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Red Sox Promote Jeter Downs, Designate James Norwood

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The Red Sox announced Monday that they’ve recalled infield prospect Jeter Downs from Triple-A Worcester and designated right-hander James Norwood for assignment.

It’ll be the Major League debut for Downs whenever he first steps onto the field for a game. Acquired alongside Alex Verdugo and Connor Wong in the trade that sent Mookie Betts and David Price to the Dodgers, Downs was once widely ranked among the sport’s 100 best prospects but has seen his stock tumble following a pair of poor showings in Triple-A. In 53 games so far with the WooSox, the 23-year-old Downs is hitting just .180/.297/.397 with a 31.1% strikeout rate in 222 plate appearances. That actually represents a modest improvement over his struggles in a larger sample during the 2021 campaign. Overall, he’s now tallied 627 Triple-A plate appearances with just a .187/.281/.355 slash to show for it.

Those struggles notwithstanding, Downs will get his first big league look and give the Sox some extra infield depth at a time when both Christian Arroyo and Enrique Hernandez are on the injured list. Major League teams who’d been carrying 14 pitchers also need to cut their pitching staff back to 13 beginning today, and Downs was already on the 40-man roster, making him an easy name to recall. They’ll need a 40-man spot once Arroyo is cleared to return from the Covid-related injured list anyhow, so designating Norwood and briefly giving Downs a taste of the Majors is a sensible — albeit likely short-term — route to take for the time being.

Norwood, acquired from the Phillies for cash over the weekend, never appeared in a game with the Sox before what is now his third DFA in the past three months. The 28-year-old spent the bulk of Spring Training with the Padres but was designated for assignment late in camp and subsequently traded to Philadelphia for minor league infielder Kervin Pichardo. Norwood showed big velocity, an ability to miss bats and a knack for keeping the ball in the park during his 17 1/3 innings with the Phils. However, he also walked too many hitters, struggled to strand runners (both inherited and those he allowed to reach base), and generally yielded too much hard contact.

In those 17 1/3 frames with Philly, Norwood was tagged for an 8.31 ERA, causing his career mark through 44 1/3 innings to balloon to 5.48. It’s certainly possible that Norwood’s 96.8 mph average fastball and splitter that comes with a 42.7% whiff rate will get him a look from another team, be it via waivers or another small trade. He’s out of minor league options, though, so any interested club will need to carry him on the 40-man roster. The Red Sox will have a week to trade Norwood, attempt to pass him through outright waivers, or release him.

Twins Trade Daniel Robertson To Phillies

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The Phillies have acquired utilityman Daniel Robertson from the Twins in exchange for cash, according to both teams’ transaction logs at MLB.com. There’s been no formal announcement of the move by either club just yet.

It’s likely a depth move for the Phillies, who’ve lost Jean Segura (surgery to repair broken finger), Johan Camargo (knee strain) and Nick Maton (shoulder sprain) to the injured list since the calendar flipped to June. Robertson wasn’t on the 40-man roster with the Twins, and there’s no indication as of yet that the Phillies plan to select him to the big leagues at this time.

The trio of Phillies injuries has led to Didi Gregorius and top prospect Bryson Stott splitting middle-infield duties, with the former rebounding (somewhat) from an awful 2021 showing and the latter generally struggling to reach base in his first big league season. Gregorius’ power is nowhere to be seen, but he’s posted a .280/.345/.393 batting line through 119 plate appearances this season. Stott has begun to show some pop at the dish — four homers, two doubles in his past 19 games — but is still hitting just .215/.261/.431 in that stretch. The Phillies have also selected former Cardinals utilityman Yairo Munoz to the big league roster to add some depth to the bench, and Matt Vierling gives them another option — though he’s been used primarily as an outfielder thus far in his limited MLB work.

Robertson, 28, has appeared in parts of five Major League seasons, mostly with the Rays but also with the Giants (2020) and Brewers (2021). The former No. 34 overall draft pick (Athletics, 2012) looked to have broken out with the Rays in 2018 when he hit .262/.382/.415 in 340 plate appearances, but he’s posted just a .209/.317/.292 slash in 351 subsequent trips to the plate spanning the 2019-21 seasons. He’s appeared in 24 minor league games with the Twins and posted a combined e.220/.326/.390 batting line between their Complex League and Triple-A affiliates.

Robertson has played every position on the big league diamond other than catcher and center field, though he’s primarily spent his time at second base (816 innings), third base (601) and shortstop (569). In the estimation of defensive metrics like Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average, he’s drawn solid marks for his work at second base and below-average (but not awful) grades at those other two infield slots.

Pirates To Recall Oneil Cruz, Select Bligh Madris

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The Pirates are going to call Oneil Cruz up to join the big league team, reports Kody Duncan of Rum Bunter. Pirates manager Derek Shelton confirmed the Cruz promotion to reporters, including Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and added that outfielder Bligh Madris will be joining the team as well. Corresponding moves are not known at this time. Cruz is on the 40-man roster but Madris is not.

As of tomorrow, June 20, MLB teams will be required to adhere to a 13-pitcher limit on their 26-man active rosters, after previously being allowed to carry 14. With many teams pushing their pitching staffs to the limit, there is likely to be a slew of forthcoming transactions where a pitcher is subtracted from the roster to make room for a position player. However, it’s possible that this will go down as the most significant of those transactions, given Cruz’s prospect status and unusual profile.

Originally signed by the Dodgers out of the Dominican Republic, he was traded to the Pirates in 2017 as part of a deadline deal that sent Tony Watson the other way. Since then, Cruz has attracted attention both for his incredible skills with the bat and because, at 6’7″, he’s unusually tall for a shortstop.

Last year, Cruz utterly dominated the minor leagues. In 68 games between Double-A and Triple-A, he hit 17 home runs, stole 19 bases and slashed .310/.375/.594, for a wRC+ of 158. Based on that tremendous showing, he was promoted to the big leagues in October of last year, getting a two-game cameo as the season wound down. Cruz hit his first major league home run in one of his nine plate appearances last year.

Coming into this season, many expected that Cruz would be on Pittsburgh’s Opening Day roster, but they optioned him at the end of March, seemingly motivated by service time considerations. By keeping him down on the farm for a few weeks, they could prevent Cruz from reaching a full year of MLB service by the end of the 2022 season, thus delaying his free agency by a year. Cruz then was slow to get into a groove at the beginning of the season, hitting .176/.282/.284 in April. Based on that sluggish performance, Cruz stayed on the farm when Pirates placed regular shortstop Kevin Newman on the injured list at the end of April. Since that time, most of the playing time at short has gone to Diego Castillo, who is hitting .195/.238/.308 on the year. Meanwhile, Cruz’s bat was woken up from that sleepy start, as he hit .256/.368/.500 in May, followed by a .283/.364/.500 showing in June. The club has dabbled with playing Cruz in left field, giving him nine starts there this year, but he’s made 42 starts at shortstop. It seems likely that the 23-year-old will be given a chance to stay on the infield, at least while the team isn’t in a competitive window.

Of course, when the team enters a competitive window will largely come down to the exciting youngsters. The Pirates have never been a high-payroll team and will be dependant on Cruz, Ke’Bryan Hayes, Roansy Contreras and others to deliver on their potential while they are in their younger and cheaper years in order to build a competitive ballclub.

As for Madris, 26, he doesn’t come with nearly as much as hype as Cruz, but there are still reasons for Pittsburgh fans to be excited, based on his excellent performance this year. A ninth round pick in the 2017 draft, the outfielder has never appeared on one of Baseball America’s lists of top prospects in the system, though he did get an honorable mention on the FanGraphs list coming into this season. In 45 Triple-A games this year, the lefty swinger has walked in 11.3% of his trips to the plate and kept his strikeouts down to a 20.3% rate. Overall, his batting line is .308/.390/.526 for a wRC+ of 144. His .374 BABIP might be rubbing some good luck on those numbers, but it’s still an impressive showing for the corner outfielder. Madris will likely be battling Jack Suwinski and Cal Mitchell for corner outfield playing time. Suwinski may have earned himself a longer look in one corner after today’s three-homer performance, but Mitchell has hit just .205/.244/.356 in his first few weeks at the big league level.

Trade Candidate: Michael A. Taylor

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At the end of September last year, as the season was winding down, Michael A. Taylor was about a week away from hitting free agency. The Royals, however, were determined to prevent that from happening and gave him a $9MM extension that would keep him around for another two years.

Taylor has never really done too much with his bat, finishing the 2021 season with a career batting line of .239/.293/.386 for a wRC+ of just 79. But the Royals were surely motivated to lock him up because of his tremendous defense. Taylor ended up finishing first among MLB center fielders in the Fielding Bible’s voting for 2021. His 15 Outs Above Average last year were the second-most in all of baseball, trailing only Manuel Margot’s 16. His 19 Defensive Runs Saved were also second in the league, trailing only the 20 racked up by Carlos Correa. His 13.3 Ultimate Zone Rating was easily the best, well ahead of Matt Chapman’s 8.7.

Kansas City making defense a priority made sense for a couple of reasons. First, the spacious confines of Kauffman Stadium make it so that defense is always important for the team. Secondly, the rebuilding club was set to feature a number of young and inexperienced pitchers, making any extra outs very important for building confidence and limiting workloads.

However, Taylor has bucked his career trends in a couple of ways here in 2022. For one thing, he’s having easily the best year of his career in terms of his bat. Through 47 games, he’s got an 11.2% walk rate, a great improvement over his 7% career mark. Similarly, he’s striking out in 22.4% of his plate appearances, well below his 29.9% career rate. That’s helped him produce a batting line of .272/.355/.401, which amounts to a wRC+ of 119. Prior to this year, Taylor’s wRC+ has been 80 or below in every season except for a 104 back in 2017.

But on the other hand, his defense doesn’t seem to be quite as elite as last year, at least in the eyes of the advanced metrics. OAA currently has him at 1 for the season, DRS at 3 and UZR at -0.2. Defensive metrics are notoriously fickle, meaning it’s possible that this is just small sample noise. Though Taylor is also 31 years old now, making it possible that 2021 was a peak that he’s started to come down from.

The Royals have a record of 23-42, one of the worst in the league, lining them up to be clear sellers at this year’s trade deadline. Taylor doesn’t absolutely have to be traded since his contract goes through 2023. The Royals could keep him around for another year and hope that they have better luck next year in their attempts to transition from rebuilding to contending. But there’s also an argument to be made that Taylor’s value is at its peak. He’s never been hitting anywhere near this level before and there’s a chance his excellent defensive skills have started to wane.

There’s also the possibility that two months of improved results with the bat won’t compel any team to part with significant prospects that would entice the Royals to pull a trigger on a trade. But then again, teams in search of help in center field don’t have a lot of options. Cedric Mullins and Bryan Reynolds have been constantly in trade rumors over the past year, but their respective teams have apparently been steadfast in maintaining high asking prices in any trade discussions. The Marlins have reportedly been making a strong push for Ramon Laureano, but without successfully getting the A’s to budge thus far. There aren’t many options beyond that group that are both exciting and available.

Coupled with that low supply is strong demand. The Marlins have been trying to upgrade in center field for a long time but without finding a deal to their liking. The Brewers just cut ties with Lorenzo Cain, leaving them with Tyrone Taylor and Jonathan Davis as their center field tandem. Cody Bellinger has rebounded from his nightmare 2021 but is still having a below-average season at the plate. The Astros and Phillies are getting okay results this year from Chas McCormick and Odubel Herrera, respectively, but could still look to supplement there. Perhaps the Yankees will look to bump Aaron Judge back into a corner outfield role to reduce his daily wear and tear. There’s also the possibility some team that doesn’t strictly need a center fielder just wants one to give their regular outfielders some occasional down time.

The Royals will have a decision to make between now and the August 2 trade deadline. Do they hang onto Taylor for another year or try to cash him in for some prospects while his value is high? Even if they lean towards the former option, it’s possible that the market forces push some team into making them an offer that makes them change their mind.

White Sox To Reinstate Tim Anderson

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White Sox manager Tony La Russa told reporters, including Scott Merkin of MLB.com, that Tim Anderson will be back on the roster for tomorrow’s game, hitting leadoff and playing shortstop. Anderson has been on the injured list for about three weeks due to a groin injury. The corresponding move is not known at this time.

The return of Anderson figures to be a huge boost to the Pale Hose, as Anderson has established himself as one of their most important players in recent seasons. He even seemed to be finding another gear in this season’s early going, before being slowed by this injury situation. His 2022 batting line is currently .356/.393/.503, which amounts to a wRC+ of 161, 20 points beyond his previous career high. He’s also dropped his strikeout rate to a mere 11.6% after being between 21 and 23% in the previous three seasons.

Without Anderson around the past few weeks, the club has given most of the shortstop playing time to Danny Mendick, who has held his own admirably. Coming into tonight’s game, he’s hitting .284/.330/.455, 127 wRC+. That might be enough to keep him in the lineup even with Anderson’s return, by shuffling over to second base. Both Leury Garcia and Josh Harrison are having disappointing seasons, meaning that the team might ride the hot hand and bump those two to the side.

Despite dealing with a rash of injuries this year, the White Sox have managed to tread water in the American League postseason race. Their 31-32 record puts them just 4 1/2 games behind the Twins in the Central division and just three games back of a Wild Card spot. With Anderson back in the fold, that should make things a little less shaky going forward, and there could be some further reinforcements a little down the road. Closer Liam Hendriks hopes to be back by July 1, per Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times, and Eloy Jimenez could soon resume his rehab assignment, per James Fegan of The Athletic.

Tigers Designate Drew Hutchison For Assignment

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After this afternoon’s game, the Tigers announced to reporters that right-hander Drew Hutchison has been designated for assignment. Third baseman Jeimer Candelario will likely be activated from the injured list in a corresponding move. (Twitter links from Evan Woodbery of MLive.)

After today, all teams in baseball will be allowed to use no more than 13 of their 26 active roster spots on pitchers. Many teams, including the Tigers, have been opting for a 14-12 ratio of pitchers to position players recently, meaning that transactions of this nature will be inevitable to even things out.

Hutchison, 31, is no stranger to being designated for assignment by the Tigers, as this is the third such instance in the past year. A starting pitcher earlier in his career, he had a rough season in 2018 and didn’t make it to the big leagues at all in either 2019 or 2020. The Tigers signed him to a minor league deal for the 2021 season, eventually selecting his contract in August. He was DFA’d after just over a week and sent to the minors before being selected again in September.

After reaching free agency at season’s end, he signed another minor league deal with Detroit for this campaign. He made the Opening Day roster but was sent into DFA limbo in May, eventually reaching free agency but signing yet another minors deal with the Tigers. He made it back to the bigs less than a week ago and is now, once again, designated for assignment. He has a 4.81 ERA through 24 1/3 innings on the year.

The club’s rotation has been decimated by injuries this year, forcing them to continually scramble for options to cover innings. Hutchison got the start today and managed to get through 4 2/3. With three off-days coming up between now and the end of the month, they should be able to get by for a while a four-man rotation of Tarik Skubal, Beau Brieske, Alex Faedo and Rony Garcia. However, July with be a different story, with 19 games in just 17 days going into the All-Star break, thanks to a pair of doubleheaders. If Hutchison continues his pattern of re-signing with Detroit after clearing waivers, it’s possible they will need his services again in a few weeks.

As for Candelario, he was slumping miserably before hitting the injured list a few weeks ago. He seemed to establish himself as the club’s future everyday third baseman by hitting .278/.356/.458 over 2020 and 2021, producing a wRC+ of 123. However, this year, he hit just .181/.236/.319 for a 58 wRC+ before landing on the shelf with a shoulder injury. He’ll look to get things back on track as things go forward. In his absence, most of the playing time at the hot corner has gone to super utility player Harold Castro, who has played every position on the diamond except catcher in his career.

Manny Machado Diagnosed With Ankle Sprain

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Padres’ third baseman Manny Machado was removed from today’s game after suffering an injury. In attempting to beat out a play at first, Machado landed awkwardly on the bag and immediately collapsed in pain, eventually requiring help to depart the field of play. Despite appearing to be quite a gruesome occurrence on video replays, the Padres announced that X-rays came back negative, announcing the injury as a left ankle sprain.

The fact that Machado seems to have avoided a fracture is surely good news, but it doesn’t mean the Padres and Machado are completely out of the woods. As noted by Annie Heilbrunn of the San Diego Union-Tribune, ankle sprains can still sideline players for weeks.

Though the club has yet to make a more detailed announcement about the severity of the sprain or Machado’s expected absence, it will likely be a serious blow to the club no matter what, as Machado has been having perhaps the best season of his career and has arguably been the best player in baseball to this point of the season. Given that Machado has already been one of the better players in the sport over the past decade, the fact that he’s taken his game to new heights this year surely highlights what a great season he’s having. His .329/.401/.548 line amounts to a 164 wRC+, one of the top ten such numbers in the majors. Combined with his usual excellent defensive work, he’s accrued 4.2 wins above replacement on the year already, according to FanGraphs, putting him tops among all players in the sport.

Due to those MVP-level contributions, the Padres are having an excellent season thus far, coming into today with a 41-26 record, just half a game back of the Dodgers in the NL West. However, the infield depth will be tested without Machado, as the club has also been papering over the absence of Fernando Tatis Jr., who is still making his way back from an offseason injury. Most of the shortstop work has gone to Ha-Seong Kim, with Jake Cronenworth at second base. Sergio Alcantara has been acting as the bench/utility infielder, though he’s hitting just .171/.195/.256 on the year and hasn’t fared much better in his career. Jurickson Profar has loads of infield experience but has only played left field this year and is having the best offensive showing of his career. He could be moved into the infield mix, but the club might also be loath to disrupt his groove. C.J. Abrams struggled in his first taste of MLB action but has been playing well in Triple-A since being optioned.

Regardless of who takes over for Machado, it will be certainly be a downgrade. That’s not a shot at any of the other players, but more a testament to just how good Machado has been this year. Even Machado himself was unlikely to sustain that pace, as his .366 BABIP on the year far outpaced his career mark of .300. All teams deal with the challenge of injuries over the course of a season, of course, but for the Padres, there’s no doubting this will be one tough to bear.

Roster Moves: Twins, Angels, Rockies

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The Twins have activated Kyle Garlick from the 10-day injured list. In a corresponding move, Trevor Megill was placed on the 15-day injured list with a right shoulder impingement. The latter move is retroactive to June 16th. Megill has made just eight appearances, but he’s looked good with a 2.08 ERA/2.99 FIP over 13 innings with a 15-to-5 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Garlick had been hitting with some pop before he went down. He owns a .250/.324/.567 line with six home runs in 68 plate appearances. He’ll jump back into the mix against southpaws for the Twins. In other moves…

  • The Angels have optioned infielder Jack Mayfield to Triple-A and recalled southpaw Kenny Rosenberg, per the team. Mayfield just joined the club two days ago, and now he’s on his way back to Triple-A. Rosenberg gives them a much-needed fresh arm after yesterday’s doubleheader. The southpaw has made two appearances for the Angles this year, his first two in the bigs, tossing six innings and giving up five earned runs.
  • The Rockies made a trio of roster moves today. Garrett Hampson was activated from the COVID Injured List, Alan Trejo was optioned back to Triple-A, and Tyler Kinley was moved to the 60-day injured list, per Danielle Allentuck of the Denver Gazette (via Twitter). Trejo, 26, has appeared in just 11 games for the Rockies, slashing .231/.250/.333 over 40 plate appearances. Hampson, once a highly-touted prospect, has been unable to establish himself as a cornerstone piece, slashing just .236/.321/.375 over 83 plate appearances.

Nationals Release Dee Strange-Gordon

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The Nationals have requested unconditional release waivers for Dee Strange-Gordon, per the team. The infielder/outfielder was designated for the assignment last week. This means two things: no team put a claim in on him, and Strange-Gordon did not want to accept an assignment to the minor leagues.

Given those two facts, it’s not easy to see where Strange-Gordon will find his way back to the Majors. That said, his speed is a truly exceptional talent, and there’s always room in the game for it on a limited basis. We have seen speedsters like Strange-Gordon used as playoff specialists in the past, so that’s a potential role for him down the line. For now, however, it would seem unlikely that he finds a long-term home.

Strange-Gordon was signed by the Nationals this winter on a non-guaranteed minor league deal. He went on to hit .305/.305/.356 in 59 plate appearances with three stolen bases in five attempts. For Strange-Gordon it was more of the same, with low walk rates and minimal power limiting his offensive utility. His speed is dynamic, and if he can get on base enough to utilize it, he has a weapon worth unleasing. Right now, however, the 34-year-old will have to wait and look for a new opportunity.

Dodgers Place Mookie Betts On 10-Day Injured List, Activate Andrew Heaney

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As expected, the Dodgers have placed Mookie Betts on the 10-day injured list and recalled Zach McKinstry. They also activated starter Andrew Heaney, optioning Reyes Moronta.

Betts excellence has become almost commonplace, as he’s again putting together a season that should merit MVP consideration if he’s able to return healthy. The former MVP is hitting .273/.349/.535 for a 148 wRC+. Combining that batting line with his excellent defense and baserunning, Betts has already accrued 3.3 wins above replacement on the year, in the estimation of FanGraphs.

As much as it hurts to lose Betts, Heaney is a big return for the Dodgers. Los Angeles is eager to see what exactly they have in Heaney, who made two scoreless starts at the outset of this season before going on the injured list. The former Angel is coming off a disastrous season, of course, in which he logged an overall 5.83 ERA/4.85 FIP with the Angels and Yankees. He became basically unplayable while in pinstripes, but looks to bounce back in Dodger blue.

Moronta, 29, losing his spot on the big league club for now. Moronta has been consistently good in the Majors, though is mostly limited samples. He has made eight appearances this season with an even 2.00 ERA and 2.47 FIP. It’s likely that he will return to the bigs at some point this season.

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