Braves Claim Mike Ford, Designate Joe Dunand
June 12: Dunand cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Gwinnett, per David O’Brien of The Athletic.
June 10: The Braves announced they’ve claimed first baseman Mike Ford off waivers from the Mariners and optioned him to Triple-A Gwinnett. Infielder Joe Dunand has been designated for assignment to clear 40-man roster space.
It has been a roller-coaster of a season for Ford, who’s now on his third different organization of the year. He signed a minor league deal with Seattle, then was selected onto the big league roster in April. Seattle designated him for assignment and traded him to the Giants fairly quickly, then acquired him back from San Francisco two weeks later once the Giants DFA him themselves. Ford held his second 40-man roster spot in Seattle for a few weeks, but the M’s again took him off the roster this past weekend.
Through it all, Ford has appeared in 17 MLB games. He’s compiled a rather bizarre .182/.357/.212 slash line, the product of eight walks but 12 strikeouts in only 42 plate appearances. It’s the fourth consecutive year in which he’s logged some big league time, with all of his pre-2022 MLB work coming in a Yankees uniform. The left-handed hitter broke in with an excellent .259/.350/.559 showing with 12 home runs in 50 games as a rookie, but he owns a .144/.273/.263 line in just shy of 200 plate appearances since the start of the 2020 camapign.
The 29-year-old adds a left-handed hitting depth option to the organization. Matt Olson obviously has first base accounted for, but the Braves have gotten subpar work (.252/.328/.360) out of their designated hitters. Ford is in his final minor league option year, meaning the Braves can keep him in Gwinnett for the rest of the season if they’re willing to carry him on the 40-man roster. He’s hit .271/.417/.417 in 14 Triple-A games this year.
Dunand was a recent waiver claim himself, coming over from the division-rival Marlins last week. His time in the organization may now be coming to close without a big league game, as the 26-year-old has just appeared in five games with Gwinnett. He did make a brief cameo in Miami earlier in the year, logging three appearances.
A former second-round pick, the right-handed hitting Dunand has a .209/.295/.376 line in 328 Triple-A plate appearances. He’s struggled with strikeouts throughout his minor league tenure, but the 6’2″ infielder has drawn praise in the past for his raw power potential. Dunand has played mostly on the left side of the infield in the minors, with a bit more work at shortstop than at third base. The Braves will have a week to trade him or look to run through waivers themselves.
Royals Transfer Jake Brentz To 60-Day IL
The Royals announced some roster moves today, reinstating lefty Amir Garrett from the COVID-related injured list. To make room for him on the active roster, fellow southpaw Angel Zerpa was optioned to Triple-A. Yet another lefty, Jake Brentz, was transferred to the 60-day IL in order to create room for Garrett on the 40-man roster.
Brent made it to the major leagues for the first time last year and had a strong debut season. He threw 64 innings with a 3.66 ERA, 49% ground ball rate and 27.3% strikeout rate, though his walks were on the high side at 13.3%. This year, however, things got off to a disastrous start, with Brentz allowing 14 earned runs in 5 1/3 innings, which included an awful 28.9% walk rate. He landed on the injured list in late April due to a left flexor strain. At the time, manager Mike Matheny said that Brentz had been ailing for some time, which perhaps explains those struggles.
Today’s transfer means he won’t be eligible to return until 60 days from the initial IL placement, which would be late June. Matheny tells Anne Rogers of MLB.com that this doesn’t affect the timeline for Brentz, who wasn’t going to be ready to return at that point anyway. The club could use the roster spot because of their COVID situation. Garrett was one of three players on the COVID list, meaning he wasn’t occupying a spot on the 40-man roster. Moving Brentz to the 60-day cleared up a spot for him, though the club still has Matt Peacock and Gabe Speier on the COVID-IL, meaning further roster maneuvering will be required down the line.
Diamondbacks Designate Drew Ellis For Assignment
The Diamondbacks announced a series of roster moves today, with right-hander Luke Weaver being activated from the 60-day injured list. To create space for Weaver on the active roster, right-hander Edwin Uceta was optioned to Triple-A. To open a spot on the 40-man roster, infielder Drew Ellis was designated for assignment.
Acquired from the Cardinals in the Paul Goldschmidt trade, Weaver had an excellent start to his Diamondbacks tenure, although it was limited by a forearm strain. In 12 starts that year, he put up a 2.94 ERA in 64 1/3 innings. But over the subsequent two seasons, injuries and underperformance dimmed his outlook. In April, manager Terry Lovullo announced that the club planned to use Weaver out of the bullpen to start the year. Regardless, Weaver landed on the IL with elbow inflammation after throwing just 2/3 of an inning, only now making his way back to the majors. It’s possible that Weaver could get back into the rotation soon, as his last rehab outing was a four-inning start where he threw 60 pitches. Caleb Smith took Weaver’s rotation spot at the start of the year but was himself bumped into the bullpen after just one start. Humberto Castellanos took over a rotation spot in April but landed on the IL recently.
As for Ellis, 26, he was a second round pick of the D-Backs in 2017. He had his contract selected in July of last year and made his major league debut. In 34 MLB games so far, he has a tepid batting line of .134/.268/.207, 37 wRC+. He has an incredible 18.4% walk rate in 42 Triple-A games this year, helping him produce a line of .217/.369/.399, 100 wRC+. Ellis has garnered praise from prospect evaluators for his defense, where he’s capable of playing first, second or third base. Given that versatility and patient approach at the plate, he could be of interest to other clubs, especially since he still has options and can be stashed in the minors. Arizona will have a week to trade him or put him on waivers.
White Sox Select Seby Zavala, Designate Yermin Mercedes
The White Sox announced a series of roster moves today, selecting the contract of catcher Seby Zavala and designating first baseman Yermin Mercedes for assignment. They also recalled lefty Tanner Banks. To make room on the active roster for Zavala and Banks, lefty Aaron Bummer was placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to June 9, due to a lat strain, while righty Davis Martin was optioned to Triple-A.
Zavala appeared in the majors with the White Sox in 2019 and 2021, getting into 42 games and hitting .171/.223/.343. He was outrighted off the roster in April and has been in Triple-A Charlotte, having a much better showing. He’s hit .282/.396/.535 through 41 games with the Knights, amounting to a wRC+ of 147, though with a 35.5% strikeout rate. He’s actually played more first base than catcher this year, though he’s likely needed on the big league club for extra depth behind the plate. Yasmani Grandal left yesterday’s game with hamstring tightness and will be unavailable for a while, even though he hasn’t been placed on the IL. Zavala and Reese McGuire will handle the catching duties until Grandal recovers enough to rejoin them.
As for Mercedes, this has the potential to conclude his tenure with the White Sox, a relationship that has not always gone smoothly. Last year, the Twins sent utility player Willians Astudillo to the mound in a game they were losing 15-4 to the Sox. Mercedes drew the ire of some unwritten rules fetishists by swinging at a 3-0 pitch from Astudillo and depositing over the fence for a home run. The Twins responded by throwing behind Mercedes in a subsequent game, which garnered suspensions for reliever Tyler Duffey and manager Rocco Baldelli. In the media dustup that followed, many White Sox players defended Mercedes, but White Sox manager Tony La Russa publicly spoke out against his own player and those who defended him.
Later in the season, Mercedes was optioned to the minors, which was followed by him announcing that he planned on stepping away from baseball, apparently posting his decision on Instagram before telling the team about it. However, it turned out to be a false alarm, as Mercedes quickly returned to the team in short order.
This year, Mercedes underwent hand surgery in March though was able to return and make his season debut in Triple-A in May. Through 25 games with the Knights, he’s hitting .230/.376/.426 thanks to a whopping 18.3% walk rate. All that amounts to a wRC+ of 120, or 20% above league average. Mercedes has always hit at every level, including the majors, though he doesn’t provide much value with the glove. Although he came up as a catcher, he’s gradually spent less time behind the plate, making 15 starts at DH this year and nine at first base, none behind the dish. The 29-year-old is in his final option year, meaning he could garner interest from any team willing to give him a 40-man roster spot. He could be stashed in Triple-A for the remainder of the year as a bat-first depth option. The White Sox will have one week to trade him or put him on waivers.
Twins Select Tyler Thornburg
The Twins announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Tyler Thornburg. He will take both the active roster spot and 40-man roster spot of Chi Chi Gonzalez, who was designated for assignment yesterday.
Thornburg had a nice run of success pitching for the Brewers in his first five seasons. From 2012 to 2016, he threw 219 2/3 innings in 144 games with a 2.87 ERA, 24.2% strikeout rate, 10% walk rate and 35.8% ground ball rate. However, he’s dealt with injuries and underperformance since then, only throwing 59 MLB frames since the end of the 2016 campaign.
This year, he started the season with Atlanta, throwing 9 1/3 innings with a 3.86 ERA, 21.3% strikeout rate, 10.6% walk rate and 25% ground ball rate. Despite that respectable showing, he got designated for assignment when the club needed a fresh arm. He landed with the Twins on a minor league deal and has had a pair of good outings, logging three innings with five Ks and no walks or earned runs.
He’ll provide a fresh arm to a pitching corps that has been fairly snakebit recently, with Cody Stashak, Danny Coulombe, Sonny Gray, Josh Winder, Joe Ryan, Bailey Ober and Chris Paddack all land on the IL in the past month.
Lance Lynn Likely To Be Activated Tuesday
White Sox manager Tony La Russa tells reporters, including Scott Merkin of MLB.com, that starter Lance Lynn will likely be reinstated from the injured list in order to start Tuesday’s game against the Tigers.
Acquired from the Rangers prior to the 2021 season, Lynn had just one year remaining on his contract at the time he joined the Pale Hose. He was excellent in his first few months with the White Sox, throwing 90 2/3 innings over 16 starts with a 1.99 ERA. That showing was enough for them to put down $38MM in order to keep him around for two more seasons, with a club option for 2024 as well.
Coming into this year, Lynn was set to be a key member of a rotation that looked to be a strength for the South Siders, though that hasn’t gone according to plan. Lynn left his final Spring Training start with discomfort in his right knee, the same knee that sent him to the injured list for a time in 2021. He ultimately required surgery and has been working his way back to health ever since.
The Sox have seen their rotation depth tested in a few different ways this year, on top of not yet having any contributions from Lynn thus far. Lucas Giolito has been on the IL twice, Vince Velasquez is currently out due to a groin injury, and Dallas Keuchel struggled enough to get released. Still, the starting corps has still held its own, thanks to strong performances from Giolito, Dylan Cease, Michael Kopech and Johnny Cueto. Chicago starters have a 3.99 ERA on the year as a unit, 14th-best in the majors, not terrible considering the hiccups they’ve faced.
The club has been weathering their injuries enough to tread water in the American League postseason race, currently sitting on a 27-30 record, just 2 1/2 games out of a playoff spot. If Lynn can return and show anything resembling his 2019-2021 form, he will give a huge boost to the club. Over those three seasons, he threw 449 1/3 innings with a 3.26 ERA, 27.5% strikeout rate and 6.9% walk rate. The 12.3 fWAR he accumulated in that time was fifth among qualified pitchers across baseball, trailing only Jacob deGrom, Gerrit Cole, Zack Wheeler and Max Scherzer. Once Lynn takes the ball, the rotation should be at full strength, with the 35-year-old slotting next to Giolito, Cease, Kopech and Cueto. Davis Martin, who recently fared well in three spot starts (one behind an opener), will likely be bumped down to the sixth spot on the depth chart, pitching in Triple-A or long relief in the meantime.
Walker Buehler Likely Out Two To Three Months With Flexor Strain
11:58PM: Buehler will be shut down from throwing for 6-8 weeks, Roberts told Jack Harris and other reporters, as the MRI revealed a flexor strain. While Buehler will have to rebuild his arm strength almost from scratch afterwards, Roberts does believe the righty will be able to pitch again in 2022.
4:30PM: After Walker Buehler left yesterday’s game with discomfort in his right elbow, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya and The L.A. Times’ Jack Harris) that Buehler will be placed on the 15-day injured list. The team has officially announced the transaction, listing Buehler’s placement as due to a right forearm strain.
Buehler is currently undergoing an MRI to determine the extent and nature of the injury, but Roberts said that the right-hander will miss “a good bit of time.” Right-hander Michael Grove will be called up to take Buehler’s place on the active roster. Buehler underwent Tommy John surgery in 2015, and though he has avoided any serious elbow/forearm issues since, it is naturally a concern to see Buehler again sidelined with any sort of related injury. More will be known once the MRI results are revealed, as it isn’t yet clear if Buehler’s season (or beyond) could possibly be in jeopardy.
At the very least, the Dodgers will have a big vacancy to fill in the starting rotation, even if Buehler hasn’t been quite his ace-level self in 2022. Buehler has a 4.02 ERA over 65 innings, with a very solid 6.2% walk rate but a below-average 21.2% strikeout rate and underwhelming Statcast numbers. The biggest problem is Buehler’s four-seam fastball, which was at times a dominant plus pitch in 2018-21, but batters have been teeing off on the four-seamer this year. The velocity has dropped off to an average of 95.2mph, though it isn’t that far below Buehler’s career average velo of 96.1mph on his four-seamer.
The Dodgers could have a rotation replacement for Buehler in relatively short order, as Roberts said that Andrew Heaney is set for another rehab start on Tuesday and could be activated from the IL for the Dodgers’ game with the Guardians on June 19. Los Angeles also has off-days on both Monday and Thursday, so a fifth starter won’t be immediately necessary in the short term.
In the bigger picture, of course, losing Buehler for a significant amount of time will certainly increase the Dodgers’ focus on adding starting pitching at the deadline. While L.A. has gotten its typically strong results from its rotation this year, pitching was already expected to be a target area, to add more depth and quality to the starting five. President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman hasn’t been shy about adding major names (including such star pitchers as Max Scherzer or Yu Darvish) to the roster at past trade deadlines, so anything from depth additions to blockbuster deals could be on the table for the Dodgers prior to August 2.
Buehler is sidelined just as Clayton Kershaw returns from his own IL stint, leaving the Dodgers still short of their ideal top of the rotation. Kershaw, Julio Urias, Tony Gonsolin, Tyler Anderson, and Heaney now form the current starting five, with Dustin May (TJ surgery) and Danny Duffy (flexor tendon surgery) expected to return at some point later in the season. Pitchers like Grove, Ryan Pepiot, and Mitch White have also gotten some spot starts this season, and could be called upon again for more rotation work or potentially relief roles depending on how the club opts to deploy any of these hurlers.
Quick Hits: Canha, Escobar, Marte, Mets, Perez, Suarez
Starling Marte, Mark Canha, and Eduardo Escobar are all playing well for the first-place Mets, making the team’s investment in the trio look like a canny move. The New York Post’s Joel Sherman looks back at how the Mets added all three players during a frenzied span of around two days prior to the lockout, and how newly-hired GM Billy Eppler “emphasized on-base percentage, defense, versatility and players with strong reputations as good teammates,” with a particular focus on how well such free agents could adapt to Citi Field. Sherman’s piece contains several interesting details about the Mets’ pursuit of the three players, as well as some other info on some of the other suitors.
The Rangers (another of the winter’s more aggressive teams) and Dodgers were interested in Canha, while “the Mets saw the Giants as a threat” due to Canha’s ties to the Bay Area. As for Marte, New York was a relatively late entry into that chase, as agent Peter Greenberg said he met with roughly 20 other teams before touching base with the Mets, since Eppler wasn’t officially hired until midway through November. However, the Mets made up plenty of ground by offering Marte a big four-year, $78MM contract that outpaced the other bidders. “What stands out to me is that the Mets came in and in less than 24 hours we had a deal,” Greenberg said.
More from around baseball….
- Martin Perez has been one of the surprises of the 2022 season, as the veteran lefty has an AL-best 1.56 ERA over 69 1/3 innings, plus a 54.7% grounder rate and just a single home run allowed. With encouragement from Rangers coaches, Perez has re-established his sinker as a big part of his arsenal, Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News writes, and Perez also took a tip from the legendary Pedro Martinez about throwing more pitches outside the strike zone, to induce more chases from batters. The results speak for themselves, as Perez is having a career year at age 31, and setting himself up for a much more lucrative trip to free agent this winter. After the Red Sox declined their club option on Perez last fall, he told Grant that the Pirates and Nationals each had interest prior to the lockout, but Perez instead chose to return to a familiar environment and signed with Texas for a one-year, $4MM pact in March.
- The Padres placed right-hander Robert Suarez on the 15-day injured list due to right knee inflammation earlier this week, and manager Bob Melvin told reporters (including reps from 97.3 The Fan radio) that Suarez recently had surgery to remove “loose impediments.” A specific recovery timeline isn’t known, but Suarez will miss “at least a couple of weeks before we see him back throwing.” The 31-year-old rookie has been a solid performer out of San Diego’s bullpen this year, with Suarez contributing a 3.09 ERA and 30.9% strikeout rate over 23 1/3 innings, though with a high 13.8% walk rate.
Injured List Transactions: Urias, Holderman, Mayza
On yet another injury-filled day in baseball, let’s catch up on a few more comings and goings from the IL…
- The Orioles placed infielder Ramon Urias on the 10-day injured list due to a left oblique strain, and selected Richie Martin‘s contract from Triple-A. With a pretty even split of playing time between shortstop, second base, and third base over his three MLB seasons, Urias has handled the majority of third base duty for the O’s this season, though he hasn’t matched his production from the 2021 season. After posting a 115 wRC+ in 296 PA with Baltimore last year, Urias has a more modest 86 wRC+ and a .225/.273/.387 slash line in 188 PA this season. Tyler Nevin figures to get most of the third base playing time with Urias out, and Martin (called up for his first Major League action of 2022) will likely spell Rougned Odor and Jorge Mateo at the two middle infield positions.
- The Mets placed right-hander Colin Holderman on the 15-day injured list due to a right shoulder impingement. The placement is retroactive to June 8, and righty Jake Reed has been called up from Triple-A to take Holderman’s spot in New York’s bullpen. Pitching in his first MLB season, Holderman has an impressive 3.18 ERA, 30.4% strikeout rate, and 8.7% walk rate in his first 11 1/3 innings as a big leaguer.
- Tim Mayza was activated off the Blue Jays‘ 15-day injured list, as the left-hander returned to action after missing a little under four weeks due to forearm inflammation. After throwing a scoreless two-thirds of an inning today against the Tigers, Mayza improved his ERA to 1.98 over 13 2/3 total frames this season.
AL East Notes: Ryu, Sale, Red Sox, Carpenter
It has been a little over a week since a forearm strain sent left-hander Hyun Jin Ryu to the 15-day injured list, and Ryu and the Blue Jays are still determining the next stage of rehab. Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith (Twitter link) writes that Ryu has met with noted specialist Dr. Neal ElAttrache, and is also going to seek out other opinions.
As with any forearm injury, there was immediate speculation that Ryu would require Tommy John surgery, and it isn’t yet known if such a major procedure is necessary. The fact that Ryu wasn’t immediately slated for TJ surgery is perhaps a positive sign that his forearm strain doesn’t involve any serious UCL damage, yet on the flip side, it is possible that a TJ procedure was the initial recommendation, and Ryu and the Jays are trying to find a second opinion that involves an alternative recovery treatment. It certainly seems like Ryu is in for a lengthy absence regardless, and if he does ultimately require Tommy John surgery, his tenure in Toronto could already be over. TJ rehab usually takes 12-15 months, and Ryu is only under contract through the end of the 2023 season.
More from the AL East…
- Chris Sale threw a bullpen session on Friday and is scheduled to throw a live batting practice session on Monday. Red Sox pitching coach Dave Bush told The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey and other reporters that Sale is roughly on the same pace as a pitcher just beginning Spring Training, so Sale would have roughly six weeks of work ahead before he is fully ramped up and ready to rejoin Boston’s rotation. However, Sale could potentially return sooner if he was used as a relief pitcher, and Bush said that “everything is on the table at this point” in terms of Sale’s potential role. “If it suits him and us for him to come back sooner and in fewer innings and we have a bullpen that’s capable of absorbing the extra innings, then maybe that’s an option,” Bush said.
- The Red Sox and Braves were among the teams who had interest in Matt Carpenter after the Rangers released the veteran infielder in May, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports. The Rangers didn’t have a role for Carpenter at the big league level, but his big numbers at the Triple-A level surely caught the attention of multiple teams wondering if the former All-Star had gotten back on track. Much to Boston’s particular chagrin, Carpenter ended up signing with the Yankees, and he has already delivered four homers and a 1.250 OPS over his first 25 plate appearances in the pinstripes.