Casey Mize Shut Down From Throwing Due To Continued Elbow Soreness
The Tigers are shutting down Casey Mize from his throwing program, manager A.J. Hinch told reporters (including Jason Beck of MLB.com). The right-hander, who has been out since mid-April due to a sprained medial ligament in his elbow, had been experiencing continued soreness while throwing from 90 feet at flat ground.
Hinch indicated Mize was headed for further medical evaluation, although there’s no indication a surgical procedure is under consideration at this point. The medial ligament is not one that typically serves as a precursor to Tommy John surgeries, and the organization has maintained optimism thus far that he’d be able to rehab from the issue without going under the knife. Mize has experienced multiple setbacks during a recovery process that has already dragged longer than the team initially anticipated, however.
That’s no doubt frustrating to both pitcher and team alike. The Tigers’ starting staff has been decimated by injury, one of the reasons the club has an underwhelming 21-33 record. Mize’s absence has loomed particularly large, as he made just two starts before the injury. That’s come on the heels of the former first overall pick tossing a team-leading 150 1/3 frames in 2021, when he pitched to a solid 3.71 ERA.
Mize, who turned 25 last month, is among the most important players in the organization. Detroit has built a good chunk of their rebuild on the young trio of Mize, Tarik Skubal and Matt Manning — whom they envision joining offseason signee Eduardo Rodríguez as the core of the long-term rotation. Skubal has had the breakout season for which Detroit has been hoping, working to a 2.15 ERA with a stellar 27% strikeout rate through his first ten starts. Mize and Manning, however, have both been on the IL since mid-April.
Manning, who’s dealing with shoulder soreness, was shut down from throwing himself late last month after a bout of biceps tendinitis arose during a minor league rehab stint. Hinch said today that doctors have cleared him to restart a throwing program (via Beck). It’s still not precisely clear when he might be able to embark on a new rehab assignment, but it’s positive news that Manning is again able to throw in any capacity after his recent setback.
Mize îs already on the 60-day injured list. Manning is on the 10-day IL, but his placement is retroactive to April 17. He’s likely to wind up transferred to the 60-day IL himself whenever the Tigers need a 40-man roster spot, as he certainly won’t be back on an MLB mound by the middle of June.
MLB Suspends Hector Neris, Dusty Baker
Major League Baseball announced this evening that Astros reliever Héctor Neris has been suspended four games “for intentionally throwing at Eugenio Suárez of the Mariners in the area of the head while warnings were in place.” He was also fined an undisclosed amount. Neris is appealing the ban, reports Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). He’ll remain on the active roster while the appeal runs its course.
Houston skipper Dusty Baker was suspended for one game and fined an undisclosed amount on account of Neris’ actions. That’s standard procedure in these situations, and Baker will miss tonight’s game as a result. (Managers are not afforded any appellate rights). Bench coach Joe Espada will be the acting manager in his stead, tweets Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. Espada himself was hit with a fine, as were fellow Houston staff members Omar López and Troy Snitker and Seattle manager Scott Servais.
The discipline comes out of last night’s contest, when benches cleared after Neris hit Mariners infielder Ty France in the top of the ninth inning. While France didn’t seem to take umbrage with the pitch itself, the benches began jawing after a dispute about whether the pitch actually struck him. Servais and López were ejected and the sides were warned.
Julio Rodríguez followed the France hit-by-pitch with a two-run homer. Two batters later, Neris sailed a fastball behind Suárez’s head, and home plate umpire Chris Guccione ejected both Neris and Baker. MLB has judged the offering to Suárez to be intentional, leading to the suspensions. Last night’s contest was the opener of a three-game set between the AL West rivals.
Phillies Select Scott Kingery
The Phillies announced this afternoon they’ve selected infielder Scott Kingery back onto the major league roster. Utilityman Johan Camargo has been placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to June 6, due to a right knee strain in a corresponding move. Philadelphia already had an opening on the 40-man roster.
Kingery returns to the majors for the first time since being outrighted off the 40-man last June. The designation for assignment and subsequent outright was the culmination of a few seasons of struggles. Kingery hit at a league average level (.258/.315/.474) during the offensively-charged 2019 campaign, but he’s otherwise struggled mightily at the plate as a big leaguer. He’d posted well below-average numbers as a rookie in 2018, and he’s hit .144/.204/.250 in 143 trips to the plate since his sophomore campaign.
That’s certainly not how the Phillies had envisioned his career progressing. A former second-round pick, Kingery tore through the minor leagues over his first couple seasons of pro ball. Baseball America ranked the University of Arizona product as the game’s #31 prospect in advance of his rookie year, and the Philadelphia front office signed him to a six-year, $24MM guarantee a couple weeks before his major league debut. That investment hasn’t panned out as hoped, but the 28-year-old will get another opportunity to try to solve big league arms.
Kingery, who is making $6.25MM this season under the terms of the aforementioned extension, has gotten off to a rough start with Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Through 16 games, he’s hitting .185/.297/.296 while striking out in 34.4% of his plate appearances. That kind of swing-and-miss has been an unexpected issue for Kingery since 2018, as he’s never developed into the potential plus hitter some prospect evaluators anticipated. He’ll step into a second base mix that lost Jean Segura for a few months to finger surgery and has seen Nick Maton and Camargo hit the IL in recent days.
Camargo, signed to a one-year deal over the winter, has seen more playing time than envisioned because of Segura’s injury and Bryson Stott’s struggles. He got off to a nice start but had slumped of late, and he lands on the IL owner of a modest .246/.310/.338 line. Stott and Didi Gregorius figure to assume the bulk of the playing time up the middle, with Kingery on hand as a depth option.
Danny Jansen Suffers Finger Fracture
Blue Jays catcher Danny Jansen suffered a fracture near his left pinky finger, general manager Ross Atkins told reporters (including Keegan Matheson of MLB.com). He’s headed to the 10-day injured list, although Atkins indicated the recovery timeline is expected to be on the shorter side for a fracture. Fellow backstop Zack Collins is being recalled from Triple-A Buffalo in a corresponding move.
It’s the second IL stint of the season for Jansen, who also missed more than a month after straining his oblique. He’s only appeared in 19 games as a result, but the righty-hitting backstop has made a massive power impact when healthy. Through 62 trips to the plate, Jansen has blasted seven home runs. That’s been more than enough to offset a pedestrian .232 batting average and .290 on-base percentage, and he’s now hit 12 homers in 125 plate appearances dating back to last September.
Losing Jansen while he’s hitting this well will be an obvious disappointment, but the Jays are as well-equipped as any club to handle a hit to their catching corps. Alejandro Kirk has been pressed primarily into a designated hitter role with Jansen around, but he’s capable of sliding back behind the plate in the latter’s absence. Kirk isn’t regarded as a great defender, but he’s among the best offensive options at the position leaguewide. The 23-year-old is hitting an excellent .306/.389/.465 through 47 games this season.
Collins, acquired from the White Sox in a one-for-one swap with Reese McGuire, offers a power-hitting depth option behind Kirk. The Jays also have one of the game’s top prospects, Gabriel Moreno, knocking on the doorstep of the majors. The 22-year-old is hitting .323/.377/.406 through 146 plate appearances in Buffalo. The Jays have opted to roll with the more experienced tandem of Kirk and Collins for the moment, but Moreno figures to force his way onto the scene before too long if he continues to perform at that level.
Rays Option Ryan Yarbrough To Triple-A
The Rays announced Tuesday that lefty Ryan Yarbrough has been optioned to Triple-A Durham. Right-hander Luke Bard is up from Durham in his place.
This is the first optional assignment to the minors for Yarbrough in three years, as the 30-year-old southpaw had entrenched himself on the Tampa Bay pitching staff with generally solid performances. Last year’s 5.11 ERA was unsightly, but Yarbrough still soaked up a team-leading 155 innings on the heels of the shortened 2020 season — at a time when all 30 teams were extra cautious with pitcher workloads. Despite the career-worst ERA, Yarbrough was tendered a contract in anticipation of a return to his 2018-20 form, when the southpaw notched a 3.94 ERA with a 20.3% strikeout rate and very strong 5.8% walk rate over 344 2/3 innings.
That, however, hasn’t come to pass. Quite to the contrary, in fact, as Yarbrough will lug a career-worst 5.65 ERA to Durham for the time being. Yarbrough’s most recent outing against the White Sox was one of the worst of his career, as he was tattooed for six runs on eight hits and two walks with no strikeouts in just 1 2/3 innings.
Right-hander Shane Baz is nearing a return to the big league rotation, where the team already has Shane McClanahan, Drew Rasmussen, Corey Kluber and spontaneous Rays breakout du jour Jeffrey Springs all pitching quite well. Yarbrough could be out of a rotation spot at that point anyhow, and since he just started on Sunday, the Rays will take this time to get a fresh arm into the bullpen in the form of Bard.
Yarbrough has more than four years of Major League service time but does not have the five years needed to refuse an optional assignment. He’ll work with the Rays’ staff in hopes of engineering a rebound, although it’s worth pointing out that his downturn over the past two seasons coincides with a drop to a career-low 86.7 mph average on his fastball.
Tampa Bay controls Yarbrough through the 2024 season, but given this year’s struggles and now this demotion to the minors, he’ll be a clear non-tender candidate at season’s end if he can’t get back on track. With Baz on the mend and Luis Patino, Yonny Chirinos, Brendan McKay and (ideally) Tyler Glasnow eventually to follow, the Rays may feel Yarbrough is best deployed as a reliever. It’s also feasible, given their annual payroll limitations, that they’ll look to move Yarbrough and shed some of his salary as the trade deadline draws nearer. That’ll depend on the health of the rest of the staff, of course, but the Rays — as is the case every year — aren’t exactly hurting for pitching depth.
Braves Acquire Jacob Webb From Diamondbacks
Right-hander Jacob Webb is back with the Braves, who announced on Tuesday that they’ve reacquired Webb from the D-backs in exchange for cash. Arizona had designated Webb for assignment over the weekend. The Braves placed righty Collin McHugh on the injured list in a corresponding move. An injury designation was not announced, nor was a corresponding 40-man roster move. That suggests that McHugh has been placed on the Covid-related injured list.
Atlanta designated Webb for assignment during the first week of the season, and the D-backs, who had the No. 1 waiver priority at the time, quickly scooped him up. Webb hasn’t appeared in the big leagues yet this season and has spent most of the minor league season on the injured list, though he returned to the mound late last month. He’s been jumped for six runs in 5 1/3 innings so far on the season, but the 28-year-old righty has fanned seven of 26 opponents (26.9%) and recently turned in consecutive scoreless outings (one inning apiece).
Webb has spent parts of three seasons in the Majors with the Braves, pitching to a pristine 2.47 ERA in 76 2/3 frames overall. His 21.9% strikeout rate and 9.6% walk rate are both worse than the league average, though, and fielding-independent metrics suggest that number is due to regress. Be that as it may, Webb is an optionable 28-year-old who averages 94.5 mph on his heater and has a knack for inducing weak contact (career 88.1 mph exit velocity and 31.8% hard-hit rate). It’s not hard to see why the D-backs were interested once he hit waivers, nor is it difficult to see why Atlanta would work out a deal to bring him back once a bullpen need arose.
The Braves haven’t announced whether McHugh tested positive or is on the Covid list for other reasons, though David O’Brien of The Athletic tweets that McHugh indeed tested positive. MLB’s 2022 health regulations stipulate a 10-day absence, though a pair of negative PCR tests and approval from a trio of medical professionals (team doctor, league-appointed doctor, MLBPA-appointed doctor) can override that 10-day requirement.
In 23 2/3 innings with the Braves, McHugh has notched a solid 3.42 ERA with a strong 26.3% strikeout rate and an excellent 5.3% walk rate. He signed a two-year, $10MM contract with the Braves over the winter, and Atlanta holds a third-year option over McHugh as well.
Athletics Designate Parker Markel For Assignment, Select Matt Davidson
The A’s announced Tuesday that they’ve reinstated Stephen Vogt from the injured list, selected the contract of infielder Matt Davidson from Triple-A Las Vegas and designated right-handed reliever Parker Markel for assignment. Oakland also optioned infielder Sheldon Neuse to Las Vegas.
Davidson, 31, saw some big league time with the D-backs earlier this season but rejected an outright assignment following a DFA and inked a minor league pact with the A’s. He’s appeared in just 21 Triple-A games and tallied 88 plate appearances but already has seven home runs in Las Vegas. Davidson was mashing with the D-backs’ Triple-A affiliate in Reno, too, and he’s posted an overall .306/.389/.711 batting line with 15 long balls in only 139 Triple-A plate appearances so far this season.
Some caveats to that production apply, of course. The Pacific Coast League is a notoriously hitter-friendly setting, with Vegas in particular tending to inflate offense. Davidson has had his share of Triple-A success in the past as well — albeit not to this extent — with 146 home runs logged through 703 games at that level. He’s a .248/.320/.470 hitter in Triple-A but hasn’t quite carried that over in parts of six seasons in the Majors, where he’s a .222/.292/.433 hitter. He could still give the A’s more offense than they’ve gotten out of Neuse, a fellow right-handed-hitting infielder who has managed a tepid .228/.291/.305 output in a career-high 182 Major League plate appearances so far.
Markel, also 31, inked a minor league deal with the A’s over the winter and parlayed a 1.89 ERA in 19 Triple-A frames into his first big league action since 2019. The former Mariners and Pirates righty has a long track record of missing bats at a high level but also battling command issues, and both of those have been true in the Majors and in Triple-A this season. Markel fanned 35.4% of his opponents while pitching for Las Vegas but also walked hitters at a 12.7% clip. He fired three scoreless innings in the Majors with the A’s and picked up three strikeouts … but he also issued a walk to five of the 13 hitters he faced.
Even though he averages better than 95 mph on his heater and has a 3.09 ERA and 30% strikeout rate in 177 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level, Markel has only ever logged 25 innings in the Majors. There’s no sugarcoating his ugly 14.1% walk rate in Triple-A, but the bat-missing ability and velocity are somewhat intriguing all the same.
Oakland will have a week to trade Markel, attempt to pass him through outright waivers or release him. He’s been outrighted once before — by the Angels in 2020 — so even if he goes unclaimed on waivers, he’d have the option of rejecting an outright assignment in favor of free agency.
Zack Godley, Jairo Diaz, Nick Goody Sign With Atlantic League Teams
Right-handers Zack Godley and Jairo Diaz have signed with the Gastonia Honey Hunters of the Atlantic League, per the league’s transactions log. That log also indicates that right-hander Nick Goody latched on with the Long Island Ducks yesterday. All three veteran righties have extensive Major League experience.
Godley, 32, has logged big league time in each of the past seven seasons — albeit just 3 1/3 frames with Milwaukee this past season. A solid mid-rotation arm for the D-backs in 2017-18 (4.10 ERA in 333 1/3 innings), Godley has struggled and dealt with injuries in recent years, most notably a flexor strain that ruined his 2020 season.
Since losing his grip on a rotation spot in Arizona, he’s pitched to a 6.75 ERA in 124 big league innings (2019-21). He posted solid minor league numbers with the Brewers’ top affiliate last year but was rocked for 20 earned runs with a 29-to-19 K/BB ratio in 22 1/3 innings with the Reds’ Triple-A club to begin the current season.
Diaz, 31, has three-plus years of big league service and 107 1/3 frames at the MLB level. He worked in some high-leverage roles as recently as 2019 with the Rockies, but Diaz had a notable velocity drop (97.2 mph to 95.3 mph) in 2020 and limped to a 7.65 ERA in 20 frames with Colorado. He remained with the club in 2021 but pitched only 9 1/3 minor league innings due to injury. Diaz briefly inked a minor league deal with the Mariners earlier this year, as reported by the New York Post’s Jon Heyman at the time, but he didn’t end up throwing a pitch with a Mariners affiliate.
The 30-year-old Goody totaled 152 2/3 innings of work from 2015-20, enjoying his best years in Cleveland (2017, 2019). At his best, Goody was punching out about 30% of his opponents with a walk rate that was only slightly higher than the league average, but an elbow strain and a back injury slowed him in 2018-19. Goody was claimed off waivers by the 2020 Rangers but served up 11 runs in 11 innings with Texas that summer before being cut loose.
Goody split the 2021 season between the Triple-A affiliates for the Yankees — the organization that originally drafted him — and Nationals. He missed plenty of bats (29.6% strikeout rate) and posted a decent 9.0% walk rate, but Goody surrendered too many home runs (1.5 HR/9) and posted a pedestrian 4.53 ERA between those two stops. He’s spent the early postion of the 2022 season with los Acereros de Monclava of the Mexican League.
All three of Godley, Goody and Diaz have enough recent MLB experience that with some success on the indie circuit, they could jump back into affiliated ball as depth options in the season’s second half.
Trevor Rosenthal Hosting Showcase Today
12:05pm: The Blue Jays, Mets and Marlins will be among the teams in attendance, per respective reports from MLB Network’s Jon Morosi, SNY’s Andy Martino and SportsGrid’s Craig Mish.
8:45am: Free-agent right-hander Trevor Rosenthal is holding a showcase for Major League clubs at St. Thomas University in Miami Gardens today, tweets Jon Heyman of the New York Post. It stands to reason that scouts from the majority of teams will be in attendance to gauge the former All-Star’s readiness to return to a big league mound.
A healthy Rosenthal can be one of the game’s most effective relievers, as he’s shown at multiple times in the past. Unfortunately, good health has eluded him in recent years. Rosenthal underwent Tommy John surgery partway through the 2017 season, which wiped out the entirety of his 2018 campaign. He returned with the Nats and Tigers in 2019 and had lost all semblance of control over the strike zone, walking 26 of the 85 hitters he faced that season (30.6%) and plunking another four.
On the heels of that alarming season, Rosenthal settled for a minor league deal with the Royals heading into the 2020 season and quickly reestablished himself as a dominant late-inning powerhouse. He pitched just 23 2/3 innings due to the shortened 60-game schedule, but Rosenthal overwhelmed opponents with a 1.90 ERA, an elite 41.8% strikeout rate and a strong 8.3% walk rate — all while averaging 98.1 mph on his heater.
Despite that dominant showing, Rosenthal didn’t find the weighty multi-year deal he sought early in free agency, and he eventually took a one-year, $11MM from a surprise suitor: the A’s. Unfortunately for Oakland and for Rosenthal, injuries again derailed his 2021 season. A groin strain slowed Rosenthal early in Spring Training, and shoulder troubles shelved him to begin the season. Eventually, it was revealed that Rosenthal required surgery to alleviate thoracic outlet syndrome. Over the summer, while working toward what he hoped would be a late-season return, a torn labrum in his hip required yet another surgery.
Rosenthal’s career numbers — 3.36 ERA, 132 saves, 31.2% strikeout rate, 11.3% walk rate, 44.3% grounder rate, 98.1 mph average fastball — all speak to the sheer talent in his right arm. (It’s a 2.91 ERA and 10.1% walk rate if you toss out the anomalous 2019 season.) However, he’s now pitched just 39 innings since undergoing Tommy John surgery way back in Aug. 2017.
Bullpen help is always in demand, and virtually every contending team (and likely several non-contenders) will want to get a look at Rosenthal in hopes of bolstering their relief corps for the season’s second half. Given the lengthy injury layoff, he’s unlikely to command a multi-year pact, so signing Rosenthal figures to be — at worst — a short-term risk with plenty of upside. It’s not clear just yet when Rosenthal would be ready to step onto a big league mound. He’ll presumably require a minor league tune-up to reacclimate to game settings and build additional arm strength, but if he’s ready to audition for MLB clubs, he and agent Scott Boras can’t feel he’s too far off.
Nationals Sign Edgar Garcia To Minor League Deal
The Nationals recently signed reliever Edgar García to a minor league contract. He’s been assigned to the team’s Double-A affiliate in Harrisburg, where he made his organizational debut yesterday.
García, 25, pitched in the majors each season from 2019-21. He’s logged time with four different clubs — the Phillies, Rays, Reds and Twins — and totaled 57 innings over 52 appearances. He owns a cumulative 7.74 ERA as he’s struggled immensely both to keep the ball in the park and avoid free passes. The righty averaged 94 MPH on his fastball last season, though, and he’s generated swinging strikes on a decent 11.3% of his career offerings.
A native of the Dominican Republic, García has had a lot more success keeping runs off the board in the minors. He owns a 3.20 ERA across 78 2/3 career Triple-A innings. García struggled with his control at that level last season, but he’d had capable strikeout and walk numbers in the minors before the 2021 campaign. That track record had been enough to intrigue a few organizations in recent years, and the Nats will see if he can get on track in another new environment.
Should García get off on a good run in the upper minors, there should be a path back to the major leagues. That he’s been assigned to Double-A rather than Triple-A Rochester could indicate he’ll need an extended impressive performance to put himself on the MLB radar, but the Washington bullpen is largely wide open. The Nationals have the league’s fourth-worst bullpen ERA (4.59) and ninth-worst strikeout/walk rate differential (12.3 percentage points).