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Robbie Ray To Miss Remainder Of Season Due To Flexor Tendon Surgery

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Mariners left-hander Robbie Ray will undergo flexor tendon repair surgery, reports Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. Ray will not be able to return this season. The lefty had already been on the 15-day injured list due to a flexor strain but Divish adds that further testing revealed damage in a different area of the tendon.

The news is obviously terrible for both Ray and the Mariners, as he was a key part of the club’s plans for this year. After an up-and-down career with the Tigers and Diamondbacks, Ray stabilized himself in tremendous fashion with the Blue Jays in 2021. He had always had tremendous strikeout ability but struggled with command, walking 11% of batters he faced in his career by the end of the 2020 campaign. But the 2021 season saw him whittle that down to 6.7% while still getting punchouts at an incredible 32.1% clip. He finished the season with a 2.84 ERA and was awarded the American League Cy Young.

That breakout was perfectly timed, as he went into free agency immediately after, signing a five-year, $115MM deal with the Mariners with an opt-out after the third season. Last year, he naturally regressed from his incredible heights of the year before, but still had a solid year with Seattle. He made 32 starts and posted a 3.71 ERA, striking out 27.4% of opponents while walking 8%. That helped the club break their postseason drought, as they qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2001. Unfortunately, 2023 season will now go down as a total loss, effectively. Ray made one start of just 3 1/3 innings before landing on the injured list and that will now be his entire tally for the year.

The Mariners have had six viable starters since their deadline acquisition of Luis Castillo last year, which bumped Chris Flexen into the bullpen. With Castillo, Ray, George Kirby, Logan Gilbert and Marco Gonzales set to be in the front five spots, it had been speculated by many that perhaps the club would look to trade Flexen in order to improve another area of the roster. In the end, they kept all six hurlers, a decision which now seems wise in the wake of Ray’s injury. Flexen has struggled so far this year, currently sporting an 8.86 ERA, but was plenty effective for the M’s in the two prior seasons.

This won’t impact the Mariners in the short term as they were already operating without Ray, but this will have a huge impact on their long-term plans now that a return of Ray later in the year is off the table. They have depth options on the 40-man such as Darren McCaughan, José Rodríguez and Easton McGee, but Divish relays word from manager Scott Servais that the club is re-evaluating their pitching depth in the wake of this news. The last time they needed a spot start, veteran journeyman Tommy Milone was given the nod.

Finding external pitching options at this time of the year can be tough as most teams are dealing with injuries of their own and few have decided to press the sell button so early. The free agents that are unsigned are usually still available because they haven’t been effective in a while. That’s certainly the case for Madison Bumgarner, who was just released by the Diamondbacks today, joining pitchers like Dallas Keuchel and Chris Archer on the open market.

The Mariners are currently 11-12 and in fourth place in the American League West, though they are by no means buried with just 2.5 games separating them and the division-leading Rangers. There’s still plenty of time for them to gain ground, but they will now have to do so without any contributions from their player making the highest salary this year.

A’s Outright Dermis Garcia

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Athletics infielder Dérmis Garcia has been outrighted to Triple-A Las Vegas, according to the transactions log at MLB.com. That indicates he’s gone unclaimed on waivers after being designated for assignment on Monday.

Garcia, 25, signed a minor league contract with Oakland heading into 2022. A longtime Yankee farmhand, the right-handed hitter had topped out at Double-A in the New York system. Garcia hit well with Las Vegas to earn his initial MLB call last July. He got into 39 games and tallied 125 plate appearances but struggled in his first crack at big league arms. Garcia hit .207/.264/.388 with five home runs, showing solid power but punching out at an unacceptable 44% clip.

The A’s carried him on the 40-man roster for the entire offseason. He was optioned to Las Vegas to start this year. He’s off to a .242/.329/.500 start in 70 plate appearances with the Aviators. That’s a reasonable line on the surface but a little below-average in one of the minors’ most favorable home parks for hitters. Garcia had also struck out 24 times (34.3%) while drawing only five walks through the first few weeks of the year.

Garcia has never previously been outrighted and doesn’t have three years of MLB service. As a result, he doesn’t have the right to refuse the assignment in favor of free agency. He’ll remain in Las Vegas and try to work his way back onto the 40-man roster at some point during the season. Garcia would be eligible for minor league free agency at the end of the ’23 campaign if he’s not added back to the roster.

Marlins Notes: Arraez, Bumgarner, Wendle

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Luis Arraez is off to a strong start to his Marlins tenure. Acquired from the Twins in the deal that sent Pablo López to the Twin Cities, the lefty-hitting infielder carries an incredible .421/.482/.553 line with nine walks and only four strikeouts over 85 plate appearances. While Arraez surely won’t hit over .400 for an entire season, he looks more than capable of backing up last year’s American League batting title in his new environment.

The Miami front office has to be pleased with the production of their new infielder, though Barry Jackson and Craig Mish of the Miami Herald report the sides haven’t had any discussions about a potential contract extension. That’s hardly surprising for a player who’s so new to a team. However, it is in contrast to López, who inked a $73.5MM deal with Minnesota last week.

López was a year closer to free agency than Arraez is now. Both players entered 2023 in their second seasons of arbitration eligibility but Arraez qualified for early arbitration as a Super Two player. Miami’s second baseman won a hearing in February to secure a $6.1MM salary. He’s in line for two more raises through that process before hitting the open market after the 2025 campaign, when he’ll be headed into his age-29 season.

On the other side of the ball, Jackson and Mish also report that Miami is not interested in free agent starter Madison Bumgarner. The four-time All-Star was officially released by the Diamondbacks this afternoon, the obvious outcome after he was designated for assignment last week. Arizona will remain on the hook for virtually all of the $37MM owed to Bumgarner over the next two seasons. Any club that carries him on its MLB roster would only need to pay him the prorated portion of the $720K league minimum, which would be subtracted from Arizona’s obligations.

The Marlins are currently without Johnny Cueto and Trevor Rogers due to injury, leaving them with an uncertain #5 option behind Sandy Alcantara, Jesús Luzardo, Braxton Garrett and Edward Cabrera. Bumgarner had been tagged for 20 runs with more walks than strikeouts through 16 2/3 innings with the D-Backs before being released, however, so it’s understandable the Miami front office believes they’re better served with their in-house depth options.

Along with the absences of Cueto and Rogers, Miami has been without its presumptive starting shortstop for the bulk of the season. Joey Wendle has been on the injured list since April 4 due to a right intercostal strain. The club could soon welcome him back. Jordan McPherson of the Herald tweets that the veteran infielder will begin a rehab stint with Triple-A Jacksonville tomorrow. Wendle was limited to nine plate appearances before the injury. Jon Berti has picked up the bulk of the shortstop work in his absence and hit .233/.278/.356 across 75 trips to the dish.

The Tigers’ Last Chance To Get Something From The Justin Verlander Trade

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There once was a time when Justin Verlander had only played for the Tigers. He was drafted by them with the second overall pick in 2004 and then cemented himself as one of the best pitchers in baseball in the years that followed. He twice signed contracts that extended the club’s control over his services, once in 2010 and another in 2013. That latter contract ran through his age-36 season and was signed while the club was one of the best in the league. They were fresh off a World Series appearance in 2012 and would eventually get to a four-year streak of winning the AL Central in 2014. It wouldn’t have been outlandish to expect him to be a Tiger for life.

However, the fortunes of the franchise changed in the years after that, as they slipped into the basement of the division in 2015. They bounced back with an 86-win showing in 2016 but still missed the playoffs, then were not doing so great again in 2017. It was decided that it was time to turn things over, with the Tigers making two huge deals at the waiver deadline that year. They first traded Justin Upton to the Angels and then Verlander to the Astros. The latter deal was Verlander, a player to be named later and cash for prospects Franklin Pérez, Daz Cameron and Jake Rogers. The PTBNL was later reported as outfielder Juan Ramirez.

It’s now been over five years since that franchise-altering pivot. The Astros went on to win their first World Series a few months after acquiring Verlander, though that title is now forever asterisked in the minds of many baseball fans due to the trashcan-banging scandal. But subsequent contracts kept Verlander in Houston through 2022 as the club continued to be among the best in the league. They made the ALCS in each of those seasons, making it to the World Series again in 2019 and 2021 before winning their second title last year.

As for the Tigers, they have been on the opposite end of the spectrum, continually rebuilding during that entire stretch. That 86-win showing in 2016 is still their last winning season. They’ve also reaped little from those future-focused moves back in 2017. Right-hander Grayson Long, who came over in the Upton deal, topped out at Double-A and retired in 2019. The PTBNL in the deal was later reported as Elvin Rodríguez, who made seven appearances with the Tigers last year but was outrighted at season’s end and is now with the Rays on a minor league deal.

As for the Verlander deal, Pérez was generally considered the headliner at the time as he was a highly-touted prospect then. Baseball America had him in the #54 slot of their top 100 at the start of 2017 and bumped him to #35 going into 2018. Unfortunately, the injury bug bit him badly, mostly in the shoulder. He was only able to throw 19 1/3 innings in the minors in 2018 and 7 2/3 in 2019. The minor leagues were canceled by the pandemic in 2020 and then shoulder surgery wiped out 2021 for Pérez. He was released by the Tigers and re-signed, eventually tossing 25 1/3 innings in the Complex League last year but with a 9.59 ERA. He appears to still be in the organization but it’s hard to count on him for anything now after so much missed development time. He’s 25 years old and has yet to crack Double-A, outside of a brief stint at that level prior to the trade.

Cameron was also a highly-touted young outfielder, having cracked BA’s top 100 list in 2016. Though he had slipped off by the time of the trade, he was still an exciting young player. He made his way to the big leagues but couldn’t do much with the opportunity. He got into 73 major league games over the past three years but hit just .201/.266/.330 and struck out in 31.6% of his plate appearances. He was put on waivers in November, getting claimed by the Orioles and subsequently outrighted.

That leaves Rogers as the last hope for the Tigers to salvage the deal in some way. Arguably seen as the least significant piece of the deal at the time, Rogers was Houston’s #20 prospect at Baseball America coming into 2017. The catcher hasn’t been able to provide much value to the Tigers so far, but that’s not really his fault. He required Tommy John surgery in September of 2021, which wiped out his entire 2022 season. Prior to that, he was showing some positive signs in a small sample. He got into 38 games in 2021 and hit six home runs. Despite striking out in 36.2% of his plate appearances, his .239/.306/.496 was above average, resulting in a 116 wRC+.

He’s now back from that long layoff and showing encouraging signs in a small sample again. His 28.3% strikeout rate this year is still high but it’s an improvement from his previous work. He’s also nearly doubled his walked rate from 8.7% in 2021 to 15.2% this year. His .237/.370/.447 batting line on the season amounts to a 135 wRC+.

This is a tiny sample of 46 plate appearances in 15 games and will surely change. However, Rogers doesn’t need to hit like a superstar to be valuable since he’s considered a strong defensive backstop. In his limited time in the big leagues, he has four Defensive Runs Saved. Both FanGraphs and Baseball Prospectus gave him negative grades for his framing prior to the Tommy John but he’s in the positive range so far this year. He’s thrown out 16 of 39 attempted base stealers in his career, a 41% rate that’s well above average, though he’s nabbed just one of six this year.

Rogers’ career thus far is so limited that it’s hard to draw any meaningful conclusions. Thanks to the lost season, he has just 88 major league games under his belt despite now being 28 years old. But given his reputation as a strong defensive catcher, even something near league average offense would make him a useful contributor. He’s shown the potential to be more than that, hitting 12 home runs already in barely half a season of cumulative work. He’s yet to reach arbitration but is slated to get there this winter and is on pace to reach free agency after 2026.

It’s highly likely that the Verlander trade will eventually be seen as a big miss for the Tigers overall. Fans had to watch an iconic player win two rings elsewhere while the highly-touted young players they got in return couldn’t meet expectations and the team posted miserable results overall. But if Rogers can keep serving as a solid defender behind the plate who launches a ball over the wall every once in a while, he can keep it from going down as an utter disaster.

Marlins Outright Jeff Lindgren

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The Marlins have sent right-hander Jeff Lindgren outright to Triple-A Jacksonville after he went unclaimed on waivers, tweets Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald. It’s the second time this month in which the Fish ran Lindgren through waivers.

Lindgren, a 24th round pick in 2019, has one big league outing under his belt. That was a five-inning relief appearance at the start of this year. He allowed four runs with three walks and no strikeouts after being pressed into earlier than expected work following a injury to Johnny Cueto. That preceded his first DFA. He wound up starting two games for Jacksonville, throwing 10 2/3 frames of seven-run ball before being called back up over the weekend.

The Illinois State product’s second promotion didn’t result in any action. Miami designated him for assignment again on Monday as part of a revolving door at the back of the pitching staff. He could now head back to Triple-A, though he’d have the right to test free agency as a player who has twice cleared outright waivers in his career.

Braves Notes: Ozuna, Harris, Hilliard

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Marcell Ozuna has been one of the worst hitters in Major League Baseball this season, batting just .073/.192/.200 in 63 trips to the plate this year. The Braves, however, don’t appear set to make a change of any kind, writes Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Toscano spoke with hitting coach Kevin Seitzer, manager Brian Snitker and Ozuna himself about the former slugger’s struggles. Seitzer praised Ozuna’s spring training form and opined that he’s placing too much pressure on himself. “[Ozuna] works so hard and cares so much and tries so hard, started caring too much and trying too hard, and that’s what’s leading to where he’s at right now,” Seitzer tells Toscano.

Perhaps there’s something to that, but Seitzer didn’t address the fact that Ozuna’s struggles aren’t exactly contained to 2023 alone. While he swatted 23 home runs a season ago, he did so with the fourth-worst on-base percentage among all qualified hitters (.274). Dating back to 2021, Ozuna has come to the plate 778 times and posted an anemic .210/.271/.381 batting line, and his strikeout rate has worsened each year along the way. He’s currently hitting the ball on the ground at a career-high 51.4%, which doesn’t bode well for a hitter whose once well above-average sprint speed now sits in just the 20th percentile of MLB hitters, per Statcast.

The Braves, of course, still have Ozuna signed through the end of the 2024 season.  He’s being paid $18MM this season and next, with a $1MM buyout on an option for the 2025 season. He’s served a 20-game suspension for violating MLB’s joint domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy and also been arrested on a a DUI charge while playing out his current four-year, $65MM deal.

That contract surely plays a role in the team’s unwillingness to move on from a player whose past 800 big league plate appearances simply haven’t been productive. Injuries have also thinned out the roster, leaving Ozuna with more playing time than he might be afforded if the lineup were at full strength. The Braves will seemingly take some steps toward that fully healthy lineup in the near future, however. The team announced this morning that Michael Harris II is heading out on a minor league rehab assignment. The team hasn’t provided a formal timetable for when the reigning National League Rookie of the Year, but getting Harris going in a minor league setting is a positive encouragement all the same.

Harris’ looming return will crowd the outfield mix a bit, but David O’Brien of The Athletic writes that Sam Hilliard’s hot start to the season figures to keep him in the mix even after Harris is back. That’ll likely mean a steady dose of left field playing time for Hilliard, who’s out to a .327/.400/.592 start with three home runs and four doubles in 55 plate appearances.

That Herculean production from Hilliard, however, is propped up by a sky-high .520 average on balls in play and comes in spite of a 38.2% strikeout rate. He’s still making hard contact when he does put bat to ball and showing good speed, but Hilliard’s contact woes and good fortune on balls in play point to clear regression.

Hall of Famer Chipper Jones, who’s working with the Braves’ coaching staff as a hitting consultant, spoke highly of Hilliard to O’Brien, suggesting that if the team can get Hilliard to cut back on his massive strikeout rate, there’s a good bit of upside in his bat. That’s surely true, but strikeouts have been an issue the 29-year-old has been unable to correct at any point in his career. Hilliard has a 33.2% strikeout rate in 694 plate appearances dating back to his days with the Rockies, and he’s punched out in 28.4% of his 930 Triple-A plate appearances and 31.1% of his 484 Double-A plate appearances.

Pirates Select Cody Bolton, Designate Tyler Heineman

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The Pirates announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Cody Bolton and reinstated outfielder Bryan Reynolds from the bereavement list. In corresponding moves, right-hander Wil Crowe was placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to April 23, with right shoulder discomfort and outfielder Canaan Smith-Njigba was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis. To open a spot on the 40-man roster, catcher Tyler Heineman was designated for assignment. Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic has previously reported that Bolton had the locker in the clubhouse that previously was used by Smith-Njigba (Twitter links). Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette first reported Crowe’s IL placement.

Bolton, 25 in June, is now added to a big league roster for the first time in his career. He was selected by the Pirates in the sixth round of the 2017 draft and has been working his way up to the big leagues since then. He posted some really good results in the lower levels, working as a starter at that time, and got some love from prospect evaluators. Baseball America ranked him the #5 prospect in the Bucs’ system in 2020.

Unfortunately, his progress then hit a few snags. He had already missed time with a forearm injury and groin strain before his 2021 season was wiped out entirely by knee surgery. With the pandemic canceling the minors the prior year, that meant he went two whole years without playing in an official game. He returned last year and made 30 Triple-A appearances, 14 of those being starts, tossing 75 2/3 innings in the process. He registered a 3.09 ERA along with a 25.4% strikeout rate, 12.4% walk rate and 40.6% ground ball rate.

This year, it seems he’s been moved to the bullpen more permanently, as all eight of his appearances for Indianapolis were of the relief variety. He has a 2.38 ERA through 11 1/3 innings so far, with his strikeouts jumping to 31.8% and his walks falling to 4.5%. The Pirates will now give him a chance to see if he can carry those kinds of results over to the major leagues.

As for Heineman, 32 in June, he’s a journeyman catcher who has appeared in 85 major league games dating back to the start of the 2019 season, hitting .210/.276/.269 in that time. He’s suited up for the Marlins, Giants, Blue Jays and Pirates in his career. He got into 52 games for the Bucs last year but was non-tendered after the season and re-signed on a minor league deal. He was selected to the roster a few weeks ago when Austin Hedges went on the concussion-related injured list, getting into three games. He was optioned to the minors when Hedges returned and now loses his 40-man spot. The Bucs will have one week to trade him or pass him through waivers. If he were to pass through waivers unclaimed, he would have the right to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency since he has a previous career outright.

The Pirates are now fairly thin behind the plate on their roster. Hedges and Jason Delay form the catching duo in the big leagues but the only other backstop on the 40-man is prospect Endy Rodríguez, who was recently placed on the minor league injured list with a forearm strain. Given those facts, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them try to retain Heineman or acquire some other depth.

The Marlins Are Still Facing Questions In Their Outfield

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The Marlins came into 2023 with a fairly unsettled outfield mix, despite not making any external additions. The club planned to move Jazz Chisholm Jr. off second base in order to take over the center field job that they had been trying to fill for years. Veterans Jorge Soler and Avisaíl García were both coming off disappointing seasons, while a batch of younger player were still looking to establish themselves at the major league level.

Almost one month into the season, the Fish are swimming at a decent pace so far. They are currently 12-12, though with a -37 run differential that suggests they might be a bit lucky to be at that level. Then again, it’s still early and they’ve had a challenging schedule, with all of their games coming against teams that came into the season as surefire contenders or borderline ones (Seven against the Mets, three each against the Twins, Phillies, Diamondbacks, Giants and Guardians, two against Atlanta).

How are their outfielders faring so far? Let’s take a quick look at each one.

Jazz Chisholm Jr.

Chisholm hit .254/.325/.535 in 60 games last year for a wRC+ of 139 before a stress fracture in his back put him on the shelf. He perhaps could have returned late in the year, but the club was out of contention and shut him down, at which point Chisholm underwent surgery on a torn meniscus that he had been playing through.

Whether it’s due to the long layoff, the injuries or the position change, he hasn’t gotten into a groove at the plate yet this year. He’s currently hitting .218/.269/.391 for a wRC+ of 81. He’s struck out in 38.3% of his plate appearances thus far, a jump of more than 10 percentage points from his 27.4% rate last year.

As for that position change, the early reviews are mixed. Defensive Runs Saved has him at -1 so far, with Ultimate Zone Rating at -1.1. On the other hand, Outs Above Average has him at roughly par, 56th percentile. His outfielder jump is in the 84th percentile and his sprint speed is in the 92nd. Some growing pains were surely to be expected since he’s never played the position before, so hopefully these numbers will all trend in a positive direction over time.

Jorge Soler

Soler is perhaps the most mercurial player in the league, having spent the past few years oscillating between being one of the most feared sluggers on the planet and looking lost at the plate. Last year, his first with the Marlins, was a downswing. He struck out in 29.4% of his plate appearances and hit just .207/.295/.400 for a wRC+ of 98, missing significant time due to back spasms. He could have opted out of his contract but chose not to, likely a wise decision with that platform.

Here in 2023, he’s back on another one of his patented heaters. He’s hit five home runs already and has dropped his strikeout rate to a more manageable 23.6%. His .253/.337/.544 line amounts to a 137 wRC+. He’s largely served as the designated hitter but has been given five starts in right.

The torrid stretch for Soler is good for the Marlins in the short-term, but the long-term may be different. Soler has another opt-out opportunity after this season and would likely take it if he can maintain anything close to this pace, as he’d be walking away from just one year and $9MM.

Avisaíl García

García has a similarly inconsistent track record to Soler, posting above-average wRC+ figures in 2017, 2019 and 2021 but dipping below average in the following year each time. Last year was an especially low ebb, as his 28.7% strikeout rate and 4.5% walk rates were both career worsts, as was his 66 wRC+ from his .224/.266/.317 batting line.

Now that we’re in an odd-numbered year, García is scheduled for a bounceback but has actually gotten worse in the early going so far. He’s slashing just .161/.200/.274 for a wRC+ of 30. The .211 batting average on balls in play is due for some regression, but he’s also been punched out 32.8% of the time while drawing walks at just a 3.0% clip. The Marlins desperately need him to turn things around, as his contract pays him $12MM per year through 2025, with a $12MM club option for 2026 that has a hefty $5MM buyout. Barry Jackson and Craig Mish of the Miami Herald reported yesterday that the club haven’t considered releasing him, but a benching is on the table.

Bryan De La Cruz

De La Cruz came into this year with 574 plate appearances. His 24.9% strikeout rate and 6.4% walk rate were both a little worse than average, but he had 18 home runs and a .269/.318/.430 line for a 108 wRC+. He’s a little bit ahead of that pace this year, currently hitting .295/.341/.436 for a 114 wRC+ with fairly similar strikeout and walk rates.

He won’t maintain a .396 batting average on balls in play all year, but he is making solid contact. His average exit velocity is in the 88th percentile of MLB hitters, and his hard-hit rate sits in the 80th percentile. Even without elite plate discipline, he can still be a useful hitter with that kind of bat. The right-hander hitter actually has reverse splits, both in his career and so far this season, which would seem to lessen the likelihood of him ending up in the short side of a platoon.

Jesús Sánchez

The hot start of De La Cruz seems to have cut into the playing time of Sánchez, as he’s been given only 36 plate appearances in 16 games. He’s hit just .172/.333/.241 in that time, which isn’t doing much to get him in the lineup more.

A left-handed hitter, he has traditional platoon splits for his career. He’s hit .226/.310/.440 against righties for a 108 wRC+, but he has a dismal .195/.230/.323 against southpaws for a 49 wRC+. He could seemingly serve as a useful platoon lefty bat but probably won’t get a chance as long as De La Cruz continues to seem like a viable lineup regular. He’s out of options and can’t be sent to the minors without first being exposed to waivers, which might keep him on the bench until an injury opens a spot for him. Per Jackson and Mish, Sanchez is at risk of losing his roster spot, though the club won’t make a decision on that front until Joey Wendle is back from the injured list.

Peyton Burdick

Burdick got to make his major league debut last year and hit .207/.284/.380 for a wRC+ of 91 in 102 plate appearances. He’s been in Triple-A this year and utterly mashing. Through 20 games, he has a line of .309/.385/.654 and a 157 wRC+. He has a 37.4% strikeout rate and won’t sustain a .436 batting average on balls in play, but he’s already hit eight home runs and stolen four bases.

Jerar Encarnación

Encarnación also got a brief major league debut last year, stepping to the plate 81 times but hitting just .182/.210/.338. Like Burdick, he’s also having an excellent start to his 2023 in Triple-A. He has a current batting line of .292/.378/.472 for a wRC+ of 119. However, it’s bolstered by a huge .529 batting average on balls in play and comes despite a 42.7% strikeout rate. His 12.2% walk rate is encouraging but there’s surely some regression coming here.

——

It’s hard to glean definitive judgment from one month’s worth of data, but there are some trends and takeaways in the Miami outfield with nearly 15% of the season in the books. Chisholm’s defense in center has been at least passable thus far, so he’s likely to continue on in that role. De La Cruz could hit his way into an everyday role in left field, but right field looks like a continued problem unless Garcia can correct what’s now more than a full season’s worth of struggles. Sanchez’s grip on a roster spot appears tenuous, but while the primary alternatives in Triple-A (Burdick, Encarnacion) have flashy batting lines, their lack of contact calls into question whether they’d be improvements. It’s easy enough to see the outfield again being a point of focus at the trade deadline, whether the Marlins are looking to add a veteran bat to stay in the Wild Card race or looking to acquire a controllable outfielder as part of another selling effort.

Cardinals Option Jordan Walker, Sign Taylor Motter To Major League Contract

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The Cardinals have signed utilityman Taylor Motter to a major league deal, the club announced. In a corresponding active roster move, they optioned highly-touted rookie Jordan Walker to Triple-A Memphis.

Walker, one of the consensus top young talents in the sport, broke camp with the MLB club. He’s been passable if unexceptional through his first 78 plate appearances. He’d drawn plenty of attention for a season-opening 12-game hit streak that matched an MLB record for a player his age. Walker has collected hits in 16 of his 19 starts overall, though his game logs mostly consist of one-hit performances. He’s gotten to two hits on just four occasions and has yet to put up a three-hit game. Overall, the former first round draftee is hitting .274/.321/.397 with a pair of home runs in 20 contests. That offensive output is almost exactly league average, as measured by wRC+.

That’s certainly a respectable showing for a player who has yet to reach his 21st birthday. Many hitters Walker’s age are still in the low minors or in college. League average offense through his first three weeks in the majors is no small feat. That said, the organization clearly wasn’t enamored with some of the underlying indicators. He’s punched out 20 times while walking on just three occasions, with both marks checking in worse than league average. To his credit, Walker is hitting the ball with authority when he’s making contact, but he’s swung and missed at 16.4% of the pitches he’s seen. Only eight qualified hitters are whiffing more often.

St. Louis evidently feels he’s better served honing his pitch selection in Triple-A despite his solid overall results. Walker has never played a Triple-A game. He skipped right to the big leagues after a .306/.388/.510 showing in 119 Double-A contests. He’ll presumably continue to get everyday corner outfield reps in Memphis. Drafted as a third baseman, Walker has begun seeing more outfield time in deference to Nolan Arenado. Public defensive metrics have given him below-average marks in his limited body of MLB work (170 innings).

The Cardinals have given Walker the bulk of the right field time. Evidently, they’ll now turn the outfield over to some combination of Alec Burleson, Dylan Carlson, Tyler O’Neill and Lars Nootbaar. Nootbaar is mashing but the rest of the group has been off to middling starts. Burleson and O’Neill have also posted roughly average numbers, while Carlson has limped to a .234/.294/.298 line.

While there are some legitimate concerns about Walker’s early statistical profile, the lack of overwhelming production from those competing for outfield reps makes this an eyebrow-raising decision from the Cards’ front office. St. Louis can point to performance concerns as justification for the move, but it’s at least likely to spur some questions from fans. It’s possible the demotion will wind up extending the Cardinals’ window of club control.

Had Walker played the entire season in the majors, he’d have picked up a full year of MLB service. That’d have put him on track to reach arbitration after the 2025 season and first hit free agency following the 2028 campaign. An optional stint lasting more than 20 days would delay the free agent trajectory unless Walker earns “bonus” service time by returning and securing a top two finish in NL Rookie of the Year balloting. Barring a surprisingly long stay in the minors, he’d likely still get to arbitration over the 2025-26 offseason as a Super Two player. The Cardinals were clearly comfortable enough with potentially burning a pre-arbitration season to carry Walker on the Opening Day roster; they’ve surprisingly started just 9-15 and currently sit at the bottom of the NL Central in spite of that move.

While the Walker demotion is the higher-profile transaction, it’s also surprising to see the Cardinals move so quickly to bring Motter back into the fold. St. Louis had designated the veteran utilityman for assignment over the weekend once Paul DeJong returned from the injured list. Motter cleared waivers but had the right to decline an outright assignment in favor of minor league free agency. Reports this morning suggested he was prepared to stick in the organization, though perhaps that was with an understanding with club officials that he’d be brought back to the majors imminently.

In any event, Motter will rejoin the MLB roster. He joins DeJong as middle infield insurance behind Brendan Donovan, Tommy Edman and primary designated hitter Nolan Gorman. The 33-year-old Motter has appeared in seven games this year, collecting four hits and two walks through 20 trips to the dish. He’s a career .192/.264/.310 hitter at the highest level.

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