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Pirates Claim Connor Overton

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The Pirates claimed right-hander Connor Overton off waivers from the Blue Jays on Monday, according to a club announcement from Pittsburgh. To make room on the 40-man roster, righty Duane Underwood Jr. was transferred from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day injured list.

Overton, 28, was designated for assignment by the Jays last week to make roster space for their waiver claim of veteran infielder Jake Lamb. Overton’s initial call the Majors this season was his first, and he responded by tossing 6 2/3 innings of scoreless ball with four strikeouts and a pair of walks. It was the continuation of a strong season in Triple-A, where he’d logged a 2.03 ERA with a below-average 21.6 percent strikeout rate but an excellent 4.3 percent walk rate and an above-average 47.9 percent ground-ball rate.

The bulk of Overton’s career has been spent in the Giants organization, although he was originally a 15th-round pick of the Marlins back in 2014. He’s been a minor league free agent on three occasions, going first to the Nationals, then to the Giants and lastly to the Blue Jays. Along the way, Overton has battled multiple injuries, including Tommy John surgery, and played for a pair of teams on the independent circuit: the Atlantic League’s Lancaster Barnstormers and the American Association’s Sioux City Explorers.

It hasn’t been the most straightforward path to the big leagues for Overton, but he’ll get another opportunity to add to an impressive start now that he’s headed to the Pirates. Overton has all of his minor league options remaining, so he could be a flexible depth option for the Bucs next season if they’re willing to keep him on the 40-man roster all winter. In parts of three Triple-A seasons, Overton has a 2.39 ERA with a 22.4 percent strikeout rate, a 5.4 percent walk rate and a 46.9 percent ground-ball rate.

Pirates Place JT Brubaker, Duane Underwood Jr. On Injured List

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The Pirates announced a handful of roster moves today, placing right-handed pitchers JT Brubaker and Duane Underwood Jr. on the injured list, both with right shoulder inflammation. A couple of fellow righties, Kyle Keller and Shea Spitzbarth, are taking their place.

Brubaker has been one of the more reliable members of a Pirates club that is enduring a dismal season. His 124 1/3 innings lead the club by a significant margin, with Tyler Anderson and Wil Crowe being the only other Pirates with more than 80. Anderson, of course, isn’t even with the club anymore after being dealt to the Mariners before the trade deadline. Brubaker’s ERA isn’t great at 5.36, though his 24% strikeout rate and 7.1% walk rate are both slightly better than league average. He had just been activated off the injured list yesterday, after missing some time with a thumb contusion, but left his start after three innings.

Similarly, Underwood has been a solid-yet-unspectacular contributor out of the bullpen, throwing 72 2/3 innings with an ERA of 4.33. His 20.3% strikeout rate is a bit below average, though his 8.4% walk rate is slightly better than the league-wide rate of 8.7%.

With the club well out of contention, they can prioritize long-term health over short-term competitiveness at this stage of the season. Both Brubaker and Underwood are 27 years old and won’t yet be arbitration eligible by season’s end.

Pirates Acquire Duane Underwood, Designate Carson Fulmer

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The Pirates announced the acquisition of reliever Duane Underwood Jr. from the Cubs. First base prospect Shendrik Apostel will go to Chicago in return. To create 40-man roster space, Pittsburgh designated right-hander Carson Fulmer for assignment.

Underwood, 26, has thrown 36.1 innings out of the Chicago bullpen over the past three seasons. His 5.20 ERA isn’t particularly impressive, but Underwood has shown some promising peripherals. The right-hander has struck out an impressive 27.7% of hitters at the MLB level against a solid 7.7% walk rate. He was at his best last season, racking up strikeouts at a 30.7% clip while walking only 6.8% of batters. The right-hander averages just under 95 MPH on his fastball and also features a curveball and changeup, the latter of which has gotten plenty of whiffs in limited major league action.

Nevertheless, the Cubs designated Underwood for assignment earlier in the week. He never managed to stake a claim to a permanent spot in the Chicago bullpen, thanks largely to persistent trouble keeping the ball in the yard. Underwood is also out of options, meaning he can’t be sent to the minor leagues without being exposed to other teams. That’s less a concern for the rebuilding Pirates than it was for the playoff-hopeful Cubs.

Acquiring Underwood bumps Fulmer from the Pittsburgh roster for the second time in six months. The former eighth overall pick has been claimed off waivers by the Tigers, Pirates (twice) and Orioles going back to last July but hasn’t found a permanent home. Teams clearly remain intrigued by his promise, though. Fulmer has just a 6.34 ERA with poor strikeout (18.9%) and walk (13.9%) numbers over 105 MLB innings. Like Underwood, he is out of options. Any acquiring team must therefore keep him on the active roster or else again offer him to other clubs.

In exchange for Underwood, the Cubs pick up Apostel, a 20-year-old first baseman who signed with the Pirates out of Curacao. He had a .252/.381/.463 line in the Dominican Summer League between 2018-19. His older brother Sherten Apostel also originally signed with the Pirates and made his MLB debut last season with the Rangers.

Cubs Designate Duane Underwood Jr. For Assignment

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The Cubs announced Tuesday that they’ve designated right-hander Duane Underwood Jr. for assignment in order to open a spot on the 40-man roster for Ryan Tepera, whose previously reported one-year deal is now official.

Underwood, 26, was a second-round pick back in 2012 and has spent parts of the past three seasons in the Majors with Chicago. On the one hand, Underwood’s 5.20 ERA in that time is obviously an eyesore. On the other, Underwood has punched out 27.7 percent of his opponents against a strong 7.7 percent walk rate while averaging better than 94 mph on his heater. He whiffed a career-high 30.7 percent of opponents in 20 2/3 innings last year and also recorded a career-best 15 percent swinging-strike rate.

Home runs have been Underwood’s undoing, as he’s been tagged for eight round-trippers in just 36 1/3 big league innings (2.0 HR/9). That’s likely due in large part to a four-seamer that doesn’t miss bats at a prolific rate and has well below-average spin. Underwood decreased the usage of that four-seamer in 2020 and instead leaned into his curveball and particularly his changeup at career-high rates. The latter pitch was particularly encouraging, as evidenced by a huge 53.2 percent whiff rate from opponents.

At the end of the day, however, the results simply weren’t there for Underwood. He yielded four homers on that four-seamer, and opponents batted .342/.395/.712 on plate appearances ending in his heater. Still, the spike in changeup usage and the success he had with that pitch could pique the interest of another team. Underwood did give up one big fly on the changeup, but overall opponents batted just .190/.227/.381 on plate appearances ending in that pitch.

Underwood doesn’t have minor league options remaining, so he’d need to break camp with another club or else once again be designated for assignment. The Cubs have a week to trade him or attempt to pass him through outright waivers. If he goes unclaimed on waivers, he could return to Major League camp as a non-roster invitee to Spring Training.

Cubs Activate Craig Kimbrel

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The Cubs have activated closer Craig Kimbrel from the 10-day injured list, according to Jordan Bastian of MLB.com. He will replace Duane Underwood Jr., who has been optioned to Triple-A Iowa, on the active roster.

Kimbrel landed on the injured list with right knee inflammation, which has held him out of action for the Cubs since August 3. Since joining the Cubs, he’s gotten into 14 games with shaky results. He holds a 5.68 ERA, though that mark is certainly volatile, with Kimbrel having tossed just 12 2/3 innings. Notably, 10 of his last 11 appearances have been scoreless, though a number of blowups—largely at the hands of untimely home runs—have inflated his run-prevention numbers.

For the scuffling Cubs, the addition of Kimbrel to the bullpen mix should quell some nerves, especially considering the team’s recent struggles in the late innings. Kimbrel’s Chicago troubles notwithstanding, his extensive track record suggests that he’s a cut above the club’s other late-inning options, which will no doubt come into play as the division race intensifies—with the Cubs no longer pacing the field, for a change.

Underwood, for his part, has flashed some potential as a bullpen piece for the Cubs, having struck out 7 batters in his first 3 1/3 innings of 2019. While that pace is no doubt unsustainable, it may be enough to suggest that Underwood can carve out a role in a Major League bullpen after seven-plus years being groomed as a professional starter.

 

Cubs Place Craig Kimbrel On IL; Anticipate Month-Long Absence For Contreras

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The Cubs got some unwelcome injury news today on two fronts. Closer Craig Kimbrel was placed on the 10-day IL with a knee injury, while further examination revealed that catcher Willson Contreras is expected to miss about a month of action. ESPNChicago.com’s Jesse Rogers covered the news (links to Twitter).

Righty Duane Underwood Jr. is coming up to replace Kimbrel on the active roster. The hope, clearly, is that it won’t be a lengthy absence for the recently added veteran.

All that’s really known at the moment is that Kimbrel is dealing with inflammation, though it seems he has already been cleared of major structural issues with an MRI. The veteran hurler says he’s confident he’ll be ready to return after the minimum absence.

Kimbrel has already saved nine games for the Cubbies. But the new relationship has been a bit rocky. In 12 2/3 innings, Kimbrel has already coughed up four home runs. He has exhibited a clear loss of velocity and sports a 17:8 K/BB ratio (a 15.0% K%-BB% is less than half his career average), though he’s still managing a strong 16.5% swinging-strike rate that’s right at his career mean.

Hopefully, the Chicago org will welcome back an even better version of Kimbrel once he has taken a brief respite and sorted out his knee. The team is facing a rather more worrying situation with its top backstop.

Contreras suggested that he expects at least four weeks on the shelf, as Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Tribune reports (Twitter links). He indicated that he’ll be taking a cautious recovery path — no doubt a good idea given the timing. While there’s every reason to believe Contreras will be fully healed in time for the stretch run and postseason, it’d only take one setback to put that at risk.

It stands to reason that the Cubs will be on the hunt for another receiver — a search that’ll be complicated by the new August acquisition rules. The club had Martin Maldonado briefly, but shipped him on to the Astros before the trade deadline. At present, Victor Caratini and Taylor Davis are holding down the fort.

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