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Brewers Activate Adrian Houser

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The Brewers have activated right-hander Adrian Houser, who will start today’s game against the Giants, as noted by Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. To make room for Houser on the active roster, the Brewers have optioned right-hander Tyson Miller to Triple-A.

Houser, 30, has been a staple of Milwaukee’s pitching staff since the start of the 2019 season, working primarily as a member of the rotation but with occasional appearances out of the bullpen as well. Over the past four seasons, Houser has paired strong campaigns in 2019 and 2021 (where he posted excellent ERA+ marks of 120 and 128, respectively) with difficult campaigns in 2020 and 2022 (with below-average ERA+ marks of 86 and 83, respectively). Overall, that leaves him with a 4.02 ERA, 5% above average by measure of ERA+, and a 4.24 FIP in 412 1/3 innings of work since the 2019 campaign began.

Houser was forced down Milwaukee’s depth chart over the course of this past season, with Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff, Eric Lauer, Freddy Peralta, Wade Miley, and Aaron Ashby all seemingly preferred rotation options headed into the season. Unfortunately for the Brewers, Ashby was sidelined before the season began by shoulder surgery, while Houser himself struggled with groin tightness and began the season on the IL as well.

That left the club with little depth behind the five regular members of the rotation, and when Woodruff was sidelined by a shoulder strain the club was forced to turn to temporary solutions such as Colin Rea, who has posted a 4.73 ERA and 5.27 FIP in five starts for Milwaukee this season. With Houser now off the IL, he figures to step into the rotation and provide stability behind Burnes, Lauer, Peralta, and Miley while Woodruff is on the mend.

As for Miller, the 27-year-old right-hander posted a solid 1.93 ERA in three appearances as a multi-inning reliever with the club and figures to act as pitching depth for the Brewers going forward, able to work both out of the bullpen and the rotation. Meanwhile, Rea seems likely to move to the bullpen with Houser joining the rotation, filling Miller’s role as the bullpen’s long man.

Marlins Activate Joey Wendle, Option Xavier Edwards

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The Marlins have activated infielder Joey Wendle from the injured list ahead of this afternoon’s game against the Cubs, as noted by Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald. To make room for Wendle on the active roster, the Marlins optioned infielder Xavier Edwards to Triple-A.

Wendle was expected to be the club’s starting shortstop coming into the season, though he ultimately played just four games, striking out twice and walking once without recording a hit in nine plate appearances before going on the injured list with an intercostal strain on April 4. The 33-year-old Wendle has a career wRC+ of 100, but has struggled to a slash line of just .254/.293/.352 (84 wRC+) in 105 games since he was acquired by Miami from the Rays prior to the 2022 campaign.

After a little over a month on the injured list, Wendle has returned to the Marlins, though he won’t start at shortstop today over Jon Berti, who has filled in admirably in the infield for the Marlins while Wendle was on the shelf. In 111 plate appearances this season, Berti has hit a solid .270/.327/.370 (95 wRC+) while playing shortstop, second base, and third base for the Marlins this season. Though Berti has just five steals so far this season, it’s worth noting that he lead the majors last year with 41 steals, providing plenty of value on the basepaths in addition to his versatility and roughly league average bat.

With Luis Arraez and Jean Segura entrenched at second and third base, respectively, Wendle and Berti figure to share time at shortstop going forward while also filling in elsewhere in the lineup as needed. While both Wendle and Berti are primarily infielders, each has outfield experience as well. That could prove valuable for the Marlins, as the club’s outfield has mustered a collective wRC+ of just 85 so far in 2023, the fourth worst figure in the National League.

As for Edwards, the former top prospect will head back to the minor leagues with just six big league plate appearances under his belt. In those appearances, Edwards recorded a hit and a scored a run while striking out once. Edwards figures to join Jacob Amaya and Jordan Groshans as upper level infield depth for the Marlins in the minor leagues going forward this season. In 20 games at the Triple-A level for the Marlins this season, Edwards has slashed a solid .306/.427/.361, good for a 116 wRC+.

Cubs Notes: Hendricks, Gomes, Sampson

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Veteran right-hander Kyle Hendricks has rejoined the Cubs in Chicago to work with the coaching staff midway through his current rehab assignment, as noted by Gordon Wittenmeyer at the Chicago Tribune. Hendricks struggled mightily in two rehab appearances at the Triple-A level last week, surrendering 10 earned runs in 4 1/3 innings of work. Despite those results, though, Hendricks has seen his velocity tick up as high as 90 mph. That marks a return to form for Hendricks, who had seen his fastball velocity decline in recent years, concluding with a fastball that sat 86-87 mph last season.

Entering the 2021 season, Hendricks was not just the most reliable starter in the Cubs rotation, but among the most reliable starters in all of baseball. From 2014 to 2020, only six pitchers with at least 1,000 innings pitched had a lower ERA than Hendricks’s 3.12 figure: Clayton Kershaw, Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer, Corey Kluber, Zack Greinke, and Chris Sale. Despite that elite company, however, injuries and ineffectiveness have plagued Hendricks since the start of the 2021 season, as the soft-tossing right-hander posted a 4.78 ERA and 4.87 FIP in 265 1/3 innings over the past two campaigns with strikeout, walk, and groundball rates all worse than his career average.

Hendricks saw his 2022 season come to an end early as he underwent surgery to repair a capsular tear in his shoulder last July. He began the season on the injured list as the Cubs decided to take his recovery slowly, though he appears to be nearing a return, with Mark Gonzales noting the club plans for him to return to Triple-A Iowa for rehab starts on Tuesday and Sunday. Upon his return, Hendricks will factor into a rotation that currently sports Marcus Stroman, Justin Steele, Drew Smyly, Jameson Taillon, and Hayden Wesneski.

Also noted by Gonzales is that catcher Yan Gomes has resumed baseball activities. Gomes was placed on the 7-day concussion IL, who was hit in the head by a backswing last week, opening the door for catching prospect Miguel Amaya to make his big league debut. Amaya has shared time behind the plate with Tucker Barnhart while Gomes has been on the shelf, but Gomes figures to take the lion’s share of playing time once he returns from injury.

A less positive injury update came from Cubs manager David Ross regarding right-hander Adrian Sampson, as noted by Wittenmeyer. The 31-year-old journeyman underwent debridement surgery on his right knee on Friday. No timetable has been announced for Sampson’s return to action. After a solid pair of partial seasons with the Cubs that saw him post a 3.03 ERA and 4.28 FIP in 139 2/3 innings since the start of the 2021 season, Sampson was in the mix to be the Cubs’ fifth starter this spring, though he ultimately lost out on the role to Wesneski. Sampson has yet to pitch in the majors for the Cubs this season, but figures to be a depth option for them whenever he returns to the mound.

Eloy Jimenez To Miss 4-To-6 Weeks After Undergoing Appendectomy

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May 7: As expected, the club has placed Jimenez on the 10-day IL while he recovers from his appendectomy. The club recalled catcher Carlos Perez in a corresponding move.

May 6: White Sox slugger Eloy Jimenez went to the hospital earlier today due to intense stomach discomfort, and the team announced that Jimenez underwent an appendectomy.  Jimenez will be sidelined for “preliminarily” the next 4-to-6 weeks while he recovers.

Manager Pedro Grifol told the Chicago Sun-Times’ Daryl Van Schouwen and other reporters earlier today that Jimenez felt discomfort last night, and was admitted to hospital after the pain worsened during the night.  If there is a silver lining, it’s that Jimenez’s issue was only the relatively common problem of appendicitis, and hopefully the outfielder will be fully recovered in 4-6 weeks’ time.

However, that does mark yet another significant absence and yet another entry within an increasingly checkered health history for the 26-year-old.  Jimenez already spent 10 days on the injured list this season due to a hamstring strain, he missed over two months of the 2022 season with another hamstring issue, and his first game of the 2021 campaign didn’t come until July 26 due to a ruptured left pectoral tendon.

Jimenez was roughly a league-average hitter in 2021, but batted .295/.358/.500 with 16 home runs over 327 plate appearances last season.  This year, despite being slowed by the hamstring problem, Jimenez has a productive .258/.321/.423 slash line in 106 PA, even while continuing his pattern of hard contact and a lot of swing-and-miss.

Even with a modest 104 wRC+, Jimenez was still one of the more productive hitters on a struggling White Sox team, and his absence will now only add to what is increasingly looking like a disastrous season.  Today’s 5-3 loss to the Reds dropped Chicago to an 11-23 record, and even earlier this week, MLBTR’s Steve Adams wrote about which players might be shopped by the Sox at the deadline.  It’s going to be a lot harder for the Southsiders to dig themselves out of this early hole without Jimenez in the lineup, which only increases the chances that Chicago will be looking to be sellers in some regard by August 1.

The White Sox have used Jimenez mostly as a DH this season with a handful of games in right field, so there might not be a direct positional replacement needed, in the sense that the Sox could just cycle multiple players through the DH spot to help keep people fresh.  Gavin Sheets might get the bulk of those at-bats given his lackluster defensive numbers in right field, and Oscar Colas might find himself quickly back in the majors after being optioned to Triple-A earlier this week.  In addition to Jimenez being sidelined, the White Sox also just placed Jake Burger on the IL this week due to an oblique strain, and Yoan Moncada has missed close to a month with back problems (though he just started a rehab assignment this weekend).

Tigers Option Spencer Turnbull

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The Tigers have optioned right-hander Spencer Turnbull to Triple-A Toledo and recalled right-hander Alex Faedo, per a team announcement. Faedo will start today’s game against the Cardinals.

A second round pick in the 2014 draft, Turnbull made his MLB debut in 2019, struggling to a 6.06 ERA in 16 1/3 innings of work. He would become a regular in the Tigers rotation the following season, however, making thirty starts and posting a roughly league average 4.61 ERA with a solid 3.99 FIP in 148 1/3 innings during the 2019 season. His results continued to improve in 2020, when he posted a 3.97 ERA and 3.49 FIP over 11 starts during the pandemic-shortened campaign.

Turnbull appeared on the verge of a true breakout in 2021, as he had posted a dazzling 2.88 ERA (148 ERA+) in 50 innings across the first nine starts of his season. Unfortunately, Turnbull’s 2021 campaign came to an end prematurely when he underwent Tommy John surgery in July. Turnbull missed the entire 2022 season rehabbing, and returned to the mound as a member of Detroit’s rotation to open the 2023 campaign.

Turnbull has struggled mightily to this point, however, with a 7.26 ERA that leaves him 40% worse than league average by measure of ERA+ and a 5.65 FIP that provides little consolation. Even more worryingly, Turnbull has managed just 31 innings across those starts, pitching into the sixth inning just twice while failing to make it out of the fourth inning three times. Manager AJ Hinch confirmed to reporters, including Chris McCosky of The Detroit News, that Turnbull’s inability to pitch deep into games so far this season was a factor in his demotion. Per Hinch, Turnbull will be tasked with finding the consistency to execute all his pitches during his time in the minors going forward.

Service time might also be some small factor in the Tigers’ decision, as MLive.com’s Evan Woodbery (Twitter links) notes that Detroit might gain an extra year of control over Turnbull if he spends enough time in the minors. Turnbull entered the season with four years and 20 days of service time, and he is currently on track to reach free agency following the 2024 season. Of course, Woodbery observes that the Tigers’ first priority is just getting Turnbull pitching well, since the righty might be a non-tender candidate unless he can turn things around.

Turnbull’s departure creates room on the active roster for Faedo, the club’s first round pick in the 2018 draft. The 27-year-old Faedo made his MLB debut last season, posting a 5.53 ERA with a 4.62 FIP in 53 2/3 innings of work over 12 starts. While Faedo’s results at the big league level last year certainly left something to be desired, there’s some reason for optimism given his excellent results in the minors since his return from Tommy John surgery last year. In 33 2/3 minor league innings since then, Faedo has posted a 2.14 ERA with a 38.2% strikeout rate. Faedo joins Eduardo Rodriguez, Matthew Boyd, Michael Lorenzen, and Joey Wentz in the Tigers’ rotation, though it’s not currently clear if Faedo is simply up for a spot start or will get a longer look as the club’s fifth starter.

Red Sox Place Christian Arroyo On IL With Hamstring Strain

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The Red Sox placed second baseman Christian Arroyo on the 10-day IL with a right hamstring strain this morning, as noted by Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe. Boston recalled infielder Bobby Dalbec to take Arroyo’s spot on the active roster. No timetable has been announced for Arroyo’s return.

The move continues a series of injury woes in Boston’s infield that dates back to the offseason, when it was announced that shortstop Trevor Story would undergo elbow surgery and miss much of the 2023 campaign. Since then, the Red Sox have traded for Adalberto Mondesi, who has yet to make his club debut, and signed Yu Chang, who was placed on the IL with a fractured hamate two weeks ago after posting a slash line of just .136/.174/.341 in 17 games prior to the injury.

Arroyo, who will celebrate his 28th birthday at the end of the month, has endured struggles of his own in the early going this season, posting a .257/.295/.365 slash line that’s 23% below league average by measure of wRC+ in 79 trips to the plate this season. Recently, he had begun to cede his regular playing time at second base to Enmanuel Valdez, who has slashed a solid .343/.361/.514 (137 wRC+) in 10 games since taking over for Chang on the roster. With Arroyo on the shelf, Valdez should have plenty of runway to make the case for himself at second base going forward in Boston.

Dalbec, 28 in June, figures to serve as the backup infielder behind Valdez and shortstop Enrique Hernandez. Dalbec has primarily played first base throughout his career, though he has experience at all four infield spots. A fourth round pick by the Red Sox in the 2016 draft, Dalbec made his MLB debut in 2020 and got off to a torrid start, with a 151 wRC+ in 23 games during the pandemic-shortened season. Since then, however, Dalbec has slashed just .229/.293/.437 (95 wRC+) with a worrisome 34.1% strikeout rate in 254 games at the big league level.

Braves Reinstate Orlando Arcia, Option Vaughn Grissom

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The Braves have reinstated infielder Orlando Arcia from the 10-day injured list, per a team announcement. In a corresponding move, the club optioned shortstop Vaughn Grissom to Triple-A. Arcia had been out with a microfracture in his left wrist since mid-April.

The move comes as something of a surprise, as Arcia will return to the club without a rehab assignment after reportedly beginning to take dry swings just a few days ago. Arcia opened the season as the club’s regular shortstop prior to his injury and got off to a hot start with a .333/.400/.511 slash line with a 149 wRC+ in 13 games. That hot start earned him a contract extension that will keep the 28-year-old under team control through the 2026 season.

Given his success at the plate this season prior to his injury, it seems reasonable to expect Arcia to once again get the lion’s share of playing time at shortstop. Prospect Braden Shewmake was promoted recently and received a start at shortstop, but with Arcia back on the roster seems likely to settle into an infield utility role behind Arcia, second baseman Ozzie Albies and third baseman Austin Riley. The 25-year-old Shewmake has yet to record his first hit in the major leagues, but saw a power surge early this season in the minor leagues, as his five home runs in just 110 plate appearances nearly matches the seven he hit last year in 307 plate appearances. Still, his overall Triple-A slash line of .255/.307/.415 casts him as a glove-first option in the big leagues who doesn’t figure to hit much.

With Arcia returned and Shewmake taking up a utility role in the infield, the 22-year-old Grissom is left heading to Triple-A as the odd man out. Grissom made his major league debut last season, filling in for Albies at second base, and impressed in 41 games with a slash line of .291/.353/.440 that was good for a wRC+ of 121. Though his 21.8% strikeout rate and high .350 BABIP left room for concern, the biggest question mark surrounding Grissom was his defense, which he spent the offseason trying to improve with infield coach Ron Washington.

Unfortunately for both Grissom and the Braves, the young shortstop’s start to the season has been something of a disaster. Grissom has taken a significant step back at the plate, with a slash line of just .277/.314/.308 in 70 plate appearances that leaves him 29% below league average by measure of wRC+. Meanwhile, his defense has been a major concern, with six errors in 18 starts at shortstop and defensive metrics that give him concerning ratings across the board. In particular, Grissom’s -4 Outs Above Average leave him in just the third percentile among MLB fielders and cast him the third worst defensive shortstop in the majors, ahead of only Enrique Hernandez of the Red Sox and CJ Abrams of the Nationals. Given Grissom’s pronounced struggles, it seems reasonable to expect him to work on things at the Triple-A level for the foreseeable future, unless another injury around the infield forces the club’s hand.

The A’s May Have Found A Hidden Gem On The Waiver Wire

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2022 was a year of change for Brent Rooker, who was a member of four different organizations within the span of seven months.  After five years with the Twins, Rooker was dealt along with Taylor Rogers to the Padres for Chris Paddack and Emilio Pagan in April 2022.  From there, Rooker found himself on the move again at the trade deadline when San Diego sent him to the Royals for catcher Cam Gallagher.  Rooker finished out the season in K.C. but was designated for assignment in November, paving the way for the Athletics to claim him off waivers.

As Rooker noted in a chat with MLBTR readers back in February, the specific timing of the trades made things particularly difficult since “one came on Opening Day of the Major League season and one was the very last deal of the deadline.  I knew it was definitely possible that I was going to get moved at the deadline but once we reached 4:00 [PM EST], I thought I was safe, only to get called about 15 minutes later.”

“The moving around is tough and its hard to get settled or into a routine with so much constant change.  That being said, its just part of the job and something you have to learn to work through.  I’m incredibly excited to be with Oakland and hope to play well and earn some major league opportunities!”

Stability isn’t usually a word associated with an A’s franchise that has made a habit of roster overhauls, including the latest fire sale that has seen the Athletics part ways with several prominent veterans as part of the latest rebuild.  The result hasn’t been pretty, as the A’s entered play today with a league-worst 7-26 record, and the increasing possibility of a move to Las Vegas has led to a lot of public discord amongst Oakland fans.

Though it all, however, Rooker has become a major bright spot in the early portion of the 2023 season.  Entering the year with a career .200/.289/.379 slash line over 270 plate appearances in the majors, Rooker has exploded to hit .333/.442/.726 with 10 home runs over his first 104 PA in an Athletics uniform.  Rooker’s slugging percentage and 218 wRC+ lead all qualifies hitters, and his on-base percentage also leads the American League.

This kind of huge breakout caught even Rooker himself a little off-guard.  “In a vacuum, the numbers themselves are more than I ever thought I could do,” Rooker told MLB.com’s Martin Gallegos and other reporters last week.  “That’s not taking away the confidence I have in myself.  That kind of production for a month’s worth of games is probably past even my expectations of myself, so that’s been a pleasant surprise for me.”

Such high-level production isn’t totally alien to Rooker, who has pretty consistently mashed minor league pitching over five seasons on the farm.  This includes a career .274/.387/.590 slash line over 906 PA at the Triple-A level, which is a standout performance even with the caveat of 273 of those plate appearances coming in the hitter-friendly environment of the Pacific Coast League (with the Padres’ Triple-A affiliate).  Rooker also carried some prospect pedigree as the 35th overall pick of the 2017 draft, and he was ranked 92nd on Baseball America’s top-100 prospects list prior to the 2018 season.

Despite this resume, Rooker couldn’t really break though on a Minnesota team that already had multiple up-and-coming outfielders on the active roster or in the farm system all vying for playing time.  Rooker’s cause wasn’t helped when he suffered a fractured forearm in just his seventh big league game in 2020, and his only other extended taste of MLB playing time came in 2021, when he batted .201/.291/.397 over 213 PA for the Twins.

Still, that rough season had just enough glimmers of hope for Rooker that he told Gallegos and company that it has contributed to his big 2023 numbers.  “The last two years, I’ve just been trying to figure out how to extend those good times that I had,” Rooker said.  “I knew I could do it because I’d have weeks in Minnesota where I’d hit really well with a lot of success.  That put it in my head and heart that I was good enough to do it.  I just had to figure out how to do it for longer periods of time.”

It is probably safe to assume that some regression is inevitable, due to both Rookier’s .340 BABIP and the lack of track record to back up his early standing as an elite hitter.  That said, there hasn’t been much luck in what Rooker has been doing, as his .479 wOBA is above his xwOBA….but not by much, as Rooker’s .447 xwOBA is still in the 99th percentile of all hitters.  His barrel rate and walk rate are also both outstanding, and his overall hard-hit ball rate is well above league average.  Strikeouts have been a persistent issue for Rooker throughout his career, but cutting his strikeout rate down to even a modest 22.1% (within the 49th percentile of hitters) has helped greatly, given what Rooker is doing with all that extra contact.

Landing a possible late bloomer on the waiver wire is a dream for any team, particularly a rebuilding Oakland club in sore need of some good news.  Rooker entered the season with only one year and 59 days (1.059) of MLB service time, so he wouldn’t even gain arbitration eligibility until after the 2024 season, and free agency until after the 2017 season.  Naturally, five great weeks doesn’t automatically turn a 28-year-old player into a building block, but if nothing else, Rooker’s presence gives the Athletics something to think about as they approach the trade deadline.

To be clear, all of that team control might make it unlikely that Rooker himself is traded, as the A’s might be intrigued enough to see what they really have in the outfielder beyond 2023.  The idea can’t be entirely ruled out given the Athletics’ scored-earth approach to their rebuild process, but dealing Rooker after a big first half might backfire if Rooker does continue to be a quality regular going forward — “selling high” would perhaps become selling too soon.

Rooker has seen a lot of time at DH, and has seen some time in both corner outfield positions with borderline passable glovework.  Not that Rooker is in any danger of losing at-bats at this point, but if any of Ramon Laureano, Tony Kemp, or Jesus Aguilar are moved at the deadline, that just opens up more playing time for Conner Capel or JJ Bleday, with Rooker picking up any extra at-bats in the corner outfield or at DH.  Kemp and Aguilar are the likeliest to be moved since they aren’t under contract beyond 2023, and while Laureano is arbitration-controlled through 2025, he has received some trade interest in the past.

NL Notes: Mays, Harris, Azocar, Carrasco, Syndergaard

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Happy birthday to the legendary Willie Mays, who turns 92 years old today.  All 22 seasons and 2992 games of Mays’ MLB career was spent in the National League, mostly with the New York/San Francisco Giants and then parts of his two last seasons back in the Big Apple with the Mets.  Among players who played exclusively in the NL during their career, only Pete Rose and Stan Musial had more games in the Senior Circuit than Mays.

Let’s say hey to these items from around the NL….

  • Michael Harris II made his return to the Braves’ lineup tonight, back in his customary spot in center field after missing Atlanta’s previous two games.  There was some concern after Harris left Wednesday’s game with a jammed right knee, but he was able to avoid both the injured list and a significant layoff, even though he’ll at least temporarily be placing with a knee brace.  Harris told The Athletic’s David O’Brien and other reporters that running with the brace won’t slow him down, though he is a little uncertain about how his sliding might be impacted.  A lower back strain already sent Harris to the IL earlier this season, and today marks only the 13th game of 2023 for the reigning NL Rookie Of The Year.
  • Padres outfielder Jose Azocar told reporters (including Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune) that he received a cortisone shot in his bothersome left elbow, but an MRI revealed only inflammation.  Azocar was retroactively placed on the 10-day IL on May 3, and manager Bob Melvin thinks the outfielder might be able to resume baseball activities within a few days’ time.  Azocar has a modest .244/.262/.293 slash line over 45 plate appearances, as the backup has made a few extra starts due to other injuries in the Padres’ outfield and the remaining games on Fernando Tatis Jr.’s suspension.
  • Carlos Carrasco has hit another health setback, as Mets GM Billy Eppler and manager Buck Showalter told reporters (including Abbey Mastracco of the New York Daily News) that the right-hander is battling an illness.  This has pushed back plans to start a rehab assignment for Carrasco this weekend, as the veteran continues to work his way back from a bone spur in his throwing elbow.  Carrasco struggled to an 8.56 ERA over his first three starts and 13 2/3 innings before going on the IL.
  • It has also been a tough road for Noah Syndergaard in 2023, as his Dodgers tenure has begun with a 6.32 ERA over his first six starts and 31 1/3 innings since signing a one-year, $13MM free agent deal.  However, manager Dave Roberts told the Orange County Register’s Bill Plunkett and other reporters that even as L.A. continues to juggle its rotation, the club isn’t considering removing Syndergaard from the starting five.  The righty will get some extra time between starts, with Syndergaard projected for an eight-day break before his next scheduled outing on Tuesday.  Both Michael Grove and Gavin Stone made some starts while Tony Gonsolin was on the injured list, but with Gonsolin now back and Grove now on the IL with a groin injury, the Dodgers will now stick with a normal five-man rotation.  Roberts said that rather than keep Stone in the majors for another start and a brief shift to a six-man rotation, “there’s maybe a potential cost of getting guys out of their rhythm” given that Los Angeles also has an off-day on Thursday.

Mariners Place Penn Murfee On 15-Day Injured List

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The Mariners have placed right-hander Penn Murfee on the 15-day injured list due to right elbow inflammation, according to Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times (Twitter link).  Right-hander Juan Then is being called up from Double-A in the corresponding move, and Then’s first appearance will mark his MLB debut.

Murfee made his own Major League debut in 2022 and immediately contributed to Seattle’s bullpen, posting a 2.99 ERA over 69 1/3 innings.  Murfee’s strikeout and walk rates were well above average, and he was one of the league’s best at inducing soft contact.  The overall results have improved this season as per Murfee’s 1.38 ERA over 15 innings, except with the red flag of a drastically inflated 16.7% walk rate.  A tiny .143 BABIP has certainly helped Murfee avoid much damage, though his SIERA is 4.52.

Walks have been a problem for the Mariners’ bullpen as a whole this season, even though the relief corps has still been quite solid overall.  However, it isn’t good news that the M’s are now missing two notable relievers in Murfee and Andres Munoz, who has spent close to a month on the 15-day IL due to a right deltoid strain that seems to be a bit more troublesome than initially anticipated.  For what it’s worth, Murfee’s elbow inflammation also seems relatively minor, as Divish tweets that the Mariners were hoping he could avoid an IL trip altogether.

Then was added to Seattle’s 40-man roster back in November, protecting righty from selection in the Rule 5 Draft.  Then was an international signing for the Mariners in 2016, and after being traded to the Yankees in November 2017, was re-acquired as part of the Edwin Encarnacion trade in June 2019.  Once the 2019 season was complete, things started to go sideways for Then, who (like all minor leaguers) lost the 2020 season to the pandemic, and then struggled through two injury-shortened seasons at the high-A and Double-A levels in 2021 and 2022.

MLB Pipeline ranks Then 23rd on their list of the Mariners’ top 30 prospects, noting that his performance in the Arizona Fall League merited a return to the ranking and apparently indicated that his elbow problems were behind him.  Back at Double-A this season, Then has a 27.5% strikeout rate and 7.5% walk rate over nine innings of work, but also a 5.00 ERA.

To this end, promoting Then to the majors and skipping Triple-A entirely seems like an aggressive move for the Mariners, based both on results and the fact that Then has pitched only 30 total innings (counting AFL and Dominican Winter League work) since the start of the 2022 season.  It could be that the M’s might be viewing Then as just a short-term add before figuring out a 40-man roster opening to accommodate another pitcher.

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