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Mets Sign Trevor Cahill To Minor League Contract

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The Mets recently agreed to a minor league deal with veteran starter Trevor Cahill, as Joel Sherman of the New York Post first reported. According to the righty’s transactions tracker at MLB.com, he has been assigned to the team’s Florida complex.

Cahill will presumably head to Triple-A Syracuse at some point, but Sherman notes that he’ll first need time to build into game shape. That’s no surprise, as he hasn’t pitched since last June. A member of the Pirates at the time, Cahill landed on the injured list with a left calf strain. He was quickly transferred to the 60-day IL and didn’t return, quietly hitting free agency at the end of the year.

Before the injury, Cahill made nine appearances (including eight starts) for the Bucs. He managed just a 6.57 ERA over 37 innings, striking out a below-average 19.3% of opposing hitters. The sinkerballer induced grounders at a typically robust 55.2% clip, though, and he’s been excellent at keeping the ball in the yard throughout his career.

Cahill doesn’t throw hard or miss many bats, and his results have been inconsistent in recent years. Yet the 12-year big league veteran has continued to earn opportunities as a depth arm, having reached the majors each season since 2009. After an early run as a rotation stalwart with the A’s and Diamondbacks, Cahill has suited up for eight different clubs over the past seven seasons.

He’s a perfectly sensible veteran depth option for the Mets, who have taken some hits to their star-studded rotation. Jacob deGrom has still yet to pitch recovering from the stress reaction that arose in his throwing shoulder late in Spring Training. He is throwing but not yet ready for a minor league rehab assignment, and a specific timeline is still unclear. (Jon Heyman of the Post noted yesterday that he’s not likely to be available until some point in July). Making matters worse, New York just lost co-ace Max Scherzer for six-to-eight weeks because of an oblique strain.

Tylor Megill is also on the injured list because of biceps inflammation, although the prognosis seems more promising there. Anthony DiComo of MLB.com tweeted last night that Megill is tentatively expected to play catch today, his first time throwing since hitting the IL a week ago. If all goes according to plan, it doesn’t seem the 26-year-old is in for too long an absence.

For the moment, New York is set to rely on a primary starting five of Chris Bassitt, Carlos Carrasco, Taijuan Walker, David Peterson and Trevor Williams. That’s a solid group — particularly for a team down three of its top arms — but New York has already had to call on their depth options and the minor league ranks have thinned out. Further rotation injuries could put the organization in a precarious spot, so they’ll add Cahill as an insurance option.

Big Hype Prospects: Gorman, Liberatore, Thomas, Lewis, Rodriguez

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The Cardinals are making waves on the big prospect front, and we’re here to cover it. 

Five Big Hype Prospects

Nolan Gorman, 22, 2B/3B, STL (AAA)
147 PA, 15 HR, 3 SB, .308/.367/.677

Once the move is official, the Cardinals will become the first team to roster two Nolans at once (I assume). Baseball has come a long way since its origins. From 1878 through 1885, the sport featured a player known as The Only Nolan.

Trivia aside, Gorman will be the latest top prospect to make his debut. Power has always been his calling card, though this is the first season he’s getting to it in games at such a blistering rate. It comes at a price. He had a 34 percent strikeout rate, and he didn’t walk often (8.2 percent walk rate). In my experience, prospects with questionable discipline tend to have volatile debuts. Opponents sometimes quickly seize upon the player’s weaknesses, making it necessary for the hitter to immediately adjust. Other times, opponents accidentally wander into the batter’s nitro zone, leading to an explosive debut. The slump comes later. Players with these plate discipline markers always slump at some point. We’ll soon see if Gorman enters the league with a rampage, a whimper, or something in between.

Matthew Liberatore, 22, SP, STL (AAA)
40 IP, 10.35 K/9, 2.70 BB/9, 3.83 ERA

I’ve been wondering which of Liberatore or Zack Thompson would make their debut first. We now have our answer. Originally acquired in the Randy Arozarena trade, Liberatore was viewed by many at the time as the best player in the trade. Arozarena’s early-career heroics led us to revise our opinion of what looked like a rare misstep for the Rays, but Liberatore is now poised to help complete the analysis.

As a public, we’ve learned a lot about pitching since that trade, and new findings help to put the deal in context. While the southpaw grades out well on a pitch-by-pitch basis – his fastball is mid-90s, his curve has lovely shape, and his slider is a borderline wipeout offering – the repertoire as a whole doesn’t quite mesh. His fastball is built to work low in the zone so it doesn’t tunnel with his curve. It also plays down for other reasons – in short, some hitters are able to identify it out of the hand. There’s still enough here for a solid big-league pitcher, the profile just isn’t as exciting as it once was.

Alek Thomas, 22, OF, ARI (MLB)
39 PA, 2 HR, .316/.333/.553

Thomas is off to a sizzling start. As expected, he’s hitting for average and even has a pair of home runs. Beneath the surface are a few modest causes for concern. He’s known for his plate discipline, but his 2.6 percent walk and 20.5 percent strikeout rates are both worse than many hoped. His swing rates on pitches in and out of the zone are roughly league average. As an industry, we expected him to be more discerning. Thomas is a ground ball-oriented hitter who uses all fields. The profile remains that of a leadoff hitter who can go 15/15 while posting a top batting average and on-base percentage.

Royce Lewis, 23, SS, MIN (AAA)
(MLB) 40 PA, 2 HR, .308/.325/.564

Lewis had a lovely debut for the Twins. He was neither overmatched nor out of his element. The top prospect showed he belonged by flashing power, a high rate of contact, and adequate plate discipline. His aggressiveness as a hitter often worked against him in the lower minors, but Lewis has worked to improve. He posted a 15.3 percent walk rate in Triple-A. While his 2.5 percent walk rate in the majors implies he was free swinging, his swing rates at pitches in and out of the zone were roughly league average. His two home runs were backed by gaudy exit velocities. He maxed out at 114-mph, on par with Mike Trout (114.4), Julio Rodriguez (114), and Bryce Harper (113.8), among others. 

For now, he returns to Triple-A in deference to Carlos Correa. The move raised some eyebrows (including mine) due to the struggles of Jose Miranda (.094/.143/.189) and Gio Urshela (.229/.293/.330). Having shown his bat belongs, Lewis will presumably spend the next few weeks preparing to return at a new position. In his first game back at Triple-A, he went 3-for-3 with a home run and a stolen base.

Grayson Rodriguez, 22, SP, BAL (AAA)
37.1 IP, 13.74 K/9, 3.13 BB/9, 2.65 ERA

While we were looking elsewhere, Rodriguez might have completed the final step in his ascension to the Majors. On Tuesday, he faced 23 batters while pitching 5.1 innings. He’d faced 19 batters in his previous four starts. He held the Charlotte Knights scoreless on three hits, three walks, and 11 strikeouts. If there’s a small measure of concern for the right-handed changeup artist, it’s that he’s allowed 4.74 BB/9 over his last four starts. We’re approaching a point in the season where teams might be tempted to push a debut past the nebulous Super Two deadline. That would probably entail at least another full month in the minors.

Five More

Adley Rutschman (24): Rutschman watch continues unabated. He’s passed the rehab hurdles set for him. Over the last week, he hit .261/.370/.522 with two home runs, three walks, and one strikeout. His debut could come within the next week, possibly even this weekend.

C.J. Abrams (21): After skipping Triple-A by earning a spot on the Opening Day roster, Abrams looked overmatched in 65 big-league plate appearances. Optioned to the minors, he’s hitting .216/.293/.459 with three home runs and three steals in 41 Triple-A plate appearances. The results are modestly encouraging despite the low average and OBP.

Marco Luciano (20): Last season, Luciano’s plate approach deteriorated upon a promotion to High-A. Repeating the level, he’s back to his usual ways, hitting .300/.366/.530 with six home runs in 112 plate appearances. He’s hit especially well over his last 60 plate appearances. He’s trending towards a promotion to Double-A.

Chase Silseth (22): Silseth, who also appeared here last week, had a strong debut. He recorded an 11.1 percent swinging strike rate thanks mostly to his frequently-used splitter. His fastball and slider also looked like plus offerings.

Corbin Carroll (21): Over the last week, Carroll hit .435/.552/1.043 with three home runs, two triples, a double, and two stolen bases. He’s overdue for a promotion to Triple-A. Should that go equally well, we could see him in the Majors later this season.

Cubs Notes: Contreras, Heuer, Howard

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Catcher Willson Contreras is potentially reaching the end of his time with the Cubs, the only organization he’s ever known. He’s about five months away from becoming a free agent and is also an obvious trade candidate, meaning he could depart before this year’s August 2 trade deadline. He’s open to stick around via a contract extension but apparently isn’t hearing anything from the front office, reports Gordon Wittenmyer of NBC Sports Chicago. President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer wasn’t any less withholding when speaking to the media, as Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic relays that he avoided answering a question about the extension situation.

The Cubs did this extend-or-trade dance last year with Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant and Javier Baez, with all three of them eventually getting dealt before the deadline. Whether Contreras ends up following the same trajectory or not, he doesn’t seem fazed by it. “I’m just focused on doing the best for this team, finding the best way to help the team, and whatever happens in the middle of the season is going to happen,” Contreras said. I’m at peace with myself. I’m at peace with my mind. And whatever happens, even during the season or after the season, is going to be fine with me.”

Contreras is on pace to have his best season yet, as he’s hitting .263/.391/.474 through 32 games. That amounts to a wRC+ of 150, easily topping his previous high of 126. That will only add to his appeal on the trade market this summer. With the Cubs sporting a 15-22 record, they’re certainly leaning towards deadline sellers for the time being. The fact that they signed Yan Gomes to a two-year deal in the offseason only increases the odds of Contreras ending up changing jerseys in the coming months. As the catcher himself put it, “The trade rumors, they’re going to come.”

As for other members of the team, Codi Heuer tells Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times that he’s expecting to be out of action until June or July of next year. The 25-year-old righty underwent Tommy John surgery in March, just before the end of the lockout. That puts his recovery right in the usual 12-18 month timeline that is customary for such situations. Acquired from the White Sox as part of the Craig Kimbrel deal, the righty had exactly two years of service time coming into this season, meaning he’ll have exactly three years going into the winter, qualifying him for arbitration for the first time.

Another player in the organization facing an extended absence is prospect Ed Howard, who recently underwent hip surgery following an injury last week. Patrick Mooney of The Athletic relays that the organization is hoping Howard can return by Spring Training next year. “The early prognosis has looked good as far as the comeback,” Hoyer said. “But that’s going to be a comeback after a lot of rehab and a lot of time. I know he’s in good spirits. But he’s got a real road ahead of him and you feel for him.” The 16th overall selection of the 2020 draft, Howard is considered the #8 Cubs prospect by FanGraphs and #20 by Baseball America. This significant injury absence will delay his progress towards the major leagues, though Hoyer says he is expected to make a full recovery.

Latest On Asdrubal Cabrera

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Asdrubal Cabrera didn’t sign a contract this offseason, but that doesn’t mean there was a lack of interest from major league teams. According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, Cabrera is open to returning under the right circumstances but has declined one MLB offer.

The offer was probably fairly modest, as the 36-year-old didn’t have a strong year in 2021. He was signed by the Diamondbacks to a one-year, $1.75MM deal that also came with incentives. Through 90 games with Arizona, he hit .244/.324/.392, amounting to a wRC+ of 92. In late August, he went to the Reds on a waiver claim but scuffled down the stretch. In 20 games for Cincy, he hit just .077/.194/.077. That’s a very small sample size, of course and was likely due to a lot of bad luck, as he had a .301 BABIP with the Snakes but just .100 with the Reds. Nonetheless, it dragged his overall season line down to .230/.313/.366, 82 wRC+.

That’s the lowest wRC+ of Cabrera’s career so far and, combined with his age, meant he was likely not going to be able to match the $1.75MM guarantee that he got a year ago. Still, as a switch-hitter with the ability to play multiple positions, he has enough versatility that he could find a way into a team’s plans. He hasn’t seen significant time in the middle infield since 2019 but played most of his games at third base last year, while also getting decent reps at first.

Heyman doesn’t provide any details about the offer Cabrera received, why it was turned down or what kind of offer he would be more inclined to accept. It’s possible that Cabrera wants to play full-time and was only offered a part-time role, or perhaps he wants to be on a competitor and isn’t interested in playing for a rebuilding club. He’s already banked over $64MM in career earnings, according to Baseball Reference, after many successful seasons with the Indians, Rays, Mets and others. Since the offers he’s likely to receive won’t significantly change his finances, he can afford to be selective about the opportunities that do and don’t tempt him.

Cardinals To Promote Nolan Gorman, Matthew Liberatore; Tyler O’Neill To IL

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There’s a momentous roster shakeup in St. Louis, as the Cardinals are set to welcome two of the game’s top prospects to the big leagues in the coming days. As first reported by Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Twitter links), the team has promoted both Nolan Gorman and Matthew Liberatore for this weekend’s series against the Pirates. Katie Woo of the Athletic tweets that outfielder Tyler O’Neill is headed to the 10-day injured list because of a right shoulder impingement in one corresponding roster move.

According to Goold, Gorman will be in tomorrow’s starting lineup at second base. That figures to be his primary role moving forward, with Gold Glove second baseman Tommy Edman kicked to the other side of the bag. Edman has been excellent this season, but the Cards haven’t gotten much production out of their shortstops. Paul DeJong struggled enough the team optioned him to Triple-A Memphis last week, seemingly setting the stage for a forthcoming Gorman promotion.

That’s not to say the Cardinals hastily promoted Gorman to compensate for struggles at the major league level — far from it. The left-handed hitter has forced his way to the majors with an incredible showing in Memphis. Over 147 plate appearances, he’s hitting .308/.367/.677 with an astounding 15 home runs. No other Triple-A batter has more than 13 round-trippers, and only the Cubs’ Robel García has a higher slugging percentage in the International League.

Gorman’s production hasn’t been completely without issue, as he’s gone down on strikes 50 times. That’s a 34% clip, an alarming rate for any minor leaguer considering the higher quality of pitching he’ll face in the majors. Ultimately, however, Gorman’s power production became too much for the St. Louis front office to ignore.

It has been a long-awaited debut for Cardinals fans, who have anticipated Gorman’s arrival since he was selected with the 19th pick in the 2018 draft out of an Arizona high school. Regarded as a power-hitting third baseman as an amateur, he has more or less met those expectations while in the minors. Gorman has consistently posted huge extra-base numbers while running elevated strikeout totals. Prospect evaluators have raised some concerns about the amount of swing-and-miss in his game, but they’ve been unanimously effusive in their praise of his power upside.

Each of FanGraphs, Kiley McDaniel of ESPN, Keith Law of the Athletic and Baseball America slotted Gorman among the game’s top 60 prospects this past offseason. (Law and McDaniel both placed him among their top 20). That was before this season’s home run barrage, which only figures to have raised the 22-year-old’s profile even further. Gorman has kicked over to the keystone in the minors with Nolan Arenado entrenched at third base. He’s not regarded as an elite defender and will certainly be a downgrade from Edman there, but the hope is that his offensive capabilities will more than compensate for any issues on the other side of the ball.

Not to be outshined, Gorman’s draft mate will make his major league debut one day later. Liberatore is lined up to start Saturday’s game against the Bucs, manager Oliver Marmol confirmed to reporters (Woo link). The skipper said it’s still to be determined whether there’ll be more than one spot start for the 22-year-old southpaw. Regardless, that Liberatore is now lined up to pitch in the majors suggests he’s firmly on the organizational rotation depth chart.

Liberatore was coincidentally also a first-round draftee out of a Phoenix-area high school the same year as Gorman, and the two have been friends since childhood. Seen as one of the top prep arms in that year’s class, he fell to the Rays at 16th overall because of concerns about his signing bonus — which ultimately checked in just shy of $3.5MM. While Liberatore’s fastball sat in the low-90s, he drew praise for his secondary offerings, particularly a curveball that evaluators consider his best pitch. He pitched well for his first season-plus in the lower levels of the Tampa Bay farm system, then was involved in a January 2020 blockbuster that sent Randy Arozarena back to Tampa Bay.

The cancelation of the 2020 minor league season kept Liberatore from making his official Cardinals debut until last year. The organization pushed him straight to Memphis for his age-21 campaign and he held his own, tossing 124 2/3 innings of 4.04 ERA ball with a solid 23.7% strikeout rate and an excellent 6.3% walk percentage. St. Louis assigned him back there to open this season, and he’s made strides from a swing-and-miss perspective. Liberatore’s ERA and walk rate are right in line with his 2021 marks, but he’s improved his strikeout rate by almost five points through his first seven starts.

Liberatore is also regarded by most evaluators as one of the top 100 minor league talents. He’s not seen as a future ace, but between his excellent control and well-rounded arsenal, he’s unanimously viewed as a possible rotation stalwart. Whether the Cardinals plug him into that role immediately isn’t clear, but it seems likely he’ll be taking the ball every fifth day in St. Louis before long.

Neither Gorman nor Liberatore will accrue enough major league service time this year to reach the one-year threshold. Even if both players are in the majors for good, neither will be eligible for free agency until after the 2028 campaign at the earliest. Both players are in good position to reach early arbitration as Super Two qualifiers after the 2024 season, although that’s contingent on sticking in the big leagues from here on out. In Liberatore’s case, in particular, it seems future optional assignments are still a possibility.

The Cards have Adam Wainwright, Steven Matz, Dakota Hudson, Miles Mikolas and Jordan Hicks as their primary starting five at the moment. Wainwright and Mikolas have been excellent. Matz has struggled but isn’t going to be bumped from the rotation two months into a four-year contract. Hudson doesn’t have great strikeout and walk marks, but he’s riding his typically elite ground-ball production to decent results. That’s more or less also true of Hicks, who has lengthened out into the rotation after a few years as a high-leverage bullpen arm.

Of course, St. Louis has been without arguably their best pitcher for the entire season. Jack Flaherty hasn’t thrown a pitch because of a shoulder issue that required a platelet-rich plasma injection. He’s been on the 10-day injured list all year, and the club announced that he’s been transferred to the 60-day IL to clear space for Gorman on the 40-man roster.

That’s merely a procedural move that keeps Flaherty out for two months from Opening Day. The 26-year-old has yet to embark on a minor league rehab assignment and surely wouldn’t have been ready to make an MLB return before the first week of June anyhow. Flaherty has recently progressed to throwing bullpen sessions, so it seems reasonable he could head out into minor league games within a few weeks.

The club will also need to create a spot on the 40-man roster for Liberatore, with that transaction set to occur before Saturday’s contest. Aside from Flaherty, St. Louis doesn’t have any obvious candidates for a 60-day IL transfer, so it seems likely someone will be designated for assignment within the next two days.

The only disappointing aspect of today’s news is that O’Neill is headed to the IL. He’s missed the past couple days battling the shoulder discomfort that will now cost him at least a week and a half. The team hasn’t provided an indication whether he’s facing an absence longer than the minimal stint.

So continues a rough start to the year for O’Neill, who is just a season removed from an eighth-place finish in NL MVP voting. The 26-year-old has hit just .195/.256/.297 with a pair of home runs across 133 plate appearances, nowhere near the 34-homer output he put forth last season. O’Neill, who also lost his arbitration hearing last week, will try to get back on track whenever he’s healthy enough to make his return.

Images courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Darwinzon Hernandez Undergoes Knee Surgery

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Red Sox pitcher Darwinzon Hernández recently underwent surgery to repair a meniscus tear in his right knee, the team informed reporters (including Ian Browne of MLB.com). While the club didn’t provide a specific timetable for his return, he’ll be out of action for the foreseeable future.

Hernández hasn’t appeared in the majors this season. The hard-throwing southpaw has spent the whole year on optional assignment to Triple-A Worcester, where he recently suffered the injury. Hernández had technically been working as a starting pitcher with the WooSox, opening seven of his eight appearances. He hadn’t worked more than three frames in any individual outing, though, positioning him as more of a multi-inning relief option for the MLB team.

That’ll be put on hold while he recovers from this procedure. It’s a hit to the Sox’s bullpen depth, as Hernández had been a frequently-used middle innings option for skipper Alex Cora in recent seasons. He tallied a personal-high 40 innings across 48 appearances last year, posting a 3.38 ERA. That solid run prevention mark masked control variability, as Hernández walked a far too high 17% of opposing hitters. That was also the case in 2019, when he walked 17.7% of batters faced over 30 1/3 frames as a rookie.

The 25-year-old has shown high-octane stuff alongside those strike-throwing woes. He averaged a bit north of 95 MPH on his heater and struck out 29.7% of batters faced last season. Both marks were actually down a bit from his 2019-20 numbers, but there’s little question the Venezuela native can miss bats at the MLB level if he’s around the strike zone.

Hernández has been placed on the minor league injured list for now, but he’ll continue to occupy a spot on the Red Sox’s 40-man roster. If Boston wants to remove him from the 40-man while he recovers, they could recall him and place him on the major league 60-day IL. That’d require paying him an MLB salary and allowing him to accrue major league service time, however, so the front office will presumably not make that call before the need for a roster spot becomes acute.

Joe Panik Retires

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Former All-Star infielder Joe Panik has decided to retire, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. That concludes an eight-year MLB career for the Yonkers native.

Panik went to St. John’s University and was a first-round pick of the Giants in 2011. A contact-oriented second baseman with good strike zone awareness but limited power, Panik was seen as a solid but not top-tier prospect. He hit his way up the minor league ladder quickly, reaching the majors midway through the 2014 campaign.

The lefty-hitting Panik staked a claim to the regular second base job in San Francisco almost out of the gate. He made a brief debut in May, returned to the minors for a month, then was called up for good in late June. From that point forward, he played regularly at the keystone. Panik hit .305/.343/.368 through his first 73 games. He continued his regular role into the postseason for a San Francisco club that won its third World Series title in five years.

Panik remained the Giants second baseman for the next few seasons. He followed up his rookie showing with an excellent .312/.378/.455 campaign. Paired with sure-handed defense, he earned an All-Star nod that year. Panik’s offense took a step back in 2016 but he continued to play well on the other side of the ball, picking up the National League Gold Glove award for second basemen.

After another solid season in 2017, his offensive production dipped as he dealt with injuries (including repeated concussion issues). Panik became more of a veteran role player than a true regular from that point forward, still offering a high-contact bat but without great results on balls in play. The Giants designated him for assignment in August 2019, ending his eight-year tenure in the organization. He hooked on with the Mets for the stretch run and performed fairly well.

Panik signed successive minor league contracts with the Blue Jays heading into 2020 and ’21. He made the Opening Day roster both times, but the Jays dealt him to the Marlins last July to offset some salary in the deal that landed Adam Cimber and Corey Dickerson in Toronto. Panik finished out the season with the Fish, appearing in 53 games.

At just 31 years old, it seems likely Panik could’ve found another minor league deal had he wished to continue playing. He left the Miami organization late last season to attend the birth of his daughter, though, and Heyman writes that he’s now “enjoying family life.” Panik steps aside having appeared in 818 big league games and tallied more than 3000 trips to the plate.

All told, he was a .264/.328/.372 hitter. He only hit 42 home runs, never more than ten in a season, but he also had a minuscule 10.1% strikeout rate that’s less than half the MLB average. Panik also tallied 136 doubles, 19 triples, scored 340 runs and drove in 258. He has the aforementioned Gold Glove and All-Star selection and was a regular on a World Series winner. MLBTR congratulates Panik on an excellent career and wishes him the best in his post-playing days.

Brewers Outright Alec Bettinger

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The Brewers announced that right-hander Alec Bettinger has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Nashville. There’d be no prior indication he’d been designated for assignment, so the move clears a spot on the 40-man roster. That tally now sits at 37.

Bettinger, 26, has four MLB appearances under his belt. Those all came last season, when he worked ten innings of 15-run ball. That obviously wasn’t the way Bettinger wanted to start his career, as he surrendered a trio of home runs while walking three and striking out five. He had a more solid showing over a larger body of work in Nashville, however. Over 96 2/3 frames in a hitter-friendly environment, the University of Virginia product posted a 4.75 ERA with a solid 23.6% strikeout rate and a 6.3% walk percentage.

This season, Bettinger has made a pair of appearances for the Sounds. He tossed five innings of four-run ball before losing his roster spot, which he’ll now try to reclaim. It’s the first career outright for Bettinger, so he doesn’t have the right to refuse a minor league assignment. He’ll remain with the organization and look to pitch his way back to the majors.

Cubs Reinstate Marcus Stroman

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The Cubs announced they’ve activated Marcus Stroman from the COVID-19 injured list. He’ll take the ball tonight against the Diamondbacks, with righty Michael Rucker landing on the 15-day injured list because of turf toe. Stroman hadn’t counted against the 40-man roster while on the COVID IL, and the Cubs freed a spot for his reinstatement by transferring starter Alec Mills from the 15-day to the 60-day IL.

Stroman signed a three-year, $71MM guarantee as part of an aggressive Cubs offseason. He has made five starts with his new team, tossing 26 1/3 innings of 5.13 ERA ball. Stroman’s typically excellent ground-ball rate is down to a more ordinary 45.6% in the early going, but that’s likely not much more than a sample blip. The 31-year-old’s velocity, strikeout and walk numbers are all in line with their 2021 marks, although he’s also seen a dip in swinging strikes.

In any event, Stroman returns to again take the ball every fifth day from skipper David Ross. He’ll be joined in the rotation by Kyle Hendricks, offseason signee Drew Smyly, Wade Miley and Justin Steele. That group looked like a concern heading into the season, and the Cubs rank among the league’s bottom ten in rotation ERA (4.45) and strikeout rate (18.5%), although they’ve been a top ten group at generating grounders (46.1%).

Mills was a significant member of the rotation last season, starting 20 of his 32 appearances. He posted a 5.07 ERA but threw strikes and induced grounders on over half the batted balls against him, setting him up as a back-of-the-rotation option. He opened the season on the injured list with a low back strain, and he’s also battled a quad issue.

Today’s transfer is largely a procedural move, as it rules Mills out for 60 days from Opening Day, not today. He can’t return to the big leagues until the first week of June, which didn’t seem likely anyways considering he’s yet to start a minor league rehab assignment. Mills recently threw a live batting practice session, however, the opening stages of a new ramp-up program.

Rangers Option Nick Solak, Release Matt Carpenter

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The Rangers announced this afternoon that catcher Mitch Garver is returning from the 10-day injured list. To open space on the active roster, corner outfielder Nick Solak has been optioned to Triple-A Round Rock. Texas also announced that veteran infielder Matt Carpenter has been released from his minor league contract, making him a free agent.

Garver returns after a minimal IL stint because of a muscle strain in his forearm. Texas acquired the power-hitting backstop in a key offseason deal with the Twins, and he’s thus far appeared in 22 games with his new team. Garver is off to a relatively slow start, hitting .205/.292/.346 with a trio of homers in 89 trips to the plate. Backup catcher Jonah Heim has been excellent all season, though, and he and Garver figure to share a fair bit of time behind the dish and at designated hitter.

Solak is a former second-round pick and highly-regarded prospect. Texas acquired him from the Rays in July 2019 for reliever Pete Fairbanks, hoping they’d landed their long-term second baseman. The right-handed hitter had put up excellent numbers in the Yankees and Rays farm systems before the deal, which continued down the stretch at Texas’ top affiliate. Solak made his MLB debut late that season and hit .293/.393/.491 through his first 33 games, a continuation of the offensive upside he’d shown in the minors.

Unfortunately, he hasn’t managed to build off that early success. Solak didn’t hit for much power during the shortened 2020 season, and he stumbled to a .242/.314/.362 line over a personal-high 511 plate appearances last year. He also rated poorly defensively at the keystone, echoing concerns about his glovework that have persisted since his days as a prospect. After Texas signed a new double-play tandem of Corey Seager and Marcus Semien, they bumped Solak off the dirt entirely. He’s played exclusively left field and designated hitter to this point in 2022.

Falling further down the defensive spectrum only raises the pressure on the 27-year-old to hit. He got off to a strong start this year, primarily on the short side of a platoon. He hasn’t performed in May, however, and Texas will now send him back to the minors for more regular run. Through his first 75 plate appearances (more than half of which have come against left-handed pitching), Solak owns a .209/.293/.313 line.

Depending on how long he’s in the minors, the optional assignment could have an impact on Solak’s service trajectory. He’s on pace to hit free agency after the 2025 season, having entered the season with two years and 28 days of service time. Spending more than a month in the minors would jeopardize his ability to reach the three-year threshold after this season, although Solak will eventually need to perform better for the Rangers to tender him contracts throughout his arbitration years anyhow. With a .253/.327/.372 career line and currently squeezed off the active roster, Solak may find himself as a change-of-scenery candidate over the next couple months.

Carpenter, meanwhile, signed a non-roster deal during Spring Training. It marked a homecoming for the former TCU star, who had previously spent his entire career with the Cardinals. A three-time All-Star and two-time top ten finisher in MVP balloting in St. Louis, Carpenter saw his production turn sharply downwards by 2019. He had significant struggles in both 2020-21 and didn’t land an MLB roster spot after the Cards bought him out last fall.

The 36-year-old spoke over the offseason about the necessity to overhaul his hitting mechanics to rediscover his production at the plate. The early results have been encouraging, as Carpenter hit .275/.379/.613 and popped six homers in 21 games for Round Rock. Texas didn’t feel they had big league at-bats to offer, however, and the sides mutually agreed to part ways, relays Levi Weaver of the Athletic. It stands to reason there’ll be other teams willing to offer Carpenter a new minor league deal after his strong start for the Express.

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