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Vince Velasquez Undergoes Elbow Surgery; Expected To Miss Roughly A Year

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6:36pm: Pittsburgh director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk indicated Velasquez was likely to miss 11-12 months, writes Justice delos Santos of MLB.com. He won’t been throwing until around November. Obviously, that’ll cut into the righty’s availability for the first half of the 2024 campaign.

3:55pm: Pirates right-hander Vince Velasquez has undergone season-ending elbow surgery, reports Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Velasquez, 31, was signed by the Pirates this winter to a one-year, $3.15MM deal. The club was likely hoping that he could provide a stable source of veteran innings, alongside fellow offseason signee Rich Hill, as they also gave auditions to younger pitchers like Mitch Keller, Roansy Contreras, Johan Oviedo and Luis Ortiz.

The plan worked fairly well for a while, as Velasquez got out to a strong start. He made eight starts for the Bucs with a 3.86 ERA, striking out 22.8% of batters faced against an 8.6% walk rate. He was placed on the injured list in early May due to elbow inflammation and came back later that month. However, he departed his return start after just two innings due to renewed discomfort in that elbow.

It was reported last week that Velasquez would eventually be moved to the 60-day injured list, which seemed to point to a significant absence. That has now come to fruition with today’s news that he required some sort of serious surgery. It’s not clear exactly what sort of surgery took place, but it will apparently end his 2023 and perhaps impact his 2024 as well if it were something as serious as Tommy John surgery, though further details will undoubtedly come out in time.

It’s surely a frustrating development for both the player and the team. Velasquez has been fairly inconsistent in his career, with his ERA oscillating between a low of 4.12 in 2016 and a high of 6.30 in 2021. Though it was a fairly small sample, his 2023 was on pace to potentially be his strongest yet, though it now appears to be done. He will be a free agent this winter, though the level of interest he receives will be affected by the severity of the surgery and his health going forward.

For the Bucs, this will be a blow to their rotation depth as they are hovering in the playoff race for the first time in years after a lengthy rebuild. They are currently 32-29 and holding the last Wild Card spot in the National League. If they manage to stay afloat in that race, the diminished depth will present them with a challenge. Velasquez also would have been a logical trade candidate if they fell back in the race given his impending free agency, though that won’t even be a call the front office has to make anymore.

Red Sox Transfer Chris Sale To 60-Day Injured List

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The Red Sox announced a series of roster moves today, some of which were previously reported, though some were new developments. Outfielder Adam Duvall has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list while left-hander Joe Jacques has had his contract selected. To open two active roster spots, lefty Matt Dermody has been designated for assignment while infielder Enmanuel Valdéz was optioned to Triple-A. To open one more 40-man roster spot, lefty Chris Sale has been transferred to the 60-day injured list. The Sox informed reporters, including Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe, that Sale has a stress reaction in his shoulder blade. He won’t require surgery but he will be shut down for three to four weeks before being reevaluated.

Sale, 34, was once one of the most dominant pitchers in the league but he has been severely held back by injuries in recent years. He averaged over 200 innings per season from 2012 to 2017 but was held to roughly 150 per year in the two following seasons. He made trips to the injured list in 2018 due to shoulder inflammation then dealt with elbow inflammation the following year. He ultimately required Tommy John surgery in March of 2020, causing him to miss that entire season.

He returned late in 2021 and was able to make nine starts that year. It was hoped he would be set for a return to full-time work in 2022 but he dealt with a stress reaction in his ribs that kept him out until July. He was hit by a comebacker in his second start, fracturing a finger. While on the injured list again, he broke his wrist in a bicycle accident that ended his season.

Here in 2023, it was again hoped that he could perhaps return to a regular starting role. That was the case for a while, as he made 11 starts with a 4.58 ERA, but he landed on the injured list again on June 2 due to shoulder inflammation. He’ll now be ineligible to return until August, though even that seems contingent on a bit of luck in the health department. The aforementioned shutdown period will keep him out of action for most of the rest of June. Even if he’s healthy after that, he’ll need most of July to build back up and go on a rehab assignment.

In the short term, the Red Sox will be figuring out how to proceed without Sale. They have recently been running out a group with veteran James Paxton alongside younger pitchers like Brayan Bello, Garrett Whitlock, Tanner Houck and Kutter Crawford, while struggles from Corey Kluber and Nick Pivetta got both of those guys pushed into the bullpen.

In the long-term, the Sox will have to wonder what they can expect from Sale going forward. He is playing this year on a salary of $27.5MM and will make that same figure next year as part of the extension he and the club signed going into 2019. There’s also a $20MM club option for 2025 with no buyout. Due to his carousel of injuries, he’s pitched just over 100 innings since the end of the 2019 campaign.

Lance McCullers Jr. Headed For MRI After Experiencing Setback

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Astros starter Lance McCullers Jr. had a setback in his rehab from a forearm strain, general manager Dana Brown told reporters this evening (relayed by Chandler Rome of the Athletic and Matt Young of the Houston Chronicle). He’ll head for an MRI tomorrow and the team is expected to provide an update next week.

It’s an ominous development for a pitcher who has had an unfortunate series of arm issues over the past few years. McCullers underwent Tommy John surgery in late 2018 and missed the entire subsequent season. He was healthy and effective for most of 2020 and ’21 but suffered a flexor strain in his forearm during the latter postseason. That kept him out until the following August, limiting him to 11 combined starts between the regular season and the club’s World Series run.

McCullers’ latest issue arose over the offseason. He was diagnosed with a muscle strain in his forearm and shut down for a few months. His ramp-up process hit a snag in late May when continued soreness led the club to scale him back from bullpen sessions to flat-ground work. According to Brown, even those throwing sessions were causing McCullers discomfort, necessitating further imaging.

It’s too soon to know whether McCullers will need to go back under the knife. He and the organization are surely hopeful they’ll be able to avoid surgery. Yet it’s clear that McCullers’ return won’t be imminent. Brown acknowledged this development could play into their approach to the trade deadline.

“Even if (McCullers) could come back, we would have to build him up and it’s going to take a little while to do that, so we have to get our mind set and keep the thought process of strengthening the rotation,” the GM told the media (relayed by Young). “If there’s a deal that we can do, we’ll entertain it. But at the end of the day, our top three guys, make no mistake, are really good.”

Each of Cristian Javier, Framber Valdez and Hunter Brown has a sub-4.00 ERA with a strikeout rate north of 26%. Valdez and Javier are both allowing fewer than three earned runs per nine innings and have multi-year track records of top-of-the-rotation production. The rookie Hunter Brown isn’t quite as proven, though he’s a former top prospect who has hit the ground running with a 3.05 ERA, 28.1% strikeout rate and 54.9% grounder percentage over his first 88 2/3 MLB innings.

The Astros could feel comfortable running any member of that trio out for a postseason start. The rest of the staff has taken a number of hits over the past few months. Luis Garcia was lost for the season to Tommy John surgery. McCullers’ status is in question. José Urquidy is unlikely to be back before the All-Star Break due to a shoulder issue. Brandon Bielak and J.P France have stepped into the starting five and pitched fairly well themselves, though neither player misses many bats nor had much MLB starting experience before this season.

Houston enters play Thursday at 36-26. They’re in possession of a Wild Card spot but 4 1/2 back of the Rangers as they look to defend their AL West crown. Losing McCullers, Garcia and Urquidy certainly hasn’t helped their cause in trying to hold off a scorching Texas club, but the rotation has more than held up its end of the bargain. Astros’ starters rank third in the majors with a 3.23 ERA and fourth with 350 2/3 innings pitched.

The offense, on the other hand, has been uncharacteristically middling. Houston is tied for 13th in runs and ranks 20th in on-base percentage (.316) and 17th in slugging (.399). Dana Brown unsurprisingly acknowledged the front office was open to ways to addressing the offense on the trade market. Which positions the club targets could be determined by how things play out over the next seven weeks.

First base, catcher and whichever of left field or designated hitter hasn’t been manned by Yordan Alvarez have been their biggest problem areas. There’s at least some question about whether they’d upgrade at all three spots, though. The Astros love Martín Maldonado as a defensive presence behind the dish and have tolerated lackluster offense at the position for years. They just signed José Abreu to a three-year free agent deal last winter; benching him a few months into that contract would be a tough pill to swallow, though he’s now sitting on a ghastly .212/.273/.261 line. Michael Brantley could be an option for left field/DH at some point. He has yet to play this season as he recovers from last summer’s shoulder procedure, but Brown noted today that he’s hitting in batting practice and throwing in drills.

D-backs GM Mike Hazen On Trade Deadline Needs

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At 36-25, the Diamondbacks not only sit a surprising 11 games over .500 but also hold a one-game lead over the Dodgers for first place in the National League West. While the D-backs’ young core made them a popular sleeper pick heading into the 2023 season, few anticipated that more than two months into the year, they’d hold the fifth-best record in baseball and the second-best mark in the National League.

Huge performances by Rookie of the Year favorite Corbin Carroll, ace Zac Gallen, veteran righty Merrill Kelly, former top prospect Geraldo Perdomo, trade acquisition Lourdes Gurriel Jr., and underrated slugger Christian Walker have not only placed the D-backs among the upper echelon of teams in the National League — they’ve created an air of staying power. Arizona’s offense ranks in the top six of all MLB teams in terms of batting average, slugging percentage, runs scored and stolen bases.

If there’s an area the team is currently lacking, it’s likely on the pitching staff. General manager Mike Hazen acknowledged as much last night in an appearance on The Show podcast with Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Asked where his club might look to upgrade as we move past the “early” portion of the season and begin to inch closer to the annual summer trading bonanza, the seventh-year general manager spoke with relative candor.

“Certainly pitching,” said Hazen. “We’ve been playing very dramatic baseball lately. We either win it or lose it in the ninth inning, and that’s not a great way for a baseball team to go through life. We’d like it to be 6-0 in the seventh inning and then just ease on through the last six or nine outs of the game. That has not been happening to us, so we’re going to need to address the pitching, for sure. From a starting depth standpoint to get through the last four months of the season and/or to shore up our bullpen. We play good defense. I don’t know that our run-scoring is going to stay at the clip it’s staying at right now, which is going to put more pressure on our pitching staff. I think that’s an area that almost every contender will probably have to address, but it’s certainly one we’re going to need to address.”

For all the Diamondbacks’ offensive success, they’ve been a middle-of-the-pack unit in terms of pitching — both in the rotation (4.52 ERA, 17th in MLB) and in the bullpen (4.09 ERA, 19th in MLB). The rotation numbers are a bit skewed by some early struggles from the since-released Madison Bumgarner, but there’s no getting around the fact that the Snakes are relying on a top-heavy starting staff. Gallen and Kelly have been nothing short of brilliant, both sitting on sub-3.00 ERAs through more than 70 innings. However, they’re not just the team’s only two starters with a sub-3.00 ERA — they’re the only Arizona starting pitchers with an ERA shy of 4.50.

Young arms like Tommy Henry, Ryne Nelson, Drey Jameson and Brandon Pfaadt have not performed as well as hoped in the 2023 season. Bumgarner pitched to a calamitous 10.26 ERA before being released, and fellow veteran Zach Davies has made just four starts with a 5.40 ERA this season, owing to a left oblique strain that shelved him for more than six weeks. Each of Henry, Nelson, Pfaadt, Davies and Jameson have posted below-average strikeout and walk rates when pitching out of the rotation, and of that same bunch, only Davies has managed to keep the ball in the park at an acceptable rate (0.98 HR/9).

The bullpen situation isn’t nearly as dire. Offseason signees Andrew Chafin, Miguel Castro and Scott McGough have all performed well, with Chafin’s peripherals lending particular credence to his status as a top-notch reliever. Holdovers Kevin Ginkel and Kyle Nelson both have sub-3.00 ERAs, and the D-backs will soon welcome back one of their top 2022 relievers, as lefty Joe Mantiply is on a minor league rehab assignment after missing the past month with a hamstring strain. Mantiply has only thrown 7 2/3 frames this year due to that injury and a bout with shoulder inflammation, but he’s been effective in that brief time. Meanwhile, DFA pickup Jose Ruiz and minor league signee Austin Adams have each impressed (albeit through only 4 1/3 innings for the recently selected Adams).

That doesn’t rule out the possibility of Arizona deepening the relief corps, particularly if the supply of starting pitchers is scant and asking prices prove prohibitive. However, it also seems fair to expect that rotation depth will be the priority for Hazen and his staff.

The D-backs won’t simply go into cruise control with a strong offense, however. Arizona ranks fifth in MLB with a .431 slugging percentage, but much of that is due to the team’s high batting average and glut of singles. The Diamondbacks’ 69 home runs as a team rank just 14th in MLB, and their team ISO (slugging minus batting average) is tied for ninth at .170.

Given that context, it’s perhaps not surprising that Hazen also acknowledged that the D-backs will be on the lookout for a boost in the power department. Where in the lineup or at which position on the diamond that upgrade would come remains an open question, as Hazen noted that “one through nine, I think we have a fairly consistent lineup with good hitters.”

Still, adding “a bit of slug” to the lineup will be another priority, and Hazen figures to carry a fairly open mind toward that goal, given the versatility of a number of his current contributors. Ketel Marte, Josh Rojas and Perdomo all have experience at multiple positions, while both Jake McCarthy and Carroll are capable of playing all three outfield spots.

Of course, the deadline is still more than seven weeks away, and injuries and/or a downturn in any singular player’s performance could open a more glaring need in the lineup. As it stands, the focus could well be on production over position. It’s unlikely we’ll see many — if any — major trades in the month of June, but D-backs fans can be encouraged in hearing their baseball operations leader voicing a clear intent to improve the club in multiple areas as we get into the meat of the schedule.

Jacob deGrom To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

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Rangers right-hander Jacob deGrom will undergo Tommy John surgery to repair a tear in his ulnar collateral ligament, reports Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. Grant clarifies in a second tweet that the full extent of the surgery will be determined once the surgery begins. That leaves open the possibility of the internal brace procedure, which is slightly less severe in nature, but the righty is looking at an absence of at least a year either way.

The news is obviously terrible news for deGrom, the Rangers and the baseball world at large. deGrom, who turns 35 later this month, had established himself as arguably the best pitcher alive with the Mets in his career. From 2014 to 2020, he tossed 1169 2/3 innings with a 2.61 ERA, 29.2% strikeout rate, 6.1% walk rate and 45.1% ground ball rate. He won back-to-back Cy Young Awards in 2018 and 2019, tossing over 200 innings in each campaign with a 1.70 ERA in the former and a 2.43 mark in the latter.

The narrative since that time, however, has been dominating by concerns around his health. In 2021, he had a miniscule 1.08 ERA through 15 starts but landed on the injured list due to some forearm tightness. There seemed to be some disagreement about the nature of his injury, as Mets president Sandy Alderson said that deGrom had been dealing with a low-grade tear in the UCL in his pitching elbow, though deGrom insisted his ligament was “perfectly fine.”

That was a concerning set of statements in its own right, but especially so considering that deGrom had previously undergone TJS as a prospect. He didn’t return at any point in that 2021 season but seemed to be healthy coming into 2022. He then suffered a stress reaction in his scapula during Spring Training and missed more time but was eventually able to return in August of last year. He made 11 starts for the Mets down the stretch and another in the postseason, finishing the season healthy. He had a 3.08 ERA in those regular season starts, striking out 42.7% of opponents against a walk rate of just 3.3%.

deGrom still had one year and $30.5MM remaining on his contract, as well as a club option for 2024, but had long maintained that he intended to trigger his opt-out and test free agency. He did just that and eventually landed a five-year, $185MM deal with the Rangers. He made six starts for the club here in 2023 with a 2.67 ERA but landed on the injured list at the end of April due to elbow inflammation. He was transferred to the 60-day IL yesterday, which didn’t necessarily portend doom since he had already been out of action for over a month. But now the full truth has been revealed and it was an ominous sign after all.

The Rangers are off to a great start here this year, currently 39-20 and leading the American League West. Still, they were undoubtedly hoping to have deGrom’s elite skills back on the roster for a late-season playoff race and theoretical postseason appearance. But they will now have to proceed without him in those plans. Currently, the rotation consists of Martín Pérez, Andrew Heaney, Nathan Eovaldi, Jon Gray and Dane Dunning. Today’s likely increases the chances that they look for rotation upgrades this summer, though their ultimate appetite for a move like that will depend on the health and performance of the remaining members.

For deGrom, this news will have an impact on his contract, specifically related to the conditional option for 2028. The contract states that, if he undergoes Tommy John surgery or has an elbow or shoulder injury that leads to an absence of 130 days in a single season or a full calendar year absence over multiple seasons, a club option will kick in. It’s valued at $20MM but could jump to $30MM if deGrom has a top five finish in Cy Young voting at any point or tallies 625 innings over the course of the deal. It would go up to $37MM if he gets in the top five of Cy Young voting three times or gets to 725 frames. If he didn’t have a significant injury, he could have vested that $37MM figure by tossing just 160 innings in 2027 and getting a top five finish in Cy Young voting that year.

Now the major question for deGrom will be how he bounces back in 2024 and beyond. Coming back from a Tommy John surgery and succeeding isn’t unprecedented, even for a relatively older pitcher like deGrom. Just last year, Justin Verlander came back from the procedure and had Cy Young-winning season for the Astros at the age of 39. deGrom will be turning 35 in about two weeks and will therefore be about 36 when he’s attempting to come back. That makes him a couple of years younger than Verlander was but it’s not exactly the same situation since that was Verlander’s first TJS and this will be a second for deGrom, which tends to have a lower success rate at returning pitchers to their previous states.

In time, more information will surely be forthcoming about deGrom’s progress and how the Rangers plan to proceed without him. But the unavoidable fact of today is that one of the best pitchers in baseball will be out of action for at least a year and possibly even longer.

Yankees To Place Aaron Judge On Injured List

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The Yankees are placing defending AL MVP Aaron Judge on the 10-day injured list, manager Aaron Boone told the team’s beat after tonight’s loss to the White Sox (relayed by Erik Boland of Newsday and Brendan Kuty of the Athletic). Judge has a bruise and ligament sprain in his injured right big toe.

Judge suffered the injury on Saturday. Pursuing a J.D. Martinez fly ball to the warning track, he crashed into the right field wall. The 6’7″ outfielder knocked through the wall with his upper body but struck his foot against its concrete base. He finished out that game but hasn’t played since upon reporting toe discomfort. (Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reported this evening the Dodgers are adding a layer of padding at the bottom of the wall in response to the injury.)

The Yankees can backdate Judge’s IL placement to Sunday, so he’ll only officially be out for another week. Whether he’ll be able to return when first eligible isn’t clear, though he appears to have avoided a fracture that’d have raised the specter of a particularly lengthy absence. Judge has already been on the IL once this season. He returned after a minimal stay last month with a right hip strain.

Frustrating as the health issues have been, Judge is again playing at an MVP level. While he was never expected to repeat last year’s record-setting 62 homer season, he’s barely taken a step back. Judge carries a .291/.404/.674 slash over 213 trips to the plate. Among hitters with 200+ plate appearances, he ranks sixth in on-base percentage, second in homers and first in slugging.

New York is already without Harrison Bader due to injury. The Yankees’ outfield looks particularly rough with Judge joining him on the shelf. Left field has been a revolving door all season. New York ran an outfield trio of Jake Bauers, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Willie Calhoun this evening. Oswaldo Cabrera is on the MLB bench, while Franchy Cordero is on optional assignment and could be recalled to replace Judge on the roster.

Boone also told reporters that starter Nestor Cortes has been diagnosed with a strain in his throwing shoulder (via Jack Curry of the YES Network). Boone had already said Cortes was headed to the 15-day IL due to shoulder discomfort. That’ll be made official tomorrow with Randy Vásquez expected to be recalled to start in his place. The Yankees haven’t provided an indication of how long they expect Cortes to be sidelined.

Blue Jays Option Alek Manoah

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The Blue Jays announced a series of roster moves today, the most notable of which is that right-hander Alek Manoah has been optioned to the Florida Complex League. The club also optioned right-hander Jay Jackson and infielder Ernie Clement. To fill those three roster spots, righty Chris Bassitt has been reinstated from the paternity list, infielder Santiago Espinal has been reinstated from the injured list and right-hander Bowden Francis has had his contract selected. To open a spot on the 40-man for Francis, righty Zach Thompson was designated for assignment.

The 2023 season has been a stunning fall from grace for Manoah, 25, who had previously been on a meteoric rise. The Jays selected him 11th overall in the 2019 draft and it didn’t take him long to make it up to the major leagues. He made six Low-A starts in his draft year, then the minor leagues were wiped out by the pandemic in 2020. In 2021, he was sent to Triple-A and allowed just a single earned run through three starts before getting the call to the majors.

It was an aggressive move given his lack of minor league innings but Manoah quickly justified it. He eventually posted a 3.22 ERA over 111 2/3 innings in that season, finishing eighth in American League Rookie of the Year voting. He took things to another level last year with a 2.24 ERA over 196 2/3 frames, striking out 22.9% of opponents against a 6.5% walk rate. He finished third in the AL Cy Young vote, trailing only Justin Verlander and Dylan Cease.

He seemed to be an ace in the making and was given the Opening Day nod for the Jays here in 2023. Unfortunately, just about everything has soured for him this year. His strikeout rate is down to 17% and his walk rate has more than doubled to 14.9%. His ERA on the year is 6.36, almost triple his earned run rate from last year. It’s been speculated for weeks as to whether some kind of action was necessary but he seemed to finally put the writing on the wall last night when he allowed six earned runs against the Astros while only recording a single out, forcing the bullpen to absorb 8 2/3 innings.

After that trouncing, manager John Schneider said that “everything is on the table” in how to move forward. It seems that wasn’t just bluster as the club will now send Manoah to their Florida Complex facilities to see if he can figure out what went wrong and how to fix it. The length of that process could potentially have implications for Manoah’s future earning power. He came into this season with one year and 30 days of MLB service time. A new “year” flips over at 172 days, so he’s already gone over the two-year mark, but this move makes it less likely he’ll qualify for Super Two status at season’s end.

Of course, that’s likely just a minor detail right now. In the grand scheme of things, the long-term trajectory that once seemed so straightforward suddenly seems incredibly murky. Both Manoah and the Blue Jays will undoubtedly be keenly focused on figuring out how to get him back to being a viable major leaguer, for this season and for the rest of his career.

In the meantime, the Jays will now have to patch over a hole in their rotation. Kevin Gausman, Bassitt, José Berríos and Yusei Kikuchi should have the next four days spoken for but the Jays figure to require another starter by Saturday. It’s possible that Francis, 27, could be a factor there, either as a traditional starter or part of a bullpen game of some kind. Drafted by the Brewers in 2017, he came over to the Blue Jays alongside Trevor Richards in the 2021 deal that sent Rowdy Tellez to Milwaukee.

Between those two organizations, Francis posted a 3.93 ERA in the minors in 2021, split between Double-A and Triple-A. That got him a spot on Toronto’s 40-man roster in the winter to protect him from being selected in the Rule 5 draft. He struggled in 2022 and lost his roster spot, posting a 6.59 ERA in Triple-A, though he did make his major league debut with a scoreless outing that lasted two thirds of an inning.

Despite that rough year, he’s had some decent momentum since. He joined Criollos de Caguas in Puerto Rico for some time in winter ball, posting a 1.51 ERA in 35 2/3 innings there. He then had a 1.08 ERA in 13 Spring Training innings before heading to Triple-A Buffalo. He made a couple of starts before going on the minor league injured list but has been back in action for a couple of weeks now and has a 2.89 ERA in the minors so far this year. The Jays haven’t made any announcements about their future rotation plans, but it’s possible that it could be contingent on whether or not Francis is needed before Saturday. With the bullpen fairly taxed after Manoah’s start last night, he could be pushed into action sooner if another starter struggles this week.

One player who apparently won’t be an option to join the rotation is Thompson. He came over to the Blue Jays from the Pirates in an offseason trade but has a 6.89 ERA through 11 Triple-A starts on the year so far. His 8.8% walk rate is fairly average but his 14.4% strikeout rate is well below. He seemed to break out as a viable big league pitcher with the Marlins in 2021, posting a 3.24 ERA in 75 innings that year. But he struggled in 2022 after getting traded to the Pirates, registering a 5.18 ERA last year.

The Jays will now have one week to trade Thompson or pass him through waivers. His poor results both last year and this year will obviously temper interest, but he has past major league success and a full slate of options. With many teams around the league dealing with injuries and in need of pitching depth, he could still find some interest. If he were to clear waivers, he would not have the right to elect free agency since he doesn’t have three years of service time or a previous career outright.

Reds Promote Elly De La Cruz

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The Reds have called up one of the top prospects in baseball, announcing Tuesday that they’ve recalled infielder Elly De La Cruz from Triple-A Louisville. In a corresponding move, third baseman Nick Senzel is headed to the injured list with a right knee issue.

The promotion of the 21-year-old De La Cruz is the latest step in a Cincinnati youth movement that has seen the likes of Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, Alexis Diaz, Graham Ashcraft, Matt McLain and Andrew Abbott make their MLB debuts over the past 14 months. De La Cruz has arguably the highest ceiling of the entire group, and his first call to the Major will continue the efforts to usher in a new era of baseball at Great American Ball Park.

Cruz offers one of the most tantalizing blends of power and speed in the sport, evidenced by this year’s 12 home runs and 11 steals in 186 Triple-A plate appearances. He’s batting .297/.398/.633 with a 14% walk rate against a 26.9% strikeout rate in Louisville and has gained increasing notoriety for his Statcast-breaking exit velocities, sprint speed and arm strength at shortstop. Statcast has pegged his sprint speed as high as 31 ft/sec at times (which would rank first in the Majors), and he drew headlines for blistering three balls with exit velocities north of 116 mph in a single game earlier this season.

The 6’5″, 200-pound De La Cruz has been primarily a shortstop in his minor league career, but Cincinnati GM Nick Krall tells Jim Bowden of The Athletic that he’ll likely play both shortstop and third base in the big leagues (Twitter link). Despite his sizable frame, De La Cruz draws strong reviews for his defensive upside at shortstop. Cincinnati currently has McLain thriving at that position, however, so the switch-hitting De La Cruz could see more frequent action at third base, where Baseball America touts him as a potential plus-plus (i.e. 70-grade) defender.

Currently, De La Cruz ranks as the game’s No. 3 prospect at Baseball America, No. 4 at MLB.com and No. 5 at FanGraphs. De La Cruz occupied the top spot on Kiley McDaniel’s midseason update to his top-50 prospects over at ESPN, joining an elite tier of 60-FV prospects alongside the likes of Eury Perez, Marcelo Mayer, Jackson Holliday, Jackson Chourio and James Wood. “De La Cruz has continued to improve his polish at the plate while also continuing to show eye-popping 70- and 80-grade tools all over the field,” McDaniel wrote as part of that ranking.

The predominant concern with the switch-hitting De La Cruz is his penchant for swinging and missing. This year’s 26.9% strikeout rate is actually his lowest full-season mark to date; he’s fanned in over 30% of his plate appearances in each of his stops at Class-A, High-A and Double-A dating back to 2021. R.J. Anderson of CBS Sports points out that De La Cruz’s contact rate against while facing left-handed pitchers this season has been just 58%, underscoring the potential for some struggles in adjusting to big league opponents.

From a service time perspective, De La Cruz is being promoted late enough in the year that he won’t have any chance at organically accruing a full year of Major League service time. That technically puts him on track for free agency following the 2029 season, although for a prospect of this caliber, it’s certainly worth noting that with a top-two finish in National League Rookie of the Year voting, De La Cruz would still be awarded a full year of MLB service time thanks to provisions stipulated in the 2022-26 collective bargaining agreement. Should De La Cruz be in the Majors for good but not accrue that full year based on ROY voting, he’d accumulate 118 days of Major League service time in 2023, placing him on the cusp of Super Two status following the 2025 season.

De La Cruz’s early performance will have particular ramifications for Senzel once he’s deemed eligible to return. While a rough initial showing from De La Cruz could make it a rather straightforward call, in the event that the talented 21-year-old holds his own or seizes a spot in the same manner McLain has, Senzel’s role will become murky. The Reds moved him from center field back to third base this year and have thus far received a .258/.332/.380 batting line in 184 plate appearances. It’s not standout production but is at least solid, particularly with Senzel drawing respectable defensive grades in his return to the hot corner.

Cincinnati could opt to deploy Senzel in super-utility fashion, getting him looks at all three outfield spots in addition to third base, second base and perhaps designated hitter. But if De La Cruz hits the ground running — and arguably, even if he doesn’t — the time to get an extended look at him and McLain on the left side of the infield, opposite second baseman Jonathan India (whom the Reds have no inclination to trade), is nigh. The Reds are hopeful that said trio, along with versatile Spencer Steer and minor league slugger Christian Encarnacion-Strand, can comprise their infield of the future.

That group would leave very little in the way of regular playing time for Senzel, the former No. 2 overall draft pick and top prospect whose career has been repeatedly slowed by injuries. Senzel, who’ll turn 28 later this month, has two years of club control beyond the current season, which (speculatively speaking) could make him an intriguing trade candidate to other teams seeking MLB-ready position players. The Reds’ outfield doesn’t have this same looming influx of young talent, so it’s certainly possible that Senzel could just return to the grass on a full-time basis if De La Cruz earns a long-term look in the infield, but Senzel’s role with the club is murkier now than at any point in his still-young career.

Any such decisions are unlikely to be made in the immediate future, though, and the focus for Reds fans is surely on getting their first look at the ballyhooed De La Cruz. The great hope among a Reds fanbase that has felt jilted in the wake of yet another teardown/rebuild and repeated, poorly received public comments from team CEO Phil Castellini, is that between this wave of young infielders and starting pitchers, a return to relevance in the NL Central could happen by next year at the latest — if not as soon as this summer.

Red Sox Designate Raimel Tapia For Assignment

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The Red Sox announced Monday that they’ve reinstated infielder Christian Arroyo from the injured list and, in a corresponding move, designated outfielder Raimel Tapia for assignment.

The veteran Tapia, 29, was non-tendered by the Blue Jays last winter and signed a minor league deal with the Red Sox, who selected his contract prior to Opening Day. He’s appeared in 39 games thus far and tallied 97 plate appearances in Boston, batting .264/.333/.368 with a homer, four doubles, a triple and six stolen bases (in seven attempts). He’s drawn nine walks and fanned 19 times along the way, giving him slightly better-than-average rates in both departments.

Tapia has played all three outfield spots in Boston but has primarily been a left fielder in his big league career — most of which has been spent with the Rockies. He’s drawn solid, if unspectacular grades in left field and in center field, though defensive metrics aren’t particularly keen on his right field prowess. He’s been average or a tick worse across the board in the outfield this season per each of Defensive Runs Saved, Ultimate Zone Rating and Outs Above Average.

With some outfield versatility, above-average contact and above-average speed, Tapia has been a solid enough fourth outfielder in Boston, even with a glaring lack of power. That’s generally par for the course for the speedster, who has never topped nine home runs in a big league season and hasn’t been deemed a strong enough defender by any of the Rockies, Jays or Red Sox to run out in center field on a regular or even semi-regular basis.

Tapia can certainly provide value, but as a primarily left-field option without much power and with notable platoon splits (.105/.190/.105 versus lefties in 2023; .275/.305/.361 career), he’s perhaps a bit more limited than one might expect with a cursory glance at his batting line and 89th percentile sprint speed (per Statcast). It’s still at least somewhat surprising to see the Red Sox move on in this fashion, although with an all-left-handed-hitting outfield mix of Masataka Yoshida, Jarren Duran and Alex Verdugo, Tapia’s lefty bat might well have been deemed a suboptimal fit. The right-handed-hitting Rob Refsnyder offers a more natural complement in that regard.

The minor league deal Tapia signed over the winter contained a $2MM base salary, so any team that claims him or acquires him would need to be comfortable picking up the remainder of that prorated bill. Boston could always include some cash to help facilitate a trade, and a trade is surely the team’s preferred option, as Tapia has more than five years of MLB service and can thus reject an outright assignment while retaining the entirety of the salary still owed to him. The Red Sox will have a week to trade Tapia, attempt to pass him through outright waivers, or release him.

Mets Designate Tomas Nido For Assignment, Activate Omar Narvaez

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11:53am: The Mets are hopeful of working out a trade involving Nido before his DFA window expires, tweets Mike Puma of the New York Post. They’ll have five days to do so before Nido must be placed on either outright or release waivers.

11:35am: The Mets have formally announced Nido’s DFA. Narvaez has been reinstated from the injured list in a corresponding move.

11:15am: The Mets are expected to designate catcher Tomas Nido for assignment and move to a catching tandem of young Francisco Alvarez and veteran Omar Narvaez, tweets Andy Martino of SNY. Narvaez, who’s been out since early April due to a calf strain, has played six minor league rehab games and has been trending toward a return to the big league roster.

Nido, 29, inked a two-year deal to buy out his final two arbitration seasons this offseason. That contract guaranteed him a total of $3.7MM. He’s now just 15 days shy of reaching five years of MLB service time, at which point he’d have been able to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency while still retaining the entirety of that guaranteed salary. However, because he’ll fall shy of five years of service if placed on outright waivers, he’d forfeit the remainder of that salary upon rejecting an assignment to the minors.

The timing of Narvaez’s return likely played a larger role in the decision to DFA Nido, but the fact that the Mets can make this move now and quite likely retain Nido because of that contractual situation was surely a consideration. It’s unlikely that another club would pick up the remainder of this year’s $1.6MM salary and all of next year’s $2.1MM salary when Nido has struggled to a .125/.153/.125 batting line through 61 plate appearances this season.

The Mets would’ve been on the hook for the majority of that money regardless, but if they can’t work out a trade, they’ll now be able to stash Nido in Triple-A as a depth option in hopes that he can get back on track. Given that Narvaez has an opt-out in his two-year contract following the current season, the possibility of retaining Nido at an affordable rate through the 2024 campaign likely holds some additional appeal.

Prior to this season — one in which he was on the injured list due to vision-related issues — Nido has been a solid, albeit glove-first backup option behind the plate in Queens. From 2020-22, the former eighth-round pick tallied an even 500 plate appearances while posting a .236/.275/.338 batting line. That was about 26% worse than the league-average hitter and about 15% worse than the average catcher, by measure of wRC+.

On the other side of the ball, Nido ranked among the game’s best. He piled up a huge 18 Defensive Runs Saved in that stretch despite logging just 1192 innings behind the plate, and he rated among the game’s top backstops in terms of pitch framing as well. After struggling with throwing out runners early in his career, Nido posted a sensational 57% caught-stealing rate in 2021 and sat at 29.8% from 2021-22. He’s just 2-for-13 in 2023 under the new rules and while dealing with his reported vision troubles. Statcast’s new Blocking Runs Above Average metric pegs Nido 22nd in MLB dating back to 2018 despite having far fewer chances than many of the names ahead of him in that cumulative metric. On a per-game basis, he’s tied for 19th in the Majors among qualified catchers (since 2018).

All told, Nido is a light-hitting, quality defensive catcher who’s signed at a generally reasonable rate. Teams tend to bypass taking on even modest sums — particularly multi-year commitments — via waivers, so the likelihood remains that if things get to that point, Nido could stick in the Mets organization. In the days leading up to when he’ll have to be placed on waivers, however, the Mets can discuss trade scenarios and perhaps offer to kick in some cash to sweeten the pot. If he hasn’t been traded within five days, that’ll be a sign that Nido is likely on waivers, the outcome of which would be known within 48 hours of his placement.

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