Blue Jays Sign Brady Lail To Minor League Contract
The Blue Jays signed Brady Lail to a minor league deal, according to an announcement from the High Point Rockers of the independent Atlantic League. The right-hander is expected to report to Double-A New Hampshire.
Lail, a former Yankees draftee, pitched in the big leagues every year between 2019-21. He debuted with New York with a lone appearance during the 2019 campaign. Designated for assignment and quickly outrighted back off the 40-man roster, he elected minor league free agency at the end of that year. Lail hooked on with the White Sox and made one appearance with the South Siders in 2020 before being placed on waivers.
Claimed by the Mariners, he got the bulk of his big league experience to date with Seattle. The Utah native appeared in nine games with the M’s between 2020-21, then landed with the Phillies via waivers last May. The Phils outrighted Lail before he appeared in a major league game, and he spent the remainder of the season with Triple-A Lehigh Valley before hitting free agency after the season.
Over 21 career big league innings, Lail owns a 6.00 ERA. He’s posted strong numbers up through Double-A but generally struggled at the minors’ highest level. Lail has a 5.25 ERA in parts of six Triple-A campaigns, including a 6.08 mark over 40 frames with the IronPigs last year. Those struggles kept him from landing a deal with a major league team over the winter, but he worked his way back to the affiliated ranks with a few quality outings in indie ball.
Lail started three games for the Rockers, allowing five runs (two of them earned) in 19 innings. He punched out 19 hitters and issued just two free passes, impressing Jays’ evaluators enough in that limited time they’ll add him as organizational depth. Lail has worked almost exclusively in relief since 2018, but he’d been a starter during his early days in the New York system and worked 6 1/3 frames per outing this year with the Rockers.
A’s Sign Matt Davidson To Minor League Deal
The A’s announced today they’ve signed corner infielder Matt Davidson to a minor league contract. He’ll report to Triple-A Las Vegas. Oakland also agreed to a minor league deal with right-hander Jorge Juan, whom they’d released over the weekend.
Davidson began the season with the Diamondbacks, opening the year with their top affiliate in Reno. The big right-handed hitter blasted eight home runs in 11 games for the Aces, and the Snakes promoted him in late April. Davidson went yard in his first plate appearance of the season in the majors as well, but he went hitless in his other nine at-bats. The D-Backs designated him for assignment when active rosters were reduced last Monday. He cleared outright waivers but declined the assignment in favor of free agency.
While the 31-year-old will remain in the Pacific Coast League to start his A’s tenure, he presumably believes there’s a clearer path to another MLB job in Oakland than there’d been in the desert. The A’s have primarily relied on Sheldon Neuse, Kevin Smith and Seth Brown in the corner infield this season. Neuse has done well in spite of poor strikeout and walk numbers, but neither Smith nor Brown has gotten off to a good start. Davidson is a career .222/.292/.433 hitter in a bit more than 1000 MLB plate appearances.
Juan, 23, has yet to even reach Double-A. His contract was nevertheless selected last November as the A’s set their 40-man roster in preparation for the Rule 5 draft (which never ended up transpiring). Unfortunately, Juan has spent the entire 2022 season on the minor league injured list. Injured players can’t be outrighted, so the A’s could only remove him from the 40-man by releasing him or placing him on the MLB 60-day injured list (which would’ve required paying him the prorated portion of the $700K MLB minimum salary). The A’s chose to release him but brought him back on a non-roster deal after he cleared waivers.
Rockies, Riley Smith Agree To Minor League Deal
The Rockies have agreed to a minor league contract with right-hander Riley Smith, reports Robert Murray of FanSided (Twitter link). Smith had been released by the division-rival Diamondbacks last month. He’ll report to the Rox’s top affiliate in Albuquerque.
A former 24th-round selection, Smith posted excellent minor league numbers up through Double-A. He struggled in his first crack at Triple-A Reno late in 2019, but the D-Backs nevertheless brought him to the big leagues during the shortened 2020 season. He had a fairly promising debut effort in limited time, working to a 1.47 ERA with slightly better than average strikeout, walk and ground-ball numbers (albeit with a very low swinging strike rate). Smith worked out of the bullpen for all six of his appearances, but he soaked up multiple innings during five of those outings and tallied 18 1/3 frames altogether.
That initial success earned the LSU product a longer look last season, but he couldn’t replicate the results. Smith again served primarily as a long relief option, although he did start six of his 24 appearances. Across 67 1/3 innings, he managed only a 6.01 ERA. Smith rarely handed out free passes, but his grounder rate took a small step back relative to the prior season. More concerning, his strikeout percentage plummeted from 25.7% to 12%. The D-Backs optioned Smith to Triple-A Reno in early August, and he was hit hard across four starts. Outrighted off the 40-man roster at the start of the offseason, he was released before suiting up with the Aces this year.
Smith will try to right the ship in his new environment. His overall MLB track record hasn’t been great to this point, but the 27-year-old has been a fantastic strike-thrower throughout his professional career. He paired that control with plenty of grounders to keep runs off the board against lower-level hitters. He’ll add a non-roster swing option to the upper minors in the Colorado farm system.
A’s Designate Billy McKinney For Assignment
The A’s announced they’ve selected outfielder Luis Barrera onto the MLB roster. In a corresponding move, corner outfielder Billy McKinney has been designated for assignment.
Barrera was DFA himself during the season’s first week. He passed through outright waivers unclaimed and remained in the organization; a month later, he makes his return to the majors after getting off to a nice start with Triple-A Las Vegas. Over 101 plate appearances, the left-handed hitter owns a .286/.347/.473 line with three homers and a couple stolen bases. That’s a better showing — at least from a power perspective — than Barrera had with the Aviators last season, when he hit .276/.348/.393 with four homers in 96 games.
The 26-year-old Barrera has only six big league games under his belt, all of them coming last season. He’s an excellent runner with ample experience at all three outfield spots in the minor leagues. Bringing him back to the majors in place of McKinney affords manager Mark Kotsay a bit more defensive flexibility, although Oakland already has a pair of strong center fielders in Ramón Laureano and Cristian Pache.
Barrera also has a minor league option year remaining, meaning the A’s can bounce him between Oakland and Vegas for the rest of the season now that he’s back on the 40-man. That wasn’t the case for McKinney, who is out of options. That lack of roster flexibility has played a part in the 27-year-old bouncing throughout the league over the past year-plus.
A former Oakland first-rounder, McKinney also played in the Cubs’ system before breaking into the big leagues with the Yankees in 2018. Traded to the Blue Jays at that summer’s deadline, he spent a couple years with Toronto before changing hands frequently via waivers. McKinney suited up with each of the Brewers, Mets and Dodgers in 2021. He tallied a personal-high 300 plate appearances between the three clubs but hit just .192/.280/.358.
After the season, Los Angeles traded McKinney to the Rangers. Texas non-tendered him a week later, and he caught on with his original organization via minor league deal in Spring Training. McKinney broke camp but got off to a brutal .096/.158/.173 start over 57 plate appearances before the A’s decided to move on.
Oakland will have a week to trade McKinney or expose him to waivers. He has never passed through the waiver wire unclaimed in his career, but the extent of this year’s struggles could deter other clubs from taking a shot. Any team that acquired him would have to keep him on their active roster or designate him for assignment themselves. If McKinney were to clear waivers, he doesn’t have the requisite service time to refuse an outright assignment.
Guardians Select Kirk McCarty
Prior to yesterday’s contest with the Blue Jays, the Guardians selected left-hander Kirk McCarty onto the major league roster. It’s the second time this season that Cleveland has selected him, although this stint on the 40-man figures to last longer than his prior stay.
McCarty’s first big league call came in April as the Guardians were battling COVID-19 issues. Selected as a designated substitute player, he spent five days on the roster and made one appearance. McCarty worked three innings of four-run ball in mop-up work against the Yankees on April 24, and Cleveland eventually returned him to Triple-A Columbus. Because he’d been selected as a COVID replacement, he was taken back off the 40-man roster without passing through waivers.
This time around, McCarty’s promotion is more typical. He’s not coming up in response to any virus concerns, and Cleveland would need to run him through waivers to take him off the 40-man again. That the 26-year-old has earned a seemingly more lasting roster spot is a testament to his strong start in Columbus. McCarty has tossed 16 2/3 frames of two-run ball over four appearances at the minors’ top level, striking out 15 batters against six walks.
In a corresponding move, Cleveland reassigned righty Enyel de los Santos to Columbus. Also originally selected as a COVID replacement, de los Santos made six appearances in relief. He punched out nine of the 26 opponents he faced and averaged north of 96 MPH on his fastball, but he also issued five walks and hit a batter.
Marlins Select Erik Gonzalez
The Marlins selected infielder Erik González onto the major league roster before yesterday’s game against the Padres. Reliever Richard Bleier was placed on the COVID-19 injured list in a corresponding move.
Whenever González gets into a game, it’ll be his seventh consecutive year with some MLB action. Originally an Indians’ prospect, the Dominican Republic native bounced on and off the big league roster with Cleveland between 2016-18. Regarded as a fairly promising young player, he was blocked out of the regular infield by the trio of Francisco Lindor, Jason Kipnis and José Ramírez. González didn’t perform especially well when given opportunities, and Cleveland traded him to the Pirates over the 2018-19 offseason.
He spent three years with the Bucs, getting a little more run than he’d had in Cleveland. Between 2019-21, the right-handed hitter accrued roughly the equivalent of one full season of playing time. He managed just a .236/.268/.324 line in that time, making a fair amount of contact but hitting plenty of ground-balls and only walking in 4.3% of his plate appearances. The Pirates outrighted González off their 40-man roster last August, and he elected minor league free agency at the end of the year.
The Fish signed the 30-year-old to a minors deal during the lockout. He’s gotten off to a scorching .392/.417/.526 start in 103 plate appearances, although that’s in large part due to an unsustainable .481 batting average on balls in play. Nevertheless, González is a solid defender all around the dirt and can offer some insurance behind Miami’s primary infield of Jesús Aguilar, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Miguel Rojas and Joey Wendle.
Miami brought up both González and Joe Dunand over the weekend after losing infield options Brian Anderson and Jon Berti to the COVID list. Bleier became the third player in as many days to land on the shelf, subtracting perhaps skipper Don Mattingly’s most trusted late-game lefty from the mix. Bleier, who signed a two-year extension during Spring Training, has allowed four runs in 8 2/3 innings with six strikeouts and a pair of walks in 2022.
Reds To Activate Luis Castillo From 10-Day Injured List
Luis Castillo will make his season debut on Monday, as the Reds will activate the right-hander from the 10-day injured list to start their game against the Brewers. Castillo suffered soreness in his throwing shoulder during Spring Training, which required an IL visit and a late start to his 2022 campaign.
The former All-Star has allowed only a single earned run over 10 1/3 innings during his minor league rehab assignment, albeit with a troubling eight walks. Nevertheless, the focus on rehab assignments is more health and tune-up work rather than results, and after three rehab outings, Castillo appears to be ready to return to the Show.
Counting Castillo since he has yet to be officially activated, the Reds have a whopping 14 players on the injured list, which has been a big factor in the team’s disastrous start. Even after winning two of three games in their weekend series with the Pirates, Cincinnati has only a 5-23 record.
It is a lot to ask of Castillo to try and turn things around for the Reds by himself, and it remains to be seen if the right-hander will immediately be in good form once he takes the mound. Castillo has traditionally been something of a slow starter, as April and May are his worst months by ERA. If it takes him a while to really get going, it will not only impact whatever tiny chance the Reds have of getting on track, but it would also hamper Castillo’s value as a possible trade chip heading into the deadline. Since Castillo is controlled (via arbitration) through the 2023 season, the Reds should be able to command a nice trade return for Castillo, assuming that he is pitching like his usual self.
White Sox To Activate Yoan Moncada, Joe Kelly From 10-Day IL; Aaron Bummer To Be Placed On 10-Day IL
The White Sox are set to activate Yoan Moncada and Joe Kelly off the injured list for Monday’s game against the Guardians, manager Tony La Russa told reporters (including LaMond Pope of The Chicago Tribune). Both players will be playing in their first games of the 2022 season, and in Kelly’s case, it also marks his debut in a White Sox uniform.
Moncada suffered a right oblique strain near the end of Spring Training, and it would like the third baseman is back in form, given how he has shredded Triple-A pitching during a rehab assignment. Moncada will be looking to build on a solid 2021 season that was perhaps slightly disappointing because it was “only” solid, given all of the superstar hype attached to Moncada during his time as baseball’s best prospect. 2019 saw Moncada reach a higher level of performance, though as he enters his age-27 season, it isn’t yet clear if Moncada will indeed become an All-Star.
Kelly signed a two-year, $17MM contract just after the lockout ended, as between Kelly and fellow free agent Kendall Graveman, the Sox reinforced their bullpen depth in advance of Craig Kimbrel being traded to the Dodgers. Due to a biceps strain suffered during the NLCS last season, Kelly’s offseason prep work was delayed, hence his late start to the 2022 campaign.
With Moncada and Kelly back, the White Sox will gain some relief from the swath of injuries that have hampered their club all season. However, it’s a case of two steps forward and another step back, as La Russa told reporters (including Daryl Van Schouwen of The Chicago Sun-Times) after today’s game that reliever Aaron Bummer will be placed on the injured list with a knee problem. Kelly will take Bummer’s spot on the 26-man roster.
A reliable bullpen arm over his five previous seasons in Chicago, Bummer has gotten off to a slow start, with a 4.91 ERA and 15.1% walk rate over his first 11 innings of work in 2022. The extra walks certainly haven’t helped Bummer’s efforts, but there is also at least a little bad luck involved, as the grounder specialist has a .370 BABIP. It isn’t known how serious Bummer’s knee issue is, or how long the left-hander could be out of action.
Rookies Tanner Banks and Bennett Sousa are now the only healthy left-handers in the Sox bullpen, and Anderson Severino (another first-year player) is the only other southpaw reliever on Chicago’s 40-man roster. While Banks has pitched well thus far, it stands to reason that the White Sox might look to add a more experienced left-handed arm if Bummer is expected to miss beyond the 10-day minimum.
Angels Place David Fletcher On 15-Day Injured List Due To Hip Strain
The Angels announced a set of roster moves today, including the placement of middle infielder David Fletcher on the 15-day injured list with a left hip strain. Lefty Kenny Rosenberg was optioned to Triple-A, and outfielder Jose Rojas was placed on the injured list for an unspecified reason, implying a COVID-19 issue. Joining the active roster are outfielder Aaron Whitefield (as reported earlier today) and infielder Luis Rengifo.
This is already the second time Fletcher has been sidelined by a hip strain this season, and he will be visiting a specialist on Monday to determine the extent of the problem. Fletcher received cortisone shots during his first IL stint, and while the problem “hasn’t really gotten worse, it just wasn’t as good as we thought the injection would make it,” he told reporters, including Mike DiGiovanna of The Los Angeles Times. A next step won’t be known until Fletcher’s doctor visit, and it is possible surgery might be required. Fletcher is hopeful that such a procedure wouldn’t put his season in jeopardy, as “hopefully I’ll get it fixed and be back pretty soon.”
The Halos have become pretty accustomed to playing without Fletcher thus far in 2022, though Matt Duffy‘s ongoing presence on the COVID-related injured list will further complicate matters. Rengifo’s call-up will give the Angels an extra infielder to join Tyler Wade, Andrew Velazquez, and Jack Mayfield in juggling the second base and shortstop duties.
While Anaheim may have enough offense in the rest of the lineup to get by with more of a defensive focus up the middle, it does make for an imperfect situation even if Fletcher is able to return. Fletcher (understandably) hasn’t hit much in his limited playing time this season, and batted only .262/.297/.324 over 665 plate appearances in 2021. It was a big step backwards from Fletcher’s very impressive 120 OPS+/122 wRC+ performance in the shortened 2020 campaign, or even his closer-to-league average numbers in 2019. If Fletcher does require surgery and need to miss a good chunk of the remaining season, the middle infield would seem like a natural trade deadline target area for the Angels if they remain in contention.
Pirates Place Roberto Perez On 10-Day IL
MAY 8: Roberto Perez may be facing a long absence, as a source tells Jason Mackey of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Twitter link) that the catcher’s hamstring injury is “very severe.”
MAY 7: The Pirates have placed catcher Roberto Perez on the 10-day injured list due to a left hamstring strain. Catcher Michael Perez‘s contract has been selected from Triple-A, to provide the Bucs with more depth in time for the nightcap of a doubleheader with the Reds. To open a 40-man roster spot, left-hander Sam Howard was designated for assignment.
Roberto Perez suffered the injury in Game 1 of the doubleheader, injuring his hamstring while rounding second base in the eighth inning. Perez was in obvious pain as he left the field, and his absence forced a rare “emergency catcher” situation since backup Andrew Knapp had been ejected earlier in the game. This forced Josh VanMeter behind the plate for his first professional game as a catcher, and having an inexperienced backstop surely played a role in the Pirates surrendering seven runs to Cincinnati in the bottom of the eighth.
The 33-year-old Perez signed a one-year, $5MM deal with the Pirates last winter, after the Guardians declined their $7MM club option his services for 2022. Known much more for his defense than his bat over nine MLB seasons, the two-time Gold Glover has also provided a bit of pop for Pittsburgh in the early going — Perez’s two singles in today’s game improved his slash line to .233/.333/.367 (109 wRC+) over 69 plate appearances.
Unfortunately, it now looks like the veteran will miss more than just 10 days, gauging by the apparent severity of his injury. This opens the door for Michael Perez (no relation) to get his first Major League action of the 2022 campaign. The Pirates claimed the 29-year-old Perez off waivers from the Rays in October, and it now appears that Perez and Knapp will handle the catching duties while the elder Perez recovers.
Howard has spent much of the season on the IL with a back sprain, only pitching two innings over three appearances. A pair of IL stints (most notably a six-week absence due to an oblique strain) limited Howard to 45 innings and 54 games in 2021. Control problems have limited Howard’s effectiveness over his 91 career MLB innings with the Rockies and Pirates, as despite a solid 27.2% strikeout rate, Howard also has a 14.1% walk rate and 5.34 ERA.