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Jordan Luplow

Diamondbacks Designate Oliver Perez For Assignment

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The D-Backs announced this evening they’ve activated outfielder Jordan Luplow from the 10-day injured list. Outfielder Jake McCarthy was optioned to Triple-A Reno. Additionally, left-hander Tyler Gilbert was recalled from Triple-A, while veteran reliever Oliver Pérez was designated for assignment. Arizona’s 40-man roster now sits at 39.

The Diamondbacks acquired Luplow from the Rays over the offseason, sending infield prospect Ronny Simon to Tampa Bay. The right-handed hitting Luplow has a history of excellent offensive production when holding the platoon advantage. In 378 career plate appearances against southpaws, he owns a .245/.360/.549 line. That batting average isn’t eye-catching, but Luplow’s elite 14.3% walk rate and 23 home runs in that time result in a 139 wRC+ that indicates he’s been 39 percentage points above league average against lefties.

Luplow has been a below-average hitter against right-handers, making him a best fit for a corner outfield platoon. The D-Backs have lefty swingers David Peralta, Pavin Smith and Seth Beer as their primary corner outfielders and designated hitter, respectively. There should be plenty of opportunity for Luplow to spell those players against opposing southpaws. He missed the first few weeks of the season recovering from an oblique strain but figures to rotate fairly frequently into the outfield mix for manager Torey Lovullo.

Pérez signed a minor league deal with the Snakes shortly after the lockout lifted. He made the Opening Day roster but had a rough go in the desert. Over seven appearances, he’s tallied four innings of nine-run ball. Pérez has fanned just one of the 24 hitters he’s faced, and Arizona has decided to move forward with Joe Mantiply and Kyle Nelson as their top two southpaws in the bullpen.

The D-Backs have a week to trade Pérez or place him on waivers, and it remains to be seen whether the 40-year-old will look to continue his MLB career. Given his poor start to the year, it seems likely Pérez will clear waivers and wind up released. He’d likely find some minor league interest at that point, but it’s possible he may not have the desire to attempt to work his way back onto an MLB roster.

The Mexico native had been set to play the 2022 season with the Toros de Tijuana in his home country before signing with Arizona. At the time, Pérez announced that this year with the Toros would be his final in professional baseball. It wouldn’t be all that surprising if he returns to Tijuana if/when he’s officially let go by the D-Backs.

D-Backs Notes: Marte, Ahmed, Luplow

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Ketel Marte will remain in Arizona for quite some time after agreeing to this week’s contract extension. The deal, which exercised his preexisting 2023 and 2024 options, tacked on three more years and gave the Diamondbacks a 2028 club option as well. Zach Buchanan of The Athletic notes that, in total, the new contract gives the D-backs the opportunity to control Marte for another four years at a total of $63MM (although the deal contains various incentives and escalators that can further bolster that price). Marte tells Buchanan and others that he hopes to spend the remainder of his career with the Diamondbacks, citing, a strong relationship with Torey Lovullo among his reasons for wanting to stay put.

The D-backs could’ve traded Marte for a king’s ransom, but Hazen tells Buchanan and others that the front office also feels it necessary to “make some commitments,” both to current stars and perhaps to future core pieces they hope will be rising up to the Majors sooner than later.

More on the D-backs…

  • Shortstop Nick Ahmed received a pair of injections in his right shoulder as he continues to battle discomfort, manager Torey Lovullo told reporters (video link via Jake Anderson of 98.7 Arizona Sports). Ahmed will be shut down from baseball activities entirely for at least the next 10 days and will be reevaluated at that point. That 10-day window will carry Ahmed through Opening Day, which makes it quite likely that he’ll begin the season on the injured list. Ahmed’s shoulder has been problematic dating back to the 2020 season, when he first says he “jammed” it while diving for a ball at shortstop. The barking shoulder seemed to impact both his offense and his throwing during the 2021 season. Ahmed acknowledged this week that surgery may ultimately prove necessary (link via Nick Piecoro and Jose Romero of the Arizona Republic), but for now it seems he’ll hope the cortisone treatment can help him avoid that fate.
  • Also likely headed to the injured list when the season begins is outfielder Jordan Luplow, who is dealing with a Grade 1 oblique strain, according to Lovullo (video link via Anderson). There’s no specific timetable for Luplow’s return just yet, but Lovullo hinted that it’ll be an absence of some note, stating that it will not be measured “in terms of days” (implying instead that it will be measured in weeks). Every injury is different, but it’s common for even Grade 1 oblique strains to sideline players for a month or more. Acquired from the Rays this winter, Luplow reported to camp as an important piece for the D-backs against left-handed pitching. The right-handed-hitting 28-year-old carries a career .245/.360/.539 batting line in 378 plate appearances against southpaws. With lefty bats David Peralta, Daulton Varsho and Pavin Smith in line for outfield work, having a righty complement carries obvious appeal, but it seems the Snakes will have to wait a bit before Luplow can help out.

Diamondbacks Acquire Jordan Luplow From Rays

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The Rays have traded outfielder/first baseman Jordan Luplow to the D-Backs for infield prospect Ronny Simon, the teams announced. Arizona designated right-hander Brett de Geus for assignment to open space on the 40-man roster. Tampa Bay’s 40-man roster now sits at 39.

Luplow is a five-year big league veteran, although he’s spent the bulk of his time in a platoon capacity. The right-handed hitter has never tallied more than 261 plate appearances in any given campaign, as he’s instead been leveraged heavily against lefty pitching. That’s a role in which he’s had great success, as Luplow has a massive .245/.360/.539 showing against southpaws. While that batting average isn’t eye-catching, Luplow’s combination of a huge 14.3% walk rate and 23 home runs in 378 plate appearances (essentially a little less than two-thirds of a full season’s workload) when holding the platoon advantage has made him an impact player in those situations.

Yet Luplow’s struggles against same-handed hurlers have kept him from being an everyday regular. He’s a career .205/.291/.369 hitter in 358 trips to the dish against righties. The 28-year-old actually had reverse splits in fairly limited playing time this past season, but it’s likely the D-Backs put more stock in his career-long track record of mashing against southpaws and will continue to use in a platoon capacity next season.

Luplow has between three and four years of major league service, so he remains controllable through 2024 via arbitration (barring changes to the service time structure in the next collective bargaining agreement). MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him to receive a salary in the $1.5MM range next year. That’s certainly not an onerous sum, but it might be more than the cost-conscious Rays would have been willing to spend since they’re already fairly deep in outfield options.

The D-Backs’ outfield is far less settled, particularly if the club tries to trade David Peralta this winter. Young options like Pavin Smith, Stuart Fairchild, Jake McCarthy and Daulton Varsho could all get some run in 2022, but Fairchild’s the only right-handed hitter of that bunch. Adding Luplow gives the D-Backs an affordable, proven righty bat to help balance out the group.

In exchange, the D-Backs will send back a switch-hitting infield prospect. Simon spent most of the 2021 campaign with Low-A Visalia, where he hit .249/.343/.475 with fifteen homers and twelve steals across 349 plate appearances as a 21-year-old. Simon, who was acquired from the Cubs last November as the player to be named later in the teams’ Andrew Chafin deal, spent the bulk of his time in the middle infield, in addition to a handful of starts at third base. He’ll need to be added to the 40-man roster next offseason or be made available in the 2022 Rule 5 draft.

de Geus split the 2021 campaign between the Rangers and D-Backs. Selected out of the Dodgers’ organization in last year’s Rule 5, the 24-year-old worked 47 innings across 50 outings. He posted just a 7.56 ERA with worse than average strikeout and walk rates (17.2% and 10.5%, respectively). de Geus’ 7% swinging strike rate was the second-lowest mark among the 255 relievers with 20+ innings pitched, but he did rack up ground-balls at a strong 52.1% clip on the strength of his low-mid 90s sinker. Arizona will have a week to trade de Geus or try to pass him through waivers.

Jordan Luplow Undergoes Ankle Surgery

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Rays first baseman and outfielder Jordan Luplow successfully underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left ankle today, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Tampa Bay expects Luplow to be recovered in time for the start of 2022 Spring Training.

The Rays acquired Luplow along with reliever DJ Johnson in a midseason deal with Cleveland to deepen their bench down the stretch. Luplow’s health status at the time hinted at this offseason procedure, as he was rehabbing in the minors with a left ankle sprain when the trade took place.

The trade proved fruitful, but perhaps in unexpected ways for the playoff contending Rays. Luplow, who to this point in his Major League career only appeared in the three outfield positions and DH, primarily manned first base and garnered positive marks there for the Rays. His resume continued to expand as he also went on to make cameos at second and third base, in addition to contributing an inning of one-run ball as a pitcher.

Further, the right-handed Luplow made his mark in the Cleveland organization for being a lefty masher, sporting an OPS of .899 when holding the platoon advantage in his career. In both Tampa and the year on the whole, however, Luplow’s skillset reversed, as he pulverized right-handed pitching but stumbled to a sub-.700 OPS against lefties. The resulting overall .202/.326/.454 slash on the year was good for an OPS+ of 115 when factoring in Luplow’s pitcher-friendly home parks, but newfound success against same-handed pitchers may add a wrinkle to how the team evaluates him moving forward.

Rays Place Randy Arozarena On Covid List, Recall Jordan Luplow

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The Rays announced Friday that they’ve placed outfielder Randy Arozarena on the Covid-19-related injured list and recalled fellow right-handed-hitting outfielder Jordan Luplow from Triple-A Durham. The league’s 2021 health-and-safety protocols stipulate a seven-day absence for close contacts.

Arozarena, 26, has been on a tear over his past 14 games, hitting at a .404/.443/.842 clip with six homers, five doubles and a triple in 61 trips to the plate. The 2020 postseason sensation has had a strong year all-around at the plate, turning in a .268/.344/.458 batting line that’s about 25 percent better than league average when weighted for his home park and league, by measure of wRC+.

With Arozarena away from the team for the immediate future, the Rays will turn to the recently acquired Luplow, who came over from Cleveland alongside righty reliever DJ Johnson in a trade that sent pitching prospect Peyton Battenfield back to the Indians. Luplow, 27, will be making his team debut the first time he steps into a game setting for Tampa Bay.

But while this’ll be Luplow’s first action with the Rays, it’s hardly his first exposure to the big leagues. He comes to the organization with more than three years of MLB service time, spread across parts of five seasons between Pittsburgh and Cleveland. Luplow is a lifetime .222/.327/.452 hitter in the Majors but offers a skill set the Rays have often maximized: platoon excellence and generally strong defensive ratings in the outfield corners (with the ability to play center in a pinch). Patrick Kinas of NBC Sports tweets that Luplow has been getting some workouts in at first base, as well.

Luplow has had some uncharacteristic struggles against left-handed pitching in a small sample of 65 plate appearances so far in 2021, but over the course of his career, he’s quietly been one of baseball’s most powerful hitters against southpaws. That’s not hyperbole, either. Despite this year’s struggles, Luplow is a career .251/.371/.556 hitter when holding the platoon advantage. Focusing in only on his 2017-20 production, Luplow is a .275/.379/.603 hitter against lefties (154 wRC+).

The average isn’t especially high, and his OBP against lefties is strong but not elite, but Luplow’s .328 ISO (slugging minus batting average) in that stretch ranked fourth among 282 hitters with at least 250 plate appearances against lefties. The only names ahead of him are J.D. Martinez, Giancarlo Stanton and Nolan Arenado — impressive company for a player who has been a largely anonymous part-time outfielder.

The Rays can control Luplow for three more seasons after the 2021 campaign, so if he’s able to rediscover that form against lefties and right the ship in the season’s final months, he could be a long-term bench option for the Rays. He’d be a cost-effective one, at that, as Luplow’s part-time role suppresses his counting stats and will limit his earning power in arbitration. This offseason will mark his first time going through that arbitration process.

Rays To Acquire Jordan Luplow

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The Rays are picking up outfielder Jordan Luplow and reliever DJ Johnson from the Indians, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link). Pitching prospect Peyton Battenfield is heading back to Cleveland.

Originally a third-round draft pick of the Pirates back in 2014, Luplow found himself on the way to Cleveland after two relatively anonymous seasons with the Pirates. The trade came in November, 2018, sending Luplow and Max Moroff to Cleveland for Dante Mendoza, Tahnaj Thomas, and Erik Gonzalez. He had a career .194/.274/.371 line in 190 plate appearances when he left Pittsburgh, but he quickly unlocked a new level of production in Cleveland.

Luplow hasn’t played in the Majors for the Indians since May 26th because of a left ankle sprain. He has been on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Columbus for the past 10 days, however, so he’s likely near ready to return to the big league club, should the Rays need him there. He does have an option remaining, and with Manuel Margot and Brett Phillips backing up Kevin Kiermaier, Randy Arozarena, and Austin Meadows, manager Kevin Cash may not have an immediate need for Luplow.

More to come.

Indians Select Ryan Lavarnway

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The Indians announced they’ve placed catcher Austin Hedges on the seven-day concussion injured list. Veteran backstop Ryan Lavarnway has been selected to the roster to pair with René Rivera in Hedges’ absence. To create 40-man roster space for Lavarnway, Cleveland transferred outfielder Jordan Luplow from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list.

Lavarnway, who’ll get the start behind the plate this afternoon against the Orioles, will be making his first MLB appearance of 2021. It’ll mark his fifth consecutive year getting big league time (and his tenth overall), each of the last five with a different club. Lavarnway has suited up for the A’s, Pirates, Reds and Marlins over the last four years, totaling fewer than twenty plate appearances at each stop. A quintessential third catcher, the 33-year-old has appeared for seven teams in total (the Indians will be his eighth) and hit .215/.272/.344 across 456 MLB plate appearances. He’s hit .258/.313/.551 in 97 trips to the dish this year with Triple-A Columbus.

Hedges missed yesterday’s game with an illness that now appears to be related to a concussion. This is the second time in his MLB career he’s gone on the concussion IL. The defensive specialist has hit just .144/.205/.240 so far this season.

Luplow has been on the injured list since May 27. His transfer rules him out for sixty days from the date of that original placement, so he’ll now be ineligible to return to the majors until late July. Before the injury, the 27-year-old had posted an odd, but fairly productive, .173/.331/.439 line (113 wRC+) with seven homers across 121 plate appearances. Luplow’s on-base and slugging percentages exceed the respective major league averages of .317 and .405 despite the low batting average.

President of baseball operations Chris Antonetti provided reporters (including Mandy Bell of MLB.com and Zack Meisel of the Athletic) updates on a few other injured players this morning. Designated hitter Franmil Reyes and catcher Roberto Pérez could begin minor league rehab assignments within the next week. Starter Zach Plesac, meanwhile, is slated to throw a bullpen session tomorrow and could embark on a rehab assignment of his own in the next couple weeks.

Injury Notes: J. Iglesias, J. Castro, Luplow, Ruf

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The latest injury notes from around baseball…

  • The Angels have placed shortstop Jose Iglesias on the 10-day injured list with a left hamstring strain, the team announced. Iglesias, whom the Angels acquired from the Orioles in the offseason, has batted .283/.317/.396 with four home runs and two stolen bases over 167 plate appearances. He hasn’t started since May 25, leaving shortstop to David Fletcher.
  • The Astros have put catcher Jason Castro on the 10-day IL (retroactive to May 25) with left Achilles soreness and recalled backstop Garrett Stubbs, Mark Berman of Fox 26 tweets. Castro, who opened his career with the Astros from 2010-16, rejoined the team on a two-year, $7MM guarantee during the offseason. The deal looked good for the Astros before Castro’s IL placement, considering he has hit .271/.397/.479, though he has only taken 59 plate appearances while playing second fiddle to Martin Maldonado.
  • The Indians sent outfielder Jordan Luplow to the IL on Friday with an ankle issue, according to the team. It’s a problem Luplow has been dealing with since spring training, and manager Terry Francona said the club is “trying to figure it out” (via the Associated Press).  The 27-year-old Luplow is off to a .165/.325/.433 start with seven home runs in 121 plate appearances. Despite the low BA, Luplow’s production has been 13 percent better than average, according to FanGraphs’ wRC+ metric.
  • The Giants will go three to four weeks without first baseman/outfielder Darin Ruf, Kerry Crowley of NBC Sports Bay Area tweets. Ruf went on the 10-day IL list on Thursday with a strained right hamstring, joining fellow first baseman Brandon Belt on the shelf. Both players have recorded well-above-average production this season, but the Giants will have to go without the pair for at least a couple weeks. They started LaMonte Wade Jr. at first base on Friday.

Indians Option Ben Gamel, Recall Sam Hentges

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The Indians have optioned outfielder Ben Gamel to Triple-A. Cleveland signed Gamel in early February to be a potential cog in their attempts to piece together replacement-level play in centerfield, but the 29-year-old has struggled at the dish so far this season. Through 11 games, Gamel has hit just .071/.235/.143 across a minimal 17 plate appearances. He has largely served as a late-game replacement in center to starter Amed Rosario.

Without Gamel, the Indians are down to a three-man bench. Jordan Luplow is the only backup in center to Rosario, who himself is learning to play the position for the first time this season. Luplow has limited experience in center, though he has yet to appear there this season.

Southpaw Sam Hentges has been recalled from Cleveland’s alternate site to take Gamel’s roster spot, per MLB.com’s Mandy Bell (via Twitter). The slender 6’6″ lefty will make his Major League debut the first time he gets into a game. When he last saw competitive game action, Hentges tossed 128 2/3 innings in Double-A with a 5.11 ERA. He is the Indians 13th-ranked prospect via Fangraphs, while Baseball America has him as the 23rd-ranked prospect in Cleveland’s system.

J.D. Martinez, Alex Bregman … Jordan Luplow?

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Raise your hand if you know which three major league hitters had the most success against left-handed pitching last season. The first two names – Boston’s J.D. Martinez (242 wRC+) and Houston’s Alex Bregman (205) – don’t come as any kind of surprise. Everybody knows they’re elite offensive players. The same is not true of the third-place finisher, Indians outfielder Jordan Luplow, who put up a jaw-dropping 198 wRC+ and slashed .320/.439/.742 in 155 plate appearances versus southpaws. Nobody could have seen that coming when the Indians made a fairly under-the-radar trade for him before last year.

Heading into the 2018-19 offseason, Luplow was a Pirate who, in limited big league opportunities, didn’t produce much. At that point, the former third-round pick was the owner of a dismal .194/.274/.371 line (72 wRC+) in 190 trips to the plate. Unimpressed, Pittsburgh sent him to Cleveland in a deal that has gone the Indians’ way so far.

In exchange for Luplow and infielder Max Moroff, the Indians gave up infielder Erik Gonzalez and a couple minor league right-handers in Dante Mendoza and Tahnaj Thomas. Like Luplow, Gonzalez had been a replacement-level player and a non-threat at the plate in the majors when the trade occurred. Still, then-Pirates general manager Neal Huntington was happy to bring him aboard.

“Erik Gonzalez is an athletic middle infielder who plays solid defense and has the potential to be a productive hitter at the major league level,” said Huntington. “He gives us another quality option to play shortstop or in the middle of our infield this year and into the future.”

Gonzalez fell flat in Year 1 as a Pirate, though, as he batted an ugly .254/.301/.317 (59 wRC+) in 156 PA during an injury-shortened campaign. He’s 28 and controllable through 2022, so it’s too soon to throw dirt on Gonzalez’s career, but it’s not looking good so far. Meanwhile, the 21-year-old Mendoza has struggled in the minors, where he logged a 5.82 ERA/6.06 FIP across 43 1/3 innings in rookie ball last season. If there’s a silver lining to this trade for the Pirates so far, it’s that they got a solid prospect in Thomas, 20. Formerly an infielder, Thomas ranks as FanGraphs’ No. 5 Pirates farmhand. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen wrote of Thomas two months ago, “He may be the most anonymous 100 mph arm in baseball.”

Perhaps Thomas will one day go down as a player who got away for Cleveland. For now, the team’s benefiting from the deal at the MLB level, though it’s already out one-half of its return in Moroff. He was a non-factor in the bigs last year and is now a member of the Mets organization. And, of course, Luplow doesn’t come without question marks at the plate. The righty amassed 106 PA versus same-handed pitchers in 2019, hit just one of his 15 home runs off them and could only muster a .216/.274/.299 line with a wRC+ of 48. Those are in line with the numbers he posted against right-handers in previous seasons.

Despite his shortcomings, the inexpensive Luplow has already given the Indians a substantial amount of bang for their buck. As a 2.2-fWAR performed last year, FanGraphs valued his output at $17.6MM. At the very least, the Indians appear to have found a nice platoon hitter in Luplow — one who has experience at all three outfield positions. The fact that he’s still just 26 and controllable for five more years (including two pre-arbitration seasons) only adds to his appeal from the low-budget Indians’ perspective.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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