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Pirates Place Chris Archer, Clay Holmes On Injured List

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The Pirates have placed right-handers Chris Archer and Clay Holmes on the 10-day injured list, the team announced.  Archer has been sidelined with inflammation in his throwing shoulder, while Holmes is suffering from left quad discomfort.  Right-handers Dario Agrazal and Parker Markel have been called up from Triple-A to fill the two 25-man roster spots.

Some type of IL placement seemed likely for Archer following his abbreviated outing last night, when he left the game after just one inning following an off-target warm-up prior to his second frame of work.  This is the first noteworthy arm issue of Archer’s career and only the third IL stint of his eight-year career, though they have all happened within the last two seasons — Archer missed a month due to an abdominal strain in 2018, and right thumb inflammation cost him around three weeks earlier this year.

The seriousness of the shoulder issue isn’t yet known, though if it lingers, the Pirates could just decide to shut Archer down for the remainder of the season.  It would bring an early end to what has been a discouraging campaign for Archer, with a career-high 5.19 ERA over 119 2/3 frames.  That innings total would mark a new career low for Archer in his seven full MLB seasons, while also posting career worsts in walk rate (4.14 BB/9), grounder rate (36.3%), home run rate (20.2%), xwOBA (.346), and hard-hit ball rate (40.1%).

All in all, it has been a very unmemorable stint in Pittsburgh since Archer was acquired in a trade deadline deal in July 2018.  The deal raised eyebrows at the time, and given that Austin Meadows and (pre-injury) Tyler Glasnow both emerged as key contributors for the Rays, the trade is now looking like a significant misfire for the Pirates’ front office.

Archer still has as many as two seasons to turn things around in the Steel City, as the Bucs hold club options on his services for 2020 ($9MM, $1.75MM buyout) and 2021 ($11MM, $250K buyout).  Despite his struggles, it still seems very likely that the Pirates will exercise that 2020 option, given the uncertainty in the team’s 2020 rotation.  Jameson Taillon will miss all of next season recovering from Tommy John surgery, leaving the Pirates with Archer in all likelihood, as well as some combination of Trevor Williams, Joe Musgrove, Mitch Keller, Steven Brault, and others all in the mix.  Since the Bucs are likely to pursue a veteran starter anyway this winter, keeping Archer at a relatively inexpensive price seems like a logical move, especially if Archer can recapture any of his past form.

Holmes has a 6.05 ERA, 1.54 K/BB rate, and 10.0 K/9 over 38 2/3 relief innings for Pittsburgh this season.  Control has been a major concern for Holmes over his brief Major League career, as he has a 7.1 BB/9 over 65 frames for the Bucs in 2018-19.  This is Holmes’ second trip to the IL in less than a month, as he only recently returned from an absence due to right triceps inflammation.

Pirates Claim Parker Markel

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The Pirates have claimed right-handed pitcher Parker Markel off waivers from the Mariners, per announcements from both clubs. Markel had previously been designated for assignment by the Mariners on July 23rd. To accommodate the addition of Markel to their 40-man roster, the Pirates have transferred righty Rookie Davis from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list; Markel will be optioned to Pittsburgh’s Triple-A affiliate in Indianapolis.

For the Pirates, Markel represents an intriguing, nearly cost-free addition to their organizational relief corps. For one thing, the 6’4 hurler is a graduate of Yavapai College–a community college in tiny Prescott, Ariz., which has produced several big leaguers, including Curt Schilling, Kirby Yates, Ken Giles, and both Willie and Kole Calhoun. That interesting bit of trivia aside, Markel’s play in AAA this year has offered some signs of a player who may end up as a useful MLB reliever.

Selected by the Rays in the 39th round of the 2010 draft, Markel toiled for nearly a decade in the minors before signing a minor league deal with Seattle this offseason. Subsequent stints in AA Arkansas and AAA Tacoma indicated a changed man: the formerly groundball-oriented Markel struck out 62 batters in 35.1 innings before receiving a big league audition with the M’s in May. Though he was thoroughly knocked around in that cup of coffee (and in a subsequent one-game July callup), Markel’s slider-based, suddenly overpowering repertoire could possibly aid the Pirates beleaguered bullpen in short order.

Mariners Place Dee Gordon On IL, Designate Parker Markel For Assignment

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6:25pm: Manager Scott Servais told reporters that Gordon will be out at least a couple of weeks (Twitter link via Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times). An MRI revealed a strain that is worse than a typical Grade 1 strain but not quite a Grade 2 strain.

4:55pm: The Mariners announced on Tuesday that they’ve placed infielder Dee Gordon on the 10-day injured list due to a left quad strain and selected the contract of infielder Tim Lopes from Triple-A Tacoma. In a corresponding 40-man move, right-hander Parker Markel was designated for assignment.

The injury to Gordon makes the already-difficult task of trading him now all the more problematic. Gordon was already a tough sell, given a lackluster .280/.306/.367 batting line and a hefty $19.3MM still owed to him between now and the end of the 2020 season. Add in a quadriceps injury for a player whose entire game is built on speed, and it’s difficult to see much in the way of legitimate interest in Gordon formulating.

Perhaps a contending club would actually be intrigued by the possibility of carrying Gordon on the IL into September, when rosters expand to 28 players, but for that to even be realistic, the Mariners would need to include a substantial amount of cash to offset his remaining salary.

Lopes, 25, is in his second stint with the Seattle organization and will be making his MLB debut this time around. Seattle originally with its sixth-round pick back in 2012, but he was traded to the Blue Jays at the PTBNL in 2016’s Pat Venditte swap. Lopes landed back in Seattle as a minor league free agent this winter and is enjoying a career year in Triple-A. Through 403 trips to the plate, he’s hitting .302/.362/.480 with 10 homers, 30 doubles, two triples and 24 steals (in 33 tries). He’s not in the lineup tonight but should make his debut in the near future.

Markel, 28, made his own MLB debut earlier this season, but he didn’t find much success in his limited audition. The righty tossed 4 2/3 innings but yielded nine runs (eight earned) on 10 hits, four walks and a hit batter with three punchouts. Markel has vastly more intriguing numbers in the minors, where he’s posted a 2.04 ERA with 62 strikeouts in 35 1/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A. He’s also issued 23 walks in that time (5.9 BB/9), hit two batters and tossed 11 wild pitches. Control is clearly an issue for Markel, but he’s missing bats at a level he’s never come close to previously approaching, which could prompt a different organization to take a look.

Mariners Place Dee Gordon, Ryon Healy On 10-Day IL

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The Mariners announced a lengthy list of roster moves today. Infielders Dee Gordon (right wrist contusion) and Ryon Healy (lower back inflammation) were placed on the 10-day injured list, while righty Parker Markel was optioned out.

Those departures cleared the way for a trio of additions. As already reported, lefty Tommy Milone was added to the 40-man and active rosters. He’ll be joined in the bigs by infielders Shed Long and Dylan Moore.

It doesn’t seem there’s much reason to fear lengthy absences from Gordon or Healy, though details aren’t yet known. Gordon has struggled since being hit by a pitch recently. Healy left last night’s contest with a back flare-up.

Mariners Place Felix Hernandez On IL, Select Parker Markel

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As part of a series of roster moves, the Mariners announced that they’ve placed right-hander Felix Hernandez on the 10-day injured list with a strained pitching shoulder and selected the contract of righty Parker Markel from Triple-A Tacoma. The team has also recalled righty Dan Altavilla from Tacoma and optioned outfielder Braden Bishop.

The severity of Hernandez’s strain is unknown, but it’s the latest sign of deteriorating durability for the longtime workhorse, once a perennial 200-inning ace who hasn’t approached that mark since 2015. Hernandez devolved into a back-end starter the next season and hasn’t rebounded yet. After recording a career-worst 5.55 ERA/5.18 FIP in 2018, he’s at 6.52 and 5.30 in those categories through 38 2/3 innings this year – which could prove to be his last with the Mariners.

Hernandez’s injury created an opening for Markel, a 28-year-old who’s finally in position to make his major league debut eight years after the Rays selected him in the 39th round of the 2010 draft. Markel stuck with the Tampa Bay organization through 2016 and then signed with the Lotte Giants of the Korea Baseball Organization entering the 2017 campaign, though he asked the club to terminate his contract before he ever pitched for them.

Markel returned to action stateside last year at the Double-A level, where he pitched for independent Sioux City, before signing with the Mariners in the fall. He got off to a dominant start this season across the minors’ top two levels, combining for 35 strikeouts against seven walks and giving up just one earned run in 17 1/3 innings, to earn a big league promotion.

Minor MLB Transactions: 3/27/2017

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Here are today’s minor moves from around the league:

  • The KBO’s Lotte Giants have released righty Parker Markel, the Yonhap News Agency in Korea reports. Markel struck a deal with the Giants over the offseason but never pitched in a regular-season game with them. The decision was apparently Markel’s, as he asked for the termination of his contract, citing difficulties adjusting to Korean baseball and family issues, and was placed on the voluntarily retired list. The 26-year-old Markel pitched at the Double-A and Triple-A levels in the Rays minor-league system last year, posting a 2.78 ERA, 7.3 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in 71 1/3 innings. He has never pitched in the Majors.

Minor MLB Transactions: 12/8/16

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The latest minor moves from around baseball:

  • The Yankees have re-signed left-hander Joe Mantiply to a minor league contract, tweets Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. New York released the 25-year-old Nov. 28, just under three weeks after claiming him off waivers from the Tigers, but he’ll now return to the Yankees organization. A 27th-round pick in 2013, Mantiply made his major league debut with Detroit last season and yielded five runs, seven hits and walks in just 2 2/3 innings. He was far more successful in the minors, where he registered a 2.73 ERA with 10.9 K/9 against 1.8 BB/9 in a combined 59 1/3 frames between the Double-A and Triple-A levels.
  • Right-hander Parker Markel’s previously reported contract in Asia is with the Lotte Giants of the Korea Baseball Organization, according to Zach Links of Pro Football Rumors and MLBTR (Twitter link). The former Rays farmhand will receive a $525K base salary and could land up to $135K in incentives.

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