Orioles Notes: Holliday, Means, Kremer
The Orioles placed Jackson Holliday on the minor league injured list yesterday. Despite the lack of impact on the club’s active roster, the move nonetheless raised eyebrows thanks to Holliday’s status as the consensus #1 overall prospect in the sport. Fortunately, club GM Mike Elias told reporters (including MASN’s Melanie Newman) that Holliday is dealing with a “barking” shoulder but that the issue isn’t serious and that he’s expected to need only a “few weeks” of rest before he returns to action.
That’s surely a relief for fans in Baltimore, as Holliday figures to join fellow youngsters like Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman, and Grayson Rodriguez as a key part of the core for the Orioles going forward once he establishes himself at the big league level. The 20-year-old infielder got his first taste of big league action earlier this year but struggled badly with a with just two hits in 36 trips to the plate across ten games. That tough stretch led the Orioles to send Holliday back to the minors, and he’s continued to hit well at the Triple-A level since his return with a .252/.418/.429 slash line in 189 trips to the plate.
That being said, Holliday has struggled (at least by his own lofty standards) in the month of June so far, hitting just .212 with a 26.7% strikeout rate and a .394 slugging percentage, although his proclivity for drawing walks has allowed him to remain productive over all. Between the youngster’s relative struggles and his apparent elbow issue, it’s hardly a surprise that the Orioles have decided to play it safe with their prized prospect. Fortunately for fans in Baltimore, the Orioles lineup has played incredibly well to this point in the season and is hardly in need of reinforcements. The club’s 116 wRC+ is the third best figure in baseball this year, and Jorge Mateo has posted a decent .236/.281/.441 (103 wRC+) slash line while getting the lion’s share of playing time at Holliday’s likely long term position of second base.
In other news around the Orioles, southpaw John Means recently underwent his second Tommy John surgery in just over two years after making four starts for Baltimore late in the 2023 campaign and another four starts this year. Despite the surely frustrating physical setbacks, however, Means recently told reporters (including Rich Dubroff of Baltimore Baseball) that he fully intends to return to pitching after he completes his post-surgery rehab, which will sideline him for the entire 2024 season and much of 2025.
“I still want to pitch, honestly,” Means said (per Dubroff). “I’d like to fail on the field before I give it up. I feel like if I go there, I can still pitch and get outs. I still feel really confident about my ability. I have to have my elbow keep up.”
For all of Means’s struggles in terms of staying on the field, he’s certainly been effective when healthy. The southpaw has a career 3.68 ERA with a 4.56 FIP across his 401 innings of work in the majors, and although he’s managed just ten starts since the beginning of the 2022 campaign he’s been nothing short of excellent in them with a 2.75 ERA and 3.99 FIP in 52 1/3 innings of work. Given those strong results, it’s not hard to imagine Means, 31, returning to action as an effective and valuable starter once he’s finally healthy. It’s unclear whether or not that return will come in an Orioles uniform, however, as the lefty is set to become a free agent after the 2024 campaign.
With Means and Tyler Wells both sidelined by UCL surgery and ace righty Kyle Bradish dealing with UCL issues of his own, the Baltimore rotation is in a bit of a tough spot. While Corbin Burnes and Rodriguez combine to form a strong top of the rotation, the club has been left to rely on Cole Irvin, Cade Povich, and Albert Suarez to round out the group due to a number of injuries. Fortunately, help could be on the way soon for the club as MLB.com’s Injury Tracker notes that right-hander Dean Kremer is expected to begin a rehab assignment with a “40-ish” pitch outing tomorrow.
MLB.com goes on to note that it remains up in the air whether or not Kremer will need another rehab start before returning to the Orioles, meaning the 28-year-old could potentially return to action for the club as soon as sometime late next week. The return of Kremer, who has been on the injured list for a little less than a month due to a triceps strain, would provide reliable innings for the Orioles pitching staff. Since the start of the 2022 season, Kremer has pitched to a solid 3.83 ERA (103 ERA+) with a 4.30 FIP in 348 innings of work for Baltimore.
Orioles Claim Levi Stoudt
The Orioles announced Thursday that they’ve claimed right-hander Levi Stoudt off waivers from the Mariners, who’d designated him for assignment earlier in the week. Left-hander John Means was transferred from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Stoudt has been optioned to Triple-A Norfolk.
Stoudt, 26, was the Mariners’ third-round pick in 2019 and for a few years ranked among the organization’s most promising pitching prospects. Though he was never quite as highly touted as current rotation members like Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Bryce Miller and Bryan Woo during their own prospect days, Stoudt was a well-regarded member of a deep Mariners pitching pipeline. He was talented enough to be included as a secondary piece — behind headliners Noelvi Marte and Edwin Arroyo — in the trade that netted Luis Castillo from Cincinnati.
Stoudt would go on to make his big league debut with the Reds in 2023, pitching just 10 1/3 innings. The Pennsylvania native was tagged for 11 runs on 16 hits and eight walks over a stretch of four one-off appearances, being optioned back to Triple-A Louisville after each. Most of the damage against him came in his debut effort, when he was rocked for seven runs in four innings. The Reds removed him from the 40-man roster in the 2023-24 offseason, and the Mariners wound up reacquiring Stoudt via waivers.
Although Stoudt made six sharp starts in Triple-A with the Reds following the 2022 trade that sent him to Cincinnati, he struggled in Louisville last season, posting a 6.23 ERA in 82 1/3 frames. Things haven’t gone any better so far in 2024. He’s made 12 appearances with the Mariners’ Triple-A affiliate in Tacoma (11 starts) and posted an unsightly 6.92 earned run average. Stoudt has fanned a well below-average 14.9% of his opponents and issued walks at nearly as high a clip (12.4%).
Rough as his performance in Triple-A has been, Stoudt is an optionable starter with big league experience and a heater that sits just shy of 95 mph. Scouting reports during his prospect peak credited him with plus command — though that hasn’t been the case this season, clearly — with Baseball America calling his split-changeup an at-times “diabolical weapon” that lacked consistency. He’ll give the Orioles some needed rotation depth on the heels of season-ending surgeries for Means and Tyler Wells, and it’s always possible that Baltimore could shift him to a short relief role and see if his stuff plays up and allows him to emerge as a high-end relief option.
MLBTR Podcast: Gambling Scandal, The State Of The Blue Jays And The Orioles’ Rotation Depth
The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.
This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…
- Tucupita Marcano of the Padres betting on baseball while with the Pirates (1:05)
- The Blue Jays are struggling but Ross Atkins says trading Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette doesn’t make sense (7:50)
- The Orioles lost John Means and Tyler Wells to surgery but also called up Connor Norby (17:45)
- While recording, we get the news of Marcano’s lifetime ban and find out the identities of the other players who were suspended (23:45)
Plus, we answer your questions, including…
- Since the Brewers and Willy Adames didn’t reach an extension, is there any chance the Brewers consider trading him this summer? (24:25)
- It seems like there are more season-ending injuries, but is there any data to support that? If there is, is MLB taking a look at mitigating? (28:25)
- What will be the financial components of the deadline? Are there any teams that might have a surprising amount of payroll room? (33:50)
Check out our past episodes!
- Ángel Hernández Retires, Ronald Acuña Jr. Out For The Season And Roki Sasaki’s Potential Posting – listen here
- The Likelihood Of A Juan Soto Extension, What’s In Store For Pete Alonso, And Corbin Carroll’s Struggles – listen here
- Paul Skenes, The Prospect Hype Machine, Willson Contreras And Rising Catcher’s Interference Rates – listen here
The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!
John Means, Tyler Wells To Undergo UCL Surgery
Orioles general manager Mike Elias informed the media today that both left-hander John Means and right-hander Tyler Wells will undergo elbow surgery. Each player will be undergoing ulnar collateral ligament repair, though it’s not known if either will be full Tommy John surgery or the internal brace alternative. In either case, both players are now set to miss the remainder of the season. Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com was among those to relay the news on X.
It’s an unfortunate double blow to the Baltimore rotation depth. The news on Means is particularly heartbreaking as he just got back from a lengthy Tommy John layoff not too long ago. He went under the knife in April of 2022, missing the majority of that season and most of the following season as well.
He did return to the mound late in 2023 but felt renewed elbow soreness. He was left off the club’s playoff roster last year and the O’s then tried to slow-play his ramp-up here in 2024. He started the season on the injured list and was reinstated at the start of May, making four starts before landing back on the IL with a left forearm strain.
Now Means is set for yet another long rehabilitation period, which will include the remainder of this season and likely a decent chunk of 2025 as well. From 2019 to 2021, he was one of the few bright spots for the club during its rebuilding phase. He tossed 345 1/3 innings in those three years, one of which was shortened by the pandemic, with a 3.73 ERA. But due to the elbow issues, he’s only thrown 52 1/3 innings over the past three seasons and that number won’t be going up now.
In addition to giving Means another huge obstacle to overcome, this surgery has the chance to end his tenure with the Orioles. He will pass six years of major league service time by season’s end and is set for free agency this coming winter. At that time, he will be heading into his age-32 season with an uncertain health outlook after all the aforementioned elbow work. Perhaps he and the Orioles will work out a new contract to cover his rehab period, if both sides are interested, but he could also consider getting healthy again and before showcasing himself for other clubs.
Wells, 29, landed on the injured list in the middle of April due to elbow inflammation. It appears that the club didn’t find much success with whatever non-surgical options it was exploring over the past six weeks and ultimately decided that surgery was indeed necessary.
The righty has a 4.06 ERA with the O’s since the start of 2021, pitching both out of the rotation and out of the bullpen. He reached arbitration in the most recent offseason as a Super Two player and is making $1.9625MM this year. He would be in line for another pass through arbitration this winter but wouldn’t be able to get a big raise after missing the vast majority of the current campaign. It’s also possible the O’s decide to non-tender Wells, given his upcoming rehab, though he is also controllable through 2027 and is still optionable.
For the club, this will significantly weaken their rotation depth for the remainder of the year. They currently have a starting mix consisting of Corbin Burnes, Kyle Bradish, Grayson Rodriguez, Cole Irvin and Albert Suárez, which is a solid group but one with question marks.
Bradish was diagnosed with a sprained ulnar collateral ligament in February. He managed to return to the club and has pitched well through a few starts, though that was also the case for Means before his elbow issues returned. Suárez has a 1.53 ERA this year but it’s his first MLB season since 2017. Irvin has a 2.84 ERA but with a low strikeout rate of 17.6%.
Even without Means and Wells, reinforcements could be coming from within. Dean Kremer is on the injured list but isn’t expected to be out too much longer. Prospects Cade Povich and Chayce McDermott are both throwing well in Triple-A this year.
The club is 35-19 and comfortably in playoff position. Perhaps they will use the coming weeks and months to evaluate everyone in that group and see how things look in the middle of July, but it also seems fair to expect the O’s to be exploring the trade market for starting pitching this summer.
John Means Sent For Second Opinion On Forearm Strain
May 24: Means is headed for a second opinion, manager Brandon Hyde told reporters on Friday (X link via the Baltimore Sun’s Matt Weyrich). Hyde didn’t specify if that indicates another surgery is potentially on the table.
May 23: The Orioles announced Thursday that left-hander John Means has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to a left forearm strain. Righty Jonathan Heasley has been recalled from Triple-A Norfolk to take his spot on the 26-man roster. Means exited last night’s start after reporting elbow discomfort and seeing a notable dip in his fastball velocity. The team has not yet commented on the potential length of his absence.
Ominously, the 31-year-old Means missed a significant portion of the 2023 season owing to this same injury. He underwent Tommy John surgery early in the 2022 season and was limited to just 23 2/3 innings last year in his return from that ligament reconstruction, in large part became of complications in his forearm. He’s pitched a near-identical slate of 20 2/3 innings this season with uncannily similar results. After logging a 2.66 ERA last season, he’s at 2.61 in 2024. Means has fanned a below-average 20% of opponents this season but logged an outstanding 2.5% walk rate as well.
There’s little doubting Means’ talent on the mound. Since cementing his place in the Baltimore rotation early in 2019, he’s pitched to a 3.60 ERA with below-average strikeout tendencies (20.9%) but terrific command of the strike zone (4.9% walk rate). Unfortunately, persistent health troubles have severely limited his time on the mound. Over that span of what’s now five-plus seasons, he’s totaled just 397 2/3 innings of work in the majors.
Means, despite having worked as a starter for virtually his entire big league career, has just 401 innings in the majors in a season where he’s slated to reach free agency. He’s at five years of big league service already — much of it spent on the injured list — and will hit the open market for the first time when the 2024 season draws to a close.
With Means again sidelined for a yet-to-be-determined period, the Orioles will likely scrap the six-man rotation they’d been planning. Fellow lefty Cole Irvin — who’d been slated to be included in that sextet — stepped up in long relief for Means last night. As such, his rest schedule will now align with what would’ve been Means’ spot in the rotation, meaning he can start on full rest the next time Means would’ve been slated to take the hill.
Irvin will join Corbin Burnes, Kyle Bradish, Grayson Rodriguez and Dean Kremer on the starting staff for the time being, with Heasley presumably available for long relief and/or a spot start if eventually needed. He’s been working as a multi-inning reliever in Norfolk but pitched five innings in a start his last time out. That brought him to a total of 20 innings over seven appearances.
John Means Being Evaluated For Elbow Soreness
Orioles starter John Means left this afternoon’s appearance against the Cardinals after three innings. Postgame, manager Brandon Hyde told reporters that the left-hander had experienced elbow discomfort (link via Danielle Allentuck of the Baltimore Banner). The team was sending Means for further evaluation to determine the severity of a possible injury.
Means was working with diminished stuff. According to Brooks Baseball, his fastball averaged a season-low 88.8 MPH. He has been in the 90-92 range in every other start. Means’ heater topped out at 90.3 MPH today, his lowest maximum velocity of the season.
It’s discouraging news for a pitcher who has battled repeated arm issues over the last couple years. Means was generally durable between 2019-21, his first three full MLB campaigns. He suffered an elbow sprain just two starts into his 2022 season. Means underwent Tommy John surgery not long after, keeping him out of MLB action for nearly 18 months. Baltimore reinstated the former All-Star in the middle of September. Means had a solid four-start run — a 2.66 ERA over 23 2/3 innings — but felt renewed elbow soreness in October.
Baltimore left him off their playoff roster and slow-played his offseason. Means opened the 2024 season on the injured list as a result. He missed the season’s first month. Hyde plugged Means back into the rotation on May 1. He has again been quite effective, turning in a 2.61 ERA with 16 strikeouts and only two walks (both of which came in today’s outing) through 20 innings.
The team will know more about a potential timetable for Means’ return in the coming days. It would appear that another trip to the injured list is a possibility, though the bigger question is whether there’s any kind of structural issue.
If Means goes to the IL, Cole Irvin should draw back into the rotation. The left-hander has been available out of the bullpen for the past few days. (He tossed 3 1/3 innings behind Means today.) Irvin spent most of the year in the starting staff but was briefly pushed to relief once Grayson Rodriguez returned from the injured list last week. Rodriguez slots in behind Corbin Burnes and alongside Kyle Bradish and Dean Kremer as Baltimore’s currently healthy starters.
Orioles Place Grayson Rodriguez On Injured List
The Orioles announced Wednesday that they’ve placed right-hander Grayson Rodriguez on the 15-day injured list due to inflammation in his right shoulder. The move is retroactive to April 30. Rodriguez will be replaced by veteran lefty John Means, who has been reinstated from a stint on the 15-day IL himself. Means has yet to pitch this season while recovering from a left forearm strain.
To this point, it’s unclear when Rodriguez hurt himself or how serious the injury is. He started Monday’s game and went 5 2/3 innings, throwing 101 pitches in the process. Until more information comes from the club, it can only be speculated as to how long he’ll out.
Regardless, it’s always a bit concerning when anything goes on with a pitcher’s throwing arm. Losing Rodriguez for any amount of time is a blow to the O’s since he has been in good form for quite a while now. His big league career got off to a rough start last year, as he had a 7.35 earned run average through 10 starts.
The Orioles optioned him to the minors and recalled him almost two months later, with Rodriguez posting good results since then. He had a 2.58 ERA after that recall last year and he has a 3.71 mark so far this year. Going back to that midseason call-up last year to today, he has a 2.93 ERA over 19 starts. In that time, he has a 24.4% strikeout rate, 7.3% walk rate and 46.7% ground ball rate.
Subtracting that kind of pitcher would hurt any rotation, but the O’s also have Kyle Bradish and Tyler Wells on the injured list. Until today, Means was in that group as well. After today’s transactions, the healthy rotation consists of Means, Corbin Burnes, Cole Irvin, Dean Kremer and Albert Suárez.
Burnes is excellent but there are some question marks behind him. Irvin has a good ERA this year but iffy peripherals that suggest he’s not much different from past seasons. Kremer has a 4.19 ERA despite a .209 batting average on balls in play he won’t be able to maintain. Suárez has looked good in his three starts but it’s anyone’s guess if he can keep it going since he’s 34 years old and this is his first stint in the majors since 2017.
As for Means, he’s a big unknown himself. The lefty posted a 3.81 ERA with the O’s until requiring Tommy John surgery in April of 2022. He returned late last year and made four starts but didn’t make the club’s postseason roster due to some elbow soreness. He began this year on the IL and has been rehabbing in recent weeks, but with shaky results. He has thrown 18 2/3 innings for Triple-A Norfolk but with 18 earned runs allowed in that time.
It’s impossible to say what Means can provide for the club this year after hardly pitching at all in the previous two seasons and his poor results during his rehab, though he would be an asset if he could even get part of the way back to his pre-surgery form. Bradish is also nearing activation, which will give Baltimore another arm to bolster the group and could perhaps push Suárez into a long relief role in the bullpen.
Orioles Plan To Activate Kyle Bradish From Injured List This Week
Kyle Bradish tossed 77 pitches over five innings of a Triple-A rehab start yesterday, which was his third rehab outing while recovering from a right UCL sprain. It looks as though the Orioles are satisfied with the progress, as manager Brandon Hyde told BaltimoreBaseball.com’s Rich Dubroff and other reporters that Bradish will probably be activated from the 15-day injured list this week to make his official 2024 debut.
“Our medical team talked to him last night, the pitching guys as well. He feels great,” Hyde said. “We’re just looking right now when to slot him in, but he’s going to be with us soon….He got to an innings spot and a pitch spot, the amount of pitches he threw where we feel like he’s ready. Kyle was one of the best pitchers in the league last year, and we’re excited to have him back.”
It was a little more than two months ago that Bradish’s injury was revealed, which caused immediate speculation that the righty’s season could be in jeopardy if Tommy John surgery or an internal brace procedure was needed to address the UCL damage. However, Bradish received a PRP injection that seemed to work wonders, as he was able to gradually increase his workload to the point that he was able to start his rehab assignment earlier than expected. Though missing a month of the regular season is no small matter, that is a concession Bradish and the Orioles will happily take given the initial threat of a much longer layoff.
After making his MLB debut in 2022, Bradish quietly emerged as Baltimore’s ace in his second big league season. The right-hander finished fourth in AL Cy Young Award voting after delivering a 2.83 ERA and above-average strikeout (25%) and walk (6.6%) rates across 168 2/3 innings. He allowed a good deal of hard contact, but his 49.2% grounder rate limited the damage, and Bradish benefited from a .270 BABIP.
The addition of Corbin Burnes further bolstered the Orioles’ rotation this winter, pushing Bradish down to the projected No. 2 spot in the pitching staff. The rotation took some more hits when John Means‘ elbow soreness resulted in a season-opening stint on the IL, and Tyler Wells was also sidelined two weeks ago with elbow inflammation. Hyde told Dubroff and company that Wells hadn’t yet started throwing, as “we’re just kind of slow playing him” and “making sure there’s no soreness in there.”
Means is much closer to a return, as his final Triple-A rehab outing is set for Sunday. Assuming all goes well, both Bradish and Means could be activated in the next week, thus bumping Albert Suarez and probably Cole Irvin out of the starting mix. That said, Hyde said “everything’s up on the table right now,” in terms of how the O’s might line up their starters, as the team has also considered using a six-man rotation. Such a deployment would help ease Bradish and Means into action, and the Orioles’ upcoming off-days on May 6 and 9 would also allow for a potential reset after the club evaluates everyone through at least one start.
Orioles Notes: Means, Suarez, Perez, McKenna
The Orioles could soon welcome John Means back for his season debut. Manager Brandon Hyde told reporters yesterday the O’s were considering activating Means to start on Sunday against the A’s (X link via the Baltimore Sun’s Matt Weyrich). The left-hander has been on the injured list all year, as the team opted to build him up slowly this spring. While Means made four starts late last year in his return from Tommy John surgery, he experienced residual elbow soreness that kept him off the postseason roster.
Means would likely have found himself on some kind of innings limit after throwing 31 2/3 combined frames between 2022-23. With that in mind, the O’s opted against pushing him this spring. The 2019 All-Star has started five games at Triple-A Norfolk on a rehab stint. The results have not been good, as he’s allowed 18 runs over 11 2/3 innings. The O’s probably aren’t especially concerned, though, as the southpaw’s primary focus has been building his workload. He got to 79 pitches over 4 1/3 innings on Tuesday.
If Baltimore decides to give Means one more rehab appearance, righty Albert Suárez would likely take the ball on Sunday. The 34-year-old has twirled 11 1/3 scoreless innings in two starts since the O’s selected his contract last week. Suárez couldn’t have asked for much better in his return to the big leagues for the first time in seven years. Whether it’ll be enough to hold a roster spot once Means is ready isn’t clear, but Suárez has outpitched fellow back-end arms Dean Kremer and Cole Irvin in a very limited look.
Despite the long layoff between his big league appearances, Suárez is out of options. Baltimore can’t send him back to Norfolk without first exposing him to waivers. Irvin is also out of options, but the O’s could theoretically send Kremer down if they want to ensure all three pitchers stay in the organization.
They could also nudge one of those players to the bullpen. Baltimore’s roster flexibility is limited in that regard as well, though. Five of the eight current members of their bullpen — Craig Kimbrel, Danny Coulombe, Mike Baumann, Jacob Webb and recent trade pickup Yohan Ramírez — can’t be sent down. Neither Yennier Cano nor Keegan Akin are going to be optioned. Unless the O’s were to option grounder specialist Dillon Tate, they could soon need to DFA one of their out-of-options arms.
That might happen once lefty Cionel Pérez returns to the big league club. He landed on the 15-day IL with a moderate oblique strain shortly after Opening Day. The Orioles sent him to Norfolk on a rehab stint yesterday, suggesting he’ll be back in the next week or two. Pérez, who is also out of options, turned in a 3.54 ERA behind a massive 60.7% ground-ball percentage over 53 1/3 innings last season.
The news out of Norfolk isn’t all injury related. Ryan McKenna was assigned outright after clearing waivers at the start of the regular season. Danielle Allentuck of the Baltimore Banner tweets that the career-long outfielder has started taking reps at second base in an effort to expand his defensive flexibility. While McKenna has not appeared there in a game yet, successfully acclimating to the infield could give him a better chance of cracking a loaded Baltimore bench at some point during the season.
East Notes: Phillies, Wood, Means
Phillies right-hander Taijuan Walker began the 2024 campaign on the injured list due to a shoulder issue, but he’s making good progress en route to a return to action. As noted by Alex Coffey of The Philadelphia Inquirer, club manager Rob Thomson told reporters recently that Walker would begin his rehab assignment with the club’s Single-A affiliate in Clearwater, Florida this week. That first rehab outing occurred Thursday night, with Walker allowing two runs over four innings of work while striking out four and walking none.
Per Thomson, that start was the first of what is expected to be four rehab appearances for Walker before he rejoins the Phillies’ big league roster. Walker’s return to action would seem to spell the end of right-hander Spencer Turnbull‘s time in the Philadelphia rotation, likely ticketing him for a long relief role in the club’s bullpen. That may not be the case, however, as Coffey relays that Thomson has indicated that there could be a path for Turnbull to remain in the rotation even after Walker returns, noting that “if he keeps putting up zeroes… that’s tough to remove him from the rotation.”
Turnbull’s certainly done everything he can to justify a regular spot in the rotation to this point in the season. Through his first two appearances with the Phillies, the right-hander has struck out 13 batters in eleven scoreless innings against the Reds and Cardinals, scattering five hits and one walk during that time. While his start today against the Pirates left something to be desired, as he allowed three runs in four innings of work, that still leaves him with a solid 1.80 ERA through three turns in the club’s rotation. While it seems unlikely that Turnbull would bump any of Walker, Ranger Suarez, or Christopher Sanchez to the bullpen (much less co-aces Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola), Thomson suggested that the club could use Turnbull as a piggyback starter or even utilize a six-man rotation later this season in order to get the right-hander more reps.
More from around the league’s East divisions…
- Sticking with the NL, the Nationals have not yet broached the subject of a contract extension with top outfield prospect James Wood, according to Stephen Mears of TalkNats.com. Wood, 21, is a consensus top-15 prospect in the game as has carried a phenomenal spring that saw him slash .364/.509/.705 in 22 big league camp games into a strong start to the Triple-A season where he’s hit an even better .441/.558/.794 in his first 43 plate appearances. Given the youngster has not yet even made his major league debut, it’s hardly a shock that the sides haven’t engaged in extension negotiations to this point. On the other hand, its become increasingly common for top talents to sign extensions early on in or even before the start of their big league careers in recent years. Top prospects Jackson Chourio and Colt Keith both signed pre-debut extensions with the Brewers and Tigers respectively, this winter, while star youngsters such as Corbin Carroll and Julio Rodriguez are among those to sign massive extensions prior to reaching even one year of service time in the majors.
- Looking toward the AL, the Orioles began the 2024 season with their starting rotation at less than full strength due to both right-hander Kyle Bradish and left-hander John Means starting the season on the injured list. Recent reporting has indicated that Bradish is nearing a rehab assignment as he nurses a sprained UCL, and GM Mike Elias indicated this afternoon to reporters (including the Baltimore Banner’s Danielle Allentuck) that Means is even closer to a return to action. Per Elias, Means is scheduled for a fourth rehab appearances next week and could return to the majors before the end of the month. The left-hander pitched to a strong 2.66 ERA in four starts down the stretch last year following his late-season return from Tommy John surgery and figures to slot into the middle of the Baltimore rotation behind Corbin Burnes and Grayson Rodriguez upon his return.