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Twins Designate Derek Law For Assignment

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The Twins have recalled right-hander Cody Stashak and designated fellow righty Derek Law for assignment, per Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press (Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News previously reported on Law’s DFA). The team also placed righty Shaun Anderson on the 10-day injured list with a quad strain.

Law, whom the Twins signed to a minor league contract in the winter, didn’t last long on their 40-man roster. Minnesota selected Law on May 8, after which he tossed 6 1/3 innings of 11-hit, six-run ball with nine strikeouts against six walks.

The 30-year-old Law previously pitched with the Giants and Blue Jays from 2016-19. He owns a 4.38 ERA with a 22.5 percent strikeout rate and a 10.0 percent walk rate in 172 2/3 major league innings.

Giants Move Tommy La Stella To 60-Day IL, Claim Trevor Hildenberger

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The Giants have moved infielder Tommy La Stella to the 60-day injured list and claimed right-handed reliever Trevor Hildenberger from the Mets, Maria Guardado of MLB.com was among those to report. San Francisco subsequently optioned Hildenberger to Triple-A Sacramento.

La Stella went on the 10-day IL with a left hamstring strain on May 4, and Tuesday’s switch to the 60-day version means he won’t return until at least July. That’s obviously less-than-ideal news for him and the Giants, who signed La Stella to a three-year, $18.75MM contact in free agency. The 32-year-old hit a disappointing .235/.297/.353 with one home run in 75 plate appearances before suffering his injury. The Giants have relied on Wilmer Flores and Mauricio Dubon at the keystone in La Stella’s place, but they should soon reinstate Donovan Solano, who has been on the IL with a calf strain since April 22.

Hildenberger, 30, threw just 2 1/3 innings with the Mets this year before they designated him for assignment last weekend. Also a former Twin, Hildenberger has pitched to a 5.52 ERA (with a much more encouraging 3.60 SIERA) and recorded a 22.5 percent strikeout rate, a 7.1 percent walk rate and a 48.4 percent groundball rate over 133 2/3 frames in the bigs.

Orioles Designate Rio Ruiz For Assignment

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The Orioles have designated infielder Rio Ruiz for assignment and selected the contract of infielder/outfielder Stevie Wilkerson, per a club announcement.

The 26-year-old Ruiz was a 2012 fourth-rounder of the Astros and a prospect of some note in both the Astros and Braves organizations. Baltimore claimed him off waivers from Atlanta in the 2018-19 offseason and has given him a fairly lengthy look in the infield, but to this point, Ruiz simply hasn’t capitalized on that opportunity.

Dating back to 2019, Ruiz is hitting just .220/.292/.380 through 718 plate appearances. The O’s have given him some run at each infield position other than shortstop, but he hasn’t been able to string together a particularly productive stretch. The 2021 season, in particular, has been a tough one for Ruiz, who is batting just .167/.250/.300 through 101 trips to the plate. The Orioles will have a week to trade Ruiz or pass him through outright waivers.

The 29-year-old Wilkerson is a familiar face for O’s fans, having spent parts of two seasons in a utility role for Baltimore. He’s a a .219/.279/.365 hitter in 410 plate appearances and has played every spot on the diamond other than catcher and first base — including 5 1/3 innings of mop-up duty on the mound in 2019.

Pirates Trade Sean Poppen To Rays

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The Rays announced Tuesday that they’ve acquired right-hander Sean Poppen from the Pirates in exchange for cash. Pittsburgh had recently designated Poppen for assignment. Tampa Bay’s 40-man roster is now full.

Poppen has been optioned to Triple-A Durham for the time being but could see some action in the big leagues with his new club before long, given the regularity with which the Rays have shuffle up their pitching mix in recent seasons.

The 27-year-old Poppen has seen time in the Majors in each of the past three seasons (2019-20 with Minnesota, 2021 with Pittsburgh) but hasn’t found much in the way of success. He’s tallied 20 2/3 innings in the bigs but yielded 18 runs (15 earned) on 30 hits and 11 walks with 23 strikeouts. Poppen’s sinker averages 94.4 mph and has resulted in a solid 46.8 percent ground-ball in his limited big league action. He pairs the pitch with a slider and a seldom-used changeup, but none of the three offerings has been particularly effective against MLB opponents.

Poppen has had more success in the minors, where he sports a 3.39 ERA and a strikeout per inning in parts of five professional seasons — mostly as a starting pitcher. All 13 of his MLB appearances to date have come out of the bullpen, but it’s possible the Rays could look to stretch him back out, either as a multi-inning reliever or as a true depth option for the rotation. The Harvard product is a former 19th-round pick who has never been considered to be one of his organization’s top products, but he carries a respectable 3.88 ERA in 65 Triple-A innings.

Yankees Place Giancarlo Stanton On 10-Day Injured List

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The Yankees announced that slugger Giancarlo Stanton has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a left quad strain.  Stanton’s placement is retroactive to May 14.  Right-hander Albert Abreu has been called up to take Stanton’s spot on the active roster.

The specter of Stanton hitting the IL is an ominous one for the Yankees and their fans, given how the 31-year-old has so often been sidelined by injuries throughout his career as a whole, and particularly his tenure in the Bronx.  A variety of leg injuries (and a biceps strain) limited Stanton to only 18 games in 2019 and 23 games in 2020, which led the Yankees to make Stanton into a full-time designated hitter prior to last season.

While New York’s lineup as a whole hasn’t lived up to its usual standard, Stanton has been a major bright spot, hitting .282/.347/.534 with nine home runs over 144 plate appearances.  Despite all the injuries, Stanton has always been a very dangerous bat when he has been able to play, which naturally only adds to the concern over this MVP-level hitter seemingly being unable to stay on the field.

The severity of Stanton’s quad strain isn’t yet known.  Given his track record, it’s probably safe to predict that the Yankees will hold Stanton out beyond the 10-day minimum just to be completely sure that this injury won’t linger (and result in another extended absence).

There is no way to really replace Stanton’s offensive contributions, of course, but the Yankees could now rotate a few players through the DH spot.  Rougned Odor is expected back from the injured list relatively soon, to add to the position player mix.  Speculatively, the absence of Stanton (not to mention Aaron Hicks and Gleyber Torres) could open up some playing time for Miguel Andujar, as the former Rookie Of The Year candidate has been lacking in consistent playing time since his own injury-ruined season in 2019.

Mariners Select Brady Lail, Designate Domingo Tapia

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The Mariners announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Brady Lail and designated righty Domingo Tapia for assignment. The club also optioned infielder Jack Mayfield to Triple-A Tacoma.

Lail was an 18th-round draft pick of the Yankees in 2012 who pitched with them, the White Sox and Mariners during the previous two seasons. He picked up just 19 innings in those years and registered a 5.21 ERA with a 17.3 percent strikeout rate against a 9.9 percent walk rate. The 27-year-old owns a similar 5.15 ERA in 327 Triple-A frames.

Tapia, 29, went to Seattle when it claimed him from Boston last offseason. He threw two scoreless innings with the Mariners before they designated him, giving him 6 1/3 frames of one-run ball in the majors. Tapia has notched a 4.21 ERA in 141 Triple-A frames.

Giants Claim Braden Bishop

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The Giants have claimed outfielder Braden Bishop off waivers from the Mariners, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area tweets. They shifted reliever Reyes Moronta to the 60-day injured list in a corresponding move, per Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group.

The 27-year-old Bishop is returning to his native Bay Area and joining the same organization as his brother, Hunter, a fellow outfielder and the 10th overall pick of the Giants in the 2019 draft. Hunter Bishop hasn’t reached the majors yet, but Braden Bishop has taken 99 plate appearances at the sport’s highest level. He only hit .133/.188/.156 as a Mariner, leading the team to designate him for assignment last week.

Despite his struggles in the bigs, Bishop has at least a couple things working in his favor. For one, he still has a minor league option left, so the Giants can call him up and send him down at their leisure for the rest of the season. And Bishop has shown that he can handle Triple-A pitching, having batted .267/.355/.465 in 231 PA there.

Reds Moves: Feliz, Romano

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The Reds have added right-handed reliever Michael Feliz to their roster, Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer tweets. They also optioned righty Art Warren to Triple-A Louisville. Meanwhile, righty Sal Romano has cleared waivers and elected free agency.

The 27-year-old Feliz became a Red on Friday when they claimed him off waivers from the division-rival Pirates. Feliz began the season well with 7 2/3 innings of three-run (two earned) ball with eight strikeouts against one walk, though he averaged a personal-worst 93.5 mph on his fastball along the way. Overall, Feliz has recorded a 5.07 ERA (with a far better 3.31 SIERA) in 234 1/3 major league innings.

Romano, whom the Reds designated for assignment to make room for Feliz, will now look for his second big league organization. He joined the Reds as a 23rd-round pick in 2011 and has since tossed 271 innings and amassed 83 appearances (41 starts) in the majors. The 27-year-old has logged a 5.15 ERA/4.82 SIERA in the bigs.

Braves Place Huascar Ynoa On 10-Day Injured List

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Braves righty Huascar Ynoa is headed to the injured list after suffering a broken right hand, manager Brian Snitker told MLB.com’s Mark Bowman and other reporters.  The Braves made the official announcement shortly after Snitker’s meeting with the press, as Ynoa was placed on the 10-day IL and righty Edgar Santana was called up from Triple-A.

Ynoa broke his hand after punching the dugout in frustration following a tough outing yesterday against the Brewers, and will now spend approximately two months or more in recovery.  It’s a very unfortunate setback for a player who has become an unexpectedly big part of Atlanta’ rotation this season.

Even after yesterday’s struggles against Milwaukee (five earned runs allowed on nine hits and two walks over 4 1/3 innings), Ynoa still had a 3.02 ERA/3.28 SIERA over 44 2/3 total frames of work for the Braves.  Though Ynoa has been allowing a lot of hard contact, he has delivered an above-average 27.9% strikeout rate and 6.1% walk rate.

Considering Ynoa had only a 7.30 ERA in 24 2/3 innings for the Braves in 2019-20, his emergence was a major plus for an Atlanta pitching staff that has struggled to stay healthy and pitch effectively.  Since Mike Soroka’s timetable to return from the IL is still uncertain, the path was clear for Ynoa to remain in the rotation prior to his own injury.  With Ynoa out, the Braves could turn to some combination of rookie southpaw Tucker Davidson (who was called up earlier today), Bryse Wilson, or Kyle Wright to fill the open spot in the rotation.

Mets Place Michael Conforto, Jeff McNeil On Injured List

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3:03pm: The Mets have announced the moves, Healey tweets . They also transferred Lugo to the 60-day IL, meaning he won’t return before May 31.

12:01PM: Khalil Lee will be called up from Triple-A along with Fargas, according to Newsday’s Tim Healey (via Twitter).

11:31AM: The Mets will place both Michael Conforto and Jeff McNeil on the 10-day injured list due to hamstring injuries, Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News reports (Twitter link).  Outfield prospect Johneshwy Fargas will be called up from Triple-A to fill one of the spots on the active roster.

The news isn’t a surprise, as both Conforto and McNeil left yesterday’s game due to injury — Conforto with tightness in his right hamstring, and McNeil with a similar issue in his left hamstring.  McNeil already missed a couple of games earlier this week due to cramping problems, and he stated after yesterday’s game that his latest hamstring problem was related those previous cramps.

Usually two of the Mets’ more consistent offensive performers, both Conforto (.230/.356/.336 in 135 PA) and McNeil (.242/.336/.374 in 113 PA) have been pretty average thus far in 2021.  Conforto’s performance has been under a particular microscope, as he is scheduled to hit free agency this winter and extension talks with the Mets didn’t seem to gain much traction.

While Conforto and McNeil hadn’t been hitting like their usual selves, they at least represented two active regulars on a Mets team that now has 12 players on the injured list.  J.D. Davis and Seth Lugo could both soon be starting rehab assignments and ace right-hander Jacob deGrom could be back as early as Friday, but in the near term, the Mets are still very short-handed.

The outfield is a particular issue, with Dominic Smith and Kevin Pillar holding down the fort in left and center field, while converted infielders Jake Hager and Jose Peraza aren’t reliable fill-in options for Conforto.  This opens the door for Fargas, a full-time outfielder who is now set to make his MLB debut after eight minor league seasons.

An 11th-round pick for the Giants in the 2013 draft, Fargas spent much of his career in San Francisco’s farm system before signing with the Mets in the 2019-20 offseason.  The 26-year-old is known to have a solid glove (capable of playing all three outfield positions) and some notable speed, with 243 stolen bases in 344 attempts during his minor league career.  Fargas has hit .255/.331/.343 over 2289 plate appearances in the minors, and hadn’t reached Triple-A prior to this season.

Peraza and Hager can likely handle McNeil’s duties at second base until Davis returns, which will give the infield some breathing room as Jonathan Villar can then move from third base to factor into the second base picture.  Given this infield depth on hand, the Mets could opt to call up another outfielder to fill the other roster hole.  Outfielder Khalil Lee could be a candidate for another promotion, as he was recently called up and sent back down to Triple-A without making an appearance in any big league games.

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