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Braves Select Spencer Schwellenbach

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May 29: The Braves have now formally selected Schwellenbach’s contract, per a team announcement. Right-hander Jimmy Herget was optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett to open a spot on the 26-man roster. Atlanta’s 40-man roster is now at capacity (though both Acuna and Strider are easy 60-day IL cases, giving the team plenty of 40-man flexibility).

May 28: The Braves are calling up pitching prospect Spencer Schwellenbach for his major league debut, Robert Murray of FanSided reports. He’ll make his big league debut in a start tomorrow. Atlanta will need to formally select the contract of Schwellenbach, who’s not yet on the 40-man roster. The Braves already have one open 40-man spot and could easily clear another if any other moves are in the works, as they’ve not yet placed Ronald Acuna Jr. or Spencer Strider on the 60-day injured list in the wake of their season-ending injuries.

It’s a nice early birthday present for Schwellenbach, who’ll turn 24 on Friday. Selected out of Nebraska with the 59th overall pick in the 2021 draft, the former Cornhusker entered the 2024 season ranked fifth among Braves prospects at Baseball America, third at MLB.com, and as high as second according to The Athletic’s Keith Law. The former two-way star was a shortstop and closer in his college days, though the Braves have moved him to pitching full-time and settled him into a starting role. Scouting reports praise Schwellenbach for a heater he can run up to 98 mph, a pair of average-or-better breaking balls and a solid changeup.

Schwellenbach hasn’t done anything to ding his stock thus far in 2024. If anything, he’s only enhanced his standing both within the organization and throughout the game as a whole. The 6’1″, 200-pound righty has started eight games between High-A and Double-A, pitching to a combined 1.80 ERA with a 29.1% strikeout rate, 5.7% walk rate and terrific 57.5% ground-ball rate. It should be noted that six of those starts came in High-A, where Schwellenbach was old for the level and often facing younger, less-experienced competition, but it’s an impressive showing all the same.

Part of the reason behind the Braves’ decision to open Schwellenbach at High-A is their approach to his rehab from 2021 Tommy John surgery. The right-hander went under the knife not long after being drafted and missed the entire 2022 season as a result. He pitched 65 innings between Low-A and High-A last season in his return to the mound, and the Braves at least began the season with a cautious assignment before injuries throughout the pitching staff prompted what’s now a quite-aggressive promotion to the big leagues.

Atlanta is without Spencer Strider for the remainder of the season due to his own elbow surgery, and fellow prospect AJ Smith-Shawver just hit the injured list with a Grade 2 oblique strain. Righty Ian Anderson, recovering from 2023 Tommy John surgery, has yet to resume pitching. Huascar Ynoa is dealing with elbow soreness and on the minor league injured list the moment.

The Braves have other options on the 40-man roster, but none who were lined up with this spot in the rotation. Bryce Elder would’ve been going on three days’ rest, while Dylan Dodd would only be on two days’ rest. Darius Vines would perhaps have been a candidate had he not just been optioned to Triple-A four days ago (thus rendering him ineligible to be recalled for another 11 days, unless he’s directly replacing an injured player).

Schwellenbach pitched seven shutout innings against the Reds’ Double-A affiliate on May 22, so he’ll be on full rest for tomorrow’s MLB debut. And since the Braves would’ve needed to add him to the 40-man roster in the offseason anyhow — he’d otherwise have been eligible for selection in the Rule 5 Draft — they’ll take the opportunity to get a first look at the promising young righty against big league opposition. In all likelihood, it’ll be a spot start, but now that he’s on the 40-man roster at a time when the Braves are seeing their starting depth tested, he’ll have the opportunity to potentially work his way into a more prominent role over the course of the season.

The Opener: Braves, O’Neill, Volpe

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As the 2024 regular season continues, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. Braves prospect promotion:

The Braves are reportedly set to promote right-hander Spencer Schwellenbach to the majors prior to today’s game, when he’ll be taking the ball in Atlanta for his major league debut opposite Trevor Williams of the Nationals. Schwellenbach’s contract will need to be selected to the big league roster before he can make his debut, but since the Braves already have a vacancy on their 40-man roster, they’ll only require a corresponding 26-man roster move. (Even if Atlanta needed a 40-man move, transferring either Ronald Acuna Jr. or Spencer Strider to the 60-day IL would be a straightforward solution.) The club’s second-round pick from the 2021 draft, Schwellenbach has not yet reached the Triple-A level but has been dominant this year with a 1.80 ERA and a 29.1% strikeout rate in 45 innings of work across eight starts between High-A and Double-A.

2. O’Neill to undergo imaging:

Red Sox outfielder Tyler O’Neill has returned to Boston ahead of scheduled imaging on his right knee, manager Alex Cora told reporters (including MLB.com’s Ian Browne) yesterday afternoon. O’Neill, who last appeared in a game on May 25, was one of the best hitters in the sport during the first month of the season but has struggled to a .151/.244/.301 slash line in 20 games during the month of May. O’Neill told reporters over the weekend that he had been playing through discomfort in his knee that was “probably” affecting his swing.

According to Cora, today’s imaging is for the sake of “reassurance” rather than concern from the team that O’Neill is suffering from a serious injury. Even so, it would hardly be a surprise if O’Neill’s ailing knee landed him on the injured list. If O’Neill were to miss time, outfielder Rob Refsnyder and first baseman Garrett Cooper could step into larger roles as right-handed bats in the lineup to complement lefties Wilyer Abreu, Jarren Duran, and Dominic Smith in the outfield, first base, and DH mix for the Red Sox.

3. Volpe extends hitting streak to 20 games:

Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe has been impressive in 2024, hitting .285/.356/.434 across his 250 trips to the plate. Most recently, Volpe’s heroics have come in the form of a 20-game hitting streak, which is the first hitting streak to reach 20 games in the Bronx since Robinson Cano achieved the feat back in 2012. Volpe has slashed a whopping .337/.376/.535 over the course of the streak, during which the Yankees have posted a 14-6 record. As noted by Sarah Langs of MLB.com over the weekend, Volpe’s hitting streak is the longest of any Yankee 23 years old or younger since Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio, who enjoyed a pair of hitting streaks lasting 21 and 22 games respectively back in 1937. Volpe will have a chance to match the shorter of DiMaggio’s two streaks in Anaheim this evening against Angels lefty Patrick Sandoval.

Rockies, Stephen Gonsalves Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Rockies are in agreement with Stephen Gonsalves on a minor league contract, per the transaction log at MLB.com. The southpaw is headed to Triple-A Albuquerque.

Gonsalves, 29, began this season in the Dodgers system. He inked a non-roster deal with L.A. in January. The Dodgers assigned him to Triple-A Oklahoma City, where he struggled over 18 innings of relief. Gonsalves allowed 12 runs on 14 hits and an alarming 20 walks. The Dodgers briefly assigned him back to their Arizona complex before releasing him last week.

A former fourth-round draftee of the Twins, the San Diego native was once a reasonably highly-regarded prospect. Gonsalves didn’t carry over his dominant low minors production once he reached Triple-A, though. He owns a 4.23 earned run average in parts of seven Triple-A campaigns. His 27.1% strikeout percentage is above average, but he’s walked nearly 16% of his opponents. Gonsalves hasn’t gotten much of a major league look as a result. He has pitched in 10 MLB games, logging a 6.21 ERA through 29 innings.

Gonsalves has starting experience, though he’s worked out of the bullpen since 2022. He’ll presumably step into long relief for Albuquerque. The Rox have cycled through a few bullpen arms in recent days and evidently needed to backfill some of their lost upper minors depth.

Mets Notes: Peterson, Infield, Lindor

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David Peterson will make his season debut tomorrow, as he’s listed as the Mets’ probable starter for their series finale against the Dodgers. New York will need to reinstate the left-hander from the 60-day injured list. They already have an opening on the 40-man roster, so they’ll only need to make an active roster transaction.

Peterson slots back into the starting five after undergoing a labrum repair in his left hip in November. The rehab process went smoothly and the southpaw makes his return from the IL not long after he’s first eligible. Peterson has made six minor league rehab starts, the last two of which came with Triple-A Syracuse. He built to 89 pitches in his most recent appearance. He shouldn’t have much issue logging something close to a standard workload out of the gate.

The Oregon product has spent parts of the last four seasons in the New York rotation. He started 21 of 27 games last season, setting a personal high with 111 innings. Peterson’s 5.03 earned run average wasn’t especially impressive, but he punched out 26% of opposing hitters. While he’s never had pinpoint command, he managed a 3.83 ERA behind a near-28% strikeout rate two seasons ago.

It looks as if the Mets will plug Peterson into a six-man rotation. Rookie Christian Scott has pitched well through his first four appearances and should remain in the starting staff. Luis Severino, Sean Manaea and Jose Quintana are all locked into rotation spots, although Quintana hasn’t pitched all that well. Tylor Megill has been excellent in his pair of starts since coming back from a shoulder strain.

Peterson’s return should at least bump struggling Adrian Houser into a long relief role. The right-hander’s hold on a roster spot seems tenuous, as he has been rocked for a 7.34 ERA with more walks than strikeouts in his first 41 2/3 innings as a Met. Houser can’t be sent to the minor leagues without his consent, leaving the Mets to decide whether to move on entirely or hope to get him on track in the bullpen.

Reed Garrett and Josh Walker are the only members of the current MLB bullpen who have options. (Dedniel Nuñez was up for today’s doubleheader as the 27th man but will likely be returned to Syracuse tomorrow.) Garrett has been arguably their best reliever and certainly isn’t getting sent down. Walker has been on and off the active roster a few times already. He could be optioned, though doing so would leave Jake Diekman as the only left-hander in Carlos Mendoza’s ’pen.

That may not be the only roster decision facing the Mets in the next few days. New York has operated without a traditional backup middle infielder since they designated Joey Wendle for assignment two weeks ago. The Mets have carried both Brett Baty and Mark Vientos, dividing playing time for the youngsters at third base. With Pete Alonso and J.D. Martinez at first base and DH, respectively, there’s not much defensive value on Mendoza’s bench.

President of baseball operations David Stearns acknowledged this afternoon that arrangement isn’t a long-term solution (link via Will Sammon of the Athletic). That came before today’s doubleheader, in which Lindor injured his left index finger on a bunt attempt. The All-Star told Tim Healey of Newsday that x-rays came back negative (X link), but it stands to reason the Mets would prefer to have some kind of shortstop insurance for the coming days even if they expect Lindor to avoid the injured list.

Aside from McNeil and Lindor, prospect Luisangel Acuña is the only healthy middle infielder on the 40-man roster. The 22-year-old is hitting just .254/.301/.353 in Syracuse and seems to need more development time in Triple-A. It’s likelier the Mets would select the contract of a more experienced non-roster player if they decide to add to their bench. Jose Iglesias and the recently-acquired Pablo Reyes are possibilities.

KBO’s Hanwha Eagles Sign Jaime Barria, Release Felix Pena

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May 28: The Guardians announced that Barria’s contract has officially been sold to the Eagles. Hanwha announced over the weekend that they’ve released former MLB righty Felix Pena (h/t to Dan Kurtz of MyKBO). KBO teams are limited to carrying two foreign-born pitchers on their rosters, so the Eagles had to move on from either Pena or Ricardo Sanchez to add Barria. Cutting Pena was the straightforward call, as he has struggled to a 6.27 ERA over nine starts. (Sanchez has a solid 3.35 mark in his nine appearances). Pena spent parts of three seasons with Hanwha, posting a sub-4.00 mark between 2022-23 before this year’s struggles.

May 25: Right-hander Jaime Barria is finalizing a deal with a team in the Korea Baseball Organization, according to MLBTR’s Steve Adams. It’s not yet clear which club Barria is working out a deal with. Barria is currently in the Guardians organization on a minor league deal but it’s common for teams to release players in order to pursue overseas opportunities, often in exchange for cash considerations from the player’s new club. Kim Geun-han of MK Sports (Korean language link) reports today that Barria is poised to sign with the Hanwha Eagles.

Barria, 27, signed with the Angels as an international free agent out of Panama and made his big league debut with the club back in 2018 during his age-21 season. The righty enjoyed a strong rookie campaign with a 3.41 ERA and 4.58 FIP across 26 starts for the Halos that year, although he suffered a sophomore slump the following season as he pitched to a 6.42 ERA in 19 appearances (13 starts) while swinging between the bullpen and rotation during the 2019 campaign. Barria would stay in that swing role for the next two seasons, pitching to roughly average results (106 ERA+) across 89 innings of work during that time.

The 2022 season saw Barria pitch in something closer to a pure relief role, with just one start and five outings where he threw more than fifty pitches. It was perhaps the best season of his career, as he posted an excellent 2.61 ERA that was 54% better than league average by measure of ERA+ to go along with a 4.11 xERA and 4.13 SIERA, all of which were career best figures for the righty. Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worse for Barria last year as his home run rate spiked, leaving him with a 5.68 ERA and 6.07 FIP in 82 1/3 innings of work across 34 appearances, six of which were starts.

After that difficult 2023 campaign, Barria was outrighted off the Angels roster and elected free agency, leading him to his aforementioned minor league pact with the Guardians. He’s remained in multi-inning relief during his time at Cleveland’s Triple-A affiliate in Columbus, and while his 4.81 ERA in 13 appearances is nothing to write home about he’s also shown a surprising proclivity for strikeouts this year, punching out batters at a 28.1% clip across his 24 1/3 innings of work.

It’s possible that uptick in strikeout rate is what caught the attention of a team overseas, and Barria now figures to head to Korea in hopes of re-establishing himself as a potential big league option. KBO teams are only allowed to carry a maximum of two foreign-born pitchers on their rosters, meaning that if Barria’s new team has already reached that limit they’ll have to part ways with another arm to make room for the righty.

Fantasy Baseball: A Tale Of Two Months

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With summer almost upon us and spring slipping away, so too do our excuses for why our players are under or overproducing what we expected when drafting them. Saying, "It's still just May" is perfectly sane but the deeper into summer you use the excuse of time, the more you're probably fooling yourself. Since (nearly) two months are now in the books, let's cleave this early part of the season into two and see what we can see.

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Rangers Place Evan Carter On Injured List; Reinstate Wyatt Langford, Nathan Eovaldi

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The Rangers have reinstated outfielder Wyatt Langford and right-hander Nathan Eovaldi from the injured list, with Eovaldi starting tonight’s contest. In corresponding moves, outfielder Evan Carter lands on the 10-day IL due to back tightness while righty Yerry Rodríguez has been optioned out. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News was among those to relay the news prior to the official announcement on X (link one and two).

Carter’s back has been bugging him for a few weeks. Between May 8 and May 18, he only took two plate appearances for the Rangers. He’s been in the lineup more regularly of late but still hasn’t had a hit in about three weeks. It seems like the back problems have contributed to his lackluster results on the year. He was hitting .236/.328/.472 through May 4 but has a batting line of just .053/.100/.053 since then.

Coming into the season, it was possible to envision Texas having two regular players battling each other for the Rookie of the Year crown, but it hasn’t played out that way thus far. Carter’s recent slide has dropped his season-long batting line to .188/.272/361. Langford, meanwhile, hit just .224/.295/.293 through 129 plate appearances before landing on the IL due to a right hamstring strain. Langford will now get a chance to improve his numbers while Carter takes some time to rest up and get healthy for later in the season.

Injuries have also been a key storyline for the Texas rotation all year long. They knew long ago that Jacob deGrom and Tyler Mahle would be on the IL for the first half, as each of them underwent Tommy John surgery in the middle of last season. Then Max Scherzer required back surgery in the offseason. There was a time when it seemed like he could come back in mid-May but he has been delayed by thumb soreness and his timeline is still up in the air.

Since the season started, the Rangers have also seen Eovaldi, Jon Gray, Dane Dunning, Michael Lorenzen and Cody Bradford miss time on the injured list. All that has left Andrew Heaney as the only consistent member of the rotation this year.

Some of those IL stints have now ended, including Eovaldi’s today, so the rotation currently consists of him, Heaney, Dunning, Lorenzen and José Ureña. The club used Gerson Garabito for a spot start on Sunday and it seemed he could stick around for now as a long reliever.

The various injuries up and down the roster have seemingly prevented the defending champions from charging out of the gate this year, as they are currently 25-29 on the season. But the American League West is surprisingly weak so far this year, as the Astros are also struggling. The Rangers are second to the Mariners, just 3.5 games back and still very much in it.

Getting Eovaldi back on the mound is obviously helpful, as he had a 2.61 ERA prior to hitting the IL with a groin strain and had a 3.63 ERA for the Rangers last year. Langford could slot into the designated hitter role that Adolis García has been in recently, pushing García back to the outfield next to Leody Taveras and a rotation of Ezequiel Durán, Robbie Grossman and Derek Hill, with Carter hopefully jumping back into that mix once he’s healthy.

Giants Designate Ryan McKenna, Drew Pomeranz For Assignment

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The Giants made a series of transactions today, with Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area among those to relay them on X. Right-hander Spencer Howard and first baseman Trenton Brooks have been selected to the roster, while infielder/outfielder Tyler Fitzgerald has been recalled. In corresponding moves, first baseman LaMonte Wade Jr. has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a left hamstring strain while outfielder Ryan McKenna and left-hander Drew Pomeranz have been designated for assignment.

Wade departed yesterday’s game, limping off the field with the club’s trainer. NBC Sports Bay Area provided video on X. The Giants later announced it as a hamstring strain and have now placed  him on the injured list. The club says it’s a Grade 2 strain and he’ll miss about a month, per Pavlovic on X.

While he’s out, it seems the club will get a look at Brooks, who makes it to the major leagues just before his 29th birthday. He spent most of his career with the Guardians, as that club drafted him in the 17th round back in 2016. He climbed as high as Triple-A in Cleveland’s system but didn’t get a roster spot by the end of 2022 and reached minor league free agency.

He then signed a minor league deal with the A’s and hit 16 home runs in 94 games while drawing walks in 13.8% of his plate appearances. Even in the hitter-friendly environment of the Pacific Coast League, his stout .299/.405/.529 batting line translated to a 127 wRC+.

At that point, the A’s flipped him to the Giants for left-hander Sean Newcomb and Brooks has produced in similar fashion since then. He’s appeared in 67 more Triple-A contests since that deal and has ten homers, an 18.1% walk rate and a 15.3% strikeout rate. His .279/.409/.463 batting line in that stretch translates to a 120 wRC+.

Debuts at this late age are especially rare but Brooks clearly has some perseverance that is paying off today. If he can continue hitting major league pitching the way he has done in the minors, he will make for an especially heartwarming late-bloomer story. He has played some outfield in the past but has been strictly at first base this year. He’s in the lineup tonight in place of Wade and could perhaps get a few weeks to test his abilities against big league hurlers.

Turning to the pitching, the Giants have been getting by lately with just four starters in Logan Webb, Jordan Hicks, Kyle Harrison and Blake Snell. That group included Keaton Winn until he hit the injured list two weeks ago. Mason Black was recalled to cover for him but was hit hard in two starts and optioned back down.

Today’s plan appears to be a bullpen game with Howard expected to pitch bulk innings behind Erik Miller, who will serve as the opener. Howard, 27, has been in the Giants’ system since signing a minor league deal late last year. He’s made ten Triple-A starts this year, tossing 39 2/3 innings with a 5.90 earned run average.

That ERA may be misleading, both due to the fact that Howard has been pitching in the PCL and what may be some bad luck. His .406 batting average on balls in play and 66.1% strand rate this year are both on the unfortunate side of average. He’s actually struck out 32.2% of batters faced this year while keeping walks to a reasonable 9.6% rate, which is why his 4.19 FIP is kinder than his ERA.

The righty was considered one of the top pitching prospects in the sport a few years ago but has struggled in his limited looks at the big league level. He currently has 115 innings of major league work on his ledger with a 7.20 ERA. He exhausted his options as both the Phillies and the Rangers rostered him for a while and he will now need to keep his active roster spot or else be removed from the 40-man roster entirely. If this is the time where things click for him and he manages to hang onto that roster spot, he still has less than three years of service time and can be retained beyond this campaign via arbitration.

To get Brooks and Howard onto the roster, the Giants are cutting a couple of guys they only recently added. Pomeranz, 35, was signed on Friday but is now bumped off the roster without appearing in a game. That means he’s still looking to get back into official MLB action for the first time since 2021. The Giants will have a week to trade him or pass him through waivers. The latter scenario would be a moot point since the lefty has more than enough service time to elect free agency.

The southpaw was once one of the better relievers in baseball but underwent flexor tendon surgery late in the 2021 campaign and struggled to get healthy in the two following years. Here in 2024, he was able to throw eight Spring Training innings with the Angels and nine frames in Triple-A in the Dodgers’ system, on minor league deals with both of those clubs. He allowed four earned runs in his first Triple-A game this year but has a 2.25 ERA in the eight innings since, striking out 48.3% of batters faced while walking just 3.4% of them.

That was apparently enough to get a roster spot, although briefly. The next week will shed some light on whether or not another club is equally interested. If so, perhaps the southpaw will indeed return to a major league mound for the first time in almost three years.

McKenna, 27, was just claimed off waivers from the Orioles ten days ago. He got into four games and stepped to the plate six times, striking out four times without getting a hit. He’s generally been a glove-first outfielder in his career, having hit .221/.298/.328 but with eight Defensive Runs Saved and six Outs Above Average in 1,287 2/3 outfield innings. He’s out of options but could appeal to other clubs as a bench outfielder.

The Giants will have a week to trade him or pass him through waivers. Since he has a previous career outright, he has the right to reject another such assignment in favor of free agency. However, with less than five years of service time, doing so would mean forfeiting his remaining salary. He is making $800K this year, slightly more than the league minimum, and may not want to walk away from that if he clears.

Where Can The Braves Go For Outfield Help?

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In a season with a number of high-profile injuries, there has been no bigger loss than Ronald Acuña Jr. The defending NL MVP tore the ACL in his left knee over the weekend. It's the second time in the last four years that an ACL tear (in separate knees) has ended his season a few months early.

There's obviously no way of replacing Acuña with anyone close to the same caliber of player. The Braves will likely need to add to the corner outfield in some form over the next two months, though. Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweeted yesterday that the Acuña injury will push each of Adam Duvall and Jarred Kelenic into an everyday role. That's not an ideal position for a team trying to hang with the Phillies at the top of the NL East.

Atlanta bought low on Kelenic over the winter. The former top prospect still hasn't shown any sign of a legitimate breakout. He has a roughly average .258/.305/.383 batting line over 128 plate appearances. Kelenic's 31.3% strikeout rate is still much too high, and he's walking less often (6.3% of the time) than he did during his final season in Seattle. He can hit the ball hard, but he's still swinging and missing far too frequently. The Braves have also completely shielded him from left-handed pitching. That'll no longer be the case if he's playing everyday, and he's a .188/.252/.307 hitter in 301 career plate appearances against southpaws.

Duvall returned to Atlanta on a $3MM free agent deal midway through Spring Training. His profile is well-established at this point. He hits for power and plays solid defense in the corner outfield. That'll come with low on-base marks and underwhelming strikeout and walk numbers. Duvall has dramatically cut his swing-and-miss in 99 plate appearances this year, but that's largely attributable to the Braves leveraging him heavily against left-handed pitching as Kelenic's platoon partner. Duvall has 14 strikeouts and one walk in 39 plate appearances against righties. At age 35, it seems fair to presume he hasn't suddenly found a new level of plate discipline.

Let's run through a few of the likelier possible trade targets for president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos and the Atlanta front office.

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White Sox Place Mike Clevinger On IL Due To Elbow Inflammation

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White Sox announced that right-hander Mike Clevinger has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to right elbow inflammation, retroactive to May 25. Fellow righty Jake Woodford has been selected to the roster and will start tonight’s game in Clevinger’s place. Left-hander Sammy Peralta has been designated for assignment to open a 40-man spot for Woodford. Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times was among those to relay the Clevinger and Woodford on X prior to the official announcement.

Since Clevinger is being scratched just hours before his schedule start, it seems fair to conclude that it’s something that popped up recently. He tossed 4 2/3 innings in his most recent start, finishing with 98 pitches thrown that day. He says he has received a cortisone shot and will be shut down for 48 hours, per Van Schouwen on X. The righty expects to return after the 15-day minimum is up.

Clevinger underwent Tommy John surgery in 2020 and hasn’t quite been the same pitcher since. He had a 3.19 ERA in his career before going under the knife but has a 4.20 mark since then. He had a 27.3% strikeout rate prior to the surgery but has punched out just 19.4% of batters faced after.

He lingered in free agency this winter and didn’t land a deal until the Sox signed him in early April to a modest one-year deal with a $3MM guarantee. He went to the minors to build up his workload and was recalled in early May. The Sox were likely hoping for him to stabilized the rotation a bit by eating some innings and perhaps turning himself into a midseason trade candidate. That plan hasn’t worked out so far, as he has a 6.75 ERA through four starts and is now going on the injured list for at least a short spell.

The Sox have traded away many of their starters in recent years as part of their ongoing rebuild, including Dylan Cease, Lance Lynn and Lucas Giolito. This year, some of the guys they have tried have not worked out. Michael Soroka has been moved to the bullpen while Brad Keller was bumped off the roster entirely.

The Sox are left with a rotation core consisting of Garrett Crochet, Erick Fedde, Chris Flexen and Nick Nastrini. Crochet and Fedde have pitched well but Crochet will likely hit some kind of workload limit eventually, given how little he’s pitched in previous seasons. Fedde is on a two-year deal and will be a trade candidate this summer. Flexen is an impending free agent and would be a logical trade candidate as well, though his 5.69 ERA this year doesn’t give him massive appeal at the moment.

For now, Woodford will step in and make at least one start for the club. The 27-year-old was signed to a minor league deal in the offseason and has been pitching in Triple-A this year. He has logged 49 2/3 innings in his ten starts with a 5.26 ERA, 19.6% strikeout rate, 7.9% walk rate and 40.9% ground ball rate.

Prior to this year, he spent his entire career with the Cardinals. He threw 184 2/3 innings over the past four seasons with a 4.29 ERA. His 47.3% ground ball rate in that time was solid but his 15.1% strikeout rate well below par. He exhausted his option years in that stretch with St. Louis and they non-tendered him at the end of last season, which led to his deal with the Sox.

Since he’s out of options, the Sox will have to keep him on the active roster or else remove him from the 40-man entirely. If he manages to last on the roster all year, he can be retained beyond this season via arbitration. He came into 2024 with his service time count at three years and 48 days. If the club needs another starter down the line, Jonathan Cannon is on the 40-man but tossed six innings on Sunday. He wouldn’t have been available today but will perhaps get consideration going forward. Chad Kuhl and Touki Toussaint are non-roster options with some major league experience.

Peralta, 26, was just claimed off waivers from the Mariners two days ago. That brought him back to his original organization, as the Sox drafted him back in 2019 but lost him to the M’s off waivers in April of this year.

He made 16 appearances for the Sox last year with a 4.05 ERA in 20 innings. He struck out 20% of batters faced and walked 12.2%. With Triple-A Tacoma this year, he had a 9.24 ERA in 12 2/3 innings. His 20% strikeout rate and 13.3% walk rate with Tacoma were quite similar to last year’s major league work, but three home runs, a .361 batting average on balls in play and 57.7% strand rate pushed some extra runs across the plate.

The Sox were clearly still intrigued by their old friend and tried to bring him back, but the need for a roster spot nudged him off in short order. They will now have one week to trade him or pass him through waivers. He can still be optioned for the rest of this year and one more season as well. In the minor leagues in 2022, he tossed 62 innings with a 3.77 ERA, 29.2% strikeout rate, 8.5% walk rate and got grounders on roughly half the balls in play he allowed.

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