Diamondbacks Designate Peter Strzelecki For Assignment, Select Tucker Barnhart
The Diamondbacks announced that they have selected the contract of catcher Tucker Barnhart, with right-hander Peter Strzelecki designated for assignment in a corresponding move.
The Snakes came into spring with just two catchers on their 40-man roster in Gabriel Moreno and José Herrera. The latter was optioned over the weekend, pointing to Barnhart getting to serve as Moreno’s backup to open the season, which has now been made official by this move.
Barnhart, 33, signed a minor league deal with the D’Backs in January. The veteran has hit a tepid .217/.333/.304 here in spring, but he’s always been a glove-first backstop. In just under 3,000 major league plate appearances in his career, he has slashed .243/.319/.356 for a wRC+ of 79, indicating he’s been 21% below league average.
But he’s been worth 12 Defensive Runs Saved in his career while Statcast has looked favorably on his work both in terms of blocking and with the running game. Each of Statcast, FanGraphs and Baseball Prospectus grade him as a below-average framer for his career, but all three agree that he hit a nadir in 2018 and has been above average over the past five years. He’ll give the club a solid veteran presence behind the 24-year-old Moreno.
Strzelecki, 29, came over to the Diamondbacks from the Brewers in last year’s deadline swap that sent Andrew Chafin to Milwaukee. After that deal, Strzelecki was mostly kept on optional assignment, only making one appearance in the majors for Arizona. Here in spring, Strzelecki has made four appearances, striking out four batters while allowing one walk and two earned runs.
The Diamondbacks will now have one week to trade the righty or pass him through waivers. He has 72 major league innings under his belt, mostly with the Brewers, with a 3.63 earned run average in that time. He has paired a 24.8% strikeout rate with an 8.7% walk rate. Over the past two years, he has a 4.88 ERA in 51 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level, punching out 34.8% of opponents but also walking 13.6% of them.
Strzelecki still has an option remaining and could appeal to clubs in search of bullpen depth since he wouldn’t require an active roster spot. But many clubs around the league are facing 40-man roster crunches at the moment as they finalize their decisions prior to Opening Day. If he were to sneak through waivers unclaimed, he would stick with the Diamondbacks as bullpen depth but without taking up a spot on the 40-man.
Yankees Name Luis Gil Fifth Starter; DJ LeMahieu To Start Season On IL
Yankees manager Aaron Boone announced to the club’s beat last night that right-hander Luis Gil will be the club’s fifth starter to open the season, with Bryan Hoch of MLB.com relaying video of his comments on X. Joel Sherman of The New York Post reports today that right-hander Clayton Beeter has made the club, though Sherman adds it’s possible that a roster move in the coming days could lead to Beeter getting optioned (X links). Boone also says infielder DJ LeMahieu will start the season on the injured list, with Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News among those to relay the news.
A spot opened up at the back of the Yankee rotation with the recent injury to ace Gerrit Cole, who underwent various tests on his right elbow. Cole was recommended for non-surgical rehab for nerve inflammation and edema. Though it was surely good news that surgery wasn’t being recommended, the club would still need to figure out a plan to proceed without him for an undetermined amount of time, perhaps months.
Without Cole, four spots were taken by Nestor Cortes, Carlos Rodón, Marcus Stroman and Clarke Schmidt, leaving one open for a camp battle. As time went on, it seemed to come down to Gil and prospect Will Warren, with Gil getting the gig yesterday. Shortly after Boone announced Gil got the final spot, Warren was reassigned to minor league camp.
Gil, 26 in June, had an encouraging major league debut late in the 2021 season, as he posted an earned run average of 3.07 in six starts. He struck out a strong 29.5% of batters faced, though he also gave out free passes at a 14.7% rate. He would have been looking to build on that in 2022 but unfortunately landed on the injured list after just one start and eventually required Tommy John surgery in May. That put him out of action for the remainder of that season and most of 2023 as well. He returned to official game action in the minors leagues late last year, logging four innings in September.
That will likely leave Gil with some kind of workload limit here in 2024, since he hardly pitched over the past two years. In 2021, he logged 29 1/3 innings in the majors and 79 1/3 in the minors for a combined total of 108 2/3, his highest in any season thus far. He had a 3.97 ERA in those minor league innings that year. The minor leagues were canceled in 2020, meaning he wasn’t able to pitch in any official capacity.
Taking all of that into consideration, Gil shouldn’t be counted on to suddenly shoulder 200 innings this year, but the Yanks will stick with him as long he’s in good form and will presumably make a decision about the workload later. He posted a 2.87 ERA this spring with a 37.7% strikeout rate and 9.8% walk rate. In January, it was reported that the Yankees were awarded a fourth option on Gil, meaning they can send him to the minors at some point down the road.
Warren, 25 in June, is one of the club’s best pitching prospects. He threw 129 innings last year between Double-A and Triple-A with a 3.35 ERA, then had a 3.52 ERA here in spring action. He’s not yet on the 40-man roster, so it would have been a little bit trickier to pick him over Gil. But given his larger innings tally last year, he could be called upon later in the season if Gil needs to be shut down or if someone else gets hurt.
As for Beeter, 25, he’ll be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game. He was just added to the club’s roster in November, to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. He had a 3.62 ERA last year, over 131 2/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A. He struck out 28.8% of batters though had a concerning walk rate of 13.1%. He’ll break into the majors out of the bullpen, presumably providing the club some long relief innings alongside veteran Luke Weaver.
On the position player side of things, it was reported a week ago that LeMahieu was questionable for Opening Day after fouling a ball off his foot. It doesn’t seem as though it’s a terribly serious injury, but it’s enough to keep him from being available to start the season. Opening Day IL stints can be backdated by three days, so it’s possible he will just miss a week if he’s able to get over the issue in short order.
Though it may not be a long absence, it’s still not ideal for the 35-year-old to be dealing with an injury yet again. He dealt with quad and calf soreness last year and produced a roughly league average line of .243/.327/.390, wRC+ of 101. The Yanks would obviously love to have more, especially since LeMahieu hit .336/.386/.536 over 2019 and 2020. Boone said LeMahieu looked “more explosive” back in February, per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com, though he’s now once again hobbled by an unfortunate ailment.
In the meantime, Oswaldo Cabrera could step into the everyday third base role, which will leave open a bench role for someone like Jahmai Jones or Kevin Smith. Cabrera hit .247/.312/.429 in 2022 but then dropped to .211/.275/.299 last year, that latter line translating to a wRC+ of just 60. Smith isn’t on the 40-man roster but the Yanks could transfer Cole or Oswald Peraza to the 60-day injured list to open a spot. Peraza is going to be out of action for six to eight weeks due to a shoulder strain.
As clubs around the league cut down their rosters, there are plenty of guys getting cut loose who may pique the interest of the Yankees. As mentioned up top with Beeter, he could wind up getting optioned if the Yankees find a pitcher they like on waivers or someone entering free agency via a release or opt-out. The same could perhaps be true of their bench, as Cabrera steps in for LeMahieu.
Braves Release Penn Murfee
The Braves have released right-hander Penn Murfee, reports Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The move clears a spot on Atlanta’s 40-man roster. Murfee was claimed off waivers back in November, non-tendered a few days later, and then re-signed to a major league contract just weeks after that. The sidearming righty posted excellent numbers with the Mariners in 2022-23 but underwent a season-ending UCL procedure late last June and figures to miss considerable time in 2024 as a result.
Injured players can’t be placed on outright waivers, though the Braves could’ve placed him on the major league 60-day injured list if they wanted to open a 40-man roster spot and keep Murfee as a possible down-the-road option in 2024. It’s possible Atlanta will look to quickly re-sign Murfee to a minor league deal so he can continue his rehab process with them, but today’s move ensures that he’ll have the opportunity to at least speak with the game’s other 29 clubs and see if he feels there’s a better opportunity elsewhere.
The 29-year-old Murfee made his big league debut with the 2022 Mariners and came out of nowhere as a quality middle-innings option. The former 33rd-round pick had never been a particularly prominent prospect within Seattle’s system and posted fairly nondescript numbers up through 2021 in the minors. His MLB debut campaign featured 69 innings of 2.99 ERA ball, however, and Murfee fanned an impressive 27.9% of his opponents against a very sharp 6.6% walk rate.
Murfee looked like the next in a long line of high-end Mariners relievers to emerge from obscurity. He opened the 2023 season with 14 innings of 1.29 ERA ball, albeit with a massive uptick in walks (17.2%). His already below-average fastball velocity dipped to an average of 88.1 mph, and Murfee twice landed on the injured list due to elbow inflammation in the season’s first couple months. By June 27, he’d been diagnosed with enough UCL damage that surgery was recommended.
It’s not clear just when Murfee will be cleared to return the mound. He unsurprisingly hasn’t pitched in a spring game while working through the rehab process. A return at some point late in the 2024 season seems feasible, provided he’s able to avoid any setbacks. The right-hander has 1.169 years of MLB service, meaning he can be controlled at least five more seasons, and he also has all three minor league option years remaining.
Dodgers Outright Andre Lipcius
Infielder Andre Lipcius has been outrighted by the Dodgers to Triple-A Oklahoma City, per his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That indicates he passed through waivers unclaimed after being designated for assignment last week. He will remain in the Dodgers organization as non-roster depth.
Lipcius, 26 in May, only joined the Dodgers three weeks ago via a cash deal. He was drafted by the Tigers and had been in their system until getting designated for assignment when the club claimed Buddy Kennedy last month, which led to the trade to the Dodgers.
He has largely served as a hit-over-power guy who can bounce around to multiple positions. Over the past three years, he has stepped to the plate 1,487 times in the minors, hitting just 36 home runs but drawing walks at a 13% clip and only striking out 17.9% of the time. His .264/.360/.419 batting line in that time translates to a wRC+ of 110, indicating he’s been 10% better than league average. He did that while playing the three non-shortstop infield positions and the outfield corners. He also made it to the majors, though only in cup-of-coffee fashion. He took 38 plate appearances over 13 games with the Tigers last year, hitting .286/.342/.400 in that time.
He was squeezed off the roster in Detroit and now in Los Angeles as well. Most clubs around the league are dealing with roster crunches at the end of spring and none of them put in a claim on Lipcius. Players with at least three years of service time or a previous career outright can reject a further outright assignment in favor of free agency. But Lipcius has just a few weeks of service time and this is his first outright, so he won’t qualify, meaning he has no choice but to report to Oklahoma City and try to work his way back to the majors from there.
Submit Your Questions For This Week’s MLB Trade Rumors Podcast!
On the MLB Trade Rumors podcast, we’ll frequently answer questions from our readers and listeners. With the next episode set for Wednesday, we’re looking for MLBTR’s audience to submit their questions and we’ll pick a few to answer.
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Jared Jones Makes Pirates’ Roster; Jared Triolo Likely To Be Named Second Baseman
Top pitching prospect Jared Jones has won a spot on the Pirates’ Opening Day roster, the club announced to its beat writers this morning (X link via Alex Stumpf of MLB.com). He’ll likely slot into the team’s rotation. The Bucs will select the contracts of Jones and of right-handers Hunter Stratton and Ryder Ryan (X thread via Stumpf). Pittsburgh will place catcher Yasmani Grandal and infielder/outfielder Ji Hwan Bae on the 10-day injured list to begin the season. Relievers Colin Holderman and Carmen Mlodzinski will open the season on the 15-day IL.
Also making the roster are out-of-options pitchers Bailey Falter, Josh Fleming and Roansy Contreras, as well as outfielder Edward Olivares and righty Luis Ortiz. The Bucs will not carry non-roster invitees Brent Honeywell Jr. and Billy McKinney on the roster to begin the season. Those aren’t the only key roster decisions Pittsburgh has faced this spring; Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes that manager Derek Shelton last night called it a “very safe assumption” that Jared Triolo will be the Pirates’ starting second baseman to begin the season.
Jones, 22, was the Pirates’ second-round pick back in 2020 and entered spring training ranked among the game’s top 100 prospects at each of Baseball America (No. 74), MLB.com (No. 62), The Athletic (No. 39), FanGraphs (No. 62) and ESPN (No. 53).
Those rankings come on the heels of a strong 2023 season split between Double-A Altoona and Triple-A Indianapolis, wherein Jones logged a combined 126 1/3 innings of 3.85 ERA ball with a 27.6% strikeout rate and 9.5% walk rate. The right-hander’s dominant spring showing surely didn’t hurt his chances of making the Opening Day roster; Jones pitched 16 1/3 innings without an earned run during Grapefruit League play, yielding just nine hits against eight walks with 15 punchouts.
The Athletic’s Keith Law writes that Jones has made huge gains with both his heater and his slider since being drafted and now has the potential for three plus pitches. The former two-way standout is an excellent athlete and, as noted by Eric Longenhagen and Tess Taruskin at FanGraphs, has also improved his strike-throwing as he’s shifted his focus solely to pitching. Scouting reports on Jones generally agree that there’d mid-rotation potential, and further improvements to any of his command, curveball or changeup could further boost his upside.
Jones tossed 122 2/3 innings in 2022 and 126 1/3 innings last season. That should set the stage for a decent uptick in his workload this season. The Bucs might still be cautious with him on a start-by-start basis, particularly early in the year, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if a healthy Jones approached or exceeded 150 frames this year. Since he’s a consensus top-100 prospect who’s making the Opening Day roster, his performance this season will particularly important for the Bucs. If Jones wins Rookie of the Year this season or finishes top three in National League Cy Young voting, he could net the Pirates an extra pick in the 2025 draft under the 2022-26 CBA’s newly implemented prospect promotion incentives.
Triolo, 26, made his big league debut in 2023 and spent the bulk of his time at third base, filling in for an injured Ke’Bryan Hayes. That’s Triolo’s natural position, but Hayes is one of MLB’s best defensive players at any position, so Triolo will slide over to second base in what could be his first full big league season. The writing for him winning the second base job was on the wall after the Bucs optioned Liover Peguero and Nick Gonzales — particularly with Bae also banged up (and now headed to the injured list).
In 209 plate appearances last season, Triolo batted .298/.388/.398 — production that was buoyed by an enormous .440 average on balls in play and came in spite of a grisly 30.1% strikeout rate. The punchouts and good fortune on balls in play have both continued this spring. Triolo has taken 45 plate appearances and batted .325/.400/.525 — excellent surface-level numbers that are propped up by a more suspect .458 BABIP. Couple that with a 31.1% strikeout rate, and his production looks similar to his 2023 output — though this year’s pair of homers in his limited spring playing time is a good sign, as Triolo hit just three long balls in last year’s 209 trips to the plate.
Triolo is a strong defender who draws plenty of walks, which should help set a decent floor for him, but he’ll need to cut down on the strikeouts and/or significantly improve his quality of contact (86.6 mph average exit velocity; 32.8% hard-hit rate) if he’s to sustain much in the way of success at the plate in the majors. Strikeouts were an issue in his first taste of Triple-A work last year (26.5%) but weren’t a problem for him in the lower and mid-minor league levels, so perhaps he’ll drop that rate over a larger sample as he gains more experience. If nothing else, a plus defender at multiple positions with a keen eye at the plate has the makings of a useful utility option, but Triolo will get the opportunity to show he can be more than that right out of the gate in 2024.
The 27-year-old Stratton made his MLB debut with the Bucs in 2023 and pitched 12 innings with three runs on nine hits and three walks. He fanned 10 of his 47 opponents (21.3%) and kept the ball on the ground at a hearty 51.5% rate. He was non-tendered in November but returned on a minors deal two months later. Stratton will now get a second big league look after firing seven shutout frames with a 7-to-2 K/BB ratio this spring.
Ryan, 29 in May, pitched a scoreless frame with the Mariners in 2023. That represents the entirety of his MLB experience. He’s fanned 28.6% of his opponents in 7 2/3 innings for Pittsburgh this spring and done so with a staggering 73.7% ground-ball rate. Ryan has pitched to a sub-4.00 ERA with a strikeout rate north of 24% in each of the past two Triple-A seasons (one with the Mariners and one with the Rangers). The Pirates will give him his first real look in the majors to see if he can carry any of that success over to the game’s top level.
The Opener: New Free Agents, Pending Transactions, Rule 5 Picks
With Opening Day now just a few days away, here are a handful of things for MLBTR readers to keep an eye on today…
1. Late additions to the free agent market:
Last Friday marked the first of three uniform opt-out dates for all Article XX(B) free agents — i.e., free agents with six-plus years of service who finished the prior season on a major league roster/injured list — who signed minor league deals over the winter. More than a dozen veteran names triggered outs in their contracts, and while some were selected to the 40-man roster with their current teams (or promised that they would be prior to Opening Day), others were informed they haven’t made the club and were granted their release. There were also a handful of other recognizable names who did not meet Article XX(B) criteria but still had opt-outs negotiated into their minor league deals who’ve also returned to the market.
Each of Trey Mancini (Marlins), C.J. Cron (Red Sox), Julio Teheran (Orioles), Matt Duffy (Rangers), Drew Pomeranz (Angels), Bradley Zimmer (Rockies), Kolten Wong (Orioles), Sandy Leon (Royals), Carl Edwards Jr. (Cubs), Dominic Smith (Cubs), Charlie Culberson (Braves), Mike Moustakas (White Sox), Eduardo Escobar (Blue Jays), Mike Ford (Reds), Zach Davies (Nationals) and Elvis Andrus (D-backs) has been cut loose since last Friday. Veteran pitchers Danny Duffy, Chasen Shreve and Shane Greene were also informed they weren’t making the Rangers’ roster and were free to explore interest around the league — though each was also told he’d be welcome to head to Triple-A to begin the 2024 season there.
Clubs looking for veteran depth to help cover injuries or provide insurance against young/unproven players potentially underperforming have a whole new slate of names to consider.
2. Several roster moves on the horizon:
On the flipside, it’s already become clear that a handful of minor league signees will make their team’s Opening Day roster — but the moves have yet to be formally announced, and thus so have the corresponding transactions. The Blue Jays, for instance, will reportedly select the contracts of Daniel Vogelbach and Brian Serven. Sox Machine’s James Fegan tweets that righty Bryan Shaw is likely to make the White Sox’ roster. The Guardians will add righties Carlos Carrasco and Tyler Beede prior to Opening Day. The Cubs plan to select first baseman/outfielder Garrett Cooper. The Rangers need a move to select top prospect Wyatt Langford.
Some of these roster additions will be accommodated by simple 60-day IL placements. That’s likely to be the case in Cleveland (Trevor Stephan) and in Texas (Tyler Mahle or Max Scherzer). Not every team has an obvious 60-day IL candidate though, and even those that do could find themselves making multiple transactions to set their Opening Day rosters.
3. Rule 5 decisions nearing:
There were only 10 players selected in the major league portion of the 2023 Rule 5 Draft, and a few of the teams that made a selection will still have a decision on the fate of their Rule 5 picks. The Guardians returned third baseman Deyvison De Los Santos to the D-backs over the weekend, while the Rockies (Anthony Molina), Red Sox (Justin Slaten), Royals (Matt Sauer) and Padres (Stephen Kolek) have already decided to carry their Rule 5 selections on the Opening Day roster. Others, such as White Sox lefty Shane Drohan (shoulder surgery) and Rangers righty Carson Coleman (Tommy John surgery) will open the season on the injured list.
Oakland’s Mitch Spence (selected from the Yankees), Washington’s Nasim Nunez (from the Marlins) and St. Louis’ Ryan Fernandez (from the D-backs) are all still in big league camp with the teams that selected them.
Braves Sign Jesse Chavez To Minor League Deal
Jesse Chavez is headed back to the Braves. Again. Atlanta announced this morning that the veteran right-hander has been signed to a minor league contract. He’ll head to big league camp for the final few days of spring training. Chavez spent the majority of spring training with the White Sox but was cut loose over the weekend. The Apex Baseball client will now head back to the Braves organization for what’ll be a fourth straight season (and a fifth overall).
Chavez, 40, has been excellent with the Braves in each of the past three seasons but struggled through shorter stints with the Angels and Cubs. Even accounting for rough showings in Anaheim and Chicago, however, he’s notched a tidy 2.81 earned run average in 137 2/3 innings over the past three seasons. Along the way, he’s fanned 26.2% of his opponents, issued walks at a strong 7.6% clip and kept the ball on the ground at a roughly average 42.3% clip (including a 51.7% mark last year). Metrics like FIP (2.97) and SIERA (3.33) generally agree that Chavez has been a highly effective reliever — one who’s often worked in multi-inning roles.
It was a rough spring for Chavez with the ChiSox. He tossed seven official innings and was tagged for ten runs (nine earned) on a dozen hits and two walks with eight strikeouts. That comes out to an 11.57 ERA, albeit in a tiny sample of work. Chavez also posted quality strikeout, walk and ground-ball rates (22.2%, 5.6%, 56%, respectively) and only allowed one homer while serving up a .458 BABIP, so take the spring ERA — as always — with a grain of salt.
The Atlanta bullpen is quite full at the moment, with only one reliever — left-hander Dylan Lee — who can even be optioned to Triple-A. The Braves are set to roll out a heavily veteran ‘pen including Raisel Iglesias, A.J. Minter, Joe Jimenez, Pierce Johnson, Tyler Matzek and Aaron Bummer. Right-hander Jackson Stephens is out of minor league options and thus stands as a favorite to win the final bullpen spot.
That could ticket Chavez for early-season work in Triple-A Gwinnett, where he’d presumably be one of the first men up in the event of an injury. It’s at least possible he’ll overtake Stephens for that final bullpen spot, as Stephens has a limited big league track record and has walked seven hitters in 7 1/3 frames this spring.
Latest On Mets’ Roster Decisions
Most of the Mets’ roster has come into focus with Opening Day approaching, and the team continued to make its final roster cuts this weekend. MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo has the summary of the decisions, including the news that utilityman Zack Short and (somewhat provisionally) first baseman/outfielder D.J. Stewart will break camp with the team. Stewart’s status is a little up in the air since he is the proverbial 26th man on the 26-man roster, and the Mets might yet replace him if a player they like becomes available on the waiver wire or in free agency, as rival teams also make their late cuts.
Short was claimed off waivers from the Tigers last November, and has been much more known for his defensive versatility than his bat (.174/.266/.308 in 450 career plate appearances) over his three MLB seasons in Detroit. However, Short has looked really good at the plate this spring, while Stewart has struggled. Ironically, Stewart has almost the opposite profile, as he has been productive if inconsistent in hitting .220/.339/.425 with 37 homers in 807 career PA, but isn’t known as much of a defender. Stewart joined the Mets on a minor league deal last winter and hit a very solid .244/.333/.506 over 185 PA in his first season in Queens.
Short and Stewart got the nod ahead of a pair of minor league signings in Ji-Man Choi and Jose Iglesias. The two veterans have opt-outs in their minors contracts but Choi told DiComo that he will report to the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate rather than re-enter free agency. Iglesias also indicted that he will likely remain with the organization to await another possible opportunity later in the season.
One player who is somewhat unexpectedly heading to Triple-A is Mark Vientos, who was initially slated to be a part-time third baseman and DH heading into camp. However, New York then signed J.D. Martinez this past week, and while Martinez will begin his season in the minors to make up for his lost spring prep time, Martinez’s presence will monopolize the designated hitter role. As a result, Brett Baty and Short now could work as a third base platoon, since the Mets want Vientos to get steadier playing time in the minors.
Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns also noted that the team wants to see Vientos get more work in at third base. Vientos’ defensive future has long been a question mark, as he is considered a subpar third baseman and playing at DH or first base with the Mets isn’t an option for at least 2024 due to the presence of Martinez and Pete Alonso. Becoming even a passable third baseman could greatly help Vientos stick in the majors and keep him from being pigeonholed as a first base/DH type at most. Vientos has hit just .205/.255/.354 with 10 home runs in 274 career PA in the big leagues, but the former second-round pick doesn’t have much left to prove in the minors after three seasons of crushing Triple-A pitching.
Assuming Stewart is indeed the last position player on the roster, the only remaining 26-man decisions facing the Mets are their last two bullpen spots. DiComo writes that Michael Tonkin is “a heavy favorite for one” spot, and Yohan Ramirez and Sean Reid-Foley are competing for the other job. All three pitchers are out of minor league options, DiComo notes that rival scouts have been watching Ramirez and Reid-Foley in anticipation of either pitcher potentially being available on the waiver wire. The loser of the competition might end up traded rather than designated for assignment, if enough interest exists from teams in need of bullpen depth.
Brewers Notes: Clarke, Woodruff, Arroyo
Right-hander Taylor Clarke suffered a right meniscus injury and is getting a second opinion to see if surgery can be avoided, Brewers manager Pat Murphy told MLB.com and other media. Clarke will certainly start the season on the 15-day injured list, and the hope is that he can avoid a significantly longer amount of downtime.
Milwaukee acquired Clarke in a December trade with the Royals, hoping that Clarke could bounce back from a rough 2023 campaign. The righty posted a 5.95 ERA in 59 innings for Kansas City, as big spikes in Clarke’s barrel and home run rates resulted in 12 homers out of the park over those 59 frames. His 24.4% strikeout rate was slightly above average, but his walk rate increased sharply to nine percent, after Clarke had posted a very impressive 3.9 BB% in 2022.
Surely the Brewers are hoping Clarke pitches closer to that 2022 form (when he had a 4.04 ERA in 49 innings for K.C.), but for now the priority is just getting him healthy and onto the mound. Meniscus-related injuries carry a wide range of potential timelines based on the extent of the damage, and whether or not Clarke needs surgery. If he does have to go under the knife, an absence of 4-6 weeks is probably the best-case scenario for a meniscus surgery.
Turning to another injured Brewers hurler, Brandon Woodruff‘s recovery from shoulder surgery will prevent from pitching during the 2024 season, the right-hander told Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The right-hander was already expected to miss most of the year rehabbing, which was reflected in both the Brewers’ decision to non-tender Woodruff and in the backloaded nature of the two-year, $17.5MM deal he signed to rejoin the Crew last month. Woodruff will earn $2.5MM in 2024 and a $5MM salary in 2025, plus a $10MM buyout of a $20MM mutual option for the 2026 season.
The rehab process seems to be going well in these early stages, and Woodruff has started to lightly throw from 30-foot distances. The two-time All-Star is confident that he’ll be able to return to his old form when he returns to the mound in 2025, and that his knowledge of pitching will allow him to overcome any potential loss of velocity.
“Honestly, I’m going be the strongest I’ll ever be at any point in my career because I’m going have a year and just basically get my body ready for pitching….I’m just going to learn so much more about my body,” Woodruff said. “I’m learning a new shoulder. But as far as everything goes, I expect to be the same guy. And you know what? God forbid if anything else happened, like, I ain’t going to forget to pitch. So I can go out there and still figure it out.”
Despite the injury, several teams reportedly had interest in trading for Woodruff before Milwaukee non-tendered him, and also inquired about signing him after the righty hit the open market. Woodruff ultimately chose to return to the Brewers due to the trust and comfort level built from his career-long stay in the organization.
“Why don’t I keep betting on myself? Money is not the issue. I want to win. I’m comfortable here,” Woodruff said. “I know the medical staff and they know my shoulder inside and out. I think I’m just in a good spot in terms of coming back here. There was a lot of stuff that I weighed out, but I’m able to kind of do – I wouldn’t say do what I want – but I kind of dictate and help run this rehab the way I want. I’m not learning new people and that was a big part of it.”
In other Brewers news, Christian Arroyo was reassigned to the team’s minor league camp earlier this week, thus giving Arroyo an opt-out decision since he didn’t make the Opening Day roster. Murphy told Hogg and other reporters that he doesn’t think Arroyo will opt out, plus the infielder also has a minor wrist injury.
This issue could hamper Arroyo’s chances of quickly catching on with another team in free agency, on top of his underwhelming .182/.217/.227 slash line in 23 plate appearances this spring. Arroyo could take some time at Triple-A to get healed up and then perhaps weigh his options, or simply see if an opportunity might still emerge in Milwaukee. The Brewers’ projected candidates for second base, third base, and utility infield roles (Brice Turang, Joey Ortiz, Sal Frelick, Andruw Monasterio) are all rather inexperienced, and in Frelick’s case, learning an infield position for the first time. Arroyo could therefore represent some veteran depth should any of the youngsters struggle, or need more seasoning in the minors.