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Brewers Claim Drew Avans

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The Brewers announced that outfielder Drew Avans has been claimed off waivers from the Athletics and assigned to Triple-A.  The A’s designated Avans earlier this week.

A 33rd-round pick for the Dodgers in 2018, Avans had spent his entire career in the L.A. organization before he signed with the Athletics this past offseason.  The move paved the way for Avans’ Major League debut, as he appeared in seven games for the A’s after his contract was selected to the active roster in late May.  Avans had only two hits in his 15 trips to the plate, but filled in as a spare outfielder when Tyler Soderstrom was moved from left field to first base to fill in for the injured Nick Kurtz.

Avans has a .275/.374/.408 slash line over 2226 PA at the Triple-A level.  All of Avans’ Triple-A experience has come in the Pacific Coast League, so those seemingly solid numbers are perhaps a little below average given the PCL’s hitter-friendly nature.  It will be interesting to see how his bat translates to a more normalized hitting environment with Triple-A Nashville of the International League, but perhaps more importantly, Avans will also give the Brewers some depth at all three outfield positions.  The Crew have been a little thin in the outfield with Blake Perkins and Garrett Mitchell on the IL, and Christian Yelich primarily being used as the everyday DH.

White Sox Sign Tyler Alexander, Place Jared Shuster On 15-Day IL

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The White Sox announced that left-hander Tyler Alexander has been signed to a Major League contract, worth the MLB minimum salary.  To create roster space, the Sox placed left-hander Jared Shuster on the 15-day injured list (retroactive to June 5) due to a blister on his throwing hand, and southpaw Fraser Ellard was moved from the 15-day to the 60-day IL.

Alexander’s stint on the open market didn’t last long, as it was just two days ago that the southpaw rejected the Brewers’ outright assignment in favor of free agency.  Milwaukee signed Alexander to a one-year, $1MM contract in February, but designated him for assignment last week after he posted a 6.19 ERA over 36 1/3 innings and 21 appearances for the Brew Crew.  His 4.26 SIERA is more forgiving, as Alexander’s ERA was inflated by a .331 BABIP and an absurdly low 47.2% strand rate (far below the 71.7% league average).  He also had a respectable 7.3% walk rate, but struck out batters at only an 18.3% clip.

A team with fewer pitching options might have kept Alexander around as a swingman or long relief arm, but the Brewers have gone from being drastically thin on rotation options to a borderline surplus of arms now that some of their injured hurlers have returned to action.  While Alexander’s results weren’t much to speak of, his ability to eat some innings and make a few spot starts helped the Brewers navigate that early-season pitching shortage.

Alexander will now take on a depth role with his hometown team, as the left-hander was born in Chicago in 1994 before moving on to play his high school and college ball in Texas.  Alexander joins Brandon Eisert and Cam Booser as the southpaw options in the White Sox bullpen, and he might be in line for the occasional start as the Sox continue to try and solidify their rotation.  Jonathan Cannon went on the 15-day IL earlier this week due to a back strain, and Chicago has cycled through a number of rotation candidates while trying to fill the void left by Martin Perez’s possibly-season-ending flexor strain.

Shuster technically made two “starts” working as an opener in his most recent two appearances before going on the IL.  Shuster has struggled to an 8.04 ERA over 15 2/3 innings and 12 games for the Pale Hose this season, with the caveat that eight of his 14 earned runs allowed came in just two of those appearances.  In some echoes of Alexander’s season, Shuster has a 4.21 SIERA, with a 55.9% strand rate and a .429 BABIP spoiling his bottom-line numbers.

Ellard had a 6.75 ERA in 6 2/3 relief innings for Chicago this season, as his season has been largely spent on the sidelines due to two separate IL stints.  A hamstring strain cost Ellard most of April, and he returned to pitch in only two games before he was placed on the 15-day IL in early May due to a lat strain.  The shift to the 60-day IL means that Ellard can’t return to action until at least July.

Orioles Designate Matt Bowman For Assignment

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The Orioles announced that right-hander Matt Bowman has been designated for assignment.  The move opens up a roster spot for fellow righty Scott Blewett, who was acquired from the Braves in a cash deal two days ago.

Bowman is no stranger to the waiver wire, as this is the second time the Orioles have DFA’ed him this season, and he bounced around the league several times in 2024 and ended up pitching for four different teams at the MLB level.  His previous designation and outright back in May saw Bowman accept the outright assignment off the 40-man roster, though he has the right to reject any future outright in favor of free agency.

It remains to be seen if Bowman will again stay put if he clears waivers and is outrighted this time.  Bouncing up and down between Triple-A and the big leagues within one organization might carry more appeal for Bowman than his four-club experience in 2024, and since Bowman is out of minor league options, he isn’t likely to gain more roster security on other team.

In between the roster moves, Bowman has a 4.57 ERA over 21 2/3 innings and 18 relief appearances for Baltimore this season, posting a solid 5.3% walk rate but also an uninspiring 16.8% strikeout rate.  Bowman’s latest stint on the O’s roster ended on a high note, as he tossed 2 1/3 innings of hitless shutout ball in the Orioles’ 7-4 win over the Athletics yesterday.

Diamondbacks Select Kyle Backhus, Designate Aramis Garcia

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The Diamondbacks announced that they have selected the contract of left-hander Kyle Backhus from Triple-A Reno.  Catcher Aramis Garcia was designated for assignment in the corresponding move on both the 26-man and 40-man rosters.

Due to a suspended game on Friday, the D’Backs and Reds played a shortened version of a doubleheader on Saturday, and Arizona used five pitchers in a 13-1 loss in the full game of the twin bill.  Backhus will therefore join the roster as a fresh arm for the beleaguered D’Backs pen, and is now in line to make his Major League debut.

Though Backhus wasn’t drafted when his college career at Sam Houston State came to a close, he signed a free agent deal with the Diamondbacks in 2021 and has posted some solid numbers over five seasons in the Arizona farm system.  Pitching almost exclusively out of the bullpen over the last four years, Backhus reached Triple-A for the first time in 2023, and might have reached the majors last season if injuries didn’t limit him to just 35 2/3 total innings in 2024.

Backhus has a 2.22 ERA and a 33% strikeout rate over 24 1/3 innings and 24 games in Reno this season — impressive numbers in any case, but even more noteworthy coming in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.  Backhus’ 9.2% walk rate is on the high side but it represents an improvement from the larger control issues that hampered Backhus earlier in his career.

This may be just a cup of coffee for Backhus in the majors, but considering how the Diamondbacks’ bullpen has struggled this year, there’s not much to lose in giving the 27-year-old more of an extended look.  Jalen Beeks is the only other left-hander in Arizona’s bullpen, so Backhus can add some more balance to the relief corps while A.J. Puk continues to be sidelined on the injured list.

Garcia’s contract was selected just yesterday, as the D’Backs wanted an extra catcher available since Gabriel Moreno was nursing a hand injury suffered in Friday’s game.  Moreno didn’t play Saturday but is ready to go in at least a backup capacity today, as per reporter Jody Jackson, so Garcia will now head to DFA limbo after a single game in an Arizona uniform.  That lone appearance means that Garcia has now appeared in six of the last eight Major League seasons, with only four of his 120 career games coming since the end of the 2022 campaign.

Garcia has hit .211/.248/.325 over 327 plate appearances during his journeyman career, and he landed in Arizona last November on a minors contract.  Garcia is out of minor league options, so the D’Backs had to designate him before trying to move him back to Triple-A, and he’ll be outrighted off the 40-man roster if and when he clears waivers.  Since Garcia has been outrighted in the past, he has the right to reject another outright assignment and instead become a free agent.

Athletics Acquire Austin Wynns

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The A’s announced that they have picked up catcher Austin Wynns in a trade with the Reds, with cash considerations heading back to Cincinnati in return.  To clear roster space for Wynns, the Athletics designated right-hander Carlos Duran for assignment.

Wynns was designated for assignment two days ago, as he had become the odd man out of the Reds’ catching mix when Tyler Stephenson returned from a season-opening stint on the injured list.  Wynns signed a minor league deal with Cincinnati during the offseason, and that contract was selected on Opening Day as Wynns and Jose Trevino went on to handle the catching duties for the next five weeks while Stephenson recovered from an oblique strain.

Ironically, another oblique strain has now opened the door to Wynns’ latest opportunity.  Shea Langeliers was placed on the Athletics’ 10-day IL with a strained left oblique on Friday, leaving the West Sacramento team with just Jhonny Pereda (36 career MLB games) and Willie MacIver (seven career games) as the top catching options.  Tyler Soderstrom has some catching experience but has suited up behind the plate just once in the last two seasons, so it makes sense that the A’s preferred to just bring in a veteran backstop rather than disrupt Soderstrom’s routine as a first baseman/left fielder.

The Athletics will be the seventh different organization Wynns has been part of during his career, and he has seen action with five of those clubs at the MLB level over his seven seasons in the bigs.  A .241/.287/.354 hitter over 716 career plate appearances, Wynns has quietly been extremely productive over his limited action with the Reds, as he posted an eye-opening .390/.429/.661 slash line in 63 PA since Opening Day 2024.  This gives Wynns a unique distinction, as he has the best wRC+ (198) of any Reds player in the entire 156-year history of the franchise, minimum 60 plate appearances in a Cincinnati uniform.

It is probably safe to assume that the 34-year-old Wynns won’t continue this kind of production with the A’s, even notwithstanding Sutter Health Park’s hitter-friendly nature.  Still, Wynns will provide the Athletics with some help behind the plate for however long Langeliers will be on the IL.  Manager Mark Kotsay didn’t give reporters (including MLB.com’s Martin Gallegos) a specific timeline for Langeliers’ recovery, citing the “tricky” nature of oblique injuries.

Julio Rodriguez Helped Off Field Following Apparent Injury

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TODAY: X-rays were negative on Rodriguez’s ankle, and he told Daniel Kramer and other reporters that he was already feeling good enough that there “a high chance that I should be in the lineup” as early as today.  It seems like the Mariners will still hold Rodriguez out for precautionary reasons at least, yet it appears as though the outfielder has dodged a major injury bullet.

“In the beginning, it was very painful, and I couldn’t really feel my foot a whole lot or move it a whole lot — and not even like walk properly,” Rodriguez said.  “But after we kind of started treating it, everything started reacting better right away.”

JUNE 7: The Mariners suffered a potentially devastating blow this evening when center fielder Julio Rodriguez was helped off the field by members of the team’s athletic staff due to an apparent injury. The injury occurred (as relayed by Daniel Kramer of MLB.com) when a hard-hit line drive off the bat of Randy Arozarena collided with Rodriguez’s leg while he was attempting to steal third base. Rodriguez was replaced in center field by Leody Taveras.

It’s not yet clear how severe Rodriguez’s injury is, but even a brief absence would be a tough break for a Mariners club that has already lost ten of their last 14 games, including an active four-game losing streak. That slide has seen Seattle drop from in the driver’s seat in the AL West to three games back of the Astros and one game out of an AL Wild Card spot. That slide can’t be attributed to Rodriguez, who has started to shed his reputation as a slow starter this season by slashing a respectable .248/.316/.416 (114 wRC+) with even stronger peripheral numbers across his first 61 games this season. Rodriguez has ten steals, ten homers, and is striking out at a career-low 19.6% clip to this point in the season all while playing his typical excellent defense in center field.

For now, there’s little for Mariners fans to do other than wait for updates from club brass. Rodriguez appears likely to undergo testing before a timetable for his return will become available. Perhaps he’s suffered only a contusion and will be day-to-day or require only a short stint on the IL. On the other hand, a bone bruise on Rodriguez’s leg would likely require at least a month, as it has for fellow outfielders like Mike Trout and Cody Bellinger in recent years, although it’s at least possible it could take significantly longer as has been the case for players like Kyle Tucker and Anthony Rendon.

That dynamic of a talent would be difficult to lose for any club, but that’s especially true of the Mariners given their current situation in the outfield. With Victor Robles and Luke Raley both already on the injured list, infielders from the club’s bench mix like Miles Mastrobuoni and Dylan Moore have been tasked with helping out on the grass alongside the club’s regular trio of Rodriguez, Arozarena, and Taveras. If Rodriguez were to require a stint on the injured list, Taveras would likely slide over from right field to center while depth option currently at Triple-A like Dominic Canzone or Rhylan Thomas took over in right field.

Canzone is a career .206/.263/.387 hitter in the majors and Thomas has just three games in the majors under his belt, so it goes without saying that either would be a subpar replacement for the Mariners’ star hitter. The good news is that further help may be on the way soon: MLB.com suggests that Raley could begin a rehab assignment as soon as next week. A .242/.328/.463 (127 wRC+) hitter since the start of the 2023 campaign, Raley’s return could help to make up for any time Rodriguez misses, at least against right-handed pitching.

Astros Designate Forrest Whitley For Assignment

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The Astros announced that right-hander Forrest Whitley has been designated for assignment.  Left-hander Brandon Walter was called up from Triple-A Sugar Land in the corresponding move.

Selected 17th overall in the 2016 draft, Whitley was once viewed as one of baseball’s top pitching prospects, and he was a fixture on top-100 prospect lists even as injuries and a 50-game drug policy suspension in 2018 hampered his career.  Due to the canceled 2020 minor league season and a Tommy John surgery, Whitley went over 21 months (from September 2, 2019 to June 16, 2022) between a proper in-game appearance in the minor leagues.

That long layoff was the turning point in Whitley’s career, as he only showed flashes of his prior form once he returned to the mound.  A lat strain limited him to 30 Triple-A innings in 2023, but a move to full-time bullpen work in 2024 seemed to put Whitley on the right track, as a 1.89 ERA over 33 1/3 relief innings for Round Rock earned Whitley his first taste of MLB action in the form of three appearances for the 2024 Astros.

More injuries arose this year, as a left knee bone bruise and left knee sprain resulted in two separate trips to the IL for Whitley.  It is quite possible his health issues impacted his performance, as the righty struggled to a 12.27 ERA over 7 1/3 innings for the Astros, with two home runs and six walks allowed within that small sample.

Whitley’s lack of effectiveness didn’t leave Houston with much choice beyond a DFA, as Whitley is out of options and can’t be sent to the minors without first being exposed to waivers.  Should he clear waivers, Whitley can be outrighted off the Astros’ 40-man roster and returned to Sugar Land, though it is worth wondering if the Astros might be ready to simply move on from Whitley entirely.

Given Whitley’s past pedigree, it wouldn’t be a shock if another team claimed him away to see if a change of scenery could finally unlock the right-hander’s potential.  The pure stuff still seems to be there, as Whitley’s fastball (96.3mph) and slider (96.7mph) have plenty of velocity even if his walk rates have spiraled upwards.  Whitley is still only 27 years old, and might yet be able to join the long list of former top prospects who became late bloomers in terms of big league success.

Rays Promote Ian Seymour

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The Rays have called left-hander Ian Seymour up from Triple-A Durham, with right-hander Cole Sulser optioned to Triple-A in the corresponding move.  No 40-man move was required, as Tampa already added Seymour to its 40-man roster last November in advance of the Rule 5 Draft.

The 26-year-old Seymour will be making his Major League debut whenever he makes his first appearance for the Rays.  A second-round pick for Tampa Bay in the 2020 draft, Seymour’s pro career hit some immediate roadblocks when flexor soreness and then a Tommy John surgery limited him to just 114 innings over the 2021-23 seasons.  If it wasn’t for these health issues, Seymour might well have been in the bigs years ago, as he had already been promoted up to the Triple-A level before the 2021 campaign was over.

Seymour kept the momentum going after his return from TJ rehab.  He posted a 2.35 ERA over 145 1/3 combined Double-A and Triple-A innings in 2024, and this season has a 2.95 ERA, 32.7% strikeout rate, and 5.8% walk rate over 61 frames with Durham (starting 11 of 12 games).  Baseball America ranks Seymour 15th on their list of the Rays’ top 30 prospects, while MLB Pipeline has him 19th in their ranking of the Tampa Bay farm system.

If these rankings seem a little modest for a starter with Seymour’s numbers, it could be because Seymour’s average fastball velocity only sits in the low-90s.  That said, the pitch is still effective, and acts as a nice secondary offering to Seymour’s plus changeup.  As Baseball America’s scouting report puts it, Seymour relies on a “combination of command and deception” more than pure stuff, and his results in the minors “will be hard to fully replicate” against big league hitters.  Seymour has started 69 of his 71 career games, though evaluators feel he might be more suited to a swingman or bulk pitcher role at the MLB level.

Given their long history of pitcher development and creative usage of their arms, the Rays are ideally suited to manage Seymour’s entry into the Show.  Seymour looks to be working as a reliever at first, since Tampa Bay could use a fresh arm after using seven different pitchers in yesterday’s 11-10 extra-innings loss to the Marlins.  The steady Drew Rasmussen is starting today but hasn’t gone beyond six innings in any of his 12 starts this season, and the Rays’ next off-day isn’t until Thursday.  Seymour joins Garrett Cleavinger and Mason Montgomery as the left-handed options in Tampa’s pen.

Angels Notes: Soler, Trout, Stephenson

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Slugger Jorge Soler exited today’s Angels game in the second inning, and the Angels later announced that it was due to groin tightness. Soler was already known to be day-to-day due to the groin issue in recent days, but evidently it flared up during this evening’s game against the Mariners. An update on Soler’s status will likely be available after the game, but the issue is made a bit more complicated than it would be otherwise due to the status of Mike Trout.

Soler has typically served as Anaheim’s DH this season, although he’s hit a lackluster .217/.291/.377 (88 wRC+) to this point in the year. In more recent weeks, however, Soler has become the club’s everyday right fielder while Trout returns to the lineup as the everyday DH. As noted by Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register earlier today, Trout is working his way back towards a return to the outfield by doing some drills on the grass. Manager Ron Washington relayed that Trout was feeling good after those drills, but they’ve still been “minimal” and haven’t “really challenged” the veteran star. That would seem to indicate Trout is still at least a few days away from returning to right field on a regular basis in games.

A return to DH’ing on a regular basis would surely be less strenuous on Soler’s ailing groin, but that won’t be possible until Trout returns to the outfield. The three-time MVP is 10-for-25 with three walks, a double, and a homer since returning from the injured list and clearly won’t be sitting in deference to Soler. If Soler isn’t healthy enough to play the field, that could leave the Angels with little choice but to place him on the injured list. Should that come to pass, some combination of Matthew Lugo, Chris Taylor, and perhaps Scott Kingery could see time in the outfield, assuming the Angels don’t call up another outfield option like Kyren Paris.

In other news around the club, MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger writes that right-hander Robert Stephenson has undergone two MRI exams since being placed on the injured list due to inflammation in his right biceps. Bollinger notes that those exams revealed no structural damage, and relays that Stephenson told reporters that he’s dealing with a stretched nerve, which he described as a “freak injury.” The unusual nature of Stephenson’s injury means that he has no clear timetable for return, and the right-hander added that there’s no treatment for the issue other than rest.

That suggests he could be unable to throw for quite a while, which would be an incredibly frustrating turn of events for a pitcher who missed the entire 2024 season due to Tommy John surgery and made it back to pitch just one inning before he once again hit the shelf. The 32-year-old turned in 38 1/3 dominant innings for the Rays during his most recent healthy campaign in 2023, pitching to a 2.35 ERA and striking out a whopping 42.9% of opponents faced. That showing was impressive enough that the Angels awarded him a three-year, $33MM deal that offseason, though they’ve yet to get much of anything out of it due to Stephenson’s injury woes.

Mets Sign Julian Merryweather To Minor League Deal

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The Mets signed right-hander Julian Merryweather to a minor league deal this evening, as relayed by MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo.

Merryweather, 33, was a fifth-round pick by Cleveland back in 2014. Traded to Toronto as part of the Josh Donaldson deal, he made his big league debut with the Blue Jays during the shortened 2020 season. The right-hander showed some promise with a 4.15 ERA and 2.27 FIP across 13 innings in that rookie season, but he never quite lived up to it in future seasons after he was derailed by elbow and oblique issues among other injuries over the years. He put together a 5.64 ERA and 4.36 FIP in 47 appearances with the Blue Jays overall before being designated for assignment in January of 2023.

The right-hander was promptly plucked off waivers by the Cubs, and enjoyed the best season of his career that year. In 72 innings of work as a high leverage arm for Chicago, Merryweather posted a 3.38 ERA with a 3.52 FIP and struck out a fantastic 32.3% of his opponents. Those huge strikeout numbers were enough to overcome a career-high 11.9% walk rate, and Merryweather entered the 2024 season firmly in the Cubs’ late inning mix alongside closer Adbert Alzolay and offseason addition Hector Neris. Unfortunately, Merryweather was part of a bullpen implosion early in the season that proved fatal to Chicago’s chances last season. He spent most of the season sidelined by a knee injury that ultimately required surgery, and even when he was healthy enough to pitch he struggled to a 6.60 ERA with a strikeout rate that had plummeted to just 18.9%.

It was easy enough to blame Merryweather’s struggles in 2024 on his injuries, which may have thrown him off mechanically and contributed to his fastball velocity losing two ticks relative to the prior season. To whatever extent that may have been the case, however, a healthy offseason clearly wasn’t all it took to fix Merryweather’s issues. His velocity remained down this year, and 2025 proved to be more of the same as he pitched to a subpar 5.79 ERA while striking out a career-low 17.0% of his opponents and walking a career-high 12.5%. The right-hander’s 21 outings for Chicago this year were clearly too much for the club to stomach, as he was designated for assignment as the team turned to more reliable late-inning options like Brad Keller, Drew Pomeranz, and Daniel Palencia who had emerged in recent weeks.

Merryweather eventually went unclaimed on waivers, and the Cubs had the option to outright him to the minors as a non-roster depth option for the remainder of the year as he was a few days shy of the ability to reject the assignment while retaining his full salary. Chicago chose to grant the righty his release, however, and he returned to free agency late last month. Now, he’s on to New York to join a Mets club that is tied with Chicago for the best record in the National League. The Mets will try to recapture what made Merryweather so effective with the Cubs in 2023 while he gets to work at Triple-A Syracuse as a potential depth piece alongside arms like Justin Garza and Colin Poche.

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