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Royals Move Matt Harvey To Bullpen

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Right-hander Matt Harvey has gotten another chance this year to get his once-great career back on track, but he hasn’t been able to take advantage of the opportunity since the Royals promoted him Aug. 18. He’ll now move to the Royals’ bullpen with a couple weeks left in the season, while Carlos Hernandez will join their rotation, Lynn Worthy of the Kansas City Star tweets.

A front-end starter earlier in his career, injuries – including thoracic outlet surgery – knocked Harvey from elite status a few years ago. He hasn’t recovered since, and this is now the second straight horrid season in the majors for the Dark Knight. He struggled so much with the Angels last year that they bailed on him in July 2019 despite an $11MM investment. While Harvey did land a minor league contract with the Athletics the next month, he didn’t make it back to the majors last season and didn’t find another deal until the Royals signed him this past July.

From the non-contending Royals’ standpoint, there wasn’t much to lose in giving the 31-year-old Harvey a shot. The buy-low move has yielded disastrous results so far, though, as Harvey has surrendered 13 earned runs on 22 hits (including five home runs) and an 8:5 K:BB ratio in just 10 innings. He hasn’t lasted longer than three innings in any of his five appearances with KC.

Based on his performance in recent years, Harvey is likely headed for another minor league pact in the offseason. Of course, that’s if anyone wants to roll the dice on a hurler who has recorded a major league-worst 6.07 ERA in 317 1/3 innings since 2017.

Braves Place Tommy Milone On IL, Outright Charlie Culberson

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The Braves have placed southpaw Tommy Milone on the 10-day injured list with left elbow inflammation and outrighted infielder/outfielder Charlie Culberson to their alternate training site, per a team announcement. They recalled righty Huascar Ynoa to take Milone’s roster spot.

Owing largely to the injuries that have sidelined Mike Soroka and Cole Hamels for extended periods, the Braves entered the Aug. 31 trade deadline looking like a team in need of starting help. The well-traveled, soft-tossing Milone was their only acquisition in that area, though he did join the Braves after a good season-opening run in Baltimore. Milone posted a 3.99 ERA/3.89 FIP and 9.5 K/9 against 1.2 BB/9 in 29 1/3 innings as an Oriole, but his Braves tenure hasn’t gone nearly as well. While Milone has fanned nine hitters and walked two in 9 2/3 frames since the trade, opposing hitters have teed off on him for 16 earned runs on 22 hits.

Now, with so little time left in the season, it’s unclear whether Milone’s elbow will heal quickly enough for him to return. He’s now the fourth Braves starting option on the IL, joining Soroka, Hamels and Cy Young contender Max Fried. The Braves still hold a two-game lead in the NL East in spite of their injuries, but their rotation looks dangerously thin at the moment. Fortunately for them, Hamels and Fried may not miss much more time.

Culberson was a fairly regular member of the Braves’ lineup from 2018-19, in which he accumulated 466 plate appearances and batted a respectable .267/.316/.457 with 17 home runs. He also lined up at several positions then and has played at multiple spots this year, though he hasn’t accrued many at-bats in 2020. Before the Braves designated Culberson for assignment Tuesday, he went 1-for-7 with four strikeouts.

Diamondbacks Designate Jake Lamb

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The Diamondbacks have designated infielder Jake Lamb for assignment and selected infielder/outfielder Pavin Smith’s contract, per a team announcement.

Arizona has been Lamb’s only organization since he went in the sixth round of the 2012 draft, but it now looks as if his run with the club will end. Primarily a third baseman, Lamb looked like a legitimate building block for the Diamondbacks from 2016-17. He combined for above-average offense then and totaled 4.9 fWAR, adding 30 home runs in 2017 and earning his lone All-Star nod. However, thanks in part to shoulder problems, Lamb’s career took a negative turn the next season and hasn’t recovered since.

In 514 plate appearances going back to 2018, the 29-year-old Lamb has batted .199/.307/.330 with 12 home runs. He was amid a horrid season this year (.116/.240/.210 without a homer in 50 PA) before the Diamondbacks designated him. He was due to reach free agency in the offseason anyway, so the D-backs decided to cut the cord a few weeks early.

Smith, the No. 7 pick in the 2017 draft, signed a $5,016,300 bonus with the Diamondbacks on the heels of his selection. Despite his draft pedigree and the money he initially received, the former Virginia Cavalier is not regarded as a premium prospect anymore (Baseball America ranks him 18th in the D-backs’ system), though Smith did bat an impressive .291/.370/.466 in his first 506 Double-A plate appearances last year.

Marlins Make Several Roster Moves

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The Marlins have announced a series of roster moves, including utility player Jon Berti’s placement on the 10-day IL with a finger injury. They also moved catcher Francisco Cervelli to the 60-day IL with a concussion; selected righty Brett Eibner; recalled second baseman Isan Diaz and lefty Daniel Castano; and optioned RHP Jordan Yamamoto and LHP Alex Vesia.

With a 19-19 record, the Marlins have been one of the majors’ biggest surprises this year, and Berti has played a part in their success. The 30-year-old has batted a league-average .250/.354/.354 with eight stolen bases over 114 plate appearances, and has lined up at a handful of defensive positions. Most of Berti’s reps have come at second base, but he has also handled shortstop, third base, center field and right on occasion.

Cervelli went on the seven-day concussion IL on Aug. 22 and hasn’t played since. The former Yankee, Pirate and Brave has dealt with an alarming number of head injuries throughout his career, making it unclear whether this latest issue will cause the 34-year-old to call it a career. He signed with the Marlins for a one-year, $2MM deal last offseason and batted an effective .245/.355/.453 with three home runs in 62 plate appearances before landing on the shelf.

Eibner, 31, is back with the Marlins exactly a week after they outrighted him. He has thrown 1 1/3 innings of three-run ball in two relief appearances this year.

Giants Activate Drew Smyly

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The Giants have activated left-hander Drew Smyly from the injured list, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area was among those to report. They also made newly acquired first baseman’s Justin Smoak selection official and optioned righty Rico Garcia.

Smyly, who Pavlovic notes should work from the bullpen upon his return, has been out since Aug. 2 with a left index finger strain. Before that, he made three appearances (two starts) and looked good over 8 1/3 innings, in which he allowed two earned runs on seven hits and four walks. He struck out nine batters in that span and also saw his average fastball velocity clock in at a career-high 93.6 mph.

These next couple weeks will be important to both the Giants and Smyly, as the club’s surprisingly in the thick of the playoff hunt at 23-21; meanwhile, Smyly has plenty to pitch for as someone who’s due to reach free agency in the offseason. The Giants signed him for a guaranteed $4MM last offseason, even though Smyly was coming off three nightmarish years (he endured two injury-wrecked campaigns with the Rays and Mariners before struggling in 2019 with the Rangers and Phillies). But if Smyly continues rolling before the season runs out, he could not only help the Giants to the playoffs, but put himself in a more favorable position on the cusp of another trip to the open market.

Cubs Release Steven Souza Jr.

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The Cubs announced that they have released outfielders Steven Souza Jr. and Ryan LaMarre and right-hander Juan Gamez. They also outrighted left-hander Matt Dermody, recalled righty Adbert Alzolay, optioned righty Colin Rea and added RHP Joe Wieland to their 60-man player pool.

Souza was a 30-home run hitter with the Rays in 2017, but he dealt with major injury problems as a Diamondback over the next two years. Souza was still able to land a guaranteed $1MM from the Cubs in free agency last offseason, but the move didn’t pay off at all for the club. He took 31 trips to the plate and batted .148/.258/.333 with one homer and 15 strikeouts before the Cubs designated him for assignment Sept. 5.

LaMarre previously garnered MLB experience with a few teams, most recently the Twins, but only owns a .623 OPS at the level. The Cubs signed him to a minor league contract in July, though he saw no action with the team before it released him.

Dermody, whom the Cubs signed to a minors pact Aug. 6, threw 25 1/3 frames with the Blue Jays from 2016-17 and returned to the bigs with a scoreless inning for the Cubs on Sept. 6 in his sole appearance of the season.

Rays Acquire INF Pedro Martinez From Cubs

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The Rays have acquired infielder Pedro Martinez, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Martinez is one of two players to be named later the Rays received from the Cubs in the teams’ deal Aug. 30 deal centering on Jose Martinez. The identity of the other player still isn’t known.

Pedro Martinez, who’s just 19 years old, joined the Cubs as an international free agent from Venezuela in 2018. He spent that season and last year producing quality numbers between rookie and low-A ball, where he combined for a .310/.393/.422 line with four home runs and 50 stolen bases on 69 attempts over 461 plate appearances.

While he’s still a ways from the majors, Martinez did rank as a well-regarded Cubs prospect before they traded him. MLB.com and FanGraphs are among the outlets that have favorable views of Martinez, as the former placed him 14th in the Cubs’ system and the latter ranked him 22nd. FanGraphs complimented the switch-hitting Martinez’s “bat-to-ball skills” and suggested he could at least turn into a role player in the majors.

Yankees Sign Ryan Buchter

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The Yankees announced Thursday that they’ve signed left-handed reliever Ryan Buchter to a minor league contract and assigned him to their alternate training site. Buchter, who recently elected free agency over an outright assignment from the Angels, will join the Yankees’ 60-man player pool and immediately become a viable depth option.

Buchter, 33, pitched just six innings with the Halos before being designated for assignment. He surrendered three runs and just five hits in that time, but his six walks probably didn’t encourage the team’s decision-makers. That said, Buchter has a track record as a solid bullpen piece dating back to his 2016 debut campaign with the Padres. The southpaw posted a sub-3.00 ERA each season from ’16-’19, logging a combined 2.87 ERA and 4.01 FIP with 9.9 K/9, 4.0 BB/9, 1.1 HR/9 and a 26.5 percent grounder rate along the way.

Despite those strong numbers, Buchter was non-tendered by the Athletics over the winter and had to settle for a minor league pact with the Angels in free agency. Last year’s results might’ve been a bit more smoke-and-mirrors than seasons prior, as Buchter’s 4.6 BB/9 and 1.59 HR/9 marks were easily career-worsts. His 2.98 ERA looked to be largely a function of a 91.4 percent strand rate, with fielding-independent metrics like FIP (4.96) and xFIP (5.08) casting considerably more negative light on his work.

That said, his track record and ability to miss bats in bunches makes him a fine depth pickup. An extreme fly-ball pitcher like Buchter isn’t necessarily an ideal fit for Yankee Stadium and the AL East in general, but it’s worth pointing out that he generates harmless infield flies at a higher rate than most pitchers. From 2016-19, 16.4 percent of the fly-balls he allowed were characterized as infield flies — just shy of seven percent better than the league average in that span. He’s surely benefited from playing his home games at the pitcher-friendly parks in San Diego, Kansas City and Oakland for much of his career, but the extreme fly-ball tendencies may not be quite as concerning as one would initially expect.

Nationals Select Yadiel Hernandez

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The Nationals are selecting the contract of outfielder Yadiel Hernandez after placing veteran Howie Kendrick on the injured list yesterday, manager Dave Martinez announced to reporters today (Twitter link via Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post). The team’s recent DFA of Wilmer Difo left them with a vacancy on the 40-man roster.

Whenever Hernandez gets into a game, it’ll mark the MLB debut for the 32-year-old. A high-quality performer for los Cocodrilos de Matnzas in the Cuban National Series from 2009-14, Hernandez defected from Cuba back in 2015 and began the lengthy process of establishing himself as a free agent for Major League clubs. He signed with the Nats for $200K more than a year after leaving Cuba and spent the 2017-19 seasons climbing through their minor league system.

That rise through the Nats’ farm included a monstrous .324/.406/.604 showing in Triple-A last year (139 wRC+), during which Hernandez slugged 33 homers, 22 doubles and a triple while going 7-for-12 in stolen base attempts. We don’t see too many soon-to-be 33-year-old rookies of note, but Hernandez has performed at a high level in Cuba’s top league and throughout three full minor league seasons, so he’ll carry a bit more intrigue than the standard journeyman receiving a September cup of coffee.

Giants Place Pablo Sandoval On Release Waivers

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1:00pm: The Giants announced that Sandoval has been placed on release waivers.

12:32pm: The Giants are designating infielder Pablo Sandoval for assignment today, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports (Twitter links). The move will create space for fellow veteran Justin Smoak, who signed with the Giants yesterday.

Sandoval, 34, lasted just two and a half seasons in Boston under an ill-fated five-year deal but surprised many with a resurgent showing upon returning to the Giants after being cut loose. From 2018-19, Sandoval tallied 548 plate appearances over 200 games with his original club, hitting .259/.311/.466 with 23 homers, 33 doubles and a triple. The pendulum swung in the opposite direction in 2020, however, as Sandoval has logged a miserable .220/.278/.268 slash through 90 trips to the plate.

The 33-year-old Smoak hasn’t exactly fared well in 2020 himself, hitting just .186/.262/.381 in 126 plate appearances with the Brewers before being released. Even amid those struggles, however, Smoak has shown much more power at the dish and a better walk rate. He’s been more prone to strikeouts than Sandoval but gives the Giants a better defensive option at first base and more pop on days he serves as designated hitter or a late-game pinch-hitter.

With Sandoval hitting well in 2018-19 and Hunter Pence returning after a resurgent year with his hometown Rangers, Giants fans might’ve had visions of one last productive run from the fan-favorite duo that fueled so much of their “Even Year” dynasty from 2010-14. Both Pence and the Panda struggled mightily in what now looks to have been their San Francisco farewell tours, however, leaving their futures within the game somewhat up in the air.

Had the Giants been languishing in the NL West cellar, perhaps they’d have kept Sandoval around to close out the season. San Francisco, though, has rattled off five straight wins to surge back to current possession of the No. 7 playoff seed in this year’s expanded postseason format. It’s in some ways reminiscent of last year’s July hot streak. Last year’s club wasn’t able to sustain the pace and convert that hot streak into a playoff berth, but the 2020 Giants will look to parlay their current 8-2 stretch into the organization’s first playoff berth since 2016.

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