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Red Sox Activate Chris Sale, Matt Barnes From Injured List

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The Red Sox announced they’ve reinstated ace Chris Sale and closer Matt Barnes from the COVID-19 injured list. Ryan Brasier was optioned to Triple-A Worcester, while Michael Feliz was designated for assignment to clear roster space.

Sale and Barnes become the two latest players to return after testing positive for the coronavirus. The Sox are still without Christian Arroyo, Yairo Muñoz, Jarren Duran, Jonathan Araúz, Danny Santana and Phillips Valdéz for virus-related reasons. Sale and Barnes were perhaps the two most impactful players yet to return from the outbreak before this evening, though.

After missing all of 2020 and a good portion of 2021 recovering from Tommy John surgery, Sale returned to make five starts before testing positive on September 9. He turned in a few vintage performances before contracting the virus, working 25 innings of 2.52 ERA ball with a quality 27.5% strikeout percentage and a tiny 5.5% walk rate. Getting a few more great starts down the stretch would be critical for a Boston team that enters play tonight tied with the Blue Jays and holding a half-game advantage over the archrival Yankees for the American League’s two Wild Card spots.

Barnes missed a bit more time than Sale did, as he tested positive on August 30. That couple weeks on the shelf required him to make a pair of minor league rehab appearances this week before returning to the active roster. One of the league’s best relievers in the first half, Barnes had a disastrous August and will be looking to return to his early-season form down the stretch.

The Red Sox signed Feliz to a minor league deal near the end of August and selected him to the major league club a couple weeks later. He made just four appearances for Boston, tossing 5 1/3 frames of two-run ball before losing his spot. The Red Sox will place the 28-year-old on waivers over the next few days.

Feliz has split the 2021 season between three teams, pitching for the Pirates and Reds in addition to his work with the Sox. He’s posted a 7.32 ERA in 19 2/3 innings between that trio of clubs despite solid strikeout and walk rates (25.3% and 6.9%, respectively). Opposing hitters have popped four home runs off the fly-ball pitcher in that limited body of work.

Mets Activate Brandon Nimmo From Injured List

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The Mets announced they’ve reinstated center fielder Brandon Nimmo from the 10-day injured list before this evening’s game against the Phillies. Reliever Jake Reed was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse in a corresponding move.

Nimmo returns after missing just under two weeks with a right hamstring strain. At the time he went down, the club was still above .500 and within three and a half games of the division-leading Braves. They’ve gone just 3-7 in the ten games since, falling five and a half back of Atlanta and five games behind the Cardinals in the Wild Card race. Their playoff odds, in FanGraphs’ estimation, have dipped from 10.2% to 1.9% in the process, as it’s probably too late for Nimmo to make a meaningful contribution in a postseason push.

The team’s disappointing season hasn’t been the fault of Nimmo, who has continued to excel when healthy. Always one of the game’s best at drawing walks and reaching base, the left-handed hitter owns a .302/.420/.415 line with five home runs over 320 plate appearances. Nimmo doesn’t hit for much power, but he’s one of just five hitters with 300+ plate appearances and an on-base percentage north of .400 (Juan Soto, Bryce Harper, Yasmani Grandal and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. being the others).

In an additional roster move, the Mets activated righty Jordan Yamamoto from the 60-day injured list and optioned him to Syracuse. Doing so required opening space on the 40-man roster, so New York recalled minor league lefty Thomas Szapucki and placed him on the major league 60-day IL. Szapucki, who is out for the year after undergoing ulnar nerve transposition surgery in mid-July, will receive big league pay and service time for the season’s final few weeks.

Mariners Outright Jose Marmolejos

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SEPTEMBER 17: Marmolejos has cleared waivers and been outrighted back to Tacoma, the team announced Friday. He has the right to elect free agency because he’d previously been outrighted in his career, although the team offered no indication he’s planning to do so.

SEPTEMBER 14: The Mariners announced they’ve designated corner outfielder/first baseman José Marmolejos for assignment. Fellow outfielder Jake Fraley has been reinstated from the 10-day injured list in a corresponding move. Marmolejos’ designation also opens a spot on Seattle’s 40-man roster, which now sits at 39.

Marmolejos has already been designated once this season, losing his roster spot back in May after hitting just .139/.266/.278 in his first 94 plate appearances. The 28-year-old cleared outright waivers and was sent to Triple-A Tacoma. He put together an incredible few months with the Rainiers, popping 23 home runs in just 303 plate appearances and mashing at a .360/.452/.700 clip. That earned him another look with the big league club, as the M’s reselected Marmolejos a couple weeks back.

Seattle has given Marmolejos a few starts since he was called back up, but he again struggled in a very small sample of 28 plate appearances. With Fraley ready to return to assume his customary left field role, the front office evidently determined there was no space on the big league club for Marmolejos. Because he’s out of minor league option years, Marmolejos had to again be exposed to waivers to be bumped from the active roster.

While Marmolejos cleared waivers a few months ago, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see another club take a flier on him this time around thanks to his intervening demolishing of Triple-A pitching. Any claiming team would also have to keep the left-handed hitter on the active roster or place him back on waivers themselves.

Fraley has missed a little more than two weeks due to right shoulder inflammation. The 26-year-old got off to a great start to the season but had cooled off significantly before landing on the shelf. He’s still been a productive player overall, though, sporting a season line of .213/.359/.388. It’s an unsightly batting average, to be sure, but Fraley’s massive 18.2% walk rate has helped him post an OBP nearly forty points higher than the .321 league average (excluding pitchers).

Marlins Select Payton Henry, Nick Fortes

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The Marlins are selecting catchers Payton Henry and Nick Fortes to the big league roster, general manager Kim Ng told reporters (including Christina de Nicola of MLB.com). Jorge Alfaro is being placed on the 10-day injured list due to a left calf strain, while infielder Isan Díaz was optioned to Triple-A Jacksonville. To clear space on the 40-man roster, Miami transferred starter Pablo López and third baseman Brian Anderson from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list.

Henry was a sixth-round pick of the Brewers in 2016 coming out of a Utah high school. The right-handed hitting backstop has moved progressively up the minor league ladder in the years since. He’s hitting for a decent amount of power but struggled with strikeouts, perhaps not especially surprising for a player coming from a nontraditional baseball background.

Miami acquired Henry from the Brewers at the trade deadline in a deal that sent reliever John Curtiss to Milwaukee. Baseball America slotted the 24-year-old as the #29 prospect in the Marlins’ system after the deal, calling him a potential glove-first backup with some power potential. Henry has picked up his first high minors experience this season, hitting .315/.392/.405 over 125 Double-A plate appearances and posting a .223/.318/.377 mark after being bumped up to Triple-A.

Like Henry, Fortes is coming up for his major league debut. He’s also a righty-swinging backstop whom the Fish selected in the fourth round of the 2018 draft out of Ole Miss. Fortes has also garnered his first high minors action this year, posting a .251/.338/.359 line over 226 trips to the plate in Double-A and hitting .237/.322/.378 in 152 plate appearances with Jacksonville. Fortes didn’t appear on Miami’s top 30 prospects at BA, but Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs wrote in April that the 24-year-old’s defense and bat-to-ball skills give him a chance to be a capable reserve catcher.

Each of Henry and Fortes would have been eligible for the Rule 5 draft this winter if not selected to the 40-man roster. Miami will get an early look at both players over the season’s final couple weeks. The Marlins are generally expected to move on from Alfaro — who will be eligible for arbitration for the second time this offseason — and seek outside help behind the plate this winter. Neither Henry nor Fortes is the caliber of prospect who would likely deter the front office from seeking an external upgrade, but strong showings from one or both could give them an inside track at landing a season-opening reserve job in 2022.

López’s IL transfer is merely a procedural move. He’s already been on the IL for more than sixty days, so he’s eligible to return when first healthy. Ng told reporters (including de Nicola) that López will throw to batters tomorrow. The team still hopes he’ll be able to make it back this season. Anderson was already known to be out for the rest of the year after undergoing shoulder surgery.

Indians Outright Ryan Lavarnway

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Sept. 17: Lavarnway cleared waivers and was assigned outright to Triple-A Columbus, per the transactions log at MiLB.com.

Sept. 14: The Indians have designated catcher Ryan Lavarnway for assignment and reinstated fellow backstop Roberto Perez from the injured list, per a club announcement. They’ve also added righty J.C. Mejia as their 29th man for today’s doubleheader against the Twins.

The veteran Lavarnway, 34, appeared in nine games with Cleveland and went 7-for-28 with a pair of walks in 30 plate appearances. Once a fairly well-regarded prospect in the Red Sox system, Lavarnway has settled in as the consummate journeyman backup catcher. He’s spent time in the Majors in 10 of the past 11 seasons — 2016 being the exception — but has never topped 46 games or 167 plate appearances. In 486 trips to the plate at the MLB level, Lavarnway has batted .217/.272/.345.

The Indians were Lavarnway’s eight Major League team and his seventh in the past seven years. He’s had a strong season with Cleveland’s top minor league affiliate in Columbus, batting .278/.339/.583 in 166 plate appearances. He’s a career .272/.362/.438 hitter in parts of 10 Triple-A seasons. Lavarnway will now either be placed on outright waivers or release waivers.

Twins Place Andrelton Simmons On Restricted List, Select Nick Vincent

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The Twins have selected the contract of veteran righty Nick Vincent from Triple-A St. Paul and placed shortstop Andrelton Simmons on the restricted list, tweets Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Minnesota has also reinstated outfielder Brent Rooker from the paternity list and optioned lefty Andrew Albers to Triple-A.

Simmons’ placement on the restricted list is due to visa-related issues, Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic reports (via Twitter). He’s in the process of establishing permanent residency in the United States but would reset that process by traveling to Toronto, so he’ll miss the entire Jays series. Presumably, shortstop duties will fall to utilityman Nick Gordon in Simmons’ absence. Jorge Polanco, the Twins’ former everyday shortstop who moved to second base this year, could certainly pick up some reps there as well, if needed.

It’s been an ugly year at the plate for Simmons, who signed a one-year, $10.5MM contract with the Twins over the winter. He’s batting a career-worst .223/.285/.277 (58 wRC+) with just 15 extra-base hits (12 doubles, three homers) through 390 plate appearances. Defensive Runs Saved (10) and Outs Above Average (15) still rank him among the game’s best defensive players, but the 2021 campaign marks a third consecutive season of below-average offense for the 32-year-old.

This will be Vincent’s second stint with the Twins this season. The 35-year-old was sharp in his prior look, holding opponents to one run on four hits and a walk with four strikeouts through 4 1/3 frames of relief. He’s spent the bulk of the season with the Triple-A affiliates for the Twins and Rangers, pitching to a combined 4.40 ERA with 28.4 percent strikeout rate and a 6.6 percent walk rate.

Vincent has appeared in the big leagues in each of the past ten seasons. He’s been a consistent and seemingly underappreciated option over the years, logging a lifetime 3.37 ERA with a 24.2 percent strikeout rate and a 6.1 percent walk rate. He’s posted a sub-4.00 ERA in eight of his ten MLB seasons (this year’s small sample included) and recorded identical 4.43 marks in the other two campaigns.

Royals Place Brady Singer On Injured List, Select Jon Heasley

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The Royals have placed right-hander Brady Singer on the injured list and selected the contract of right-hander Jon Heasley from Double-A Northwest Arkansas, per a club announcement. An injury designation was not provided for Singer. The Royals already had a full 40-man roster but did not announce a corresponding move, suggesting that Singer is going on the Covid-19-related IL.

Heasley is expected to start tonight’s game in Singer’s place, tweets Alec Lewis of The Athletic. The 6’3″, 225-pound righty was Kansas City’s 13th-round pick back in the 2018 draft and has turned in a solid season in Double-A thus far. Through 105 1/3 innings, the 24-year-old had pitched to a 3.33 ERA with a 27.7 percent strikeout rate, a 7.9 percent walk rate and a 38.9 percent ground-ball rate.

Baseball America ranked Heasley as the Royals’ No. 17 prospect on its midseason reranking of the team’s farm system, and he’s listed 14th over at MLB.com. Both reports praise Heasley’s high-spin four-seamer, which tops out at 97 mph, and an above-average curveball. He throws a changeup and slider as well. Heasley hasn’t drawn as much national fanfare as teammates like Singer, Jackson Kowar, Daniel Lynch and Kris Bubic, but he gives Kansas City yet another young, MLB-ready rotation candidate for 2022 and beyond.

The Royals didn’t specify whether Heasley is being selected as a Covid-related replacement player for Singer, though making that designation would allow the team to return Heasley to the minors without needing to first pass him through waivers. However, Heasley would be eligible for the Rule 5 Draft this offseason if not on the 40-man roster, so it’s likely the Royals would’ve added him within the next two months or so anyhow.

Singer, 25, is third on the Royals in both innings pitched and games started, trailing only Mike Minor and Brad Keller in that regard. He’s taken a step back from last season’s solid rookie debut, pitching to a 4.85 ERA with a 22.4 percent strikeout rate and 9.2 percent walk rate — both slightly worse than league-average — through 120 2/3 frames. Singer has been hampered by a .347 average on balls in play, however — an 87-point increase over last season’s .260 mark despite giving up less hard contact than he did a year ago. Metrics like FIP and SIERA feel he’s been essentially the same pitcher as in 2020, pegging him in the low-4.00 range.

Reds Activate Jesse Winker From IL, Release Brad Brach

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The Reds announced Friday that outfielder Jesse Winker has been reinstated from the 10-day injured list. Fellow outfielder Tyler Naquin will head to the IL in his place due to bruised ribs, thus opening a spot on the active roster. Meanwhile, veteran right-hander Brad Brach, who was designated for assignment Monday, has been released.

Winker, 28, went down with an intercostal strain more than a month ago. His absence from the lineup has clearly been felt, as what was a powerhouse offense for Cincinnati early in the season now ranks 28th in the Majors with 96 runs scored over the past 30 days. Obviously, there’s more at play than just Winker’s injury with such a glaring downturn, but he’s been a huge part of the Reds lineup, batting .307/.395/.560 with 24 home runs, 32 doubles and a triple through 481 plate appearances.

The 30-year-old Naquin was one of the Reds’ best hitters early in the season and, after a prolonged slump, heated back up for a blistering three week stretch to close out the month of August. From Aug. 11-30, he turned in a ridiculous .420/.474/.812 batting line with six homers, seven doubles and a triple through 76 plate appearances. He’s been banged up recently, however, missing much of the past week after a collision with teammate Jose Barrero. Naquin’s IL stint is retroactive to Sept. 14, so he can return in a week’s time if his ribs have healed sufficiently.

Brach, 35, was designated for assignment Monday after a rough stretch out of the Cincinnati ’pen. He got out to a brilliant start with the Reds, firing 20 innings of 2.25 ERA ball with a 28.6 percent strikeout rate and a 54.9 percent ground-ball rate. His past 15 outings, however, have been an immense struggle. He’s totaled just 10 innings in that time and been tagged for 16 runs on 17 hits and nine walks with nine strikeouts. He missed a month of action himself due to a shoulder impingement, so it’s certainly possible he wasn’t pitching at 100 percent during that rapid downturn.

Cincinnati is 3-7 over its past 10 games and has lost possession of an NL Wild Card spot in recent days. The division-rival Cardinals hold a one-game lead over the Reds for that second spot, and the Padres are also a half-game up on the Reds as they try to keep their playoff hopes alive.

Minor MLB Transactions: 9/16/21

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The latest minor moves from around baseball….

  • The Athletics announced that Burch Smith has accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A, after clearing waivers.  Smith was designated for assignment two days ago, and while he could have elected free agency (as a player who has been previously outrighted in his career), the 31-year-old will remain in the Oakland organization.  Smith has a 5.40 ERA over 43 1/3 relief innings this season, as while Smith has cut down on the home runs and walks that plagued him earlier in his career, he is missing far fewer bats than usual in 2021.  Smith has only a 14.9% strikeout rate this season, after posting a 23.1% strikeout rate over his first 147 2/3 innings in the majors.
  • The Nationals announced that infielder Adrian Sanchez cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A.  Like Smith, Sanchez also could have declined the assignment since he was previously outrighted, as the Nats cut him from their 40-man last October.  Sanchez was DFA’ed earlier his week after hitting .257/.316/.314 over 38 plate appearances for Washington, all since being added to the active roster following the trade deadline.  Though he just turned 31 last month, Sanchez is already in his 14th season in the Nationals organization, appearing in 106 Major League games since the start of the 2017 season.

Rangers Designate Hyeon-jong Yang For Assignment

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TODAY: Yang has been outrighted to Triple-A Round Rock, the Rangers announced.

SEPTEMBER 15: The Rangers announced they’ve designated southpaw Hyeon-jong Yang for assignment. The move creates space on the 40-man roster for corner outfielder/designated hitter Willie Calhoun, who has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list.

Yang has been on and off the big league roster a few times this season. The 33-year-old signed a minor league deal with Texas over the offseason after a generally strong 14-year career with the Kia Tigers of the Korea Baseball Organization. The Rangers selected Yang to the majors a few weeks into the season but he was designated for assignment around six weeks later. He’s since been back for a pair of brief stints on the MLB roster.

Working in a swing role, Yang has tossed 35 1/3 frames of 5.60 ERA ball. He’s posted worse than average strikeout and walk numbers (15.6% and 10%, respectively) while struggling to miss bats at the big league level. Yang has an identical 5.60 ERA in 45 Triple-A innings, although he’s posted better strikeout, walk and swinging strike numbers in the minors.

Calhoun returns after missing nearly three months upon fracturing his left hand on a hit-by-pitch. Injuries have mostly derailed his past couple seasons, as the 26-year-old hasn’t managed to build upon the offensive progress he showed back in 2019. The final few weeks of this year will be big for Calhoun, who is eligible for arbitration for the first time this winter. Manager Chris Woodward recently suggested Calhoun’s lack of playing time lately could make determining whether to tender him a contract a difficult decision, so he’ll look to make that an easier call for the front office with a strong finish to the season.

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