Twins Select Elliot Soto
The Twins announced Monday that they’ve selected the contract of infielder Elliot Soto from Triple-A St. Paul. Right-hander Cole Sands was optioned to St. Paul to make room on the active roster, while righty Cody Stashak was transferred from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Stashak underwent season-ending shoulder surgery recently.
Soto, a 32-year-old journeyman, made his big league debut with the Angels in 2020 and went 2-for-6 in a brief three-game cup of coffee. Originally a 15th-round pick by the Cubs back in 2010, he’s seen action with the Cubs, Marlins, Rockies, Angels, Dodgers and now Twins over a 12-year minor league career. He was never a top-ranked prospect with any of those teams, although Baseball America at one point rated him as the best defensive infielder in the Cubs’ system.
Thus far in 2022, Soto has appeared in 41 games with the Saints and posted a .213/.327/.331 batting line. He’s a career .262/.341/.371 hitter in 1680 plate appearances at the Triple-A level. The Twins recently lost Royce Lewis for the season when he re-tore the ACL in his surgically repaired knee, and a seemingly minor hamstring issue for Nick Gordon have thinned things out a bit further. Gordon exited Saturday’s game against the Rays early and didn’t start Sunday, though he entered the game in the eighth inning.
Even if Gordon is available to start, Minnesota had been playing with a short bench and a 14-man pitching staff prior to optioning Sands, so Soto will give manager Rocco Baldelli a bit more flexibility.
Phillies Designate James Norwood For Assignment
The Phillies announced Monday that right-hander James Norwood has been designated for assignment in order to open a spot on the roster for fellow right-hander Michael Kelly, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A Lehigh Valley. The Phils also reinstated catcher Rafael Marchan from the 60-day injured list and optioned him to Triple-A.
Acquired from the Padres in an offseason deal that sent minor league infielder Kervin Pichardo to San Diego, Norwood has pitched 17 1/3 innings of relief out of the Philadelphia bullpen but has been tagged for 17 earned runs in that time. The damage hasn’t been confined to one or two poor outings, either, as Norwood has yielded runs in eight of his 20 appearances on the season so far. Overall, he’s yielded 24 hits (two of them homers) and nine walks while punching out 22 batters.
Norwood is out of minor league options — a large reason he was designated by the Padres in the first place — so the Phils couldn’t send him down without first designating him for assignment. They’ll have a week to try to trade him or pass him through outright waivers now. The former seventh-rounder has a decent track record in Triple-A, a fastball that averages just under 97 mph and a splitter that gets him plenty of chases and whiffs. Add in a decent track record in the upper minors, and it’s not out of the question that another bullpen-needy club would want to speculate via waiver claim or perhaps a small trade.
As for the 29-year-old Kelly, he’ll make his big league debut whenever he steps onto the mound for the first time. It’s the culmination of a 11-year baseball odyssey for the 2011 No. 48 overall pick. Originally selected by the Padres, Kelly also spent time with the Orioles, Astros and the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs of the independent Atlantic League before joining the Phillies as a minor league free agent this winter. He’s pitched to a lackluster 5.00 ERA in 18 innings with the IronPigs so far, but Kelly has also punched out 33.8% of his opponents in that time.
Twins Release Derek Fisher
The Twins released outfielder Derek Fisher from their Triple-A affiliate over the weekend, per the transactions log at MiLB.com. The former Astros, Jays and Brewers outfielder inked a minor league deal with Minnesota over the winter.
Once regarded as one of the game’s top outfield prospects, Fisher has managed just a .195/.285/.378 batting line through 466 plate appearances at the MLB level. Strikeouts have been a major problem for the now-28-year-old former No. 37 overall draft pick, as he’s punched out at a 35.4% clip in the big leagues.
Despite those Major League struggles, Fisher never seemed to have much trouble handling Triple-A opponents — at least until last season. He slashed .205/.271/.308 in 85 plate appearances with the Brewers’ top affiliate in 2021, and his .158/.259/.305 batting line through 108 trips to the plate for the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate in St. Paul marked an even bigger step back. He got out to a decent start with the Saints, but Fisher collected just four hits over his final 45 at-bats prior to his release, missing two weeks with a shoulder issue along the way.
Fisher is still a 28-year-old .272/.361/.486 hitter in parts of six minor league seasons overall, so another club might take a look on a minor league deal, even his recent work doesn’t inspire much confidence.
Red Sox Place Nathan Eovaldi On 15-Day IL With Back Inflammation
The Red Sox announced that starter Nathan Eovaldi has been placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to June 9, due to low back inflammation. Kutter Crawford has been recalled in a corresponding move and is starting tonight’s game.
This is the second blow to the Red Sox rotation in recent days as Garrett Whitlock also landed on the injured list two days ago. That leaves the rotation doubly handicapped for the next couple of weeks at least. After a rough start to the year, the club has charged their way back into the postseason picture with strong play of late, but now they will have to try to keep that up with diminished starting depth. As of right now, Crawford will join a rotation that also features Michael Wacha, Rich Hill and Nick Pivetta.
The club has an off-day tomorrow but then plays nine games in a row. After another off-day on June 23, they will begin a stretch of 23 consecutive games going into the All-Star break. If Whitlock and Eovaldi can return to health, they can rejoin the club in that latter stretch, though it seems the club’s rotation is going to be tested one way or another. Josh Winckowski, Connor Seabold, Brayan Bello and Bryan Mata are all on the 40-man roster and are candidates to be called up to help, if needed.
The loss of Eovaldi will surely hurt, though, as he’s having another strong season. Through 68 1/3 innings, he has a 3.16 ERA, 25.8% strikeout rate, 3.6% walk rate and 45.1% ground ball rate. He is set to reach free agency at the end of the year.
Padres Select Kyle Tyler
The Padres selected the contract of right-hander Kyle Tyler prior to today’s game with the Rockies. Righty Reiss Knehr was optioned to Triple-A in the corresponding move.
Tyler has become a familiar name on MLBTR’s pages in recent weeks, as he has been designated for assignment five times in less than three months, and claimed off waivers on four of those occasions. This flurry has seen Tyler go from the Angels, to the Red Sox, to the Padres, back to the Angels, and then finally back to San Diego for his latest stop.
All of these transactions have taken place without Tyler ever seeing any big league action, but the 25-year-old is now in line to follow up on his 2021 rookie season. Debuting with the Angels last year, Tyler posted a 2.92 ERA over 12 1/3 innings of relief work, with six strikeouts and walks apiece.
Working as both a starter and reliever over his minor league career, Tyler has a 3.40 ERA over 248 2/3 professional innings since Anaheim selected him in the 20th round of the 2018 draft. This includes a 5.51 ERA over 16 1/3 innings with Triple-A El Paso this season, though even beyond that small sample size, Tyler’s 2022 performance is understandably hard to gauge given all the starts and stops involved in his unusual season.
Diamondbacks, Dallas Keuchel Agree To Minor League Deal
TODAY: Keuchel’s deal actually contains three opt-out dates, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. The three dates are June 25, July 3, and July 11.
JUNE 6: The Diamondbacks have agreed to terms on a minor league contract with free agent lefty Dallas Keuchel, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter link). He’ll head to Triple-A for the time being but has an eventual opt-out date worked into the deal if he’s not added to the MLB roster by that time. Keuchel is represented by the Boras Corporation.
It’s a no-risk deal for the D-backs, who’ll owe only the prorated league minimum to Keuchel for any time spent in the Majors. The remaining balance of his $18MM salary will still be paid by the White Sox, who released him late last month. The Sox are also still on the hook for the $1.5MM buyout on Keuchel’s 2023 option.
Keuchel is headed to the minors for now, but the new agreement reconnects him with D-backs pitching coach Brent Strom, who was Keuchel’s pitching coach during his peak years with the Astros. At least for now, the two won’t be working side-by-side on a daily basis with Strom on the big league staff, but the connection quite likely played a role in the mutual interest between player and team.
The 2015 American League Cy Young Award winner, Keuchel was a force atop the Houston rotation from 2014-18, pitching to a 3.28 ERA with a 20.2% strikeout rate, a strong 6.4% walk rate and a sky-high 60% ground-ball rate over the life of 950 1/3 innings. That included his standout 2015 campaign, wherein Keuchel paced the American League in wins (20), shutouts (two) and innings pitched (232) — all while pitching to a career-best 2.48 ERA. He hasn’t replicated that success since, but that was one of three sub-3.00 ERAs that Keuchel posted in a four-year span.
Despite the impressive resume with Houston, Keuchel’s first trip through the free-agent process didn’t pan out as hoped. Saddled with the burden of draft-pick compensation after rejecting a qualifying offer from the Astros, Keuchel wound up waiting until after the 2019 draft to sign a prorated one-year deal with the Braves. (In waiting that long, he shed the draft-pick compensation provision.)
It was a surprising scene, likely due to a combination of multiple factors. The draft compensation undoubtedly played a role, and Keuchel surely hit the market with lofty multi-year goals that many teams found unreasonable. He’d also had multiple IL stints since that Cy Young year and reached the market on the heels of a 2018 season that saw him post his lowest strikeout and ground-ball rates since his 2012 rookie season.
Keuchel still reeled in a prorated $20MM salary on that deal (about $13MM), and he pitched well down the stretch with Atlanta. In 112 2/3 frames that year, he notched a 3.75 ERA with a revitalized 60.1% grounder rate. It was enough for the White Sox to guarantee Keuchel $55.5MM on a three-year deal as they emerged from a lengthy rebuilding effort.
The first season of that deal proved to be an overwhelming success, as Keuchel turned in a career-best 1.99 ERA over 11 starts (63 1/3 innings) during the Covid-shortened 2020 season. Keuchel got out to a strong start in Year Two of the deal as well, logging a 3.78 ERA through his first 14 starts of the season, but he fell into a disastrous slump shortly thereafter and has yet to really recover.
Keuchel has made 24 starts since June 20 of last year, allowing runs in 23 of them. During that time, he’s pitched to a 7.02 ERA with a bottom-of-the-barrel 12.4% strikeout rate against an elevated 10.2% walk rate. He’s still inducing grounders at a better-than-average 52.2% clip, but that’s a good ways off from his peak levels. It also bears mention that Keuchel has averaged just 87.8 mph on his heater during that span — nearly three miles per hour slower than the 90.4 mph he averaged during that Cy Young-winning season.
Arizona’s top four starters this season have been anywhere from solid to excellent, as each of Zac Gallen (2.40 ERA), Madison Bumgarner (3.31), Merrill Kelly (3.66) and Zach Davies (4.18) have made at least 10 starts and totaled at least 54 innings. The fifth spot has been more of a challenge to fill. Luke Weaver moved to the bullpen earlier in the year and hit the injured list not long after. Humberto Castellanos (nine starts), Tyler Gilbert (tw0) and Caleb Smith (one — which was only one inning) have made the remainder of the team’s starts and generally fared poorly. Castellanos recently hit the injured list with an elbow strain.
Keuchel will give the D-backs some depth to slot in behind that group. He’ll join fellow big league veteran Dan Straily, who has struggled on a minor league deal of his own following a big showing in South Korea, as a non-roster player down in Reno. The Snakes also have the aforementioned Gilbert, righty Luis Frias and former top prospect Corbin Martin on the 40-man roster as options down in Triple-A.
Rockies Place Tyler Kinley On 15-Day Injured List
The Rockies placed right-hander Tyler Kinley on the 15-day injured list, as Kinley is dealing with an ulnar nerve injury in his throwing elbow. The placement is retroactive to June 9. Right-hander Chad Smith has been called up from Triple-A to take Kinley’s spot in the Colorado bullpen.
Now in his third season with the Rockies, Kinley has had a breakout year, posting an 0.75 ERA, 27% strikeout rate, and 6.0% walk rate over 24 innings. Even with advanced metrics factored in, Kinley’s 2.88 SIERA is still indicative of a fine performance, and Kinley has become the top set-up option behind closer Daniel Bard. Kinley, Bard, and Alex Colome have been pretty much the only effective arms in the Rockies’ bullpen this season, so Kinley’s absence will further hamper a struggling relief corps.
It also isn’t yet clear how much time Kinley might miss, or if surgery could be a possibility. If his ulnar nerve is only irritated, Kinley could conceivably be back in action relatively soon (if beyond the minimum 15 days). However, if the injury is more serious, Kinley’s season may be in jeopardy.
The 31-year-old is in his first year of arbitration eligibility, having agreed to an arb-avoiding $1.025MM deal back in November. Losing a big chunk of this breakout year to the IL would certainly hamper Kinley’s earning potential for 2023, though his price tag would also be low enough that the Rockies would probably still tender him a contract.
Orioles Designate Chris Owings For Assignment
June 12: The Orioles announced that Owings has been placed on unconditional release waivers.
June 8: The Orioles announced they’ve designated utilityman Chris Owings for assignment. The move opens a spot on the active roster for newly-claimed righty Austin Voth. The designation also opens a vacancy on the 40-man roster, which now sits at 39.
Owings signed a minor league contract with Baltimore during Spring Training. He cracked the Opening Day roster, and he’s started 19 of the club’s 57 games while working in a utility capacity. The 30-year-old has tallied 68 plate appearances but hit just .107/.254/.143 while striking out 24 times in that limited look. The slow start squeezed him off the active roster, and Owings has more than enough service time to refuse an option to Triple-A, leaving the O’s to designate him for assignment.
The right-handed hitting Owings has never made much of an impact at the plate, carrying a career .239/.287/.366 line in just under 2500 MLB plate appearances. He’s nevertheless continued to earn opportunities on the strength of his defensive versatility and baserunning. Owings has appeared in each of the last ten big league seasons, settling into a depth role over the past few years after a run as a regular middle infielder early in his career with the Diamondbacks. The South Carolina native has experience all over the diamond, with the bulk of his work coming at second base, shortstop and in center field.
Baltimore will have a week to trade Owings or place him on waivers. Given his early-season struggles, it seems likely he’ll pass through waivers unclaimed and hit free agency — either via a release or rejecting an outright assignment to the minor leagues.
Orioles’ manager Brandon Hyde also informed reporters (including Nathan Ruiz of the Baltimore Sun) the club is set to option right-hander Spenser Watkins to Triple-A Norfolk after reinstating him from the 15-day injured list. Watkins is tied for fourth on the team with eight starts, but he’s struggled to a 6.00 ERA across 30 innings. The 29-year-old has walked 15 batters while striking out 14, and the club recently welcomed Dean Kremer back from the IL for his season debut. Watkins, who has been out since late May due to an elbow contusion, will remain on the 40-man roster as a depth option.
Braves Claim Mike Ford, Designate Joe Dunand
June 12: Dunand cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Gwinnett, per David O’Brien of The Athletic.
June 10: The Braves announced they’ve claimed first baseman Mike Ford off waivers from the Mariners and optioned him to Triple-A Gwinnett. Infielder Joe Dunand has been designated for assignment to clear 40-man roster space.
It has been a roller-coaster of a season for Ford, who’s now on his third different organization of the year. He signed a minor league deal with Seattle, then was selected onto the big league roster in April. Seattle designated him for assignment and traded him to the Giants fairly quickly, then acquired him back from San Francisco two weeks later once the Giants DFA him themselves. Ford held his second 40-man roster spot in Seattle for a few weeks, but the M’s again took him off the roster this past weekend.
Through it all, Ford has appeared in 17 MLB games. He’s compiled a rather bizarre .182/.357/.212 slash line, the product of eight walks but 12 strikeouts in only 42 plate appearances. It’s the fourth consecutive year in which he’s logged some big league time, with all of his pre-2022 MLB work coming in a Yankees uniform. The left-handed hitter broke in with an excellent .259/.350/.559 showing with 12 home runs in 50 games as a rookie, but he owns a .144/.273/.263 line in just shy of 200 plate appearances since the start of the 2020 camapign.
The 29-year-old adds a left-handed hitting depth option to the organization. Matt Olson obviously has first base accounted for, but the Braves have gotten subpar work (.252/.328/.360) out of their designated hitters. Ford is in his final minor league option year, meaning the Braves can keep him in Gwinnett for the rest of the season if they’re willing to carry him on the 40-man roster. He’s hit .271/.417/.417 in 14 Triple-A games this year.
Dunand was a recent waiver claim himself, coming over from the division-rival Marlins last week. His time in the organization may now be coming to close without a big league game, as the 26-year-old has just appeared in five games with Gwinnett. He did make a brief cameo in Miami earlier in the year, logging three appearances.
A former second-round pick, the right-handed hitting Dunand has a .209/.295/.376 line in 328 Triple-A plate appearances. He’s struggled with strikeouts throughout his minor league tenure, but the 6’2″ infielder has drawn praise in the past for his raw power potential. Dunand has played mostly on the left side of the infield in the minors, with a bit more work at shortstop than at third base. The Braves will have a week to trade him or look to run through waivers themselves.
Royals Transfer Jake Brentz To 60-Day IL
The Royals announced some roster moves today, reinstating lefty Amir Garrett from the COVID-related injured list. To make room for him on the active roster, fellow southpaw Angel Zerpa was optioned to Triple-A. Yet another lefty, Jake Brentz, was transferred to the 60-day IL in order to create room for Garrett on the 40-man roster.
Brent made it to the major leagues for the first time last year and had a strong debut season. He threw 64 innings with a 3.66 ERA, 49% ground ball rate and 27.3% strikeout rate, though his walks were on the high side at 13.3%. This year, however, things got off to a disastrous start, with Brentz allowing 14 earned runs in 5 1/3 innings, which included an awful 28.9% walk rate. He landed on the injured list in late April due to a left flexor strain. At the time, manager Mike Matheny said that Brentz had been ailing for some time, which perhaps explains those struggles.
Today’s transfer means he won’t be eligible to return until 60 days from the initial IL placement, which would be late June. Matheny tells Anne Rogers of MLB.com that this doesn’t affect the timeline for Brentz, who wasn’t going to be ready to return at that point anyway. The club could use the roster spot because of their COVID situation. Garrett was one of three players on the COVID list, meaning he wasn’t occupying a spot on the 40-man roster. Moving Brentz to the 60-day cleared up a spot for him, though the club still has Matt Peacock and Gabe Speier on the COVID-IL, meaning further roster maneuvering will be required down the line.