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Rays Sign Jonathan Hernandez To Minor League Deal

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The Rays announced their list of non-roster invitees to MLB camp. Reliever Jonathan Hernández signed a minor league deal today and will be in big league Spring Training. He’d elected free agency at the start of the offseason.

Hernández, 28, joins the third organization of his career. He’d been a career-long member of the Rangers until last summer. Hernández signed with Texas as an amateur free agent and got to the big leagues in 2019. He had a strong showing in the shortened 2020 season, working to a 2.90 earned run average over 31 innings. An elbow injury required Tommy John surgery early the following year.

That kept Hernández out of action into the second half in 2022. He returned to post a 2.97 ERA through 30 1/3 frames, picking up his four career saves along the way. Hernández’s strikeout and walk rates were underwhelming, which proved a precursor for regression in the coming seasons. He has allowed 5.40 earned runs per nine in each of the last two years.

Texas pushed Hernández off the roster at last year’s trade deadline. He carried a 5.05 ERA over a career-high 41 innings at the time. The Mariners claimed him off waivers. Hernández allowed three runs over 2 1/3 innings with Seattle before the M’s designated him for assignment. He cleared waivers that time around and spent the rest of the season in Triple-A.

Since the start of 2023, Hernández owns a 5.40 ERA across 75 frames. His 21.5% strikeout percentage is slightly below average, while he has walked nearly 13% of batters faced. Hernández has kept the ball on the ground on half the batted balls he has allowed, though. He averages nearly 97 MPH on his sinker but hasn’t found success with that pitch; opponents have respectively hit .350 and .323 against it over the past two seasons. Hernández has fared a lot better with his slider, which he uses roughly half the time, and his infrequently deployed changeup.

Nine Players Elect Free Agency

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As the offseason nears, a number of players elect minor league free agency each week. These players are separate from six-year MLB free agents, who’ll reach the open market five days after the conclusion of the World Series. Eligible minor leaguers can begin electing free agency as soon as the regular season wraps up. These players were all outrighted off a team’s 40-man roster during the year and have the requisite service time and/or multiple career outrights necessary to reach free agency since they weren’t added back to teams’ rosters.

Electing free agency is the anticipated outcome for these players. There’ll surely be more to test the market in the coming weeks. We’ll offer periodic updates at MLBTR. These transactions are all reflected on the MiLB.com log.

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Mariners Outright Jonathan Hernandez

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TODAY: Hernandez cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A, the Mariners announced.

AUGUST 8: The Mariners announced a quartet of roster moves tonight, including the news that right-hander Jonathan Hernandez has been designated for assignment.  Infielder Jason Vosler was also optioned to Triple-A Tacoma, while outfielder Dominic Canzone was reinstated from the 10-day injured list and righty Eduard Bazardo was called up from Triple-A.

Hernandez hits the DFA wire for the second time in just over a week, as the Rangers’ decision to designate the reliever led the Mariners to make a waiver claim.  Hernandez has already made three appearances in a Seattle uniform, but after throwing scoreless innings in his first two outings, he was charged with three earned runs in just one-third of an inning in the Mariners’ 6-2 loss to the Tigers yesterday.

Because Hernandez is out of minor league options, the M’s had to designate him and thus again expose him to waivers in order to bring Bazardo’s fresh arm into the bullpen mix.  If he clears waivers and is outrighted off Seattle’s 40-man roster, Hernandez doesn’t yet have enough MLB service time to reject such an assignment in favor of free agency, nor has he been previously outrighted during his career.

Over 43 1/3 combined innings with Texas and Seattle this season, Hernandez has a 5.40 ERA, 20.3% strikeout rate, and an ugly 14.6% walk rate.  The latter number is one of the worst walk rates of any pitcher in baseball, underlining the control problems that have marked much of Hernandez’s five-season run in the big leagues.  He was able to keep things in check for long enough to post a 2.93 ERA over 61 1/3 innings for the Rangers during the 2020 and 2022 seasons, with the 2021 campaign a complete write-off while Hernandez was recovering from Tommy John surgery.

Though the 2023 season was also a struggle for the righty, Hernandez’s 2022 success is recent enough that another team in need of bullpen help could be willing to put in a waiver claim and bet on a turn-around.  Hernandez turned 28 last month, and he is still arbitration-controlled through the 2026 season.  Earning a $1.245MM salary this year, Hernandez still has about $363K remaining, and a new team would owe only the prorated portion of the average MLB salary.  The Mariners also paid only a prorated average rate during Hernandez’s brief time on the active roster, as the Rangers are covering the bulk of the remaining money.

Canzone last played on July 9, so he’s back after almost exactly a month recovering from a right adductor strain.  Between that absence and a prior IL stint due to a left AC joint sprain, Canzone has been limited to 54 games and 159 plate appearances this season, hitting .211/.289/.394 with seven homers.  Canzone’s left-handed bat can come off the bench and help balance out a Mariners lineup that mostly tilts to the right side, and he is a solid defender at all three outfield positions.

Mariners Claim Jonathan Hernandez

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The Mariners announced they’ve claimed reliever Jonathan Hernández off waivers from the division-rival Rangers. Seattle designated righty Brett de Geus for assignment to open a spot on the 40-man roster. The M’s also announced that trade pickup JT Chargois has joined the team and will step into the MLB bullpen. Gregory Santos lands on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to August 1, with biceps inflammation.

Hernández, 28, changes teams for the first time in his career. He spent more than a decade as a member of the Rangers organization after signing in January 2013. Hernández reached the big leagues in the second half of the 2019 season, not long after his 23rd birthday.

The right-hander had a couple solid seasons to start his MLB career. He turned in a 2.90 ERA across 31 innings during the shortened 2020 schedule. He lost the entire following season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in April ’21. Hernández returned for the second half in 2022 and looked to be picking up where he’d left off. He tossed 30 1/3 frames of 2.97 ERA ball for the stretch run. He picked up four saves and 10 holds while finishing 16 games as a medium-leverage reliever.

Things have gone downhill over the past two seasons. Hernández struggled to a 5.40 earned run average a year ago. Texas shuttled him back and forth between Triple-A on a few occasions, burning his final minor league option in the process. That meant the Rangers needed to keep him on the MLB roster this season.

Texas gave Hernández plenty of runway, affording him 41 innings across 26 appearances, but his results didn’t turn around. He allowed a 5.05 ERA with a career-worst 19.9% strikeout percentage and a lofty 14.4% walk rate. The Rangers pushed him out of their bullpen (and thus off the 40-man roster) on Tuesday with their deadline pickup of Andrew Chafin from the Tigers.

Seattle will try to help Hernández right the ship. They’ll also need to keep him on the big league roster unless they decide to designate him for assignment themselves. Hernández still averages nearly 97 MPH on his sinker and misses a decent number of bats with his slider. That solid raw stuff has too often been undercut by poor command, but there’s minimal cost for the M’s in taking a look. They’re assuming a little less than $400K on his $1.245MM salary for the stretch run. Hernández would be under arbitration control for another two seasons if he holds his bullpen spot in Seattle.

The Mariners added de Geus to their 40-man roster back in April. He has made four big league appearances, working 3 1/3 frames of one-run ball. Seattle has mostly kept the 26-year-old on optional assignment to Triple-A Tacoma, where he has allowed a 6.60 ERA across 30 innings in the Pacific Coast League.

de Geus is a former teammate of Hernández with the ’21 Rangers, who plucked him from the Dodgers in the Rule 5 draft. He combined for 50 innings of 7.56 ERA ball between the Rangers and Diamondbacks that season and didn’t get back to the big leagues until this year. Seattle will likely put him on waivers this weekend.

As for Santos, the offseason trade pickup missed most of the first half due to a lat strain. He returned to make six appearances before leaving Wednesday’s appearance with biceps soreness. He’ll miss at least the next two weeks, though Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times fortunately tweeted this afternoon that imaging came back clean.

Rangers Acquire Andrew Chafin

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The Rangers announced they’ve acquired lefty reliever Andrew Chafin from the Tigers. Pitching prospects Joseph Montalvo and Chase Lee are going to Detroit. Texas designated righty Jonathan Hernandez for assignment in a corresponding move.

The 34-year-old Chafin is in the midst of yet another solid season. He’s pitched 37 innings of 3.16 ERA ball with a big 30.9% strikeout rate, a 9.9% walk rate and a 35.8% grounder rate. He’s been particularly dominant of late, rattling off 17 innings of one-run ball with a 26-to-5 K/BB ratio dating back to early June.

That 35.8% grounder rate is an uncharacteristically low mark for Chafin, who’s changed up his pitch usage this year. He’s throwing more sliders than ever before (46.4%) and missing more bats as a result but also yielding more balls in the air and a few more walks than in recent years. Chafin’s velocity is down a bit from its 93-94 mph peak, however, sitting around 92 mph on average this year with both his four-seamer and sinker. It’s possible the change in repertoire was borne out of the diminishing life on those harder offerings. Regardless, it’s been an effective recipe for the well-traveled southpaw, who’ll now suit up for the sixth team of his 11-year career.

Chafin is playing on a one-year, $4.75MM contract, although the Rangers are picking up another year of possible control over him in the form of a 2025 club option valued at $6.5MM (a net $6MM decision after factoring in a $500K buyout). He’s owed about $1.42MM of his $4.25MM base salary but has a handful of incentives approaching that could boost the value of that contract. Chafin would earn a $125K bonus for pitching in his 50th game — he’s at 41 appearances — before taking home $250K bonuses for reaching 55 and 60 games, a $300K bonus for 65 games and a $325K bonus for reaching 70 appearances. The last of those milestones could be hard to reach, but the Rangers will be on the hook for some additional incentives of note, which will all come with a 30% tax given their luxury-tax status.

With Chafin’s acquisition and Cody Bradford’s return from a 60-day IL stint, a Rangers bullpen that has lacked an established left-handed option for much of the season will suddenly have two quality options in that regard. Chafin will join a late-inning mix including Kirby Yates, David Robertson and Jose Leclerc. He’s held lefties to an awful .180/.261/.213 batting line this season, and while righties are enjoying more success at .293/.366/.390, they’re not managing much power against the southpaw. In his career, Chafin has yielded only a .234/.313/.361 line to right-handed opponents, though much of that came with a more vibrant fastball and different mix of his three pitches.

The trade for Chafin underscores the fact that yesterday’s trade of Michael Lorenzen to the Royals was less about selling off in the midst of a disappointing season and rather opening space for the return of several other veteran starters (e.g. Max Scherzer, Tyler Mahle, Dane Dunning and, further down the road, Jacob deGrom). Much of the cost-savings from that trade of Lorenzen — earning $4.5MM with incentives of his own — will now be reallocated to the comparably priced Chafin.

Montalvo is the more highly regarded of the prospects headed to Detroit. Baseball America ranked him 19th on their most recent update of the Texas system, crediting him with a plus changeup and the ability to spin his low-90s fastball. He’s dominating lower minors opponents, striking out nearly 30% of batters faced with a 2.44 ERA in High-A. Lee is an upper minors reliever who’ll be eligible for the Rule 5 draft next offseason if he’s not added to the 40-man roster. He lost the first couple months of this season to injury but had a 3.98 ERA in Triple-A last year.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported the Rangers were finalizing a deal for Chafin. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal confirmed an agreement was in place. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reported the Tigers would receive Montalvo and Lee.

AL Postseason Injury Notes: Buxton, Raley, Hernández

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As expected, Byron Buxton will not be available for the Wild Card round of the 2023 MLB postseason. The Twins revealed their postseason roster on Tuesday morning, and the All-Star outfielder/DH was a notable omission. Buxton has not played in a major league game since August 1, although he attempted a couple of brief rehab stints at Triple-A in August and September. The former Gold Glover is dealing with a strained hamstring in addition to ongoing trouble with his right knee.

Reporters (including Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press) noticed Buxton wasn’t on the field yesterday for a team workout, which was a strong indication he wouldn’t be ready to play on Tuesday. Presumably, he will continue to prepare in hopes he can rejoin the team later in October, should the Twins advance.

In happier news, both Royce Lewis and Carlos Correa were named to the postseason roster. Neither had played since mid-September. Correa confirmed on Monday he would be ready to go for the Wild Card round, but Lewis was less optimistic. Thankfully for Minnesota, the two-time All-Star and the rookie sensation have both been cleared to play. The Twins could use all hands on deck as they look to break their 18-game postseason losing streak.

In other injury news from the AL postseason field…

  • In unfortunate but not entirely surprising news, Luke Raley has been left off the Rays’ roster for the first round of the playoffs. The breakout slugger for Tampa Bay hasn’t played since September 20 after suffering a cervical strain a few days prior. The team could surely use his lefty bat against the Rangers, but with limited space on the postseason roster, the Rays weren’t going to rush him back until he could contribute on a daily basis (according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times). In better news for Tampa Bay, Jose Siri will be available for the Wild Card round. The power-hitting center fielder hasn’t played since he fractured his hand on September 11.
  • Right-handed reliever Jonathan Hernández has been left off the Rangers’ roster for the Wild Card round as he nurses a shoulder injury. In 33 games this year, he pitched to a 5.40 ERA and a 4.11 SIERA in 31 2/3 innings. However, he looked much better in September following an optional assignment to Triple-A, posting a 2.89 ERA and a 2.67 SIERA in eight appearances. In other Rangers news, Ezequiel Duran has also been left off the roster, although not for injury-related reasons. The young utility player started the season off strong but struggled down the stretch, slashing .206/.229/.265 over the final month of the year.

Max Scherzer Unlikely To Return This Year Due To Teres Major Strain

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Rangers general manager Chris Young informed reporters, including Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News, that right-hander Max Scherzer has a teres major strain. Surgery is not needed but he is out of the rest of the regular season and “unlikely” to pitch in the playoffs either.  The Rangers officially placed Scherzer on the 15-day injured list shortly after the news was announced, with righty Jonathan Hernandez recalled in a corresponding move.

It is obviously a terrible development for the Rangers, who are in the midst of a tight playoff race with just over two weeks to go. The Rangers are a game back of the Astros in the West division and are currently clinging to the second Wild Card spot, but with both the Blue Jays and Mariners just half a game back. Scherzer left his start against the Jays last night and was slated for an MRI today, which apparently revealed the strain.

This is the latest setback in the club’s attempts to improve its starting rotation, which was a significant weak point last year. In the offseason, the club re-signed Martín Pérez, traded for Jake Odorizzi and signed free agents Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi and Andrew Heaney, with that group joining incumbents Jon Gray and Dane Dunning. But Odorizzi never pitched for the club, requiring a shoulder procedure that wiped out his whole season. deGrom made six starts before landing on the injured list and ultimately requiring Tommy John surgery. Both Heaney and Pérez struggled earlier in the year and have been pitching out of the bullpen of late.

Despite those rotation challenges, the club has spent much of this season in first place in their division and went into the deadline as buyers, with the rotation an obvious area to address. They acquired Jordan Montgomery from the Cardinals and Scherzer from the Mets.

Scherzer wasn’t quite having as dominant a season as in the past, posting a 4.01 ERA with the Mets prior to the trade, but the Rangers were still naturally intrigued by his incredible track record that goes all the way back to 2008. They sent prospect Luisangel Acuña to the Mets in order to bring Scherzer aboard, though the latter club also sent $35MM to Texas in order to cover part of Scherzer’s salary for the rest of this year and next year as well.

The veteran had better results after the deal, with a 3.20 ERA over his eight starts since coming to the Rangers. Unfortunately, the club will now have to proceed through what’s left of the regular season without him. Even if they manage to hang on and get into the postseason, they will have to cobble a playoff rotation together while potential playoff starters like Scherzer and deGrom sit on the injured list. It seems the door is still slightly open for a return from Scherzer, though that would likely be contingent on the club making a late postseason run.

Subtracting Scherzer from the rotation leaves the Rangers with Montgomery, Eovaldi, Gray and Dunning. They will need a fifth starter as soon as this weekend, which could perhaps result in either Heaney or Pérez returning to the rotation. Heaney has an ERA of 4.10 on the year, though his 24% strikeout rate is a big drop from last year’s 35.5% clip and his walk rate has gone from 6.1% to 9.4%. Pérez had an ERA of 2.89 last year but it’s ballooned to 4.74 this year, as his strikeout rate has gone from 20.6% to 14.8%.

If Heaney gets the gig, or even if he now pitches more innings out of the bullpen, it could impact his contract status. He signed a two-year deal with the Rangers this winter, though he’s allowed to opt-out of that deal this winter. His 2024 player option is valued at $13MM, though it jumps to $20MM if he reaches 150 innings pitched this year and does not have an injury that would prevent him from being on the active roster within 60 days of Opening Day 2024. He’s currently at 136 innings for the season, just 14 shy of that target.

But in the short-term, the Rangers will surely be focused on putting the best possible staff together for their remaining contests as they hope to qualify for the postseason for the first time since 2016.

Rangers Transfer Jacob deGrom To 60-Day Injured List

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The Rangers announced a series of roster moves today, reinstating right-hander Spencer Howard from the 60-day injured list. He will take the active roster spot of right-hander Jonathan Hernández, who has been optioned to Triple-A Round Rock. To open a spot on the 40-man roster, righty Jacob deGrom was transferred to the 60-day injured list.

At this point, it’s unclear if anything has meaningfully changed in deGrom’s timeline. He has already been on the injured list since April 29 due to inflammation in his throwing elbow and had yet to begin a rehab assignment. Today’s transfer officially rules him out until 60 days from that initial IL placement, meaning he could be reinstated as soon as June 28. Even if he were cleared to start ramping up his pitch count tomorrow, he likely would have needed a few weeks to get back to a full starter’s workload anyway. It’s possible that this is merely a procedural move and that his health status hasn’t changed. If there has been some kind of setback, that information has yet to be publicly revealed. He will have a follow-up MRI this week, per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News.

Health has been the major question mark surrounding deGrom in recent years. Arguably the best pitcher on the planet when healthy, it’s been quite some time since he remained on the mound for an extended period of time. He logged over 200 innings in each season from 2017 to 2019, but then the pandemic-shortened 2020 season kept him to just 68 frames. In 2021, he went on the injured list with forearm tightness in July of 2021 and never returned. He then missed the start of 2022 due to a stress reaction in his shoulder blade, returning in August after missing over a year of action.

He was still excellent when on the mound, posting a tiny 2.05 ERA over that 2020 to 2022 stretch, striking out 42.4% of opponents against a 4.5% walk rate. The pandemic was obviously unrelated, but it nonetheless combined with the injuries to limit him to 224 1/3 innings over those three years. The Rangers made a bet on him by signing him to a five-year, $185MM deal this winter. He made six starts for his new club with a 2.67 ERA but has been on the shelf since then with an uncertain outlook.

Howard, 26, has been on the injured list all year after suffering a lat strain during the spring. He recently began a rehab assignment and pitched two scoreless relief outings. Howard had the #27 slot on Baseball America’s top 100 list in both 2020 and 2021 while with the Phillies. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to put it all together in the big leagues just yet. Coming over to the Rangers in a 2021 deadline deal, he has 111 1/2 major league innings between the two clubs with a 7.09 ERA.

The righty had a chance to establish himself as a future rotation building block last year, as he was one of several younger hurlers given a shot in the Texas rotation. Unfortunately, he spent much of the year either in the minors or on the injured list, only tossing 37 2/3 innings in the majors with a 7.41 ERA. The club then totally revamped their rotation this winter by re-signing Martín Pérez and acquiring deGrom, Andrew Heaney, Nathan Eovaldi and Jake Odorizzi to slot alongside incumbent Jon Gray.

Odorizzi is done for the year due to a shoulder procedure and deGrom is obviously not an option for a while, but it still seems as though Howard has been pushed out of the rotation mix, at least for now. His recent rehab assignment could have been as long as 30 days and allowed him to get stretched out but he’s instead been reinstated after just a couple of short outings. That doesn’t mean the book has totally closed on him being a starter but he is in his final option year. With the Rangers’ bullpen having posted a collective 4.47 ERA on the season, perhaps they would like to take some time to see if he can be of use to them in a relief capacity.

One of the struggling members of the relief corps has been Hernández. He posted a solid 2.90 ERA in 2020 but required Tommy John surgery in April of 2021, wiping out that entire season. He returned last year and was able to make 29 appearances with a 2.97 ERA. Unfortunately, his results have taken a big dip here in 2023, as he currently has a 6.65 ERA through 25 outings.

The remaining months of the season will be important for the righty as he has just one option year left, meaning he’ll be out of options next year as long as he spends at least 20 days in the minors this season. His trajectory for free agency could also potentially be impacted as he came into this campaign with three years and 41 days of service time. Spending roughly a couple of months in the minors would prevent him from getting to the four-year mark this season and delay his free agency by a year. He could also wind up as a non-tender candidate if he’s out of options and his results don’t improve.

Rangers GM Chris Young Discusses Closer Options

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The Rangers were active this offseason in overhauling their rotation for 2023. Martín Pérez was set to hit free agency but was given a $19.65MM qualifying offer that he accepted to return. The club also signed free agents Jacob deGrom, Andrew Heaney and Nathan Eovaldi, in addition to acquiring Jake Odorizzi from Atlanta. Those five and incumbent Jon Gray give the club six solid options for five spots. However, the bullpen hasn’t gotten nearly as much attention. Aside from that rotation surplus perhaps pushing Odorizzi into a long relief role, the club’s current relief options are holdovers and veterans on minor league deals.

The bullpen wasn’t an especially glaring weak point for the Rangers last year. Their collective 3.72 ERA was ranked 12th out of the 30 clubs in the majors. However, they lost Matt Moore and his 1.95 ERA last year when the lefty became a free agent at season’s end. They also don’t have an established closer, with various players having been given the job in recent years only to be felled by injuries and/or underperformance. The club’s saves leader in 2022 was Joe Barlow with 13, though the last one came in June as he spent much of the second half of the year on the injured list. As the club was holding Rangers Fan Fest this weekend, Levi Weaver of The Athletic discussed the situation with general manager Chris Young, who listed José Leclerc, Jonathan Hernández, Ian Kennedy, Danny Duffy and Brett Martin as some of the candidates to take over the closing duties, though Martin won’t be a short-term option since he recently underwent shoulder surgery that’s could wipe out his entire 2023 campaign.

Leclerc, 29, already had the closer’s role once upon a time. He racked up 12 saves in 2018 and 14 in 2019. However, his ERA jumped from 1.56 in that former season to 4.33 in the latter. He then missed most of the next two seasons due to injuries, including Tommy John surgery in March of 2021. He returned to the Rangers in June of last year and allowed five earned runs in his first three outings but posted a 2.01 ERA the rest of the way. He seemed to retake the closer’s job over the final months of the season, earning seven saves between August and September. He’s arguably the frontrunner and Young said Leclerc “could easily be the closer.”

Hernández, 26, is on a similar trajectory to Leclerc, in the sense that he underwent Tommy John in April of 2021. Prior to going under the knife, he had a nice breakout in 2020. He tossed 31 frames that year with a 2.90 ERA, 24.8% strikeout rate, 6.4% walk rate and 45.7% ground ball rate. After missing 2021, he returned last year and posted a 2.97 ERA in 30 1/3 innings. His control didn’t fully come back to him, as he walked 13% of batters faced, but he kept the ball on the ground at a 62.4% clip. His closing experience is quite limited, with his four career saves all coming in a two-week stretch from late July to mid-August of last year. Teams generally prefer their closers to be reliable strikeout guys, which might work against Hernández since he only punched out 20.6% of opponents last year. Perhaps he can get some punchouts back now that he’s further removed from the surgery, and Young expressed his belief that Hernández could take on the role.

Kennedy, 38, would provide a more experienced option, though that won’t necessarily make him more reliable. A long-time starter, he moved to the bullpen in recent years but has seen wild fluctuations in his performance. He racked up 30 saves for the Royals in 2019 with a 3.41 ERA, but then had an ERA of 9.00 in the shortened 2020 campaign while being limited by injury to just 15 appearances. He joined the Rangers in 2021 and got back on track, registering a 3.20 ERA and saving 26 games between them and the Phillies after a midseason trade. But with the Diamondbacks last year, his ERA shot up to 5.36 while his strikeout rate plummeted to 19% after being at 27.2% in the prior season.

Duffy, 34, is another veteran option, though in a much different way. He has just one save, which came back in 2015. Most of his career has been spent as a starter, with just 30 relief appearances scattered over his time in the big leagues. He’s also coming off a lengthy absence, having last appeared in the majors in July of 2021. A flexor strain put him on the shelf at that time and he wasn’t able to rehab in time to pitch at all in 2022. The error bars on his 2023 are quite wide, since he posted a 2.51 ERA when last healthy in 2021, but he might need time to get back on track after being down for so long.

One big wild card in the club’s bullpen is left-hander Brock Burke. Young was asked about the southpaw and said he could “potentially” take the closer job and that it’s something he’s discussed with pitching coach Mike Maddux. Burke somewhat quietly had a tremendous breakout campaign in 2022. He made his MLB debut with six starts in 2019 but then missed all of 2020 due to shoulder surgery. He returned to the mound in 2021 but was kept in the Triple-A rotation, where he registered a 5.68 ERA. Last year, however, he took on a multi-inning relief role in the big leagues and dominated, posting a 1.97 ERA in 82 1/3 innings over 52 appearances. He struck out 27.4% of batters faced while walking just 7.3%. It might be tantalizing to see what he could do in a typical single-inning relief role but it sounds like the club doesn’t want to push him in that direction, with Young suggesting Burke could eclipse 100 innings this season. “I’m not sure he gets that in a closer’s role. Or maybe it’s a different type of closer’s role; maybe it’s not as conventional. I don’t want to get too far ahead because we’re not committing to that. It could be a traditional type of closer, but certainly we view Brock as a valuable member of our bullpen and he can pitch a number of different roles that could help us win games.”

Burke himself admits that he held out hope of returning to the rotation until the club revamped it this offseason. “I feel like my role in the bullpen, with the starters we have this year, is going to be very helpful,” he said. “I’m good with whatever they’ve got. If it’s one inning, two innings, break-up innings. Last year, I definitely would have said more innings the better, at one (point) but after getting used to going out there for one inning, I was more comfortable, so I hope that this year, whatever role the team needs me for.”

It seems the Rangers are keeping an open mind for the time being and will let the chips fall where they may over the next few months. Health and effectiveness in spring and the early parts of the season will surely help the club’s decision-makers navigate the upcoming campaign.

Post-Tommy John Players That Could Impact 2023

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News items about Tommy John surgeries are fairly commonplace in baseball circles, but there’s no doubting it’s a significant event for the impacted player. It usually takes over a year to return to form, with a multi-stage rehabilitation process required to regain functionality.

Once a player gets back into game shape, there’s no guarantee the results will be the same. Justin Verlander looked just as good as ever in 2022, but Mike Clevinger didn’t get his velocity all the way back and saw his strikeout rate dip. He could still take another step forward in 2023 now that he’s another year removed from the procedure, but it goes to show that there are no guarantees about what happens in the aftermath.

Here are some players who went under the knife over the past year or so and who will be looking for good progress in 2023, both for their teams and themselves. Huge shoutout to the Tommy John Surgery list for having these details and so much more.

Forrest Whitley, Astros — Surgery Date: March 2021

Whitley, 25, was once considered one of the best pitching prospects in baseball, but his progress has been stalled by various factors. He missed 50 games in 2018 due to a drug suspension, and injuries have hampered him in the years since. He returned from his layoff late last year and tossed 40 innings in the minors but walked 14.5% of batters faced. The Astros already have a great rotation without him, but if Whitley could get back to the form that made him such a hyped prospect, they would be even more loaded.

Kirby Yates, Braves — March 2021

Yates, 36 in March, was one of the best relievers in the league in 2018 and 2019, arguably the best. He posted a 1.67 ERA over 125 games, striking out 38.7% of batters faced, walking just 6.1% of them and getting grounders on 45.2% of balls in play. Since then, however, he’s thrown just 11 1/3 innings. Seven of those came late in the 2022  season, though Yates gave up four runs on six hits and five walks in seven innings. This will be his first full season back. The Braves have a strong bullpen even if Yates can’t get back to peak form, but they’ll likely be in a tight division race and that kind of elite stuff would provide a nice boost.

José Leclerc and Jonathan Hernández, Rangers — March and April 2021, respectively

Leclerc, 29, seemed to be establishing himself as an excellent reliever in 2018. He got into 59 games for the Rangers and posted a 1.56 ERA, getting 12 saves and 15 holds in the process. A .211 BABIP surely helped, but there was a lot to like. He took a step back in 2019 with a 4.33 ERA and then missed most of the following two years. Leclerc returned in June of last year and struggled at first before posting a 2.01 ERA from July onwards. Hernández had a 2.90 ERA in 2020 before missing the 2021 campaign. He returned last year and posted a 2.97 ERA, but with concerning peripherals. His 6.4% walk rate from the former campaign jumped to 13% while his strikeout rate fell from 24.8% to 20.6%. On the more encouraging side, his ground ball rate went from 45.7% to 62.4%. The Rangers totally overhauled their rotation without doing much to the bullpen, but they could potentially get a boost from within if Leclerc and/or Hernández look good this year.

Adrián Morejón, Padres — April 2021

Once considered a top pitching prospect, Morejón, 24 next month, has been slowed by various injuries. He returned in 2022 but worked only in relief, tossing 34 innings in the majors and 13 1/3 in the minors. The Padres have some uncertainty in the back of their rotation that Morejón could help with if he stays healthy, but he’ll likely have workload concerns after so much missed time.

James Paxton, Red Sox — April 2021

Paxton, 34, had a great four-year run with the Mariners and Yankees from 2016 to 2019. However, he’s hardly pitched over the last three years due to various arm issues. He got back on the mound last summer while attempting to come back from Tommy John but then suffered a lat tear that halted his comeback effort. The Red Sox then had the choice to trigger a two-year option on the lefty worth $26MM, which they turned down based on his uncertain health outlook. He then had a $4MM player option that he triggered and will be with the Sox for 2023. He and Chris Sale would have made for a formidable one-two punch at the top of a rotation a few years ago, but neither has been healthy and effective for quite some time. Their status this year figures to have a huge impact on the fortunes of the Sox for the upcoming campaign.

Dustin May, Dodgers — May 2021

May, 25, returned late last year and was able to make six starts for the Dodgers. He posted a 4.50 ERA in that time and struck out 22.8% of batters faced, with both of those numbers paling in comparison to his pre-surgery form. The Dodgers let Tyler Anderson and Andrew Heaney depart from their 2022 rotation, while bringing in Noah Syndergaard. The quiet offseason will be easier to accept if May can post results like he did over 2019-2021: 2.93 ERA, 24.2% strikeout rate, 5.9% walk rate, 51.6% ground ball rate.

Joey Lucchesi, Mets — June 2021

Lucchesi, 30 in June, made 56 starts for the Padres in 2018 and 2019 with a 4.14 ERA. He didn’t get much of an opportunity in 2020 and was flipped to the Mets as part of the Joe Musgrove trade. He isn’t one of the club’s five best starters right now, but their rotation features four veterans who are 34 or older in Verlander, Max Scherzer, Carlos Carrasco and José Quintana. Also, Kodai Senga is making the transition from Japan, where starters frequently only pitch once a week. The club will surely need to rely on its depth this year at some point, making Lucchesi a key part of the equation.

Spencer Turnbull, Tigers — July 2021

Turnbull, 30, was seeming to make progress towards being a quality starter for the Tigers. He posted a 4.61 ERA in 2019 but got that down to 3.97 in 2020. He pushed it down even more in 2021, registering a 2.88 ERA over nine starts before getting shut down and requiring surgery. The Tigers seem likely to be without Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal to start the year as those pitchers deal with their own injuries. That could leave a path for Turnbull to get back on track.

Tyler Glasnow, Rays — August 2021

Glasnow, 29, didn’t live up to expectations with the Pirates but made good on his prospect pedigree after getting traded to the Rays. From 2019 to 2021, he had a 2.80 ERA while striking out 35.9% of batters faced and walking just 7.8% of them. Tommy John surgery put him out of action for a while but he was able to return late last year, making two starts in the regular season and one in the postseason. Glasnow has looked like an ace at times but still hasn’t maintained it over an extended stretch, still never reaching 115 innings in a major league season. The Rays have been fairly quiet this winter, but a healthy Glasnow is arguably a bigger upgrade to their roster than any move they could have made.

Tejay Antone, Reds — August 2021

Antone, 29, debuted in 2020 and was excellent out of the Reds’ bullpen. Over that year and 2021, he tossed 69 innings with a 2.48 ERA, 32.3% strikeout rate and 48% ground ball rate. The walks were a little high at 10.8% but he was still able to be incredibly effective regardless. He isn’t slated to reach free agency until after 2025, but the rebuilding Reds might have to consider a deadline deal if Antone is healthy and pitching well this summer.

Garrett Crochet, White Sox — April 2022

Crochet, 24 in June, was selected 11th overall in the 2020 draft and made his MLB debut later that year. Between his five appearances in 2020 and 54 more the following year, he has a 2.54 ERA and 29% strikeout rate. He’ll likely miss at least part of the upcoming campaign but the club is planning on keeping him in a relief role, which could help him return quicker.

Luke Jackson, Giants — April 2022

Jackson, 31, had a huge breakout with the Braves in 2021. He tossed 63 2/3 innings with a 1.98 ERA, striking out 26.8% of batters faced while getting grounders at a healthy 52.5% clip. He wasn’t as effective in the playoffs but nonetheless was part of the club’s World Series victory that year. He reached free agency and signed with the Giants, who are taking a shot on a return to form, though Jackson might miss the first couple of months of the 2023 season.

John Means, Orioles — April 2022

Means, 30 in April, was one of the few highlights for the Orioles during their leanest rebuilding years. He has a 3.81 ERA in 356 2/3 career innings, keeping his walks down to an excellent 5% rate. The Orioles took a huge step forward last year, graduating many of their top prospects and actually flirting with postseason contention. They’ll be looking to make more progress this year, but the rotation is still lacking in proven options. Getting Means back into the mix would be a big help if some of the younger guys struggle.

Chris Paddack, Twins — May 2022

Paddack, 27, had a great debut with the Padres in 2019, making 26 starts with a 3.33 ERA. His results fell off in the next two seasons, and he dealt with an elbow strain late in the 2021 season, but the Twins still liked him enough to acquire him as part of their return for Taylor Rogers. He was only able to make five starts before landing on the shelf. Their faith doesn’t seem to have wavered, as they recently signed him to a three-year extension. The Twins have a solid rotation on paper, but nearly the entire group landed on the injured list at some point in 2022. Kenta Maeda missed the whole season while rehabbing from an internal brace procedure, a modification of Tommy John surgery. Since injuries were the big story for the Twins in 2022, better health and/or better depth will be important in 2023.

Chad Green, Free Agent — June 2022

Green, 32 in May, spent the past seven seasons pitching for the Yankees. He tossed 383 2/3 innings in that time with a 3.17 ERA, striking out 32.5% of batters faced against a 6.3% walk rate. Unfortunately, he required Tommy John just a few months away from qualifying for free agency. He has yet to sign with a club, but players in this position often sign two-year deals that cover their rehab and give the team an extra year of control. If Green can find himself a deal like that, he could be a wild card down the stretch.

Casey Mize, Tigers — June 2022

Mize, 26 in May, was selected first overall by the Tigers in 2018. He posted a solid 3.71 ERA in 2021, but with disappointing underlying metrics. He only struck out 19.3% of batters faced and had a much higher 4.92 xERA, 4.71 FIP and 4.45 SIERA. After a dreadful 2022 season, the Tigers need to see how Turnbull, Mize, Skubal and Manning look this year before deciding how to proceed for the future.

Hyun Jin Ryu, Blue Jays — June 2022

Ryu, 36 in March, has oscillated between being injured and dominant for much of his career. He signed a four-year deal with the Blue Jays prior to 2020 and posted a 2.69 ERA that year, coming in third in the AL Cy Young voting. His ERA ticked up to 4.37 in 2021, and Ryu struggled even more last year before going under the knife. The Jays have a solid front four in their rotation but uncertainty at the back. Ryu is targeting a July return, and his health at that time could impact how the Jays approach the trade deadline.

Andrew Kittredge, Rays — June 2022

Kittredge, 33 in March, dominated in 2021 by posting a 1.88 ERA over 71 2/3 innings. He struck out 27.3% of batters he faced while walking just 5.3% of them and also got grounders on 53.5% of balls in play. He took a step back last year but made multiple trips to the injured list and likely wasn’t 100%. He’ll surely miss the first several months of the season but could jump into Tampa’s bullpen down the stretch.

Walker Buehler, Dodgers — August 2022

Buehler, 28, has an excellent track record for the Dodgers, having posted a 3.02 ERA in 638 1/3 innings. He’s struck out 27% of opponents while giving out free passes to just 6.3% of them. The Dodgers will have to get by without him for the majority of 2023, though there’s a chance he could be a late addition to the roster if all goes well. His August surgery makes him roughly one year behind Glasnow, who was able to return late in 2022. However, Glasnow’s procedure was August 4th of 2021 while Buehler’s was on the 23rd of last year. Still, if the Dodgers make a deep postseason run, that could give Buehler the runway he needs to make a landing this year.

September 2022 Or Later: Shane Baz, Anthony Gose, Scott Effross, Tyler Matzek, Bryce Harper

These players face longer odds of making an impact since their surgeries were so late in the year. The major exception is Harper, since position players require less recovery time than pitchers. Harper is hoped to be able to return to the Phillies around the All-Star break as a designated hitter, with a chance of returning to the field later in the campaign.

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