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Jakson Reetz

Royals To Sign Jakson Reetz To Minor League Deal

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The Royals are signing catcher Jakson Reetz to a minor league deal, according to Robert Murray of FanSided. He will get an invite to Spring Training.

Reetz, 27 in January, got a brief major league debut in 2021, making two plate appearances over two games with the Nationals. That’s the extent of his big league experience thus far. He was designated for assignment in September and eventually signed a minor league deal with the Brewers.

His 2022 got off to a great start, as he hit 22 home runs in 64 Double-A games, getting bumped up to Triple-A and adding three more long balls. In August, the Brewers added him to their 40-man roster to prevent him from triggering an opt-out, but they kept him down on the farm on optional assignment. Though the club liked him enough to try to retain him, he got squeezed off the roster two weeks later. Reetz signed a minor league deal with the Royals in August and hit well as the season was winding down. In 21 games, he added another five home runs to bring his season total to 30. Between the different teams, he hit .264/.359/.575 for a wRC+ of 141.

Reetz was generally considered a glove-first catcher as a prospect, so to see him suddenly have a power outburst is certainly an encouraging development. The Royals already got a look at him as the 2022 season was winding down and liked him enough to bring him back for catching depth. The club has Salvador Perez entrenched as their everyday backstop, which has moved prospect MJ Melendez into an unknown role where he occasionally catches but also plays the outfield to keep his bat in the lineup. The only other catcher on the 40-man roster is Freddy Fermín, who has just three games of MLB experience. Reetz and Fermín could potentially battle for a spot as a third/backup catcher on the active roster, alongside any other depth options the club adds between now and Opening Day.

Royals Sign Jakson Reetz To Minor League Deal

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The Royals signed catcher Jakson Reetz to a minor league deal last week, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He had recently elected free agency after being designated for assignment by the Brewers.

Reetz, 26, got a sip of a cup of coffee in the majors last year, making two plate appearances over two games with the Nationals. That’s the extent of his big league experience thus far. He was designated for assignment in September and eventually signed a minor league deal with the Brewers.

His season got off to a great start, as he hit 22 home runs in 64 Double-A games, getting bumped up to Triple-A. In August, the Brewers added him to their 40-man roster to prevent him from triggering an opt-out, but they kept him down on the farm. Though the club liked him enough to try to retain him, he got squeezed off the roster two weeks later.

The Royals subtracted from their catching depth on deadline day, sending Cam Gallagher to the Padres for outfielder Brent Rooker. They still have Salvador Perez taking the majority of playing time behind the dish, with MJ Melendez also on hand, though he’s been playing more outfield to get his bat in the lineup alongside Salvy. Sebastian Rivero is also on the roster to act as bench catcher when both of Perez and Melendez are in the lineup. Reetz will be on hand in the minors should they need him to step up and help out the big league team.

Jakson Reetz Elects Free Agency

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TODAY: Reetz cleared waivers and elected to become a free agent, as McCalvy reports that Reetz declined an outright assignment to the Brewers’ Triple-A team.  Because Reetz has been outrighted before in his career, he had the right to decline any further outright assignments in favor of a return to the open market.

AUGUST 18: The Brewers have reinstated right-hander J.C. Mejia from the restricted list and opened a spot on the roster by designating catcher Jakson Reetz for assignment, tweets Adam McCalvy of MLB.com.

Reetz, 26, was signed by the Brewers to a minor league deal in the offseason. Despite having cracked the majors with the Nationals last year, he was sent to the Double-A Biloxi Shuckers to begin this season. He tore the cover off the ball there, hitting 22 homers in just 64 games, getting bumped up to Triple-A in July.

He was added to the club’s 40-man roster in early August but optioned to Triple-A. McCalvy relays that this was because Reetz had an opt-out date in his contract. Reetz has long been considered a glove-first catcher but had that tremendous outburst in Double-A this season, which was tempting enough for the Brewers to give him a roster spot for a time. However, he wasn’t able to sustain that after a bump to Triple-A, as he’s hit just .212/.254/.424 since joining Nashville, which amounts to a 73 wRC+.

Based on that diminished offensive output, Reetz has lost his roster spot to Mejia, who was acquired from the Guardians in March. He was hit with an 80-game suspension in May due to a positive PED test but now returns to the roster after serving his sentence. Prior to the suspension, he was shelled to the tune of six earned runs in 2 1/3 MLB innings, though fared much better in the minors. In 14 1/3 frames between Double-A and Triple-A, he’s registered an ERA of just 0.63. He’s been optioned to Nashville and will serve as depth for the time being.

With Reetz off the roster, the club is in a precarious position behind the plate, at least for now. They now only have two healthy catchers on the 40-man roster in Victor Caratini and Mario Feliciano. They also have Omar Narvaez, who is on the injured list, and Alex Jackson, who is on the minor league injured list. Narvaez began a rehab assignment on Tuesday and should be back in the mix shortly.

Brewers Planning To Select Jakson Reetz

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The Brewers are planning on adding catcher Jakson Reetz to their 40-man roster, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. Reetz isn’t currently on Milwaukee’s 40-man roster, meaning a corresponding move will be required.

Reetz, 26, was a third-round draft pick of the Nationals in 2014, working his way up to make his MLB debut last year. He only got two plate appearances before getting designated for assignment in September. Since he got one hit, he currently has a career batting average of .500 in an obviously tiny sample.

Baseball America considered Reetz to be one of the top farmhands in the Nationals’ system from 2015 to 2018 and again in 2020 and 2021. He’s long earned praise for his defensive acumen but never managed to hit much in the upper levels of the minors. He’s taken steps forward in that department this year, however, after signing a minor league deal with the Brewers in the offseason. He’s spent most of this year at Double-A, getting into 64 games and hitting an incredible 22 home runs in that time. His batting line at that level this year is .281/.392/.636 for a wRC+ of 166. It’s been less eye-popping in 13 Triple-A games, though he did add three more dingers there for a line of .229/.283/.479, wRC+ of 94.

The Brewers have quickly gone from a catching surplus to a deficit in recent days. Not so long ago, they had a trio of Omar Narvaez, Victor Caratini and Pedro Severino all on the active roster, enough bodies that they were getting trade interest on Narvaez. The deadline passed without a deal and the club decided to move on from Severino, designating him for assignment yesterday. However, Narvaez suffered a quad strain last night and landed on the IL today. With the triumvirate whittled down to just Caratini, the club recalled Mario Feliciano today with Reetz seemingly getting into the mix soon. Given that he’s a glove-first catcher who might have suddenly found his stroke, it’s understandable that the Brewers are willing to give him a shot.

Brewers Sign Three To Minor League Deals

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The Brewers announced Thursday morning that they’ve signed catcher Jakson Reetz, outfielder Garrett Whitley and right-hander Moises Gomez to minor league contracts. All three received invitations to Major League Spring Training as well.

Reetz, 26 next month, made his big league debut with the Nationals in 2021, appearing in two games and collecting a double for his first (and, to date, only) Major League hit. A third-round pick by the Nats back in 2014, Reetz ranked among Washington’s top 30 prospects at Baseball America each year from 2015-21, topping out at No. 14 (2015-16) and ranking No. 25 heading into the 2021 season.

While he’s regarded as a solid defender thanks to his receiving and pitch-blocking skills, Reetz has yet to hit much in pro ball. He posted a combined .189/.297/.317 slash in 300 plate appearances between Double-A and Triple-A this past season and carries a career .230/.347/.355 batting line through 472 minor league games in total. Reetz showed some promise with a .253/.370/.441 and 13 homers in High-A back in 2019, but his return to competitive play and debuts in Double-A and Triple-A this past season didn’t go well from an offensive standpoint.

Whitley, 25 in March, has an even loftier draft status. Selected with the No. 13 overall pick by the Rays back in 2015, Whitley ranked among the top-10 farmhands (per BA) in a perennially loaded Rays system each year from 2016-18. Whitley hit .255/.370/.510 and walked at a 12.6% clip in 237 Double-A plate appearances this past season, but he also whiffed in 28% of his trips to the plate at that level. He struggled mightily upon a bump to Triple-A, where he hit just .172/.269/.301 and fanned in a third of his 108 plate appearances (against a diminished 8.3% walk rate).

Like Reetz, Whitley has drawn positive reviews for his defensive skills. He’s a center fielder touted for 60- or even 70-grade speed (on the 20-80 scale) with an above-average throwing arm. Large strikeout rates have plagued him throughout his minor league tenure, even as he’s generally walked at a strong clip. In all, Whitley is a .234/.343/.407 career hitter in pro ball.

Gomez, who’ll turn 25 in February, split the 2021 season between the Mariners’ Double-A and Triple-A affiliates, pitching well for the former but being hit hard with the latter. The gap between Gomez’s 1.23 ERA in 29 1/3 Double-A frames and 5.94 ERA in 16 1/3 Triple-A innings might not be as great as one would expect, however.

Gomez actually posted better strikeout and walk percentages in Triple-A (23.7% and 5.3%, respectively) than in Double-A (21.2%, 5.9%). However, the righty was blown up for a sky-high .392 average on balls in play during his brief run with Triple-A Tacoma, and his left-on-base percentage fell from 87% to 57.9%. A drop of that magnitude in strand rate is only natural when so many balls in play are falling for hits. The results in Triple-A certainly don’t look appealing, but Gomez has an upper-90s heater and has never posted an ERA north of 3.30 at any minor league level outside of last year’s 13-game cup of coffee in Triple-A.

Nationals Promote Jhon Romero, Designate Jakson Reetz

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SEPTEMBER 25: The Nationals announced that Reetz has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Rochester.

SEPTEMBER 23, 2:05PM: The Nationals have officially announced the selection of Romero’s contract.  Hernandez has been placed on the paternity list, while catcher Jakson Reetz has been designated for assignment.  Reetz made his MLB debut earlier this season, appearing in two games for Washington.

11:19AM: The Nationals are set to call up right-handed pitching prospect Jhon Romero, according to multiple reports from Colombian reporters (hat tip to The Athletic’s Maria Torres).  Washington will create a 40-man roster spot for Romero with some forthcoming moves, and Torres reports that outfielder Yadiel Hernandez is heading for the paternity list.

Romero isn’t listed as a top-30 Nationals prospect by either Baseball America or MLB Pipeline, but the 26-year-old has posted some terrific numbers in 2021.  In 47 2/3 innings with Double-A Harrisburg and 7 1/3 innings with Triple-A Rochester, Romero has a combined 2.62 ERA, 30.5% strikeout rate and 4.87% walk rate.  This breakout performance has earned Romero his first taste of Major League action in his sixth pro season.

Originally an international signing for the Cubs back in 2015, Romero was dealt to Washington as the return for Brandon Kintzler at the July 2018 trade deadline.  Romero had some interesting numbers over his time in Chicago’s organization, though his 2019 season with the Nationals’ A-ball affiliate was marred by injury, limiting him to only 13 2/3 innings.

Romero has pitched exclusively out of the bullpen during his career, and this late-season call-up will give the Nats a look at a pitcher who might end up factoring into their plans for 2022.  The Nationals’ relief corps has been a weak link on the team for years, and while the front office will certainly look to bring in some more new faces during the offseason, internal options like Romero will get the opportunity to fill those bullpen holes from within.

Nationals Place Yan Gomes On 10-Day Injured List, Designate Kyle Lobstein For Assignment

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The Nationals waited until the last possible moment before today’s game to make a final decision on catcher Yan Gomes, who left yesterday’s game with an apparent oblique injury. They did, however, ultimately place him on the 10-day injured list with an oblique strain, per Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post (via Twitter). In corresponding moves, reliever Kyle Lobstein has been designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for catcher Jakson Reetz, who will have his contract selected as he is added to the active roster.

It’s quite the whirlwind for Reetz, who spent just three days in Triple-A, backfilling for Tres Barrera, who was promoted to the bigs after last week’s Alex Avila injury. Reetz has yet to record his first hit at the Triple-A level, but he’s up on the Major League roster anyhow, presumably backing up Barrera. Reetz hit .233/.357/.383 in 143 plate appearances with the Double-A Senators in his first action above High-A ball.

The Nationals are already relatively short-handed in the bullpen, but the sudden rash of injuries to their catching corps forces them to expose Lobstein to waivers nonetheless. Washington lost T.J. McFarland to the Cardinals when Lobstein was added to the 40-man roster last week, and the Cardinals proceeded to snipe right-hander Justin Miller a couple days after that. Lobstein doesn’t have the track record of either McFarland or Miller, but the 31-year-old southpaw could very well find himself with a new organization by the end of the week. He was hit hard in three appearances for the Nats, his first Major League action since appearing in 34 games (17 starts) for the Tigers and Pirates from 2014 to 2016. He has a 5.06 ERA/4.39 FIP over 128 career innings.

Gomes, of course, is the headliner here. The 33-year-old Brazilian backstop has been a steady presence for the Nationals since they acquired him from the Indians prior to the 2019 season. Not only did he help steer the ship in their championship season — playing every inning of the final four games of the World Series after Kurt Suzuki was injured — but he has taken on an increased load in his age-33 season, starting 68 percent of their games behind the plate this year. In his two prior seasons in Washington, Gomes handled 57 percent of the catching workload.

He’s helped carry the load offensively as well. Gomes is slashing .266/.320/.439 with eight home runs in 231 plate appearances. That’s good for 102 wRC+, an above-average mark for any position, but well above the catchers’ average of 89 wRC+.

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