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Jake Faria Elects Free Agency

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The Diamondbacks announced last night that Jake Faria has cleared outright waivers and elected free agency. Arizona designated him for assignment over the weekend.

It’s possible Faria latches on elsewhere in the coming days, but it seems likelier the move brings an end to his 2021 campaign. There are a little less than two weeks to play in the regular season, and Faria is ineligible for postseason play since he’s been let go after August 31. The 28-year-old will presumably field minor league offers with Spring Training invitations from clubs this winter.

Faria began this season on a minors deal with his hometown Angels. He didn’t make it to the big leagues in Anaheim but signed a major league contract with the D-Backs shortly after being released in mid-June. Faria spent the next three months in the desert, posting a 5.51 ERA across 32 2/3 innings (all but three of his appearances coming in relief). The righty threw a decent amount of strikes, but he posted below-average swinging strike and ground-ball rates.

It has been a few seasons since we’ve seen Faria at his best. He broke into the majors with an impressive 3.43 ERA/4.26 SIERA across 86 2/3 frames with the Rays in 2017. He hasn’t been able to consistently build off that promising rookie showing in the years since, owning just a 5.65 ERA since the start of the 2018 season. Faria has a more consistent track record of productivity in Triple-A, pitching to a 3.99 ERA over five seasons with an impressive 27.9% strikeout rate.

Reds Select Dauri Moreta, Place Mike Moustakas On Injured List

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The Reds announced they’ve selected reliever Dauri Moreta to the big league roster. (Héctor Gómez of Z 101 previously reported Moreta’s impending call-up). Infielder Mike Moustakas has been placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to September 21, due to plantar fasciitis in his right foot. To clear space on the 40-man roster for Moreta, Cincinnati designated R.J. Alaniz for assignment.

Moreta is up for his first call after spending six years in the minors. He signed with the Reds as a 19-year-old (three years older than most international amateur prospects) during the 2015-16 signing period. Moreta has worked exclusively out of the bullpen since signing, and immediately racked up huge strikeout totals. He partially offset that massive swing-and-miss stuff by issuing too many free passes early in his career, but Moreta has made significant strides as a strike-thrower in recent years.

In High-A in 2019, Moreta walked only 4.1% of opponents. That was half his walk percentage from Low-A the season prior and nowhere near the untenable control issues he’d shown in rookie ball. Moreta has retained that improved command even after the lost minor league campaign in 2020. He’s split this year between Double-A Chattanooga and Triple-A Louisville, combining for a 1.02 ERA with a 29.1% strikeout percentage and just a 4.5% walk rate. Moreta’s strikeout tally fell precipitously after he made the jump from Double-A to Triple-A, but he’s continued to post highly effective bottom line results against top minor league hitters.

Adding Moreta to the bullpen mix bumps Alaniz from the roster. Signed to a minor league deal over the offseason, the 30-year-old was promoted to the majors in mid-July. He’s worked just 2 2/3 big league innings this season, bringing his career total to 18 1/3. Alaniz has an 8.35 ERA at the big league level with worse than average peripherals.

While he’s yet to find big league success, the right-hander has had a nice season with Louisville. Across 39 frames of relief with the Bats, Alaniz owns a 3.46 ERA with a solid 26.9% strikeout rate and an average 10.2% walk percentage. Alaniz has previously been outrighted in his career, so he’d have the right to elect free agency and explore opportunities elsewhere if he passes through waivers unclaimed.

Moustakas winds up back on the injured list with a right foot issue for the second time this season. In mid-May, he was placed on the IL due to a heel contusion. He suffered a setback during a minor league rehab appearance and wound up missing more than two months.

With just a week and a half left in the regular season, it’s possible this latest injury ends Moustakas’ season. The Reds have fallen four games behind the Cardinals in the NL Wild Card race, making them increasingly unlikely to reach the playoffs. Moustakas is hitting a career-worst .208/.282/.372, including a .177/.225/.313 line since he returned from the injured list. He’s guaranteed $38MM over the next two years (including a buyout on a 2024 club option). With Jonathan India having locked down second base, Moustakas and Eugenio Suárez — who’s having a very poor season himself — could be in line to split time at the hot corner moving forward.

Braves Select Dylan Lee

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The Braves have selected reliever Dylan Lee to the big league roster, per a team announcement. They’ve also recalled utilityman Orlando Arcia from Triple-A Gwinnett and placed Edgar Santana on the paternity list and Touki Toussaint on the bereavement list in corresponding moves. Atlanta already had a pair of vacancies on the 40-man roster, so no move was necessary in that regard.

Lee is up to make his major league debut. The left-hander was selected by the Marlins in the tenth round of the 2016 draft out of Fresno State. He spent the next few seasons in the Miami system, generally posting quality results but never garnering much prospect attention. Miami released him at the end of Spring Training this year.

A few weeks later, Lee hooked on with the Braves via minor league deal. He’s spent the year with Gwinnett and put up dominant numbers, working to a 1.58 ERA across 45 2/3 innings. Lee has punched out a stellar 30.2% of opponents against an extremely low 3.5% walk rate. He’s generated swinging strikes on 16.1% of his offerings, a mark that ranks 14th among the 296 Triple-A hurlers with 40+ innings pitched.

Lee’s fastball has topped out at 96 MPH but gotten plenty of whiffs in the strike zone this year, Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs wrote earlier this month. That elite showing at the minors’ top level earns the 27-year-old his first look against big league hitters.

Should the Braves hold onto a three-game lead over the Phillies in the NL East, Lee might even be an option for the postseason roster. Players in the organization but not on the 40-man roster before September 1 can still participate in the playoffs via a petition to the Commissioner’s Office, a fairly common maneuver throughout the league.

Reds Activate Tyler Stephenson From Injured List

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SEPTEMBER 22: Cincinnati activated Stephenson from the injured list before this afternoon’s game against the Pirates. That indicates he did not test positive for the coronavirus. Kolozsvary was optioned back to Louisville to clear active roster space but will retain his spot on the 40-man roster. To open 40-man space for Stephenson, the Reds transferred Tejay Antone from the 10-day to the 60-day IL. Antone underwent Tommy John surgery last month.

SEPTEMBER 20: The Reds announced they’ve selected catcher Mark Kolozsvary to the big league club. Fellow backstop Tyler Stephenson has been placed on the COVID-19 injured list in a corresponding move. Players on the COVID IL don’t count against the 40-man roster, so no additional moves were necessary.

A five-year minor league veteran, Kolozsvary is now in line for his first MLB opportunity. Selected in the seventh round of the 2017 draft out of the University of Florida, he struggled offensively early in his pro career but was off to his best start this season. Koloszvary hit .233/.341/.438 over 170 plate appearances with Double-A Chattanooga, popping six home runs and drawing walks at a strong 11.8% clip. The right-handed hitter fanned in 31.2% of his trips to the plate there, but he flashed enough power and patience to make a decent offensive impact.

Kolozsvary took a hiatus from his time in the Reds’ system to join the U.S. National Team at this summer’s Tokyo Olympics. Somewhat ironically, he’s the second member of that team to get called up today, as the Indians are set to bring up outfielder-turned-reliever Anthony Gose as well. Kolozsvary went 4-21 in a brief look in international competition before returning to the Reds.

Cincinnati bumped Kolozsvary up to Triple-A Louisville last month. He hasn’t performed well in his first 53 plate appearances there, but will nevertheless get a chance to back up Tucker Barnhart while Stephenson’s unavailable. He gets that nod over Beau Taylor, a three-year big league veteran also at Louisville who’s already on the 40-man roster. Because Kolozsvary’s coming up to replace a player on the COVID IL, he can be removed from the 40-man and returned to the minors without being exposed to waivers. It could be a relatively short first stint then, but Kolozsvary would be eligible for the Rule 5 draft this offseason if he’s not on Cincinnati’s 40-man roster at that point.

It’s not clear whether Stephenson’s on the IL for a positive test or if he’s simply a close contact or feeling virus-like symptoms. One of the game’s most promising young backstops, Stephenson came up very briefly last season but has gotten his first extended big league look in 2021. He’s off to a strong start, hitting .279/.368/.420 with nine home runs over 368 plate appearances (109 wRC+). Cincinnati has fallen three games back of the division-rival Cardinals in the race for the National League’s last playoff spot, and an extended absence from Stephenson would obviously make their hopes of tracking St. Louis down over the season’s final two weeks that much more difficult.

Nationals’ AGM Sam Mondry-Cohen To Depart Organization

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Nationals assistant general manager of baseball research and development Sam Mondry-Cohen has informed the club he will not return once his contract expires at the end of the season, reports Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post. While Mondry-Cohen does not currently have a new job lined up, he’s planning to pursue opportunities with other clubs this offseason, Dougherty relays.

Mondry-Cohen has been in the organization since 2009, earning a bump to AGM by 2019. Over the past few seasons, he’s been considered the leader of the Nats’ analytics department. (MLBTR’s TC Zencka covered Mondry-Cohen’s role in the organization shortly before the team captured their first World Series title two years ago).

Dougherty notes that the Nationals are expected to look to bolster their analytics group in the wake of departures by Mondry-Cohen and Scott Van Lenten, a former Washington staffer hired as Rockies’ research and development leader earlier this month. Kris Kline, Ted Towne, Mike DeBartolo, Johnny DiPuglia and Mark Scialabba — most of whom work in scouting and player development — remain as assistant general managers under baseball operations head Mike Rizzo.

Padres Designate Jake Arrieta For Assignment

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The Padres announced they’ve designated Jake Arrieta for assignment. The move clears active and 40-man roster space for reliever Javy Guerra, who has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list.

It proved to be a very brief run in San Diego for Arrieta. Released by the Cubs in mid-August, the former Cy Young award winner hooked on with San Diego a few days later. The 35-year-old had struggled mightily in his return to Chicago, working 86 1/3 innings of 6.88 ERA ball with the Cubs. The Friars, thin on starting pitching depth and with a few key hurlers dealing with injury, gave Arrieta a few turns through their rotation in hopes he could find more success in a new environment.

That ultimately proved not to be the case, as Arrieta posted even worse results in his brief look as a Padre. He tossed 12 1/3 innings over four starts, interrupted by a brief injured list stint due to a hamstring strain. He was tagged for sixteen runs (fifteen earned) in that time, while his already lackluster strikeout and swinging strike rates dipped even further relative to his time with the Cubs.

It’s now been three seasons of subpar performance for Arrieta, who was one of the sport’s best handful of pitchers at his peak. The righty reeled off consecutive seasons of sub-4.00 ERA ball from 2014-18, including a 2.53 in 2014 and a sterling 1.77 mark in his Cy Young winning 2015 campaign. That’s climbed successively from 4.64 to 5.08 to 7.39 over the past three years, though, as Arrieta has become one of the game’s least effective pitchers at missing bats while his velocity has fallen.

Arrieta will almost certainly reach free agency in the next few days, either via release or rejection of an outright assignment. In all likelihood, today’s designation will bring his 2021 campaign to a close. Given his significant recent struggles, it’s possible he’ll need to settle for a minor league deal to work his way back onto a big league roster this winter.

The injury woes that inspired the Padres to sign Arrieta have only intensified in the weeks since. They’re down to Yu Darvish, Joe Musgrove and the recently-signed Vince Velasquez as traditional rotation options, with Chris Paddack and Blake Snell currently on the 10-day injured list. It seems they’ll conduct a handful of bullpen games in the season’s final couple weeks as they try to claw back from a four-game deficit in the race for the National League’s final Wild Card spot.

Guerra hasn’t pitched all season on account of a UCL issue. A former infielder, the hard-throwing righty was converted to mound work in 2019. Over 22 MLB innings, he owns an 8.18 ERA with a below-average 17.5% strikeout rate but a solid 50% ground-ball percentage.

While Guerra hasn’t yet found much big league success, the Padres clearly remain intrigued by his arsenal. The 25-year-old averaged 98 MPH on his sinker last season, making it easy to envision him as a grounder specialist out of the bullpen. Because of his early career as a position player, Guerra has exhausted all three of his minor league option years. That leaves the Padres with no choice but to carry him on the active roster or risk losing him on waivers. They’ve evidently determined to keep him with the major league team for now, and he figures to see some action as part of the aforementioned bullpen-heavy pitcher usage the Padres will need to deploy down the stretch.

Dodgers Place Cody Bellinger On Injured List, Expected To Activate A.J. Pollock On Thursday

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The Dodgers announced they’ve placed outfielder Cody Bellinger on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to September 18, due to a left rib fracture. Luke Raley has been recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City to take his place on the active roster. In better news, manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Fabian Ardaya of the Athletic) the club anticipates reinstating fellow outfielder AJ Pollock from the IL before Thursday’s game against the Rockies.

While Bellinger’s rib fracture diagnosis sounds alarming, it doesn’t seem the club expects him to miss too much time. He hasn’t played since last Friday, but he was in tonight’s initial starting lineup before being scratched because of continued soreness. That setback will keep him out of action for at least the next week, but it’s seemingly possible he’ll be back on the field before the regular season is through.

The injury is the latest development in a season that has been an unequivocal disaster for Bellinger. He’d already been on the IL twice this season with leg issues, and he hasn’t produced anywhere near his capabilities even when healthy enough to play. Over 337 plate appearances, Bellinger is hitting .159/.237/.291 with just nine home runs. He’s striking out at an alarming 26.1% rate and has managed just a .188 batting average on balls in play. Of the 242 hitters with 300+ plate appearances, only Jackie Bradley Jr. has a worse park-adjusted hitting line than Bellinger by measure of wRC+.

It’s been a shockingly poor season for the 26-year-old, who’s just two years removed from winning National League MVP honors. Bellinger couldn’t replicate that year’s massive .305/.406/.629 showing in last season’s truncated schedule, but his .239/.333/.455 mark in 2020 was still far better than this year’s performance.

Bellinger’s massive struggles set the stage for some interesting decisions for the Dodgers’ front office. Assuming he’s able to make it back from his injury in time for the postseason, they’ll need to decide whether to carry him on the playoff roster. That still seems likely, given his left-handed pop and continued plus defense in center field. But it could be difficult to find a ton of playing time for Bellinger on a loaded Los Angeles roster this postseason.

The front office’s confidence in a Bellinger bounceback will also be gauged this winter. Last offseason, he and the Dodgers agreed to a $16.1MM deal to avoid arbitration. He’s slated to go through that process twice more and will likely be due a small raise next winter. (Arbitration salaries are designed to escalate year-over-year, so Bellinger’s salary wouldn’t decline even in spite of his poor performance). At his best, Bellinger’s obviously worth far more than even that significant tally. But he’s a .192/.278/.359 hitter over 580 trips to the plate in the past two seasons, and the Dodgers certainly wouldn’t want to commit that level of outlay if they believe that to be more reflective of his current talent level than his 2017-19 peak is.

A Bellinger non-tender or trade still seems unlikely, given the Dodgers’ immense spending levels and his not too distant MVP season. But the Dodgers should still have plenty of outfield options in coming years, even if Chris Taylor departs in free agency. Mookie Betts is obviously set to play everyday, and Pollock now looks likely to be back next season because of the injury from which he’s now returning.

Pollock’s free agent deal with the Dodgers contained a vesting option that could’ve allowed him to opt out at the end of this season. To do so, he’d have needed to tally 1000 plate appearances between 2020 and 2021. For vesting option purposes, last season’s tallies were multiplied by 2.7 to prorate them over the course of a full season. Pollock picked up 210 plate appearances last year, translating to 567 after prorating. That left him in need of 433 trips to the plate this season to pick up the right to test free agency.

A few weeks ago, Pollock looked well on his way to reaching that threshold. The 33-year-old suffered a hamstring strain on September 4, though, keeping him out for almost three full weeks. He’s been stuck on 386 plate appearances since suffering that injury, meaning he needs 47 more over the course of the season to trigger the potential opt out. By Thursday, the Dodgers will have just ten games remaining in the regular season. Pollock would need to play in all ten and average 4.7 plate appearances per game to reach the option threshold (assuming he and the team haven’t modified the clause in the wake of his recent injury). While not completely impossible, it seems unlikely he’d get that much playing time over the season’s final week and a half.

That’d guarantee Pollock returns next season on a $10MM salary, an eminently affordable price for the Dodgers given his quality production. While the former Diamondback’s tenure in L.A. started slow, he’s been very effective over the past couple seasons. Going back to the beginning of 2020, Pollock is hitting .289/.339/.529 with 32 homers and 34 doubles in essentially the equivalent of one full season’s worth of playing time. He’d come out of this year’s All-Star Break scorching hot, with a .329/.379/.497 showing in the second half before his injury.

Pollock’s forthcoming return will be a welcome addition to a Dodger team hoping to avoid the Wild Card game. They’ve continued to hover just behind the league-best Giants in the NL West, entering play tonight one game back. Los Angeles closes out their season with series against the Rockies, Diamondbacks, Padres and Brewers, while the Giants will take on San Diego, Colorado and Arizona before facing the Padres again to close out the season.

D-Backs’ Seth Beer To Undergo Shoulder Surgery

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Diamondbacks first baseman Seth Beer will undergo left shoulder surgery this week, manager Torey Lovullo informed reporters (including Steve Gilbert of MLB.com). The 25-year-old dislocated his shoulder diving for a ball in a game against the Dodgers last week.

It’s unclear if the procedure will affect Beer’s readiness for Spring Training in 2022, but Lovullo said the recovery process will take “months, not weeks” (via Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic). While the D-Backs have long since been playing out the string on this year, it’s discouraging news that one of the club’s more promising young bats might be impacted by health issues heading into next season.

Beer just recently got his first call to the majors, appearing in only four games before his injury. He’s gone 4-9 to start his major league career, including a home run off the Mariners’ Diego Castillo in his first big league at-bat. That came on the heels of a strong season with Triple-A Reno, where the lefty-hitting Beer put up a .287/.398/.511 line in 435 plate appearances.

Prospect evaluators have long questioned Beer’s defensive aptitude at first base, but there’s little debate he’s a promising offensive player. The potential introduction of a designated hitter to the National League in the upcoming offseason’s collective bargaining negotiations would figure to be a boon to his chances of playing regularly in Arizona. Barring changes to the service time structure in the next CBA, Beer will be under team control for at least the next six seasons — future optional assignments could push back that trajectory even more — and won’t reach arbitration eligibility until the 2024-25 offseason.

Red Sox Place Garrett Whitlock On Injured List

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4:56 pm: Boston has officially placed Whitlock on the IL, retroactive to September 20. He’ll be first eligible to return next Thursday. Ryan Brasier has been recalled to take his place on the active roster. Additionally, Boston reinstated infielder Christian Arroyo from the COVID-19 injured list. Utilityman Jack López has been removed from the active and 40-man rosters and returned to Triple-A Worcester in a corresponding move. López had been selected as a COVID replacement, so he needn’t be exposed to waivers to be bumped from the 40-man.

3:44 pm: The Red Sox are placing reliever Garrett Whitlock on the 10-day injured list due to a right pectoral strain, manager Alex Cora told reporters (including Alex Speier of the Boston Globe). Cora stressed that the club doesn’t view the injury as overly serious but wants to be cautious not aggravate the issue. He didn’t rule out the possibility of Whitlock returning after a ten-day minimal absence.

Even if Whitlock is able to make it by the middle of next week, his loss will still be a tough blow for a Boston team in a tightly-contested Wild Card race. The Red Sox enter play tonight up a game and a half on the Blue Jays for the top Wild Card position in the American League. The Yankees are only half a game back of Toronto for the league’s final playoff spot, and the A’s and Mariners are still within range themselves.

Whitlock has arguably been Boston’s best reliever this year, an improbably fantastic outcome for a Rule 5 draftee. Plucked from the Yankees’ system last winter, the right-hander has tossed 72 1/3 innings of 1.99 ERA ball across 45 appearances. He’s benefitted from a bit of good fortune to post such a strong run prevention mark — particularly with regards to stranding baserunners — but there’s little question Whitlock has had a strong year. He’s got better than average strikeout (26.8%), walk (5.8%), ground-ball (49.5%) and swinging strike (12.8%) rates.

That continued strong work has unsurprisingly gained Whitlock more important opportunities as the season has gone on. After deploying him in mostly mop-up situations early in the year, Cora has increasingly leaned on Whitlock in higher-leverage game states over the past couple months. The 25-year-old has continued to perform well in those key spots, holding opponents to a .151/.220/.283 line over 59 plate appearances deemed “high-leverage” by FanGraphs. With Whitlock down, Hansel Robles, Matt Barnes and the resurgent Garrett Richards look likeliest to shoulder the most important innings late in games.

Orioles Select Cesar Valdez

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The Orioles have selected the contract of reliever César Valdez, per a club announcement. To create space on the active and 40-man rosters, outfielder DJ Stewart has been placed on the 60-day injured list due to a right knee osteochondral defect.

Valdez is back with the big league club after being outrighted off the 40-man roster last month. The changeup specialist began the year in a high-leverage role, picking up eight saves while working to a 1.42 ERA over the first month of the season. He ran into some disastrous results from May onward, though, posting a 7.44 ERA in his last 32 2/3 frames before he was bumped from the roster.

Assigned to Triple-A Norfolk after he cleared waivers, the veteran has earned his way back with a strong showing. Valdez has tossed 12 2/3 innings of three-run ball with the Tides, racking up ground-balls at a massive 64.7% clip in that brief minor league showing. The 36-year-old still hasn’t accrued enough service time to be arbitration eligible, so the O’s could bring him back next season for scarcely more than the league minimum salary if they feel it worthwhile to devote him a 40-man roster spot all winter.

Stewart will undergo a cleanup procedure on his injured knee, manager Brandon Hyde told reporters (including Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com). He’s expected to be full-go for Spring Training in 2022. The 27-year-old picked up 318 plate appearances this season but posted below-average numbers on both sides of the ball. Stewart hit .204/.324/.374 while rating poorly as a defensive corner outfielder. As with Valdez, he’s yet to reach arbitration, so the O’s could keep him in the fold for almost no financial cost if they’re willing to keep him on the roster over the winter.

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