The Opener: Doubleheader, Cardinals, White Sox
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. Doubleheader in Atlanta:
A game between the Padres and Braves was rained out on Saturday, and the lost contest will be made up for today in the form of a split doubleheader. Game 1 is scheduled for 12:20pm local time while Game 2 is scheduled for 6:20pm local time, with fans who had tickets to Saturday night’s postponed game eligible to use them during today’s second contest this evening per MLB.com.
Game 1 will feature a pitchers’ duel between right-handers Dylan Cease (2.45 ERA) and Reynaldo Lopez (1.34 ERA). while Game 2 will see young righty Randy Vasquez (6.32 ERA) face off against veteran southpaw Chris Sale (2.54 ERA). Braves catcher Travis d’Arnaud was sidelined this weekend due to dizziness after a foul ball struck his mask, and while he’s expected to be back in action today, Atlanta would likely need to add another catcher to the roster if he’s suffered any sort of setback.
2. Cardinals roster move incoming:
The Cardinals are poised to promote right-hander Ryan Loutos today for what would be his major league debut if he makes it into a game. The Cardinals will need to clear space on both their 40-man and active rosters to accommodate the addition of Loutos, who signed with St. Louis as an undrafted free agent back in 2021 but has impressed with a 1.72 ERA and 3.06 FIP in 13 appearances at the Triple-A level for the club this year.
The 40-man roster move could be a relatively simple one, as catcher Willson Contreras is a candidate for the 60-day injured list after suffering a fractured arm that will reportedly sideline him for around ten weeks. The player who Loutos will replace on the active roster is less clear, although speculatively speaking it could make some sense for the Cardinals to swap out optionable right-hander Nick Robertson for a fresher arm on the heels of Robertson throwing 58 pitches across three innings of work during last night’s game.
3. Who’s joining the White Sox rotation?
The White Sox are reportedly planning to designate veteran right-hander Brad Keller for assignment today following a tough start in the Bronx over the weekend where he allowed six runs (five earned) on seven hits, including four home runs, and a walk over four inning. Keller, 28, will have the opportunity to elect free agency in search of another opportunity should he not be traded or claimed before clearing waivers.
What remains unclear is how the White Sox plan to replace the veteran righty in their rotation. Right-hander Michael Soroka is stretched out to start but was only just moved to the bullpen last week to accommodate Keller. Lefty Jared Shuster has starting experience and has looked good in seven multi-inning relief appearances, but he’s thrown in the vicinity of just 25 pitches per outing in recent weeks and would likely need to be stretched out further to be a realistic starting option. That could leave the club to turn to a hurler not currently on the active roster such as Nick Nastrini or Jonathan Cannon, both of whom made their MLB debuts earlier this season but have since been optioned back to Triple-A Charlotte.
Live Chat With Fantasy Baseball Expert Nicklaus Gaut
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The Journeyman Outfielder Flourishing With The Cubs
When the Cubs signed veteran outfielder Mike Tauchman to a minor league deal back in January of last year, the deal was barely a footnote in an offseason that saw Chicago splurge on stars such as Dansby Swanson and Cody Bellinger as they attempted to work their way back into the playoff conversation. Even the signings of veteran role players such as Trey Mancini and Eric Hosmer appeared to be more relevant to the Cubs’ chances as the season got underway, although injuries eventually forced the club to select Tauchman’s contract on May 19, 2023.
One year to the day later, the 33-year-old journeyman has emerged as one of the most important pieces in Chicago’s lineup as they renew their efforts to return to the postseason for the first time in a full season since 2018.
Tauchman is perhaps best known for his 2019 campaign, when he enjoyed a breakout season with the Yankees. The then-28-year-old had struggled through 69 plate appearances with the Rockies since making his big league debut back in 2017, hitting just .153/.265/.203 during that time, and was flipped to the Yankees in a minor trade during Spring Training 2019. Despite his lack of success at the big league level, Tauchman received an opportunity with the Yankees midseason when injuries to Aaron Hicks and Giancarlo Stanton left a hole in the Yankees outfield alongside Brett Gardner and Aaron Judge. He made the most of the opportunity and posted 3.1 fWAR in just 87 games as he slashed a whopping .277/.361/.504 with 13 home runs in just 296 trips to the plate.
While his incredible performance in 2019 offered some hope that he was emerging as a big league regular, Tauchman would fall back to Earth over the next two seasons. In 118 games with the Yankees and Giants across the 2020-21 seasons, his power production completely evaporated, leaving him with a paltry .203/.306/.291 slash line despite a still-strong 12.3% walk rate. Tauchman’s struggles ultimately led him to head overseas to play out the 2022 season with the Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization.
His 144-game stint in Korea went quite well, as he slashed a strong .289/.366/.430 in 648 trips to the plate as the club’s starting center fielder. On the heels of his strong performance, Tauchman tried his luck at returning to stateside ball in free agency during the 2022-23 offseason, although he ultimately was unable to find anything more than a minor league pact with Chicago. He held his own in 21 games with the Cubs during Spring Training, hitting a respectable .225/.354/.400 in 48 trips to the plate, but was ultimately unable to crack the club’s Opening Day roster even amid an injury to outfielder Seiya Suzuki as the Cubs instead opted to utilize Mancini and Miles Mastrobuoni in right field to open the season.
Tauchman’s chance would come later in the season, when an injury to Bellinger and the deep struggles of Hosmer led the club to place the former on the injured list and designate the latter for assignment. With a gaping hole in center field and only Ian Happ batting from the left side in the starting lineup, the Cubs selected Tauchman to the roster and installed him as a stopgap option in center field while Bellinger was on the shelf. Tauchman made the most of the opportunity, however, and by the time Bellinger was ready to return to the lineup in June, Tauchman was reaching base at a .415 clip and playing strong enough defense in center that the Cubs opted to temporarily move Bellinger to first base in order to keep Tauchman’s bat in the lineup.
Tauchman remained one of the club’s top on-base threats throughout the remainder of the season, and ended the 2023 campaign having eclipsed 100 games played and 400 trips to the plate in the majors for the first time in his career. His final slash line of .252/.363/.377 showed little power compared to his .227 ISO during his 2019 campaign with the Yankees, but his excellent 14% walk rate was second only to Ian Happ among Cubs hitters and he managed to reduce his strikeout rate to just 21.4%, a far cry from the 27% clip he had punched out at in the majors to that point in his career.
The showing was enough for Tauchman to not only be tendered an arbitration-level contract for the first time in his career but also enter Spring Training assured of a spot on the Opening Day roster. While the returning outfield trio of Happ, Bellinger, and Suzuki combined with the addition of Michael Busch at first base appeared likely to push Tauchman out of the Cubs’s starting lineup as the 2023 season began, a combination of early-season injuries to Suzuki and Bellinger and manager Craig Counsell‘s willingness to play Christopher Morel at third base on a regular basis has opened up plenty of opportunities for Tauchman to continue to act as a regular in the club’s lineup this season.
Once again, Tauchman has made the most of his opportunities by delivering an even stronger start than he did in 2023. In 43 games with the Cubs this season, the 33-year-old is slashing an excellent .257/.375/.407 in 168 trips to the plate. He’s seen his walk rate tick up to a whopping 14.9% that’s good for seventh among all qualified regulars in MLB this year, while his strikeout rate has held steady at 21.4%. Most excitingly, Tauchman has even managed to show a bit more power than he did in his first season with Chicago; he’s already clubbed four homers and nine doubles after managing just eight homers and 18 doubles throughout the entire 2023 campaign.
All that adds up to an excellent 130 wRC+ that leaves Tauchman tied with Bellinger for 40th place among all MLB regulars and first among all Cubs hitters this season. It’s been a truly remarkable pair of seasons for Tauchman in Chicago, and if he can continue to produce at this sort of level the Cubs will have plenty of tough decisions on their hands with top outfield prospects such as Pete Crow-Armstrong and Owen Caissie knocking on the door of the majors. Regardless of the outcome of those decisions, Tauchman has done enough over the past calendar year to assure himself continued opportunities at the big league level even as he enters his mid-thirties in a remarkable turnaround for a player many had written off as a one-season wonder half a decade ago.
Injury Notes: Garcia, Bradford, Pagan, Chandler
Adolis Garcia and Marcus Semien collided in pursuit of a fly ball in shallow right field in Saturday’s game, leaving Garcia with a sore forearm that kept him out of Sunday’s game. The issue was serious enough that Garcia underwent an MRI, but manager Bruce Bochy told MLB.com’s Kennedi Landry (X link) and other reporters that the outfielder received “pretty good” results from the tests. Since the Rangers don’t play on Monday, the team is hopeful that another day of rest will have Garcia ready for the start of their series Tuesday against the Phillies.
Garcia has a solid 117 wRC+ over 192 plate appearances this season, though his .251/.297/.491 slash line is obviously power-heavy. While Garcia has 11 homers and is making lots of hard contact, his strikeout and walk rates are both far below the league average, and his 5.7% walk rate is in particular a sharp drop from his 10.3% number in 2023. Despite these concerns, Garcia has still been one of the better hitters in a Texas lineup that has struggled to follow up on its huge numbers from its championship season.
More injury updates from around baseball…
- Sticking with the Rangers, Cody Bradford told Landry and other reporters that the stress fracture in his rib isn’t improving, even if the injury is no longer causing him pain. Bradford has been shut down from throwing for the time being, and it isn’t yet known how long this shutdown might extend his recovery timeline. Bradford hasn’t pitched since April 10 due to a lower back strain that led to his initial placement on the 10-day injured list, but the rib fracture was discovered near the end of April, and it was expected that Bradford would likely miss the rest of May. The left-hander had a sterling 1.40 ERA in his first 19 1/3 innings of the season, but his injuries have made him one of an incredible six starting pitchers on the Rangers’ IL.
- Emilio Pagan had to be removed from the Reds’ 3-2 loss to the Dodgers today after the reliever felt some pain in his triceps area. “It felt like my triceps overstretched right in the middle,” Pagan said told MLB.com and other media, though “it wasn’t sharp pain. It wasn’t a grab.” Pagan will be examined by team doctors during the Monday off-day, but an initial round of tests created some hope that the issue isn’t serious. Pagan’s 54.2% hard-hit ball rate is among the highest in baseball and he is having his usual trouble keeping the ball in the park, but the right-hander has limited the damage to a 4.19 ERA over 19 1/3 innings thanks to an outstanding strikeout rate.
- Pirates pitching prospect Bubba Chandler has been placed on the seven-day IL at Double-A due to forearm tightness, as assistant GM Steve Sanders relayed in an interview on 93.7 radio (hat tip to Justin Guerriero of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review). Chandler was a third-round pick for the Bucs in the 2021 draft, and he is ranked 57th by Baseball America and 66th by MLB Pipeline in their current lists of the sport’s top prospects. The righty had 3.10 ERA over his first 20 1/3 innings of the Double-A season but was hit hard in his last two outings, perhaps in relation to the forearm issue.
Cardinals To Promote Ryan Loutos
The Cardinals are calling up right-hander Ryan Loutos, according to the WashU Baseball Updates X feed. The team will need to make adjustments to both its 26-man and 40-man rosters, as Loutos isn’t on the Cards’ 40-man.
This will be the first MLB exposure for Loutos, a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis who signed with the Cards as an undrafted free agent in 2021. It means that the 25-year-old has now beaten the vast majority of players from that draft class to the majors, marking another step in Loutos’ unusual baseball career. As Geoff Pontes of Baseball America wrote in a 2022 interview with the right-hander, “the Cardinals coveted Loutos as much for his potential fit as a front office candidate as they did for his skill as a baseball player.” Loutos is a computer science major who has already been working with the Cardinals’ analytics department.
In terms of on-field contributions, Loutos pitched pretty well in 2022 before struggling to a 6.40 ERA over 71 2/3 relief innings at Triple-A Memphis in 2023. Loutos had a solid 24.1% strikeout rate but also a 11.3% walk rate, and that latter number has actually gotten worse to the tune of a 13.6BB% this season. However, Loutos also hasn’t allowed any homers, has generated a 50% grounder rate, and upped his K% to 27.3% in posting a 1.72 ERA in 15 2/3 frames for Memphis in 2024.
It was enough to merit Loutos a ticket to the Show, even if it might be just a short-term stint to provide a fresh arm to the St. Louis bullpen. The Cardinals have leaned pretty hard on their pen over the last few games, so some extra help could be required when the Cards begin a series Monday with the hot-hitting Orioles.
Braves Reinstate Pierce Johnson, Jackson Stephens Elects Free Agency
TODAY: Stephens has again rejected the outright assignment and opted for free agency, the Braves announced.
MAY 18: The Braves announced that right-hander Pierce Johnson has been reinstated from the 15-day injured list. Now recovered from some elbow inflammation, Johnson will take the roster spot of Jackson Stephens, who has been outrighted to Triple-A Gwinnett.
Johnson’s initial IL placement was backdated to May 1, so the reliever will end up missing only slightly beyond the 15-day minimum stint. As noted by MLB.com’s Mark Bowman (X link), Stephens’ status seems to have played a role in Johnson not being immediately reinstated when first eligible, as it gave a bit of extra time for Stephens to pass through waivers. There hadn’t been any public indication that Stephens had been designated for assignment before today’s outright announcement.
Over his first 12 innings of the 2024 season, Johnson had a 3.00 ERA, 32% strikeout rate, 10 percent walk rate, and a 58.6% grounder rate. Control has long been Johnson’s chief issue as a big league pitcher, as he carried an 11.5% walk rate across his 137 2/3 innings with three different teams from 2017-22. That number spiked to a 13.3% in 39 innings with the Rockies last season, and a 6.00 ERA before Johnson’s career was turned around in a deadline trade to Atlanta. Johnson delivered an exceptional 0.76 ERA as well as a 5.6% walk rate and 36% strikeout rate in 23 2/3 innings for the Braves, immediately cementing his place as a key member of the bullpen mix. The Braves were impressed enough to offer Johnson a two-year, $14.25MM contract extension to keep him from testing free agency.
Since Stephens is out of minor league options, the Braves have repeatedly cycled him through the DFA/outright process in order to send him to Triple-A. Stephens has usually elected for free agency in this scenario (as is his right as a player who has previously been outrighted off a 40-man roster) only to re-sign with Atlanta on a new minors contract. It seems quite likely that history could repeat itself here, if Stephens wants to first test the market out of due diligence if nothing else, before returning to his role as a depth arm in the Braves’ system.
Amidst the constant transactions, Stephens has pitched pretty well since initially joining the Braves in the 2021-22 offseason. He has a 3.52 ERA across 69 total innings, with 53 2/3 of those frames coming in 2022 since he missed a good chunk of last season due to injuries.
MLBTR Chat Transcript
Click here to read the transcript of tonight’s live baseball chat
Braves Interested In Zach Eflin
The Braves are “keeping a close eye on” Zach Eflin as a potential trade target prior to the deadline, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale writes. Rotation help has been circled as a likely need for Atlanta ever since Spencer Strider was lost for the season to an internal brace surgery, and Eflin stands out as a potentially intriguing choice for several reasons.
First and foremost, Eflin is again pitching well in terms of bottom-line results, with a 4.12 ERA over 10 starts and 59 innings. The right-hander continues to be among the best control specialists in the game with a sterling 1.6% walk rate, though there are some red flags in other notable categories. Eflin is again among the league leaders in barrels even if his barrel rate is only slightly below average, but his hard-hit ball rate (41.6%) and strikeout rate (17.9%) are also both subpar. He was well above average in both categories in 2023, when Eflin’s first season in Tampa Bay resulted in a sixth-place finish in AL Cy Young Award voting.
A contender like the Braves won’t necessarily be scared off by Eflin’s 2024 numbers, as they are very familiar with Eflin’s work after dealing with him as a division rival during Eflin’s years with the Phillies. Durability might also be a concern given Eflin’s long history of knee problems, but he tossed 182 2/3 innings last year between the regular season and playoffs, and had only a brief IL stint due to a bad back.
These are all good reasons why the Rays themselves might naturally want to keep Eflin in their own rotation as they continue to vie for another postseason berth. Tampa Bay is 11-6 in its last 17 games, a hot streak that has gotten the club back up to a 25-23 record after a mediocre April. Eflin has also been a stabilizing force in a rotation beset by injuries, even if some reinforcements are on the way. Ryan Pepiot could return from the 15-day IL this week in his recovery from a leg contusion, Shane Baz (currently on a rehab assignment) and Jeffrey Springs are tentatively expected to return from Tommy John surgery rehab in July or August, and Drew Rasmussen is on roughly the same timeline after he went an internal brace procedure last July.
If at least one of Springs, Baz, or Rasmussen is already back by the deadline and the Rays are comfortable with the recovery status of the others, it is possible Tampa Bay might feel comfortable counting on these internal arms to help fill the gap created by trading Eflin. It is a risk that most teams might not take, and yet as always with the Rays, payroll could be a factor in their decision-making. Eflin is in the second season of a three-year, $40MM contract that was paid out as $11MM in both 2023 and 2024, and then $18MM in 2025. (He also receives a $1MM bonus in the event of a trade.)
Moving Eflin would allow the Rays to avoid the backloaded final portion of that contract, and get the remainder of Eflin’s 2024 salary also off the books. Even if Eflin isn’t dealt at the deadline, it stands to reason that the Rays might explore moving him this offseason, similar to how the club dealt Tyler Glasnow to the Dodgers last winter before Glasnow was owed $25MM in 2024 under the terms of his previous contract.
Acquiring Eflin would also have some interesting payroll implications for a Braves team whose projected luxury tax number (as per RosterResource) sits at approximately $272.5MM. This is already well into the second tax tier and not far off the third tier that begins at $277MM. Atlanta hasn’t been shy in spending big in pursuit of another World Series title, but crossing the $277MM threshold carries the secondary penalty of a 10-slot drop for the Braves’ first selection in the 2025 draft. Eflin being controlled through 2025 might carry some particular for the Braves, however, as Max Fried and Charlie Morton will both be free agents this winter.
Alex Anthopoulos and Erik Neander are two of the most creative executives in baseball, so any number of interesting Atlanta/Tampa trades could be devised that would perhaps allow Eflin to change teams while also allowing the Braves to stay under that third luxury tax tier. The Rays could eat a larger portion of Eflin’s contract in order to obtain a better prospect return from the Braves, or perhaps a third team could be brought into the talks to balance things out.
Atlanta’s rotation has still been pretty solid even without Strider, as Braves starters entered Sunday with a combined 3.44 ERA (tenth-best in baseball). Fried, Morton, Chris Sale, and Reynaldo Lopez have all been good to great, though Sale’s durability is always a question mark and Lopez (who has a sparkling 1.34 ERA) is in his first season as a full-time starter since 2020, and he hasn’t tossed more than 66 innings in a season since 2019. Bryce Elder is the fifth starter and Darius Vines, Allan Winans, Huascar Ynoa, and top prospects AJ Smith-Shawver and Hurston Waldrep provide additional depth, though a pitcher like Eflin could be more of a proven commodity for a team with championship aspirations.
AL East Notes: Houck, Kahnle, Santander
The Red Sox locked up Brayan Bello and Ceddanne Rafaela to contract extensions this past spring, but no deal developed between the team and Tanner Houck, even though the two sides had some negotiations. Houck confirmed to MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo that some “discussions” took place, “but we’re at where we are now. I put that behind me whenever we shook hands and said, ‘Let’s go out and win as many games as we can.’ ” There’s nothing preventing Houck and the Sox from restarting talks, though it would seem that Houck (like most players) prefers to save contractual matters for the offseason to cut down on potential distractions.
The right-hander also doesn’t even reach arbitration eligibility until this coming winter, so since he is already under team control through 2027, Boston might not feel too much urgency to lock Houck up on an extension. Of course, given how Houck has pitched this season, the Sox might’ve missed their window for landing Houck at a relative bargain price. Houck has broken out with a 2.17 ERA over 58 innings and nine starts, and his secondary metrics are highlighted by impressive grounder (55.2%), walk (4.7%) and barrel (3.7%) rates. Even in a season marked by impressive pitching around baseball, Houck has stood out, as his 1.9 fWAR is behind only Tarik Skubal as the highest in the league.
More from the AL East…
- Tommy Kahnle is on pace to be activated from the 15-day injured list prior to the Yankees‘ game on Wednesday, manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including Greg Joyce of the New York Post). Kahnle threw ten pitches in a scoreless inning for Double-A Somerset today, which marks his fifth and likely final rehab outing. The reliever hasn’t pitched in a big league game since September 20, as a bout of shoulder inflammation prematurely ended his 2023 campaign, and then more inflammation this spring led to a season-opening stint on the 15-day IL. Getting Kahnle back in good health will add another yet quality arm to a New York relief corps that led the majors in bullpen ERA entering today’s action.
- Anthony Santander has been battling a bruised left knee since Wednesday, when he collided with the outfield wall in pursuit of a Bo Bichette fly ball. After the Orioles had an off-day Thursday, Santander felt well enough to serve as the DH in Baltimore’s last two games, but didn’t play at all in today’s 6-3 win over the Mariners. Santander told MLB.com and other media that he is hoping one more day of rest will help calm the still-lingering soreness in his knee, and he described his knee as feeling “about 75 percent” when running, so some more DH duty might be in order. Santander is hitting .210/.290/.427 with seven homers over 176 plate appearances this season, still good for a respectable 106 wRC+ but also a comparative weak link in the powerful Orioles lineup.
- For most on the Red Sox, Orioles, and Blue Jays, check out another set of AL East Notes published earlier today on MLBTR.
Rockies Select Matt Koch
The Rockies announced this afternoon that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Matt Koch. Right-hander Jake Bird was placed on the 15-day IL with elbow inflammation to clear a spot on the club’s active roster, while infielder Julio Carreras was designated for assignment to open up a spot on the 40-man roster.
Koch, 33, was a third-round pick by the Mets in the 2012 draft but made his debut with the Diamondbacks in 2016. In parts of four seasons with Arizona, Koch swung between the rotation and bullpen but generally struggled badly throughout his time in the majors with a 4.88 ERA and 6.00 FIP in 125 1/3 innings. Koch departed the Dbacks organization following the 2019 season and did not pitch in the big leagues over the next two seasons before eventually resurfacing with the Mariners for four appearances in 2022, though he struggled badly with an 8.31 ERA and 8.42 FIP in 4 1/3 frames.
That eventually led Koch to sign with the Rockies on a minor league deal prior to the 2023 season. He was a serviceable member of the club’s bullpen last year, pitching to a 5.12 ERA (good for a roughly league average 97 ERA+ due to the inflated offensive environment of Coors Field) with a roughly matching 5.07 FIP in 39 appearances for Colorado last year. While he struck out just 16.6% of batters faced, he limited walks to a 5.5% clip while generating groundballs and a strong 49% clip. Looking ahead, the Rockies are surely hoping that Koch will offer the club adequate middle relief from the left-hand side once again this year, as he’ll enter the club’s bullpen as the only lefty relief option besides closer Jalen Beeks.
Making room for Koch on the active roster is Bird, who is headed to the injured list with elbow inflammation. The 28-year-old righty was a fifth-round pick by the Rockies in the 2018 draft and has pitched for the club in each of the last three seasons, including a solid 2023 campaign where he posted a 4.33 ERA and 3.55 FIP in 89 1/3 innings of work. While that seemingly set Bird up to handle key leverage innings for Colorado out of the bullpen this year, things haven’t gone according to plan as he’s struggled badly to the tune of a 6.10 ERA and nearly matching 6.34 FIP in 20 2/3 innings of work prior to his placement on the injured list today. Bird’s timetable for return is not currently clear, though the Rockies are surely hoping he’ll look more like his 2023 self upon his return.
As for Carreras, the 24-year-old first appeared in pro ball with the Rockies back in 2018 and entered the season as a fairly well-regarded prospect in the club’s farm system thanks to his strong infield defense, power potential, and proximity to the big leagues. That was enough for the club to decide to add Carreras to the 40-man roster this winter, and a strong .304/.388/.461 performance in the Dominican Winter League this past offseason seemingly further set up Carreras as a potential infield depth option for the big league club this year.
Unfortunately. Carreras’s prospects have taken a turn for the worse since the season began. In 38 games at the Triple-A level this season, Carreras has slashed just .181/.247/.269. That’s a tough slash line to swallow at any level of pro ball, though it’s especially weak given the heightened offensive environment of the Pacific Coast League, where the Rockies’ Triple-A affiliate plays its games. Colorado will have one week to either trade Carreras or attempt to pass him through waivers. If he successfully clears waivers, the Rockies will have the opportunity to assign Carreras outright to the minor leagues and maintain him as non-roster depth.