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Phillies Place Seranthony Dominguez On 15-Day IL

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The Phillies announced that left-hander Cristopher Sanchez and right-hander Yunior Marte have been called up from Triple-A.  In corresponding moves, right-hander Luis Ortiz was optioned to Triple-A, while reliever Seranthony Dominguez was placed on the 15-day injured list due to a left oblique strain.  Dominguez’s placement is retroactive to June 16.

The severity of Dominguez’s strain isn’t yet known, and both the Phillies and the right-hander can only hope that it isn’t the type of lingering oblique problem that can sideline a player for months.  Dominguez is unfortunately no stranger to long-term injuries, though an oblique strain is at least far less of a concern than the Tommy John surgery that cost him almost all of the 2020-21 seasons.

After posting a 3.00 ERA over 51 regular-season innings and then an outstanding 1.69 ERA over 10 2/3 postseason frames in 2022, Dominguez hasn’t been quite as effective this year.  The righty has a 4.33 ERA in 27 innings out of the Philly bullpen, with a 22.2% strikeout rate that is well below his 29.9% average from his first four MLB seasons.  On the plus side, Dominguez’s 8.7% walk rate is a career low (albeit still under the league average) and he does have a .350 BABIP.  It is also worth noting that Dominguez’s numbers look a lot better when you subtract his first appearance of the season, a disastrous outing against the Rangers that saw Dominguez allow four earned runs without recording a single out.

Sanchez will start today’s game against the A’s, marking the left-hander’s second start and appearance of the 2023 season.  A triceps injury during Spring Training sent Sanchez to the injured list at the start of the season, and might have cost him an opportunity to win a job in Philadelphia’s rotation.  That door is still open for Sanchez, as the Phillies are still looking for any kind of stability with their fifth starter role.

Phillies Reinstate Ranger Suarez From 15-Day Injured List

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Ranger Suarez is set to make his season debut, as the Phillies reinstated the left-hander from the 15-day injured list.  Suarez is slated to start tonight’s game against the Rockies.  The corresponding move was made yesterday, when the Phillies optioned right-hander Luis Ortiz to Triple-A.

Left forearm tightness prematurely ended Suarez’s work with Venezuela during the World Baseball Classic, and the southpaw ended up starting the season on the 15-day IL due to what was described as an elbow strain.  While missing almost a month and a half of action is no small matter, it is at least good news that Suarez avoided any of the more serious and longer-term injuries that can arise from forearm and elbow issues.  Suarez looked pretty sharp over three minor league rehab outings, allowing just one earned run over nine total innings pitched at Double-A and Triple-A.

After beginning his first three big league seasons as a reliever, Suarez had a breakout 2021 season while working out of both the rotation and the bullpen, posting a 1.36 ERA over 106 innings.  Given a full-time role in Philadelphia’s rotation in 2022, Suarez posted a 3.65 ERA over 155 1/3 frames, capitalizing on a 55.4% grounder rate and some solid hard-contact numbers despite below-average strikeout and walk rates.  Suarez then took things up another level during the Phillies’ playoff run, delivering an excellent 1.23 ERA over 14 2/3 postseason innings.

Technically, the Phillies didn’t miss much from Suarez’s absence, since Matt Strahm pitched well in fill-in capacity in the rotation.  However, Strahm was moved back to the bullpen in advance of Suarez’s return, as the Phils have opted to continue using Bailey Falter as a starting pitcher.  Falter has only a 5.75 ERA over 36 innings and seven starts this season, though he isn’t alone in struggling, as Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, and Taijuan Walker have all gotten off to varying degrees of slow starts.

Phillies Claim Luis Ortiz, Andrew Vasquez From Giants

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The Phillies announced that they have claimed two relievers off waivers from the Giants. Right-hander Luis Ortiz and left-hander Andrew Vasquez will jump to Philadelphia. Meanwhile, the Phillies also outrighted five players: right-handers Mark Appel and Hans Crouse, lefties Kent Emanuel and Damon Jones, along with infielder Yairo Munoz.

Ortiz, 27, spent a few years with the Orioles but signed a minor league deal with the Giants for 2022. A highly-touted prospect from his time with the O’s, he’s dealt with some injuries and been pushed from starting to relieving as time has gone on. He spent most of 2022 in Triple-A, throwing 67 1/3 innings with a 4.54 ERA in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. His peripherals were quite strong, as he struck out 25.4% of batters faced, walking just 4.6% of them and getting grounders on 42.4% of balls in play. He also got 8 2/3 innings of MLB action, with a 1.04 ERA in that small sample. He still has options remaining, meaning the Phillies will have the ability to keep him in the minors as a depth arm.

Vasquez set a career high with 10 MLB games this year, splitting that time between the Blue Jays and Giants. He allowed six runs in 8 2/3 innings but he posted a 2.23 ERA over 32 1/3 Triple-A innings. The southpaw struck out almost 35% of opponents at the minors’ highest level, making him of appeal to a number of teams on the waiver wire.

Appel made his big league debut almost a decade after being selected first overall in the 2013 draft. He worked 10 1/3 innings over six relief appearances but ended the year on the injured list with elbow inflammation. Crouse was a former highly-regarded pitching prospect who came over from the Rangers in the Kyle Gibson/Spencer Howard trade. He debuted with two appearances last year but only pitched five times in Triple-A in 2022.

Jones is a former 18th-rounder who has five appearances in the last two years. Emanuel joined the organization off waivers from the Astros last winter but never pitched with Philadelphia. Munoz played in 29 games this year, hitting .221/.250/.404.

Munoz, Emanuel and Appel can become minor league free agents. Crouse and Jones will remain in the system without occupying a 40-man roster spot.

IL Placements: Brubaker, Middleton

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Catching up on some injured-list transactions around baseball…

  • The Pirates placed right-hander JT Brubaker on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to September 16.  Right-hander Luis Ortiz was called up to take Brubaker’s spot on the active roster.  Brubaker was officially listed as sidelined due to right arm inflammation, though lat soreness was given as the reason for his early exit from Thursday’s game, when he lasted just three innings.  Over 141 1/3 innings and 27 starts for the Bucs this season, Brubaker has a 4.58 ERA and some unimpressive Statcast numbers, though his SIERA is a more favorable 3.95.  His ability to eat innings could put him in the conversation for a spot in Pittsburgh’s rotation next season, even if he doesn’t make it back for one more start in 2022.
  • The Diamondbacks placed right-hander Keynan Middleton on the 15-day IL due to a sprained left big toe.  Righty Luis Frias was called up from Triple-A in the corresponding move.  The toe sprain will likely end what has been an injury-plagued season for Middleton, who missed a couple of months due to elbow inflammation and a right ankle sprain.  Between the injuries and time in the minor leagues, Middleton was limited to 17 innings in 18 appearances with the D’Backs, and he posted a 5.29 ERA over that rather small sample size.  Now in his sixth MLB season, Middleton has yet to regain the early promise of his first two seasons with the Angels, before Tommy John surgery sidelined him in 2018.  He inked a minors deal with the D’Backs last winter and probably seems likely to be back on the open market this offseason in search of another non-guaranteed deal.

Pirates Designate Bligh Madris For Assignment

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The Pirates announced some roster moves ahead of today’s doubleheader, including the previously reported selection of Luis Ortiz. They also recalled catcher/first baseman Zack Collins and optioned infielder/outfielder Tucupita Marcano. To open a spot for Ortiz on the 40-man roster, infielder/outfielder Bligh Madris has been designated for assignment.

Madris, 26, was a ninth-round selection of the Pirates in 2017. Though he was never atop any prospect lists, he still posted solid results as he worked his way up the minor league ladder. Last year, he split his time between Double-A and Triple-A and registered a solid 11.2% walk rate along with an 18.2% strikeout rate. That helped him produce a batting line of .267/.353/.417 in 114 games, good enough for a wRC+ of 108.

This year, he got out to a hot start in Triple-A and got selected to the big league roster in June. He hasn’t been able to produce much at the big league level just yet, hitting .177/.244/.265, though that’s in a small sample of just 123 plate appearances. He’s spent more time this year with Indianapolis, hitting .294/.366/.482 over 288 trips to the plate. That amounts to a 125 wRC+, or production 25% above league average.

Since Madris was first selected to an MLB roster just this year, that means he has a full slate of options and limited service time. With the trade deadline long gone, the Pirates will have to place him on waivers in the coming days. Any team intrigued by his ability to get on base could put in a claim and keep him around as an optionable depth option with years of club control. If he were to clear waivers, the Pirates could keep him in the organization with him occupying a roster spot.

Giants Select Luis Ortiz

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The Giants have selected the contract of right-hander Luis Ortiz today. The club already had a vacancy on their 40-man roster after catcher Andrew Knapp was designated for assignment yesterday. Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle mentioned that Ortiz appeared to be about to join the club with Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area relaying that Ortiz had a locker for today’s game. Slusser also relays that outfielder Bryce Johnson has been optioned in a corresponding move to get Ortiz onto the active roster. Evan Webeck of the San Jose Mercury News relays that the moves are official.

Ortiz, 26, has some MLB experience, although a very small amount. In 2018, he made two appearances for the Orioles, followed by one more in 2019. He has a 12.71 ERA in a tiny sample of 5 2/3 innings over those three games. Prior to that, Ortiz was a highly-touted prospect with the Rangers, cracking Baseball America’s top 100 list in 2016 and 2017. He got traded to the Brewers and then to the Orioles, though his prospect stock faded as injuries limited his output. Despite being a starting pitcher in his early career, he only cracked the 100-inning plateau once, which was the 102 frames he logged over three levels in 2018.

He’s moved into more relief work over the past couple of seasons and seems to have taken a step forward here in 2022. Signed by the Giants to a minor league deal in the offseason, he’s spent this entire season with the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats. His 4.66 ERA might not jump out and grab you, but it’s not as bad as it seems since the River Cats play in the notoriously hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. Ortiz has a strong 25.7% strikeout rate for the season, along with a miniscule 4.5% walk rate and average-ish 42% groundball rate. It’s also worth noting that he’s gotten into an excellent groove after a rough start. Through June 28, his ERA was way up at 7.30, but he’s thrown 23 scoreless innings since then to cut almost three full runs off that number.

Ortiz will provide a fresh arm to a Giants bullpen that’s in the midst of a stretch where they play 20 games in 19 days thanks to tomorrow’s doubleheader in Milwaukee. He still has two options and just 29 days of service time, meaning the Giants could potentially keep him around for a while if he continues throwing well.

Giants Agree To Minor League Deals With Luis Ortiz, Wei-Chieh Huang

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The Giants have agreed to minor league contracts with free-agent right-handers Luis Ortiz and Wei-Chieh Huang, as indicated on the team’s official transactions log at MLB.com.

Both righties have a bit of big league experience, with Ortiz’s 2019 showing in Baltimore standing as the most recent. He’s tallied just 5 2/3 innings in the big leagues, all with the Orioles, and yielded eight runs on 11 hits and eight walks in that time. It’s not an especially impressive showing, but it’s a tiny sample of work for Ortiz, who notably ranked among the game’s top 100 prospects from 2016-17 in the estimation of Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus and MLB.com. He’s the second former top prospect added by the Giants in recent weeks, joining righty Jorge Guzman in that regard.

A former Rangers farmhand, Ortiz has been involved in a pair of notable trades — going from Texas to Milwaukee in the Jonathan Lucroy/Jeremy Jeffress deal before being flipped from Milwaukee to Baltimore as part of the return for Jonathan Schoop. At his prospect peak, Ortiz was praised for a mid-90s fastball, a plus slider and strong command, all of which gave him the upside of a mid-rotation starter.

Ortiz dealt with elbow and forearm troubles early in his pro career, however, and he’s only reached 100 innings in a single season (when he threw 102 between Double-A, Triple-A and Baltimore). He returned to the Rangers on a minor league deal for the 2021 season and worked primarily out of the bullpen in Triple-A Round Rock, where he posted a 4.60 ERA, a 23.4% strikeout rate and a 9.0% walk rate in 43 innings. Ortiz is still just 26 and has had solid results up through the Double-A level, but it’s been a rough go of it for him both in Triple-A and in the Majors.

Huang, 28, reached the bigs with Texas back in 2018 — albeit only for a brief 5 2/3-inning look. He held opponents to a pair of earned runs but also surrendered eight hits and five walks during that short-lived stint. Wang wasn’t with a Major League player pool in 2020, when there was no minor league season, and he didn’t pitch in affiliated ball last year either. However, he’s rattled off three perfect innings in the Dominican Winter League this year, fanning five hitters along the way. He’ll join the Giants org with a career 3.37 minor league ERA in addition to a strong 28.2% strikeout rate and an 8.7% walk rate.

Minor MLB Transactions: 12/16/20

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The latest minor league moves from around baseball…

Latest Moves

  • The Rays have signed catcher Joe Odom to a minors pact, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. A 13th-round pick of Atlanta in 2013, Odom stuck with the Braves organization through 2017 before joining the Mariners in the ensuing winter’s Rule 5 Draft. Odom did make it to the majors for the first time last season with Seattle, collecting 44 plate appearances, but the 28-year-old batted a meek .128/.209/.128 with no extra-base hits and 20 strikeouts. The Mariners outrighted him after that.

Earlier Today

  • The Rangers signed right-hander Luis Ortiz to a minors contract, the team announced.  Ortiz has a 12.71 ERA over career 5 2/3 innings in the majors (with the Orioles in 2018-19), and is making his return to Texas after being drafted 30th overall by the Rangers in 2014.  He has been part of two notable deadline trades, included as part of the trade package sent to Milwaukee for Jonathan Lucroy in 2016, and then the Brewers shipped him to the Orioles in July 2018 as part of the Jonathan Villar/Jonathan Schoop swap.
  • The Brewers signed outfielder/first baseman Dustin Peterson to a minor league deal, as originally reported by Ana Soriano of RIDA Sports (Twitter link).  Originally a second-round pick for the Padres in the 2013 draft, Peterson has a .262/.316/.382 slash line over 2918 career minor league plate appearances in the Padres, Braves, and Tigers farm systems.  At the big league level, Peterson has a .570 OPS over 49 PA with Atlanta and Detroit over the 2018-19 seasons.  Most recently, Peterson posted big numbers for the independent Sugar Land Skeeters in 2020 and is currently tearing it up in the Mexican Pacific Winter League.
  • Catcher Tim Federowicz has signed with the Dodgers, as Federowicz revealed himself on Twitter.  This will be the veteran’s second stint in Los Angeles, as he spent his first four MLB seasons (2011-14) with the Dodgers.  It’s probably safe to assume that it is a minor league contract, as the Dodgers have Will Smith and Austin Barnes in the majors and top prospect Keibert Ruiz in the wings after his Major League debut last season.  Appearing in parts of eight seasons with six different teams, Federowicz has a .568 OPS over 443 career plate appearances and 163 games at the big league level.  He didn’t see any MLB action in 2020 after signing a minors deal with the Rangers last offseason.

Orioles Claim Pat Valaika, Announce Four Outrights

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The Orioles announced they have claimed infielder Pat Valaika off waivers from the Rockies. Additionally, the club outrighted four pitchers: right-handers Ryan Eades, Luis Ortiz, and Tayler Scott and left-hander Josh Rogers.

Valaika is the most notable name in today’s spate of transactions. The 27-year-old has taken 433 MLB plate appearances over four seasons in Colorado, starting games at all four infield positions (along with a handful of action in left field) in that time. All told, he’s only a .214/.256/.400 hitter, which translates to a dreadful 55 wRC+ when factoring in the run environment of Coors Field. He’s shown some ability to make hard, airborne contact, which surely attracts the Orioles’ front office, but his aggressive approach has not yet proven up to par at the big league level. Valaika will be out of options next season, meaning he needs to stick on the active roster next year or else again be exposed to waivers, assuming he remains on the 40-man roster the entire offseason.

The four pitchers have combined for fewer than 60 MLB innings. Eades, 27, worked to a 2.38 ERA in 11.1 innings in 2019, but his peripherals were far less rosy. Ortiz, still just 24, was once a well-regarded prospect but has fallen on hard times at the highest level of the minors. He started 14 games for Triple-A Norfolk in 2019 and pitched to a 6.38 ERA with unimpressive strikeout (15.4%) and walk (10.1%) rates, a trying season even in the explosive run environment in the International League.

Scott, like Eades, made his MLB debut this season at age-27. Split between Seattle and Baltimore, he worked 16.1 difficult innings, although he was quite good in the high minors. Rogers, meanwhile, was acquired as a secondary piece in the 2018 deal that sent Zack Britton to the Yankees. He started eleven games for Norfolk before going down with a season-ending left elbow sprain.

Because Rogers was on the 60-day injured list, today’s spate of transactions only clears two spots on Balitmore’s 40-man roster, which now sits at 38. The pending activation of Alex Cobb from the 60-day IL and free agency of Mark Trumbo will keep Baltimore’s roster at 38 entering the offseason, as Roch Kubatko of MASN tweets.

Orioles Promote Luis Ortiz

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The Orioles announced that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Luis Ortiz from Triple-A Norfolk. The 22-year-old Ortiz came to Baltimore alongside infielder Jonathan Villar in the July 31 trade that sent Jonathan Schoop from the Orioles to the Brewers.

Ortiz entered the 2017 season as a consensus top 100 prospects throughout the game, but he delivered fairly pedestrian results at the Double-A level as a 21-year-old and missed a couple of weeks due to injury along the way, all of which dropped his stock a bit heading into 2018. He currently ranks seventh among Orioles farmhands per MLB.com, though, and he’s had a solid year between a return to Double-A and his first exposure to Triple-A opposition.

Ortiz posted near-identical ERAs in Double-A (3.69) and Triple-A (3.71) this season, and his walk rate between the two levels was once again nearly identical (2.3 BB/9 in Double-A, 2.4 in Triple-A). He missed more bats at the lower of those two levels (8.6 K/9 vs. 6.0) but has generally been good about keeping the ball in the park and limiting free passes. Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo note in the previously mentioned scouting report that Ortiz has a fastball that’ll run up to 97 mph and at least one potentially plus secondary offering in his slider. He’ll obviously be facing his share of tough opponents in the AL East, but given the lack of certainty in the Baltimore rotation picture, Ortiz will have the opportunity to audition for a starting job in 2019 and beyond.

The O’s can control Ortiz through at least the 2024 season even if he never returns to the minors from this point forth, and he won’t be eligible for arbitration until after the 2021 season at the earliest. He’ll be the second trade addition with a chance to audition for a future rotation spot already this season, joining lefty Josh Rogers in that regard. Baltimore also already has right-hander Cody Carroll in the big league bullpen and has given Villar regular looks in the infield following this summer’s fire sale.

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