Mariners Select Matt Koch
The Mariners announced they’ve selected righty Matt Koch onto the big league roster. Veteran reliever Sergio Romo has been placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to April 12, due to shoulder inflammation. To create space on the 40-man roster, Seattle transferred Casey Sadler to the 60-day IL.
Koch is back in the majors for the first time since 2019. A former 3rd-round pick of the Mets, he was traded to the Diamondbacks in August 2015. Koch made his MLB debut the following season, the first of four straight in which he’d pick up some big league time. The majority of his work came in 2018, when Koch started 14 of his 19 outings and tossed 86 2/3 innings of 4.15 ERA ball for the Snakes.
Underlying numbers didn’t support Koch’s capable run prevention figure that season, though, and he couldn’t replicate it in nine outings as a multi-inning reliever the following year. The Louisville product allowed eight home runs in 20 2/3 innings in 2019, and Arizona outrighted him off the 40-man roster that May.
Koch spent the 2020 season with the Yakult Swallows in Japan before returning to affiliated ball last season. He worked 63 1/3 frames as a long relief option for the Indians’ top affiliate in Columbus, posting a 5.83 ERA with a subpar 18.8% strikeout rate. Cleveland never gave him an MLB look, but he signed a minors pact with the M’s this past offseason. Assigned to Triple-A Tacoma to open the year, the 31-year-old has punched out five of the six batters he faced to earn a return call to the big leagues. Koch is out of minor league option years; now that he’s back on the 40-man roster, Seattle has to keep him in the majors or designate him for assignment.
The Mariners signed Romo to a $2MM deal in March. The reliable veteran has tossed a pair of scoreless outings to start his tenure in the organization, but that’ll be put on hold while he recovers. The team didn’t provide a timetable for his return. Sadler, meanwhile, is out for the season after undergoing shoulder surgery last month. His eventual placement on the 60-day IL was a mere formality.
Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times first reported the move.
Rays Select Dusten Knight, Transfer Luis Patino To 60-Day Injured List
The Rays announced Wednesday that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Dusten Knight from Triple-A Durham and opened a spot on the 40-man roster for the by transferring righty Luis Patino from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day injured list. Patino is currently out with a strained left oblique, and he’ll now be ineligible to return until early or mid-June. Tampa Bay also optioned Ralph Garza Jr. to Durham to open a spot on the active roster for Knight.
The loss of Patino for upwards of two months is particularly notable for the Rays, who had hoped that the former top prospect could hold down a critical rotation job in 2022. Acquired in the trade that sent Blake Snell to San Diego, Patino worked to a 4.31 ERA in 77 1/3 frames. Still just 22 years of age, Patino ranked as highly as the game’s No. 18 prospect (per Baseball America) back in 2020, and it was hard to argue that based on his dominant minor league performance. Patino graduated to the Majors at just 20 years of age but nevertheless climbed as high as Double-A and, in 263 1/3 minor league frames, has a 2.43 ERA with a 29.9% strikeout rate.
With Patino sidelined, Shane Baz still recovering from arthroscopic elbow surgery, and Ryan Yarbrough on the shelf owing to a groin injury, the Rays’ rotation doesn’t look quite like they drew it up. Shane McClanahan, Corey Kluber and Drew Rasmussen are locked into spots, but the Rays could now lean on prospect Tommy Romero and lefty Josh Fleming more than anticipated — at least for the time being. Tampa Bay, of course, has a deep farm and a knack for developing out-of-the-blue success stories on the mound, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise if they’re able to weather the early storm of injuries.
Knight, 31, made his big league debut with the Orioles this past season after spending parts of eight seasons in the minors. A former 28th-round pick by the Giants (2013), Knight parlayed a strong Triple-A showing — 1.30 ERA, 27-to-12 K/BB ratio in 27 2/3 frames at the time of his promotion — into his first call to the big leagues. Things didn’t go as smoothly in Baltimore, however, as Knight yielded a pair of runs in one inning during his debut effort. He appeared in a total of seven games and was ultimately tagged for 10 runs (nine earned) on 11 hits and five walks with 11 strikeouts through 8 2/3 frames.
Rocky showing in his debut season notwithstanding, Knight has a solid track record in Triple-A, where he’s posted a 3.11 ERA with a 23% strikeout rate and 10.6% walk rate in parts of three seasons — a total of 104 1/3 innings. On the whole, in Knight’s eight minor league seasons, he’s surrendered just 32 home runs in 397 innings of work while whiffing more than 27% of his opponents against an 8.5% walk rate.
Tigers Acquire Jamie Westbrook From Brewers
The Tigers announced Wednesday morning that they’ve acquired minor league infielder/outfielder Jamie Westbrook from the Brewers in exchange for cash. Westbrook, who is not on the 40-man roster, will report to Triple-A Toledo.
It’s a straightforward minor league trade for a Tigers club that has lost some outfield depth early in the season with injuries to top prospect Riley Greene (broken foot) and Derek Hill (strained hamstring). Detroit is also facing a potential absence for Robbie Grossman, who exited last night’s game with a groin injury. Grossman tells reporters this morning that an MRI did not reveal a strain (Twitter link via Evan Woodbery of MLive.com), and while that’s certainly good news, it’s still possible that the ensuing tightness/discomfort will lead to a brief IL stint. Daz Cameron was added to the taxi squad, Woodbery notes, and could be called up if Grossman does require a 10-day absence to heal up.
Westbrook, 26, isn’t strictly an outfielder and has actually spent more time at second base than in the outfield, but he’s still no stranger to playing on the grass. He missed time last season to suit up for Team USA in the Olympics, but Westbrook split the rest of the season between Milwaukee’s Double-A and Triple-A affiliates, where he slashed a combined .281/.353/.456 with a dozen homers, 16 doubles, a pair of triples and three steals in 365 plate appearances.
It was a solid all-around year for Westbrook, who has consistently been an above-average hitter in the upper minors. Despite a generally solid performance throughout his minor league career, Westbrook has yet to get a call to the Majors either in Arizona or in Milwaukee. Listed at 5’9″, he’s been labeled as an “undersized” player and been questioned by scouts due to his diminutive nature. The fact that he’s been limited to left field and second base on the defensive spectrum hasn’t helped his prospect stock much.
That said, Westbrook is out to another good start in Triple-A — 5-for-10 with a double, a walk and no strikeouts — and he’ll bring a righty bat with a track record of performing in the upper minors to his new organization. In 446 Triple-A plate appearances, Westbrook is a .308/.380/.510 hitter. He’s also slashed .270/.324/.411 in a more pitcher-friendly Double-A setting (1786 plate appearances) and .319/.357/.510 in Class-A Advanced (527 plate appearances).
It’s primarily a depth acquisition for the Tigers, but if Westbrook continues to perform at an above-average offensive level, it’s possible he’ll finally break through to the big league level in his ninth professional season.
Reds Select Nick Lodolo, Designate Riley O’Brien For Assignment
The Reds formally announced top pitching prospect Nick Lodolo‘s widely expected promotion to the big leagues yesterday, and they’ve now officially added him to the Major League roster by selecting his contract from Triple-A Louisville. Right-hander Riley O’Brien was designated for assignment in a corresponding 40-man move, and Cincinnati optioned righty Daniel Duarte to Louisville to open a spot on the active 28-man roster.
The 27-year-old O’Brien will now be traded or placed on outright waivers within a week’s time. An eighth-round pick by the Rays back in 2017, O’Brien came to the Reds in a 2020 trade that sent southpaw Cody Reed to Tampa Bay. He made his big league debut in 2021 but pitched just 1 1/3 innings in his lone start before being sent back to Louisville, where he otherwise spent the entirety of his 2021 season.
In 112 2/3 innings with Louisville last season, O’Brien pitched to a 4.55 ERA with generally similar marks from fielding-independent pitching metrics. He fanned a solid 24.7% of his Triple-A opponents and induced grounders at a similarly sound 45% clip, but O’Brien walked 11.2% of his opponents and plunked 10 more. O’Brien also walked three of the nine big league hitters he faced last year and allowed a pair of homers, illustrating that he’ll need to refine his command if he’s to find success at the big league level.
That said, O’Brien only turned 27 a couple months ago and has a pair of minor league option years remaining (2022 included). He’s shown an ability to miss bats in the minors and, as Eric Longenhagen and Tess Taruskin wrote when ranking him 29th among Cincinnati prospects, he’s shown three pitches that have all, at times, looked like potential plus offerings: his fastball, curveball and changeup. A club with some 40-man flexibility and a need for pitching depth could certainly take him on as a project.
As covered in greater detail yesterday, Lodolo will join fellow top prospect Hunter Greene in a youthful and high-upside Cincinnati rotation. The No. 7 overall pick in the 2019 draft, Lodolo is widely considered to be among the sport’s 100 best prospects and will give Reds fans a pair of young hurlers on which to dream.
Lodolo, Greene, 2021 Rookie of the Year Jonathan India and promising young backstop Tyler Stephenson could well be integral parts of the Reds’ core moving forward, and the organization undoubtedly still has high hopes for former No. 2 overall draft pick Nick Senzel, whose career to date has been continually derailed by injuries. Cincinnati surely still hopes to contend in 2022, but in order to do so they’ll need big performances from several young players, as the club also subtracted a number of productive veterans over the winter while cutting payroll (e.g. Jesse Winker, Sonny Gray, Wade Miley).
Padres Claim Kyle Tyler Off Waivers From Angels
The Padres announced this evening they’ve claimed right-hander Kyle Tyler off waivers from the Angels. In a corresponding move, reliever Javy Guerra has been designated for assignment.
It’s the second time in three weeks the Friars have claimed Tyler, who has made the run through the waiver wire since the end of the lockout. Originally an Angel, he was designated for assignment and landed with the Red Sox. Boston designated him a few days later, and San Diego claimed him. The Padres waived him last week, and the Angels grabbed him back. Two days after that, Los Angeles tried to pass him through waivers again. As it has for the past three times, that effort failed, and Tyler winds up changing hands.
While his name has made its way around the transaction log, Tyler himself has been shuttled around the country reporting to various destinations. The righty tells Sam Blum of the Athletic he’s flown from Arizona to Florida, back to Arizona, to Washington state, then to his Oklahoma City home within the past couple weeks as he’s bounced from team to team. “I’m ready for this to stop and to just have the opportunity to play, and prove my worth,” he told Blum.”(Show) whether I’m good enough to be on a 40-man roster to stay there.”
Tyler started 14 of his 20 appearances between Double-A Rocket City and Triple-A Salt Lake last season. He worked 86 innings of 3.66 ERA ball between the two levels, punching out a solid 25.3% of opponents against an impressive 6.9% walk rate. Baseball America ranked the University of Oklahoma product #39 in the Angels farm system this winter, praising his above-average command. With all three minor league option years remaining, he’s proven an appealing depth add for a few organizations but has lost his roster spot at each turn before having a chance to pitch.
This time around, Tyler must have almost passed through unclaimed. Jayson Stark of the Athletic reported last month the new collective bargaining agreement dictates a team that has already claimed a player off waivers moves to the back of the order if that player is waived again for the rest of the season. That indicates that at least every team besides the Red Sox passed on Tyler before the Padres got a chance to bring him back into the fold.
If they keep him on the 40-man roster this time, San Diego can stash Tyler in the upper minors as depth. That wasn’t the case for Guerra, who is out of options. The Friars were left to either carry him on the big league club or remove him from the 40-man entirely.
A former well-regarded shortstop prospect, Guerra moved to the mound in 2019 after his bat stalled out in the upper minors. He was already on the 40-man roster by virtue of his time as an infielder. That didn’t afford the organization much time to experiment with him in the minor leagues, as Guerra had exhausted his final option year in 2019. San Diego was reluctant to expose the right-hander to waivers, as his fastball routinely threatened triple digits.
Guerra’s inexperience on the mound was evident in his results, however. He owns an 8.46 ERA in 27 2/3 MLB innings, striking out just 16.5% of batters faced with an underwhelming 8% swinging strike rate. The Friars were clearly reluctant to risk losing Guerra in the belief he has the potential for better numbers, but they’ll take the chance to bring Tyler back and get a little more roster flexibility in the bullpen. San Diego has a week to trade Guerra or try to pass him through waivers.
Braves Select Jackson Stephens, Designate Jacob Webb
The Braves announced this evening they’ve selected Jackson Stephens onto the big league roster. Mark Bowman of MLB.com first noted that Stephens had reported to the team. In a corresponding move, reliever Jacob Webb has been designated for assignment.
Stephens returns to the big leagues for the first time in four seasons. The 6’2″ right-hander broke into the majors in 2017 with the Reds, pitching 63 1/3 innings over two seasons. He posted just a 4.83 ERA with a subpar 19% strikeout rate and 36.7% ground-ball percentage, then spent the 2019 campaign in Triple-A. After electing minor league free agency, Stephens was unsigned for two seasons before returning in the Venezuelan Winter League last offseason.
The Alabama native starred in Venezuela, working to a 1.82 ERA in 49 1/3 innings en route to the league’s Pitcher of the Year award. The Braves were impressed enough by his form to add him on a minor league deal, and he worked his way back to the highest level after a lone outing with Triple-A Gwinnett. Stephens had worked almost exclusively as a reliever during his final couple seasons in the Reds system, but he pitched out of the rotation in Venezuela and worked six innings as a starter during his lone outing with the Stripers.
Atlanta selected prospect Bryce Elder to start tonight’s game, making his MLB debut in the process. Whether Elder will take a permanent rotation spot moving forward isn’t clear, and Stephens could be an option both for some stray starts or multi-inning relief work. The 27-year-old is out of minor league option years. Now that the Braves have brought him up to the majors, he has to stick on the active roster or be designated for assignment and made available to other clubs.
That’s the fate in which Webb now finds himself. The righty worked a career-high 34 1/3 innings with the World Series-winning club last season, his third straight campaign at the MLB level. He posted an excellent 1.06 ERA in 44 appearances over his first two seasons, but he missed significant time in both years. In 2019, Webb went down in August with a season-ending elbow impingement. The following year, he missed the first month and a half of the shortened schedule because of a shoulder strain.
Webb finally stayed healthy last season and managed decent results, pitching to a 4.19 ERA with a slightly below-average 21.6% strikeout rate. That belies an excellent 15.6% swinging strike percentage, however, as Webb has missed bats at a quality rate in all three of his MLB seasons. Atlanta had optioned Webb to Gwinnett to open the season, but he has yet to get in a game with the Stripers. He’s in his final option year, but another team could take a flier on him via waivers over the coming days given his decent track record.
Blue Jays Place Danny Jansen On Injured List
APRIL 12: Manager Charlie Montoyo told reporters (including Kaitlyn McGrath of the Athletic) this evening that Jansen could be out for multiple weeks.
APRIL 11: The Blue Jays announced this evening they’ve selected catcher Tyler Heineman onto the big league club. Starting backstop Danny Jansen has been placed on the 10-day injured list after dealing with some left side soreness. To create space on the 40-man roster for Heineman, outfielder Josh Palacios has been designated for assignment. Toronto also recalled southpaw Anthony Kay from Triple-A Buffalo while optioning reliever Tayler Saucedo.
Heineman returns to the bigs for the first time since 2020. He played with the Marlins and Giants between 2019-20, picking up 62 cumulative plate appearances in 20 games. The switch-hitting backstop only hit .208/.288/.302 in that very brief action, but he owns a solid .284/.352/.415 line in parts of six Triple-A campaigns. Heineman managed a .264/.345/.310 showing in 41 games with the Cardinals’ and Phillies’ top affiliates last season. The UCLA product signed a minor league deal with the Jays this offseason and quickly winds up back in the majors.
Unfortunately for the Jays, that comes as a result of an injury to their primary catcher. An MRI revealed an oblique strain for Jansen, tweets Scott Mitchell of TSN Sports. The Jays didn’t provide an indication of the severity of the strain or a timetable for his return, but it’s not uncommon for oblique issues to keep a player out of action for multiple weeks.
Jansen has had an up-and-down showing offensively in the majors. The right-handed hitter popped 11 homers in just 205 plate appearances last season, finishing the year on a .310/.365/.707 tear in the final month. Jansen had been off to a hot start, collecting four hits (including a pair of homers) during last weekend’s series with the Rangers. That’ll be put on hold for the time being.
Toronto now looks set to rely on some combination of Alejandro Kirk, Zack Collins and Heineman behind the dish. All three players are currently on the active roster, but Kirk and Collins are bat-first options who could also pick up some time at designated hitter. The Jays have top prospect Gabriel Moreno at Buffalo, but he has just three games of experience there. Moreno is already on the 40-man roster, but Toronto elected to go with the veteran Heineman while giving the talented 22-year-old more regular run in the minors.
Palacios, 26, is a former fourth-round pick who was selected onto the 40-man over the 2020-21 offseason. He reached the majors for the first time last year but only appeared in 13 games after spending much of the season on the minor league injured list. Thanks to the canceled 2020 minor league campaign, Palacios hasn’t gotten extended game action since 2019 with Double-A New Hampshire.
To his credit, the lefty-hitting Palacios had a nice showing in a pitcher-friendly environment that year. He hit .266/.371/.416 with 15 stolen bases, drawing walks at a robust 13.2% clip while punching out 20.5% of the time. Palacios hit just seven home runs, though, and that lack of power has kept him from emerging as one of the top prospects in the system.
Baseball America slotted Palacios 30th in the organization this winter, writing he has enough contact skills and athleticism to function as a reserve outfield type. The Jays acquired Raimel Tapia from the Rockies in Spring Training to fill that role, seemingly pushing Palacios to the bottom of the depth chart. Nevertheless, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see another team swing a minor trade or waiver claim for the Brooklyn native. He still has a pair of option years remaining and could add some outfield depth to another organization.
Phillies Select Jeff Singer
The Phillies announced Tuesday that they’ve selected the contract of lefty Jeff Singer from Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Righty Corey Knebel has been placed on the Covid-related injured list in a corresponding move. The Phils also sent outfielder Odubel Herrera on a rehab assignment with High-A Clearwater.
Singer, 28, has tossed four shutout innings so far for the IronPigs in 2022, though he’s also yielded four walks against just a pair of strikeouts. The Philadelphia native spent the 2021 season in Triple-A as well, pitching to a 4.75 ERA with a 28.2% strikeout rate against a 10.9% walk rate. He’s kept his strikeout rate in the 27-29% range over the past several minor league seasons, albeit without particularly strong walk rates. The Phillies already have five lefties in the bullpen — Jose Alvarado, Brad Hand, Damon Jones, Bailey Falter and Cristopher Sanchez — but Singer will give manager Joe Girardi another option while Knebel is sidelined.
The Phils didn’t specify whether Knebel tested positive for Covid-19, although he did have flu-like symptoms yesterday (Twitter link via Alex Coffey of the Philadelphia Inquirer). Still, players can be placed on the Covid-related IL (and thus temporarily removed from the 40-man roster) in the event that they display symptoms or are deemed a close contact of someone known to have tested positive. It’s not clear at this time how long Knebel will be away from the club.
Braves Select Bryce Elder, Designate Chadwick Tromp For Assignment
The Braves have selected the contract of right-handed pitching prospect Bryce Elder in advance of tonight’s game, per a club announcement. Elder will start for the Braves and make his Major League debut. In a corresponding 40-man roster move, catcher Chadwick Tromp was designated for assignment. Atlanta also optioned lefty Tucker Davidson and catcher William Contreras to Triple-A Gwinnett.
Elder, 22, somewhat incredibly becomes the second Braves draftee from the shortened, five-round 2020 amateur draft to reach the Majors. He and teammate Spencer Strider have both had meteoric rises through the minors and now represent two of the just five players from the 2020 draft already in the Majors. Elder (fifth round) and Strider (fourth) are the only non-first-rounders from that draft already in the Majors.
Looking at last year’s numbers, it’s perhaps not a shock that Elder was such a quick riser. He opened the 2021 season with 45 innings of 2.60 ERA ball against older competition in Class-A Advanced before tossing 56 frames of 3.21 ERA ball upon promotion to the Double-A level. Elder was then bumped to Triple-A Gwinnett, where he logged a 2.21 ERA in 36 2/3 frames despite being one of the youngest pitchers in the league.
Elder kept his strikeout rate above 27% the entire time and also posted ground-ball rates of at least 53.6% at each level, although command was more of a concern. Elder walked 57 of the 559 batters he faced (10.2%) and was particularly spotty in that regard against more advanced hitters at the Triple-A level (13.6%).
Baseball America ranks Elder sixth among Braves farmhands, noting that while the system has more powerful arms, Elder is the prototypical “pitchability” starter who’s a good bet to hold a spot in a rotation due to a five-pitch mix headlined by a sinker, plus slider and above-average changeup. Improving on his command will be key to further development for Elder, but he’ll have the opportunity to do so at the MLB level given the lack of proven starters for the Braves at the moment. Max Fried, Charlie Morton and Ian Anderson are all secure in their rotation spots, but Kyle Wright, Huascar Ynoa and Tucker Davidson have not yet solidified themself as long-term options. Mike Soroka, meanwhile, is on the shelf until this summer as he rehabs an Achilles injury.
As for the 27-year-old Tromp, he’ll lose his roster spot after four productive games in Gwinnett, where he’s gone 5-for-14 with a home run and a double. Tromp spent the bulk of the past two seasons in the Giants organization, batting .215/.220/.418 in a tiny sample of 82 Major League plate appearances. Atlanta claimed him off waivers from San Francisco last September. Tromp didn’t have a productive 2021 season in Triple-A, where he’s a career .254/.314/.412 hitter in parts of five seasons.
The Braves will have a week to trade Tromp, place him on outright waivers or release him. Teams are always on the lookout for catching depth, so there’s always a chance that a 27-year-old catcher with a pair of minor league options remaining will find a new home on the waiver wire.
Reds To Promote Nick Lodolo
Top Reds pitching prospect Nick Lodolo will make his Major League debut tomorrow, the team announced. Lodolo, the No. 7 overall pick in 2019, will start tomorrow’s game against the Guardians and join fellow top prospect Hunter Greene in the rotation. Greene impressed with seven punchouts and a barrage of triple-digit heaters in his own MLB debut this past weekend. Lodolo has not yet been selected to the 40-man roster, so Cincinnati will need to make a corresponding move before he is formally promoted to the big leagues.
It’s been expected since the season opened that Lodolo would take the mound this week and make his big league debut, but it’s nevertheless notable that Cincinnati has now made it official and set the stage for a forthcoming 40-man move to add the prized young lefty to the roster. Lodolo split the 2021 season between Double-A Chattanooga and Triple-A Louisville, pitching to a combined 2.31 ERA with an eye-popping 38.8% strikeout rate, just a 5.5% walk rate and a 54.3% ground-ball rate.
Impressive as those numbers were, Lodolo also missed time last year with blister troubles and, far more troublingly, with a shoulder strain that ended his season in August. He looked plenty sharp this spring, tossing 11 1/3 innings of 2.38 ERA ball with a 12-to-2 K/BB ratio, so it certainly looks as though he’s put the shoulder troubles behind him for now. Still, those injuries limited Lodolo to just 50 2/3 innings in 2021, and he of course didn’t pitch at all in 2020, when there was no minor league season.
The largest workload Lodolo has ever recorded is the combined 121 1/3 innings he pitched between his junior season at Texas Christian University and the Reds’ lower minor league levels in 2019, when he was drafted. It stands to reason that Cincinnati will be relatively careful when it comes to managing his innings.
Even if the Reds limit his innings on the season as a whole or on a start-by-start basis, there’s good reason to be excited about the lefty’s arrival on the scene. As one would expect for a pitcher with that lofty draft stock and those scintillating 2021 numbers, Lodolo is widely regarded as one of baseball’s most promising young pitchers. He ranked as a top-100 prospect at Baseball America (No. 32), MLB.com (No. 42), Baseball Prospectus (No. 42), FanGraphs (No. 52) and ESPN (No. 79).
There’s a fairly wide split as to just how highly Lodolo ought to be regarded, though most scouting reports on him will characterize him as a likely mid-rotation arm. Still, FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen and Tess Taruskin wrote that Lodolo was one of the “more divisive” players discussed with evaluators when writing their top prospect rankings, noting that while analytics-driven evaluations love his changeup, scouts question it and wonder why he threw it so little (9%) if it’s truly one of his best offerings.
FanGraphs touts Lodolo for having three plus pitches, whereas Baseball America opines that the slider is Lodolo’s only plus offering. The Athletic’s Keith Law omitted Lodolo from his Top 100 altogether, but ranked him fifth in the Cincinnati system while opining on the lack of a third plus pitch and likening Lodolo’s slider and arm slot to that of Andrew Miller.
Split camps are nothing new when it comes to prospect evaluation, and there’s certainly still consensus that Lodolo is a big league talent who’ll play a role with the Reds for years to come. Data-driven models and traditional scouting may not agree on the lefty’s ceiling, but Lodolo will have the opportunity to start proving skeptics wrong beginning tomorrow. He’ll bring a mid-90s heater, a quality sweeping slider and that divisive changeup with him to Great American Ball Park, and there’s a clear long-term opportunity in the rotation now that Cincinnati has traded Sonny Gray and dropped Wade Miley via waivers.
If Lodolo is in the big leagues for good, there’s still enough time on the calendar for him to log a full year of service time — regardless of his finish in end-of-year awards voting. He’d be eligible for arbitration after the 2024 season and would be controlled through the 2027 campaign via arbitration. Of course, future optional assignments could impact that timeline, but Lodolo’s fate is largely in his own hands now that he’s getting his first big league look at a time when the rotation has such ample opportunity.