Rays Place Brandon Lowe On Injured List
The Rays announced Wednesday that they’ve placed second baseman Brandon Lowe on the 10-day injured list due to a right shin contusion. Lowe, who was only recently named a All-Star replacement, fouled a ball off his shin Tuesday but remained in the game after talking things over with a trainer. Upon singling to left field with a shift-beating grounder, however, he was unable to run down the line and instead limped his way to first base. He exited the game thereafter. First baseman Nate Lowe is up from Triple-A Durham to take his roster spot. Tampa Bay also optioned righty Austin Pruitt to Durham and recalled fellow righty Jake Faria.
Lowe’s placement on the IL is retroactive to July 3, so he’ll be eligible to return to the club next Saturday for a doubleheader against the Orioles. That said, there’s no immediate timetable placed on his return, so it’s possible he’ll require a bit more than the minimum stay on the shelf. His injury initially looked remarkably similar to that of injured All-Star Tommy La Stella, who’ll miss up to 10 weeks with a fracture, so the Rays surely feel fortunate to have dodged that type of blow.
With Lowe on the injured list, the American League once again had an opening on the All-Star roster. Yankees shortstop Gleyber Torres has been named to the All-Star team in place of Lowe, per a league announcement.
Rays Release Nick Ciuffo
July 3: Ciuffo indeed went unclaimed and is now a free agent, MLB.com’s Juan Toribio tweets.
July 1: The Rays have requested unconditional release waivers on catcher Nick Ciuffo, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. He’ll become a free agent in 48 hours if he clears.
As I noted when Ciuffo was designated for assignment, a release seemed the likeliest outcome for him. Ciuffo underwent thumb surgery last month and could still be sidelined for up to six more weeks. Injured players can’t be passed through outright waivers, and it’s common in these DFA scenarios for the player to be released and quickly re-sign on a minor league contract. That’s not universally the case, of course, and if he does indeed clear waivers, Ciuffo will have the right to talk to other clubs.
Ciuffo, 24, was the No. 21 overall pick by the Rays in the 2013 draft, but his career hasn’t panned out the way that either he or the organization had hoped. He 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. Ciuffo is a career .250/.292/.369 hitter in 370 Triple-A plate appearances and has a career 42 percent caught-stealing rate in the minors. Ciuffo has also posted above-average framing marks in Triple-A, and catcher is a generally thin position within the Rays organization, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him latch back on there.
Rays Activate, Option Jose De Leon
Rays righty Jose De Leon has at long last returned to active duty, the club announced. But he’ll return to Triple-A on optional assignment as he looks to get his injury-addled career back on track.
De Leon, once a top prospect who is now almost 27 years of age, underwent Tommy John surgery last March. His rehab assignment was twice extended, as is permissible for hurlers working back from TJ procedures, extending it to a total of ninety days. With that time up, the club swung a deal earlier today to clear a 40-man spot for De Leon’s activation from the 60-day injured list.
During his lengthy rehab stint, De Leon threw 34 innings over 11 outings. He worked to a 3.97 ERA with 11.4 K/9 and 5.0 BB/9. That’s not a perfect showing, by any stretch, but it seems promising that he was able to generate swings and misses from top-level minor-leaguers.
It’s certainly possible that De Leon will be seen as a MLB option in the near future. Odds are he’d be utilized as less than a full-fledged starter, much like most of the rest of the Tampa Bay staff. In De Leon’s case, he has only once topped one hundred innings in a given professional season (2015).
Rays Place Ji-Man Choi On 10-Day IL
The Rays announced today that first baseman Ji-Man Choi is heading to the 10-day injured list, as MLB.com’s Juan Toribio was among those to cover via Twitter. He’s said to be dealing with a sprained left ankle.
Infielder Mike Brosseau will come up to take the open active roster spot. He’s in the majors for the second time this season after a brief prior promotion. Brosseau has been aflame at Triple-A, where he carries a .317/.408/.590 batting line with 15 home runs and a 51:33 K/BB ratio.
It’s at least a bit interesting to see the Rays tap Brosseau rather than first base prospect Nate Lowe. The left-handed-hitting Lowe struggled in a ten-game stint earlier this year, but would seem to be a more direct replacement for Choi. Perhaps the Tampa Bay club preferred to carry some added defensive versatility; no doubt the fact that they’ll face several lefty starters in the next week was also a factor. The presence of starter/first bagger Brendan McKay on the roster also reduces the need for a lefty bat.
In any event, there’s no indication that Choi will be sidelined for a lengthy stint. He’s slashing a respectable .266/.351/.423 on the season, good for a 111 wRC+. With Choi only commanding league-average money, he’s a cost-efficient player, but it’s certainly possible the club will see cause to pursue an upgrade at some point this summer.
Dodgers Acquire Casey Sadler From Rays, Move Rich Hill To 60-Day IL
The Dodgers have picked up recently designated righty Casey Sadler in a trade with the Rays, per club announcements. Minor-league hurler Nathan Witt is headed back to the Rays in return.
To create 40-man space, the Los Angeles org shifted southpaw Rich Hill to the 60-day injured list. He has been sidelined for about two weeks already with a flexor strain and obviously is going to require a lengthy respite before trying to ramp back up.
Soon to turn 29, Sadler sported a 1.86 ERA and 54.1% groundball rate in 19 1/3 innings with the Rays before getting the boot. His 11:5 K/BB ratio was less than impressive, though Sadler’s 8.9% swinging-strike rate was better than it had been in his prior efforts at the majors.
Sadler will open his tenure with the Dodgers on optional assignment at Triple-A. He’ll represent a depth option if and when a need arises. More significant relief upgrades remain a clear possibility this summer.
The Rays obviously fielded interest from some other teams since they were able to come away with something from the deal. Witt has only advanced to the Class A level at 23 years of age, but does carry 11.8 K/9 against 2.7 BB/9 in his 23 2/3 innings there this season.
Indians Acquire Andrew Velazquez From Rays
The Indians have announced a swap with the Rays in which they’ll acquire utility infielder Andrew Velazquez. An unstated amount of international spending capacity will head to Tampa Bay in return.
To create 40-man roster space, the Indians have designated righty Chih-Wei Hu for assignment. The 25-year-old has been hit hard this year at Triple-A, allowing 16 home runs in 48 2/3 innings.
Soon to turn 25, Velazquez is an exceptionally versatile player. In limited MLB action, he has already been trusted to play shortstop, second, third, and all three outfield positions.
Velazquez has shown some stolen-base ability and a bit of pop in the upper minors, though he’s not exactly a premium offensive prospect. He has swung through quite a few pitches in his early exposure to MLB pitching and has gone down on strikes 154 times in 602 career Triple-A plate appearances, over which he carries a .261/.320/.418 slash.
Korea’s NC Dinos Sign Christian Friedrich, Jake Smolinski
6:10pm: Smolinski has been granted his release by the Rays, tweets Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times.
10:00am: Korea’s NC Dinos are engineering some mid-season changes to their slate of foreign players. The club has wrapped up a deal with the indy ball New Britain Bees to purchase the contract of lefty Christian Friedrich, as first reported by the ALPB News Twitter account (link).
It seems the Dinos have eyes on another former major leaguer as well. Outfielder Jake Smolinski, who has been playing with the Rays’ top affiliate, is nearing a deal with the KBO club, according to baseball writer Sung Min Kim (Twitter link).
Teams in the Korea Baseball Organization are limited to three foreign players, among other regulations on spending. Accordingly, the Dinos will need to part ways with some existing players to facilitate these moves. Former big leaguers Christian Bethancourt and Eddie Butler will evidently be released to make way.
Friedrich, 31, has thrown nearly three hundred MLB innings, but the former top-100 prospect hasn’t cracked the bigs since 2016. He sat out all of last season but had shown well in the Atlantic League, posting 63 frames of 3.00 ERA ball with one strikeout per inning and 2.1 BB/9.
As for the 30-year-old Smolinski, he faced a tough path up to the majors in Tampa Bay. But the five-year MLB veteran has been hitting well this season at Triple-A, where he carries a .270/.360/.504 slash with a dozen home runs in 286 plate appearances.
Rays Rumors: Smith, Deadline, McKay, Montreal Plan
The Rays’ recent slump has seen them go 7-13, including a four-game sweep at Yankee Stadium, thus dropping them down the standings in the AL East rather precipitously. Tampa Bay had a half-game lead over New York as recently as June 10, but the Rays suddenly face a seven-game deficit in the division. As such, the team has had to “back off its trade pursuits,” Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports (subscription required). Tampa Bay still holds a Wild Card position in the AL, so it’s not as if the team will operate as a seller this month, but teams are often less aggressive at the deadline when they believe they’re playing for a one-game playoff as opposed to a guaranteed berth in the division series. Giants closer Will Smith had been a “primary target” for the Rays, Rosenthal adds, but it’s not clear if they’ll aggressively pursue him now.
Tampa Bay faces a critical stretch of games over the next few weeks, as they’ll play the eight times Yankees and the hapless Orioles seven times in their next 15 games. That’ll provide ample opportunity to either climb back into the division race but could also create a near-insurmountable gap if New York once again dominates the series. The outcome of the Rays’ next stretch of games will likely go a long way in dictating how strongly they’ll pursue bullpen upgrades in trade talks with the Giants and other sellers.
More on the Rays…
- Top prospect Brendan McKay opened his Major League career with five perfect innings this weekend, which was (obviously) enough to earn him another start at the big league level. MLB.com’s Juan Toribio writes that the Rays will make a decision after that game whether to keep McKay in the Majors or send him back to Triple-A Durham. It’s possible that Tampa Bay could option McKay to get a fresh arm for the final couple of games leading into the All-Star break, even if the plan is to recall him shortly after the break and plug him right back into the rotation. The former No. 4 overall pick doesn’t look like he has much left to prove in the minors after posting a combined 1.22 ERA in 66 1/3 innings of Double-A and Triple-A work, but his workload figures to be closely monitored; McKay has thrown 72 1/3 innings in 2019 after tossing just 78 1/3 innings in all of 2018.
- The Rays’ proposed timeshare between St. Petersburg and Montreal was met with a heavy dose of skepticism and negative fan reaction, but Rays leadership remains committed to the idea, writes Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Rays owner Stuart Sternberg and president Brian Auld feel that split-city arrangements will eventually become more commonplace in professional sports. President Matthew Silverman also spoke of how the still-theoretical alignment would impact the team’s payroll, believing it could push the Rays to a middle-of-the-pack organization in that regard. “If this comes to fruition, we’re going to have more resources, and more resources means a higher payroll, and a higher payroll is good for all players within baseball,” said Silverman. There are still innumerable hurdles to be cleared, but as Topkin examines at length, the proposal appears to be more a plan that genuinely intrigues Rays leadership than a ploy to increase leverage in preexisting stadium talks.
Quick Hits: Realmuto, Dominguez, Edwards, McKay
J.T. Realmuto was removed during the sixth inning of Sunday’s 13-6 Phillies win over the Marlins after feeling tightness in his left hamstring, Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes. The issue arose while Realmuto was running the bases during a seven-run inning for the Phils, and the blowout nature of the game may have also contributed to the early exit, since Realmuto said the injury wasn’t serious. The All-Star catcher described the problem as “just a little standard tightness thing,” and manager Gabe Kapler felt Realmuto would likely be fine for the Phillies’ next game on Tuesday. Realmuto has yet to really catch fire since coming to the Phillies from Miami in a blockbuster trade, as his 95 wRC+ (off a .265/.319/.431 slash line in 310 PA) represents his lowest numbers since 2015. Still, Realmuto’s .353 xwOBA far outpaces his actual .320 wOBA, so his production is likely to improve as long as he keeps up the quality contact.
Some more stray items as we head into July…
- Also from Breen, Seranthony Dominguez will receive a re-evalution of his damaged right UCL on Wednesday. This is the latest step in Dominguez’s quest to avoid Tommy John surgery, as the Phillies right-hander instead opted for a platelet-rich plasma treatment. If everything checks out on Wednesday, Dominguez could begin throwing at the beginning of next week.
- Cubs right-hander Carl Edwards Jr. is set to begin a Triple-A rehab assignment, ESPN.com’s Jesse Rogers tweets. Edwards has been on the IL (retroactively) since June 10 due to a left thoracic strain. 2019 has been a tale of two seasons for Edwards, who allowed six runs over his first 1 2/3 innings of the season and was demoted to the minors, though he then delivered a 2.03 ERA over 13 1/3 frames after being recalled.
- Two-way star Brendan McKay made his debut on the mound for the Rays on Saturday, though it isn’t yet known if McKay will also get any plate appearances at the Major League level, MLB.com’s Juan Toribio writes. “We’ve expressed that I don’t think the at-bats are going to come as consistent for him over the next week or so, but if there’s an opportunity to get him in there where we feel it fits with his workload, then we’ll do that,” Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said. McKay is set to start again on Friday, though in the interim, he’ll be both going through his usual pre-start routine and also getting some swings in, both during batting practice and in the Tropicana Field. While McKay’s pitching was more developed than his hitting in the minor leagues, McKay did hit .265/.400/.551 over the small sample size of 60 plate appearances at Triple-A this season.
Tyler Glasnow Expects To Return In 2019
Burgeoning Rays ace Tyler Glasnow has been on the shelf since May 10 with right forearm tightness, an injury that will keep him out for at least several more weeks after a recent setback. But Glasnow issued an encouraging update Sunday, per Juan Toribio of MLB.com. The 25-year-old revealed his UCL “looks really good” and said that he expects to pitch again this season. He’ll still remain in shutdown mode over the next two weeks, though.
Tampa Bay lost to AL East rival New York in Glasnow’s most recent start, though the Rays still boasted a 23-14 record and a half-game lead over the Yankees at that point. The tables have turned during Glasnow’s lengthy absence, as the Rays have gone a middling 24-22 and now trail the Yankees by seven games. They still hold a one-game lead on the AL’s No. 1 wild-card position, however.
It’s obvious Glasnow’s injury isn’t the lone reason for Tampa Bay’s team-wide decline, but it clearly hasn’t helped. The 6-foot-8 hurler opened the season in dazzling fashion, with a 1.86 ERA/2.27 FIP, 10.24 K/9 against 1.68 BB/9, and a 51.7 percent groundball rate across 48 1/3 innings.
With reigning Cy Young winner Blake Snell having taken sizable steps back this year, Glasnow’s injury has been all the more damaging to the club. Charlie Morton has been outstanding, and Yonny Chirinos has also done well in an expanded role, but the Rays have been limited to those two and Snell as traditional starters. The Rays could explore the market for starters before the July 31 trade deadline as a result, though they did just promote high-end prospect Brendan McKay. The 23-year-old gave Tampa Bay a much-needed six innings of one-hit ball in a win over Texas on Saturday.