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The Top Remaining Free Agent Middle Infield Options

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Jean Segura came off the board last week on a two-year deal with the Marlins. That removed the top remaining free agent middle infielder, leaving clubs with very few possibilities for help either at shortstop or second base.

Of course, Carlos Correa lingers over the entire market. Until he officially puts pen to paper somewhere, there’s at least a chance for another twist in that saga. Various reports have suggested Correa’s focused on hammering out his deal with the Mets in spite of their concerns about his physical, and that was essentially confirmed yesterday by Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi. We’ll set Correa aside and look at the best options remaining for teams outside of Queens.

Here are the still-unsigned free agent middle infielders who tallied at least 150 plate appearances in 2022:

  • Elvis Andrus (34): Andrus is arguably the top unsigned free agent infielder. The 14-year veteran still brings a high-contact bat and quality baserunning to the table. Public defensive metrics have been divided on his work recently, with Statcast’s Outs Above Average generally rating him as an above-average shortstop despite less enthusiastic reviews from Defensive Runs Saved. Andrus looked like a glove-only player after hitting .255/.302/.360 from 2018-21, but he bounced back with a solid 2022 campaign. He hit .249/.303/.404 with 17 home runs (the second-highest total of his career) last season. That included a very strong finish, as Andrus hit .271/.309/.464 in 43 games with the White Sox after the A’s released him in mid-August in a move seemingly motivated by a desire to keep him from vesting a $15MM option in his contract for the 2023 season.
  • Josh Harrison (35): The final couple months of the season saw Andrus and Harrison overlap on Chicago’s South Side. The latter played the entire season there after signing a one-year free agent deal during Spring Training. Harrison appeared in 119 games, mostly split between second and third base. He hit .256/.317/.370 with seven home runs across 425 trips to the plate, overcoming a slow start to finish the year with roughly average offensive numbers. The veteran had posted similar numbers in each of the previous two seasons. He doesn’t draw many walks or hit for significant power, but he’s a respected clubhouse presence who consistently puts the ball in play. Harrison still earns solid grades from defensive metrics for his second and third base work; he’s not an option at shortstop, however.
  • José Iglesias (33): Iglesias spent the 2022 season as the primary shortstop in Colorado. He hit .292/.328/.380 through 467 plate appearances, right in line with the production he’s managed over the past four seasons. Igleias is very difficult to strike out and hits for consistently high batting averages, albeit without much else to drive the offensive profile. He rarely walks or hits home runs, though he’s a threat for 25-plus doubles annually. That offense sufficed when paired with the excellent defense that defined his early MLB tenure. He’s drawn less favorable reviews from public metrics the past two seasons though. Statcast has pegged him as a league average shortstop in each of the last two campaigns, but Defensive Runs Saved has rated him a staggering 26 runs below average since the start of 2021. How teams feel about Iglesias’ glove at this stage of his career figures to determine whether he’ll get semi-regular playing time again or have to assume more of a utility role in 2023.
  • César Hernández (32): Hernández suited up 147 times and tallied 617 plate appearances with the Nationals last season. He was a durable presence in the lineup for manager Dave Martinez but had a rough season. Just a year after popping a career-high 21 home runs, the switch-hitter mustered only one longball in the nation’s capital. Hernández is limited to second base and has posted subpar defensive metrics in each of the last two years. He might be limited to minor league offers.
  • Rougned Odor (29): Odor spent the 2022 campaign in Baltimore, his third team in as many seasons. The production was similar as it has been at each of the previous two stops. Odor has enough left-handed power to connect on 10-15 home runs with fairly regular playing time. Yet he also makes plenty of outs thanks both to consistently low walk rates and a propensity for infield pop-ups. Odor is almost strictly a second baseman — he has intermittent experience at third base as well — and posted below-average defensive numbers last year.

Utility Types/Bounceback Fliers

  • Hanser Alberto (30): Alberto brings a high-contact righty bat to a bench. He never walks and has only once topped three home runs in a season but has plus bat-to-ball skills and is well-regarded as a clubhouse presence. Alberto hit .244/.258/.365 in 159 plate appearances with the Dodgers in 2022.
  • Johan Camargo (29): Camargo spent the 2022 season with the Phillies, hitting .237/.297/.316 through 166 plate appearances. The switch-hitter had a pair of productive years with the Braves to open his MLB career but has since had four straight well below-average seasons. Camargo’s most natural fit is at third base, though he played more shortstop with Philadelphia.
  • Harold Castro (29): A left-handed hitter, Castro makes a decent amount of contact. He’s a career .284 hitter but rarely walks or hits for power. He’s played extensively throughout the infield and even logged a fair bit of center field work but rated poorly defensively at every stop. The Tigers non-tendered him at the end of the season.
  • Yu Chang (27): Chang bounced around the league via waivers in 2022, suiting up for four teams. He hit .208/.289/.315 in 190 combined plate appearances. Chang had been a prospect of some regard during his time in the Cleveland farm system. He hasn’t hit in limited MLB looks in any of the past four seasons but can play all four infield spots.
  • Didi Gregorius (33): Gregorius was an above-average shortstop as recently as 2020. Unfortunately, a two-year free agent deal to return to the Phillies over the 2020-21 offseason didn’t pan out. Gregorius struggled offensively in both seasons, including a .210/.263/.304 line in 232 trips to the plate last year. The Phils cut him in early August and he didn’t sign elsewhere before year’s end.
  • Josh VanMeter (28): VanMeter is primarily a second baseman who has some experience at the corner spots. He hit .187/.266/.292 with a trio of home runs through 192 plate appearances with the Pirates last season.
  • Jonathan Villar (31): Villar has excellent speed and has stolen more than 35 bases on three separate occasions. He’s intermittently been a productive hitter, posting above-average offensive numbers as recently as 2021. Last season was a disappointment, however. Villar hit .208/.260/.302 in 220 plate appearances between the Cubs and Angels. He spent the final couple months of the year in Triple-A.

Which Remaining Free Agent Hitters Were Shifted The Most In 2022?

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It was announced back in September that Major League Baseball would be implementing some new rules for the 2023 season. One such change will be the limiting of defensive shifts, with teams required to have two infielders on each side of second base and all four on the near side of the outfield grass at the time the pitch is released.

The exact ramifications of these changes will be discovered as the 2023 season progresses, but the hope is that some routine grounders turn into hits instead. Those players who have been shifted the most could stand to reap the most benefit from the new environment. The prototypical example of the hitter that is the most harmed by the shifts has been a plodding and pull-happy left-hander who can be neutralized by having an infielder in deep right field. However, each player is unique and will have been attacked in different ways, so let’s look at the data, with a minimum of 100 plate appearances required to be considered here. Which free agents were shifted the most in 2022? (Quick note that Stephen Vogt has been excluded since he previously announced 2022 would be his last season.)

1.  Rougned Odor – 93.8%
2. Kole Calhoun – 93.4%
3. Zack Collins – 88.9%
4. Brett Phillips – 88%
5. Brandon Belt – 85.2%
6. Mike Ford – 84.6%
7. Jed Lowrie (as a lefty) – 83.5%
8. Robbie Grossman (as a lefty) – 82.6%
9. Michael Perez – 81.8%
10. Mike Moustakas* – 81%
11. Tommy La Stella* – 80.5%
12. Josh VanMeter – 79.7%
13. Luke Voit – 76.9%
14. Colin Moran – 75%
15. Adam Duvall – 71.7%
16. Gary Sánchez – 70.5%
17. Dominic Smith – 70.4%
18. Jackie Bradley Jr. – 64%
19. Jurickson Profar (as a lefty) – 63.8%
20. Didi Gregorius – 60.3%

(* – Moustakas and La Stella technically aren’t free agents right now. However, they were both recently designated for assignment and are likely to be released given their onerous contracts.)

Odor has been quite awful at the plate recently, with his batting average finishing at .207 or below in each of the past four years. However, his batting average on balls in play has been at .244 or below in each of those seasons, well below his earlier career marks and the .290 league average in 2022. Perhaps the shift bans could get him closer to his earlier career number when he hit between .259 and .271.

Belt hit .285/.393/.595 over 2020 and 2021, good enough for a wRC+ of 162 which trailed only Juan Soto and Bryce Harper among all MLB hitters in that time. He was actually shifted more in those two seasons than he was in 2022. Injuries limited him to just 78 games and tepid production this year, but perhaps better health and some more open space on the field could help him return to being one of the best hitters in the league.

As for the rest, some of these guys are role players or aging veterans, but a few of them could be sneaky value pickups in the latter half of the offseason. Like Belt, many of them are coming off disappointing and/or injury-marred years and will be looking to bounce back in 2023. Grossman posted a 118 wRC+ over 2020 and 2021 but just an 82 this year. Voit had a 153 wRC+ in the shortened 2020 season but dipped to 112 and 102 in the past two campaigns. Duvall had a 108 wRC+ over 2019-2021 but an 87 here in 2022. Sánchez recorded a 143 wRC+ in his first two seasons but just a 96 in the following five years, including an 89 in the most recent campaign. Smith posted a huge 150 wRC+ over 2019 and 2020 but has slid to just 82 since. Profar is coming off a decent campaign and is arguably the best free agent still unsigned.

Orioles Notes: Santander, Vavra, Odor, Farm System

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The Orioles have been getting right fielder Anthony Santander some practice at first base and could play him on the infield at least occasionally down the stretch, manager Brandon Hyde told reporters this weekend (link via MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubtako). That shift could be accompanied by other changes in the infield, which began yesterday with Rougned Odor moving to third base in deference to 25-year-old Terrin Vavra, who received his first big league start at second base.

Santander, 27, has never played a Major League game at first base but did get some minor league work there several years ago. He generally rates as an above-average defender in right field, per both Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average, although his ratings have slipped this season. With several young outfielders rising through the system including MLB-ready Kyle Stowers and fast-rising 2021 top pick Colton Cowser, it’s of extra note that Santander could reacclimate to another spot on the diamond. Austin Hays and Cedric Mullins are generally locked into outfield spots, so shifting Santander around certainly makes some sense.

Of course, even moderately enhancing Santander’s defensive versatility will also potentially make him a bit more appealing on the offseason trade market. The switch-hitting Santander drew some interest this summer, as he’s done for the past couple seasons, but the O’s hung onto him and for now can continue to enjoy his .255/.334/.452 output. Santander is on pace to set new career-highs in plate appearances, home runs and doubles this season, provided he remains healthy down the stretch. He’s also trimmed his strikeout rate from 23.1% last season to 18.6% this season and upped his walk rate from 5.3% to a career-best 8.2%.

Santander is earning $3.15MM this season and remains under club control through the 2024 campaign via arbitration. He’s already been through that process twice as a Super Two player and will be due another pair of raises before hitting the open market just after his 30th birthday in the 2024-25 offseason.

As for the move of Odor to the hot corner, it’s only sensible to get as long a look as Vavra as possible down the stretch in 2022. Second base is Vavra’s primary (and best) position, and after he hit .312/.425/.444 through 229 minor league plate appearances this season (mostly in Triple-A), he appears ready for a look in the big leagues. However, the O’s also have fellow infield prospect Jordan Westburg knocking on the door of the big leagues, if not late in 2022 then likely early in the 2023 season. Westburg, who landed 98th on Baseball America’s latest top 100 rankings, has posted a combined .255/.332/.470 slash between Double-A and Triple-A this season. He’s seen his walk rate cut in half jumping from Double-A to Triple-A and perhaps has some strikeout issues to sort through (26.1% this year), but given his general proximity to the big leagues, taking a proactive look at Vavra makes sense.

It seems fair to question just how much longer the veteran Odor will factor into the plans at all, given that the longtime Rangers infielder has posted just a .193/.257/.365 batting line in 331 plate appearances this year. The lefty-swinging Odor has actually posted worse results against right-handers than against southpaws and turned in below-average defensive grades at second base (-5 DRS, -2.9 UZR, -5 OAA).

From a broader perspective, veterans of the Odor ilk will have a more difficult time finding opportunity in Baltimore at all before too long. Despite graduating former No. 1 overall prospect Adley Rutschman to the Major League roster, the O’s still have baseball’s best all-round farm system, ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel opined in today’s updated rankings of the game’s 30 minor league systems. Some of that is due to another No.  1 overall pick being added to the system this season, but it’s also due largely to the rise of shortstop prospect Gunnar Henderson, whom Baseball America tabs as its new No. 1 overall farmhand in another just-released set of rankings.

Henderson, like Westburg, has split the 2022 season between Double-A and Triple-A, slashing at a combined .304/.429/.556 clip with 17 home runs, 20 doubles, six triples, 16 steals (in 19 tries), a huge 16.7% walk rate and a 20.8% strikeout rate. With 205 Triple-A plate appearances already under his belt, it’s at least feasible that he could also be an option late in the season — and, if not, then certainly early in 2023. However things pan out in the short-term, the looming presence of Henderson, Westburg, Vavra and others figures to directly impact Odor, Ramon Urias, Jorge Mateo and other infield options before too long.

East Notes: Castillo, Jays, Orioles, Marte, Kiermaier, Nationals

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Luis Castillo was a Blue Jays trade target last winter, and unsurprisingly, Toronto continues to have interest in Castillo’s services, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale.  Though Castillo missed the first month of the season due to shoulder soreness, he has been in strong form with a 2.92 ERA over 71 innings, even if his Statcast numbers aren’t quite as reflective of top-notch performance.  Castillo’s walk rate and hard-contact numbers are only okay, though his strikeout rate (25.3%) is well above league average and he still has elite fastball velocity.

The Reds right-hander is one of the very best players (let alone pitchers) expected to be available as the deadline approaches, making him a natural fit for a Toronto club in sore need of pitching upgrades.  Between Hyun Jin Ryu’s Tommy John surgery and underwhelming performances from Jose Berrios and Yusei Kikuchi, the faulty rotation has been the chief reason for the Jays’ struggles in the last month, which is why Nightengale writes that the Blue Jays “are expected to be the most aggressive team pursuing starting pitching help.”  Last summer’s trade for Berrios is an example of how the Toronto front office hasn’t been hesitant to pay a big price for a player they want and need, though the Blue Jays will face plenty of competition for Castillo’s services.

More from both the AL East and NL East…

  • Also from Nightengale, the Orioles’ surprisingly strong play seemingly hasn’t changed the club’s long-term plans, as Baltimore is “expected to unload” several notable veterans.  The list of names includes both impending free agents like Trey Mancini, Rougned Odor, and Jordan Lyles, plus more controllable players like Anthony Santander and All-Star closer Jorge Lopez.  It’s safe to assume that the price tag will be a lot higher for Lopez and Santander than the others, but regardless, the O’s likely aren’t going to change course and start thinking about a playoff push.
  • Starling Marte left Saturday’s game due to a groin injury, and Marte wasn’t in the Mets lineup on Sunday.  However, Marte is only day-to-day, as manager Buck Showalter told reporters (including MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo) that an MRI revealed only minor inflammation and no serious damage.  Marte has been a big contributor in his first year in New York, and his first-half performance earned him a slot on the NL All-Star team earlier today.  With this groin injury lingering, however, Marte might opt to skip the game to rest up over the break.
  • Kevin Kiermaier was placed on the 10-day injured list earlier today, marking the second time this month that a nagging hip injury has put the Rays outfielder on the shelf.  Kiermaier told reporters (including Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times) that he received a cortisone shot during his first IL stint, but now that the issue has returned, he’ll be visiting a specialist to further explore the injury.  “There’s just a lot of unknowns right now with what’s to come….I don’t really know what the future holds, to be quite honest,” Kiermaier said, noting that surgery was a possibility.  A major procedure could quite possibly end Kiermaier’s season, and thus maybe his tenure with the Rays altogether, as 2022 is the final guaranteed year of his contract.  Kiermaier has spent all 13 of his pro seasons in the Tampa organization, though that tenure has involved several injury absences.
  • There hasn’t been much public information revealed about the Nationals’ possible sale, but billionaire Michael B. Kim is the first name linked to the list of potential buyers, according to Barry Svrluga and Chelsea Janes of The Washington Post.  Kim and another bidding group have met in person with team officials already, and a third group is also slated for in-person meetings later in July.  Though there seems to be an increasing feeling that the Lerner family will indeed sell the Nationals, it is still early in the process, since “as many as five or six individuals or groups are expected to meet with club officials.”

Orioles Sign Rougned Odor To Major League Deal

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The Orioles announced agreement with infielder Rougned Odor on a major league contract for 2022. Odor is a client of Beverly Hills Sports Council. Baltimore’s 40-man roster now sits at 38.

It has now been a few seasons since Odor was a productive regular. After breaking into the majors with the Rangers in his early 20’s, Odor posted a couple solid seasons. That led Texas to strike on an early-career $49.5MM extension in March 2017, but his production took a downturn almost immediately thereafter. The left-handed hitter slumped to a .204/.252/.397 line that season. He improved upon that lowly output in the following years, but Odor has still been a below-average offensive player in each of the past four years.

Going back to the start of the 2018 campaign, Odor owns a .216/.291/.418 line. That’s come with worse than average strikeout and walk rates (27.8% and 7.9%, respectively), sapping much of his overall value. The Yankees acquired Odor from Texas this past spring, hoping that a move to the Bronx would reinvigorate his lefty bat.

While Odor did hit 15 homers in 361 plate appearances in pinstripes, he managed just a .202/.286/.379 line altogether. New York designated him for assignment and released him earlier this month to clear roster space for prospects to be added before the Rule 5 draft.

Odor is still just 27 years old (28 in February). He’s young enough that teams can continue to hold out hope he may yet find his stride offensively, but it’s been quite some time since he was a capable everyday player. There’s no financial risk for the O’s in integrating him into the infield mix, though. Under the terms of the Rangers – Yankees swap, Texas remains on the hook for almost all of the $12.3MM in guaranteed money remaining on his deal. Baltimore will only be responsible for the league minimum salary.

Dan Connolly of the Athletic first reported the Orioles were nearing agreement with Odor on a big league deal.

Yankees Place Clint Frazier, Rougned Odor On Release Waivers

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4:49 pm: Frazier has been placed on release waivers, but he has not yet cleared, tweets MLBTR’s Steve Adams. The waiver period expires tomorrow, so it remains possible another team grabs Frazier off the wire. If he passes through unclaimed, he’ll hit free agency.

4:05 pm: New York announced they’ve released both Frazier and Rougned Odor, who was also designated for assignment last week. Odor hit .202/.286/.379 across 361 plate appearances with the Yankees this past season. The Rangers will remain on the hook for almost all of his $12.33MM salary for 2022, per the terms of the teams’ April trade.

2:51 pm: The Yankees have released outfielder Clint Frazier following last week’s DFA, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman.

The 2021 season proved to be a brutal one for Frazier, a former first-round pick and top prospect whom the Yankees acquired from Cleveland as part of their return for lefty Andrew Miller. Frazier looked like a breakout candidate from 2019-20 when he posted a combined .267/.347/.497 batting line with 20 homers, 20 doubles and a triple in 465 plate appearances. However, he appeared in just 66 games this season and tallied 218 plate appearances with a woeful .186/.317/.317 output in that time.

More concerning than his bottom-line performance, however, were persistent health issues that still remain somewhat vague and unclear to the public. Frazier has had a concussion in 2018 and has since spent time on the injured list for blurred vision, dizziness and other vertigo-like symptoms. He pulled himself from a minor league rehab assignment this summer, after which manager Aaron Boone told reporters that Frazier was “not quite feeling where he needed to be.” He didn’t return to the field thereafter.

Precisely what has bothered Frazier, however, hasn’t been fully clear. The Yankees were typically vague with updates, and Frazier himself tweeted on Oct. 11 that the injury issues have been “very personal to me and something I’ve wanted to handle privately.” There’s no sense in speculating as to the root of the issue, but the obvious hope is that any maladies that have troubled the clearly talented 27-year-old can soon be put in the past.

With Frazier now reaching the market, he’ll be able to sign with any club. He still has three seasons of arbitration eligibility remaining, so Frazier will likely sign a one-year deal somewhere and, if all goes well, reenter the arbitration system with his new club. A rebuilding team with plenty of at-bats to offer could view Frazier as an appealing upside play — not entirely dissimilar from David Dahl an offseason ago. While the Dahl signing didn’t pan out in Texas, Frazier will surely have teams interested in a similar scenario — assuming he’s in good health.

Prior to his MLB debut, Frazier ranked among the 50 best prospects in the game on most notable lists. He’s a career .262/.333/.471 hitter in 934 Triple-A plate appearances, and Frazier entered the 2021 season as a career .258/.331/.475 hitter in 589 MLB trips  to the plate.

Yankees Designate Clint Frazier, Rougned Odor And Tyler Wade For Assignment

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The Yankees announced they’ve designated Clint Frazier, Rougned Odor and Tyler Wade for assignment. The moves create roster space for the selections of prospects Oswaldo Cabrera, Ron Marinaccio, Everson Pereira, Stephen Ridings and JP Sears to the 40-man roster. That keeps all five from being selected in the Rule 5 draft.

Frazier and Wade are arbitration-eligible, but the Yankees evidently determined they weren’t going to bring either player back. It’s easy to envision both attracting interest over the coming days, and New York will ten days to explore offers.

Frazier was a middle-of-the-order presence as recently as last year, when he mashed at a .267/.394/.511 clip. That came in a small sample of 160 plate appearances during a truncated season, but it was the kind of offensive upside talent evaluators have lauded for the former #5 overall pick. While Frazier’s a limited defensive player with swing-and-miss concerns, he also flashed a tantalizing blend of raw power and plate discipline.

The 2021 season was a disaster, though. Not only did the 27-year-old’s line fall to a miserly .186/.317/.317, he didn’t play past the end of June due to recurring vertigo-like symptoms. It’s certainly not how either he or the team would’ve envisioned his time in pinstripes coming to an end.

MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects Frazier for a modest $2.4MM salary if he were to proceed through the arbitration process. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see another team roll the dice on his upside for that affordable sum, either via trade or waiver claim. If Frazier were to clear waivers, he’d have the right to elect minor league free agency.

That’s also the case for Wade, who’s projected for an affordable $700K arb salary. The 26-year-old doesn’t bring much power potential, but he draws a fair amount of walks, runs well and can handle multiple positions. Wade is coming off a .268/.354/.323 showing in 145 plate appearances, and it’d register as a surprise if he didn’t land elsewhere in the coming days.

The Yankees swung a deal to acquire Odor from the Rangers just before the start of the 2021 season. While the left-handed hitter had some timely hits, his overall production was lackluster. Odor managed just a .202/.286/.379 mark over 361 plate appearances. The 27-year-old will be guaranteed $12MM next season, the final year of his contract. Texas remains on the hook for essentially all of that sum, so any team that acquires Odor would only owe him the league minimum salary.

Turning to the prospects involved, Ridings may be the best known. The big right-hander already made his MLB debut this past season as a COVID replacement. While he only worked five innings of relief, he looked like a potential late-game weapon. Ridings averaged 97 MPH on his fastball and generated whiffs on a massive 18.9% of his offerings. The 26-year-old also posted dominant numbers in the high minors.

Cabrera is the highest-regarded of the group, according to Baseball America. BA’s #8 organizational farmhand, Cabrera is coming off a solid .256/.311/.492 showing with 24 homers over 478 plate appearances at Double-A Somerset. He’s regarded as a high-end defensive infielder with strong bat-to-ball skills and burgeoning power.

Pereira, a lefty-hitting center fielder, was limited to 221 low minors plate appearances by injuries. The 20-year-old probably isn’t a near-term big league option, but the Yankees didn’t want to chance another team taking a shot on his upside. A highly-regarded amateur coming out of Venezuela in 2017, he raked at a .303/.398/.686 clip when healthy enough to take the field this year. Neither Sears nor Marinaccio has ever made an organizational ranking at FanGraphs or BA, but both posted strong numbers in the high minors and could be big league options in 2022.

Yankees Activate Gio Urshela

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The Yankees activated third baseman Gio Urshela for tonight’s ballgame. Urshela joins the surging Yankees in the midst of an 11-game winning streak. Though the Yanks couldn’t be trending much better right now, Urshela does have the potential to be an impactful addition for the stretch run.

Urshela should slot right back into his regular role at third base, pushing Rougned Odor to a bench role for which he’s probably better suited. Give Odor his due, however, as he’s put up 1.0 WAR as a Yankee by measure of baseball-reference’s or Fangraphs’ WAR.

That value has largely come from his glovework at the hot corner. Odor has logged 2.0 DRS/1.3 UZR over 169 innings while providing decent pop in the form of .194 ISO. Urshela is still probably the preferred gloveman at third, but Odor’s performance could allow manager Aaron Boone to continue using Urshela at shortstop on occasion — as he had done before Urshela’s latest injury. A hamstring strain has kept Urshela out of action for almost a month now, however, so Boone could choose a more conservative approach to ease Ushela back into regular gameplay.

In terms of the logistics, Jonathan Davis was optioned back to Triple-A yesterday to make room on the active roster. Brody Koerner was outrighted to Triple-A today as well. Koerner, 27, had made just two appearances with the big league club this season.

Rangers Notes: DeShields, Yang, Allard, Jung

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Outfielder Delino DeShields Jr. has foregone the June 1 opt-out clause in his minor league contract and will remain with the Rangers for the time being, per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). Grant notes that the Rangers are still open to helping DeShields land on a big league roster if the opportunity presents itself. The Yankees reportedly looked into a trade involving DeShields but have thus far opted to go in another direction. Given Texas’ openness to helping DeShields back to the Majors, the Yankees probably wouldn’t have to give much of anything in return.

Of course, Texas could also opt to take another look at DeShields themselves. He’s batting .363/.433/.538 in Triple-A Round Rock, albeit in just 91 plate appearances and with a ridiculous .500 average on balls in play that won’t be sustained. DeShields has spent parts of five seasons as a Ranger, but Texas is currently committed to evaluating younger and/or more controllable players throughout the bulk of the lineup — hence the decision to move on from Elvis Andrus and Rougned Odor this season. Twenty-five-year-old Jason Martin is getting a look right now, and Texas also has Willie Calhoun, Adolis Garcia and Joey Gallo in the current outfield mix.

Some more notes from Arlington…

  • Lefty Hyeon-jong Yang is moving back into the bullpen after four of his past five appearances (including three in a row) were starts, Grant tweets. The former KBO MVP has been hit hard when working out of the rotation — particularly the second time through the order. Everything regarding Yang’s numbers so far comes with a small-sample caveat, given his limited innings count, but he’s pitched to a 3.55 ERA in 12 2/3 innings as a reliever while holding opponents to a .191/.255/.340 output. As a starter, he’s been tagged for 11 runs in 15 innings while yielding a .298/.388/.561 slash. One good start or one poor relief outing could obviously skew those numbers substantially at this point, so those numbers can be taken with a grain of salt. The 33-year-old Yang has tossed at least three innings in all of his appearances as a Ranger, so he’ll give skipper Chris Woodward a multi-inning option.
  • Stepping into Yang’s rotation spot will be left-hander Kolby Allard. The former Braves top prospect and first-round pick has worked primarily out of the bullpen this season but stretched to four innings in his most recent relief outing. Allard held his own as a rookie following the trade that swapped him and reliever Chris Martin in 2019, but he was clobbered for a 7.75 ERA in 33 2/3 innings last summer. He’s been sharp through his small sample of 11 1/3 innings in ’21, sporting a career-best 27 percent strikeout rate and a strong seven percent walk rate. It feels like Allard has been a prospect forever, but that’s common with high-profile high school draftees. He’s still just 23 years of age and has only 19 big league starts under his belt, so there’s time for him to yet emerge as a solid back-end starter for Texas.
  • Top prospect Josh Jung is expected to be cleared to return to action within the next two weeks, per Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The 23-year-old Jung, selected eighth overall in 2019, has yet to play this season after suffering a stress fracture in his foot back in Spring Training. He underwent surgery that came with a recovery period of up to eight weeks. Jung has yet to play above A-ball because of last year’s canceled minor league season, but he hit .316/.389/.443 between Rookie ball and Class-A in 2019, his lone pro season thus far. He’s widely considered to be among the game’s top 100 overall prospects and is viewed as the club’s third baseman of the future.

Yankees Reinstate Gleyber Torres From Injured List

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Before this evening’s game against the Rangers, the Yankees announced they reinstated shortstop Gleyber Torres from the injured list. Torres is in the starting lineup tonight, hitting fifth. To create active roster space, fellow infielder Rougned Odor was placed on the paternity list.

Torres has been out of action since May 11 after testing positive for COVID-19. The 24-year-old had previously been fully vaccinated and was fortunately said to be asymptomatic. He’ll now look to turn around his season line, which currently sits at .240/.331/.304 across 142 plate appearances. It’s the second consecutive year in which Torres has reached base a fair amount but not hit for power, a surprising development after he slugged .535 and popped 38 homers during his age-22 season in 2019.

Odor had just returned from an IL stint himself- in his case, due to a left knee sprain. The 27-year-old has just a .182/.280/.379 line over his first 75 plate appearances in the Bronx. Nevertheless, the Yankees have been intrigued enough by Odor to give him 19 starts at second base, and he figures to get some more work at the position when he returns. Players on the paternity list can miss between one and three games.

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