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Mariners Keeping Bryan Woo In Rotation For Now

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Pitching prospect Bryan Woo’s debut with the Mariners didn’t go as either he or the team hoped earlier this week, as the 23-year-old righty was tagged for six runs in two innings by a formidable Rangers offense. However, with Marco Gonzales (flexor strain) and Robbie Ray (Tommy John surgery) sidelined, Woo will remain in the rotation for the time being, general manager Justin Hollander said last night (Twitter links via Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times and Daniel Kramer of MLB.com).

Woo is one of the more touted prospects in the Mariners’ system and showed why over the course of the nine Double-A starts that preceded his call to the big leagues. In that time, he pitched to a sterling 2.05 ERA with a 34.3% strikeout rate, a 7% walk rate, a 12.3% swinging-strike rate and just 0.41 homers per nine frames. Though he didn’t storm out of the gates like fellow rookie Bryce Miller, who also made the jump right from Double-A to the Majors, Woo will continue to start every fifth day for the time being.

To some extent, that’s largely due to lack of quality alternatives. Ray is done for the season, and while Gonzales’ injury is less severe — Hollander told Divish, Kramer and others that there’s no concern over his ulnar collateral ligament — he won’t be back anytime soon, either. Gonzales likened the injury to one that cost him about five weeks of the 2021 season, per Hollander. If this is indeed similar, he’ll likely be out beyond the 15-day minimum and require a minor league rehab stint before returning late this month or in early July.

Veteran righty Chris Flexen was a key member of Seattle’s rotation for much of the 2021-22 seasons, but he’s struggling through one of the worst seasons of his professional career. Currently pitching in long relief after four rough starts early in the year, Flexen has been rocked for a 7.13 ERA in 35 1/3 frames. His 16.8% strikeout rate is below average but right in line with his 2021-22 levels. However, his walk rate has spiked to 9.3% — his worst as a Mariner — and he’s been rocked for an alarming 2.04 homers per nine innings pitched.

A .351 average on balls in play hasn’t helped Flexen’s cause, and his 20.5% homer-to-flyball rate figures to drop off, given his career 10.8% mark in that regard. Still, his performance of late hasn’t justified another look in the rotation. After beginning his time in the bullpen with eight shout innings, Flexen has yielded runs in three straight outings, yielding a combined seven runs on ten hits (three of them homers) and three walks in his past six frames.

Further depth options for Seattle are also banged up. Right-hander Easton McGee underwent Tommy John surgery last month, and Hollander noted that veteran Tommy Milone and journeyman Jose Rodriguez are both on the minor league injured list at the moment. The same is true of prospect Taylor Dollard, who hasn’t pitched in Triple-A since mid-April. Former first-rounder Emerson Hancock is healthy in Double-A but has been wildly inconsistent this season; he’s sitting on a 5.44 ERA, though nearly all of the damage against him has been done in three starts that have seen him yield nine, seven and six runs. He has a 1.45 ERA in his other eight appearances — including six shutout frames with seven strikeouts last night — but it’s understandable if the Mariners feel Woo’s Double-A consistency makes him the better option at the moment.

As things stand, Seattle’s rotation is still on generally solid ground. Luis Castillo, George Kirby and Logan Gilbert have ranged from good to dominant thus far, and the aforementioned Miller’s career began in historic fashion through five starts before he was clobbered in his sixth and seventh outings. The club can also harbor some optimism that Gonzales will be able to return in relatively short order, though the veteran lefty has had his own struggles with consistency in 2023, leading to a 5.22 ERA in 50 innings.

If there are further injuries and setbacks on the pitching staff, however, that could prove to impact the team’s direction at the trade deadline, which is now fewer than eight weeks away. The Mariners are currently sitting on a 30-30 record, placing them a hefty 10 games back of the first-place Rangers in the AL West but a more manageable five games out of a Wild Card spot. They’ve recently seen key bats like Julio Rodriguez, Ty France and Teoscar Hernandez come to life after extended slumps, but those surges have come in conjunction with alarming swoons from early contributors like Jarred Kelenic, Eugenio Suarez and Cal Raleigh.

Phillies Outright Cal Stevenson

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The Phillies announced that outfielder Cal Stevenson, who was designated for assignment last week, has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

Stevenson, 26, has already been a part of a half dozen organizations in his short career. Drafted by the Blue Jays in 2018, he went to the Astros in the 2019 Derek Fisher trade, then to the Rays as part of the 2020 Austin Pruitt deal and to the A’s in the Christian Bethancourt trade. The A’s added him to their roster last season but designated him for assignment in mid-April of this year. He was then flipped to the Giants for cash but put on waivers a couple of weeks ago and landed with the Phillies.

Amid all of those transactions, Stevenson got into 29 major league games, 23 with the A’s last year and 6 with the Giants this year. He walked in 13.3% of his 83 plate appearances but also struck out in 30.1% of them and slashed just .145/.259/.188. But he continued to draw interest based on his strong work in the minors. In Triple-A last year, split between different organizations, he had a 14.7% walk rate and 17.6% strikeout rate while hitting .284/.389/.412. He also stole 16 bases and played all three outfield spots.

Unfortunately, he hasn’t gotten into a groove this year while bouncing from club to club, hitting .208/.344/.273 in 93 Triple-A plate appearances in 2023 so far. That production likely helped him pass through waivers unclaimed. Since this is his first career outright and he has less than three years of service time, he won’t have the ability to elect free agency. That will allow the Phils to retain him as a bit of non-roster outfield depth as he tries to earn his way back to the big leagues.

Nationals To Designate Erasmo Ramirez For Assignment

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The Nationals are designating veteran righty Erasmo Ramirez for assignment, reports Andrew Golden of the Washington Post. His spot on the roster will go to right-hander Cory Abbott, who is being recalled from Triple-A Rochester, as first reported by Talk Nats. Ramirez is the Nationals’ second reliever to be designated for assignment in as many days; righty Andres Machado was designated for assignment just yesterday.

It’s been a tough season for the veteran Ramirez, who has been tagged for a 6.33 ERA in 27 innings out of Davey Martinez’s bullpen. The 33-year-old right-hander is only a year removed from logging 86 innings of 2.92 ERA ball for the Nats, but after re-signing in D.C. over the winter, he’s seen his strikeout rate, walk rate, home-run rate, ground-ball rate and fastball velocity all trend in the wrong direction.

Ramirez’s 2022 season always appeared to have benefited from some degree good fortune. His .267 average on balls in play was well south of league average (and a bit shy of his own career mark), and an 81% strand rate is difficult to sustain over a larger sample — particularly with a below-average strikeout rate.

Still, the wheels have come off far more than last year’s numbers might have suggested. Ramirez’s 10.3% strikeout rate and 6% swinging-strike rate in 2023 rank as the third-lowest and fourth-lowest of any MLB pitcher (min. 20 innings pitched). After yielding just an 88.7 mph average exit velocity in 2022, he’s been torched for an average of 92.2 mph off the bat in 2023. Ramirez’s sinker sat at 93.1 mph last season but is down to 92.1 mph so far this year.

The Nats will have a week to trade Ramirez, pass him through outright waivers or release him. As a veteran with more than five years of big league service time, he can reject on outright assignment in favor of free agency without forfeiting the remainder of his $1MM guaranteed salary. Any team could sign him at that point, owing only the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the big league roster.

Abbott, 27, was with the Nationals earlier this season and tossed four innings of one-run ball across a pair of relief appearances. He also logged 48 innings for the 2022 Nats, yielding a 5.25 ERA. Abbott has been tagged for a 5.71 ERA across 41 Triple-A frames, operating exclusively as a starter in the minors. He’s likely ticketed for a bullpen role with the Nats, where he’ll replace Ramirez. In 69 1/3 career innings at the MLB level, Abbott has a 5.45 ERA with an 18.7% strikeout rate against a 12.1% walk rate.

Rangers To Release Rafael Ortega

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The Rangers are granting veteran outfielder Rafael Ortega his release from their Triple-A club, MLBTR has learned. The 32-year-old will head back to the open market in search of a better opportunity with a clearer path to big league playing time.

Ortega, 32, drew some attention in Yankees camp this spring and was viewed as a candidate to make the Opening Day roster late in camp. That didn’t happen, as the Yankees pivoted and signed Franchy Cordero while releasing Ortega, who quickly caught on with Texas.

Through 44 games and 199 plate appearances with Triple-A Round Rock this season, Ortega is hitting .226/.333/.381 with five home runs, 11 doubles and eight stolen bases. After a poor first month of the season, he’s logged a more palatable .247/.349/.427 slash with more walks (14) than strikeouts (12) over the past month (107 plate appearances). Overall, Ortega has walked at a hefty 13.6% clip against a better-than-average 17.1% strikeout rate.

Even with that recent uptick, the overall results haven’t been strong enough to compel the Rangers to find room for Ortega on the big league roster. That’s understandable, given a huge performance from right fielder Adolis Garcia, a breakout year at the dish for center fielder Leody Taveras, and solid contributions from a combination of Robbie Grossman, Travis Jankowski, Josh H. Smith and Ezequiel Duran in left field.

Ortega’s overall performance this year in Triple-A doesn’t stand out much, but he had a productive 2021-22 run with the Cubs, batting a combined .265/.344/.408 with 18 home runs and 24 stolen bases in 701 Major League plate appearances. He paired that slash with a strong 10.6% walk rate and a 20.5% strikeout rate that clocked in a couple percentage points lower than the average MLB hitter.

Ortega has ample experience at all three outfield spots both in the big leagues and in the minors. He’s lined up in all three spots with Round Rock this season but most frequently slotted in as the center fielder for the Express. Metrics like Defensive Runs Saved, Outs Above Average and Ultimate Zone Rating agree that Ortega has been a solid corner option in recent seasons at the MLB level but was below average (-5 DRS, -2 OAA) in 944 innings of center field work.

D-backs GM Mike Hazen On Trade Deadline Needs

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Opener: A’s, Yankees, Syndergaard

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As the 2023 regular season continues, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. Nevada legislature to hold special session on A’s stadium deal:

As reported by Mick Akers of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Nevada governor Joe Lombardo issued a proclamation last night that convened a special session of the Nevada state legislature to reconsider SB509, the bill that, if passed, would approve roughly $380MM in public funding for an MLB ballpark in Las Vegas. The special session, which is set to begin 12pm CT, has no specified end time. Per Akers, that means the session could extend beyond today, if necessary to reach a conclusion on the bill.

Failure to get the bill through the Nevada legislature would be a major setback for A’s ownership, as the club will lose its status as a recipient of revenue-sharing if it fails to secure a stadium deal prior to January 15. Success, on the other hand, would remove what appears to be the most significant remaining roadblock as A’s ownership plans to move the team to Las Vegas, though plenty of other, smaller roadblocks would remain.

2. Yankees to place Judge, Cortes on the IL today:

The Yankees plan to place both left-hander Nestor Cortes and outfielder Aaron Judge on the injured list today. Right-hander Randy Vasquez is expected to be called up to take the ball in Cortes’ stead during tonight’s game against the White Sox, though it’s as of yet unknown who will replace Judge on the active roster. Outfielder Franchy Cordero, infielder Oswald Peraza, and catcher Ben Rortvedt are the only Triple-A hitters on the 40-man roster at the moment.

It’s been a difficult season to this point for Cortes. The lefty has struggled to a 5.16 ERA that’s 18% worse than league average by ERA+ over 59 1/3 innings of work. Judge, on the other hand, has followed up his AL MVP-winning campaign with another strong performance, slashing .291/.404/.674 so far in the 2023 season. While Judge’s 188 wRC+ leads the majors, he’s been limited to just 49 games so far this season between his current toe issue and a hip strain earlier in the season.

3. Syndergaard starts as rotation decision looms:

The Dodgers are expected to welcome left-hander Julio Urias back into the rotation in the near future, meaning one of the club’s five current starters figures to depart the rotation. Veteran ace Clayton Kershaw and right-hander Tony Gonsolin are both secure in their rotation spots, leaving a spotlight on veteran right-hander Noah Syndergaard along with youngsters Bobby Miller and Michael Grove headed into the weekend.

Miller has been dominant since receiving the call to the majors, with a 1.06 ERA in three starts. Grove has been hit hard this season, though his 8.14 ERA is skewed by a nine-run meltdown that preceded a stint on the injured list beginning in late April. He returned with improved velocity earlier this week, fanning a season-high seven batters with no walks but still yielding four runs in five innings. Syndergaard has struggled to a 6.54 ERA and 5.23 FIP in 11 starts with the Dodgers after signing on a one-year deal with the club this past offseason. As he fights to keep his spot in the rotation, the veteran right-hander will be tasked with handling a hot Reds team that managed to come back from an 8-3 deficit just last night to beat the Dodgers 9-8.

Jacob deGrom To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Yankees To Place Aaron Judge On Injured List

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

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

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

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

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

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

Blue Jays Option Alek Manoah

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Latest On A’s Vegas Stadium Proposal

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The Athletics’ efforts to secure public funding for a Las Vegas stadium project has been pending in the Nevada legislature for the past few weeks. Reports in late May suggested the organization and lawmakers had reached a tentative agreement that’d see around $380MM in public funding committed to the project via tax credits, exemptions and county-issued bonds.

They’re still awaiting formal approval from the legislature, though, and the process has slowed down substantially. Nevada’s standard legislative session only runs through June 5; the A’s stadium bill didn’t come up for a formal vote in that time. That’s not a death knell for the project, as the governor’s office called a special session this morning to keep legislators in Carson City.

Both Tabitha Mueller of the Nevada Independent (Twitter link) and Mike Watson of 8 ABC report that the A’s stadium proposal will be up for debate. Mick Akers of the Las Vegas Review-Journal tweets the A’s stadium is not scheduled for tonight but could be heard tomorrow at 10:00 am PDT. It’s not clear whether there’ll be a formal vote on the proposal within the next 24 hours but there should soon be more clarity about the project’s chances of getting off the ground.

The A’s are hoping to construct a 30,000-seat stadium with a retractable roof on the Vegas Strip. If their stadium plans are greenlit by Nevada officials, the A’s could then formally apply to MLB for relocation out of Oakland.

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