Seven Veterans With Opt-Out Opportunities Tomorrow
As part of the 2022 collective bargaining agreement, MLB and the Players Association agreed to a few automatic opt-out dates for some veteran players on minor league contracts. Article XX(B) free agents — generally, players with over six years of MLB service who finished the preceding season on a big league roster — who sign minor league contracts more than ten days before Opening Day receive three uniform chances to retest free agency if they’re not promoted.
The first comes five days before the start of the season. For players who pass on that initial opt-out, they have additional windows to explore the open market on both May 1 and June 1 if they’ve yet to secure a spot on the 40-man roster. There were 31 players who initially had that option in Spring Training.
Eleven of them — Carlos Carrasco, Garrett Cooper, Chase Anderson, Tyler Duffey, Dominic Leone, Matt Barnes, Eddie Rosario, Jesse Winker, Jesse Chavez, Brad Keller and José Ureña — are now on major league rosters. Kevin Pillar, Bryan Shaw and Joely Rodríguez also landed MLB jobs but were subsequently designated for assignment. Rodríguez remains in DFA limbo with the Red Sox. Shaw cleared waivers and signed a minor league deal with the Angels. Pillar elected free agency over the weekend.
Five of these players — Matt Duffy, Kolten Wong, Carl Edwards Jr., Drew Pomeranz and Curt Casali — triggered their first opt-out and have since signed new minor league contracts, either with their previous organization or a different club. They presumably secured some kind of opt-out provision in their new deals, but they no longer have an automatic May 1 out date. Five others — Elvis Andrus, Eduardo Escobar, Mike Moustakas, C.J. Cron and Jake Odorizzi — were let go and have yet to sign elsewhere.
The other seven players have the option to retest free agency tomorrow. None of the group has played well enough to likely leverage their opt-out right into an immediate MLB job, but two or three could decide to hit the market and look for a better minor league opportunity elsewhere.
Angels: OF Jake Marisnick
Marisnick has spent most of his career as a glove-first outfielder off the bench. He’s a right-handed hitter with some pop against lefty pitching but subpar on-base skills. Marisnick had appeared in 46 MLB games between three teams a season ago, but he hasn’t been on the field much in 2024. He made just five appearances for the Halos’ top affiliate in Salt Lake before going on the minor league injured list on April 17.
Blue Jays: 1B Joey Votto
Votto inked a minor league deal with his hometown team early in Spring Training. The former MVP indicated at the time he was prepared to open the season in Triple-A. Votto suffered an ankle injury during his first exhibition game and has spent the entire season on the minor league IL. Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith tweeted last week that Votto was running but had yet to resume hitting live pitching. It feels safe to assume he’ll pass on this opt-out chance and continue working back to health with the Jays. Daniel Vogelbach, who is on the MLB roster as a lefty bench bat, hasn’t produced (.111/.304/.167) over his first 23 plate appearances. That could open a path for Votto to get to Rogers Centre once he’s healthy.
Cubs: OF David Peralta
Peralta opened the season on the injured list with Triple-A Iowa. He was reinstated on April 10 and has appeared in 13 contests. The left-handed hitter has drawn nine walks with only seven strikeouts through his first 55 plate appearances, but he hasn’t done any kind of damage on contact. Peralta has just two extra-base hits (both doubles) and an overall .214/.364/.262 line through the season’s first month. The former Gold Glove left fielder played in 133 games for the Dodgers a year ago, hitting .259/.294/.381 over 422 plate appearances. He underwent surgery to repair a flexor tear in his throwing arm last October but has been able to play the outfield this season.
Mets: 1B Jiman Choi
Choi lost a camp battle with DJ Stewart this spring. He reported to Triple-A Syracuse but hasn’t made much of an impact. The left-handed hitter is out to a .191/.333/.340 start with a near-27% strikeout rate over 60 plate appearances. The Mets probably wouldn’t add him to the MLB roster, but Choi could take the opportunity to look for another minor league deal with a team that has a clearer path to first base/DH time. Pete Alonso and J.D. Martinez have those spots secured in Queens, while Stewart and Mark Vientos are above him on the depth chart as bench bats. Choi struggled with injuries in 2023 but was an above-average offensive performer with the Rays between 2019-22.
Rangers: Shane Greene
Greene has made three MLB appearances in each of the last two seasons. The right-hander was excellent in a limited look in Triple-A with the Cubs last year but has had a terrible start to 2024. Greene has walked 14 of the first 49 batters he’s faced for Round Rock, allowing 15 runs in eight innings. The Express placed him on the IL last week. Texas certainly can’t give him a spot in the MLB bullpen at this point. There’s a good chance Greene elects to stay in Round Rock as he tries to get healthy and find his command.
Red Sox: Michael Fulmer, Roberto Pérez
Neither Fulmer nor Pérez has played this season. Fulmer will miss the entire year after undergoing elbow surgery last fall. His contract is a two-year deal; he almost certainly won’t be exercising any of his three opt-out chances.
Pérez missed most of 2023 after undergoing a rotator cuff repair on his right shoulder. He played in seven games this spring but has spent the regular season on the minor league IL with an undisclosed injury. The Sox have gotten excellent play from their catching tandem of Connor Wong and Reese McGuire in the season’s first month. Perhaps Pérez feels there’s a better path to playing time if he signs a minor league deal with another team, but it seems likelier he’ll stick in the organization.
Blue Jays Place Yariel Rodríguez On Injured List
The Blue Jays announced that right-hander Yariel Rodríguez has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to thoracic spine inflammation. Right-hander Zach Pop has been recalled as the corresponding move.
Shi Davidi of Sportsnet reported earlier today that Rodríguez was dealing with some back soreness, which cropped up during his start for the Jays last night. He was delayed by back spasms during the spring and Francys Romero reports that the issue is similar, adding that the righty is heading to the club’s Dunedin facilities for now.
He got over those back spasms quickly but was optioned to the minors to start the year, not having had a chance to get fully stretched out yet. He made two starts at Triple-A, throwing 6 1/3 innings, before getting called up to the majors. He has been solid in four starts at the big league level so far, with a 4.11 earned run average in 15 1/3 innings.
It’s unclear how long the Jays expect him to be out of action but it will open up yet another hole in their rotation depth. They still have a strong front four in Kevin Gausman, José Berríos, Chris Bassitt and Yusei Kikuchi but the options behind that group have been thinned. Mitch White and Wes Parsons were each squeezed off the roster and flipped to other teams. Alek Manoah and Bowden Francis are on the injured list, with Rodríguez now joining them. Prospect Ricky Tiedemann isn’t on the 40-man but he’s also hurt. A recent MRI showed no structural damage but he’s still about a week away from throwing again.
The Jays will need to figure out a fifth starter, though maybe not right away, thanks to where they are in the schedule. They have an off-day on Thursday this week, followed by two more on Monday and Thursday next week. They play six in a row from May 10 to 15 but then have another off-day on May 16. That gives them a bit of time to assess their options.
Manoah, who landed on the IL due to right shoulder inflammation, is currently on a rehab assignment but has been in poor form, with 18 earned runs allowed in 13 2/3 innings. He is starting for Triple-A Buffalo tonight and perhaps his performance will help the club make a decision about next steps. If either Francis or Rodríguez are able to return in the next two weeks or so, that could be another option, though it’s unclear if the health of either will allow for that. Paolo Espino is on the 40-man roster though he’s a 37-year-old journeyman and the Jays probably don’t want to rely on him for much more than a spot start.
For now, Pop will give the Jays another bullpen arm while they figure out their rotation plans. He has a 3.94 ERA in his big league career but struggled last year with a 6.59 ERA over 15 appearances. He’s been getting good results in Triple-A so far this year with a 1.86 ERA through 9 2/3 innings.
Blue Jays Prospect Brandon Barriera Undergoes Season-Ending Elbow Surgery
April 29: Barriera underwent a hybrid Tommy John and internal brace procedure, per Nate Heisler of Klutch Baseball on X.
April 27: Brandon Barriera‘s 2024 season is over, as TSN’s Scott Mitchell (via X) reports that the Blue Jays pitching prospect will undergo surgery on his left elbow next week. The type of surgery won’t be known until the procedure is underway and doctors can fully access the damage, so Barriera could be facing a 14-month layoff that comes with Tommy John surgery, or perhaps an internal brace surgery that would allow him to perhaps be ready for Opening Day 2025.
Selected 23rd overall in the 2022 draft, Barriera threw only 20 1/3 innings during the 2023 campaign due to biceps, elbow, and shoulder injuries. Conditioning problems may have contributed to these health issues, though Keith Law notes that Barriera had “gotten himself in way better shape” heading into spring camp this year. Between that limited workload and his lone appearance (1 1/3 innings) for A-level Dunedin this season, Barriera has essentially started his pro career with two lost seasons, turning the southpaw from a very promising up-and-coming arm into something of a question mark.
Barriera is still only 20 years old, of course, so there’s plenty of time for him to get on track even if it’ll be a while before he returns to the mound. Baseball America and MLB Pipeline both ranked Barriera as the fourth-best prospect in Toronto’s farm system, and the second-best pitching prospect in their system after Ricky Tiedemann.
Blue Jays Notes: Hernandez, Tiedemann, Manoah, Rodriguez
After Friday’s 12-2 blowout loss to the Dodgers, the Blue Jays now have a 13-14 record over their first 27 games, and (via tiebreaker) sit in last place in the AL East. While there has been plenty of inconsistency within the pitching staff, Toronto’s most glaring problem has been a lack of offense — the Jays rank 24th of 30 teams in runs (98), and their .197 average with runners in scoring position is the third-worst in the league.
This slow offensive start has only generated more questions (and second-guessing) about the Blue Jays’ offseason approach to upgrading the lineup, notwithstanding the team’s high-profile attempt at signing Shohei Ohtani. This isn’t to say what the Jays check in with a number of other bats, including a notable former Blue Jay slugger in Teoscar Hernandez.
As Hernandez told Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi, the Jays made contact “at the beginning” of the offseason and “said to not forget about them.” However, later talks didn’t yield much or any progress towards a deal, as “obviously when we exchanged numbers and years and all that stuff, they said they could not go that far. That was about it.”
Hernandez blossomed into an All-Star over his six seasons in Toronto, hitting .263/.320/.503 with 129 homers in 2419 plate appearances for the Blue Jays from 2017-22. Despite this production, the Jays dealt Hernandez to the Mariners in November 2022 in exchange for Erik Swanson and pitching prospect Adam Macko. Hernandez was entering his final year of salary arbitration prior to free agency, plus the Jays felt a need to improve their outfield defense and contact hitting, as Hernandez struck out a lot and didn’t offer much in the way of glovework.
Considering that Swanson pitched well last season and Hernandez hit an underwhelming .258/.305/.435 in Seattle, Toronto’s logic in making the deal seemed sound. The outfielder’s so-so numbers resulted in what was essentially a “prove it” type of contract in free agency, as Hernandez signed with Los Angeles on a $23.5MM deal (including $8.5MM in deferrals) covering just the 2024 season. To date, Hernandez has bounced back quite nicely, to the tune of six home runs and a .267/.336/.486 slash line over his first 117 PA in Dodger Blue.
It is understandable why the Blue Jays might have been wary about committing $23.5MM to a hitter coming off such an average season, and all things being equal financially, it is also possible Hernandez might’ve preferred joining a star-studded L.A. lineup rather than return to a team that just traded him only a year earlier. That said, Hernandez’s April numbers would’ve obviously been a huge help to the Jays’ lineup, and perhaps a more prudent investment than the $18MM in combined salary the team is paying Kevin Kiermaier and Isiah Kiner-Falefa this season. Kiner-Falefa’s bat has been decent enough but he is one of several comparable infielders on Toronto’s roster, while Kiermaier has contributed next to nothing at the plate and is currently on the injured list dealing with inflammation in his hip flexor.
Ricky Tiedemann is another player on the mend, as the southpaw is on the seven-day injured list at Triple-A Buffalo. Jays manager John Schneider provided some positive news on Tiedemann’s status Friday, telling MLB.com’s Julia Kreuz and other reporters that Tiedemann is dealing with ulnar nerve inflammation, and not any structural damage to his left elbow. It isn’t quite clear yet when Tiedemann might be back on the mound for Buffalo, but he should start throwing again within 7-10 days.
Ranked as one of baseball’s top pitching prospects, Tiedemann hasn’t pitched all that much over three pro seasons, with just 130 2/3 total minor league innings under his belt. That total includes only 44 frames (32 at Double-A) in 2023, as Tiedemann battles biceps and shoulder problems for much of the year. Heading into this season, Tiedemann also had hamstring and calf issues during Spring Training, then tossed eight innings over three Triple-A starts before his IL placement.
Getting Tiedemann healthy is the Blue Jays’ top priority, and he’ll need to bank some quality innings at Triple-A before garnering consideration for his first big league call-up. Some amount of extra pressure is perhaps unavoidable for Tiedemann given both the top-100 hype, and his outsized importance on a Jays team lacking in rotation depth. In the event of an injury within the starting rotation, Paolo Espino might be the next man up by default, as Bowden Francis is on the 15-day IL and Alek Manoah‘s status remains in question given his shaky rehab performances.
Yariel Rodriguez has pitched well over his first three career Major League starts, so for now, Rodriguez has solidified his claim to the fifth starter’s job. As the Athletic’s Kaitlyn McGrath noted earlier this week, however, Rodriguez is on an unspecified innings limit since he didn’t pitch at all in 2023, and it remains to be seen how the Blue Jays might dole out those innings in the right-hander’s rookie season. Rodriguez could be moved back to the bullpen at some point in order to limit his usage, but that would require someone else to step up for rotation work.
Manoah’s 11.85 ERA over 13 2/3 innings in his four rehab outings is hard to ignore, as even though rehab starts are more about health and figuring things out rather than results, Manoah is still being plagued by control problems and the home run ball. The Jays placed Manoah on the 15-day injured list to begin the season as the right-hander was bothered by shoulder soreness during Spring Training, and as McGrath observes, the 30-day rehab window ends for Manoah on May 6. He could be optioned to Triple-A at that point, or potentially become an option for the 26-man roster if he looks better in what should be two more rehab outings. Manoah is also slated to throw a bullpen session in Toronto this weekend in front of the team’s big league coaching staff.
Blue Jays Place Bowden Francis On Injured List
The Blue Jays announced today that right-hander Bowden Francis has been played on the 15-day injured list with right forearm extensor tendinitis. Left-hander Brendon Little was recalled in a corresponding move.
At first glance, the loss of Francis might not seem to be too significant since he was operating as the club’s long reliever. However, when combined with other details, it highlights the thin starting depth for the Jays.
The club has a strong five-man rotation at the moment in Kevin Gausman, José Berríos, Chris Bassitt, Yusei Kikuchi and Yariel Rodríguez. The latter is the least established of that bunch but he has looked solid so far, with a 3.86 earned run average through his first three starts, striking out 28.8% of batters faced.
But with Francis now on the shelf, it’s unclear who the club would turn to if any of those five suffered an injury. Mitch White was in the mix earlier this year but he was recently squeezed off the roster and traded to the Giants, so he’s no longer an option.
Alek Manoah is theoretically a possibility, but the Jays likely aren’t too excited about turning to him again. He was a borderline ace in 2021 and 2022 but struggled badly last year, with his ERA ticking up to 5.87. Here in 2024, he started the season on the injured list due to right shoulder inflammation.
He has been on a rehab assignment in the minors in recent weeks but hasn’t looked great, having allowed 18 earned runs in 13 2/3 innings. Reading the stat line on a rehab assignment can’t always tell you everything since a pitcher might simply be focused on getting the ball over the plate and staying healthy while caring less about the results. However, Scott Mitchell of TSN relays that the eye test was also not good during Manoah’s outing for Buffalo last night, with his velocity noticeably down.
Prospect Ricky Tiedemann had been throwing in Triple-A and could have been considered an option until recently, but he was sent for an MRI due to some discomfort in his throwing elbow. It’s still unclear what the next steps are for him but his last appearance was two weeks ago.
For now, the rotation is in okay shape but injuries are fairly inevitable. Even if everyone stays healthy, Rodríguez might hit a wall at some point. He didn’t pitch at all last year after the World Baseball Classic, as he didn’t return to his team in Japan while trying to be declared a free agent. Even prior to that mostly dormant season, he was working as a reliever in the NPB and will be challenged to suddenly shoulder a starter’s workload for all of 2024.
With Francis and Tiedemann hurt, White gone and Manoah struggling, the Jays will have to think about who is next up. Paolo Espino is on the 40-man roster but he is a 37-year-old journeyman. Adam Macko is also on the roster but he’s not yet reached Triple-A and only has three Double-A starts on his track record.
Given the sudden subtraction of depth, the Jays will likely keep a close eye on the waiver wire or perhaps make a small trade to add some veteran depth. If they want to turn to free agency, guys like Rich Hill and Noah Syndergaard are still out there, though they would need a few weeks to get into game shape after missing Spring Training.
Blue Jays Promote Addison Barger For Major League Debut
The Blue Jays announced that outfielder Kevin Kiermaier has been placed on the 10-day injured list with left hip flexor inflammation. Infielder/outfielder Addison Barger was recalled in a corresponding move and will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game. Johnny Giunta of the Gate 14 Podcast reported Barger’s promotion prior to the official announcement.
Kiermaier was removed from last night’s game with flexor discomfort in his left hip. He underwent surgery on that hip in July of 2022 while with the Rays, spending the rest of that season on the injured list.
He managed to bounce back from that procedure and stay largely healthy with the Jays in 2023. He got into 129 games last year, just the third time in his career that he hit that tally and only the second since 2015. That led him and the Jays to reconnect on yet another one-year deal, though his 2024 season has been rough so far. He’s hit .193/.246/.246 through 62 plate appearances and will now land on the shelf to rehab this injury. It’s unclear how long the Jays expect him to be out of action.
Thankfully for the Jays, they have another excellent defensive center fielder who can step in. Like Kiermaier, Daulton Varsho is known for his strong glovework out on the grass/turf but he’s been in good form with the bat this year. He’s hit six home runs in his last 11 games and is slashing .250/.325/.569 on the year overall. He’s spent more time in left field with Kiermaier in center but will now slide over and take the bulk of the playing time up the middle.
The injury will open up room for Barger to make his major league debut. Now 24, he was a sixth-round selection of the Jays back in 2018 but launched himself onto the prospect map in 2022. That year, he went from High-A to Double-A to Triple-A, hitting 26 home runs and slashing .308/.378/.555. After that season, the Jays added him to their 40-man roster to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft and Baseball America ranked him the #4 prospect in the club’s system.
2023 was a bit of a setback, with Barger missing time due to an elbow injury. He only got into 88 Triple-A games and hit a diminished .250/.353/.403 in that time. He seems to be healthy and back on track here in 2024, as he’s currently slashing .314/.435/.586 for the year. He has three home runs and is walking almost as much as he’s striking out, a 16.5% rate of free passes compared to a 17.6% rate of punchouts.
Barger has played all around the infield but has also seen increasing time in right field over the past two seasons, a natural fit for him since he’s considered to have an excellent throwing arm. With Varsho in center, perhaps George Springer moves from right to left on occasion, or Barger simply helps out in left field. If players like Davis Schneider, Cavan Biggio, Ernie Clement or Isiah Kiner-Falefa spend more time in the outfield, Barger can factor into the infield mix instead.
The left-handed bat of Barger will also be a good fit for a fairly righty-heavy lineup. With Kiermaier on the IL, the primary lefties for the Jays are just Varsho and Biggio. Daniel Vogelbach is also on the roster but has been in a fairly narrow role due to his limited defensive value. With Justin Turner the primary designated hitter, Vogelbach has made just three starts as the DH this year, in addition to a few pinch-hitting appearances.
Giants Acquire Mitch White
The Giants have acquired Mitch White from the Blue Jays in exchange for cash considerations, as noted by Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. Right-hander Alex Cobb was placed on the 60-day injured list to clear a spot for White on the club’s 40-man roster. The move comes on the heels of Toronto designating White for assignment earlier this week to make room for the returns of closer Jordan Romano and right-hander Erik Swanson to the active roster.
White, 29, was a second-round pick by the Dodgers in the 2016 draft and began receiving top-100 prospect buzz prior to the 2018 season, though he ultimately would not make his debut until the shortened 2020 campaign. In three seasons with the Dodgers, White pitched 105 2/3 frames across 38 appearances (14 starts) with the Dodgers and achieved solid results with a 3.58 ERA and 3.87 FIP to go along with a respectable 22% strikeout rate. That early career success didn’t stop the Dodgers from trading White to the Blue Jays at the 2022 trade deadline, however, and he’s struggled badly ever since departing Los Angeles.
In Toronto, White has pitched to a shocking 7.26 ERA despite a fairly average 4.10 FIP in 65 2/3 innings of work in parts of three seasons. While with the Blue Jays, White has seen his strikeout rate plummet to just 16.3% while his walk rate ticked up to 8.9%. The results weren’t any better at the Triple-A level, where White spent most of last season. In 55 2/3 appearances for the club’s affiliate in Buffalo last year, White posted a 5.50 ERA while walking a whopping 12% of batters faced.
Now, White is set to return to the NL West where he can hopefully put his troubles with the Blue Jays behind him. The 29-year-old righty is out of options, meaning the Giants will have to make room for him on their active roster in the coming days. Once he’s officially added to the roster, White figures to provide the Giants with a bullpen arm capable of pitching multiple innings. It’s a role they relied on the likes of Jakob Junis and Keaton Winn for last season prior to the former departing in free agency and the latter joining the club’s starting rotation on a full-time basis.
Making room for White on the 40-man roster is Cobb, who has spent the entire season to this point on the IL after undergoing hip surgery this past offseason. Cobb was initially expected to return to action at some point next month, but as noted recently by John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle, the veteran righty is dealing with something of a setback after developing a “mild” bout of shoulder inflammation in his right arm. Shea adds that an MRI on Cobb’s shoulder came back clean, but evidently the setback was enough for the Giants to be willing to rule Cobb out for almost the entire month of May.
Pavlovic notes that the club plans to be cautious with Cobb’s rehab going forward and that the veteran will now first be eligible to return to the big league club on May 27. That Cobb’s absence will extend at least another month is unfortunate news for San Francisco, as the 36-year-old has been a more reliable arm for the club’s rotation than anyone other than Logan Webb since he joined the team prior to the 2022 season.
Over the past two seasons, Cobb has made 56 starts for the Giants and pitched to a solid 3.80 ERA (107 ERA+) with an even stronger 3.41 FIP in 301 innings of work. The Giants are currently relying on Webb, Blake Snell, Kyle Harrison, Jordan Hicks, and Winn in their starting rotation as things stand, with Winn standing as the most likely candidate to move to the bullpen upon Cobb’s return to action.
Blue Jays Place Chad Green On 15-Day Injured List
The Blue Jays are placing right-hander Chad Green on the injured list due to a right teres major strain, manager John Schneider told reporters (including Shi Davidi of Sportsnet) this evening. Right-hander Nate Pearson is set to be recalled to the roster in the corresponding move. Kyle Glaser relays that, per Schneider, Green has already undergone an MRI and will be shut down for a few days before the club re-assess him to determine a timeline for his return.
Green, 33 next month, signed with Toronto back in January of 2023 on a complex deal that guaranteed him $8.5MM over two years. Since then, however, the Blue Jays have exercised a two-year, $21MM club option on Green’s services that will now leave him with a total guarantee of $23.25MM over three years, including the $2.25MM he earned last season.
While Green had pitched just 12 innings for Toronto at that point, that expenditure was clearly justified by Green’s run as one of the most dominant set-up men in the game with the Yankees over the prior six seasons, which saw him post a 2.96 ERA and 3.01 FIP while striking out 33.4% of batters faced. The early returns on Toronto’s decision to commit to the veteran righty have been solid, as Green has picked up two saves in seven appearances while pitching to a 2.35 ERA to this point in the young 2024 campaign. Unfortunately, he’ll now take a seat for what could be a significant absence.
While Toronto doesn’t intend to determine a timetable for the right-hander’s return for several days, other hurlers suffering from teres major strains in recent years have typically been away from the big league club for a month or longer. Rangers right-hander Max Scherzer suffered a teres major strain in mid September last year and managed to return to appear in the ALCS against the Astros just over a month later, but struggled in his return before being removed from the club’s World Series roster after three postseason appearances.
Other players to suffer a teres major strain in recent years include Guardians righty Triston McKenzie, who missed the first two months of the 2023 campaign due to the issue, and Cubs youngster Caleb Kilian, who suffered the injury in early March and isn’t expected to return until sometime around the All Star break. Should Green require a lengthy trip to the IL, the Jays figure to lean heavily on right-handers Jordan Romano and Erik Swanson in his absence.
Both Romano and Swanson were just activated following trips to the IL of their own earlier this week. While they’ve combined to allow four runs in three appearances since being activated, the pair were among the most reliable back-end duos in the sport last year. Swanson pitched to a 2.97 ERA with a 28.6% strikeout rate in 69 appearances last year while setting up for Romano, who racked up 36 saves while posting a 2.90 ERA in 59 appearances of his own. With Green on the shelf, the likes of Yimi Garcia and Genesis Cabrera could receive additional late-inning opportunities alongside the duo.
Replacing Green on the active roster is Pearson, who had been optioned earlier this week to clear space for Romano and Swanson’s returns to the roster. The 27-year-old righty was the club’s first-round pick in the 2017 draft and was once widely considered a top-15 prospect in the sport but struggled to a 5.00 ERA and 5.36 FIP in 52 appearances from 2020 to 2023. The early returns on Pearson’s work in 2024 have been positive, however, as he’s struck out 34.6% of batters faced across 6 1/3 scoreless frames in the majors so far this year.
AL East Notes: Pivetta, LeMahieu, Tiedemann
Nick Pivetta threw a bullpen session today, and Red Sox manager Alex Cora gave reporters (including MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo) a rough timeline of when the righty might return from the right flexor strain that sent Pivetta to the 15-day injured list on April 6. Cora outlined that Pivetta is around 10 days away from facing live hitters and then will get probably two minor league rehab starts, so if all goes well, Pivetta should be back in Boston’s rotation by around the middle of May.
There was some initial hope that Pivetta could miss just the minimum 15 days when he first went on the IL, yet it isn’t surprising that Pivetta and the Sox are showing extra precaution with a flexor injury. Cora said that Pivetta “felt good today” after the bullpen, which is a nice first step in the recovery process. The IL stint interrupted a great start to the season for the righty, who looked flat out dominant in posting an 0.82 ERA over his first two outings and 11 innings of the 2024 campaign.
Some items from around the AL East…
- DJ LeMahieu was set to begin a minor league rehab assignment yesterday, but an MRI revealed that his right foot fracture hadn’t entirely healed. The infielder could still begin his assignment as early as Tuesday, though “we’re just being conservative with this thing,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone told ESPN News Services and other media. “He’s doing really well and I know he feels ready to go, but the foot specialist has weighed in. We want to make sure this thing’s 100 percent.” LeMahieu suffered the injury about a month ago after fouling a ball off his foot in Spring Training, and is healthy enough to partake in such baseball activities as batting practice and fielding drills, even if he hasn’t gotten the green light for rehab games just yet.
- Blue Jays pitching prospect Ricky Tiedemann underwent an MRI on Thursday to explore discomfort in his throwing elbow, Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi reports (X link). Tiedemann was already placed on the Triple-A injured list earlier this week, and perhaps ominously, there haven’t yet been any updates over the MRI results. Shoulder and biceps problems limited Tiedemann to only 44 total minor league innings in 2023, and while a potential Major League debut is seemingly on the horizon for the southpaw this season, the Jays’ first priority is just rebuilding Tiedemann’s arm strength and getting him back in the groove of regular starting assignments. Tiedemann is ranked as both Toronto’s top prospect and one of the better pitching prospects in all of baseball, though he has been shaky in posting a 5.63 ERA over three starts and eight innings for Triple-A Buffalo this season, with more walks (nine) than innings pitched.
Blue Jays Trade Jimmy Robbins To Rangers
The Rangers acquired minor league left-hander Jimmy Robbins from the Blue Jays, according to an announcement from Texas’ top affiliate in Round Rock. He was not on the Toronto 40-man roster and therefore won’t occupy a spot with Texas. According to the MLB.com transaction tracker, the Jays received cash in return.
Robbins, a 6’3″ southpaw, has yet to reach the majors. The Jays selected him out of a Florida junior college in the 20th round of the 2019 draft. Robbins has never ranked among the organization’s top 30 prospects at Baseball America. Eric Longenhangen and Tess Taruskin of FanGraphs rated him as an honorable mention on their write-up of the Toronto farm system in 2023, praising his slider and calling him a potential situational lefty out of the bullpen.
The 26-year-old has worked mostly as a starting pitcher in his career, but control issues figure to push him to relief. He started 18 of 22 appearances in Double-A last year, where he walked almost 14% of batters faced. That resulted in a lackluster 4.67 ERA over 86 2/3 innings. Robbins has gotten brief looks as a non-roster invitee to big league Spring Training in each of the last two years, allowing two runs in 5 1/3 frames spanning four relief outings. He has pitched twice out of the bullpen in Triple-A this season, tossing 2 1/3 innings of two-run ball.
Texas will keep Robbins in Triple-A, where he could see action as a starter or multi-inning reliever. The Rangers are calling Jack Leiter up from the Round Rock rotation for his MLB debut tomorrow. Meanwhile, their lefty relief depth took a hit when Brock Burke suffered a self-inflicted hand fracture over the weekend.