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Mike Trout Undergoes Thumb Surgery

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May 31: The Angels announced today that Trout “underwent successful surgery to the ulnar collateral ligament of his left thumb as well as a repair of his dorsal capsule today.” The general timetable for his return is currently pegged at six to eight weeks, per the team.

May 29, 10:26pm: Trout will undergo surgery on Wednesday, the club announced. He is expected to miss approximately six to eight weeks.

6:33pm: The Angels will place superstar center fielder Mike Trout on the 10-day DL for the first time in his career, according to J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group (via Twitter). An MRI today revealed a torn ulnar collateral ligament in Trout’s left thumb, the team announced and Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times was among those to report (Twitter link).

Surgery is on the table at this point, though a decision has yet to be made. If the 25-year-old does end up going under the knife, he could be facing an extended absence for the first time in his already-storied career.

Los Angeles has selected the contract of veteran journeyman Eric Young Jr. to replace Trout on the roster. Young, who just turned 32, signed with the organization on a minor-league deal over the winter.

Injuries have hit the Angels rather hard through the first two months of the season, especially in the pitching staff, though the team has managed to hover around .500. That’s due in no small par to the otherworldly contributions of Trout, who entered today’s action with a ridiculous .337/.461/.742 batting line and a league-leading 16 home runs.

Trout had a less-than-sizzling start to his career upon a late-season call-up in 2011, his age-19 season, but has otherwise been utterly exceptional. He also has enjoyed more or less flawless health during his historic run since the start of 2012, playing in all but 45 of the Angels’ games until today.

Clearly, there’s no replacing Trout, but the Halos are set up about as well as could be hoped to weather an absence up the middle. Cameron Maybin and Ben Revere each have significant experience in center, and Young has spent a good bit of time there as well.

Young has seen action in each of the last eight MLB seasons, though he made it into only six games in 2016. While he has never hit much at the game’s highest level, Young is slashing a robust .354/.419/.528 with five home runs and 15 steals through 201 Triple-A plate appearances this year.

Cardinals Release Jonathan Broxton

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The Cardinals have released struggling right-hander Jonathan Broxton, GM John Mozeliak told reporters (Twitter link via Benjamin Hochman of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch). Right-hander John Gant has been recalled from Triple-A Memphis to take his spot in the St. Louis bullpen.

Broxton, who’ll turn 33 in a little more than two weeks, has been roughed up for a 6.89 ERA with the Redbirds through 16 1/3 innings this season. In that time, the former Dodgers closer has yielded 12 earned runs on the strength of 23 hits and 11 walks (two intentional).

Broxton’s 42.6 percent ground-ball rate is the second-lowest mark he’s posted in any full season of his big league career, as well. His 11.9 percent swinging-strike rate is his best since 2009, however, and he’s still averaging better than 94 mph on his heater, which helped him tally 16 punchouts in those 16 1/3 frames. That, of course, is a modest silver lining, though it does at least create a bit of optimism that the veteran could at least resurface as a serviceable relief arm.

The veteran Broxton is playing out the second season of a two-year, $7.5MM contract with the Cardinals, which guarantees him $3.75MM this year. The Cards will be on the hook for the remainder of that salary even if Broxton signs with another club after formally clearing release waivers. A new team would only be responsible for the pro-rated portion of the league minimum for any time Broxton spent on its Major League roster. (That sum would be subtracted from the remaining $2.54MM that the Cardinals owe Broxton.)

Gant, 24, was one of three prospects acquired by the Cardinals this offseason in the trade that sent left-hander Jaime Garcia to the Braves. He struggled a bit in 50 big league innings with Atlanta last season but has pitched to a very strong 2.19 ERA with 8.0 K/9, 3.6 BB/9 and a 50 percent ground-ball rate through three starts (12 1/3 innings) with the Cardinals’ Triple-A affiliate this year. He missed the first several weeks of the season due to a groin strain.

Royals Place Danny Duffy On DL, Select Contract Of Eric Skoglund

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May 30: The Royals have formally announced that Duffy has been placed on the 10-day DL, and Skoglund’s contract has indeed been selected from Omaha in a corresponding move.

The 24-year-old Skoglung was Kansas City’s third-round pick back in 2014 and entered the year ranked third and fourth, respectively, among Royals farmhands according to MLB.com and Baseball America. Both outlets call Skoglund a potential back-of-the-rotation arm, with MLB.com noting that he has a high floor. BA writes that he has three average pitches and excellent control but no plus offerings or a true out pitch.

Prior to his promotion, Skoglund had pitched to a 4.53 ERA with 8.2 K/9, 2.1 BB/9 and a 45.3 percent ground-ball rate in 43 2/3 innings with Omaha. If he can get off to a decent start, it’s possible that he’ll pitch himself into the club’s 2018 rotation plans.

May 29: Royals left-hander Danny Duffy will be placed on the 10-day disabled list and miss the next six to eight weeks due to a grade one oblique strain, reports MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan (via Twitter).

The loss of Duffy, who leads the Royals in innings pitched and has the second-best ERA in their rotation, is yet another blow to a Kansas City club that has gotten off to a dismal 21-28 start to the season and currently sits in last place (6.5 games out of first place) in the American League Central. He’ll join rotation-mate Nate Karns on the 10-day DL.

It’s not immediately clear how they’ll replace him in the rotation, though Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star suggested earlier today (Twitter link) that Eric Skoglund, who was held out of his last start in Omaha, could make tomorrow’s start for the Royals. The team does not yet have a starter listed for that contest, as Karns was only recently placed on the disabled list. Now, with Duffy on the shelf, they’ll need to find a second option to add to the rotation.

For a Royals club that many expect to operate as a seller prior to the non-waiver trade deadline, the loss of one of its best arms for a considerable chunk of the season only seems to make an eventual sale likelier. Players such as Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Lorenzo Cain, Alcides Escobar and Mike Minor are all free agents at season’s end, while Kelvin Herrera, Joakim Soria, Brandon Moss and Jason Hammel are all controlled through the 2018 season.

Jim Bunning Passes Away

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Hall of Fame pitcher and former US Senator Jim Bunning has passed away, the Phillies have announced. He was 85 and had suffered a stroke last fall.

Jim Bunning

Bunning was born in Southgate, Kentucky, outside Cincinnati, and attended a Cincinnati high school and Xavier University. He spent several years in the Tigers’ minor-league system before debuting in the big leagues with Detroit in 1955. He received five All-Star berths as a member of the Tigers before heading to Philadelphia in 1964. There, he continued to rate as one of the game’s best starting pitchers, finishing second in NL Cy Young balloting in 1967 while leading the league in both innings pitched (302 1/3) and strikeouts (253).

Bunning made brief stops with the Pirates and Dodgers before finishing his career with two seasons in Philadelphia. He ended up with 224 wins, 2,855 strikeouts (second to Walter Johnson on the all-time list at the time of his retirement), a no-hitter, and a perfect game. As a pitcher, Bunning was known for his sidearm delivery and his reliability (he threw 200 or more innings in 11 straight seasons). He was selected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1996.

Bunning then embarked on a career in politics, serving in local and state roles in Kentucky before being elected to the US House of Representatives as a Republican in 1986. He won a Senate seat in 1998 and served two terms, leaving the body after announcing he would not run for reelection in 2010. He lived in his native Southgate at the time of his passing.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

White Sox Sign Luis Robert

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The White Sox have officially signed Cuban outfielder Luis Robert, and he’ll receive a $26MM bonus, Bruce Levine of 670thescore.com tweets. The deal is of the minor-league variety, according to the White Sox’ team announcement.

Chicago had long been seen as one of the top suitors for the highly-regarded Robert, with reports noting that the White Sox and Cardinals were the favorites to land the 19-year-old outfielder.  The Padres, Reds, Astros, and Athletics were also linked to Robert.

Since Robert is subject to international bonus pools, the White Sox had to far exceed their pool limit ($2.973MM) to make the signing.  Since every dollar spent over the pool limit comes at a 100% luxury tax, the Sox will actually pay in the $50-$60MM range to sign Robert, between both his bonus and the overage tax.

In addition, the White Sox will be penalized for exceeding their bonus pool in this international signing period (which ends on June 15) by being limited to signings of no more than $300K in each of the next two signing periods.  Notably, the White Sox were the only known Robert suitor who hadn’t yet exceeded their pool limit for the 2016-17 signing period.  Baseball America’s Ben Badler recently observed that Chicago hadn’t lined up any deals with highly-touted prospects for the coming July 2 period, which served as a hint that the Sox were planning to take themselves out of the international prospect running by signing Robert.

Since the international bonus pool system will be much stricter under the new collective bargaining agreement, however, Robert was seen as the last blue chip international talent available under the pre-existing rules, which end on June 15.  It therefore made sense for him to sign as quickly as possible in order to score a larger payday than he would’ve by waiting until the next July 2 period, and it also made sense for the White Sox to make this last-second splash while they still could.  As we’ve seen in recent years, several teams have employed the strategy of far exceeding their pool limit in order to sign one or several highly-regarded international prospects during one signing period, essentially sacrificing two future years under penalty to make one big splurge.

Robert comes with enough promise that it is clear to see why the White Sox felt he was worth the risk.  Considered by many evaluators to be the second-best international prospect in the world (behind only Japan’s Shohei Otani), Robert hit .314/.409/.467 over 192 games and 711 plate appearances in the Serie Nacional and playing for a Cuban team in the Can-Am League.

Badler examines Robert’s tools and history in Cuba’s Serie Nacional as part of this scouting report that is well worth a full read.  The 19-year-old is already 6’3″ and possesses “premium bat speed” and “plus raw power” when he connects, though Badler notes that Robert has some issues in making contact and is “often pull-oriented.”  Robert is a good athlete who should play center field in the minors with a chance to remain at the position, and he also possesses quite a bit of running ability.  He was already rated in the 55-60 range (on the 20-80 scouting scale) speed-wise while in Cuba, and Badler said that scouts watching Robert in recent Dominican Republic workouts had clocked him at even faster 60-yard dash times.

Signing Robert is the latest step in White Sox GM Rick Hahn’s rebuilding plan, and Chicago has amassed an enviable amount of young talent just over the last six months.  The Pale Hose already added the likes of Yoan Moncada, Michael Kopech, Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez, Luis Alexander Basabe, and Dane Dunning in two blockbuster trades with the Red Sox (for Chris Sale) and the Nationals (Adam Eaton).  Robert will slot right in near the top of Chicago’s prospect ranking list, rivaling Moncada for sheer potential, as MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez recently illustrated.

 FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal (Twitter link) was the first to report a deal was close. FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman was first to report that Robert’s deal was in the $25MM-$30MM range.

Angels Sign Doug Fister

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12:15pm: Fletcher reports that Fister also has an out clause in his contract and will be released if he’s not in the Majors by June 21 (Twitter link). Cotillo noted that the contract has up to $1.2MM worth of incentives available, and as the Associated Press reports, $1MM of those incentives are tied to starting, while $200K are tied to relief work. According to the AP, Fister will earn $100K for making each of his eighth, 10th and 12th starts as an Angel. He’d also earn $150K apiece for reaching 14, 16 and 18 starts, plus another $250K if he starts a 20th game. The deal also has $200K worth of relief incentives — $50K for his 25th and 30th appearances plus $100K for his 35th.

MAY 22, 7:38am: Cotillo reports that Fister will received a pro-rated $1.75MM base salary in the Majors. Fister’s salary is not guaranteed, Fletcher tweets.

MAY 20: The Angels have made the signing official, with Fister inking a one-year deal (hat tip to Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register).  He will be assigned to Class-A ball in order to get himself ready for big league action.  In a corresponding move to create 40-man roster space, Andrew Bailey was shifted to the 60-day DL.

MAY 18: The Angels are in agreement with free-agent right-hander Doug Fister on a Major League contract, reports SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (via Twitter). Fister is a client of PSI Sports Management.

Doug Fister

As of last week, the 33-year-old Fister was said to be close to signing, and Cotillo listed the Angels as one of five clubs in the mix for him at that time. Presumably, though his contract is of the Major League variety, the veteran Fister has consented to be optioned to the minors in order to ramp up to the point where he’s big league ready. Due to the fact that he didn’t sign a contract this past offseason, Fister hasn’t been pitching competitively anywhere and isn’t likely to be ready to step right onto a big league pitching staff.

Pitching depth is a clear area of need for the Halos, who entered the season with Andrew Heaney and Nick Tropeano mending from Tommy John surgery and have since lost Garrett Richards (biceps strain) and Tyler Skaggs (oblique strain) to long-term injuries. (Skaggs, who is expected to miss more than two months, could be moved to the 60-day DL to create room for Fister on the 40-man roster).

With those four arms on the shelf, the Halos have been utilizing Ricky Nolasco, Matt Shoemaker, J.C. Ramirez, Jesse Chavez and Alex Meyer in the starting rotation. Fister could conceivably step into the spot of either Chavez or Meyer, though he could also begin the year in a long relief role if the Halos’ incumbent starters are performing well by the time he’s ready to join the staff.

It came as something of a surprise when Fister went unsigned this winter. Perhaps the veteran was holding out in hopes of securing a MLB roster spot, as he has now done. Whatever the reason, there ere plenty of organizations that surely would’ve liked to bring him in to compete in camp. After all, he was a high-quality starter as recently as 2014, when he gave the Nationals 164 innings of 2.41 ERA pitching.

That’s not to say that Fister had entered the open market on a high note. He inked a one-year, make-good deal with the Astros last year after struggling (and losing velocity) in 2015. Things did not go as hoped, as Fister ended with a 4.64 ERA with 5.7 K/9 against an uncharacteristically high 3.1 BB/9.

Looking underneath the hood a bit, that 2016 effort doesn’t look a whole lot better. Fister worked out of the zone less than ever (46.1% versus 52.3% career) even as he drew less chases than he had previously (28.9% versus 32.0% career). His typically strong groundball rates have fallen somewhat over the past two years, with Fister also allowing more dingers (over 1.2 per nine) than he had during his peak years.

If there was a positive to be found in Fister’s 2016 campaign, it was definitely in the health department. He made it through 32 starts for the first time since 2013 and did rebound a bit in the velocity department — though he still averaged about a tick less with the fastball than he did in 2014. If Fister can build on that, with an extra-long winter rest under his belt, then perhaps there’s a resurgence still to be found for the respected veteran.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Braves Acquire Matt Adams

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The Braves have acquired first baseman Matt Adams and cash considerations from the Cardinals for minor league infielder Juan Yepez, according to an announcement from Atlanta. In a corresponding move, the Braves have designated catcher Anthony Recker for assignment.

[RELATED: Updated Braves & Cardinals Depth Charts]

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The Braves already have one of the elite first basemen in baseball in Freddie Freeman, but he suffered a fractured wrist earlier this week and could miss nearly three months. Without any obvious replacements inside the organization – including the recently signed but highly flawed James Loney – the Braves ventured to the trade market for Adams, who MLBTR’s Steve Adams suggested would be a sensible fit in the wake of Freeman’s injury.

Matt Adams was the Cardinals’ primary first baseman from 2013-14, when he combined to hit .287/.327/.474 in 882 plate appearances, but both his performance and playing time have fallen off dramatically since then. The Cardinals moved former third baseman/second baseman Matt Carpenter to first in the offseason, further decreasing Adams’ chances of picking up at-bats in St. Louis. After it was unable to trade Adams over the winter, the club tried the big-bodied 28-year-old in the outfield earlier this season as a way to get his bat in the lineup. However, the Cardinals quickly abandoned that experiment after Adams fared poorly in the grass. Consequently, Adams has totaled just 53 plate appearances this season, hitting .292/.340/.396 along the way.

Having combined for 12 Defensive Runs Saved and a 4.6 Ultimate Zone Rating in nearly 3,000 career innings at first base, Adams should fill in for Freeman with aplomb in the field. But there will be a major drop-off at the plate, especially given that the lefty-swinging Adams has essentially been unusable against southpaws during his career. Adams has posted a woeful .210/.240/.348 line in 283 PAs versus lefties, making him a platoon bat, though the Braves don’t currently have any right-handed hitters with significant first base experience on their bench.

Regardless of Adams’ flaws, the Braves’ hope is that he’ll help them stay afloat in the National League until Freeman returns. Once that happens, the Braves will likely relegate Adams to a pinch-hitting role, and they’ll then have to decide whether to keep him over the winter as he enters his final arbitration-eligible season. Adams is currently on a $2.8MM salary.

To acquire nearly two years of control over Adams, the Braves surrendered a relatively anonymous prospect in the 19-year-old Yepez, whom they signed out of Venezuela in 2014. The majority of Yepez’s work since last season has come at the Single-A level, where he has batted .275/.309/.387 in 152 PAs this year. When Yepez joined the Braves, Baseball America’s Ben Badler wrote that the righty-swinger has “quick hands, a loose swing and good balance with solid power,” adding that his future could be at either corner infield spot. This past winter, Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs credited Yepez for his “above-average raw power,” but he suggested that Yepez will need to vastly improve his approach to remain a prospect.

As for Recker, he joined the Braves last May in a trade that saw them send cash considerations to Cleveland. Recker picked up 112 PAs with the Braves last season and held his own with a .278/.394/.433 line. The 33-year-old has tallied just seven major league PAs this season, though, as Atlanta has gotten terrific production from fellow backstops Tyler Flowers and Kurt Suzuki.

Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch first reported the trade (on Twitter). Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Freddie Freeman Out Approximately 10 Weeks Due To Fractured Wrist

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2:22pm: The Braves announced that Freeman has indeed been placed on the disabled list, though their release indicates that Freeman will miss “approximately 10 weeks.” The Braves added that Ruiz has been recalled from Triple-A to replace Freeman on the roster.

1:33pm: As the Braves feared, first baseman Freddie Freeman suffered a fractured wrist in last night’s game when he was hit on the left wrist by a 94 mph fastball from Aaron Loup, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter link). Freeman is expected to miss at least eight weeks with the injury, though Rosenthal adds that he won’t require surgery to repair the injury.

The Braves, of course, aren’t contending for a division title (their current second-place status notwithstanding), but the injury derails an MVP-caliber season for the face of the franchise in Atlanta. Freeman has posted a sensational .341/.461/.748 batting line with 14 home runs, 11 doubles and a triple through his first 164 plate appearances of the season. Dating back to Opening Day 2016, in fact, Freeman’s park-adjusted offensive performance (162 wRC+) trails only Mike Trout among active players with at least 300 plate appearances.

[Related: Updated Atlanta Braves depth chart]

Looking to the Braves’ roster, it’s not clear who exactly will replace Freeman at first base. Atlanta’s bench doesn’t include any big leaguer with significant experience at the position, as the team’s four reserves are currently catcher Kurt Suzuki, infielder Johan Camargo and utilitymen Emilio Bonifacio and Danny Santana. First base options in the upper minors are scarce as well, though third base prospect Rio Ruiz worked out at first base during Spring Training, as David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution recently noted (on Twitter). Theoretically, Ruiz and fellow infielder Jace Peterson (who played first last night following Freeman’s exit) could share duties there in the short-term.

FanRag’s Jon Heyman reported earlier today that the Braves were already discussing potential outside additions, though options aren’t exactly plentiful. The free-agent market doesn’t offer many options, either, though veterans James Loney and Ben Paulsen were released by the Tigers and Twins, respectively, earlier this month. Atlanta had Ryan Howard playing with its Triple-A affiliate on a minor league deal earlier this month, but he struggled at the dish and was also released. Fellow veteran Justin Morneau remains unsigned, but he hasn’t been playing regularly since suiting up for Team Canada in the 2017 World Baseball Classic.

As far as the trade market goes, the Braves likely don’t want to part with any significant prospects to fill a relatively short-term gap in what doesn’t look to be a winning season. Speaking from a purely speculative standpoint, Cardinals first baseman Matt Adams was shopped this past offseason and still doesn’t have a clear path to regular at-bats in St. Louis. Veteran Pedro Alvarez is currently with Baltimore’s Triple-A affiliate, though he’s struggled to a .174/.265/.289 batting line thus far. There are also numerous players with MLB experience that are currently on minor league deals and performing reasonably well at Triple-A, including Ji-Man Choi (Yankees), Efren Navarro (Tigers), Matt Hague (Twins) and Christian Walker (D-backs), the latter of whom was briefly property of the Braves this offseason. Certainly, none of the names listed will generate much excitement among Braves fans, though any could picked up as a depth option at a reasonably low cost.

Jameson Taillon Undergoes Surgery For Testicular Cancer

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MAY 18: Taillon’s pathology report did indeed come back positive for testicular cancer, reports MLB.com’s Adam Berry. While there’s no timetable for his return to the mound, Taillon has been cleared to resume light baseball activities, according to Berry, which is certainly good news. Taillon has been at PNC Park with his teammates this week and has played catch in addition to participating in some light cardiovascular work. Taillon is slated to be re-examined next week.

MAY 8: Pirates righty Jameson Taillon has undergone surgery for what is suspected to be testicular cancer, according to a team announcement. MLBTR sends Taillon its very best wishes for a full and speedy recovery.

At present, the ensuing treatment plan has yet to be decided. “Further testing” will be required before a course is charted, according to the team, with updates to be announced “as appropriate.”

Needless to say, Taillon’s overall health and well-being are much more important than his playing status, but it seems reasonable to anticipate that he’ll be sidelined for at least some time. Pittsburgh had already called up Josh Lindblom to take the roster spot of Taillon, who has been placed on the 10-day DL.

The news immediately calls to mind the situation of Rockies righty Chad Bettis, another promising young starting pitcher who has battled testicular cancer. In his case, the hope was that an offseason procedure would clear the way for a full return to health both on and off the mound. Unfortunately, Bettis ultimately required chemotherapy when it was discovered that the cancer has spread. He is expected to miss most or all of the current season.

The hope remains both that Bettis will get back to full health and that Taillon’s own course will be more straightforward. In the meantime, it’s a good reminder for everyone to monitor for these and other ailments. As Bettis said upon his initial diagnosis: “This only reinforces my belief that each of us needs to be totally in tune with our own physical health, and that taking action sooner than later when we feel like something is off can sometimes literally be the difference between life and death.”

Taillon’s own statement is also well worth a full read (via his Twitter account). This challenge, like others he has faced, has “just added fuel to my burning fire,” he writes, continuing: “Today I lost a piece of my ’manhood.’ But, today I’m feeling like more o a man than I ever have.” 

Indians Promote Bradley Zimmer, Designate Carlos Frias

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The Indians have selected the contract of top outfield prospect Bradley Zimmer, per a club announcement. To create 40-man roster space, the team designated righty Carlos Frias.

Cleveland also announced a few other corresponding moves. Righty Shawn Armstrong was recalled, as well, creating a need for two active roster spots. Those were cleared by placing outfielder Abraham Almonte on the 10-day DL and optioning utilityman Yandy Diaz.

[Related: Updated Cleveland Indians depth chart]

Zimmer, now 24, has been seen as a key future piece for the Indians ever since he was taken with the 21st overall pick of the draft back in 2014. (He spoke with MLBTR’s Steve Adams earlier that year.) He has been a consensus top-100 prospect entering each of the past two seasons, though he fell in some rankings due to a so-so 2016 campaign. In advance of the current campaign, MLB.com slotted Zimmer 22nd, Fangraphs had him at #45, Baseball America ranked him 62nd (now up to 54th in their updated list), and Baseball Prospectus had him at 80th. ESPN.com’s Keith Law dropped Zimmer out of his own top-100.

Bradley Zimmer | Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The reasons for concern were rather clear. While Zimmer has the tools — raw power, good speed, and a quality glove that plays up the middle — he hadn’t yet put it all together. In 557 plate appearances in the upper minors last season, he slashed .250/.365/.425 with 15 home runs and 38 steals. But the bulk of the damage came at Double-A; over his 150 trips to the plate at the highest level of the minors, Zimmer went down on strikes 37.3% of the time. The left-handed hitter also turned in a rough overall .179/.343/.250 batting line against left-handed pitching.

As MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian wrote this spring, Zimmer has worked hard to upgrade his swing mechanics. And that seems to be paying dividends. He hit well in the Arizona Fall League and has been clicking thus far at Triple-A, with a .294/.371/.532 slash. The swing-and-miss will likely always be a part of his game — Zimmer currently carries a 29.9% strikeout rate on the year — but he’s showing an ability to make more and better contact thus far. He has also reversed his results against southpaws — albeit in quite a small sample. Coupled with a typically selective approach, and some untapped power potential, there’s reason to hope that Zimmer could blossom into a high-end major league piece.

The move comes with potential contract implications. Zimmer will have the opportunity to accumulate as many as 138 days of MLB service this year, so long as he can hold onto an active roster spot the rest of the way. If he can stick in the majors from here on out, then, he’d have a solid chance of qualifying for an addition year of arbitration after the conclusion of the 2019 season. The cutoff for Super Two status has ranged between 2.122 and 2.146 years of service over the past eight years, landing at 2.131 last season. Regardless, the Indians will control him through at least 2023.

That all depends upon Cleveland’s intentions — as well as Zimmer’s performance. While this could constitute only a brief preview, the fact that the Indians moved him onto the 40-man roster suggests the team intends to rely on him for more than a temporary patch. So long as Zimmer is up for any extended period, it seems likely he’ll see fairly regular action — meaning he could have a chance to play himself into a permanent role for the defending American League champs.

To add Zimmer meant clearing space on the roster, so the Indians elected to bump Frias, who was acquired over the winter. The 27-year-old had struggled through 17 frames at Triple-A this year, allowing 17 earned runs while recording just eight strikeouts to go with nine walks. Over three years of action with the Dodgers at the major league level, splitting his time between starting and relieving, he has worked to a 4.50 ERA in 114 frames.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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