Astros Moving Cristian Javier Into Rotation
The Astros are moving right-hander Cristian Javier from the bullpen back into what will now be a six-man rotation, manager Dusty Baker told reporters yesterday (link via Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle). Houston is facing a daunting stretch of 33 games in the next 34 days, and Baker revealed that the team has been expecting to move to a six-man rotation since Spring Training, recognizing this marathon stretch on the schedule.
Javier joins Justin Verlander, Framber Valdez, Luis Garcia, Jose Urquidy and Jake Odorizzi in what Baker termed a “temporary” six-man rotation. Of course, the fact that the team isn’t planning to trot out a six-man unit for the duration of the season doesn’t mean that Javier is ticketed for bullpen work once this imposing stretch of games draws to a close. Injuries can always alter the picture, and right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. will be eligible to return not long after this 34-day gauntlet. The Astros will also surely need to see better results from Odorizzi (nine runs, five strikeouts, seven walks in nine innings) and Urquidy (5.52 ERA, 11.3% strikeout rate in 14 2/3 innings) for either to hold their starting job in the long term.
Odorizzi, in particular, has drawn the ire of fans early in the season. The righty has gotten out to a slow start for a second straight year, but it’s worth pointing out that in his final 96 2/3 innings after returning from the injured list last season, he pitched to a 3.72 ERA with a 19.8% strikeout rate and 7.7% walk rate — solid marks that generally fall in line with his career numbers. Odorizzi is playing the 2022 season on a $5MM base salary and is also owed at least a $3.25MM buyout on next year’s $6.5MM player option. He can earn up to $6.75MM via incentives this year, with a $500K bonus for reaching 100 innings and then a $1MM incentive for every 10 innings thereafter, up through 150. He’d receive a $1.25MM bonus for hitting 160 innings.
Turning back to Javier, there’s an easy argument that, based on the talented 25-year-old’s prior success as a starter, a permanent move to the rotation is the right call. While his velocity and strikeout rate are higher when working out of the ‘pen, as one would expect, Javier nevertheless carries a 3.42 ERA and a hearty 26.7% strikeout rate in 19 career appearances as a starter. His 9.8% walk rate when starting games is a good bit lower than the 12.1% mark he’s posted out of the ‘pen, and while it’s still a small sample, Javier hasn’t shown the drastic splits that many pitchers have when facing a lineup for a third time. Opponents have batted .151/.270/.377 against Javier when facing him for the third time in a day.
Looking beyond the current season and what Javier’s move to the rotation could mean for the 2022 Astros, there’d be notable ramifications as soon as 2023. Javier is eligible for arbitration for the first time this winter, and he’d be poised for a much larger jump in salary with a successful season’s worth of starts than he would with a season worth of multi-inning relief work. Javier was placed into a long relief role in order to keep him stretched as a starter, Baker noted, but that’s meant only three appearances thus far. Dominant as they’ve been — Javier has yet to allow a run and has fanned 12 of his 31 opponents (38.7%) — Javier hasn’t been put in position to earn a save or a hold, either of which could help his case in arbitration. Working as a starter seems likely to be the best use of his talents for the Astros, but it’s also best for him and his long-term earning capacity in arbitration.
Javier’s first start of the season will be a road outing against the Rangers on Wednesday this week. He’s thrown 28, 53 and 55 pitches in his first three appearances this season, so it’s unlikely he’ll be tasked with tossing 100 pitches and pitching deep into the game. Five to six innings is probably the longest he’ll be allowed to pitch, depending on his efficiency, but the fact that he eclipsed 50 pitches both on April 13 and April 20 indicates that he won’t need to go through a particularly lengthy build-up process.
Rays Notes: Zombro, Yarbrough, Stadium
Right-hander Tyler Zombro made his return to the mound last night with the Rays’ Triple-A affiliate — the first time he pitched in a regular-season game since last season’s horrifying injury. Zombro, struck in the head by a 104 mph comeback liner early last June, underwent emergency brain surgery and had his skull stabilized with 16 plates and 36 screws, as detailed by MLB.com’s Adam Berry. That Zombro fully recovered is a triumph in and of itself, but returning to the mound in less than a year’s time seems nearly impossible to fathom. Last night’s return came on the road against the Norfolk Tides (the Orioles’ Triple-A affiliate), and in a particularly classy scene, the entire Tides dugout emptied to laud Zombro with a standing ovation as he took the mound (video link). Zombro’s teammates and many of the fans in attendance followed suit. “That’s been one of the moments that certainly hit me the hardest,” Zombro tells Berry. “…I think it all came kind of full circle there and definitely was a symbol of me ‘completing the journey’ to be back to performing in Triple-A.”
More on the Rays…
- Lefty Ryan Yarbrough made a rehab outing yesterday in hopes of a quick return to the roster, but he retired just one batter, walked four hitters and threw only 10 of his 27 pitches for strikes. Yarbrough, on the shelf since April 8 due to a groin strain, has yet to pitch in a big league game for Tampa Bay so far in 2022. The 30-year-old southpaw is hoping to bounce back from a career-worst year in 2021, when he logged a 5.11 ERA in a career-high 155 frames. He pitched well this spring (one run in 8 1/3 official frames), but it’s not yet clear when he’ll return to the club. Tampa Bay has been (quite successfully) using setup man J.P. Feyereisen as a an opener with Yarbrough, Luis Patino, Shane Baz, Yonny Chirinos, Tyler Glasnow and Brendan McKay all on the injured list. The team hasn’t made any kind of formal announcement regarding Yarbrough’s status, but given the short nature of that outing and the ugly results, it’d be a bit of a surprise to see him activated without another rehab appearance.
- Major League Baseball nixed the Rays’ convoluted split-city plan with Montreal back in January, and St. Petersburg mayor Ken Welch now tells John Romano of the Tampa Bay Times that he believes there’s a path forward for the Rays right at home in St. Petersburg. While Romano notes that a move to Tampa is the team’s preferred option, they’ve been unable to work out the necessary funding to facilitate such a move (hence the outside-the-box Montreal plan). Welch notes that the city of St. Petersburg has hired new financial consultants to explore whether the possibility of a mixed-use development similar to the Braves’ Battery development surrounding Truist Park could be plausible. Major funding from Pinellas County’s tourist tax would still be required, but Welch struck an optimistic tone that the team and the city could eventually figure out a workable plan. Of course, there’s been no shortage of optimism regarding various stadium plans in recent years, and the team has nevertheless continually found itself back at square one after each has fallen through. The Rays’ current lease at Tropicana Field runs through 2027.
NL Central Notes: Shelton, India, Stephenson, Miley
Terms weren’t reported on Derek Shelton’s contract when he was first hired as the Pirates‘ manager in November 2019, but The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal writes that Shelton’s deal is believed to run through the 2023 campaign. That would make it a four-year commitment to Shelton, who has only a 95-158 record during his two-plus years of managing the rebuilding team. While nobody expected Shelton to win given his threadbare rosters, progress of some type is expected, so Rosenthal feels there could be some questions asked if the Pirates post another 100-loss season. However, Rosenthal also notes that “Shelton has served almost as an assistant general manager” to GM Ben Cherington.
Speaking to a broader point of Rosenthal’s piece about skippers around baseball, he writes that “GMs of tanking teams, in particular, often are reluctant to hold managers responsible for the non-competitive clubs they’ve assembled, knowing a dismissal will only lead to greater scrutiny of their own actions.” While there are certainly some managers on shorter-term deals who are under additional pressure in 2022, it remains to be seen how many of these skippers might actually be let go after the year.
More from around the NL Central…
- The Reds might be able to activate Jonathan India from the 10-day IL on Tuesday, his first day of eligibility to return. India has taken grounders and run the bases on each of the last two days, and told MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon and other reporters that he is “feeling great,” though “I’m not going to push anything to come back right now.” India has been out of action with a right hamstring strain, and is one of 11 Cincinnati players on the injured list
- Tyler Stephenson is on the seven-day version of the IL after suffering a concussion on April 20, and manager David Bell told Sheldon and company that the catcher will likely be sidelined until early May. Bell even implied that Stephenson may not join the Reds during an upcoming road trip that runs April 29 to May 5, if just for precautionary reasons in advance of a possible May 6 activation.
- Wade Miley has yet to make his Cubs debut due to left elbow inflammation that arose during Spring Training, but the veteran southpaw is getting closer to pitching. 670 The Score’s Bruce Levine (Twitter link) was among those to report that Miley came out of a 50-pitch side session on Saturday with no issues, and Miley is now lined up to throw a live batting practice session on Wednesday. Miley is loosely scheduled to be activated off the 10-day IL sometime in May, though a more exact date will be known as the left-hander takes more steps in the recovery process.
Royals Acquire Matt Peacock, Designate Domingo Tapia
The Royals announced that right-hander Matt Peacock has been acquired from the Diamondbacks in exchange for cash considerations. To make roster space for Peacock, Kansas City has designated righty Domingo Tapia for assignment.
Arizona designated Peacock for assignment earlier this week, and he’ll now head to the Royals’ Triple-A affiliate after spending his entire pro career in the Diamondbacks organization. A 23rd-round pick in the 2017 draft, Peacock made his Major League debut last season and posted a 4.90 ERA over 86 1/3 innings, starting eight of his 35 appearances. In 2022, Peacock made two appearances out of Arizona’s bullpen before getting DFA’ed.
Peacock is a grounder specialist who regularly topped the 60% groundball-rate threshold during his time in the minors, and he also has respectable walk totals, though he doesn’t record many strikeouts. The D’Backs regularly used Peacock as a starter prior to the canceled 2020 minor league season, and he hasn’t recorded a minor league start since (albeit in limited action at Triple-A), so it will be interesting to see how the Royals will opt to deploy the righty. Conceivably, the Royals might use Peacock in a flexible swingman role depending on their needs, and his grounder-heavy arsenal could be particularly effective on a solid defensive team like K.C.
Tapia’s resume is pretty similar to Peacock, as both are right-handed groundball specialists who pitched in their first big league game in 2020. Tapia took a longer path than Peacock, as Tapia was an international signing for the Mets back in December 2009. After long stints in the New York and Cincinnati farm systems, Tapia finally broke into the Show with the Red Sox in 2020, then posted a 2.67 ERA over 33 2/3 combined innings with the Mariners and Royals in 2021.
Over 718 1/3 career innings in the minors, Tapia has a 4.12 ERA and 17.68% strikeout rate. Tapia has been more or less a full-time reliever since 2018, and his efforts to win a job in the K.C. bullpen this spring were hampered by a lack of control (six walks in 5 1/3 Cactus League innings).
MLBTR Chat Transcript
Click here to read the transcript of tonight’s live baseball chat
Dodgers Select Reyes Moronta, Designate Darien Nunez, Place David Price On COVID-IL
6:36PM: Price tested positive for COVID-19, manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times). Price is showing symptoms but is vaccinated, and Roberts doesn’t expect anyone else on the team to hit the COVID-IL due to infection or close-contact situations.
3:05PM: McKinstry has now been quickly recalled from his Triple-A assignment since David Price has been placed on the injured list. No specific reason was given for Price’s placement.
2:43PM: The Dodgers made a few roster moves prior to today’s game, according to their transactions tracker at MLB.com. Right-handed pitcher Reyes Moronta had his contract selected. To make room on the active roster, utility player Zach McKinstry was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City. To clear a spot for Moronta on the 40-man roster, left-hander Darien Nunez was designated for assignment.
Moronta seemed to emerge as an elite bullpen weapon for the Giants in 2018 and ’19. Over those two seasons, the righty threw 121 2/3 innings with a 2.66 ERA. His 13.8% walk rate was certainly concerning, but he paired that with a 29.3% strikeout rate. Unfortunately, shoulder surgery caused him to miss the entirety of the shortened 2020 campaign. Last year, a flexor strain limited him to four innings in the majors and 18 innings in Triple-A.
The Giants outrighted him at the end of the season, with Moronta electing free agency. He signed a minors deal with the Dodgers that would guarantee him $1.5MM if he cracked the roster. With his selection today, the 29-year-old has now secured himself that salary. As of today, Moronta has exactly four years of MLB service time, as well as still being able to be optioned to the minors. If he can hold onto his 40-man roster spot through the remainder of the season, the Dodgers could opt to keep him around via arbitration. In six Triple-A innings so far this year, he has an ERA of 1.50, with 10 strikeouts but 4 walks.
As for Nunez, it was announced yesterday that he will need to undergo Tommy John surgery. Nunez was in the minors at the time, meaning that the Dodgers could have merely placed him on the minor league injured list. However, in that scenario, he would continue to occupy a spot on the 40-man roster. The club also had the option of placing Nunez on the major league injured list. Doing so would have opened up a roster spot, but also would have meant Nunez would earn an MLB salary and service time over the remainder of the year.
The Dodgers have instead decided to designate him for assignment. Injured players cannot be placed on outright waivers, meaning Nunez will have to be placed on release waivers. A team could theoretically claim him if they were willing to give him the service time and MLB pay that the Dodgers opted against. A similar situation occurred last year when the White Sox designated Luis Gonzalez for assignment, who was claimed by the Giants, with the latter club placing him on the MLB injured list. However, that situation happened in mid-August with just about six weeks remaining in the season. Since Nunez is undergoing Tommy John surgery, he won’t be back for at least a year and probably longer, which likely reduces the chances of him following in Gonzalez’s footsteps.
AL Central Notes: Kwan, Tigers, Funkhouser, Manning, Mize, Kirilloff
The Guardians suffered a 10-2 defeat to the Yankees and also lost outfielder Steven Kwan to right hamstring tightness in the third inning. Kwan started the game in left field and made his first two plate appearances before being replaced in the field in the bottom of the third. Guardians manager Terry Francona told MLB.com’s Joe Trezza and other reporters that it was a “preventative” removal for Kwan, and that the outfielder is day-to-day.
Making his MLB debut on Opening Day, Kwan has been one of the season’s early stories, hitting a whopping .341/.456/.500 over his first 57 plate appearances. Quite a bit of that production came in Kwan’s first five games, yet there is still plenty of hope that the rookie can stick as Cleveland’s everyday left fielder. Depending on his hamstring’s status, however, Kwan might soon be making his first trip to the big league IL. Kwan missed almost seven weeks of the 2021 Triple-A season while dealing with a strain of that same right hamstring.
More injury updates from around the AL Central…
- Kyle Funkhouser has yet to pitch this season due to a right shoulder strain, and the Tigers moved him yesterday from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL. “We’re trying to resolve the symptoms before we can progress more aggressively,” Hinch said. “The timeline made it virtually impossible for him to be back prior to the 60 days,” manager A.J. Hinch told reporters (including The Detroit News’ Chris McCosky). Hinch also noted that Funkhouser is speaking with doctors about whether or not surgery could be required, so the reliever could be facing a much longer absence than just the minimum 60 days.
- In other Tigers news, Hinch said that Casey Mize will be resuming his throwing program today at the team’s spring training facility in Lakeland. Mize was placed on the 10-day IL on April 15 with a sprained MCL, though there were already early indications that the former first overall pick wouldn’t be out of action for too long, and that he has escaped a more serious injury. Matt Manning is also headed to Lakeland but won’t yet begin throwing, as his right shoulder was still feeling some discomfort when Manning threw off flat ground yesterday. Despite this update, Hinch said Manning didn’t have “a setback. It’s nothing we are overly concerned about. It’s just a slower ramp to playing catch before we get him back on the mound.”
- Twins outfielder Alex Kirilloff is slated to begin a Triple-A rehab assignment on Tuesday, according to multiple reporters (including Betsy Helfand of The St. Paul Pioneer Press). Right wrist inflammation sent Kirilloff to the injured list on April 13, so between the injury absence and a dismal 1-for-17 start to the season, Kirilloff will be looking for a reset once he returns to Minnesota’s lineup. Most importantly, Kirilloff and the Twins hope that this is the end of his wrist problems, as the former top prospect also underwent ligament surgery last year.
Reds Claim Matt Reynolds, Designate Ryan Hendrix
The Reds announced that they have claimed infielder Matt Reynolds off waivers from the Mets. Right-handed pitcher Ryan Hendrix has been designated for assignment in a corresponding move, reports Mark Sheldon of MLB.com.
Reynolds, 31, made his major league debut with the Mets in 2016. Since then, he’s bounced around to the Nationals and Royals, as well as a stint in the minors for the White Sox. He returned to the Mets on a minor league deal and was selected to their 40-man roster a couple of weeks ago when Brandon Nimmo and Mark Canha tested positive for Covid-19. As they returned to reclaim their roster spots, Reynolds relinquished his, being designated for assignment last week.
Reynolds hasn’t hit much at the major league level thus far in his career, putting up a line of .212/.282/.323 in 131 games. However, his Triple-A numbers are much more encouraging, coming in at .282/.363/.434 in 585 games at that level. The Reds will be hoping Reynolds can carry some of that production up to the majors. Their infield has taken a number of hits in the early going this year, as Mike Moustakas, Jose Barrero, Jonathan India, Donovan Solano and Max Schrock are all on the injured list. Reynolds has played all over the infield in his career, while also seeing limited action in the outfield corners.
Hendrix made his major league debut last year, throwing 31 2/3 innings out of Cincinnati’s bullpen. His 5.97 ERA was on the high side, but he at least paired that with a decent 24.6% strikeout rate and tolerable 11.3% walk rate. Things have gone sour this year, however, as his ERA has shot up to 8.10, with a 22.2% walk rate. We’re talking about a miniscule sample of 3 1/3 innings, but the Reds are nonetheless willing to take the risk of Hendrix clearing waivers and sticking with the organization. The 27-year-old does have an option, which could give him some appeal to teams in need of pitching depth.
Rangers Announce Several Roster Moves
The Rangers announced a series of roster moves prior to today’s game. Right-handers Spencer Howard and Dennis Santana were reinstated from the injured list, with the latter coming off the Covid-IL. Fellow righty Spencer Patton will head onto the injured list with an oblique strain while yet another righty, Nick Snyder, was optioned to Triple-A Round Rock.
Howard and Santana each went on the IL on April 14 and return after the 10-day minimum. Howard had a blister/cracked fingernail issue while Santana was on the Covid-IL after reportedly showing symptoms. He wasn’t counted against the club’s 40-man roster while he was out. Now that he’s returned, the club’s 40-man roster is again full. It was at 39 before today and a corresponding move won’t be necessary to bring Santana back.
As for Patton, it’s an unfortunate break after a decent start to his season. In seven innings out of the Rangers’ bullpen, he has a 3.86 ERA. His 17.2% strikeout rate is below average, but his 52.6% groundball rate is strong. The club didn’t provide a timeline on his absence, but oblique injuries are notoriously tricky and can often keep players sidelined for weeks or months.
Guardians Reinstate Owen Miller
The Guardians are activating Owen Miller from the Covid-related injured list prior to today’s game, per Ryan Lewis of the Akron Beacon Journal. Konnor Pilkington is being optioned to make room for Miller on the active roster. Players on the Covid-IL don’t count against a team’s 40-man roster, but the club had an open spot, meaning they won’t be required to make a corresponding move in that regard.
Miller was one of several Guardians players who went on the Covid-IL last week. That interrupted an otherworldly start to the season for Miller, who hit .500/.545/.964 in his first nine games. That amounts to a wRC+ of 334. That’s obviously a very small sample, but it’s nonetheless encouraging for a Cleveland team that was widely expected to have strong pitching but mediocre offense. In order to stay competitive in a strong American League playoff race, they will need some of the young players on their roster, like the 25-year-old Miller, to take steps forward.
With Miller’s return, the club’s 40-man roster is now full. However, Yu Chang and Anthony Castro aren’t currently occupying spots due to being on the Covid-IL and will need to be added back once they are available to return.
As for Pilkington, the 24-year-old was just called up in recent days and made his MLB debut, throwing five scoreless innings with five strikeouts and just a single walk.