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A’s Daulton Jefferies To Debut Saturday

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Athletics right-hander Daulton Jefferies will make his major league debut with a start in Game 1 of a doubleheader against the Rangers on Saturday, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets. Jefferies is already on the A’s 40-man roster, so they won’t have to make a corresponding move in that regard.

Jefferies, a California native who attended UC Berkeley, is in his fifth season with the A’s organization. The club spent the 37th overall pick on Jefferies in 2016, but his progress was slowed the next season when he underwent Tommy John surgery. Jefferies rebounded in 2019, though, with 79 innings of 3.42 ERA ball and great strikeout and walk numbers (10.6 K/9 versus 1.0 BB/9) between the High-A and Double-A levels. The 25-year-old is now the A’s fourth-ranked prospect at Baseball America and their No. 6 farmhand at FanGraphs.

It remains to be seen whether Jefferies will last with the A’s beyond their Saturday doubleheader, but he may stick around with an impressive performance. The A’s are running away with the AL West, but their rotation certainly hasn’t offered elite production so far. Sean Manaea, Jesus Luzardo and Chris Bassitt have been their best starters in a rotation that hasn’t gotten a lot from Frankie Montas, Mike Fiers or trade deadline acquisition Mike Minor.

Orioles Designate Mason Williams For Assignment

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The Orioles announced that they’ve designated outfielder Mason Williams for assignment.

Now 29 years old, Williams was a first-round pick of the Yankees in 2010 who hasn’t established himself in the majors. He’s only a .272/.309/.370 hitter across 252 plate appearances, including 52 with the Orioles since 2019. Williams went 2-for-18 with nine strikeouts this season before the Orioles before Friday. They previously DFA’d Williams on Sept. 1 and then outrighted him Sept. 4, only to bring him back for a short period.

Ronald Acuna Jr. Exits With Apparent Foot Injury

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7:19pm: The Braves look to have dodged a bullet. They announced that Acuna underwent X-rays that didn’t reveal a fracture. He’s day-to-day.

6:33pm: Braves star outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. exited their game Friday with an apparent left ankle/foot injury, Mark Bowman of MLB.com was among those to report. Acuna departed after fouling a ball off his foot, and he had to be helped off the field. The Braves replaced him with Ender Inciarte.

The severity of Acuna’s injury isn’t known yet, but anything requiring an absence would be worrisome for the Braves at this late stage in the season. They hold a three-game lead in the NL East, but it’s fair to say they’ll need a healthy Acuna in the fold if they’re going to make a serious run at a World Series in the next couple months.

Acuna missed time earlier in the year with a left wrist injury, but he has been better than ever when he has taken the field. The 22-year-old has slashed a career-best .286/.440/.667 (184 wRC+) with 11 home runs and a personal-high 20.2 percent walk rate in 134 plate appearances.

Red Sox Select Domingo Tapia

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The Red Sox have selected right-hander Domingo Tapia’s contract, Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe tweets. They also placed southpaw Josh Taylor on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to Sept. 8, with left shoulder tendinitis and shifted righty Colten Brewer to the 45-day IL. Brewer’s season is now over.

The 29-year-old Tapia began his professional career as a member of the Mets, with whom he was a decently ranked prospect on multiple occasions (Baseball America placed him in the team’s top 20 three times). But Tapia didn’t get past the Double-A level with the Mets through 2016, his final season with the organization, and topped out in Triple-A ball with the Reds from 2017-18. He spent all of last year with the Red Sox’s Triple-A affiliate, posting a 5.18 ERA/5.31 FIP with 7.09 K/9 and 4.36 BB/9 in 66 innings.

The Red Sox were counting on Taylor to fill  an important role in their bullpen when this season began, but his year has been a nightmare. While Taylor had a very good rookie season last year, his 2020 was a delayed as a result of a positive coronavirus test. Taylor debuted Aug. 17, but he has since surrendered eight earned runs on seven hits and five walks (with seven strikeouts) in 7 1/3 innings.

Reds Outright Matt Davidson

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The Reds have outrighted infielder Matt Davidson, the team announced. Davidson accepted the assignment and will remain part of the organization. Meanwhile, the club placed right-hander Tyler Thornburg on the 10-day injured list with a right elbow sprain and recalled righty Jose De Leon.

The Reds designated Davidson for assignment on Sept. 8, which came after the two-time 20-home run hitter batted .163/.234/.295 with three homers in 47 plate appearances. He also saw a bit of time on the mound, throwing 3 1/3 innings of two-earned run ball.

The elbow problem represents yet another troubling injury for Thornburg, who was a premier reliever with the Brewers in 2016 but has fallen off since the Red Sox acquired him entering 2017. Thornburg missed all of that season, during which he underwent thoracic outlet surgery, and has only totaled 49 2/3 innings in the majors since. The 31-year-old has performed decently in his first season with the Reds, though, having struck out 10 and yielded three earned runs on six hits and five walks.

Blue Jays Announce Several Roster Moves

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The Blue Jays announced several roster moves on Friday, including the activation of reliever Ken Giles from the 45-day injured list. They also promoted catcher Alejandro Kirk, designated outfielder Billy McKinney and backstop Caleb Joseph, recalled righty Jacob Waguespack and optioned righty Sean Reid-Foley.

Giles made just two appearances this year (on July 24 and 26) before landing on the IL with a right forearm strain. It’s the second consecutive season limited by arm injuries for Giles, but when he’s right, he’s dominant. The 29-year-old was among the league’s best relievers last season, when he threw 53 innings and registered a 1.87 ERA/2.27 FIP with 14.09 K/9, 2.89 BB/9 and 23 saves in 24 chances. Giles’ production didn’t help lead to contention for the Jays then, but they’re 24-19 this season and in possession of a playoff spot. Therefore, if Giles is able to revisit his 2019 form, he could be an enormous down-the-stretch addition for Toronto.

Kirk, 21, has done nothing but hit in the minors over the past couple years. Even though he only reached the High-A level before this promotion, Kirk should be in line to at least back up Danny Jansen right now. He ranks as one of the top Blue Jays prospects at Baseball America (No. 5), MLB.com (No. 6) and FanGraphs (No. 6), with BA writing that Kirk “has an innate ability to barrel baseballs consistently, along with a good sense of the strike zone.”

Kirk will take over for Joseph, a former Oriole whom the Blue Jays signed to a minors pact in the offseason. Toronto selected Joseph back on Sept. 5, but it’s now booting the light-hitting 34-year-old from its roster after less than a week.

McKinney, along with the recently outrighted Brandon Drury, was part of the Blue Jays’ return for left-hander J.A. Happ in a deal they made with the Yankees in 2018. McKinney was effective after the Jays picked him up, as he hit .252/.320/.470 with six home runs in 118 plate appearances, but he didn’t come close to that production last year and hasn’t been part of Toronto’s plans this season. The 26-year-old totaled just three PA in 2020 before the Jays designated him.

Cardinals Place Giovanny Gallegos On 10-Day IL

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The Cardinals announced that they’ve placed right-hander Giovanny Gallegos on the 10-day injured list with a right groin strain. They recalled righty Nabil Crismatt from their alternate training site in a corresponding move.

The loss of Gallegos is a significant one for the Cardinals, considering what he has meant to their bullpen since he broke out in 2019. He posted a 2.31 ERA/3.05 FIP in 74 innings then in his first season as a Cardinal and has continued to be a key member of their relief corps this year, having tossed 11 1/3 frames of 3.97 ERA/2.65 FIP pitching with 11.12 K/9 and 2.38 BB/9.

Along with notching strong bottom-line results, Gallegos leads the playoff-contending Cardinals with four saves. Andrew Miller is the only other Cardinal with more than one save (two). Miller and John Gant, St. Louis’ best reliever this year, could be next in line for save chances now that Gallegos is out. It’s unclear how much time Gallegos will miss, but with so little time left, it’s possible he won’t return to the Cardinals this regular season.

Indians Designate Dominic Leone For Assignment

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The Indians have designated right-hander Dominic Leone for assignment, the team announced. They recalled righty Cam Hill to take Leone’s roster spot.

Leone was an offseason minor league signing for the Indians, with whom he cracked the roster but had a rough time over 9 2/3 innings before they designated him. The 28-year-old did rack up 16 strikeouts in that span, but he also gave up nine earned runs on 14 hits and five walks. This will go down as the second straight difficult campaign for Leone, who struggled to a 5.53 ERA/5.45 FIP over 40 2/3 innings as a Cardinal in 2019.

Not too long ago, Leone was an eminently valuable member of Toronto’s bullpen, as he logged a 2.56 ERA/2.94 FIP with 10.36 K/9 and 2.94 BB/9 in 70 1/3 innings in 2017. The Blue Jays traded Leone to the Cardinals in a deal for outfielder Randal Grichuk during the ensuing winter, but Leone hasn’t really been the same since he battled right biceps problems in his first season in St. Louis.

Mariners Outright Mallex Smith

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The Mariners have outrighted outfielder Mallex Smith to Triple-A Tacoma, the team announced. Smith is now out of their 60-man player pool.

This is the latest setback in the Seattle tenure for Smith, whom the team acquired from the Rays in a trade centering on him and catcher Mike Zunino heading into 2019. Smith was then coming off a highly valuable season as a member of the Rays, with whom he slashed .296/.367/.406 with 40 stolen bases and 3.5 fWAR across 544 plate appearances. For the most part, though, Smith hasn’t come close to replicating those numbers in Seattle. While the 27-year-old Smith has chipped in 48 steals as a Mariner, it hasn’t made up for his shortcomings at the plate. He batted an abysmal .220/.290/.323 with minus-0.5 fWAR over 613 trips to the plate before the M’s outrighted him.

Because of the struggles he has endured in Seattle, Smith has seemingly been out of the team’s plans for a few weeks. He hasn’t played in the majors since Aug. 15, and the Mariners optioned him to their alternate training site Aug. 18. Now, with the offseason nearing and Smith possessing enough service time to opt for free agency, it’s possible he won’t suit up for the Mariners again.

Blue Jays Release Jake Petricka

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The Blue Jays have released right-hander Jake Petricka, who’d been with the club at its alternate training site. The move, which was first noted on the team’s transactions log at MLB.com, was made in conjunction with the addition of shortstop prospect Orelvis Martinez to Toronto’s 60-man player pool.

Petricka, 32, returned to the Jays organization on a minor league deal this winter. He’d spent the 2018 campaign in Toronto, working to a 4.53 ERA and 4.45 FIP with a 41-to-16 K/BB ratio in 45 2/3 frames. The longtime White Sox reliever has seen big league action in parts of seven Major League seasons, totaling 231 2/3 innings with a 3.96 ERA and fielding-independent marks to match (4.02 FIP, 4.00 xFIP, 3.80 SIERA). Along the way, Petricka has averaged 6.8 K/9, 3.7 BB/9 and 0.7 HR/9 with a whopping 59.1 percent ground-ball rate.

Entering the season, it seemed plausible that the Jays could eventually need to tap into depth options such as Petricka down at the alternate site. Behind closer Ken Giles and veteran Anthony Bass, the Blue Jays looked poised to rely on a host of young and/or unproven arms. Giles went down with an injury after just 1 2/3, ostensibly enhancing their need for veteran ’pen help, but the Blue Jays’ patchwork collection of arms somewhat surprisingly emerged as one of the team’s greatest strengths.

Righties Rafael Dolis, Jordan Romano, A.J. Cole and Thomas Hatch have all posted ERAs south of 2.50. Hard-throwing Julian Merryweather has shown impressive stuff in his early outings, and southpaw starters-turned-relievers Ryan Borucki and Anthony Kay have thrived as well. Overall, Toronto/Buffalo relievers rank third in ERA at 3.27 and sixth with a 3.75 FIP.

The veteran Petricka will now become a free agent who is free to sign with any big league club, although it’s also possible that he’ll wait until the offseason to sign with a new team — as is common with players who are released in September.

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