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Giants To Acquire Cory Abbott, Designate Jaylin Davis

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2:35pm: The Giants have announced the trade, with Abbott being optioned to Triple-A. Outfielder Jaylin Davis has been designated for assignment to make room for Abbott on the 40-man roster. Davis came to the Giants as part of the 2019 trade that sent Sam Dyson to the Twins. Last year, injuries limited him to just 43 Triple-A games and 5 MLB games. In the minors last year, he hit .230/.317/.503, 96 wRC+. His 11 home runs in that small sample were offset by a 31.7% strikeout rate. In 10 Triple-A games so far this year, he’s hitting .295/.340/.500, 105 wRC+, with a 29.8% strikeout rate. The 27-year-old still can be optioned this year and only has 28 days of MLB service time, which could give him appeal to rebuilding teams or those with the need for some outfield depth.

1:15pm: The Cubs are trading right-handed pitcher Cory Abbott to the Giants, reports Russell Dorsey of Bally Sports. It’ll be cash considerations going the other way, per Robert Murray of FanSided.

Abbott was selected by the Cubs in the second round of the 2017 draft and was well-regarded among Chicago farmhands almost immediately. Baseball America has ranked him between #8 and #23 in the system since 2018. Primarily working as a starter, he climbed the ranks of the minors and was selected to the club’s 40-man roster in advance of the 2020 Rule 5 draft. Last year, he threw 17 1/3 innings for the big league club with a 6.75 ERA, 14.6% strikeout rate and 13.4% walk rate. He was much better in 96 Triple-A innings, however, striking out 29.8% of batters, though he still had a high walk rate of 12.2% and a 5.91 ERA.

Abbott was designated for assignment last week and will now head out to his new team on the West Coast. For the Giants, there’s almost no risk in throwing some cash to the Cubs and seeing if Abbott can find another gear to make good on the promise he showed as a prospect. He’s still only 26 years old and has options. The club recently put Alex Cobb on the injured list, which dinged their rotation slightly, though he’s not expected to be out for an extended period of time.

Nationals Select Erasmo Ramirez, Place Hunter Harvey On Injured List

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The Nationals announced that they have selected the contract of right-handed pitcher Erasmo Ramirez. To make room on the active roster, fellow righty Hunter Harvey was placed on the 10-day injured list with a right pronator strain. Utility player Ehire Adrianza was transferred from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL to open up a spot on the 40-man roster.

Ramirez, who turns 32 next month, has appeared in each of the past ten MLB seasons, spending time with the Mariners, Rays, Red Sox, Mets and Tigers. Although he began his career as a starting pitcher, he has spent more time as a reliever as time has gone on, with his last MLB start occuring back in 2018. Last year, he threw 26 2/3 innings out of Detroit’s bullpen, with a 5.74 ERA. His 18.3% strikeout rate was subpar, but he avoided free passes with a 4.6% rate that was about half the league average. In seven Triple-A innings so far this year, he’s yet to allow a run, with 12 strikeouts and a single walk.

Harvey was a first round pick of the Orioles in 2013 but had his career trajectory repeatedly derailed by injuries. He pitched a few innings out of Baltimore’s bullpen in each of the 2019-21 seasons, but they gave up on him this offseason and put him on waivers. He was claimed by the Giants, who put him on waivers again, this time landing with the Nats. In 2 2/3 scoreless innings thus far, Harvey has struck three and walked one. The club didn’t provide a timeline for his recovery.

As for Adrianza, he was signed to a one-year, $1.5MM deal in the offseason to help the club’s infield depth. However, he began the year on the IL with a quad strain and now won’t be able to help the team until June at the earliest. The 32-year-old has appeared in the past nine MLB seasons, spending time with the Giants, Twins and Braves while playing every position on the diamond except catcher.

Twins Release Lewis Thorpe

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The Twins have released left-handed pitcher Lewis Thorpe, per Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic.

A native of Australia, Thorpe was signed by the Twins in 2012 to a $500K signing bonus. He made his professional debut in 2013, at the age of 17. He was quickly considered one of the club’s better prospects, with Baseball America ranking him #7 in the system in 2014. He would stay on that list for another six years, oscillating between #11 and #19 through 2020.

However, Thorpe generally struggled in the upper levels of the minors as well as the majors. In 2019, he threw 96 1/3 innings in Triple-A. Despite strong strikeout and walk rates of 29.5% and 6.2%, his ERA was 4.58, thanks largely to the long ball. He logged 59 1/3 MLB innings over the three seasons from 2019 to 2021, with a 5.76 ERA, 17.6% strikeout rate and 10.1% walk rate.

As noted by Gleeman, he’s lost a few ticks off his velocity. Last year, various shoulder injuries limited him to just 38 total innings between the majors and the minors. When the club signed Chris Archer at the end of March, Thorpe went unclaimed on waivers and was outrighted to the minors. He made one Triple-A appearance this year, getting bombed to the tune of eight earned runs in 1 2/3 innings. After a decade in the Twins organization, Thorpe will now look for other opportunities and see if a change of scenery can perhaps get him back on track.

Twins Acquire Brayan Medina To Complete Taylor Rogers Trade

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The Twins have acquired right-handed pitching prospect Brayan Medina from the Padres, per Minnesota’s director of communications and player relations Dustin Morse. Earlier this month, the Twins traded Taylor Rogers and Brent Rooker to the Padres for Chris Paddack, Emilio Pagan and a player to be named later, which has now been revealed as Medina.

Born in Venezuela, Medina is just 19 years old. He made 12 starts and 2 relief appearances last year between the Arizona Complex League and the Dominican Summer League. In 33 2/3 innings pitched, he had a 5.88 ERA, 30.4% strikeout rate and 14.9% walk rate. Last year, Baseball America ranked him the #26 prospect in the Padres’ system.

After going over the first luxury tax line last year, the Padres have seemed reluctant to do so again this year, as paying the tax in consecutive years comes with escalating penalties. Their current CBT number is just under $229MM, in the estimation of Jason Martinez of Roster Resource. That gives them only about $1MM of wiggle room before they are over the first CBT line, which is $230MM under the new CBA. As part of the trade with Minnesota, the Twins agreed to pay almost all of Rogers’ salary, helping the Padres limbo under that line. Medina seems to be their reward for doing so, adding an intriguing young arm to their system.

A’s Place Stephen Vogt On Injured List, Designate Miguel Romero For Assignment

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12:48pm: It’s a grade 2 MCL sprain for Vogt, per John Shea of The San Francisco Chronicle.

12:01pm: The Athletics announced several roster moves prior to today’s game against the Orioles. Catcher Austin Allen has been reinstated from the Covid IL. Christian Bethancourt, one of the substitute players that was called up to cover for the club’s recent roster shortcomings, has had that “substitute” designation removed from his status. Stephen Vogt, who left yesterday’s game with a right knee sprain, has been placed on the 10-day injured list. Right-handed pitcher Miguel Romero has been designated for assignment.

After a big selloff that saw the club ship out many of its best players this winter, the A’s made a couple of modest investments in veterans to fill out the roster. Vogt and Jed Lowrie each received a one-year, $850K deal to take some at-bats and act as mentors to the crop of youngsters who would be auditioning for roles in Oakland’s future plans. Vogt, 37, will now be on the shelf for at least ten days with this knee injury. The club didn’t provide a timeline on his expected return.

Allen was one of six Oakland players that landed on the Covid IL on Monday. He will be the second of that cohort to return to the club, after A.J. Puk was reinstated yesterday. Allen played well in 72 games at Triple-A last year, hitting .317/.351/.584. As several A’s have either gone on the restricted list or Covid IL in recent days, Bethancourt was one of the substitute players called up to help out. With Vogt now out for an undetermined amount of time, it seems he will stick around. Allen will likely be the backup catcher behind Sean Murphy, with Bethancourt serving as the third string backstop but also shuffling around to other positions.

Romero, turning 28 on Saturday, has been pitching in the Oakland system since 2017. From 2019 to 2021, Baseball America ranked him between #26 and #30 among the prospects in the system. The club added him to their 60-man player pool in the shortened 2020 season and then gave him a 40-man roster spot ahead of that year’s Rule 5 draft. He spent last year in Triple-A, making 13 starts and 15 relief appearances. Over 74 2/3 innings, his 6.27 ERA came with a 15.7% strikeout rate and 9.9% walk rate. Over 5 2/3 innings so far this year, he has a 9.53 ERA in that small sample. Despite those recent results, he still has options and could attract the interest of a team looking for pitching depth. In 2019, he threw 72 2/3 Triple-A innings with much better outcomes: 3.96 ERA and 25% strikeout rate, but a concerning 11.1% walk rate.

Diamondbacks Select Matt Davidson, Designate Matt Peacock

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The Diamondbacks announced several roster moves today, selecting the contract of Matt Davidson. To open a spot on the active roster, right-handed pitcher Corbin Martin was optioned to Triple-A Reno. To make room on the 40-man roster, right-hander Matt Peacock was designated for assignment.

This will be a homecoming for Davidson, who was drafted by Arizona in 2009 and made his MLB debut with the D-Backs in 2013. He has one of the more unusual résumés in the game, as he’s primarily been a power-hitting corner infielder with a penchant for strikeouts, but also tried his hand at being a two-way player, throwing 6 1/3 MLB innings thus far in his career. However, he hasn’t pitched in the majors or minors since 2020, suggesting he’s focusing on hitting for now. In addition to the Snakes, he’s spent some time in the big leagues with the White Sox and Reds, hitting 52 homers in 298 career games. His overall slash line is .223/.292/.433, with a 34.2% strikeout rate. He spent last year hitting well for the Dodgers’ Triple-A team but never got the call to the show. Arizona signed him to a minor league deal in the offseason and he’s gotten off to a tremendous start, hitting eight homers in 11 games and slashing an incredible .386/.471/.955, though still striking out 27.5% of the time.

He’s been exclusively at first base and designated hitter so far this year, meaning the D-Backs will likely use him in the same way at the big league level. Christian Walker has seen the bulk of playing at first for Arizona this year, but is hitting just .132/.267/.316 thus far. If Davidson can provide even half of what he was doing in the minors, he’d be a big upgrade. He also has three years and 112 days of service time, meaning he could be kept around for another couple of seasons via arbitration if the 31-year-old can emerge as a regular in the lineup, like he was for the White Sox in 2017-18.

As for Peacock, he was a 23rd round selection of the club in the 2017 draft. He was added to the team’s 40-man roster prior to the 2020 Rule 5 draft. He made his MLB debut last year and tossed 86 1/3 innings with a 4.90 ERA. His 13% strikeout rate was well below average, but he paired that with a strong 59.2% groundball rate and 7.3% walk rate. He’s tossed 2 2/3 innings for the big league club so far this year. Now 28 years old, Peacock will likely head to the waiver wire in the coming days. He still has options and could attract the attention of teams in need of extra pitching depth in the minors.

Offseason In Review: Houston Astros

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The Astros didn’t make many notable outside additions over the winter. They’re relying on an excellent internal core to make another run at a World Series, counting on their top prospect to step into the major leagues to replace one of the game’s best players.

Major League Signings

2022 spending: $35.1MM
Total spending: $44.1MM

Option Decisions

Trades and claims

Extensions

  • Signed RHP Ryan Pressly to a two-year, $30MM extension (deal also contains vesting option for 2025 based on number of appearances)

Notable Minor League Signings

Notable Losses

The Astros entered the offseason coming off a disappointing finish in the World Series, which they dropped in six games to the Braves. Considering Houston made it back to the Fall Classic — their fifth consecutive season advancing at least as far as the AL Championship Series — it stood to reason they’d try to preserve as much continuity as possible.

Generally speaking, that proved to be the case. The Astros didn’t do much to bring in talent from the outside the organization, although they wound up not bringing everyone who was instrumental to their recent success back. That was most evident in the players they lost to free agency, but the team’s first notable departure was a member of the coaching staff. Longtime pitching coach Brent Strom — generally regarded as one of the game’s best given Houston’s seeming never-ending stable of quality arms — stepped down shortly after the World Series. He’d eventually take the same position with the Diamondbacks.

Houston promoted two of Strom’s lieutenants, Josh Miller and Bill Murphy, to take on co-pitching coach duties. The rest of the staff stayed mostly the same, and for the third consecutive season, they’ll be led by veteran skipper Dusty Baker. Houston signed Baker to a one-year contract extension in November. It was a bit of a surprise to see such a short-term commitment given how adeptly Baker has taken the reigns since replacing A.J. Hinch in the midst of the sign-stealing fallout. In either event, the three-time Manager of the Year winner is back and will soon become the 12th person in MLB history to reach 2,000 career victories.

Extending Baker seemed like a fairly easy call for the front office, but they probably devoted even less time to their next couple decisions. Exercising an $8MM option on Yuli Gurriel was a no-brainer after he won the batting title in 2021. So too was handing Carlos Correa a qualifying offer; there might’ve been a little more debate about whether to QO Justin Verlander, considering he’d missed essentially the entire last two seasons recovering from Tommy John surgery.

Ultimately, however, Verlander looked as if he’d receive and reject a QO, particularly after Houston owner Jim Crane remarked in September that Verlander was seeking a multi-year deal. The $18.4MM QO price would still have been a bargain if the eight-time All-Star picked up where he left off upon returning, as he posted a 2.58 ERA in a league-best 223 innings in 2019. The Astros had as good a view as anyone on Verlander’s form throughout his recovery, and they seemed optimistic about his chances of returning to the top of a rotation.

Verlander rejected the QO as expected, but that wasn’t a precursor to a free agent departure. Less than an hour after announcing that decision, he and team agreed to a $25MM deal to keep him in Houston in 2022. That wasn’t technically the multi-year deal Crane indicated Verlander had been seeking, but he can vest a $25MM player option for the following season if he reaches 130 innings this year. If he stays healthy, Verlander should eclipse that mark with ease and lock in some extra financial security while still having the option to explore free agency next winter. The vesting option provides the team cover in the event he has an injury setback. (Through two starts, Verlander has looked like his old self, averaging north of 95 MPH on his fastball with 15 strikeouts and three walks in 13 innings).

With Verlander back, the Astros solidified a starting staff that should again be among the league’s best. Framber Valdez, Luis Garcia and José Urquidy each eclipsed 100 innings with an ERA of 3.62 or lower last season. Veteran Jake Odorizzi gives them an experienced back-of-the-rotation option. Lance McCullers Jr. will miss the first couple months of the year after his recovery from last postseason’s flexor tendon strain has dragged longer than anticipated. If he returns for the stretch run and matches last year’s form, though, Houston should have a very strong top six arms.

The Astros did lose Zack Greinke to free agency, subtracting some stability and innings from the group. Grienke is no longer an ace, but he soaked up 171 roughly average frames last season over 30 appearances. That’s valuable, but between Verlander’s return and the presence of Odorizzi and swingman Cristian Javier, the Astros felt equipped to weather it.

For now, Javier is in the bullpen, where he spent the bulk of last season. The right-hander started his first nine outings in 2021 but eventually got squeezed out of the rotation. Javier’s control wavered, but he struck out an excellent 30.7% of opposing hitters en route to a 3.55 ERA in 101 1/3 innings. Whether he eventually moves back to the rotation or settles in as a bulk relief option, he adds another exciting multi-inning arm to the mix.

Keeping Javier in relief strengthens the relative weak point on the roster. The Astros’ bullpen was a middle-of-the-pack group last year. It certainly wasn’t catastrophic, but it’s the least exceptional part of the club. The club picked up Kendall Graveman in a deadline deal with the division-rival Mariners, but he signed a three-year deal with the White Sox this winter. Not coincidentally, the bullpen is the one area where the team made a notable investment to bring in a player from outside.

Houston signed former Phillies closer Héctor Neris to a two-year, $17MM guarantee. The right-hander had a bit of an inconsistent tenure in Philadelphia, but he was effective on the whole and is coming off a nice season. He fanned 31.6% of opposing hitters and induced ground-balls at a solid 47.1% clip last year. He also doesn’t have particularly marked platoon splits throughout his career. Neris has been better against same-handed opponents (.208/.272/.373), but he’s also managed solid production against southpaws (.231/.324/.387).

That’s of particular importance for a Houston team that lost lefty Brooks Raley to free agency. Blake Taylor and rookie Parker Mushinski are the only left-handers in the late innings mix for Baker. Houston signed veterans Zac Rosscup and Adam Morgan to minor league deals as insurance, but it’s not a great group of southpaws overall. With righties like Neris, Ryne Stanek and Phil Maton having had success against lefties in the past, general manager James Click and his staff elected not to invest in another lefty arm.

Those players will all bridge the gap to All-Star closer Ryan Pressly, who has been one of the sport’s top late-inning weapons over the past four years. The Astros rewarded him for that run of success with a Spring Training extension that guarantees $30MM through 2024 and stops him from hitting the open market at the end of this season, when his contract had originally been set to expire. The deal, which also contains a 2025 vesting option, keeps a key bullpen piece around for the next few years, during which the team should remain a contender.

That’s a testament to the strength of both Houston’s young starting pitching and their across-the-board excellence in the lineup. Click and his staff didn’t have to make many changes to the position player group. Martín Maldonado and Jason Castro are back as the catching tandem, freeing Houston up to deal third catcher Garrett Stubbs to the Phillies in a minor trade. That’s not a great offensive duo, but both veteran backstops are highly-regarded defenders.

The Astros can afford to live with lackluster hitting behind the dish because of the strength of the lineup elsewhere. Gurriel is back at first base, José Altuve is at the keystone, and Alex Bregman is at third base. Michael Brantley and Kyle Tucker make for one of the top corner outfield pairings in the game. Yordan Álvarez can rotate into the corner outfield while continuing to mash as the designated hitter. The Astros don’t have household names in center field, but even there, they’re well-positioned.

Chas McCormick, José Siri and Jake Meyers all had strong rookie showings last year, performing well enough that Houston felt comfortable dealing Myles Straw to Cleveland at the deadline to bring in Maton. None of McCormick, Siri or Meyers (the latter of whom is currently on the injured list after undergoing shoulder surgery) would rule the Astros out from landing a star. Houston has inquired about Bryan Reynolds and reportedly touched base with Starling Marte’s camp in free agency. Center field isn’t a dire need, though, and the Astros felt comfortable rolling into the season with their internal options after not landing a marquee name.

That, of course, brings us to the one spot on the diamond where the Astros were faced with their biggest decision: whether to bring back Correa on a free agent megadeal. At the outset of the offseason, Houston presented the star shortstop with a five-year, $160MM offer. That never seemed likely to get Correa’s attention, and it looked as if he’d wind up departing. Yet Correa’s stay on the open market lingered unexpectedly, with a mid-lockout agency switch to the Boras Corporation perhaps contributing to the signing delay for free agency’s top player.

Once the lockout was lifted and Spring Training got underway, Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reported the Astros were set to make Correa a new offer. That generated some speculation the two-time All-Star could return to Houston after all, but that proved not to be. Correa eventually signed an opt-out laden three-year, $105.3MM deal with the Twins. That wasn’t the long-term commitment most had expected for the 27-year-old, but he received the second-largest average annual salary for a position player in MLB history and an opportunity to test the market again next winter.

Precisely what the Astros put on the table at the end is unclear, although Scott Boras told Joel Sherman of the New York Post that Houston wouldn’t go beyond five years. By the time Correa agreed to terms with Minnesota, Corey Seager, Marcus Semien and Javier Báez had all long since signed elsewhere. That left Trevor Story as the lone top free agent shortstop remaining.

The Astros were tied to Story throughout the winter, and they reengaged with his camp late in the process. Sherman tweeted that Houston and the Giants were among the three finalists for the former Rockies star, but he ultimately landed in Boston on a six-year deal. Once Story inked his $140MM pact with the Red Sox, it became clear top prospect Jeremy Peña was going to take the reins in Houston.

Peña has started 11 of the team’s first 12 games at the position. A gifted defender, he entered the season with just 30 games above A-ball after missing most of last year on the injured list. Peña has been fantastic in his first couple weeks in the majors, and the Astros would obviously love if he takes the job and runs with it. Houston has bat-first veteran Aledmys Díaz on hand, and they also inked former Tigers utilityman Niko Goodrum to a one-year deal to add depth at multiple spots around the diamond. Detroit non-tendered Goodrum after a second consecutive poor offensive season, but he was a capable player on both sides of the ball in 2018-19 and makes for a fine add to the bench.

Losing Correa is unquestionably a blow, and the Astros could face stiffer competition from the Mariners and Angels this year than they have in recent seasons. Yet the departure of their star shortstop alone won’t be enough to knock Houston from the ranks of the AL favorites, particularly if Peña can step right in as an above-average player in his own right. The Astros didn’t make many big additions last offseason, but they didn’t need to. The bulk of the group that has led five straight playoff runs is still around, and the window remains wide open for Houston to make another run at a World Series.

Joe Musgrove Open To In-Season Extension Talks

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Padres starter Joe Musgrove is in his final season of arbitration-eligibility, setting him up to reach free agency for the first time this winter. Despite being just six months from the open market, the right-hander remains open to discussing an extension with the Friars.

Speaking with Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune, Musgrove indicated he told the Padres in Spring Training he’d be willing to negotiate a long-term deal during the season. “I was like, ‘I prefer to not do it (during the season),” Musgrove said. “But if you guys have an enticing offer and it’s something you think I’d be interested in, send it to my agent and we’ll talk about it. We’ll find the right time to do it.’”

It’s common for players to set Opening Day as a hard deadline for extension talks, whether because they believe a self-imposed cutoff maximizes negotiating leverage or merely believe that in-season discussions could divert attention away from their performance. Musgrove, though, is a San Diego-area native who has spoken about his affinity for the city. Given those geographic ties, it’s not surprising he’d be willing to buck the common trend and consider extension figures from the Padres

Acee writes the Padres were not in touch with Musgrove’s camp about a long-term deal over the offseason. Of course, the three-plus month lockout could’ve played a role in that lack of communication, as teams were barred from interacting with players between the start of December and the second week of March. On either end of the lockout, clubs were faced with a frenzy of other activity. That didn’t completely kill the Spring Training extension market, but it’s conceivable it could’ve delayed some talks which might have taken place during a normal winter.

Musgrove is lined up as one of the top pitchers in the upcoming free agent class. Jacob deGrom has maintained he’ll trigger an opt-out clause at the end of the year. Carlos Rodón will have an opt-out opportunity if he pitches 110 innings, while Noah Syndergaard, Justin Verlander and Mike Clevinger will be in-demand arms if they perform this year as they did before undergoing 2020 Tommy John surgeries. Nathan Eovaldi and Sean Manaea are reliable mid-rotation types. Musgrove, though, offers as strong a combination of performance and relative youth as any starter who’d be on the market, as he’ll enter his age-30 campaign in 2023.

Indeed, Musgrove holds his own in comparison to Kevin Gausman and Robbie Ray, two of the top free agent arms of this past offseason. Between 2019-21, Musgrove posted a 3.79 ERA that tied Gausman’s mark and checked in a bit better than Ray’s 3.93. Musgrove has the lowest strikeout rate of that trio (25.4%, compared to 31.1% for Ray and 28.6% for Gausman), but he posted the highest ground-ball rate of the group and tied Gausman for the lowest walk percentage.

If one looks only at 2020-21, Gausman takes a slight edge over the other two hurlers. Ray had the most impressive 2021 campaign. In each window, though, Musgrove’s performance isn’t too dissimilar than that of either Gausman or Ray. The Padres righty will also be a year younger next winter than Gausman is now. It stands to reason Musgrove’s reps at Full Circle Sports Management will look at the respective terms Gausman (five years, $110MM) and Ray (five years, $115MM with an opt-out clause) landed as comparison points in any extension talks.

Of course, there’s some risk that Musgrove gets injured or underperforms in the next few months. To his credit, he hasn’t shown any worrisome signs early in the season. Musgrove has tossed 19 innings over his first three starts, allowing just four runs with 21 strikeouts and a single walk to go along with a 44.7% grounder rate that falls right in line with his career mark.

Braves, Cubs Swap Sean Newcomb, Jesse Chavez

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The Cubs have acquired reliever Sean Newcomb from the Braves for right-hander Jesse Chavez and cash, according to announcements from both teams. Both clubs’ 40-man rosters are now full.

It’s a new landing spot for Newcomb, who has spent the past six seasons in Atlanta. A first-round pick of the Angels in 2014, the left-hander quickly developed into one of the sport’s top pitching prospects. After the 2015 season, the Angels flipped him alongside Chris Ellis to Atlanta for five years of Andrelton Simmons.

Newcomb was a starting pitching prospect at the time, with evaluators holding out hope that his high-octane arsenal could make him a top-of-the-rotation caliber hurler. He remained in that role for his first couple major league seasons, starting 49 of his 50 appearances between 2017-18. Newcomb showed some promise, posting a 4.06 ERA with a solid 23.3% strikeout rate. As he had throughout his time in the minor leagues, though, he struggled to throw strikes. After walking 12% of batters faced through his first couple seasons, the Braves transitioned him to the ’pen in 2019.

During his first season of relief, Newcomb pitched to a 3.16 ERA in 68 1/3 frames over 55 outings. Curiously, his strikeout and swinging strike numbers took a step back relative to where they’d been while he was starting, but he induced grounders on nearly half of batted balls against him and posted a personal-low 9.9% walk rate.

It looked as if Newcomb might thrive in shorter stints, but the Braves made an ill-fated effort to return him to the rotation in 2020. He was bombed in four starts and spent most of the season at the alternate training site. He returned to the big league bullpen last season but dealt with his worst control woes yet. In 32 outings, Newcomb walked a ghastly 18% of opponents while seeing his ground-ball rate tumble back to 39%. His 28.7% strikeout percentage was a career-high, but the free passes allowed hitters to rack up a .383 on-base percentage.

Newcomb has gotten off to another rough start this season. He’s worked five innings of four-run ball, allowing seven hits with four walks and strikeouts apiece. Because he’s out of minor league option years, the Braves had to either continue running him out against MLB hitters or designate him for assignment. They chose the latter course of action yesterday, likely knowing someone else would take a chance on him.

That team will be the Cubs, who add a live-armed southpaw to their bullpen. Newcomb has averaged north of 95 MPH on his heater in each of the past two seasons. He generated plus swinging strike rates on both his cutter-slider and curveball last year. For a team that entered the night with Daniel Norris as its only lefty reliever, it’s understandable why Chicago will take a shot to see if they can iron out Newcomb’s control woes.

He’s making a modest $900K this season (a little more than $800K of which remains owed) and can be controlled via arbitration through 2025. There’s a chance Newcomb sticks around on the North Side for the next few seasons, but the Cubs — like the Braves before them — will have to keep him on the active roster or designate him for assignment themselves.

The Braves, meanwhile, will replace Newcomb in the bullpen with one of his old teammates. Chavez, a 15-year MLB veteran, spent the 2021 season with Atlanta after being selected onto the big league roster in June. He pitched to a sterling 2.14 ERA in 33 2/3 innings, striking out a career-high 27.1% of batters faced against a fine 8.3% walk rate. Chavez rather remarkably didn’t allow a single home run in his 30 appearances.

That impressive strikeout total came in spite of a 91 MPH fastball and a subpar 7.1% swinging strike rate, though. Between Chavez’s lack of velocity, swing-and-miss stuff and understandable skepticism about his ability to repeat his 2021 home run suppression, teams didn’t ardently pursue him in free agency. He signed a non-roster deal with Chicago, although he wound up breaking camp nonetheless.

Chavez made three appearances as a Cub, tossing 5 2/3 frames of three-run ball. He has punched out three batters with a pair of walks and a homer allowed. He’ll return to Atlanta and again serve as a multi-inning bullpen option for skipper Brian Snitker.

Tigers Notes: Mize, Manning, Pineda

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The Tigers were dealt a couple scares in the rotation last week, with righties Casey Mize and Matt Manning both landing on the injured list due to arm issues. Mize suffered an MCL sprain in his throwing elbow, an ominous-sounding injury that seemed as if it could result in a long  absence. There’s still not much clarity on his timetable for return, but the most recent news on the 24-year-old has been promising.

In an appearance on MLB Network Radio yesterday, manager A.J. Hinch said initial results indicated they’d “avoided any sort of catastrophic occurrence” (relayed by Jason Beck of MLB.com). Mize himself addressed the matter this afternoon, saying he “(feels) good” because he’s “not having surgery and … going to pitch again soon” (via Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free-Press).

That Mize appears to have avoided a serious injury is obviously fantastic news for the club. The former first overall pick is an integral part of the organization’s present and future. That’s also true of Manning, himself a former top ten draftee and highly-regarded prospect. The 6’6″ hurler left his start over the weekend with shoulder discomfort. Detroit placed him on the injured list due to inflammation this afternoon, but Hinch didn’t sound particularly concerned. The manager said Manning is hoping to resume throwing as soon as this weekend (Beck link), suggesting his stay on the IL could be brief.

Even if Manning returns in short order, the Tigers will be down a couple starters through an ongoing stretch of six consecutive games without an off-day. In response, Detroit announced tonight they’re recalling veteran Michael Pineda to make his season debut tomorrow afternoon against the Yankees. Signed to a $5.5MM guarantee in Spring Training, Pineda consented to be optioned to open the year after being delayed in reporting to camp by visa issues.

The hope had been for the big righty to start three games with Triple-A Toledo before being called up, but he’ll be pressed into action after two minor league appearances by the injuries to Mize and Manning. Now that he’s in the majors again, Pineda figures to take the ball every fifth day as a regular member of the rotation. Once Mize and Manning return, Tyler Alexander would likely be bumped into a long relief role — assuming the club avoids intervening injuries.

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