Pirates Designate Duane Underwood Jr. For Assignment
According to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Pirates have designated right-hander Duane Underwood Jr. for assignment. The move clears a spot on the active roster for right-hander Vince Velasquez, who is being activated from the 15-day IL to start this afternoon’s game against the Mariners.
Underwood was a second-round draft pick by the Cubs in the 2012 draft and made his MLB debut with the club in 2018. He would ultimately pitch in Chicago for parts of three seasons, posting a 5.20 ERA and 4.85 FIP in 36 1/3 innings of work before being designated for assignment ahead of the 2021 season. The Pirates promptly acquired the righty in exchange for minor league first baseman Shendrik Apostel and installed him in their bullpen, where he has remained ever since.
In three seasons with the Pirates, Underwood has posted a 4.49 ERA that clocks in at 5% below league average by measure of ERA+, with a solid 3.90 FIP, a 20% strikeout rate, and a 9.3% walk rate. Those results have taken a turn for the worse this season, however, as Underwood has posted a 5.10 ERA and 5.18 FIP in 24 1/3 innings of work. Under the hood, Underwood’s strikeout rate has dropped from 22% last season to just 14% so far int he 2023 campaign, while his walk rate has climbed to a near-matching 11%. With nearly as many walks as strikeouts so far this season, it’s hardly surprising that the Pirates have made the decision to pull the plug on the 28-year-old righty.
The Pirates will have one week to either trade Underwood or put him through waivers. With three years of service time, Underwood has the right to reject an outright assignment, though doing so would forfeit his $1.025MM contract.
As for Velasquez, the veteran right-hander, who celebrates his 31st birthday two weeks from today, posted solid results for the Pirates in seven starts prior to being placed on the 15-day IL with elbow inflammation earlier this month. Velasquez sports a 3.05 ERA in 35 1/3 innings this season, though his 82.4% strand rate leaves reason to believe regression could be in the righty’s future.
Pirates Place Vince Velasquez On IL, Outright Drew Maggi
The Pirates announced today that right-hander Vince Velasquez has been placed on the 15-day injured list with right elbow inflammation. His roster spot will go to fellow righty Chase De Jong, who has been reinstated from his own IL stint, which was due to a lumbar spine muscle sprain. Additionally, infielder Drew Maggi cleared waivers and was outrighted to Double-A Altoona. The club’s 40-man roster count is now down to 39.
Velasquez was removed from yesterday’s game after throwing just 54 pitches in three innings. During the broadcast, he could be seen grabbing at his throwing elbow, video courtesy Justice delos Santos of MLB.com. After the game, he spoke to Kevin Gorman of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and didn’t seem especially worried. “I’m pretty optimistic about it,” Velasquez said. “I’ve been in situations like this before. I’m glad I stopped when I needed to. If I would’ve kept going it probably would’ve been more severe. I just have to be optimistic and then go from there.”
Despite that lack of concern, it seems the club will give him a chance to rest up, either out of an abundance of caution or because testing revealed a bit more severity than he expected. It’s still unclear what kind of absence the club is forecasting but they will proceed without Velasquez for at least a couple of weeks.
Velasquez has long been an intriguing pitcher with some strong strikeout numbers at times but he’s been fairly inconsistent and also had trouble with the long ball. For his career, he has a 4.84 ERA with a 25% strikeout rate, allowing home runs on 14.2% of fly balls. Signed by the Pirates to a one-year, $3.15MM deal this offseason, he’s had a good start to his 2023 with a 3.06 ERA after seven starts. There might be a bit of good luck in there, however, as his .250 batting average on balls in play and 82.4% strand rate are both on the fortunate side of average. His 4.10 FIP and 4.51 SIERA suggest he’s actually been closer to his norm than he might appear on first blush.
For as long as he’s out of action, the Bucs will likely need to find a fifth starter to join Mitch Keller, Roansy Contreras, Rich Hill and Johan Oviedo. They have a few off-days later in the month that will lessen the need, but they’ll likely need at least a spot starter or a bullpen game to get them through to their next day off on May 11.
Luis Ortiz would be one option, as he’s on the 40-man roster and already made his major league debut last year. He has a 2.45 ERA through six Triple-A starts so far this year and is scheduled to start for Indianapolis tonight. The Bucs also now have an open 40-man spot and could turn to a non-roster option. Quinn Priester is one of their top prospects but he has a 5.96 ERA through his own six-start opening to the year for Indianapolis. He also started yesterday and won’t be an option for a few days.
The open roster spot comes via Maggi’s outright. The infielder became a feel-good story recently when the Pirates selected him a couple weeks ago. He had spent over a decade toiling away in the minors, having made his professional debut in Low-A back in 2010. He was with the Pirates at that time but subsequently bounced to the systems of the Angels, Dodgers, Cleveland, Twins and Phillies before finally making his MLB debut this year, just shy of his 34th birthday. He got into three games before being optioned to the minors last week.
Maggi actually has a previous outright in his career, as he was briefly on the Twins’ 40-man roster in 2021. That gives him the right to reject this assignment and elect free agency, though it’s not clear if he’s chosen to exercise that right or not.
Pirates Sign Vince Velasquez
Dec. 13: The Pirates have formally announced a one-year deal with Velasquez. Their 40-man roster is now full. Pittsburgh has yet to formally announce the signing of lefty Jarlin Garcia, who agreed to a deal on the same day as Velasquez. They’ll need to make a corresponding 40-man move for Garcia once his physical is complete and that deal is official.
Dec. 6: The Pirates and righty Vince Velasquez are in agreement on a one-year deal, reports Kiley McDaniel of ESPN.com. Velasquez will make $3.15MM, according to Robert Murray of FanSided. Velasquez is represented by CAA Sports.
Velasquez, 31 in June, has pitched in each of the past eight MLB seasons, mostly with the Phillies but also with the Astros, Padres and White Sox. He has occasionally tantalized with some high strikeout numbers but has rarely been able to be consistently effective for extended stretches. His lowest ERA in a single season is 4.12, which came back in 2016, though he’s also been above 5.00 in three separate seasons, including one above 6.00. His career high in terms of strikeout rate is 29.9%, in the shortened 2020 campaign, but it’s also been as low as 21.6%. His walk rate has been as low as 7.8% but also as high as 11.8%.
All told, Velasquez has 726 1/3 innings in his career with a 4.93 ERA, 25.1% strikeout rate and 9.4% walk rate. Those numbers vaguely resemble an effective back-end starter, which Velasquez has occasionally been, just not reliably. Last year, he signed a $3MM deal with the White Sox and began the year in the rotation but was hit hard and bumped to the bullpen before the end of May, only making two starts for the rest of the year.
It’s unclear if the Pirates plan to use him as a starter or a reliever, but he fits the mold of the low-cost rotation addition they have done in recent years. They signed Tyler Anderson to a $2.5MM deal in 2021 and traded him to the Mariners at the deadline for prospects Carter Bins and Joaquin Tejada. Going into 2022, they inked Jose Quintana to a $2MM deal and later flipped him to the Cardinals, alongside Chris Stratton, for Johan Oviedo and Malcom Nunez. It’s possible that they have similar designs on Velasquez this year, with the veteran ideally holding down a rotation spot and pitching well enough to become a midseason target of other clubs.
The Pirates have been aggressively rebuilding in recent years, finishing last in the National League Central in each of the past four seasons, tying with the Reds in 2022. It’s unlikely they will suddenly jump into contention in 2023, but they have been looking to bolster their young roster with some veteran additions on short-term deals. They acquired Ji-Man Choi from the Rays and signed free agent Carlos Santana for their first base/designated hitter mix, then signed Jarlín García for some left-handed relief. It was reported earlier this morning that starting pitching was on the list with the club looking to potentially add a couple of arms into the rotation. If Velasquez is indeed one of them, he will join Mitch Keller and Roansy Contreras, with JT Brubaker likely taking up a spot as well. There are some in-house options who could be in the mix as well, including Oviedo, Luis Ortiz, Bryse Wilson and Zach Thompson, with health and performance likely determining who gets the nod most frequently. If they find enough success in that group to bump Velasquez to the bullpen, he posted a 4.25 ERA as a reliever in 2022 compared to a 5.26 as a starter.
Lucas Giolito To Be Placed On IL, Miss At Least Two Starts
The White Sox rotation was already down a man with last week’s announcement that Lance Lynn would be undergoing knee surgery. Now it seems it has been dealt another unfortunate blow, as manager Tony La Russa says Lucas Giolito will be heading to the IL, with missing two starts being the optimistic outcome, per James Fegan of The Athletic.
Giolito started last night’s season opener but left after four innings after experiencing abdominal tightness. While the long-term outlook is still unclear at this point, the fact that two starts is described as the “optimistic” downtime suggests that it’s likely to be longer than that. Giolito told reporters that the injury was a “random and freak thing” but not related to his oblique. (Twitter links from Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times)
Regardless of how long he is out, it’s bad news for the White Sox, as Giolito has established himself as one of the better starters in the game. Last year, he threw 178 2/3 innings with an ERA of 3.53, 27.9% strikeout rate and 7.2% walk rate, coming in 11th in AL Cy Young voting. With Lynn and Giolito now both on the shelf, the projected rotation is down to Dylan Cease, Dallas Keuchel and Michael Kopech. There were already question marks around some of those names, as Kopech has only thrown 69 1/3 total innings over the past three years, due to Tommy John surgery and opting out of the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign. Keuchel is coming off a down year where he put up a 5.28 ERA.
Due to those concerns, the club bolstered their depth by signing Vince Velasquez. Although initially projected to be in the bullpen as a long man, these injuries have quickly thrust him into the rotation. He will start Tuesday’s home opener for the club, per Scott Merkin of MLB.com. Velasquez has always provided intriguing results based on his strikeouts (25.4% career rate) but a propensity for long balls has pushed his ERA to 4.95 for his career and 6.30 last year.
That still leaves one spot available in the rotation. Reynaldo Lopez started nine games for the club last year and could be an option, though La Russa says that they will wait and see if he’s needed out of the bullpen in the coming days before making a decision on that, per Fegan. Going outside the box, Tanner Banks, who just cracked a major league roster for the first time at the age of 30, is another possible option. (Per Schouwen) Banks only started five out of his 25 appearances in Triple-A in 2021 and never logged more than four innings in any outing last year.
There’s plenty still up in the air here, but it’s still certainly concerning for the Sox and their fans. The bullpen had also been dented recently by the trade of Craig Kimbrel and the announcement that Garrett Crochet will need Tommy John surgery. The pitching staff will now have to weather yet another notable absence. Johnny Cueto was recently signed to a minor league deal, but he only just arrived at the club’s spring facility in Arizona yesterday, per Fegan. He’ll need to get ramped up at extended Spring Training and maybe pitch in the minors before he’ll be ready to help the big league team.
Elsewhere on the squad, A.J. Pollock will be departing from the team after Sunday’s game for paternity leave, per Merkin. La Russa says that Andrew Vaughn will get increased playing time in Pollock’s absence, per Fegan.
White Sox Sign Vince Velasquez
TODAY, 11:17am: The White Sox announced the Velasquez signing, a one-year, $3MM deal.
YESTERDAY, 1:00pm: The White Sox are signing right-hander Vince Velasquez, pending a physical, per Robert Murray of FanSided. The terms of the deal are not known at this time.
Velasquez, 30 in June, had an up-and-down tenure during his time in Philadelphia. Acquired as part of the Ken Giles trade in 2015, he had a promising debut in 2016, throwing 131 innings over 24 starts with an ERA of 4.12. Unfortunately, his ERA has never been as low since, as its been 4.85 or higher in each subsequent season.
He’s often been undone by walks and home runs, as his career walk rate of 9.5% is above league average. It’s also gotten worse in subsequent seasons, with a mark of 11% in 2020 and 11.8% in 2021. As for the home runs, the league average for HR/FB is usually around 10%, but Velasquez has a career mark of 15.1%. In 2021, he was released by the Phillies and latched on with the Padres towards the end of the season, finishing the campaign with an ERA of 6.30 over 94 1/3 innings.
Despite all of that, he has still tantalized with an ability to generate strikeouts, as his rate has been above 24% in each of his seasons except for 2017. He’s also still relatively young, making it possible that he could right the ship and deliver on some of the promise he’s shown.
The market for starting pitching has been the wildest this offseason, both before the lockout and after. It could perhaps be a side effect of the lockout leading to a condensed Spring Training and a regular season that will feature extra doubleheaders to make up for the delayed start of the schedule. Teams may be anticipating extra injuries throughout the year. Furthermore, now that players can’t be optioned to the minors more than five times per season, there will be less opportunities for roster churn. The White Sox already have five capable starters in Lance Lynn, Lucas Giolito, Dylan Cease, Dallas Keuchel and Michael Kopech. However, Velasquez has served in a swing capacity before and could perhaps do so again for the Sox, making multi-inning appearances out of the bullpen and perhaps stepping into the rotation should a need arise.
Padres Outright Nick Ramirez
Sept. 21: The Padres’ Triple-A affiliate, the El Paso Chihuahuas, announced that Ramirez has been assigned outright to their roster after going unclaimed on waivers.
Sept. 17: The Padres announced they’ve designated reliever Nick Ramirez for assignment. The move creates a 40-man roster spot for Vince Velasquez, who has been selected to the big league club to start this evening’s game against the Cardinals. San Diego signed Velasquez to a minor league deal on Wednesday and announced at the time that he’d be added to the major league roster to make a start this weekend.
Ramirez signed a minor league deal with San Diego over the winter and was selected to the majors in mid-April. He’s been up-and-down over the course of the season, making thirteen MLB appearances and getting into 30 games with Triple-A El Paso. Often called upon to work multiple innings out of the bullpen, Ramirez has tallied 20 1/3 frames of 5.75 ERA ball at the big league level this year. He hasn’t missed many bats, striking out just 15.4% of opponents with a below-average 9.4% swinging strike rate. But Ramirez has avoided walks and induced ground-balls at a slightly above-average clip.
In the minors, Ramirez has had more success generating whiffs. He’s fanned an average 24.1% of batters faced with El Paso, although his ERA has been inflated by some poor sequencing and batted ball fortune. Opposing hitters have a .339 batting average on balls in play against Ramirez in the minors, and just over a third of the baserunners he’s allowed have come around to score, resulting in a similarly disappointing 5.23 ERA in Triple-A.
Ramirez appeared in the majors with the Tigers between 2019-20, logging 79 2/3 frames of relief during his rookie campaign. All told, the 32-year-old owns a 4.55 ERA in 110 2/3 innings at the highest level. The Friars will place Ramirez on waivers over the coming days. He’d have the right to elect free agency should he pass through unclaimed by virtue of the fact that he’s previously been outrighted in his career. Even if he were to accept an outright assignment, he’d qualify for minor league free agency at the end of the season if he’s not added back to the 40-man roster before then.
Padres Sign Vince Velasquez, Place Blake Snell On Injured List
The Padres announced they’ve signed Vince Velasquez to a minor league contract. He’ll be selected to the big league roster to start a game against the Cardinals this weekend, per the team. They’ll need to make active and 40-man roster moves before his start. In related news, San Diego placed lefty Blake Snell on the 10-day injured list due to a left adductor groin strain.
Velasquez becomes the second recently-released pitcher added by San Diego in as many days. The Friars signed reliever Ross Detwiler to a major league deal yesterday, just a few days after he was cut loose by the Marlins. Those moves come a month after San Diego picked up Jake Arrieta once he was released by the Cubs. It has been an “all hands on deck” approach to a pitching staff that has been beaten up badly by injuries throughout the year.
It hasn’t been an especially productive season for Velasquez, who has only managed 81 2/3 innings over 21 appearances (including 17 starts). He’s pitched to a career-worst 5.95 ERA in that time despite a 23.5% strikeout rate and 10.8% swinging strike percentage that each check in right around the league average.
That’s mostly a reflection of Velasquez’s walk and home run troubles, issues that plagued him throughout his six years in Philadelphia. He’s doled out free passes to a lofty 12.5% of opponents, the highest single-season mark of his career. And Velasquez’s always low ground-ball rate has dipped to 33.3% this year, nearly ten percentage points below the league average. That’s contributed to his serving up seventeen homers (1.87 HR/9), although the San Diego front office is surely hopeful a move to a less homer-friendly ballpark could alleviate that somewhat.
Velasquez’s recent struggles led to his release from Philadelphia yesterday. At this stage of the season, competent big league starting pitching is almost impossible to acquire, so the Friars moved quickly to add the 29-year-old once he passed through waivers. Velasquez had been on the injured list due to blister troubles at the time of his release, but he’d already made a pair of minor league rehab appearances. The team’s announcement that he’ll start this weekend suggests he’s healthy and ready to step back into MLB action.
Logging some innings will be critical for a San Diego team that has lost a pair of starters to the IL in recent days. Chris Paddack landed on the shelf earlier this week, and Snell joins him after leaving his start on Sunday night after just eleven pitches. The Friars were down to Arrieta, Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove in the rotation, so Velasquez steps in to add some length and hopefully make a few productive starts down the stretch. The Phillies will be on the hook for the balance of his $4MM salary, with the Padres’ paying him just the prorated portion of the league minimum.
As with yesterday’s Detwiler signing, picking up Velasquez is solely about improving the Padres’ odds of grabbing a Wild Card spot this year. Both players joined the organization after August 31 and would be ineligible for postseason play. They each have enough service time to qualify for free agency again this winter. So they’re both being brought in for the next three weeks only, with San Diego trying to outplay the Cardinals, Reds, Phillies and Mets for the National League’s final postseason spot. St. Louis is in pole position, holding a half-game advantage over Cincinnati and a one-game lead on the Padres.
Phillies Release Vince Velasquez
The Phillies announced they’ve released Vince Velasquez. That was the anticipated outcome once Philadelphia designated him for assignment over the weekend.
Velasquez was on the injured list at the time of his designation (although he had begun a minor league rehab assignment). Injured players can’t be placed on outright waivers, and with the trade deadline having passed, Velasquez’s designation meant he’d wind up released. That’s mostly a formality anyhow, since he would’ve had the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency while still retaining his entire salary as a player with more than five years of MLB service time.
If Velasquez clears release waivers, he’ll be free to sign elsewhere. That seems likely, as claiming him would require a team to assume the remainder of his $4MM salary (approximately $452K through season’s end). If he clears waivers, a new club could sign the right-hander for the prorated portion of the league minimum while leaving the Phils on the hook for the bulk of the salary.
Whether he’s claimed or signed as a free agent after clearing waivers, Velasquez wouldn’t be eligible for a new team’s postseason roster since he was released after August 31. It’s still possible a team on the fringes of contention could look to bring him in for a couple weeks in an attempt to bolster their pitching depth as they try to make a playoff push. Velasquez worked 3 2/3 innings during his rehab outing last Wednesday, so he’s seemingly nearing readiness in his recovery from the blister issue that landed him on the IL last month.
The release concludes an up-and-down tenure for Velasquez in Philly. Acquired from the Astros as part of the December 2015 Ken Giles trade, the 29-year-old spent parts of six seasons with the Phils. He got off to a very promising start, tossing 131 innings of 4.12 ERA ball while striking out 27.6% of batters faced, a mark that dwarfed that year’s 20.2% league average for starting pitchers. That ultimately proved to be the high-water mark of Velasquez’s tenure in Philadelphia, though.
Over the next five seasons, Velasquez never posted an ERA below 4.85. He showed flashes at times, working in the mid-90s and missing bats at a league average or better rate. But he also issued walks at a higher than average clip in four of his last five seasons (2019 being the exception) while giving up a fair amount of hard, airborne contact. That predictably led to consistent troubles with home runs — particularly in Philadelphia’s hitter-friendly home ballpark — that inflated his run prevention totals.
Velasquez’s up-and-down performances will make him an interesting free agent this winter. (Even if he signs elsewhere for this season’s final couple weeks, he’ll again reach the open market this offseason). He’s still only 29 years old, and Velasquez has shown enough bat-missing promise to remain intriguing. Between their park and lackluster team defenses in recent years, the Phillies haven’t been in position to get the greatest results from their pitching staffs. Perhaps a club with a more pitcher-friendly environment and/or solid defense feels they can yet coax mid-rotation production out of Velasquez, with a multi-inning relief role a fallback possibility if he continues to scuffle as a starter.
Phillies Designate Vince Velasquez For Assignment, Reinstate Matt Joyce
The Phillies made a number of roster moves today, most notably designating righty Vince Velasquez for assignment, per the team (Twitter links).Velasquez has been on the injured list with a blister issue. Regardless, it’s a disappointing result for Velasquez, who never quite lived up to expectations in Philly, despite six seasons on the roster. This season, Velasquez has a 5.95 ERA/5.58 FIP in 81 2/3 innings.
Time will tell if this is the end of the road for Velasquez and the Phils; the other 29 teams will have the opportunity to claim him off waivers, though that might be unlikely given his current injury status and the fact that he will be a free agent at the end of the season.
In terms of their other moves, Matt Joyce was reinstated from the 60-day injured list to claim one available roster spot. Joyce has just 62 plate appearances this season with much of his usage coming as a pinch-hitter.
Adonis Medina and Mickey Moniak were also recalled from Triple-A. Moniak has 32 plate appearances with the big league club this year. He will see some time as an extra outfielder. Medina will potentially take on some of Velasquez’s former repsonsibilities as a fifth starter. The Phillies may not go with a traditional fifth starter, but Medina could be used as a multi-inning reliever.
Heading out,Enyel De Los Santos and Ramon Rosso were optioned to Triple-A, while Travis Jankowski was placed on the 10-day injured list with a right foot contusion. Jankowski had been the primary alternate in the outfield, but that role will now be taken on by Joyce and Moniak.
Injury Notes: Winker, Lindor, Phillies, Brewers
Jesse Winker‘s return to the Reds lineup was short-lived, as the outfielder left today’s game prior to the bottom of the third inning. Winker went 0-for-2 with two flyouts in his first two plate appearances before re-aggravating the mild intercostal strain that sidelined him for Cincinnati’s previous two games. A previous MRI didn’t reveal any damage, though manager David Bell told reporters (including The Athletic’s C. Trent Rosecrans) that Winker will be re-evaluated prior to tomorrow’s game against the Cubs.
While the Reds are in the thick of the wild card race, the team will surely be careful with one of their top bats to prevent a longer-term injury. Winker has hit .307/.395/.560 with 24 home runs over 481 plate appearances this season, and he entered today’s action as the NL leader in doubles (32) and total bases (235). The Reds are in the midst of a grueling stretch of 29 games over 30 days, so there isn’t any built-in time for Winker to really get a break, and a trip to the injured list might be necessary to fully correct the issue.
More on other injury situations from around baseball…
- Francisco Lindor participated in just about a full range of baseball activities prior to today’s game against the Dodgers, and Mets manager Luis Rojas told reporters (including MLB.com’s Bill Ladson) that Lindor could potentially be activated off the injured list when New York begins its next homestand on August 24. Lindor will travel with the Mets on their road trip and continue to work out, so the club will monitor his progress and then determine whether a minor league rehab assignment is necessary, or if Lindor could return to the active roster without the benefit of any minor league tuneup games. A Grade 2 oblique strain sent Lindor to the IL on July 17, so even a return by that Mets homestand would be a pretty decent turn-around time for the shortstop, given how more severe oblique problems can sometimes linger.
- Zach Eflin (right knee tendinitis) threw a live batting practice session today, while Vince Velasquez (right middle finger blister) and Sam Coonrod (forearm tendinitis) threw live BP sessions yesterday. The Phillies pitchers are at different stages in their recoveries, and Velasquez and Coonrod will each begin minor league rehab assignments on Tuesday. Eflin’s next step could be another simulated session before he starts his own rehab assignment, though the right-hander told NBC Sports’ Jim Salisbury and other reporters that he “felt great” during today’s 28-pitch session.
- The Brewers are almost all the way out of a COVID-19 outbreak on their roster, and two of the remaining sidelined players (Adrian Houser and Jandel Gustave) are nearing returns. As Brewers manager Craig Counsell told The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Todd Rosiak and other reporters, Gustave is working out with the team and Houser is expected to join the club when the Brew Crew begin a series with the Cardinals on Tuesday.