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Rays Designate Anthony Bemboom For Assignment

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The Rays have reinstated catcher Anthony Bemboom from the 60-day injured list and designated him for assignment, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link).

Bemboom, 29, made his MLB debut earlier this season after grinding through seven years in the minors. Unfortunately, in the same game that saw Bemboom collect his first two MLB hits, he also sustained a knee injury that sidelined him for two-plus months. Because he’d been on the 60-day IL, the Rays would’ve had to designate someone else for assignment in order to bring Bemboom back into the mix; instead, they opted to designate Bemboom himself now that he is apparently recovered from injury.

It’s a tough series of events for Bemboom, although if there’s a silver lining, it’s that he received MLB pay and service time while on the injured list. Tampa Bay will have a week to trade Bemboom, a career .250/.341/.381 hitter in Triple-A, or pass him through outright waivers. If he clears waivers, he can be retained without requiring a 40-man roster spot.

East Notes: Thor, Lowe, Bundy, Richard

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The Mets’ struggles have mounted to the point that their general manager acknowledges having “low expectations” for the season’s second half. Despite the organization’s dumpster fire start, their young flamethrower has no hope of going elsewhere. “I love being a Met,” Noah Syndergaard told reporters, including Tim Healey of Newsday. “If something were to ever change, it’d be definitely bittersweet just because of New York City itself, the fan base and just the guys in this clubhouse have a special place in my heart.” As MLBTR’s Jeff Todd explored yesterday in a ranking of the top 60 trade candidates, the time might not be optimal to move Thor, who comes with two additional years of team control and is currently amidst a career-worst, albeit still more than adequate, season.

As we await the Mets’ next move, let’s check in on some injury notes from the East divisions:

  • Rays infielder Brandon Lowe might not return from the 10-day injured list until the club’s next homestand, which begins Friday against the White Sox, manager Kevin Cash told Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter). Lowe, who leads AL rookies with 2.5 fWAR, was placed on the IL July 4 with a right shin contusion, sustained when he fouled a ball off his leg. Lowe’s .276/.339/.523 line isn’t quite sustainable so long as he continues to strike out in a third of his plate appearances, but there’s little question getting his bat back in the lineup will be a boon for a team looking to augment its roster in the coming weeks.
  • While Lowe will take more than the minimum to recover from his injury, Orioles right-hander Dylan Bundy hopes to be more fortunate. Bundy was placed on the IL yesterday with right knee tendinitis, but he tells Roch Kubatko of MASN (via Twitter) he’s confident he can return when first eligible on July 23. It’s been more of the same this year for the former fourth overall pick; despite a solid 24% strikeout rate and 7.9% walk rate, an inability to keep the ball in the yard has Bundy’s ERA above 5.00 for the second consecutive season. Given his performance, he seems unlikely to be much of a trade chip this summer, even if he does return to the field in short order.
  • The Blue Jays announced they’ve placed Clayton Richard on the 10-day injured list with a left lat strain, activating Edwin Jackson from an IL stint of his own in a corresponding move. Richard departed yesterday’s start against the Yankees after just two innings, leaving the bullpen to handle a hefty workload. The IL stint seems to foreclose any chance the Jays can flip Richard before the trade deadline, but he wouldn’t have been in high demand regardless, as he’s managed only a 5.96 ERA with a woeful 11% strikeout rate over ten starts. The 35-year-old is playing out the final months of a two-year/$6MM contract and is likely headed for a minor-league deal this winter.

Rays Intend To Buy At The Deadline

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With just over two weeks until the trade deadline, the Rays are scouring the market for upgrades, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. “What we think of this group and the way they’ve played so far it certainly motivates us to want to help them out however we can,” front office head Chaim Bloom told Topkin. “We want to make sure we do that responsibly, that we’re staying true to our goal of competing sustainably and be able to do this consistently over a number of years. Anything we can do to help them out is something we’re certainly going to look at.”

That the Rays are looking to add comes as little surprise, given the team’s position in the standings. At 54-40, Tampa holds possession of the AL’s top wild card slot, 1.5 games up on Oakland. Following a scorching start to the season, the Rays have fallen off the pace somewhat over the past month, dropping six games behind the Yankees in the AL East. While that deficit isn’t insurmountable with almost half the season remaining, it seems the Rays’ most plausible path to October is via a wild card. Fangraphs’ playoff odds, for instance, give Tampa just an 8.5% chance of claiming the division crown. How far the small-market club is willing to push for, in all likelihood, a one-game playoff, will be interesting to monitor.

The franchise has never been one to set the market, typically hoarding long-term affordable control at the expense of headline-grabbing acquisitions. Given the organization’s historical reluctance to mortgage the future, Topkin cautions against anticipating they make a splash. Nevertheless, as he notes, the time might be right for them to do so.

Tampa Bay’s loaded farm system should force the organization’s hand sooner than later. With myriad prospects nearing Rule V eligibility, the Rays may need to start consolidating high-minors assets. Unlike many 40-man roster crunches, where a team moves a middle reliever or bench bat to clear space, Tampa seems open to dealing high-upside talent. Notably, vaunted middle infielder Vidal Brujan might not be off limits, as Topkin includes him among a list of prospects whom the Rays might consider moving this summer rather than committing a 40-man roster spot to after the season.

To be clear, there’s no indication the Rays are actively shopping Brujan (or any other specific farmhand), but that it seemingly remains under consideration is notable. A 21-year-old switch-hitter, Brujan’s blend of bat control, strike zone feel and athleticism make him one of baseball’s best young talents. Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen and Kiley McDaniel and Keith Law of ESPN (subscription required) each place Brujan among the game’s 25 best prospects, in fact, with Fangraphs projecting him as a plus hitter and defender at second base who should offer a high-OBP skillset at his peak. MLB Pipeline and Baseball America are a little less bullish, questioning the amount of impact available in Brujan’s 5’9″, 155 pound frame, but the publications universally laud his hit tool and athleticism.

Unsurprisingly, the specifics of any deal remain up in the air. The Rays have previously been tied to bullpen upgrades, right-handed hitters and starting pitching (specifically, the top starter on the market, Matthew Boyd), all of which remain potential areas to upgrade, per Topkin. It’s not clear exactly how things will play out, but it’s nonetheless notable the organization has positioned itself as a buyer, especially in light of recent comments from GM Erik Neander indicating they might take things slower if they fell too far back in the division. With a farm system replete with talent across all levels of the minors and some hint of a willingness to push forward, the possibilities in St. Petersburg are endless.

Rays, Rangers Swap Nick Solak, Peter Fairbanks

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The Rangers have acquired INF/OF Nick Solak from Tampa for righty Peter Fairbanks, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.

Solak, 24, has slugged 17 homers for Triple-A Durham so far this season, though his .266/.353/.485 line checks in just 11 percent above the league average in the rocket-powered International League. The utility man sits at #93 on FanGraphs’ latest update of the game’s top prospects, with the site especially lauding his makeup, versatility, and power/speed combo. An addition to the 40-man roster would have been necessary for the former Yankee farmhand this offseason, and with the club already possessing of Joey Wendle, rookie-of-the-year candidate Brandon Lowe, Christian Arroyo, Willy Adames, Daniel Robertson, Matt Duffy, Mike Brosseau, Yandy Diaz, and up-and-comer Vidal Brujan in roles that would mirror Solak’s eventual place on the roster, a move did seem prudent.

Fairbanks, 25, brought his super-charged fastball to Arlington for the first time this season. The 6’6 righty struggled big-time with command in his short Ranger stint, walking seven in just 8 2/3 IP, to go with four homers allowed, but did flash world-beating stuff over that span (15 K, 97.2 MPH average fastball velocity). The two-time Tommy John survivor has logged just 43 minor-league innings since a transition to the bullpen in 2017, a sample which hasn’t held back plaudits from evaluators around the game. FanGraphs describes the flame-thrower as an “impact relief piece,” grading his fastball/slider combo as one of the best for burgeoning relief prospects across the minors.

Fairbanks’ll head to Triple-A Durham, per Topkin, where he’ll bolster an already-staunch register of high-leverage pieces in the Tampa ’pen. Even without effective seasons from lynchpins Diego Castillo and Jose Alvarado, the Tampa ’pen reigns FIP-supreme in MLB this season, with an AL-best 45.5% grounder rate.

The assignment for Solak is as-yet unclear, but he’d seem to represent a perfect right-side complement to Nomar Mazara, Shin-Soo Choo, or Asdrubal Cabrera, all of whom have slumped badly against southpaws this season. Rougned Odor, he of the dreadful 63 wRC+, has actually been far better against same-side hurlers this season, so perhaps the club pans to slot in Solak full-time at the keystone in his place.

Rays Activate Ji-Man Choi, Option Ian Gibaut

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The Tampa Bay Rays activated first baseman Ji-Man Choi ahead of today’s action, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter). Ian Gibaut has been optioned back to Durham. 

Choi missed the minimum ten games for a sprained left ankle. He is a key cog in the middle of the Rays lineup. With little margin for error in a top-heavy American League, the Rays could stand to get a little more production from him after a .266/.351/.423 first half. 

For now, manager Kevin Cash will rotate Choi with Nate Lowe, tweets Topkin. Lowe would most naturally be used as a roster replacement for Choi, but Cash is also prepared to use Lowe at third base, where he’s spent time in the minors. For now, they simply don’t want to take Lowe out of the lineup as the 24-year-old has hit .291/.355/.509 with 3 home runs in 15 games. That kind of production out of the first base spot would go a long way in helping the Rays secure a spot in this year’s playoffs. 

With the Rays, however, everything is fluid, and one day’s cleanup hitter could be back in Triple-A the next. Yandy Diaz also figures to play a prominent role in the corner infield rotation as the regular starter at third now that he’s discovered a power stroke (.278/.351/.477 on the year). Two other third base options remain on the shelf: Matt Duffy and Daniel Robertson are close enough to returning that each of them could be on rehab assignments by next week, per Topkin (Twitter links). 

Gibaut has a fairly high ceiling as a bullpen piece, but his first taste of the majors was short: one appearance, two innings, two earned runs, two walks, two strikeouts, one hit. 

A Breakout Reliever Emerges For Rays

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Rays reliever Emilio Pagan was not the headliner in a three-team offseason trade featuring Tampa Bay, Oakland and Texas. That honor went to infielder Jurickson Profar, whom the Athletics acquired from the Rangers in the swap. However, between Pagan and Profar – the two major leaguers involved in the deal – it’s the former who has been the more valuable player so far in 2019.

Although Pagan just debuted in the majors in 2017, he’s already something of a journeyman. Pagan spent his rookie season as a useful piece of the Mariners’ bullpen before going to the Athletics in a trade prior to the 2018 campaign. While Pagan wasn’t that effective in his lone year with the A’s, he has emerged as one of the Rays’ go-to relievers since they recalled him from the minors in mid-April.

Pagan, a 28-year-old right-hander, has recorded a 1.75 ERA with 11.75 K/9 and 2.25 BB/9 in 36 frames, making him one of the majors’ premier relievers in the run prevention and K/BB categories. Pagan also ranks 11th among all pitchers in weighted on-base average against (.221) and an even better third in xwOBA (.220), trailing only elite relievers Josh Hader and Kirby Yates in the latter department.

Pagan’s transformation into a great reliever, at least this year, has come with a change in pitch mix. He has always leaned on two offerings – a four-seam fastball and a slider – but the usage of each has changed significantly since last year. Pagan’s throwing his four-seamer 55.5 percent of the time, down from 64.5 in 2018, and has upped his slider usage from 29.4 percent to 40.6 in the same span. Both pitches have produced excellent results to this point, especially his fastball. Hitters have mustered an awful .200 wOBA/.156 xwOBA against it, thanks in part to an increase in velocity. The pitch averaged 93.8 mph in 2018, but it has shot to 95.4 this season. Unsurprisingly, the whiff percentage on Pagan’s four-seamer has risen substantially since 2018, having gone from 25.8 to 34.9 percent.

As you’d expect, with his strikeout rate and velocity at an all-time high, Pagan has fooled more hitters this year. Pagan’s chase rate is almost 4 percent better than his career mark, hitters have made 4-plus percent less contact against him than usual, and his swinging-strike rate is roughly 2.5 percent superior to his lifetime mean. While the average reliever has drawn swings and misses at an 11.8 percent clip this season, Pagan’s at 17.1 – good for ninth in the majors.

When batters have made contact against Pagan this season, it hasn’t been as easy to elevate the ball. At a piddly 24.9 percent, Pagan posted the majors’ last-ranked groundball rate among relievers from 2017-18. That number has elevated to an even 40.0 since he joined the Rays. With help from his uptick in grounders, home runs have become rarer against Pagan, who rated last among relievers in HRs per nine (1.60) over his first two seasons. He’s now surrendering just one per nine, which checks in well south of the league average (1.34).

It’s true Pagan is benefiting from a .224 batting average on balls in play and a 90.2 percent strand rate, two figures that could be difficult to sustain. But he’s handling both same-handed and lefty hitters, and Statcast is quite bullish on his work. At this point, Pagan looks like one of the majors’ most underrated additions of last winter and someone who could help pitch the playoff-contending Rays to the postseason.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Rays Place Chaz Roe On 10-Day IL, Activate Diego Castillo

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TODAY: These moves are now official.

YESTERDAY, 5:20pm: Hunter Wood will likely be recalled from Triple-A to take Alvarado’s roster spot, Topkin tweets.

4:01pm: The Rays will place right-hander Chaz Roe on the 10-day injured list prior to tomorrow’s game due to a flexor strain, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports (Twitter links).  Righty Diego Castillo will be activated from the injured list himself on Friday to take Roe’s 25-man roster spot, though Tampa will still need to make one more move since Jose Alvarado is also now on the IL.  Ji-Man Choi is expected to soon rejoin the team after recovering from a sprained ankle, Topkin tweets, but not until Saturday or Sunday.

Roe has missed a lot of bats (11.9 K/9) over his 27 1/3 relief innings this season, though an ungainly 6.6 BB/9 and .368 BABIP have resulted in a 5.27 ERA.  That walk rate represents a concerning re-emergence of the control problems that hurt Roe earlier in his career, though he had seemingly put the free passes behind him after posting just a 2.9 BB/9 as part of his overall solid 2018 season (3.58 ERA over 50 1/3 IP) out of the Rays’ bullpen.

Castillo has been sidelined since June 23 due to a shoulder impingement, and the return of the 25-year-old and his 98mph fastball will provide a boost to Tampa Bay’s ninth-inning efforts.  Castillo has earned seven saves as part of the Rays’ unofficial closer-by-committee system, with Alvarado (seven saves) and Emilio Pagan (five saves) also receiving the bulk of late-game save opportunities.

Dodgers, Braves, Rays Interested In Matthew Boyd

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The Padres, Cubs, Red Sox and Astros are reportedly among teams with interest in breakout Tigers left-hander Matthew Boyd as the July 31 trade deadline creeps closer. Add the Dodgers, Braves and Rays to the clubs involved in the derby, according to Chris McCosky of the Detroit News.

The 28-year-old Boyd has evolved from average starter to potential front-end arm since the season began, and with the Tigers in a rebuild, they may decide to cash him in this month. Boyd’s 3.87 ERA over 107 innings isn’t befitting of an ace, but he has managed a more impressive 3.56 FIP/3.34 xFIP while emerging as one of the majors’ preeminent strikeout artists. With a sky-high 11.94 K/9 against a measly 1.68 BB/9, Boyd ranks top 10 among starters in those categories and top five in K/BB ratio (1.68).

Home runs have recently haunted Boyd, who has allowed at least two in three straight outings and a total of 10 in six starts since the beginning of June. But Boyd’s sudden gopher balls issues don’t look as if they’ll be enough to dampen teams’ enthusiasm in the affordable, controllable hurler. His $2.6MM salary this season and three remaining years of arbitration eligibility would make him a long-term piece for an acquiring team, though they’ll also help drive up Detroit’s asking price. The Tigers are holding out for a lofty return for Boyd, as you’d expect, with McCosky reporting they initially sought a major league-ready hitter and one or more “top” prospects at or above the Double-A level.

For the Dodgers, Boyd would add to a team that already seems to have everything. The back-to-back National League pennant winners own the majors’ best record (60-32) thanks in part to their starting staff. Potential Cy Young candidate Hyun-Jin Ryu, Clayton Kershaw and Walker Buehler have all been good to brilliant, while Kenta Maeda and Ross Stripling have performed well in complementary roles. The same applies to Rich Hill, though he has been on the injured list since June 20 with a left flexor tendon strain and, having gone on the 60-day IL, won’t return until at least late August. It’s also worth noting this could be the last season in Los Angeles for Hill, a soon-to-be free agent who’s pushing 40, so Boyd would fit nicely in his spot in the team’s rotation in 2020.

The Braves are the NL’s second-ranked team at 54-37, and there’s an obvious connection between their front office and Boyd. General manager Alex Anthopoulos held the same position in Toronto when the Blue Jays spent a sixth-round pick on Boyd in 2013. Boyd debuted up north in 2015, Anthopoulos’ last year as Toronto’s GM, but the championship-contending club traded him that July to the Tigers to acquire ace David Price.

Anthopoulos fell short of his World Series goal four years ago, but his current employer has a realistic chance to vie for a title this season. The Braves, though, do have needs in their rotation even after signing Dallas Keuchel to a one-year, $13MM contract in June. Keuchel and rookie sensation Mike Soroka are locked into spots. After that, while Julio Teheran has logged a 3.75 ERA in 100 2/3 innings, it’s much harder to trust his shaky peripherals. Max Fried’s secondary numbers are better than Teheran’s, but he has been inconsistent of late. Meanwhile, 2018 No. 1 starter Mike Foltynewicz got off to a miserable start before the team demoted him to the minors June 23, and hasn’t come back since. Kevin Gausman, likewise, hasn’t taken the mound for the Braves in weeks – he went to the IL on June 11 with a plantar fasciitis in his right foot – and has joined Foltynewicz in struggling mightily when he has started this year.

Tampa Bay isn’t the mortal playoff lock LA and Atlanta appear to be in the NL, but the Rays are very much in the AL hunt. The club’s 52-39, a half-game up on its league’s No. 1 wild-card spot and 6 1/2 behind the AL East-leading Yankees. Boyd, who’s easily affordable for the low-budget Rays, would join Cy Young possibility Charlie Morton, reigning Cy Young winner Blake Snell and Yonny Chirinos to give the opener-using team four traditional starters. The team’s also continuing to await the return of Tyler Glasnow, who was enjoying what looked like a breakthrough campaign before forearm troubles forced him to the shelf May 10. Glasnow still believes he’ll factor in again this season even after having suffered setbacks, but the Rays may not be able to bank on that occurring.

Reds Sign Nick Ciuffo To Minor League Deal

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TODAY: The Reds have officially announced the signing (via Twitter).  Ciuffo has been assigned to Double-A and placed on the seven-day injured list.

TUESDAY: The Reds are nearing a minor league agreement with recently released catcher Nick Ciuffo, per a report from Roster Roundup (Twitter link). Ciuffo, who is still recovering from early-June thumb surgery, was cut loose by Tampa Bay last week. Based on the initial 8-10 week timeline that accompanied his surgery, he should be healthy in late July to mid August.

In need of a 40-man roster spot late last month, the Rays opted to designate Ciuffo for assignment in order to open space. Because injured players can’t be passed through outright waivers, Tampa Bay was limited in its options and released Ciuffo. It’s most common in these situations for the player to simply re-sign with his original organization on a minor league deal, but it seems that Ciuffo found an opportunity more to his liking with the Cincinnati organization. If the deal is ultimately completed, the Reds will hope to find some success with a second castoff Rays catcher; Curt Casali has batted .265/.343/.412 in 316 plate appearances since the Reds acquired him from the Rays in exchange for cash last season.

Ciuffo was the No. 21 overall pick by the Rays back in 2013. The 24-year-old hasn’t found much success in either Triple-A or the big leagues, however. Ciuffo has a .228/.276/.350 batting line in Triple-A Durham this season and has mustered only a .529 OPS in a tiny sample of 50 big league plate appearances dating back to 2018. The South Carolina native carries a .250/.292/.369 hitter in 370 Triple-A plate appearances to go along with solid framing marks and a career 42 percent caught-stealing rate.

Manfred On Ball, DH, Free Agency, Expansion, Rays

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If you ask Astros ace Justin Verlander, Major League Baseball has become a home-run happy farce. Verlander, who started the All-Star Game for the American League on Tuesday, issued acerbic comments on the direction of the game Monday, saying (via Jeff Passan of ESPN): “Major League Baseball’s turning this game into a joke. They own Rawlings, and you’ve got Manfred up here saying it might be the way they center the pill. They own the [expletive] company. If any other $40 billion company bought out a $400 million company and the product changed dramatically, it’s not a guess as to what happened.”

Sour grapes from someone who’s already close to allowing a career-high home run total for a season? It doesn’t seem that way. There is growing skepticism – not just from Verlander – about the integrity of the baseball MLB is using, and understandably so. Big leaguers are on pace to hit 6,600-plus home runs, which would crush the record of 6,105 set in 2017, Tyler Kepner of the New York Times notes. Like Verlander, MLBPA executive director Tony Clark is under the impression something is up. So are starters Max Scherzer, Charlie Morton, Jake Odorizzi, Marcus Stroman and CC Sabathia, as Kepner and Passan detail in their pieces.

“If there’s something that’s potentially altering that, just come out and say it,” Odorizzi said. “I think, as players, we’ve gotten to the point now where we’ve accepted it.”

However, according to commissioner Rob Manfred, there isn’t anything nefarious happening. Rather, the league “has done nothing, given no direction, for an alteration in the baseball.” Manfred added MLB doesn’t want more home runs – owners have “no desire” for an increase, he insisted Tuesday – so juicing the baseball wouldn’t make sense from MLB’s perspective.

At the same time, Manfred did admit Monday the ball has changed. He told ESPN’s Golic and Wingo (via Passan): “”Our scientists that have been now studying the baseball more regularly have told us that this year the baseball has a little less drag. It doesn’t need to change very much in order to produce meaningful change in terms of the way the game is played on the field. We are trying to understand exactly why that happened and build out a manufacturing process that gives us a little more control over what’s going on. But you have to remember that our baseball is a handmade product and there’s gonna be variation year to year.”

Whether Manfred’s telling the truth in regards to the baseball is up for debate. What’s clear is that the game won’t be injecting more offense by implementing a universal designated hitter in the imminent future. Manfred remarked Tuesday (via Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch) that a DH in the National League is not “inevitable,” indicating it won’t come up as a possibility until after the collective bargaining agreement runs out in 2021.

Free agency, like the DH, will be an important discussion point during talks on the next CBA. Clark conveyed a desire this week to restore “meaningful free agency.” Manfred seems happy with the current system, though, saying baseball has the “freest free agency in any sport” – one devoid of a salary cap, franchise tags and max contracts. He expressed satisfaction that MLB “has produced more $100 million guaranteed contracts than the rest of professional sports combined.” While Manfred did indicate a willingness to negotiate with the union as regards free agency, the league’s “economic system has to preserve the competitiveness of those small-market clubs. That is always our overriding goal.”

Concerning the markets MLB plans to occupy going forward, Manfred put the kibosh on any short-term expansion possibilities, stating, “There’s no way we’re biting into expansion until we get Tampa and Oakland (which also needs a new stadium) resolved one way or the other.” 

Tampa Bay, however, is exploring becoming a two-city franchise – an idea the league has thrown its support behind. In Manfred’s estimation, the Rays’ proposed Tampa Bay-Montreal team-sharing setup would present “an opportunity to preserve baseball in Tampa Bay. And I’m not prepared to say one way or the other what’s going to happen if that effort turns out to be unsuccessful.”

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