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Royals Sign Cody Poteet, Brooks Kriske To Minor League Deals

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The Royals announced four minor league contracts this afternoon. Righties Cody Poteet and Brooks Kriske are joining the organization, while minor league free agent outfielder Seuly Matias returns for an eighth year with the franchise. Kansas City also confirmed their previously reported non-roster agreement with catcher Jakson Reetz.

Poteet is the most notable of the bunch, as he’s picked up some swing work at the major league level over the past couple seasons. A career-long member of the Marlins, he debuted midway through the 2021 season. The righty made seven starts that year, allowing just under five earned runs per nine innings. Poteet generated decent swing-and-miss rates and averaged just under 94 MPH on his heater as a starter, but he struggled with walks and home runs in that limited look. His debut season was cut short by a right knee sprain.

Injuries were again a story in 2022, as the UCLA product missed the bulk of the year with elbow trouble. When healthy, he was primarily relegated to long relief work, starting just two of his 12 outings. Poteet tossed 28 frames over that stretch, putting up a decent 3.86 ERA but seeing his strikeout rate dip to 18.4%. His velocity ticked up in the shorter stints, as he averaged 94.9 MPH on his four-seam fastball. Poteet relied more frequently on his changeup, particularly against left-handed batters, while turning to a slider more often against righties.

At season’s end, Miami ran Poteet through outright waivers. He went unclaimed and elected minor league free agency, and he now joins the second organization of his career. The 28-year-old adds a depth option for either the rotation or long relief to the upper levels. He owns a 4.45 ERA over 58 2/3 MLB frames and a 3.81 mark with an 18.8% strikeout rate in parts of seven minor league seasons.

Kriske, 29 in February, has 16 MLB appearances to his name split between the Yankees and Orioles. Those came from 2020-21, with the reliever allowing 25 runs in 15 innings. A USC product, Kriske made the jump to Japan last offseason. He inked a deal with NPB’s Yokohama BayStars and split the season between the highest level and their minor league affiliate. In 18 appearances with the BayStars, Kriske posted a 2.57 ERA over 21 innings. He struck out an excellent 29.2% of batters faced but walked 14.6% of his opponents.

Over parts of four minor league campaigns, most of which were spent in the New York system, Kriske owns a 2.34 ERA. He has a stellar 33.3% strikeout rate in lower levels. Control issues have been a problem throughout his career, as he’s walked 10.7% of minor league hitters. He’s shown the ability to miss plenty of bats against high-level opponents though.

Matias was once a highly regarded prospect, thanks largely to his right-handed power potential. He’s limited to the corner outfield and has dealt with serious swing-and-miss issues throughout his career, with those concerns stalling his move up the ladder. The 24-year-old hit .225/.330/.424 in 414 plate appearances with Double-A Northwest Arkansas this year. Matias connected on 16 home runs while striking out a third of the time. He has yet to reach the majors.

Marlins Decline Mutual Option On Joey Wendle; Outright Three Others

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The Marlins have declined their mutual option on infielder Joey Wendle, per Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald. However, Wendle is not a free agent, as he can still be retained by the club via arbitration. Additionally, the club has outrighted three pitchers: Cody Poteet, Jordan Holloway and Bryan Hoeing.

Wendle was acquired from the Rays in a November 2021 trade, having between four and five years of MLB service time at that point, meaning he was set for two more passes at the arbitration system. He and the club avoided arbitration in April of 2022 by agreeing to a $4.55MM salary for 2022 plus a $6.3MM mutual option for 2023 with a $75K buyout. The Marlins have opted for the buyout but can still control Wendle for 2023 via arbitration, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting a salary of $5.4MM.

Wendle’s bat took a step back after the trade, most notably in the power department. He hit 11 homers with the Rays in 2021 while hitting .265/.319/.422 for a wRC+ of 105. After moving to Miami, he hit just three long balls and produced a batting line of .259/.297/.360 and a wRC+ of 87. Despite that downturn at the plate, Wendle still received quality marks for his defense and stole 12 bases, leading to him producing 1.2 fWAR on the season even with that tepid offense.

If the MLBTR projections are correct, that would mean the Marlins are making a smart decision in turning down the option. They can still keep Wendle around as a valuable utility player that can jump around the diamond, though his salary will be around $1MM less than if they just triggered the option.

As for Poteet, it was announced in August that he would undergo Tommy John surgery, meaning he’ll likely miss the entire 2023 campaign. He spent the last few months of the season on the 60-day injured list but there’s no IL between the World Series and Spring Training. It seems the Marlins weren’t willing to commit a roster spot to Poteet throughout the winter, leading to this outright. Since he has seven years of minor league experience, he’s eligible to reject the assignment and elect free agency.

It’s a similar situation for Holloway, who landed on the IL in July due to an elbow impingement and finished the season there. He needed to be reinstated this week but got outrighted instead. Like Poteet, his minor league experience gives him the right to elect free agency.

As for Hoeing, he was first selected to the roster in August and made his MLB debut this year. He put up a 12.08 ERA in a small sample of 12 2/3 MLB innings, but was much better in the minors. Splitting his time between Double-A and Triple-A this year, he had a 4.06 ERA while getting strong amounts of ground balls at each level. Since he lacks the seven years of experience in the minors, three years of MLB service time and has never previously been outrighted in his career, he should stick with the Marlins as depth but without occupying a roster spot.

Cody Poteet To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

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Marlins’ right-hander Cody Poteet will undergo Tommy John surgery, the team announced to reporters, including Christina De Nicola of MLB.com. The 28-year-old is already on the 60-day injured list, having first landed on the 15-day IL at the end of May before being transferred in late July.

Poteet will miss the remainder of this season and likely all of 2023 as well, given the lengthy recovery time required after such a procedure. It’s an unfortunate blow to the club’s pitching corps, with Poteet having made seven starts for the club last year, followed by two starts and ten relief appearances this season.

Between those two campaigns, Poteet has thrown 58 2/3 innings with a 4.45 ERA, 21.5% strikeout rate and 11% walk rate. He’s been more impressive in the minors over those two seasons, throwing 14 2/3 innings with a 1.84 ERA, a 37.9% strikeout rate and 6.9% walk rate.

Poteet will pick up a full year of MLB service time this season, as he was never optioned during this campaign, his only time in the minors coming during a rehab assignment. Since there’s no injured list in the winter, he will need to be reinstated and once again take up a roster spot in the offseason. He came into the year with 145 days of MLB service time, meaning he will be at 1.145 at season’s end. He still won’t have qualified for arbitration, meaning the Marlins could keep him around cheaply through next year, provided he holds onto his roster spot until Spring Training, when the injured list returns.

Marlins Roster Moves

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The Marlins made a number of roster moves today, including moving All-Star Jazz Chisholm Jr. to the 60-day injured list. Anthony Bender and Cody Poteet were also moved to the 60-day injured list. Those moves cleared 40-man roster spots for Willians Astudillo, Jeff Brigham, and Huascar Brazoban, who were all added to the active roster. To create those spots on the active roster, Brian Anderson was placed on the 10-day injured list with a left shoulder strain, while Max Meyer and Tommy Nance were both placed on the 15-day injured list, per Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald (via Twitter).

The Chisolm move is the most noteworthy (if expected) move of the bunch. The All-Star was recently diagnosed with a stress fracture in his back. The Marlins hope he can return by the end of the season, though that’s definitely in doubt.

It’s equally disappointing to see Meyer make a quick trip to the injured list after just two big league starts. The 23-year-old surrendered five earned runs in seven innings while striking out six and walking two.

Nance, a 31-year-old reliever, joins Meyer on the injured list. The former Cub has a 5.76 ERA/3.28 FIP in 19 outings covering 25 innings this season for the Marlins. The power righty misses a fair amount of bats, but struggled at times with his command. For the year, he has struck out a robust 29.9 percent of opponents, but he has also walked 11.1 percent of opposing hitters, a number that needs to come down in order for him to become an effective late-inning arm.

Brazoban made his Major League debut today, throwing an arsenal based around a sinker that neared 98 mph on average. The 32-year-old Dominican was playing in the independent league last season. Brigham, 30, has made 37 appearances for the Marlins over the past three seasons, posting a 5.01 ERA/5.32 FIP across 55 2/3 innings. Astudillo has stepped to the plate 38 times for the Marlins this season, slashing .270/.289/.351.

Marlins Make Three Roster Moves

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The Marlins announced a trio of roster moves this morning, including the reinstatement of Avisail Garcia from the COVID-related injured list.  Miami also designated infielder Joe Dunand for assignment to create a 40-man roster space, while right-hander Cody Poteet was placed on the 15-day injured list due to a muscle injury in his right elbow.

Garcia returns after just a two-day absence, indicating that his placement on the COVID-IL was precautionary or due to virus symptoms, but not an actual positive test.  The outfielder will return from his brief break and look to get his season turned around, as Garcia has slashed a meager .207/.237/.290 over his first 152 plate appearances in a Marlins uniform.

Pitching in his second MLB season, Poteet has a 2.42 ERA and 55.7% grounder rate over 26 innings in 2022.  Most of that work has come out of the bullpen as a long reliever, but two of Poteet’s last three outings were starts, as Miami has needed a replacement for the injured Jesus Luzardo.  Poteet’s last appearance on May 25 didn’t go well, as the Rays tagged him for five runs over three innings of work in a 5-4 Marlins loss.

With Poteet now sidelined for at least the next 15 days, there will be more speculation about which of the Marlins’ promising young arms could be called up to the big league rotation.  Since top prospect Max Meyer is recovering from ulnar nerve irritation, Edward Cabrera could be the logical candidate, as Cabrera last pitched on May 26.  Between a visa issue in Spring Training and then a biceps injury, Cabrera didn’t pitch until April 27, but he has since banked six minor league starts and a combined 3.90 ERA over 27 2/3 innings.

As for Luzardo himself, it isn’t yet clear when the southpaw could return from his forearm strain.  Miami manager Don Mattingly told reporters (including MLB.com’s Christina De Nicola) today that Luzardo’s recovery is “not as good as we would’ve liked,” as the left-hander has yet to begin throwing.  Luzuardo’s IL stint is backdated to May 12, so he is already beyond the 15-day minimum period.

Dunand made his MLB debut this season, appearing in three games with the Marlins and delivering a 1.064 OPS over his 11 plate appearances.  The Miami native doesn’t have a standout minor league track record, so the Marlins could be betting that another team won’t put in a waiver claim on the 26-year-old Dunand.  That said, Dunand also has a lot of experience as a third baseman and shortstop plus a few games at the other two infield positions, so a club in need of infield depth might check him out on the DFA wire.

Marlins Notes: Poteet, Meyer, Sanchez

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The Marlins’ rotation took a hit over the weekend when left-hander Jesús Luzardo landed on the injured list due to a forearm strain. That leaves a vacancy alongside the top four of Pablo López, Sandy Alcantara, Trevor Rogers and Elieser Hernández, and the long-term plans still appear to be up in the air.

The team announced yesterday that long reliever Cody Poteet would step into Luzardo’s spot for tomorrow’s game against the Nationals. General manager Kim Ng didn’t commit to the righty making more than one start, however, noting only that the team “will be flexible after that” (via Daniel Álvarez Montes of El Extrabase). Poteet started seven games for the Fish last season, so he could probably handle a rotation spot with Luzardo out, but that’d thin the bullpen mix.

Of course, Miami’s organizational strength is their controllable pitching, and the Fish have some young arms whom they hope will be rotation stalwarts over the long-term. 2020 #3 overall pick Max Meyer reached Triple-A Jacksonville at the end of his first full professional season, and he opened this year there as well. The right-hander has overpowered opponents, pitching to a 2.97 ERA with excellent peripherals in seven starts. Meyer has a lofty 29.5% strikeout rate, has only walked 6.8% of batters faced and has induced grounders on over half the batted balls against him.

That’s a continuation of very strong high minors work for Meyer, who was equally dominant in 101 Double-A innings last year. As he’s continued to tear up the minors, there’s been speculation the University of Minnesota product could be on the radar for a big league call. The Luzardo injury won’t be the immediate catalyst for his first MLB promotion; Craig Mish of SportsGrid tweeted this afternoon that Meyer will start for Jacksonville on Tuesday.

Still, Ng’s nebulous statement about being “flexible” with the vacant rotation spot long-term doesn’t figure to quell any speculation among the fanbase about the possibility of Meyer heading to Miami at some point in the relatively near future. Mish and Barry Jackson at the Miami Herald wrote earlier this month there’d been some “internal discussion” about whether to promote Meyer for relief work before Luzardo’s injury. Meanwhile, Hernández’s continued struggles with home runs may eventually put him in jeopardy of losing his hold on a rotation spot.

Another of Miami’s exciting young arms, Sixto Sánchez, reached the big leagues for the first time in 2020. The fireballing righty made seven strong starts as a 22-year-old, but he missed all of last season battling shoulder concerns. Sánchez landed back on the injured list to start this year, but the team informed reporters he’s progressed to throwing from 90 feet (via Jordan McPherson of the Herald). There’s obviously still a long way to go in his rehab process, but that he’s throwing is a promising development. Sánchez spent the first few weeks of the season in a shutdown period after he battled continued soreness during the spring.

Marlins Select Austin Pruitt

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The Marlins are selecting Austin Pruitt back to the big league roster, relays Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald (Twitter link). Pruitt had been designated for assignment and passed through outright waivers earlier this month. Righty Nick Neidert was optioned to Triple-A Jacksonville to clear an active roster spot, while the club transferred starter Cody Poteet from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list to open room on the 40-man roster.

Miami acquired Pruitt alongside Bryan de la Cruz in the trade that sent Yimi García to the Astros just before the trade deadline. Pruitt made just one appearance for the Fish before being waived, but he’s now back in the majors after a couple weeks in Jacksonville, where he made three scoreless relief appearances. If he sticks on the Marlins’ 40-man roster this time around, Pruitt can be controlled for the next few seasons via arbitration.

Pruitt worked as a swingman with the Rays between 2017-19, and Houston acquired him heading into the 2020 season as a potential option for the back of the rotation. Unfortunately, he missed all of 2020 and the first half of this season because of an elbow injury that eventually required surgery. His time as an Astro consisted of just 2 2/3 innings of relief, during which he allowed a pair of home runs. Houston designated him for assignment thereafter before including him in the García deal.

Poteet has been out since June 28 due to a right knee sprain. Today’s transfer only rules him out for sixty days from that date, so he could theoretically return by next week. The right-hander was recently shut down from his rehab assignment due to recurring inflammation in the joint, though, so it’s not clear when he’ll be healthy enough to make it back to the mound.

Marlins Place Cody Poteet On 10-Day IL, Elieser Hernandez Moved To 60-Day IL

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The Marlins announced a series of moves this afternoon, including the placement of right-hander Cody Poteet on the 10-day injured list due to a right MCL sprain.  (The Miami Herald’s Jordan McPherson was among those to report the news.)  Right-hander Zach Thompson’s contract was selected from Triple-A to take Poteet’s spot on the active roster, and a 40-man roster spot was created when Elieser Hernandez was moved to the 60-day injured list.

Hernandez went to the 10-day IL just yesterday because of a right quad strain, though the Marlins specified today that Hernandez’s injury was “severe” in nature.  Hernandez will now be out of action until at least early August, and given the apparent seriousness of the injury, it is fair to speculate whether or not the right-hander could possibly be out of action for the remainder of the season.

Poteet’s injury only adds to an increasingly short-handed pitching situation for Miami.  Due to the absence of Hernandez and Sixto Sanchez, Poteet got an opportunity for his MLB debut and was making the most of it, with a 3.75 ERA/4.42 SIERA over five starts and 24 innings.  Despite a below-average 22.1% strikeout rate, Poteet was using some elite curveball spin to outperform his overall middling Statcast numbers.  At the very least, Poteet was doing enough to doing enough to solidify his spot in the rotation before injury struck yesterday, and he was forced out of the 9-2 loss to the Pirates after only 2 2/3 innings.

Trevor Rogers, Sandy Alcantara, and Pablo Lopez have been a solid top three for the Marlins’ rotation, but there is now a major void with both Poteet and Hernandez out of action.  Braxton Garrett and Daniel Castano are both at Triple-A and might be the most logical options for the moment, considering that many of Miami’s top starting candidates are still recovering from injury.

Jordan Holloway might not be too far away, as he is expected to begin a Triple-A rehab assignment tonight.  A groin injury sent Holloway to the 10-day IL on May 22, and he has already made two starts in a piggyback capacity this season.  Marlins manager Don Mattingly told MLB.com’s Christina De Nicola and other reporters that the plan is to build Holloway’s workload up to 75-90 pitches so he can potentially be used as a starter when his rehab assignment is over.

Given all this rotation uncertainty, it isn’t surprising that the Marlins are looking for some external pitching help, pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr. told McPherson (Twitter links) and other reporters.  The team would prefer to add an experienced arm rather than prematurely force their pitching prospects up to the majors for fill-in duty.

Sanchez has yet to pitch this season due to shoulder discomfort, and his rehab was recently halted after he felt discomfort between bullpen sessions.  Stottlemyre didn’t shed much light on when Sanchez might continue on the road to recovery, saying, “Some of the things that he was doing before got better, but there’s still a stall in his program.  I’m not going to tell you he’s hurt, but it’s not time to move forward with rehab starts yet.”

Thompson was a starter earlier in his minor league career, but considering he hasn’t started a game since 2017, it’s safe to assume the righty will head to Miami’s bullpen as he seems set to make his Major League debut.  A fifth-round pick for the White Sox in the 2014 draft, Thompson has a 4.11 ERA over 519 career frames in the minors, which includes a 6.60 ERA over 15 innings at Triple-A Jacksonville this season.  Thompson has allowed four homers in those 15 innings to inflate his ERA, and his other peripherals (21 strikeouts and two walks) are otherwise quite impressive.

Marlins Select Cody Poteet, Designate Luis Madero

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The Marlins have selected the contract of right-hander Cody Poteet, relays Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald. To create 40-man roster space, Miami designated righty Luís Madero for assignment. Poteet will start tonight’s game against the Diamondbacks.

Poteet, 26, is now in line to make his MLB debut. Miami’s fourth-round pick out of UCLA in 2015, he’s pitched to a 3.84 ERA over six minor-league seasons. Poteet carved up the low minors but has only managed a 4.02 ERA with an underwhelming 18.6% strikeout rate in 203 2/3 Double-A frames. He has a 5.28 ERA with a similar strikeout percentage in eleven Triple-A starts. While Poteet hasn’t overpowered minor-league hitters, he does have a solid track record of throwing strikes, with a 7.4% walk rate in the minors.

Madero will lose his 40-man spot to accommodate Poteet’s selection. The 24-year-old was himself just selected to the roster last weekend. Madero has tossed his first three MLB innings this season, allowing five runs on six hits with a strikeout and walk apiece. The Marlins will have a week to trade him, place him on outright waivers, or release him. As a player who has previously been outrighted in his career, Madero has the right to refuse a minor-league assignment if he clears waivers.

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