Phillies Acquire Tyler Gilbert From Reds
The Phillies have acquired left-hander Tyler Gilbert from the Reds, reports Matt Gelb of The Athletic on X. Since Gelb uses the word “purchased,” it seems the Reds will receive cash considerations in return. The southpaw wasn’t on the Reds’ 40-man roster and therefore won’t need a roster spot with the Phillies.
Gilbert, 30, signed a minor league deal with the Reds in the offseason. He has made seven appearances, three of them starts, logging 11 2/3 innings. He has an awful earned run average of 13.11 so far, though that’s obviously a tiny sample and there are some other numbers that are more favorable.
The lefty has a massive .545 batting average on balls in play so far and 43.3% strand rate, both of which are unsustainably unlucky. His 20.6% strikeout rate and 9.5% walk rate are close to average and he hasn’t allowed a home run yet this year, so his FIP is actually 2.94 in his brief 2024 showing. Regardless, it seems the Reds are willing to move on take the cash while letting the Phils take a chance on him.
Gilbert has 91 2/3 innings of major league experience, working as a swingman with the Diamondbacks over the previous three seasons, famously throwing a no-hitter in his first career start. He currently sports a 4.32 ERA in his career, with a 17.1% strikeout rate and 7.5% walk rate. He was outrighted by the Snakes at the end of last year, which led to his minor league deal with the Reds.
The Phillies don’t really need starting depth in the short-term. Taijuan Walker recently returned from the injured list, which bumped Spencer Turnbull to the bullpen despite having a 1.67 ERA on the year. The rest of the rotation consists of Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Ranger Suárez and Cristopher Sánchez. There’s also Max Castillo, who is on the 40-man roster and starting in Triple-A. Prospect Mick Abel isn’t yet on the roster but is also starting at the Triple-A level. Andrew Painter could be rehabbing at some point later this season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in July of last year.
But pitching depth can often be thinned out in a hurry, which is why there’s the old saw that you can never have too much. It’s also possible that the Phils may envision Gilbert focusing more on relief work as a way to unlock another gear with him. If he cracks the roster at any point, he still has one option year remaining and less than two years of service time.
Reds Sign Tyler Gilbert To Minor League Deal
The Reds have signed left-handed pitcher Tyler Gilbert to a minor league contract, the team announced. The deal comes with an invitation to major league Spring Training. The All Bases Covered client will be 30 years old in 2024.
Drafted by the Phillies in 2015, Gilbert was traded to the Dodgers ahead of the 2020 season and selected by the Diamondbacks the following winter in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 draft. He made his debut with Arizona in 2021 and is best known for throwing a no-hitter during his first MLB start and fourth big league appearance. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to live up to that impossibly high standard throughout the rest of his career. He has shuttled back and forth between the majors and Triple-A over the past three years, while also making a couple of trips to the injured list with trouble in his pitching elbow. Overall, he tossed 91 2/3 innings for the Diamondbacks, pitching to a 4.32 ERA and 4.78 SIERA in 13 starts and 15 relief appearances.
The lefty spent most of his 2023 campaign pitching out of the bullpen, working as a primary reliever for the first time since his 2019 season in the Phillies organization. While he gave up 10 runs on 21 hits in 17 1/3 big league innings, his underlying numbers were much more promising. Gilbert, one of the slowest-throwing arms in the game in 2021 and ’22, threw all his pitches with an extra 2-4 mph. Opposing batters swung and missed more often at almost all of his offerings, and he nearly doubled his strikeout rate from 2022. Consequently, his 3.32 SIERA was a vast improvement over his 5.17 figure from the previous two seasons. Moreover, while his 11 MLB appearances make for a tiny sample, he boasted a near-identical strikeout rate in 74 2/3 innings at Triple-A.
The Reds have already added plenty of bullpen arms this winter, signing Emilio Pagán and Brent Suter, re-signing Buck Farmer, and scooping up Justin Bruihl and Brooks Kriske on minor league deals. They also added Nick Martinez to the rotation, although his experience as both a starter and reliever surely increased his appeal. Still, there is no such thing as too much bullpen depth. Nor is there such thing as too much starting pitching depth, for that matter, and given the fact that the injury-prone Frankie Montas is the only starter on the team with a full, qualified season under his belt, Gilbert’s experience as a starter surely increased his appeal, too.
Gilbert has one option year remaining.
Tyler Gilbert, Austin Adams Elect Free Agency
The Diamondbacks announced they’ve outrighted pitchers Tyler Gilbert and Austin Adams off the 40-man roster. The moves were necessary to create space for the reinstatement of five players from the 60-day injured list. Arizona’s 40-man is at capacity with the offseason underway, while Gilbert and Adams have each chosen free agency.
Gilbert is best known for throwing a no-hitter in his first career start (fourth appearance overall) back in 2021. The former sixth-round draftee has pitched in each of the last three big league campaigns, totaling 91 2/3 innings. He owns a 4.32 ERA, including a 5.19 mark over 17 1/3 frames out of the bullpen this year. Gilbert struck out a career-high 26.4% of opponents while averaging a personal-best 92.5 MPH on his fastball. That wasn’t enough to hold his spot on Arizona’s roster but should aid him in landing a minor league opportunity elsewhere.
Adams, 32, has 132 MLB games between four clubs. He inked a minor league contract with Arizona last offseason and reached the majors in May. The right-hander came out of the bullpen on 24 occasions for Torey Lovullo. He allowed 12 runs (11 earned) in 17 1/3 innings, walking eight and hitting five batters. Adams punched out 22 behind a decent 12.1% swinging strike rate. While the slider specialist has always flashed the ability to miss bats, below-average control has led to plenty of walks and a staggering number of hits batsmen (including an MLB-leading 24 in just 52 2/3 innings two seasons ago).
The veteran hurler’s time in the desert ended on a sour note. Adams broke his right ankle when he was hit by a Joc Pederson comebacker in early August. That ended his season and made it a virtual lock Arizona would cut him loose rather than retain him on a projected $1.1MM arbitration salary.
D’Backs Select Nabil Crismatt, Move Tommy Henry To 60-Day Injured List
In between games of the Diamondbacks’ double-header with the Padres, the D’Backs have selected the contract of right-hander Nabil Crismatt from Triple-A. MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert was the first to note this evening that Crismatt had been issued locker space in Arizona’s clubhouse. In corresponding moves, the Diamondbacks optioned left-hander Tyler Gilbert to Triple-A Reno and moved Tommy Henry to the 60-day injured list.
Should Crismatt see action in tonight’s game, he’ll be making his D’Backs debut against his former team. Crismatt has spent three of his four MLB seasons with the Padres, posting a 3.39 ERA over 148 2/3 innings on the strength of some good soft-contact numbers and a 50.6% grounder rate. Unfortunately, Crismatt’s 2023 season has been a trial, as he missed two months due to a hip strain and had a 9.82 ERA over 11 innings before San Diego designated the righty for assignment in June.
Crismatt opted for free agency rather than accept an outright assignment to the Padres’ Triple-A team, and he quickly landed with Arizona on a minor league contract. He opted out of that deal at the start of August but then returned to the Snakes on a new minors deal, and it will now result in another opportunity at the big league level.
It is possible Crismatt’s stint in the majors might only last through tonight, as Arizona might just need a fresh arm available for the double-header’s nightcap. The Diamondbacks have off-days on both Sunday and Wednesday, so Crismatt’s selection might be a temporary stopgap until the Snakes can reset their pitching staff. That said, given the inconsistency of Arizona’s relief corps, the D’Backs might decide to give Crismatt a longer look to see if he can provide the bullpen with any stable innings.
Henry was placed on the 15-day IL on July 29 due to inflammation in his throwing elbow. Through the 60-day IL stint also retroactively starts on July 29, the new placement means that Henry isn’t eligible to return until the very end of September, indicating that his 2023 season is probably over. An MRI didn’t reveal any structural damage in July, yet obviously there is still enough concern to give Henry an extended recovery time.
The Diamondbacks have been starved for consistent pitching behind Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly this season, and Henry posted respectable numbers as the team’s third-best starter. Despite a below-average 9.2% walk rate and a very low 16.8% strikeout rate, Henry still managed a 4.15 ERA over 89 innings, thanks in large part to an excellent 32.4% hard-hit ball rate.
Diamondbacks Select Tyler Gilbert; Drey Jameson Moved To 60-Day IL
The Diamondbacks selected the contract of left-hander Tyler Gilbert from Triple-A Reno, and optioned outfielder Kyle Lewis to Triple-A in the corresponding 26-man roster move. To make room on the 40-man, Arizona moved right-hander Drey Jameson to the 60-day injured list.
Gilbert’s last MLB appearance came almost a year ago, as he tossed four innings for the D’Backs on July 26, 2022. An elbow sprain sent him to the 60-day IL and subsequently ended his season, and Arizona then designated Gilbert for assignment during the winter and outrighted him off the 40-man roster.
Best known for his no-hitter against the Padres in 2021, Gilbert hasn’t been able to sustain the momentum after that dream start (literally his first start in the majors, after three previous relief appearances). While posting some good results throughout the rest of his 2021 rookie season, Gilbert had a 5.24 ERA over 34 1/3 innings last year and spent a lot of time in the minors.
The results haven’t been particularly good at Triple-A Reno this season, as Gilbert has a 5.67 ERA over 54 innings, though his 27.3% strikeout rate and 8% walk rate hint that he is getting a little unlucky in the hitter-friendly environment of the Pacific Coast League. Gilbert also has a .343 BABIP and eight homers allowed over his 54 frames of work.
It seems like the D’Backs will use Gilbert in the long relief role left vacant when Jameson was injured, and the rather immediate move to the 60-day IL is something of an ominous sign for Jameson’s health. The Diamondbacks only placed Jameson on the 15-day IL yesterday due to elbow inflammation, and he was set to undergo an MRI to determine the extent of the injury. Results of that MRI haven’t yet been revealed, and even if Jameson has avoided a major injury, the D’Backs might just be showing caution with any elbow-related issue.
Jameson made three starts in a fill-in capacity for Zach Davies earlier this season, but has pitched out of the bullpen over his other 12 outings. While the advanced metrics aren’t wild about Jameson’s modest 21.3% strikeout rate or 10.3% walk rate, the bottom-line results have been there, with a 3.32 ERA over 40 2/3 total innings. Since he’ll now be out until at least the first week of September, the pitching-needy Diamondbacks will need to find another way to make up those innings — the club was already expected to be looking at starters and relievers heading into the trade deadline.
Outrights: Carrillo, Gilbert
A couple players recently designated for assignment have gone unclaimed on waivers:
- The Nationals announced they’ve assigned righty Gerardo Carrillo outright to Triple-A Rochester. He was designated for assignment earlier in the week when the club finalized their one-year contract with Erasmo Ramírez. Carrillo, 24, still has yet to reach the majors. Added to the Dodgers 40-man roster during the 2020-21 offseason, he was pitching in Double-A when sent to Washington as part of the Max Scherzer/Trea Turner blockbuster. The righty was regarded as a potential high-leverage reliever at the time, but his production stalled in 2022. He spent the first half of the season on the injured list before splitting the year between High-A Wilmington and Double-A Harrisburg. The native of Mexico allowed 13 runs through 10 1/3 innings at the latter stop. Carrillo has never previously been outrighted, so he’ll remain in the Washington organization and try to reclaim a 40-man roster spot next season.
- Diamondbacks left-hander Tyler Gilbert went through outright waivers after being designated for assignment last week, according to his transactions log at MLB.com. A longtime minor leaguer, Gilbert reached the bigs late in the 2021 campaign. He made three relief appearances before being tabbed for his first start in mid-August. Gilbert went on to no-hit the Padres in that outing, an out-of-nowhere performance that etched his name in the history books. The former sixth-round draftee didn’t find much consistency thereafter, however. He’s allowed a 4.96 ERA across 61 2/3 MLB frames since that no-hitter and lost the final few months of the 2022 season to an elbow sprain. Gilbert has never previously been outrighted and doesn’t have the requisite service time to refuse the assignment, so he’ll stick in the system at Triple-A Reno.
Diamondbacks Designate Tyler Gilbert For Assignment
The Diamondbacks have officially announced their signing of right-hander Scott McGough, with left-hander Tyler Gilbert designated for assignment in a corresponding move.
Gilbert, 29 next week, was first selected to the big leagues in August of 2021. Incredibly, he threw a no-hitter in his first ever major league start, becoming the fourth player in MLB history to do so. He finished that season with 40 innings pitched over six starts and three relief appearances, posting a 3.15 ERA, despite a meager 15.9% strikeout rate.
He took a step back in 2022, tossing 34 1/3 innings with a 5.24 ERA and an even lower strikeout rate of 13.7%. He was frequently optioned to the minors, tossing 44 innings in Triple-A with a 7.57 ERA. He was placed on the injured list in late July due to an elbow sprain and never returned.
The Diamondbacks will now have a week to trade Gilbert or pass him through waivers. He still has two option years remaining and less than a year of service time, which perhaps could give him some appeal for a team looking to add depth that they can stash in the minors.
Diamondbacks Outright Humberto Castellanos, Tyler Zuber, Buddy Kennedy
November 11: The Diamondbacks announced that they have outrighted Castellanos and Zuber, as well as infielder Buddy Kennedy.
November 10: The Diamondbacks announced a batch of roster moves today, reinstating five players from the 60-day injured list. They are infielders Nick Ahmed and Emmanuel Rivera, left-hander Tyler Gilbert, along with right-handers Humberto Castellanos and Tyler Zuber. Those latter two names have also been designated for assignment. That leaves the club’s 40-man roster at exactly 40.
Starting today and until Spring Training, there is no injured list. That means that most teams around the league are facing roster crunches as players on the 60-day IL have to retake their roster spots. The D-Backs reinstated these five but also had to designate a couple of them in order to get their roster down to an even 40.
Zuber, 28 in June, was just claimed off waivers from the Royals a couple of weeks ago. The fact that Arizona has quickly put him back into DFA limbo perhaps suggests that their plan in claiming him has been to pass him through waivers and hang onto his rights. He missed all of 2022 due to a shoulder impingement but recently began throwing again. When he was last healthy in 2021, he had poor results in the majors but put up a 2.83 ERA in Triple-A with a 37.1% strikeout rate, though an unfortunate 13.8% walk rate. If he clears waivers, the D-Backs can try to help him with his control but without Zuber taking up a roster spot.
As for Castellanos, 25 in April, he made 11 appearances for the Snakes in 2022, including nine starts. Unfortunately, he required Tommy John surgery in August and is likely to miss the entire 2023 season.
Diamondbacks Select Tommy Henry
The Diamondbacks announced that they have selected the contract of left-hander Tommy Henry. He is the starter for today’s game, making his major league debut. To make room for him on the 40-man roster, fellow lefty Tyler Gilbert was transferred to the 60-day injured list. Righty Taylor Widener was optioned to make room on the active roster.
Henry, 25, was selected by the Diamondbacks with the 74th overall pick in the 2019 draft. He tossed three innings in Low-A that year but then missed all of 2020 due to the pandemic. Last year, he made 23 starts in Double-A, putting up a 5.21 ERA with a 27.4% strikeout rate, 10.8% walk rate and 39.7% ground ball rate. Here in 2022, he’s been bumped up to Triple-A and made 20 starts so far, sitting on a 3.83 ERA with a 21.9% strikeout rate, 9.6% walk rate and 44.6% grounder rate.
Henry has appeared on Baseball America’s list of top Arizona farmhands since 2020, getting bumped up to #9 at the midseason update this year. Their report notes that he doesn’t have overpowering stuff, with his fastball sitting around 91 mph, but his best offering is his changeup.
As for Gilbert, he was placed on the injured list July 29 due to an elbow sprain. He won’t be eligible to return until 60 days from that initial IL placement, which would be late September at the earliest. He has a 5.24 ERA this season through 34 1/3 innings.
Multiple Teams Closing Spring Complexes To Opposing Scouts
Some MLB teams are closing their spring complexes to scouts from other teams until either Major League spring play commences or until after the Rule 5 draft, per ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel (via Twitter).
McDaniel also suggests the Rule 5 draft could be cancelled outright, at which point teams would likely be more lenient. Canceling the Rule 5 draft would be unfortunate, as it offers at least an opportunity to blocked minor league players to get opportunities for promotion elsewhere. While it may pale in comparison to the other issues currently on the table, canceling the Rule 5 draft would close off at least one avenue that struggling teams have utilized to find and audition controllable players.
The implications here are fairly clear. Currently the only players allowed in camp are those that are not on the 40-man roster. Those are also the players who will be available for plucking during the Rule 5 draft. By locking opposing scouts out of camp, teams are strategically denying valuable information to clubs about the progress of certain players. Without current scouting, teams picking in the Rule 5 draft will have to rely on old information, which is difficult when specifically looking for players who might have jumped a rung in terms of their development.
Last year’s Rule 5 draft proved a (relatively) fertile area of player acquisition for Major League clubs. Akil Baddoo (Tigers), Garrett Whitlock (Red Sox), Jordan Sheffield (Rockies), Trevor Stephan (Guardians), and Zach Pop (Marlins) being among the players who stuck with new clubs after being taken in the draft. Tyler Gilbert (Diamondbacks) put up 1.1 rWAR for Arizona after being selected in the Triple-A phase of the draft. He improbably tosses a No-Hitter in his first start for the Diamondbacks, finishing the year with a 3.15 ERA/4.27 FIP over 40 innings in the Majors. These players provided some of the more memorable success stories from the 2021 campaign.
Whitlock, for example, was one of the most important players on a playoff team. Working out of the bullpen, Whitlock became the Red Sox most reliable reliever down the stretch. He finished the year with a 1.96 ERA/2.84 FIP across 46 outings totaling 73 1/3 innings, good for 3.0 rWAR. Finding a ready contributor like Whitlock in another team’s complex will be much more difficult if scouts don’t have access to those playing fields.