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Orioles Place Jordan Westburg On Injured List

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The Orioles announced a number of roster moves just before today’s series opener against the Yankees. Third baseman Jordan Westburg and catcher Gary Sánchez have each landed on the 10-day injured list. Westburg’s placement, which is retroactive to April 27, is due to a left hamstring strain. Sánchez is battling right wrist inflammation. The O’s selected third baseman Emmanuel Rivera and catcher Maverick Handley onto the MLB roster in their places. Baltimore also confirmed the Walter Pennington waiver claim which MLBTR had reported this afternoon.  They needed to create two openings on the 40-man roster, which they did by transferring Grayson Rodriguez and Colton Cowser to the 60-day injured list.

It continues a frustrating start to the season for Westburg. He made the All-Star game behind a .264/.312/.481 showing a season ago. He’s been out to a much slower pace this year, posting a .217/.265/.391 slash through 23 games. Westburg has hit four homers, but a drop in his hard contact rates have contributed to a mediocre .242 average on balls in play. He had a stretch of seven consecutive hitless games during the middle of the month. He’d begun to turn things around, with hits in six of his last seven, before hamstring discomfort kept him out of Sunday’s lineup.

Ramón Urías has drawn into the lineup at the hot corner over the past few days. He’ll take over as the starting third baseman while Westburg is on the shelf. Urías is a good depth infielder. He won a Gold Glove a few seasons ago and has shown himself to be a slightly above-average hitter over parts of six seasons. He has raced out to a .317/.386/.400 start this year, drawing eight walks against 11 punchouts over 70 trips to the plate.

Rivera comes up to join Jorge Mateo as multi-positional infielders on Brandon Hyde’s bench. It’s his first major league call of the season. Baltimore had outrighted the defensive specialist off their 40-man roster during the offseason. He accepted a minor league assignment and has appeared in 17 games with Triple-A Norfolk. Rivera is batting .308/.370/.338 with plus contact skills but minimal power (two doubles and no homers) across 73 plate appearances.

A veteran of parts of four MLB seasons, Rivera has suited up for four teams at the highest level. That includes a productive 27-game stint with the Orioles late last year. His overall offensive track record is fairly modest, as he owns a career .244/.306/.369 batting line. He has above-average marks for his third base defense. He’s out of options, so the Orioles would need to DFA him again if they want to take him off the big league roster at any point.

Baltimore also makes a change behind the plate. Sánchez has worked as Adley Rutschman’s backup after signing an $8.5MM free agent deal. He has started 10 games — nine at catcher and once as the designated hitter — without making an impact. Sánchez has three hits, all singles, with one walk and 12 strikeouts across 35 plate appearances. His injury opens the door for Handley’s major league debut.

A Stanford product, Handley was selected in the sixth round of the 2019 draft. The righty-hitting catcher owns a .224/.342/.344 line over parts of six minor league seasons. Handley’s offensive upside is limited by middling power, but he’s a very patient hitter who has worked a lot of walks. He went unselected in last winter’s Rule 5 draft but has been hitting well in Norfolk to begin the season. Handley owns a .346/.433/.558 slash through 15 games. His broader minor league numbers suggest he’s unlikely to carry anything like that over against MLB pitching, but he should provide a reasonably high-floor backup behind Rutschman as long as Sánchez is out of action.

The IL transfers for Rodriguez and Cowser are essentially procedural moves. They backdate to the time of their initial IL placements in late March. Rodriguez opened the season on the shelf with elbow inflammation and was shut back down after sustaining a mild lat strain. He’s still a few weeks from throwing and probably down into June or July. Cowser broke his left thumb diving into first base during the first week of the season. That came with an initial 6-8 week timetable. There haven’t been any recent updates on his status, but the O’s determined he wouldn’t be ready for MLB action before the final few days of May at the earliest.

Rangers Designate Daniel Robert For Assigment

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The Rangers announced that they have selected right-hander Dane Dunning and optioned right-hander Caleb Boushley, two moves that were reported earlier today. To open a 40-man spot for Dunning, right-hander Daniel Robert has been designated for assignment.

Robert, 30, was added to the club’s 40-man roster in July of last year. By the end of the season, he had made four appearances and logged 5 2/3 innings with two earned runs allowed. He has been on optional assignment for all of this year, so that is the totality of his big league experience to this point.

His work in the minors has been intriguing, though with some control issues. Dating back to the start of 2022, he has thrown 136 2/3 innings for Triple-A Round Rock. He has allowed 4.15 earned runs per nine innings with that club, who play in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. He had an 11.5% walk rate in that time but also punched out 28.7% of batters faced.

He’s been far better than that more recently. From the start of 2024 to the present, he has a 2.45 ERA in 55 Triple-A innings. His 31.7% strikeout rate is quite strong and he has only walked 7.8% of opponents.

Despite the strong minor league work, he has been nudged off the roster. Perhaps that’s because of his late-bloomer status. A two-way player in college who hardly pitched, his professional ascent was interrupted by the canceled 2020 season and a few injuries. When he made his major league debut in July of last year, he was on the cusp of his 30th birthday, which was in August.

Now that he’s been nudged off the roster, the Rangers will have one week to figure out his fate. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so any trade talks will have to come together in the next five days. Given his strong minor league numbers and the fact that he’s still optionable for the rest of this season and one additional year, it’s possible he’ll garner some interest from other clubs.

Photo courtesy of Joe Camporeale, Imagn Images

Triston McKenzie Accepts Outright Assignment With Guardians

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Triston McKenzie has passed through waivers unclaimed. He has accepted his outright assignment to Triple-A Columbus. Tim Stebbins of MLB.com was among those to pass along the news.

Cleveland designated McKenzie for assignment last week. That the right-hander cleared waivers points to how far his stock has fallen as he’s battled injuries over the past couple seasons. McKenzie is a former top prospect who seemed to break out as a high-end starter in 2022. He posted a 2.96 ERA with nearly a strikeout per inning over 31 appearances three years ago. He seemed to be a mid-rotation arm at the very least with a chance to develop into a #1 or #2 starter.

Clearly, that’s not how things have played out. McKenzie barely pitched in 2023. A teres major strain in his shoulder shelved him for a couple months to begin the season. He returned in June but quickly suffered a UCL sprain in his throwing elbow. McKenzie avoided surgery but did not return until the final week of the season.

Hopes for a rebound last year did not materialize. McKenzie’s fastball velocity dropped to a career-low 91.1 MPH. Opponents blitzed him for a 5.11 ERA across 16 starts, and he spent the second half of the season on optional assignment to Columbus. The results weren’t any better in the minors, as he allowed 5.23 earned runs per nine while walking almost 14% of his opponents. That was his final minor league option season.

Cleveland signed him to a $1.95MM arbitration contract in November. That indicated they had some hope that he could turn things around, as his out-of-options status meant he’d need to stick on the active roster or be exposed to waivers. He worked out of the bullpen through the season’s first few weeks. McKenzie’s average fastball speed has jumped closer to 94 MPH in short stints, but neither the command nor the results were there. He allowed seven runs on as many hits through 5 1/3 innings. He walked seven batters and threw three wild pitches while recording just four strikeouts.

McKenzie has between three and five years of major league service time. That means he could decline an outright assignment but would have needed to forfeit the approximate $1.6MM remaining on his salary to test free agency. The 29 other teams all passed on a chance to add him to their big league roster, suggesting he probably would’ve been limited to minor league offers if he hit the market. That made accepting the assignment to Columbus an obvious call. He’ll try to work his way back onto Stephen Vogt’s staff and would become a minor league free agent at the end of the season if the Guards don’t call him up before then.

Rangers To Select Dane Dunning

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Right-hander Dane Dunning is going to be added to the Rangers’ roster, per Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News. Fellow righty Caleb Boushley will be optioned to get Dunning onto the active roster but the club will need to make a corresponding move to open a 40-man roster spot. The club has not announced the moves yet.

Dunning, 30, was outrighted off the club’s 40-man roster just ahead of Opening Day. He had just wrapped up a tough spring showing, allowing 10 earned runs in 11 innings. He also had a pretty rough campaign in 2024. He posted a 5.31 ERA around some injured list stints last year. He had come into the season with a 4.16 career ERA, so that was a notable jump. Over the course of the season, he was bumped to the bullpen and also optioned to the minors for a while.

Since being outrighted, he’s been pitching out of the rotation for Triple-A Round Rock. He has a 5.40 ERA across five starts for that club, pitching in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. His 22.6% strikeout rate and 9.7% walk rate are both close to average but he has allowed four home runs, a rate of 17.4% per fly ball.

He’s likely ticketed for a long relief role with the big league club. The Rangers have Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, Tyler Mahle, Patrick Corbin and Jack Leiter making up their current rotation. The team has completed six contests in a 13-game stretch without an off-day, leading to heavy bullpen usage. Of their eight relievers, all of them have pitched at least twice in the past six days. Luke Jackson, Chris Martin and Robert Garcia have each pitched in three of the past four days.

With the staff fairly gassed, Dunning will provide manager Bruce Bochy with a guy who could potentially take a few innings of mop-up duty. Dunning tossed 5 1/3 innings in his most recent outing, which was on Thursday. He still has an option remaining, so he can be optioned back down to Round Rock whenever the need for a fresh arm arises again.

Photo courtesy of William Purnell, Imagn Images

Blue Jays Claim Casey Lawrence

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The Blue Jays have claimed right-hander Casey Lawrence off waivers from the Mariners, according to announcements from both clubs. The righty had been designated for assignment by Seattle over the weekend. The Jays opened a 40-man roster spot yesterday by transferring Ryan Burr to the 60-day injured list. Lawrence is out of options so the Jays will need to open an active roster spot once he reports to the club.

Lawrence, 37, is a veteran swingman who has bounced between the Jays, Mariners and Cardinals in his big league career. He has often served as a multi-inning reliever, soaking up innings to save an overworked pitching staff from further taxation.

This year, he has essentially been the 41st man on Seattle’s 40-man roster. He started the season with the Mariners on a minor league deal. They have selected his contract to the roster three times. In all three cases, he was designated for assignment within a few days. In the first two instances, he cleared waivers and then returned to the big league club once needed. He has a 3.60 earned run average in ten innings over four appearances.

This time, he didn’t clear waivers, as the Jays now have a need for such a pitcher. They recently optioned Easton Lucas, dropping their five-man rotation down to four. Thanks to some off-days, the club planned to go with a four-man rotation for a while, but a rainout on Saturday seemingly altered those plans.

Both Kevin Gausman and Chris Bassitt had to start yesterday to cover the doubleheader, which was the result of the postponement. The club is off today then has Bowden Francis on schedule for tomorrow. José Berríos could start on regular rest on Wednesday after starting on Friday. But neither Gausman nor Bassitt would be on regular rest for Wednesday’s game. Jake Bloss started for Triple-A Buffalo yesterday and won’t be an option by Wednesday either. Lucas was only optioned a week ago, on April 21. He can’t return to the big league within 15 days of that move unless replacing an injured player on the roster. Eric Lauer is an option as he’s been in the Triple-A rotation and tossed five innings on Thursday, though he’s not on the 40-man roster at present.

Perhaps Lawrence will make a spot start or simply give the club a long relief option for the next few days. Paxton Schultz tossed 57 pitches in relief of Gausman in the first game of yesterday’s twin bill, one of six relievers the club used yesterday. Schultz might not be available for a few days after that, so Lawrence could step in as a multi-inning option out of the bullpen.

It’s entirely possible that it will be another short stint for Lawrence on a club’s roster, just with the Jays this time instead of the Mariners, something he recently spoke to Tim Booth of The Seattle Times about. “I think I’m used to kind of the movement of it,” Lawrence said. “And I think it’s one of those things where you understand your role in the team and you’re willing to do whatever is going to help the team. Right now, it’s kind of doing this.”

Though living out of a suitcase is surely a challenge, Lawrence seems to be focused on appreciating what time in the majors he does have left. “I’ve been fortunate, like I said, and I never take it for granted,” Lawrence said. “Especially when you’re like this, you’re kind of riding the roller coaster a little bit. So I take every day for what it’s worth, and really try to be where my feet are, just be a part of the team.”

Though he’s still carving out some playing time, he’s self-aware enough that his mind has wandered to what’s next. “I know that at 37, I’m on the back end of my career. And I know when I’m done playing, I want to get into player development or front office, and I’d be lying if I didn’t say, I’ve had those conversations of, ‘Am I ready for that yet?’ But I’m not there yet,” he said.

Photo courtesy of Stephen Brashear, Imagn Images

Cardinals Designate Ryan Loutos For Assignment

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The Cardinals have designated right-hander Ryan Loutos for assignment, per the team. He’s the corresponding move for the previously reported promotion of infielder/outfielder Jose Barrero. The Cards have formally announced the selection of Barrero’s contract and optioned infielder Thomas Saggese to Triple-A Memphis.

Loutos, 26, made his big league debut with the Cardinals last summer, appearing in three games and tossing 2 1/3 innings of shutout ball. The undrafted free agent originally signed with the Cards after the 2021 draft and has steadily climbed the minor league ranks, posting solid numbers with the exception of a rough 2023 campaign.

In 2024, Loutos pitched 53 innings and tallied 18 saves in Triple-A. He logged a 3.40 ERA in Memphis, punched out 25.8% of his opponents and issued walks at a 10% clip. It wasn’t necessarily a dominant performance, but Loutos sat 94.3 mph with his heater and induced swinging strikes at a roughly average rate. His velocity is up a bit this season, sitting 94.6 mph in Triple-A, and he’s held opponents to three runs on seven hits and a pair of walks with six strikeouts in seven innings. All three of those runs allowed came in his first appearance of the season. He’s since rattled off seven shutout frames.

The Cardinals will have to either trade Loutos or place him on waivers within the next five days. Waivers would be another 48-hour process, meaning the maximum length of his stay in the proverbial DFA limbo will be one week.

Orioles Claim Walter Pennington

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The Orioles have claimed left-hander Walter Pennington off unconditional release waivers, reports MLBTR’s Steve Adams. The Rangers had designated the lefty for assignment last week. His transaction tracker at MLB.com listed him as released by the Rangers over the weekend but the O’s put in a claim. The Orioles had an open 40-man spot and won’t need to make a corresponding move.

Pennington, 27, made his major league debut with the Royals last year but was flipped to the Rangers in July as part of the Michael Lorenzen trade. Between those two clubs, he tossed 18 innings in the big leagues last year. He allowed 3.00 earned runs per nine, with a 20.2% strikeout rate, 13.1% walk rate and 45.3% ground ball rate. He has posted some strong minor league numbers in recent years. Over the 2023 and 2024 seasons, he logged 134 innings on the farm with a 2.69 ERA, 28.6% strikeout rate, 10.2% walk rate and grounders on more than half of the balls in play he allowed.

This year, Pennington hasn’t pitched in any official action. The Rangers optioned him to Triple-A Round Rock on March 9th. Per his transactions tracker, he was transferred to the club’s Arizona Complex League affiliate on March 28th. MLBTR has learned that he is healthy and has been working on some mechanical stuff in extended spring lately.

The O’s had an open roster spot and are intrigued enough to bring him into their system, with the southpaw likely reported to Triple-A Norfolk soon. The Orioles aren’t hurting for lefty relievers, as they currently have Keegan Akin, Gregory Soto, Cionel Pérez and Grant Wolfram on the big league squad. Still, clubs always like to add more pitching depth when they can and both Pérez and Wolfram have poor numbers at the moment.

Photo courtesy of Joe Camporeale, Imagn Images

Astros Activate Kaleb Ort, Place Forrest Whitley On 15-Day IL

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The Astros activated right-hander Kaleb Ort from the 15-day injured list today, and placed righty Forrest Whitley on the 15-day IL (retroactive to April 24) in the corresponding move.  Ort didn’t see any action in today’s 7-3 win over the Royals, so the reliever is still waiting to make his season debut after beginning the year on the IL due to an oblique strain.

Whitley also began the season on the IL due to a bone bruise on his left knee, but after making just one appearance, Whitley now finds himself back on the shelf with a left knee sprain.  Manager Joe Espada told the Houston Chronicle’s Matt Kawahara and other reporters that Whitley’s two injuries are likely linked, and the reliever will undergo more testing on Monday to determine the extent of the issue.  The decision was made to place Whitley on the IL when he reported more knee soreness after a game of catch on Saturday, Espada said.

It represents yet another setback for Whitley, as the former top prospect has dealt with multiple injuries and a 50-game PED suspension during his long minor league career.  Chosen 17th overall in the 2016 draft, Whitley finally made it to the Show last year, throwing 3 1/3 scoreless (despite five hits and three walks) innings over three appearances for the 2024 Astros.  His big league ERA has remained spotless through his fourth career game, as he tossed two more scoreless frames in mop-up duty during Houston’s 7-0 win over the Blue Jays on April 21.

Whitley’s multiple injuries have already altered his career path from starting to relief pitching, and he had very strong results working in a full-time bullpen role with Triple-A Round Rock in 2024.  There is still plenty of opportunity for the 27-year-old Whitley to carve out a niche for himself in the majors, if he can only stay healthy.

Speaking of late bloomers, Ort had a 6.27 ERA in 51 2/3 career MLB innings (all with the Red Sox) before he broke out with Houston last year in his age-32 season.  After being claimed off waivers from the Orioles last May, Ort posted a 2.55 ERA, 28% strikeout rate, and 4.3% walk rate across 24 2/3 innings out of the Astros’ pen.  While Ort benefited from some favorable batted-ball luck, his metrics were still intriguing enough to indicate that he can be a helpful bullpen piece for Espada’s team.

Cardinals To Select Jose Barrero’s Contract, Option Thomas Saggese

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The Cardinals will select Jose Barrero’s contract prior to Monday’s game with the Reds, according to reporter Francys Romero.  Infielder Thomas Saggese will be optioned to Triple-A in the corresponding 26-man roster move, and the Cards will need to make another transaction to open up space for Barrero on the 40-man roster.

Though Saggese has hit .341/.364/.512 in 44 plate appearances this season, MLB.com’s John Denton writes that the Cardinals would prefer to have Saggese in everyday action at Triple-A rather than more sporadic playing time on a crowded roster.  Injuries to Nolan Gorman and Masyn Winn opened the door for Saggese to get called up in early April, though now that both players are back in action, Saggese’s role would be reduced if he remained in St. Louis.

The situation implies that Barrero will be just a depth piece with the Cards, and his out-of-options status means that he might be facing a relatively quick trip to the waiver wire should St. Louis need to make another roster move.  Still, the contract selection puts Barrero on track for what would be his first big-league appearance since the 2023 season.  Barrero might even get a chance to face his old team during this upcoming series, as Barrero spent his entire pro career with the Reds before he was claimed off waivers from the Rangers back in March 2024.

A highly-regarded prospect during his time in Cincinnati’s farm system, Barrero has hit only .186/.242/.255 over 447 career PA in the majors from 2020-23.  Between this lack of production and the rise of several other Reds infield prospects, Barrero found himself the odd man out.  The move to Texas didn’t result in any big-league playing time last year, as Barrero was hampered by injuries and hit .188/.277/.346 in only 188 Triple-A plate appearances.

Barrero chose to become a minor league free agent following the season and quickly signed on with St. Louis on a minors contract.  The change of scenery has worked so far, as Barrero’s bat came alive to the tune of a .301/.396/.530 slash line over 96 PA at Triple-A Memphis.  Barrero has spent the large majority of his career as a shortstop, but he has a good chunk of experience as a second baseman and center fielder, and a handful of games as a third baseman and in right field.

Blue Jays Re-Sign Jacob Barnes To Minors Contract

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TODAY: The Blue Jays have re-signed Barnes to a new minor league deal, according to The Athletic’s Mitch Bannon.

APRIL 22: Reliever Jacob Barnes elected free agency after being outrighted by the Blue Jays, relays Keegan Matheson of MLB.com. Toronto designated the veteran righty for assignment over the weekend.

Barnes broke camp after signing a minor league contract in February. He made six appearances, allowing nine runs (eight earned) on 10 hits and a trio of walks through eight innings. He struck out five. Barnes allowed multiple earned runs in each of his first two outings. He followed up with three consecutive scoreless appearances but surrendered five runs in an inning against Seattle on Saturday. That wound up costing him his roster spot.

A veteran of parts of 10 MLB seasons, Barnes has bounced all around the league. This was his second stint in Toronto, as he’d also made 10 appearances for the Jays in 2021. He has pitched at the MLB level with nine teams overall. Barnes kicked off his career with three and a half seasons in the middle innings for the Brewers. He hasn’t spent multiple consecutive seasons with the same team since 2019, instead moving around as a journeyman depth arm.

Barnes did spend all of last season with the same team. He agreed to a minor league deal with the Nationals and made their big league roster in mid-April. He held his middle relief spot from then on, working to a 4.36 ERA through 66 innings. He struck out just under 20% of opposing hitters against a solid 7.2% walk rate. He should catch on somewhere via minor league contract in the coming days.

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