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Marlins Outright Sean Nolin

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Left-hander Sean Nolin has been outrighted by the Marlins to Triple-A Jacksonville, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment last week. Since he has been previously outrighted in his career, he has the right to reject this assignment and elect free agency, though it’s not yet clear if he’s decided to do so.

Nolin, 33, has racked up a lot of miles in his career. Originally a draft pick of the Blue Jays, he briefly made it to the big leagues with them in 2013 and 2014, getting one appearance in each of those seasons. He then went to the Athletics in the Josh Donaldson trade but posted a 5.28 ERA in six starts in 2015 before getting designated for assignment prior to the following season.

He then missed the next five major league campaigns, bouncing around the minors and non-affiliated leagues, going to the Brewers, Rockies, White Sox, the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League, the Mariners and the Seibu Lions of Nippon Professional Baseball. He returned to the bigs in 2021, tossing 26 2/3 innings for the Nats in that season with a 4.39 ERA. He went to the Kia Tigers of the KBO League last year before returning to North America this offseason.

The southpaw signed a minor league deal with the Twins in February but was flipped to the Marlins a week ago, just before he was selected to the big league club. The Fish put him into Monday’s game when they were down 5-0, leaving him out for three innings of mop-up duty wherein he allowed six runs, designating him for assignment the day after he was selected. Nolin could decide to accept the assignment and join the Jumbo Shrimp but he could also opt for the open market to see if there are any opportunities out there for him.

White Sox Notes: Anderson, Alberto, Crochet, Hendriks, Moncada

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The White Sox provided reporters with some updates on various injured players and their paths to rejoining the club, with James Fegan of The Athletic among those to relay the information (Twitter links). The ones closest to return are infielders Tim Anderson and Hanser Alberto, as they will be starting rehab assignments with Triple-A Charlotte tomorrow.

Anderson, 30 in June, has been on the injured list since April 11 due to a knee sprain. He was initially estimated to miss between two and four weeks, so it’s still possible for him to come back in that time frame. One of the club’s better players, his absence has corresponded with a dreadful downward slide in the standings. The Sox were 5-6 when he hit the shelf but have gone just 2-12 since, now sporting a record of 7-18.

The club is obviously better when Anderson is a part of it. Dating back to the start of 2019, he has 51 home runs and 58 stolen bases. His .317/.346/.471 batting line in that time amounts to a wRC+ of 122. Any club would be worse off when subtracting that kind of production, but his replacements have fared quite poorly. With him out of action, Elvis Andrus has become the everyday shortstop, but he’s hitting just .195/.260/.230 on the year for a wRC+ of 37. The second base position, which was previously covered by Andrus, has been mostly split between Romy González and Lenyn Sosa in that time. González is currently hitting .129/.129/.129 for a wRC+ of -39 while Sosa’s line is .122/.143/.220, -8 wRC+.

The tremendous drop-off from Anderson’s typical production to those numbers has surely played a role in the club’s recent struggles, making his imminent return fantastic news for the club. He’s been floated as a speculative trade candidate this summer if they fail to return to contention, given he’s in the final guaranteed season of his contract. However, the club has an affordable $14MM option for 2024 with a $1MM buyout.

There’s also good news in the return of Albero, on the IL with a quad strain, though he’s more of a role player. His career batting line of .271/.293/.380 translates to a wRC+ of 77, which isn’t terribly exciting but would still mean the club would have options to turn to when others are struggling.

Just slightly behind those two is left-hander Garrett Crochet, who missed all of last year due to undergoing Tommy John surgery in April. He’s getting a check-up in Chicago but would be approved for his own rehab assignment if everything looks good there. The southpaw has a career 2.54 ERA in 60 1/3 innings, striking out 29% of batters faced against a 10.7% walk rate. Getting him back in the bullpen would surely give the club a nice boost back there.

Another boost for the bullpen could be coming as right-hander Liam Hendriks, who has missed all of this season so far while undergoing treatment for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, though he recently shared the good news that he’s been declared cancer free. He’s just slightly behind Crochet, as he will report to Chicago for his own pre-rehab checkup next week. He’s become one of the most dominant relievers in baseball in recent years, racking up 119 saves in the previous four seasons with a 2.26 ERA and 38.8% strikeout rate in that time.

While it’s great that those four players are making progress towards their respective returns, there’s one bit of news that’s less encouraging, per Fegan. Third baseman Yoán Moncada, who was been on the injured list for about two weeks due to back tightness, has been diagnosed with a protruding disc that is touching a nerve and causing pain in his glutes. While the issue is supposedly improving, Moncada still won’t be starting a rehab assignment during the current eight-game homestand that begins tonight. General manager Rick Hahn said that these issues don’t require offseason surgery about 80% of the time.

That’s surely not ideal information since Moncada’s IL placement originally seemed to be fairly precautionary. There was a period of a few days where it seemed he and the club were hoping to avoid an IL stint altogether but it’s now clearly more serious than initially thought. More updates will surely be forthcoming but it doesn’t seem like he’s close to a return and future surgery isn’t completely off the table.

Moncada has been fairly hot-and-cold in his career but was on a heater this year before the injury popped up, hitting .308/.325/.564 through his first nine games. Thankfully, his absence hasn’t created as much of a hole in the lineup as Anderson’s has, as Jake Burger has filled in with a .213/.309/.596 showing. Still, it’s a discouraging update on a key member of the core for a club that was held back by significant injuries last year and has been battling them again this year. His contract runs through 2024 with a $25MM option for 2025 that has a $5MM buyout.

The Angels’ Unexpected Rotation Dilemma

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It’s a pivotal year for the Angels, who could be nearing an inflection point with Shohei Ohtani in his final season of arbitration control. A lack of overall roster depth has plagued the club in prior years. For much of that time, the issue was starting pitching, though last year’s team was plagued more by mediocre contributions from the bottom of the lineup and a below-average bullpen.

Los Angeles had a productive starting staff last season, checking in sixth in the majors with a 3.67 rotation ERA. As MLBTR’s Steve Adams explored towards the end of the year, much of that was attributable to the emergence of a trio of left-handers. Patrick Sandoval, Reid Detmers and José Suarez had performed effectively to varying degrees. Sandoval and Detmers looked like potential mid-rotation types; Suarez was more in the solid fourth starter mold. With Ohtani at the top and the offseason pickup of Tyler Anderson via free agency, Los Angeles entered the year with the nucleus of another strong rotation.

That hasn’t quite borne out through the season’s first month. Angels starters have allowed 4.45 earned runs per nine innings, a league average figure. That’s in part because of a disappointing first four starts from Anderson, but the bigger concern is how hittable Suarez has been. The 25-year-old has allowed 20 runs (19 earned) in 16 2/3 innings through four outings. He’s walked nine batters against 12 strikeouts and surrendered a staggering seven homers. His 10.26 ERA ties that of the recently released Madison Bumgarner for the seventh-highest mark among starters with 10+ innings.

It’s very early in the season but Suarez’s first few starts have been noncompetitive. He’s only completed five frames once. That came against a mediocre A’s lineup that still teed off for seven runs and connected on five of the homers Suarez has allowed. The Angels can’t accept continued performances at that level for very long.

The struggles have mostly come out of nowhere. Suarez never flashed the upside that rotation mates Sandoval and Detmers have. He’d been seen by many prospect evaluators as a perfectly capable back-of-the-rotation starter, though, and that’s what he’d been from 2021-22. Suarez allowed a little under four earned runs per nine in both seasons, combining for a 3.86 ERA/4.01 FIP in 207 1/3 frames over that stretch. His 21.5% strikeout rate was a tick below average but he did a decent job keeping the ball in the park and kept his walks to a manageable 7.9% clip.

While it’d perhaps be in the organization’s best interest to get Suarez some Triple-A work to iron things out, that’s not easy. He has exhausted his minor league option years. In order to take him off the MLB roster, the Halos would have to designate him for assignment and either trade him or put him on outright waivers. If he went unclaimed, they’d be able to send him to Triple-A. Even with his awful first month, it seems likely another team would roll the dice based on his prior track record. Noncompetitive clubs like the A’s, Reds, Rockies and Nationals could find a spot for him in the rotation and hope he gets things on track. Suarez has yet to reach arbitration and isn’t trending towards free agency until the 2026-27 offseason.

General manager Perry Minasian and his front office are left with three choices: keep giving Suarez turns through the rotation, move him to relief, or make him available to other clubs via DFA. To this point, they’re sticking with the first option. Manager Phil Nevin was initially noncommittal after Suarez was knocked around by the A’s on Monday; however, the skipper told reporters Tuesday afternoon the southpaw would make his next start (link via Sam Blum of the Athletic). He’s slated to take the mound for Sunday afternoon’s game in Milwaukee.

“We’ve got to get him better,” Nevin told reporters (via Blum). “He’s talented. He’s worked too hard. And he’s come so far. I’ve gone on and on about how we feel about him and the things he’s done. It’s just right now, it’s got to get better.” Suarez expressed some exasperation. While he pointed to a potential pitch-tipping issue during his Oakland start, he told the team’s beat he “honestly (doesn’t) know what’s happening.”

On a pitch-for-pitch basis, Suarez doesn’t look much different than he did last season. The velocity on his pitches has held steady. The spin on his four-seam fastball is up a bit. He’s getting swinging strikes on 11.7% of his offerings, an exact match for last year’s rate. Suarez has been an effective pitcher with essentially this exact arsenal in previous seasons.

He hasn’t executed as consistently this year as he has in prior seasons. Suarez is having a hard time getting ahead in counts, throwing a first-pitch strike just 57% of the time after starting with strike one at a near-65% rate last year. That’s obviously a disadvantageous position for a pitcher who succeeds more on command and sequencing than overpowering raw stuff. Even when Suarez has gotten himself into favorable counts, he’s had a hard time putting hitters away by leaving too many pitches over the heart of the plate. (This Teoscar Hernández homer on an 0-1 slider is a representative example.)

That the issue seems largely to be about command rather than a drop in raw pitch quality offers some optimism. Suarez needs to execute his pitches more consistently but there aren’t any indications he’s battling physical issues. That said, it’s perhaps tougher to diagnose how quickly Suarez can break out of his ongoing funk, raising the question of how long the Angels can keep him in the starting staff.

A bullpen transfer could allow Nevin to deploy him more selectively as he works on things but that’d be far from ideal. As Blum points out, six of the Angels’ eight current relievers cannot be optioned themselves. One of the two who can be sent down, Andrew Wantz, has been the club’s best reliever so far. Putting Suarez in that mix wouldn’t leave the team with much flexibility and would perhaps force a veteran bullpen arm off the roster.

The Angels could flip the out-of-options Tucker Davidson, who’s been working in long relief, into Suarez’s rotation role while kicking the latter into mop-up duty. Davidson has been quite effective out of the bullpen after struggling as a starting pitcher last season. Obviously, the club’s hope is that Suarez finds his footing sooner than later. Another poor start or two could leave them to ponder a tough decision they weren’t anticipating on Opening Day.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Pirates Could Pursue More Contract Extensions

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The Pirates’ extension of Bryan Reynolds — seven years and $100MM on top of his current $6.75MM salary — put an end to a long-running saga of trade rumors swirling around the All-Star outfielder. It’s the first nine-figure contract in franchise history and the second long-term deal with a hopeful core player of the past 14 months; Pittsburgh also signed third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes to an eight-year, $70MM deal prior to the 2022 season. Speaking at yesterday’s press conference to announce the Reynolds extension, Pirates owner Bob Nutting suggested that he hopes to work out long-term deals with additional core players (link via Kevin Gorman of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review).

Nutting noted that “to a great degree, we’re just getting started,” going on to call Reynolds’ new contract “a huge step forward for the franchise” before adding that he’s “confident we’ll have future steps as we go forward.” Pirates fans, in particular, will want to check out Gorman’s full piece for comments not only from Nutting but also from Reynolds himself and from general manager Ben Cherington.

On the one hand, it’s fairly common for owners and baseball operations leaders to offer up what’s essentially boilerplate executive-speak about wanting to extend core players on a young club. On the other, Nutting has kept a notoriously tight budget and small payroll for the Pirates. The extensions for Hayes and especially for Reynolds mark a definitive change in course for the club, and with fresh off guaranteeing his top player an additional $100MM in guaranteed money, Nutting’s words perhaps carry a bit of extra credence.

If the Bucs do plan to explore — or already have explored — long-term pacts with additional players, there are a handful of logical candidates for such a deal. In the rotation, right-handers Roansy Contreras and Mitch Keller both increasingly look like solid building blocks, though they’re at very different stages of their careers. The 23-year-old Contreras doesn’t yet have a full season of Major League service time, putting his earning power on an extension considerably south of Keller. The Reds just locked up righty Hunter Greene, who was controllable for five more seasons, on a six-year, $53MM contract. Contreras is even further removed from free agency and would presumably come with a lower price tag.

Keller, meanwhile, is earning $2.4375MM in 2023 with just two more seasons of club control remaining beyond the current campaign. The 2014 second-rounder ranked as one of the game’s top pitching prospects prior to his debut in 2019, and while it’s taken some time for him to get there, Keller has begun to solidify himself as a quality starter.

Dating back to last May, when he added a sinker to his repertoire and began to rely less heavily on his four-seamer, the 27-year-old sports a 3.28 ERA with a 21.9% strikeout rate, 8.6% strikeout rate and 48.1% ground-ball rate in 159 1/3 innings. That includes an impressive six-inning, two-run, 10-strikeout performance against the Dodgers today. If he were to continue at this pace, he’d have a strong case in extension talks. For some context, Keller will be in the same service class following the 2023 season that Kyle Freeland (five years, $64.5MM) and Pablo Lopez (four years, $73.5MM) were when they signed their own extensions. The Bucs could try to pursue something sooner, but regardless, much of Keller’s breakout looks sustainable.

Elsewhere on the roster, closer David Bednar is a local product who’s emerged as a fan favorite and as one of the game’s better relievers. Since coming over from the Padres as part of the return for Joe Musgrove, he’s pitched to a 2.26 ERA with a 32.6% strikeout rate, 7.3% walk rate, 30 saves and 17 holds. His 2023 campaign has been particularly impressive, as Bednar has yielded just one run in 12 innings with a 15-to-1 K/BB ratio.

That said, relievers are notoriously volatile on a year-to-year basis, and Bednar is already 28 years old. The Pirates control him through his age-31 season and might find some risk in locking him into an extension that would effectively be buying his age-32 campaign and perhaps a season or two thereafter.

In the lineup, the Pirates have some interesting candidates. Shortstop Oneil Cruz is currently out while recovering from a fractured ankle but has displayed some of the most tantalizing tools in all of baseball when healthy. His development is still a work in progress, particularly with regard to his approach at the plate, but few players can match his combination of power, speed and athleticism. Meanwhile, outfielder Jack Suwinski has quickly become a Statcast darling, with eye-popping exit velocity, barrel rates and sprint speed. Both young hitters are controllable through the 2028 season at present.

The Bucs have plenty of young talent beyond that grouping — some of it yet to debut in the Majors. Catchers Endy Rodriguez and Henry Davis are among the most highly regarded in the sport at their position. Right-handers Luis Ortiz and Quinn Priester are both considered potential rotation pieces in the long term. Infielder Nick Gonzales just hit the minor league injured list with a shoulder strain today but is in Triple-A and could potentially make his debut later this year if the issue proves minor.

Broadly speaking, the Pirates have a deep and talented system, with plenty of interesting long-term pieces already on the roster and also on the cusp of debuting while biding their time in the upper minors. There’s always risk for a low-payroll club like this to lock players up so early, as the margin for error is thinner than with a deep-pocketed rival. That said, hitting a home run on an early extension can also be key in allowing teams in this payroll sphere to spend a bit more in free agency, if their core players are locked in at affordable rates. Only time will tell whether Nutting’s comments were merely lip service or the beginning of a welcome trend for Bucs fans, but regardless of which is true, the organization’s future looks increasingly bright.

Reds Place Wil Myers On Injured List, Outright Jason Vosler

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The Reds announced Thursday that they’ve place first baseman/outfielder Wil Myers on the injured list (retroactive to Wednesday) and assigned corner infielder Jason Vosler to Triple-A Louisville after he went unclaimed on outright waivers. Cincinnati also placed righty Graham Ashcraft on the bereavement list and recalled right-hander Casey Legumina from Louisville. The Reds are off today, so they’ll presumably add a position player to the roster tomorrow in advance of their series opener in Oakland.

Myers was scratched from yesterday’s game due to an illness and missed Tuesday’s contest due to neck spasms. The Reds didn’t list an injury designation or a timetable for his return in today’s announcement. Myers, who signed a one-year deal worth $7.5MM this offseason, has stumbled out to a .222/.292/.321 start with what would be a career-high 34.8% strikeout rate through his first 89 plate appearances.

With Myers and Joey Votto on the shelf, the Reds could turn to catcher Tyler Stephenson at first base with more regularity. The 26-year-old Stephenson has already started three games there and made five total appearances at the position, and Cincinnati is carrying two other catchers in Luke Maile and Curt Casali. Infielder Spencer Steer is another option; he started his first game of the season at first base when Myers was scratched and has made a total of four appearances there. It’s also possible the Reds will call up a first base option from the minors before tomorrow’s game.

With Votto yet to make his 2023 debut, the Reds’ two primary first basemen have been Myers and the now-outrighted Vosler, who was designated for assignment earlier in the week. Vosler got out to a blistering start with the Reds after signing a minor league deal late in the offseason. He cracked three home runs in his first 15 plate appearances but has since fallen into a protracted slump, batting just .106/.160/.128 with 20 strikeouts in his past 50 trips to the plate.

Vosler, 29, has logged big league time in each of the past three seasons. In 258 Major League plate appearances between the Reds and the Giants, he’s a .210/.279/.408 hitter who’s seen time at both infield and both outfield corners. Vosler has also appeared in 345 Triple-A games in his career, posting a vastly superior .272/.344/.485 slash along the way. This is the first outright assignment of Vosler’s career, and he has fewer than three years of MLB service time, so he doesn’t have the right to reject the assignment in favor of free agency. He’ll remain with the Reds organization and hope to play his way back onto the 40-man roster at some point.

Pirates’ Mike Burrows Undergoes Tommy John Surgery

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Pirates pitching prospect Mike Burrows underwent Tommy John surgery yesterday and is expected to be sidelined for the next 14 to 16 months, the team announced to reporters (Twitter link via Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic). Burrows hit the minor league injured list earlier this month with a UCL sprain and sought multiple opinions before undergoing surgery.

The Pirates selected Burrows in the 11th round of the 2018 draft and lured him away from a college commitment to Connecticut with a hefty $500K signing bonus — effectively late-third or early-fourth round money. He’s dealt with shoulder and oblique injuries in his minor league career but has sharp numbers overall, with a 3.34 ERA, 27.1% strikeout rate and 9.0% walk rate in 207 2/3 professional innings.

Those injuries and the canceled minor league season in 2020 slowed Burrows’ development, but he looked like a viable option to make his big league debut in 2023, prior to the revelation of the damaged ligament and subsequent surgery. Burrows turned in a 2.94 ERA in 52 innings at the Double-A level last year and earned his first bump to the Triple-A level. He was tagged for a 5.31 ERA in 42 1/3 Triple-A frames but showed a promising 42-to-12 K/BB ratio and kept the ball in the yard (1.06 HR/9). Burrows had a solid spring training this year (two runs in five innings) and opened the season with just two runs in 6 2/3 frames in a return to Triple-A.

Each of Baseball America (No. 9), MLB.com (No. 9), FanGraphs (No. 7) and Keith Law of The Athletic (No. 7) rank Burrows within the Pirates’ top ten prospects. He’s praised for a plus fastball, high-spin curveball and improved and more oft-used changeup, with enough command to profile as a potential big league starter. There’s a good chance that Burrows might’ve gotten that opportunity at some point this season were it not for the unfortunate injury, but he’ll now see his big league debut pushed off until late in the 2024 season, at the earliest.

Burrows is on the Pirates’ 40-man roster, so it’s possible he’ll eventually be placed on the Major League 60-day injured list, should the Pirates need a 40-man roster spot. In that scenario, he’d accrue big league service time and Major League pay while rehabbing the injury.

Dick Groat Passes Away

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Former National League MVP and eight-time All-Star Dick Groat has passed away at the age of 92, the Pirates announced this morning.

“We are deeply saddened by the loss of such a beloved member of the Pirates family and Pittsburgh community,” Pirates owner Bob Nutting said in a statement announcing the news. “The National League MVP and World Series Champion in 1960, Dick remained a very active and cherished member of our Alumni Association. We were honored to have just recently informed Dick and his family that he had been selected to the Pirates Hall of Fame. He was a great player and an even better person. Our thoughts go out to his three daughters, eleven grandchildren and the entire Groat family. His was a life well lived. He will be missed.”

A Pittsburgh-area native and one of the best two-sport athletes ever, Groat not only played in MLB but also had a brief stint in the NBA on the heels of a historic basketball career at Duke University, where his number is retired. Groat was the third overall pick in the 1952 NBA draft but wound up playing in just one season after enlisting in the Army and focusing on his baseball career following his discharge.

Groat jumped right from his career at Duke into Major League Baseball, bypassing the minor leagues entirely. He batted .284/.319/.313 and finished third in 1952 NL Rookie of the Year voting before the previously mentioned two years of military service. Upon returning in 1955, he posted similar numbers for his next two seasons and took a step forward in 1957, the first of four seasons in which Groat would receive MVP votes.

From 1957-64, Groat batted a combined .299/.340/.393, regularly making the All-Star team along the way and four times garnering some level of MVP consideration. That includes a 1960 season in which he won a batting title and batted .325/.371/.394 on his way to being named the National League MVP. He also finished as the MVP runner-up to Sandy Koufax in 1963 — Groat’s first season with the Cardinals after being sent to St. Louis in a trade that brought pitcher Don Cardwell and infielder Julio Gotay back to Pittsburgh.

In all, Groat played in parts of 14 Major League seasons: nine with the Pirates, three with the Cardinals, two with the Phillies and one partial season with the Giants. He retired as a lifetime .286/.330/.366 batter with 2138 hits, 39 home runs, 352 doubles, 67 triples, 829 runs scored and 707 runs batted in. He won World Series rings with the Pirates in 1960 and with the Cardinals in 1964, helping both clubs topple the Yankees in the Fall Classic.

Following his playing days, Groat spent 40 years as a broadcaster for the University of Pittsburgh’s men’s basketball team, further endearing himself to hometown fans and further establishing his legacy in his native city’s sporting lore.

Groat will be remembered as one of the greatest two-sport talents we’ve ever seen, a World Series champion in both Pittsburgh and St. Louis, and a beloved broadcaster in his hometown. We at MLBTR extend our condolences to his family, friends, loved ones and the countless fans he accumulated over the course of a remarkable career.

Orioles Promote Joey Ortiz

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The Orioles announced Thursday morning that they’ve recalled top infield prospect Joey Ortiz from Triple-A Norfolk and optioned infielder/outfielder Terrin Vavra to Triple-A in his place. Ortiz — who currently ranks as the game’s No. 66 prospect at FanGraphs, No. 88 at Baseball America and No. 91 at MLB.com — will be making his Major League debut the first time he takes the field.

Ortiz, 24, was Baltimore’s fourth-round selection in the 2019 draft and was selected to the 40-man roster back in November, thus protecting him from selection in the 2022 Rule 5 Draft. He’s gotten out to a torrid start in Triple-A this season, slashing .359/.389/.500 with five doubles, a pair of triples, a 6.9% walk rate and a 16.7% strikeout rate that’s considerably lower than average. It’s a strong early followup to a 2022 season in which Ortiz hit .284/.349/.477 with 19 home runs, 35 doubles, six triples and eight steals in a combined 600 plate appearances between Double-A (485) and Triple-A (115).

While he’s spent the vast majority of his professional career to date at shortstop, Ortiz has just shy of 300 innings at second base and another 51 frames of third base under his belt since being drafted. He’s not going to supplant Jorge Mateo at shortstop, given Mateo’s own brilliant start to the season, but Ortiz could see some time at the other two infield spots in the days ahead, with second base seeming particularly plausible.

As Nathan Ruiz of the Baltimore Sun points out (Twitter link), the O’s are slated to face left-handed starters in each of their next three games. The left-handed-hitting Vavra likely wouldn’t have gotten a start in any of those three contests, but Ortiz gives manager Brandon Hyde a righty bat off the bench or, speculatively speaking, at second base to start over the lefty-swinging Adam Frazier (who has struggled in general early this season).

It’s not clear just yet whether Ortiz will only be getting a brief call to the Majors or whether he might be earnestly auditioning for a larger role with the club right now. Frazier’s hitting just .208/.288/.333 through his first 80 plate appearances, though it’s unlikely that the Orioles would move on so soon after signing him to a one-year, $8MM deal over the winter. However, it’s at least feasible that Ortiz could spell Frazier against lefties while also seeing a start per week at shortstop, third base and designated hitter, perhaps accruing something close to regular playing time in the process. Injuries, of course, could always create additional opportunity.

Whether it’s just a brief cup of coffee or a more legitimate big league audition, Ortiz’s early promotion will give Baltimore fans a look at yet another promising young position player who could help form the core of the club for the next several years. He’ll join Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson, Ryan Mountcastle and Grayson Rodriguez as recent top-100 prospects to take the big league stage at Camden Yards over the past couple seasons, with several more waiting in the wings behind them.

The Opener: Pitching Matchup, MRIs, MLB Debuts

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With the 2023 regular season around 15% complete, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world today:

1. Marquee pitching matchup in Chicago tonight:

The Rays are headed to the south side of Chicago this evening for the beginning of a three game set against the White Sox. The series will open with a pitchers’ duel between aces, with Tampa Bay sending lefty Shane McClanahan (1.86 ERA) to the mound to face right-hander Dylan Cease (2.73 ERA). The White Sox return to their home ballpark looking to stop a seven-game losing streak, but to do so they’ll have to beat a Rays club that swept them as recently as this past weekend. The Rays, meanwhile, have the best winning percentage in the majors with a fantastic 20-5 record, though the club is coming off its second series loss of the season against the Astros. The game will begin at 6:10pm CT.

2. MRIs scheduled for Marquez, Maeda:

A pair of right-handers are set to undergo MRIs today. Rockies right-hander German Marquez exited yesterday’s game, his first start since returning from the injured list due to a forearm issue, after just 58 pitches due to a triceps injury. Significant missed time for Marquez would be a major concern for a Rockies club that has few quality rotation options beyond the injured right-hander, lefty Kyle Freeland, and perhaps  26-year-old Noah Davis. Further complicating matters is Marquez’s contract situation, as the club holds a net $13.5MM decision on a $16MM option ($2.5MM buyout) for Marquez’s services in the 2024 campaign.

In the American League, Twins veteran Kenta Maeda is set to undergo an MRI of his own after feeling soreness in his elbow during yesterday’s start against the Yankees. After missing the entire 2022 season while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, the 35-year-old Maeda was tagged for a whopping 10 runs in yesterday’s outing, ballooning his ERA to 9.00 (16 runs in 16 innings). Fortunately for the Twins, the club is deep in potential rotation options who could take over in the event that Maeda misses time, with right-hander Bailey Ober standing as the likely top option. Ober, who posted a solid 3.21 ERA and an even stronger 2.92 FIP in 11 starts last season, came up to the majors for a fill-in start last week and allowed just one run over 5 2/3 innings of work.

3. MLB debuts pending for Bolton, Cosgrove:

The Pirates and Padres each called up a pitcher yesterday who has yet to make their MLB debut. The Pirates, who saw minor league veteran Drew Maggi make his big league debut just yesterday after 13 seasons in the minors, selected the contract of right-hander Cody Bolton yesterday. Bolton, 25 in June, was a longtime starting pitching prospect who recently converted to relief, and has posted a 2.58 ERA at the Triple-A level when coming out of the bullpen. Meanwhile, the Padres recalled lefty Tom Cosgrove, who was added to the 40-man roster this past offseason ahead of the Rule 5 draft. Cosgrove struggled in his first taste of work at Triple-A last year, but has opened the 2023 season with 7 1/3 scoreless innings of work.

MLB Trade Rumors Podcast: Athletics Move, Twins Rotation, Reynolds Extension

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Episode 4 of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Simon Hampton is joined by Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press to discuss:

  • Oakland’s move to Las Vegas took a big step forward, so Betsy, who covered baseball for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, tells us about Vegas as a baseball city (1:35)
  • The Twins are off to a solid start to the season and Joey Gallo is hitting very well, so is he back? (5:24)
  • Minnesota is set to lose Sonny Gray, Tyler Mahle and Kenta Maeda to free agency this winter, so after the Pablo Lopez extension Betsy offers her thoughts on whether or not there’ll be any more rotation extensions for the Twins (7:26)

Plus, MLBTR’s Anthony Franco joins to talk:

  • Bryan Reynolds has agreed to an eight-year, $106.75MM extension with the Pirates – is this a good deal for the team? (15:01)
  • Madison Bumgarner has been designated for assignment by the Diamondbacks and looks headed for free agency; will he find a new team? (24:57)

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

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