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AL Central Notes: McKenzie, White Sox, Kowar

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Guardians right-hander Triston McKenzie is headed out on a rehab assignment this Saturday, tweets MLB.com’s Mandy Bell. He’s slated to throw three innings and throw up to 50 pitches in what’ll likely be the first of multiple rehab outings. Cleveland has been without the 25-year-old righty all season due to a teres major strain, and the Guards have felt the absence acutely. Cleveland starters, regularly among the best in baseball, instead rank 15th in MLB with a 4.32 ERA this season. They’ve gotten strong results from several young hurlers Tanner Bibee and Logan T. Allen, but righties Hunter Gaddis, Zach Plesac and (to a lesser extent) Peyton Battenfield have all had their struggles.

McKenzie was Cleveland’s second-best starter in 2022, trailing only ace Shane Bieber in innings pitched (191 1/3) and ERA (2.96) while leading Cleveland starters with a 25.9% strikeout rate. If all goes well on McKenzie’s rehab stint, he’ll likely step back into the rotation alongside Bieber, Bibee, Allen and Cal Quantrill. McKenzie is currently on the 60-day injured list, so Cleveland will have to make a 40-man roster move before long in order to reinstate him.

A few more notes from the AL Central…

  • White Sox slugger Eloy Jimenez is hoping to return by next weekend, writes James Fegan of The Athletic. Jimenez told Sox beat writers that on the morning he had his appendix removed, he woke up vomiting and unable to see straight or stand. “I really thought I was going to die,” Jimenez said of that unsettling experience, but the 26-year-old pledged to be back in the lineup soon. Manager Pedro Grifol discussed the ways in which he’ll work each of Jimenez, Jake Burger and third baseman Yoan Moncada into the lineup, noting that playing Moncada or Burger at second base isn’t a consideration. The Sox will likely give Jimenez some time in right field, ostensibly at the expense of Gavin Sheets, and Grifol indicated that the hot-hitting Burger could also see some time at first base. In 106 plate appearances this season, Jimenez has batted .258/.321/.423, though he was on a 14-for-33 hot streak at the time of his placement on the injured list.
  • Former top pitching prospect Jackson Kowar is back with the Royals but will move to the bullpen on a long-term basis, writes Jaylon Thompson of the Kansas City Star. Kowar, the No. 33 overall selection in the 2018 draft, was one of several college pitchers around whom the Royals hoped to center their latest rebuilding efforts. It hasn’t gone to plan — either with Kowar specifically or with the rebuild as a whole — as he’s been tattooed for a 10.76 ERA in 46 big league innings. The former Florida Gator standout and top-100 prospect worked near-exclusively as a starter in the minors prior to this season but has made 12 of his 13 appearances in relief in 2023. The transition hasn’t been a smooth one, evidenced by the 26-year-old’s 7.00 ERA and 22-to-15 K/BB ratio in 18 relief innings in Triple-A Omaha, but the team believes enough in the raw stuff to give Kowar a look at the big league level. Manager Matt Quatraro tells Thompson the Royals see Kowar as “someone we can count on going forward.”

AL Central Injury Notes: Moncada, Smith, Staumont, Meadows

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White Sox third baseman Yoan Moncada should be activated from the 10-day injured list on Tuesday, manager Tony La Russa told MLB.com’s Scott Merkin and other reporters.  Moncada’s placement (due to a right hamstring strain) was retroactive to June 18, so Tuesday would represent the minimum 10 days for the infielder.

Between this brief IL visit and the oblique injury that sidelined Moncada for the first month of the season, Moncada seems to have barely gotten out of the blocks in 2022, hitting only .179/.230/.292 in 113 plate appearances.  While the Sox are happy to remove a name from their increasingly crowded injured list, they’ll need Moncada to get back to his old form in order for Chicago to start making a move in the playoff race.

Let’s catch up on some other injury situations from around the AL Central…

  • The Twins placed veteran reliever Joe Smith on the 15-day injured list due to tightness in his upper trap muscle.  Left-hander Jovani Moran was called up from Triple-A in the corresponding move.  Now in his 15th Major League season, Smith has 2.78 ERA over 22 2/3 innings out of Minnesota’s bullpen, with his 62.7% grounder rate helping make up for an unimpressive set of Statcast metrics.
  • The Royals placed right-hander Josh Staumont on the 15-day IL (retroactive to June 23) due to a neck strain.  In corresponding moves, K.C. also optioned lefty Foster Griffin to Triple-A and called up right-handers Jackson Kowar and Matt Peacock.  Staumont told MLB.com’s Anne Rogers and other reporters that his neck problem had been “lingering for the past couple games,” and Rogers noted that Staumont’s velocity had clearly been impacted over those last few outings.  Staumont has a 3.81 ERA, 27.6% strikeout rate, and a high 14.7% walk rate over 26 innings for the Royals this season, and six of Staumont’s 17 walks allowed have come over his last four games.
  • Austin Meadows will start a minor league rehab assignment this week, with Tigers manager A.J. Hinch telling reporters (including Chris McCosky of The Detroit News) that Meadows will likely start game action on Tuesday.  Meadows was placed on the COVID-related IL on June 17 after testing positive for the coronavirus, but he has now cleared health protocols.

AL Central Notes: Royals, Singer, Lynch, Tigers, Peralta, Pineda, Twins

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The Royals finalized their season-opening rotation yesterday, with manager Mike Matheny telling reporters (including Alec Lewis of the Athletic) that southpaw Daniel Lynch will claim the final spot behind Zack Greinke, Brad Keller, Kris Bubic and Carlos Hernández. Notably, that means right-hander Brady Singer — who has started all 39 of his MLB appearances — is set to work out of the bullpen initially. Matheny indicated the Royals still view Singer and righty Jackson Kowar as starting pitchers long-term, but it’ll be Lynch who gets the nod for now.

It’s a bit of a surprising move, as Singer is coming off the better season. Neither hurler had a good ERA in 2021, but Singer had a better strikeout and ground-ball rate than Lynch while issuing slightly fewer walks. Lynch generated a slightly higher whiff rate, but Singer was among the league’s best pitchers at picking up called strikes. Some evaluators raised concerns during Singer’s prospect days about whether his below-average changeup and lower arm slot could diminish his ability to turn a lineup over multiple times, but he’s not shown marked second or third times through the order splits in his career thus far. Injuries and/or underperformance to the front five figure to give Singer another rotation look in the near future.

More pitching updates from around the division:

  • The Tigers are planning to use Wily Peralta in relief this season, writes Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free-Press. The righty started 18 of 19 appearances with Detroit last year, posting a solid 3.07 ERA but an underwhelming 14.4% strikeout rate. The Tigers brought Peralta back on a minor league contract this spring. He seems likely to get another big league call fairly soon, but he was delayed in reporting to Spring Training because of visa issues and is set for further ramp-up work in the minors. The Tigers added Michael Pineda on a one-year big league deal to assume the final rotation spot behind Eduardo Rodríguez, Casey Mize, Tarik Skubal and Matt Manning. Pineda — held up by visa concerns of his own — consented to be optioned to Triple-A Toledo to open the year for more build-up time, giving Tyler Alexander the #5 spot for the season’s first couple weeks. Pineda tossed three innings for the Mud Hens yesterday, and Petzold notes he’s likely to make two more appearances there before being recalled to the majors.
  • The Twins made a last-minute addition to their rotation before Opening Day, acquiring Chris Paddack from the Padres in a deal that involved four MLB players changing hands. Minnesota already had a starting five of Sonny Gray, Joe Ryan, Dylan Bundy, Bailey Ober and Chris Archer lined up, and manager Rocco Baldelli told reporters (including Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com) the Twins will roll with a six-man starting staff to open the season. Active rosters are expanded from 26 to 28 through April, giving teams flexibility to carry plenty of arms. Minnesota is also carrying top prospects Josh Winder and Jhoan Duran on the Opening Day roster, with both working in relief. Duran is expected to remain in that role (where he shined in two innings during his MLB debut this afternoon); Winder could be a rotation option down the line, and Baldelli said Winder could shoulder as much as five innings during an appearance out of the ’pen in the early going (Park link).

Every Team’s Initial September Callups

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The limit on active roster players expanded from 26 to 28 today, as the calendar flipped to September. Every team announced at least two additions to the big league club (some teams made three or more due to injured list placements). Here’s a recap of today’s spate of transactions:

Royals Outright Jake Newberry

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JUNE 11: The Royals announced that Newberry has cleared outright waivers. The 26-year-old doesn’t have the requisite service time to elect free agency, so he’ll report to Triple-A Omaha and attempt to work his way back onto the major league roster at some point this season.

JUNE 7: The Royals have designated right-hander Jake Newberry for assignment.  The move officially creates roster space for the promotion of pitching prospect Jackson Kowar, who will make his MLB debut today.  Kansas City also optioned righty Jakob Junis, as was reported yesterday.

Newberry has appeared in each of the last four seasons for Kansas City, and despite some shaky advanced metrics, managed to post a 4.07 ERA over 66 1/3 relief innings for the Royals from 2018-20.  Fortune turned on Newberry this season, however, as he was rocked for eight runs and a 16.62 ERA over 4 1/3 innings in 2021.

A 37th-round pick for the Royals in the 2012 draft, Newberry has worked almost exclusively as a reliever throughout his pro career, and he has posted some quality numbers in the minors.  Over 406 career innings in the K.C. farm system, Newberry has a 3.24 ERA and 22.3% strikeout rate.  Something of an extreme groundball pitcher earlier in his career, Newberry hasn’t translated that skill into the big leagues, with only a 34.5% grounder rate over 70 2/3 innings in the Show.

Royals To Select Jackson Kowar

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The Royals will call-up Jackson Kowar to start tomorrow night’s game against the Angels, manager Mike Matheny announced to reporters (including Lynn Worthy of the Kansas City). Jakob Junis will be optioned to Triple-A Omaha in a corresponding move.

Selected with the 33rd overall pick of the 2018 draft (one spot ahead of fellow vaunted Royals rookie Daniel Lynch), Kowar is now regarded as one of the sport’s more promising pitching prospects. Entering this season, Baseball America ranked him as baseball’s #95 overall prospect and the #4 farmhand in the Kansas City organization. Keith Law of the Athletic also placed Kowar fourth in the system, while Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs slots him eighth. All three outlets credit him with a potentially elite changeup and a mid-90s sinker. Whether Kowar will develop into an efficient strike-thrower figures to determine his ultimate role.

BA projects Kowar as a potential middle of the rotation starter, feeling he’ll develop “at least average control.” Law feels he could settle in at the back of a rotation if his command improves a bit in the coming seasons. Longenhagen, meanwhile, suggests he’s most likely to wind up in high-leverage relief, likening him to former Royal Ryan Madson. Regardless of the exact form it takes, public prospect forecasters all view Kowar as a potential noteworthy part of a pitching staff in some capacity.

Kowar has gotten off to a fantastic start in Omaha this year, his first taste of the minors’ top level. Through six starts, he’s worked to a 0.85 ERA in 31 2/3 frames, striking out a whopping 33.9% of opposing hitters while walking 8.3%. That strong showing has brought his career minor league ERA down to 3.10, slightly better than the 3.53 mark he managed over three seasons at the University of Florida.

He becomes the third of the Royals crop of well-regarded pitching prospects to make his MLB debut. Brady Singer, Kowar’s college teammate, reached the big leagues last season and has thrown 117 2/3 innings of 4.51 ERA/4.20 SIERA ball over his first 23 starts. Lynch was promoted on May 3, although he’s since been optioned back to Triple-A after giving up 15 runs in his first eight innings.

Junis, who moved to the bullpen when Lynch was selected, will head to Omaha to build back up as a starting pitcher, Worthy relays. Junis performed fairly well in the season’s first month while working out of the rotation, although he’s struggled in a relief role. His demotion will open an active roster spot for Kowar, but Kansas City will need to make another transaction before tomorrow’s game. The Royals 40-man roster is full, so a move is necessary to accommodate Kowar’s formal selection.

Even if Kowar sticks in the majors for good, he’ll be controllable through the end of the 2027 season. The early-June timing of his promotion makes it possible he’ll qualify for Super Two status, which would allow him to reach arbitration eligibility for the first time after 2023 (assuming the existing arbitration structure remains in the next collective bargaining agreement). Future optional assignments could change that trajectory.

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