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The Opener: AL Central, Phillies, Brewers, Refsnyder

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With less than two weeks to go in the regular season, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world today:

1. AL Central showdowns:

The races for the American League Central and the American League Wild Card slots are heavily intertwined, and the first portion of this week will be pivotal in both. The Twins, who’ve been reeling of late and played at disappointing 7-13 pace over their past 20 games, will head to Cleveland for a four-game set against the division-leading Guardians. Cleveland is up four games on the Royals and 6.5 games on the Twins, so barring a sweep by Minnesota, the series isn’t likely to wildly alter the complexion of the division race.

That said, the Twins hold the third Wild Card spot in the AL at present. Minnesota is 2.5 games behind the Royals for the second Wild Card position, with the surging Tigers (13-7 in their past 20) suddenly just 2.5 games out of the final postseason spot. As fate would have it, the Tigers are in Kansas City for a three-game set that kicks off tonight. The top four teams in the AL Central are all either in possession of a playoff spot (Cleveland, K.C., Minnesota) or within 2.5 games of claiming one (Detroit). This pair of series should have massive playoff implications, both in terms of who qualifies and how the seeding plays out.

The Twins are set to send Pablo Lopez, Zebby Matthews, Bailey Ober and Simeon Woods Richardson to the mound in Cleveland, where they’ll be respectively countered by Matthew Boyd, Gavin Williams, Tanner Bibee and Joey Cantillo. In Kansas City, the three games will feature matchups of a TBD Tigers starter versus Seth Lugo; Casey Mize versus Cole Ragans; and Tarik Skubal versus Alec Marsh.

2. Series Preview: Phillies @ Brewers

A preview of a potential postseason series is set to begin today when the Phillies head to Milwaukee for a three-game set against the Brewers. The two clubs lead their respective divisions by all but insurmountable margins at this point, with the Phillies seeming poised to cruise into the playoffs with a bye through the Wild Card series and the Brewers currently sitting two games back of the Dodgers for the opportunity to do the same.

The series begins at 6:40pm local time this evening with lefty Ranger Suarez (3.05 ERA) on the mound for Philly against Brewers hurler Aaron Civale, who has pitched to a 4.57 ERA overall this year but boasts a tidy 3.84 figure in 11 starts since joining the club in July. Phillies ace Zack Wheeler (2.60 ERA) will be on the mound for Game 2 opposite fellow mid-season acquisition Frankie Montas, who sports a 4.49 ERA over all this year but has posted a 3.40 ERA in eight starts with the Brewers. The series wraps up on Monday with righty Aaron Nola (3.62 ERA) squaring off against Brewers staff ace Freddy Peralta (3.75 ERA).

3. Refsnyder nursing wrist injury:

The Red Sox have been without outfielder Rob Refsnyder since he was scratched from the lineup on Friday, and as noted by Chris Cotillo of MassLive there remains a distinct possibility that he could wind up requiring a trip to the injured list due to the issue. Manager Alex Cora told reporters (including Cotillo) that while they hope that today’s day off will help to alleviate the soreness, the 33-year-old could go on the injured list if he isn’t feeling up to playing during the series against the Rays that starts tomorrow.

An injury to Refsnyder could be something of a final blow to a Red Sox club that, with a 75-75 record and playoff odds of just 2.6% per Fangraphs need things to go just about perfectly in order to squeeze into the playoffs. Looking ahead to 2025, Boston holds a $2MM club option of Refsnyder’s services for next year. His injury won’t impact what should be an easy decision to exercise that option, given the fact that the journeyman has slashed an excellent .284/.361/.472 with 11 homers in 306 trips to the plate this year.

Live Chat With Fantasy Baseball Expert Nicklaus Gaut

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Fantasy baseball expert Nicklaus Gaut will be holding a live chat today at 11am central time, exclusively with Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers. Use the link below to ask a question in advance, participate in the live event, and read the transcript afterward.

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White Sox Plan To Cut Payroll In 2025

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Whether or not the 2024 White Sox ultimately set a new record for the most losses in a single season, there is no denying their performance this year has been a massive disappointment. The South Siders finished with a dismal 61-101 in 2023, yet somehow, they’re on pace to lose an additional 23 games in 2024. So, it shouldn’t come as any shock that the White Sox are planning to reduce their payroll next season, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Nightengale suggests the budget cuts are due to “sustaining substantial losses in revenue” this year.

While it’s impossible to guess how much the White Sox’s revenue might have actually declined in 2024, there’s no doubt attendance has gone down at Guaranteed Rate Field. According to ESPN, the White Sox have dropped from 24th to 27th in average attendance, going from 21,405 to 17,910 spectators per game. That’s the fourth-largest drop-off this season, and the only teams who have seen their average attendance fall by a larger amount – the Mets, Cardinals, and Blue Jays – are all outpacing the White Sox in average attendance by at least 11,000 fans per game.

General manager Chris Getz has plenty of challenges ahead of him with this White Sox team, but cutting payroll won’t be one of them. The highest-paid player on the team, Yoan Moncada, is making $24.8MM this season. Next year, the White Sox will only have to pay him a $5MM buyout. More impending free agents include Mike Clevinger ($3MM salary in 2024), Michael Soroka ($3MM), and Chris Flexen ($1.75MM). The team could also non-tender Nicky Lopez, who is making $4.3MM this year in his second season of arbitration eligibility, and Andrew Vaughn, who is making $3.25MM in his first. They certainly won’t non-tender Garrett Crochet, who is due for a sizeable raise in his second offseason of arbitration, but Getz could look to trade Crochet this winter. He would be one of the most coveted players on the offseason trade block.

Also off the books will be the tens of millions of dollars in salary the White Sox paid/are paying to players no longer in the organization, including Eloy Jiménez, Erick Fedde, Martín Maldonado, Leury García, John Brebbia, Michael Kopech, Tommy Pham, Paul DeJong, Tim Hill, and Touki Toussaint, as well as the $6MM they spent on buyouts for Clevinger, Jake Diekman, and Tim Anderson. All told, RosterResource estimates the White Sox payroll is approximately $148.8MM this year. And as things stand, they only have $35.3MM in payroll commitments for 2025. Thus, barring an unprecedented offseason spending spree, the White Sox payroll will be much lower next season.

Any significant spending from the White Sox this offseason already seemed unlikely before Nightengale’s report. Earlier this month, Getz discussed his club’s terrible season, saying “You try to make the best of it, and I think it’s an opportunity to embrace the situation that we’re in.” While those comments are vague, Getz implies he is moving toward a long, multi-season rebuild. In other words, he won’t be looking to make a splash on the free agent market this winter. Indeed, Getz said as much in a recent appearance on the NBC Sports Chicago TV broadcast, remarking: “We’re not gonna be working heavy in free agency.”

It’s hardly surprising, but that doesn’t make it any less disappointing for White Sox fans. The last few years have been hard to watch, and it doesn’t look like the team is going to get meaningfully better any time soon.

NL Notes: Lindor, Blackburn, Barnes, Payamps

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After exiting early on Friday and sitting out on Saturday, Mets superstar Francisco Lindor was pulled in the second inning of today’s series finale against the Phillies. Back discomfort has been a problem for the NL MVP candidate all weekend, and as it turns out, significantly longer. Lindor told reporters, including Tim Britton of The Athletic, that he has been playing through back pain for the past two weeks. Ever since he further irritated the injury on Friday, it has become too difficult to ignore.

Lindor will go for an MRI tomorrow, after which the Mets will have a better sense of the severity of his condition. Needless to say, they’ll be hoping it’s nothing serious and the star shortstop can get back on the field as soon as possible. The Mets are in a dead heat with the Braves in the race to secure the third and final NL Wild Card berth.

In further injury news out of Queens, starting pitcher Paul Blackburn is dealing with a spinal fluid leak in his back (per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com). President of baseball operations David Stearns suggests the injury isn’t quite as bad as it might sound, but nonetheless, the team does not know when Blackburn will be able to return. The right-hander has not pitched since August 23. Thankfully for the Mets, their pitching staff, and particularly their starting rotation, has been a strength as of late. Their starters rank third in MLB with a 2.32 ERA since Blackburn landed on the IL. Meanwhile, Blackburn had a 5.18 ERA in five starts after joining the Mets at the trade deadline.

More from around the National League:

  • Dodgers manager Dave Roberts says he would be “shocked” if catcher Austin Barnes doesn’t wind up on the injured list tomorrow, according to Juan Toribio of MLB.com. The veteran backstop got hit by a foul ball on his left big toe and was forced to make an early exit from today’s game against the Braves. Barnes spent time on the IL with a fracture in the same toe in August, and while Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic points out that today’s contusion is in a “different spot,” it’s quite possible Barnes re-aggravated his old injury. Ardaya notes that Hunter Feduccia – one of four catchers on the Dodgers’ 40-man roster – is already on his way to join the big league club.
  • Brewers reliever Joel Payamps felt discomfort in his forearm during his appearance today against the Diamondbacks, manager Pat Murphy told reporters (including Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel). The right-hander recorded one out in the bottom of the seventh inning and did not return for the eighth. The Brewers have not yet provided any further details about Payamps, who has been one of the team’s most trusted and dependable relievers over the past two seasons. Across 130 games with Milwaukee, he has a 2.90 ERA and a 3.45 SIERA in 124 innings pitched. He has not looked quite as sharp in 2024 as he did the year before. Still, his 3.38 ERA and 3.73 SIERA are respectable numbers, while his six saves, 18 holds, and high average leverage index are proof that the Brewers continue to rely on him in plenty of important spots.

NL Central Notes: Hudson, Steele, Cruz

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For most of the 2024 season, Bryan Hudson was one of the most effective relievers in the major leagues. Out of 58 relievers who have thrown at least 60 innings this year, his 1.73 ERA ranks fifth. However, since September 3, Hudson has been pitching not for the Milwaukee Brewers but for the Triple-A Nashville Sounds.

According to Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Brewers decided to option Hudson to Triple-A due to concerns about his velocity and durability. The left-hander suffered a minor oblique strain at the of July and came back in mid-August. While his surface-level numbers remained impressive upon his return (2.13 ERA in 12 2/3 IP), his velocity was noticeably lower on all three of his pitches. What’s more, his strikeout rate dropped, his walk rate rose, and his 4.38 SIERA was significantly higher than his 2.98 SIERA pre-injury.

Thus, with the Brewers sitting comfortably atop the NL Central standings, it made sense to send Hudson to the minors, where he could rest up and work on his stuff away from the pressure of the show. He has made just two outings so far for the Sounds, tossing a couple of scoreless innings with four strikeouts, two hits, and no walks allowed. His fastball velocity is still down compared to where it was earlier in the season, but it’s been a little better than it was in his last few outings before his demotion. Perhaps more importantly, his fastball velocity was higher in his second Triple-A outing this month than it was in his first.

It’s unclear if the Brewers are planning to recall Hudson anytime soon, but manager Pat Murphy suggested the 27-year-old will be back in Milwaukee eventually. As Hogg reports, Murphy is “pleased” with what Hudson has accomplished in Nashville, and there’s nothing more he needs to prove. The skipper didn’t provide a timeline for Hudson to get back in the Brewers’ bullpen, but he implied that a return was on the horizon, saying  “I think you’ll see him again.”

The Nashville Sounds’ season ends next Sunday. If the Brewers are hoping to have Hudson for the postseason, it would make sense to call him up once the Triple-A campaign comes to a close. That would give him a week to reacclimate to big league competition before October.

More from around the NL Central:

  • After completing a 40-pitch bullpen session yesterday, Cubs starter Justin Steele described it as “a really good day” (per Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times). The All-Star hurler landed on the injured list earlier this month with left elbow tendinitis, but he says he is no longer feeling any symptoms of the injury (per Patrick Mooney of The Athletic). As Lee adds, the Cubs still need to monitor Steele’s recovery over the next few days, but as long as he remains healthy, he should be able to return sometime soon, potentially for the four-game series against the Nationals at the end of this coming week. Sitting 5.5 games back of the final NL Wild Card spot, the Cubs are still clinging onto their slim playoff hopes. This late in the season, their fate is probably out of their hands, but it certainly won’t hurt to have their co-ace back for a couple more turns through the rotation.
  • Oneil Cruz exited the Pirates game this afternoon with discomfort in his left ankle, manager Derek Shelton told reporters (including Andrew Destin of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). He suffered the injury slipping in the outfield. The 25-year-old recently began playing center field for the first time in his professional career, and it will surely take him some time to get used to the new position. Cruz has started 13 games in center over the past three weeks, and he already has two errors and -3 defensive runs saved. Thankfully for Cruz and the Pirates, this injury doesn’t appear particularly serious. Indeed, he was able to stay in the game initially, but, as Shelton puts it, the ankle later “stiffened up.” Cruz is day-to-day for now, but the Pirates certainly aren’t going to take any chances with the young star over the final two weeks of another lost season.

AL Central Notes: Moncada, Lorenzen, Larnach

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The White Sox told reporters (including James Fegan of Sox Machine) that third baseman Yoán Moncada will be activated for tomorrow’s game against the Angels. Moncada has been out with a left adductor strain since April 9. Prior to his injury, he was off to a relatively strong start in 2024, going 11-for-39 (.282) with a 122 wRC+ in 11 games.

Moncada has dealt with injuries in almost every season of his career, and outside of a phenomenal performance in 2019, he has struggled to live up to his top prospect billing. However, if he can be just a league-average hitter and a capable defender at third base, the 29-year-old will represent a huge upgrade for the White Sox lineup over the final two weeks of the season. Miguel Vargas, who has been starting for the club at third base since the trade deadline, is batting .112 with a .395 OPS so far in his brief tenure on the South Side. He has made four errors in just 27 games at third base, accruing -2 OAA and -2 DRS. The White Sox aren’t going to give up Vargas (himself a former top prospect) just yet, but there is no denying that Moncada should make for a significant improvement.

Chicago doesn’t have much to play for this year, but the club is still hoping to avoid setting a new modern-day record for most losses in a season. Meanwhile, Moncada is looking to make a strong impression before most likely entering free agency in the offseason; the White Sox are all but certain to turn down his $25MM club option for 2025 in favor of a $5MM buyout.

More from around the AL Central:

  • Michael Lorenzen was dominant over his first five starts with the Royals after the trade deadline (1.85 ERA in 24 1/3 IP) before a left hamstring strain forced him to the 15-day IL. He has not pitched since August 27. Lorenzen made his second rehab appearance this past Friday, and prior to the game, Anne Rogers of MLB.com noted the right-hander was likely to rejoin the team this coming week.  However, Rogers reported today that he was “more sore than normal” following his rehab outing, so the Royals will need to wait and see how he feels in the coming days before determining his next steps. The phrasing “more sore than normal” doesn’t necessarily suggest a serious setback, but it’s far less likely Lorenzen will be pitching in Kansas City this week.
  • Twins manager Rocco Baldelli revealed that outfielder/DH Trevor Larnach is playing through a hamstring injury (per Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic). That explains why he hasn’t played the field since last Tuesday. It also explains why, in Gleeman’s words, he’s running “at way less than full speed.” It’s surely concerning for the Twins that their cleanup hitter is nursing an injury, but Baldelli suggests the hamstring issue hasn’t had an impact on Larnach’s swing. That’s certainly a relief for Twins fans, considering how important Larnach has been to this offense. He rarely plays against left-handed pitching, but he has been one of Minnesota’s better bats when he has the platoon advantage. He boasts a team-leading 15 home runs and 47 RBI against right-handed pitching, with a .792 OPS and a 125 wRC+. The Twins will have to hope his hamstring injury doesn’t turn into anything more serious.

Rangers Place José Ureña On 15-Day Injured List

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José Ureña is almost certainly done for the year. The Rangers placed the right-hander on the 15-day injured list today with shoulder fatigue, recalling fellow righty Gerson Garabito in his place. Presuming the IL placement is retroactive to September 14, Ureña will not be eligible to return until September 29, the final day of the regular season. Thus, it’s more than likely he has already thrown his final pitch of the 2024 campaign.

Ureña, 33, signed a minor league deal with Texas this past offseason, and he made the Opening Day roster after a strong showing in the Cactus League (16 IP, 2.25 ERA). He has thrown 109 innings over 33 games this season, going back and forth between the starting rotation and the bullpen. That’s his highest innings total in a season since 2018, while his 3.80 ERA is the lowest of any season in his career. His 4.36 xERA and 4.66 SIERA aren’t quite as impressive, but they’re perfectly acceptable for a bulk reliever/spot starter. They’re also his best numbers in those categories since 2018. All told, the veteran has been valuable as an innings eater all season; only Nathan Eovaldi and Andrew Heaney have thrown more innings for the Rangers in 2024.

Indeed, Ureña has helped this team survive countless pitching injuries throughout the year, and it is bitterly ironic that his own season will most likely end with an injury. The ten-year MLB veteran will re-enter free agency this winter, and perhaps his pre-injury performance in 2024 will be enough to earn him a major league deal for 2025.

Garabito, 29, made his big league debut with the Rangers earlier this season. After eight years in the Royals organization, one season in the Giants system, and two years out of affiliated ball, the right-hander signed a minor league deal with Texas this past winter. He made his debut with a spot start in May, and over a few separate stints in the majors, he has put up a 3.86 ERA in 21 innings of work. He also has a 3.42 ERA over 55 1/3 innings at Triple-A. With a strong showing over the final two weeks of the season, he can hope to avoid the inevitable 40-man roster cuts coming in the offseason.

Diamondbacks Place Paul Sewald On 15-Day IL, Activate Gabriel Moreno

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The Diamondbacks announced this afternoon that they’ve placed right-hander Paul Sewald on the 15-day injured list with discomfort in his neck, retroactive to September 12. In a corresponding move, catcher Gabriel Moreno was activated from the 10-day injured list. The news comes as something of a surprise, particularly given the fact that Arizona announced that they’ve designated right-hander Dylan Floro for assignment to make room for Blake Walston on the club’s active roster less than two hours before making this second series of roster moves.

Sewald, 34, has pitched just once since September 2 and has struggled in recent weeks, with a 7.71 ERA and 4.89 FIP in seven innings of work since August 19. Those struggles when on the mound and his extended stretches without pitching at all could be explained to an extent by the injury, but if Sewald has been hurt it’s surprising that the Diamondbacks have kept him on the roster rather than opening a spot in their bullpen for a fresh arm. Sewald will be eligible to return before the end of the regular season due to the back-dated nature of his placement on the IL, although no timetable for his return has been announced at this point.

Acquired from the Mariners at the trade deadline last year, Sewald was among the most coveted closers in the game at the time with a 2.88 ERA and 3.34 FIP in 171 2/3 innings of work for the Mariners since he landed with the club prior to the 2021 season. Things haven’t gone well for him since moving to the desert, however, as he walked 12.5% of batters faced down the stretch with Arizona last year and has two blow-up outings in the World Series against the Rangers, although those rough appearances were preceded by eight dominant outings throughout the postseason prior to that. Headed into 2024, Sewald retained his role as closer for the Diamondbacks and looked dominant early in the year before eventually losing that distinction back in August after a brutal month of July where he surrendered 12 runs in ten innings of work across 12 appearances.

Given Sewald’s deep struggles in the second half this year and his apparent injury troubles, it’s not clear where he stands in the Arizona bullpen as the club looks ahead towards what they hope will be their second consecutive playoff push. A return to form in the postseason would be a huge boost for not only the Diamondbacks but also Sewald’s own fortunes, as the 34-year-old is scheduled to reach free agency this winter in a free agent class that figures to be fairly deep in terms of relievers with late-inning experience.

In Sewald’s place, Moreno returns to the roster a bit earlier than expected. The youngster was described earlier this weekend as “very close” to returning alongside Lourdes Gurriel Jr. but seemed likely to be targeting a return to action later this week. With the 24-year-old now seemingly ready to step back into his regular role behind the plate, the Diamondbacks will now get to utilize his two-way talent rather than having to choose between a strong defender with lackluster hitting ability in Jose Herrera and an impressive bat with defensive question marks behind the plate in Adrian Del Castillo. Moreno was in the midst of a fine season prior to his injury, slashing .262/.344/.385 slash line with a 105 wRC+ in 314 trips to the plate this year.

Diamondbacks Designate Dylan Floro For Assignment

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The Diamondbacks announced today that they’ve designated right-hander Dylan Floro for assignment. The move makes room on the active roster for left-hander Blake Walston, who was recalled from Triple-A. Arizona’s 40-man roster stands at 39.

Floro, 33, signed a one-year deal with the Nationals over the offseason but was dealt to the Diamondbacks in a buzzer-beater deal just before this year’s trade deadline in exchange for first baseman Andres Chaparro. At the time of the deal, Floro had gotten excellent results with a 2.06 ERA and a 2.64 FIP in 52 1/3 innings of work despite a lackluster 19.6% strikeout rate. That hasn’t continued in Arizona, as Floro’s time with the Diamondbacks has been nothing short of a disaster. The righty has surrendered a 9.37 ERA in 16 1/3 innings of work, and while his 6.30 FIP over that same timeframe indicates some level of positive regression in the future, even that lower figure would still be ghastly production for the right-hander.

Floro will be either released or placed on waivers in the coming days, though if the right-hander is waived he’ll surely clear waivers with so little time left in the regular season. Should he clear waivers, he’ll have the opportunity to either accept an outright assignment to the minors as non-roster depth for what’s left of the season or else elect free agency and get a head start on searching for a deal for the 2025 season with a new club. Disastrous as his time in Arizona was, the right-hander still boasts a 3.80 ERA and 3.51 FIP overall this season. Those figures should be good enough to earn him some level of interest on the open market, though perhaps only on a minor league deal given his rough second half.

As for Walston, the 23-year-old rookie made his big league debut with the Diamondbacks back in May. He’s made three appearances for Arizona since then, two of which were starts. In all, he has a 2.84 ERA and 4.28 FIP in 12 2/3 innings of work, though that comes with nearly as many walks (9) as strikeouts (11) and three additional hit batsmen. With Ryne Nelson having recently been placed on the injured list, the addition of Walston to the roster should give the club another multi-inning relief option from the left side now that Jordan Montgomery is seemingly slated to re-enter the rotation in Nelson’s place.

Angels Designate Nick Robertson For Assignment

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The Angels announced a series of roster moves today, highlighted by the return of right-hander Carson Fulmer from the 15-day injured list. To make room for Fulmer on the active roster, left-hander Samuel Aldegheri was placed on the 15-day IL retroactive to September 14 with a blister on his left middle finger. Meanwhile, outfielder Bryce Teodosio was placed on the 10-day injured list with a fractured right middle finger. Outfielder Gustavo Campero has his contract selected to replace Teodosio on the roster, and right-hander Nick Robertson was designated for assignment to make room for Campero on the 40-man roster. Additionally, manager Ron Washington told reporters (including Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register) that right-hander Ben Joyce will not pitch again in 2024 due to shoulder inflammation.

Fulmer, 30, is a former top ten overall pick in the draft but has never quite managed to stick in the big leagues. After struggling through four seasons with the White Sox to a 6.56 ERA in 94 2/3 innings of work across 44 appearances (15 starts). Since then, he’s bounced between the Tigers, Orioles, Reds, and Angels organizations but has never gotten an extended shot in the majors until this year, when the Halos began using him as a swing man. He’s performed solidly in the role, with a 4.15 ERA (103 ERA+) and 4.56 FIP in 80 1/3 innings split between eight starts and 24 relief outings. The right-hander went on the IL at the end of August with elbow inflammation, but now will get the opportunity to finish the year strong and prove himself healthy ahead of the offseason, when he’ll be eligible for arbitration for the first time in his career.

Making room for Fulmer on the roster is Aldegheri, who will celebrate his 23rd birthday later this week. The youngster will be eligible to return to the big league roster in time for the final game of the regular season if the club wants to see the lefty make one more start before the offseason, though it’s also possible he’s made his last appearance of the 2024 campaign. Aldegheri has made three starts for Anaheim this year after being acquired from the Phillies in the Carlos Estevez trade back in July, though this stint in the big leagues hasn’t gone especially well as he’s surrendered a 4.85 ERA with a 6.40 FIP in 13 frames since being promoted to the majors.

Of course, Aldegheri’s struggles come with the context of the youngster being just 22 years old and having been called up directly from Double-A not long after changing organizations for the first time in his career, so it’s not necessarily shocking the the southpaw has struggled. Looking ahead to 2025, he’ll surely figure into the club’s big league pitching staff in at least some capacity, though it’s not yet clear what his role will be at this point. Washington told reporters (including Fletcher) today that lefty Jose Suarez will replace Aldgheri in the rotation for the time being.

Joining Aldgheri on the IL is Teodosio, a 25-year-old rookie who signed with the club back in 2021 as an undrafted free agent. In 114 games at the Triple-A level this season, Teodosio has slashed .276/.339/.418 with an 89 wRC+ with an excellent 40-for-44 record on the basepaths. Teodosio got the call to the majors last week when Jo Adell and Kevin Pillar were placed on the injured list but struggled in his first taste of big league action, going 1-for-12 with five strikeouts in five games. Teodosio will be replaced on the roster by Campero, a 26-year-old who converted to the outfield after beginning his pro career as a catcher. He’s split his 2024 campaign between the Double- and Triple-A levels, with a .279/.392/.472 slash line in 107 games this year. He’s now set to join Mickey Moniak, Taylor Ward, and Jordyn Adams in the club’s outfield mix going forward.

Robertson departs to make room for Campero on the 40-man roster, just a month after he was claimed off waivers from the Cardinals. The 26-year-old is a product of the Dodgers organization who made his big league debut with the club last year but struggled to a 6.04 ERA in 22 1/3 innings of work between the Dodgers and Red Sox organizations, although he did show some signs of promise with a 3.88 FIP and a 24.5% strikeout rate. Robertson was dealt by the Red Sox to the Cardinals over the winter in the deal that brought Tyler O’Neill to Boston but ultimately appeared in just eight games for St. Louis with a decent 4.38 ERA and 4.55 FIP in 12 1/3 frames. In addition to his time in the majors this year, Robertson has struggled badly in 34 2/3 innings of work at Triple-A this year between the Cardinals and Angels organizations with a 7.27 ERA in 31 appearances.

As for Joyce, the right-hander has been on the 15-day IL for a few days now due to a shoulder issue that the club described yesterday as an impingement (as noted by MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger). Joyce was scheduled to undergo an MRI this weekend and while the results came back showing only inflammation today (as noted by Fletcher), Washington suggested that the hard-throwing righty was “too important” to the club’s long-term plans to risk further injury in the final weeks of a season where the club has been eliminated from playoff contention. Joyce wraps up his 2024 campaign with a sterling 2.08 ERA and 3.20 FIP in 34 2/3 innings and figures to be a key piece of the club’s late-inning mix in 2025.

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