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Mets Designate Tomás Nido For Assignment

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The Mets announced that catcher Francisco Alvarez has been reinstated from the 10-day injured list, with fellow backstop Tomás Nido designated for assignment in a corresponding move.

Alvarez tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his thumb in April and went under the knife April 23. The club announced an expected absence of six to eight weeks and he has now returned right in the middle of that window.

He hit 25 homers for the Mets last year while also receiving strong grades for his glovework, cementing himself as the club’s franchise backstop since he was just 21 years old last year. He was looking to continue establishing himself in that role here in 2024, though the injury put that on hold for a bit. Now that he has healed up, that plan can get back on track.

While Alvarez was out, the Mets played a bit of musical chairs at the catcher position. Nido, Omar Narváez and Luis Torrens all got some playing time, while Joe Hudson was recently added to the roster and brought to London as an emergency depth option, though he’s now on optional assignment.

Nido was added to the roster when Alvarez went down and slashed .229/.261/.361, decent enough production given his reputation as a glove-first backup type. Narváez hit a dismal .154/.191/.185 and was released last week.

When Narváez was cut from the roster, the Mets acquired Torrens from the Yankees. Torrens has generally been considered more of a bat-first catcher and was hitting .279/.339/.468 in Triple-A at the time the Mets traded for him. In six games since that deal, he has hit two home runs and drawn walks at an 11.1% pace. His .313/.389/.750 batting line will surely regress somewhat, but it seems the Mets are going to roll with him as the backup instead of Nido. If Torrens last on the roster all year, he can be controlled for two more seasons via arbitration.

The Mets will now have a week to trade Nido or pass him through waivers. He is making $2.1MM this year as part of the two-year deal he signed with the Mets going into 2023. The Mets passed him through waivers last summer, just before he got to five years of service time. That likely wasn’t a coincidence, as getting to the five-year mark would have given him the right to elect free agency while keeping all of his money. Instead, he had to stick around in a non-roster depth role in order to keep collecting his paychecks.

But the injury to Alvarez allowed Nido to get back on the roster and cross that five-year mark. That means that, if he clears waivers again, he can keep all that money and become a free agent. In that scenario, any club could sign him for the prorated league minimum while the Mets would remain on the hook for most of the money.

Nido has hit just .214/.251/.313 in his career, production that translates to a wRC+ of 57, but he has a solid defensive reputation that could give him some appeal to other clubs. J.T. Realmuto of the Phillies will be undergoing knee surgery while Yainer Diaz of the Astros is banged up with a right index finger injury and Elias Díaz of the Rockies is dealing with a calf issue.

Cubs Considering Alternatives To Christopher Morel At Third Base

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As noted this morning by Patrick Mooney of The Athletic, the Cubs have “evaluated alternatives” to third baseman Christopher Morel this season, with one such alternative possibly being top prospect Matt Shaw. 

Morel has started 50 of the team’s 66 games this year at third base, taking over from the group that shared the position down the stretch last season: Nick Madrigal, Jeimer Candelario (now with the Reds), Miles Mastrobuoni, and Patrick Wisdom. Madrigal started 11 games at third this year (and filled in as a defensive replacement on 25 other occasions), but he was optioned to Triple-A earlier this month and is currently on the minor league injured list. Wisdom, meanwhile, has played a utility role off the bench, taking reps at first base, third base, right field, and DH. Mastrobuoni also played a utility role before he was optioned in mid-May.

Prior to this season, Morel had only played 180 2/3 MLB innings at the hot corner, having spent more time in his first two seasons at second base and in the outfield. However, he played 156 games at third base in his minor league career – more than any other position – and after his strong performance at the plate last year (26 home runs and an .821 OPS in 107 games) the Cubs wanted to find him a position to keep his bat in the lineup on a regular basis. Unfortunately, his glove has been all but unplayable at third base this year. Morel has already made eight errors, and his -8 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) and -11 Outs Above Average (OAA) both rank last among all third basemen. In fact, his -11 OAA ranks dead last in all of baseball.

To make matters worse, Morel’s bat has not been what it was last season. While he is on pace for nearly 30 home runs, his .702 OPS is barely above the league average. That’s not terrible, but his .203/.315/.388 slash line certainly doesn’t justify his awkward fit at third base. His .375 xwOBA (10th among qualified NL batters) suggests he’s due for some positive regression, but even if he starts hitting again, it’s become clear he’s a much better fit at DH (where has has started his other 15 games) than third base.

Unfortunately for the Cubs, they aren’t exactly flush with other options. Madrigal has a smooth glove, but his bat is a serious weakness; he has a .616 OPS over three seasons with the Cubs and a .535 OPS this season. Wisdom is off to a poor start at the plate himself, and his defensive metrics at third base over the past few years have been nearly as bad as Morel’s. Mastrobuoni has never looked like more than a bench piece, and the same could be said of David Bote.

Therefore, unless the Cubs are planning to look outside the organization for a new third baseman, their best solution could be a prospect like Shaw. The 22-year-old is currently playing for the Double-A Tennessee Smokies, with whom he has a 118 wRC+ in 69 games over the past two years. Shaw got the bulk of his starts at shortstop last season, but he has slid over to third for 35 out of 54 games in 2024. His glove will never be a standout tool; like Morel, he just needs a position so he can get his powerful swing and quick legs into the lineup.

Baseball America, MLB Pipeline, and FanGraphs all have Shaw ranked as the No. 3 prospect in the Cubs organization, which is widely considered one of the deepest farm systems in the game. On the more bullish side, Keith Law of The Athletic recently put Shaw 15th overall, tops among Cubs farmhands. Given Shaw’s young age and lack of experience above Double-A, he won’t be the immediate answer in Chicago. As Mooney puts it, the Cubs are “open to the possibility” that Shaw “could eventually become part of the solution.” Until then, the Cubs might just have to hope Morel turns it around at the plate enough to mask his struggles with the glove. He may already be doing just that, with a .934 OPS in his last 10 games.

West Notes: Miller, Kershaw, Graterol, Scherzer

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The Dodgers have suffered more than their fair share of injuries this season, but they have received several positive updates in recent days. For one, young right-hander Bobby Miller could soon rejoin the rotation. After a strong rookie season in 2023, Miller has missed most of his sophomore campaign with a shoulder injury. However, his latest rehab appearance last Friday went well, and afterward, manager Dave Roberts suggested Miller could be ready to return without another rehab start – although, as more time passes without an update, it seems that Miller will likely make one final rehab start after all (per MLB.com)

Miller allowed seven runs on 11 hits and six walks over 11 2/3 innings across his first three starts in 2024 before landing on the IL. However, he is coming off a breakout 2023 season in which he pitched to a 3.76 ERA and 3.93 SIERA over 22 starts (124 1/3 innings). Still just 25 years old, he looks to be a fixture in the Dodgers rotation for years to come.

The Dodgers currently have a starting five of Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Gavin Stone, James Paxton, and Walker Buehler, so they don’t need to rush Miller back from the IL. That said, with no off days in their schedule until June 23, the Dodgers could certainly use a sixth starter to help shoulder the workload.

More injury updates from around the NL and AL West…

  • Sticking with Dodgers starting pitchers, Clayton Kershaw could soon begin a minor league rehab assignment of his own. The long-time Dodgers ace has yet to pitch this season after undergoing shoulder surgery last November. However, Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times reported on Saturday that Kershaw was scheduled to throw a third simulated game, and after that, he could be ready to start a rehab assignment. This seems to put him on track to come back sometime next month. “Sometime in July” was always considered the earliest possible timeline for Kershaw’s return.
  • Meanwhile, Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register reports that reliever Brusdar Graterol will throw a bullpen session this week. The right-hander has been out since spring training with a shoulder injury, and he suffered a setback in late April, forcing him to shut down his throwing program. Graterol played a key role in the Dodgers bullpen last season, pitching to a 1.20 ERA and 3.31 SIERA over 68 appearances, racking up seven saves, 19 holds, and leading the pitching staff in Win Probability Added (WPA).
  • Finally, moving over to the American League, Max Scherzer could rejoin the Rangers rotation as soon as next week (per Jeff Wilson of Rangers Today). The three-time Cy Young winner is scheduled to make a third rehab start on Friday, after which he could be ready to return to the majors. His second rehab appearance went well, and barring a setback, his outing with Triple-A Round Rock on Friday could be the last rehab start he needs. Wilson reports that Scherzer could make his 2024 debut as early as June 19, although he suggests the Rangers could opt to give Scherzer some extra rest, pushing his start back to June 21.

Giants Release Donny Sands

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The Giants have released catcher Donny Sands, according to his transaction log at MLB.com. The 28-year-old signed a minor league deal with the club in mid-May after the Tigers released him at the end of spring training.

The Yankees selected Sands in the eighth round of the 2015 draft, and he spent the next seven seasons in their system before the Yankees flipped him to the Phillies ahead of the 2022 campaign. Sands made his MLB debut with Philadelphia the following September, funnily enough in a game against San Francisco – his future organization. He appeared in three games as a pinch-hitter and caught two innings behind the dish that season, the extent of his big league career so far. The Phillies traded him to the Tigers during the 2022-23 offseason alongside Matt Vierling and Nick Maton in exchange for Gregory Soto and Kody Clemens.

After he was released by the Tigers this past March, Sands briefly joined the Toros de Tijuana of the Mexican League before signing with the Giants and returning to affiliated ball.

San Francisco desperately needed catching depth earlier this season, when both Patrick Bailey and Tom Murphy landed on the injured list within the same weekend. The team recalled Blake Sabol in place of Bailey, selected Jakson Reetz to fill in for Murphy, and eventually signed veteran Curt Casali to replace Reetz. Shortly after signing Casali, the Giants also signed Sands as additional minor league depth. Now that Bailey is back in the lineup and Sabol is back at Triple-A, the Sacramento River Cats likely didn’t have enough playing time to split between Sabol, Reetz, Brandon Martorano, and Sands, leaving Sands as the odd man out. It surely didn’t help his case that Sands went 9-for-51 (.176) with one extra-base hit and 16 strikeouts over 13 games for Sacramento.

Sands is now free to search for a new organization in need of catching depth.

The Opener: Thorpe, Rodriguez, Renfroe

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With 40% of the 2024 regular season now in the books, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. Thorpe to debut:

The White Sox are wasting no time in promoting their centerpiece from the Dylan Cease trade to the majors, as manager Pedro Grifol confirmed over the weekend that right-hander Drew Thorpe will make his MLB debut against the Mariners this evening. The White Sox will need to create space for Thorpe on both the 40-man and active rosters prior to tonight’s game, which is set to start at 6:40pm local time in Seattle. Thorpe will be tasked with taking on Mariners youngster Bryan Woo (1.07 ERA), who has been nothing short of dominant since returning from the injured list last month.

The 23-year-old Thorpe was in the headlines frequently this winter as he was twice included as a key part of the return in blockbuster deals, first headlining the return headed from New York to San Diego for Juan Soto alongside Michael King before the aforementioned Cease deal. Thorpe will be bypassing the Triple-A level entirely to make his way to the majors, but has an excellent 1.39 ERA in 16 starts at the Double-A level with an excellent 29.9% strikeout rate. A consensus top-100 prospect, Thorpe receives consistently high marks for his changeup and command with most services projecting him as a mid-rotation arm in the long term.

2. Rodriguez to debut:

Thorpe isn’t the only starting pitching prospect set to make his MLB debut today, as the Brewers are reportedly expected to promote right-hander Carlos Rodriguez for his major league debut this evening for a game against the Blue Jays in Milwaukee. The game is scheduled for 7:10pm local time and will see Rodriguez face off against veteran lefty Yusei Kikuchi (3.48 ERA) amid what has been a career season for the former NPB hurler. The Brewers will need to make room for Rodriguez on both the active and 40-man rosters prior to tonight’s game.

The 22-year-old has not typically been ranked especially highly by prospect outlets, but after being selected in the sixth round of the 2022 draft he nonetheless made some noise last year by posting a 2.77 ERA with a 29.5% strikeout rate across 25 starts at Double-A last year. Rodriguez received the bump to Triple-A late last year and has now made 13 total appearances at the level, but he’s struggled to a 5.21 ERA with a reduced 24.7% strikeout rate in that time. Still, the Brewers will turn to Rodriguez to take the ball in tonight’s game amid a myriad of starting pitching injuries that have plagued the club in recent weeks.

3. Renfroe injured:

It was a frustrating turn of events for both the Royals and veteran outfielder Hunter Renfroe as he exited yesterday’s loss to the Yankees after fouling two pitches off his left foot amid a 12-pitch duel with lefty Carlos Rodon. Manager Matt Quatraro told reporters (as relayed by Bally Sports Kansas City) that Renfroe suffered a broken toe during the at-bat and that he would be evaluated further before the club decides if a stint on the injured list will be necessary for the veteran. In the short term, any of Nick Pratto, Tyler Gentry, or Drew Waters could feasible replace Renfroe on the roster if he needs a stint on the IL.

The timing is especially unfortunate because Renfroe has been on a hot streak in recent weeks after a dreadful start to the season. The 32-year-old slashed just .150/.218/.263 in 87 trips to the plate prior to May 1 and continued to scuffle early last month but has turned things around in a big way over his last 20 games with an excellent .302/.371/.556 slash line in 70 plate appearances since the middle of May. If Renfroe ends up missing significant time due to the injury, it will only further highlight the need for another bat or two in the club’s outfield mix ahead of the trade deadline this summer; Royals outfielders have posted a collective wRC+ of just 75 this year, third-worst in baseball ahead of only the White Sox and Rockies.

D-backs Could Look To Move Eugenio Suarez

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The Diamondbacks could be in the market to move on from one of their top offseason acquisitions, as USA Today’s Bob Nightengale wrote in his Sunday Notes column that the Snakes are “willing to listen to offers” on third baseman Eugenio Suarez. That’s perhaps some charitable terminology, as Nightengale himself goes on to note that the 33-year-old Suarez has struggled to the point that he could soon lose his hold on an everyday role at third base.

Suarez, acquired in a salary-driven trade that sent backup catcher Seby Zavala and relief prospect Carlos Vargas to the cost-cutting Mariners, is earning $12MM this season and has a $15MM club option for the 2025 campaign on his contract. The Diamondbacks do not intend to exercise that option at this time, per Nightengale, which is only natural given Suarez’s bleak .200/.265/.317 slash in his first 257 trips to the plate with Arizona.

While Suarez hasn’t seen his already hefty strikeout rate creep any further north — he fanned in 30.4% of last year’s plate appearances and is at 28.8% in 2024 — there are nevertheless plenty of worrying trends that suggest his decline isn’t necessarily an early-season fluke. He’s chasing pitches off the plate at the highest rate of his career and making contact on said swings at a career-low rate. His average exit velocity (87.5 mph) and hard-hit rate (33.5%) have cratered from last year’s levels (90.3 mph and 43%). Suarez has never seen a larger percentage of his fly-balls be of the infield fly variety, either; after popping out to the infield only 10 times in both 2022 and 2023, he’s already hit eight harmless infield pops this season.

Suarez actually got out to a hot start this season, and even as his production began slipping a bit in the second half of April, his batting line to that point in the season was within arm’s reach of league-average. Since the calendar flipped to May, his bat has taken a nosedive. In his past 131 plate appearances, Suarez is hitting .161/.221/.280 with a 30.5% strikeout rate.

Finding a trade partner for Suarez in light of recent swoon and considerable salary won’t be easy. Generally, veterans in this situation are likelier to be designated for assignment and released. But there’s also typically at least one or two exchanges of bad contracts every deadline season, with last year’s Guardians/Dodgers swap of Noah Syndergaard and Amed Rosario standing as one recent example. With four players signed through at least 2026 and three through 2027, the D-backs might not want to take on a particularly long-term player, but swapping out Suarez for another impending free agent or perhaps someone signed through 2025 at a lesser annual value could make some sense.

Despite his downturn at the plate, Suarez has accounted for nearly every inning at third base for the D-backs this season. Jace Peterson got one start there before being cut loose. Rookie Blaze Alexander has made three appearances there (two starts). All three have come in the past 12 days, however, lending further credence to Nightengale’s assertion that Suarez could soon be pushed out of his regular role.

Alexander, 24, is a natural shortstop who’s hit .283/.345/.409 in his first 139 MLB plate appearances this season. That line is propped up by the disproportionate rate at which the right-handed-hitting Alexander has been platooned. He’s seen nearly half his plate appearances against lefties and tormented them with a .350/.409/.533 batting line. Against right-handed pitchers, Alexander’s .224/.288/.299 slash doesn’t look any better than Suarez’s season-long numbers.

The top alternative in the upper minors would be Deyvison De Los Santos, who’s in the midst of a breakout after failing to make the Guardians’ roster as a Rule 5 Draft pick. In 238 plate appearances between Double-A and Triple-A this season, the 20-year-old slugger touts a combined .358/.412/.656 batting line and 17 home runs. He’s also trimmed his strikeout rate from the 26% he logged in Double-A a year ago to a much stronger 21.4%.

All in all, the D-backs rank 29th in the majors in terms of production from their third basemen, by measure of wRC+. Their combined .200/.258/.317 slash is 36% worse than average when weighting for home park and league run-scoring environment, leading only the White Sox (.197/.248/.288, 52 wRC+).

Phillies Release Beau Burrows

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The Phillies released Beau Burrows from his minor league deal, per the transaction log at MLB.com. The former first-round pick had signed with Philadelphia at the end of Spring Training.

Burrows was selected by the Tigers with the 22nd pick of the 2015 draft. The Texas native was a top 100 caliber prospect early in his professional career. His results began to level off once he hit the Triple-A level. Burrows pitched in the majors for the Tigers and Twins between 2020-21, allowing eight runs in 8 1/3 innings covering six relief appearances.

Since then, Burrows has bounced around the upper levels of the minor leagues. He spent 2022 with the Dodgers and worked in the Braves’ system a year ago. Burrows split his time with the Phils between Double-A Reading and Triple-A Lehigh Valley, allowing 6.45 earned runs per nine through 22 1/3 frames. He walked more than 20% of opposing hitters. Burrows now owns a 6.10 ERA in 317 1/3 career innings at the Triple-A level. His camp will presumably search for another minor league opportunity, though it doesn’t seem out of the question he could head to independent ball to dial in his command.

Garrett Mitchell Begins Rehab Assignment

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Brewers outfielder Garrett Mitchell began a rehab assignment with the team’s Arizona Complex League affiliate tonight, tweets Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. It’s the 25-year-old’s first official game action of the 2024 season and opens a 20-day window for his return to the major league roster.

Mitchell broke his left hand late in Spring Training and has been shelved all season. It’s his second consecutive year with a notable early-season injury. The UCLA product missed the vast majority of the 2023 campaign after sustaining a left shoulder subluxation that required surgery. He was out between mid-April and the end of September, only returning for three games at the tail end of the season. Milwaukee left him off their playoff roster, presumably because of concern he’d be rusty after the extended layoff.

After a normal offseason, Mitchell entered camp as the likeliest option to take the center field job. Milwaukee moved Jackson Chourio to the corners and at least considered giving Sal Frelick run at third base. It might be tougher for Mitchell to crack the everyday lineup now.

Frelick has played all of four regular season innings at the hot corner, where Joey Ortiz has established himself as a productive player. Frelick is hitting at a league average level (.254/.333/.328) while playing all three outfield spots. Blake Perkins has earned the majority of the center field work by playing plus defense while turning in a solid .254/.327/.386 slash line over 211 plate appearances. Christian Yelich is having a fantastic season in left field.

Short of optioning Chourio, the Brewers could be hard-pressed to open everyday at-bats in the outfield. The 20-year-old has had a rocky first couple months in the big leagues, hitting .220/.263/.363 over 195 plate appearances. Owner Mark Attanasio nevertheless shot down the idea of demoting Chourio to the minors a couple weeks ago. “I don’t see where he’s going to learn anything at Triple-A,” the owner told reporters in late May (link via MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy).

Mitchell is more than five years Chourio’s senior, but he’s perhaps even less established at the MLB level. Thanks to his background as a college draftee and the recent injuries, Mitchell only has 141 big league plate appearances under his belt. His .278/.343/.452 slash line is well above-average, but that’s driven by a .441 batting average on balls in play. While Mitchell’s speed and all-fields approach should translate to a high BABIP, a .441 mark is essentially impossible for any hitter to maintain. He’ll need to cut down on his 38.3% career strikeout rate to compensate for that forthcoming batted ball regression.

In less promising injury news, manager Pat Murphy told reporters this evening that starter Joe Ross had a setback in his recovery from a lower back strain (X link via Todd Rosiak of the Journal-Sentinel). Murphy didn’t provide specifics beyond noting that the right-hander won’t be ready to return next week as initially hoped. Ross has been out since May 21. He made nine starts before hitting the IL, turning in a 4.50 ERA over 42 innings.

Matt Carasiti Elects Free Agency

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Reliever Matt Carasiti elected free agency after going unclaimed on outright waivers, per the transactions log at MLB.com. The Rockies designated him for assignment over the weekend when they called up Geoff Hartlieb. It’s the third career outright for Carasiti, who can choose free agency each time he clears waivers.

Carasiti made seven big league appearances, allowing 10 runs in 8 2/3 innings. It was the 32-year-old’s second consecutive season working out of Bud Black’s bullpen. The former sixth-round draftee tossed a personal-high 24 1/3 frames with Colorado last year, allowing a 6.29 earned run average. Carasiti has surrendered 7.41 earned runs per nine in 58 1/3 MLB innings over parts of four campaigns dating back to 2016.

A St. John’s product, Carasiti owns a 4.18 ERA over six seasons in Triple-A. He struggled at that level this year, allowing almost six earned runs per nine with Colorado’s top farm team in Albuquerque. That’s a very difficult place to pitch, though, and he managed to strike out nearly 27% of opposing hitters.

Carasiti has fanned upwards of a quarter of his opponents in his Triple-A career behind a mid-90s fastball and a forkball, a rarely-seen offering in today’s MLB, that sits around 80 MPH. He’s never had great control, walking more than 10% of his opponents in Triple-A and the majors, but his arsenal has gotten him minor league looks from the Cubs, Mariners (who briefly called him up in 2019) and Giants — in addition to a stint in Japan with the Yakult Swallows back in 2018.

The Rockies initially drafted Carasiti and have signed him to a handful of minor league contracts over the years. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see them circle back on a new non-roster deal, but his camp will have the chance to explore other opportunities.

Pirates Release Wily Peralta

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The Pirates released veteran right-hander Wily Peralta, per the transaction log at MiLB.com. He’d been working primarily in a long relief role with their Triple-A affiliate in Indianapolis but is once again a free agent.

Peralta appeared in 17 games down in Indy, 13 of which came out of the bullpen. He made a quartet of starts but never went more than four innings in any of them. Of his 17 appearances, 14 of them went more than one inning. The 35-year-old righty had a nice stretch from April 10 to May 21, rattling off 22 innings of 2.86 ERA ball with an 18-to-5 K/BB ratio, but he bookended that with a pair of brutal stretches that left him with a 7.44 earned run average overall. The well-traveled righty posted a below-average 20% strikeout rate and a higher-than-average 9.7% walk rate in 32 2/3 innings during his run with the organization.

Peralta hasn’t appeared in the majors since a strong 2021-22 showing with the Tigers. He combined for 132 innings of 2.93 ERA ball between the rotation and bullpen over those two seasons — albeit with a lackluster 15.8% strikeout rate and unsightly 10.9% walk rate. Peralta started 24 games for the Nationals’ Triple-A affiliate in 2023 but was roughed up for a 6.31 ERA in that time.

Early in his career, Peralta looked like a potential fixture in the Brewers’ rotation. He notched a 3.83 ERA with solid command and a plus ground-ball rate in 411 innings from 2012-14. Even as his results took a step back in each of the next two seasons, he kept his ERA under 5.00 and looked the part of a serviceable back-of-the-rotation arm. His 2012-16 efforts in Milwaukee produced 647 1/3 innings of 4.18 ERA ball.

Since that time, Peralta has bounced around the league and struggled to find much staying power at the MLB level. He’s worked primarily as a reliever since 2017, even serving as the Royals’ closer for a spell in 2018, saving 14 games in Kansas City. However, Peralta has never been able to match the success of his first few MLB seasons. He’ll head back to the market in search of opportunities to latch on as a multi-inning reliever in a new setting.

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