Blue Jays Place Cavan Biggio On Injured List, Option Anthony Kay
The Blue Jays announced they’ve placed third baseman Cavan Biggio on the 10-day injured list with a cervical spine ligament sprain. Additionally, lefty Anthony Kay and righty Jeremy Beasley were optioned to Triple-A Buffalo. To replace that trio on the active roster, infielder Joe Panik and reliever Anthony Castro were each reinstated from the IL, while righty Ty Tice was recalled from Buffalo.
Biggio’s IL placement is the most impactful of today’s spate of transactions. The 26-year-old has started 35 of Toronto’s first 42 games, with the bulk of his work coming at the hot corner. It’s been a difficult start to the year for Biggio, who has just a .205/.315/.315 slash with three homers across 151 plate appearances. That’s a far cry from the cumulative .240/.368/.430 mark (118 wRC+) he put up between 2019-20. Biggio’s impeccable plate discipline has remained intact, but he’s made contact on a career-worst 72% of his swings this season. (The league average contact rate is 75.2%). It’s no coincidence he’s striking out at a career-high 31.1% clip.
Panik and Santiago Espinal look like the best bets to handle third in Biggio’s absence. Neither has offered much offensively over the past few years, so the Jays will be anxious for Biggio’s return. It seems reasonable to expect him back in the short-term, as Scott Mitchell of TSN tweets that Biggio’s been playing through some neck stiffness recently and the team hopes a “few days” of rest will get him past the issue.
Kay has started four of his five appearances this season. He’s been hit around for a 6.62 ERA, although his peripherals suggest he’s been a bit unlucky to allow so many runs. Kay has stranded an unsustainably low 64.7% of baserunners and opposing hitters have managed a lofty .356 batting average on balls in play against him. A few more batted balls finding gloves and/or better sequencing could’ve resulted in an ERA closer to Kay’s 4.38 SIERA. Returning to the minors will give him a chance to work on his control; the lefty has walked a too-high 12.3% of batters faced this year.
The Jays will run a bullpen game to take Kay’s spot in the rotation for now, manager Charlie Montoyo said (via Shi Davidi of Sportsnet). Top prospects Nate Pearson and Alek Manoah are each performing well in Triple-A, though, and Kay’s demotion will only fuel speculation one or both of the vaunted young arms could get a look in the big leagues relatively soon. Pearson, of course, made a brief big league debut last season, while Manoah is pitching above A-ball for the first time this year.
Blue Jays Acquire Jeremy Beasley
The Blue Jays have acquired right-hander Jeremy Beasley from the Diamondbacks in exchange for cash, the team announced. Righty Tom Hatch was moved to the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Arizona designated Beasley for assignment earlier in the week. He’s been optioned to the Jays’ alternate training site for now. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported the trade would take place shortly prior to the Jays’ announcement (Twitter link).
Beasley, 25, was a 30th-round pick of the Angels back in 2017 and landed with the D-backs by way of 2020’s Matt Andriese trade. He made an extremely brief big league debut last summer, facing three batters and striking out one of them in his lone appearance. Beasley has a generally solid minor league track record, with the exception of a rough showing in a tiny sample at the Triple-A level in 2019. Like the majority of the pitchers in the Pacific Coast League that year, he was clobbered with what most believe to be a juiced ball, surrendering a dozen runs in 13 2/3 innings.
On the whole, Beasley carries a 3.56 ERA across parts of three minor league seasons. He’s punched out 22.9 percent of his opponents against a solid 8.2 percent walk rate while managing to keep the ball on the ground at a roughly average 44.4 percent clip. He pairs a low to mid-90s heater with a splitter that FanGraphs described as a plus pitch in 2019 and that Baseball America called a legitimate out pitch in its most recent scouting report. He has all of his minor league options remaining, making him a nice depth piece with some flexibility beyond the 2021 season if the Jays choose to hang onto him.
Diamondbacks Acquire Nick Heath
The Diamondbacks acquired outfielder Nick Heath from the Royals this afternoon, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic was among those to relay (Twitter link). Right-hander Eduardo Herrera is headed back to Kansas City in return. To clear space for Heath on the 40-man roster, Arizona designated righty Jeremy Beasley for assignment.
The Royals had designated Heath for assignment earlier this week. The speedy outfielder has only taken 18 MLB plate appearances and has only picked up marginally more playing time at Triple-A. He does have rather significant experience at the Double-A level, though, where he’s compiled a .255/.333/.372 line over 500 plate appearances. The 27-year-old Heath also has all three minor league option years remaining, so he’ll give Arizona a center field capable player with roster flexibility. Ketel Marte is currently on the injured list with a hamstring strain.
Beasley’s MLB experience consists of a third of an inning in one relief appearance. The 25-year-old has worked as a starter in the minors, compiling a 3.59 ERA in 153 career innings at Double-A. Arizona will have a week to trade Beasley or attempt to pass him through outright waivers.
Herrera was originally signed by the D-Backs as a position player, but he converted to the mound in 2019. He has struck out 40 and issued 19 walks in 25.2 low minors innings. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen wrote last month that Herrera throws in the mid-90’s but has inconsistent breaking ball feel and command, hardly a surprise for someone so new to pitching.
Diamondbacks Make Several Roster Moves
The Diamondbacks announced that they’ve selected righties Artie Lewicki and Keury Mella and lefty Joe Mantiply from their alternate site. They also recalled infielder/outfielder Josh Rojas, placed righty Taylor Widener on the 10-day injured list with a strained right rib cage and transferred a pair of hurlers – righty Merrill Kelly and Jeremy Beasley – to the 45-day IL. After all of that, Arizona has 39 players on its 40-man roster.
Lewicki has been part of the Arizona organization since it claimed him off waivers from the Tigers after 2018, but he hasn’t pitched for the Diamondbacks yet, owing to Tommy John surgery. He last took the mound professionally in ’18 for Detroit, where he recorded a 4.89 ERA with 6.98 K/9 and 3.26 BB/9 in 38 2/3 innings.
Mella, formerly a Red and Giant, joined the D-backs on a minor league contract in the offseason. The 27-year-old logged 17 innings as a Red from 2017-19, though he carries a much bigger sample of work – 172 2/3 frames – in Triple-A ball. Mella has notched a 4.59 ERA with 6.4 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 at the minors’ highest level.
Mantiply also became a Diamondback on a minors pact last winter. He has 5 3/3 innings’ experience as a Tiger and Yankee in his past, though obviously most of his action has come in the minors. Mantiply, 29, combined for 39 2/3 frames at three different minors levels as a Yankee and Red last season, when he recorded a 4.31 ERA and put up 7.5 K/9 against 1.4 BB/9.
Diamondbacks Place Madison Bumgarner On Injured List, Select Jeremy Beasley
4:01pm: The team has selected the contract of righty Jeremy Beasley and activated him to fulfill the open active roster spot. Beasley, a former 30th-round pick, gets his first taste of the majors after pitching to a 4.49 ERA in 122 1/3 innings in the upper minors last year.
3:47pm: The Diamondbacks have placed lefty Madison Bumgarner on the injured list, GM Mike Hazen told reporters including Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic (via Twitter). He’s said to be dealing with a mid-back strain.
The hope at this point is that Bumgarner won’t be sidelined for an extended stretch. But even a few missed outings could put a rather significant dent in his overall contribution in a shortened 2020 season.
More broadly, it’d probably be good news if a fairly minor back issue helps explain Bumgarner’s early struggles. The 31-year-old’s past two starts have been duds; he has allowed an eye-popping six home runs while registering just four strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings.