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Royals Designate Jorge Lopez For Assignment

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The Royals announced Friday that right-hander Jorge Lopez has been designated for assignment. He’d been on the bereavement list, and because he’s out of minor league options, had to either be added back to the 28-man roster or designated for assignment. The Kansas City front office clearly didn’t feel that Lopez was among the team’s 28 best options, so he’ll now await the resolution of his DFA status. The Royals have a week to trade Lopez, release him or run him through outright waivers.

Lopez, 27, ranked among baseball’s 100 best prospects prior to the 2016 season but has never pieced things together at the game’s top level. The former second-rounder went from Milwaukee to K.C. alongside outfielder Brett Phillips in the trade that initially brought Mike Moustakas to the Brewers. Lopez, however, has logged 190 innings in the Majors between the two teams and stumbled to a 5.97 ERA with a pedestrian 157-to-70 K/BB ratio. He’s struggled quite a bit in Triple-A as well, and while the Pacific Coast League is notoriously hitter-friendly, a 6.31 ERA and 11 hits per nine innings pitched still doesn’t reflect well.

Lopez does average 94 mph on his sinker and generate grounders at an above-average rate, but his lack of minor league options might make it tough for another club to claim him.

Red Sox Release John Andreoli, Add Seth Blair To Player Pool

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The Red Sox have released outfielder John Andreoli in order to open a spot in their 60-man player pool for right-hander Seth Blair, per a team announcement. Blair will join the club’s alternate training site.

Andreoli, 30, is a Worcester native with 26 games and 67 plate appearance of big league experience under his belt. That all came back in 2018, when he hit .230/.284/.262 in a small sample with the Mariners and Orioles. Lack of big league experience aside, Andreoli is a solid depth piece for big league clubs given a career .262/.375/.416 slash in nearly 2500 Triple-A plate appearances. He’s also logged more than 2000 minor league innings at all three outfield positions and racked up 259 minor league stolen bases. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see him latch on with a club hurting for outfield depth.

Blair, meanwhile, is something of a remarkable story. The 31-year-old was selected by the Cardinals with the No. 46 overall pick of the 2010 draft and looked to have washed out of baseball after an ugly season in 2014. Blair didn’t throw a professional pitch from 2015-18 but was given a chance at a comeback by the Padres organization in 2019. He spent the year with San Diego’s Class-A Advanced affiliate, and while his 4.11 ERA doesn’t stand out as a particularly impressive mark, Blair also notched an impressive 47-to-14 K/BB ratio in 35 frames. Now that he’s in Boston’s player pool, he’s closer to an improbable big league debut than he was at any point in 2019.

Orioles Add Two To 60-Man Player Pool

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The Orioles announced Friday that they’ve added lefty Brian Gonzalez and infielder Gunnar Henderson to their 60-man player pool. Both have been assigned to the club’s alternate training site in Bowie. Baltimore’s pool is up to 59 players.

Gonzalez, 24, doesn’t rank among Baltimore’s best prospects but has had success up through the Double-A level, so he could emerge as an eventual bullpen option in 2020. The 2014 third-rounder struggled as a starter in Class-A Advanced and Double-A, but he was moved to a full-time relief role in 2019 and enjoyed his best year since 2016. Gonzalez tallied 53 1/3 innings last season, pitching to a 3.38 ERA with 8.9 K/9, 2.5 BB/9 and an admittedly bloated 1.5 HR/9 mark. The O’s recently traded southpaw Richard Bleier to the Marlins, so Gonzalez replenishes some of that depth.

Henderson, meanwhile, won’t see any MLB time in 2020. The 19-year-old was Baltimore’s second-round pick in the 2019 draft and hasn’t even reached A-ball yet, so there’s no way the club will put him on the 40-man roster and bring him to the big leagues. That said, he’s widely regarded as one of the rebuilding club’s ten best prospects, so he’ll head to Bowie to get some work with the coaching staff there and see some simulated reps along with the club’s other top minor leaguers. As The Athletic’s Dan Connolly points out on Twitter, the O’s now have all of their Top 11 prospects (per Baseball America’s rankings) either on their MLB roster or at their Bowie site.

Padres Option Joey Lucchesi, Josh Naylor

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The Padres announced last night that they’ve optioned left-hander Joey Lucchesi and outfielder/first baseman Josh Naylor to their alternate training site. The moves trim San Diego’s roster to the requisite 28 players that will serve as the maximum roster size from this point forth.

Every club made some moves to drop their roster to 28 players yesterday, but the Padres’ specific choices create a bit of intrigue. Lucchesi had been lined up to start today’s game against the D-backs, but that clearly won’t happen now. San Diego is, at least temporarily, left with a four-man rotation which has already led to speculation among fans about the potential promotion of MacKenzie Gore — ranked by many as the top pitching prospect in all off Major League Baseball.

The anticipation is understandable, but it’s also perhaps best to temper expectations. The Padres had an off day yesterday, so they could simply move everyone else in the rotation up a day. Zach Davies can start on normal rest today, followed by Chris Paddack on Saturday and Dinelson Lamet on Sunday.

San Diego also has other options on its current roster. In both of Lucchesi’s starts this season, he’s been followed up my a multi-inning relief appearance from righty Cal Quantrill. The Padres could turn the spot over to Quantrill to see how he fares in a start or two. Elsewhere on the roster, 20-year-old Luis Patino is considered one of the game’s better pitching prospects himself. The club has said he’ll begin in a bullpen role, and he’s not an option Friday after pitching two innings of relief Wednesday. However, if everyone is pushed up a day thanks to Thursday’s off-day, Patino could easily make a start this weekend or early next week.

All that said, it’s surely tempting to consider Gore. The Padres have lost four of their past five games, allowing an average of 6.2 runs per contest in that time. Their two prior wins to that were slugfests in which the pitching staff still yielded a combined 14 runs. Overall, San Diego ranks 21st in the Majors in ERA (4.70), 17th in FIP (4.23) and 18th in xFIP (4.30). The rotation, anchored by Paddack and Lamet, has been better than the bullpen to this point, but there’s still room for improvement. And in a short season where every win is magnified, the Padres currently sit in third place in the NL West behind the Dodgers and the surprising Rockies. Anyone promoted to the big leagues at this point would fall shy of a full year of MLB service. At the very least, the rotation now becomes an intriguing storyline to follow with a watchful eye.

As for Lucchesi himself, it’s a disappointing outcome after the 2016 fourth-rounder had held down a rotation spot for the two prior seasons. The now 27-year-old southpaw debuted early in 2018 and immediately impressed the club to the point that he stuck for a full year, ultimately making 26 starts with a 4.08 ERA and an average of 10 punchouts per nine innings. His 2019 season was similar: 163 2/3 frames of 4.18 ERA/4.17 FIP ball with solid control, plenty of grounders and nearly a strikeout per inning.

But Lucchesi also struggled to a 4.60 ERA in the second half of the 2019 season, and the Padres have generally been averse to letting him pitch to opposing lineups a third time. The reason for that is glaring; opponents have hit Lucchesi at a .233/.293/.397 clip the first time through the order, a near-identical .233/.288/.407 clip a second time — and a disastrous .312/.395/.548 pace once the lineup turns over a third time. Viewed through that lens, it’s not surprising that Lucchesi has averaged only five innings per start in the Majors (299 innings, 58 starts).

Looking to Naylor, opportunities for the 23-year-old have been limited. Trent Grisham, Wil Myers and Tommy Pham are all producing in the outfield, and Jake Cronenworth has hit well in lieu of injured first baseman Eric Hosmer, who’ll likely return this weekend. Naylor, the No. 12 overall pick by the Marlins back in 2015, has received just 14 plate appearances this year. He made a pair of early starts at DH, but the Friars have rotated several players through that spot rather than committing to a primary option at the newly created post.

Naylor tallied 279 trips to the dish in 2019 but didn’t force his way into a larger role with that showing. In all, he’s a career .248/.314/.402 through 293 PAs. Injuries or slumps in that outfield/first base/DH mix figure to get him another look later this season, but for now he’ll hone his approach at the team’s alternate site.

Latest On Dylan Carlson

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The Cardinals were a playoff team a season ago, but they’re off to a slow start in a coronavirus-delayed year and their offense has been lacking during their 2-3 opening. Top prospect Dylan Carlson may be able to help the Cards overcome their woes at the plate, but they’re not eager to promote the 21-year-old yet, according to manager Mike Shildt (via Benjamin Hochman of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch).

While St. Louis is “comfortable and confident what Dylan can do,” the club’s belief is that “there’s not a need for Dylan at the moment,” per Shildt. President of baseball operations John Mozeliak added the Cardinals aren’t ready to tab Carlson because he may not be in line for “a true opportunity” at his point.

The Cardinals have largely gone with a Tyler O’Neill–Harrison Bader–Dexter Fowler alignment in the outfield in the handful of games they’ve been able to play. Lane Thomas is also in the mix, though he has only totaled four plate appearances this year. O’Neill and Fowler have posted above-average production across larger sample sizes, but Bader has struggled. So has designated hitter Matt Carpenter, who’s in line for an infield role with shortstop Paul DeJong on the shelf because of a positive coronavirus test. There could be room for Carlson in the Cardinals’ lineup sometime soon, then, especially considering that promoting him wouldn’t burn a year of service time. However, it appears his first major league call-up will have to wait for at least a little while longer.

Whenever it arrives, Carlson’s MLB debut should draw plenty of attention. A former first-round pick (No. 33 in 2016), the switch-hitting Carlson has continued to boost his stock since the Cardinals added him to their system. Carlson raked between Double-A and Triple-A last year, when he slashed .292/.372/.542 with 62 extra-base hits (28 doubles, 26 home runs, eight triples) and 20 steals over 562 plate appearances, and brings experience at every outfield position.

Blue Jays Place Trent Thornton On IL

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The Blue Jays have placed right-hander Trent Thornton on the injured list with elbow inflammation, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet reports. Thornton “felt kind of weird” when throwing a bullpen, but he’s not in line for an MRI at this point, per Nicholson-Smith.

Set to turn 27 years old next month, Thornton joined the Blue Jays in a trade with the Astros for infielder Aledmys Diaz in November 2018. Thornton wound up as one of the Blue Jays’ most relied-on starters in 2019, when he threw 154 1/3 innings and notched a 4.84 ERA/4.59 FIP with 8.69 K/9 and 3.56 BB/9. Prior to his IL placement this year, he made one appearance on July 27 and yielded one earned run on eight hits with three strikeouts and two walks across four innings in a win over the Nationals.

Victories have been in short supply for Toronto, which is off to a 4-6 start, and its rotation has been a mixed bag in the early going. Thornton, Tanner Roark and Nate Pearson have kept runs off the board at a good clip so far. That hasn’t been the case for Hyun Jin Ryu and Matt Shoemaker, but they’ve shown they’re capable major league starters. That’s especially true of Ryu, who was a star with the Dodgers in recent seasons. In his best Blue Jays performance to date, he tossed five shutout innings of one-hit ball in a win over the Braves on Wednesday.

Rays Place Yonny Chirinos On Injured List

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The Rays have placed starter Yonny Chirinos on the injured list, retroactive to Aug. 3, with right triceps inflammation, Juan Toribio of MLB.com tweets. The team recalled fellow righty Trevor Richards from its alternate training site to take Chirinos’ place.

Fortunately, expectations are that Chirinos will not be on the IL for long, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. While Charlie Morton, Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow overshadow him in the Rays’ rotation, Chirinos has been an effective swingman for the club since he debuted in 2018. The 26-year-old has logged a 3.61 ERA/4.09 FIP with 7.61 K/9 and 2.21 BB/9 during his 231 2/3-inning career. He totaled 8 2/3 frames of one-earned run ball in two starts this season before landing on the IL.

Chirinos had been scheduled to start Saturday versus the Yankees, but it’s now unclear who will take the ball for the Rays then. Richards may be a candidate, though, as he combined for 48 starts as a Marlin and Ray from 2018-19. Although Richards was a passable starter in those seasons, he began this year in rough fashion. After Richards allowed six earned runs on 10 hits in 5 1/3 innings in two appearances, the Rays optioned him earlier this week.

Braves Outright Chris Rusin

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Aug. 6: The Braves announced that Rusin has been assigned outright to their alternate training site after clearing waivers. He’ll remain in the team’s 60-player pool but is no longer on the 40-man roster. Because he’s still in the player pool, he’s eligible to rejoin the club later this season.

Aug. 4: The Braves have designated lefty Chris Rusin for assignment, per a club announcement. Additionally, the team placed righty Mike Soroka on the 45-day injured list. Those moves created a pair of active roster spots to enable the promotion of two pitchers. Righties Chad Sobotka and Huascar Ynoa will each join the MLB team.

Rusin, 33, earned a job out of Summer Camp but only got one appearance before he was set free. He allowed three earned runs in a 3 1/3-inning outing last night after Soroka departed with what turned out to be a season-ending injury. The former Cubs and Rockies southpaw was quite effective in Colorado from 2016-17, pitching to a 3.19 ERA in 169 1/3 frames, but success has been hard to come by outside of that two-year stretch. In 468 2/3 innings across part of nine MLB seasons (2020 included), Rusin has a 4.65 ERA with 6.5 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9.

Astros’ Kent Emanuel Receives 80-Game PED Suspension

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Astros left-hander Kent Emanuel has been suspended 80 games after testing positive for the banned substance Dehydrochlormethyltestosterone (DHCMT), Major League Baseball announced today. Emanuel has yet to make his Major League debut but is on Houston’s 40-man roster. He’ll be placed on the restricted list for the remainder of the season, opening a 40-man spot for the ’Stros, who already had a rather depleted bullpen. The suspension goes into effect today.

Kent, via an MLBPA statement, claims that he does not know how “7 picograms of the long-term metabolite of DHCMT” got into his system, adding that he’s never knowingly taken the substance in question.

The 28-year-old Kent spent the 2019 season with Houston’s Triple-A club in Round Rock, where he tallied 101 2/3 innings of 3.90 ERA ball with 7.2 K/9, 2.0 BB/9, 0.80 HR/9 and a 57 percent ground-ball rate. He was not in the club’s 60-man player pool — perhaps due to the fact that he was in the process of appealing this suspension. (Most positive tests come well before the league announces a suspension, and the appeals process can be rather lengthy.) The Astros now have 39 players on their 40-man roster.

Cubs Sign Kelvin Herrera, Matt Dermody

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The Cubs announced that they’ve signed right-hander Kelvin Herrera and left-hander Matt Dermody to minor league contracts and assigned them to their alternate training site. The team’s 60-man player pool is now full. Herrera, 30, was recently cut loose by the White Sox after being designated for assignment. Dermody, also 30, had been pitching in the independent Constellation Energy League.

Herrera was once a high-end setup man and eventually a closer for the Royals. The hard-throwing righty was part of a juggernaut Kansas City bullpen that fueled the team’s 2014 and 2015 World Series appearances, pitching to a 2.75 ERA with 8.9 K/9 against 2.6 BB/9 in 441 1/3 frames in parts of eight seasons with the Royals. He was eventually traded from K.C. to D.C. in a swap that sent minor leaguers Kelvin Gutierrez, Blake Perkins and Yohanse Morel from the Nats to the Royals.

Herrera’s time with the Nats didn’t go well, however. He missed time early with a shoulder impingement, and upon returning he suffered a Lisfranc fracture in his left foot that ended his season. That was hardly an ideal run-up to his first foray into free agency, but Herrera’s standout track record still netted him a two-year, $18MM deal with the White Sox. The pact went even more poorly, though, as Herrera was shelled for 6.54 ERA in 53 2/3 frames with the South Siders before being released last week.

Dermody, meanwhile, has just 25 1/3 innings of big league experience under his belt — all coming with the 2016-17 Blue Jays. He’s spent his entire pro career in the Toronto organization prior to this season, during which time he’s posted a 4.12 ERA in parts of four Triple-A campaigns. His lack of track record may seem questionable, but Dermody has been lights out on the indie circuit this season, allowing just one earned run on 13 hits and six walks with 23 strikeouts in 17 1/3 frames. That showing clearly made an impression on the Cubs, who’ll now have Dermody on hand as a depth option should the need arise.

The Cubs have gotten out to a hot start, but their bullpen remains an obvious weakness. High-priced closer Craig Kimbrel has looked lost since signing in Chicago, and the team hasn’t spent on any other bullpen help in the past several years. They’re currently relying on a patchwork group that has seen Rowan Wick and the talented-but-inconsistent Jeremy Jeffress shoulder the bulk of the high-leverage situations as Kimbrel continues to struggle. Herrera is the second former AL Central All-Star on whom the Cubs are rolling the dice. They signed former Indians closer Cody Allen to a minor league deal and assigned him to their alternate training site last week.

Cubs starters rank first in the Majors in ERA (1.95), second in FIP (2.52) and sixth in xFIP (3.51). Their relievers, as a whole, rank 29th in ERA (7.20), dead last in FIP (6.90) and 23rd in xFIP (4.81).

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