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Andrew Suarez

Andrew Suarez Signs With NPB’s Yakult Swallows

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Left-hander Andrew Suarez has signed with the Yakult Swallows of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball for the 2022 season, per a club announcement (link via Yahoo Japan). It’ll be the first season in Japan for the lefty, who spent the 2021 season with the LG Twins of the Korea Baseball Organization.

Suarez, 29, will head to Japan on the heels of an outstanding season in the KBO. The lefty in 23 games (22 of them starts) and worked to a pristine 2.18 ERA and 2.72 FIP with an impressive 26.6% strikeout rate, a solid 8.7% walk rate and a huge 57.1% ground-ball rate through a total of 115 2/3 innings. Given that success and his relative youth — Suarez won’t turn 30 until next September — it stands to reason that a strong season in Japan would go a long ways toward putting him back on the MLB map as a free agent.

Suarez, after all, is only three seasons removed from a pretty sound debut campaign with the 2018 Giants. That season saw the 2015 second-rounder rack up 160 1/3 innings of 4.49 ERA ball with a 19.5% strikeout rate that was below the league average but a 6.8% walk rate and 51.3% grounder rate that were both considerably better than the average big league pitcher.

Despite that solid showing and some shakiness at the back of the San Francisco rotation in his sophomore season, Suarez was used almost exclusively as a reliever the following year in 2019. He didn’t take well to the change, scuffling to a 5.79 ERA in a small-ish sample of 32 2/3 innings. Suarez saw even less MLB time in 2020 after the acquisitions of Kevin Gausman, Drew Smyly, Tyler Anderson and Trevor Cahill; he logged just 9 2/3 frames out of the bullpen that season and had his contract purchased by the KBO’s Twins that offseason.

In an odd coincidence, Suarez will continue down a similar career path to 32-year-old righty and similarly named Albert Suarez (no relation). Both made their Major League debuts with the Giants within the past five years and have seen their only MLB action come with San Francisco — Albert from 2016-17 (4.51 ERA in 115 2/3 innings) and Andrew from 2018-20 (4.66 ERA in 202 2/3 innings). The similarities don’t stop there; Albert has spent the past three seasons pitching for the same Swallows club that Andrew will now join. Albert departed the Yakult organization as a free agent this winter and signed in the KBO — albeit with the Samsung Lions and not Andrew’s former Twins.

Time will tell whether either pitcher will make it back to the big leagues, but the younger Suarez has certainly taken some promising steps down that path. Andrew’s 2021 campaign in Japan will be particularly worth monitoring for big league clubs who are eyeing 2022 rotation help.

KBO’s LG Twins Re-Sign Casey Kelly

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Right-hander Casey Kelly has re-signed with the LG Twins of the Korea Baseball Organization, reports Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap News. Kelly will receive a base salary of $1.2MM, with a further $300K available in incentives. The Twins also signed Adam Plutko a few days ago, bringing them up to the maximum of two foreign pitchers. As Yoo points out, this means they will not be bringing back left-hander Andrew Suarez.

Kelly was a highly-touted youngster, being a first-round draft pick of the Red Sox in 2008. Boston gave Kelly a bonus of $3MM, which was a franchise record at the time. He quickly came to be considered one of the top prospects in the game, appearing on Baseball America’s Top 100 for four consecutive seasons from 2010 to 2013 and headlining the trade that sent Adrian Gonzalez to the Red Sox.

The righty made his debut with the Padres in 2012 but had to be shut down due to Tommy John surgery after just six starts. He eventually made it back to the big leagues for brief stints with San Diego in 2015 and Atlanta in 2016, but with uninspiring results. He then had a nice showing with the Giants in 2018, logging an ERA of 3.04 over 23 2/3 innings.

That run with the Giants was enough to pique the interest of the LG Twins, who brought Kelly to Korea for 2019. Since then, Kelly has got into a groove and thrived, spurring rumors each year that he would be considering a return to MLB. In 2019, he threw 180 1/3 innings over 29 starts, putting up an ERA of 2.55. In 2020 and 2021, his ERA slipped just over 3.00, but he still made at least 28 starts and threw over 170 innings in each campaign. In total, over the three seasons with the Twins, he’s thrown 525 1/3 innings with an ERA of 2.96. That sort of consistent production has drawn the attention of MLB teams, but the 32-year-old is staying in Korea for a fourth straight season.

As for Suarez, he will no longer have a place on the Twins’ roster. The southpaw was a second-round pick of the Giants in 2015 and made his MLB debut in 2018. He made 29 starts that year and logged 160 1/3 innings with an ERA of 4.49. 2019 was a bit of a setback, as he bounced between Triple-A and the big leagues, with an ERA close to 6.00 at each level. With 2020’s shortened MLB campaign and canceled minor league season, he was frequently optioned and only got to throw 9 2/3 innings.

He signed with the LG Twins for 2021 and seemed to get back on track, appearing in 23 games, 22 of them starts, with an ERA of 2.18 and 126 strikeouts over 115 1/3 innings. Despite that strong showing, the club has seemingly moved on to Plutko, which leaves Suarez available to pursue other opportunities. Given that Suarez is just 29 years old and coming off a strong campaign, he should garner plenty of interest from other clubs.

Giants Sign Curt Casali

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The Giants have signed veteran catcher Curt Casali to a one-year major league contract worth $1.5MM, Maria Guardado of MLB.com was among those to report. To make room for Casali on its 40-man roster, the team officially sold left-hander Andrew Suarez’s rights to the LG Twins of the Korea Baseball Organization. Casali is a client of Beverly Hills Sports Council.

Casali became a professional when the Tigers used a 10th-round pick on him in 2011, but he has so far divided his major league career between the Rays and Reds. He was a Red for the previous three years, during which he posted a productive .260/.345/.440 line with 18 home runs in 485 plate appearances. As a defender, the 32-year-old Casali has thrown out a respectable 27 percent of would-be base stealers, but the all-around package wasn’t enough for Cincinnati to keep him in the fold. The team non-tendered Casali before the Dec. 2 deadline instead of paying him a projected $1.8MM to $2.4MM in arbitration.

Now that he’s on his way to the Bay Area, Casali seems like the front-runner to back up returning starter Buster Posey, who opted out last season over COVID-19 concerns. Casali will now reunite with right-handers Kevin Gausman and Anthony DeSclafani, whom he played with in Cincinnati.

Along with Casali and Posey, the Giants also have fellow catchers Joey Bart and Chadwick Tromp, but those two have all three minor league options remaining. In the event the Casali pickup works out well for the Giants, they’ll be able to keep him around in 2022, as he’ll be eligible for arbitration through then.

Andrew Suarez Close To Joining KBO’s LG Twins

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The LG Twins of the Korea Baseball Organization are close to signing left-hander Andrew Suarez to a one-year contract, according to Daniel Kim of ESPN and DKTV (Twitter link).  It’ll be a $600K pact, Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap News tweets. The deal would have to be tied into a purchase of Suarez’s rights from the Giants, as Suarez is still controlled by the San Francisco club.

Suarez was a second-round pick for the Giants in the 2015 and seemed to be emerging as a rotation candidate during a 2018 rookie season that saw him post a 4.49 ERA, 2.89 K/BB rate, and 7.3 K/9 over 160 1/3 innings.  That debut was followed up, however, with only 32 2/3 frames of big league work in 2019 (at a 5.79 ERA), as well as some unimpressive numbers at Triple-A, albeit in the very hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.  This past season, Suarez made several trips back and forth from the Giants’ alternate training site to the active roster, posting a 3.72 ERA over 9 2/3 innings of relief work, but with more walks (six) than strikeouts (five).

Since Suarez is out of minor league options and seemed to becoming an afterthought in San Francisco, it isn’t surprising that he and his representatives explored opportunities elsewhere.  Pitching in the KBO League would allow the left-hander to both earn more money than he would have as a pre-arbitration player in the big leagues, and also presumably give him a chance to start games and re-build his value.  Suarez only turned 28 last September, so there is plenty of time for a potential future return to North American baseball.

Giants Announce Multiple Roster Moves

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In addition to a trade this morning, the Giants have made a series of roster moves ahead of this afternoon’s matchup with the Dodgers (first reported by Maria Guardado of MLB.com). They’ll make a few tweaks to the pitching staff, reinstating left-hander Jarlin Garcia from the 60-day injured list and adding veteran Trevor Cahill to the taxi squad. To make room, Andrew Suarez has been optioned to the team’s alternate training site and infielder Abiatal Avelino was designated for assignment.

The Giants will rejigger their bullpen, adding Garcia, who was on the injured list with an undisclosed illness, and subtracting Suarez. Garcia, 27, will get his first shot with his new club after spending the first three years of his career with the Marlins. He emerged as a valuable lefty in Miami, notching a 4.29 ERA in 170 innings of work. He got work as both a starter and reliever, though he’s likely to settle firmly into a relief role.

Cahill, meanwhile, might be on the cusp of a promotion to the big league club, after news of Jeff Samardzija’s placement on the injured list yesterday. He figures to be one of the foremost options to replace Samardzija in the starting rotation for the foreseeable future.

Avelino, acquired in the 2018 trade that sent Andrew McCutchen to the Yankees, will see his Giants tenure come to a swift end, having appeared in just 10 games for the MLB club. The Giants will have a week to either trade, release, or place Avelino on outright waivers. At just 25 years old, and with plenty of remaining team control, Avelino could be a worthwhile pickup for a team in search of infield depth. His offensive track record in the minors is not especially strong, but his last two seasons in the upper minors have undoubtedly been his best.

Giants Place Jeff Samardzija On 10-Day IL

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The Giants have placed right-handed pitcher Jeff Samardzija on the 10-day injured list due to a shoulder impingement, according to Kerry Crowley of the Mercury News. He’s set to undergo an MRI today. Meanwhile, left-hander Andrew Suarez has been recalled to replace Samardzija on the active roster.

A blister on his right hand has prevented Samardzija from utilizing his splitter, which is crucial to Samardzija’s repertoire as his go-to two-strike pitch. That has contributed to the 35-year-old’s unsightly 9.88 ERA through three starts. He’s struck out just 5 batters in 13 2/3 innings, and no National League pitcher has allowed more earned runs or hits. Suffice it to say, it’s been a frustrating start to the final year of the five-year, $90MM contract Samardzija earned prior to the 2016 season.

Indeed, if the results of his MRI are damning, Samardzija may see his Giants tenure come to a premature end, though hopefully that’s a fate that can be avoided yet. At the earliest, he’ll be eligible to return August 18, and the results of the MRI should bring clarity to the veteran’s timetable for a return.

The news is that much more concerning given Samardzija’s previous shoulder problems: he missed a considerable portion of the 2018 season with tightness and inflammation in his right shoulder, limiting him to just 10 starts that year. While the injury never required surgery, it hampered him throughout the year and he struggled to recover. Nearly two years removed from those injuries, it’s hard to conclude that his current issues are related to those he suffered in 2018, but one can’t help but draw a connection.

With Samardzija out of the picture for the foreseeable future and Drew Smyly also on the IL, the Giants are faced with a rotation conundrum. Beyond Johnny Cueto, Kevin Gausman, Logan Webb, and Tyler Anderson, they’ll need to cobble together a plan in the meantime. While Suarez, taking Shark’s spot on the roster, has started for the Giants in the past, Gabe Kapler might look to deploy him in relief in the immediate future. Elsewhere on the 60-man player pool, Trevor Cahill and Dereck Rodriguez are leading depth options. They figure to be the primary candidates to replace Samardzija in the rotation.

Giants Add Jandel Gustave To 40-Man Roster

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The Giants announced a set of roster moves today, including the news that right-hander Jandel Gustave has been added to their 40-man roster and assigned to Triple-A.  Travis Bergen was moved to the 60-day injured list to create a 40-man spot for Gustave.  In other news, the Giants sent left-hander Andrew Suarez to Triple-A and called up southpaw Williams Jerez.

Gustave signed a minor league deal with San Francisco last winter, and has already spent much of his season at Triple-A Sacramento.  The 40-man roster placement does put Gustave a bit closer, at least on paper, to making his first MLB appearance since 2017 when he was a member of the Astros.  Gustave tossed 20 1/3 innings for Houston from 2016-17, though Tommy John surgery in June 2017 brought things to a halt.  After missing all of 2018 rehabbing, Gustave has looked shaky in his return to the mound this year, with a 6.85 ERA over 22 1/3 IP for Sacramento.

Suarez burst onto the big league scene with a solid 2018 rookie season, posting a 4.49 ERA, 2.89 K/BB rate, and 7.3 K/9 over 160 1/3 innings out of the Giants’ rotation.  Thus far in 2019, however, Suarez hasn’t followed up whatsoever, as he has appeared in only three games (two starts) and has been hit hard to the tune of a 10.03 ERA over 11 2/3 frames.

Giants Option Andrew Suarez

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The Giants have optioned left-handed pitcher Andrew Suarez to Triple-A, tweets Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic. His spot on the roster will go to right-hander Sam Coonrod, who has been recalled from Triple-A.

Suarez’s demotion comes after making just two starts for the Major League club, neither of which yielded particularly promising results. In ten innings of work this season, Suarez has conceded three home runs and ten earned runs while walking as many batters as he has struck out.

Of course, the 26-year-old Suarez is still young and relatively inexperienced, having worked just 170 1/3 career innings in the big leagues. Though the early returns for the 2019 season have been ugly, his rookie numbers were far more encouraging, suggesting that Suarez is at least worthy of consideration for a spot in the rebuilding Giants’ starting rotation. For the time being, though, his tryout for new president of baseball ops Farhan Zaidi will be put on hold and Suarez will head to the minors to iron out his issues.

As Baggarly notes, it appears that Suarez’s absence will clear the way for Dereck Rodriguez to reclaim his spot in the rotation. However, that is not certain; Tyler Beede is another candidate to replace Suarez in the rotation. Rodriguez, for his part, has not enjoyed much more success than Suarez in 2019, but after a brief stint in the minors he could be given the chance to show that his rookie success was no fluke. Sam Coonrod, meanwhile, will pitch out of the bullpen as he makes his Major League debut.

Coonrod, a fifth-round selection of the Giants in 2014, is a 26-year-old right-hander who began working out of the bullpen in the minors last season after beginning his professional career as a starter. Coonrod has played at the Triple-A level in 2019, pitching 18 innings in as many games, striking out 30 batters and walking 11. Though his 7.00 ERA is unsightly, his peripherals are considerably more impressive and point to MLB-caliber stuff.

NL West Notes: Arenado, Rockies, Flores, D-backs, Giants

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Rockies GM Jeff Bridich largely declined an opportunity to discuss the state of the team’s contract talks with star third baseman Nolan Arenado, as MLB.com’s Thomas Harding writes. Bridich says the club is content to “keep things under wraps, under our hat for now” as it continues to try to work out a 2019 salary — and, perhaps, a long-term deal — with the club’s top player. The general manager did say that the Rox will not “set any deadlines or ultimatums,” though that comment may relate more to the still-unresolved arbitration case than extension talks. Arenado and the team still need to bridge a $6MM gap to stave off a hearing, as he filed at $30MM against the team’s $24MM submission. It’s still anyone’s guess whether there’ll be any real traction in discussions on a lengthier accord, but it’ll unquestionably cost a pretty penny to get the 27-year-old to forego a chance at testing the open market next winter.

Here’s more out of Denver and the NL West…

  • Also from Harding’s piece, Bridich stated that the Rockies “haven’t been overly aggressive” in the outfield market. Fans hoping for a reunion with Matt Holliday will be disheartened to see that the GM characterized the franchise icon as a tougher fit on the current roster than he was when he was signed late in the 2018 season and enjoyed a brief comeback tour. Presently, Charlie Blackmon and David Dahl look like locks for regular outfield work. Ian Desmond, Raimel Tapia and Noel Cuevas will also slot in around the outfield, though Cuevas has options remaining, so it seems conceivable that the Rox could make a move if a palatable bargain presents itself.
  • There are “indications” that the Diamondbacks plan to utilize newly signed Wilmer Flores as their second baseman in 2019, writes Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. Doing so would allow them to shift Ketel Marte to the outfield as their new primary center fielder. It’d be an unfamiliar position for Marte, but the move is something that’s been discussed for some time now. (The Athletic’s Zach Buchanan noted as much all the way back in October). As Piecoro notes, the D-backs’ defensive alignment figures to look quite a bit different; Jake Lamb is slated to move across the diamond to first base following the trade of Paul Goldschmidt, with Eduardo Escobar slotting in as the primary third baseman. Nick Ahmed (shortstop), Flores (second base) and Marte (center field) could line up on the middle of the diamond, with David Peralta and Steven Souza Jr. flanking Marte in center.
  • The Giants may use the “opener” strategy at times in 2019 but won’t be among the league’s most aggressive teams with it, writes Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle. Madison Bumgarner, Derek Holland and Jeff Samardzija will all be treated as traditional starters, though Schulman notes that president of baseball ops Farhan Zaidi has recently expressed a desire to manage the workloads of younger arms like Dereck Rodriguez and Andrew Suarez “for their future and for ours.” Schulman’s column explores multiple avenues to achieving that goal and features multiple quotes from Zaidi and skipper Bruce Bochy on the pitching staff that Giants fans will surely want to check out in full. Schulman also reiterates that it’s still possible the Giants could explore trades of either Will Smith or Tony Watson as they seek additional rotation and outfield options. Both lefty relievers can become free agents next offseason.

NL West Notes: Boxberger, D-backs, Padres, Giants

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The Diamondbacks have elected to not only remove Brad Boxberger from the closer’s role but also to do away with set bullpen roles entirely for the remainder of the season, manager Torey Lovullo explained to reporters this week (link via Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic). Rather than deploy a set closer (Boxberger) and setup man (Archie Bradley), the D-backs’ late-inning decisions will be determined primarily based on matchups. Boxberger, Bradley, Andrew Chafin, Brad Ziegler and T.J. McFarland will be among the matchup options sharing late-inning duties, per Piecoro. The 30-year-old Boxberger has a 4.41 ERA and has averaged five walks per nine innings this season, but he’s also racked up 32 saves and fanned 68 hitters in just 49 innings of work. He’s struggled in particular as of late, surrendering a dozen runs in his past 11 2/3 innings of work. Boxberger will be arbitration-eligible for the final time this offseason after earning $1.85MM in 2018.

More from the division…

  • Dennis Lin of The Athletic takes stock of the Padres’ wide-ranging slate of Major League debuts in 2018 (subscription required), noting that 14 different players got their first taste of the Majors in San Diego this season. (Francisco Mejia, who came to the Friars with just 14 career plate appearances, is effectively receiving his first MLB audition as well.) While the results have varied, 2018 gave Friars fans their first look at a number of potential building blocks, including Luis Urias, Mejia and Joey Lucchesi, among others. Notably, Lin speculates that given the Padres’ wealth of outfield options and questions surrounding Franmil Reyes’ glovework, he could become a trade chip in talks with American League clubs this winter. The 23-year-old has batted .265/.316/.525 through 215 plate appearances this season, including a monstrous .313/.365/.635 slash with nine homers and a dramatically improved strikeout rate since being recalled from the minors on Aug. 5 (104 PAs).
  • Though the Giants’ hopes of contending have long since vanished, the team doesn’t have any plans to shut down rookies Dereck Rodriguez and Andrew Suarez for the final weeks of the year to limit their workloads, writes Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. Rodriguez, a former outfielder and the son of Hall of Famer Ivan Rodriguez, has quietly been one of the NL’s best rookies in 2018, working to a 2.35 ERA with 7.1 K/9 against 2.5 BB/9 through 103 1/3 innings of work after signing a minor league deal this past offseason. Suarez, also 26, has given the Giants 145 1/3 innings of 4.33 ERA ball with 7.5 K/9, 2.4 BB/9 and a 52.4 percent ground-ball rate. Both have presumably worked their way firmly into the rotation picture in 2019 and beyond with their 2018 showings.
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