Padres Select Matt Waldron
TODAY: The Padres have officially announced their selection of Waldron’s contract. To make room for Waldron on the active roster, left-hander Ray Kerr was optioned to Triple-A. Kerr had a 6.00 ERA and 5.77 FIP in six innings of work out of the San Diego bullpen, and now figures to serve as depth with El Paso going forward.
JUNE 23: The Padres will promote knuckleballer Matt Waldron to start tomorrow night’s game against the Nationals, the club informed reporters (including Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune). He’s not on the 40-man roster but San Diego has an opening after designating Nabil Crismatt for assignment on Tuesday. Michael Wacha had been slated to start the game. The Friars are skipping his outing due to some shoulder fatigue, tweets AJ Cassavell of MLB.com.
Waldron, a 26-year-old righty, entered the professional ranks as an 18th-round pick of the Indians back in 2019. Cleveland traded him to San Diego after the 2020 season as the player to be named later in the Mike Clevinger/Josh Naylor, Cal Quantrill blockbuster.
The University of Nebraska product has slowly progressed up the minor league ranks over the two and a half years since then. He reached Triple-A El Paso midway through last season and has spent all of 2023 there. He has a 7.02 ERA over 66 2/3 innings this year, starting 12 of 14 appearances.
That’s obviously not a strong run prevention mark, even in the context of the brutal Pacific Coast League setting for pitchers. Waldron ranks 27th among 38 PCL hurlers (minimum 40 innings) in ERA. He’s seventh among that group in strikeout rate, however, fanning just under a quarter of opponents. He has kept his walks to a manageable 7.8% clip, with the inflated ERA largely attributable to a batting average on balls in play just shy of .400.
It’s unclear if Waldron will get more than one start in his initial MLB look. Even if it’s a one-off appearance for now, it’ll mark both a major personal achievement and a win for fans of the knuckleball.
According to Statcast, there hasn’t been a single knuckleball thrown in the major leagues (outside of a few scattered eephus pitches from position players in mop-up duty) in either of the last two seasons. Mickey Jannis made one relief appearance for the Orioles in 2021; the last knuckleballer to pitch more than twice was Steven Wright back in 2019.
Marlins Notes: Perez, Cueto, Rogers, Chisholm
Right-hander Eury Perez has been just about everything the Marlins could have hoped for when they promoted the 20-year-old top prospect to the majors directly from the Double-A level. In eight major league starts this season, Perez has posted a sensational 1.54 ERA in 41 innings of work. While those numbers are already fantastic, Perez has been even more impressive over his last five starts. In that time, he’s allowed a microscopic ERA of just 0.33 while striking out 29 in 27 innings and walking just 7.8% of batters faced. A single solo home run represents the only baserunner to cross home plate against Perez during that period.
With the youngster on such an impressive run of late, one might assume that the Marlins plan to continue riding the wave of Perez’s success as the club attempts to parlay a solid start to the season into a playoff appearance. After all, Miami’s 43-34 record leaves them in second place in their division and firmly in the NL wild card picture alongside the Giants and Dodgers. According to Craig Mish of the Miami Herald, however, the plan might not be that simple. While Mish notes that Perez is expected to make at least two more starts, one tomorrow against the Pirates and the other next weekend against the Braves, he also notes that pumping the brakes on Perez from then until after the All Star break is “something [that’s] under consideration.”
Mish’s report comes on the heels of him noting earlier this month that the Marlins were planning to “slow down” Perez in order to manage his innings and hopefully leave him healthy and available for the end of the 2023 campaign and a potential postseason run. Perez has already thrown 72 innings between Double-A and the majors this season despite the fact that he’s never thrown more than 77 innings in a season during his professional career. With Perez’s arm quickly heading toward uncharted territory, it’s somewhat understandable for Miami to exercise caution with their young phenom, even as the club is in the middle of a surprisingly competitive season.
Should Perez indeed take a seat for a few turns through the rotation, the Marlins will have to find another starter to line up alongside Sandy Alcantara, Jesus Luzardo, Braxton Garrett, and Bryan Hoeing. Miami’s rotation depth has been tested significantly throughout the season, with each of Edward Cabrera, Johnny Cueto, and Trevor Rogers currently on the injured list. The club has indicated that Cabrera’s stay on the IL is expected to be a brief one, though, and Cueto is also progressing towards a return (as noted by Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald) after his third rehab start at the Triple-A level on Thursday.
Rogers, on the other hand, is not expected back any time soon. Per McPherson, the left-hander is dealing with a partial tear in his right lat, an ailment Rogers himself tells reporters is rather rare for left-handed pitchers. On a more optimistic note, Rogers notes that he believes he’ll be able to avoid surgery, and that he’s currently hoping to have more clarity on when he can resume throwing following the All Star break. Rogers, of course, impressed in 2021 with a 2.64 ERA in 133 innings of work en route to the first All Star appearance of his career. The lefty hasn’t measured up to that career year since then, however, with a 5.26 ERA and 4.32 FIP in 27 starts since the start of the 2022 campaign.
McPherson also discussed the timetable for center fielder Jazz Chisholm Jr.‘s return to action, which manager Skip Schumaker told reporters could come as soon as the club’s upcoming road trip through Boston and Atlanta, which is set to start on Tuesday. It’s been a mixed year for Chisholm so far, as the 25 year old has slashed just .229/.291/.403 coming off an All Star appearance in 2022. That performance is good for a wRC+ of just 90, 10% below league average. On the other hand, the youngster has taken to his new and difficult defensive position admirably despite his lack of experience; his +3 OAA in center field ranks in the 86th percentile of all fielders this season despite Chisholm having played just 39 games.
Mozeliak: “Some Changes” Coming For Cardinals, But Not A Rebuild
Only four teams have a lower winning percentage than the Cardinals’ .413 mark, as the Cards’ struggles have been one of the biggest surprises of the 2023 season. With a 31-44 record, time is running out for St. Louis to make a push towards a playoff spot — the club is 11 games out of a National League wild card berth, and four games behind the Pirates just to reach fourth place in the NL Central.
Barring a major surge, it’s looking like the Cardinals will post their second losing record of the last 24 seasons. This remarkable run of consistency seems to be fueling John Mozeliak’s approach to the upcoming trade deadline, as the president of baseball operations ruled out the idea that the Cardinals would pursue a full rebuild.
“I would hope the Cardinals are not allowed to rebuild,” Mozeliak told reporters (including Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat), in reference to the “pressure” St. Louis fans put on the team to remain perpetual contenders. This is the only scenario that Mozeliak seems to have ruled out in regards to the trade deadline, since “as we sit here on the 23rd of June, we still don’t know exactly which path we’ll walk. From a front office standpoint, we have to start preparing.”
The likeliest scenario would seem to be looking for “some deals made that … maybe could help now, but also could help in the future, or that maybe could be more of a reshuffling,” the PBO said. Jones feels the Cardinals will take this route whether they can get back into the race or not, as a nod to the unsettled nature of the club’s pitching staff. Adam Wainwright is retiring after the season, both Jack Flaherty and Jordan Montgomery will be free agents, and Steven Matz‘s rotation future is far from guaranteed given his ongoing struggles, so it makes sense that the Cardinals will be looking to obtain some controllable pitching. St. Louis already made a trade in this mold last summer, obtaining Montgomery from the Yankees in exchange for Harrison Bader.
A similar pitching-for-position player swap would make sense on paper, as the Cardinals again have a seeming glut of players in need of regular at-bats. That said, St. Louis isn’t going to be moving any core pieces (i.e. Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado) or any of their true blue-chip young players (such as Jordan Walker) since the team is looking to reload for 2024, not rebuild. It can be safely assumed that the likes of Tommy Edman, Willson Contreras, or Lars Nootbaar are also staying put, but it remains to be seen if any of the other position players have enough value to bring back a noteworthy arm on the trade market.
Flaherty and/or Montgomery could also be trade chips, if the Cardinals did opt to punt on 2023 and look to move some pending free agents. As noted, it doesn’t seem like the Cards will fall into a strict buyer or seller mode, which Mozeliak cited as two of the other routes for the team heading into the deadline. The other option to “hold pat, do nothing” doesn’t appear to be too likely, since Mozeliak said bluntly that “we know we’re not where we want to be, and we know we have to make some changes.”
Astros Sign Jon Singleton To Minors Contract
The Astros have signed first baseman Jon Singleton to a minor league deal, The Athletic’s Chandler Rome reports (Twitter link). Singleton elected to become a free agent earlier this week rather than accept an outright assignment to the Brewers’ Triple-A affiliate.
There’s plenty of familiarity between Singleton and his new/old team, since the first baseman has spent much of his career in the Houston organization. Singleton was a highly-regarded prospect in his days in the Astros’ farm system, to the point that the Astros locked him up to a five-year extension worth $10MM in guaranteed money before Singleton had even made his Major League debut. At the time, it was a record-setting contract for a non-international player who didn’t have any MLB service time.
However, Houston’s early investment didn’t pay off, as Singleton hit only .171/.290/.331 over 420 plate appearances during the 2014-15 seasons. His longstanding battle with marijuana addiction led to three different drug-related suspensions, leading to the Astros’ decision to finally release him in May 2018. After a few years away from baseball entirely, Singleton returned in the Mexican League in 2021, then landed a minor league contract with the Brewers during the 2021-22 offseason.
After a couple of other releases and re-signings with Milwaukee on new minor league deals, Singleton finally made it back to the majors earlier this month when the Brewers selected his contract. It wasn’t a long or particularly productive (11 games and a .325 OPS over 32 PA) stint for Singleton before the Brewers designated him for assignment, leading to Singleton’s decision to reject the outright assignment and test the open market again.
There has obviously been a lot of overhaul within Houston’s front office since Singleton’s past tenure with the club, yet beyond just any longstanding connections, Singleton is an interesting depth addition purely for baseball reasons. The Astros’ lineup is heavy with right-handed batters, so Singleton’s lefty bat can possibly provide some balance. In addition, Jose Abreu is unexpectedly struggling through a very tough season, leaving the Astros thin at first base. While Singleton hasn’t been productive at the MLB level, his presence at least gives Houston a potential alternative if it wants to reduce Abreu’s playing time down to a platoon scenario.
If Singleton gets a look and doesn’t pan out, the Astros could then explore adding a more proven first-base capable player at the trade deadline. GM Dana Brown has spoken about how the team would like to add a left-handed hitting multi-positional player, though Singleton doesn’t fit the mold as a first base-only type.
Rangers Place Jose Leclerc On 15-Day Injured List
The Rangers have placed right-hander Jose Leclerc on the 15-day injured list due to a sprained right ankle, according to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). The IL placement is retroactive to June 21. Right-hander Yerry Rodriguez is getting the call from Triple-A to take Leclerc’s spot on the active roster.
Leclerc has a 3.42 ERA over 23 2/3 innings this season, on the strength of some very strong soft-contact numbers, an above-average 25.3% strikeout rate, and an elite 34.3% whiff rate. However, Leclerc’s work has been undermined by his 15.2% walk rate, which ranks among the worst in the league. The metrics more or less match up with Leclerc’s numbers over his past full Major League seasons, with the lack of control limiting his ability to be a truly reliable high-leverage arm in the Texas bullpen. As such, Will Smith took over closing duties from Leclerc earlier this season.
The Rangers signed Leclerc to a four-year, $14.75MM extension in March 2019 in the hopes that he would develop into a top-tier bullpen arm, and that extension got off to a bad start given that Leclerc missed almost all of the 2020 and 2021 seasons recovering from Tommy John surgery. Texas has two club option years attached to the deal, beginning with a $6MM option ($750K buyout) on Leclerc’s services for the 2024 season. For now, the team’s only concern is on getting the righty back on the mound, as there isn’t yet any indication if Leclerc could be facing a minimal absence or if his sprain is a longer-term concern.
After struggling earlier in the season, the Rangers’ bullpen has stabilized to some extent, even though the relief corps is still a relative weak link on a team that has been otherwise firing on all cylinders. With Texas leading the AL West and looking like strong contenders to return to the postseason, relief pitching figured to be at the top of the Rangers’ wishlist heading into the trade deadline even prior to Leclerc’s injury.
Cubs’ Codi Heuer, Brandon Hughes Undergo Season-Ending Surgeries
Cubs right-hander Codi Heuer has undergone his second season-ending surgery in as many years, as Heuer underwent a procedure yesterday to address an elbow fracture suffered earlier this week during a Triple-A rehab start. Left-hander Brandon Hughes will also go under the knife for a distal femoral osteotomy on his left knee that will keep him out of action until at least Spring Training. (Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times was among those who reported the news.)
It’s another brutal setback for Heuer, who didn’t pitch at all in 2022 after undergoing Tommy John surgery. His outing on Tuesday was the 15th appearance of his rehab assignment, and it seemed like he was approaching a return to the Cubs bullpen before suffering his latest injury. While Lee notes that while Heuer’s UCL was at least unharmed by the fracture, there’s “a less definite timeline” for this injury than there is for a Tommy John procedure, since “recover requires immobilization, which adds a wrinkle in the rehab process.”
The 26-year-old Heuer was a sixth-round pick for the White Sox in the 2018 draft, and he went to the other end of the Windy City at the 2021 trade deadline when the Sox sent Heuer and Nick Madrigal to the Cubs in exchange for Craig Kimbrel. Heuer had made his MLB debut in posting a 1.52 ERA over 23 2/3 relief innings for the White Sox in 2020, and while he ran into some more struggles in his first full MLB season, his 2021 numbers were at least respectable — a 4.28 ERA over 67 1/3 total innings with the Sox and Cubs, albeit with a low 19.9% strikeout rate.
Unfortunately for Heuer, it’ll be an even longer wait before he gets an opportunity to bounce back from that 2021 performance. He did have a 7.82 ERA over his 12 2/3 Triple-A innings this season, though given how Heuer’s focus was on simply rebuilding arm strength and ramping up for regular pitching work, the lack of results wasn’t necessarily a red flag (though a big 17.5% walk rate is naturally cause for concern).
Hughes posted a 3.12 ERA over 57 2/3 innings in his 2022 rookie season, but also had a sophomore slump, with a 7.24 ERA over 13 2/3 innings this season. It appears as though his knee issue was a cause, as Lee writes that a past knee surgery from 2015 was leading to some renewed pain for Hughes, and the decision was finally made that another surgery was required.
As Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer told Lee and other reporters, Hughes has “never really gotten consistently to where he was last year with mechanics because of his knee. And he’s fought so hard to get out there. He’s such a competitor. But it finally got to a point where it’s like, we’re just going to keep [taking] one step forward, one step back over and over.”
It should take roughly six months for Hughes to recover and then at least a couple more months of rehab time, Lee writes, so Hughes could miss most or all of Spring Training 2024. It seems very probable that Hughes will start the 2024 season on the injured list in order to give him time to both finish off his recovery, or simply to take part in extended Spring Training in April to make up for lost time.
Angels To Promote David Fletcher
12:04PM: Walsh and infielder Michael Stefanic have been optioned to Triple-A to make room for Fletcher and Escobar, Sam Blum reports (Twitter link).
10:13AM: Back in April, the Angels optioned David Fletcher to Triple-A and then outrighted him off the 40-man roster. After two months in the minors, Fletcher is heading back to the Show, as FanSided’s Robert Murray (via Twitter) reports that the Angels are calling Fletcher back up to the active roster. The corresponding move isn’t yet known, but it marks something of a mini-overhaul of the Angels’ infield, between Fletcher’s return and yesterday’s acquisition of Eduardo Escobar from the Mets.
Fletcher had only two hits in his first 16 plate appearances of the 2023 season, leading the Halos to finally make a tough decision on a player who looked like a building block just a couple of years ago. Anaheim signed Fletcher to a five-year, $26MM contract extension in April 2021, and unfortunately, the infielder’s productivity has since tailed off. Fletcher hit .260/.295/.327 over 893 PA in 2021-22, with a hip injury costing him a big chunk of the 2022 campaign.
However, it looks like Fletcher might have found something at Triple-A Salt Lake, as he is hitting .378/.432/.478 over 197 PA. Fletcher does have a huge .407 BABIP, and numbers from the Pacific Coast League should be taken with a grain of salt in general given the league’s hitter-friendly nature, but it’s hard to argue that Fletcher hasn’t been doing all he can to earn another shot on the Angels’ roster.
In an interview yesterday with The Athletic’s Sam Blum (prior to the news of Fletcher’s call-up), Fletcher said he wasn’t sure why the Angels hadn’t already called up back up to the big leagues. There also seemed to be something of a lack of communication between Fletcher and the front office, as the infielder said “I haven’t heard much from them” since the Triple-A demotion, and that the team was somewhat vague on what it exactly wanted Fletcher to work on hitting-wise.
Anthony Rendon and Zach Neto are both on the Angels’ 10-day injured list, while Gio Urshela‘s season may be over due to a pelvic fracture. These injuries have left Anaheim very thin in the infield, and while there may have been some question over why Fletcher hadn’t already been called up, the time is now for the Halos to again turn to the 29-year-old.
It remains to be seen how this new-look Angels infield will shake out, considering that both Fletcher and Escobar are multi-position players, and because some 40-man roster moves will have to be made to accommodate Fletcher’s return. Escobar will likely rotate between second and third base, while Fletcher could play either shortstop or second base. Brandon Drury has played the bulk of time at second base this season, but he has also seen a lot of time at first base, which could be a more viable option since Jared Walsh has struggled since returning from the injured list.
Orioles Reinstate Cedric Mullins From 10-Day IL
The Orioles have reinstated outfielder Cedric Mullins from the 10-day injured list. Left-hander Bruce Zimmermann was also called up from Triple-A, while righty Logan Gillaspie and utilityman Josh Lester were optioned to Triple-A in corresponding moves.
Mullins missed just short of four weeks recovering from a right groin strain suffered when he was trying to beat out a grounder to first base. Fortunately, Mullins had a pretty straightforward recovery process that included three minor league rehab games, and he’ll now get back into action with an impressive 45-29 Orioles team.
The outfielder has been a big part of that success, hitting .263/.356/.479 with eight homers over 224 plate appearances this season. A .319 xwOBA (well under his .362 wOBA) does hint at regression, especially since Mullins’ hard-contact rate is below average, but Mullins has traditionally outperformed his xwOBA over the last few seasons. His 12.5% walk rate is also a career best, adding a new dimension to Mullins’ work at the plate.
Despite losing Mullins for four weeks and Ryan Mountcastle for the last two weeks, the Orioles have kept winning even without these two regulars in the lineup. In replacing Mullins, the O’s signed veteran Aaron Hicks, who has experienced a resurgence since his arrival in Baltimore. The Yankees released Hicks in late May to end his eight-season run in the Bronx, marked mostly in recent years by injuries and a severe lack of production. However, Hicks has rebounded to the change of scenery, hitting .310/.412/.552 over his 68 PA in an Orioles uniform.
While Mullins isn’t in danger of being Wally Pipp’ed out of the center field job, Hicks’ production will certainly merit more playing time, giving the O’s a nice problem to have in figuring out how to juggle their several quality position players. Hicks could take some at-bats away from Anthony Santander in right field and the DH spot is somewhat available, though the Orioles like to give Adley Rutschman plenty of DH time in order to keep him fresh and to keep his bat in the lineup.
NL West Notes: Suter, Wacha, Sheehan
The Rockies placed left-hander Brent Suter on the 15-day injured list yesterday due to a left oblique strain, and recalled righty Noah Davis from Triple-A in the corresponding move. Suter has posted his typically low strikeout rate and his 8.1% walk rate is barely above league average, but the 33-year-old has nonetheless worked to a 2.81 ERA over 41 2/3 innings out of Colorado’s bullpen. Suter has allowed only two home runs over those 41 2/3 frames, and he has some of the best soft-contact numbers of any pitcher in baseball, sitting in the 99th percentile of hard-hit ball rate and in the 97th percentile of barrel rate.
Losing Suter to the IL is another blow to the injury-riddled Rockies, but the particular timing of the oblique problem adds some doubt to the southpaw’s value as a trade chip. Suter is a free agent after the season, and thus a logical player for the Rockies to shop in what looks like another non-contending season for the club. While oblique injuries can vary greatly in severity, it appears that Suter’s issue is relatively minor, as he told MLB.com that he was still feeling good and was planning to continue playing catch.
More from around the NL West…
- Knuckleballer Matt Waldron will start today’s game for the Padres, as Michael Wacha (the original scheduled starter) will skip a turn in the rotation due to some shoulder fatigue. Manager Bob Melvin described the move as “proactive,” telling the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Jeff Sanders and other reporters that Wacha has “got a little bit of history there with the shoulder. He’s been as good as any pitcher in the National League so this is something we don’t want to push.” Wacha has missed some time with shoulder issues in three of the last four seasons but not any truly significant time, making this seemingly more of a nagging injury than a top-tier concern. Wacha has a 2.90 ERA over 80 2/3 innings for San Diego this season, with a 1.7 fWAR that leads all Padres pitchers. Despite a below-average strikeout rate, Wacha has relied on soft contact and good control to achieve that ERA, and both his changeup and (due to some batted-ball luck) four-seamer have been premium pitches.
- Emmet Sheehan‘s MLB career is off to a tremendous start, as the Dodgers prospect has a 1.50 ERA over his first 12 innings in the Show. Sheehan held the Astros to two runs over six frames in yesterday’s 3-2 Los Angeles victory, earning his first big league win in the process. Unsurprisingly, this success has earned Sheehan a continued look, as Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya) that Sheehan will get another start next week. Julio Urias, Noah Syndergaard, and Dustin May are all on the IL, and while Urias might be back within a week or so, L.A. has had to rely on younger arms to join Clayton Kershaw and Tony Gonsolin in the rotation. Sheehan and Bobby Miller have done well to pick up the slack, while Michael Grove has been less consistent. Roberts said that Grove will work as a bulk pitcher behind an opener on Wednesday, when the Dodgers play the Rockies.
Twins Sign Isaac Mattson To Minors Contract
The Twins signed right-hander Isaac Mattson to a minor league deal, as initially reported by Tom Reisenweber of the Erie Times-News (Twitter link). Mattson has been assigned to the Twins’ Double-A affiliate in Wichita.
Making his return to affiliated baseball for the first time since last July, Mattson spent part of last season pitching in the independent Frontier League, and has spent the 2023 season pitching in the independent Atlantic League. Over 19 relief innings with the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs this year, Mattson looked pretty sharp, posting a 3.32 ERA and 32.43% strikeout rate. His 10.81% walk rate is on the high side, but it’s still a big improvement from the extreme control problems Mattson had with the Orioles’ Triple-A affiliate in 2022.
Mattson was originally a 19th-round pick for the Angels in the 2017 draft, and he was dealt to the Orioles in December 2019 as part of the four-player trade package that brought Dylan Bundy to Anaheim. Mattson’s time with the O’s included his first stint in the majors, which consisted of 4 1/3 innings over four appearances during the 2021 season. However, Baltimore outrighted him off its 40-man roster in April 2022, and then released him in July after his struggles with Triple-A Norfolk.
The 27-year-old Mattson has pretty consistently posted high strikeout totals throughout his minor league career, even prior to his full-time move to relief pitching in 2019. Despite lacking the velocity traditionally associated with a high-strikeout bullpen arm, Mattson is an interesting depth arm for the Twins to explore, particularly at the no-risk cost of a minor league contract.