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Red Sox Select Jonathan Lucroy, Dylan Covey

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The Red Sox announced Thursday that they’ve selected the contracts of catcher Jonathan Lucroy and right-hander Dylan Covey. Recent signee Zack Godley didn’t make the cut, nor did right-hander Chris Mazza, but both will report to the organization’s alternate training site. The Red Sox also recalled righties Colten Brewer and Phillips Valdez as well as southpaws Matt Hall, Josh Osich and Jeffrey Springs.

Lucroy, 34, gives the Sox another catching option alongside Christian Vazquez and Kevin Plawecki. He’s not the All-Star-caliber player he once was, but he’ll give the club plenty of experience to help out with a patchwork pitching staff.

The 2019 season marked the third consecutive year of what has been a precipitous decline for Lucroy. Once arguably the game’s best all-around catcher, Lucroy batted just .232/.305/.355 between the Angels and Cubs last season and has posted a tepid .248/.315/.350 slash in 1263 plate appearances since Opening Day 2017. His formerly vaunted pitch-framing skills have taken a nosedive and now rate below the league average, and Lucroy’s caught-stealing rate has dipped since peaking at 39 percent in 2016.

Covey, 28, has pitched 250 1/3 innings in the big leagues but has never cemented himself as a consistent contributor. He got out to a sharp start with the ChiSox in 2018, tossing 40 1/3 innings with a 2.90 ERA and a 35-to-16 K/BB ratio, but his results quickly went south and haven’t rebounded since despite several opportunities. All told, he has a career 6.54 ERA and 5.56 FIP in the big leagues.

Still, Covey was at one point a first-round pick and lasted less than two weeks as a free agent this winter when the White Sox cut him loose. Covey quickly caught on with the Rays, with whom current Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom worked his way from intern to senior VP of baseball operations. Bloom was already with the Red Sox when Covey landed in Tampa Bay, but it seems likely that the Rays had some interest in the righty dating back to Bloom’s days with the team.

Optioned Players: Red Sox, Twins, Astros, Rangers, Cubs

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What was supposed to be Opening Day across baseball may as well have been called Optioning Day. As seen on this site, several teams cut down their rosters Thursday. Here are several that we haven’t covered yet:

  • The Red Sox made their minor league signing of utilityman Yairo Munoz official, assigning him to Triple-A Pawtucket, and sent down pitchers Colten Brewer, Chris Mazza, Matt Hall and Jeffrey Springs. Brewer’s the most notable name among the pitchers. The 27-year-old ranked fifth among Red Sox relievers last season in innings (54 2/3). Brewer recorded a passable 4.12 ERA with 8.56 K/9 and a 50.3 percent groundball rate along the way, but he also walked 5.6 batters per nine. 
  • The Twins optioned right-handed reliever Sean Poppen and outfielder LaMonte Wade Jr., Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press tweets. Poppen had a rough 8 1/3-inning major league debut last year, but he logged solid production as a member of Triple-A Rochester, with which he pitched to a 3.84 ERA, struck out just over 10 hitters per nine and induced grounders at a 57 percent clip. The disciplined Wade impressively drew more walks than strikeouts at both the Triple-A and big league levels last season, though low batting averages and a lack of power limited his impact.
  • The Astros optioned infielder Jack Mayfield, catcher Garrett Stubbs and lefty Blake Taylor to Triple-A Round Rock, according to Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle. Mayfield and Stubbs posted subpar production last year during their MLB debuts, though they only combined for 104 plate appearances. Taylor, 24, spent most of 2019 as a member of the Mets’ Double-A affiliate, with whom he managed an excellent 1.85 ERA with 10.38 K/9, 2.77 BB/9 and a 50.5 percent GB rate in 39 innings. He joined the Astros in the package they received for outfielder Jake Marisnick over the winter.
  • The Rangers sent down southpaw Taylor Hearn and outfielder Scott Heineman. The 25-year-old Hearn endured an injury-limited 2019, but he was seen as one of the Rangers’ top pitching prospects before then. While Heineman raked in Triple-A ball (.340/.412/.553 in 182 plate appearances), he slumped to a .213/.306/.373 line in 85 PA with the Rangers.
  • The Cubs optioned hard-throwing reliever Dillon Maples to Triple-A Iowa, according to Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune. Despite great strikeout totals, the 27-year-old righty has gotten knocked around to the tune of an 8.06 ERA in 22 1/3 frames as a Cub since 2017. Walks have been a major problem for Maples, who has doled out almost 8.5 free passes per nine in the bigs. He wasn’t much better in that department in Triple-A last year, when he walked more than 7.5 hitters per nine. Nevertheless, thanks in large part to a whopping 16.53 K/9 and a tremendous GB percentage of 62.1, Maples pitched to a respectable 3.77 ERA in 43 innings.

Red Sox Claim Chris Mazza

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The Red Sox have claimed righty Chris Mazza off waivers from the Mets, as MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand first reported (via Twitter). Mazza had recently been designated for assignment.

Though Mazza is already thirty years of age and has made just nine appearances in the majors, he obviously did something to catch the eye of the Boston front office. He allowed ten earned runs with a ho-hum 11:5 K/BB ratio in his first 16 1/3 frames in the majors, hitting four of the 74 batters he faced with errant pitches along the way.

While the early showing didn’t necessarily inspire confidence, the Red Sox were surely more favorably impressed by Mazza’s work at Triple-A. Through 76 innings in the tough International League, he worked to a 3.67 ERA with 7.3 K/9, 2.1 BB/9, and a 58.0% groundball rate. Mazza has always generated a good number of worm burners. He has also long been relatively hard to take out of the park — a particularly notable statistical history in this day and age. In 2019, Mazza allowed 0.71 home runs per nine at Triple-A and didn’t surrender a single dinger in the majors.

Mets Announce Wacha Signing, Designate Chris Mazza

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The Mets announced today that they have signed righty Michael Wacha, as previously reported. To create 40-man space, the club designated fellow right-hander Chris Mazza for assignment.

Mazza made his MLB debut last year, throwing 16 1/3 innings of 5.51 ERA ball over nine outings. He was better in the upper minors, working in the mid-three ERA range in stints at the Double-A and Triple-A levels. Mazza has a penchant for drawing groundballs on the farm, though he’ll need to prove he can do so consistently in the bigs if he’s able to earn his way back up.

Wacha tells reporters that he expects to function as a starter in New York. Indeed, that was a key factor in his decision, he suggested. (Via MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo, on Twitter.) With Rick Porcello also set to join the staff on the same premise, it seems the Mets will at some point strike a trade involving another starter (or have some explaining to do).

Mets Designate Wilmer Font

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The Mets have designated right-hander Wilmer Font for assignment, Tim Healey of Newsday reports (Twitter link). He’ll be replaced on the active roster by fellow hurler Chris Mazza.

Font was utilized initially as a starter and then in a multi-inning capacity in New York after being shipped up from the Rays in a mid-season swap. The deal cost the Mets a far-off prospect with some interesting physical tools.

The Mets got a useful run out of Font after pushing him to the bullpen in late May. From that point through the end of June, he allowed just four earned runs and carried a 15:6 K/BB ratio over 16 1/3 innings of work. It seems the Mets decided to move on after watching Font struggle through his past two outings, which featured three long balls in just 4 1/3 innings.

As for Mazza, he’s finally enjoying some MLB opportunities at 29 years of age. The former 27th-round pick turned in a solid spot start earlier this year and has thrown well at Triple-A. In 78 frames there, he owns a 3.69 ERA with 8.1 K/9 against 2.4 BB/9.

Mets To Select Chris Mazza, Designate Ryan O’Rourke

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2:57pm: The Mets will designate lefty Ryan O’Rourke for assignment to open up space for Mazza, Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News tweets. The 31-year-old O’Rourke signed a minor league contract with the Mets in the offseason. He threw 1 1/3 innings with the Mets earlier this year, and has mostly spent the season at the Triple-A level. O’Rourke has registered a 3.31 ERA/4.44 FIP with 9.09 K/9, 4.68 BB/9 and a 52.3 percent grounder rate in 32 2/3 innings with Syracuse.

2:04pm: The Mets plan to select right-hander Chris Mazza’s contract from Triple-A Syracuse, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com tweets. They’ll need to create a 40-man spot for Mazza.

The 29-year-old Mazza will work out of the Mets’ bullpen when they promote him, per DiComo. Mazza hasn’t yet taken a major league mound since entering the pro ranks as a 27th-round pick of the Twins in 2011. He ascended to the Triple-A level for the first time last year as a member of the Marlins and has primarily pitched there this season with the Mets’ top affiliate.

Mazza has worked to a 3.67 ERA/4.06 FIP with 8.08 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 in 49 innings at Syracuse this season. Overall, he owns a 3.74 Triple-A ERA with 8.0 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 across 65 frames.

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