Brewers Select Jordan Zimmermann
The Brewers have selected right-hander Jordan Zimmermann and optioned fellow righty Patrick Weigel to their alternate site, the team announced.
Zimmermann’s promotion comes with the Brewers dealing with a rash of health problems, including in their rotation. Left-hander Brett Anderson went on the 10-day injured list with a strained hamstring last week, while replacement Zack Godley landed on the 10-day IL after one start because of a finger issue. Worst of all, the Brewers placed star righty Corbin Burnes on the IL on Wednesday, likely on account of a positive COVID-19 test.
Zimmermann was a standout in his own right earlier in his career, though his production has tanked since he left the Nationals for the Tigers on a five-year, $110MM contract prior to the 2016 campaign. The former workhorse threw 514 1/3 innings with Detroit, including just 5 2/3 last year, and pitched to a woeful 5.63 ERA. As a result of that miserable stretch, Zimmermann was unable to land a guaranteed contract during his trip to free agency this past offseason. The 34-year-old sat on the open market for a few months before signing a minor league deal with the Brewers in February.
Blue Jays Activate, Option Nate Pearson
The Blue Jays have activated right-hander Nate Pearson from the 10-day injured list, the club announced. Pearson will report to the Blue Jays’ alternate site and join their Triple-A team.
Pearson suffered a right groin strain at the beginning of camp last month, though Toronto initially didn’t expect it to lead to a long absence. Roughly two weeks later, Pearson re-aggravated the injury, and he has spent the past month and a half working back from it.
While Pearson is one of the game’s prized young hurlers, evidenced in part by his 16th-place ranking on Baseball America’s list of top 100 prospects, staying healthy has been an issue of late. The hard-throwing 24-year-old made his major league debut last season, though a flexor strain in his elbow limited him to five appearances (four starts) and 18 innings. He struggled across that small sample of work, allowing 15 runs (12 earned) and issuing 13 walks. Pearson only gave up 14 hits, but five of those went for home runs, and he finished with a below-average 19.8 percent strikeout rate.
Although Pearson’s first regular-season action didn’t go well, he did end 2020 on a high note. Pearson made one appearance in the Blue Jays’ wild-card round loss to the Rays and threw two perfect innings with five strikeouts and 12 swings and misses. That’s the type of dominance the Jays are hoping Pearson will provide out of their rotation whenever they recall him this season and over the long haul. The club’s staff could use the help in the near term, as only Hyun Jin Ryu (who’s on the 10-day IL with a right glute strain), Steven Matz and Robbie Ray have made three or more starts and produced positive results this year.
Rockies Select Matt Adams, Designate Ashton Goudeau
The Rockies announced that they have selected first baseman Matt Adams, designated right-hander Ashton Goudeau for assignment and optioned outfielder Sam Hilliard.
The 32-year-old Adams joined the Rockies on a minor league last month, which came after he posted career-worst production with the Braves in 2020. Adams hit .184/.216/.347 over 51 plate appearances with Atlanta, causing the team to release him in early September. It was the second straight down year for Adams, who struggled with the Nationals in 2019.
While his most recent output has been poor, the well-traveled Adams has enjoyed a few solid seasons in the majors. The left-hander has logged four seasons with a wRC+ north of 100, including a personal-high 135 (.284/.335/.503) in 2017 with the Cardinals, and has hit 20 or more home runs on three occasions. Overall, Adams has batted .259/.367/.467 (106 wRC+) in 2,574 trips to the plate in the majors.
Now that he’s returning to the bigs, Adams will serve as a bench bat for Colorado, whose offense ranks dead last in the majors in wRC+ (77). He’ll give the team some depth at first base behind C.J. Cron, the Rockies’ most productive hitter this year.
The past several months have been quite an adventure for Goudeau, whom the Rockies previously designated for assignment last November. The Pirates then claimed Goudeau before losing him on waivers to the Orioles. The O’s later lost Goudeau to the Giants, who lost him to the Dodgers, who lost him to the Rockies less than two weeks ago. If that trend continues, someone will claim Goudeau in the next week.
The soon-to-be 29-year-old Goudeau made his MLB debut with Colorado last season, but opposing offenses crushed him for 15 hits and seven earned runs in 8 1/3 innings, and he issued as many walks as strikeouts (two). Goudeau was, however, highly effective at the Double-A level in 2019, when he notched a 2.07 ERA with fantastic strikeout and walk percentages of 30.1 and 4.0, respectively, across 78 1/3 frames.
Cubs Designate Brandon Workman For Assignment
The Cubs have designated right-handed reliever Brandon Workman for assignment, per a team announcement. Left-hander Justin Steele has been recalled from the alternate training site in his place.
Workman, 32, signed a one-year, $1MM contract with the Cubs late in the offseason. The contract came with an additional $2MM of available incentives for the former Red Sox closer, but his stint with the Cubs looks to be coming to a close after just eight innings.
Workman was hit hard in that brief time, surrendering six runs on a dozen hits (two homers) and seven walks with 11 strikeouts. It’s the second consecutive rough year for the hard-throwing righty, who was clobbered for a 5.95 ERA in 19 2/3 frames between the Red Sox and Phillies last summer.
Setting aside his disappointing work in 2020-21, Workman was a solid late-inning option for Boston from 2017-19. During that time he gave the BoSox 152 2/3 innings of 2.59 ERA ball while striking out just under 29 percent of the hitters he faced. Workman led the Red Sox with 16 saves in 2019 and finished second among Boston relievers with 71 2/3 innings — all while striking out more than 36 percent of his opponents.
Workman’s average fastball has dipped by more than a mile per hour since that brilliant 2019 campaign, dropping from 93.1 mph to 91.8 mph. He’s still registered a respectable swinging-strike rate since 2020 (10.7 percent), but Workman has yielded far too much hard contact and seen his already pedestrian walk rate spike to egregious levels in recent years.
The Cubs will have a week to trade Workman, try to pass him through waivers or simply release him. Based on his track record, he should land with another club if he does hit the market, but that may well have to come on a non-guaranteed pact. Offseason interest in the righty was tepid enough, after all, that he inked the aforementioned one-year, $1MM guarantee. It’s hard to imagine that a lackluster showing with the Cubs has done any favors for his stock. Still, Workman’s dominant 2019 season is a testament to his raw ability, and other clubs around the league surely have their own ideas about how to once again coax that type of performance from him.
As for the 25-year-old Steele, he made his big league debut earlier this year and rattled off 3 1/3 innings of shutout ball. Baseball America tabs him as the organization’s No. 22 prospect, characterizing him as a potential hard-throwing reliever with some command issues. Steele was a starter throughout his minor league career, but the Cubs are looking at him in the ‘pen after he was rocked for a 5.59 ERA through 11 starts in a pitcher-friendly setting at Double-A in 2019.
Wade LeBlanc Elects Free Agency
Veteran left-hander Wade LeBlanc went unclaimed on outright waivers after being designated for assignment by the Orioles and has elected to become a free agent, MLB.com’s Jon Morosi reports (via Twitter). He’s free to sign with any club for the prorated league minimum.
LeBlanc, 36, was with the Orioles in 2020 and to begin the 2021 season, but his results with Baltimore weren’t pretty. Through 29 innings of work, the veteran was tagged for 27 runs on the strength of 38 hits (seven homers) and nine walks with just 19 strikeouts.
It’s been a few years now since LeBlanc’s quietly solid 2014-18 run, during which he racked up 321 2/3 innings of 3.92 ERA ball between the Angels, Yankees, Pirates and Mariners. Much of that production came during a 2018 season in Seattle where LeBlanc threw a career-high 162 innings over 32 appearances (27 starts) and notched a tidy 3.72 ERA.
The lack of recent success if of course glaring, but LeBlanc carries a lifetime 4.11 ERA in parts of nine Triple-A seasons and a 4.59 ERA in 889 innings at the MLB level. Given the number of pitching injuries around the league early in the 2021 season, he could latch on somewhere as an experienced and cost-efficient depth signing.
White Sox Place Garrett Crochet On IL, Activate Luis Robert
The White Sox announced that lefty Garrett Crochet has been placed on the 10-day IL (retroactive to April 26) with an upper back strain. The South Siders also reinstated center fielder Luis Robert from the injured list and called up infielder Danny Mendick to serve as the 27th man for today’s twin bill against the Tigers.
Crochet’s ascension to and dominance in the Majors has been rather remarkable. The 21-year-old was the No. 11 overall pick out of Tennessee last year but was in the big leagues just months later and even made Chicago’s postseason roster. Counting that lone appearance in the AL Wild Card Series, which saw him depart early due to a left forearm strain, he’s pitched 15 2/3 innings and held opponents to one earned run (plus three unearned) on 12 hits and five walks with 18 strikeouts. Crochet averaged 100.2 mph on his heater in 2020, though that average velo is down to “only” 96.6 mph early in 2021.
The Sox have yet to give any indication as to how long Crochet might be sidelined. His absence leaves Aaron Bummer as the only southpaw option in the bullpen, and the Sox don’t have another lefty option on the 40-man roster to call up as a replacement. They do have a trio of non-roster lefties slated to open the year in Triple-A, however: Jacob Lindgren, Kodi Medeiros and Nik Turley.
Robert returns after just a couple days away from the roster. He’d been on the Covid list after reporting symptoms but looks to have been quickly tested negative and been cleared to play. Mendick will return for a brief look after going 6-for-16 with five walks and five strikeouts in 21 plate appearances earlier this season. He’s a .272/.320/.401 hitter in 175 plate appearances and can play all over the infield.
Mariners Place Marco Gonzales On Injured List
The Mariners are placing left-hander Marco Gonzales on the 10-day injured list after a Wednesday MRI revealed a left forearm strain, tweets Corey Brock of The Athletic. Manager Scott Servais tells reporters that Gonzales will miss at least “a couple starts.” He’s already begun treatment. Righty Domingo Tapia is being called up from the taxi squad to take Gonzales’ spot on the roster, tweets Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times.
It’s been a rough start to the season for the typically steady Gonzales. The 29-year-old has been the Mariners’ best pitcher in recent years and quietly been one of the league’s more effective lefties overall. From 2018-20, the former Cardinals first-rounder pitched to a 3.85 ERA with a 19.5 percent strikeout rate, a 5.2 percent walk rate and a 41.8 percent grounder rate. Along the way, Seattle inked Gonzales to a four-year, $30MM contract extension that includes a club option for the 2025 season as well.
Gonzales hasn’t looked much like himself this season, logging an ugly 5.40 ERA (4.80 SIERA) through his first five starts, which have lasted just 28 1/3 frames. Gonzales’ 19 percent strikeout rate is down from last year’s 23.1 percent (although close to his combined 2018-20 rate), but his 9.1 percent walk rate is his worst since his 2014 rookie campaign in St. Louis. His 88.1 mph average fastball velocity is also 1.8 mph south of his career mark.
However, it doesn’t appear that the forearm strain is at the root of those issues — or at least, Gonzales isn’t using it as any kind of excuse. Divish tweets that Gonzales says he only felt the discomfort crop up after his last outing. And to be fair to Gonzales, he’s fared quite a bit better in his three most recent starts than he did in his first two outings of the year. The lefty held the Dodgers to a run on six hits and a walk last week before limiting Houston to a pair of runs in six frames as recently as Monday.
Gonzales joins James Paxton (season-ending surgery) and Nick Margevicius (shoulder inflammation) as rotation arms on the injured list for Seattle. With that group sidelined, the M’s will look to Justus Sheffield, Chris Flexen, Yusei Kikuchi and Justin Dunn in the rotation. Their starter for Saturday’s game is still listed as TBD, though long relievers Ljay Newsome and/or Robert Dugger could perhaps step into that spot to head up a bullpen game.
Seattle also has some notable top pitching prospects thought to be on the cusp of big league readiness — 2018 first-rounder Logan Gilbert chief among them. Gilbert, the game’s No. 35 overall prospect at Baseball America, breezed through three minor league levels in his lone season of minor league ball in 2019. Through 135 levels spread across Class-A, Class-A Advanced and Double-A, he worked to a 2.13 ERA with 165 strikeouts (31.7 percent) against just 33 walks (6.3 percent).
Mike Soroka Cleared To Begin Throwing
April 29: Soroka has been cleared to begin “simple” throwing exercises, reports Mark Bowman of MLB.com, adding that the Braves indeed feel the righty is more than a month away from returning. Manager Brian Snitker indicates that Soroka effectively has to “start over” with his buildup to the season. “We’ve just got to be patient with him,” said Snitker.
April 27: Braves righty Mike Soroka has yet to pitch in 2021 thanks not only to last year’s season-ending Achilles tear but also due to some inflammation that’s popped up in his shoulder. While Soroka’s most recent MRI did not reveal any structural damage, MLB Network’s Jon Morosi reported today (video link) that it did show some lingering inflammation. Soroka won’t begin throwing until that’s cleared out, and at that point, he’ll effectively need a full, Spring Training-esque buildup before he returns to the big leagues. Morosi suggests he isn’t likely to return until sometime in June, at the earliest.
That’s a tough blow for Braves fans and for a team that was originally hoping to have Soroka back around late April. The Braves are likely proceeding with some extra caution, however, as Soroka was twice placed on the injured list during his rookie season due to shoulder troubles — the second stint proving to be a season-ender
Soroka returned with a flourish in 2019, rattling off 174 2/3 innings of 2.68 ERA ball, a 20.3 percent strikeout rate, a 5.8 percent walk rate and a league-best 0.7 homers per nine innings pitched. He appeared in just three games last season, however, before suffering a torn Achilles tendon when coming off the mound to cover first base on a grounder to the right side of the infield.
It’s been another rocky season for the Atlanta rotation, which added veterans Charlie Morton ($15MM) and Drew Smyly ($11MM) on a pair of relatively high-priced one-year deals this winter. Braves starters have combined for a 5.29 ERA that ranks 29th of 30 teams.
Morton leads the club with five starts and 28 1/3 innings pitched, but he’s struggled to strand runners and is has a 4.76 ERA in the earlygoing (albeit with much better secondary marks). Max Fried has struggled through three starts and is currently alongside on Soroka on the injured list due to a hamstring strain. Smyly has also had an early IL stint, while Ian Anderson hasn’t quite replicated last year’s brilliant rookie showing.
Among the team’s fill-in starters, Huascar Ynoa has impressed, piling up strikeouts in bunches while yielding just six runs through 21 frames. The results haven’t been as sharp for either Bryse Wilson or Kyle Wright, though Wilson has made just two appearances and Wright only one.
For the time being, the Braves will roll with Morton, Anderson, Smyly, Ynoa and Wilson starting games. It’s a solid bunch, but the absence of the 2019 NL Rookie of the Year runner-up (Soroka) and the 2020 fifth-place Cy Young finisher (Fried) is rather glaring. A healthy group of Soroka, Fried, Morton, Anderson and Smyly could be one of the most imposing rotations in the Majors, but it doesn’t seem like we’ll see that quintet together in the near future.
Rays’ Wander Franco To Open Minor League Season In Triple-A
Rays shortstop Wander Franco, the consensus top prospect in all of baseball, will head to Triple-A Durham when the minor league season begins next week, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link).
The initial assignment doesn’t provide a concrete timeline for when Franco might be called to the big leagues, but it’s a fairly aggressive placement and one that’s worth noting, given Franco’s status within the game. He only turned 20 years old last month, and an assignment to Durham means he’ll skip the Double-A level entirely. Franco split the 2019 season between Class-A and Class-A Advanced, slashing a combined .327/.398/.487 with nine homers, 27 doubles, seven triples and 18 stolen bases in 495 plate appearances as one of the youngest players in both leagues.
From a service time standpoint, Franco is already well past the point where he could accrue a full year in 2021, meaning the Rays would control him all the way through 2027 regardless of when he’s brought to the Majors. Were he to remain in the minor leagues through late April 2022, they’d gain an extra year of control — through the 2028 campaign — but the general expectation has been that Franco could be in the big leagues this summer. Depending on when he’s called up, he could be in Super Two territory and thus be arbitration-eligible four times. Waiting until late mid or late June would likely keep him from reaching that designation.
There will inevitably be a spotlight placed on Franco and his performance in Durham, just as there will likely be vocal calls for his promotion to the Major Leagues right out of the gate. The early struggles from Tampa Bay shortstop Willy Adames, who has batted just .173/.215/.320 through his first 79 plate appearances, will only further fuel that scenario if the 25-year-old Adames is unable to right the ship.
At the same time, it’s worth remembering that Franco was only 18 years old when the 2019 season ended and that outside of 11 games in the Dominican Winter League, he hasn’t played in a professional game since. The Rays are surely hopeful that when Franco is called to the Majors, he’s ready for the challenge and needn’t ever be sent back to the minors for further development. The fact that he’s bypassing Double-A and going straight to the club’s top affiliate seems like a vote of confidence that he’s on the cusp of such readiness, but he’ll get some vital development time against the most advanced pitching he’s ever faced for the time being.
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