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Red Sox To Reportedly Add Triston Casas To Player Pool

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The Red Sox are set to add first base prospect Triston Casas to their 60-man player pool, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reports. He’ll head to their alternate site. As Cotillo notes, Boston’s pool is at capacity, so it’ll have to make a corresponding move once Casas is officially part of it.

Now 20 years old, Casas became a member of the Red Sox when they drafted him 26th overall in 2018. Last season, his first full campaign in the minors, Casas held his own with a .256/.350/.480 line and 20 home runs between Single-A and High-A (all but seven of his 500 plate appearances came at Single-A). Once he joins Boston’s player pool, Casas will be eligible for a trade before the Aug. 31 deadline, but that’s a moot point here, as Cotillo writes that the team’s goal in calling him up is to aid in his development.

In other Red Sox moves Monday, they activated lefty reliever Josh Taylor from the injured list, optioned righty Chris Mazza and placed infielder Christian Arroyo on the IL, Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe tweets. Taylor, who was strong as a rookie in 2019 but hasn’t pitched this year because of a positive coronavirus test, should be a welcome addition for a struggling club with a deeply flawed pitching staff. As for Arroyo, whom the Red Sox claimed via waivers from the Indians on Aug. 13, his IL placement (retroactive to the 14th) was done to give him more time to join his new club as he goes through coronavirus protocols.

Mets Add Ronny Mauricio To 60-Player Pool

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The Mets have added infield prospect Ronny Mauricio to their 60-man player pool and placed catcher Rene Rivera on the 45-day injured list, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com tweets. Rivera’s dealing with a hyperextended left elbow.

Mauricio is still just 19 years old and hasn’t played above the Single-A level, so he remains a ways off from the majors. Regardless, not only does he rate as one the Mets’ top farmhands, but one of the game’s best prospects in general. For example, Baseball America places Mauricio at No. 70 overall and writes he has the ceiling of a “classic power-hitting corner infielder.”

Mauricio is now the third Mets prospect to join their player pool since Saturday, following catcher Francisco Alvarez and right-hander Matthew Allan. As MLBTR’s Mark Polishuk noted then, only players in teams’ pools are eligible to be traded prior to the Aug. 31 deadline. That obviously doesn’t mean the Mets are going to move any of these players (Mauricio would be especially tough to pry away), but the option is there if an enticing enough offer comes along. In all likelihood, though, the Mets added the three for developmental purposes.

Reds Select Tyler Thornburg, Outright Christian Colon

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AUG. 17: The Reds outrighted Colon to their alternate site Monday after he cleared waivers, Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer tweets. Colon will remain in the organization.

AUG. 14: The Reds announced that they’ve selected the contract of righty Tyler Thornburg. Infielder Christian Colon was designated for assignment to create roster space.

This’ll be Thornburg’s first MLB action since wrapping up a disappointing and injury-riddled tenure with the Red Sox. The 31-year-old was a highly productive reliever with the Brewers before running into difficulties in Boston.

Colon saw sporadic action with the Reds this year, as has been typical over his six seasons in the majors. All told, he owns a .249/.312/.310 slash in 418 plate appearances at the game’s highest level.

White Sox Place Adam Engel On IL, Select Luis Gonzalez

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The White Sox have placed outfielder Adam Engel on the injured list and selected fellow outfielder Luis Gonzalez’s contract from their alternate training site, James Fegan of The Athletic was among those to report.

Chicago put Engel on the IL because he may have come into contact with someone who has the coronavirus. However, Engel has not tested positive for it. The IL placement interrupts a solid start to the season for Engel, who has batted .263/.317/.500 with a pair of home runs in 41 plate appearances.

Gonzalez, 24, was a third-round pick of the White Sox in 2017 who could now receive his first major league action. After producing nice offensive numbers at the Single-A and High-A levels from 2017-18, he debuted in Double-A last year and batted .247/.316/.359 with nine homers and 17 steals in 535 trips to the plate. MLB.com ranks Gonzalez as the White Sox’s 13th-best prospect, noting he has a “sweet left-handed swing,” a “plus arm” and the versatility to play all three outfield positions.

Kendall Graveman Diagnosed With Bone Tumor In Cervical Spine

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Mariners right-hander Kendall Graveman has been diagnosed with a bone tumor in the C6 part of his cervical spine, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times reports.

Fortunately, Graveman’s tumor is benign and won’t grow or worsen if he continues to pitch, per Divish. And while Graveman may undergo surgery to address it at some point, that procedure won’t take place “until down the road,” Divish writes. It seems Graveman will even pitch again this year, as his hope is to make one more rehab start in an intraquad game before he’s ready for a return, according to Divish.

Graveman, whom the Mariners signed to a one-year, $1.5MM contract last winter, made two appearances for the club this season before landing on the injured list Aug. 4 with what the team described as neck spasms. The 29-year-old was successful member of the A’s staff from 2015-17, but Tommy John surgery limited him in 2018 and kept him out of action entirely last season.

Yankees Place DJ LeMahieu On 10-Day IL

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AUG. 17: The Yankees expect LeMahieu to miss two to three weeks, manager Aaron Boone told Hoch and other reporters.

AUG. 16, 3:05pm: LeMahieu will receive a second opinion on his hand tomorrow, reports Bryan Hoch of MLB.com, who adds that LeMahieu will visit the same specialist who treated him for a similar injury in 2018. As of now, there’s no timetable for LeMahieu’s return, though the Yankees are confident that the sprain will not require surgery.

11:34am: The Yankees announced they’ve placed DJ LeMahieu on the 10-day injured list with a left thumb sprain. Miguel Andújar has been recalled from the alternate training site to replace him on the active roster.

LeMahieu was removed from last night’s game against the Red Sox. While x-rays came back negative, manager Aaron Boone acknowledged then an IL stint was a possibility. That’s evidently come to pass. LeMahieu has been a big part of the Yankees’ AL East leading 14-6 start. He’s hitting .411/.456/.534 (177 wRC+) over 79 plate appearances, more than doubling down on his breakout 2019 season, in which he hit .327/.375/.518 en route to a 4th-place finish in AL MVP balloting.

The Yankees didn’t announce a timetable for his potential return, but the hope is today’s move is merely out of an abundance of caution. After all, New York sits in prime postseason position already and surely wants LeMahieu at full strength for the stretch run. An impending free agent, the 32-year-old no doubt is targeting a healthy, productive finish to the season himself.

Andújar was seemingly a victim of a roster crunch when he was optioned ten days ago. The 25-year-old was highly productive as a rookie (at least offensively) in 2018, but he’s since been passed at the hot corner through little fault of his own by Gio Urshela. It’s seemingly still questionable whether he’ll find everyday run, given that he won’t be seen as an option to replace LeMahieu at the keystone. That role figures to be handled by Tyler Wade and/or Thairo Estrada.

Yankees Activate Aroldis Chapman, Designate David Hale

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The Yankees announced Monday that they’ve reinstated closer Aroldis Chapman from the injured list and designated right-hander David Hale for assignment in order to create roster space.

Chapman is expected to step back into the closer’s role, pushing fellow southpaw Zack Britton back into a setup role. Chapman has yet to pitch this season after testing positive for the coronavirus in mid-July. He was cleared to resume baseball activities back on July 31, though, and has since been working to build up to game readiness. His return should only deepen an already formidable late-inning relief corps; Britton has allowed just one run through 8 1/3 frames while racking up eight saves. And Chapman himself is fresh off a 2.21 ERA and 13.4 K/9 through 57 innings last season.

Fans can be forgiven if they’ve lost track of how many times the Yankees have designated Hale for assignment at this point. The 32-year-old righty continues to post sharp numbers for the Yanks — he allowed two runs in six innings this season — but has been designated for assignment an astonishing four times in the past three years in addition to being outrighted off the team’s 40-man roster in the 2018-19 offseason. Hale has signed five minor league contracts with the Yankees since 2018.

For all the times he’s been cast aside by the Yankees, Hale keeps coming back and keeps pitching well. In 54 1/3 frames wearing Yankee pinstripes, Hale owns a 2.98 ERA and 3.54 FIP with averages of 6.0 strikeouts, 1.8 walks and 0.7 home runs allowed per nine innings pitched. The righty generates grounders at an above-average rate and has proven plenty capable of pitching multi-inning stints, so another club in need of some length in the bullpen or depth in the rotation could conceivably take a look.

The Yankees will have a week to trade Hale, release him or attempt to pass him through outright waivers.

Cubs Promote Tyson Miller

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The Cubs are calling up righty Tyson Miller to make his Major League debut, manager David Ross announced to reporters today (Twitter link via Gordon Wittenmyer of NBC Sports Chicago). He’ll start the second game of tonight’s doubleheader against the Cardinals. That assignment could’ve gone to righty Adbert Alzolay, but he took a ball off his forearm in a recent intrasquad game, it seems. Thankfully, Alzolay escaped with just a bruise, but he’s not yet ready to take the hill for the Cubs.

Miller, 25, was Chicago’s fourth-round pick back in 2016 and has been considered to be among the better prospects in a thin Cubs system for the past couple seasons. He breezed through Double-A in 2019, pitching to a 2.56 ERA with 80 strikeouts against just 16 walks in 88 innings before being promoted to Triple-A. Things didn’t go well in the Pacific Coast League for Miller — that’s true for most pitchers — as he was ambushed for a 7.58 ERA in 48 2/3 frames. Miller was blown up for 13 long balls in that short time after surrendering just six in his 88 Double-A innings. Some of that is surely attributable to better opponents, but the Triple-A leagues used the same ball that produced MLB’s home run boom last season. (The lower minor league levels did not.)

Baseball America credits Miller with the best control of any pitching prospect in the Cubs’ system, labeling him as a potential back-end starter. He ranks 14th in the system per BA and 25th over at MLB.com. Improvements to his changeup and an added curveball helped to drive his success at Double-A last year, per BA.

Today’s outing figures to be a spot start for Miller, who is serving as the Cubs’ 29th man. He’ll be sent back to the alternate site following the outing. However, this will also serve as Miller’s first audition for a longer-term look with the team. Each of Jon Lester, Jose Quintana and Tyler Chatwood will see the guaranteed portion of their contracts conclude at season’s end — Lester has a 2021 option — so there could be opportunity for Miller and other young arms in the near future.

Cardinals Select Nabil Crismatt

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The Cardinals announced Monday that they’ve selected the contract off right-hander Nabil Crismatt. Fellow righty Roel Ramirez was optioned to the alternate training site in a corresponding move. The Cards are also bringing right-hander Jake Woodford up as the 29th man for tonight’s twin bill against the Cubs.

Crismatt, 25, was a minor league signee whom the Cardinals invited to Spring Training over the winter. He’s spent most of his career in the Mets organization and was with the Mariners organization in 2019. A starter for most of his career in the minors, Crismatt has struggled in parts of two Triple-A stints but carries a 2.82 ERA with 9.3 K/9, 2.3 BB/9 and 0.7 HR/9 through 195 Double-A frames. Home runs have been an issue for him in the launching pad that is the Triple-A Pacific Coast League, but even in spite of the long balls, he’s averaged nearly 11 punchouts per nine frames at that level.

The Cards have had seven players make their MLB debuts since they resumed play after a team Covid-19 outbreak wiped out more than two weeks of their schedule. Crismatt will be the eighth if and when he gets into the game. He’ll also serve as rotation depth or bullpen length for the remainder of the season as the Cards work their way back toward a full-strength roster.

Indians Option Oscar Mercado

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The Indians announced this morning that they’ve optioned struggling center fielder Oscar Mercado to their alternate training site. A corresponding move has yet to be announced but will come before tomorrow’s game.

Mercado becomes the third notable Indians player to be sent down in the past week, although his circumstances are different. Unlike demoted right-handers Mike Clevinger and Zach Plesac, who were sent down after angering teammates and club officials by breaking Covid-19 protocols, Mercado’s trip to the alternate site looks to be purely driven by his on-field struggles. The 25-year-old finished eighth in American League Rookie of the Year voting last season but has gotten out to a woeful .111/.167/.111 start through 48 plate appearances in 2020.

Entering the season, Mercado appeared to be the lone lock amid an otherwise jumbled outfield picture. Cleveland had Delino DeShields Jr., Jordan Luplow, Tyler Naquin, Jake Bauers, Bradley Zimmer, Greg Allen, Domingo Santana and Franmil Reyes all vying for time in the corners (and at DH), but Mercado’s .269/.318/.443 debut and his quality glovework made him the clear favorite for everyday work in center.

With Mercado optioned out of the picture for now, it’ll likely be DeShields shouldering the workload in center while manager Terry Francona mixes and matches in the corner slots. Outside of DeShields, who has just 23 plate appearances, and Reyes, who has just five innings played on defense, none of the club’s outfield options have been productive. Francona will likely play matchups and hope for the emergence of a hot hand or two on which he can rely more consistently. The club could, of course, also pursue an upgrade via the trade market.

It should be noted that while Mercado’s demotion opens a spot on the active roster, that cannot be used to recall either Clevinger or Plesac. Optional assignment rules dictate that a player must spend 10 days down unless he is replacing a player who is being placed on the IL. That’s not the case here, so the club will turn elsewhere in whatever move is announced following today’s off day.

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