Brewers Sign Three To Minor League Deals
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
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
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+.