contact abilities, and both Statcast and FanGraphs give him above-average framing marks in his limited time behind the dish. However, he’s also needed a hefty .420 BABIP to get to his current production, and no player in baseball strikes out more often or swings and misses more often than Sabol has. Sabol’s 60.3% contact rate is the worst in Major League Baseball, and if he can’t improve that mark and start to draw some more walks, it’s hard to imagine continuing anything close to this level of production. Regression looks quite likely for this version of Sabol, but he walked and made contact at much better clips in Double-A and Triple-A last year, so there’s still hope for improvement as he gains more experience.

Mason Englert, RHP, Tigers (from Rangers)
Since last update: 16 1/3 innings, 2.76 ERA, 13 hits, 3 HR, 5 BB, 13 K
Overall 2023 numbers: 23 2/3 innings, 4.18 ERA, 21 hits, 6 HR, 17.8% strikeout rate, 6.9% walk rate, 47.2% ground-ball rate

The Tigers have used Englert for more than an inning in nine of his 13 appearances, including eight outings of at least two innings (two of which were three-inning efforts). He’s provided the team with some length but also been used in a few leverage spots, evidenced by a pair of holds and, more regrettably, a pair of blown saves. While his strikeout rate is pedestrian, Englert’s 11.6% swinging-strike rate and 34.3% opponents’ chase rate are average or better. That doesn’t necessarily portend a major uptick in punchouts, but there’s probably more in the tank than his current 17.8% clip.

Englert has been far too homer-prone (2.28 HR/9), and that’s been his Achilles heel thus far. If he can rein in the long ball, he could give the Detroit bullpen some length for the balance of the season and perhaps even start some games should they need. The 23-year-old was a starter in the Rangers’ system prior to being selected by the Tigers last December.

Detroit has outperformed most expectations thus far, although at 19-22 with a -48 run differential, the Tigers still don’t look like viable contenders. If they’re hovering around the Wild Card race later in the year and Englert is struggling, perhaps they’d be tempted to move on, but for now he’s pitched well enough and the Tigers are far enough from the postseason picture that they can afford to keep him around even if he stumbles a bit.

Kevin Kelly, RHP, Rays (from Guardians)
Since last update: 16 1/3 innings, 23 hits, 0 HR, 4 BB, 12 K
Overall 2023 numbers: 22 1/3 innings, 4.84 ERA, 17.8% strikeout rate, 4% walk rate, 42.1% ground-ball rate

Kelly, 25, has looked sharp in most of his appearances but has been tagged for multiple earned runs three times — including a pair of three-run clunkers. For a short reliever, that’s… less than optimal. The Rays have felt comfortable using him in plenty of leverage spots, however, evidenced by a quartet of holds, a save and another blown save.

Kelly’s 4% walk rate gives the air of pinpoint command, but he’s also plunked three hitters and has a below-average 58.4% rate of throwing a first-pitch strike. He hasn’t allowed a home run, in part because he hasn’t allowed a single barreled ball this year. Kelly has avoided hard contact better than the average pitcher, eschewed walks and generally pitched better than his near-5.00 ERA might otherwise indicate. With the Rays firmly in contention, he’ll need to avoid a prolonged slump to stick on the roster, but it’s clear they believe he can be a solid reliever even with below-average velocity (92 mph average fastball) and strikeout abilities.

Currently on the Major League Injured List

  • Nic Enright, RHP, Marlins (from Guardians): Enright announced in February that just weeks after being selected in the Rule 5 Draft, doctors diagnosed him with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He’s undergone treatment and been on a minor league rehab assignment as he rebuilds game strength. Enright is currently on Miami’s 60-day injured list, but baseball of course takes a back seat in this type of instance. We at MLBTR join fans of the Marlins, Guardians and every other organization in pulling for the 26-year-old Enright and wishing him a full recovery.
  • Noah Song, RHP, Phillies (from Red Sox): Ranked as the No. 65 prospect in the 2019 draft by Baseball America, Song slid to the Red Sox in the fourth round due to his military commitments as a Naval Academy cadet. His professional experience is limited to 17 Low-A innings in 2019 while spending the past three seasons in the Navy but was transferred from active duty to selective reserves earlier this year, allowing him to play baseball. He’s on the Phillies’ 15-day injured list with a back strain, and it’s tough to imagine him just diving into a Major League bullpen after spending three years away from the game. Still, Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski held that same title in Boston when the Red Sox drafted Song and has said since the Rule 5 Draft that he feels Song’s pure talent is worth the risk.
  • Wilking Rodriguez, RHP, Cardinals (from Yankees): The 33-year-old Rodriguez’s incredible story hit an abrupt roadblock when he underwent shoulder surgery earlier this month. It’s been eight years since he last pitched in affiliated ball and nine years since his lone MLB cup of coffee with the Royals. Since then, he’s been a staple in the Venezuelan Winter League and the Mexican League. The Yankees signed Rodriguez to a minor league deal last summer, but because he wasn’t on the 40-man roster and had enough prior professional experience, he was Rule 5-eligible and scooped up by the Cardinals. They can retain his rights into next season but would need to carry him on the 40-man roster all winter in order to do so, and he wouldn’t be optionable to until he spent 90 days on the active MLB roster next season. That scenario seems highly unlikely.

Currently in DFA Limbo

  • Gus Varland, RHP, Brewers (from Dodgers): Varland wowed the Brewers in spring training when he punched out 17 of his 35 opponents (48.6%), but he landed on the injured list on April 16 — three days after MLBTR’s last Rule 5 check-in — when he was struck by a comebacker. The diagnosis was a hand contusion, and Varland was back on a big league mound about three weeks later. The 26-year-old posted a 2.25 ERA through his first eight innings this year but did so with just five strikeouts against five walks. On May 15, the Cardinals clobbered him for nine runs on six hits (two homers) and three walks with one strikeout in just two-thirds of an inning. That outing sent Varland’s ERA careening to its current 11.42 mark. The Brewers designated him for assignment the next day. He’ll have to pass through waivers unclaimed — he’d retain all of his Rule 5 restrictions if claimed by another club — and offered back to the Dodgers after that.

Already Returned to their Former Club

  • Nick Avila, RHP: Avila allowed eight runs in ten spring innings with the White Sox and was returned to the Giants, for whom he posted an electric 1.14 ERA in 55 1/3 innings between High-A and Double-A last season.
  • Andrew Politi, RHP: Politi was tagged for six runs on nine hits and three walks in 8 2/3 spring innings with the Orioles, who returned him to the Red Sox late in camp.
  • Jose Lopez, LHP: Lopez walked five batters in six frames with the Padres this spring, and the Friars returned him to the Rays on March 27.
  • Chris Clarke, RHP: The towering 6’7″ Clarke faced the tough task of cracking a deep Mariners bullpen and was returned to the Cubs late in spring training after allowing four runs on eight hits and a pair of walks in 6 2/3 innings.
  • Zach Greene, RHP: The Mets plucked Greene out of the Yankees’ system, but in 4 2/3 innings during spring training he yielded seven runs with more walks (six) than strikeouts (five). The Mets returned him to the Yankees on March 14.

Yankees Place Jose Trevino On IL With Hamstring Strain, Recall Ben Rortvedt

By | at

The Yankees announced that they have placed catcher Jose Trevino on the 10-day injured list with a left hamstring strain. Fellow backstop Ben Rortvedt has been recalled to take his place on the active roster.

Trevino, 30, had spent the 2018-2021 seasons as a part-time catcher with the Rangers before the Yankees acquired him going into 2022. He already had a reputation as a glove-first backstop, tallying eight Defensive Runs Saved with Texas in 2021. He took that part of his game to new heights with the Yanks last year, accruing 21 DRS for the season, winning a Gold Glove and a Fielding Bible award. He also hit 11 home runs and slashed .248/.283/.388 for a wRC+ of 91.

He hasn’t quite been able to maintain that pace so far this year, as he’s hitting just .219/.265/.333 and his defense has been around league average. Nonetheless, it’s a frustrating development for the Yankees, for whom injuries have become an ongoing concern. Trevino joins Josh Donaldson, Oswald Peraza, Giancarlo Stanton, Carlos Rodon, Luis Severino, Frankie Montas, Luis Gil, Scott Effross, Ian Hamilton, Tommy Kahnle, Jonathan Loáisiga and Lou Trivino, who are all currently on the injured list, while they’ve also seen Aaron Judge and Harrison Bader miss some time. Despite all of those absences, the club is still hanging tough with a 25-20 record so far, but continually shuffling the deck chairs could become a growing concern over a long season unless the health situation improves.

As for Rortvedt, he was also acquired prior to the 2022 season, coming over from the Twins alongside Donaldson and Isiah Kiner-Falefa, but has yet to appear in a game as a Yankee mostly due to injuries. He suffered an oblique injury in the spring of 2022 then underwent arthroscopic knee surgery in April. He was eventually activated in August but was optioned to the minors. He did get recalled to the big league club in September but was optioned three days later without getting into a game. This year, Rortvedt underwent surgery in February on an aneurysm near the posterior in his left shoulder that was affecting his circulation. He began the year on the injured list and was activated a week ago but optioned to the minors again.

Given all of those hurdles, a running joke has developed among some Yankee fans that Rortvedt doesn’t even exist, but it now seems inevitable he will make his team debut at some point in the near future. He’ll likely be in the backup role in support of Kyle Higashioka, who had been backing up Trevino until now. Rortvedt has 39 games of MLB experience, which came with the Twins back 2021. He hit just .169/.229/.281 but earned 5 DRS in that short time and has positive framing metrics.

The Yankees also announced that Kahnle will begin a rehab assignment today with Single-A Tampa. The 33-year-old was signed in the offseason to a two-year, $11.5MM deal but has been on the IL all year so far due to biceps tendinitis. He was eventually transferred to the 60-day IL, meaning he won’t be eligible to return until next week but will likely need some time to get into game shape anyway. He has a career 3.78 ERA and 29.3% strikeout rate but has only thrown 13 2/3 innings since the end of 2019 due to various injuries.

Yankees Plan To Activate Luis Severino On Sunday

By | at

The Yankees are planning to activate right-hander Luis Severino from the injured list on Sunday, manager Aaron Boone said last night (Twitter link via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). He’ll make his season debut against the Reds after spending the first quarter of the year on the shelf with a lat strain. The news on injured reliever Ian Hamilton is a bit more ominous, as Boone revealed that the right-hander is back in New York to undergo an MRI after being placed on the 15-day IL due to a groin strain.

Severino, 29, will provide a sizable boost to a Yankees rotation that has also been without Carlos Rodon all season and recently lost Domingo German to a 10-game suspension after he was ejected from his most recent start on the heels of a foreign substance check from the umpiring crew. The Yankees have turned to former top prospect Clarke Schmidt and right-hander Jhony Brito in the rotation for much of the season, but neither has pitched well.

Despite the sub-par showings from Brito (5.20 ERA) and Schmidt (6.30), Yankees starters still rank 14th in the Majors with a collective 4.30 ERA. Gerrit Cole’s sensational start to the year skews that number, however. He and German are the only Yankees starters with an ERA under 5.00 at the moment, making Severino’s return of particular importance.

Severino, of course, has proven capable of pitching at an ace-caliber level when healthy. Dating back to the 2017 season, he boasts a 3.10 ERA with a 28.8% strikeout rate and 6.6% walk rate. The “when healthy” caveat carries plenty of weight with regard to Severino, however, as that impressive ERA and K-BB% profile has come in a sample of just 504 2/3 innings — including just 120 frames since the conclusion of the 2018 season. Severino pitched just 12 innings in 2019 due to shoulder and lat injuries, and he underwent Tommy John surgery in February of 2020. His 2021 comeback efforts were largely derailed by a Grade 2 groin strain and some recurring tightness in his shoulder. He pitched just six innings that year.

The 2022 season was Severino’s healthiest since he topped 190 innings in both the 2017-18 seasons, but he still managed only 19 starts and 102 innings of work due to a strain of the same right latissimus dorsi that has plagued him in 2023. The Yankees’ obvious hope is that the issue can be firmly put in the rearview mirror now, but only time will tell. Severino has made a pair of minor league rehab starts, lasting 3 1/3 innings apiece and holding opponents to three runs on eight hits and a pair of walks with six punchouts.

A healthy return will be of great importance not just from a team perspective but also through a personal lens. The Yankees exercised a $15MM option on Severino back in November, and he’s slated to become a free agent for the first time this coming offseason. The hope of pitching a full slate of 30-plus starts is already out the window, but if Severino can avoid the injured list from this point forth, he’ll still be viewed as one of the top arms in the class — obvious health risks notwithstanding.

For the time being, Severino will slot into the rotation along with Cole, Schmidt, Brito and a struggling Nestor Cortes (5.53 ERA in 42 1/3 innings). The team hasn’t gone on record to provide a firm timetable on Rodon, though Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported earlier in the week that a six-week timetable is viewed as a best-case scenario. That seems to generally align with the Yankees’ latest updates on the lefty, as Boone noted to Hoch and others that he’s recently thrown from 90 feet without incident. Rodon will still likely need multiple bullpen sessions, some live batting practice sessions and multiple minor league rehab starts before he’s a realistic option, so a return late next month indeed seems plausible if he can avoid further setbacks.

Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top