Blue Jays Acquire Jacob Barnes From Mets For Troy Miller
The Blue Jays have acquired right-hander Jacob Barnes from the Mets for fellow righty Troy Miller, per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com (via Twitter). The Mets only recently designated Barnes for assignment.
Barnes doesn’t have an arsenal with much versatility, relying mostly on a 94.4 mph fastball and 88.9 mph cutter. No matter the pitch mix, Barnes could not avoid the long ball in his 18 2/3 innings with the Mets this season, serving up six long balls and a 25.0 percent home-run-to-fly-ball rate. A 12.5 percent barrel rate was by far the highest of his career.
He did a decent job of limiting free passes (6.3 percent walk rate) and keeping the ball out of the air (49.1 percent groundball rate), but it wasn’t enough to stem the tide. The 31-year-old leaves New York with a 7.27 ERA/6.22 FIP, though a 4.29 xFIP gives at least some indication that he’s been the recipient of tough luck this season.
Miller is a University of Michigan alum who signed as an non-drafted free agent with the Blue Jays in 2018. The 24-year-old began the year at High-A, earning a promotion after three starts with a 1.84 ERA. With Double-A New Hampshire, Miller has tossed 20 innings with a 7.20 ERA.
Twins Activate Byron Buxton, Option Willians Astudillo
The Twins activated star centerfielder Byron Buxton today, per the Athletic’s Dan Hayes (via Twitter). He is in the starting lineup for today’s ballgame. Buxton has been out with a hip strain since May 7th. The injury was initially only expected to keep him out for a couple of weeks, but Buxton ended up with a 41-day stint on the injured list.
The injury was a particularly crushing blow because Buxton had been red hot to start the season. He logged a ridiculous 2.6 bWAR in just 24 games before going down, slashing .370/.408/.772 with nine home runs in 98 plate appearances.
Losing Buxton proved to be as detrimental to the Twins’ playoff chances as we might have guessed. They were 12-19 (.387 win percentage) when Buxton went down, but just 5 1/2 games out of first place. Rocco Baldelli‘s squad has actually played a little better in the 38 games since, going 16-22 (.421 win percentage). Nevertheless, the Twinkies have fallen 13 games behind the White Sox for the division lead and 13 games behind the Astros for the second wild card spot entering play today.
In a corresponding move, the Twins optioned Willians Astudillo the Triple-A, per Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com (via Twitter). “La Tortuga” has served as a source of, shall we say, comic relief this season, bringing a 54.2 mph heater to the mound in three relief appearances. He faced 11 total hitters and allowed one earned run on one somewhat controversial blast from Yermin Mercedes.
In his day job, Astudillo has hit .254/.276/.385 while employing his trademark all-contact approach (1.6 percent walk rate, 7.9 percent strikeout rate). Despite the hyper-specific offensive profile, Astudillo provides value through his defensive versatility. He is perhaps the most positionally agile player in baseball, having appeared at first, second, third, right, catcher and, of course, pitcher this season. Shortstop is the only position Astudillo has never played at the big-league level.
Phillies Place Matt Joyce, Andrew Knapp On Injured List, Call Up Matt Vierling, Rafael Marchan
The Phillies announced a number of roster moves this afternoon. Matt Joyce has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a lower back strain and Andrew Knapp has been placed on the 7-day injured list because of a concussion. In their place, the Phillies have selected the contract of outfielder Matt Vierling and recalled catcher Rafael Marchan from Triple-A.
The 36-year-old Joyce has had a limited impact this season as an extra bat off the bench. In 62 plate appearances across 36 games, Joyce has slashed .100/.258/.240. In his defense, most of that action has come in a pinch-hitting role. True to his reputation, he’s also maintained a positive approach, posting a 16.1 percent walk rate and 22.6 percent strikeout rate. He has not been helped by an .086 BABIP mark.
The 24-year-old Vierling has not yet appeared in the Majors. He is, in fact, making the jump after just three games at Triple-A Lehigh Valley. He had not appeared above High-A before this season. Regardless, he ‘s been on point so far this season, slashing a combined .354/.426/.616 in 115 plate appearances between Double-A and Triple-A.
Like Joyce, Knapp has had a tough go of it this season: -1.0 bWAR and a triple slash line of .174/.234/.221 that’s far from characteristic of what the Phillies have come to expect from their long-time backup catcher.
Marchan has had a taste of the bigs in five games of action this season. He should slide seamlessly into his role backing up J.T. Realmuto.
NL East Notes: Mets, deGrom, McNeil, Nationals, Strasburg, Scherzer
Jacob deGrom appears on target to make his regularly-scheduled start on Monday, per MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo (via Twitter). DeGrom threw his second bullpen session without incident. Though the Mets haven’t set anything in stone, the unofficial best pitcher on the planet should take the hill against the Braves two days from now.
Jeff McNeil is likely to join deGrom on the diamond on Monday, per Tim Healey of Newsday (via Twitter). McNeil has been out with a hamstring strain since May 16th. McNeil was hitting .242/.336/.374 when he went on the injured list. Though still six percent better than average with the bat, that’s a far cry from McNeil’s usual production. He owned a 139 wRC+ across 1,024 plate appearances coming into the season. In the other dugout today…
- The Nationals have some updates on their own star hurlers. Stephen Strasburg was playing catch in the outfield today – a small, but positive step in the right direction. There remains no timetable for Strasburg’s return.
- Max Scherzer, however, will throw a bullpen session later today and potentially return to the rotation on Tuesday in Philadelphia, per Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com (via Twitter). The Nats rotation has held up surprisingly well in Scherzer’s absence: They’ve posted a 0.78 team ERA since Scherzer exited his latest start after just two hitters. Should he remain on track and return Tuesday, however, he’ll no doubt provide a boost to the surging Nats, winners of five in a row. [UPDATE: Scherzer told Zuckerman and other reporters that he is “all good” for Tuesday’s start.]
- Two years ago on this date, Gerardo Parra walked to the plate to “Baby Shark” for the first time, sparking a trend that would enliven Nats fans for the entirety of their magical 2019 campaign. Parra might soon bring his act back to Washington, per Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post (Twitter notes). The 11-year veteran has a .222/.385/.333 line in 91 plate appearances for the Nats Triple-A club this season.
Quick Hits: Rays, Glasnow, Roe, Tigers, Boyd, Mets/Nats
Rays fans can allow themselves some tempered excitement after the latest check-up on Tyler Glasnow. The lanky flamethrower will be shut down for four weeks before beginning to throw again, but that said, they may have located another source of Glasnow’s discomfort, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter). The latest diagnosis theorizes that his elbow irritation could at least in part be the result of a bone issue, which Glasnow’s doctors will attempt to treat during this period of rest. Of course, much uncertainty remains for Glasnow, whose injury became a bit of a firestarter for the debate around the use of illegal substances. After his injury, Glasnow was vocal in opposition of MLB’s attempt to curtail the use of illegal substances on the mound by way of an in-season mandate.
Neither Glasnow’s injury nor the “sticky stuff” saga will be resolved in the immediate future, however, so let’s turn instead to the latest news on his Tampa teammate: reliever Chaz Roe has cut his rehab short for the time being. Roe has been out since April with a shoulder strain. The latest issue, however, is not with the shoulder, but rather a case of biceps tendinitis, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter links). It will be another 7-10 days until he’s able to resume throwing.
Elsewhere around the game…
- Tigers starter Matthew Boyd has been to see a “number of doctors” about the arm discomfort that landed him on the injured list on June 15th. He won’t pitch again before the All-Star break, but there is no structural damage in the arm, per the Athletic’s Cody Stavenhagen (via Twitter). Detroit plans to be cautious with the 30-year-old southpaw, adds Evan Woodbery of the Mlive Media Group (via Twitter). In 13 starts this season, Boyd has a 3.44 ERA/3.75 FIP across 70 2/3 innings. In terms of the positive, his 6.4 percent walk rate is better than his career norm. On the other side, Boyd’s strikeouts are down (18.8 percent strikeout rate). If all goes well, the Tigers hope to have a healthy Boyd back in the rotation for the second half.
- The Mets and Nationals will play a doubleheader today. Both teams will add a 27th man to the roster for the day. In the Nationals’ case, right-hander Ryne Harper has stayed with the team after being optioned to Triple-A yesterday, per the team. He will be available out of the pen for manager Davey Martinez in both games. The Mets, meanwhile, recalled right-hander Yennsy Diaz to be their 27th man, per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com (via Twitter). There was some indication that Albert Almora Jr. would be activated from the injured list, and that’s still a possibility for game two, Dicomo notes.
A’s Place Stephen Piscotty On 10-Day Injured List, Recall Skye Bolt
The Athletics have placed Stephen Piscotty on the 10-day injured list because of a left wrist sprain, the team announced. Piscotty will see a specialist in Arizona, per MLB.com’s Martín Gallegos (via Twitter). Skye Bolt will be recalled to claim Piscotty’s roster spot.
Bolt was only recently sent down. The injury to Piscotty, however, allows Oakland to turn around and bring him right back to the active roster. Bolt had been serving as an injury replacement for the recently-returned Ramon Laureano. In nine games, Bolt went 1-for-13 at the plate with a solo homer. While his bat has yet to heat up at the Major League level, Bolt has flashed plus glovework in the outfield while making a couple of highlight reel catches. His glove has been worth one defensive run saved in a mere 36 innings of scattered playing time in centerfield.
Piscotty, generally speaking, sees semi-regular playing time in right field, splitting responsibilities with Seth Brown in a fairly straightforward platoon. The right-handed Piscotty has 75 plate appearances against southpaws this year (with a 105 wRC+) versus 66 opportunities against right-handers (with a 59 wRC+). On the whole, the veteran owns a .217/.284/.357 line with 4 home runs, a 7.8 percent walk rate and 23.4 percent strikeout rate. Piscotty’s splits haven’t always been quite so severe, but with a 127 wRC+ in his career against lefties – and just 102 wRC+ against righties – he can generally be regarded as a plus bat so long as he’s kept on the short side of a platoon.
Brown, his counterpart in right, has just 14 plate appearances against lefties versus 141 plate appearances against righties. In the, admittedly, tiny sample, Brown has managed quite well against southpaws – 132 wRC+, which can be attributed to one home run and three walks). With Piscotty out, manager Bob Melvin could give Brown an opportunity to prove himself with more volume against left-handers. More likely, however, Melvin will turn to Chad Pinder or Bolt himself, who is a switch-hitter.
The Pirates Have One Of The Best Bullpen Chips On The Trade Market
There are plenty of clichés about the usefulness of a closer on a rebuilding and/or last-place team, and for the most part they hold true. Locking down victories on the path to 100 losses — even if you’re doing your job well — often goes somewhat overlooked. A high-leverage reliever on a team that has few high-leverage chances isn’t going to get much national love.
This time of year, however, they should get plenty of love around the league as contending clubs look to bolster their relief corps. Enter relatively anonymous Pirates closer Richard Rodriguez, who has solidified himself as one of the most effective relievers in the game over the past few seasons.
Rodriguez, 31, is nowhere near the top of the saves leaderboard in MLB or even in just in the National League, which isn’t much of a surprise given the Pirates’ 23-44 record. He’s only had nine save chances all season, and he’s converted seven of them. He’s sitting on a 1.71 ERA through 26 1/3 innings so far in 2021, and dating back to his Pirates debut in 2018, he has a 2.83 ERA in 184 1/3 frames.
Of course, teams in 2021 aren’t going to be particularly wowed by a shiny ERA or a player’s save total/save percentage. Rodriguez shines in other areas, however. His 21.1 percent strikeout rate in 2021 is the lowest it’s been in parts of four seasons in Pittsburgh, but he’s also sporting a career-best 3.2 percent walk rate and has yet to hit a batter in 2021. It’s also important to note that while his punchouts are down in ’21, Rodriguez has shown in the past that he can miss bats in bunches.
Rodriguez whiffed 31.5 percent of his opponents in 2018 and a whopping 36.6 percent in 2020. In both of those seasons, Rodriguez threw his breaking ball roughly one in four times and his four-seamer the other 75 percent of the time. So far in 2021 — as was the case in 2019 — he’s throwing roughly six times as many heaters as breaking ball. Fewer sliders, fewer strikeouts — but also fewer walks.
The strikeout rate is rather pedestrian this year, but that’s in large part because Rodriguez has excelled at inducing mediocre contact with his fastball that he hasn’t much needed to lean on his swing-and-miss breaking ball. Opponents have only “barreled” two balls against Rodriguez all season, per Statcast, and what he’s lacking in punchouts he makes up for with harmless infield fly-balls. A pop-up to the infield is nearly every bit as productive as a strikeout; for a pitcher’s purposes, they’re both effectively automatic outs.
So far in 2021, Rodriguez has induced seven pop-ups to the infield — tied for fifth-most among all MLB relievers. The four pitchers ahead of him have pitched an average of 7 1/3 more innings than Rodriguez this year. (Again, being a high-leverage reliever on a team that doesn’t get high-leverage opportunities can limit your workload.) Statcast pegs Rodriguez’s average opponents’ launch angle at 25.5 degrees — fifth-highest among relievers — due to the number of balls that are skied against him. This isn’t a new phenomenon either; dating back to 2019, Rodriguez is tied for 12th among relievers in pop-ups induced. Six of the names ahead of him on the list have more innings pitched.
Rodriguez’s fastball isn’t overpowering, sitting at 93.4 mph on average, and it doesn’t miss bats in droves despite being a high-spin offering. But that high spin rate and his willingness to work in the upper portion of the zone (or above it) helps to generate those pop-ups and the occasional whiff. Spin rate is an increasingly dubious term these days, as the league cracks down on the use of illegal foreign substances, but there’s been no noticeable drop in Rodriguez’s spin since the league began warning of sanctions. Rodriguez has ranked among the league leaders in fastball spin since 2018, and his most recent outing, in fact, saw his four-seamer reach its highest spin-rate mark of the season (2680 rpms). Either he’s brazenly and blatantly still using some form of substance, or he simply has a more innate ability to spin the ball than most pitchers.
Taken in totality, Rodriguez is a high-leverage reliever with a solid fastball, a breaking ball that misses bats (but isn’t always needed), some of the best control of any reliever in the game, and what appears to be a repeatable ability to generate infield flies. All of that on its own would be appealing, but then there’s the matter of his contractual status and remaining club control.
Rodriguez is in his fourth full season with the Bucs and will finish out the year just north of four years of MLB service time. That gives him two years of remaining club control beyond the 2021 season. He’ll be up for a raise via arbitration in both of those years, but the Pirates’ lack of leverage opportunities for him will actually work to his detriment (and to a new team’s favor) in that regard. This is only Rodriguez’s first full season as a closer for the Pirates, and his limited chances this year have left him with all of 12 career saves. That lack of saves left his first-year arbitration salary at a highly manageable $1.7MM, and it’ll likely limit his raises in 2022 and 2023 — particularly if an acquiring team puts him back into a setup role.
In other words, the Pirates this summer can market two and a half years of control over a pitcher who has quietly been one of the NL’s most effective relievers since 2018, and those two and a half seasons ought to come at a combined price in the $7.5MM to $9MM range. Even in an extreme scenario where a new team plugged Rodriguez into the ninth inning and he went on to lead the league in saves, he’s starting from a low enough point that the price would remain eminently reasonable.
There are going to be plenty of high-profile relievers on the market this summer. Many will throw harder than Rodriguez, more consistently miss bats than he does, and have more saves/holds than he’s amassed on a persistently cellar-dwelling Pirates club. But there are few relievers with this type of track record at such an affordable price point and with multiple years of control remaining beyond the 2021 season.
Obviously, the former Pirates’ front office regime made its fair share of missteps. There’s a reason the Buccos are in the position they’re in, after all. But the signing of Rodriguez as a minor league free agent after he was cast off by the Astros and Orioles alike is a move that deserves praise. It’s also a move that has left new GM Ben Cherington and his staff one of this summer’s most appealing trade candidates.
Minor MLB Transactions: 6/18/21
The latest minor transactions from around the league:
- The Blue Jays are transferring outfielder Jonathan Davis from the paternity list to the restricted list, reports Scott Mitchell of TSN (Twitter link). Players on the paternity list are allotted a maximum of 72 hours away from the team, but Davis will take an extra few days with his family. The 29-year-old isn’t expected to be out for long, but his transfer will temporarily free up a 40-man roster spot for Toronto.
Yankees Release Kyle Barraclough
The Yankees have released reliever Kyle Barraclough from his minor league contract, per an announcement from their Triple-A affiliate in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He’s now a free agent.
Barraclough signed with the Yankees in February and has spent the entire 2021 season with the RailRiders. Over 14 innings, the righty pitched to a solid 3.21 ERA and struck out a fantastic 24 of 55 batters faced (43.6%). Barraclough doled out far too many free passes, though, issuing eleven walks (20%). Those control issues made it tough for Barraclough to crack a Yankees bullpen that has been one of the game’s best this season.
Those high-strikeout, high-walk ways are nothing new for Barraclough, who pitched in the majors for the Marlins, Nationals and Giants between 2015-19. He’s punched out a lofty 29% of opponents in his big league career while 14.1%. In each of his five MLB seasons, Barraclough struck out and walked batters at a higher than average rate.
It wouldn’t be a surprise to see him draw interest from teams needing bullpen help now that he’s back on the market. The 31-year-old was a quality option for much of his tenure in Miami and has demonstrated he’s still more than capable of missing high-level bats this season.
Cardinals Sign Brandon Dickson
The Cardinals have signed right-hander Brandon Dickson to a minor league contract, as Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Twitter link) first reported. He’s been assigned to Triple-A Memphis.
Dickson, 36, is looking to return to the majors after nearly a decade away. He pitched 14 2/3 MLB innings for St. Louis between 2011-12 but joined the Orix Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball before the 2013 season. Dickson spent the next eight years with the Buffaloes, pitching to a 3.32 ERA across 892 1/3 innings at Japan’s highest level. He began his NPB career as a starter but worked as a closer the past few seasons, suggesting he’s likely to serve as bullpen depth for St. Louis. Last season, Dickson worked to a 3.28 ERA with a 21.1% strikeout rate and a 10.5% walk percentage.
Dickson becomes the second arm the Cards have added in recent days, as St. Louis signed veteran lefty Wade LeBlanc to a big league deal yesterday. Nevertheless, the Cardinals front office is still hunting for pitching depth, Goold writes in a separate piece. St. Louis has been in contact with rival clubs about trading for starting pitching, he notes, and they’ve been active on the free agent market. Goold reported last week that St. Louis has been in contact with free agent Shelby Miller about a potential reunion, but he added today that Miller has received offers from several teams since being released by the Cubs last month.
The Cardinals rotation looks in need of an upgrade if the 35-34 club is going to make a run in the NL Central. Jack Flaherty and Miles Mikolas are down with injuries for extended periods of time, leaving St. Louis with a current starting staff of Adam Wainwright, Kwang-hyun Kim, Johan Oviedo, John Gant and Carlos Martínez. Oviedo and Martínez have struggled this season, while Gant’s elevated 15.8% walk rate raises some doubt about his ability to keep his ERA around its current 3.50 mark.
It’s still too early in the year for many teams to abandon hope of competing, but there are a couple arms who could offer passable innings at the back of the rotation and should be available right now. The Diamondbacks have no hope of contending this season and could consider moving Merrill Kelly, who’s controllable through 2022 via a $5.5MM club option. He only has a 5.40 ERA this year but his peripherals (21.4% strikeout rate, 7.1% walk rate, 4.26 SIERA) are closer to average. Pittsburgh figures to be willing to trade Tyler Anderson, who has a similar combination of poor ERA (4.89) but more adequate underlying numbers (21% strikeout rate, 6.5% walk percentage, 4.33 SIERA). The Rangers and Tigers would surely listen on Mike Foltynewicz and José Ureña, respectively, although it’s not clear either is an upgrade over Martínez or Oviedo with how poorly they’ve pitched this season.