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Giants Sign John Nogowski To Two-Year Minors Contract

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The Giants have signed first baseman John Nogowski to a minor league contract that runs through the 2022 season, NBC Sports Bay Area’s Jessica Kleinschmidt reports (Twitter links).  Nogowski wasn’t on the open market for very long, as he was only released by the Pirates three days ago.

After making his MLB debut with a one-game cup of coffee with the Cardinals in 2020, Nogowski played in 19 more games with St. Louis this year before the Cards dealt him to Pittsburgh in July.  Nogowski posted an 1.074 OPS over his first 53 plate appearances with his new team, but he fell back to earth after that tremendous start, and finished with a .677 OPS over his 123 PA in a Pirates uniform.  For the season as a whole, Nogowski has hit .233/.301/.310 with one home run over 143 PA.

Nogowski is no stranger to the Bay Area, as he spent his first three pro seasons in the Athletics’ organization after being selected in the 34th round of the 2014 draft.  The 28-year-old has posted some solid numbers over his minor league career, particularly in terms of on-base percentage — Nogowski’s .269/.388/.423 slash line over 680 PA at the Triple-A level is a bit better than his overall career numbers as a minor leaguer.

Given the Giants’ knack for revitalizing hitters, it might not be surprising to see Nogowski translate those minor league numbers into production at the big league level.  Albeit in the small sample size of 147 PA in the majors, Nogowski has a very high 87.8% contact rate, so there is some interesting potential if Nogowski is able to improve the quality of that contact.

Nogowski has primarily been a first baseman during his career but has played a few games in the outfield, giving him a bit of the positional flexibility that the Giants prefer.  Looking at San Francisco’s right-handed hitting bench options, Nogowski can provide depth if Donovan Solano leaves in free agency, or if the Giants wanted to move on from arbitration-eligibles like Austin Slater or Darin Ruf (though Ruf in particular has had an excellent season).  While the Giants have a number of quality bench or platoon players, the club might be looking to stockpile even more depth should the National League adopt the DH for 2022 and beyond.

Giants Place Darin Ruf On 10-Day IL, Activate Alex Dickerson

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The Giants have placed first baseman/outfielder Darin Ruf on the 10-day injured list due to a right oblique strain.  The placement is retroactive to September 20.  Alex Dickerson has been activated from his own 10-day IL stint to replacement Ruf on San Francisco’s active roster.

This is the second time Ruf has been on the injured list this season, as he missed just under a month earlier in the year due to a right hamstring strain.  If Ruf’s has a low-level oblique strain, he might very well be able to return to action in the minimum 10 days.  However, if Ruf has a Grade 2 strain or worse, or if he simply has a setback in his recovery from a mild strain, it could impact his availability for the Giants’ postseason roster.

Missing Ruf for even 10 days will be a blow for the Giants as they try to hold off the Dodgers for the NL West lead.  One of many unheralded players who have emerged as huge contributors for San Francisco, Ruf has hit .270/.383/.513 with 20 home runs over an even 400 plate appearances since the start of the 2020 season.  Ruf saw a lot of action at first base in Brandon Belt’s absence, and in left field as the right-handed hitting side of the Giants’ ever-shifting outfield platoons.

It has been quite a return to Major League Baseball for Ruf, who broke into the Show in impressive fashion with the Phillies in 2012-13, but his production trailed off over the next three years.  Ruf then went to the Samsung Lions of the Korea Baseball Organization and revitalized his career, hitting .313/.404/.564 with 86 homers over his 404 games in Daegu.

San Francisco will look to replace Ruf’s right-handed bat with a lefty swinger in Dickerson, though Dickerson is looking to re-establish his own status as a hidden gem on the Giants’ roster.  After some big numbers in his first two seasons in the Bay Area, Dickerson has hit a more modest .235/.303/.426 over 304 PA in 2021, though he has hit a career-best 13 homers.  Dickerson’s performance has surely been hampered by injuries, as he previously spent time on the IL with a right shoulder impingement and back tightness this year prior to this current absence for a right hamstring strain.  Dickerson will return after just shy of three weeks on the injured list with this latest problem.

Giants Select Scott Kazmir

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Sept. 22: The Giants have formally announced the selection of Kazmir’s contract. Righty Jay Jackson was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento to open a spot on the active roster.

Sept. 21: The Giants are planning to bring southpaw Scott Kazmir back to start tomorrow night’s game against the Padres, manager Gabe Kapler told reporters (including Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle). Kazmir is not on the 40-man roster, but San Francisco opened a spot by passing reliever Reyes Moronta through outright waivers this afternoon.

Kazmir returns for his second big league try this season. The veteran signed a minor league deal with San Francisco over the offseason and completed a remarkable comeback effort by earning a big league call in late May. He picked up his first big league action in five years this spring, but Kazmir made just three appearances (including two starts) before being designated for assignment. He worked seven innings over those three games, allowing five runs on eight hits (including three homers) and a walk while striking out seven.

After being outrighted off the 40-man roster, Kazmir joined the U.S. National Team at the Tokyo Olympics this summer. He made just one start there, tossing five scoreless innings in a win over the Dominican Republic. He returned to the Giants’ top affiliate in Sacramento after the conclusion of international competition and has made six starts for the River Cats over the past month. He’s worked 52 2/3 frames in Triple-A this season altogether, posting a 4.61 ERA with strikeout and walk rates (22.1% and 8.3%, respectively) not far off the league average.

Johnny Cueto remains on the injured list, leaving the Giants a man short in the rotation behind Kevin Gausman, Anthony DeSclafani, Logan Webb and Alex Wood. Kazmir will get another opportunity to step into that role. San Francisco entered play tonight up one game on the Dodgers in the NL West. They’ll close out the week with road series against the Padres and Rockies before returning home to host the D-Backs and Padres to end the regular season.

Giants Outright Reyes Moronta

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The Giants announced Tuesday that right-hander Reyes Moronta has cleared outright waivers and been assigned to Triple-A Sacramento. He’s no longer on the 40-man roster.

It’s a bit of a surprising move on a number of levels. San Francisco didn’t formally designate Moronta for assignment, so there was no public indication prior to this announcement that he’d been placed on waivers and made available to the other 29 teams. Beyond that, Moronta once looked like a future high-leverage option for the Giants, though he’s seen several miles drop off his fastball since returning from surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder late in the 2019 season.

From 2017-19, Moronta pitched 128 1/3 innings out of the Giants’ bullpen, working to a 2.66 ERA with a strong 29.8 percent strikeout rate. His 13.6 percent walk rate was well north of the league average and a clear area for potential improvement, but Moronta’s average fastball velocity of 97.1 mph and that lofty strikeout rate were obvious sources of intrigue for what he could become with better command of his pitches. President of baseball ops Farhan Zaidi even suggested last season during Moronta’s recovery that he had closer potential.

That surgery indeed wiped out all of Moronta’s 2020 season, and he missed  a good portion of the current campaign rehab with a flexor strain. He didn’t require surgery this time around, but Moronta was only activated from the 60-day injured list late last month. He hasn’t pitched particularly well since coming off the IL, either, working to a 7.98 ERA with more walks (18) than strikeouts (13) through 14 2/3 frames of Triple-A ball.

The decision to remove Moronta from the 40-man roster could very well spell the end of his time with the organization. Players with more than three years of MLB service who are outrighted off the 40-man roster during the season can become free agents at the end of the year. It’s technically possible that the Giants could add Moronta back to the 40-man between now and that point, but if that were in the plans, they probably wouldn’t have placed him on waivers in the first place.

In 132 1/3 innings at the big league level, Moronta has a 2.65 ERA and 3.44 FIP with a 29.5 percent strikeout rate and a 13.3 percent walk rate.

Braves Claim Chadwick Tromp

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The Braves have claimed catcher Chadwick Tromp off waivers from the Giants and assigned him to Triple-A Gwinnett, per a team announcement. San Francisco had designated Tromp for assignment over the weekend.

Tromp, 26, has appeared in 33 games for the Giants over the past two seasons and posted a .215/.220/.418 batting line with five homers and a double in 82 plate appearances. That represents the entirety of his Major League experience to date. Tromp has also spent parts of four season in Triple-A, where he’s a .253/.316/.414 hitter.

Tromp has drawn solid framing marks both in Triple-A and his limited MLB time, and he’s thrown out one third of attempted base thieves in his professional career. He has two more minor league option years remaining beyond the current campaign, so he could potentially be a flexible depth option in Atlanta for the foreseeable future.

Of course, the Braves already have a good bit of catching depth within their system. Atlanta recently extended veteran Travis d’Arnaud on a two-year, $16MM contract that guarantees him $8MM in 2022 and 2023. The Braves also have a pair of well-regarded catching prospects  in Shea Langeliers and William Contreras — the latter of whom has already made his MLB debut.

Speculatively, Tromp could give them an option early in the 2022 season if the Braves want both Contreras and Langeliers to be getting everyday at-bats in the minor leagues. That’s a long ways off, however, and he’d first need to survive the offseason on Atlanta’s 40-man roster, which is no sure thing.

Injury Notes: Syndergaard, Cueto, Strasburg

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Noah Syndergaard is close to returning and might jump straight to the big leagues without another rehab assignment, according to Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. The fireballer has had no shortage of obstacles to deal with this season. He underwent Tommy John surgery in March of 2020 and started his first rehab stint in May of this year. Unfortunately, that assignment was stopped when Syndergaard experienced some elbow inflammation and he didn’t get back on the mound until late August. Due to the small amount of time remaining in the season, the plan then was for him to return as a reliever, rather than the lengthier process of getting stretched out to start. But that second rehab assignment was shut down when he tested positive for COVID-19.

Despite the fact that there are only two weeks left in the MLB season now and the Mets seem to be fading out of the playoff picture, Syndergaard’s form in the remaining games is potentially very important for both he and the team. The 29-year-old is about to enter free agency and is a candidate for a qualifying offer. The quality and quantity of his appearances in the next two weeks could impact the club’s decision about whether or not to hand him that qualifying offer, as well as Syndergaard’s decision about whether or not to accept it.

More injury notes from around the league…

  • Johnny Cueto is nearing a rehab assignment, per Maria I. Guardado of MLB.com. The 35-year-old has been out since September 1st with an elbow strain but is scheduled to throw a bullpen tomorrow. It’s unclear what the rehab plan for Cueto is, but there’s not a lot of time left in the season for him to be stretched out as a starter. The Giants have largely been able to weather the storm without him, clinging to a narrow lead in the NL West in spite of having the occasional bullpen game. The club has of late been using a four-man rotation of Kevin Gausman, Logan Webb, Alex Wood and Anthony DeSclafani. Cueto has been solid when healthy this season, throwing 112 1/3 innings with an ERA of 4.09.
  • The plan for Stephen Strasburg is for him to begin throwing in November and be ready for spring training, Nationals manager Dave Martinez tells Todd Dybas of Inside the Clubhouse. Despite the Nationals stripping things down at this year’s deadline, it seems the club may be attempting a quick return to contention, as evidenced by their holding onto Juan Soto and targeting MLB-ready returns in their trades. A big wild card in that plan will be Strasburg’s health. The 33-year-old is a dominant pitcher when at his best, as evidenced by his excellent 2019 season, wherein he threw 209 innings with an ERA of 3.32 and then added 36 1/3 postseason innings with an ERA of 1.98, helping the club win the World Series and garnering himself World Series MVP honors. It was on the heels of that incredible performance that the Nationals and Strasburg agreed to a seven-year, $245MM contract. However, since then, the righty has only been able to throw 26 2/3 innings due to various injuries, most recently going under the knife for neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome.

Giants Activate Alex Wood, Designate Chadwick Tromp For Assignment

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The Giants have activated starter Alex Wood from the injured list, per MLB.com’s Maria I. Guardado. Sammy Long was optioned to Triple-A and Chadwick Tromp has been designated for assignment.

Wood should slide right back into the rotation for the final few weeks of the season while auditioning for a spot in the playoff rotation. The 30-year-old southpaw has put together a resurgent year for the NL West leaders, making 23 starts and logging 125 2/3 innings with a 4.08 ERA/3.71 FIP. Despite a couple of trips to the injured list, this is the healthiest Wood has been over a full season since 2018.

Tromp has been a regular member of the Giants’ catching rotation, though clearly behind Buster Posey, Curt Casali, and Joey Bart in the hierarchy. Still, the 26-year-old has made 82 plate appearances for the Giants over the past two seasons.

Long has both started and relieved this season, taking five turns in the rotation and appearing seven times in relief. He has a 5.53 ERA/4.22 FIP across 40 2/3 innings with relatively average peripherals across the board: 21.6 percent strikeout rate, 8.5 percent walk rate, and 39.2 percent groundball rate.

Giants Place Jake McGee On 10-Day Injured List

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The Giants have placed reliever Jake McGee on the 10-day injured list with a right oblique strain, per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Because the injury placement is backdated to Tuesday when McGee first felt the muscle acting up, he will be available to return to the active roster by September 24 at the earliest.

Not long ago, it would have been scoff-worthy to suggest that McGee would find a role as the nominal closer for the team with the best record in the Majors – but here we are. McGee was one of the Rockies’ ill-fated bullpen signings back in 2017, and by the time that $27MM contract had run its course, McGee had fallen so far out of favor that Colorado released him before the third season was up. The southpaw posted an unfortunate 5.54 ERA over those two seasons in Colorado with unusually high walk and home run rates.

He’s rejuvenated now, however, having performed well for the Dodgers last season before catching on in San Francisco this year. He owns a 2.72 ERA/3.35 FIP across 62 games totaling 59 2/3 innings with an impressive 31 saves. Since leaving Colorado, his walk and home run rates have returned to normal levels – a 4.2 percent walk rate coming in well below the average mark and a 2.9 percent home run rate being exactly league average. McGee is also striking out a solid 24.3 percent of opponents.

Without McGee, the Giants will turn to Tyler Rogers, Tony Watson, and Dominic Leone to close games, writes Slusser. Rogers has played the part already this season, notching 12 saves while appearing in a league-leading 71 games for Gabe Kapler’s club. Leone has been used more as an opener of late, but he’ll be an option from the right side as well. Watson, a trade deadline acquisition this season, can close from the left side, should the match-ups lean that way.

McGee’s roster spot went to Jay Jackson, who was recalled today from Triple-A. Jackson has spent a decent chunk of time on the active roster and begun to earn Kapler’s trust at times. The 33-year-old has pitched in 22 games for a 3.95 ERA across 20 2/3 innings. Given that Jackson had totaled just 34 2/3 innings in the Majors prior to this season, he’s been a pleasant surprise in limited action for the Giants.

Giants Activate Wilmer Flores, Austin Slater

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The Giants have activated Wilmer Flores and Austin Slater from the injured list, and both players are in today’s starting lineup against the Cubs.  Right-hander John Brebbia and left-hander Caleb Baragar were optioned to Triple-A to create roster room.

Slater is back after spending a week on the concussion-related IL.  Back on September 4, the outfielder was concussed after crashing into the wall while trying to catch a Trea Turner home run.  Fortunately, Slater is back in pretty short order, and he’ll resume his part-time role on San Francisco’s depth chart.  Slater has hit .227/.313/.395 over 288 total plate appearances this season, with much of that damage coming against southpaws — Slater has a .263/.364/.480 slash line and eight home runs in 176 PA against left-handed pitching.

Flores also has a well-earned reputation as a lefty-masher, though he has a comparatively modest .273/.316/.438 slash line in 136 PA against southpaws this year.  Between that production and similar numbers against righties, Flores is batting .249/.319/.438 with 17 homers in 389 total PA in 2021.

After suffering a left hamstring strain on September 2, Flores is back after missing only the minimum 10 days, beating manager Gabe Kapler’s initial expectation that Flores would be out “a couple of weeks.”  Hamstring injuries have been a persistent issue for Flores for much of the year, and he also missed 10 days with a right hamstring strain in May.

Giants Outright Jake Jewell

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The Giants announced that right-hander Jake Jewell has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A.  Jewell’s presence on the waiver wire wasn’t publicly known, though this marks the third time Jewell has been on waivers this season, and the first time the 28-year-old hasn’t changed teams.

Jewell came to the Giants via a waiver claim from the Dodgers earlier this week, and Los Angeles also claimed Jewell when the Cubs designated him for assignment in late August.  The righty has yet to see any big league action for either of the two NL West powers, as his 2021 statline remains 10 innings pitched (with a 9.90 ERA) for Chicago.

This also marks the second time the Giants have themselves outrighted Jewell off their 40-man roster.  San Francisco previously claimed Jewell off waivers from the Angels back in January 2020 and then outrighted him later that month.  Jewell ended up not seeing any action at all in 2020 thanks to the canceled minor league season, as the Giants never called him up to their MLB roster.

Originally drafted by the Angels back in the fifth round of the 2014 draft, Jewell had a 6.99 ERA over 28 1/3 frames for the Angels in 2018-19.  The righty has a 4.78 ERA over 542 career innings in the minors, but a 3.88 ERA with a 24.8% strikeout rate over 97 1/3 Triple-A innings.  Jewell’s strikeout rate has been on the rise since becoming a full-time reliever during the 2018 season.

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